On Bacchic Vocabulary in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Novel Crime and Punishment

The article deals with the vocabulary characterizing the situation associated with the use of alcohol, or Bacchic vocabulary, in F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”. We’ve considered the language used by the author to characterize the state of intoxication and its peculiarities in his novel. The research suggests that the adjectives in the novel play a special part in helping us understand atmosphere of wine drinking. The word combinations of adjectives and temporal and quantitative adverbs, as well as adverbs with the qualitative characteristic of the attribute, are also of interest.

The article draws attention to the fact that some Bacchic words have a peculiar connection to the spatial world of the novel. In particular, we analyze the differences between two expressions za pivom (while drinking beer) and pered posudinkoi (literally in front of the bottle). The paper proposes that through the use of Bacchic vocabulary F. M. Dostoyevsky established a connection between lookalike heroes (e. g. Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov). It is concluded that the original intent to name the novel “The Drunken” was deliberate and this lexeme bore a special meaning. The Bacchic vocabulary is used by Dostoevsky to express a strong emotional shock, the physical embodiment of which is associated with alcohol intoxication. For example, Raskolnikov is often mistaken for a drunken: in the scene after the murder and during repentance in the square, his appearance is associated with the state of excessive alcoholic intoxication, expressed by intense verbs with a word formant na- ... -sya. In conclusion, it is to say that Bacchic vocabulary has a symbolic role in the novel.

Keywords

Dostoevsky, semantics, Bacchic vocabulary, literary text, individual author’s worldview

Received

01.04.2020

Publication date

01.04.2020

Number of characters

21512

Cite

GOST	Dimitrieva O. On Bacchic Vocabulary in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Novel “Crime and Punishment” // Russkaya Rech’ – 2020. – Issue 1 C. 56-67 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://ras.jes.su/rusrech/s013161170008295-3-1-en (circulation date: 23.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013161170008295-3
MLA	Dimitrieva, Olga A. "On Bacchic Vocabulary in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Novel “Crime and Punishment”." Russkaya Rech’ 1 (2020):56-67. DOI: 10.31857/S013161170008295-3
APA	Dimitrieva O. (2020). On Bacchic Vocabulary in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Novel “Crime and Punishment”. Russkaya Rech’ (1), pp.56-67 DOI: 10.31857/S013161170008295-3

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 1352

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Apresyan Yu. D. Issledovaniya po semantike i leksikografii T. I: Paradigmatika [Research on semantics and lexicography. Vol. I: Paradigmatics]. Moscow, Yazyki Slavyanskikh Kul'tur Publ., 2009. 568 p.

2. Bakhtin M. M. Sobranie sochinenii v 7 t. T. 6. Problemy poetiki Dostoevskogo [Collected works in 7 vols. Vol. 6. Problems of Dostoevsky's poetics]. Moscow, Russkie Slovari, Yazyki Slavyanskoi Kul'tury Publ., 2002. 505 p.

3. Dostoevsky F. M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: v 30 t. [Complete Works in 30 vols.]. Vol. 28, Book 2. Pis'ma, 1860–1868 [Letters, 1860–1868]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1985. 616 p.

4. Dostoevsky F. M. Prestuplenie i nakazanie [Crime and Punishment]. Moscow, Slavyanka Publ., 1993. 335 p.

5. Evgen'eva A. P. (ed.). Slovar' russkogo yazyka [Dictionary of the Russian language: In 4 vols. RAS, Institute of Linguistics Research]. Moscow, Russkii Yazyk Publ.; Poligrafresursy Publ., 1999.

6. Fridlender G. M. Realizm Dostoevskogo [Realism of Dostoevsky]. Moscow; Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1964. 404 p.

7. Karaulov Yu. N. [The concept of idioglossa and dictionary of Dostoevsky’s language]. Slovo Dostoevskogo. 2000 [Word of Dostoevsky. 2000]. Moscow, Azbukovnik Publ., 2001, pp. 424–444. (In Russ.)

8. Natsional’nyi korpus russkogo yazyka [Russian National Corpus]. Available at: http://www.ruscorpora.ru (accessed 31.07.2019).

9. Pavlov A. M., Lagoda M. A. [Images of food and drink in Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”]. Kritika i semiotika [Criticism and semiotics]. 2006, no. 9, pp. 78–91. (In Russ.).

10. Pukhachev S. B. [Kinesitic observations on F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”]. Vestnik Novgorodskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2006, no. 36, pp. 46–49. (In Russ.)

11. Ruzhitskii I. V. Yazykovaya lichnost' F. M. Dostoevskogo: leksikograficheskoe predstavlenie. Dis. dokt. filol. nauk [Language personality of F. M. Dostoevsky: lexicographical representation: Dr. philological sci. diss.]. Moscow, 2015, 647 p.

12. Vinogradov V. V. [The language of artwork]. Voprosy Yazykoznaniya, 1954, no. 5, pp. 3–26.