Literary representation and discourse: Christian dialogical tension in The Brothers Karamazov

Abstract

In the works of the Russian author Dostoevsky, polyphony (Bakhtin, 2010b), innovation at the time, was one of the main elements used by the writer, strongly present in the novel "The Brothers Karamazov", since there is a complex conflictive dialogue between the various characters, which is different because it carriers and advocates various ideologies. Based on the concepts of Apollonian and Dionysian from Friedrich Nietzsche (2007), we see that there are strong influences of these concepts in Dostoevsky's characters, so that, through their thoughts, actions and ideologies, we perceive an attempt to cover up and erase difficulties caused by a cruel environment in which they live. We observed in some characters of the novel under review, as Alieksiêi, that they are guided by a Christian ethical thinking, which, as Nietzsche also argues (2007), is surrounded by a huge oppressive fundamentalism, that aids in the formation of inequalities - the population should suffer and be exempt from any kind of pleasure. Thus, through an inter-relation between Appollinian and Dionysian, the characters are sustained on religion to live somehow satisfactorily. Given the above, we propose in this research to study religious ethical behavior displayed by the character Alieksiêi Fiódorovitch Karamazov and the dialogic tension resulted from his speeches interconnected with his family´s. (AU)