The main genres of realism in literature table. Russian realism as a literary movement

PART ONE on the literature of realism

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LITERATURE OF THE 19TH CENTURY. REALISM AS A DIRECTION IN WORLD LITERATURE

Genre system of realism

Each literary movement develops its own system of genres, which is its internal property. Within this system, a certain hierarchy of genres is established depending on their role in the literary process. Accordingly, those genres that occupy the main places have a tangible influence on other genres, on the poetics and style of the movement as a whole.

The fundamental novelty of the genre system of realism lies in the fact that for the first time in the history of literature, prose genres began to play a leading role in it - the novel, novella, short stories. Undoubtedly, this was due to the profound shifts and changes that occurred as a result of the stabilization of the bourgeois system and the “prosaicization” of life, which has already been mentioned. Prose genres, and above all the novel, turned out to be the most suitable for the artistic development of the new realities of our time and their adequate reflection. Therefore, the novel reveals the possibilities inherent in it and appears as a truly universal genre in terms of covering various spheres of life, in particular those that have traditionally been considered “unaesthetic” or “non-poetic”, and their “melting” into high achievements of art.

LITERARY REFERENCE

The novel is a large epic genre that became widespread in the literature of the 19th century. (although the origins of this genre date back to antiquity). The novel reproduces life in all its fullness and diversity. The basis of a novel is often an image of the fate of a hero (or several heroes) over a long period of time, sometimes even several generations. Events related to the fate of the characters usually unfold against a broad historical and social background. The character of a person in the novel is recreated in his connection with the socio-historical environment. The genre of the novel makes it possible to convey the most profound and complex processes of life, to raise problems of universal human significance, and to pay close attention to the process of formation and evolution of personality.

In realistic literature, many branches of the novel genre have appeared, which are often called genres, although it would be more accurate to define them as genre equivalents of the novel. Thus, a social novel aims to study the processes of social life, everyday reality, customs and ideas characteristic of society (or its layers) in a certain era. The focus of the psychological novel is the inner world of the individual in its conditioning by specific historical and social factors. Within the framework of a socio-psychological novel, there is a combination and interaction of tendencies inherent in the social, everyday and psychological. In some realistic works of these aspects, broad philosophical issues are attached, which gives grounds to define them as philosophical novels.

However, despite the powerful development of realism in the middle of the 19th century, it was not a comprehensive artistic movement. This applies not only to some types of art (for example, music, which remained predominantly romantic), but also to literature, certain types and genres of it. Realism appeared on a large scale in epic prose genres, but this cannot be said about lyric poetry (in European and American literature of the mid-19th century, it, unlike prose, remained predominantly romantic) and partly about drama (in the drama of most European countries, realism is established approximately in last third of the 19th century). Details. What explains the weak development of lyric poetry in realistic literature? In answering this question, one should take into account, firstly, post-literary factors, in particular the “prosaic” nature of the reality of the bourgeois era, which created a spiritual and emotional atmosphere unfavorable for the flourishing of lyric poetry. Secondly, internal factors - in particular the specifics of realism as an artistic system oriented towards the external, primarily social world, its research and analytical reflection. This does not mean that the personality and the subjective world were not of interest to realists - we are talking about a predominant focus on what objectively exists, the deployment of a work in objective time and space, which includes the personality and its inner world. Meanwhile, romanticism is an art whose axis is shifted to the area of ​​subjectivity, the spiritual and mental life of the individual. Of course, this life did not stop in the era of bourgeois prose, but it was artistically embodied mainly in lyrical poetry of the romantic type or in forms close to it.

What is realism in literature? It is one of the most common trends, reflecting a realistic image of reality. The main task of this direction is reliable disclosure of phenomena encountered in life, using a detailed description of the characters depicted and the situations that happen to them, through typification. What is important is the lack of embellishment.

In contact with

Among other directions, only in the realistic is special attention paid to the correct artistic depiction of life, and not to the emerging reaction to certain life events, for example, as in romanticism and classicism. The heroes of realist writers appear before readers exactly as they were presented to the author's gaze, and not as the writer would like to see them.

Realism, as one of the widespread trends in literature, settled closer to the middle of the 19th century after its predecessor - romanticism. The 19th century is subsequently designated as the era of realistic works, but romanticism did not cease to exist, it only slowed down in development, gradually turning into neo-romanticism.

Important! The definition of this term was first introduced into literary criticism by D.I. Pisarev.

The main features of this direction are as follows:

1. Full compliance with the reality depicted in any work of the painting.
2. True specific typification of all the details in the images of the heroes.
3. The basis is a conflict situation between a person and society.
4. Image in the work deep conflict situations, the drama of life.
5. The author pays special attention to the description of all environmental phenomena.
6. A significant feature of this literary movement is considered to be the writer’s significant attention to the inner world of a person, his state of mind.

Main genres

In any direction of literature, including realistic, a certain system of genres develops. The prose genres of realism had a particular influence on its development, due to the fact that they were more suitable than others for a more correct artistic description of new realities and their reflection in literature. Works of this direction are divided into the following genres.

1. A social and everyday novel that describes a way of life and a certain type of character inherent in this way of life. A good example of a social genre was “Anna Karenina”.
2. A socio-psychological novel, in the description of which one can see a complete detailed disclosure of the human personality, his personality and inner world.
3. A realistic novel in verse is a special type of novel. A remarkable example of this genre is “”, written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
4. A realistic philosophical novel contains eternal reflections on such topics as: the meaning of human existence, the confrontation between good and evil sides, a certain purpose of human life. An example of a realistic philosophical novel is “”, the author of which is Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov.
5. Story.
6. Tale.

In Russia, its development began in the 1830s and was a consequence of the conflict situation in various spheres of society, the contradictions between higher ranks and ordinary people. Writers began to turn to pressing issues of their time.

Thus begins the rapid development of a new genre - the realistic novel, which, as a rule, described the hard life of ordinary people, their hardships and problems.

The initial stage in the development of the realistic trend in Russian literature is the “natural school”. During the period of the “natural school,” literary works tended to a greater extent to describe the position of the hero in society, his belonging to some kind of profession. Among all genres, the leading place was occupied by physiological essay.

In the 1850s–1900s, realism began to be called critical, since the main goal was to criticize what was happening, the relationship between a certain person and spheres of society. Issues such as: the measure of the influence of society on the life of an individual were considered; actions that can change a person and the world around him; the reason for the lack of happiness in human life.

This literary trend has become extremely popular in Russian literature, as Russian writers were able to make the world genre system richer. Works appeared from in-depth questions of philosophy and morality.

I.S. Turgenev created an ideological type of heroes, the character, personality and internal state of which directly depended on the author’s assessment of the worldview, finding a certain meaning in the concepts of their philosophy. Such heroes are subject to ideas that they follow until the very end, developing them as much as possible.

In the works of L.N. Tolstoy, the system of ideas that develops during the character’s life determines the form of his interaction with the surrounding reality and depends on the morality and personal characteristics of the heroes of the work.

Founder of realism

The title of pioneer of this trend in Russian literature was rightfully awarded to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He is the generally recognized founder of realism in Russia. “Boris Godunov” and “Eugene Onegin” are considered striking examples of realism in Russian literature of those times. Also distinguishing examples were such works by Alexander Sergeevich as “Belkin’s Tales” and “The Captain’s Daughter”.

Classical realism gradually begins to develop in Pushkin’s creative works. The writer’s portrayal of the personality of each character is comprehensive in an effort to describe the complexity of his inner world and state of mind, which unfold very harmoniously. Recreating the experiences of a certain person, his moral character helps Pushkin overcome the self-will of describing passions inherent in irrationalism.

Heroes A.S. Pushkin appear before readers with open sides of their being. The writer pays special attention to describing the aspects of the human inner world, depicts the hero in the process of development and formation of his personality, which are influenced by the reality of society and the environment. This was due to his awareness of the need to depict a specific historical and national identity in the characteristics of the people.

Attention! Reality in Pushkin’s depiction collects an accurate, concrete image of the details of not only the inner world of a certain character, but also the world that surrounds him, including his detailed generalization.

Neorealism in literature

New philosophical, aesthetic and everyday realities at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries contributed to a change in direction. Implemented twice, this modification acquired the name neorealism, which gained popularity during the 20th century.

Neorealism in literature consists of a variety of movements, since its representatives had different artistic approaches to depicting reality, including the characteristic features of the realistic direction. It is based on appeal to the traditions of classical realism XIX century, as well as to problems in the social, moral, philosophical and aesthetic spheres of reality. A good example containing all these features is the work of G.N. Vladimov “The General and His Army”, written in 1994.

Representatives and works of realism

Like other literary movements, realism has many Russian and foreign representatives, most of whom have works of the realistic style in more than one copy.

Foreign representatives of realism: Honoré de Balzac - “The Human Comedy”, Stendhal - “The Red and the Black”, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Dickens - “The Adventures of Oliver Twist”, Mark Twain - “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Jack London – “The Sea Wolf”, “Hearts of Three”.

Russian representatives of this direction: A.S. Pushkin - “Eugene Onegin”, “Boris Godunov”, “Dubrovsky”, “The Captain’s Daughter”, M.Yu. Lermontov - “Hero of Our Time”, N.V. Gogol - “”, A.I. Herzen - “Who is to blame?”, N.G. Chernyshevsky - “What to do?”, F.M. Dostoevsky - “Humiliated and Insulted”, “Poor People”, L.N. Tolstoy - "", "Anna Karenina", A.P. Chekhov – “The Cherry Orchard”, “Student”, “Chameleon”, M.A. Bulgakov - “The Master and Margarita”, “Heart of a Dog”, I.S. Turgenev - “Asya”, “Spring Waters”, “” and others.

Russian realism as a movement in literature: features and genres

Unified State Exam 2017. Literature. Literary movements: classicism, romanticism, realism, modernism, etc.

Realism (from Late Latin realis - material, real) is an aesthetics term that relates primarily to literature and the visual arts. It can be interpreted in two ways: in the broadest sense - as a general attitude towards the image of life in the forms of life itself, as it actually appears to a person; and in a narrower, “instrumental” sense - as a creative method, reducible to certain aesthetic principles, for example: a) typification of the facts of reality, i.e., according to Engels, “in addition to the truthfulness of details, the truthful reproduction of typical characters in typical circumstances”; b) showing life in development and contradictions that are primarily of a social nature; c) the desire to reveal the essence of life phenomena without limiting topics and plots; d) aspiration for moral quests and educational influence.

In a broad sense, realism, which represents the main trend, a kind of aesthetic “core” of the artistic culture of mankind, has existed and continues to exist in art and literature since ancient times. In a narrow sense, as a creative method, it began to be identified either with the Renaissance (XIV-XVI centuries), or with the 18th century, when they talk about the so-called Enlightenment realism.

The most complete disclosure of the specific features of this method is usually associated with the critical realism of the 19th century, of which the mythical “socialist realism” became a parody.

The understanding of realism as a method in the fine arts was developed mainly on examples of the Renaissance and Enlightenment, and as a method in literature - on the works of European, American and Russian classics of the 19th century. It should be noted, however, that both in the past and in our time this method is not always presented in a “chemically pure” form. Realistic tendencies, under the influence of changing socio-historical conditions and the very psyche of modern man, often give way to periods of decadence, formalism alienated from life, or a return to the past in the form of vulgar epigonism, represented, for example, by the “art” of the fascist Third Reich or the nomenclature “art” of Stalinism. Acting as a leading method primarily in painting and literature, realism clearly manifests itself in the synthetic and “technical” arts associated with them - theater, ballet, cinema, photography and others. With less justification we can talk about the realistic method in such types of creativity as music, architecture or decorative art, which tend to be abstract and conventional. In Russian culture, realism in its various incarnations is represented by such outstanding creators as Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Repin, Surikov, Mussorgsky, Shchepkin, Eisenstein and many, many others.

46. ​​Global problems of culture of the 20th century.

World culture of the 20th century is a complex process, divided into several stages by events of global significance - world wars. The complexity and inconsistency of this process is aggravated by the fact that for a significant period of time the world was split into two camps along ideological lines, which introduced new problems and ideas into cultural practice. The problem of the crisis of culture is one of the leading ones in the philosophical and cultural thought of the twentieth century. The issue of the cultural crisis was generated by the changes in the life of European society that it underwent at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The atmosphere of a global crisis that has gripped all spheres of European society has exacerbated a number of contradictions. Economic instability, confusion and despair in the face of social catastrophes, the decline of traditional values, the decline of faith in science, in the rational comprehension of the world and other features of the crisis that gave rise to terrible confusion of the Spirit. However, the twentieth century made the greatest contribution to understanding the problem of the crisis of culture. Perhaps, in European philosophical thought there is not a single serious researcher who, to one degree or another, would not touch upon this topic: O. Spengler and A. Toynbee, H. Ortega y Gasset and J. Huizinga, P.A. Sorokin and N.A. Berdyaev, G. Hesse and I.A. Ilyin, P. Tillich and E. Fromm, K. Jaspers and G. Marcuse, A.S. Arsenyev and A. Nazaretyan. In the 20th century, culture and art were faced with a more complex reality, with an increasingly catastrophic social development, an exacerbation of social contradictions, with conflicts generated by the scientific and technological revolution, with global problems affecting the interests of all mankind and, as a consequence, with the flourishing of modernism. The politicization of culture can be clearly seen in the history of Russian culture in the 20th century. The October Revolution of 1917 marked the beginning of the transition to a new system of social relations, to a new type of culture. At the beginning of the 20th century, V.I. Lenin formulated the most important principles of the attitude of the Communist Party to artistic and creative activity, which formed the basis of the cultural policy of the Soviet state. In the first post-October decade, the foundations of a new Soviet culture were laid. The beginning of this period (1918-1921) is characterized by the destruction and denial of traditional values ​​(culture, morality, religion, way of life, law) and the proclamation of new guidelines for sociocultural development: world revolution, communist society, universal equality and fraternity. Marxism became the spiritual core of the Soviet civilizational system and served as a theoretical tool for formulating a doctrine that reflected the problems of Russian reality. Ideological propaganda took on an increasingly chauvinistic and anti-Semitic character. In January 1949, a campaign against “rootless cosmopolitans” began, which entailed destructive interference in the destinies of a number of scientists, teachers, literary and artistic workers. Most of those accused of cosmopolitanism turned out to be Jews. Jewish cultural institutions - theaters, schools, newspapers - were closed. Ideological campaigns, the constant search for enemies and their exposure maintained an atmosphere of fear in society. After Stalin's death, the features of totalitarianism continued to exist in cultural policy for a long time. The beginning of the 90s was marked by the accelerated disintegration of the unified culture of the USSR into separate national cultures, which not only rejected the values ​​of the common culture of the USSR, but also each other’s cultural traditions. Such a sharp opposition of different national cultures led to an increase in sociocultural tension, the emergence of military conflicts and subsequently caused the collapse of a single sociocultural space.

Realism in literature is a direction whose main feature is a truthful depiction of reality and its typical features without any distortion or exaggeration. This originated in the 19th century, and its adherents sharply opposed sophisticated forms of poetry and the use of various mystical concepts in works.

Signs directions

Realism in 19th-century literature can be distinguished by clear characteristics. The main one is the artistic depiction of reality in images familiar to the average person, which he regularly encounters in real life. Reality in works is considered as a means for a person to understand the world around him and himself, and the image of each literary character is worked out in such a way that the reader can recognize himself, a relative, a colleague or an acquaintance in him.

In the novels and stories of realists, art remains life-affirming, even if the plot is characterized by a tragic conflict. Another feature of this genre is the desire of writers to consider the surrounding reality in its development, and each writer tries to discover the emergence of new psychological, public and social relations.

Features of this literary movement

Realism in literature, which replaced romanticism, has the signs of art that seeks and finds truth, striving to transform reality.

In the works of realist writers, discoveries were made after much thought and dreaming, after analyzing subjective worldviews. This feature, which can be distinguished by the author’s perception of time, determined the distinctive features of realistic literature of the early twentieth century from traditional Russian classics.

Realism inXIX century

Such representatives of realism in literature as Balzac and Stendhal, Thackeray and Dickens, George Sand and Victor Hugo, in their works most clearly reveal the themes of good and evil, avoiding abstract concepts and showing the real life of their contemporaries. These writers make it clear to readers that evil lies in the lifestyle of bourgeois society, capitalist reality, and people’s dependence on various material values. For example, in Dickens's novel Dombey and Son, the owner of the company was heartless and callous not by nature. It’s just that such character traits appeared in him due to the presence of a lot of money and the ambition of the owner, for whom profit becomes the main achievement in life.

Realism in literature is devoid of humor and sarcasm, and the images of the characters are no longer the ideal of the writer himself and do not embody his cherished dreams. From the works of the 19th century, the hero practically disappears, in whose image the author’s ideas are visible. This situation is especially clearly visible in the works of Gogol and Chekhov.

However, this literary trend is most clearly manifested in the works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, who describe the world as they see it. This was expressed in the image of characters with their own strengths and weaknesses, the description of mental torment, a reminder to readers of the harsh reality that cannot be changed by one person.

As a rule, realism in literature also affected the fate of representatives of the Russian nobility, as can be judged from the works of I. A. Goncharov. Thus, the characters of the heroes in his works remain contradictory. Oblomov is a sincere and gentle person, but due to his passivity he is not capable of better things. Another character in Russian literature has similar qualities - the weak-willed but gifted Boris Raisky. Goncharov managed to create the image of an “anti-hero” typical of the 19th century, which was noticed by critics. As a result, the concept of “Oblomovism” appeared, referring to all passive characters whose main features were laziness and lack of will.