 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2015) |
_Nikolai_Gogol_1842_title_page.jpg) Cover page of the first edition of Dead Souls. Moscow, 1842 | |
| Author | Nikolai Gogol |
|---|---|
| Original title | Мертвыя души |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre | Picaresque, political, satire |
Publication date | 1842 |
| Publication place | Russian Empire |
| Text | Dead Souls at Wikisource |
Dead Souls (Russian: Мёртвые души Myórtvyye dúshi, pre-reform spelling: Мертвыя души) is a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. The novel chronicles the travels and adventures of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov and the people whom he encounters. These people typify the Russian middle aristocracy of the time. Gogol himself saw his work as an "epic poem in prose", and within the book characterised it as a "poem in prose". Gogol intended the novel to be the first part of a three-volume work, but burned the manuscript of the second part shortly before his death.[1][2] Although the novel ends in mid-sentence (like Sterne's Sentimental Journey), it is regarded by some as complete in the extant form.[3]
- ^ "Dead Souls". Lost Manuscripts. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ "Why Gogol burned the 2nd volume of his 'Dead Souls' novel". Russia Beyond. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ Christopher English writes that "Susanne Fusso compellingly argues in her book Designing Dead Souls that Dead Souls is complete in Part One, that there was never meant to be a Part Two or Part Three, and that it is entirely consistent with Gogol's method to create the expectation of sequels, and even to break off his narrative in mid-story, or mid-sentence, and that he was only persuaded to embark on composition of the second part by the expectation of the Russian reading public". - Gogolʹ, Nikolaĭ Vasilʹevich (1998). English, Christopher (ed.). Dead Souls: A Poem. Oxford world's classics. Translated by English, Christopher. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 435. ISBN 9780192818379. Retrieved 25 July 2020.