Download:

PDF

Author: Pavel E. Fokin
Information about the author:

Ph.D. in Philology, Head of the Department “Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Memorial Apartment”, Vladimir I. Dahl State Museum of the History of Russian Literature, 17 Trubnikovsky Lane, Bld. 1, 121069, Moscow, Russia, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4958-859X.

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

For citation:

Fokin, P.E. “The Last Newspaper Fyodor Dostoevsky Read (Based on the Collections of the Vladimir Dahl State Museum of the History of Russian Literature)”. Dostoevsky and World Culture. Philological journal, no. 4 (12), 2020, pp. 197-218. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2020-4-197-218

Received: 30.07.2020
Published: 25.12.2020
Issue: 2020 no. 4 (12)
Department: BIOGRAPHY
Pages: 197-218
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/2619-0311-2020-4-197-218
UDK: 821.161.1.0+070
BBK: 83.3 (2Рос=Рус)1-8+76.02
Keywords: Fyodor Dostoevsky, biography, journalism, Novoye Vremya (The New Time), A Writer's Diary.
Abstract: Throughout Dostoevsky's life, reading newspapers was one of the most important sources of his inspiration. Reading newspapers, Dostoevsky drew on real factual material that reflected both the characteristic phenomens of the postreform Russian reality and the most incredible “adventures” of lost human souls and hearts. Daily acquaintance with the latest news from Russian and world life was an essential necessity for Dostoevsky. Even while abroad, he regularly visited libraries to read the most recent Russian newspapers. Journalism was inherent in his type of thinking and personality. He began his literary career as a newspaper feuilletonist; in 1873–1874, he edited the Grazhdanin (The Citizen) weekly; in1876–1877, his monojournal A Writer's Diary was focused on Russian and European periodicals. In 1881, having completed his novel The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky decided to resume the publication of A Writer's Diary. He prepared only one issue which came out on the day of his funeral. The manuscript collection of the Vladimir Dahl State Museum of the History of Russian Literature contains Anna Dostoevskaya’s collection that includes a memorial copy of the last newspaper read by Dostoevsky on the eve of his fatal illness, the Novoe Vremya (The New Time) newspaper, No. 1764 dated January 25 (February 6) 1881. This item is a valuable biographical material and allows one to put additional touches on the picture of Dostoevsky's intellectual life of his last days. The article provides an overview of the newspaper’s contents contextualized within Dostoevsky's spiritual, political, and aesthetic interests and particularly within the articles included in the first issue of The Diary of a Writer for 1881 and the preparatory materials for it.

Acknowledgements:The reported study was funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), project no. 18–012–90018.

 

References

1. Aleksandrov, M.A. “Fedor Mihailovich Dostoevskij v vospominaniah tipografskogo naborshchika v 1872–1881 godah” [“Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky in the Memoirs of a Typesetter in 1872-1881”] F.M. Dostoevskij v vospominanijah sovremennikov [Fyodor Dostoevsky in the Memoirs of his Contemporaries]. Vol. 2. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaja literatura Publ., 1990, pp. 251-324. (In Russ.)

2. Barsht, K.A. Dostoevskij: etimologia povestvovanija [Dostoevsky: Etymology of Narration]. St. Petersburg, Nestor-Istoriya Publ, 2019. 456 p. (In Russ.)

3. Viktorovich, V.A. “Mezhdu ‘Besami’ i ‘Podrostkom’: zhurnalizm kak tvorchestvo” [“Between The Devils and The Adolescent: Journalism as Creativity”]. Dostoevskij i zhurnalizm. Sbornik Stat’ei [Dostoevsky and Journalism. Collected Articles]. St. Petersburg, Dmitry Bulanin Publ., 2013, pp. 129-142. (In Russ.)

4. Dostoevskaya, A.G. Vospominania [Memoirs]. Moscow, Pravda publ., 1987. 544 p. (In Russ.)

5. Dostoevskaya, A.G. “Zapisnaja knizhka 1881 goda” [“Notebook of the Year 1881”] F.M. Dostoevskij v zabytych i neizvestnych vospominaniah sovremennikov [Fyodor Dostoevsky in Forgotten and Unknown Memoirs of His Contemporaries]. St. Petersburg, Andreev i synov’ia Publ., 1993, pp. 275-284. (In Russ.)

6. Dostoevskii, F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: v 30-ti tomakh [Complete Works: in 30 vols.]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1972-1990. (In Russ.)

7. Zakharov, V.N. “Kodeks Dostoevskogo: zhurnalizm kak tvorcheskaja ideja pisatel’a” [“Dostoevsky’s Code. Journalism as a Writer’s Creative Idea”] Dostoevskij i zhurnalizm. Sbornik Stat’ei [Dostoevsky and Journalism. Collected Articles]. St. Petersburg, Dmitry Bulanin Publ., 2013, pp. 17-26. (In Russ.)

8. Strakhov, N.N. “Vospominania o Fedore Michailiviche Dostoevskom” [“Memoirs About Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky”] F. M. Dostoevskij v vospominaniah sovremennikov [Fyodor Dostoevsky in the Memoirs of His Contemporaries]. Vol. 1. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaja literatura Publ., 1990, pp. 375-532. (In Russ.)