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<\/a>Dr. Paul Contino, Professor of Great Books at Pepperdine University, joined Miami\u2019s academic community on Monday, October 4, for a lecture based on his new book, Dostoevsky\u2019s Incarnational Realism<\/em>. Contino\u2019s lecture was the second in this year\u2019s Havighurst Center Colloquium, which is focused on the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky in honor of the iconic Russian\u2019s 200th<\/sup> birthday. Contino carried forth the momentum of John Givens\u2019s previous lecture, offering students an opposing perspective on the core themes of The Brothers Karamazov<\/em>. Whereas Givens\u2019 lecture argued for Ivan Karamazov\u2019s centrality to the novel, Contino restored his brother Alyosha to hero status through a soulful and insightful reading. Contino focused his lecture on Book Seven, where Dostoevsky responds to Ivan\u2019s rebellion in \u201coblique and artistic terms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Contino\u2019s interpretation of incarnational realism was explained by unpacking Book Seven\u2019s arc, from Alyosha\u2019s disappointments surrounding Father Zosima\u2019s death to his ecstatic embrace of a resolved world. Alyosha\u2019s brief but transformative rebellion and subsequent restoration to faith develops the young man into \u201ca monk in the world.\u201d This stage of the novel sows the seed of prudence in Alyosha’s overly-sincere heart, which he had heretofore lacked, thus enabling Alyosha to grow beyond his pure spirituality into a man of integrated faith and reason, one capable of providing ministry to the characters struggling throughout the novel\u2019s second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Contino framed this argument by displaying the icon of Christ developed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The asymmetry of Christ\u2019s eyes, one human and judgmental and the other divine and forgiving, was interpreted as representing both the relief from a burden and the imposition of an obligation. To utilize Contino\u2019s \u201clinguistic key\u201d to the novel, the relief is Christ\u2019s forgiveness of sin and the burden imposed is the duty to take personal responsibility for the sins of all of humanity. This is the heart of incarnational realism: the apprehension of reality and response to reality through the light of faith in Christ. Contino\u2019s interpretation is avowedly religious and can be summarized as: you should take responsibility for everyone, because everything is infinite and we are finite, and regardless of whether or not you believe in Christ\u2019s divinity, you might agree that the icon of Christ is the most complete resolution to this paradox, because Christ represents a human being who is both finite and infinite. The lecture having been successfully framed, Contino moved to interpret Book Seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the novel, the failure of Zosima\u2019s corpse to produce a miracle disappoints Alyosha and ultimately educates his faith through irony. Alyosha is a realist in his faith. He grounds it not in miracle but in spiritual emotion. However, he expects divine justice for Zosima\u2019s corpse in the form of a miracle. Zosima’s rapid decomposition leads to Alyosha’s rebellion. He is egged on by Ratikin, who embodies reductive irony. Alyosha, in falling to Ratikin\u2019s temptations, seeks to hurt himself in order to rebel against God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At Grushenka\u2019s, there is more irony in the reversal of roles between Grushenka and Alyosha. Grushenka expects to meet an innocent monk only to find him corrupted by reductive irony. Alyosha expects to meet a fallen woman but finds a kindness and \u201cwarmness\u201d in her face. Grushenka nestles on Alyosha\u2019s lap, which has often been interpreted in artistic renditions as a seductive attempt. However, Contino believes this is a reductive misinterpretation of Grushenka\u2019s actions, claiming instead that she actually resembles the Madonna. By nestling on Alyosha\u2019s lap, she somehow cures his fear of eros <\/em>without seducing him whatsoever. Thus, the eros<\/em> and agape<\/em> within Alyosha becomes unified into caritas<\/em>, and matures the young monk. This is especially significant in the context of a novel where the titular brothers all lack a mother, none feeling this absence more powerfully than Alyosha. Where he was once na\u00efve–for instance, in his spontaneous attempt to marry Katerina and Ivan–he has now learned prudence. \u00a0The irony of defied expectations simultaneously pushes both Grushenka and Alyosha to acknowledgement of their own faults. To phrase this event in the novel’s context, Alyosha and Grushenka give each other onions. In this sense, Grushenka has also resembled Dante\u2019s Beatrice for having, \u201craised my [Alyosha\u2019s] soul from the depths.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Returned to the monastery having learned prudence and solertia<\/em> (the strength to adapt to life\u2019s unexpected ironies), Alyosha timidly enters the chamber where Zosima\u2019s corpse still lays and falls to his knees in prayer. The \u201cslow and calm rotation\u201d of his soul mirrors the rotational imagery of Dante\u2019s soul after Dante views God in \u201cParadiso\u201d and then begins the process of writing The Divine Comedy<\/em>. This allusion reveals Dostoevsky\u2019s affinity for Dante as well as the spiritual significance of Alyosha\u2019s vision of Zosima\u2019s resurrection in Cana. Then finally, in Contino\u2019s words, \u201cthe symphonic chapter reaches its final movement.\u201d The divine images of the starry August night and feminine earth, which Alyosha embraces and kisses in a display of newfound eros<\/em>, surround him as he has comes to embody incarnational realism, the God-man<\/em>, who actualizes not only the gifts of Zosima and Christ, but also their commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contino\u2019s lecture not only opened the minds of those attending, it also successfully refuted scholars such as W.J. Leatherbarrow who have claimed that Dostoevsky failed in Book Seven to adequately respond to Ivan\u2019s rebellion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joseph Puckett is majoring in History and English Literature at Miami.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Joseph Puckett Dr. Paul Contino, Professor of Great Books at Pepperdine University, joined Miami\u2019s academic community on Monday, October 4, for a lecture based on his new book, Dostoevsky\u2019s Incarnational Realism. Contino\u2019s lecture was the second in this year\u2019s … Continue reading <\/a>