Political Issues in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Writings: American Reception

The article explores the American reception of Fyodor Dostoevsky's political ideology. The relevance of the study is due to the interdisciplinary character of modern literary criticism and perception of Dostoevsky not only as a talented writer, but also as an original philosopher and political thinker. It is for the first time when the reception of Dostoevsky's political ideology is revealed on the basis of works by American philologists and political analysts; namely, the study unveils the image of Dostoevsky as a political thinker formed within American scientific discourse. In addition, the analysis of the reception of Dostoevsky's writings in a foreign scientific culture contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of cultural interaction. The analysis of literary works on the basis of comparative-historical and comparative-cultural approaches, as well as modern semiotic concepts, reveals the basic periods and trends in the reception of Dostoevsky's writings on political issues in the USA in the 20th and the 21st centuries. The evolution of scholars' views on the writer's political ideology is disclosed. In the 1950s-1960s, Dostoevsky's political philosophy is primarily analyzed in terms of its fictional representation. In the context of cultural interaction, this period can be termed as a preliminary one followed by the period of active transmission of the texts that explore the essence of Dostoevsky's political ideology. Indeed, an intensive study of political views of the writer started in the 1970s-1980s. At this time, scholars addressed Dostoevsky's opinion journalism, incorporating the writer's political ideology into his social and religious views. A new period started in the 2000s. It is characterized by the synthesis of the most characteristic features of Dostoevsky's artistic method, his philosophical and political ideas. Thus, the image of Dostoevsky as a political thinker in American literary studies is characterized by analyzing the writer's political philosophy within his religious and social thoughts and considering Russian literature closely connected with the state policy. The most negative evaluation of Dostoevsky's political ideology, accusatory statements on writer's nationalism, imperialism, and chauvinism are found in the works whose authors investigate Dostoevsky's political ideology beyond his religious views. The interest of American scholars in Dostoevsky's political ideology is registered at all stages of Dostoevsky studies development. The changes in diplomatic relations between Russia and the Western world stimulate American scholars to address political issues in Dostoevsky's writings. However, besides pure political circumstances, the alteration of periods in addressing political issues in Dostoevsky's writings is due to the mechanisms of cultural interaction when the period of passive saturation with new semiotic material is followed by the period of active transmission of new texts.

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