Confronting Dostoevskys Demons

Although criticized at one time for its highly tendentious spirit, Dostoevskys Demons (1871-1872) has proven to be a novel of great polemical vitality. Originally inspired by a minor conspiratorial episode of the late 1860s, well after Dostoevskys death (1881) the work continued to earn both acclaim and contempt for its scathing caricature of revolutionists driven by destructive, anarchic aims. The text of Demons assumed new meaning in Russian literary culture following the Bolshevik triumph of 1917, when the reestablishment and expansion of centralized state power inevitably revived interest in the radical populist tendencies of Russias past, in particular the anarchist thought of Dostoevskys legendary contemporary, Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876). Confronting Dostoevskys Demons is the first book to explore the life of Dostoevskys novel in light of disputes and controversies over Bakunins troubling legacy in Russia. Contrary to the traditional view, which assumes the obsolescence of Demons throughout much of the Communist period (1917-1991), this book demonstrates that the potential resurgence of Bakuninist thought actually encouraged reassessments of Dostoevskys novel. By exploring the different ideas and critical strategies that motivated opposing interpretations of the novel in post-revolutionary Russia, Confronting Dostoevskys Demons reveals how the potential resurrection of Bakunins anti-authoritarian ethos fostered the return of a politically reactionary novel to the canon of Russian classics.