Проблемы комментирования «Авторской исповеди» Н.В. Гоголя

Abstract

The article addresses the issues of commenting on N.V. Gogol’s prose of the 1840s. The focus is on “Author’s Confession.ˮ Unfinished and unpublished during the writer’s lifetime, the text was later entitled by S.P. Shevyryov. A number of common problems in how today’s readership comprehends the Russian classics are pointed out, more specifically, the changes in the cultural horizon and the renunciation of universalizing interpretations. The article highlights specific features of Gogol’s late prose, defined by a turning-point in his religious belief and creative work, namely aiming at a direct dialogue with the reader, strengthening the elements of preaching and confession, self-commenting on one’s own texts, emphasizing the symbolic and mysterious nature of the word. The author suggests assumptions on how these features can be conveyed using the commentary apparatus and offers a detailed analysis of two commentary problems, based on “Author’s Confession.ˮ Firstly, the article discusses how fiction elements are introduced into the autodocumentary text; secondly, it shows how the text correlates with the writer’s epistolary heritage. Conclusions demonstrate the specific genre nature of “Author’s Confession.ˮ The article outlines the approaches and techniques of transforming an epistolary text into a public one. These observations and conclusions can be used in preparing “Author’s Confessionˮ for publication as part of the complete works of N.V. Gogol.