21st Annual Student Research Conference
Dostoevsky's Verbose Protagonists: an Analysis of Linguistic Domination in Notes from Underground and Crime and Punishment
Erin K. Goggin
Dr. Shannon Jumper, Faculty Mentor
This paper seeks to explore the linguistic domination involved in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground and Crime and Punishment through a close reading of the texts. The author presents two brooding protagonists who, instead of relying on physical domination as their primary assertion of superiority, use their intelligence and verbal skills in an attempt to exert control over the other characters involved in the texts and even the reader as well. With the other males in the texts, physical domination is generally not a viable option, and it is understandable that the protagonists would resort to verbal domination. However, in the protagonists' relationships with women, both Raskolnikov and the Underground Man frequently use linguistic domination, despite the fact that they are in positions of superiority - physically, sexually, and socially.
Keywords: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Literature, Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, Linguistic Domination, Gender
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 17-1
Location: OP 2121
Time: 9:45