Russian realism in literature style. In Russia (Artistic systems in literature)

It should be noted that the 20–30s years XIX century is not only the era of the rapid flowering of romanticism. At the same time, a new, most powerful and fruitful direction is developing in Russian literature - realism. “The desire to become natural, natural,” noted Belinsky, “constitutes the meaning and soul of the history of our literature.”

This desire was clearly evident back in the 18th century, especially in the works of D. I. Fonvizin and A. N. Radishchev.

In the first decades of the 19th century. realism triumphed in Krylov’s fables and Griboyedov’s immortal comedy “Woe from Wit,” imbued, as Belinsky put it, with “the deep truth of Russian life.”

The true founder of realism in Russian literature was A. S. Pushkin. Author of "Eugene Onegin" and "Boris Godunov", "The Bronze Horseman" and " The captain's daughter", he was able to comprehend the very essence of the most important phenomena of Russian reality, which appeared under his pen in all its diversity, complexity, and inconsistency.

Following Pushkin, all the major writers of the first century came to realism. half of the 19th century V. And each of them develops the achievements of Pushkin the realist, achieves new victories and successes. In the novel “A Hero of Our Time,” Lermontov went further than his teacher Pushkin in depicting the complex inner life of a person, in an in-depth analysis of his emotional experiences. Gogol developed the critical, accusatory side of Pushkin's realism. In his works - primarily in "The Inspector General" and "Dead Souls" - the life, morals, and spiritual life of representatives of the ruling classes are shown in all their ugliness.

Deeply and truthfully reflecting the most important features of reality, Russian literature thereby increasingly met the interests and aspirations of the masses. Folk character Russian literature was also reflected in the fact that interest in the life and fate of the people became more and more profound and acute in it. This was clearly evident already in late creativity Pushkin and Lermontov, in the works of Gogol, and with even greater force - in the poetry of Koltsov and creative activity writers of the so-called natural school».

This school, formed in the 40s, represented the first association of realist writers in Russian literature. These were still young writers. Having rallied around Belinsky, they made it their task to depict life truthfully, with all its dark and gloomy sides. Diligently and conscientiously studying everyday life, they discovered in their stories, essays, novels such aspects of reality that previous literature almost did not know: details of everyday life, peculiarities of speech, emotional experiences of peasants, petty officials, inhabitants of St. Petersburg “corners”. The best works of writers associated with the “natural school”: “Notes of a Hunter” by Turgenev, “Poor People” by Dostoevsky, “The Thieving Magpie” and “Who is to Blame?” Herzen, " An ordinary story"Goncharov, "Village" and "Anton Goremyk" by Grigorovich (1822–1899) - prepared the flowering of realism in Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century.

Realism in literature - a truthful depiction of reality.

Realism did not come to Russian literature from somewhere outside. It developed during the Russian literary process, and, moreover, in his main movement, as a result of his advanced achievements. Thus, in the works of progressive figures of Russian classicism, from M.V. Lomonosov to G.R. Derzhavin, despite the idealization characteristic of their artistic method, some features of real Russian reality were reflected. This was especially clearly manifested in Derzhavin’s poetry. Classicism, as a progressive literary movement for its time, became a “legacy” for Russian realism, the critical assimilation of the best achievements of which was necessary and useful. Pushkin's work confirms this.

Sentimentalism, reflecting the progressive development of Russian reality, at the time of “Letters from a Russian Traveler” and “ Poor Lisa“N. M. Karamzin managed to take some steps towards bringing literature and life closer together. The progressive tendencies of this literary movement should take their, albeit modest, place in the prehistory of Russian realism.

Of course, the romantic direction was of greatest importance for the development of realism. The romanticism of V. A. Zhukovsky and K. N. Batyushkov enriched Russian literature with artistic and psychological discoveries, which had direct significance for the realistic formulation of the problem of character in literature. Revolutionary romanticism drew the attention of literature to acute problems of socio-political life and put forward the principle of nationality, thereby taking a new step towards realism. This was also facilitated by the critical attitude towards their modernity characteristic of the revolutionary romantics, which eliminated for them the possibility of its romantic idealization. The Decembrists came especially close to reality in their lyric poetry, which directly expressed the thoughts and feelings of the noble revolutionaries on the eve of December 14, 1825.

So during the first quarter of the 19th century. Within various romantic movements, the necessary prerequisites for a realistic artistic method took shape.

The process of formation of realism, which began back in the 18th century, was also of great importance for the establishment of the realistic direction. and was not interrupted during the period of dominance of sentimentalism and romanticism. N. I. Novikov, D. I. Fonvizin, A. N. Radishchev, I. A. Krylov - it is enough to remember at least these names to imagine the significance of this line of movement of Russian literature towards reality, towards realism. The emergence and development of realism in Russian literature is associated with the emergence and development of a critical attitude towards the autocratic-serf system on the part of advanced social forces, which allowed them to approach a correct understanding of its essential aspects and the awareness of the need to change it. To one degree or another, this is observed in Novikov’s satirical magazines, and in Fonvizin’s comedies, and in Narezhny’s prose, and in Radishchev’s “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” and in Krylov’s fables. These writers have a deep understanding of the essential aspects of Russian reality, social relations, social tasks became the basis of realistic creative tendencies. And this understanding of Russian feudal-serfdom reality became available to them as educators, as initiators and propagandists of an advanced ideological movement generated by the fundamental shifts that have emerged in Russian socio-economic life. From idealization, glorification of the existing socio-political system, even if presented in the form of enlightened absolutism, to its criticism, to attempts to expose its vices - this is the beginning of the turn in literature, which in the future was to lead to Pushkin's realism. Despite the presence general trends in the artistic method of these writers, they cannot be considered as representatives of a single literary movement. The realism of the author of the revolutionary book “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” and the realism of a radical fabulist are not the same thing. Far removed from the social realism of A. N. Radishchev is the everyday realism of A. E. Izmailov or V. T. Narezhny. The formation of Russian realism (as well as its further development) was a complex process, not without serious contradictions.

The realistic direction of Russian literature developed not only national traditions, but also inherited the wealth accumulated by foreign literatures. Especially great importance in this regard, there were those stages of the formation of realism through which advanced countries passed Western Europe: Renaissance and Enlightenment. The author of “Boris Godunov” recognized Shakespeare, this great representative of the English Renaissance, as his teacher in the artistic method. It is well known that Pushkin was familiar with the ideas of French enlighteners, which was reflected in his work. However, by the 20s of the XIX century. the process of the formation of realism in the West has not yet been completed, and realistic artistic method in its mature form it emerged here somewhat later - in the works of Balzac and Stendhal, Dickens and Thackeray. Regardless of the founders of realism in the 19th century. in French and English literature Pushkin was one of the first in Europe based on historical and artistic development of his country in the second half of the 20s, he established the completed form of the realistic method in art. The uniqueness of Russian historical conditions led to the fact that the features of critical realism clearly appeared in the artistic method of Russian writers, starting with Pushkin.

So, the realistic trend that arose in Russian literature in the mid-20s of the 19th century was prepared by the previous development of literature in its various directions and currents. However, despite all the significance genetic connections with classicism, sentimentalism, romanticism and, finally, with pre-Pushkin realism, the artistic method of the new literary movement was a qualitatively new phenomenon in literature. No matter how historically significant the realistic tendencies in Russian literature were, realism as an aesthetic system and as an artistic method was fully formed only in the work of Pushkin.

39. Painting and literature. Painting and literature.“Painting is poetry that is seen, and poetry is painting that is heard” - Leonardo da Vinci. Art- this is one of their forms public consciousness, component culture of humanity. It's a process and a result meaningful expression feelings in the image. Literature and painting are among the main forms of art. Kinds of art- these are historically established stable forms of creative activity, in which the artist realizes life content Each type of art has a specific arsenal of visual and expressive means. The main types of art include 1) art, 2) literature, 3) music, 4) architecture, decorative applied arts. Literature(lat . lit(t)eratura, literally - written, from lit(t)era- letter) - in a broad sense, a set of any verbal texts. Literature works with words - its main difference from other arts. The word is the main element of literature, the connection between the material and the spiritual. Figurativeness is conveyed in fiction indirectly, through words. Visual culture– one that can be perceived visually. Painting belongs to this culture. Painting- the art of depicting objects on the surface with paints, in order to produce on the viewer an impression similar to what he would receive from real objects of nature, and also, by the nature of the depicted objects, to evoke a certain mood in the viewer or to express some artistic idea. As we see, the main difference between painting and literature is the difference in the means of influencing a person.

IN different periods cultural development of humanity, literature was given different places among other types of art - from the leading to one of the last. This is explained by the dominance of one direction or another in literature, as well as the degree of development technical civilization. For example, ancient thinkers, Renaissance artists and classicists were convinced of the advantages of sculpture and painting over literature. The Romantics put poetry and music in first place among all arts. However, already in the 18th century, a different trend arose in European aesthetics - putting literature in first place. Its foundations were laid by Lessing, who saw the advantages of literature over sculpture and painting. Subsequently, Hegel and Belinsky paid tribute to this tendency.

Literature and painting, as absolutely independent forms of art, recreate the phenomena of socio-historical reality independently of each other. Therefore, in order to understand the relationship between literature and painting, you need to find the points of contact between these two arts. However, later the artists and writers themselves were the first to talk about the connection between literature and painting. This connection was most skillfully expressed by the artist Angelika Kaufmann (a Swiss artist who lived in the 18th century) in the painting “Poetry and Painting,” where poetry embraces painting. The greatest art critic of the 19th century, V.V. Stasov, in his review “Our results at the World Exhibition,” described the connection between Russian painting and literature as follows: “Our main strength is that what is new Russian art embraced Russian literature so tightly<...>Our literature and art are like two inseparable twins, inconceivable apart.” Russian painting and classic literature always kept pace along the path of illuminating the topical and universal problems of life. Many Russian writers had extraordinary talent painters (Pushkin, Lermontov, the Bestuzhev brothers, Batyushkov, Grigorovich), and artists (Kiprensky, Bryullov, Perov, Kramskoy, Repin, Ge) created an outstanding gallery of portraits of classics of literature of the 19th century. The relationship between literature and painting occurred at various creative levels: artistic direction(classicism, romanticism, realism, impressionism, symbolism), problematics and functional orientation (populist writers - Wanderers artists). Some artists recreated scenes from ancient Russian epics and folklore (V. Vasnetsov). Perhaps the most noticeable relationship between literature and painting is manifested in the existence of the art of illustration. In the second half of the 19th century, the Russian school of illustrators was formed. In their works, original artistic and graphic principles were developed, which established the connections between literature and painting on a fundamentally different level. Since that time, book illustration has become an integral part of literary and artistic culture.

AND illustration(from Latin illustratio - lighting, visual image): 1) explanation with the help of visual examples. 2) An image accompanying and supplementing the text (drawings, engravings, photographs, reproductions, maps, diagrams, etc.). 3) The field of art associated with the visual interpretation of literary and scientific works.

The term “illustration” can be understood in both the broad and narrow sense of the word. IN broad meaning This is any image that explains the text. There are many known drawings, paintings and sculptures that were made on literary themes, but at the same time had an independent artistic value. For example, paintings by O. Daumier, based on the novel by M. Cervantes “Don Quixote”, or drawings by V. Serov to the fables of I. A. Krylov. IN narrow , in the strict sense, illustrations are works intended to be perceived in a certain unity with the text, that is, located in the book and participating in its perception during the reading process. Illustrations for a literary work together with it represent a single whole. Book illustrations removed from the text can sometimes become unclear and inexpressive. Illustrations are not independent and in terms of plot, they must correspond to the content of the literary work. They can enrich or impoverish it. The artist is required to become a co-author of the book, to make the ideas and images of the writer visible, thereby helping to better understand the content and more specifically imagine the era, life, and environment of the characters in the book. But this does not mean at all that the illustration should be a simple visual and graphic retelling of the text.

However, the connection between literature and painting is not limited to illustration. IN historical aspect In the creative relationships between literature and painting, two varieties can be distinguished. The first is the purposeful development by means of painting of a plot built on literary material. An example is the painting by V.M. Vasnetsov “After the massacre of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsians.” The second is the creation of an artistic canvas on a cultural-historical basis, like the painting of the same V. Vasnetsov “Bayan”, which is not directly related to the plot of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, but recreates the type of ancient Russian singer-storyteller, as he has come down to us in the legends of centuries . There are works in which paintings play an important role in storyline: “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde, story: “The Portrait” by N.V. Gogol. In this work by Gogol we see how strongly painting can influence a person. Of course this is fantastic story, however, painting plays a key role in it. Thus, works in which painting and paintings play a key role are another point of intersection between painting and literature.

The last thing I would like to note in the relationship between literature and painting is poster art. “A poster is a relatively large image with text in which artistic image arises from the interaction of words and images" ( S.N. Artamonov) . Poster - one of the youngest forms of art, a type of graphics - finally took shape at the end of the 19th century. This was due to the emerging possibilities of reproducing texts and images, at least in small editions. The beginning of the poster can be seen in the so-called “flying sheets”, engravings from the time of the Reformation and peasant wars in Germany in the 16th century, or in political posters in France in the 18th century. The first posters in Russia can be considered popular prints since 1812. They have already made an attempt to combine image with text. Only at the end of the 19th century was the poster officially recognized as a fact, if not “ high art", then culture. The initiator, oddly enough, was Russia. The main task is to convey to the viewer the meaning of the poster. The poster has seconds of attention, and during these moments it must convey the necessary information. It is precisely because of the lack of time for perception that the poster often uses short text, clear symbols and signs. It can use any graphic technique, photography, painting, even elements of sculpture, since modern printing allows the use of relief on plastic. The image and text in the poster are interconnected and complement each other. Thus, we can say that the poster is a direct combination of literature and painting.

As a result, I would like to emphasize that the existence various types arts is due to the fact that none of them, by their own means, can provide a comprehensive artistic picture of the world. Such a picture can only be created by all art culture humanity as a whole, consisting of individual species art. Despite significant differences, painting and literature constantly intersect, becoming essentially a single whole.

As is known, realism in Russia was directly prepared by Krylov’s fable work and Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit.” Realism arose during the period of the dominance of romanticism, and in the 1830s, romanticism and realism coexisted, enriching each other. But in the early 1840s and then in the 1850s, realism came to the fore in literary development. The transition to realism took place in Pushkin’s work and is associated with the principle of historicism, clearly manifested first in the tragedy “Boris Godunov”, in the poem “Count Nulin”, and then in “Eugene Onegin”. Subsequently, the principles of realism were strengthened in the works of Lermontov of 1837-1841 and Gogol. The realism of Pushkin, Lermontov and Gogol is closely connected with romanticism and was in a complex relationship of attraction and repulsion with it.

Assimilating the achievements of the romantics, realist writers initially strive to contrast romanticism with new principles and make romanticism the theme of their writings, the subject artistic analysis and theoretical-critical reflections. Such important features and signs of the romantic method and style as the romantic hero, romantic alienation, romantic conflict are decisively rethought. As a rule, the method of rethinking is irony. A romantic hero, for example Lensky, placed in conditions of anti-romantic reality, loses his dreamy-ideal aura, and a new one enters the arena of life - Onegin. Various masks of romantic literature are also applied to him, but he does not satisfy any of them.

A rethinking of the romantic type occurs in the novels by Goncharov “Ordinary History” and Herzen’s “Who is to Blame?” Researchers notice that equality is established between the heroes - the romantic and the non-romantic - in the face of reality. This leads to dialogue between them and conflict.

The irony applies not only to the romantic character, but also to the completely unromantic hero, as well as to the author. This contributes to the separation of the author from the hero, as Pushkin and Lermontov informed readers about. The conscious separation of the author from the hero, as opposed to romanticism, which sought to emotionally bring the author and hero closer together, is the path to the creation of characters and types. Along with historical and social determinism, this circumstance is an undoubted sign of realism. Unlike the romantics, for whom the mental life of the individual did not usually acquire a strictly and precisely delineated character, realism strives to give psychological movements, their shades and contradictions a clear and precise form

It is also significant that the creation of characters and types, as well as the separation of the author from the hero, occurred in realism simultaneously with a change in the subject of the image. Ironic attitude towards romantic heroes did not lead to a preference for “short” heroes over “tall” ones. The main hero of realism was the “average”, ordinary person, the hero of everyday life and everyday life. His image did not require aesthetically intense and extreme assessments and colors - menacing indignation or exorbitant praise. The author's attitude towards him presupposed balance, a adjusted dosage of light and dark tones, since he was neither a notorious villain, nor a noble knight without fear and reproach. He had virtues, but he also had vices. In the same way, the natural environment appeared in works of art Russian realists the flat steppe of the middle zone, with modest vegetation and slowly flowing rivers. Enough to remember romantic landscapes Pushkin in southern poems and his own poems of the 1830s, early romantic poems by Lermontov and his “Motherland”, lively sketches of Fet and Nekrasov.

In the process of development of realism, its basic principles remained unchanged, but then the emphasis was placed differently and the substantive meaning of the principles was enriched with new facets. The individual writer's application of the “laws” common to realism began to play a large role. Thus, at the first stage, it was important for writers to affirm the principle of historical and social determinism, to comprehend the dependence of man on the environment that shapes him. A person was put face to face with reality and entered into a “game” with it, which was tragic, dramatic or comic in nature. In the second and subsequent stages, the interest of writers moved from reality to the internal stimuli of human behavior, to his mental life, to “ to the inner man" Dependence on the “environment” has become a self-evident fact, but it does not automatically determine the behavior of an individual. Therefore, the main task remained the same - the depiction and expression of a person’s mental life in all its complexity and subtlety.

Finally, Russian realism in the second half of the 19th century marked the primacy of prose, and from the prose genres the essay and story first emerged, then the novel, and at the end of the century - small genres: the story and the short story.

The principles of realism received their concrete embodiment - general and individual - in the works of great Russian writers.

Questions and tasks

1. How did Russian realism develop in the 19th century? Whose works prepared the ground for the formation and development of Russian realism? What features of realism are characteristic of Krylov’s fables and Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit”?
2. Compare the features of romanticism and the features of realism using the examples of the works of Pushkin or Lermontov. What features did realism borrow from romanticism and develop, and which did it discard and rethink?
3. What role did Pushkin, Lermontov and Gogol play in the formation of realism in Russian literature? What principles of realism were entrenched in their works? How did these writers enrich the realistic art of words? What contribution did each of them make to the art of realism?
4. What is the significance of the “physiological essay” and the “natural school” for the development of Russian realism? What are artistic principles"natural school"?
5. What paths and methods did Russian writers choose to rethink romanticism and establish the principles of realism? Give examples.
6. How did realism resolve the relationship between man and the “environment,” historical and social reality? Explain the term “historical and social determinism”.
7. Why do you think realism comes first? prose genres? Why did the novel become the most widespread genre in the second half of the 19th century? Why did writers at the end of the century begin to give preference to short stories and novellas?

Realism is a trend in literature and art that truthfully and realistically reflects the typical features of reality, in which there are no various distortions and exaggerations. This direction followed romanticism, and was the predecessor of symbolism.

This trend originated in the 30s of the 19th century and reached its peak in the middle of it. His followers sharply denied the use in literary works any sophisticated techniques, mystical trends and idealization of characters. The main feature of this trend in the literature is artistic display real life with the help of ordinary and familiar images to readers, which for them are part of their Everyday life(relatives, neighbors or acquaintances).

(Alexey Yakovlevich Voloskov "At the tea table")

The works of realist writers are distinguished by their life-affirming beginning, even if their plot is characterized by tragic conflict. One of the main features of this genre is the authors’ attempt to consider the surrounding reality in its development, to discover and describe new psychological, public and social relationships.

Having replaced romanticism, realism has the characteristic features of an art that strives to find truth and justice, wants to change the world in better side. The main characters in the works of realist authors make their discoveries and conclusions after much thought and deep introspection.

(Zhuravlev Firs Sergeevich "Before the Crown")

Critical realism developed almost simultaneously in Russia and Europe (approximately 30-40s of the 19th century) and soon emerged as the leading trend in literature and art throughout the world.

In France literary realism, first of all, is associated with the names of Balzac and Stendhal, in Russia with Pushkin and Gogol, in Germany with the names of Heine and Buchner. They all experience in their literary creativity the inevitable influence of romanticism, but gradually move away from it, abandon the idealization of reality and move on to depicting a broader social background, where the life of the main characters takes place.

Realism in Russian literature of the 19th century

The main founder of Russian realism in the 19th century is Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. In his works “The Captain’s Daughter”, “Eugene Onegin”, “Belkin’s Tales”, “Boris Godunov”, “ Bronze Horseman“He subtly captures and skillfully conveys the very essence of all important events in the life of Russian society, presented by his talented pen in all its diversity, colorfulness and inconsistency. Following Pushkin, many writers of that time came to the genre of realism, deepening the analysis of the emotional experiences of their heroes and depicting their complex inner world (“Hero of Our Time” by Lermontov, “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls” by Gogol).

(Pavel Fedotov "The Picky Bride")

The tense socio-political situation in Russia during the reign of Nicholas I aroused keen interest in the life and fate of common people among progressive public figures that time. This is noted in the later works of Pushkin, Lermontov and Gogol, as well as in the poetic lines of Alexei Koltsov and the works of the authors of the so-called “natural school”: I.S. Turgenev (cycle of stories “Notes of a Hunter”, stories “Fathers and Sons”, “Rudin”, “Asya”), F.M. Dostoevsky (“Poor People”, “Crime and Punishment”), A.I. Herzen (“The Thieving Magpie”, “Who is to Blame?”), I.A. Goncharova (“Ordinary History”, “Oblomov”), A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit”, L.N. Tolstoy (“War and Peace”, “Anna Karenina”), A.P. Chekhov (stories and plays “ The Cherry Orchard", "Three Sisters", "Uncle Vanya").

Literary realism of the second half of the 19th century was called critical; the main task of his works was to highlight existing problems and address issues of interaction between man and the society in which he lives.

Realism in Russian literature of the 20th century

(Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky "Evening")

The turning point in the fate of Russian realism was the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when this direction was experiencing a crisis and a new phenomenon in culture loudly declared itself - symbolism. Then a new updated aesthetics of Russian realism arose, in which History itself and its global processes were now considered the main environment shaping a person’s personality. The realism of the early 20th century revealed the complexity of the formation of a person’s personality; it was formed under the influence not only social factors, the story itself acted as the creator of typical circumstances, under the aggressive influence of which the main character fell.

(Boris Kustodiev "Portrait of D.F. Bogoslovsky")

There are four main trends in realism of the early twentieth century:

• Critical: continues the traditions of classical realism of the mid-19th century. The works place emphasis on the social nature of phenomena (the works of A.P. Chekhov and L.N. Tolstoy);
• Socialist: displaying the historical and revolutionary development of real life, analyzing conflicts in conditions of class struggle, revealing the essence of the characters of the main characters and their actions committed for the benefit of others. (M. Gorky “Mother”, “The Life of Klim Samgin”, most works by Soviet authors).
• Mythological: display and reinterpretation of real life events through the prism of plots famous myths and legends (L.N. Andreev “Judas Iscariot”);
• Naturalism: an extremely truthful, often unsightly, detailed depiction of reality (A.I. Kuprin “The Pit”, V.V. Veresaev “A Doctor’s Notes”).

Realism in foreign literature of the 19th-20th centuries

The initial stage of the formation of critical realism in European countries in the mid-19th century is associated with the works of Balzac, Stendhal, Beranger, Flaubert, and Maupassant. Merimee in France, Dickens, Thackeray, Bronte, Gaskell - England, poetry of Heine and others revolutionary poets- Germany. In these countries in the 30s of the 19th century, tension was growing between two irreconcilable class enemies: the bourgeoisie and the labor movement, there is a period of rise in various fields bourgeois culture, there are a number of discoveries in natural science and biology. In countries where a pre-revolutionary situation developed (France, Germany, Hungary), the doctrine of the scientific socialism of Marx and Engels arose and developed.

(Julien Dupre "Return from the Fields")

As a result of complex creative and theoretical polemics with the followers of romanticism, critical realists took for themselves the best progressive ideas and traditions: interesting historical topics, democracy, trends of folklore, progressive critical pathos and humanistic ideals.

Realism of the early twentieth century, which survived the struggle of the best representatives of the “classics” of critical realism (Flaubert, Maupassant, France, Shaw, Rolland) with the trends of new non-realistic trends in literature and art (decadence, impressionism, naturalism, aestheticism, etc.) is acquiring new character traits. He turns to social phenomena real life, describes the social motivation of human character, reveals the psychology of personality, the fate of art. The basis of modeling artistic reality lie down philosophical ideas, the author’s focus is primarily on the intellectually active perception of the work when reading it, and then on the emotional one. A classic example of an intellectual realistic novel is the works German writer Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" and "Confession of the Adventurer Felix Krull", dramaturgy by Bertolt Brecht.

(Robert Kohler "Strike")

In the works of realist authors of the twentieth century, the dramatic line intensifies and deepens, there is more tragedy (the work of the American writer Scott Fitzgerald “The Great Gatsby”, “Tender is the Night”), and a special interest in inner world person. Attempts to depict the conscious and unconscious moments of a person’s life lead to the emergence of a new literary device, close to modernism called “stream of consciousness” (works by Anna Segers, W. Keppen, Yu. O’Neill). Naturalistic elements appear in the work of American realist writers such as Theodore Dreiser and John Steinbeck.

Realism of the 20th century has a bright, life-affirming coloring, faith in man and his strength, this is noticeable in the works of American realist writers William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, Mark Twain. The works of Romain Rolland, John Galsworthy, Bernard Shaw, and Erich Maria Remarque were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Realism continues to exist as a trend in modern literature and is one of the most important forms of democratic culture.

The second half of the 19th century is characterized by the emergence of such a movement as realism. It immediately followed the Romanticism that emerged in the first half of this century, but at the same time was radically different from it. Realism in literature demonstrated a typical person in a typical situation and tried to reflect reality as plausibly as possible.

Main features of realism

History of origin

These include:
cult of esotericism;
depiction of bright atypical personalities;
use of fantasy elements;
segregation of heroes into positive and negative.
That is why the realism of writers of the first half of the century was often criticized by writers of the late 19th century. However, it is precisely on early stage The main features of this direction are being formed. First of all, this is a conflict characteristic of realism. In the literature of former romantics, the opposition between man and society is clearly visible.
In the second half XIX realism takes on new forms. And it’s not for nothing that this period is called the “triumph of realism.” The social and political situation contributed to the fact that the authors began to study the nature of man, as well as his behavior in certain situations. Started to play big role social connections between individuals.
The science of that time had a huge influence on the development of realism. Darwin's Origin of Species is published in 1859. Kant's positivist philosophy also makes its contribution to artistic practice. Realism in the literature of the 19th century takes on an analytical, studying character. At the same time, writers refuse to analyze the future; it was of little interest to them. The emphasis was on modernity, which became the key theme of the reflection of critical realism.

Main representatives