Routledge Companion to Dostoevsky

Description

At a time when the academy is concerned with decolonization and diversification of its research and teaching agendas, and in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it is timely to reframe approaches to the classical canon of Russian literature. There is a need to depart from the prevailing state-centred focus of Russian Studies, and to critique the problematic notion of ‘greatness’ attached to Russian culture, which has become an integral part of the self-mythologizing of the Russian state. It is important that new scholarship takes account of the current climate by explicitly engaging with decolonial perspectives. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to respond to questions of how to read Russian literature at a time when it has been co-opted by the Kremlin for its nationalist agenda and weaponized as an instrument of imperialism.

The proposed volume, therefore, will set a new trajectory for Dostoevsky scholarship. It will dispense with traditional formulas of chronological analyses of individual works and avoid typical areas of focus such as his philosophy and religion. Instead, mindful of our moral responsibility, we propose to prioritize the decolonial, the marginal, the transnational and the ecological, drawing on a range of different methodologies. Chapters will be based on new, original scholarly research. The volume will also include a section on Dostoevsky In The Classroom And Beyond, in order that its ethos is transferable to the next generation. The aim is to create a new paradigm for literary scholarship that is fit for the contemporary era.