The concept ‘tea’ in the poem ‘Dead souls’ by Nikolai Gogol

The article deals with the concept of ‘tea’ in the poem by Nikolai Gogol Dead Souls. The main representations of this concept in the poem are identified, its influence on the plot and the composition is determined, conclusions about the symbolic meaning of tea in Dead Souls are provided. Representations of the concept of ‘tea’ in the text of the poem are compared with the representations of the studied concept in other works by Gogol such as The Government Inspector, Nevsky Prospekt, The Portrait, The Nose, The Overcoat and others, which made it possible to draw a conclusion about the special role of tea in Dead Souls. The actualization of the studied concept in the text is compared with the literary and historical context, it is shown what Gogol’s innovativeness lies in, the features of the Gogol literary tea drinking are identified. In Dead Souls, the author pays special attention to treats, with the role of tea still being more significant than the role of other treats. Tea emphasizes the contrasts in the text, allows the author to make the grotesque brighter, illustrates the motive of the road, and serves as a vivid household detail. Key representations of the concept of ‘tea’ in the poem are: ‘an element of hospitality’, ‘an attribute of friendship’, ‘tea as a commodity’, ‘tea as an element of luxury’, ‘tea as part of alcohol culture’. Tea is inextricably connected with the key symbolic leitmotive of the work - the motive of the road. The representation of ‘tea as an attribute of travel’ brings the Gogol’s poem closer to other texts of Russian literature where tea is part of the semantic field ‘road’, and the path itself is endowed with a symbolic meaning.