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Author: Tatiana A. Kasatkina
Information about the author:

Doctor of Philological Sciences, Head of the Research Committee for Dostoyevsky's Artistic Heritage within the Scientific Council for the History of World Culture RAS, Head of the Department of Literary Theory at the Gorky Institute of World Literature RAS.

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For citation:

Kasatkina, T.A. "The Meaning of Art and the Way of Theological Discourse in Dostoevsky: 'The Peasant Marey': Contextual Analysis and Close Reading". Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological journal, no. 2, 2018, pp. 12-31. In Russ.

Issue: 2018 no. 3
Department: HERMENEUTICS. SLOW READING
Pages: 12-31
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2018-3-12-31
UDK: 821.161.1 + 8.82.0 + 801.73 + 22.06 + 22.08
BBK: 83.3(2РОС=РУС)1 + 86.37-4
Keywords: Dostoevsky, The Peasant Marey, the structure of images, theory of creating, writer’s theology, meaning and function of art.
Abstract: Among F.M. Dostoevsky’s texts “The Peasant Marey” is a unique one, in whose four pages the author clearly shows the reader the way he structures his images (reproducing the structure of everything in the world as it appears in the deep sight of the artist), his method of creating, the way of his theological discourse. The method of close and contextual reading allows us to analyze and describe these structure of imagery, method of creation and way of theological discourse, as well as to see the meaning and the purpose of the occurrence of literary texts in the composition of “A Writer’s Diary”, and to analyze the deep meaning of this short story, that describes the changing of the author’s view – the moment in which appear “the artist’s eyes”, thanks to a “recollection from childhood” very important for Dostoevsky. Moreover, in this short story Dostoevsky explains the meaning of art in general, and the intent of his own art as something able to communicate people “recollections” they “could not have”, i.e. to provide people with “recollections” they “could not have”, i.e. to provide with experience, in lack of experience. In addition, the article shows the transition from the use of Evangelical imagery inside the characters in order to show the reader the meaning of the scene, to the use of situations and relations in the storyline in order to show the meanings of the text they refer to (in this case, the Gospel), i.e. to show the writer’s theology.

Acknowledgements: This scientific investigation was carried out in the A.M. Gorky Institute of the World Literature of the RAS with financial support of Russian Science Foundation (RSF, the project № 17-18-01432).

References

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4. Vetlovskaya V.E. «Dnevnik pisatelya» za 1876 god: O muzhike Maree // Dostoevskij i mirovaya kul'tura. Filologicheskij zhurnal [“The Writer’s Diary” for 1876: About the Peasant Marey. Dostoyevsky and the World Culture. Philological journal (In Russ.)]. Moscow, IMLI RAN, 2018. № 1. Pp. 21-58.