Dostoevsky in the Literary Life of Armenia

Abstract

The article examines the path of Armenian Dostoevsky studies — starting from the 80s of the 19th century. It was then that interest in Dostoevsky’s work arose in Armenian literary circles — in particular, in the periodicals of Tiflis, K. Polis, Petersburg, Paris. At the origins of Armenian studies of the Russian writer are the editors of Armenian newspapers and magazines Arpiar Arpiaryan, Levon Bashalyan, and Arshak Chopanyan. For the first time to Dostoevsky’s work contacted the editor of Tiflis newspaper “Mshak” Grigor Artsruni in 1880; he tried to consider the work of the novelist in the context of mysticism and religious views. And the first work of the Russian writer in the Armenian language was the story “Notes from the Dead House,” which was printed in 1885 in the weekly “Araks” published in Petersburg. The first work of the Russian writer translated into Armenian was the story “The Boy at Christ’s Christmas Tree,” published in 1886 in the Constantinople newspaper “Masis.” The translation was not signed. In 1892, in the St. Petersburg bulletin “Araks” were published “Notes from the House of the Dead.” The unknown translator left the work unfinished. The new translation of the story was done by Yervand Otyan. In subsequent years, the works of Dostoevsky were translated by K. Mirianyan, Shirvanzade, S. Shalchyan, G. Lerentz, K. Surenyan, A. Mazmanyan, A. Mekhakyan, A. Hovhannisyan and others. The writer’s death became an occasion for new reflections on his life and work. At the next stage of Armenian history, at the beginning of the 20th century, discussions about the novelist’s work became more often, lectures and discussions were organized at the literary evenings of the Caucasian Society of Armenian Writers. Many Armenian writers and critics recognized the influence of Dostoevsky not only on their creativity, but also on world perception (A. Oshakan, K. Surenyan, Nar-Dos, Shirvanzade). Some of them became translators of Dostoevsky (Surenyan, Shirvanzade), and some initiated new translations (Arpiaryan, Chopanyan). In the second half of the 20th century, Karpis Surenyan, Levon Mkrtchyan and Karen Stepanyan became the most important actors of the Armenian Dostoevsky studies. Remarkable typological and comparative parallels were drawn between Dostoevsky and Mickiewicz, Narekatsi, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Schiller, Cervantes and other authors.