To Be or Not to Be God—The Issue of Authorial Power in Dostoevsky

This paper problematizes the now widely accepted concept of Dostoevsky’s dialogism, which alleges ‘Author’s’ equal empowerment all his characters. Using examples from Crime and Punishment The Brothers Karamazov, Zholkovsky focuses on instances ‘scene-staging’ based ‘scripts’ devised enacted by some characters, that are ‘read,’ with varying success, their targets. He documents resulting ‘discursive combat’ among special attention paid to those ‘playing god’ thus, more ‘authorial’ them. In several cases, would-be ‘divine’ manipulation is shown be consistently subverted Dostoevskian narrative. However, in one instance, where Aliosha Karamazov charitably scripts Captain Snegirev’s behavior, ensuing discussion this episode, Aliosha’s conversations Lise Khokhlakova, upholds right play god Other—“for Other’s own good”, course (not unlike Grand Inquisitor).