Report on the formation of realism in Russian literature. The peculiarity of realism The direction of philosophical thought at the beginning of the century

Realism as a direction was a response not only to the Age of Enlightenment (), with its hopes for the human Reason, but also to romantic indignation at man and society. The world turned out to be not the way the classicists portrayed it and.

It was necessary not only to enlighten the world, not only to show its lofty ideals, but also to understand reality.

The answer to this request was the realistic trend that arose in Europe and in Russia in the 30s of the 19th century.

Realism is understood as a truthful attitude to reality in a work of art of a particular historical period. In this sense, its features can be found in the artistic texts of the Renaissance or Enlightenment. But as a literary trend, Russian realism became the leading one precisely in the second third of the 19th century.

The main features of realism

Its main features include:

• objectivism in the depiction of life

(this does not mean that the text is a "splinter" from reality. This is the author's vision of the reality that he describes)

• author's moral ideal

• typical characters with the undoubted individuality of the heroes

(such, for example, are the heroes of Pushkin's "Onegin" or Gogol's landowners)

• typical situations and conflicts

(the most common ones are the conflict of an extra person and society, a small person and society, etc.)

(for example, circumstances of upbringing, etc.)

• attention to the psychological credibility of the characters

(psychological characteristics of heroes or)

• everyday life of characters

(the hero is not an outstanding personality, as in romanticism, but one who is recognizable by readers as, for example, their contemporary)

• attention to accuracy and reliability of detail

(for details in "Eugene Onegin" you can study the era)

• ambiguity of the author's attitude to the characters

(there is no division into positive and negative characters - for example, attitude towards Pechorin)

• the importance of social problems: society and the individual, the role of the individual in history, the "little man" and society, etc.

(for example, in the novel "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy)

• approximation of the language of a work of art to living speech

• the possibility of using a symbol, myth, grotesque, etc. as a means of revealing the character

(when creating the image of Napoleon by Tolstoy or the images of landowners and officials by Gogol).
Our short video presentation on the topic

The main genres of realism

• story,
• story,
• novel.

However, the boundaries between them are gradually blurred.

According to scientists, the first realistic novel in Russia was Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin".

The heyday of this literary trend in Russia is the entire second half of the 19th century. The works of writers of this era entered the treasury of world artistic culture.

From the point of view of I. Brodsky, this became possible due to the height of the achievements of Russian poetry of the previous period.

Did you like it? Do not hide your joy from the world - share

and development of realism

Goals : to acquaint students with the main features of classicism, sentimentalism and romanticism as actively fighting literary movements; to show the formation of realism in Russian and world literature, as well as the origin and development of Russian and professional literary criticism.

Course of lessons

I. Checking homework.

2-3 questions (at the choice of students) from homework are analyzed.

II. Teacher's lecture (summary).

Students in notebooks write down the main features of classicism, sentimentalism and emerging romanticism as literary movements. Literary origins of Russian realism.

Last third of the 18th – early 19th centuries - an important period in the development of Russian fiction. Among the writers and the highest nobility, headed by Catherine II, and representatives of the middle and petty nobility, and the townspeople. The works of N. M. Karamzin and D. I. Fonvizin, G. R. Derzhavin and M. V. Lomonosov, V. A. Zhukovsky and K. F. Ryleev occupy “the minds and hearts of readers” *.

On the pages of newspapers and magazines, in literary salons, there is an irreconcilable struggle between supporters of different literary trends.

Classicism(from lat. classicus - exemplary) is an artistic trend in literature and art of the 18th-early 19th centuries, which is characterized by high civic themes, strict adherence to certain creative norms and rules.

The founders and followers of classicism considered the highest example of artistic creativity (perfection, classics) to be the works of antiquity.

Classicism arose (during the era of absolutism), first in France in the 17th century, then spread to other European countries.

In the poem "Poetic Art" N. Boileau created a detailed aesthetic theory of classicism. He argued that literary works are created without inspiration, but "in a rational way, after strict deliberation." Everything in them should be precise, clear and harmonious.

Classicist writers considered the goal of literature to be the education of people in loyalty to the absolutist state, and the fulfillment of duties to the state and the monarch as the main task of a citizen.

According to the rules of the aesthetics of classicism, strictly adhering to the so-called "hierarchy of genres", tragedy, ode, epic belonged to the "high genres" and had to develop especially significant social problems. "High genres" were opposed by "low" ones: comedy, satire, fable, "designed to reflect modern reality".

Dramatic works in the literature of classicism obeyed the rules of the "three unities" - time, place and action.

1. Features of Russian classicism

Russian classicism was not a simple imitation of Western.

In it, more than in the West, there was criticism of the shortcomings of society. The presence of a satirical stream gave the works of the classicists a truthful character.

From the very beginning, Russian classicism was strongly influenced by the connection with modernity, Russian reality, which was illuminated in the works from the point of view of advanced ideas.

Classicist writers “created images of goodies who were unable to come to terms with social injustice, developed the patriotic idea of ​​serving the motherland, and promoted the high moral principles of civic duty and humane treatment of people**.

Sentimentalism(from fr. sentiment - feeling, sensitive) - an artistic direction in literature and art that arose in Western Europe in the 20s of the 18th century. In Russia, sentimentalism spread in the 70s of the 18th century, and in the first third of the 19th century it occupied a leading position.

While the heroes of classicism were commanders, leaders, kings, nobles, sentimentalist writers showed a sincere interest in the personality, character of a person (ignorant and not rich), his inner world. The ability to feel was considered by sentimentalists as a decisive feature and high dignity of the human personality. The words of N. M. Karamzin from the story "Poor Liza" "and peasant women know how to love" pointed to the relatively democratic orientation of sentimentalism. Perceiving human life as fleeting, writers glorified eternal values ​​- love, friendship and nature.

Sentimentalists enriched Russian literature with such genres as travel, diary, essay, story, household novel, elegy, correspondence, and “tearful comedy”.

The events in the works took place in small towns or villages. Lots of descriptions of nature. But the landscape is not just a background, but wildlife, as if rediscovered by the author, felt by him, perceived by the heart. Progressive sentimentalist writers saw their vocation in comforting people in their suffering and sorrows, turning them to virtue, harmony and beauty.

The brightest representative of Russian sentimentalists is N. M. Karamzin.

From sentimentalism "threads spread" not only to romanticism, but also to psychological realism.

2. The originality of Russian sentimentalism

Russian sentimentalism is noble-conservative.

Noble writers in their works portrayed a man from the people, his inner world, feelings. For sentimentalists, the cult of feeling became a means of escaping from reality, from those sharp contradictions that existed between the landlords and the serfs, into the narrow world of personal interests, intimate experiences.

Russian sentimentalists developed the idea that all people, regardless of their social status, are capable of the highest feelings. So, according to N. M. Karamzin, “in any state a person can find roses of pleasure.” If the joys of life are also available to ordinary people, then “not through a change in the state and social system, but through the moral education of people lies the path to the happiness of the whole society.”

Karamzin idealizes the relationship between landowners and serfs. The peasants are satisfied with their lives and glorify their landowners.

Romanticism(from fr. romantique - something mysterious, strange, unreal) is an artistic movement in literature and art that replaced sentimentalism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and fiercely opposed classicism with its strict rules that hampered the freedom of creativity of writers.

Romanticism is a literary trend brought to life by important historical events and social changes. For Russian romantics, such events were the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Decembrist uprising. The views of romantic writers on historical events, on society, on their positions in society were sharply dissimilar - from rebellious to reactionary, therefore, in romanticism, two main directions or currents should be distinguished - conservative and progressive.

Conservative romantics took plots for their works from the past, indulged in dreams of the afterlife, poeticized the life of the peasants, their humility, patience and superstition. They "led" readers away from social struggles into the world of imagination. V. G. Belinsky wrote about conservative romanticism that “this is a desire, aspiration, impulse, feelings, a sigh, a groan, a complaint about imperfect hopes that had no name, sadness for lost happiness .., this is a world .. inhabited by shadows and ghosts, charming and sweet, of course, but elusive nonetheless; it is a dull, slow-flowing, never-ending present that mourns the past and sees no future ahead; finally, it is love that feeds on sadness ... "

Progressive romantics sharply criticized their contemporary reality. The heroes of romantic poems, lyrical poems, ballads had a strong character, did not put up with social evil, called for the struggle for the freedom and happiness of people. (Poets-Decembrists, young Pushkin.)

The struggle for complete freedom of creativity united both progressive and conservative romantics. In romanticism, the basis of the conflict is the discrepancy between dream and reality. Poets and writers sought to express their dream. They created poetic images that corresponded to their ideas about the ideal.

The main principle of constructing images in romantic works was the personality of the poet. The romantic poet, according to V. A. Zhukovsky, looked at reality "through the prism of the heart." So, civil poetry was for him deeply personal poetry.

Romantics were interested in everything bright, unusual and unique. Romantic heroes are exceptional personalities, embraced by generosity and violent passion. The setting in which they were depicted is also exceptional and mysterious.

Romantic poets discovered for literature the wealth of oral folk art, as well as literary monuments of the past, which had not previously received a correct assessment.

The rich and complex spiritual world of the romantic hero required wider and more flexible artistic and speech means. “In the romantic style, the emotional coloring of the word, its secondary meanings, begin to play the main role, while the objective, primary meaning recedes into the background.” Various figurative and expressive means of artistic language are subject to the same stylistic principle. Romantics prefer emotional epithets, vivid comparisons, unusual metaphors.

Realism(from lat. realis - real) is an artistic direction in the literature and art of the 19th century, which is characterized by the desire for a truthful depiction of reality.

Only from the second half of the XVIII century. we can talk about the formation of Russian realism. Literary criticism defined the realism of this period as enlightenment realism with its citizenship, interest in man, a tendency towards democratization, with tangible features of a satirical attitude to reality.

D. I. Fonvizin, N. I. Novikov, A. N. Radishchev, I. A. Krylov and other writers played an important role in the formation of Russian realism. In the satirical magazines of N. I. Novikov, in the comedies of D. I. Fonvizin, in A. N. Radishchev’s “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” in the fables of I. A. Krylov but those patterns that operated in life.

The main feature of realism is the writer's ability to give "typical characters in typical circumstances." Typical characters (images) are those in which the most important features characteristic of a particular historical period for a particular social group or phenomenon are most fully embodied.

A new type of realism emerged in the 19th century critical realism, depicting the relationship between man and the environment in a new way. Writers "rushed" to life, discovering in its ordinary, habitual course the laws of the existence of man and society. The subject of deep social analysis was the inner world of man.

Thus, realism (its various forms) has become a broad and powerful literary movement. The true "ancestor of Russian realistic literature, who gave perfect examples of realistic creativity," was Pushkin, the great folk poet. (For the first third of the 19th century, the organic coexistence of different styles in the work of one writer is especially characteristic. Pushkin was both a romantic and a realist, just like other outstanding Russian writers.) The great realists were L. Tolstoy and F. Dostoevsky, M. Saltykov-Shchedrin and A. Chekhov.

Homework.

Answer the questions :

How is romanticism different from classicism and sentimentalism? What are the moods of romantic characters? Tell us about the formation and literary origins of Russian realism. What is the nature of realism? Tell us about its different forms.

10. The formation of realism in Russian literature. Realism as a literary trend I 11. Realism as an artistic method. Problems of the ideal and reality, man and environment, subjective and objective
Realism is a truthful depiction of reality (Typical characters in typical circumstances).
Realism was faced with the task of not only reflecting reality, but also penetrating the essence of the displayed phenomena by revealing their social conditioning and revealing the historical meaning, and most importantly, to recreate the typical circumstances and characters of the era.
1823-1825 - the first realistic works are created. These are Griboedov "Woe from Wit", Pushkin "Eugene Onegin", "Boris Godunov". By the 1940s, realism was on its feet. This era is called "golden", "brilliant". Literary criticism appears, which gives rise to literary struggle and aspiration. And thus appear letters. society.
One of the first Russian writers standing by realism was Krylov.
Realism as an artistic method.
1. Ideal and reality - the realists were faced with the task of proving that the ideal is real. This is the most difficult question, since this question is not relevant in realistic works. Realists need to be shown that the ideal does not exist (they do not believe in the existence of any ideal whatsoever) - the ideal is real, and therefore it is not achievable.
2. Man and environment is the main theme of the realists. Realism assumes a comprehensive depiction of a person, and a person is a product of the environment.
a) environment - extremely expanded (class structure, social environment, material factor, education, upbringing)
b) a person is the interaction of a person with the environment, a person is a product of the environment.
3. Subjective and objective. Realism is objective, typical characters in typical circumstances, shows character in a typical environment. The distinction between the author and the hero (“I am not Onegin” by A.S. Pushkin) In realism - only objectivity (reproduction of phenomena given in addition to the artist), because. realism sets before art the task of faithfully reproducing reality.
The "open" ending is one of the most important signs of realism.
The main achievements of the creative experience of the literature of realism were the breadth, depth and truthfulness of the social panorama, the principle of historicism, a new method of artistic generalization (the creation of typical and at the same time individualized images), the depth of psychological analysis, the disclosure of internal contradictions in psychology and human relationships.
At the beginning of 1782, Fonvizin read to friends and social acquaintances the comedy "Undergrowth", on which he had been working for many years. He did the same with the new play as he had done with The Brigadier.
The former play by Fonvizin was the first comedy about Russian customs and, according to N.I. Panin, Empress Catherine II was extremely pleased. Whether that will be with "Undergrowth"? Indeed, in The Undergrowth, according to the fair remark of the first biographer Fonvizin, P.A. Vyazemsky, the author “No longer makes noise, does not laugh, but is indignant at vice and stigmatizes it without mercy, if it makes the audience laugh at the pictures of abuse and foolishness, then even then the suggested laughter does not entertain from deeper and more deplorable impressions.
Pushkin admired the brightness of the brush that painted the Prostakov family, although he found traces of "pedantry" in the goodies of "Undergrowth" Pravdina and Starodum. Fonvizin for Pushkin is an example of the truth of cheerfulness.
No matter how old-fashioned and prudent the heroes of Fonvizin may seem to us at first glance, it is impossible to exclude them from the play. After all, then movement disappears in comedy, the confrontation between good and evil, baseness and nobility, sincerity and hypocrisy, the bestiality of high spirituality. Fonvizin's "Undergrowth" is built on the fact that the world of the Prostakovs from the Skotinins - ignorant, cruel, narcissistic landlords - wants to subjugate his whole life, appropriate the right of unlimited power over both serfs and noble people who own Sophia and her fiancé, the valiant officer Milon ; Sophia's uncle, a man with the ideals of Peter's time, Starodum; guardian of laws, official Pravdin. In comedy, two worlds collide with different needs, styles of life and speech patterns, with different ideals. Starodum and Prostakov most frankly expresses the positions of the essentially irreconcilable camps. The ideals of the heroes are clearly visible in the way they want to see their children. Let's remember Prostakova at Mitrofan's lesson:
"Prostakov. I am very pleased that Mitrofanushka does not like to step forward ... He is lying, my friend of the heart. He found money - he does not share it with anyone .. Take everything for yourself, Mitrofanushka. Don't study this stupid science!"
And now let's remember the scene where Starodum speaks to Sophia:
"Starodum. Not the rich one who counts the money to hide it in a chest, but the one who counts the excess in himself in order to help someone who does not have what he needs ... A nobleman ... would consider it the first dishonor not to do anything: there are people who help, there are Fatherland to serve.
Comedy, in the words of Shakespeare, is "an incompatible connector." The comedy of the “Undergrowth” is not only in the fact that Mrs. Prostakova scolds funny, colorful, like a street vendor, that her brother’s favorite place is a barn with pigs, that Mitrofan is a glutton: having hardly rested from a plentiful dinner, he has been five in the morning ate a bun. This child, as Prostakova thinks, is of “delicate build”, unencumbered with either mind, occupation, or conscience. Of course, it’s funny to watch and listen to how Mitrofan either becomes shy in front of Skotinin’s fists and hides behind the backs of the nanny Eremeevna, or with stupid importance and bewilderment talks about the doors “which is an adjective” and “which is a noun.” But there is a deeper comedy in The Undergrowth, internal: rudeness that wants to look nice, greed that covers generosity, ignorance that claims to be educated.
The comic is based on absurdity, a discrepancy between form and content. In The Undergrowth, the miserable, primitive world of the Skotinins and Prostakovs wants to break into the world of the noble, to appropriate its privileges, to take possession of everything. Evil wants to seize the good and acts very vigorously, in different ways.
According to the playwright, serfdom is a disaster for the landowners themselves. Accustomed to treating everyone rudely, Prostakova does not spare her relatives either. The basis of her nature will stop by her will. Self-confidence is heard in every remark of Skotinin, devoid of any merit. Rigidity, violence becomes the most convenient and familiar weapon of the feudal lords. Therefore, their first impulse is to force Sophia into marriage. And only realizing that Sophia has strong intercessors, Prostakova begins to fawn and try to imitate the tone of noble people.
At the end of the comedy, arrogance and servility, rudeness and confusion make Prostakova so miserable that Sophia and Starodum are ready to forgive her. The autocracy of the landowner taught her to tolerate no objections, not to recognize any obstacles.
But the good heroes of Fonvizin can win in comedy only thanks to the sharp intervention of the authorities. If Pravdin had not been such a staunch guardian of the laws, had he not received a letter from the governor, everything would have turned out differently. Fonvizin was forced to cover up the satirical witticism of the comedy with the hope of a legitimate government. As a consequence of Gogol in The Inspector General, he cuts the Gordian knot of evil by unexpected intervention from above. But we heard Starodum's story about a true life and Khlestakov's chatter about Petersburg. The capital and the remote corners of the province are actually much closer than it might seem at first glance. The bitterness of the thought of the accidental victory of good gives the comedy a tragic overtone.
The play was conceived by D.I. Fonvizin as a comedy on one of the main themes of the era of enlightenment - as a comedy about education. But later the writer's intention changed. The comedy "Undergrowth" is the first Russian socio-political comedy, and the theme of education is connected in it with the most important problems of the 18th century.
Main topics;
1. the theme of serfdom;
2. condemnation of the autocratic power, the despotic regime of the era of Catherine II;
3. the theme of education.
The peculiarity of the artistic conflict of the play is that the love affair associated with the image of Sophia turns out to be subordinate to the socio-political conflict.
The main conflict of the comedy is the struggle between the enlightened nobles (Pravdin, Starodum) and the feudal lords (the landowners Prostakovs, Skotinin).
"Undergrowth" is a vivid, historically accurate picture of Russian life in the 18th century. This comedy can be considered one of the first pictures of social types in Russian literature. In the center of the narrative is the nobility in close connection with the serfs and the supreme power. But what is happening in the Prostakovs' house is an illustration of more serious social conflicts. The author draws a parallel between the landowner Prostakova and high-ranking nobles (they, like Prostakova, are devoid of ideas of duty and honor, crave wealth, servility to the nobles and push around the weak).
Fonvizin's satire is directed against the specific policy of Catherine II. He acts as the direct predecessor of Radishchev's republican ideas.
According to the genre "Undergrowth" - a comedy (there are many comic and farcical scenes in the play). But the author's laughter is perceived as irony directed against the current order in society and in the state.

System of artistic images

The image of Mrs. Prostakova
Sovereign mistress of her estate. Whether the peasants are right or wrong, this decision depends only on its arbitrariness. She says about herself that “she doesn’t put her hands on it: she scolds, then she fights, and the house rests on that.” Calling Prostakova a "despicable fury," Fonvizin argues that she is by no means an exception to the general rule. She is illiterate, in her family it was considered almost a sin and a crime to study.
She is accustomed to impunity, extends her power from the serfs to her husband, Sophia, Skotinin. But she herself is a slave, devoid of self-esteem, ready to kowtow before the strongest. Prostakova is a typical representative of the world of lawlessness and arbitrariness. She is an example of how despotism destroys man in man and destroys the social ties of people.
The image of Taras Skotinin
The same ordinary landowner, like his sister. With him, “every fault is to blame,” no one can better than Skotinin rip off the peasants. The image of Skotinin is an example of how the "bestial" and "animal" lowlands take over. He is an even more cruel serf-owner than his sister Prostakova, and the pigs in his village live much better than the people. "Isn't a nobleman free to beat a servant whenever he wants?" - he supports his sister when she justifies her atrocities with reference to the Decree on the Liberty of the Nobility.
Skotinin lets his sister play herself like a boy; he is passive in relations with Prostakova.
The image of Starodum
He consistently sets out the views of an "honest man" on family morality, on the duties of a nobleman, engaged in civil government and military service. Starodum's father served under Peter I, raised his son "the way it was then." Education gave "the best for that century."
Starodum vey his energy, he decided to devote all his knowledge to his niece, the daughter of his deceased sister. He earns money where "they do not exchange it for conscience" - in Siberia.
He knows how to dominate himself, does not do anything rashly. Starodum is the "brain" of the play. In the monologues of Starodum, the ideas of enlightenment, which the author professes, are expressed.

The writing
The ideological and moral content of D.I. Fonvizin "Undergrowth"

The aesthetics of classicism prescribed to strictly observe the hierarchy of high and low genres, assumed a clear division of heroes into positive and negative. The comedy "Undergrowth" was created precisely according to the canons of this literary movement, and we, the readers, are immediately struck by the opposition of the characters in terms of their life views and moral virtues.
But D.I. Fonvizin, while maintaining the three unities of drama (time, place, action), nevertheless largely departs from the requirements of classicism.
The play "Undergrowth" is not just a traditional comedy, which is based on a love conflict. No. "Undergrowth" is an innovative work, the first of its kind and meaning that a new stage of development has begun in Russian dramaturgy. Here, the love affair around Sophia is relegated to the background, submitting to the main socio-political conflict. D.I. Fonvizin, as a writer of the Enlightenment, believed that art should perform a moral and educational function in the life of society. Initially, having conceived a play about the education of the nobility, the author, due to historical circumstances, rises to the consideration in the comedy of the most acute issues of that time: the despotism of autocratic power, serfdom. The theme of education, of course, sounds in the play, but it is accusatory. The author is dissatisfied with the system of education and upbringing of "underage" that existed in the era of Catherine's reign. He came to the conclusion that evil itself lies in the feudal system and demanded a fight against this silt, pinning his hopes on the "enlightened" monarchy and the advanced part of the nobility.
Starodum appears in the comedy "Undergrowth" as a preacher of enlightenment and education. Moreover, his understanding of these phenomena is the understanding of the author. Starodum is not alone in his aspirations. He is supported by Pravdin and, it seems to me, these views are also shared by Milon and Sophia.
etc.................

The direction of philosophical thought at the beginning of the century.

Literary searches of supporters of the revolutionary movement.

At the beginning of the XX century. a completely different direction of literature arose. It was associated with the specific tasks of the social struggle. This position was defended by a group of "proletarian poets". Among them were intellectuals, workers and former peasants. The attention of the authors of revolutionary songs and propaganda poems was drawn to the plight of the working masses, their spontaneous protest and organized movement.

The works of such an ideological orientation contained many real facts, correct observations, and expressively conveyed certain public moods. At the same time, there were no significant artistic achievements here. The attraction to political conflicts, the social essence of a person dominated, and the development of the personality was replaced by ideological preparation for participation in class battles.

The path to art lay through the comprehension of the multifaceted relationships of people, the spiritual atmosphere of the time. And where specific phenomena were somehow linked with these problems, a living word, a vivid image was born.

For the artists of the beginning of the century, overcoming the general disunity and disharmony went back to the spiritual rebirth of man and mankind.

A painful reaction to the social struggle, to calls for violence, gave rise to the neo-religious quest of the era. The sermons of class hatred were opposed by the Christian precepts of Goodness, Love, and Beauty. Thus, the desire of a number of thinkers was manifested to find in the teaching of Christ

the path to the salvation of contemporary humanity, tragically divided and alienated from eternal spiritual values.

The "religious renaissance" determined the activities of a number of modern philosophers. All of them were warmed by the dream of introducing a weak, erring person to divine truth. But each expressed his own idea of ​​such a rise.

Most of the writers, outside of special research in the field of religion, came to consonant with neo-Christian ideals. In the recesses of a lonely contradictory soul, an underlying desire for perfect love, beauty, for harmonious merging with the divinely beautiful world was revealed. In the subjective experience of the artist, faith in the incorruptibility of these spiritual values ​​was acquired.

The young realism of the frontier era had all the signs of a transforming, seeking and acquiring the truth of art. Moreover, its creators went to their discoveries through subjective attitudes, reflections, dreams. This feature, born of the author's perception of time, determined the difference between the realistic literature of the beginning of our century and the Russian classics.

1. The next generation of his heroes "stepped" into the work of Chekhov's younger contemporaries.

Sleepiness, alienation of the soul from the world increased many times over and, unlike the works of Chekhov, became habitual, imperceptible.

Gloomy impressions prompted writers to turn to the mysteries of human nature itself. The socio-psychological origins of his behavior were by no means hushed up. But it was correlated with subconscious processes: the influence of the "power of the flesh" "on the strength of the spirit" (Kuprin), the clash of reason and instinct (Andreev), instinct and intellect (Gorky), the spiritualized soul and the soulless mechanism (Bunin). From eternity, people are doomed to vague, confused experiences, which leads to a sad and bitter fate. The motley, changeable, beautiful and terrible world remained a mystery to the heroes of frontier prose. It is not surprising that a stream of thoughts and forebodings emanating from the artist himself spilled into the works.

At these origins, the renewal of genre and style structures began.
Hosted on ref.rf
The plan of events, communication of characters was simplified in every possible way, sometimes barely indicated. But the limits of spiritual life are pushed apart, accompanied by a refined analysis of the internal states of the character. Often in connection with this, the reproduction of several months, even days, grew into large narratives. Difficult themes, as if requiring a detailed implementation, were presented in a "stingy" form, since difficult problems are defined on behalf of the writer or are expressed by symbolizing phenomena.

The author's gaze is constantly directed beyond the boundaries of the chosen situation, towards the person and the world as a whole. The limits of time and space depicted in the work are freely expanded. In their search, a new generation of prose writers turned to folklore, biblical images and motifs,

creeds of many peoples, to historical, cultural and literary reminiscences, often to the personality of classical artists.

Author's thoughts literally permeate the works. Meanwhile - a striking fact - in the literature of the beginning of the century there is no trace of instructive or prophetic intonations. The difficult assimilation of reality did not give an unambiguous answer. The reader, as it were, was attracted to consciousness, co-creation. This is the phenomenal feature of realistic prose; she called for discussion.

The originality of realism - the concept and types. Classification and features of the category "The originality of realism" 2017, 2018.

XX century

Teacher's book ∕ lecture notes

Yaroslavl, 2014

Topic 1.

Russian literature at the turn of the century: an overview lesson

Temporary boundaries

Teacher:

Russian literature of the late 19th - early 20th century, or the literature of the "Silver Age", is one of the brightest stages in the centuries-old history of Russian literature. This stage was preceded by several literary epochs: ancient Russian literature, numbering 7 centuries; literature of the 18th century; 19th century literature.

Compared to these periods, the stage of Russian literature at the turn of the century is much smaller in terms of its length in time. It begins in the 1890s and ends in the late 1910s. – early 1920s The end of this stage is associated with 1921.

Question:

why this year?

Answer:

this year Alexander Blok (one of the largest symbolist poets) died and in which Nikolai Gumilyov (one of the largest acmeist poets) was shot.

[The teacher shows their portraits.]

But, of course, the “silver age”, that artistic worldview that was born at the turn of the century, continued to exist later: on the one hand, other writers and poets, contemporaries of A. Blok and N. Gumilyov, were alive; on the other hand, the culture of the turn of the century was reflected in the work of young writers belonging to a different era. Among them, for example, we can name Daniil Andreev and Arseny Tarkovsky.

The meaning of the name

The teacher invites the audience to hold an object made of silver in their hands and asks the question: why is the stage of the turn of the century in Russian literature called the “Silver Age”?

Sample answer:

1. "silver" as opposed to the "golden age" of Russian literature (A. Pushkin) [the idea of ​​4 centuries: from golden to iron];

2. silver as an analogue of the Moon - a symbol of the subconscious, a symbol of duality (light side and dark side).

Persons

Teacher:

Despite the fact that the period of the turn of the century in Russian literature lasted only about 30 years, it contained a huge number of famous names. So, in the 1890s-1900s, the work of the great Russian writers Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov continued (they completed the “classical” 19th century of Russian literature), and at the same time new writers and poets appeared who determined a new, emerging culture.

These are prose writers M. Gorky, A. Kuprin, I. Bunin, A.N. Tolstoy, I. Shmelev, M. Prishvin, E. Zamyatin.

Poets A. Blok, V. Bryusov, I. Annensky, D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius, F. Sologub, K. Balmont, Andrey Bely, Vyach. Ivanov, Velimir Khlebnikov, N. Gumilyov, M. Voloshin, M. Kuzmin.

In the 1910s, A. Akhmatova, S. Yesenin, V. Mayakovsky, O. Mandelstam, M. Tsvetaeva, N. Klyuev, V. Khodasevich, I. Severyanin, B. Pasternak entered Russian literature.

[The teacher shows their portraits and reads a stanza from their poems.]

But literature during this period did not exist in an airless space, it was part of the general spiritual culture, which was also on the rise at that time. So, among the names of famous philosophers of the turn of the century, one can name V. Solovyov, S. Bulgakov, N. Berdyaev, P. Florensky, V. Rozanov; among artists - M. Vrubel, K. Korovin, V. Serov, A. Benois, L. Bakst and others, among composers - S. Rachmaninov, A. Scriabin, I. Stravinsky; among theatrical figures - K. Stanislavsky, V. Komissarzhevskaya, V. Meyerhold.

[The teacher shows the works of these artists and puts on music by S. Rachmaninov and A. Scriabin.]

The main trends in the development of Russian art at the turn of the century

1. A sharp democratization of art: a rapid increase in the quantitative composition of the audience: many readers → many poets (the appearance of cinema - "demand (large audience) gives rise to supply (cinema - a mass art form)").

2. Literature was sharply divided into mass and elite (the titles of V. Bryusov's collections are "Me eum esse", "Tertia Vigilia").

3. A sharp increase in contacts with world literature (any fact of European art becomes the property of a Russian person and vice versa; books by Russian writers are quickly translated into foreign languages; Russian and foreign ones begin to resemble each other).

4. Active interaction of different types of arts: the development of a synthetic form of art - theater; poets use musical terms for the titles of their works (K. Balmont's poem "Moonlight Sonata"); Scriabin conceives color music for "Prometheus", his "Mystery" was supposed to include music, noises, mobile architecture, dance, poetry, smells).

5. Creative universalism: M. Kuzmin - poet and musician, Mayakovsky - poet and artist [the teacher shows V. Mayakovsky's drawings].

6. Attraction to miniaturization in terms of genre.

7. Professionalization in art: combining practice and theoretician in one person (S. Taneev - theorist and composer; the same - A. Bely, V. Bryusov, Vyach. Ivanov).

8. Inclination towards a pure form, emancipation, liberation of the text from rigid structures (the process of loosening the syllabo-tonic (dolnik, tactician, free verse)); discrepancy between sound and meaning → silence, a blank sheet of paper (V. Gnedov, “The Poem of the End”).

9. Attraction to polyphony (I. Stravinsky, "Petrushka"; A. Blok, "12").

Homework:

Read the stories of A.P. Chekhov: "Chameleon", "Death of an Official", "Ionych", "Man in a Case", "About Love", "Gooseberry", "Lady with a Dog", "Thick and Thin", "Intruder ”,“ Literature teacher ”,“ Jumper ”,“ Student ”.

Topic 2

Russian literature at the turn of the century (continued). Life and career of A.P. Chekhov

"Classical" literature of the 19th century and literature of the turn of the century

At the turn of the century, culture and literature are undergoing changes in how the surrounding reality begins to be perceived. These changes manifested themselves in several aspects:

1. The 19th century was characterized by optimism, faith and hope in social progress (“War and Peace”), in lofty ideals; at the turn of the century, faith in social reconstruction collapses, pessimism prevails, ideas of the relativity of faith and unbelief, good and evil, high love and physical pleasures, a sense of fin de siecle, decadence (the work of F. Sologub).

2. In the 19th century, the hero is a small person, literature is literature of compassion and humanism [the teacher reads out excerpts from "The Overcoat" by N. Gogol and "Poor People" by F. Dostoevsky], - at the turn of the century, the writer and the hero focus on their own suffering, literature is the literature of psychological masochism, extreme individualism, egocentrism, it is characterized by the aestheticization of death.

3. The culture of the 19th century is monocentric (Pushkin and the poets of the Pushkin Pleiades), literary trends in it succeeded each other (romanticism followed sentimentalism, realism followed romanticism) - the culture of the turn of the century is polycentric (there are no main and secondary writers), literary trends in it exist in parallel (realism, symbolism, acmeism, futurism).

4. The 19th century flourished realism(lat.realis - “essential”, “real”, from res - “thing”), which is characterized by plausibility, depth of immersion in reality; - blooms at the turn of the century modernism(Italian modernismo - "modern trend"; from lat. modernus - "modern, recent": it includes impressionism, expressionism, symbolism, acmeism, futurism), which is characterized by an orientation towards urban culture, scientific methods of cognition, as well as on subconsciousness and irrationality, deformation of real proportions, construction, modeling of new forms.

The originality of Russian realism at the turn of the century

Teacher:

However, realism in the literature of the 20th century is also still present. But at the same time, it differs significantly from the “classical” realism of the 19th century. The realism of the turn of the century is based on the artistic discoveries of the prose of A.P. Chekhov, which record the changes that have occurred in the minds of a Russian person:

1. In the realism of the 19th century, the hero comes to a conclusion (Raskolnikov rethinks his life in hard labor), in the realism of the turn of the century, the hero is always missing something, and none of the previous means can help him, while life in a fixed world is seen as vulgarity ("Lady with a dog").

2. In the realism of the 19th century, there are antagonist heroes (Pechorin and Grushnitsky), in the realism of the turn of the century, no one is unconditionally right, all contrasts lose their tense character (Lopakhin is the one who cuts down the cherry orchard, and at the same time tries with all his might to help the mistress of this garden - Ranevskaya).

3. In the realistic works of the turn of the century, the thematic spectrum expands sharply, and previously forbidden topics invade literature (Kuprin, "The Pit").

4. In the realistic works of the turn of the century, the typology of characters is being updated (the diversity of heroes in A. Kuprin's prose).

5. Changes take place in the writer's personality at the turn of the century: writers become light on their feet (M. Gorky, "Across Russia"; A. Kuprin, changing professions).