The spectacularism of Nikolai Gogol: Is the 'overcoat' truly a ghost story?
Critical realism is a philosophical approach that emphasises the importance of understanding the world in a way that promotes individual liberty and gospel [1] . This theory gained prominence during Russia’s Golden Age in the 19 th and 20 th centuries through the works of artistic individuals Pushkin and Gogol [2] . Gogol hailed as ‘the father of Russia's Golden Age of prose realism’ [3] , emphasised the antagonistic tensions that existed between social structures in Russia, leading to his condemnation as a ‘reactionary nationalist’. However, as Russian society began to evolve in the following years, Nikolai Gogol’s artistic contributions became increasingly celebrated in the late 1930s. What was once deemed utopian and escapist naivety, was now recognised as ‘the song of heroic deeds’ and ‘the fight against the vulgarity of gentry existence’ (Robert L Strong, 1955) [4] . Gogol’s, ‘Overcoat’, is a revolutionary, realist story of destitution and social isolation [5] , althoug...
