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 A.M.GORKY INSTITUTE OF WORLD LITERATURE
OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

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fedor@dostmirkult.ru

ISSN 2619-0311 (Print)
ISSN 2712-8512 (Online)

The Elusiveness of Symbols. On the Illustrations to Crime and Punishment

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  • Author: Elena V. Stepanian
  • Information about the author:

    PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Department of Literature, Moscow State Institute of Culture, Bibliotechnaya 7, 141406 Khimki, Russia.

    https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2175-1386

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

    Stepanian, E.V. “The Elusiveness of Symbols. On the Illustrations to Crime and Punishment.” Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological journal, no. 3 (19), 2022, pp. 87–100. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2022-3-87-100
  • Received: 05 July 2022
  • Approved after reviewing: 11 July 2022
  • Published: 25 Sept. 2022
  • Issue: 2022 no. 3 (19)
  • Department: POETICS. CONTEXT
  • Pages: 87–100
  • DOI: Visit Website
  • EDN:

    https://elibrary.ru/EPTKBH
  • UDK: 821.161.1.0
  • BBK: 83.3(2=411.2)
  • Publication Type: Research Article
  • Keywords: F.M. Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, illustration, visibility, symbol, illustrator, literary image.
  • Abstract: The author analyses the question of illustrations of Russian literary classics, on the example of well-known graphic series to Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment. Literary illustrations have gone a long way, and their history is rich in renowned names of masters who had created visual images of characters from Russian classics. However, illustrations remain a “borderline” genre as they visualize material intended for our inner vision. This is where challenges and incongruities often arise when the attentive reader is not satisfied by the artistic representation suggested by the illustrator. The author assumes that an ideal illustration, truly conveying the literary image-symbol, is quite difficult to accomplish and attempts to explore the nature of such difficulties. A symbol is rooted in reality, and its external shell is taken from life. At the same time, a symbol should not lose its promising and suggestive nature; the external veracity of an image reveals an immeasurable host of meanings. The reader/viewer is expected to sense this multiplicity of meanings. But is a specific image always capable of communicating the multiple meanings on which the image/symbol is based? The author analyses the illustrative series of Dostoevsky’s novel created by M. Dobuzhinsky, D. Shmarinov, E. Neizvestny, I. Glazunov, and M. Shemyakin and finds that in some cases there is a tilt toward either the subject being too recognizable, i.e., naturalistic (Shmarinov) or the interpretation of Dostoevsky characters’ messages being too optional (Neizvestny). A very definite portrayal of the heroes of Crime and Punishment by Glazunov strips them of the inner dynamics on which their natures and destinies are based. The author proposes that the best course was chosen by Dobuzhinsky, whose characters are shown most often as if fleetingly, from the back, in profile, or from afar. This way not only their appearances or scenes from the novel, but architectural details, images of streets and yards, or household items as well tell us a lot about their lives and fates. This approach does not impose anything on the readers but rather helps them to sense the aura surrounding the characters and gives a chance to get in contact with their personalities. The freedom such illustrations grants the imagination turns the reader into a coauthor of the writer and artist.

References

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2. Gerchuk, Iu.Ia. Osnovy khudozhestvennoi gramoty [Basics of Artistic Literacy]. Moscow, RIPKholding Publ., 2016. 102 p. (In Russ.)

3. Goncharova, N.G. Dostoevskii v zerkalakh grafiki i kritiki [Dostoyevsky in the Mirrors of Graphics and Critiсism]. URL: https://clib.me/b/435556-nina-georgievna-goncharova-dostoevskiy-v-zerkalah-grafiki-i-kritiki Accessed 27 June 2022. (In Russ.)

4. Dostoevskii, F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: v 30 tomakh [Complete Works: in 30 vols]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1972–1990. (In Russ.)

5. Makovskii, S.K. Mstislav Dobuzhinskii – grafik [Mstislav Dobuzhinsky – Graphic Artist]. URL: https://lit.wikireading.ru/h7md5DQCfx Accessed 27 June 2022. (In Russ.)

6. Mandelshtam, O.E. Sobranie sochinenii v 4 tomakh [Collected Works in 4 vols]. Vol. 3-4. Moscow, Terra Publ., 1991. 674 p. (In Russ.)

7. Perova, I.N. Neizvestnyi. Illustratsii k “Prestupleniiu i nakazaniiu” [Neizvestny. Illustrations to Crime and Punishment]. URL: https://perova3.jimdofree.com Accessed 23 June 2022. (In Russ.)

8. Samarin, A. Comment on “Il’ia Glazunov kak illiustrator” [“Ilya Glazunov as an Illustrator”]. Illustrators.ru, 11 June 2017. URL: https://illustrators.ru/posts/ilya-glazunov-kak-illyustrator Accessed 27 June 2022. (In Russ.)

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