Features of the manifestation of the carnival principle in N.V. Gogol's novella "Nevsky Prospekt"

Fan Xiaoran PhD in Philology Postgraduate student; Department of the History of Russian Literature; Lomonosov Moscow State University 119991, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1 jm.fang@foxmail.com

Introduction

The term carnivalization was introduced into literary criticism by M.M. Bakhtin to describe the impact of ancient and medieval folk festivals and ritual actions, known as "carnival", on figurative and symbolic thinking and creative memory of a person. The concept of carnivalization is based by M.M. Bakhtin on the analysis of the works of F. Rabelais and F.M. Dostoevsky, as well as on the study of ancient Greek and Roman carnivals ^[1].

In many works devoted to the study of the problems and poetics of the story "Nevsky Prospekt", the phenomenon of carnivalization is touched upon. Thus, A.D. Solovyova notes the ambivalence of dreams in the story ^[10]. I.A. Zavyalova examines the elements that form the poetics of Gogol's grotesque as a special form of comic, in particular, the peculiarities of the organization of space and time and the embodiment of the motives of birth and death in their connection with the Christian tradition ^[6]. S.V. Karataeva explores the specifics of the representation of the corporeal The beginning is in the story ^[7]. Yu.V. Mann speaks about the carnival tradition in general in the writer's work ^[8].

The main part

The works of N. V. Gogol are largely imbued with the worldview of carnival. The writer skillfully used carnival images and themes to create his own unique artistic world. The carnival beginning became for Gogol a way of expressing his attitude towards man and society, art and life, dream and reality. The carnival beginning in the story "Nevsky Prospekt" is embodied on several levels: in the system of images, the organization of the plot and composition. Nevsky Prospekt in the story appears in the form of a carnival space, where the real and the fantastic, tragedy and comedy, nobility and vulgarity are intricately intertwined.

The story "Nevsky Prospekt" is usually attributed to the so-called "Petersburg" stories by Gogol. The carnival beginning is realized here primarily through the image of Nevsky Prospekt. This main thoroughfare of St. Petersburg appears as a kind of theatrical stage on which a colorful carnival action with the participation of representatives of different classes unfolds.

According to M. Bakhtin, during the carnival, "life for a short time leaves its usual, legalized and sanctified rut and enters the sphere of utopian freedom" ^{[1, p. 103]}. Class boundaries are being erased on Nevsky Prospekt, representatives of different strata of society are mixing into a motley crowd. On the street, "old women in tattered dresses and salopas, making their attacks on compassionate passers-by" and "beggars gather at the doors of pastry shops for stale pies and leftovers" ^{[4, p. 8]}. For these people, Nevsky Prospekt is a place where you can earn a living, moreover, this street acts as an "exhibition of all the best works of man" ^{[4, p. 11]}, where you can meet "employees with velvet, satin sideburns" ^{[4, p. 9]}, "ladies with thousands of varieties of hats, dresses and shawls" ^{[4, p. 9]} and "people with a talisman ring" ^{[4, p. 11]}.

Nevsky Prospekt in the story Gogol reminds the reader of a masquerade, an illusory world where people wear masks. According to Bakhtin, "in the romantic grotesque, the mask, detached from the unity of the national carnival worldview, receives a number of new meanings alien to its original nature: the mask hides something, deceives, etc." ^{[1, p. 121]}. The motive of Deception in the story is expressed in the gradual blurring of the boundaries between reality and the mirage. The author emphasizes the instability and deceptiveness of Nevsky Prospekt: "Everything is a deception, everything is a dream, everything is not what it seems!" ^{[4, p. 39]}.

In the episode where the artist Piskarev became infatuated with an unfamiliar beauty, Gogol masterfully shows how this line in the perception of the hero is thinning. Piskarev, seeing a beautiful stranger, immediately plunges into a world of fantasies and dreams, losing touch with reality. "The sidewalk rushed under him, the carriages with galloping horses seemed motionless, the bridge stretched and broke on its arch, the house stood roof down, the booth fell towards him, and the sentry's halberd, along with the golden words of the signboard and the painted scissors, seemed to shine on the very eyelash of his eyes" ^{[4, p. 15]}. This fragment shows how reality is distorted in the perception of the hero, how the line between reality and fantasy becomes shaky and elusive.

M. Bakhtin speaks of carnival as a "second life", a "second world" ^{[1, p. 21]}. Rituals and forms of entertainment based on laughter give peace and interpersonal relationships an informal character. This allows you to temporarily step away from official life and immerse yourself in the second, carnival reality. Such a duality existed in human consciousness at the initial stages of cultural development in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance.

The carnival principle means the coexistence and intertwining of two opposing worlds. In Nevsky Prospekt, this principle is embodied in the parallel storylines of Lieutenant Pirogov and artist Piskarev, which represent two contrasting worldviews, two ways of interacting with reality. Their lives unfold in opposite spaces: the ordinary world and the world of sublime dreams. Both characters were fascinated by the fantastic Nevsky Prospekt, but when they faced the collapse of their lives, both experienced a kind of epiphany.

Pirogov's value orientations are everyday, material things, not lofty ideals, he is chasing fleeting happiness. Chasing a blonde stranger, Pirogov quickly disappeared into the alley of one of the rather run-down houses. His adventures unfold in the prosaic world of German artisans, where rude morals and carnal pleasures reign. The encounter with this reality for Pirogov becomes a kind of sobering experience, after which he returns to his usual life. From the very beginning, Lieutenant Pirogov treated meeting with a married blonde as an adventure and did not seek deep affection. And although he feels unfairly insulted, he has the practicality and levity to quickly put this unpleasant incident out of his mind. The author sarcastically remarks: "But it all ended strangely: on the way, Pirogov went into a pastry shop, ate two puff pastry pies, read something from The Northern Bee and left in a less angry position" ^{[4, p. 38]}.

On the contrary, Piskarev's inner world is a dreamy, idealistic world, far from reality. The hero is in a state when everything around him is a kind of unearthly radiance, when people experience inexplicable pleasure, all good things become even better. He is "timid and strange", living in a noble dream world. Piskarev idealizes a beauty he meets by chance and considers her a "deity". The collision with the prosaic reality of a brothel becomes the tragedy of the hero. Unable to combine the vile reality with romantic ideals, he prefers to go into his dream world and indulge in eternal sleep. The completely different life situations of Piskarev and Pirogov reflect the main idea of the story "Nevsky Prospekt", which G.A. Gukovsky formulated as follows: "... vulgarity is blessed, and nobility perishes in agony..." ^{[5, p. 336]}.

Through the story of Pirogov and Piskarev, the author reveals the essence of the carnival character of Nevsky Prospekt, which is a space where the beginnings of two poles of existence collide. Nevsky Prospekt is a test for the characters, forcing them to abandon their fantasies and face the unsightly side of life. But if for Pirogov this ordeal was just a funny love failure, then for Piskarev it became a real tragedy that destroyed his romantic world. This is how Gogol embodies the carnival principle of the ambivalent world, uniting the sublime and the base.

The staircase is a symbolic spatial image that reveals the dual nature of the world in the story "Nevsky Prospekt". First of all, the image of the staircase represents the overthrow and displacement of real space. The description of the staircase is repeatedly found in the story, for example, when Piskarev first sees a beautiful woman, "the staircase wound, and with it his fast dreams wound" ^{[4, p. 18]}. Piskarev ran as fast as he could, "flew up" the stairs, but the way to heaven turns out to be the way to hell. The whole base and despicable life is revealed to the hero, and in order to return to reality, you have to run down the stairs. As Bakhtin notes, carnival is characterized by "the logic of incessant movements of the top and bottom" ^{[1, p. 20]}. Thus, the contrast between dream and reality becomes even more noticeable. The staircase turns into a spatial tunnel connecting the sublime world of illusions and the base reality.

Secondly, the image of a staircase divides the world in two. In the scene when Piskarev attends a ball in a dream, "an airy staircase with shiny railings, scented with perfumes, rushed up" ^{[4, p. 19]}. The shiny railing suggests luxury, unlike the dirty, dark stairs in reality. We can say that the staircase in a dream is the entrance to the kingdom of fun, symbolizing the beginning of a dream that leads a person into the world of dreams. It is known that "the main carnival action is the buffoonish crowning and debunking of the king" ^{[1, p. 20]}. Piskarev, who in reality is a poor artist of low status, in a dream becomes an honored guest at a ball and dances with a girl of his choice. The staircase acts as a bridge between two different states, allowing him to temporarily experience a carnival world order in which the usual social boundaries are erased.

Throughout the story, the image of the staircase passes through the life trajectory of the main characters. For Piskarev, the staircase served as a kind of portal between reality and dreams, and Pirogov's story unfolded in a carnival space where "top" and "bottom" symbolized not only the physical location, but also the opposite poles of the social hierarchy. The staircase figuratively reflects the vicissitudes in the fate of the characters, symbolizing illusory joy and cruel disappointment. The binary oppositions "ideal and reality", "noble and humble" are like the top and bottom of the ladder, the characters get lost between them and cannot find harmony and stability in life.

An important manifestation of carnival is the motives of metamorphosis and disguise. M. Bakhtin notes that carnival is characterized by "a change of clothes and one's social image: disguises, transformations" ^{[1, p. 86]}. These phenomena are associated with thoughts of variability and impermanence. In the illusory world, appearances can deceive people, and the true essence is usually hidden under a mask. The transformation is reflected in the change in the main character's view of the world and people around him. After meeting with a beautiful stranger on Nevsky Prospekt, Piskarev's inner world undergoes a number of changes: "God, what eyes! The whole position, and the contour, and the salary of the face are miracles! <...> Such a beauty, such divine features — and where is it? in what place!.." ^{[4, p. 18]}. At first Piskarev was happy, but when he discovered that this beautiful woman was just an ordinary prostitute, he was deeply disappointed.

The motives of metamorphosis and disguise are also reflected in how differently Pirogov treats people around him in different situations. When Pirogov chased the beauty, he saw the tinker Schiller for the first time. Pirogov behaved politely, he "bent down slightly and said with his characteristic pleasantness: You will excuse me..." ^{[4, p. 32]}. But when he turned to the blonde, his behavior became very frivolous: "Oh, hello, my darling! Didn't you recognize me? Little cheat, what pretty eyes! — at the same time, Lieutenant Pirogov wanted to lift her chin very nicely with his finger" ^{[4, p. 33]}. The freshness of impressions and the excitement of the first meeting prevented Pirogov from controlling his thoughts, and at that moment he was vulgar. But when Pirogov and the blonde met again to make a good impression and demonstrate their charm, "Pirogov acted quite carefully this time, treated himself very respectfully and, bowing, showed all the beauty of his flexible, overstretched figure" ^{[4, p. 37]}. This time he was as polite as when he first met Schiller.

Carnival grotesque and laughter are manifested in the story through a combination of tragedy and comedy, high and low. V.G. Belinsky characterizes Nevsky Prospekt as follows: "... these are two polar sides of the same life, this is high and funny side by side with each other" ^{[3, p. 178]}.

Gogol's use of the technique of carnival grotesque and laughter to create contrasts emphasizes the absurdity and illusory world of Nevsky Prospekt. The following phenomenon is observed in the description of this urban space. Body parts, elements of clothing, positions, titles take the place of a person and exist separately from him. G.A. Gukovsky argues that Gogol's descriptions "lack the features of an individual portrait" ^{[5, p. 261]}. I.N. Shatov offers a new interpretation of this phenomenon, pointing to "the presence of elements of carnival grotesque in Gogol's work (reduction of the character to one external feature)" ^[12]. Thus, Schiller did not consider his nose to be a simple organ of the body, the fact that the nose is a symbol of a huge appetite for tobacco encourages the thrifty Schiller to take measures to get rid of his destroyer.

The carnival grotesque implies the blurring of boundaries, the inversion of everyday hierarchies, the emphasis on the body rather than on the spirit or mind of a person. In carnival culture, the body and its parts often act as symbols of social processes. Gogol's use of carnival grotesque to emphasize the artificiality and conventionality of social status and roles makes his characters both ridiculous and pathetic, and lays the tragic subtext of the story.

Tragedy and comedy are intertwined in Piskarev's story. A burning feeling for a brunette lays the foundation for tragedy when it turns out that she is actually a woman of easy virtue. However, Piskarev's tragedy takes on a comic dimension when he tries to save a beautiful woman, relying on fantasy and advising her to live according to the laws of virtue.

In Nevsky Prospekt, the grotesque becomes a realistic way of artistic generalization. Gogol uses carnival images to show the illusory nature of existence and the tragedy of human existence. Combining the high and the low, the tragic and the comic, the writer creates a multidimensional picture of the world where laughter simultaneously exposes and asserts the richness and inconsistency of life.

The carnival beginning was reflected in the scene of Piskarev's death. This episode attracted the attention of many scientists who noted the role of the social environment in Piskarev's tragic fate (N.L. Stepanova, V.V. Zhdanova, E.S. Rogover, T.A. Kalganova, etc.). D.A. Nechaenko associated Piskarev's death with a mysterious act, carnivalization ^[9]. At first glance, the story presents a tragic plot: the artist, disappointed in life, decides to commit suicide. However, the author depicts the death of the main character in a grotesque carnival way, combining tragedy and comedy.

Death in the carnival coordinate system is expressed in the "combination of death with laughter" ^{[1, p. 437]}. In the story, Piskarev's death scene is associated with the laughter of a beautiful woman and her friend. The image of the beauty is accompanied by laughter, as the plot develops, Piskarev's perception of laughter undergoes changes.

Piskarev's first meeting with the beauty takes place on Nevsky Prospekt. Following her, he is afraid of being noticed. However, when the beauty turns around, it seems to Piskarev that a slight smile flashes on her lips: "The beauty looked around, and it seemed to him as if a slight smile flashed on her lips" ^{[4, p. 15]}. This fleeting smile gives rise to a feeling of love in Piskarev's heart.

However, at the next meeting at the shelter, the perception of the beauty's smile changes. Her smile takes on a tinge of vulgarity and arrogance: "The beauty smiled significantly, this smile was filled with some kind of pathetic arrogance" ^{[4, p. 17]}. The ideal image of the goddess created by Piskarev begins to collapse.

The final collapse of Piskarev's illusions occurs when he tries to convince a beautiful woman to change her life. The laughter of the beauty and her friend is full of sarcasm and mockery: "the friend made some stupid face on her pathetic face, which made the beauty laugh extremely" ^{[4, p. 27]}. Laughter ceases to accompany beauty and love, becoming one of the factors pushing Piskarev to commit suicide. According to L.Y. Fuchson, "in the world of Nevsky Prospekt, smile and laughter are completely devoid of genuine gaiety" ^{[11, p. 24]}. Laughter reveals the illusions of the main character, exposes the imperfection of the world. It is through a smile and laughter that Piskarev's tragic transition from fantasy to despair is revealed.

Although carnival death emphasizes the hero's direct encounter with death, it does not imply a passive expectation of death as the end of life, which can occur at any moment, but rather interprets passing away from life as an integral part of its cyclical development, in which death is inevitably accompanied by a renewal of life. Gogol's image of death is ambivalent. According to Bakhtin's theory, "Birth and death represent the affirmative and negative levels of dualism, and the image of carnival death contains both birth and death" ^{[1, p. 438]}, and death is always "fraught with a new birth" ^{[1, p. 304]}.

On this basis, K.V. Barinova puts forward the idea that death may be associated with sexual images. ^{[2, p. 8]} Thus, the shelter serves as a place for sex work and a place where the wonderful fantasies of the protagonist are destroyed. Piskarev's dreams and his pursuit of the ideal woman embody repressed sexual desire. His idealization of a woman and the pursuit of an unattainable ideal of beauty can be considered as a form of sublimation of sexual impulses, which ultimately leads to psychological conflict and tragic denouement. In addition, Piskarev's desire to embody his ideal can be seen as a metaphor for "birth", reflecting his desire to cultivate and create beauty. When the possibility of such a "birth" is destroyed by a collision with reality, the hero chooses self-destruction and death to get rid of the pain. Moreover, Piskarev's death is not only a punishment for excessive daydreaming, but also getting rid of tragic reality. For the main character, death is a carnival "relief", after which rebirth begins.

Piskarev's death scene is perceived both as a natural consequence of the disintegration of life and as a grotesque accident. The tragedy is meaningless and resembles an absurd farce.

The death of the main character is depicted through a description of the tools that led to it — a hand and a small razor: "The bloody razor was lying on the floor. From the convulsively outstretched arms and the terribly distorted appearance, it could be concluded that his hand was wrong..." ^{[4, p. 28]}. The hand is a part of the body that embodies life and mobility. A small razor as a daily self-care tool was supposed to be used to maintain neatness and decency in life. Both images are initially associated with life and cheerfulness, but in the scene of Piskarev's death they become murderous tools for ending life, embodying the dual nature of death, the fine line between life and death. Compared to other methods of suicide (for example, hanging, taking poison, etc.), suicide with a small razor seems even more inefficient and time-consuming. This seemingly impractical method of death, on the one hand, emphasizes Piskarev's firm intention to commit suicide, and on the other hand, further strengthens the absurd, antiheroic nature of death, making it look like a farce.

Piskarev's death scene is full of carnival images. The author uses the grotesque to combine tragedy and comedy, high and low. The death of the main character is both tragic and grotesque, punitive and liberating. Through the grotesque depiction of Piskarev's death, Gogol reveals the illusory romantic view of life and the tragedy of human fate.

Conclusion

N.V. Gogol's novella "Nevsky Prospekt" embodies the key features of carnivalization in the writer's work: 1) creating a playful, festive atmosphere on Nevsky Prospekt, where the boundaries between the real and the fantastic, tragedy and comedy are blurred; 2) erasing hierarchical and social differences between characters in the space of Nevsky Prospekt; 3) intertwining the illusory and real worlds, metamorphoses and disguises of heroes; 4) using grotesque images and combining a ridiculous beginning with tragic; 5) the ambivalence of carnival images, where the high is adjacent to the low, and beauty turns into vulgarity.

Thus, carnivalization is one of the key features of Gogol's poetics in Nevsky Prospekt and allows the writer to create a multidimensional, contradictory image of St. Petersburg as a city of contrasts.