Realism

Realism (material, real) is an artistic movement in art and literature, which was established in the first third of the 19th century. The origins of realism in Russia were I. A. Krylov, A. S. Griboyedov, A. S. Pushkin (in Western literature, realism appeared somewhat later, its first representatives were Stendhal and O. de Balzac).

Features of realism. The principle of life's truth, which guides the realist artist in his work, striving to give the most complete reflection of life in its typical properties. The fidelity of the depiction of reality, reproduced in the forms of life itself, is the main criterion of artistry.

Social analysis, historicism of thinking. It is realism that explains the phenomena of life, establishes their causes and consequences on a socio-historical basis. In other words, realism is unthinkable without historicism, which presupposes an understanding of a given phenomenon in its conditionality, development and connection with other phenomena. Historicism is the basis of the worldview and artistic method of a realist writer, a kind of key to understanding reality, allowing one to connect the past, present and future. In the past, the artist looks for answers to pressing questions of our time, and interprets modernity as the result of previous historical development.

Critical portrayal of life. Writers deeply and truthfully show the negative phenomena of reality, focusing on exposing the existing order. But at the same time, realism is not devoid of life-affirming pathos, because it is based on positive ideals - patriotism, sympathy for the masses, the search for a positive hero in life, faith in the inexhaustible possibilities of man, the dream of a bright future for Russia (for example, “Dead Souls”). That is why in modern literary criticism, instead of the concept of “critical realism,” which was first introduced by N. G. Chernyshevsky, they most often speak of “classical realism.” Typical characters in typical circumstances, that is, characters were depicted in close connection with the social environment that raised them and formed them in certain socio-historical conditions.

The relationship between the individual and society is the leading problem posed by realistic literature. The drama of these relationships is important for realism. As a rule, the focus of realistic works is on extraordinary individuals, dissatisfied with life, “breaking out” of their environment, people who are able to rise above society and challenge it. Their behavior and actions become the subject of close attention and study for realist writers.

The versatility of the characters’ characters: their actions, deeds, speech, lifestyle and inner world, the “dialectic of the soul,” which is revealed in the psychological details of its emotional experiences. Thus, realism expands the possibilities of writers in the creative exploration of the world, in the creation of a contradictory and complex personality structure as a result of subtle penetration into the depths of the human psyche.

Expressiveness, brightness, imagery, precision of the Russian literary language, enriched with elements of lively, colloquial speech, which realist writers draw from the common Russian language.

A variety of genres (epic, lyrical, dramatic, lyric-epic, satirical), in which all the richness of the content of realistic literature is expressed.

Reflection of reality does not exclude fiction and fantasy (Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Sukhovo-Kobylin), although these artistic means do not determine the main tone of the work.

Typology of Russian realism. The question of the typology of realism is associated with the disclosure of known patterns that determine the dominance of certain types of realism and their replacement.

In many literary works there are attempts to establish typical varieties (trends) of realism: Renaissance, educational (or didactic), romantic, sociological, critical, naturalistic, revolutionary-democratic, socialist, typical, empirical, syncretic, philosophical-psychological, intellectual, spiral-shaped, universal, monumental... Since all these terms are rather conventional (terminological confusion) and there are no clear boundaries between them, we propose to use the concept “stages of development of realism”. Let us trace these stages, each of which takes shape in the conditions of its time and is artistically justified in its uniqueness. The complexity of the problem of the typology of realism is that typologically unique varieties of realism not only replace each other, but also coexist and develop simultaneously. Consequently, the concept of “stage” does not at all mean that within the same chronological framework there cannot be another kind of flow, earlier or later. That is why it is necessary to correlate the work of one or another realist writer with the work of other realist artists, while identifying the individual uniqueness of each of them, revealing the closeness between groups of writers.

First third of the 19th century. Krylov’s realistic fables reflected the real relationships of people in society, depicted living scenes, the content of which was varied - they could be everyday, social, philosophical and historical.

Griboyedov created “high comedy” (“Woe from Wit”), that is, a comedy close to drama, reflecting in it the ideas by which educated society lived in the first quarter of the century. Chatsky, in the fight against serf owners and conservatives, defends national interests from the standpoint of common sense and popular morality. The play contains typical characters and circumstances.

In Pushkin's work, the problems and methodology of realism have already been outlined. In the novel “Eugene Onegin” the poet recreated the “Russian spirit”, gave a new, objective principle for depicting the hero, was the first to show the “superfluous man”, and in the story “The Station Warden” - the “little man”. In the people, Pushkin saw the moral potential that determines national character. In the novel "The Captain's Daughter" the historicism of the writer's thinking was revealed - both in the correct reflection of reality, and in the accuracy of social analysis, and in the understanding of the historical patterns of phenomena, and in the ability to convey the typical characteristics of a person's character, to show him as a product of a certain social environment.

30s of the XIX century. In this era of “timelessness”, public inaction, only the brave voices of A. S. Pushkin, V. G. Belinsky and M. Yu. Lermontov were heard. The critic saw in Lermontov a worthy successor to Pushkin. The man in his work bears the dramatic features of the time. In fate

Pechorin, the writer reflected the fate of his generation, his “age” (“Hero of Our Time”). But if Pushkin devotes his main attention to the description of the character’s actions and actions, giving “outlines of character,” then Lermontov focuses on the inner world of the hero, on an in-depth psychological analysis of his actions and experiences, on the “history of the human soul.”

40s of the XIX century. During this period, realists received the name “natural school” (N.V. Gogol, A.I. Herzen, D.V. Grigorovich, N.A. Nekrasov). The works of these writers are characterized by accusatory pathos, rejection of social reality, and increased attention to everyday life. Gogol did not find the embodiment of his lofty ideals in the world around him, and therefore was convinced that in the conditions of contemporary Russia, the ideal and beauty of life could be expressed only through the denial of ugly reality. The satirist explores the material, material and everyday basis of life, its “invisible” features and the spiritually wretched characters arising from it, firmly confident in their dignity and right.

Second half of the 19th century. The work of writers of this time (I. A. Goncharov, A. N. Ostrovsky, I. S. Turgenev, N. S. Leskov, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, V. G. Korolenko, A.P. Chekhov) are distinguished by a qualitatively new stage in the development of realism: they not only critically comprehend reality, but also actively look for ways to transform it, show close attention to the spiritual life of a person, penetrate into the “dialectic of the soul,” and create. a world populated by complex, contradictory characters, full of dramatic conflicts. The works of writers are characterized by subtle psychologism and large philosophical generalizations.

The turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The features of the era were most clearly expressed in the works of A. I. Kuprin and I. A. Bunin. They sensitively captured the general spiritual and social atmosphere in the country, deeply and accurately reflected the unique pictures of life of the most diverse segments of the population, and created a complete and truthful picture of Russia. They are characterized by such themes and problems as the continuity of generations, the heritage of centuries, the root connections of man with the past, the Russian character and features of national history, the harmonious world of nature and the world of social relations (devoid of poetry and harmony, personifying cruelty and violence), love and death , the fragility and fragility of human happiness, the mysteries of the Russian soul, loneliness and the tragic predestination of human existence, ways of liberation from spiritual oppression. The original and original creativity of writers organically continues the best traditions of Russian realistic literature, and above all, a deep penetration into the essence of the life depicted, the disclosure of the relationship between the environment and the individual, attention to the social and everyday background, and the expression of the ideas of humanism.

Pre-October decade. A new vision of the world in connection with the processes taking place in Russia in all areas of life determined a new face of realism, which differed significantly from classical realism in its “modernity”. New figures emerged - representatives of a special trend within the realistic direction - neorealism ("renewed" realism): I. S. Shmelev, L. N. Andreev, M. M. Prishvin, E. I. Zamyatin, S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky , A. N. Tolstoy, A. M. Remizov, B. K. Zaitsev, etc. They are characterized by a departure from the sociological understanding of reality; mastering the sphere of the “earthly”, deepening the concrete sensory perception of the world, artistic study of the subtle movements of the soul, nature and man coming into contact, which eliminates alienation and brings us closer to the original, unchanging nature of being; a return to the hidden values of the folk-village element, capable of renewing life in the spirit of “eternal” ideals (pagan, mystical flavor of the depicted); comparison of the bourgeois urban and rural way of life; the idea of the incompatibility of the natural force of life, existential good with social evil; a combination of the historical and the metaphysical (next to the features of everyday or concrete historical reality there is a “super-real” background, a mythological subtext); the motive of purifying love as a kind of symbolic sign of the all-human natural unconscious principle that brings enlightened peace.

Soviet period. The distinctive features of the socialist realism that emerged at this time were partisanship, nationality, the depiction of reality in its “revolutionary development,” and the promotion of the heroism and romance of socialist construction. In the works of M. Gorky, M. A. Sholokhov, A. A. Fadeev, L. M. Leonov, V. V. Mayakovsky, K. A. Fedin, N. A. Ostrovsky, A. N. Tolstoy, A. T. Tvardovsky and others affirmed a different reality, a different person, different ideals, different aesthetics, principles that formed the basis of the moral code of a fighter for communism. A new method in art was promoted, which was politicized: it had a pronounced social orientation and expressed state ideology. At the center of the works there was usually a positive hero, inextricably linked with the team, who constantly had a beneficial influence on the individual. The main sphere of application of the forces of such a hero is creative work. It is no coincidence that the industrial novel has become one of the most common genres.

20-30s of the XX century. Many writers, forced to live under a dictatorial regime, under conditions of cruel censorship, managed to maintain internal freedom, showed the ability to remain silent, to be careful in their assessments, to switch to allegorical language - they were devoted to the truth, to the true art of realism. The genre of dystopia was born, in which a harsh critique of a totalitarian society based on the suppression of personality and individual freedom was given. The fates of A.P. Platonov, M.A. Bulgakov, E.I. Zamyatin, A.A. Akhmatova, M.M. Zoshchenko, O.E. Mandelstam were tragic; they were deprived of the opportunity to publish in the Soviet Union for a long time.

The “thaw” period (mid-50s - first half of the 60s). At this historical time, young poets of the sixties (E. A. Evtushenko, A. A. Voznesensky, B. A. Akhmadulina, R. I. Rozhdestvensky, B. Sh. Okudzhava, etc.) loudly and confidently declared themselves “rulers of thought” of their generation together with representatives of the “third wave” of emigration (V. P. Aksenov, A. V. Kuznetsov, A. T. Gladilin, G. N. Vladimov,

A. I. Solzhenitsyn, N. M. Korzhavin, S. D. Dovlatov, V. E. Maksimov, V. N. Voinovich, V. P. Nekrasov, etc.), whose works were characterized by a sharply critical understanding of modern reality, preservation the human soul in the conditions of the command-administrative system and internal opposition to it, confession, moral quests of the heroes, their liberation, emancipation, romanticism and self-irony, innovation in the field of artistic language and style, genre diversity.

The last decades of the 20th century. A new generation of writers, already living in somewhat relaxed political conditions within the country, came up with lyrical, urban and rural poetry and prose that did not fit into the rigid framework of socialist realism (N. M. Rubtsov, A. V. Zhigulin,

V. N. Sokolov, Yu. V. Trifonov, Ch. T. Aitmatov, V. I. Belov, F. A. Abramov, V. G. Rasputin, V. P. Astafiev, S. P. Zalygin, V. M. Shukshin, F. A. Iskander). The leading themes of their work are the revival of traditional morality and the relationship between man and nature, which revealed the writers’ closeness to the traditions of Russian classical realism. The works of this period are permeated with a feeling of attachment to the native land, and therefore responsibility for what happens on it, a feeling of the irreplaceability of spiritual losses due to the severance of age-old ties between nature and man. The artists comprehend the turning point in the sphere of moral values, the shifts in society in which the human soul is forced to survive, and reflect on the catastrophic consequences for those who lose historical memory and the experience of generations.

The latest Russian literature. In the literary process of recent years, literary scholars have identified two trends: postmodernism (blurred boundaries of realism, awareness of the illusory nature of what is happening, a mixture of different artistic methods, stylistic diversity, increased influence of avant-gardeism - A. G. Bitov, Sasha Sokolov, V. O. Pelevin, T. N. . Tolstaya, T. Yu. Kibirov, D. A. Prigov) and post-realism (traditional for realism attention to the fate of a private person, tragically lonely, in the vanity of his humiliating everyday life, losing his moral guidelines, trying to self-determinate - V. S. Ma- Kanin, L. S. Petrushevskaya).

So, realism as a literary and artistic system has a powerful potential for continuous renewal, which manifests itself in one or another transitional era for Russian literature. In the works of writers who continue the traditions of realism, there is a search for new themes, heroes, plots, genres, poetic devices, and a new manner of conversation with the reader.

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

General features of realism

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

The emergence of realism

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

Features of literary realism

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

Themes and heroes of realistic literature

The thematic range of representatives of turn-of-the-century realism is wider than that of their predecessors. For most writers of this period, thematic constancy is uncharacteristic: rapid changes in Russia forced them vary the theme, invade previously reserved thematic layers. In Gorky’s writing circle at that time, the spirit of teamwork was strong: through joint efforts, the “znavetsy” created a large-scale panorama of the country undergoing renewal. Large-scale thematic capture was noticeable in the titles of the works that made up the next collections of “Knowledge” (it was this type of publications - collections and almanacs - that spread in the literature of the beginning of the century). For example, the table of contents of the 12th collection “Knowledge” resembled sections of a certain sociological study: the same type of titles “In the city”, “In the family”, “In prison”, “In the village” denoted the areas of life being examined.

Elements of sociological descriptiveness in realism are the not yet overcome legacy of social essay prose of the 1860-1880s, in which there was a strong focus on the empirical study of reality. However, the prose of the “znavetsy” was distinguished by more acute artistic problems: crisis of all forms of life - Most of their works lead readers to this conclusion. What was important was the changed attitude of realists to the possibility of transforming life. In the literature of the 1860-1880s. the living environment was depicted as sedentary and possessing a terrible force of inertia. Now the circumstances of a person's existence are interpreted as devoid of stability and subject to his will. In the relationship between man and the environment, turn-of-the-century realists emphasized man's ability to resist adverse influences and, in turn, actively recreate the environment.

Noticeably updated in realism and typology of characters. Outwardly, the writers followed tradition: in their works one can find recognizable types of the “little man” or an intellectual experiencing a spiritual drama. The peasant remained one of the central figures in their prose. But even the traditional “peasant” characterology changed: more and more often a new type of “thoughtful” man appeared in stories and novels. Characters got rid of the sociological average and became more diverse in their psychological characteristics and attitudes. “The diversity of the soul” of the Russian person is a constant motif in I. L. Bunin’s prose. The creativity of A. I. Kuprin was unusually wide in its variety of themes and human characters.

Genres and stylistic features of realistic prose

The genre system and stylistics of realistic prose of the early 20th century were significantly updated. The increased personal activity of writers (wandering, exploratory mobility, the search for heroes “with a twist”) was partly explained by a reaction to the loss of integrity in the perception of life. The fragmentary, discrete vision of the world affected the genre restructuring of realistic prose. The central place in the genre hierarchy was occupied at this time by the most mobile genres - story And essay. The novel has practically disappeared from the genre repertoire of realism: the largest epic genre has become story.

Starting with the work of A.P. Chekhov, the importance of realistic prose has noticeably increased formal organization of the text. Individual techniques and elements of form received greater independence in the artistic structure of the work than before. In particular, artistic detail was used more variedly, while the plot usually lost the significance of the main compositional device and began to play a subordinate role. Expressiveness in conveying the details of the visible and audible world has deepened: writers have learned to use artistic optics and acoustics that are more subtle than before. In this regard, I. A. Bunin, B. K. Zaitsev, I. S. Shmelev especially stood out. Thus, a specific feature of Bunin’s style was the amazing unity of visual and auditory, olfactory and tactile characteristics in conveying the surrounding world. More often and more expressively than before, realist writers used the rhythmic and phonetic effects of artistic speech. Sensitivity in conveying the individual characteristics of the characters’ oral speech has increased (masterful mastery of this element of form was characteristic of I. S. Shmelev).

Having lost in comparison with the classics of the 19th century. epic scale and integrity of the vision of the world, the realists of the beginning of the century compensated for these losses with a sharper perception of life and greater expression in expressing the author’s position. The general logic of the development of realism at the beginning of the century was to strengthen the role highly expressive forms of realism. What was important to the writer now was not so much the proportionality of the proportions of the reproduced fragment of life, but rather the “power of the cry”, the intensity of the expression of the author’s emotions. This was achieved by sharpening the plot situations, when extremely dramatic, borderline states in the lives of the characters were described in close-up. The figurative series of works was built on a system of contrasts, sometimes extremely sharp and flashy; the frequency of figurative and lexical repetitions was accelerated.

However, within the work of one writer, a single style was rarely maintained: more often, writers combined several stylistic options. For example, in the works of L. I. Kuprin, M. Gorky, L. N. Andreev, precise depiction coexisted with generalized romantic imagery, and elements of life-likeness coexisted with the use of artistic conventions. A fairy tale with its deliberate convention and an essay striving for utmost authenticity are two genre-style poles in M. Gorky’s prose. L. N. Andreev's early stories about the life of the urban poor differ greatly in style from his works such as the stories "Red Laughter" or "Judas Iscariot." Of the major writers of this time, only I. A. Bunin avoided multi-style in his work: both his poetic and prose works retained the harmony of precise descriptive language and author's lyricism. Stylistic instability of realism was a consequence of the transition and a certain artistic compromise of the direction: on the one hand, the traditions bequeathed by the previous century were strong, on the other, realism began to interact with new trends in art.

Writers gradually adapted to new forms of artistic search, although this process was far from peaceful in realism. Those who went further along the path of rapprochement with modernist aesthetics were L. N. Andreev, S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky, and somewhat later - E. I. Zamyatin. Most of them were often reproached by criticism brought up on previous traditions for artistic apostasy, and even ideological desertion. However, the process of updating realism as a whole was artistically fruitful, and the total achievements of the movement at the turn of the century turned out to be significant.

Presentation on the topic "Realism as a movement in literature and art" on literature in powerpoint format. A voluminous presentation for schoolchildren contains information about the principles, features, forms, and stages of development of realism as a literary movement.

Fragments from the presentation

Literary methods, directions, trends

Artistic method- this is the principle of selection of phenomena of reality, the features of their assessment and the originality of their artistic embodiment.
Literary direction- this is a method that becomes dominant and acquires more specific features associated with the characteristics of the era and trends in culture.
Literary movement– manifestation of ideological and thematic unity, homogeneity of plots, characters, language in the works of several writers of the same era.
Literary methods, directions and trends: classicism, sentimentalism, romanticism, realism, modernism (symbolism, acmeism, futurism)

Realism- a direction of literature and art that arose in the 18th century, reached its full development and flowering in the critical realism of the 19th century and continues to develop in struggle and interaction with other directions in the 20th century (up to the present).
Realism- a truthful, objective reflection of reality using specific means inherent in a particular type of artistic creativity.

Principles of realism

Typification of the facts of reality, i.e., according to Engels, “in addition to the truthfulness of details, the truthful reproduction of typical characters in typical circumstances.”
Showing life in development and contradictions, which are primarily of a social nature.
The desire to reveal the essence of life phenomena without limiting topics and plots.
Striving for moral quest and educational influence.

The most prominent representatives of realism in Russian literature:

A.N. Ostrovsky, I.S. Turgenev, I.A. Goncharov, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, A.P. Chekhov, M. Gorky, I. Bunin, V. Mayakovsky, M. Bulgakov, M. Sholokhov, S. Yesenin, A. I. Solzhenitsyn and others.

Main property– through typification, reflect life in images that correspond to the essence of the phenomena of life itself.
Leading criterion of artistry– fidelity to reality; the desire for immediate authenticity of the image, the “recreation” of life “in the forms of life itself.” The artist’s right to illuminate all aspects of life without any restrictions is recognized. Wide variety of art forms.
The task of the realist writer– try not only to grasp life in all its manifestations, but also to understand it, to understand the laws by which it moves and which do not always come out; through the play of chance one must achieve types - and with all this, always remain faithful to the truth, not be content with superficial study, and shun effects and falsehood.

Features of realism

The desire for a broad coverage of reality in its contradictions, deep patterns and development;
Gravity towards the image of a person in his interaction with the environment:

the inner world of the characters, their behavior bear the signs of the times;
much attention is paid to the social and everyday background of the time;

Versatility in depicting a person;
Social and psychological determinism;
Historical point of view on life.

Forms of realism

educational realism
critical realism
socialist realism

Stages of development

Enlightenment realism(D.I. Fonvizin, N.I. Novikov, A.N. Radishchev, young I.A. Krylov); “syncretistic” realism: a combination of realistic and romantic motifs, with the dominance of the realistic (A.S. Griboyedov, A.S. Pushkin, M.Yu. Lermontov);
Critical realism– accusatory orientation of the works; a decisive break with the romantic tradition (I.A. Goncharov, I.S. Turgenev, N.A. Nekrasov, A.N. Ostrovsky);
Socialist realism- imbued with revolutionary reality and a feeling of socialist transformation of the world (M. Gorky).

Realism in Russia

Appeared in the 19th century. Rapid development and special dynamism.

Features of Russian realism:

Active development of socio-psychological, philosophical and moral issues;
Pronounced life-affirming character;
Special dynamism;
Syntheticity (closer connection with previous literary eras and movements: enlightenment, sentimentalism, romanticism).

18th century realism

imbued with the spirit of educational ideology;
affirmed primarily in prose;
the novel becomes the defining genre of literature;
behind the novel a bourgeois or bourgeois drama arises;
recreated the everyday life of modern society;
reflected his social and moral conflicts;
the depiction of characters in it was straightforward and subject to moral criteria that sharply distinguished between virtue and vice (only in certain works did the depiction of personality differ in complexity and dialectical inconsistency (Fielding, Stern, Diderot).

Critical realism

Critical realism- a movement that arose in Germany at the end of the 19th century (E. Becher, G. Driesch, A. Wenzl, etc.) and specialized in the theological interpretation of modern natural science (attempts to reconcile knowledge with faith and prove the “failure” and “limitations” of science) .

Principles of Critical Realism

critical realism portrays the human-environment relationship in a new way
human character is revealed in organic connection with social circumstances
The subject of deep social analysis has become the inner world of man (critical realism therefore simultaneously becomes psychological)

Socialist realism

Socialist realism- one of the most important artistic movements in the art of the 20th century; a special artistic method (type of thinking) based on knowledge and understanding of the vital reality of the era, which was understood as dynamically changing in its “revolutionary development”.

Principles of socialist realism

Nationality. The heroes of the works must come from the people. As a rule, the heroes of socialist realist works were workers and peasants.
Party affiliation. Reject the truth empirically found by the author and replace it with party truth; show heroic deeds, the search for a new life, the revolutionary struggle for a bright future.
Specificity. In depicting reality, show the process of historical development, which in turn must correspond to the doctrine of historical materialism (matter is primary, consciousness is secondary).

Realism (from Late Latin reālis - material) is an artistic method in art and literature. The history of realism in world literature is unusually rich. The very idea of it changed at different stages of artistic development, reflecting the persistent desire of artists for a truthful depiction of reality.

Illustration by V. Milashevsky for the novel by Charles Dickens “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.”

Illustration by O. Vereisky for L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “Anna Karenina.”

Illustration by D. Shmarinov for F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment.”

Illustration by V. Serov for M. Gorky’s story “Foma Gordeev”.

Illustration by B. Zaborov for the novel by M. Andersen-Nexo “Ditte - Child of Man.”

However, the concept of truth, truth is one of the most difficult in aesthetics. For example, the theorist of French classicism N. Boileau called for being guided by the truth and “imitating nature.” But the romantic V. Hugo, an ardent opponent of classicism, urged “to consult only nature, truth and your inspiration, which is also truth and nature.” Thus, both defended "truth" and "nature".

The selection of life phenomena, their assessment, the ability to present them as important, characteristic, typical - all this is connected with the artist’s point of view on life, and this, in turn, depends on his worldview, on the ability to grasp the advanced movements of the era. The desire for objectivity often forces the artist to depict the real balance of power in society, even contrary to his own political convictions.

The specific features of realism depend on the historical conditions in which art develops. National historical circumstances also determine the uneven development of realism in different countries.

Realism is not something given and unchangeable once and for all. In the history of world literature, several main types of its development can be outlined.

There is no consensus in science about the initial period of realism. Many art historians attribute it to very distant eras: they talk about the realism of cave paintings of primitive people, about the realism of ancient sculpture. In the history of world literature, many features of realism are found in the works of the ancient world and the early Middle Ages (in folk epic, for example, in Russian epics, in chronicles). However, the formation of realism as an artistic system in European literature is usually associated with the Renaissance (Renaissance), the greatest progressive revolution. A new understanding of life by a person who rejects the church sermon of slavish obedience is reflected in the lyrics of F. Petrarch, the novels of F. Rabelais and M. Cervantes, in the tragedies and comedies of W. Shakespeare. After centuries of medieval churchmen preaching that man is a “vessel of sin” and calling for humility, Renaissance literature and art glorified man as the supreme creature of nature, seeking to reveal the beauty of his physical appearance and the richness of his soul and mind. The realism of the Renaissance is characterized by the scale of images (Don Quixote, Hamlet, King Lear), the poeticization of the human personality, its capacity for great feeling (as in Romeo and Juliet) and at the same time the high intensity of the tragic conflict, when the clash of personality with the inert forces opposing it is depicted .

The next stage in the development of realism is the educational stage (see Enlightenment), when literature becomes (in the West) an instrument of direct preparation for the bourgeois-democratic revolution. Among the educators there were supporters of classicism; their work was influenced by other methods and styles. But in the 18th century. The so-called Enlightenment realism was also taking shape (in Europe), the theorists of which were D. Diderot in France and G. Lessing in Germany. The English realistic novel, whose founder was D. Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe (1719), acquired worldwide significance. In the literature of the Enlightenment, a democratic hero appeared (Figaro in the trilogy of P. Beaumarchais, Louise Miller in the tragedy “Cunning and Love” by I. F. Schiller, images of peasants in A. N. Radishchev). Enlighteners assessed all phenomena of social life and people's actions as reasonable or unreasonable (and they saw the unreasonable, first of all, in all the old feudal orders and customs). They proceeded from this in their depiction of human character; their positive heroes are, first of all, the embodiment of reason, the negative ones are a deviation from the norm, the product of unreason, the barbarism of former times.

Enlightenment realism often allowed for convention. Thus, the circumstances in the novel and drama were not necessarily typical. They could be conditional, as in the experiment: “Suppose a person finds himself on a desert island...”. At the same time, Defoe depicts Robinson’s behavior not as it could actually be (the prototype of his hero went wild, even lost his articulate speech), but as he wants to present the person, fully armed with his physical and mental strength, as a hero, conqueror of forces nature. Faust in I. V. Goethe, shown in the struggle for the establishment of high ideals, is also conventional. Features of a well-known convention also distinguish D. I. Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor.”

A new type of realism emerged in the 19th century. This is critical realism. It differs significantly from both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Its flourishing in the West is associated with the names of Stendhal and O. Balzac in France, C. Dickens, W. Thackeray in England, in Russia - A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, I. S. Turgenev, F. M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov.

Critical realism portrays the relationship between man and the environment in a new way. Human character is revealed in organic connection with social circumstances. The subject of deep social analysis has become the inner world of man; critical realism therefore simultaneously becomes psychological. Romanticism, which sought to penetrate the secrets of the human “I,” played a large role in the preparation of this quality of realism.

Deepening the knowledge of life and complicating the picture of the world in the critical realism of the 19th century. do not mean, however, some kind of absolute superiority over previous stages, for the development of art is marked not only by gains, but also by losses.

The scale of the images of the Renaissance was lost. The pathos of affirmation characteristic of the Enlighteners, their optimistic faith in the victory of good over evil, remained unique.

The rise of the labor movement in Western countries, formation in the 40s. XIX century Marxism not only influence the literature of critical realism, but also give rise to the first artistic experiments in depicting reality from the perspective of the revolutionary proletariat. In the realism of such writers as G. Weert, W. Morris, and the author of “The International” E. Pothier, new features are outlined that anticipate the artistic discoveries of socialist realism.

In Russia, the 19th century is a period of exceptional strength and scope in the development of realism. In the second half of the century, the artistic achievements of realism, bringing Russian literature to the international arena, won it worldwide recognition.

The richness and diversity of Russian realism of the 19th century. allow us to talk about its different forms.

Its formation is associated with the name of A. S. Pushkin, who led Russian literature onto the broad path of depicting “the fate of the people, the fate of man.” In the conditions of the accelerated development of Russian culture, Pushkin seems to be catching up with its previous lag, paving new paths in almost all genres and, with his universality and his optimism, turning out to be akin to the titans of the Renaissance. Pushkin’s work lays the foundations of critical realism, developed in the work of N.V. Gogol and after him in the so-called natural school.

Performance in the 60s. revolutionary democrats led by N. G. Chernyshevsky gives new features to Russian critical realism (the revolutionary nature of criticism, images of new people).

A special place in the history of Russian realism belongs to L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky. It was thanks to them that the Russian realistic novel acquired global significance. Their psychological mastery and insight into the “dialectics of the soul” opened the way for the artistic quests of 20th century writers. Realism in the 20th century all over the world bears the imprint of the aesthetic discoveries of L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky.

The growth of the Russian liberation movement, which by the end of the century transferred the center of the world revolutionary struggle from the West to Russia, leads to the fact that the work of the great Russian realists becomes, as V. I. Lenin said about L. N. Tolstoy, “a mirror of the Russian revolution” according to their objective historical content, despite all the differences in their ideological positions.

The creative scope of Russian social realism is reflected in the wealth of genres, especially in the field of the novel: philosophical and historical (L. N. Tolstoy), revolutionary journalistic (N. G. Chernyshevsky), everyday (I. A. Goncharov), satirical (M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin), psychological (F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy). By the end of the century, A.P. Chekhov became an innovator in the genre of realistic stories and a kind of “lyrical drama”.

It is important to emphasize that Russian realism of the 19th century. did not develop in isolation from the world historical and literary process. This was the beginning of an era when, in the words of K. Marx and F. Engels, “the fruits of the spiritual activity of individual nations become the common property.”

F. M. Dostoevsky noted as one of the features of Russian literature its “capacity for universality, all-humanity, all-response.” Here we are talking not so much about Western influences, but about the organic development in line with European culture of its centuries-old traditions.

At the beginning of the 20th century. The appearance of M. Gorky's plays "The Bourgeois", "At the Demise" and especially the novel "Mother" (and in the West - the novel "Pelle the Conqueror" by M. Andersen-Nexo) testifies to the formation of socialist realism. In the 20s Soviet literature declared itself with major successes, and in the early 30s. In many capitalist countries, a literature of the revolutionary proletariat is emerging. The literature of socialist realism is becoming an important factor in world literary development. It should be noted that Soviet literature as a whole retains more connections with the artistic experience of the 19th century than literature in the West (including socialist literature).

The beginning of the general crisis of capitalism, two world wars, the acceleration of the revolutionary process throughout the world under the influence of the October Revolution and the existence of the Soviet Union, and after 1945 the formation of the world system of socialism - all this affected the fate of realism.

Critical realism, which continued to develop in Russian literature until the October Revolution (I. A. Bunin, A. I. Kuprin) and in the West, in the 20th century. received further development, while undergoing significant changes. In critical realism of the 20th century. in the West, a variety of influences are more freely assimilated and intersected, including some features of the unrealistic movements of the 20th century. (symbolism, impressionism, expressionism), which, of course, does not exclude the struggle of realists against non-realistic aesthetics.

From about the 20s. In the literature of the West, there is a tendency towards in-depth psychologism, the transmission of the “stream of consciousness”. The so-called intellectual novel of T. Mann arises; subtext takes on special significance, for example, in E. Hemingway. This focus on the individual and his spiritual world in Western critical realism significantly weakens its epic breadth. Epic scale in the 20th century. is the merit of the writers of socialist realism (“The Life of Klim Samgin” by M. Gorky, “Quiet Flows the Don” by M. A. Sholokhov, “Walking in Torment” by A. N. Tolstoy, “The Dead Remain Young” by A. Zegers).

Unlike the realists of the 19th century. writers of the 20th century more often they resort to fantasy (A. France, K. Chapek), to convention (for example, B. Brecht), creating parable novels and parable dramas (see Parable). At the same time, in the realism of the 20th century. the document, the fact, triumphs. Documentary works appear in different countries within the framework of both critical realism and socialist realism.

Thus, while remaining documentary, the autobiographical books of E. Hemingway, S. O'Casey, I. Becher, such classic books of socialist realism as “Report with a Noose Around the Neck” by Yu. Fuchik and “The Young Guard” by A. A. Fadeeva.