DESTINY OF UTOPIA IN NIKOLAI GOGOL’S СYCLE MIRGOROD

Наталия Кожуховская

Кафедра русской и общей филологии Института гуманитарных наук Сыктывкарский государственный университет

Abstract

This article analyzes the leitmotif of the circle that appears in Mirgorod at different levels (the
image, the system of characters, plot, time-space) and supports the “utopian” theme of the cycle. The
motif of “breaking the circle” in the first three stories leads to the collapse of the attempts to create
a “perfect space”; in the fourth story, a blocking border destroys the isolated world from the inside.
In the light of this collection it can be regarded as an artistic proof of the instability of any utopia.

Keywords:

Gogol, Myrgorod, utopia, circle motif