|
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), The Nose", "Viy (story), Viy", "The Overcoat", and "Nevsky Prospekt (story), Nevsky Prospekt". These stories, and others such as "Diary of a Madman (Nikolai Gogol), Diary of a Madman", have also been noted for their Proto-Surrealism, proto-surrealist qualities. According to Viktor Shklovsky, Gogol used the technique of defamiliarization when a writer presents common things in an unfamiliar or strange way so that the reader can gain new perspectives and see the world differently. His early works, such as ''Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka'', were influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing, Ukrainian culture and Ukrainian folklore, folklore. His later writing satirised political corruption in contemporary Russian Empire, Russia (''The Government I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sorochyntsi
Velyki Sorochyntsi (; formerly referred to simply as Sorochyntsi) is a village in Myrhorod Raion, Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine. It formerly had town status. It hosts the administration of Velyki Sorochyntsi rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The village is famous as the birthplace of the writer Nikolai Gogol () and the location of the Sorochyntsi Fair. In 1925–1931, the town was called Neronovychi after the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik activist Yevhen Neronovych, who was executed by Ukrainian military forces in the town in 1918. The population as of 2013 was estimated at 3,809, down from 4,231 in the Ukrainian Census (2001), 2001 census. The name of the village came either from the Slavic word ''soroka'' (magpie) or ''sorochka'' (shirt). There are many legends explaining the name of the village as the location of the Magpie's kingdom or of some magical shirt. History The earliest recorded mention of the settlement (sloboda (settlement), sloboda) is in the 1620s. In 164 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ukrainian Folklore
Ukrainian folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Ukraine and among ethnic Ukrainians. The earliest examples of folklore found in Ukraine is the layer of pan-Slavic folklore that dates back to the ancient Slavic mythology of the Eastern Slavs. Gradually, Ukrainians developed a layer of their own distinct folk culture. Folklore has been an important tool in defining and retaining a cultural distinctiveness in Ukraine in the face of strong assimilatory pressures from neighboring lands. Distinctiveness Ukrainian folk customs have numerous layers defined by the period in which that aspect developed and the area in which it was exploited. The lowest and oldest level is the pan-Slavic layer of folk culture which has many elements that are common to the Slavic people in general. Above that are elements common to the Eastern Slavs, and above that are elements found only in Ukraine itself. The layer above this contains cultural and folkloric elements that define the various ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces. Dostoevsky's literary works explore the human condition in the troubled political, social and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes. His most acclaimed novels include '' Crime and Punishment'' (1866), ''The Idiot'' (1869), ''Demons'' (1872), '' The Adolescent'' (1875) and '' The Brothers Karamazov'' (1880). His '' Notes from Underground'', a novella published in 1864, is considered one of the first works of existentialist literature. Born in Moscow in 1821, Dostoevsky was introduced to literature at an early age through fairy tales and legends and through books by Russian and foreign authors. His mother died of tuberculosis on 27 February 1837, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ukrainian Literature
The term Ukrainian literature () is normally used to describe works of literature written in the Ukrainian language. In a broader sense it can also relate to all literary works created in the territory of Ukraine. Ukrainian literature mostly developed under foreign domination over Ukraine, Ukrainian territories, foreign rule by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Second Polish Republic, Poland, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Romania, the Austria-Hungary Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, enriched Ukrainian culture and language, and Ukrainian authors were able to produce a rich literary heritage. Ukrainian literature can be traced back to Kievan Rus' when Rus' chronicles and Epic poetry were written in Old Church Slavonic and Church Slavonic. Oral folktale also appeared at the time. Old Church Slavonic was divided into Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, Russian language, Russian, and Belarusian language, Belarusian. Ukrainian culture was thriving under the rule of . But after the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different ethnic origins, including bilingual writers, such as Kyrgyz novelist Chinghiz Aitmatov. At the same time, Russian-language literature does not include works by authors from the Russian Federation who write exclusively or primarily in the native languages of the indigenous non-Russian ethnic groups in Russia, thus the famous Dagestani poet Rasul Gamzatov is omitted. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Early Middle Ages when Old Church Slavonic was introduced as a liturgical language and became used as a literary language. The native Russian vernacular remained the use within oral literature as well as written for decrees, laws, messages, chronicles, military tales, and so on. By the Age of Enlightenment, literature had gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Carriage
"The Carriage" (or "The Coach" in some translations; ) is an 1836 short story by Nikolai Gogol, one of his shortest works. The story centers on the life of a former cavalry officer and landowner near a small Russian town. After reading the story, Anton Chekhov wrote to Alexei Suvorin, "What an artist he is! His 'Carriage' alone is worth two hundred thousand rubles. Sheer delight, nothing less." Background Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809–1852) was a well-known Russian novelist and short-story writer. He was born and raised in Ukraine and moved to St. Petersburg in 1828. His short story "The Carriage" was published in the first volume of Pushkin's literary journal ''The Contemporary'' in 1836. It is speculated that Gogol wrote the short story to echo Pushkin's '' Tales of Belkin'', as he mimics Pushkin's use of anecdotes, irony, and structure in media res. It is classified as one of his Petersburg tales (along with "Nevsky Prospekt", "The Diary of a Madman", "The Nose", "The Over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Portrait (short Story)
"The Portrait" () is a short story by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, originally published in the short story collection '' Arabesques'' in 1835. The story shares themes with some of his earlier works such as " St. John's Eve" and " Viy". Plot summary "The Portrait" is the story of a young and penniless artist, Tchartkoff, who stumbles upon a terrifyingly lifelike portrait in an art shop and is compelled to buy it. The painting is magical and offers him a dilemma — to struggle to make his own way in the world on the basis of his own talents or to accept the assistance of the magic painting to guaranteed riches and fame. He chooses to become rich and famous, but when he comes upon a portrait from another artist which is "pure, faultless, beautiful as a bride" he comes to realize that he has made the wrong choice. Eventually, he falls ill and dies from a fever. Part I The first part of the story takes place in nineteenth-century Saint Petersburg, Russia and follows a penniless yet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Tale Of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled With Ivan Nikiforovich
"The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich" (, 1835), also known in English as ''The Squabble'', is the final tale in the '' Mirgorod'' collection by Nikolai Gogol. It is known as one of his most humorous stories. In March 2002, the BBC Radio 4 comedy series ''Three Ivans, Two Aunts and an Overcoat'' adapted the story under the title "The Two Ivans", starring Griff Rhys Jones and Stephen Moore. Plot summary This story takes place in the bucolic small town of Mirgorod. It is written in a style featuring grotesque yet realistic portrayals of the characters. The two Ivans are gentlemen landowners, neighbors, and great friends, each one almost being the opposite image of the other. Ivan Ivanovich is tall, thin, and well-spoken, for example, while Ivan Nikiforovich is short and fat and cuts to the point with a biting honesty. One day, Ivan Ivanovich notices his friend's servant hanging some clothes out to dry as well as some military implements, especially a Tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marriage (play)
''Marriage'' (, ''Zhenit'ba'') is a two-act play by the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, which was written in 1832 and first published in 1842. Plot summary In the opening scene, a civil servant named Ivan Kuzmich Podkolyosin sits alone in his room smoking a pipe and contemplating marriage. He has hired a matchmaker (Fyokla Ivanovna), as was the custom in Russia at the time, to help find him a bride. As the two converse, the audience discovers that Podkolyosin has been in search of a bride for quite some time. The reason for his not being yet married, however, owes to his own indecisiveness rather than the lack of a suitable partner. In fact, Fyokla has found him a nice young woman named Agafya Tikhonovna. When Podkolyosin's friend Kochkaryov unexpectedly pays a visit and finds Fyokla at Podkolyosin's home, he learns for the first time of his friend's search for a bride. The fact that Podkolyosin has not mentioned it to his friend provides further proof of his indecision. Kochkary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taras Bulba
''Taras Bulba'' (; ) is a romanticized historical novella set in the first half of the 17th century, written by Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852). It features elderly Zaporozhian Cossack Taras Bulba and his sons Andriy and Ostap. The sons study at the Kiev Academy and then return home, whereupon the three men set out on a journey to the Zaporizhian Sich (the Zaporizhian Cossack headquarters, located in southern Ukraine) where they join other Cossacks and go to war against Poland. The story was initially published in 1835 as part of the ''Mirgorod'' collection of short stories, but a much expanded version appeared in 1842 with some differences in the storyline. The 1842 text was described by the twentieth-century critic as a "paragon of civic virtue and a force of patriotic edification", contrasting it with the rhetoric of the 1835 version with its "distinctly Cossack jingoism". Inspiration The character of Taras Bulba, the main hero of this novel, is a composite of several histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argumenty I Fakty
(, commonly abbreviated "АиФ" and translated as ''Arguments and Facts'') is a weekly newspaper based in Moscow and a publishing house in Russia and worldwide. Since 2014, it has been owned by the Government of Moscow. History and profile It was founded in 1978 by the All-Union Organisation "Znanie" (Knowledge) and was published throughout the whole Soviet Union for lecturers, propagandists, political agitators. In 1980 ''AiF'' was transformed into a weekly but was available only by subscription. In late 1980s, it was one of the leading publications in the Glasnost period. AiF was listed in the Guinness Book of Records with the largest circulation of any weekly publication. In 1990 it had a print run of 33.5 million. With the fall of the Soviet Union, publication of it was discontinued in countries outside the Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas I Of Russia
Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1825 to 1855. He was the third son of Paul I of Russia, Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I of Russia, Alexander I. Nicholas's thirty-year reign began with the failed Decembrist revolt. He is mainly remembered as a reactionary whose controversial reign was marked by geographical expansion, centralisation of administrative policies, and repression of dissent both in Imperial Russia, Russia and among its neighbors. Nicholas had a happy marriage that produced a large family, with all of their seven children surviving childhood. Nicholas's biographer Nicholas V. Riasanovsky said that he displayed determination, singleness of purpose, and an iron will, along with a powerful sense of duty and a dedication to very hard work. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
