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

The article is devoted to the study of the hardest for interpretation N.V. Gogol’s works the “St. Petersburg” story “Notes of a Madman.” The diary of a hero going crazy presents the combination of the elements of madness, comedy, romantic alogism, authorial irony, satire and high tragic pathos that gives this work the character of an artistic riddle, the solution of which is possible only with the help of a consistent integrated approach. Numerous reminiscences in the work of images from world literature, contemporary journalism and artistic literature are examined in detail. The long-term observations of researchers on the poetics of Gogol’s story are summarized. A connection is established between “Notes of a Madman” and the poem “Dead Souls” and “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy.” Gogol’s polemic with European romanticism developed in this work is explored in detail. Gogol contrasts the playful “spirituality” of the romantics, which leaves a person to the mercy of imagination and subjective opinions, with a truly spiritual understanding of life, based on the Holy Scriptures and church tradition. 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 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”. Eleven of the fifteen sections are presented in this publication. The continuation of the article and the list of references will be published in the next issue of the journal.