Soviet Dostoevsky: Dostoevsky in Soviet culture, ideology, and philosophy

Abstract

The article aims to analyze how Dostoevsky’s works were perceived and presented in the Soviet ideology and philosophy. Contrary to some commonly held views, it is shown that despite the restrictions, there was never any talk of a complete ban or non-publication of Dostoevsky’s works in the Soviet times including the Stalinist years. Indi­vidual works of Dostoevsky as well as collections of his works were actively published in those years. The author explores the presence of Dostoevsky in the school literature program as well as the perception of Dostoevsky’s legacy by the Soviet leaders – V. Lenin and J. Stalin. It is concluded that the official ideological position in relation to Dostoevsky was never devoid of dynamics even in the Stalinist years. Among the factors that Soviet ideologists noted as positive in Dostoevsky, the author identifies the following three: Dostoevsky’s allegedly revolutionary past, his humanism and fervent sympathy for the humiliated and offended, and his great skill of an artist and expert in the secrets of the human soul. The author also discusses the perception of Dostoevsky’s work by the Soviet philosopher E.V. Ilyenkov. The author sets the task of further research into the perception of Dostoevsky in the legacy of other creative Soviet Marxists and / or publicists of the sixties – G. Lukach, M.A. Lifshits, Yu. F. Karyakin, etc.