Alan Sachnowski, New College of Florida
This paper examines the processes of structural formations in Nikolai Gogol's The Overcoat, employing Karl Marx's theory of "commodity fetishism" and Boris Eichenbaum's formalist interpretation of the "grotesque" in the story. The physical transformation of the overcoat within the story can be structurally segmented to reflect its significance. While the grotesque functions to transform the insignificant into the significant aesthetically, fetishizing the insignificant can imbue an object with a social significance. This paper traces the forms of the overcoat as an object in production, mobilizing Eichenbaum's formalist analysis to describe "The Grotesque Fetishism of the Overcoat."