Western Law, Russian Justice: Dostoevsky, The Jury Trial, And The Law

Western Law, Russian Justice Western Law, Russian Justice Dostoevsky, the Jury Trial, and the Law Gary Rosenshield The University of Wisconsin Press Monroe Street Madison, Wisconsin www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/ Henrietta Street London WC E LU, England Copyright © The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rosenshield, Gary. Western law, Russian justice: Dostoevsky, the jury trial, and the law / Gary Rosenshield. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN - - -X (cloth: alk. paper) . Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, – —Knowledge—Law. . Law in literature. . Jury in literature. . Justice in literature. . Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, – . Bratia Karamazovy. I. Title. PG .Z L . ′ —dc For Jill Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Western Law, Russian Justice ix . The Imprisonment of the Law: Dostoevsky and the Kroneberg Case . Dostoevsky and the Kornilova Case: The Realization of Russian Justice . The Perils of Narrative Empathy: Dostoevsky, Buckley, Mailer, Styron, and Their Wards . The Brothers Karamazov: Prosecuting the Jury Trial . The Brothers Karamazov: Russian Justice Conclusion: The Court and the Authority of the Word Notes Index Acknowledgments Research for Western Law, Russian Justice: Dostoevsky, the Law, and the Jury Trial was supported by grants from the University of Wisconsin Graduate School. I owe a great deal to those who read the present study, in whole or in parts, through its various stages during the last decade, including Victor Terras, David Bethea, Andrew Weiner and anonymous readers from the Slavic and East European Journal and CanadianAmerican Slavic Studies. I was also significantly aided, as most academic writers are, by research assistance at the university. I would especially like to thank Rebecca Matveyev, Paul Klanderud, David Vernikov, Dan Ungurianu, David Polet, Keith Meyer-Blasing, and Andrew Swenson. Several sections of Western Law, Russian Justice are significantly modified versions of previously published journal articles: “The Imprisonment of the Law: Dostoevskij and the Kroneberg Case,” Slavic and East European Journal ( ): – ; “Western Law vs. Russian Justice: Dostoevsky and the Jury Trial, Round One,” Graven Images ( ): – ; “Death and Resurrection at the Russian Bar: Dostoevsky and the Kornilova Case,” Canadian-American Slavic Studies ( ): – ; “Crime and Redemption, Russian and American Style: Dostoevsky, Buckley, Mailer, and Styron,” Slavic and East European Journal . ( ): – . Most of all I would like to thank my wife, Jill, whose love, enthusiasm, and editorial assistance were essential to the maturation and completion of this project. It is to her that the book is dedicated. ix Western Law, Russian Justice Introduction Western Law, Russian Justice A man, let us say, has committed a crime; he does not know the law; he is ready to confess, but then the advocate appears and proves to him that not only is he, the criminal, innocent but that he is a saint. —Diary of a Writer The tribunes of our new courts are unquestionably an ethical school for our society and our people. Indeed, the people learn in this school truth and morality. —Diary of a Writer Yes, the bar is an excellent institution but, somehow, a sad one. —Diary of a Writer It’s not I who say that, it’s the Gospel.