Classicism- artistic style and aesthetic direction in European art of the 17th-19th centuries.
Classicism is based on the ideas of rationalism, which were formed simultaneously with the same ideas in the philosophy of Descartes. A work of art, from the point of view of classicism, should be built on the basis of strict canons, thereby revealing the harmony and logic of the universe itself. Of interest to classicism is only the eternal, the unchangeable - in each phenomenon it strives to recognize only essential, typological features, discarding random individual characteristics. The aesthetics of classicism attaches great importance to the social and educational function of art. Classicism takes many rules and canons from ancient art (Aristotle, Horace).
Classicism establishes a strict hierarchy of genres, which are divided into high (ode, tragedy, epic) and low (comedy, satire, fable). Each genre has strictly defined characteristics, the mixing of which is not allowed.
How a certain direction was formed in France, in the 17th century. French classicism affirmed the personality of man as the highest value of existence, freeing him from religious and church influence. Russian classicism not only adopted Western European theory, but also enriched it with national characteristics.
The founder of the poetics of classicism is the Frenchman Francois Malherbe (1555-1628), who carried out a reform of the French language and verse and developed poetic canons. The leading representatives of classicism in drama were the tragedians Corneille and Racine (1639-1699), whose main subject of creativity was the conflict between public duty and personal passions. “Low” genres also achieved high development: fable (J. Lafontaine), satire (Boileau), comedy (Molière 1622-1673).
Boileau became famous throughout Europe as the “legislator of Parnassus,” the largest theorist of classicism, who expressed his views in the poetic treatise “ Poetic art" Under his influence in Great Britain were the poets John Dryden and Alexander Pope, who made alexandrines the main form of English poetry. English prose of the classical era (Addison, Swift) is also characterized by a Latinized syntax.
Classicism of the 18th century developed under the influence of the ideas of the Enlightenment. The work of Voltaire (1694-1778) is directed against religious fanaticism, absolutist oppression, and is filled with the pathos of freedom. The goal of creativity is to change the world for the better, to build society itself in accordance with the laws of classicism. From the standpoint of classicism, the Englishman Samuel Johnson reviewed contemporary literature, around whom a brilliant circle of like-minded people formed, including the essayist Boswell, the historian Gibbon and the actor Garrick.
In Russia, classicism originated in the 18th century, after the reforms of Peter I. Lomonosov carried out a reform of Russian verse, developed the theory of “three calms”, which was essentially an adaptation of French classical rules to the Russian language. The images in classicism are devoid of individual features, since they are designed primarily to capture stable generic characteristics that do not pass over time, acting as the embodiment of any social or spiritual forces.
Classicism in Russia developed under the great influence of the Enlightenment - the ideas of equality and justice have always been the focus of attention of Russian classic writers. Therefore, in Russian classicism, genres that require the author’s obligatory assessment of historical reality have received great development: comedy (D. I. Fonvizin), satire (A. D. Kantemir), fable (A. P. Sumarokov, I. I. Khemnitser), ode (Lomonosov, G. R. Derzhavin).
In connection with Rousseau’s proclaimed call for closeness to nature and naturalness, crisis phenomena were growing in classicism at the end of the 18th century; The absolutization of reason is replaced by the cult of tender feelings - sentimentalism. The transition from classicism to pre-romanticism was most clearly reflected in German literature the era of “Storm and Drang”, represented by the names of I. V. Goethe (1749-1832) and F. Schiller (1759-1805), who, following Rousseau, saw art main force human upbringing.
The main features of Russian classicism:
1. Appeal to the images and forms of ancient art.
2. Heroes are clearly divided into positive and negative.
3. The plot is usually based on a love triangle: the heroine - the hero-lover, the second lover.
4. At the end of a classic comedy, vice is always punished and good triumphs.
5. The principle of three unities: time (the action lasts no more than a day), place, action.
Romanticism as a literary movement.
Romanticism (French romantisme) is a phenomenon European culture in the 18th-19th centuries, representing a reaction to the Enlightenment and the scientific and technological progress stimulated by it; ideological and artistic direction in European and American culture of the late 18th century - the first half of the 19th century century. It is characterized by an affirmation of the intrinsic value of the spiritual and creative life of the individual, the depiction of strong (often rebellious) passions and characters, spiritualized and healing nature.
Romanticism first arose in Germany, among writers and philosophers of the Jena school (W. G. Wackenroder, Ludwig Tieck, Novalis, brothers F. and A. Schlegel). The philosophy of romanticism was systematized in the works of F. Schlegel and F. Schelling. In further development German romanticism distinguished by an interest in fairy-tale and mythological motifs, which was especially clearly expressed in the works of the brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, and Hoffmann. Heine, starting his work within the framework of romanticism, later subjected it to critical revision.
In England it is largely due to German influence. In England, its first representatives are the poets of the “Lake School”, Wordsworth and Coleridge. They installed theoretical foundations his direction, having become acquainted with the philosophy of Schelling and the views of the first German romantics during a trip to Germany. English romanticism is characterized by an interest in social problems: They contrast modern bourgeois society with old, pre-bourgeois relations, the glorification of nature, simple, natural feelings.
A prominent representative of English romanticism is Byron, who, according to Pushkin, “clothed himself in dull romanticism and hopeless egoism.” His work is imbued with the pathos of struggle and protest against the modern world, glorifying freedom and individualism.
Romanticism became widespread in other European countries, for example, in France (Chateaubriand, J.Stal, Lamartine, Victor Hugo, Alfred de Vigny, Prosper Mérimée, George Sand), Italy (N. U. Foscolo, A. Manzoni, Leopardi), Poland (Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki , Zygmunt Krasiński, Cyprian Norwid) and in the USA (Washington Irving, Fenimore Cooper, W. C. Bryant, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Longfellow, Herman Melville).
It is usually believed that in Russia romanticism appears in the poetry of V. A. Zhukovsky (although some Russian poetic works of the 1790-1800s are often attributed to the pre-romantic movement that developed from sentimentalism). In Russian romanticism, freedom from classical conventions appears, a ballad is created, romantic drama. A new idea is being established about the essence and meaning of poetry, which is recognized as an independent sphere of life, an expression of the highest, ideal aspirations of man; the old view, according to which poetry seemed to be empty fun, something completely serviceable, turns out to be no longer possible.
The early poetry of A. S. Pushkin also developed within the framework of romanticism. The poetry of M. Yu. Lermontov, the “Russian Byron,” can be considered the pinnacle of Russian romanticism. Philosophical lyrics F.I. Tyutchev is both the completion and overcoming of romanticism in Russia.
Heroes are bright, exceptional individuals in unusual circumstances. Romanticism is characterized by impulse, extraordinary complexity, and the inner depth of human individuality. Denial of artistic authorities. There are no genre barriers or stylistic distinctions. Only the desire for complete freedom of creative imagination. For example, we can cite the greatest French poet and the writer Victor Hugo and his worldwide famous novel"Notre Dame Cathedral"
Classicism (from Latin classicus - exemplary) - artistic style European art XVII-XIX centuries, one of the most important features of which was the appeal to ancient art as the highest model and reliance on the traditions of the High Renaissance. The art of classicism reflected the ideas of the harmonious structure of society, but in many ways lost them in comparison with the culture of the Renaissance. Conflicts between personality and society, ideal and reality, feelings and reason testify to the complexity of the art of classicism. The artistic forms of classicism are characterized by strict organization, balance, clarity and harmony of images.
Classicism is associated with the Enlightenment and was based on the ideas of philosophical rationalism, on ideas about the rational laws of the world. In accordance with the sublime ethical ideas and educational program of art, the aesthetics of classicism established a hierarchy of genres - “high” (tragedy, epic, ode, history, mythology, religious painting, etc.) and “low” (comedy, satire, fable, conversation piece etc.). In literature (tragedies by P. Corneille, J. Racine, Voltaire, comedies by Molière, the poem “The Art of Poetry” and satires by N. Boileau, fables by J. Lafontaine, prose by F. La Rochefoucauld, J. Labruyère in France, works of the Weimar period by I.V. . Goethe and F. Schiller in Germany, odes of M.V. Lomonosov and G.R. Derzhavin, tragedies of A.P. Sumarokov and Ya.B. Knyazhnin in Russia) significant ethical conflicts and normative typified images play a leading role. For theatrical art (Mondori, Duparc, M. Chanmele, A.L. Leken, F.J. Talma, Rachel in France, F.C. Neuber in Germany, F.G. Volkov, I.A. Dmitrevsky in Russia) Characterized by a solemn, static structure of performances and measured reading of poetry.
The main features of Russian classicism: appeal to the images and forms of ancient art; heroes are clearly divided into positive and negative; the plot is based, as a rule, on a love triangle: the heroine is the hero-lover, the second lover; at the end of the classical comedy, vice is always punished, and good triumphs; the principle of three unities: time (the action lasts no more than a day), place, action. For example, we can cite Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor.” In this comedy, Fonvizin tries to implement the main idea of classicism - to re-educate the world with a reasonable word. Positive heroes talk a lot about morality, life at court, and the duty of a nobleman. Negative characters become an illustration of inappropriate behavior. Behind the clash of personal interests one can see public positions heroes.
Classicism is based on the ideas of rationalism coming from the philosophy of Descartes. A work of art, from the point of view of classicism, should be built on the basis of strict canons, thereby revealing the harmony and logic of the universe itself. Of interest to classicism is only the eternal, the unchangeable - in each phenomenon it strives to recognize only essential, typological features, discarding random individual characteristics. The aesthetics of classicism attaches great importance to the social and educational function of art. Classicism takes many rules and canons from ancient art (Aristotle, Horace).
Among artistic styles, classicism, which became widespread in the advanced countries of the world in the period from the 17th to the beginning of the 19th century, is of no small importance. He became the heir to the ideas of the Enlightenment and manifested himself in almost all types of European and Russian art. He often came into conflict with the Baroque, especially during its formation in France.
Each country has its own age of classicism. It first developed in France - back in the 17th century, and a little later - in England and Holland. In Germany and Russia, the direction was established closer to the middle of the 18th century, when the time of neoclassicism had already begun in other countries. But this is not so significant. Another thing is more important: this direction became the first serious system in the field of culture, which laid the foundation for its further development.
What is classicism as a movement?
The name comes from the Latin word classicus, which means “exemplary”. The main principle was manifested in the appeal to the traditions of antiquity. They were perceived as the norm to which one should strive. The authors of the works were attracted by such qualities as simplicity and clarity of form, conciseness, rigor and harmony in everything. This applied to any works created during the period of classicism: literary, musical, pictorial, architectural. Each creator sought to find his place for everything, clear and strictly defined.
Main features of classicism
All types of art were characterized by following features that help you understand what classicism is:
- a rational approach to the image and the exclusion of everything related to sensuality;
- the main purpose of a person is to serve the state;
- strict canons in everything;
- an established hierarchy of genres, the mixing of which is unacceptable.
Concretization of artistic features
Analysis of individual types of art helps to understand how the style of “classicism” was embodied in each of them.
How classicism was realized in literature
In this type of art, classicism was defined as a special direction in which the desire to re-educate with words was clearly expressed. The authors of works of art believed in a happy future where justice, freedom of all citizens, and equality would prevail. It meant, first of all, liberation from all types of oppression, including religious and monarchical. Classicism in literature certainly required compliance with three unities: action (no more than one storyline), time (all events fit within a day), place (there was no movement in space). More recognition in this style was given to J. Molière, Voltaire (France), L. Gibbon (England), M. Twain, D. Fonvizin, M. Lomonosov (Russia).
Development of classicism in Russia
The new artistic direction established itself in Russian art later than in other countries - closer to the middle of the 18th century - and occupied a leading position until the first third of the 19th century. Russian classicism, unlike Western European classicism, relied more on national traditions. This is where his originality manifested itself.
Initially it came to architecture, where it reached its greatest heights. This was due to construction new capital and the growth of Russian cities. The achievement of the architects was the creation of majestic palaces, comfortable residential buildings, and country estates of the nobility. The creation of architectural ensembles in the city center, which fully make it clear what classicism is, deserves special attention. These are, for example, the buildings of Tsarskoe Selo (A. Rinaldi), the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (I. Starov), the Spit of Vasilievsky Island (J. de Thomon) in St. Petersburg and many others.
The pinnacle of the architects’ work can be called the construction of the Marble Palace according to the design of A. Rinaldi, in the decoration of which natural stone was used for the first time.
No less famous is Petrodvorets (A. Schlüter, V. Rastrelli), which is an example of landscape art. Numerous buildings, fountains, sculptures, the layout itself - everything amazes with its proportionality and cleanliness of execution.
Literary direction in Russia
The development of classicism in Russian literature deserves special attention. Its founders were V. Trediakovsky, A. Kantemir, A. Sumarokov.
However, the greatest contribution to the development of the concept of what classicism is was made by the poet and scientist M. Lomonosov. He developed a system of three styles, which determined the requirements for writing works of art, and created a model of a solemn message - an ode, which was most popular in the literature of the second half of the 18th century.
The traditions of classicism were fully manifested in the plays of D. Fonvizin, especially in the comedy “The Minor.” In addition to the mandatory observance of the three unities and the cult of reason, the features of Russian comedy include the following points:
- a clear division of heroes into negative and positive and the presence of a reasoner expressing the position of the author;
- the presence of a love triangle;
- the punishment of vice and the triumph of good in the finale.
Works of the era of classicism in general became the most important component in the development of world art.
What is Classicism?
Classicism is an artistic movement that developed in European literature of the 17th century, which is based on the recognition of ancient art as the highest example, ideal, and the works of antiquity as the artistic norm. Aesthetics are based on the principle of rationalism and “imitation of nature.” Cult of the mind. A work of art is organized as an artificial, logically constructed whole. Strict plot and compositional organization, schematism. Human characters are depicted in a straightforward manner; positive and negative heroes are opposed. Actively addressing social and civil issues. Emphasized objectivity of the narrative. Strict hierarchy of genres. High: tragedy, epic, ode. Low: comedy, satire, fable. Mixing high and low genres is not allowed. The leading genre is tragedy.
Classicism entered the history of literature as a concept at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Its main features were determined in accordance with the dramatic theory of the 17th century and with the main ideas of N. Boileau's treatise Poetic Art (1674). Classicism was considered as a movement oriented towards ancient art. The definition of classicism emphasized, first of all, the desire for clarity and precision of expression, comparison to ancient models and strict adherence to rules. In the era of classicism, the principles of three unities were mandatory (unity of time, unity of place, unity of action), which became a symbol for the three rules defining the organization of artistic time, artistic space and events in drama. Classicism owes its longevity to the fact that the writers of this movement understood their own creativity not as a way of personal self-expression, but as the norm of true art, addressed to the universal, unchangeable, to beautiful nature as a permanent category. Strict selection, harmony of composition, a set of specific themes, motives, the material of reality, which became the object of artistic reflection in the word, were for classic writers an attempt to aesthetically overcome the contradictions of real life. The poetry of classicism strives for clarity of meaning and simplicity of stylistic expression. Although in classicism such prose genres, like aphorisms (maxims) and characters, have a special meaning in it dramatic works and the theater itself, capable of brightly and organically performing both moralizing and entertaining functions.
The collective aesthetic norm of classicism is the category of good taste, developed by the so-called good society. The taste of classicism prefers brevity to verbosity, pretentiousness and complexity of expression - clarity and simplicity, extravagant - decency. The basic law of classicism is artistic verisimilitude, which depicts things and people as they should be according to moral standards, and not as they are in reality. Characters in classicism are built on the identification of one dominant trait, which should turn them into universal human types.
The requirements put forward by classicism for simplicity and clarity of style, semantic content of images, a sense of proportion and norms in the construction, plot and plot of works still retain their aesthetic relevance.
Classicism(from lat. classicus– exemplary), like the Baroque, turned out to be a phenomenon on a pan-European scale. The poetics of classicism began to take shape during the late Renaissance in Italy. On the threshold of classicism stands the tragedy of the Italian playwright G. Trissino “Sofonisba” (1515), written in imitation of ancient tragedians. It outlined features that later became characteristic of classicist drama - a logically structured plot, reliance on the word rather than on stage action, rationality and the supra-individual character of the characters. The “Poetics” (1561) of the Italian J. Ts. Scaliger, which successfully anticipated the taste of the next century, the century of logic and reason, had a significant influence on the formation of classicism in European countries. And yet, the formation of classicism lasted for a whole century, and as an integral artistic system, classicism initially developed in France to mid-17th century century.
The development of classicism in France is closely connected with the establishment and flourishing of centralized royal power ( absolute monarchy). Single-power statehood limited the rights of the willful feudal aristocracy, sought to legislatively define and regulate the relationship between the individual and the state, and clearly distinguish between the spheres of private and personal life. The spirit of regulation and discipline extends to the sphere of literature and art, determining their content and formal characteristics. In order to control literary life, the French Academy was created on the initiative of the first minister, Cardinal Richelieu, and the cardinal himself repeatedly intervened in literary disputes in the 1630s.
The canons of classicism took shape in sharp polemics with precision literature, as well as with Spanish playwrights (Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina). The latter ridiculed, in particular, the demand for the unity of time. (“As for your 24 hours, what could be more absurd, that love, starting in the middle of the day, would end in the evening with a wedding!”) Continuing certain traditions of the Renaissance (admiration for antiquity, faith in reason, the ideal of harmony and moderation), classicism was the Renaissance and a kind of antithesis, which made it similar, despite all their deep differences, with the Baroque.
Renaissance humanists saw the highest value in the free expression of human nature. Their hero is a harmonious personality, freed from the power of the estate corporation and unrestrained in his individualism. Humanists of the 17th century - the founders of classicism - due to the historical European experience, saw passions as a destructive, anarchic force, generated by egoism. In assessing a person, moral standards (virtues) now receive priority. The main content of creativity in classicism is the contradictions between the natural nature of man and civic duty, between his passions and reason, which gave rise to tragic conflicts.
The classicists saw the purpose of art in the knowledge of truth, which acts for them as the ideal of beauty. The classicists put forward a method for achieving it, based on three central categories of their aesthetics: reason, model and taste (these same concepts also became objective criteria of artistry). To create a great work, according to classicists, it is necessary to follow the dictates of reason, relying on “exemplary”, i.e. classical, works of antiquity (antiquity) and guided by the rules of good taste (“good taste” is the supreme judge of “beautiful”). Thus, classicists introduce elements of scientific activity into artistic creativity.
The principles of classicist poetics and aesthetics are determined by the system of philosophical views of the era, which are based on the rationalism of Descartes. For him, reason is the highest criterion of truth. Using a rational-analytical method, one can penetrate into the ideal essence and purpose of any object or phenomenon, comprehend the eternal and unchanging laws that underlie the world order, and therefore the basis of artistic creativity.
Rationalism helped overcome religious prejudices and medieval scholasticism, but it also had its own weak side. Peace in this philosophical system was considered from a metaphysical position - as unchanging and motionless.
This concept convinced classicists that the aesthetic ideal is eternal and unchanged at all times, but it was embodied with the greatest completeness and perfection in the art of antiquity. In order to reproduce this ideal, it is necessary to turn to ancient art and thoroughly study its rules and laws. At the same time, accordingly political ideals XVII century, special attention attracted the art of imperial Rome (the era of concentration of power in the hands of one person - the emperor), the poetry of the "golden age" - the work of Virgil, Ovid, Horace. In addition to Aristotle’s “Poetics,” N. Boileau relied on Horace’s “Epistle to the Piso” in his poetic treatise “Poetic Art” (1674), bringing together and generalizing the theoretical principles of classicism, summing up artistic practice their predecessors and contemporaries.
Trying to recreate the world of antiquity ("ennobled" and "corrected"), classicists borrow from it only "clothes." Although Boileau, addressing contemporary writers, writes:
And you need to study the customs of countries and years.
After all, the climate cannot but influence people.
But beware of being saturated in vulgar bad taste
With the French spirit of Rome... –
it is nothing more than a declaration. In the literary practice of classicism, people of the 17th–18th centuries are hidden under the names of ancient heroes, and ancient plots reveal the formulation, first of all, of the most pressing problems of our time. Classicism is fundamentally ahistorical, since it is guided by the “eternal and unchanging” laws of reason.
Classicists proclaim the principle of imitation of nature, but at the same time they do not at all strive to reproduce reality in its entirety. They are interested not in what is, but in what should be according to the ideas of their mind. Everything that does not correspond to the model and “good taste” is expelled from art and declared “indecent.” In cases where it is necessary to reproduce the ugly, it is aesthetically transformed:
Incarnated in art, both monster and reptile
We are still pleased with the wary look:
The artist's brush shows us transformation
Abominable objects into objects of admiration...
Another key problem of classicist poetics is the problem of truth and verisimilitude. Should a writer depict exceptional phenomena, incredible, out of the ordinary, but recorded by history (“truth”), or create images and situations that are fictitious, but consistent with the logic of things and the requirements of reason (i.e., “plausible”)? Boileau gives preference to the second group of phenomena:
Don’t torment us with the incredible, disturbing the mind:
And the truth sometimes doesn’t look like the truth.
I will not be delighted with wonderful nonsense:
The mind does not care about what it does not believe.
The concept of verisimilitude also underlies the classical character: the tragic hero cannot be “petty and insignificant”,
But still, without weaknesses, his character is false.
Achilles captivates us with his ardor,
But if he cries, I love him more.
After all, in these little things nature comes to life,
And truly, the picture amazes our minds.
(N. Boileau, "Poetic Art")
Boileau is close to the position of J. Racine, who, relying on Aristotle’s “Poetics,” in the preface to the tragedy “Andromache,” wrote about his heroes that “they should be average people in their spiritual qualities, in other words, to have virtue, but to be subject to weaknesses, and misfortunes must befall them as a result of some error, capable of arousing pity for them, and not disgust.
Not all classicists shared this concept. The founder of French classic tragedy, P. Corneille, gravitated toward creating exceptional characters. His heroes do not bring tears to the audience's eyes, but evoke undeniable admiration for their resilience and heroism. In the preface to his tragedy “Nycomède,” Corneille declared: “Tenderness and passions, which should be the soul of tragedy, have no place here: only heroic greatness reigns here, casting a glance at one’s sorrows filled with such contempt that it does not allow them to be torn from the heart.” the hero does not have a single complaint. It faces treacherous politics and opposes it only with noble prudence, walking with an open visor, it foresees danger without a shudder and does not expect help from anyone except from its valor and love...” Corneille motivates the persuasiveness of those created. he images with the concept of vital truth and historical authenticity: “The story that gave me the opportunity to demonstrate the highest degree of this greatness was taken by me from Justin.”
The cult of reason among the classicists also determines the principles of character creation - one of the central aesthetic categories of classicism. For classicists, character does not imply a set of individual traits of a particular person, but embodies a certain general and at the same time eternal structure of human nature and psychology. Only in the aspect of the eternal, unchanging and universal human character became the object of artistic study of classicist art.
Following the theorists of antiquity - Aristotle and Horace - Boileau believed that “art” should preserve “for everyone his special feelings.” These “special feelings” determine the psychological make-up of a person, making one a vulgar dandy, another a miser, a third a spendthrift, etc. Character was thus reduced to one dominant trait. Pushkin also noted that in Molière the hypocrite Tartuffe even “asks for a glass of water, the hypocrite,” and the miser Harpagon “is stingy and nothing more.” There is no point in looking for greater psychological content in them. When Harpagon explains himself to his beloved, he behaves like a miser, and with his children he behaves like a miser. “There is only one paint, but it is applied thicker and thicker and, finally, brings the image to everyday, psychological implausibility.” This principle of typification led to a sharp division of heroes into positive, virtuous and negative, vicious.
The characters in tragedies are also determined by one leading trait. The unilinearity of Corneille's heroes emphasizes their integrity, which substantiates the “core” of their character. It is more difficult for Racine: the passion that defines the character of his characters is itself contradictory (usually it is love). The exhaustion of the entire gamut of psychological shades of passion is the method of Racine’s characterization - a method, like Corneille’s, deeply rationalistic.
Embodying generic, “eternal” traits in his character, the classicist artist himself sought to speak not from his special, uniquely individual “I”, but from the position of a statesman. That is why “objective” genres predominate in classicism - primarily dramatic, and among lyrical genres those predominate where an orientation toward the impersonal, the universally significant (ode, satire, fable) is obligatory.
The normativity and rationality of classicist aesthetics are also manifested in the strict hierarchy of genres. There are “high” genres – tragedy, epic, ode. Their sphere is public life, historical events, mythology; their heroes are monarchs, generals, historical and mythological figures. This choice tragic heroes was determined not so much by the tastes and influence of the court, but by the measure of moral responsibility of those people who were entrusted with the fate of the state.
“High” genres are contrasted with “low” genres - comedy, satire, fable - addressed to the sphere of private everyday life of nobles and townspeople. An intermediate place is given to “middle” genres - elegy, idyll, epistle, sonnet, song. Depicting the inner world of an individual, these genres did not occupy any noticeable place in the heyday of classic literature, imbued with high civic ideals. literary process. The time for these genres will come later: they will have a significant impact on the development of literature in the era of the crisis of classicism.
Prose, especially fiction, is valued by classicists much lower than poetry. “Love thought in verse,” Boileau exclaims at the beginning of his treatise and “raises to Parnassus” only poetic genres. Those prose genres that are primarily of an informational nature - sermons, memoirs, letters - are becoming widespread. At the same time, scientific, philosophical and epistolary prose, becoming public domain in the era of the cult of science, acquires the features of a truly literary work and already has value not only scientific or historical, but also aesthetic ("Letters of a Provincial" and "Thoughts" by B. Pascal, " Maxims, or Moral Reflections" by F. de La Rochefoucauld, "Characters" by J. de La Bruyère, etc.).
Each genre in classicism 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 is allowed: what is allowed in satire is excluded in tragedy, what is good in comedy is unacceptable in epic. A “peculiar law of style unity” reigns here (G. Gukovsky) - each genre unit has its own strict formal style canon. Mixed genres, for example, tragicomedy, which was very popular in the first half of the 17th century, are being pushed out of the boundaries of “real literature.” “From now on, only the entire system of genres is capable of expressing the diversity of life.”
The rationalistic approach also determined the attitude towards poetic form:
You learn to think, then write.
Speech follows the thought; clearer or darker
And the phrase is modeled after the idea;
What is clearly understood will be clearly heard,
And the exact word will come immediately.
(N. Boileau, "Poetic Art")
Each work must be strictly thought out, the composition must be logically structured, the individual parts must be proportionate and indissoluble, the style must be clear to the point of transparency, the language must be laconic and precise. The concept of measure, proportion, symmetry is inherent not only in literature, but also in all artistic culture classicism - architecture, painting, landscape art. Both scientific and artistic thinking of the era has a pronounced mathematical character.
In architecture, public buildings that express the idea of statehood are beginning to set the tone. The basis of planning schemes are regular geometric shapes (square, triangle, circle). Classicist architects mastered the construction of a huge complex consisting of a palace and a park. They become capable of detailed, mathematically verified compositions. In France, new trends were first fully embodied in the grandiose ensemble of Versailles (1661–1689, architects L. Levo, A. Le Nôtre, J. Hardouin-Mansart, etc.).
The paintings of the classicists are also distinguished by clarity, logic, and compositional harmony. N. Poussin, the creator and head of French classicism in painting, chose subjects that gave the mind food for thought, cultivated virtue in a person and taught him wisdom. He found these stories primarily in ancient mythology and legendary history Rome. His paintings “The Death of Germanicus” (1627), “The Capture of Jerusalem” (1628), and “The Rape of the Sabine Women” (1633) are dedicated to the depiction of “heroic and unusual actions.” The composition of these paintings is strictly ordered; it resembles the composition of ancient bas-reliefs (the characters are located in a shallow space, divided into a number of plans). Poussin, almost sculpturally, clearly draws the volumes of the figures, carefully verifies their anatomical structure, and arranges their clothes in classic folds. The distribution of colors in the painting is also subject to the same strict harmony.
Strict laws also reigned in verbal art. These laws were established especially strictly for high genres, expressed in the obligatory poetic form. Thus, tragedy, like epic, must necessarily be presented in majestic Alexandrian verse. The plot of the tragedy, historical or mythological, was taken from ancient times and was usually known to the viewer (later the classicists began to draw material for their tragedies from eastern history, and Russian classicists preferred subjects from their own national history). The familiarity of the plot tuned the viewer not to perceive a complex and intricate intrigue, but to analyze the emotional experiences and opposing aspirations of the characters. According to the definition of G. A. Gukovsky, “classical tragedy is not a drama of action, but a drama of conversation; the classical poet is not interested in facts, but in analysis directly formed in the word.”
The laws of formal logic determined the structure of dramatic genres, primarily tragedy, which was supposed to consist of five acts. Comedies could also be three-act (one-act comedies would appear in the 18th century), but in no case four or two acts. The classicists elevated the principle of three unities - place, action and time, formulated in the treatises of G. Trissino and Y. Scaliger, based on Aristotle's Poetics, into an indisputable law for dramatic genres. According to the rule of unity of place, the entire action of the play must take place in one place - a palace, a house, or even a room. The unity of time required that the entire action of the play fit into no more than a day, and the more it corresponded to the performance time - three hours - the better it was. Finally, unity of action implied that the events depicted in the play should have their own beginning, development and end. In addition, the play should not contain “extra” episodes or characters that are not directly related to the development of the main plot. Otherwise, the theorists of classicism believed, the diversity of impressions prevented the viewer from perceiving the “reasonable basis” of life.
The requirement of three unities radically changed the structure of drama, as it forced playwrights to depict not the entire system of events (as was the case, for example, in the medieval mystery play), but only the episode that completes this or that event. The events themselves were “taken off stage” and could cover a large period of time, but they were retrospective in nature, and the viewer learned about them from the monologues and dialogues of the characters.
At first, the three unities were not formal. The underlying principle of verisimilitude, the fundamental principle of classicism, was formed in the struggle with the traditions of medieval theater, with its plays, the action of which sometimes stretched over several days, involving hundreds of performers, and the plot was filled with all sorts of miracles and naive naturalistic effects. But, elevating the principle of three unities into an unshakable rule, the classicists did not take into account the peculiarities of the subjective perception of art, which allows for artistic illusion, the non-identity of the artistic image with the reproduced object. The romantics, who discovered the “subjectivity” of the viewer, will begin their assault on the classical theater by overthrowing the rule of three unities.
The genre aroused particular interest on the part of writers and theorists of classicism. epics, or heroic poem, which Boileau placed even above tragedy. Only in the epic, according to Boileau, did the poet “gain space/to captivate our mind and gaze with lofty invention.” Classical poets are attracted to the epic by a special heroic theme based on the most important events of the past, and by heroes exceptional in their qualities, and by the manner of narrating events, which Boileau formulated as follows:
Let your story be dynamic, clear, concise,
And in the descriptions it is both magnificent and rich.
As in tragedy, a moral and didactic attitude is important in epic. Depicting heroic times, the epic, according to V. Trediakovsky, gives “firm instruction to the human race, teaching this to love virtue” (“Prediction of the Heroic Poem”, 1766).
In the artistic structure of the epic, Boileau assigns a decisive role to fiction (“Putting myth as the basis, it lives by fiction...”). Boileau’s attitude towards ancient and Christian mythology is consistently rationalistic - ancient myth attracts him with the transparency of the allegory, which does not contradict reason. Christian miracles cannot be the subject of aesthetic embodiment; moreover, according to Boileau, their use in poetry can compromise religious dogmas (“Christ’s sacraments are not used for fun”). In characterizing the epic, Boileau relies on ancient epic, primarily Virgil's Aeneid.
Criticizing the "Christian epic" of T. Tasso ("Jerusalem Liberated"), Boileau also opposes the national heroic epic based on material from the early Middle Ages ("Alaric" by J. Scuderi, "The Virgin" by J. Chaplin). The classicist Boileau does not accept the Middle Ages as an era of “barbarism,” which means that subjects taken from this era cannot have aesthetic and didactic value for him.
The principles of the epic formulated by Boileau, oriented towards Homer and Virgil, did not receive full and comprehensive implementation in literature XVII century. This genre has already outlived its usefulness, and I. G. Herder, the theorist of the literary movement in Germany “Storm and Drang” (70s of the 18th century), from the position of historicism explained the impossibility of its resurrection (he is talking about the ancient epic) : "The epic belongs to the childhood of mankind." IN XVIII century attempts to create a heroic epic based on national material within the framework of the classicist artistic system were all the more unsuccessful (Voltaire’s “Henriada”, 1728; “Rossiyada” by M. Kheraskov, 1779).
Ode, one of the main genres of classicism, also has a strict form. Its obligatory feature is “lyrical disorder,” which presupposes the free development of poetic thought:
Let Odes stormy style rush at random:
Her outfit is beautiful with its beautiful wrinkles.
Away from the timid rhymers, whose minds are phlegmatic
Dogmatic order is maintained in the passions themselves...
(N. Boileau, "Poetic Art")
And yet, this “dogmatic order” was strictly observed. The ode, like an oratorical speech, consisted of three parts: an “attack,” that is, an introduction to the topic, a discussion where this topic was developed, and an energetic, emotional conclusion. “Lyrical disorder” is purely external in nature: moving from one thought to another, introducing lyrical digressions, the poet subordinated the construction of the ode to the development of the main idea. The lyricism of the ode is not individual, but, so to speak, collective, it expresses “the aspirations and aspirations of the entire state organism” (G. Gukovsky).
In contrast to the “high” tragedy and epic, the classic “low genres” - comedy and satire - are applied to modern everyday life. The purpose of comedy is to educate, ridiculing shortcomings, “to rule the temper with mockery;/To make people laugh and to use its direct rules” (A. Sumarokov). Classicism rejected pamphleteering (i.e., directed against specific individuals) satirical comedy Aristophanes. The comedian is interested in universal human vices in their everyday manifestations - laziness, wastefulness, stinginess, etc. But this does not mean that classic comedy is devoid of social content. Classicism is characterized by a clear ideological and moral-didactic orientation, and therefore the appeal to socially significant issues gave many classic comedies a social and even topical sound ("Tartuffe", "Don Juan", "The Misanthrope" by Moliere; "The Brigadier", "The Minor" by D. Fonvizin; "Sneak" by V. Kapnist).
In his judgments about comedy, Boileau focuses on the “serious” moral comedy, presented in antiquity by Menander and Terence, and in modern times by Moliere. Boileau considers “The Misanthrope” and “Tartuffe” to be Moliere’s highest achievements, but criticizes the comedian for using the traditions of folk farce, considering them rude and vulgar (the comedy “The Tricks of Scapin”). Boileau advocates the creation of a comedy of characters as opposed to a comedy of intrigue. Later, this type of classic comedy, touching on problems of social or socio-political significance, would be assigned the definition of “high” comedy.
Satire has much in common with comedy and fable. All these genres have a common subject of depiction - human shortcomings and vices, a common emotional and artistic assessment - ridicule. At the core compositional structure satire and fable lies in the combination of the author's and narrative principles. The author of satire and fable often uses dialogue. However, unlike comedy, in satire the dialogue is not connected with action, with a system of events, and the depiction of life phenomena, unlike a fable, in satire is based on a direct rather than an allegorical image.
Being a satirical poet by his talent, Boileau in theory deviates from ancient aesthetics, which classified satire as a “low” genre. He sees satire as a socially active genre. Giving a detailed description of satire, Boileau recalls the Roman satirists Lucilius, Horace, and Persius Flaccus, who boldly exposed the vices of the powerful. But he puts Juvenal above all. And although the French theorist notes the “area” origins of the Roman poet’s satire, his authority for Boileau is indisputable:
His poems live by the terrible truth,
And yet the beauty in them sparkles here and there.
The temperament of the satirist prevailed over theoretical postulates in Boileau and in his defense of the right to personal satire, directed against specific ones, to everyone famous people(“Discourse on Satire”; it is characteristic that Boileau did not recognize satire of faces in comedy). This technique brought topical, journalistic color to classic satire. The Russian classicist-satirist A. Kantemir also widely used the technique of satire on faces, giving his “supra-individualistic” characters, personifying some kind of human vice, a portrait resemblance to his enemies.
The important contribution of classicism to further development literature was the development of a clear and harmonious language of artistic works (“What is clearly understood will sound clearly”), freed from foreign vocabulary, capable of expressing various feelings and experiences (“Anger is proud, - he needs arrogant words, / But sorrows and complaints are not so intense "), correlated with the characters and age of the characters ("So choose your language carefully: / An old man cannot speak like a young man").
The formation of classicism in both France and Russia begins with linguistic and poetic reforms. In France, this work was started by F. Malherbe, who was the first to put forward the concept of good taste as a criterion of artistic skill. Malherbe did a lot to cleanse the French language of numerous provincialisms, archaisms and the dominance of borrowed Latin and Greek words introduced into literary circulation by the poets of the Pleiades in the 16th century. Malherbe carried out a codification of the French literary language, eliminating everything random from it, focusing on the speech skills of the enlightened people of the capital, provided that literary language must be understandable to all segments of the population. Malherbe's contribution to the field of French versification was also significant. The rules of meter that he formulated (fixed place of caesura, prohibition of transfers from one poetic line to another, etc.) not only entered the poetics of French classicism, but were also adopted by the poetic theory and practice of other European countries.
In Russia, similar work was carried out a century later by M. Lomonosov. Lomonosov's theory of "three calms" eliminated diversity and disorder literary forms communication characteristic of Russian literature of the late 17th century - the first thirds of the XVIII century, streamlined literary word usage within a particular genre, determining the development of literary speech right up to Pushkin. No less important is the poetic reform of Trediakovsky-Lomonosov. By reforming versification on the basis of the syllabic-tonic system, which is organic to the Russian language, Trediakovsky and Lomonosov thereby laid the foundation of a national poetic culture.
In the 18th century, classicism experienced its second heyday. The determining influence on it, as well as on other stylistic trends, is enlightenment- an ideological movement that emerged in conditions of an acute crisis of absolutism and directed against the feudal-absolutist system and the church that supports it. The ideas of the Enlightenment are based on the philosophical concept of the Englishman J. Locke, who proposed a new model of the process of cognition, based on feeling, sensation, as the only source human knowledge about the world ("Essay on the Human Mind", 1690). Locke decisively rejected the doctrine of “innate ideas” of R. Descartes, likening the soul of a born person to a blank slate (tabula rasa), where experience writes “its own writings” throughout life.
This view of human nature led to the idea of the determining influence on the formation of personality of the social and natural environment, which makes a person good or bad. Ignorance, superstition, and prejudices generated by the feudal social order determine, in the opinion of educators, social disorder and distort the initially moral nature of man. And only general education can eliminate the discrepancy between existing social relations and the requirements of reason and human nature. Literature and art began to be seen as one of the main tools for the transformation and re-education of society.
All this determined fundamentally new features in XVIII classicism century. While maintaining the basic principles of classicist aesthetics in the art and literature of educational classicism, the understanding of the purpose and objectives of a number of genres changes significantly. The transformation of classicism in the spirit of enlightenment principles is especially clearly visible in the tragedies of Voltaire. Staying true to the core aesthetic principles classicism, Voltaire strives to influence not only the minds of the audience, but also their feelings. He is looking for new topics and new means of expression. Continuing to develop the ancient theme familiar to classicism, in his tragedies Voltaire also turns to medieval subjects (Tancred, 1760), oriental (Mahomet, 1742), and related to the conquest of the New World (Alzira, 1736). He gives a new justification for tragedy: “Tragedy is a moving painting, an animated picture, and the people depicted in it must act” (i.e., dramaturgy is thought of by Voltaire not only as the art of words, but also as the art of movement, gesture, facial expressions).
Voltaire fills the classic tragedy with acute philosophical and socio-political content associated with current problems modernity. The playwright's focus is on the fight against religious fanaticism, political tyranny and despotism. Thus, in one of his most famous tragedies, “Mohammed,” Voltaire proves that any deification of an individual personality ultimately leads to uncontrolled power over other people. Religious intolerance leads the heroes of the tragedy "Zaire" (1732) to a tragic denouement, and merciless gods and treacherous priests push weak mortals to crimes ("Oedipus", 1718). In the spirit of high social issues, Voltaire rethinks and transforms the heroic epic and ode.
During the period of the Great French Revolution (1789–1794), the classicist movement in literary life has special meaning. The classicism of this time not only generalized and assimilated the innovative features of Voltaire's tragedy, but also radically restructured the high genres. M. J. Chenier refuses to denounce despotism in general and that is why he takes as the subject of his images not only antiquity, but also Europe of modern times ("Charles IX", "Jean Calas"). The hero of Chenier's tragedies promotes the ideas of natural law, freedom and law, he is close to the people, and in the tragedy the people not only take the stage, but also act along with the main character ("Cai Gracchus", 1792). The concept of the state as a positive category, opposed to the personal, individualistic, is replaced in the minds of the playwright by the category “nation”. It is no coincidence that Chenier called his play "Charles IX" a "national tragedy."
Within the framework of classicism of the era of the French Revolution, a new type of ode was created. Preserving the classic principle of the priority of reason over reality, the revolutionary ode includes like-minded people in its world lyrical hero. The author himself no longer speaks on his own behalf, but on behalf of his fellow citizens, using the pronoun “we”. Rouget de Lisle in “La Marseillaise” pronounces revolutionary slogans as if together with his listeners, thereby encouraging them and himself to revolutionary changes.
The creator of a new type of classicism, corresponding to the spirit of the times, in painting was J. David. Together with his painting “The Oath of the Horatii” (1784), he came to French fine art new topic– civil, journalistic in its straightforward expression, new hero- Roman Republican, morally integral, putting duty to the homeland above all else, a new manner - stern and ascetic, contrasted with the refined chamber style French painting second half of the XVIII century.
Under the influence of French literature in the 18th century, national models of classicism took shape in other European countries: in England (A. Pope, J. Addison), in Italy (V. Alfieri), in Germany (I. K. Gottsched). In the 1770–1780s, such an original artistic phenomenon as “Weimar classicism” (J. W. Goethe, F. Schiller) arose in Germany. Addressing artistic forms and the traditions of antiquity, Goethe and Schiller set themselves the task of creating new literature high style as the main means aesthetic education harmonious person.
The formation and flowering of Russian classicism fell on the years 1730–1750 and took place in conditions quite similar to the French ones in the formation of an absolutist state. But, despite a number of common points in the aesthetics of Russian and French classicism (rationalism, normativity and genre regulation, abstraction and convention as the leading features of the artistic image, recognition of the role of the enlightened monarch in establishing a fair, based on the law public order), Russian classicism has its own unique national features.
The ideas of enlightenment have fueled Russian classicism from the very beginning. The affirmation of the natural equality of people leads Russian writers to the idea of the extra-class value of man. Already Cantemir, in his second satire “Filaret and Eugene” (1730), declares that “the same blood flows in both free and slaves,” and “noble” people “are shown by one virtue.” Forty years later, A. Sumarokov in his satire “On Nobility” will continue: “What is the difference between a gentleman and a peasant? Both of them are an animated lump of earth.” Fonvizinsky Starodum ("Minor", 1782) will determine the nobility of a person by the number of deeds performed for the fatherland ("without noble deeds, a noble state is nothing"), and the enlightenment of a person will be directly dependent on the cultivation of virtue in him ("The main goal of all human knowledge - good behavior").
Seeing in education “the guarantee of the well-being of the state” (D. Fonvizin) and believing in the usefulness of an enlightened monarchy, Russian classicists begin the long process of educating autocrats, reminding them of their responsibilities towards their subjects:
The gods did not make him king for his benefit;
He is a king, so that he may be a man to all people:
He must give his all to people all the time,
All your care, all your zeal for people...
(V. Trediakovsky, "Tilemakhida")
If the king does not fulfill his duties, if he is a tyrant, he must be overthrown from the throne. This can also happen through a popular uprising ("Dmitry the Pretender" by A. Sumarokov).
The main material for Russian classicists is not antiquity, but their own national history, from which they preferred to draw subjects for high genres. And instead of the abstract ideal ruler, the “philosopher on the throne”, characteristic of European classicism, Russian writers recognized a very concrete one as an exemplary sovereign, “a worker on the throne”. historical figure– Peter I.
The theoretician of Russian classicism Sumarokov, relying in his "Epistole on Poetry" (1748) on Boileau's "Poetic Art", introduces a number of new provisions into his theoretical treatise, pays tribute to recognition not only to the masters of classicism, but also to representatives of other movements. Thus, he elevates to Helicon, along with Malherbe and Racine, Camoes, Lope de Vega, Milton, Pope, the “unenlightened” Shakespeare, as well as contemporary writers - Detouches and Voltaire. Sumarokov speaks in sufficient detail about the heroic-comic poem and epistole, not mentioned by Boileau, explains in detail the features of the fable “storehouse” using the example of the fables of the bypassed Boileau Lafontaine, and dwells on the genre of song, which the French theorist mentions in passing. All this testifies not only to Sumarokov’s personal aesthetic preferences, but also to the changes that are ripening in European classicism of the 18th century.
These changes are associated primarily with the increasing interest of literature in inner life individual personality, which ultimately led to a significant restructuring of the genre structures of classicism. A typical example here is the work of G. Derzhavin. Remaining “primarily a classicist” (V. Belinsky), Derzhavin introduces a strong personal element into his poetry, thereby destroying the law of unity of style. In his poetry, formations that are complex in terms of genre appear - ode-satire ("Felitsa", 1782), anacreontic poems written on an odic plot ("Poems for the birth of a porphyry-born youth in the North", 1779), an elegy with the features of a message and an ode (" On the death of Prince Meshchersky", 1779), etc.
Giving way to new literary trends, classicism does not leave literature without a trace. The turn to sentimentalism occurs within the framework of the “average” classic genres - elegy, message, idyll. Poets early XIX century, K. Batyushkov and N. Gnedich, maintaining fundamental loyalty to the classical ideal (partly to the canon of classicism), each went their own way to romanticism. Batyushkov – from “light poetry” to psychological and historical elegy, Gnedich – to the translation of the “Iliad” and genres associated with folk art. The strict forms of Racine's classic tragedy were chosen by P. Katenin for his Andromache (1809), although as a romantic he was interested in the very spirit of ancient culture. The high civic tradition of classicism was continued in the freedom-loving lyrics of the Radishchevite poets, the Decembrists and Pushkin.