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Gogol argues that to look for “an authentic Russian background” in Dead Souls is as useless as an endeavor as to figure out Denmark from reading Hamlet. Firstly, he argues that Dead Souls is not a detailed realistic picture of provincial Russia. In beginning his analysis, Nabokov rejects two common readings of Dead Souls. This segment of our podcast will focus on Nabokov’s reading of Dead Souls. He dedicates about a third of the book to discussing Dead Souls and in his criticism, he presents some very compelling and insightful ideas regarding Gogol’s novel. In 1944 the brilliant, multilingual Russian-born author and professor Vladimir Nabokov published a short landmark criticism on the works and life of Nikolai Gogol. Vladimir Nabokov’s Criticism of Dead Souls: the Poshlust of Chichikov and the landowners and Gogol’s groundbreaking style

Transcript of episode, with discussion questions at the end: Vladimir Nabokov, author of “Lolita” and “Pale Fire,” has quite a few things to say regarding Nikolai Gogol and his “Dead Souls,” including an extensive attempt to define the Russian concept of “poshlust” in explaining much of the themes that run through “Dead Souls.” How does looking at “Dead Souls” through Nabokov’s eyes change our appreciation and understanding of Gogol’s work? Should it?