ABOUT ONE GOGOL’S QUOTATION IN HUMORISTS BY A.P. CHEKHOV

Abstract

This article highlights creative reception of N.V. Gogol’s “Dead Souls” using the example of one of A.P. Chekhov’s early humorous stories – “Tears Invisible to the World.” “Dead Souls” has a huge influence on Chekhov’s artistic system. Plot variations and stylistic paraphrases of Gogol appeared already in Chekhov’s first play and stories of the early 1880s. Already in Chekhov’s early prose, artistic subtext appeared in the simplest, but also most visual form. Gogol’s word can be preserved in Chekhov’s work as a direct or hidden quotation, as an involuntary and seemingly random recollection of what was read, as a symbolic sign. The article touches on only one particular aspect of the multifaceted and multi-level connections between Chekhov’s prose and Gogol’s work and is devoted to the study of a certain level of functioning of the Gogol tradition. Chekhov’s text includes Gogol’s word, borrowed by the character, parodically rethought, “re-faced” in his spirit and style. The article analyzes the Gogolian tradition with its inherent ambiguity and universality, taking into account its ambivalence and transformation in another context – already Chekhov’s. Considered in this aspect, Chekhov’s story demonstrates the use of various techniques of Gogol’s poetics.