Fyodor Dostoevsky and America: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Oldtown Folks and Issues of Calvinist Theology

Download:

PDF
Author: Tatyana V. Kovalevskaya
Information about the author:

Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Docent, Full Professor, Foreign Languages Department of the School of International Relations and Regional Studies, Institute for History and Archives, Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow).

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For citation:

Kovalevskaya T.V. Fyodor Dostoevsky and America: Harriet Beecher Stowe's Oldtown Folks and Issues of Calvinist Theology. Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological journal, 2020, No 2(10), pp.61-94.
Issue: 2020 № 2(10)
Department: HERMENEUTICS. SLOW READING
Pages: 61-94
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2020-2-61-94
UDK: 821.161.1
BBK: 83.3(2)
Keywords: Protestantism, Puritanism, Calvinism, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Oldtown Folks, Alexander Pushkin, “John Tanner,” the elect, predestination, The Devils.
Abstract: The article considers the image of America in Dostoevsky’s artistic philosophy. It gives a brief overview of existing research, including literary, political, and mythological aspects of the American topos in Dostoevsky. The article focuses on the philosophical and religious significance of America viewed as the product of two seemingly contradictory impulses. One is the Enlightenment concept of an ideal state (Alexander Pushkin in his article “John Tanner” writes about the failure of this utopian perception of America) and the second is Protestantism in its radical Puritan form (Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Oldtown Folks treats the issues of Puritans’ religious life; its Russian translation was published in the Zarya journal when Dostoevsky worked on The Devils). As the product of essentially anti-Christian, deistic philosophy of the Enlightenment (“Of the Religion of Deism Compared with the Christian Religion” by Thomas Paine, an English corset-maker and one of the ideological fathers of the American revolution, is particularly telling in this regard), America could already appear to Dostoevsky as a man-made dystopia. Puritans viewed themselves as the ancient Israel, the elect, God’s chosen people. Consequently, in full logical accord with the ideas of Rousseau in The Social Contract that theocracy means representing the national character of a people in the image of a god, America creates a religion of itself as a god. America must be believed in. In this capacity, America embodies Shatov’s idea of a god being the synthetic personality of the people that excludes all other gods irreconcilably. America thus becomes Russia’s religious and political opposite as America exemplifies what happens when God is reduced an attribute of nationality as opposed to keeping the true image of God in people’s soul as Dostoevsky viewed the mission of a God-bearing people.

References

1. Averintsev, S.S. Vizantiia i Rus: dva tipa dukhovnosti. [Byzantium and Rus: Two Types of Spirituality]. [Electronic resource] URL: https://topreading.ru/bookread/202273-sergei-averincev-vizantiya-i-rus-dva-tipa-duhovnosti (accessed on March 29, 2020) (in Russ.)

2. Batalov, E.Ia. Russkaia ideia i amerikanskaia mechta. [The Russian Idea and the American Dream] Moscow, Progress-Traditsiia Publ., 2009. 383 p. (in Russ.)

3. Bessonov, P.A. Kaleki perekhozhie. [Wandering Cripples]. 2 books, 6 issues. Moscow, A. Semen’s Press, 1861–1864. (in Russ.)

4. Biblioteka literatury Drevnei Rusi [Library of Old Rus’ Literature]. 20 vols. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 2000–2015. (in Russ.)

5. Beecher Stowe, H. Oldtounskie starozhily [Oldtown Folks]. Zaria [Sunrise]. 1870 (1-4). (in Russ.)

6. Bograd, G. “Okazal li vliianie Edgar Po na tvorchestvo Dostoevskogo?” [Did Edgar Poe Have an Influence on Dostoevsky?]. Dostoevskii: Materialy i issledovaniia [Dostoevsky. Materials and Studies]. 2010 (19). Pp. 87-98. (in Russ.)

7. Bolshaia sovetskaia entsiklopediia [The Great Soviet Encyclopedia]. Moscow, Sovetskaia entsiklopediia Publ., 1969–1978. Vol. 1. 598 p. (in Russ.)

8. Buzina T.V. “Motivy russkikh dukhovnykh stikhov v tvorchestve Dostoevskogo” [Motifs from Russian Folk Spiritual Verses in Dostoevsky]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kultura. [Dostoevsky and World Culture]. 1996 (6). Pp. 62-81. (in Russ.)

9. Varentsov, V. Sbornik russkikh dukhovnykh stikhov [A Collection of Russian Folk Spiritual Verses]. St. Petersburg, Obshchestvennaia Polza Union’s Press, 1860. 248 p. (in Russ.)

10. Gorelov, A.A. “A.S. Khomiakov: uchenie o sobornosti i russkaia obshchina” [A.S. Khomyakov: The Teaching of Sobornost and the Russian Commune]. Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie. 2017 (2). Pp. 78-97. (in Russ.)

11. Dostoevskaia, A.G. Vospominaniia [Memoirs]. S.V. Belov, V.A. Tunimanov, eds. Moscow, Pravda Publ., 1987. 544 p. (in Russ.)

12. Dostoevskii, F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii v 30 t. [Complete Collected Works in 30 vols.] Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1972–1990. (in Russ.)

13. Kovalevskaia T.V. “Marmeladov kak mikrokosm: grekhopadenie, apokalipsis i narodnoe khristianstvo.” [Marmeladov as Microcosm: The Fall, the Apocalypse, and Folk Christianity]. Filologicheskie nauki. Voprosy teorii i praktiki [Philology. Issues in Theory and Practices]. 2 (56), 2016, ch. 1. Pp. 38-43. (in Russ.)

14. Kovalevskaia, T.V. Besy, ‘iskazhenie idei’ i khudozhestvennye printsipy Dostoevskogo. [The Devils, “Distortion of Ideas,” and Dostoevsky’s Artistic Principles]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kultura. Filologicheskii zhurnal. [Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological Journal] 2019 (1). Pp. 55-81. (in Russ.)

15. Kovalevskaia, T.V. “Dialog i polemika Dostoevskogo s formalnymi i naivnymi teologicheskimi vozzreniiami.” [Dostoevsky’s Dialog and Polemics with Formal and Naïve Theologies]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kultura. Filologicheskii zhurnal. [Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological Journal] 2019 (2). Pp. 124-145. (in Russ.)

16. Lipke, S. “Ambivalentnoe vospriiatie odnoi liuteranskoi traditsii u F.M. Dostoevskogo: motiv rozhdestvenskoi elki v rasskazakh pisatelia”. [The Ambivalent Perception of a Lutheran Tradition and the Christmas Tree Motif in Dostoevsky’s Short Stories]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kultura. Filologicheskii zhurnal. [Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological Journal] 2019 (1). Pp. 116-126. (in Russ.)

17. Losskii N.O. Dostoevskii i ego khristianskoe miroponimanie [Dostoevsky and his Christian Worldview]. New York, Chekhov Press, 1953. 406 p. (in Russ.)

18. Mukhametkhanova, R.M. “Religioznaia utopiia kak fenomen i poniatie.” [The Religious Utopia as a Phenomenon and as a Concept]. Vestnik Leningradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta im. A.S. Pushkina [Bulletin of A.S. Pushkin Leningrad State University]. 2013. Vol. 2. Issue 3. Pp. 207-217. (in Russ.)

19. Ogorodnikov, P.I. Ot Niu-Iorka do San-Frantsisko i obratno v Rossiiu [From New York to San Francisco and Back to Russia]. Zaria. 1870 (4-6, 9, 11-12). (in Russ.)

20. Pushkin A.S. Sobranie sochinenii v 10 t. [Collected Works in 10 vols.] Moscow, Pravda Publ., 1981. Vol. 7. 400 p. (in Russ.)

21. Renanskii, A.L. “Metafizika antiamerikanizma u F.M. Dostoevskogo” [The Metaphysics of Anti-Americanism in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Works]. Materialy globalnogo partnerstva po razvitiiu nauchnogo sotrudnichestva: sbornik nauchnykh statei [Materials of the Global Partnership on Development of Scientific Cooperation: Collected Academic Papers]. Moscow, 2015. Pp. 163-186. (in Russ.)

22. Rousseau, J.-J. Politicheskie sochineniia [Political Works]. Saint Petersburg, Vostok Publ., 2013. 640 p. (in Russ.)

23. Saltykov-Shchedrin, M.E. Nashi glupovskie dela [Our Affairs in the Town of Glupov]. URL: http://saltykov-schedrin.lit-info.ru/saltykov-schedrin/proza/satiry-v-proze/nashi-glupovskiedela.htm (in Russ.) (accessed on March 29, 2020)

24. Saltykov-Shchedrin M.Iu. Sobranie sochinenii v 20 t. [Collected Works in 20 vols.]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaia literature Publ., 1965–1977. (in Russ.)

25. Saraskina L.I. “Amerika kak mif i utopiia v tvorchestve Dostoevskogo.” [America as a Myth and as a Utopia in Dostoevsky’s Works]. Russkii put. URL: http://www.rp-net.ru/book/OurAutors/ saraskina/amerika.php (in Russ.) (accessed on March 29, 2020)

26. Sitnikova, Iu.V. “Kontsept ‘Amerika’ v proizvedeniiakh F. M. Dostoevskogo.” [The “America” Concept in F.M. Dostoevsky’s Works]. Shkola molodykh uchenykh po problemam gumanitarnykh, tekhnicheskikh, estestvennykh nauk. Sbornik materialov oblastnogo profilnogo seminara, 5-6 iiunia 2014 g [School for Young Academics on Problems Concerning Humanities, Technical and Natural Sciences. Proceedings of the Specialized Workshop. 5-6 June 2015]. Elets, EGU im. I. A. Bunina Publ., 2014. Pp. 7-11. (in Russ.)

27. Stepanian, K.A. Iavlenie i dialog v romanakh F. M. Dostoevskogo [The Appearance and the Dialog in Dostoevsky’s Novels]. St. Petersburg, Kriga Publ., 2009. 400 p. (in Russ.)

28. Tocqueville, A. de. Demokratiia v Amerike [Democracy in America]. Translated by V.P. Oleinik, E.P. Orlova, I.A. Malakhova, I.E. Ivanian, B.N. Vorozhtsov. Moscow, Progress Publ., 1992. 636 p. (in Russ.)

29. Falikova N.E. “Amerikanskie motivy v pozdnikh romanakh F. M. Dostoevskogo” [American Motifs in Dostoevsky’s Late Novels]. Novye aspekty v izuchenii Dostoevskogo. Sbornik nauchnykh trudov New Aspects of Dostoevsky Studies. Collected Academic papers]. Petrozavodsk, Petrozavodsk University Publ., 1994. Pp. 199-241. (in Russ.)

30. Iablokov, I.N. Religiovedenie: Uchebnoe posobie dlia studentov vuzov [Religious Studies: Student’s Textbook]. Uchebnyi slovar-minimum po religiovedeniiu [Student Dictionary of Religious Studies Terms]. I.N. Iablokov, ed. Moscow, Gardariki Publ., 2000. 536 p. (in Russ.)

31. Beattie, J.P. Policing and Punishment in London, 1660–1750. Oxford University Press, 2001. 491 p. (in English)

32. Beecher Stowe, Harriet. Oldtown Folks. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1896. 608 p. (in English)

33. Black’s Law Dictionary. Pocket Edition. Bryan A. Garner, Becky R. McDaniel, David W. Schultz, eds. West Group, 1996. 701 p. (in English)

34. Blake, Elizabeth A. Dostoevsky and the Catholic Underground. Northwestern University Press, 2014. 312 p. (in English)

35. Bunyan, J. The Pilgrim’s Progress. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by W.R. Owens. Oxford University Press, 2003. 333 p. (in English)

36. Clarkson, L. The Lost Sheep found, or The Prodigal returned to his Fathers house, after many a sad and weary Journey through many Religious Countreys, etc. London, Printed for the Author, 1660. Also available online: British Library URL: http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_10003721 3242.0x000001#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-1044%2C-123%2C3817%2C2451 (accessed on March 29, 2020)

37. Davis, J.C. Fear, Myth and History: The Ranters and the Historians. Cambridge University Press, 2002. 224 p. (in English)

38. Jones, R.M. Studies in Mystical Religion. London, Macmillan, 1909. 512 p. Also available online: Internet Archive Book collection: URL: https://archive.org/details/studiesinmystica00jone/ page/n8/mode/2up (in English) (accessed on March 29, 2020)

39. Hutchinson, E.J. “Dostoevsky’s Unintended Reformation”. The Calvinist International. URL: https://calvinistinternational.com/2019/03/15/dostoevskys-unintended-reformation/ (accessed on March 29, 2020) (in English)

40. Michels, R. Political Parties. A Sociological Studies of the Oligarchic Tendencies of Modern Democracy. Translated by Eden and Cedar Paul. New York, Hearst’s International Library Co., 1915. 416 p. (in English)

41. Paine, Th. “Of the Religion of Deism Compared with the Christian Religion” // Modern Source Textbook. URL: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/paine-deism.asp (accessed on March 29, 2020) (in English)