Wolfgang M. Schmitt im Gespräch mit Franz Friedrich über »Die toten Seelen« von Nikolai Gogol

The Russian writer Nikolai Gogol is a master of the absurd and grotesque, who uses satirical means to portray society and its customs. In his great novel "Dead Souls", the first part of which was published in 1842, Gogol focuses on Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, who comes from a humble background. We follow a young man who wants to rise to the top, initially fights corruption, but then becomes part of the game. The titular dead souls are deceased serfs who are still officially listed in the tax lists. The protagonist exploits a loophole in the law and buys these souls from landowners. This lucrative business also functions as a metaphor for a corrupt and empty society. Gogol describes a story of advancement that is updated not least by crypto-coins, Elon Musk's DOGE and a nihilistic politics that threatens to slide into nationalism and can possibly only be dealt with satirically. The writer Franz Friedrich ("The Passenger", "The Tits of Uusimaa No Longer Sing") and the author and podcaster Wolfgang M. Schmitt ("The Film Analysis", "The New Twenties") talk about Gogol's literary masterpiece and its topicality.