“Unknown” Dostoevsky: German Reception of the Russian Writer in the Late 19th – Early 20th Century, on the Basis of Prefaces to Notes from Underground

About the author:

Nataliya A. Kopcha, postgraduate student, IGK 1956 “Cultural transfer and ‘cultural identity’— German-Russian contacts in the European context” (Moscow — Freiburg), Russian State University for the Humanities, Miusskaja sq. 6, 125993 GSP-3 Moscow, Russia.

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Abstract:

At the turn of the XXth century German reception of Dostoevsky transforms from naturalistic to neoromantic. The change started with translations of Notes from Underground. The novel went unknown due to its existential themes, which contradicted the traditions of photographic naturalism and rationalism. The insufficiently explored prefaces to Notes allow to identify new aspects of perception of the Russian writer and his work in Germany, as well as to trace the dynamics of its development.