PROVINCE AS A SPIRITUAL AND CULTURAL PHENOMENON ACCORDING TO THE PAGES OF THE “DIARY OF A WRITER” BY F. M. DOSTOEVSKY
The article is devoted to the study of the Russian province, which is important for the “Diary of a writer” by F. M. Dostoevsky, and almost untouched in the scholarly literature. Established is the geography of the province (Minsk, Kiev, Chisinau, Belgrade, Kursk, Kaluga, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, and near the village of Maly Prikol Sudjinsk County Kursk province, Sloboda Golodaevka near Novocherkassk, village Kirsanovka of the Samara province, the town of Creston the province of Novgorod, the town of Novokhopersk), in which the author of the “Diary of a writer” makes his observations and conclusions. The social, intellectual, and territorial circle of Dostoevsky’s correspondents, with whom he communicated with varying degrees of activity, is defined. For him, the province is not just a geographical formation, but a spiritual and cultural phenomenon, with which he connects the most important religious and philosophical views. Noting the trend of apocalyptic entropy in modern Russia, which threatens the country with irreversible catastrophe, he is at the same time persistently, with unflagging hope, looking for collective, centripetal forces in the province, first of all. Russia will not be saved by capitals alone - this is his deep conviction, we need to hear the voice of all people.