№ 2, 2022 year

The article substantiates the principles of studying the graphic content of Dostoevsky᾽s handwritten texts and creating an electronic catalog of graphic samples that would include the most representative examples of the writer᾽s handwriting and their scientific description. The research material is Dostoevsky᾽s workbooks, which include entries of various kinds: rough sketches for artistic and journalistic ideas, letter drafts, notes for memory, addresses, calculations related to household and editorial and publishing . The variety of the material under study allows us to collect more informative and complete data on the specifics of graphic characteristics in the writer᾽s texts. The analysis and systematization of handwriting features, typical and atypical handwriting, are productive in deciphering the so-called “difficult readings” and are important for understanding the semantic context of Dostoevsky᾽s recordings, in some cases allowing to clarify important factual information. The practical value of the research lies in the possibility of using the data obtained in the study of hard-to-read handwriting, illegible spellings, as well as in the analysis of non-verbal forms of Dostoevsky᾽s graphics and their role in the creative process of the author. To solve these problems, a special toolkit has been developed that allows for the research selection of graphic images and their description.Dostoevsky, handwritten heritage, textual studies, handwriting, writing, cursive, calligraphy, verbal and nonverbal graphics

The article deals with a difficult case of establishing the status of a manuscript written with elements of calligraphy, which makes it difficult to determine whether it is a fair copy or a clerical copy. The object of textual analysis was the manuscript of Dostoevsky's first “Siberian ode” “On European Events in 1854”, the publication of which in several authoritative periodicals addressed the issue in different ways. In the academic Complete Works of Dostoevsky (1st and 2nd editions), the manuscript of the poem, which is stored in the State Archives of the Russian Federation (fund of the III Department), is qualified as a fair copy, although not without hesitation. In the Petrozavodsk Complete Collected Works (“Canonical Texts”), the status of the manuscript is established as a clerical copy. The article shows that the discrepancy in the conclusions of authoritative textual critics is due to the uniqueness of this manuscript, which is written in a special type of handwriting with elements of calligraphy, where numerous letter styles comply with the patterns recorded in the educational copybooks of the 1830–1850s. When establishing the status of the manuscript, the method of double comparison of the handwriting used, on the one hand, with calligraphic notes from Dostoevsky's 1860s workbooks, and on the other hand, with samples from educational copybooks. This allowed to identify a number of individual features characteristic of the writer in the handwriting version with elements of calligraphy, primarily in the inscriptions of capital letters, and to firmly establish that it is a fair copy. At the same time, handwriting analysis allowed to draw a conclusion about Dostoevsky’s special psychological state in April 1854, three months after he came out of prison. At that time he was working on the manuscript of the patriotic poem “On European Events in 1854”, intended for sending by official means to the capital with the hope of being published in “St. Petersburg Vedomosti”.F. M. Dostoevsky, poem “On European events in 1854”, textual criticism, attribution, handwriting, calligraphy, fair copy, clerical copy, educational copybooks

The article discusses the debatable issues in the study of the unfinished short novel by N. A. Nekrasov about F. M. Dostoevsky. Nekrasov played an important role in the evolution of Dostoevsky’s literary reputation. The novel “Poor Folk” became a sensation in 1845–1846, and its author was called a genius. In the mid-1850s Nekrasov undertook a revision of these events. The prototypes of his characters are real people. The short novel presents three characters: Mertsalov (Belinsky), Glazhievsky (Dostoevsky), Chudov (Nekrasov). Their images are distinctive and unambiguous. Mertsalov is contradictory: he greets the young writer with enthusiasm, but he is cruel and demanding of “literary sympathizers”, whom he perceives as servants. Only Chudov is revealed as a positive hero. He is not an intriguer, is honest and critical of all participants in this literary story, condemns intrigues and gossip. A character of this work, he is also the author’s alter ego. As a prototype, Dostoevsky is explored in Nekrasov’s text from three perspectives. Acting as a memoirist, Nekrasov presents Dostoevsky as a writer and as a historical figure. A documentary approach prevails in these episodes, the author uses the facts of the biography of the writer, who found himself at the epicenter of St. Petersburg literary life in the mid-1840s. As a critic, Nekrasov analyzes the creative experience of early Dostoevsky, recognizing Makar Devushkin and Golyadkin in the author. As a journalist and editor, Nekrasov presents Dostoevsky as a character of gossip, rumors, Belinsky’s satirical message to Dostoevsky, I. Panaev’s feuilletons. This is an exaggerated and caricature image of a young genius who is not ready for this role, who is insolvent as a person, and therefore ridiculed and rejected by Belinsky’s entourage. Nekrasov made the story of Glazhievskiy an instructive one. The author exposes his characters. There are contradictions within the characters, but no complexity. He is interested in the subject matter, but not in its participants. At first, Nekrasov was carried away by the topic, but later lost interest in it.Dostoevsky, Nekrasov, Belinsky, Panaev, brilliant, triumph, gossip, scandal, prototype, character

The first part of the novel “Alexey Slobodin. Family History” was published in the 10th, 11th and 12th issues of “Vestnik Evropy” for 1872, under the pseudonym P. Al’minsky (A. I. Pal’m). A critical review of Pal’m’s work was posted anonymously in “Grazhdanin” (“Citizen”) (1873, no. 1). In his notebook, F. M. Dostoevsky entrusted the writing of the review to V. P. Meshchersky. In 1935, E. N. Konshina linked the writer’s note with a review of Pal’m’s novel. V. V. Vinogradov was the first to declare Dostoevsky’s authorship. The researchers tried to resolve the issue unambiguously: it was either Dostoevsky or Meshchersky. However, Dostoevsky’s editorial work involved various forms of interaction. Review of “Alexey Slobodin. Family History” is based on the concept of artistic types, which was developed by Dostoevsky. He tasked Meshchersky with writing the review and provided him with a review plan. There are several fragments in the critical review that make it possible to recognize Dostoevsky as a co-author. Thus, an appeal to the of Savely Tuberozov type precedes the review of the novel by N. S. Leskov (Stebnitsky) “Soboryane” published in the fourth issue. There is a similarity in the description of this image. In his analysis of Leskov’s work Dostoevsky reveals the concept of type in more detail than Meshchersky. The controversy with A. N. Pypin, presented in the article on the novel “Palma,” also belongs to Dostoevsky. The style is noticeably incosistent, which indicates that the text resulted from the simultaneous work of two authors: Meshchersky and Dostoevsky. The article presents additional arguments in favor of the fact that Dostoevsky was one of the authors of the review of Leskov’s novel “Soboryane.” The mathematical methods used in this study confirm this hypothesis.Dostoevsky, Meshchersky, “Grazhdanin”, “Citizen”), A. I. Pal’m, P. Alminsky, novel, “Alexei Slobodin. Family history”, N. S. Leskov, Stebnitsky, “Soboryane”, attribution, review

“A Writer's Diary” is an example of the unique journalistic style of Dostoevsky, who worked in many journalistic genres, including political review. The writer analyzed current domestic and international events, relying on a large volume of the metropolitan, provincial and foreign press, as well as appealing to examples from distant and recent history. Extracts from an article by the Russian antiquarian M. S. Kutorga, found in the working materials for “A Writer's Diary” for 1876, are a vivid example of such appeals. Dostoevsky is interested in the thoughts of Plato and Aristotle cited by Kutorga about tyranny, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, and also about Solon's reforms. This article provides a factual and textual commentary on the extracts, determines their connection with the contents of the 1875–1876 notebook. The facts of ancient history, interpreted by the ancient Greek philosophers and, subsequently, by the Russian historian, resonate with the historiosophical concept of Dostoevsky, who defends the monarchical and Orthodox positions.Dostoevsky, M. S. Kutorga, antiquity, Plato, Aristotle, monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, democracy, polity, autocracy, people, “dim”, dem, demos

The article deals with the relevant problem of terminological description of Dostoevsky’s “gospel text,” which is based on the thesaurus as the basic lexicon of scientific language. Accordingly, the purpose and objectives of the article are to explicate the terminological thesaurus of the “gospel text,” which functions in Dostoevsky-related research and contains the key concepts of general (theoretical) poetics, historical poetics, ethnopoetics, theology and philosophy. A thesaurus approach is implemented in the study of this terminology, integrating “machine analysis” and “human interpretation” of the source data. The presented terminological dictionary is quite representational of the current state of Dostoevsky’s gospel text studies. The visual results of its digital processing clearly show the trend towards the joint use of poetological, theological and philosophical categories. It is therefore concluded that the analysis of the terminological thesaurus is productive in assessing the integrity of the metalanguage of Dostoevsky’s gospel text studies, a language that in its current state is characterized by great interdiscursivity.Dostoevsky, “the Gospel text”, terminology, thesaurus, discourse, machine analysis, “human interpretation”

The creative heritage of F. M. Dostoevsky has always aroused interest among Iranian researchers and lovers of Russian literature. The article is devoted to the study of Dostoevsky’s influence on the formation and development of Persian literature. This influence found expression in such a peculiar phenomenon as a triple translation: the translation of Dostoevsky’s novel into Persian, the translation of literary text into cinematic language, and the translation of Christian content into the language of Islamic culture. The article contains an analysis of the film adaptation of “White Nights,” which was released in 2002. The author of the script for the film is Saeed Aghighi, the author of the production is an outstanding Iranian film director Farzad Motamen. The feature film is a free adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novel “White Nights” to modern Persian spatial, temporal, cultural and religious features. It can be considered the only successful Iranian film adaptation of the works of Russian classics. The film was the result of a creative dialogue of the translator, screenwriter and director with the author, interaction and mutual enrichment of different types of arts, national cultures and confessions, literary, philosophical and religious codes of communication.Dostoevsky, Iran, Farzad Motamen, “White Nights”, Russian literature, film adaptation, national mentality, the dreamer

Robert Louis Jackson, a specialist in Russian literature of the XIX century, author of books about Dostoevsky, Professor Emeritus of Slavic Studies at Yale University, died on May 3. The editorial board of the scientific journal "The Unknown Dostoevsky" expresses its deepest condolences to the professor's family and colleagues. The publication presents a speech by Professor Jackson, which was delivered in 2001 at Petrozavodsk University. It is relevant today more than ever.Robert Louis Jackson, Professor, Dostoevsky, Russian literature, teacher