Existentialism, Epiphany, and Polyphony in Dostoevsky’s Post-Siberian Novels
Dostoevsky can be meaningfully read as a defender of Russian Orthodoxy; a psychologist; a polemicizing anti-nihilist ideologue; a Schillerian romantic; a Solovyovian believer in love, goodness, and beauty; a prophet. I approach Dostoevsky through a new lens—Dostoevsky as an existential phe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/1/59 |
| _version_ | 1818945582769635328 |
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| author | Bilal Siddiqi |
| author_facet | Bilal Siddiqi |
| author_sort | Bilal Siddiqi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Dostoevsky can be meaningfully read as a defender of Russian Orthodoxy; a psychologist; a polemicizing anti-nihilist ideologue; a Schillerian romantic; a Solovyovian believer in love, goodness, and beauty; a prophet. I approach Dostoevsky through a new lens—Dostoevsky as an existential phenomenologist. Although writers such as Kauffman, Camus, and Shestov have cast Dostoevsky as an existentialist, their readings often focus too heavily on the critique of rationalist thinking in Dostoevsky’s The Underground Man and explore Dostoevsky’s existentialism largely in ethical rather than in existential-ontological terms. My interpretation will instead demonstrate that the primary focus of Dostoevsky’s novels is on immanent existential-ontological truths—human life—rather than on transcendental, ideal truth, although the emphasis on the former does not negate the possible existence of the latter. This interpretation will also provide an original route towards a polyphonic reading of Dostoevsky. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T08:01:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b14b5d0a56ed4f0781a316f66031d8be |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T08:01:25Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-b14b5d0a56ed4f0781a316f66031d8be2022-12-21T19:47:31ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442019-01-011015910.3390/rel10010059rel10010059Existentialism, Epiphany, and Polyphony in Dostoevsky’s Post-Siberian NovelsBilal Siddiqi0SSEES, University College London, London WC1H 0BW, UKDostoevsky can be meaningfully read as a defender of Russian Orthodoxy; a psychologist; a polemicizing anti-nihilist ideologue; a Schillerian romantic; a Solovyovian believer in love, goodness, and beauty; a prophet. I approach Dostoevsky through a new lens—Dostoevsky as an existential phenomenologist. Although writers such as Kauffman, Camus, and Shestov have cast Dostoevsky as an existentialist, their readings often focus too heavily on the critique of rationalist thinking in Dostoevsky’s The Underground Man and explore Dostoevsky’s existentialism largely in ethical rather than in existential-ontological terms. My interpretation will instead demonstrate that the primary focus of Dostoevsky’s novels is on immanent existential-ontological truths—human life—rather than on transcendental, ideal truth, although the emphasis on the former does not negate the possible existence of the latter. This interpretation will also provide an original route towards a polyphonic reading of Dostoevsky.http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/1/59DostoevskyRussian Literatureexistentialismepiphanypolyphony |
| spellingShingle | Bilal Siddiqi Existentialism, Epiphany, and Polyphony in Dostoevsky’s Post-Siberian Novels Religions Dostoevsky Russian Literature existentialism epiphany polyphony |
| title | Existentialism, Epiphany, and Polyphony in Dostoevsky’s Post-Siberian Novels |
| title_full | Existentialism, Epiphany, and Polyphony in Dostoevsky’s Post-Siberian Novels |
| title_fullStr | Existentialism, Epiphany, and Polyphony in Dostoevsky’s Post-Siberian Novels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Existentialism, Epiphany, and Polyphony in Dostoevsky’s Post-Siberian Novels |
| title_short | Existentialism, Epiphany, and Polyphony in Dostoevsky’s Post-Siberian Novels |
| title_sort | existentialism epiphany and polyphony in dostoevsky s post siberian novels |
| topic | Dostoevsky Russian Literature existentialism epiphany polyphony |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/1/59 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bilalsiddiqi existentialismepiphanyandpolyphonyindostoevskyspostsiberiannovels |