American underground spirit: Dostoevsky’s Notes From Underground and the 20th century USA literature

Abstract

F. Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground (1864) exerted a considerable influence on American literature since 1940s. The works by outstanding authors beginning with Saul Bellow (Dangling Man, 1944) or Jerome Salinger’s prose and up to Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho, 1991), Percy Walker, David Foster Wallace, show a persistent fascination of American writers with the novella and are based on re-reading and re-interpreting Dostoevsky’s ideas, motives and imagery.

Keywords

• fyodor dostoevsky
• notes from underground
• american literature
• russian-american literary connections
• reception
• existentialism
• saul bellow
• jerome salinger
• bret easton ellis
• percy walker
• david foster wallace