Prophetic Counterparts in The Brothers Karamazov

ISBN-13: 9783639501520 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 92 str.

Hovanyi Marton

Opis

As the last novel of Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov is one of those masterpieces of world literature which is, from among numerous literary traditions, in an active relationship with biblical texts. Prophetic Counterparts in The Brothers Karamazov ventures, by relying on comparative literary studies, to offer the reader a new interpretation of this polyphonic novel, which aspect has not yet been discussed in the literature on Dostoevsky. The re-rendering of biblical prophetism and some of its outstanding prophetic characters (such as Elijah) can first of all be discovered in the modes of discourse and actions of Zosima and Alyosha but Ilyushechka or Ferapont as the heir to the anti-prophetic traditions also fit this line of interpretation. Dostoevsky, through some selections and re-renderings of the interpretations of the stories of some Old Testament prophets and the modes of discourse, which is already complex in the Holy Scriptures, invokes these at the key points of the novel, filtered through the New Testament and the cultural heritage of as many as nineteen centuries. These may open a new horizon for the readers of the novel and/or biblical prophetism at the same time.

O autorze

Márton Hoványi (1986, Budapest) is a Hungarian literary theorist and Catholic theologian. Currently he is a Phd candidate in Comparative Literary Studies and a PhD student in Theology in Budapest. He works as an Assistant Research Fellow at the Research Center for Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Literary Studies.