Nikolay Gogol Николай Гоголь

The Ukrainian Genius Born near Poltava, Ukraine Father a petty nobleman School in Nezhin 1828 leaves for St Petersburg 1831 Cycle of Ukrainian stories Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka Professor of Medieval history in St Petersburg More Ukrainian stories: Mirgorod

The Russian theme 1836 The Government Inspector: supposedly based on an anecdote from Pushkin. Instant success Arabesques, a cycle of stories about St Petersburg “The Nose.” 1842 “The Overcoat.”

Classical works lived abroad, in France, then Italy, settled in Rome Dead Souls, Part 1 published, immediate success “The Overcoat.”

Last years 1847 Selected passages from Letters to Friends Visited Palestine before returning to Russia. Depression and physical decline.

How to understand Gogol? Lyrical, poetic attachment to Ukraine and its customs, attachment to Ukrainian friends Fear of death, of being buried alive Deep religiosity, mysticism In last years became more and more reactionary, Slavophile “Sexual labyrinth” – never married, dominated by mother

Gogol’s apocalyptic vision Dark vision of the world as a “fallen” one ruled by the Devil Characters are “petty demons,” masks filled with vices, not realistic psychological portraits People “vrut” – lie, tell fibs, fantasize Satire has an ultimate purpose – to find the solution to the world’s imperfection In last part of Dead Souls and in Selected passages tried to envisage a reformed world

His writings Fantastic, surreal world Looks forward to the writings of Franz Kafka Unerring portraits of Russian types: Nozdrev, Manilov, Korobochka in Dead Souls Gift of language: long riffs, extended metaphors “He writes like the Devil” – i.e., instinctively

The Grotesque Hyperbole non sequiturs illogical, non-linear progression of narrative. absurdities random switching from one image or event to another without apparent motivation characters’ conversations are at cross purposes, full of misunderstandings

“The Overcoat” Шинель 1842

Significance Dostoevsky declared: “We all emerged from under Gogol’s ‘Overcoat.’” A key text in the St Petersburg theme

A Denunciation Vissarion Belinsky, socialist critic, saw in the tale the denunciation of the tsarist system. Plight of the “little man” crushed by the system Interpretation becomes the standard one in Soviet interpretations: beginning of “critical realism” – the forerunner of Socialist Realism Is it realistic?

Who or what is the “hero”? St Petersburg? Akaky Akakievich? Petrovich? The Important person? The Overcoat?

St Petersburg Its weather, its lack of comfort. It symbolic role as the bureaucratic machine. The ranking of individuals according to their position in society. The topography of the city: bridges and squares. The gap between the pretensions and the squalid reality.

The “Humans” Vices, pleasures and foibles. Vanity. Alcohol. Gossip. Sex. Snuff.

Akaky Akakievich Who is he? What are his circumstances? What changes does he go through?

Petrovich the tailor His description. His origins His vices The significant detail

The Important Person His recent promotion His interpretation of his function His family circumstances His “punishment”

The Important Person His recent promotion. His interpretation of his function. His family circumstances. His “punishment.”

The Important Person His recent promotion. His interpretation of his function. His family circumstances. His “punishment.”

Another hero… The Overcoat as hero. Pushes out the old overcoat.

The Important Person His recent promotion. His interpretation of his function. His family circumstances. His “punishment.”

Another hero… The Overcoat as hero. Pushes out the old overcoat.

“How the Overcoat is made” The overcoat as a metaphor for the work itself. “metapoetic.” – describes itself. cf Nos / Son (Dream). The details of the making of the overcoat reflect the details of the making of the story: lovingly sown together out of bits and pieces. The old overcoat and the new as metaphors or masks.

The Important Person His recent promotion. His interpretation of his function. His family circumstances. His “punishment.”

Another hero… The Overcoat as hero. Pushes out the old overcoat.

“How the Overcoat is made” The overcoat as a metaphor for the work itself. “metapoetic.” – describes itself. cf Nos / Son (Dream). The details of the making of the overcoat reflect the details of the making of the story: lovingly sown together out of bits and pieces. The old overcoat and the new as metaphors or masks.

The narrator Ironical self-portrait of the author. Constant self-references. Authors “lies” (врёт): his fantasies.