Slovo 7, 2019

 

ARTICLES

Raluca-Alexandra ANDRONACHE

Motivul morții în creațiile dramatice Puterea întunericului și Cadavrul viu de Lev Tolstoi (The Motif of Death in the Plays The Power of Darkness and The Living Corpse by Lev Tolstoy), p. 4-16

Abstract. Two fundamental themes, those of life and death, appear obsessively in Tolstoy’s creations, subject to reexamination from different perspectives and through various narrative techniques. Tolstoy depicts the stages of spiritual death and meticulously presents the attitudes of the characters who are confronted with it, thus highlighting important characteristics of their psychology and human psychology in general. A person’s life drama is represented through the contrast between the inevitability of death and the desire for immortality. There is a supreme judge, who cannot be deceived, but also the conscience, which, after a sin was committed, can no longer be reconciled.

Keywords: Tolstoy; Russia; drama; death; literature.

Zoe CARAIANI

Baletul în Rusia sovietică – reforme, cenzură, tradiție (Ballet During Soviet Russia- Reforms, Censorship, Tradition), p.17-35

Abstract. When the Soviets took power, each field was changed to suit the new political ideology. Only one was protected by tradition: the Russian ballet. This article focuses on the historical continuity of the classical ballet and all its aspects that adjusted to fit the new social, political, economic, and cultural context. How had this art come to embody political ideas? How did Bolshevism shape the Russian ballet? This article exposes both the splendor and the corruption that the Russian cultural institutions have created starting from the twentieth century until now.

Keywords: art; corruption; Russian ballet; tradition; political ideology; censorship.

Bianca-Elena CHIRILĂ

Tema mâncării în nuvela Bătrâna de Daniil Harms (The Theme of Food in Daniil Kharms’ Novella The Old Woman), p. 36-51

Abstract. The present article deals with the theme of food which is manifested in Kharms’ story The Old Woman in two ways: metaphysical and socio-ethical. Fundamental to our research are the thematic plexuses: the interaction of the original theme of food, both with “Chinar” themes and motives of an ontological nature, and with the absurdist, ethical theme characteristic of the 1930s work of Kharms. As a result of the analysis, we conclude that the theme of food is employed by Kharms in the novella The Old Woman to reveal two artistic existence plans: existential-metaphysical and existential-social. These two plans of being define the peculiarity of Kharms’ oeuvre.

Keywords: Kharms; The Old Woman; small prose; theme; food; intertextuality.

Diana-Elena FIRFIRICĂ

Elemente de psihologism în romanul dostoievskian Umiliți și obidiți (The Psychological Element in Dostoevsky’s Novel Humiliated and Insulted), p. 52-64

Abstract. This article focuses on the psychological processes at work in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Humiliated and Insulted. The novel reflects the inner trauma and contradictions experienced by the characters through the struggle between good and evil. Pain and suffering are causing their dehumanization. For some of the characters, such as Jeremy Smith, there is no hope to repair the mistakes of the past, but Natasha and Nikolai have a chance at a new beginning. The main theme of the novel is that of selfishness. Prince Valkovsky is the character that only loves money and himself. The setting, the symbols, the clothing, the interior monologue are tools that Dostoevsky uses for his psychological analysis of the characters.

Keywords: freedom; suffering; psychological crises; love; dream.

Ioana HODOR

Între animalic și spiritual. Învierea lui Nehliudov (Between Animalistic and Spiritual. The Resurrection of Nekhlyudov), p. 65-77

Abstract. This article represents an analysis done upon the novel Resurrection written by Leo Tolstoy. Starting from the principles and ideas that belong to the system of thinking elaborated in two of his non-literary works, A confession and On life, this article presents the journey of the Tolstoian character during the transformation process from the animal-man to the spiritual-man, as the author says in the above-mentioned work. Starting from theoretical premises, the article aims to consider the stages of transformation from the animal-man into the spiritual-man, as well as the causes and the effects of this transformation in order to observe that it operates in both of its meanings and that it is exactly this double process which makes out of Tolstoy’s novel one of the most interesting in his career. By the end of the article, the reader shall be able to distinguish the characteristics of the animal-man, as well as the ones of the spiritual-man and understand how this transformation worked in Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhlyudov, the main character of the novel, who is considered to be the strongest alter-ego of the writer.

Keywords: Spiritual man; transformation; alter-ego; author.

Mara IONESCU

Viziunea asupra fericirii în romanul Idiotul de F. M. Dostoievski (The Vision of Happiness in the Novel The Idiot by F. M. Dostoevsky), p. 78-89

Abstract. The study sets out to analyze the vision of happiness in Dostoyevsky’s novel The Idiot, starting from the premise that the author had intended to convey a vision of happiness according to Christian moral principles. The theme of happiness in Dostoyevsky’s oeuvre was neglected by researchers and scholars who have been preoccupied with the author’s great ideas and religious quest. The latter can be defined as tragic in nature and as reflecting the bright light of both Russian and universal spirituality in a somber world of suffering and stark contrasts. Nikolai Berdyaev states that one finds in Dostoyevsky a great happiness and liberation of spirit. Thus, the study aims at analyzing the vision that happiness evokes in the main characters of The Idiot and the way happiness works to purify violent passions and liberate from harm (catharsis). The concept of virtuous happiness is derived from the principle of “eudaimonia”, or as a drive to obtain spiritual or material pleasure. The study aims to show the way in which the concept of happiness is employed in the evolution of conflict and the characters’ interactions.

Keywords: Orthodox tradition; virtue; happiness; hedonism; dramatic counterpoint; feebleness.

Gabriela-Laura MILICU

Tipuri de naratori în proza scurtă a lui F. M. Dostoievski (prin grila teoreticianului Jaap Lintvelt) (Types of Narrators in Dostoevsky’s Short Prose (by Applying Jaap Lintvelt`s Theory)), p. 90-99

Abstract. This article offers an analysis of Dostoyevsky’s short prose narrators. The aim of the article is to show the complexity and uniqueness of Dostoyevsky’s method in creating interesting types of narrators even in his short prose. By applying Jaap Lintvelt’s theory to Dostoyevsky’s texts we discover numerous types of narrators such as the heterodiegetic narrator and the homodiegetic narrator. Many times, the type of narrator changes inside the same story. I have chosen this topic because I have always been interested in the changes that happen inside a text.

Keywords: narrator; Jaap Lintvelt; short prose; Dostoyevsky.

Andreea Nicoleta PÎRVU

De la Turgheniev și Dostoievski la primul roman modern japonez (From Turgenev and Dostoevsky to the First Modern Japanese Novel), p. 100-109

Abstract. Modern Japanese literature stems from the initial attempts at translating Russian authors towards the end of the 19th century. Novel character types, narrative perspectives, terminology, and writing styles were gradually adopted and blended into what would constitute the first Japanese novel, written by the first Japanese-Russian translator Futabatei Shimei, who was in awe of evergreen titans such as Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Turgenev and many more. A breakthrough at the time for the Japanese literature, which had previously shunned fiction prose for poetry, Shimei’s lengthy novel Ukigumowould later on inspire young aspiring writers to dabble in prose and derive ideas and plots from foreign authors in a bid to put Japanese literature on the map. Apart from this, his writing style would further lay the cornerstone of what is nowadays a greatly simplified Japanese language.

Keywords: Japan; Russia; translation; modernity; literature.

Andreea TILIBAN

Omul natural în viziune pușkiniană. Idei rousseau-iste în poemul Țiganii (Pushkin`s View on the Natural Man. Rousseauistic Ideas in the Poem The Gypsies), p. 110-119

Abstract. J. J. Rousseau’s ideas greatly influenced thinkers and writers all across Europe. Some of them embodied them into their own work. The present article represents an analysis of Rousseau’s ideas reflected in Pushkin’s work, more precisely in the poem The Gypsies. In his poem, Pushkin tests the hypothetical “kindness” of savages and their “moral superiority” over a “civilised” person.

Keywords: kindness; freedom; the natural man; society.

Ana-Paula UNGUREANU-MIRONOV

Experiența stepei ca proces inițiatic în nuvela Stepa de A. P. Cehov (The Experience of the Steppe as an Initiative Process in Chekhov`s Novella The Steppe), p. 120-127

Abstract. This paper focuses on the journey towards adulthood of the nine years old boy Egorushka in Chekhov’s novella The Steppe. The boy leaves his village to go to town, where he is to attend middle school. Along the way, Egorushka will grow spiritually, will evolve and surmount various obstacles. Both the people surrounding him and the symbols scattered around the narrative (a hawk, the birds, the sky etc.) play an essential role in his evolution. Thus, Egorushka’s journey can be interpreted as a change of status, a sort of initiation.

Keywords: past; novelty; experience; nature.