Two Versions of the Portrait of a “Person Intensely Conscious”: Notes from the Underground by F. M. Dostoevsky as a Creative Response to Boyhood and Youth by L. N. Tolstoy

JATS XML:

BibTEX:

Research Information Systems Citation Format:

Download:
PDF
Funding Sources:
This work was carried out at St. Petersburg State University with the financial support from Russian Science Foundation, project no. 25-28-00696 “Creative Dispute Between F. Dostoevsky and L. Tolstoy on the Issue of the Historical Significane of the People and ʽHigher Personalities’.” (https://rscf.ru/project/25-28-00696/).
For citation:
Evlampiev, I. I., and I. Yu. Matveeva. “Two Versions of the Portrait of a ʽPerson Intensely Conscious’: Notes from the Underground by F. M. Dostoevsky as a Creative Response to Boyhood and Youth by L. N. Tolstoy.” Dva veka russkoi klassiki, vol. 7, no. 2, 2025, pp. 142–175. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2025-7-2-142-175
Abstract:
The article, contrary to the established tradition of contrasting the character of F. M. Dostoevsky’s novella Notes from Underground and the autobiographical character of L. N. Tolstoy’s stories Boyhood and Youth, proves that they belong to the same type of dreamer, first presented in Dostoevsky’s story “White Nights.” The most significant difference between them lies in the contrast of their inherent worldviews: Nikolenka Irtenyev is optimistic and believes in the attainability of the ideal of perfection, while Dostoevsky’s character is in a pessimistic mood. This does not allow him to fight for the embodiment of his potential merits in life.
Keywords: F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, spiritual development, personality type, human improvement, dreaminess, artistic image, wet snow.
Author: Igor I. Evlampiev
Information about the author:
Igor I. Evlampiev, DSc in Philosophy, Professor, St. Petersburg State University, Mendeleevskaya Line, 5, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7209-2616

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Author 2: Inga Yu. Matveeva
Information about the author 2:
Inga Yu. Matveeva, PhD in Philology, Leading Research Fellow, Institute of Philosophy, St. Petersburg State University, Mendeleevskaya Line, 5, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2211-2188

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received: January 20, 2025
Approved after reviewing: April 03, 2025
Published: June 25, 2025
Issue: 2025 Volume 7 No. 2
Department: Russian Literature of the 18th–19th Centuries
Pages: 142-175
DOI: Visit Website
EDN:
https://elibrary.ru/CBGWEA
UDK: 821.161.1.09"19"
Publication Type: Research Article

References

Bilinkis, Ia. S. Novatorstvo L. N. Tolstogo v trilogii “Detstvo”, “Otrochestvo”, “Iunost’” [Leo Tolstoy’s Innovation in the Trilogy “Childhood,” “Boyhood,” “Youth”]. Leningrad, The Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia Publ., 1973. 40 p. (In Russ.)

Evlampiev, I. I. Filosofiia cheloveka v tvorchestve F. Dostoevskogo (ot rannikh proizvedenii k “Brat’iam Karamazovym”) [Philosophy of Man in the Works of F. Dostoevsky (From Early Works to “The Brothers Karamazov”)]. St. Petersburg, Russian Christian Academy for Humanities Publ., 2012. 585 p. (In Russ.)

Evlampiev, I. I. Obraz Iisusa Khrista v filosofskom mirovozzrenii F. M. Dostoevskogo [The Image of Jesus Christ in the Philosophical Worldview of F. M. Dostoevsky]. St. Petersburg, Russian Christian Academy for Humanities Publ., 2021. 600 p. (In Russ.)

Kibal’nik, S. A. Problemy intertekstual’noi poetiki Dostoevskogo [Problems of Intertextual Poetics of Dostoevsky]. St. Petersburg, Petropolis Publ., 2013. 432 p. (In Russ.)

Matveeva, I. Iu. “Temy F. Dostoevskogo v povesti L. Tolstogo ʽFal’shivyi kupon’.” [“Dostoevsky’s Theme in Tolstoy’s ʽThe Forged Coupon’.”] Voprosy literatury, no. 6, 2022, pp. 81–99. https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2022-6-81-99 (In Russ.)

Pomerants, G. S. Otkrytost’ bezdne. Vstrechi s Dostoevskim [Openness to the Abyss. Meetings with Dostoevsky]. Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tsentr gumanitarnykh initsiativ Publ., 1990. 384 p. (In Russ.)

Slivitskaia, O. V. “Molodoi Tolstoi: preodolenie resentimenta” [“Young Tolstoy: Overcoming Resentment”]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo instituta kul’tury, no. 2, 2006, pp. 86–105. (In Russ.)

Tikhomirov, B. N. “ʽZapiski iz podpol’ia’ kak khudozhestvennoe tseloe” [“ʽNotes from Underground’ as a Fictional Whole”]. Tikhomirov, B. N. “...Ia zanimaius’ etoi tainoi, ibo khochu byt’ chelovekom”. Stat’i i esse o Dostoevskom [“...I Am Engaged in This Mystery Because I Want to Be a Man.” Articles and Essays About Dostoevsky”]. St. Petersburg, Serebrianyi vek Publ., 2012, pp. 268–299. (In Russ.)

Fedorova, E. A., and V. V. Liubarets. “Tema otrochestva v tvorchestve L. N. Tolstogo i F. M. Dostoevskogo: aksiologicheskii podkhod A. A. Ukhtomskogo” [“The Theme of Adolescence in the Works of L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky: Axiological Approach of A. A. Ukhtomsky”]. Dva veka russkoi klassiki, vol. 6, no. 3, 2024, pp. 126–143. https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2024-6-3-126-143 (In Russ.)