Dostoevsky’s Ethical and Aesthetical Conception and the Problem of Russian National Identity in A. Ponizovsky’s novel <i>Turning into a Listening Ear</i>

Abstract

Purpose. The aim of the article is to investigate the influence of the F. M. Dostoevsky's creative heritage on the ideological and artistic originality of A. Ponizovsky's novel Turning into a Listening Ear (2013).Results. Ponizovsky's interpretation of Dostoevsky related to the theme of the Russian world and Russian identity. Two plotlines, social (ordinary Russians’ stories) and philosophical (controversy around them), create a conflict field typical for Dostoevsky's works: meaning of life and absurdity of existence, cruelty and compassion, Russian people and Russia. Dostoevsky's intertext is found at all levels of text organization. A deep philosophical understanding of the Russian life’s problems is achieved due to a set of Dostoevsky's intertexts, which have acquired the status of metanarratives in Russian culture (Grushenka's legend about the saving onion, devil's anecdote about a quadrillion kilometers on the way to paradise, Svidrigailov's image of eternity as a bathhouse with spiders). Following Dostoevsky's stylistic strategies includes the usage of a polyphonic novel resources, and reproducing individual techniques of the writer's poetics (anachronism, coexistence of fiction and non-fiction, using of Holy Scripture's text). The very person of Dostoevsky becomes an object of controversy for Ponizovsky. Colliding two concepts of the classic’s image – Freudian and Christian-oriented, the modern author creates a portrait of Dostoevsky’s conflicting personality.Conclusion. The perception of F. M. Dostoevsky's work by A. Ponizovsky is not only reminiscent, but also “genetic” by its nature due to the worldview commonality of these Russian writers.