ABSTRACT
The discovery of Dostoevsky’s first novel, Poor Folk, by Nekrasov in 1845, was
the springboard that launched a sensitive and idealistic young man into the
tumultuous world of Russian intellectual life. The initial extravagant approbation
of Nekrasov and Belinsky ensured the success of Poor Folk even before its
publication, and was Dostoevsky’s entrance ticket to the literary salons of St
Petersburg. It was here that he began a lifelong career of debating the condition
of Russia, of seeking a way forward for it and of commenting on its literature.
It was to be a dramatic career during which he would try numerous, seemingly
very different stances as he sought to define his position. His searching would
cause him to be caught up in a revolutionary conspiracy; in penal servitude and
exile he would find spiritual renewal. Finally, with time he would establish
himself not only as one of the leading literary artists of his time, but also as a
moral authority on Russia and Russianness.
