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

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ISSN 2619-0311 (Print)
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Problems of Theatrical and Cinematographic Reception of Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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  • Author: Andrei O. Nasedkin
  • Information about the author:

    Senior Research Laboratory Assistant, Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkinkiy Dom) RAS, Makarova nab., 4, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.

    https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8274-2790

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

    Nasedkin, A.O. “Problems of Theatrical and Cinematographic Reception of Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky.” Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological journal, no. 1 (29), 2025, pp. 290–318. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2025-1-290-318
  • Received: 29 June 2024
  • Approved after reviewing: 14 July 2024
  • Published: 25 Mar. 2025
  • Issue: 2025 no. 1 (29)
  • Department: DOSTOEVSKY IN THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES
  • Pages: 290-318
  • DOI: Visit Website
  • EDN:

    https://elibrary.ru/VOPDMY
  • UDK: 821.161.1.0
  • BBK: 83.3(2Рос=Рус)
  • Publication Type: Research Article
  • Keywords: Dostoevsky, Demons, theatrical production, film adaptation, modern theatre, theatre criticism, film criticism.
  • Abstract: The theatrical and cinematic fate of the novel Demons is largely determined by the historical context in which the work on a particular play or film about it was carried out. This article examines the key events in the novel’s non-literary life, as well as presents the critical reception of contemporaries who often engage in polemics. Among other things, it attempts to understand what makes a theatrical or cinematic adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novel artistically successful or not. Starting with the first theatrical production of Demons in 1907, the review ends with the performance of the St. Petersburg theatre “Masterskaya” staged in the bicentenary of the writer’s birth. The interest of directors in Dostoevsky’s novel increased in the decisive historical periods. One of the most successful productions of Demons in the 1990s was Lev Dodin’s play at the Theatre of Europe (MDT). Demons has also been successful in new forms of theatre, such as immersive theatre. The review also includes the foreign creative reception of the novel. Demons is of interest both to the directors of the French “new wave,” who use Dostoevsky’s novel in their sharply political works, and to authors such as the Polish director Andrzej Wajda, who try to understand their own national identity through the prism of Russian literature. It is also possible to identify two directorial approaches to the novel: some authors try to divide the Demons into separate components (conditionally “romantic” and “political”), while others try to embrace Dostoevsky’s text in its entirety.

References

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14. Karanovich, D. “Chto takoe ‘immersivnyi teatr’ i pochemu otveta net” [“What Is ‘Immersive Theater’ and Why There Is No Answer”]. Peterburgskii teatralnyi zhurnal, no. 3 (93), 2018. Available at: https://ptj.spb.ru/archive/93/lost/chto-takoe-immersivnyj-teatr-ipochemu-otveta-net/ (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

15. Kasatkina, T.A. “‘Besy’: ekranizatsiia ili interpretatsiia?” [“Demons: Adaptation or Interpretation?”]. Russkaia istina, 11 July 2014. Available at: https://politconservatism.ru/experiences/besy-ekranizatsiya-ili-interpretatsiya (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

16. Kasatkina, T.A. “‘Ia liubliu tebia, zhizn...’: ‘Karamazovy’ Konstantina Bogomolova” [“‘I Love You, Life...’: Konstantin Bogomolov’s ‘Karamazov’ (Review of the Play)”]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kul’tura. Filologicheskii zhurnal, no. 1 (5), 2019, pp. 218–221. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2019-1-218-221

17. Kasatkina, T.A. “Mikhail Mokeev. ‘Besy’: perevod Dostoevskogo na yazyk sovremennosti” [“Mikhail Mokeev. ‘Demons’: Translating Dostoevsky into Modern Language”]. Dostoevskii i mirovaia kul’tura. Filologicheskii zhurnal, no. 1 (21), 2023, pp. 261–275. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2023-1-261-275

18. Kirillov, A.A. “Melkie besy Romana Gabria” [“Roman Gabria’s Little Demons”]. Peterburgskii teatralnyi zhurnal, 25 Oct. 2021. Available at: https://ptj.spb.ru/blog/melkie-besy-romana-gabria/ (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

19. Kirillov, A.A. “Rekonstruktsiia bez konstruktsii” [“Reconstruction Without Construction”]. Peterburgskii teatralnyi zhurnal, 1 Aug. 2021. Available at: https://ptj.spb.ru/blog/rekonstrukciya-bez-konstrukcii/ (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

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21. Matvienko, K. “‘Novaia Drama’ v Rossii: kratkii ekskurs v nedavnee proshloe i eskiz nastoiashchego” [“‘New Drama’ in Russia: A Brief Overview of Recent Past and a Sketch of the Present”]. Peterburgskii teatralnyi zhurnal, no. 2 (52), 2008. Available at: https://ptj.spb.ru/archive/52/new-reading-52/novaya-drama-vrossii-kratkij-ekskurs-vnedavnee-proshloe-ieskiz-nastoyashhego/ (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

22. Rudnev, P.A. “Nadezhda na istselenie bolnogo” [“Hope for Healing the Sick”]. Peterburgskii teatralnyi zhurnal, Apr. 2012. Available at: https://ptj.spb.ru/archive/68/process-68/nadezhdana-iscelenie-bolnogo/ (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

23. Saraskina, L.I. “‘Besy’ na teatralnykh podmostkakh: eksperiment i traditsiia” [“‘Demons’ on the Theater Stage: Experiment and Tradition”]. Saraskina, L.I. Ispytanie budushchim. F.M. Dostoevskii kak uchastnik sovremennoi kultury [Trial by the Future: F.M. Dostoevsky as a Participant in Contemporary Culture]. Moscow, Progress-Traditsiia Publ., 2010, pp. 379–403. (In Russ.)

24. Saraskina, L.I. “Serialnye ‘Besy’: v zone podmen” [“TV Series ‘Demons’: In the Zone of Substitutions”]. Russkaia istina, 21 June 2014. Available at: https://politconservatism.ru/experiences/serialnye-besy-v-zone-podmen (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

25. Semenov, A.L. “Mai 1968 vo Frantsii” [“May 1968 in France”]. Levye v Evrope XX veka: liudi i idei [The Left in 20th Century Europe: People and Ideas]. Moscow, IVI RAN Publ., 2001, pp. 234–263. (In Russ.)

26. “Nikolai Stavrogin (illiustratsiia k izvestnomu romanu ‘Besy’ F.M. Dostoevskogo)” [“Nikolay Stavrogin (An Illustration for Dostoevsky’s Famous Novel Demons)”]. Sine-fono, no. 21–22, 1915. (In Russ.)

27. Cherezova, E. “‘Kitaianka’: Zhan-Liuk Godar i revoliutsiia 1968 goda” [“‘La Chinoise’: Jean-Luc Godard and the 1968 Revolution”]. Kinoteksty, 30 June 2018. Available at: https://cinetexts.ru/godard-le-chinoise#tip1(Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

28. Bell, Elizabeth S. Theories of Performance. Los Angeles, Sage Publications, 2008. 328 p. (In English)

29. Katuman, František. Boje o Dostojevského [Struggles Over Dostoevsky]. Praha, Svět Sovětů, 1966. 152 p. (In Czech)

 

Reference list of Internet sources

1. “Besy Dostoevskogo: to li drama, to li komediia” [“Dostoevksy’s Demons: Either a Drama or a Comedy”]. Teatr na Bronnoi. Available at: https://mbronnaya.ru/performances/besy-dostoevskogo?listim_open_widget=1 (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

2. “Besy. Puteshestvie po romanu Dostoevskogo — v sovershenno bukval’nom smysle” [“Demons. A Journey Through Dostoevsky’s Novel — In a Very Literal Sense”]. Masterskaia Brusnikina. Available at: https://masterbrus.com/performances/besy (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

3. “Besy” [“Demons”]. Akademicheskii Malyi dramaticheskii teatr — Teatr Evropy. Available at: https://mdt-dodin.ru/plays/besi/ (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

4. “besy, noch’” [“demons, night”]. Masterskaia Brusnikina. Available at: https://masterbrus.com/performances/besynoch (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

5. “Besy. Teatr im. Vakhtangova. Pressa o spektakle” [“Demons. The Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre. Press on the Play”]. Teatral’nyi smotritel’. Available at: https://www.smotr.ru/2011/2011_vaht_besy.htm (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

6. “Besy: kontsertnoe ispolnenie romana v 2 chastiakh” [“Demons: Concert Perfomance in Two Parts”]. The Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre. Available at: https://vakhtangov.ru/show/besy/ (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

7. “Besy: rekonstruktsiia v 3-kh aktakh” [“Demons: Reconstruction in Three Acts”]. Saint Petersburg State Academic Lensoviet Theatre. Available at: https://lensov-theatre.spb.ru/repertoire/bolshaya-scena/besy/ (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

8. Lamont, R. “‘Besy’: Teatralnaia adaptatsiia romana Dostoevskogo, postavlennaia Iuriiem Liubimovym v Teatre Almeida (London)” [“‘Demons’: A Theatrical Adaptation of Dostoevsky’s Novel Directed by Yuri Lyubimov at the Almeida Theatre (London)”]. Website of the Laboratory for the Study of Yuri Lyubimov’s Works and 20th–21st Century Directorial Theater, Higher School of Economics. Available at: https://hum.hse.ru/lyubimov/lamont/possesed (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

9. Legierska, A. “Andzhei Vaida: Ia skhvatil russkuiu dushu za gorlo! No my obnaruzhili besov i v sebe samikh...” [“Andrzej Wajda: I Grabbed the Russian Soul by the Throat! But We Also Found Demons in Ourselves...”]. Culture.pl, 10 Oct. 2016. Available at: https://culture.pl/ru/article/andzhey-vayda-ya-shvatil-russkuyu-dushu-za-gorlo-no-my-obnaruzhili-besov-i-v-sebesamih (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

10. “Ekskliuziv Posta da VIP: Iurii Liubimov — o svoem novom spektakle ‘Besy’” [“Exclusive Interview: Yuriy Lyubimov on His New Play ‘Demons’”]. Posta-Magazine, 27 Mar. 2012. Available at: https://posta-magazine.ru/article/yuri-lyubimov-about-new-play-the-devils/ (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

11. Moroz, A. “Bednye liudi i klassika dlia klassa: ‘Besy’ v Teatre im. Lensoveta” [“Poor People and Classics for the Class: ‘Demons’ at the Lensovet Theater”]. Teatr To Go, 3 Oct. 2021. Available at: https://teatrtogo.ru/2021/10/03/besy-v-teatre-im-lensoveta/ (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

12. “Nikolai Stavrogin na stsene MKhT” [“Nikolay Stavrogin on the Stage of the Moscow Art Theater”]. Navona, 2023. Available at: https://navona.ru/books/nikolay-stavrogin-mht-1913/?ysclid=m74qoyjq80171663792 (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

13. “Prezentatsiia knigi ‘Nikolai Stavrogin na stsene Moskovskogo khudozhestvennogo teatra. 1913’” [“Book Presentation: ‘Nikolay Stavrogin on the Stage of the Moscow Art Theater. 1913’”]. Uroki rezhissury, 12 Apr. 2024. Available at: https://urokirezhissury.ru/tpost/g710cl57c1-v-mht-im-chehova-sostoyalas-prezentatsiy (Accessed 17 May 2024). (In Russ.)

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