Anagogic Story as the Specific Structure of Dostoevsky’s Early “Gnostic” Texts

Abstract

The question about the difference (or the absence of it) between Dostoevsky’s early texts and the works composed after the penal labors have been raised repeatedly. The article proposes a possible explanation of it. The hypothesis here presented and exemplified through the analysis of the novel Netochka Nezvanova should be considered mainly as an invitation to discussion, more than the proposal of a final answer to the problem. The article suggests that we should look for the difference between earlier and later works within the level on which Dostoevsky assembles the material as a coherent storyline. While later works show coherency on an external plot level and reach the deep level of the text by connecting different scenes to episodes of the Sacred History; early works are connotated by extremely incoherent plots, which provoked (and provokes nowadays) many complaints about Dostoevsky’ authorial skills: in fact, the coherent history takes place within a deeper, being-related perspective, while the incoherent episodes of the outer tale are no more than a manifestation on an existential level of the inner “anagogic” story.

Keywords

• dostoevsky
• early works
• gnosticism
• image structure
• anagogic story
• netochka nezvanova
• white nights
• the landlady
• “a weak hearth”