The image of the nose as a body part in works by N.V. Gogol and in Western European literature

The article offers an analysis of the image of the nose as a body part in the works of Gogol in comparison with rhinological motifs in the literature of Ludovico Ariosto, Cyrano de Bergerac, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Shakespeare, Rostand. The image of nose regarded in that light can be found in the poem ''Dead Souls'' which is connected with the story ''The Nose'' chronologically. Amongst the elements typical for this image is synesthesia. The sense of smell often replaces sight, hearing, touch and taste by the characters of Gogol. Also noses in his works are able to perceive not only sensory, but any kind of information. This is emphasized by the verb ''pronyukhat''' (to smell out) meaning ''to learn, to find out''. This category is important in the novel of E.T.A. Hoffmann ''Meister Floh'' too, where the author recalls the tragedy of Shakespeare ''Romeo and Juliette'' using a quotation from there in a form of words play uniting the ideas ''nose'' and ''knowledge''. Also Hoffman in this jocular fragment refers to the noses turning out to be a direct pass to the brain, where knowledge is stored. A similar plot is present in the work of Bergerac ''L'Autre Monde: ou les Etats et Empires de la Lune'' in the scene of parody on the biblical motif where a character having tasted an apple feels wisdom like a scent. Not only synesthesia, but also personification is typical for describing a literary nose. The motif of animacy fully presented in Gogol's novel ''The Nose'', also becomes apparent by this body part controlling the human. The noses get the same attributes as their owners have. They determine the behavior of the people not only in Gogol's works: in Hoffmann's ''Meister Floh'' is another example. It is not just about subjectivity, the objectivity is also inherent in the nose: it acts both like an animate being and like a thing, embracing all possible forms of existing. Another quality of noses is their aversion to the cabbage smell. This includes not only vegetables: the heads of characters in Gogol's works are sometimes heads of cabbage, too. Accordingly, we can see here the desire of the noses to opposite themselves to the human. This motif is confirmed by the facts of physiology: the part of brain responsible for perceiving smells - the olfactory brain - is functioning separately. Thereby, the nose and the sense of smell can be a metaphor for subconsciousness, so the nose of Kovalyov can be considered as an uncontrolled part of his personality having become an independent individual. Fastidiousness to the people and striving for the detached living appears in the novel ''Diary of Madman'', as well as in the poem of Ludovico Ariosto ''Orlando Furioso''. In this work the fantastic space of the moon keeps the minds of people in form of scents in the bottles. Separately existing noses having more intellect than people are presented by Bergerac and Rostand in the work ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Animacy and independence of nose as a body part are therefore motifs regularly appearing in the rhinological literature.

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