The aesthetic position of Nikolai Gogol in the reception of Leo Tolstoy

In the works of Tolstoy one can find moments of convergence with Gogol in the conceptual, philosophical and artistic world. An important point explaining the proximity of the elements of the system of Tolstoy's art and the poetics of Gogol is the position of Tolstoy as a reader. The complex process of interaction between the reader and the writer, in which the experience of the writer in life, his view of the world and the concept of the world are transplanted by the artistic perception into the minds of the readers and to some extent becomes part of them, is expressed by L.N. Tolstoy in a well-known formula: "A man is what he's reading". In his treatise "What is Art?" the writer substantiates theoretically the idea of art as a communicative activity, "by the forms of art he (man) interchanges feelings, and this with all men, not only of the present time, but also of the past and the future". Our task is to consider the features of the reader dialogue of L.N. Tolstoy and N.V. Gogol, identify points of contact and describe the mechanism of transformation of the aesthetic experience of N.V. Gogol, his world view in the mind of L.N. Tolstoy. Note that L.N. Tolstoy was not just a reader, but a creator and thinker with a complex and contradictory worldview who chose the teaching mission for himself. Analyzing the artistic system of N.V. Gogol L.N. Tolstoy addresses to the criteria which were not only formed under the influence of the writer, but also perceived from his work. Assessing Gogol's artistic system L.N. Tolstoy sees a significant disadvantage in bringing up moral-religious enlightening topics, but he takes the same path. This contradictory way of reading Gogol's works - denial, sometimes condemnation, then acceptance and implementation of the artistic system - is characteristic of the creative way of Tolstoy. Much of what Gogol categorically rejects finds itself in the pages of Tolstoy's literary and philosophical works. But if Gogol did not manage to combine religious views and artistic work, Tolstoy, on the contrary, comes to their synthesis.

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