Код Достоевского: Сергей Есенин и братья Карамазовы

Abstract

The article examines the spiritual, moral, ideological and imaginative parallels in Esenin’s works and in Dostoyevsky’s novel “The Brothers Karamazov,” which reflected the originality of the Russian national consciousness. The author refers to the hypothesis about the reflection in the spiritual composition of Esenin’s personality “features of all three brothers Karamazov” (G. Zabezhinsky). On the basis of comparative-typological and psychological analysis, the author traces the archetypal traits of the “Russian monk” — truth seeker (Alyosha Karamazov), “Russian outrageous man” — a man of unrestrained passions and rebellious soul (Dmitry Karamazov) and “Russian spiritual wanderer” (Ivan Karamazov) in different facets of Esenin’s lyrical self at different stages of the spiritual and creative evolution. This trinity is seen in the article as a composite archetype of the Russian national character, artistically embodied in Dostoevsky’s novel and further developed and reinterpreted in Esenin’s creative practice. Sergey Esenin as “Dostoevsky’s character” (in the conventional sense) providentially predicted by the great writer appears in the concept of the author of the article as an organic phenomenon of the Russian national element, explaining in many ways its iconic place in the history of Russian literature of 20th – early 21st centuries.