Reanimated vision: to the teleology of the visual poetics in Dostoevsky's novel “Idiot”

Based on the history of studies of visual aspects in Dostoevsky’s novel “Idiot” (works by A. Krinitsyn, E. Novikova, N. Perlina, D. Tokarev etc.) the author revealed and outlined the actual problematic area, which formed due to long-term diverse research: contradiction of visual images of different nature and author’s work integrity; fundamental nature of vision, concept of glance in connection with the interinfluence of the novel’s themes, such as beauty, faith, “ability to take a look at something”; the necessity to analyse the novel from the point of view of its teleological inclination was shown. The article reveals dependence between the visual poetics of the novel “Idiot” and the Gospel of John: “.that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” The author analysed the profound dialog between word and image, in which the word in Dostoevsky’s text gains functions and characteristics of someone seeing, perceiving, while the image - of someone evident, open to a glance, i.e. a speaker. From this point the last scenes of the famous final pages of the novel are interpreted. Paradoxical features, as a characteristic feature of the evangelic narrative about bestowal of ability to see on someone born blind, are taken over by the author’s text and become the foundation on which the author’s intention is fulfilled urging the reader to become a part of “unseeing”, those who recovered their sight. Final goals of the visual poetics (reanimated vision) determine “event of being” (M.M. Bakhtin) in the novel “Idiot”.