Published in
Russkii vestnik[
The Russian Messenger] in 1871-72, Dostoevsky’s
Besy[
The Devils], a novel in three parts, began in the author’s imagination as a “political pamphlet” that would encapsulate his objections to the radicalism of the Russian “nihilists” of the 1860s. The novel achieved both this and more, transcending the cultural-historical debates of the period to become one of nineteenth-century literature’s most profound depictions of revolutionary activity and radical thought. Such was its force when it appeared that some critics objected to what they considered
The Devils’scurrilous depiction of the radicals. In the Soviet Union, the novel was repressed as counter-revolutionary, reinforcing its reception in the West as a “prophetic” account of…
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Citation: Brower, Derek. "Besy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 March 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11269, accessed 22 November 2024.]
