The Historianism of Gogol

Extract

It has often been stated that Gogol, the great writer, was an utter failure as a historian. But one must differentiate between a writer and teacher of history and a person endowed with the real qualities of a historian. Gogol was never a “trained” historian. He never attended any specifically devised history courses. But he read a great deal about history through secondary accounts, and he examined many original historical sources, although among these he was less attracted by chronicles and official accounts than by the oral tradition and folk-lore. To him, for instance, the songs and legends of the Ukraine were worth more than volumes of historical accounts about the land of his birth. Nevertheless, he had a true concept of history and of its implications for the life of man individually or in a community, and we cannot possibly discount him as a historian unless we can (or dare to) discount another great historian— Thomas Carlyle—who, I am happy to notice, is coming back into recognition.