Literature of the Americas Literature of the Americas 2541-7894 2542-243X IWL RAS https://www.doi.org/10.22455/2541-7894-2018-4-184-194 Articles Salinger, Dostoyevsky, and the Orthodox Tradition 2018 Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The paper addresses the problem of Dostoyevsky’s influence on Salinger, as well as the American writer’s indebtedness to the Orthodox tradition. Salinger’s reference to Dostoyevsky and to the preaching of starets Zosima (The Brothers Karamazov) in the short story “For Esme – with Love and Squalor” (1950) testifies to his interest in the religious tradition of Russian monks. The latter was aptly expressed in “A Way of a Pilgrim”, an English translation of an anonymous Russain book “Otkrovennye rasskazy Strannika dukhovnomu svoemu otzu” (“Sincere Stories Told by a Traveller to His Spiritual Father”). This book plays a specific role in Salinger’s short stories “Franny” (1955), “Zooey” (1957), and “Franny and Zooey” (1961). The author makes Franny a zealous follower of the ideas expressed in the Russian book and endows her brother Zooey with a deep understanding of these ideas. Zooey’s final monologue sounds as a preaching of love and forgiveness, much in the spirit of starets Zosima. The fact that both Dostoevsky and Salinger drew inspiration from this book, one part of which was allegedly authored by Amvrosy Optinsky, the prototype of starets Zosima, supports the idea of Dostoyevsky’s influence on Salinger. 1. Basin, I.V. “Avtorstvo ‘Otkrovennykh rasskazov Strannika dukhovnomu svoemu ottsu’.” [“Authorship of the ‘Sincere Stories Told by a Traveller to His Spiritual Father’.”] Online at http://predanie.ru/bez-avtora/otkrovennye-rasskazy-strannika-duhovnomu-svoemu-otcu/slushat/ (In Russ.) 2. Dostoevskiy, F.M. “Brat'ya Karamazovy.” [“The Brothers Karamazov”] Ch. 1–3. In Dostoevskiy, F.M. Sobranie sochineny [Collected Works] in 10 vols. Vol. 9. Moscow: GIKHL Publ., 1958. (In Russ.) 3. Dostoevskiy, F.M. “Podrostok.” [“The Adolescent”] In Dostoevskiy F.M. Sobranie sochineny [Collected Works] in 10 vols. Vol. 8. Moscow: GIKHL Publ., 1958. (In Russ.) 4. Galinskaia, I.L. Filosofskie i esteticheskie osnovy poetiki J.D. Salingera. [Philosophical and Aesthetic Basis of J.D. Salinger’s Poetics] Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1975. (In Russ.) 5. Galinskaia, I.L. “Zagadka Salingera.” [“Salinger’s Enigma”] In Zagadki izvestnykh knig. [Enigmas of Famous Books] Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1986: 9–64. (In Russ.) 6. 7. Otkrovennye rasskazy Strannika dukhovnomu svoemu ottsu. [Sincere Stories Told by a Traveller to His Spiritual Father] 2nd ed. Moscow: Amrita-Rus' Publ., 2015. (In Russ) 8. Salinger, J.D. Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1982. 9. Salinger, J.D. Nine Stories. New York: A Bantam Book, 1968. 10. Shilds, D., Salerno, Sh. Salinger. Moscow: Eksmo Publ., 2015. (In Russ.) 11. Slavenski, K. Salinger. Idya cherez rozh'. [Salinger. Going Through the Rye] Moscow: Kolibri Publ., 2012. (In Russ.) 12. Tsimbal, I. “‘Malen'kiy teatr v golove chitatelya’. Lyubil li Salinger teatr?” [“’Little Theater in the Reader’s Head’. Did Salinger Like Theater?”] Zvezda [The Star] 1 (2017): 204–213. (In Russ.) 13. Zverev, A.M. “Toska po nepoddel'nosti.” [“Longing for Sincerity.”] In Salinger, J.D. Sobranie sochineny: [Collected Works] in 2 vols. Vol. 2. Khar'kov: Folio Publ., 1997: 455–471. (In Russ.)