Russian literature of the 20th century Art has gone through several periods of development, each of which is marked by the unique socio-political conditions and aesthetic trends.
The periodization of literature of the 20th century takes into account aesthetic, intraliterary and socio-ideological factors. Framework new period The development of Russian literature of the 20th century is determined by the beginning of the century before 1916. 1917 is not only the year of the revolution that turned all spheres of reality upside down. By this year we have reached its completion artistic processes, which began at the turn of the century.
Second period– 1917 – early 1930s is characterized by the division of Russian literature into two streams – the literature of emigration and the metropolis, developing in conditions of socio-political and geographical demarcation. At this time, there was relative freedom in Russian literature, which was expressed in the diversity of movements, schools, movements, and literary groups. Currents that arose before the revolution developed, and new ones emerged, born of the practice of social reconstruction. Critical and socialist realism existed at the same time, modernist movements, romanticism invaded the poetics of the works. By the end of the 1920s, ideological pressure on writers intensified, the desire to unify literature, to make it a conductor of the ideology of the proletariat.
Third period– 1930s – first half of the 1950s – marked the approval of the administrative-command method of leadership in state life, and in art the dominance socialist realism with its normative requirements as the main method of Soviet literature. Literature is divided into official (in line with socialist realism) and non-conformist (which does not fit into the framework of socialist realism).
Second half of the 1950s – first half of the 1980s – new stage
, associated with the emerging crisis of the political system (either “thaw” or “stagnation”). At this time, literary practice breaks the canons of socialist realism and goes beyond its framework. There is a turn to new topics and problems, a deepening of psychologism, increased attention to moral world person.
Recent period literary development, which began in 1986 (the beginning of political and state perestroika), brought the return of works from Russian diaspora, previously unpublished Russian literature. The emancipation of literature resulted in a variety of movements, trends, and individuals. At the end of the 20th century, there is some typological similarity in the development of literature with the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.
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Russian literature of the 20th century with its outstanding artistic achievements is considered by the author as part of the great Russian culture, which captured the unique natural language and multifaceted Russian national character. The 20th century is the successor of thousands of years of historical and literary traditions of the XIX centuries (the book contains literary portraits L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov, V.G. Korolenko), he is also a witness of profound changes in society and literature, which was one of the first to be stated by the brilliant publicist A.S. Suvorin in his newspaper “Novoye Vremya” , and after him - D. Merezhkovsky. At the turn of the century, the financial capital of bankers (Rafalovich, Gunzburg, Polyakov, etc.) began to play an increasingly important role in Russia, publishing houses and newspapers appeared (Rech, Russkie Vedomosti, Birzhevye Vedomosti, Den, Rossiya) ), whose owners were banks and large enterprises. Authors appear in large numbers, “alien to the indigenous Russian life, its spirit, its form, its humor, completely incomprehensible to them, and who see in the Russian person nothing more nor less than a boring foreigner” (A.P. Chekhov), who publish most often works of “stamped culture”, as well as “only what pleases the kings of the literary exchange...” (A. Bely). IN literary circles a double-edged polemic ensues, which is reflected on the pages of this publication; A. M. Gorky, I. A. Bunin, A. I. Kuprin and others clearly indicate their position.
The 20th century discovered many new names. The book presents literary portraits of M. Menshikov, V. Rozanov, N. Gumilyov, V. Bryusov, V. Khlebnikov, S. Yesenin, A. Blok, A. Bely, V. Mayakovsky, M. Gorky, A. Kuprin, N. Ostrovsky, O. Mandelstam, N. Klyuev, S. Klychkov, P. Vasiliev, I. Babel, M. Bulgakov, M. Tsvetaeva, A. Tolstoy, I. Shmelev, I. Bunin, A. Remizov, others outstanding writers, as well as literature reviews of the 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s.
On our website you can download the book "History of Russian Literature of the 20th Century. Volume I. 1890s - 1953. In the author's edition" Petelin Viktor Vasilyevich for free and without registration in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format, read the book online or buy a book in an online store.
Russian literature of the 20th century: general characteristics
Description of the literary process of the 20th century, presentation of the main literary movements and trends. Realism. Modernism (symbolism, acmeism, futurism). Literary avant-garde.
Late XIX - early XX centuries. became a time of bright flourishing of Russian culture, its “silver age” (the “golden age” was called Pushkin’s time). In science, literature, and art, new talents appeared one after another, bold innovations were born, and different directions, groups, and styles competed. At the same time, the culture of the “Silver Age” was characterized by deep contradictions that were characteristic of all Russian life of that time.
Russia's rapid breakthrough in development and the clash of different ways of life and cultures changed the self-awareness of the creative intelligentsia. Many were no longer satisfied with the description and study of visible reality, or the analysis of social problems. I was attracted by deep, eternal questions - about the essence of life and death, good and evil, human nature. Interest in religion revived; The religious theme had a strong influence on the development of Russian culture at the beginning of the 20th century.
However, the turning point not only enriched literature and art: it constantly reminded writers, artists and poets of impending social explosions, of the fact that the entire familiar way of life, the entire old culture, could perish. Some awaited these changes with joy, others with melancholy and horror, which brought pessimism and anguish into their work.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. literature developed under different historical conditions than before. If you look for a word that characterizes the most important features of the period under consideration, it will be the word “crisis”. Great scientific discoveries shook the classical ideas about the structure of the world and led to the paradoxical conclusion: “matter has disappeared.” A new vision of the world, thus, will determine the new face of realism of the 20th century, which will differ significantly from the classical realism of its predecessors. Also devastating consequences for human spirit had a crisis of faith (“God is dead!” exclaimed Nietzsche). This led to the fact that the person of the 20th century began to increasingly experience the influence of irreligious ideas. The cult of sensual pleasures, the apology for evil and death, the glorification of the self-will of the individual, the recognition of the right to violence, which turned into terror - all these features indicate a deep crisis of consciousness.
In Russian literature of the early 20th century, a crisis of old ideas about art and a feeling of exhaustion of past development will be felt, and a revaluation of values will take shape.
The renewal of literature and its modernization will cause the emergence of new trends and schools. The rethinking of old means of expression and the revival of poetry will mark the advent of the “Silver Age” of Russian literature. This term is associated with the name of N. Berdyaev, who used it in one of his speeches in the salon of D. Merezhkovsky. Later, the art critic and editor of Apollo S. Makovsky consolidated this phrase, calling his book about Russian culture at the turn of the century “On Parnassus of the Silver Age.” Several decades will pass and A. Akhmatova will write “... silver month bright / Cold over the silver age."
The chronological framework of the period defined by this metaphor can be designated as follows: 1892 - exit from the era of timelessness, the beginning of social upsurge in the country, manifesto and collection "Symbols" by D. Merezhkovsky, the first stories of M. Gorky, etc.) - 1917. According to another point of view, the chronological end of this period can be considered 1921-1922 (the collapse of former illusions, the mass emigration of Russian cultural figures from Russia that began after the death of A. Blok and N. Gumilyov, the expulsion of a group of writers, philosophers and historians from the country).
Russian literature of the 20th century was represented by three main literary movements: realism, modernism, and the literary avant-garde. The development of literary trends at the beginning of the century can be shown schematically as follows:
Representatives of literary movements
God-seeking mystics: D.S. Merezhkovsky, Z.N. Gippius, N. Minsky.
Decadent individualists: V.Ya. Bryusov, K.D. Balmont, F.K. Sologub.
Senior Symbolists: V.Ya. Bryusov, K.D. Balmont, D.S. Merezhkovsky, Z.N. Gippius, F.K. Sologub et al.
Junior Symbolists: A.A. Blok, Andrey Bely (B.N. Bugaev), V.I.
Ivanov et al. Acmeism
: N.S. Gumilev, A.A. Akhmatova, S.M. Gorodetsky, O.E. Mandelstam, M.A. Zenkevich, V.I. Narbut.
Cubo-futurists(poets of "Gilea"): D.D. Burliuk, V.V. Khlebnikov, V.V. Kamensky, V.V. Mayakovsky, A.E.
Twisted. Egofuturists
: I. Severyanin, I. Ignatiev, K. Olimpov, V. Gnedov. Group
“Mezzanine of Poetry”: V. Shershenevich, Chrysanf, R. Ivnev and others. Association "Centrifuge": B.L. Pasternak, N.N. Aseev, S.P. Bobrov and others.
One of most interesting phenomena in the art of the first decades of the 20th century there was a revival of romantic forms, largely forgotten since the beginning of the last century. One of these forms was proposed by V.G. Korolenko, whose work continues to develop at the end of the 19th and the first decades of the new century. Another expression of the romantic was the work of A. Green, whose works are unusual for their exoticism, flights of fancy, and ineradicable dreaminess. The third form of the romantic was the work of revolutionary worker poets (N. Nechaev, E. Tarasov, I. Privalov, A. Belozerov, F. Shkulev). Turning to marches, fables, calls, songs, these authors poeticize the heroic feat, use romantic images of glow, fire, crimson dawn, thunderstorm, sunset, limitlessly expand the range of revolutionary vocabulary, and resort to cosmic scales.
The thirties began with the “year of the great turning point,” when the foundations of the previous Russian way of life were sharply deformed, and the party began to actively intervene in the sphere of culture. P. Florensky, A. Losev, A. Voronsky and D. Kharms were arrested, repressions against the intelligentsia intensified, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of cultural figures, two thousand writers died, in particular N. Klyuev, O. Mandelstam, I. Kataev, I. . Babel, B. Pilnyak, P. Vasiliev, A. Voronsky, B. Kornilov. Under these conditions, the development of literature was extremely difficult, tense and ambiguous.
The work of such writers and poets as V.V. deserves special consideration. Mayakovsky, S.A. Yesenin, A.A. Akhmatova, A.N. Tolstoy, E.I. Zamyatin, M.M. Zoshchenko, M.A. Sholokhov, M.A. Bulgakov, A.P. Platonov, O.E. Mandelstam, M.I. Tsvetaeva.
The Holy War, which began in June 1941, put forward new tasks for literature, to which the country's writers immediately responded. Most of them ended up on the battlefields. More than a thousand poets and prose writers joined the ranks of the active army, becoming famous war correspondents (M. Sholokhov, A. Fadeev, N. Tikhonov, I. Erenburg, Vs. Vishnevsky, E. Petrov, A. Surkov, A. Platonov). Works of various kinds and genres joined the fight against fascism. First among them was poetry. Here it is necessary to highlight the patriotic lyrics of A. Akhmatova, K. Simonov, N. Tikhonov, A. Tvardovsky, V. Sayanov. Prose writers cultivated their most operative genres: journalistic essays, reports, pamphlets, stories.
The next major stage in the development of literature of the century was the period of the second half of the 20th century. Within this large period of time, researchers identify several relatively independent periods: late Stalinism (1946-1953); "thaw" (1953-1965); stagnation (1965-1985), perestroika (1985-1991); modern reforms (1991-1998) Literature developed in these very different periods with great difficulties, experiencing alternately unnecessary guardianship, destructive leadership, commanding shouts, relaxation, restraint, persecution, emancipation.
Bryusov - the founder of Russian symbolism One of the founders of Russian symbolism and a characteristic representative of the poetry of the “silver” age was V. Ya. Bryusov (1873-1924). Difficult to communicate, with his own attitude towards many phenomena in art, V. Bryusov is one of the founders of modernist poetry in Russia. In 1894-95, Valery Yakovlevich published three collections “Russian Symbolists”, the main author of which was the poet himself, who presented examples of “new poetry”. This was the first collective declaration of modernism in Russia. According to Bryusov, symbolism should become “poetry of shades,” expressing “subtle, subtle moods.” By the end of the 90s of the 19th century, V. Bryusov became one of the most prominent poets of symbolist orientation. In 1900, the poetry collection “The Third Watch” was published, which comprehends modernity through delving into history and mythology. The collection of poetry “To the City and the World” (1903) reflects the impressions and reflections caused by a trip to Italy and France, where V. Bryusov became acquainted with the culture of the Renaissance. The collection was built on the principle of a single compositional whole (which became important for the practice of symbolist poets in general), and was distinguished by genre and thematic diversity. A. Blok spoke enthusiastically about the book, noting that it “has a continuity from Pushkin - and in a straight line.” In the lyrics of V. Ya. Bryusov, two leading themes stand out: historical and mythological and the theme of the city. The symbolist poet perceives the modern world as “shamefully petty, wrong, ugly.” By uniting the past, present and future, Bryusov tries to find the connecting thread of history. The textbook poem on this topic is “Assargadon,” in which a strong, extraordinary personality, the Assyrian conqueror king of the 7th century BC, was chosen as the lyrical hero. Assargadon, or rather Esarhaddon. There are inscriptions on a wall in Syria about his crushing victories. The pathos of the poem is the affirmation of an extraordinary personality, prone to proud solitude, since “I have exhausted you to the bottom, earthly glory!” The lyrical hero, King Assargadon, is a commander who, with the help of his mind, strength, and energy, can influence the course of history, the movement of time: As soon as I took power, Sidon rose up against us. I overthrew Sidon and threw stones into the sea. To Egypt, my speech sounded like a law, Elam read fate in my single gaze... The hero is “intoxicated with the greatness” of his victories, knows no defeats, military failures, but is alone: And here I stand alone, intoxicated with greatness... Characterizing the king as an overly proud, forgetful man about ordinary people who dream of exploits as child's play, the poet reveals the tragic essence of a strong personality. The poem is written in the form of a sonnet. In the first two stanzas, the author asserts the power of Assargadon, describing his crushing victories over entire peoples, countries, and cities. The last two stanzas of the sonnet are a disappointing result of the destructive campaigns of the tsar-commander. The pathos of most of the poetic works of V.Ya. Bryusov on historical themes (“Assargadon”, “Antony”, “Alexander the Great”, etc.) - the affirmation of a strong personality, whose actions often do not lead to creation and progress, but destroy the very foundation of human society. V. Ya. Bryusov represented the movement of history as a change cultural eras, occurring under the influence of the internal decay of the old world and under the onslaught of uncivilized tribes, barbarians, designed to destroy the past. V. Ya. Bryusov is concerned about the high pace of development of civilization, general mechanization, the flourishing of cities and, in connection with this, the loss of moral values and moral guidelines by man. A modern city with a rapidly developing industry, with the replacement of manual labor by machine production, arouses the poet’s fears: The street was like a storm. The crowds passed, As if they were pursued by an inevitable Doom. Omnibuses, cabs and cars rushed by, and the furious stream of people was inexhaustible. The “steel”, “brick”, “glass” city, with “iron veins”, rules over people, being the focus of vice: anger, poverty, debauchery. In the poetic world of Valery Bryusov, the city, combining all the horrors of civilization, becomes its own executioner and causes irreparable harm to itself: An insidious snake with a magical look! In a fit of blind rage, you raise the knife with your deadly poison above yourself. (“To the City”) Attracting a person with its ephemeral grandeur and scale (You are a tireless charmer, / You are a never-weakening magnet...), the city is also the center of existing science and industry: The moons burn with electricity On long curved stems; Telegraph strings are ringing in invisible and tender hands... (“Twilight”) The poet’s ambivalent attitude towards the city forces V. Bryusov to look for ways out of this situation. And here the artist comes to the rescue strong personality, which will intervene in the process of mechanization of life, challenge the depravity of modern civilization, overcome everything, and life will again be filled with the energy of struggle, strive for renewal, become capable of changing the world, and will cause progress in world science, art, and industry. And as a result, there will be a flourishing of civilization that will reach unprecedented heights: But as soon as I heard the cherished call of the trumpet, As soon as the fiery banners spread out, I shout to you in response, I am the songwriter of the struggle, I echo the thunder from the sky. The Dagger of Poetry! Bloody lightning light, As before, ran across this faithful steel, And again I am with people - because I am a poet. Then the lightning flashed. (“Dagger”) In Bryusov’s poetry, the urban theme echoes the search for a bright, strong personality, capable not only of rebirth and personal rebirth, but also of changing modern civilization, of overcoming the imaginary, empty relationship between the world and art. IN last years During his life, Bryusov is engaged in translations, writes articles on the theory of versification, the study of Pushkin’s works, and Russian literature. In his work, V. Ya. Bryusov combined the strict precepts of classical literature with the search for new poetic means. The poet said the following about his own place in literature: “I want there to be two lines about me in the history of universal literature. And they will." "Everyone is his own destiny!" (The theme of a person’s moral choice in the works of M. Gorky.)
In the understanding of M. Gorky, only ardent love for people, for one’s work, for one’s native land can give a person firmness in life’s trials. Danko, who sacrifices himself for the sake of others, is stronger than Larra. In this regard, the most important question arises: how does a truly strong person relate to others? This is one of the main questions that everyone is not able to answer. world literature . Gorky's position here is clear. The apparent strength of Larra, who supposedly does not need people, does not stand the test of loneliness. In more later works Gorky complicates the question: is loneliness among people a consequence of strength or weakness? And he gives the answer: the strong cannot be alone, he is always among people - albeit alien to him in spirit, but suffering. And Satin understands this after meeting Luka. But the views of these heroes still differ on the main points. Luke believes that the weak must find support in life and the duty of the strong is to help him in this. Satin is sure that in fact the strong do not need support and waiting for a better future in inaction is not for a real person. He does not come to this conviction immediately. We can follow his development as the play progresses. General philosophical themes were voiced: truth is the god of a free man, lie is the religion of slaves and masters. That enormous truth of life that Gorky greedily collected and carried in his mind, the everyday, psychological, moral, social truth was most naturally embodied in the broad, capacious, free forms of prose storytelling, in the forms of realism, which at the heights of its maturity was socialist realism for Gorky . As a merciless realist writer, Gorky created an entire encyclopedia of Russian life - an artistic encyclopedia of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Among his heroic seekers, he invariably gave preference to the growing man. He once wrote about it like this: “My task is to awaken pride in a person in himself, to tell him that he is the best, most significant, most precious, sacred thing in life and that besides him there is nothing worthy of attention. The world is the fruit of his creativity, God is a particle of his heart and mind." The world of Gorky's works is a world that is constantly changing, in it the processes of "destruction" and "creation" of individuals are irreversibly carried out. Gorky, here too, kept pace with his times: how in his fatherland, everything “moved” from a fixed point towards the future, and he, the son of his century, was captured by this process of acquiring a new truth, a new faith, Gorky claims, only a strong person is able to face reality, but without a goal in life. , without confidence in his abilities to change the world, he is not able to, just as he is not able to withstand adversity. In the play “At the Bottom” we see people.
strong in spirit
In the late 10s and 20s of the 20th century, literary scholars sometimes counted the latest Russian literature from 1881 - the year of Dostoevsky’s death and the assassination of Alexander II. It is now generally accepted that the “20th century” came to literature in the early 90s XIX century., A.P. Chekhov is a transitional figure, unlike L.N. Tolstoy, he not only biographically, but also creatively belongs to both the 19th and 20th centuries. It is thanks to Chekhov that the epic genres - the novel, the story; and the story - began to be differentiated in the modern understanding as large, medium and small genres. Before that, they were differentiated virtually regardless of length by the degree of “literaryness”: a story was considered less “literary” than a novel, a short story was in this sense even freer, and on the verge of non-fiction was an essay, i.e. "sketch". Chekhov became a classic of the small genre and thus placed it on the same hierarchical level with the novel (which is why volume became the main distinguishing feature). His experience as a narrator did not pass without a trace. He was also a reformer of drama and theater. However, his last play, “The Cherry Orchard” (1903), written later than Gorky’s “At the Lower Depths” (1902), seems in comparison with Gorky’s to be the end of the traditions of the 19th century, and not the entry into a new century. Symbolists and subsequent modernist movements Gorky, Andreev, even the nostalgic Bunin are already indisputably the 20th century, although some of them began in the calendar 19th.
However, in Soviet time The “Silver Age” was defined purely chronologically as literature late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, and Soviet literature was considered fundamentally new on the basis of an ideological principle, supposedly arising immediately after the revolution of 1917. Independently thinking people understood that the “old” had already ended with the World War, that 1914 was a milestone - A. Akhmatova in “To a poem without a hero,” where the main action takes place in 1913, she wrote: “And along the legendary embankment / The non-calendar century was approaching - / The Real Twentieth Century.” However, official Soviet science divided not only the history of Russian literature, but also the civil history of the whole world along one milestone - 1917.
Ideological dogmas have collapsed, and it is now obvious that fiction cannot be measured primarily by ideological or even primarily political standards. But we cannot ignore them either. Due to a grandiose political cataclysm, the unified national literature was divided into three branches (an unprecedented case in history): literature called Soviet, “detained” (within the country) and Russian literature abroad. They have quite different artistic principles, themes, composition of authors, and periodization. The revolution determined a great deal in all three branches of literature. But the great split did not occur in October-November 1917. Having enjoyed benefits from the new authorities, the “proletarian” poetry that arose earlier, despite all efforts, remained on the periphery of literature, and its face was determined by the best poets of the “Silver Age”:
A. Blok, N. Gumilev, A. Akhmatova, V. Khodasevich, M. Voloshin, V. Mayakovsky, S. Yesenin, seemingly hidden M. Tsvetaeva and B. Pasternak. The devastation of the first post-revolutionary years almost completely destroyed fiction(V. Korolenko, M. Gorky, I. Bunin wrote journalistic works immediately after the revolution) and drama, and one of the first novels after the hard times of the civil war was “We” (1920) E. Zamyatin - turned out to be the first major, “delayed” work, which opened a whole branch of Russian literature, as if not having its own literary process: such works over time, sooner or later, were included in the literary process abroad or in the metropolis. Emigrant literature was finally formed in 1922-1923, in 1923 L. Trotsky clearly gloated prematurely, seeing it as a “round zero,” however, stipulating that “ours has not yet given anything that would be adequate to the era.”
At the same time, this author immediately noted: “Literature after October wanted to pretend that nothing special had happened and that this did not concern it at all. But somehow it turned out that October began to manage literature, sort and shuffle it - and not only in an administrative sense, but also in some deeper sense.” Indeed, the first poet of Russia A. Blok not only accepted the revolution, although he did not understand it in the Bolshevik way, but also with his “Twelve”, “Scythians”, articles “Intellectuals and Revolution”, which were not at all “Soviet” in the precise sense, nevertheless laid the foundation for the future Soviet literature. Its founder was Blok, and not Gorky, to whom this merit was attributed, but who, with his “Untimely Thoughts,” founded precisely anti-Soviet literature, and joined the Soviet literature and headed it much later, so that of the two formulas defining Russian literature after 1917, , - “From Blok to Solzhenitsyn” and “From Gorky to Solzhenitsyn” - the first one is more correct. At the origins of Soviet literature were two more major and very different Russian poets - V. Mayakovsky I.S. Yesenin. The latter’s creativity after the revolution, with all its tossing and experiences, is larger and deeper than the pre-revolutionary one. Ultimately, all three founders of Soviet poetry became victims of Soviet reality, like V. Bryusov, who accepted the revolution in the second half of 1918, and many other poets and prose writers. But they did the work entrusted to them by history: in Soviet country At first, more or less “our own” appeared, and then truly its own high literature, with which the efforts of the “proletarian poets” could not be compared.
Thus, literature from the end of 1917 (the first “swallows” - “Eat pineapples, chew hazel grouse, / your last day is coming, bourgeois” and “Our March” by Mayakovsky) to the beginning of the 20s is a small, but very important transition period. From the literary point of view, as emigrant criticism correctly noted, this was a direct continuation of pre-revolutionary literature. But qualitatively new features matured in it, and a great split into three branches of literature occurred in the early 20s.
“The turning point,” wrote one of the best Soviet critics of the 20s, V. Polonsky, “was 1921, when the first books of two thick magazines appeared, which opened Soviet period history of Russian literature. Before “Krasnaya Novy” and “Print and Revolution” we had many attempts to revive the “thick” and “thin” magazines, but these attempts were not successful. Their age was short: the old reader moved away from literature, a new one had not yet been born. The old writer, with a few exceptions, stopped writing; there were still few new cadres.” The predominantly poetic period gave way to a predominantly prose one. Three years ago, prose decisively ordered poetry to clear the room,” Yu wrote in the 1924 article “The Interval,” dedicated to poetry. Tynyanov, using rather a poetic metaphor. In the 20s, before Mayakovsky’s death, poetry was still able to compete with prose, which, in turn, took a lot from the poetic arsenal.Vl. Lidin stated that “the new Russian literature, which emerged after three years of silence, in 21, by the force of its nature, had to accept and assimilate the new rhythm of the era. The literary herald (prophetically) of this new rhythm was, of course, Andrei Bely. He brilliantly tore apart the texture of the narrative and crossed the chaff of the canonical form with planes. It was that literary maximalism (not from formulas and room calculations) that corresponded to the rhythm of our revolutionary years.” At that time, to the first Soviet writers, “the exploded world seemed not destroyed, but only brought into accelerated motion,” and to a large extent it really was like that: on the not yet completely destroyed cultural soil of the “Silver Age,” a grandiose social cataclysm gave rise to exceptional enthusiasm and creative energy not only among supporters of the revolution, and the literature of the 20s, and to a large extent also of the 30s, indeed turned out to be extremely rich.
In world literature, it is Russian literature as a whole that occupies significant place. If we talk about Russian literature of the 20th century, then it is the beginning of the century that is marked as the silver age of the heyday of literature in Rus'. During this period, the most difficult and significant contradictions for Russia of that era occurred. At this moment, interest in the study of religion began to gradually revive, which in turn had a major influence on the rapid development of Russian literature. More and more new ones began to appear talented people. Almost all writers of that era began to be troubled by questions about the essence of good and evil, life and death, as well as inner nature person.
Scientific discoveries, which were made during that period, greatly shook modern ideas about life. NEW VIEWS OF THE WORLD BEGAN TO DETERMINE NEW UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE REALITY OF THE 20TH CENTURY. It differed very significantly from the vision of life of their predecessors. This all became the first and main step towards the deepest crisis in consciousness. At almost every difficult moment in life, a person simply needs a strong surge of emotions, and even more so if the person is of a creative nature. During these years, not everyone could simply and freely express their experiences. Only writers could do this, and only on paper, because she can endure anything. Literature contributed huge contribution in the ongoing reassessment life values.
The influence of 20th century literature in Rus' quickly spread beyond its borders. It felt pretty good right after finishing October revolution. She made it obvious that Russian literature of the 20th century has a progressive influence on human consciousness. Thanks to the works written in this century, everyone outside Rus' considered the Russian man to be a true and brave fighter with strong spiritual qualities of self-knowledge. The works written by the classics of Russian literature of the 20th century began to appear in gigantic editions. Thus, every day more and more new people appeared who read them.
During this significant period of the heyday of Russian literature, most of the writers of that era were expelled from the country, and some voluntarily decided to emigrate, but cultural society Russia and its literary life Since then she hasn’t stopped for a second. Very talented young writers began to appear who took part in Civil War.
One cannot ignore the work of brilliant writers like Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Tolstoy, Platonov, as well as dozens of many other writers, whose works to this day remain world classics and role models for aspiring poets and writers. During the Great Patriotic War, patriotism began to appear more and more in literature, which appealed to the people. They quite vividly described scenes of the battle of the Russian people with the fascist invaders and occupiers.
“Our time is a bit difficult for the pen...” V.V. Mayakovsky “Not a single world literature of the 20th century, except Russian, knew such an extensive list of cultural masters who passed away untimely and early...” V.A. Chalmaev “The 20th century broke us all...” M.I. Tsvetaeva Literature of the 20th century
Historical situation in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century Latest years XIX centuries became turning points for Russian and western cultures. Since the 1890s. and right up to the October Revolution of 1917, literally all aspects changed Russian life, ranging from economics, politics and science, to technology, culture and art. The new stage of historical and cultural development was incredibly dynamic and, at the same time, extremely dramatic. It can be said that Russia, at a turning point for it, was ahead of other countries in the pace and depth of changes, as well as in the enormity of internal conflicts.
I. Early 1890s – 1905 1892 Code of laws Russian Empire: “the obligation of complete obedience to the king,” whose power was declared “autocratic and unlimited” is developing rapidly industrial production. The social consciousness of a new class, the proletariat, is growing. The first political strike at the Orekhovo-Zuevskaya manufactory. The court recognized the workers' demands as fair. Emperor Nicholas II. The first ones were formed political parties: 1898 – Social Democrats, 1905 – Constitutional Democrats, 1901 – Social Revolutionaries
Revolutions Historical upheavals of the early 20th century February bourgeois-democratic revolution October socialist revolution First Russian revolution
Nikolai Berdyaev “This was the era of the awakening in Russia of independent philosophical thought, the flowering of poetry and the sharpening of aesthetic sensitivity, religious anxiety and quest, interest in mysticism and the occult.” “This was the era of the awakening of independent philosophical thought in Russia, the flowering of poetry and the sharpening of aesthetic sensitivity, religious anxiety and quest, interest in mysticism and the occult.”
Nineteenth century…. The fragments of superstition fell into the dust, Science turned the dream into truth: Into steam, into the telegraph, into the phonograph, into the telephone, Having learned the composition of stars and the life of bacteria. Ancient world led to eternal secrets a thread; The new world gave the mind power over nature; Centuries of struggle crowned everyone with freedom. All that remains is to combine knowledge with mystery. We're nearing the end and new era Do not drown out the aspirations for a higher sphere. (V.Bryusov)
Russian literature at the turn of the century is called the Silver Age - 1920.
The beginning of the “Silver Age” of Russian poetry is considered to be D. Merezhkovsky’s article “Symbols”. The father of the “term” is the Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev, who called “ silver Age“a glimpse, a revival of the “golden age.” One of the most likely reasons is the crisis of the era, the tense historical situation.
The beginning of the era 1890 Nikolai Minsky “With the light of conscience” (1890) Dmitry Merezhkovsky “On the reasons for the decline of modern Russian literature"(1893) Valery Bryusov "Russian Symbolists" (1894) The end of an era 1921 the death of Alexander Blok and the death of Nikolai Gumilyov in 1921.
From French decadence; from medieval lat. decadentia decline. Mood of passivity, hopelessness, rejection public life, the desire to withdraw into the world of one’s emotional experiences. Opposition to generally accepted “philistine” morality. The cult of beauty as a self-sufficient value. Nihilistic hostility to society, lack of faith and cynicism, a special “feeling of the abyss.” Decadence (late 19th early 20th centuries)
Decadent lyric A deserted ball in an empty desert, Like the Devil's thoughts... It hung forever, it hangs to this day... Madness! B madness! One moment froze - and lasts, Like eternal repentance... You can’t cry, you can’t pray... Despair! Oh despair! He frightens someone with torment, yes, then with salvation... There is no need for lies, nor truth... Oblivion! Forgetfulness! Close the empty eyes of the aphids and barks, dead man. There are no mornings, no days, there are only nights. End. Z. Gippius
Life is also terrible with nothingness, And not even a struggle, not a silent torment, But only an endless one with boredom And a quiet horror is full, That it seems I am not alive, And my heart has stopped to beat, And this is only in reality I still dream about the same thing. And if where I am, the Lord punishes me as here, then death will be like my life, and death will tell me nothing new. D. S. M Erezhkovsky
Critical realism(XIX century - beginning of XX century) A truthful, objective reflection of reality in its historical development. Continuation of Russian traditions literature of the 19th century century, critical understanding of what is happening. Human character is revealed in organic connection with social circumstances. Close attention to inner world person. A.P. Chekhov L.N. Tolstoy A.I. Kuprin I.A. Bunin
Genre: story and short story. Weakened story line. He is interested in the subconscious, and not in the “dialetics of the soul”, the dark, instinctive sides of the personality, spontaneous feelings that are not understood by the person himself. The image of the author comes to the fore, the task is to show his own, subjective perception of life. No direct author's position– everything goes into subtext (philosophical, ideological) The role of detail increases. Poetic devices turn into prose. Realism (neorealism)
All modernist movements are very different, have different ideals, pursue different goals, but they agree on one thing: to work on rhythm, on words, to bring the play of sounds to perfection. At this time, the realistic era of Russian culture was replaced by a modernist one. Modernism - general name different directions in the art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who proclaimed a break with realism, a rejection of old forms and a search for new aesthetic principles.
Symbolism D. MerezhkovskyD. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius Z. Gippius, F. Sologub, F. Sologub, V. BryusovV. Bryusov, K. Balmont, K. Balmont A. BlokA. Blok, A. Bely, A. White e gg. From gr. symbolon - sign, symbol.
Symbolism originated in France in the years. XIX century.
The origins of Russian symbolism in France. Arthur Rimbaud Paul Verlaine Charles Baudelaire Stéphane Mallarmé Founder of symbolism - Charles Baudelaire
Literary manifestos 1893 Article by D. S. Merezhkovsky “On the causes of the decline and new trends in modern Russian literature.” Modernism receives theoretical justification. Three main elements of “new art”: – mystical content, – symbolization – “expansion of artistic impressionability” 1903. Article by Bryusov “The Keys of Secrets”. Literature should be close to music in its impact. Poetry is the expression of the poet’s soul, the secrets of the human spirit.
Symbolic landscape Sound recording. The music of the word is important. “Priest language”: complicated, metaphorical. Revival of the sonnet, rondo, terza... Peculiarity of poetics Antithesis of 2 worlds (two worlds): imperishable and real Color symbolism blue - disappointment, separation, surrounding, material world... white - ideal, femininity, love, dream... yellow - morbidity, madness, deviation... black - mystery, duality... red - blood, disaster...
The symbol is an image that has an unlimited number of meanings - “A symbol is true only when it is inexhaustible in its meaning” (Vyach. Ivanov) - “A symbol is a window to infinity” (F. Sologub) conveys not the objective essence of the phenomenon, but the poet’s individual idea of the world; an image that requires co-creation from the reader. “Symbols do not speak, but silently nod” (Vyach. Ivanov) M. Vrubel. Rose
Peculiarities of worldview The world is unknowable. It is possible to rationally comprehend only the lower forms of life, and not the “highest reality” (the area of “absolute ideas”, “world soul”) V. Soloviev. Art is not an image of reality, but “comprehension of the world in other, non-rational ways” (V.Ya. Bryusov) - through spiritual experience man and the creative intuition of the artist. K. Somov “Blue Bird”. 1918 The poet’s hypersensitive intuition is expressed through a symbol, which seeks to designate the elusive
Senior Symbolists 1903 Bryusov “Keys of Secrets”: The purpose of art is to express the “movement of the soul” of the poet, the secrets of the human spirit. The essence of the world is unknowable by reason, but cognizable by intuition. Art is the comprehension of the world in other, non-rational ways. The task of art is to capture moments of insight and inspiration. Creations of art are ajar doors to Eternity V. BryusovK. BalmontD. MerezhkovskyZ. GippiusF. Sologub
Young Symbolists 1900 - turn of the century Philosophy of Vladimir Solovyov ... We approached - and the waters were blue, like two spilled walls. And now in the distance the tabernacle turns white, And the dim distances are visible... the divine unity of the Universe The soul of the world is the Eternal Femininity The society is built on spiritual principles V. IvanovA. BelyA. Block
II.1905 - 1911 1905 is one of the key years in the history of Russia. This year the revolution took place, which began with “Bloody Sunday” on January 9, the first tsarist manifesto was published, limiting the power of the monarchy in favor of its subjects, proclaiming the Duma legislative body authorities, establishing civil liberties, the creation of a council of ministers headed by Witte, an armed uprising took place in Moscow, which was the peak of the revolution, an uprising in Sevastopol, etc.
Years. Russian - Japanese war
Peculiarities of poetics Subjectivity and clarity of images (“beautiful clarity”) Accuracy of details that create a specific picture Not “shaky words”, but words “with a more stable content” Genre-madrigal Cult of “beautiful clarity”: poetry should be understandable, images should be clear. Refusal of mystery, vagueness, ambiguity. Refusal of dual worlds and acceptance of reality in all its manifestations.
Worldview The world is material, objective; you need to look for values in the world and capture them with the help of accurate and understandable images. Love is an earthly feeling, not an insight into other worlds K.M. Roerich “Overseas Guests” “Among the Acmeists, the rose again became good in itself, with its petals, smells and color, and not with its conceivable similarities with mystical love or something else” (S. Gorodetsky)
Representatives of the “Workshop of Poets” N. Gumilyov. AkhmatovaO. MandelstamS. Gorodets Acmeism stood out from symbolism. Criticizes the vagueness of the symbolist language. Liberation of poetry from symbolist impulses towards the “ideal”, from the polysemy of images. Return to the material world, object, exact value words
Crisis of symbolism year. Article by A. Blok “About current state Russian symbolism" 1911. The most radical direction appears, denying all previous culture, the avant-garde - futurism. In Khlebnikov, V. Mayakovsky, I. Severyanin. III – 1920s V KhlebnikovV. Mayakovsky I. Severyanin
Futurism (from Latin futurum - future) V. Mayakovsky V. Khlebnikov I. Severyanin years
Futurism originated in Italy in the 1920s.
The origins of Russian futurism Italy year F. Marinetti “Manifesto of Futurism”: rejection of traditional aesthetic values and the experience of all previous literature “Until now, literature has glorified thoughtful inaction, sensitivity and sleep, we proclaim aggressive action, feverish insomnia, gymnastic gait, a dangerous leap, a slap in the face and a blow of the fist.” “A racing car... more beautiful than the Nike of Samothrace...” courage, audacity, rebellion “From now on, there is no beauty outside of struggle. There is no masterpiece if it does not have an aggressive spirit..." literary experiments
Literary manifestos are rejected literary tradition We order that the rights of poets be respected: To increase the vocabulary in its volume with arbitrary and derivative words (Word-innovation) year. “A slap in the face to public taste” “The past is cramped. The Academy and Pushkin are more incomprehensible than hieroglyphs. Abandon Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, etc. from the Steamship of Modernity." Reinventing art
A slap in the face to public taste Reading our New First Unexpected. Only we are the face of our Time. The horn of time blows our verbal art. The past is tight. The Academy and Pushkin are more incomprehensible than hieroglyphs. Abandon Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, etc. from the Steamship of Modernity. Whoever does not forget his first love will not know his last. Who, gullible, will turn last love to Balmont's perfume fornication? Is it a reflection of a courageous soul? today? Who, the coward, would be afraid to steal the paper armor from the black coat of the warrior Bryusov? Or are they the dawns of unknown beauties? Wash your hands that have touched the dirty slime of the books written by these countless Leonid Andreevs. To all these Maxim Gorkys, Kuprins, Bloks, Sollogubs, Remizovs, Averchenks, Chernys, Kuzmins, Bunins and so on. and so on. All you need is a dacha on the river. This is the reward that fate gives to tailors. From the heights of skyscrapers we look at their insignificance!...
We order that the rights of poets be respected: 1. To increase the vocabulary in its volume with arbitrary and derivative words (Word-innovation). 2. An insurmountable hatred of the language that existed before them. 3. With horror, remove from your proud brow the wreath of penny glory you made from the bath brooms. 4. Stand on the rock of the word “we” amid a sea of whistles and indignation. And if the dirty marks of yours still remain in our lines common sense" And " good taste”, then nevertheless, for the first time, the Lightnings of the New Coming Beauty of the Self-Valuable (Self-Valuable) Word are already trembling on them. D. Burliuk, Alexander Kruchenykh, V. Mayakovsky, Viktor Khlebnikov Moscow December
Aesthetic principles futurism 1. Attitude to previous and other cultures, eras and traditions: a declarative “break” with the previous tradition; revolutionary innovation in poetry; destruction of old norms. 2.Attitude to reality: revolutionary transformation. 3. A look at the vocation of a poet: poet-rebel, revolutionary, co-creator new reality. 4. A look at the historical process: eternal progress, denial of the past in the name of the present and the present in the name of the future. 5. A related type of art: painting. 6. The problem of the relationship between “name” and “thing”: the collision of naming and showing a thing, metaphorization of reality.
Main features: Denial of the value of classical literature. The cult of technology and industrialization. Shocking behavior, shocking behavior, scandal as the main means of achieving popularity. The cult of word creation: “new” people need a “new”, “abstruse” language. Refusal of traditions. Destruction existing system genres.
I. Severyanin Egofuturism Bunin I.A.: “What have we not done in recent years with our literature? And they reached the most flat hooliganism, called the absurd word “futurism”. Northerner remained the only ego-futurist to go down in the history of Russian poetry. His poems, for all their pretentiousness and often vulgarity, were distinguished by their unconditional melodiousness, sonority and lightness.
In a noisy dress of moire, in a noisy dress of moire Along the sun-lit alley you pass the sea... Your dress is exquisite, Your talma is azure. And the sandy path is patterned with leaves - Like spider legs, like jaguar fur. For a sophisticated woman, the night is always newlywed... The rapture of love is destined for you by fate... In a noisy moire dress, in a noisy moire dress -
Literary manifestos The theoretical works and poetic creativity S.A. Yesenin, who was part of the backbone of the association. In the theoretical work “The Keys of Mary” (1920), Yesenin builds his poetics of the image: “The image from the flesh can be called a splash screen, the image from the spirit is a ship, and the third image from the mind is angelic.” Like other imagist declarations, “The Keys of Mary” is polemical: “Following Klyuev, stupid futurism broke its neck.” Folk mythology was one of the main sources of Yesenin’s imagery, and the mythological parallel “nature - man” became fundamental for his poetic worldview. The publishing house "Imaginists" published his collections "Treryaditsa", "Radunitsa", "Transfiguration" (all - 1921) and the dramatic poem "Pugachev" (1922).
Nikolai Alekseevich Klyuev Oreshin Pyotr Vasilievich Yesenin Sergey Alexandrovich We are the early morning clouds, the dawns of dewy spring N. Gumilyov Neo-peasant poets
