“Readings” of N. V. Gogol`s Compassion by Turkish Novelist Alev Alatli

Abstract

As a result of the evolutions one of the founding fathers of the 19th century Russian literature Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol experienced in his thought, ‘a few Gogol views’ have been formed in the history of Russian literature according to both Western specialists and native Russian researchers. As Gogol is known more for his contribution to critical realism in Russian literature, the deep and vast allusions to layers of meaning in the plots of his works under the influence of despotism at that period make Gogol’s works today much more valuable. N. V. Gogol’s allusions of ‘vastness and deepness’ had quite different reflections on man’s search for his interpretation and reading, and this difference has been keeping on widening his great diversity of understanding. Alev Alatlı shared the Gogol’s readings with her readers in the novel Not Enlightenment, Compassion! / Aydınlanma Değil, Merhamet! with its unique plot and style, the first book of this series consisting of four volumes whose main title Following Gogol/Gogol’ün İzinden’ is given by her in the year 2003. In the novel the title ‘Compassion’ is preferred to ‘Enlightenment’, in pursuit of Gogol’s readings after 151 years of his death by Alev Alatlı, a highly cultured intellectual; her perceptions of him and the actions triggered by this perceptions is the purpose of this presentation on the basis of the aforementioned work.