Over the millennia of cultural development, humanity has created countless literary works, among which we can distinguish some basic types that are similar in the way and form of reflecting human ideas about the world around us. These are three types (or types) of literature: epic, drama, lyric.

What is different about each type of literature?

Epic as a type of literature

Epic(epos - Greek, narrative, story) is a depiction of events, phenomena, processes external to the author. Epic works reflect the objective course of life, human existence as a whole. Using various artistic media, the authors of epic works express their understanding of historical, socio-political, moral, psychological and many other problems that live with human society in general and each of its representatives in particular. Epic works have significant visual potential, thereby helping the reader to understand the world, to comprehend the deep problems of human existence.

Drama as a genre of literature

Drama(drama - Greek, action, performance) is a type of literature, main feature which is the scenic quality of the works. Plays, i.e. dramatic works are created specifically for the theater, for production on stage, which, of course, does not exclude their existence in the form of independent literary texts intended for reading. Like the epic, drama reproduces the relationships between people, their actions, and the conflicts that arise between them. But unlike epic, which is narrative in nature, drama has a dialogical form.

Related to this features of dramatic works :

2) the text of the play consists of conversations between the characters: their monologues (the speech of one character), dialogues (a conversation between two characters), polylogues (simultaneous exchange of remarks by several participants in the action). That is why speech characterization turns out to be one of the most important means of creating a memorable character of a hero;

3) the action of the play, as a rule, develops quite dynamically, intensively, as a rule, it is allocated 2-3 hours of stage time.

Lyrics as a type of literature

Lyrics(lyra - Greek, musical instrument, to the accompaniment of which poetic works and songs were performed) is distinguished by a special type of construction of an artistic image - this is an image-experience in which the individual emotional and spiritual experience of the author is embodied. Lyrics can be called the most mysterious type of literature, because it is addressed to the inner world of a person, his subjective feelings, ideas, and ideas. In other words, a lyrical work serves primarily the individual self-expression of the author. The question arises: why do readers, i.e. other people turn to such works? The whole point is that the lyricist, speaking on his own behalf and about himself, miraculously embodies universal human emotions, ideas, hopes, and the more significant the author’s personality, the more important his individual experience is for the reader.

Each type of literature also has its own system of genres.

Genre(genre - French genus, species) - a historically established type of literary work that has similar typological features. Genre names help the reader navigate the vast sea of ​​literature: some people love detective stories, others prefer fantasy, and still others are a fan of memoirs.

How to determine What genre does a particular work belong to? Most often, the authors themselves help us in this, calling their creation a novel, story, poem, etc. However, some author’s definitions seem unexpected to us: let us remember that A.P. Chekhov emphasized that “The Cherry Orchard” is a comedy, and not a drama at all, but A.I. Solzhenitsyn considered One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich to be a story, not a novella. Some literary scholars call Russian literature a collection of genre paradoxes: the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin”, the prose poem “Dead Souls”, the satirical chronicle “The History of a City”. There was a lot of controversy regarding “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy. The writer himself said only about what his book is not: “What is War and Peace? This is not a novel, still less a poem, still less a historical chronicle. “War and Peace” is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.” And only in the 20th century did literary scholars agree to call the brilliant creation of L.N. Tolstoy's epic novel.

Each literary genre has a number of stable characteristics, knowledge of which allows us to classify a specific work into one group or another. Genres develop, change, die out and are born, for example, literally before our eyes, a new genre of blog (web loq) - a personal online diary - has emerged.

However, for several centuries there have been stable (also called canonical) genres.

Literature of literary works - see table 1).

Table 1.

Genres of literary works

Epic genres of literature

Epic genres are primarily distinguished by their volume; on this basis they are divided into small ones ( essay, story, short story, fairy tale, parable ), average ( story ), large ( novel, epic novel ).

Feature article- a small sketch from life, the genre is both descriptive and narrative. Many essays are created on a documentary, life basis; they are often combined into cycles: a classic example is “A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy” (1768) English writer Laurence Stern, in Russian literature - this is “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” (1790) by A. Radishchev, “Frigate Pallada” (1858) by I. Goncharov” “Italy” (1922) by B. Zaitsev and others.

Story- a small narrative genre, which usually depicts one episode, incident, human character, or an important incident in the life of the hero that influenced his future fate (“After the Ball” by L. Tolstoy). Stories are created both on a documentary, often autobiographical basis (“Matryonin’s Dvor” by A. Solzhenitsyn) and through pure fiction (“The Gentleman from San Francisco” by I. Bunin).

The intonation and content of the stories can be very different - from comic, curious (early stories of A.P. Chekhov) to deeply tragic (Kolyma Stories by V. Shalamov). Stories, like essays, are often combined into cycles (“Notes of a Hunter” by I. Turgenev).

Novella(novella Italian news) is in many ways akin to a short story and is considered its variety, but is distinguished by the special dynamism of the narrative, sharp and often unexpected turns in the development of events. Often the narrative in a short story begins with the ending and is built according to the law of inversion, i.e. reverse order, when the denouement precedes the main events (“Terrible Revenge” by N. Gogol). This feature of the construction of the novella will later be borrowed by the detective genre.

The word “novella” has another meaning that future lawyers need to know. IN Ancient Rome the phrase “novellae leges” (new laws) was used to refer to laws introduced after the official codification of law (after the publication of the Code of Theodosius II in 438). The novellas of Justinian and his successors, published after the second edition of the Justinian Code, later formed part of the code of Roman laws (Corpus iuris civillis). IN modern era a novel is a law submitted to parliament (in other words, a draft law).

Fairy tale- the most ancient of the small epic genres, one of the main ones in oral creativity any people. This is a small work of a magical, adventurous or everyday nature, where fiction is clearly emphasized. Another important feature of a folk tale is its edifying nature: “A fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it, a lesson for good fellows.” Folk tales are usually divided into fairy tales (“The Tale of the Frog Princess”), everyday ones (“Porridge from an Ax”) and tales about animals (“Zayushkina’s Hut”).

With the development of written literature, literary tales arise that use traditional motifs and symbolic possibilities folk tale. The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) is rightfully considered a classic of the genre of literary fairy tales, his wonderful “The Little Mermaid”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Snow Queen”, “The Steadfast” tin soldier", "Shadow", "Thumbelina" are loved by many generations of readers, both very young and quite mature. And this is far from accidental, because Andersen’s fairy tales are not only extraordinary and sometimes strange adventures of heroes, they contain deep philosophical and moral meaning, enclosed in beautiful symbolic images.

From European literary fairy tales XX century became a classic " A little prince"(1942) by the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. And the famous “Chronicles of Narnia” (1950 - 1956) by the English writer Cl. Lewis and “The Lord of the Rings” (1954-1955), also by the Englishman J.R. Tolkien, are written in the fantasy genre, which can be called a modern transformation of an ancient folk tale.

In Russian literature, the fairy tales of A.S., of course, remain unsurpassed. Pushkin: “Oh dead princess and seven heroes”, “About the fisherman and the fish”, “About Tsar Saltan...”, “About the golden cockerel”, “About the priest and his worker Balda”. An excellent storyteller was P. Ershov, the author of “The Little Humpbacked Horse.” E. Schwartz in the 20th century creates the form of a fairy tale play, one of them is “The Bear” (another name is “ An ordinary miracle") is well known to many thanks to the wonderful film directed by M. Zakharov.

Parable- also very ancient folklore genre, but, unlike fairy tales, parables contained written monuments: Talmud, Bible, Koran, monument of Syriac literature “Teachings of Akahara”. A parable is a work of instructive, symbolic nature, distinguished by sublimity and seriousness of content. Ancient parables, as a rule, are small in volume; they do not contain a detailed account of events or the psychological characteristics of the character of the hero.

The purpose of the parable is edification or, as they once said, teaching wisdom. In European culture, the most famous parables are from the Gospels: about the prodigal son, about the rich man and Lazarus, about the unrighteous judge, about the crazy rich man and others. Christ often spoke to his disciples allegorically, and if they did not understand the meaning of the parable, he explained it.

Many writers turned to the genre of parables, not always, of course, investing in it a high religious meaning, but rather trying to express in an allegorical form some kind of moralistic edification, such as, for example, L. Tolstoy in his late work. Carry it. V. Rasputin - Farewell to Matera" can also be called a detailed parable, in which the writer speaks with anxiety and sorrow about the destruction of the "ecology of conscience" of man. Many critics also consider the story “The Old Man and the Sea” by E. Hemingway to be part of the tradition of literary parables. The famous contemporary Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho also uses the parable form in his novels and stories (the novel “The Alchemist”).

Tale- a medium literary genre, widely represented in world literature. The story depicts several important episodes from the hero's life, as a rule, one story line and a small number of characters. The stories are characterized by great psychological intensity; the author focuses on the experiences and changes in mood of the characters. Often main theme The love of the protagonist becomes the story, for example, “White Nights” by F. Dostoevsky, “Asya” by I. Turgenev, “Mitya’s Love” by I. Bunin. Stories can also be combined into cycles, especially those written on autobiographical material: “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth” by L. Tolstoy, “Childhood”, “In People”, “My Universities” by A. Gorky. The intonations and themes of the stories are extremely diverse: tragic, addressing acute social and moral issues (“Everything Flows” by V. Grossman, “House on the Embankment” by Yu. Trifonov), romantic, heroic (“Taras Bulba” by N. Gogol), philosophical , parables (“The Pit” by A. Platonov), mischievous, comic (“Three in a Boat, Not Counting the Dog” by the English writer Jerome K. Jerome).

Novel(gotap French originally, in the late Middle Ages, any work written in a Romance language, as opposed to those written in Latin) is a major epic work in which the narrative is focused on the fate of an individual. The novel is the most complex epic genre, which is distinguished by an incredible number of themes and plots: love, historical, detective, psychological, fantasy, historical, autobiographical, social, philosophical, satirical, etc. All these forms and types of the novel are united by its central idea - the idea of ​​personality, human individuality.

The novel is called the epic of private life because it depicts the diverse connections between the world and man, society and the individual. The reality surrounding a person is presented in the novel in different contexts: historical, political, social, cultural, national, etc. The author of the novel is interested in how the environment influences a person’s character, how he is formed, how his life develops, whether he managed to find his purpose and realize himself.

Many people attribute the origin of the genre to antiquity, such as Long's Daphnis and Chloe, Apuleius's The Golden Ass, and the knightly romance Tristan and Isolde.

In the works of classics of world literature, the novel is represented by numerous masterpieces:

Table 2. Examples of classic novels by foreign and Russian writers (XIX, XX centuries)

Famous Novels Russian writers of the 19th century .:

In the 20th century, Russian writers develop and enhance the traditions of their great predecessors and create no less wonderful novels:

Of course, none of these listings can claim completeness and exhaustive objectivity, this especially applies to modern prose. In this case, the most famous works that glorified both the country’s literature and the name of the writer are named.

Epic novel. In ancient times, there were forms of heroic epic: folklore sagas, runes, epics, songs. These are the Indian “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata”, the Anglo-Saxon “Beowulf”, the French “Song of Roland”, the German “Song of the Nibelungs”, etc. In these works, the hero’s exploits were exalted in an idealized, often hyperbolic form. The later epic poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” by Homer, “Shah-name” by Ferdowsi, while retaining the mythological character of the early epic, nevertheless had expressed connection With real story, and the theme of the intertwining of human destiny and the life of the people becomes one of the main ones in them. The experience of the ancients will be in demand in the 19th-20th centuries, when writers will try to comprehend the dramatic relationship between the era and the individual personality, and talk about the tests to which morality, and sometimes the human psyche, is subjected at the time of the greatest historical upheavals. Let us remember the lines of F. Tyutchev: “Blessed is he who visited this world in its fatal moments.” The poet's romantic formula in reality meant the destruction of all familiar forms of life, tragic losses and unfulfilled dreams.

The complex form of the epic novel allows writers to artistically explore these problems in all their completeness and inconsistency.

When we talk about the genre of the epic novel, of course, we immediately remember “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy. Other examples can be mentioned: “ Quiet Don"M. Sholokhov, "Life and Fate" by V. Grossman, "The Forsyte Saga" by the English writer Galsworthy; the book of the American writer Margaret Mitchell “Gone with the Wind” can also with good reason be classified as this genre.

The very name of the genre indicates a synthesis, a combination of two main principles in it: novel and epic, i.e. related to the theme of the life of an individual and the theme of the history of the people. In other words, the epic novel tells about the destinies of the heroes (as a rule, the heroes themselves and their destinies are fictitious, invented by the author) against the background and in close connection with epochal historical events. Thus, in “War and Peace” - these are the fates of individual families (Rostov, Bolkonsky), beloved heroes (Prince Andrei, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha and Princess Marya) in the turning point historical period for Russia and all of Europe at the beginning of the 19th century, the Patriotic War of 1812 . In Sholokhov's book, the events of the First World War, two revolutions and a bloody civil war tragically invade the life of the Cossack farm, the Melekhov family, and the fate of the main characters: Grigory, Aksinya, Natalya. V. Grossman talks about the Great Patriotic War and its main event - the Battle of Stalingrad, about the tragedy of the Holocaust. “Life and Fate” also intertwines historical and family themes: the author traces the history of the Shaposhnikovs, trying to understand why the destinies of the members of this family turned out so differently. Galsworthy describes the life of the Forsyte family during the legendary Victorian era in England. Margaret Mitchell - a central event in US history, Civil War between North and South, which radically changed the lives of many families and the fate of the famous heroine American literature - Scarlett O'Hara.

Dramatic genres of literature

Tragedy(tragodia Greek goat song) is a dramatic genre that originated in Ancient Greece. Emergence ancient theater and tragedies are associated with the worship of the cult of the god of fertility and wine Dionysus. A number of holidays were dedicated to him, during which ritual magical games were played with mummers and satyrs, whom the ancient Greeks imagined as two-legged goat-like creatures. It is assumed that it was precisely this appearance of the satyrs singing hymns to the glory of Dionysus that gave such a strange name in translation to this serious genre. Theatrical performance in Ancient Greece was given magical religious significance, and theaters, built in the form of large open-air arenas, were always located in the very center of cities and were one of the main public places. Spectators sometimes spent the whole day here: eating, drinking, loudly expressing their approval or censure of the spectacle being presented. Heyday ancient Greek tragedy associated with the names of three great tragedians: this is Aeschylus (525-456 BC) - the author of the tragedies “Chained Prometheus”, “Oresteia”, etc.; Sophocles (496-406 BC) - author of “Oedipus the King”, “Antigone”, etc.; and Euripides (480-406 BC) - the creator of “Medea”, “Troyanok”, etc. Their creations will remain examples of the genre for centuries; people will try to imitate them, but they will remain unsurpassed. Some of them (“Antigone”, “Medea”) are still staged today.

What are the main features of the tragedy? The main one is the presence of an insoluble global conflict: in ancient tragedy this is the confrontation between fate, fate, on the one hand, and man, his will, free choice, on the other. In the tragedies of later eras, this conflict acquired a moral and philosophical character, as a confrontation between good and evil, loyalty and betrayal, love and hatred. It has an absolute character; the heroes who embody the opposing forces are not ready for reconciliation or compromise, and therefore the ending of the tragedy often involves a lot of death. This is how the tragedies of the great English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) were constructed; let us remember the most famous of them: “Hamlet”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, “Macbeth”, “Julius Caesar”, etc.

In tragedies French playwrights In the 17th century, Corneille (“Horace”, “Polyeuctus”) and Racine (“Andromache”, “Britannicus”) this conflict received a different interpretation - as a conflict of duty and feeling, rational and emotional in the souls of the main characters, i.e. acquired a psychological interpretation.

The most famous in Russian literature is the romantic tragedy “Boris Godunov” by A.S. Pushkin, created on historical material. In one of his best works, the poet acutely raised the problem of the “real trouble” of the Moscow state - a chain reaction of impostures and “terrible atrocities” that people are ready for for the sake of power. Another problem is the attitude of the people to everything that happens in the country. The image of the “silent” people in the finale of “Boris Godunov” is symbolic; discussions continue to this day about what Pushkin wanted to say by this. Based on the tragedy, the opera of the same name by M. P. Mussorgsky was written, which became a masterpiece of Russian opera classics.

Comedy(Greek komos - cheerful crowd, oda - song) - a genre that originated in Ancient Greece a little later than tragedy (5th century BC). The most famous comedian of that time was Aristophanes (“Clouds”, “Frogs”, etc.).

In comedy with the help of satire and humor, i.e. comic, moral vices are ridiculed: hypocrisy, stupidity, greed, envy, cowardice, complacency. Comedies, as a rule, are topical, i.e. They also address social issues, exposing the shortcomings of the authorities. There are sitcoms and character comedies. In the first, a cunning intrigue, a chain of events (Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors) are important; in the second, the characters of the heroes, their absurdity, one-sidedness, as in the comedies “The Minor” by D. Fonvizin, “The Tradesman in the Nobility”, “Tartuffe”, written by the classic genre, the 17th century French comedian Jean Baptiste Moliere. In Russian drama, satirical comedy with its sharp social criticism turned out to be especially in demand, such as “The Inspector General” by N. Gogol, “The Crimson Island” by M. Bulgakov. A. Ostrovsky created many wonderful comedies (“Wolves and Sheep”, “Forest”, “Mad Money”, etc.).

The comedy genre invariably enjoys success with the public, perhaps because it affirms the triumph of justice: in the finale, vice must certainly be punished, and virtue must triumph.

Drama- a relatively “young” genre that appeared in Germany in the 18th century as lesedrama (German) - a play for reading. The drama is addressed to the everyday life of man and society, everyday life, family relationships. Drama is primarily interested in the inner world of a person; it is the most psychological of all dramatic genres. At the same time, this is also the most literary of stage genres, for example, the plays of A. Chekhov are largely perceived more as texts for reading, rather than as theatrical performances.

Lyrical genres of literature

The division into genres in lyrics is not absolute, because the differences between genres in this case are conditional and not as obvious as in epic and drama. More often we distinguish lyrical works by their thematic features: landscape, love, philosophical, friendly, intimate lyrics, etc. However, we can name some genres that have pronounced individual characteristics: elegy, sonnet, epigram, epistle, epitaph.

Elegy(elegos Greek plaintive song) - a poem of medium length, usually of moral, philosophical, love, confessional content.

The genre arose in antiquity, and its main feature was considered to be the elegiac distich, i.e. dividing a poem into couplets, for example:

The longed-for moment has arrived: my long-term work is over. Why is this incomprehensible sadness secretly disturbing me?

A. Pushkin

In the poetry of the 19th-20th centuries, the division into couplets is no longer such a strict requirement; now the semantic features that are associated with the origin of the genre are more significant. In terms of content, the elegy goes back to the form of the Ancient funeral “laments”, in which, while mourning the deceased, they simultaneously remembered his extraordinary virtues. This origin predetermined the main feature of the elegy - the combination of grief with faith, regret with hope, acceptance of existence through sadness. The lyrical hero of the elegy is aware of the imperfection of the world and people, his own sinfulness and weakness, but does not reject life, but accepts it in all its tragic beauty. A striking example is “Elegy” by A.S. Pushkin:

Crazy years of faded fun

It's hard for me, like a vague hangover.

But like wine - the sadness of days gone by

In my soul, the older I get, the stronger it is.

My path is sad. Promises me work and grief

The coming troubled sea.

But I don’t want, O friends, to die;

I want to live so that I can think and suffer;

And I know I will have pleasure

Between sorrows, worries and worries:

Sometimes I’ll get drunk again with harmony,

I will shed tears over the fiction,

And maybe - at my sad sunset

Love will flash with a farewell smile.

Sonnet(sonetto Italian song) - the so-called “solid” poetic form, which has strict rules of construction. The sonnet has 14 lines, divided into two quatrains and two tercets. In quatrains only two rhymes are repeated, in terzettos two or three. The methods of rhyming also had their own requirements, which, however, varied.

The birthplace of the sonnet is Italy; this genre is also represented in English and French poetry. The 14th century Italian poet Petrarch is considered the luminary of the genre. He dedicated all his sonnets to his beloved Donna Laura.

In Russian literature, the sonnets of A.S. Pushkin remain unsurpassed; poets of the Silver Age also created beautiful sonnets.

Epigram(epigramma Greek, inscription) - a short mocking poem, usually addressed to a specific person. Many poets write epigrams, sometimes increasing the number of their ill-wishers and even enemies. The epigram on Count Vorontsov turned out to be bad for A.S. Pushkin by the hatred of this nobleman and, ultimately, expulsion from Odessa to Mikhailovskoye:

Popu, my lord, half-merchant,

Half-sage, half-ignorant,

Semi-scoundrel, but there is hope

Which will be complete at last.

Mocking poems can be dedicated not only to a specific person, but also to a general addressee, as, for example, in the epigram of A. Akhmatova:

Could Biche, like Dante, create?

Did Laura go to praise the heat of love?

I taught women to speak...

But, God, how to silence them!

There are even known cases of a kind of duel of epigrams. When the famous Russian lawyer A.F. Kony was appointed to the Senate, his ill-wishers spread an evil epigram against him:

Caligula brought his horse to the Senate,

It stands, dressed in both velvet and gold.

But I will say, we have the same arbitrariness:

I read in the newspapers that Kony is in the Senate.

To which A.F. Kony, who was distinguished by his extraordinary literary talent, replied:

(epitafia Greek, funerary) - a farewell poem to a deceased person, intended for a tombstone. Initially, this word was used in the literal sense, but later received to a greater extent figurative meaning. For example, I. Bunin has a lyrical miniature in prose “Epitaph”, dedicated to farewell to the Russian estate that was dear to the writer, but forever a thing of the past. Gradually, the epitaph is transformed into a dedication poem, a farewell poem (“Wreath to the Dead” by A. Akhmatova). Perhaps the most famous poem of this kind in Russian poetry is “The Death of a Poet” by M. Lermontov. Another example is “Epitaph” by M. Lermontov, dedicated to memory Dmitry Venevitinov, poet and philosopher, died at the age of twenty-two.

This is an objective-subjective kind of literature (Hegel). This is an objective picture of the world and its subjective unfolding.

The generic form is dialogue. From the point of view of the generic features of the content, dramatic works should be characterized in turn from the position

A) conflict

Drama(Greek dráma, literally - action), 1) one of the three types of literature (along with epic and lyric poetry; see Literary gender ). Drama (in literature) belongs at the same time theater And literature : being the fundamental basis of the performance, it is also perceived in reading. Drama (in literature) formed on the basis of evolution theatrical arts: highlighting the actors connecting pantomime with the spoken word, marked its emergence as a type of literature. Its specific features include: plot, i.e. reproduction of the course of events; dramatic tension of the action and its division into stage episodes; continuity of the chain of characters' statements; absence (or subordination) of a narrative beginning (see Narration ). Designed for collective perception, Drama (in literature) always gravitated towards the most pressing problems and in the most striking examples became popular. According to A. S. Pushkin, the purpose Drama (in literature) is to “... act on the crowd, on the multitude, to engage their curiosity” ( Complete collection soch., vol. 7, 1958, p. 214).

Drama (in literature) deep conflict is inherent; its fundamental basis is the intense and effective experience by people of socio-historical or “eternal”, universal human contradictions. Drama, accessible to all types of art, naturally dominates in Drama (in literature) According to V. G. Belinsky, drama is important property of the human spirit, awakened by situations when the cherished or passionately desired, demanding fulfillment, is under threat.

Conflicts filled with drama are embodied in action - in the behavior of the heroes, in their actions and accomplishments. Majority Drama (in literature) built on a single external action (which corresponds to the principle of “unity of action” by Aristotle), based, as a rule, on the direct confrontation of the heroes. In this case, the action can be traced from strings before interchanges , covering large periods of time (medieval and eastern Drama (in literature), for example, “Shakuntala” by Kalidasa), or is taken only at its climax, close to the denouement (ancient tragedies, for example, “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, and many Drama (in literature) modern times, for example, “Dowry” by A. N. Ostrovsky). Classical aesthetics of the 19th century. tends to absolutize these principles of construction Drama (in literature) Looking after Hegel Drama (in literature) as a reproduction of colliding volitional acts (“actions” and “reactions”), Belinsky wrote: “The action of the drama should be focused on one interest and be alien to side interests... There should not be a single person in the drama who would not be necessary in the mechanism of its course and development” (Complete collection of works, vol. 5, 1954, p. 53). At the same time, “... the decision in choosing a path depends on the hero of the drama, and not on the event” (ibid., p. 20).

The most important formal properties Drama (in literature): a continuous chain of statements that act as acts of behavior of the characters (i.e., their actions), and as a consequence of this - the concentration of the depicted in closed areas of space and time. Universal basis of composition Drama (in literature): scenic episodes (scenes), within which the depicted, so-called real, time is adequate to the time of perception, the so-called artistic. In folk, medieval and oriental Drama (in literature), as well as in Shakespeare, in Pushkin’s “Boris Godunov”, in Brecht’s plays, the place and time of action change very often. European Drama (in literature) 17-19 centuries is based, as a rule, on a few and very extensive stage episodes that coincide with the acts theater performances. An extreme expression of the compact development of space and time is the “unity” known from the “Poetic Art” of N. Boileau, which survived until the 19th century. (“Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboyedov).

Dramatic works in the vast majority of cases are intended for production on stage; there is a very narrow range of dramatic works that are called drama for reading.

Dramatic genres have their own history, the features of which are largely determined by the fact that historically, from antiquity to classicism inclusive, it was a two-genre phenomenon: either the mask cried (tragedy) or the mask laughed (comedy).

But in the 18th century a synthesis of comedy and tragedy-drama appeared.

Drama has replaced tragedy.

1)tragedy

2) comedy

4)farce play with a pronounced satirical orientation of a small volume

5)Vaudeville genre content is close to the genre content of comedy, in most cases humorous. The genre form is a one-act play with genres and verses..

6) tragicomedy is a frontal combination of depicted suffering and joy with the corresponding reaction of laughter and tears (Eduardo de Filippo)

7) dramatic chronicle. A genre close to the genre of drama, it usually does not have one hero, and events are given in a stream. Bill Berodelkowski, Storm,

Historically, comedy has had the largest number of genre options: Italian scientific comedy; comedy of masks in Spain; ,Cloak and Sword, There was a comedy of character, situation, comedy of manners (everyday) buffoonery, etc.

RUSSIAN DRAMATURGY. Russian professional literary dramaturgy developed at the end of the 17th and 18th centuries, but it was preceded by a centuries-old period of folk, mostly oral and partly handwritten folk drama. At first, archaic ritual actions, then round dance games and buffoon games contained elements characteristic of dramaturgy as an art form: dialogicity, dramatization of action, acting it out in person, depiction of this or that character (massing). These elements were consolidated and developed in folklore drama.

The pagan stage of Russian folklore dramaturgy has been lost: the study of folklore art in Russia began only in the 19th century, the first scientific publications of great folk dramas appeared only in 1890-1900 in the journal "Ethnographic Review" (with comments by scientists of that time V. Kallash and A. Gruzinsky ). Such a late start to the study of folk drama has led to the widespread belief that the emergence of folk drama in Russia dates back only to the 16th and 17th centuries. There is an alternative point of view, where the genesis Boats derived from the funeral customs of the pagan Slavs. But in any case, the plot and semantic changes in the texts of folklore dramas, which took place over at least ten centuries, are considered in cultural studies, art history and ethnography at the level of hypotheses. Each historical period left its mark on the content of folklore dramas, which was facilitated by the capacity and richness of associative connections of their content.

Early Russian literary dramaturgy. The origin of Russian literary drama dates back to the 17th century. and is associated with the school-church theater, which arises in Rus' under the influence of school performances in Ukraine at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. Fighting Catholic tendencies coming from Poland, Orthodox Church in Ukraine she used folklore theater. The authors of the plays borrowed plots from church rituals, writing them into dialogues and interspersing them with comedic interludes, musical and dance numbers. In terms of genre, this drama resembled a hybrid of Western European morality plays and miracles. Written in a moralizing, pompously declamatory style, these works of school drama combined allegorical characters (Vice, Pride, Truth, etc.) with historical characters (Alexander the Great, Nero), mythological (Fortune, Mars) and biblical (Joshua, Herod and etc.). The most famous works - An action about Alexy, a man of God, Action on the Passion of Christ etc. The development of school drama is associated with the names of Dmitry Rostovsky ( Assumption drama, Christmas drama, Rostov performance etc.), Feofan Prokopovich ( Vladimir), Mitrofan Dovgalevsky ( Powerful image of God's love for mankind), George Konissky ( Resurrection of the Dead) and others. Simeon of Polotsk also started in the church and school theater

Russian drama of the 18th century. After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, the theater was closed and revived only under Peter I. However, the pause in the development of Russian drama lasted somewhat longer: in the theater of Peter's times, translated plays were mainly performed. True, at this time acts of a panegyric nature with pathetic monologues, choirs, musical divertissements, and solemn processions became widespread. They glorified the activities of Peter and responded to current events ( The triumph of the Orthodox world, Liberation of Livonia and Ingria etc.), but did not have much influence on the development of drama. The texts for these performances were more of an applied nature and were anonymous. Russian drama began to experience a rapid rise in the mid-18th century, simultaneously with the emergence of a professional theater that needed a national repertoire.

To the middle of the 18th century. accounts for the formation of Russian classicism (in Europe, the heyday of classicism by this time was long in the past: Corneille died in 1684, Racine - in 1699.) V. Trediakovsky and M. Lomonosov tried their hand at classicist tragedy, but the founder of Russian classicism (and Russian literary dramaturgy in general) was A. Sumarokov, who in 1756 became the director of the first professional Russian theater. He wrote 9 tragedies and 12 comedies, which formed the basis of the theater repertoire of the 1750-1760s. Sumarokov also owned the first Russian literary and theoretical works. In particular, in Epistole on poetry(1747) he defends principles similar to the classicist canons of Boileau: a strict division of drama genres, adherence to "three unities". Unlike the French classicists, Sumarokov was based not on ancient subjects, but on Russian chronicles ( Khorev, Sinav and Truvor) and Russian history ( Dmitry the Pretender and etc.). Other major representatives of Russian classicism worked in the same vein - N. Nikolev ( Sorena and Zamir), Y. Knyazhnin ( Rosslav, Vadim Novgorodsky and etc.).

Russian classicist drama had one more difference from French: the authors of tragedies also wrote comedies at the same time. This blurred the strict boundaries of classicism and promoted diversity aesthetic directions. Classicist, educational and sentimentalist drama in Russia do not replace each other, but develop almost simultaneously. The first attempts to create a satirical comedy were made by Sumarokov ( Monsters, Empty Quarrel, Covetous Man, Dowry by Deception, Narcissist and etc.). Moreover, in these comedies he used stylistic techniques of folklore interludes and farces - despite the fact that in theoretical works was critical of folk “games”. In the 1760s-1780s. The genre of comic opera is becoming widespread. They pay tribute to her like the classicists - Knyazhnin ( Misfortune from the carriage, Sbitenshchik, Braggart etc.), Nikolev ( Rozana and Love), and comedian-satirists: I. Krylov ( Coffee pot) etc. The trends of tearful comedy and bourgeois drama are emerging - V. Lukin ( A spendthrift, corrected by love), M. Verevkin ( That's how it should be, Exactly the same), P. Plavilshchikov ( Bobyl, Sidelet) etc. These genres contributed not only to the democratization and increase in the popularity of the theater, but also formed the foundations of the psychological theater beloved in Russia with its traditions of detailed development of multifaceted characters. The pinnacle of Russian drama of the 18th century. can be called almost realistic comedies V.Kapnista (Snitch), D. Fonvizina (Minor, Brigadier), I. Krylova (Fashion shop, Lesson for daughters and etc.). Krylov’s “joke-tragedy” seems interesting Trumph, or Podschipa, in which satire on the reign of Paul I was combined with a caustic parody of classicist techniques. The play was written in 1800 - only 53 years were needed for the classicist aesthetics, innovative for Russia, to begin to be perceived as archaic. Krylov also paid attention to the theory of drama ( Note on comedy "Laughter and grief", Review of the comedy by A. Klushin "Alchemist" and etc.).

Russian drama of the 19th century. By the beginning of the 19th century. the historical gap between Russian drama and European drama came to naught. Since that time, Russian theater has been developing in a general context European culture. The diversity of aesthetic trends in Russian drama remains - sentimentalism ( N. Karamzin, N. Ilyin, V. Fedorov, etc.) gets along with a romantic tragedy of a somewhat classicist kind (V. Ozerov, N. Kukolnik, N. Polevoy, etc.), a lyrical and emotional drama (I. Turgenev) - with a caustic pamphlet satire (A. Sukhovo-Kobylin, M. Saltykov-Shchedrin). Light, funny and witty vaudevilles are popular (A. Shakhovskoy, N. Khmelnitsky, M. Zagoskin, A. Pisarev, D. Lensky, F.Kony, V. Karatygin and etc.). But it was the 19th century, the time of great Russian literature, that became the “golden age” of Russian drama, giving birth to authors whose works are still included in the golden fund of world theatrical classics.

The first play of a new type was a comedy A. Griboyedova Woe from mind. The author achieves amazing mastery in developing all components of the play: characters (in which psychological realism is organically combined with a high degree of typification), intrigue (where love vicissitudes are inextricably intertwined with civil and ideological conflicts), language (almost the entire play is entirely proverbial, proverbs and popular expressions, preserved in living speech today).

about the true discovery of Russian drama of that time, which was far ahead of its time and determined the vector of further development of world theater, were the plays A. Chekhov. Ivanov, Gull, Uncle Ivan, Three sisters, The Cherry Orchard do not fit into the traditional system of dramatic genres and actually refute all the theoretical canons of dramaturgy. There is practically no plot intrigue in them - in any case, the plot never has an organizing meaning, there is no traditional dramatic scheme: plot - twists and turns - denouement; There is no single “cross-cutting” conflict. Events constantly change their semantic scale: large things become insignificant, and everyday little things grow to a global scale.

Russian drama after 1917. After the October Revolution and the subsequent establishment of state control over theaters, a need arose for a new repertoire that corresponded to modern ideology. However, of the earliest plays, perhaps only one can be named today - Mystery-Buff V. Mayakovsky (1918). Basically, the modern repertoire of the early Soviet period was formed on topical “propaganda”, which lost its relevance within a short period.

A new Soviet drama, reflecting the class struggle, took shape during the 1920s. During this period, such playwrights as L. Seifullina ( Virinea), A. Serafimovich (Maryana, the author's dramatization of the novel Iron Stream), L. Leonov ( Badgers), K. Trenev (Lyubov Yarovaya), B. Lavrenev (Fault), V.Ivanov (Armored train 14-69), V. Bill-Belotserkovsky ( Storm), D. Furmanov ( Mutiny) etc. Their dramaturgy as a whole was distinguished by a romantic interpretation of revolutionary events, a combination of tragedy with social optimism. In the 1930s, V. Vishnevsky wrote a play whose title accurately defined main genre new patriotic dramaturgy: Optimistic tragedy(this name replaced the original, more pretentious versions - Hymn to sailors And Triumphant tragedy).

The late 1950s - early 1970s are marked by strong individuality A. Vampilova. During his short life he wrote only a few plays: Farewell in June, Eldest son, Duck hunting, Provincial jokes (Twenty minutes with an angel And The case of the master page), Last summer in Chulimsk and unfinished vaudeville Incomparable Tips. Returning to Chekhov's aesthetics, Vampilov determined the direction of development of Russian drama in the next two decades. The main dramatic successes of the 1970s-1980s in Russia are associated with the genre tragicomedies. These were plays E. Radzinsky, L. Petrushevskaya, A. Sokolova, L. Razumovskaya, M. Roshchina, A. Galina, Gr.Gorina, A. Chervinsky, A. Smirnova, V. Slavkina, A. Kazantsev, S. Zlotnikov, N. Kolyada, V. Merezhko, O. Kuchkina and others. Vampilov’s aesthetics had an indirect but tangible influence on the masters of Russian drama. Tragicomic motives are palpable in the plays of that time written by V. Rozov ( Kabanchik), A. Volodin ( Two arrows, Lizard, movie script Autumn marathon), and especially A. Arbuzov ( My feast for the eyes, Happy days for an unhappy man, Tales of Old Arbat,In this sweet old house, Winner, Cruel Games ). In the early 1990s, playwrights in St. Petersburg created their own association, the Playwright's House. In 2002, the association Golden mask", Teatro.doc and the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater organized the annual festival "New Drama". In these associations, laboratories, and competitions, a new generation was formed theater writers who gained fame in the post-Soviet period: M. Ugarov, O. Ernev, E. Gremina, O. Shipenko, O. Mikhailova, I. Vyrypaev, O. and V. Presnyakov, K. Dragunskaya, O. Bogaev, N. Ptushkina, O. Mukhina, I. Okhlobystin, M. Kurochkin, V. Sigarev, A. Zinchuk, A. Obraztsov, I. Shprits and others.

However, critics note that a paradoxical situation has developed in Russia today: modern theater and modern dramaturgy exist, as it were, in parallel, in some isolation from each other. The most high-profile directorial quests of the early 21st century. associated with the production of classical plays. Modern dramaturgy conducts its experiments more “on paper” and in the virtual space of the Internet.