The positive foreign heroe in the novel “The gambler” of F. Dostoyevski (Mister Astley and his literary prototipes)

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of one of the main characters of Dostoevsky’s novel “The Gambler” – mister Astley. This is obviously Dostoevsky’s first attempt to portray “a definitely beautiful person”. The study is focused on the ways of linguistic representation of foreign characters in Russian literature and on specificity of intercultural discourse in the novel. It reveals that Dostoevsky in “The Gambler” rehearses some features related not only to Prince Myshkin but to another “Idiot”’s character – Elisaveta Prokof’evna Epanchina as well.

A comparison of Mister Astley with many British characters in English and French literature and with Englishmen, foreigners and anglomanes in Russian literature of the 1830-1850s let us trace the literary provenance of Mister Astley. It shows that this character goes back not only to English and French but to Russian literature as well.