RT Article
T1 To Be or Not to Be God—The Issue of Authorial Power in Dostoevsky
JF Religions
VO 12
IS 7
A1 Žolkovskij, Aleksandr Konstantinovič 1937-
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1764664841
AB This paper problematizes the now widely accepted concept of Dostoevsky’s dialogism, which alleges the ‘Author’s’ equal empowerment of all his characters. Using examples from Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, Zholkovsky focuses on instances of ‘scene-staging’ based on the ‘scripts’ devised and enacted by some characters, that are ‘read,’ with varying success, by their targets. He documents the resulting ‘discursive combat’ among the characters, with special attention paid to those ‘playing god’ and thus, the more ‘authorial’ among them. In several cases, the would-be ‘divine’ manipulation is shown to be consistently subverted by the Dostoevskian narrative. However, in one instance, where Aliosha Karamazov charitably scripts Captain Snegirev’s behavior, the ensuing discussion of this episode, in Aliosha’s conversations with Lise Khokhlakova, upholds Aliosha’s right to play god with the Other—“for the Other’s own good”, of course (not unlike the Grand Inquisitor).
K1 Aliosha Karamazov
K1 Luzhin
K1 Raskolnikov
K1 authorial power
K1 discursive combats
K1 playing God
K1 reading each other
K1 scripting others
K1 the Grand Inquisitor
DO 10.3390/rel12070506