The Polyphony of the Silent: The Specifics of Dostoevsky’s Philosophical Discourse
The article describes the phenomenon of silence in Dostoevskys later prose. Philosophical, plot-forming and psychological aspects of silence are looked at. A confessional type of monologue is defined as a discursive genre, with specific roles of the speaker and his silent listeners, whose predominance in Dostoevskys prose lets the author of the article adjust the notion of polyphony and dialogue within the context of Dostoevskys poetics. The conventionality of the other in the confessional type of monologue is proved by the absence of the completing functions in listeners. In most cases Dostoevskys later works retain some rudimental forms of frantic dialogue while the role of specific monologue discourse, caused and conditioned by silence, is increasing. By semantics and function types of silence in Dostoevsky fall into three groups: 1) the underground silence as expression of human disunity in the epoch of universal solitude; 2) role silence of listeners in the discursive genre of confessional monologue; 3) sacred silence of Christ indicating transition to a new higher level of communication