Information about the author: 

Abstract:

The author analyzes the question of illustrations of Russian literary classics, using the example of well-known graphic series based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment. Literary illustrations have gone a long way, and their history is rich in renowned names of masters who have created visual images of characters from Russian classics. However, illustrations remain a “borderline” genre, as they visualize material intended for our inner vision. This is where challenges and incongruities often arise when the attentive reader is not satisfied with the artistic representation suggested by the illustrator. The author assumes that an ideal illustration, truly conveying the literary image-symbol, is quite difficult to accomplish and attempts to explore the nature of such difficulties. A symbol is rooted in reality, and its external shell is taken from life. At the same time, a symbol should not lose its evocative and suggestive nature; the external veracity of an image reveals an immeasurable host of meanings. The reader/viewer is expected to sense this multiplicity of meanings. But is a specific image always capable of communicating the multiple meanings on which the image/ symbol is based? The author examines the illustrative series of Dostoevsky’s novel created by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Dementiy Shmarinov, Ernst Neizvestny, Ilya Glazunov, and Mikhail Shemyakin and finds that in some cases there is a tilt toward either the subject being too recognizable—i.e., naturalistic (Shmarinov)—or the interpretation of Dostoevsky characters’ messages being too subjective (Neizvestny). A very definite portrayal of the heroes of Crime and Punishment by Glazunov strips them of the inner dynamics on which their nature and destinies are based. The author proposes that the best course was chosen by Dobuzhinsky, whose characters are shown most often as if fleetingly—from the back, in profile, or from afar. In this way, not only their appearances or scenes from the novel, but also architectural details, images of streets and yards, and household items tell us a lot about their lives and fates. This approach does not impose anything on the readers but rather helps them to sense the aura surrounding the characters and gives them a chance to get in contact with their personalities. The freedom such illustrations grants the imagination turns the reader into a coauthor alongside the writer and artist.

Keywords: Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, illustration, visibility, symbol, illustrator, literary image.