Master of Arts, Miami University, 2019, Theatre

This thesis expands the field of violence theory by way of adapting Dostoevsky's Notes from a Dead House. I propose a new dramaturgically driven analysis of the text by creating a system of contexts to assess the scene allowing for an adaptation that is both sensitive to the goal of the text as perceived by the adapting artist and the audience's response. This system of contexts is the best approach to adapting a given scene rather than considering the piece as a whole. Dostoevsky's text is also notorious for its abstract use of time, and the layering of fiction and reality as Dostoevsky was forced to distance himself from his narrative by the Russian state. Since violence is a major element of Dostoevsky's novel, I also propose a meaning-making system to analyze acts to determine first how the scene is socially coded. With this information, the adapting playwright can then decide how they can best be embodied and displayed on stage in a way that both holds to the original elements of the source and avoids undue stress on the audience.

Committee: Ann Armstrong Dr. (Committee Chair); Christiana Harkulich Dr. (Advisor); Stephen Norris Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Literature; Russian History; Theater; Theater Studies

Master of Arts in History, Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Humanities

The object of this text is to discuss aspects of the intellectual history of the Western civilization that reflects the doctrine of nihilism and how the precept is manifest in the culture of postmodern twenty-first century society. The pith of the essay is to conclude that, nihilism, as an intellectual supposition, hinges on the philosophies of Nietzsche and Dostoevsky. Nihilism is a worthy discussion because the concept has permeated Western thought at least since the time of the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century and has become essential to Western culture in the twenty-first century. Nietzsche's pronouncement that “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him…” in tandem with Dostoevsky's rejoinder “But what will become of men then? ... without God… All things are permitted then, they can do what they like” is a notable definition for nihilism. Nihilism is a philosophical position that reflects a belief in nothingness and/or everything. Nihilism is “the belief that life is meaningless.” “Nietzsche defines nihilism as the situation which obtains when ‘everything is permitted' or when nothing is permitted.” Nihilism occurs as a result of the distrust of the highest value (killing God, which results in a belief in nothing) hence the reception to all eventuality (everything is permissible). In short, nihilism is a collection of ideas that denies generally believed interpretations of the human existence like morality, knowledge and meaning. This text is a discussion of the concept of nihilism and its repercussions on society.

Committee: David Simonelli PhD (Advisor); Brian Bonhomme PhD (Committee Member); Daniel Ayana PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: History

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2018, Philosophy

In his polemic novel 'Demons' Fyodor Dostoevsky noted the destructive power of political actors 'possessed' by the righteousness of ideas over concern for actually existing people. The ideologies of the 20th century, Liberalism, Fascism and Socialism contain within them absolute statements of ontology, teleology and broad human purpose that allow them to incorporate any and all aspects of human social existence into their state projects. The absolute and universal nature of the claims made by these ideologies causes a state of incommensurability in dialougue with other systems that can lead to violent action as political disagreement is translated into ontological incompatibility leading to demonization and dehumanization. This project aims to propose a system based on a modified form of Burkean conservatism that allows for a recognizes the importance of universal beliefs in the context of humility. A humility rooted in the knowledge of the historical contingency of political situations and the inevitability of philosophical change leading to an epistemological skepticism as to the absolute validity of ideological claims. Instead of locating the need for community on shared convictions, political action is rooted in a shared sense of suffering and responsibility interpreted through the Russian Orthodox concept of Sobornost- where each person is responsible for the suffering of others and has an obligation to relieve the suffering of the world in shared humility.

Committee: Julie White PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Philosophy

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2016, English (Arts and Sciences)

This thesis is a collection of four stories and a critical introduction titled "Ferris Wheels in Winter." The introduction explicates the common theme uniting the various stories, that of the author's attempt to confront despair by writing about characters who struggle with belief, disillusionment, and disjunction between self and place. This thesis includes the following titles: "The Reality of the Provinces," "The Tourists," "Low-hanging Fruit," and "A Pilgrim's Notes."

Committee: Patrick O'Keeffe (Advisor) Subjects: Literature; Russian History; Slavic Literature; Slavic Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures

This dissertation examines works of copyist fiction by Nikolai Gogol, Herman Melville, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Gustave Flaubert. I argue that, through their exploration of copies and originals, these authors anticipate questions about the nature of language and literature posed a century later in post-structuralist texts like Jacques Derrida's The Double Session and Gilles Deleuze's Difference and Repetition. Rather than a simple sociological exposition of the plight of the little man, copyist fiction is a reaction to a world destabilized by the absence of an authoritative text (Logos), and the act of copying is presented variously as a search for Logos, a new language of immediacy that replaces Logos, and an abolition of meaning. In the process, copyist texts interrogate the relationship between language and the human subject, the physicality of writing, and the limits of mimetic art as (potentially) a type of copying.

Committee: Alexander Burry (Advisor); Angela Brintlinger (Committee Member); Helena Goscilo (Committee Member) Subjects: Comparative Literature; Literature; Slavic Literature

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2013, English-Literature

This essay will propose a kind of interpretive framework based on the ideas of Russell Weaver found in his book Questioning Keats: An Introduction to Applied Hermeneutics. His contribution to Dostoevskian criticism provides a way to assess values in Crime and Punishment and expands on the idea of polyphony and doubling. While the contribution of Bakhtin is important to our understanding of Crime and Punishment, he falls short of addressing the central concern of this novel: the problem of values. To understand the way values seem to operate in Crime and Punishment, the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche will give us a kind of framework to understand the temporal nature of values. This temporality of values is also an important key to understanding a Weaverian idea called the view of the text because Crime and Punishment provides a reader with multiple perspectives on each character in the novel. So, the view of the text is an important feature of Crime and Punishment because perspectives, by their nature, often contradict each other, requiring a reader to continually re-think and re-assess what he knows about the moral world of Crime and Punishment.

Committee: Robert Pope Mr. (Advisor); Patrick Chura Dr. (Committee Member); Hillary Nunn Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Literature; Philosophy

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1971, Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures

Committee: Mateja Matejic (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1973, Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures

Committee: Mateja Matejic (Advisor) Subjects:

BA, Oberlin College, 2010, Russian

This paper focuses on Fyodor Dostoevsky and Lev Tolstoy's subtle responses to the work and philosophy of the radical intelligent, literary critic and philosopher Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy had deep qualms about Chernyshevsky's ideas and their consequences, both for the individual and Russian society at large. The goal of this paper is to describe these ideas and consequences as they appear in two of the most famous and important works of 19th century Russian and world literature, Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" and Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina." Discussion begins with exegesis of the radical utilitarian and utopian philosophy advocated by Chernyshevsky in his influential "What is to be Done?" and "The Anthropological Principle in Philosophy". Having discussed the main tenants of Chernyshevsky's philosophic system, the author continues to investigate the appearance of these ideas in "Crime and Punishment" and "Anna Karenina" through an analysis of primary and secondary characters in each novel. The polyphony of Dostoevsky's prose extends, the author claims, to issues of Chernyshevsky's philosophy and its influence on Russia, and characters of "Crime and Punishment," primarily Raskolnikov, Razumikhin and Luzhin, are analyzed through this lens. Karenin, Vronsky, Anna Karenina and Levin provide the primary focus for analysis of Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina." As much as is possible, the author aspires to include biographical and philosophic detail about Dostoevsky and Tolstoy in order to remain close and true to the two authors' respective visions for and understandings of Russia. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy held views of human nature, Russia, and man's interactions with fellow man which drastically differed from those of Chernyshevsky and the radical intelligentsia. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy's hesitance to embrace Chernyshevsky's philosophy appears in their works, at times with great subtlety, and elucidation of the literary manifestations of their ph (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Thomas Newlin (Advisor); Arlene Forman (Committee Member); Heather Hogan (Committee Member) Subjects: Russian History; Slavic Literature

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, 2009, Theological Studies

This thesis explores the relationship between art and theology, arguing that literature plays a central role in the discipline. John Paul II gives voice to the importance of the arts in the life of the Church, and the influence of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel on Dorothy Day pays witness to the pope's claim. Nicholas Boyle's approach to literature as the “site” of theology is used to examine the imagery and discourse in The Brothers Karamazov as reflective of the Gospel story. Stanley Hauerwas' approach to narrative theology is then applied to contextualize the novel in Dorothy's life. Not only do encounters with Karamazov characters help guide her path to conversion, but Dostoevsky's Incarnational vision of the Church takes shape in Dorothy's daily practices and the formation of the Catholic Worker community. This exploration concludes with a look into the life and work of Fritz Eichenberg, who illustrated Dostoevsky's novels as well as the Catholic Worker newspaper. Such a portrait enriches one's understanding of Dostoevsky's influence on Day and reaffirms John Paul's claim that art is essential to the renewal of the Church.

Committee: Kelly Johnson S (Advisor) Subjects: Theology