Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) grant No. 20-012-00139a.
Abstract
This essay examines an episode of Nikolay Gogol’s biography described in four memoir texts — by I.I. Panayev, A.YA. Panaeva, P.V. Annenkov, and N.A. Nekrasov. All the four texts tell the story of Gogol meeting “young writers” in St. Petersburg in the late 1840s. As it often happens in memoirs, the authors describe the same event differently. The author of this article thoroughly examines the sources of this particular episode and comes to the following conclusion. The memoirs of Gogol`s meeting with the “young writers” in the late 1840s tells us a lot about how Gogol’s personality was perceived by his younger and less famous contemporaries. It also sheds light on the typology and evolution of memoir genres in the second half of the 19th century. Yet the reliability of biographical data about Gogol is insufficient. The total amount of information indicates the probability that the meeting took place but gives a reason to doubt almost all the details of this event. The participants named by the authors of the memoirs (Goncharov, Grigorovich, Druzhinin, etc.) kept silent about this important meeting while the data available to modern Gogol scholars points at the hypothetical character of the mentioned episode.
References
1 Arhipova V. Primechaniia [Notes]. In: Dostoevskii F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: v 30 t. [Complete works: in 30 vols.]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1972, vol. 3, pp. 496–516. (In Russ.)
2 Belinskii G. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: v 13 t. [Complete works: in 13 vols.]. [Moscow, Leningrad], AN SSSR Publ., 1955. Vol. VIII. 728 p. (In Russ.)
3 Vdovin V. Kontsept “glava literatury” v russkoi kritike 1830–60-kh godov [The concept of the “head of literature” in Russian criticism of the 1830–60s]. (Dissertationes philologiae slavicae universitatis tartuensis). Tartu, Tartu Ulikooli Kirjastus Publ., 2011. 238 p. (In Russ.)
4 Vdovin V., Zubkov K.Iu. “Spor Peterburga s Moskvoiu”. Literaturnaia polemika pervoi poloviny 1850-kh godov [“The dispute of St. Petersburg with Moscow.” Literary polemics of the first half of the 1850s]. In: “Sovremennik” protiv “Moskvitianina”. Literaturnaia polemika pervoi poloviny 1850-kh godov [“Sovremennik” vs “Moskvityanin.” Literary polemics of the first half of the 1850s]. St. Petersburg, Nestor-Istoriia Publ., 2015, pp. 7-33 (In Russ.)
5 Vinogradov A. Letopis’ zhizni i tvorchestva N.V. Gogolia: v 7 t. [The chronicle of the life and work of Nikolay Gogol: in 7 vols.]. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2018. Vol. 6. 656 p. (In Russ.)
6 Gogol’ v vospominaniiakh, dnevnikakh, perepiske sovremennikov. Polnyi sistematicheskii svod dokumental’nykh svidetel’stv: v 3 [Gogol in memoirs, diaries, and correspondence of his contemporaries. A complete and systematic set of documentary evidence: in 3 vols.], ed. I.A. Vinogradov. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2013. Vol. 3. 1168 p. (In Russ.)
7 Gogol V. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: v 14 t. [Complete works: in 14 vols.] Moscow, Leningrad, Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR Publ., 1949. Vol. V. 512 p. 1952. Vol. XIV. 487 p. (In Russ.)
8 Dostoevskii M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: v 30 t. [Complete works: in 30 vols.]. Lеningrad, Nauka Publ., 1972. Vol. 3. 543 p. (In Russ.)
9 Elizavetina G. Kommentarii k tekstu “Dve zimy v provintsii i derevne s genvaria 1849 po avgust 1851 goda” [Comments on the text “Two winters in the province and the village from January 1849 to August 1851”]. In: P.V. Annenkov. Literaturnye vospominaniia [Annenkov P.V. Literary memories]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaia literatura Publ., 1983, pp. 647–653. (In Russ.)
10 Zykova V. Poetika russkogo zhurnala 1830–1870-kh gg. [Poetics of the Russian journal of the 1830s–1870s]. Moscow, MAKS Press Publ., 2005. 200 p. (In Russ.)
11 Zykova V., Kareva A.Ju. Nestor Kukol’nik v povesti, fel’etone i vospominaniiakh Panaeva: tri raznykh portreta odnogo litsa [Nestor Kukol’nik in the story, feuilleton, and memoirs of Panayev: three different portraits of the same person]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta, ser. 9, Filologiia, 2009, no 2, pp. 140–149. (In Russ.)
12 Koshelev V. Pushkin v vospominaniiakh: problemy izucheniia literaturnykh memuarov [Pushkin in memoirs: problems of studying literary memoirs]. Velikii Novgorod, Izdatel’sko-poligraficheskii tsentr Novgorodskogo gos. universiteta im. Iaroslava Mudrogo Publ., 2011. 183 p. (In Russ.)
13 Lotman M. Literaturnaia biografiia v istoriko-kul’turnom kontekste (k tipologicheskomu sootnosheniiu teksta i lichnosti avtora) [Literary biography in historical and cultural context (on the typological correlation of the text and the author’s personality)]. In: Literatura i publitsistika. Problemy vzaimodeistviia. Trudy po russkoi i slavianskoi filologii. Uch. zap. Tartus. goc. un-ta [Literature and journalism. Interaction problem. Works on Russian and Slavic Philology. Scientific notes of Tartu State University]. Tartu, Tartuskii gosudarstvennyi universitet Publ., 1986, vol. 683, pp. 106–121. (In Russ.)
14 Mann V. Gogol’. Zavershenie puti: 1845–1852 [Gogol. The end of the road: 1845–1852]. Moscow, Aspekt Press Publ., 2009. 304 p. (In Russ.)
15 Margulies E. Vstrecha Dostoevskogo i Gogolia (nachalo oseni 1848 goda) [A meeting of Dostoevsky and Gogol (early autumn 1848)]. Vozdushnye puti (New York), 1963, no 3, pp. 272–294. (In Russ.)
16 Mel’gunov V. Nekrasov, Panaev — Novyi poet (K istorii sozdaniia literaturnoi maski) [Nekrasov, Panaev — the New poet (On the history of literary masks)]. Russkaia literatura, 1986, no 3, pp. 153–169. (In Russ.)
17 Paderina G. Gogol’ i Dostoevskii. Problema obraza avtora: avtoref. dis. kandidata filologicheskikh nauk [Gogol and Dostoevsky. The problem of the author: PhD thesis, summary]. Leningrad, 1990. 27 p. (In Russ.)
18 Paderina E.G. O tiazhbe po povodu “Tiazhby” i problemakh datirovaniia khorosho zapomnivshegosia sovremennikam epizoda biografii Gogolia [On litigation concerning “Litigation”: The problems of dating one episode of Gogol’s biography]. Studia Litterarum, 2017, 2, no 2, pp. 290–315. (In Russ.)
19 Pervushin V. Vstrechalsia li Dostoevskii s Gogolem [Did Dostoevsky meet Gogol?]. Novyi zhurnal (New York), 1971, no 105, pp. 164–172. (In Russ.)