Article

Name: WHY DOES FATHER ZOSIMA «STINK»: COMMENTARY ON STINK EPISODE OF FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY’S NOVEL «THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV»

Authors: M. N. Klimova

Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russian Federation

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Abstract: The article considers one of the most enigmatic and little-known episodes of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel «The Brothers Karamazov» – at the funeral of Father Zosima from his body emanates «the breath of corruption» instead of the expected wonders of deceased righteous. In the article is analyzed historical and literary sources of the shocking episode, to which is added one of the stories of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon (the Tale 15). The true meaning of the scandalous incident is revealed in the context of Father Zosima’s teaching and in the light of the ambivalence of motif meaning of «stench» that pervades the novel.

Keywords: russian literature, christianity and literature, christian hagiology, the cult of saints, folk orthodoxy, intertextual relationship

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