scholarly journals “Oh, if only I could create a majestic, positive, holy figure!” (On Peculiarities of Sacralization of Gogol’s and Dostoyevsky’s works from Their Late Periods of Writing)

2019 ◽  
pp. 25-37
Author(s):  
Nataliya Skvira
Keyword(s):  
Original Source ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Dead Souls ◽  
Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Core Idea ◽  
Main Ideas ◽  
Spiritual Movement ◽  
The Village

The paper deals with Gogol’s “Dead Souls” and Dostoyevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov”. The author investigates main ideas, motives, plot coincidences, which are core for the works. The word of the Holy Scripture clearly permeates the language of the works by Gogol and Dostoyevsky, forming the stylistic direction of the narrative with its inherent didacticism and emphasizing the credibility of the original Source. The aim of the Bible intertext is to sacralize the whole of the text. The writers’ techniques of retrospection enhance the reader’s attention and actualize pivotal biblical formulas. The researcher states that some episodes of “The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants” by Dostoyevsky cover the ideas of “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” by Gogol, and also extend the content components of the statements articulated by the heroes’ of the second volume of “Dead Souls”. The chapter of “The Brothers Karamazov” called “Conversations and Exhortations of Father Zosima” by its style, didactic pathos, plot, motive combinations and the names of the sub-chapters reminds “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends”. Gogol’s phrase “Love us black, anyone can love us white” repeatedly echoes in the replicas of the characters of “The Brothers Karamazov” and becomes universalized to the formula: “Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on earth. Love all God’s creation… If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things…  And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love”. The image of Troyka (Carriage-and-Three) makes the image of Russia in the studied works by Gogol and Dostoevsky more profound, accumulating the core idea of the writers – the revival of society. ‘Gesture situations’ allow the writers to describe a psychological image of the characters in detail and to relate their spiritual movement with a millenary dimension of existence.

From Volynsky’s Writings on Dostoevsky (1900; 1901)

2019 ◽  
pp. 97-120
Author(s):  
Stanley J. Rabinowitz
Keyword(s):  
Female Characters ◽  
Women's Bodies ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Brothers Karamazov ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Individual

Two articles on Dostoevsky’s strongest female characters, Nastasya Filippovna (from The Idiot) and the “Infernal Woman” Grushenka (from The Brothers Karamazov). Volynsky’s approach emanates from his belief that women’s bodies represent the aesthetic and metaphysical locus of the core Dostoevskian concern: the fate of beauty on this earth. Especially in his treatment of Grushenka, Volynsky posits the flesh’s potential to turn into spirit and the individual, carnal, and also sinister nature of beauty to disclose its fundamentally universal, divine, and benevolent foundation—all of which Volynsky will see fully realized in ballet.

Dostoevsky

2020 ◽  
pp. 168-183
Author(s):  
George Pattison
Keyword(s):  
Decisive Role ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Social Injustice ◽  
Psychological Disturbance ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Christ Figures ◽  
Biblical Figures

Focusing only on aspects of Dostoevsky’s work that relate to questions of religion, this chapter begins by examining the role of suffering in its manifold forms, including sickness and disease, social injustice, psychological disturbance, and violence. For Dostoevsky, deliverance from suffering must involve more than material betterment, and freedom must have a decisive role in any truly productive response. However, freedom must do more than protest, since humility and forgiveness also have a central role. Both question and response are figured in an exemplary way in the Bible, and Dostoevsky makes significant use of biblical figures such as Job and, especially, Christ. Several characters in the novels are often seen as Christ figures (Sonia Marmeladova, Prince Myshkin), though their roles remain debatable. More generally, the question is raised as to whether Dostoevsky’s ‘weak’, kenotic Christ has power to save, although Alyosha’s dream in The Brothers Karamazov also hints at the glorified Christ in heaven. Russia has a particular providential role in salvation in Dostoevsky’s journalism and also, though ambiguously, in the novels. Despite possible perceptions of narrow nationalism, Dostoevsky was from early on seen as speaking to the universal-human condition (thus Soloviev), and his work has been positively received in the West as contributing to a theological response to the crises of modernity.

The Biblical Story of Joseph in Dostoevskii's The Brothers Karamazov

Slavic Review ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 653-665
Author(s):  
Richard C. Miller
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Large Role ◽  
Book Of Job ◽  
Biblical Story ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Literary Allusion ◽  
Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Bible Stories

The large role which literary allusion plays in The Brothers Karamazov has often been noted by critics. Ralph Matlaw calls the novel “one of the most ‘literary’ books ever written.” Victor Terras more recently has observed that “more than any other novel of Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov is a work ‘written in the margins of other books.’” If scholars took the time to investigate in detail every literary reference in this novel, no doubt the size of current Dostoevskii bibliographies could be doubled within the year, though without contributing substantially to our knowledge of the work. Why then should a lone reference to the biblical story of Joseph merit intensive consideration? The answer concerns both the context and the content of the reference, which is found in the subchapter entitled “Of the Holy Scriptures in the life of Father Zosima.” The bible stories mentioned in this section might be considered as a body in order to illustrate what role the Scriptures have played in the elder's life, and what role they may play in the regeneration of all men. Within this subchapter no fewer than a dozen biblical stories and books are singled out, yet only two are discussed at any length: the Book of Job and the story of Joseph. In the latter case not only is the story paraphrased and quoted (or, better, misquoted) but it is also given a particular and untraditional interpretation by Zosima.

scholarly journals Semantics and Function of the Aphorism “Win Yourself and You Will Conquer the World” in the Works of Fedor Dostoevsky

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-128
Author(s):  
Antonella Cavazza
Keyword(s):  
Saint Augustine ◽  
Imitatio Christi ◽  
The Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Imitation Of Christ ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Brothers Karamazov ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Village ◽  
Linguistic Means

<p>The repeated usage of the aphorism &ldquo;Win yourself and you will conquer the world&rdquo; in the works of F.&nbsp;M.&nbsp;Dostoevsky emphasized his words. Using different linguistic means the Russian writer compiled the message of a moral character striving for conveying it to his contemporaries, now with irony by putting it into mouth of Foma Fomich and Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky (the characters of the novels <em>The Village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants </em>and <em>Demons </em>respectively), now as an admonition by including it directly and indirectly into &ldquo;The Life of a Great Sinner&rdquo; and the novels <em>Demons</em>, <em>The Brothers Karamazov </em>and <em>The Raw Youth</em>. The dictum &ldquo;Win yourself and you will conquer the world&rdquo; echoes also on some pages of <em>A Writer&rsquo;s Diary</em>, where an ethical and philosophical feature of Dostoevsky<em>&rsquo;</em>s journalistic style manifests itself to the maximum. Modern researcher B. N. Tikhomirov has put forward a hypothesis that the saying &ldquo;Win yourself and you will conquer the world&rdquo; is based on quotations from the New Testament. The writer distilled this sententia from the writings of Saint Tikhon. The author of this article wondering who this aphorism belongs to and where it derives from, supposed and proved that it comes from the 57th sermon of St. Augustine or from the treatise &ldquo;On the imitation of Christ&rdquo; (&ldquo;Imitatio Christi&rdquo;) attributed to the Augustinian monk Thomas of Kemp. A copy of this treatise was kept in the library of Dostoevsky. After analyzing the hypothesis of B.&nbsp;N.&nbsp;Tikhomirov and her own assumption, the researcher has made both a philological analysis and the content one. As a result, she came to the conclusion that both these assumptions are possible and do not contradict each other. Given the fact that Saint Tikhon was well familiar with the writings of Saint Augustine, both these sources complement each other in the study of the aphorism? Win yourself and you will conquer the world&rdquo;.</p>

scholarly journals Dostoevsky in Kazakhstan: History of Study, Results, Prospects

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 414-423
Author(s):  
Kenzhekhan Slyamzhanovich Matyzhanov ◽  
Svetlana V. Ananyeva
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
World Literature ◽  
200Th Anniversary ◽  
The Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Complete Study ◽  
History Of ◽  
Brothers Karamazov ◽  
The Village ◽  
History Of Study

The article is devoted to the analysis of the Semipalatinsk and Kuznetsk periods in the life and work of F.M. Dostoevsky. The purpose of the study is to reveal the Kazakh-Siberian periods in the fate of the Russian writer, their reflection in the letters and works of art by F.M. Dostoevsky. In the year of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Russian writer, we cannot talk about the complete study of the indicated periods of the life of the prose writer, which, of course, to one degree or another, were reflected in his prose. This determines the degree of novelty of this article. Dostoevsky is dear to Kazakhstan. He not only served his exile, but also found a friend here, sincere and quivering - the historian, orientalist, ethnographer Ch. Valikhanov. The stories Uncle's Dream and The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitant, the first chapters of Notes from the Dead House were written in Semipalatinsk. The story The village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants (1857-1859) has the author's clarification: From the notes of the unknown. Many works of fiction in world literature are the result of travel notes, diaries. Undoubtedly, the restoration of the history of the Kazakh-Siberian period of the life and work of F.M. Dostoevsky is of great value, because the greatest Russian writer experienced spiritual revival there, in Kazahstan. The works of F.M. Dostoevsky were included in the literature program of secondary schools in Kazakhstan, translated into Kazakh ( The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov translated by N. Syzdykov). Dostoevsky scholars of Kazakhstan in the XXI century continue to study the writers works.

scholarly journals AMNESTIE BEI DOSTOEVSKIJ

2021 ◽  
Vol XII (38) ◽  
pp. 185-204
Author(s):  
Sebastian Kornmesser
Keyword(s):  
Social Injustice ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Brothers Karamazov ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Sense Of Justice

The term amnesty means the waiving of punishment (to a group of people) without, however, erasing the guilt. Amnesties are usually granted in connection with political events such as national or international peace amnesties in times of political change or wars. However, there are also waivers of criminal prosecutions, popularly known as "mercy before justice". Amnesties can therefore be seen, on the one hand, as a humane act of mercy, but on the other hand they can also cause problems in the population's sense of justice, since punishments are treated differently, and the principle of equality is shaken. The concepts of punishment, guilt and innocence, as well as their representation, offer a basis for the question of how amnesties are formed in Dostoevsky's texts. Dostoevsky's characters are usually ambivalent and challenge a reflective reading as well as an ethical judgement. By making social injustice an important theme in his texts, the author focuses on the restoration of justice through amnesty. A co-responsibility in society as well as a co-guilt in a higher sense form the core of his argumentation, both as a contrast to justice, which considers the guilt of the individual, and as a consideration of man's hereditary guilt and his responsibility to the community. A comparison with ancient Greek jurisprudence also shows that amnesties were closely connected with the collective, with emotion and ritual. This results in new ways of looking at prominent texts by Dostoevsky, as will be shown with the example of The Brothers Karamazov and other works. This will provide a brief overview of how Dostoevsky understands guilt and innocence, what function punishment has in his texts and how amnesty emerges as a result

Possessing the Iconic Book

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 309-329
Author(s):  
Claudia V. Camp
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Religious Literature ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Iconic Status ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Woman Wisdom ◽  
Martin Marty

I propose that the notion of possession adds an important ideological nuance to the analyses of iconic books set forth by Martin Marty (1980) and, more recently, by James Watts (2006). Using the early second century BCE book of Sirach as a case study, I tease out some of the symbolic dynamics through which the Bible achieved iconic status in the first place, that is, the conditions in which significance was attached to its material, finite shape. For Ben Sira, this symbolism was deeply tied to his honor-shame ethos in which women posed a threat to the honor of his eternal name, a threat resolved through his possession of Torah figured as the Woman Wisdom. What my analysis suggests is that the conflicted perceptions of gender in Ben Sira’s text is fundamental to his appropriation of, and attempt to produce, authoritative religious literature, and thus essential for understanding his relationship to this emerging canon. Torah, conceived as female, was the core of this canon, but Ben Sira adds his own literary production to this female “body” (or feminized corpus, if you will), becoming the voice of both through the experience of perfect possession.

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