HISTORICAL BASIS OF NIKOLAI GOGOL'S STORY «TARAS BULBA

ИСТОРИЧЕСКАЯ ОСНОВА ПОВЕСТИ НИКОЛАЯ ГОГОЛЯ «ТАРАС БУЛЬБА»

Диденко Ирина Михайловна

студент, кафедра русского языка и русской литературы, Белгородский государственный национальный исследовательский университет (НИУ «БелГУ»),

РФ, г. Белгород

ABSTRACT

The article is devoted to the historical component of Nikolai Gogol's epic story «Taras Bulba», covering and closely connected with the biography of the author himself.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Статья посвящена исторической составляющей эпической повести Николая Гоголя «Тарас Бульба», охватывающей и тесно связанной с биографией самого автора.

Keywords: creativity, history, literature, story.

Ключевые слова: творчество, история, литература, повесть.

«I gave birth to you, I will kill you» is a familiar expression that has spread to all corners of our Motherland and beyond.

Many phrases from the works of the classics have become winged and it is difficult to remember where this or that statement comes from. But ask anyone, and everyone, without hesitation, will answer who this phrase belongs to. A phrase filled with sadness and anger.

Nikolai Gogol's pen was used to write the historical story «Taras Bulba» [1], which showed us, the readers, how it is possible and necessary to love our Fatherland, defending and giving life for faith, comrades and native land.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol came from an old Cossack noble family Gogol-Yanovsky. Two cultures intertwined in it - Russian and Ukrainian, each of which, undoubtedly, was reflected in the writer's work. Even after moving to St. Petersburg, Gogol was interested in the history and customs of his native land [2].

It is known that he rewrote his work about eight times and worked on it for ten years, publishing and remaining dissatisfied with the result. He worked on the manuscript, trying to convey the originality of the characters, the description of battle scenes, the life of the Zaporizhzhya Sich more vividly and clearly.

Gogol spent a lot of time studying various historical sources, so he approached the collection of information for writing the story with special responsibility, which made the story of its creation no less interesting.

Nikolai Gogol addressed readers through the newspaper with a request for help in collecting previously unpublished information about the history of Ukraine, memoirs, manuscripts. But all the materials he collected were very «dry» in themselves, and in order to «revive» his work, he used elements of Ukrainian folklore: songs, thoughts, legends.

The historical plot of the story is based on the events of the 16th century.

In Ukraine at that time, the Polish gentry became large landowners, who introduced Polish laws on their lands and planted «their faith» - Catholicism. Apostasy has always been considered a terrible sin, so the bulk of the population of Ukraine refused to profess the Catholic faith [3].

Another reason for the uprising was that with the advent of the Polish «lords» the best plots of land were taken away from the peasants, many were simply driven off their land or resettled on infertile lands. Large taxes were imposed on free peasants in order to force them to sell their land to a large Polish landowner.

Under pressure, some Ukrainian landowners adopted the customs and way of life of the Poles. But most of the population desperately resisted and fought against Polonization.

Through the joint efforts of the Poles and Ukrainian apostate landlords, under the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, Uniatism was invented.

Many church rites in Uniatism outwardly resembled the ritual side of Orthodoxy, but in fact Uniatism was and remains an offshoot of the Roman Catholic Church with its teachings and ideas about how a Christian should live.

It should be noted that the main character of the story N.V. Gogol Taras Bulba just fought against encroachments on the holy Orthodox faith and the foundations of his people.

Zaporizhzhya Sich is one of the main places of events in Gogol's story [3]. The Sich was located on the island of Khortytsya, where the Cossacks and runaway peasants settled, having built and strengthened the largest camp on the island - the Zaporizhzhya Sich. Its inhabitants began to be called Zaporozhye Cossacks.

Usually the sichs were located closer to the mouth of the Dnieper River. Researchers note that in the entire history of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks there were 8 sichs, each of which operated from five to forty years.

In the early nineties of the 16th century, oppression from Poland began to intensify, so the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, fugitive peasants and the population of the enslaved regions actively opposed the expansion of the Poles: they attacked Polish lands, burned crops and cities and drove away Polish landowners.

Subsequently, several major liberation movements were organized under the leadership of Kosinsky, Nalivaiko, Taras Tryasilo, Pavlyuk, Guni and Ostryanin [3]. And only in 1648, in early spring, the great historical struggle of the Ukrainian people for their liberation began, which was led by Bohdan Khmelnitsky, which led to the reunification of the two peoples - Ukrainian and Russian.

Thus, Nikolai Gogol, with his work and such a hero as Taras Bulba, showed us through what those same Zaporozhye Cossacks went through, defending their faith, comrades and land from the enemy. Remaining faithful to their Fatherland and their faith, they defended their right to their native lands and their beliefs at the cost of their own lives.

Leo Tolstoy once said: «A country that has forgotten its culture, history, traditions and national heroes is doomed to extinction». Looking back, we can confidently say that we honor the heritage of our Motherland. Even now, at the present time, on the territory of the Ivnyansky district there is a Cossack society, which, just like in that time far from us, swears an oath to protect the Fatherland and the holy Orthodox faith.

References:

1. Gogol N.V. Taras Bulba and other stories / N.V. Gogol. - :Rainbow, 1993. - 333 p.
2. Zolotussky I. P. Gogol. - M .: Young Guard, 2005. - 65 p.
3. Yavornitsky D.I. History of the Zaporizhian Cossacks. - K .: Nauk. thought, 1990. - V.1. - 592 p.