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Article published In:
Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 14:1 (2019) ► pp.21–38

The psychologization of the Underground Man

Nietzsche’s image of Dostoevsky through the French translation L’esprit souterrain

| KU Leuven

After reading L’esprit souterrain, the first French translation of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground, Nietzsche embraced Dostoevsky as a master psychologist, notwithstanding their ideological differences. This article argues that the much-discussed influence of Dostoevsky on Nietzsche can be better understood by unraveling the specific nature of the translation L’esprit souterrain. An analysis shows that as a consequence of the adopted translation strategy, the character of the Underground Man, who in the Russian context functions as a philosophical-ideological type, becomes a purely psychological type. This is all the more important, since Nietzsche’s enthusiasm for Dostoevsky led to rereadings of Dostoevsky through a Nietzschean lens.

Keywords: Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Underground Man, L’esprit souterrain , Notes from the Underground , ideology
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Dostoevsky’s Underground Man as an ideological-philosophical type
  • Halpérine-Kaminsky and Morice’s Underground Man as a psychological type
  • Paving the path for Dostoietzsche
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 5 April 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.00028.bou
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