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Fyodor Dostoevsky : Notes from Underground M.A. (ENGLISH) PART-I COURSE-VII SEMESTER-II NINETEENTH CENTURY FICTION Lesson No. 15 Author : Dr. Sushil Kumar Fyodor Dostoevsky : Notes from Underground Introduction : The historical, cultural and political background of an author plays a significant role in the constitution of his/her fictional discourses. These aspects must be studied in order to comprehend the geo-political, historical, cultural and ideological positions of a literary writer. It is more important in the case of 19th century Russian writer like Dostoevsky who belongs to a complex set of historical, political and cultural circumstances of Russia. Like many of his contemporaries, he responded to the cultural, historical and political climate of the transformation era of Russia in his writings. The examining of the cultural and political background of Dostoevsky shows some sort of similarity in his upbringing and immediate ideological environment. So, his response to the socialist discursive ideas is predominantly unique and his fiction becomes an attempt to critique that heritage by revisiting, appropriating and articulating afresh the rich historical, political and cultural heritage of Russian Society. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky: Life and Works Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is a versatile genius and prolific writer. He is a novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and a philosopher. He was born in 1821, in Moscow, Russia. His parents Maria Fyodorovna Dostoevskaya and Mikhail Andreevich Dostoyevsky belonged to a mixed ethnic and multi-denominational noble family from the Pinsk region. He was the second among seven siblings. Dostoevsky’s father was supposed to work as a priest like his ancestors but he ran away from home and broke his relations with the family. His father was enrolled in Moscow's Imperial Medical- Surgical Academy in 1809. He served as a military doctor and senior physician in Moscow hospital. He worked in the Mariinsky Hospital that was for the poor. After the birth of Dostoevsky, he was promoted as a collegiate assessor and got legal status of nobility. This status enabled him to own an estate in a town Darovoye. It was about 150 km away from Moscow and Dostoevsky used to spend summer there. Dostoevsky’s mother died of tuberculosis on September 27, 1837 and after two years, his father was murdered. Dostoyevsky’s nanny, Alena Frolovna introduced him to literature and developed his reading habits in his childhood. His family atmosphere made him familiar with world literature and writers like Karamzin, Pushkin, Derzhavin, Ann Radcliffe, Schiller, Goethe, Cervantes, Walter Scott, Homer and others. Besides, the M.A. (English) Part-I (Semester-II) 49 Course-VII impact of some horrible experiences of his childhood days can be seen in his writings. Once a nine year old girl patient came to his father, who was raped brutally by a drunkard. The memory of that incident haunted his sensitivity throughout his life. In his childhood, he was hot headed, pale, introvert and a dreamer. He did not like his school much because of his aristocratic schoolmates. Dostoevsky joined Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute at St Petersburg in January 1838 to receive education. He could not enjoy his studies because of his lack of interest in science, mathematics and military engineering. He was interested in drawing and architecture. He felt like an outsider in the institute. After getting the degree, he worked as an engineer and also translated the books and earned some money. He appeared on the literary scene by translating Honoré de Balzac's novel Eugénie Grandet. He started writing in his 20s and he wrote his first novel, Poor Folk, in 1840 when he was 25 years old and became popular among the literary writers. He established himself as a genius writer after the publication of his first novel. It was well received and Harold Bloom quotes well known critic Belinsky who admired this novel as a first “social novel” (12). He was arrested by the state for his participation in a literary discussion group in the Petrashevsky Circle in 1849. It was a society for liberal utopian world. He was charged by the Czar administration for reading and circulating the works by Belinsky and Gogol and awarded death sentence but at the last moment, the death sentence was converted into life imprisonment with rigorous work at Omex jail at Siberia. He was diagnosed with epilepsy during his confinement and released from the jail on medical grounds. He was released from the prison on February, 14 1854. He was forced to work as a soldier after his release. But after some time, he left his military job in order to concentrate on writing. He wrote his second novel, The Double in 1846. His novel The House of the Dead is about his horrible experience in prison. It was published in 1861 and it was a first attempt of its kind about the conditions of prisons in Russia. He was very much impressed by Belinsky’s logic, rationality, idea of justice and his concern for the marginalized sections of society. But he could not like his orthodox atheism and strong disliking for religion. After that he wrote some short stories like "Mr. Prokharchin", "The Landlady", "A Weak Heart", and "White Nights". He launched a journal The Times in 1861 with the help of his brother Mikhaile. In 1882-1883, he set out on a journey for Europe, it gave impetus to his anti Europe ideas. Dostoevsky taught to school children and here he came into contact with Maria Dmitrievna Isaeva (1857–1864) and fell in love with her. They got married in Semipalatinsk on February 7, 1857 and after her death he got married to Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina (1867–1881). His children were Sonya (1868), Lyubov (1869–1926), Fyodor (1871–1922), Alexey (1875–1878). Dostoevsky worked as a journalist, editor and M.A. (English) Part-I (Semester-II) 50 Course-VII a diary writer. In his Diary, he discussed many burning issues related to society, religion, politics and ethics. He travelled throughout Europe and he suffered a lot of financial hardship due to his gambling addiction. At the same time, he established himself as a well known writer and his books have been translated in many languages. He was in deep financial crisis and his stories couldn’t help him in this regard. He became the part of Betekov circle; they helped him for his survival. But the circle was disbanded after sometime. After that Dostoyevsky became friend of Apollon Maykov and his brother Valerian. He participated in the discussions organized by these circles. Dostoevsky’s contemporary Russian society was feudal and strictly believed in hierarchies. The political structures, religion, social norms, land ownership established hierarchy in the society. The society was divided into classes. The industrial labourer and marginalized peasantry were in majority of the population. In comparison to Europe, Russia’s educated and professional middle class was small in number. The historian Michael Lynch divided the population during 1897 census into four classes and categorized the population of Russia in four broad class groups. The upper class included royalty, nobility and higher clergy. It was 12.5 per cent of the total population; they lived comfortable life without any concern with the plight of poor peasantry and the Middle class comprised merchants, bureaucrats and professionals. They were only 1.5 per cent of total population and they are educated, liberal and reformists. The working class consisted of Factory workers, artisans, soldiers and sailors and they were only 4 per cent. Peasants included landed and landless farmers who were 82 per cent of the total population. They lacked opportunity of any kind to get education. They did not have the feelings of hatred towards Czar but they had the strong sense of revulsion towards the bureaucracy for their inhuman behavior. Similarly, Russian society of 19th century was highly patriarchal. Due to the growth in population, sharp inequalities and exploitative policies, the landlords became more and more exploitative and brute towards the peasantry. As a corollary, many people from marginalized section of society were forced to adopt the inhuman profession of prostitution. They were addict to alcohol and indulged in petty crimes. Russia came across many political and cultural movements during this time. These movements played a significant role in transforming Russian society into communism. The economy of Russia collapsed in the second half of the 19th century. Agriculture was also technically underdeveloped at the same time. Population of Russia doubled during 1850 to 1900. In peasantary, women were doubly at a disadvantage. They were treated like commodity and slaves. In this context, Dostoevsky became more and more popular among the readers and received numerous letters because he dealt with these issues in her works. He was invited by many rich persons. He was primarily M.A. (English) Part-I (Semester-II) 51 Course-VII concerned with the terrible aspects of human existence. The influence of Dostoevsky on the writers like Anton Chekhov, Ernest Hemingway, Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre and others was immense. He wrote 11 novels, three novellas, 17 short novels and numerous other works. His well known novels are Poor Folk (1846), The Double (1846), The Landlady (1847), Netochka Nezvanova (1849), Uncle's Dream (1859), The Village of Stepanchikovo (1859), Humiliated and Insulted (1861), The House of the Dead (1862), Notes from Underground (1864), Crime and Punishment (1866), The Gambler (1867), The Idiot (1869), The Eternal Husband (1870), Demons (1872), The Adolescent (1875), The Brothers Karamazov (1880). He also wrote short stories collections and novelettes like "Mr. Prokharchin" (1846) "Another Man's Wife and a Husband under the Bed" (1848) "The Honest Thief" (1848) "The Christmas Tree and a Wedding" (1848) "White Nights" (1848) "A Nasty Anecdote" (1862) "The Crocodile" (1865) "Bobok" (1873) "The Beggar Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree" (1876) "The Meek One" (1876) "The Peasant Marey" (1876) "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" (1877).
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