Cendrars and Dostoyevsky: functions of literary reminiscences

This paper examines the presence of literary reminiscences in the writings of Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961), a French poet of Swiss descent. The biographical factors that shaped the poet’s interest in Russia and the works of F. M. Dostoevsky are presented. This study examines the impact of Dostoevsky’s character, personality, and literary works on the development of Blaise Cendrars’s artistic identity. It is shown that Cendrars’ poetry, novels, and biographical prose demonstrate a continuous conversation with the writings of the Russian author. This conversation is especially noticeable in his description of the urban landscape: Cendrars’s St. Petersburg aligns perfectly with what literary scholars later referred to as the St. Petersburg text in Russian literature. It is worth mentioning the transition from the development of descriptive elements commonly found in the works of the Russian writer to his very characters and images, which undergo a novel interpretation in Cendrars. The analysis discloses the resemblance between little Jeanne of France in “Prose about the Trans-Siberian Express” (1913) and Sonya Marmeladova. The main character in “Moravazhin” (1926) is depicted as a modern Prince Myshkin derived from Dostoevsky’s drafts. A conclusion is drawn that Dostoevsky proved to be a talismanic author for Cendrars. Dostoevsky’s influence was not limited to the text. It was multifaceted, affecting not only the characters, plot lines, and artistic means of depiction but also the creation of a literary biography of Cendrars, with the motif of resurrection and rebirth to eternal life borrowed from Dostoevsky appearing as fundamental.