Realism in art (XIX-XX centuries). Realism in literature of the second half of the 19th century At the tea table

Critical realism- a direction in the art of a number of countries in Europe and America, which arose in the middle of the 19th century. At the same time, realism appeared in France as an important concept of aesthetic thought.

Critical realism is aimed at directly depicting the everyday life of people, mainly the poor and disadvantaged, contrasted with the wealthy and idle sections of the population. The first signs of critical realism can be seen in the paintings of the Italian Michelangelo Caravaggio and his followers - the “Caravaggists”, who showed at the end of the 16th and 17th centuries. keen interest in the life of the lower classes - beggars, vagabonds, robbers, often depicted in fascinating romantic and adventurous guises (painting by Salvatore Rosa, Alessandro Magnasco in Italy). In the 17th century Dutchman Jan Steen, in the 18th century. Italians Jacopo Ceruti and Gaspare Travers tried to portray without embellishment the unsightly aspects of the everyday life of their contemporaries. Artists of the Enlightenment of the 18th century. (William Cogart in England.) criticized the social foundations of society of those years from the point of view of reason and justice. The analysis of social contradictions in etchings and paintings was especially sharp and fearless Francisco Goya in Spain at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. In painting and graphics of the 1st half of the 19th century. ( Theodore Gericault, Eugene Delacroix in France) captures the dramatic conflicts of everyday reality with energy and passion. Social criticism itself became the dominant principle in the work of graphic artists in the 2nd third of the 19th century. - Honore Daumier, Fields of Gavarnie, Jean-Isidore Granville who turned to close study and analysis of deep social contradictions. Generalized images of the social forces of their time were created in the 19th century. artists Alexander Dekan, Gustave Courbet , Jean-Francois Mill e in France, Constantin Meunier in Belgium. Adolf Menzel, Wilhelm Leibl in Germany, Mihaly Munkacsi in Hungary. In Russia, critical realism became widespread already in the middle of the 19th century. The image of the “little man”, which arose in the works of A. S. Pushkin, I. V. Gogol, was embodied in the genre scenes of P. A. Fedotov, in the caricatures and illustrations of A. A. Agin, P. M. Boklevsky, N. A. Stepanova, P. M. Shmelkova, A. I. Lebedeva. In the 2nd half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Itinerant artists made critical realism the main method of their art. V. G. Perov, G. G. Myasoedov, V. E. Makovsky, N. A. Yaroshenko, I. E. Repin, A. E. Arkhipov, N. A. Kasatkin, L. V. Popov in their paintings criticized the unjust social structure, following literature (I. S. Turgenev, L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky. A. P. Chekhov). The traditions of critical realism - satirical exposure and analysis of the social situation - were resurrected every now and then in Soviet times: in the satirical graphics of Kukryniksov, B. I. Prorokov, L. V. Soifertis, in the painting of E. M. Cheptsov, S. A. Adlivankin, S.V. Nikritina, G.M. Korzhev, and at the end of the 20th century. in sarcastic art sots art .

Realism

“We are not talking about the search for “absolute” beauty here. The artist is neither the history of painting nor its soul... And that is why he should not be considered either a moralist or a writer. He should be judged simply as an artist.”

Thomas Eakins became the most famous realist painter in the United States by incorporating photographic studies into his work and revealing the nature of his subjects through careful observation. The Gross Clinic (1875), a portrait of Dr. Samuel Gross performing invasive surgery in an operating room, is depicted in incredible detail. His choice of a modern subject (surgery) follows the realist belief that an artist must be of his time.

The German realist Wilhelm Leibl met Courbet and saw his work when the French artist visited Germany in 1869. Recognizing his abilities, Courbet lured him back to Paris, where Label achieved significant success and also met Manet before returning to Munich to establish himself as his country's first realist artist. He is best known for his depictions of peasant scenes such as Three Women in a Church (1881), which brought the frank naturalism of the Dutch and German Old Masters into the modern era. Although the somewhat outdated clothing the three women wear indicates their low economic status (the new trends of the city have passed them by), the label graces them with patience and modesty.

Christina's World, created by one of the leading American artists of the time, is among the most famous American paintings of the mid-20th century. It depicts a woman lying on a field, looking at a gray house on the horizon. The woman in the painting is Anna Christina Olson. She was Wyeth's neighbor in South Cushing, Maine, and suffered from muscle degeneration that left her unable to walk. Wyeth was inspired to create the masterpiece when he saw her crawling across the field from the window. Despite the fact that the first showing received little attention, the popularity of Christina's World grew over the years. The painting is now considered an icon of American art and one of the most important works of American realism.

4. “The Ear Pickers”

French name: Des glaneuses

Artist: Jean-Francois Millet

Year: 1857

Jean-François Millet's most famous works are his trio of paintings that depict humble peasants in an unprecedentedly heroic and compassionate manner. The Ear Gatherers is the most famous of the three paintings and influenced several later artists, including Pissarro, Renoir, Seurat and Van Gogh. It depicts three peasant women gleaning or collecting remnants from a field of scattered grains after the harvest. Portraying the lowest stratum of rural society in a sympathetic light, the painting was heavily criticized by the French upper classes when first shown. The painting measures 33 by 44 inches (84 x 112 cm), and this was a major point of contention as such a huge size was usually reserved for religious or mythological subjects.

3. "Funeral in Ornans"

French name: Un enterrement à Ornans

Artist: Gustave Courbet

Year: 1850

This painting depicts the funeral of Gustave Courbet's great-uncle in the small town of Ornans in France. Courbet "painted those people who were present at the funeral, all the townspeople." "Funeral at Ornans" caused a storm at the first exhibition at the Paris Salon of 1850-1851. Firstly, it is a huge work, measuring 10 by 22 feet (305 x 671 cm); such a huge scale was traditionally reserved for heroic or religious scenes in history painting; secondly, its ugly realism without any sentimental narrative shocked the art world. Initially condemned by critics, Funeral at Ornans was one of the main works that moved the public away from romanticism and towards a new realistic approach. It is considered one of the major turning points of 19th-century French art, and Courbet said: “The Funeral at Ornans was really the burial of Romanticism.”

2. Night Owls

Artist: Edward Hopper

Year: 1942

Edward Hopper known for revealing the loneliness of modern life and forcing the viewer to take a more active role in completing the narrative of the works. This painting of people at a downtown diner late at night was inspired by a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue, near the artist's home in Manhattan. It has been interpreted as an illustration of the negative impact of World War II, and as a depiction of the isolation of the individual against the backdrop of the hustle and bustle of New York City. Hopper's most famous work, Night Owls is one of the most recognizable paintings in American art. She influenced many future American artists and is widely referenced and parodied in popular culture.

1. Olympia

Artist: Edouard Manet

Year: 1863

Edouard Manet, although often considered an impressionist, called himself a realist. His early works include some of the most significant works of realism, among which is Olympia. The painting depicts a reclining naked woman being served by a maid. When it was first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1865, it caused enormous controversy; not because of Olympia's nudity, but because there are several details in the painting that indicate she is a prostitute. These include: an orchid in the hair, a bracelet, pearl earrings and an oriental scarf on which it lies. In addition, the painting contains a black cat, which traditionally symbolized prostitution. Olympia was inspired by Titian's Venus of Urbino and several other paintings; but unlike these works, he did not depict a goddess or a court lady, but a high-class prostitute. The most famous aspect of the painting is Olympia's defiant gaze; which is often cited as the pinnacle of defiance against patriarchy. Manet's Olympia is the most famous realism painting and perhaps the most famous nude figure of the 19th century.

At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher explains to students the essence of the concept of realism and talks about the concept of “natural school”. Next, the postulates of naturalism of the French writer Emile Zola are given, and the concept of social Darwinism is revealed. A detailed account is given of the features of Russian realism of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the most significant works of Russian writers are examined and how they shape the literature of that period.

Rice. 1. Portrait of V. Belinsky ()

The key event for Russian realism in the mid-19th century was the publication of two literary collections in the 40s - the collection “Physiology of St. Petersburg” and “Petersburg Collection”. Both of them came with a foreword by Belinsky (Fig. 1), where he writes that Russia is disunited, there are many classes in it that live their own lives and know nothing about each other. People of different classes speak and dress differently, believe in God and earn their living. The task of literature, according to Belinsky, is to introduce Russia to Russia, to break down territorial barriers.

Belinsky's concept of realism had to go through many difficult trials. From 1848 to 1856 it was even forbidden to mention his name in print. Issues of Otechestvennye zapiski and Sovremennik with his articles were confiscated from libraries. Profound changes began in the very camp of progressive writers. The “natural school” of the 40s, which included a variety of writers - Nekrasov and A. Maykov, Dostoevsky and Druzhinin, Herzen and V. Dahl - was possible on the basis of a united anti-serfdom front. But by the end of the 40s, democratic and liberal tendencies intensified in it.

The authors spoke out against “tendentious” art, for “pure artistry”, for “eternal” art. On the basis of “pure art”, Botkin, Druzhinin and Annenkov united into a kind of “triumvirate”. They bullied Belinsky’s true students, such as Chernyshevsky, and in this they received support from Turgenev, Grigorovich, and Goncharov.

These individuals did not simply advocate the aimlessness and apolitical nature of art. They challenged the pointed bias that the Democrats wanted to give to art. They were satisfied with the outdated level of bias, although they barely came to terms with it during Belinsky’s lifetime. Their position was typically liberal, and they were later completely satisfied with the meager “glasnost” that was established as a result of the tsarist reform. Gorky pointed to the objectively reactionary meaning of liberalism in the conditions of preparation for the democratic revolution in Russia: “The liberals of the 1860s and Chernyshevsky,” he wrote in 1911, “are representatives of two historical trends, two historical forces, which from then until our time determine the outcome of the struggle for a new Russia.”

Literature of the mid-19th century developed under the influence of the concept of V. Belinsky and was called the “natural school”.

Emile Zola (Fig. 2) in his work “The Experimental Novel” explained that the task of literature is to study a certain period in the life of its heroes.

Rice. 2. Emile Zola ()

In his ideas about man, E. Zola relied on the research of the famous French physiologist C. Bernard (Fig. 3), who considered man as a biological being. Emile Zola believed that all human actions are based on blood and nerves, that is, biological motives of behavior determine a person’s life.

Rice. 3. Portrait of Claude Bernard ()

The followers of E. Zola were called social Darwinists. Darwin's concept is important for them: any biological individual is formed by adapting to the environment and fighting for survival. The will to live, the struggle for survival and the environment - all these principles will be found in the literature of the turn of the century.

Imitators of Zola appeared in Russian literature. For Russian realism-naturalism, the main thing was to photographically reflect reality.

Naturalist writers of the late 19th century were characterized by a new look at classes from the outside, a realistic presentation in the spirit of a psychological novel.

One of the most striking manifestos of literature of this time was the article by critic A. Suvorin (Fig. 4) “Our poetry and fiction,” which answered the questions “Do we have literature?”, “How to write?” and “What does the author need?” He complains that new people from the works of this time - representatives of different classes - are engaged in old activities familiar to literary heroes (falling in love, getting married, getting divorced), and for some reason the writers do not talk about the professional activities of the heroes. The writers do not know about the activities of the new heroes. The biggest problem writers face is ignorance of the material they are writing about.

Rice. 4. Portrait of Suvorin ()

“A fiction writer should know more or should choose one corner for himself as a specialist and try to become, if not a master, then a good worker,” wrote Suvorin.

At the end of the 80s, a new wave appeared in literature - M. Gorky, Marxists, a new idea of ​​​​what sociality is.

Rice. 5. Collection of the partnership “Znanie” ()

“Knowledge” (Fig. 5), a book publishing partnership in St. Petersburg, organized in 1898-1913 by members of the Literacy Committee (K.P. Pyatnitsky and others) for cultural and educational purposes. Initially, the publishing house published mainly popular science books on natural science, history, public education, and art. In 1900 M. Gorky joined Znanie; at the end of 1902 he headed the publishing house after its reorganization. Gorky united realist writers around “Knowledge,” who reflected in their works the oppositional sentiments of Russian society. Having released in a short time the collected works of M. Gorky (9 vols.), A. Serafimovich, A.I. Kuprina, V.V. Veresaev, The Wanderer (S. G. Petrova), N.D. Teleshova, S.A. Naydenova and others, “Znanie” has gained fame as a publishing house targeting a wide democratic circle of readers. In 1904, the publishing house began publishing “Collections of the Knowledge Partnership” (40 books were published before 1913). They included works by M. Gorky, A.P. Chekhova, A.I. Kuprin, A. Serafimovich, L.N. Andreeva, I.A. Bunina, V.V. Veresaeva and others. Translations were also published.

Against the backdrop of the critical realism of the majority of the “Znanievites”, on the one hand, Gorky and Serafimovich, representatives of socialist realism, stood out, on the other, Andreev and some others, subject to the influences of decadence. After the revolution of 1905-07. this division has intensified. Since 1911, the main editing of the “Knowledge” collections passed to V.S. Mirolyubov.

Along with the publication of collected works of young writers and collections, the Znanie partnership published the so-called. “Cheap library”, in which small works of “knowledge” writers were published. In addition, on instructions from the Bolsheviks, Gorky published a series of socio-political pamphlets, including works by K. Marx, F. Engels, P. Lafargue, A. Bebel, etc. In total, more than 300 titles were published in the “Cheap Library” (total circulation - about 4 million copies).

During the years of reaction that came after the revolution of 1905-07, many members of the Knowledge partnership left book publishing. Gorky, forced to live abroad during these years, broke with the publishing house in 1912. M. Gorky's letters talk more and more about the timeliness of literature and its usefulness, that is, the need to develop the reader and instill in him the correct worldview.

At this time, not only writers, but also readers are divided into friends and foes. The main reader for Gorky and the Znanievites is a new reader (a working person, a proletariat who is not yet accustomed to reading books), and therefore the writer needs to write simply and clearly. The writer must be a teacher and leader for the reader.

The Znaniev concept in literature will form the basis of the concept of Soviet literature.

Since what is presented in a work of art must be clear and understandable, the main trope for Znanievo literature becomes allegory I (allegory, abstract concept illustrated by a specific object or image).

For each concept: “valor”, “faith”, “mercy” - there were stable images that were understood by readers. In this period of literature, such concepts as “stagnation” and “revolution”, the “old” and “new” world are in demand. Each of the stories of the partnership contains a key allegory image.

Another important feature of realism at the end of the 19th century is the appearance of writers from the provinces: Mamin-Sibiryak, Shishkov, Prishvin, Bunin, Shmelev, Kuprin and many others. The Russian province appears unknown, incomprehensible, and in need of study. The Russian outback of this time appears in two forms:

1. something motionless, alien to any movement (conservative);

2. something that preserves traditions and important life values.

The story “Village” by Bunin, “Uyezdnoye” by Zamyatin, the novel “Small Demon” by F. Sologub, stories by Zaitsev and Shmelev and other works that tell about the provincial life of that time.

1. Naturalism ().
2. "Natural school" ().
3. Emile Zola ().
4. Claude Bernard ().
5. Social Darwinism ().
6. Artsybashev M.P. ().
7. Suvorin A.S. ().

Publishing house of the Znanie partnership

Briefly about the representatives of realism in world and Russian literature is presented in this article.

Representatives of realism in literature

What is realism?

Realism is a direction in art and literature that realistically and truthfully reflects the features of reality without distortion or exaggeration. It originated in the 30s of the 19th century. Main characteristics:

• life-affirming beginning
• the plot may have a tragic conflict
• description of reality in its dynamics of its development
• description of new psychological, social and relationships
• the main characters make their conclusions and discoveries, spend time in deep introspection

Foreign representatives of realism in literature of the 19th - 20th centuries

The initial stage of the formation of European literary realism is associated with the works of Beranger, Flaubert, and Maupassant. In France, he was a prominent representative, in England - Thackeray, Gaskell, in Germany -. Realism developed in conditions of growing tension between the labor movement and the bourgeoisie, the rise of bourgeois culture, discovered in biology and natural science. At the beginning of the twentieth century, with the advent of new non-realistic trends - impressionism, naturalism, decadence, aestheticism, the idea of ​​realism also changed, acquiring new features.

The authors describe the social phenomena of real life, describe the social motivation of a person’s character, reveal the fate of art and the psychology of the individual. Artistic reality is based on philosophical ideas, the author’s focus on intellectually active perception, and emotions. The dramatic line gradually deepens and intensifies.

Classic representatives of realism— (“Confessions of an Adventurer Felix Krull” and “The Magic Mountain”), dramaturgy, Robert Kohler (“Strike”), Scott Fitzgerald (“Tender is the Night,” “The Great Gatsby”), Theodore Dreiser, John Steinbeck, Anna Zegers, William Faulkner , Romain Rolland, .

Representatives of realism in Russian literature of the 19th century

The founder of Russian realism is. In the works “Eugene Onegin”, “The Captain’s Daughter”, “The Bronze Horseman”, “Belkin’s Tale”, “Boris Godunov”, he captures and conveys the essence of the most important events in the life of society in all their colorfulness, diversity and inconsistency. The literature has deepened the analysis of the emotional experiences of the heroes and shows their complex inner world.

To the representatives of early Russian realism include (“Hero of Our Time”), (“The Inspector General”, “Dead Souls”), (“Notes of a Hunter”, “Rudin”, “Fathers and Sons”, “Asya”),

Realism is a trend in literature and art that aims to faithfully reproduce reality in its typical features. The dominance of realism followed the era of Romanticism and preceded Symbolism.

1. At the center of the work of realists is objective reality. In its refraction through the worldview of art. 2. The author subjects life material to philosophical processing. 3. The ideal is reality itself. The beautiful thing is life itself. 4. Realists approach synthesis through analysis.

5. The principle of the typical: Typical hero, specific time, typical circumstances

6. Identification of cause-and-effect relationships. 7. The principle of historicism. Realists turn to the problems of the present. The present is the convergence of past and future. 8. The principle of democracy and humanism. 9. The principle of objectivity of the story. 10. Socio-political and philosophical issues predominate

11. psychologism

12. .. The development of poetry is somewhat calming down 13. The novel is the leading genre.

13. Heightened social-critical pathos is one of the main features of Russian realism - for example, “The Inspector General”, “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol

14. The main feature of realism as a creative method is the increased attention to the social side of reality.

15. The images of a realistic work reflect the general laws of existence, and not living people. Any image is woven from typical traits manifested in typical circumstances. This is the paradox of art. An image cannot be correlated with a living person; it is richer than a specific person - hence the objectivity of realism.

16. “The artist should not be a judge of his characters and what they say, but only an impartial witness

Realist writers

Late A. S. Pushkin is the founder of realism in Russian literature (the historical drama “Boris Godunov”, the stories “The Captain’s Daughter”, “Dubrovsky”, “Belkin’s Tales”, the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” back in the 1820s - 1830s)

M. Yu. Lermontov (“Hero of Our Time”)

N. V. Gogol (“Dead Souls”, “The Inspector General”)

I. A. Goncharov (“Oblomov”)

A. S. Griboedov (“Woe from Wit”)

A. I. Herzen (“Who is to blame?”)

N. G. Chernyshevsky (“What to do?”)

F. M. Dostoevsky (“Poor People”, “White Nights”, “Humiliated and Insulted”, “Crime and Punishment”, “Demons”)

L. N. Tolstoy (“War and Peace”, “Anna Karenina”, “Resurrection”).

I. S. Turgenev (“Rudin”, “The Noble Nest”, “Asya”, “Spring Waters”, “Fathers and Sons”, “New”, “On the Eve”, “Mu-mu”)

A. P. Chekhov (“The Cherry Orchard”, “Three Sisters”, “Student”, “Chameleon”, “The Seagull”, “Man in a Case”

Since the middle of the 19th century, the formation of Russian realistic literature has been taking place, which was created against the backdrop of the tense socio-political situation that developed in Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. A crisis of the serfdom system is brewing, and contradictions between the authorities and the common people are strong. There is an urgent need to create realistic literature that is acutely responsive to the socio-political situation in the country.

Writers turn to socio-political problems of Russian reality. The genre of the realistic novel is developing. His works are created by I.S. Turgenev, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, I.A. Goncharov. It is worth noting the poetic works of Nekrasov, who was the first to introduce social issues into poetry. His poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'?” is known, as well as many poems that reflect on the difficult and hopeless life of the people. End of the 19th century - The realistic tradition began to fade away. It was replaced by so-called decadent literature. . Realism becomes, to a certain extent, a method of artistic cognition of reality. In the 40s, a “natural school” arose - the work of Gogol, he was a great innovator, discovering that even an insignificant event, such as the acquisition of an overcoat by a minor official, can become a significant event for understanding the most important issues of human existence.

The “Natural School” became the initial stage in the development of realism in Russian literature.

Topics: Life, customs, characters, events from the life of the lower classes became the object of study by “naturalists”. The leading genre was the “physiological essay,” which was based on accurate “photography” of the life of various classes.

In the literature of the “natural school,” the hero’s class position, his professional affiliation, and the social function he performs decisively prevailed over his individual character.

Those who joined the “natural school” were: Nekrasov, Grigorovich, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Goncharov, Panaev, Druzhinin and others.

The task of truthfully showing and exploring life presupposes in realism many techniques for depicting reality, which is why the works of Russian writers are so diverse in both form and content.

Realism as a method of depicting reality in the second half of the 19th century. received the name of critical realism, because its main task was the criticism of reality, the question of the relationship between man and society.

To what extent does society influence the fate of the hero? Who is to blame for a person being unhappy? What to do to change a person and the world? - these are the main questions of literature in general, Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century. - in particular.

Psychologism - the characterization of a hero through the analysis of his inner world, consideration of the psychological processes through which a person’s self-awareness is realized and his attitude to the world is expressed - has become the leading method of Russian literature since the formation of the realistic style in it.

One of the remarkable features of Turgenev’s works of the 50s was the appearance in them of a hero who embodied the idea of ​​the unity of ideology and psychology.

Realism of the 2nd half of the 19th century reached its peak precisely in Russian literature, especially in the works of L.N. Tolstoy and F.M. Dostoevsky, who at the end of the 19th century became the central figures of the world literary process. They enriched world literature with new principles for constructing a socio-psychological novel, philosophical and moral issues, new ways of revealing the human psyche in its deep layers

Turgenev is credited with creating literary types of ideologists - heroes, whose approach to personality and characterization of their inner world is in direct connection with the author’s assessment of their worldview and the socio-historical meaning of their philosophical concepts. The merging of the psychological, historical-typological and ideological aspects in Turgenev’s heroes is so complete that their names have become a common noun for a certain stage in the development of social thought, a certain social type representing a class in its historical state, and the psychological makeup of the individual (Rudin, Bazarov, Kirsanov , Mr. N. from the story “Asya” - “Russian man on rendez-vous”).

Dostoevsky's heroes are at the mercy of ideas. Like slaves, they follow her, expressing her self-development. Having “accepted” a certain system into their soul, they obey the laws of its logic, go through all the necessary stages of its growth with it, and bear the yoke of its reincarnations. Thus, Raskolnikov, whose concept grew out of rejection of social injustice and a passionate desire for good, passing through all its logical stages along with the idea that took possession of his entire being, accepts murder and justifies the tyranny of a strong personality over the voiceless masses. In lonely monologues-reflections, Raskolnikov “strengthens” in his idea, falls under its power, gets lost in its ominous vicious circle, and then, having completed the “experience” and suffering internal defeat, begins to feverishly seek dialogue, the possibility of jointly assessing the results of the experiment.

In Tolstoy, the system of ideas that the hero develops and develops in the course of his life is a form of his communication with the environment and is derived from his character, from the psychological and moral characteristics of his personality.

It can be argued that all three great Russian realists of the mid-century - Turgenev, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky - depict the mental and ideological life of a person as a social phenomenon and ultimately presuppose obligatory contact between people, without which the development of consciousness is impossible.

direction

Realism - (from Late Latin reālis “real”) - a direction in art that aims to truthfully reproduce reality in its typical features.

By realism in the narrow sense we understand positivism as a direction in the fine arts of the 2nd half of the 19th century. The term “realism” was first used by the French literary critic J. Chanfleury in the 50s of the 19th century to designate art opposed to romanticism and academicism. The dominance of realism followed the era of Romanticism and preceded Symbolism.

The appearance of realism in painting is usually associated with the work of the French artist Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), who opened his personal exhibition “Pavilion of Realism” in Paris in 1855, although even before him, artists of the Barbizon school worked in a realistic manner (Theodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet, Jules Breton). In the 1870s, realism divided into two main movements - naturalism and impressionism.

In any literary work, two main elements are distinguished: objective - the reproduction of phenomena given in addition to the artist, and subjective - something put into the work by the artist on his own. This gives rise to two literary trends. This is realism, which sets the task of reproducing reality as objectively as possible, and idealism, which sees its purpose in supplementing reality and creating new forms. In Russian journalism and literary criticism, this meaning of the term “realism” was first defined by Dmitry Pisarev. Until this point, the term “realism” was used by Herzen only in a philosophical sense, as a synonym for the concept of “materialism” (1846).

Realism in the theater, like realistic drama, is an intermediate genre, bordering on both tragedy and comedy, in which the conflict is usually not brought to a tragic end. Its essential feature is acute relevance, interest in modernity and topicality. The desire for accurate depiction is so defining for realists that even when turning to the past, they remain as scrupulous about facts as when depicting the types and events of contemporary life.

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