Russian Literature and The Absurd

Hey y'all. I wanted to get some thoughts on this topic and was hoping someone here might have something to say.

Specifically in reference to Gogol's "The Nose" and Bulgakov's "Heart of a Dog," what do you think are the key elements of absurdity in these stories and Russian Lit in general?
Would you say Gogol is the father of Russian absurdity in literature, or do you think someone else pioneered the genre before him?
Do you think Bulgakov was influenced by Gogol? How so?
In what ways do Heart of a Dog and The Nose converge?

Some of these may be leading questions, sorry about that. If you have read one or both of these works, or other things relating to the absurd in Russian Literature, please share your thoughts!

Looking forward to hearing what y'all have to say

--Kit.

Looks like someone got their homework.

The fact that the human nose (Gogol) has become an independent being is, of course, absurd.

But the fact that a dog as a result of a medical operation became a man (Bulgakov) seems to me fantastic but not absurd.

I do not know the literature that was before Gogol very well, but I agree that of the major Russian writers, he is perhaps the first in this genre.

I have no doubt that Bulgakov knew Gogol's works well.

In my opinion, there is no common idea in these two literary works.

I believe that The History of a Town by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin can be added to these works.

This thing is, as it were, a chronicle of a certain city in which the absurd deeds of its various chiefs are described.