Although the concept of genre is constantly changing and becoming more complex, genre can be understood as a historically developing type literary work, which has certain characteristics. From these features, the main idea of the work becomes clear, and we roughly guess its content: from the definition of “novel” we expect a description of a long period of the heroes’ lives, from comedy - dynamic action and an unusual denouement; a lyric poem should immerse us in the depth of feelings and experiences. But when these features inherent different genres, mix with each other, creating a kind of unique combination - such a work initially leads the reader to bewilderment. Thus, one of the greatest, but at the same time mysterious, works of the XIX century - Gogol's poem " Dead Souls".
The genre definition of “poem”, which then clearly meant a lyric epic work written in poetic form and the romantic primarily, was accepted by Gogol’s contemporaries in different ways. Some found it mocking. Reactionary criticism simply mocked the author's definition of the genre of the work. But opinions differed, and others saw hidden irony in this definition.
Why did Gogol choose this particular genre to embody his ideas? Is the poem really so capacious as to give scope to all of Gogol’s thoughts and spiritual experiences? After all, “Dead Souls” embodied both irony and artistic sermon. Of course, this is where Gogol’s skill lies. He managed to mix the features inherent in different genres and harmoniously combine them under one genre definition of “poem”.
What new did Gogol introduce? Which features of the poem, whose roots go back to antiquity, did he leave behind to reveal his creative concept? First of all, we are reminded of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. On this basis, a controversy developed between Belinsky and Aksakov, who believed that “Dead Souls” was written exactly on the model of the “Iliad” and “Odyssey”. “In Gogol’s poem that ancient Homeric epic appears to us, in it his important character, its dignity and broad-encompassing size,” wrote Aksakov.
Indeed, the similarities with Homer’s poem are obvious; they play a big role in defining the genre and revealing the author’s intention. Already from the title, the analogy with the wanderings of Odysseus is obvious. To the furious protests of censorship against this, several strange name- “Dead Souls” - Gogol answered, adding another one to the main title - “The Adventures of Chichikov.” But the adventures, travels, wanderings of Odysseus were described by the great Homer.
One of the most striking analogies with Homer’s poem is the appearance of Chichikov at Korobochka. If Chichikov is Odysseus, wandering around the world, then Korobochka appears before us, albeit in such unusual form, the nymph Calypso or the sorceress Circe: “Oh, sir-father, like a hog, your whole back and side are covered in mud. Where did you get so greasy?” With these words Korobochka greets Chichikov, and so, only after turning them into real pigs, does he meet the companions of Odysseus Circe. After staying with Korobochka for about a day, Chichikov himself turns into a hog, devouring pies and other dishes. It should be noted that Korobochka (by the way, the only woman among the landowners) lived in her remote estate, reminiscent of the abandoned island of Calypso, and kept Chichikov with her longer than all the landowners. Korobochka reveals the secret of Chichikov's box. Some researchers believe that this is Chichikov's wife. This clearly shows mysticism and mystery. Gogol's work, it begins to somewhat resemble lyric poem with an exciting mystical plot. The title “Dead Souls” and the skulls drawn by Gogol himself on the title page only confirm this idea.
Another reminder of Homer’s poem can be the image of Sobakevich. One has only to look at him, and we recognize him as the Cyclops Polyphemus - a powerful, formidable giant who lives in the same huge dens. Sobakevich’s house is not at all distinguished by its beauty and grace, but we are talking about such a building - a cyclopean structure, meaning its shape and complete absence any logic in construction. And Sobakevich himself is contradictory: his “half” - Feodulia Ivanovna, skinny as a pole, is the complete opposite of her husband.
But it is not only in the descriptions of landowners that we find similarities with Homer’s poem. The episode at customs is also interesting, not inferior in its cunning to the ingenuity of Odysseus. Transportation of lace on rams was clearly adopted from ancient hero, who saved his life and the lives of his comrades by tying people under sheep.
There are analogies in the composition - an exposition about Chichikov’s past affairs is given at the end of the work, just as Odysseus tells Alcinous about his disasters, already being almost close to his native Ithaca. This rearrangement of introductions, conclusions and the main part is also facilitated by one more interesting fact: both Odysseus and Chichikov travel as if against their own will - they are both gradually drawn in by the elements, which control the heroes as they want. The similarity of these elements is noteworthy: in one case it is formidable nature, in the other it is the vicious nature of man.
So, we see that the composition is directly related to the genre of the poem, and Homeric analogies are of great importance here. They play a large role in defining the genre and expand the poem to the dimensions of a “small kind of epic.” This is directly indicated by unusual compositional techniques, allowing you to cover a significant period of time, and inserted stories that complicate storyline works.
But it would be wrong to talk about the direct influence of the ancient epic on Gogol’s poem. Since ancient times, many genres have undergone a complex evolution. To think that an ancient epic is possible in our time is as absurd as to believe that humanity can become a child again. V. Belinsky wrote about this, arguing with K. Aksakov. But Gogol's poem, of course, is much more philosophical, and some critics find the influence of another great work, albeit from the Renaissance - Dante's Divine Comedy.
In the structure of the poem itself, some similarities are visible: firstly, the three-part principle of composition of the work is indicated, and the first volume " Dead souls", conceived as a three-volume set, is, relatively speaking, the Hell of Dante's comedy. Individual chapters represent circles of hell: 1st circle - Limbo - Manilov's estate, where sinless pagans are located - Manilov with his wife and their children. The voluptuaries Korobochka and Nozdryov inhabit the second circle of hell, followed by Sobakevich and Plyushkin, possessed by Plutos, the god of wealth and stinginess.
The city of Dit is a provincial city, and even the guard at the gate, whose mustache appears on his forehead and thus resembles the horns of the devil, already tells us about the similarity of these vicious cities with his appearance. At the time when Chichikov leaves the city, the coffin of the late prosecutor is carried into it - these are the devils dragging his soul to hell. Through this kingdom of shadow and darkness only one ray of light peeks through, the governor’s daughter Beatrice (or the heroine of the 2nd volume of “Dead Souls” Ulenka Betrishcheva).
Compositional and textual analogies with Dante's comedy indicate the comprehensive nature of Gogol's work. With one comparison of Russia to hell in the first volume, Gogol helps us understand that Russia must perk up and go from hell to purgatory, and then to heaven. Such somewhat utopian and grotesque ideas of Gogol, his all-destroying and truly Homeric comparisons could only be expressed in a poem as mystical and unusual in its plot as Dante’s.
The fact that Gogol failed to realize his creative plan, which was to create purgatory and paradise (the two subsequent volumes), is Gogol’s aesthetic tragedy. He was too aware of the fall of Russia, and in his poem the vulgar Russian reality found its philosophically complete reflection. It turned out to be a parody, an exposure of the vices of Russian reality.
The revival of Chichikov conceived by Gogol carries within it a shade of a certain quixoticism. Another possible prototype of Gogol’s poem opens before us - a travestyed chivalric romance (which is Cervantes’ “Don Quixote”). At the heart of the travesty chivalric romance, otherwise picaresque, also lies in the genre of adventures.
Chichikov travels around Russia, engaging in scams and dubious enterprises, but through the search for treasures, the search for spiritual perfection is visible - Gogol gradually leads Chichikov to the straight path, which would be the beginning long journey revival in the second and third volumes of Dead Souls. Travesting a genre, such as, for example, travestying a chivalric romance into a picaresque novel, sometimes leads to the fact that folklore elements. Their influence on the formation of the genre identity of “Dead Souls” is quite great. Moreover, the work of Gogol, who was a Ukrainophile, was directly influenced by Ukrainian motifs, especially since travesties turned out to be the most widespread in Ukraine (for example, Kotlyarevsky’s poem “The Aeneid”). V. Bakhtin finds in Gogol’s poem “forms of a cheerful carnival procession through the underworld.”
So, ordinary heroes appear before us folklore genres- heroes depicted by Gogol as if in an inverted form (in the form of anti-bogatyrs without souls). These are Gogol's landowners and officials, for example, Sobakevich, who, according to Nabokov, is perhaps Gogol's most poetic hero. The image of the people also plays a large role in the poem, but not the pathetic Selifan and Petrushka, who, in fact, are also internally dead, but the idealized people lyrical digressions. He not only points out such folklore genre like lyrical folk song, but seems to bring us to the deepest in artistic and ideological sense genre - artistic preaching.
Gogol himself thought of himself as a hero who, directly pointing out its shortcomings, would educate Russia and keep it from further decline. He thought that, by showing the “metaphysical nature of evil” (Berdyaev), he would revive the fallen “dead souls” and with his work, as a lever, would turn their development towards revival. This is indicated by one fact: Gogol wanted his poem to be published together with Ivanov’s painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People.” Gogol presented his work with the same ray that promotes insight.
This is it special purpose Gogol: the combination of features of different genres gives his work the comprehensive didactic character of a parable or teaching. The first part of the planned trilogy was written brilliantly; only Gogol was able to show the ugly Russian reality so clearly. But later the writer suffered an aesthetic and creative tragedy; the artistic sermon embodied only its first part - censure, but did not have an end - repentance and resurrection. A hint of repentance is contained in the genre definition itself. It is precisely the lyrical digressions with which it should be filled real poem, point to it, although they remain, perhaps, the only feature of a real lyric epic work. They give the whole work an inner sadness and highlight irony. Gogol himself said that the 1st volume of “Dead Souls” is just “a porch to a vast building”, the 2nd and 3rd volumes are purgatory and rebirth.
The writer thought of regenerating people through direct instruction, but he could not: he never saw the ideal “resurrected” people. But his literary endeavor was continued in Russian literature. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy were able to show the rebirth of man, his resurrection and the reality that Gogol so vividly depicted.
A poem is a story about historical events. So why did Gogol call “Dead Souls” that way?
Gogol wrote his work “Dead Souls” over many years. During his work, he called “Dead Souls” a novel, a story, a poem. But, in the end, I settled on the last option. Why?
Of course, this work has strong features of a novel: a strictly structured plot, revelation of the fates of various characters and their need to develop the main idea of the work. It is even possible to easily single out individual features namely realistic novel: this work reveals deeply public relations, different types of people are displayed.
But in “Dead Souls” the author’s origin is incredibly strong. The plot of the work is closely intertwined with the experiences and thoughts of the author. Therefore, “Dead Souls” is replete with lyrical digressions. Gogol consciously includes his “I” in the work. This is definitely a clear sign lyrical work.
Dead Souls also has signs of an epic. Gogol managed to show his era in its entirety. He conveyed the character of the entire people: from the common people to high society. It is very interesting that in Gogol’s poem the fates of individual heroes are connected with the fate of the entire nation, all of Russia. Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov travels throughout Rus', buying up the souls of dead peasants, and through his image the reader sees an amazing picture of the whole huge country. Chichikov meets various people, each of whom is typical of his time. All this is enriched by the author's thoughts and philosophical experiences. So the reader sees a grandiose picture of human morals and characters.
“Dead Souls” is a work imbued with incredible lyricism. The lyrical digressions are amazingly beautiful and colorful. Gogol's language is remarkably precise, precise and musical. It is in the lyrical digressions of the poem that Gogol’s longing for the ideal, and the sad charm of his memories of irrevocable youth, and the feeling of the greatness of nature are contained. All this beauty of the work again makes it possible to bring it closer to lyrical genre.
Gogol's work is very interesting, complex, rich, ingenious. It is difficult to completely attribute it to any of the genres. But, it seems to me that in “Dead Souls” the main role is played by the fact that the author revealed his soul here, laid bare his thoughts and experiences. Therefore this unique work can rather be attributed to the lyrical genre of the poem.
In May 1842, the first volume of Gogol's Dead Souls was published. The work was conceived by the author while he was working on The Inspector General. In Dead Souls, Gogol addresses the main theme of his work: the ruling classes of Russian society. The writer himself said: “My creation is huge and great, and its end will not come soon.” Indeed, “Dead Souls” is an outstanding phenomenon in the history of Russian and world satire.
"Dead Souls" - a satire on serfdom
“Dead Souls” - a work In this Gogol is a successor Pushkin's prose. He himself speaks about this on the pages of the poem in a lyrical digression about two types of writers (Chapter VII).
Here the peculiarity of Gogol's realism is revealed: the ability to expose and show close up all the flaws in human nature that are not always obvious. “Dead Souls” reflected the basic principles of realism:
- Historicism. The work is written about modern writer time - the turn of the 20-30s of the 19th century - then serfdom experienced a serious crisis.
- Typical character and circumstances. Landowners and officials are depicted satirically with a clearly expressed critical focus, the main social types. Special attention Gogol pays attention to detail.
- Satirical typification. It is achieved by the author’s characterization of characters, comic situations, reference to the heroes’ past, hyperbolization, and the use of proverbs in speech.
Meaning of the name: literal and metaphorical
Gogol planned to write a work in three volumes. He took as a basis " Divine Comedy» Dante Alighieri. Likewise, Dead Souls was supposed to consist of three parts. Even the title of the poem refers the reader to Christian principles.
Why "Dead Souls"? The name itself is an oxymoron, a juxtaposition of the incomparable. The soul is a substance that is inherent in the living, but not in the dead. Using this technique, Gogol gives hope that not all is lost, that the positive principle in the crippled souls of landowners and officials can be reborn. This is what the second volume should have been about.
The meaning of the title of the poem “Dead Souls” lies on several levels. On the very surface there is a literal meaning, because dead peasants were called dead souls in bureaucratic documents. Actually, this is the essence of Chichikov’s fraud: to buy dead serfs and take money as collateral. The main characters are shown in the circumstances of the sale of peasants. “Dead souls” are the landowners and officials themselves that Chichikov encounters, because there is nothing human or living left in them. They are ruled by the thirst for profit (officials), feeble-mindedness (Korobochka), cruelty (Nozdryov) and rudeness (Sobakevich).
The deep meaning of the name
All new aspects are revealed as you read the poem “Dead Souls”. The meaning of the title, hidden in the depths of the work, makes us think about the fact that any person, a simple layman, can eventually turn into Manilov or Nozdryov. It is enough for one small passion to settle in his heart. And he will not notice how vice will grow there. To this end, in Chapter XI, Gogol calls on the reader to look deep into his soul and check: “Is there some part of Chichikov in me too?”
Gogol laid down in the poem “Dead Souls” a multifaceted meaning of the title, which is revealed to the reader not immediately, but in the process of comprehending the work.
Genre originality
When analyzing “Dead Souls,” another question arises: “Why does Gogol position the work as a poem?” Really, genre originality creations are unique. In the process of working on the work, Gogol shared his creative discoveries with friends in letters, calling “Dead Souls” both a poem and a novel.
About the second volume of "Dead Souls"
In a state of deep creative crisis Over the course of ten years, Gogol wrote the second volume of Dead Souls. In correspondence, he often complains to friends that things are going very slowly and are not particularly satisfying to him.
Gogol turns to the harmonious, positive image landowner Kostanzhoglo: judicious, responsible, using scientific knowledge in the arrangement of the estate. Under its influence, Chichikov reconsiders his attitude to reality and changes for the better.
Seeing “life’s lies” in the poem, Gogol burned the second volume of “Dead Souls.”
The great classic, creating “Dead Souls,” set a goal to cover different images landowner Rus'. In terms of scope, the author wanted to present the entire breadth of characters of a huge country. Already at the very beginning, N.V. Gogol began to doubt the genre of his creation. The idea and what was put on the sheets did not fit the usual forms. It was neither a story, nor a novel, nor a novel.A poem is a piece of poetry that is large in size. The organization of the text is based on narrative plot. In the poem, epic and lyricism merge into a single whole. A.S. Pushkin, according to literary sources, suggested that the classics create a prose poem. A. Pushkin himself dreamed of such a creation, but did not find a theme. N.V. Gogol realized the idea, developed it and created the prose poem “Dead Souls”.
Signs of the poem
The work is similar to the usual perception of poems. What features make a text undeniably a poem:- Epic. Each character has a separate chapter. In it, the reader learns how the hero lived and the formation of his character. All descriptions take place against the backdrop of historical events that convey the reality of time.
- Generalization. All characters are different from each other. But they are typical representatives of landowner Russia, bright representatives of the people of that time. Each image summarizes a huge number of people. The Nozdrevs, Sobakeviches, Plyushkins and Manilovs are found in any province; they live in the capital and its surroundings.
- Lyrical digressions. The author saturates the text with reflections; they penetrate the text so harmoniously that sometimes it becomes unclear whose thoughts are presented by the author.
Similarities with other forms
The classic said that he created a special look literary text. He placed it between a novel and an epic. What brings Dead Souls closer to the novel genre:- Strict composition. Main character travels around the country, he has come up with a way to make money and is trying to implement it. Chichikov buys up the dead souls of peasants, men who have already passed into another world, but were still listed among the living according to the papers. Pavel Ivanovich meets with landowners, sellers of souls, different in views and characters, but identical in their morality, or rather the lack thereof.
- The complete life line of the heroes. The author wanted to give the reader the opportunity to see the character's life from birth to death. Three volumes of the poem were planned, but I only had enough energy for one.
The poem “Dead Souls” is unique in its genre. Its non-standard form, plot and speech are no longer found in Russian literature. The understatement made it possible to leave the reader the opportunity to reflect on the problems raised in the book.
The epic and lyrical parts differ in the goals that the author sets. The task of the epic part is to show “albeit from one side Rus'.”
The main means of depicting Russian life in the poem is detail. With its help, Gogol shows the typicality of the provincial city, which “was not inferior to others provincial cities", a landscape representing "known species". Such techniques indicate a realistic method of creating a work.
In addition, the detail also acts as a means of individualization. Sobakevich looks like a “medium-sized bear,” and his tailcoat is “completely bear-colored.”
In the epic part, the writer is especially attentive to the world of things (the “trait” natural school"): things are personified, but the reverse process also occurs - a person becomes a likeness of a thing.
In the lyrical part, the positive ideal of the author arises, which is revealed through lyrical digressions about Russia, linking together the themes of the road, the Russian people and the Russian word (“Eh, troika! bird-troika, who invented you? Aren’t you, Russia, so lively unstoppable threesome Are you rushing?"). The author is aware of his high mission (“And for a long time it is determined for me by the wonderful power to walk hand in hand with my strange heroes”).
Such oppositions (epic and lyrical) are reflected in the language of the poem. The language of lyrical digressions is characterized by a high style, the use of metaphors, metaphorical epithets (“piercing finger”), hyperbole, rhetorical questions (“And what Russian doesn’t like driving fast?”), exclamations, repetitions, gradations.
The language of the epic part is simple, colloquial. Vernaculars and proverbs are widely used. The main means of creating and characterizing characters is irony.
Based on the issues raised by Gogol, “Dead Souls” is called the “Russian Odyssey.” The novel's beginning, unrelated episodes that are united by the hero's adventures, cross-cutting theme roads, a wide social panorama opening in the poem, the presence of inserted elements (the short story “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” and the parables of Kif Mokievich and Mokiya Kifovich) - all this points to the epic side of the work.
Availability huge amount lyrical digressions depicting the positive ideal of the author, the presence of the author himself, expressing his attitude to what is happening, discussing philosophical topics, touching on the topics of writing, the poetic language of these digressions - this characterizes the work as a poem. Thus, before the reader is an original work of an unusual genre - the poem “Dead Souls”.
