Peterburgskie povesti de Gogol. Errar en el laberinto y buscar el centro

Abstract

The author begins his article with a survey of the existing interpretations of some of Gogol's work. The ideas of V. Pozner, V. Rozanov, A. Belyj are considered to be dominant and the most relevant. The connecting element is their idea of Gogol as a painter of outer forms and dead souls inside the living bodies. The author of the article tries to disclose these postulates in the short story cycle Peterburgskie povesti. By means of the short story Portret the author points at Gogol's interna1 effort to find the way out of the maze, the journey out of the "mythological chaos" to "the centre" and to "the light". The moment when the short story changes into an essay on the meaning of the art, Gogol discovers the correlation between the material world and the world of ideas and finds the key to understanding of the human existence. And thus - through art that brings light, calm, and peace - human existence becomes an integral part of the cosmic order. Here, at least for a while Gogol loses his "destructive power" and ceases to be the "demon of Russian literature" as he is usually referred to, especially by the above mentioned thinkers.