The analysis of Gothic elements in the short story - Stone Animals by Kelly Link

Abstract

"Beside American and English literature, Russian literature has always been a fertile land for readers to deeply delve into. Indeed, some of the greatest works of Lev Tolstoy, Pushkin, or Fyodor Dostoevsky had a profound impact on contemporary literary trend, including realism, romanticism, and surrealism. In relation to human psychology, it emerged a lack of a thorough and multifaceted prism so as to analyze the contextual or interpersonal mental turmoil of characters in Russian literature, especially in those of Dostoevsky. “Crime and Punishment” should be a typical example of its reputation for mingling religious, psychological, philosophical, social, historical, and political aspects; and the protagonist, Raskolnikov, is a potential character to deal with. In order to shed light on the character’s mental dichotomy that is affected by sociopsychological contexts, or so-called motive constituents, the thesis utilizes qualitative research methods framed by behaviorism, Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA), textual analysis, and Freudian theory (Psychoanalysis). The research analyzes and unfolds several reasons behind Raskolnikov’s murders and psychological turbulence by using discourse analysis, textual analysis, and an interdisciplinary approach constructed within aforementioned theoretical framework. In regard to the findings, the protagonist’s complexity in paradoxical ideologies and murders stems from external-situational components as well as his confessions of the crime. Keywords: Russian literature, protagonist, motive constituents, psychology, crime, Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA), textual analysis, social pressure, psychological dichotomy"