Fyodor Dostoevsky in Japanese Comics

Japanese comics (manga), adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, are first in focus of a literary study. Methodologically, the research is based on the concept of intersemiotic translation originally created by Roman Jakobson. It is revealed that Japanese culture tends to an equivalent communication of the key ideas and concepts of Dostoevsky's novels. Being an essential factor of the world culture at the turn of the 21st century, comics are intensively studied; it is possible at present to state that a new interdisciplinary field aimed at a comprehensive analysis of comics has already been developed. Manga (literally, “funny pictures”), Japanese comics, is given special emphasis. Against the background of a thorough study of the most popular superhero comics, the comics adapted from the famous works of world literature are given less attention. The need to conduct a comprehensive study of this kind of comics is conditioned by its peculiar origin and function within the culture: being a combination of literature and art, artistic component of comics is specified and complicated due to the intersemiotic translation of the already existing piece of world literature to a modern “story in pictures”. Dostoevsky's works are intensively used in comics. In American comics, a domestication approach prevails: Dostoevsky's works are adapted to the target culture, forms and traditions of English comics (for example, Raskolnikov is transformed into Batman). Japanese manga tends to an equivalence approach, i.e. to render basic ideas and concepts of Dostoevsky's novels; this fact is proved by manga “Crime and Punishment” (1953) created by Osamu Tezuka and, particularly, by manga “Brothers Karamazov” created by Kosuke Maruo and a Japanese art-group Variety Art Works (2008). Working at manga, Osamu Tezuka, a classic of Japanese comics' culture, sought to popularize Dostoevsky's works in Japan, among young people. Manga “Brothers Karamazov” preserves the structure of Dostoevky's novel and all its plot lines; however, the form of manga inevitably leads to some changes - simplification and cutting - in fullness and theme diversity of the original novel. At the same time, the artistic potential of The Brothers Karamazov novel is emphasized, with the image of a “starry sky” becoming a key one. It traces back to the chapter “Cana of Galilee”. This fact identifies the aspiration of manga's creators to render the religious themes of Dostoevsky's novel as close as possible.

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