Information about the author:
Tatiana G. Magaril-Il’iaeva
Tatiana G. Magaril-Il’iaeva, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, Research Centre “Dostoevsky and World Culture,” А.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25A, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7521-1898
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Abstract:
The article presents reflections on Dostoevsky’s spiritual path during the pre-prison period of his life and work, based on testimonies of both Dostoevsky’s contemporaries and himself. It analyzes his statements about inspiration and the essence of the creative process, and considers how these affirmations were reflected in his art. Additionally, it examines the feuilletons Dostoevsky wrote in 1847 for the column “St. Petersburg Chronicle” in the newspaper Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti. In these texts, Dostoevsky sought to present a general picture of his worldview, operating not with philosophical and theological concepts, but with artistic images- symbols, which are present in other texts of this period. However, in his journalistic work, these images-symbols are more pronounced due to the lack of an explicit plot, making them easier to consider and understand compared to their integration into the complex structure of his fictional works.
Keywords: Fyodor Dostoevsky, authorial theories of art, Dostoevsky’s early works, “St. Petersburg Chronicle,” feuilletons, the concept of news, the motif of sun.
