The complex nature of Netochka Nezvanova, one of Fyodor Dostoevsky's early pieces, makes this work an interesting and revealing point from which to study the evolution of the writer's craftsmanship. Written under the influence of major Russian, French, and German prose works of the period, it reflects Dostoevsky's process of creative emulation of the achievement of European realist writing and a process of reworking of Russian Romanticism into what would later be called "psychological realism." The unfinished nature of Netochka Nezvanova testifies to Dostoevsky's struggle with the previous literary tradition and to his search for a new literary form. The character types, themes, and stylistic devices with which Dostoevsky experimented in this work would come to play a central role in the creation of his later masterpieces.

Roll, Serafima (Supervisor)