Hello author! When analyzing any work of art, a critic/reviewer, and simply an attentive reader, starts from four basic literary concepts. The author relies on them when creating his work of art, unless of course he is a standard graphomaniac who simply writes whatever comes to mind. You can write rubbish, stereotyped or more or less original without understanding these terms. But here worthy of attention reader of the text is quite difficult. So, let's go over each of them. I'll try not to load it.
Translated from Greek, the theme is what is the basis. In other words, the theme is the subject of the author’s depiction, those phenomena and events to which the author wants to draw the reader’s attention.
Examples:
The theme of love, its emergence and development, and possibly its ending.
Theme of fathers and sons.
The theme of the confrontation between good and evil.
Theme of betrayal.
The theme of friendship.
Theme of character development.
Theme of space exploration.
Topics change depending on the era in which a person lives, but some topics that concern humanity from era to era remain relevant - they are called “eternal themes.” Above I listed 6 “eternal themes”, but the last, seventh – “the theme of space exploration” – became relevant for humanity not so long ago. However, apparently, it will also become an “eternal topic”.
1. The author sits down to write a novel and writes everything that comes to mind, without thinking about any themes of literary works.
2. The author is going to write, say, a science fiction novel and starts from the genre. He doesn't care about the topic, he doesn't think about it at all.
3. The author coldly chooses a topic for his novel, scrupulously studies and thinks through it.
4. The author is concerned about some topic, questions about it do not allow him to sleep peacefully at night, and during the day he mentally returns to this topic every now and then.
The result will be 4 different novels.
1. 95% (the percentages are approximate, they are given for a better understanding and nothing more) - this will be an ordinary graphomaniac, slag, a meaningless chain of events, with logical errors, cranberries, blunders where someone attacked someone, although there were no there is no reason for that, someone fell in love with someone, although the reader does not understand at all what he/she found in her/him, someone quarreled with someone for some unknown reason (In fact, of course it’s clear - so it was necessary for the author in order to continue to sculpt his writing without hindrance)))), etc. and so on. There are a majority of such novels, but they are rarely published, because few people can handle them even in a small volume. The Runet is littered with such novels, I think you have seen them more than once.
2. This is the so-called “streaming literature”; it is published quite often. Read and forget. For one time. It'll be okay with beer. Such novels can captivate if the author has a good imagination, but they do not touch or excite. A certain man went somewhere, found something, then became powerful, etc. A certain young lady fell in love with a handsome man, from the very beginning it was clear that in chapter five or six there would be sex, and in the finale they would get married. A certain “nerd” became the chosen one and went to distribute carrots and sticks right and left to all those whom he did not like and liked. And so on. In general, all sorts of... stuff. There are plenty of such novels both on the Internet and on bookshelves, and most likely, while you were reading this paragraph, you remembered a couple or three, or maybe a dozen or more.
3. These are the so-called “crafts” High Quality. The author is a pro and skillfully guides the reader from chapter to chapter, and the ending surprises. However, the author does not write about what sincerely concerns him, but he studies the moods and tastes of readers and writes in such a way that the reader finds it interesting. Such literature is much less common in the second category. I won’t name the authors here, but you’re probably familiar with some good crafts. These include fascinating detective stories, exciting fantasy and beautiful love stories. After reading such a novel, the reader is often satisfied and wants to continue to get acquainted with the novels of his favorite author. They are rarely reread because the plot is already familiar and understandable. But if you fall in love with the characters, then re-reading is quite possible, and reading new books by the author is more than likely (if he has them, of course).
4. And this category is rare. Novels, after reading which people walk around for several minutes, or even hours, dazed, impressed, and often think about what they have written. They may cry. They may laugh. These are novels that shake the imagination, that help cope with life's difficulties, rethink this or that. Almost all classic literature- exactly like that. These are novels that people put on a bookshelf so that after some time they can reread and rethink what they have read. Novels that influence people. Novels that are remembered. This is Literature with a capital L.
Naturally, I am not saying that choosing and elaborating a topic is enough to write a strong novel. Moreover, I will say frankly - it is not enough. But in any case, I think it’s clear how important the theme is in a literary work.
Idea literary work is inextricably linked with its theme and the example of the novel’s influence on the reader that I described above in paragraph 4 is unrealistic if the author paid attention only to the theme and forgot to think about the idea. However, if the author is concerned about the topic, then the idea, as a rule, is comprehended and worked through with the same attention.
What is this - the idea of a literary work?
The idea is the main idea of the work. It reflects the author’s attitude to the topic of his work. It is in this display artistic means and therein lies the difference between the idea of a work of art and a scientific idea.
"Gustave Flaubert vividly expressed his ideal of a writer, noting that, like the Almighty, a writer in his book should be nowhere and everywhere, invisible and omnipresent. There are several most important works fiction, in which the presence of the author is unobtrusive to the extent that Flaubert wanted it, although he himself failed to achieve his ideal in Madame Bovary. But even in works where the author is ideally unobtrusive, he is nevertheless dispersed throughout the book and his absence turns into a kind of radiant presence. As the French say, “il brille par son absence” (“it shines by its absence”)” © Vladimir Nabokov, “Lectures on Foreign Literature.”
If the author accepts the reality described in the work, then such an ideological assessment is called an ideological statement.
If the author condemns the reality described in the work, then such an ideological assessment is called ideological negation.
The ratio of ideological affirmation and ideological negation in each work is different.
It is important not to go to extremes, and this is very, very difficult. An author who forgets about the idea at the moment of emphasis on artistry will lose the idea, and an author who forgets about artistry, because he is completely absorbed in the idea, will write journalism. This is neither good nor bad for the reader, because it is a matter of the reader’s taste to choose how to treat it, but fiction is just that, fiction and just that, literature.
Examples:
Two different authors describe the NEP period in their novels. However, after reading the novel by the first author, the reader is filled with indignation, condemns the events described and concludes that this period was terrible. And after reading the novel by the second author, the reader would be delighted and would draw conclusions that the New Economic Policy is a wonderful period in history and would regret that he does not live in this period. Of course, in this example I am exaggerating, because a clumsy expression of an idea is a sign of a weak novel, a poster novel, a popular novel - which can cause rejection in the reader, who will consider that the author is imposing his opinion on him. But I’m exaggerating in this example for better understanding.
Two different authors have written stories about adultery. The first author condemns adultery, the second understands the reasons for its occurrence, and main character that being married, she fell in love with another man - justifies. And the reader is imbued with either the author’s ideological negation or his ideological affirmation.
Without an idea, literature is waste paper. Because describing events and phenomena for the sake of describing events and phenomena is not only boring reading, but also simply stupid. “Well, what did the author mean by this?” - a dissatisfied reader will ask and shrug his shoulders and throw the book into the trash. It's junk because...
There are two main ways to present an idea in a work.
The first is through artistic means, very unobtrusively, in the form of an aftertaste.
The second - through the mouth of a character-reasoner or in direct author's text. Head-on. In this case, the idea is called a trend.
It’s up to you to choose how to present the idea, but a thoughtful reader will certainly understand whether the author gravitates towards tendentiousness or artistry.
Plot.
The plot is a set of events and relationships between characters in a work, unfolding in time and space. At the same time, events and relationships between characters are not necessarily presented to the reader in a cause-and-effect or time sequence. A simple example for better understanding is a flashback.
Warning: The plot is based on the conflict, and the conflict unfolds thanks to the plot.
No conflict - no plot.
This is very important to understand. Many “stories” and even “novels” on the Internet do not have a plot, as such.
If a character went to a bakery and bought bread there, then came home and ate it with milk, and then watched TV - this is a plotless text. Prose is not poetry and, as a rule, it is not accepted by the reader without a plot.
Why is such a “story” not a story at all?
1. Exposition.
2. The beginning.
3. Development of action.
4. Climax.
5. Denouement.
The author does not have to use all the elements of the plot, in modern literature authors often do without exposition, for example, but the main rule of fiction is that the plot must be complete.
More details about the plot elements and conflict can be found in another topic.
Do not confuse plot with plot. These are different terms with different meanings.
The plot is the content of events in their sequential connection. Causal and temporal.
For a better understanding, I’ll explain: the author conceived the story, in his head the events are arranged in order, first this event happened, then that, this follows from here, and this from here. This is a plot.
And the plot is how the author presented this story to the reader - he kept silent about something, rearranged events somewhere, etc. and so on.
Of course, it happens that the plot and the plot coincide, when the events in the novel are arranged strictly according to the plot, but the plot and the plot are not the same thing.
Composition.
Oh, this composition! Weakness many novelists, and often short story writers.
Composition is the construction of all elements of a work in accordance with its purpose, character and content and largely determines its perception.
Difficult, right?
I'll put it more simply.
Composition is the structure of a work of art. The structure of your story or novel.
It's such big house, consisting of various parts. (for men)
This is a soup that contains all sorts of ingredients! (for women)
Every brick, every soup component is an element of the composition, an expressive means.
Monologue of the character, description of the landscape, lyrical digressions and inserted short stories, repetitions and point of view on what is depicted, epigraphs, parts, chapters and much more.
The composition is divided into external and internal.
The external composition (architectonics) is the volumes of a trilogy (for example), parts of a novel, its chapters, paragraphs.
Internal composition includes portraits of characters, descriptions of nature and interiors, point of view or change of points of view, accents, flashbacks and much more, as well as extra-plot components - prologue, inserted short stories, author's digressions and epilogue.
Each author strives to find his own composition, to get closer to his ideal composition for a particular work, however, as a rule, in compositional terms, most texts are rather weak.
Why is this so?
Well, firstly, there are a lot of components, many of which are simply unknown to many authors.
Secondly, it is banal due to literary illiteracy - thoughtlessly placed accents, overdoing with descriptions to the detriment of dynamics or dialogues, or vice versa - continuous jumping, running, jumping of some cardboard Persians without portraits or continuous dialogue without or with attribution.
Thirdly, due to the inability to cover the volume of the work and isolate the essence. In a number of novels, entire chapters can be thrown out without harming (and often benefiting) the plot. Or in some chapter, a good third of the information is presented that does not play into the plot and characters - for example, the author gets carried away with the description of the car, right down to the description of the pedals and detailed story about the gearbox. The reader is bored, he scrolls through such descriptions (“Listen, if I need to get acquainted with the structure of this car model, I will read the technical literature!”), and the author believes that “This is very important for understanding the principles of driving Pyotr Nikanorych’s car!” and thereby makes a generally good text dull. By analogy with soup, if you overdo it with salt, for example, the soup will become too salty. This is one of the most common reasons why writers are advised to first practice on the small form before taking on novels. However, practice shows that quite a few people seriously believe that starting literary activity It should be in the large form, because that’s what publishing houses need. I assure you, if you think that to write a readable novel you only need the desire to write it, you are greatly mistaken. You need to learn to write novels. And learning is easier and more efficient - from miniatures and stories. Despite the fact that the story is a different genre, you can perfectly learn internal composition by working in this particular genre.
Composition is a way of embodying the author's idea, and a compositionally weak work is the author's inability to convey the idea to the reader. In other words, if the composition is weak, the reader simply will not understand what the author wanted to say with his novel.
Thank you for attention.
© Dmitry Vishnevsky
When analyzing a work, along with the concepts of “theme” and “problematics”, the concept of idea is also used, by which most often we mean the answer to the question allegedly posed by the author.
Ideas in literature can be different. An idea in literature is a thought contained in a work. There are logical ideas, or concepts. A logically formulated general thought about a class of objects or phenomena; idea of something. The concept of time, which we are able to perceive with the intellect and which are easily conveyed without figurative means. Novels and stories are characterized by philosophical and social generalizations, ideas, analyzes of causes and consequences, and a network of abstract elements.
But there is a special type of very subtle, barely perceptible ideas in a literary work. An artistic idea is a thought embodied in figurative form. It lives only in figurative transformation and cannot be expressed in the form of sentences or concepts. The peculiarity of this thought depends on the disclosure of the topic, the author’s worldview, conveyed by the speech and actions of the characters, and on the depiction of pictures of life. It lies in the combination of logical thoughts, images, and all significant compositional elements. An artistic idea cannot be reduced to a rational idea that can be specified or illustrated. The idea of this type is integral to the image, to the composition.
Forming an artistic idea is difficult creative process. He is influenced personal experience, the writer’s worldview, understanding of life. An idea can be nurtured for years; the author, trying to realize it, suffers, rewrites, and searches for adequate means of implementation. All themes, characters, all events are necessary for a more complete expression of the main idea, its nuances, shades. However, it is necessary to understand that an artistic idea is not equal to an ideological plan, that plan that often appears not only in the writer’s head, but also on paper. By exploring extra-artistic reality, reading diaries, notebooks, manuscripts, archives, scientists restore the history of the idea, the history of creation, but do not discover the artistic idea. Sometimes it happens that the author goes against himself, yielding to the original plan for the sake of artistic truth, an internal idea.
One thought is not enough to write a book. If you know in advance everything you would like to talk about, then you should not contact artistic creativity. Better - to criticism, journalism, journalism.
The idea of a literary work cannot be contained in one phrase and one image. But writers, especially novelists, sometimes struggle to formulate the idea of their work. Dostoevsky said about “The Idiot”: “The main idea of the novel is to portray a positively beautiful person.” Dostoevsky F.M. Collection of works: In 30 volumes. T. 28. Book 2. P.251.. But Nabokov did not accept him for this same declarative ideology. Indeed, the novelist’s phrase does not clarify why, why he did it, what is the artistic and vital basis of his image.
Therefore, along with cases of defining the so-called main idea, other examples are known. Tolstoy’s answer to the question “What is “War and Peace”? answered as follows: ““War and Peace” is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.” Tolstoy demonstrated his reluctance to translate the idea of his work into the language of concepts once again, speaking about the novel “Anna Karenina”: “If I wanted to say in words everything that I had in mind to express in a novel, then I would have to write the very one that I wrote first” (letter to N. Strakhov).
Belinsky very accurately pointed out that “art does not allow abstract philosophical, much less rational ideas: it allows only poetic ideas; and the poetic idea is<…>not a dogma, not a rule, it is a living passion, pathos” (lat. pathos - feeling, passion, inspiration).
V.V. Odintsov expressed his understanding of the category of artistic idea more strictly: “Idea literary composition is always specific and is not directly deduced not only from the individual statements of the writer lying outside of him (facts of his biography, social life, etc.), but also from the text - from replicas goodies, journalistic inserts, comments from the author himself, etc.” Odintsov V.V. Stylistics of the text. M., 1980. S. 161-162..
Literary critic G.A. Gukovsky also spoke about the need to distinguish between rational, that is, rational, and literary ideas: “By idea I mean not only a rationally formulated judgment, statement, not even just the intellectual content of a work of literature, but the entire sum of its content, constituting its intellectual function, its goal and task” Gukovsky G.A. Studying a literary work at school. M.; L., 1966. P.100-101.. And further explained: “To understand the idea of a literary work means to understand the idea of each of its components in their synthesis, in their systemic interconnection<…>At the same time, it is important to take into account the structural features of the work - not only the words-bricks from which the walls of the building are made, but the structure of the combination of these bricks as parts of this structure, their meaning" Gukovsky G.A. P.101, 103..
O.I. Fedotov, comparing the artistic idea with the theme, the objective basis of the work, said the following: “An idea is an attitude towards what is depicted, the fundamental pathos of a work, a category that expresses the author’s tendency (inclination, intention, preconceived thought) in the artistic coverage of a given topic.” Consequently, the idea is the subjective basis of the work. It is noteworthy that in Western literary criticism, based on other methodological principles, instead of the category of artistic idea, the concept of intention, a certain premeditation, the tendency of the author to express the meaning of the work is used. This is discussed in detail in the work of A. Companion “The Demon of Theory” Companion A. The Demon of Theory. M., 2001. pp. 56-112.. In addition, in some modern domestic studies, scientists use the category “creative concept”. In particular, it is heard in the textbook edited by L. Chernets Chernets L.V. A literary work as an artistic unity // Introduction to literary criticism / Ed. L.V. Chernets. M., 1999. P. 174..
The more majestic the artistic idea, the longer the work lives.
V.V. Kozhinov called an artistic idea a semantic type of work that grows out of the interaction of images. Summarizing the statements of writers and philosophers, we can say that thin. An idea, in contrast to a logical idea, is not formulated by an author’s statement, but is depicted in all the details of the artistic whole. The evaluative or value aspect of a work, its ideological and emotional orientation is called a tendency. In the literature of socialist realism, the tendency was interpreted as partisanship.
IN epic works ideas can be partly formulated in the text itself, as in Tolstoy’s narrative: “There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” More often, especially in lyric poetry, the idea permeates the structure of the work and therefore requires a lot of analytical work. A work of art as a whole is richer than the rational idea that critics usually isolate. In many lyrical works isolating an idea is untenable because it practically dissolves in pathos. Therefore, the idea should not be reduced to a conclusion, a lesson, and one should certainly look for it.
1. Topic, themes, problems of the work.
2. The ideological concept of the work.
3. Pathos and its varieties.
Bibliography
1. Introduction to literary criticism: textbook / ed. L.M. Krupchanov. – M., 2005.
2. Borev Yu.B. Aesthetics. Literary theory: encyclopedic Dictionary terms. – M., 2003.
3. Dal V.I. Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language: in 4 volumes - M., 1994. - T.4.
4. Esin A.B.
5. Literary encyclopedic dictionary / ed. V.M. Kozhevnikova, P.A. Nikolaeva. – M., 1987.
6. Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts / ed. A.N. Nikolyukina. – M., 2003.
7. Soviet encyclopedic dictionary / ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov. – 4th ed. – M., 1989.
Literary scholars rightly argue that what gives a literary work its holistic character is not the hero, but the unity of the problem posed in it, the unity of the idea being revealed. Thus, in order to delve deeper into the content of the work, it is necessary to determine its components: theme and idea.
"Subject ( Greek. thema), - according to V. Dahl’s definition, - a proposal, position, task that is being discussed or explained.”
The authors of the Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary give the topic a slightly different definition: “The topic [what is the basis] is 1) the subject of description, image, research, conversation, etc.; 2) in art, an object of artistic depiction, a range of life phenomena depicted by a writer, artist or composer and held together by the author’s intention.”
In dictionary literary terms“We find the following definition: “Theme is what is the basis of a literary work, the main problem posed in it by the writer” .
In the textbook “Introduction to Literary Studies,” ed. G.N. Pospelov's theme is interpreted as an object of knowledge.
A.M. Gorky defines a theme as an idea, “which originated in the author’s experience, is suggested to him by life, but nests in the receptacle of his impressions still unformed and, demanding embodiment in images, arouses in him the urge to work on its design.”
As you can see, the above definitions of the topic are diverse and contradictory. The only statement with which we can agree without reservation is that the theme is truly the objective basis of any work of art. We have already talked above about how the process of birth and development of a theme occurs, how a writer studies reality and selects life phenomena, what is the role of the writer’s worldview in the selection and development of a theme ( see the lecture “Literature is a special kind artistic activity person").
However, the statements of literary scholars that the theme is a circle of life phenomena depicted by the writer, in our opinion, are not comprehensive enough, since there are differences between the life material (the object of the image) and the theme (subject matter) of the work of art. The subject of depiction in works of fiction can be a variety of phenomena of human life, the life of nature, animals and flora, and material culture(buildings, settings, views of cities, etc.). Sometimes even fantastic creatures are depicted - talking and thinking animals and plants, various kinds of spirits, gods, giants, monsters, etc. But this is by no means the topic of a literary work. Images of animals, plants, and views of nature often have an allegorical and auxiliary meaning in a work of art. They either represent people, as happens in fables, or are created to express human experiences (in lyrical images of nature). Even more often, natural phenomena with its flora and fauna are depicted as the environment in which human life with its social character takes place.
When defining a theme as vital material taken for depiction by a writer, we must reduce its study to the analysis of the depicted objects, and not characteristic features human life in its social essence.
Following A.B. Yesin, under topic literary work we will understand " object of artistic reflection , those life characters and situations (relationships of characters, as well as human interaction with society as a whole, with nature, everyday life, etc.), which seem to pass from reality into a work of art and form the objective side of its content ».
The theme of a literary work covers everything depicted in it and therefore can be comprehended with the necessary completeness only on the basis of penetration into all the ideological and artistic richness of this work. For example, to determine the theme of the work by K.G. Abramov "Purgaz" ( the unification of the Mordovian people, fragmented into many often warring clans at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries, which contributed to the salvation of the nation and the preservation of its spiritual values), it is necessary to take into account and comprehend the multilateral development of this topic by the author. K. Abramov also shows how the character of the main character was formed: the influence of everyday life and national traditions the Mordovian people, as well as the Volga Bulgars, among whom, by the will of fate and his own desire, he had the opportunity to live for 3 years, and how he became the head of the clan, how he fought with the Vladimir princes and the Mongols for domination in the western part of the Middle Volga region, what efforts he made to ensure that the Mordovian people became united.
In the process of analyzing the topic, it is necessary, according to the authoritative opinion of A.B. Yesin, firstly, to distinguish between reflection object(topic) and image object(the specific situation depicted); secondly, it is necessary distinguish between concrete historical and eternal themes. Specific historical themes are characters and circumstances born and conditioned by a certain socio-historical situation in a particular country; they are not repeated beyond a given time, they are more or less localized (for example, the theme “ extra person» in Russian XIX literature century). When analyzing a specific historical topic, one must see not only the socio-historical, but also the psychological certainty of character, since comprehension of character traits helps to correctly understand the unfolding plot and the motivation for its twists and turns. Eternals themes capture recurring moments in the history of various national societies, they are repeated in different modifications in life different generations, to different historical eras. These are, for example, the themes of love and friendship, life and death, relationships between generations and others.
Due to the fact that the topic requires various aspects of consideration, along with its general concept, the concept is also used topics, i.e. those lines of development of the theme that are outlined by the writer and constitute its complex integrity. Close attention to the variety of themes is especially necessary when analyzing large works that contain not one, but many themes. In these cases, it is advisable to highlight one or two main topics related to the image central character, or a number of characters, and treat the rest as side characters.
When analyzing the content of a literary work, the definition of its problematics is of great importance. In literary criticism, the problematics of a literary work are usually understood as the area of comprehension, the writer’s understanding of the reflected reality: « Issues (Greek. problema – something thrown forward, i.e. isolated from other aspects of life) – this is the writer’s ideological understanding of the social characters that he depicted in the work. This comprehension consists in the fact that the writer highlights and strengthens those properties, aspects, relationships of the characters depicted, which he, based on his ideological worldview, considers the most significant.”
In works of art that are large in volume, writers, as a rule, pose a variety of problems: social, moral, political, philosophical, etc. It depends on what aspects of the characters and what contradictions of life the writer focuses on.
For example, K. Abramov in the novel “Purgaz”, through the image of the main character, understands the policy of uniting the Mordovian people, scattered into numerous clans, however, the disclosure of this problem (socio-political) is quite closely connected with the moral problem (refusal of the woman he loved, the order to kill Tengush , one of the leaders of the clan, etc.). Therefore, when analyzing a work of art, it is important to understand not only the main problem, but also the entire problem as a whole, to identify how deep and significant it is, how serious and significant are the contradictions of reality that the writer depicted.
One cannot but agree with the statement of A.B. Esin that the problems contain the author’s unique view of the world. Unlike the subject matter, the problematic is the subjective side of the artistic content, therefore, the author’s individuality, “the original moral attitude of the author to the subject,” is maximally manifested in it. Often different writers create works on the same topic, however, there are no two major writers whose works would coincide in their problems. The uniqueness of the issue is unique business card writer.
For practical analysis problems, it is important to identify the originality of the work, comparing it with others, to understand what makes it unique and unique. For this purpose, it is necessary to establish in the work under study type problems.
Main types of problems in domestic literary criticism were identified by G.N. Pospelov. Based on the classification of G.N. Pospelov taking into account modern level development of literary criticism A.B. Esin proposed his own classification. He singled out mythological, national, novel, sociocultural, philosophical problems. In our opinion, it makes sense to highlight the issues moral .
Writers not only pose certain problems, they look for ways to solve them, relate what they depict to social ideals. Therefore, the theme of a work is always connected with its idea.
N.G. Chernyshevsky, in his treatise “Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality,” speaking about the tasks of art, asserts that works of art “reproduce life, explain life and pass judgment on it.” It is difficult to disagree with this, since works of fiction always express the ideological and emotional attitude of writers to topics social characters which they depict. The ideological and emotional assessment of the characters depicted is the most active aspect of the content of the work.
"Idea (Greek. idea – idea, prototype, ideal) in literature - expression author's attitude to what is depicted, the correlation of this depicted with the ideals of life and man affirmed by writers“, - this definition is given in the “Dictionary of Literary Terms”. We find a somewhat refined version of the definition of an idea in the textbook by G.N. Pospelova: “ The idea of a literary work is the unity of all aspects of its content; this is a figurative, emotional, generalizing thought of the writer, manifested in choice, and in comprehension, and in the assessment of characters ».
When analyzing a work of art, identifying an idea is very important and significant for the reason that a progressive idea, corresponding to the course of history, trends in social development, is a necessary quality of all truly artistic works. Understanding the main idea of a work should follow from an analysis of its entire ideological content(the author's assessment of events and characters, the author's ideal, pathos). Only under this condition can we correctly judge him, his strength and weakness, the nature and roots of the contradictions in him.
If we talk about K. Abramov’s novel “Purgaz”, then the main idea that the author expresses can be formulated as follows: the strength of the people lies in their unity. Only by uniting all the Mordovian clans, Purgaz, as a talented leader, was able to resist the Mongols and liberate the Mordovian land from the conquerors.
We have already noted that the themes and issues of artistic works must meet the requirements of depth, relevance and significance. The idea, in turn, must meet the criteria of historical truthfulness and objectivity. It is important for the reader that the writer expresses such an ideological and emotional understanding of the characters depicted, which these characters are truly worthy of in terms of the objective, essential properties of their lives, in terms of their place and significance in national life in general, in the prospects for its development. Works that contain a historically true assessment of the phenomena and characters depicted are progressive in their content.
Primary source artistic ideas in reality, according to I.F. Volkov, are “only those ideas that entered the artist’s flesh and blood, became the meaning of his existence, his ideological and emotional attitude to life.” V.G. Belinsky called such ideas pathos . “A poetic idea,” he wrote, “is not a syllogism, not a dogma, not a rule, it is a living passion, it is pathos.” Belinsky borrowed the very concept of pathos from Hegel, who in his lectures on aesthetics used the word “pathos” to mean ( Greek. pathos - a strong, passionate feeling) the artist’s high enthusiasm for comprehending the essence of the life depicted, its “truth”.
E. Aksenova defines pathos this way: “Pathos is an emotional animation, a passion that permeates a work (or its parts) and gives it a single breath - what can be called the soul of a work. In pathos, the artist’s feeling and thought form a single whole; it contains the key to the idea of the work. Pathos is not always and not necessarily a pronounced emotion; This is where the artist’s creative individuality is most clearly manifested. Along with the authenticity of feelings and thoughts pathos imparts liveliness and artistic persuasiveness to a work and is a condition for its emotional impact on the reader " Pathos is created by artistic means: the depiction of characters, their actions, experiences, events in their lives, and the entire figurative structure of the work.
Thus, pathos is the writer’s emotional and evaluative attitude towards the person depicted, characterized by great strength of feelings .
In literary criticism, the following main types of pathos are distinguished: heroic, dramatic, tragic, sentimental, romantic, humorous, satirical.
Heroic pathos affirms the greatness of the feat of an individual and an entire team, its enormous significance for the development of a people, a nation, and humanity. Figuratively revealing the main qualities of heroic characters, admiring them and praising them, the artist of words creates works imbued with heroic pathos (Homer “Iliad”, Shelley “Prometheus Unchained”, A. Pushkin “Poltava”, M. Lermontov “Borodino”, A. Tvardovsky “Vasily Terkin”; M. Saigin “Hurricane”, I. Antonov “In a United Family”).
Dramatic pathos characteristic of works that depict dramatic situations that arise under the influence of external forces and circumstances that threaten the desires and aspirations of the characters, and sometimes their lives. Drama in works of art can be both ideologically affirming pathos, when the writer deeply sympathizes with the characters (“The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu”), and ideologically negating, if the writer condemns the characters of his characters in the drama of their situation (Aeschylus “Persians”).
Quite often, the drama of situations and experiences arises during military clashes between nations, and this is reflected in works of fiction: E. Hemingway “A Farewell to Arms”, E.M. Remarque “A Time to Live and a Time to Die”, G. Fallada “Wolf Among Wolves”; A. Bek “Volokolamsk Highway”, K. Simonov “The Living and the Dead”; P. Prokhorov “We Stood” and others.
Often, writers in their works depict the drama of the situation and experiences of characters that arises due to social inequality of people (“Père Goriot” by O. Balzac, “The Humiliated and Insulted” by F. Dostoevsky, “The Dowry” by A. Ostrovsky, “Tashto Koise” (“ According to old customs") K. Petrova and others.
Often the influence of external circumstances gives rise to internal contradiction in a person’s mind, a struggle with himself. In this case, the drama deepens to the point of tragedy.
Tragic pathos its roots are associated with the tragic nature of the conflict in a literary work, due to the fundamental impossibility of resolving existing contradictions, and is most often present in the genre of tragedy. Reproducing tragic conflicts, writers depict the painful experiences of their heroes, difficult events in their lives, thereby revealing the tragic contradictions of life, which have a socio-historical or universal character (W. Shakespeare “Hamlet”, A. Pushkin “Boris Godunov”, L. Leonov “Invasion” ", Y. Pinyasov "Erek ver" ("Living Blood").
Satirical pathos. Satirical pathos is characterized by the denial of the negative aspects of social life and character traits of people. The tendency of writers to notice the comic in life and reproduce it on the pages of their works is determined primarily by the properties of their innate talent, as well as by the peculiarities of their worldview. Most often, writers pay attention to the discrepancy between people's claims and real capabilities, which results in the development of comical life situations.
Satire helps to understand the important aspects of human relationships, gives orientation in life, and frees us from false and outdated authorities. In world and Russian literature there are a lot of talented, highly artistic works with satirical pathos, including: the comedies of Aristophanes, “Gargantua and Pantagruel” by F. Rabelais, “Gulliver’s Travels” by J. Swift; “Nevsky Prospekt” by N. Gogol, “The History of a City” by M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, “ dog's heart"M. Bulgakov). In Mordovian literature, no significant work with clearly expressed satirical pathos has yet been created. Satirical pathos is characteristic primarily of the fable genre (I. Shumilkin, M. Beban, etc.).
Humorous pathos. Humor emerged as a special type of pathos only in the era of romanticism. Due to false self-esteem, people not only in public, but also in everyday life and family life may discover internal contradictions between who they really are and who they say they are. These people pretend to be important, which they actually do not have. Such a contradiction is comical and evokes a mocking attitude, mixed more with pity and sadness than with indignation. Humor is laughter at the relatively harmless comic contradictions of life. A striking example of a work with humorous pathos is the story “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club” by Charles Dickens; “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich” by N. Gogol; “Lavginov” by V. Kolomasov, “An agronomist came to the collective farm” (“An agronomist came to the collective farm” by Yu. Kuznetsov).
Sentimental pathos characteristic primarily of sentimental works created in the 18th century, characterized by exaggerated attention to the feelings and experiences of the characters, depiction of moral virtues socially humiliated people, their superiority over the immorality of a privileged environment. As bright examples the works “Julia, or new Eloise» J.J. Rousseau, "Suffering" young Werther» I.V. Goethe, “Poor Liza” N.M. Karamzin.
Romantic pathos conveys the spiritual enthusiasm that arises as a result of identifying a certain sublime principle and the desire to identify its features. Examples include the poems of D.G. Byron, poems and ballads by V. Zhukovsky and others. In Mordovian literature, works with clearly expressed sentimental and romantic pathos are absent, which is largely due to the time of the emergence and development of written literature (the second half of the 19th century).
CONTROL QUESTIONS:
1. What definitions of theme take place in literary criticism? Which definition do you think is most accurate and why?
2. What are the problems of a literary work?
3. What types of problems do literary scholars distinguish?
4. Why is problem identification considered important stage in the analysis of works?
5. What is the idea of a work? How is it related to the concept of pathos?
6. What types of pathos are most often found in works of native literature?
Lecture 7
PLOT
1. The concept of plot.
2. Conflict as the driving force of plot development.
3. Plot elements.
4. Plot and plot.
Bibliography
1) Abramovich G.L. Introduction to literary criticism. – 7th ed. – M., 1979.
2) Gorky A.M.. Conversations with young people (any publication).
3) Dobin E.S. Plot and reality. The art of detail. – L., 1981.
4) Introduction to literary criticism / ed. G.N. Pospelov. – M., 1988.
5) Esin A.B. Principles and techniques of analyzing a literary work. – 4th ed. – M., 2002.
6) Kovalenko A.G.. Artistic conflict in Russian literature. – M., 1996.
7) Kozhinov V.V.. Plot, plot, composition // Theory of literature: Main problems in historical coverage: in 2 books. – M., 1964. – Book 2.
8) Literary encyclopedic dictionary / ed. V.M. Kozhevnikova, P.A. Nikolaev. – M., 1987.
9) Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts / ed. A.N. Nikolyukina. – M., 2003.
10) Shklovsky V.B.. Energy of delusion. Book about the plot // Favorites: in 2 volumes - M., 1983. - Volume 2.
11) Brief literary encyclopedia: in 9 t/hl. ed. A.A. Surkov. – M., 1972. – T.7.
It is well known that a work of art is a complex whole. The writer shows how this or that character grows and develops, what are his connections and relationships with other people. This development of character, the history of growth, is shown in a series of events, which, as a rule, reflect the life situation. Direct relationships between people presented in a work, shown in a certain chain of events, in literary criticism are usually designated by the term plot.
It should be noted that understanding the plot as the course of events has a long tradition in Russian literary criticism. It developed back in the 19th century. This is evidenced by the work of the outstanding literary critic, representative of the comparative-historical school in Russian literary criticism of the 19th century A.N. Veselovsky "Poetics of Plots".
The problem of plot has occupied researchers since Aristotle. G. Hegel also paid much attention to this problem. Despite such long history, the problem of the plot remains largely debatable to this day. For example, there is still no clear distinction between the concepts of plot and plot. In addition, the definitions of plot found in textbooks and textbooks according to literary theory, different and quite contradictory. For example, L.I. Timofeev considers the plot as one of the forms of composition: “Composition is inherent in every literary work, since we will always have in it one or another relationship of its parts, reflecting the complexity of the life phenomena depicted in it. But not in every work we will deal with a plot, i.e. with the revelation of characters through events in which the properties of these characters are revealed... One should reject the widespread and erroneous idea of plot only as a distinct, fascinating system of events, due to which they often talk about the “non-plot” of certain works in which there is no such clarity and fascination of the system of events (actions). Here we're talking about not about the absence of a plot, but about its poor organization, ambiguity, etc.
The plot in a work is always present when we are dealing with certain actions of people, with certain events that happen to them. By connecting the plot with the characters, we thereby determine its content, its conditionality by the reality that the writer is aware of.
Thus, we approach both composition and plot as a means of revealing, discovering a given character.
But in a number of cases, the general content of the work does not fit into the plot alone and cannot be revealed only in the system of events; hence - along with the plot - we will have extra-plot elements in the work; the composition of the work will then be broader than the plot and will begin to manifest itself in other forms.”
V.B. Shklovsky considers the plot as a “means of understanding reality”; in the interpretation of E.S. Dobin, the plot is a “concept of reality.”
M. Gorky defined the plot as “connections, contradictions, sympathies, antipathies and, in general, relationships between people - stories of growth and organization of one or another character, type.” This judgment, like the previous ones, in our opinion, is not accurate, because in many works, especially dramatic ones, characters are depicted outside the development of their characters.
Following A.I. Revyakin, we tend to adhere to this definition of the plot: « A plot is an event (or system of events) selected in the process of studying life, realized and embodied in a work of art, in which conflict and characters are revealed in certain conditions of the social environment».
G.N. Pospelov notes that literary subjects are created in different ways. Most often, they quite fully and reliably reproduce real life events. These are, firstly, works based on historical events (« Early years King Henry IV" by G. Mann, "The Damned Kings" by M. Druon; “Peter I” by A. Tolstoy, “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy; “Polovt” by M. Bryzhinsky, “Purgaz” by K. Abramov); Secondly, autobiographical stories(L. Tolstoy, M. Gorky); Thirdly, known to the writer life facts. The events depicted are sometimes completely fictional, a figment of the author’s imagination (“Gulliver’s Travels” by J. Swift, “The Nose” by N. Gogol).
There is also such a source of plot creativity as borrowing, when writers widely rely on already known literary plots, processing and supplementing them in their own way. In this case, folklore, mythological, ancient, biblical, etc. subjects are used.
The main driving force of any plot is conflict, contradiction, struggle or, according to Hegel's definition, collision. The conflicts underlying works can be very diverse, but they, as a rule, have general significance and reflect certain life patterns. Conflicts are distinguished: 1) external and internal; 2) local and substantial; 3) dramatic, tragic and comic.
Conflict external - between individual characters and groups of characters - is considered to be the simplest. There are many examples of this type of conflict in the literature: A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit”, A.S. Pushkin " Stingy Knight", M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin “The History of a City”, V.M. Kolomasov "Lavginov" and others. A more complex conflict is considered to be one that embodies the confrontation between the hero and the way of life, the individual and the environment (social, everyday, cultural). The difference from the first type of conflict is that the hero here is not opposed by anyone in particular; he has no opponent with whom he could fight, who could be defeated, thereby resolving the conflict (Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”).
Conflict interior - a psychological conflict, when the hero is not at peace with himself, when he carries certain contradictions within himself, sometimes contains incompatible principles (Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment”, Tolstoy “Anna Karenina”, etc.).
Sometimes in a work one can simultaneously detect both of these types of conflict, both external and internal (A. Ostrovsky “The Thunderstorm”).
Local(resolvable) conflict presupposes the fundamental possibility of resolution with the help of active actions(Pushkin “Gypsies”, etc.).
Substantial(unresolvable) conflict depicts a persistently conflicted existence, and real practical actions capable of resolving this conflict are unthinkable (Shakespeare's Hamlet, Chekhov's The Bishop, etc.).
Tragic, dramatic and comic conflicts are inherent dramatic works with the same genre names. (For more information about the types of conflicts, see the book A.G. Kovalenko “Artistic conflict in Russian literature”, M., 1996).
Disclosure of a socially significant conflict in the plot contributes to the understanding of trends and patterns of social development. In this regard, it is worth noting some points that are essential for understanding the multifaceted role of the plot in the work.
The role of plot in the work of G.L. Abramovich defined it as follows: “Firstly, it must be borne in mind that the artist’s penetration into the meaning of the conflict presupposes, as the modern English writer D. Lindsay, “penetration into the souls of people participating in this struggle.” Hence the great educational significance of the plot.
Secondly, the writer “willy-nilly becomes involved with his mind and heart in the conflicts that make up the content of his work.” Thus, the logic of the development of events by the writer is reflected in his understanding and assessment of the depicted conflict, his social views, which he one way or another conveys to the readers, instilling in them the attitude towards this conflict that is necessary, from his point of view.
Thirdly, every great writer focuses his attention on conflicts that have important for his time and people."
Thus, the plots of the works of great writers have a deep socio-historical meaning. Therefore, when considering them, it is necessary first of all to determine which one social conflict lies at the heart of the work and from what positions it is depicted.
The plot will only fulfill its purpose when, firstly, it is internally complete, i.e. revealing the causes, nature and ways of development of the depicted conflict, and secondly, it will attract the interest of readers and force them to think about the meaning of each episode, each detail in the movement of events.
F.V. Gladkov wrote that there are different gradations of plot: “... one book has a plot calm, there is no intrigue or cleverly tied knots in it, it is a chronicle of the life of one person or a whole group of people; another book with exciting plot: these are adventure novels, mystery novels, detective novels, criminal novels.” Many literary scholars, following F. Gladkov, distinguish two types of plots: the plot is calm (adynamic) and the plot is sharp(dynamic). Along with the named types of plots in modern literary criticism Others are also offered, for example, chronic and concentric (Pospelov G.N.) and centrifugal and centripetal (Kozhinov V.V.). Chronicles are stories with a predominance of purely temporary connections between events, and concentric - with a predominance of cause-and-effect relationships between events.
Each of these types of plots has its own artistic possibilities. As noted by G.N. Pospelov, the chronicle of the plot is, first of all, a means of recreating reality in the diversity and richness of its manifestations. Chronic plotting allows the writer to master life in space and time with maximum freedom. Therefore, it is widely used in epic works of large form (“Gargantua and Pantagruel” by F. Rabelais, “Don Quixote” by M. Cervantes, “Don Juan” by D. Byron, “Vasily Terkin” by A. Tvardovsky, “Wide Moksha” by T. Kirdyashkina, “Purgaz” by K. Abramov). Chronicle stories perform different artistic functions: reveal the decisive actions of the heroes and their various adventures; depict the formation of a person’s personality; serve to master the socio-political antagonisms and everyday life of certain strata of society.
The concentricity of the plot - identifying cause-and-effect relationships between the events depicted - allows the writer to explore one conflict situation, stimulates the compositional completeness of the work. This type of plot structure dominated drama until the 19th century. Among the epic works, one can cite as an example “Crime and Punishment” by F.M. Dostoevsky, “Fire” by V. Rasputin, “At the Beginning of the Path” by V. Mishanina.
Chronicle and concentric plots often coexist (“Resurrection” by L.N. Tolstoy, “Three Sisters” by A.P. Chekhov, etc.).
From the point of view of the emergence, development and completion of the life conflict depicted in the work, we can talk about the main elements of plot construction. Literary scholars identify the following plot elements: exposition, plot, development of action, climax, peripeteia, denouement; prologue and epilogue. It should be noted that not all works of fiction that have a plot structure contain all the designated plot elements. Prologue and epilogue are found quite rarely, most often in epic works that are large in volume. As for exposition, it is quite often absent from stories and novellas.
Prologue defined as an introduction to a literary work that is not directly related to the developing action, but seems to precede it with a story about the events that preceded it or about their meaning. The prologue is present in I. Goethe’s Faust, “What is to be done?” N. Chernyshevsky, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by N. Nekrasov, “The Snow Maiden” by A. Ostrovsky, “Apple Tree by the High Road” by A. Kutorkin.
Epilogue in literary criticism it is characterized as the final part in a work of art, reporting future fate heroes after those depicted in a novel, poem, drama, etc. events. Epilogues are often found in the dramas of B. Brecht, novels by F. Dostoevsky (“The Brothers Karamazov”, “The Humiliated and Insulted”), L. Tolstoy (“War and Peace”), K. Abramov “Kachamon Pachk” (“Smoke on the Ground” ).
Exposition (lat. expositio - explanation) call the background to the events underlying the work. The exposition sets out the circumstances, preliminarily outlines the characters, characterizes their relationships, i.e. The life of the characters before the start of the conflict (commencement) is depicted.
In the work of P.I. Levchaev’s “Kavonst kudat” (“Two Matchmakers”), the first part is an exhibition: it depicts the life of a Mordovian village shortly before the first Russian revolution, the conditions in which people’s characters are formed.
The exposition is determined by the artistic objectives of the work and can be different in nature: direct, detailed, scattered, supplemented throughout the entire work, delayed (see “Dictionary of Literary Terms”).
Tie-up in a work of fiction, it is usually called the beginning of a conflict, the event from which the action begins and thanks to which subsequent events arise. The beginning can be motivated (if there is exposition) or sudden (without exposition).
In P. Levchaev’s story, the plot will be Garay’s return to the village of Anay, his acquaintance with Kirei Mikhailovich.
In subsequent parts of the work, Levchaev shows action development, That course of events that follows from the plot: meeting with his father, with his beloved girl Anna, matchmaking, Garay’s participation in a secret meeting.
When analyzing a work of art, it is always important not only what the author wanted to say in it, but also what he accomplished - “had an impact.” The writer’s plan may be realized to a greater or lesser extent, but it is the author’s point of view in assessing the characters, events, and problems raised that should be the ultimate truth in the analysis
Definition of the concept
Illustrative examples
Let us recall one of the masterpieces of Russian and world literature of the 19th century - L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”. What the author said about him: he loved “folk thought” in the book. What are the main ideas of the work? This is, first of all, a statement that the people are the main asset of the country, the driving force of history, the creator of material and spiritual values. In the light of this understanding, the author develops the narrative of the epic. Tolstoy persistently leads the main characters of “War and Peace” through a series of tests, to “simplification”, to familiarization with the people’s worldview, worldview, and worldview. Thus, Natasha Rostova is much closer and dearer to the writer and to us than Helen Kuragina or Julie Karagina. Natasha is far from being as beautiful as the first, and not as rich as the second. But it is in this “countess”, who hardly speaks Russian, that there is something primordial, national, natural that makes her similar to common people. And Tolstoy sincerely admires her during the dance (episode “Visiting Uncle”), and describes her in such a way that we too fall under the amazing charm of the image. The author's idea of the work is remarkably revealed using examples from Pierre Bezukhov. Both aristocrats, who at the beginning of the novel live with their own personal problems, each go through their own paths of spiritual and moral quest. And they also begin to live in the interests of their country and the common people.
Cause-and-effect relationships
The idea of a work of art is expressed by all its elements, the interaction and unity of all components. It can be considered a conclusion, a kind of “life lesson” that the reader makes and learns by becoming familiar with the literary text, getting acquainted with its content, and becoming imbued with the thoughts and feelings of the author. Here it is important to understand that parts of the writer’s soul exist not only in positive, but also negative heroes. In this regard, F. M. Dostoevsky said very well: in each of us the “ideal of Sodom” fights with the “ideal of Madonna,” “God with the devil,” and the battlefield of this battle is the human heart. Svidrigailov from Crime and Punishment is a very revealing personality. A libertine, a cynic, a scoundrel, in fact a murderer; sometimes pity, compassion and even some decency are not alien to him. And before committing suicide, the hero does several good deeds: he settles Katerina Ivanovna’s children, lets Dunya go... And Raskolnikov himself, the main character of the work, obsessed with the idea of becoming a superman, is also torn by conflicting thoughts and feelings. Dostoevsky, a very difficult person in everyday life, reveals different sides of his “I” in his heroes. From biographical sources about the writer we know that in different periods He played a lot in his life. Impressions of the destructive impact of this destructive passion are reflected in the novel “The Gambler.”
Theme and idea
There's one more thing left to figure out important question- about how the theme and idea of the work relate. In a nutshell, this is explained as follows: the theme is what is described in the book, the idea is the author’s assessment and attitude towards it. Let's say Pushkin's story “The Station Agent”. Life is revealed in it" little man“- powerless, oppressed by everyone, but having a heart, soul, dignity and awareness of himself as part of a society that looks down on him. This is the topic. And the idea is to reveal the moral superiority of a small person with a rich inner world over those who are above him on the social ladder, but are poor in soul.
