182 1 year, Dostoevsky was born in a doctor's family. He spent his childhood in his father's manor, so he came into contact with the real life of serfs. 1834 He entered Cermak Boarding Middle School in Moscow, and after graduation he entered Petersburg Military Engineering School, where he worked in the Cartographic Bureau of the Engineering Department. A year later, he took the initiative to leave, specializing in literary creation. 1846, he wrote his first work, The Poor. As soon as the novel was published, it caused a sensation in the literary world and was widely praised by readers. Belinsky, a literary critic, called it "the first attempt of social novel". Then he wrote several novellas, such as Double Personality, Landlord, Daylight and Fragile Heart.
1849- 1859, Dostoevsky was arrested by the dune government for participating in revolutionary activities and exiled to Siberia.
After returning from exile, Dostoevsky continued to pick up a pen to create. After a long period of physical and mental torture, Dostoevsky's reflection on life is more profound and his thoughts are more profound. Since 186 1, he has published many important works such as Insulted and Destroyed, Notes on Dead House, Crime and Punishment, Idiot, Demon and Brother Kara Matsov.
Among them, Crime and Punishment published by 1866 won the author a worldwide reputation.
Brothers karamazov, published in 1880, is a summary of the author's philosophical thoughts and is called the greatest novel in the history of human civilization. Some writers commented: "Dostoevsky devoted his life to studying the relationship between man and God, often swinging between heaven and hell, shuttling between the poles of divinity and magic, until he was 60 years old, and finally wrote Brothers Karamay, which set a peak in the field of human spirit."
Dostoevsky is not the originator of psychological narration, but he is definitely a master of developing psychological and conscious description, which has a great influence behind him. Many western writers take this as a standard, so that Dostoevsky's shadow can be found in their works more or less.
Dostoevsky is an expert in psychological description. He is obsessed with morbid psychological description, not only describing the result of behavior, but also focusing on the psychological activity process of behavior, especially those abnormal behaviors that are conscious or unconscious, almost unconscious and crazy. The abnormal thoughts and behaviors of the characters are precisely the characteristics of his works. His shocking description of human physical and mental pain is beyond the reach of other writers. His novel is very dramatic and the plot develops rapidly. Subsequent catastrophic events are often accompanied by psychological struggle and painful spiritual crisis, thus exposing the complexity, contradiction and profound tragedy of the relationship between Que and Que. Dostoevsky's contradictory personality combination of good and evil and the description of deep psychological activities have a far-reaching influence on later writers.
Dostoevsky's creative influence goes far beyond Russia. Realistic writers can draw beneficial nutrition from his works, while modernist writers regard his works as classics and call him their pioneers and mentors.
Surprisingly, western literary critics spoke highly of him.
Even the most critical revolutionary writer can't deny his artistic talent. Gorky, the founder of proletarian revolutionary literature, once said that he was "the greatest genius". As far as artistic expression is concerned, his talent is probably comparable to Shakespeare's.
Haruki Murakami said: "Dostoevsky depicts people abandoned by God with infinite love. In the absolute tragic contradiction that God's creator was abandoned by God, he found the dignity of man himself. "
Author's comments:
The irony quoted by the writer Duke Otoevsky at the beginning of Dostoevsky's first novel The Poor Man actually shows two important characteristics of Dostoevsky's later works: one is that he refuses to write anything that is pleasing to the eye, but "loves to dig out what is buried underground"; The second is to arouse and stimulate readers to think: "After reading these things, you can't help thinking". Of course, the simplest way is to "forbid them to write, or forbid them to write altogether", but even if people are not allowed to think for a while, or there is a lack of thinking materials, these problems still exist. So people must think, or explode in action.
However, the protagonist in Dostoevsky's early novels is not the typical image of thinkers in Dostoevsky's novels. Their thoughts do not have profound epochal and eternal contents. Their thoughts are fragmented or unclear. They are not philosophers, their thoughts are still marching alone, and there is no dialogue and confrontation with other thoughts as characters. Here, ideas are singular rather than plural, and even often fragmented. However, we can still point out some characteristics similar to those of later thinkers: for example, they are weak in action, difficult to get along with others, always embarrassed in the sight of others, nervous and changeable, constantly turning around, talking back after putting forward an idea, afraid of self-confidence, and self-conflict, which sometimes even reaches the crazy point of splitting personality, and so on. In other words, on them, they have begun to show an ideological ambiguity and problems.
Indeed, the main characters in Dostoevsky's works all appear as thinkers. Dostoevsky's works have formed a unique type of "thought novel", which has not been stereotyped from the beginning, but has undergone a process of gestation and growth. Dostoevsky's early works basically belong to the traditional novel type, focusing on characters and plots. They were deeply influenced by Nicolas Nikolai Gogol's style and inherited his pity and sympathy for the little people. The keynote of Dostoevsky's early works is only pity, silent and lonely pity, and the desire for dialogue with the times and eternity is added to his later works. The characters in early novels are rich in feelings, delicate in feelings, mobile in consciousness and changeable in psychology, but they do not show high ideological power or even high intelligence. Most of them are quite ordinary, low-ranking and extremely sensitive to self-esteem, kind-hearted and sometimes eccentric. They sometimes express some ideas. For example, Zhu Wushkin, the hero of The Poor, also expressed some thoughts about social justice and civic virtue, but these thoughts are generally rambling, incoherent and fleeting. The protagonist is mainly talking about his feelings and telling his own experiences and feelings. Here, he mainly shows a style of pouring out, not arguing and talking with each other, nor thinking. Indeed, there is always another person, an opposing party, either the object to pour out feelings, or the alien and mocking eyes. The protagonist in Dostoevsky's novels always seems to feel uncomfortable under the eyes of others, always defending himself, constantly explaining, explaining, exposing himself and trying to cover it up. These psychological activities have some characteristics of later thinkers, but they have not yet risen to the level of thinking about fundamental problems.
Dostoevsky's novel Bullying and Insulting was published in 186 1, which marked the author's self-transcendence, the end of the post-slavery recovery period in Siberia and the beginning of a new and higher realm. His early debut novel The Poor Man was very successful, which made him one of the best writers in Russia at that time (1940s). This book, together with Notes on a Dead House published almost at the same time, has begun to make him one of the best writers in the world, and Notes on the Basement has established his position as a new world literature. It was also during this period that he, together with Turgenev, Tolstoy and other masters, made Russian literature internationalized and the peak of Russian literature became the peak of world literature.
Notes on the Dead House contains many profound thoughts condensed by the author in his hard work and life, which should be said to be precious because they come directly from the bottom. The narrator "I" in Notes on a Dead House is not only a storyteller, but also a thinker, and a monologue. It is a person who narrates the thoughts he has recognized or affirmed through pain, not an interlocutor, not a person who narrates the ideological contradictions and puzzles he feels.
The main typical thinkers who really constitute Dostoevsky's works were born in the basement notes, only in the basement. Later, some main characteristics of thinkers were fully reflected: for example, the turning point of thought, constant jumping, and constant awareness of the presence of others (even if others take the form of "potential presence" here); Constantly pushing the problem to the extreme, the words are fierce and provocative, and sometimes it retreats quickly and thoroughly ... and its central intention is to emphasize the extremely profound complexity of human beings, the finiteness and irrationality of human beings, the individuality of human beings, and challenge the rationality of Ojimid and the happiness of cheap ant nests. This is a "basement thought" and a "night thought". The first chapter "Basement" is about dozens of pages, which completely expresses the thoughts of those people who are quite chaotic and gloomy in the basement, but there is still a main line and a hidden expectation. The second chapter, sleet, continues to explain the feelings and thoughts of "I" in the story of reviewing my past contacts with people, giving up a prostitute at a party and ending the evil at the beginning.
However, it is inappropriate to equate people's thoughts in the basement with Dostoevsky's own thoughts. In addition, although this thinker strongly shows the formal characteristics of Dostoevsky's main thinker type, he has not yet said all or even the main part of this type of thought. The thoughts of people in the basement are mainly aggressive, negative and destructive. It attacks instrumental rationality and utilitarianism, emphasizing that the finiteness of human rationality is more than the finiteness of human morality, but the positive things are not shown under the background of despair. God's problem has not yet appeared directly. It will lead to theism and atheism. This is the deepest part of the night, and there is no light yet. If you want to see the light, you need to raise your head again. However, in any case, a new type of thinker was born. In the future, we will be familiar with this type of thinkers (such as outsiders, disgusting people, transparent people, K, etc.). ) In the works of some twentieth-century writers such as Kafka, Camus and Sartre, but in the middle of the nineteenth century, this type of thinker was extremely novel. Kaufman listed this work as the first in his book Existentialism, which really showed his insight.
We can divide the characters who expressed their thoughts in Dostoevsky's works into three categories: the first category is obviously disgusting characters, such as Duke Valkovsky in The Bullied and the Insulted; Lucien, who is extremely vulgar and hypocritical in Crime and Punishment, and Peter, the head of a "revolutionary group" in Demons? Viho Vinsky, the old Carla Matsov in brothers karamazov, and the fund-raiser who climbed up by hook or by crook. However, the ideological characteristics of these characters are not so much to inherit ideas as to reject them; It is better to show the poverty and death of thought than to show the richness and activity of thought. They either learn from others and cite popular ideas to defend their selfish behavior (such as Lv Xian); Or simply refuse to reflect on their own behavior, showing an extreme shameless (such as Duke Valkovsky), or despise ideological theory, mainly as an activist (such as Peter? Verho vinsky)。 In this sense, they are sadly blind. Because they have no intention of introspection at all, they can't attract light and are completely in the dark. Sometimes they have flashes of suspicion, such as old Carla Matsov, but they soon go out. Their thoughts can often be summarized in a very simple form, that is, an explicit or fashionable extreme egoism, hedonism or opportunism. These ideas are obviously opposed by the author. People who express these thoughts are only formally listed as "thought figures", and they just express an opinion, not thinking for the sake of the thought itself, let alone pursuing the truth. Their opinions have the significance of directly defending their actions and interests.
Another kind of ideological figures can be said to be positive and beautiful, such as Duke myshkin, Alesha, and Elder Zosima. The ideas they expressed seem to be endorsed by the author. Many of Mei's thoughts are expressed in the form of stories, but there are few words. Elder Zosima's last words contain some profound ideological contents that we may not grasp at present. Although these contents also reflect the process of a spiritual struggle, they still appear in the form of conclusions. The question now is: do these characters constitute the main types of thinkers in Dostoevsky's works, and do the ideas they express overcome or surpass other ideas and occupy a dominant position? It can't be said that Dostoevsky doesn't have this desire. He said he wanted to describe an "absolutely beautiful character" in Idiot. However, as he admitted, "there is nothing more difficult in the world, especially now." Many commentators have pointed out that the Duke of Meschin has some characteristics of Jesus Christ, such as being completely sincere and very weak, full of pity and so on. However, in modern society, what kind of figure is this that causes ridicule? However, perhaps in this era, he is like this, and it can only be like this. In any case, at the end of the novel, his thoughts not only have no effect, but also are very meaningful. He himself has returned to the state of "idiot", but there are still some things that we can't grasp and understand at present. In short, as far as the facts are concerned, this idea is not dominant and extremely powerless. Similarly, Dostoevsky wanted to take Alesha as the leading role when he wrote brothers karamazov. In a letter to Bobenotsev, the etiquette official at that time, he said that the main purpose of writing "For and Against" was to refute Ivan's blasphemous thought of denying God's creation in this volume through the words of "Russian priest" Lao Zuosima. But is this rebuttal successful or even powerful enough? Many commentators have given negative answers. Berdyaev said: Zosima and Alesha, who represent Dostoevsky's positive theory, are not the best figures in his works. Ivan's image is much stronger and more convincing. Mao Mu also made it clear that the rebuttal was unsuccessful. The volume of "pros and cons" is so strong, but the volume of refutation is boring, and even some answers are irrelevant. Ivan's allegations have not been answered yet. Dostoevsky once said that Raskolnikov's new life can be used as the material for another new novel. He intends to write a sequel to brothers karamazov, describing Alesha's experience of coming to the earth, even becoming a revolutionary, and finally returning to the monastery. But none of these plans have been realized. This kind of character has a thin mind. Even if Dostoevsky lives for another twenty years, I'm afraid he still can't finish this plan. It is impossible for a person to complete the task put forward by the times ahead of time, and even this has never been a task that the times can put forward.
The last kind of ideological figures are those who are in complex contradictions and conflicts. We can call them "problem people". They account for the largest number of ideological figures. They not only constitute the protagonists of Dostoevsky's later novels with the author's will, but sometimes even become the protagonists against the author's will. For example, Raskolnikov is the protagonist of Crime and Punishment, Dolgoruki is the protagonist of the teenager, and a new generation of nihilists such as Stavrokin gradually replace the older generation of liberals such as Stepan to become the protagonist of the monster. The new generation is also aggressive in Idiot. They expressed ideas that Dostoevsky agreed with and he opposed. Among these characters, the two most important ones are Raskolnikov and Ivan. We can quote Berdyaev's metaphor, calling the former positive figures "people with light", such as Megan's poems, and Alesha tends to others; Then a kind of "problem person" who is inclined by others is called "condenser".
The "condenser" is a figure that others want to explore. They are like a mystery. They have a thick shadow, but the strong light hits them. They don't look like people who are completely in the dark. The plot favors them. They occupy the center of the stage and constantly attract light to them. If these two people really constitute the type of thinkers in Dostoevsky's works, then the latter type of thinkers is more prominent. We can say that they constitute the main type of thinkers in Dostoevsky's works.
Perhaps we can take a closer look at the family of such a unique thinker in Dostoevsky's works, especially the main types of thinkers who ask questions. What are the basic characteristics of these thinkers?
As mentioned above, in Dostoevsky's "pre-Siberian period" works, there have been some embryonic forms of introspective characters, but these characters are not enough to make Dostoevsky's novels obviously different from other novels and form another unique type, nor are they enough to make Dostoevsky's works have world classic significance. Meaningful changes occurred in 1864. Dostoevsky almost wrote "Notes in the Basement" when his wife was dying, and then he lost his eldest brother Mikhail and his good friend Grigorev, who had deep brotherhood and the same career. This is the most unfortunate year in Dostoevsky's life. But it was also this year that formed a fundamental turning point in Dostoevsky's works. Thomas? Mann said that "Basement Notes" is a turning point in Dostoevsky's creation and his own breakthrough. 39
In the novels after Basement Notes-Crime and Punishment, Idiot, Devil and brothers karamazov, the protagonists, even some minor figures, are thinkers. One of the most obvious characteristics of these thinkers seems to be their non-utilitarianism. They don't calculate interests, don't consider gains and losses, and are willing to pay the price for their thoughts, suffer for their thoughts, and even sacrifice their lives. Admittedly, one of the direct motives of the hero Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment to kill the female usurer is the pressure of money. He wants to get rich, and he will get rich at once. And the thought of the hero Dolgoruki in Teenager is also a kind of rich thought, and it is to make a fortune, that is, to become a very rich person like Rothschild. But what a rich idea it is! Raskolnikov threw away the money almost immediately after he got it, and gave it to Malmi Latov's family. After stating his thought of getting rich, Dolgoruki never saw any practical measures to realize his dream of getting rich in all his later actions. In his statement, he also said that his goal of becoming Rothschild is by no means for material enjoyment, saying that in that case, all the charm of "thought" and all its spiritual strength will disappear. 4 1 Ivan? Carla Matsov is also "the kind of person who can solve ideological problems without millions of furniture." In fact, they regard the idea itself far more important than the effect and benefit they want to bring to themselves. Raskolnikov later admitted that he actually just wanted to "try" his theory. He may still be an egoist, but he is not a utilitarian egoist. He is still for himself, but not for his own material interests, but for his own thoughts, to discover and verify his own thoughts. He said:
"... when I did this, Sonia, I didn't think about money. I don't think money is more important than other things … now I know everything … get to know me! Maybe I'll never kill anyone again. I want to find something else, and it is something else that tempts me. At that time, I wanted to find out if I was a louse or a human being like others. Whether I can cross the obstacle, whether I dare to bend down and pick it up, whether I am a trembling beast, whether I have the right ... "
"... listen: I went to the old woman's house, and I just tried ... you can believe this! "Forty-two
Almost all the heroes and first-class thinkers in Dostoevsky's novels are like this, thinking for the sake of thought itself, not for the benefit brought by thought. Let's not talk about the positive figures such as Megan's Poem, Alesha, Elder Zosima, or the contradictory or even negative images such as Stavrokin in The Demons. Even they are killing themselves rather than making profits for themselves. European critics are more likely to notice the fundamental differences between these characters written by Dostoevsky and those written by European writers. Zweig once wrote: In Europe, 50,000 books are published every year, all of which teach people how to get rich, how to succeed, how to be happy and how to win friends ... But Dostoevsky's heroes are completely different. The basic qualities of Dostoevsky's heroes are anti-bourgeois and do not pursue the happiness of ordinary citizens. We might as well further point out that these thinkers are not only secular winners, but also almost all losers. They are sinners, prisoners, suicides, lunatics, patients, idiots ... Even the body of Elder Zosima, who is regarded as a saint, has no miracle, and even decays and stinks faster than ordinary people.
Bakhtin also talked about the "absolute selflessness" of Dostoevsky's characters as thinkers. He pointed out that all the main figures of Dostoevsky, as thinkers, are absolutely selfless, because thoughts really dominate the core of their personality. This selflessness does not take their personality characteristics as the object of description, nor is it an external evaluation of their behavior; This selflessness shows that they really live in the field of thought. "Thought" and "selflessness" are almost synonyms here. In this sense, it is absolutely selfless to kill Raskolinkov who robbed the old usurer; Sonia, a prostitute, is absolutely selfless; Ivan, the accomplice of killing his father, is absolutely selfless. There is also the idea of "youth", that is, the idea of becoming Rothschild, which is also absolutely selfless. 45
Thinkers in Dostoevsky's works are often placed in a tragic plot, floating in a dangerous world and being tested on the edge. Ivanov called Dostoevsky's novels "tragic novels", Grossman emphasized the connection between Dostoevsky's novels and thrillers, and Bakhtin pointed out the origin of Dostoevsky's novels and the ancient carnival Menipu style. Dostoevsky's novels often lead to a catastrophe, a tragic ending, murder or suicide. In this way, Dostoevsky's thinkers will never be calm and poetic, but will often be forced to express their views sharply and frankly, because they are on the verge of sin, madness or death. Dostoevsky's novels are always full of crises, implying murderous and dangerous breath, and the most unpredictable and cruel crimes may happen at any time. In this sinful and tragic atmosphere, its thinkers also have deep pain, tension and anxiety. They are deeply distressed by the crimes committed or possibly committed by themselves or others, Raskolnikov is distressed by killing himself, Ivan is distressed by a kind of "patricide of thought", May Jin Shi is distressed by all the crimes he has seen, and Zuosima suddenly kneels down to Mika with a premonition of possible crimes. What is particularly profound here is a kind of moral pain, despair and sadness caused by human sin. This extreme nervousness has been seen in the protagonist of Dostoevsky's early novels and fully manifested in the thinkers of his later novels.
Thinkers in Dostoevsky's works also have a kind of growth, or unfinished, or even an eternal unfinished. Sometimes it seems to have come to an end, but this end soon becomes a new starting point. This feature is even reflected in the era of the protagonist of thought. They are just young people, or they are all a little childish. Even Stepan, a liberal of the older generation, is full of childishness. Moreover, there is a special subclass among Dostoevsky's thinkers: these are "young thinkers". For example, hippolyte and Guo in Idiot, Dolgoruki, the protagonist in Teenager, Correa and Lisa in brothers karamazov. These teenagers are often sensitive to self-esteem, their inner world is precocious, rich and changeable, they pursue the truth irresistibly and often waver. They don't care about utility or sacrifice. They are eager to do good things but often do stupid things. They can also be called "problem of juvenile", but of course they are mainly "problem of juvenile" in thought rather than in behavior. They also cherish their thoughts and feelings, although some of these thoughts are just popular views. This kind of "young thinker" is a unique image of Dostoevsky, which is rarely seen by other writers.
Thinkers in Dostoevsky's works often push the logic of thought to the extreme. The most obvious example is kirilov. He committed suicide purely for an idea and a problem. After a long and even very calm thinking, he felt that he could not have two incompatible ideas at the same time. He had to commit suicide for the thoroughness of ideological logic. There is no room for compromise, cowardice, warmth and nostalgia.
Another obvious feature of these thinkers is their introspection, which is a sharp contrast between them and activists. They are not the kind of people who walk the line. They are not the kind of people who go straight to their goals without hesitation. The thinking of activists often just turns this thinking into a conclusion quickly, and then uses this conclusion as a reason to take action or an excuse to explain their actions afterwards. They should regard thought as a weapon of action or a weapon of success and a magic weapon of victory. In fact, they prefer theories and doctrines to ideas. Thinkers always stop to think: doubt, hesitation, confusion, repentance, remorse, introspection ... They often not only suffer from missing, but also get sick and even die because of missing. Their thoughts turn into theories, which may become a sharp weapon for others to kill. For example, Bofill pointed out that Raskolnikov's theory can kill people, while Sumaru Djakov directly used Ivan? Kara Mazov's theory kills people, but they can't kill people. They either can't do it, or they kill people quite carelessly. They immediately fall into extreme pain and have to surrender. The owners of these ideas often only hurt or kill themselves because of these ideas.
Moreover, these thinkers sometimes not only seem to have lost the ability to act or persist in acting, but also seem to be doing nothing on purpose. Of course, there is a ready-made reason here, that is, they should make time to think. Thought itself has become the most important thing and the only cause worth trying, regardless of its success or failure. Some of them don't know their source of life at all, some accept the benefits of others, and some are undoubtedly poor, but they are still thinking on an empty stomach. They seem to live by thinking, and their livelihood and development are not important to them. Getting rich has become the content of their thoughts and even ideals, which seems to be only the imprint of an era and provides them with thinking materials. If they change their times and change their questions, they will still think nervously and trace back to the source through these questions. They seem to be born thinkers, so the young Dolgoruki told him the meaning of thoughts and how he cherished his thoughts, although thoughts sometimes dragged him into evil behavior and would certainly drag him into loneliness:
There are some unsolved problems in My Thought. But I don't want anyone to solve them except me. In the last two years, I didn't even read books, for fear that I would be shocked to see pages that were not conducive to my "thinking". ……
Thought almost always grows in a state of concealment and loneliness. Although they inevitably move towards narration and dialogue, they must first grow up in loneliness. In the eyes of thinkers, thought has supreme significance. The same teenager who dreamed of getting rich said, "The noblest thought comes first, followed by money. A rich society without the noblest ideas will collapse. " The idea of 5 1 often brings suffering and deprivation. It is not the idea of bringing material benefits to individuals and making people succeed in the world, but it is still very important in their eyes. It is higher than happiness and food and clothing. But great ideas are annoying.
"People with thoughts live a miserable life, while people without thoughts have always lived a happy life." This makes these thinkers in Dostoevsky's works seem to constitute a special family among human beings. They are different from ordinary people who don't consider these things, and they are also different from activists who are bent on success. They are all secretly suffering from some great loneliness. Not many people will understand them, but there are also fierce arguments among them. They will even argue with themselves constantly, regardless of utility and effect. Of course, this does not mean that their thoughts will not have an impact on society, including negative consequences.
These thoughts can not only bring benefits to thinkers, but even be extremely harmful. Often fatal. We always see death, murder and suicide in Dostoevsky's works, and thoughts are really deadly things. "Crime and Punishment" and "Demon and Brother Kara Matsov" all revolve around several plots.