The artistic merits of the novel “A Hero of Our Time. An essay on the topic The artistic merits of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” What are artistic merits

Having become acquainted with the composition of the novel “A Hero of Our Time,” which is unusual and complex, I would like to note the artistic merits of the novel. Lermontov's landscape has a very important feature: it is closely connected with the experiences of the characters, expresses their feelings and moods, the entire novel is imbued with deep lyricism. This is where passionate emotionality and excitement in his descriptions of nature are born, creating a feeling of musicality in his prose. The silvery thread of rivers and the bluish fog sliding across the water, escaping into the gorges of the mountains from the warm rays, and the shine of snow on the ridges of the mountains - the precise and fresh colors of Lermontov’s prose are very reliable. In “Bel” we are delighted by the truthfully drawn pictures of the morals of the highlanders, their harsh way of life, their poverty. Lermontov writes: “The saklya was stuck on one side to the rock, three wet steps led to its door. I groped my way in and came across a cow; I didn’t know where to go: sheep were bleating here, a dog was grumbling there.” The people of the Caucasus lived a difficult and sad life, oppressed by their princes, as well as by the tsarist government, which considered them “natives of Russia.” Showing the shadow sides of the life of the highlanders, Lermontov sympathizes with the people. The majestic pictures of mountain nature are drawn with great talent. The artistic description of nature in the novel is very important in revealing the image of Pechorin. In Pechorin's diary we often come across descriptions of nature associated with certain thoughts, feelings, moods, and this helps us penetrate his soul and understand many of his character traits. Pechorin is a poetic person who passionately loves nature and knows how to figuratively convey what he sees. Often his thoughts about nature seem to be intertwined with his thoughts about people, about himself. Pechorin masterfully describes the nature of the night (his diary, May 16) with its lights in the windows and “gloomy, snowy mountains.” Sometimes pictures of nature serve as a reason for thought, reasoning, and comparison. An example of such a landscape is the description of the starry sky in the story “Fatalist,” the sight of which leads him to reflect on the fate of the generation. Exiled to the fortress, Pechorin is bored; nature seems boring to him. The landscape here also helps to understand the hero’s state of mind. This is illustrated by the description of the agitated sea in the story “Taman”. The picture that appears to Gregory from the square where the duel was supposed to take place, the sight of the sun, the rays of which do not warm Pechorin after the duel - all of nature is sad. Thus, we see that the description of nature occupies a large place a. revealing the identity of Pechorin. Only alone with nature does Pechorin experience the deepest joy. “I don’t remember a deeper and fresher morning!” - Pechorin exclaims, amazed by the beauty of the sunrise in the mountains. Pechorin’s last hopes are directed towards the endless expanses of the sea and the sound of the waves. Comparing himself with a sailor born and raised on the deck of a robber brig, he says that he misses the coastal sand, listens to the roar of the oncoming waves and peers into the distance covered in fog. Lermontov was very fond of the sea, his poem “Sail” echoes the novel “Hero of Our Time”. Pechorin is looking for the desired “sail” in the sea. Neither for Lermontov nor for the hero of his novel this dream came true: the “desired sail” did not appear and did not whisk them off to another life, to other shores on the last pages of the novel. Pgchorin calls himself and his generation “pathetic descendants, wandering the earth without conviction and pride, without pleasure and fear.” The wondrous image of the sail is a longing for an unfulfilled life. The story “Princess Mary” opens with a wonderful landscape. Pechorin writes in his diary: “I have a wonderful view from three sides.” Chekhov appreciated Lermontov. He wrote; “I don’t know a better language than Lermontov’s. I learned to write from him.” The language of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” delighted the greatest masters of words. “No one has ever written in our country with such correct, beautiful and fragrant prose,” Gogol said about Lermontov. Like Pushkin, Lermontov^ sought accuracy and clarity of each phrase, its polish. The language of the novel is the fruit of the author’s extensive work on manuscripts. Pechorin's language is very poetic, the flexible structure of his speech testifies to a man of great culture, possessing a subtle and insightful mind. The richness of the novel's language is based on Lermontov's personal relationship with nature. He wrote a novel in the Caucasus, nature inspired him. The central part of the novel, “Pechorin’s Diary,” is characterized by especially in-depth psychological analysis. For the first time in Russian literature such a merciless exposure of the hero’s personality appears. The hero’s experiences are analyzed by him with “the rigor of a judge and a citizen.” Pechorin says: “I am still trying to explain to myself what kind of feelings are boiling in my chest.” The habit of self-analysis is complemented by the skills of constant observation of others. In essence, all of Pechorin’s relationships with people are a kind of psychological experiments that interest the hero with their complexity” and temporarily entertain him with luck. This is the story with Bela, the story of the victory over Mary. The psychological “game” with Grushnitsky was similar, whom Pechorin fools, declaring that Mary is not indifferent to him, in order to later prove his deplorable mistake. Pechorin argues that “ambition is nothing more than a thirst for power, and happiness is just pompous pride.” If A.S. Pushkin is considered to be the creator of the first realistic poetic novel about modernity, then, in my opinion, Lermontov is the author of the first socio-psychological novel in prose, his novel is distinguished by the depth of its analysis of the psychological perception of the world, depicting his era, Lermontov subjects it to deep critical analysis, without succumbing no illusions or seductions. Lermontov shows all the weakest sides of his generation: coldness of hearts, selfishness, fruitlessness of activity. The realism of “A Hero of Our Time” is in many ways different from the realism of Pushkin’s novel. Moving aside everyday elements and the life history of the heroes, Lermontov focuses on their inner world, revealing in detail the motives that prompted this or that hero to take any action. The author depicts all kinds of overflows of feelings with such depth, penetration and detail, which the literature of his time has not yet known. Many considered Lermontov to be the predecessor of Leo Tolstoy, and I absolutely agree with this; it was from Lermontov that Tolstoy learned techniques for revealing the inner world of characters, portraiture and speech style. Dostoevsky also proceeded from Lermontov’s creative experience, but Lermontov’s thoughts about the role of suffering in the spiritual life of man, about the split consciousness, about the collapse of the individualism of a strong personality turned into Dostoevsky’s depiction of the painful tension and painful suffering of the heroes of his works. Pechorin's rebellious nature refuses joy and peace of mind. This hero is always “asking for a storm.” His nature is too rich in passions and thoughts, too free to be content with little and not demand great feelings, events, and sensations from the world. Self-analysis is necessary for a modern person in order to correctly correlate his destiny and purpose with real life, in order to understand his place in this world. Lack of convictions is a real tragedy for the hero and his generation. “Pechorin's Journal” reveals a living, complex, rich, analytical work of the mind. This proves to us not only that the main character is a typical figure, but also that in Russia there are young people who are tragically lonely; Pechorin counts himself among the pitiful descendants who wander the earth without convictions. He says: “We are no longer capable of making great sacrifices, either for the good of humanity, or even for our own happiness.” The same thought is repeated by Lermontov in the poem “Duma”: We are rich, barely out of the cradle, from the mistakes of our fathers and their late minds, And life already torments us, like a smooth path without a goal, Like a feast at someone else’s holiday. Every truly Russian person feels uneasy at the thought that M.Yu. Lermontov died early. While solving the moral problem of the purpose of life, the main character of his work, Grigory Pechorin, could not find use for his abilities. “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? But, it’s true, I had a high purpose, since I feel immense strength in my soul,” he writes. In this uncertainty lie the origins of Pechorin’s attitude towards the people around him. He is indifferent to their experiences, so he, without hesitation, distorts other people's destinies. Pushkin wrote about such young people: “There are millions of two-legged creatures; for them the name is one.” Using Pushkin’s words, we can say about Pechorin that his views on life “reflect the century, and modern man is depicted quite correctly, with his immoral soul, selfish and dry.” This is how Lermontov saw his generation.

It is advisable to separate them into a separate group folk toy: Russian and Belarusian.

Their themes are very diverse, reflecting the work and life of the people, their attitude to the environment, and the plots of fairy tales.

The peculiarity of this type of toys is the expressiveness of images, conventionality, generality, dynamism, and decorativeness. Folk toys embody the best artistic traditions, introduce children to the culture of their people, and lay the foundation for connections with their homeland. At the same time, toys created in different places are unique in content, material, and artistic style.

In Belarusian folk toy Both general characteristics appear that bring it closer to the toys of other nations, as well as special ones characteristic only of it: compactness, generality, conciseness, economy, expressiveness of visual means. This toy uniquely refracts naivety, and at the same time wisdom, fantasy and reality. It stimulates the active work of thought, pushes for independent refinement, your own interpretation of the toy image.

The Belarusian folk toy is usually small in size and very convenient to use.

The functionality and compactness of this toy allows children to actively use it. In Belarus, the oldest is a clay toy depicting figures of people, animals, and rattles. A wooden toy, usually with intonation of movements or actions, was widespread in folk life. Interesting, original, straw toys with an ancient history. Their purpose is very wide: for games, in agricultural rituals, at holidays, for home decoration, etc. Peasant families used linen toys.

Dymkovo toy. Figures sculpted from clay and brightly painted. The origins of the Dymkovo ladies, horses, whistles, and water carriers go back far into history.

Gzhel products are always easy to distinguish: they are made of white clay and painted with bluish-blue broad strokes, reproducing floral arrangements or scenes from folk life.

Skopino products are beautiful and intricate. A distinctive feature is the shiny glassy glaze that covered the products.

The original traditional craft of making clay toys has been preserved in the city of Kargopol.

Filimonovskaya toy. Its plasticity is unique, the primitiveness of the sculptural form easily coexists with special expressiveness and grace.

A characteristic feature of the Gorodets craft is the execution of the design on a natural background of wood; bright colors and painting based on the principle of placing large colorful spots.

Bogorodsk toys are carved from wood, not painted, only sometimes covered with stain or varnish. A distinctive feature is toys “with movement”.

In Fedoseyevskaya “toporschina” toys are made from hewn planks and splinters. But the festive nature of yellow and its closeness to everyday life have always attracted children.

The first matryoshka doll appeared in Russia at the end of the 19th century. Sergiev Posad, Babenka Village, Merinovo Village - places where Russian nesting dolls are made.

“The greatest truth and simplicity of folk toys,” writes E.A. Fleurina, “her expressiveness and expediency made her useful for raising children.” Like native speech, fairy tales, songs, folk toys are a wonderful cultural heritage. The folk toy of the millennium has raised a child, it has been tested by children's love for it, by children's play.

The toy of every nation has its own pedagogical, artistic and technical traditions, simple and clear. These traditions have, on the one hand, international features, and on the other, features determined by the national uniqueness of the culture, way of life, and pedagogy of a particular people. The folk toy has its own history, confirming that it is not an accidental phenomenon, but a steadily developing branch of folk art, which has its own traditions.

Approaching the folk toy from a pedagogical point of view, we see that it is based on a subtle knowledge of the child’s psychology and has a diverse impact on the development of his feelings, mind and character.

There is no artificiality in a folk toy. The toy was formed at a time when the interests of adults and children were close to each other, when the creativity of both had many common features, when there was a natural closeness in the psyche and worldview of both. The toy was interesting for both children and adults (the doll was attached to a pole to the house, gathering adults for a holiday).

The story-driven toy depicts the world of fairy tales and fairy-tale images, as well as the range of life phenomena that a child encounters in everyday life. The figures of a woman, horse, rooster, and bear, traditional for fine folk art, presented both in the toy and in embroidery and carving, show the organic connection of the toy with folk art. In it, as in embroidery, these figures are interpreted in a conventional, fairy-tale way.

The greatest truth and simplicity of the worldview, great expressiveness and expediency, the desire to understand the environment and master it provided the toy with all the pedagogical qualities: it delighted, developed creativity, taught to understand the life around us, taught to master the basic types of work of adults. These qualities are preserved in folk toys in the future, with the emergence and development of handicrafts.

In a folk toy, people give the child their love and affection, their cheerfulness and laughter, their thoughts and knowledge, their skill - this is the great power of its influence on the child. Through a folk toy, someone very close and affectionate speaks truthfully and wisely to the child. The strength of this folk love for a child speaks through the lips of a grandmother amusing her grandson.

What educational values does a folk toy carry with it? There is a lot of warmth in the folk toy, which is expressed in its caring, loving execution: the clay Dymkovo toy splashing with colors, the sunny wooden Semyonovskaya toy, the festive, bright red Gorodets horses.

The folk toy is cheerful and cheerful. People put a lot of genuine humor into their toy. Funny clowns, a clown on a string, butting sheep, flying birds with spinning feathers on their tails and many others delight the child. And the master knows about this joy, children’s laughter from unexpected movement and sound, and he himself has fun creating these toys.

A folk toy awakens a child’s thoughts and imagination. An image and a simple, but witty technique of movement, sound, and its fabulous, decorative interpretation. Many toys are a true fairy tale. These are all Dymkovo animals and birds (turkeys and geese in gold and bright ruffles, spotted and striped horses).

A folk toy is made according to all the laws of stylization (when one or two important details are highlighted, for example, the specific characteristics of a particular animal), therefore it teaches a child from a young age to think more generally, influences the development of children’s not only figurative, but also abstract thinking.

The folk toy says that the people are subtle psychologists who know how to see and understand the child as he is, with his interests and needs.

Folk pedagogy has created all the main types of toys for every age: rattles for young children (with noise, movement, bright colors); wonderful rides for children aged 2-4 years (Gorodets skates, Semyonov cockerels, Kirov pinwheels, etc.). Horses and other animals were placed on wheels to satisfy the child's need for movement. The size of the toy for children of this age should be large, since the baby is the central character in playing with the toy. For older ones, the sets are more complex in content (animals - Bogorodsk wooden animals and Zagorsk animals made of papier-mâché, collapsible toys, etc.)

The ball and hoop are the oldest folk toys, created simultaneously among different nations. We meet them in ancient Egypt, in ancient toys. Babensky turners create unique “didactic” dismountable toys: pyramids, nesting dolls, folding eggs, barrels, etc. This toy has no equal in color, shape, size on the Western market. In the design of folk toys, we see that the master takes into account the characteristics of the age of children: a more simplified, conventional in shape and color toy for children - whistles, Gorodets horses, and a more realistic one for older people - Bogorodets carving.

A folk toy not only pleases, amuses, not only develops aesthetically, it gives scope for creative play, which orients one in the surrounding life and teaches the child about work and technology. Even in a fun toy, the child is often shown scenes from working life (blacksmiths forge, the housewife feeds the chickens, etc.). Everything that, through play, gradually introduces the child into the working life of adults.

The aesthetic in a toy, without any deliberate intention to adapt to the tastes of children, brings the child a great artistic culture of folk art, develops the original features of the aesthetics of his people. This is what the folk toy of every nationality provides. Russian folk toys are full of traditions of national Russian art: simplicity and clear rhythmicity of the form of decorative painting, ornamentation: uncontrollable brightness and noble restraint in the selection of colors, which are associated with local traditions in design.

No other type of folk art so actively and deeply cultivates in a child the national traits of aesthetic feeling as a folk toy, which the child loves, with which he actively and creatively acts.

The technique of folk toys is always simple, accessible to children’s understanding and often very witty, built on the simplest laws of technology and mechanics. This arouses great interest in children and pushes them towards technical invention.

The problem of realism is interestingly resolved in the Russian folk toy. Realism in art for children is a valuable start that provides simple and truthful art. The feeling, often naive, but quite sincere, that the master puts into his work, gives a healthy realism, on which both the fairy tale and the decoratively festive elegant Dymkovo, Semyonov and Gorodets toys are based. The real basis of the fairy tale is evident here too. Simplification, incompleteness of the image (Gorodets skates), brightness do not at all deprive the toy of the feeling of a real image, on the contrary, they make it more noticeable, since they concentrate the child’s attention on the main thing and present the main thing with extreme clarity.

Artistic merits of the novel “A Hero of Our Time”

"The people of the Caucasus lived a difficult and sad life, oppressed by their princes, as well as by the tsarist government, which considered them “natives of Russia.” Showing the shadow sides of the life of the mountaineers, Lermontov sympathizes with the people. The majestic pictures of mountain nature are drawn very talentedly.

and this helps us penetrate his soul, understand many traits of his character. Pechorin is a poetic person who passionately loves nature and knows how to figuratively convey what he sees. Often his thoughts about nature seem to be intertwined with his thoughts about people, about himself. Pechorin masterfully describes the nature of the night /his diary, May 16/ with its lights in the windows and “gloomy, snowy mountains.” Sometimes pictures of nature serve as a reason for thought, reasoning, and comparison. An example of such a landscape is the description of the starry sky in the story "Fatalist", the sight of which leads him to reflect on the fate of the generation. Exiled to the fortress, Pechorin is bored; nature seems boring to him.

"Taman". The picture that appears to Gregory from the square where the duel was supposed to take place, the sight of the sun, the rays of which do not warm Pechorin after the duel - all of nature is sad. Thus, we see that the description of nature occupies a large place a. revealing the identity of Pechorin.

Only alone with nature does Pechorin experience the deepest joy. “I don’t remember a deeper and fresher morning!” - Pechorin exclaims, amazed by the beauty of the sunrise in the mountains. Pechorin’s last hopes are directed towards the endless expanses of the sea and the sound of the waves. Comparing himself with a sailor born and raised on the deck of a robber brig, he says that he misses the coastal sand, listens to the roar of the oncoming waves and peers into the distance covered in fog. Lermontov loved the sea very much; his poem “Sail” echoes the novel “A Hero of Our Time.”

Pechorin is looking for a “sail” in the sea. Neither for Lermontov nor for the hero of his novel this dream came true: the “desired sail” did not appear and whisk them off to another life, to other shores on the last pages of the novel. Pgchorin calls himself and his generation “pathetic descendants, wandering the earth without conviction and pride, without pleasure and fear.” The wondrous image of the sail is a longing for an unfulfilled life. The story “Princess Mary” opens with a wonderful landscape. Pechorin writes in his diary: “I have a wonderful view from three sides.” Chekhov appreciated Lermontov. He wrote; “I don’t know a better language than Lermontov. I learned to write from him.”

“Hero of Our Time” delighted the greatest masters of words. “No one has ever written in our country with such correct, beautiful and fragrant prose,” Gogol said about Lermontov. Like Pushkin, Lermontov^ sought accuracy and clarity of each phrase, its polish. The language of the novel is the fruit of the author’s extensive work on manuscripts. Pechorin's language is very poetic, the flexible structure of his speech testifies to a man of great culture, possessing a subtle and insightful mind. The richness of the novel's language is based on Lermontov's personal relationship with nature. He wrote a novel in the Caucasus, nature inspired him.

"Pechorin's Diary". For the first time in Russian literature such a merciless exposure of the hero’s personality appears. The hero’s experiences are analyzed by him with “the rigor of a judge and a citizen.” Pechorin says: “I am still trying to explain to myself what kind of feelings are boiling in my chest.” The habit of self-analysis is complemented by the skills of constant observation of others. In essence, all of Pechorin’s relationships with people are a kind of psychological experiments that interest the hero with their complexity” and temporarily entertain him with luck. This is the story with Bela, the story of the victory over Mary.

“game” with Grushnitsky, whom Pechorin fools, declaring that Mary is not indifferent to him, in order to later prove his deplorable mistake. Pechorin argues that “ambition is nothing more than a thirst for power, and happiness is just pompous pride.” If A. S. Pushkin is considered to be the creator of the first realistic poetic novel about modernity, then, in my opinion, Lermontov is the author of the first socio-psychological novel in prose, his novel is distinguished by the depth of its analysis of the psychological perception of the world, depicting his era, Lermontov subjects it to deep critical analysis, without succumbing to any illusions or seductions.

"A Hero of Our Time" differs in many ways from the realism of Pushkin's novel. Moving aside everyday elements and the life history of the heroes, Lermontov focuses on their inner world, revealing in detail the motives that prompted this or that hero to take any action. The author depicts all kinds of overflows of feelings with such depth, penetration and detail, which the literature of his time has not yet known. Many considered Lermontov to be the predecessor of Leo Tolstoy, and I absolutely agree with this; it was from Lermontov that Tolstoy learned techniques for revealing the inner world of characters, portraiture and speech style.

Dostoevsky also proceeded from Lermontov’s creative experience, but Lermontov’s thoughts about the role of suffering in the spiritual life of man, about the split consciousness, about the collapse of the individualism of a strong personality turned into Dostoevsky’s depiction of the painful tension and painful suffering of the heroes of his works. Pechorin's rebellious nature refuses joy and peace of mind. This hero is always "asking for a storm." His nature is too rich in passions and thoughts, too free to be content with little and not demand great feelings, events, and sensations from the world.

and his generation. Pechorin's Journal reveals a living, complex, rich, analytical work of the mind. This proves to us not only that the main character is a typical figure, but also that in Russia there are young people who are tragically lonely; Pechorin counts himself among the pitiful descendants who wander the earth without convictions. He says: “We are no longer capable of making great sacrifices, either for the good of humanity, or even for our own happiness.” The same thought is repeated by Lermontov in the poem “Duma”: We are rich, barely out of the cradle, from the mistakes of our fathers and their late minds, And life already torments us, like a smooth path without a goal, Like a feast at someone else’s holiday. Every truly Russian person feels uneasy at the thought that M. Yu. Lermontov passed away early.

“Why did I live? For what purpose was I born? But, it’s true, I had a high purpose, since I feel immense powers in my soul,” he writes. In this uncertainty lie the origins of Pechorin’s attitude towards the people around him. He is indifferent to their experiences, so he, without hesitation, distorts other people's destinies.

Pushkin wrote about such young people: “There are millions of two-legged creatures; for them the name is one.” Using Pushkin’s words, one can say about Pechorin that his views on life “reflect the century, and modern man is depicted quite correctly, with his immoral soul, selfish and dry.” This is how Lermontov saw his generation.

ARTISTIC VALUE - a work of art in its relation to the highest human needs and interests, realized in its content-artistic merits and functions, thanks to which it has a positive impact on the feelings, mind, will of people, contributing to their spiritual development.

Artistic value represents the emotional, sensory-psychological, ideological content of a work as a system of images, a set of meanings contained in it and the meanings generated by it. Since this content is objectified by the author with the help of a “constructor-carrier” (created from a certain material in accordance with the laws of this type of art), the qualities that arise as a result of the artistic processing of this material are also valuable. These qualities (organic unity of form and content, compositional harmony, harmony, completeness, expressiveness, artistic veracity of means, linguistic intelligibility) acquire aesthetic value as achieved perfection, a manifestation of talent, evidence of skill.

Artistic value is formed by the unity of objective values and meanings that arise during the development of a work. Depending on the genre of the work, its purpose and the content aspects organic to it (psychological, social-analytical, philosophical, etc.), some of the possible value meanings may prevail in this unity (for example, cognitive, educational, socially mobilizing, hedonistic etc.).

Truly significant works of art belong to artists who create for the benefit of man and therefore protect, affirm, and poetize significant values of life and culture. At the same time, the work itself is created as a potential artistic value. It becomes a public value to the extent that the meanings and author's thoughts contained in it are recognized, its merits are recognized, and its functions are developed and implemented. Since this assimilation is carried out by subjects whose value orientations are not identical, the work receives a non-identical evaluation. According to the relativistic concept, which ignores the dialectic of subject-object aesthetic relations, artistic value is interpreted as a function of evaluation and turns out to be derived from the orientations, tastes and opinions of one or another part of the public or an individual recipient. Thus, avant-garde products, pseudo-artistic products, perceived as phenomena of art, are included in the sphere of artistic value. According to the Marxist concept, adequate qualification of artistic value is possible only on the condition that the subject of the evaluative attitude has a general culture, appropriate artistic education, good aesthetic taste and a value orientation that meets the trends of social and cultural progress. The historical variability of artistic taste not only does not exclude, but presupposes the continuity of ideas about well-defined merits that have enduring value significance, and about the corresponding criteria.

Artistic value is unequal in its objective significance, which is determined by the degree of depth in the subject of display, ideology, creative originality, and innovation. The highest value is possessed by works that, with humanistic aspiration and truthfulness, contain creative acquisitions and discoveries, embody deep generalizations of social relations, human characters and destinies, universally significant psychological states and feelings. Depending on the subject-plot specificity and problematics of the work, its value meanings can be predominantly “situational”, specific historical in nature, or have universality. Universal value meanings arise in specific historical, social, national conditions and cultural contexts. However, if people’s living conditions, their psychological stereotypes, morals, and customs change, then fundamental questions about the meaning of life and human happiness, his dignity, and the search for harmony in relationships with other people remain generally significant. Works that raise and discuss these “eternal” questions and contain universal meanings that are open to reading by people of different nations and different eras acquire the status of universal artistic values. Thus, due to the certainty of the properties of the “humane person” and the presence of axiological constants of humanistic aesthetic consciousness, it becomes possible to inherit artistic values, international exchange of them, the emergence and enrichment of their universal fund.

Art concept

Word " art" both in Russian and in many other languages it is used in two senses:

V narrow in a sense, this is a specific form of practical-spiritual exploration of the world;
V wide- the highest level of skill, skill, regardless of how they are manifested (the art of a stove maker, doctor, baker, etc.).

- a special subsystem of the spiritual sphere of social life, which is a creative reproduction of reality in artistic images.

Initially, art was called a high degree of mastery in any matter. This meaning of the word is still present in the language when we talk about the art of a doctor or teacher, about martial art or oratory. Later, the concept of “art” began to be increasingly used to describe special activities aimed at reflecting and transforming the world in accordance with aesthetic standards, i.e. according to the laws of beauty. At the same time, the original meaning of the word has been preserved, since the highest skill is required to create something beautiful.

Subject art is the world and man in the totality of their relationships with each other.

Form of existence art - a work of art (poem, painting, performance, film, etc.).

Art also uses special means for reproduction of real reality: for literature this is a word, for music - sound, for fine art - color, for sculpture - volume.

Target art is dual: for the creator it is artistic self-expression, for the viewer it is the enjoyment of beauty. In general, beauty is as closely related to art as truth is to science and goodness is to morality.

Art is an important component of the spiritual culture of humanity, a form of knowledge and reflection of the reality surrounding a person. In terms of the potential for understanding and transforming reality, art is not inferior to science. However, the ways of understanding the world by science and art are different: if science uses strict and unambiguous concepts for this, then art does.

Art, as an independent branch of spiritual production, grew out of material production and was initially woven into it as an aesthetic, but purely utilitarian moment. He is an artist by nature, and he strives to bring beauty everywhere in one way or another. Human aesthetic activity is constantly manifested in everyday life, social life, and not just in art. Happening aesthetic exploration of the world a social person.

Functions of art

Art performs a series public functions.

Functions of art can be distinguished, summarizing what has been said:

aesthetic function allows you to reproduce reality according to the laws of beauty, forms aesthetic taste;
social function manifests itself in the fact that art has an ideological impact on society, thereby transforming social reality;
compensatory functions allows you to restore peace of mind, solve psychological problems, “escape” for a while from drab everyday life, and compensate for the lack of beauty and harmony in everyday life;
hedonic function reflects the ability of art to bring pleasure to a person;
cognitive function allows you to understand reality and analyze it with the help of artistic images;
prognostic function reflects the ability of art to make forecasts and predict the future;
educational function manifested in the ability of works of art to shape a person’s personality.

Cognitive function

First of all this educational function. Works of art are valuable sources of information about complex social processes.

Of course, not everything in the world around us is interested in art, and if it is, then to varying degrees, and the very approach of art to the object of its knowledge, the perspective of its vision is very specific in comparison with other forms of social consciousness. The main object of knowledge in art has always been and remains. That is why art in general and, in particular, fiction is called human studies.

Educational function

Educational function - the ability to have an important impact on the ideological and moral development of a person, his self-improvement or fall.

And yet, cognitive and educational functions are not specific to art: other forms of social consciousness also perform these functions.

Aesthetic function

The specific function of art, which makes it art in the true sense of the word, is its aesthetic function.

Perceiving and comprehending a work of art, we not only assimilate its content (like the content of physics, biology, mathematics), but we pass this content through the heart, emotions, and give sensually specific images created by the artist an aesthetic assessment as beautiful or ugly, sublime or base , tragic or comic. Art shapes in us the ability to give such aesthetic assessments, to distinguish the truly beautiful and sublime from all kinds of ersatz.

Hedonic function

Cognitive, educational and aesthetic are merged into one in art. Thanks to the aesthetic moment, we enjoy the content of a work of art and it is in the process of enjoyment that we are enlightened and educated. In this regard, they talk about hedonistic(translated from Greek - pleasure) functions art.

For many centuries, the debate about the relationship between beauty in art and reality has continued in socio-philosophical and aesthetic literature. In this case, two main positions are revealed. According to one of them (in Russia it was supported by N.G. Chernyshevsky), the beautiful in life is always and in all respects higher than the beautiful in art. In this case, art appears as a copy of typical characters and objects of reality itself and as a surrogate for reality. Obviously, an alternative concept is preferable (G.V.F. Hegel, A.I. Herzen, etc.): the beautiful in art is higher than the beautiful in life, since the artist sees more accurately and deeper, feels stronger and brighter, and that is why he can inspire with his the art of others. Otherwise (being a surrogate or even a duplicate), art would not be needed by society.

Works of art, being the objective embodiment of human genius, become the most important spiritual and values passed on from generation to generation, the property of an aesthetic society. Mastering culture and aesthetic education are impossible without exposure to art. The works of art of past centuries capture the spiritual world of thousands of generations, without mastering which a person cannot become a person in the true meaning of the word. Each person is a kind of bridge between the past and the future. He must master what the previous generation left him, creatively comprehend his spiritual experience, understand his thoughts, feelings, joys and sufferings, ups and downs, and pass all this on to his descendants. This is the only way history moves, and in this movement a huge army belongs to art, which expresses the complexity and richness of the spiritual world of man.

Kinds of art

The primary form of art was a special syncretic(undifferentiated) complex of creative activity. For primitive man there was no separate music, or literature, or theater. Everything was merged together in a single ritual action. Later, separate types of art began to emerge from this syncretic action.

Kinds of art- these are historically established forms of artistic reflection of the world, using special means to build an image - sound, color, body movement, words, etc. Each type of art has its own special varieties - genera and genres, which together provide a variety of artistic attitudes to reality. Let's briefly consider the main types of art and some of their varieties.

Literature uses verbal and written means to build images. There are three main types of literature - drama, epic and lyric poetry and numerous genres - tragedy, comedy, novel, story, poem, elegy, short story, essay, feuilleton, etc.

Music uses sound means. Music is divided into vocal (intended for singing) and instrumental. Music genres - opera, symphony, overture, suite, romance, sonata, etc.

Dance uses plastic movements to construct images. There are ritual, folk, ballroom,

modern dance, ballet. Dance directions and styles - waltz, tango, foxtrot, samba, polonaise, etc.

Painting displays reality on a plane using color. Genres of painting - portrait, still life, landscape, as well as everyday, animalistic (depiction of animals), historical genres.

Architecture forms the spatial environment in the form of structures and buildings for human life. It is divided into residential, public, gardening, industrial, etc. There are also architectural styles - Gothic, Baroque, Rococo, Art Nouveau, Classicism, etc.

Sculpture creates works of art that have volume and three-dimensional shape. The sculpture can be round (bust, statue) and relief (convex image). By size it is divided into easel, decorative and monumental.

Arts and crafts related to applied needs. This includes artistic objects that can be used in everyday life - dishes, fabrics, tools, furniture, clothing, jewelry, etc.

Theater organizes a special stage performance through the performance of actors. The theater can be dramatic, opera, puppet, etc.

Circus presents a spectacular and entertaining performance with unusual, risky and funny numbers in a special arena. These are acrobatics, balancing act, gymnastics, horse riding, juggling, magic tricks, pantomime, clowning, animal training, etc.

Movie is the development of theatrical performance based on modern technical audiovisual means. Types of cinema include feature films, documentaries, and animation. The genres include comedies, dramas, melodramas, adventure films, detective stories, thrillers, etc.

Photo captures documentary visual images using technical means - optical, chemical or digital. The genres of photography correspond to the genres of painting.

Stage includes small forms of stage art - drama, music, choreography, illusions, circus acts, original performances, etc.

To the listed types of art you can add graphics, radio art, etc.

In order to show the common features of different types of art and their differences, various bases for their classification have been proposed. So, the types of art are distinguished:

by the number of means used - simple (painting, sculpture, poetry, music) and complex or synthetic (ballet, theater, cinema);
in terms of the relationship between works of art and reality - pictorial, depicting reality, copying it (realistic painting, sculpture, photography), and expressive, where the artist’s fantasy and imagination create a new reality (ornament, music);
in relation to space and time - spatial (fine arts, sculpture, architecture), temporal (literature, music) and spatio-temporal (theater, cinema);
by time of origin - traditional (poetry, dance, music) and new (photography, cinema, television, video), usually using quite complex technical means to build an image;
according to the degree of applicability in everyday life - applied (decorative and applied arts) and fine (music, dance).

Each type, genus or genre reflects a special side or facet of human life, but taken together, these components of art provide a comprehensive artistic picture of the world.

The need for artistic creativity or enjoyment of works of art increases with the growth of a person’s cultural level. Art becomes more necessary the further a person is from the animal state.