Document Type : Original Article
Authors
University of Guilan
Abstract
In the Christian tradition, Mary—in the guise of the Mother of Christ and Mary Magdalene—is an icon of humanity’s connection to the divine and the possibility of transitioning from fall to salvation. Dostoevsky reinterprets this icon within the context of the conflict between radical rationalism and Russian Orthodox faith. In this midst, Raskolnikov endeavors, with his antinomian will, to reduce morality to the language of calculation and justification, liberating himself from the constraints of the categorical imperative and Hegelian dialectical logic. In the process of interpreting and realizing this desire, he becomes ensnared in the same Kantian ethical dualities and Hegelian philosophy of history, ultimately leading to his collapse. However, Sonya, in contrast, with her sincere faith and acceptance of suffering, transcends this predicament and illuminates the path to salvation within the narrative; her hope imbues the surrounding discourse and actions with new meaning. The other women in the novel each reflect an aspect of this image, but its entirety culminates in Sonya, who opens the horizon of salvation for others through the polyphonic dialogue of the novel. This research, adopting a philosophical-theological approach and based on Bakhtin’s theory of polyphony, traces the formation and transformation of the image of Mary within the narrative of Crime and Punishment and analyzes its reciprocal impacts on the characters’ paths of transformation.
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