The period in the history of Russian literature, which began in the 90s. last century and ended in October 1917, received from literary scholars different names: “newest Russian literature”, “Russian literature of the 20th century”, “Russian literature late XIX- beginning of the 20th century." But, no matter what the literature of this period is called, it is clear that it was not just a continuation of literature XIX century, and meant a special period, even an entire era literary development, requiring special study.
How should this literature be assessed? What are its main features, its main driving forces? These questions have received and continue to receive far from identical answers, sometimes causing heated debate. It could not be otherwise: although the period under review covers only twenty-five years, it is unusually complex and contradictory. First of all, the historical process itself, which determined the development of all forms of spiritual life, including literature, was complex and contradictory. On the one hand, Russia entered the era of imperialism at the beginning of the century, the last stage of capitalist society. Russian capitalism, having barely managed to survive in the 90s. rapid economic takeoff, almost immediately found itself in a state of decay, and the Russian bourgeoisie, showing a complete inability to play a revolutionary role, entered into a conspiracy with tsarism and all the reactionary forces. On the other hand, in the 90s. a new, proletarian stage has begun liberation struggle in Russia, where the center of the world has moved revolutionary movement, the era of three revolutions has come, they are approaching, according to the wonderful Russian poet A. A. Blok,
Unheard of changes, Unprecedented rebellions...
Literary scholars, who proceeded only from the fact of Russia’s entry into the era of imperialism, believed that in literature, too, the processes of disintegration became decisive, namely the disintegration of the most advanced direction of literature of the 19th century - critical realism. It seemed to them that anti-realistic movements began to play the main role in literature, which some define as “decadence” (which means “decline”), others as “modernism” (which means “the latest, contemporary art"). Literary critics, who had a broader and deeper understanding of reality, emphasized the leading role of proletarian literature and the new, socialist realism that arose on its basis. But the victory of the new realism did not mean the death of the old, critical realism. The new realism did not discard or “explode” the old one, but helped it, as its ally, overcome the pressure of decadence and retain its importance as a spokesman for the thoughts and feelings of broad democratic strata.
Reflecting on the fate of critical realism at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, we must remember that such great representatives as L.N. Tolstoy and A.P. Chekhov still lived and worked. Their creativity during this period experienced significant changes, reflecting a new historical era. V.I. Lenin meant mainly latest works L. N. Tolstoy, especially the novel “Resurrection”, when he called Tolstoy “the mirror of the Russian revolution” - a mirror of the mood of the broad peasant masses. As for A.P. Chekhov, it was in the 90s. he made those artistic discoveries that placed him, along with Tolstoy, at the head of Russian and world literature. Older generation realist writers such as V. G. Korolenko, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak and others continued to create new artistic values, and in the late 80s - early 90s. realistic literature replenished with a new generation of major literary artists - V.V. Veresaev, A.S. Serafimovich, M. Gorky, N.G. Garin-Mikhailovsky, A.I. Kuprin, I.A. Bunin, L.N. Andreev and others . All these writers played a big role in the spiritual preparation of the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907 with their truthful works full of sympathy for the oppressed. True, after the defeat of the revolution, in the dark period of reaction, some of them experienced a period of hesitation or even completely moved away from the progressive literary camp. However, in the 10s, during the period of a new revolutionary upsurge, some of them created new talented works of art. In addition, outstanding realist writers of the next generation came to literature - A. N. Tolstoy, S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky, M. M. Prishvin and others. It is not for nothing that one of the articles on literature that appeared in 1914 on the pages of the Bolshevik Pravda had a significant title: “The Revival of Realism.”
The most important feature of Russian literature of the early 20th century. was the birth of socialist realism, the founder of which was Maxim Gorky, who had a huge influence on the development of all world literature. Already in the work of the writer of the 90s, which reflected the growing protest of the young Russian proletariat, there was a lot of originality. In it, for all its deep realism, romantic notes sounded, expressing the dream of future freedom and glorifying the “madness of the brave.”
At the beginning of the 20th century. Gorky, in the plays “Philistines” and “Enemies”, in the novel “Mother” and other works, for the first time showed proletarian revolutionaries as representatives of a class not only suffering, but also struggling, realizing its purpose - the liberation of the entire people from exploitation and oppression.
Socialist realism created new opportunities for depicting all aspects of reality. Gorky in his brilliant works “At the Depths”, the cycle “Across Rus'”, autobiographical trilogy and others, as well as A. S. Serafimovich and Demyan Bedny, who followed him on the path of socialist realism, showed life with no less fearless truthfulness than their great predecessors in the literature of the 19th century, mercilessly exposing the oppressors of the people. But at the same time, they reflected life in its revolutionary development and believed in the triumph of socialist ideals. They portrayed man not only as a victim of life, but also as a creator of history. This was expressed in Gorky’s famous sayings: “Man is the truth!”, “Man-century!.. This sounds... proud!”, “Everything in Man is everything for Man” (“At the Depths”), “Excellent position - to be a man on earth" (“The Birth of Man”). If it were necessary to briefly answer the question “What was the most important thing in the work of M. Gorky?” and to another question, “Which side of Gorky’s legacy has become especially important today, in the light of the main tasks of our days?”, then the answer to both of these questions would be the same: a hymn to Man.
Along with realism there were modernist movements like symbolism, acmeism, futurism. They defended “absolute freedom” of artistic creativity, but in reality this meant a desire to escape political struggle. Among the modernists there were many talented artists, which did not fit within the framework of their currents, and sometimes completely broke with them.
Complexity historical process, sharpness social contradictions, the replacement of periods of revolutionary upsurge with periods of reaction - all this influenced the fate of writers in different ways. Some major realist writers deviated towards decadence, as happened, for example, with L.N. Andreev. A greatest poets symbolism in. Y. Bryusov and A. A. Blok came to the revolution. Blok created one of the first outstanding works Soviet era- poem "The Twelve". V. V. Mayakovsky, who from the very beginning was cramped within the framework of individualistic rebellion and formal experiments of the futurists, already in the pre-October years created vivid anti-capitalist and anti-militarist works.
The development of world literature today preserves the balance of forces that first emerged in Russian literature at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries: the relationship between socialist realism, critical realism and modernism. This alone gives great value to the experience of Russian pre-October literature.
This experience is also valuable because in the pre-October years advanced literature received theoretical, aesthetic program in the speeches of M. Gorky and Marxist critics G. V. Plekhanov, V. V. Vorovsky, A. V. Lunacharsky and others. Great value V. I. Lenin had speeches: his articles about L. N. Tolstoy and A. I. Herzen, which revealed the enduring significance of traditions classical literature; his assessments of M. Gorky’s work, which illuminated the birth of new, proletarian, socialist literature; article “Party organization and party literature” (1905), which, in contrast to the principle of the imaginary “absolute freedom” of creativity, put forward the principle of party literature - the open connection of literature with the advanced class and advanced ideals as the only real condition for its true freedom.
The highest type of realism
The 19th century in Russian literature was a time of dominance of critical realism. The works of Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, Chekhov and other great writers put Russian literature in first place. In the 90s in Russia, the proletariat rose up to fight the autocracy.
A writer, if only he
The wave, and the ocean is Russia,
Can't help but be outraged
When the elements are outraged.
A writer, if only he
There is a nerve of a great people,
Can't help but be amazed
When freedom is defeated.
Y. P. Polonsky (1819-1898)
A “storm” was approaching - “the movement of the masses themselves,” as V.I. Lenin characterized the third, highest, stage of the Russian liberation movement.
The works of critical realists who came to literature in the years 1890-1900 were deprived of that enormous generalizing power that distinguished the great works of Russian classics. But these writers also deeply and truthfully depicted certain aspects of their contemporary reality.
Gloomy pictures of poverty and ruin of the Russian countryside, hunger and savagery of the peasantry emerge from the pages of the stories of I. A. Bunin (1870 - 1953). Photo 1.
L. N. Andreev (1871-1919) depicted the joyless, hopeless life of “little people” in many of his stories. Photo 2.
Many works protested against all kinds of arbitrariness and violenceA. I. Kuprina (1870-1938):
"Moloch", "Gambrinus" and especially the famous story "The Duel", which sharply criticized the tsarist army.
The traditions of the Russian classics were continued and developed by the emerging proletarian literature, which reflected the most important thing in the life of Russia at that time - the struggle of the working class for its liberation. This revolutionary literature was united in its desire to make art “part of the common proletarian cause,” as demanded
V. I. Lenin in the article “Party organization and party literature.”
The ranks of proletarian writers were led by Gorky, with enormous artistic power expressed heroic character new era.
Having started his literary activity with bright, revolutionary-romantic works,
During the first Russian revolution, Gorky laid the foundation of realism higher type- socialist realism.
Following Gorky's path to socialist realism laid
A. S. Serafimovich (1863-1945) is one of the brightest and most original writers of the proletarian camp.
The talented revolutionary poet Demyan Bedny published his striking satirical poems and fables on the pages of the Bolshevik newspapers Zvezda and Pravda.
Great place Marxist press organs also featured poems whose authors were not professional writers, but worker poets and revolutionary poets. Their poems and songs (“Boldly, comrades, keep up”
L.P. Radina, “Varshavyanka” by G.M. Krzhizhanovsky, “We are blacksmiths” by F.S. Shkulev and many others) talked about the work and life of workers, called for the fight for freedom.And at the same time, in the opposite, in the bourgeois-noble camp, confusion and fear of life, a desire to get away from it, to hide from the approaching storms, grew. The expression of these sentiments was the so-called decadent (or decadent) art, which arose back in the 90s, but became especially fashionable after the revolution of 1905, in an era that Gorky called “the most shameful decade in the history of the Russian intelligentsia.”
Openly renouncing the best traditions of Russian literature: realism, nationalism, humanism, the search for truth, the decadents preached individualism, “pure” art, detached from life. Unified in essence, decadence was outwardly very colorful. It broke up into many schools and movements at war with each other.
The most important of them were:
symbolism(K. Balmont, A. Bely, F. Sologub);
acmeism(N. Gumilyov, O. Mandelstam, A. Akhmatova);
futurism(V. Khlebnikov, D. Burliuk).
The work of two major Russian poets was associated with symbolism: Blok and Bryusov, who deeply felt the inevitability of the death of the ugly old world, the inevitability of impending social upheavals. Both of them managed to break out of the narrow circle of decadent moods and break with decadence.
Their mature creativity was permeated with deep, excited thoughts about the fate of the homeland and people.
He began his career in the ranks of the futurists creative path Vladimir Mayakovsky, but very soon he overcame their influence.
In his pre-October poetry, hatred of the old world and joyful anticipation of the coming revolution resounded with enormous force.
Imbued with revolutionary romance and a deep understanding of the laws of life, the work of Gorky, the subtle lyricism of the anxiously passionate poetry of Blok, the rebellious pathos of the poems of the young Mayakovsky, the irreconcilable partisanship of proletarian writers - all these diverse achievements of Russian literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were perceived by the literature of socialist society.
To be continued.
The last decade of the 19th century opens up in Russian and world culture new stage. Over the course of about a quarter of a century - from the early 1890s to October 1917 - literally every aspect of Russian life changed radically - economics, politics, science, technology, culture, art. Compared to the social and, to some extent, literary stagnation of the 1880s, the new stage of historical and cultural development was distinguished by rapid dynamics and extreme drama. In terms of the pace and depth of change, as well as the catastrophic nature internal conflicts Russia at this time was ahead of any other country.
Therefore, the transition from the era of classical Russian literature to the new literary time was accompanied by a far from peaceful nature of general cultural and intraliterary life, an unexpectedly rapid - by the standards of the 19th century - change of aesthetic guidelines, and a radical renewal of literary techniques. Russian poetry developed especially dynamically at this time, again - after the Pushkin era - coming to the forefront of the country's general cultural life. Later, the poetry of this time was called the “poetic renaissance” or “silver age.” Having arisen by analogy with the concept of the “golden age,” which traditionally denoted the Pushkin period of Russian literature, this phrase was initially used to characterize the peak manifestations of poetic culture of the early 20th century - the work of A. Blok, A. Bely, I. Annensky, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam and other brilliant masters of words. However, gradually the term “ silver age"began to define that part of the whole artistic culture Russia at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, which was associated with symbolism, acmeism, “neo-peasant” and partly futuristic literature. Today, many literary scholars have made the definition of “Silver Age” synonymous with the concept of “culture of the turn of the century,” which, of course, is inaccurate, since a number of significant phenomena of the turn of the century (primarily associated with revolutionary theories) can hardly be compared with what was originally called art of the Silver Age.
What was new compared to the 19th century at the turn of the two centuries was, first of all, man’s worldview. The understanding of the exhaustion of the previous era grew stronger, and directly opposite assessments of the socio-economic and general cultural prospects of Russia began to appear. The common denominator of the ideological disputes that flared up in the country towards the end of the 19th century was the definition of the new era as a border era: the old forms of life, work, and political organization of society were irretrievably becoming a thing of the past, and the very system of spiritual values was being decisively revised. Crisis - keyword era, wandering through the pages of journalistic and literary-critical articles (the words “revival”, “turning point”, “crossroads”, etc., which are similar in meaning, were often used).
She quickly joined the discussion of current issues fiction, traditionally for Russia, has not stood aloof from public passions. Her social engagement was manifested in the titles of her works that were characteristic of that era. “Without a Road”, “At the Turning” - V. Veresaev calls his stories; “The Decline of the Old Century” - echoes the title of the chronicle novel by A. Amphitheaters; “At the last line” - M. Artsybashev responds with his novel. Awareness of the crisis of the time, however, did not mean recognition of its futility.
On the contrary, most wordsmiths perceived their era as a time of unprecedented achievements, when the importance of literature in the life of the country increased sharply. That's why it's so great attention began to be paid not only to creativity itself, but also to the worldview and social position of writers, their connections with political life countries.
Despite all the differences in positions and views, there was something in common in the worldview of the writers of the turn of the century, which was brilliantly captured in his time by the outstanding literature connoisseur Professor Semyon Afanasyevich Vengerov in the preface to the three-volume “History of Russian Literature of the 20th Century” (1914) that he conceived. The scientist noted that uniting the social activist M. Gorky and the individualist K. Balmont, the realist I. Bunin, the symbolists V. Bryusov, A. Blok and A. Bely with the expressionist L. Andreev and the naturalist M. Artsybashev, the pessimist-decadent F. Sologub and the optimist A. Kuprin was a challenge to the traditions of everyday life, “aspiration to the heights, to the distance, to the depths, but only away from the hateful plane of gray vegetation.”
Another thing is that development paths new literature writers imagined it differently. In the 19th century, Russian literature had high degree ideological unity. It has developed a fairly clear hierarchy of literary talents: at one stage or another, it is not difficult to identify masters who served as reference points for an entire generation of writers (Pushkin, Gogol, Nekrasov, Tolstoy, etc.). But the legacy of the turn of the 19th-20th centuries is not limited to the work of one or two dozen significant literary artists, and the logic of literary development of that time cannot be reduced to a single center or the simplest scheme changing directions. This legacy is a multi-tiered artistic reality, in which individual literary talents, no matter how outstanding they may be, turn out to be only part of a grandiose whole.
When starting to study turn-of-the-century literature, one cannot do without brief overview social background and general cultural context of this period (context - environment, external environment, in which art exists).
As a result of studying this section, the student should:
- – know the originality of this period as an era of affirmation of the global significance of Russian literature; the role of artistic geniuses in the historical and literary process of this time; dialectical nature of writer's searches: truth artistic image life and the highest spirituality, elitism and democracy, religious and moral aspirations of writers, etc.;
- – be able to determine general patterns characteristic of a given literary period; justify the analysis artistic specificity works; indicate examples of innovative solutions of writers in the field of form;
- – own a conceptual apparatus associated with the study of the historical and literary process of the era and the change of its genre guidelines; the ability to differentiate in specific analyzes of works of truth from life and truth fiction; methods of studying the poetics of an author or a separate work.
When applied to the history of Russian classical literature, “end of the century” is a somewhat arbitrary concept. Firstly, this is not just a chronological definition, i.e. the last two or three decades, but rather the temporary space of the literary process, marked general laws, covering the period 1860–1890s. Secondly, this literature generally goes beyond the boundaries of the 19th century, taking into its orbit an entire decade of the new, 20th century.
The uniqueness of this period lies in a number of phenomena. First of all, it should be noted intensity historical and literary process at different moments of its formation. This process had two waves, two powerful bursts. At the beginning of the century - Pushkin, in whom, according to A. N. Ostrovsky, Russian literature grew for a whole century, since he brought it to a new level, synthesizing in his creative impulse the previous eras of its development. The second wave came at the end of the century and was associated with three names: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov. This great trinity, completely in the Russian spirit, with enormous, amazing concentration, condensation of creative energy The end of the century and the highest rise of the Russian genius were marked.
Domestic literature first received at this time worldwide confession. Half-impoverished, “barbaric” Russia, without a single civilized drop of blood in its veins, as they talked condescendingly about it, suddenly put forward a literature that lit up as a star of the first magnitude and forced people to reckon with itself, dictating the highest aesthetic and spiritual standards to the writers of the world. It began with Tolstoy and Dostoevsky and was a huge conquest of Russian culture, then Chekhov followed, but not only with prose, but also with drama, which made a whole revolution in this type of creativity.
Previously, Russian literature sometimes attracted favorable attention (for example, Turgenev), but such universal, enthusiastic worship never existed. In February 1886, a witty genre sketch by Maurice Barès appeared in the French magazine Revue illustree, indicating a change in the opinions of Europeans: “Everyone knows that for two months now a man of good taste and knowledge has been exclaiming from the first steps greetings: “Oh, monsieur, do you know these Russians?” You take a step back and say: “Oh, that Tolstoy!” The one who is pressing on you answers: “Dostoyevsky!” World recognition was conquered precisely by the literature of the end of the century. Only five years passed after Dostoevsky's death, and Tolstoy continued his writing in Yasnaya Polyana, preparing to create a third novel, “Resurrection.”
However, this phenomenon was only consequence the efforts of several generations of Russian writers. In 1834, Gogol, while Pushkin was still alive, published an article about him (in Mirgorod), noting: “Pushkin is a Russian man in his full development, as he will be in two hundred years.” A little more than 30 years have passed since a book was published in Moscow that attracted everyone's attention, and it soon became clear that another genius of the Renaissance type had appeared, born, like Pushkin, in Russia. This book was the novel "War and Peace", the author was Count L.N. Tolstoy. It was also significant - and not accidental - that all, without exception, luminaries classics of the 19th century V. They considered Pushkin their forerunner. In other words, Russian literature of this period could take such a place and play such a significance in world culture because it was based on tradition previous literature.
Another feature of the literary process is energy manifestations of creative efforts, uniting the most diverse literary personalities in an intense artistic flow. For example, in 1862, the Russian Messenger published simultaneously “Crime and Punishment” by Dostoevsky and “1805” by L. N. Tolstoy (a magazine version of the beginning of the future “War and Peace”), i.e. two great novels under one magazine cover. Even earlier, in the late 1850s. An agreement was concluded by a number of writers to publish their works in the Sovremennik magazine. The parties to the agreement were authors who two or three decades later became recognized as great and brilliant masters - Turgenev, Ostrovsky, Goncharov, Nekrasov, Tolstoy. In the 1880–1890s. The magazine "Northern Herald" published works by Turgenev, Tolstoy, Korolenko, and Chekhov.
A characteristic feature of the literary process under consideration can also be traced in its vertical slice. This coordinate system gives an idea of extraordinary brightness and surprise mates when writers develop similar themes, ideas, images. Early 1860s marked by the appearance of “anti-nihilistic” works: the novels “Nowhere”, “On Knives” by N. S. Leskov and “The Troubled Sea” by A. F. Pisemsky, the unfinished comedy “The Infected Family” by L. N. Tolstoy. In 1868, A. N. Tolstoy’s drama “Tsar Feodor Ioannovich” and F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “The Idiot” were written: both there and here are heroes of the same type, both in their worldview and in the nature of their influence on others. In 1875, when Nekrasov, struggling with excruciating physical and moral suffering, wrote his “Last Songs,” L. N. Tolstoy worked hard on “Anna Karenina,” already knowing tragic ending, who was waiting for the heroine of the novel.
Undoubtedly, this period was a triumph of realism, shunned, however, literal verisimilitude. Fidelity to life was affirmed as an unconditional law of creativity; deviation from it, even in details, was confirmation, from the point of view of the masters, of either weakness of talent or hasty, rough work. L.N. Tolstoy expressed this idea in a paradoxical form, noting that art is more objective than science itself, in which there is the possibility of gradually approaching the truth in formulations that clarify this or that pattern. In art this is impossible, because for the artist there is no choice: what he creates is either true or false, there is no third option.
However, with the indispensable requirement of fidelity to life, the literature of this time went to daring experiments, looking far ahead and anticipating the innovations of avant-garde art. The truth of life was often violated in the name of artistic truth. For example, a moment could unfold into a disproportionately cumbersome, vast narrative space (the death of Staff Captain Praskukhin in Tolstoy’s story “Sevastopol in May” and the episode of the wounding of Prince Bolkonsky in “War and Peace”) or a contradiction arose between the author’s view and the perception of the hero (an obvious discrepancy exposition "Ward No. 6" with the ending, where Ragin sees what the author-narrator should have said when describing the neglected hospital yard in front of the field, where the ominous building he saw rose - a prison, but did not say, thereby creating an unexpectedly powerful emotional and a dramatic splash at the conclusion of the story). Often it was not just the verisimilitude of life that was destroyed, but also the laws of the genre. For example, the objective manner of novel narration was replaced by demonstrative intrusions of the author, who, taking advantage of the right of the demiurge-creator, often left the plot movement, the story of fictional persons and directly addressed the reader, explaining in detail himself and his characters (a favorite novel technique of Dostoevsky and L.N. . Tolstoy).
Ultimately, this was a manifestation of the demand for creative freedom, “freedom in the choice of inspiration,” as Dostoevsky said, and opened up scope for artistic innovation.
Finally, characteristic feature historical-literary process - of course, in its highest manifestations - was that the cult dominated the realistic method spirit, spirituality.“Art,” noted L.N. Tolstoy in one of his diary entries, “is a microscope that the artist points at the secrets of his soul and shows these secrets common to all people.” Deciding fate literary works The scale of ideas and the perfection of their implementation grew, which was demonstrated by the luminaries of this time.
Representatives of other literary movements developing at the same time did not reach a similar level. From fiction democratic directions (N.V. Uspensky, N.G. Pomyalovsky, F.M. Reshetnikov, V.A. Sleptsov, A.I. Levitov), writers populist orientation (the most striking among them was G.I. Uspensky), from literature that captures the acuteness "of the current moment" V public life(in fiction - P. D. Boborykin, I. N. Potapenko, in drama - V. A. Krylov, who was also incredibly prolific), nothing has survived or remained individual works as vivid documents of the era and outstanding literary phenomena(stories and essays by G. I. Uspensky, V. M. Garshin, novels by D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak); V best case scenario they became the subject of special research.
At the same time, literature of the late 19th century. marked by its inherent special drama, to some extent even tragic. The rise of her success coincided with the passing of great writers. Turgenev, as if sensing the approaching end of the road, turned to “Poems in Prose” and managed to prepare the carefully corrected “Notes of a Hunter” for publication. Others were snatched from life in the midst of the implementation of creative plans. Dostoevsky, who almost simultaneously created The Brothers Karamazov and a speech about Pushkin, which brought him enormous popularity, continued The Diary of a Writer, which was widely used recent years great success. Chekhov, who achieved world fame as a prose writer and playwright, died in the prime of his life - at 44 years old.
Thus, the highest wave of literary growth turned out to be marked by losses. At the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries. There is not just a change of generations: artistic achievements remain, but their creators pass away one by one. A new time is coming for the development of the historical and literary process - the era of Russian literature, but already the 20th century.
Literature of the period under review was closely connected with the previous period. The literary movement continues to exist naturalism (biologism), in the works of E. Zola, acquiring new features in "Physiological Essays" in Rudyard Kipling, for whom reportage becomes literary device in his short stories about India, and soldier's slang makes his ballads accessible to millions. Lives out his last days symbolism.
Literary figures on turn of the 19th century and the 20th century were concerned not only with creative problems, but also with social injustice, imperialism, colonialism, militarism and war - the complexity and contradictory nature of life. Criticism of the injustices of the social system, human relations, fate creative personality In bourgeois society, writers of a realistic direction worked.
Critical realism receives further development in the works of major European writers:
- Anatole France,
- Romain Rolland,
- Bernard Shaw and others
At this time, the creativity of remarkable US writers was developing:
- Mark Twain (1835-1910; "Pamphlets", etc.),
- Jack London (1876-1916; "The Iron Heel", "Martin Eden"),
- Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945; "Sister Carey", "Trilogy of Desire"),
- E. Sinclair ("The Jungle"),
- F. Norris ("Octopus"),
- Thomas Mann (1875-1955; "Buddenbrooks", 1900; "Death in Venice", 1911),
- Heinrich Mann (1871-1950; "Empire", 1900s; "Loyal Subject", 1914),
- Boleslav Prus,
- Eliza Ozheshko,
- Maria Konopnitskaya,
- Jan Neruda, etc.
Significant changes are also taking place in Western European novel. Along with traditional literary genres(psychological, everyday novel, domestic drama etc.) writers of the 20th century. are developing genre of philosophical novel(A. France “On the White Stone”, T. Mann), giving new features to the art of everyday realism.
In an effort to sum up the development of bourgeois relations, writers create works telling about the fate of several generations of their heroes, developing the genre of the novel in the form of a family chronicle ("Buddenbrooks" by T. Mann, "The Forsyte Saga" by D. Galsworthy).
John Galsworthy(1867-1933) “The Forsyte Saga” was written over 40 years and created a brilliant work of literature of critical realism.
Each author, exposing the ugly forms of social life, had his own creative style. So, Anatole France(1844-1924) in anti-bourgeois novels-pamphlets - “Penguin Island”, “The Gods Thirst”, “Rise of the Angels” - condemned violence, wars, religious fanaticism, and the hypocrisy of bourgeois morality. At the same time, France's work is permeated with love for man, nature and beauty. English writer G. Wells composed famous science fiction novels: “The Time Machine”, “The Invisible Man”, “War of the Worlds”, etc. The theme of art occupies a large place in the work of the mentioned writers. The tragedy of the artist in the bourgeois world is captured in the novels of J. London ("Martin Eden"), Dreiser ("Genius"), and in the short stories and novels of T. Mann. In the most full form The artist’s conflict with the bourgeois world is revealed in R. Rolland’s multi-volume novel “Jean-Christophe.”
At the turn of the century it happened renewal of dramaturgy. During these years, the English playwright B. Shaw brought English drama out of an ideological and artistic impasse. His play "Pygmalion" had already performed on the stages of all the leading theaters in the world.
The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) was also an innovator, who gave the drama a problematic character.
Widely known in the world at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. acquired the plays of the German playwright Gerhart Hauptmann (1862-1946). From naturalism ("Before Sunrise", 1889) to themes social significance("Weavers", 1892), to convention and symbolism ("The Sunken Bell") and satirical comedy morals (“Red Rooster”, “Rats”) - such is his creative path. By known reasons during this period is born socialist direction in art, the founder of which is considered to be the poets of the Paris Commune, primarily Eugene Potier, author of the famous "Internationale". In 1905-1909 In Denmark, Martin Andersen-Neske creates the epic Pelle the Conqueror. During the First World War, A. Barbusse’s novel “Fire” (1916) appeared, which truthfully reveals the essence of the war of 1914-1918. It should be noted that during this difficult period, moods of disappointment, disbelief, despair and death were widespread. We remember that the phenomenon is called decadence ("decadence" - "decline"). Decadence ideas were reflected in all literary movements and affected the creativity of many writers of that time, including the most important ones (Maupassant, G. Mann, M. Maeterlinck, R. Rolland, etc.). Many artists, hiding from harsh reality, retreated into a narrow personal world in their work, and human personality depicted in decline and destruction, stooping to unprincipledness, to admiration for vice. During this period, the process of mutual exchange of experience between artists from various countries of Europe, America and Asia significantly intensified. Recognition of the value of the civilization of the East was the awarding of the Nobel Prize in 1913 to the outstanding thinker and writer of India Rabindranath Tagore.
The 20th century brings new events, new phenomena, new discoveries, new names. Considered the most modern and fashionable avant-garde art:
- Italian futurism (Tommaso Marinetti),
- German expressionism (Bertolt Brecht, Johannes Becher),
- French Cubism (Guillaume Apollinaire, 1880-1918)
- and surrealism (Paul Eluard, Louis Aragon).
The fragile rain holds the tiles
In balance. Ballerina
will never learn
To flow and jump
Like rain.
Your orange hair in the emptiness of the Universe,
In the emptiness of the numbing glasses of silence
And the darkness where my naked your hands looking for a reflection.
Your heart is chimerical in shape,
And your love is similar to my departed desire.
O fragrant sighs, dreams and glances.
But you weren't always with me.
My memory
Keeps a dejected picture of your appearance
And care.
Time, like love, cannot do without words.
The cubist Apollinaire was fond of formal searches, striving for a form freed from reality. He cultivated automatic creativity - a recording of associations that randomly arise in the poet's mind. But in his best poems the poet managed to express the bitterness of the era of the approaching world war.
The expressionists demanded "revolution of the spirit"- liberation of the soul from “self-oppressive matter” (bourgeois life). They depicted modern reality in flashy forms. The courage of denunciation was combined with a mood of despair. And innovation, divorced from tradition, often turned out to be external and empty.
It was enough propaganda literature, aimed at processing public consciousness in preparation for world war. But works filled with ideas of chauvinism and aggressive colonialism were on the margins of the literary process.
To get a clearer picture of the literature of this period, it makes sense to dwell on the work of individual writers. We chose R. Rolland ( Nobel Prize awarded in 1915), R. Kipling (Nobel Prize 1907), R. Tagore (Nobel Prize 1913).
Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)
Rudyard Kipling- prose writer, children's writer, poet, essayist was born in 1865 in India, where his father, an unsuccessful decorator and sculptor, went with his young wife in search of constant income, a quiet life and a solid position in society. Until the age of 6, the boy grew up in the circle of a friendly family, in home. Indian nannies and servants pampered their charges. The world of idyll collapsed when he and his younger sister were sent to England in the care of distant relatives, in their private boarding school. The hostess of the boarding house did not like the independent boy. For Kipling, years of moral and physical torment began: interrogations with passion, prohibitions, sophisticated punishments, beatings, bullying. Rudyar thoroughly studied the science of hatred and learned the powerlessness of the victim. Revenge for humiliation will take place only in literary creativity(novel "The Light Has Gone Out", story "Black Sheep"). After a humiliating punishment (for some insignificant offense the boy was forced to go to school with the inscription “liar” on his chest), he became seriously ill, completely lost his sight for several months and was on the verge of insanity. He was saved by the arrival of his mother, who decided to take the children from the boarding school. After his mother left for India, Kipling continued his studies at a boys' school. Here he encountered the violence of the organization. Teachers achieved the desired results with severity, and, if necessary, with flogging, the elders mercilessly oppressed the younger ones, the strong - the weak; independence of behavior was punished as sacrilege. In his stories, Kipling justified the system of cane education ("Stokes and Company", 1899), since, from his point of view, it accustoms the individual to perform the task assigned to him. social role, instills a sense of public duty, without which service is impossible higher goals(in the West he is sometimes called one of the forerunners of totalitarianism).
After 5 years, Kipling graduated from school as a mature man beyond his years, with an established value system. At the age of 17, he had already firmly decided to become a writer (his military career was closed due to poor health, and there was no money to continue his education). He returns to India and gets a job as a correspondent in a newspaper in Lahore. The nomadic life of a colonial newspaperman encountered hundreds of people and situations, threw him into the most incredible adventures, forced me to risk my life. He wrote reports about wars and epidemics, wrote “gossip chronicles”, conducted interviews, and made many acquaintances. He turned into an excellent expert on local life and customs; even the British commander-in-chief, Earl Roberts of Kandahar, was interested in his opinion.
Kipling discovers a multifaceted, multi-structured India, where two great cultures, “West and East,” come into contact. His essays are written by an astute observer, an unnamed reporter who relays what he heard and saw with protocol precision.
Glory "national poet" comes to Kipling after the release of his Barracks Ballads. His poems are original, they contain Kipling's "iron" style with a consistent "prose" of the verse. Kipling's ballads are "simple stories" from life, told by a dispassionate reporter, or a person from the people's environment. These are monologues addressed to an invisible interlocutor, built on folklore and song models.
Ford through Kabul.
Kabul became at the waters of Kabul...
Saber out, sound the trumpet!..
Here half the platoon drowned,
The ford cost a friend his life,
When there is a spill, when the squadron is wide, they will come out sideways
This ford through Kabul and darkness.
...
We were ordered to occupy Kabul...
Saber out, sound the trumpet!..
But tell me - is it really
The ford will replace my friend,
Ford, ford, ford through Kabul,
Ford through Kabul and darkness.
Swim and swim
Do not sleep in the grave of those who were destroyed
Damn ford through Kabul and darkness.
Why the hell do we need Kabul?
Saber, sound the trumpet!..
It's hard to live without those who are friends,
I knew what to take, damned ford.
Ford, ford, ford through Kabul,
Ford through Kabul and darkness.
Oh Lord, don't let me stumble,
It's too easy to choke
Here, where there is a ford through Kabul and darkness.
We are being taken away from Kabul...
Saber out, sound the trumpet!..
How many of ours drowned?
How many lives did the ford cost?
Ford, ford, ford through Kabul,
Ford through Kabul and darkness.
The rivers will become shallow in the summer,
But friends will not emerge forever,
We know this, both the ford and the darkness.
Translation by S. Kapilevich
In his works Kipling called on his contemporaries to action, since in action he saw the only salvation from the meaninglessness of the world. The action must be purposeful and sanctified by the idea. Kipling’s idea was the idea of a higher moral law, that is, a system of prohibitions and permissions dominating a person, the violation of which is strictly punishable ( "Law of the jungle"). Kipling saw the British Empire as such an idea, a law, a concentration of sanctioning truth; in it he discovered a legislator and leader leading the “chosen people” to salvation. Imperial messianism became his religion. To promote these ideas, he uses the high syllable of an ode, epistle, panegyric, parable, stylizing the verse as a church hymn.
Hymn before the battle
The earth trembles with anger
And the ocean is dark,
Our paths were blocked
Swords of hostile countries:
When the stream is wild
We will be pushed back by our enemies, Jehovah,
Heavenly thunder, God of Sich, help!...
From pride and revenge,
From the low way
From fleeing the field of honor
Protect invisibly.
Let him be unworthy
Cover of grace,
Without anger and calmly
Let me accept your death!...
Translation by A. Onoshkovich-Yatsyn
But life differed from the legend. The poet was afraid that the Empire would not fulfill the mission entrusted to it, therefore, in political poems of the 90s. he called on the country not to revel in easy victories, but to soberly look at its own weaknesses and understand its destiny as selfless and selfless service to the “great goal.” Kipling saw the “white burden” in the conquest of lower races for their own good, not in robbery and reprisals, but in creative work, not in arrogant complacency, but in humility and patience.
White's Burden
Your lot is the Burden of the Whites!
Like in exile, let's go
Their sons to serve
To the dark tines of the earth;
To hard labor
I don't have her love,
Rule the stupid crowd
Either devils or children.
Your lot is the Burden of the Whites!
Bear with it patiently
Threats and insults
And don’t ask for honors;
Be patient and honest
Don't be lazy a hundred times
So that everyone can understand
Repeat your order.
...
Your lot is the Burden of the Whites!
But this is not a throne, but work:
Oily clothes
And aches and itching.
Roads and piers
Set it up for the descendants,
Put your life on it
And lie down in a foreign land.
...
Your lot is the Burden of the Whites!
Forget how you decided
Achieve quick fame,
You were a baby then.
In a merciless time,
During the dark times
It's time to step up as a man
Appear before the judgment of men!
Translation by V. Toporov
Thus, being mistaken, clinging to outgoing ideals and values, to historically doomed forms of statehood, Kipling nevertheless sincerely sought to serve " to the common man", sought to help him overcome suffering and loneliness, horror and despair, to teach him courage and perseverance in the face of the impending apocalypse.
Kipling's epitaphs expose the inhumanity of World War I:
Former clerk:
Don't cry!
The army gave
Freedom for the timid slave.
Dragged by the collar
From the office to fate,
Where is he, found out what death means,
Got the courage to love
And, having fallen in love, he went to his death,
And he died.
Fortunately, maybe.
Coward:
I did not dare to look at death in the attack among broad daylight,
And the people, blindfolded, took me to her at night.
Newbie:
They quickly gave up on me
On the first day, the first bullet to the forehead.
Children love to jump up from their seats in the theater
I forgot that this is a trench.
Two:
A - I was rich, like a Rajah.
B - And I was poor.
Together:
- But to the next world without luggage
We're both going.
Translation by K. Simonov
In England in the 20th century, Kipling was considered the personification of everything retrograde and inhumane. After the First World War, others became the rulers of thought; “he is a laureate without laurels, a forgotten celebrity,” they mocked him then. In 1936, not a single major person attended Kipling's funeral in Westminster Abbey. English writer- for culture, his death occurred several decades earlier.
Only during the Second World War, during difficult times for England, they remembered him: his poetry in honor of the British Empire turned out to be in tune with wartime.
Concluding the conversation about Kipling, it is necessary to note the enormous popularity of his work in the 20-30s. in the Soviet Union. Many of them were captivated by his prose and poetry. best poets and writers of that time: Issak Babel, Eduard Bagritsky, Vladimir Lugovskoy, Yuri Olesha, Konstantin Simonov. In 1922, Nikolai Tikhonov wrote his best ballads, in which intonations and rhythms are clearly heard " Iron Rudyard".
The Western world abandoned the model that made voluntary submission to the “higher law” a moral obligation; the senseless massacre on the fronts of World War I completely discredited the idea of service in the name of the fatherland, the state. But this was relevant for a country that wanted to implement the great idea of creating a new type of state based on collectivism.
It is possible that it was precisely the Kipling element in the poems of young Soviet poets that fascinated readers. I liked him “for his manly style, his soldierly severity, elegance and clearly expressed masculinity, masculine and soldierly,” recalled K. Simonov. (Kipling was mainly published in the 2nd half of the 30s.) During the Great Patriotic War the image of the “iron Rudyard” quickly collapsed, military reality quickly destroyed the “romantic” illusions of the young Soviet writers and poets. “On the very first day at the front in 1941, I suddenly fell out of love with some of Kipling’s poems once and for all,” wrote K. Simonov, “Kipling’s military romance in 1941 suddenly seemed distant, small and deliberately tense, like a broken boy’s bass.”
IN post-war years In our country, Kipling was recognized only as the author of wonderful children's fairy tales and stories about Mowgli. IN lately, when many prejudices about Kipling's work have been dispelled, interest is again shown in him and it is again recognized that in both his prose and his poetry there are many successes that have stood the test of time.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
Rabindranath Tagore(1861-1941) - the most outstanding and influential personality of the 1st half of the 20th century. in India. He is a great humanist and literary genius of India. He was primarily a poet, but also a major prose writer and playwright. He is an original painter whose paintings have been exhibited in many countries around the world. He is a musician-composer whose songs are still sung in India. Tagore is a moral philosopher and political publicist, teacher and educator.
How creator-artist Tagore is deeply intimate, as a thinker - he is all citizenship. “He was not a political figure,” Jawaharlal Nehru wrote about Tagore, “but he took the fate of the Indian people too close to his heart and was too devoted to their freedom to be forever locked in his ivory tower with his poems and songs... Despite In the normal course of development, as he grew older, he became more radical in his views and views."
Creative path Tagore originates at the turn of the 70-80s. XIX century, when India was just beginning to emerge from the Middle Ages, and English colonial power seemed unshakable. Tagore was destined to see the formation and rise of the national liberation movement, which, with his participation, grew from small top national liberal organizations into a powerful popular force. He wanted to see the Indian people free and happy. He called for unity of all the peoples of India against the colonialists. He did a lot to educate Indians; he condemned religious fanaticism, national and caste hatred.
He did not focus only on Indian problems, maintained wide international contacts, traveled to many countries of the East and West with public speeches about Indian culture and called for the rapprochement and mutual enrichment of cultures of different countries and peoples. At the age of seventy he came to the USSR in 1930. His Letters on Russia were banned in India by the British authorities.
Tagore is perhaps the most widely read and popular writer East. His works have been translated into dozens of languages around the world. In Tagore’s own poetic work, with all the diversity of themes, motives and moods, it is easy to detect two main and opposing themes. The predominant and leading theme is the theme of acceptance of life in all its fullness, the theme of irrepressible admiration for the beauty of the world, the lofty and lyrical glorification of happiness, love and good human feelings.
I contemplated the illuminated face of the world without closing my eyes,
Marveling at his perfection.
The second theme of dissatisfaction, protest and suffering was generated by reality.
We'll stop at love lyrics poet. Tagore's poetry is characterized by a special penetration into the depths of human feelings, combining artistic vision with philosophical understanding. His love lyrics are sometimes emotionally intense, sometimes subtly melodious, and sometimes it is a very simple story of the poet about falling in love and love experiences, but the poet always easily and freely rises to high generalization and comprehension of beauty. He knows how to show love as a rushing whirlwind that swoops in and merges lovers together and carries them beyond the boundaries of everyday life:
Go wild on the swing, elemental!
Swing again!
My friend is with me again, I can’t take my eyes off her.
Wake her up, storm a frantic voice...
Come, hurricane, crush, stun.
Tear off all the clothes, all the veils from the soul!
Let her stand naked without shame!
Rock us!...
I found my soul, today we are together
Let's get to know each other again without fear.
We are now united in a mad embrace.
Rock us!
Here's a simple story about lovers:
The woman who was dear to me
I once lived in this village.
The path to the lake pier led,
To the rotten walkways and shaky steps...
Without the close participation of a friend,
who lived there in those years,
I probably wouldn't know in the area
No lake, no grove, no village.
She took me to the Shiva temple,
Drowning in the dense forest shadow.
Thanks to meeting her, I
I remember the village fences.
I wouldn't know the lake, but this backwater
She swam across.
She loved to swim in this place,
In the sand are traces of her nimble feet.
Peasants wait on the shore of the ferry
And they discuss rural affairs.
I wouldn't be familiar with the crossing
If only she didn't live here.
The poet can coin his thought with masterful aphorism:
One thing is always one thing, and nothing more.
But two create the beginning of one.
The high humanity of Tagore’s love lyrics is revealed with particular brightness in the image of a woman in love and beloved.
Woman,
You are not only the creation of God, you are not a product of the earth,
Men create you from their spiritual beauty.
For the poet, O woman, a dear outfit was woven,
The golden threads of metaphors on your clothes are burning.
Painters have immortalized your feminine appearance on canvas.
In unprecedented grandeur, in amazing purity.
How many different incense and colors were brought to you as a gift,
How many pearls are from the abyss, how much gold is from the earth.
How many delicate flowers are torn off for you on spring days,
How many insects have been exterminated to color your feet.
In these saris and bedspreads, hiding my shy gaze,
You immediately became more inaccessible and a hundred times more mysterious.
Your features shone differently in the fire of desires.
You are half creature, half imagination - you.
Literary heritage Tagore’s work is great and multifaceted, it proves the global significance of the culture of the peoples of the East.
Romain Rolland (1866-1944)
Romain Rolland(1866-1944) - great French writer, born in Clamcy (Burgundy) in the family of a notary. He received an excellent, varied education, studying philosophy, art history, and literature. Already at the history department of the École Normale Supérieure, he dreamed of becoming a writer and made his first attempts at writing. In 1887, he plucked up courage and wrote to L.N. Tolstoy and received a detailed answer. Rolland admired Tolstoy's literary genius and listened to his thoughts about the people of art. Humanist and realist Romain Rolland began his literary career with several plays about the Great french revolution and a series of biographies of great people - titans in art ("The Life of Beethoven", "The Life of Michelangelo", "The Life of Tolstoy"). The main work of the initial period of creativity is a 10-volume novel "Jean-Christophe"(1904-1912). This is a biography German composer Jean-Christophe Kraft, in his image the author conveyed some of the features of the innovator-rebel Beethoven. The action of the novel covers last decades XIX - early XX centuries. until the eve of the 1st World War. Jean-Christophe grew up in the family of a court musician in a provincial German town and throughout his life retained true democracy and sympathy for the common people.
Wilhelm's Germany ceased to be the Germany of the great Goethe and Beethoven. Works of the humanist composer does not find recognition, and he comes into conflict with the environment, not wanting to subordinate his work to the tastes of the bourgeois public. Christophe feels lonely, breaks with German philistinism and leaves for Paris. In Paris it’s the same, but there he finds lone humanists just like him.
The strength of the novel lies in its merciless criticism of the bourgeois system, the creation bright image positive hero, protesting against him with his art.
After a monumental narrative unfolding in several countries over several decades, Rolland created a small work - its entire action fits within the framework of one year and one small town Clumsy is a story by Cola Breugnon (1914, published 1919). An epic novel about Rolland's contemporaries, "Cola Brugnon" about the distant past. In "Jean-Christophe" a gloomy coloring predominates, in "Cola Brugnone" there are bright, light colors. It's hard to believe that both of these works were written by the same author. The action takes place back in 1616, Cervantes and Shakespeare are no longer there, this is the decline of the Renaissance, in France it is a time of senseless, cruel bloodshed.
The middle-aged Burgundian Cola is one of the few, but at the same time the only one. He is not only a craftsman, but also an artist; he not only works, but also thinks. In difficult conditions, he does not lose his sense of humor and self-esteem. The image of Kol, at first glance simple and unambiguous, turns as events unfold different faces. It is full of internal contrasts - and at the same time harmonious. Many sorrows befall Kol: soldiers of a hostile feudal lord attack the town of Klamsi and rob the inhabitants, the city is visited by a plague that almost carried away Kol himself, Kol’s wife, a grumpy but faithful life friend, the mother of his children, dies, all of Kol’s property perishes together. with the house burned during the epidemic, the most precious thing he had perishes - wooden sculptures. But, despite these disasters, Kola never loses optimism and faith in the future. Thus, Kola is the embodiment of the writer’s faith in a people capable of enduring all difficulties and preserving an eternally living, vigorous soul.
M. Gorky called “Brugnon’s Cola” an “excellent purely Gali poem”, having read it in its first, less successful translation. The unique originality of the story into Russian was able to be reproduced in 1932 by M. L. Lozinsky. Cola Brugnon's aphorisms and comparisons sounded rich and unforgettable. “...As soon as you find yourself in a crowd, you immediately lose your senses. A hundred wise men will give birth to a fool, and a hundred sheep will give birth to a biruku”; "We danced; I was as graceful as a pole"; “...for the sake of the spirit, one should not forget the belly”; “How I pity the poor, destitute people who do not know the pleasure of books!”; “Godfather, you see someone else’s eye, but you don’t see your own,” etc. In the language of the story, one can feel the influence of Renaissance literature (F. Rabelais “Gargantua and Pantagruel”) and French folklore.
Throughout his life, Romain Rolland remained a humanist; during the 1st and 2nd World Wars, he was one of the first to condemn the horrors of war. The anti-war theme was also reflected in his works.