McReynolds reminds us that provocation is an essential theme for Dostoevsky’s writing. As McReynolds made clear early on, all of Dostoevsky’s subsequent writings, indeed the monumental literary figure he would become, had their foundations in what he took away from his trip to Europe: “It is first in Winter Notes where Dostoevsky will create images, voice thoughts, and stimulate emotions” that will become central to the form and content of all of his future texts. In her lecture, titled “Voices from the Underground: Spiritual Resistance and the Theology of the Person in Dostoevsky,” McReynolds explored the topics of spirituality and personhood within Dostoevsky’s Winter Notes on Summer Impressions and Notes from the Underground and asked us the central question: how can human beings live together without destroying each other physically and spiritually?īoth works were written following Dostoevsky’s first trip to Europe in 1862, and as such, are grounded in his experiences in Europe and how he perceived the philosophical, spiritual, and socioeconomic states of the places he visited and people he observed. McReynolds is an associate professor in the Slavic Languages and Literature department at Northwestern University, with research interests in topics such as Russian and German literature and philosophy, nationalism, antisemitism, and Dostoevsky in the 19 th and 20 th centuries.

Susan McReynolds for its latest installment in the Fall Colloquia “Dostoevsky at 200” series. On Monday, November 8, the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies welcomed guest lecturer Dr.

Dostoevsky underground