The Young Dostoevsky (1846—1849): A Critical Study

T H E Y O U N G D O S T O E V S K Y (1846-1849) SLAVISTIC PRINTINGS AND REPRINTINGS edited by C.H. VAN SCHOONEVELD Indiana University 69 1969 MOUTON THE HAGUE ■ PARIS THE YOUNG DOSTOEVSKY ( 1846 - 1849 ) A CRITICAL STUDY V IC T O R T E R R A S University o f Illinois 1969 MOUTON THE HAGUE • PARIS © Copyright 1969 in The Netherlands. Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague. No part o f this book m ay be translated or reproduced in any form , by print, photo­ print, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 69-20326 Printed in The Netherlands by Mouton & Co., Printers, The Hague To Frances Sobotka PREFACE The present study developed out of a University of Chicago dissertation on the young Dostoevsky’s style, of which chap. VI is a condensed version. Whatever merit I hope it may have depends solely on a close reading of the works in question. I have prepared my own translations of all the examples and passages quoted in the text. Since in each of these instances a point of interpre­ tation is in the balance, my translation ought to be seen as part of my critical argument, rather than as an attempt to produce an aesthetically appealing English version of the Dostoevskian text. Thus, whenever I felt that Dostoevsky’s Russian showed ‘poor style’, or ‘ungrammatical usage’, I have tried to reproduce these traits in my translation. I have used the generally accepted linguistic system of transliteration (as used, for instance, in The Slavic and East European Journal) for all Russian words and names, except those which are commonly known in a different spelling in the English speaking world. Thus, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Herzen, rather than Dostoevskij, Gogol’, Gercen. But Dal’, Mixajlovskij, Šidlovskij, etc. It is my pleasant duty to thank those without whose help this study would have never been completed: my teachers at the University of Chicago, Professors G. V. Bobrinskoy, H. McLean, and E. Wasiolek; Mr. F. K. Pious, who translated the texts in the appendix; Mrs. Barbara H. Gladney, who read the manuscript and corrected many of my mistakes. I thank the Slavic Review for giving me permission to use the text of my article “Problems of Human Existence in the Works of the Young Dostoevsky” (Slavic Review, XXIII, 79-91) in this book. Also, I thank Indiana Slavic Studies for allowing me to use my article “Dostoevskij the Humorist” {Indiana Slavic Studies, IV, 152-180). University of Illinois Urbana, 111. Victor Terras CONTENTS P r e f a c e ....................................................................... 7 I . Themes and V a r ia t io n s ................................................................ 11 II. Experiments in Human Existence .................................................55 III. The Young Dostoevsky and the Very Young Female . 76 IV. The P s y c h o l o g i s t ......................................................................109 V. Great Synthetic C h a r a c t e r s ...................................................... 160 VI. Structure and T e x t u r e ............................................................ 191 VII. The H u m o r i s t ............................................................................. 241 VIII. The Man and His W o r k ..............................................................268 Appendix 291 Select B ib lio g r a p h y ............................................................................. 317 I n d e x ...................................................................... . 321 I. THEMES AND VARIATIONS We see in the work of the young Dostoevsky a variet