Dissociative Identity Disorder; Diary from the Basement

Author: Dostoevsky Zang Zhonglun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: In Dostoevsky's literary legacy, The Double and Notes from Underground, like The Possessed, are controversial works. The Double (1846) is Dostoevsky's second work published after his famous novel Poor Folk (1845). Regarding The Double, it initially received rave reviews and was praised by Belinsky and Turgenev (Dostoevsky once recited the first three chapters of the novella at a gathering organized by Belinsky). However, after the full text was published, it drew widespread criticism and condemnation, with some calling it "dull and unbearable to read." Belinsky was particularly dissatisfied with the novella's "element of fantasy": "In the modern era, fantastical elements can only occur in a lunatic asylum, not in literature—this is a matter for doctors, not poets." Notes from Underground (1864) is a milestone in Dostoevsky's creative career, a declaration-style novella that bridges his earlier and later works, and can also be considered the preface to his five mature long novels (Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Possessed, The Adolescent, The Brothers Karamazov). Such a work, with its profound philosophy, deep thoughts, and unique structure, is beyond adequate estimation. Yet, for a long time, it was neglected and even scorned. Dostoevsky was a great Russian writer. The protagonist of The Double, Golardkin, is relatively upright and behaves honorably, but in his imagination, he transforms into another person who looks exactly like him. This person not only behaves differently but also has an "heaven" within him, yet also a "hell." This pathological psychology drives him to split personality. In Notes from Underground, the "Underground Man" yearns for beauty and the sublime, yet he inevitably commits bad deeds. He recognizes his own depravity but willingly descends into moral corruption. The world is complex, and human hearts are equally complex, as deep and unfathomable as the sea.