THE CONCEPT OF CATHARSIS IN FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY'S WORKS: FROM THE NEWSPAPER POLEMICS OF 1873
The question of catharsis was first brought up by Aristotle in his Poetics. Aristotle used to interpret catharsis in an extended sense. For him it could be tragic or musical, but it always meant purification or purgation as a dialogue between a poet and a spectator seen as one of the aims of art. In...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Russian |
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Petrozavodsk State University
2013-11-01
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| Series: | Проблемы исторической поэтики |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://poetica.pro/files/redaktor_pdf/1431516511.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818792163073327104 |
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| author | Olga Vladimirovna Zakharova |
| author_facet | Olga Vladimirovna Zakharova |
| author_sort | Olga Vladimirovna Zakharova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The question of catharsis was first brought up by Aristotle in his Poetics. Aristotle used to interpret catharsis in an extended sense. For him it could be tragic or musical, but it always meant purification or purgation as a dialogue between a poet and a spectator seen as one of the aims of art. In Dostoevsky’s thesaurus there is no such a category as catharsis, but there is this word’s equivalent in the Russian language: ochishchenie (which can be translated as purification). Purification through suffering is one of the key ideas of Dostoevsky’s works. He expressed this idea in his prose beginning with Notes from the House of the Dead, but it was first stated directly in the third chapter (entitled Environment) of A Writer’s Diary of 1873. Dostoyevsky contrasted the socialist doctrine of environment with the Christian idea of personal responsibility for our own and other people’s actions. Liberal journalists didn’t accept Dostoevsky’s idea of “purification through suffering” and met it with derision (e.g., L. K. Panyutin, A. G. Kovner, V. P. Burenin, A. S. Suvorin). Instead of understanding and a justifiable dispute, Dostoyevsky faced malediction and rudeness. Conservative critics, on the other hand, overlooked this episode of A Writer’s Diary. This idea started to be appreciated only in the 20th century, long after the writer’s death, and was developed in the works of S. Zweig, N. Berdyaev and others. Notwithstanding the fact that contemporary critics question the presence of catharsis in Dostoevsky’s prose, one should admit that it is one of the categories of his poetics. The purification through suffering is the essence of the aesthetic empathy between the author and his reader. It implies the meaning of his creative works. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T15:22:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-06fae1fcfdf1419dbd3bd51403be9f25 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1026-9479 1026-9479 |
| language | Russian |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T15:22:52Z |
| publishDate | 2013-11-01 |
| publisher | Petrozavodsk State University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Проблемы исторической поэтики |
| spelling | doaj.art-06fae1fcfdf1419dbd3bd51403be9f252022-12-21T21:03:20ZrusPetrozavodsk State UniversityПроблемы исторической поэтики1026-94791026-94792013-11-0111821922910.15393/j9.art.2013.381THE CONCEPT OF CATHARSIS IN FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY'S WORKS: FROM THE NEWSPAPER POLEMICS OF 1873Olga Vladimirovna ZakharovaThe question of catharsis was first brought up by Aristotle in his Poetics. Aristotle used to interpret catharsis in an extended sense. For him it could be tragic or musical, but it always meant purification or purgation as a dialogue between a poet and a spectator seen as one of the aims of art. In Dostoevsky’s thesaurus there is no such a category as catharsis, but there is this word’s equivalent in the Russian language: ochishchenie (which can be translated as purification). Purification through suffering is one of the key ideas of Dostoevsky’s works. He expressed this idea in his prose beginning with Notes from the House of the Dead, but it was first stated directly in the third chapter (entitled Environment) of A Writer’s Diary of 1873. Dostoyevsky contrasted the socialist doctrine of environment with the Christian idea of personal responsibility for our own and other people’s actions. Liberal journalists didn’t accept Dostoevsky’s idea of “purification through suffering” and met it with derision (e.g., L. K. Panyutin, A. G. Kovner, V. P. Burenin, A. S. Suvorin). Instead of understanding and a justifiable dispute, Dostoyevsky faced malediction and rudeness. Conservative critics, on the other hand, overlooked this episode of A Writer’s Diary. This idea started to be appreciated only in the 20th century, long after the writer’s death, and was developed in the works of S. Zweig, N. Berdyaev and others. Notwithstanding the fact that contemporary critics question the presence of catharsis in Dostoevsky’s prose, one should admit that it is one of the categories of his poetics. The purification through suffering is the essence of the aesthetic empathy between the author and his reader. It implies the meaning of his creative works.http://poetica.pro/files/redaktor_pdf/1431516511.pdfAristotleGoetheDostoyevskycatharsispurification through sufferingcriticismpolemicsfeuilleton |
| spellingShingle | Olga Vladimirovna Zakharova THE CONCEPT OF CATHARSIS IN FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY'S WORKS: FROM THE NEWSPAPER POLEMICS OF 1873 Проблемы исторической поэтики Aristotle Goethe Dostoyevsky catharsis purification through suffering criticism polemics feuilleton |
| title | THE CONCEPT OF CATHARSIS IN FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY'S WORKS: FROM THE NEWSPAPER POLEMICS OF 1873 |
| title_full | THE CONCEPT OF CATHARSIS IN FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY'S WORKS: FROM THE NEWSPAPER POLEMICS OF 1873 |
| title_fullStr | THE CONCEPT OF CATHARSIS IN FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY'S WORKS: FROM THE NEWSPAPER POLEMICS OF 1873 |
| title_full_unstemmed | THE CONCEPT OF CATHARSIS IN FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY'S WORKS: FROM THE NEWSPAPER POLEMICS OF 1873 |
| title_short | THE CONCEPT OF CATHARSIS IN FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY'S WORKS: FROM THE NEWSPAPER POLEMICS OF 1873 |
| title_sort | concept of catharsis in fyodor dostoevsky s works from the newspaper polemics of 1873 |
| topic | Aristotle Goethe Dostoyevsky catharsis purification through suffering criticism polemics feuilleton |
| url | http://poetica.pro/files/redaktor_pdf/1431516511.pdf |
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