N.V. Gogol and K.N. Leontiev: Recurrence of Westernism in “Conservative” Criticism

Abstract

The article covers the problem of K.N. Leontiev’s perception of the N.V. Gogol’s heritage. They were close in worldview but divided by a misunderstanding based on the interpretation of Gogol’s legacy in radical criticism. As the student Leontiev experienced the influence of Western ideology, which led to his negative attitude towards Gogol’s satire. Decisive for him was the opinion of A.I. Herzen about Gogol as an “unconscious revolutionary,” reported to Leontiev by I.S. Turgenev. After the ideological “breakthrough” that followed, when the critic began to adhere to conservative views, his understanding of Gogol’s work remained unchanged. As in his youth, when the authorities for Leontiev were V.G. Belinsky, I.S. Turgenev, A.I. Herzen and N.G. Chernyshevsky, he continued to evaluate Gogol’s heritage exclusively in the context of the accusatory literature of the “natural school.”

Keywords

• n.v. gogol
• k.n. leontyev
• biography
• creativity
• interpretation
• hermeneutics
• polemics
• literary criticism
• conservatism
• liberalism
• social ideology
• spiritual heritage.