RUSSIA AND NAPOLEON IN THE POT OF GOGOL "DEAD SOUL"
The belonging of the Dead Souls to the genre of the epic (ancient and medieval) poem about wars and wanderings (including the world beyond the grave) is the original author's installation, and not only Chichikov's "Adventures", but also the military theme in its various aspects is an immanent component text. Chichikov - the bearer of an alien, non-Russian mentality, invading Russian realities, and therefore the parallel between Chichikov and Napoleon is consistently carried through the entire text of the poem.
1 It is known that on the title page prepared by the author, the word "POEMA" is printed in the biggest letters - white on a black background. The hidden meaning of this graphic symbolism will become clear in the sequel.
2 See: S. Radtsig. Gogol and Homer // Bulletin of the Moscow State University. Ser. historical and philological. 1959. № 4. P. 122-123. On the numerous instructions of Gogol himself for his succession in relation to the Homeric epic, see also my work "Antiquity and Russian Culture", published in the textbook: Borukhovich VG. History of ancient Greek literature. Saratov, 1982. Ch. XXIV. Pp. 435-437.