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The main features of realism in literature. Prerequisites for the emergence of critical realism in Europe

Realism has the following distinctive features:

  • 1. The artist depicts life in images that correspond to the essence of the phenomena of life itself.
  • 2. Literature in realism is a means for a person to understand himself and the world around him.
  • 3. Cognition of reality occurs with the help of images created through typification of facts of reality (“typical characters in a typical setting”). Typification of characters in realism is carried out through the truthfulness of details in the “specifics” of the characters’ conditions of existence.
  • 4. Realistic art is life-affirming art, even with tragic resolution conflict. The philosophical basis for this is Gnosticism, the belief in knowability and an adequate reflection of the surrounding world, unlike, for example, romanticism.
  • 5. Realistic art is characterized by the desire to consider reality in development, the ability to detect and capture the emergence and development of new forms of life and social relations, new psychological and social types.

In the course of the development of art, realism acquires specific historical forms and creative methods (for example, educational realism, critical realism, socialist realism). These methods, interconnected by continuity, have their own characteristic features. The manifestations of realistic tendencies vary in different types and genres of art.

In aesthetics, there is no definitively established definition of both the chronological boundaries of realism and the scope and content of this concept. In the variety of points of view being developed, two main concepts can be outlined:

  • · According to one of them, realism is one of the main features of artistic knowledge, the main trend in the progressive development of the artistic culture of mankind, in which the deep essence of art is revealed as a way of spiritual and practical development of reality. The measure of penetration into life, artistic knowledge of its important aspects and qualities, and, first of all, social reality, determines the measure of realism of a particular artistic phenomenon. In each new historical period, realism takes on a new look, sometimes revealing itself in a more or less clearly expressed tendency, sometimes crystallizing into a complete method that determines the characteristics of the artistic culture of its time.
  • · Representatives of a different point of view on realism limit its history to certain chronologically, seeing in it a historically and typologically specific form of artistic consciousness. In this case, the beginning of realism dates back to either the Renaissance or the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment. The most complete disclosure of the features of realism is seen in the critical realism of the 19th century; its next stage is represented in the 20th century. socialist realism, which interprets life phenomena from the perspective of the Marxist-Leninist worldview. A characteristic feature of realism in this case is considered to be the method of generalization, typification of life material, formulated by F. Engels in relation to the realistic novel: " … typical characters in typical circumstances..."
  • · Realism in this understanding explores the personality of a person in indissoluble unity with his contemporary social environment and public relations. This interpretation of the concept of realism was developed mainly on the material of the history of literature, while the first one was developed mainly on the material of the plastic arts.

Whatever point of view one adheres to, and no matter how one connects them with each other, there is no doubt that realistic art has an extraordinary variety of ways of cognition, generalization, and artistic interpretation of reality, manifested in the nature of stylistic forms and techniques. Realism of Masaccio and Piero della Francesca, A. Durer and Rembrandt, J.L. David and O. Daumier, I.E. Repina, V.I. Surikov and V.A. Serov, etc. differ significantly from each other and indicate the broadest creative possibilities objective exploration of the historically changing world through the means of art.

Moreover, any realistic method is characterized by a consistent focus on understanding and revealing the contradictions of reality, which, within given, historically determined limits, turns out to be accessible to truthful disclosure. Realism is characterized by conviction in the knowability of beings, features of the objective real world by means of art. realism art knowledge

Forms and techniques for reflecting reality in realistic art are different in different types and genres. Deep penetration into the essence of life phenomena, which is inherent in realistic tendencies and constitutes a defining feature of any realistic method, is expressed in different ways in a novel, lyric poem, historical picture, landscape, etc. Not every outwardly reliable image of reality is realistic. The empirical reliability of an artistic image takes on meaning only in unity with a truthful reflection of the existing aspects of the real world. This is the difference between realism and naturalism, which creates only visible, external, and not genuine essential truthfulness of images. At the same time, in order to identify certain facets of the deep content of life, sometimes sharp hyperbolization, sharpening, grotesque exaggeration of the “forms of life itself” are required, and sometimes a conditionally metaphorical form of artistic thinking.

The most important feature of realism is psychologism, immersion through social analysis into the inner world of a person. An example here is the “career” of Julien Sorel from Stendhal’s novel “The Red and the Black,” who experienced a tragic conflict of ambition and honor; psychological drama by Anna Karenina from novel of the same name L.N. Tolstoy, who was torn between the feelings and morality of class society. Human character is revealed by representatives of critical realism in an organic connection with the environment, with social circumstances and life conflicts. The main genre of realistic literature of the 19th century. Accordingly, it becomes a socio-psychological novel. It most fully meets the task of objective artistic reproduction of reality.

Let's look at the general features of realism:

  • 1. An artistic depiction of life in images that corresponds to the essence of the phenomena of life itself.
  • 2. Reality is a means for a person to understand himself and the world around him.
  • 3. Typification of images, which is achieved through the truthfulness of details in specific conditions.
  • 4. Even with tragic conflict life-affirming art.
  • 5. Realism is characterized by the desire to consider reality in development, the ability to detect the development of new social, psychological and public relations.

The leading principles of realism in art of the 19th century V.:

  • · objective reflection of the essential aspects of life in combination with the height and truth of the author’s ideal;
  • · reproduction of typical characters, conflicts, situations with the completeness of their artistic individualization (i.e., concretization of both national, historical, social signs, and physical, intellectual and spiritual characteristics);
  • · preference in methods of depicting “forms of life itself,” but along with the use, especially in the 20th century, of conventional forms (myth, symbol, parable, grotesque);
  • · predominant interest in the problem of “personality and society” (especially in the inescapable confrontation between social patterns and the moral ideal, personal and mass, mythologized consciousness) [4, p.20].

The emergence of realism

In the 30s of the XIX century. Realism is becoming widespread in literature and art. The development of realism is primarily associated with the names of Stendhal and Balzac in France, Pushkin and Gogol in Russia, Heine and Buchner in Germany. Realism develops initially in the depths of romanticism and bears the stamp of the latter; not only Pushkin and Heine, but also Balzac experienced a strong fascination in their youth romantic literature. However, unlike romantic art, realism refuses the idealization of reality and the associated predominance of the fantastic element, as well as an increased interest in the subjective side of man. In realism, the prevailing tendency is to depict a broad social background against which the lives of the heroes take place (“ Human Comedy"Balzac, "Eugene Onegin" by Pushkin, "Dead Souls" by Gogol, etc.). Realist artists sometimes surpass philosophers and sociologists of their time in their depth of understanding of social life.

Stages of development realism XIX century

The formation of critical realism occurs in European countries and in Russia almost at the same time - in the 20s - 40s of the 19th century. It is becoming a leading trend in the literature of the world.

True, this simultaneously means that the literary process of this period is irreducible only in a realistic system. And in European literatures, and - in particular - the activity of romantic writers continues in full in US literature. Thus, development literary process goes largely through the interaction of coexisting aesthetic systems, and characteristic as national literatures, and creativity individual writers requires mandatory consideration of this circumstance.

Speaking about the fact that since the 30s and 40s, realist writers have occupied a leading place in literature, it is impossible not to note that realism itself turns out to be not a frozen system, but a phenomenon in constant development. Already within the 19th century, the need arises to talk about “different realisms”, that Merimee, Balzac and Flaubert equally answered the main historical questions that the era suggested to them, and at the same time their works are distinguished by different content and originality forms.

In the 1830s - 1840s in creativity European writers(primarily Balzac) the most remarkable features of realism appear as a literary movement, giving a multifaceted picture of reality, striving for an analytical study of reality.

The literature of the 1830s and 1840s was largely fueled by statements about the attractiveness of the century itself. The love for the 19th century was shared, for example, by Stendhal and Balzac, who never ceased to be amazed at its dynamism, diversity and inexhaustible energy. Hence the heroes of the first stage of realism - active, with an inventive mind, not afraid of facing unfavorable circumstances. These heroes were largely associated with the heroic era of Napoleon, although they perceived his two-facedness and developed a strategy for their personal and public behavior. Scott and his historicism inspire Stendhal's heroes to find their place in life and history through mistakes and delusions. Shakespeare makes Balzac say about the novel “Père Goriot” in the words of the great Englishman “Everything is true” and see echoes in the fate of the modern bourgeois harsh fate King Lear.

Realists second half of the 19th century centuries will reproach their predecessors for “residual romanticism.” It is difficult to disagree with such a reproach. Really, romantic tradition is very noticeably represented in creative systems Balzac, Stendhal, Merimee. It is no coincidence that Sainte-Beuve called Stendhal “the last hussar of romanticism.” Traits of romanticism are revealed

– in the cult of exoticism (Merimee’s short stories such as “Matteo Falcone”, “Carmen”, “Tamango”, etc.);

– in the predilection of writers for depicting bright individuals and passions that are exceptional in their strength (Stendhal’s novel “Red and Black” or the short story “Vanina Vanini”);

– a passion for adventurous plots and the use of fantasy elements (Balzac’s novel “Shagreen Skin” or Merimee’s short story “Venus of Il”);

– in an effort to clearly divide heroes into negative and positive – carriers of the author’s ideals (Dickens’s novels).

Thus, between the realism of the first period and romanticism there is a complex “family” connection, manifested, in particular, in the inheritance of techniques and even individual themes and motifs characteristic of romantic art (the theme of lost illusions, the motif of disappointment, etc.).

In domestic historical and literary science " revolutionary events 1848 and the important changes that followed in the socio-political and cultural life bourgeois society" is generally considered to be what divides the "realism of foreign XIX countries century into two stages - realism of the first and second half of the 19th century" ("History foreign literature XIX century / Edited by Elizarova M.E. – M., 1964). In 1848 popular performances turned into a series of revolutions that swept across Europe (France, Italy, Germany, Austria, etc.). These revolutions, as well as the unrest in Belgium and England, followed the “French model”, as democratic protests against a class-privileged government that did not meet the needs of the time, as well as under the slogans of social and democratic reforms. Overall, 1848 marked one huge upheaval in Europe. True, as a result of it, moderate liberals or conservatives came to power everywhere, and in some places even a more brutal authoritarian government was established.

This caused general disappointment in the results of the revolutions, and, as a consequence, pessimistic sentiments. Many representatives of the intelligentsia became disillusioned with mass movements, active actions of the people on a class basis and transferred their main efforts to the private world of the individual and personal relationships. Thus, the general interest was directed towards the individual, important in itself, and only secondarily - towards his relationships with other individuals and the world around him.

The second half of the 19th century is traditionally considered the “triumph of realism.” By this time realism in full voice declares itself in the literature not only of France and England, but also of a number of other countries - Germany (late Heine, Raabe, Storm, Fontane), Russia (“natural school”, Turgenev, Goncharov, Ostrovsky, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky), etc. P.

At the same time, since the 50s it begins new stage in the development of realism, which involves a new approach to the depiction of both the hero and the society around him. The social, political and moral atmosphere of the second half of the 19th century “turned” writers towards the analysis of a person who can hardly be called a hero, but in whose fate and character the main signs of the era are refracted, expressed not in a major deed, a significant act or passion, compressed and intensely conveying global shifts of time, not in large-scale (both social and psychological) confrontation and conflict, not in typicality taken to the limit, often bordering on exclusivity, but in everyday life, everyday life. Writers who began working at this time, as well as those who entered literature earlier but worked during this period, for example, Dickens or Thackeray, certainly were guided by a different concept of personality. Thackeray’s novel “The Newcombs” emphasizes the specificity of “human studies” in the realism of this period - the need to understand and analytically reproduce multidirectional subtle mental movements and indirect, not always manifested social connections: “It is difficult to even imagine how many different reasons determine our every action or passion, how often, when analyzing my motives, I mistook one thing for another...” This phrase by Thackeray conveys perhaps the main feature of the realism of the era: everything is focused on the depiction of a person and character, and not circumstances. Although the latter, as they should in realistic literature, “do not disappear,” their interaction with character acquires a different quality, associated with the fact that circumstances cease to be independent, they become more and more characterologized; their sociological function is now more implicit than it was with Balzac or Stendhal.

Due to the changed concept of personality and the “human-centrism” of the whole artistic system(and “man – the center” was not necessarily a positive hero, defeating social circumstances or dying - morally or physically - in the fight against them) one may get the impression that the writers of the second half of the century abandoned the basic principle of realistic literature: dialectical understanding and depiction of relationships character and circumstances and adherence to the principle of socio-psychological determinism. Moreover, some of the most prominent realists of this time - Flaubert, J. Eliot, Trollott - when talking about the world surrounding the hero, the term “environment” appears, often perceived more statically than the concept of “circumstances”.

An analysis of the works of Flaubert and J. Eliot convinces that artists need this “stakeout” of the environment primarily in order to describe surrounding the hero the situation was more flexible. The environment often narratively exists in the inner world of the hero and through him, acquiring a different character of generalization: not poster-sociologized, but psychologized. This creates an atmosphere of greater objectivity in what is being reproduced. In any case, from the point of view of the reader, who trusts such an objectified narrative about the era more, since he perceives the hero of the work as a person close to him, just like himself.

Writers of this period do not at all forget about one more aesthetic setting of critical realism - the objectivity of what is reproduced. As you know, Balzac was so concerned about this objectivity that he was looking for ways to bring closer literary knowledge(understanding) and scientific. This idea appealed to many realists of the second half of the century. For example, Eliot and Flaubert thought a lot about the use of scientific, and therefore, as it seemed to them, objective methods of analysis in literature. Flaubert thought especially a lot about this, who understood objectivity as synonymous with impartiality and impartiality. However, this was the spirit of the entire realism of the era. Moreover, the work of realists in the second half of the 19th century occurred during the period of takeoff in the development of natural sciences and the heyday of experimentation.

In the history of science it was important period. Biology developed rapidly (C. Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species” was published in 1859), physiology, and the formation of psychology as a science took place. The philosophy of positivism by O. Comte became widespread, and later played an important role in the development of naturalistic aesthetics and artistic practice. It was during these years that attempts were made to create a system of psychological understanding of man.

However, even at this stage of the development of literature, the character of the hero is not conceived by the writer outside of social analysis, although the latter acquires a slightly different aesthetic essence, different from that which was characteristic of Balzac and Stendhal. Of course, in Flaubert's novels. Eliot, Fontana and some others, what is striking is “a new level of depiction of the inner world of man, a qualitatively new mastery of psychological analysis, which consists in the deepest disclosure of the complexity and unforeseenness of human reactions to reality, motives and causes human activity" (Story world literature. T.7. – M., 1990).

It is obvious that the writers of this era sharply changed the direction of creativity and led literature (and the novel in particular) towards in-depth psychologism, and in the formula “social-psychological determinism” the social and psychological seemed to change places. It is in this direction that the main achievements of literature are concentrated: writers began not only to draw a complex inner world literary hero, but to reproduce a well-functioning, thoughtful psychological “character model”, in it and in its functioning, artistically combining the psychological-analytical and social-analytical. The writers updated and revived the principle of psychological detail, introduced dialogue with deep psychological overtones, found narrative techniques to convey “transitional”, contradictory spiritual movements that were previously inaccessible to literature.

This does not mean at all that realistic literature abandoned social analysis: the social basis of the reproduced reality and the reconstructed character did not disappear, although it did not dominate the character and circumstances. It was thanks to the writers of the second half of the 19th century that literature began to find indirect ways of social analysis, in this sense continuing a series of discoveries made by writers of previous periods.

Flaubert, Eliot, the Goncourt brothers and others “taught” literature to reach out to the social and what is characteristic of the era characterizes its social, political, historical and moral principles, through the ordinary and everyday existence of an ordinary person. Social typification among writers of the second half of the century is the typification of “mass appearance, repetition” (History of World Literature. Vol. 7. - M., 1990). It is not as bright and obvious as among representatives of classical critical realism of the 1830s - 1840s and most often manifests itself through the “parabola of psychologism”, when immersion in the inner world of a character allows you to ultimately immerse yourself in the era, in historical time, as seen by writer. Emotions, feelings, and moods are not transtemporal, but of a specific historical nature, although it is primarily ordinary everyday existence that is subject to analytical reproduction, and not the world of titanic passions. At the same time, writers often even absolutized the dullness and wretchedness of life, the triviality of the material, the unheroic nature of time and character. That is why, on the one hand, it was an anti-romantic period, on the other, a period of craving for the romantic. This paradox, for example, is characteristic of Flaubert, the Goncourts, and Baudelaire.

There is one more important point associated with the absolutization of imperfection human nature and slavish subordination to circumstances: writers often perceived the negative phenomena of the era as a given, as something irresistible, and even tragically fatal. That is why in the works of realists of the second half of the 19th century the positive principle is so difficult to express: the problem of the future interests them little, they are “here and now”, in their time, comprehending it in an extremely impartial manner, as an era, if worthy of analysis, then critical.

As noted earlier, critical realism is a literary movement on a global scale. Another notable feature of realism is that it has a long history. At the end of the 19th and 20th centuries, the work of such writers as R. Rolland, D. Golusorsi, B. Shaw, E. M. Remarque, T. Dreiser and others gained worldwide fame. Realism continues to exist to this day, remaining the most important form of world democratic culture.

UDC 82.02 Yu.M. Proskurina

ORIGINALITY OF RUSSIAN REALISM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 19th century

Russian literature of the 1850s. is considered as a new stage in the development of realism. Writers start from the principles of the natural school and pay increased attention psychology and moral problems. Strong characters can withstand social circumstances. A change in the concept of personality gives rise to a transformation of the genre-style system of realism.

Key words: development of realism, character and circumstances, traditions, genre, lyricism, national character.

Dialogical relations (successive and polemical) underlie both the emergence of literary movements and the change of stages in the course of the evolution of each of them. Moreover, nearby periods in the development of a direction are sometimes more different from each other than distant ones.

The natural school developed into a new stage of the realistic movement at the turn of the 40-50s, when voices began to be heard within it against the unilateral decision of the basic “formula” of realism and the associated consequences. Thus, P. Annenkov in 1849, on the pages of Sovremennik, expresses dissatisfaction with the predilection of the natural school “for an insignificant person, killed by circumstances,” who does not find “any strength in himself to get out of a cramped situation.” The anti-romantic thesis about the dependence of characters on circumstances ceases to be relevant, since romanticism itself, thanks to the natural school, becomes, according to N. Chernyshevsky, not so much dangerous as funny. The tragic pathos of many works of the natural school as a consequence of the fatal conditioning of man by the environment is not approved by A. Druzhinin, the author of “Letters from a Nonresident Subscriber...”. “We,” he declares in 1850, “do not want melancholy, we do not want works based on a painful mood of the spirit.” At this time, the leading writers of the natural school declare a change in their views, the beginning of a dialogue with themselves. In 1849, Herzen spoke about the need to “preach a new worldview,” Dostoevsky wrote to his brother in connection with his arrest: “Now, changing my life, I will be reborn into new uniform. I will be reborn for the better." In 1852, Turgenev informed Annenkov of his intention to “part forever with the ‘old manner’ and take a different path in art.” Two years later, Dudyshkin confirms the desire of the author of “Two Friends” to “get out of his previous manner.” Ap. Grigoriev notes with satisfaction the collapse of the natural school, which he reproached for “slavish copying” of the phenomena of reality, for “a mixture of dirt with sentimentality.”

Such statements gave rise to many researchers’ ideas about the 50s. as a time when “all the great testaments of Belinsky were forgotten,” when “the tradition was forcibly interrupted.” Solovyov (Andreevich), although he did not share extremely nihilistic opinions about the literature of the so-called dark seven years, nevertheless denied the originality of this period in the development of realism: “The 50s: they are usually called an empty place of Russian literature. This is an exaggeration, of course, but in reality these years have created very little that is original. They don’t have their own physiognomy.” There is an opinion in Soviet literary criticism that “at the very beginning of the fifties, liberals took a hostile position towards realism.”

In fact, the forward movement of realism did not stop. After all, many realists of the 50s, such as A. Herzen, D. Grigorovich, N. Nekrasov, I. Turgenev, began their creative path in a natural school, “came out” of it, and therefore valued its experience. Those writers who, like L. Tolstoy, made their debut in the 50s also studied at the natural school. or at this time they became famous (A. Ostrovsky, A. Pisemsky). It is no coincidence that young Tolstoy dedicated the magazine publication “Cutting Wood” (1855) to the author of “Notes of a Hunter.” However, the attitude towards the natural school was complicated by opposition: assimilation, overcoming, rethinking of its experience, which was caused not only by the changed social situation (“dark seven years”), but also by the needs of self-development of the literary movement.

In the 50s both liberals and democrats expressed different understandings of the content and objectives realistic art, but they remembered Belinsky’s thesis: “Reality is the password and slogan of our

century." Following Belinsky, Chernyshevsky sees the purpose of art in the reproduction of reality; Druzhinin advises writers: “Be true to reality”; Ap. Grigoriev expresses satisfaction that “reality is in the foreground in modern literature.” Dudyshkin clarifies: “Fidelity to reality can be twofold: creative, consisting in a vivid reproduction of the distinctive, characteristic features of each person, and daguerreotypical, consisting in a careful and indifferent recording of everything that is seen and heard.”

Literary figures of those years, realizing that “the pacification of reality” does not exclude the writer’s belonging to “pseudo-realism,” attach great importance to “way of thinking” (Chernyshevsky), “angle of view” (Druzhinin), “view of things” (Dudyshkin), “ worldview” (Grigoriev) - this is how they call the author’s position, on which the choice and methods of depicting the subject depend. Because of this, they are interested in the question: “What kind of life is expressed by art?” (Ap. Grigoriev), “to what reality is the writer faithful?” (Druzhinin), “how should we understand reality?” (Chernyshevsky).

Ap. Grigoriev, admiring the “new word” of Ostrovsky the playwright, advises writers not to ignore the “religious foundations of morality”, “to pass judgment on a life that has deviated from the ideal” from the standpoint of the “indigenous Russian worldview.” Druzhinin, taking into account the experience of “observant authors” like Pisemsky and Kokorev, advocates for everyday life writing of the “comforting sides” of everyday Russian life. Annenkov in his article “Concerning novels and stories from common life” (1854) recommends sketching peasant life from the position of a conscientious draftsman, and in the work “On Thought in Works of Fine Literature” (1855), relying on the works of Tolstoy and Turgenev, he considers it necessary to provide a psychological description of heterogeneous layers of society. Chernyshevsky believes that literature is interested in both “the poetry of feeling” and “the poetry of thought.” Dudyshkin remarks about this: “Isn’t it more true. to say that all sound ideas that can be given by life can also be ideas for stories about life.” Thus, if Belinsky oriented the natural school towards a truthful reproduction of reality, then the critics of the 50s. argued about aspects and techniques of depicting life, revealing, according to Annenkov, “fragmentation of concepts and diversity of views.”

But all of them, following the natural school, recognized the aesthetic significance of ordinary life ordinary people. According to Chernyshevsky, “everywhere the hero remains only in crackling novels: Dickens and Thackeray have no heroes, but there are very ordinary people whom everyone ... has met by the dozens in their lifetime.” V. Krestovsky (N. Khvoshchinskaya) substantiates in detail in the novel “Test” (1854) the appeal of the prose writers of those years to depicting the everyday life of ordinary people: “Isn’t this mass people?.. And almost the entire world consists of such people. There is no other name for them than “ordinary”. But all social life is made up of the relationships and clashes of these people.” S. Aksakov in “Family Chronicle” (1856) addresses his characters: “You are not great heroes, not loud personalities, you have passed through your earthly career in silence and obscurity. but you were people, and your external and internal life was also filled with poetry.” Druzhinin advises fiction writers to show “poetry in the most ordinary objects.” Chernyshevsky sees a certain amount of poetry “in the most prosaic person.” Discussion about the poetry of the ordinary is not only a recognition of it aesthetic value, but also of spiritual ethical significance.

Attention to the everyday among realists of the 50s. pursued slightly different goals than those of the writers of the natural school: not so much social as moral and psychological. Literary figures of those years insist on the possibility of moral opposition of the individual to unfavorable circumstances. “The moral independence of man,” Herzen proclaims, “is the same immutable truth and reality as his dependence on the environment.” Chernyshevsky categorically states: “It depends on the person himself to what extent his life is filled with the beautiful and great.” L. Tolstoy writes in his diary for 1853: “The more difficult and severe the circumstances, the more necessary is firmness, activity, determination, and the more harmful is apathy.” According to Dudyshkin, literature of the 50s. tends to depict “a person of strong character. who is able to bear the most difficult circumstances on his shoulders.” Among these persistent and strong in spirit people turn out to be the commoner Gleb Savinov (“Fishermen” by Grigorovich - 1853), and the commoner Kayutin (“Three Countries of the World” by Nekrasov and Panayeva - 1848 - 1849), and

meshchik Bagrov (“Family Chronicle” by S. Aksakov). “In all classes of society,” says Chernyshevsky through the mouth of one of his heroes in the unfinished story “Theory and Practice” (1849 - 1850), “even at all stages of mental development you will find people extremely rich in feelings, hearts, with extraordinary energetic will.” . Herzen mentions in “Past and Thoughts” (Part 2 - 1854) about a meeting in “musty Vyatka exile” with ardent young hearts who “were not carried away by the steep mountains.” The hero of V. Krestovsky’s story “Temptation” (1852) does not repeat the fate of the “honest secretary of the district court”, about whom Belinsky spoke in a letter to Kavelin: the son of a poor clerk, lawyer Ozerin, refuses, although not without painful hesitation, from the “dastardly deed”, doesn't sell his soul for a piece daily bread" “Fortunately,” the writer reports, “there are stubborn people who do not regenerate and do not get used to it. for them to reconcile is beyond their strength, to get used to it is not in their nature.”

Change in emphasis of the basic “formula” of realism of the 50s. leads to a weakening of the traditions of Gogol and to the strengthening of the influence of Pushkin, the second stage in the evolution of his realistic method, when the poet saw in the independence of man the guarantee of his greatness. Turgenev in 1855 wrote to Druzhinin about the need for Russian modern literature to have the influence of both Gogol and Pushkin, but since in the 40s. “Pushkin’s was receding into the background - let it come forward again - but not in order to replace Gogol’s.”

A new emphasis in the relationship between characters and circumstances influenced the 50s. and on the peculiarities of plot construction, which in the natural school was subject to the strict “laws of determinism”: the conflict, as a rule, was of a social nature, living conditions determined the fate of the hero. The realists of the 50s characters perform a plot-forming function, the conflict acquires “moral content” (V. Botkin), “the interest in the details of feelings replaces the interest of the events themselves” (L. Tolstoy), that is, the psychological trend becomes leading in literature, which determines the creative evolution of individual writers. In Turgenev's stories of the 50s. deepen psychological characteristics heroes, their plot-forming role increases: for example, the fate of Gerasim (“Mumu” ​​-1854), Akim (“Inn” - 1855) depends on the lord’s will, but the heroes also influence the development of the plot: Gerasim leaves Moscow without permission, Akim becomes a wanderer - a pilgrim.

If in the plot organization of works of the natural school love situations usually aggravated the tragedy of the heroes, then in the prose of the 50s. they, as a rule, do not ruin their lives, do not condemn them to eternal suffering. Thus, the unrequited love of the hero of V. Krestovsky’s story “The Village Teacher” (1850 - 1852) deprives him of peace, joy, and romantic illusions, but after a year he finds peace of mind. And in the novel “Three Countries of the World” by Nekrasov and Panaeva, love is the starting point in the formation of personality: Kayutin in order to acquire funds for family life begins to engage in commercial activities, develops willpower, courage, and energy during difficult journeys across the country from the Caspian region to the Urals, from Siberia to Novaya Zemlya.

In contrast to the natural school, the realists of the 50s. expand the spatio-temporal boundaries of the plot narrative. Writers of the 40s They usually depicted the modern provincial and St. Petersburg world, in which life is “caulked up.” For Dostoevsky, these are the corners of St. Petersburg, in which poor people huddle “apart from everyone else”; for Herzen, this is often a distant city that “lies not in the circle of light, but away from it”; for Grigorovich, this is a village in which miserable grief-stricken people, petrified by misfortune, live and die. Sometimes an image of a road appears that does not promise the hero happiness, does not inspire hope: the departure of Beltov (“Who is to blame?”), Varenka Dobroselovaya (“Poor People”), Anton the Miserable (Grigorovich’s story of the same name) is joyless. In prose of the 50s. The geography of the Russian modern world (historical subjects at this time are as rare as in the natural school) is significantly expanding due to the voluntary or forced movement of heroes, for example, in such works as Herzen’s “Past and Thoughts”, Tolstoy’s trilogy (1852 - 1857 ), “The Inn”, “Rudin” (1856) by Turgenev, “Country Roads” (1852), “Displacers” (1855 -1856) by Grigorovich, “Three Countries of the World” by Nekrasov and Panaeva. If in the natural school the image of a carriage was often used as a symbol of social inequality, then in the prose of the 50s. the poetic allegory extends to the image of the road as a generalized visible representation of life path hero, about the development of his character.

The process of personality formation through its moral self-improvement and resistance to hostile circumstances is the focus of attention of the realists of the 50s. In the works of the natural school, the question of human self-education was obscured by the tasks of exposing those

principles of life that hampered the development of personality. In the 50s L. Tolstoy, believing that a “passionate desire for perfection” is inherent in human nature, shows in the trilogy how this “desire for perfection” instinctively manifests itself in childhood, when the child wants to be “kind and smart” in order to bring joy to adults, as desire is imperceptibly strengthened under the strong and beneficial influence of selfless natures such as Natalya Savishna and Karl Ivanovich. In youth, the desire for moral improvement becomes conscious, which Nikolenka Irtenyev constantly and passionately talks about with Prince Nekhlyudov.

Issues of “internal development” of a person represent big interest for Herzen, who, unlike Tolstoy, pays attention not only to the moral, but also to the political self-education of the individual. In Past and Thoughts, Herzen describes in detail the spiritual growth of a person under the influence of events such as the Patriotic War, the Decembrist uprising, factors such as reading books, staying at the university, visiting the front room, the happiness of mutual love and devoted friendship. Under the influence of these favorable circumstances, which the writers of the natural school often passed by, humanistic and patriotic convictions of the individual take shape, helping him to resist the vulgar environment.

Other writers of those years also showed attention to the moral self-improvement of the individual. Thus, Ivan Aksakov writes: “Man cleanses himself. Let everyone know how dangerous the environment in which he lives is, let him guard his soul.” The heroine of V. Krestovsky’s novel “The Test” (1854), Lizaveta Andreevna Elnova, believes: “Living with the goal of becoming better and maintaining character seems to me more interesting than living simply, without looking back.” . Women in works of the 50s. They usually look more decisive than men: this is the mentioned Elnova, and Natalya Lasunskaya (“Rudin”), and Liina Minskaya (“Three Seasons of Life” Evg. Tur). The latter remarks: “Our fate is in our hands. Providence gave us will, intelligence, reason - and these three levers will change a lot in our lives.”

Interest of realists of the 50s. To strong characters, confronting unfavorable living conditions, contributes to the emergence of not only such new topics as human self-education, but also new aspects in the coverage of old problems, “traditional” images, which include the problem of the ideal, the image of the romantic. And this is natural, since a person who believes in something and strives for something can resist circumstances. Following Pushkin, who proclaimed the ideal as the goal of art, the realists of the 50s. They believe that “faith in the ideal as something possible and achievable saves talent from apathy” (Nekrasov).

Despite all the disagreements in the interpretation of the ideal, the writers of those years see in devotion to it the source of strength and originality of a person who, according to Chernyshevsky, “external influences were not suppressed. did not do. a colorless, characterless creature”, therefore they strive to remove the touch of grandiloquence and at the same time ridicule from such words as “dream”, “ideal”, and to warn against one-sidedness in their interpretation. Thus, Dudyshkin reflects on the pages of “Notes of the Fatherland”: “Ideal! In our country this word has acquired a completely wrong meaning lately. To say “ideal” about something is the same as to say “unrealistic”. This is the fault of the direction of literature, which is daguerreotypically faithful to the small incidents of life, without any thought. Poetry, or better yet, poetry, has brought the concept of the ideal even lower. Is ideality to blame for the fact that we have lost its lofty meaning? .

Realists of the 50s reconsider the attitude of the natural school not only to the romantic, but also to the superfluous person, the ironic image of which was first given by Dostoevsky in the story “ Little hero"and Turgenev in "Hamlet of Shchigrovsky District" (1849). Noteworthy is Dostoevsky’s remark about the tendency of these people to “punish romanticism, that is, often everything that is beautiful and true, each atom of which is more expensive than their entire slug breed.” Inherent in Turgenev in the 50s. a critical look at the superfluous person, the writer’s sympathy for the romantic is striking when comparing the letters that make up the content of the story “Correspondence”, on which he worked from 1844 to 1854. In those letters-chapters of this story the hero is depicted in the traditions of the natural school as an extra person who failed under the influence harsh conditions Russian life “to conquer the sky”, to realize their dreams “for the good of all mankind, for the good of the homeland.” In the subsequent letters of the “Correspondence”, the hero gives up first place to Marya Alexandrovna, because the author at this time is not so much interested in the question of why dreams do not come true, but is concerned with the thought of the need to remain faithful to the ideal despite unfavorable circumstances. At this time, Turgenev greets the “sacred

flame”, at which “only those in whose hearts it has either gone out or never flared up” laugh. Marya Alexandrovna does not immediately pronounce the word “ideal”, which has become ridiculous and hackneyed: at first she seems to be looking for it, hesitantly pronounces it, and then persistently, with polemical passion, repeats: “... I will remain faithful to the end. what? Ideal, or what? Yes, to the ideal."

Writers of those years speak not about misfortune, but about the guilt of unnecessary people, about their inability to overcome difficulties and put “good impulses” into practice. Evg. Tour in the novel “Niece” (1851) states with satisfaction that the fashion for disappointed, unoccupied people “is beginning to pass little by little.” This is evidenced by M. Avdeev’s novel “Tamarin”. Unlike Turgenev and Dostoevsky, the average fiction writer does not immediately guess the aspect and emphasis in the depiction of the “superfluous person” that is dictated by the time. In his story “Varenka” (1849), which later became the first part of the novel “Tamarin”, the revaluation of the previously popular hero is not yet noticeable. Author's attitude towards the hero is manifested in the identical perception of Tamarin by the people around him. Popov, Varenka, her friend, the baroness see an extraordinary personality in the hero. The author’s “naive worship” of a hero of the Pechorin type takes place already in 1850, when the writer publishes “Notebook from Ta-marin’s Notes.” The final verdict on Tamarin is pronounced by the author in the story “Ivanov” (1851), which concludes the novel. The author's position in the last part of “Tamarin” is revealed primarily in the opposition of the main character to Ivanov, who, according to Avdeev, belongs to those people who “lived a practical practical life, and not fruitless views.”

In the conditions of the 50s. it was about “a person’s good deeds” as a criterion of his moral worth. L. Tolstoy at this time sees happiness “in constant life work, with the goal of the happiness of others.” “Serious work,” explains I. Aksakov, “always has a beneficial effect on the human soul.” Therefore, writers of those years prefer to portray a hard-working teacher whose activities are aimed at the benefit of people. “The teacher,” notes I. Panaev, “has become the beloved inevitable face of the Russian story of our time.” He is mentioned in the works of Herzen (“The Past and Thoughts”), Tolstoy (trilogy), Turgenev (“Rudin”), he is at the center of a number of stories, including V. Krestovsky (“The Village Teacher”), Mikhailov (“Izgoev "), Evg. Tour (“Niece”, “Three Seasons of Life”), Chernyshevsky (“Theory and Practice”). IN realistic prose 50s the teacher does not look like the timid, weak-willed Krutsifersky from Herzen’s novel. He knows how to overcome difficulties and endure adversity. Thus, a rural teacher in the story of the same name by V. Krestovsky declares: “No matter how much grief, deception, failure, embarrassment, need I have to endure in life, I will preserve the treasure of constant thought, constant love of work.”

And, of course, the main worker of the Russian land - the peasant - was not ignored by the writers of those years. “We now,” states Dudyshkin in 1855, “have many writers who publish stories from common people’s life.” Interest in the characters and destinies of common people is present in Herzen’s Past and Thoughts, in Notes of a Hunter, the stories “Mumu”, “The Inn” by Turgenev, in the trilogy and “The Morning of the Landowner” by Tolstoy. It is at this time that “ peasant novels"Grigorovich ("Fishermen", "Displacers"), Potekhin ("Peasant Woman"), "Essays on Peasant Life" by Pisemsky. Close attention to the common people's theme is caused by several reasons, which are based on the anti-serfdom idea: the peasant is a great worker. “The common people,” writes Tolstoy in 1853, “are so much higher than us with a life filled with labor and hardship.” The peasant is associated with ideas about the future of the country. “The man of the future in Russia,” Herzen asserts, “is a man,” and K. Aksakov also believes that the “spirit of the future life” lurks in the peasant (“N.D. Sverbeev”). At one time, Belinsky still had to prove that a man is a man, that “people of the lower classes are, first of all, people. our brothers." Writers of the natural school emphasized in ordinary people the possibilities of genuine humanity, but, as a rule, suppressed by circumstances. Realists of the 50s more often and more than their predecessors, they speak about the national nature of the peasant character. Thus, Pisemsky, the author of “Piterschik” (1852), reporting on the prosperity of Clementy, a quitrent peasant, rejoices “in his face. for the Russian people."

Attention to the national specificity of the Russian character is intensifying under the influence of the Crimean War and disappointment in Western European society after the well-known events of 1848 - 1849. At this time, the authority of the Slavophiles grew, their ranks were replenished by the “Young Muscovites”, who saw the features of a “common tribal nationality” (Ap. Grigoriev) not only in the peasant, but also in the merchant.

A number of writers, including Turgenev and Saltykov, come close to the Slavophiles in their depiction of commoners. Saltykov, in one of his letters in 1857, admits that during the creation of “Provincial Sketches” he leaned heavily towards the Slavophiles, even initially devoting the section “Pilgrims, Wanderers and Travelers” to S.T. Aksakov. Nekrasov in “Three Countries of the World” creates a colorful image of the peasant Antip Khrebtov, who has “his own convictions, his own beliefs.” Kayutin, the hero of the said novel, based on personal observations of ordinary people during their fights with harsh nature, exclaims: “In no one other than the Russian peasant have I seen such daring and resourcefulness, such courage.”

Turgenev’s Notes of a Hunter, first published as a separate collection in 1852, also experienced the influence of the historical and literary context of two adjacent eras. During the time of the natural school, Turgenev talked about the victims of lordly tyranny. In the 50s he is interested in the inner world of a commoner, his feelings, thoughts (“Date”, “Singers”, “Kasyan with the Beautiful Sword”). The writer extends his “secret psychologism” to popular stories. For example, in “The Inn” he depicts the spiritual drama of a robbed and deceived commoner, conveys it internal state by using psychological portrait and a meager author’s commentary that does not concern the “ mental process”, but represents only its “beginning and end”.

The mastery of psychological analysis, of course, was not inherent in all writers of the 50s. Annenkov, for example, spoke about Potekhin’s lack of “psychological processing of characters.” But “Domestic Notes” rightly wrote in 1855 about the increased attention in literature to the differences in the characters and way of thinking of people dressed not only in “a tailcoat and coat,” but also in “a gloomy caftan or a Siberian jacket.” At the same time, the realists of the 50s. prefer to talk kind word about a peasant. “It’s not good,” Tolstoy argued, “to look for and describe the bad in the people: it exists, but it would be better to talk about it, only good.”

This kind word should be, in the opinion of literary figures of those years, a cheerful word, devoid of sentimental pathos. Therefore, writers who were interested in the 40s. sentimental scenes and digressions, they write with an eye to the changing tastes of readers, and take into account the recommendations of critics. In particular, Grigorovich warns the audience in the novel “Fishermen”: “I will not bother the readers with a description of this scene. And without that, you will see, there will be many people who will accuse me of excessive sentimentality.”

Sentimentality is replaced by lyrical discourse - one of the manifestations of a subjective-expressive style. “The lyrical writer,” notes M. Brandes, “prefers the form “Ich”. It contributes to the psychologization of prose, penetration into the human soul. It also creates an atmosphere of authenticity, relaxedness, and brings the techniques of verbal and artistic creativity closer to real forms of existence. It was in this function that it was used personality form narratives in the natural school and in prose of the 50s. “Now,” Nekrasov notes in 1855, “all that is written is notes, confessions, memoirs, autobiographies.”

In the prose of the 50s, as well as the 40s, two types of the author’s image are most common: the hero-narrator and the personal narrator, often adjacent to the narrator.

In the new historical conditions, the personal narrator-moralist became closer to the object of the image from the common people. Thus, in Turgenev’s “Notes of a Hunter,” created in the 50s, the narrator empathizes with the heroes: together with Akulina in “Date,” he experiences the pain of rejected love, unfulfilled expectations of happiness, together with the visitors of the village tavern, with tears in his eyes, he listens to Yakov’s singing Turka (“Singers”); he understands Kasyan’s impatient anticipation of meeting the peasant’s truth (“Kasyan with the Beautiful Sword”). However, the common people themselves in these stories either do not trust the narrator, or do not notice him, because he is not with them, but near them.

The narrator has the greatest degree of closeness with common people in “The Notes of Kayutin” from the novel “Three Countries of the World” by Nekrasov and Panaeva. In his difficult journeys he associates with courageous simple people; together with them he freezes, goes hungry, and is in mortal danger. Recalling contacts with commoners in harsh, uninhabited lands, Kayutin writes: “We warmed each other up with hand-to-hand combat, and sometimes with breathing. hungry and cold, we huddled together, not seeing the sun of God for sixty days.” Before his travels, Kayutin did not know the Russian peasant; necessity brought him together, a common lot brought him closer together. The narrator notes with satisfaction:

“I became related to a Russian peasant.” The rapprochement of the narrator with the common people allows him to see in it “variations” of characters, and not just a variety of types.

Increasing interest in the individual aspect of the typical contributes to the displacement of the realistic trend of the 50s from the genre system. physiological essay, which implemented in the natural school the idea of ​​determinism, the conditioning of man by the environment. A.G. Tseitlin rightly wrote: “Many types of physiological outline did not have high psychological movements; they were replaced by rather primitive instincts and desires.” Janitors, organ grinders, feuilletonists, inhabitants of St. Petersburg corners, about whom Dahl, Grigorovich, Panaev, Nekrasov wrote respectively, really did not have a complex inner world. Writers of the 40s, as a rule, looked at them from the outside, and they also had a different task. It was due to the specifics of the development of the realistic method in this historical stage, attention to social typology, to the analytical study of the essence and genesis of the type. V. Vinogradov wrote in “The Evolution of Russian Naturalism” about the “epidemic thirst for types” inherent in the natural school. In conditions that increased in the 50s. interest in personality psychology, the physiological essay “has ceased to be a structurally formed variety of the genre” (A. Tseitlin). It is no coincidence that the “Library for Reading” in 1855 speaks of the popularity of the physiological essay as a feature of the past tense: “Several years ago, physiological essays, correctly captured from nature and distinguished by typicality, deserved general approval.”

Changes in the genre-generic system of the realistic movement of those years are not limited to the displacement of the physiological sketch: at this time there is a revival of poetry and drama, which played a modest role in the natural school. But already in 1851, on the pages of the “Library for Reading”, a statement appears that “...all our fictional talents are obsessed with drama.” The authority of prose prompted Turgenev in 1855, when publishing the comedy “A Month in the Country,” to almost justify himself, notifying readers: “This comedy was written four years ago and was never intended for the stage. This, in fact, is not a comedy, but a story in dramatic form." The lyrical pathos of many works of psychological prose of those years contributed to the “explosion of poetry,” according to Druzhinin. “Only the period of time from 1840 to 1850,” states Dudyshkin, “was unfavorable for poetry. There are a lot of poetic talents in our time."

I. Yampolsky rightly linked the development of psychological lyrics mid-19th V. with “the general interest in the inner life, the individual psychology of man, characteristic of this era.” But, according to K. Aksakov, author of the Review of Modern Literature (1857), prose was still read “more than poetry” due to its inherent description of “everyday life.” The critic expressed satisfaction with the collapse of the natural school, approved of the changes that had taken place in the depiction of the peasant, the romantic, the superfluous person, especially in the stories of Turgenev, and the attention of writers to the “inner world of the soul,” especially in the works of Tolstoy. Actually, K. Aksakov, unlike many subsequent researchers, in particular Solovyov-Andreevich, did not deny the presence of a special “physiognomy” of the literature of the 50s, and did not attribute it to the epilogue of the natural school. He concluded his review article with anticipation of a “literary future day,” the preconditions of which the critic saw in modern literature. And this “day” came, but not quite in the form in which the Slavophile K. Aksakov imagined it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Avdeev M.V. Works: in 2 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1868. Vol. 1.

2. Aksakov S.T. Collection cit.: in 5 volumes. M.: Pravda, 1966. T. 1.

3. Belinsky V.G. Full collection cit.: in 13 volumes. M.: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1953-1959. T. 3.

4. Belinsky V.G. Full collection cit.: in 13 volumes. M.: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1953-1959. T. 9.

5. Library for reading. 1851. T. 107. Dep. 5 P. 31

6. Library for reading. 1855. No. 6. Dept. 6. P. 35.

7. Bursov B.I. The mastery of Chernyshevsky the critic L.: Sov. writer, 1956.

8. Brandes M.P. Stylistic analysis M.: Higher. school, 1971.

9. Herzen A.I. Works: in 30 volumes. M., 1958. T. 6.

10. Herzen A.I. Works: in 30 volumes. M., 1958. T. 7.

11. Grigoriev A.A. Collection Op. / ed. V. Savodnik. M., 1916. Issue. 9.

12. Grigorovich D.V. Full collection cit.: in 12 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1896. T. 5.

13. Dostoevsky F.M. Full collection cit.: in 30 volumes. L.: Nauka, 1985. T. 2.

14. Dostoevsky F.M. Full collection cit.: in 30 volumes. L.: Nauka, 1985. T. 28.

15. Druzhinin A.V. Collection cit.: in 8 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1865. T. 6.

16. Krestovsky V. Complete. collection cit.: in 6 volumes. M., 1912. T. 1.

17. Krestovsky V. Complete. collection cit.: in 6 volumes. M., 1912. T. 5.

18. I.S. Aksakov in his letters. M., 1892. T. 3.

19. Nekrasov N.A. Full collection Op. and letters. M.: GIHL, 1950. T. 6.

20. Nekrasov N.A. Full collection Op. and letters. M.: GIHL, 1950. T. 7.

21. Domestic notes. 1852. No. 4. Dep. 6.

22. Domestic notes. 1852. No. 8. Dep. 1.

23. Domestic notes. 1854. No. 3. Dep. 4.

24. Domestic notes. 1854. No. 4. Dep. 4.

25. Domestic notes. 1855. No. 2. Dept. 4.

26. Domestic notes. 1855. No. 6. Dept. 4.

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28. Domestic notes. 1855. No. 8. Dep. 4.

29. Domestic notes. 1856. No. 4. Dep. 2.

30. Pisemsky A.F. Collection cit.: in 9 volumes. M.: Pravda, 1959. T. 2.

31. Skabichevsky A.M. History of Russian modern literature: 1848 - 1890. St. Petersburg, 1891; Pypin A.N. History of Russian literature St. Petersburg, 1913. T. 4. P. 599.

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44. Chernyshevsky N.G. Full collection cit.: in 15 volumes. M., 1947. T. 11.

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Received by the editor 10/15/13

Yu.M. Proskurina

The peculiarities of Russian realism of the mid-XIXth century

Russian literature of the 1850s is considered as a new phase in the development of realism. Writers use the principles of the natural school but pay more attention to psychological and ethical problems. Now strong characters are able to withstand social circumstances. So, the changes in personality concept cause the transformation in the genre and style systems of realism.

Keywords: realism development, character and circumstances, traditions, genre, lyricism, national character.

Proskurina Yulia Mikhailovna, Doctor of Philology, Professor

FSBEI HPE "Ural State Pedagogical University"

620017, Russia, Ekaterinburg, Kosmonavtov Ave., 26 E-mail: [email protected]

Proskurina Yu.M., doctor of philology, professor

Ural State Pedagogical University

620017, Russia, Yekaterinburg, Kosmonavtov av., 26

Realism is usually called a movement in art and literature, whose representatives strived for a realistic and truthful reproduction of reality. In other words, the world was portrayed as typical and simple, with all its advantages and disadvantages.

General features of realism

Realism in literature is distinguished by a number of common features. Firstly, life was depicted in images that corresponded to reality. Secondly, reality for representatives of this movement has become a means of understanding themselves and the world around them. Thirdly, the images on the pages of literary works were distinguished by the truthfulness of details, specificity and typification. It is interesting that the art of the realists, with their life-affirming principles, sought to consider reality in development. Realists discovered new social and psychological relationships.

The emergence of realism

Realism in literature as a form artistic creation arose during the Renaissance, developed during the Enlightenment and emerged as an independent movement only in the 30s of the 19th century. The first realists in Russia include the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin (he is sometimes even called the founder of this movement) and no less outstanding writer N.V. Gogol with his novel “Dead Souls”. As for literary criticism, the term “realism” appeared within it thanks to D. Pisarev. It was he who introduced the term into journalism and criticism. Realism in 19th century literature became distinctive feature of that time, having its own characteristics and characteristics.

Features of literary realism

Representatives of realism in literature are numerous. The most famous and outstanding writers include such writers as Stendhal, Charles Dickens, O. Balzac, L.N. Tolstoy, G. Flaubert, M. Twain, F.M. Dostoevsky, T. Mann, M. Twain, W. Faulkner and many others. All of them worked on the development of the creative method of realism and embodied in their works its most striking features in inextricable connection with their unique authorial characteristics.

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No. PERIOD EVENTS AND CHANGES IN LITERATURE 1. LATE 1790s - 1800s Karamzin period. Journal "Bulletin of Europe" Karamzin. The emergence of numerous literary societies. Development of Karamzinist poetry (“poetic nonsense”, “nonsense”, familiar friendly poetry, elegant salon poetry, etc.) 2. 1810-egg Formation of romanticism. "Bulletin of Europe" edited by V.A. Zhukovsky. Dispute about the ballad genre, nationality, literary language. “Psychological romanticism” by V.A. Zhukovsky, “dreamy romanticism” by K.N. Batyushkova. 3. 1820 -1830s Pushkin period. The evolution of romanticism in the works of Pushkin. “Civil romanticism” of the Decembrists. A.S. Griboyedov. Poets of the Pushkin circle. M.Yu. Lermontov. N.V. Gogol.

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So, writer...Russian writer - who is he?? (write the answer in your notebook) First professional writer was A.S. Pushkin. In the mid-19th century, every great poet clarifies his attitude to the Pushkin tradition, because It was impossible to appear in print without clarifying for oneself and for others, out loud or in a hint, one’s attitude towards Pushkin’s traditions. WHY? Look at the notes in your notebook...

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POETRY I third 19 in PROSE II half 19 in Gives way to WHY? WHY?? Poetry reacts faster to changes occurring in society (in practical terms, poetry is written faster); writing a novel sometimes takes more than 10 years

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In 1848, Nicholas I tightened censorship even more; until 1855, a gloomy 7th anniversary began. Under Nicholas I, it was forbidden to open new magazines. The magazines consisted of several departments: Literature Actually piece of art Criticism Bibliographical chronicle Modern chronicle of Russia Literature had no right to engage in politics. The magazines argued with each other. This is a time of democratization of literature, more and more literate people are appearing, these new readers are dictating their tastes. They listen to these tastes and adapt to them. Who should I write for? Who can you count on? Almost all writers, starting with Pushkin, have faced this problem. The democratization of literature meant the emergence of new readers and the influx of new literary forces into literature.

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Realism as a literary movement Realism as artistic method, and the novel, as a genre, arose from the need to understand the complex processes that took place in Russia and the West at the end of the 18th century - the first quarter of the 19th century. Literature has taken the path of a comprehensive study of life. As a result of the interaction of all literary trends, under the influence of the political situation in literature, an artistic method - realism - begins to take shape. Its basis is the principle of life truth, the desire to fully and truly reflect life. A.S. Pushkin is considered the founder of this direction. It was based on patriotism, sympathy for the people, and the search for positive hero in life, faith in the bright future of Russia. Russian realism of the second half of the 19th century approaches philosophical questions and poses eternal problems of human existence.

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1800 1850 1870s 1825s Social status Education Financial situation Development of natural sciences 1900s

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The main features of realism Realism has a certain set of features that show differences from the romanticism that preceded it, and from the naturalism that follows it. 1. Typification of images. The object of a work in realism is always an ordinary person with all his advantages and disadvantages. Accuracy in depicting details characteristic of a person is the key rule of realism. However, the authors do not forget about such nuances as individual characteristics, and they are harmoniously woven into the whole image. This distinguishes realism from romanticism, where the character is individual. 2. Typification of the situation. The situation in which the hero of the work finds himself must be characteristic of the time being described. A unique situation is more characteristic of naturalism. 3. Precision in the image. Realists have always described the world as it was, reducing the author's worldview to a minimum. The romantics acted completely differently. The world in their works was demonstrated through the prism of their own worldview. 4. Determinism. The situation in which the heroes of the works of realists find themselves is only the result of actions committed in the past. The characters are shown in development, which is shaped by the world around them. Interpersonal relationships play a key role in this. The personality of the character and his actions are influenced by many factors: social, religious, moral and others. Often in a work there is a development and change in personality under the influence of social and everyday factors. 5. Conflict: hero - society. This conflict is not unique. It is also characteristic of the movements that preceded realism: classicism and romanticism. However, only realism considers the most typical situations. He is interested in the relationship between the crowd and the individual, the consciousness of the masses and individual person. 6. Historicism. Literature of the 19th century demonstrates man inseparably from his environment and period of history. The authors studied the lifestyle and norms of behavior in society at a certain stage before writing your works. 7. Psychologism is the author’s transmission to the reader of the inner world of his characters: its dynamics, changes in mental states, analysis of the character’s personality traits. How does the artist reveal the inner world of his hero? In the novel “Crime and Punishment,” the reader gets to know Raskolnikov’s emotions and feelings through the description of his appearance, the interior of the room, and even the image of the city. In order to reveal everything that happens in the soul of the main character, Dostoevsky does not limit himself to presenting his thoughts and statements. The author shows the situation in which Raskolnikov finds himself. A small closet, reminiscent of a closet, symbolizes the failure of his idea. Sonya's room, on the contrary, is spacious and bright. But most importantly, Dostoevsky pays special attention to the eyes. In Raskolnikov they are deep and dark. Sonya's are meek and blue. And, for example, nothing is said about Svidrigailov’s eyes. Not because the author forgot to describe the appearance of this hero. Rather, the point is that, according to Dostoevsky, people like Svidrigailov have no soul at all.

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V. Belinsky's teaching on realistic character: 1. An artist should not copy life, daguerreotype is a sign of documentary prose. The hallmark of a true work of art is the creation of types. (The typical is the general expressed through the individual) 2. The heroes of realism are multifaceted, contradictory - what does it mean that monolinearity and staticity are overcome

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The development of journalism at the beginning of the century Thick magazines are beginning to play an increasingly important role as an intelligent informant and interlocutor, and the names of their publishers are becoming no less popular than the names of fashionable writers. Different in direction and in the views of publishers, they introduced the reading public to the news European life, novelties in scientific fields and applied studies, with works of foreign and domestic poets and prose writers. The most popular among readers were "Bulletin of Europe" by Karamzin, "Son of the Fatherland" by Grech, "Northern Bee" by Bulgarin, "Telescope" by Nadezhdin, "Library for Reading" by Senkovsky, "Notes of the Fatherland" by Kraevsky. In 1832, 67 magazines and newspapers were published in Russia. There were 32 publications in Russian among them, mostly departmental magazines. There were only 8 public literary magazines published. In the 1840-50s. writers, publishers, who ruled the minds and souls of readers, are overshadowed by literary critic. The readership is beginning to need an experienced mentor who can teach them to appreciate true art. At the beginning of the century, literary salons played the role of unique clubs where literary, political, and philosophical opinions were exchanged, where news of Russian and foreign life was learned. The most famous of them were the salons of Olenin, Elagina, Rostopchina, Volkonskaya. The same role was played by the evenings: Saturdays of Zhukovsky, Aksakov, Thursdays of Grech, Fridays of Voeikov...

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Homework Historical background at the turn of 18-19 in Russian literature beginning of 19 in Realism as a literary movement Works of G.R. Derzhavin Poetry of K.N. Batyushkov



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