"The Little Man" is a literary character typical of the era of realism. Such a hero in works of art could be a minor official, a tradesman, or even a poor nobleman. As a rule, its main feature is a low social status. This image is found in the works of both domestic and foreign authors. The theme of the little man occupies a special position in Russian literature. After all, this image received especially vivid expression in the works of such writers as Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Gogol.

The great Russian poet and writer showed readers a soul pure and unspoiled by wealth. The main character of one of the works included in the cycle “Belkin’s Tale” knows how to rejoice, sympathize and suffer. However, the life of Pushkin’s character is initially not easy.

The famous story begins with the words that everyone curses stationmasters, without analysis of which it is impossible to consider the topic “The Little Man in Russian Literature.” Pushkin portrayed a calm and happy character in his work. Samson Vyrin remained a good-natured and good-natured man, despite many years of hard service. And only separation from his daughter deprived him of peace of mind. Samson can survive a difficult life and thankless work, but he is not able to exist without the only person close to him in the world. The stationmaster dies of melancholy and loneliness. The theme of the little man in Russian literature is multifaceted. The hero of the story “The Station Agent,” perhaps like no other, is capable of arousing compassion in the reader.

Akaki Akakievich

A less attractive character is the hero of the story “The Overcoat”. Gogol's character - collective image. There are many like Bashmachkin. They are everywhere, but people do not notice them, because they do not know how to appreciate the immortal soul in a person. The theme of the little man in Russian literature is discussed year after year in school literature lessons. Indeed, thanks to a careful reading of the story “The Overcoat,” the young reader can take a different look at the people who surround him. The development of the theme of the little man in Russian literature began precisely with this semi-fairy-tale work. It’s not for nothing that the great classic Dostoevsky once said famous phrase: “We all left the Overcoat.”

Until the middle of the 20th century, the image of a little man was used by Russian and foreign writers. It is found not only in the works of Dostoevsky, but also in the books of Gerhart Hauptmann and Thomas Mann.

Maxim Maksimovich

The little man in Lermontov's work is an extraordinary personality suffering from inaction. The image of Maxim Maksimovich is first encountered in the story “Bela”. Thanks to Lermontov, the theme of the little man in Russian literature began to serve literary device for a critical depiction of such vices social society, like genuflection, careerism.

Maxim Maksimovich is a nobleman. However, he belongs to an impoverished family and does not have influential connections. And therefore, despite his age, he still holds the rank of staff captain. However, Lermontov portrayed the little man as not insulted and humiliated. His hero knows what honor is. Maxim Maksimovich is a decent person and an old campaigner. In many ways, he resembles Pushkin from the story “The Captain's Daughter”.

Marmeladov

The little man is pitiful and insignificant. Marmeladov realizes his uselessness and uselessness. Telling Raskolnikov the story of his moral fall, he is hardly able to arouse sympathy. He states: “Poverty is not a vice. Poverty is a vice." And these words seem to justify Marmeladov’s weakness and powerlessness.

In the novel “Crime and Punishment,” the theme of the little man in Russian literature receives special development. An essay based on Dostoevsky's work is a standard assignment in a literature lesson. But, regardless of what name this written task has, it is impossible to complete it without first writing a description of Marmeladov and his daughter. At the same time, it should be understood that Sonya, although she is also a typical little person, is significantly different from the other “humiliated and insulted.” She is unable to change anything in her life. However, this fragile girl has enormous spiritual wealth and inner beauty. Sonya is the personification of purity and mercy.

"Poor people"

This novel is also about “little people.” Devushkin and Varvara Alekseevna are heroes whom Dostoevsky created with an eye on Gogol’s “The Overcoat”. However, the image and theme of the little man in Russian literature began precisely with the works of Pushkin. And they have a lot in common with Dostoevsky’s novels. The story of the stationmaster is told by himself. The “little people” in Dostoevsky’s novels are also prone to confession. They not only realize their insignificance, but also strive to comprehend its cause and act as philosophers. It is enough just to remember Devushkin’s lengthy messages and Marmeladov’s long monologue.

Tushin

The system of images in the novel “War and Peace” is extremely complex. Tolstoy's characters are heroes from the highest aristocratic circle. There is little insignificant and pathetic in them. But why is the great epic novel remembered when the theme of the little man is discussed in Russian literature? An essay-reasoning is a task in which it is worth giving a description of such a hero as from the novel “War and Peace”. At first glance, he is funny and clumsy. However, this impression is deceptive. In battle, Tushin shows his masculinity and fearlessness.

In Tolstoy's enormous work, this hero is given only a few pages. However, the theme of the little man in Russian literature of the 19th century is impossible without considering the image of Tushin. The characteristics of this character are very important for understanding the views of the author himself.

Little people in Leskov's works

The theme of the little man in Russian literature of the 18th and 19th centuries is explored to the maximum. Leskov also did not ignore her in his work. However, his heroes differ significantly from the image of the little man that can be seen in the stories of Pushkin and the novels of Dostoevsky. Ivan Flyagin is a hero in appearance and soul. But this hero can be classified as “little people.” First of all, because he faces many trials, but he does not complain about fate and does not cry.

The image of a little man in Chekhov's stories

A similar hero is often found on the pages of this writer’s works. The image of a little man is depicted especially vividly in satirical stories. The petty official is a typical hero of Chekhov's works. In the story “Death of an Official” there is an image of a little man. Chervyakov is driven by an inexplicable fear of his boss. Unlike the heroes of the story “The Overcoat,” the character from Chekhov’s story does not suffer from oppression and bullying from his colleagues and boss. Chervyakov is killed by fear of higher ranks and eternal admiration for his superiors.

"The Victory's Celebration"

Chekhov continued the theme of admiration for superiors in this story. However, the little people in “The Triumph of the Victor” are depicted in a much more satirical light. The father, in order to obtain a good position for his son, humiliates himself with ingratiation and rude flattery.

But in low thoughts and misbehavior It is not only the people expressing them who are guilty. All this is the result of the orders prevailing in the social and political system. Chervyakov would not have asked for forgiveness so zealously if he had not known about possible consequences mistake made.

In the works of Maxim Gorky

The play “At the Lower Depths” tells the story of the inhabitants of the shelter. Each of the characters in this work is a little person, deprived of the most necessary things for life. normal life. He is unable to change anything. The only thing he has the right to is to believe in the fables of the wanderer Luke. Sympathy and warmth are what the heroes of the play “At the Bottom” need. The author calls on readers to be compassionate. And in this his views coincide with the point of view of Dostoevsky.

Zheltkov

« Garnet bracelet" - a story about the great love of a little man. Zheltkov once falls in love with married woman, and he remains true to this feeling until the last minutes of his life. There is an abyss between them. And the hero of the work “Garnet Bracelet” does not hope for a reciprocal feeling.

Zheltkov has the characteristic features of a small person not only because he occupies a low social position. He, like Bashmachkin and the station guard, is left alone with his pain. Zheltkov’s feelings serve as the basis for jokes and ironic sketches of Prince Shein. Other heroes are able to assess the depth of the “little man’s” suffering only after his death.

Karandyshev

The image of a little man has common features with similar heroes in the works of Dostoevsky and Chekhov. However, the humiliated Karandyshev in the play “Dowry” evokes neither pity nor sympathy. He strives with all his might to get into a society in which he is not welcome. And for the insults that he has endured for many years, he is ready to take revenge.

Katerina Kabanova also belongs to the category of little people. But these heroines are complete individuals, and therefore do not know how to adapt and dodge. Death for them becomes the only way out of the situation in which they find themselves due to the inertia of the social system.

The image of the little man in literature developed in the nineteenth century. However, in modern literature he gave way to other heroes. As you know, many foreign authors were influenced by Russian literature. Proof of this is the works of XX writers, in which there are often characters reminiscent of Chekhov’s and Gogol’s heroes. An example is Thomas Mann's Little Mister Friedemann. The hero of this short story lives his short life unnoticed and dies the same way, from the indifference and cruelty of those around him.

Traditionally in literary criticism it is customary to distinguish the following functions of things in literary text: cultural, characterological, plot-compositional. The thing may be a sign of the depicted era and environment. The cultural function of things is especially clear in travel novels, where they are presented in a synchronous section different worlds: national, class, geographical, etc. The cultural function of things in the historical novel is very important - a genre that was formed in the era of romanticism and strives to visually represent historical time and local flavor in its descriptions.

Things often become signs, symbols of a person’s experiences. Things also perform a symbolic function in everyday works. Gogol colorfully depicts the life of the Cossacks in “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.”

An item can serve as a sign of wealth or poverty. According to a tradition originating in Russian epic epic, where heroes competed with each other in wealth, striking with an abundance of jewelry, precious metals and stones become this indisputable symbol.

The characterological function of things is no less important. In the works of N.V. Gogol shows the “intimate connection of things” with their owners. No wonder Chichikov loved to look at the home of the next victim of his speculation. “He thought to find in it the properties of the owner himself, just as one can judge from a shell what kind of oyster or snail was sitting in it” (“Dead Souls” - vol. 2, chapter 3, early ed.) Costume and interior, personal belongings help determine not only the era and social status, but also the character, tastes, and habits of the character. It is difficult to imagine Gogol’s heroes without their uniform tailcoats, and Oblomov without his usual robe.

IN literary work the thing acts as an element of the conventional, artistic world. And in contrast to reality, the boundaries between things and humans, living and nonliving, here can be unsteady. However, the writers also sensitively grasped another facet in the relationship between a person and a thing: the material value of the latter can overshadow a person; he is assessed by society by how much expensive things possesses.

Things can line up in a sequential row. In “Dead Souls,” for example, every chair shouted: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” But one detail can characterize a character. For example, a jar with the inscription “laceberry”, prepared by the caring hands of Fenechka (“Fathers and Sons” by Turgenev). Interiors are often depicted according to a contrasting principle - let us recall the description of the rooms of two debtors of the moneylender Gobsek: the countess and the “fairy of purity” seamstress Fanny (“Gobsek” by O. Balzac). Against this background literary tradition The absence of things can also become significant (the so-called minus device): it emphasizes the complexity of the hero’s character.

One of the common functions of things in a literary work is plot-compositional. Let us recall the ominous role of the scarf in the tragedy “Othello” by W. Shakespeare, the necklace from Leskov’s story of the same name, and the “queen’s slippers” from “The Night Before Christmas” by N.V. Gogol.

In addition to the three main functions of things described above, there are also more specific (private) functions described by A.P. Chudakov. We tried to present them briefly:

1. Things often serve as an introduction to the atmosphere of the work.

2. Things become a source of impressions, experiences, thoughts, and correlate with personal experiences and memory.

3. The thing becomes the subject of reflection and evaluation

4. Things become indirect signs of the character's evolution.

5. The thing is capable of transmitting psychological condition character.

6. Things in many ways appeal to an understanding of the very personal completeness of the character.

7. Things can act as a leitmotif.

So the thing is work of art performs three functions: cultural, characterological, plot-compositional. However, these functions should not be considered exhaustive and the only possible ones.

I. Organizational moment.

II. Checking homework.

1. Reading and reviewing essays (stories): “to akim I saw Pugachev in the novel by A. S. Pushkin.”

2.Working with cards.

Card 1.

What event in Russian history is this passage talking about? What is the name of this work and who is its author? From whose perspective is the story being told?

“I will not describe our campaign and the end of the war. Let me say briefly that the disaster reached the extreme. We passed through villages devastated by the rebels, and involuntarily took away from the poor residents what they had managed to save. The rule was stopped everywhere: the landowners took refuge in the forests. gangs of robbers were committing crimes everywhere; the commanders of individual detachments autocratically punished and pardoned; The condition of the entire vast region, where the fire was raging, was terrible... God forbid that we see a Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless!”

(We are talking about the peasant revolt of 1772–1774 led by Emelyan Pugachev, who proclaimed himself tsar Peter III. The excerpt is taken from the novel by A. S. Pushkin “The Captain's Daughter”. Talks about the events of his life main character– Pyotr Andreevich Grinev.)

Card 2.

Read Grinev's dream. When did the hero dream of him? Why is this dream interesting? Why did A. S. Pushkin include a dream in the story?

(Petrusha Grinev had this dream during a steppe snowstorm, when an unexpected counselor undertook to show the way to housing. It predicts future terrible events of a popular revolt, because the man from the dream is a counselor, and in the future Emelyan Pugachev is the leader of the Cossack army, a self-proclaimed king. That is why it is important: it not only anticipates historical events, but also predicts the future nature of the relationship between the young officer and the people's leader.)

Card 3.

In connection with what and who tells the Kalmyk fairy tale? How do you understand its allegorical meaning? How does the attitude towards the idea of ​​a fairy tale characterize the narrator and his listener?

(The tale of the eagle and the raven is told by Pugachev on the way to the Belogorsk fortress during a conversation about his affairs and a bleak future. The tale has an allegorical meaning: it is about two possible elections life path– quiet, measured, not rich in external events and friend: bright, rich, but short. The heroes of the fairy tale also play a symbolic role: the eagle is a free bird, loving heights, space, a royal bird; The raven is a wise bird, but prosaic, earthly, and ugly.

Thanks to this story, Pugachev and Grinev express their attitude to life. For Pugachev, a short but bright path, reminiscent of the life of an eagle, is better. Grinev is disgusted by robbery and villainy; it is not for nothing that he calls the riot senseless and merciless; it is created for a peaceful family life among dear people.)

Card 4.

Why does Grinev, calling Pugachev an impostor, a robber, a villain, still sympathize with his friend, does not want him to die, and comes to say goodbye on the day of his execution?

(Grinev cannot call Pugachev anything else, since he is a rebel and an officer imperial army- enemies, in addition, Grinev remembers the massacre of the commandant of the Belogorsk fortress, the death of Vasilisa Egorovna and other tragic events. But the human relations of the two heroes stand outside their official relations; Pugachev not only saves the life of his friend, but also ensures his happiness, while showing nobility and tolerance, respecting Grinev for his loyalty to his word and kindness. The young hero’s sympathy is not only gratitude for good deeds, but a sincere human feeling, although at first (as in the dream) Grinev is slightly offended that his benefactor is a “man.”)

Card 5.

Read the description. What artistic means does the author use? What role does this passage play in the story?

“The driver galloped; but kept looking to the east. The horses ran together. Meanwhile, the wind became stronger hour by hour. The cloud turned into a white cloud, which rose heavily, grew and gradually covered the sky. It began to snow lightly and suddenly began to fall in flakes. The wind howled; there was a snowstorm. In an instant, the dark sky mixed with the snowy sea. Everything has disappeared. “Well, master,” the coachman shouted, “trouble: a snowstorm!”...

I looked out of the wagon: everything was darkness and whirlwind. The wind howled with such ferocious expressiveness that it seemed animated; the snow covered me and Savelich; the horses walked at a pace - and soon stopped. “Why aren’t you going?” – I asked the driver impatiently. “Why go? - he answered, getting off the bench, - God knows where we ended up: there is no road, and there is darkness all around.

(The main thing in this description is action, dynamics. The state of nature changes instantly: wind, snow, blizzard, blizzard, haze. Pushkin uses very modest epithets; only two contrasting colors: dark sky - snowy sea (previously - a white cloud). There are only two metaphors: the wind howled (an animal howls), the snowy sea (an infinity of snowy moving mass, similar to the sea element). Pushkin is a master of landscape. But his landscape is not static, frozen, but changing, moving, as in life. The description of the snowstorm in the novel has several meanings:

A) compositional– thanks to the snowstorm, the heroes (Pugachev and Grinev) not only meet, but also develop sympathy for each other;

b) allegorical– blizzard, rampant elements – symbolizes future events, rampant rebellion, which, like the blizzard, poses a threat to the hero’s life;

V) realistic– snowstorms are still found in the steppes, so the description of the snowstorm gives the story the authenticity of what is actually happening.)

Card 6.

What is an epigraph? What are epigraphs for? Which epigraph does Pushkin choose for his novel “The Captain's Daughter”?

(Epigraph is a short text (quote, saying, saying, etc.), prefaced by a work of art, placed before the text. An epigraph often expresses the author’s main thought, idea or mood of the work, contains the author’s assessment of the events presented. Pushkin’s “The Captain’s Daughter” is preceded with the epigraph “Take care of your honor from a young age.” This proverb not only defines the code of conduct of a young man, but also characterizes the hero and explains his moral choice in difficult moments of trial.)

3.Conversation on issues.

– We have already noted how confidently Pushkin introduced his novel with the epigraph “Take care of honor from a young age.” Remember the epigraphs that precede other chapters. What are they? Why?

(Epigraphs to other chapters of “The Captain’s Daughter” are the lines folk songs, proverbs and excerpts from the works of writers of the 18th century (Knyazhnin and Kheraskov). This selection of epigraphs is not accidental. It helps convey the flavor of the era (18th century), creates a special lyrical mood, adds lyricism to the narrative, creating the illusion of the author’s assessment of the hero’s story. There is another meaning in this selection of epigraphs: in works of oral folk art the centuries-old experience of the people, their ideas about the ideal are concentrated, therefore the epigraphs contain the people’s assessment of the heroes and events.)

– Why do you think the story about the Pugachev rebellion is called “The Captain’s Daughter”? Who is the main character?

(Indeed, the main characters in the novel are Pyotr Grinev and Emelyan Pugachev. Against the background of the formidable events of the Pugachev rebellion, the story of the relationship between Masha - Grinev - Shvabrin develops. Modest and shy Masha at the decisive moment shows extraordinary strength of character and courage. She does not want to get married without her parent's blessing , is ready to die, but not to become the wife of an unloved one; finally, defending the honor and freedom of her fiancé, she decides to travel to the capital to see the queen herself. Purity and selflessness give her image a heroic aura.

Perhaps, by calling his work “The Captain's Daughter,” Pushkin wanted to emphasize that he was primarily interested in human relationships. Even a historical figure is presented from an unexpected and even more remarkable side: the organizer of the fate of the enemy, who is humanly closer than his companions.)

III. State the topic and purpose of the lesson.

– What are they, people of the “past century”? Is the epigraph of Chapter III of “The Captain’s Daughter” true: “old people”? What does it mean?

We will try to answer these and many other questions in today's lesson.

IV. Studying a new topic.

1. The teacher's word.

So, “old people”! what does it mean? And why did Pushkin take this phrase from Fonvizin’s “Minor”? Is it possible that the author of “The Captain’s Daughter” remembers Prostakova and Skotinin? or maybe Starodum and Pravdin? Of course, the surnames are expressive, “talking,” and quite clearly “represent” the characters in Fonvizin’s comedy. “Pravdin” does not need any comments: the meaning of the surname is completely clear. But “Starodum”... It’s as if he is not from the age of the Prostakovs, - from a long, “ancient” time, however, not very long ago. Just from the Peter the Great, from the Lomonosov era! Still the same 18th century! So is Pushkin's epigraph successful? What did he reveal to you?

2. What is your feeling of “Belogorsk”, “ancient” life? Let's reread these pages (p. 123).

“Nobody met me. I went into the hallway and opened the door to the hallway. An old invalid, sitting on a table, was sewing a blue patch onto the elbow of his green uniform. I told him to report me. “Come in, father,” answered the disabled man, “our houses.”

Isn't it hard to resist smiling? But this smile is sympathetic, full of tenderness. No respect either for the uniform, which could well be decorated with a patch of a different color (and that will do!), or for the army chain of command: what kind of “report” is that! “Our houses!” - and that’s it! But isn't there a contrast? Of course, Ivan Ignatich with his “interrogation” of Grinev, styled in the style of an old campaigner ( With. 124:“I dare to ask”, “why did you deign to move from the guard to the garrison”, “acts indecent for a guard officer”). But Vasilisa Egorovna immediately interrupts him: “It’s enough to lie about nonsense...” (p. 124, 1st paragraph). But where are the words that capture the “old times”, its kindness? “Vasilisa Egorovna received us easily and cordially and treated me as if she had known me for a long time.” (p. 126, 3rd paragraph).

That's how it is treated! But who is this “us”? It is clear, not only Grinev, but also Savelich. Whose voice, whose intonation do you hear? Undoubtedly, not only Grinev, but also the Author. After all, it was he who prompted Grinev to sit down with his memories. And to be completely precise, he wrote them for him! With his tongue! But also to yours! Did you feel the style of Pushkin’s prose? Haven't you noticed Pushkin's attitude to parts of speech?

Needless to say, he prefers nouns and verbs and is very reserved in the use of adjectives.

Pushkin the prose writer is clear and precise in word and phrase, simple in syntax, preferring a simple sentence, without much complexity. In which of the prose writers can we notice this same property of “Pushkin’s” prose?

Yes, from Chekhov! But this will happen much later. And not without the influence of Pushkin’s prose.

But let's return again to Pushkin's novel. Are there changes taking place in him, in his “world” itself, in his intonation?

Indeed, a calm, even narrative is replaced by rapidly bursting events, and with them intonations: anxiety, almost confusion and even “horror” (we have already talked to you about Pugachev’s siege of the fortress, its capture, the execution of its defenders). What do you think, could Captain Mironov, Ivan Ignatich and Vasilisa Egorovna have avoided death? Why did they suffer a different fate - “to perish from an escaped convict,” as Vasilisa Egorovna would say, having paid for these words with her life? What especially amazed you about them? How did Pushkin write the scene of the massacre of the officers of the Belogorsk fortress? Why is this terrible page so short?

But who unexpectedly intervened in this scene? Yes, Savelich! It turns out that the circle of “old people” in Pushkin’s novel is not limited to the inhabitants of the Belogorsk fortress: and Savelich among them is also one of the “old people”!

Are there still “old people”? Yes, and the Grinevs are of the same family and tribe: “old people”! Why? Doesn't our conversation require a comparison of old Grinev with the Belogorsk officers? Of course, not only Andrei Petrovich Grinev would certainly repeat the feat of Captain Mironov, but Petrusha Grinev also worthily represents her father, faithful to his order: “Serve faithfully to whom you swear allegiance...”

And again - an antithesis. Do you think Shvabrin is also one of the “old people”? oh nonsense: “the latest” in baseness and dexterity!

And now let’s return to Chapter III, to the epigraph, but different.

Why is there a juxtaposition of “soldier’s song” and “old people” here?

What does the “soldier’s song” bring to mind?

Suvorov’s pages of national history, which were carried out by “old people”, the artistic meaning of Pushkin’s novel overcomes the boundaries of the plot (“Pugachevism” and the fate of Petrusha Grinev) and absorbs the trials of Russia - tests of loyalty - and examples of its best fellow citizens, regardless of the class to which they belonged to: “old people”!

And who do you classify Masha Mironova as?

So, the 2nd part of our lesson will be devoted to the young heroine, after whom the novel is named.

3.The image of Masha Mironova.

What is she like, Masha Mironova?

If her portrait were transferred to a drawing, how would you paint her? (Examination and discussion of drawings-portraits of Masha Mironova.)

Let's remember what impression Masha made on Grinev (read, p. 126, 3rd paragraph).

“At first glance... I didn’t really like it.” And you? Is Grinev’s attitude towards Masha changing? Why?

How did you deal with Masha’s shyness, even to the point of “tearing” her?

Why do we need these details of the heroine’s character? Don't remember anyone? “Blush, she apologized, / because, supposedly, she came to visit them...” Pushkin princess! Do we need this parallel? Why are Pushkin’s heroines so similar, and in completely different works?

But in Pushkin’s novel, next to Masha, another heroine will appear, on whom the happiness of Masha and Grinev will depend, a charming court lady, in whom we recognize... the empress!

Before we turn again to the novel, to our beloved heroine, and re-read the brilliant lines, let’s take a look into the writer’s creative laboratory.

The following “Anecdote” was published in the magazine “Children’s Reading for the Heart and Mind” (Part VII, M., 1786):

“Joseph II, the current Roman emperor, was walking one evening as usual, saw a girl who was bursting into tears, asked her what she was crying about, and learned that she was the daughter of a captain who was killed in the war, and that she was left without food with his mother, who has been sick for a long time.

“Why don’t you ask the emperor for help?” - he asked.

The girl replied that they did not have a patron who would inform the sovereign about their poverty.

“I serve at court,” said the monarch, “and I can do this for you.” Just come to the palace tomorrow and ask Lieutenant B.

At the appointed time, the girl came to the palace. As soon as she pronounced B.’s name, they took her to a room where she saw the officer who spoke to her yesterday and recognized him as her sovereign. She was beside herself with surprise and fear. But the emperor, taking her hand, said to her very affectionately: “Here are three hundred ducats for your mother and another five hundred for your tenderness towards her and for your trust in me. In addition, I am assigning you an annual pension of 500 thalers.”

What scenes from “The Captain’s Daughter” does this anecdote remind you of (in the old days, an anecdote was a short, concise story about a remarkable, funny incident)? Some literary scholars believe that Pushkin used it when creating his story. If so, how did he transform the anecdote into vivid and impressive scenes?

By the way, the censor P. A. Korsakov was so captivated by the verisimilitude of the last scenes of the story that he even turned to Pushkin with the question: “... did the maiden Mironov exist and did the late empress really have one?”

If we skip a little of the text of “The Captain’s Daughter” and turn to Marya Ivanovna’s heroic trip to the court of Catherine II, we will see how closely these pages come into contact with the author’s unforgettable youth, with that “place of upbringing” about which a friendly conversation was to take place in the evening of the same day , when the white paper of the novel was completed.

Having arrived in Tsarskoe Selo the day before, “early the next morning Marya Ivanovna woke up, got dressed and quietly went into the garden. The morning was beautiful, the sun illuminated the tops of the linden trees, which had already turned yellow under the fresh breath of autumn. The wide lake shone motionless. The awakened swans swam importantly from under the bushes that shaded the shore. Marya Ivanovna walked near the beautiful meadow, where a monument had just been erected in honor of the recent victories of Count Pyotr Aleksandrovich Rumyantsev...” What a wonderful air of youth, even almost childhood, Pushkin apparently breathed, copying out these lines with his light pen in the fall of 1836 . What a smell of Tsarskoye Selo autumn coolness must have wafted upon him in stuffy St. Petersburg, sparingly measuring out the last breaths of air released to the suffocating poet. Precisely because the memories of Tsarskoe Selo came flooding back to him, he marked the white autograph of the novel on October 19, probably without thinking at all that his descendants would guess his mood from this mark.”

(“The last year of Pushkin’s life.

Correspondence. Memories. Diaries")

– Read excerpts from Pushkin’s poems and try to determine what impressions of the poet’s youth were reflected in the description of the Tsarskoye Selo garden in “The Captain’s Daughter.”

Memories in Tsarskoe Selo

The pall of gloomy night hangs over

On the vault of slumbering skies;

The valleys and groves rested in silent silence,

In the gray fog there is a distant forest;

You can barely hear a stream running into the shadow of the oak grove,

The breeze barely breathes, asleep on the sheets,

And the quiet moon, like a majestic swan,

Floating in silvery clouds.

Floats - and with pale rays

Objects were illuminated around.

The alleys of ancient linden trees opened before our eyes.

Both the hill and the meadow appeared;

Here, I see, a young willow intertwined with a poplar

And was reflected in the crystal of the shaky waters;

The lily is proud as a queen among the fields

Blooms in luxurious beauty...

In the shade of thick, gloomy pine trees

A simple monument was erected.

Oh, how vilified it is for you, the Cahul coast!

And glory to the homeland! 1 (See note.)

You are immortal forever, O Russian giants.

Brought up in battles in the midst of harsh weather!

About you, companions, friends of Catherine,

Word will spread from generation to generation...

1814

Tsarskoe Selo

Memory, draw before me

Magical places where my soul lives...

Lead, lead me under the linden canopy,

Always kind to my free laziness,

To the shore of the lake, to the quiet slope of the hills!..

May I see carpets of dense meadows again

And a decrepit bunch of trees, and a bright valley,

And a familiar picture of the lush shores,

And in a quiet lake among the shining swells

A proud village of calm swans.

1823

Memories in Tsarskoe Selo

Confused by memories,

Filled with sweet melancholy.

The gardens are beautiful, under the dusk your sacred

I enter with my head hanging...

In the heat of fleeting delights,

In a barren whirlwind of vanity,

Oh, I have squandered many treasures of my heart

For unattainable dreams.

And for a long time I wandered, and often, tired,

With repentance of grief, anticipating troubles,

I thought about you, blessed limit,

I imagined these gardens.

I imagine a happy day

When the lyceum arose among you,

And I hear our games again, the playful noise

And I see my family of friends again.

Once again a gentle youth, now ardent, now lazy,

Vague dreams melt in my chest,

Wandering through meadows, through silent groves,

So I forget myself.

And I see it before me

Proud traces of days gone by.

Still filled with a great wife 2 (see note)

Her favorite gardens

They are inhabited by palaces, gates,

Pillars, towers, idols of the gods

And marble glory, and copper praises

Catherine's Eagles.

The ghosts of heroes sit down

At the pillars dedicated to them.

Look: here is a hero, a constrainer of military formations,

Perun on the Kagul shores.

Behold, here is the mighty leader of the midnight flag,

Before whom the fire melted the seas and flew.

Here is his faithful brother, the hero of the Archipelago,

Here's Navarino's Hannibal 3 (see note)...

Expressive reading episode of Masha's meeting with the Empress (pp. 208–209).

Look at the illustrations for the novel (S. Gerasimov “Grinev and Masha Mironova”, 1951 (p. 142), P. Sokolov “The Captain’s Daughter” (p. 210). Describe the portraits of the characters.

Why do you think Masha Mironova and the Empress ended up next to each other on Pushkin’s pages?

V. Summing up the lesson.

The magic of the name: Masha! What does this name bring to mind? Of course, another Masha - Troekurova!

Is the name coincidence? Let's try to compare our favorite heroines. Who is closer to you?

I hope that Pushkin’s “old people” will remain with you forever.

Homework: prepare a performance of Pushkin’s favorite page from “The Captain’s Daughter” and explain your choice; draw up a quotation plan for an essay on the topic “Grinev in the Belogorsk Fortress.”

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Although the topic of this article is primarily related to anthropology and, in particular, to anthropogenesis, art and its manifestations have been an extremely important part of human society throughout its history. Art is an integral part of the human mind, and in primitive times it was it that formed what can be called the information space of those distant times. That's why I want to talk about the chronology ancient works art discovered on this moment archaeologists.

Pebbles from Makapansgat.

This archaeological find is among the oldest known evidence of “inappropriate actions.” It is natural that our ancestors were concerned only with purely utilitarian things, issues related to survival. The activities that we now call art do not help in survival. However, in the Makapansgat Cave in what is now South Africa, an amazing pebble was discovered - a red, round pebble with natural holes that looked like a face. The pebble was found among the remains of the so-called Australopithecus Africanus, which lived in South Africa from 3.5 to 2.5 million years ago. Australopithecines are the ancestors of humans so distant that they are united with us only by a common family - they and we are hominids ( great apes). Australopithecines were not even fully upright, not to mention intelligent, although they used the most primitive tools.

Australopithecus africanus. Reconstruction carried out by Roman Evseev (1)

Scientists who examined the Makapansgata cave and, in particular, this funny stone, found that the rock from which it consists is not characteristic of that area, and was transported by ancient hominids to their site no less than 30 kilometers away.

Makapansgata Cave (2)

Although that pebble weighing about 250 grams cannot be called a work of art of the ancients, but in view of the fact that they moved it over such a significant distance, and its only natural feature is its resemblance to a face, we can conclude that this is what attracted our ancient ancestors. Despite the natural origin of the pebble, the representative of the ancient hominids treated it unnaturally and performed an inappropriate action with it, especially considering the fact that African australopithecus did not have bags and, especially, clothes with pockets in which all sorts of trinkets could be carried. Such a find shows that Australopithecines had some kind of artistic vision, the emergence of imagination and abstract thinking. Appearance in hominids artistic perception, of course, is associated with the development of the brain and visual system. As noted by anthropologist and candidate of biological sciences Stanislav Drobyshevsky, in his work on brain development primitive people: “The occipital lobe is primarily responsible for vision. Obviously, it was the evolution of the occipital lobe (of course, together with the frontal lobe) that made the development of visual images possible.”(3)

Head stones.

During excavations of various sites of ancient people, archaeologists discovered many stone artifacts resembling human heads or faces. The most famous are the stones from Olduvai (Tanzania, about 1.8 million years ago) and Pampau (Germany, about 400 thousand years ago). Of course, such finds could be considered simple pebbles that took this form by chance, but the abundance of artifacts of the same type near ancient sites allows one to judge that they were not accidental. Most likely, our ancestors saw in them the same thing as we do, so they were collected and, possibly, made. In addition, about 400 thousand years ago, literally manufactured monuments of symbolic thinking began to appear - various bones with notches in the form of parallel lines, and some kind of schematic ornament, sometimes reminiscent of human figures. All these finds, including the oldest from Tanzania, already date back to the time of the appearance of the first people, namely Homo habilis. Around the same time (about 1.9 million years ago), people began to use fire for cooking. It should be noted that there are so many finds from Olduvai and they were of such importance for science that an entire cultural layer was named after this place. The Olduvai culture is the most primitive stone-working culture and dates from 2.7 to 1 million years ago.

Stone heads from various places and times.

Paleolithic Venus.

In a later period (about 200 thousand years) the so-called Paleolithic Venus- the first man-made works of artistic activity, representing anthropomorphic stone figurines. These figurines depict women, hence the name “Venus”. The first figurine, Venus from Berekhat Rama (Dimensions: 3.5 by 2.5 by 2.1 cm) 150 - 280 thousand. The second - Venus from Tan-Tan (Dimensions: 5.8 by 2.6 by 1.2 cm .) has not yet been thoroughly analyzed, and giving its age would be risky. Although some incisions are clearly visible on both figurines, giving them a characteristic shape, their man-made origin is questioned by some archaeologists.

Venus of Berekhat Rama and Venus of Tan-Tan.

The first manifestations of art.

Subsequently, starting from about 85 thousand years ago, art began to firmly enter the life of ancient people (4). All kinds of jewelry in the form of beads made from shells, bones and teeth are found everywhere. These finds are mainly concentrated in the South, North and East Africa, homeland modern people, in particular, in Taforalt in Morocco and Blombos Cave in South Africa. It was then that the first burials of people with signs of ritual behavior were discovered - individual graves with certain symbolic things in them, for example, horns and jaws of animals in the hands of the dead from the burials of Qafzeh 11 and Skhul 5 (Israel, 90 thousand years ago). However, this is not a confirmed fact - there is no certainty that the dead were buried in this way, and not that these objects got there by accident, or that this was simply an error during excavations and further interpretation. In the same places, the first burial of two people in one grave, similar in antiquity, was discovered - a mother and child.
The first archaeological finds of ocher (a natural dye found in the form of stones of varying densities) in ancient caves date back to approximately 78 thousand years ago. And although, subsequently, ocher was widely used to make paint, there is no evidence that it was used for the same purposes even then. Ocher could also be used to tan hides, and applied to the skin to protect against insects. But there are finds of pieces of ocher with primitive patterns applied to it. However, wooden sticks with traces of powdered ocher are also found; apparently they were used to paint something. For it is difficult to imagine any other use for them.

Shell beads from Blombos Cave
Ocher with ornament

Modern use of red ocher by Namibian girls

Neanderthal jewelry.

It should be noted that the bulk of the finds of that time relate to Africa. Neanderthals who lived in Europe and Asia had practically no signs of artistic activity, although they also made scratches on bones and stones (4). In a later period, Neanderthals also began to make beads from drilled teeth, but this was a very rare phenomenon, and it dates back to about 30 thousand years ago, i.e. already during the period when they coexisted with the Cro-Magnons for quite a long time.

Of interest is the “mask” from La Roche-Cotard (France). It is a piece of stone with a natural hole and a fragment of animal bone planted in it. In principle, this design may resemble human face, but it is important to note that we are now judging from the point of view modern man, but it is completely unclear what the Neanderthals saw in this. Perhaps this find has nothing to do with artistic activity at all. Although it is hard to believe that this artifact appeared by chance as a result of some other action, since the bone inserted into the hole is fixed there with small stones.

"Mask" from La Roche-Cotard. In the left “socket” the same fixing stones are visible

But, despite the “neglect” of art, the Neanderthals developed their minds to a primitive understanding of ritualism and certain spiritual manifestations. Thus, at sites in the mountains of Switzerland and Yugoslavia, monuments called the “cult of bear skulls” were discovered - caches with skulls of cave bears. Meanwhile, Neanderthals still practiced burying their dead, although no utensils or burials of multiple people were found in their graves. The oldest burial discovered at Sima de los Huesos in Atapuerca (Spain) about 325 years ago (5). It was simply a deep shaft where corpses were thrown. This burial is called “hygienic” - presumably the shaft was used to remove corpses from the home, because animal corpses were also dumped there. However, characteristically, only the bones of predatory animals were found in the mine and not a single one of a herbivore. This hints that those who lived there associated themselves with predators. Neanderthals, in the period from 68-78 thousand years ago. they literally dug graves for each deceased (exclusively single ones) and sometimes even placed on them certain “monuments” in the form of stone slabs of uncharacteristic shapes or noticeable objects. But we cannot say that these were precisely monuments in our understanding. With the same success, these could just be marks about the location of the grave, so as not to accidentally dig it up in the future. By the way, they were buried in some kind of cemetery - a place specially designated for this, at a distance from the parking lot.

The origin of ancient painting.

The most famous monuments of the artistic activity of ancient people are undoubtedly cave drawings. Of course, they look the most vivid and memorable, but at the same time, the oldest drawing from the Apollo 11 site in Namibia, in principle, is not that old. This small limestone slab with an image of some kind of animal, probably a predator, was originally dated to approximately 26-28 thousand years ago, but subsequent, more careful analysis showed its age to be 59 thousand years ago.

The oldest drawing from the Apollo 11 site in Namibia

Of course, looking at this drawing it is difficult to understand what exactly it depicts, but one cannot fail to note the relatively good quality of the drawing - the artist clearly tried to maintain proportions and reflect the anatomical details of the animal depicted. Theoretically, the presence of some kind of painting in earlier periods cannot be ruled out, because ocher, the main dye of the ancients, was found at sites many tens of thousands of years earlier. But no material evidence of this has survived, or it has not yet been found.
Virtually all cave paintings were created by sapiens; the oldest, of course, are in Africa. In Europe, they begin to be found approximately 40 thousand years ago, from the moment of the migration of the first sapiens. The Neanderthals who lived there previously had no artistic inclinations. Recently found ancient drawing Neanderthals in caves in Spain near Malaga, dating back to 43 thousand years ago. This is according to New Scientist magazine (6), and it is important to note that this is not an official scientific article, so the age data is not official.

Drawing from a cave in Malaga

The article says it depicts seals. However, looking at this extremely primitive drawing, it is difficult to understand what it is, although some resemblance to seals is still visible. But the aforementioned Drobyshevsky, in his commentary article, doubts the involvement of Neanderthals in the drawing. He recalls that the first sapiens appeared in Europe around 42 thousand years ago. and they could well have been in Spain. In addition, sapiens, unlike Neanderthals, loved the sea and seafood. Neanderthals practically did not use such food. (7)
From about 30 thousand years ago Cave paintings are beginning to become almost commonplace for ancient people. Now we can observe a huge variety of such monuments of varying quality. It is noteworthy that sometimes we see very good works of art, which now could be called paintings, such as images of animals from the Chauvet Cave, (France, about 30 thousand years ago) where the use of composition and perspective is clearly visible. Or color paintings from Font-de-Gaume (France, about 17 thousand years ago), in which the unique style used by the artist is visible. At the same time, there are also much more “simple” drawings that a teenager or even a child could easily draw now, as in Kapova Cave (Bashkiria, 36 thousand years ago).

Chauvet Cave

Cave of Font-de-Gaume

Kapova Cave

There is also an interesting trend in the motifs of ancient rock paintings. Thus, in Europe, images of animals predominate. Whereas in Africa, images of humans and geometric figures are more common. At the same time, the main motif of the images are hunting scenes. There are still prints everywhere human hands. There is also a ceremonial meaning in handprints, although perhaps this is only the simplest way to depict some relatively complex texture.

African cave paintings of hunting

Cueva de las Manos, Cave of Hands. Argentina, around 9000 BC

Of particular interest are those drawings that, oddly enough, were not intended for general attention. A lot of them were also found. Such drawings are made in deep and narrow crevices inside the cave, where sometimes a person can hardly fit.

Archaeologists Dirk Hoffman and Alistair Pike. On the left is assistant Gustavo Sanz Palomera.
Photo: Department of Education, Culture and Sports of the Government of Cantabria, Spain.

The photo above shows researchers at the Arso Bi cave in Cantabria, Spain (8), studying one of these paintings. The photo clearly shows that the design on the vault would now be difficult to even photograph. It is completely unclear for what purpose such paintings were made. Perhaps they have to do with some kind of initiation rituals or something like that. Or it was really done “for oneself”, let’s say, as personal diaries are kept now.
Rock art existed actively for a very long time, until approximately the Bronze Age, and in some places until our era. However, even now, rock paintings are used in shamanic practices by various tribes of Indians and Africans.

Ships in the Laja Alta cave, Spain (estimated around 6000 BC)

Rock paintings from the Tassilien-Adjer plateau, Algeria. Dated to approximately 200-700 AD. These drawings belong to the "Camel Period" according to the periodization of rock art in Africa.

Man-lion and ancient sculptures.

But we must not forget about the development of sculpture, which was given very little space in this article. In general, its development progressed in a similar way, although it was associated with certain difficulties in processing hard materials, especially stone. Ancient sculptures, as well as drawings, were mainly carved images of animals, often made from mammoth tusks. Particular attention should be paid to the figurine called “Man-Lev” (9).
The Lion-man (German: Löwenmensch, English: Lion-man) is a figurine carved from mammoth tusk, found in the Swabian Alb near the city of Ulm, Germany. The age of the figurine is approximately 40 thousand years. The interesting thing about it is that it is the oldest discovered zoomorphic image. The 29.6 cm high figurine is a cross between a man and a lion - an almost human body with a pronounced lion's head. Initially, researchers regarded the Lion Man as a man, but further research conducted by Elisabeth Schmid suggested that it was a woman. However, there is no objective data indicating the gender of the figure; all these assumptions are mainly of an ideological nature. As with the vast majority of artistic works of ancient people, it is now impossible to establish its purpose, although it is easy to assume some kind of sacred meaning, a connection between man and nature, the mystical ideas of ancient people.

All these figures have one thing in common characteristic- pronounced genitals and breasts, as well as a large belly, possibly reflecting pregnancy; little attention is paid to the limbs and head, or they are absent altogether. Perhaps the most likely meaning of Venus is mystical - an amulet of fertility and fertility. Although, again, this is only an assumption, which may be contradicted by the fact that not absolutely all “Venuses” pay so much attention to feminine aspects.
It is also worth mentioning that during excavations in Hole Fels, next to the Swabian Venus, another interesting artifact was discovered - a bird bone with holes, most likely serving as a flute. The age of the flute is also about 35 thousand years. This is probably the most ancient musical instrument. However, this is a topic for a completely different story.

Swabian bone flute

In conclusion, it should be noted that, in principle, the title of this article is incorrect and is put here “for the sake of words.” Those monuments of ancient culture that were reviewed in this article should not be called art. Art as such, in the form in which we understand it now. It would be correct to call this an artistic activity. Now we can do no more than speculate about what they are, and most importantly, why they were made. Of course, they are the object of some kind of information plan, information exchange, development of perception and society. But if we talk about the most ancient monuments, we do not have any confirmed data about what exactly it was. At the same time, many discoveries made quite a long time ago have not received confirmation. And others, after a detailed study, find themselves in a completely different place than previously thought. Often just plain garbage.
Most likely, the origins of that art, which is akin to what we understand, should be sought around the period of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (about 12,000 years BC) and a little earlier, during the transition from hunting and gathering to a productive economy and settled life.
Despite the fact that we do not have a clear idea of ​​the development of the imagination and culture of our distant ancestors, as well as the mind in general, even the existing picture is extremely interesting and vivid. Three million years ago, a humanoid creature found a small red stone with a face and carried it in his hand for thirty kilometers because it interested him.
And three million years later, we bring funny pebbles home from our walks. We also create amazing works of a wide variety of art, fly into space and develop artificial intelligence, actively seek ways to combat old age, and create amazingly destructive weapons.

Special thanks to Elena Marchukova for her help.

Materials:

1. http://other-worlds.ucoz.ru/

2. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/915

3. General trends evolution of the human brain. Anthropogenesis.ru ( online resource) http://anthropogenez.ru/zveno-single/156/

Updated: September 22, 2018 by: Roman Boldyrev

Material culture (from the Latin materia and cultura - cultivation, processing) as a set of objects created by man, is included in the world of the work. However, there is no single term to designate objects of material culture depicted in literature. Thus, A.G. Tseitlin calls them “things,” “details of everyday life, what painters include in the concept of “interior”.” But material culture is firmly inscribed not only in the interior, but also in the landscape (with the exception of the so-called wild landscape), and in the portrait (since costume, jewelry, etc. are part of it
). A.I. Beletsky proposes the term “still life”, by which he means “an image of things - tools and results of production - an artificial environment created by man...”. This term from the field of painting has not taken root in literary criticism. And for A.P. Chudakov’s “thing in literature” is a very broad concept: he does not distinguish between a “natural or man-made” object, which removes at the terminological level an extremely important concept: material culture/nature. Here, by things we mean only man-made objects, elements of material culture (although the latter cannot be reduced to things, including also diverse processes).
The material world in a literary work correlates with objects of material culture in reality. In this sense, based on the creations of “bygone days,” it is possible to reconstruct material life. So, R.S. Lipets in his book “Epic and Ancient Rus'” convincingly proves what was said by S.K. Shambinago’s assumption about the genetic connection between the life of epics and the everyday life of Russian princes. The reality of white stone chambers, gilded roofs, unchanging white oak tables, at which the heroes sit, drinking honey drinks from their brothers and accepting rich gifts from the prince for faithful service, has also been proven by archaeological excavations. "Despite the abundance poetic images, metaphors, generalized epic situations, despite the broken chronology and the displacement of a number of events, epics are all excellent and one-of-a-kind historical sources...”
The depiction of objects of material culture in literature is evolving. And this reflects changes in the relationship between man and thing in real life. At the dawn of civilization, a thing is the crown of human creation, evidence of wisdom and skill. The aesthetics of the heroic epic presupposed descriptions of things of “ultimate perfection, highest completeness...”.
The bipod's bipod is maple, the bipod's horns are damask, the bipod's bipod's horn is silver, and the bipod's horn is red and gold.
(Bylina “Volga and Mikula”)
Storytellers are always attentive to the “white stone chambers,” their decoration, bright objects, fabrics with “cunning patterns,” jewelry, and magnificent feast bowls.
Often the very process of creating a thing is captured, as in Homer’s Iliad, where Hephaestus forges Achilles’ battle armor:
And at first he worked as a shield, both huge and strong, decorating everything gracefully; he drew a circle around it, white, shiny, triple; and attached a silver belt. The shield consisted of five sheets and on a vast circle God made many wondrous things according to his creative plans...
(Song XVIII. Translated by N. Gnedich)
The attitude towards objects of material culture as an achievement of the human mind is demonstrated especially clearly by the Age of Enlightenment. The pathos of D. Defoe's novel “Robinson Crusoe” is a hymn to labor and civilization. Robinson embarks on risky raft trips to a stranded ship in order to transport the things he needs to the shore of a desert island. More than eleven times he transports numerous “fruits of civilization” on rafts. Defoe describes these things in great detail. The hero’s most “precious find” is a carpenter’s box with working tools, for which, by his own admission, he would give a whole ship full of gold. There are also hunting rifles, pistols, sabers, nails, screwdrivers, axes, sharpeners, two iron crowbars, a bag of shot, a barrel of gunpowder, a bundle of sheet iron, ropes, provisions, and clothing. Everything with which Robinson must “conquer” the wild nature.
IN literature XIX-XX centuries There have been different trends in the depiction of things. The human Master, homo faber, is still revered, and objects made by skillful hands are valued. Examples of such an image of things are given, for example, by the work of N.S. Leskova. Numerous items described in his works are “ steel flea"Tula masters ("Lefty"), an icon of Old Believer icon painters ("Sealed Angel"), gifts from a dwarf from the novel "Soborians", Rogozhin's handicrafts from "A Seedy Family" and others - a "trace of the skill" of Leskov's heroes.
However, the writers also sensitively grasped another facet in the relationship between a person and a thing: the material value of the latter can overshadow a person; he is assessed by society by how expensive things he owns. And a person is often likened to a thing. This is the dying cry of the heroine of the play by A.N. Ostrovsky’s “Dowry”: “A thing... yes, a thing! They are right, I am a thing, not a person.” And in the artistic world of A.P. Chekhov's things: the piano on which Kotik ("Ionych") plays, pots of sour cream, jugs of milk surrounding the hero of the story "Literature Teacher" - often embody the vulgarity and monotony of provincial life.
In the 20th century More than one poetic spear has been broken in the fight against materialism - the slavish dependence of people on the things around them:
The owner dies, but his things remain,
They don’t care about things, about other people’s, human misfortunes.
At the hour of your death, even the cups on the shelves do not break,
And the rows of sparkling glasses do not melt like pieces of ice.
Maybe you shouldn’t try too hard for things...
(V. Shefner. “Things”)
The intimate connection between a person and a thing, characteristic especially of the Middle Ages, where things often have proper names(remember the sword Durendal, which belongs to the main character of “The Song of Roland”). There are a lot of things, but they are standard, there are almost of them! do not notice. At the same time, their “inventory lists” can be! ominously self-sufficient - so, mainly through long lists of numerous purchases replacing each other, the life of the heroes of the story by the French writer J. Perec “Things” is shown.
With the development of technology, the range of things depicted in literature expands. They began to write about giant factories, about the hellish punitive machine (“In the Penal Colony” by F. Kafka), about the machine of times, about computer systems, about robots in human form (modern science fiction novels). But at the same time, the alarm about the other side became increasingly louder. scientific and technological progress. In Russian Soviet prose and poetry of the 20th century. “machine fighting motifs” are heard primarily among peasant poets - S. Yesenin, N. Klyuev, S. Klychkov, P. Oreshin, S. Drozhzhin; the authors of the so-called “village prose” - V. Astafiev, V. Belov, V. Rasputin. And this is not surprising: after all, the peasant way of life suffered most from the continuous industrialization of the country. Entire villages are dying out, destroyed (“Farewell to Matera” by V. Rasputin), folk ideas about beauty, “lada” (the book of the same name by V. Belov), etc. are eradicated from people’s memory. In modern literature it is increasingly heard; warning about an environmental disaster (“The Last Pastoral” by A. Adamovich). All this reflects the real processes occurring in a person’s relationship with things created by his hands, but often beyond his control.
At the same time, a thing in a literary work acts as an element of the conventional, artistic world. And in contrast to reality, the boundaries between things and humans, living and nonliving, here can be unsteady. Yes, Russians folk tales give numerous examples of the “humanization” of things. Literary characters can be a “stove” (“Geese-Swans”), a doll; (“Baba Yaga”), etc. This tradition is continued by both Russian and foreign literature: « Tin soldier» G.H. Andersen, “The Blue Bird” by M. Maeterlinck, “Mystery-bouffe” by V. Mayakovsky, “Until the Third Rooster” by V.M. Shukshina and others. The world of a work of art can be saturated with things that do not exist in reality. Science fiction literature is replete with descriptions of unprecedented spaceships, orbital stations, hyperboloids, computers, robots, etc. (“Engineer Garin’s Hyperboloid” by A. Tolstoy, “Solaris”, “Stalker” by St. Lem, “Moscow-2004” by V. Voinovich).
Conventionally, we can distinguish the most important functions of things in literature, such as cultural, characterological, plot-compositional.
The thing may be a sign of the depicted era and environment. The cultural function of things is especially clear in travel novels, where different worlds are presented in a synchronous cross-section: national, class, geographical, etc. Let us recall how Vakula from Gogol’s “The Night Before Christmas”, with the help of evil spirits and his own resourcefulness, ends up in a matter of minutes. from a remote Little Russian village to St. Petersburg. He is amazed by the architecture and clothing of his contemporaries, distant from his native Dikanka: “...the houses grew and seemed to rise from the ground at every step; the bridges trembled; the carriages were flying<...>pedestrians huddled and crowded under houses strewn with bowls<...>. The blacksmith looked around in amazement in all directions. It seemed to him that all the houses fixed their countless fiery eyes on him and looked. He saw so many gentlemen in cloth-covered fur coats that he didn’t know whose hat to take off.”
Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin, who was languishing in Tatar captivity (Leskov’s story “The Enchanted Wanderer”), did a considerable service, a chest with the necessary accessories for fireworks, which brought indescribable horror to the Tatars, who were not familiar with these attributes of European urban life.
The cultural function of things in the historical novel is very important - a genre that was formed in the era of romanticism and strives in its descriptions to visually represent historical time and local color (French couleur locale). According to the researcher, in “Notre Dame Cathedral” by V. Hugo “things live a life deeper than living things” characters, and things became the central interest of the novel.”
Things also perform a symbolic function in everyday works. Gogol colorfully depicts the life of the Cossacks in “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” Ostrovsky’s “Columbus of Zamoskvorechye” gained fame not only because of the accuracy of his depiction of the characters of a hitherto unknown “country” to the reader, but also due to the visible embodiment of this “bear’s corner” in all its details and accessories.
An item can serve as a sign of wealth or poverty. According to a tradition that originates in the Russian epic, where heroes competed with each other in wealth, striking with an abundance of jewelry, precious metals and stones become this indisputable symbol. Let's remember:
Brocade fabrics are everywhere; The yachts play like heat; There are golden incense burners all around, Raising fragrant steam...
(A. S. Pushkin. “Ruslan and Lyudmila”)
Or the fairytale palace from “The Scarlet Flower” ST. Aksakov: “the decoration everywhere is royal, unheard of and unprecedented: gold, silver, oriental crystal, ivory and mammoth.”
The characterological function of things is no less important. Gogol's works show the “intimate connection of things” with their owners. No wonder Chichikov loved to look at the home of the next victim of his speculation. “He thought to find in it the properties of the owner himself, just as one can judge from a shell what kind of oyster or snail was sitting in it” (“Dead Souls” - vol. 2, chapter 3, early ed.).
Things can line up in a sequential row. In “Dead Souls,” for example, every chair shouted: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” But one detail can characterize a character. For example, a jar with the inscription “laceberry”, prepared by the caring hands of Fenechka (“Fathers and Sons” by Turgenev). Interiors are often depicted according to a contrasting principle - let us recall the description of the rooms of two debtors of the moneylender Gobsek: the countess and the “fairy of purity” seamstress Fanny (“Gobsek” by O. Balzac). Against the background of this literary tradition, the absence of things (the so-called minus device) can also become significant: it emphasizes the complexity of the hero’s character. So, Raisky, trying to find out more about Vera, who is mysterious to him (“The Cliff” by I.A. Goncharov), asks Marfinka to show him his sister’s room. He “had already pictured this room in his mind: he crossed the threshold, looked around the room and was disappointed in his expectations: there was nothing there!”
Things often become signs, symbols of a person’s experiences:
I look like crazy at the black shawl, And my cold soul is tormented by sadness.
(A. S. Pushkin. “Black Shawl”)
The “copper cones” on grandfather’s armchair completely calmed the little hero from Aksakov’s story “The Childhood Years of Bagrov’s Grandson”: “How strange it is! These chairs and copper cones first of all caught my eye, attracted my attention and seemed to dispel and cheer me up a little.” And in V. Astafiev’s story “Arc,” the hero’s accidental discovery of a duta from the wedding train fills him with memories of the long-forgotten times of his youth.
One of the common functions of things in a literary work is plot-compositional. Let us recall the ominous role of the scarf in the tragedy “Othello” by W. Shakespeare, the necklace from Leskov’s story of the same name, the “tsarina’s slippers” from Gogol’s “The Night Before Christmas”, etc. A special place is occupied by things in detective literature (which is emphasized by Chekhov in his parodic stylization “Swedish match"). This genre is unthinkable without details.
The material world of the work has its own composition. On the one hand, details are often lined up, together forming an interior, landscape, portrait, etc. Let us recall the detailed description of Leskov’s characters (“Soborians”), the urban landscape in “Crime and Punishment” by F.M. Dostoevsky, numerous luxury items in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by O. Wilde.
On the other hand, one thing, highlighted in a work in close-up, carries an increased semantic, ideological load, developing into a symbol. Is it possible to call “a dried, scentless flower” (A.S. Pushkin) or “geranium flowers in the window” (Taffy. “On the island of my memories...”) just an interior detail? What is the “satin turlyu-lu” (“Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboyedov) or the Onegin “Bolivar” hat? What does the “respected closet” from Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” mean? Symbolic things are included in the title of a work of art (“Shagreen Leather” by O. Balzac, “Garnet Bracelet” by A.I. Kuprin, “Pearls” by N.S. Gumilyov, “Twelve Chairs” by I. Ilf and B. Petrov). The symbolization of things is especially characteristic of lyric poetry due to its attraction to the semantic richness of the word. Each of the objects mentioned in G. Shengeli’s poem evokes a number of associations:
In tables “purchased on the occasion” At sales and auctions, I like to look through their boxes... What was in them? Paper, wills, Poems, flowers, love confessions. All souvenirs are a sign of hopes and faiths, Recipes, opium, rings, money, pearls, From the son’s head there is a funeral crown. IN last minute-revolver?
(“In tables, “on the occasion of those purchased.”.*)
In the context of a work of art, symbolism may change. Thus, the fence in Chekhov’s story “The Lady with the Dog” became a symbol of a painful, joyless life: “Right opposite the house there was a fence, gray, long, with nails. “You’ll run away from such a fence,” thought Gurov, looking first at the windows, then at the fence.” However, in other contexts, the fence symbolizes the desire for beauty, harmony, and faith in people. This is exactly how the episode with the heroine’s restoration of the front garden, destroyed every night by her careless fellow villagers, is “read” in the context of A. V. Vampilov’s play “Last Summer in Chulimsk”.
The brevity of the author's text in drama, the “metonymic” and “metaphorical” nature of the lyrics somewhat limit the depiction of things in these types of literature. The most extensive possibilities for recreating the material world open up in the epic.
Genre differences in works also affect the depiction of things and the actualization of certain of their functions. Signs of a particular way of life, culture, things appear primarily in historical novels and plays, in everyday works, in particular in “physiological” essays, in science fiction. The plot function of things is actively “exploited” by detective genres. The degree of detail in the material world depends on the author's style. An example of the dominance of things in a work of art is the novel by E. Zola “Ladies' Happiness”. The optimistic philosophy of the novel is contrasted with the critical pictures of reality drawn by the writer in previous novels of the Rougon-Macquart series. Striving, as Zola wrote in a sketch for the novel, “to show the joy of action and the pleasure of being,” the author sings a hymn to the world of things as a source of earthly joys. The kingdom of material life is equal in its rights with the kingdom of spiritual life, therefore Zola composes “poems of women’s dresses,” comparing them with a chapel, then with a temple, then with the altar of a “huge temple” (Chapter XIV). The opposite style trend is the absence and rarity of descriptions of things. Thus, it was very sparingly indicated in G. Hesse’s novel “The Glass Bead Game,” which emphasizes the detachment from everyday, material concerns of the Master of the Game and the inhabitants of Castalia in general. The absence of things can be no less significant than their abundance.
The description of things in a literary work can be one of its stylistic dominants. This is typical for a number of literary genres: artistic-historical, science-fiction, morally descriptive (physiological essay, utopian novel), artistic-ethnographic (travel), etc. It is important for the writer to show the unusualness of the situation surrounding the characters, its difference from the one to which the implicit reader is accustomed. This goal is also achieved through detailing the material world, and not only the selection of objects of material culture is important, but also the method of describing them.
Emphasizing the uniqueness of a particular way of life, everyday life, writers widely use various lexical layers of language, the so-called passive vocabulary, as well as words that have a limited scope of use: archaisms, historicisms, dialectisms, barbarisms, professionalism, neologisms, vernacular, etc. The use of such vocabulary, being an expressive device, at the same time often creates difficulties for the reader. Sometimes the authors themselves, anticipating this, supply the text with notes and special dictionaries, as Gogol did in “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” Among the words explained by pasichnik Rudy Panko in the “Preface”, the lion’s share belongs to the designation of things: “bandura is an instrument, a type of guitar”, “batog is a whip”, “kaganets is a type of lamp”, “cradle is a pipe”, “rushnik is a cleaning device” ", "smushki - lamb fur", "khustka - handkerchief", etc. It would seem that Gogol could immediately write Russian words, but then “Evenings ...” would have largely lost the local flavor cultivated by the aesthetics of romanticism.
Usually, intermediaries help the reader understand a text rich in passive vocabulary: commentators, editors, translators. The question of what is acceptable, from an aesthetic point of view, in the use of passive vocabulary has been and remains controversial in literary criticism and literary criticism. Here is the beginning of S. Yesenin’s poem “In the Hut,” which immediately immerses the reader in the life of the Ryazan village:
It smells like loose pucker; There is kvass in the container at the threshold, Above the chiseled stoves Cockroaches crawl into the groove.
In total, in this poem, consisting of five stanzas, according to N.M. Shansky, 54 independent words, at least a fifth of which need explanation. “The words that require interpretation, undoubtedly, include the words dracheny - “baked flatbread with milk and eggs from millet porridge and potatoes”, dezhka - “tub”, pechurka - “a recess similar to a Russian stove in its side wall, where they put or place something” or so that it is dry or warm” (there are usually several such recesses), a groove is “a narrow long gap between loosely fitting bricks...<...>The bulk of…verbal “outsiders” are dialecticisms, “ birthmarks"the poet's native Ryazan dialect. It is absolutely clear, and there can be no other opinions: S. Yesenin has a feeling here artistic measure changed." However, there are still “other opinions” and the issue remains controversial.
In general, the choice of one or another synonym, a linguistic doublet, is an expressive stylistic device, and when describing the situation as a whole, stylistic unity is important here, “fixing” the consistency with each other of the details that make up the ensemble. Thus, in a romantic elegy in the description of a home (native land) lyrical hero the very choice of words (archaisms, soporific forms, etc.) muffles everyday concreteness and emphasizes the conventionality and generality of the image. As G.O. writes Vinokur, “this includes, for example, a canopy, an attic, a hut, a shelter, a hut, a cell (meaning “small poor room”), a shelter, a corner, a garden, a house, a hut, a shack, a light, a gate, an office, a cloister, a fireplace and similar words, symbolizing the inspiration and cozy isolation of the poet from society and people.” A completely different stylistic connotation of the word is found in the description of interiors, which abound in physiological essays. Their poetics and stylistics are emphatically naturalistic and extremely specific. This is, for example, the description of the room in “Petersburg Corners” by N.A. Nekrasova: “One of the ceiling boards, black and dotted with flies, jumped out at one end from under the middle cross beam and stuck out obliquely, which, it seemed, the inhabitants of the basement were very happy about, for they hung their towels and shirts on it; For the same purpose, a rope was drawn across the entire room, secured at one end to a hook located above the door, and with the other to the top hinge of the cabinet: this is what I call an oblong recess with shelves, without doors, in the back wall of the room; However, the landlady told me, there once were doors, but one of the residents tore them off and, putting them in his corner on two logs, thus made an artificial bed.” Boards, a hook, a cross beam, the top hinge of a cabinet, a rope, shirts, towels, etc. - also an ensemble of details, vocabulary that betrays an experienced person who knows a lot about boards and beams. But this is a completely different ensemble.
It is necessary to distinguish between the literary and linguistic aspects of word usage, since the vocabulary denoting things can be updated; This especially applies to the names of clothing parts, luxury items, interior design - what constitutes fashion in material culture. Thus, stylistically motivated archaisms should not be confused with words that have become lexical archaisms for new generations of readers (for example, Raisky’s “house coat” from Goncharov’s “Cliff” (Chapter I) means a robe, and Olga Ivanovna’s “waterproof” from “Poprygunya” Chekhov - waterproof raincoat). Lexico-semantic archaisms are also distinguished, i.e. words that have changed their meaning since the time the work was written (for example, “screen” in Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot” means “screen” - Chapter 15)2.
The material world and its designation in utopias and science fiction - genres where a living environment is constructed that has no direct analogues in reality - deserves special consideration. Neologisms correspond to unusual things here: they often give a name to a work, creating in the reader a corresponding perception setting: “Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin” by A. Tolstoy, “Solaris” and “Stalker” by St. Lema.
Compared to nature, the man-made environment surrounding humans changes quickly. Therefore, in works where the action takes place in the past, future, fantastic times and corresponding spaces, the depiction of things poses a special creative problem.