The Heroic Moment: Stefan Zweig’s Interpretation of Dostoevsky according to the “Reception Theory.”

Dostoyevsky is, without doubt, one of the most important thinkers and artists in the history of world literature. In his works the influence of German culture and tradition are clearly recognizable. Nevertheless, it may appear -at first glancethat his impression towards the Germans was that of hatred and resentment. However, a deeper insight into Dostoevsky’s works reveal spiritual and mental proximity and its affiliation with the German philosophers and thinkers. In this article an attempt is made to figure out Dostoevsky’s relation to the German tradition and his influences on the contemporary German speaking writers like Stefan Zweig. In order to enter into Dostoevsky’s thought-world, Zweig suggests to choose “empathic reading.” Zweig’s approach to Dostoevsky reflects the same method of empathic reading. Considering the “reception theory” of Wolfgang Iser and the theories of Constance School, we try to show the close relation between the reader and the literary text and also the interaction between the act of reading and understanding.