Dostoevsky and Chekhov: Psychology and the “Little Man”

Dostoevsky: Depths of Psychology

Fyodor Dostoevsky is the creator of the modern psychological novel. “Crime and Punishment” (1866), “The Idiot” (1869), “The Brothers Karamazov” (1880) — novels that probe the psyche to its limits: murder, madness, religious ecstasy, nihilism.

Mikhail Bakhtin (“Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics”): in Dostoevsky’s novels there is “polyphony”: different voices (Raskolnikov, Sonya, Porfiry) are not reduced to the author’s point of view, but are complete in their own expression. The author is not “above” the characters — he is in dialogue with them. This is a radically new form of the novel.

“The Grand Inquisitor” (inserted chapter in “The Brothers Karamazov”): Christ returns to inquisitional Seville — and the Grand Inquisitor explains to him that his teaching about freedom is unbearable for people who want bread, miracle, and authority. This is one of the greatest texts about freedom, power, and the nature of man.

Chekhov: Silence and Subtext

Anton Chekhov created a theatrical and prose genre in which “what is unsaid” is more important than what is said. “The Cherry Orchard,” “Three Sisters,” “Uncle Vanya” — dramas in which there is no “action” in the traditional sense, no villains and heroes, no morality. There are people incapable of changing, waiting for a life that never arrives.

“Chekhov’s Gun”: the principle of economy in the text — “if in the first act there is a gun hanging, in the third act it must fire.” Every detail in the text must work. This principle is applied in all narrative disciplines — from film to product design.

Chekhov the doctor: his clinical view of human suffering shaped his literary method. “Without compassion — without judgment” — observation without moralizing.

Question for reflection: Chekhov showed: people often cannot change, even though they know they ought to. How does this manifest in organizations — when the need for change is obvious, but it does not occur?