Фигура “ближнего” в рассказе Ф. М. Достоевского Сон смешного человека: ближние и дальние контексты понимания

Abstract

The idea of the “neighbour” in F. M. Dostoevsky’s story The Dream of a Ridiculous Man: Proximity and Distance Contexts of Understanding

The article explores the way Dostoevsky’s idea of ‘the neighbour’ develops, primarily using the story The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, but also A Writer’s Diary, 1877, and the novel The Brothers Karamazov. That idea evolves at the juncture of such basic distinctions as the close and the distant, the horizontal and the vertical, the symmetric and the asymmetric. The key problem for Dostoevsky both in terms of philosophy and the plot is the issue of the possibility of love for one’s neighbour in this world and, consequently, the possibility of brotherhood are united by mutual love. Dostoevsky gives several general answers to the question, all more or less hopeless, which complement each other as in if one does not work out, perhaps the other can. On the way to that seeking of love for one’s neighbour, there is a double barrier: firstly, the impossibility, or at least the difficulty of love in close proximity; secondly, the unwillingness often displayed by the neighbour to accept that brotherly love which is directed at him. The article reveals three general approaches to the idea of the brotherhood used by the writer, i.e. three ways to overcome those barriers. The first approach is as follows: an individual who is filled with love for his neighbours directs that love at them regardless of whether it works. The second approach is: several potential brothers must simultaneously take a step towards each other. The third approach: the brotherhood is established not based on mutual equality and acceptance, but rather emerges under the leadership of one who is appointed as senior (or elder) and who, when the potential brothers deserve it, grants them brotherly rights.

Keywords: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, A Writer’s Diary, The Brothers Karamazov, Neighbour, Brotherhood