Reasonable to Ridiculous: The Inward Gaze of the Modern Self in Dostoevskii and Vladimir Odoevskii.

This article investigates similarities between Vladimir Odoevskii and Fedor Dostoevskii's responses to the modern crisis of identity, a chief concern of both writers. Odoevskii's Schellingian vision of oneness and Dostoevskii's own ideas on unity are placed within a larger framework of the idea of the modern self as articulated by philosopher Charles Taylor and others. For comparison, Odoevskii's presentation of self-transcendence in "The Sylph" is likened to related themes in works by Dostoevskii, particularly "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man." It is found that both authors dramatize the perceived schism between the rational self and intuited higher self that cannot be mended by the analytical reasoning mind, since the latter is seen as the root cause of inner division. In spite of their status as pioneers of Russian realism, both authors present ecstatic vision as the remedial experience through which to gain access to self-knowledge at a transcendent level. The experience of intuitive vision of higher unity in the works examined is expressed by and large in opposition to proponents of rational materialism and positivist views of the modern self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]