Grotesque in Nevsky Prospekt. Real and fantastic in Gogol's story "The Nose"

Grotesque in the story by N.V. Gogol’s “Nose” Work by a student of grade 10 “a” Ekaterina Brodskaya.

In the story by N.V. Gogol's "The Nose" there is a combination of an absurd phantasmagoric story with the disappearance of the nose and the everyday reality of St. Petersburg. Domashenko Nikolay. 1946 N. Gogol "The Nose".

Gogol's image of St. Petersburg is qualitatively different from those created, for example, by Pushkin or Dostoevsky. Just like for them, for Gogol it is not just a city - it is an image-symbol; but Gogol's Petersburg is the center of some incredible strength, mysterious incidents happen here; the city is full of rumors, legends, myths.

It seems that it was not without reason that Gogol made St. Petersburg the setting for the story “The Nose.” In his opinion, only here could the indicated events “happen”; only in St. Petersburg they do not see the man himself behind his rank. Gogol brought the situation to the point of absurdity - the nose turned out to be a fifth-class official, and those around him, despite the obviousness of his “inhuman” nature, behave with him as if normal person, according to his status.

It is interesting that Kovalev himself, despite his efforts to expose him, approaches him with fear in the Kazan Cathedral and generally treats him as a person. The nose behaves as befits a “significant person” with the rank of state councilor: he makes visits, prays in the Kazan Cathedral “with an expression of the greatest piety,” visits the department, and plans to leave for Riga using someone else’s passport. Nobody cares where he came from. Everyone sees him not only as a person, but also as an important official.

The grotesque in the story also lies in surprise and, one might say, absurdity. From the very first line of the work we see a clear indication of the date: “March 25th” - this does not immediately imply any fantasy. And then there’s the missing nose. There was some kind of sharp deformation of everyday life, bringing it to complete unreality.

The absurdity lies in the same sudden change nose sizes. If on the first pages he is discovered by the barber Ivan Yakovlevich in a pie (that is, he has a size quite corresponding to a human nose), then at the moment when Major Kovalev first sees him, the nose is dressed in a uniform, suede trousers, a hat and even has a himself a sword - which means he is the height of an ordinary man.

The last appearance of the nose in the story - and it is small again. The quarterly brings it wrapped in a piece of paper. It didn’t matter to Gogol why the nose suddenly grew to human size, and it didn’t matter why it shrank again. The central point of the story is precisely the period when the nose was perceived as a normal person.

The plot of the story is conventional, the idea itself is absurd, but this is precisely what Gogol’s grotesque consists of and, despite this, is quite realistic. Chernyshevsky said that true realism is possible only by depicting life in the “forms of life itself.”

Gogol unusually expanded the boundaries of convention and showed that this convention remarkably serves the knowledge of life. If in this absurd society everything is determined by rank, then why can’t this fantastically absurd organization of life be reproduced in a fantastic plot? Gogol shows that it is not only possible, but also quite advisable. And thus the forms of art ultimately reflect the forms of life.

Grotesque is a style in art and literature that emphasizes the distortion or displacement of the norms of reality and the compatibility of contrasts - real and fantastic, tragic and comic, sarcasm and harmless humor. IN work of art what is depicted is absolutely fantastic, unreal, implausible and in no case possible in real life. Effect grotesque images is enhanced by the fact that they are usually shown on a par with ordinary, real events. In the story by N.V. Gogol's "The Nose" there is a combination of an absurd phantasmagorical story with the disappearance of the nose and the everyday reality of St. Petersburg. Results of the work:

Gogol N.V. story “The Nose” Terminological Dictionary, Moscow, “Ellis LAK”, 1997. Literature. Reference materials, Moscow “Enlightenment”, 1988. Literature.

"Grotesque - the oldest artistic technique, based, like hyperbole, on exaggeration, sharpening the qualities and properties of people, objects, natural phenomena and facts of social life." However, not every exaggeration is grotesque. Here it has a special character: what is depicted is absolutely fantastic, unreal, implausible and in no case possible in real life.

Along with hyperbole, the grotesque was widely used in various myths, legends and fairy tales (for example, one can recall such a fairy-tale hero as Koschey the Immortal).

The effect of grotesque images is enhanced by the fact that they are usually shown on a par with ordinary, real events.

If we talk about the story by N.V. Gogol’s “The Nose”, here there is also a combination of an absurd story with the disappearance of a nose and the everyday reality of St. Petersburg . Gogol's image of St. Petersburg qualitatively different from those created, for example, by Pushkin or Dostoevsky. Just like for them, for Gogol it is not just a city - it is an image-symbol; but Gogol’s Petersburg is the center of some incredible power, mysterious incidents happen here; the city is full of rumors, legends, myths.

To depict St. Petersburg, Gogol uses the following technique: synecdoche- transferring the characteristics of the whole to its part. Thus, it is enough to say about a uniform, an overcoat, a mustache, sideburns - or a nose - to give a comprehensive idea of ​​​​a particular person. A person in the city becomes depersonalized, loses his individuality, becomes part of the crowd

It seems that it was not without reason that Gogol made St. Petersburg the setting for the story “The Nose.” In his opinion, only here could the indicated events “happen”; only in St. Petersburg they do not see the man himself behind his rank. Gogol brought the situation to the point of absurdity - the nose turned out to be a fifth-class official, and those around him, despite the obviousness of his “inhuman” nature, behave with him as with a normal person, accordingly his status . And Kovalev himself, the owner of the runaway nose, behaves in exactly the same way.

Gogol structured his plot in such a way that this incredible event - the sudden disappearance of the nose from the face and its subsequent appearance on the street in the form of a state councilor - either does not surprise the characters at all, or surprises, but not in the way it should, according to the logic of things. For example, a respectable gray-haired official from a newspaper expedition listens to Kovalev’s request absolutely indifferently. Kvartalny, who returned Kovalev’s nose, also did not see anything strange in this situation and even, out of habit, asked him for money.

What about Kovalev? What worries him is not that without a nose, in principle, he should be deprived of the ability to breathe, and the first thing the major does is not to the doctor, but to the chief of police. He is only worried about how he will appear in society now; Throughout the story there are very often scenes when the major looks at pretty girls. Thanks to the author's short description, we know that he is now choosing a bride for himself. In addition, he has “very good acquaintances” - state councilor Chekhtareva, staff officer Pelageya Grigorievna Podtochina, who obviously provide him with useful connections. Undoubtedly, this is an exaggeration to show the reader what is real value for a St. Petersburg official.

The nose behaves as it should" significant person" in the rank of state councilor: he makes visits, prays in the Kazan Cathedral, visits the department, and plans to go to Riga using someone else’s passport. Nobody cares where he came from. Everyone sees him not only as a person, but also as important. official . It is interesting that Kovalev himself, despite his efforts to expose him, approaches him with fear in the Kazan Cathedral and generally treats him as a person.

Grotesque in the story also lies in surprise and, one might say, absurdity . From the very first line of the work we see a clear indication of the date: “March 25th” - this does not immediately imply any fantasy. And then there’s the missing nose. There was some kind of sharp deformation of everyday life, bringing it to complete unreality. The absurdity lies in the equally dramatic change in the size of the nose. If on the first pages he is discovered by the barber Ivan Yakovlevich in a pie (that is, he has a size quite corresponding to a human nose), then at the moment when Major Kovalev first sees him, the nose is dressed in a uniform, suede trousers, a hat and even has a himself a sword - which means he is the height of an ordinary man. The last appearance of the nose in the story - and it is small again. The quarterly brings it wrapped in a piece of paper. It didn’t matter to Gogol why the nose suddenly grew to human size, and it didn’t matter why it shrank again. The central point of the story is precisely the period when the nose was perceived as a normal person.

The plot of the story is conventional, the idea itself is ridiculous , but this is precisely what Gogol’s grotesque consists of and, despite this, is quite realistic. Gogol unusually expanded the boundaries of convention and showed that this convention remarkably serves the knowledge of life. If in this in an absurd society everything is determined by rank, then why can’t this fantastically absurd organization of life be reproduced in a fantastic plot? Gogol shows that it is not only possible, but also quite advisable. And thus art forms ultimately reflect life forms.

How do the features of Gogol’s “fantastic realism” appear in the story “The Nose”? - Exactly the absurdity and fantastic nature of the plot caused such abundant criticism of the writer. But it should be understood that this story has double meaning, and Gogol’s idea is much deeper and more instructive than it seems at first glance. It is thanks to such an incredible plot that Gogol manages to draw attention to an important topic at that time - a person’s position in society, his status and the individual’s dependence on him . From the story it becomes clear that Kovalev, who for greater importance called himself a major, all his life dedicates his career and social status, he has no other hopes or priorities.

In Russian literature, the grotesque was widely used to create bright and unusual artistic images by N.V. Gogol ("The Nose", "Notes of a Madman"), M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin ("The History of a City", " Wild landowner" and other fairy tales), F. M. Dostoevsky ("The Double. The Adventures of Mr. Golyadkin").

What does the loss of his nose mean for the hero of the story? - Kovalev is losing his nose - something that, it would seem, cannot be lost for no apparent reason - and now he cannot appear in a decent place, in secular society, at work or in any other official institution. But he cannot come to an agreement with the nose; the nose pretends that it does not understand what its owner is talking about and ignores him. With this fantastic plot, Gogol wants to emphasize the shortcomings of the society of that time, the shortcomings of thinking and consciousness of that layer of society , to which collegiate assessor Kovalev belonged.

Grotesque is an unprecedented, special world, opposing not only everyday life, but also the real, actual. Here the grotesque borders on fantasy and unrealism. It shows how absurdly the scary and the funny, the absurd and the authentic collide.

Such is the world of Gogol's story "The Nose". Is it possible in our time for the inexplicable disappearance of Major Kovalev’s nose, its flight from its rightful owner, and then its equally inexplicable return to its place? Only by using the grotesque satirical genre was Gogol able to show this ill-fated nose, which exists simultaneously as part of the face and in the form of a state councilor serving in the scientific department. What is surprising to us does not surprise the rest of the characters in the comedy. Unusual incidents make us indignant, and everyone looks at it as if it were a planned action. In the end, we understand that the grotesque can exist without fantasy. If you think about it, some officials actually walk with their noses in the air, and sometimes you think that their nose controls them. To some extent, Gogol described our society; he combined the real with the absurd, the funny with the scary.

30-40 - creation of St. Petersburg stories

In “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” very strong fantastic element(in the 1st plan), in St. Petersburg stories the fantastic element is sharply relegated to the background of the plot, fantasy seems to dissolve in reality. The supernatural is present in the plot not directly, but indirectly, for example, as dream("Nose"), rave(“Notes
crazy"), untrue rumors(“Overcoat”). Only in the story “Portrait” do things really happen supernatural events. It is no coincidence that Belinsky did not like the first edition of the story “Portrait” precisely because of the excessive presence of a mystical element in it. The irrational dissolves in everyday life, the plot is quite poor (anecdotes)

One of characteristic features Gogol's grotesque are, according to M. Bakhtin , "positive-negative exaggerations". They are included directly in Gogol’s system of artistic assessments of his characters and largely determine them figurative structure. Various shapes praise and abuse, as has been noted more than once, have an ambivalent character in the writer’s poetics (“familiar affectionate abuse and vulgar praise”).

The most common technique used by G. is objectification, reification of the animate. The essence of this technique is the combination of elements of the anthropomorphic and material (or zoomorphic) series that are incompatible in quality. This includes reduction of character to one external sign (all these waists, mustaches, sideburns, etc., walking along Nevsky Prospekt). In addition to reduction human body The opposite method also occurs - grotesque expansion(the disintegration of the body into separate parts - the story “The Nose”). There are also cases of dissolution in the environment, as a result of which the character’s surroundings act as a grotesque extension of the body (cf. the description of Sobakevich or Plyushkin in “ Dead souls"). It turns out that Gogol’s figures lack definite contours and oscillate between the poles of compression into one point and dissolution in the objective world.

Gogol's grotesque body belongs to the surface of the visible, external world. This is a body without a soul or with a monstrously narrowed soul. The contradiction between the incredible abundance of external signs and the internal emptiness of the characters is striking. A grotesque body either drowns in the sea of ​​the material world, because it has no internal content, or its essence is reduced to one dominant “insignificant passion.” The movement of the plot in Gogol always serves to reveal “deception”, discredit external forms in order to search for internal content (“Nevsky Prospekt”).

Grotesque collective images: Nevsky Prospekt, offices, department (the beginning of “The Overcoat”, swear word - “department of meanness and nonsense”, etc.).

Grotesque death: Gogol's cheerful death - the transformation of the dying Akaki Akakievich (dying delirium with curses and rebellion), his afterlife adventures behind his greatcoat. The texting dogs in delirium are grotesque Poprishchina in “Notes of a Madman”

Gogol's grotesque is not a simple violation of the norm, but the denial of all abstract, immovable norms that claim absoluteness and eternity. He seems to be saying that goodness should be expected not from the stable and familiar, but from a “miracle.”

The end of “The Overcoat” is a spectacular apotheosis of the grotesque, something like the silent scene of The Inspector General. Gogol: “But who would have imagined that this is not all about Akaki Akakievich, that he was destined to live noisily for several days after his death, as if as a reward for a life unnoticed by anyone. But it happened, And poor story our suddenly takes on a fantastic ending." In fact, this ending is no more fantastic or “romantic” than the whole story. On the contrary, there was actual grotesque fantasy, conveyed as a game with reality; here the story emerges into the world of more ordinary ideas and facts, but everything is interpreted in the style of playing with fantasy. This is a new “deception”, a technique of reverse grotesquery: “the ghost suddenly looked around and, stopping, asked: “What do you want?” and showed a fist like his alive you won't find it. The watchman said: “nothing” and turned back the same hour ago. The ghost, however, was already much taller, wore an enormous mustache and, directing his steps, as it seemed, towards the Obukhov Bridge, disappeared completely into the darkness.”

Brief (with briefs):

See ticket 29+30

Nose: The described incident, according to the narrator, happened in St. Petersburg on March 25th. Barber Ivan Yakovlevich, having a bite in the morning fresh bread, baked by his wife Praskovya Osipovna, finds her nose in it. Puzzled by this unrealistic incident, having recognized the nose of the collegiate assessor Kovalev, he searches in vain for a way to get rid of his find. Finally, he throws him off the St. Isaac's Bridge and, against all expectations, is detained by a quarterly guard with large sideburns. The collegiate assessor Kovalev (who preferred to be called a major), waking up that same morning with the intention of examining the pimple that had popped up on his nose earlier, did not even discover the nose itself. Major Kovalev, who needs a decent appearance, because the purpose of his visit to the capital is to find a place in some prominent department and, possibly, to get married (on occasion of which he knows ladies in many houses: Chekhtyreva, state councilor, Pelageya Grigorievna Podtochina, headquarters officer) - goes to the chief police chief, but on the way he meets his own nose (clad, however, in a gold-embroidered uniform and a hat with a plume, revealing him to be a state councilor). The nose gets into the carriage and goes to the Kazan Cathedral, where he prays with an air of the greatest piety. Major Kovalev, timid at first, and then directly calling the nose by its proper name, does not succeed in his intentions and, distracted by a lady in a hat, light as a cake , loses an unyielding interlocutor. Not finding the Chief of Police at home, Kovalev goes on a newspaper expedition, wanting to advertise the loss, but the gray-haired official refuses him (“The newspaper may lose its reputation”) and, full of compassion, offers to sniff tobacco, which completely upsets Major Kovalev. He goes to the private bailiff, but finds him in the mood to sleep after lunch and listens to irritated remarks about “all sorts of majors” who hang around God knows where, and about the fact that a decent person’s nose will not be torn off. Arriving home, the saddened Kovalev ponders the reasons for the strange disappearance and decides that the culprit is the staff officer Podtochina, whose daughter he was in no hurry to marry, and she, probably out of revenge, hired some old ladies-in-law. The sudden appearance of a police official, who brought a nose wrapped in paper and announced that he was intercepted on the way to Riga with a false passport, plunges Kovalev into joyful unconsciousness. However, his joy is premature: the nose does not stick to same place. The summoned doctor does not undertake to put his nose on it, assuring that it will be even worse, and encourages Kovalev to place his nose in a jar of alcohol and sell it for decent money. Unhappy Kovalev writes to headquarters officer Podtochina, reproaching, threatening and demanding that the nose be immediately returned to its place. The response of the headquarters officer exposes her complete innocence, for it reveals such a degree of misunderstanding that cannot be imagined on purpose. Meanwhile, rumors are spreading throughout the capital and acquiring many details: they say that at exactly three o’clock the nose of the collegiate assessor Kovalev is walking along Nevsky, then - that he is in Juncker's store, then in Tauride Garden; Many people flock to all these places, and enterprising speculators build benches for ease of observation. One way or another, on April 7th the nose was back in its place. The barber Ivan Yakovlevich appears to the happy Kovalev and shaves him with the greatest care and embarrassment. One day, Major Kovalev manages to go everywhere: to the confectionery shop, to the department where he was looking for a position, and to his friend, also a collegiate assessor or major, and on the way he meets the staff officer Podtochina and her daughter, in a conversation with whom he thoroughly sniffs tobacco. Description his happy mood is interrupted by the sudden recognition of the writer that there is a lot of implausibility in this story and what is especially surprising is that there are authors who take similar plots. After some reflection, the writer nevertheless states that such incidents are rare, but still happen.

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In the story by N.V. Gogol's "The Nose" there is a combination of an absurd phantasmagoric story with the disappearance of the nose and the everyday reality of St. Petersburg. Domashenko Nikolay. 1946 N. Gogol "The Nose".

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It seems that it was not without reason that Gogol made St. Petersburg the setting for the story “The Nose.” In his opinion, only here could the indicated events “happen”; only in St. Petersburg they do not see the man himself behind his rank. Gogol brought the situation to the point of absurdity - the nose turned out to be a fifth-class official, and those around him, despite the obviousness of his “inhuman” nature, behave with him as with a normal person, in accordance with his status.

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The grotesque in the story also lies in surprise and, one might say, absurdity. From the very first line of the work we see a clear indication of the date: “March 25th” - this does not immediately imply any fantasy. And then there’s the missing nose. There was some kind of sharp deformation of everyday life, bringing it to complete unreality. The grotesque in the story also lies in surprise and, one might say, absurdity. From the very first line of the work we see a clear indication of the date: “March 25th” - this does not immediately imply any fantasy. And then there’s the missing nose. There was some kind of sharp deformation of everyday life, bringing it to complete unreality.

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The plot of the story is conventional, the idea itself is absurd, but this is precisely what Gogol’s grotesque consists of and, despite this, is quite realistic. Chernyshevsky said that true realism is possible only by depicting life in the “forms of life itself.” The plot of the story is conventional, the idea itself is absurd, but this is precisely what Gogol’s grotesque consists of and, despite this, is quite realistic. Chernyshevsky said that true realism is possible only by depicting life in the “forms of life itself.”

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Results of the work: Grotesque is a style in art and literature that emphasizes the distortion or displacement of the norms of reality and the compatibility of contrasts - real and fantastic, tragic and comic, sarcasm and harmless humor. In a work of art, what is depicted is absolutely fantastic, unrealistic, implausible and in no case possible in real life. The effect of grotesque images is enhanced by the fact that they are usually shown on a par with ordinary, real events. In the story by N.V. Gogol's "The Nose" there is a combination of an absurd phantasmagorical story with the disappearance of the nose and the everyday reality of St. Petersburg.

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