The reception of F. M. Dostoevsky's ethics in ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt

This article explores the reception of Fyodor Dostoevsky's work in Donna Tartt's novel The Secret History. The relevance of this topic stems from the need to rethink classical literary heritage in the context of contemporary ethical issues. The research problem lies in the contradiction between the active use of Dostoevsky's ethical and philosophical complex of ideas and its fundamental unattainability in the conditions of a dehumanized consumer society, which gives rise to the phenomenon of "metaphysical nostalgia," theoretically understood by M. Bowden. The aim of the work is to identify and analyze the specific transformation of Dostoevsky's key categories (guilt, redemption, faith) in the poetics of the postmodernist novel. The materials used are the text of the aforementioned novel, literary criticism articles, and scholarly studies devoted to both the work of the Russian classic and American postmodernism. The methodology includes comparative analysis, intertextual, cultural-historical, and hermeneutic approaches, allowing for a comprehensive study. The study demonstrates that Tartt's novel is a striking example of "Dostoevskian" literature, resonating with Crime and Punishment in both plot and ideology. However, unlike Dostoevsky's model, catharsis and repentance are excluded, and the Nietzschean ideas that inspired the characters clash with a hidden Christian meaning expressed in the finale. The analysis reveals that the narrator, Richard Papin,'s confession is insincere, and ethics is ultimately replaced by aesthetics, leaving the characters in a state of spiritual impasse, which is interpreted as a metaphor for the crisis of modern civilization. The practical significance of this work lies in its deepening understanding of the mechanisms of cultural dialogue and the transformation of classical heritage in contemporary literary processes. The findings open up prospects for further comparative study of "Dostoevskian" texts in foreign literature of the 20th and 21st centuries.