О связности “полифонических монологов” Достоевского: типология, безымянность и антономазия смешных подпольных “мечтателей”

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Authors: Laura Salmon
Cited by: 0

Abstract

On the Coherence of Dostoevsky’s “polyphonic monologues”: Typology, Namelessness, and Antonomasia of Ridiculous underground “dreamers” In the anti-Romantic context of Dostoevsky’s four short novellas spanning thirty years of his literary career (White Nights [1848], Notes from the Underground [1864], The Meek One [1876], The Dream of a Ridiculous Man [1877]), this study posits that each structured as an apparent protagonist-driven “monologue” is, in essence, a paradoxical “polyphonic monologue”. The four narrators share the same complex dialogic interactions within themselves and with internalized external addressees, and the distinctive, uncommon feature of anonymity. Together with other textual elements, their namelessness confirms that they are curious anti-romantic characters with the diegetic role of “types” (“the dreamer”, “the man from underground”, “the ridiculous man”, “the coward”). Following an overview of onomastic practices across Dostoevsky’s oeuvre, the analysis focuses on the mechanism allowing “anonymity” to reverse in “antonomasia”. Ultimately, the four narratives show their consistence with the strategies of ambivalence and derision which is characteristic of Dostoevsky’s broader creative vision. Keywords: Dostoevsky; monologue; onomastics; anonymity; ridiculousness

Fields of Study & Subjects

Russian Literature and Bakhtin Studies Narrative Theory and Analysis Vladimir Nabokov Literary Studies

Publication details

Journal / source
Dostoevsky Studies
Publication date
3 January 2026
Language
EN