Dostoevsky Mondays

Being behind on my independent study of Dostoevsky's The Adolescent, I have decided that Monday, being our culture's most dreaded day of the week, shall become "study day".  This will not last long, I'm sure; however, free time is killing me right now and I need to have some kind of structure...it helps that we've moved play rehearsal to Monday morning, at least I get that drama high to carry me through.


Finished Bakhtin's The Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics, the staple formalist work of criticism touching on Dostoevsky's work.  Bakhtin focuses on Dostoevsky's use of the idea in a polyphonic world (meaning that the author allows his characters to have thoughts and ultimately ideological viewpoints uncoloured by his own personal standpoint - the events and conversations are not biased towards reaching a didactic end).  An idea in Dostoevsky's artistic vision is indistinguishable from the person carrying that idea - Bakhtin uses the example of Christ as the word/idea in the flesh.  This organic inclusion of so many viewpoints in Dostoevsky's novels lead to the "great dialogues": telling conversations between vastly different, but equally valued, viewpoints.






A quote of interest from Dostoevsky himself:
"It is not enough to define morality as fidelity to one's own convictions.  One must continually pose oneself the question: are my convictions true? Only one verification of them exists - Christ."

Ahhhhh! (aka University)

"Ahhh!" is what I felt like these first two weeks back at school.  It's so beautifully chaotic and random without being purposeless!  After a relatively quiet summer, being back amongst the diverse attendants of a liberal arts college is almost too much: philosophy? criticism? drama? where were all these things hiding, and why do they bring me so much joy now?

I've moved into a house with six other wonderful people, mostly ex-dormies who I got to know last year.  There have been baking parties.  We organized a tea party.  I made borscht for the first time ever because I bought too many beets.  Jam sessions.  Walks. Epic plans being made along with bread that didn't rise - twice.

As for classes, ee weesh tha eh-ver-ei-oo-neh spah-ke een meed-leh ehn-gleesh - my prof does the accent fantastically.  I tried to read aloud in class today and ended up a bit red in the face.  Literary criticism is most interesting and surprisingly not dry.  Drama history is definitely not dry: our teacher, a true actor, got us to read the part of a Greek chorus over some epic battle music.  Old Testament Lit is a bit of a slow start so far, but, I am most excited to learn about the historical and cultural context of the books that have so much to say about God and His love for His creation.  And Earth Science.  Oh, earth science, the first time I've opened a science textbook since high school.  Our first lab was on rocks.  That was fun though - I made a new friend!

These past two days especially have been lovely: I've gotten to jam, meet some new people, hang out with old friends, have random conversations while sitting in my spinny office chair (I have an office! It's crazy! Who would give me keys, I mean come on!).  God is good, and I'm trying to praise Him even when things aren't exploding everywhere, which is harder than I would have thought!

But, of course, there are things that are unresolved: for example, I need to drop one of my majors and adjust my minors.  Drama keeps sneaking in, though I want you to note that I did not try out for the play.  Ugh, that was harder than it should have been.  Editing for the school paper is a constant effort, but it's been good so far!  Next issue out on Wednesday, God willing.  Oh, and should I get rid of Facebook/ my cell phone? (after Chelsea gets back from Australia if so I'm thinking).