“Nevertheless, “Dim” Is Coming”: Extracts from an Article by M. Kutorga in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Manuscripts

Abstract

“A Writer’s Diary” is an example of the unique journalistic style of Dostoevsky, who worked in many journalistic genres, including political review. The writer analyzed current domestic and international events, relying on a large volume of the metropolitan, provincial and foreign press, as well as appealing to examples from distant and recent history. Extracts from an article by the Russian antiquarian M. S. Kutorga, found in the working materials for “A Writer’s Diary” for 1876, are a vivid example of such appeals. Dostoevsky is interested in the thoughts of Plato and Aristotle cited by Kutorga about tyranny, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, and also about Solon’s reforms. This article provides a factual and textual commentary on the extracts, determines their connection with the contents of the 1875–1876 notebook. The facts of ancient history, interpreted by the ancient Greek philosophers and, subsequently, by the Russian historian, resonate with the historiosophical concept of Dostoevsky, who defends the monarchical and Orthodox positions.