Between Nietzsche and Dostoevsky: The plays Paria and Brott och brott, and the novel Tschandala by August Strindberg

The aim of this article is to analyze the simultaneous influence of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Friedrich Nietzsche on the works of August Strindberg (the plays Paria and Brott och brott, and the novel Tschandala). The issue being addressed stems from the fact that the works of both Dostoevsky and Nietzsche gained popularity in Sweden and attracted Strindberg's attention simultaneously - in the 1880s. In Strindberg's works from this and the following decade, references to the ideas of Nietzsche (on religion, Aryans and pariahs, the personality of the criminal) and Dostoevsky (on thought-crime, the possibility of spiritual rebirth) and his characters - Rodion Raskolnikov (on "the extraordinary" and "the ordinary") and Ivan Karamazov (on religion) - are not always distinguishable at first glance. For the first time, the play Paria is analyzed from the perspective of Dostoevsky's influence; the novel Tschandala and the play Brott och brott are examined more comprehensively, drawing on Strindberg's correspondence and his critical statements. For the first time, the influence of not only Dostoevsky's themes and ideas but also his poetics on Strindberg is indicated. The dramatic work of the Swedish classic was influenced, on the one hand, by Nietzsche's theoretical statements about the event as the basis of drama (a topic analyzed in foreign research), and on the other hand, by the poetics of Dostoevsky's novels with their idea-driven characters and conflicts developed through dialogue (a previously unexplored topic). The article also examines the history of Strindberg's acquaintance with the works of Dostoevsky and Nietzsche within the context of their reception in Scandinavia. Strindberg's views on Nietzsche are compared with the positions of Ola Hansson and Georg Brandes (popularizers of the German philosopher in Scandinavia), while his views on Dostoevsky are compared with the Russian writer's reception by authors of so-called "criminal literature" (members of the "Young Sweden" group) and by the same Georg Brandes, who introduced Scandinavians to Russian literature through his lectures and essays. Through an analysis of the literary texts of the three authors, as well as the letters of Strindberg and Nietzsche, the author of the article traces the evolution of Strindberg's reception of the Russian writer and the German philosopher: from an exclusively positive, almost imitative attitude towards Nietzsche and an interested, yet not wholly enthusiastic view of Dostoevsky (which included criticism of the artistic features of his texts and a rejection of his spiritual quests) towards a partial adoption of features of Dostoevsky's poetics and character development, and a revision of his views on works of Nietzsche (who, nevertheless, remained Strindberg's idol). This study complements and complicates the existing research picture of Strindberg's separate receptions of Dostoevsky and Nietzsche, emphasizing the importance of the synthesis of these influences in the creation of Strindberg's unique artistic language. It contributes to the study of cultural reception mechanisms, demonstrating how new artistic trends emerge as a synthesis of ideas originating from different cultures. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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