Spiritual climate Western Europe after 1830 changed significantly compared to romantic era. The subjective idealism of the romantics was replaced by faith in the omnipotence of reason and science, and faith in progress. Two ideas determined the thinking of Europeans during this period - positivism (a direction in philosophy based on the collection of objective facts for the purpose of scientific analysis) and organicism ( evolutionary theory Darwin, extended to other areas of life). The 19th century is a century of rapid growth of science and technology, the rise of the social sciences, and this desire for science penetrates into literature. Realist artists saw their task as describing in literature all the richness of the phenomena of the surrounding world, all the diversity of human types, that is science XIX centuries and realistic literature are imbued with the same spirit of collecting facts, systematizing and developing a consistent concept of reality. And the explanation of reality was given on the basis of the principles of evolution: in the life of society and the individual, the action of the same forces as in nature, similar mechanisms of natural selection, was seen.
By the thirties of the 19th century, the new system public relations. It was a bourgeois system, in which each individual was quite rigidly assigned to a certain social-class environment, that is, the time of romantic “freedom” and “restlessness” of a person had passed. In classical bourgeois society, a person’s belonging to a certain class appeared as an immutable law of existence, and accordingly became the principle of the artistic development of life. Therefore, realists use the discoveries of the romantics in the field of psychology, but fit a newly understood person into a historically reliable, contemporary life. For realists, man is determined primarily by the socio-historical environment, and realism is based on the principle of social-class determinism.
The realists' perception of human character also changed. For the romantics, exceptional character was the subjective property of the individual; the hero of a realistic work is always a unique product of interaction historical process and specific (biological, individual, random) circumstances, therefore life experience Realists understand each person as unique and valuable by this very uniqueness, and, on the other hand, the life experience of each person is of general, universal interest, because it contains repeatable, universal features. Here lies the basis of the realistic doctrine of type, the basis of realistic typification.
Realists directly inherited from the romantics the self-worth they discovered. human personality, but assigned this personality to a certain place, time, environment. Realistic art is democratic - realists first brought to the stage " little man", which had not previously been considered an interesting subject for literature, had its rights restored. Realistic literature imbued with a generally optimistic spirit: while criticizing their contemporary society, realist writers were confident in the effectiveness of their criticism, in the fact that this society could be improved and reformed, and they believed in the inevitability of progress.
Realism of the 19th century sought to cover life as widely as possible, to show all the details of the social structure, all types of human relationships, which, of course, required works large volumes. This is partly why the novel becomes the leading genre in the literature of realism - the genre of a large epic narrative in which there is a place for all this gigantic life material. Especially at the early stage of realism, novels were distinguished by a larger volume than is customary today. In addition, the novel was in the 19th century the newest of the existing genres, that is, a genre without the burden of canonical tradition.
The novel is a genre open to everything new; the novelist explores life freely and impartially, without knowing in advance where his artistic search will lead him. In this way, the novel is akin to the spirit of scientific research; this side of the novel was emphasized by realists XIX century, and under their pen the genre turned into a tool for research and knowledge of reality, external and internal conflicts human life. A realistic novel reflects reality in the forms of life itself, and since the era of realism the concept of " fiction"begins to be associated no longer with poetry and drama, but primarily with prose. The novel becomes the dominant genre of world literature.
G.K. Kosikov writes: “The main feature of the romantic situation is the change in the internal and external position of the hero in the course of various clashes with the world around him.” In a realistic novel, as a rule, a “positive” hero opposes existing forms of social coexistence as the bearer of an ideal, but, unlike romantic literature, in a realistic novel, the discord between the hero and the world does not turn into a complete break. The hero may reject his immediate environment, but he never rejects the world as a whole; he always retains the hope of realizing his subjective world in some other spheres of existence. Therefore, a realistic novel is based simultaneously on the contradiction between the hero and the world and on the deep internal community between them. The search for the hero of a realistic novel in the first stages of its existence was limited to the sphere of social circumstances offered by history. In the 19th century, the social mobility of the individual increased sharply; the example of Napoleon's fantastic career became a model of change social status for new generations. This new phenomenon of reality was reflected in the creation of such genre variety realistic novel as a "career novel". Let's consider it using the example of the works of the creators of the realistic novel, Stendhal and Balzac.
Realism is a trend in literature and art that aims to faithfully reproduce reality in its typical features. The dominance of realism followed the era of Romanticism and preceded Symbolism.
1. At the center of the work of realists is objective reality. In its refraction through the worldview of art. 2. The author subjects life material to philosophical processing. 3. The ideal is reality itself. The beautiful thing is life itself. 4. Realists approach synthesis through analysis.
5. The principle of the typical: Typical hero, specific time, typical circumstances
6. Identification of cause-and-effect relationships. 7. The principle of historicism. Realists address the problems of the present. The present is the convergence of past and future. 8. The principle of democracy and humanism. 9. The principle of objectivity of the story. 10. Socio-political and philosophical issues predominate
11. psychologism
12. .. The development of poetry is somewhat calming down 13. The novel is the leading genre.
13. Heightened social-critical pathos is one of the main features of Russian realism - for example, “The Inspector General”, “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol
14. The main feature of realism as a creative method is the increased attention to the social side of reality.
15. The images of a realistic work reflect general laws existence, not living people. Any image is woven from typical traits manifested in typical circumstances. This is the paradox of art. An image cannot be correlated with a living person; it is richer than a specific person - hence the objectivity of realism.
16. “The artist should not be a judge of his characters and what they say, but only an impartial witness
Realist writers
Late A. S. Pushkin is the founder of realism in Russian literature (the historical drama “Boris Godunov”, the stories “The Captain’s Daughter”, “Dubrovsky”, “Belkin’s Tales”, the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” back in the 1820s - 1830s)
M. Yu. Lermontov (“Hero of Our Time”)
N. V. Gogol (“Dead Souls”, “The Inspector General”)
I. A. Goncharov (“Oblomov”)
A. S. Griboedov (“Woe from Wit”)
A. I. Herzen (“Who is to blame?”)
N. G. Chernyshevsky (“What to do?”)
F. M. Dostoevsky (“Poor People”, “White Nights”, “Humiliated and Insulted”, “Crime and Punishment”, “Demons”)
L. N. Tolstoy (“War and Peace”, “Anna Karenina”, “Resurrection”).
I. S. Turgenev (“Rudin”, “The Noble Nest”, “Asya”, “Spring Waters”, “Fathers and Sons”, “New”, “On the Eve”, “Mu-mu”)
A. P. Chekhov (“The Cherry Orchard”, “Three Sisters”, “Student”, “Chameleon”, “The Seagull”, “Man in a Case”
Since the middle of the 19th century, the formation of Russian realistic literature has been taking place, which was created against the backdrop of the tense socio-political situation that developed in Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. A crisis of the serfdom system is brewing, and contradictions between the authorities and the common people are strong. There is an urgent need to create realistic literature that is acutely responsive to the socio-political situation in the country.
Writers turn to socio-political problems of Russian reality. The genre of the realistic novel is developing. His works are created by I.S. Turgenev, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, I.A. Goncharov. It is worth noting the poetic works of Nekrasov, who was the first to introduce social issues into poetry. His poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'?” is known, as well as many poems that reflect on the difficult and hopeless life of the people. End of the 19th century - The realistic tradition began to fade away. It was replaced by so-called decadent literature. . Realism becomes, to a certain extent, a method of artistic cognition of reality. In the 40s, a “natural school” arose - the work of Gogol, he was a great innovator, discovering that even an insignificant event, such as the acquisition of an overcoat by a minor official, can become a significant event for understanding the most important issues of human existence.
"Natural School" became initial stage development of realism in Russian literature.
Topics: Life, customs, characters, events from the life of the lower classes became the object of study by “naturalists”. The leading genre was the “physiological essay,” which was based on accurate “photography” of the life of various classes.
In literature " natural school“The hero’s class position, his professional affiliation and the social function he performs decisively prevailed over his individual character.
Those who joined the “natural school” were: Nekrasov, Grigorovich, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Goncharov, Panaev, Druzhinin and others.
The task of truthfully showing and exploring life presupposes in realism many techniques for depicting reality, which is why the works of Russian writers are so diverse in both form and content.
Realism as a method of depicting reality in the second half of the 19th century. got the name critical realism, because his main task was to criticize reality, the question of the relationship between man and society.
To what extent does society influence the fate of the hero? Who is to blame for a person being unhappy? What to do to change a person and the world? - these are the main questions of literature in general, of Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century V. - in particular.
Psychologism - characterizing a hero by analyzing him inner world, consideration of the psychological processes through which a person’s self-awareness is realized and his attitude to the world is expressed, has become the leading method of Russian literature since the formation of the realistic style in it.
One of the remarkable features of Turgenev’s works of the 50s was the appearance in them of a hero who embodied the idea of the unity of ideology and psychology.
Realism of the 2nd half of the 19th century reached its peak precisely in Russian literature, especially in the works of L.N. Tolstoy and F.M. Dostoevsky, who at the end of the 19th century became the central figures of the world literary process. They enriched world literature with new principles for constructing a socio-psychological novel, philosophical and moral issues, new ways of revealing the human psyche in its deep layers
Turgenev is credited with creating literary types of ideologists - heroes, whose approach to personality and characterization of their inner world is in direct connection with the author’s assessment of their worldview and the socio-historical meaning of their philosophical concepts. The merging of the psychological, historical-typological and ideological aspects in Turgenev’s heroes is so complete that their names have become a common noun for a certain stage in the development of social thought, a certain social type representing a class in its historical state, and the psychological makeup of the individual (Rudin, Bazarov, Kirsanov , Mr. N. from the story “Asya” - “Russian man on rendez-vous”).
Dostoevsky's heroes are at the mercy of ideas. Like slaves, they follow her, expressing her self-development. Having “accepted” a certain system into their soul, they obey the laws of its logic, go through all the necessary stages of its growth with it, and bear the burden of its reincarnations. Thus, Raskolnikov, whose concept grew out of rejection of social injustice and a passionate desire for good, passing through all its logical stages along with the idea that took possession of his entire being, accepts murder and justifies the tyranny of a strong personality over the voiceless masses. In lonely monologues-reflections, Raskolnikov “strengthens” in his idea, falls under its power, gets lost in its ominous vicious circle, and then, having completed the “experience” and suffering internal defeat, begins to feverishly seek dialogue, the possibility of jointly assessing the results of the experiment.
In Tolstoy, the system of ideas that the hero develops and develops in the course of his life is a form of his communication with the environment and is derived from his character, from the psychological and moral characteristics of his personality.
It can be argued that all three great Russian realists of the mid-century - Turgenev, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky - depict the mental and ideological life of a person as a social phenomenon and ultimately presuppose obligatory contact between people, without which the development of consciousness is impossible.
In creativity Griboyedova, and especially Pushkin, the method of critical realism is emerging. But it turned out to be stable only in Pushkin, who went forward and higher. Griboedov, however, did not maintain the heights achieved in “Woe from Wit.” In the history of Russian literature, he is an example of the author of one classic work. And the poets of the so-called “Pushkin galaxy” (Delvig, Yazykov, Boratynsky) turned out to be unable to pick up this discovery of his. Russian literature still remained romantic.
Only ten years later, when “Masquerade”, “The Inspector General”, “Arabesques” and “Mirgorod” were created, and Pushkin was at the zenith of his fame (“ Queen of Spades», « Captain's daughter"), in this chordal coincidence of three different geniuses of realism, the principles of the realistic method were strengthened in its sharply individual forms, revealing its internal potential. The main types and genres of creativity were covered, the emergence of realistic prose was especially significant, which was recorded as a sign of the times Belinsky in the article “On the Russian story and Gogol’s stories” (1835).
Realism looks different among its three founders.
In the artistic concept of the world, Pushkin the realist is dominated by the idea of the Law, of the laws that determine the state of civilization, social structures, the place and significance of man, his self-sufficiency and connection with the whole, the possibility of authorial judgments. Pushkin looks for laws in educational theories, in moral universal human values, V historical role Russian nobility, in the Russian popular revolt. Finally, in Christianity and the “Gospel”. Hence the universal acceptability and harmony of Pushkin despite all the tragedy of his personal fate.
U Lermontov- on the contrary: sharp enmity with the divine world order, with the laws of society, lies and hypocrisy, all possible defense of individual rights.
U Gogol- a world far from any ideas about the law, vulgar everyday life, in which all concepts of honor and morality, conscience are mutilated - in a word, Russian reality, worthy of grotesque ridicule: “blame the evening mirror if your face is crooked.”
However, in this case, realism turned out to be the lot of geniuses, literature remained romantic ( Zagoskin, Lazhechnikov, Kozlov, Veltman, V. Odoevsky, Venediktov, Marlinskny, N. Polevoy, Zhadovskaya, Pavlova, Krasov, Kukolnik, I. Panaev, Pogorelsky, Podolinsky, Polezhaev and others.).
There was controversy in the theater about Mochalova to Karatygina, that is, between the romantics and the classicists.
And only ten years later, that is, around 1845, in the works of young writers of the “natural school” ( Nekrasov, Turgenev, Goncharov, Herzen, Dostoevsky and many others) realism finally wins and becomes mass creativity. “Natural school” is the true reality of Russian literature. If one of the followers is now trying to renounce her, belittle the significance organizational forms and its consolidation, influence Belinsky, then he is deeply mistaken. We are assured that there was no “school”, but a “band” through which various stylistic trends passed. But what is a "streak"? We will again come to the concept of “school”, which was not at all distinguished by the uniformity of talents, it had precisely different stylistic movements (compare, for example, Turgenev and Dostoevsky), two powerful internal flows: realistic and actually naturalistic (V. Dal, Bupsov , Grebenka, Grigorovich, I. Panaev, Kulchitsky, etc.).
With the death of Belinsky, the “school” did not die, although it lost its theorist and inspirer. It has grown into a powerful literary direction, its main figures - realist writers - in the second half of the 19th century became the glory of Russian literature. Those who did not formally belong to the “school” and did not experience the preliminary stage of romantic development joined this powerful trend. Saltykov, Pisemsky, Ostrovsky, S. Aksakov, L. Tolstoy.
Throughout the second half of the 19th century, the realistic direction reigned supreme in Russian literature. Its dominance also extends partly to the beginning of the 20th century, if we keep in mind Chekhov and L. Tolstoy. Realism in general can be qualified as critical, socially accusatory. Honest, truthful Russian literature could not be anything else in the country of serfdom and autocracy.
Some theorists, disillusioned with socialist realism, consider it a sign good manners refuse the definition of “critical” in relation to the old classical realism XIX century. But the criticism of realism of the last century is further evidence that it had nothing in common with the obsequious “what do you want?” on which the Bolshevik was built socialist realism, which destroyed Soviet literature.
It's a different matter if we raise the question of the internal typological varieties of Russian critical realism. From his ancestors - Pushkin, Lermontov and Gogol- realism came in different types, just as it was also diverse among realist writers of the second half of the 19th century.
It lends itself most easily to thematic classification: works from noble, merchant, bureaucratic, peasant life - from Turgenev to Zlatovratsky. More or less clear genre classification: family, everyday, chronicle genre - from S.T. Aksakov to Garin-Mikhailovsky; estate romance with the same elements of family and everyday life, love relationship, only at a more mature age stage of the heroes’ development, in a more generalized typification, with a weak ideological element. IN " Ordinary history“The clashes between the two Aduevs are age-related, not ideological. There was also the genre of socio-social novel, such as “Oblomov” and “Fathers and Sons”. But the perspectives on which problems are viewed are different. In “Oblomov,” the good inclinations in Ilyusha, when he is still a playful child, and their burial as a result of lordship and idleness are examined stage by stage. At Turgenev's famous novel- “ideological” clash of “fathers” and “sons”, “principles” and “nihilism”, the superiority of commoners over nobles, new trends of the times.
The most difficult task is to establish the typology and specific modifications of realism on a methodological basis. All writers of the second half of the 19th century are realists. But what types does realism itself differentiate into?
One can single out writers whose realism accurately reflects the forms of life itself. Such are Turgenev and Goncharov and everyone who came from the “natural school”. Nekrasov also has many of these life forms. But in his best poems - “Frost - Red Nose”, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” - he is very inventive, resorting to folklore, fantasy, parables, parabolas and allegories. The plot motivations connecting the episodes in the last poem are purely fairy-tale, the characteristics of the heroes - seven truth-seekers - are built on stable folklore repetitions. In Nekrasov’s poem “Contemporaries” there is a torn composition, the modeling of images is purely grotesque.
Herzen has a completely unique critical realism: there are no forms of life here, but “heartfelt humanistic thought.” Belinsky noted the Voltairean style of his talent: “the talent went into the mind.” This mind turns out to be a generator of images, a biography of personalities, the totality of which, according to the principle of contrast and fusion, reveals the “beauty of the universe.” These properties have already appeared in “Who is to Blame?” But Herzen’s graphic humanistic thought was expressed in full force in Past and Thoughts. Herzen puts the most abstract concepts into living images: for example, idealism forever, but unsuccessfully, trampled materialism “with its disembodied feet.” Tyufyaev and Nicholas I, Granovsky and Belinsky, Dubelt and Benckendorf appear as human types and types of thought, state-state and creative. These qualities of talent make Herzen similar to Dostoevsky, the author of “ideological” novels. But Herzen’s portraits are strictly painted according to social characteristics, going back to “forms of life,” while Dostoevsky’s ideologism is more abstract, more infernal and hidden in the depths of the personality.
Another type of realism appears extremely clearly in Russian literature - satirical, grotesque, such as we find in Gogol and Shchedrin. But not only them. There is satire and grotesque in individual images of Ostrovsky (Murzavetsky, Gradoboev, Khlynov), Sukhovo-Kobylin (Varravin, Tarelkin), Leskov (Levsha, Onopry Peregud) and others. Grotesque is not simple hyperbole or fantasy. This is the combination in images, types, plots into a single whole of what does not happen in natural life, but what is possible in the artistic imagination as a technique in order to identify a certain social pattern. In Gogol, most often - the quirks of an inert mind, the unreasonableness of the current situation, the inertia of habit, the routine of generally accepted opinion, the illogical, taking the form of logical: Khlestakov's lies about his life in St. Petersburg, his characterizations of the mayor and officials of the provincial outback in a letter to Tryapichkin. The very possibility of Chichikov’s commercial tricks with dead souls is based on the fact that in feudal reality it was easy to buy and sell living souls. Shchedrin draws his grotesque techniques from the world of the bureaucratic apparatus, the quirks of which he has studied well. U ordinary people It is impossible that instead of brains in our heads there would be either minced meat or an automatic organ. But in the heads of Foolov's pompadours, everything is possible. In Swiftian style, he “defamiliarizes” a phenomenon, depicts the impossible as possible (the debate between the Pig and the Truth, the boy “in pants” and the boy “without pants”). Shchedrin masterfully reproduces the casuistry of bureaucratic chicanery, the awkward logic of reasoning of self-confident despots, all these governors, heads of departments, chief clerks, and quarterly officers. Their empty philosophy is firmly established: “Let the law stand in the closet”, “The average person is always to blame for something”, “The bribe has finally died and a jackpot has appeared in its place”, “Enlightenment is useful only when it has an unenlightened character”, “ I’m sure I won’t tolerate it!”, “Slap him.” The verbiage of government officials and the mellifluous idle talk of Judushka Golovlev are reproduced in a psychologically insightful way.
Approximately in the 60-70s, another type of critical realism was formed, which can conditionally be called philosophical-religious, ethical-psychological. We are talking primarily about Dostoevsky and L. Tolstoy. Of course, both one and the other have many amazingeveryday paintings, thoroughly developed in the forms of life. In “The Brothers Karamazov” and “Anna Karenina” we will find “family thought”. And yet, with Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, a certain “teaching” is in the foreground, whether it be “soilism” or “simplification.” From this prism, realism intensifies in its piercing power.
But one should not think that philosophical, psychological realism found only in these two giants of Russian literature. On another artistic level, without the development of philosophical and ethical doctrines to the scale of a holistic religious teaching, it is also found in specific forms in the work of Garshin, in his works such as “Four Days”, “Red Flower”, clearly written with a specific thesis. The properties of this type of realism also appear in populist writers: in “The Power of the Earth” by G.I. Uspensky, in “Foundations” by Zlatovratsky. Leskov’s “difficult” talent is of the same nature; of course, with a certain preconceived idea, he portrayed his “righteous people”, “enchanted wanderers”, who loved to choose talented people from among the people, gifted by the grace of God, tragically doomed to death in their elemental existence.
What is realism in literature? It is one of the most common directions, reflecting realistic image reality. The main task of this direction is reliable disclosure of phenomena encountered in life, using a detailed description of the depicted characters and the situations that happen to them, through typification. What is important is the lack of embellishment.
Among other directions, only in realistic special attention given to the right artistic depiction life, and not the emerging reaction to certain life events, for example, as in romanticism and classicism. The heroes of realist writers appear before readers exactly as they were presented to the author's gaze, and not as the writer would like to see them.
Realism, as one of the widespread trends in literature, settled closer to the middle of the 19th century after its predecessor - romanticism. The 19th century is subsequently designated as the era of realistic works, but romanticism did not cease to exist, it only slowed down in development, gradually turning into neo-romanticism.
Important! The definition of this term was first introduced in literary criticism DI. Pisarev.
The main features of this direction are as follows:
- Full compliance with the reality depicted in any work of the painting.
- True specific typification of all the details in the images of the heroes.
- The basis is a conflict situation between a person and society.
- Image in the work deep conflict situations, the drama of life.
- The author paid special attention to the description of all phenomena environment.
- A significant feature of this literary movement is considered to be the writer’s significant attention to the inner world of a person, his state of mind.
Main genres
In any direction of literature, including realistic, a certain system of genres develops. Its development was particularly influenced by prose genres realism, due to the fact that more than others were suitable for more correct artistic description new realities, their reflection in literature. Works of this direction are divided into the following genres.
- A social and everyday novel that describes a way of life and a certain type of character inherent in this way of life. A good example social and everyday genre has become " Anna Karenina».
- A socio-psychological novel, in the description of which one can see a complete detailed disclosure of the human personality, his personality and inner world.
- A realistic novel in verse is a special type of novel. A wonderful example of this genre is “”, written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
- A realistic philosophical novel contains eternal reflections on such topics as: the meaning of human existence, the confrontation between good and evil sides, a certain purpose of human life. An example of realistic philosophical novel is “”, the author of which is Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov.
- Story.
- Tale.
In Russia, its development began in the 1830s and was a consequence of the conflict situation in various fields society, contradictions between higher ranks and ordinary people. Writers began to turn to current problems of its time.
Thus begins the rapid development of a new genre - the realistic novel, which, as a rule, described hard life common people, their burdens and problems.
The initial stage in the development of the realistic trend in Russian literature is the “natural school”. During the “natural school” period literary works V to a greater extent they sought to describe the hero’s position in society, his belonging to some kind of profession. Among all genres leading place occupied physiological essay.
In the 1850s–1900s, realism began to be called critical, since the main goal was to criticize what was happening, the relationship between a certain person and spheres of society. Issues such as: the measure of the influence of society on the life of an individual were considered; actions that can change a person and the world around him; the reason for the lack of happiness in human life.
This literary movement has become extremely popular in Russian literature, since Russian writers were able to make a world genre system richer. Works appeared from in-depth questions of philosophy and morality.
I.S. Turgenev created an ideological type of heroes, the character, personality and internal state of which directly depended on the author’s assessment of the worldview, finding certain meaning in the concepts of their philosophy. Such heroes are subject to ideas that they follow until the very end, developing them as much as possible.
In the works of L.N. Tolstoy, the system of ideas that develops during the life of a character determines the form of his interaction with the surrounding reality and depends on the morality and personal characteristics of the heroes of the work.
Founder of realism
The title of pioneer of this trend in Russian literature was rightfully awarded to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He is the generally recognized founder of realism in Russia. "Boris Godunov" and "Eugene Onegin" are considered a shining example realism in Russian literature of those times. Also distinguishing examples were such works by Alexander Sergeevich as “Belkin’s Tales” and “The Captain’s Daughter”.
IN creative works Pushkin gradually begins to develop classical realism. The writer’s portrayal of the personality of each character is comprehensive in an effort to describe the complexity of his inner world and state of mind, which unfold very harmoniously. Recreating the experiences of a certain person, his moral character helps Pushkin overcome the self-will of describing passions inherent in irrationalism.
Heroes A.S. Pushkin appear before readers with open sides of their being. The writer pays special attention to describing the aspects of the human inner world, depicts the hero in the process of development and formation of his personality, which are influenced by the reality of society and the environment. This was due to his awareness of the need to depict a specific historical and national identity in the characteristics of the people.
Attention! Reality in Pushkin’s depiction collects an accurate, concrete image of the details of not only the inner world of a certain character, but also the world that surrounds him, including his detailed generalization.
Neorealism in literature
New philosophical, aesthetic and everyday realities at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries contributed to a change in direction. Implemented twice, this modification acquired the name neorealism, which gained popularity during the 20th century.
Neorealism in literature consists of a variety of movements, since its representatives had different artistic approach to the image of reality, including characteristic features realistic direction. It is based on appeal to the traditions of classical realism XIX century, as well as to problems in the social, moral, philosophical and aesthetic spheres of reality. A good example containing all these features is the work of G.N. Vladimov “The General and His Army”, written in 1994.
Each literary movement is characterized by its own characteristics, thanks to which it is remembered and distinguished in separate species. This happened in the nineteenth century, when some changes took place in the writing world. People began to comprehend reality in a new way, to look at it from an absolutely different perspective. The peculiarities of 19th century literature lie, first of all, in the fact that now writers began to put forward ideas that formed the basis of the direction of realism.
What is realism
Realism appeared in Russian literature at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when a radical revolution took place in this world. The writers realized that previous trends, such as romanticism, did not satisfy the expectations of the population, since their judgments lacked common sense. Now they tried to depict on the pages of their novels and lyrical works the reality that reigned around, without any exaggeration. Their ideas were now of the most realistic character, which existed not only in Russian literature, but also foreign literature for more than one decade.
Main features of realism
Realism was characterized by the following features:
- depiction of the world as it is, truthful and natural;
- in the center of the novels is a typical representative of society, with typical problems and interests;
- the emergence of a new way of knowing surrounding reality- through realistic characters and situations.
Russian literature of the 19th century was of great interest to scientists, because through the analysis of works they were able to understand the very process in literature that existed at that time, as well as give it a scientific basis.
The emergence of the era of Realism
Realism was first created as a special form for expressing the processes of reality. This happened back in the days when such a movement as the Renaissance reigned in both literature and painting. During the Enlightenment, it was conceptualized in a significant way, and was fully formed at the very beginning of the nineteenth century. Literary scholars name two Russian writers, who have long been recognized as the founders of realism. These are Pushkin and Gogol. Thanks to them, this direction was comprehended, received theoretical justification and significant distribution in the country. With their help, Russian literature of the 19th century received great development.
It was no longer in the literature sublime feelings, which the direction of romanticism possessed. Now people were worried everyday problems, their methods of resolution, as well as the feelings of the main characters that overwhelmed them in a given situation. Features of literature of the 19th century are the interest of all representatives of the direction of realism in the individual character traits of each individual person for consideration in one or another life situation. As a rule, this is expressed in a clash between a person and society, when a person cannot accept and does not accept the rules and principles by which other people live. Sometimes in the center of the work there is a person with some internal conflict, which he is trying to cope with himself. Such conflicts are called personality conflicts, when a person understands that from now on he cannot live as he lived before, that he needs to do something to get joy and happiness.
Among the most important representatives of the movement of realism in Russian literature It is worth noting Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky. World classics gave us such realist writers as Flaubert, Dickens and even Balzac.
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