The works of each era have unique similarities in their figurative and thematic structure, repetition of plot moves, unity of artistic thinking and similarity of ideological views. From here the main literary trends were formed.
Classicism
The name comes from the word “exemplary” translated from Latin. As an artistic style and literary movement, it appeared in Europe in the seventeenth century and died out by the beginning of the nineteenth. Literary directions did not have a channel wider than this. Characteristics:
1. Appeal to antiquity - in images and forms - as an aesthetic standard.
2. Strict canons, harmony, logic: the inviolability of the structure, like the universe.
3. Rationalism without individual signs and traits, in the field of vision only the eternal and unshakable.
4. Hierarchy: high and low genres (tragedy and comedy).
5. Unity of place, time and actions, no side distracting lines.
Prominent representatives were Corneille, Lafontaine, Racine.
Romanticism
Literary trends usually grow from one another, or new ones are brought in by a wave of protest. The second is characteristic of the emergence of romanticism at the end of the eighteenth century - one of the largest movements in the history of literature. Romanticism arose in Europe and America almost simultaneously. Characteristic features: protest against the vulgarity of bourgeois life, for the poetry of everyday life and against the prosaic, disappointment in the fruits of civilization. Cosmic pessimism and world sorrow. Confrontation between the individual and society, individualism. Separation of the real and ideal worlds, opposition. The romantic hero is highly spiritual, inspired and illuminated by the desire for the ideal. A new phenomenon appears in literature: local color, fairy tales, legends, beliefs flourish, and the elements of nature are glorified. The action often takes place in the most exotic places. Representatives: Byron, Keats, Schiller, Dumas the Father, Hugo, Lermontov, and partly Gogol.
Sentimentalism
Translated - "sensual". Literary movements consist of more or less noticeable movements. Sentimentalism is a movement in line with pre-romanticism. Existed in Europe and America in the second half of the eighteenth century, and ended by the middle of the nineteenth. It was not reason, but feeling that extolled sentimentalism, not recognizing any rationalism, even the Enlightenment kind. Characterized by natural feeling and democracy. For the first time, interest in the inner world of ordinary people appears. Unlike romanticism, sentimentalism rejected the irrational; there is no inconsistency, impulsiveness, impetuosity in it that are inaccessible to rationalistic interpretation. It was strong in Russia and somewhat different from the West: the rational was still expressed quite clearly, moralizing and educational tendencies were present, the Russian language was improved and enriched through the use of vernaculars. Favorite genres: epistle, epistolary novel, diaries - everything that helps confession. Representatives: Rousseau, young Goethe, Karamzin.
Naturalism
Literary movements that existed in Europe and North America during the last third of the nineteenth century included naturalism. Characteristics: objectivity, accurate depiction of details and realities of human character. Artistic and scientific knowledge were not separated in the methods of approach. Literary text as a human document: the implementation of an act of cognition. Reality - good teacher and without moralizing, there can be no bad plots or themes for a writer. Hence, in the works of naturalists there are quite a lot of purely literary shortcomings, such as lack of plot and indifference to public interests. Representatives: Zola, Maupassant, Daudet, Dreiser, Norris, London, from the Russians - Boborykin, in some works - Kuprin, Bunin, Veresaev.
Realism
Eternal. Born at the end of the nineteenth century, he is still alive today. In priorities: the truth of life as the truth of literature. Images correspond to the essence of phenomena, literature as a means of understanding both oneself and the world around us. Character typification through attention to detail. Life-affirming principle, reality in the development of new phenomena, relationships, psychological types. Representatives: Balzac, Stendhal, Twain, Dickens. Almost everyone is Russian: Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Shukshin and so on.
Literary movements and trends not discussed in the article, but with great representatives: symbolism - Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, Rilke, Bryusov, Blok, Vyach. Ivanov; Acmeism - Gumilyov, Gorodetsky, Mandelstam, Akhmatova, G. Ivanov; futurism - Mayakovsky, Khlebnikov, Burliuk, Severyanin, Shershenevich, Pasternak, Aseev; imagism - Yesenin, Klyuev.
In modern literary criticism, the terms “direction” and “current” can be interpreted differently. Sometimes they are used as synonyms (classicism, sentimentalism, romanticism, realism and modernism are called both movements and directions), and sometimes a movement is identified with a literary school or group, and a direction with an artistic method or style (in this case, the direction includes two or more currents).
Usually, literary direction call a group of writers similar in type of artistic thinking. We can talk about the existence of a literary movement if writers are aware of the theoretical foundations of their artistic activity, promote them in manifestos, program speeches, and articles. Thus, the first programmatic article of the Russian futurists was the manifesto “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste,” which stated the basic aesthetic principles of the new direction.
In certain circumstances, within the framework of one literary movement, groups of writers may be formed, especially close to each other in their aesthetic views. Such groups formed within any direction are usually called literary movement. For example, within the framework of such a literary movement as symbolism, two movements can be distinguished: “senior” symbolists and “younger” symbolists (according to another classification - three: decadents, “senior” symbolists, “younger” symbolists).
CLASSICISM(from lat. classicus- exemplary) - artistic direction in European art at the turn of the 17th-18th - early 19th centuries, formed in France at the end of the 17th century. Classicism asserted the primacy of state interests over personal interests, the predominance of civil, patriotic motives, and the cult of moral duty. The aesthetics of classicism is characterized by the rigor of artistic forms: compositional unity, normative style and subjects. Representatives of Russian classicism: Kantemir, Trediakovsky, Lomonosov, Sumarokov, Knyazhnin, Ozerov and others.
One of the most important features of classicism is the perception of ancient art as a model, an aesthetic standard (hence the name of the movement). The goal is to create works of art in the image and likeness of ancient ones. In addition, the formation of classicism was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment and the cult of reason (the belief in the omnipotence of reason and that the world can be reorganized on a rational basis).
Classicists (representatives of classicism) perceived artistic creativity as strict adherence to reasonable rules, eternal laws, created on the basis of studying the best examples of ancient literature. Based on these reasonable laws, they divided works into “correct” and “incorrect”. For example, even Shakespeare’s best plays were classified as “incorrect.” This was due to the fact that Shakespeare’s heroes combined positive and negative traits. And the creative method of classicism was formed on the basis of rationalistic thinking. There was a strict system of characters and genres: all characters and genres were distinguished by “purity” and unambiguity. Thus, in one hero it was strictly forbidden not only to combine vices and virtues (that is, positive and negative traits), but even several vices. The hero had to embody one character trait: either a miser, or a braggart, or a hypocrite, or a hypocrite, or good, or evil, etc.
The main conflict of classic works is the hero’s struggle between reason and feeling. At the same time, a positive hero must always make a choice in favor of reason (for example, when choosing between love and the need to completely devote himself to serving the state, he must choose the latter), and a negative one - in favor of feeling.
The same can be said about the genre system. All genres were divided into high (ode, epic poem, tragedy) and low (comedy, fable, epigram, satire). At the same time, touching episodes were not supposed to be included in a comedy, and funny ones were not supposed to be included in a tragedy. IN high genres"exemplary" heroes were depicted - monarchs, "commanders who could serve as role models. In the low ones, characters were depicted who were seized by some kind of "passion", that is, a strong feeling.
Special rules existed for dramatic works. They had to observe three “unities” - place, time and action. Unity of place: classical dramaturgy did not allow a change of location, that is, throughout the entire play the characters had to be in the same place. Unity of time: the artistic time of a work should not exceed several hours, or at most one day. Unity of action implies that there is only one storyline. All these requirements are related to the fact that the classicists wanted to create a unique illusion of life on stage. Sumarokov: “Try to measure the clock for me in the game for hours, so that I, having forgotten myself, can believe you*.
So, the characteristic features literary classicism:
Purity of the genre (in high genres funny or everyday situations and heroes could not be depicted, and in low genres tragic and sublime ones could not be depicted);
Purity of language (in high genres - high vocabulary, in low genres - colloquial);
Heroes are strictly divided into positive and negative, while goodies When choosing between feeling and reason, they give preference to the latter;
Compliance with the rule of “three unities”;
The work must affirm positive values and the state ideal.
Russian classicism is characterized by state pathos (the state (and not the person) was declared the highest value) combined with faith in the theory of enlightened absolutism. According to the theory of enlightened absolutism, the state should be headed by a wise, enlightened monarch, requiring everyone to serve for the good of society. Russian classicists, inspired by Peter's reforms, believed in the possibility of further improvement of society, which they saw as a rationally organized organism. Sumarokov: “ Peasants plow, merchants trade, warriors defend the fatherland, judges judge, scientists cultivate sciences.” The classicists treated human nature in the same rationalistic manner. They believed that human nature is selfish, subject to passions, that is, feelings that are opposed to reason, but at the same time amenable to education.
SENTIMENTALISM(from English sentimental- sensitive, from French sentiment- feeling) - literary direction of the second half of the XVIII century, which replaced classicism. Sentimentalists proclaimed the primacy of feeling, not reason. A person was judged by his capacity for deep experiences. Hence the interest in the hero’s inner world, the depiction of the shades of his feelings (the beginning of psychologism).
Unlike classicists, sentimentalists consider the highest value not the state, but the person. They contrasted the unjust orders of the feudal world with the eternal and reasonable laws of nature. In this regard, nature for sentimentalists is the measure of all values, including man himself. It is no coincidence that they asserted the superiority of the “natural”, “natural” person, that is, living in harmony with nature.
Sensitivity is at the core creative method sentimentalism. If classicists created generalized characters (prude, braggart, miser, fool), then sentimentalists are interested in specific people with individual fates. The heroes in their works are clearly divided into positive and negative. Positive people are endowed with natural sensitivity (responsive, kind, compassionate, capable of self-sacrifice). Negative - calculating, selfish, arrogant, cruel. The carriers of sensitivity, as a rule, are peasants, artisans, commoners, and rural clergy. Cruel - representatives of power, nobles, high clergy (since despotic rule kills sensitivity in people). Manifestations of sensitivity often acquire a too external, even exaggerated character in the works of sentimentalists (exclamations, tears, fainting, suicide).
One of the main discoveries of sentimentalism is the individualization of the hero and the image of the rich spiritual world of the commoner (the image of Liza in Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza”). The main character of the works was an ordinary person. In this regard, the plot of the work often represented individual situations of everyday life, while peasant life was often depicted in pastoral colors. New content required a new form. The leading genres were family novel, diary, confession, novel in letters, travel notes, elegy, epistle.
In Russia, sentimentalism originated in the 1760s (the best representatives are Radishchev and Karamzin). As a rule, in the works of Russian sentimentalism the conflict develops between the serf peasant and the serf-owner landowner, and the moral superiority of the former is persistently emphasized.
ROMANTICISM - artistic movement in European and American culture of the late XVIII - first half of the 19th century century. Romanticism arose in the 1790s, first in Germany, and then spread throughout Western Europe. The prerequisites for its emergence were the crisis of Enlightenment rationalism, the artistic search for pre-romantic movements (sentimentalism), the Great French Revolution, and German classical philosophy.
The emergence of this literary movement, like any other, is inextricably linked with the socio-historical events of that time. Let's start with the prerequisites for the formation of romanticism in Western European literature. The Great French Revolution of 1789-1899 and the associated revaluation of Enlightenment ideology had a decisive influence on the formation of romanticism in Western Europe. As you know, the 15th century in France passed under the sign of the Enlightenment. For almost a century, French educators led by Voltaire (Rousseau, Diderot, Montesquieu) argued that the world could be reorganized on a reasonable basis and proclaimed the idea of natural equality of all people. It was these educational ideas that inspired the French revolutionaries, whose slogan was the words: “Liberty, equality and fraternity.”
The result of the revolution was the establishment of a bourgeois republic. As a result, the winner was the bourgeois minority, which seized power (previously it belonged to the aristocracy, the upper nobility), while the rest were left with nothing. Thus, the long-awaited “kingdom of reason” turned out to be an illusion, as did the promised freedom, equality and brotherhood. There was general disappointment in the results and results of the revolution, deep dissatisfaction with the surrounding reality, which became a prerequisite for the emergence of romanticism. Because at the heart of romanticism is the principle of dissatisfaction with the existing order of things. This was followed by the emergence of the theory of romanticism in Germany.
As you know, Western European culture, in particular French, had a huge influence on Russian. This trend continued into the 19th century, which is why the Great French Revolution also shocked Russia. But, in addition, there are actually Russian prerequisites for the emergence of Russian romanticism. First of all this Patriotic War 1812, which clearly showed the greatness and strength of the common people. It was to the people that Russia owed the victory over Napoleon, the people were true hero war. Meanwhile, both before the war and after it, the bulk of the people, the peasants, still remained serfs, in fact, slaves. What had previously been perceived as injustice by progressive people of that time now began to seem like a blatant injustice, contrary to all logic and morality. But after the end of the war, Alexander I not only did not abolish serfdom, but also began to pursue a much tougher policy. As a result, a pronounced feeling of disappointment and dissatisfaction arose in Russian society. This is how the soil for the emergence of romanticism arose.
The term “romanticism” when applied to a literary movement is arbitrary and imprecise. In this regard, from the very beginning of its occurrence, it was interpreted in different ways: some believed that it comes from the word “romance”, others - from chivalric poetry created in countries speaking Romance languages. For the first time, the word “romanticism” as a name for a literary movement began to be used in Germany, where the first sufficiently detailed theory of romanticism was created.
The concept of romantic dual worlds is very important for understanding the essence of romanticism. As already mentioned, rejection, denial of reality is the main prerequisite for the emergence of romanticism. All romantics reject the world around them, hence their romantic escape from existing life and the search for an ideal outside of it. This gave rise to the emergence of a romantic dual world. For romantics, the world was divided into two parts: here and there. “There” and “here” are an antithesis (opposition), these categories are correlated as ideal and reality. The despised “here” is modern reality, where evil and injustice triumph. “There” is a kind of poetic reality, which the romantics contrasted with real reality. Many romantics believed that goodness, beauty and truth, crowded out of public life, were still preserved in the souls of people. Hence their attention to the inner world of man, in-depth psychologism. The souls of people are their “there”. For example, Zhukovsky was looking for “there” in the other world; Pushkin and Lermontov, Fenimore Cooper - in the free life of uncivilized peoples (Pushkin’s poems “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, “Gypsies”, Cooper’s novels about the life of Indians).
Rejection, denial of reality determined the specifics romantic hero. This is a fundamentally new hero; previous literature has never seen anything like him. He is in a hostile relationship with the surrounding society and is opposed to it. This is an extraordinary person, restless, most often lonely and with tragic fate. The romantic hero is the embodiment of romantic rebellion against reality.
REALISM(from the Latin realis - material, real) - a method (creative attitude) or literary direction that embodies the principles of a life-truthful attitude to reality, aimed at the artistic knowledge of man and the world. The term “realism” is often used in two meanings: 1) realism as a method; 2) realism as a direction formed in the 19th century. Both classicism, romanticism, and symbolism strive for knowledge of life and express their reaction to it in their own way, but only in realism does fidelity to reality become the defining criterion of artistry. This distinguishes realism, for example, from romanticism, which is characterized by rejection of reality and the desire to “recreate” it, rather than display it as it is. It is no coincidence that, turning to the realist Balzac, the romantic George Sand defined the difference between him and herself: “You take a person as he appears to your eyes; I feel a calling within myself to portray him the way I would like to see him.” Thus, we can say that realists depict the real, and romantics depict the desired.
The beginning of the formation of realism is usually associated with the Renaissance. The realism of this time is characterized by the scale of images (Don Quixote, Hamlet) and poeticization human personality, the perception of man as the king of nature, the crown of creation. The next stage is educational realism. In the literature of the Enlightenment, a democratic realistic hero appears, a man “from the bottom” (for example, Figaro in Beaumarchais’s plays “The Barber of Seville” and “The Marriage of Figaro”). New types of romanticism appear in the 19th century: “fantastic” (Gogol, Dostoevsky), “grotesque” (Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin) and “critical” realism associated with the activities of “ natural school».
The main requirements of realism: adherence to the principles of nationality, historicism, high artistry, psychologism, depiction of life in its development. Realist writers showed the direct dependence of the social, moral, and religious ideas of heroes on social conditions, and paid great attention to the social and everyday aspect. The central problem of realism is the relationship between verisimilitude and artistic truth. Plausibility, a plausible representation of life is very important for realists, but artistic truth is determined not by plausibility, but by fidelity in comprehending and conveying the essence of life and the significance of the ideas expressed by the artist. One of the most important features of realism is the typification of characters (the fusion of the typical and the individual, the uniquely personal). The persuasiveness of a realistic character directly depends on the degree of individualization achieved by the writer.
Realist writers create new types of heroes: the “ little man"(Vyrin, Bashmachki n, Marmeladov, Devushkin), type " extra person"(Chatsky, Onegin, Pechorin, Oblomov), a type of “new” hero (Turgenev’s nihilist Bazarov, Chernyshevsky’s “new people”).
MODERNISM(from French modern- newest, modern) - a philosophical and aesthetic movement in literature and art that arose at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.
This term has different interpretations:
1) denotes a number of non-realistic movements in art and literature turn of XIX-XX centuries: symbolism, futurism, acmeism, expressionism, cubism, imagism, surrealism, abstract art, impressionism;
2) used as symbol aesthetic searches of artists of non-realistic movements;
3) denotes a complex complex of aesthetic and ideological phenomena, including not only modernist movements themselves, but also the work of artists who do not completely fit into the framework of any movement (D. Joyce, M. Proust, F. Kafka and others).
The brightest and significant directions Symbolism, Acmeism and Futurism became Russian modernism.
SYMBOLISM - a non-realistic movement in art and literature from the 1870s to the 1920s, focused primarily on the artistic expression through symbol of intuitively comprehended entities and ideas. Symbolism made itself known in France in the 1860-1870s in the poetic works of A. Rimbaud, P. Verlaine, S. Mallarmé. Then, through poetry, symbolism connected itself not only with prose and drama, but also with other forms of art. The ancestor, founder, “father” of symbolism is considered French writer C. Baudelaire.
The worldview of symbolist artists is based on the idea of the unknowability of the world and its laws. They considered the spiritual experience of man and the creative intuition of the artist to be the only “tool” for understanding the world.
Symbolism was the first to put forward the idea of creating art, free from the task of depicting reality. The symbolists argued that the purpose of art was not to depict the real world, which they considered secondary, but to convey a “higher reality.” They intended to achieve this with the help of a symbol. The symbol is an expression of the poet’s supersensible intuition, to whom in moments of insight the true essence of things is revealed. Symbolists developed a new poetic language that did not directly name the object, but hinted at its content through allegory, musicality, colors, and free verse.
Symbolism is the first and most significant of the modernist movements that arose in Russia. The first manifesto of Russian symbolism was the article by D. S. Merezhkovsky “On the causes of decline and new trends in modern Russian literature,” published in 1893. It identified three main elements of “new art”: mystical content, symbolization and “expansion of artistic impressionability.”
Symbolists are usually divided into two groups, or movements:
1) “senior” symbolists (V. Bryusov, K. Balmont, D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius, F. Sologub
and others), which debuted in the 1890s;
2) “younger” symbolists who began their creative activity in the 1900s and significantly updated the appearance of the movement (A. Blok, A. Bely, V. Ivanov and others).
It should be noted that the “senior” and “younger” symbolists were separated not so much by age as by the difference in worldviews and the direction of creativity.
Symbolists believed that art is, first of all, “ comprehension of the world in other, non-rational ways"(Bryusov). After all, only phenomena that are subject to the law of linear causality can be rationally comprehended, and such causality operates only in lower forms of life (empirical reality, everyday life). The symbolists were interested in the higher spheres of life (the area “ absolute ideas” in terms of Plato or the “world soul”, according to V. Solovyov), not subject to rational knowledge. It is art that has the ability to penetrate into these spheres, and symbolic images with their endless polysemy are capable of reflecting the entire complexity of the world universe. Symbolists believed that the ability to comprehend the true, ultimate reality given only to a select few who, in moments of inspired insight, are able to comprehend the “highest” truth, the absolute truth.
The symbol image was considered by the symbolists as a more effective tool than the artistic image, helping to “break through” the veil of everyday life (lower life) to a higher reality. A symbol differs from a realistic image in that it conveys not the objective essence of the phenomenon, but its own, individual presentation poet about the world. In addition, a symbol, as Russian symbolists understood it, is not an allegory, but, first of all, a certain image that requires a response from the reader. creative work. The symbol, as it were, connects the author and the reader - this is the revolution brought about by symbolism in art.
The image-symbol is fundamentally polysemantic and contains the prospect of limitless development of meanings. This feature of his was repeatedly emphasized by the symbolists themselves: “A symbol is only a true symbol when it is inexhaustible in its meaning” (Vyach. Ivanov); “The symbol is a window to infinity” (F. Sologub).
ACMEISM(from Greek act- the highest degree of something, blooming power, peak) - a modernist literary movement in Russian poetry of the 1910s. Representatives: S. Gorodetsky, early A. Akhmatova, JI. Gumilev, O. Mandelstam. The term “Acmeism” belongs to Gumilyov. The aesthetic program was formulated in the articles by Gumilyov “The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism”, Gorodetsky “Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry” and Mandelstam “The Morning of Acmeism”.
Acmeism stood out from symbolism, criticizing its mystical aspirations towards the “unknowable”: “With the Acmeists, the rose again became good in itself, with its petals, smell and color, and not with its conceivable likenesses with mystical love or anything else” (Gorodetsky) . The Acmeists proclaimed the liberation of poetry from symbolist impulses towards the ideal, from the polysemy and fluidity of images, complicated metaphors; they talked about the need to return to the material world, the object, the exact meaning of the word. Symbolism is based on rejection of reality, and the Acmeists believed that one should not abandon this world, one should look for some values in it and capture them in their works, and do this with the help of precise and clear images, not vague symbols.
The Acmeist movement itself was small in number, did not last long - about two years (1913-1914) - and was associated with the “Workshop of Poets”. The “Workshop of Poets” was created in 1911 and at first united a fairly large number of people (not all of them later became involved in Acmeism). This organization was much more united than the scattered symbolist groups. At the “Workshop” meetings, poems were analyzed, problems of poetic mastery were solved, and methods for analyzing works were substantiated. The idea of a new direction in poetry was first expressed by Kuzmin, although he himself was not included in the “Workshop”. In his article “On Beautiful Clarity,” Kuzmin anticipated many declarations of Acmeism. In January 1913, the first manifestos of Acmeism appeared. From this moment the existence of a new direction begins.
Acmeism declared the task of literature to be “beautiful clarity,” or clarism (from Lat. clarus- clear). The Acmeists called their movement Adamism, associating with the biblical Adam the idea of a clear and direct view of the world. Acmeism preached a clear, “simple” poetic language, where words would directly name objects and declare their love for objectivity. Thus, Gumilyov called for looking not for “shaky words”, but for words “with a more stable content.” This principle was most consistently implemented in Akhmatova’s lyrics.
FUTURISM - one of the main avant-garde movements (avant-garde is an extreme manifestation of modernism) in European art of the early 20th century, which received greatest development in Italy and Russia.
In 1909, in Italy, the poet F. Marinetti published the “Manifesto of Futurism.” The main provisions of this manifesto: rejection of traditional aesthetic values and the experience of all previous literature, bold experiments in the field of literature and art. Marinetti names “courage, audacity, rebellion” as the main elements of futurist poetry. In 1912, Russian futurists V. Mayakovsky, A. Kruchenykh, and V. Khlebnikov created their manifesto “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.” They also sought to break with traditional culture, welcomed literary experiments, and sought to find new means of speech expression (proclamation of a new free rhythm, loosening of syntax, destruction of punctuation marks). At the same time, Russian futurists rejected fascism and anarchism, which Marinetti declared in his manifestos, and turned mainly to aesthetic problems. They proclaimed a revolution of form, its independence from content (“it is not what is important, but how”) and the absolute freedom of poetic speech.
Futurism was a heterogeneous movement. Within its framework, four main groups or movements can be distinguished:
1) “Gilea”, which united the Cubo-Futurists (V. Khlebnikov, V. Mayakovsky, A. Kruchenykh and others);
2) “Association of Ego-Futurists” (I. Severyanin, I. Ignatiev and others);
3) “Mezzanine of Poetry” (V. Shershenevich, R. Ivnev);
4) “Centrifuge” (S. Bobrov, N. Aseev, B. Pasternak).
The most significant and influential group was “Gilea”: in fact, it was it that determined the face of Russian futurism. Its members released many collections: “The Judges’ Tank” (1910), “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste” (1912), “Dead Moon” (1913), “Took” (1915).
The futurists wrote in the name of the crowd man. At the heart of this movement was the feeling of “the inevitability of the collapse of old things” (Mayakovsky), the awareness of the birth of a “new humanity.” Artistic creativity, according to the futurists, should have become not an imitation, but a continuation of nature, which, through the creative will of man, creates “a new world, today’s, iron...” (Malevich). This determines the desire to destroy the “old” form, the desire for contrasts, the attraction to colloquial speech. Relying on living spoken language, futurists were engaged in “word creation” (creating neologisms). Their works were distinguished by complex semantic and compositional shifts - the contrast of the comic and tragic, fantasy and lyricism.
Futurism began to disintegrate already in 1915-1916.
Socialist realism(socialist realism) is a worldview method of artistic creativity, used in the art of the Soviet Union, and then in other socialist countries, introduced into artistic creativity by means of state policy, including censorship, and responding to the solution of the problems of building socialism.
It was approved in 1932 by the party authorities in literature and art.
Parallel to it there was unofficial art.
· artistic depiction of reality “accurately, in accordance with specific historical revolutionary developments.”
· harmonization of artistic creativity with the ideas of Marxism-Leninism, active involvement of workers in the construction of socialism, affirmation of the leading role of the Communist Party.
Lunacharsky was the first writer to lay its ideological foundation. Back in 1906, he introduced the concept of “proletarian realism” into use. By the twenties, in relation to this concept, he began to use the term “new social realism”, and in the early thirties he dedicated “dynamic and thoroughly active socialist realism”, “a good, meaningful term that can be interestingly revealed when correct analysis", a series of program-theoretical articles that were published in Izvestia.
The term “socialist realism” was first proposed by the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the USSR SP I. Gronsky in the Literary Gazette on May 23, 1932. It arose in connection with the need to direct RAPP and the avant-garde to the artistic development of Soviet culture. Decisive in this regard was the recognition of the role of classical traditions and the understanding of the new qualities of realism. In 1932-1933 Gronsky and head. sector fiction The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) V. Kirpotin vigorously promoted this term [ source not specified 530 days] .
At the 1st All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934, Maxim Gorky stated:
“Socialist realism affirms being as an act, as creativity, the goal of which is the continuous development of man’s most valuable individual abilities for the sake of his victory over the forces of nature, for the sake of his health and longevity, for the sake of the great happiness of living on the earth, which he, in accordance with the continuous growth of his needs, wants treat the whole as a beautiful home for humanity united in one family.”
The state needed to approve this method as the main one for better control over creative personalities and better propaganda of their policies. In the previous period, the twenties, there were Soviet writers who sometimes took aggressive positions towards many outstanding writers. For example, RAPP, an organization of proletarian writers, was actively engaged in criticism of non-proletarian writers. RAPP consisted mainly of aspiring writers. During the creation of modern industry (years of industrialization) Soviet power What was needed was art that would raise the people to “deeds of labor.” The fine arts of the 1920s also presented a rather motley picture. Several groups emerged within it. The most significant group was the Association of Artists of the Revolution. They depicted today: the life of the Red Army soldiers, workers, peasants, leaders of the revolution and labor. They considered themselves the heirs of the “Itinerants”. They went to factories, mills, and Red Army barracks to directly observe the lives of their characters, to “sketch” it. It was they who became the main backbone of the artists of “socialist realism”. It was much harder for less traditional masters, in particular, members of the OST (Society of Easel Painters), which united young people who graduated from the first Soviet art university [source not specified 530 days] .
Gorky returned from exile in a solemn ceremony and headed the specially created Union of Writers of the USSR, which included mainly writers and poets of Soviet orientation.
For the first time, the official definition of socialist realism was given in the Charter of the USSR SP, adopted at the First Congress of the SP:
Socialist realism, being the main method of Soviet fiction and literary criticism, requires the artist to provide a truthful, historically specific depiction of reality in its revolutionary development. Moreover, the truthfulness and historical specificity of the artistic depiction of reality must be combined with the task of ideological remodeling and education in the spirit of socialism.
This definition became the starting point for all further interpretations until the 80s.
« Socialist realism is a deeply vital, scientific and most advanced artistic method that developed as a result of the successes of socialist construction and the education of Soviet people in the spirit of communism. The principles of socialist realism ... were a further development of Lenin’s teaching on the partisanship of literature.” (Big Soviet encyclopedia, 1947 )
Lenin expressed the idea that art should stand on the side of the proletariat in the following way:
“Art belongs to the people. The deepest springs of art can be found among the broad class of working people... Art must be based on their feelings, thoughts and demands and must grow with them.”
Artistic method - this is the principle (method) of selecting the phenomena of reality, the features of their assessment and the originality of their artistic embodiment; that is, method is a category related to both content and artistic form. It is possible to determine the originality of one or another method only by considering the general historical trends in the development of art. IN different periods development of literature, we can observe that different writers or poets are guided by the same principles of understanding and depicting reality. In other words, the method is universal and is not directly related to specific historical conditions: we are talking about the realistic method and in connection with the comedy of A.S. Griboyedov, and in connection with the work of F.M. Dostoevsky, and in connection with the prose of M.A. Sholokhov. And the features of the romantic method are revealed both in the poetry of V.A. Zhukovsky, and in the stories of A.S. Greena. However, there are periods in the history of literature when one or another method becomes dominant and acquires more specific features associated with the characteristics of the era and trends in culture. And in this case we are already talking about literary direction . Directions in a wide variety of forms and relationships can appear in any method. For example, L.N. Tolstoy and M. Gorky are realists. But only by determining to which direction the work of one or another writer belongs, we will be able to understand the differences and features of their artistic systems.
Literary movement - manifestation of ideological and thematic unity, homogeneity of plots, characters, language in the works of several writers of the same era. Often writers themselves are aware of this affinity and express it in so-called “literary manifestos”, declaring themselves a literary group or school and giving themselves a certain name.
Classicism (from Latin classicus - sample) - a direction that arose in European art and literature XVII century, based on the cult of reason and the idea of the absolute (independent of time and nationality) nature of the aesthetic ideal. Hence, the main task of art becomes the closest possible approximation to this ideal, which received its most complete expression in antiquity. Therefore, the principle of “working according to a model” is one of the fundamental principles in the aesthetics of classicism.
The aesthetics of classicism is normative; “disorganized and willful” inspiration was contrasted with discipline, strict adherence to once and for all established rules. For example, the rule of “three unities” in drama: unity of action, unity of time and unity of place. Or the rule of “genre purity”: whether a work belongs to a “high” (tragedy, ode, etc.) or “low” (comedy, fable, etc.) genre determined its subject matter, the types of characters, and even the development of the plot and style. The opposition of duty to feeling, rational to emotional, the requirement to always sacrifice personal desires for the sake of the public good is largely explained by the enormous educational role that the classicists assigned to art.
Classicism received its most complete form in France (the comedies of Moliere, the fables of La Fontaine, the tragedies of Corneille and Racine).
Russian classicism arose in the 2nd quarter of the 18th century and was associated with educational ideology (for example, the idea of a person’s value beyond class), characteristic of the successors of the reforms of Peter I. Russian classicism, already at its very beginning, was characterized by a satirical, accusatory orientation. For Russian classicists, a literary work is not an end in itself: it is only a path to the improvement of human nature. In addition, it was Russian classicism that paid more attention to national characteristics and folk art, without focusing exclusively on foreign samples.
Poetic genres occupy a large place in the literature of Russian classicism: odes, fables, satires. Various aspects of Russian classicism were reflected in the odes of M.V. Lomonosov (high civic pathos, scientific and philosophical themes, patriotic orientation), in the poetry of G.R. Derzhavin, in the fables of I.A. Krylov and in the comedies of D.I. Fonvizina.
Sentimentalism (from santimentas - feeling) - a literary movement in Western Europe and Russia at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century, characterized by the elevation of feeling to the main aesthetic category. Sentimentalism became a kind of reaction to the rationality of classicism. The cult of feeling led to a more complete disclosure of the inner world of man, to the individualization of the images of heroes. It also gave rise to a new attitude towards nature: the landscape became not just a backdrop for the development of action, it turned out to be in tune with the personal experiences of the author or characters. The emotional vision of the world required other poetic genres (elegy, pastoral, message), and other vocabulary - figurative words, colored with feeling. In this regard, the author-narrator begins to play a large role in the work, freely expressing his “sensitive” attitude towards the characters and their actions, as if inviting the reader to share these emotions (as a rule, the main one is “touchedness,” that is, pity, compassion ).
The aesthetic program of Russian sentimentalism is most fully reflected in the works of N.M. Karamzin (story “Poor Liza”). The connection between Russian sentimentalism and educational ideas can be seen in the works of A.N. Radishchev (“Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”).
Romanticism - creative method and artistic direction in Russian and European (as well as American) literature of the late 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. The main subject of the image in romanticism is the person, the individual. A romantic hero is, first of all, a strong, extraordinary nature, a person overwhelmed by passions and capable of creatively perceiving (sometimes transforming) the world around him. The romantic hero, due to his exclusivity and unusualness, is incompatible with society: he is lonely and most often in conflict with everyday life. From this conflict a kind of romantic dual world is born: the confrontation between the sublime world of dreams and dull, “wingless” reality. The romantic hero is located at the “intersection point” of these spaces. Such an exceptional character can only act in exceptional circumstances, therefore the events of romantic works unfold in an exotic, unusual setting: in countries unknown to readers, in distant historical eras, in other worlds...
Unlike classicism, romanticism turns to folk-poetic antiquity not only for ethnographic, but also for aesthetic purposes, finding a source of inspiration in national folklore. IN romantic work the historical and national coloring, historical details, and background of the era are reproduced in detail, but all this becomes only a kind of decoration for recreating the inner world of a person, his experiences, aspirations. In order to more accurately convey the experiences of an extraordinary personality, romantic writers depicted them against the backdrop of nature, which uniquely “refracted” and reflected the characteristics of the hero’s character. Stormy elements - the sea, a blizzard, a thunderstorm - were especially attractive to romantics. The hero has a complex relationship with nature: on the one hand, the natural elements are akin to his passionate character, on the other hand, the romantic hero struggles with the elements, not wanting to recognize any restrictions on his own freedom. The passionate desire for freedom as an end in itself becomes one of the main things for the romantic hero and often leads him to tragic death.
V.A. is traditionally considered the founder of Russian romanticism. Zhukovsky; Romanticism manifested itself most clearly in the poetry of M.Yu. Lermontov, in the works of A.A. Fet and A.K. Tolstoy; at a certain period of his work, A.S. paid tribute to romanticism. Pushkin, N.V. Gogol, F.I. Tyutchev.
Realism (from realis - material) - a creative method and literary direction in Russian and world literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. The word “realism” is often used to describe different concepts (critical realism, socialist realism; there is even the term “magical realism”). Let's try to highlight the main features of Russian realism XIX-XX centuries.
Realism is built on the principles of artistic historicism, i.e. he recognizes the existence of objective reasons, social and historical patterns that influence the personality of the hero and help explain his character and actions. This means that the hero may have different motivations for his actions and experiences. The pattern of actions and the cause-and-effect relationship between personality and circumstances is one of the principles of realistic psychologism. Instead of an exceptional, extraordinary romantic personality, realists place at the center of the narrative a typical character - a hero, whose features (for all the individual uniqueness of his character) reflect certain general characteristics of either a certain generation or a certain social group. Realist authors avoid an unambiguous assessment of heroes and do not divide them into positive and negative, as is often the case in classic works. The characters’ characters are given in development; under the influence of objective circumstances, the heroes’ views evolve (for example, the path of Andrei Bolkonsky’s quest in L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”). Instead of unusual exceptional circumstances, so beloved by romantics, realism chooses the setting for the development of events. work of art ordinary, everyday living conditions. Realistic works strive to most fully depict the causes of conflicts, the imperfection of man and society, and the dynamics of their development.
The most prominent representatives of realism in Russian literature: A.N. Ostrovsky, I.S. Turgenev, I.A. Goncharov, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, A.P. Chekhov.
Realism and Romanticism- two different ways visions of reality, they are based on different concepts of the world and man. But these methods are not mutually exclusive: many achievements of realism became possible only through the creative development and rethinking of the romantic principles of depicting the individual and the Universe. In Russian literature, many works combine both methods of depiction, for example, the poem by N.V. Gogol " Dead Souls"or the novel by M.A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita".
Modernism (from the French moderne - newest, modern) - the general name of new (non-realistic) phenomena in the literature of the first half of the 20th century. The era of the emergence of modernism was a crisis, a turning point, marked by the events of the First World War, the rise of revolutionary sentiments in different European countries. In the conditions of the collapse of one world order and the emergence of another, during the period of intensifying ideological struggle, philosophy and literature acquired particular importance. This historical and literary period (in particular, poetry created between 1890 and 1917) was called the Silver Age in the history of Russian literature.
Russian modernism, despite the variety of aesthetic programs, was united by a common task: the search for new artistic means of depicting a new reality. This desire was most consistently and definitely realized in four literary movements: symbolism, futurism, acmeism and imagism.
Symbolism - a literary movement that emerged in Russia in the early 90s of the 19th century. It is based on the philosophical ideas of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, as well as the teachings of B.C. Solovyov about “The Soul of the World”. The symbolists contrasted the traditional way of understanding reality with the idea of creating worlds in the process of creativity. It is art, in their opinion, that is capable of capturing the highest reality that appears to the artist at the moment of inspiration. Therefore, creativity in the understanding of the symbolists - the contemplation of “secret meanings” - is accessible only to the poet-creator. The value of poetic speech lies in understatement, in concealing the meaning of what is said. As can be seen from the very name of the direction, the main role in it is given to the symbol - the main means capable of conveying what is seen, “caught” secret meaning what's happening. The symbol becomes the central aesthetic category of the new literary movement.
Among Symbolists, it is traditional to distinguish between “senior” Symbolists and “junior” Symbolists. Among the “senior” symbolists, the most famous are K.D. Balmont, V.Ya. Bryusov, F.K. Sologub. These poets declared themselves and a new literary direction in the 90s of the 19th century. “Younger” Symbolists Vyach. Ivanov, A. Bely, A.A. Blok came to literature in the early 1900s. The “older” symbolists denied the surrounding reality, contrasted dream and creativity with reality (the word “decadence” is often used to define such an emotional and ideological position). The “younger” believed that in reality “ old world", having outlived its usefulness, will perish, and the coming "new world" will be built on the basis of high spirituality and culture.
Acmeism (from the Greek akme - blooming power, the highest degree of something) - a literary movement in the poetry of Russian modernism, which contrasted the aesthetics of symbolism with a “clear view” of life. It is not without reason that other names for Acmeism are clarism (from the Latin clarus - clear) and “Adamism” after the biblical forefather of all people Adam, who gave names to everything around him. Supporters of Acmeism tried to reform the aesthetics and poetics of Russian symbolism; they abandoned excessive metaphoricality, complexity, one-sided passion for symbolism and called for a “return” to the exact meaning of the word, “to the earth.” Only material nature was recognized as real. But the “earthly” worldview of the Acmeists was exclusively aesthetic in nature. Acmeist poets tend to turn to a single everyday object or natural phenomenon, poeticize individual “things,” and abandon socio-political themes. “Longing for world culture” - this is how O.E. defined Acmeism. Mandelstam.
Representatives of Acmeism were N.S. Gumilev, A.A. Akhmatova, O.E. Mandelstam and others, who united in the “Workshop of Poets” circle and grouped themselves around the Apollo magazine.
Futurism (from Latin futurum - future) - a literary movement of an avant-garde nature. In the first manifesto of the Russian futurists (they often called themselves “Budetlyans”) there was a call to break with traditional culture and reconsider the significance of the classical artistic heritage: “Dump Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, etc. and so on. from the Steamboat of Modernity." The futurists declared themselves opponents of the existing bourgeois society and sought to recognize and anticipate in their art the coming world revolution. Futurists advocated the destruction of established literary genres, deliberately turned to “reduced, vulgar” vocabulary, and called for the creation of a new language that did not limit word creativity. Futurist art brought to the fore the improvement and renewal of the form of the work, while the content either faded into the background or was considered insignificant.
Russian futurism became a distinctive artistic movement and was associated with four main groups: “Gilea” (cubo-futurists V.V. Khlebnikov, V.V. Mayakovsky, D.D. Burlyuk, etc.), “Centrifuge” (N.N. Aseev , B.L. Pasternak and others), “Association of Ego-Futurists” (I. Severyanin and others), “Mezzanine of Poetry” (R. Ivnev, V.G. Shershenevich and others).
Imagism (from English or French image - image) is a literary movement that arose in Russian literature in the first years after the October Revolution. The most “left-wing” imagists proclaimed the main task of poetry to be “eating meaning by an image,” and followed the path of the intrinsic value of the image and weaving a chain of metaphors. “A poem is... a wave of images,” wrote one of the theorists of imagism. In practice, many imagists gravitated towards an organic image, fused in mood and thought with the holistic perception of the poem. Representatives of Russian imagism were A.B. Mariengof, V.G. Shershenevich. The most talented poet, who theoretically and practically went far beyond the scope of the manifestos of imagism, was S.A. Yesenin.
What creative method, based on the principles of artistic historicism, is leading in the work of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin?
Answer: realism.
Indicate the name of the literary movement that arose in Russia in the 2nd quarter of the 18th century, to which the work of M.V. is traditionally attributed. Lomonosov, D.I. Fonvizin and G.R. Derzhavina.
Answer: classicism.
Which of the named poetic genres is a genre of sentimentalist poetry?
2) ballad
3) elegy
4) fable
Answer: 3.
V.A. is called the founder of which literary movement in Russian literature? Zhukovsky?
Answer: romanticism.
Which literary movement, recognizing the existence of objective socio-historical patterns, is leading in the work of L.N. Tolstoy?
Answer: realism.
Indicate the name of the literary movement that arose in Russian literature in the 30s-40s of the 19th century and sought to objectively depict the reasons for the imperfection of socio-political relations; direction to which the work of M.E. belongs. Saltykov-Shchedrin.
Answer: realism/critical realism.
In the manifesto of which literary movement at the beginning of the 20th century it was stated: “Only we are the face of our Time” and proposed to “throw Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and others off the Steamboat of Modernity”?
1) symbolism
2) acmeism
3) futurism
4) imagism
On early stage of his creativity A.A. Akhmatova acted as one of the representatives of the literary movement
1) acmeism 2) symbolism 3) futurism 4) realism
The Silver Age in Russian literature is the period of development of literature, in particular poetry.
1) after 1917
2) from 1905 to 1917
3) late 19th century
4) between 1890 and 1917
Starting his poetic career, V.V. Mayakovsky acted as one of the active representatives
1) acmeism
2) symbolism
3) futurism
4) realism
At one of the stages of S.A.’s creative path. Yesenin joined the group of poets 1) Acmeists
2) symbolists
3) futurists
4) imagists
In Russian poetry K.D. Balmont acted as one of the representatives
1) acmeism
2) symbolism
The concepts of “direction”, “current”, “school” refer to terms that describe the literary process - the development and functioning of literature on a historical scale. Their definitions are debatable in literary studies.
In the 19th century, direction was understood as the general character of the content and ideas of all national literature or any period of its development. At first XIX century the literary movement was generally associated with the “dominant trend of minds.”
Thus, I. V. Kireevsky in the article “The Nineteenth Century” (1832) wrote that the dominant direction of minds at the end of the 18th century is destructive, and the new consists in “the desire for a soothing equation of the new spirit with the ruins of old times...
In literature, the result of this trend was the desire to harmonize imagination with reality, correctness of forms with freedom of content... in a word, what is in vain called classicism, with what is even more incorrectly called romanticism.”
Even earlier, in 1824, V.K. Kuchelbecker declared the direction of poetry as its main content in the article “On the direction of our poetry, especially lyrical, in the last decade.” Ks. A. Polevoy was the first in Russian criticism to apply the word “direction” to certain stages in the development of literature.
In the article “On trends and parties in literature,” he called a direction “that internal striving of literature, often invisible to contemporaries, which gives character to all or at least very many of its works in the known given time...The basis of it, in in a general sense, there is an idea of the modern era.”
For “real criticism” - N. G. Chernyshevsky, N. A. Dobrolyubov - the direction correlated with the ideological position of the writer or group of writers. In general, the direction was understood as a variety of literary communities.
But the main feature that unites them is that the direction captures the unity of the most general principles of the embodiment of artistic content, the commonality of the deep foundations of the artistic worldview.
This unity is often due to the similarity of cultural and historical traditions, often associated with the type of consciousness of the literary era; some scientists believe that the unity of direction is due to the unity of the creative method of writers.
There is no set list of literary trends, since the development of literature is connected with the specifics of the historical, cultural, social life of society, and the national and regional characteristics of a particular literature. However, traditionally there are such trends as classicism, sentimentalism, romanticism, realism, symbolism, each of which is characterized by its own set of formal and content features.
For example, within the framework of the romantic worldview, general features of romanticism can be identified, such as the motives for the destruction of customary boundaries and hierarchies, the ideas of “spiritualizing” synthesis, which replaced the rationalistic concept of “connection” and “order”, the awareness of man as the center and mystery of existence , open and creative personality, etc.
But the concrete expression of these general philosophical and aesthetic foundations of worldview in the works of writers and their worldview itself are different.
Thus, within romanticism, the problem of the embodiment of universal, new, non-rational ideals was embodied, on the one hand, in the idea of rebellion, a radical reorganization of the existing world order (D. G. Byron, A. Mitskevich, P. B. Shelley, K. F. Ryleev) , and on the other hand, in the search for one’s inner “I” (V. A. Zhukovsky), harmony of nature and spirit (W. Wordsworth), religious self-improvement (F. R. Chateaubriand).
As we see, such a community of principles is international, largely of different quality, and exists in rather vague chronological framework, which is largely due to the national and regional specifics of the literary process.
The same sequence of changes in directions in different countries usually serves as proof of their supranational character. This or that direction in each country acts as a national variety of the corresponding international (European) literary community.
According to this point of view, French, German, Russian classicism are considered varieties of the international literary movement - European classicism, which is a set of the most common typological features inherent in all varieties of direction.
But you should definitely take into account that often national characteristics of one direction or another can manifest themselves much more clearly than the typological similarity of varieties. In generalization there is some schematism that can distort real historical facts literary process.
For example, classicism manifested itself most clearly in France, where it is presented as a complete system of both substantive and formal features of works, codified by theoretical normative poetics (“Poetic art” by N. Boileau). In addition, it is represented by significant artistic achievements that influenced other European literature.
In Spain and Italy, where the historical situation was different, classicism turned out to be a largely imitative direction. Baroque literature turned out to be leading in these countries.
Russian classicism becomes a central trend in literature, also not without the influence of French classicism, but it acquires its own national sound and crystallizes in the struggle between the “Lomonosov” and “Sumarokov” movements. IN national varieties There are many differences in classicism; even more problems are associated with the definition of romanticism as a single pan-European movement, within the framework of which very different phenomena are often encountered.
Thus, the construction of pan-European and “world” models of trends as the largest units of the functioning and development of literature seems to be a very difficult task.
Gradually, along with “direction”, the term “flow” comes into circulation, often used synonymously with “direction”. Thus, D. S. Merezhkovsky, in an extensive article “On the causes of the decline and new trends in modern Russian literature” (1893), writes that “between writers with different, sometimes opposite temperaments, special mental currents, a special air are established, like between opposite poles, full of creative trends." It is this, according to the critic, that accounts for the similarity of “poetic phenomena” and the works of different writers.
Often “direction” is recognized as a generic concept in relation to “flow”. Both concepts denote the unity of leading spiritual, meaningful and aesthetic principles, covering the work of many writers.
The term “direction” in literature is understood as the creative unity of writers of a certain historical era who use common ideological and aesthetic principles for depicting reality.
Direction in literature is considered as a generalizing category of the literary process, as one of the forms of artistic worldview, aesthetic views, ways of displaying life associated with a unique artistic style. In history national literatures European peoples are distinguished by such trends as classicism, sentimentalism, romanticism, realism, naturalism, and symbolism.
Introduction to literary criticism (N.L. Vershinina, E.V. Volkova, A.A. Ilyushin, etc.) / Ed. L.M. Krupchanov. - M, 2005
Literature in the 19th century in Russia is associated with the rapid flowering of culture. Spiritual upliftment and importance are reflected in immortal works writers and poets. This article is dedicated to representatives of the Golden Age of Russian literature and the main trends of this period.
Historical events
Literature in the 19th century in Russia gave birth to such great names as Baratynsky, Batyushkov, Zhukovsky, Lermontov, Fet, Yazykov, Tyutchev. And above all Pushkin. A number of historical events marked this period. The development of Russian prose and poetry was influenced by the Patriotic War of 1812, the death of the great Napoleon, and the passing of Byron. The English poet, like the French commander, for a long time dominated the minds of revolutionary-minded people in Russia. and the Russian-Turkish War, as well as the echoes of the French Revolution, which were heard in all corners of Europe - all these events turned into a powerful catalyst for advanced creative thought.
While in Western countries Revolutionary movements were carried out and the spirit of freedom and equality began to emerge, Russia strengthened its monarchical power and suppressed uprisings. This could not go unnoticed by artists, writers and poets. Literature of the early 19th century in Russia is a reflection of the thoughts and experiences of the advanced strata of society.
Classicism
This aesthetic movement is understood as an artistic style that originated in European culture in the second half of the 18th century. Its main features are rationalism and adherence to strict canons. Classicism of the 19th century in Russia was also distinguished by its appeal to ancient forms and the principle of three unities. Literature, however, in this artistic style began to lose ground already at the beginning of the century. Classicism was gradually replaced by such movements as sentimentalism and romanticism.
Masters of artistic expression began to create their works in new genres. Works in the style of historical novels, romantic stories, ballads, odes, poems, landscape, philosophical and love lyrics gained popularity.
Realism
Literature in the 19th century in Russia is associated primarily with the name of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Closer to the thirties, realistic prose took a strong position in his work. It should be said that the founder of this literary movement in Russia is Pushkin.
Journalism and satire
Some features European culture The 18th century was inherited by the literature of the 19th century in Russia. We can briefly outline the main features of poetry and prose of this period - satirical nature and journalisticism. The tendency to depict human vices and shortcomings of society is observed in the works of writers who created their works in the forties. In literary criticism, it was later determined that the authors of satirical and journalistic prose were united. “Natural school” was the name of this artistic style, which, however, is also called “Gogol’s school.” Other representatives of this literary movement are Nekrasov, Dal, Herzen, Turgenev.
Criticism
The ideology of the “natural school” was substantiated by the critic Belinsky. The principles of the representatives of this literary movement became the denunciation and eradication of vices. Social issues became a characteristic feature of their work. The main genres are essay, socio-psychological novel and social story.
Literature in the 19th century in Russia developed under the influence of the activities of various associations. It was in the first quarter of this century that there was a significant rise in the journalistic field. Belinsky had a huge influence. This man had an extraordinary ability to sense the poetic gift. It was he who was the first to recognize the talent of Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky.
Pushkin and Gogol
The literature of the 19th and 20th centuries in Russia would have been completely different and, of course, not so bright without these two authors. They had a huge influence on the development of prose. And many of the elements that they introduced into literature have become classical norms. Pushkin and Gogol not only developed such a direction as realism, but also created completely new art types. One of them is the image of the “little man,” which later received its development not only in the works of Russian authors, but also in foreign literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Lermontov
This poet also had a significant influence on the development of Russian literature. After all, it was he who created the concept of “hero of time.” With his light hand, it entered not only literary criticism, but also public life. Lermontov also took part in the development of the psychological novel genre.
The entire period of the nineteenth century is famous for the names of talented great personalities who worked in the field of literature (both prose and poetry). Russian authors at the end of the eighteenth century adopted some of the merits of their Western colleagues. But due to a sharp leap in the development of culture and art, it eventually became an order of magnitude higher than the Western European one that existed at that time. The works of Pushkin, Turgenev, Dostoevsky and Gogol have become the property of world culture. The works of Russian writers became the model on which German, English and American authors later relied.
