Confession and Writing in Dostoevsky’s Novel The Adolescent

Abstract

This article analyses the specificity of Dostoevsky’s confessional prose, focusing on the novel The Adolescent. Dostoevsky can be defined as a superconfessional author, but he is characterized by a certain suspicion, and a certain mistrustfulness towards the very process of confession is typical of him. The article attempts to show that this apparent paradox has its origins in the modern context in which Dostoevsky operates, when religious, sacramental confession gives way to a psychological practice of self-affirmation.

Keywords

• dostoevsky
• rousseau
• сonfession
• the adolescent