Книга в художественном пространстве произведений Достоевского

Abstract

Books in the Artistic Space of Dostoevsky’s Works

Books occupy a special place in Dostoevsky’s artistic world. They belong to both the material and spiritual worlds. This explains their role in Dostoevsky’s works. Books actively interact with both the characters and the readers. The content of a book often serves as a form of contextual expansion of the plot, introducing additional semantic components into it. A book often serves as an important element in characterizing a person or an event. In Dostoevsky’s works, books regularly become direct participants in the action. This takes into account not only the spiritual, but also the material value of the book as an object. In Dostoevsky’s artistic universe, the book is located at the top of the hierarchy of objects. The book’s presence in the text is multifaceted. It exists as part of a still life, an element of interior design, a detail in a portrait, part of a genre scene. The symbolic use of the book is also common. Sometimes, the book exists in several forms at once. Unlike other objects, a book has not only the properties of a thing, but also the properties of a personality. The world of books in Dostoevsky’s works is just as rich and diverse as the world of people. The article analyzes episodes from the novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Adolescent, and The Brothers Karamazov.

Keywords: Dostoevsky; book; оbject world; still life; interior; portrait; Crime and Punishment; The Adolescent; The Idiot; The Brothers Karamazov