The edge and the middle ground of authenticity. Notes on textual criticism of F. Dostoevsky’s works

Abstract

The article considers the practicality and prospects of using obsolete spelling and punctuation contemporaneous with the period when the literary work was created in scholarly editions of Russian classics, for maximum conformity of the published text to the author’s intentions. In this regard, Barsht analyzes compatibility of such experimentations with the norms of contemporary Russian grammar with 19th-c. orthographic standards. The author examines the cultural role of scholarly editions, which supply authoritative versions of texts for reprints, translations, and textbooks for secondary schools and institutions of higher education. Another topic is the pragmatic function of punctuation marks, whose purpose changed dramatically in the early 20th c. From the viewpoint of textual criticism, the article also discusses the need for such a translation of a literary classic into the modern Russian language that is accurate and precise, and avoids violation of the author’s intentions. The questions are raised in response to the publication of vol. 8 of the Complete works by F. M. Dostoevsky in 35 vols. (The Idiot [Idiot]).