Laurence Sterne said: “Digressions are undoubtedly similar sunlight; They are the life and soul of reading. Take them out, for example, from this book - it will lose all value: a cold, hopeless winter will reign on every page.
Gustave Flaubert said: “The artist must be present in his work like a god in the universe: omnipresent and invisible.”
The floor is given to the group led by Anna Kulumbegova. Subject: “lyrical digressions and the role of the author’s image in the novel “Eugene Onegin.”
Retreats are undoubtedly like sunlight; they are the life and soul of reading. Take them out, for example, from this book - it will lose all value: a cold, hopeless winter will reign on every page.
(L. Stern)
What is a “lyrical digression”?
Lyrical digressions - this is an extra-plot element that allows the author to address readers from the pages of his work directly, and not on behalf of any of the acting characters.
Experts count twenty-seven lyrical digressions and fifty different types of lyrical insertions in Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin”. Some of them occupy only one line. Others are very extensive, and if they are combined, they form two independent chapters in volume.
Lyrical digressions are inextricably linked with plot basis novel and serve:
Expanding the spatial and temporal boundaries of storytelling;
Creations culturally - historical image era.
Classification of lyrical digressions
Lyrical digressions can be divided into several groups:
-Author's digressions. (Memories of youthful love in the first chapter, adjacent to a playful and ironic discussion about “legs”. Memories of the Moscow “beauty” in chapter 7 ( collective image). Biographical references at the beginning and end of Chapter 8. Digressions on the revaluation of romantic values in "Excerpts from Onegin's Journey").
-Critical-journalistic digressions(conversation with the reader about literary examples, styles, genres). The poet comments on his novel as he writes it and, as it were, shares with the reader his thoughts on how best to write it. The general semantic dominant of these digressions is the idea of searching for a new style, new manner writing, offering greater objectivity and concreteness in the depiction of life (later this became known as realism).
-Conversations on everyday topics(“a novel requires chatter”). We are talking about love, family, marriage, modern tastes and fashions, friendship, education, etc. Here the poet can appear in a variety of guises (literary masks): we see either a convinced epicurean (mocking the boredom of life), or a Byronic hero disillusioned with life, or a feuilletonist of everyday life, or a peaceful landowner accustomed to living in the countryside. The image of the lyrical (as always in Pushkin), on the one hand, is kaleidoscopic and changeable, on the other, it remains holistic and harmoniously complete.
Landscape retreats are also included among the lyrical ones. Usually nature is depicted through the prism of the poet’s lyrical perception, his inner world, and mood. At the same time, some landscapes are shown through the eyes of the characters (“Tatyana saw through the window...”).
-Retreats to civil issue - about the heroic Moscow of 1812. Some digressions are of a “mixed” type (they include autobiographical, critical-journalistic, and everyday-aphoristic elements.
The role of lyrical digressions in the novel
Experts count twenty-seven lyrical digressions and fifty different types of lyrical insertions in Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin”. Some of them occupy only one line. His enemies, his friends (this may be the same thing). They cleaned it this way and that. Others are very extensive, and if they are combined, they form two independent chapters in volume. The freedom of Pushkin’s work is, first of all, a relaxed conversation between the author and readers, an expression of the author’s “I.” Such a free form of narration allowed Pushkin to recreate historical picture contemporary society, in the words of V.G. Belinsky, write an “encyclopedia of Russian life.” The author's voice is heard in numerous lyrical digressions that determine the movement of the narrative in various directions. One of the most important themes of the author’s digressions in “Eugene Onegin” is the depiction of nature. Throughout the entire novel, the reader experiences both winter with cheerful games of children and ice skating on the “neater than fashionable parquet” ice, and spring – “the time of love.” Pushkin paints a quiet “northern” summer, a “caricature of southern winters,” and undoubtedly, he does not ignore his beloved autumn. The landscape exists in the novel along with the characters, which allows the author to characterize them inner world through relationships with nature. Emphasizing Tatiana's spiritual closeness with nature, the author highly appreciates the moral qualities of the heroine. Sometimes the landscape appears to the reader as Tatyana sees it: “... she loved to warn the sunrise on the balcony,” “... through the window Tatyana saw the white courtyard in the morning.” In “Eugene Onegin” there is another series of author’s digressions - an excursion into Russian history. Famous lines about Moscow and Patriotic War 1812, the imprint of which lay on the Pushkin era, expands the historical framework of the novel. It is impossible not to note the author’s descriptions of the life and customs of society of that time. The reader learns about how secular youth were brought up and spent their time; albums of county young ladies even open before him. The author's opinion about balls and fashion attracts attention with the sharpness of his observation. What brilliant lines are dedicated to the theater. Playwrights, actors... It’s as if we ourselves find ourselves in this “magical land”, where Fonvizin, a friend of freedom, and the fickle Princess shone, “we see Istomina flying like fluff from the lips of Aeolus.” Some lyrical digressions in the novel are directly autobiographical in nature. This gives us the right to say that the novel is the story of the personality of the poet himself, a creative, thinking, extraordinary personality. Pushkin is both the creator of the novel and its hero. “Eugene Onegin” was written by Alexander Sergeevich over seven years in different times, under different circumstances. The poetic lines describe the poet’s memories of the days “when in the gardens of the Lyceum” the Muse began to “appear” to him, of forced exile (“will the hour of my freedom come?”). The poet ends his work with sad and bright words about past days and departed friends: “There are no others, but those are far away...” Alexander Sergeevich put his mind, his observation, life and literary experience, his knowledge of people and Russia into the novel. He put his soul into it. And in the novel, perhaps more than in his other works, the growth of his soul is visible. As A. Blok said, the writer’s creations are “the external results of the underground growth of the soul.” This is applied to Pushkin, to his novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” to the fullest extent.
Characteristics of the novel.
Famous critic V.G. Belinsky called the novel “an encyclopedia of Russian life.” And indeed it is. Pushkin’s novel says so much, so comprehensively about the life of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, that even if we knew nothing about the era of that time, reading the novel “Eugene Onegin” we would still learn a lot. But why exactly an encyclopedia? The fact is that an encyclopedia is a systematic review, as a rule, from “A” to “Z”. This is what a novel is. If we carefully look at all the author’s lyrical digressions, we will see that they are “expanded” from “A” to “Z”.
The author himself also characterizes his novel. He calls it "free". This freedom is, first of all, a relaxed conversation between the author and readers with the help of various lyrical digressions, the expression of the thoughts of the author’s “I”.
And now all minds are in the fog,
Morality puts us to sleep,
Vice is kind - and in the novel,
And there he triumphs...
This form of storytelling - with lyrical digressions - helped the author to recreate a picture of the society in which he lives: readers will learn about the upbringing of youth, how they spend their lives free time, literally, after reading 20 stanzas. After reading chapter 1, we saw the image of Onegin.
As Herzen wrote: “... the image of Onegin is so national that it is found in all novels that receive any recognition in Russia, and not because they wanted to copy him, but because they constantly observed it near themselves or in themselves.”
The novel “Eugene Onegin,” as already mentioned, became a diary novel. This is how N.I. wrote about the novel. Nadezhdin: “With each new line it became more obvious that this work was nothing more than the free fruit of leisure fantasy, a poetic album of living impressions of talent playing with its wealth... Its very appearance, with indefinitely periodic outputs, with incessant omissions and leaps , shows that the poet had neither a goal nor a plan, but acted according to the free suggestion of a playful fantasy.”
CONCLUSION:
A lyrical digression is the author’s speech in an epic or lyric-epic work, directly expressing the author’s attitude to what is depicted. The lyrical digression thus introduces into the work the image of the author-narrator as the bearer of the highest, ideal point of view of A.S. Pushkin especially emphasizes the combination of epic and lyrical genres. His novel in verse is not only a narrative about the lives of the characters, but also a lyrical work filled with the author’s individuality. Lyrical digressions serve to expand the artistic space and create the integrity of the image: from everyday details of generalization to large-scale images filled with philosophical content.
“Onegin” is the most sincere
The most beloved child of his fantasy.
Here is all life, all soul,
all his love;
here are his feelings, concepts,
ideals."
(V.G. Belinsky)
The artistic uniqueness of the novel is largely determined by the special position that the author occupies in it. The author in the novel “Eugene Onegin” is a man without a face, without appearance, without a name. The author is the narrator and at the same time the “hero” of the novel. The Author reflects the personality of the creator of “Eugene Onegin”. Pushkin gave him much of what he experienced, felt and changed his mind. However, identifying the Author with Pushkin is a grave mistake. It must be remembered that the Author is artistic image. The relationship between the Author in Eugene Onegin and Pushkin, the creator of the novel, is exactly the same as between the image of any person in literary work and its prototype in real life. The image of the Author is autobiographical, it is the image of a person whose “biography” partially coincides with real biography Pushkin, and the spiritual world and views on literature are a reflection of Pushkin’s. He persistently reminds readers of the “literary quality” of the novel, that the text created by it is a new, life-like reality that must be perceived “positively,” trusting its story. The characters in the novel are fictitious, everything that is said about them has nothing to do with real people. The world in which the heroes live is also a fruit creative imagination Author. Real life– only material for the novel, selected and organized by him, the creator of the novel world. The author conducts a constant dialogue with the reader - shares “technical” secrets, writes the author’s “criticism” of his novel and refutes possible opinions magazine critics, draws attention to the turns of the plot action, to breaks in time, introduces plans and drafts into the text - in a word, does not let you forget that the novel has not yet been completed, has not been presented to the reader as a book “ready to use” that just needs to be read. The novel is created right before the reader’s eyes, with his participation, with an eye on his opinion. The author sees him as a co-author, addressing the many-faced reader: “friend”, “foe”, “buddy”. The author is the creator of the novel world, the creator of the plot narrative, but he is also its “destroyer.” The contradiction between the Author – the creator and the Author – the “destroyer” of the narrative arises when he, interrupting the narrative, himself enters the next “frame” of the novel - for a short time (with a remark, a remark) or fills it entirely (with the author’s monologue). However, the Author, breaking away from the plot, does not separate himself from his novel, but becomes its “hero”. Let us emphasize that “hero” is a metaphor that conventionally designates the Author, because he is not an ordinary hero, a participant in the plot. It is hardly possible to isolate an independent “plot of the Author” in the text of the novel. The plot of the novel is one, the Author is outside the plot action. The Author has a special place in the novel, defined by his two roles. The first is the role of the narrator, the storyteller, commenting on everything that happens to the characters. The second is the role of the “representative” of life, which is also part of the novel, but does not fit into the framework literary plot. The author finds himself not only outside the plot, but also above the plot. His life is part of the general flow of life. He is the hero of the “novel of life”, about which it is said in the last verses of “Eugene Onegin”: Blessed is the one who left the holiday of life early, without finishing the full glass of wine to the bottom, Who did not finish her novel And suddenly knew how to part with him, Like me with Onegin mine. Individual intersections between the Author and the heroes (meetings of Onegin and the Author in St. Petersburg, which are mentioned in the first chapter, Tatyana’s letter (“I cherish him sacredly”) that came to him) emphasize that the heroes of “my novel” are only part of that life, which is represented in the novel by the Author. The image of the Author is created by means other than the images of Onegin, Tatyana, Lensky. The author is clearly separated from them, but at the same time, correspondences and semantic parallels arise between him and the main characters. Without being a character, the Author appears in the novel as the subject of statements - remarks and monologues (they are usually called author's digressions). Speaking about life, about literature, about the novel that he creates, the Author either approaches the heroes or moves away from them. His judgments may coincide with their opinions or, conversely, oppose them. Each appearance by the Authors in the text of the novel is a statement that corrects or evaluates the actions and views of the characters. Sometimes the Author directly points out the similarities or differences between himself and the characters: “We both knew the passion game; /Life tormented both of us; / The heat has faded in both hearts”; “I am always glad to notice the difference / Between Onegin and me”; “That’s exactly what my Eugene thought”; “Tatiana, dear Tatyana! / Now I’m shedding tears with you”. Most often, compositional and semantic parallels arise between the author’s statements and the lives of the characters. The appearance of the author's monologues and remarks, although not externally motivated, is connected with plot episodes by deep semantic connections. General principle can be defined as follows: the action or characteristic of the hero gives rise to a response from the Author, forcing him to talk about a particular subject. Each statement of the Author adds new touches to his portrait and becomes a component of his image. Main role His monologues – the author’s digressions – play a role in creating the image of the Author. These are fragments of text that are completely complete in meaning, have a harmonious composition and a unique style. For ease of analysis, they can be divided into several groups. Most of the digressions are lyrical and lyrical-philosophical. In them, saturated with various life impressions, observations, joyful and sorrowful “notes of the heart,” philosophical reflections, the spiritual world of the Author is revealed to the reader: this is the voice of a wise Poet, who has seen and experienced a lot in life. He experienced everything that makes up a person’s life: strong, sublime feelings and the coldness of doubts and disappointments, the sweet pangs of love and creativity and the painful melancholy of everyday vanity. He is either young, mischievous and passionate, or mocking and ironic. The author is attracted to women and wine, friendly communication, theater, balls, poetry and novels, but he also notes: “I was born for a peaceful life, / For village silence: / In the wilderness, the lyrical voice is louder, / Creative dreams are more vivid.”. The author is acutely aware of the changing ages of a person: the cross-cutting theme of his thoughts is youth and maturity, “a late and barren age, / At the turn of our years.” The author is a philosopher who learned a lot of sad truths about people, but did not stop loving them. Some digressions are imbued with the spirit of literary polemics. In an extensive digression in the third chapter (stanzas XI–XIV), an ironic “historical and literary” background is first given, and then the Author introduces the reader to the plan of his “novel in the old way.” In other digressions, the Author gets involved in debates about the Russian literary language, emphasizing loyalty to the “Karamzinist” ideals of youth (chapter three, stanzas XXVII–XXIX), polemicizes with the “strict critic” (V.K. Kuchelbecker) (chapter four, stanzas XXXII–XXXIII ). By critically assessing the literary opinions of opponents, the Author determines his literary position. In a number of digressions, the Author ironizes ideas about life that are alien to him, and sometimes openly ridicules them. Objects of the author’s irony in the digressions of the fourth chapter (stanzas VII–VIII - “Than smaller woman we love..."; stanzas XVIII–XXII – “Everyone in the world has enemies...”; stanzas XXVIII–XXX – “Of course, you have seen / The county young lady’s album more than once...”), chapter eight (stanzas X-XI – “Blessed is he who was young from a young age...”) – vulgarity and hypocrisy, envy and ill will, mental laziness and depravity, disguised by secular good manners. Such digressions can be called ironic. The author, unlike the “honorable readers” from the secular crowd, does not doubt the authentic life values and spiritual qualities of people. He is faithful to freedom, friendship, love, honor, and seeks spiritual sincerity and simplicity in people. In many digressions, the Author appears as a St. Petersburg poet, a contemporary of the novel’s heroes. The reader learns little about his fate, these are only biographical “points” (lyceum – St. Petersburg – South – village – Moscow – St. Petersburg), slips of the tongue, hints, “dreams” that make up the external background of the author’s monologues. All digressions in the first chapter, some of the digressions in the eighth chapter (stanzas I–VII; stanzas XLIX–LI), in the third chapter (stanzas XXII–XXIII), in the fourth chapter (stanza XXXV), and the famous digression at the end of the sixth chapter have an autobiographical nature , in which the Author-poet says goodbye to his youth (stanzas XLIII–XLVI), a digression about Moscow in the seventh chapter (stanzas XXXVI–XXXVII). Biographical details are also “encrypted” in literary and polemical digressions. The author takes into account that the reader is familiar with modern literary life. Fullness of spiritual life, the ability to perceive the world holistically in the unity of light and dark sides- the main personality traits of the Author that distinguish him from the heroes of the novel. It was in the Author that Pushkin embodied his ideal of a man and a poet. The novel “Eugene Onegin” is Pushkin’s most difficult work, despite its apparent lightness and simplicity. V.G. Belinsky called “Eugene Onegin” “an encyclopedia of Russian life,” emphasizing the scale of Pushkin’s “many years of work.” This is not critical praise of the novel, but its succinct metaphor. Behind the “variegation” of chapters and stanzas, the change in narration techniques, hides the harmonious concept of a fundamentally innovative literary work - a “novel of life”, which has absorbed a huge amount of socio-historical, everyday, literary material.
The image of the narrator is close to Onegin in many of its features. It reveals the same culture of intellect, a critical attitude to reality; but he has something that Onegin does not have - a great love of life:
I love mad youth
And tightness, and shine, and joy...
In terms of upbringing, views, beliefs, tastes, habits of life, everyday life, traditions, he is a product of the same noble culture as Onegin and Tatyana. However, the image of the author-narrator is opposed to all of them: his character is the most complete and rich character. He is higher than them all, for he knows not only what Onegin, Tatyana, Lensky are like in life, the essence of their views and behavior as certain social types, but also realizes their social significance, realizes not only the “imperfection of the world” (which is also characteristic of Onegin), but also the inferiority of the Onegins themselves.
Along with an analytical mind, brilliant wit, and subtle irony, he is characterized by passion, strength, energy and optimism.
TO environment the attitude, like Onegin’s, is negative:
He who lived and thought cannot
Don't despise people in your heart...
In the image of the author one can see a character fulfilling his public role in poetic work, in artistic creativity. Pushkin devotes a lot of space to the “muse” and inspiration in his work in general, and in particular in “Eugene Onegin,” connecting his significance for the future with creativity, seeing inspiration as a healing principle.
Perhaps it won't drown in Lethe
The stanza composed by me...
Bless my long work,
O you epic muse!
But this realization of its social significance does not at all remove the main insoluble contradiction of the author’s image. It lies in the fact that with all the severity of criticism of modern noble society, awareness of the negative aspects of social reality and the inferiority of the characters created in them, the author at the same time does not have a specific positive program that he could put forward. Nevertheless, it is in the character of the author that Pushkin affirms the possibility of development, moving forward, searching for some new paths.
Thus, we came to the conclusion, that in “Eugene Onegin” Pushkin conducts his novel not as a dispassionate observer recording events, but as an active close participant in the events and persons described in the novel. The image of the author, his “I” runs through the entire novel and carries a certain semantic function; The author's assessment accompanies all the development of action and characters.
Oscar Wilde said: “The main purpose of nature seems to be to illustrate the lines of poets.”
Gennady Pospelov wrote: “In literature XVIII- XX centuries, landscapes acquired psychological significance. They have become a means of artistic exploration of a person’s inner life.”
We give the floor to the group led by Victoria Rudenko. Subject: " the role of landscape in the compositional unity of the novel."
Scenery - artistic description open space (nature, city, etc.), part objective world literary work; helps to understand the actions of the characters, conveys them state of mind, creates the emotional atmosphere of a work (or episode) or is given for the purpose of contrasting the activities of people.
The problem of our research is:
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Lyrical digressions are extra-plot, genre-forming and structurally significant elements of the text that are found in a literary work of “large form” (novel, poem) and introduce a sign of the author’s presence into the narrative. Typically, lyrical digressions take the form of “fragments”, “insertions”, “side branches” (S. D. Krzhizhanovsky), interrupting the main story. Classic lyrical digressions can be observed in the novel in verse by A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”, the prose poem by N. V. Gogol “Dead Souls”, the poem by M. Yu. Lermontov “Tambov Treasurer”, the poems of J. G. Byron (in in particular, “Don Juan”) and others.
In the architectonics of the work, they are as important as the plot fragments (chapters, stanzas, etc.). In cases where we are talking about a work with a mixed generic and genre nature, they represent the basis of its structure. As a rule, in texts of this kind it is clearly expressed epic start. In the works of the Romantic era and later, it is expressed not so much through the central place of a grandiose historical “event” in the plot, which has significance for an entire people or nation, but rather through the breadth of the panorama of what is depicted, the scale of what is described, which is given universal significance. In this case, in lyrical digressions, the lyrical principle itself comes to the fore, which makes the work lyrical.
However, in a number of cases, it is through the prism of individual perception that one can see and evaluate large-scale phenomena, due to which a “return” (“reversion”) to the epic occurs. It is not for nothing that lyrical digressions occupy a significant place in the text of the work (in “Eugene Onegin” there are twenty-seven of them, not counting fifty different types of lyrical insertions). In “Eugene Onegin” they concern not only “women’s legs” or paintings of Russian nature, but also those characteristic of the era of the 1820s. features of Russian life (lyrical digression about Moscow at the time of the Napoleonic invasion and others; life and customs noble Russia, signs of literary life in Chapter 1 of the novel, a conversation about literature as an art form, and others). It is lyrical digressions that help “Eugene Onegin” from the love story of Tatyana Larina and Eugene Onegin turn into an “encyclopedia of Russian life” (V. G. Belinsky), and Gogol’s story about Chichikov’s scam at the end of the story is finally transformed into a discussion about historical destinies Russia: starting the last fragment of Chichikov’s journey on three horses, the writer gradually moves away from describing realities to conveying his own experiences, and this lyrical component contributes to the transformation of the chaise into a fabulous “bird-three”.
Lyrical digressions can also be considered as a compositional and stylistic device. By interrupting the thread of the narrative, the author gets the opportunity to speak directly on topics that are close to him, but are not necessary for revealing plot conflicts. In a number of cases, they seem to “slow down” the development of events, stimulating reader interest; at the same time, it transforms the author from a storyteller or narrator into one of the main characters of the work. Often lyrical digressions, expanding art space, maintain story time.
To understand their nature, one should analyze the role and place of historiosophical and philosophical digressions in L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace.” They arise, firstly, in a close thematic connection with the events described during the development of the plot and, secondly, they carry an epic, not a lyric-epic, and certainly not a purely lyrical charge. In particularly complex cases of combination of genres and exchange of essences of poetry and prose - as with “Eugene Onegin”, which is a “novel in verse”, or with “Dead Souls”, defined by the author as a poem and written in prose, with an obvious novelistic basis - namely lyrical digressions act as a genre-forming beginning.
To the few modern works, in which they meet, one should include the novel in verse by V. Gandelsman “There is a house on the Neva...” (see about this: Pann L. “How suddenly stirred up ash...” // New world, 1996, No. 10). The author does not go beyond the theme of lyrical digressions set by Pushkin and Gogol; in particular, the object of lyrical experience in his case is the poetic word, reflected through natural phenomena.
Introduction. Lyrical digression as an extra-plot element.
Types of lyrical digressions.
The role of lyrical digressions in the novel by A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin".
The role of lyrical digressions in the composition of the poem by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls".
Historiosophy L.N. Tolstoy in the novel "War and Peace".
Conclusion. The meaning of lyrical digressions in literature.
I. Lyrical digression as an extra-plot element.
My essay is called “Lyrical digression in Russian literature”; I chose this topic because the author’s statements, although they are an extra-plot element, are very important for understanding the idea of the work. Lyrical digressions allow you to address readers directly from the pages of a story or novel, and not on behalf of any of the acting characters. With the help of author's digressions, writers and poets seem to lift the veil over their thoughts and feelings, forcing us to think about such enduring values as love for the motherland, for people, respect, kindness, courage and self-sacrifice.
A lyrical digression is the author’s expression of feelings and thoughts in connection with the image in the work. For example, at the end of the first volume of “Dead Souls” N.V. Gogol, having mentioned that Chichikov loved driving fast, interrupts the narration, pauses the development of the plot and begins to express his thoughts about Russia, which he represents in the form of a fast-moving troika. This digression forces the reader to take a fresh look at the novel and delve deeper into the author’s ideological plan. By invading the work, the writer violates the unity of the figurative picture, slows down the development of the action, but a lyrical digression naturally enters the work, since it arises in relation to what is depicted in it, imbued with the same feeling as artistic images. Their content is determined by the same views of the author as the artistic depiction.
Lyrical digressions are widespread in literature, including modern literature. They matter no less than the main text of the work.
Lyrical digressions can occupy a very large place in a work. These are the digressions in “Eugene Onegin” by A.S. Pushkin (only in Chapter I - digressions on the theater, youth, creativity, the plan of the novel, and others). These digressions, diverse in topics and rich in content, contribute to the breadth of coverage of reality, making Pushkin’s novel in verse, according to Belinsky, a true “encyclopedia of Russian life.”
Lyrical digressions begin to play a leading role, and the reader’s main attention is directed to the feelings and thoughts of the great poet. In contrast to the life of the “lyrical man,” the digressions gradually reveal the fullness of the life of a person—a creator. In the same way, in the poem “Don Juan” by J. Byron, it is in the lyrical digressions that the most important theme for the work unfolds, the need to fight for freedom against tyranny and oppression.
The lyrical digressions in the poems of A.T. are filled with deep philosophical and journalistic content. Tvardovsky, O.F. Berggalts, E.A. Yevtushenko and other poets of the 20th century. In some cases, the literary digressions themselves constitute an entire poem (“Poem without a Hero” by A.A Akhmatova, 40 lyrical digressions from the poem “Triangular Pear” by A.A Voznesensky).
Lyrical digressions give the author the opportunity to directly address the reader. Their excitement and thoughtfulness have a special power of persuasion. At the same time, the lyricism of the digressions does not mean that writers are isolated in the world of their own “I”; they convey thoughts, feelings, and moods that are important for everyone. Generally significant content is expressed in them usually on behalf of the narrator or lyrical hero, who embodies the typical position of a contemporary, his views and feelings. It is enough to recall the digressions in “Eugene Onegin” to be convinced that their themes are much broader than intimate, personal, love experiences. Lyrical digressions are often journalistic, expressing the author’s active civic position and the connection of his work with modern socio-political life.
II. Types of lyrical digressions examined using the example of A.S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin.”
Lyrical digressions can be divided into several groups:
Author's digressions. (Memories of youthful love in the first chapter, adjacent to a humorous and ironic discussion about “legs”. Memories of the Moscow “beauty” in chapter 7 (collective image). References to biography at the beginning and end of chapter 8. Digressions on the revaluation of romantic values in "Excerpts from Onegin's Journey").
Critical and journalistic digressions (conversation with the reader about literary examples, styles, genres). The poet comments on his novel as he writes it and, as it were, shares with the reader his thoughts on how best to write it. The general semantic dominant of these digressions is the idea of searching for a new style, a new manner of writing, offering greater objectivity and concreteness in the depiction of life (later this became known as realism).
Conversations on everyday topics (“a novel requires chatting”). We are talking about love, family, marriage, modern tastes and fashions, friendship, education, etc. Here the poet can appear in a variety of guises (literary masks): we see either a convinced epicurean (mocking the boredom of life), or a Byronic hero disillusioned with life, or a feuilletonist of everyday life, or a peaceful landowner accustomed to living in the countryside.
The image of the lyrical (as always in Pushkin), on the one hand, is kaleidoscopic and changeable, on the other, it remains holistic and harmoniously complete. Landscape digressions are also included in the lyrical digressions. Usually nature is depicted through the prism of the poet’s lyrical perception, his inner world, and mood. At the same time, some landscapes are shown through the eyes of the characters (“Tatyana saw through the window...”).
Digressions on a civil topic - about the heroic Moscow of 1812.
Some digressions are of a “mixed” type (they include autobiographical, critical-journalistic, and everyday-aphoristic elements.
Autumn road. Both in the general mood of the author’s monologue and in the quickly changing pictures, a hint of the image of a three-bird bird is clearly felt, from which this lyrical digression is separated by a large chapter dedicated to the adventures of Chichikov. The story about the main character of the poem is completed by the author’s statements, presenting sharp objections to those who may be shocked by how main character, and the poem as a whole...
The Nest", "War and Peace", "The Cherry Orchard". It is also important that the main character of the novel seems to open a whole gallery " extra people"in Russian literature: Pechorin, Rudin, Oblomov. Analyzing the novel "Eugene Onegin", Belinsky pointed out that in early XIX century, the educated nobility was the class “in which the progress of Russian society was expressed almost exclusively,” and that in “Onegin” Pushkin “decided...
That’s right, things will change immeasurably for you... Now our roads are bad, forgotten bridges are rotting... etc. That’s why roads are the second the most important topic “Dead souls”, related to the topic of Russia. The road is an image that organizes the entire plot, and Gogol introduces himself into lyrical digressions as a man of the road. “Before, long ago, in the summer of my youth... it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time... Now...
Bellinsky called the novel “an encyclopedia of Russian life.” And indeed it is. An encyclopedia is a systematic overview, usually from “A” to “Z”. This is the novel “Eugene Onegin”: if we carefully look at all the lyrical digressions, we will see that the thematic range of the novel expands from “A” to “Z”. In the eighth chapter, the author calls his novel “free.” This freedom is...
According to the definition, lyrical digressions are some statements of the author's thoughts and feelings related to what is depicted in the work. They help to better understand the ideological intent of the creator and take a fresh look at the text. The writer, intruding into the narrative, slows down the development of the action, disrupts the unity of the images, however, such insertions enter the texts naturally, since they arise in connection with what is depicted and are imbued with the same feeling as the images.
Lyrical digressions in the novel "Eugene Onegin" play a huge role, as you will see after reading this article. It is devoted to their themes, functions and meaning.
Features of the novel "Eugene Onegin"
The novel in question is by A.S. Pushkin wrote for more than 8 years - from 1823 to 1831. He wrote to Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky at the very beginning of work on the work that he was not creating a novel, but rather a “novel in verse,” and this is a “diabolical difference.”
Indeed, thanks to its poetic form, "Eugene Onegin" is very different from traditional genre novel, because it expresses the feelings and thoughts of the author much more strongly. What adds originality to the work is the constant participation and commentary of the author himself, about whom we can say that he is one of the main characters. In the first chapter of the novel, Alexander Sergeevich calls Onegin “a good friend.”
Lyrical digressions and biography of the author
Lyrical digressions are a means used by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, in particular, to help us get acquainted with the personality of the creator of the work, his biography. From the first chapter we learn that the narrator left Russia and sighs for it “under the sky of Africa,” which refers to the poet’s southern exile. The narrator writes clearly about his melancholy and suffering. In the sixth chapter, he regrets his youth and wonders where the times of his youth have gone, what the “coming day” has in store for him. Lyrical digressions in the novel also help to revive Alexander Sergeevich’s bright memories of those days when the muse began to appear to him in the gardens of the Lyceum. They, thus, give the right to judge the work as the history of the development of the personality of Pushkin himself.
Description of nature in digressions
Lyrical digressions are not only the biographical information of the author. Many of them are devoted to the description of nature. Descriptions of her are found throughout the novel. All seasons of the year are represented: winter, when boys joyfully cut ice with skates, snow falls, and northern summer, which Pushkin calls a caricature of southern winters, and the time of love - spring, and, of course, autumn, beloved by Alexander Sergeevich. The poet often describes different times of the day, the most beautiful of which he considers night. However, he does not at all strive to depict extraordinary, exceptional paintings. On the contrary, everything is ordinary, simple, but at the same time beautiful.
Nature and inner world of heroes
Nature is closely connected with the heroes of the novel. Thanks to her description, we better understand what is going on in the souls of the characters. The author often notes the spiritual closeness with the nature of the main female image- Tatyana - and reflects on this, thereby characterizing the moral qualities of her heroine. The landscape often appears before us through the eyes of this particular girl. She loved to watch the sunrise on the balcony or suddenly see a white courtyard in the window in the morning.
Encyclopedic nature of the work
V.G. Belinsky, the famous critic, called Pushkin's novel "an encyclopedia of Russian life." And one cannot but agree with this. After all, an encyclopedia is a kind of systematic overview that is revealed sequentially from A to Z. A novel is exactly like this if you carefully look at all the lyrical digressions present in Onegin. We note then that the thematic range of the work unfolds encyclopedically, from A to Z.
"Free Romance"
Alexander Sergeevich calls his work a “free novel” in the eighth chapter. This freedom is expressed, first of all, in the author’s relaxed conversation with the reader through lyrical digressions expressing feelings and thoughts on his behalf. This form allowed Pushkin to depict a picture of the life of his contemporary society. We learn about the upbringing of the younger generation, how young people spend their time, about balls and fashion during the times of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
The lyrical digressions of the novel "Eugene Onegin" also cover the theater. Speaking about this amazing “magical land,” he remembers both Knyazhin and Fonvizin, but his attention is especially drawn to Istomin, who flies like a feather, touching the floor with one foot.
Lyrical digressions about literature
Lyrical digressions are also an opportunity to speak about contemporary literature and its problems. This is the subject of many of Alexander Sergeevich’s arguments in the text of the novel “Eugene Onegin.” In these lyrical digressions, the narrator argues about language, the use of various foreign words in it, which are sometimes simply necessary in order to describe certain things (for example, a tailcoat, trousers, a vest). Pushkin argues with a strict critic who calls for throwing off the wretched wreath of elegy poets.
Author and reader
The novel "Eugene Onegin" is at the same time the story of its creation. The narrator talks to the reader through lyrical digressions.
The text is created as if right before our eyes. It contains plans and drafts, as well as the author's personal assessment of the novel. Alexander Sergeevich encourages the attentive reader to co-create. When the latter is waiting for the rhyme “rose,” Pushkin writes: “Take it quickly.” The poet himself sometimes acts as a reader and strictly revises his work. Lyrical digressions introduce authorial freedom into the text, thanks to which the narrative moves in many directions. The image of Alexander Sergeevich has many faces - he is both a hero and a storyteller at the same time.
If all the other heroes of the novel (Onegin, Tatyana, Lensky and others) are fictional, then the creator of this entire artistic world is real. He evaluates his heroes, their actions, and either agrees with them or does not approve, arguing again in lyrical digressions. Thus, built on an appeal to the reader, the novel tells about the fictionality of what is happening, creating the impression that this is just a dream, similar to life.
Features of lyrical digressions
Often lyrical digressions in Eugene Onegin appear before the climactic moments of the narrative, forcing the reader to be in suspense, waiting further development plot. Thus, the author’s monologues occur before the explanation of Onegin and Tatiana, before her sleep and the duel in which Eugene Onegin participates.
The role of lyrical digressions, however, is not limited to this. They are also used so that the reader can better understand the essence of certain characters. That is, they not only introduce art world new layers of “reality”, but also create a unique author’s image, which is an intermediary between the space in which the characters live and real world, of which the reader is a representative.
Lyrical digressions in "Eugene Onegin", thus, are very diverse in subject matter and the purpose of their inclusion in the text of the narrative. They give Pushkin’s creation a special depth, versatility, and scale. This suggests that the role of lyrical digressions in the work is very great.
The novel, based on the author’s appeal to the reader, was a new phenomenon in the history of Russian literature of the 19th century. As time has shown, this innovation did not pass without a trace; it was noticed and appreciated both by the contemporaries of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and his descendants. "Eugene Onegin" still remains one of the most famous works Russian literature not only in our country, but also abroad.
(336 words) Some readers think that the lyrical digressions in the novel “Eugene Onegin” are just a manifestation of the author’s desire to express his opinion on pressing issues. However, in fact, they have a number of important functions, which I will try to describe in the following paragraphs.
Firstly, lyrical digressions play compositional role. The author sometimes interrupts the story about the characters when no significant events occur in their lives. These breaks in the plot are filled with lyrical digressions and landscape sketches. For example, between Tatiana’s explanation with Onegin and the meeting at the name day, about six months pass. Pushkin skips this period of time and connects the episodes through his reasoning. Secondly, with the help of such digressions the image of the author is created. For example, when he comments
Tatiana's letter then protects her from sanctimonious views. He explains to the reader that the heroine’s action is not motivated by immorality, but, on the contrary, by purity of feeling. This speaks of Alexander Sergeevich’s humanism, of his ability to understand other people’s experiences and not submit to secular conventions. In the seventh chapter we see lines dedicated to Moscow. They express the patriotic feelings of the author. He is proud of her, because she did not submit to Napoleon. In lyrical digressions, the poet also talks about his own work, here his ability for self-irony is manifested:
Or after a boring lunch
A neighbor wandered into my place,
Having caught him unexpectedly on the floor,
Soul tragedy in the corner...
Thirdly, in lyrical digressions an image of the era is created. The novel contains Pushkin’s discussion about the upbringing and education of noble youth: “We all learned a little, Something and somehow.” In addition, the author talks about the theater of his time. We can find out that plays by Fonvizin and Knyazhnin were staged, that Didelot was a famous ballet director, and that the ballerina Istomina, who had beauty and talent, was very popular. The poet also touches on the problem of the development of the Russian language, which was actively discussed in society in his time. The struggle was between the views of Karamzin and Shishkov. Karamzin's followers believed that it was necessary to borrow vocabulary from European languages, while Shishkov's supporters opposed this. Pushkin believed that it was possible to use foreign words if there were no corresponding Russian words: “But trousers, a tailcoat, a vest - All these words are not in Russian.”
Thus, lyrical digressions form the composition of the novel, express the image of the author and provide comprehensive information about the place and time of action in the work.
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