Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Fine Arts
Major
Creative Writing
Date of Defense
4-12-2024
Graduate Advisor
John Dalton
Committee
John Dalton
Shane Seely
Saher Alam
Abstract
The project is a fantastical novel based on the life of Nikolai Gogol. Gogol was the Russian/Ukrainian author of such notable works as “The Nose,” “The Overcoat,” Dead Souls, and The Inspector General. Born in 1809 in the Ukrainian village of Sorochyntsi Gogol was moderately educated at the Nizhyn School (which now bears his name). Soon after graduating he moved to St. Petersburg (the then capital of the Russian Empire) and achieved early and remarkable success from his collections of stories Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, and Mirgorod. Though he is considered one of the founders of Russian Realism, Gogol was neither truly Russian nor a realist. Gogol lived much of his later life outside of Russia and influenced such authors as Franz Kafka. In the end, Gogol died tragically in 1852 at the age of 42. This novel aims to explore the duality of Gogol’s character: his literary genius and his almost total inability to understand the world around him, or even himself. The novel incorporates aspects of Gogol’s fiction into the narrative of Gogol’s life, and by doing so seeks to understand not only the mythological writer Gogol, but the complexities of the very flawed human Nikolai.
Note: This thesis is under a author requested embargo until 2224, after which it will become available in accordance with end of expected copyright protection. This embargo year is intentional and not an error.
Recommended Citation
Metz, Alexander, "From a Flame, Dust or Gogolia" (2024). Theses. 485.
https://irl.umsl.edu/thesis/485