Classicism (from Latin classicus - exemplary) is a style and direction in art and literature of the 17th - early 19th centuries, which marked a return to the ancient heritage as the norm and ideal model.
This direction is characterized by rationalism, normativity, a tendency towards harmony, clarity and simplicity of expression, balance of composition and at the same time a certain amount of schematization and idealization in works of art, which was expressed, for example, in the hierarchy of “high” and “low” styles in literature , the requirement of “three unities” - time, place and action - in drama, emphasized purism in the field of language, etc.
Under the influence of the rationalistic philosophy of the great French thinker Rene Descartes (1596-1650), the principles of classicism are established in all types of art.
The main aesthetic postulate of classicism is fidelity to nature, the natural rationality of the world with its objectively inherent beauty, which is expressed in symmetry, proportion, measure, harmony, which must be recreated in art in perfect form. By the middle of the 19th century. classicism, lagging behind the development of public aesthetic feeling, degenerated into lifeless academicism.

Classicism(from Latin classicus - exemplary), artistic style and aesthetic direction in European literature and art of the 17th - early 19th centuries, one of the important features of which was the appeal to the images and forms of ancient literature and art as an ideal aesthetic standard. K. is formed, experiencing the influence of other pan-European trends in art that are directly in contact with it: it starts from the aesthetics of the Renaissance that preceded it and confronts the Baroque art that actively coexists with it, imbued with the consciousness of the general discord generated by the crisis of the ideals of the past era. Continuing some traditions of the Renaissance (admiration for the ancients, faith in reason, the ideal of harmony and proportion), K. was a kind of antithesis to him; behind the external harmony in K. hides the internal antinomy of the worldview, which makes it similar to the Baroque (for all their deep differences). The generic and the individual, the public and the personal, reason and feeling, civilization and nature, which appeared (in a tendency) in the art of the Renaissance as a single harmonious whole, in K. are polarized and become mutually exclusive concepts. This reflected a new historical state, when the political and private spheres began to disintegrate, and social relations turned into a separate and abstract force for humans. The idea of ​​reason in the 17th century. inseparable from the idea of ​​an absolutist (see Absolutism) state, which at that time, according to K. Marx, acted “... as universal reason...” (see K. Marx and F. Engels, Works, 2nd ed. ., vol. 1, p. 254), “... as a civilizing center, as a unifying principle of society” (ibid., vol. 10, p. 431), as a force capable of curbing feudal anarchy and establishing calm and order. The principles of rationalism, corresponding to the philosophical ideas of R. Descartes and Cartesianism, underlie the aesthetics of K. They determine the view of work of art as an artificial creation - consciously created, intelligently organized, logically constructed. Having put forward the principle of “imitation of nature,” the classicists consider its indispensable condition to be strict adherence to the unshakable rules drawn from ancient poetics (Aristotle, Horace) and art, defining the laws of artistic form, in which the reasonable creative will of the writer is manifested, transforming life material into the beautiful, logically a slender and clear work of art. The artistic transformation of nature, the transformation of nature into beautiful and ennobled is at the same time an act of its highest knowledge - art is called upon to reveal the ideal pattern of the universe, often hidden behind the external chaos and disorder of reality. Therefore, the mind, comprehending the ideal pattern, acts as an “arrogant” principle in relation to individual characteristics and the living diversity of life. For K., only what is generic, enduring, and timeless has aesthetic value. In every phenomenon, K. strives to find and capture its essential, stable features (this is associated with an appeal to antiquity as an absolute supra-historical aesthetic norm, as well as the principles of character typification, which act as the embodiment of any social or spiritual forces). The classicist image gravitates towards a model in which life is stopped in its ideally eternal form, it is a special mirror where the individual turns into the generic, the temporary into the eternal, the real into the ideal, history into myth, it depicts what is everywhere and what is nowhere in reality; he is the triumph of reason and order over chaos and the fluid empiricism of life. The embodiment of sublime ethical ideas in harmoniously beautiful forms that are adequate to them gives works created according to the canons of K. a touch of utopianism, which is also due to the fact that K. aesthetics attaches great importance to the social and educational function of art. K. aesthetics establishes a strict hierarchy of genres, which are divided into “high” (tragedy, epic, ode, and in painting - historical, mythological and religious genres; their sphere is public life or religious history, their heroes are monarchs, generals, mythological characters, religious ascetics) and “low” (comedy, satire, fable, depicting the private everyday life of people of the middle classes, and in painting - the so-called “small genre” - landscape , portrait, still life). Each genre has strict boundaries and clear formal characteristics; no mixture of the sublime and the base, the tragic and the comic, the heroic and the ordinary is allowed. In the plastic arts, the prerequisites for K. emerged already in the 2nd half of the 16th century. in Italy - in the architectural theory and practice of Palladio, theoretical treatises of Vignola, S. Serlio; They are expressed more consistently in the works of J. P. Bellori (17th century), as well as in the aesthetic standards developed by academicians of the Bolognese school. However, throughout the 17th century. K., developing in interaction and polemics with the Baroque, only in French art turned into an integral stylistic system, and became a pan-European style in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Kazakh architecture as a whole is characterized by geometricism of emphatically static forms and logical planning, a constant appeal to the forms of ancient architecture - this meant not only following its individual motifs and elements, but comprehending its general tectonic patterns. The basis of the architectural language of Kazakhstan becomes an order, in proportions and forms closer to antiquity than in the architecture of previous centuries. Walls are treated as smooth surfaces delimiting clear, symmetrically located volumes; architectural decoration is introduced in such a way that it never “hides” the overall structure, but becomes its subtle and discreet accompaniment. K.'s interior is characterized by clarity of spatial divisions and softness of colors: making extensive use of perspective effects in monumental and decorative painting, K. fundamentally separates the illusory space from the real. In the classicist synthesis of arts, forms are subordinated to a strict hierarchy, where architecture clearly dominates. City planning is genetically connected with the principles of the Renaissance and Baroque and actively develops the concept of the “ideal city”; at the end of the 18th - 1st third of the 19th centuries. New planning techniques are emerging that provide for the organic combination of urban development with elements of nature, the creation of open areas that spatially merge with the street or embankment. The tectonic clarity of Kazakh architecture corresponds to the strict demarcation of spatial plans in sculpture and painting. Plastic sculpture, in which closed monochromatic volumes predominate, usually designed for a fixed point of view, is distinguished by smooth modeling and stability of forms. In Kazan painting, drawing and chiaroscuro take on predominant importance (especially in late Kazan, when painting sometimes tends toward monochrome, and graphics toward pure, stylized linearity); local color is based on a combination of three dominant colors (for example, brown for the first, green for the second, blue for the background), the light-air environment is rarefied and turns into a neutral filling of the gaps between plastic volumes, the action unfolds as on a stage. The greatest artist and theorist of French culture of the 17th century. was N. Poussin, whose paintings are marked by the sublimity of ethical content, enlightened harmony of rhythmic structure and color. The ideal landscape (N. Poussin, Claude Lorrain, G. Duguay), embodying the dream of a golden age, received brilliant development in this era. In architecture, the principles of architecture take shape in the buildings of F. Mansart, marked by clarity of order divisions and composition, in the eastern facade of the Louvre, created by C. Perrault (), the purest example of style of the 17th century, in the work of L. Levo , F. Blondel. From the 2nd half of the 17th century. French K. absorbs everything more elements Baroque, which manifested itself, in particular, in the architecture and layout of Versailles (architect J. Hardouin-Mansart and others, park layout - A. Le Nôtre). The consolidation of the doctrines of culture was facilitated by the creation in Paris of the royal academy of painting and sculpture (1648) and the academy of architecture (1671), which developed a set of laws of composition and drawing, norms for depicting emotions, a system of genres in painting and proportions in architecture. In the 17th and early 18th centuries. K. also spreads in the architecture of Holland (architect Jacob van Kampen, P. Post), which gave rise to a particularly restrained version of it, in the Palladian architecture of England, where echoes of the Renaissance are still preserved in the strict nobility of the buildings of I. Jones, and in the works of K. Wren and his followers, the national version of K is finally formed.

Classic style expresses a certain tendency of artistic thinking, based on the natural desire for simplicity, clarity, rationality, and consistency of the artistic image. The artistic style of Classicism represents the highest expression of the Idea of ​​compositional integrity, clarity, completeness, and balance. In the architecture of Classicism, there is a certain set of formal features. The horizontal prevails over the vertical. Compositionally, the axis of symmetry stands out, hence the usual three-part division of the facade with an enlarged central and two smaller side projections. All shapes tend to be square, circle, semicircular arch. In terms of plan, centric structures are especially popular, ensuring equal perception from different points of view. In sculpture, the formation of classicist artistic thinking was accompanied by a transition from the naturalistic coloring of statues and reliefs, a naive attempt to “revive” them in the Greek archaic or variegated decorativeness in Eastern art, to the laconic expressiveness of the volume itself, cleansing it of everything superfluous and accidental. The functions of color were taken over by painting, which was separated from architecture and sculpture. In classical painting, the image is also always constructed according to the “relief principle,” that is, by alternating spatial plans parallel to the plane of the picture. When perceiving a building, painting, fresco, or sculpture of the classical style, a feeling of peace of mind, clarity, and enlightenment arises. Even despite the knowledge that this is most likely a skillful decoration, essentially stylization, artistic deception, and despite the fact that classicism loses in decorative detail, complexity, and other styles in art, it is more attractive and always desired.
In general, the trends of the classic style in different eras and in different types art shows one thing: the artist’s striving for the ideal through the rejection of the random, temporary, changeable.

The art of classicism

Introduction

The theme of my work is the art of classicism. This topic interested me very much and attracted my attention. Art in general covers a lot of things, it includes painting and sculpture, architecture, music and literature, and in general everything that is created by man. Looking through the works of many artists and sculptors, they seemed very interesting to me; they attracted me with their ideality, clarity of lines, correctness, symmetry, etc.

The purpose of my work is to consider the influence of classicism on painting, sculpture and architecture, on music and literature. I also consider it necessary to define the concept of “classicism”.

1. Classicism

The term classicism comes from the Latin classicus, which literally means exemplary. In literary and art criticism, the term denotes a certain direction, artistic method and style of art.

This art direction is characterized by rationalism, normativity, a tendency toward harmony, clarity and simplicity, schematicism, and idealization. Characteristics are expressed in the hierarchy of “high” and “low” styles in literature. For example, in dramaturgy, unity of time, action and place was required.

Supporters of classicism adhered to fidelity to nature, the laws of the rational world with its inherent beauty, all this was reflected in symmetry, proportions, place, harmony, everything should have been presented as ideal in its perfect form.

Under the influence of the great philosopher and thinker of that time, R. Descartes, the features and characteristics of classicism spread to all spheres of human creativity (music, literature, painting, etc.).

2. Classicism and the world of literature

Classicism as a literary movement emerged in 16-17. Its origins lie in the activities of Italian and Spanish academic schools, as well as the association French writers“Pleiades”, who during the Renaissance turned to ancient art, to the norms set out by ancient theorists. (Aristotle and Horace), trying to find in ancient harmonious images new support for the ideas of humanism that have experienced a deep crisis. The emergence of classicism is historically due to the formation absolute monarchy- a transitional form of state, when the weakened aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, which had not yet gained strength, were equally interested in the unlimited power of the king. Classicism reached its highest flowering in France, where its connection with absolutism was especially clear.

The activities of the classicists were led by the French Academy, founded in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu. The creativity of writers, artists, musicians, and actors of classicism largely depended on the benevolent king.

As a movement, classicism developed differently in European countries. In France, it developed by the 1590s and became dominant by the middle of the 17th century, the highest flowering occurred in 1660-1670. Then classicism underwent a crisis and in the 1st half of the 18th century it became the successor of classicism educational classicism, which in the 2nd half of the 18th century lost its leading position in literature. During the French Revolution of the 18th century, Enlightenment classicism formed the basis of revolutionary classicism, which dominated all spheres of art. Classicism practically degenerated in the 19th century.

As an artistic method, classicism is a system of principles of selection, evaluation and reproduction of reality. The main theoretical work, which sets out the basic principles of classical aesthetics, is “The Poetic Art” of Boileau (1674). The classicists saw the purpose of art in the knowledge of truth, which acts as the ideal of beauty. The classicists put forward a method for achieving it, based on three central categories of their aesthetics: reason, example, taste, which were considered objective criteria of artistry. Great works are the fruit not of talent, not of inspiration, not of artistic imagination, but of stubborn adherence to the dictates of reason, the study of classical works of antiquity and knowledge of the rules of taste. In this way the classicists brought together artistic activity from the scientific, therefore, the philosophical rationalistic method of Descartes turned out to be acceptable for them. Descartes argued that the human mind has innate ideas, the truth of which is beyond any doubt. If one moves from these truths to unsaid and more complex positions, dividing them into simple ones, methodically moving from the known to the unknown, without allowing logical gaps, then any truth can be clarified. This is how reason became the central concept of the philosophy of rationalism, and then the art of classicism. The world seemed motionless, consciousness and ideal - unchanging. The aesthetic ideal is eternal and the same at all times, but only in the era of Antiquity was it embodied in art with the greatest completeness. Therefore, to reproduce the ideal, it is necessary to turn to ancient art and study its laws. That is why imitation of models was valued by classicists much higher than original creativity.

Turning to Antiquity, the classicists abandoned the imitation of Christian models, continuing the struggle of the Renaissance humanists for art free from religious dogma. The classicists borrowed external features from Antiquity. Under the names of ancient heroes, people of the 17th and 18th centuries were clearly visible, and ancient subjects made it possible to pose the most pressing problems of our time. The principle of imitation of nature was proclaimed, strictly limiting the artist’s right to imagination. In art, attention was paid not to the particular, individual, random, but to the general, typical. The character of a literary hero has no individual traits, acting as a generalization of a whole type of people. Character is a distinctive property, a general quality, the specificity of one thing or another. human type. Character can be extremely, implausibly sharpened. Morals mean general, ordinary, customary, character means special, rare precisely in the degree of expression of the property dispersed in the morals of society. The principle of classicism led to the division of heroes into negative and positive, into serious and funny. Laughter becomes satirical and refers mainly to negative characters.

Classicists are not attracted to all of nature, but only to “pleasant nature.” Everything that contradicts the model and taste is expelled from art; a whole number of objects seem “indecent”, unworthy of high art. In the case when an ugly phenomenon of reality must be reproduced, it is reflected through the prism of the beautiful.

Much attention classicists paid attention to the theory of genres. Not all established genres met the principles of classicism. A previously unknown principle of the hierarchy of genres appeared, asserting their inequality. There are main and non-main genres. By the mid-17th century, tragedy had become the main genre of literature. Prose, especially fiction, was considered a lower genre than poetry, so prose genres that were not designed for aesthetic perception became widespread - sermons, letters, memoirs; fiction fell into oblivion. The principle of hierarchy divides genres into “high” and “low”, and certain artistic spheres are assigned to genres. For example, “high” genres (tragedy, ode) were assigned problems of a national nature. In “low” genres it was possible to touch upon private problems or abstract vices (stinginess, hypocrisy). The classicists paid the main attention to tragedy; the laws of its writing were very strict. The plot was supposed to reproduce ancient times, the life of distant states ( Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece); it had to be guessed from the title, the idea - from the first lines.

Classicism as a style is a system of pictorial - expressive means, typifying reality through the prism of ancient models, perceived as the ideal of harmony, simplicity, unambiguity, and an ordered system. The style reproduces the rationalistically ordered outer shell of ancient culture, without conveying its pagan, complex and undifferentiated essence. The essence of the classicism style was to express the view of the world of a person of the absolutist era. Classicism was distinguished by clarity, monumentality, the desire to remove everything unnecessary, to create a single and integral impression.

The largest representatives of classicism in literature are F. Malherbe, Corneille, Racine, Moliere, La Fontaine, F. La Rochefoucauld, Voltaire, G. Miltono, Goethe, Schiller, Lomonosov, Sumarokov, Derzhavin, Knyazhnin. The works of many of them combine features of classicism and other movements and styles (Baroque, Romanticism, etc.). Classicism developed in many European countries, in the USA, Latin America etc. Classicism was repeatedly revived in the forms of revolutionary classicism, empire style, neoclassicism and influences the world of art until today.

3. Classicism and fine arts

The theory of architecture is based on the treatise of Vitruvius. Classicism is the direct spiritual successor of the ideas and aesthetic principles of the Renaissance, reflected in Renaissance art and theoretical works of Alberti, Palladio, Vignola, Serlio.

In different European countries, the time stages of the development of classicism do not coincide. Thus, already in the 17th century, classicism occupied significant positions in France, England, and Holland. In the history of German and Russian art, the era of classicism dates from the 2nd half of the 18th century - the 1st third of the 19th century; for the previously listed countries, this period is associated with neoclassicism.

The principles and postulates of classicism developed and existed in constant polemics and at the same time in interaction with other artistic and aesthetic concepts: mannerism and baroque in the 17th century, rococo in the 18th century, romanticism in the 19th century. At the same time, the expression of style in different types and genres of art of a certain period was uneven.

In the second half of the 16th century, there was a collapse of the single harmonious vision of the world and man as its center inherent in the Renaissance culture. Classicism is characterized by normativity, rationality, condemnation of everything subjective and a fantastic demand from art for naturalness and correctness. Classicism is also characterized by a tendency to systematize, to create a complete theory of artistic creativity, and to search for unchanging and perfect models. Classicism sought to develop a system of general, universal rules and principles aimed at comprehending and embodying through artistic means the eternal ideal of beauty and universal harmony. This direction is characterized by the concepts of clarity and measure, proportion and balance. The key ideas of classicism were outlined in Bellori’s treatise “Lives of Modern Artists, Sculptors and Architects” (1672); the author expressed the opinion that it was necessary to choose a middle path between mechanically copying nature and leaving it in the realm of fantasy.

Ideas and perfect images of classicism are born from the contemplation of nature, ennobled by the mind, and nature itself in classical art appears as a purified and transformed reality. Antiquity - best example natural art.

In architecture, the trends of classicism made themselves known in the 2nd half of the 16th century in the works of Palladio and Scamozzi, Delorme and Lescaut. Classicism of the 17th century had a number of features. Classicism was distinguished by a rather critical attitude towards the creations of the ancients, which were perceived not as an absolute example, but as a starting point in the value scale of classicism. The masters of classicism set as their goal to learn the lessons of the ancients, but not in order to imitate them, but in order to surpass them.

Another feature is the close connection with other artistic movements, primarily Baroque.

For the architecture of classicism, such qualities as simplicity, proportionality, tectonics, regularity of façade and volume-spatial composition, the search for proportions pleasing to the eye and the integrity of the architectural image, expressed in the visual harmony of all its parts, are of particular importance. In the 1st half of the 17th century, classicist and rationalist mindsets were reflected in a number of buildings by Desbros and Lemercier. In the second half of the 1630s-1650s, the inclination towards geometric clarity and integrity of architectural volumes and closed silhouette intensified. The period is characterized by a more moderate use and uniform distribution of decorative elements, awareness independent meaning free plane of the wall. These trends emerged in the secular buildings of Mansar.

Nature and landscape art became an organic part of classicist architecture. Nature acts as a material from which the human mind can create correct forms, architectural in appearance, mathematical in essence. The main exponent of these ideas is Le Nôtre.

In the fine arts, the values ​​and rules of classicism were outwardly expressed in the requirement for clarity of plastic form and ideal balance of composition. This determined the priority of linear perspective and drawing as the main means of identifying the structure and the “idea” of the work embedded in it.

Classicism penetrated not only the sculpture and architecture of France, but also Italian art.

Public monuments became widespread in the era of classicism; they gave sculptors the opportunity to idealize military valor and the wisdom of statesmen. Fidelity to the ancient model required sculptors to depict models naked, which conflicted with accepted moral norms.

Private customers of the classic era preferred to perpetuate their names in tombstones. The popularity of this sculptural form was facilitated by the arrangement of public cemeteries in the main cities of Europe. In accordance with the classicist ideal, figures on tombstones are usually in a state of deep repose. The sculpture of classicism is generally alien to sudden movements and external manifestations of emotions such as anger.

Late, Empire classicism, represented primarily by the prolific Danish sculptor Thorvaldsen, is imbued with a dryish pathos. Purity of lines, restraint of gestures, and dispassionate expressions are especially valued. In choosing role models, the emphasis shifts from Hellenism to the archaic period. Religious images are coming into fashion, which, in Thorvaldsen’s interpretation, produce a somewhat chilling impression on the viewer. Tombstone sculpture of late classicism often bears a slight touch of sentimentality

4. Music and classicism

Classicism in music was formed in the 18th century on the basis of the same set of philosophical and aesthetic ideas as classicism in literature, architecture, sculpture and the visual arts. No ancient images were preserved in music; the formation of classicism in music occurred without any support.

The brightest representatives of classicism are the composers of the Vienna Classical School Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Their art admires the perfection of compositional technique, the humanistic orientation of creativity and desire, especially noticeable in the music of V.A. Mozart, to display perfect beauty through music. The very concept of the Vienna Classical School arose shortly after the death of L. Van Beethoven. Classical art is distinguished by a delicate balance between feelings and reason, form and content. The music of the Renaissance reflected the spirit and breath of its era; in the Baroque era, the human condition became the subject of reflection in music; the music of the Classical era glorifies the actions and deeds of man, the emotions and feelings he experiences, the attentive and holistic human mind.

A new bourgeois musical culture is developing with its characteristic private salons, concerts and opera performances, open to any public, a faceless audience, publishing activities and music criticism. In this new culture, the musician has to assert his position as an independent artist.

The heyday of Classicism began in the 80s of the eighteenth century. In 1781, J. Haydn created several innovative works, including his String Quartet op. 33; The premiere of V.A.’s opera is taking place. Mozart's "The Abduction from the Seraglio"; F. Schiller's drama "The Robbers" and I. Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" are published.

In the era of Classicism, music is understood as a supra-national art, a kind of universal language understandable to everyone. A new idea is emerging about the self-sufficiency of music, which not only describes nature, entertains and educates, but is also capable of expressing true humanity through a simple and understandable metaphorical language.

Tone musical language changes from sublimely serious, somewhat gloomy, to more optimistic and joyful. For the first time, the basis of a musical composition is an imaginative melody, free from empty bombast, and a dramatic contrasting development, embodied in a sonata form based on the opposition of the main musical themes. The sonata form predominates in many works of this period, including sonatas, trios, quartets, quintets, symphonies, which at first did not have strict boundaries with chamber music, and three-movement concerts, mostly for piano and violin. New genres are developing - divertissement, serenade and cassation.

Conclusion

classicism art literature music

In this work, I examined the art of the Classical era. When writing the work, I read many articles touching on the topic of classicism, and I also looked at many photographs depicting paintings, sculptures, and architectural structures of the classicism era.

I believe that the material I have provided is sufficient for a general understanding of this issue. It seems to me that in order to develop broader knowledge in the field of classicism, it is necessary to visit fine art museums, listen to musical works of that time and familiarize yourself with at least 2-3 literary works. Visiting museums will allow you to feel the spirit of the era much more deeply, to experience those feelings and emotions that the authors and the ends of the works tried to convey to us.

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Instructions

Classicism as a literary movement originated in the 16th century in Italy. First of all, theoretical developments affected dramaturgy, a little less - poetry, and lastly prose. The movement received its greatest development a hundred years later in France, and it is associated with such names as Corneille, Racine, Lafontaine, Molière and others. Classicism is characterized by an orientation towards antiquity. The authors of that time believed that a writer should be guided not by inspiration, but by rules, dogmas, proven models. The text must be coherent, logical, clear and precise. How to determine whether the text in front of you belongs to the “classicism” movement.

For classicism, the position of the “trinity” is fundamentally important. There is only one action, and it takes place in one place and at one time. The only storyline unfolds in one place in - this came to classicism from antiquity.

Definition of conflict. The works of the classicism era are characterized by the confrontation between reason and feeling, duty and passions. At the same time, negative heroes are guided by emotions, while positive ones live by reason, so they win. At the same time, the positions of the heroes are very clear, only white and black. The main concept is the concept of duty, civil service.

When working with characters, the presence of stable masks is noteworthy. Necessarily present: a girl, her girlfriend, father, several suitors (at least three), and one of the suitors is positive, goodie, reflecting morality. The images are devoid of individuality, because their purpose is to capture the basic, birth characteristics heroes.

Definition of composition. Classicism presupposes the presence of exposition, plot, plot development, climax and denouement. At the same time, some kind of misfortune is necessarily woven into the plot, as a result of which the girl gets married to a “positive” groom.

Evidence that the text belongs to classicism strengthens the techniques of catharsis and unexpected denouement. In the first case, through the negative characters who find themselves in a difficult situation, the reader is spiritually cleansed. In the second, the conflict is resolved by outside intervention. For example, a command from above, a manifestation of the divine will.

Classicism depicts life in an idealized way. At the same time, the task of the work is to improve society and its morals. The texts were designed for the largest possible audience, which is why special attention The authors paid attention to the genres of drama.

One of the most important elements in the composition of any literary work is the climax. The climax, as a rule, is located just before the denouement in the work.

The term "culmination" in literary criticism

This term comes from the Latin word "culminatio", which means highest point the tension of any forces within the work. Most often the word "culminatio" is translated as "top", "peak", "point". In a literary work, an emotional peak is most often implied.

In literary criticism, the word “climax” is usually used to designate the moment of highest tension within the development of action in a work. This is the moment when an important clash (even a decisive one) occurs between characters in the most difficult circumstances. After this collision, the plot of the work rapidly moves towards a denouement.

It is important to understand that through characters the author usually confronts ideas, the bearers of which are the characters in the works. Each of them does not appear in the work by chance, but precisely for the purpose of promoting their own idea and opposing the main idea (it can often coincide with the author’s idea).

Complex climax in the work

Depending on the complexity of the work, the number of characters, the ideas involved, the conflicts created, the culmination of the work may become more complicated. Some long novels have multiple climaxes. As a rule, this applies to epic novels (those that describe the lives of several generations). Vivid such works are the novels “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy, " Quiet Don» Sholokhov.

Not only an epic novel, but also less voluminous works can have a complex climax. Their compositional complexity can be explained by ideological fullness, large number storylines and characters. In any case, the climax always plays a significant role in the reader's perception of the text. The climax can radically change the relationships within the text and the reader’s attitude towards the characters and the development of the story.

The climax is an integral part of the composition of any story.

The climax usually follows one or more complications of the text. The climax may be followed by a denouement, or the ending may coincide with the climax. This ending is often called “open”. The climax reveals the essence of the problem of the entire work. This rule applies to all types of literary text, from fairy tales, fables to major literary works.

Video on the topic

Tip 3: How to highlight the key features of the character in a novel

The ability to identify the key features of the heroes of works helps when writing essays at school and serves as good preparation for the Unified State Exam in literature. To analyze an artistic image, it is important to follow a certain order of actions and draw up a plan correctly. Careful observation of the means of creating images used by the author and competent summarization of the collected material will help to most fully and accurately characterize literary characters.

Significant means of depicting an image

The artistic image is created by the author through a variety of means of depiction. Start identifying key features by determining the hero’s place in the system of other characters in the novel: main, secondary or extra-stage. The secondary characters give the main character the opportunity to reveal themselves and are in the background. Off-stage perform official functions.

Literary images often have prototypes. It is known that the prototype of the young charming Natasha Rostova was the beloved brother L.N. Tolstoy Tanya Bers. Ostap Bender Ilf and Petrov appeared thanks to Odessa resident Osip Shor, who was prone to adventure. Establish the presence of a prototype actor analyzed novel.

Observe the main means of depicting the hero, thanks to which you will get an idea of ​​the key features of the image. These include:

1. Portrait description - description of appearance (face, figure, gait, etc.). Clothing, manner of speaking and bearing indicate social status. Changes in facial expressions, postures and gestures are evidence of emotional experiences. The writer's attitude towards his hero is expressed through the portrait.


2. The main features are revealed in actions and attitude towards the environment. The character can be simple: a negative or positive hero. Complex is contradictory and paradoxical; it is characterized by various features. The owner of such a character is constantly developing spiritually, is in search of his own life path. Behavior indicates humanity or inhumanity and deserves condemnation or empathy. Living conditions are directly related to the manifestation of different character traits.


3. Speech in classical versions of works embodies the character’s thoughts and serves as a means of communication with others. It helps establish social origin. Points to mental abilities and internal qualities.


4. Artistic detail can very accurately and vividly replace large descriptions. The artist of words endows this detail with emotional and semantic load. For example, M.A. Sholokhov for disclosure state of mind of his hero Andrei Sokolov, the main attention is paid to “eyes, as if sprinkled with ashes.”


5. The writer’s choice of first and last name is usually not random. A name can indicate human essence, predetermine actions and fate. Various options indicate personal qualities and contain hints for understanding key character traits (Anna, Anka and Nyuska). The surname of the main character of the novel F.M. Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment” - Raskolnikov. Dissenters are people who have separated and rejected the main direction. Initially, Rodion Raskolnikov’s theory contradicted the laws of life and morality, and therefore separated him from those around him.


6. Direct and indirect author's characteristics of the hero of the novel also indicate the key features of the image he created.

Literary types

To more fully understand the character’s image, determine his relationship to a certain literary type. Classical ones are characterized by maximum typicality. Heroes are divided strictly into positive and negative. Such types are usually found in tragedies and comedies of the classic era. The ability to experience, introspection and emotional contemplation is inherent in sentimental heroes. An example is young Werther from Goethe's novel. The romantic image appeared as a result of the reflection in art of the rebellious human spirit. Romantic heroes do not live in reality; they are characterized by strong feelings and secret desires. Fiery passion is the main engine of action. The most striking realistic types should be considered “ little man", "an extra person." Circumstances and environment have a strong influence on the behavior of characters in realistic novels.

In the 17th century, there were two main literary movements that opposed each other - Baroque and Classicism.

Interpreters of classicism usually declare that the most important feature of classicist poetics is its normative character. The theoretical thought of classicism, ahead of artistic practice and long before the appearance of the most complete and authoritative code of classicist laws that received pan-European significance - "Poetic Art" by Nicolas Boileau (1674), formed a set of laws and rules mandatory for all artists. And yet, many supporters of classicism did not always strictly adhere to its rules. It does not follow from this, however, that outstanding representatives of classicism (in particular, Moliere) went beyond the boundaries of classicism in their literary activities. Even violating some particular requirements, the writers remained faithful to the basic, fundamental principles of classicism.

Therefore, for all the importance of normativity for the art of classicism, it is not its most important feature. Moreover, normativity is only the result of the fundamental anti-historicism inherent in classicism. The classicists declared “good taste”, conditioned by the “eternal and unchanging” laws of reason, to be the supreme “judge” of beauty. The classicists recognized the example and ideal of the embodiment of the laws of reason and, therefore, good taste antique art, and poetics Aristotle And Horace were interpreted as a statement of these laws.

Recognition of the existence of eternal and objective, i.e. independent of the artist’s consciousness, the laws of art, entailed the requirement of strict discipline of creativity, the denial of “unorganized” inspiration and self-willed imagination. For classicists, of course, the baroque exaltation of the imagination as the most important source of creative impulses is absolutely unacceptable. Supporters of classicism return to the Renaissance principle of “imitation of nature,” but interpret it more narrowly. In the interpretation of the classicists, he did not assume the truthfulness of the reproduction of reality, but verisimilitude, by which they meant the depiction of things not as they are in reality, but as they should be according to reason. Hence the most important conclusion: the subject of art is not all of nature, but only a part of it, identified after careful selection and essentially reduced to human nature, taken only in its conscious manifestations. Life, its ugly sides should appear in art as ennobled, aesthetically beautiful, nature - as “beautiful nature”, delivering aesthetic pleasure. But this aesthetic pleasure is not an end in itself, it is only a path to improvement human nature, and, consequently, society.

In practice, the principle of “imitation of beautiful nature” often meant a call to imitate ancient works as ideal examples of the embodiment of the laws of reason in art.

The preference for reason over feeling, rational over emotional, general over particular is explained by both strong and weaknesses classicism. On the one hand, this determines the attention of classicism to inner world man, to psychology: the world of passions and experiences, the logic of mental movements and the development of thought are at the center of both classic tragedy and classic prose. On the other hand, the general and the individual are in complete rupture and the heroes embody the contradiction of human essence as abstract, devoid of the individual, containing only the general.

This misunderstanding of the dialectic of the general and the individual also determines the way of constructing character in classicism. The rationalistic method of “dividing difficulties”, formulated by the greatest rationalist philosopher of the 17th century, Rene Descartes, when applied to art meant identifying, as a rule, one leading element in human character, main feature. Thus, the way of typing characters here is deeply rationalistic. One can, using Lessing’s expression, say that the classicists’ heroes are more “personified characters” than “characterized personalities.”

The classicist way of typifying characters by highlighting the main, defining trait in them undoubtedly contributed to the improvement of art psychological analysis, satirical sharpening of the theme in comedies. At the same time, the requirement of reasonable integrity, unity and logical consistency of character interferes with its development. An exclusive interest in the “conscious” inner life of a person often forces one to ignore the external environment and material conditions of life. In general, the characters of classic works, especially tragedies, lack historical specificity. The mythological and ancient heroes in them feel, think and act like nobles of the 17th century. A greater connection between character and circumstances, although within the limits of classic typification, is found in comedy, the action of which usually takes place in modern times, and the images acquire, for all their generality, life-like authenticity.

From the general aesthetic principles of classicism flow the specific requirements of its poetics, most fully formulated in “ Poetic art» Boileau:

1) harmony and proportionality of parts;

2) logical harmony and laconicism of the composition;

3) simplicity of the plot;

4) clarity and clarity of language;

5) denial of fantasy (except for ancient mythology, interpreted as “reasonable”)

One of the fundamental and stable theoretical principles of classicism is the principle of dividing each art into genres and their hierarchical correlation. The hierarchy of genres in classicist poetics is carried to its logical end and concerns all aspects of art.

Genres are divided into “high” and “low”, and mixing them is considered unacceptable. “High” genres (epic, tragedy, ode) are intended to embody state or historical events, i.e. the life of monarchs, generals, mythological heroes; “low” (satire, fable, comedy) - should depict the private, everyday life of “mere mortals”, people of the middle classes. The style and language must strictly correspond to the chosen genre. The classicists limited the vocabulary allowed in poetry, trying to avoid ordinary “low” words, and sometimes even specific names of everyday objects. Hence the use of allegories, descriptive expressions, and a predilection for conventional poetic cliches. On the other hand, classicism fought against excessive ornamentation and pretentiousness of poetic language, against far-fetched refined metaphors and comparisons, puns and the like. stylistic devices, obscuring the meaning.

Unlike Baroque, which by the end of the 17th century had practically exhausted its artistic possibilities and gave way to other movements, classicism turned out to be very persistent and viable, existing in European culture until the 19th century. At the same time, at each stage of literary development, it acquired new forms that corresponded to the new tasks of art (enlightenment classicism of the 18th century and the Enlightenment, the so-called “Weimar classicism” of Goethe and Schiller in the mature period of their work). Only in the first decades of the 19th century, when romanticism came to the fore, did classicism become a brake on further development literature and was decisively rejected by romantic aesthetics.

France became the recognized center of classicism of the 17th century. Here it was formed first, and here it took its most complete forms.

Related information.

1. Literary movement - often identified with artistic method. Designates a set of fundamental spiritual and aesthetic principles of many writers, as well as a number of groups and schools, their programmatic and aesthetic attitudes, and the means used. The laws of the literary process are most clearly expressed in the struggle and change of directions.

It is customary to distinguish the following literary trends:

a) Classicism,
b) Sentimentalism,
c) Naturalism,
d) Romanticism,
d) Symbolism,
f) Realism.

1. Literary movement - often identified with a literary group and school. Designates a set of creative personalities who are characterized by ideological and artistic affinity and programmatic and aesthetic unity. Otherwise, a literary movement is a variety (as if a subclass) of a literary movement. For example, in relation to Russian romanticism they talk about “philosophical”, “psychological” and “civil” movements. In Russian realism, some distinguish “psychological” and “sociological” trends.

Classicism

Artistic style and direction in European literature and art of the 17th-beginning. XIX centuries. The name is derived from the Latin “classicus” - exemplary.

Features of classicism:

1. Appeal to images and forms ancient literature and art as an ideal aesthetic standard, putting forward on this basis the principle of “imitation of nature,” which implies strict adherence to immutable rules drawn from ancient aesthetics (for example, in the person of Aristotle, Horace).
2. Aesthetics is based on the principles of rationalism (from the Latin “ratio” - reason), which affirms the view of a work of art as an artificial creation - consciously created, intelligently organized, logically constructed.
3. The images in classicism are devoid of individual features, since they are designed primarily to capture stable, generic, enduring characteristics over time, acting as the embodiment of any social or spiritual forces.
4. The social and educational function of art. Education of a harmonious personality.
5. A strict hierarchy of genres has been established, which are divided into “high” (tragedy, epic, ode; their sphere is public life, historical events, mythology, their heroes are monarchs, generals, mythological characters, religious devotees) and “low” (comedy, satire , fables that depicted the private daily life of middle-class people). Each genre has strict boundaries and clear formal characteristics; no mixing of the sublime and the base, the tragic and the comic, the heroic and the ordinary was allowed. The leading genre is tragedy.
6. Classical dramaturgy approved the so-called principle of “unity of place, time and action,” which meant: the action of the play should take place in one place, the duration of the action should be limited to the duration of the performance (possibly more, but the maximum time about which the play should have been narrated is one day), the unity of action implied that the play should reflect one central intrigue, not interrupted by side actions.

Classicism originated and developed in France with the establishment of absolutism (classicism with its concepts of “exemplaryness”, a strict hierarchy of genres, etc. is generally often associated with absolutism and the flourishing of statehood - P. Corneille, J. Racine, J. Lafontaine, J. B. Moliere, etc. Having entered a period of decline at the end of the 17th century, classicism was revived during the Enlightenment - Voltaire, M. Chenier, etc. After the Great french revolution with the collapse of rationalistic ideas, classicism declines, the dominant style European art becomes romanticism.

Classicism in Russia:

Russian classicism arose in the second quarter of the 18th century in the works of the founders of new Russian literature - A. D. Kantemir, V. K. Trediakovsky and M. V. Lomonosov. In the era of classicism, Russian literature mastered the genre and style forms that had developed in the West, joined the pan-European literary development, while maintaining its national identity. Characteristic features of Russian classicism:

A) Satirical orientation - an important place is occupied by such genres as satire, fable, comedy, directly addressed to specific phenomena of Russian life;
b) The predominance of national historical themes over ancient ones (the tragedies of A. P. Sumarokov, Ya. B. Knyazhnin, etc.);
V) High level development of the ode genre (by M. V. Lomonosov and G. R. Derzhavin);
G) The general patriotic pathos of Russian classicism.

At the end of the XVIII - beginning. In the 19th century, Russian classicism was influenced by sentimentalist and pre-romantic ideas, which is reflected in the poetry of G. R. Derzhavin, the tragedies of V. A. Ozerov and the civil lyrics of the Decembrist poets.

Sentimentalism

Sentimentalism (from English sentimental - “sensitive”) is a movement in European literature and art of the 18th century. It was prepared by the crisis of Enlightenment rationalism and was the final stage of the Enlightenment. Chronologically, it mainly preceded romanticism, passing on a number of its features to it.

The main signs of sentimentalism:

1. Sentimentalism remained true to the ideal of the normative personality.
2. In contrast to classicism with its educational pathos, it declared feeling, not reason, to be the dominant of “human nature.”
3. The condition for the formation of an ideal personality was considered not by the “reasonable reorganization of the world,” but by the release and improvement of “natural feelings.”
4. The hero of the literature of sentimentalism is more individualized: by origin (or convictions) he is a democrat, the rich spiritual world of the commoner is one of the conquests of sentimentalism.
5. However, unlike romanticism (pre-romanticism), the “irrational” is alien to sentimentalism: he perceived the inconsistency of moods and the impulsiveness of mental impulses as accessible to rationalistic interpretation.

Sentimentalism took its most complete expression in England, where the ideology of the third estate was formed first - the works of J. Thomson, O. Goldsmith, J. Crabb, S. Richardson, JI. Stern.

Sentimentalism in Russia:

In Russia, representatives of sentimentalism were: M. N. Muravyov, N. M. Karamzin (most famous production - “ Poor Lisa"), I. I. Dmitriev, V. V. Kapnist, N. A. Lvov, young V. A. Zhukovsky.

Characteristic features of Russian sentimentalism:

a) Rationalistic tendencies are quite clearly expressed;
b) The didactic (moralizing) attitude is strong;
c) Educational trends;
d) Improving literary language, Russian sentimentalists turned to colloquial norms and introduced colloquialisms.

The favorite genres of sentimentalists are elegy, epistle, epistolary novel (novel in letters), travel notes, diaries and other types of prose in which confessional motifs predominate.

Romanticism

One of the largest destinations in European and American literature the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century, which gained worldwide significance and distribution. In the 18th century, everything fantastic, unusual, strange, found only in books and not in reality, was called romantic. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. “Romanticism” begins to be called a new literary movement.

Main features of romanticism:

1. Anti-Enlightenment orientation (i.e., against the ideology of the Enlightenment), which manifested itself in sentimentalism and pre-romanticism, and reached its highest point in romanticism. Social and ideological prerequisites - disappointment in the results of the Great French Revolution and the fruits of civilization in general, protest against the vulgarity, routine and prosaicness of bourgeois life. The reality of history turned out to be beyond the control of “reason,” irrational, full of secrets and unforeseen events, and the modern world order turned out to be hostile to human nature and his personal freedom.
2. The general pessimistic orientation is the ideas of “cosmic pessimism”, “world sorrow” (heroes in the works of F. Chateaubriand, A. Musset, J. Byron, A. Vigny, etc.). Theme "lying in evil" scary world“was especially clearly reflected in the “drama of rock” or “tragedy of rock” (G. Kleist, J. Byron, E. T. A. Hoffman, E. Poe).
3. Belief in the omnipotence of the human spirit, in its ability to renew itself. The Romantics discovered the extraordinary complexity, the inner depth of human individuality. For them, a person is a microcosm, a small universe. Hence the absolutization of the personal principle, the philosophy of individualism. In the center romantic work There is always a strong, exceptional personality opposing society, its laws or moral standards.
4. “Dual world”, that is, the division of the world into real and ideal, which are opposed to each other. Spiritual insight, inspiration, which is subject to the romantic hero, is nothing more than penetration into this ideal world (for example, the works of Hoffmann, especially vividly in: “The Golden Pot”, “The Nutcracker”, “Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober”) . The romantics contrasted the classicist “imitation of nature” with the creative activity of the artist with his right to transform the real world: the artist creates his own, special world, more beautiful and true.
5. "Local color" A person who opposes society feels a spiritual closeness with nature, its elements. This is why romantics so often use exotic countries and their nature (the East) as the setting for action. Exotic wildlife was quite consistent in spirit with the romantic personality striving beyond the boundaries of everyday life. Romantics are the first to convert close attention on the creative heritage of the people, their national, cultural and historical characteristics. National and cultural diversity, according to the philosophy of the romantics, was part of one large unified whole - the “universum”. This was clearly realized in the development of the genre of the historical novel (authors such as W. Scott, F. Cooper, V. Hugo).

The Romantics, absolutizing the creative freedom of the artist, denied rationalistic regulation in art, which, however, did not prevent them from proclaiming their own, romantic canons.

Genres have developed: fantasy stories, historical novel, a lyric-epic poem, the lyricist reaches extraordinary flowering.

The classical countries of romanticism are Germany, England, France.

Beginning in the 1840s, romanticism in major European countries gave way to critical realism and faded into the background.

Romanticism in Russia:

The origin of romanticism in Russia is associated with the socio-ideological atmosphere of Russian life - the nationwide upsurge after the War of 1812. All this determined not only the formation, but also the special character of the romanticism of the Decembrist poets (for example, K. F. Ryleev, V. K. Kuchelbecker, A. I. Odoevsky), whose work was inspired by the idea of ​​civil service, imbued with the pathos of love of freedom and struggle.

Characteristic features of romanticism in Russia:

A) The acceleration of the development of literature in Russia in early XIX century led to the “accumulation” and combination of various stages, which in other countries were experienced in stages. In Russian romanticism, pre-romantic tendencies were intertwined with the tendencies of classicism and the Enlightenment: doubts about the omnipotent role of reason, the cult of sensitivity, nature, elegiac melancholy were combined with the classic ordering of styles and genres, moderate didacticism (edification) and the fight against excessive metaphor for the sake of “harmonic accuracy” (expression A. S. Pushkin).

b) A more pronounced social orientation of Russian romanticism. For example, the poetry of the Decembrists, the works of M. Yu. Lermontov.

In Russian romanticism, such genres as elegy and idyll receive special development. The development of the ballad (for example, in the work of V. A. Zhukovsky) was very important for the self-determination of Russian romanticism. The contours of Russian romanticism were most clearly defined with the emergence of the genre of lyric-epic poem (southern poems by A. S. Pushkin, works by I. I. Kozlov, K. F. Ryleev, M. Yu. Lermontov, etc.). The historical novel is developing as a large epic form (M. N. Zagoskin, I. I. Lazhechnikov). A special way of creating a large epic form is cyclization, that is, the combination of seemingly independent (and partially published separately) works (“Double or My Evenings in Little Russia” by A. Pogorelsky, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” by N. V. Gogol, “Our Hero” time" by M. Yu. Lermontov, "Russian Nights" by V. F. Odoevsky).

Naturalism

Naturalism (from the Latin natura - “nature”) is a literary movement that developed in the last third of the 19th century in Europe and the USA.

Characteristics of naturalism:

1. The desire for an objective, accurate and dispassionate depiction of reality and human character, determined by physiological nature and environment, understood primarily as the immediate everyday and material environment, but not excluding socio-historical factors. The main task of naturalists was to study society with the same completeness with which a natural scientist studies nature; artistic knowledge was likened to scientific knowledge.
2. A work of art was considered as a “human document”, and the main aesthetic criterion was the completeness of the cognitive act carried out in it.
3. Naturalists refused to moralize, believing that reality depicted with scientific impartiality was in itself quite expressive. They believed that literature, like science, has no right in choosing material, that there are no unsuitable plots or unworthy topics for a writer. Hence, plotlessness and social indifference often arose in the works of naturalists.

Naturalism received particular development in France - for example, naturalism includes the work of such writers as G. Flaubert, the brothers E. and J. Goncourt, E. Zola (who developed the theory of naturalism).

In Russia, naturalism was not widespread; it played only a certain role at the initial stage of the development of Russian realism. Naturalistic tendencies can be traced among the writers of the so-called “natural school” (see below) - V. I. Dal, I. I. Panaev and others.

Realism

Realism (from the late Latin realis - material, real) is a literary and artistic movement of the 19th-20th centuries. It originates in the Renaissance (the so-called “Renaissance realism”) or in the Enlightenment (“Enlightenment realism”). Features of realism are noted in ancient and medieval folklore and ancient literature.

Main features of realism:

1. The artist depicts life in images that correspond to the essence of the phenomena of life itself.
2. Literature in realism is a means of a person’s knowledge of himself and the world around him.
3. Knowledge of reality occurs with the help of images created through typification of facts of reality (“typical characters in a typical setting”). Typification of characters in realism is carried out through the “truthfulness of details” in the “specifics” of the characters’ conditions of existence.
4. Realistic art is life-affirming art, even with a tragic resolution to the conflict. The philosophical basis for this is Gnosticism, the belief in knowability and an adequate reflection of the surrounding world, in contrast, for example, to romanticism.
5. Realistic art is characterized by the desire to consider reality in development, the ability to detect and capture the emergence and development of new forms of life and social relations, new psychological and social types.

Realism as a literary movement was formed in the 30s of the 19th century. The immediate predecessor of realism in European literature was romanticism. Having made the unusual the subject of the image, creating an imaginary world of special circumstances and exceptional passions, he (romanticism) at the same time showed a personality that was richer in mental and emotional terms, more complex and contradictory than was available to classicism, sentimentalism and other movements of previous eras. Therefore, realism developed not as an antagonist of romanticism, but as its ally in the fight against idealization public relations, for the national-historical originality of artistic images (color of place and time). It is not always easy to draw clear boundaries between romanticism and realism of the first half of the 19th century; in the works of many writers, romantic and realistic features merged - for example, the works of O. Balzac, Stendhal, V. Hugo, and partly Charles Dickens. In Russian literature, this was especially clearly reflected in the works of A. S. Pushkin and M. Yu. Lermontov (the southern poems of Pushkin and “Hero of Our Time” by Lermontov).

In Russia, where the foundations of realism were already in the 1820-30s. laid down by the work of A. S. Pushkin (“Eugene Onegin”, “Boris Godunov”, “The Captain’s Daughter”, late lyrics), as well as some other writers (“Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboedov, fables by I. A. Krylov ), this stage is associated with the names of I. A. Goncharov, I. S. Turgenev, N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Ostrovsky and others. Realism of the 19th century is usually called “critical”, since the defining principle in it was precisely social-critical. Heightened social-critical pathos is one of the main distinctive features Russian realism - for example, “The Inspector General”, “ Dead souls"N.V. Gogol, the activities of writers of the “natural school.” Realism of the 2nd half of the 19th century reached its peak precisely in Russian literature, especially in the works of L.N. Tolstoy and F.M. Dostoevsky, who became central figures in the world literary process at the end of the 19th century. They enriched world literature new principles for constructing a socio-psychological novel, philosophical and moral issues, new ways of revealing the human psyche in its deep layers.