Essay on the topic: real and fantastic in Gogol’s story “The Nose. Educational commentary - Tale by N.V. Gogol's "Nose". Commentary and extracurricular activities

The story "The Nose" is one of the most fun, original, fantastic and unexpected works of Nikolai Gogol. The author did not agree to publish this joke for a long time, but his friends persuaded him. The story was first published in the Sovremennik magazine in 1836, with a note by A.S. Pushkin. Since then, heated debates have not subsided around this work. The real and the fantastic in Gogol's story "The Nose" are combined in the most bizarre and unusual forms. Here the author reached the pinnacle of his satirical skill and painted a true picture of the morals of his time.

Brilliant grotesque

This is one of N.V.’s favorite literary devices. Gogol. But if in early works it was used to create an atmosphere of mystery and mystery in the narrative, then in a later period it turned into a way of satirically reflecting the surrounding reality. The story "The Nose" is a clear confirmation of this. The inexplicable and strange disappearance of the nose from Major Kovalev’s face and his incredible independent existence separately from his owner suggest the unnaturalness of the order in which a high status in society means much more than the person himself. In this state of affairs, any inanimate object can suddenly acquire significance and weight if it acquires the proper rank. This is the main problem of the story "The Nose".

Features of realistic grotesque

In the late work of N.V. Gogol is dominated by realistic grotesque. It is aimed at revealing the unnaturalness and absurdity of reality. Incredible things happen to the heroes of the work, but they help to reveal the typical features of the world around them, to reveal the dependence of people on generally accepted conventions and norms.

Gogol's contemporaries did not immediately appreciate the writer's satirical talent. Only having done a lot for a correct understanding of Nikolai Vasilyevich’s work, he once noticed that the “ugly grotesque” that he uses in his work contains “an abyss of poetry” and “an abyss of philosophy”, worthy of “Shakespeare’s brush” in its depth and authenticity.

“The Nose” begins with the fact that on March 25, an “extraordinarily strange incident” happened in St. Petersburg. Ivan Yakovlevich, a barber, discovers his nose in freshly baked bread in the morning. He throws him off the St. Isaac's Bridge into the river. The owner of the nose, the collegiate assessor, or major, Kovalev, waking up in the morning, does not find an important part of the body on his face. In search of the loss, he goes to the police. On the way he meets his own nose in the garb of a state councilor. Pursuing the fugitive, Kovalev follows him to the Kazan Cathedral. He tries to return his nose to its place, but he only prays with “the greatest zeal” and points out to the owner that there can be nothing in common between them: Kovalev serves in another department.

Distracted by an elegant lady, the major loses sight of the rebellious part of the body. After making several unsuccessful attempts to find the nose, the owner returns home. There they return what was lost to him. The police chief grabbed his nose while trying to escape using someone else's documents to Riga. Kovalev's joy does not last long. He cannot put the body part back in its original place. The summary of the story "The Nose" does not end there. How did the hero manage to get out of this situation? The doctor can't help the major. Meanwhile, curious rumors are creeping around the capital. Someone saw the nose on Nevsky Prospekt, someone saw it on Nevsky Prospect. As a result, he himself returned to his original place on April 7, which brought considerable joy to the owner.

Theme of the work

So what is the point of such an incredible plot? The main theme of Gogol's story "The Nose" is the character's loss of a piece of his self. This probably happens under the influence of evil spirits. The organizing role in the plot is given to the motive of persecution, although Gogol does not indicate the specific embodiment of supernatural power. The mystery captivates readers literally from the first sentence of the work, it is constantly reminded of it, it reaches its climax... but there is no solution even in the finale. Covered in the darkness of the unknown is not only the mysterious separation of the nose from the body, but also how he could exist independently, and even in the status of a high-ranking official. Thus, the real and the fantastic in Gogol’s story “The Nose” are intertwined in the most unimaginable way.

Real plan

It is embodied in the work in the form of rumors, which the author constantly mentions. This is gossip that the nose regularly promenades along Nevsky Prospect and other crowded places; that he seemed to be looking into the store and so on. Why did Gogol need this form of communication? Maintaining an atmosphere of mystery, he satirically ridicules the authors of stupid rumors and naive belief in incredible miracles.

Characteristics of the main character

Why did Major Kovalev deserve such attention from supernatural forces? The answer lies in the content of the story "The Nose". The fact is that the main character of the work is a desperate careerist, ready to do anything for a promotion. He managed to receive the rank of collegiate assessor without an exam, thanks to his service in the Caucasus. Kovalev’s cherished goal is to marry profitably and become a high-ranking official. In the meantime, in order to give himself more weight and significance, he everywhere calls himself not a collegiate assessor, but a major, knowing about the superiority of military ranks over civilian ones. “He could forgive everything that was said about himself, but he did not forgive in any way if it related to rank or title,” the author writes about his hero.

So the evil spirits laughed at Kovalev, not only taking away an important part of his body (you can’t make a career without it!), but also endowing the latter with the rank of general, that is, giving it more weight than the owner himself. That's right, there is nothing Real and fantastic in Gogol's story "The Nose" makes you think about the question "what is more important - the personality or its status?" And the answer is disappointing...

Hints from a brilliant author

Gogol's story contains many satirical subtleties and transparent hints at the realities of his contemporary time. For example, in the first half of the 19th century, glasses were considered an anomaly, giving the appearance of an officer or official some inferiority. In order to wear this accessory, special permission was required. If the heroes of the work strictly followed the instructions and corresponded to the form, then the Nose in the Uniform acquired for them the importance of a significant person. But as soon as the police chief “logged out” of the system, broke the strictness of his uniform and put on glasses, he immediately noticed that in front of him was just a nose - a part of the body, useless without its owner. This is how the real and the fantastic intertwine in Gogol’s story “The Nose”. No wonder the author’s contemporaries were engrossed in this extraordinary work.

Many writers noted that “The Nose” is a magnificent example of fantasy, Gogol’s parody of various prejudices and people’s naive belief in the power of supernatural forces. Fantastic elements in the works of Nikolai Vasilyevich are ways of satirically displaying the vices of society, as well as affirming the realistic principle in life.

The story “The Nose” is included in the third cycle of works by N.V. Gogol called “Petersburg Tales”. The capital of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg, appears before the reader. In the story, people's lives in their typical manifestations are revealed using the techniques of satire and grotesque. The latter technique is often based on a combination of real signs of life and their fantastic perception.

What real do we see in the story? Before us is St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt, along which people are scurrying about. And here is the main character, Major Kovalev, a dandy and fashionista, looking for a warm place in the capital. Nothing fancy! Complete prose of life!

Science fiction begins at the moment when the major on Nevsky Prospekt suddenly sees... his nose! The hero is stunned and amazed! And how could one not experience this if his own nose “was in uniform”, drove around in a cab, prayed in church... Kovalev “almost went crazy.” He chases his nose, tries to persuade it to return to its place... Where is it! The nose behaves independently and denies belonging to Major Kovalev. Fantastic! Pure fantasy! Who is responsible for the mysterious separation of Kovalev’s nose is not indicated in the story. There is no pursuer or culprit, but the persecution is felt all the time. The mystery captures the reader literally from the first sentence, it is constantly reminded of it, it reaches a climax, but there is no resolution to this mystery. It is not only the separation of the nose that is mysterious, but also how it existed independently. Do you think that at the end of the story we will find out how this entertaining story ended? No! The ending of the story retains a fantastic intrigue: “But here the incident is obscured by fog, and absolutely nothing is known what happened next.”

Thus, I can conclude that fantasy and reality go hand in hand in the story and serve one thing: to depict the monstrous power of veneration, to show the absurdity of human relationships in conditions of despotic-bureaucratic subordination, when the individual, as such, loses all meaning.

One of the most common and
leading to the biggest
disasters of temptations
there is a temptation to say:
“Everyone does it.”

L.N. Tolstoy

Lesson objectives:

Educational:

• learn to analyze text through subject details;
• consolidate students’ ideas about plot, composition, episode, grotesque.

Developmental:

• develop the ability to determine the boundaries of an episode;
• find causal connections between episodes;
• develop verbal communication skills.

Educational:

• develop a sense of responsibility for your actions.

Brief information about the publication of the story by N.V. Gogol “The Nose” (1836).

In 20-30 years. In the 19th century, the theme of the “nose” gained unexpected popularity. Impromptu and feuilletons, stories and vaudevilles, panegyrics and lyrical opuses were dedicated to the nose. Not only third-rate journalists, but even famous writers, such as Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, N.V. Gogol, wrote about the nose. The supposed lightness of “The Nose” gave it the reputation of Gogol’s most mysterious work.

Today’s lesson is an attempt to unravel what idea the writer encrypted in the story about Major Kovalev’s unfortunate nose.

1) Who is Kovalev?

2) For what purpose did Kovalev come to St. Petersburg?

3) What is Kovalev’s portrait?

4) Why did Kovalev walk along Nevsky Prospect every day and pay visits to his acquaintances?

5) Why, being a collegiate assessor, does he call himself a major?

6) Name the details that convince the reader of the reality of what is happening:

• name the time of action (March 25th - loss of the nose, April 7th - return of the nose);
• name the location (St. Petersburg is the capital of the Russian state. Kovalev lives on Sadovaya Street. The Barber lives on Voznesensky Prospekt. The meeting with the Nose took place in the Kazan Cathedral. Nevsky Prospekt of the capital is a kind of stage on which everyone plays their role);
• name the hero of the story (Kovalyov is a petty employee who dreams of a vice-governor’s position).

7) Why did Gogol need to convince everyone of the reality of what was happening? (Kovalyov himself does not see anything fantastic in what happened - no pain, no blood from the loss of his nose. And we, readers, also perceive fantasy as reality. Bringing the situation to the point of absurdity, Gogol expands the scope of the story that happened “in the northern capital of our vast state", to the history of all of Russia. And not only. The philosophical meaning of the story is addressed to descendants.

What does N.V. Gogol warn us about? What kind of mask do we wear in society? What are we hiding underneath? Does a person’s inner content correspond to his actions?

Group I of students works with questions on the card.

1. How do others react to the misfortune that happened to Kovalev?
2. Who did Kovalev turn to first about his missing nose? Why not see a doctor?
3. Why do you think so many people are drawn into this story?

II group of students:

1. Tell us about the advertisements in the newspaper.
2. What is their absurdity?
3. Why do you think Gogol is distracted from the main plot and sets out in detail the content of these announcements?

III group of students:

1. What is the composition of the story?
2. Why does the story begin with Chapter I, which tells the story of the barber Ivan Yakovlevich?
3. What inconsistencies have you found in the barber's behavior?
4. What does Ivan Yakovlevich have in common with Kovalev?
5. Why doesn’t Ivan Yakovlevich have a last name?

1. Did Kovalev's behavior change after the loss of his nose and after its return?
2. How do you understand the phraseology “Stay with your nose”?
3. What does the author do to destroy the mask of “decency” of the society he depicts?
4. What does Gogol warn us about?
5. Why does the author create a grotesque situation?
6. Why did Gogol introduce a fantastic plot into a completely realistic narrative?

Creating a grotesque situation, N.V. Gogol shows the ordinary in an unusual light, what everyone is accustomed to and does not notice - he tears off the mask from the ugly phenomena of reality.

Calls on the reader to look into his soul and answer, first of all, to himself, whether his behavior, his mental makeup corresponds to generally accepted norms of morality and morality.

Kovalev is not who he claims to be: not a real major, not suitable for the vice-governor’s position, and insincere with his acquaintances. He becomes honest, active, ready to cry only when trouble happens to him, when he loses his nose.

And when the nose returned, its old mask returned: the same habits, the same acquaintances. It took the intervention of evil spirits to tear off his mask and reveal his true face.

All heroes have a mask: the barber, the private bailiff, the doctor, the police chief - all of Russia... Beneath the external decency lies indifference, deceit, rudeness, bribery, servility, vanity, flattery, envy. To tear off the mask from the vices of society is N.V.’s task. Gogol.

What does the author do to destroy this convention, to tear off the mask of “decency” from society? He too...puts on the Mask. The mask of a naive and simple-minded narrator, surprised by what happened, even at the end of the story, reproaching himself for the fact that such an absurdity became the subject of his story. And this technique allows N.V. Gogol satirically outlines the vices of contemporary Russia.

What is the main idea encrypted in the story “The Nose”? What does Gogol warn us about? What literary device helps Gogol create an unusual situation? Grotesque is an artistic technique with which the author depicts people and events in a fantastically exaggerated, ugly-comic form.

Real and fantastic in N.V. Gogol’s story “The Nose”

hack on your nose, lead by your nose, hang your nose, wipe your nose. He who has the longest nose knows best. Don’t go to the governor with only one nose, go with the baggage. He can't see beyond his own nose. Don't poke your nose into someone else's millet. Pulled out the nose - the tail got stuck, pulled out the tail - the nose got stuck. The nose turns up, and the wind blows through your head. leave with your nose stay with your nose Don't raise your nose - you'll stumble. You can't lift your nose with your mind. The nose is as big as an elbow, and the mind is as big as a fingernail. The nose is out of order. keep your nose to the wind

On March 25th, an unusually strange incident happened in St. Petersburg. The barber Ivan Yakovlevich, living on Voznesensky Prospekt (his last name has been lost), woke up quite early and heard the smell of hot bread. He sat down in front of the table and began cutting bread. Having cut the bread into two halves, he looked into the middle and, to his surprise, saw something turning white. Ivan Yakovlevich carefully picked with a knife and pulled out - the nose!..

Is he asleep? Collegiate Assessor Kovalev seems to be awake quite early. Kovalev stretched and ordered himself to hand over the small mirror that was on the table. He wanted to look at the pimple that had popped up on his nose the night before. But, to my greatest amazement, I saw that instead of a nose, he had a completely smooth place! Frightened, Kovalev rubbed his eyes: there was definitely no nose! Collegiate assessor Kovalev jumped out of bed, shook himself: no nose!.. He ordered him to immediately get dressed and flew straight to the chief of police.

It is necessary to say something about Kovalev. Major Kovalev came to St. Petersburg out of necessity, namely to look for a place decent for his rank: if possible, then a vice-governor, or else an executor in some prominent department. Kovalev (Ukrainian koval - blacksmith; “smith of his own happiness”) Plato (Greek broad-shouldered, broad-shouldered, strong) Kuzma (Russian) from Kosma (Greek - decoration) Major Kovalev was not averse to getting married, but only in this case when the bride gets two hundred thousand in capital.

He could forgive everything that was said about himself, but he did not forgive in any way if it related to the rank or title “Kovalev was a Caucasian collegiate assessor. The collegiate assessors who receive this title with the help of academic certificates cannot in any way be compared with those collegiate assessors who were made in the Caucasus.” “Young titular councilors come here (to Georgia) for the rank of assessor, which is highly coveted.” A.S. Pushkin. “Journey to Arzrum” Titular adviser – 9th grade rank. Collegiate assessor - the rank of the 8th class, corresponded to a major, and gave the right to hereditary nobility. To give himself more nobility and weight, he never called himself a collegiate assessor, but always a major.

I harbored in my soul the distant hope of becoming a collegiate assessor... It would be good if it were really something worthwhile, otherwise he’s just a simple little elistrat! Collegiate registrars - officials of the 14th class - were scribes in the offices. Collegiate registrars - officials of the 14th class - were scribes in the offices. Khlestakov. You may think that I am only rewriting; no... They even wanted to make me a collegiate assessor, yes, I think why. Khlestakov. You may think that I am only rewriting; no... They even wanted to make me a collegiate assessor, yes, I think why.

After all, this is what you live for, to pick flowers of pleasure. Kovalev came closer, stuck out the cambric collar of his shirtfront, straightened his signets hanging on a gold chain and, smiling around, drew attention to the light lady who, like a spring flower, bent slightly and brought her to her forehead. a little white hand with translucent fingers. Khlestakov. You’ll approach some pretty daughter: “Madam, how am I...” (Rubs his hands and shuffles his foot.)

It is impossible for the nose to disappear; in no way incredible my God! My God! Why is this such misfortune? If I were without an arm or without a leg, all this would be better; If I were without ears, it would be bad, but everything would be more bearable; but without a nose a person is the devil knows what: a bird is not a bird, a citizen is not a citizen - just take it and throw him out the window! Disappeared for nothing, disappeared for nothing, for nothing!.. This is probably either a dream, or just a dream.

That is, not in the eyebrow, but straight in the eye! It is forbidden to employ crippled persons who have a painful condition, not due to wounds, but due to incurability, which does not allow them to assume any position; obvious lack of intelligence; bad behavior (Code, Article 47). “A decent man’s nose won’t be torn off; there are many majors in the world who hang around all sorts of obscene places.”

March 25 (April 7) - Feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos Annunciation (C.S. Annunciation; lat. Annuntiatio - announcement). And then the day came when the Lord commanded the Archangel Gabriel to announce the good news to Mary - it was she who was destined to become the Mother of the Savior of the world. God's Messenger appeared to the Virgin Mary and said: “Rejoice, O Blessed One! Blessed are you among women!” Icon of Andrei Rublev 1427-1430, Andronikov Monastery In festive form, be at the divine service in the presence of their imperial majesties on March 25, on the day of the Annunciation, at the All-Night Vigil on Palm Saturday, on Palm Sunday and other Orthodox holidays.

An inexplicable phenomenon occurred. A carriage stopped in front of the entrance; the doors opened; a gentleman jumped out, bent over, in a uniform embroidered with gold, with a large stand-up collar; he was wearing suede trousers; there is a sword at his side. From his plumed hat one could conclude that he was considered to be in the rank of state councilor. State Councilor - rank of 5th class. Plume - feathers for decorating a headdress. Imagine Kovalev’s horror and amazement when he learned that it was his own nose!

He didn’t know how to think about such a strange incident. It was obvious from everything that the general was going somewhere on a visit. He looked at both sides and shouted to the coachman: “Bring it on!” - sat down and left. Kovalev ran after the carriage.

The carriage stopped in front of the Kazan Cathedral

He entered the church. Kovalev felt in such an upset state that he was in no way able to pray, and his eyes searched for this gentleman in all corners. Finally I saw him standing to the side. Nose completely hid his face in a large standing collar and prayed with an expression of the greatest piety. After all, you are my own nose! Dear sir... - said Kovalev with a sense of dignity, - you must know your place. I'm a major. It is indecent for me to walk without a nose... if you look at it in accordance with the rules of duty and honor... After all, you are my own nose! - Dear Sir, you must know your place. I'm a major. It is indecent for me to walk without a nose... if you look at it in accordance with the rules of duty and honor... After all, you are my own nose! You are mistaken, dear sir! I am on my own. Moreover, there cannot be any close relations between us. Judging by the buttons on your uniform, you must serve in another department.

Major Kovalev used to walk along Nevsky Prospect every day. Soon they began to say that the nose of the collegiate assessor Kovalev was strolling along Nevsky Prospect at exactly three o'clock.

Then a rumor spread that it was not on Nevsky Prospect, but in the Tauride Garden that Major Kovalev’s nose was strolling, and as if he had been there for a long time: when Khozrev-Mirza was still living there. Khozrev-Mirza (1813-1875) - son of the Persian crown prince Abbas-Mirza.

Absolute nonsense is happening in the world. Meanwhile, rumors about this extraordinary incident spread throughout the capital. At that time, everyone’s minds were precisely tuned to the extraordinary: Recently, the public had just been occupied with experiments on the effects of magnetism, The story of the dancing chairs in Konyushennaya Street was still fresh. Recently the public has been occupied with experiments on the action of magnetism. Someone said that the nose was supposedly in Junker's store.

“Have you deigned to lose your nose?” “In a strange incident, he was intercepted almost on the road. He was already boarding a stagecoach and wanted to leave for Riga. And the passport was written in the name of one official a long time ago. And the strange thing is that I myself mistook him at first for a gentleman. But, fortunately, I had glasses with me, and I immediately saw that it was a nose.” Kovalev, grabbing a red note from the table, thrust it into the hands of the warden, who, shuffling, walked out the door, and at the same almost minute Kovalev already heard his voice on the street, where he admonished one stupid peasant who had arrived with his cart just to the boulevard.

Satirical image of the world and man Satire (lat. Satira) is a poetic derogatory denunciation of phenomena using various comic means: irony, sarcasm, hyperbole, grotesque, allegory. Irony (Greek – pretense) - depiction of a negative phenomenon in a positive form in order to ridicule and show the phenomenon in its true form; an allegory in which a word or statement takes on an opposite meaning in the context of speech. Sarcasm (Greek - “tearing meat”) is a caustic mockery, the highest degree of irony.

Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration aimed at enhancing expressiveness

Grotesque (French grotesque, Italian grottesco - whimsical, from grotta - grotto) The concept of "grotesque" owes its origin to archaeological excavations that were carried out in Rome in the 15-16 centuries on the site where the public baths of Emperor Titus were once located. In rooms covered with earth, the famous Italian artist Raphael and his students discovered a peculiar painting called “grotesque” (“grotto, dungeon”). "The Golden House" of Nero

Grotesque is a deviation from the norm, convention, exaggeration, intentional caricature. Grotesque is an unprecedented, special world, opposing not only everyday life, but also the real, actual one. The grotesque borders on the fantastic. It shows how absurdly the scary and the funny, the absurd and the authentic, the real and the fantastic collide.

Absurdity (lat. absurdus - “discordant, absurd”) - something illogical, absurd, contrary to common sense

Phantasmagoria (from the Greek phantasma - ghost and agoreuō - I say) - 1. whimsical, fantastic vision (book) 2. transl. Nonsense, an impossible thing (colloquial).

Phantasmagoria - a ghostly, fantastic image obtained through various optical devices (special)

Perfect nonsense is being done in the world

This is what happened in the northern capital of our vast state! Well, yes, and where are there no inconsistencies?.. And yet, as you think about it, in all this, really, there is something. No matter what you say, such incidents happen in the world - they are rare, but they do happen. There is a lot of implausibility in it:

“The Nose” is a fantastic work “The Nose” is a fantastic work in which a whole life, empty, aimlessly formal, restlessly moving, stands before you with this runaway nose - and, if you know it, this life - and you don’t know If you can’t do it after all the details that the great artist unfolds before you, then the mirage life evokes in you not only laughter, but also chilling horror. Apollo Grigoriev “The fantastic serves the triumph of truth just as much, and perhaps even better, than the real. One can discern a very specific artistic goal in the story - to make people feel the vulgarity that surrounds them. And here the fantastic only intensified the manifestation of reality, colored the vulgarity and increased the funny." I. Annensky

Who knows better who has the longer nose? Can't see beyond your nose? Nick down? Keep your nose to the wind? Don't poke your nose into other people's millet? Lead by the nose? Wipe your nose? Stay with your nose? Leave it with the nose? Collide nose to nose? Your nose turns up, but the wind is blowing in your head? Can't you raise your nose wisely? Nose as big as an elbow, but a mind as big as a fingernail? Pull your nose? Show your nose?

Arrogance is not according to man. The nose is out of order. Arrogance - pride, arrogance, arrogance, pout; swagger, vanity. Arrogance is stupid self-satisfaction, taking credit for dignity, rank, and external insignia. Arrogance inflates, humility exalts. Arrogance loves honor. Boyar arrogance is growing in the very heart. What honor would we have, if only we had arrogance! Arrogance is not lordship, stupid speech is not a proverb... There is no such thing as smart arrogance. You can't lift your nose wisely. Pride goes before a fall. There is a proverb about your arrogance.

He himself was not a holder of any order Code of Laws of the Russian Empire of 1835 To prevent a shortage of capable and worthy officials. . . in the Caucasus region. . . officials assigned there are granted exclusive rights and benefits: promotion to the next rank without queue (Code, Article 106); award to the rank of the eighth class, giving the right of hereditary nobility - collegiate assessor - without tests and certificates required from other civil officials (Code, Article 106); grant of land according to the charter on pensions (Code, Article 117) reduction of the period for receiving the Order of St. Vladimir, IV degree (Code, Article 117) Major Kovalev was seen stopping once in front of a shop in Gostiny Dvor and buying some kind of order ribbon, it is unknown for what reasons , because he himself was not a holder of any order.

teacher of Russian language and literature at the Second St. Petersburg Gymnasium E-mail: [email protected] Filatova Svetlana Alekseevna The work was carried out on the course “Information technologies in the work of a language teacher” at the Regional Center for Assessment of the Quality of Education and Information Technologies (RTsOKOiIT). Teachers: Ph.D., corresponding member. Academy of Informatization of Education, Honorary Worker of Education of the Russian Federation, Associate Professor, teacher of RTSKOiIT Gorlitskaya S. I. Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor of the Department of History of Pedagogy of St. Petersburg APPO Fedorov S. V. Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, methodologist of the highest category RTSKOIIT Eelmaa Yu. V. .

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is a completely unique writer, unlike other masters of words. There is a lot in his work that is striking, arousing admiration and surprise: the funny is intertwined with the tragic, the fantastic with the real. It has long been established that the basis of Gogol’s comic is carnival, that is, a situation where the heroes seem to put on masks, display unusual properties, change places and everything seems confused, mixed up. On this basis, a very unique Gogolian fantasy arises, rooted in the depths of folk culture.

Gogol entered Russian literature as the author of the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” The material of the stories is truly inexhaustible: these are oral stories, legends, stories on both modern and historical topics. “If only they listened and read,” says beekeeper Rudy Panko in the preface to the first part of the collection, “but I, perhaps, because I’m just too damn lazy to rummage, have enough for ten such books.”

The past in “Evenings...” appears in an aura of fabulousness and wonder. In him the writer saw a spontaneous play of good and evil forces, morally healthy people, not affected by the spirit of profit, pragmatism and mental laziness. Here Gogol depicts Little Russian folk, festive, fair life.

The holiday, with its atmosphere of freedom and fun, the beliefs and adventures associated with it, takes people out of the framework of their usual existence, making the impossible possible. Previously impossible marriages are concluded (“Sorochinskaya Fair”, “May Night”, “The Night Before Christmas”), all kinds of evil spirits become active: devils and witches tempt people, trying to prevent them.

The holiday in Gogol's stories is all kinds of transformations, disguises, hoaxes, and the revelation of secrets. Gogol's laughter in "Evenings..." is genuine fun, based on rich folk humor. He is able to express in words the comic contradictions and incongruities that are numerous both in the holiday atmosphere and in ordinary everyday life.

The originality of the artistic world of stories is associated, first of all, with the widespread use of folklore traditions: it was in folk tales, semi-pagan legends and traditions that Gogol found themes and plots for his works. He used the belief about a fern blooming on the night before Ivan Kupala; a legend about mysterious treasures, about selling the soul to the devil, about flights and transformations of witches and much, much more. In a number of his stories and tales there are mythological characters: sorcerers and witches, werewolves and mermaids and, of course, the devil, to whose tricks popular superstition is ready to attribute any evil deed.

“Evenings...” is a book of truly fantastic incidents. For Gogol, the fantastic is one of the most important aspects of the people's worldview. Reality and fantasy are intricately intertwined in people's ideas about the past and present, about good and evil. The writer considered the penchant for legendary-fantastic thinking to be an indicator of people’s spiritual health.

The fiction in “Evenings...” is ethnographically reliable. Heroes and narrators of incredible stories believe that the entire region of the unknown is inhabited by wickedness, and the “demonological” characters themselves are shown by Gogol in a reduced, everyday guise. They are also “Little Russians”, but they live on their own “territory”, from time to time fooling ordinary people, interfering in their life, celebrating and playing with them.

For example, the witches in “The Missing Letter” play the fool, inviting the narrator’s grandfather to play with them and, if lucky, return his hat. The devil in the story “The Night Before Christmas” looks like “a real provincial attorney in uniform.” He grabs the month and gets burned, blowing on his hand, like a man who accidentally grabbed a hot frying pan. Declaring his love to the “incomparable Solokha,” the devil “kissed her hand with such antics as an assessor for a priest.” Solokha herself is not only a witch, but also a villager, greedy and loving for fans.

Folk fiction is intertwined with reality, clarifying relationships between people, separating good and evil. As a rule, the heroes in Gogol's first collection defeat evil. The triumph of man over evil is a folklore motif. The writer filled it with new content: he affirmed the power and strength of the human spirit, capable of curbing the dark, evil forces that dominate nature and interfere in people's lives.

The second period of Gogol’s work opened with a kind of “prologue” - the “St. Petersburg” stories “Nevsky Prospekt”, “Notes of a Madman” and “Portrait”, which were included in the collection “Arabesques”. The author explained the title of this collection as follows: “Confusion, mixture, porridge.” Indeed, a variety of material is included here: in addition to novels and short stories, there are also articles and essays on various topics.

The first three of the “St. Petersburg” stories that appear in this collection seem to connect different periods of the writer’s work: “Arabesques” was published in 1835, and the last story, completing the cycle of “St. Petersburg” stories, “The Overcoat,” was written already in 1842.

All these stories, different in plot, theme, and characters, are united by the location of action - St. Petersburg. With him, the writer’s work includes the theme of a big city and human life in it. But for the writer, St. Petersburg is not just a geographical space. He created a vivid image-symbol of the city, both real and illusory, fantastic. In the destinies of the heroes, in the ordinary and incredible incidents of their lives, in the rumors, rumors and legends with which the very air of the city is saturated, Gogol finds a mirror reflection of the St. Petersburg “phantasmagoria”. In St. Petersburg, reality and fantasy easily change places. The daily life and destinies of the city's inhabitants are on the verge of the believable and the miraculous. The incredible suddenly becomes so real that a person cannot stand it - he goes crazy, gets sick and even dies.

Gogol's Petersburg is a city of incredible incidents, ghostly and absurd life, fantastic events and ideals. Any metamorphosis is possible in it. The living turns into a thing, a puppet (such are the inhabitants of the aristocratic Nevsky Prospect). A thing, object or part of the body becomes a “person”, an important person, sometimes even with a high rank (for example, the nose that disappeared from the collegiate assessor Kovalev has the rank of state councilor). The city depersonalizes people, distorts their good qualities, highlights their bad qualities, changing their appearance beyond recognition.

The stories “The Nose” and “The Overcoat” depict two poles of St. Petersburg life: absurd phantasmagoria and everyday reality. These poles, however, are not as far from each other as they might seem at first glance. The plot of “The Nose” is based on the most fantastic of all city “stories”. Gogol's fantasy in this work is fundamentally different from the folk-poetic fantasy in “Evenings...”. There is no source of the fantastic here: the nose is part of St. Petersburg mythology, which arose without the intervention of otherworldly forces. This is a special mythology - bureaucratic, generated by the omnipotent invisible - the “electricity” of the rank.

The nose behaves as befits a “significant person” who has the rank of state councilor: he prays in the Kazan Cathedral, walks along Nevsky Prospect, visits the department, makes visits, and plans to leave for Riga using someone else’s passport. Where it came from is of no interest to anyone, including the author. One can even assume that he “fell from the moon,” because according to the madman Poprishchin from “Notes of a Madman,” “the moon is usually made in Hamburg,” and is inhabited by noses. Any, even the most delusional, assumption is not excluded. The main thing is different - the “two-facedness” of the nose. According to some signs, this is definitely the real nose of Major Kovalev. But the second “face” of the nose is social, which is higher in rank than its owner, because they see the rank, but not the person. Fantasy in The Nose is a mystery that is nowhere to be found and is everywhere. This is the strange unreality of St. Petersburg life, in which any delusional vision is indistinguishable from reality.

In “The Overcoat,” the “little man,” the “eternal titular adviser” Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin becomes part of St. Petersburg mythology, a ghost, a fantastic avenger who terrifies “significant persons.” It would seem that a completely ordinary, everyday story - about how a new overcoat was stolen - grows not only into a vividly social story about the relationship in the bureaucratic system of St. Petersburg life between a “little man” and a “significant person”, but also develops into a work of mystery, posing the question: what is a person, how and why does he live, what does he encounter in the world around him?

This question remains open, as does the fantastic ending of the story. Who is the ghost who finally found “his” general and disappeared forever after tearing off his greatcoat? This is a dead man avenging the insult of a living person; the sick conscience of a general who creates in his brain the image of a person offended by him who died as a result of this? Or maybe this is just an artistic device, a “bizarre paradox,” as Vladimir Nabokov believed, arguing that “the man who was mistaken for the overcoatless ghost of Akaki Akakievich is, after all, the man who stole his overcoat”?

Be that as it may, along with the mustachioed ghost, all the fantastic grotesqueries disappear into the darkness of the city, resolving themselves in laughter. But a very real and very serious question remains: how in this absurd world, the world of alogism, bizarre entanglements, fantastic stories that pretend to be very real situations of ordinary life, how in this world can a person defend his true identity, preserve a living soul? Gogol will seek the answer to this question for the rest of his life, using completely different artistic means.

But Gogol’s fiction forever became the property of not only Russian, but also world literature, and entered its golden fund. Contemporary art openly acknowledges Gogol as its mentor. The capacity and devastating power of laughter are paradoxically combined in his work with tragic shock. Gogol seemed to have discovered the common root of the tragic and the comic. The echo of Gogol in art can be heard in the novels of Bulgakov, and in the plays of Mayakovsky, and in the phantasmagoria of Kafka. Years will pass, but the mystery of Gogol’s laughter will remain for new generations of his readers and followers.