أبله دوستويفسكي بين الواقع والمثال / Dostoevsky's Idiot between the Real and the Ideal

Program

ALIF

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http://www.jstor.org/stable/521780

All Authors

الغمري, مكارم; el-Ghamry, Makarem

Document Type

Research Article

Publication Title

Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics

Publication Date

1994

doi

https://www.doi.org/10.2307/521780

Abstract

[This article analyses Dostoevsky's The Idiot as a psychological novel which focuses on the perturbed and unstable human psyche. It concerns itself with experimental, ethical psychology and depicts complex psychic conditions like madness and schizophrenia. The author of the study aims at clarifying the relationship between the strategies of realistic writing and the psychological interpretation of the characters in Dostoevsky's novels through the analysis of the main character in Dostoevsky's novel, the epileptic "idiot". The novel opens with his story and ends with his madness. The protagonist in this novel acquires an important stature not because he exemplifies distinguishing characteristics on the individual or social level, but more importantly because he represents a specific perspective from which to view both the world and himself. The study analyzes some of the narrative techniques used by Dostoevsky in his psychological analysis of the character with special focus on the "confessions" which help reveal the special nature of his protagonist and give a representation of the spiritual life of the characters. The article also looks at Dostoevsky's understanding of psychic illness in relation to some of the scientific concepts about it as well as his attitude towards psychology in general, and the role he felt the illness played in forming the ethical values of the personality. The study concludes that Dostoevsky's choice of a psychologically ill character is a means for depicting the dramatic conflict between the ideal and the real and emphasizing the tragedy of the loss of the former. Such a conclusion is aided by Dostoevsky's representation of the unique sensibility of the psychic character in interpreting reality.]

First Page

104

Last Page

118

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