I.-G. Jung-Stilling’s “Victorious Tale, or The Triumph of the Christian Faith” as a Possible Source of “Grand Inquisitor”

Download:

PDF
Author: Anna L. Gumerova
Information about the author:

PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher of the Theory of Literature (Gorky Institute of World Literature, Russian Academy of Sciences), Moscow.

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

Gumerova, A.L. "I.-G. Jung-Stilling’s “Victorious Tale, or The Triumph of the Christian Faith” as a Possible Source of 'Grand Inquisitor'". Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological journal, no. 3, 2018, pp. 143-160. In Russ.
Issue: 2018 no. 3
Department: DOSTOEVSKY: HIS READINGS
Pages: 143-160
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2018-3-143-160
UDK: 8.82.0
BBK: 83. 3(0)5
Keywords: quotes, Apocalypse, interpretation, Jung-Stilling, “Victorious Tale”, Dostoyevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov”, “The Grand Inquisitor”.
Abstract: This article examines the possibility of F.M.Dostoeyvsky’s reference in “The Brothers Karamazov” (generally in the chapter “Rebellion. The Grand Inquisitor”) to a John the Baptist’s Apocalypse interpretation that is little known nowadays. It is “Triumph of the Christian Faith” by a German theologian of the 18th c. J.H. Jung-Stilling that was quite popular in the first half of the 19th c. in the different spiritual groups of the Russian society. According to several researchers, quoting Bible in Dostoyevsky’s works can be named interpretation. While comparing functions of the hidden Apocalypse quotes in Ivan Karamazov’s “The Grand Inquisitor” to the interpretation of these quotes in “Triumph of the Christian Faith”, we can safely say that in a number of occasions these interpretations are the same. And sometimes Ivan Karamazov, the narrator or Dostoyevsky himself explicitly argues with Jung-Stilling’s interpretations: and in all cases, when we see a hidden Apocalypse quote in the novel “The Brothers Karamasov”, there is a hidden allusion to Jung-Stilling’s interpretation. A possibility of using “Triumph of the Christian Faith” while analyzing the role and functioning of Apocalypse quotes in the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” helps us better understand the author’s intention, when a direst juxtaposition with the Biblical text can cause some problems. The article covers a question of incorrect sourcing a quote or an idea in fiction and states that it is necessary to refer to a relatively unknown source for creating an adequate commentary to a work of fiction.

References

1. Bartenev Y.N. Iz zapisok Y.N. Barteneva. Rasskazy knyazya Aleksandra Nikolaevicha Golicyna // Russkij arhiv, 1886. T. I, ch. 3. T. II, ch. 5. T. II, ch. 7. T. III, ch. 6. T. III, ch. 10 [From the Notes of Y. N. Bartenev. The Tales of the Count Alexander Nikolaevitch Golicyn. Russkij Arkhiv. 1886. T. I, part 3. Pp. 369-381. T. II, part 5. Pp. 52-108. T. II, part 7. Pp. 305-333. T. III, part 6. Pp. 305-333. T. III, part 10. Pp. 129-166 (In Russ.)].

2. Gacheva A.G. Roman «Brat'ya Karamazovy» v krugu idej i problem russkoj religioznofilosofskoj mysli XIX veka // Dostoevskij i mirovaya kul'tura. № 22 [“The Brothers Karamazov” in the Circle of Ideas and Problems of the Russian Religious and Philosophical Thought of the 19th c. Dostoyevsky and the World Culture. # 22 (In Russ.)]. Moscow, S.T. Korneev, 2007. Pp. 27-84.

3. Kondakov Yu. Liberal'noe i konservativnoe napravleniya v religioznyh dvizheniyah v Rossii pervoj chetverti XIX veka [Liberal and Conservative Schools in Religious Movements in Russia in the 1st Quarter of the 19th c. (In Russ.)]. St. Petersburg, Izdatel'stvo RGPU im. A.I.Gercena, 2005.

4. Lyahu V. Lyuciferov bunt Ivana Karamazova. Sud'ba geroya v zerkale biblejskih allyuzij [Luciferian Rebel of Ivan Karamazon. The Hero’s Fate in the Mirror of the Biblical Allusions (In Russ.)]. Moscow, BBI sv. apostola Andreya, 2011.

5. Moroz S. Tekst Otkroveniya Ioanna Bogoslova v proizvedeniyah F.M. Dostoevskogo. Dissertaciya na soiskanie uchenoj stepeni kandidata filologicheskih nauk. Rukopis' [St. John the Evangelst’s Revelation in F.M. Dostoyevsky’s Works. Thesis for a Candidate Degree in Philology, typescript (In Russ.)]. Moscow, 2004.

6. Novikova E.G. Sofijnost' russkoj prozy vtoroj poloviny XIX veka [Sophiology of the Russian Prose in the 2nd half of the 19th c. (In Russ.)]. Tomsk, Izd-vo Tomskogo un-ta, 1999.

7. Pravoslavnaya ehnciklopediya. T. VI [Orthodox Encyclopedia. Vol. 6 (In Russ.)]. Moscow, Cerkovno-nauchnyj centr «Pravoslavnaya ehnciklopediya», 2003. Pp. 398-401.

8. Sazonova L.I. Skazanie o Napoleone-antihriste: staroobryadcheskij variant antinapoleonovskogo mifa // Slavyanovedenie. 2012. № 2 [Tale of Napoleon the Antichrist: the Old Believer Version of the Napoleonic Myth. Slavyanovedenie. 2012. # 2 (In Russ.)]. Pp. С. 42-61.

9. Tolkovaya Bibliya. T. 3. Novyj Zavet [Explanatory Bible. Vol. 3. New Testament (In Russ.)]. Peterburg, Izd. preemnikov A.P. Lopuhina, 1911-1913.

10. Yung-Sytilling I.-G. Pobednaya povest', ili torzhestvo very hristianskoj [Victorious Tale, or The Triumph of the Christian Faith (In Russ.)]. St. Petersburg, 1818.