The origins and nature of literary quests, a brief summary. Epic Text: Perspectives on Study

Introductory lesson - lecture in 11th grade on the topic:

Literature of the early twentieth century.

Characteristics of the literary process of the early 20th century. Variety of literary trends, styles, schools, groups.

Lesson objectives: give an idea of ​​the connection between the historical and literary processes of the early 20th century; to find out what are the features of the development of literature at the beginning of the twentieth century, to note the originality of realism in the literature of the turn of eras, to introduce a new direction in art - modernism, its content, direction. Develop skills in taking notes from lecture material. Cultivate interest in Russian classical literature.

1. The origins and nature of literary quests at the beginning of the twentieth century.
2. Directions of philosophical thought of the early twentieth century.
3. Characteristics of the literary process of the early twentieth century.
4. The originality of realism in Russian literature of the early twentieth century.
5. Variety of literary trends, schools, groups.
6. Decadence. Modernism.

Epigraph for the lesson.

The beginning of the century was a time of great mental and spiritual excitement for us... Entire worlds opened up for us in those years... The beginning of the twentieth century was marked for usrenaissance (rebirth)spiritual culture, philosophical and literary-aesthetic renaissance. Never before has Russian culture achieved such sophistication.

N. Berdyaev

1. Conventionally, historians divided the countries of the whole world at the beginning of the twentieth century into three echelons: the first – countries with a high level of development of capitalism. It is home to rule-of-law states with developed democracies, those countries in which bourgeois revolutions took place in the early stages. England. France. The second echelon are countries in which revolutions occurred somewhat later, the bourgeoisie was defeated and was forced to share power with the nobility, but these were states that were steadily developing along the capitalist path. Germany. Italy. Japan. The third echelon included countries to which capitalism was brought “from outside.” America. Africa. Asian countries. Politically and economically, these countries were subordinated to strong capitalist powers.

Where to place Russia?

You can’t understand it with your mind, you can’t measure it with a common yardstick...

The bulk of the population are peasants. 16-18% of the population lives in cities.

By that time the noble class would be completely degraded. There remained very small groups of landowners Sheremetyevs, Golitsyns, Dolgorukovs. Their lands were mortgaged and remortgaged. They themselves spent most of their lives abroad. A new social layer of merchants and bourgeoisie is rising. Capitalists Ryabushinsky, Prokhorov, Morozov. Mamontovs. Another new social class is born - the proletariat. By that time, 60% of literate men and 40% of literate women lived in Russia.

At the turn of the century, Russia entered a period of wars and revolutions. The expectation of change seemed to permeate the very atmosphere of socio-political life in Russia. How I wanted to throw away the past and break into a new unknown world. The rising proletariat seemed so attractive. Liberation of the individual seemed possible. Art and literature develop under the influence of anticipation and fulfillment of impending great events. Three revolutions at the beginning of the century. Two wars.

1905-1907

War 1904-1905 - Russian-Japanese

War 1914-1918 - First World War.

Such rapid changes and changes in social life. In the political, in the psychology of the people, no country knows.

During this stormy and formidable time, 3 political positions were in conflict:

Supporters of the monarchy

Defenders of bourgeois reforms,

Ideologists of the proletarian revolution.

Country restructuring programs

"above" "below"

By means of the most "fierce,

Exceptional seething class war,

laws" (Stolypin) which is called revolution

Lucius" (Lenin)

However, Russian art and literature, including, have never accepted the ideas of violence and bourgeois practicality. (Let us remember the heroes of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Goncharov, Turgenev).

Salvation is not

"from above" and not "from below"

but only

"FROM INSIDE"

through moral transformation.

The feeling of universal catastrophism, disunity and the dream of the spiritual rebirth of man, universal unity, harmony with nature - the problems that the philosophical and literary thought of Russia is trying to solve, the essence of the nature of philosophical and literary quests.

2. The acute contradictions of life, confusion, despair, loss of faith in imminent social changes largely determined not only the social atmosphere in Russia, but also the development of philosophical movements. Overcoming general disunity and disharmony went back to the spiritual revival of man and humanity. The painful reaction to the call to fight, to violence gave rise to the NEORELIGIOUS quest of the era. (See appendices from the Workbook on page 6)

Religious thinkers N.F. Fedorov, V.S. Soloviev called for the awakening of the divine principle “in oneself.” The “good news” of Christ led Fedorov to the conviction: “the sons of men can become re-creators of the destroyed connection of generations and life itself, turning the blind force of nature into the conscious creativity of a harmonious spirit. Soloviev defended the idea of ​​reuniting dead man with the eternal divine principle. To achieve such an ideal, he believed, was possible through the power of various insights - in religious faith, high art, perfect earthly love.

ON THE. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, V.V. Rozanov, D.S. Merezhkovsky. All of them were warmed by the dream of introducing a weak, lost person to the divine truth. They dreamed not of social activity that would lead to change, but of a “religious community” capable of awakening the sleepy soul of their contemporaries and morally transforming the country.

Entire literary and poetic associations gravitated towards their idols:

symbolists - to Solovyov, futurists - to Fedorov. Similar trends were observed in music, painting, and theater.

3. The literature of the “Golden Age” and the literature of the Silver Age have always been brought together by a sense of tragic responsibility for a common fate. There is a conscious analysis of eternal problems: spirituality, the meaning of life, culture and the elements. In the twentieth century (at the very beginning) this occurs against the background of complex socio-political (destructive) processes. The “old masters,” according to Annensky, were characterized by “a sense of harmony between the elementary human soul and nature.” And artists of the early twentieth century were looking for the hidden power of counteracting the “inert state.”

Stand out:

The “I” that wants to become the whole world. (I. Annensky)

“I”, tormented by the consciousness of loneliness and the inevitability of the end. (A. Blok)

“I”, oppressed by the mystery and aimlessness of earthly existence.

(B. Zaitsev)

The creative transformation of reality is characteristic of the literary process of the early twentieth century; it visibly appears in poetry.

Supporters of the revolutionary movement created a new direction in literature. A group of “proletarian poets” appeared who connected poetry with specific tasks of social struggle. Among them were intellectuals Krzhizhanovsky, Radin, Bogdanov, workers and peasants Shkulev, Nechaev, Gmyrev, Demyan Bedny. This was the spontaneous creativity of the masses based on the traditions of folklore. The life and work of factory workers were glorified. Historical optimism is characteristic of this poetry. They tried to awaken pride, self-awareness, the desire to rebel against the squalor of the surrounding life, to change this life. Poets resorted to a conventionally romantic style, using its characteristic elements: the epithets “righteous blood”, “fatal oppression”, “holy work”, “bright path”; allegorical images of sunrise, dawn, spring. They used famous Russian folk songs, reworked European ones, giving them a new sound.

The leading genres are songs, poems, pamphlets, fables, feuilletons, epigrams, open social appeals. The Proletkult organization tried to create new literature by the workers themselves and for the workers, denying all previous culture and classical heritage. (See textbook pp. 11-12, Barannikov’s anthology).

4. The originality of realism in literature of the early twentieth century.

Realism (From Latin Realis - real, material, authentic) - an artistic method that determined the nature of the work of Russian writers of the 19th century. Critical realism is an artistic study of life, comprehension and reconstruction of the underlying patterns (typical in it).

Realism of the early twentieth century is called “spiritual realism.” What are its features?

This is realism seeking truth, finding truth;

This is realism, from which the image adequate to the writer’s ideal has disappeared, the image that embodied his cherished thoughts, the image that bears the artist’s ideas (sympathy not for these people, but for a vague dream);

The “average hero” (official, officer, intellectual, poor man) came to literature;

Realism is far from denouncing a lost personality, from irony; it is concerned with the mystery of the very nature of human disharmony;

Updating genre structures, a small story can accommodate problems of enormous scale, and vice versa, a big story tells about the events of two days;

In the realism of the early twentieth century there are no moralizing intonations; it calls for co-experience, for co-creation;

Analysis of real processes was combined with a bold romantic dream; realism of the 20th century is akin to romanticism, impressionism, expressionism, and symbolism;

Relentless attraction to the classical heritage.

Realistic “spiritualized” prose of the early twentieth century called for discussion.

1. Variety of literary trends.

Direction, or method (from the Greek Methodos - research) - a method of research, the principle underlying the study of life. In thin l-re the basic principles that guide the writer when depicting life phenomena in artistic images.

Independent work with the textbook.

Students work with the material from the textbook edited by V.P. Zhuravleva (part I) pp. 20-26. Chapters: Features of modern poetry, Symbolism, Acmeism, Futurism - read and make short notes.

The parallel emergence of more and more new poetic schools is one of the most interesting trends of the era. There was an increase in personality, an increase in the status of creative individuality in art.

Poets “are different from each other, from different clay. After all, these are all Russian poets, not for yesterday, not for today, but forever. God did not offend us like that” (O. Mandelstam). Literary school (current) and creative individuality are two key categories of the literary process of the early 20th century. Aesthetic originality is a general trend in the lyrics of the Silver Age.

Characteristic figures standing outside the directions (“Lonely Stars”) were M. Tsvetaeva, M. Kuzmin, V. Khodasevich.

The desire to express more complex, volatile or contradictory states of the soul required a new attitude to the word-image:

I am a sudden break

I am the playing thunder

I am a transparent stream

I am for everyone and no one. K. Balmont

There was a premonition of “coming riots”:

Where are you, future Huns,

What cloud hangs over the world?

I hear your cast iron tramp

Through the not yet discovered Pamirs. V. Bryusov

The poems include exotic images and motifs as a counteraction to the measured bourgeois life (“Giraffe”, “Lake Chad” by N. Gumilyov).

Futurist poets proclaim a decisive “no” to the heritage of the classics, destroying the “aesthetics of the old” (poems by V. Mayakovsky, V. Khlebnikov, etc.)

Summing up the lesson.

– What did you gain in the lesson to understand the characteristic features of the literary process in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century?

Homework:

1. Based on the lecture material, prepare a story on the topic “Socio-economic and cultural development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.”

2. Independent work with the textbook pp. 7-26

– What is the meaning of the term “Silver Age”?

– How did N. Otsup distinguish between the “golden” and “silver” centuries of Russian literature?

– What traditions of the classics have the realistic prose of modern times adopted?

– What are the features of the literary hero of the new era?

– What distinguishes modernism from realism?

– What brings together different movements of modernism?

– What are the features of the prose of the beginning of the century?

– What are the reasons for the emergence of various literary groups?

9th ed. - M.: Enlightenment, 2004. - 399 p.

If you want to get acquainted with a new look at Russian literature of the 20th century, if you are interested in the dramatic fates of the largest Russian writers of our century, if you need a book written scientifically, meaningfully and at the same time excitingly by a team of leading writers, literary scholars, critics, then this book is in front of you - This is a textbook on Russian literature of the 20th century.

After reading it carefully, you will be able to independently prepare for final exams at school and entrance exams to universities.

Format: pdf/zip

Late XIX - early XX centuries. took shape in less than three decades (1890-1910s), but came to amazingly bright achievements of independent significance. They were determined very quickly, despite the simultaneity with the work of a number of great classical artists. During this period, L. N. Tolstoy completed the novel “Resurrection”, created the drama “The Living Corpse” and the story “Hadji Murat”. At the turn of the century, perhaps the most remarkable works of A. P. Chekhov were published: the prose “House with a Mezzanine”, “Ionych”, “Man in a Case”, “Lady with a Dog”, “Bride”, “Bishop”, etc. . and the plays “The Seagull”, “Uncle Vanya”, “Three Sisters”, “The Cherry Orchard”. V. G. Korolenko wrote the story “Without Language” and worked on the autobiographical “The History of My Contemporary”. At the moment of the birth of modern poetry, many of its forerunners were alive: A. A. Fet, Vl. S. Solovyov, Ya. P. Polonsky, K. K. Sluchevsky, K. M. Fofanov. The younger generation of authors was closely connected with Russian classical literature, but for a number of objective reasons they made their own way in art.

As a result of the October events of 1917, the life and culture of Russia underwent a tragic cataclysm. The majority of the intelligentsia did not accept the revolution and, willingly or unwillingly, went abroad. The study of the works of emigrants was for a long time under the strictest ban. The first attempt to fundamentally comprehend the artistic innovation of the turn of the century was made by figures from the Russian diaspora.

N. A. Otsup, once a colleague of N. S. Gumilyov, introduced in 1933 (Parisian magazine “Numbers”) many concepts and terms that are widely recognized in our time. He likened the era of Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy (i.e. the 19th century) to the conquests of Dante and Petrarch. Boccaccio called the Russian “golden age”. The phenomena that followed, “as if squeezed into three decades, which occupied, for example, the entire nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in France,” were called the “Silver Age” (now written without quotation marks, with a capital letter).

Otsup established the similarities and differences between the two layers of poetic culture. They were brought together by “a feeling of special, tragic responsibility for a common fate.” But the bold visions of the “golden age” were replaced during the period of “the revolution that absorbed everything and everyone” with “conscious analysis”, which made creativity “more human-sized”, “closer to the author”.

There is a lot of insight in such a figurative comparison. First of all, the influence of revolutionary upheavals on literature. It, of course, was not at all direct, but very peculiar.

Russia at the beginning of our century, as we know, experienced three revolutions (1905-1907, February and October 1917) and the wars that preceded them - the Russian-Japanese (1904-1905), the First World War (1914-1918). In a stormy and formidable time, three political positions competed: supporters of monarchism, defenders of bourgeois reforms, and ideologists of the proletarian revolution. Heterogeneous programs for radical restructuring of the country emerged. One - “from above”, by means of “the most exceptional laws” leading “to such a social revolution, to such a displacement of all values<...>, which history has never seen” (P. A. Stolypin). The other is “from below,” through “a fierce, seething war of classes, which is called revolution” (V.I. Lenin). Russian art has always been alien to the idea of ​​any violence, as well as bourgeois practicality. They were not accepted even now. L. Tolstoy in 1905 had a presentiment that the world “stands on the threshold of a huge transformation.” However, he prefaced the change in the “forms of social life” with the spiritual self-improvement of the individual.

The desire for creative transformation of the world

The feeling of universal catastrophism and the dream of the rebirth of man became extremely acute among L. Tolstoy’s younger contemporaries. Salvation was seen not “from above” and certainly not “from below”, but “from within” - in moral transformation. But in the era of crisis, faith in possible harmony has weakened significantly. That is why eternal problems were again subjected to “conscious analysis” (N. Otsup): the meaning of life and spirituality of people, culture and the elements, art and creativity... Classical traditions developed in new conditions of destructive processes.

“Higher questions”, according to Iv. Bunin, “about the essence of being, about the purpose of man on Earth” acquired a rare dramatism. The writer was aware of his “role in the boundless crowd of people.” He later explained this point of view: “We know the nobles Turgenev and Tolstoy. But we cannot judge the Russian nobility en masse, since both Turgenev and Tolstoy depict the upper layer, rare oases of culture.” The loss of “oases” (with them - the large personality of the hero) meant the need to “immerse” in the monotonous existence of one or another community of “middle” (L. Andreev) people.

Therefore, the desire has matured to find some hidden force to counteract their inert state. The artists of the Silver Age possessed intense attention to the everyday flow of days and the ability to grasp the bright beginning in its depths.

I. Annensky very accurately identified the origins of such a search. The old masters, he believed, were characterized by a sense of “harmony between the elemental human soul and nature.” And in his modern times he highlighted the opposite: “Here, on the contrary, flashes the “I”, which would like to become the whole world, dissolve, spill into it, the “I” - tormented by the consciousness of its hopeless loneliness, inevitable end and aimless existence...” In such a way In the rarefied, cold atmosphere, Annensky nevertheless saw a craving for a “creative spirit” that produces “beauty through thought and suffering.”

This is how it was in the literature of the turn of the century. Its creators painfully experienced the elements of crushing and waste of life. B. Zaitsev was oppressed by the mystery of earthly existence: it “in its immeasurable course knows no boundaries, no time, no love, or even, as it sometimes seemed, any meaning at all” (story by “Agrafen”). The proximity of universal destruction (“Mr. from San Francisco”), the horror both from the meager “world of existence” and from the universe that we do not comprehend,” reported I. Bunin. L. Andreev portrayed a terrifying, fatal figure: the inexorable “Someone in Gray” briefly lights the candle “The Life of a Man” (the title of the play) and extinguishes it, indifferent to suffering and insights.

The darkest pictures were, however, brightened by the “creative spirit.” The same Andreev wrote: “...for me, imagination has always been higher than reality, and I experienced the strongest love in a dream...”, since real beauty is “moments far scattered in space and time.” The path to true existence lay through the artist’s self-deepening. Bunin's works are permeated, as he admitted, with “secret madness” - “an unresolved feeling of the indescribable mystery of the charm” of the earthly kingdom. And A. Kuprin, who painfully felt “The Lost Power” (the title of the story), discovered spiritual energy that lifted “the human personality to infinite heights.” In the innermost spheres of individual worldview, faith in the imperishable values ​​of life grew.

The creative transformation of reality appeared even more visibly in the poetry of the beginning of the century. I. Annensky came to the correct observation: “The boundaries between the real and the fantastic for the poet not only became thinner, but in some places became completely transparent. Truth and desires often merge their colors for him.” In the thoughts of many talented artists of the era we find similar thoughts.

A. Blok heard in the “timelessness” of the beginning of the century “the wild cry of a lonely soul, hanging for a moment over the barrenness of the Russian swamps.” However, he also noticed a thirst for “fire for his slightly smoldering soul.” The poet sang “I, in which, being refracted, reality is transformed.”

Blok felt such a gift in the poems of F. Sologub, K. Balmont and others. A. F. Sologub wrote: “The art of our days” “strives to transform the world through the effort of creative will...” The newest poetry was truly born of this impulse.

Literary quests of supporters of the revolutionary movement

At the beginning of the 20th century. A completely different direction of literature arose. It was associated with specific tasks of social struggle. This position was defended by a group of “proletarian poets.” Among them were intellectuals (G. Krzhizhanovsky, L. Radin, A. Bogdanov), workers and former peasants (E. Nechaev, F. Shkulev, Evg. Tarasov, A. Gmyrev). The attention of the authors of revolutionary songs and propaganda poems was drawn to the plight of the working masses, their spontaneous protest and organized movement. The following were sung: the victory of the “young army” (L. Radin), the “flame of struggle” (A. Bogdanov), the destruction of the “slave building” and a free future (A. Gmyrev), the feat of “fearless warriors” (Evg. Tarasov). The exposure of the “masters of life” and the defense of Bolshevik ideology were actively promoted by the sharply satanic fables and “manifestos” of D. Bedny.

Works of such an ideological orientation contained many real facts, correct observations, and expressively conveyed some public sentiments. However, there were no significant artistic achievements here. The attraction to political conflicts and the social essence of man prevailed, and the development of personality was replaced by ideological preparation for participation in class battles. It is difficult to disagree with the self-critical confession of Evg. Tarasova: “We are not poets - we are forerunners...”

The path to art lay through the comprehension of multifaceted relationships between people and the spiritual atmosphere of the time. And where specific phenomena were somehow linked to these problems, a living word, a vivid image was born. This beginning was characteristic of a number of works created by revolutionary-minded writers: the stories “Sands” (received the highest rating by L. Tolstoy), “Chibis”, and the novel “City in the Steppe” by A. Serafimovich. stories by A. Chapygin. K. Treneva, V. Shishkova and others. Indicative. however, that interesting pages of the works were devoted to acute moral situations, far from the proletarian struggle. And the struggle itself was reflected very schematically.

The spirit of the times manifested itself immeasurably more deeply in the embodiment of the author's subjective worldviews. M. Voloshin said this very well: “The history of mankind... will appear to us in a completely different and incomparably more accurate form when we approach it from the inside, analyze the writings of this or that book, which we call our soul, and are aware of the lives of billions of people , vaguely rumbled within us...”

For artists of the beginning of the century, overcoming general disunity and disharmony went back to the spiritual rebirth of man and humanity.

The direction of philosophical thought at the beginning of the century

Russian border philosophy gravitated towards similar ideals. L. Tolstoy, shortly before his death, made the following note: “... you need to connect this life with all of endless life, follow the law that embraces not just this life, but all of it. This gives faith in the future life.” In his passionate desire for “eternally distant perfection,” the writer relied on the wisdom of Christianity and many Eastern faiths. This was how the desire for purifying love and the ability to see the highest truth, the “light of God” in the soul, was established, bringing all peoples together.

The painful reaction to social struggle and calls for violence gave rise to the non-religious quest of the era. The Christian precepts of Goodness, Love, and Beauty were opposed to the preaching of class hatred. This is how a number of thinkers sought to find in the teachings of Christ a way to the salvation of contemporary humanity, tragically divided and alienated from eternal spiritual values. Along this line, the previous experience of Russian philosophers was perceived - N. F. Fedorov (1829-1903), especially Vl. S. Solovyova (1853-1900).

The “good news” of Christ led Fedorov to the conviction: the “sons of men” will be able to become “recreators” of the destroyed connection of generations and life itself, turning the “blind force” of nature into the conscious creativity of a harmonious spirit. Soloviev defended the idea of ​​reuniting “dead humanity” with the “eternal divine principle.” To achieve such an ideal, he believed, was possible through the power of various insights - in religious faith, high art, perfect earthly love. The concepts of Fedorov and Solovyov developed in the 19th century, but their main works appeared at the turn of two centuries.

“Religious Renaissance” determined the activities of a number of philosophers of modern times: N. A. Berdyaev (1879-1948), S. N. Bulgakov (1871 - 1944), D. S. Merezhkovsky (1866-1941), V. V. Rozanov (1856-1919), E. N. Trubetskoy (1863-1920), P. A. Florensky (1882-1937) and many others. All of them were warmed by the dream of introducing a weak, lost person to the divine truth. But everyone expressed their own idea of ​​such a rise. Merezhkovsky believed in the salvation of “the revelation of Christianity in Russian, and perhaps in world culture.” He dreamed of creating a heavenly and earthly kingdom on earth, based on the principles of divine harmony. Therefore, he called the intelligentsia to religious asceticism in the name of the future.

Berdyaev understood the “new consciousness” as the internal “merging with Christ” of an individual and the people as a whole. The secret of love for God was revealed in the achievement of “eternal perfect individuality,” in other words, the complete transformation of the human soul.

Rozanov advocated for the renewal of the church. In the teachings of God the Son, he saw a close connection with the real needs of earthly life. Therefore, he considered it necessary to get rid of Christian asceticism, preserving the spirituality of the covenants of Christ. Soon, however, Rozanov abandoned his idea, calling his own efforts to “destroy” the historically established church “madness.”

Disappointment in social activities (S. Bulgakov and N. Berdyaev began with Marxist, D. Merezhkovsky with populist hopes) led to the dream of a “religious public” (D. Merezhkovsky). She, the thinkers thought, was capable of awakening the sleepy soul of her contemporaries and morally transforming the country.

Entire poetic associations gravitated towards their idols: the symbolists - towards Solovyov, many futurists - towards Fedorov, A. Remizov, B. Zaitsev, I. Shmelev and others completely independently penetrated the depths of the commandments of Christ. Most writers, outside of special research in the field of religion, came to be in tune with neo-Christian ideals. In the recesses of a lonely, contradictory soul, a latent desire for perfect love, beauty, and harmonious fusion with the divinely beautiful world was revealed. In the subjective experience of the artist, faith in the incorruptibility of these spiritual values ​​was gained.

Focus on the creative ability, unraveling the hidden higher meaning of existence behind external reality, became common in the literature of the turn of the century. Such a search brought together her different directions 1, which in their own way comprehended the connection between the existence of an individual personality and “endless life” (L. Tolstoy).

On this path, the art of words was no exception. Similar trends have matured in music, painting, and theater.

• Questions

1. What is the meaning of the definition “Silver Age”?
2. How did N. Otsup distinguish between the “golden” and “silver” centuries of Russian literature?
3. What is similar to the search for religious thinkers of the turn of the century?
*4. What are the origins of the connections and differences between Russian literary classics and literary literature of the beginning of the century?
*5. How were tragic and optimistic motifs combined in the literature of the beginning of the century?

• Assignment for independent work

Read the articles by I. Annensky “Balmont the Lyricist”, “Three Social Dramas”, think about how they reveal the human soul and originality in the literature of the beginning of the century?

1 This refers to realism and modernism, about them see p. 25-26; With. 141.
2 Questions and tasks marked with * are intended for in-depth study of the topic.

Russian literature of the 20th century. 11th grade Textbook for general education institutions. L.A. Smirnova, O.N. Mikhailov, A.M. Turkov and others; Comp. E.P. Pronina; Ed. V.P. Zhuravleva - 8th ed. - M.: Education - JSC "Moscow Textbooks", 2003.

Submitted by readers from Internet sites

Literature online, list of topics by subject, collection of notes on literature,

Advanced Russian literature has always spoken out in defense of the people, always sought to truthfully illuminate the conditions of their life, to show their spiritual wealth - and its role in the development of self-awareness of Russian people was exceptional.

Since the 80s. Russian literature began to widely penetrate abroad, amazing foreign readers with its love for man and faith in him, with his passionate denunciation of social evil, with his ineradicable desire to make life more just. Readers were attracted by the tendency of Russian authors to create broad pictures of Russian life, in which the depiction of the fate of the heroes was intertwined with the formulation of many fundamental social, philosophical and moral problems.

By the beginning of the 20th century. Russian literature began to be perceived as one of the powerful streams of the world literary process. Noting the unusual nature of Russian realism in connection with Gogol’s centenary, English writers wrote: “...Russian literature has become a torch shining brightly in the darkest corners of Russian national life. But the light of this torch spread far beyond the borders of Russia - it illuminated the whole of Europe.”

Russian literature (in the person of Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy) was recognized as the highest art of speech due to its unique attitude towards the world and man, revealed by original artistic means. Russian psychologism, the ability of Russian authors to show the interconnection and conditionality of social, philosophical and moral problems, the genre looseness of Russian writers who created the free form of the novel, and then the short story and drama, were perceived as something new.

In the 19th century Russian literature adopted a lot from world literature, now it generously enriched it.

Having become the property of foreign readers, Russian literature widely introduced them to the little-known life of a huge country, to the spiritual needs and social aspirations of its people, to their difficult historical fate.

The importance of Russian literature increased even more on the eve of the first Russian revolution - both for Russian (which had grown significantly in number) and for foreign readers. The words of V.I. Lenin in the work “What to do?” are very significant. (1902) about the need to think “about the worldwide significance that Russian literature is now acquiring.”

Both literature of the 19th century and modern literature helped to understand what exactly contributed to the maturation of the explosion of popular anger and what the general state of modern Russian reality was.

L. Tolstoy’s merciless criticism of the state and social foundations of Russian life, Chekhov’s depiction of the everyday tragedy of this life, Gorky’s search for the true hero of new history and his call “Let the storm strike stronger!” - all this, despite the difference in the writers' worldviews, indicated that Russia found itself at a sharp turning point in its history.

The year 1905 marked the beginning of the “end of the “eastern” immobility” in which Russia found itself, and foreign readers sought an answer to the question of how all this happened in the most accessible source to them - Russian literature. And it is quite natural that special attention has now begun to attract the work of modern writers, reflecting the mood and social aspirations of Russian society. At the turn of the century, translators of fiction were paying great attention to which works were most successful in Russia, and were rushing to translate them into Western European languages. Released in 1898–1899 Three volumes of “Essays and Stories” brought Gorky all-Russian fame; in 1901 he was already a famous writer in Europe.

At the beginning of the 20th century. there was no doubt that Russia, which had learned a lot from the historical experience of Europe, was itself beginning to play a huge role in the world historical process, hence the increasingly increasing role of Russian literature in revealing changes in all areas of Russian life and in the psychology of Russian people.

Turgenev and Gorky called the liberated Russia “teenager” in the European family of nations; Now this teenager was turning into a giant, calling to follow him.

V.I. Lenin's articles about Tolstoy show that the global significance of his work (Tolstoy was already recognized as a world genius during his lifetime) is inseparable from the global significance of the first Russian revolution. Viewing Tolstoy as an exponent of the moods and aspirations of the patriarchal peasantry, Lenin wrote that Tolstoy with remarkable power reflected “the features of the historical originality of the entire first Russian revolution, its strength and its weakness.” At the same time, Lenin clearly outlined the boundaries of the material subject to the writer’s depiction. “The era to which L. Tolstoy belongs,” he wrote, “and which was reflected in remarkable relief both in his brilliant works of art and in his teaching, is the era after 1861 and before 1905.”

The work of the greatest writer of the new century, Gorky, was inextricably linked with the Russian revolution, who reflected in his work the third stage of the liberation struggle of the Russian people, which led him to 1905, and then to the socialist revolution.

And not only Russian, but also foreign readers perceived Gorky as a writer who saw a true historical figure of the 20th century. in the person of the proletarian and who showed how the psychology of the working masses changes under the influence of new historical circumstances.

Tolstoy depicted with amazing power a Russia already receding into the past. But, recognizing that the existing system is becoming obsolete and that the 20th century is the century of revolutions, he still remained faithful to the ideological foundations of his teaching, his preaching of non-resistance to evil through violence.

Gorky showed Russia as it replaced the old one. He becomes the singer of young, new Russia. He is interested in the historical modification of the Russian character, the new psychology of the people, in which, unlike previous and a number of modern writers, he looks for and reveals anti-humble and strong-willed traits. And this makes Gorky’s work especially significant.

The confrontation between two great artists in this regard - Tolstoy, who has long been perceived as the pinnacle of realistic literature of the 19th century, and the young writer, reflecting in his work the leading trends of modern times, was caught by many contemporaries.

K. Kautsky’s response to the novel “Mother” he had just read in 1907 is very characteristic. “Balzac shows us,” Kautsky wrote to Gorky, “more accurately than any historian, the character of young capitalism after the French Revolution; and if, on the other hand, I managed to understand Russian affairs to some extent, then I owe this not so much to Russian theorists as, perhaps to an even greater extent, to Russian writers, primarily Tolstoy and you. But if Tolstoy teaches me to understand the Russia that was, then your works teach me to understand the Russia that will be; understand the forces that are nurturing a new Russia.”

Later, saying that “Tolstoy, more than any other Russian, plowed and prepared the ground for a violent explosion,” S. Zweig will say that it was not Dostoevsky or Tolstoy who showed the world the amazing Slavic soul, but Gorky allowed the amazed West understand what and why happened in Russia in October 1917, and will especially highlight Gorky’s novel “Mother”.

Giving a high assessment of Tolstoy’s work, V.I. Lenin wrote: “The era of preparation for the revolution in one of the countries oppressed by the feudal owners, thanks to Tolstoy’s brilliant illumination, appeared as a step forward in the artistic development of all mankind.”

Gorky became the writer who illuminated with great artistic force the pre-revolutionary moods of Russian society and the era of 1905–1917, and thanks to this illumination, the revolutionary era, which ended with the October Socialist Revolution, in turn, was a step forward in the artistic development of mankind. By showing those who walked towards this revolution and then carried it out, Gorky opened a new page in the history of realism.

Gorky’s new concept of man and social romanticism, his new coverage of the problem of “man and history,” the writer’s ability to identify the sprouts of the new everywhere, the huge gallery he created of people representing old and new Russia - all this contributed to both the expansion and deepening of artistic knowledge of life. New representatives of critical realism also made their contribution to this knowledge.

So, for the literature of the early 20th century. The simultaneous development of critical realism, which at the turn of the century was experiencing a time of renewal, but without losing its critical pathos, and socialist realism, became characteristic. Noting this remarkable feature of the literature of the new century, V. A. Keldysh wrote: “In the context of the revolution of 1905–1907. For the first time, that type of literary relationship arose, which was later destined to play such a significant role in the world literary process of the 20th century: “old”, critical realism develops simultaneously with socialist realism, and the appearance of signs of a new quality in critical realism is largely the result of this interaction.”

Socialist realists (Gorky, Serafimovich) did not forget that the origins of a new image of life go back to the artistic quests of such realists as Tolstoy and Chekhov, while some representatives of critical realism began to master the creative principles of socialist realism.

Such coexistence would later be characteristic of other literatures during the years of the emergence of socialist realism in them.

The simultaneous flowering of a significant number of great and dissimilar talents, noted by Gorky as the uniqueness of Russian literature of the last century, was also characteristic of the literature of the new century. The creativity of its representatives develops, as in the previous period, in close artistic relationships with Western European literature, also revealing its artistic originality. Like the literature of the 19th century, it has enriched and continues to enrich world literature. Particularly indicative in this case is the work of Gorky and Chekhov. Under the sign of the artistic discoveries of the revolutionary writer, Soviet literature will develop; his artistic method will also have a great influence on the creative development of democratic writers in the foreign world. Chekhov's innovation was not immediately recognized abroad, but starting in the 20s. it found itself in the sphere of intensive study and development. World fame first came to Chekhov the playwright, and then to Chekhov the prose writer.

The work of a number of other authors was also noted for innovation. Translators, as we have already said, paid attention in the 1900s. attention to both the works of Chekhov, Gorky, Korolenko, and the works of writers who came to prominence on the eve and during the years of the first Russian revolution. They especially followed the writers grouped around the publishing house “Znanie”. L. Andreev’s responses to the Russo-Japanese War and the rampant tsarist terror (“Red Laughter,” “The Tale of the Seven Hanged Men”) became widely known abroad. Interest in Andreev’s prose did not disappear even after 1917. The trembling heart of Sashka Zhegulev found an echo in distant Chile. A young student of one of the Chilean lyceums, Pablo Neruda, will sign with the name of St. Andrew’s hero, whom he chose as a pseudonym, his first major work, “Festive Song,” which will receive a prize at the “Spring Festival” in 1921.

Andreev's dramaturgy, which anticipated the emergence of expressionism in foreign literature, also gained fame. In “Letters on Proletarian Literature” (1914), A. Lunacharsky pointed out the overlap between individual scenes and characters in E. Barnavol’s play “Cosmos” and Andreev’s play “Tsar Hunger.” Later, researchers will note the impact of Andreevsky drama on L. Pirandello, O’Neill and other foreign playwrights.

Among the features of the literary process of the early 20th century. The extraordinary variety of dramaturgical searches and the rise of dramatic thought should be attributed. At the turn of the century, Chekhov's theater appeared. And before the viewer had time to master the innovation of Chekhov’s psychological drama that amazed him, a new, social drama by Gorky appeared, and then the unexpected expressionist drama of Andreev. Three special dramaturgies, three different stage systems.

Simultaneously with the enormous interest shown in Russian literature abroad at the beginning of the new century, interest in old and new Russian music, the art of opera, ballet, and decorative painting is also growing. A major role in arousing this interest was played by concerts and performances organized by S. Diaghilev in Paris, performances by F. Chaliapin, and the first trip of the Moscow Art Theater abroad. In the article “Russian Performances in Paris” (1913), Lunacharsky wrote: “Russian music has become a completely definite concept, including the characteristics of freshness, originality and, above all, enormous instrumental skill.”

The desire for creative transformation of the world.

Origins and nature of literary quests.

LITERATURE OF THE EARLY XX CENTURY

Russian literature of the late XIX - early XX centuries. took shape in less than three decades (1890-1910s), but came to surprisingly bright achievements of independent significance. The younger generation of authors was closely connected with Russian classical literature, but for a number of objective reasons they paved their own path in art.

As a result of the October events of 1917 ᴦ. life and culture of Russia have undergone a tragic cataclysm. The majority of the intelligentsia did not accept the revolution and, willingly or unwillingly, went abroad. The study of the works of emigrants was for a long time under the strictest ban.

The first attempt to fundamentally comprehend the artistic innovation of the turn of the century was made by figures from the Russian diaspora.

N. A. Otsup introduced it in 1933. many concepts and terms that are widely recognized in our time. He likened the era of Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy (i.e. the 19th century) to the conquests of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio and called it domestic "golden age". He called the phenomena that followed him, as if squeezed into three decades, "Silver Age".

Otsup established the similarities and differences between the two layers of poetic culture. They were brought together by a “feeling of special, tragic responsibility for their common fate.” But the bold visions of the “golden age” were replaced during the period of “revolution that absorbed everything” with “conscious analysis”, which made creativity “more human-sized”, “closer to the author”.

There is a lot of insight in such a figurative comparison. First of all, the influence of revolutionary upheavals on literature. It, of course, was not at all direct, but very peculiar.

In the era of crisis, faith in possible harmony has weakened significantly. That is why eternal problems were again subjected to “conscious analysis” (N. Otsup): the meaning of life and spirituality of people, culture and the elements, art and creativity... Classical traditions developed in new conditions of destructive processes.

The artists of the Silver Age possessed intense attention to the everyday flow of days and the ability to grasp the bright beginning in its depths.

I. Annensky very accurately identified the origins of such a search. “The old masters,” he believed, were characterized by a sense of “harmony between the elementary human soul and nature.” And in his contemporaneity he highlighted the opposite: “Here, on the contrary, the “I” flashes, which would like to become the whole world, dissolve, spill into it, the “I” - tormented by the consciousness of its hopeless loneliness, the inevitable end and aimless existence...≫.

This is how it was in the literature of the turn of the century. Its creators painfully experienced the elements of crushing and waste of life.

The darkest pictures were, however, brightened by the “creative spirit.” The path to true existence lay through the artist’s self-deepening. In the innermost spheres of individual worldview, faith in the imperishable values ​​of life grew.

The creative transformation of reality appeared even more visibly in the poetry of the beginning of the century. I. Annensky came to the correct observation: “The boundaries between the real and the fantastic for the poet not only became thinner, but in some places became completely transparent.” Truth and desires often merge their colors for him.” In the thoughts of many talented artists of the era we find similar thoughts.

The desire for creative transformation of the world. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Striving for creative transformation of the world." 2017, 2018.