THE DIARIES OF A. M. DOSTOYEVSKY: THE PROBLEM OF GENRE

• Main Author: Klavdiya Valer'evna Sizyukhina
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Petrozavodsk State University 2014-11-01
• Series: Problemy Istoričeskoj Poètiki
• Subjects: diary; memories; genre; language; sacralization; style; chronotope
• Online Access: http://poetica.pro/files/redaktor_pdf/1429559302.pdf

The article analyzes the key genre characteristics of A. M.  Dostoyevsky’s diaries: the context, the image type, the stylistic originality. Though the diaries have their own art history, they are also the literary part of the similar memoir document «Memories». The age of the diarist plays an important role in the comprehension process of the diary text functionality. A. M. Dostoyevsky began writing his diaries at the end of hislife. Probably the disease of his wife invoked the writing activity. Dostoyevskymade his diary writings in a strictly chronological order. The writer just once was to interrupt the chronological order of his writings because of his wife's death. Dostoyevsky suspended writing his diaries for almost two years. The first time Dostoyevsky initiated himself into the similar form of diary writing was his regular epistolary correspondence with the sister V. M. Dostoyevskaya. That time the writer was in St. Petersburg and described his everyday impressions in letters. The topics of A. M. Dostoyevsky's diaries refer to family and domestic questions. Along with the domestic topic, art materials of the diaries include a wide range of the historical portraits and the descriptions of the meaningful epochal personalities and events. Th e travel writings and the dates to be comprehended in the spirit of the Christian calendar occupy an important place in A. M. Dostoyevsky's diaries. These art components sacralize the chronotope and the art style of the diaries. The stylistic experiments of the diaries are highly various: dreams, poetic improvisations, offi cial work documents, drawings, plans.