Dostoevsky and World Culture Dostoevsky and World Culture 2619-0311 2712-8512 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2025-3-58-75 Research Article Articles Victor Hugo’s Novel L’homme qui rit in Dostoevsky’s Demons. Article 1 Magaril-Il'iaeva Tatiana G. fedor@dostmirkult.ru 25 09 2025 1 3 58 75 Dostoevsky Victor Hugo Demons L’homme qui rit vagrancy comprachicos freedom animals beast creation God’s world Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The article presents the initial findings of a study on the place and role of Victor Hugo’s novel L’homme qui rit in Dostoevsky’s Demons. The work reflects on some specific aspects of studying texts mentioned by the Russian writer in his works. Strategies for researching such texts are proposed. Particular attention is paid to a short author’s preface to the French novel, which states the main idea of the work and the writer’s further plans for its development, and to two preliminary chapters where the narrator outlines the central themes and motifs of the entire work. A scene in Demons mentioning Hugo’s book is analyzed. This scene is considered as a key to understanding the purposes for which this text was introduced into the Russian novel. The key idea of the French novel concerning two oppositely directed modes of human action in the world is also examined: action performed by a person upon themselves, and action that forcibly changes the world around them. Assumptions are made about possible reflections of this theme in the Russian novel.