Abstract: The article concerns the ambiguous motif of illusoriness and its significance in F.M. Dostoevsky’s novel White nights. The motif pervades the whole novel, manifesting itself in different meanings of its paradigm (a reverie, a dream, a vision, a deception, a “spirit within”, etc.), refining and concentrating the author’s ideas about the sickly process of dreaming and its healing.

References

Даль 2008 – Dal’ V.I. Tolkovyi slovar' zhivogo velikorusskogo iazyka [Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language]. Moscow, Eksmo Publ., 2008. 938 p. (In Russ.)

Достоевский 1972–1990 – Dostoevsky F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: V 30 t. [Complete Works: In 30 vols.]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1972. (In Russ.)