- DOI:
- УДК / UDK: 821.161.1
- Issue:
- Abstract:
The article determines Gogol’s place in the confrontation of Slavophiles and Westernizers. An extensive historical and literary material is drawn to characterize the Slavophil and Western movements of Russian thought, and individual features of their similarities and differences are analyzed. The main attention is paid to Gogol’s attitude to both ideologies. The views of the leading representatives of Slavophilism, friends of the writer — Sergey Aksakov, his sons Konstantin and Ivan, I.V. Kireevsky, A.S. Khomyakov, M.P. Pogodin, S.P. Shevyrev and others — are considered. The “points of contact” of the views of the Slavophiles with those of their Westernist opponents V. Belinsky, A. Herzen and others are revealed. In the 19th century, which developed mainly under the sign of Decembrism, not only Westernizers, but also Slavophiles were imbued with radical transforming ideas. It is established that Gogol’s principal feature as a thinker and artist is that aacording to his views he was not “between” the opposing currents — “between the chairs” of Westernism and Slavophilism (as is commonly thought) — but “above” these and other movements , being the follower of more traditional and conservative, more “right” religious and political convictions, compared not only with Westernizers, but also with his fellow Slavophiles. Not sharing the views of Westernizers who were far from him in terms of the worldview, Gogol was also critical of certain representatives of the Slavophil party to which he himself belonged. Objecting to the oppositional moods of his friends, Gogol, following N.M. Karamzin and S.S. Uvarov, put at the center of the Slavophilism the interests of Russia as a unique state of the only Slavic people, who retained its independence and originality in history. This gives grounds to characterize Gogol in the context of social movements of his era as a staunch Slavophile “statesman”.
- Keywords: Gogol, biography, creativity, public ideology, Westernism, Slavophilism, interpretation, hermeneutics, a spiritual heritage.
- For citation:
Vinogradov Igor. The phenomenon of Westernism in Slavophilism: Gogol’s view. Literary fact, 2019, no. 2 (12), pp. 189–224.
DOI 10.22455/2541-8297-2019-12-189-224
- References:
Aksakov I.S. Pis'ma k rodnym. 1844–1849 [Letters to relatives. 1844–1849], ed. by T.F. Pirozhkova. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1988. 704 p. (In Russ.)
Aksakov K.S. Golos iz Moskvy (1848). Zapadnaia Evropa i narodnost'. 1849 [Voice from Moscow (1848). Western Europe and national ethos. 1849], ed. and notes by V.A. Koshelev. Literatura i istoriia. (Istoricheskii protsess v tvorcheskom soznanii russkih pisatelei XVIII–XX vekov). Vyp. 1 [Literature and history. (The historical process in the creative consciousness of Russian writers in the 18–20th centuries). Issue 1]. St. Petersburg, 1992, pp. 297–305. (In Russ.)
Gillel'son M. Neizvestnye publitsisticheskie vystupleniia P.A. Viazemskogo i I.V. Kireevskogo [Unknown publicistic articles by P.A Vyazemsky and I.V. Kireevsky]. Russkaia literatura, 1966, no. 4, pp. 120–134. (In Russ.)
Gillel'son M.I. P.A. Viazemskii. Zhizn' i tvorchestvo [P.A. Vyazemsky. Life and work]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1969. 393 p. (In Russ.)
Gogol' N.V. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii i pisem: V 17 t. (15 kn.) Т. V, VI, VII, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVII [Complete works and letters in 17 vols. (15 books) . Vol. 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17], comp., ed. and comment. by I.A. Vinogradov, V.A. Voropaev. Moscow, Kiev, Moscow Patriarchy Publ., 2009–2010. 680, 744, 816, 488, 704, 592, 608, 624, 936 p. (In Russ.)
Gogol' v neizdannoi perepiske sovremennikov (1833–1853) [Gogol in unpublished correspondence of his contemporaries (1833–1853)], publ. and comment. by L. Lansky. Literaturnoe nasledstvo. T. 58: Pushkin. Lermontov.Gogol' [Literary heritage. Vol. 58: Pushkin. Lermomtov. Gogol]. Moscow, USSR Academy of Sciences Publ., 1952, pp. 533–772. (In Russ.)
Khronika zhizni i tvorchestva A.S. Pushkina: V 3 t. 1826–1837. T. 3. Kn. 1: 1835 — sentiabr'1836 [Chronicle of A.S. Pushkin’s life and work: In 3 vols. 1826–1837. Vol. 3, book 1: 1835 — September 1836], сomp. by G.I. Doldobanov, I.S. Sidorov. Moscow, Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., 2016. 872 p. (In Russ.)
Koshelev V.A. Aleksei Stepanovich Khomiakov, zhizneopisanie v dokumentakh, v rassuzhdeniiakh i razyskaniiakh [Alexey Stepanovich Khomyakov, his biography based on documents, reasoning and researche]. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ., 2000. 512 p. (In Russ.)
Koshelev V.A. K.S. Aksakov i zapadnye revoliucii. Publicisticheskie stat'i 1848 g. [K.S. Aksakov and Western revolutions. Publicistic articles of 1848]. Literatura i istoriia (Istoricheskii process v tvorcheskom soznanii russkih pisatelei XVIII—XX vv.). Vyp. 1 [Literature and history. (The historical process in the creative consciousness of Russian writers in the 18–20th centuries). Iss. 1]. St. Petersburg, 1992, pp. 306–312. (In Russ.)
Simonova I.A. Fedor Chizhov. Moscow, Molodaia gvardiia Publ., 2002. 335 p. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Aleksandr Ivanov v pis'makh, dokumentakh, vospominaniiakh [Alexander Ivanov in letters, documents, memoirs]. Moscow, XXI vek — Soglasie Publ., 2001. 776 p. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Blazhenny mirotvortsy. Ot povesti o dvukh Ivanakh k zamyslu “Mertvykh dush” [Blessed are the peacemakers. From the tale of two Ivans to the concept of “Dead Souls”]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Series 9: Philology, 2017, no. 3, pp. 7–18. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Blazhenny mirotvortsy. Ot Povesti o dvukh Ivanakh k zamyslu “Mertvykh dush” (prodolzhenie) [Blessed are the peacemakers. From the Tale of two Ivans to the concept of “Dead Souls” (continuation)]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Series 9: Philology, 2017, no. 4, pp. 51–67. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Gogol' i zapadnoe slavianofil'stvo: K postanovke problemy [Gogol and the Western Slavophilia in critical perspective]. Studia Litterarum, 2017, no. 4, pp. 182–207. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Gogol' o poiezii i skholastike (K avtorskomu opredeleniiu zhanra “Mertvykh dush”) [Gogol on poetry and scholasticism (On the author's definition of the “Dead Souls” genre)]. Tvorchestvo N.V. Gogolia i evropeiskaia kul'tura. Piatnadtsatye Gogolevskie chteniia [N.V. Gogol’s works and European culture. Fifteenth Gogol proceedings], ed. by V.P. Vikulova. Moscow, Novosibirsk, Novosibirskii izdatel'skii dom Publ., 2016, pp. 226–233. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Gogol' v vospominaniiakh, dnevnikakh, perepiske sovremennikov. Polnyi sistematicheskii svod dokumental'nykh svidetel'stv: V 3 t. T. 2 [Gogol in contempo- raries' memoirs, diaries and correspondence. Full systematic set of documentary evidence. In 3 vols. Vol. 2]. Moscow, Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sci- ences Publ., 2013. 1032 p. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. “Istoriia gosudarstva Rossiiskogo” v tvorcheskom nasledii Gogolia [“The history of the Russian state” in Gogol’s creative heritage]. A.P. Sumarokov i N.M. Karamzin v literaturnom protsesse Rossii XVIII — pervoi treti XIX v. [A.P. Suma- rokov and N.M. Karamzin in the Russian literary process of the 18th — first third of the 19th century]. Moscow, Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., 2016, pp. 141–183.
Vinogradov I.A. Kommentarii [Comment]. Gogol' N.V. Taras Bul'ba: Avtografy, prizhiznennye izdaniia. Istoriko-literaturnyi i tekstologicheskii kommentarii [Taras Bulba: Manuscripts, lifetime editions. Historical, literary and textual commentary], ed. by I.A. Vinogradov. Moscow, Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., 2009, pp. 387–656. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Kosmopolit ili patriot? Kontseptsiia patriotizma v sporakh s Gogolem i o Gogole [Cosmopolitan or patriot? The concept of patriotism in disputes with Gogol and on Gogol]. Problemy istoricheskoi poietiki, Petrozavodsk, 2017, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 35–69. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Letopis' zhizni i tvorchestva N.V. Gogolia (1809–1852): V 7 t. T. 2: 1829–1836 [Chronicle of N.V. Gogol’s life and work (1809–1852). In 7 vols. Vol. 2: 1829–1836]. Moscow, Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., 2017. 672 p. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Letopis' zhizni i tvorchestva N.V. Gogolia (1809–1852): V 7 t. T. 5: 1845–1847 [Chronicle of N.V. Gogol’s life and work (1809–1852). In 7 vols. Vol. 5: 1845–1847]. Moscow, Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., 2018. 928 p. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Literaturnaia propoved' N.V. Gogolia: pro et contra [N.V. Gogol’s literary sermon: pro et contra]. Problemy istoricheskoi poietiki, 2018, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 49–124. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. “Na poprishche polemicheskom”: Gogol' — zhurnalist i publitsist [“In the field of polemic”: Gogol as a journalist and publicist]. Ocherki istorii russkoi publitsistiki [Essays on the history of Russian journalism]. Moscow, Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ. (in print). (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Neizvestnaia polemika N.V. Gogolia o nasledii M.Iu. Lermontova [N.V. Gogol’s unknown polemic on M.Yu. Lermontov’s heritage]. Svetskaia i dukhovnaia slovesnost' v Rossii XVIII–XIX vekov [Secular and spiritual literature in Russia of the 18–19th centuries], ed. by M.I. Scherbakova. Moscow: Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., 2018, pp. 5–18. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. “Ogorchennye liudi” v tvorchestve N.V. Gogolia [“Distressed people” in N.V. Gogol’s works]. Problemy istoricheskoi poietiki, 2018, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 29–114. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Otecheskoe popechenie: Imperator Nikolai I v sud'be Gogolia [Paternal care: Emperor Nicolas I in Gogol’s fate]. Studia Litterarum, 2016, vol. 1, no. 1–2, pp. 269–277. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Poema “Mertvye dushi”: problemy istolkovaniia [The epic poem “Dead Souls”: problems of interpretation]. Gogolevskii vestnik. Vyp. 1 [Gogol herald. Iss. 1]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2007, pp. 99–220. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Slavianofil'stvo russkoe, pol'skoe i ukrainskoe: N.V. Gogol', A. Mitskevich i O.M. Bodianskii [Russian, Polish and Ukrainian Slavophilism: N.V. Gogol,
A. Mickiewicz and O.M. Bodyansky]. Gogol' i slavianskii mir: Shestnadcatye Gogolevskie chteniia [Gogol and the Slavic world. Sixteenth Gogol proceedings], ed. by V.P. Vikulova. Moscow, Novosibirsk, Novosibirskii izdatel'skii dom Publ., 2017, pp. 69–77. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. “Spasen ia byl Gosudarem”. Neizvestnoe pis'mo N.V. Gogolia k Imperatoru Nikolaiu Pavlovichu i ego otnoshenie k monarkhii [“I was saved by the Sovereign”. N.V. Gogol’s unknown letter to the Emperor Nikolay Pavlovich and his attitude to the monarchy]. Literatura v shkole, 1998, no. 7, pp. 5–22. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov I.A. Spor K.S. Aksakova i V.G. Belinskogo: Kul'turno-istoricheskie aspekty polemiki o zhanre “Mertvyлh dush” [The dispute of K.S. Aksakov and V.G. Belinsky: Cultural and historical aspects of the polemic on the “Dead Souls” genre]. Gogoleznavchi studїi. Gogolevedcheskie studii. Nezhin, 2012, iss. 2 (19), pp. 17–75. (In Russ.)
