Literary Portraits in the Novels of F. M. Dostoevskij

Front matter

Vorträge und Abhandlungen zur Slavistik - Band 16

(eBook - Digi20-Retro)

Edmund Heier

Table Of Contents

PREFACE INTRODUCTION

Dostoevskij's Concept of Man and its Artistic Depiction in Literary Portraiture

The Early Period:

Introduction

In approaching F.M. Dostoevskij's novels with the express purpose of identifying and determining the function of literary portraiture, one is faced with an unexpected enormous gallery of literary portraits. These are verbal accounts or drawings in words, in which physical appearance and facial expression are described not only to evoke a visual image, but more specifically to discern the inner man. Indeed, Dostoevskij cultivated the literary portrait so assiduously that only two of his major characters are not depicted in portrait form. The vast amount of material that came to light in the pursuit of this study has necessitated a selection and omission of equally valid specimens, which would further substantiate that Dostoevskij was a close observer of the physical properties of his characters and that he employed them to delineate psychological and moral disposition. And yet, the voluminous critical literature on Dostoevskij hardly devotes any attention to this artistic device.

It stands to reason that Dostoevskij's profound philosophical and religious observations, his unparallelled insight into the psychology of his heroes and his admirable analysis of the working of their minds provided a greater fascination. Indeed, his significant views on human personality, the depiction of his heroes’ passions and contradictions, the portrayal of the depths of the human soul, which made Dostoevskij the legitimate creator of the modern psychological novel, ultimately dictated the nature of the critics’ preoccupation with Dostoevskij. It was thus natural that in the area of modes of characterization the purely psychological portrayal became the primary concern of critics.

But this one-sided approach and over-emphasis on direct psychological analysis also created misconceptions. A case in point is the famous comparative study Tolstoj and Dostoevskij (1901) by D.S. Merezhkovskij. Here it is asserted that Tolstoj is the “seer of the flesh,” while Dostoevskij is the "seer of the spirit" and that Tolstoj employs exterior physical description of his characters in order to reveal their psychological disposition, while Dostoevskij ignores external appearance, as he describes inner qualities and thereby evokes an indirect visual image of his characters. In reality Dostoevskij uses the physical features of a character no less than Tolstoj, but this notion of Merezhkovskij is still being perpetuated in many quarters. Tolstoj's psychological range was no less than that of Dostoevskij, and his contribution to the psychological novel equals that of Dostoevskij. However, while they both employed the exterior appearance of their characters for similar functions, Tolstoj is considered as the greater master in his descriptive passages. Though his physical portraits are not as polished as those of

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Tolstoj's, Dostoevskij recorded the physical features of his characters not as just another cliché, but as a meaningful device adding realism and verisimilitude to his characters. But most of all, it will be demonstrated in this study that literary portraiture functioned as an important mode of characterization and that Dostoevskij's characters are not merely embodied vehicles of abstract ideas and passions.

Literary portraiture is an important manifestation of a writer’s concept of man and of his artistic talent. The designation "literary portrait" or “literary portraiture” may refer to both indirect and direct delineation of character. Indirect portraiture depicts character through action, confession, dialogue, contrast, dramatic situation, in short, through any device which discloses character traits by indirect means. Here the reader is invited to compose his own mosaic-like portrait of the character. The direct literary portrait, our primary concern, depicts or delineates character traits directly via extemal appearance. It is a pictorial description, in which the writer consciously introduces his character by way of an account of his exterior in order to suggest or reveal directly the essence of inner qualities. This kind of literary portrait consists of both the physical appearance and the interpretation of these features and their expression. In offering a visual impression of the characters in such a manner that it reveals specific character traits either by implication of through direct intervention, the author-narrator resorts to the principle of physiognomy, i.e., to the art of delineating character on the basis of physical appearance. In contrast to a writer's attempt to capture permanent character traits using physiognomy, he most often also employs pathognomy, i.e., mimic and gesture, to record the physical reflection of a character's temporary mental and psychological state.

The efforts to depict men physiognomically in literary portraits dates back to antiquity. By the time Dostoevskij appeared on the literary scene it had become a common device among the French and English realists, especially in the works of Balzac and Dickens. The application of physiognomic principles, which determined the content and form of the literary portrait, was based on the prevailing concept of mam as an organic, harmonious unity. The conviction that the physical and the spiritual constantly interact explains the major reason for describing the physical details of a character with the aim of revealing inner disposition. The person most responsible for propagating the idea of physiognomy and pathognomy in modem times was J.K. Lavater, with his voluminous work Physiognomic Fragments (1775-78), which was translated into most European languages. His efforts not only reversed the declining interest in physiognomy,

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Although this study is primarily concerned with direct literary portraiture, indirect depiction was no less important, as it has to be juxtaposed with the former, in order to determine the extent to which Dostoevskij employed physical appearance in the delineation of character. One of the difficulties is the fact that Dostoevskij does not systematically adhere to any mode of characterization, least of all to prevailing psychological theories of his time. Contrary to Tolstoj, Dostoevskij left us few significant commentaries on his own work, but even more regrettable is the substantial absence of his various novelisüc versions which would enable one to pursue the process of creation. Thus the literary text supported by his correspondence will have to serve as our major source in identifying specific Dostoevskijan ideas, a task which is not always easy to accomplish. What is, however, overwhelmingly apparent, is precisely that which had been denied, namely that Dostoevskij is a careful observer of the physical phenomena of his characters and that he resorts to them with the express purpose of revealing character traits. In analyzing the physical appearance, as it manifests itself in his character drawings, it is hoped to demonstrate the importance and vitality of literary portraiture as part of the novelist's mode of characterization.

I The details of Lavater's reception in Russia and his influence on the manner of character portrayal are found in my forthcoming study: Literary Portraiture in Nineteenth Century Russian Prose.

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