Is Any Silk Bag a Clever Trick?——On the"Letter in the Letter"Phenomenon in Dostoevsky's Novels of His Early and Middle Period of Writing
In the stories and novels of Dostoevsky's early and middle periods of writing (before 1870),such as Poor Folk,The Double,A Story Composed of Nine Letters,Notes from Underground,Crime and Punishment,Idiot,etc.,there are common forms of"letter in the text","text in the text",and"letter in the letter",which are collectively referred to as the"letter in the letter"phe-nomenon in this essay.These are the contents of letters in style,with different levels of narration and different functions and effects.Although not all of them are"tricks"that provide ready-made answers,they are indeed beneficial to manipulate the narrative process:some are to set more complex clues and shift the center of the narrative,while others are to avoid the existed focus,confuse the audience,create conflicts,and present the heroes'psychology and thoughts in multidimensional perspectives in a deliberately chaotic background.As a phenomenon of overlapping narrative,subtext,or sub-subtext,"letter in the letter"is not only Dostoev-sky's unique techniques of epistolary novels and similar epistolary writing,but also a narrative strategy that strives for innovation and breakthrough in his novel creation.
DostoevskyNovels of Early and Middle Period"Letter in the Letter"Similar Epistolary WritingNarrative Strategy
万方数据
