Demons (novel)

Demons
(also known as The Devils or The Possessed)  
Author(s) Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Original title Бесы
Translator Constance Garnett (1916)
David Magarshack (1954)
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (1995)
Robert A. Maguire (2008)
Michael R. Katz (2008)
Country Russia
Language Russian
Genre(s) Philosophical novel
Publication date 1872..
Published in
English
1916
Preceded by The Idiot

Demons (Russian: Бесы, tr. Besy) is an 1872 novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Though titled The Possessed in the initial English translation, Dostoyevsky scholars and later translations favour the titles The Devils or Demons.

An extremely political book, Demons is a testimonial of life in Imperial Russia in the late 19th century.

As the revolutionary democrats begin to rise in Russia, different ideologies begin to collide. Dostoyevsky casts a critical eye on both the left-wing idealists, portraying their ideas and ideological foundation as demonic,[1] and the conservative establishment's ineptitude in dealing with those ideas and their social consequences.

This form of intellectual conservativism tied to the Slavophile movement of Dostoyevsky's day, called Pochvennichestvo, is seen to have continued on into its modern manifestation in individuals like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.[2] Dostoyevsky's novels focus on the idea that utopias and positivist ideas, in being utilitarian, were unrealistic and unobtainable.[3]

The book has five primary ideological characters: Verkhovensky, Shatov, Stavrogin, Stepan Trofimovich, and Kirilov. Through their philosophies, Dostoyevsky describes the political chaos seen in 19th century Russia.

Contents

Alternative titles

The original Russian title uses a relatively rare word besy (singular bes) from old Slavic mythology, which means "demons" or "evil spirits" and could probably be better explained by comparing it to the Romano-Christian "beast", which may evoke similar associations, as in "possessed by the beast" or "possessed by demons". It conveys the idea of the gradual collapse of Russian Orthodoxy and the imperceptible spread of besy, "little beasts", "demons" or "evil spirits" symbolizing the oncoming nihilistic concepts of the first half of the 20th century, which gives the original title frightening connotations.

The title has been an ongoing source of confusion among readers unfamiliar with the work. There are at least three popular translations of the title: The Possessed, The Devils, and Demons. This is largely a result of Constance Garnett's earlier translation that popularized the novel and gained it notoriety as The Possessed among English speakers; however, Dostoyevsky scholars said the original translation was inaccurate. These scholars argued that The Possessed "points in the wrong direction" and interpreted the original Russian title Бесы (Besy; the plural of bies, "an evil spirit") as referring not to those who are "possessed" but rather to those who are doing the possessing as "The Possessors". Some insist that the difference is crucial to a full understanding of the novel:

It would be simpler if the title were indeed The Possessed, as it was first translated into English (and into French – a tradition to which Albert Camus contributed in his dramatization of the novel). This misrendering made it possible to speak of Dostoevsky's characters as demoniacs in some unexamined sense, which lends them a certain glamor and even exonerates them to a certain extent. We do see a number of people here behaving as if they were 'possessed.' The implications of the word are almost right, but it points in the wrong direction. And in any case it is not the title Dostoevsky gave his novel. Discovering that the Russian title Besy refers not to possessed but to possessors, we then apply this new term 'demons' to the same set of characters in the same unexamined way – a surprising turnabout, if one thinks of it.[4]

As a result, newer editions of the novel are, rarely if ever, rendered under Garnett's earliest title "The Possessed". A more precise rendering of the Demons (Бесы) as an event and turning point in Russian history would be "The Possessing" of Russia by the demonic ideas or "evil spirits" reflected in the novel's characters.

Plot introduction

The novel takes place in a provincial Russian setting, primarily on the estates of Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky and Varvara Stavrogina. Stepan Trofimovich's son, Pyotr Verkhovensky, is an aspiring revolutionary conspirator who attempts to organize a knot of revolutionaries in the area. He considers Varvara Stavrogina's son, Nikolai, central to his plot because he thinks Nikolai Stavrogin has no sympathy for mankind whatsoever.

Verkhovensky gathers conspirators like the philosophizing Shigalyov, suicidal Kirillov, and the former military man Virginsky, and he schemes to solidify their loyalty to him and each other by murdering Ivan Shatov, a fellow conspirator. Verkhovensky plans to have Kirillov, who was committed to killing himself, take credit for the murder in his suicide note. Kirillov complies and Verkhovensky murders Shatov, but his scheme falls apart. He escapes, but the remainder of his aspiring revolutionary crew is arrested. In the denouement of the novel, Nikolai Stavrogin kills himself, tortured by his own misdeeds.

Characters

Historical origins

Demons is a combination of two separate novels that Dostoyevsky was working on. One was a commentary on the real-life murder in 1869 by the socialist revolutionary group ("People's Vengeance") of one of its own members (Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov). The character Pyotr Verkhovensky is based upon the leader of this revolutionary group, Sergey Nechayev, who was found guilty of this murder. Sergey Nechayev was a close confidant of Mikhail Bakunin, who had direct influence over both Nechayev and the "People's Vengeance". The character Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky is based upon Timofey Granovsky. The other novel eventually melded into Demons was originally a religious work. The most immoral character Stavrogin was to be the hero of this novel, and is now commonly viewed as the most important character in Demons.

Censored chapter

The government censor, at the time Dostovesky submitted his book, suppressed the chapter "At Tikhon's", which concerns Stavrogin's confession of having molested a 10 year old girl, causing the girl to commit suicide. The chapter gives insight into the reason that Stavrogin later hangs himself, as his guilt for this transgression and others, including the murder of his wife and brother in law, ultimately catch up with him. Stavrogin is depicted as the embodiment of nihilism, being apathetic, lacking empathy, devoid of emotion, but his ultimate suicide makes clear that in the end he had a conscience and was overwhelmed by his guilt. The chapter is generally included in modern editions of the novel and also published separately, translated from Russian to English by S. S. Koteliansky and Virginia Woolf and edited by Sigmund Freud.[5][6]

Thematic content

Ideologies

Demons is often noted for the range of clashing ideologies present in the novel. As in most of Dostoyevsky's other works, certain characters are descriptive of specific philosophies.

Existentialism

Dostoyevsky as a "spiritual realist" based his novels on the premise of the "life of ideas".[7] In Demons, Dostoyevsky applies this theory not so much to the human condition and human suffering but rather to human political reality in general. Dostovesky's analysis is not to deal or honestly reflect the human condition (as in his other "existentialist" novels) but rather to portray the reality of power, mankind's desire to manifest its will and obtain power. Dostoyevsky defines evil here as the passion for power and control, showing that reason and logic are a ruse to justify rebellion against existence. The heart of nihilism is the belief that existence is meaningless and should be destroyed and that this idea is even more "irrational" in its reasoning and justification than the ideas it opposes. Nihilism, in its claims to overthrow the old order, which it calls irrational and unjust, is hypocritical, because the new order shows itself to be even more irrational and unjust in its ideas and the implementation of those ideas. Dostoyevsky takes a Russian Orthodox stance on ideas as demons: that it is the "isms" of mankind that, as demonic possessors of man, lead him away from God. The demons are ideas, such as: idealism, rationalism, empiricism, materialism, utilitarianism, positivism, socialism, anarchism, nihilism and ultimately atheism. Getting man to relinquish these ideas is to have mankind embrace the asceticism of Russian Orthodoxy. This is in direct opposition to the Nietzschean perspective that treated religion as tyrannical and as the basis for mankind's suffering.[8]

"It was not you who ate the idea, but the idea that ate you."
Pyotr Verkhovensky

Similarly, Dostoyevsky's skepticism and outright admiration of unbelief within "Demons" reverse our concepts of sin and virtue in spite of the tenderness with which he surrounds his saints in the novel.

Camus also wrote a stage adaptation of the novel.

References in other works

Adaptations

See also

References

  1. ^ The introduction of Demons Trans. Pevear and Volokhonsky. New York: Vintage Classics, 1995
  2. ^ An Intellectual Tradition: Dostoyevsky and Alex Solzhenitsyn In an elaborately researched monograph, Russian scholar and political philosopher, Nicholas Rzhevsky, unequivocally confirms that Dostoyevsky created a unique religious synthesis and conservative intellectual tradition in late nineteenth-century Russian history (Cf. his Russian Literature and Ideology: Herzen, Dostoyevsky, Leontiev, Tolstoy, Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1983, pp. l3-14; 22; 65–95; 149–154)
  3. ^ Diagnosing Literary Genius: A Cultural History of Psychiatry in Russia, 1880–1930 By Irina Sirotkina Published by JHU Press, 2002 ISBN 0801867827, 9780801867828 pg 55 [1]
  4. ^ Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Demons. Trans. Pevear and Volokhonsky. New York: Vintage Classics, 1995. Page xiii.
  5. ^ Stavrogin's Confession including Dostoevsky and Parricide, by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Author), Sigmund Freud (Afterword) including a psychoanalytic study of the author, Virginia Woolf (Translator), S.S. Koteliansky (Translator) Publisher: Lear Publishers (1947) ASIN: B000LDS1TI ASIN: B000MXVG94
  6. ^ The Possessed By Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Elizabeth Dalton, Constance Garnett Translated by Constance Garnett Contributor Elizabeth Dalton Published by Spark Educational Publishing, 2004 ISBN 1593082509, 9781593082505 pg 679 [2]
  7. ^ Dostoevsky: His Life and Work By Konstantin Mochulsky Translated by Michael A. Minihan Edition: illustrated Published by Princeton University Press, 1971 ISBN 0691012997, 9780691012995 pg 210 [3]
  8. ^ The introduction to Demons by Dostoyevsky as translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky [4]
  9. ^ Shostakovich, Dimitri. Letter to Isaak Glickman, 23 August 1974
  10. ^ P.O.V. No 28, A note on a source of the Marseillaise scene in Casablanca [5]

External links