LESSON 7 The Young Dostoevsky and the Dawn of Realism
Study Notes
The Dawn of Realism and V. G. Belinsky
By the middle of the 1840s, encouraged by the later work of Pushkin and
by the achievements of Gogol and Lermontov, prose fiction had risen to the
level of poetry as a medium of literary expression in Russia. At the same
time, as the history of Gogol criticism shows, a spirit of social engagement
was developing as the idea that literature had important social, political,
and ideological functions became increasingly common. This idea was promoted
from both the right and the left sides of the political spectrum.
The champion of the left (or progressive) critics was Vissarion Grigorievich
Belinsky (1811-1848). Belinsky called upon Russian literature to serve the
causes of justice for the disadvantaged and of progress toward a more open
and democratic society. In practice, this amounted to a call to criticism
of the political and social status quo and sympathy for those segments
of the population (especially the peasants, who were about eighty to ninety
per cent of the population) who formerly had not been thought fit for inclusion
in literary works.
A group of writers, centered mainly in Petersburg, answered this call. They
are called the writers of the "Natural School" and their "physiological
sketches" of the plain people of Petersburg were the first stirrings
of the movement that became known as Russian Realism. (It is such Realist
writers as Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky who give Russian literature
its justified claim to world-wide prominence in nineteenth-century literature.
You may wish to consult such works as Wellek's Concepts of Criticism
for further information on Realism or Victor Terras' Handbook of Russian
Literature for information on Realism in Russia.)
Belinsky felt that Gogol, before Gogol had became corrupted by religious
mysticism, had supplied brilliant examples of Realism, the path that Russian
literature should follow. In Dead Souls, according to Belinsky, Gogol
had exposed the corruption and folly of the provincial land-holding class;
in The Inspector General, the corruption of officials; in "The
Nose," the absurdities of the system of bureaucratic ranks. Finally,
in "The Overcoat," Gogol had provided the greatest instantiation
(following Pushkin's example in "The Bronze Horseman") of the
theme of the disadvantaged "little man" as the victim of an uncaring,
rank and power-crazy Russian official society. It was true that Gogol's
portrait of reality tended to be somewhat (or even greatly) exaggerated,
but this was ascribed to the artistic license permitted to a satirist.
Realism and Belinsky are both large topics. Refer to the Bibliography
for further information or click here to use Encyclopedia
Britannica.
The Early Life of Fyodor Dostoevsky
Another writer who responded deeply, although not always so positively,
to Gogol was Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881), whose first works
appeared in the middle of the 1840s. Dostoevsky was born in 1821 in Moscow,
the son of a doctor in charge of a charity hospital. After a secondary education
in private high schools in Moscow (1833-37), Dostoevsky enrolled in the
Academy of Military Engineering in St. Petersburg; he graduated in 1843.
He served in the civil service for about a year before leaving to devote
himself to literary work.
Dostoevsky's first novel, Poor Folk, was published to a strongly
positive reception in 1846. The powerful critic Belinsky was especially
enthusiastic. Dostoevsky's subsequent works, however, were not so well received,
and his career languished. In 1847 he became a member of a clandestine political
discussion group headed by a certain Petrashevsky. The circle's discussions
centered on the socialism of the early nineteenth century, particularly
on the ideas of F. M. C. Fourier and Auguste Comte.
Soviet critics make much of the young Dostoevsky's involvement in this circle.
Western critics, in general, see his interest in Socialism as only one among
many, with nothing of the fanatical about it. However, there is general
agreement that it was a dangerous interest, and that it cost Dostoevsky
dearly. In 1849 Dostoevsky and some of the other members of the Petrashevsky
circle were arrested and imprisoned. Dostoevsky was tried and convicted
as one of the group's leaders; he was sentenced to death. In December of
1849 Dostoevsky and a few other prisoners were already at the place of execution
when a commutation of sentence arrived at the last moment.
Instead of execution, Dostoevsky's punishment was to be a four-year term
in a forced-labor camp in Siberia, followed by an indefinite term in exile
as a private in the Russian army. The hard life of the Siberian prison had
a deleterious influence on Dostoevsky's health. Epilepsy, which had been
a relatively minor problem for him, now became much more serious; moreover,
Dostoevsky, the inveterate reader, was allowed only one book while in prison,
a copy of the Gospels which he read over and again from cover to cover.
After his release from prison in 1854, Dostoevsky served as a private in
the army and later as an officer. In 1857 he married a widow, Marya Isaeva,
whom he had met in exile.
In 1859, he was allowed to retire from the army and to return to Russia.
He immediately returned to the literary scene with works he had written
while in exile.
Dostoevsky's Early Works
This survey of Dostoevsky's life and career as a writer will continue in
the next lesson. Now, however, it is time to consider his early work in
greater detail. His first novel, Poor Folk, is one of the texts you
will study in this lesson. It was welcomed by Belinsky and his circle because
it was written in the style they favored: (1) it was in prose; (2) it was
in the spirit of Realism and described the contemporary social situation;
and (3) it exuded a sympathy for the common person and raised members of
the lower classes to the status of literary heroes. The main characters
of Poor Folk include a low-ranking official, a student, and a seamstress.
There is some similarity to Gogol's manner of detailed description, but
there is also an obvious polemic with Gogol's harsh, exaggerated, and grotesque
portrayal of his heroes. Dostoevsky is much more warmly sympathetic and
much less comic than his predecessor. Tragedy and pathos replace Gogol's
biting satire.
Poor Folk (1846) is an account of the love and sacrifice of an aging
civil servant for a young, impoverished girl. It is written in the form
of letters exchanged between the two. In both form and content Dostoevsky
goes back beyond Gogol to the sentiment of Karamzin, but he retains Gogol's
predilection for middle- and lower-class characters. It was Dostoevsky's
humanitarianism and sympathy that Belinsky most valued in the novel.
The enthusiasm of Belinsky and others was soon dampened by the appearance
of Dostoevsky's second novel of 1846, The Double. This work portrays
a civil servant who suffers from the delusion that a demonic double is persecuting
him and ruining his career. This notion of the split in human nature--of
good and evil, positive and negative coexisting within the human psyche--is
present at the heart of Dostoevsky's mature psychological insight as revealed
in his great novels of the 1860s and 1870s. The critics of the time, however,
saw no general application to the human condition in this novel. They felt
that Dostoevsky had provided an interesting but, for "normal"
people, irrelevant account of the onset of insanity.
The rest of the works Dostoevsky wrote before his imprisonment in 1849 reflect
the characteristics exemplified in Poor Folk and The Double.
On the one hand there is a tone of sympathy, a commitment to realism, and
an interest in characters as social types; on the other, there is dispassionate
objectivity, fantasy, and interest in characters as universal psychological
types. This split continues to be evident also in Dostoevsky's later novels.
Supplementary Background Reading
Literary Texts
Supplementary Reading
You can find additional information on "The Overcoat" in the
following sources:
You can get additional information on the career of the young Dostoevsky
from these books:
For Further Thought
1. One famous passage in "The Overcoat" tells how one of the clerks
in the office is touched by Akaky Akakievich's protest against the teasing
of his fellow workers. This "humanistic passage," as it is called,
has been the subject of considerable debate. It seems to suggest that we
should feel sympathy for Akaky Akakievich. Many readers disagree, however.
What do you think?
2. What would you say is the relationship between Gogol's "The Overcoat"
(published 1842) and Dostoevsky's Poor Folk (published 1846).
Optional and Personal
Have you any thoughts on these questions:
Have a question?
Students who are formally enrolled in Russian 3421 or Russian 5421 at the
University of Minnesota are invited to send questions to:
gjahn@maroon.tc.umn.edu.