“Brothers Karamazov” and “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (on the Issue of Auto-Intertextuality of the Late Dostoevsky)
Table of contents
Share
QR
Metrics
“Brothers Karamazov” and “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (on the Issue of Auto-Intertextuality of the Late Dostoevsky)
Annotation
PII
S241377150014008-1-
Publication type
Article
Status
Published
Authors
Sergej A. Kibalnik 
Affiliation: Institute of Russian Literature
Address: Russian Federation, St. Petersburg
Pages
62-70
Abstract

Until now, it has not been noticed that Dostoevsky’s “fantastic story” “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (1877), in latent form, contains almost all the central themes of the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” (1878-1880). With his indifference to the fate of other people, the hero of “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” resembles Ivan Karamazov. Moreover, unlike “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”, Dostoevsky’s latest novel traces in detail how the intellectual hero inadvertently infects with the idea that “everything is allowed”, the representative of the “simple consciousness” – Smerdyakov, and what catastrophic consequences this leads to. This, as it were, foreshadows the thought of Elder Zosima about the meaning of “the experience of active love”. Finally, the kinship of the “ridiculous man” with Alyosha Karamazov, which is also perceived by many in the novel as “an eccentric” and even a “holy fool”, is striking. Thus, in “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” one might recognize a kind of artistic and ideological kernel of the “Brothers Karamazov”. By helping to clarify the meaning of the final work of Dostoevsky, his “fantastic story”, through this comparison, becomes clearer for us in itself. In this respect, the story can serve as a starting point for a scholarly interpretation of the novel.

Keywords
Dostoevsky, “Brothers Karamazov”, “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”, auto-intertextuality, interpretation, threading themes, recurring motives
Received
10.03.2021
Date of publication
11.03.2021
Number of purchasers
24
Views
1692
Readers community rating
0.0 (0 votes)
Previous versions
S241377150014008-1-1 Дата внесения правок в статью - 24.02.2021
Cite   Download pdf

References

1. Kibalnik, S. Ideal “vselenskoy Cwrkvi” v “Bratyakh Karamazovykh” [The Ideal of “Universal Life” in Brothers Karamazov]. Russkaya literatura i filosofiya: puti vzaimodeystviya. Vyp. 2 [Russian Literature and Philosophy: The Ways of Interaction. Issue 2: Literature and Religious and Philosophical Thought of the End of the 19th Century – the First Third of the 20th Century. Ed. and collect. by E.A. Taho-Godi]. Moscow, Vodoley Publ., 2018, pp. 272–286. (In Russ.)

2. Kibalnik, S. Voprosy avtointertekstualnosti v romane Dostoyevskogo “Idiot” [The Issues of Auto-Intertextuality in Dostoevskyʼs Novel “The Idiot”]. Dostoyevsky i mirovaya kultura [Dostoevsky and the World Culture]. St. Petersburg, 2018, No. 36, pp. 56–74. (In Russ.)

3. Dostoevsky, F.M. Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy v 30 t. [Complete Works in 30 Volumes]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1972–1990. (In Russ.)

4. Kibalnik S. Morgologiya romanov Dostoyevskogo i sovremennyie problemy intertekstualnosti [Morphology of Dostoevskyʼs Novel and the Modern Issues of Intertextual Theory]. Kibalnik, S. Chekhov i russkaya klassika. Problema interteksta [Chekhov and Russian Classics. The Issues of Intertext]. St. Petersburg, Petropolis Publ., 2015, pp. 115–131. (In Russ.)

5. Bahtin, M.M. Problemy poetiki Dostoyevskogo [The Issues of Dostoevsky’s Poetics]. Bahtin, M.M. Problemy poetiki Dostoyevskogo [The Issues of Dostoevsky’s Poetics]. Moscow, 2017, pp. 220–612. (In Russ.)

6. Voge, P. Liuсifer Dostoyevskogo. O rasskaze “Son smeshnogo cheloveka” [Dostoevskyʼs Luсifer. On the story “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”]. Dostoyevsky i mirovaya kultura [Dostoevsky and the World Culture]. St. Petersburg, 1999, No. 13, pp. 185–204. (In Russ.)

7. Katasonov, V. Religioznyie aspekty rasskaza F.M. Dostoyevskogo “Son smeshnogo cheloveka” [Religious Aspects of Dostoevsky's Story “The Dream of Ridiculous Man”]. Dostoyevsky i mirovaya kultura [Dostoevsky and the World Culture]. St. Petersburg, 2018, No. 30, Part 1, pp. 191–218. (In Russ.)

8. Tunimanov, V.A. Satira i utopiya (“Bobok”, “Son smeshnogo cheloveka”) [Satire and Utopia (“Bobok” and “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”)]. Tunimanov, V.A. Labirint scepleniy. Izbr. statii [Clutch Labyrinth. Featured Articles]. St. Petersburg, Pushkinskiy Dom Publ., 2013, pp. 39–60. (In Russ.)

9. Stepanian, K.A. Zagadki “smeshnogo cheloveka” [The Mysteries of “Ridiculous Man”]. Dostoyevsky i mirovaya kultura [Dostoevsky and the World Culture]. St. Petersburg, 2014, No. 32, pp. 63–83. (In Russ.)

10. Jackson, R. Smeshnoy chelovek – posle Don Kikhota [A Ridiculous Man – after Don Quixote]. Jackson, R. Iskusstvo Dostoyevskogo. Bredy i noktyurny [The Art of Dostoevsky. Deliriums and Nocturnes]. Moscow, Radix Publ., 1998, pp. 209–220. (In Russ.)

11. F.M. Dostoyevskiy v vospominaniyakh sovremennikov v 2 t. [F.M. Dostoevsky in the Memoirs of his Contemporaries in 2 Volumes]. Moscow, 1990, Vol. 2. 623 p. (In Russ.)

Comments

No posts found

Write a review
Translate