Comparative Study of N. V. Gogol’s “Notes on Russian Life” and “Tales of the Russian People” by I. P. Sakharov

Abstract

The article establishes and clarifies the sources of N.V. Gogol’s notes “Yegory in Spring,” “Nikola in Spring,” “Yuri in Autumn,” “Nikola in Winter.” G. P. Georgievsky was the first who drew attention to these sources, pointing out that Gogol’s notes are extracts from the “People’s Diary” of the doctor, ethnographer, archaeologist, paleographer and writer Ivan Petrovich Sakharov (1807–1863) in his book “Tales of the Russian People.” “People’s Diary” is combined by I. P. Sakharov with “Folk Holidays and Customs” in “Russian Folk Anniversary,” which is a part of his book “Tales of the Russian People.” The work emphasizes that, along with the complete coincidence of a number of texts of Gogol’s notes with the texts of the source, there are some discrepancies. As a result of a comparative study of the texts, it was established that Gogol’s texts are extracts not only from the “People’s Diary,” but also from “Folk Holidays and Customs,” combined with the “People’s Diary” in the “Russian Folk Anniversary” in the book by I. P. Sakharov “Tales of the Russian People.”