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Abstract:

The article for the first time undertakes a comparative analysis of the approaches of Vyacheslav Ivanov and Alfred Bem to the image of Sonya Marmeladova, the heroine of the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The focus of attention are Ivanov’s book Dostoevsky: Tragedy — Myth — Mysticism (1932) and Bem’s works The Twilight of Hero (Etude to the Work: “Reflection of the ‛The Queen of Spades’ in Dostoevsky’s Heritage”) (1931), “Faust” in Dostoevsky’s Works (1937), and Dostoevsky. Psychoanalytical Studies (1938). It is noted that although the two researchers did not intend to consider the peculiarities of Dostoevsky’s perception of femininity and feminine, their reflections on Sonya Marmaladova are indicative from the point of view of gender code. Both authors remained within typically Modernist paradigm of thinking in understanding the functions of this image. The researcher from Prague spoke of Sonya as a “mirror” and “shadow” of Raskolnikov. Both A. Bem and Vyach. Ivanov perceived her as a mediating figure and were prone to the sacralization of her image (they noted her connection with Eternal Femininity, Mother Earth, Sophia). At the same time, Ivanov’s book reveals innovative tendencies, as he pointed out individual, personal traits in the inner world of the heroine, recognized her subjectivity. It is concluded that the variations in the perception of this female character by the two researchers are due to their methodological divergence, as well as fundamental differences in their understanding of the artistic specificity of the novel.