A Study of the Epic-type Structure Mode of The Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

Abstract

Abstract: Nikolai Gogol is regarded as a great Russian writer owing to his representative work The Dead Souls, which is a novel, but is called as “epic poem”. Which genre is it actually? It has aroused a lot of debates. This paper tries to probe into this topic from the perspective of the structure mode. The author of this paper thinks that the purpose of Nikolai Gogol is to create such epic poem as Dante’s Devine Comedy, using three-volume structure to parallel Dante’s Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise in his Divine Comedy, and the exploration for the future of Russia is through the work. So, the first volume of The Dead Souls is characteristic for its hell-like travel and dead-souls description. In the self-destroyed second volume, Nikolai Gogol tried to express the purification of the protagonists. And in the unwritten third volume of the epic, certainly, Nikolai Gogol planned to create the high state and ideal characters. The paper points outthat the dead souls are not the real dead serfs, but symbols of the moral bankruptcy and the spiritual destruction of the society of that time.

Key words: Nikolai Gogol, The Dead Souls, epic feature, structure mode

Wu Di. A Study of the Epic-type Structure Mode of The Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2018, 40(1): 147-156.

References

[1] 艾布拉姆斯哈珀姆:《文学术语词典》,吴松江等译.北京:北京大学出版社,2014年.
[Abrams M. H.& G. G. Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Trans. Wu Songjiang et al. Beijing: Peking UP, 2014.]
[2] Аксаков, С. Т. История моего знакомства с Гоголем. М.: Правда, 1960.
[3] [Aksakov S. T.History of My Encounters with Gogol. Moscow: Truth Press, 1960.]
[4] 别林斯基:《别林斯基选集》第1卷.上海:上海译文出版社,1979年.
[Belinsky. Selected Works by Belinsky. Vol. 1. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1979.]
[5] Cournos, John. “Introduction.” The Dead Souls. By Nikolai Gogol. Trans. D. J. Hogarth. The Pennsylvania State UP, 2001. 3-15.
[6] Fanger, Donald.The Creation of Nikolai Gogol. Cambridege, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1979.
[7] 果戈理:“作者自白”,沈念驹主编:《果戈理全集》(第六卷),石家庄:河北教育出版社,2002年.224-260.
[Gogol, Nikolai.“The Author’s Confession.” The Complete Works by Nikolai Gogol. Vol. 6. Ed. Shen Nianju. Shijiazhuang: Hebei Education Press, 2002. 224-60.]
[8] ——:《死魂灵》,满涛许庆道译.北京:人民文学出版社,1983年.
[---. The Dead Souls. Trans. Man Tao and Xu Qingdao. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House, 1983.]
[9] ——:《就<死魂灵>一书致各方人士的四封信》,沈念驹主编:《果戈理全集》(第六卷).石家庄:河北教育出版社,2002年.145—159.
[---. “Four Letters to Different Persons, Concerning The Dead Souls.” The Complete Works by Nikolai Gogol. Vol. 6. Ed. Shen Nianju. Shijiazhuang: Hebei Education Press, 2002. 145-59.]
[10] Greene, Roland, ed. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2012.
[11] 龙飞:《讽刺艺术大师果戈理》.北京:商务印书馆,1984年.
[Long Fei.Nikolai Gogol: The Master of Satirical Arts. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1984.]
[12] 娄自良:“《死农奴》附记”,果戈理著:《死农奴》,娄自良译.上海:上海译文出版社,2012年.370-371.
[Lou Ziliang.“Pragmatic Remark to The Dead Souls.” Nikolai Gogol. The Dead Souls. Trans. Lou Ziliang. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2012. 370-71.]
[13] ——:《<死农奴>译本序》,果戈理:《死农奴》,娄自良译.上海:上海译文出版社,2012年.1-7.
[---. “Preface to The Dead Souls in Chinese Version.” The Dead Souls. By Nikolai Gogol. Trans. Lou Ziliang. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2012. 1-7.]
[14] Nabokov, Vladimir.Nikolai Gogol. New York: New Directions, 1961.
[15] 纳博科夫:《尼古拉·果戈理》,金绍禹译.上海:上海译文出版社,2013年.
[---. Nikolai Gogol. Trans. Jin Shaoyu. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House. 2013.]
[16] 钱中文:《果戈理及其讽刺艺术》.上海:上海文艺出版社,1980年.
[Qian Zhongwen.Nikolai Gogol and His Satirical Arts. Shanghai: Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, 1980.]
[17] 斯捷潘诺夫:《果戈理传》,张达三刘健鸣译.哈尔滨:黑龙江人民出版社,1984年.
[Stepanov. Biography of Nikolai Gogol. Trans. Zhang Dasan and Liu Jianming. Harbin: Heilongjiang People’s Publishing House, 1984.]
[18] Смирнова-Чикина, Е. С. Поэма Н. В. Гоголя «Мертвые души». Комментарий. Л.: Просвещене, 1974.
[19] [Smirnova-Chikina, Y. S. Commentaries on N. V. Gogol’s Epic Poem The Dead Souls. Leningrad: Education Press, 1974.]
[20] Смирнова, Е. А. Поэма Гоголя «Мёртвые души». Л.: Издательство «Наука», 1987.
[21] [Smirnova Y. A.Gogol’s Epic Poem The Dead Souls. Leningrad: Science Press, 1987.]
[22] Тамарченко, Д. Е. “Мертвые души.” История русского романа. T. 1. М.: Изд. АН СССР, 1962. 324-79.
[23] [Tamarchenko D. E.“The Dead Souls”, History of Russian Fiction. V.1. Moscow: Soviet Union Academy of Science Press. 1962. 324-79.]
[24] Янушкевич, А. С. История русской литературы первой трети XIX века. М.: Флинта, 2013.
[25] [Yanushkevich A. C.History of Russian Literature of the First Third of the 19th Century. Moscow: Flinta, 2013.]
[26] 朱耀良:《走进<神曲>》.天津:天津社会科学院出版社,2004年.
[Zhu Yaoliang.Approach to Divine Comedy. Tianjin: Tianjin Social Science Academy Press, 2004.]