"White Nights", written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, one of the most important names of Russian literature, in the 19th century, became a bestseller again after nearly 180 years, thanks to social media. The BookTok trend on TikTok has made the work about love and loneliness a new favorite, especially among Generation Z.
Sales of "White Nights", one of Dostoyevsky's first works, in Brazil increased by 463 percent in the last year. Interest in the book is also rising rapidly in England and Spain.
“White Nights” tells the story of a dreamer man wandering alone on the streets of Saint Petersburg, who meets a young woman and falls in love with her in a short time.
The story follows the narrator, who lives inside his dreams for four nights and one morning, as he confronts real life for the first time. However, the love story that begins is as short-lived as it is intense.
According to Marcelo Nogueira, a Brazilian book content producer who has 13 thousand followers on TikTok, the reason why the work finds a response among young people after nearly two centuries is the feeling of loneliness.
Nogueira stated that Generation Z readers found something of themselves in Dostoyevsky's "lonely dreamer" character, and said that many young people today feel similarly.
Tens of thousands of comments and videos about “White Nights” were shared on BookTok, TikTok's book community.
29-year-old Paloma Lima, who produces content on Russian literature, explained that young TikTok users who read "White Nights" turned to the YouTube channel to learn more.
According to Lima, the fact that the book is "short and dense" also plays an important role in its success. The narrative of the story, which extends from friendship to love, also coincides with the romantic story patterns popular on TikTok.
Dostoyevsky's renewed popularity among the social media generation was greeted with both surprise and pride in Russia.
However, it is stated that the same interest is not seen among young Russian readers.
28-year-old Russian writer Ekaterina Kvitko pointed out that the work tells about a character looking for love and something to hold on to in loneliness, and said that this feeling may be finding a stronger response among Western young people now.
“White Nights” has also become a gateway to Dostoyevsky's more comprehensive works for some young readers.
Danilo Hora from Brazilian publishing house Editora 34 announced that sales of Dostoyevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment" increased by 53 percent in the first seven months of the year.
Hora described it as an "unexpected" development that young people turned to more difficult and comprehensive novels after discovering Dostoyevsky with a short work.
Short TikTok and YouTube videos have long been criticized for shortening attention span and weakening reading habits. However, the “White Nights” example shows that the same platforms can also bring a new readership to classical literature.
According to Nogueira, “being a reader” on TikTok has itself turned into an aesthetic.
This aesthetic is also effective in young people turning to physical books rather than digital books. Prints with eye-catching and colorful covers attract more attention in social media posts.
It was stated that the "White Nights" edition, which Nogueira used in his video, bearing the pop-art style drawing of a kissing couple, was sold out in many bookstores in Rio de Janeiro.
Russian literature researcher and translator Cecilia Rosas said that she welcomed the increase in interest in classical works on social media.
However, Rosas warned that book content on social media could blur the line between literary criticism and promotion.
According to Rosas, some content presented as literary criticism on the internet are actually "advertisements".
Despite this, the rise of "White Nights" shows that a nearly two-century-old story of loneliness and love can be rediscovered by a completely different generation in the age of algorithms.
