Lev Tolstoy’s Article “About Gogol” (1887–1888) in the Context of the Activities of the Publishing House “Posrednik”

This paper considers the historical and literary context of L. Tolstoy’s article on N. Gogol 1887–1888 in relation to the activities of the publishing house “Posrednik”. It shows the unity of the world view and ideological and value orientations of Tolstoy, the editor, and the team of authors of The Intermediary that manifested itself during the preparation of a brochure about Gogol’s life and work. For the first time, materials from the book “Nikolai Gogol as a Teacher of Life” (1888), compiled by the “Posrednik`s” employee A. Orlov and carefully edited by Tolstoy, are introduced into the academic discourse. It is argued that the interpretation in the “Posrednik`s” brochure and in Tolstoy’s preface to it of Gogol’s creative achievements as an artist, his religious, philosophical and aesthetic experiments, and his discussion with the critic V. Belinsky after the release of “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” (1845–1847) primarily reflect Tolstoy’s own difficult path of spiritual development and the excessive religious moralizing in his artistic and aesthetic quest of the 1880s. Tolstoy’s demands on art at the time were based on his belief that an artwork must affirm moral ideals drawn exclusive from Gospel maxims about humility, non-resistance, and the love for God and fellow man. We conclude that religious didacticism put Tolstoy, in Gogol’s wake, in opposition to the practical aesthetics of the “revolutionary democrats” personified by Belinsky, whose atheistic moralism led him to advocate that the goals of art should be subordinated to the principle of the public good and justice and to oppose Tolstoy the publicist to Tolstoy the artist.