F. M. Dostoevsky and A. N. Ostrovsky in the process of learning about the people (1860s)

Abstract

The article examines the history of formation and development of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “soil concepts” in the 1860s in the light of his close attention to the work of Alexander Ostrovsky. Previously, researchers did not correlate the different positions of Ostrovsky and Dostoevsky in the writers’ shared process of the cognition of folk life. The main focus of the article is centered on revealing the dynamics of changes in Dostoevsky’s attitude towards the work of Ostrovsky: from the recognition of impartiality of the playwright’s portrayal of the Russian people to the belief of his misunderstanding of foundations of folk life and the conviction of the gradual increase in accusatory tones in its coverage, starting from the final resolution of the play Thunderstorm. The article identifies the areas of synchronicities and disagreements of the two writers from a problem-thematic standpoint. The work concludes that the main point of divergence in the writers’ understanding of the Russian people was, on the one hand, Dostoevsky’s certainty of the monolithic unity of the Russian people, anchored in the Orthodox faith, and, on the other, Ostrovsky’s idea that the fundamental crises of the mid-19th century encompass all strata of Russian society, without any exceptions. The idea of the significance of the Last Judgment in the life of the common people is identified as essential for Ostrovsky.