BUREAUCRAT'S PORTRAIT IN «THE ST. PETERSBURG TALES» BY MYKOLA HOHOL

Abstract

Summary. The purpose of the research is to reveal the general social characteristics of the Russian Empire capital's bureaucracy in the first half of the XXth on the example of «The St. Petersburg Tales», written by Mykola Hohol. The methodology of the research consists of thescientific criticism methods, the historical chronological, historical typological, structural systemic methods of studying fiction as a historical source and the essential results presentation. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the actualization of the works by M. V. Hohol as the objective reality fact, a historical source in the study of the bureaucracy history. The conclusions . The reformation the bureaucratic apparatus of the Russian Empire in the first half of the XXth century determined the following: the changes in the quantitative, qualitative composition of the bureaucracy; the mental transformations; the professionalization and the activity peculiarities; the educational qualification increase; the reduction the family tiesrole, ie., patronage; the development of the service hierarchy. The formation of the class bureaucracy as a special stratum with a specific subculture is illustrated by M. Hohol characters: the titular advisor and the collegial assessor, depicted against the background of the general social history, the history of an everyday life, and a person's mode of life. Their professional activity is conditioned by the special qualification and was rewarded with titles, honours and the others. The multi-vector nature of the plot lines of «The St. Petersburg Tales» makes it possible to have a different perception of the bureaucrat image and the historically predetermined background of his existence.