This article is an attempt to reconcile literary criticism's perspective with those of historical analysis. Since literary artwork desired outcome is not to mirror reality, it cannot be considered a historical source in a traditional sense. But this does not imply that it cannot be historicized. The understanding of a literary text rests upon its link -contextualized within its own horizon- with the world it tries to represent. This link is manifested through its symbolic character; a bridge between the world represented in the artwork and our own.

Tolstoi; allegory; symbol; hermeneutics; literary criticism; nationalism