UDC 82.0
Lukov Vl. A. The Conflict in the Literary Work
Annotation♦ The article examines conflict as one of the central categories of literary criticism.
Keywords : conflict, literary criticism, literary work.
Abstract♦ The article considers the conflict as one of the central categories in literary studies.
Keywords: conflict, literary studies, literary work.
Conflict (in literary criticism), or artistic conflict, is one of the main categories that characterizes the content of a literary work (primarily dramas or works with clearly presented dramatic features).
The origin of the term is associated with the Latin word conflictus - collision, blow, struggle, fight (found in Cicero).
Conflict in a work of art is a contradiction that forms the plot, forms a system of images, the concept of the world, man and art, features of the genre, expressed in the composition, leaving an imprint on the speech and ways of describing the characters, which can determine the specific impact of the work on a person - catharsis.
In Lessing's drama theory and Hegel's aesthetics, the term “collision” was used, later supplanted by the term “conflict” (collision is considered either a plot form of manifestation of conflict, or, conversely, the most general type conflict).
Usually in works (especially in large forms) there are several conflicts that form a system of conflicts. It is based on a certain typology of conflicts, which can be open and hidden, external and internal, acute and protracted, solvable and insoluble, etc.
By the nature of pathos, conflicts can be tragic, comic, dramatic, lyrical, satirical, humorous, etc., participating in the design of the corresponding genres.
According to the plot resolution, conflicts in literary works can be military, interethnic, religious (interfaith), intergenerational, family, forming a sphere of social conflicts and thereby determining social (socio-psychological) genre generalization (for example, ancient epics: the Indian “Mahabharata”, “Iliad” » Homer; new epics and historical novels: novels by W. Scott, V. Hugo, “War and Peace” by L. N. Tolstoy; social novels in the works of O. Balzac, C. Dickens, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin; about generations: “Fathers and Sons” by I. S. Turgenev, “Teenager” by F. M. Dostoevsky; “family chronicles”: “Buddenbrooks” by T. Mann, “The Forsyte Saga” by D. Galsworthy, “The Thibaut Family” by R. Martin du Garat; genre industrial novel"in Soviet literature, etc.).
The conflict can be transferred to the sphere of feelings, defining psychological genre generalization (for example, the tragedies of J. Racine, “The Sorrows of Young Werther” by J. V. Goethe, psychological novels J. Sand, G. Maupassant, etc.).
The conflict can characterize not a system of characters, but a system of ideas, becoming philosophical, ideological and forming philosophical, ideological genre generalizations (for example, philosophical drama P. Calderona, philosophical novel and the short story by T. Mann, G. Hesse, M. A. Bulgakov, the ideological novel by N. G. Chernyshevsky “What is to be done”, the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky “Demons”, the sociological novel by A. A. Zinoviev “Global Mankind”, etc. .). Conflict is present in all types of literature, children's, "women's", detective, fantasy, as well as in documentary, biographical, journalistic, etc.
The points of development of the conflict (commencement, climax, denouement) determined the corresponding elements of the plot (where they are characterized from the content side, between them are the development and decline of the action) and composition (where they are characterized from the form side).
Some artistic systems are associated with the formulation of a cross-cutting (main) conflict. In classicism, such a conflict was the conflict between feeling and duty (first highly artistically revealed in P. Corneille’s “The Cide”, rethought in the tragedies of J. Racine, later modified in the tragedies of Voltaire, etc.). Romanticism has replaced main conflict art, articulating the conflict between ideal and reality. In the 1940-50s, the problem of conflict-free literature, the conflict between the good and the best, etc. was discussed in Soviet literary criticism. On the contrary, in modern literature (especially in “mass fiction”) the conflict is often exaggerated to enhance the external effect.
The conflict is most clearly presented in the drama. In the dramaturgy of W. Shakespeare and A. Chekhov, two poles in this regard have been identified: in Shakespeare there is an open conflict, in Chekhov there is a conflict hidden by everyday life. At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, a special form of presentation of conflict in drama was developed - “discussion” (“A Doll’s House” by G. Ibsen, dramas by D. B. Shaw, etc.), later continued and rethought in existentialist drama (J.-P. . Sartre, A. Camus, J. Anouilh) and in the “epic theater” of B. Brecht and challenged, brought to the point of absurdity in modernist anti-drama (E. Ionesco, S. Beckett, etc.). The combination of Shakespearean and Chekhovian lines in one work is also widespread (for example, in the dramaturgy of M. Gorky, in our time - in the theatrical trilogy “The Coast of Utopia” by T. Stoppard). Category "conflict" in lately is displaced by the category of “dialogue” (M. Bakhtin), but here one can discern temporary fluctuations in relation to the fundamental categories of literary criticism, because behind the category of conflict in literature there is a dialectical development of reality, and not just the artistic content itself.
NOTE
See: Sakhnovsky-Pankeev V. Drama: Conflict - composition - stage life. L., 1969; Kovalenko A.G. Artistic conflict in Russian literature. M., 1996; Kormilov S.I. Conflict // Literary encyclopedia terms and concepts. M., 2001.
REFERENCES
Kovalenko A.G. Artistic conflict in Russian literature. M., 1996.
Kormilov S.I. Conflict // Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts. M., 2001.
Sakhnovsky-Pankeev V. Drama: Conflict - composition - stage life. L., 1969.
You already know that you need to start writing your story by creating characters. But even when you have already completely described the image of your hero and tell the reader part of his biography, he will still remain lifeless. Only action - that is, conflict - can revive it.
You can even try to bring the character to life for yourself without affecting the plot of the book. For example, imagine that each of your characters found a wallet with money. How will he deal with them? Will he look for the owner, or will he take it for himself? Maybe he'll demand a reward for his return? In general, a character's reaction in a given situation can say quite a lot about him. This is how you need to bring your characters to life for your readers.
The best plot in the world is meaningless if it lacks the tension and excitement that conflict brings.
1. Conflict is a clash between a character’s desires and opposition.
In order for conflict to arise in your story, you need to create not only a character, but also some kind of opposition that will interfere with the implementation of his plans. This can be either supernatural forces, weather conditions, or the actions of other heroes. Only through the struggle that arises between the character and the opposition will the reader be able to find out who the hero really is.
Conflict in history is carried out according to the “action-reaction” scheme. That is, before you stumble upon any obstacles, your character must take some actions. For example, let's imagine that the hero wants to go to his parents for Christmas, but his girlfriend is against it, since she promised her family that they would come to her home together. Your character faces opposition and conflict arises. He can't go home so as not to offend the girl, but he also doesn't want to break his promise to his parents. Thanks to this situation, the reader will be able to learn more about both the character of the hero and the character of his girlfriend.
That is, To Conflict develops when the characters have different goals and when each of them feels the need to achieve their goal. The more reasons each side has not to concede, the better for your work.
2. How to regulate counterforces
In every work, it is very important that the antagonist is no weaker than the protagonist. Agree, no one wants to watch a fight between a world champion and an amateur. Why? Because the outcome will be known to everyone.
Raymond Hull, in his work How to Write a Play, shared an interesting formula for countering: « Main character+ its Goal + Counteraction = Conflict” (GP+C+P=K).
Your hero must face difficulties and obstacles that he can overcome only with maximum effort. And the reader should always doubt whether the character will be able to emerge victorious from the next battle.
3. Coupling principle
The “crucible” plays the role of a pot or firebox where a work of art is boiled, baked or stewed. Moses Malevinsky “The Science of Drama”
The crucible is the most important element of the organic structure work of art. It's like a container in which the characters are kept as the situation heats up. The crucible will not allow the conflict to fade away, and will prevent the characters from escaping.
Characters remain in the crucible if the desire to engage in conflict is stronger than the desire to avoid it.
For example, you are writing a story about a boy who hates his school and has to find various reasons not to go there. The reader may think - why doesn’t he then simply move to another school? This is a logical question and you need to come up with an answer. Maybe his parents don’t want to deal with transferring to another school? Or perhaps he lives in a small town, and this is the only school, but there is no opportunity to study at home?
In general, the character must have a reason to stay and continue to participate in the conflict.
Without the crucible, the characters will scatter. There will be no characters - there will be no conflict, there will be no conflict - there will be no drama.
4. Internal conflict
In addition to external conflict, internal conflict is also of great importance. In life, people usually often encounter situations in which they do not know what to do correctly. They doubt, delay making a decision, etc. Your characters should do the same. Trust me, this will help you make them more realistic.
For example, your hero does not want to join the army, although he understands that he must do so. Why doesn't he want to go there? Perhaps he is afraid, or does not want to leave his girlfriend for such a long time. The reasons must be realistic and truly significant.
The hero, for a very serious reason, must or is forced to commit a certain act and at the same time, for an equally serious reason, cannot do it.
External and internal conflicts separately will not make your work high quality. However, if you use both of them, the result will definitely justify itself.
5. Types of conflict
The tragedy tells about the emotional experiences of the hero ( internal conflict), waging a desperate struggle against the forces opposing him. Gustav Freytag "The Art of Tragedy".
The basis of tragedy is struggle. The pace of events reaches the highest point of the drama (climax), and then slows down sharply. This very struggle is conflict.
Exists three types of conflicts:
1. static. This conflict does not develop throughout history. The interests of the heroes collide, but the intensity remains at the same level. Characters do not develop or change during such a conflict. This type is suitable for describing a dispute or quarrel;
2. rapidly developing (spasmodic). During such a conflict, the characters' reactions are unpredictable. For example, the reader may expect the hero to simply smile, but he suddenly begins to laugh at full force. Usually this type of conflict is used in cheap melodramas;
3. slowly developing conflict. In quality literary works it is best to use this type conflict. Not only will it help you make the story more interesting, but it will also bring out the character. During such a conflict, the hero’s state will change depending on the situation, he will have to accept complex solutions, and choose how to react in a given situation.
A striking example of such a conflict can be considered the conclusion of the Count of Monte Cristo in the book of the same name. When the hero is put in a cell, at first he is shocked by what is happening and asks for the situation to be explained to him. Then he starts getting angry and making threats. Then he gives up and falls into apathy. Agree, if the hero gave up immediately, it would be completely uninteresting to read.
The character of your character should be developed not abruptly, but gradually, so that the reader is always interested in learning something new.
Artistic conflict, or artistic collision (from the Latin collisio - collision), is the confrontation between those acting in literary work multidirectional forces - social, natural, political, moral, philosophical - receiving ideological and aesthetic embodiment in artistic structure works as opposition (opposition) of characters to circumstances, of individual characters - or different sides of one character - to each other, of themselves artistic ideas works (if they contain ideologically polar principles).
In Pushkin’s “The Captain’s Daughter,” the conflict between Grinev and Shvabrin over their love for Masha Mironova, which forms the visible basis of the romantic plot itself, recedes into the background before the socio-historical conflict - Pugachev’s uprising. The main problem of Pushkin’s novel, in which both conflicts are refracted in a unique way, is the dilemma of two ideas about honor (the epigraph of the work is “Take care of honor from a young age”): on the one hand, the narrow framework of class-class honor (for example, the noble, officer oath of allegiance) ; on the other hand, universal
values of decency, kindness, humanism (fidelity to one’s word, trust in a person, gratitude for kindness done, desire to help in trouble, etc.). Shvabrin is dishonest even from the point of view of the noble code; Grinev rushes between two concepts of honor, one of which is imputed to his duty, the other is dictated by natural feeling; Pugachev turns out to be above the feeling of class hatred towards a nobleman, which would seem completely natural, and meets the highest requirements of human honesty and nobility, surpassing in this respect the narrator himself, Pyotr Andreevich Grinev.
The writer is not obliged to present the reader in a ready-made form with the future historical resolution of the social conflicts he depicts. Often such a resolution of socio-historical conflicts reflected in a literary work is seen by the reader in a semantic context unexpected for the writer. If the reader acts as literary critic, he can determine both the conflict and the method of resolving it much more accurately and far-sightedly than the artist himself. Thus, N.A. Dobrolyubov, analyzing the drama of A.N. Ostrovsky “The Thunderstorm”, was able to consider, behind the socio-psychological collision of the patriarchal merchant-bourgeois life, the most acute social contradiction of all of Russia - the “dark kingdom”, where, among general obedience, hypocrisy and voicelessness “tyranny” reigns supreme, the ominous apotheosis of which is autocracy, and where even the slightest protest is a “ray of light.”
In epic and dramatic works conflict lies at the heart of the plot and is its driving force , determining the development of action.
Thus, in “The Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov...” by M. Yu. Lermontov, the development of the action is based on the conflict between Kalashnikov and Kiribeevich; in N.V. Gogol's work "Portrait" the action is based on the internal conflict in Chartkov's soul - the contradiction between the awareness of the high duty of the artist and the passion for profit.
The conflict of a work of art is based on vital contradictions, and their detection is the most important function of the plot. Hegel introduced the term “collision” with the meaning of a collision of opposing forces, interests, and aspirations.
The science of literature traditionally recognizes the existence of four types of artistic conflict, which will be discussed further. Firstly, a natural or physical conflict, when the hero enters into a struggle with nature. Secondly, the so-called social conflict, when a person is challenged by another person or society. In accordance with the laws of the artistic world, such a conflict arises in the clash of heroes who have oppositely directed and mutually exclusive life goals. And for this conflict to be sufficiently acute, sufficiently “tragic”, each of these mutually hostile goals must have its own subjective rightness, each of the heroes must, to some extent, evoke compassion. So Circassian (“ Caucasian prisoner"A.S. Pushkin), like Tamara from M.Yu. Lermontov's poem "The Demon", comes into conflict not so much with the hero, but with society, and dies. Her “epiphany” costs her life. Or “The Bronze Horseman” – the confrontation between a little man and a formidable reformer. Moreover, it is precisely the correlation of such themes that is characteristic of Russian literature of the 19th century. It should be emphasized that the unquestioning introduction of a character into a certain environment enveloping him, presupposing the supremacy of this environment over him, sometimes abolishes the problems of moral responsibility and personal initiative of a member of society, which were so essential for literature of the 19th century V. A variation of this category is a conflict between social groups or generations. Thus, in the novel “Fathers and Sons” I. Turgenev depicts the core social conflict of the 60s of the 19th century - the clash between liberal nobles and democratic commoners. Despite the title, the conflict in the novel is not age-related, but ideological character, i.e. This is not a conflict between two generations, but essentially a conflict between two worldviews. The role of antipodes in the novel is played by Evgeny Bazarov (exponent of the idea of common democrats) and Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov (central defender of the worldview and lifestyle of the liberal nobility). The breath of the era, its typical features are palpable in the central images of the novel and in the historical background against which the action unfolds. The period of preparation for the peasant reform, the deep social contradictions of that time, the struggle of social forces in the era of the 60s - this is what was reflected in the images of the novel, constituted its historical background and essence main conflict. The third type of conflict traditionally identified in literary studies is internal or psychological, when a person’s desires conflict with his conscience. For example, the moral and psychological conflict of I. Turgenev’s novel “Rudin”, which originated in the author’s early prose. Thus, the confessional elegy “Alone, I am alone again” can be considered an original preface to the formation storyline“Rudina”, which defines the opposition of the main character between reality and dreams, falling in love with existence and dissatisfaction with one’s own fate, and a significant proportion of Turgenev’s poems (“To A.S.”, “Confession”, “Did you notice you, oh my silent friend...”, “When it’s so joyful, so tender...”, etc.) as a plot “blueprint” for a future novel. The fourth possible type of literary conflict is designated as providential, when a person opposes the laws of fate or some deity. For example, in the grandiose, sometimes difficult for the reader, “Faust”, everything is built on a global conflict - a large-scale confrontation between the genius of knowledge of Faust and the genius of evil Mephistopheles.
№9Composition of a literary work. External and internal composition.
Composition (from Latin composition - arrangement, comparison) - the structure of a work of art, determined by its content, purpose and largely determines its perception by the reader
A distinction is made between external composition (architectonics) and internal composition (narrative composition).
To the features external compositions include the presence or absence of:
1) dividing the text into fragments (books, volumes, parts, chapters, acts, stanzas, paragraphs);
2) prologue, epilogue;
3) attachments, notes, comments;
4) epigraphs, dedications;
5) inserted texts or episodes;
6) author’s digressions (lyrical, philosophical, historical) An author’s digression is an extra-plot fragment in a literary text that serves directly to express the thoughts and feelings of the author-narrator.
Internal
The composition of the narrative is the features of the organization of the point of view of what is depicted. When characterizing the internal composition, it is necessary to answer the following questions:
1) how the speech situation in the work is organized (who, to whom, in what form the speech is addressed, are there narrators and how many of them, in what order do they change and why, how does the speech situation organized by the author affect the reader);
2) how the plot is structured (linear composition, or retrospective, or with elements of a retrospective film, circular, plot framing; reportage type or memoir, etc.);
3) how the system of images is built (what is the compositional center - one hero, two or a group; how the world of people relates (main, secondary, episodic, extra-plot / extra-scene; double characters, antagonist characters), the world of things, the natural world, the world cities, etc.);
4) how individual images are built;
5) what compositional role is played by the strong positions of the text-literary work.
No. 10 Speech structure thin. works.
The narration could be:
FROM THE AUTHOR (objective form of narration, from the 3rd person): the apparent absence of any subject of narration in the work. This illusion arises because in epic works the author does not directly express himself in any way - neither through statements on his own behalf, nor through the emotion of the tone of the story itself. Ideological and emotional comprehension is expressed indirectly - through combinations of details of the substantive imagery of the work.
ON BEHALF OF THE NARRATOR, BUT NOT THE HERO. The narrator expresses himself in emotional statements about the characters, their actions, relationships, and experiences. Usually, the author assigns this role to one of the minor characters. The narrator's speech gives the main assessment of the characters and events in a literary work.
Example: " Captain's daughter» Pushkin, where the narration is told on behalf of Grinev.
The form of first-person narration is SKAZ. The narrative is constructed as an oral story of a specific narrator, equipped with his individual linguistic properties. This form allows you to show someone else's point of view, including one that belongs to another culture.
Another form is EPISTOLARY, i.e. letters from a hero or correspondence between several persons
The third form is MEMOIR, i.e. works written in the form of memoirs, diaries
Personification narrative speech is a powerful, expressive tool.
№ 11 A system of characters as an integral part of a literary work.
When analyzing epic and dramatic works, a lot of attention has to be paid to the composition of the character system, that is, the characters in the work. For the convenience of approaching this analysis, it is customary to distinguish between main, secondary and episodic characters. It would seem a very simple and convenient division, but in practice it often causes bewilderment and some confusion. The fact is that the category of a character (main, secondary or episodic) can be determined according to two different parameters.
The first is the degree of participation in the plot and, accordingly, the amount of text that this character is given.
The second is the degree of importance of this character for revealing aspects of artistic content. It’s easy to analyze in cases where these parameters coincide: for example, in Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” Bazarov is the main character in both parameters, Pavel Petrovich, Nikolai Petrovich, Arkady, Odintsova are secondary characters in all respects, and Sitnikov or Kukshina are episodic.
In some artistic systems we encounter such an organization of the system of characters that the question of dividing them into main, secondary and episodic ones loses all meaningful meaning, although in a number of cases differences between individual characters remain in terms of plot and volume of text. It’s not for nothing that Gogol wrote about his comedy “The Inspector General” that “every hero is here; the flow and progress of the play produces a shock to the whole machine: not a single wheel should remain rusty and not included in the work.” Continuing further by comparing the wheels in the car with the characters in the play, Gogol notes that some heroes can only formally prevail over others: “And in the car, some wheels move more noticeably and more powerfully, they can only be called the main ones.”
Quite complex compositional and semantic relationships can arise between the characters of a work. The simplest and most common case is the opposition of two images to each other. According to this principle of contrast, for example, the system of characters in Pushkin’s “Little Tragedies” is built: Mozart - Salieri, Don Juan - the Commander, the Baron - his son, the priest - Walsingham. Somewhat more difficult case when one character is opposed to all others, as, for example, in Griboedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit,” where even quantitative relationships are important: it was not for nothing that Griboedov wrote that in his comedy “there are twenty-five fools for one smart person" Much less often than opposition, the technique of a kind of “doubleness” is used, when characters are compositionally united by similarity; a classic example is Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky in Gogol.
Often the compositional grouping of characters is carried out in accordance with the themes and problems that these characters embody.
№ 12 Character, character, hero, character, type, prototype and literary hero.
Character(character) – in prose or dramatic work artistic image a person (sometimes fantastic creatures, animals or objects), who is both the subject of the action and the object of the author’s research.
Hero. Central character, the main one for the development of action is called the hero of a literary work. Heroes who enter into ideological or everyday conflict with each other are the most important in the character system. In a literary work, the relationship and role of the main, secondary, episodic characters(as well as non-stage characters in a dramatic work) are determined by the author's intention.
Character- a personality type formed by individual traits. The set of psychological properties that make up the image of a literary character is called character. Incarnation in a hero, a character of a certain life character.
Type(imprint, form, sample) is the highest manifestation of character, and character (imprint, distinctive feature) is the universal presence of a person in complex works. Character can grow from type, but type cannot grow from character.
Prototype- a specific person who served the writer as the basis for creating a generalized image-character in a work of art.
Literary hero- This is the image of a person in literature. Also in this sense the concepts “actor” and “character” are used. Often, only the more important characters (characters) are called literary heroes.
Literary heroes are usually divided into positive and negative, but this division is very arbitrary.
Character a work of art - a character. As a rule, the character takes an active part in the development of the action, but the author or someone from literary heroes. There are main and secondary characters. In some works the focus is on one character (for example, in Lermontov’s “Hero of Our Time”), in others the writer’s attention is drawn to a whole series characters (“War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy).
13.The image of the author in a work of art.
The image of the author is one of the ways to realize the author’s position in an epic or lyric epic work; a personified narrator, endowed with a number of individual characteristics, but not identical to the writer’s personality. The author-narrator always occupies certain spatio-temporal and evaluative-ideological positions in the figurative world of the work; he, as a rule, is contrasted with all the characters as a figure of a different status, a different spatio-temporal plane. A significant exception is the image of the author in the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” A.S. Pushkin, either declaring his closeness to the main characters of the novel, or emphasizing their fictionality. The author, unlike the characters, can neither be a direct participant in the events described, nor the object of the image for any of the characters. (Otherwise, we may not be talking about the image of the author, but about the hero-narrator, like Pechorin from “A Hero of Our Time” by M. Yu. Lermontov.) Within the work, the plot plan appears to be a fictional world, conditional in relation to the author, which determines the sequence and completeness of the presentation of facts, the alternation of descriptions, reasoning and stage episodes, the transmission of direct speech of characters and internal monologues.
The presence of the author’s image is indicated by personal and possessive pronouns first person, personal forms of verbs, as well as various kinds of deviations from the plot action, direct assessments and characteristics of characters, generalizations, maxims, rhetorical questions, exclamations, appeals to an imaginary reader and even to characters: “It is very doubtful that the readers will like our chosen hero. The ladies will like him.” If you don’t like it, that can be said in the affirmative...” (N.V. Gogol, “Dead Souls”).
Being outside the plot action, the author can handle both space and time quite freely: freely move from one place to another, leave the “actual present” (action time), or delving into the past, giving the background of the characters (the story about Chichikov in the 11th Chapter “Dead Souls”), or looking ahead, demonstrating his omniscience with messages or hints about the immediate or distant future of the heroes: “... It was a redoubt that did not yet have a name, which later received the name of the Raevsky redoubt, or the Kurgan battery. Pierre did not pay much attention to this redoubt. He didn’t know that this place would be more memorable for him than all the places on the Borodino Field” (L.N. Tolstoy, “War and Peace”).
In literature, the second gender. 19th–20th centuries subjective narration with the image of the author is rare; it has given way to an “objective”, “impersonal” narration, in which there are no signs of a personalized author-narrator and author's position expressed indirectly: through the system of characters, plot development, with the help of expressive details, speech characteristics characters etc. p.
14. Poetics of the title. Title types.
Title- this is an element of text, and a completely special one, “pushed out”, it occupies a separate line and usually has a different font. The title is impossible not to notice - like a beautiful hat, for example. But, as S. Krzhizhanovsky figuratively wrote, the title is “not a hat, but a head, which cannot be attached to the body from the outside.” Writers always take the titles of their works very seriously; sometimes they rework them many times (you probably know the expression “title pain”). Changing the title means changing something very important in the text...
By the title alone you can recognize the author or the direction to which he belongs: the name “Dead Moon” could only be given to the collection by hooligan futurists, but not by A. Akhmatova, N. Gumilyov or Andrei Bely.
Without a title, it is completely unclear what a particular poem is talking about. Here's an example. This is the beginning of B. Slutsky’s poem:
Didn't knock me off my feet. I scribbled with a pen,
Like a swallow, like a bird.
And you can’t cut it out with an axe.
You will not forget and you will not forgive.
And some new seed
You grow carefully in your soul.
Who... "didn't knock you off your feet"? It turns out that it's someone else's line. That's the name of the poem. Anyone who reads the title perceives the beginning of the poem with completely different eyes.
In poetry, all the facts of language and any “little things” of form become significant. This also applies to the title - and even if it... is not there. The absence of a title is a kind of signal: “Attention, now you will read a poem in which there are so many different associations that they cannot be expressed in one word...” The absence of a title indicates that a text rich in associations is expected, elusive to define.
Subject-descriptive titles - titles that directly designate the subject of the description, reflecting the content of the work in a concentrated form.
Figurative and thematic- titles of works that communicate the content of what is to be read, not directly, but figuratively, by using a word or combination of words in a figurative sense, using specific types of tropes.
Ideological and characteristic- titles of literary works, indicating the author’s assessment of what is being described, the author’s main conclusion, the main idea of the entire artistic creation.
Ideological and thematic, or polyvalent titles - those titles that indicate both the theme and the idea of the work.
What makes a reader look at the first page of a work of fiction? Some people picked up the book because of the author's name, others were attracted by the catchy or provocative title of the story or novel. What next? What can make you read page after page, impatiently “swallowing” printed lines? Of course, the plot! And the more acutely twisted it is, the more painful the characters’ experiences, the more interesting it is for the reader to follow its development.
The main component of an ideally developing plot is conflict; in literature this is struggle, confrontation of interests and characters, different perceptions of situations. All this creates a relationship between literary images, behind him, as a guide, the plot develops.
Definition of conflict and how it is applied
It is worth considering in more detail the concept of conflict. The definition in literature of a certain specific form, a peculiar technique that reflects the confrontation of the characters of the main characters, their different understanding of the same situation, an explanation of the reasons for their feelings, thoughts, desires in similar or the same circumstances is a conflict. In simpler terms, this is a struggle between good and evil, love and hate, truth and lies.
We find a clash of antagonisms in every work of art, be it short story, epic saga, landmark novel or play for drama theater. Only the presence of a conflict can set the ideological direction of the plot, build a composition, and organize a qualitative relationship between opposing images.
The author’s ability to create a story in a timely manner, to endow opposing images with vivid characters, and the ability to defend his truth will certainly interest readers and force them to read the work to the end. From time to time it must be brought to highest point passions, create intractable situations, and then allow the characters to successfully overcome them. They must take risks, get out, suffer emotionally and physically, causing in readers a whole heap of all kinds of emotions from tender affection to deep censure of their actions.
What should the conflict be?
True masters artistic word allow their characters to have and defend their point of view, to deeply captivate readers with different moral values in the network of their feelings and reasoning. Only in this case will the army of fans of the work grow and be replenished by lovers of the artistic word of different ages, different social strata, all levels of education. If the author managed to capture the attention of readers from the first pages and keep it on one plot or ideological confrontation until the final point - praise and honor to his pen! But this happens infrequently, and if conflicts in works of literature do not grow like a snowball, do not involve new characters in their resolution, with their own difficulties, neither a story, nor a novel, nor a play of even the most famous author.
The plot must dynamically twist up to a certain point, giving rise to the most incredible situations: misunderstanding, hidden and obvious threats, fear, losses - constant dynamics are necessary. What can create it? Just a sharp plot twist. Sometimes it can be caused by the unexpected discovery of a revealing letter, in other cases - by the theft of irrefutable evidence of someone's truth. In one chapter, the hero may witness some crime or a piquant situation, in another - he himself may become the culprit of something ambiguous. In the third, he may have suspicious patrons, about whom he knows nothing, but feels their presence. Then it may turn out that these are not patrons at all, but hidden enemies from those close to him, who are constantly nearby. Let them sometimes seem banal and far-fetched in literature, but they should keep the reader in constant suspense.
The influence of conflict on the severity of the plot
The individual sufferings and ordeals of the main character of a work of art can arouse interest and sympathy only for the time being, if other people are not involved in the conflict. minor characters narratives. The confrontation must be deepened and expanded in order to give the plot newness, brightness and poignancy.
Sluggish reasoning, even about high feelings and holy innocence, will be able to make the reader want to irritably turn the boring pages. Because, of course, it’s wonderful, but if it’s understandable to everyone and doesn’t give rise to a bunch of questions, then it won’t be able to captivate anyone’s imagination, and when we pick up a book, we need vivid emotions. Conflict in literature is a provocation.
It can be given not so much by a pile of incomprehensible situations as by the clear and precise goal of the characters, which each of them carries through the entire work, without betraying it, even when the writer throws his characters into the thick of passions. Each of the warring parties must contribute to the development of the plot: some enrage the reader with their wild, logic-defying antics, others calm him down with prudence and originality of actions. But everyone together must solve one task - to create poignancy in the narrative.
as a reflection of conflict situations
What else, besides a book, can take us out of everyday life and saturate it with impressions? Romantic relationships, which are sometimes so lacking. Traveling to exotic countries, which not everyone can afford in reality. Revelations of criminals hiding under the guise of law-abiding and respectable citizens. The reader looks in the book for what worries him, worries him and interests him most at a certain period of time, but in real life nothing like this happens to him or his friends. The theme of conflict in literature fills this need. We will find out how it all happens, what it feels like. Any problem, any life situation You can find it in books and transfer the whole gamut of experiences to yourself.
Types and types of conflicts
Several characteristic conflicts are clearly expressed in literature: love, ideological, philosophical, social and everyday, symbolic, psychological, religious, military. Of course, this is far from full list, we took for consideration only the main categories, and each of them has its own list of iconic works that reflect one or more of the listed types of conflict. Thus, Shakespeare’s poem “Romeo and Juliet,” without going into demagoguery, can be classified as a love story. The relationships between people, which are based on love, are shown vividly, tragically, hopelessly. This work reflects the character of drama like no other in the best traditions of the classics. The plot of “Dubrovsky” slightly repeats the main theme of “Romeo and Juliet” and can also serve as a typical example, but we still remember Pushkin’s wonderful story after we name Shakespeare’s most famous drama.
It is necessary to mention other types of conflicts in the literature. Speaking about the psychological, we recall Byron's Don Juan. The image of the main character is so contradictory and so vividly expresses the internal confrontation of the individual that it would be difficult to imagine a more typical representative of the mentioned conflict.
Several plot lines of the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin”, masterfully created characters are typical for love, social, and ideological conflicts. The clash of various ideas, claiming the primacy of one over the other and vice versa, runs through almost every literary creation, completely captivating the reader both in its own storyline and in the conflict one.
The coexistence of multiple conflicts in fiction
In order to more substantively consider how conflicts are used in works of literature, types are intertwined, it is more reasonable to take as an example works of large form: “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy, “The Idiot”, “The Brothers Karamazov”, “Demons” by F. Dostoevsky, “Taras” Bulba" by N. Gogol, the drama "A Doll's House" by G. Ibsen. Each reader can create his own list of stories, novels, plays, in which it is easy to trace the coexistence of several confrontations. Quite often one encounters, along with others, a conflict of generations in Russian literature.
Thus, in “Demons” an attentive researcher will find a symbolic, love, philosophical, social and even psychological conflict. In literature, this is practically all that the plot rests on. "War and Peace" is also rich in the confrontation of images and the ambiguity of events. The conflict here is inherent even in the very title of the novel. Analyzing the characters of its heroes, in each one can find a Don Juanian psychological conflict. Pierre Bezukhov despises Helen, but he is captivated by her brilliance. Natasha Rostova is happy love for Andrei Bolkonsky, but is driven by a sinful attraction to Anatoly Kuragin. The social and everyday conflict is discerned in Sonya’s love for Nikolai Rostov and the involvement of the entire family in this love. And so in every chapter, in every small passage. And all this together. an immortal, great work, which has no equal.
Vivid pictures of the confrontation between generations in the novel “Fathers and Sons”
I. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” deserves no less admiration, like “War and Peace”. It is generally accepted that this work is a reflection of the ideological conflict, the confrontation of generations. Undoubtedly, the superiority of one’s own ideas over those of others, which are defended with equal respect by all the heroes of the story, serves as confirmation of this statement. Even the existing love conflict between Bazarov and Odintsova pales against the background of the irreconcilable struggle of the same Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich. The reader suffers along with them, understanding and justifying one, condemning and despising the other for his beliefs. But each of these heroes has both judges and adherents among fans of the work. The conflict of generations in Russian literature is nowhere more clearly expressed.
The war of ideas of representatives of two different classes is described less vividly, but this makes it even more tragic - Bazarov’s opinion in relation to his own parent. Isn't this a conflict? But which one - ideological or more social? In one way or another, it is dramatic, painful, even scary.
The image of the main nihilist created by Turgenev from all existing works of art will always be the most controversial literary character, and the novel was written in 1862 - more than a century and a half ago. Isn't this proof of the novel's genius?
Reflection of social and everyday conflict in literature
We have already mentioned this type of conflict in a few words, but it deserves a more detailed consideration. In Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” he is revealed so in simple words, appears so clearly before us from the first lines of the work that nothing else dominates it, not even Tatyana’s painful love and Lensky’s untimely death.
“Whenever I wanted to limit my life to my home circle... What could be worse in the world than a family...,” says Evgeniy, and you believe him, you understand him, even if the reader has different views on the subject! Such dissimilar personal values of Onegin and Lensky, their dreams, aspirations, lifestyles - radically opposite - reflect nothing more than a social and everyday conflict in literature. two bright worlds: poetry and prose, ice and fire. These two polar opposites could not coexist together: the apotheosis of the conflict was the death of Lensky in a duel.
Philosophical and symbolic types of conflicts and their place in fiction
As for the philosophical conflict, then more ideal examples for studying it than the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, from the first minutes you won’t even remember. “The Brothers Karamazov”, “The Idiot”, “Teenager” and further on the list of the immortal heritage of Fedorov Mikhailovich - everything is woven from the finest philosophical threads of reasoning of almost all the characters in his works without exception. Works of Dostoevsky - vivid examples conflicts in literature! Consider the depraved (but quite commonplace for the heroes) theme of adultery, which runs through the entire novel “Demons,” and is especially clearly expressed in the long-forbidden chapter “At Fyodor’s.” The words by which these predilections are justified and explained are nothing more than the internal philosophical conflict of the characters.
A striking example of symbolism is the work of M. Maeterlinck “The Blue Bird”. In it, reality dissolves into imagination and vice versa. The symbolic reincarnation of faith, hope, and one’s own conviction into a mythical bird is an exemplary plot for this type of conflict.
Also symbolic are Cervantes, Shakespeare, and the nine circles of hell in Dante. Modern authors make little use of symbolism as a conflict, but epic works they are overflowing with it.
Types of conflicts in Gogol's works
The works of the greatest writer of Russia and Ukraine are full of clearly defined symbolism with its devils, mermaids, brownies - the dark sides of human souls. The story “Taras Bulba” is noticeably different from most of Nikolai Vasilyevich’s works in the complete absence of otherworldly images - everything is real, historically justified and in terms of the intensity of conflicts it is in no way inferior to that part fiction, which exists in every literary work to one degree or another.
Typical types of conflicts in literature: love, social, psychological, generational conflict can be easily traced in Taras Bulba. In Russian literature, the image of Andriy is so verified as an example on which they are tied that there is no need to once again go into explanations in which scenes they can be traced. It is enough to re-read the book and pay special attention to some points. Conflicts in works of Russian literature are used for this purpose.
And a little more about conflicts
There are many types of conflict: comic, lyrical, satirical, dramatic, humorous. These are the so-called pathetic types; they are used to enhance the genre style of the work.
Such types of conflicts in literature as plot ones - religious, family, international - run through the works of a theme corresponding to the conflict and are superimposed on the entire narrative as a whole. In addition, the presence of one or another confrontation can reflect the sensual side of a story or novel: hatred, tenderness, love. In order to emphasize some facet of the relationship between the characters, the conflict between them is aggravated. The definition of this concept in the literature has long had a clear form. Confrontation, confrontation, struggle is used when it is necessary to more clearly express not only the character of the characters and the main storyline, but also the whole system of ideas reflected in the work. The conflict is applicable in any prose: children's, detective, women's, biographical, documentary. It’s impossible to list everything, they are like epithets - numerous. But without them, not a single creation is created. Plot and conflict are inseparable in literature.
Conflict
Conflict
CONFLICT (literally “clash”). - IN in a broad sense K. should be called that system of contradictions that organizes a work of art into a certain unity, that struggle of images, social characters, ideas that unfolds in each work - in epic and dramatic ones broadly and completely, in lyrical ones - in primary forms. The concept of K. itself is quite diverse: we can talk about K. in the sense of the external opposition of characters: for example. Hamlet and his opponent, about a number of more particular K. - Hamlet and Laertes, etc. We can talk about the inner K. in Hamlet himself, about the internal struggle of his contradictory aspirations, etc. The same inconsistency and conflict can be seen in the lyrical work , confronting different attitudes to reality, etc. K. in this sense is an integral moment in every plot (and often plotless, for example, lyrical) work, and a completely inevitable moment; the social practice of any social group seems to be a continuous dialectical movement from those emerging on its way social contradictions to others, from one social conflict to another. Resolving these contradictions, realizing them, “a social person, reproducing in artistic creativity your feelings and thoughts” (Plekhanov), thereby reproducing his contradictory relationships to contradictory objective reality and resolving them; So. arr. Every work of art appears, first of all, to be a dialectical unity - a unity of contradictions. Thus, it is always conflicting, at its core there is always a certain social K. Expressed in lyrics in the least tangible forms, K. appears extremely clearly in epic and drama, in various compositional contrasts of struggling characters, etc.
Literary encyclopedia. - At 11 t.; M.: Publishing House of the Communist Academy, Soviet encyclopedia, Fiction. Edited by V. M. Fritsche, A. V. Lunacharsky. 1929-1939 .
Conflict
(from lat. conflictus - collision), a clash between the characters of a work of art, between heroes and society, between different motives in inner world one character. Conflict is a contradiction that determines the movement of the plot. Traditionally, conflicts are usually divided into internal (within the self-awareness, the soul of one hero) and external. Among external conflicts, psychological (in particular, love), social, and ideological (including political, religious, moral, philosophical) stand out. This identification of types is very arbitrary and often does not take into account the interconnection or merging of different conflicts in one work.
Different literary eras have been dominated by different conflicts. Ancient drama was dominated by plots depicting the futile confrontation between characters and fate. In the dramaturgy of classicism (in France - P. Corneille, J.B. Racine, Voltaire, in Russia - A.P. Sumarokov etc.) dominated by conflicts built on the confrontation between passion and duty in the souls of the heroes. (A.P. Sumarokov added to them the conflict between the ruler and his subjects.) In romantic literature There was a widespread conflict between an exceptional individual and a soulless society that rejected him. The options for this conflict were: expulsion or flight from society of a freedom-loving and proud hero (works by J.G. Byron, a number of works by A.S. Pushkin and M. Yu. Lermontov); tragic fate“savage”, “natural man” in the world of civilization, deprived of freedom (M. Yu. Lermontov’s poem “Mtsyri”); the sad fate of an artist in a vulgar society that does not value beauty (in Germany - the works of E.T.A. Hoffman, in Russia - works by V.F. Odoevsky, N.A. Polevoy, M.P. Weather, story by N.V. Gogol"Portrait"); the image of the so-called extra person”, unable to free himself from the painful boredom of existence, not finding a goal in life (Onegin in A.S. Pushkin, Pechorin in M.Yu. Lermontov, Beltov in A.I. Herzen, Rudin, Lavretsky, Litvinov and other characters from I.S. Turgenev).
A stable version of the conflict is characteristic of drama from antiquity to the present: this is the overcoming by the young hero and heroine in love of obstacles caused by relatives (most often parents) who interfere with the marriage of the main characters.
Most of the conflicts in world literature can be reduced to a kind of pattern - several repeating types of conflict.
Some conflicts are not just a confrontation between characters, but a clash of opposing principles of existence, the symbols of which can be heroes or images of a work. Thus, Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman” depicts the tragic contradiction between three forces - an ordinary person, an ordinary person(Eugene), Power (its symbol is the monument to Peter I) and Element (its embodiment is the flood, the rebellious Neva). Such conflicts are typical for works on subjects of a mythological nature, with characters of a symbolic-mythological nature. So, in the novel Russian. Symbolist writer Andrei White“Petersburg” depicts not so much a clash of certain individual characters (Senator Ableukhov, revolutionary-terrorist Dudkin, provocateur Lippanchenko, etc.), but a conflict between two outwardly opposite, but internally related principles fighting for the soul of Russia - the West and the East.
Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
See what “Conflict” is in other dictionaries:
conflict- (from Lat. conflictus collision) a collision of multidirectional goals, interests, positions, opinions or views of the subjects of interaction, fixed by them in a rigid form. Any K. is based on a situation that includes either contradictory positions... ... Great psychological encyclopedia
- (from Latin conflictus) in psychology, a collision of two or more strong motives that cannot be satisfied at the same time. Psychologically, the conflict is associated with the fact that the weakening of one motivating stimulus leads to the strengthening of another and... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
- (Latin conflictus - collision) - a way of interaction between people in which the tendency of confrontation, hostility, destruction of achieved unity, consent and cooperation prevails. Individuals may be in a state of conflict... Political science. Dictionary.
- (lat. conflictus, from confligere to collide). Clashes, disputes, strife. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. CONFLICT lat. conflictus, from confligere, to collide. Clashes, disputes, strife... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Cm … Dictionary of synonyms
CONFLICT, conflict, husband. (lat. conflictus) (book). A clash between disputing dissenting parties. Conflict between workers and management. || Complication in international relations. Polish-Lithuanian conflict. Dictionary Ushakova. D.N.... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
- (from lat. conflictus collision) clash of parties, opinions, forces... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (from lat. conflictus clash) contradiction in views and relationships, a clash of divergent, opposing interests, a heated dispute. Raizberg B.A., Lozovsky L.Sh., Starodubtseva E.B.. Modern economic dictionary. 2nd ed., rev. M... Economic dictionary
Disagreement between two or more parties (individuals or groups) in which each party tries to ensure that its own views or goals are accepted... Glossary of crisis management terms
- (lat. conflictus collision) in a broad sense, a collision, confrontation of the parties. Philosophical tradition considers K. as a special case of contradiction, its extreme aggravation. In sociology, social culture is a process or situation in which one ... The latest philosophical dictionary
Books
- , Glazyrin T.S.. Conflict of interests as the basis for corruption offenses threatens the authority of the state (municipal) service, affecting the organizational, legal and moral foundations...