In this blog post, we explore how Nikolai Gogol’s masterpieces and sense of humor sparked the “Gogolian Era” and profoundly influenced Russian literature as a whole.
Nikolai Gogol was a figure who ushered in a new era of Russian literature through satire and humor. His works offered a sharp insight into human nature and society without losing their sense of humor, and as a result, they had a profound influence on later literature.
His creative activities began during his middle school years, but true literary success did not come until long after he graduated from high school. He began to attract attention with the publication of ‘The Drowned Maiden’ (1831–1832), which depicted the folk life of Old Ukraine, and subsequently solidified his reputation in literary circles with the short story collection ‘Mirgorod’. This led to his introduction into the circle of Zhukovsky and Alexander Pushkin, both of whom recognized his genius and welcomed his emergence. Thus, Russian literature entered a new era with Gogol, and critics often referred to this period as the “Gogolian era.”
Gogol’s novels, which draw on life in Little Russia (Ukraine), are filled with a unique sense of humor and wit. It would be difficult to fully explain this humor without quoting many of his works, but fundamentally, his humor is akin to the good-natured laughter of a young person who embraces life with vitality. He places characters such as wealthy farmers, country women, and village blacksmiths in comical situations, making readers laugh at their antics.
With his positive attitude toward happiness, he did not allow dark thoughts to dispel the joys of life. Consequently, the characters he portrays are not overly caricatured but are treated with realism and meticulous care. However, it was not until his later years that his comedic talent was fully recognized as “humor.”
In his late works, a distinct contrast emerges between the comedic setting and the sad reality of life. As Alexander Pushkin remarked, “Behind that laughter, one senses invisible tears”—a comment that perfectly summarizes Gogol’s works from this period. Among his works, “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich” is still considered one of the most humorous stories today.
Nikolai Vasil’evich Gogol was born in 1809 in Sorochintsy, Ukraine, as the eldest son of a landowner, and grew up in the village of Vasilievka, his father’s estate. His family lineage appears to have been somewhat frail. Of his 12 siblings (five brothers and six sisters), only Gogol and four of his sisters survived to adulthood. His father, Vasily, was a man of literary talent, and his mother, Maria, was a deeply devout woman.
After graduating from high school in Nezhin in 1828, Gogol moved to St. Petersburg and became a civil servant. In 1834, as he began to make a name for himself as a full-fledged writer, he was appointed to teach history at the University of St. Petersburg through the recommendation of Zhukovsky. However, his history lectures were reportedly, in a word, quite ridiculous. The irony of being both an outstanding writer and a ridiculous history professor consistently reflects his life and character. In this regard, he can be considered one of the most tragic figures in Russian history. He resigned from his position as an assistant professor in December 1835.
The period from 1834 to 1835 was a time of explosive creativity for Gogol. It is therefore natural that he was unable to devote himself fully to his university lectures. It was during this period that he wrote “The Nose.” Subsequently, he published the comedy ‘The Government Inspector’ (1836), a scathing critique of bureaucratic corruption, which caused a social uproar; as a result, he left Russia. After that, he spent about 12 years abroad, returning briefly to Russia only twice until 1848, and during that time, he completed the first part of ‘Dead Souls’ (1842).
Gogol was convinced that he was walking the path of truth illuminated by the light of God, and he regarded this as a path to purify his soul. After visiting the Holy Land of Jerusalem in January 1848 and returning home in April, he never left the country again and began writing the second part of ‘Dead Souls’. There are records indicating that in late January 1852, Father Matvey Konstantinovsky, who served as his spiritual guide, came to Moscow and met with him on several occasions.
According to one account, the priest told Gogol that his works were the work of the devil and that, as a writer, he would find no salvation in that state; he also urged him to sever ties with Alexander Pushkin, calling him a pagan sinner. Under this pressure and advice, Gogol burned the nearly completed second part of ‘Dead Souls’ and subsequently began fasting, refusing medical treatment. Seeing his extreme weakness, the doctor attempted to perform a bloodletting procedure by force, but his condition did not improve, and he passed away at around 8:00 a.m. on February 21, 1852, at the age of 42.
“The Nose” (original title: Нос) was written between 1833 and early 1835. Gogol submitted the manuscript to a magazine, but it was initially rejected on the grounds that it was vulgar and trite. It later gained recognition after being published in the magazine “The Contemporary,” edited by Alexander Pushkin. The plot of the story is a bizarre tale in which the nose of Eighth-Rank Official Kovalov mysteriously vanishes one day, reappearing on the street as that of a Fifth-Rank Official. After a series of strange events unfold surrounding the nose, it eventually returns to its rightful place.
This story has given rise to a variety of interpretations, ranging from depictions of grotesque nonsense to interpretations viewing the nose as a symbol of rank, and even interpretations involving Pruitt-style sexual complexes. However, this work does not necessarily have to be a symbol of rank or sexuality. Everyone possesses a nose, and when it is missing from the center of the face, a symbolic situation is created in which the character is placed in a “non-human state.” Kovalov, whose nose has disappeared, is a character who is exposed as a ridiculous and insignificant being, despite appearing normal on the surface.
The premise that the nose takes the form of a five-pointed star is not merely a device to reveal ambition; rather, it illustrates Gogol’s unique reversal of reality and unreality. Since Kovalov was originally a being without a nose, the very assumption that he is his “true self” when he has a nose may be a fiction. Laughter arises from his frantic search for the nose, the commotion he causes, and his deep contemplation of himself as a person with a nose.
The work features a succession of detailed and vivid episodes: the uncooked nose emerging from freshly baked bread; the conversation between the nose and Kovalov at Kazan Cathedral; advertisements for the nose; the incident where the returned nose fails to reattach; the correspondence with Mrs. Potchina; and the final scene where the barber Ivan Yakovlevich appears, grabs the nose, and shaves it.
These intricate descriptions offer a glimpse into Gogol’s masterful talent. While Kovalov may seem to be the true protagonist at first glance, it is actually the “nose” itself that serves as the story’s central character.
“The Overcoat” (original title: Шинель) is said to have been written between 1839 and 1841 and published in January 1843, but it is believed that the story was inspired by the following real-life anecdote. Sometime in the early 1830s, a poor civil servant who enjoyed hunting used 200 rubles he had saved to buy a fine hunting rifle and went hunting on the Gulf of Finland. For some reason, he dropped the rifle into the water and fell ill, leaving him bedridden. Upon hearing this news, his friends pooled their money to buy him a new rifle, thereby saving his life.
Although the novel has a simple plot, literary critic Belinsky praised it as “one of Gogol’s most profound works,” and Dostoevsky went so far as to say, “We all came from ‘The Overcoat’,” highlighting its profound influence on Russian literature. The reason for this is that it portrays the fate of the so-called “little people”—those living helplessly at the bottom of society under the autocratic regime—from a humanistic perspective, reaching the pinnacle of “laughter through tears.”
Along with “The Stationmaster” from Alexander Pushkin’s ‘The Tales of Belkin’, this work represented a new trend in Russian literature and exerted a profound influence on subsequent Russian literature. Literary historians consistently point out that Dostoevsky’s debut novel, ‘The Poor Folk’, was influenced by ‘The Overcoat’.
However, this novel does not stop at mere humanitarian sentiment. The protagonist, Akaky Akakievich, is an ordinary clerk—short, pockmarked, bald, and suffering from hemorrhoids—yet he is portrayed as a character who possesses a colorful and joyful inner world within the realm of “emotions.” He chuckles when he encounters a “favorite word” and spends mentally fulfilling moments daydreaming about a new Shinel. In his life, the Shinel is almost like a purpose, and the more closed off his world becomes, the more it elicits laughter.
The secret behind the laughter and absurdity that permeate this entire novel lies in its style and structure. The use of regional dialect, the harmony of emotion and humor, and the effect of exaggeration blend seamlessly to create a unified work, and the fact that “laughter through tears” achieves its greatest effect reveals Gogol’s mature craftsmanship.
“The Portrait” (original title: Портрет) was written between 1833 and 1834 and published in 1835 in the collection of essays and short stories “Arabesques,” but the first draft received poor reviews. Gogol extensively revised it between late 1841 and early 1842 and republished it in “The Contemporary.”
The draft was criticized because of the story’s surrealistic nature and, in particular, the strong impression that Part II was merely a device to reveal the author’s ideological stance.In Part One, the elderly moneylender depicted in the portrait is established as the incarnation of the Antichrist, who brings disaster upon the world. There was also a plotline in which the painter who created the portrait became a monk and, through prolonged prayer and devotion, overcame its magical power, causing the figure of the old man to vanish and the painting to gradually transform into a landscape. Gogol revised this, changing the plot so that the portrait returned to Chartkov and was eventually stolen.The motif of a living portrait possessed by a demon was seen as a romanticized popular trope, leading to criticism that the work as a whole did not fully showcase Gogol’s unique qualities. However, the depiction of the first Mayor Shchukin, Chartkov’s impoverished life (which reflects Gogol’s own experiences attending the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg), the servant Nikita, the landlord, the former police chief, and the mother-daughter pair of noblewomen clearly embody a distinctly Russian sensibility.Above all, Gogol’s unique skill is evident in the process by which the talented young painter Chartkov descends into corruption after unexpectedly coming into a large sum of money. He created a sense of drama through intense depictions, such as Chartkov buying up masterpieces out of jealousy upon seeing others’ excellent paintings and then slashing them to pieces. The tragedy of Chartkov, who initially worshipped beauty but eventually loses his faith in it and falls into nihilism, reveals the latent power of evil within the artist whose talent is sold in the face of the allure of money.While this tragedy contrasts with characters who uphold their faith in beauty (e.g., Piskarov in ‘Nevsky Prospect’), it is ultimately connected to Gogol’s own artistic philosophy. He once told his son, “For humans, art is the only thing that can hint at God’s heavenly paradise, and for that reason alone, art already stands above all else… Do not lose the purity of your soul. Those with great talent must have a soul purer than anyone else’s.” We must never forget that a writer with such a view of art left behind works such as ‘Nevsky Prospect’, ‘The Nose’, ‘Diary of a Madman’, ‘The Overcoat’, ‘The Government Inspector’, and ‘Dead Souls’.
