1. Fading sentimentalism
2. Development of neoclassicism
3. Romanticism in Russian literature
4. Realism in Russian literature
1. Fading sentimentalism
The emergence of sentimentalism dates back to the middle of the 18th century, and to the beginning of the 19th century. he is experiencing its heyday, and then extinction, while having a significant impact on the development of Russian literature in the XIX century. We can distinguish the following features of the development of sentimentalism in Russian literature in the first decades XIX in.:
✓ disclosure of the characteristics of a person's personal intimate life;
✓ the cult of feelings, cordiality and touching sensitivity;
✓ contrasting nature and its purity with the vices of society;
✓ orientation to the image of the "ordinary" average personality, which has its dignity and the desire to emancipate it;
✓ democratization of prose;
✓ acquisition of a melodramatic character by the plots, the displacement of the social motivation of the hero's fate;
✓ reduction of public pathos of works;
✓ experiencing the crisis in such genres as a sentimental story, travel genre, sentimental dramaturgy, lyrics;
✓ the development of the epitaph genre, which most often appears in the form of a "poetic gravestone", and such features of sentimentalism as sentimental moods and sensual sadness are reflected in this genre;
✓ the destruction of the foundations and foundations of sentimentalism in the work of Karamzin, who at the end of the XVIII century. contributed to the development of this genre in Russian literature, and this destruction was expressed as follows:
The use of the idea of classicism in the late historical story "Martha the Posadnitsa" (1803);
Strengthening the historicism of the image in this story;
Consideration in the story "A Knight of Our Time" of the psychology of the child and the connection of its development with the influence of society, which foreshadowed the psychological prose of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.
2. Development of neoclassicism
Neoclassicism arose in Russian literature from the depths of classicism, which at the beginning of the 19th century. is also undergoing changes. The development of neoclassicism in this period had the following features:
✓ the loss of its former progressive features, among which the following can be distinguished:
The cult of the human mind;
Enlightenment pathos;
high citizenship;
✓ imitation of old examples of classicism;
✓ experiencing the influence of sentimentalism.
The most prominent representatives of neoclassicism can be called the following authors:
✓ tragedian V.A. Ozerov, whose work was a whole era in Russian literature, and his tragedies had the following features:
Topical public content;
Responses to contemporary reality;
Bright patriotic sound;
Elegance of form and expressiveness of speech characteristics;
Vitality of characters;
The affinity of poetic monologues of heroes to elegies;
The connection of motives, themes and images with sentimentalism;
✓ N.I. Gnedich
Protest against slavery and various forms oppression;
Development of the theme of the high appointment of a person associated with the life of society;
Appeal in translations to ancient authors and the strengthening of the humanistic principle and citizenship in their works;
Romanticization of classicism through giving it novelty and rapprochement with the progressive literary trends of romanticism and realism;
✓ K. Batyushkov, whose poetic work had the following features:
Fascination with ancient literature;
The connection of the classicism of Batyushkov's poetry with the neoclassicism of the tragedies of Ozerov and the poetry of Gnedich;
Chanting feasts, youth, earthly joys and pleasures;
Departure to the world of lofty dreams in order to distance oneself from reality and its frightening phenomena;
Glorification in some verses written in the likeness of ancient, pagan beauty;
Creation of small lyrical forms;
Capturing the attractive, pleasant aspects of everyday reality;
The emergence of patriotic motives and the transmission of civic feelings in lyrics during the Patriotic War of 1812;
Influence on Pushkin's poetry, which reflected the cheerful and bright tone of Batyushkov's works.
3. Romanticism in Russian literature
Romanticism as a literary trend developed in the early 19th century. The following prerequisites for its development can be distinguished:
✓ social upsurge in Russia in the early 1920s. and the Decembrist movement;
✓ formation of new social and ethical ideas;
✓ crisis of the principles of classicism;
✓ people's gradual loss of historical optimism and awareness of the vivid and profound contradiction between dream and reality;
✓ protest against the usual forms and rhythms of existence;
✓ heightened interest in another life, other worlds, national history and folklore.
Characteristic features of romanticism:
✓ action, combined with "ornate" and "talkative";
✓ sharpness, directness and peremptory judgments;
✓ the fusion of "playful" and "serious" attitudes towards life;
✓ independence of actions from circumstances;
✓ Literary and "theatrical" character communication.
Representatives of romanticism in Russian literature are:
✓ V.A. Zhukovsky;
✓ A.S. Pushkin(in the "southern" period of his work);
✓ M.Yu. Lermontov;
✓ K. Ryleev, who created vivid satire ("To the temporary worker"), freedom-loving poems ("Citizen", "On the death of Byron") and poems ("Voynarovsky", "Nalivaiko");
✓ A. A. Bestuzhev - Marlinsky, whose work had the following features:
The predominance of the travel genre, the epistolary genre, secular stories ("Night on the ship"), chivalric stories ("Weiden Castle"), ethnographic essays, stories of Caucasian themes ("The Red Cover", "Mulla-Nur"), autobiographical prose;
Highlighting a strong noble personality;
A sharp division of all characters into positive and negative;
Psychology and artistic expression;
✓ V.F. Odoevsky, whose originality lies in the following:
Philosophical depth and intellectual content of works;
Influence of realism;
Frequent use of conventions and fantastic elements - fantastic allegory and grotesque;
Philosophical reasoning about the meaning of human existence, good and evil, life and death, earth and space, dream and reality;
A romantic dream about the transformation of a sad reality;
A combination of a romantic outlook on life with a realistic tendency to reflect reality.
4. Realism in Russian literature
In parallel with the development in Russian literature of the early XIX century. currents of romanticism, there is an active development of another literary trend - realism, which throughout the 19th century. exerted a serious influence on Russian writers and poets. Realism is understood as "an artistic method and direction of art, focusing on a truthful and comprehensive depiction of reality, analytical understanding and recreating it in forms that are adequate to reality itself."
The new literary trend of realism was actively supported and developed on the pages of many Russian journals, in which the works of the authors of this trend were published, critical articles were given, and polemics were conducted with representatives of other literary trends. Among the magazines that support realism are the following:
✓ "Telescope", which defended the nationality of art;
✓ Moscow Telegraph, which sharply opposed classicism and sentimentalism;
✓ "Domestic notes", expressing advanced public opinion and literary trends;
✓ Sovremennik, which printed the works of such realist writers as Vyazemsky, Zhukovsky, Gogol, Pushkin.
✓ I.A. Krylov, who created his fables in realistic traditions, which were the first steps of realism in Russian literature and had the following features of this trend:
Reality, liveliness and typification of characters;
True reproduction of reality in stories and scenes;
Use of real vernacular;
Reflection of human vices through the accuracy of describing the habits of animal heroes;
Reflection of the typical, universal and common in life;
✓ A. V. Koltsov, whose poetic work has the following features of realism:
The nationality of songs - the genre in which many of his poems are written;
Realistic transfer of life and characters ordinary people;
✓ F.I. Tyutchev, A.A. Fet, A.N. Maykov, L.A. Mei, A.N. Pleshcheev, A.A. Grigoriev, N.P. Ogarev, Ya. P. Polonsky.
Literature in the 19th century in Russia is associated with the rapid flowering of culture. Spiritual uplift and important are reflected in the immortal works of writers and poets. This article is dedicated to the representatives of the Golden Age of Russian literature and the main trends of this period.
Historical events
Literature in the 19th century in Russia gave birth to such great names as Baratynsky, Batyushkov, Zhukovsky, Lermontov, Fet, Yazykov, Tyutchev. And above all Pushkin. This period was marked by a number of historical events. The development of Russian prose and poetry was influenced by Patriotic War 1812, and the death of the great Napoleon, and the departure from the life of Byron. The English poet, like the French commander, for a long time owned the minds of a revolutionary thinking people in Russia. and the Russian-Turkish war, as well as the echoes of the French revolution, heard in all corners of Europe - all these events turned into a powerful catalyst for advanced creative thought.
While revolutionary movements were being carried out in Western countries and the spirit of freedom and equality began to emerge, Russia was strengthening its monarchical power, and suppressing uprisings. This could not go unnoticed by artists, writers and poets. The literature of the early 19th century in Russia is a reflection of the thoughts and experiences of the advanced strata of society.
Classicism
This aesthetic direction is understood as an artistic style that originated in the culture of Europe in the second half of the 18th century. Its main features are rationalism and observance of strict canons. Classicism of the 19th century in Russia was also distinguished by its appeal to ancient forms and the principle of three unities. Literature, however, in this artistic style already at the beginning of the century began to lose ground. Classicism was gradually supplanted by such trends as sentimentalism, romanticism.
Masters of the artistic word began to create their works in new genres. Works in the style of a historical novel, romantic story, ballad, ode, poem, landscape, philosophical and love lyrics gained popularity.
Realism
Literature in the 19th century in Russia is associated primarily with the name of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Closer to the thirties, realistic prose took a strong position in his work. It should be said that Pushkin is the ancestor of this literary trend in Russia.
Journalism and satire
Some features of the European culture of the 18th century were inherited by the literature of the 19th century in Russia. Briefly, we can outline the main features of the poetry and prose of this period - the satirical nature and publicism. The tendency to depict human vices and shortcomings of society is observed in the work of writers who created their works in the forties. In literary criticism, it was later defined that united the authors of satirical and journalistic prose. "Natural School" - this was the name of this artistic style, which, however, is also called the "Gogol School". Other representatives of this literary trend are Nekrasov, Dal, Herzen, Turgenev.
Criticism
The ideology of the "natural school" was substantiated by the critic Belinsky. The principles of the representatives of this literary movement became the denunciation and eradication of vices. Social problems became a characteristic feature in their work. The main genres are essay, socio-psychological novel and social story.
Literature in the 19th century in Russia developed under the influence of the activities of various associations. It was in the first quarter of this century that there was a significant rise in the journalistic field. Belinsky had a huge influence on. This man possessed an extraordinary ability to feel the poetic gift. It was he who first recognized the talent of Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky.
Pushkin and Gogol
The literature of the 19th and 20th centuries in Russia would have been completely different and, of course, not so bright without these two authors. They had a huge impact on the development of prose. And many of the elements they introduced into literature have become classical norms. Pushkin and Gogol not only developed realism, but also created completely new artistic types. One of them is the image little man”, which later received its development not only in the work of Russian authors, but also in foreign literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Lermontov
This poet also had a considerable influence on the development of Russian literature. After all, it is to him that the creation of such a concept as the “hero of time” belongs. With his light hand, it entered not only literary criticism, but also into public life. Lermontov also took part in the development of the psychological novel genre.
The entire period of the nineteenth century is famous for the names of talented great personalities who worked in the field of literature (both prose and poetry). Russian authors at the end of the eighteenth century adopted some of the merits of Western colleagues. But due to a sharp jump in the development of culture and art, it eventually became an order of magnitude higher than the Western European one that existed at that time. The works of Pushkin, Turgenev, Dostoevsky and Gogol have become the property of world culture. The works of Russian writers became a model on which German, English and American authors later relied.
The 19th century is called the "Golden Age" of Russian poetry and the century of Russian literature on a global scale. At the beginning of the century, art was finally separated from court poetry and "album" poems, the features of a professional poet appeared for the first time in the history of Russian literature, the lyrics became more natural, simpler, more humane. This century gave us such masters. It should not be forgotten that the literary leap that took place in the 19th century was prepared by the entire course of the literary process of the 17th and 18th centuries. The 19th century is the time of the formation of the Russian literary language.
The 19th century began with the heyday of sentimentalism and the formation of romanticism. These literary trends found expression primarily in poetry.
Sentimentalism: Sentimentalism declared feeling, not reason, to be the dominant feature of "human nature", which distinguished it from classicism. Sentimentalism believed that the ideal of human activity was not the "reasonable" reorganization of the world, but the release and improvement of "natural" feelings. His hero is more individualized, his inner world is enriched by the ability to empathize, sensitively respond to what is happening around. By origin and conviction, the sentimentalist hero is a democrat; the rich spiritual world of the common man is one of the main discoveries and conquests of sentimentalism.
Karamzin: The era of sentimentalism in Russia was opened by Karamzin's publication of "Letters from a Russian Traveler" and the story " Poor Lisa". (back in the late 18th century)
The poetry of Karamzin, which developed in line with European sentimentalism, was radically different from the traditional poetry of his time, brought up on the odes of Lomonosov and Derzhavin. The most significant were the following differences: 1) Karamzin is not interested in the outer, physical world, but in the inner, spiritual world of man. His poems speak "the language of the heart", not the mind. 2) The object of Karamzin's poetry is "a simple life", and to describe it he uses simple poetic forms - poor rhymes, avoids the abundance of metaphors and other tropes popular in the poems of his predecessors. 3) Another difference between Karamzin's poetics is that the world is fundamentally unknowable for him, the poet recognizes the existence of different points of view on the same subject. Karamzin's Language Reform: Karamzin's prose and poetry had a decisive influence on the development of the Russian literary language. 1) Karamzin purposefully abandoned the use of Church Slavonic vocabulary and grammar, bringing the language of his works to the everyday language of his era and using grammar and syntax as a model French. 2) Karamzin introduced many new words into the Russian language - both neologisms (“charity”, “love”, “free-thinking”, “attraction”, “first-class”, “human”), and barbarisms (“sidewalk”, “coachman” ). 3). He was also one of the first to use the letter Y. The literary victory of Arzamas over Beseda strengthened the victory of the language changes introduced by Karamzin.
Karamzin's sentimentalism had a great influence on the development of Russian literature: Zhukovsky's romanticism and Pushkin's work were repelled from him, among other things.
Romanticism: an ideological and artistic direction in culture late XVIII century - first half of XIX century. It is characterized by the assertion of the inherent value of the spiritual and creative life of the individual, the image of strong (often rebellious) passions and characters, spiritualized and healing nature. In the 18th century, everything that was strange, fantastic, picturesque, and existing in books, and not in reality, was called romantic. At the beginning of the 19th century, romanticism became the designation of a new direction, opposite to classicism and the Enlightenment. Romanticism affirms the cult of nature, feelings and the natural in man. The image of the “noble savage”, armed with “folk wisdom” and not spoiled by civilization, is in demand.
In Russian romanticism, freedom from classical conventions appears, a ballad, a romantic drama, is created. A new idea of the essence and meaning of poetry is affirmed, which is recognized as an independent sphere of life, an expression of the highest, ideal aspirations of man; the old view, according to which poetry was an empty pastime, something completely serviceable, is no longer possible.
The founder of Russian romanticism is Zhukovsky: Russian poet, translator, critic. At first he wrote sentimentalism because of his close acquaintance with Karamzin, but in 1808, along with the ballad “Lyudmila” (a reworking of “Lenora” by G. A. Burger), which came out from under his pen, Russian literature included a new, completely special content - romanticism. Participated in the militia. In 1816 he became a reader under the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. In 1817 he became a teacher of Russian to Princess Charlotte, the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and in the autumn of 1826 he was appointed to the position of "mentor" to the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II.
The pinnacle of Russian romanticism can be considered the poetry of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. In the views of the progressive part of Russian society in the 30s. 19th century features of a romantic worldview appeared, caused by dissatisfaction with modern reality. This worldview was distinguished by deep disappointment, rejection of reality, disbelief in the possibility of progress. On the other hand, the romantics were characterized by the desire for lofty ideals, the desire to completely resolve the contradictions of being and the understanding of the impossibility of this (the gap between the ideal and reality).
Lermontov's work most fully reflects the romantic worldview that was formed in the Nikolaev era. In his poetry, the main conflict of romanticism - the contradiction between the ideal and reality - reaches extreme tension, which significantly distinguishes him from the romantic poets of the early 19th century. The main object of Lermontov's lyrics is the inner world of a person - deep and contradictory. our time". The key theme in the work of Lermontov is the theme of the tragic loneliness of the individual in a hostile and unjust world. The disclosure of this theme is subject to all the richness of poetic images, motives, artistic means, all the variety of thoughts, experiences, feelings of the lyrical hero.
Important in the works of Lermontov is such a motive as, on the one hand, the feeling of "immense forces" human soul, and on the other - the uselessness, the vainness of vigorous activity, self-giving.
In various of his works, the themes of the motherland, love, the poet and poetry are viewed, reflecting the features of the bright personality and worldview of the poet.
Tyutchev: The philosophical lyrics of F. I. Tyutchev are both the completion and the overcoming of romanticism in Russia. Starting with odic pieces, he gradually found his own style. It was something like a fusion of Russian odic poetry of the 18th century and the tradition of European romanticism. In addition, he never wanted to see himself as a professional writer and even neglected the results of his own creativity.
Along with poetry, prose began to develop. Prose writers of the beginning of the century were influenced by English historical novels W. Scott, whose translations were very popular. The development of Russian prose of the 19th century began with the prose works of A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol.
The early poetry of A. S. Pushkin also developed within the framework of romanticism. His southern exile coincided with a number of historical events, and in Pushkin the hope was ripening for the attainability of the ideals of freedom and liberty (in Pushkin's lyrics, the heroic modern history 1820s), but after several years of cold reception of his works, he soon realized that the world is not ruled by opinions, but by authorities. In the work of Pushkin of the romantic period, the conviction matured that objective laws operate in the world, which a person cannot shake, no matter how brave and beautiful his thoughts are. This determined the tragic tone of Pushkin's muse.
Gradually, in the 30s, the first "signs" of realism appeared in Pushkin.
Since the middle of the 19th century, the formation of Russian realistic literature has been taking place, which is being created against the backdrop of a tense socio-political situation that developed in Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. A crisis in the serf system is brewing, contradictions between the authorities and the common people are strong. There is a need to create a realistic literature that sharply reacts to the socio-political situation in the country. Writers turn to the socio-political problems of Russian reality. Socio-political and philosophical problems prevail. Literature is distinguished by a special psychologism.
Realism in art, 1) the truth of life, embodied by the specific means of art. 2) A historically specific form of the artistic consciousness of the new time, the beginning of which is either from the Renaissance ("Renaissance realism"), or from the Enlightenment ("Enlightenment realism"), or from the 30s. 19th century ("proper realism"). The leading principles of realism in the 19th - 20th centuries: an objective reflection of the essential aspects of life in combination with the height of the author's ideal; reproduction of typical characters, conflicts, situations with the completeness of their artistic individualization (i.e., concretization of both national, historical, social signs, as well as physical, intellectual and spiritual features); preference in ways of depicting "forms of life itself", but along with the use, especially in the 20th century, of conditional forms (myth, symbol, parable, grotesque); predominant interest in the problem of "personality and society"
Gogol was not a thinker, but he was a great artist. About the properties of his talent, he himself said: "I only came out well, what was taken by me from reality, from the data known to me." It could not have been easier and stronger to indicate the deep foundation of realism that lay in his talent.
Critical realism is an artistic method and literary movement that developed in the 19th century. Its main feature is the image of a human character in organic connection with social circumstances, along with a deep social analysis of the inner world of man.
A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol identified the main artistic types that would be developed by writers throughout the 19th century. This is the artistic type of the “superfluous person”, an example of which is Eugene Onegin in the novel by A.S. Pushkin, and the so-called type of "little man", which is shown by N.V. Gogol in his story "The Overcoat", as well as A.S. Pushkin in the story "The Stationmaster".
Literature inherited its publicism and satirical character from the 18th century. In the prose poem N.V. Gogol's Dead Souls, the writer in a sharp satirical manner shows a swindler who buys up dead souls, different types landlords, who are the embodiment of various human vices. In the same plan, the comedy "The Inspector General" is sustained. The works of A. S. Pushkin are also full of satirical images. Literature continues to satirically depict Russian reality. The tendency to depict the vices and shortcomings of Russian society - feature throughout Russian classical literature. It can be traced in the works of almost all writers of the 19th century. At the same time, many writers implement the satirical trend in a grotesque (bizarre, comic, tragicomic) form.
The genre of the realistic novel is developing. Their works are created by I.S. Turgenev, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, I.A. Goncharov. The development of poetry somewhat subsides.
It is worth noting the poetic works of Nekrasov, who was the first to introduce social issues into poetry. His poem “Who is living well in Russia?” is known, as well as many poems, where the hard and hopeless life of the people is comprehended.
The literary process of the late 19th century discovered the names of N. S. Leskov, A.N. Ostrovsky A.P. Chekhov. The latter proved to be a master of a small literary genre - a story, as well as an excellent playwright. Competitor A.P. Chekhov was Maxim Gorky.
The end of the 19th century was marked by the formation of pre-revolutionary sentiments. The realist tradition was beginning to fade. It was replaced by the so-called decadent literature, hallmarks which were mysticism, religiosity, as well as a premonition of changes in the socio-political life of the country. Subsequently, decadence grew into symbolism. This opens a new page in the history of Russian literature.
The same scale and with the same degree of talent required new social changes, a new level of social life and culture. 4. Role artistic detail in the work of I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" In his work, the great Russian writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev used a wide range of literary techniques: landscapes, compositional construction, a system of secondary images, speech ...
Karamzina M. Yu. Lotman. - M .: Book, 1987. - 336 S.. 2. Osetrov E. Three lives of Karamzin / Evgeny Osetrov. - M. : Sovremennik, 1985. - 302 p. 3. Klyuchesky V. O. historical portraits/ V. O. Klyuchevsky. - M. : Pravda, 1991. - 623 p. 4. Esin B. I. History of Russian journalism of the XIX century / V. A. Sadovnichy. - M .: Publishing house of the Moscow University, 2008. - 304 S. 5. Kuleshov V. I. History ...
The 19th century is called the "Golden Age" Russian poetry and the century of Russian literature on a global scale. It should not be forgotten that the literary leap that took place in the 19th century was prepared by the entire course of the literary process of the 17th and 18th centuries. The 19th century is the time of the formation of the Russian literary language, which took shape largely thanks to A.S. Pushkin .
But the 19th century began with the heyday of sentimentalism and the formation of romanticism. These literary trends found expression primarily in poetry. Poetic works of poets E.A. Baratynsky, K.N. Batyushkova, V.A. Zhukovsky, A.A. Feta, D.V. Davydova, N.M. Yazykov. Creativity F.I. Tyutchev's "Golden Age" of Russian poetry was completed. However, the central figure of this time was Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
A.S. Pushkin began his ascent to the literary Olympus with the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" in 1920. And his novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" was called an encyclopedia of Russian life. Romantic poems by A.S. Pushkin's "The Bronze Horseman" (1833), "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray", "Gypsies" opened the era of Russian romanticism. Many poets and writers considered A. S. Pushkin their teacher and continued the traditions of creating literary works. One of these poets was M.Yu. Lermontov. Known for it romantic poem"Mtsyri", the poetic story "Demon", many romantic poems.
Interesting that Russian poetry of the 19th century was closely connected with the social and political life of the country. Poets tried to comprehend the idea of their special purpose. The poet in Russia was considered a conductor of divine truth, a prophet. The poets urged the authorities to listen to their words. Vivid examples of understanding the role of the poet and influence on political life countries are poems by A.S. Pushkin "Prophet", ode "Liberty", "The Poet and the Crowd", a poem by M.Yu. Lermontov "On the Death of a Poet" and many others.
Along with poetry, prose began to develop. The prose writers of the beginning of the century were influenced by the English historical novels of W. Scott, whose translations were very popular. The development of Russian prose of the 19th century began with the prose works of A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol. Pushkin, under the influence of English historical novels, creates the story " Captain's daughter”, where the action takes place against the backdrop of grandiose historical events: during the Pugachev rebellion. A.S. Pushkin did a tremendous job exploring this historical period. This work was largely political in nature and was directed to those in power.
A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol was designated the main artistic types that would be developed by writers throughout the 19th century. This is the artistic type of the “superfluous person”, an example of which is Eugene Onegin in the novel by A.S. Pushkin, and the so-called type of "little man", which is shown by N.V. Gogol in his story "The Overcoat", as well as A.S. Pushkin in the story "The Stationmaster".
Literature inherited its publicism and satirical character from the 18th century. In the prose poem N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls", the writer in a sharp satirical manner shows a swindler who buys up dead souls, various types of landowners who are the embodiment of various human vices (the influence of classicism affects).
In the same plan, the comedy "The Inspector General" is sustained. The works of A. S. Pushkin are also full of satirical images. Literature continues to satirically depict Russian reality. The tendency to depict the vices and shortcomings of Russian society is a characteristic feature of all Russian classical literature. It can be traced in the works of almost all writers of the 19th century. At the same time, many writers implement the satirical trend in a grotesque form. Examples of grotesque satire are the works of N.V. Gogol "The Nose", M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "Gentlemen Golovlevs", "History of one city".
Since the middle of the 19th century, Russian realistic literature has been developing, which is created against the background of the tense socio-political situation that prevailed in Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. The crisis of the feudal system is brewing, the contradictions between the authorities and the common people are strong. There is a need to create a realistic literature that sharply reacts to the socio-political situation in the country. Literary critic V.G. Belinsky marks a new realistic trend in literature. His position is being developed by N.A. Dobrolyubov, N.G. Chernyshevsky. A dispute arises between Westerners and Slavophiles about the ways historical development Russia.
Writers turn to the socio-political problems of Russian reality. The genre of the realistic novel is developing. Their works are created by I.S. Turgenev, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, I.A. Goncharov. Socio-political and philosophical problems prevail. Literature is distinguished by a special psychologism.
The development of poetry somewhat subsides. It is worth noting the poetic works of Nekrasov, who was the first to introduce social issues into poetry. His poem “Who is living well in Russia?” is known, as well as many poems, where the hard and hopeless life of the people is comprehended.
The end of the 19th century was marked by the formation of pre-revolutionary sentiments. The realist tradition was beginning to fade. It was replaced by the so-called decadent literature, the hallmarks of which were mysticism, religiosity, as well as a premonition of changes in the socio-political life of the country. Subsequently, decadence grew into symbolism. This opens a new page in the history of Russian literature.
Russian literature of the 20th century: general characteristics
Description of the literary process of the 20th century, presentation of the main literary movements and directions. Realism. Modernism(symbolism, acmeism, futurism). literary vanguard.
Late XIX - early XX centuries. become time of the bright flowering of Russian culture, its " silver age"(The "golden age" was called Pushkin's time). In science, literature, art, new talents appeared one after another, bold innovations were born, different directions, groupings and styles competed. At the same time, the culture of the "Silver Age" was characterized by deep contradictions, characteristic for the whole Russian life of that time.
The rapid breakthrough of Russia in development, the clash of different ways and cultures changed the self-consciousness of the creative intelligentsia. Many were no longer satisfied with the description and study of visible reality, the analysis of social problems. I was attracted by deep, eternal questions - about the essence of life and death, good and evil, human nature. Revived interest in religion; the religious theme had a strong influence on the development of Russian culture at the beginning of the 20th century.
However, the critical era not only enriched literature and art: it constantly reminded writers, artists and poets of the coming social explosions, that the whole habitual way of life, the whole old culture, could perish. Some were waiting for these changes with joy, others with longing and horror, which brought pessimism and anguish into their work.
At the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. literature developed in other historical conditions than before. If you look for a word that characterizes key features period under review, it will be the word "crisis". Great scientific discoveries shook the classical ideas about the structure of the world, led to a paradoxical conclusion: "matter has disappeared." The new vision of the world, thus, will also determine the new face of the realism of the 20th century, which will differ significantly from the classical realism of its predecessors. Also devastating to the human spirit was a crisis of faith (" God dead!" exclaimed Nietzsche). This led to the fact that the man of the 20th century began to increasingly experience the influence of non-religious ideas. The cult of sensual pleasures, the apology of evil and death, the glorification of the self-will of the individual, the recognition of the right to violence that turned into terror - all these features testify to the deepest crisis of consciousness.
In Russian literature of the beginning of the 20th century, a crisis of old ideas about art and a sense of the exhaustion of past development will be felt, a reassessment of values will be formed.
Literature update, its modernization will cause the emergence of new trends and schools. The rethinking of the old means of expression and the revival of poetry will mark the onset of the "silver age" of Russian literature. This term is associated with the name N. Berdyaeva, who used it in one of the speeches in the salon of D. Merezhkovsky. Later, the art critic and editor of "Apollo" S. Makovsky reinforced this phrase by naming his book about Russian culture at the turn of the century "On Parnassus of the Silver Age." Several decades will pass and A. Akhmatova will write "... the silver month is bright / The silver age has grown cold."
The chronological framework of the period defined by this metaphor can be described as follows: 1892 - the exit from the era of timelessness, the beginning of the social upsurge in the country, the manifesto and collection "Symbols" by D. Merezhkovsky, the first stories of M. Gorky, etc.) - 1917. According to another point of view, the chronological end of this period can be considered 1921-1922 (the collapse of past illusions, which began after the death of A. Blok and N. Gumilyov mass emigration of figures of Russian culture from Russia, the expulsion of a group of writers, philosophers and historians from the country).
19th century as cultural era begins in the calendar XVIII century with the events of the French Revolution of 1789-1793. This was the first bourgeois revolution on a world scale (the previous bourgeois revolutions of the 17th century in Holland and England had a limited, national significance). The French Revolution marks the final fall of feudalism and the triumph of the bourgeois system in Europe, and all aspects of life with which the bourgeoisie comes into contact tend to accelerate, intensify, begin to live according to the laws of the market.
The 19th century is an era of political upheaval that redraws the map of Europe. In socio-political development, France stood at the forefront of the historical process. The Napoleonic Wars of 1796-1815, and the attempt to restore absolutism (1815-1830), and a series of subsequent revolutions (1830, 1848, 1871) should be considered as consequences of the French Revolution.
The leading world power of the 19th century was England, where the early bourgeois revolution, urbanization and industrialization led to the rise of the British Empire and domination of the world market. Profound changes took place in the social structure English society: the class of the peasantry disappeared, there was a sharp polarization of the rich and the poor, accompanied by mass demonstrations of workers (1811-1812 - the movement of the destroyers of machine tools, Luddites; 1819 - the execution of a demonstration of workers on St. Peter's Field near Manchester, which went down in history as the "battle of Peterloo"; the Chartist movement in 1830-1840). Under the pressure of these events ruling classes made certain concessions (two parliamentary reforms - 1832 and 1867, reform of the education system - 1870).
Germany in the 19th century painfully and belatedly solved the problem of creating a single national state. Having met new Age able feudal fragmentation, after Napoleonic Wars Germany turned from a conglomerate of 380 dwarf states into a union of at first 37 independent states, and after the half-hearted bourgeois revolution of 1848, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck set out to create a united Germany "with iron and blood." The unified German state was proclaimed in 1871 and became the youngest and most aggressive of the bourgeois states of Western Europe.
The United States of America during the XIX century mastered the vast expanses North America, and as the territory expanded, so did the industrial potential of the young American nation.
In 19th century literature two main directions - romanticism and realism. The Romantic era begins in the nineties of the eighteenth century and covers the entire first half of the century. However, the main elements of romantic culture were fully defined and revealed the possibilities of potential development by 1830. Romanticism is an art born from a brief historical moment of uncertainty, a crisis that accompanied the transition from the feudal system to the capitalist system; when by 1830 the outlines of capitalist society were determined, romanticism was replaced by the art of realism. The literature of realism at first was the literature of singles, and the term "realism" itself appeared only in the fifties of the XIX century. In the public mind contemporary art romanticism continued to remain, in fact, it had already exhausted its possibilities, therefore, in literature after 1830, romanticism and realism interact in a complex way, in different national literatures generating an infinite variety of phenomena that cannot be unambiguously classified. In fact, romanticism does not die throughout the entire nineteenth century: a straight line leads from the romantics of the beginning of the century through late romanticism to symbolism, decadence and neo-romanticism of the end of the century. Let's take a look at both literary and artistic systems of the 19th century using the examples of their most prominent authors and works.
XIX century - the century of the addition of world literature when contacts between individual national literatures are accelerated and intensified. Thus, Russian literature of the 19th century had a keen interest in the works of Byron and Goethe, Heine and Hugo, Balzac and Dickens. Many of their images and motifs directly echo in Russian literary classics, so the choice of works for consideration of problems foreign literature XIX century is dictated here, firstly, by the impossibility of short course give proper lighting various situations in different national literatures and, secondly, the degree of popularity and significance of individual authors for Russia.
Literature
- Foreign literature of the 19th century. Realism: Reader. M., 1990.
- Morois A. Prometheus, or the Life of Balzac. M., 1978.
- Reizov B. G. Stendhal. Artistic creativity. L., 1978.
- Reizov B. G. Flaubert's work. L., 1955.
- Mystery of Charles Dickens. M., 1990.
Read also other topics of the chapter "Literature of the 19th century".
