Russian writers of the 20th century: brief biography. “Pale Fire” – Vladimir Nabokov

The great Russian writer Maxim Gorky said that “the literature of the 19th century captured the great impulses of the spirit, the minds and hearts of true artists.” This was reflected in the works of writers of the 20th century. After the revolution of 1905, the First World War and Civil War It was as if the world was starting to fall apart. Social disharmony has set in, and literature is taking upon itself the task of returning everything to the past. Independent philosophical thought began to awaken in Russia, new directions in art appeared, writers and poets of the 20th century revalued values ​​and abandoned the old morality.

What is literature like at the turn of the century?

Classicism in art was replaced by modernism, which can be divided into several branches: symbolism, acmeism, futurism, imagism. Realism continued to flourish, in which it depicted inner world person according to his social status; socialist realism did not allow criticism of power, so writers in their work tried not to raise political problems. The golden age was followed by the silver age with its new bold ideas and various topics. The 20th century were written in accordance with a certain trend and style: Mayakovsky is characterized by writing with a ladder, Khlebnikov is characterized by his numerous occasionalisms, and Severyanin is characterized by unusual rhyme.

From futurism to socialist realism

In symbolism, the poet focuses his attention on a certain symbol, a hint, so the meaning of the work can be ambiguous. The main representatives were Zinaida Gippius, Alexander Blok. They were in constant search for eternal ideals, while turning to mysticism. In 1910, a crisis of symbolism began - all ideas had already been dismantled, and the reader did not find anything new in the poems.

Futurism completely rejected old traditions. Translated, the term means “the art of the future.” The writers attracted the public with shocking, rudeness and clarity. The poems of representatives of this movement - Vladimir Mayakovsky and Osip Mandelstam - are distinguished by their original composition and occasionalisms (the author's words).

Socialist realism set as its task the education of working people in the spirit of socialism. Writers depicted the specific situation in society in revolutionary development. Among the poets, Marina Tsvetaeva especially stood out, and among the prose writers - Maxim Gorky, Mikhail Sholokhov, Evgeny Zamyatin.

From Acmeism to New Peasant Lyrics

Imagism arose in Russia in the first years after the revolution. Despite this, Sergei Yesenin and Anatoly Mariengof did not reflect socio-political ideas in their work. Representatives of this movement argued that poems should be figurative, so they did not skimp on metaphors, epithets and other means of artistic expression.

Representatives of the new peasant lyric poetry addressed in their works folklore traditions, admired the village life. Such was the Russian poet of the 20th century Sergei Yesenin. His poems are pure and sincere, and the author described in them nature and simple human happiness, turning to the traditions of Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov. After the 1917 revolution, short-lived delight gave way to disappointment.

The term "acmeism" translated means "blooming time." Poets of the 20th century Nikolai Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova, Osipa Mandelstam returned to the past of Russia in their work and welcomed a joyful admiration of life, clarity of thoughts, simplicity and brevity. They seemed to retreat from difficulties, smoothly float with the flow, assuring that the unknowable cannot be known.

Philosophical and psychological richness of Bunin's lyrics

Ivan Alekseevich was a poet living at the junction of two eras, so his work reflected some of the experiences associated with the advent of new times, nevertheless, he continued the Pushkin tradition. In the poem "Evening" he conveys to the reader the idea that happiness does not lie in material values, and in human existence: “I see, I hear, I am happy - everything is in me.” In other works lyrical hero allows himself to reflect on the transience of life, which becomes a reason for sadness.

Bunin is engaged in writing in Russia and abroad, where many poets of the early 20th century went after the revolution. In Paris, he feels like a stranger - “the bird has a nest, the beast has a hole,” and his motherland he lost. Bunin finds his salvation in talent: in 1933 he received Nobel Prize, and in Russia they consider him an enemy of the people, but they do not stop publishing.

Sensual lyricist, poet and brawler

Sergei Yesenin was an imagist and did not create new terms, but revived dead words, enclosing them in bright poetic images. From his school days, he became famous for his mischief and carried this quality throughout his life, was a regular at taverns, and was famous for his love affairs. Nevertheless, he passionately loved his homeland: “I will sing with all the poet’s being the sixth part of the earth with the short name “Rus” - many poets of the 20th century shared his admiration for his native land. Yesenina reveals the problem of human existence. After 1917, the poet became disillusioned with the revolution, because instead of the long-awaited paradise, life became like hell.

Night, street, lantern, pharmacy...

Alexander Blok is the most brilliant Russian poet of the 20th century who wrote in the direction of “symbolism”. It’s interesting to observe how evolution occurs from collection to collection female image: from the Beautiful Lady to the ardent Carmen. If at first he deifies the object of his love, serves him faithfully and does not dare to discredit him, later girls seem to him to be more down-to-earth creatures. Through beautiful world romanticism, he finds meaning by going through life difficulties, responds in his poems to events of social importance. In the poem "The Twelve" he conveys the idea that revolution is not the end of the world, and its main goal is the destruction of the old and the creation of a new world. Readers remembered Blok as the author of the poem “Night, street, lantern, pharmacy ...”, in which he thinks about the meaning of life.

Two women writers

The philosophers and poets of the 20th century were predominantly men, and their talent was revealed through the so-called muses. Women created themselves, under the influence of their own mood, and the most outstanding poetesses silver age there were Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva. The first was the wife of Nikolai Gumilev, and in their union was born famous historian Anna Akhmatova did not show interest in exquisite stanzas - her poems could not be set to music and were rare. The predominance of yellow and gray in the description, the poverty and dimness of the objects make readers sad and allow them to reveal the true mood of the poetess who survived the shooting of her husband.

The fate of Marina Tsvetaeva is tragic. She committed suicide, and two months after her death her husband was shot. Readers will forever remember her as a small, fair-haired woman connected with nature by blood ties. The rowan berry appears especially often in her work, which forever entered the heraldry of her poetry: “The rowan tree was lit with a red brush. The leaves were falling. I was born.”

What is unusual about the poems of poets of the 19th and 20th centuries?

In the new century, masters of the pen and word adopted new forms and themes for their works. Poems and messages to other poets or friends remained relevant. Imagist Vadim Shershenevich surprises with his work “Toast”. He does not place a single punctuation mark in it, does not leave spaces between words, but his originality lies elsewhere: looking through the text with his eyes from line to line, one can notice how some capital letters that form the message stand out among other words: To Valery Bryusov from the author .

it's like we're all in the movies

It's easy to fall down now

rush and have fun how much

ladiesLorn aboutTmennonus

ourger is decorated with liqueurs

andwe are sharp soulAsshiprom

looking for SouthJulyAvoAllForm

MchaPowerOpenToclipper

we know that all the young men

and Everyone speaksRubbeezed

Claiming this Ashkupunsha

let's drink with joy zabryusov

The work of poets of the 20th century is striking in its originality. Vladimir Mayakovsky is also remembered for creating new uniform stanzas - "ladder". The poet wrote poems on any occasion, but spoke little about love; he was studied as an unsurpassed classic, published in millions, the public loved him for his shockingness and innovation.

The fates of Russian writers of the 20th century are dramatic, since it was then that literature in our country for the first time became a truly influential force that could be directed one way or another, depending on the political situation. And this circumstance, to one degree or another, affected the life and creative path each of the Russian writers, including the most venerable and seemingly favored by the authorities, such as Maxim Gorky, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Mikhail Sholokhov. Russian writers of the 20th century inevitably faced the problem moral choice in a situation where it was necessary to either sacrifice honor or remain “overboard.”

The era in which they worked was marked by complex and controversial events. The country experienced three revolutions, one civil and two world wars, national tragedies of an unprecedented scale - collectivization and the “Red Terror”. Some of the writers found themselves, willingly or unwillingly, drawn into the whirlpool of these events. Others stood back and avoided participating in the social struggle. But both of them are children of their time, who, together with their homeland, experienced a painful spiritual drama. In these unthinkable conditions, writers were called upon to fulfill their main mission - to raise before the reader “eternal” questions about life and death, about human destiny, about what truth and justice are, memory and duty.

Thus, the work of the best Russian writers of the 20th century is a painful pain for the fate of the Fatherland and native culture, natural development which was forcibly interrupted and distorted.

Culture, which was in mortal danger in the fury of the new nihilism, in the devilry of the Berliozs, Shvonders and Sharikovs who had broken through to power, was the great value of Mikhail Bulgakov’s bottom. He acutely felt the tragedy of spiritual unconsciousness, a smug desire to improve human nature according to your own understanding and whim.

Spirituality, puzzlement about the meaning of life, the “damned questions” of existence - these are character traits created by him positive characters, among which the first, of course, should be called the master, the hero of Bulgakov’s immortal novel. His fate reflects the bitter fate of Bulgakov himself, worthy of the highest respect.

The homeless, homeless heroes of the novel “The Master and Margarita” become objects of persecution, denunciations, arrests, and betrayal. Their fate is typical and, unfortunately, natural in the society described. They live at odds with the world around them, contrary to it, according to their own internal logic. The master and Bulgakov know their business, see the meaning and purpose of their work, and recognize themselves as executors of a special social mission. And therefore there is no place for them in the country of “victorious socialism” - neither as writers, nor as thinkers, nor as individuals.

Mikhail Bulgakov shared the fate of many Russian writers who died unknown, but by the end of the century they became famous and read, and received a rebirth with the publication of their works. Andrei Platonov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Osip Mandelstam... They are interesting primarily not because they belong to the guild of writers - they are, first of all, spiritually free, internally independent individuals. What helped them create was the belief that “manuscripts don’t burn.” These writers created their works in accordance only with own conscience and universal human ideas about morality.

They created without “treading on the throat” own song“, and therefore their fates evoke endless respect in us.

The jury of 'The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books', led by a New York Times columnist, included: famous writers like: Jonathan Franzen, recognized by Times magazine as the best American novelist, author of the novel “The Emperor's Children” Claire Mesud, Joyce Carol Oates, famous American novelist, and many others. The writers compiled lists of the top 10 novels and writers by looking at 544 titles. The novels were scored from 1 to 10.

The literary collection that emerged as a result of this experiment, which united literary preferences completely different writers– from David Foster Wallace to Stephen King, provides a glimpse into world literature like on some kind collective creativity great writers.
The literary collection that emerged as a result of this experiment, which united the literary passions of completely different writers - from David Foster Wallace to Stephen King, allows us to look at world literature as a kind of collective creativity of great writers.

1. “Lolita” – Vladimir Nabokov

In 1955, Lolita was published - the third American novel by Vladimir Nabokov, the creator of The Luzhin Defense, Despair, Invitation to an Execution and The Gift. Causing a scandal on both sides of the ocean, this book elevated the author to the top of the literary Olympus and became one of the most famous and, without a doubt, the greatest works of the 20th century. Today, when the polemical passions around Lolita have long subsided, we can confidently say that this is a book about great love, overcoming illness, death and time, love, open to infinity, “love at first sight, at last sight, at eternal sight.”

2. “The Great Gatsby” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

One of the most famous prose writers USA of the 20th century, Francis Scott Fitzgerald announced to the world the beginning of a new century - the “age of jazz”, one of the first to speak on behalf of “ lost generation" He wrote about “ American dream”, personified it, but reality turned into a tragedy, and early death the life of the darling of fate was cut short. The hero of the novel “The Great Gatsby” made a fortune for himself, achieved power, but neither money nor power made him happy.

3. “In Search of Lost Time” – Marcel Proust

Marcel Proust - famous French writer, the founder of modern psychological prose. His seven-volume epic “In Search of Lost Time” became one of the most brilliant literary experiments 20th century. The first volume includes three novels: “Towards Swann”, “Under the canopy of girls in bloom” and “Germant”. The second volume includes four novels: “Sodom and Gomorrah”, “Captive”, “Fugitive”, “Time Regained”.

4. “Ulysses” – James Joyce

The great Irish writer James Joyce (1882 - 1941) stands at the origins of all modernist and postmodern literature. Big name and Ulysses, a unique text, “novel No. 1” of the 20th century, earned him worldwide fame. His hero and the plot are extremely simple - one day in the life of a Dublin man in the street; but the entire cosmos of literature is contained in a simple shell - a fireworks display of all styles and writing techniques, the most virtuoso language, echoes of myriads of great and unknown texts, the invasion of ancient myths and the creation of new ones, irony and scandal, mockery and play - and rising from all this A New Look on art, man and the world. From the moment of its publication to this day, Ulysses remains a challenge from the Writer to the Reader.

5. “Dubliners” – James Joyce

The book includes early realistic stories from the collection “Dubliners” and a lyrical sketch “Giacomo Joyce” by the outstanding Irish writer James Joyce, whose 100th birthday was celebrated in 1982. In “Dubliners,” Joyce set himself the task of “writing a chapter in the spiritual history of his nation,” and in “Giacomo” he conveyed the inner thoughts of his hero.

6. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude” shows the birth, heyday, decline and death of the Buendia family. The history of this family is the story of loneliness, one way or another manifested in the fate of each of the Buendias. Loneliness, separation of family members, their inability to understand and be understood by each other acquire a truly mythological character in the novel. And the very history of several generations of the Buendia family takes on the character of a family myth, and with it its characteristic features - the desire for incest and the curse associated with it, the predetermination and predetermination of the fate of the heroes. In the novel, she is embodied in the image of the gypsy Melquiades, who wrote down in Sanskrit the chronicle of the family, deciphered a few minutes before the death of Macondo and all Buendia. At the same time, the novel also contains a parody of myth. The means of parody is the writer’s special ironic laughter, manifested in deliberately mythological constructions, the everyday tone of the narrative, which sometimes tells about absurd or downright fantastic events. Myth-creating “reality of the miraculous”, “ magical realism“Latin American prose appears in the novel as the most important means of creating a unique image of America and at the same time as a parody of itself.

7. “The Sound and the Fury” – William Faulkner

William Faulkner - the largest American writer, who received the Nobel Prize in 1949 “for his significant and artistic point view of a unique contribution to the development of modern American novel”. Worldwide fame and the writer’s fame was brought to him by his novels “Light in August”, “Absalom, Absalom!”, “Sanctuary”, “Defiler of Ashes”, the trilogy “Village” - “City” - “Mansion” and, of course, the novel included in this edition “ The Sound and the Fury,” a novel that Faulkner called the most difficult in his creative biography.
Main story line tells the story of the decline of one of the oldest and most influential families of the American South - the Compsons. Over the course of the novel's roughly 30 years, the family faces financial ruin, loses respect in the town, and many family members end their lives tragically.

8. “To the Lighthouse” – Virginia Woolf

Name English writer W. Wolfe, author widely famous novels“Jacob's Room”, “Mrs. Dalloway”, “Orlando” are put on a par with the names of J. Joyce, T. S. Eliot, O. Huxley, D. H. Lawrence - in a word, those who determined the main paths of development Western European literature of the 20th century.
In the novel “To the Lighthouse” presented in this edition by W. Woolf, after “Mrs. Dalloway”, probably the most famous work writer, the main theme is time and life in its temporal expiration.

9. Stories - Flannery O'Connor

The author's collection of stories by the outstanding American master of “Southern Gothic”, stories about love and death, full of Old Testament passions projected into modern times. O'Connor puts his eccentric characters in extreme situations, resulting in acts of violence that bring her characters back to reality and leave the reader with a taste of mystery.

10. “Pale Fire” – Vladimir Nabokov

The novel “Pale Fire” by Vladimir Nabokov, one of the writer’s most extraordinary works, was published in 1962. Coming out of print, Pale Fire immediately came into the spotlight of American and English critics. Not all of them appreciated the writer’s innovation and discerned behind the complicated form the deep philosophical essence of his work, which reveals the tragedy of the human “I” alienated from the world and explores the problems of correlation creative imagination and madness, fiction and reality, temporary and eternal. However, in spite of everything, this most difficult and opaque work of Nabokov's English language became a bestseller, giving rise over time to many literary studies.

The current generation now sees everything clearly, marvels at the errors, laughs at the foolishness of its ancestors, it is not in vain that this chronicle is inscribed with heavenly fire, that every letter in it screams, that a piercing finger is directed from everywhere at it, at it, at the current generation; but the current generation laughs and arrogantly, proudly begins a series of new errors, which posterity will also laugh at later. "Dead Souls"

In hearts simple feeling the beauty and grandeur of nature is stronger, a hundred times more vivid than in us, enthusiastic storytellers in words and on paper."Hero of our time"

And everywhere there is sound, and everywhere there is light,
And all the worlds have one beginning,
And there is nothing in nature
Whatever breathes love.

But others are not an example to me,
And my charter is simple and strict.
My verse is a pioneer boy,
Lightly dressed, barefoot.
1926

"At the bottom"

"Whirlwind Rus'"

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin (Ilyin) (1878 - 1942)
How strange /.../ There are so many cheerful and cheerful books, so many brilliant and witty philosophical truths, but there is nothing more comforting than Ecclesiastes.

"Poetry of the Word"

Slide 2

Introduction

Russian literature of the twentieth century has an extremely complex, even tragic, history. This is due to fundamental changes in the life of the country that began at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

• Russia has experienced three revolutions: 1905, February and October 1917;
• Russian – Japanese war 1904-1905;
• First world war 1914-1918;
• Civil War

The internal political situation in our country at that time was extremely difficult.

Slide 3

The turn of the century was marked by significant scientific discoveries. They revolutionized ideas about the knowability of the world. This led to the search for an explanation of new phenomena through religion and mysticism.

The philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev described this time as follows:

“This was the era of the awakening in Russia of independent philosophical thought, the flourishing of poetry and the aggravation of aesthetic sensitivity, religious anxiety and quest, interest in mysticism and the occult. New souls have appeared, new sources of creative life have been discovered...”

So, one dominant worldview has been replaced by a diversity of opinions and ideas in all areas of life.

Slide 4

Trends in twentieth-century literature

• Realism (Tolstoy L.N., Chekhov A.P., Korolenko V.G., Kuprin A.I., Bunin I.A. Gorky A.M. and others.
• Modernism
• Symbolism (V. Bryusov, A. Blok)
• Acmeism (N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova)
• Futurism (V. Khlebnikov, V. Mayakovsky)
• Imagism (S. Yesenin).