Russian Hero in Argentina: Reception, Influence and Translations of F. M. Dostoevsky’s Work

Abstract

This article analyses the perception, influence, interpretation and translation of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky’s life and work in the Republic of Argentina. First, it describes how the Argentines have interpreted the author of The Brothers Karamazov from biographical, philological, historical, psychological, religious, theological and philosophical perspectives, from his first appearance in the early 1880s to the present (2021). References are made to studies published both in the press and in strictly academic circles (articles, books, dissertations). Dostoevsky’s influence is manifested secondarily in the novelistic and poetic work of the great Argentine writers of the twentieth century (Roberto Artl, Ernesto Sabato, Julio Cortázar and Jorge Luis Borges). It follows a brief history of Spanish translations (directly or through other languages) of Fyodor Mikhailovich’s novels and short stories in Argentina, with particular emphasis on the most widely read and studied of all his works, Crime and Punishment. It also lists the major works of secondary bibliography that first appeared on the Argentine market in Spanish and have had a remarkable influence on Dostoevsky’s studies outside Argentina, such as in Mexico or Spain. Finally, an attempt is made to clarify the reasons why the Argentine people are still today (on the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth, 1821–2021) one of the main readers and interpreters of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky’s works, through a series of considerations based on psychology, history and demography.