On Nina A. Dmitrieva

Abstract

The first publication of N. Dmitrieva’s article on Dickens and Dostoevsky. Compared to the plethora of studies devoted to Dickens’ influence on Dostoevsky, Dmitrieva’s work catches the eye as less general and more profound: something that can be described as the memory of Dickensian allusions in Dostoevsky’s novels. This is achieved through ingeniously revealed similarities and dissimilarities of the plot, characters, as well as scenes, details and portrayals that suddenly highlight the connection. Dostoevsky could see Dickens’ creations in his mind almost as if they were alive: that visual synthesis, derived from Dickens’ books, a concentration of his poetry, and an extract of his ideas — all that the genius of an artist selected, transformed and compressed down to a few lines. Artistic reformatting of plot-related material, substitution of individual scenes with generalised images of Dickens associations in Dostoevsky’s mind and how the latter projected those on Russian reality, Russian problems and his own insights and contemplations — all of this makes this study stand out in the sea of comparative analyses.