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The article applies the principles of microanalysis to a literary text using Crime and Punishment as an example. Through this lens, Raskolnikov’s “mistake” is revealed, specifically his historical “look back” at the great “founders and legislators of mankind.” Understanding Dostoevsky’s work also requires consideration of the context of Sacred History, which is equally important. The historical and value hierarchies of these contexts are shaped by the differing positions of the author and the protagonist in relation to the figure of Mohammed. Mohammed’s image, which simultaneously enters the perspectives of both the author and the protagonist, takes on different axiological meanings, particularly when compared with Christ: it is elevated in the author’s view and diminished in the protagonist’s. Raskolnikov’s “mistake” is intentionally “corrected” by the author, as evidenced by shifts in the stylistic register, changes in modality, and the distinctive use of quotations, keywords, and details, along with “plot criticism” of the protagonist. A microanalysis (including graphic and punctuation considerations) of the “strange” statement made by a Russian Orthodox student about Allah and his prophet reveals two levels of intertextual citation in the passage, aligning with both the author’s and the protagonist’s perspectives. Within the novel, the series of lawmakers and founders of humanity identified by Raskolnikov (Lycurgus, Solon, Mohammed, Napoleon) is replaced by another sequence (Abraham, Christ, Mohammed). This shift highlights Dostoevsky’s vivid exploration of the genealogical and spiritual connections among the Abrahamic religions and their prophets within the context of Sacred History. Without considering this religious genealogy, an adequate interpretation of Raskolnikov’s final vision of the “bosom of Abraham” is impossible. As he contemplates the “paradise valley,” the novel’s protagonist, like the prudent thief, finds himself alongside the forefather.

The article explores the significance of the Bible and the Quran as “eternal books” or “books of humanity” in the life and works of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Along with the exceptional role of the Bible, the importance of the “heavenly book” of Muslims for the writer is also shown. From a typological point of view, these books combine the context of “eternity” and “all-humanity,” as well as graphic and lexical (synonymous and periphrastic) features of their categorical functioning both in Dostoevsky’s works and in the studies devoted to them. In this regard, the analogy between the biblical books and the “great Pentateuch” of the novelist is emphasized, in particular, the similarity of their meta-structures, as well as the evolution of the characters of Dostoevsky’s works in relation to the Book. The article also provides additional evidence of Dostoevsky’s thorough knowledge of the Quran. The acquaintance with it took place thanks to the writer’s personal impressions of meeting Muslims in Omsk prison and during the Semipalatinsk exile, reading the Quran in its various translations and editions and biographical books about Mohammed, and especially through the mediation of the eminent Kazakh orientalist Chokan Valikhanov, who, aligned with Russian orientalism, was interested in the history of world religions. Thanks to the interaction with him, Dostoevsky developed an understanding of the genetic relationship of the “heavenly book” with the Bible that was reflected in many of his works, in which the correlation of Quranic images and motifs with the Bible is obvious. One of the most striking examples is the “fantastic story” “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man,” which is an original “imitation of the Quran” by Dostoevsky that does not contradict the spirit of the Gospel. It is concluded that, following Pushkin, Dostoevsky, based on an understanding of the root connection between the Bible and the Quran as equivalent “eternal books” of mankind, came to their conjugation in artistic terms.

At the end of August 2023, the XVIII Symposium of the International Dostoevsky Society (IDS), dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the novel Demons, was held at the Nagoya University of Foreign Studies (Japan). The symposium took place in Asia for the first time and found wide resonance in the academic world. Scholars from 17 different countries participated with papers at the forum, showing a variety of approaches to research Dostoevsky’s works and life and raising a wide range of research issues, such as: “Current questions of research in Dostoevsky’s studies,” “Demons in its time and 150 years later,” “Dostoevsky in the Arts (music, cinema, theater, painting)”. The organizers of the Symposium paid special attention to the perception of Dostoevsky in Asia and his influence on Asian culture and literature; a significant event of the Symposium was the round table “Dostoevsky and modern Japanese writers.” The article includes a review of the reports that revealed the image of a “Japanese Dostoevsky”: they were devoted to the analysis of translations of the writer’s works into Japanese, their intermedial transcriptions, new interpretations of Dostoevsky’s works by Japanese scholars representing different generations and academic schools. Attention is paid to the reports of Russian scholars, dedicated to current topics in Dostoevsky’s studies and new research methods to approach the writer’s work.

The article analyzes the essays by students at the Moscow State Linguistic University about Mikhail Shemyakin’s exhibit in Dostoevsky’s House-Museum in Moscow, presenting a series of graphic illustrations to the novel Crime and Punishment. The exhibit, titled “Raskolnikov’s Delusions,” reflects the dreamlike content of the novel. The aesthetic reactions of contemporary students are considered here as a significant example of receptive polyphony. In their feedbacks, the students draw connections between the artist’s visual interpretations and their prior encounters with Crime and Punishment during their school studies, admitting that the exhibition revealed the text from a new, unexpected side, which confirms the idea that the perception of a classic work deepens thanks to its figurative visualization. Immersed in the inner world of the novel Crime and Punishment, the students paid attention to key paintings such as the first and last illustrations, framing the entire exhibition. Here Shemyakin conveyed the main idea of Dostoevsky’s text on resurrection, which was emphasized in many reviews. The association of non-verbal and literary texts undoubtedly affected the attention to the details. For example, the symbolic light emanating from the pages of the Gospel in the hands of Sonya Marmeladova, along with the figure of Lazarus, was noted as important. A careful contemplation of Shemyakin’s illustrations led the students to a deeper understanding of the meaning of Dostoevsky’s novel. Their essays testify that, despite the difference in opinions and assessments, the attitude of modern youth towards Dostoevsky’s work, refracted in the art of Shemyakin, generally corresponds to the spectrum of adequate readings of the novel Crime and Punishment in the 21st century.

Readers are invited to review the book “The Aksakovs: a bibliographic index of literature on the noble family of the Aksakovs and their entourage for 1819–2022.” This is the first complete and universal bibliographic index dedicated to the great Russian family and containing 5322 bibliographic records about lifetime, pre-revolutionary, Soviet, post-Soviet publications in Russian, Bashkir, Tatar and foreign languages, including archival documents. The Index systematizes extensive material, divided into fourteen sections. The review notes the significant biobibliographic and historiographical value of the Index.

The review analyses the current state of research of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Adolescent. The starting point is the tradition of academic commentaries to the text, which allowed achievements in textual criticism during the 1960-1970s. Today we are obviously facing a new turn in both textual studies and commentaries to the novel. The main trends indicate that researchers aim at discovering the spiritual meaning of The Adolescent, its poetics, and sources. Nevertheless, contemporary surveys are characterized by a diversity of academic discourses, originated from psychology, history, cultural studies, linguistics, etc. In the field of literary studies, both Russian and foreign works show a rising interest in the poetics and the analysis of the role of the Christian tradition in the novel. Traditionally, the novel is studied within the prospective Dostoevsky’s Five great works. Monographs reveal the artistic success and unique character of The Adolescent and integrate it into the meta-text of Dostoevsky’s life and oeuvre, giving a variety of typological reasons. Academic research maintains a typological and comparative-historical approach to this novel, though its literary context has not significantly expanded. A substantial aspect of Dostoevsky’s studies is dedicated to the narratology of The Adolescent and its genre features; the traditional definition of the book as a Bildungsroman has now gained a new modified formula. The article pays close attention to the few existing monographs that concentrate on The Adolescent. The article not only provides a review that helps understand how the novel is studied today but outlines prospects of research. Dostoevsky’s novel is organized as a multilayer reality. Therefore, it requires a complex approach - biographical, historical, literary, and mythopoetic (broadly speaking) – in order to allow a full reception of the novel The Adolescent, especially in the mass culture.

The article contains an overview of the reports of the XVII International Symposium of the International Dostoevsky Society (July 14-19, 2019, Boston). The scientific forum was dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the first publication of the novel The Idiot. The review shows the main thematic trends of contemporary studies on Dostoevsky. First, the reports continue the dispute about the specifics of the central character of the novel and still sharply divide the sympathizers of the “critical” and “apologetic” view of Prince Myshkin. Another matter of interest is the study of translation problems, cross-cultural interpretation of the novel, dynamics of perception of the novel in the 20th century and its influence on modern literature, interdisciplinary reports analyzing the novel from the standpoint of other humanities. A significant part of the reports has traditionally been devoted to the problems of novel poetics, and it seems that among American researchers there is a tendency to rethink the methodological tradition of Bakhtin. Relatively fewer speeches contained interesting results of studies about the philosophical context of The Idiot and other Dostoevsky’s texts. The article also emphasizes the high significance of historical and biographical reports, which shed light on unknown circumstances of the real context of the novel. The article especially highlights a number of methodologically innovative reports that actually open up new directions in Dostoevsky’s research. Following the opinions of the most prominent domestic and foreign scholars, the author states the high scientific level of the symposium, emphasizing the exceptional value of such a scientific dialogue. At the same time, the article concludes that there are not enough close links between domestic and English-speaking (primarily American) studies of Dostoevsky. Researchers from different countries often do not know the works of their colleagues, even when they have common research objects. From this point of view, monothematic scientific meetings, such as the Boston Symposium 2019, can be extremely useful.

The article reviews the history and conception typology of the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky called “Idiot” in XX century. The pluralism in understanding of purposes and objectives of its commenting which appeared between two centuries is stated, as a result the text comments and interpretation of its conception are mixed together. There is also a sharp polarization of alternative interpretations of this piece of work in the modern literature studies: the novel and its character are deemed on pro et contra principle. Hereof the simultaneous expression of Christian apology and demythologization of Myshkin's image which is caused by the receptive conflict in relation to him that is suddenly appeared in 1990 when the “inspection” of “Idiot” novel and the polemic around its principal character began. Polar opposite assessments of H. Holbein picture so ecphrasically described by Dostoevsky are considered as a stunning example of receptive and axiological conflict.

The article is memorial; it is dedicated to the memory of prominent Dostoyevsky’s researchers Rita N. Poddubnaya, Rita Y. Kleiman and Rita O. Mazel who greatly contributed to Dostoyevshy studies. Their life and academic heritage are covered here.