Epiphany in autobiography: the quantum changes of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.

Abstract

The quantum changes of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy are clarified by the partly overlapping concept of a literary epiphany. The qualities of an epiphany-intensity, resonance, and mystery-are much like the vividness and surprise of a quantum change (which also is felt to be beneficent and permanent). Epiphanic intensity and mystery reinforce the quantum attributes of love and lasting transformation in Dostoevsky's sudden memory of the motherlike tenderness of the peasant Marey. Tolstoy underlines the quantum effects of the embracing light seen in A Confession, but this epiphany is more abstract and attenuated than Dostoevsky's Diary episode. Tolstoy's earlier memoir shows how the shock of identity questioning introduces a complicating factor: the trauma of remorse. Clinical implications of the two authors' quantum-change accounts are discussed.