The literary sermon of N. Gogol: pro et contra

The article is devoted to the study of the contradictory attitude to Gogol's creative heritage in the posterior Russian literature. The author analyzes the conflict between the content of the writer's works and the pathos of his closest “successors”, representatives of the so-called “natural school”, which united the writers of the Western direction headed by V. G. Belinsky and N. A. Nekrasov. The role of P. V. Annenkov, V. P. Botkin, I. S. Turgenev, N. G. Chernyshevsky, etc. in the campaign against Gogol launched in 1847 by Belinsky regarding the publication of the “Selected passages from the correspondence with friends” is stressed. The special attitude to Gogol's traditions by F. M. Dostoevsky is considered in detail. The history of Turgenev's article about the death of Gogol in 1852 is analyzed. The origins of the famous satirical attack of Turgenev's character Bazarov regarding Gogol's “Fathers and sons” are clarified. The objective view of Gogol's estimations of Turgenev's works is presented. For the first time the history of the origin and development of “literary centrism” of the national culture of 19th-20th centuries.