The concept of culture and literature of the Silver Age is brief. Silver Age culture in Russia

MOSCOW INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

Specialty – organization management

Specialization

Study group

COURSE WORK

Discipline: cultural studies

on the topic of: "" silver Age"in Russian culture"

STUDENT I.V. Zhuravleva

SUPERVISOR _____________________

Moscow 2006

Introduction........................................................ ............................................3

Chapter 1. “Silver Age” in Russian culture.................................5

1.1.Science................................................... ..............................................5

1.2.Literature.................................................... ....................................7

1.3.Theater and music.................................................... ...............................9

1.4.Architecture and sculpture.................................................. .........eleven

1.5.Painting.................................................... .....................................13

Chapter 2. Russian “Renaissance”.................................................. ...........16

Conclusion................................................. ......................................19

Bibliography............................................... 21

Introduction

The “Silver Age” in Russian culture, although it turned out to be surprisingly short (late 19th - early 20th centuries), but it left its mark on the history of Russia. I consider this topic relevant, since during this period Russian culture managed to reach a world level. The culture of Russia in the “Silver Age” was marked by high development, many achievements and discoveries. I believe that every citizen of his country should know about its culture.

The great upheavals that our country experienced in a relatively short period of time historical period, could not but affect its cultural development. Russian culture, without losing its national identity, increasingly acquired features of a pan-European character. Its connections with other countries have increased.

The goal of my course work is to study and analyze the “Silver Age” in Russian culture. In order to approach this goal, it is necessary to solve some of the problems I have set. In the first chapter of my work, I want to consider everything that happened during the “Silver Age” in science, literature, theater, music, architecture, sculpture and painting. There are various achievements and discoveries of world significance in science. Modernist movements will appear in literature: symbolism, acmeism, futurism. Theater and music reach the highest level among other countries. Great composers are emerging. It is also worth paying attention to the greatest Russian sculptors: Trubetskoy, Konenkov, Erzya, who managed to express the main trends in the development of domestic trends. It is necessary to get acquainted with the creativity of the “world artists”, which is associated with the revival of book graphics and the art of the book. In the “Silver Age” there was a “modern” style, which had folk roots, was based on an advanced industrial base, and absorbed the achievements of world architecture. “Modern” can still be found today in any old city. One has only to look closely at the rounded windows, exquisite stucco molding and curved balcony grilles of any mansion, hotel or store. The "Silver Age" first of all includes a spiritual phenomenon: the Russian religious revival of the early twentieth century. Therefore, I want to study and analyze the religious “renaissance” in the second chapter of my work. Philosophical thought reaches true peaks, which gave rise to the great philosopher N.A. Berdyaev to call the era a “religious and cultural renaissance.” Solovyov, Berdyaev, Bulgakov and other major philosophers had a strong, sometimes decisive influence on the development of various spheres of Russian culture. Particularly important in Russian philosophy was the appeal to ethical issues, focusing on spiritual world personality, on such categories as life and fate, conscience and love, insight and delusion.

Now it is necessary to solve all the tasks I have set, thereby I will be able to fulfill the goal in my course work.

Chapter 1. “Silver Age” in Russian culture

Culture of Russia in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. absorbed the artistic traditions, aesthetic and moral ideals of the “golden age” of the previous time. At the turn of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries. In the spiritual life of Europe and Russia, trends emerged related to the worldview of a person in the 20th century. They demanded a new understanding of social and moral problems: personality and society, art and life, the place of the artist in society, etc. All this led to the search for new visual methods and means. A unique historical and artistic period developed in Russia, which his contemporaries called the “Silver Age” of Russian culture. Expression and title "silver Age" is poetic and metaphorical, not strict or defined. In A. Akhmatova it is present in the famous lines: “And the silver month cooled brightly over the silver age...”. It is used by N. Berdyaev. A. Bely called one of his novels “Silver Dove”. The editor of the magazine "Apollo" S. Makovsky used it to refer to the entire time of the beginning of the 20th century. Russian culture in the conditions of the country's development at the beginning of the twentieth century acquired significant scope and a number of new directions. There has been an upsurge in education in Russia: the number of educational institutions, the activities of teachers and teachers of higher educational institutions have intensified. The publishing industry was actively developing. Now let’s take a closer look at what happened during the “Silver Age” in science, literature, theater, music, architecture, sculpture and painting.

1.1.Science

In the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries. The process of differentiation of sciences, their division into fundamental and applied, deepened. The needs of Russia's industrial development and new attempts at philosophical understanding of the relationship between nature and society left a special imprint on the state of the natural sciences and humanities.

In the natural sciences, the discovery of the Periodic Law by D.I. Mendeleev was of greatest importance chemical elements. The classical theory of the chemical structure of organic bodies was created by A.M. Butlerov. Fundamental and applied value had research by mathematicians P.L. Chebyshev, A.M. Lyapunov in the field of number theory, probability theory and a number of branches of mathematical physics. Outstanding discoveries were made in physics and mechanics. The works of A.G. Stoletov prepared the conditions for the creation of modern electronic equipment. A revolution in electric lighting was made by the discoveries of P.N. Yablochkov (arc lamp), A.N. Lodygin (incandescent lamp). A.S. Popov was awarded a gold medal for the invention of electrical communication without wires (radio). P.N. Lebedev confirmed the electromagnetic nature of light. N.E. Zhukovsky created the theory of hydraulic shock, discovered the law that determines the magnitude of the lifting force of an aircraft wing, developed the vortex theory of a propeller, etc. K.E. Tsiolkovsky, with his work in the field of rocket dynamics, substantiated the possibility of space flights. The encyclopedic works of V.I. Vernadsky contributed to the emergence of new directions in geochemistry, biochemistry, and radiology. The development of biology and medicine was marked by major successes. I.M. Pavlov developed the doctrine of higher nervous activity and the physiology of digestion. K.A. Timiryazev founded the Russian school of plant physiology. Russian geographers and ethnographers continued their exploration of little-known countries. S.O. Makarov completed 2 voyages around the world and gave a systematic description of the Black, Marmara and North Seas. He also proposed using icebreakers to explore the Northern Sea Route. Discoveries in the natural sciences (atomic fission, X-rays, radioactivity) changed the previous understanding of the materiality of the world and significantly influenced the social sciences. Philosophy revealed the need for a new understanding of nature, society and their connection with man. Criticism of Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory has intensified. At the same time, Marxism became widespread in Russia as a philosophical basis for knowledge and transformation of society. Interest in historical knowledge. S.M. Soloviev wrote many works on various historical problems. V.O. Klyuchevsky had a huge influence on the development of domestic historical science.

Thus, we examined the main achievements in the development of science of the “Silver Age”.

1.2.Literature

Russian literature continued to play an exceptional role important role in the cultural life of the country.

Realistic direction in Russian literature at the turn of the twentieth century. continued by L.N. Tolstoy (“Resurrection”, “Hadji Murat”, “The Living Corpse”), A.P. Chekhov (“Ward No. 6”, “Ionych”, “House with a Mezzanine”), I.A. Bunin (“Village”, “Mr. from San Francisco”) and A.I. Kuprin (“Olesya”, “The Pit”). At the same time, new artistic qualities appeared in realism. The spread of neo-romanticism is associated with this. Already the first neo-romantic works “Makar Chudra”, “Chelkash” and others brought fame to A.M. Gorky.

Appear in the literature modernist movements: symbolism, acmeism, futurism.

Russian symbolism as a literary movement developed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Creativity in the understanding of the symbolists is a subconscious-intuitive contemplation of secret meanings accessible only to the artist - the creator. The theoretical, philosophical and aesthetic roots and sources of creativity of symbolist writers were very diverse. So V. Bryusov considered symbolism a purely artistic direction, Merezhkovsky relied on Christian teaching, Vyach. Ivanov sought theoretical support in the philosophy and aesthetics of the ancient world, refracted through the philosophy of Nietzsche; A. Bely was fond of Vl. Solovyov, Schopenhauer, Kant, Nietzsche.

The artistic and journalistic organ of the Symbolists was the magazine “Scales” (1904 – 1909).

It is customary to distinguish between “senior” and “junior” symbolists. The “elders” (V. Bryusov, K. Balmont, F. Sologub, D. Merezhkovsky), who came to literature in the 90s, preached the cult of beauty and free self-expression of the poet. The “younger” symbolists (A. Blok, A. Bely, Vyach. Ivanov, S. Solovyov) brought philosophical and theosophical quests to the fore. The symbolists offered the reader a colorful myth about a world created according to the laws of eternal Beauty.

In 1910, symbolism was replaced by acmeism(from the Greek “acme” - the highest degree of something). The founders of Acmeism are considered to be N.S. Gumilyov (1886 – 1921) and S.M. Gorodetsky (1884 – 1967). The Acmeists, in contrast to the symbolic nebula, proclaimed the cult of real earthly existence, “a courageously firm and clear view of life.” But together with him they tried to establish primarily the aesthetic-hedonistic function of art, evading social problems in their poetry. Theoretical basis philosophical idealism remained. However, among the Acmeists there were poets who, in their work, were able to go beyond the framework of this “platform” and acquire new ideological and artistic qualities (A.A. Akhmatova, S.M. Gorodetsky, M.A. Zenkevich). The work of A.A. Akhmatova occupies a special place in the poetry of Acmeism. A. Akhmatova’s first collections “Evening” and “Rosary” brought her great fame.

Simultaneously with Acmeism in 1910-1912. arose futurism, which split into several groups: “Association of Ego-Futurists” (I. Severyanin and others), “Mezzanine of Poetry” (V. Lavrenev, R. Ivlev, etc.), “Centrifuge” (N. Aseev, B. Pasternak and others. ), "Gilea", whose participants D. Burliuk, V. Mayakovsky, V. Khlebnikov and others called themselves Cubo-Futurists, Budutlyans, i.e. people from the future. Futurism proclaimed a revolution of form, independent of content, absolute freedom of poetic speech. Futurists rejected literary traditions.

There were bright individuals in the poetry of this time that cannot be attributed to a specific movement - M. Voloshin (1877-1932), M. Tsvetaeva (1892-1941).

Conclusion: modernist movements appeared in the literature of the “Silver Age”: symbolism, acmeism and futurism.

1.3.Theater and music

The most important event in the social and cultural life of Russia at the end of the 19th century was the opening of an art theater in Moscow (1898), founded by K.S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. At first it was not easy for the new theater. Income from performances did not cover expenses. Savva Morozov came to the rescue, investing half a million rubles in the theater over five years. In a short period of time, an ensemble of wonderful actors was formed at the Art Theater (V.I. Kachalov, I.M. Moskvin, O.L. Kniper-Chekhov, etc.). New principles were formed in the production of plays by Chekhov and Gorky acting art, directing, performance design. An outstanding theatrical experiment, enthusiastically greeted by the democratic public, was not accepted by conservative critics. In 1904, the theater of V.F. Komissarzhevskaya arose in St. Petersburg, the repertoire of which reflected the aspirations of the democratic intelligentsia. The directorial work of Stanislavsky's student E.B. Vakhtangov is marked by the search for new forms, his productions of 1911-1912. are joyful and spectacular. In 1915, Vakhtangov created the 3rd studio of the Moscow Art Theater. One of the reformers of the Russian theater, A.Ya. Tairov, sought to create a “synthetic theater” with a predominantly romantic and tragic repertoire. Russian theater of the 19th century. - This is primarily an actor's theater. Only a very well-coordinated troupe made up a single ensemble.

The influence of the Moscow Art Theater in those years extended beyond the dramatic stage. A galaxy of wonderful “singing actors” appeared on the opera stage - F.I. Chaliapin, L.V. Sobinov, A.V. Nezhdanova. Gifted with brilliant vocal abilities, during the course of the performance they not only performed their opera parts, but also played like first-class actors. Special meaning To popularize the theatrical and musical art of Russia, S.P. Diaghilev, who organized the “Russian Seasons” (1907-1913) in Europe, became a triumph of Russian culture. The names of Russian dancers flashed on the newspaper pages - Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky. Representatives " Mighty bunch"(M.P. Mussorgsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, etc.) and other Russian composers (P.I. Tchaikovsky, S.V. Rachmaninov, etc.) created many opera, ballet, chamber-vocal and symphonic works. At the beginning of the twentieth century. searching for new musical means expressions were continued by A.N. Scriabin, in whose works chamberness and symphony were surprisingly intertwined.

Conclusion: in the second half of the 19th century. our music has received worldwide recognition and has a place in the family of European cultures. The first years of the twentieth century saw the heyday of Russian theater.

1.4.Architecture and sculpture

In the second half of the 19th century. Russian architects faced new challenges. Previously, they built mainly palaces and temples, but now they had to design railway stations, factory buildings, huge shops, and banks. The use of iron and glass expanded, and the use of concrete began. The emergence of new building materials and the improvement of construction technology made it possible to use constructive and artistic techniques, the aesthetic understanding of which led to the establishment of the “modern” style (from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the World War). The masters of the Art Nouveau era ensured that everyday objects bore the imprint of folk traditions. Convex glass, curved window sashes, fluid forms of metal gratings - all this came into architecture from “modernism”. The works of F.O. Shekhtel (1859-1926) most fully embodied the main development trends and genres of Russian modernism. The formation of style in the master’s work proceeded in two directions - national-romantic, in line with the neo-Russian style (Yaroslavsky Station in Moscow, 1903) and rational (A. A. Levenson’s printing house in Mamontovsky Lane, 1900). The features of Art Nouveau were most fully manifested in the architecture of the Ryabushinsky mansion at the Nikitsky Gate, where the architect, abandoning traditional schemes, applied the asymmetrical principle of planning. Early “modernity” was characterized by a desire for spontaneity, immersion in the flow of formation and development. In late “modernity,” a calm, “Apollonistic” beginning began to predominate. Elements of classicism returned to architecture. In Moscow, the Museum was built according to the design of the architect R.I. Klein fine arts and Borodinsky Bridge. At the same time, the buildings of the Azov-Don and Russian Commercial and Industrial Banks appeared in St. Petersburg.

Like architecture, sculpture at the turn of the century was liberated from eclecticism. Eclecticism – a variety of directions and a shift in styles. The renewal of the artistic and figurative system is associated with the influence of impressionism. The first consistent representative of this trend was P.P. Trubetskoy (1866-1938). Already in the first works of the sculptor, the features of the new method appeared - “looseness,” lumpy texture, dynamic forms, permeated with air and light. Trubetskoy’s most remarkable work is the monument to Alexander III in St. Petersburg (1909, bronze). Trubetskoy’s younger contemporary was S.T. Konenkov. He managed to introduce folk motifs into sculpture, which, first of all, were embodied in carvings on huts, handicraft toys and other works applied arts. S.F. Nefedov-Erzya knew how to convey both the state of mind and the beauty of the human body in his sculptures. Marble, wood, and new materials such as cement and reinforced concrete were obedient to him.

Conclusion: the century of “modern” was very short, but it was a very bright period in the history of architecture. In addition to Trubetskoy, Konenkov and Erzya, others were working in Russia at that time famous sculptors, but it was these three masters who with particular force managed to express the main trends in the development of domestic trends at the beginning of the twentieth century - increased attention to inner world man and the desire for nationality.

1.5.Painting

On turn of XIX-XX centuries, significant changes took place in Russian painting. Genre scenes faded into the background. The landscape was losing its photographic quality and linear perspective, became more democratic, based on the combination and play of color spots. Portraits often combined the ornamental conventionality of the background and the sculptural clarity of the face. Blurring boundaries between genres at the turn of the century in historical theme led to the emergence historical and everyday genre. Artists of this direction: A.P. Ryabushkin, A.V. Vasnetsov, M.V. Nesterov. Impressionism, as a direction, is represented in the works of such artists as I.I. Levitan (“ Birch Grove", "March"); K.A. Korovin is the most prominent representative of Russian impressionism (“Paris”). The central figure of turn-of-the-century art is V.A. Serov (“Girl with Peaches”, “Girl Illuminated by the Sun”). Representatives of the picturesque symbolism were M. Vrubel and V. Borisov-Musatov. M.A. Vrubel was a versatile master. He successfully worked on monumental murals, paintings, decorations, and designs for stained glass. Central image Vrubel’s creativity – Demon (“Seated Demon”, “Subjected Demon”). V. Borisov-Musatov created a beautiful and sublime world in his canvases. His work is one of the most striking and large-scale phenomena. At the turn of the century, the artistic association “World of Art” appeared. Artists of this direction: K.A. Somov, N.A. Benois, E.E. Lansere, M.V. Nesterov, N.K. Roerich, S.P. Diaghilev and others. The “Miroiskusniks” were worried about the advent of the industrial era, when huge cities built up with faceless factory buildings grew. They were worried that art was being crowded out and becoming the property of a small circle of “selected people.” The revival of book graphics and the art of books is associated with the creativity of the “world artists”. Not limiting themselves to illustrations, artists introduced splash pages, intricate vignettes and Art Nouveau style endings into books. It became clear that the design of a book should be closely related to its content. The graphic designer began to pay attention to details such as book format, paper color, font, and trim.

In 1907, another artistic association arose in Moscow “ Blue Rose", which included symbolist artists, followers of Borisov-Musatov (P.V. Kuznetsov, M.S. Saryan). “Goluborozovtsy” were influenced by Art Nouveau style, hence character traits their painting is a flat-decorative stylization of forms, a search for sophisticated color solutions.

The artists of the “Jack of Diamonds” association (R.R. Falk, I.I. Mashkov and others), turning to the aesthetics of post-impressionism, fauvism and cubism, as well as to the techniques of Russian popular print and folk toys, solved the problems of identifying the materiality of nature, constructing a form color. The initial principle of their art was the affirmation of the subject as opposed to spatiality. In this regard, the image of inanimate nature - still life - was put in first place.

In the 1910s originates in painting primitivist trend associated with the assimilation of stylistics children's drawing, signs, popular prints and folk toys. Representatives of this direction are M.F.Larionov, N.S.Goncharova, M.Z.Shagal, P.N.Filonov. The first experiments of Russian artists in abstract art date back to this time, one of the first manifestos of which was Larionov’s book “Rayism” (1913), and V.V. Kandinsky and K.S. Malevich became the true theorists and practitioners.

Thus, the extraordinary diversity and inconsistency of artistic quests, numerous groups with their programmatic guidelines reflected the tense socio-political and complex spiritual atmosphere of their time.

In general, the achievements of Russian culture of the “Silver Age” received worldwide recognition. Many domestic scientists were honorary members of European academies and scientific institutions. Domestic science has been enriched with a number of achievements. The names of Russian travelers remained on geographical map peace. The creativity of artists is developing, their associations are being created. There is a search for new solutions and forms in architecture and sculpture. The art of music is enriched. The drama theater is experiencing its heyday. IN Russian literature new art forms were born.

Culture of Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century. marked high level development, many achievements that have replenished the treasury of world culture. She clearly expressed the turning point nature of her time, its searches, difficulties, both progressive and crisis phenomena.

Religious philosophy reached particular heights, giving the entire period the name of the philosophical renaissance, which we will get acquainted with in the next chapter of my course work.

Chapter 2. Russian “Renaissance”

The “Silver Age” is a manifestation of the spiritual and artistic renaissance, marking the rise of Russian culture at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.

The culture of the turn of the century rehabilitated political “lack of ideas,” ethical uncertainty, creative individualism and spiritual chosenness, which were condemned at one time by representatives of Russian democratic culture. This unique revival of the ideals and principles of Russian classics gave contemporaries the basis to call the Silver Age metaphorically the Russian “cultural renaissance.” Among other things, this name also included the idea of Renaissance completeness, universalism, cultural multidimensionality and encyclopedicism. This characteristic of the Russian cultural Renaissance gives a lot for understanding the deep patterns of the Silver Age era itself, which led Russia to revolution.

Supporters of the religious Renaissance saw in the revolution of 1905-1907. a serious threat to the future of Russia, they perceived it as the beginning of a national catastrophe. They saw the salvation of Russia in the restoration of Christianity as the foundation of all culture, in the revival and establishment of the ideals and values of religious humanism. The onset of the cultural Renaissance contradicted any rationalistic logic and was often justified only by the spiritual chosenness of Russian culture itself. N. Berdyaev, who continued and substantiated the concept of “Russian spiritual and cultural renaissance,” characterized the implementation of a holistic cultural style in the Silver Age as a difficult struggle of “renaissance people” against the “narrowing of consciousness” of the traditional intelligentsia. At the same time, it was a return to the creative heights of spiritual culture of the 19th century.

The Russian cultural Renaissance was created by a whole constellation of brilliant humanists - N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, D.S. Merezhkovsky, S.N. Trubetskoy and others. A collection of articles by prominent philosophers, “Vekhi,” published in 1909, acutely raised the question of the values of the Russian intelligentsia and understanding of the ways of further development of Russia.

The foundations of the religious and philosophical Renaissance, which marked the “Silver Age” of Russian culture, were laid by V.S. Solovyov (1853-1900), who studied philosophy a lot, and also studied religious and philosophical literature, and experienced a spiritual turning point. It was at this time that the foundations of his future system began to take shape.

The condition for creating an integrative style of culture and achieving cultural synthesis at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. there was a repulsion from the differentiating trends of the previous era, a rethinking or rejection of facts that limited the freedom of creativity and creative personality. Among them, Berdyaev mentions social utilitarianism, positivism, materialism, as well as atheism and realism, which significantly schematized the philosophical, moral and aesthetic worldview of the Russian intelligentsia of the second half of the 19th century.

The following tasks began to come to the forefront of culture:

The creative self-awareness of artists and thinkers of this time;

Creative rethinking and renewal of previously established cultural traditions;

Russian democratic social thought: at the same time, the democratic heritage was opposed mainly by elitist concepts of culture, which highlighted the creative personality and individual creativity - in the sphere of art, philosophy, science, morality, politics, religion, public life, everyday behavior and so on, i.e. any values and norms;

As for the very principles of Russian democratic culture, the cultural figures of the Silver Age quite consistently opposed conscious idealism to vulgarly interpreted materialism, poetic religiosity and religious philosophy to atheism, individualism and personal worldview to nationality, social utilitarianism to the desire for abstract philosophical Truth, abstract Good. ;

The official canons of Orthodoxy, which was contrasted with a “creatively understood” religion – “new religious consciousness”, sophiology, mystical-religious quests, theosophy, “God-seeking”;

Established schools in art - classical realism in literature, Peredvizhniki and academicism in painting, Kuchkism in music, traditions of social and everyday realism of Ostrovsky in the theater, etc.; traditionalism in art was contrasted with a variety of artistic modernism, including formal artistic innovation and demonstrative subjectivism.

Thus, the ground arose for a new cultural synthesis.

The Russian “renaissance” reflected the worldview of people who lived and worked at the turn of the century. The religious and philosophical thought of this period painfully searched for answers to the questions of Russian reality, trying to combine the incompatible material and spiritual, the denial of Christian dogmas and Christian ethics.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to say that the work I did was fully consistent with the goals and objectives set in the introduction. In the first chapter, I reviewed and analyzed the “Silver Age” in Russian culture, namely in science, literature, theater, music, architecture, sculpture and painting. In the second chapter we became acquainted with the cultural “renaissance”,

The period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the World War went down in history as the “Silver Age of Russian culture.” We learned that the “Silver Age” was of great importance for the development of not only Russian, but also world culture. For the first time, its leaders expressed serious concern that the emerging relationship between civilization and culture was becoming dangerous, and that the preservation and revival of spirituality was an urgent need. It was at the turn of the century that processes developed in art that led to the formation of a type of mass culture with its characteristic primitivism in the depiction of human relations. Artistic styles were born in which shifts usual meaning concepts and ideals. Life-like opera and genre painting were becoming a thing of the past. Symbolist and futurist poetry, music, painting, a new ballet, theater, and architectural modernism were born. The beginning of the twentieth century was deposited on library shelves with many high-quality examples of book art. In painting, the World of Art association was of great importance, which became artistic symbol borders of two centuries. A whole stage in the development of Russian painting is associated with it. A special place in the association was occupied by M.A. Vrubel, M.V. Nesterov and N.K. Roerich. An important feature of the development of the “Silver Age” culture is the powerful rise of the humanities.

In Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century there was a real cultural “renaissance”. Russia experienced a flourishing of poetry and philosophy, intense religious quests, and mystical and occult sentiments. Religious quest are now recognized not only as not refuted by science, but even confirmed by it; religion is drawing closer to art: in religion its creative and aesthetic nature, and art appears as symbolic language religious and mystical revelations. Russian religious and philosophical Renaissance, marked by a whole constellation of brilliant thinkers - N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, D.S. Merezhkovsky, S.N. Trubetskoy, G.P. Fedotov, P.A. Florensky, S. L. Frank and others - largely determined the direction of development of culture, philosophy, ethics not only in Russia, but also in the West. In the artistic culture of the Russian “Renaissance” there was a unique combination of realistic traditions of the outgoing 19th century and new artistic trends. The “Silver Age” ended with a mass exodus of its creators from Russia. However, this did not destroy the great Russian culture, the development of which continued to mirror the contradictory trends in the history of the twentieth century.

The most important thing is that Russia has enriched world culture with achievements in a wide variety of fields. Russian culture is increasingly revealing itself to the world and opening the world to itself.

Bibliography

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3) Balmont K. Elementary words about symbolic poetry // Sokolov A.G. 2000

4) Berdyaev N.A. Philosophy of creativity, culture and art.1996

5) Kravchenko A.I. Textbook on cultural studies, 2004.

6) History and cultural studies. Tutorial edited by N.V. Shishkova. – M: Logos, 1999

7) Mikhailova M.V. Russian literary criticism late XIX - early XX centuries: reader, 2001

8) Rapatskaya L.A. “Artistic culture of Russia”, Moscow, “Vlados”, 1998.

9) Ronen Omri. The Silver Age as an intention is an invention // Materials and research on the history of Russian culture, - M., 2000, Issue 4

10) Yakovkina N.I. History of Russian culture of the 19th century. St. Petersburg: Lan, 2000.

P.N. Zyryanov. History of Russia XIX - early XX centuries, 1997.

A.S. Orlov, V.A. Georgiev. History of Russia from ancient times to the present day, 2000.

E.E. Vyazemsky, L.V. Zhukov. History of Russia from ancient times to the present day, 2005.

Knowledge Hypermarket >>History >>History 9th grade >>History: Silver Age of Russian culture

Silver Age of Russian Culture

1. The spiritual state of society.

2. Science.

3. In search of a social ideal.

4. Literature.

5. Painting.

6. Sculpture.

7. Architecture.

8. Music, ballet, theater, cinema.

The spiritual state of society.

Beginning of the 20th century - a turning point not only in political and socio-economic life Russia, but also in spiritual state society. The industrial era dictated its own conditions and standards of life, destroying traditional values and ideas of people. The aggressive onslaught of production led to a violation of the harmony between nature and man, to the smoothing of human individuality, to the triumph of standardization of all aspects of life. This gave rise to confusion, an anxious feeling of impending disaster. All the ideas about good and evil, truth and lies, beautiful and ugly, hard-won by previous generations, now seemed untenable and required urgent and radical revision.

The science.

Russia at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. made a significant contribution to world scientific and technological progress, which was called the “revolution in natural science,” since the scientific discoveries made during this period led to a revision of established ideas about the world around us.

Physicist P. N. Lebedev was the first in the world to establish general patterns, inherent in wave processes of various natures (sound, electromagnetic, hydraulic, etc.), made other discoveries in the field of wave physics. He created the first physical school in Russia.

The outstanding Russian scientist V.I. Vernadsky gained worldwide fame for his encyclopedic works, which served as the basis for the emergence of new scientific directions in geochemistry, biochemistry, and radiology. His teachings on the biosphere and noosphere laid the foundation for modern ecology. The innovation of the ideas he expressed is fully realized only now, when the world finds itself on the verge of an environmental catastrophe.

Russian physiologist I.P. Pavlov created the doctrine of higher nervous activity, of conditioned reflexes. In 1904 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research in the physiology of digestion. In 1908, I. I. Mechnikov received the Nobel Prize for his work on immunology and infectious diseases.
A number of outstanding discoveries in the theory and practice of aircraft construction were made by N. E. Zhukovsky. Zhukovsky's student and colleague was the outstanding mechanic and mathematician S. A. Chaplygin.

At the origins of modern cosmonautics stood a nugget, a teacher at the Kaluga gymnasium, K. E. Tsiolkovsky. In 1903, he published a number of brilliant works that substantiated the possibility of space flights and determined ways to achieve this goal.

In search of a social ideal.

Russia's entry into a new era was accompanied by a search for an ideology that could not only explain the changes that were taking place, but also outline the prospects for the country's development. The most popular philosophical theory in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. there was Marxism. It captivated us with its logic, apparent simplicity, and most importantly, its versatility. In addition, Marxism had fertile soil in Russia in the form of the revolutionary tradition of the Russian intelligentsia and the uniqueness of the Russian national character with his thirst for justice and equality.

However, part of the Russian intelligentsia very soon became disillusioned with Marxism, in its unconditional recognition of the primacy of material life over spiritual life. And then revolution In 1905, the revolutionary principle of reorganizing society was also revised.

In 1909, a collection of articles “Vekhi” was published, prepared by famous philosophers N.A. Berdyaev, S.L. Frank, S.N. Bulgakov, P.B. Struve and others. All of them were once fond of Marxism, and then switched to the position of idealism and the creation of a new religious philosophy. The authors of the collection presented a cruel account of the Russian intelligentsia, accusing them of dogmatism, adherence to outdated philosophical teachings of the 19th century, ignorance of modern philosophy, nihilism, and low legal consciousness. They believed that the intelligentsia’s huge mistake consisted of isolation from the people, atheism, oblivion and denigration of Russian history, etc. All these negative qualities, in their opinion, led to the fact that it was the Russian intelligentsia that was the main instigator of the revolution, which brought the country to the brink of a national catastrophe. The Vekhi people concluded that the ideas of revolutionary transformation were futile in Russia. They were convinced that social progress in the country is possible only through gradual, evolutionary changes, which must begin with the development of new religious and moral ideals based on Christian teaching. Russian religious philosophers believed that the official Orthodox Church, which had tied itself too closely to the autocratic state, could not take on the role of the savior of Russian souls.

Literature.

The ambiguous nature of Russian society at the beginning of the 20th century. most clearly reflected in the Russian artistic culture of the Silver Age. On the one hand, the writers’ works maintained stable traditions of critical realism XIX V. The leading positions were occupied by luminaries - L. N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov, V. G. Korolenko, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak. I. A. Bunin, A. I. Kuprin, M. Gorky made their presence known.

At the same time, the voices of another generation of creative intelligentsia are beginning to sound ever louder, protesting against the main principle of realistic art - the principle of direct depiction of the surrounding world. According to its representatives, art, being a synthesis of two opposite principles - matter and spirit, is capable of not only “displaying”, but also “transforming” existing world, create a new reality.

Symbolist poets became the founders of a new direction in art. They announced war materialistic worldview, arguing that only faith and determination are the basis of human existence and art. “Without faith in the divine principle,” asserted the patriarch of Russian symbolism Dm. Merezhkovsky, “there is no beauty on earth, no justice, no poetry, no freedom.” Symbolists believed that the poet is endowed with the ability to communicate with the transcendental world through artistic symbols.

Initially, symbolism took the form of decadence. This term meant a mood of decadence, melancholy and hopelessness, and pronounced individualism. These features are characteristic of the early poetry of K. Balmont, A. Blok, V. Bryusov.

Russian symbolism has become a global phenomenon. It is with him that the concept of “Silver Age” is primarily associated.

The works of the Symbolists sounded alarming feelings of impending catastrophes. But their poems also contained a romantic call for a new world order based on spiritual freedom and unity of people, and faith in the special historical destiny of Russia.

Acmeists came up with opposite ideas (from the Greek word “acme” - the highest degree of something, blooming power). They denied the mystical aspirations of the Symbolists and proclaimed the intrinsic value of real, earthly life. Acmeists called for returning words to their original, traditional meaning, freeing them from symbolic interpretations. The main evaluation criterion artistic creativity for the Acmeists (N. Gumilyov, S. Gorodetsky, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam) there was impeccable aesthetic taste, beauty and refinement of the artistic word.

Russian artistic culture of the early 20th century. also experienced the influence of avant-gardeism, which originated in the West and embraced all types of art. Avant-gardeism absorbed various artistic movements and styles that announced their break with traditional cultural values past eras and proclaimed the ideas of creating “new art”. The futurists were prominent representatives of the Russian avant-garde. The poetry of the Futurists was distinguished by increased attention not to the content, but to the form of versification. Futurists constructed new words, used vulgar vocabulary, professional jargon, and the language of documents, posters and posters in their works. Collections of Futurist poems bore characteristic titles: “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste”, “Dead Moon”, “Roaring Parnassus”, etc.

Russian futurism was represented by several poetic groups. The most prominent names were gathered by the St. Petersburg group “Gilea” - V. Khlebnikov, D. Burliuk, A. Kruchenykh, V. Mayakovsky, V. Kamensky, E. Guro. Collections of poems and public speeches by I. Severyanin, who headed the “Association of Ego-Futurists,” enjoyed stunning success.

Painting.

Similar processes took place in Russian painting. Strong positions were held by representatives of the Russian academic school and the heirs of the Wanderers - I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, S. A. Korovin. But the trendsetter was the style called “modern”. Followers of this trend created the creative society “World of Art”. “Miriskusniki” sharply criticized the Peredvizhniki, believing that the latter had caused enormous harm to Russian painting. They believed that art is an independent, valuable sphere human activity and it should not depend on political and social influences.

Over a long period (the association arose in 1898 and existed intermittently until 1924), the World of Art included almost all the major Russian artists; its most active members were A. Benois, L. Bakst, E. Lanceray, N. Roerich, K. Somov. “The World of Art” left a deep mark on the development of not only painting, but also opera, ballet, design art, art criticism, exhibition business.

In 1907, an exhibition called “Blue Rose” was opened in Moscow, in which A. Arapov, N. Krymov, P. Kuznetsov, N. Sapunov, M. Saryan and others took part, a total of 16 artists. These were searching youth, dissatisfied with the state of art, familiar with the achievements of Western artists and striving to find their individuality in the synthesis Western experience and national traditions.

Representatives of the Blue Rose were closely associated with Symbolist poets. But symbolism in Russian painting has never been a single stylistic direction. It included, for example, such different artists in their painting systems as M. Vrubel, K. Petrov-Vodkin and others.

At the same time, groups representing the avant-garde direction in art appeared in Russian painting. In 1910, an exhibition called “Jack of Diamonds” was organized in Moscow, and in 1911 its participants united into a society with the same name. It existed until 1917. Among the activists of the “Jack of Diamonds” were P. Konchalovsky, I. Mashkov, A. Lentulov, R. Falk, V. Rozhdestvensky and others. In their work, the “Jacks of Diamonds” sought to finally free painting from the influence social and political life, literary and other subordination. In their opinion, in painting it is important to use only its inherent means - color, line, plasticity. They saw beauty in the very surface of the canvas, covered with a layer of paint, in the unique mixture of colors. Most popular genre“Jacks of Diamonds” was a still life.

A number of major Russian artists - V. Kandinsky, M. Chagall, P. Filonov and others - entered the history of world culture as representatives of unique styles that combined avant-garde trends with Russian national traditions.

Sculpture.

Sculpture also experienced a creative upsurge during this period. Significant successes were achieved by P. P. Trubetskoy, whose works showed impressionist tendencies. He became widely known sculptural portraits L.N. Tolstoy, S.Yu. Witte, F.I. Shalyapin and others. They most consistently reflected the main artistic rule of the master: to capture the still slightly noticeable instantaneous internal movement of a person. An important milestone in Russian history monumental sculpture became a monument Alexander III, conceived as a kind of antipode to another great monument - “The Bronze Horseman” by E. Falconet.

The combination of impressionism and modernist tendencies characterizes the work of A. S. Golubkina. The main feature of her works is not the display of a specific image or fact of life, and the creation of a generalized phenomenon: “Old Age” (1898), “Walking Man” (1903), “Soldier” (1907), “Sleepers” (1912), etc.
S. T. Konenkov left a significant mark on Russian art of the Silver Age. His work embodied the continuity of the traditions of realism in new directions. He went through a fascination with Michelangelo (“Samson Breaking the Chains”), Russian folk wooden sculpture(“Lesovik”, “The Beggar Brethren”), Wandering traditions (“Stone Fighter”), traditional realistic portrait (“A.P. Chekhov”). And with all this, he remained a master of bright creative individuality.

Architecture.

In the second half of the 19th century. new opportunities opened up for architecture. This was due to the general technical progress. Fast growth cities, their industrial equipment, the development of transport, changes in public life constantly required new architectural forms and solutions. Not only in the capitals, but also in hundreds of provincial cities, train stations, restaurants, shops, markets, theaters and bank buildings were built. At the same time, the traditional construction of palaces, mansions, and estates continued. The main problem of architecture was the search for a new style. And just like in painting, the new direction in architecture was called “modern style”. One of the features of this direction was the stylization of Russian architectural motifs - the so-called neo-Russian style.
A church was built in the neo-Russian style in Abramtsevo (1881 - 1882), on which V. M. Vasnetsov, V. D. Polenov and A. S Mamontov worked. Subsequently, Vasnetsov implemented the Tretyakov Gallery project.

The most famous architect, whose work largely determined the development of Russian, especially Moscow, Art Nouveau, was F. O. Shekhtel. At the beginning of his work, he used medieval Gothic designs. The mansion of Z. G. Morozova (1893) and the house of A. N. Ryabushinsky (1900 - 1902) were built in this style in Moscow. Subsequently, Shekhtel more than once turned to the traditions of Russian wooden architecture. A clear example of this is the building of the Yaroslavl station in Moscow (1902 - 1904). Later, Shekhtel became close to the so-called rationalist modernity. This direction is characterized by a significant simplification of architectural forms and structures. The most significant buildings reflecting this trend were the Ryabushinsky Bank (1903), the printing house of the Morning of Russia newspaper in Moscow (1907), and the house of the Moscow merchant society.

During this period, along with the architects of the “new era,” neo-classicism (I.V. Zholtovsky) occupied a significant position; the technique of deliberately mixing different architectural styles. The most significant building in this regard was the building of the Metropol Hotel in Moscow (1900), built according to the design of the famous joy-builder V. F. Walcott.

Music, ballet, theater, cinema.

Beginning of the 20th century became time creative takeoff great Russian composers-innovators A. Scriabin, I. Stravinsky, S. Taneyev, S. Rachmaninov. These composers tried to go beyond traditional classical music and create new musical forms and images. Musical performing culture has also flourished significantly. The Russian vocal school was represented by the names of outstanding singers - F. Chaliapin, A. Nezhdanova, L. Sobinov, I. Ershov.

By the beginning of the 20th century. Russian ballet has taken leading positions in world ballet art. The Russian school of ballet relied on academic traditions the end of the 19th century, to the stage productions of the outstanding choreographer M. Petipa, which have become classics of world choreography. But at the same time, new trends appeared. Young directors A. Gorsky and M. Fokin put forward the principle of picturesqueness, according to which not only the choreographer and composer, but also the artist became full authors of the performance. The ballets of Gorsky and Fokine were designed by K. Korovin, A. Benois, L. Bakst, N. Roerich. Russian ballet school beginning of the 20th century gave the world a galaxy of brilliant artists - A. Pavlov, T. Karsavin, V. Nijinsky and others.

A notable feature of the Silver Age culture was innovation in theatrical productions. They were associated with the names of outstanding directors - K. Stanislavsky, V. Meyerhold, E. Vakhtangov. K. Stanislavsky - founder of psychological acting school- believed that the future of the theater lies in in-depth psychological realism, in solving super-tasks of acting transformation. Meyerhold gave preference to theatrical conventions, generalization, and used elements of folk farce and mask theater. E. Vakhtangov staged expressive, spectacular, joyful performances.

There was an interest in combining different types of creative activities. At the head of this process was the “World of Art,” which united not only artists, but also poets, philosophers, and musicians. The crowning achievement of the “World of Arts” activity was the “Russian Seasons” organized by S. Diaghilev in Paris, presented ballet performances, theatrical painting, music, etc.

Beginning of the 20th century - the time of the birth of a new art form - cinema. Since 1903, the first “electric theaters” and “illusions” began to appear in Russia, and by 1914 about 4 thousand cinemas had been built.

In 1908, the first Russian feature film, “Stenka Razin and the Princess,” was shot, and in 1911, the first full-length film, “The Defense of Sevastopol.” Cinematography developed rapidly and became very popular. In 1914, there were about 30 domestic film companies in Russia. The bulk of film production consisted of films with primitive melodramatic plots. Director Y. Protazanov, actors I. Mozzhukhin, V. Kholodnaya, V. Maksimov, A. Koonen and others gained worldwide fame.

The undoubted merit of cinema was its accessibility to all segments of the population. Russian films created mainly as film adaptations classical works, became the first sign in the formation of mass culture - an indispensable attribute bourgeois society.
Thus, the culture of the early 20th century. experienced extraordinary prosperity. At the same time, new trends in art proclaimed a departure from real life into the sphere of pure art. Despite the undoubted interest in folk cultural traditions, high cultural achievements remained inaccessible to broad layers of the people.

Document

From the report of S. P. Bobrov “Fundamentals of new Russian painting”

Currently... Russian purists have stopped studying in France. Having overcome the French call, Russian purists saw that in their homeland there was still so much untouched and undeveloped. Our amazing icons are the world crowns of Christian religious art, our old popular prints, northern embroideries, stone women, bas-reliefs on prosphora, on crosses and our old signs. There is so much new here, untouched by anyone. Now, it seems, artists love antiquity and are engaged in it, but for some reason they themselves do not go beyond cheap and vulgar stylization, not understanding, not feeling the enormous pictorial value of these artless masterpieces. But Russian purists, having looked at all these values, got used to them, entered their very soul. From now on our native antiquity, our archaism leads us into unknown distances.

Questions and tasks:

1. What characterized the cultural and spiritual life of Russian society at the beginning of the 20th century? What are the most significant cultural achievements of this period? What are the reasons for the explosion of creative activity during this period?

2. Tell us about the most important ones scientific discoveries Russian scientists at the beginning of the 20th century.

3. The question of the fate and purpose of Russia became at the beginning of the 20th century, especially after the revolution of 1905, the key issue of Russian philosophical thought. Why do you think?

4. Give a description of the leading trends in literature and painting. What caused the emergence of avant-garde styles in these areas of culture?

5. Define common features artistic culture Russia at the turn of the century.

Expanding vocabulary:

Biosphere- the area of distribution of life on Earth.
Dogmatism- a method of thinking based on dogmas - immutable truths that are not subject to criticism, without taking into account specific conditions.
Idealism- a direction in philosophy opposite to materialism in solving the main question of philosophy
Ideology- a system of ideas and views that reflect the attitude of various groups of people to the surrounding reality and to each other.
Nihilism- denial of generally accepted values: ideals, moral norms, culture, forms of social life.
Nobel Prize- a prize for outstanding achievements in the field of science, technology, literature, awarded annually by the Swedish Academy of Sciences at the expense of funds left by the Swedish inventor and industrialist A. Nobel.
Noosphere- a state of the biosphere in which intelligent human activity becomes a decisive factor in its development.
Symbolism- direction in art; focused on artistic expression through the symbol of material objects and ideas that are beyond the senses and perceptions.
Sociocultural- a concept that captures the understanding of culture as a wide complex of social phenomena. This is not only art, science, but the whole complex material culture, social and political relations.
Futurism- a direction in art that denies the artistic and moral heritage, preaches a break with traditional culture and the creation of a new urban civilization.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries there was an unprecedented rise in Russian culture. Usually, when hearing the phrase “Silver Age,” one thinks of literature, in particular the poetry of Blok, Bryusov, Gumilyov, etc. However, this period is famous not only for literature.

It is truly comparable to the “golden age” - the age of Pushkin.

Borders of the Silver Age

The boundaries of this period are also defined differently.

Actually, there is practically no discrepancy with the beginning of the “Silver Age” - this is 1892 (manifestos of the modernists and D. Merezhkovsky’s collection “Symbols”).
But some consider the coup of 1917 to be the end of this period, others - 1922 (the year after the death of Gumilyov, the death of Blok, the wave of emigration).

Distinctive features and achievements of the Silver Age

So what is wonderful and interesting about this time?

This century in Russia was marked by vibrant diversity in all areas of the cultural life of society.

Russian philosophy

Philosophy of the Silver Age

Silver Age Theater

The Silver Age of Russian culture was also reflected in the development of theatrical art. First of all, this is the system of K. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, but also the Alexandrinsky and Chamber theaters, the theater of V. Komissarzhevskaya.

Painting

Painting and sculpture of the Silver Age

New directions are also characteristic of painting and sculpture (, “Union of Russian Artists”, “Blue Rose”, etc., works by P. Trubetskoy, A. Golubkina).

Opera singers (F. Chaliapin, L. Sobinov, A. Nezhdanova) and dancers ( ) are gaining worldwide fame.

Russian music

Music of the Silver Age

Features of symbolism

The main features of this literary movement:

two worlds(the real world and the other world),
special role of the symbol as something that cannot be expressed in a concrete way,
special significance of sound recording,
mystical and religious motives and etc.

The names of V. Bryusov, A. Blok, A. Bely and others are well known.

b) Russian Acmeism

(from the Greek “acme” - peak, tip, flowering) - rejection and continuation of Russian symbolism.

Features of Acmeism

philosophy of action,
acceptance of the world
experiencing the objectivity and materiality of this world, denial of mysticism,
picturesque image,
masculinity of perception of the world and life,
the weight of the specific meaning of a word and etc.

The first among equals was, undoubtedly, N. Gumilev. And also S. Gorodetsky, M. Zenkevich, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam.

c) Russian futurism

To some extent, it was a continuation of European futurism. At its inception, it did not have a single center (it was represented by four hostile factions in Moscow and St. Petersburg)
Features of this direction:

looking to the future
feeling of impending changes
denial of the classical heritage,
urbanism,
search for new words, inflections, new language and etc.

V. Khlebnikov, D. Burlyuk, I. Severyanin and others.

Our presentation:

The specificity of this century lies in the fact that the work of Russian artists of this period combined not only the features of realism, but also:

romanticism (M. Gorky),
naturalism (P. Boborykin),
symbolism (L. Andreeva)

It was a glorious century!!! The Silver Age of great Russian culture!

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Symbolism

Futurism

Conclusion

References

What characterizes the Silver Age of Russian culture?

In the 90s of the XIX century. Russian culture is experiencing a powerful rise. The new era, which gave birth to a whole galaxy of writers, artists, musicians, and philosophers, was called the “Silver Age”. In a short period of time - the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. - in Russian culture they concentrated extremely important events, a whole galaxy of bright individuals appeared, as well as many artistic associations.

Russia was then experiencing an incredibly intense intellectual upsurge, primarily in philosophy and poetry, truly, according to N. Berdyaev, a “Russian cultural renaissance.” He also owns another definition of this period - the “Silver Age”.

The spiritual life of Russia during this period was characterized by unprecedented richness, a continuation of wonderful artistic traditions, the desire to update poetic language, the desire to resurrect to a new life almost all the images and forms developed human culture, and at the same time a lot of experiments where a fundamental focus on “novelty” was made.

The first heralds of the “cultural renaissance” appeared back in the 80s. XIX century In 1882, in the work “On the Causes of Decline and New Trends in Modern Russian Literature” D.S. Merezhkovsky brilliantly substantiated the aesthetics of the newborn Russian modernism. An encyclopedic historian, poet and writer, Merezhkovsky predicted a radical renewal of Russian literature in line with “mystical content”, the free expression of religious feelings.

Extensive in its global quest, the Silver Age was intense in creative content. Artists in all spheres of art were cramped within the established classical rules. An active search for new forms contributed to the emergence of symbolism, acmeism, futurism in literature, cubism and abstractionism in painting, symbolism in music, etc. Along with realism, the dominant worldview and style in the art of the turn of the century became symbolism- a new form of romanticism.

At the beginning of the 20th century. Outstanding works are created by classics of Russian literature: L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov, V.G. Korolenko, A.I. Kuprin, I.A. Bunin, L.N. Andreev, A.M. Gorky, M.M. Prishvin.

On the horizon of Russian poetry, dozens of stars of the first magnitude gracefully flashed - from K.D. Balmont and A.A. Block to N.S. Gumilyov and very young M.I. Tsvetaeva, S.A. Yesenina, A.A. Akhmatova. Writers and poets of the Silver Age, unlike their predecessors, paid close attention to the literature of the West. They chose new literary trends as their guide - e.g. stheticism O. Wilde, pessimism A. Schopenhauer, symbolism C. Baudelaire. At the same time, the figures of the Silver Age took a new look at the artistic heritage of Russian culture. Another passion of this time, reflected in literature, painting, and poetry, was sincere and deep. interest in Slavic mythology, to Russian folklore. " The most poetic Russian romanticism, which blossomed in lyrical poetry, also gained a second wind. The “social status” of art changed. Serious circles united many outstanding cultural figures. For example, in the “Religious and Philosophical” society, the tone was set by D.S. Merezhkovsky, V.V. Rozanov, D.V. Filosofov. A huge role in the development of the ideas of cultural renaissance was played by the magazines "Scales", " New way", "World of Art", "Northern Herald", "Golden Fleece", "Pass". Many publications were nurtured by the best minds of Russia.

Symbolism

Let us consider sequentially the main artistic movements of the “Silver Age”. The most striking of them was symbolism. This direction in the development of art was pan-European, but it was in Russia that symbolism acquired a high philosophical meaning, reflected in the great works of literature, theater, painting, and music.

The formation of the aesthetics of Russian symbolism was greatly influenced by D.S. Merezhkovsky, V.S. Soloviev; theorist is considered to be , V.Ya. Bryusov, who outlined his views in three collections “Russian Symbolists” (1894-1895), and in 1904-1909. edited the famous symbolist magazine "Scales". In Russian literature, there are “two waves” of symbolism. The first is associated with the names of the “senior” symbolists - V.Ya. Bryusov, F.K. Sologub, D.S. Merezhkovsky, Z.N. Gippius. The “younger” adherents of symbolism (in other words, the “young symbolists”) include A.A. Blok, A. Bely, Vyach.I. Ivanov, S.M. Soloviev et al.

The “key” word of the aesthetics of symbolism was the philosophical concept of “symbol”, which was interpreted as “a connection between two worlds”, as “a sign of another world in this world”. The symbol was seen as the real embodiment of the invisible, otherworldly, transcendental.

The figurative world of symbolism is inexhaustible. Artists sought to reveal the eternal secrets of the universe, to touch Eternity, to “transtemporal” problems:

Dear friend, don’t you hear?

That everyday noise is crackling

Only the response is distorted

Triumphant harmonies? -

V.S. so surprisingly accurately summarized the worldview of symbolism. Solovyov.

The masters of Russian symbolism had an amazingly developed ability for foresight, the “Cassandrian principle.” Eschatological predictions of the “end of culture”, “the end of history”, “the death of Russia” sounded like an alarm bell. Symbolist poets dreamed that only art could reveal the eternal universal secret - the musical essence of the universe. The destiny of the creator is to listen to the sounds of the “universal symphony” and to comprehend the invisible worlds. With the cult of “musicality” came a new turning point in the development of Russian poetic speech. Phonetics and rhythm, the stylistic coloring of words and associative imagery were rethought by symbolist poetry from the standpoint of “hidden music.”

For the first time, a detailed substantiation of symbolist culture was given by D.S. Merezhkovsky ( 1866-1941). He devoted his life to the search for truth and saw it in the recognition of the eternal God-given antinomies. Looking for religious meaning In life, Merezhkovsky creates a special area of philosophy - “mystical symbolism”. He came to the conclusion: in the life of humanity, two truths are fighting - heavenly and earthly, Christ and Antichrist, spirit and flesh. The flesh dictates a person’s desire for self-affirmation, for individualism, for the elevation of his “I”. The spirit is directed towards self-denial. By submitting to the spirit, a person approaches God. Merezhkovsky saw the result in the merger of these two principles historical movement humanity. It is no coincidence that a significant part of his work is occupied by historical novels that have received worldwide recognition: “Christ and Antichrist”, “The Death of the Gods (Julian the Apostate)”, “The Resurrected Gods (Leonardo da Vinci)”, “Antichrist (Peter and Alexei)”, a trilogy from Russian life "Paul I", "Alexander I", "December 14".

The ideals of Christianity and the values of humanism, the concept of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Earth were by no means abstract ideas for Merezhkovsky. He suffered painfully from the revolutionary explosions in Russia, seeing in them the eternal struggle between Christ and Antichrist. Calling for a revolution of the spirit, he could not recognize the “revolution of blood.” In Russian social cataclysms, Merezhkovsky clearly saw the appearance of a “coming boor,” mired in philistine vulgarity and the materialistic dullness of the “earthly paradise.”

Played a huge role in the development of symbolism poetry K.D. Balmont (11867-1942).

Balmont achieved fame in the last decade of the 19th century. One after another, his poetry collections were published: “Under the Northern Sky,” “In the Vast,” “Silence,” “Burning Buildings,” “Let’s Be Like the Sun,” “Only Love.” During these years full of creative upsurge, the “composer” awakened in him. The element of “musicality” literally overwhelmed his work. The poet was captivated by the subtlest modeling of fleeting moments. The aesthetics of the moment was for the poet the daughter of music, the sounds of which, having faded away, disappeared without a trace in the ensuing silence.

Balmont surprisingly easily found and cultivated techniques that were intonationally akin to music - alliteration, assonance, rhythmic repetition. Gradually, the role of rhythm in his verse becomes absolute: it subordinates all other elements of words, creates many internal rhymes, allowing one and the same motive to be sung with concentration.

The poem-hymn “Let’s be like the sun” (1903) became a textbook in the history of symbolist poetry. Balmont dedicated many sublime lines to the sun - the ideal of cosmic beauty, its elemental strength and life-giving power. Perhaps there is no master in Russian lyricism comparable to Balmont in the passion of his pantheistic worldview:

And a blue outlook.

I came to this world to see the Sun

And the heights of the mountains.

A singer of other moods and states was F. Sologub(F.K. Teternikov). “I take a piece of life... and create a sweet legend from it, for I am a poet,” these words of Sologub could serve as an epigraph to his work. In his fantasies, he dreamed of the land of Oyle, where there is no grief and suffering. But at the same time he created one of the most “Gogolian” novels of the “Silver Age” - “ Little devil"(1892-1902), who amazed his contemporaries with a gallery of monstrously stupid and embittered characters.

When considering such a complex and diverse phenomenon as Russian culture appears, the need inevitably arises for a clear definition and in-depth coverage of the various periods of its development. Without this, it is difficult to prove the uniqueness of Russian culture in the system of world culture.

The period in the development of Russian culture at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. commonly called the “silver” age in comparison with the “golden” XIX century. and this definition arose as a designation for the largest stage in the development of Russian art after Pushkin’s “golden age.”

At the turn of the century, Russia was going through difficult and difficult times: diverse social cataclysms that engulfed all segments of the country's population, the destruction of state foundations, wars and revolutions - it would seem that they did not contribute to spiritual and cultural uplift. However, surprisingly, it was precisely during this difficult period in Russian history that art and philosophy flourished. A vivid and figurative definition of the “Silver Age” belongs to the great Russian philosopher Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev , who called it a “cultural or spiritual renaissance,” “one of the most refined eras in the history of Russian culture,” an era of “creative upsurge of poetry and philosophy.”

The main motive in the development of the culture of this era is the attempt of many artists and thinkers to abandon the traditional “frozen” forms and methods of understanding the world of the previous time, the desire to find new means of expressing their own worldview. This contributed to the emergence of a variety of new movements in art and various kinds of new philosophical trends. However, there was no complete break in the culture of the “Silver Age” with the spiritual heritage of the past (in particular, in religious philosophy; in literature and painting, the traditions of realism were preserved). A complete denial of the traditions of the past was carried out in various modernist (avant-garde) movements. Modernism -(from the French word moderne - newest, modern) is an artistic and aesthetic system that developed at the beginning of the 20th century, the essential characteristics of which are a protest against canonized forms and styles in art (denial of realism, romanticism and naturalism), the implementation of the desire for a free individual choice of artistic funds. The highest meaning of creative activity is declared to be experimentation and absolute independence from any dictate, limitations of the imagination and intuition of a creative person. The general trend is a rejection of the rational principle, distrust of the rational perception of reality and reliance on the “supersensible” and “unconscious” in understanding the world.

Modernism unites various directions in art : abstractionism, expressionism, surrealism, cubism, fauvism, futurism, dadaism, etc. In Russia, the cultural era of the “Silver Age” most clearly stands out such modernist trends as symbolism, Acmeism and Futurism in literature, cubism, Fauvism, Constructivism, abstractionism and its variety Suprematism in painting, neoclassicism And neo-Russian style in architecture.

Russian symbolism has a special place in literature, since it has become the main trend modernist direction avoiding “standards” and “outdated” forms, he proclaimed the cult of beauty and innovation, freedom in self-expression of the poetic word. Symbolists ( V. Bryusov, A. Bely, A. Blok, K. Balmont, D. Merezhkovsky ) put forward the concept of an intuitive, sensory “penetration” of a symbol into the essence of the world. Representatives Acmeism(from acme - the highest degree of something) tried to return to the exact meaning of the word and aestheticized the sensory world of man. Creativity of representatives futurism (D. Burliuk, V. Khlebnikov, V. Mayakovsky, I. Severyanin) significant, first of all, for its bold linguistic experimentation and reflection of the aesthetics of urban culture of that time.

Special modernist quests are found in Russian painting of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is in painting that the symbols of time reveal the aspiration of the “Silver Age” to overcome the “loneliness of the creators of spiritual culture” at the beginning of the century. Artists of this time almost literally took the call of Alexander Blok, who argued: “Russia is a young country, and its culture is synthetic... it is a culture of communication and unification...”. A number of artistic associations are being formed, such as the “World of Art” (A. Benoit, K. Somov, L. Bakst, M. Dobuzhinsky, N. Roerich) ,"Blue Rose "(P. Kuznetsov, A. Matveev, N. Sapunov, M. Saryan), "Jack of Diamonds" (P. Konchalovsky, R. Falk, etc.) Representatives of the “Russian avant-garde” also had significant achievements (M. Chagall, V. Kandinsky, K. Malevich, V. Tatlin), the basis of whose creativity is also associated with innovative experiments, namely with the art of “pure” forms and “non-objectivity”.

Modernist ideas also influenced such a “conservative” art form as theater. The idea of a synthesis of arts was successfully implemented at the Art Theater in Moscow, founded K. Stanislavsky and V. Nemirovich-Danchenko. In Russian musical culture, the latest visual means and forms in the spirit of modernity were successfully used by great Russian composers S. Rachmaninov, I. Stravinsky, A. Scriabin. The culture of the “Silver Age” is also characterized by the flourishing of Russian philosophy, whose representatives (N. Berdyaev, S. Bulgakov, V. Rozanov, P. Florensky, S. Frank, G. Fedotov ), gave assessments of the spiritual and social life of Russia at that time, and predicted the prospects for its development in the future.

Of course, the “Silver Age” of Russian culture is one of the most striking periods of its development, the value of which, figuratively speaking, in words Anna Akhmatova is that “for an unknown purpose” it reflected the atmosphere of the “non-calendar”, real Twentieth Century.”

Becoming Soviet culture(1917-1937)

An integral part The transformations that took place in the post-October years were changes in the sphere of culture (“cultural revolution”). They affected education, science, technology, literature, art, and the entire spiritual life of society. The direction and nature of what began in cultural sphere changes were determined by guidelines for the formation of a new, socialist artistic culture. The country's party and state leadership associated the creation of a socialist society with its creation.

Culture during the Civil War

Conditions for the development of culture during the NEP years

Education and science

Literature and art