Through the biographical prism: Joseph Frank and Dostoevsky

Author(s)

Giuliana Teixeira de Almeida

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2013-05-27

Examining board members

Bruno Barretto Gomide; Aurora Fornoni Bernardini; Marcelo da Silva Timotheo da Costa

• Advisor: Bruno Barretto Gomide

Abstract

Many biographies have been written about Fyodor Dostoevsky, a prominent 19th century Russian literature novelist. Among all these titles, Joseph Frank\'s Dostoevsky stands out as a great synthesis of the Russian writer\'s life and era. Written along three decades, Frank\'s work recreates the Russian cultural history in the second half of the 19th century and proposes an interpretation for Dostoevsky\'s literary works. After this biography, Frank has become one of the most important North American\'s experts in Russian literature and Dostoevsky. This research aims to analyze this monumental biography, to compare this work with other biographies written about the thrilling life of Dostoevsky and to investigate the theoretical and methodological problems of the biography genre. Finally, considering the repercussion of Dostoevsky for the intellectual community of United States of America, we will also analyze the reception and the critiques of Frank\'s biography and the situation of the last decades of Slavic studies in that country. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/13265-4 - Through the biographical prism: Joseph Frank and Dostoevsky
• Grantee: Giuliana Teixeira de Almeida
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master