Dostoevsky’s White Nights: From Minor Form to Great Destiny

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Author: Tatiana A. Boborykina

Information about the author:

PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Emb., 7-9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8661-3435

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

For citation:

Boborykina, T.A. “Dostoevsky’s White Nights: From Minor Form to Great Destiny.” Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological journal, no. 3 (31), 2025, pp. 158–202. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2025-3-158-202

Received: 13 Mar. 2025

Approved after reviewing: 20 May 2025

Published: 25 Sept. 2025

Issue: 2025 no. 3 (31)

Department: DOSTOEVSKY ON STAGE

Pages: 158-202

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2025-3-158-202

EDN:

https://elibrary.ru/QZKRVB

UDK: 821.161.1.0+821+82.0

BBK: 83.3(2Рос=Рус)+83.3+83

Publication Type: Research Article

Keywords: Dostoevsky, White Nights, minor forms, Edgar Poe, Ivan Turgenev, Robert Burns, Alexandr Pushkin, film adaptations, ballet.

Abstract: The topic stated in the title is explored in various aspects. First of all, the question of “minor forms” in relation to “A Sentimental Novel” (or rather, a Romance), as the author called his story, is discussed. The comprehension of the message of White Nights is approached through the decoding of its title, subtitle, dedication, and epigraph. Special attention is paid to the symbolic meanings of the characters’ names. White Nights is, on the one hand, analyzed as a prophetic sketch of the young author’s personal fate, whose “dreams” had to face bitter reality when, on one St-Petersburg white night, he was arrested after a meeting at Petrashevsky’s circle. On the other hand, Dostoevsky’s romantic narration is interpreted as an overture to his large-scaled compositions. The characters of the early “minor form” attain their great literary destiny in the realm of the Great Five Novels, where the notion of the “dreamer” reveals new content, transforming either into the hero of Crime and Punishment or growing into the character of yet another novel — Price Myshkin. Finally, the essay investigates (through selected examples) the truly great cinematographic and choreographic destiny of White Nights. The “Sentimental Love Story” is full of riddles, and it continues to capture the imagination of readers (information about the newly sparked interest in it opens the essay), critics, and producers. Discussions around its interpretations remain ongoing. Taken together, all of this constitutes the great destiny of White Nights — the “minor form” composition by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

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Reference list of internet sources
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