The Psychological Symbolism of Dreams in the Work of F.M. Dostoevsky

Abstract

The article analyses the phenomenon of dreams in literary texts, specifically in the works of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, a master of depicting human psychology. Dostoevsky belongs to the authors of the Golden Age of Russian literature and is considered one of the most important representatives of Russian and world literature.

Dreams have accompanied humans since ancient times, making it intriguing to explore their significance not only from a psychological perspective but also within the realm of literary interpretations. Through literary texts, we can grasp the symbolism and meaning of dreams and analyze their prevalence in each context.

In the novel Crime and Punishment (1866), there are five distinct dreams. The first two dreams are dreamt by the novel’s protagonist shortly before committing the crime, the next two dreams occur after the crime, and the last dream takes place during his forced labour in Siberia. For this analysis, the second dream was chosen, and the interpretation is based on the theoretical foundations of dream symbolism, especially drawing from the theories of Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist C.G. Jung (archetypal images) and American psychologist J. Hillman (mythological images).

Through this analysis, the article aims to interpret the possible psychological symbolism of Rodion Raskolnikov’s dream, discern its meaning, and explicitly and implicitly identify the dream’s symbols. The goal of the article is to explore the (psychological) significance of dreams as a subconscious construct of a literary character.