The theme of war in prose of the 20th century. The theme of war in prose of the 20th century

The theme of the Great Patriotic War is not just the works of writers reflected in literature, it is a storehouse of knowledge that educates, illuminates the truth of past years and opens eyes to the most difficult years of the Great Patriotic War. Each writer tried to reveal all the ins and outs of his time; they could not stay away from the problems of wartime. Often in their works, pen artists relied on events, using historical information and references, so that the future generation would have the opportunity to find out at what cost a peaceful sky was won. Wartime writers played a big role in this. The Great Patriotic War was a real tragedy for the entire people, who did not surrender, but stood up to defend their Motherland. This tragic period was reflected in the literature of the twentieth century. The theme of the war was reflected in poems, was described in prose and was revealed by eyewitnesses of those years, about which we will write our work on the topic of the Great Patriotic War.

The Great Patriotic War in literature

Wartime writers, as a rule, were front-line soldiers themselves, so they saw the war and all the events of those years from the inside. The authors saw and knew what the rear, the army, the partisan movement, and the underground were. Front-line writers had heard a lot about heroism and betrayal, about feat, greatness and drama of victory. Based on real events, they show their readers the severity of military life, the drama of human destinies, when the outcome for everyone depends on the decision of an individual. When death or life depends on an action at a certain moment. Writers, among whom I would single out Sholokhov, Vasiliev, Bondarev, Bykov, Nekrasov, left behind a bright memory of the past. This allows you to learn in detail about the war, about soldiers' friendship, heroism, and teaches patriotism and courage.

A lot of works are devoted to the theme of war. I immediately remember the works “In the Trenches of Stalingrad” by Nekrasov, “Battalions Ask for Fire”, “Silence” by Bondarev. By the way, I especially remember Bondarev’s work called “Hot Snow,” which reliably depicts the Battle of Stalingrad and the defenders of Stalingrad. Vorobyov’s work, “Killed near Moscow,” which the author wrote in 1961, touches the soul. The story tells about the beginning of hostilities near Moscow in 1941. It is impossible to remain indifferent when reading about young cadets who were sent into battle without weapons, almost to certain death.

What other war stories do I remember? And here, covering the topic of the Great Patriotic War in literature and in my essay, I would like to recall the work “Red Wine of Victory”, written by Nosov, where the hero of the work meets the Great Victory in the hospital. There he, along with the rest of the wounded, receives a glass of wine in honor of the victory over fascism.

The Great Patriotic War is reflected in Russian literature of the 20th century deeply and comprehensively, in all its manifestations: the army and the rear, the partisan movement and the underground, the tragic beginning of the war, individual battles, heroism and betrayal, the greatness and drama of the Victory. The authors of military prose are, as a rule, front-line soldiers; in their works they rely on real events, on their own front-line experience. In the books about the war by front-line writers, the main line is soldier's friendship, front-line camaraderie, the hardship of life on the field, desertion and heroism. Dramatic human destinies unfold in war; life or death sometimes depends on a person’s actions. Front-line writers are a whole generation of courageous, conscientious, experienced, gifted individuals who endured war and post-war hardships. Front-line writers are those authors who in their works express the point of view that the outcome of the war is decided by a hero who recognizes himself as a part of the warring people, bearing his cross and a common burden. The most reliable works about the war were created by front-line writers: V. P. Astafiev, G. Ya. Baklanov, V. V. Bykov, B. L. Vasiliev, Yu. V. Bondarev, V. P. Nekrasov, E. I. Nosov, M.A. Sholokhov, etc. One of the first books about the war was the story by Viktor Platonovich Nekrasov (1911 - 1987) “In the Trenches of Stalingrad,” which was spoken of with great respect by another front-line writer, Vyacheslav Kondratyev. He called it his handbook, which contained the entire war with its inhumanity and cruelty, it was “our war that we went through.” This book was published immediately after the war in the magazine “Znamya” (1946, No. 8-9) under the title “Stalingrad” and only later was it given the title “In the Trenches of Stalingrad.” Yuri Vasilyevich Bondarev (1924), former artillery officer, who fought in 1942 - 1944 at Stalingrad, on the Dnieper, in the Carpathians, author of the good books “Battalions Ask for Fire” (1957), “Silence” (1962), “Hot Snow” (1969). One of the reliable works written by Bondarev about the war is the novel “Hot Snow” about the Battle of Stalingrad, about the defenders of Stalingrad, for whom he personified the defense of the Motherland. Stalingrad as a symbol of soldier's courage and perseverance runs through all the works of the front-line writer. His war works are permeated with romantic scenes. The heroes of his stories and novels - boys, along with the heroism they perform, still have time to think about the beauty of nature. For example, Lieutenant Davlatyan cries bitterly like a boy, considering himself a failure not because he was wounded and in pain, but because he dreamed of getting to the front line, wanted to knock out a tank. His new novel “Non-Resistance” is about the difficult life after the war of former war participants, what the former boys became. They do not give in under the weight of post-war and especially modern life. “We have learned to hate falsehood, cowardice, lies, the escaping glance of a scoundrel talking to you with a pleasant smile, indifference, from which one step away from betrayal,” writes Yuri Vasilyevich Bondarev many years later about his generation in the book “Moments.”

Among the writers faithful to the theme of war, one can note Konstantin Dmitrievich Vorobyov (1919 – 1975), author of harsh and tragic works , who was the first to tell about the bitter truth of being captured and going through earthly hell. The stories of Konstantin Dmitrievich Vorobyov “This is us, Lord”, “Killed near Moscow” were written from his own experience. While fighting in a company of Kremlin cadets near Moscow, he was captured and passed through camps in Lithuania. He escaped from captivity, organized a partisan group that joined the Lithuanian partisan detachment, and after the war he lived in Vilnius. Tale "This is us, Lord" written in 1943, it was published only ten years after his death, in 1986. This story about the torment of a young lieutenant in captivity is autobiographical and is now highly rated for its resilience as a phenomenon akin only to the Kolyma stories of Varlam Shalamov. Torture, executions, hard labor in captivity, escapes... The author documents a nightmarish reality, exposes evil. The story “Killed near Moscow,” written by him in 1961, remains one of the most reliable works about the initial period of the war in 1941 near Moscow, where a company of young cadets ends up, almost without weapons.

Among the most notable front-line writers of the second half of the 20th century we can name the writer Vyacheslav Leonidovich Kondratiev (1920 - 1993). His simple and beautiful story “Sashka,” published back in 1979 in the magazine “Friendship of Peoples” and dedicated to “All those who fought near Rzhev - living and dead,” shocked readers. The story “Sashka” promoted Vyacheslav Kondratiev to the ranks of the leading writers of the front-line generation; for each of them the war was different. Evgeniy Ivanovich Nosov(1925 - 2002), awarded the Sakharov Literary Prize together with Konstantin Vorobyov (posthumously) for creativity in general (devotion to the theme), is distinguished by its belonging to the village theme. But he also created unforgettable images of peasants who are preparing to be sent to war (story « Usvyatsky helmet-bearers" (1977)) as if towards the end of the world, say goodbye to the measured peasant life and prepare for an irreconcilable battle with the enemy. The first work about the war by E. I. Nosov was the story “Red Wine of Victory,” written by him in 1969, in which the hero celebrated Victory Day on a government bed in a hospital and received, together with all the suffering wounded, a glass of red wine in honor of this long-awaited holiday. Front-line writers, contrary to the tendencies that developed in Soviet times to gloss over the truth about the war, depicted the harsh and tragic war and post-war reality. Their works are a true testimony of the time when Russia fought and won. The Belarusian front-line writer Vasil Vladimirovich Bykov (1924 – 2003) believed that the military theme “is leaving our literature for the same reason... why valor, honor, self-sacrifice are gone... The heroic has been expelled from everyday life, why do we still need war, where is this the disadvantage is most obvious? “Incomplete truth” and outright lies about the war have been diminishing the meaning and significance of our war (or anti-war, as they sometimes say) literature for many years.” A new, but not indisputable, view of the work of the Belarusian writer Vasil Bykov is expressed by Rein Karasti (Zvezda. - 2004. - No. 7. - P. 216 - 224). He believes that Vasil Bykov is the author of a disastrous, defeatist world. In his works, disaster always happens. "The dead don't hurt"“In the Dead Hour”, “Swamp” - these are the last works of the writer, the titles of which speak for themselves. Vasil Bykov’s depiction of the war in the story “Swamp” (Friendship of Peoples. - 2001. - N7) causes protest among many Russian readers. It shows the ruthlessness of Soviet soldiers towards local residents. The plot is this, judge for yourself: paratroopers landed behind enemy lines, in occupied Belarus, in search of a partisan base, having lost their bearings, they took a boy as their guide... and kill him for reasons of safety and secrecy of the mission. Vasil Bykov’s no less terrible story “On the Swamp Stitch” (Zvezda. - 2001. - N8) is a “new truth” about the war, again about the ruthless and cruel partisans who dealt with a local teacher just because she asked them not to destroy the bridge, otherwise the Germans will destroy the entire village. The teacher in the village is the last savior and protector, but she was killed by the partisans as a traitor. The works of the Belarusian front-line writer Vasil Bykov cause not only controversy, but also reflection. This is the reading of the story “Sotnikov” by I.V. Khudyakov, a secondary school teacher in Yaroslavl. (Literature at school. – 2004.- No. 4). He examines works about war in the context of Russian classical literature and considers the main thing in the story “not a military feat, not defeating the enemy, but a spiritual, moral feat.” He perceives the story “Sotnikov” as “a continuation of the great and eternal tragedies of Russian classical literature, carrying the light of gospel truth.”

Georgy Vladimov- one of the writers who portrayed the Great Patriotic War in a new way in the novel “The General and His Army,” which received the Booker Russian Prize for this novel in 1995. He himself believes that he is writing the truth about the war, which until now has been distorted by all and sundry. He uses not only fictional techniques, that is, narrative ones, but also uses references; in addition to fictional characters, there are real personalities in the novel: Marshal Zhukov, Army General Vatutin, member of the military council of the First Ukrainian Front Khrushchev, commander of the 2nd Shock Army, General -Colonel Vlasov, famous German military leader Guderian. In fact, according to not only front-line soldiers, but also authors of literary criticism, it is believed that Vladimov created his own artistic myth about the war of 1941–1945 in the novel “The General and His Army.” Vladimov depicts an atmosphere of fear that is deliberately whipped up by state authorities. For example, in liberated places, public executions of policemen and traitors were held, as a reminder of the punitive hand of power. The highest elite of the Red Army is portrayed by Vladimov in an ambiguous manner; on the one hand, they control a huge military force, on the other, they slavishly bow to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The moral and psychological conflict is one of the main ones in the novel.

Among the writers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries who write about the Great Patriotic War, the writers are not front-line soldiers, whose childhood and youth occurred during these harsh years. Among them is Anatoly Azolsky, winner of the Russian Booker Prize for his non-military novel “The Cage.” Azolsky dedicated several works to the Great Patriotic War: “Saboteur”, “Blood”, “War at Sea”. The story “War at Sea” (Znamya. -1996. - N9. - P. 12 - 46) about submarine sailors serving in the North in 1942. In 2002, Anatoly Azolsky wrote a new novel about the Great Patriotic War, “Saboteur.” The hero of the novel, a young man from Georgia in love, volunteers for the front in 1941 and goes through the school of military life as a reconnaissance saboteur under the guidance of an experienced reconnaissance sergeant major. There are chapters that are called edifyingly - “Take care of honor from a young age.” The hero is tested not only by war, but also by his moral qualities. The author asserts in the novel the high purpose of man - a man in war should not be like an animal. Azolsky sharpens the depiction of the moral qualities of a person in war. The second line of the novel is the post-war story of a former saboteur who had to change his name and place of residence, travel around the USSR and try to become a writer.

It was not without reason that front-line writers complained that not the whole truth about the war had been written. Time passed, a historical distance appeared, which made it possible to see the past and what was experienced in its true light, the necessary words came, other books were written about the war, which will lead us to spiritual knowledge of the past.

Test questions and assignments:

1. Watch a film about the Great Patriotic War. Collect information about the author of the film's literary basis. Read the screenwriter's inspiration. Compare (in writing) the original and the film adaptation.

2. Why does the theme of the Great Patriotic War remain popular today? How did the war period affect the development of culture and literature of the USSR?

3. What classic works of an earlier period in the development of Russian literature on the theme of war do you know?

4. Prepare a presentation on the work of one of the writers of the twentieth century, who devoted most of his works to the theme of war.

* This work is not a scientific work, is not a final qualification work and is the result of processing, structuring and formatting the collected information intended for use as a source of material for independent preparation of educational works.

by subject:

"Literature"

“The Great Patriotic War in the prose of the 20th century”

Performed:

pupil ****

Checked:

Introduction………………………………………………………. 3.

A man at war in K. Simonov’s trilogy “The Living and the Dead”…………………………………………………… 6.

A man at war (based on the story “Sotnikov” by Vasily Bykov)……………………………………………………………9.

The fate of a man in the era of wars and revolutions in Vasily Grossman’s novel “Life and Fate”………………........... 11.

Conclusion………………………………………………………. 14.

List of references…………………………….....16.

Introduction

During the war, Soviet literature becomes truly folk art, the voice of the heroic soul, the soul of the people.

A. TOLSTOY

The outstanding victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany was a world-historical event of enormous international significance. Fascism was defeated. The Soviet Army defeated and destroyed over 500 German divisions and about 100 German satellite divisions. To understand the meaning of these figures, it is enough to remember that only 100 fascist divisions took part in the massacre of Western Europe.

History has never known such a cruel, bloody and destructive war as the Second World War. This war was especially difficult and destructive for the Soviet people. The Nazi invasion brought enormous disasters to our country, the death of millions of people. The four years of battles of the Soviet Army with the fascist invaders were the most intense during the Second World War.

“We didn’t need the war. But when it began, the great Soviet people courageously entered into a mortal battle with the aggressors” 1.

The war was the greatest test and test of all the strength of the people, and the socialist social system and the Soviet people passed this test with honor.

Despite the fact that the events of the war are now a thing of the past and have become history, the theme of the Great Patriotic War remains extremely modern. It is the subject of an acute ideological struggle between two worlds, causing a clash of different points of view, fierce polemics in the field of history, ethics, philosophy, and art.

The war was also a serious test for Soviet literature. During the Great Patriotic War, literature, enriched with the traditions of Soviet literature of previous periods, not only immediately responded to the events taking place, but also became an effective weapon in the fight against the enemy. Noting the intense, truly heroic creative work of writers during the war, M. Sholokhov said: “They had one task: if only their word would strike the enemy, if only it would hold our fighter under the elbow, ignite and not allow the burning fire in the hearts of the Soviet people to fade away.” hatred for enemies and love for the Motherland" 2.

Post-war literature, reflecting the heroic feat of the people in the fight against fascism, is provided with new and new works every year.

Writers and poets of the Soviet country joined the ranks of the defenders of the Fatherland. Over a thousand writers were on the war fronts, more than two hundred of them died for the freedom and independence of their homeland. M. Sholokhov, A. Fadeev, K. Fedin, A. Tolstoy, L. Leonov, I. Erenburg, A. Surkov, L. Sobolev, K. Simonov, A. Tvardovsky, took a direct part in the Great Patriotic War with their artistic creativity. B. Polevoy, B. Gorbatov and others.

Many writers received government awards. Eighteen word artists were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

An important stage in the development of literature about war is the 60-70s. During these years, new names emerged among writers of heroic themes: K. Simonov, V. Bykov, V. Grossman and many others.

Now it is difficult to imagine modern literature about the war without a large number of memoirs created not just by participants in the war, but by outstanding commanders.

The words are addressed to our contemporaries about the participants in the Great Patriotic War, about a feat that we have no right to forget: “And today, many years after the battles, among many things we must constantly remember those who went through the war. Surrounding them with care and attention, helping them in everyday affairs is the moral duty of the authorities, of all citizens, this is the law of our life.”

Man at War in the trilogy

K. Simonov “The Living and the Dead”

Konstantin Simonov is considered the founder of the “panoramic” novel about the Great Patriotic War. Such famous authors as Yu. Bondarev, V. Bykov, A. Ananyev, G. Baklanov, V. Bogomolov and others who spoke in traditional genres dedicated their works to the theme of the Patriotic War. However, Simonov’s trilogy “The Living and the Dead”, due to the breadth of coverage of events and reflection of the fate of people in the war, received a special name - a “panoramic” novel or an event novel. “War” and “Moscow, 41st” by I. Stadnyuk, “Blockade” by A. Chakovsky are placed on a par with the Simonov trilogy.

Simonov himself admitted that the central thing in his novel is a man at war. “It seems to me that in The Living and the Dead I in vain paid tribute to the imaginary obligation for a novel to have family lines in it. And this turned out to be the weakest in my book,” admits K. Simonov. The author's main task was to depict the truth of the war. This required the introduction of a large number of characters - over 200. Moreover, the fate of many of them remains unfinished. Thus, Simonov shows one of the main dramas of the war - when people went missing. “I cut short these destinies deliberately,” says the author of the trilogy. At the same time, even Simonov’s episodic characters are distinguished by their individuality.

This is how the most fearless of the division commanders, who dies a little earlier than Serpilin, is presented in the novel: “Talyzin, turquoise by nature and who seemed at first impression to be poorly educated, was in fact well read, knew the service and commanded his division, although not infallibly, but honestly: did not inflate successes and did not hide failures. And in general, according to Serpilin’s opinion, he was a man of high integrity...” Further, in a few sentences, Simonov reveals literally everything about this person. In 1941, together with several other generals, he was court-martialed on the Western Front. Talyzin was charged with cowardice and loss of control of the division.

For this he was sentenced to death, commuted to ten years in prison. From the camp he asked to go to the front and in the summer of '42 he was sent again as deputy regiment commander.

Simonov’s man at war is practically a real person, taken from life. The fate of Talyzin is an artistic embodiment of real events in the novel. The same can be said about most of the fates of the novel's heroes.

When writing a trilogy. K. Simonov adhered to the principle of historicism. In his work, he relied on documents, eyewitness accounts, and his own experience.

I think that the theme of the essay can be most broadly revealed using the example of the image of Serpilin, which is one of the central ones in the narrative. The image of Serpilin, who during the war went from regimental commander to army commander, is considered Simonov's discovery. With this image, people of tragic fate enter into military prose - those who were subjected to repression in the 30s. Fyodor Serpilin was sentenced without trial to ten years, despite the fact that he did not admit the charges against him.

“The figure of brigade commander Serpilin was formed in my mind from two kinds of memories,” Simonov wrote, - firstly, I remember several meetings in different years of the war with people who fought excellently and had... the same difficult biography... secondly, I Some episodes of the defense of Mogilev in July 1941 and the appearance of the commander of one of the regiments were etched in my memory... a man who did not want to retreat. Both the external and internal appearance of this man formed the basis of the image of Serpilin.”

Man at War

(based on the story “Sotnikov” by Vasily Bykov)

The theme of the Great Patriotic War occupies an important place in the work of Vasily Bykov. Honor, conscience, human dignity, fidelity to one's duty - these are the problems addressed by the writer. But still, the main theme of Bykov’s work remains, of course, the theme of heroism. Moreover, the writer is interested not so much in its external manifestation, but in how a person comes to feat, to self-sacrifice, why, in the name of what he performs a heroic act.

A characteristic feature of Bykov's war stories is that in the center of the image there is a person in an experimental situation, and the situation is such that the hero must immediately make a choice: heroic death or the shameful life of a traitor. And it is not by chance that the author resorts to this technique, because in an ordinary setting a person’s character cannot be fully revealed. In this regard, the story “Sotnikov” is no exception.

On the first pages of the story, we are presented with two fighters from one of the partisan detachments - Sotnikov and Rybak, who set out on a mission on a frosty, windy night. They are tasked with obtaining food for their tired, exhausted comrades at all costs. But we see that the fighters are in an unequal position: Sotnikov goes on a mission with a severe cold. And to Rybak’s question why he didn’t refuse to go if he was sick, he answers: “That’s why he didn’t refuse, because others refused.” These words of Sotnikov tell us about his highly developed sense of duty, consciousness, courage, and endurance.

The fate of a man in the era of wars and revolutions in Vasily Grossman’s novel “Life and Fate”

Vasily Semenovich Grossman depicted the Great Patriotic War in his novel “Life and Fate” as a historical event that decided the fate of not only Russia, but the whole world. The writer was able to reflect in this work the heroism of people in the war, the fight against the crimes of the Nazis, as well as the complete truth about the events that took place within the country at that time: exile in Stalin’s camps, arrests and everything related to this.

In the destinies of the main characters of the work, Vasily Grossman captures the suffering, loss, and death that are inevitable during war. The tragic events of this era give rise to internal contradictions in a person and disrupt his harmony with the outside world. This can be seen in the example of the fate of the heroes of the novel “Life and Fate” - Krymov, Shtrum, Novikov, Grekov, Evgenia Nikolaevna Shaposhnikova.

The people's suffering in the Patriotic War in Grossman's Life and Fate is more painful and profound than in previous Soviet literature. The author of the novel leads us to the idea that the heroism of the victory won in spite of Stalin's tyranny is more significant. Grossman shows not only the facts and events of Stalin's time: camps, arrests, repressions. The main thing in Grossman's Stalinist theme is the influence of this era on the souls of people, on their morality. We see how brave people turn into cowards, kind people into cruel ones, and honest and persistent people into cowardly ones. We are no longer even surprised that the closest people are sometimes permeated by distrust (Evgenia Nikolaevna suspected Novikov of denouncing her, Krymov - Zhenya).

The conflict between man and the state is conveyed in the thoughts of the heroes about collectivization, about the fate of the “special settlers”; it is felt in the picture of the Kolyma camp, in the thoughts of the author and the heroes about the year thirty-seven. Vasily Grossman's truthful story about the previously hidden tragic pages of our history gives us the opportunity to see the events of the war more fully. We notice that the Kolyma camp and the course of the war, both in reality itself and in the novel, are interconnected. And it was Grossman who was the first to show this. The writer was convinced that “part of the truth is not the truth.”

The heroes of the novel have different attitudes to the problem of life and fate, freedom and necessity. Therefore, they have different attitudes towards responsibility for their actions. For example, Sturmbannführer Kaltluft, the executioner at the furnaces, who killed five hundred and ninety thousand people, tries to justify himself by an order from above, by the power of the Fuhrer, by fate (“fate pushed... on the path of the executioner”). But then the author says: “Fate leads a person, but a person goes because he wants, and he is free not to want.” Drawing a parallel between Stalin and Hitler, the fascist concentration camp and the camp in Kolyma, Vasily Grossman says that the signs of any dictatorship are the same. And its influence on a person’s personality is destructive.

Having shown the weakness of man, the inability to resist the force of a totalitarian state, Vasily Grossman at the same time creates images of truly free people. The significance of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, won in spite of the dictatorship of Stalin, is more significant. This victory became possible precisely thanks to the internal freedom of a person capable of resisting whatever fate has in store for him

The writer himself fully experienced the tragic complexity of the conflict between man and the state in the Stalin era. Therefore, he knows the price of freedom: “Only people who have not experienced the similar power of an authoritarian state, its pressure, are able to be surprised by those who submit to it. People who have experienced such power are surprised by something else - the ability to flare up even for a moment, at least one angry word, a timid, quick gesture of protest.”

Conclusion

Four decades have passed since the end of the Great Patriotic War. But no matter how many years pass, the feat accomplished by our people will not fade, will not be erased in the memory of grateful humanity.

The fight against fascism was not easy. But even in the most difficult days of the war, in its most critical moments, the confidence in victory did not leave the Soviet people, for its origins, as was said at the solemn meeting dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Victory, “are in the nature of socialism, the Soviet way of life, in the national character Great Patriotic War. The war, as the greatest test, confirmed with extraordinary clarity and reality that it is the masses of the people that are the decisive force of history. Showing massive heroism in battles and labor, Soviet people of different nationalities defended and defended their socialist homeland. They were united and inspired by the great Russian people, whose courage, endurance and unbending character were an inspired example of the indestructible will to Victory” 3.

Both today and our future are largely determined by May 1945. The Great Victory salute instilled in millions of people faith in the possibility of peace on earth. “The most important thing, the most valuable thing that Victory gave us was the opportunity to live and work in peace” 4.

Literature about the Great Patriotic War is usually called military literature. The term is conditional and, of course, not entirely accurate, not reflecting all the diversity, all the richness, life content, ideas, problems, conflicts, characters of works about the national feat. And if we start from the word “war” as a derivative, then this is rather literature: anti-war, for she was always alien to the spirit of war frenzy, the militaristic psychosis that overwhelms the art of the West.

Bibliography

K. Simonov “The Living and the Dead”;

V. Bykov “Sotnikov”;

Vasily Grossman "Life and Fate"

Brezhnev L.I. Small land. – “New World”, 1978, No. 2, p. 6

5. Sholokhov M. Speech at the II Congress of Soviet Writers of the USSR in 1954 - In the book: II Congress. Verbatim report. M., 1956, p. 374.

1 Brezhnev L.I. Small land. – “New World”, 1978, No. 2, p. 6.

2 Sholokhov M. Speech at the II Congress of Soviet Writers of the USSR in 1954 - In the book: II Congress. Verbatim report. M., 1956, p. 374.

Military prose of the second half of the 20th century. What are the most important features of this literary movement? (Using 1-2 works as an example.)

The most important theme of the 1960-1980s was military. Understanding the events of the Great Patriotic War and artistic ways of solving the topic changed significantly during this period. The “trench truth” of war, events that are not particularly large-scale, and moral conflicts on our side of the front are of increasing interest to writers.

Yuri Vasilyevich Bondarev (b. 1924) is one of the recognized representatives of the so-called “lieutenant’s prose.” Bondarev knows how to transport the reader into the very center of the battle. The sounds, fire of explosions and gunshots, cries of anger, despair, pain in the writer’s verbal pictures are combined with the ability to tell about what real participants in the battle are experiencing. All this leaves the reader with a burning sensation from touching the reality of war. This impression is especially strong because in terrible battles and inhuman trials it is often not supermen and heroes who act, but very young, ordinary, even weak “boys”, soldiers and officers. The front became a harsh school of courage and moral tests for yesterday's students and schoolchildren. Moral purity, humanity, the ability to understand people, make friends and love - unexpectedly turn out to be the main qualities that the fight against death, the enemy, requires.

Officers Ermakov (“Battalions Ask for Fire”) and Novikov (“Last Salvos”) are also very young people. Their human development is not yet complete, and they are already forced to think more about others than about themselves. A close-up depicts a person's experiences of war in an extreme situation.

The novel “Hot Snow” (1969) testified to the creative maturity of the writer.

The historical basis of the plot of the novel is the attempt of Manstein’s tank army in the winter of 1942 to break through to the encircled group of Field Marshal Paulus. The artillerymen had to stop the tanks in the wide steppe. General Bessonov gives a stern order: “Stand on the occupied lines until the last. For everyone, without exception, there can be one objective reason for leaving a position - death...” And the soldiers fight to the death, destroying German tanks.

Yu. Bondarev creates a whole gallery of portraits of soldiers and officers: from the artillery battery commander Drozdovsky and platoon commander Kuznetsov to the army commander Bessonov, from the very young riding Sergunenkov, sent by Drozdovsky to a senseless death in an unequal battle one-on-one with a tank, to a humane member of the Military Council Vesnin, who always cared about preserving the lives of soldiers and died in a short-lived battle simply, not at all heroically, by accident - like a soldier.

This is not a faceless mass, but bright personalities, characters unlike each other. Drozdovsky outwardly wins, he is distinguished by his commanding position, his readiness to make decisions and accept responsibility. But it gradually becomes clear that he is selfish, strives to show everyone his courage and make a career in the war. And at the decisive moments of the battle he gives up. The writer does not talk about outright cowardice, but he also does not show any real contribution of Drozdovsky to the victory, the only thing that measures the measure of what a soldier or officer accomplished in battle. Kuznetsov, on the contrary, is modest and at first not very confident in himself. But in the end his moral superiority is revealed. This is precisely what prevents Kuznetsov from looking at his subordinates as material for achieving military goals. He himself continues to fight with tanks until the last shell, and at the most dangerous moments of the battle he finds himself in the right place.

Theme of the Great Patriotic War in literature. The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, which claimed the lives of many millions, became one of the most tragic facts in the history of the 20th century. An event such as war was defined by L.N. Tolstoy as “contrary to human reason and all human nature.” The hard times of war, a man at war, the memory of descendants about the heroic deeds of soldiers - the themes of many works of art created both during the war years and after the Victory are varied: K. Simonov “The Living and the Dead”, V. Nekrasov “In the Trenches of Stalingrad”,

V. Bykov “Alpine Ballad”, “Sotnikov”, B. Vasiliev “Not on the lists”, “And the dawns here are quiet...”, K. Vorobyov “Killed near Moscow”, V. Kondratyev “Sashka” and others.

The story of B. Vasiliev “And the dawns here are quiet...”. The suffering and misfortunes of war fall not only on the shoulders of fighting men - they do not bypass fragile women either. So, for example, S. Alexievich called her book “War Has an Unfeminine Face,” reflecting the main idea in the title: murder is disgusting to the feminine essence, the main purpose of a woman on earth is to give life.

The story is dedicated to the feat of female anti-aircraft gunners

B. Vasilyeva “And the dawns here are quiet...” (1969). At the center of the work are five women with different characters and different destinies. Even in war, they do not stop being girls, do not lose their unique charm: Sonya Gurvich loves Blok’s poetry, Rita Osyanina constantly thinks about her little son, the beauty of Zhenya Komelkova, who received outfits for her desire to defend her right to remain a woman in war, is admired by the other girls. Under the command of Sergeant Major Vaskov, five girls are sent to intercept two saboteurs, and there were two dozen of them. The soldiers Gurvich, Komelkova, Osyanina, Brichkina and Chetvertak were not destined to return from this campaign. The desire not to let the fascists pass, to stop the invaders at any cost, to avenge ruined love, destroyed families, gives the fragile girls remarkable fortitude. Violation of the rules of human coexistence puts the fascists themselves outside all laws, and therefore the feat of the anti-aircraft gunners acquires universal significance.

The image of a sergeant major who tried to save his “soldiers” but failed to protect them is tragic. The thought of what will be asked of them, the men, after the war, torments Vaskov’s conscience: “Why couldn’t you, men, protect our mothers from bullets? When they died, did they get married?”

The symbolism of the ending of the story (Vaskov fulfills his promise to Rita to take care of her little son) introduces the theme of memory into the work.

The story formed the basis of the famous feature film by S. Rostotsky, and in recent years a Chinese version was filmed. The theme of the Great Patriotic War will be reflected in literature, cinema, and painting for many years to come. Memory is what distinguishes a person from other living beings. As long as the memory is alive, the feat of those who fell during the war will warn descendants from terrible and cruel wars, from senseless bloodshed.

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WWII in literature of the 20th century
The Great Patriotic War in the literature of the 20th century
essay on the topic of the Great Patriotic War in the works of writers of the 20th century
essay The Great Patriotic War in the literature of the 20th century

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The theme of war in prose of the 20th century. The theme of war in prose of the 20th century

The Great Patriotic War in literature

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