Information about the author: 

Abstract:

The article is devoted to the author’s theory of art as a theoretical problem and to two aspects of Dostoevsky’s theory of art, namely, his theory of adequate perception of works of art (as well as phenomena of reality) and the two-folded image as his fundamental and all-encompassing creative principle. His theory of perception is presented through the analysis of “Winter Notes on Summer Impressions,” where, at first glance, jokingly and “chatting,” Dostoevsky builds one of the most profound theories of perception that existed at that time and still exists today. The second part of the paper focuses on Dostoevsky’s own description of the two-folded image, its structure and functions, as part of his reflection on his creative method. In 1876 he describes the structure of the two-folded image three times within a short period of time, considering it from different angles: from the point of view of the structure; from the point of view of its manifestation in a work of fiction; from the point of view of its application as a working, structuring and guiding the thought and behavior in a concrete case for a concrete person. Dostoevsky presents the two-folded image as a profound revelation about the world and man, a fundamental philosophy of personality that provides the reader with the keys to personal transformation. At the same time, he always speaks about the second component of the image absolutely transparently for himself, but implicitly for the reader, suggesting that it is the enigmatic, mysterious nature of its deep core, the very thing that makes the reader look and listen to it, that makes the image a working, transformative tool.

Keywords: authorial theory of art, theory of art perception, the question of the artistic quality, Dostoevsky, “Winter Notes on Summer Impressions”, two-folded image, correction of memory, texts from “A Writer’s Diary.”