What is the idea of ​​a literary work. What is an idea? Ideas for a work - what are they?

Hello author! When analyzing any work of art, a critic/reviewer, and simply an attentive reader, starts from four basic literary concepts. The author relies on them when creating his work of art, unless of course he is a standard graphomaniac who simply writes whatever comes to mind. You can write rubbish, stereotyped or more or less original without understanding these terms. But a text worthy of the reader’s attention is quite difficult. So, let's go over each of them. I'll try not to load it.

Translated from Greek, the theme is what is the basis. In other words, the theme is the subject of the author’s depiction, those phenomena and events to which the author wants to draw the reader’s attention.

Examples:

The theme of love, its emergence and development, and possibly its ending.
Theme of fathers and sons.
The theme of the confrontation between good and evil.
Theme of betrayal.
The theme of friendship.
Theme of character development.
Theme of space exploration.

Topics change depending on the era in which a person lives, but some topics that concern humanity from era to era remain relevant - called " eternal themes". Above I listed 6 " eternal themes“, but the last, seventh - “the topic of space conquest” - became relevant for humanity not so long ago. However, apparently, it will also become an “eternal topic.”

1. The author sits down to write a novel and writes everything that comes to mind, without thinking about any themes of literary works.
2. The author is going to write, say, a science fiction novel and starts from the genre. He doesn't care about the topic, he doesn't think about it at all.
3. The author coldly chooses a topic for his novel, scrupulously studies and thinks through it.
4. The author is concerned about some topic, questions about it do not allow him to sleep peacefully at night, and during the day he mentally returns to this topic every now and then.

The result will be 4 different novels.

1. 95% (percentages are approximate, they are given for better understanding and nothing more) - it will be an ordinary graphomaniac, slag, a meaningless chain of events, with logical errors, cranberries, bloopers where someone attacked someone, although there was no reason for it, someone fell in love with someone, although the reader does not understand at all what he/she found in her/him, someone- then he quarreled with someone for no apparent reason (In fact, of course it’s understandable - the author needed this in order to continue to sculpt his writing without hindrance)))), etc. and so on. There are a majority of such novels, but they are rarely published, because few people can master them even with small volume. The Runet is littered with such novels, I think you have seen them more than once.

2. This is the so-called “streaming literature”; it is published quite often. Read and forget. For one time. It'll go well with beer. Such novels can captivate if the author good fantasy, but they don’t touch or care. A certain man went somewhere, found something, then became powerful, etc. A certain young lady fell in love with a handsome man, from the very beginning it was clear that in chapter five or six there would be sex, and in the finale they would get married. A certain “nerd” became the chosen one and went to distribute carrots and sticks right and left to all those whom he did not like and liked. And so on. In general, all sorts of... stuff. There are plenty of such novels both on the Internet and on bookshelves, and most likely, while you were reading this paragraph, you remembered a couple or three, or maybe a dozen or more.

3. These are the so-called “crafts” High Quality. The author is a pro and skillfully guides the reader from chapter to chapter, and the ending surprises. However, the author does not write about what sincerely concerns him, but he studies the moods and tastes of readers and writes in such a way that the reader finds it interesting. Such literature is much less common in the second category. I won’t name the authors here, but you’re probably familiar with some good crafts. These are fascinating detective stories and exciting fantasy and beautiful love stories. After reading such a novel, the reader is often satisfied and wants to continue to get acquainted with the novels of his favorite author. They are rarely reread because the plot is already familiar and understandable. But if you fall in love with the characters, then re-reading is quite possible, and reading the author’s new books is more than likely (if he has them, of course).

4. And this category is rare. Novels, after reading which people walk around for several minutes, or even hours, dazed, impressed, and often think about what they have written. They may cry. They may laugh. These are novels that shake the imagination, that help cope with life's difficulties, rethink this or that. Almost all classic literature- exactly like that. These are the novels that people put on bookshelf so that after some time you can reread and rethink what you read. Novels that influence people. Novels that are remembered. This is Literature with a capital L.

Naturally, I am not saying that choosing and elaborating a topic is enough to write a strong novel. Moreover, I will say frankly - it is not enough. But in any case, I think it’s clear how important the theme is in a literary work.

Idea literary work is inextricably linked with its theme and the example of the novel’s influence on the reader that I described above in paragraph 4 is unrealistic if the author paid attention only to the theme and forgot to think about the idea. However, if the author is concerned about the topic, then the idea, as a rule, is comprehended and worked out with the same attention.

What is this - the idea of ​​a literary work?

The idea is the main idea of ​​the work. It reflects the author’s attitude to the topic of his work. It is in this display artistic means and therein lies the difference between the idea of ​​a work of art and a scientific idea.

"Gustave Flaubert vividly expressed his ideal of a writer, noting that, like the Almighty, the writer in his book should be nowhere and everywhere, invisible and omnipresent. There are several most important works fiction, in which the presence of the author is unobtrusive to the extent that Flaubert wanted it, although he himself failed to achieve his ideal in Madame Bovary. But even in works where the author is ideally unobtrusive, he is nevertheless dispersed throughout the book and his absence turns into a kind of radiant presence. As the French say, “il brille par son absence” (“it shines by its absence”)” © Vladimir Nabokov, “Lectures on Foreign Literature.”

If the author accepts the reality described in the work, then such an ideological assessment is called an ideological statement.
If the author condemns the reality described in the work, then such an ideological assessment is called ideological negation.

The ratio of ideological affirmation and ideological negation in each work is different.

It is important not to go to extremes, and this is very, very difficult. An author who forgets about the idea at the moment of emphasis on artistry will lose the idea, and an author who forgets about artistry, because he is completely absorbed in the idea, will write journalism. This is neither good nor bad for the reader, because it is a matter of the reader’s taste to choose how to treat it, but fiction is just that, fiction and just that, literature.

Examples:

Two different authors describe the NEP period in their novels. However, after reading the novel by the first author, the reader is filled with indignation, condemns the events described and concludes that this period was terrible. And after reading the novel by the second author, the reader would be delighted and would draw conclusions that the New Economic Policy is a wonderful period in history and would regret that he does not live in this period. Of course, in this example I am exaggerating, because a clumsy expression of an idea is a sign of a weak novel, a poster novel, a popular novel - which can cause rejection in the reader, who will consider that the author is imposing his opinion on him. But I’m exaggerating in this example for better understanding.

Two different authors have written stories about adultery. The first author condemns adultery, the second understands the reasons for its occurrence, and main character, that being married, she fell in love with another man - justifies. And the reader is imbued with either the author’s ideological negation or his ideological affirmation.

Without an idea, literature is waste paper. Because describing events and phenomena for the sake of describing events and phenomena is not only boring reading, but also simply stupid. “Well, what did the author mean by this?” - a dissatisfied reader will ask and shrug his shoulders and throw the book into the trash. It's junk because...

There are two main ways to present an idea in a work.

The first is through artistic means, very unobtrusively, in the form of an aftertaste.
The second - through the mouth of a character-reasoner or in direct author's text. Head-on. In this case, the idea is called a trend.

It’s up to you to choose how to present the idea, but a thoughtful reader will certainly understand whether the author gravitates towards tendentiousness or artistry.

Plot.

The plot is a set of events and relationships between characters in a work, unfolding in time and space. At the same time, events and relationships between characters are not necessarily presented to the reader in a cause-and-effect or time sequence. A simple example for better understanding is a flashback.

Warning: The plot is based on the conflict, and the conflict unfolds thanks to the plot.

No conflict - no plot.

This is very important to understand. Many “stories” and even “novels” on the Internet do not have a plot, as such.

If a character went to a bakery and bought bread there, then came home and ate it with milk, and then watched TV - this is a plotless text. Prose is not poetry and, as a rule, it is not accepted by the reader without a plot.

Why is such a “story” not a story at all?

1. Exposition.
2. The beginning.
3. Development of action.
4. Climax.
5. Denouement.

The author does not necessarily need to use all the elements of the plot, in modern literature authors often do without exposition, for example, but the main rule of fiction is that the plot must be complete.

More details about the plot elements and conflict can be found in another topic.

There is no need to confuse plot with plot. These are different terms with different meanings.
The plot is the content of events in their sequential connection. Causal and temporal.
For a better understanding, I’ll explain: the author conceived the story, in his head the events are arranged in order, first this event happened, then that, this follows from here, and this from here. This is a plot.
And the plot is how the author presented this story to the reader - he kept silent about something, rearranged events somewhere, etc. and so on.
Of course, it happens that the plot and the plot coincide, when the events in the novel are arranged strictly according to the plot, but the plot and the plot are not the same thing.

Composition.

Oh, this composition! A weak point for many novelists, and often for short story writers.

Composition is the construction of all elements of a work in accordance with its purpose, character and content and largely determines its perception.

Difficult, right?

I'll put it more simply.

Composition is the structure of a work of art. The structure of your story or novel.
It's such big house, consisting of various parts. (for men)
This is a soup that contains all sorts of ingredients! (for women)

Every brick, every soup component is an element of the composition, an expressive means.

Monologue of the character, description of the landscape, lyrical digressions and inserted short stories, repetitions and point of view on what is depicted, epigraphs, parts, chapters and much more.

The composition is divided into external and internal.

The external composition (architectonics) is the volumes of a trilogy (for example), parts of a novel, its chapters, paragraphs.

Internal composition includes portraits of characters, descriptions of nature and interiors, point of view or change of points of view, accents, flashbacks and much more, as well as extra-plot components - prologue, inserted short stories, author's digressions and epilogue.

Each author strives to find his own composition, to get closer to his ideal composition for a particular work, however, as a rule, in compositional terms, most texts are rather weak.
Why is this so?
Well, firstly, there are a lot of components, many of which are simply unknown to many authors.
Secondly, it is trivial due to literary illiteracy - thoughtlessly placed accents, overdoing with descriptions to the detriment of dynamics or dialogues, or vice versa - continuous jumping, running, jumping of some cardboard Persians without portraits or continuous dialogue without or with attribution.
Thirdly, due to the inability to cover the volume of the work and isolate the essence. In a number of novels, entire chapters can be thrown out without harming (and often benefiting) the plot. Or in some chapter, a good third of the information is presented that does not play into the plot and characters - for example, the author is carried away by the description of the car, right down to the description of the pedals and detailed story about the gearbox. The reader is bored, he scrolls through such descriptions (“Listen, if I need to get acquainted with the structure of this car model, I will read the technical literature!”), and the author believes that “This is very important for understanding the principles of driving Pyotr Nikanorych’s car!” and thereby makes a generally good text dull. By analogy with soup, if you overdo it with salt, for example, the soup will become too salty. This is one of the most common reasons why writers are asked to first practice on small form before taking on novels. However, practice shows that quite a few people seriously believe that starting literary activity follows precisely from large shape, because that’s exactly what publishing houses need. I assure you, if you think that to write a readable novel you only need the desire to write it, you are greatly mistaken. You need to learn to write novels. And learning is easier and more efficient - from miniatures and stories. Despite the fact that the story is a different genre - internal composition You can learn very well by working in this genre.

Composition is a way of embodying the author's idea, and a compositionally weak work is the author's inability to convey the idea to the reader. In other words, if the composition is weak, the reader simply will not understand what the author wanted to say with his novel.

Thank you for attention.

© Dmitry Vishnevsky

Artistic idea

Artistic idea

The main idea contained in a work of art. The idea expresses the author’s attitude to the problem posed in his work, to the thoughts expressed by the characters. The idea of ​​a work is a generalization of the entire content of the work.
Only in normative-didactic works the idea of ​​a work takes on the character of a clearly expressed unambiguous judgment (such, for example, fable). As a rule, an artistic idea cannot be reduced to a single statement that reflects the author’s thought. Thus, the idea of ​​“War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy cannot be reduced to thoughts about the insignificant role of the so-called. great people in history and about fatalism as the idea most acceptable in explaining historical events. When perceiving the plot narrative and historical and philosophical chapters of “War and Peace” as a single whole, the idea of ​​the work is revealed as a statement about the superiority of natural, elemental life over the false and vain existence of those who thoughtlessly follow public fashion and strive for fame and success. The idea of ​​the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky“Crime and Punishment” is broader and more multifaceted than the idea expressed by Sonya Marmeladova about the inadmissibility of a person deciding whether another has the right to live. For F. M. Dostoevsky, no less important are thoughts about murder as a sin committed by a person against himself, and as a sin that alienates the murderer from those close and dear to him. Equally important for understanding the idea of ​​the novel is the idea of ​​​​the limitations of human rationality, of the insurmountable flaw of the mind, capable of constructing any logically consistent theory. The author shows that only life and religious intuition and faith can refute the atheistic and inhumane theory.
Often the idea of ​​a work is not reflected at all in the statements of the narrator or characters and can be defined very roughly. This feature is inherent primarily in many so-called. post-realistic works (for example, stories, novellas and plays by A.P. Chekhov) and the works of modernist writers depicting an absurd world (for example, novels, novellas and stories by F. Kafka).
Denial of the existence of the idea of ​​a work is characteristic of literature postmodernism; The idea of ​​the work is not recognized by postmodern theorists either. According to postmodern ideas, a literary text is independent of the will and intention of the author, and the meaning of the work is born when it is read by the reader, who freely places the work in one or another semantic context. Instead of the idea of ​​a work, postmodernism offers a play of meanings, in which a certain final semantic authority is impossible: any idea contained in a work is presented with irony, with detachment. However, in fact, it is hardly justified to talk about the absence of ideas in postmodernist writings. The impossibility of serious judgment, total irony and the playful nature of existence - this is the idea that unites postmodern literature.

Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .

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• The Knight in Tiger Skin, Shota Rustaveli. Moscow, 1941. State Publishing House " Fiction". Publisher's binding with a gilded profile of the author. Good preservation. With many individual illustrations...

In ancient times, it was believed that the integrity of a literary work was determined by the unity of the main character. But Aristotle also drew attention to the fallacy of such a view, pointing out that the stories about Hercules remain different stories, although they are dedicated to one person, and the Iliad, which tells about many heroes, does not cease to be a complete work. It is not difficult to verify the validity of Aristotle’s judgment based on the material of modern literature. For example, Lermontov showed Pechorin in both “The Princess of Lithuania” and “A Hero of Our Time”. Nevertheless, these works did not merge into one, but remained different.

What gives a work its holistic character is not the hero, but the unity of the problem posed in it, the unity of the idea being revealed. Therefore, when we say that a work contains what is necessary or, on the contrary, that it contains what is superfluous, we mean precisely this unity.

The term “theme” is still used in two meanings. Some understand by theme the life material taken for the image. Others - main social problem posed in the work. From the first point of view, the theme of, for example, Gogol’s “Taras Bulba” is the liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people against the Polish gentry. On the second side, there is the problem of national partnership as the highest law of life, determining the place and purpose of man. The second definition seems more correct (although by no means excluding the first in some cases). Firstly, it does not allow for confusion of concepts, since, understanding the topic as life material, they usually reduce its study to the analysis of the depicted objects. Secondly - and this the main thing is the concept The theme as the main problem of the work naturally comes from its organic connection with the idea, which was rightly pointed out by M. Gorky. “A theme,” he wrote, “is an idea that originated in the author’s experience, is suggested to him by life, but nests in the receptacle of his impressions, not yet formalized, and, demanding embodiment in images, arouses in him the urge to work on its design.”

In some works, the problematic nature of the themes is emphasized by the writers themselves: “The Minor”, ​​“The Woe of Otuma”, “Hero of Our Time”, “Who is to Blame?”, “What to Do?”, “Crime and Punishment”, “How the Steel Was Tempered” and etc. Although the titles of most works do not directly reflect the problems posed in them (“Eugene Onegin”, “Anna Karenina”, “The Brothers Karamazov”, “ Quiet Don", etc.), in all authentic significant works Important questions of life are raised, an intense search for possible and necessary solutions to them is underway. Thus, Gogol invariably strove in each of his creations to “say what has not yet been said to the world.” L. Tolstoy in the novel “War and Peace” loved “folk thought”, and in “Anna Karenina” - “family thought”.

Understanding the topic can only be achieved by careful analysis of the literary work as a whole. Without understanding the entire diversity of the depicted picture of life, we will not penetrate into the complexity of the problematics, or themes of the work (that is, into the entire chain of questions posed, ultimately going back to the main problem), which alone allows us to truly understand the theme in all its concrete and unique significance.

The concept of the main idea of ​​a literary work. Writers not only pose certain problems. They look for ways to solve them, correlate what is depicted with what they affirm social ideals. Therefore, the theme of a work is always connected with its main idea. N. Ostrovsky in the novel “How the Steel Was Tempered” not only posed the problem of the formation of a new person, but also solved it.

The ideological meaning of a literary work. One of the common mistakes in understanding the idea of ​​a work is to reduce it in all cases only to direct positive statements of the author. This leads to a one-sided interpretation of the work and thereby to a distortion of its meaning. For example, in L. Tolstoy’s novel “Resurrection” his main force are not the recipes for the salvation of mankind affirmed by the writer, but, on the contrary, a crushing critique of social relations based on the exploitation of man by man, that is, Tolstoy’s critical ideas. If we rely only on the positive (from Tolstoy’s point of view) statements of the writer in “Resurrection,” then we can reduce the main idea of ​​this novel to preaching moral self-improvement as a principle of individual human behavior and non-resistance to evil through violence as a principle of relationships between people. But if we turn to Tolstoy’s critical ideas, we will see that the ideological meaning of “Resurrection” includes the writer’s disclosure of the economic, political, religious and moral deception perpetrated by exploiters against the working people.

Understanding the main idea of ​​the novel can and should follow from an analysis of its entire ideological content. Only under this condition can we correctly judge the novel, its strength and weakness, the nature and social roots of the contradictions in it.

In addition, it must be taken into account that in a number of literary works only critical ideas are directly expressed. Such works include, for example, “The Inspector General” by Gogol and many satirical works Saltykov-Shchedrin. In such works the denunciation of various social phenomena also given, of course, in terms of certain positive ideals, but directly, however, we are dealing here precisely with critical ideas, by which only we can judge the height and correctness ideological meaning works.

7. Form and content of a work of art.

Content and form are concepts long established by philosophical thinking, with the help of which not only in works of art, but also in all phenomena of life, two sides of their existence are distinguished: in the very general meaning- this is their activity and their structure.
The content of a literary work is always a mixture of what is depicted and expressed by the writer.

The content of a literary work is life, as it is understood by the writer and correlated with his idea of ​​the ideal of beauty.
The figurative form of revealing the content is the life of the characters, as it is generally presented in the works, the professor notes. G. N. Pospelov. The content of the work relates to the sphere of spiritual life and activity of people, while the form of the work is a material phenomenon: directly - this is the verbal structure of the work - artistic speech, which is pronounced out loud or “to oneself.” The content and form of a literary work represents a unity of opposites. The spirituality of the ideological content of a work and the materiality of its form is the unity of opposite spheres of reality.
Content, in order to exist, must have form; form has meaning and significance when it serves as a manifestation of content.
Hegel wrote very convincingly about the unity of content and form in art: “A work of art that lacks the proper form is precisely why it is not an authentic, that is, a true work of art, and for the artist, as such, serves as a bad excuse, if, speaking, that his works are good (or even excellent) in their content, but lack proper form. Only those works of art in which content and form are identical and represent true works of art.”

Ideological - artistic unity of content and form of a work is formed on the basis of the primacy of content. No matter how great the writer’s talent, the significance of his works is, first of all, determined by their content. The purpose of their figurative form and all genre, compositional and linguistic elements is to completely vividly and artistically accurately convey the content. Any violation of this principle, this unity of artistic creativity, has a negative impact on a literary work and reduces its value. The dependence of form on content does not make it, however, something secondary. The content is revealed only in it; therefore, the completeness and clarity of its disclosure depends on the degree of correspondence of the form to the content.

When talking about content and form, we need to remember their relativity and correlation. The content of a work cannot be reduced only to an idea. It is the unity of objective and subjective, embodied in a work of art. Therefore, when analyzing a work of art, one cannot consider its idea outside the figurative form. The idea, which in a work of art acts as a process of cognition, comprehension of reality by the artist, should not be reduced to conclusions, to a program of action, which constitutes only part of the subjective content of the work.

Any analysis of a literary work begins with identifying its theme and idea. There is a close semantic and logical connection between them, thanks to which the literary text is perceived as an integral unity of form and content. A correct understanding of the meaning of the literary terms theme and idea allows us to establish how accurately the author was able to embody his creative idea and whether his book is worth the reader's attention.

The theme of a literary work is a semantic definition of its content, reflecting the author’s vision of the depicted phenomenon, event, character or other artistic reality.

An idea is the intention of a writer pursuing a specific goal in creating artistic images, in using the principles of plot construction and achieving the compositional integrity of a literary text.

What is the difference between a theme and an idea?

Figuratively speaking, a theme can be considered any reason that prompted the writer to take up the pen and transfer it to Blank sheet paper reflected in artistic images perception of the surrounding reality. You can write about anything; another question: for what purpose, what task should I set myself?

The goal and task determine the idea, the disclosure of which constitutes the essence of an aesthetically valuable and socially significant literary work.

Among the diversity literary themes there are several main directions that serve as reference points for flight creative imagination writer. These are historical, social, adventure, detective, psychological, moral and ethical, lyrical, philosophical themes. The list goes on. It will include both original author's notes and literary diaries, and stylistically refined extracts from archival documents.

The theme, felt by the writer, acquires spiritual content, an idea, without which the book page will remain just a coherent text. The idea can be reflected in historical analysis problems important to society, in depicting complex psychological moments, on which it depends human destiny, or simply in creating a lyrical sketch that awakens a sense of beauty in the reader.

The idea is the deep content of the work. Theme is a motive that allows you to realize a creative idea within a specific, precisely defined context.

The difference between a topic and an idea

The theme determines the actual and semantic content of the work.

The idea reflects the tasks and goals of the writer, which he strives to achieve while working on a literary text.

The theme has formative functions: it can be revealed in small literary genres or be developed into a major epic work.

The idea is the main content core literary text. It corresponds to the conceptual level of organization of the work as an aesthetically significant whole.

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This book contains 2,000 original ideas for stories and novels

When analyzing a literary work, the concept of “idea” is traditionally used, which most often means the answer to the question allegedly posed by the author.

The idea of ​​a literary work - this is the main idea that summarizes the semantic, figurative, emotional content of a literary work.

Artistic idea works - this is the content-semantic integrity of a work of art as a product of emotional experience and mastery of life by the author. This idea cannot be recreated by means of other arts and logical formulations; it is expressed throughout artistic structure work, the unity and interaction of all its formal components. Conventionally (and in a narrower sense), an idea stands out as the main thought, ideological conclusion and “ life lesson", naturally arising from a holistic comprehension of the work.

An idea in literature is a thought contained in a work. There are a great many ideas expressed in literature. Exist logical ideas And abstract ideas . Logical ideas are concepts that are easily conveyed without figurative means, we are able to perceive them with our intellect. Logical ideas are characteristic non-fiction. Fictional novels and stories are characterized by philosophical and social generalizations, ideas, analyzes of causes and consequences, that is, abstract elements.

But there is also special kind very subtle, barely perceptible ideas of a literary work. Artistic idea is a thought embodied in figurative form. It lives only in figurative transformation and cannot be expressed in the form of sentences or concepts. The peculiarity of this thought depends on the disclosure of the topic, the author’s worldview, conveyed by the speech and actions of the characters, and on the depiction of pictures of life. It lies in the combination of logical thoughts, images, and all significant compositional elements. An artistic idea cannot be reduced to a rational idea that can be specified or illustrated. The idea of ​​this type is integral to the image, to the composition.

Forming an artistic idea is difficult creative process. In literature it is influenced personal experience, the writer’s worldview, understanding of life. An idea can be nurtured for years and decades, and the author, trying to realize it, suffers, rewrites the manuscript, and looks for suitable means of implementation. All themes, characters, all events selected by the author are necessary for more full expression the main idea, its nuances, shades. However, it is necessary to understand that an artistic idea is not equal ideological plan, that plan that often appears not only in the writer’s head, but also on paper. Exploring non-fictional reality, reading diaries, notebooks, manuscripts, archives, literary scholars restore the history of the idea, the history of creation, but often do not discover the artistic idea. Sometimes it happens that the author goes against himself, yielding to the original plan for the sake of artistic truth, an internal idea.

One thought is not enough to write a book. If you know in advance everything that you would like to talk about, then you should not contact artistic creativity. Better - to criticism, journalism, journalism.

The idea of ​​a literary work comes from the visual image

The idea of ​​a literary work cannot be contained in one phrase and one image. But writers, especially novelists, sometimes struggle to formulate the idea of ​​their work. Dostoevsky about “The Idiot” he wrote: “The main idea of ​​the novel is to portray positively wonderful person" For such a declarative ideology Dostoevsky scolded: here he “distinguished himself”, for example, Nabokov. Indeed, the phrase of the great novelist does not clarify why, why he did it, what the artistic and life basis his image. But here you can hardly take sides Nabokov, a down-to-earth second-line writer, never, unlike Dostoevsky who does not set himself creative super-tasks.

Along with the authors' attempts to determine the so-called main idea of his work, opposite, although no less confusing, examples are known. Tolstoy to the question “what is “War and Peace””? answered as follows: “War and Peace” is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.” Reluctance to translate the idea of ​​your work into the language of concepts Tolstoy demonstrated once again, speaking about the novel “Anna Karenina”: “If I wanted to say in words everything that I had in mind to express in a novel, then I would have to write the very one that I wrote first” (from a letter to N. Strakhov).

Belinsky very accurately pointed out that “art does not allow abstract philosophical, much less rational ideas: it allows only poetic ideas; and the poetic idea is<…>It’s not a dogma, it’s not a rule, it’s a living passion, pathos.”

V.V. Odintsov expressed his understanding of the category “artistic idea” more strictly: “Idea literary composition is always specific and is not directly derived not only from those lying outside it individual statements writer (facts of his biography, public life etc.), but also from the text - from replicas goodies, journalistic inserts, comments from the author himself, etc.”

Literary critic G.A. Gukovsky also spoke about the need to distinguish between rational, that is, rational, and literary ideas: “By idea I mean not only a rationally formulated judgment, statement, not even just the intellectual content of a work of literature, but the entire sum of its content, constituting its intellectual function, its goal and task.” And he further explained: “To understand the idea of ​​a literary work means to understand the idea of ​​each of its components in their synthesis, in their systemic interconnection.<…>At the same time, it is important to take into account structural features works - not only the words-bricks from which the walls of the building are made, but the structure of the combination of these bricks as parts of this structure, their meaning.”

The idea of ​​a literary work is an attitude towards what is depicted, the fundamental pathos of the work, a category that expresses the author's tendency (inclination, intention, preconceived thought) in the artistic coverage of a given topic. In other words, idea -it is the subjective basis of a literary work. It is noteworthy that in Western literary criticism, based on other methodological principles, instead of the category “artistic idea”, the concept of “intention”, a certain premeditation, the tendency of the author to express the meaning of the work is used.

The greater the artistic idea, the longer the work lives. The creators of pop literature who write outside of great ideas face very rapid oblivion.

V.V. Kozhinov called it an artistic idea semantic type works that grow from the interaction of images. An artistic idea, unlike a logical idea, is not formulated by an author’s statement, but is depicted in all the details of the artistic whole.

IN epic works the idea can be partly formulated in the text itself, as was the case in the narrative Tolstoy: “There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” More often, especially in lyric poetry, the idea permeates the structure of the work and therefore requires great analytical work. A work of art as a whole is much richer than the rational idea that critics usually isolate, and in many lyrical works isolating an idea is simply impossible, because it practically dissolves in pathos. Consequently, the idea of ​​a work should not be reduced to a conclusion or a lesson, and in general one should certainly look for it.

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