SEELANGS: Gogol as Realist

[Valentino, Russell]

The best treatment of the dueling visions of Gogol (humanist, realist, enlightener vs. explorer of the dark recesses of the human psyche, etc.) is in Fanger's Creation of Nikolai Gogol. The Soviet (1950s) statue of the upright, book in hand figure proclaiming the truth of Tsarist oppression is in keeping with the realist line, so Trotsky's version of it from 1902 is not suprising.

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Kirsty McCluskey
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 2:04 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] SEELANGS: Gogol as Realist

Many thanks - I certainly did not expect Trotsky to be original (at least at
that stage in his career).  So it makes sense that he must have got it from
somewhere!  He references Belinskii extensively, of course.

Kirsty

On Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 4:59 PM, Andrey Shcherbenok <avs2120 at columbia.edu>wrote:

> If I am not mistaken, Gogol was proclaimed the father of the so-called
> "Natural School" by Belinsky; "Natural School", in its turn, was often
> understood as realism par excellence (their manifest was "Fisiologia
> Peterbugra", a collection of ethnographic essays of the city). Thus,
> Trotsky
> is not very original here. Later on, the main Soviet work of Gogol's
> realism
> is Gukovsky's "Realism Gogolia", written in the 1940s, if I am not
> mistaken.
>
> Best,
> Andrey
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Kirsty McCluskey
> Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 2:53 PM
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: [SEELANGS] SEELANGS: Gogol as Realist
>
> Hello all
>
> I am currently polishing up a commented translation of a very early article
> by Trotsky, published in 1902 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of
> Gogol's
> death.  Throughout the piece, Trotsky consistently refers to Gogol as a
> Realist; indeed, as the Father of the Realist School.  As one who knows
> Trotsky somewhat better than I know Gogol studies (although I know Gogol's
> output well), this strikes me as an odd descriptor.
>
> I wonder, can anyone tell me whether this is consistent with contemporary
> views on Gogol?  Did the great minds of 1902 indeed see Gogol not only as a
> Realist, but as *the* Realist?
>
> Best wishes
> Kirsty McCluskey
>
> --
> http://kirstyjane.wordpress.com
>
> Vulpes Libris
> A collective of bibliophiles writing about books
> http://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
>  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
>                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>



-- 
http://kirstyjane.wordpress.com

Vulpes Libris
A collective of bibliophiles writing about books
http://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------