Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences / The Other of Sonya Marmeladova in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Novel. A New Understanding of Ambivalence

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Issue
Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences. 2026 19 (7)
Authors
Urazayeva, Kuralay B.; Turzhanova, Tamara N.; Razumovskaya, Veronica A.
Contact information
Urazayeva, Kuralay B.: L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan); Turzhanova, Tamara N.: L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan); Razumovskaya, Veronica A.: Siberian Federal University (Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation); ; ORCID: 0000-0002-0751-7964
Keywords
lost wholeness; the Other as neighbor; archetype of the child; martyr; holy fool; Christology
Abstract

The article examines the ambivalence of Dostoevsky’s protagonist in the novel Crime and Punishment through the image of Sonya Marmeladova. The proposed approach is based on the analysis of the manifestations of Sonya’s Other. The study reveals the role of Sonya’s Other in shaping ambivalence and generating meaning in the novel as a religious-mythological utopia. Sonya, who opens the gallery of Dostoevsky’s Christological characters, is interpreted from the perspectives of the holy fool, the confessor, and the preacher. Attention to the intrigue of the double murder and Sonya’s central role explains her significance for the neighbor as the Other in the process through which the characters regain their lost wholeness. The synthesis of manifestations of Sonya’s Other is examined through the archetype of the child, the martyr, and the ascetic. For the first time, the article analyzes Sonya’s conviction that Raskolnikov loves her as a form of restoring her own lost wholeness and as a new mode of protecting herself from moral corruption. The study establishes a connection between the novel’s national identity and Dostoevsky’s artistic innovation, which lies in the creation of a religious-mythological utopia in Russian literature that had no prior genre precedent

Pages
1350–1360
EDN
WGPWLL
Paper at repository of SibFU
https://elib.sfu-kras.ru/handle/2311/159255

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