The menippea problem in F. M. Dostoevsky's poetics

The article explores the menippea genre: its origin, development, and main features. The purpose of the study is to clarify the essence of the problem, which is based on an intrinsic terminological error. The article presents the opinions of I. V. Pomyalovsky, M. M. Bakhtin, V. Makhlina, and R. B. Shchetinin, who recognize this peripheral genre of ancient Greek and Latin literature as a general theoretical concept used in the analysis of both ancient texts and later works, including those by F. M. Dostoevsky. The opposite opinion is held by M. L. Gasparov, V. B. Shklovsky, E. M. Meletinsky, and N. I. Braginskaya, who deny menippea an independent status. The expanded use of the term, the inclusion of the concept of “menippea” in the circle of “historical and literary universals,” “historical and cultural categories” is criticized; first and foremost, its metaphorical meaning is disputed. Features of the menippea, “menippeal origin,” “elements of the menippea” (poetic inserts, parody, mockery, the spy motif of the spy, etc.) and their interrelations are present in Dostoevsky's works and perform an essential structural and semantic function. The ancient tradition is being reinterpreted in line with Orthodox philosophy. The appeal to menippea as an “inter-genre phenomenon” allows us to artistically represent the relationship between the hero and the world, and the hero and the author.