“Romantic” Poprishchin: History of the Concept of N.V. Gogol Story “Diary of a Madman”. Part 1

The paper deals with the idea of N.V. Gogol`s “St. Petersburg” story “Notes of a Madman”. Numerous reminiscences of images from world literature, journalism and fiction of that period are examined in detail. Long-term studiing on the poetics of Gogol’s story are summarized. The connection between “Notes of a Madman” and the poem “Dead Souls” and “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy” is established. Gogol’s polemic with European romanticism in is explored circumstantially. The article is a continuation, based on new material, of a research work begun in 2022 – “German romantic V.G. Wackenroder and the 20th century: artistic foresight N.V. Gogol” (published in the collection of the IWL RAS “Literary Process in Russia in the 18th–19th centuries. Secular and Spiritual literature”). An attempt has been made to present a holistic concept of the work and a wide range of fruitful research thoughts in its interpretation. The work consists of the fifteen sections: 1. Problems of interpretation of the story; 2. Background and history of the creation of “Notes of a Madman”; 3. “Soulful City” “Notes...”; 4. Idleness, bribery, threat of “scolding”; 5. Diktat of fashion, red tape; 6. Neglect of spiritual growth; 7. Vanity and the possibility of repentance; 8. From “Notes of a Madman” to “Dead Souls” and “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy”; 9. Pseudoculture; 10. “Donquixoticism”; 11. Cervantes and Ariosto; 12. The circle of romanticism: poetry, politics, philosophy, mysticism; 13. “Notes of a Madman” and romantic madness; 14. Poprishchin and music; 15. “Popular theology”. This publication presents the final four sections. The previous eleven were published in issue 3(65) of the magazine for 2024.

The relevance of the problem of the article is connected not only with the interest of modern literary studies in its historical-literary, socio-literary, imagological aspects. It is also actualized by the global “friend-or-foe” conflict that has escalated in the 21st century. Of particular interest in this regard is the Siberian socio-cultural space, which has been formed and continues to be formed as a transboundary area as a result of constant migrations and interactions of different cultures, and Siberian literature, which reflects this complex reality in texts of different genres, types, and genera, and simultaneously forming it. A special place in the verbal culture of the region belongs to spiritual literature, initially the most important factor in the formation of the cultural landscape of Siberia, which authoritative philological works prove. However, the consideration of the heritage of the Siberian Orthodox clergy, taking into account the reflection in it of the transboundary nature of the cultural landscape of Siberia and its influence on the formation of the latter, has never become an object of scientific consideration. Defining Siberian spiritual literature as the object of research, the author means works in line with the Christian worldview created by the Siberian Orthodox clergy: representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, most often transferred to Siberia from the central regions of Russia, as well as Orthodox missionaries traveling to Siberia and living there with the aim of spreading Christianity. The corpus of Siberian spiritual literature of the second half of the 19th century, which certainly expands our ideas about the composition and boundaries of Siberian literature of the pre-revolutionary period, reflects the construction of the Siberian socio-cultural space in a very peculiar way – within the framework of imaginary and social geography. In these texts, Siberia appears as a space personally perceived by the author, as a landscape generated by the perception of the text, and as an institutionally structured space in which literature is considered as one of the interacting socio-cultural fields, and therefore as an instrument for the formation of the cultural landscape of the territory (including its literary process), regional identity, and as an organizer of social interactions. According to the results of the analysis, the author argues that the presented model of reflection of the cultural landscape of Siberia in the spiritual Siberian literature allows expanding the concept “transboundary area”. The concept helps describe the most important characteristics of the landscape – multilayeredness and discreteness, as well as options for interactions within it, which are the most important factor in building this landscape, achieving its stability, preserving identity in conditions of constant transformations. It is also important to emphasize the material on which the proposed model was built – spiritual Siberian literature, which opens new pages in the history of the Siberian transboundary area.

В данной статье исследуется специфика представления образов жителей столицы и провинции в повестях писателя В. А. Соллогуба. Материалом для статьи послужили повести, написанные им в 1840-е годы. В исследовании представлена новая попытка взглянуть на творчество писателя, которого большинство литературоведов считает исключительно автором светских повестей, писавшем о высшем обществе и для высшего общества. Актуальность обращения к заявленной теме заключается в повышении интереса к творчеству писателя со стороны современных ученых, а также в отсутствии системной научной работы, в которой тема русской провинции отображалась бы наравне с темой столичного света. В ходе исследования выявляется, что провинциальная тема занимает в повестях Соллогуба значительное место. Более того, в заявленной смысловой оппозиции «столица-провинция» авторские симпатии находятся именно на стороне последней. Также прослеживается явное влияние на «провинциальные» повести Соллогуба произведений Н. В. Гоголя, в частности «Ревизора» и «Мертвых душ». Тем не менее, делая выводы, автор отмечает, что несмотря на влияние своего великого современника, Соллогуб сумел творчески переработать гоголевские сюжеты и создать собственный, самобытный художественно полноценный мир русской провинции. Не с карикатурными персонажами-типами, над которыми принято смеяться, а с живыми людьми, чьим судьбам надо сострадать. Помимо этого, автор приходит к выводу, что Соллогуб, на заре своего творческого пути показывавший «просвещенной» публике настоящую провинцию, на закате своей писательской жизни писал уже о столичном свете для «добрых провинциалов» This article examines the specifics of the representation of images of residents of the capital and the province in the stories of the writer V. A. Sollogub. The material for the article was stories written by him in the 1840s. The study presents a new attempt to look at the work of a writer who is considered by most literary critics to be exclusively the author of secular novels, who wrote about high society and for high society. The relevance of the appeal to the stated topic is to increase the interest in the writer's work from modern scientists, as well as in the absence of systematic scientific work in which the theme of the Russian province would be displayed on a par with the theme of the capital's light. The research reveals that the provincial theme occupies a significant place in Sollogub's stories. Moreover, in the declared semantic opposition "capital-province" author's sympathies are on the side of the latter. There is also a clear influence on the" provincial" stories of Sollogub works of N. V. Gogol, in particular "The inspector" ("Revizor") and "Dead souls" ("Mertvye dushi"). Nevertheless, drawing conclusions, the author notes that despite the influence of his great contemporary, Sollogub was able to creatively rework Gogol's stories and create his own, original, artistically complete world of the Russian province. Not with caricature characters-types that are usually laughed at, but with real people whose fates need to be pitied. In addition, the author comes to the conclusion that Sollogub, at the dawn of his creative career, showed the "enlightened" public a real province, at the end of his writing life, wrote about the capital's light for "good provincials"

One of the “key” works of Gogol's heritage is analyzed ― the first prose work that appeared in print, the short novel (‘povest’) “Bisavryuk, or The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” (1830). Gogol’s literary debut in prose is a key work in the sense that it opens the door to understanding the writer’s subsequent work. Based on numerous facts, it is established that since his very first steps in literature, Gogol played the role of a conscious spiritual mentor and preacher. His first prose work (Gogol began as the author of the poems “Italy” and “Gantz Kuchelgarten”) is a sort of literary ekphrasis, which is centered around the theme of spiritual discipline. The short novel (‘povest’) is “theology in images,” and the clergyman, a representative of the common man’s milieu, a rural deacon (church reader, psalm reader), on whose behalf the story is narrated, becomes the author’s alter ego. For the first time, an analytical comparison of two editions of “Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” was undertaken: the original journal version on one side and the subsequent one included in the “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” collection (the first edition of the short novel (‘povest’) was called “Bisavryuk, or Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”; in the second, Gogol dropped the beginning of the title, leaving only the second part, “Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”). The comparison shows that the first edition is more frank in expressing the religious views of the author than the second one. In the second edition, Gogol tempered the excessive edification and categorical nature of the original version. It is emphasized that as early as in this short novel (‘povest’), Gogol separates himself from superstitions and “childish prejudices” inherent in popular consciousness and focuses his talent on exposing those phenomena that have survived in the public, folk life from the pagan era. As a faithful ethnographer, a deep connoisseur of folk psychology and folklore, in the first short novel (‘povest’), contrary to the widespread interpretations of his work in radical criticism, the writer already appears not only as an original writer of everyday life, but also an astute thinker and theologian, like his predecessor, St. Tikhon of Zadonsk. From the first “Little Russian” short novel (‘povest’) one can guess many features of the future creator of “Dead Souls”, “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends”, and “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy”.

Archpriest Alexander Schmemann, in a number of his articles, speaks of the crisis of modern theology. The most serious consequence of this crisis is the loss of theology's influence on various aspects of church life and even on theological education. For Father Alexander, this signifies a disconnection of contemporary church life from Church Tradition. The original theology, the theology of the patristic period, according to Father Alexander Schmemann, was something like a leaven in culture. It not only influenced the Church but also transformed all life and the entire culture around it. In this regard, he speaks of the need to return to the primary source of theology—the experience of the Church, the experience of the world in the new light of the Kingdom of Heaven. The author of this article introduces another, more general term for this experience: "the experience of religious conversion." This allows us to draw parallels between Father Alexander's proposals, his own life, and the situation in 19th-century Russian theology. Father Alexander simply narrows the scope of the appropriate experience of religious conversion and reserves for such an experience the only undisputed place—the Divine Liturgy. Moreover, he declares that such an experience, if approached correctly, must be constantly repeated. The search for a theological language suitable for describing this experience must be equally constant. In this sense, Father Alexander is dissatisfied with the categories of patristic thought, as irrelevant to modern man; with the language of modernity, as the language of untransformed, fallen thought; and with the language of science, as a language that ignores the experience of religious conversion. His sympathies lean toward the language of art, the language of creativity. Following Father Sergius Bulgakov, he believes that a word is a symbol that not only signifies but also expresses and reveals the essence of what it signifies. A word can be such only if it is transformed. Transformation, in turn, is possible through reference to the experience of the Kingdom of Heaven, the experience of religious conversion; such a word is a testimony to this experience. And theology is called to save words and, through them, to save all culture. Such a theology, according to Father Alexander Schmemann, will truly follow the Holy Fathers and continue their mission.

A number of readers have suggested that we'should consider lightening the tone of this journal by the inclusion of that inevitable by-product of all repressive regimes – the political ancedote. We quite agree that one does not have to be humourless when treating a serious subject and will therefore, beginning with this issue, print a few examples of this particular brand of humour in each number of index. We would appreciate it if our readers would cooperate by sending us suitable material for this new section. Before reading on, readers might also like to ponder the following passage from Andrei Sinyavsky's essay, ‘The Literary Process in Russia’, which appeared in the first issue of Kontinent last October:

BOOK REVIEWS 517 My second concern is whether Dulles needs to develop more explicitly the liturgical dimension of the tradition as a type of tacit knowing . To be sure, Dulles is open to seeing the divine liturgy as an important source for what he refers to as " traditioning " (cf. 33-34) . Furthermore, his personal commitment to the traditional liturgy's unique mode of communication can be quite passionate, as when he states: In countries such as the United States young people cannot even imagine what it must have been like to live in the Catholic Church of fifty years ago. They frequently worship in churches or auditoriums barren of shrines and statues. They are ignorant of the an· swers that their parents or grandparents memorized out of a catechism . They know practically no prayers by heart, and are perhaps unable to say the Angelus or the Rosary. They are so open to the world that they are almost drowning in secularity (101; cf. also 19). Nevertheless, personal conviction seems to give rise to little theoretical reflection about why this sort of symbolism is so central to the Catholic tradition. Liturgy's function in communicating the rule of faith of Christian communities receives no separate chapter and appears as a decidedly secondary source of theological reflection. Here he could perhaps have been illuminated by Jean-Luc Marion's philosophical meditations on the symbolism of the Eucharist as presence and gift. The Craft of Theology will serve as absorbing reading for graduate students who are just beginning to study theology. That is not to say that Dulles's book is only an autobiographical retrospect on the profession which he has ably practiced for more than half a century. Whether understood as a stimulant to ·thinking judiciously about the living tradition of the Catholic church or as a guide for contemporary ecclesial communities of different confessions seeking to recover the catholicity of the Christian tradition, Dulles's system will be a no less than invaluable resource to Christian theologians. The Catholic University of America .Washington, D.C. PETER J. CASARELLA "Un maitre en theologie: Le Pere Marie-Michel Labourdette, O.P." Revue Thomiste 92, No. 1 (January-March, 1992). Toulouse: Ecole de theologie, 1992. Pp. 428. 130F. This collection of twenty essays serves as an intriguing introduction to the life and thought of the Dominican professor and moral theologian P. Marie-Michel Labourdette, who worked for most of his religious life at the Dominican studium of St. Maximin of the Province 518 BOOK REVIEWS of Toulouse. Prefaced by two contributions of biographical interest, and completed by a comprehensive bibliography, the core selections crystalize around two poles of interest. First, they explore the character of Labourdette's thought and methodology, both as a churchman and a Thomist. Especially enlightening here are the essays by M. Larive, " Quaedam impressio divinae scientiae, la theologie selon le P. Labourdette " and 5.-Th. Bonino, "Le thomisme du P. Labourdette." Second, other essays succeed in capturing this Thomistic thinker in flight, as it were, as his incisive powers of analysis and synthesis reveal themselves in his treatment of various theological questions. I would especially recommend here A. D. Mongillo's "La fin derniere de la personne humaine," C. J. Pinto de Oliveira's "La prudence, concept cle de la morale du P. Labourdette," and T.-D. Humbrecht's "Le peche originel selon le P. Labourdette." These essays skillfully coalesce and complement each other, forming, as with the variously tinted panes of a stained-glass window, a multi-colored illumination of their subject. What emerges from this well-composed assemblage is a devoted homage to a theologian creatively faithful to his inherited traditions. This creative fidelity to the depositum fidei, and to a Thomistic legacy invigoratingly alive in his own work, forms the intellectual principle by which P. Labourdette sought to perceive and understand the many new insights and developments that cannot help hut teem before any alert, twentieth-century mind. P. Lahourdette addresses himself to theological issues using an approach both classical and flexible, deep, yet clear. This clarity is of such an order that it reveals to the contemporary reader aspects of traditional theological investigation that have been...

Holy Scripture and the Quest for Authority at the End of the Middle Ages

This article deals with the most significant anthologies of Russian contemporary poetry edited in Italy in the period 2000-2010. Reflections on curators’ approaches to the theme reveal Italian scholars’ different perspectives on the literary process in Russia in the second half of the 20th century, stimulating reflections on the fluidity and the meaning itself of the concept of ‘canon’ in the contemporary cultural situation. As a conscious choice, considerations on translators’ language are almost set aside, since they limit to a brief note in the end of the investigation.

The subject of the study is the influence of Professor S.P. Shevyrev on the work of A.A. Fet, on the awakening of his interest in the East, and the realization of Eastern themes in his poems from the first two collections (1840 and 1850). The article presents the assimilation of Eastern culture by Russian academic science in the first half of the 19th century; it reflects the initial stage of Fet's communication with Professor Shevyrev, who taught lectures on the history of Russian literature; it examines the roots of the influence of Shevyrev's four-volume work "History of Poetry" on the perception of Eastern literature (including ancient Hebrew and Sanskrit) by the young Fet. The role of Shevyrev in introducing the budding poet to the literary process of the first half of the 19th century is demonstrated. The influence of Shevyrev's ideas on Fet's understanding in his journalism of Russia's role as a bridge between the East and the West is mentioned. To recreate the atmosphere and environment of Fet during his studies at Moscow University, a biographical method of research was employed. A cultural-historical method allowed the topic of this research to be presented against the backdrop of the literary process in Russia in the mid-19th century. Intertextual analysis was applied to consider Shevyrev's work and selected early works by Fet. This work to some extent fills a poorly researched area of A.A. Fet's environment that influenced the genesis of Eastern motifs in his early creativity. Based on specific historical and biographical material, the influence of S.P. Shevyrev on the formation of Eastern elements in Fet's early works and his subsequent interest in the East, realized in poetry and journalism, is shown. The article concludes that the initial impulse of Fet's interest in the East was associated with his communication with S.P. Shevyrev, studying his lectures at Moscow University and his scientific works, as well as personal friendly communication with the professor, who played a significant role in the literary destiny of the poet.

The monograph is the result of many years of working of the author in the Department for the Study and Publication of the Work of M. Gorky at IWL RAS. Based on new archival materials and modern research, the author shows Gorky’s originality as an original Russian thinker, talented artist and outstanding person. The monograph debunks the ideological stamps of the Soviet period that firmly stuck to the writer: “true Marxist”, “the first proletarian writer”, “founder of socialist realism”, “loyal friend and like-minded of V. Lenin and I. Stalin”. Only in 21st century complex and contradictory figure of Gorky receives an objective assessment as a classic of world literature of the late 19th – first half of the 20th century, a key figure in the literary process in Russia and the USSR. The writer’s work is considered in the context of Silver Age literature and on the broad background of the world process. The conclusions of the monograph strongly indicate the creation of a new concept of life and creativity of M. Gorky, corresponding to scientific truth. The book can be used for the preparation of the second and third series of the complete works of M. Gorky, as a textbook in higher and secondary schools and as a manual for students of humanities.

This article provides an overview of the most expressive facts and forms of creative reception of German literature in Russia in the 19th century. Based on research in the field of the theory of cultural transfer, the author of the article proceeds from the conviction that the condition and result of the movement of ideas and images across the border of the original cultural-historical context is their morphosemantic transformation in a new evolutionary paradigm. None of the Russian writers was only an obedient performer of the suggestions of their “German genius”; an intense dialogue took place between them, bordering on a break, and therefore precisely creatively productive. In this case, special attention is paid to two factors: the functions of intermediary authorities (travelers, translators, magazines, salon groups, universities, literary areas)and the tightness of interdiscursive links between literature, philosophy and social thought — a characteristic feature of perceiving Russian culture. The article consists of several fragments, covering in aggregate the main episodes of the selected plot. The section “Zhukovsky and Russian Schillerism” gives a generalized picture of the work written by German poets from the first translation experiments “Monument to Schiller” (1974), emphasizing the civic pathos of Schiller’s work. The section “Romantic poetry of thought — under the sign of Schelling” reveals the nature of rethinking German classics in the poetry of “Wisdom lovers”, Lermontov and Tyutchev. The section “Goethe and Schiller in the сontext of Russian Hegelianism” reveal the role of the Russian-German dialogue in shaping the philosophical worldview of Belinsky and Herzen, Turgenev and Dostoevsky. The section “Russian Hoffmann and Russian Heine” is an attempt to answer the question of why they, along with Goethe and Schiller, became the most visible and influential participants in the literary process in Russia.

The paper deals with Gogol’s “Dead Souls” and Dostoyevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov”. The author investigates main ideas, motives, plot coincidences, which are core for the works. The word of the Holy Scripture clearly permeates the language of the works by Gogol and Dostoyevsky, forming the stylistic direction of the narrative with its inherent didacticism and emphasizing the credibility of the original Source. The aim of the Bible intertext is to sacralize the whole of the text. The writers’ techniques of retrospection enhance the reader’s attention and actualize pivotal biblical formulas.
 The researcher states that some episodes of “The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants” by Dostoyevsky cover the ideas of “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” by Gogol, and also extend the content components of the statements articulated by the heroes’ of the second volume of “Dead Souls”. The chapter of “The Brothers Karamazov” called “Conversations and Exhortations of Father Zosima” by its style, didactic pathos, plot, motive combinations and the names of the sub-chapters reminds “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends”. Gogol’s phrase “Love us black, anyone can love us white” repeatedly echoes in the replicas of the characters of “The Brothers Karamazov” and becomes universalized to the formula: “Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on earth. Love all God’s creation… If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things… And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love”.
 The image of Troyka (Carriage-and-Three) makes the image of Russia in the studied works by Gogol and Dostoevsky more profound, accumulating the core idea of the writers – the revival of society.
 ‘Gesture situations’ allow the writers to describe a psychological image of the characters in detail and to relate their spiritual movement with a millenary dimension of existence.

The article discusses two historical events taken from texts from the Holy Scripture – the Old and the New Testaments, and a spiritual view on human soul, as found in the Holy tradition of the Orthodox church: they support the thesis that, according to the method of allegorical interpretation, the three evidences point to three inner stages through which human soul passes in its transition to a holistic spiritual development: from the act of the Holy Baptism to the entry into the Kingdom of God.

The purpose of the article. To consider the history of futurism who was shaped greatly by David Burliuk, an artist, poet and talented organizer of literary and artistic process in Russia and Ukraine within the 1910–1920s, basing on the set of research works done at the turn of the 21st century. Methodology of the study provides for the application of such main principles as personalization as a structural element of biographical method and dialogue, which allow to deepen and broaden objective knowledge as well as author's submission of futurism personalized core. The scientific novelty of the study lies in applying culturological approach tools to the analysis of D. Burliuk's artistic and theoretical legacy which is considered as a single phenomenon. Conclusions: 1. It is shown that D. Burliuk's creative work as well as his memoirs and the ones of his contemporaries reveal a new opportunity to evaluate objectively the contribution made by this outstanding personality to cultural formation processes in the first quarter of the 20th century. 2. The stud- ies concerning the period of the 1910–1920s are systematized and analyzed; the ideas to be of innovative nature are identified, they concern, on the one hand, the logics of European futurism development (mainly Italian one), but on the other hand, futurism Ukrainian and Russian models identity.