Theme of war in prose of the 20th century. Theme of the Great Patriotic War in prose of the 20th century Military theme in world 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. Vasilyev, 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, along 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 everyone and everything. 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.

K. Vorobyov’s story “Killed near Moscow” tells about the tragedy of young Kremlin cadets sent to their deaths during the German offensive near Moscow in the winter of 1941. The writer raises the important problem of killing one's own. He managed to show the horror of the betrayal of his boys, who at first “almost joyfully” reacted to the flying Junkers. The main character of the story, Alyosha Yastrebov, like everyone else, “carried within himself an irrepressible, hidden happiness,” “the joy of a flexible young body.” The landscape also corresponds to the description of youth and freshness in the children: “...Snow - light, dry, blue.

It gave off the smell of Antonov apples... something cheerful and cheerful was conveyed to the legs, as if listening to music.” The young lieutenants ate biscuits, laughed, dug trenches and were eager to fight. They had no idea about the approaching trouble. “Some kind of soul-searching smile” on the lips of the NKVD major, the lieutenant colonel’s warning that 240 cadets would not receive a single machine gun, alerted Alexei, who knew by heart Stalin’s speech that “we will beat the enemy on his territory,” and he guessed the deception. “There was no place in his soul where the incredible reality of war could settle down,” but the reader guessed that the boy cadets would become its hostages.

The plot begins with the appearance of reconnaissance aircraft. The commander, Captain Ryumin, already knew: “the front has been broken in our direction,” when General Pereverzev appeared at the company’s location - strange, confused, and having lost his will. Ryumin advised Alexey Yastrebov to tell the guys that Pereverzev was a shell-shocked fighter posing as a general. A wounded soldier spoke about the true situation at the front: “Even though darkness killed us there, there were still more alive! So now we’re wandering.” The appearance of political instructor Anisimov aroused hope when he “called on the Kremlinites to be steadfast and said that communications were reaching here from the rear and neighbors were approaching.” But this was another lie. The mortar shelling began, shown by Vorobyov in naturalistic details of the suffering of Anisimov, who was wounded in the stomach: “Cut... Well, please, cut...” - he begged Alexei. “An unnecessary tearful cry” accumulated in Alexei’s soul. A man of “swift action,” Captain Ryumin understood: no one needs them, they are cannon fodder to distract the enemy’s attention. "Only forward!" - he decides to himself, leading the cadets into the night battle. They didn’t shout “Hurray! For Stalin!".

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.

A feat is a heroic, selfless act. He is not born immediately, not suddenly. To accomplish a feat, you need to be ready for it, to have a generous soul. What is a “generous soul”? This is a soul filled with noble feelings: love for the Motherland, for one’s people, the willingness to sacrifice oneself in defense of the Fatherland. The generosity of the soul is manifested in a person in a difficult era for the entire country, when it is necessary to give all his strength for the sake of a common goal. During the Great Patriotic War, everyone had the same goal - to liberate their native land from the Nazi invaders.

Boris Vasiliev’s story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” tells about the feat of female anti-aircraft gunners and their commander, Sergeant Major Vaskov. The soldiers received the task: to detain a group of German saboteurs heading through the Karelian forests and swamps to the Kirov Railway and the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

In an unequal battle with the fascist occupiers, all the girls die. The commandant of the 171st patrol, Fedot Evgrafovich Vaskov, reproaches himself for not saving five girls just to save the Kirov Road and the White Sea Canal. Seriously wounded in the stomach by a grenade fragment, the dying Rita Osyanina reassures the foreman: “Don’t... The Motherland doesn’t start with the canals. Not from there at all. And we protected her. First her, and only then the channel.” Exploring the origins of the heroic, selfless actions of his heroes, Boris Vasiliev shows that their feat does not appear immediately. They are all different: each hero has his own character, his own destiny, his own reason for going to the front, his own feat. But they all accomplished the main task of their lives: they sacrificed themselves defending their Motherland.

Liza Brichkina, the daughter of a forester, goes on a patrol for help, since there were not two saboteurs, but sixteen. In her haste, Lisa strays from the path and drowns in the swamp. Sonya Gurvich, a university student who knows German, wants to bring Vaskov a pouch he had forgotten and, stumbling upon the saboteurs, receives a fatal blow to the chest with a dagger. Orphanage Galka Chetvertak goes with the sergeant on reconnaissance, but, not having time to overcome the feeling of fear, she runs in desperation to cross the path of the Nazis and falls under machine gun fire. Zhenya Komelkova sacrifices herself, saving her wounded friend Rita, leading the Germans with her. Shocked by the death of the girls, Vaskov takes prisoner all the surviving saboteurs. An ordinary person with a failed personal destiny, in difficult times, accomplishes a feat: it could not have been otherwise. There is some kind of inner strength in him, great courage, fearlessness, generosity of soul and kindness.

The story “Sotnikov” by front-line writer Vasil Bykov, written in 1970, tells the story of two partisans, one of whom accomplishes a feat, and the other becomes a traitor. Rybak and Sotnikov are sent on a mission: to get some food for the detachment. Stopping at Demchikha’s house, the partisans are captured. Sotnikov behaves with dignity, although he experiences inhuman torment. A fisherman, determined to survive at any cost, hopes to “outwit” the police. Step by step, losing moral ground, Rybak comes to betrayal, participates in the execution of his comrade, and then joins the police service. Sotnikov accomplishes an unprecedented feat of courage and perseverance. He immediately understands that death is inevitable, that compromise is impossible. Sotnikov lives in obedience to moral principles: the patient goes on a mission because others refused. He takes an unequal battle with the police, wounded, and steadfastly overcomes the difficult path. In Demchikha’s attic, he prefers to be shot rather than endanger a woman and children. Sotnikov's physical capabilities were limited, but his fortitude, courage, firmness, and fearlessness in the face of death were limitless. He finds the strength to morally support the boy in Budenovka, who was in the crowd of residents herded to execution as spectators. Sotnikov smiles at the boy, realizing that he is also responsible for what will be left to the next generations.

We came to the conclusion that feats are not born immediately. It is committed by people with high moral principles, possessing perseverance, dedication, and prepared for a heroic act with their entire lives.

Updated: 2018-07-01

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