“The Immutable Laws of Reflection.” The Physical and Spiritual Optics of Nikolai Gogol

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Vinogradov, I. A. “ʽThe Immutable Laws of Reflection.’ The Physical and Spiritual Optics of Nikolai Gogol.” Dva veka russkoi klassiki, vol. 8, no. 2, 2026, pp. 118–207. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2026-8-2-118-207
Abstract:
The article analyzes numerous examples of Gogol’s keen attention to optical phenomena. It examines a number of images from Gogol’s works related to optics: camera obscura, laterna magica, microscope, telescope, luminous transparencies, etc. The possibility of Gogol’s acquaintance with the Schellingian theory of light is assessed, as well as the writer’s rootedness in the Orthodox tradition of understanding the image. The influence of Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Gnedich and others on Gogol’s ideas about the nature of light is noted. Primary attention is paid to analyzing Gogol the artist’s own little-studied views on the visual-expressive aspect of the artistic image. The article outlines the poetics of “light” paintings, common to most of Gogol’s works — the stories “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka,” “Mirgorod,” the St. Petersburg cycle, the fragment “Rome,” “Dead Souls,” and others. The organic connection between Gogol’s physical and spiritual optics is emphasized, as well as its structure-forming significance for the writer’s work. The article concludes that Gogol was constantly concerned with the circulation of positive and negative ideas in society and various models of behavior that determine everyday life, national traditions, and the character of the people according to the “laws of reflection.”
Keywords: Nikolai Gogol, biography, creativity, poetics, interpretation, optical effects, camera obscura, laterna magica, transparencies, hagiography, iconography, realism, naturalism, spiritual heritage
Author: Igor A. Vinogradov
Information about the author:
Igor A. Vinogradov, DSc in Philology, Director of Research, A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25A, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9151-4554

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received: November 27, 2025
Approved after reviewing: February 14, 2026
Published: June 25, 2026
Issue: 2026 Volume 8 No. 2
Department: Russian Literature of the 18th–19th Centuries
Pages: 118-207
DOI: Visit Website
EDN:
https://elibrary.ru/UCMGBE
UDK: 821.161.1.09"19"
Publication Type: Research Article

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