Another God: Dostoevsky, Christianity and the Twentieth Century

This paper establishes the importance of what Dostoevsky called "the Russian Idea" for understanding the views on religion articulated in his mature writings, specifically The Diary of a Writer. Dostoevsky's "Russian Idea," I argue, played a crucial role in advancing some key processes that were transforming Christianity into a form of spirituality that would be available for fascist cooptation in the twentieth century. I suggest how a reconstruction of Dostoevsky's contributions to these processes might proceed: by analyzing the emergence of his "Russian Idea" from his aesthetic philosophical heritage; studying his invention of the "Jewish idea" as the antagonist of the "Russian Idea;" and pursuing the deep similarities linking his "Russian Idea" to a distinct fascist spirituality.