Download:

PDF

Author: Nikolay N. Podosokorsky
Information about the author:

PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, Research Centre “Dostoevsky and World Culture,” A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya 25 a, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6310-1579

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

For citation:

Podosokorsky, N.N. “The Otherworld in Dostoevsky’s Short Story ‘Bobok’.” Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological journal, no. 1 (21), 2023, pp. 62–95. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2023-1-62-95

Received: 05 Feb. 2023
Published: 25 March 2023
Issue: 2023 no. 1 (21)
Department: POETICS. CONTEXT
Pages: 62-95
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2023-1-62-95
EDN:

https://elibrary.ru/XDVHTU

UDK: 821.161.1.0
BBK: 83.3
Keywords: “Bobok,” A Writer’s Diary, vision, otherworld, Aerial toll houses, Eckartshausen, Lucian, dialogues of the dead, beans, peas, Pythagoras, afterlife, afterworld, mysticism, evil spirits.
Abstract: The article is devoted to the study of the description of the otherworld in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s mystical story “Bobok,” first published in 1873 in the author’s column A Writer’s Diary of the weekly Grazhdanin (Dostoevsky was at the time both author and editor of the magazine.) The short story is considered in the context of other texts of the column and the writer’s previous statements about the problem of human afterlife. Special attention is paid in the article to the interpretation of the title of the story, with its reference to beans, which have been related to the world of the dead in many cultures since ancient times. For this reason, various sources on the history of religion, ethnography and folklore are considered. The article also deals with the theme of the dead souls’ passing through aerial toll houses in the story and the unexpected role people play in this passage according to Dostoevsky. It is proved that the most obvious and attention-grabbing journalistic and satirical layer of the story “Bobok” does not exhaust the author’s intention at all, and it is not able to determine the depth of this work.

References

1. Shereshevskaia, N., and Kliagina-Kondrat’eva, M., eds. Angliiskie narodnye skazki [English Folk Tales]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaia literatura Publ., 1957. 207 p. (In Russ.)

2. Andrei Belyi. “Tragediia tvorchestva. Dostoevskii i Tolstoi” [“The Tragedy of Art. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy”]. Kritika. Estetika. Teoriia simbolizma: v 2 tomakh [Critics. Esthetics. Theory of Symbolism: in 2 vols], vol. 1. Intro. and comp. by A.L. Kazin; comm. by A.L. Kazin and N.V. Kudriasheva. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1994, pp. 392–421. (In Russ.)
3. Antonii [Khrapovitskii], mitr. F.M. Dostoevskii kak propovednik vozrozhdeniia [Dostoevsky as a Prophet of Re-Birth]. Posthumus edition edited and prefaced by Archbishop Nikon (Rklitsky). Monreal, Izd. Severo-amerikanskoi i kanadskoi eparkhii Publ., 1965. 311 p. (In Russ.)

4. Artemidorus. Sonnik [Oneirokritikon]. Comp., ed. by R.B. Grishchenkov. St. Petersburg, Kristall Publ., 1999. 448 p. (In Russ.)

5. Afonasin, E., Afonasina, A., and Shchetnikov, A. Pifagoreiskaia traditsiia [The Pythagorean Tradition]. St. Petersburg, RKhGA Publ., Pal’mira Publ., 2017. 749 p. (In Russ.)

6. Bakhtin, M.M. Sobranie sochinenii: v 7 tomakh [Collected Works: in 7 vols], vol. 6. Ed. by S.G. Bocharov, L.A. Gogotishvili. Moscow, Russkie slovari Publ., Iazyki slavianskoi kul’tury Publ., 2002. 799 p. (In Russ.)

7. Bogdanov, K.A. Povsednevnost’ i mifologiia: Issledovaniia po semiotike fol’klornoi deistvitel’nosti [Everyday Life and Mythology: Research on the Semiotics of Folklore]. St. Petersburg, Iskusstvo-SPB Publ., 2001. 438 p. (In Russ.)

8. Vladimirtsev, V.P. “Bobok” [“Bobok”]. Shchennikov, G.K., and Tikhomirov, B.N., eds. Dostoevskii: Sochineniia, pis’ma, dokumenty: Slovar’-spravochnik [Dostoevsky: Essays, Letters, Documents: A Reference Dictionary]. St. Petersburg, Pushkinskii Dom Publ., 2008, pp. 33–34. (In Russ.)

9. Vlaskin, A.P. “Bobok” [“Bobok”]. Shchennikov, G.K., and Tikhomirov, B.N., eds. Dostoevskii: Sochineniia, pis’ma, dokumenty: Slovar’-spravochnik [Dostoevsky: Essays, Letters, Documents: A Reference Dictionary]. St. Petersburg, Pushkinskii Dom Publ., 2008, pp. 31–33. (In Russ.)

10. Voltaire. Filosofskie sochineniia [Philosophical Works]. Trans. from French by S.Ia. Sheiman-Topshtein; ed., comp., prefaced by V.N. Kuznetsov. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1988. 752 p. (In Russ.)

11. Gavrilova, L.A. “‘Bobok’ F.M. Dostoevskogo: problema zhanra” [“Dostoevsky’s ‘Bobok’: The Problem of Genre”]. Verkhnevolzhskii filologicheskii vestnik, no. 4 (23), 2020, pp. 16–24. (In Russ.)

12. [Dal’, V.I.] Russkie skazki, iz predaniia narodnogo izustnogo na gramotu grazhdanskuiu perelozhennye, k bytu zhiteiskomu prinorovlennye i pogovorkami khodiachimi razukrashennye Kazakom Vladimirom Luganskim [Russian Tales, Translated from the Oral Tradition into Civil Writing, Adjusted to the Worldly Life and Embellished with Popular Sayings by Cossack Vladimir Lugansky]. St. Petersburg, Tip. A. Pliushara Publ., 1832. 201 p. (In Russ.)

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

14. Dumézil, G. Religiia drevnego Rima [Archaic Roman Religion]. Trans. from French by T.I. Smolianskaya; ed. by F.A. Pirvits and T.G. Sidash; trans. from Latin by A.E. Gudz’. St. Petersburg, Kvadrivium Publ., 2018. 896 p. (In Russ.)

15. Zhivopisnoe izobrazhenie i opisanie o sviatoi Feodore, kak prokhodila ona dvadtsat’ vozdushnykh mytarstv, i vosvestila o tom v sonnom videnii, ucheniku prep. Vasiliia Novogo, Grigoriiu: Vziato iz Zhitiia prep. Vasiliia Novogo. Marta 26 dnia [A Pictorial Image and Description of Saint Theodora, How She Passed through Twenty Aerial Toll Houses, and Announced it in a Dream Vision to Gregory, Disciple of St. Basil the Younger: Taken from the Life of St. Basil the Younger. March, 26th]. Moscow, Universitetskaia tip. Publ., 1843. 49 p. (In Russ.)

16. Kofanov, L.L., editor. Zhrecheskie kollegii v Rannem Rime. K voprosu o stanovlenii rimskogo sakral’nogo i publichnogo prava [The Priestly Collegiums in Early Rome. On the Formation of Roman Sacred and Public Law]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2001. 328 p. (In Russ.)

17. Zelinskii, F.F. Istoriia antichnykh religii: v 6 tomakh [History of the Ancient Religions: in 6 vols], vol. 4. Trans. from Polish by I.G. Bei; ed. by T.G. Sidash and S.D. Sapozhnikova. St. Petersburg, Kvadrivium Publ., 2016. 864 p. (In Russ.)

18. “Iz ‘Zhitiia Vasiliia Novogo’. Khozhdenie Feodory po vozdushnym mytarstvam” [“From the ‘Life of Basil the Younger.’ The Passing of Theodora through the Aerial Toll Houses”]. Comp. by Iu.A. Gribov and A.V. Pigin; trans. by M.B. Mikhailova and V.V. Semakov; comm. by A.V. Pigin. Biblioteka literatury drevnei Rusi: v 20 tomakh [A Library of Ancient Russian Literature: in 20 vols], vol. 8: XIV — pervaia polovina XVI veka [14th – First Half of the 16th Century]. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 2003, pp. 494–527. (In Russ.)

19. Kasatkina, T.A. “Shiller u Dostoevskogo: Elevsinskie misterii v ‘Brat’iakh Karamazovykh’” [“Schiller in Dostoevsky’s Works: Eleusinian Mysteries in The Brothers Karamazov”]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kul’tura. Filologicheskii zhurnal, no. 4 (8), 2019, pp. 68–89. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2019-4-68-89

20. Kasatkina, T.A. “Kak i zachem chitat’ Dostoevskogo?” [“How and Why Read Dostoevsky?”]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kul’tura. Filologicheskii zhurnal, no. 1 (21), 2023, pp. 27–37. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2023-1-27-37

21. Kerényi, K. Elevzin: Arkhitepicheskii obraz materi i docheri [Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter]. Trans. from English. Moscow, Refl-buk Publ., 2000. 288 p. (In Russ.)

22. Kukhnia ved’m: Poleznye tainy [The Kitchen of the Witches: Useful Misteries]. Trans. from Latin by D. Zakharova and E. Vaneeva. St. Petersburg, Azbuka-klassika Publ., 2009. 488 p. (In Russ.)

23. Lopacheva, M.K. “‘Bobok budet serioznyi…’ (Dostoevskii v khudozhestvennom mire Georgiia Ivanova)” [“‘Bobok Will be Serious…’ (Dostoevsky in the Artistic World of Georgy Ivanov)”]. Russkaia literatura, no. 3, 2012, pp. 191–204. (In Russ.)

24. Lucian of Samosata. Izbrannoe [Selected Works]. Trans. from Ancient Greek. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaia literatura Publ., 1962. 516 p. (In Russ.)

25. Magaril-Il’iaeva, T.G. “Komediia Vol’tera ‘Bludnyi syn’ v romane Dostoevskogo ‘Podrostok’” [“Voltaire’s Comedy The Prodigal Son in Dostoevsky’s Novel The Adolescent”]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kul’tura. Filologicheskii zhurnal, no. 3 (15), 2021, pp. 16–38. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2021-3-16-38

26. Tokarev, S.A., editor. Mify narodov mira. Entsiklopediia: v 2 tomakh [Myths from the People of the World. Encyclopedia: in 2 vols]. 2nd Edition. Moscow, Bol’shaia Rossiiskaia entsiklopediia Publ., 2000. (In Russ.)

27. Petrova, A.V. “F.M. Dostoevskii — avtor ‘Dnevnika pisatelia’ v otklikakh gazetnoi periodiki 1873–1874 gg. (po materialam rukopisnogo fonda Gosudarstvennogo muzeia istorii rossiiskoi literatury imeni V.I. Dalia)” [“Fyodor Dostoevsky, Author of A Writer’s Diary in the Reactions of Periodicals in 1873–1874 (Based on the Materials of the Manuscript Department at the Vladimir
Dahl State Museum of the History of Russian Literature)”]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kul’tura. Filologicheskii zhurnal, no. 4 (12), 2020, pp. 134–157. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2020-4-134-157

28. Podosokorskii, N.N. Napoleonovskaia tema v romane F.M. Dostoevskogo “Idiot” [The Theme of Napoleon in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Novel The Idiot: PhD Dissertation]. Velikii Novgorod, 2009. 176 p. (In Russ.)

29. Podosokorskii, N.N. “Prizraki ‘Belykh nochei’: mason v pautine posmertiia, maiskaia utoplennitsa i dukh tsaria Solomona” [“Ghosts of White Nights: A Freemason in the Net of Afterlife, The Maiden Drowned in May and the King Solomon’s Spirit”]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kul’tura. Filologicheskii zhurnal, no. 3 (7), 2019, pp. 88–116. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2019-3-88-116

30. Podosokorskii, N.N. “Religioznyi aspect napoleonovskogo mifa v romane ‘Prestuplenie i nakazanie’: obraz ‘Napoleona-proroka’ i misticheskie sekty russkikh raskol’nikov-pochitatelei Napoleona” [“The Religious Element of the Myth of Napoleon in the Novel Crime and Punishment: The Image of ‘Napoleon-Prophet’ and the Mystic Sects of Russian Schismatics, Worshippers of Napoleon”]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kul’tura. Filologicheskii zhurnal, no. 2 (18), 2022, pp. 89–143. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2022-2-89-143

31. Sakharov, I.P. Skazaniia russkogo naroda [Tales of Russian People], vol. 1. Ed. by O.A. Platonov. Moscow, Institut russkoi tsivilizatsii Publ., 2013. 800 p. (In Russ.)

32. Sventsitskaia, E.M. “Svoeobrazie khudozhestvennosti maloi prozy F.M. Dostoevskogo (na materiale rasskaza ‘Bobok’ i povesti ‘Krotkaia’)” [“The Peculiarities of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Short Works in Prose (Based on the Tale ‘Bobok’ and the Short Story ‘A Gentle Creature’)”]. Literaturavedcheskii sbornik, no. 51–52, 2013, pp. 121–133. (In Russ.)

33. Semykina, R.S.-I. “Metafizika kladbishcha v tvorchestve F.M. Dostoevskogo i V.Iu. Mamleeva” [“The Metaphysic of Cemetery in the Works of F.M. Dostoevsky and Yu.V. Mamleev”]. Filologiia i chelovek, no. 1, 2006, pp. 51–60. (In Russ.)

34. Tolstoi, N.I., editor. Slavianskie drevnosti: Etnolingvisticheskii slovar’ v 5 tomakh [Slavic Antiquities: An Ethnolinguistic Dictionary in 5 vols]. Moscow, Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniia Publ., 1995–2012. (In Russ.)

35. Tikhomirov, B.N. “Dostoevskii i traktat E. Svedenborga ‘O nebesakh, o mire dukhov i obade’” [Dostoevsky and Emanuel Swedenborg’s book Heaven and Hell”]. Neizvestnyi Dostoevskii, no. 3, 2016, pp. 92–127. (In Russ.)

36. Tereshchenko, A. Byt russkogo naroda [Everyday Life of Russian People], part IV. St. Petersburg, Tip. Voenno-uchebnykh zavedenii Publ., 1848. 221 p. (In Russ.)

37. Tunimanov, V.A. “Portret s borodavkami (‘Bobok’) i vopros o ‘realizme’ v iskusstve” [“A Portrait with Warts (‘Bobok’) and the Question on ‘Realism’ in Art”]. Dostoevskii. Materialy i issledovaniia [Dostoevsky: Materials and Research], vol. 14, 1997, pp. 171–179. (In Russ.)

38. Freidenberg, O.M. Poetika siuzheta i zhanra [Poetics of Plot and Genre]. Ed. by N.V. Braginskaia. Moscow, Labirint Publ., 1997. 448 p. (In Russ.)

39. Khamitov, M.P. “Razgovory v tsarstve mertvykh: ‘Bobok’ F.M. Dostoevskogo” [“Discussion in the Realm of the Dead: ‘Bobok’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky”]. Dostoevskii. Materialy i issledovaniia [Dostoevsky: Materials and Research], vol. 21, 2016, pp. 29–43. (In Russ.)

40. Tsirkin, Iu.B. Mify Drevnego Rima [Myths of Ancient Rome]. Moscow, Astrel’: AST Publ., 2000. 560 p. (In Russ.)

41. Shatin, Iu.V. “‘Bobok’ Dostoevskogo: khudozhestvennyi fenomen v sisteme tselovo” [“‘Bobok’ of Dostoevsky: An Artistic Phenomenon in the System of the Whole”]. Kritika i semiotika, no. 1, 2022, pp. 216–227. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25205/2307-1737-2022-1-216-227

42. Shul’ts, S.A. “Zhanrovaia traditsiia ‘dialogov mertvykh’ v rasskaze Dostoevskogo ‘Bobok’” [“The Tradition of the Genre ‘Dialogues of the Dead” in Dostoevsky’s Tale ‘Bobok’”]. Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka, vol. 72, no. 5, 2013, pp. 26–30. (In Russ.)

43. Eckartshausen, K. Kliuch k tainstvam natury [The Key to the Mysteries of Nature], part II. St. Petersburg, Morskaia tip., 1821. 360 p. (In Russ.)