THE IMAGE OF SAINT PETERSBURG IN THE PROSE OF N.V. GOGOL AS A LINGUOCULTURAL RESOURCE OF RUSSIAN-CHINESE CIVILIZATIONAL MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

Abstract

The article examines the linguocultural parameters of N.V. Gogol’s “Petersburg text.” Using a generalized cultural model of the traditional Chinese capital as a comparative backdrop, Russian urban representation is viewed in a mirror-perspective, providing a more precise description. The relevance of this study stems from the need to analyze artistic urban images from an intercivilizational linguocultural perspective, as this perspective reveals the stable mechanisms of spatial semantization. Linguistic devices through which the urban topos is constructed play a key role: fantastical inclusions, spatial vocabulary, grotesque, officialdom designations, ironic intonation, subject details, and evaluative definitions. In N.V. Gogol’s work, Saint Petersburg functions as a cultural code, correlated with motifs of individual moral stability, external splendor, administrative pressure, depersonalization, and social stratification. A comparison of the two capital models reveals profound differences in semantic organization, while an analysis of the Saint Petersburg image allows for a more precise understanding of the city’s nationally specific modes of mythmaking. This comparative approach provides the interpretative basis necessary for productive Russian-Chinese humanitarian dialogue and reduces the intercultural distance for Chinese audiences.