Historical development of literature, literary direction. What is the literary process
The term “literary process” can confuse a person unfamiliar with its definition. Because it is not clear what kind of process this is, what caused it, what it is connected with and according to what laws it exists. In this article we will examine this concept in detail. We will pay special attention to the literary process of the 19th and 20th centuries.
What is the literary process?
This concept means:
- creative life in the totality of facts and phenomena of a particular country in a particular era;
- literary development in a global sense, including all centuries, cultures and countries.
When using the term in the second meaning, the phrase “historical-literary process” is often used.
In general, the concept describes historical changes in world and national literature, which, as they develop, inevitably interact with each other.
In the course of studying this process, researchers solve many complex problems, among which the main one is the transition of some poetic forms, ideas, trends and directions to others.
Writers' influence
Writers are also included in the literary process, who, with their new artistic techniques and experiments with language and form, change the approach to describing the world and people. However, the authors do not make their discoveries out of nowhere, since they necessarily rely on the experience of their predecessors, who lived both in his country and abroad. That is, the writer uses almost all of humanity’s artistic experience. From this we can conclude that there is a struggle between new and old artistic ideas, and each new literary movement puts forward its own creative principles, which, while relying on traditions, nevertheless challenge them.
Evolution of directions and genres
The literary process, therefore, includes the evolution of genres and trends. So, in the 17th century French writers instead of baroque, which welcomed the willfulness of poets and playwrights, they proclaimed classicist principles that presupposed adherence to strict rules. However, already in the 19th century, romanticism appeared, rejecting all rules and proclaiming the freedom of the artist. Then realism arose, expelling subjective romanticism and putting forward its own demands for works. And the change in these directions is also part of the literary process, as are the reasons for which they occurred and the writers who worked within their framework.
Don't forget about genres. Thus, the novel, the largest and most popular genre, has survived more than one change in artistic movements and directions. And in every era it has changed. For example, a striking example of a Renaissance novel - “Don Quixote” - is completely different from “Robinson Crusoe”, written during the Enlightenment, and both of them are unlike the works of O. de Balzac, V. Hugo, and Charles Dickens.
Russian literature of the 19th century
Literary process of the 19th century. presents a rather complex picture. At this time, evolution occurs and representatives of this direction are N.V. Gogol, A.S. Pushkin, I.S. Turgenev, I.A. Goncharov, F.M. Dostoevsky and A.P. Chekhov. As you can see, the work of these writers is very different, however, they all belong to the same movement. At the same time, literary criticism in this regard speaks not only about the artistic individuality of writers, but also about changes in realism itself and the method of knowing the world and man.
At the beginning of the 19th century, romanticism was replaced by the “natural school,” which already in the middle of the century began to be perceived as something impeding further literary development. F. Dostoevsky and L. Tolstoy begin to attach increasing importance to psychologism in their works. This became a new stage in the development of realism in Russia, and the “natural school” became outdated. However, this does not mean that the techniques of the previous movement are no longer used. On the contrary, the new absorbs the old, partially leaving it in its original form, partially modifying it. However, we should not forget about the influence foreign literature into Russian, as well as, indeed, domestic literature into foreign.
Western literature of the 19th century
The literary process of the 19th century in Europe included two main directions - romanticism and realism. Both of them reflected the historical events of this era. Let us remember that at this time factories were opening, railways were being built, etc. At the same time, the Great French Revolution was taking place, which entailed uprisings throughout Europe. These events, of course, are reflected in literature, from completely different positions: romanticism strives to escape reality and create its own ideal world; realism - analyze what is happening and try to change reality.
Romanticism, which arose at the end of the 18th century, gradually became obsolete around the middle of the 19th century. But realism, which was just emerging at the beginning of the 19th century, was gaining momentum by the end of the century. The realistic direction emerges from realism and declares itself around the age of 30-40.
The popularity of realism is explained by its social orientation, which was in demand by the society of that time.
Russian literature of the 20th century
Literary process of the 20th century. very complex, intense and ambiguous, especially for Russia. This is connected, first of all, with emigrant literature. Writers who found themselves expelled from their homeland after the 1917 revolution continued to write abroad, continuing the literary traditions of the past. But what is happening in Russia? Here, the motley variety of directions and trends, called the Silver Age, is forcibly narrowed to the so-called socialist realism. And all attempts by writers to move away from it are brutally suppressed. However, works were created but not published. Among such writers are Akhmatova, Zoshchenko, and from later antagonist authors - Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Venedikt Erofeev, etc. Each of these writers was a continuer of the literary traditions of the early 20th century, before the advent of socialist realism. The most interesting in this regard is the work “Moscow - Petushki”, written by V. Erofeev in 1970 and published in the West. This poem is one of the first examples of postmodern literature.
Until the end of the existence of the USSR, practically no works were published that were not related to socialist realism. However, after the collapse of the power, the dawn of book publishing literally began. Everything that was written in the 20th century but was prohibited is published. New writers appear, continuing the traditions of literature Silver Age, prohibited and foreign.
Western literature of the 20th century
The Western literary process of the 20th century is characterized by a close connection with historical events, in particular with the First and Second World Wars. These events greatly shocked Europe.
In the literature of the 20th century, two major trends stand out - modernism and postmodernism (emerging in the 70s). The first includes such movements as existentialism, expressionism, and surrealism. It developed most brightly and intensively in the first half of the 20th century, then gradually losing ground to postmodernism.
Conclusion
Thus, the literary process is the totality of the works of writers and historical events in their development. This understanding of literature makes it possible to understand by what laws it exists and what influences its evolution. The beginning of the literary process can be called the first work created by humanity, and its end will come only when we cease to exist.
French history literature of the 19th century V. represents a dynamic complex of extremely diverse, aesthetically rich phenomena, inextricably linked by ties of continuity and developing in the general mainstream of the historical movement in complex interaction with other arts, philosophical and aesthetic thought and social and utopian ideas of the time. The beginning and end of a century are not only its chronological boundaries, but concepts rich in content in the historical and literary aspect. The first decades of the century saw the emergence of romanticism, which would largely predetermine many processes in the future. literary history, up to symbolism and some other aesthetic phenomena, from which the ambiguous concept of “decadence” will be formed; Together with romanticism, they create a unique literary and aesthetic frame of the 19th century.
Like no other country, in France there was an acute problem of understanding the turbulent events of the revolution of 1789 and the fundamental changes that followed it in the life of society. Contemporaries of the era were voluntary or involuntary participants in socio-historical cataclysms, during which centuries-old traditions, beliefs, and ideals collapsed, and this extremely intensified all kinds of attempts to interpret, explain, justify or reject the new reality. Such trends marked all spheres of the spiritual life of the nation - historiography, sociology, philosophical thought, aesthetics, art. Literature also had to embrace new trends and not remain unchanged, ossified in old forms. “Who can live, who can write in our time and not think about the French Revolution!” - wrote J. de Stael in her treatise “On the influence of passions on the happiness of individuals and nations” (1796).
First third of the 19th century. in France it is a time of intense political struggle, in which literature is also involved. Writers often participate in political polemics, act as publicists, and sometimes occupy government positions. Change of regimes: Directory (1795-1799), Consulate (1799-1804), Empire (1804-1814), Restoration (1815-1830), July Monarchy (1830-1848) - each time confronts people with the problem of choice, focusing on political issues, encourages you to determine your attitude to events or even participate in them. These historical circumstances determine that French romanticism is very politicized. And yet, political orientation and political sympathies cannot serve as the main criterion for classifying the diverse and often contradictory phenomena of the literary movement. One of the most important moments in the literary struggle for romanticism in France was the reform in drama. B. Constant’s article “Reflections on the German Theater” (1809) played a major role in the theoretical justification of drama as a new genre in literature; “Course of Dramatic Art” by A. Schlegel, translated into French in 1813; article by F. Guizot “The Life of Shakespeare” (1821); articles by Stendhal under the general title “Racine and Shakespeare” (1823-1825) and V. Hugo’s preface to the drama “Cromwell” (1827). In the process of creating their dramas, A. Dumas (father), P. Merimee, V. Hugo, A. de Vigny, A. de Musset not only implement the concepts of theorists, but, in essence, continue innovative searches in the field of drama.
In the process of the formation of French romanticism, the traditions of Enlightenment thought and art of the 18th century acquired a double resonance: this is not only disappointment in many Enlightenment illusions and a revaluation of many concepts of the Age of Enlightenment (for example, the theory of “natural man”, the idea of an “enlightened monarch” and others), but and a life-giving impulse of renewal. It is no coincidence that the concept of “pre-romanticism” arises in literary criticism, implying a complex of phenomena that developed in the literature of France in the last decades of the 18th century. and became the direct harbingers of romanticism (Rousseauism, sentimentalism, lyric poetry of E. Parny, C. Milvois, A. Chenier and others). The sharp polemic of French romanticism with classicist ideas not only does not violate its successive ties with the 18th century, but, on the contrary, reveals the Enlightenment roots of romanticism.
Recognizing the spiritual sphere as the main subject of art, the romantics paid great attention to the inner world of man, revealed through psychological analysis. At the same time, they emphasize conflicting, dramatic relationships between the individual and society, which give rise to deep dissatisfaction and the belief in the inescapability of the tragic discord between man and the world (“the disease of the century”). In an effort to better understand human psychology, they turn to nature as a world related to human soul, as the embodiment of harmony and freedom, which a person craves and which he is deprived of in society. The scope of psychological analysis also includes the principle of “local color” - hence the interest of the romantics in the nuances of historical psychology and national character.
The fundamental principle of the romantic concept of man is historicism. For romanticism, what dominated in the 18th century was unacceptable. an abstract idea of man in general as the embodiment of “eternal” passions, which are opposed by absolute and infallible reason. Romantics offer a more specific and multifaceted interpretation of man and his psychology, arguing that the consciousness of an individual, his views, actions and, ultimately, fate are determined by at least three the most important moments: historical time, the specifics of national psychology and the individual uniqueness of the individual.
The romantic concept of society is also based on the principles of historicism. The concept of “philosophy of history,” introduced by Voltaire, was filled with new content in the romantic era.
In the 20s XIX century French historians F. Villemin, P. de Barant, O. Minier, F. Guizot, O. Thierry, A. Thiers and others developed a system of romantic historiography, which is based on the idea of an objective, immutable and independent of individual will law, which development of society is subordinated. This development represents a progressive movement from lower forms of society to higher ones, and each of its stages is a necessary link in a single process. The concepts of “progress” and “evolution”, which already existed in the 18th century, are filled with new meaning. In the Age of Enlightenment, they meant gradual improvement, upward development, overcoming barbarism, superstitions, and delusions. To the romantics, progress seems to be a more complex, multidimensional, contradictory movement, not at all straightforward, but rather spiral-shaped, and in each country marked by its own national specifics.
Classicist traditions were very strong and stable in the art of France. Moreover, there was an opinion about romanticism as a phenomenon alien to the French national spirit, contrary to the truly national “good old tradition” of classicism. However, no matter how stubborn the resistance to romanticism was, it, of course, could not prevent the development of this new literary trend. In France there were all the objective prerequisites for its emergence, and fierce opposition to it on the part of adherents of classicism could only delay the historically determined process for a very short time.
The stages of the formation and flourishing of French romanticism fit quite clearly into the time frame of political regimes: its formation occurred mainly during the period of the Empire (1804-1814). Early romanticism is represented by the works of J. de Stael, F. R. Chateaubriand, B. Constant, E. P. de Senancourt; in the 1810s The first songs of J.P. Beranger were also performed; The heyday dates back to the Restoration (1815-1830): in the 1820s. Such stars as A. de Lamartine, P. Mérimée, A. de Vigny, V. Hugo, A. Dumas appeared on the literary horizon, and Bérenger’s popularity expanded. Romantic writers are grouped into circles, the most famous of which are Arsenal, whose leader was III. Nodier, who served as custodian of the Arsenal library in Paris, and Céiacle, headed by V. Hugo (cenacle - community). In the romantic movement of the 1820s. Stendhal is actively involved; Balzac's work begins in close contact with romantic traditions.
Late 1820s becomes the culmination of the romantic movement in France. This is the period of maximum awareness by the romantics of their unity in opposition to the adherents of the already outdated canons of rationalistic classic art. But as soon as the victory of romanticism in the polemic with classicism becomes obvious, the unity of the romantics, which was never complete, noticeably weakens, and symptoms of a crisis nature appear in their movement, which then worsen in connection with the revolution of 1830. Already in the early 1830s . Romanticism in France ceases to be a leading trend in literature, but also abroad in the 1830s. The romantic tradition remains quite stable and fruitful.
In the 1830s. Romantic writers of the third generation came to literature: A. de Musset, George Sand, E. Sue, J. de Nerval, T. Gautier, O. Barbier and others. After 1830, romanticism developed in a slightly different direction than before: historical genres fade into the background, the problematic of literary works gravitates towards two directions: on the one hand, “pure art”, the rejection of all ideology and moralization (Musset, Nerval, Gautier), on the other hand, the desire to overcome individualism and narrow boundaries chamber art leads to the art of social sound (George Sand, Hugo, E. Sue - in social novel; O. Barbier, V. Hugo - in poetry).
The history of French romanticism as a whole is quite long, it lasted almost until late XIX centuries in parallel with the development of new literary trends, who learned a lot from romanticism. Only with the death of V. Hugo (1885) can the history of romanticism in France be considered complete.
On the basis of French literature, the organic connection of such artistic systems like romanticism and realism. Their relationship was so close that most of the writers whom we today classify as realists did not call themselves that. Balzac and Stendhal considered themselves adherents of “nineteenth-century literature,” and this concept was introduced by the romantics in opposition to classicism and meant precisely romanticism. Flaubert's writing "apprenticeship" proceeded in line with the romantic "fury" of the 1830s, and only in the mature work of the writer this dependence was overcome.
In France, realistic aesthetics received a more pronounced theoretical formulation than in other countries, and the word “realism” itself was used for the first time as a term expressing a complex artistic principles, whose supporters created something like a school.
In the 1830-1840s, especially in the work of Balzac, character traits realism as an art that gives a multidimensional picture of reality; realism is far from being limited to moral description and everyday life; its tasks also include an analytical study of the objective laws of life - historical, social, ethical, psychological, as well as a critical assessment modern man and society, on the one hand, and identifying a positive principle in living reality, on the other.
One of the key postulates of realism - the establishment of the principles of realistic typification and their theoretical understanding - is also associated primarily with French literature, with the work of Balzac. Innovative for the first half of the 19th century V. and the principle of cyclization introduced by Balzac also became significant for the fate of realism in general. “The Human Comedy” represents the first attempt at creating a series of novels and stories interconnected by a complex chain of causes and consequences and the destinies of characters, each time appearing at a new stage of their fate and moral and psychological evolution. Cyclization corresponded to the desire of realism for a comprehensive, analytical and systematic artistic study of reality.
Already in Balzac's aesthetics an orientation towards science, and above all towards biology, is revealed. This trend develops further in the work of Flaubert, who seeks to apply the principles of scientific research in modern novel. Thus, the “scientific” attitude characteristic of positivist aesthetics manifests itself in the artistic practice of realists long before it becomes leading in naturalism. But in both Balzac and Flaubert, the desire for “scientificness” is free from the tendency inherent in naturalists to absolutize natural laws and their role in the life of society.
The strong and bright side of realism in France is psychologism, in which the romantic tradition appears in-depth and more multifaceted. The range of causal motivations of psychology, character, and actions of a person, from which his destiny ultimately consists, is significantly expanded in the literature of realism; emphasis is placed equally on historical and social determinism and on the personal and individual principle. Thanks to this, the greatest reliability of psychological analysis is achieved.
The leading genre of realism in France, as in other countries, is the novel in its varieties: moral descriptive, socio-psychological, psychological, philosophical, fantasy, adventure, historical. All of the above features of French realism appeared already in the 1830-1840s, for example, in the work of Balzac and Stendhal. However, the fundamental novelty of realism as an artistic method remains poorly understood by the writers and critics of that time. Theoretical speeches of Stendhal in the 1810-1820s. (including “Racine and Shakespeare”, “Walter Scott and “The Princess of Cleves”) are entirely in line with the struggle for romanticism. Although Balzac feels the fundamental novelty of the “Human Comedy” method, he does not give it any specific definition. In “Etude on Bayle” (1840) he tries to classify the phenomena of contemporary literature, but at the same time he classifies himself (to “eclectic”) and Stendhal (to “literature of ideas”) into different movements, and more clearly declares his method two years later later, in the preface to The Human Comedy. Even such an authoritative critic of the 19th century as Sainte-Beuve, in the article “Ten Years After in Literature” (1840), dispenses with the term “realism”, and in “The Human Comedy” he sees only a manifestation of excessive and reprehensible truthfulness, comparing its author with “a doctor who immodestly divulges the shameful illnesses of his patients.” The critic interprets the works of Stendhal equally shallowly. And only with the appearance of “Madame Bovary” (1857) by Flaubert, Sainte-Beuve declares: “... I seem to catch the signs new literature, traits that seem to be distinctive for representatives of new generations” (“Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert, 1857).
All this indicates that the formation of a theoretical concept of a new artistic method at the first stage of its evolution lags significantly behind practice. In general, the first stage of French realism represents a transformation of the romantic tradition, its transformation into a certain new quality, the theoretical justification of which will come a little later.
The term “realism” itself appears on the pages of French magazines already in the 1820s, but in a rather narrow sense: it implies copying reality with a tendency to reflect the ugly, base, vulgar - everything that is alien to the ideal, imagination, beauty, sublime. This understanding of realism also contains an evaluative meaning - condemnatory or, at least, ironic. And only in the 1840s. the concept of “realism” is freed from a negative evaluative meaning: when applied to painting, this word means focusing on the image modern life, based on direct observation, and not just the artist’s imagination, i.e. to recreate reality without any idealization of the ordinary and everyday.
In the mid-1850s. There is a kind of turning point in the evolution of the concept of “realism”. This is connected with painting, and primarily with the work of G. Courbet, whose paintings have been around since the late 1840s. (“Afternoon in Ornans”, 1849; “Funeral in Ornans”, 1851, etc.) attract everyone's attention. In 1855, a personal exhibition of the artist opened in Paris, which he called “Pavilion of Realism.” The program of realism, which Courbet outlined in a short declaration accompanying the exhibition, was formulated with the participation of writers J. Chanfleury and L. E. Duranty. Being like-minded people of Courbet, Chanfleury and Duranty dare to call themselves realists in literature. They are joined by a small group of writers whose names are not etched in the history of literature, but in the mid-1850s. they formed something like a school.
The leader was Chanfleury (pseudonym, real name Jules François Husson, 1821 - 1889). In 1853-1857 Chanfleury published a series of articles in the magazine "Artist" (including an article on Courbet's "Pavilion of Realism", in the form of an open letter to George Sand) and in the collection "Realism" (1857).
Chanfleury can be considered the first who, in his articles, gives a targeted theoretical justification for a new direction in literature, which he calls realism. Highly appreciating romantic art, especially Hugo, Gautier, Delacroix, he tries to formulate the principles of realism as an artistic method more in keeping with the spirit of the mid-century. He considers Balzac to be the creator of this method and his teacher, who inspires “reverence” in him.
The criteria of truth in Chanfleury’s concept are objectivity and “sincerity” or “naivety”. Despite all the terminological inaccuracy of the characterization “sincere”, which was assigned to Chanfleury’s realism in literary criticism, Chanfleury himself and his like-minded people by “sincerity” and “naivety” meant the novelty of the realistic method, its emergence from the narrow rut of established stereotypes, the refusal to imitate any samples.
The tasks of realistic art are best met by prose genres, and above all by the novel, as if re-created by Balzac in the 19th century, says Chanfleury. At the same time, sympathetically perceiving much in Balzac’s work, including Balzac’s description of everyday life, Chanfleury speaks of the need to back it up with principles that essentially go back to positivist aesthetics: this is a distrust of fiction, the requirement for direct and systematic observation of fact, the study real everyday life, based on documentary evidence. Chanfleury requires the most objective and even impartial recording of what is observed, like a transcript or photograph, recreating the picture of life as it appears to the “sincere” or “pure”, i.e. the unbiased, artist's view, free from the power of old traditions.
Chanfleury’s aesthetic principles correspond to his novels “The Adventures of Mademoiselle Mariette” (1853), “The Sorrows of the Teacher Delteil” (1853), “The Bourgeois of Molenchard” (1855), “The Legacy of Lecamus” (1867), as well as Duranty’s novels “The Misfortunes of Henriette Gerard” ( 1867) and “The Case of Handsome Guillaume” (1862).
Duranty, together with the critic A. Assez, began to publish the magazine “Realism” (1856-1857, six issues were published), in which a number of program declarations were published. Many of the ideas of Chanfleury and Courbet are expressed here in a more acute form. In addition, the principle of social significance of art is emphasized. Here the “genealogy” of realism is also clarified: the predecessors of this artistic method are declared in the 18th century. Diderot and Retief de La Breton, and in the 19th century. - Stendhal and Balzac. True, the word “realism” still confuses its adherents: for example, Chanfleury compares himself to “a cat who is running away from the brats who tied a saucepan to his tail - realism.”
Thus, the realists of the 1850s. follow many principles that were already evident in the literature of the 1830s and 1840s. They are associated with the Balzac method, first of all, by the focus on displaying modern life in all its aspects (everyday life, the social environment and related problems, the world of human feelings), as well as the idea of serving art to the interests of society. And although the principle of “daguerreotype” reconstruction of reality has supplanted the idea of selecting the most characteristic phenomena and the concept of typification, which is fundamental in Balzac’s aesthetics, the commonality of a number of other essential postulates of Balzac and “sincere” realism is so obvious that the term “realism” is beginning to be used in relation to Balzac, but after the writer’s death. Thus, in 1853, in the English magazine Westminster Review, Balzac is identified with everyone who “copies first of all the reality around them” and is called “the head of this realistic school.”
Of course, between the realism of the 1830s and 1840s. and the “sincere” realism of the 1850s. there is no complete identity. But with all the differences between them, including the difficultly comparable scales of creativity of Balzac and Stendhal, on the one hand, and Chanfleury and Duranty, on the other, these two methods are connected not only by similarities, but also by a thread of continuity, as well as by the logic of formation and development over time. “Sincere” realism also reveals a number of signs of the “objective” art of Flaubert, whose main works would be written in the 1850-1860s.
A distinctive feature of the second stage of realism in France is the increased attention to issues of style. Balzac was not a skilled master of style and did not set this goal for himself. In the aesthetics of Chanfleury, the search for perfect form and refinement of style were considered incompatible with the “sincerity” of realism. “I have no style” - these words from Stendhal’s letter of 1825 are quoted by Chanfleury with sympathy, although they, of course, do not mean that Stendhal did not have his own individual style. It’s just that before Flaubert, the attention of realists was focused primarily on the content of the work. In Flaubert's work, content and style act as an indissoluble unity, realized by the author. “Where there is no form, there is no idea. Looking for one means looking for another,” says the writer, who entered literature as an unrivaled stylist. Flaubert's work becomes the most vivid, complete and perfect embodiment of the realism of the 1850s and 1860s in terms of artistic mastery. Being associated with the Balzac tradition, it is at the same time marked by the stamp of its time and the unique creative originality of the author. The “sincere” realism of Chanfleury and Duranty plays the role of a transitional link between these two milestones.
In the middle of the century, a kind of revaluation of some principles of creativity took place, leading to the emergence of new directions and trends in literature. The tendency towards positivism, already manifested in realistic narrative genres, makes itself felt in poetry - in line with the so-called “Parnassian” school, which took shape in the 1860s. However, a little earlier, in 1852, two collections of poetry were published at once, in which “objective” poetry and the cult of visible form are opposed to spontaneous romantic lyricism: these are “Enamels and Cameos” by Théophile Gautier and “Ancient Poems” by Charles Lecomte de Lisle .
In the 1860s. young poets, who consider Leconte de Lisle their teacher, decide to periodically publish collections of poetry. In 1866, the collection “Modern Parnassus” appeared. Already in the name the group’s orientation towards antiquity was evident. The collection contained works by almost 40 authors and was about 300 pages. It was a success and caused lively controversy.
Théophile Gautier was also a recognized teacher of the young Parnassians. He argued that the only goal of art can only be beauty, and it can be achieved by carefully working on form. Beautiful form is the exact expression of thought, for form and content are one. Only perfection of expression will allow the poet to conquer death, time, oblivion. In the novel “Mademoiselle de Maupin” (1836), the artist again and again asserts the independence of art, which should be alien to political, moral or social issues. The most famous of Gautier's poetry collections is Enamels and Cameos (1852). The title speaks of the poet's interest in the plastic arts. He considers the greatest pleasure for himself to be the process of transforming a dictionary into a palette, the opportunity to convey a painting, a fresco, a statue using the means of verbal art (the poems “Parian Marble”, “Luxor Obelisk”, “Nereids”). The picturesqueness is combined with the musicality of the verse.
Peru Gautier owns several collections of poetry, the prose collection “Young France”, several novels, and a collection of theoretical articles “New Art”.
Charles Leconte de Lisle can rightfully be considered the head of the “Parnassian school”. He, like many writers of the mid-19th century, was characterized by an interest in ancient religions and civilizations, which was supported by the spread of positivist views on history, archaeological discoveries and new scientific theories. To explain the present, we need to study the past. There is a renewed interest in legends and myths different nations. Leconte de Lisle, like Gautier, was especially fond of antiquity with its bright, pantheistic view of the world and harmony between man and nature. His collection “Ancient Poems” is dedicated to culture and philosophy Ancient Greece. The preface to the collection became the aesthetic foundation of the young poetic school of the “Parnassians”. Lecomte de Lisle argues that great poets should write for the elite, because poetry is an intellectual luxury accessible to the few. With the help of passion, reflection, science and imagination, the artist recreates Beauty. The reader must be taught to understand great art. Achieving Beauty is possible only through hard work on form. On this he completely agrees with Gautier.
The collection “Barbarian Poems” (1862) continues the themes of the first collection. The poet sets himself a completely scientific task - to make an overview of the world's main religions. History appears before the reader as a colorful and moving system, reflecting the positivist idea of continuous, interdependent movement and development. Here is the stern biblical God, and Egypt with the mummies of the pharaohs, and Catholicism with the Inquisition and the institution of the papacy, and savages from the Pacific Islands, and virgin, most often exotic nature...
The works of both collections are distinguished by an impeccable, refined poetic technique. Impeccability of form is one of the most important principles of Leconte de Lisle’s aesthetics.
Among the most prominent figures of the older generation of “Parnassian” poets is Theodore de Banville with his collections “Stalactites” (1846) and “Acrobatic Odes” (1867). In 1871, the “Parnassian group” published the second collection, and in 1876 - the third. But poetry at this time was already looking for other, new paths, which is reflected in the work of Jose-Marie de Heredia (“Trophies”, 1893).
"Parnassus" took a place in the history of French poetry between romanticism and symbolism. The greatest writers passed through this school: Baudelaire, Verlaine, France. The aesthetics of Parnassus, associated with the theory of “art for art’s sake” and with the development of positivist thought, introduced characteristic touches into the panorama of poetry of the second half of the 19th century.
Positivist aesthetics became the basis for the work of naturalist writers. As a literary phenomenon, naturalism was born in France. In its theoretical basis and artistic practice, naturalism did not oppose itself to realism, but sought to develop and deepen it, turning to the scientific method in creativity. French naturalism influenced the literary process in other countries. For example, it is necessary to note its significance for the formation of verism in Italy.
Naturalism is based on contemporary philosophy and has clearly formulated aesthetic principles. The development of the theoretical basis of the new school in literature is associated with the names of I. Taine and E. Zola. A circle of his students and like-minded people gathered around Zola, the so-called Medan circle, which included A. Sear, P. Alexis, L. Ennick, K. J. Huysmans and G. de Maupassant, who, however, did not consider himself a naturalist. From the mid-1880s, and especially in the 1890s. naturalism begins to disintegrate.
The philosophical basis of naturalism was positivism, which arose in France back in the 1830s. Its most prominent representative was O. Comte, the author of the six-volume work “Course of Positive Philosophy.” Comte argued that philosophy as a speculative science, not supported by material experience, has much less importance in understanding the world than special sciences. But neither philosophy nor concrete sciences should strive to comprehend the root cause of phenomena. Science does not explain essences, but describes phenomena.
At this time, in all areas of knowledge: thermodynamics, electrophysics and electrochemistry, biology, anatomy and physiology, new discoveries are taking place that change previous ideas about things. Comte felt the deep connection that exists between individual branches of science, and established a hierarchy of sciences according to the degree of increasing their complexity and, on the other hand, decreasing their abstractness. The basis is mathematics and mechanics, followed by physiology, psychology and sociology. In his opinion, the source of social development is the improvement of the human mind and the accumulation of knowledge. For example, when the science of society appears, the possibility of its rational organization will appear.
French philosopher, art historian, literary critic I. Taine applied Comte's philosophical methodology to the study of literature and art. Among his many works, it is necessary to highlight the five-volume history of English literature, the preface to which became a programmatic document for the naturalistic movement. Ten is one of the founders of the cultural-historical school in literary criticism. According to his theory of knowledge, a writer is like a natural scientist: one studies some fossil shell in order to mentally reconstruct the living creature that once lived in it, the other analyzes a literary document in order to imagine a person of a different era, to understand how he lived, thought and felt.
Taine identifies three factors that shape the appearance of a person, a people and a civilization: race, environment and moment. Race is an innate, hereditary tendency that appears with a person. This is a stable factor. The environment is the material world surrounding a person, climate, political events, social conditions and relationships. These relatively random circumstances are superimposed on the primary basis. And finally, a moment is a certain stage in the history of human life and society, which is the result of the interaction of external and internal forces. One era is different from another, but is a natural consequence of the previous one.
Taine's system had a huge influence on naturalists. For them, a writer is an experimental scientist. Any object, before becoming the subject of an image, must be studied, including with the help of existing scientific research and various documents. Creativity is one of the most important ways of learning. Hence the requirement of objectivity. The writer is obliged to address all phenomena of reality, without fear of offending anyone's sensitivity or good taste. Literature must become more democratic, showing all aspects of modern life.
With a common philosophical and aesthetic foundation, each of the naturalists had their own priorities and their own artistic style. Like any literary phenomenon, naturalism was the result of the interaction of unidirectional, but independent aspirations.
The Goncourt brothers, Edmond and Jules, did not accept Taine's theory of three factors, arguing that there is something else in a person that does not depend on material factors. Their aesthetic theory is the negation of theories - you just need to observe and describe facts. But since the main events occur deep in a person’s soul, it is not so much the external situation that is important as psychological analysis.
The Goncourts' most famous novel is Germinie Lacerte (1865). In the preface, the authors talk about the need to expand the boundaries of art. The novel was intended to be a moral story for modern times. The plot is taken from life, which corresponded to the aesthetic position of the Goncourts. “Germinie Lacerte” is a “clinical analysis of love”, and it tells about the fate of a maid who dies both because of the selfishness of the people around her and because of her own ardent temperament, because she is unable to understand either the motivations or the consequences of your desires and actions. This novel revealed those features of the Goncourts' talent that allow us to talk about impressionistic writing. Their landscape is full of shades and reflections of light; it is closely connected with the state and thoughts of the heroes. The term “psychological landscape” is applicable here.
However, over time, the aesthetics of the Goncourts change. In the preface to the novel “The Zemganno Brothers” (1879), written by Edmond Goncourt alone after the death of his brother, the writer states that folk themes have already exhausted themselves and the time has come for “graceful realism.” This was a different stage of creativity, associated with those that spread in the 1870s and 1880s. ideas.
Zola's students made their presence felt when a collection of war stories, Evenings of Medan, appeared. The younger naturalists wrote many novels, but none of them reached the level of their teacher's creativity.
The most talented of them is K. J. Huysmans. He begins with characteristic naturalistic prose, describing with cruel accuracy the bourgeois and bohemian circles (“Martha”, 1876; “The Vatar Sisters”, 1879). Having been greatly influenced by the philosophy of Schopenhauer, the writer expresses pessimistic ideas about the structure of society and human capabilities (the novel “Adrift”, 1882). In 1883, he wrote the novel “On the contrary,” which Wilde called “the holy book of decadence.” There is no plot in it, the action froze within four walls, where the hero des Esseintes retired. The author records the nuances of the hero’s feelings caused by precious stones, rare plants, music, literature, painting, arguing that “nature has outlived its purpose.” The writer touches on the theme of the secret correspondence of different sensory sensations, which is consistent with the aesthetics of emerging symbolism. Huysmans himself, in the preface, written much later than the novel, calls it the quintessence of aestheticism. Having become a deeply religious Catholic, Huysmans introduces this theme into his later novels (Cathedral, 1898).
The evolution of Huysmans is, in general terms, characteristic of younger naturalists. At first they did not go beyond the framework of a rigidly formulated aesthetics, which later seemed narrow and dogmatic to them, and then they accused naturalism of being narrow and primitive.
Naturalism is an original page in the history of French and world literature. He was associated with the literary tradition of the 19th century. And although by the end of the century it had exhausted itself, it had a significant influence on the further development of realism.
The positivist aesthetics of naturalism at the end of the century was opposed by neo-romanticism and other movements in poetry (for example, the “Romanesque school”); The most consistent, aesthetically expressed and theoretically reasoned was the anti-naturalistic “opposition” of the symbolist poets, who developed Baudelaire’s ideas of “correspondances”, “supernaturalism” (surnaturalisme) and the “spirit of modernity” (modernite). The concept of decadence also has Baudelaire’s “pedigree”: by decadence the poet meant the spiritual failure of his contemporary society of “progress,” which plunges those who have comprehended this sad truth into metaphysical melancholy. That is why, following Baudelaire’s concept, the symbolists first call themselves decadents, i.e. poets of the era of decadence. With the advent of the term “symbolism,” the idea of opposition to philosophical and aesthetic positivism, the refusal to worship “progress”, understood only as successes in the sphere of material activity, industry, technology, science, and even more so in the vicissitudes of socio-political conflicts, is emphasized. Symbolism sounds like a challenge to the spiritual inferiority of modern “progress” and the positivist aesthetics oriented towards it.
Symbolism as a literary movement of the late 19th century. - a phenomenon of pan-European scale in its ideological postulates, aesthetic principles and scope national cultures Europe. Symbolism reflects the specifics of the spiritual life of the end of the century, it summarizes the century, and it also prepared some further paths of art (such, for example, as the phenomena of modernism, such as expressionism, surrealism). At the same time, as a clearly expressed trend in literature (primarily in poetry), symbolism existed practically only in France, where it arose and received theoretical justification in the works of A. Rimbaud, P. Verlaine, J. Moreas, S. Mallarmé, A. de Rainier, R. Gil, G. Kahn and others. The movement of followers of the French symbolists was quite strong in Belgian literature, and here it developed not only in poetry (E. Verhaerne, J. Rodenbach, A. Mockel, C. van Lerberg, A. Giraud, I. Gilquin), but also in drama (M. Maeterlinck). In other countries Western Europe Due to the unique paths of national development in each of them, symbolism is manifested to one degree or another in the work of individual writers, without creating any single movement, school, etc. So, for example, in English literature, some elements of symbolism can be noted in the works of O. Wilde, W. B. Yeats; in German literature - in a number of plays by G. Hauptmann, in the poetry of S. George; in Norwegian - in the dramaturgy of G. Ibsen; in Austrian - in the poetry of G. von Hofmannsthal and the early work of R. M. Rilke.
Although the term “symbolism” itself, used to name a new literary movement, appears only in the mid-1880s, the formation of symbolism occurs in the 1870s, when Rimbaud had already spoken his word, and “Romances without Words” by P. Verlaine was published and the creativity of S. Mallarmé develops.
With its origins, symbolism is closely connected with many phenomena of art and philosophical thought of the 19th century: with romanticism, with German classical philosophy and aesthetics, with the new tendency of German philosophy coming from A. Schopenhauer; Some principles of symbolism are foreseen in the works of such poets as A. de Vigny, J. de Nerval and especially E. Poe. The immediate forerunner of symbolism in French literature was III. Baudelaire. A huge role in the development of symbolism belongs to R. Wagner. Advocates of “metaphysical” art are attracted by many things in his work: the principle of synthesis of arts, substantiated in Wagner’s theory of “musical drama” and implemented in operas, especially in the tetralogy “The Ring of the Nibelung” (1854-1874), in “Tristan and Isolde” (1859) and Parsifale (1882); the focus on the most generalized, timeless interpretation of legendary plots, as well as the very type of Wagner’s “hero of the spirit” - all this helps to understand and formulate the principles of symbolist aesthetics.
The theory of symbols is anticipated already in the philosophical works of Goethe, and then developed in sufficient detail and consistently in the aesthetics of F. W. Schelling, K. V. Solger, G. W. F. Hegel. However, the close connections of symbolism with the previous process of literary movement do not exclude the qualitative novelty that symbolism carries within itself as an artistic method and, above all, as a worldview.
“Our philosophical education was carried out on the basis of the ideas of Schopenhauer,” wrote R. de Gourmont, one of the founders of the symbolist magazine Mercure de France. Indeed, the fundamental principles of the worldview of symbolism go back to the ideas of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860). His main work, “The World as Will and Representation” (1819), attracted the attention of thinkers and artists several decades after its publication - in the 1860-1870s. The fundamental postulate of Schopenhauer's worldview concept is the unity of the objective (“world will”) and the subjective (individual idea), embodied in the phenomena of the material world. The philosopher assigns no less significant role to the consciousness of the perceiving subject in the picture of the world than to the fact of the objective existence of phenomena, and this could not be more appealing to the symbolists.
Schopenhauer's aesthetics are irrational and mystical in nature. At the same time, he has no opposition creative activity- and intellectual; imaginative thinking - and speculation; art - and philosophy. "Philosophy is piece of art from concepts"; in art, the most important thing is the metaphysical content: the meaning of art is not in reflecting external, physical reality, but in expressing the internal, hidden, secret essence of the world.
Schopenhauer became the founder of the worldview system, which in the second half of the 19th century. called modern idealism. This line continues in the philosophical teachings of E. Hartmann, F. Nietzsche, A. Bergson. With all the originality of the ideas of each of them general features All variations of the new idealism were interested in the problems of individual consciousness and going beyond the framework of rationalistic thinking and logic, invading the area of the subconscious, unconscious, intuitive.
The magazine Mercure ds France defines symbolism as “the poetic expression of modern idealism.” The fundamental postulate of the symbolist worldview is the idea of the world as a multidimensional unity of the subjective and transpersonal, physical and spiritual, private and general, form and essence. It is characteristic that priority is always given to the spiritual and essential. From this follows the idea of art as an aesthetic activity that has a metaphysical goal: to rise above physical world and above everything material into the sphere of spirituality, to overcome the outer shell of form and penetrate into the essence of things, into the mystery of being, to join the laws of the universe. The acute rejection of pragmatism, which dominates at all levels of real life - private, social, political, dictates the requirement for art to be fundamentally apolitical, as well as the denial of any moralizing tendencies in it. Artistic creativity is conceived as a type of esoteric activity, accessible only to a select few, and addressed to a few. The artist is likened to a medium, i.e. a mediator who can and should express the world “through himself,” the essential and spiritual through physical and sensory forms.
Other, strictly aesthetic principles of symbolism include: the concept of the symbol as the most adequate expressive means of metaphysical art; the theory of “correspondences”, or “universal analogy of sensations”; interaction requirement different types art, which opens up the possibility of the greatest approach to the metaphysical goal of art; suggestive nature of imagery; preference given to sound expressiveness as the highest form of suggestion. Symbolism presupposes absolute freedom of creativity and intolerance to any canons and stereotypes, the originality of the artist’s creative manner, and he places originality above all else.
In area poetic form Symbolist poets are characterized by a desire to free themselves from the norms of traditional prosody; they introduce and theoretically substantiate free verse, free verse, and also develop the tradition of poetic miniatures in prose.
In the mid-1880s. a circle of symbolists is formed in Paris, the leader of which is Mallarmé; poetry collections are published one after another: “Cantilenas” by J. Moreas, “Tranquility” and “Landscapes” by A. de Regnier, “April Gathering” by F. Vielle-Griffin, “Gammas” by S. Merrill, “Poems” by S. Mallarmé. In 1886, A. Rimbaud’s “Illuminations,” written more than a decade earlier, also saw the light of day for the first time. The first theoretical works of the Symbolists also appeared: “Literary Manifesto. Symbolism" by J. Moreas, "Treatise on the Word" by R. Gil and a number of others. At this stage of the development of the symbolist movement, its adherents recognize themselves as a kind of unity, as a fundamentally new phenomenon in literature, and try to comprehend and formulate their aesthetic principles.
The apogee of symbolism was the late 1880s and 1890s. The magazines Symbolism, La Plume, Mercure de France (the latter becoming the main print organ of the movement), etc. are published, and new manifestos and collections of symbolist poetry appear. At this stage, the multifaceted nature of symbolist art, the lack of aesthetic uniformity in it, and the unique individuality of each of its adherents are revealed. In the second half of the 1890s. many writers and poets join him, for example R. de Gourmont, P. Louis, A. Samen, P. Faure, F. Jamme, L. Taillad, Saint-Paul Roux and others, who are called “younger” or later, symbolists. Many of them, having begun their work in the direction of symbolism, subsequently find their own independent creative path.
Symbolism becomes one of the main components of the historical and aesthetic phenomenon of the “end of the century” (fin de siecle) - a complex of phenomena of spiritual life, culture and art that ends the century.
Literary method, style, or literary movement are often treated as synonyms. It is based on a type that is similar among different writers artistic thinking. Sometimes a modern author does not realize in which direction he is working, and his creative method is assessed by a literary critic or critic. And it turns out that the author is a sentimentalist or an Acmeist... We present to your attention the literary movements in the table from classicism to modernity.
There have been cases in the history of literature when representatives of the writing fraternity themselves realized the theoretical foundations of their activities, propagated them in manifestos, and united in creative groups. For example, Russian futurists, who published the manifesto “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste” in print.
Today we are talking about the established system of literary movements of the past, which determined the features of the development of the world literary process, and are studied by literary theory. The main literary trends are:
- classicism
- sentimentalism
- romanticism
- realism
- modernism (divided into movements: symbolism, acmeism, futurism, imagism)
- socialist realism
- postmodernism
Modernity is most often associated with the concept of postmodernism, and sometimes socially active realism.
Literary trends in tables
Classicism | Sentimentalism | Romanticism | Realism | Modernism | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Periodization |
literary direction XVII – early XIX centuries, based on imitation of ancient models. | Literary direction of the second half of the 18th – early 19th centuries. From the French word “Sentiment” - feeling, sensitivity. | literary trends of the late XVIII - second half of the XIX centuries. Romanticism emerged in the 1790s. first in Germany, and then spread throughout the Western European cultural region. It was most developed in England, Germany, France (J. Byron, W. Scott, V. Hugo, P. Merimee) | direction in literature and art of the 19th century, aiming at a truthful reproduction of reality in its typical features. | literary movement, aesthetic concept, formed in the 1910s. The founders of modernism: M. Proust “In Search of Lost Time”, J. Joyce “Ulysses”, F. Kafka “The Trial”. |
Signs, features |
|
Particular attention is paid to the spiritual world of a person. The main thing is the feeling, the experience common man, not great ideas. Characteristic genres are elegy, epistle, novel in letters, diary, in which confessional motives predominate. | Heroes are bright, exceptional individuals in unusual circumstances. Romanticism is characterized by impulse, extraordinary complexity, and the inner depth of human individuality. For romantic work The idea of two worlds is characteristic: the world in which the hero lives, and another world in which he wants to be. | Reality is a means for a person to understand himself and the world around him. Typification of images. This is achieved through the truthfulness of details in specific conditions. Even with tragic conflict life-affirming art. 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 main task of modernism is to penetrate into the depths of a person’s consciousness and subconscious, to convey the work of memory, the peculiarities of perception of the environment, in how the past, present are refracted in “moments of existence” and the future is foreseen. The main technique in the work of modernists is the “stream of consciousness,” which allows one to capture the movement of thoughts, impressions, and feelings. |
Features of development in Russia |
An example is Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor.” In this comedy, Fonvizin tries to implement main idea classicism - to re-educate the world with rational words. | An example is the story by N.M. Karamzin " Poor Lisa", which, in contrast to rational classicism with its cult of reason, affirms the cult of feelings, sensuality. | In Russia, romanticism arose against the backdrop of national upsurge after the War of 1812. It has a pronounced social orientation. He is imbued with the idea of civil service and love of freedom (K. F. Ryleev, V. A. Zhukovsky). | In Russia, the foundations of realism were laid in the 1820s - 30s. works of Pushkin (“Eugene Onegin”, “Boris Godunov” Captain's daughter", late lyrics). this stage is associated with the names of I. A. Goncharov, I. S. Turgenev, N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Ostrovsky and others. Realism of the 19th century is usually called “critical”, since the determining principle in it was precisely the social critical. | In Russian literary criticism, it is customary to call 3 literary movements that made themselves known in the period from 1890 to 1917 modernist. These are symbolism, acmeism and futurism, which formed the basis of modernism as a literary movement. |
Modernism is represented by the following literary movements:
Symbolism
(Symbol - from the Greek Symbolon - conventional sign)- The central place is given to the symbol*
- The desire for a higher ideal prevails
- A poetic image is intended to express the essence of a phenomenon
- Characteristic reflection of the world in two planes: real and mystical
- Sophistication and musicality of verse
Acmeism
(From the Greek “acme” - point, highest point). The literary movement of Acmeism arose in the early 1910s and was genetically connected with symbolism. (N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, S. Gorodetsky, O. Mandelstam, M. Zenkevich and V. Narbut.) The formation was influenced by M. Kuzmin’s article “On Beautiful Clarity,” published in 1910. In his programmatic article of 1913, “The Legacy of Acmeism and Symbolism,” N. Gumilyov called symbolism a “worthy father,” but emphasized that the new generation had developed a “courageously firm and clear outlook on life.”- Focus on classical poetry of the 19th century
- Acceptance of the earthly world in its diversity and visible concreteness
- Objectivity and clarity of images, precision of details
- In rhythm, the Acmeists used dolnik (Dolnik is a violation of the traditional regular alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. The lines coincide in the number of stresses, but stressed and unstressed syllables are freely located in the line.), which brings the poem closer to living colloquial speech
Futurism
Futurism - from lat. futurum, future. Genetically, literary futurism is closely connected with the avant-garde groups of artists of the 1910s - primarily with the groups “Jack of Diamonds”, “Donkey’s Tail”, “Youth Union”. In 1909 in Italy, the poet F. Marinetti published the article “Manifesto of Futurism.” In 1912, the manifesto “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste” was created by Russian futurists: V. Mayakovsky, A. Kruchenykh, V. Khlebnikov: “Pushkin is more incomprehensible than hieroglyphs.” Futurism began to disintegrate already in 1915-1916.- Rebellion, anarchic worldview
- Denial of cultural traditions
- Experiments in the field of rhythm and rhyme, figurative arrangement of stanzas and lines
- Active word creation
Imagism
From lat. imago - image A literary movement in Russian poetry of the 20th century, whose representatives stated that the purpose of creativity is to create an image. Basics means of expression Imagists - metaphor, often metaphorical chains that compare various elements of two images - direct and figurative. Imagism arose in 1918, when the “Order of Imagists” was founded in Moscow. The creators of the “Order” were Anatoly Mariengof, Vadim Shershenevich and Sergei Yesenin, who was previously part of the group of new peasant poets
literary trendsAndcurrents
XVII-X1X CENTURY
Classicism - direction in literature of the 17th - early 19th centuries, focusing on the aesthetic standards of ancient art. The main idea is the affirmation of the priority of reason. Aesthetics is based on the principle of rationalism: a work of art must be intelligently constructed, logically verified, and must capture the enduring, essential properties of things. Works of classicism are characterized by high civic themes, strict adherence to certain creative norms and rules, reflection of life in ideal images that gravitate towards a universal model (G. Derzhavin, I. Krylov, M. Lomonosov, V. Trediakovsky,D. Fonvizin).
Sentimentalism - a literary movement of the second half of the 18th century, which established feeling, rather than reason, as the dominant of the human personality. The hero of sentimentalism is a “feeling man”, his emotional world is diverse and mobile, and the wealth of the inner world is recognized for every person, regardless of his class affiliation (I. M. Karamzin.“Letters of a Russian Traveler”, “Poor Lisa” ) .
Romanticism - literary movement that formed at the beginning of the 19th century. Fundamental to romanticism was the principle of romantic dual worlds, which presupposes a sharp contrast between the hero and his ideal and the surrounding world. The incompatibility of ideal and reality was expressed in the departure of romantics from modern themes into the world of history, traditions and legends, dreams, dreams, fantasies, and exotic countries. Romanticism has a special interest in the individual. The romantic hero is characterized by proud loneliness, disappointment, a tragic attitude and, at the same time, rebellion and rebellion of spirit (A.S. Pushkin."KavKaz captive" « Gypsies»; M. Yu. Lermontov.« Mtsyri»; M. Gorky.« Song about the Falcon", "Old Woman Izergil").
Realism - a literary movement that established itself in Russian literature at the beginning of the 19th century and passed through the entire 20th century. Realism asserts the priority of the cognitive capabilities of literature, its ability to explore reality. The most important subject of artistic research is the relationship between character and circumstances, the formation of characters under the influence of the environment. Human behavior, according to realist writers, depends on external circumstances, which, however, does not negate his ability to oppose his will to them. This determined the central conflict - the conflict between personality and circumstances. Realist writers depict reality in development, in dynamics, presenting stable, typical phenomena in their unique individual embodiment (A.S. Pushkin."Eugene Onegin"; novels I. S. Turgeneva, L. N. TolStygo, F. M. Dostoevsky, A. M. Gorky,stories I. A. Bunina,A. I. Kuprina; N. A. Nekrasoviand etc.).
Critical Realism - The literary movement, which is a subsidiary of the previous one, existed from the beginning of the 19th century until its end. It bears the main signs of realism, but is distinguished by a deeper, critical, sometimes sarcastic author's view ( N.V. Gogol"Dead Souls"; Saltykov-Shchedrin)
XXVEC
Modernism - a literary movement of the first half of the 20th century, which opposed itself to realism and united many movements and schools with a very diverse aesthetic orientation. Instead of a rigid connection between characters and circumstances, modernism affirms the self-worth and self-sufficiency of the human personality, its irreducibility to a tedious series of causes and consequences.
Avant-garde - a direction in literature and art of the 20th century, uniting various movements, united in their aesthetic radicalism (surrealism, drama of the absurd, “new novel”, in Russian literature -futurism). It is genetically related to modernism, but absolutizes and takes to the extreme its desire for artistic renewal.
Decadence (decadence) - a certain state of mind, a crisis type of consciousness, expressed in a feeling of despair, powerlessness, mental fatigue with the obligatory elements of narcissism and aestheticization of the self-destruction of the individual. Decadent in mood, the works aestheticize extinction, the break with traditional morality, and the will to death. The decadent worldview was reflected in the works of writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. F. Sologuba, 3. Gippius, L. Andreeva, and etc.
Symbolism - pan-European, and in Russian literature - the first and most significant modernist movement. Symbolism is rooted in romanticism, with the idea of two worlds. The symbolists contrasted the traditional idea of understanding the world in art with the idea of constructing the world in the process of creativity. The meaning of creativity is the subconscious-intuitive contemplation of secret meanings, accessible only to the artist-creator. The main means of transmitting secret meanings that are not rationally cognizable becomes the symbol (of signs) (“senior symbolists”: V. Bryusov, K. Balmont, D. Merezhkovsky, 3. Gippius, F. Sologub;"Young Symbolists": A. Blok,A. Bely, V. Ivanov, dramas by L. Andreev).
Acmeism - a movement of Russian modernism that arose as a reaction to the extremes of symbolism with its persistent tendency to perceive reality as a distorted likeness of higher entities. The main significance in the work of Acmeists is the artistic exploration of the diverse and vibrant earthly world, the transfer of the inner world of man, the affirmation of culture as the highest value. Acmeistic poetry is characterized by stylistic balance, pictorial clarity of images, precisely calibrated composition, and precision of detail. (N. Gumilev, S. Gorodetscue, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut).
Futurism - an avant-garde movement that emerged almost simultaneously in Italy and Russia. The main feature is the preaching of the overthrow of past traditions, the destruction of old aesthetics, the desire to create new art, the art of the future, capable of transforming the world. Main technical principle- the principle of “shift”, manifested in the lexical renewal of the poetic language due to the introduction of vulgarisms, technical terms, neologisms, in violation of the laws of lexical compatibility of words, in bold experiments in the field of syntax and word formation (V. Khlebnikov, V. Mayakovsky, I. Severyanin and etc.).
Expressionism - modernist movement that formed in the 1910s - 1920s in Germany. The expressionists sought not so much to depict the world as to express their thoughts about the troubles of the world and the suppression of the human personality. The style of expressionism is determined by the rationalism of constructions, the attraction to abstraction, the acute emotionality of the statements of the author and characters, and the abundant use of fantasy and the grotesque. In Russian literature, the influence of expressionism manifested itself in the works of L. Andreeva, E. Zamyatina, A. Platonova and etc.
Postmodernism - a complex set of ideological attitudes and cultural reactions in the era of ideological and aesthetic pluralism (late 20th century). Postmodern thinking is fundamentally anti-hierarchical, opposes the idea of ideological integrity, and rejects the possibility of mastering reality using a single method or language of description. Postmodern writers consider literature, first of all, a fact of language, and therefore do not hide, but emphasize the “literariness” of their works, combine the stylistics of different genres and different literary eras in one text (A. Bitov, Sasha Sokolov, D. A. Prigov, V. PeLevin, Ven. Erofeev and etc.).
About literary evolution
The position of literary history continues to be that of a colonial power among cultural disciplines. On the one hand, it is largely dominated by individualistic psychologism (especially in the West), where the question of literature is wrongfully replaced by the question of authorial psychology, and the question of literary evolution by the question of the genesis of literary phenomena. On the other hand, a simplified causal approach to the literary series leads to a gap between the point from which the literary series is observed - and this always turns out to be the main, but also further social series - and the literary series itself.
The theory of value in literary science has raised the danger of studying the main, but also individual phenomena and brings the history of literature into the form of a “history of generals.” As a result of the last conflict, a desire arose to study individual things and the laws of their construction in an ahistorical manner (the abolition of the history of literature).
In order to finally become a science, literary history must claim authenticity. All its terms must be subject to revision, and above all the very term “history of literature.” covering both the material history of fiction and the history of literature and writing in general
Meanwhile, historical research falls into at least two main types according to the observation point: research genesis literary phenomena and research evolution literary series, literary variability
in this case, the value should lose its subjective coloring, and the “value” of this or that literary phenomenon should be considered as evolutionary significance and characteristic.”
The same should happen with such evaluative concepts as “epigonism” - uncreative adherence to tradition, “amateurism” or “mass literature”
The main concept of literary evolution turns out to be change systems, and the question of “traditions” is transferred to another plane.
a literary work is a system, and literature is a system. Only with this basic agreement is it possible to build a literary science
I call the correlation of each element of a literary work as a system with others and, therefore, with the entire system constructive function of this element.
Upon closer examination, it turns out that such a function is a complex concept. The element is immediately correlated: on the one hand, with a number of similar elements of other works-systems, and even other series 3, on the other hand, with other elements of a given system (autofunction and synfunction).
Thus, the vocabulary of a given work correlates immediately with literary vocabulary and general speech vocabulary, on the one hand, and with other elements of this work, on the other. Both of these components, or rather, both resultant functions, are unequal.
The autofunction does not decide, it only gives an opportunity, it is a condition for the synfunction
To tear out individual elements from the system and correlate them outside the system, i.e. without their constructive function, with a similar number of other systems it is wrong.
isolated study of a work is the same abstraction as the abstraction of individual elements of a work
Existence of fact as literary depends on its differential quality (i.e., on the correlation with either the literary or extra-literary series), in other words, on its function.
What is a literary fact in one era will be a common everyday phenomenon in another, and vice versa, depending on the entire literary system in which this fact is addressed.
Studying a work in isolation, we cannot be sure that we are speaking correctly about its construction, about the construction of the work itself.
There is one more circumstance here.
Auto function, i.e. the correlation of any element with a number of similar elements of other systems and other series is a condition for synfunction. constructive function of this element. any literary element: it does not disappear, only its function changes, it becomes auxiliary
We tend to name genres according to secondary performance characteristics, roughly speaking, in size. The names “story”, “tale”, “novel” are adequate for us to determine the number of printed sheets. This proves not so much the “automation” of genres for our literary system, but rather the fact that genres are defined in our country according to other criteria. The size of a thing, the speech space, is not an indifferent sign.
the study of isolated genres outside the signs of the genre system with which they correspond is impossible.
Prose and poetry are related to each other; there is a mutual function of prose and verse.
The function of verse in a certain literary system was performed by the formal element of meter.
But prose differentiates, evolves, and verse also evolves at the same time. The differentiation of one related type entails, or, better said, is associated with the differentiation of another related type.
The function of prose to verse remains, but the formal elements that fulfill it are different.
Further evolution of forms can either, over the centuries, consolidate the function of verse to prose, transfer it to a number of other features, or disrupt it, making it insignificant
The evolutionary relationship between function and formal element is a completely unexplored question.
Examples of how a form with an indeterminate function evokes a new one and determines it are numerous. There are examples of a different kind: a function searches for its form.
The connection between function and form is not accidental. the continuity of the functions of one or another formal element, the emergence of one or another new function in a formal element, its assignment to a function are important issues of literary evolution, which are not yet the place to be solved and explored here.
The system of literary series is, first of all, a system of functions of a literary series, in continuous correlation with other series. The ranks change in composition, but the differentiation of human activities remains. The evolution of literature, like other cultural series, does not coincide either in pace or in character (due to the specificity of the material with which it operates) with the series with which it is correlated. The evolution of the constructive function occurs quickly. The evolution of literary function - from era to era, the evolution of the functions of the entire literary series in relation to neighboring series - over centuries.
Due to the fact that the system is not an equal interaction of all elements, but presupposes the prominence of a group of elements (“dominant”) and the deformation of the others, the work enters literature and acquires its literary function precisely by this dominant. Thus, we correlate poems with the verse series (and not prose) not by all of their features, but only by some.
Here is another curious, from an evolutionary point of view, fact. A work is correlated according to one or another literary series, depending on the “deviation”, from the “differentiation” precisely in relation to the literary series along which it is distributed.
After all, everyday life is multifaceted and multifaceted in composition, and only the function of all its aspects in it is specific. Everyday life is correlated with literature primarily by its speech side. The same is the correlation between literary series and everyday life. This correlation between the literary series and everyday life is accomplished by speech lines, literature has in relation to everyday life speech function.
We have the word "installation". It roughly means “the creative intention of the author.” But it happens that “the intention is good, but the execution is bad.” Let us add: the author's intention can only be a ferment. By using specific literary material, the author, by submitting to it, departs from his intention.
The speech function must also be taken into account in the issue of reverse expansion of literature into everyday life.“Literary personality”, “author’s personality”, “hero” at different times is speech installation of literature and from there it goes into everyday life.
The expansion of literature into everyday life requires, of course, special living conditions.
12. This is immediate social function literature. Only through the study of the nearest rows is it possible to establish and study it. Only by considering the immediate conditions is it possible, and not by forcibly attracting further, albeit main, causal series.
And one more remark: the concept of “attitude”, speech function refers to a literary series or system of literature, but not to a separate work. An individual work must be correlated with the literary series before talking about its installation.
There are deep psychological and everyday personal influences that are not reflected in any way in the literary sense (Chaadaev and Pushkin). There are influences that modify and deform literature without having any evolutionary significance (Mikhailovsky and Gleb Uspensky). What is most striking is the fact that there is external data to make a conclusion about influence - in the absence of it. I gave the example of Katenin and Nekrasov. These examples can be continued. South American tribes create the myth of Prometheus without the influence of antiquity. We have the facts before us convergence 23, matches. These facts turn out to be of such importance that they completely cover the psychological approach to the question of influence, and the chronological question - “who said it first?” turns out to be insignificant.
If this “influence” is not present, a similar function can lead to similar formal elements without it
evolution is a change in the ratio of members of the system, i.e. a change in functions and formal elements - evolution turns out to be a “change” of systems. These changes are from era to era either slower or spasmodic in nature and do not imply a sudden and complete renewal and replacement of formal elements, but they imply a new function of these formal elements. Therefore, the comparison of certain literary phenomena should be carried out according to functions, and not only according to forms.