Dead souls criticism. “Dead Souls” in Russian criticism

“Dead Souls” was published in 1842 and, willy-nilly, found itself at the center of the ongoing epoch-making split in Russian thought of the 19th century into Slavophile and Westernizing directions. Slavophiles negatively assessed Peter's reforms and saw the salvation of Russia on the path of its Orthodox Christian revival. Westerners idealized Peter's reforms and advocated their deepening. And Belinsky, carried away by the French socialists, even insisted on revolutionary changes in the existing system. He renounced the idealistic views of the 1830s, his religious faith and switched to materialistic positions. In the art of speech, he increasingly valued socially accusatory motives, and was already skeptical about religious and moral problems. Both Slavophiles and Westerners wanted to see Gogol as their ally. And the controversy between them prevented an objective understanding of the content and form of “Dead Souls.”
After the publication of the first volume of the poem, Belinsky responded to it in the article “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” (Otechestvennye zapiski. – 1842. – No. 7). He saw in Gogol’s poem “a purely Russian, national creation, snatched from the hiding place of people’s life, as true as it is patriotic, mercilessly pulling back the veil from reality and breathing passionate, nervous, bloody love for the fertile grain of Russian life.” The Russian spirit of the poem “is felt in humor, and in irony, and in the sweeping power of feelings, and in the lyricism of digressions, and in the pathos of the entire poem, and in the characters of the characters, from Chichikov to Selifan and the “scoundrel Chubari” inclusive... Nowhere in In one word, the author does not intend to make the reader laugh: everything is serious, calm, true and deep... It is impossible to look at “Dead Souls” more erroneously and understand them more crudely than by seeing satire in them.”
Simultaneously with this article by Belinsky, a brochure by the Slavophile K. S. Aksakov “A few words about Gogol’s poem “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls”” was published in Moscow. K. S. Aksakov contrasted Gogol’s poem with the modern novel, which was published as a result of the collapse of the epic. “The ancient epic, transferred from Greece to the West, gradually became shallower; contemplation changed and turned into description.” “The title of the poem has become a reproachfully mocking name. More and more the incident, already small and shallower with every step, came to the fore, and finally focused all attention on itself, all interest was directed towards the incident, towards the anecdote, which became more cunning, more intricate, occupied by curiosity, which replaced aesthetic pleasure; This is how the epic descended to novels and, finally, to the French story. We have lost, we have forgotten the epic pleasure; our interest has become the interest of intrigue, of suspense: how will it end, how will this confusion be explained, what will come of it?”
And suddenly Gogol’s poem appears, in which we search with bewilderment and do not find “the thread of the novel’s plot,” we search and do not find “smarter intrigue.” “The poem is silent on all this; it presents you with a whole sphere of life, a whole world, where again, like in Homer, the waters roar and shine freely, the sun rises, all nature flaunts and man lives.” Of course, Homer’s Iliad cannot be repeated, and Gogol does not set such a goal for himself. He revives the “epic contemplation” lost in the modern story and novel. “It may seem strange to some that Gogol’s faces change without any particular reason: it’s boring for them; but the basis of the reproach lies again in the spoiling of the aesthetic sense. It is epic contemplation that allows this calm appearance of one person after another, without external connection, while one world embraces them, connecting them deeply and inextricably with inner unity.” What kind of world does Gogol’s poem embrace, what single image unites in it all the diversity of phenomena and characters? “In this poem Rus' is embraced widely,” the secret of Russian life is contained in it and wants to be expressed artistically.
These are the main thoughts of K. S. Aksakov’s brochure, which is too abstract from the text of the poem, but insightfully pointed out the fundamental differences between “Dead Souls” and the classic Western European novel. Unfortunately, this view remained undeveloped and did not take hold in the minds of readers and in the approach of researchers to the analysis of Gogol’s poem. Belinsky’s point of view triumphed, which he expressed not in the first, but in subsequent articles polemically directed against Aksakov’s pamphlet.
In the article “A few words about Gogol’s poem “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls”” (Otechestvennye zapiski. – 1842. – No. 8), polemicizing with K. S. Aksakov’s pamphlet, Belinsky says: “In the sense of the poem “Dead Souls” is diametrically opposite to the Iliad. In the Iliad, life is elevated to apotheosis; in “Dead Souls” it is decomposed and denied; the pathos of the Iliad is a blissful rapture stemming from the contemplation of a wondrously divine spectacle; The pathos of “Dead Souls” is humor, contemplating life “through laughter visible to the world and invisible, unknown tears.”
In the first article, Belinsky emphasized the life-affirming pathos of “Dead Souls”; now he focuses on denunciation and denial. This is further strengthened in the next article, where Belinsky responds to the objections of K. S. Aksakov in the ninth issue of “Moskvityanin” for 1842. Belinsky calls this article “An explanation for an explanation about Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”” (Otechestvennye zapiski. – 1842. – No. 11). Drawing attention to Gogol’s words in the first volume about the “countless wealth of the Russian spirit,” Belinsky says with irony: “Much, too much has been promised, so much that there is nowhere to get what to fulfill the promise, because it is not yet in the world... “Not knowing how, however, the content will be revealed in the last two parts, we still do not clearly understand why Gogol called his work “poem”, and for now we see in this name the same humor that is dissolved and permeated through this work... And therefore it is a great mistake to write a poem that may be possible in the future.”
It turns out that Belinsky now deeply doubts the positive, life-affirming beginning of Russian life, considers the aspirations of Gogol’s creative thought to be risky and sees the advantage of “Dead Souls” over the epic in the depth and power of exposing the dark sides of Russian reality. Following these two articles by Belinsky, dogmatically perceived as the last word of the great democratic and socialist critic who never made mistakes, several generations of Russian readers and literary critics saw in Gogol’s “Dead Souls” only a merciless satire on the “abomination” of feudal reality.
Gogol was upset by the one-sidedness of Belinsky and his friends in their assessment of the poem. In a letter to a friend from Rome, he complained: “Don’t you see that even now everyone takes my book for satire and personality, whereas there is not even a shadow of satire and personality in it, which can only be noticed after several readings.” . And he hastened to convince his contemporaries that he had been misunderstood, that the second volume he had conceived would put everything in its place and straighten the distortion that had arisen in the perception of his poem.

Criticism of N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” Prepared by 9th grade student of MKOU Secondary School No. 15 Kh. Dydymkin Razakova Milana Teacher: Vasilenko O.O. 2017-2018

Negative reviews from critics: Bulgarin, Senkovsky, Polevoy Bulgarin called much of Gogol’s work funny and amusing, admitted the presence of smart remarks, but stated that all these happy particulars are drowning in a strange mixture of nonsense, vulgarity and trifles. In general, “Dead Souls” seemed to him a work that was not entirely decent and frivolous. He compared Gogol with Paul de Kock. This is the same attitude towards Senkovsky’s “Dead Souls” - he does not deny the presence of light wit in the “poem”, but does not see serious artistic observation: “his style is dirty, his paintings are stinking,” says a picky critic, “he contains the truth of Russian life in the poem Have not found.

Negative reviews from critics: Bulgarin, Senkovsky, Polevoy Polevoy, an inveterate romantic, could not digest Gogol’s realism and recognized in “Dead Souls” a crude caricature that went beyond the limit of grace. He calls this work “an unkempt hotel” and “slander against Russia.” “How much dirt there is in this poem! – continues Polevoy. – And we have to agree that Gogol is a relative of Paul de Kock. He is also closely related to Dickens, but Dickens can be forgiven for his filth and ugliness for his bright features, but they cannot be found in Gogol.”

Positive reviews from critics: Shevyrev, K. Aksakov In addition to these few harsh reviews of “Dead Souls,” the majority were enthusiastic. The critics were amazed by the novelty of the phenomenon, amazed by the richness of the pictures, types and positions, but none of them dared to speak out on the merits and with sufficient completeness to determine the entire meaning of “Dead Souls” for Russian life, although each of them was in a hurry to say that this poem in the social sense, the phenomenon is very significant (Kotlyarevsky).

Positive reviews from critics: Shevyrev, K. Aksakov From serious criticism, it is necessary to point out Shevyrev’s review, which, however, says too much about the future Russian ideal heroes promised by Gogol. This critic pointed out, among other things, the triumph of realism in our art and the importance that “Dead Souls” played in this victory. Konstantin Aksakov was so delighted with Gogol’s work that he put Gogol next to Homer and Shakespeare.

Belinsky’s hesitation regarding “Dead Souls” This even caused a sharp rebuke from Belinsky in defense of the world’s humiliated geniuses. Belinsky himself did not devote an entire article to “Dead Souls,” but several times in different works he speaks sympathetically about them. “Dead Souls,” in his words, “is a purely Russian, national creation, snatched from the hiding place of people’s life, as true as it is patriotic, mercilessly pulling back the veil from reality and breathing passionate, nervous, bloody love for the fertile grain of Russian life. “Dead Souls,” in the words of this famous critic, is a creation that is immensely artistic in concept and execution, in the characters of the characters and the details of Russian life and, at the same time, deep in thought, social, public and historical.” Belinsky was also keenly affected by Gogol's lyricism, the romantic impulses of his soul, his passionate search for the living Russian soul.

Thank you for your attention.

The birth of such a unique and artistically powerful work as Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s famous poem “Dead Souls” created a real movement among Russian writers and critics. ().

A sign of the strength of this poem is that all writers, writers, poets and critics unanimously spoke about the uniqueness and importance of this work. It is important to note the opinion of the famous Russian critic Belinsky, as well as the opinion of his antagonist, the critic Shevyrev.

Belinsky's criticism: the depth of the social idea

According to Belinsky, “Dead Souls” stands above everything that was in Russian literature. The main reason for this is that this same work, which has become immortal, contains the depth of a social idea and the high artistic expressiveness of images and paintings.

Gogol managed to combine in one poem living, extremely important national motifs and highly artistic ideals, which helped him emphasize and, at the right time, highlight the ideas embedded in the poem by the writer.

Belinsky emphasizes that there is nothing comic or laughter-inducing in the poem, and it is obvious that the author had no desire to make the reader laugh; he presents the events he invented deeply and seriously, since he wants the subtext of his poem to be heard correctly, and for the truth to become truly open and obvious to people.

Belinsky is convinced that this poem cannot be considered from the perspective of satire, which is usual for Gogol’s work; the genre of “Dead Souls” itself and the concept of the work, which includes as many as three volumes, indicate that the writer wants the images and events of the poem to be treated with complete seriousness and attention.

Disadvantages of “Dead Souls” according to Belinsky

But despite his positive assessment of Dead Souls, Belinsky also highlights Gogol’s shortcomings. He emphasizes the weakness of Gogol's language and the somewhat pompous lyricism of a writer who wants to transform himself from a writer and artist into almost a national prophet.

But most likely, with his slightly exaggerated lyricism, Gogol wants to show his personal anxiety and emotional experiences regarding the main theme of the work.

Opinion of the critic Herzen

The critic Herzen considered “Dead Souls” an amazing book that shocked all of Russia with its straightforward accusations.

He highlights, first of all, the expediency of the poem and its realism, which resembles the cry of horror and shame that Gogol experiences for his Fatherland.

Opinion of critic Shevyrev

In assessing the significance and artistic value of “Dead Souls,” the critic Shevyrev, the eternal antagonist of Belinsky and the “natural school,” most of all highlights the duality of Gogol’s creativity and its internal contradiction, which is reflected in his works.

Shevyrev suggests that, first of all, in the poem it is worth paying attention to the sharp and obvious contrast of the external world and its content with the beautiful world of art.

According to the critic, only Gogol was able to so harmoniously translate such inconsistencies of life into art, and managed to do this with benefit for people and a full understanding of what exactly needs to be highlighted in this tireless struggle between reality and fiction, without which it is impossible to create a highly artistic work of that level and semantic content.

History of Russian literature of the 19th century. Part 1. 1800-1830s Lebedev Yuri Vladimirovich

“Dead souls” in Russian criticism.

After the publication of the first volume of the poem, Belinsky responded to it in the article “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” (Otechestvennye zapiski. – 1842. – No. 7). He saw in Gogol’s poem “a purely Russian, national creation, snatched from the hiding place of people’s life, as true as it is patriotic, mercilessly pulling back the veil from reality and breathing passionate, nervous, bloody love for the fertile grain of Russian life.” The Russian spirit of the poem “is felt in humor, and in irony, and in the sweeping power of feelings, and in the lyricism of digressions, and in the pathos of the entire poem, and in the characters of the characters, from Chichikov to Selifan and the “scoundrel Chubari” inclusive... Nowhere in In one word, the author does not intend to make the reader laugh: everything is serious, calm, true and deep... It is impossible to look at “Dead Souls” more erroneously and understand them more crudely than by seeing satire in them.”

Simultaneously with this article by Belinsky, a brochure by the Slavophile K. S. Aksakov “A few words about Gogol’s poem “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls”” was published in Moscow. K. S. Aksakov contrasted Gogol’s poem with the modern novel, which was published as a result of the collapse of the epic. “The ancient epic, transferred from Greece to the West, gradually became shallower; contemplation changed and turned into description.” “The title of the poem became a reproachful and mocking name. More and more the incident, already small and shallower with every step, came to the fore, and finally focused all attention on itself, all interest was directed towards the incident, towards the anecdote, which became more cunning, more intricate, occupied by curiosity, which replaced aesthetic pleasure; This is how the epic descended to novels and, finally, to the French story. We have lost, we have forgotten the epic pleasure; our interest has become the interest of intrigue, of suspense: how will this end, how will such and such confusion be explained, what will come of it?”

And suddenly Gogol’s poem appears, in which we search with bewilderment and do not find “the thread of the novel’s plot,” we search and do not find “smarter intrigue.” “The poem is silent on all this; it presents you with a whole sphere of life, a whole world, where again, like in Homer, the waters roar and shine freely, the sun rises, all nature flaunts and man lives.” Of course, Homer’s Iliad cannot be repeated, and Gogol does not set such a goal for himself. He revives the “epic contemplation” lost in the modern story and novel. “It may seem strange to some that Gogol’s faces change without any particular reason: it’s boring for them; but the basis of the reproach lies again in the spoiling of the aesthetic sense. It is epic contemplation that allows this calm appearance of one person after another, without external connection, while one world embraces them, connecting them deeply and inextricably with inner unity.” What kind of world does Gogol’s poem embrace, what single image unites in it all the diversity of phenomena and characters? “In this poem Rus' is embraced widely,” the secret of Russian life is contained in it and wants to be expressed artistically.

These are the main thoughts of K. S. Aksakov’s brochure, which is too abstract from the text of the poem, but insightfully pointed out the fundamental differences between “Dead Souls” and the classic Western European novel. Unfortunately, this view remained undeveloped and did not take hold in the minds of readers and in the approach of researchers to the analysis of Gogol’s poem. Belinsky’s point of view triumphed, which he expressed not in the first, but in subsequent articles polemically directed against Aksakov’s pamphlet.

In the article “A few words about Gogol’s poem “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls”” (Otechestvennye zapiski. – 1842. – No. 8), polemicizing with K. S. Aksakov’s pamphlet, Belinsky says: “In the sense of the poem “Dead Souls” is diametrically opposite to the Iliad. In the Iliad, life is elevated to apotheosis; in “Dead Souls” it is decomposed and denied; the pathos of the Iliad is a blissful rapture stemming from the contemplation of a wondrously divine spectacle; The pathos of “Dead Souls” is humor, contemplating life “through laughter visible to the world and invisible, unknown tears.”

In the first article, Belinsky emphasized the life-affirming pathos of “Dead Souls”; now he focuses on denunciation and denial. This is further strengthened in the next article, where Belinsky responds to the objections of K. S. Aksakov in the ninth issue of “Moskvityanin” for 1842. Belinsky calls this article “An explanation for an explanation about Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”” (Otechestvennye zapiski. – 1842. – No. 11). Drawing attention to Gogol’s words in the first volume about the “countless wealth of the Russian spirit,” Belinsky says with irony: “Much, too much has been promised, so much that there is nowhere to get what to fulfill the promise, because it is not yet in the world... “Not knowing how, however, the content will be revealed in the last two parts, we still do not clearly understand why Gogol called his work “poem”, and for now we see in this name the same humor that is dissolved and permeated through this work... And therefore it is a great mistake to write a poem that may be possible in the future.”

It turns out that Belinsky now deeply doubts the positive, life-affirming beginning of Russian life, considers the aspirations of Gogol’s creative thought to be risky and sees the advantage of “Dead Souls” over the epic in the depth and power of exposing the dark sides of Russian reality. Following these two articles by Belinsky, dogmatically perceived as the last word of the great democratic and socialist critic who never made mistakes, several generations of Russian readers and literary critics saw in Gogol’s “Dead Souls” only a merciless satire on the “abomination” of feudal reality.

Gogol was upset by the one-sidedness of Belinsky and his friends in their assessment of the poem. In a letter to a friend from Rome, he complained: “Don’t you see that even now everyone takes my book for satire and personality, whereas there is not even a shadow of satire and personality in it, which can only be noticed after several readings.” . And he hastened to convince his contemporaries that he had been misunderstood, that the second volume he had conceived would put everything in its place and straighten the distortion that had arisen in the perception of his poem.

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Chapter 6 “Dead Souls” 1The pinnacle of Gogol’s creative path was his poem “Dead Souls”, which shows with particular completeness the terrible world of feudal Russia, the dark kingdom of the enslavers of the people. The thought of writing “Dead” Souls”, the plot of the poem, how about it

1. N.V. Gogol’s work on the poem “Dead Souls”.

2. Evaluation of the poem by critics.

3. Genre “Dead Souls”.

4. The world of “dead souls” in the poem.

5. Assessment of reality in lyrical digressions, author’s reflections.

N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” was written in approximately 17 years, and its plot, like the plot of “The Inspector General,” was suggested by A.S. Pushkin. Working on “Dead Souls” was not at all easy for the writer: he repeatedly reworked each part he wrote. N.V. Gogol in a letter to A.F. Orlov wrote: “If only God helps to produce everything as my soul desires, then perhaps I will serve my land no less than the service that all noble and honest people serve it.” people in other fields. Much that we have forgotten, neglected, abandoned should be vividly presented in living, telling examples that can have a strong effect. Man in general and Russians in particular should be reminded of many essential and important things.” And here he turned out to be absolutely right - his work, and in particular the poem “Dead Souls,” had a profound impact on the readers of Gogol’s contemporaries, and do not leave readers of today indifferent.

When Dead Souls was published on May 21, 1842, it immediately caused fierce controversy. Gogol was accused of slandering Russia and that; that he showed “some special world of scoundrels that never existed and could not exist,” other critics, such as V. G. Belinsky, noted its outstanding significance not only for literary life, but also for public life. V. G. Belinsky wrote: “We see an equally important step forward on the part of Gogol’s talent in the fact that in “Dead Souls” he completely abandoned the Little Russian element and became a Russian national poet in the entire space of this word. With every word of his poem the reader can say:

This Russian spirit is felt in humor, and in irony, and in the expression of the author, and in the sweeping power of feelings, and in the lyricism of digressions, and in the pathos of the entire poem, and in the characters of the characters, from Chichikov to Selifan and the “dappled scoundrel” inclusive , - in Petrushka, who carried with him his special air, and in the watchman, who, in the lantern light, while asleep, executed an animal on his fingernail and fell asleep again...”

“...What a huge, what an original plot... All of Rus' will appear in it!” - Gogol wrote about the poem to Zhukovsky. The author himself defines the genre of his work as a “small epic,” since at its center is “a private and invisible person, but, however, more significant in many respects for the observer of the human soul...” Explaining the originality of the small epic, Gogol writes that, although many of them are written in prose; they can be “ranked among poetic creatures.” Nikolai Vasilyevich created a completely new type of novel, combining a satire on Russia by the Chichikovs, Nozdrevs, Plyushkins and a lyrical poem about Rus' - the homeland of a great people, and, calling “Dead Souls” a poem, the author set a goal - to emphasize the special role of the lyrical principle in it.

That is, Gogol, along with satirical negation, introduces a glorifying, creative element - the image of Russia. Associated with this image is the “high lyrical movement”, which in places in the poem replaces the comic narrative. A significant place in the poem “Dead Souls” is occupied by lyrical digressions and inserted episodes, which is characteristic of the poem as a literary genre. In lyrical digressions, Gogol touches on the most dramatic Russian social issues. The gloomy pictures of Russian life are contrasted with the author’s thoughts about the high purpose of man, about the fate of the Motherland and the people.

The world of “dead souls” in the poem is contrasted with the lyrical image of people’s Russia, about which the author writes with love and admiration. Behind the unsightly circle of landowner and bureaucratic Russia, Gogol felt the soul of the Russian people, which he expressed in the image of a quickly rushing forward troika, personifying the forces of Russia: “Aren’t you, Rus', like a brisk, unstoppable troika rushing?”

The main subject of Gogol’s attention in “Dead Souls” was the social disease of society, for the authenticity of the depiction of which the writer uses the techniques of social typification. In recreating the landowners' gallery, the author masterfully combines the general and the individual. Almost all the characters in Dead Souls are static and, with the exception of Plyushkin and Chichikov, do not develop, that is, they are captured by the author as a result. That is, Manilov, Korobochka, Sobakevich, etc. and there are “dead souls”.

Lyrical digressions enable the reader to understand the author’s attitude to the situation being described, to imagine what the writer is worried about, and also to introduce “invisible” heroes into the narrative - the Russian people. So, for example, in the famous lyrical digression about the “three-bird,” the author does not forget to mention the master who created the three: “Not a cunning, it seems, a road projectile, not grabbed by an iron screw, but hastily, alive, with one ax Yes, the efficient man from Yaroslavl equipped you with a chisel and assembled you.” Thus, we can say that, in contrast to swindlers, lazy people and tyrants, there are still efficient people on Russian soil - serfs, to whom Russia owes its prosperity.

In lyrical digressions, the author thinks about the fate of Russia: its past, present and future. In the first volume of the poem, Nikolai Vasilyevich revealed the theme of the past of his homeland. The second and third volumes he conceived were supposed to tell about the present and future of Russia. This idea can often be compared with the second and third parts of Dante’s Divine Comedy: “Purgatory” and “Paradise”. But it happened that these plans were not destined to be realized: the second volume turned out to be unsuccessful in concept, and the third was never written. Therefore, Gogol, thinking about the future of Russia, asked the question: “Rus, where are you going? Give an answer! Doesn't give an answer."