COMIC AND FEARFUL IN «THE FAIR AT SOROCHYNTSI» BY NIKOLAI GOGOL // Bulletin of BSU. Philology. - 2020. №4. . - С. 40-46.

COMIC AND FEARFUL IN «THE FAIR AT SOROCHYNTSI» BY NIKOLAI GOGOL

UDK: 821.161.1

The article reviews «The Fair at Sorochyntsi» which is the first short story in the collec- tion «Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka» by Nikolai Gogol. Three groups of characters are distinguished: comic, idealized and demonic heroes. The features of the portrait image of comic characters are described: comic gestures, emphasis on physiology. The author shows the obligatory connection of these characters with a sense of fear and, in general, with the world of the fearful. The genetic connection of silent scenes with the romantic formula «mute and immovable» and pantomimic tableau has been clarified. In the por- trayal of the young heroine Paraska, Gogol pays tribute to the tradition of depicting fe- male heads «tete d’expression» and to the romantic principle of «the soul of the face». Attention is paid to the concepts «mirror» and «dance».

«The Fair at Sorochyntsi» by Nikolai Gogol; comic characters; gestures; the world of the fearful; portraits of characters.