Interesting literary facts. Interesting facts about Russian literature

Which book was published under different titles in different countries formed on the basis of currency exchange rates?

In 2000, Frederic Beigbeder’s novel “99 Francs” was published, recommended for sale in France at exactly that price. The same principle was the reason why publications in other countries were published under a different name, corresponding to the exchange rate: “39.90 marks” in Germany, “9.99 pounds” in the UK, “999 yen” in Japan, etc. In 2002, the book was republished in connection with the introduction of the euro and was called “14.99 euros.” After some time, the peak of the book’s popularity passed, and it was discounted to the title and corresponding price of “6 euros.”

What circumstances led to the mathematician Alexander Volkov becoming a writer?

The fairy tale "The Wise Man of Oz" American writer Frank Baum was not published in Russian until 1991. At the end of the 30s, Alexander Volkov, who was a mathematician by training and taught this science at one of the Moscow institutes, began to study English language and for practice I decided to translate this book in order to retell it to my children. They really liked it, they began to demand a continuation, and Volkov, in addition to the translation, began to come up with something of his own. This was the beginning of it literary path, which resulted in The Wizard emerald city"and many other tales about the Magic Land.

In which work was the Kasparo-Karpov system mentioned long before Kasparov and Karpov became known to the world?

The Strugatsky brothers' story "Noon, XXII Century" mentions the Kasparo-Karpov system - a method that was used to make a "copy" of the brain and build its mathematical model. The story was published in 1962 - Anatoly Karpov was only 11 years old at the time, and Garry Kasparov had not yet been born.

Where does the word "miniature" come from?

The word "miniature" comes from the Latin name for red paint "minium" and in the original means antique or medieval paintings in the genre of illuminated manuscript. Due to the small size of these paintings and the presence of the prefix “mini” in the word, an etymological metamorphosis later occurred, as a result of which any small drawings, especially portrait miniatures, began to be called miniatures. From painting, the term penetrated into literature, where it refers to works of small format.

Who came up with the plot of the novel The Count of Monte Cristo?

Alexandre Dumas, when writing his works, used the services of many assistants - the so-called “literary blacks”. Among them, the most famous is Auguste Macquet, who invented the plot of “The Count of Monte Cristo” and made a significant contribution to “ Three Musketeers».

What is the name of the main character of Pushkin's story? Queen of Spades»?

The main character of Pushkin's story "The Queen of Spades" is not called Herman. His name is generally unknown, but Hermann (with two n) is the surname of the hero, German by origin, which is quite common in Germany. But in the opera “The Queen of Spades” Tchaikovsky removed one n, turning the surname Hermann into the name Hermann.

How did they translate a French novel into Russian, in which there is not a single letter e?

The novel was published in 1969 French writer Georges Perec "La disparition". One of key features the novel was that it did not contain a single letter e - the most commonly used letter in French. Using the same principle - without the letter e - the book was translated into English, German and Italian languages. In 2005, the novel was published in Russian, translated by Valery Kislov, under the title “Disappearance.” In this variant you cannot find the letter o, since it is the most common in the Russian language.

Which literary hero began to use many forensic methods before the police?

Arthur Conan Doyle in the stories about Sherlock Holmes, he described many forensic methods that were still unknown to the police. These include collecting cigarette butts and cigarette ashes, identifying typewriters, and examining traces at the crime scene with a magnifying glass. Subsequently, the police began to widely use these and other Holmes methods.

How were Dostoevsky’s real walks around St. Petersburg reflected in the novel “Crime and Punishment”?

Dostoevsky made extensive use of the real topography of St. Petersburg in describing the places in his novel Crime and Punishment. As the writer admitted, he compiled a description of the yard in which Raskolnikov hides the things he stole from the pawnbroker’s apartment from personal experience— when one day, while walking around the city, Dostoevsky turned into a deserted courtyard to relieve himself.

Where and when did Baron Munchausen live?

Baron Munchausen was very real historical figure. In his youth, he left the German town of Bodenwerder for Russia to serve as a page. He then began a career in the army and rose to the rank of captain, after which he went back to Germany. There he became famous for telling extraordinary stories about his service in Russia: for example, entering St. Petersburg on a wolf harnessed to a sleigh, a horse cut in half in Ochakovo, fur coats going crazy, or a cherry tree growing on the head of a deer. These stories, as well as completely new ones attributed to the baron by other authors, led to the emergence of Munchausen as a literary character.

Where and when was a concept book made entirely of blank pages sold?

When asked what 5 books you would take with you to a desert island, Bernard Shaw replied that he would take 5 books with blank pages. This concept was embodied in 1974 by the American publishing house Harmony Books, releasing a book called “The Book of Nothing,” which consisted exclusively of 192 blank pages. She found her buyer, and subsequently the publishing house republished this book more than once.

Which literary character Was Dumas invented only to increase the fee?

When Alexandre Dumas wrote “The Three Musketeers” in serial format in one of the newspapers, the contract with the publisher stipulated line-by-line payment for the manuscript. To increase the fee, Dumas invented a servant of Athos named Grimaud, who spoke and answered all questions exclusively in monosyllables, in most cases “yes” or “no.” The continuation of the book, entitled “Twenty Years Later,” was paid by the word, and Grimaud became a little more talkative.

Which Kipling characters changed gender in the Russian translation?

In the original Jungle Book, Bagheera is a male character. Russian translators changed Bagheera's gender, most likely because the word "panther" is female. The same transformation occurred with another Kipling character: the cat became, in the Russian translation, “The cat that walks by itself.”

Which writer got the stone that lay on Gogol's first grave?

Initially, on Gogol’s grave in the monastery cemetery there was a stone nicknamed Golgotha because of its resemblance to Mount Jerusalem. When they decided to destroy the cemetery, during reburial in another place they decided to install a bust of Gogol on the grave. And that same stone was subsequently placed on Bulgakov’s grave by his wife. In this regard, Bulgakov’s phrase, which he repeatedly addressed to Gogol during his lifetime, is noteworthy: “Teacher, cover me with your overcoat.”

Which famous English-language literary dystopia contains many words of Russian origin?

In dystopia " A Clockwork Orange“Anthony Burgess put into the mouths of the teenage heroes a slang he invented called Nadsat. Most of Nadsat's words had Russian origin- for example, droog (friend), litso (face), viddy (see). The word Nadsat itself is formed from the ending of the Russian numerals from 11 to 19, its meaning is the same as that of the word teenager (“teenager”). Translators of the novel into Russian faced the difficulty of how to adequately convey this slang. In one version of the translation such words were replaced in English words, written in Cyrillic (men, face, etc.). In another version, the jargon words were left in their original form in Latin letters.

Which writer, at the end of his life, acknowledged the harm caused to nature by his own work?

Peter Benchley, author of the novel Jaws, later filmed by Steven Spielberg, in last years life has become ardent defender sharks and the marine ecosystem as a whole. He wrote several works in which he criticized the negative attitude towards sharks, inflated in mass consciousness thanks in part to Jaws.

Which words from Pushkin's poem "Monument" were cut out by censors in 1949?

In 1949, Pushkin's 150th anniversary was celebrated. A report on his life and work was given on the radio by Konstantin Simonov. In one Kazakh town, people gathered at the loudspeaker big number Kalmyks deported here from their historical homeland. Somewhere in the middle of the report, they lost all interest in him and left the square. The thing was that while reading Pushkin’s “Monument,” Simonov stopped reading right at the moment when he was supposed to say: “And a friend of the steppes, the Kalmyk.” This meant that the Kalmyks were still in disgrace and censorship excluded any mention of them even in such harmless cases.

Why did the author of Peter Pan give him the property of never growing up?

James Barrie created the character of Peter Pan - the boy who will never grow up - for a reason. This hero became a dedication to the author’s older brother, who died the day before he turned 14 years old, and forever remained young in the memory of his mother.

Who is awarded the Ig Nobel Prize and for what?

At the beginning of October of each year, when the Nobel Prize laureates are named, a parody Ig Nobel Prize is awarded in parallel for achievements that cannot be reproduced or there is no point in doing so. In 2009, among the laureates were veterinarians who proved that a cow with any name gives more milk than a nameless one. The Literature Prize went to the Irish police for issuing fifty traffic fines to a certain Prawo Jazdy, which means “driving license” in Polish. And in 2002, the Gazprom company received a prize in the field of economics for its application of the mathematical concept of imaginary numbers in business.

Who did the old woman from the fairy tale about the Goldfish by the Brothers Grimm want to become?

The basis for Pushkin’s “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” was the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Fisherman and His Wife.” Pushkin’s old woman finds herself broke after she wanted to become the mistress of the sea, and her German “colleague” at this stage became the Pope. And only after the desire to become the Lord God I was left with nothing.

How did cabin boy Richard Parker repeat the sad fate of his literary namesake?

In Edgar Poe's 1838 story The Narrative of the Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym, there is an episode where the ship is caught in a storm and four sailors are saved on a raft. Having no food, they decide to eat one of them by lot - and that victim is Richard Parker. In 1884, a real yacht sank, and four people on one boat also survived. They hardly read that story, but in the end they ate the cabin boy, whose name was Richard Parker.

Why Isaev is not real name Stirlitz?

Stirlitz’s real name is not Maxim Maksimovich Isaev, but Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov. Isaev is the first operational pseudonym of the intelligence officer, introduced by Yulian Semyonov in the first novel “Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat,” and Stirlitz is already the second pseudonym. This is not reflected in the film “Seventeen Moments of Spring”.

What insect actually is the dragonfly from Krylov's fable?

In Krylov’s fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant” there are the lines: “The jumping dragonfly sang the red summer.” However, it is known that the dragonfly does not make sounds. The fact is that at that time the word “dragonfly” served as a general name for several types of insects. And the hero of the fable is actually a grasshopper.

What cruel scenes were removed from folk tales by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm?

Most of the fairy tales known to us by Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and other storytellers arose among the people in the Middle Ages, and their original stories sometimes they are distinguished by the cruelty and naturalness of everyday scenes. For example, in the tale of Sleeping Beauty, the foreign king does not kiss her, but rapes her. The wolf eats not only the grandmother, but half the village into the bargain, and Little Red Riding Hood then lures him into a pit of boiling tar. In the fairy tale about Cinderella, the sisters still manage to try on the shoe, for which one of them cuts off her toe, the other her heel, but then they are exposed by the singing of pigeons.

What topic in Soviet science fiction was so hackneyed that stories on it were not accepted by magazines for publication?

Subject Tunguska meteorite was very popular with Soviet science fiction writers, especially beginners. In the 1980s, the literary magazine “Ural Pathfinder” even had to write a separate paragraph in its requirements for publications: “Works that reveal the secret of the Tunguska meteorite will not be considered.”

Why do we have a tradition of signing the spines of books from bottom to top, while Europeans do the opposite?

IN Western Europe And in America, book spines are signed from top to bottom. This tradition goes back to the times when there were few books: if the book is lying on the table (or in a small stack), the reader should be able to easily read the title. And in Eastern Europe and Russia has adopted the tradition of signing the spines from bottom to top, because it is more convenient to read when the books are on the shelf.

Where did the expression “no brainer” come from?

The source of the expression “It’s a no brainer” is a poem by Mayakovsky (“It’s even a no brainer - / This Petya was a bourgeois”). It became widespread first in the Strugatskys’ story “The Country of Crimson Clouds”, and then in Soviet boarding schools for gifted children. They recruited teenagers who had two years left to study (classes A, B, C, D, D) or one year (classes E, F, I). The students of the one-year stream were called “hedgehogs.” When they came to the boarding school, the two-year students were already ahead of them in the non-standard program, so at the beginning school year The expression “no brainer” was very relevant.

Which book was imprisoned in the Bastille?

The prisoners of the Bastille were not only people. Once upon a time a famous woman was imprisoned French Encyclopedia, compiled by Diderot and D'Alembert. The book was accused of harming religion and public morality.

What it really sounded like Lenin's phrase about the cook and the state?

“Any cook is capable of ruling the state,” Lenin never said. This phrase was attributed to him, taken from Mayakovsky’s poem “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin”. In fact, he wrote this: “We are not utopians. We know that any laborer and any cook are not capable of immediately entering into government... We demand that training government controlled was carried out by class-conscious workers and soldiers and should be started immediately.”

Which science fiction writer wrote reviews of non-existent books?

Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem wrote a collection of short stories called Absolute Emptiness. All the stories are united by the fact that they are reviews of non-existent books written by fictitious authors.

How did Leo Tolstoy feel about his novels?

Leo Tolstoy was skeptical about his novels, including War and Peace. In 1871, he sent Fet a letter: “How happy I am... that I will never write verbose rubbish like “War” again.” An entry in his diary in 1908 reads: “People love me for those trifles - “War and Peace”, etc., which seem very important to them.”

What is the meaning of the word peace in War and Peace?

In the title of Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace,” the word world is used as an antonym to war (pre-revolutionary “mir”), and not in the meaning of “the world around us” (pre-revolutionary “mir”). All lifetime editions of the novel were published under the title “War and Peace,” and Tolstoy himself wrote the title of the novel in French as “La guerre et la paix.” However, due to typographical errors in different editions, different time, where the word was written as “mir”, disputes about true meaning title of the novel.

Which writer encouraged readers to use their own punctuation?

The American extravagant writer Timothy Dexter wrote a book in 1802 with very peculiar language and the absence of any punctuation. In response to reader outcry, in the second edition of the book he added a special page with punctuation marks, asking readers to arrange them in the text to their liking.

Why didn’t poets like Mayakovsky for writing poetry with a ladder?

When Mayakovsky introduced his famous poetic “ladder” into use, fellow poets accused him of cheating - after all, poets were then paid by the number of lines, and Mayakovsky received 2-3 times more for poems of similar length.

What pessimist died of laughter?

The Cuban poet Julian del Casal, whose poems were distinguished by deep pessimism, died of laughter. He was having dinner with friends, one of whom told a joke. The poet began to have an attack of uncontrollable laughter, which caused aortic dissection, bleeding and sudden death.

What was the name of the city where Anna Karenina threw herself under a train?

In the novel by Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina threw herself under a train at the Obiralovka station near Moscow. IN Soviet time this village became a city and was renamed Zheleznodorozhny.

Where a radio drama was mistaken for a real Martian invasion?

On October 30, 1938, a radio dramatization of H. G. Wells's War of the Worlds was broadcast in New Jersey as a parody of a radio report from the scene. Of the six million people who listened to the broadcast, one million believed in the reality of what was happening. Mass panic arose, tens of thousands of people abandoned their homes (especially after President Roosevelt’s alleged call to remain calm), the roads were clogged with refugees. Telephone lines were paralyzed: thousands of people reported allegedly seeing Martian ships. It subsequently took authorities six weeks to convince the population that the attack had not occurred.

What is the real name of Korney Chukovsky?

Korney Chukovsky's real name was Nikolai Vasilyevich Korneychukov.

Who preserved Kafka's works for the whole world?

Franz Kafka published only a few short stories during his lifetime. Being seriously ill, he asked his friend Max Brod to burn all his works after his death, including several unfinished novels. Brod did not fulfill this request, but, on the contrary, ensured the publication of the works that brought Kafka worldwide fame.

How long did Robinson Crusoe spend in Russia?

The novel about the adventures of Robinson Crusoe has a sequel in which the hero is shipwrecked off the coast South-East Asia and is forced to get to Europe through all of Russia. In particular, he waits out the winter in Tobolsk for 8 months.

When did the prologue “Near the Lukomorye green oak...” appear?

Pushkin wrote the prologue “There is a green oak at the Lukomorye...” of the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” for its second edition, released 8 years after the first publication.

What book did the writer ask to sell for exactly the same price as a bottle of vodka?

When the poem “Moscow - Petushki” was published as a separate book, at the request of the author Venedikt Erofeev, the price was set at 3 rubles 62 kopecks. This is how much a bottle of vodka cost at the time the poem was written.

How did Andrei Bitov learn about a new word in his work?

According to Andrei Bitov, he first learned about Zen Buddhism at the age of thirty, having read the dissertation of an English literary critic entitled “Zen Buddhism in the early works of Andrei Bitov.”

What alcoholic poem was published in the magazine Temperance and Culture?

The first official publication of Venedikt Erofeev’s poem “Moscow - Cockerels” in the USSR took place in the magazine “Sobriety and Culture”.

Who came up with the name Svetlana?

The name Svetlana is not originally Slavic. It was invented and first used by the poet Vostokov in the romance “Svetlana and Mstislav”, and gained wide popularity after the publication of Zhukovsky’s ballad “Svetlana” in 1813.

Who predicted the sinking of the Titanic in a literary work?

14 years before the sinking of the Titanic, Morgan Robertson published a story that became her prediction. In the story, the ship Titan, which was very similar in size to the Titanic, also collided with an iceberg on an April night, and most of passengers died.

Why was Winnie the Pooh named so?

Winnie the Pooh got the first part of his name from one of the real toys of Christopher Robin, the son of the writer Milne. The toy was named after a female bear at the London Zoo named Winnipeg, who came there from Canada. The second part - Pooh - was borrowed from the name of the swan of acquaintances of the Milne family.

Where did the expression “things smell like kerosene” come from?

Koltsov’s 1924 feuilleton talked about a major scam uncovered during the transfer of an oil concession in California. The most senior US officials were involved in the scam. It was here that the expression “things smell like kerosene” was used for the first time.

Where did the expression “let's go back to our sheep” come from?

In medieval French comedy A rich clothier sues a shepherd who stole his sheep. During the meeting, the clothier forgets about the shepherd and showers reproaches on his lawyer, who did not pay him for six cubits of cloth. The judge interrupts the speech with the words: “Let's return to our sheep,” which have become winged.

Which writer wrote a story about a religious feat based on a story about a campaign for vodka?

In Leskov's story, an Old Believer walks from one bank of the river to the other along the chains of an unfinished bridge during a stormy ice drift in order to return an icon confiscated from the Old Believers from the monastery. According to the author, the plot is based on real events, only a mason appears there, and he went not for the icon, but for cheaper vodka.

Who valued books more than people?

In 267, the Goths sacked Athens and killed many of the inhabitants, but did not burn the books.

How did Bernard Shaw react to receiving the Nobel Prize?

In 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Bernard Shaw, who called the event "a token of gratitude for the relief he has given the world by not publishing anything this year."

Who used "Albanian language" at the beginning of the 20th century?

In 1916, the futurist Zdanevich wrote a play without observing the normative rules of spelling and using “albanskava izyka”. The Padonki language, which appeared in the 2000s, whose spelling is based on similar principles, is sometimes called the “Albanian language,” but the coincidence with Zdanevich’s experience is accidental.

What pornographic scene is in "Woe from Wit"?

In the 19th century, actresses refused to play Sophia in “Woe from Wit” with the words: “I am a decent woman and I don’t play in pornographic scenes!” They considered such a scene to be a night conversation with Molchalin, who was not yet the heroine’s husband.

Why did the radio play cause panic in New Jersey? Which Kipling characters changed gender in the Russian translation? Why did the illustrator put emus on the cover of The Hobbit? We invite you to learn about these and others interesting facts from the world of literature .

1. The main character of Pushkin’s story “The Queen of Spades” is not called German

His name is generally unknown, and Hermann (precisely with two n) is the surname of the hero, German by origin, which is quite common in Germany. But in the opera “The Queen of Spades” Tchaikovsky removed one n, turning the surname Hermann into the name Hermann.

2. Sherlock Holmes began to use many forensic methods before the police

Arthur Conan Doyle, in his stories about Sherlock Holmes, described many forensic methods that were still unknown to the police. These include collecting cigarette butts and cigarette ashes, identifying typewriters, and examining traces at the crime scene with a magnifying glass. Subsequently, the police began to widely use these and other Holmes methods.

3. Dumas invented the servant of Athos only to increase the fee

4. How mathematician Alexander Volkov became a writer

The fairy tale “The Wise Man of Oz” by the American writer Frank Baum was not published in Russian until 1991. At the end of the 30s, Alexander Volkov, who was a mathematician by training and taught this science at one of the Moscow institutes, began to study English and, for practice, decided to translate this book in order to retell it to his children. They really liked it, they began to demand a continuation, and Volkov, in addition to the translation, began to come up with something of his own. This was the beginning of his literary journey, the result of which was “The Wizard of the Emerald City” and many other tales about the Magic Land.

5. Kipling's characters changed gender in the Russian translation

In the original Jungle Book, Bagheera is a male character. Russian translators changed Bagheera's gender. The same transformation occurred with another Kipling character: the cat became, in the Russian translation, “The cat that walks by itself.”

6. In the dystopia “A Clockwork Orange” many words of Russian origin

Anthony Burgess put into the mouths of the teenage characters a jargon he invented called Nadsat. Most of the nadsat words were of Russian origin - for example, droog (friend), litso (face), viddy (see). Translators of the novel into Russian faced the difficulty of how to adequately convey this slang. In one version of the translation, such words were replaced by English words written in Cyrillic (men, face, etc.). In another version, the jargon words were left in their original form in Latin letters.

James Barrie created the image of Peter Pan - the boy who will never grow up - for a reason. This hero became a dedication to the author’s older brother, who died the day before his 14th birthday.

8. What did the old woman want to become from the fairy tale about the Goldfish by the Brothers Grimm?

9. Krylov meant the grasshopper

10. Folk tales cruel

Most of the fairy tales known to us by Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and other storytellers arose in the Middle Ages, and their original plots are sometimes characterized by cruelty. For example, in the tale of Sleeping Beauty, the foreign king does not kiss her, but rapes her. The wolf eats not only the grandmother, but half the village into the bargain, and Little Red Riding Hood then lures him into a pit of boiling tar. In the fairy tale about Cinderella, the sisters still manage to try on the shoe, for which one of them cuts off her toe, the other cuts off her heel.

11. The radio play was mistaken for a real Martian invasion

On October 30, 1938, a radio drama based on H.G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds was broadcast in New Jersey as a report from the scene. The listeners believed in the reality of what was happening. Mass panic arose, tens of thousands of people abandoned their homes (especially after President Roosevelt’s alleged call to remain calm), the roads were clogged with refugees. Telephone lines were paralyzed: thousands of people reported allegedly seeing Martian ships. It subsequently took authorities six weeks to convince the population that the attack had not occurred.

12. Book on the price of a bottle of vodka

13. Pornographic scene in “Woe from Wit”

14. Fireproof masterpieces

Shortly after the publication of Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, Ballantine Books released an additional special edition. 200 copies of the novel were covered in an asbestos-based material with exceptional fire-resistant properties. Later, this move was repeated by Stephen King, publishing a small batch of the novel “Inflammable with a Look” in an asbestos cover.

Victor Hugo, while on vacation in 1862, wanted to know about the reaction of readers to the newly published novel “Les Miserables” and sent his publisher a telegram consisting of one character “?”. He sent a telegram in response, also with one sign - “!”. This was probably the shortest correspondence in history.

16. “The Hobbit” and emus

In 1965, Tolkien's The Hobbit was first published in the United States in paperback. Cover illustrator Barbara Remington didn't read the text at all. As a result, a lion, two emus and strange trees with bulbous pink fruits appeared on the cover of the book.

The 19th century is one of the most significant in Russian literature. It was this era that gave the world the names of great classics who influenced not only Russian, but also world culture. The main ideas characteristic of literature this time is growth human soul, the struggle between good and evil, the triumph of morality and purity.

Difference from the previous century

Giving general characteristics Russian literature of the 19th century, it can be noted that the previous century was characterized by very calm development. Throughout the previous century, poets and writers sang the dignity of man and tried to instill high moral ideals. And only at the end of the century more daring and daring works began to appear - the authors began to focus on human psychology, his experiences and feelings.

Reasons for the rise

In the process of working on homework or a report on the topic “General characteristics of Russian literature of the 19th century,” a student may have a natural question: what caused these changes, why literature was able to achieve such high level development? The reason for this was social events - the war with Turkey, the invasion of Napoleonic troops, the abolition of serfdom, and the public reprisal of oppositionists. All this contributed to the fact that completely new methods began to be used in literature. stylistic devices. When working on the general characteristics of Russian literature of the 19th century, it is worth mentioning that this era rightfully went down in history as the “Golden Age”.

Literature focus

Russian literature of that time was distinguished by its very bold posing of questions about meaning. human existence, about the most pressing socio-political, moral and ethical problems. She extends the significance of these questions far beyond her own historical era. When preparing a general description of Russian literature of the 19th century, one must remember that it became one of the most powerful means impact on both Russian and foreign readers, gaining fame as an influential force in the development of education.

Phenomenon of the era

If you need to give a general description of Russian literature of the 19th century briefly, it can be noted that a common feature of this era was such a phenomenon as “literary centrism.” This means that literature became a way of communicating ideas and opinions in political debates. She turned into powerful tool expressions of ideology, determined value guidelines and ideals.

It is impossible to say for sure whether this is good or bad. Of course, giving a general description of the Russian literature of the 19th century century, one can blame the literature of that time for being too “preachy”, “instructive”. After all, it is often said that the desire to become a prophet can lead to inappropriate guardianship. And this is fraught with the development of intolerance towards dissent of any kind. Of course, there is some truth in such reasoning, however, when giving a general description of Russian literature of the 19th century, it is necessary to take into account the historical realities in which the writers, poets, and critics of that time lived. A. I. Herzen, when he found himself in exile, described this phenomenon as follows: “For a people who have been deprived of freedom of speech and self-expression, literature remains almost the only outlet.”

The role of literature in society

N.G. Chernyshevsky said practically the same thing: “Literature in our country still concentrates the entire mental life of the people.” Here it is worth paying attention to the word “yet.” Chernyshevsky, who argued that literature is a textbook of life, still recognized that the mental life of the people should not be constantly concentrated in it. However, “for now”, in those conditions of Russian reality, it was she who took on this function.

Modern society should be grateful to those writers and poets who, in difficult times, social conditions, despite persecution (it is worth remembering the same N. G. Chernyshevsky, F. M. Dostoevsky and others), with the help of their works they contributed to the awakening of the bright in man, spiritual origin, integrity, active opposition to evil, honesty and mercy. Taking all this into account, we can agree with the opinion expressed by N. A. Nekrasov in his message to Leo Tolstoy in 1856: “The role of a writer in our country is, first of all, the role of a teacher.”

General and different in representatives of the “Golden Age”

Preparing materials on the topic “General characteristics of Russian classical literature 19th century,” it is worth saying that all the representatives of the “Golden Age” were different, their world was unique and original. It is difficult to classify the writers of that time under any one general image. After all, every true artist (by this word we mean a poet, a composer, and a painter) creates own world, guided by personal principles. For example, the world of Leo Tolstoy is not similar to the world of Dostoevsky. Saltykov-Shchedrin perceived and transformed reality differently than, for example, Goncharov. However, representatives of the “Golden Age” also have common feature- this is responsibility to the reader, talent, a high understanding of the role that literature plays in a person’s life.

General characteristics of Russian literature of the 19th century: table

The “Golden Age” is a time of writers of completely different literary movements. First, let's look at them in a summary table, after which each of the directions will be considered in more detail.

Genre	When and where did it originate?	Types of works	Representatives	Main features
Classicism	17th century, France	Ode, tragedy, epic	G. R. Derzhavin (“Anacreotic Songs”), Khersakov (“Bahariana”, “Poet”).	National historical themes predominate. The ode genre is predominantly developed. There is a satirical orientation
Sentimentalism	In the second half XVIII V. in Western Europe and Russia, most fully formed in England	Tale, novel, elegy, memoir, travel	N. M. Karamzin (“ Poor Lisa»), early work V. A. Zhukovsky (“Slavyanka”, “Sea”, “Evening”)	Subjectivity in assessing world events. Feelings and experiences come first. Quite a lot important role nature plays. Protests against depravity high society. Cult of spiritual purity and morality. The rich inner world of the lower social strata is affirmed.
Romanticism	The end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century, Europe, America	Story, poem, novella, novel	A. S. Pushkin (“Ruslan and Lyudmila”, “Boris Godunov”, “Little Tragedies”), M. Yu. Lermontov (“Mtsyri”, “Demon”), F. I. Tyutchev (“Insomnia”, “In the Village”, “Spring”), K. N. Batyushkov.	The subjective prevails over the objective. A look at reality through the “prism of the heart.” The tendency to reflect the unconscious and intuitive in a person. Gravity towards fantasy, the conventions of all kinds of norms. A penchant for the unusual and the sublime, a mixture of the high and the low, the comic and the tragic. Personality in the works of romanticism rushes towards absolute freedom, moral perfection, to the ideal in an imperfect world.
Realism	XIX c., France, England.	Tale, novel, poem	Late A. S. Pushkin (“Dubrovsky”, “Belkin’s Tales”), N. V. Gogol (“ Dead Souls"), I. A. Goncharov, A. S. Griboyedov ("Woe from Wit"), F. M. Dostoevsky ("Poor People", "Crime and Punishment"), L. N. Tolstoy ("War and Peace ", "Anna Karenina"), N. G. Chernyshevsky ("What to do?"), I. S. Turgenev ("Asya", "Rudin"), M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin ("Poshekhonsky Stories", " Lord Gogolevs"), N. A. Nekrasov (“Who can live well in Rus'?”).	In the center literary work- objective reality. Realists strive to identify cause-and-effect relationships in events. The principle of the typical is used: typical characters, circumstances, and a specific time are described. Usually realists turn to the problems of the present era. The ideal is reality itself. Increased attention to the social side of life.

Russian literature of this era reflected the leap that was made in the previous century. The “Golden Age” began mainly with the flourishing of two movements - sentimentalism and romanticism. Since the middle of the century, the direction of realism has become increasingly powerful. This is the general characteristic of Russian literature of the 19th century. The tablet will help the student navigate the main movements and representatives of the “Golden Age”. In the process of preparing for the lesson, it should be mentioned that the further socio-political situation in the country is becoming more and more tense, the contradictions between the oppressed classes and common people. This leads to the fact that in the middle of the century the development of poetry somewhat subsides. And the end of the era is accompanied by revolutionary sentiments.

Classicism

This direction is worth mentioning when giving a general description of Russian literature of the early 19th century. After all, classicism, which arose a century ago before the beginning of the “Golden Age”, primarily refers to its beginning. This term translated from Latin language means “exemplary” and is directly related to the imitation of classical images. This trend arose in France in the 17th century. At its core, it was associated with absolute monarchy and the establishment of the nobility. It is characterized by ideas of high civic themes, strict adherence to the norms of creativity, established rules. Classicism reflects real life V ideal images, which gravitate towards a certain pattern. This direction strictly adheres to the hierarchy of genres - the highest place among them is occupied by tragedy, ode and epic. They are the ones who illuminate the most important issues for society, are designed to display the highest, heroic manifestations human nature. As a rule, “high” genres were contrasted with “low” ones - fables, comedies, satirical and other works that also reflected reality.

Sentimentalism

Giving a general description of the development of Russian literature of the 19th century, one cannot fail to mention such a direction as sentimentalism. The narrator's voice plays a big role in it. This direction, as indicated in the table, is different increased attention to a person's experiences, to his inner world. This is the innovation of sentimentalism. In Russian literature, Karamzin’s “Poor Liza” occupies a special place among the works of sentimentalism.

The words of the writer are noteworthy, which can characterize this direction: “And peasant women know how to love.” Many claimed that a common person, a commoner and a peasant, is morally superior in many ways to a nobleman or a representative of high society. Landscape plays an important role in sentimentalism. This is not just a description of nature, but a reflection of the inner experiences of the characters.

Romanticism

This is one of the most controversial phenomena of Russian literature of the Golden Age. For more than a century and a half, there have been debates about what lies at its basis, and no one has yet given any recognized definition to this movement. The representatives themselves this direction They emphasized the uniqueness of the literature of each individual people. One cannot but agree with this opinion - in each country, romanticism acquires its own characteristics. Also, giving a general description of the development of Russian literature of the 19th century, it is worth noting that almost all representatives of romanticism advocated social ideals, however, they did it differently.

Representatives of this movement dreamed not of improving life in its particular manifestations, but of a complete resolution of all contradictions. For many romantics, the prevailing mood in their works is the struggle against evil, protest against the injustice reigning in the world. Also, romantics tend to turn to mythological, fantasy, folk tales. In contrast to the direction of classicism, serious influence is given to the inner world of man.

Realism

The goal of this direction is a truthful description of the surrounding reality. It is realism that matures on the basis of a tense political situation. Writers are starting to turn to social problems, to objective reality. The three main realists of this era are considered to be Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Turgenev. The main theme of this direction is life, customs, life events ordinary people from the lower classes.

In the comedy A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit” interjection "Oh!" used 54 times, and the exclamation "Oh!" appears on the pages of the work 6 times.

Pushkin wrote the prologue “There is a green oak at the Lukomorye...” of the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” for its second edition, which was released 8 years after the first publication.

In the novel “Eugene Onegin” there are the lines: “He settled in that chamber, // Where the village old-timer // For forty years, he was quarreling with the housekeeper, // He looked out the window and crushed flies.” The word fly in this context is not used in direct meaning, but for the metaphor of alcohol. There is also another metaphor used to designate a drunk person - “under the fly”, where the word fly is used in the same sense.

Pushkin wrote more than 70 epigraphs to his works, Gogol used at least 20, and Turgenev used almost the same number.

The name of the main character of Pushkin's story "The Queen of Spades" is unknown. In the work, the author used his last name Hermann (precisely with two n). This German surname, which is quite common in Germany. And the name Herman (with one n) began to dominate in the work after Tchaikovsky removed one n during the production of the opera “The Queen of Spades,” turning the surname Hermann into the name Herman.

In Krylov’s fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant” there are the lines: “The jumping dragonfly sang the red summer.” However, it is known that the dragonfly cannot make sounds. The fact is that at that time the word “dragonfly” served as a general name for several types of insects. And the hero of the fable is actually a grasshopper.

Korney Chukovsky's real name was Nikolai Vasilyevich Korneychukov.

Initially, on Gogol’s grave in the monastery cemetery there was a stone nicknamed Golgotha because of its resemblance to Mount Jerusalem. When they decided to destroy the cemetery, during the reburial it was decided to install a bust of Gogol on the grave. And that same stone was subsequently placed on Bulgakov’s grave by his wife. In this regard, Bulgakov’s phrase, which he repeatedly addressed to Gogol during his lifetime, is noteworthy: “Teacher, cover me with your overcoat.”

Dostoevsky made extensive use of the real topography of St. Petersburg in describing the places in his novel Crime and Punishment. As the writer admitted, he drew up the description of the courtyard in which Raskolnikov hides the things he stole from the pawnbroker’s apartment from personal experience - when one day, while walking around the city, Dostoevsky turned into a deserted courtyard.

Prototype main character the novel “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy served as M.A. Hartung is the daughter of A.S. Pushkin: not by character, not by life, but by appearance. The author himself admitted this.

Daria Dontsova, whose father was Soviet writer Arkady Vasiliev, grew up surrounded by the creative intelligentsia. Once at school she was asked to write an essay on the topic: “What was Valentin Petrovich Kataev thinking about when he wrote the story “The Lonely Sail Whitens”?”, and Dontsova asked Kataev himself to help her. As a result, Daria received a bad grade, and the literature teacher wrote in her notebook: “Kataev was not thinking about this at all!”

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The main character of Pushkin's story "The Queen of Spades" is not called Herman. His name is generally unknown, and Hermann (precisely with two n) is the surname of the hero, German by origin, which is quite common in Germany. But in the opera “The Queen of Spades” Tchaikovsky removed one n, turning the surname Hermann into the name Hermann.

How were Dostoevsky’s real walks around St. Petersburg reflected in the novel “Crime and Punishment”?

Where and when did Baron Munchausen live?

Baron Munchausen was a very real historical figure. In his youth, he left the German town of Bodenwerder for Russia to serve as a page. He then began a career in the army and rose to the rank of captain, after which he went back to Germany. There he became famous for telling extraordinary stories about his service in Russia: for example, entering St. Petersburg on a wolf harnessed to a sleigh, a horse cut in half in Ochakovo, fur coats going crazy, or a cherry tree growing on the head of a deer. These stories, as well as completely new ones attributed to the baron by other authors, led to the emergence of Munchausen as a literary character.

Which writer got the stone that lay on Gogol's first grave?

Which words from Pushkin's poem "Monument" were cut out by censors in 1949?

In 1949, Pushkin's 150th anniversary was celebrated. A report on his life and work was given on the radio by Konstantin Simonov. In one Kazakh town, a large number of Kalmyks, deported here from their historical homeland, gathered at the loudspeaker. Somewhere in the middle of the report, they lost all interest in him and left the square. The thing was that while reading Pushkin’s “Monument,” Simonov stopped reading right at the moment when he was supposed to say: “And a friend of the steppes, the Kalmyk.” This meant that the Kalmyks were still in disgrace and censorship excluded any mention of them even in such harmless cases.

Who did the old woman from the fairy tale about the Goldfish by the Brothers Grimm want to become?

What insect actually is the dragonfly from Krylov's fable?

Why didn’t poets like Mayakovsky for writing poetry with a ladder?

When Mayakovsky introduced his famous poetic “ladder” into use, fellow poets accused him of cheating - after all, poets were then paid for the number of lines, and Mayakovsky received 2-3 times more for poems of similar length.

When did the prologue “Near the Lukomorye green oak...” appear?

Pushkin wrote the prologue “There is a green oak at the Lukomorye...” of the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” for its second edition, released 8 years after the first publication.

Who came up with the name Svetlana?

In the comedy A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit” interjection"Oh!"used 54 times, and the exclamation"Oh!"appears on the pages of the work 6 times.

In the novel “Eugene Onegin” there are the lines: “He settled in that chamber, // Where the village old-timer // For forty years, he was quarreling with the housekeeper, // He looked out the window and crushed flies.” The word fly in this context is not used in its literal meaning, but as a metaphor for alcohol. There is also another metaphor used to designate a drunk person - “under the fly”, where the word fly is used in the same sense.

Did you know that one of the ancestors of M.Yu. Lermontov was a legendary Scottish mystic poet? The poet always knew that his father, Yuri Petrovich Lermontov, traced his family back to the Scottish officer Georg Lermont. He served as a mercenary in the Polish army, and in 1613, while defending the White Fortress, he was captured and went over to the side of Russia, where he became the ancestor of numerous descendants. But about his most famous ancestor - Thomas Learmonth, a poet of ancient Scotland who lived in the 13th century, M.Yu. Lermontov most likely had no idea. Only a few poems by Thomas Learmonth have survived to this day, often framed as predictions; many more legends about him have survived. It is said that on the ancient Eildon Hill, where, according to legend, King Arthur and his knights rest, there stood the Eildon Oak, which contained the entrance to the kingdom of fairies. In his youth, Thomas fell in love with a fairy, and she took him to her kingdom for 7 years. There he received his prophetic gift, and, upon returning, prophesied about the outcome of wars, about the fate of kings and cities, and then again went to his fairy - forever.

The fictional author of the “immortal” aphorisms, Kozma Prutkov, was not only perceived by many readers as a genuine person, but also managed to pass on his literary talent to inheritance. In 1854, the first poems of Kozma Prutkov were published in the Literary Jumble. Soon his sayings: “If you want to be happy, be happy,” or “Look at the root” were on everyone’s lips. To the “fathers” of this character A.K. Tolstoy, his cousins, the Zhemchuzhnikov brothers, and Pyotr Ershov even had to create his biography, from which it follows that Kozma Prutkov was born on April 11, 1801 near Solvychegodsk, was the director of the Assay Office with the rank of actual state councilor, and with his wife Antonida Proklevetanova had 10 children.20 years after his “death” (with the consent of his creators, he died in January 1863) it was published “ Complete collection works of Kozma Prutkov" with a portrait of the author, and in the 1910s his great-niece Angelika Safyanova, and also with great literary ambitions!