Why do people in Russian novels have so many names?

Russian names have several variants depending on the nature of the relationship between two parties involved in a conversation, formality of the setting, etc. A lady officially named Ekaterina may be called Katya among her friends but Katenka by, say, colleagues.

Why does Dostoevsky use the same names?

Fyodor Dostoevsky assigns meaning to the names of characters within his novels in order to provide insight into the general personality structures of those characters. These names often hint to the reader about what should be expected of a particular character (Brody 137).

Do Russian people have 2 names?

Russian names are structured as [first name] [middle patronymic name] [SURNAME]. E.g. Igor Mihajlovich MEDVEDEV (male) or Natalia Borisovna PAVLOVA (female). Address people using their first name (casual) or first name and patronymic name (formal). The patronymic name is never used alone.

How do you say Ivan in Russian?

Ivan is the common Slavic Latin spelling, while Cyrillic spelling is two-fold: in Bulgarian, Russian, Macedonian, Serbian and Montenegrin it is Иван, while in Belarusian and Ukrainian it is Іван. The Old Church Slavonic (or Old Cyrillic) spelling is Їωан.

What does Raskolnikov mean in Russian?

Raskolnikov is the protagonist of the novel, and the story is told almost exclusively from his point of view. His name derives from the Russian word raskolnik, meaning “schismatic” or “divided,” which is appropriate since his most fundamental character trait is his alienation from human society.

What does the name svidrigailov mean?

Svidrigailov was a real person Petersburg of the 1860s as the minion of a provincial landowner. The name was in fact often employed in conversation to denote a type of shady dealer and intriguer.

Did Sonya join Raskolnikov in Siberia?

Summary: Chapter I Raskolnikov is in prison in Siberia. Five months after first confessing, Raskolnikov was sentenced to eight years of hard labor in Siberia. Sonya went with him, while Razumikhin, Dunya, and Pulcheria Alexandrovna stayed in St. Petersburg.

How many kids does marmeladov have?

three children
Her three children from a previous, abusive family are Polenka, Lida, and Kolya. Sonia is Marmeladov’s innocent, sweet daughter who Katrina forced into prostitution in order to provide money for the family.

Why do Russians always use both names?

Why do the Russian characters always refer to each other by first and “last” name? The Russian characters on the show(mainly the characters in the Rezidentura) are actually not referring to each other by first and last name, rather, they are referring to each other by a first name and patronymic.

What are some interesting facts about Russian literature?

Russian authors have significantly contributed to numerous literary genres. Russia has five Nobel Prize in literature laureates. As of 2011, Russia was the fourth largest book producer in the world in terms of published titles.

What are the most popular genres in Russian literature?

Detective stories and thrillers have proven a very successful genre of new Russian literature: in the 1990s serial detective novels by Alexandra Marinina, Polina Dashkova and Darya Dontsova were published in millions of copies.

Who were some of the most important Russian writers?

Other important figures of Russian realism were Ivan Goncharov, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin and Nikolai Leskov. In the second half of the century Anton Chekhov excelled in short stories and became a leading dramatist. The beginning of the 20th century ranks as the Silver Age of Russian poetry.

What was the first Russian book written in colloquial?

The first work in colloquial Russian, the autobiography of the archpriest Avvakum, emerged only in the mid-17th century. After taking the throne at the end of the 17th century, Peter the Great’s influence on the Russian culture would extend far into the 18th century.