Great Patriotic War- this is a difficult test that befell the Russian people. The literature of that time could not remain aloof from this event. So in On the first day of the war, at a rally of Soviet writers, the following words were spoken: “Every Soviet writer is ready to give everything, his strength, all his experience and talent, all his blood, if necessary, to the cause of the holy people’s war against the enemies of our Motherland.” These words were justified. From the very beginning of the war, writers felt “mobilized and called upon.” About two thousand writers went to the front, more than four hundred of them did not return. These are A. Gaidar, E. Petrov, Y. Krymov, M. Jalil; M. Kulchitsky, V. Bagritsky, P. Kogan died very young.Front-line writers fully shared with their people both the pain of retreat and the joy of victory. Georgy Suvorov, a front-line writer who died shortly before the victory, wrote: “We lived our good life as people, and for people.”Writers lived the same life with the fighting people: they froze in the trenches, went on the attack, performed feats and... wrote.Oh book! Treasured friend!You're in a fighter's duffel bagI went all the way to victory Until the end. Your big truthShe led us along.Your reader and authorWe went into battle together.Russian literature of the Second World War period became literature of one theme - the theme of war, the theme of the Motherland. The writers felt like “trench poets” (A. Surkov), and all literature as a whole, in the apt expression of A. Tolstov, was “the voice of the heroic soul of the people.” The slogan “All forces to defeat the enemy!” directly related to writers. Writers of the war years mastered all types of literary weapons: lyricism and satire, epic and drama. Nevertheless, the lyricists and publicists said the first word.Poems were published by the central and front-line press, broadcast on the radio along with information about the most important military and political events, and sounded from numerous improvised stages at the front and in the rear. Many poems were copied into front-line notebooks and learned by heart. The poems “Wait for me” by Konstantin Simonov, “Zemlyanka” by Alexander Surkov, “Ogonyok” by Isakovsky gave rise to numerous poetic responses. The poetic dialogue between writers and readers testified that during the war years a cordial contact unprecedented in the history of our poetry was established between poets and the people. Spiritual closeness with the people is the most remarkable and exceptional feature of the lyrics of 1941-1945.Motherland, war, death and immortality, hatred of the enemy, military brotherhood and camaraderie, love and loyalty, the dream of victory, thinking about the fate of the people - these are the main motives of military poetry. In the poems of Tikhonov, Surkov, Isakovsky, Tvardovsky one can hear anxiety for the fatherland and merciless hatred of the enemy, the bitterness of loss and the awareness of the cruel necessity of war.During the war, the feeling of homeland intensified. Torn away from their favorite activities and native places, millions of Soviet people seemed to take a new look at their familiar native lands, at the home where they were born, at themselves, at their people. This was reflected in poetry: heartfelt poems appeared about Moscow by Surkov and Gusev, about Leningrad by Tikhonov, Olga Berggolts, and about the Smolensk region by Isakovsky.The character of the so-called lyrical hero also changed in the lyrics of the war years: first of all, he became more earthly, closer than in the lyrics of the previous period. Poetry, as it were, entered into the war, and the war, with all its battle and everyday details, into poetry. The “landing” of the lyrics did not prevent the poets from conveying the grandeur of events and the beauty of the feat of our people. Heroes often endure severe, sometimes inhuman, hardships and suffering:Time to raise ten generationsThe weight we lifted.(A. Surkov wrote in his poems)Love for the fatherland and hatred for the enemy is the inexhaustible and only source from which our lyrics drew their inspiration during the Second World War. The most famous poets of that time were: Nikolai Tikhonov, Alexander Tvardovsky, Alexey Surkov, Olga Berggolts, Mikhail Isakovsky, Konstantin Simonov.In the poetry of the war years, three main genre groups of poems can be distinguished: lyrical (ode, elegy, song), satirical and lyrical-epic (ballads, poems).
PROSE. During the Great Patriotic War, not only poetic genres, but also prose. It is represented by journalistic and essay genres, war stories and heroic stories. Journalistic genres are very diverse: articles, essays, feuilletons, appeals, letters, leaflets.Articles written by: Leonov, Alexey Tolstoy, Mikhail Sholokhov, Vsevolod Vishnevsky, Nikolai Tikhonov. With their articles they instilled high civic feelings, taught an uncompromising attitude towards fascism, and revealed the true face of the “organizers of the new order.”Soviet writers contrasted fascist false propaganda with great human truth. Hundreds of articles presented irrefutable facts about the atrocities of the invaders, quoted letters, diaries, testimonies of prisoners of war, named names, dates, numbers, and made references to secret documents, orders and instructions of the authorities. In their articles, they told the harsh truth about the war, supported the people's bright dream of victory, and called for perseverance, courage and perseverance. "Not a step further!" - this is how Alexei Tolstov’s article “Moscow is threatened by an enemy” begins.In mood and tone, war journalism was either satirical or lyrical. In satirical articles, fascists were mercilessly ridiculed. The pamphlet became a favorite genre of satirical journalism. Articles addressed to the homeland and people were very diverse in genre: articles - appeals, appeals, appeals, letters, diaries. This is, for example, Leonid Leonov’s letter to an “Unknown American Friend.”Journalism had a huge influence on all genres of wartime literature, and above all on the essay. From the essays, the world first learned about the immortal names of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Liza Chaikina, Alexander Matrosov, and about the feat of the Young Guards who preceded the novel “The Young Guard.” An essay about the feat was very common in 1943-1945 large group of people. Thus, essays appear about the U-2 night aviation (Simonov), about the heroic Komsomol (Vishnevsky), and many others. Essays on the heroic home front are portrait sketches. Moreover, from the very beginning, writers pay attention not so much to the fate of individual heroes, but to mass labor heroism. Most often, Marietta Shaginyan, Kononenko, Karavaeva, and Kolosov wrote about people on the home front.The defense of Leningrad and the battle of Moscow were the reason for the creation of a number of event essays, which represent an artistic chronicle of military operations. This is evidenced by the essays: “Moscow. November 1941” by Lidin, “July - December” by Simonov.
During the Great Patriotic War, works were also created in which the main attention was paid to the fate of man in war. Human happiness and war - this is how one can formulate the basic principle of such works as “Simply Love” by V. Vasilevskaya, “It Was in Leningrad” by A. Chakovsky, “The Third Chamber” by Leonidov.
In 1942, V. Nekrasov’s war story “In the Trenches of Stalingrad” appeared. This was the first work of a then unknown front-line writer, who rose to the rank of captain, who fought at Stalingrad all the long days and nights, participating in its defense, in the terrible and overwhelming battles that our army fought. In the work we see the author’s desire not only to embody personal memories of the war, but also to try to psychologically motivate a person’s actions, to explore the moral and philosophical origins of the soldier’s feat. The reader saw in the story a great test, which was written honestly and reliably, and was faced with all the inhumanity and cruelty of war. This was one of the first attempts to psychologically comprehend the feat of the people.
The war became a great misfortune and misfortune for everyone. But it is precisely at this time that people show their moral essence, “it (war) is like a litmus test, like some kind of special manifestation.” For example, Valega is an illiterate person, “...reads syllables, and ask him what his homeland is, he, by God, won’t really explain. But for this homeland... he will fight to the last bullet. And the cartridges will run out - with fists, teeth...” Battalion commander Shiryaev and Kerzhentsev are doing everything possible to save as much as possible human lives to fulfill your duty. They are contrasted in the novel with the image of Kaluzhsky, who thinks only about not getting to the front line; the author also condemns Abrosimov, who believes that if a task is set, then it must be completed, despite any losses, throwing people under the destructive fire of machine guns.
Reading the story, you feel the author’s faith in the Russian soldier, who, despite all the suffering, troubles, and failures, has no doubts about the justice of the liberation war. The heroes of the story by V. P. Nekrasov live in faith in a future victory and are ready to give their lives for it without hesitation.
In the same harsh forty-second, the events of V. Kondratiev’s story “Sashka” take place. The author of the work is also a front-line soldier, and he fought near Rzhev just like his hero. And his story is dedicated to the exploits of ordinary Russian soldiers. V. Kondratiev, like V. Nekrasov, did not deviate from the truth, he spoke honestly and talentedly about that cruel and difficult time. The hero of V. Kondratyev’s story, Sashka, is very young, but he has already been on the front line for two months, where “just to dry off and warm up is already considerable luck” and"...With the bread is bad, there is no gain. Half a pot... millet for two - and be healthy.”
The neutral zone, which is only a thousand steps, is shot right through. And Sashka will crawl there at night to get his company commander some felt boots from a dead German, because the lieutenant’s boots are such that they cannot be dried over the summer, although Sashka’s shoes are even worse. The image of the main character embodies the best human qualities Russian soldier, Sashka is smart, quick-witted, dexterous - this is evidenced by the episode of his capture of the “language”. One of the main points of the story is Sashka’s refusal to shoot the captured German. When he was asked why he did not follow the order and did not shoot the prisoner, Sashka answered simply: “We are people, not fascists.”
The main character embodied the best traits of the people's character: courage, patriotism, desire for achievement, hard work, endurance, humanism and deep faith in victory. But the most valuable thing about him is the ability to think, the ability to comprehend what is happening. Sashka understood that “both commanders and privates have not yet learned how to fight properly. And that learning on the go, in battles, goes on throughout Sashka’s life. “He understood and grumbled, like the others, but he did not lose faith and did his soldier’s job as best he could, although he did not commit any special heroics.”
“The story of Sashka is the story of a man who found himself in the most difficult time in the most difficult place in the most difficult position - a soldier,” K. M. Simonov wrote about Kondratiev’s hero.
The theme of human feats in war was developed in the literature of the post-war period.
References:
History of Russian Soviet literature. Edited by prof. P.S. Vykhodtseva. Publishing house "Higher School", Moscow - 1970
For the sake of life on earth. P. Toper. Literature and war. Traditions. Solutions. Heroes. Ed. third. Moscow, "Soviet Writer", 1985
Russian literature of the twentieth century. Ed. "Astrel", 2000
Writing the truth about war is very dangerous and it is very dangerous to seek the truth... When a person goes to the front to seek the truth, he may find death instead. But if twelve go, and only two return, the truth that they bring with them will really be the truth, and not distorted rumors that we pass off as history. Is it worth the risk to find this truth? Let the writers themselves judge that.
Ernest Hemingway
According to the encyclopedia "The Great Patriotic War", over a thousand writers served in the active army; of the eight hundred members of the Moscow writers' organization, two hundred and fifty went to the front in the first days of the war. Four hundred and seventy-one writers did not return from the war - this is a big loss. They are explained by the fact that writers, most of whom became front-line journalists, sometimes happened to engage not only in their direct correspondent duties, but also take up arms - this is how the situation developed (however, bullets and shrapnel did not spare those who did not find themselves in such situations) . Many simply found themselves in the ranks - they fought in army units, in the militia, in the partisans!
In military prose, two periods can be distinguished: 1) prose of the war years: stories, essays, novels written directly during military operations, or rather, in short intervals between offensives and retreats; 2) post-war prose, in which many painful questions were understood, such as, for example, why did the Russian people endure such difficult trials? Why did the Russians find themselves in such a helpless and humiliating position in the first days and months of the war? Who is to blame for all the suffering? And other questions that arose with closer attention to documents and memories of eyewitnesses in an already distant time. But still, this is a conditional division, because the literary process is sometimes a contradictory and paradoxical phenomenon, and understanding the theme of war in the post-war period was more difficult than during the period of hostilities.
The war was the greatest test and test of all the strength of the people, and he passed this test with honor. The war was also a serious test for Soviet literature. During the Great Patriotic War, literature, enriched with the traditions of Soviet literature of previous periods, not only immediately responded to the events taking place, but also became an effective weapon in the fight against the enemy. Noting the intense, truly heroic creative work of writers during the war, M. Sholokhov said: “They had one task: if only their word would strike the enemy, if only it would hold our fighter under the elbow, ignite and not let the burning fire in the hearts of the Soviet people fade away.” hatred for enemies and love for the Motherland." The theme of the Great Patriotic War remains extremely modern today.
The Great Patriotic War is reflected in Russian literature deeply and comprehensively, in all its manifestations: the army and the rear, the partisan movement and the underground, the tragic beginning of the war, individual battles, heroism and betrayal, the greatness and drama of the Victory. The authors of military prose are, as a rule, front-line soldiers; in their works they rely on real events, on their own front-line experience. In the books about the war by front-line writers, the main line is soldier's friendship, front-line camaraderie, the hardship of life on the field, desertion and heroism. Dramatic human destinies unfold in war; life or death sometimes depends on a person’s actions. Front-line writers are a whole generation of courageous, conscientious, experienced, gifted individuals who endured war and post-war hardships. Front-line writers are those authors who in their works express the point of view that the outcome of the war is decided by a hero who recognizes himself as a part of the warring people, bearing his cross and a common burden.
Based on the heroic traditions of Russian and Soviet literature, the prose of the Great Patriotic War reached great creative heights. The prose of the war years is characterized by the strengthening of romantic and lyrical elements, the widespread use by artists of declamatory and song intonations, oratorical turns, and appeal to such poetic means, as an allegory, symbol, metaphor.
One of the first books about the war was the story by V.P. Nekrasov "In the Trenches of Stalingrad", published immediately after the war in the magazine "Znamya" in 1946, and in 1947 the story "Star" by E.G. Kazakevich. One of the first A.P. Platonov wrote a dramatic story of a front-line soldier’s return home in the story “Return,” which was published in Novy Mir already in 1946. The hero of the story, Alexey Ivanov, is in no hurry to go home, he has found a second family among his fellow soldiers, he has lost the habit of being at home, from his family. The heroes of Platonov's works "...were now going to live as if for the first time, vaguely remembering what they were like three or four years ago, because they had turned into completely different people...". And in the family, next to his wife and children, another man appeared, who was orphaned by the war. It is difficult for a front-line soldier to return to another life, to his children.
The most reliable works about the war were created by front-line writers: V.K. Kondratyev, V.O. Bogomolov, K.D. Vorobyov, V.P. Astafiev, G.Ya. Baklanov, V.V. Bykov, B.L. Vasiliev, Yu.V. Bondarev, V.P. Nekrasov, E.I. Nosov, E.G. Kazakevich, M.A. Sholokhov. On the pages of prose works we find a kind of chronicle of the war, which reliably conveyed all the stages of the great battle of the Soviet people against fascism. Front-line writers, contrary to prevailing Soviet time tendencies to gloss over the truth about the war, depicted the harsh and tragic war and post-war reality. Their works are a true testimony of the time when Russia fought and won.
A great contribution to the development of Soviet military prose was made by the writers of the so-called “second war,” front-line writers who entered the mainstream literature in the late 50s and early 60s. These are such prose writers as Bondarev, Bykov, Ananyev, Baklanov, Goncharov, Bogomolov, Kurochkin, Astafiev, Rasputin. In the works of front-line writers, in their works of the 50s and 60s, in comparison with the books of the previous decade, the tragic emphasis in the depiction of war increased. War, as depicted by front-line prose writers, is not only and not even so much about spectacular heroic deeds, outstanding deeds, but about tedious everyday work, hard, bloody, but vital work. And it was precisely in this everyday work that the writers of the “second war” saw the Soviet man.
The distance of time, helping front-line writers to see the picture of the war much more clearly and in greater volume when their first works appeared, was one of the reasons that determined the evolution of their creative approach to the military theme. Prose writers, on the one hand, used their military experience, and on the other, artistic experience, which allowed them to successfully realize their creative ideas. It can be noted that the development of prose about the Great Patriotic War clearly shows that among its main problems, the main one, standing for more than sixty years at the center of the creative search of our writers, was and is the problem of heroism. This is especially noticeable in the works of front-line writers, who in their works showed in close-up the heroism of our people and the fortitude of soldiers.
Front-line writer Boris Lvovich Vasilyev, author of everyone’s favorite books “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” (1968), “Tomorrow There Was War”, “Not on the Lists” (1975), “Soldiers Came Aty Baty”, which were filmed in the Soviet time, in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta on May 20, 2004, he noted the demand for military prose. On the military stories of B.L. Vasiliev raised a whole generation of youth. Everyone remembers the bright images of girls who combined love of truth and perseverance (Zhenya from the story “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet...”, Spark from the story “Tomorrow There Was War,” etc.) and sacrificial devotion to a high cause and loved ones (the heroine of the story “In was not included in the lists”, etc.). In 1997, the writer was awarded the Prize. HELL. Sakharov "For Civil Courage".
The first work about the war by E.I. Nosov had a story “Red Wine of Victory” (1969), in which the hero celebrated Victory Day on a government bed in a hospital and received, along with all the suffering wounded, a glass of red wine in honor of this long-awaited holiday. “A true trenchman, an ordinary soldier, he doesn’t like to talk about the war... A fighter’s wounds will speak more and more powerfully about the war. You can’t rattle off holy words in vain. Just like you can’t lie about the war. But writing badly about the suffering of the people is shameful.” In the story "Khutor Beloglin" Alexey, the hero of the story, lost everything in the war - no family, no home, no health, but, nevertheless, remained kind and generous. Yevgeny Nosov wrote a number of works at the turn of the century, about which Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn said, presenting him with a prize named after him: “And, 40 years later, conveying the same military theme, with bitter bitterness Nosov stirs up what hurts today... This undivided Nosov closes with grief the half-century wound of the Great War and everything that has not been told about it even today.” Works: “Apple Savior”, “Commemorative Medal”, “Fanfares and Bells” - from this series.
In 1992, Astafiev V.P. Published the novel Cursed and Killed. In the novel “Cursed and Killed,” Viktor Petrovich conveys the war not in “the correct, beautiful and brilliant system with music and drums and battle, with fluttering banners and prancing generals,” but in “its real expression - in blood, in suffering, in of death".
The Belarusian front-line writer Vasil Vladimirovich Bykov believed that the military theme “is leaving our literature for the same reason... why valor, honor, self-sacrifice are gone... The heroic has been expelled from everyday life, why do we still need war, where this inferiority is most obvious?” "Incomplete truth" and outright lies about the war for many years have diminished the meaning and significance of our war (or anti-war, as they sometimes say) literature." V. Bykov's depiction of war in the story "Swamp" provokes protest among many Russian readers. It shows the ruthlessness of Soviet soldiers towards local residents. The plot is this, judge for yourself: paratroopers landed behind enemy lines, in occupied Belarus, in search of a partisan base, having lost their bearings, they took a boy as their guide... and kill him for reasons of safety and secrecy of the mission. An equally terrible story by Vasil Bykov - “On the Swamp Stitch” - is a “new truth” about the war, again about the ruthless and cruel partisans who dealt with a local teacher just because she asked them not to destroy the bridge, otherwise the Germans would destroy the entire village . The teacher in the village is the last savior and protector, but she was killed by the partisans as a traitor. The works of the Belarusian front-line writer Vasil Bykov cause not only controversy, but also reflection.
Leonid Borodin published the story “The Detachment Left.” The military story also depicts another truth about the war, about the partisans, the heroes of which are soldiers who were surrounded by the first days of the war, in the German rear in a partisan detachment. The author takes a fresh look at the relationship between occupied villages and the partisans they must feed. The commander of the partisan detachment shot the village headman, but not the traitorous headman, but his own man for the villagers, just for one word against. This story can be placed on a par with the works of Vasil Bykov in its depiction of military conflict, the psychological struggle between good and bad, meanness and heroism.
It was not for nothing that front-line writers complained that not the whole truth about the war had been written. Time passed, a historical distance appeared, which made it possible to see the past and what was experienced in its true light, the necessary words came, other books were written about the war, which will lead us to spiritual knowledge of the past. Now it is difficult to imagine modern literature about war without a large number memoir literature, created not just by war participants, but by outstanding commanders.
Alexander Beck (1902-1972)
Born in Saratov in the family of a military doctor. His childhood and youth years passed in Saratov, and there he graduated from a real school. At the age of 16, A. Beck volunteered for the Red Army during the Civil War. After the war, he wrote essays and reviews for central newspapers. Beck's essays and reviews began to appear in Komsomolskaya Pravda and Izvestia. Since 1931, A. Beck collaborated in the editors of Gorky’s “History of Factories and Plants.” During the Great Patriotic War he was a war correspondent. The story "Volokolamsk Highway" about the events of the defense of Moscow, written in 1943-1944, became widely known. In 1960 he published the stories “A Few Days” and “The Reserve of General Panfilov.”
In 1971, the novel "New Assignment" was published abroad. The author finished the novel in mid-1964 and handed over the manuscript to the editors of Novy Mir. After lengthy ordeals through various editors and authorities, the novel was never published in the homeland during the author’s lifetime. According to the author himself, already in October 1964, he gave the novel to friends and some close acquaintances to read. The first publication of the novel in his homeland was in the magazine "Znamya", N 10-11, in 1986. The novel describes the life path of a major Soviet statesman who sincerely believes in the justice and productivity of the socialist system and is ready to serve it faithfully, despite any personal difficulties and troubles.
"Volokolamsk Highway"
The plot of "Volokolamsk Highway" by Alexander Bek: after heavy fighting in October 1941 near Volokolamsk, a battalion of the Panfilov division was surrounded, breaks through the enemy ring and unites with the main forces of the division. Beck closes the narrative within the framework of one battalion. Beck is documentarily accurate (this is how he characterized his creative method: “Searching for heroes active in life, long-term communication with them, conversations with many people, patient collection of grains, details, relying not only on one’s own observation, but also on the vigilance of the interlocutor.. "), and in "Volokolamsk Highway" he recreates the true history of one of the battalions of Panfilov's division, everything corresponds to what happened in reality: the geography and chronicle of the battles, the characters.
The narrator is battalion commander Baurdzhan Momysh-Uly. Through his eyes we see what happened to his battalion, he shares his thoughts and doubts, explains his decisions and actions. The author recommends himself to readers only as an attentive listener and “a conscientious and diligent scribe,” which cannot be taken at face value. This is nothing more than an artistic device, because, talking with the hero, the writer inquired about what seemed important to him, Bek, and compiled from these stories both the image of Momysh-Ula himself and the image of General Panfilov, “who knew how to control and influence without shouting.” , but with the mind, in the past of an ordinary soldier who retained a soldier’s modesty until his death,” - this is what Beck wrote in his autobiography about the second hero of the book, very dear to him.
"Volokolamsk Highway" is an original artistic and documentary work associated with the literary tradition that it personifies in the literature of the 19th century. Gleb Uspensky. “Under the guise of a purely documentary story,” Beck admitted, “I wrote a work subject to the laws of the novel, did not constrain the imagination, created characters and scenes to the best of my ability...” Of course, both in the author’s declarations of documentary, and in his statement that that he did not constrain the imagination, there is a certain slyness, they seem to have a double bottom: the reader may think that this is a technique, a game. But Beck’s naked, demonstrative documentary style is not a stylization well known to literature (let’s remember, for example, “Robinson Crusoe”), not poetic clothes of an essay-documentary cut, but a way of comprehending, researching and recreating life and man. And the story “Volokolamsk Highway” is distinguished by impeccable authenticity (even in small things - if Beck writes that on October thirteenth “everything was in snow”, there is no need to turn to the archives of the weather service, there is no doubt that this was the case in reality), it is a unique, but an accurate chronicle of the bloody defensive battles near Moscow (this is how the author himself defined the genre of his book), revealing why the German army, having reached the walls of our capital, could not take it.
And most importantly, why “Volokolamsk Highway” should be considered fiction and not journalism. Behind professional army, military concerns - discipline, combat training, battle tactics, which Momysh-Uly is absorbed in, for the author there arise moral, universal problems, aggravated to the limit by the circumstances of war, constantly putting a person on the brink between life and death: fear and courage, selflessness and selfishness, loyalty and betrayal. In the artistic structure of Beck's story, a significant place is occupied by polemics with propaganda stereotypes, with battle cliches, open and hidden polemics. Explicit, because such is the character of the main character - he is harsh, not inclined to go around sharp corners, does not even forgive himself for weaknesses and mistakes, does not tolerate idle talk and pomp. Here is a typical episode:
“After thinking, he said: “Knowing no fear, Panfilov’s men rushed into the first battle... What do you think: a suitable start?”
“I don’t know,” I said hesitantly.
“That’s how corporals write literature,” he said harshly. “During these days that you are living here, I deliberately ordered you to be taken to places where sometimes two or three mines burst, where bullets whistle. I wanted you to feel fear. You don’t have to confirm it, I know without even admitting it that you had to suppress your fear.
So why do you and your fellow writers imagine that some supernatural people are fighting, and not people like you? "
The hidden, authorial polemic that permeates the entire story is deeper and more comprehensive. It is directed against those who demanded that literature “serve” today’s “demands” and “instructions”, and not serve the truth. Beck’s archive preserves a draft of the author’s preface, in which this is stated unequivocally: “The other day they told me: “We are not interested in whether you wrote the truth or not. We are interested in whether it is useful or harmful... I didn’t argue. It probably happens.” that lies are also useful. Otherwise, why would it exist? I know that’s what many writers, my fellow writers, argue about. Sometimes I want to be the same. But at my desk, talking about our cruel and beautiful century, I forget. about this intention. At my desk I see nature in front of me and lovingly sketch it, as I know it.”
It is clear that Beck did not print this preface; it exposed the position of the author, it contained a challenge that he could not easily get away with. But what he talks about has become the foundation of his work. And in his story he turned out to be true to the truth.
Work...
Alexander Fadeev (1901-1956)
Fadeev (Bulyga) Alexander Alexandrovich - prose writer, critic, literary theorist, public figure. Born on December 24 (10), 1901 in the village of Kimry, Korchevsky district, Tver province. Early childhood spent in Vilna and Ufa. In 1908, the Fadeev family moved to the Far East. From 1912 to 1919, Alexander Fadeev studied at the Vladivostok Commercial School (he left without finishing the 8th grade). During the civil war, Fadeev took an active part in hostilities in the Far East. In the battle near Spassk he was wounded. Alexander Fadeev wrote his first completed story, “The Spill,” in 1922-1923, and the story “Against the Current,” in 1923. In 1925-1926, while working on the novel “Rout,” he decided to engage in literary work professionally.
During the Great Patriotic War, Fadeev worked as a publicist. As a correspondent for the newspaper Pravda and the Sovinformburo, he traveled to a number of fronts. On January 14, 1942, Fadeev published a correspondence in Pravda, “Monster Destroyers and People-Creators,” in which he spoke about what he saw in the region and the city of Kalinin after the expulsion of the fascist occupiers. In the fall of 1943, the writer traveled to the city of Krasnodon, liberated from enemies. Subsequently, the material collected there formed the basis of the novel “The Young Guard.”
"Young guard"
During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Fadeev writes a number of essays and articles about the heroic struggle of the people, and creates the book “Leningrad in the Days of the Siege” (1944). Heroic, romantic notes, increasingly strengthened in Fadeev’s work, sound with particular force in the novel “The Young Guard” (1945; 2nd edition 1951; USSR State Prize, 1946; film of the same name, 1948) , which was based on the patriotic deeds of the Krasnodon underground Komsomol organization "Young Guard". The novel glorifies the struggle of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders. The bright socialist ideal was embodied in the images of Oleg Koshevoy, Sergei Tyulenin, Lyubov Shevtsova, Ulyana Gromova, Ivan Zemnukhov and other Young Guards. The writer paints his characters in a romantic light; The book combines pathos and lyricism, psychological sketches and author's digressions. In the 2nd edition, taking into account the criticism, the writer included scenes showing the connections of Komsomol members with senior underground communists, whose images he deepened and made more prominent.
Developing the best traditions of Russian literature, Fadeev created works that have become classic examples of the literature of socialist realism. Fadeev’s latest creative idea, the novel “Ferrous Metallurgy,” is dedicated to modern times, but remained unfinished. Fadeev's literary critical speeches are collected in the book "For Thirty Years" (1957), showing the evolution of the literary views of the writer, who made a great contribution to the development of socialist aesthetics. Fadeev's works have been staged and filmed, translated into the languages of the peoples of the USSR, and many foreign languages.
In a state of mental depression, he committed suicide. For many years Fadeev was in the leadership of writers' organizations: in 1926-1932. one of the leaders of RAPP; in 1939-1944 and 1954-1956 - Secretary, 1946-1954 - General Secretary and Chairman of the Board of the USSR Joint Venture. Vice-President of the World Peace Council (since 1950). Member of the CPSU Central Committee (1939-1956); At the 20th Congress of the CPSU (1956) he was elected a candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd-4th convocations and the Supreme Council of the RSFSR of the 3rd convocation. Awarded 2 Orders of Lenin, as well as medals.
Work...
Vasily Grossman (1905-1964)
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Grossman Vasily Semenovich (real name Grossman Joseph Solomonovich), prose writer, playwright, was born on November 29 (December 12) in the city of Berdichev in the family of a chemist, which determined the choice of his profession: he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University and graduated from it in 1929. Until 1932 he worked in the Donbass as a chemical engineer, then he began to actively collaborate in the magazine “Literary Donbass”: in 1934 his first story “Gluckauf” (from the life of Soviet miners) appeared, then the story “In the City of Berdichev”. M. Gorky drew attention to the young author and supported him by publishing “Gluckauf” in a new edition in the almanac “Year XVII” (1934). Grossman moves to Moscow and becomes a professional writer.
Before the war, the writer's first novel, "Stepan Kolchugin" (1937-1940), was published. During the Patriotic War, he was a correspondent for the newspaper "Red Star", traveling with the army to Berlin, and published a series of essays about the people's struggle against the fascist invaders. In 1942, the story “The People is Immortal” was published in “Red Star” - one of the most successful works about the events of the war. The play "If You Believe the Pythagoreans", written before the war and published in 1946, aroused sharp criticism. In 1952, he began publishing the novel “For a Just Cause,” which was also criticized because it did not correspond to the official point of view on the war. Grossman had to rework the book. Continuation - the novel "Life and Fate" was confiscated in 1961. Fortunately, the book was preserved and in 1975 it came to the West. In 1980, the novel was published. In parallel, Grossman has been writing another since 1955 - “Everything Flows”, also confiscated in 1961, but the version completed in 1963 was published through samizdat in 1970 in Frankfurt am Main. V. Grossman died on September 14, 1964 in Moscow.
"The people are immortal"
Vasily Grossman began writing the story “The People Are Immortal” in the spring of 1942, when the German army was driven away from Moscow and the situation at the front had stabilized. We could try to put it in some order, to comprehend the bitter experience of the first months of the war that seared our souls, to identify what was the true basis of our resistance and inspired hopes of victory over a strong and skillful enemy, to find an organic figurative structure for this.
The plot of the story reproduces a very common front-line situation of that time - our units, who were surrounded, in a fierce battle, suffering heavy losses, break through the enemy ring. But this local episode is considered by the author with an eye on Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”; it moves apart, expands, and the story acquires the features of a “mini-epic”. The action moves from the front headquarters to the ancient city, which was attacked by enemy aircraft, from the front line, from the battlefield - to a village captured by the Nazis, from the front road - to the location of German troops. The story is densely populated: our soldiers and commanders - both those who turned out to be strong in spirit, for whom the trials that befell became a school of “great tempering and wise heavy responsibility”, and official optimists who always shouted “hurray”, but were broken by defeats; German officers and soldiers, intoxicated by the strength of their army and the victories won; townspeople and Ukrainian collective farmers - both patriotically minded and ready to become servants of the invaders. All this is dictated by “people's thought,” which was the most important for Tolstoy in “War and Peace,” and in the story “The People are Immortal” it is highlighted.
“Let there be no word more majestic and holy than the word “people!” writes Grossman. It is no coincidence that the main characters of his story were not career military personnel, but civilians - a collective farmer from the Tula region Ignatiev and a Moscow intellectual, historian Bogarev. They are a significant detail - those drafted into the army on the same day symbolize the unity of the people in the face of the fascist invasion. The ending of the story is also symbolic: “From where the flames were burning out, two people walked. Everyone knew them. These were Commissar Bogarev and Red Army soldier Ignatiev. Blood ran down their clothes. They walked, supporting each other, stepping heavily and slowly."
The combat is also symbolic - “as if the ancient times of duels were revived” - Ignatiev with a German tank driver, “huge, broad-shouldered”, “who marched through Belgium, France, trampled the soil of Belgrade and Athens”, “whose chest Hitler himself decorated with the “iron cross”. It reminds Tvardovsky’s later description of Terkin’s fight with a “well-fed, shaved, careful, well-fed” German: Like on an ancient battlefield, Instead of thousands, two fight, chest to chest, like shield to shield, - As if the fight will decide everything, “Semyon Ignatiev,” writes Grossman, “he immediately became famous in the company. Everyone knew this cheerful, tireless man. He was an amazing worker: every instrument in his hands seemed to be playing and having fun. And he had the amazing ability to work so easily and cordially that a person who looked at him for even a minute wanted to take up an ax, a saw, a shovel himself, in order to do the work as easily and well as Semyon Ignatiev did. He had good voice, and he knew a lot of old songs... “Ignatiev has so much in common with Terkin. Even Ignatiev’s guitar has the same function as Terkin’s accordion. And the kinship of these heroes suggests that Grossman discovered the features of the modern Russian folk character.
"Life and Fate"
The writer was able to reflect in this work the heroism of people in the war, the fight against the crimes of the Nazis, as well as the complete truth about the events that took place within the country at that time: exile in Stalin’s camps, arrests and everything related to this. In the destinies of the main characters of the work, Vasily Grossman captures the suffering, loss, and death that are inevitable during war. The tragic events of this era give rise to internal contradictions in a person and disrupt his harmony with the outside world. This can be seen in the fate of the heroes of the novel “Life and Fate” - Krymov, Shtrum, Novikov, Grekov, Evgenia Nikolaevna Shaposhnikova.
The people's suffering in the Patriotic War in Grossman's Life and Fate is more painful and profound than in previous Soviet literature. The author of the novel leads us to the idea that the heroism of the victory won in spite of Stalin's tyranny is more significant. Grossman shows not only the facts and events of Stalin's time: camps, arrests, repressions. The main thing in Grossman’s Stalinist theme is the influence of this era on the souls of people, on their morality. We see the brave turn into cowards good people- in the cruel, and honest and persistent - in the cowardly. We are no longer even surprised that the closest people are sometimes riddled with mistrust (Evgenia Nikolaevna suspected Novikov of denouncing her, Krymov suspected Zhenya of denouncing her).
The conflict between man and the state is conveyed in the thoughts of the heroes about collectivization, about the fate of the “special settlers”; it is felt in the picture of the Kolyma camp, in the thoughts of the author and the heroes about the year thirty-seven. Vasily Grossman's truthful story about the previously hidden tragic pages of our history gives us the opportunity to see the events of the war more fully. We notice that the Kolyma camp and the course of the war, both in reality itself and in the novel, are interconnected. And it was Grossman who was the first to show this. The writer was convinced that “part of the truth is not the truth.”
The heroes of the novel have different attitudes to the problem of life and fate, freedom and necessity. Therefore, they have different attitudes towards responsibility for their actions. For example, Sturmbannführer Kaltluft, the executioner at the furnaces, who killed five hundred and ninety thousand people, tries to justify himself by an order from above, by the power of the Fuhrer, by fate (“fate pushed... on the path of the executioner”). But then the author says: “Fate leads a person, but a person goes because he wants, and he is free not to want.” Drawing a parallel between Stalin and Hitler, the fascist concentration camp and the camp in Kolyma, Vasily Grossman says that the signs of any dictatorship are the same. And its influence on a person’s personality is destructive. Showing a person's weakness, inability to withstand force totalitarian state At the same time, Vasily Grossman creates images of truly free people. The significance of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, won despite the dictatorship of Stalin, is more significant. This victory became possible precisely thanks to the inner freedom of a person who is capable of resisting whatever fate has in store for him.
The writer himself fully experienced the tragic complexity of the conflict between man and the state in the Stalin era. Therefore, he knows the price of freedom: “Only people who have not experienced the similar power of an authoritarian state, its pressure, are able to be surprised by those who submit to it. People who have experienced such power themselves are surprised by something else - the ability to flare up, even for a moment, with anger. a broken word, a timid, quick gesture of protest."
Work...
Yuri Bondarev (1924)
Bondarev Yuri Vasilievich (born March 15, 1924 in Orsk, Orenburg region), Russian Soviet writer. In 1941, Yu.V. Bondarev, along with thousands of young Muscovites, participated in the construction of defensive fortifications near Smolensk. Then there was an evacuation, where Yuri graduated from the 10th grade. In the summer of 1942, he was sent to study at the 2nd Berdichev Infantry School, which was evacuated to the city of Aktyubinsk. In October of the same year, the cadets were sent to Stalingrad. Bondarev was assigned as the commander of the mortar crew of the 308th regiment of the 98th Infantry Division.
In the battles near Kotelnikovsky, he was shell-shocked, received frostbite and was slightly wounded in the back. After treatment in the hospital, he served as a gun commander in the 23rd Kiev-Zhitomir Division. Participated in the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kyiv. In the battles for Zhitomir he was wounded and again ended up in a field hospital. Since January 1944, Yu. Bondarev fought in the ranks of the 121st Red Banner Rylsko-Kyiv Rifle Division in Poland and on the border with Czechoslovakia.
Graduated from the Literary Institute named after. M. Gorky (1951). The first collection of stories is “On the Big River” (1953). In the stories "The Battalions Ask for Fire" (1957), "The Last Salvos" (1959; film of the same name, 1961), in the novel " Hot Snow"(1969) Bondarev reveals the heroism of Soviet soldiers, officers, generals, the psychology of participants in military events. The novel "Silence" (1962; film of the same name, 1964) and its sequel, the novel "Two" (1964) depict post-war life, in which people who went through the war are looking for their place and calling. The collection of stories “Late in the Evening” (1962), the story “Relatives” (1969) are dedicated to modern youth Bondarev is one of the co-authors of the script for the film “Liberation”. "(1970). In the books of literary articles "The Search for Truth" (1976), "A Look into Biography" (1977), "Keepers of Values" (1978), also in Bondarev's works of recent years "Temptation ", " Bermuda Triangle"The prose writer's talent has opened up to new facets. In 2004, the writer published new novel called "Without Mercy".
Awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Orders of the October Revolution, the Red Banner of Labor, the Patriotic War, 1st degree, the Badge of Honor, two medals "For Courage", medals "For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For Victory over Germany", the order "Big Star of Peoples' Friendship" " (Germany), "Order of Honor" (Transnistria), gold medal of A.A. Fadeev, many awards from foreign countries. Winner of the Lenin Prize (1972), two USSR State Prizes (1974, 1983 - for the novels "The Shore" and "Choice"), the State Prize of the RSFSR (1975 - for the screenplay of the film "Hot Snow").
"Hot Snow"
The events of the novel “Hot Snow” unfold near Stalingrad, south of the 6th Army of General Paulus, blocked by Soviet troops, in the cold December 1942, when one of our armies withstood in the Volga steppe the attack of the tank divisions of Field Marshal Manstein, who sought to break through a corridor to Paulus’s army and get her out of the encirclement. The outcome of the Battle of the Volga and perhaps even the timing of the end of the war itself largely depended on the success or failure of this operation. The duration of the novel is limited to just a few days, during which Yuri Bondarev’s heroes selflessly defend a tiny patch of land from German tanks.
In "Hot Snow" time is compressed even more tightly than in the story "Battalions Ask for Fire." “Hot Snow” is the short march of General Bessonov’s army disembarking from the echelons and the battle that decided so much in the fate of the country; these are cold frosty dawns, two days and two endless December nights. Knowing no respite or lyrical digressions, as if the author had lost his breath from constant tension, the novel “Hot Snow” is distinguished by its directness, direct connection of the plot with the true events of the Great Patriotic War, with one of its decisive moments. The life and death of the novel's heroes, their very destinies are illuminated by the disturbing light of true history, as a result of which everything acquires special weight and significance.
In the novel, Drozdovsky's battery absorbs almost all the reader's attention; the action is concentrated primarily around a small number of characters. Kuznetsov, Ukhanov, Rubin and their comrades are a part of the great army, they are the people, the people to the extent that the typified personality of the hero expresses the spiritual, moral traits of the people.
In “Hot Snow” the image of a people who have risen to war appears before us in a completeness of expression previously unknown in Yuri Bondarev, in the richness and diversity of characters, and at the same time in integrity. This image is not limited to the figures of young lieutenants - commanders of artillery platoons, nor the colorful figures of those who are traditionally considered to be people from the people - such as the slightly cowardly Chibisov, the calm and experienced gunner Evstigneev, or the straightforward and rough rider Rubin; nor by senior officers, such as the division commander, Colonel Deev, or the army commander, General Bessonov. Only collectively understood and accepted emotionally as something unified, despite all the differences in ranks and titles, do they form the image of a fighting people. The strength and novelty of the novel lies in the fact that this unity was achieved as if by itself, captured without much effort by the author - with living, moving life. The image of the people, as the result of the entire book, perhaps most of all feeds the epic, novelistic beginning of the story.
Yuri Bondarev is characterized by a desire for tragedy, the nature of which is close to the events of the war itself. It would seem that nothing corresponds to this artist’s aspiration more than the most difficult time for the country at the beginning of the war, the summer of 1941. But the writer’s books are about a different time, when the defeat of the Nazis and the victory of the Russian army are almost certain.
The death of heroes on the eve of victory, the criminal inevitability of death contains a high tragedy and causes a protest against the cruelty of the war and the forces that unleashed it. The heroes of “Hot Snow” die - battery medical instructor Zoya Elagina, shy Edova Sergunenkov, member of the Military Council Vesnin, Kasymov and many others die... And the war is to blame for all these deaths. Let the callousness of Lieutenant Drozdovsky be to blame for the death of Sergunenkov, and let the blame for Zoya’s death fall partly on him, but no matter how great Drozdovsky’s guilt, they are, first of all, victims of war.
The novel expresses the understanding of death as a violation of the highest justice and harmony. Let us remember how Kuznetsov looks at the murdered Kasymov: “now a shell box lay under Kasymov’s head, and his youthful, mustacheless face, recently alive, dark, had become deathly white, thinned by the eerie beauty of death, looked in surprise with damp cherry half-open eyes at his chest , on the torn into shreds, dissected padded jacket, even after death he did not understand how it killed him and why he could not stand up to the gun sight. In this unseeing squint of Kasymov there was a quiet curiosity about his unlived life on this earth and at the same time. the calm mystery of death, into which the red-hot pain of the fragments threw him as he tried to rise to the sight."
Kuznetsov feels even more acutely the irreversibility of the loss of his driver Sergunenkov. After all, the very mechanism of his death is revealed here. Kuznetsov turned out to be a powerless witness to how Drozdovsky sent Sergunenkov to certain death, and he, Kuznetsov, already knows that he will forever curse himself for what he saw, was present, but was unable to change anything.
In "Hot Snow", with all the tension of events, everything human in people, their characters are revealed not separately from the war, but interconnected with it, under its fire, when, it seems, they cannot even raise their heads. Usually the chronicle of battles can be retold separately from the individuality of its participants - the battle in “Hot Snow” cannot be retold otherwise than through the fate and characters of people.
The past of the characters in the novel is significant and significant. For some it is almost cloudless, for others it is so complex and dramatic that the former drama is not left behind, pushed aside by the war, but accompanies the person in the battle southwest of Stalingrad. The events of the past determined Ukhanov’s military fate: a gifted, full of energy officer who should have commanded a battery, but he is only a sergeant. Ukhanov’s cool, rebellious character also determines his movement within the novel. Chibisov's past troubles, which almost broke him (he spent several months in German captivity), resonated with fear in him and determine a lot in his behavior. One way or another, the novel glimpses the past of Zoya Elagina, Kasymov, Sergunenkov, and the unsociable Rubin, whose courage and loyalty to soldier’s duty we will be able to appreciate only by the end of the novel.
The past of General Bessonov is especially important in the novel. The thought of his son being captured by the Germans complicates his position both at Headquarters and at the front. And when a fascist leaflet informing that Bessonov’s son was captured falls into the hands of Lieutenant Colonel Osin from the counterintelligence department of the front, it seems that a threat has arisen to Bessonov’s service.
All this retrospective material fits into the novel so naturally that the reader does not feel it separate. The past does not require a separate space for itself, separate chapters - it merged with the present, revealing its depths and the living interconnectedness of one and the other. The past does not burden the story of the present, but gives it greater dramatic poignancy, psychologism and historicism.
Yuri Bondarev does the same with portraits of characters: the appearance and characters of his heroes are shown in development, and only towards the end of the novel or with the death of the hero does the author create a complete portrait of him. How unexpected in this light is the portrait of the always smart and collected Drozdovsky on the very last page - with a relaxed, sluggish gait and unusually bent shoulders.
Such an image requires from the author special vigilance and spontaneity in the perception of the characters, feeling them as real, living people, in whom there is always the possibility of mystery or sudden insight. Before us is the whole person, understandable, close, and yet we are not left with the feeling that we have only touched the edge of his spiritual world - and with his death you feel that you have not yet managed to fully understand his inner world. Commissioner Vesnin, looking at the truck thrown from the bridge onto the river ice, says: “What a monstrous destruction war is. Nothing has a price.” The monstrosity of war is most expressed - and the novel reveals this with brutal directness - in the murder of a person. But the novel also shows the high price of life given for the Motherland.
Probably the most mysterious thing in the world of human relationships in the novel is the love that arises between Kuznetsov and Zoya. The war, its cruelty and blood, its timing, overturning the usual ideas about time - it was precisely this that contributed to such a rapid development of this love. After all, this feeling developed in those short periods of march and battle when there is no time to think and analyze one’s feelings. And it all begins with Kuznetsov’s quiet, incomprehensible jealousy of the relationship between Zoya and Drozdovsky. And soon - so little time passes - Kuznetsov is already bitterly mourning the deceased Zoya, and it is from these lines that the title of the novel is taken, when Kuznetsov wiped his face wet from tears, “the snow on the sleeve of his quilted jacket was hot from his tears.”
Having initially been deceived by Lieutenant Drozdovsky, the best cadet at that time, Zoya throughout the novel reveals herself to us as a moral personality, integral, ready for self-sacrifice, capable of embracing with her heart the pain and suffering of many... Zoya’s personality is recognized in a tense, as if electrified space, which is almost inevitable arises in a trench with the appearance of a woman. She seems to go through many tests, from annoying interest to rude rejection. But her kindness, her patience and compassion reach everyone; she is truly a sister to the soldiers. The image of Zoya somehow imperceptibly filled the atmosphere of the book, its main events, its harsh, cruel reality with feminine principles, affection and tenderness.
One of the most important conflicts in the novel is the conflict between Kuznetsov and Drozdovsky. A lot of space is given to this conflict, it is exposed very sharply, and is easily traced from beginning to end. At first there is tension, going back into the background of the novel; inconsistency of characters, manners, temperaments, even style of speech: the soft, thoughtful Kuznetsov seems to find it difficult to endure Drozdovsky’s abrupt, commanding, indisputable speech. Long hours of battle, the senseless death of Sergunenkov, the mortal wound of Zoya, for which Drozdovsky was partly to blame - all this forms a gap between the two young officers, the moral incompatibility of their existences.
In the finale, this abyss is indicated even more sharply: the four surviving artillerymen consecrate the newly received orders in a soldier’s bowler hat, and the sip that each of them takes is, first of all, a funeral sip - it contains bitterness and grief of loss. Drozdovsky also received the order, because for Bessonov, who awarded him, he is a survivor, a wounded commander of a surviving battery, the general does not know about Drozdovsky’s grave guilt and most likely will never know. This is also the reality of war. But it’s not for nothing that the writer leaves Drozdovsky aside from those gathered at the soldier’s honest bowler hat.
It is extremely important that all of Kuznetsov’s connections with people, and above all with the people subordinate to him, are true, meaningful and have a remarkable ability to develop. They are extremely non-official - in contrast to the emphatically official relations that Drozdovsky so strictly and stubbornly establishes between himself and people. During the battle, Kuznetsov fights next to the soldiers, here he shows his composure, courage, and lively mind. But he also matures spiritually in this battle, becomes fairer, closer, kinder to those people with whom the war brought him together.
The relationship between Kuznetsov and Senior Sergeant Ukhanov, the gun commander, deserves a separate story. Like Kuznetsov, he had already been fired upon in difficult battles in 1941, and due to his military ingenuity and decisive character, he could probably be an excellent commander. But life decreed otherwise, and at first we find Ukhanov and Kuznetsov in conflict: this is a clash of a sweeping, harsh and autocratic nature with another – restrained, initially modest. At first glance, it may seem that Kuznetsov will have to fight both Drozdovsky’s callousness and Ukhanov’s anarchic nature. But in reality it turns out that without yielding to each other in any fundamental position, remaining themselves, Kuznetsov and Ukhanov become close people. Not just people fighting together, but people who got to know each other and are now forever close. And the absence of author’s comments, the preservation of the rough context of life makes their brotherhood real and significant.
The ethical and philosophical thought of the novel, as well as its emotional intensity, reaches its greatest heights in the finale, when an unexpected rapprochement between Bessonov and Kuznetsov occurs. This is rapprochement without immediate proximity: Bessonov awarded his officer along with others and moved on. For him, Kuznetsov is just one of those who stood to death at the turn of the Myshkova River. Their closeness turns out to be more sublime: it is the closeness of thought, spirit, and outlook on life. For example, shocked by the death of Vesnin, Bessonov blames himself for the fact that, due to his unsociability and suspicion, he prevented friendly relations from developing between them (“the way Vesnin wanted and the way they should be”). Or Kuznetsov, who could do nothing to help Chubarikov’s crew, which was dying before his eyes, tormented by the piercing thought that all this “seemed to have happened because he did not have time to get close to them, to understand each one, to love them...”.
Separated by the disproportion of responsibilities, Lieutenant Kuznetsov and the army commander, General Bessonov, are moving towards one goal - not only military, but also spiritual. Suspecting nothing about each other’s thoughts, they think about the same thing and seek the truth in the same direction. Both of them demandly ask themselves about the purpose of life and whether their actions and aspirations correspond to it. They are separated by age and related, like father and son, or even like brother and brother, love for the Motherland and belonging to the people and to humanity in the highest sense of these words.
The years of the Great Patriotic War... the country experienced days and months of mortal danger, and only the colossal tension of patriotic forces, the mobilization of all reserves of spirit helped to avert a terrible disaster. “The Great Patriotic War,” wrote G.K. Zhukov, “was the largest military conflict. It was a nationwide battle against an evil enemy who encroached on the most precious thing that the Soviet people have.”
Art and literature have reached the firing line. “Moral categories,” wrote Alexei Tolstoy, “are acquiring a decisive role in this war. The verb is no longer just a coal burning in a person’s heart, the verb goes on the attack with millions of bayonets, the verb acquires the power of an artillery salvo.”
Konstantin Simonov noted in the pre-war years that “feathers are stamped from the same steel that tomorrow will be used for bayonets.” And when the “brown plague” broke into their home early on a June morning, the writers changed their civilian clothes to a tunic and became army correspondents.
Alexei Surkov has a poem that embodies the moods and feelings of Soviet writers who went to the front. There were over a thousand of them... More than four hundred did not return home.
I walked along the battle-charred boundary,
To reach the hearts of soldiers.
He was his own man in any dugout,
At any fire along the way.
Writers of the war years mastered all types of literary weapons: lyricism and satire, epic and drama.
As during the Civil War, the word of lyric poets and publicist writers became the most effective.
The theme of the lyrics changed dramatically from the very first days of the war. Responsibility for the fate of the Motherland, the bitterness of defeat, hatred of the enemy, perseverance, loyalty to the Fatherland, faith in victory - this is what, under the pen of various artists, was molded into unique poems, ballads, poems, songs.
The leitmotif of the poetry of those years were lines from Alexander Tvardovsky’s poem “To the Partisans of the Smolensk Region”: “Rise up, my entire land is desecrated, against the enemy!” “The Holy War,” usually attributed to Vasily Lebedev-Kumach, conveyed a generalized image of the time, its harsh and courageous breath:
May the rage be noble
Boils like a wave -
There is a people's war going on,
Holy war!
Odic poems, expressing the anger and hatred of the Soviet people, were an oath of allegiance to the Fatherland, a guarantee of victory, and hit the enemy with direct fire. On June 23, 1941, A. Surkov’s poem “We Swear Victory” appeared:
An uninvited guest knocked on our door with a rifle butt.
The breath of a thunderstorm swept over the Fatherland.
Listen, Motherland! In a terrible time of war
Your fighting sons swear victory.
The poets turned to the heroic past of their homeland and drew historical parallels: “The Tale of Russia” by Mikhail Isakovsky, “Rus” by Demyan Bedny, “The Thought of Russia” by Dmitry Kedrin, “Field of Russian Glory” by Sergei Vasiliev.
An organic connection with Russian classical lyric poetry and folk art helped poets reveal the traits of their national character. Vsevolod Vishnevsky noted in his diary of the war years: “The role of national Russian self-awareness and pride is increasing.” Concepts such as Motherland, Rus', Russia, Russian heart, Russian soul, often included in the titles of works of art, acquired unprecedented historical depth and poetic volume. Thus, revealing the character of the heroic defender of the city on the Neva, a Leningrad woman during the siege, Olga Berggolts writes:
You are Russian – with your breath, your blood, your thoughts.
They united in you not yesterday
Avvakum's manly patience
And the royal fury of Peter.
A number of poems convey the soldier’s feeling of love for his “small homeland”, for the house in which he was born. To those “three birches” where he left part of his soul, his pain and joy (“Motherland” by K. Simonov).
A woman-mother, a simple Russian woman, who saw off her husband and sons to the front, who experienced the bitterness of an irreparable loss, who bore on her shoulders inhuman hardships and hardships, but who did not lose faith - for many years she will wait for those from the war who will never return - The poets dedicated heartfelt lines:
I remembered every porch,
Where did you have to go?
I remembered all the women's faces,
Like your own mother.
They shared bread with us -
Is it wheat, rye, -
They took us out to the steppe
A secret path.
Our pain hurt them, -
Your own trouble doesn't count.
(A. Tvardovsky “The Ballad of a Comrade”)
M. Isakovsky’s poems “To a Russian Woman” and lines from K. Simonov’s poem “Do you remember, Alyosha, the roads of the Smolensk region...” sound in the same key:
The bullets still have mercy on you and me.
But, having believed three times that life is all over,
I was still proud of the sweetest one,
For the Russian land where I was born.
Because I was destined to die on it,
That a Russian mother gave birth to us,
What, accompanying us into battle, is a Russian woman
She hugged me three times in Russian.
The harsh truth of the times, faith in the victory of the Soviet people permeate the poems of A. Prokofiev (“Comrade, have you seen…”), A. Tvardovsky (“The Ballad of a Comrade”) and many other poets.
The work of a number of major poets is undergoing a serious evolution. Thus, Anna Akhmatova’s muse acquires a tone of high citizenship and patriotic sound. In the poem “Courage,” the poetess finds words and images that embody the invincible resilience of the fighting people, sounding with the power of a majestic chorale:
We know what's on the scales now
And what is happening now.
The hour of courage has struck on our watch.
And courage will not leave us.
It's not scary to lie dead under bullets,
It’s not bitter to be homeless, -
And we will save you, Russian speech,
Great Russian word.
We will carry you free and clean.
We will give it to our grandchildren and save us from captivity
Forever!
The fighting people needed both angry lines of hatred and heartfelt poems about love and fidelity in equal measure. That is why K. Simonov’s poems “Kill him!”, “Wait for me, and I will return...”, A. Prokofiev’s angry poem “Comrade, have you seen...”, and his poem “Russia”, filled with love for the Motherland, were widely popular. Often both of these motives merge together, gaining greater emotional power.
The poets' lines addressed to one person - to a soldier, to a loved one - simultaneously embodied the thoughts and feelings of many. It is about this, piercingly personal and at the same time close to the entire military generation, that the words of the famous “Dugout” by A. Surkov are about:
You're far, far away now
Between us there is snow and snow,
It's not easy for me to reach you,
And there are four steps to death.
Strong feelings are evoked by the poems of young poets for whom the war was the first and last test in their lives. Georgy Suvorov, Mikhail Kulchitsky and many other talented young men did not return from the battlefield. In the winter of 1942, Nikolai Mayorov, a political instructor of a machine gun company and a student at Moscow University, died in the Smolensk forests. Lines from the poem “We,” which he wrote back in 1940 and prophetically bequeathed to those following:
We were tall, brown-haired.
You will read in books like a myth,
About people who left without loving,
Without finishing the last cigarette... -
They will forever remain a poetic monument to his generation.
Wartime songs are extremely diverse in terms of genre. Thoughts and feelings conveyed in poems set to music sound especially clearly and acquire additional emotional power. The theme of the sacred struggle against the fascist invaders becomes the main one for the anthem songs. Written in a solemnly elevated tone, designed to create a generalized symbolic image of the fighting people, devoid of everyday details and details, these hymns sounded stern and solemn.
During times of difficult hard times, a Soviet person’s sense of homeland becomes more intense. The image of Russia with its open spaces, fields and forests of fabulous beauty acquires either a romantic-sublime or a lyrical-intimate sound in songs based on poems by A. Prokofiev, E. Dolmatovsky, A. Zharov, A. Churkin and many other poets. Particularly popular were lyrical songs based on the words of M. Isakovsky, A. Fatyanov, A. Surkov, K. Simonov and other poets, dedicated to friendship, love, fidelity, separation and the happiness of meeting - everything that excited and warmed a soldier far from home (“Dugout” by A. Surkov, “Spark” by M. Isakovsky, “Dark Night” by V. Agatov, “Evening on the Roadstead” by A. Churkin); poems about military everyday life, comic ones, set to the melodies of soulful Russian songs, ditties, and waltzes. Such works as “Roads” by L. Oshanin, “Here the Soldiers Are Coming” by M. Lvovsky, “Nightingales” by A. Fatyanov and others were constantly broadcast on the radio and performed during concerts at the front and in the rear.
The growing solidarity of peoples bound by the unity of a socio-historical goal determines the strengthening of mutual influence and mutual enrichment of national literatures. In front-line conditions, interethnic communication became especially close, and the friendship of peoples became even stronger. The writers revealed the spiritual values that were born in the joint struggle against fascism.
The theme of national feat inspired poets of the older generation (Maxim Rylsky, Pavlo Tychina, Yanka Kupala, Dzhambul Dzhabayev, Georgy Leonidze and others) and very young ones, whose poetic voices grew stronger during the testing years (Maxim Tank, Kaisyn Kuliev, Arkady Kuleshov and others). The title of the book by the Latvian poet J. Sudrabkaln “In a Brotherly Family” is more than a designation for a collection of poems; it reflects the core themes of wartime poetry - friendship of peoples, internationalist, humanistic ideas. In this vein, works of various genres were created: lyrics and heroic-romantic ballads, song-legends and lyrical-journalistic poems.
The consciousness of the justice of the fight against fascism cements the strength of people of all nationalities. The Estonian poet Ralf Parve, in his poem “At the Crossroads” (1945), expressed the idea of military cooperation at the fiery crossroads of the Great Patriotic War:
We came from different divisions.
Here is a Latvian - he defended Moscow,
Dark-skinned native of Kutaisi,
The Russian who treated me to makhorka,
A Belarusian and a Ukrainian are nearby,
The Siberian who walked from Stalingrad,
And the Estonian... We came for that
May happiness smile on everyone!
The Uzbek poet Hamid Alimdzhan wrote in his poem “Russia” (1943):
O Russia! Russia! Your son, not my guest.
You are my native land, my father’s shelter.
I am your son, flesh of your flesh, bone of bone, -
And I am ready to shed my blood for you.
The ideas of friendship between peoples also inspired the Tatar poet Adel Kutuy:
I am on the shore of the Russian capital.
For the Tatar capital to live.
The unity of feelings and thoughts of the peoples of the country was evidenced by their careful attitude To cultural traditions, to a treasury of spiritual values, the ability to poetically perceive the nature of not only one’s native, but also a foreign land. That is why, in a high and pure moral atmosphere, even a fragile branch of lilac, as A. Kutuy told about it in the poem “Morning Thoughts” (1942), grows into a symbol of indestructibility:
How I love spring Leningrad,
Your avenues have a proud glow,
The immortal beauty of your communities,
Your dawn fragrance!
Here I stand, clutching a machine gun,
And I say to my enemies on spring day:
- Do you hear the lilac scent?
Victory in this lilac scent!
The heightened sense of homeland fueled the flames of just anger and inspired the Soviet people to feats in battle and labor. Hence the constant motif of Georgian poets’ dear Kartli (the ancient name of Georgia), Vladimir Sosyura’s glorification of his beloved Ukraine, and the inspired paintings of Polesie and Belovezhskaya Pushcha by Belarusian poets. All this gave birth, using the dictionary of Yakub Kolas, to “consonance and harmony” of the small and large Fatherland in the mind of the lyrical hero:
There is only one homeland in the world. Know that there are no two, -
There is only the one where your cradle hung.
There is only one who gave you faith and purpose,
The one who overshadows your difficult path with stellar glory...
(Valdis Luks, “Leaving for Battle Today”)
In 1944, when the Soviet Army, having liberated Poland and Bulgaria, was already reaching the borders of the Elbe, the poet Sergei Narovchatov wrote:
It’s not a word that bursts into a word:
From the Urals to the Balkans
The brotherhood is growing stronger, formidable again,
The glorious brotherhood of the Slavs.
(from the series “Polish Poems”)
The Kazakh poet A. Sarsenbaev spoke about the humane mission of the Soviet victorious soldiers:
This is the glory of Russian soldiers,
These are our great-grandfathers’ countries...
Like they were many years ago,
We are passing the ridge of the Balkans...
And the road winds like a snake,
Crawling through dangerous places,
Old battle monument
Foretells victory for us.
Commonwealth in the common struggle against fascism, internationalism - these themes are embodied in the works of many poets.
The era of the Great Patriotic War gave birth to poetry of remarkable strength and sincerity, angry journalism, harsh prose, and passionate drama.
The accusatory satirical art of that time was born as an expression of the humanism and generosity of Soviet people who defended humanity from the fascist hordes. Ditties, proverbs, sayings, fables, satirical rehashes, epigrams - the entire arsenal of witticisms was adopted. The sarcastic inscription or signature under the TASS Window poster or caricature was exceptionally effective.
D. Bedny, V. Lebedev-Kumach, A. Tvardovsky, A. Prokofiev, A. Zharov and a whole galaxy of front-line satirists and humorists successfully performed in the genre of satirical miniatures. Not a single significant event at the front passed without leaving a trace for satirists. The defeat of the Nazis on the Volga and near Leningrad, in Crimea and Ukraine, daring partisan raids on enemy rear lines, confusion and confusion in the camp of the Hitlerite coalition, the decisive weeks of the battle in Berlin - all this was wittily and accurately recorded in satirical verse. Here is the quatrain “In the Crimea”, characteristic of the style of D. Bedny the satirist:
- What is this? – Hitler howled, his eyes squinting in fear. –
Lost - Sivash, and Perekop, and Kerch!
A storm is coming towards us from Crimea!
Not a storm, you vile bastard, but a tornado!
All means of comic exaggeration were used in order to finally deal with the enemy. This goal was served by ironic stylizations in the spirit of ancient romances, madrigals, folk tunes, skillfully caricatured scenes, and dialogues. The poet Argo came up with a series of “Epitaphs for Future Use” on the pages of “Crocodile”. “The pot-bellied Goering in a blue uniform”, who weighs “one hundred twenty-four net, with orders one hundred and twenty-five kilos”, Rommel, raging under the African sky, who, “so as not to be dragged out of the grave,” had to be “crushed down with a grave slab”, finally, the champion According to lies, Goebbels is the object of the poet’s satirical pen.
We find the embodiment of the fundamental social, moral, humanistic ideals of a struggling people from the standpoint of in-depth historicism and nationalism in such a large epic genre as the poem. The years of the Great Patriotic War became no less fruitful for the poem than the era of the 20s. “Kirov with us” (1941) by N. Tikhonova, “Zoya” (1942) by M. Aliger, “Son” (1943) by P. Antakolsky, “February Diary” (1942) by O. Berggolts, “Pulkovo Meridian” (1943) V. Inber, “Vasily Terkin” (1941–1945) by A. Tvardovsky - these are the best examples of the poetic epic of the war years.
In the poem as a synthetic genre there is both everyday life and a panoramic picture of the era, written out with all the specific details - from wrinkles and rowan spots on a person’s face to the famous quilted jackets and train cars, individual human fate and thoughts about great history, about the fate of the country and the planet in the mid-twentieth century.
The evolution of the poets P. Antakolsky and V. Inber is indicative. From the oversaturation of associations and reminiscences of pre-war poetry, P. Antakolsky boldly moves on to stern and simple verse. The poem “Son” captivates with its combination of lyricism with high pathos, soulful sincerity with a civic principle:
...Snow. Snow. Debris of snow. Hills.
Thickets covered with snow caps up to the eyebrows.
Cold smoke of the nomad. The smell of grief.
The grief becomes more and more inexorable, the more dead.
Front edge. Eastern Front of Europe –
This is the meeting place for our sons.
High civic pathos and social and philosophical reflections determine the sound of V. Inber’s military poetry. Already in the first chapter of “Pulkovo Meridian” the credo of the entire work is contained:
Rid the world, the planet from the plague -
This is humanism! And we are humanists.
In the poetic arsenal of N. Tikhonov, the gunpowder of the civil war era has not become damp. In the embossed lines of the poem “Kirov is with us,” the image of the leader of the city on the Neva rises as a symbol of the unbending courage of the heroic Leningraders:
Houses and fences are broken,
The ruined vault gapes,
In the iron nights of Leningrad
Kirov is walking through the city.
“Let our soups be watery,
Let bread become worth its weight in gold, -
We will stand like steel.
Then we will have time to get tired.
The enemy could not overpower us by force,
He wants to starve us,
Take Leningrad from Russia,
It's full of Leningraders to pick up.
This won't happen forever
On the Neva holy bank,
Working Russian people
If they die, they will not surrender to the enemy.
The poem of the war years was distinguished by a variety of stylistic, plot and compositional solutions. N. Tikhonov’s poem “Kirov is with us” is marked by a strictly consistent ballad-narrative structure. “Russia” by A. Prokofiev was created using folk poetics, melodious and free-flowing Russian verse:
How many stars are blue, how many are blue.
How many showers have passed, how many thunderstorms.
Nightingale throat - Russia,
White-legged birch forests.
Yes, a broad Russian song,
Suddenly from some paths and paths
Immediately splashed into the sky,
In the native way, in the Russian way - excitedly...
The lyrical and journalistic poem synthesizes the principles and techniques of narrative and sublimely romantic style. M. Aliger's poem “Zoe” is marked by the amazing unity of the author with the spiritual world of the heroine. It inspiredly and accurately embodies moral maximalism and integrity, truth and simplicity.
Moscow schoolgirl Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, without hesitation, voluntarily chooses a harsh fate. What are the origins of Zoya’s feat, her spiritual victory? A. Tvardovsky, reflecting on what shaped the worldview of people in the 1930s, noted: “This is not the war. Whatever it was... gave birth to these people, and then... what happened before the war. And the war revealed and brought to light these qualities of people” (from the poet’s diary of 1940, which contained the original plan of “Vasily Terkin”).
The poem “Zoya” is not so much a biography of the heroine as a lyrical confession on behalf of a generation whose youth coincided with a formidable and tragic time in the history of the people. This is why the poem so often has intimate conversations with the young heroine:
Girl, what is happiness?
Have we figured it out...
At the same time, the three-part structure of the poem conveys the main stages in the formation of the heroine’s spiritual appearance. At the beginning of the poem, with light but precise strokes, the appearance of the “long-legged” girl is outlined. Gradually, a large social theme enters into the wonderful world of her youth (“We lived in the world light and spacious…”), a sensitive heart absorbs the anxieties and pain of the “shocked planet.” Here openly journalistic lines invade the lyrical structure of the poem:
An alarming sky swirls above us.
The war is coming to your bedside,
And we no longer have to pay our dues in rubles,
Or maybe with your own life and blood.
The final part of the poem becomes the apotheosis of a short but wonderful life. The inhuman torture that Zoya is subjected to in a fascist dungeon is spoken sparingly, but powerfully, with journalistic poignancy. The name and image of the Moscow schoolgirl, whose life was cut short so tragically early, have become a legend:
And already almost above the snow,
Rushing forward with a light body,
The girl takes her last steps
Walks barefoot into immortality.
That is why in the finale of the poem it is so natural to identify Zoe’s appearance with the ancient goddess of victory - the winged Nike.
“Vasily Terkin” by A. Tvardovsky – the largest, most significant poetic work era of the Great Patriotic War. If in A. Prokofiev’s lyric-epic poem “Russia” the image of the Motherland, its most poetic landscapes are in the foreground, and the characters (mortar brothers Shumov) are depicted in a symbolically generalized manner, then Tvardovsky achieved a synthesis of the particular and the general: the individual image of Vasily Terkin and the image of the homeland are of different sizes in the artistic concept of the poem. This is a multifaceted poetic work, covering not only all aspects of front-line life, but also the main stages of the Great Patriotic War.
The immortal image of Vasily Terkin embodied with particular force the features of the Russian national character of that era. Democracy and moral purity, greatness and simplicity of the hero are revealed by means of folk poetry; the structure of thoughts and feelings of the hero is akin to the world of images of Russian folklore.
In the era of the Patriotic War of 1812, much, according to L. Tolstoy, was determined by the “hidden warmth of patriotism.” Mass heroism, such as the history of mankind has never known, mental strength, fortitude, courage, and the people’s immeasurable love for the Fatherland were revealed with particular fullness during the Great Patriotic War. A heightened patriotic, social and moral principle determined the structure of thoughts and actions of the soldiers of the Soviet Army. Writers and publicists of those years told about this.
The greatest masters of words - A. Tolstoy, L. Leonov, M. Sholokhov - also became outstanding publicists. The bright, temperamental words of I. Ehrenburg were popular at the front and in the rear. An important contribution to the journalism of those years was made by A. Fadeev, V. Vishnevsky, N. Tikhonov.
The art of journalism has gone through several main stages in four years. If in the first months of the war it was characterized by a nakedly rationalistic manner, often abstract and schematic ways of depicting the enemy, then at the beginning of 1942 journalism was enriched with elements of psychological analysis. The fiery word of the publicist also contains a rallying note. And an appeal to the spiritual world of a person.
The next stage coincided with a turning point in the course of the war, with the need for an in-depth socio-political examination of the fascist front and rear, clarification of the root causes of the approaching defeat of Hitlerism and the inevitability of fair retribution. These circumstances prompted the use of such genres as pamphlets and reviews.
At the final stage of the war, a tendency towards documentary appeared. For example, in TASS Windows, along with the graphic design of posters, the method of photomontage was widely used. Writers and poets included diary entries, letters, photographs and other documentary evidence into their works.
Journalism during the war years is a qualitatively different stage in the development of this martial and effective art, compared to previous periods. The deepest optimism, unshakable faith in victory - that’s what supported the publicists even in the most difficult times. Their appeal to history and to the national sources of patriotism gave their speeches special power. An important feature of journalism of that time was the widespread use of leaflets, posters, and caricatures.
During the four years of war, prose underwent significant evolution. Initially, the war was covered in a sketchy, schematic, fictionalized version. These are the numerous stories and tales of the summer, autumn, and early winter of 1942. Later, front-line reality was comprehended by writers in the complex dialectic of the heroic and the everyday.
Already in the first two years of the war, over two hundred stories were published. Of all the prose genres, only the essay and story could compete in popularity with the story. The story is an unusual genre for Western European literature (many of them do not know the term “story” itself. And if it occurs, as, for example, in Polish literature, it means “novel”), and is very characteristic of the Russian national tradition.
In the 20-30s, psychological-everyday, adventure and satirical-humorous varieties of the genre dominated. During the Great Patriotic War (as well as during the Civil War), the heroic, romantic story came first.
The desire to reveal the harsh and bitter truth of the first months of the war, achievements in the field of creating heroic characters“Russian Tale” (1942) by Pyotr Pavlenko and Vasily Grossman’s story “The People are Immortal” are noted. However, there are differences between these works in the way the theme is embodied. In P. Pavlenko, the event-plot element dominates the disclosure of the psychology of war. In the story “The People Are Immortal,” the images of ordinary soldiers and officers are recreated incomparably more fully and deeply.
Wanda Vasilevskaya wrote the stories “Rainbow” and “Simply Love”. “Rainbow” captures the tragedy of Ukraine, devastated and bleeding, popular hatred of the invaders, the fate of the courageous partisan Olena Kostyuk, who did not bow her head to the executioners.
A characteristic feature of military prose of 1942 - 1943 is the appearance of short stories, cycles of stories connected by the unity of characters, the image of the narrator, or a lyrical through theme. This is exactly how “Stories of Ivan Sudarev” by Alexei Tolstoy, “Sea Soul” by L. Sobolev, “March–April” by V. Kozhevnikov are constructed. The drama in these works is shaded by a lyrical and at the same time sublimely poetic, romantic feature, which helps to reveal the spiritual beauty of the hero. Penetration into the inner world of a person deepens. The socio-ethical origins of patriotism are revealed more convincingly and artistically.
In the soldier's trench, in the naval cockpit, a special feeling of solidarity was born - front-line brotherhood. L. Sobolev in the cycle of stories “Sea Soul” creates a series of portrait sketches of sailor heroes; each of them is the personification of courage and perseverance. It is no coincidence that one of the heroes of the short story “Battalion of Four” addresses the fighters: “One sailor is a sailor, two sailors are a platoon, three sailors are a company... Battalion, listen to my command...”
The achievements of these writers were continued and developed by K. Simonov in the story “Days and Nights” - the first major work dedicated to the Battle of the Volga. In “The Unconquered” by B. Gorbatov, using the example of the family of Taras Yatsenko, it is shown how the flame of resistance to the enemy, even in his deep rear, gradually develops into the fire of a nationwide struggle. The image of the officer of the legendary Panfilov division Baurdzhan Momysh-Ula - a skillful and strong-willed commander, a strict professional military leader, a somewhat rationalistic person, but selflessly courageous in battle - is created by A. Bek in the story “Volokolamsk Highway” (1944).
The deepening of historicism, the expansion of temporal and spatial horizons is the undoubted merit of the story of 1943–1944. At the same time, there was an enlargement of the characters. At the center of A. Platonov’s story “Defense of the Seven Courts” (1943) is peace and war, life and death, duty and feeling. The company of Senior Lieutenant Ageev is waging a fierce battle, attacking a village of seven courtyards captured by the enemy. It would seem like a small bridgehead, but behind it is Russia. The battle is shown as hard, persistent, bloody work. Ageev inspires his subordinates that “in war, the battle is short, but long and constant. And most of all, war consists of labor... A soldier is now not only a warrior, he is a builder of his fortresses...” Reflecting on his place in battle, Ageev assigns a special role to himself, as an officer: “... it’s difficult for our people now - they carry the whole world on their shoulders, so let it be harder for me than everyone else.”
The harsh everyday life and drama of a warrior, comprehended on the scale of large social, moral and philosophical categories, appear from the pages of L. Leonov’s story “The Capture of Velikoshumsk”. The thoughts of the commander of the tank corps, General Litovchenko, as if continuing the thread of thoughts of the hero of the story by A. Platonov, interrupted by a bullet, are a kind of ethical dominant of the book: “Peoples should be studied not at dance festivals, but in hours of military trials, when history peers into the face of a nation, measuring it out suitability for one's lofty goals..."
L. Leonov’s story “The Capture of Velikoshumsk” was written in January–June 1944, when the still strongly snarling, but already noticeably “pinched German eagle” was rolling back to the original lines of 1941. This determined the special meaning and tone of the book, giving its drama a solemn and majestic flavor. And although the role of battle scenes, as befits a work about war, is quite large, it is not they, but the artist’s thoughts and observations that organize the internal structure of the book. For even in the war of “motors,” as the author is convinced, “mortal human flesh is stronger than bar steel.”
At the center of the story is the fate of the tank crew - the legendary T-34. Under its armor, the “iron apartment” number 203 has brought together very different people. Here are the highly experienced tank commander Lieutenant Sobolkov, and the yet-to-be-fired driver-mechanic young Litovchenko, and the silent radio operator Dybok, and the talkative towerman Obryadin - a songwriter, a lover of sharp words and simple earthly pleasures.
The composition of the story is constructed as a combination of two plans of vision of life: from the viewing slit of tank number 203 and from the command post of General Litovchenko (the mechanic's namesake), commander of the tank corps. But there is a third point of understanding reality - from the moral and aesthetic heights of the artist, where both plans are combined.
The author recreates the atmosphere of a tank battle at all its stages: at the moment of the start of the attack, the menacing battle and, finally, victorious final, showing what kind of moral and physical stress, tactical art and mastery of machine and weapon control a modern battle requires. It is as if the reader himself is immersed in the “hot stench of machine combat,” experiencing everything that befalls the soldier who chose as his motto: “Fate does not love those who want to live. And those who want to win!” Feat 203, which ripped open the German rear with a “dagger raid,” paved the way for the victory of the tank corps and helped capture Velikoshumsk.
The picture of the battle for Velikoshumsk takes on the features of a battle between two worlds and is conceptualized as a battle of two polar civilizations. On the one hand, the invasion of a monstrous fascist horde, equipped beyond measure state-of-the-art technology destruction, vehicles on which “nails are used to nail babies for targets, quicklime and metal gloves for torturing prisoners...”. On the other hand, the personification of true humanism is the soldiers carrying out the historical mission of liberation. Here, not just two social systems collide, but the past and future of the planet.
Leonov came close to that exciting topic, which at the same time he embodied in his work the greatest artists of the word A. Tolstoy, M. Sholokhov, A. Tvardovsky - to the origins of our victory, to the problem of national character. The national way of thinking and feeling of the hero, the connection between generations - this is what becomes the subject of the writer’s close study. “...A hero who fulfills his duty is not afraid of anything in the world except oblivion,” writes Leonov. - But he is not afraid when his feat outgrows the size of his debt. Then he himself enters the heart and mind of the people, gives birth to the imitation of thousands, and together with them, like a rock, changes the course of the historical river, becoming a particle of the national character.”
It was in “The Capture of Velikoshumsk”, more than in any other previous work of the artist, that Leonov’s connection with the Russian folklore tradition. Here is not only the frequent appeal of the heroes of the story to various genres of oral creativity, not only the techniques of sculpting images of tank crews borrowed from the folk poetic tradition - for all their earthly essence, truly epic miracle heroes. Perhaps more important is that the very principles of folk thinking, its moral and aesthetic foundations turned out to be decisive in recreating the inner world of the characters.
“The Capture of Velikoshumsk” by L. Leonov immediately after its publication was perceived as an artistic canvas that is akin to a minor epic. It is no coincidence that one of French critics noted that in Leonov’s story “there is some kind of solemnity, similar to the fullness of a river; it is monumental...” And this is true, for the past and future of the world, the present day and historical distances were clearly visible from the pages of the story.
In addition, Leonov’s story is a book with a broad philosophical sound. On the scale of such concepts, the soldier’s thoughts did not seem overly pathetic (“We, like a chick, hold the fate of progress in our rough palms”) or final phrase General Litovchenko, who ordered the heroic machine number 203 to be placed on a high pedestal: “Let the centuries see who defended them from the whip and slavery...”
By the end of the war, the prose's gravitation towards a broad epic understanding of reality is noticeable. Two artists - M. Sholokhov and A. Fadeev - are especially sensitive to the trend of literature. “They Fought for the Motherland” by Sholokhov and “The Young Guard” by Fadeev are distinguished by their social scale, opening new paths in the interpretation of the theme of war.
M. Sholokhov, true to the nature of his talent, makes a bold attempt to depict the Great Patriotic War as a truly national epic. The very choice of the main characters, private infantry - the grain grower Zvyagintsev, the miner Lopakhin, the agronomist Streltsov - indicates that the writer seeks to show different layers of society, to trace how the people's sea stirred and made a menacing noise in times of severe trials.
The spiritual and moral world of Sholokhov’s heroes is rich and diverse. The artist paints broad pictures of the era: sad episodes of retreats, scenes of violent attacks, relationships between soldiers and civilians, short hours between fights. At the same time, the whole gamut of human experiences can be traced - love and hatred, severity and tenderness, smiles and tears, tragic and comic.
In A. Fadeev’s novel “The Young Guard”, little remains of the former analytical, “Tolstoyian manner” inherent in the author of “Destruction” and “The Last of the Udege”. Fadeev leaves fictional narrative and is based on specific facts and documents. At the same time, he writes his novel in colors characteristic of high romantic tragedy, selecting contrasting tones. Good and evil, light and darkness, beautiful and ugly stand at different poles. The boundaries between antagonistic concepts are not just drawn, but, as it were, cut through. The intense, emotionally expressive style fully corresponds to this manner.
Fadeev's book is romantic and at the same time full of the sharp journalistic thoughts of a sociologist and historian. It is based on documentary material and at the same time surprisingly poetic.
The writer gradually unfolds the action. In the first chapter there is a distant echo of anxiety, in the second the drama is shown - people leave their homes, mines are blown up, a feeling of national tragedy permeates the narrative. The underground is crystallizing, connections between the young fighters of Krasnodon and the underground are becoming stronger. The idea of continuity of generations determines the basis of the plot structure of the book. That is why Fadeev devotes such a significant place to the depiction of underground workers - I. Protsenko, F. Lyutikov. Representatives of the older generation and Komsomol Young Guard members act as a single popular force opposing Hitler’s “new order.”
In The Young Guard the role of poetics of contrast is unusually large. The writer alternates a leisurely and detailed narrative, where the main place is given to the analysis of human characters, with a depiction of the dynamism and swiftness of the deployment of military operations on the Don and in the Krasnodon underground itself.
Severe and strict realism coexists with romance, the objectified narrative is interspersed with the excited lyricism of the author's digressions. When recreating individual images, the role of the poetics of contrast is also very significant (Lyutikov’s stern eyes and the sincerity of his nature; the emphatically boyish appearance of Oleg Koshevoy and the not at all childish wisdom of his decisions; the dashing carelessness of Lyubov Shevtsova and the daring courage of her actions, indestructible will). Even in the appearance of the heroes, Fadeev does not deviate from his favorite technique: “clear blue eyes» Protsenko and the “demonic sparks” in them; “severe-tender expression” of Oleg Koshevoy’s eyes; white lily in Ulyana Gromova’s black hair; “blue children’s eyes with a hard steel tint” from Lyubov Shevtsova.
This principle finds its most complete embodiment in the generalized characteristics of young people whose formation occurred in the pre-war years: “The most seemingly incompatible traits are dreaminess and efficiency, flights of fantasy and practicality, love of goodness and mercilessness, breadth of soul and sober calculation, passionate love for earthly joys and self-restraint - these seemingly incompatible traits together created the unique appearance of this generation.”
If poetry, journalism and prose of the first years of the war were characterized by a keen interest in a distant historical era, then the attention of the author of “The Young Guard” is attracted by the difficult, heroic era of the 30s as the spiritual and moral soil on which such amazing fruits ripened. The formation of the Young Guards occurred precisely in the 30s, and their rapid maturity in the early 40s. The most significant merit of the writer should be considered his artistically soulful portrayal of the younger generation. First of all, this is Oleg Koshevoy, a civically mature and intelligent person with a natural talent for organizing. These are ordinary members of the underground organization, whose characters are masterfully individualized: the poetic nature of the dreamy, spiritually deep and subtle Ulyana Gromova, the temperamental and recklessly brave Lyubov Shevtsova, Sergei Tyulenin, a boy “with an eagle’s heart,” filled with a thirst for achievement.
The Nazis doomed the Young Guard to inhuman torment and executed them. However, the ominous colors of war cannot overcome the bright, jubilant tones of life. The tragedy remains, but the tragedy of hopelessness has been removed, overcome by sacrifice in the name of the people, in the name of the future of humanity.
DRAMATURGY
Over three hundred plays were created during the war years. Not all of them saw the stage light. Only a few were lucky enough to survive their time. Among them are “Front” by A. Korneychuk, “Invasion” by L. Leonov, “Russian People” by K. Simonov, “Fleet Officer” by A. Kron, “Song of the Black Sea People” by B. Lavrenev, “Stalingraders” by Yu. Chepurin and some others .
The plays that appeared at the very beginning of the war and were created in the wake of pre-war sentiments turned out to be far from the tragic situation of the first months of heavy fighting. It took time for the artists to be able to realize what had happened, evaluate it correctly and illuminate it in a new way. A turning point in dramaturgy the year was 1942.
L. Leonov’s drama “Invasion” was created at the most difficult time. The small town where the events of the play unfold is a symbol of the national struggle against the invaders. The significance of the author’s plan is that he interprets local conflicts in a broad socio-philosophical manner, revealing the sources that feed the force of resistance.
The play takes place in Dr. Talanov's apartment. Unexpectedly for everyone, Talanov’s son Fedor returns from prison. Almost simultaneously the Germans entered the city. And along with them appears the former owner of the house in which the Talanovs live, the merchant Fayunin, who soon became the mayor of the city.
The tension of the action increases from scene to scene. The honest Russian intellectual, doctor Talanov, does not imagine his life apart from the struggle. Next to him are his wife, Anna Pavlovna, and daughter Olga. There is no question of the need to fight behind enemy lines for the chairman of the city council, Kolesnikov: he heads a partisan detachment. This is one - the central - layer of the play. However, Leonov, a master of deep and complex dramatic collisions, is not content with only this approach. Deepening the psychological line of the play, he introduces another person - the Talanovs' son.
Fedor's fate turned out to be confusing and difficult. Spoiled in childhood, selfish, selfish. He returns to his father's house after a three-year sentence, where he served a sentence for an attempt on the life of his beloved woman. Fyodor is gloomy, cold, wary. It is no coincidence that his former nanny Demidyevna speaks of him this way: “People do not spare their lives, they fight the enemy. And you still look callous in your heart.” Indeed, the words of his father spoken at the beginning of the play about the national grief do not touch Fyodor: personal adversity obscures everything else. He is tormented by the lost trust of people, which is why Fyodor feels uncomfortable in the world. With their minds and hearts, the mother and nanny understood that under the buffoon mask Fyodor hid his pain, the melancholy of a lonely, unhappy person, but they could not accept him as before. Kolesnikov’s refusal to take Fedor into his squad hardens the heart of young Talanov even more.
It took time for this man, who once lived only for himself, to become the people's avenger. Captured by the Nazis, Fedor pretends to be the commander of a partisan detachment in order to die for him. Leonov paints a psychologically convincing picture of Fedor’s return to people. The play consistently reveals how war, national grief, and suffering ignite in people hatred and a thirst for revenge, a willingness to give their lives for the sake of victory. This is exactly how we see Fedor at the end of the drama.
For Leonov, there is a natural interest not just in the hero, but in human character in all the complexity and contradictions of his nature, consisting of social and national, moral and psychological. At the same time as identifying the laws of struggle on the gigantic battle front, the artist-philosopher and artist-psychologist did not shy away from the task of showing the struggles of individual human passions, feelings and aspirations.
The same technique of nonlinear depiction was used by the playwright when creating images negative characters: at first the inconspicuous, vindictive Fayunin, the shy and servile Kokoryshkin, who instantly changes his guise when power changes, a whole gallery of fascist thugs. Fidelity to the truth makes the images lifelike even if they are presented in a satirical, grotesque light.
The stage history of Leonov’s works during the Great Patriotic War (in addition to “Invasion”, the drama “Lenushka”, 1943, was also widely known), which went around all the main theaters of the country, once again confirms the injustice of the reproaches of some critics who wrote about the incomprehensibility, intimacy of Leonov’s plays, and the overcomplication of the characters. and language. During the theatrical embodiment of Leonov's plays, their special dramatic nature was taken into account. Thus, when staging “Invasion” at the Moscow Maly Theater (1942), I. Sudakov first saw Fyodor Talanov as the main figure, but during rehearsals the emphasis gradually shifted and Fyodor’s mother and his nanny Demidyevna became the center as the personification of the Russian mother. At the Mossovet Theater, director Yu. Zavadsky interpreted the performance as a psychological drama, the drama of an extraordinary person, Fyodor Talanov.
If L. Leonov reveals the theme of heroic deeds and the invincibility of the patriotic spirit by means of in-depth psychological analysis, then K. Simonov in the play “Russian People” (1942), posing the same problems, uses the techniques of lyricism and open journalism folk drama. The action in the play takes place in the autumn of 1941 on the Southern Front. The author's attention is focused on both the events in Safonov's detachment, located not far from the city, and the situation in the city itself, where the occupiers are in charge.
Unlike the pre-war play “A Guy from Our Town,” the composition of which was determined by the fate of one character - Sergei Lukonin, Simonov now creates a work with a large number of characters. The massive nature of heroism suggested a different path to the artist - there is no need to look for exceptional heroes, there are many of them, they are among us. “Russian People” is a play about the courage and resilience of ordinary people who had very peaceful professions before the war: driver Safonov, his mother Marfa Petrovna, nineteen-year-old Valya Anoshchenko, who drove the chairman of the city council, paramedic Globa. They would build houses, teach children, create beautiful things, love, but the cruel word “war” dispelled all hopes. People take rifles, put on greatcoats, and go into battle.
Defense of the Fatherland. What's behind this? First of all, a country that has instilled in human hearts the most humane feelings - love and respect for people different nationalities, pride in human dignity. This is also the native corner with which the first childhood impressions are associated, which remain in the soul for life. Here the journalistic note, organically fused with the form of lyrical confession, reaches a special height. The most cherished thing is said by the intelligence officer Valya, leaving for a dangerous mission: “Motherland, Motherland... they probably mean something big when they say. But not me. In Novo-Nikolaevsk we have a hut on the edge of the village and near a river and two birch trees. I hung the swing on them. They tell me about the Motherland, but I remember all these two birch trees.”
The playwright depicts the war in all its harsh and formidable guise; he is not afraid to show the most severe trials, the death of the defenders of the Fatherland. The artist’s great success is the image of the military paramedic Globa. Behind the outward rudeness and mockery of this man, hidden spiritual generosity, Russian prowess, and impudent contempt for death.
The play “Russian People” already in the summer of 1942, during the most difficult time of the war, was staged on the stage of a number of theaters. The English journalist A. Werth, who was present at one of the performances, especially noted the impression that the episode of Globa leaving on a mission from which he would not return made on the audience: “I remember how dead silence, unbroken for at least ten seconds, reigned in the hall of the Moscow branch Art Theater, when the curtain fell at the end of the 6th scene. For the last words in this scene were: “Have you heard or not how Russian people go to their deaths?” Many of the women in the auditorium were crying..."
The success of the play was also explained by the fact that the playwright showed the enemy not as a primitive fanatic and sadist, but as a sophisticated “conqueror” of Europe and the world, confident in his impunity.
The theme of a number of interesting dramatic works was the life and heroic deeds of our fleet. Among them is the psychological drama by A. Kron “Fleet Officer” (1944), lyrical comedy Vs. Azarova, Vs. Vishnevsky, A. Kron “The Wide Sea Spreads Out” (1942), B. Lavrenev’s lyrical and pathetic oratorio “Song of the Black Sea People” (1943).
Everything in B. Lavrenev’s play is subordinated to the heroic-romantic pathos: the choice of location (Sevastopol. Covered with the glory of legendary courage), and the special principles of the enlarged depiction of human characters, when the analysis of individual actions is combined with the embodiment of the high symbolism of the national spirit, and, finally, constant appeals to the heroic past of the fortress city. The immortal names of Nakhimov and Kornilov call today's sailors and officers to exploits.
The plot of the drama was one of the episodes of the defense of Sevastopol. The whole play is permeated with the thought - to stand to death, even more: “Even after death we must stand rooted to the spot.” The drama ends with the death of the guards battery, which, having fired all the shells, calls fire on itself.
A special place in the drama of the war years belongs to such a unique genre as a satirical play. The meaning of “Front! (1942) by A. Korneychuk, primarily in typical negative images, in the force with which the playwright ridiculed routine, inert methods of warfare, backward, but arrogant military leaders.
The satirical intent of the play is dictated by the very choice of the characters' surnames. Here is the editor of the front-line newspaper Tihiy - a cowardly, lack of initiative, timid person. Instead of supporting the necessary good initiatives, he, frightened by the rude shout of the front commander Gorlov, babbles: “It’s my fault, comrade commander. We’ll take it into account, we’ll correct it, we’ll try.” The intelligence chief is a match for Quiet, the Amazing, cheeky correspondent Screamer, the ignorant and martinet Khripun, as well as the one who fawns over the front commander, but is certainly rude to his subordinates. The Local is the “mayor of the city,” rushing to finish the wine at a banquet in honor of the commander. And then “give all your strength to the front.” The weapon used by the playwright to expose all these opportunists, self-interested people looking for an easy life is merciless, evil laughter.
The image of Gorlov was created using comic means - from irony to sarcasm. Taking advantage of his position, he mainly laughs at others, although at the same time, painted in the colors of a satirical pamphlet, he himself appears in a tragic form. Gorlov became aware of General Ognev’s appearance in the press with a critical article. An ironic tirade follows at his address: “He signed up to be a clicker with us... He became a writer!” It is enough for a member of the Military Council, Gaidar, to express doubt about the accuracy of Gorlovka’s information about enemy tanks, when the commander self-confidently interrupts:
“- Nonsense! We know for sure. That they have fifty tanks at the station...
(- What if they throw you because of the river?...)
“What if there’s an earthquake?... (laughs).”
Gorlov most often uses irony in the fight against those whom he considers weak military leaders. We hear the intonations of Gogol’s mayor mocking the merchants at the zenith of his imaginary triumph in Gorlov’s voice when he meets Kolos and Ognev after his successful operation. Not noticing that he is on the eve of his fall, Gorlov continues to attack: “Why are you dressed up like that today? Do you think we’ll congratulate you and throw a banquet for you? No, my dears, we made a mistake!”
Until the end of the play, nothing can shake Gorlov's complacency. His confidence in his infallibility and indispensability lies neither in military failures, nor in the death of his son, nor in his brother’s persistent advice to voluntarily give up his post.
Korneychuk from the inside, through imaginary aphorisms and Gorlov’s irony of everyone who opposes the front commander, reveals Gorlov’s conservatism, his reluctance to navigate the situation, and his inability to lead. Gorlov’s ridicule of others is a means of self-exposure of the character. In Korneychuk's play, laughter at Gorlov's laughter is a special satirical way of revealing typical character traits.
In the play “Front,” I. Gorlov and his immediate circle are opposed by Ognev, Miron Gorlov, Kolos, Gaidar, and others. It is they who expose Gorlov. And not only and not so much in words, but in all his activities.
The play “Front” evoked a lively response in the army and in the rear. Military leaders also mention it in their memoirs. Thus, the former head of the operations department of the General Staff, S.M. Shtemenko, wrote: “And although in our General Staff every minute counted then, even the most distinguished read the plays. With all our hearts we were on Ognev’s side and spoke out against Gorlov.”
At the end of 1942, the premiere of the play “Front” took place in many theaters across the country. Despite all the differences in interpretation of the play, directors and actors were irreconcilable with Gorlov as a specific person responsible for many military failures. The best was the performance staged by director R. Simonov, in which actor A. Dikiy severely and uncompromisingly condemned Gorlov and Gorlovshchina as a synonym for ignorance, backwardness, arrogance, as the source of many disasters and defeats initial stage war.
During the war years, plays were created about our heroic home front, about the unparalleled labor enthusiasm of millions, without which victories at the front would have been unthinkable. Unfortunately, for the most part, these works did not reach the aesthetic level and the power of emotional impact that marked the plays of military history.
Historical drama achieved certain achievements during this period. The following were written historical plays, like A. Tolstoy’s dilogy “Ivan the Terrible”, V. Solovyov’s tragedy “The Great Sovereign”, etc.
In the field of music, the most significant aesthetic heights were achieved by mass song and symphony. Dmitry Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, written in Leningrad during the terrible blockade of 1942, is rightly considered the pinnacle of symphonic art. A. Tolstoy expressed his impression of this work. As if crowning the efforts of Soviet artists that tragic. But the time still vividly worries us: “Hitler failed to take Leningrad and Moscow... He failed to turn the Russian people to the gnawed bones of cave life. The Red Army created a formidable symphony of world victory. Shostakovich put his ear to the heart of his homeland and played a song of triumph...
He responded to the threat of fascism - to dehumanize man - with a symphony about the victorious triumph of everything lofty and beautiful created by humanitarian culture..."
And that memory, probably,
My soul will be sick
For now there is an irrevocable misfortune
There will be no war for the world...
A. Tvardovsky “Cruel Memory”
The events of the Great Patriotic War are moving further and further into the past. But the years do not erase them in our memory. The historical situation itself inspired great feats of the human spirit. It seems that, when applied to literature about the Great Patriotic War, we can speak of a significant enrichment of the concept of everyday heroism.
In this great battle, which determined the fate of mankind for many years to come, literature was not an outside observer, but an equal participant. Many writers acted in the vanguard. It is known how soldiers not only read, but also kept close to their hearts essays and articles by Sholokhov, Tolstoy, Leonov, poems by Tvardovsky, Simonov, Surkov. Poems and prose, performances and films, songs, works of art found a warm response in the hearts of readers, inspired heroic deeds, and instilled confidence in victory.
In the plotting of stories and tales, a tendency towards simple eventfulness was initially evident. The work was mostly limited to the range of events related to the activities of one regiment, battalion, division, their defense of positions, and escape from encirclement. Events that were exceptional and ordinary in their exceptionality became the basis of the plot. In them, first of all, the movement of history itself was revealed. It is no coincidence that the prose of the 40s includes new plot structures. It differs in that it does not have the traditional contrast of characters in Russian literature as the basis of the plot. When the criterion of humanity became the degree of involvement in history that was happening before our eyes, character conflicts faded before the war.
V. Bykov “Sotnikov”
“First of all, I was interested in two moral points,” wrote Bykov, “which can be simply defined as follows: what is a person before the crushing force of inhumane circumstances? What is he capable of when his ability to defend his life has been completely exhausted and it is impossible to prevent death? (V. Bykov. How the story “Sotnikov” was created. - “Literary Review, 1973, No. 7, p. 101). Sotnikov, who dies on the gallows, will forever remain in the memory of people, while Rybak will die for his comrades. A clear, characteristic conclusion without omissions - characteristic Bykov's prose.
War is portrayed as daily hard work with full dedication of all forces. In the story K. Simonov “Days and Nights” (1943 – 1944) it is said about the hero that he felt the war “as a general bloody suffering.” A person works - this is his main occupation in war, to the point of exhaustion, not just to the limit, but beyond any limit of his strength. This was his main military feat. The story mentions more than once that Saburov “got used to war,” to the most terrible thing in it, “to the fact that healthy people who were talking and joking with him just now ceased to exist in ten minutes.” Based on the fact that in war the unusual becomes ordinary, heroism becomes the norm, the exceptional is translated by life itself into the category of ordinary. Simonov creates the character of a reserved, somewhat stern, silent person who became popular in post-war literature. The war gave a new appreciation to the essential and non-essential, the main and the unimportant, the true and the ostentatious in people: “... people in the war became simpler, cleaner and smarter... The good things in them came to the surface because they were no longer judged by numerous and unclear criteria... People in the face of death, they stopped thinking about what they look like and what they seem like - they had neither time nor desire left for this.”
V. Nekrasovlaid the tradition of a reliable depiction of the everyday course of war in the story "In the trenches of Stalingrad" (1946) - (“trench truth”). In general, the narrative form gravitates towards the diary novel genre. The genre variety also influenced the formation of a deeply suffered, philosophical and lyrical, and not just externally pictorial reflection of the events of the war. The story about everyday life and bloody battles in besieged Stalingrad is told on behalf of Lieutenant Kerzhentsev.
In the foreground are the immediate concerns of an ordinary participant in the war. The author outlines a “local history” with a predominance of individual episodes presented in close-up. V. Nekrasov interprets heroism quite unexpectedly for the war years. On the one hand, his characters do not strive to accomplish feats at any cost, but on the other hand, performing combat missions requires them to overcome the boundaries of personal capabilities, as a result they gain true spiritual heights. For example, having received an order to take a hill, Kerzhentsev clearly understands the utopian nature of this order: he has no weapons, no people, but he cannot disobey. Before the attack, the hero's gaze is turned to the starry sky. Tall symbol The star of Bethlehem becomes a reminder to him of eternity. Knowledge of celestial geography elevates him above time. The star indicated the severe necessity of facing death: “Right in front of me the star is large, bright, unblinking, like a cat’s eye. She brought it and began. Here and nowhere.”
Story M.A. Sholokhov "The Fate of Man" (1956) continues the theme of the Great Patriotic War. Before us is a clash between man and history. Talking about his life, Sokolov involves the narrator in a single circle of experiences. After the Civil War, Andrei Sokolov had “no relatives, nowhere, no one, not a single soul.” Life was kind to him: he got married, had children, built a house. Then a new war came, which took everything from him. He has no one again. All the pain of the people seems to be concentrated in the narrator: “... eyes, as if sprinkled with ashes, filled with such an inescapable mortal melancholy that it is painful to look into them.” The hero is saved from the pain of loneliness by caring for an even more defenseless creature. This turned out to be the orphan Vanyushka - “a sort of little ragamuffin: his face is covered in watermelon juice, covered with dust, dirty as dust, unkempt, and his eyes are like stars at night after the rain!” A joy appeared: “at night you stroke him sleepily, then you smell the hair in his curls, and his heart moves away, becomes softer, otherwise it has turned to stone from grief...”.
It is difficult to imagine how powerfully the novel about the feat of underground Komsomol members had a strong influence on the education of more than one generation. IN "Young Guard" (1943, 1945, 1951) A.A. Fadeeva there is everything that excites a teenager at all times: an atmosphere of mystery, conspiracy, sublime love, courage, nobility, mortal danger and heroic death. Restrained Seryozha and proud Valya Borts, capricious Lyubka and silent Sergei Levashov, shy Oleg and thoughtful, strict Nina Ivantsova... “The Young Guard” is a novel about the feat of the young, about their courageous death and immortality.
V. Panova “Satellites” (1946).
The heroes of this story come face to face with war during the first voyage of an ambulance train to the front line. It is here that the test of a person’s mental strength, his dedication and devotion to work is carried out. The dramatic trials that befell the heroes of the story simultaneously contributed to the identification and affirmation of the main, authentic thing in a person. Each of them must overcome something in themselves, give up something: Dr. Belov must suppress enormous grief (he lost his wife and daughter during the bombing of Leningrad), Lena Ogorodnikova must survive the collapse of love, Yulia Dmitrievna must overcome the loss of hope of starting a family. But these losses and self-denial did not break them. Spuzhov’s desire to preserve his little world turns into a sad result: loss of personality, illusory existence.
K. Simonov “The Living and the Dead”
From chapter to chapter, “The Living and the Dead” unfolds a broad panorama of the first period of the Patriotic War. All the characters in the novel (and there are about one hundred and twenty of them) merge into a monumental collective image - the image of the people. Reality itself: the loss of vast territories, colossal losses of life, the terrible torment of encirclement and captivity, humiliation with suspicion and much that the heroes of the novel saw and went through makes them ask questions: why did this tragedy happen? Who is guilty? Simonov's chronicle became the history of the people's consciousness. This novel convinces that, having united together in a sense of their own historical responsibility, the people are able to defeat the enemy and save their fatherland from destruction.
E. Kazakevich “Star”
“The Star” is dedicated to the scouts who are closest to death, “always in her sight.” The scout has freedom that is unthinkable in the infantry ranks; his life or death depends directly on his initiative, independence, and responsibility. At the same time, he must, as it were, renounce himself, be ready “to disappear at any moment, to dissolve in the silence of the forests, in the unevenness of the soil, in the flickering shadows of twilight”... The author notes that “in the lifeless light of German rockets” the reconnaissance as if “the whole world sees.” The call signs of the reconnaissance group and divisions Zvezda and Earth receive a conventionally poetic, symbolic meaning. The conversation between the Star and the Earth begins to be perceived as a “mysterious interplanetary conversation”, in which people feel “as if lost in cosmic space.” On the same poetic wave, the image of the game arises (“ ancient game, in which there are only two existing persons: man and death"), although behind it stands certain meaning at the extreme stage of mortal risk, too much is left to chance and nothing can be predicted.
The review includes more than well-known literary works about the Great War; we will be glad if someone wants to pick them up and flip through the familiar pages...
Librarian of KNH M.V. Krivoshchekova
When I pronounce just the words “Great Patriotic War,” I immediately imagine battles and battles for my homeland, many years have passed, but that pain is still in the souls and hearts of people who lost relatives in those days. But this topic concerns not only those who went through the war, but also those who were born much later. Therefore, we study history, watch films and read books to be aware of this topic. In addition to those terrible moments that our grandparents had to go through, there is another side, this is the long-awaited victory. Victory Day is considered a legendary day, it is pride for all those actions and those people who made every effort to protect their land.
The theme of the Great Patriotic War can undoubtedly be called the main one throughout the 20th century. Many authors addressed this event in their stories and poems. Of course, the main authors were those who themselves experienced that terrible period and witnessed everything that happened. Therefore, in some works you can find completely truthful descriptions and facts, since some of the writers themselves took part in the war. All this was with the goal of describing the reader’s past life, telling why it all started and how to make sure such terrible events do not happen again.
The main Russian writers who passed through the period 1941-1945 can be called Sholokhov, Fadeev, Tolstoy, Simonov, Bykov, Tvardovsky and some other authors. From the above list I would especially like to highlight Vasily Bykov; in his works there were no special descriptions of bloody battles. His task was more to study human behavior in an extraordinary situation. Therefore, the character of the hero, courage, strength, perseverance will especially stand out in his works, but along with positive traits, one can also see betrayal and meanness.
But Bykov did not divide the heroes into good and bad; he gave this opportunity to the reader, so that he himself could decide who to condemn and who to consider a hero. The main example of such a story can be called Bykov’s work “Sotnikov”.
In addition to stories about the war, poetry also played a significant role in Russian literature. They talk not only about the period of battles, but also about the moments of victory themselves. As an example, we can highlight the work of the author Konstantin Simonov “Wait for me”; it added strength and morale to the soldiers.
Andrei Platonov wrote the story "Return". As for me, it is imbued with touchingness and eventfulness, despite the fact that the actions described by the author take place after the end of hostilities. It talks about the return of Captain Ivanov home to his family. But over the years, their relationship changes, and some misunderstanding appears on the part of their relatives. The captain does not know how his family lived while he was away, how his wife worked all day, how hard it was for the children. Seeing that Semyon Evseevich comes to his children, Ivanov even begins to suspect his wife of cheating, but in fact Semyon just wanted to bring at least some joy into the lives of the children.
Constant disagreements and not wanting to hear anyone but himself lead Ivanov to the point that he leaves home and wants to leave, but at the last moment, seeing how the children are running after him, he still decides to stay. The author showed not the events of the ongoing war, but what happened after, how people’s characters and destinies changed.
Despite the passage of many years since these events, the works do not lose their relevance. After all, they are the ones who talk about the life of our people, about events and the victory over fascism. No matter how difficult and scary it was, the Soviet people never gave up hope of victory. The war became a great event that showed the strength of spirit, the heroism of the entire people, and the victory gave a future and faith in peace to many generations.
The Great Patriotic War in the works of 20th century writers
The Great Patriotic War was a tragedy for many families. Fathers, brothers, husbands went to the front, some did not return. This is probably why the theme of war very often appears in the works of writers of the 20th century. Many of them fought themselves, and their works are especially touching and sensitive. Every writer of the 20th century was permeated by this terrible atmosphere, which is why their works are very worthwhile and interesting.
Works began to be written during the war itself. For example, Tvardovsky wrote the poem Vasily Terkin from 1941-1945. This poem has thirty chapters, each of them describes an episode of this tragedy, namely the life of an ordinary front-line soldier. In this poem, Vasily Terkin is the embodiment of a courageous and real man; at that moment, it was precisely such people that should be taken as an example.
Nekrasov's story “In the Trenches of Stalingrad” was also written at the beginning of the war. It is very touching, but at the same time tough: the events described in the story simply tear your heart.
“Not on the lists” was Bykov’s legendary work, which is dedicated to the defenders of the Brest Fortress. After all, it is Brest Fortress was the first to receive a blow from the fascist invaders. The most important thing is that this work is based on real events and impressions.
This trend has grown and grown every year. The Patriotic War left a huge imprint on the destinies of people. They described many of their experiences in poems, stories, novels, songs and verses. This topic always shivers, because every family has faced this tragedy and experienced Hell on earth.
Sholokhov's story “The Fate of a Man” is a tragic work that certainly makes you think. This story is about a simple man, a driver. He experienced the complete oppression of the Germans, having been in a concentration camp. He saw the most terrible things that happened in those years: pain, torment, lost eyes full of tears, the death of innocent people. I saw how the Nazis abused women and children, killed people without even blinking their eyes. The most important difference between this character is that he wanted to live and survive because his family was waiting for him at home.
Despite the fact that many years have passed since these tragic events, works about the war are still relevant today. After all, they reflect the essence of the people, their will to win and patriotism. War is an event when you need to gather your will and strength into a fist and go to the end, to victory.
Several interesting essays
- Essay by Olga Ivanovna Dymova in the story of Chekhov's Jumper (Characteristics and image)
Chekhov's "The Jumper" speaks of the frivolity of people who sometimes consider their life to be a game. Whatever happens, everything will go away on its own and there is no need to try to fix the situation.
- Essay based on Repin's painting Pushkin at the Lyceum exam (description)
In the modern world it is very difficult to find a person who would not be familiar with the work of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. As you know, he received his first education at the lyceum, which was located in Tsarskoe Selo.
- Bazarov's nihilism in the novel Fathers and Sons of Turgenev, essay with quotes
In the novel by I.S. Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" one of the problems is the confrontation between lordly and democratic Russia. Evgeny Bazarov, the main character of the work, calls himself a “nihilist.”
- The image and characteristics of the Undertaker by Andrian Prokhorov in Pushkin’s story The Undertaker
Andrian Prokhorov is the only main character of the work included in the cycle “Belkin’s Tale”.
- The image and characteristics of Marsilius in the Song of Roland essay
Marsilius is the king of the Spanish city of Zaragoza. This character is distinguished by the most unpleasant traits of a person - cunning, meanness, cowardice, commercialism and cruelty. This is confirmed in many episodes of the work, for example, for the sake of