“Comic” as Peculiar Situation for a Hero in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Early Prose

Abstract

By the example of F. M. Dostoevsky’s early works the theme of the comic as the special situation for the hero, both spiritual and actual physical, is considered. Special attention is paid to the motif of the heart as the key to changing comic situation of the hero. Based on the analysis of personal correspondence of Dostoevsky and his brother Mikhail it is argued that knowledge of the world and, as a consequence, the possibility of overcoming the comic situation on the potentials of the heart are among the key themes of F. M. Dostoevsky. Explication of these concepts is carried out on the basis of works “Polzunkov” and “Little hero.” It is shown that special reflexion and resolution they achieve in the novel “Little hero.” The article includes examples of other early works by F. M. Dostoevsky to confirm the research theory and to demonstrate the breadth of the topic. The novelty of the presented work lies in the method, according to which the concept of the comic is seen not as a general literary category, but as a concept introduced by author and used to refer to the special situation for the hero. The relevance of this work is that the proposed method opens a way to the author’s understanding the idea of the comic and gives a chance to trace the development of the author’s conception of the comic.