Reflection of the author's Religious Views in fantastic images and folk demonology in N. V. Gogol's Early Prose and Pu Songling's Short stories: typological aspect of description

This article is devoted to a typological analysis of the reflection of the author's religious views in fantastic images and folk demonology in the early prose of the Russian writer N. V. Gogol "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" and the classic work of Chinese literature by the short story writer Pu Songling "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio". The article focuses on the moral and religious pursuits of both authors, as well as the artistic functions of their religious and ethical beliefs in the early fantasy cycle of Gogol's novels and the collection of short stories by Pu Songling. The analysis revealed common features and fundamental differences in their artistic worlds due to cultural and religious traditions. The research presents a historical and theoretical overview of the methodology of typological analysis of literary texts, revealing the dynamics of the development of the concept of "typological connection" in comparative literary studies. This approach is used to study the influence of Orthodox concepts on the early work of Nikolai Gogol and Buddhist and Taoist ideas on the work of Pu Songling. The article concludes that the reflection of the author's religious views in the depiction of fantastic images and folk demonology in the early prose of N. V. Gogol and Pu Songling's stories is possible within the framework of a typological approach. The religious views of the writers in question were shaped by their family and social environment. Unlike Gogol's linear Orthodox model of the dichotomy of good and evil, Pu Songling's otherworld, inspired by the Taoist concept of the "immortality of the soul" and the Buddhist "circular" way of thinking about karma and reincarnation, is ambivalent. In addition, religious concepts determine the differences in the depiction of infernal characters.: In Gogol, they appear as antagonists and tempters, while in Pu Songling they serve as helpers and comforters.