Is Crime and Punishment a Realist Novel?

Is Crime and Punishment a Realist Novel? This essay will explore how the novel Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky does not adhere to the realism conventions we have come to know; it will explore the way in which the text is not realist because of Dostoevskys use of phycological realism, commonly referred to as fantastic realism whilst still employing some realist tropes. Firstly, to argue that the text is not a realist text, realism must be defined. There is a distinction between a realist novel and other literary works, realist writing is a representation of reality thus, it can never give the reader a type of true reality that is associated with life. The OED definition of realism defines it as the presentation of things in a way that is accurate and true to life.[1] However, Catherine Belsey states that a realist text positions itself between the facts and a type of illusion through a representation of a simulated reality which could be possible but not real[2], Realism imposes limitations on the text therefore Dostoevsky wanted to move away from such limitations imposed by classical realism. In a letter written to Strakhov, Dostoevsky explains that he has his own ideas that are shown throughout his works, he declares I have my own idea about art, and it is this: What most people regard as fantastic and lacking in universality, / hold to be the in most essence of truth.[3] One of his ideas that he employs is Fantastic realism which moves away from traditional conventions with emphasis on the characters rather than the narrator. Fantastic (or transcendental) realism varies from classic realism because Dostoevsky explores the significance of reality and dreams, it focuses on penetrations into the deepest realities of the human soul.[4]   Dostoevsky first experienced the fantastic when he had the vision of the Neva [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] a silent and frozen world glittering magically in the last rays of the sun[5]. Prior to this, he pictured himself as living in an imaginary and exotic world of Schiller and Hoffman[6] but the dream of Neva changed his view on the real world, it suddenly became fantastic and memorable to him referring to the world as a literary daydream. In the text, it is referred to as Little Neva. Dostoevskys realism explores reality to its utmost extreme that would not be utilized in a classic realist novel. Dreams are scattered thro ughout Crime and Punishment. Raskolnikov has about the horse being whipped and abused. Secondly, Dostoevsky was influenced by Freuds theory of dreams when writing such passages in his works, In Freuds study he realised that the unconscious often expresses itself in the form of dreams[7], he has a dream that drives him into action and [illuminates], in striking fashion, the unconscious forces at work within him[8]. The dream portrays his plan to murder the pawnbroker, he associates himself with the tavern owner Mikolka, and it is with this that Raskolnikovs anger is shown in the dream; The experience confirms that he does wish to carry out the heinous act however he tries to desperately convince himself that he will not act upon the motivations to no avail God! He exclaimed is it possible, is it possible, that I really shall take an axe and strike her on the head[9]. After the dream, he goes on to commit the crime which shows the unconscious influencing his decisions; the protagonists conscious and unconscious tears Raskolnikov thoughts into contrasting positions. Raskolnikov is not the only character to experience such dreams and reality in the text, Marmaladov experiences a different reality when he passes out from his alcoholism, this is where the fantastic is found. Svidrigailov also experiences a dream, he finds a young girl aged five crying, he proceeds to carry her to his bedroom and lays her on his bed, an impudent invitation gleamed from that unchildlike face; it was corruption, it was the face of a courtesan[10] Svidrigailov wakes up and heads to the Little Neva, he tells a Guard he is going to America and [pulls] the trigger[11] The dream is the moment that the characters mind is explored, The little girls innocence is taken away by the image of the courtesan representing the characters sins. In the dream, he also meets a fourteen-year-old girl that committed suicide; this young girl could be Svidrigailov himself because he commits suicide not long after the experience. Dreams are not the only device to show the fantastic in the text, Crime and Punishment goes beyond character dialogues and appears to enter the characters minds, the events as they happen are shown through the main protagonist Raskolnikov, the characters that are introduced to the reader appear to be different aspects of his personality. There are many evident doubles in the text that reflect the main characters alter ego, even when the character themselves are not there in the scene they show varied aspects of his personality, however, the characters that double Raskolnikov are themselves complex., having full developed personalities. Bakhtins theory of the dialogues between the characters exhibit this. Dostoevsky realises Bakhtins theory because the greatest of all contrapuntists genuinely surrenders to his characters and allows them to speak in ways other than his own.[12] The characters that he creates in his novels are polemicized with, learned from; attempts are made to develop their views into finished systems.[13]   The characters are their own authors of their ideas, allowing them to break away from the usual use of the narrator, Characters that are presented in this way have multiple viewpoints that are equal in importance to that of a narrator on their own. The main protagonist appears to be in conflict that concerns his conscience and his unconscious throughout the text. To show this, Dostoevsky created the characters Sonya and Svidrigailov. Sonya represents the kindness that Raskolnikov occasionally shows, this is depicted through his charitable acts and kind gestures towards others. Sonya becomes a prostitute to support her family through hardships whilst her father Marmaladov cannot control his alcoholism, she goes to great lengths to be kind to others whilst managing to maintain her innocence.   On the other hand, Svidrigailov opposes this kindness, he represents the will and power of Raskolnikov; he is the extraordinary aspect, the characters dislike one another showing their opposing aspects of his personality. The charitable acts that he carries out, he later comes to regret. This duality is confirmed by Dmitri Prokofichs description of Raskolnikov he is moody, melancholy, proud and haughty, [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] He is kind a nd generous. He goes on to say Really, it is as if he had two separate personalities, each dominating him alternately.[14] Overall, although Crime and Punishment make use of some realist tropes it is not a realist text because of the use of fantastic realism. The minds of the characters and their relationship with the protagonist take emphasis in the novel, through the dreams that the characters experience the reader can see aspects of characters that one would not see in a traditional realist novel. The characters develop and display aspects of the main protagonist, in doing this in his novels such as the text discussed, Dostoevsky created a fundamentally new novelistic genre.[15] [1] Maurice Waite (ed.), Realism, Oxford English Dictionary (London: Oxford University Press, 2012). [2] Catherine Belsey, Critical Practice, Second Edition, (London: Routledge, 2002). [3] Marlene Chambers, Some Notes on The Aesthetics of Dostoevsky, Comparative Literature, 13.2 (1961), 114-122 . [4] Ilya Vinitsky, Where Bobok Is Buried: The Theosophical Roots of Dostoevskis Fantastic Realism, Slavic Review, 65.03 (2006), 523-543 . [5] Joseph Frank, Dostoevskys Discovery Of Fantastic Realism, Russian Review, 27.3 (1968), 286 . [6] Joseph Frank, Dostoevskys Discovery Of Fantastic Realism [7] Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan Strangers to Ourselves: Psychoanalysis Julie Rivkin, Michael Ryan: Literary Theory: An Anthology, Second Edition (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004) pp. 389- 396 (p.390) [8] Louis Breger, Dostoevsky: The Author as Psychoanalyst (Somerset, N.J.: Transaction; London: Eurospan [distributor], 2008). pp. 28-29 [9] Fyodor Dostoevsky, George Gibian (ed.), Crime and Punishment, p. 51 [10] Fyodor Dostoevsky, George Gibian (ed.), Crime and Punishment, p. 431 [11] Fyodor Dostoevsky, George Gibian (ed.), Crime and Punishment, p. 433 [12] Mikhail Bakhtin, Problems of Dostoevskys Poetics, ed. and trans. Caryl Emerson; intro. Wayne C. Booth (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984). P xxii [13] Mikhail Bakhtin, Problems of Dostoevskys Poetics, p. 5 [14] Fyodor Dostoevsky, George Gibian (ed.), Crime and Punishment, p. 182 [15] Mikhail Bakhtin, Problems of Dostoevskys Poetics, p. 7 Trends of the Coffee Sector in Ethiopia | Research Proposal Trends of the Coffee Sector in Ethiopia | Research Proposal Coffee is the most important commercial crop-plant and favorite drink in the world. Next to oil, coffee is the second important and valued global commodity. It is estimated that around 20 million coffee producing households worldwide and nearly 100 million persons used coffee as a means of income for their living. The export value of the crop is enormous (US $15.4 billion in 2009/10). The genus Coffea seeds are used to make coffee from a roasted form and changed into cup for drink through a complex process (Davis et. al., 2011). Nowadays, studies indicated that over hundred coffee species exist. Out of these, the three coffee types, i.e., Coffee Robusta, Coffee Arabica and Coffee Liberica have economic significance. The first two types are traded in the world market. Coffee Arabica has an important part in some tropical countries economy. This type of coffee is cultivated in several places of the tropics, contributing for 80 percent of coffee market worldwide. It plays a substantial part in employment and income generation for developing countries like Latin America, Africa and Asia (Girma et al., 2008). Ethiopia is the home and basis of inherent resources and coffee Arabica diversities. The South and Southwestern parts of the country’s humid high rain forests were believed to be the original place of Coffee Arabica. Like many developing nations, the country relies greatly on export of key agricultural products in which coffee is the major and significant crop (Behailu et. al., 2007). Ethiopia was the 6th biggest coffee producer in the world and first in Africa, producing 273400 metric tons in 2008. During the same year, the country exported 179283 tons of coffee to the world market with a value of about US$562 million. This accounts 66% of the total produced coffee that is exported and 50% of the total worth of agricultural goods traded. 34% of the total produced coffee was locally consumed (FAOSTAT, 2009). Currently, Ethiopia contributes 3.6 percent of the total value and 3 percent of the total quantity of coffee traded to the global market, which leads the country to be the 10th largest exporter of coffee in the world and the first exporter in Africa. 40% of the total coffee production of Ethiopia is exported, which earns 33% of the overall value of agricultural goods exported and 24% of the whole export value of the country (Ministry of Trade, 2013). Over one-third of the population living in the rural areas and over 15 million populations sustain their livelihoods and participated in coffee production. There are around one million coffee growers in the country (Aklilu and Ludi, 2010). Coffee has been an important commodity which has got greater attention by the government of Ethiopia. It is the first cash crop that the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) started trading operations in April 2008 in order to advance coffee markets in the country. High costs and high risks of transaction were the features of agricultural markets in Ethiopia before 2008, with only one third of the production reaching the market. Besides, smallholder farmers have little information about the market which limits them to sell their final products at the nearby market, deal with good prices as well as minimizing their market risk (ECX, 2008). Sale of agricultural products and earning income is the primary objective of farmers. As a result, production resource allocation decision is affected by various factors such as price and level of output. Measures to increase production are incomplete without steps to increase market supply. The cash needed to purchase production inputs depends on the income earned from the sale of farm products (Bekabil, 2004). Smallholder farmers are the main producers of coffee by contributing 95 percent of the total coffee output in the country (ODI, 2009). The coffee growers in Ethiopia integrate coffee production into their strategic family livelihoods by cultivating food related crops for home consumption. Small scale coffee farmers do not have the chance to sell their products at competitive prices in the remote areas of the country (ODI, 2009). According to Aklilu and Ludi (2010), farmers faced different challenges even if the coffee marketing arranged by the government. They pointed out insufficient regulation of coffee price by the government where suppliers and collectors fixed their own price which is generally lower than the market price as stated by the government. Thus, such coffee market incompetence chiefly affect the income of coffee farmers and discourage them in the process of coffee production and marketing which lead to a significantly decreases in the country’s foreign exchange. This suggests that it is very critical to study and monitor systematically the production and marketing systems in all coffee growing areas of the country for the sake of planning and designing suitable research and development interventions that are applicable to the specific systems. Objectives of the Study The general objective of the study is to analyze the trends of coffee sector in Ethiopia in general and generate baseline information on production and marketing systems of the selected study are in particular by concentrating on parameters like production, marketing, institutional and organizational support and challenges and opportunities. Specific Objectives The specific objectives of the study are: To assess the production system and performance of coffee in the study area, To assess the market information and related socio-economic situation of the study area, To identify the major challenges and opportunities related to coffee production and marketing in the study area and Based on the findings of the research, forward viable recommendations. Significance of the Study The result of the study is helpful for the coffee growers and traders in the study area in planning and for development planners and policy makers in drafting policies for coffee production and marketing. Moreover, potential investors in coffee bean marketing in the study area can utilize the information in order to understand the market structure, price and profitability of the business. It will be an added value to the knowledge base on the production and marketing of coffee and a stepping stone and foundation for future research studies and researchers in this particular subject in the region. Finally, practitioners and academicians are expected to benefit from the findings of this research. Scope and Limitations of the Study The study is based on one-year data on coffee production and marketing in the study area. It also focuses on dry processed coffee bean as it accounts for the lion’s share in type of coffee exported by Ethiopia. In addition, the spatial coverage of the research work is one district (woreda) within a major coffee growing region in Ethiopia. Moreover, the study was constrained by the lack of vital data from most coffee traders in the study area. Organization of the Paper This thesis paper is comprised of five main chapters. The first chapter presents the introduction part. The second chapter contains review of related literatures. Chapter three presents material and methods used in the study including description of the study area. Chapter four presents the main findings of the research work. The last chapter summarizes the results, draws conclusion and offers recommendations. References and appendices will be next to the closing chapter.