Redemption And The Merchant God: Dostoevsky’s Economy Of Salvation And Antisemitism

Redemption and the Merchant God Northwestern University Press Studies in Russian Literature and Theory Series Editors Robert Belknap Caryl Emerson Gary Saul Morson William Mills Todd III Andrew Wachtel Redemption and the Merchant God DOSTOEVSKY’S ECONOMY OF SALVATION AND ANTISEMITISM Susan McReynolds northwestern university press / evanston, illinois Northwestern University Press www.nupress.northwestern.edu Copyright © 2008 by Northwestern University Press. Published 2008. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN-13: 978-0-8101-2439-4 ISBN-10: 0-8101-2439-4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McReynolds, Susan. Redemption and the merchant god : Dostoevsky’s economy of salvation and antisemitism / Susan McReynolds. p. cm. — (Studies in Russian literature and theory) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821–1881—Religion. 2. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821– 1881—Criticism and interpretation. 3. Jews in literature. 4. Antisemitism in literature. 5. Jesus Christ—Crucifixion. I. Title. II. Series. PG3328.Z7R4259 2008 891.733—dc22 2007035877 8 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. To my parents, Peter and Rosemarie McReynolds Contents Acknowledgments ix Note on the Text xi List of Abbreviations of Works by Fyodor Dostoevsky Introduction Speaking with the Devil xiii 3 Part I Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four “I Am Not an Expert at Lulling to Sleep”: The Struggle Between Faith and Doubt in Dostoevsky’s Writings 23 “He Gave His Son”: The Problem of the Crucifixion as Child Sacrifice in Dostoevsky 31 Disraeli and the Merchant God: Victims and Villains, Jews and Europe 46 A Synagogue Mistaken for a Church: Dostoevsky’s Demon and the Jews 58 Part II Chapter Five “I Have the Heart of a Lamb”: Roots of the Russian and Jewish Ideas and the Problem of the Crucifixion in Poor Folk 69 Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine “God Sent Her to Us as a Reward for Our Sufferings”: The Origins of Dostoevsky’s Preoccupation with Child Sacrifice in the Dialogue Between Time and The Insulted and Injured 78 Sources of Dostoevsky’s Antisemitism in Notes from the House of the Dead: The Problem of Redemption and the Resemblance of Christians and Jews 90 “I Don’t Want Your Sacrifice”: The Morality of the Son in Crime and Punishment 117 From Prince Christ to the Russian Christ: Problems of Resurrection in The Idiot and the Development of Dostoevsky’s National Messianism 133 Chapter Ten “This Is What I Cannot Bear”: The Obliteration of Moral Distinctions Through the Crucifixion in Demons 144 Chapter Eleven “You Can Buy the Whole World”: Zosima’s Christian Faith and the Jewish Idea in the Diary of a Writer 157 Notes 199 Index 231 Acknowledgments The research and writing of this book were partly funded by a generous grant from the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities at Northwestern University and by an individual research grant from the University Research Grants Committee. I am deeply grateful for the support and inspiration many people have provided over the years. The roots of this project go back to my first encounters with Dostoevsky under the guidance of Bill