On the Use and Abuse of Dostoevsky's The Possessed for Reading Tess Slesinger's The Unpossessed

The most consistent introductory observation about Tess Slesinger's 1934 novel The Unpossessed is that its title seems to indicate a reversal or negation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Possessed. Critics of Slesinger's novel have oriented the political horizon of their interpretations wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Notes and queries 2014-03, Vol.61 (1), p.135-136
Main Author: Afflerbach, Ian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dostoevsky, Fyodor Mikhailovich (1821-81)
Novels
Politics
Slesinger, Tess
Writers
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The most consistent introductory observation about Tess Slesinger's 1934 novel The Unpossessed is that its title seems to indicate a reversal or negation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Possessed. Critics of Slesinger's novel have oriented the political horizon of their interpretations with this comparative gesture, looking to Dostoevsky's moment of political turmoil to frame a novel of the American 1930s that has been called the best portrait of the intellectual ferment of the Depression years. Here, Afflerbach discusses the political situations that shaped these novels.
ISSN:0029-3970
1471-6941
DOI:10.1093/notesj/gjt217