The literature of modern times dates back to the Paris Commune (March - May 1871), which was preceded by the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian war. After the defeat of the Commune in 1871 - 1875, the Republic of the Bourgeois was formed and established. In the 1890s. France has entered the era of imperialism, when there is a unification of capital, the fusion of capital and power, and the rapid development of science and technology (the appearance of cinema in 1895). The stabilization of the third republic brought disappointment to those who hoped for the progress of civilization. The activation of French society ultimately led to the fact that by the end of the century, “Robespierres turned into shopkeepers.” Naturalism is in crisis. The followers of E. Zola (Medan school) come either to a narrow description of everyday life, or to a departure from the dirty world into the sphere of mysticism. Period 1880-1890s - transitional for French prose.

Naturalism is in decline. The development of romanticism does not stop. Novels are coming out J.Sand, creates V. Hugo(d. 1895). Under the influence of romanticism, prose of decadence develops. Works related to socialist ideas appear. Finally, writers who marked a new stage in the development of critical realism entered the literary arena.

The poetry of the last third of the century is the poetry of French symbolism (A. Rimbaud, P. Verlaine, Mallarmé, who gained worldwide fame), and at the same time - the poetry of the proletariat.

French participation in World War I, split political world into two camps leads to the emergence of literature of the absurd (the works of J.-P. Sartre, A. Camus) and the literature of socialist realism.

The genre of the river novel (flow novel) in French literature

In the era under review, the most popular genre is the river novel, in which significant changes have occurred both in terms of content and narrative technique. About the French novel of the turn of the century and the first half of the 20th century. we have to say in the alternative “modernist.. - not modernist.”

Although the social-critical novel in its more or less traditional form defines French literature because there was a strong tradition of the novel.

Features of the river novel genre:

The most authoritative novelist of the era can be considered Romain Rolland (1856 - 1944) - writer, playwright, musicologist. Rolland cannot be content with describing the negative sides of society, in the tradition of Flaubert and Zola. He believed that the world could be changed by “great souls,” which inspired the creation of biographies “ Heroic Lives" The appearance of the river novel in Rolland's work was predetermined, because For a writer, a heroic epic is not just a genre, but also a way of thinking, a search for an ideal in a creative person.

"Jean Christophe" - a novel in 10 volumes (1904-1912). The author defines the composition of the novel as a three-part symphony. Its parts are the formation of the hero, the music of his soul, the range of feelings that change upon contact with the outside world (starting with vague images of a newborn, ending with the fading consciousness of a dying person). The author’s task is to create a new humanity through purification and release of energy in the free flow of the novel-river. The example of the epic was the novel by L.N. Tolstoy.

The hero is Beethoven in today's world, endowed with creative capabilities. This is a hero - a shadow, close to the author (that's why it is also a novel of ideas!), often the author and the hero merge (in some places the text of the novel does not differ from Roland's journalism). The hero is in situations of social upheaval, with the strength to resist and fight (a challenge even in the origin of Christophe - he is German), but his reaction to the world is not national, it is the reaction of an artist. By connecting with music, the hero gains strength to withstand trials. Music determines the high parameters of a person, the novel-river becomes the story of the formation of another heroic personality.

In his spiritual quest, Rolland turns to the study of Eastern philosophy, in particular, he experiences a fascination with Indian religious and philosophical thought, the result of which are the books “The Life of Ramakrishna” (19291) and “The Life of Vivekananda” (1930).

Roger Martin du Gard(1881 - 1938) - critical realist, considers himself a student of Leo Tolstoy, laureate Nobel Prize, which he received in 1937 - for the novel “The Thibault Family” (1932-1940) of 8 books. Uses Flaubert's principles - objectivity and detachment. The author intended the revelation of a living being as social type in all its complexity. The characters are put in a situation of making a choice, creating their own faith. The author conveys the idea that life itself is an epic, and all its components are parts of everyday life. “The Thibault family is an epic of everyday life. The author's pessimism lies in the incompleteness of the novel (which is caused by the change in the political situation in Europe in the 1930s). I understood that the drama of the 20th century. The structure of a family novel does not correspond. Because the holistic idea of ​​time is destroyed, the genre loses its integrity, the epic canvas is transformed into a lyrical confession, into a diary (traditions of Montaigne).

Louis Aragon(1897 - 1982). Representative socialist realism , who came to him from Dadaism and surrealism, one of the organizers of the French Resistance during the Second World War creates a series of “ Real world"(1934 - 1951) in 5 books. The appeal to socialist realism was marked by an appeal to national truth and humanism. The novel represents interpretations of modern society from the point of view of choice, transition, and restructuring of human consciousness.

Representative impressionism(in its prose version) Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922) - “In Search of Lost Time” (1913-1927). A novel of 7 books (“Towards Swann”, “Under the canopy of girls in bloom”, “At the Guermantes”, “Sodom and Gomorrah”, “The Captive”, “The Disappeared Albertine”). All books are united by the image of the narrator Marcel, who wakes up at night and remembers the past. The author is a seriously ill person, isolated from life. A work is a means to slow down the passage of time, to catch it in a network of words. The novel is based on the principles:

• * Everything is in consciousness, therefore the construction of a novel-flow expresses its endless complexity and fluidity
• * Impression is the criterion of truth (impressionist). The fleeting impression (called insight) and the feeling from it live simultaneously in the past and allow the imagination to enjoy them in the present. As the author puts it, “a piece of time in its pure form is captured”
• * In the mechanism of creativity, the main place is occupied by “instinctive memory”. The writer's “I” only reproduces the reserves of subjective impressions that are stored in the subconscious. Art is the highest value because it (with the help of memory) allows you to live in several dimensions at once. Art is the fruit of silence; it, by removing the mind, is able to penetrate into depth and establish contact with duration. Such art does not depict, but hints, it is suggestive and influences with the help of rhythm, like music.
• * The world in the novel is shown from a sensual side: color, halls, sound make up the impressionistic landscapes of the novel. The structure of the novel is restoration, recreating the little things of life with a joyful feeling, because in this way lost time is regained. The development of images is in the order of recall, in accordance with the laws of subjective perception. Therefore, the generally accepted hierarchy of values ​​is set aside, meaning is determined by Ya, and for him, his mother’s kiss is more significant than the catastrophes of the world war. The main principle here is that history is somewhere nearby.
• * The driving force behind the hero’s actions is the subconscious. Character does not develop under the influence of the environment, the moments of its existence and the point of view of the observer change. For the first time, personality is recognized not as a conscious individual, but as a chain of successively existing “I”. Therefore, the image is often built from a series of sketches that complement each other, but do not give a complete personality (Svan is presented in different situations as several different people). Here the idea of ​​the incomprehensibility of human essence is consistently conveyed.

* In creating an image narrator“I” dominates, i.e. the hero is not the shadow of the author, but as if the author himself (the hero-narrator is endowed with all the features of Proust’s life, right down to the newspaper in which he worked).

Themes—

• a) the Balzacian theme of lost illusions, traditional for French literature;
• b) the theme of the non-identity of man and artist in the structure of a creative personality: there is no dependence of talent on the human qualities of the individual. According to Proust, an artist is someone who can stop living by himself and for himself, who can “transform his individuality into the likeness of a mirror.”

Method M. Proust - transformation of the realistic tradition at the level of impressionism, not classical (late 19th century), but modernist (early 20th century). The basis is the philosophy of Bergson (intuitionism), after which Proust believed that essence is duration, continuous a flow of states in which the boundaries of time and the certainty of space are erased. Hence the understanding of time as the non-stop movement of matter, not a single moment or fragment of which can be called truth. Because everything is in consciousness, there is no chronological clarity in the novel, associations prevail. (then years disappear, then moments stretch out).

Style novel - amazed his contemporaries. At the level of composition, the vision is cinematic (Swan’s image seems to be assembled from pieces). Vocabulary is characterized by a heap of associations, metaphors, comparisons, and enumerations. The syntax is complex: conveying associative thinking, the phrase develops freely, expands like a stream, incorporating rhetorical figures, additional structures and ends unpredictably. Despite all the complexity of the structure, the phrase does not break.

Changes in social life lead to the fact that in the 40s the authors of multi-volume novels seemed to take their epic breath away.

French literature XX century - literature written in French in the XX century. Many events in French literature during this period paralleled changes in the visual arts. French literature of this century is characterized by entertainment and detachment from life. French writers find the search for an ideal, a model for development, in Russian literature.

Review

French literature of the 20th century was greatly influenced by the historical events of the century, which was characterized by deep political, philosophical, moral and artistic crises.

The period under consideration covers the last decades of the Third Republic (1871-1940) (including the years of the First World War), the period of the Second World War (German occupation, the provisional French government (1944-1946) in the Fourth Republic (1946-1958), years Fifth Republic (since 1959). Important historical events for French literature are: the Dreyfus affair (the case of espionage for the German Empire by an officer of the French general staff, a Jew, Captain Alfred Dreyfus); Far East(French Indochina) and in areas Pacific Ocean; Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962); the rise of the French Communist Party; the rise of fascism in Europe; events of May 1968, the influence of Russian emigration literature on French literature.

French literature of the 20th century did not develop in isolation, but under the influence of literatures, genres and writers from around the world, including Ivan Bunin, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, John Dos Passos, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, James Joyce and many others. In turn, French literature influenced world literature.

In France in the 20th century, writers and poets Ivan Bunin, Merezhkovsky, Dmitry Sergeevich, Gippius, Zinaida Nikolaevna, K. D. Balmont, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, William S. Burroughs, Henry Miller, Anais Nin, lived and worked. James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Julio Cortazar, Nabokov, Edith Wharton and Eugene Ionesco. Some of the most important works in French were written by foreign authors (Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett).

For Americans in the 1920s and 1930s (including the so-called “lost generation”), the fascination with France was also associated with freedom from prohibitions; for some Russian writers, their stay in France at the beginning of the century was associated with the non-acceptance of the Great October Socialist revolutions in Russia (Bunin, Merezhkovskys). For American blacks in the 20th century (for example, James Baldwin), France provided greater freedom. France in the 20th century was a more liberal country in terms of censorship, and many foreign authors published their works in France that might have been banned, for example, in America: Joyce Ulysses(Sylvia Beach publishing house. Paris, 1922), novel by V. Nabokov Lolita and William S. Burroughs "Naked Lunch"(both published by Olympia Press), Henry Miller Tropic of Cancer(Obelisk Press).

Radical experiments were not appreciated by all literary and artistic circles of the early 20th century. Bourgeois tastes of that time were quite conservative. The poetic drama of Edmond Rostand was very popular at the beginning of the 20th century, especially his Cyrano de Bergerac, written in 1897.

The science fiction genre at the beginning of the 20th century also included the detective genre. Writers Gaston Leroux and Maurice Leblanc worked in this area.

1914 - 1945

Dada and surrealism

First World War gave rise to even more radical trends in literature. The Dada movement, which was founded in Switzerland in 1916 and moved to Paris in 1920, included writers Paul Éluard, André Breton, Louis Aragon and Robert Desnos. He was heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud with his concept of the unconscious. In literature and fine art, surrealists tried to identify the mechanisms of the subconscious. Increased interest in anti-bourgeois philosophy brought many writers into the ranks Communist Party France. Writers associated with surrealism were Jean Cocteau, René Crevel, Jacques Prévert, Jules Supervielle, Benjamin Péret, Philippe Soupault, Pierre Reverdy, Antonin Artaud (who revolutionized the theater), Henri Michaud and René Char. The surrealist movement remained for a long time the main direction in the art world until the Second World War. The technique of surrealism was well suited for poetry and theatrical performances. Surrealism was a major influence on the poets Saint-John Perse and Edmond Jabes. Some writers such as Georges Bataille ( secret society"Acephalus"), Roger Caillois and Michel Leiris created their own literary movements and groups, some of which were engaged in research into the irrational facts of social life.

Novel

In the first half of the century, the genre of the novel in France also underwent changes. Novelist Louis-Ferdinand Céline used slang in his novels to rail against the hypocrisy of his generation. However, Celine's anti-Semitic publications - pamphlets "Trifles for a Pogrom" ( Bagatelles pour un massacre) (1937), "School of Corpses" ( L'Ecole des cadavres) (1938) and “Got into trouble” ( Les Beaux Draps) (1941) on long years cemented Celine's reputation as an anti-Semite, racist and misanthrope. Novelist Georges Bernanos used a variety of methods to psychological research heroes of novels. Psychological analysis was important to François Mauriac and Jules Romain. Andre Gide experimented with genre in his novel "Counterfeiters", where he described a writer trying to write a novel.

Theater

Theatrical life of the 1920s and 1930s in France was represented by an association of theaters (the so-called "Cartel"), directors and producers Louis Jouvet, Charles Dullin, Gaston Baty, Georges Pitoev. They staged plays French writers Jean Giraudoux, Jules Romain, Jean Anouilh and Jean-Paul Sartre, works of Shakespearean theater, works of Luigi Pirandello, Chekhov and Bernard Shaw.

Existentialism

At the end of the 1930s, the works of writers E. Hemingway, W. Faulkner and Dos Passos were translated into French. The prose style of their works had a huge influence on the work of writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, André Malraux and Albert Camus. Writers Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Malraux and Simone de Beauvoir (who is also known as one of the forerunners of feminism) are often called "existentialist writers."

In the French colonies

The 1930s and 1940s saw the development of literature in the French colonies. French (Martinique) writer Aimé Césaire, together with Léopold Sédar Senghor and Léon Damas, created a literary review L'Étudiant Noir, which was the forerunner of the Negritude movement, the theoretical basis of which is the concept of identity, self-worth and self-sufficiency of the Negroid race.

Literature after World War II

The 1950s and 1960s were very turbulent years in France. Despite the dynamic development of the economy, the country was torn apart by its colonial legacy (Vietnam and Indochina, Algeria). Collective feelings of guilt from the collaborationist Vichy regime, the desire for national prestige (Gaullism), and social conservative tendencies dominated the minds of the French intelligentsia of this time.

Inspired by the theatrical experiments of the first half of the century and the horrors of war, the so-called avant-garde Parisian theater "New Theater" or "theater of the absurd" united around the writers Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Arthur Adamov, Fernando Arrabal. The theater abandoned traditional characters, plots and productions. Other innovations in theatrical life are decentralization, development of the regional theater, " folk theater"(aimed at the working class), Bertolt Brecht's theater (largely unknown in France until 1954).

Poetry in the post-war period experienced a connection between poetry and the visual arts. Famous poets this time

French poetry of the last century is, first of all, poetry of commentary, allusion, hidden internal connections, says translator Mikhail Yasnov

Text and collage: Year of Literature.RF

Months ago educational project"Arzamas" published a large material entitled "How to read American poets of the 20th century." We liked it extremely, but it left us with a feeling of some incompleteness: why only American poets? Unlike pop music or cinema, other, non-American, poetic traditions are very much alive and have sharp distinctive features.
We asked poet-translators who constantly study these features to tell us about them. And, more importantly, letting them pass through themselves. The first to respond was a children's poet and translator of modern French poetry. Which, as follows from his detailed text, is not at all the same thing.

Cendrars/Deguy: Poetry = commentary
(Translator's Notes)

Text: Mikhail Yasnov

Classical French poetry operated with rigid poetic forms: rondo and sonnet, ode and ballad, epigram and elegy - all these types of verse were carefully developed, reproduced many times and in the smallest formal detail by authors who tried, using sophisticated technology, not only to connect the past and the present. , but also to literally extract topical meaning from every poem. As a rule, feeling prevailed over reason, revealing to the world thousands of everyday episodes that have sunk into eternity, but from these little things a real mosaic of life, which has not faded to this day, was created, in which poetry occupies an essential and sometimes primary place.
Since the end of the 19th century, it begins to free itself from the accumulated “ballast” and throughout the last century it has been looking for forms adequate to the mobile and changeable state of minds, articulating the famous thesis of Tristan Tzara “Thought is made in the mouth”, increasingly wider and more consistently including elements in the field of poetry that were previously alien or auxiliary. In particular, the act of poetry loses its meaning without a biographical, real, intertextual commentary, which not only coexists with a specific poetic gesture, but often constitutes its essential part, turning the poem into a game of the intellect.

The two poems we will focus on are separated by half a century. The period is historically short. But this half of the twentieth century is the most destructive and innovative in French poetry.

1. SANDRARD (1887-1961)

(1887-1961) - Swiss and French writer/ru.wikipedia.org

The poem “Hammock” is included (under number seven) in Blaise Cendrars’s cycle “Nineteen Elastic Poems,” published as a separate book in 1919. Most of the texts appeared in periodicals of 1913-1918, but were written mainly in 1913-1914. (“Hammock” - in December 1913), in the era of the “pre-war avant-garde” - l’avant-garde d’avant gerre, according to the gaming formula of the commentator Cendrars Marie-Paul Beranger, and during the first magazine publications (1914 and 1918) bore the names “Apollinaire” and “”.
In the study of Apollinaire and Co., the literary critic Jean-Louis Cornille shows that this poem, through a number of allusions and associations, is directly related to Apollinaire’s poem “Through Europe” - Á travers l’Europe (both were published in periodicals in the spring of 1914), in particular, with Cendrars’s intention to ironically play on the “darkness” of Apollinaire’s text, but not so much deciphering it as aggravating it with new connotations.

Guillaume Apollinaire(1880-1918) - French poet, one of the most influential figures of the European avant-garde of the early 20th century / ru.wikipedia.org

Apollinaire's poem is an attempt, through poetic speech, to convey the painting of Marc Chagall, with whom both poets were friends. Cendrars picks up and “plays out” Apollinaire’s allusions.

In particular, according to J.-L. Carnilu, the title "Hamac" is an anagram of Apollinaire's dedication to his poem (A M. Ch.): Cendrars parodicly rearranges the four letters of the dedication, turning them into a new word (A.M.C.H. - HAMAC)
The first lines of both poetic texts evoke an even greater range of possible readings ( "Rotsoge / Ton visage écarlate..." at Apollinaire and "Onoto-visage..." at Cendrars). The exotic Rotsoge, which precedes Chagall's further portrait (Ton visage écarlate - Your crimson face...), is interpreted as a translation from German rot + Sog (“red trail behind the stern of the ship" - a hint at the artist's red hair), then as rote + Auge ( "Red eye"), then as a translation of the German word Rotauge - “rudd”, a word similar to a friendly nickname. Just like the first line of Cendrars's poem, which phonetically plays on Apollinaire's opening, is transformed into Onoto-visage, suggesting to the translator its playful allusion ( "It's-the-face"). The first poem is perceived as a pretext, the second - as a reminiscence, an ironic remark in a conversation.

Henri Rousseau
“The Muse Inspiring the Poet” Portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire and his beloved Marie Laurencin. 1909

The entire poem is a chain of allusions to the relationship between Cendrars and Apollinaire, or rather, to the relationship between Cendrars and Apollinaire: “The Hammock” is a swaying between admiration and rivalry.

It is known that Cendrars sent his first poem, “Easter in New York,” written in America in April 1912 and completed in the summer upon his return to Paris, to Guillaume Apollinaire in November. AND

here begins a mysterious story that darkened the relationship between the poets for many years.

Either Apollinaire did not receive the manuscript of the poem, or pretended that he did not receive it - in any case, two months later it also returned to Cendrars by mail without any notes. This was the time when Apollinaire wrote his “Zone,” which intonationally, psychologically, and with many purely poetic moves was reminiscent of “Easter,” and this, in turn, determined many years of discussions among French researchers about the “primacy” of this or that poem. Nevertheless, at the very least, the poets became friends, and after the death of Apollinaire, Cendrars honored him by writing that all modern poets speak his language - the language of Guillaume Apollinaire. In the last three lines of the poem “The Hammock,” Cendrars also seems to pay honor to Apollinaire, but these three lines, similar to the epitaph on gravestone, look like "remarkably daring"; their author emphasizes that, starting with 1912 year (that is, from the date of writing “Easter”), "the only French poet" lost his championship, since there were now two “firsts” - he and Cendrars.

Thus poetry becomes a text for initiates. At the same time, the necessary comments branch out, including a decoding of realities, sometimes very confusing, -

such as, for example, the “confused time” of the Saint-Lazare station: the reader should know that at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. At Parisian train stations there was an “external” and an “internal” time. Thus, at the Saint-Lazare station, the clock in the train departure hall showed the exact Parisian time, and the clocks installed directly on the platforms showed the time the train was late.

(French Marie Laurencin, 1883-1956) - French artist/ru.wikipedia.org

So, the realities. Cendrars' mention of "Oxo-Liebig" refers to the famous Liebig Meat Extract company at the beginning of the century, which produced this popular product developed by a German chemist Justus von Liebig(1803-1873) back in the forties of the 19th century. Liebig founded the world's first production of bouillon cubes, which was later joined by another “fast food” company, Oxo. But the main thing that the reader of Sndrar should have known is at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Colored posters advertising this company, which served as decorative decorations for the premises, were in great fashion. Hence the line "The skies of your room are decorated with Oxo-Liebig".

By the will of Cendrars, the reader should have known that Apollinaire was a connoisseur of secret and erotic literature, a collector of “book libertinage”;

in the poet’s house, “books rise like a trestle”, from which “at random” you can pull out some volume of indecent content, for example, the novel “Julie, or My Saved Rose” - the first French erotic novel written by a woman and attributed to the writer Felicite de Choiseul-Meuse(1807); Again, by the will of Cendrars, the title of the novel in the text of his poem takes on a meaning opposite to the content: “Julie, or My Lost Rose.”

"Apollinaire and His Friends", 1909

“You worked for a long time in the shadow of the famous painting / Dreaming of Arabesque...”- Cendrars continues, recalling the painting of the Customs Officer by Rousseau “The Muse Inspiring the Poet” (1909), which also depicts Guillaume Apollinaire. At the same time, it would be good to remember that Apollinaire more than once associated the painting of Marie Laurencin with arabesques. In particular, in an essay dedicated to her work, it was included in G. Apollinaire’s book “On Painting. Cubist Artists" (1913) - the poet says that Laurencin “she created canvases on which whimsical arabesques turned into graceful figures”, and notes: “Women's art, the art of Mademoiselle Laurencin, strives to become a pure arabesque, humanized by attentive observance of the laws of nature; being expressive, it ceases to be a simple element of decor, but at the same time remains just as delightful". Finally, the mystery line "Sweet Williams Carnation Poet" through Sweet Williams - the English name of the Turkish carnation - refers us to, in which Sweet Williams (Sweet William) is one of the traditional names of the romantic hero.

2. DEGI (b. 1930)

Michelle Deguy(French Michel Deguy, 1930) - French poet, essayist, translator/ru/wikipedia.org

Michel Deguy loves and knows how to talk about poetry in all its manifestations, loves to explain his own poems - either in the poems themselves or in numerous interviews and articles - strictly emphasizing his main passion: nesting in language. Language is the home of his metaphors, he repeats this in every way: “a poem in the special glow of an eclipse - an eclipse of being - reveals everything (things named partially and referring to everything) and light including, namely: speech.”
Researchers echo him.

“Deguy is one of those poets who perceives what is written not only as a synonym for the word “speak”, but also for the word “do”,

(Italian Andrea Zanzotto; 1921-2011) - Italian poet/ru.wikipedia.org

Remarks in the preface to Dega's collection Tombstones (1985) Andrea Zanzotto. In language everything is one - writing, speaking, doing; each sound testifies in favor of the next one.
Degi has been researching all his life "unclear areas" poetic speech, what he himself calls "doubling, binding" opposites - identity and difference, immanence and transcendence. This is poetics, the heroes of which are not so much objects, phenomena or circumstances of human life, but rather the numerous connections and relationships between them. Here, any method of designation can give rise to the birth of poetry. In a world where addition, connotation, i.e. comments are often more important than the direct object, allusions and analogies take on living features; They have their own dramaturgy, their own theater:

Deguy hears and uses poetry as a kind of “basic metaphorical statute”: “Poetry, like love, risks everything in the name of signs,” he writes in one of the poems. “My life is a mystery of how,” he argues in another. “Poetry is a ritual,” states the third.

Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud(1854-1891) - French poet/ru.wikipedia.org

He does not need to name his literary predecessors. If, for example, he writes “It’s time to go to purgatory” (la saison en purgatoire), then this is a clear reference to Rimbaud, to “Time in Hell” (Une saison en enfaire). Apollinaire, extremely important for Degas’ poetics (and before and through him - Mallarmé) can appear on the pages of his books on several levels - from quotation variations ( “The Seine was green in your hand / There beyond the Mirabeau Bridge...”) to rhythmic assimilation, dictating the structure of a poetic phrase:

Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine…
(The Seine disappears under the Mirabeau Bridge...)
Les grands vents feodaux courent la terre…
(Under the omnipotence of the winds the lands droop...)

Appeal to the “literary past” becomes the same way of studying modernity as the very same reference to Apollinaire becomes an object of work “inside” language.

Poetry becomes a commentary on itself.

Stefan Mallarmé(French Stéphane Mallarmé) (1842-1898) - French poet who became one of the leaders of the Symbolists. Classified by Paul Verlaine as one of the “damned poets”/ru.wikipedia.org

Actually, the entire totality of Degas’ work (he would say: “the essence” - l’être-ensemble des œuvres) can be represented as the richest object of such work. Examples from Dega could illustrate a vocabulary of linguistic terms. The figures of his poetic speech - from the simplest omission of links, semantic assonances (such as, for example, a doublet played out many times seul / seuil - threshold / lonely) or virtuoso word game from the very word “word” to the most complex designations of deep hermeticism - become a panorama of modern poetic polystylistics.
Previously they would have said that Deguy, following the extensive tradition of the twentieth century, is destroying language. However, the thickening of suggestion leads to new forms of poetic expression. Thus, in one of the characteristic poems of the “Help-Memory” cycle, he decomposes the word commun (“common”) into comme un (“as one”), once again emphasizing that poetry is the existence of the word and the concept comme - “as.” This is the path to expanding the metaphorical picture of the world, to that fourth dimension that the great lyricists of the past dreamed of.

Paul Valéry(French Paul Valéry 1871-1945) - French poet, essayist, philosopher/ru.wikipedia.org

In this picture, a mixture of genres and types of writing is fundamentally important for Dega - poems and marginal notes, multi-page essays and short rhymed metaphors. The main thing is a mixture of poetry and prose, prosème; in his poetics the growth of one into another occurs naturally, the boundaries are erased, a theoretical treatise can end in a poetic miniature, a lyrical quatrain - in a political manifesto. The fragments again create a whole, which falls into fragments, but does not disincarnate.
To your idea ("Modern literature,- he says, - seems rather marked Valerie oscillation between"; between prose and poetry, for example) Deguy dedicated a separate article, “The Shuffling of a Broom on the Street of Prose,” in which, in particular, he noted: “The modern poet is, by his own free will, a poet-organizer (poetizer). He likes to spin in the wheel (and with the wheel), which closes the thought of poetics and the poetics of thought.Poetics - "poetic art", explained by interest in the poem and its composition - connects and articulates two main ingredients: formality with revelation."

The rapprochement of poetry with philosophy, its flow into essays, the restoration of missing links at a different, mental level, creates a special logic poetic text, When "internal comment"(read: intellect) becomes a source of living passions and ultimately returns us to earthly sorrows and joys, emphasizing the eternal readiness of poetry to be called upon to help the soul and memory.

NOTES

Berranger M.-P. commente "Du monde entier au cœur du monde" de Blaise Cendrare. Paris, 2007. P. 95.
Cornille J.-L. Apollinaire et Cie. Paris, 2000. P. 133.
Bohn W. Orthographe et interpretation des mots étrangers chez Apollinaire. Que Vlo-Vе? Serie 1 no. 27, January 1981, P. 28-29. See also: Hyde-Greet A. “Rotsoge”: à travers Chagall. Que Vlo-Ve? Sèrie 1 No. 21-22, jullet-octobre 1979, Actes du colloque de Stavelot, 1975. P. 6.
Cornille J.-L. P. 134.
Berranger M.-P. R. 87.
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The literature of 20th century France was directly influenced by the events that shaped history. She retained the title of trendsetter in the world of fine literature, and her authority remained unquestioned in the world community. For example, seven representatives of the country became Nobel Prize laureates. Among them are Andre Gide, Francois Mauriac, Albert Camus, Claude Simon.

At the very beginning of the century, experiments were underway in France in such areas of literature as symbolism and naturalism. In the first half of the century, social and ideological contradictions were revealed.

Andre Gide, who called himself a “man of dialogue,” did not give his readers ready-made moral recipes. He asked questions and looked for answers about the meaning of human existence, about the inevitability of fateful events. His versatile talent manifested itself in the slightly grotesque works “The Immoralist”, “Isabel” and “Vatican Dungeons”.

The poet Guillaume Apollinaire introduced elements of visualization into his work. His “surreal drama” “The Tits of Tiresias” presented the problems of our time in a comedic spirit.

French literary evolution went hand in hand with modernization artistic arts. The works of 20th century France are characterized by a peculiar isolation from reality and a search for the ideal.

The master of exquisite prose Andre Maurois in his “Letters to a Stranger” spoke about love and family relationships, raised problems modern literature and painting. In the famous “Vicissitudes of Love” he explores the multifaceted sphere of human emotions and passions, the difficulties of family life, and draws parallels with positions in society.

The novelist Louis-Ferdinand Celine was characterized by the use of slang in his work. But his anti-Semitic “School of Corpses” and “Trifles for Pogrom” gave the author the image of a racist and misanthrope.

A. Camus argues that the only method of combating the absurd can be the recognition of its existence. In The Myth of Sisyphus, he describes the satisfaction of a man who is clearly aware of the futility of his efforts.

The 1930s gave the world masterpieces by existentialist writers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Sartre's most famous and, according to experts, most successful novel, Nausea, raises themes human destiny, chaos, despair. The author highlights the importance of freedom and the opportunities it gives in overcoming difficulties. The book is written in the form of a diary. The one who leads him wants to get to the bottom of the change that has happened to him, but he is periodically attacked by Nausea, which is a kind of symbol of sensitivity to the ugly.

The works of the “forerunner of feminism” Simone de Beauvoir promote existentialist ideas. The novel "Tangerines", awarded the prestigious French literary Goncourt Prize, describes the ideological and political development of post-war France.

Key historical events- liberation from fascist occupation, the rule of President Charles de Gaulle, colonial wars, the student revolution - determined the direction of development and served as the background in the works of French authors.

In the 60s, writers who were born in foreign departments or colonies of the country made their contribution. Among them: Tahar Benjelloun, Amin Maalouf and Assia Djebar. The themes of the latter’s novels are the Algerian War and the difficulties of life as a Muslim woman. Her "Thirst" and "Great Prison" demonstrate how Islamic fanatics destroyed manifestations of female emancipation.

The latest French literature is Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Georges Simenon and Françoise Sagan. Their masterpieces were preserved and continued the best traditions France.

The most famous story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is “ A little prince"is a fairy tale-parable that talks about love, friendship, obligations and human vices. The image of an impulsive and touching rose is copied from the writer’s adored wife. The accompanying drawings were made by the author and are an organic addition to the literary masterpiece.

Georges Simenon – French representative detective genre. He became famous thanks to a series of stories about the investigations of Commissioner Maigret. The image of the famous guardian of the law so captivated readers that a bronze monument was erected to him, and many stories appeared on the screen. In addition, the writer published many “commercial” novels, for example, “Notes from a Typist.”

F. Sagan's short stories are characterized by a small number of characters and short descriptions. They contain intrigue and clearly outline the scheme of the love triangle. The novel “Hello, Sadness” is a sincere story, imbued with passion and innocence - that dangerous mixture that even today causes a surge of emotions. One of the deepest psychological novels"A little sunshine in cold water"tells how love can both heal and destroy. Sagan has often been accused of being a fan of fiction. As if in refutation, she created theatrical plays “Fiddlers Sometimes Cause Harm” and “The Horse Disappeared”, released a biography of Sarah Bernhardt and several autobiographies.

French literature retains its high purpose from the Middle Ages to the completely changed situation of our days. For Russian readers, French works are the most popular and beloved.

Every year on March 20, International Francophonie Day is celebrated. This day is dedicated to the French language, which is spoken by more than 200 million people around the world.

We took advantage of this opportunity and propose to remember the best French writers of our time, representing France in the international book arena.

Frederic Beigbeder . Prose writer, publicist, literary critic and editor. His literary works, with descriptions modern life, a person’s tossing around in the world of money and love experiences very quickly won fans around the world. The most sensational books, “Love Lives for Three Years” and “99 Francs,” were even filmed. The novels “Memoirs of an Unreasonable Young Man”, “Holidays in a Coma”, “Stories on Ecstasy”, “Romantic Egoist” also brought well-deserved fame to the writer. Over time, Beigbeder founded his own literary award, the Flora Prize.

Michel Houellebecq . One of the most widely read French writers of the early 21st century. His books have been translated into a good three dozen languages, and he is extremely popular among young people. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the writer managed to touch upon pain points modern life. His novel “Elementary Particles” (1998) received the Grand Prix, and “Map and Territory” (2010) received the Prix Goncourt. They were followed by “Platform”, “Lanzarote”, “The Possibility of an Island”, etc., and each of these books became a bestseller.

The writer's new novel"Submission" tells about the collapse in the near future of modern political system France. The author himself defined the genre of his novel as “political fiction.” The action takes place in 2022. A Muslim president comes to power democratically, and the country begins to change before our eyes...

Bernard Werber . Cult science fiction writer and philosopher. His name on the cover of the book means only one thing - a masterpiece! The total worldwide circulation of his books is more than 10 million! The writer is best known for the trilogies “Ants”, “Thanatonautes”, “We Gods” and “The Third Humanity”. His books have been translated into many languages, and seven novels have become bestsellers in Russia, Europe, America and Korea. The author has a lot to his credit literary prizes, incl. Jules Verne Prize.

One of the most sensational books of the writer -"Empire of Angels" where fantasy, mythology, mysticism and real life the most ordinary people. The main character of the novel goes to heaven, undergoes the “Last Judgment” and becomes an angel on Earth. According to heavenly rules, he is given three human clients, whose lawyer he must subsequently become at the Last Judgment...

Guillaume Musso . A relatively young writer, very popular among French readers. Each of his new works becomes a bestseller, and films are made based on his works. The deep psychologism, piercing emotionality and vivid figurative language of the books fascinate readers all over the world. The action of his adventure and psychological novels takes place all over the world - in France, the USA and other countries. Following the heroes, readers go on adventures full of dangers, investigate mysteries, plunge into the abyss of the heroes’ passions, which, of course, gives a reason to look into their inner world.

Based on the writer's new novel"Because I love you" - the tragedy of one family. Mark and Nicole were happy until their little daughter - their only, long-awaited and adored child - disappeared...

Mark Levy . One of the most famous novelists, whose works have been translated into dozens of languages ​​and published in huge editions. The writer is a laureate of the national Goya Prize. Steven Spielberg paid two million dollars for the rights to film his first novel, Between Heaven and Earth.

Literary critics note the versatility of the author’s work. His books include “Seven Days of Creation”, “Meet Again”, “Everyone Wants to Love”, “Leaving to Return”, “ Stronger than fear"etc. - a frequently encountered topic selfless love and sincere friendship, secrets of old mansions and intrigue, reincarnation and mysticism, unexpected twists in storylines.

Writer's new book"She and he" is one of the best novels of 2015. This romantic story is about irresistible and unpredictable love.

Anna Gavalda . A famous writer who captivated the world with her novels and their exquisite, poetic style. She is called the “star of French literature” and “the new Francoise Sagan.” Her books have been translated into dozens of languages, awarded a whole constellation of awards, and they have been used for performances and films. Each of her works is a story about love and how it adorns every person.
In 2002, the writer’s first novel, “I Loved Her, I Loved Him,” was published. But this was all just a prelude to the real success that the book brought her"Just together" , which eclipsed even Brown’s novel “The Da Vinci Code” in France.This is amazingly wise and good book about love and loneliness, about life and, of course, happiness.