Kairotization of Time in “Crime and Punishment” by F. M. Dostoevsky

Abstract

Applying the method of Orthodox axeology, the present work tries to answer the following question: how the everyday time (chronos) in the calendar chronology of the novel “Crime and Punishment” is transformed into a qualitative spiritual being (kairos). The possibility of changing the ideological discourse in Dostoevsky’s work from pagan to Christian through the influence of the hagiographic corps of Cheti Minei is studied. It is shown how the biographical texts, intended for reading on a specific date, coinciding with the calendar time from the development of the novel plot, influence the change of thoughts and actions of a given character and explain the inner meaning of the event. The novelty of the study lies in the idea that not only the great Christian holidays prepare the hero to embark on the path of salvation, but this is achieved through the hagiographical texts in Cheti Minei, which serve as a kind of “palimpsest” for Dostoevsky’s novel and cairotize every day from the calendar cycle and thus show the way for the transformation of human biography into a hagiographical legend.

Keywords

• chronos
• kairos
• “crime and punishment”
• dostoevsky
• cheti minei