The poetics and genre of marginalia in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s notebooks and workbooks

The marginalia of readers are an indispensable attribute of book culture. They reflect a critical attitude to the main text, not only to someone else’s, but often to their own. Analysis of marginalia is important for the study of the biography of historical figures and writers: their marginal notes, critical judgments, polemics, comments and additions reveal their identity as readers. Marginalia in a personal handwritten text have a special status. The main part of Dostoevsky’s creative process is a sheet, a page, sometimes a center spread. His manuscripts are mostly dominated by editorial and creative comments. They have different functions in the structure and composition of the text. In their interaction appears a new semantic unity. Field marks enrich the main text with new meanings and nuances. In the marginalia, there is a parallel development of the topic, a methatext is formed in relation to the main text. Modern publishing activities ignore marginalia. It is necessary to keep marginalia published in handwritten works of writers.