The work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was formed during the years of revolutionary upsurge. All his life he was close to the theme of the epiphany of a simple Russian man who greedily sought the truth of life. Kuprin devoted all his work to the development of this complex psychological topic. His art, as his contemporaries put it, was characterized by a special vigilance in seeing the world, concreteness, and a constant desire for knowledge. The educational pathos of Kuprin's creativity was combined with a passionate personal interest in the victory of good over all evil. Therefore, most of his works are characterized by dynamics, drama, and excitement.
Kuprin's biography is a lie for an adventure novel. In terms of the abundance of meetings with people and life observations, it was reminiscent of Gorky’s biography. Kuprin traveled a lot, did a variety of work: he served at a factory, worked as a loader, played on stage, sang in a church choir.
At an early stage of his work, Kuprin was strongly influenced by Dostoevsky. It manifested itself in the stories “In the Dark,” “On a Moonlit Night,” and “Madness.” He writes about fateful moments, the role of chance in a person’s life, and analyzes the psychology of human passions. Some stories of that period say that the human will is helpless in the face of natural chance, that the mind cannot comprehend the mysterious laws that govern man. A decisive role in overcoming literary cliches coming from Dostoevsky was played by direct acquaintance with the lives of people, with the real Russian reality.
He starts writing essays. Their peculiarity is that the writer usually had a leisurely conversation with the reader. Clear plot lines and a simple and detailed depiction of reality were clearly visible in them. The greatest influence on Kuprin the essayist was G. Uspensky.
Kuprin's first creative quests culminated in the largest thing that reflected reality. It was the story “Moloch”. In it, the writer shows the contradictions between capital and forced human labor. He was able to grasp the social characteristics of the newest forms of capitalist production. An angry protest against the monstrous violence against man, on which the industrial flourishing in the world of “Moloch” is based, a satirical demonstration of the new masters of life, an exposure of the shameless predation in the country of foreign capital - all this cast doubt on the theories of bourgeois progress. After essays and short stories, the story was an important stage in the writer’s work.
In search of moral and spiritual ideals of life, which the writer contrasted with the ugliness of modern human relations, Kuprin turns to the lives of vagabonds, beggars, drunken artists, starving unrecognized artists, and children of the poor urban population. This is a world of nameless people who form the mass of society. Among them, Kuprin tried to find his positive heroes. He writes the stories “Lidochka”, “Lokon”, “Kindergarten”, “At the Circus” - in these works Kuprin’s heroes are free from the influence of bourgeois civilization.
In 1898, Kuprin wrote the story “Olesya”. The plot of the story is traditional: an intellectual, an ordinary and urban person, in a remote corner of Polesie meets a girl who grew up outside of society and civilization. Olesya is distinguished by spontaneity, integrity of nature, and spiritual richness. Poeticizing life, unrestricted by modern social cultural frameworks. Kuprin sought to show the clear advantages of the “natural man,” in whom he saw spiritual qualities lost in civilized society.
In 1901, Kuprin came to St. Petersburg, where he became close to many writers. During this period, his story “Night Shift” appears, where the main character is a simple soldier. The hero is not an aloof person, not the forest Olesya, but a completely real person. From the image of this soldier, threads stretch to other heroes. It was at this time that a new genre appeared in his work: the short story.
In 1902, Kuprin conceived the story “The Duel.” In this work, he undermined one of the main pillars of the autocracy - the military caste, in the features of the decomposition and moral decline of which he showed signs of the decomposition of the entire social system. The story reflects the progressive sides of Kuprin’s work. The basis of the plot is the fate of an honest Russian officer, whom the conditions of army barracks life made him feel the illegality of people's social relations. Once again, Kuprin is not talking about an outstanding personality, but about a simple Russian officer Romashov. The regimental atmosphere torments him; he does not want to be in the army garrison. He became disillusioned with military service. He begins to fight for himself and his love. And Romashov’s death is a protest against the social and moral inhumanity of the environment.
With the onset of reaction and the aggravation of social life in society, Kuprin’s creative concepts also change. During these years, his interest in the world of ancient legends, history, and antiquity intensified. An interesting fusion of poetry and prose, the real and the legendary, the real and the romance of feelings arises in creativity. Kuprin gravitates toward the exotic and develops fantastic plots. He returns to the themes of his earlier novella. The motives of the inevitability of chance in a person’s fate are heard again.
In 1909, the story “The Pit” was published from the pen of Kuprin. Here Kuprin pays tribute to naturalism. It shows the inmates of a brothel. The whole story consists of scenes, portraits and clearly breaks down into individual details of everyday life.
However, in a number of stories written in the same years, Kuprin tried to point out real signs of high spiritual and moral values in reality itself. “Garnet Bracelet” is a story about love. This is what Paustovsky said about it: this is one of the most “fragrant” stories about love.
In 1919, Kuprin emigrated. In exile, he writes the novel “Zhanette”. This work is about the tragic loneliness of a person who has lost his homeland. This is a story about the touching affection of an old professor, who found himself in exile, for a little Parisian girl - the daughter of a street newspaper girl.
Kuprin's emigrant period is characterized by withdrawal into himself. A major autobiographical work of that period is the novel “Junker”.
In exile, the writer Kuprin did not lose faith in the future of his Motherland. At the end of his life's journey, he still returns to Russia. And his work rightfully belongs to Russian art, to the Russian people.
The work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was formed during the years of revolutionary upsurge. All his life he was close to the theme of the epiphany of a simple Russian man who greedily sought the truth of life. His art, as his contemporaries put it, was characterized by a special vigilance of vision of the world, concreteness, constant desire for knowledge . The educational pathos of Kuprin's creativity was combined with a passionate personal interest in the victory of good over all evil. Therefore, most of his works are characterized by dynamics, drama, excitement .
At an early stage of his work, Kuprin was strongly influenced by Dostoevsky. It manifested itself in the stories “ In the dark”, “Moonlit night”, “Madness" He writes about fateful moments, the role of chance in a person’s life, and analyzes the psychology of human passions.
Kuprin’s first creative quests ended with the story “ Moloch”, in which the writer shows the contradictions between capital and forced human labor. An angry protest against the monstrous violence against man, on which the industrial flourishing in the world of “Moloch” is based, a satirical demonstration of the new masters of life, the exposure of shameless predation in the country of foreign capital - all this cast doubt on the theories of bourgeois progress.
In search of moral and spiritual ideals of life, Kuprin turns to the lives of tramps, beggars, drunken artists, starving unrecognized artists, and children of the poor urban population. This is a world of nameless people who form the mass of society. Among them, Kuprin tried to find his positive heroes. He writes stories Lidochka”, “Curl”, “Kindergarten”, “At the circus” - in these works, Kuprin’s heroes are free from the influence of bourgeois civilization.
In 1898, Kuprin wrote the story “ Olesya" Poetizing life, unrestricted by modern social cultural frameworks, Kuprin sought to show the clear advantages of the “natural man,” in whom he saw spiritual qualities lost in civilized society.
In 1901, Kuprin came to St. Petersburg, during this period his story “ Night shift" It was at this time that a new genre appeared in Kuprin’s work: the short story.
In 1902, Kuprin conceived the story “ Duel" In this work, he undermined one of the main pillars of the autocracy - the military caste, in the features of the decomposition and moral decline of which he showed signs of the decomposition of the entire social system.
With the onset of reaction and the aggravation of social life in society, Kuprin’s creative concepts also change. During these years, his interest in the world of ancient legends, history, and antiquity intensified. Interesting things arise in creativity a fusion of poetry and prose, the real and the legendary, the real and the romance of feelings .
In 1909, from the pen of Kuprin the story “ Pit”, in which he pays tribute to naturalism, showing the inhabitants of a brothel.
However, in a number of stories written in the same years, Kuprin tried to point out real signs of high spiritual and moral values in reality itself. “ Garnet bracelet” - a story about love. This is what Paustovsky said about it: this is one of the most “fragrant” stories about love.
In 1919, Kuprin emigrated. In exile he writes a novel “ Janet” about the tragic loneliness of a person who has lost his homeland.
Kuprin's emigrant period is characterized by withdrawal into himself. A major autobiographical work of that period is the novel “ Juncker”.
Kuprin's prose became one of the notable phenomena of Russian literature at the beginning of the century, its literary traditions were innovatively and originally enriched by the writer, Kuprin noticeably strengthened it in his works event, plot beginning. Kuprin – a master of a fascinating plot, a depicter of sometimes strange and unlikely events (“Staff Captain Rybnikov”, “Captain”, “Star of Solomon”).
ANALYSIS OF WORKS
"DUEHL"
Thematically" Duel"continued many of Kuprin's stories about the Russian army, reaching hitherto unprecedented sharpness and depth of understanding. Criticism responded vividly and approvingly to this particular line of the story, noting that army reality is exposed here "in all its terrible and tragic ugliness."
Kuprin's story was viewed as a truly artistic, revealing document of the era and as an expression of the author's confused and passive positive program. At the core" Duel" - a person’s comprehension of the world and his “I”, his spiritual awakening. Critical understanding of army orders is only one of many facets of this process.
Second Lieutenant Yuri Romashov goes through a path of difficult and painful thoughts. Such a seemingly traditional motif for Russian literature acquires a special meaning from Kuprin. Romashov - young, pure, even naive, but forced to be in the painful and meager environment of a low-ranking regiment. Everything that is characteristic of youth - dreams of happiness, love, attraction to beauty, is painfully aggravated in constant communication with narrow-minded and rude officers. And the perception of the surrounding life acquires a rare intensity under the influence of the impatient anticipation of one’s “finest hour.” In a short period (the action of the story takes place within about two months), the soul matures and new moral and aesthetic ideals mature. And therefore Romashov’s understanding of specific people and the essence of human relationships is rapidly changing and deepening. A heart yearning for beauty measures reality according to its internal laws.
The author's voice is organically woven into the thoughts of the main character in "The Duel", expanding and deepening them. This is how the truth is conveyed about the Russian officers, for whom military service – forced, "resentful corvée"". A specific fact - the suicide of a soldier - is compared (by no means in Romashov's memory) with the same incident in the past - a sad pattern is shaded. It is the author who connects the characters of the story with all people by the same tragedy of "confused and oppressed consciousness." The boundaries of plot time and space are freely expanded.
The meaning of Romashov’s life should also be sought not in the judgments of his friends and colleagues, but in the holistic sound of the work. Such definitions of Kuprin’s hero as “weak-willed,” “doubting,” and “passive” have become stable. Maybe because Shurochka called Romashov “weak,” although she clearly interpreted this quality in her own way as an inability to win “a place in the sun.” The constant doubts and remorse of the young second lieutenant seem to the writer himself to be a stimulus for insight. And there were insights, and of the most intimate nature for Kuprin.
IN " Duel" There is cross-cutting motif of youth . Romashov's youth intensifies his painful experience of the ubiquitous "absurdity, confusion, incomprehensibility." At the same time, the thirst for a new existence is a sure sign of the fragility of a decrepit world. The age of the hero leads to a different association - with the transformation of life. That’s why Romashov’s senseless death in a duel at the hands of an insignificant careerist is so tragic. The last chord is filled not only with compassion, but also with condemnation of selfish people who did not appreciate their beautifully blossoming youth. Kuprin was dissatisfied with the brevity of the final chapter of his story. It seems, however, that it is precisely the dry, official report on the murder of Romashov that most strengthens the feeling of the inadmissibility of the death of a young man who until the last moment passionately strived for truth and beauty, who entered into a duel with vulgarity and meanness.
"GARNET BRACELET"
The discrepancy between what was desired and what existed was overcome in the most original way; Kuprin abandoned the option of happy, perfect love. But this very feeling, absolutized in one soul, became the stimulus for the rebirth of another. This is how one of the most chaste works arose - "Garnet Bracelet" (1911).
The story is often interpreted in a primitive way - as a contrast to the aristocrat Vera Sheina and the poor official Zheltkov. And they both belonged to approximately the same circle of educated intelligentsia. IN " Garnet bracelet"More and more complex and significant.
The rarest gift of high and unrequited love became “enormous happiness” the only content, the poetry of Zheltkov’s life. The phenomenality of his experiences raises the image of the young man above all other characters in the story. Not only the rude, narrow-minded Tuganovsky, the frivolous coquette Anna, but also the smart, conscientious Shein, who considers love the “greatest secret” Anosov, the beautiful and pure Vera Nikolaevna herself are in a clearly reduced everyday environment. However, this contrast is not where the main nerve of the story lies.
From the first lines there is a feeling withering . It can be read in the autumn landscape, in the sad sight of empty dachas with broken windows, empty flower beds, with “degenerate” small roses, in the “grassy, sad smell” of the pre-winter. Similar to autumn nature is the monotonous, seemingly drowsy existence of Vera Sheina, where familiar relationships, convenient connections and skills have been strengthened. Beauty is not at all alien to Vera, but the desire for it has long been dulled. She “was strictly simple, cold with everyone and a little patronizingly kind, independent and regal calm.” The royal calm destroys Zheltkov.
Kuprin writes not about the origin of Vera’s love, namely about the awakening of her soul . It proceeds in the refined sphere of premonitions and acute experiences. The external course of the days goes on as usual: guests arrive for Vera’s name day, her husband ironically tells them about his wife’s strange admirer, the plan for Shein and Vera’s brother Tuganovsky to visit Zheltkov matures and then comes to fruition, at this meeting the young man is invited to leave the city where Vera lives, and he decides to retire completely and leaves. All events respond to the growing emotional tension of the heroine.
Psychological climax of the story– Vera’s farewell to the deceased Zheltkov, their only “date” is a turning point in her internal state. On the face of the deceased she read “deep importance,” a “blissful and serene” smile, “the same peaceful expression” as “on the masks of the great sufferers - Pushkin and Napoleon.” The greatness of suffering and the peace in the feeling that caused it - Vera herself had never experienced this. “At that second she realized that the love that every woman dreams of had passed her by.” Former complacency is perceived as a mistake, an illness.
Kuprin endows his beloved heroine with much greater spiritual powers than those that caused her disappointment in herself. In the final chapter, Vera's excitement reaches its limit. To the sounds of a Beethoven sonata - Zheltkov bequeathed to listen to it - Vera seemed to take into her heart everything that he suffered. He accepts and anew, in tears of repentance and enlightenment, experiences “a life that humbly and joyfully doomed itself to torment, suffering and death.” Now this life will forever remain with her and for her.
The process of rare complexity and intimacy is contained in the “Garnet Bracelet”. The writer, however, refuses to convey both the heroine’s detailed thoughts and his own direct thoughts about her. In an amazingly chaste way he touches the refined human soul and at the same time conveys in detail the appearance and behavior of the other characters in the story.
Vera's experiences in their culmination and resolution are embodied laconically, but with poignant expression. It is achieved by an expressive association of what is happening with the music of one of the movements of Beethoven’s second sonata (also included in the epigraph of “The Garnet Bracelet”). Merging Vera's thoughts with sounds allows you to naturally express sublime prayerful state of mind , as if to convey Zheltkov’s voice. And the heroine’s participation in flowers, trees, and a light breeze brightens the woman’s tears, as if blessing her for the faithful memory of the deceased. The most elusive human feelings are indirectly captured.
The poetic "Garnet Bracelet", dedicated to a seemingly special case, is very important for understanding the author's concept of a person. In this work, perhaps more clearly than in many other things, the concepts sacred to Kuprin - creativity and love - are brought together. It is interpreted as a mysterious energy that creates harmony in earthly existence, including human relationships. “Pomegranate Bracelet,” perhaps the only one in Kuprin’s prose, reflected the phenomenon of love and co-creation with Mother Nature herself.
The formation of circus as an art form and its influence on the writer’s work
(using the example of the story “Allez!”)
RESEARCH WORK
Student A.V. Patlasova
Head of work A.A. Abrosimova
| INTRODUCTION | |
| 1 FROM “GOVERNMENT BOY” TO “SINGER OF SUBLIME LOVE” | |
| 1.1 General characteristics of A.I.’s creativity Kuprina | |
| 1.2 The emergence of Kuprin’s interest in the circus | |
| 2 CIRCUS OF THE XX CENTURY | |
| 2. 1 The emergence of circus as an art form | |
| 2. 2 Genre originality of circus art of the 20th century | |
| 3 KUPRIN AND CIRCUS | |
| 3.1 Kuprin’s circus environment and its influence on the writer’s life and work | |
| 3.2 Reflection of the reality of circus life in the story of A.I. Kuprin "Allez!" | |
| CONCLUSION | |
| LITERATURE | |
| APPLICATION |
INTRODUCTION
Among the outstanding Russian writers of the early 20th century, one of the most prominent and original places belongs to Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. Having begun his literary career at the very end of the 80s of the last century, Kuprin, over the course of his almost fifty years of creative life, created many significant works that have stood the test of time. He belongs to those writers who know how to interest the reader in the plot of a story and amaze with an unexpected ending. But sometimes his attention to the little person turns into sentimentality, and the dynamism of the narrative turns into outward entertainment.
In our time, such a distinguished writer does not receive due attention. When it comes to Kuprin’s work, the stories “The Garnet Bracelet” and “Olesya” come to mind first. But in his work there are many other works that are worthwhile and important for understanding the era in which he lived. The emergence of the circus as an art form at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, Kuprin’s close acquaintance with circus performers, romantic relationships with several wonderful performers - the whole flavor of the era and the writer’s personal experiences were reflected in the magnificent work of A.I. Kuprin "Allez!" The circus is shown to us from the inside. The writer's skill makes us live more than one day with the heroes of the work, feel the full weight of their lives. We don’t really pay much attention to what the artists actually experience in the arena; all that matters to us is the show itself, the spectacle. The author introduces us to the other side of circus life.
The wonderful miniature “Allez!”, full of humanity, which Leo Tolstoy once admired, is similar in concept. The story also reveals the theme of circus art, which occupies an important place in the writer’s work. The text of this work served as material for our research.
The purpose of the study is to study, describe and analyze in the story of A.I. Kuprin "Allez!" various linguistic units through which the author conveys to the reader his vision and understanding of the life of a circus performer.
The purpose of the work determined the specific objectives of the study:
1. Study the history of the development of circus art.
2. Get acquainted with the works of A.I. Kuprin, which reveals the theme of the circus.
3. Having stopped at the story “Allez!”, identify all the linguistic units through which the author paints us a picture of the life of a circus performer.
4. Group them by topic.
5. Analyze the resulting thematic groups.
Research methods:
1. Interpretive analysis, which makes it possible to resort to interpretation of the material, to draw conclusions based on one’s own conclusions, using knowledge from areas related to linguistics.
2. Contextual analysis, which allows us to determine the relationship of the lexical units in question with other units, gives an idea of the associations that may arise in a certain context.
The relevance of our research is stated at the very beginning of the work: drawing attention to the work of the undeservedly forgotten great writer A.I. Kuprin, whose name once stood alongside M. Gorky, I.A. Bunin. Kuprin's literary heritage is significant both in volume and content.
The novelty of the research lies in the attempt to independently comprehend the stated problem, turning to a small work in order to achieve the goal.
1 FROM “GOVERNMENT BOY” TO “SINGER OF SUBLIME LOVE”
General characteristics of A.I.’s creativity Kuprina
This is the wisdom of true strength,
In the storm itself there is silence.
You are dear and dear to us all,
We all love Kuprin.
Konstantin Balmont
The work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was formed during the years of revolutionary upsurge. All his life he was close to the theme of the epiphany of a simple Russian man who greedily sought the truth of life. His art, as his contemporaries put it, was characterized by a special vigilance in seeing the world, concreteness, and a constant desire for knowledge. The educational pathos of Kuprin's creativity was combined with a passionate personal interest in the victory of good over all evil. Therefore, most of his works are characterized by drama and emotion.
Kuprin's biography is like an adventure novel. The writer's autobiography contains a truly terrifying list of activities that he tried after parting with his military uniform. Chaotic, feverish tossing, changing “specialties” and positions, frequent travel around the country, an abundance of new meetings - all this gave Kuprin an inexhaustible wealth of impressions - it was necessary to artistically summarize them.
In Kuprin's prose of the second half of the 90s, Moloch stands out as a direct indictment of capitalism. This was in many ways a real “Kuprin” prose with its, according to Bunin, “apt and generous language without excess.” This is how Kuprin’s rapid creative flowering begins. Following Moloch, works appeared that brought the writer to the forefront of Russian literature. “Army Ensign”, “Olesya” and then, already at the beginning of the 20th century, “At the Circus”, “Horse Thieves”, “White Poodle” and the story “The Duel”.
In 1901, Kuprin arrived in St. Petersburg. In 1897, he met I. A. Bunin, a little later - with A. P. Chekhov, and in November 1902 - with M. Gorky. In 1903, the democratic publishing house “Znanie”, led by M. Gorky, published the first volume of Kuprin’s stories, which were positively received by critics. Kuprin also becomes close to the leaders of the magazine “World of God” - F. D. Batyushkov and A. A. Davydova. For some time he actively collaborated in the “World of God” and as an editor, and also published a number of his works there: “In the Circus”, “Swamp”, “Measles”, “From the Street”, but to purely editorial work, which interfered with his work, It's getting cold soon.
In Kuprin’s work at this time, accusatory notes sound increasingly louder. The new democratic upsurge in the country evokes in him a surge of creative strength, a growing intention to carry out his long-conceived plan - to “enough” of the tsarist army, this center of stupidity, inhumanity, and an idle, exhausting existence. Thus, on the eve of the first revolution, the writer’s largest work was written - the story “The Duel,” on which he began working in the spring of 1902. Kuprin, an extremely suspicious and unbalanced person, found confidence in himself and in his abilities in the friendly support of M. Gorky.
During the Ochakov era, Kuprin wrote the stories “Staff Captain Rybnikov”, “Dreams”, “Toast”, and began work on the essays “Listrigons”.
During the first decade of the 900s, Kuprin's talent reached its peak. In 1990, the writer received the academic Pushkin Prize for three volumes of fiction. In contrast to the increasingly rampant decadence, Kuprin’s talent remains at this time a realistic, highly “earthly” artistic gift.
However, the years of reaction did not pass without a trace for the writer. Kuprin places his new works not in issues of “Knowledge”, but in “fashionable” almanacs - “Life”, “Rose Hip”, “Earth”. If we talk about the fame of Kuprin, the writer, then it continues to grow in these years, reaching its highest point. Soon after the brutal suppression of the revolution of 1905 -1907, he creates the utopia "Royal Park". Following the full-blooded, realistic cycle of essays “Listrigons”, the fantastic story “Liquid Sun” appears, somewhat unusual for Kuprin in terms of the exoticism of the material.
The inconsistency of Kuprin’s work in the 1910s reflected the writer’s confusion, his uncertainty and lack of understanding of what was happening. And when the Russian-German war began, he was among those writers who perceived it as “patriotic” and “liberation”. In his few works of these years, themes familiar from his previous work lose their social relevance.
Thus, in the pre-revolutionary period, in an atmosphere of creative crisis, the main period of Kuprin’s writing activity ended, when his most significant works were created.
In Kuprin’s extensive literary heritage, the original, Kuprin thing that the writer brought with him lies on the surface. A hymn to nature, “natural” beauty and naturalness runs through all of Kuprin’s work. Hence his craving for integral, simple and strong natures. At the same time, the cult of external, physical beauty becomes for the writer a means of exposing the unworthy reality in which this beauty perishes.
And yet, despite the abundance of dramatic situations, vital juices are in full swing in Kuprin’s works, and light, optimistic tones predominate. This strong, squat man with narrow, sharp gray-blue eyes on a Tatar face, which seems not so round due to a small chestnut beard, appears in his personal life as the same healthy lover of life as in his work. L. N. Tolstoy’s impression of meeting Kuprin: “Muscular, pleasant... strongman.” And in fact, with what passion Kuprin will devote himself to everything connected with testing the strength of his own muscles, will, which is associated with excitement and risk. It’s as if he is trying to waste the supply of vitality that was not used up during his poor childhood. Organizes an athletic society in Kyiv. Together with the famous athlete Sergei Utochkin he rises in a hot air balloon. He descends in a diving suit to the seabed. Flies with Ivan Zaikin on a Farman plane. At forty-three years old, he suddenly begins to seriously learn stylish swimming from the world record holder L. Romanenko. A passionate lover of horses, he prefers the circus to opera. In all these hobbies there is something recklessly childish. His friends: wrestlers Ivan Poddubny and Zaikin, athlete Utochkin, famous trainer Anatoly Durov, clown Zhacomino, fisherman Kolya Kostandi. Living year after year in Balaklava, Kuprin immediately “became friends with some fishing chieftains” who were famous for their courage, luck and bravery.
But there is something feverish and tense in the hasty change of all these hobbies. It’s as if there were two people living in Kuprin who had little resemblance to each other, and his contemporaries, having succumbed to the impression of one, the most obvious side of his personality, left an incomplete truth about him. Only the people closest to the writer, like F.D. Batyushkov, were able to discern this duality.
The February Revolution, which Kuprin greeted enthusiastically, found him in Helsingfors. He immediately leaves for Petrograd, where, together with the critic P. Pilsky, he edits the Socialist Revolutionary newspaper Free Russia for some time. In his artistic works of this time (the stories “Brave Fugitives”, “Sashka and Yashka”, “The Caterpillar”, “Star of Solomon”) there are no direct responses to the turbulent events experienced by the country. Kuprin collaborates, however, in the bourgeois newspapers “Era”, “Petrogradsky Listok”, “Echo”, “Evening Word”, where he writes political articles “Prophecy”, “Sensation”, “At the Grave” (in memory of the prominent Bolshevik M.M. . Volodarsky, killed by the Socialist-Revolutionary), “Monuments,” etc. These articles reflect the contradictory position of the writer.
A confluence of random circumstances led Kuprin to the emigration camp in 1919. In exile, he writes the novel “Zhanette”. This period of Kuprin is characterized by withdrawal into himself. A major autobiographical work of that period is the novel "Junker".
In exile, the writer Kuprin did not lose faith in the future of his Motherland. At the end of his life's journey, he still returns to Russia. And his work rightfully belongs to Russian art, to the Russian people.
A bright representative of realism, a charismatic personality and simply a famous Russian writer of the early 20th century is Alexander Kuprin. His biography is eventful, quite difficult and filled with an ocean of emotions, thanks to which the world came to know his best creations. “Moloch”, “Duel”, “Garnet Bracelet” and many other works that have replenished the golden fund of world art.
The beginning of the journey
Born on September 7, 1870 in the small town of Narovchat, Penza District. His father is civil servant Ivan Kuprin, whose biography is very short, since he died when Sasha was only 2 years old. After which he stayed with his mother Lyubov Kuprina, who was a Tatar of princely blood. They suffered hunger, humiliation and deprivation, so his mother made the difficult decision to send Sasha to the department for young orphans at the Alexander Military School in 1876. A student of the military school, Alexander graduated from it in the second half of the 80s.
In the early 90s, after graduating from military school, he became an employee of the Dnieper Infantry Regiment No. 46. A successful military career remained a dream, as Kuprin’s disturbing, eventful and emotional biography tells. A brief summary of the biography states that Alexander was unable to enter a higher military educational institution due to a scandal. And all because of his hot temper, under the influence of alcohol, he threw a police officer from a bridge into the water. Having risen to the rank of lieutenant, he retired in 1895.
Writer's temperament
A personality with an incredibly bright color, greedily absorbing impressions, a wanderer. He tried many crafts: from laborer to dental technician. A very emotional and extraordinary person is Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, whose biography is filled with bright events, which became the basis of many of his masterpieces.
His life was quite stormy, there were many rumors about him. An explosive temperament, excellent physical shape, he was drawn to try himself, which gave him invaluable life experience and strengthened his spirit. He constantly strived for adventure: he dived underwater in special equipment, flew on an airplane (he almost died due to a disaster), was the founder of a sports society, etc. During the war years, together with his wife, he equipped an infirmary in his own house.
He loved to get to know a person, his character and communicated with people of a wide variety of professions: specialists with higher technical education, wandering musicians, fishermen, card players, the poor, clergy, entrepreneurs, etc. And in order to get to know a person better, to experience his life for himself, he was ready for the craziest adventure. A researcher whose spirit of adventurism was simply off the charts is Alexander Kuprin, the writer’s biography only confirms this fact.
He worked with great pleasure as a journalist in many editorial offices, published articles and reports in periodicals. He often went on business trips, lived in the Moscow region, then in the Ryazan region, as well as in the Crimea (Balaklava region) and in the city of Gatchina, Leningrad region.
Revolutionary activities
He was not satisfied with the then social order and the reigning injustice, and therefore, as a strong personality, he wanted to somehow change the situation. However, despite his revolutionary sentiments, the writer had a negative attitude towards the October revolution led by representatives of the Social Democrats (Bolsheviks). Bright, eventful and various difficulties - this is the Biography of Kuprin. Interesting facts from the biography say that Alexander Ivanovich nevertheless collaborated with the Bolsheviks and even wanted to publish a peasant publication called “Earth,” and therefore often saw the head of the Bolshevik government, V.I. Lenin. But soon he suddenly went over to the side of the “whites” (anti-Bolshevik movement). After they were defeated, Kuprin moved to Finland, and then to France, namely to its capital, where he stayed for some time.
In 1937, he took an active part in the press of the anti-Bolshevik movement, while continuing to write his works. Troubled, filled with the struggle for justice and emotions, this is exactly what Kuprin’s biography was. A brief summary of the biography states that in the period from 1929 to 1933 the following famous novels were written: “The Wheel of Time”, “Junker”, “Zhaneta”, and many articles and stories were published. Emigration had a negative effect on the writer; he was unclaimed, suffered hardships and missed his native land. In the second half of the 30s, believing the propaganda in the Soviet Union, he and his wife returned to Russia. The return was overshadowed by the fact that Alexander Ivanovich suffered from a very serious illness.
People's life through the eyes of Kuprin
Kuprin's literary activity is imbued with the classic manner of Russian writers of compassion for the people who are forced to live in poverty in a wretched living environment. A strong-willed personality with a strong desire for justice is Alexander Kuprin, whose biography says that he expressed his sympathy in his creativity. For example, the novel “The Pit,” written at the beginning of the 20th century, tells about the hard life of prostitutes. And also images of intellectuals suffering from the hardships they are forced to endure.
His favorite characters are just like that - reflective, a little hysterical and very sentimental. For example, the story “Moloch”, where the representative of this image is Bobrov (engineer) - a very sensitive character, compassionate and worried about ordinary factory workers who work hard while the rich ride like cheese in butter on other people’s money. Representatives of such images in the story “The Duel” are Romashov and Nazansky, who are endowed with great physical strength, as opposed to a tremulous and sensitive soul. Romashov was very irritated by military activities, namely vulgar officers and downtrodden soldiers. Probably no writer has condemned the military environment as much as Alexander Kuprin.
The writer was not one of the tearful, people-worshipping writers, although his works were often approved by the famous populist critic N.K. Mikhailovsky. His democratic attitude towards his characters was expressed not only in the description of their difficult lives. Alexander Kuprin’s man of the people not only had a trembling soul, but was also strong-willed and could give a worthy rebuff at the right moment. The life of the people in Kuprin’s works is a free, spontaneous and natural flow, and the characters have not only troubles and sorrows, but also joy and consolation (the cycle of stories “Listrigons”). A man with a vulnerable soul and a realist is Kuprin, whose biography according to the dates states that this work took place in the period from 1907 to 1911.
Its realism was also expressed in the fact that the author described not only the good traits of his characters, but also did not hesitate to show their dark side (aggression, cruelty, rage). A striking example is the story “Gambrinus,” where Kuprin described the Jewish pogrom in great detail. This work was written in 1907.
Perception of life through creativity
Kuprin is an idealist and romantic, which is reflected in his work: heroic deeds, sincerity, love, compassion, kindness. Most of his characters are emotional people, those who have fallen out of the usual rut of life, they are in search of truth, a freer and fuller existence, something beautiful...
The feeling of love, the fullness of life, is what permeates Kuprin’s biography, interesting facts from which indicate that no one else could write as poetically about feelings. This is clearly reflected in the story “The Garnet Bracelet,” written in 1911. It is in this work that Alexander Ivanovich exalts true, pure, free, ideal love. He very accurately depicted the characters of various layers of society, described in detail the situation surrounding his characters, their way of life. It was for his sincerity that he often received reprimands from critics. Naturalism and aesthetics are the main features of Kuprin’s work.
His stories about animals “Barbos and Zhulka” and “Emerald” fully deserve a place in the collection of world art of words. A short biography of Kuprin says that he is one of the few writers who could so feel the flow of natural, real life and so successfully display it in their works. A striking embodiment of this quality is the story “Olesya,” written in 1898, where he describes the deviation from the ideal of natural existence.
Such an organic worldview, healthy optimism are the main distinctive properties of his work, in which lyricism and romance, proportionality of the plot and compositional center, dramatic action and truth harmoniously merge.
Master of Literary Arts
A virtuoso of words is Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, whose biography says that he could very accurately and beautifully describe the landscape in a literary work. His external, visual and, one might say, olfactory perception of the world was simply excellent. I.A. Bunin and A.I. Kuprin often competed to determine the smell of different situations and phenomena in their masterpieces and not only... In addition, the writer could display the true image of his characters very carefully down to the smallest detail: appearance, disposition, communication style, etc. He found complexity and depth, even when describing animals, and all because he really loved writing on this topic.
A passionate lover of life, a naturalist and a realist, this is exactly what Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was. The writer’s brief biography states that all his stories are based on real events and are therefore unique: natural, vivid, without obsessive speculative constructions. He thought about the meaning of life, described true love, talked about hatred, strong-willed and heroic deeds. Emotions such as disappointment, despair, struggle with oneself, strengths and weaknesses of a person became the main ones in his works. These manifestations of existentialism were typical of his work and reflected the complex inner world of man at the turn of the century.
Writer in transition
He truly is a representative of the transitional stage, which undoubtedly affected his work. A striking type of the “off-road” era is Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, whose brief biography suggests that this time left an imprint on his psyche, and, accordingly, on the author’s works. His characters are in many ways reminiscent of the heroes of A.P. Chekhov, the only difference is that Kuprin’s images are not so pessimistic. For example, technologist Bobrov from the story “Moloch”, Kashintsev from “Zhidovka” and Serdyukov from the story “Swamp”. Chekhov's main characters are sensitive, conscientious, but at the same time broken, exhausted people who are lost in themselves and disillusioned with life. They are shocked by aggression, they are very compassionate, but they can no longer fight. Realizing their helplessness, they perceive the world only through the prism of cruelty, injustice and meaninglessness.
A short biography of Kuprin confirms that, despite the gentleness and sensitivity of the writer, he was a strong-willed person who loved life, and therefore his heroes are somewhat similar to him. They have a strong thirst for life, which they grasp very tightly and do not let go. They listen to both the heart and the mind. For example, drug addict Bobrov, who decided to kill himself, listened to the voice of reason and realized that he loved life too much to end everything once and for all. The same thirst for life lived in Serdyukov (the student from the work “Swamp”), who was very sympathetic to the forester and his family, dying of an infectious disease. He spent the night at their house and during this short time he almost went crazy from pain, anxiety and compassion. And when morning comes, he strives to quickly get out of this nightmare in order to see the sun. It was as if he was running from there in a fog, and when he finally ran up the hill, he simply choked on an unexpected surge of happiness.
Passionate lover of life - Alexander Kuprin, whose biography suggests that the writer was very fond of happy endings. The ending of the story sounds symbolic and solemn. It says that the fog was spreading at the guy’s feet, about the clear blue sky, about the whisper of green branches, about the golden sun, the rays of which “ringed with the jubilant triumph of victory.” Which sounds like the victory of life over death.
The exaltation of life in the story “The Duel”
This work is the true apotheosis of life. Kuprin, whose short biography and work are closely related, described the cult of personality in this story. The main characters (Nazansky and Romashev) are bright representatives of individualism; they declared that the whole world would perish when they were gone. They firmly believed in their beliefs, but were too weak in spirit to bring their idea to life. It was this disproportion between the exaltation of one’s own personalities and the weakness of its owners that the author caught.
A master of his craft, an excellent psychologist and realist, these are precisely the qualities the writer Kuprin possessed. The author’s biography says that he wrote “The Duel” at a time when he was at the peak of his fame. It was in this masterpiece that the best qualities of Alexander Ivanovich were combined: an excellent writer of everyday life, a psychologist and a lyricist. The military theme was close to the author, given his background, and therefore no effort was required to develop it. The bright general background of the work does not overshadow the expressiveness of its main characters. Each character is incredibly interesting and is a link in the same chain, without losing their individuality.
Kuprin, whose biography says that the story appeared during the Russian-Japanese conflict, criticized the military environment to the nines. The work describes military life, psychology, and reflects the pre-revolutionary life of Russians.
In the story, as in life, an atmosphere of deadness and impoverishment, sadness and routine reigns. A feeling of absurdity, disorder and incomprehensibility of existence. It was these feelings that overwhelmed Romashev and were familiar to the inhabitants of pre-revolutionary Russia. In order to drown out the ideological “impossibility”, Kuprin described in “The Duel” the dissolute morality of the officers, their unfair and cruel attitude towards each other. And of course, the main vice of the military is alcoholism, which flourished among the Russian people.
Characters
You don’t even need to draw up a plan for Kuprin’s biography to understand that he is spiritually close to his heroes. These are very emotional, broken individuals who sympathize, are indignant at the injustice and cruelty of life, but cannot fix anything.
After the “Duel,” a work appears called “River of Life.” In this story, completely different moods reign; many liberation processes took place. He is the embodiment of the finale of the drama of the intelligentsia, which the writer narrates. Kuprin, whose work and biography are closely connected, does not betray himself; the main character is still a kind, sensitive intellectual. He is a representative of individualism, no, he is not indifferent, having thrown himself into the whirlwind of events, he understands that a new life is not for him. And glorifying the joy of being, he still decides to die, because he believes that he does not deserve it, which he writes about in his suicide note to his comrade.
The theme of love and nature are those areas in which the writer’s optimistic moods are clearly expressed. Kuprin considered such a feeling as love to be a mysterious gift that is sent only to a select few. This attitude is reflected in the novel “The Garnet Bracelet,” just like Nazansky’s passionate speech or Romashev’s dramatic relationship with Shura. And Kuprin’s narratives about nature are simply fascinating; at first they may seem too detailed and ornate, but then this multicoloredness begins to delight, as the realization comes that these are not standard turns of phrase, but the author’s personal observations. It becomes clear how he was captivated by the process, how he absorbed impressions, which he later reflected in his work, and it is simply enchanting.
Kuprin's mastery
A virtuoso of the pen, a man with excellent intuition and an ardent lover of life, this is exactly what Alexander Kuprin was. A brief biography tells that he was an incredibly deep, harmonious and internally filled person. He subconsciously felt the secret meaning of things, could connect causes and understand consequences. As an excellent psychologist, he had the ability to highlight the main thing in a text, which is why his works seemed ideal, from which nothing could be removed or added. These qualities are displayed in “The Evening Guest”, “River of Life”, “Duel”.
Alexander Ivanovich did not add anything special to the sphere of literary techniques. However, in the author’s later works, such as “River of Life” and “Staff Captain Rybnikov,” there is a sharp change in the direction of art; he is clearly drawn to impressionism. Stories become more dramatic and concise. Kuprin, whose biography is eventful, later returns to realism. This refers to the chronicle novel “The Pit”, in which he describes the life of brothels; he does this in the usual manner, everything is just as natural and without hiding anything. Because of this, it periodically receives condemnation from critics. However, this did not stop him. He did not strive for something new, but tried to improve and develop the old.
Results
Biography of Kuprin (briefly about the main things):
- Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich was born on September 7, 1870 in the town of Narovchat, Penza District in Russia.
- He died on August 25, 1938 at the age of 67 in St. Petersburg.
- The writer lived at the turn of the century, which invariably affected his work. Survived the October Revolution.
- The direction of art is realism and impressionism. The main genres are short story and story.
- Since 1902 he lived in marriage with Davydova Maria Karlovna. And since 1907 - with Heinrich Elizaveta Moritsovna.
- Father - Kuprin Ivan Ivanovich. Mother - Kuprina Lyubov Alekseevna.
- He had two daughters - Ksenia and Lydia.
The best sense of smell in Russia
Alexander Ivanovich was visiting Fyodor Chaliapin, who called him the most sensitive nose in Russia when visiting. A perfumer from France was present at the evening and decided to test this by asking Kuprin to name the main components of his new development. To the great surprise of everyone present, he completed the task.
In addition, Kuprin had a strange habit: when meeting or meeting, he sniffed people. Many were offended by this, and some were delighted, they argued that thanks to this gift he recognized human nature. Kuprin's only competitor was I. Bunin, they often organized competitions.
Tatar roots
Kuprin, like a real Tatar, was very hot-tempered, emotional and very proud of his origin. His mother is from a family of Tatar princes. Alexander Ivanovich often dressed in Tatar attire: a robe and a colored skullcap. In this form, he loved to visit his friends and relax in restaurants. Moreover, in this vestment he sat down like a real khan and squinted his eyes for greater resemblance.
Universal Man
Alexander Ivanovich changed a large number of professions before he found his true calling. He tried his hand at boxing, teaching, fishing and acting. He worked in the circus as a wrestler, land surveyor, pilot, traveling musician, etc. Moreover, his main goal was not money, but invaluable life experience. Alexander Ivanovich stated that he would like to become an animal, a plant or a pregnant woman in order to experience all the delights of childbirth.
Beginning of writing activity
He received his first writing experience at a military school. It was the story “The Last Debut”, the work was quite primitive, but still he decided to send it to the newspaper. This was reported to the school management, and Alexander was punished (two days in a punishment cell). He promised himself to never write again. However, he did not keep his word, as he met the writer I. Bunin, who asked him to write a short story. Kuprin was broke at the time, so he agreed and used the money he earned to buy food and shoes. It was this event that pushed him to serious work.
This is him, the famous writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, a physically strong man with a tender and vulnerable soul and with his own quirks. A great lover of life and experimenter, compassionate and with a great desire for justice. Naturalist and realist Kuprin left a legacy of a large number of magnificent works that fully deserve the title of masterpieces.
Kuprin's artistic method has long been and by general agreement defined as “consistent” or “traditional” realism, most directly developing the traditions of classical literature of the 19th century.
This method organically combines the harsh denial of a soberly analyzed social reality and the high flight of a dream, which is in principle feasible, but has not yet been realized. As an artist, Kuprin was strong when he raised and resolved pressing social problems using the material of living modernity.
The masterpieces of his pen - “Moloch”, “Olesya”, “The Duel” - became very compelling arguments in the recent scientific debate about the concept of the “crisis” of realism at the turn of the century.
Over the years, Kuprin, like most of his contemporary writers, was increasingly attracted to problems and themes of an abstract and generalized, universal nature.
But the persistent interest in mysterious and difficult to explain or completely inexplicable phenomena in human life, which appeared both in Kuprin’s early works (“Strange Case”, “Madness”, “Moonlit Night”, etc.) and in his later ones, cannot be explained in any way , as is sometimes done, solely due to the influence of modernist literature on him.
Being a pattern in Kuprin’s artistic evolution, this side of his creative worldview does not destroy, but deepens the idea of the close relationship of his literary heritage with the current of Russian realism, in the depths of which back in the 60-70s. interest was formed in the mysterious sphere of human existence, not yet discovered by science. This tendency was most expressively embodied in the “mysterious stories” of I. S. Turgenev.
Kuprin, with his manifested interest in the “mysterious,” but not the mystical, but only the unknown, is not a victim of the influences of modernism, but the legitimate heir and continuer of certain quests for realism of the 19th century. in its evolution from concrete historical relevance to broader socio-philosophical generalizations of world existence and deep penetration into the sphere of human consciousness not yet sufficiently understood by science.
The peculiarity of Kuprin’s artistic talent - an increased interest in each human personality and mastery of psychological analysis - allowed him to master the realistic heritage in his own way. The value of his work lies in the artistically convincing revelation of the soul of his contemporary, excited and shocked by social reality and the mysteries of human existence.
By the turn of 1917, Kuprin came with a life program, humanistic at its core, but full of contradictions. The critical pathos inherent in him from his first literary steps has been preserved, but the subject of denunciation has lost its clear social contours. This prevented the writer from understanding the meaning and tasks of the October Socialist Revolution. Like many others, he was brought by a wave of emigration in 1919, first to Finland and then to France.
“There are people who, out of stupidity or despair, claim that it is possible without a homeland,” Kuprin the emigrant said bitterly. - But, forgive me, all this is pretending to oneself. The more talented a person is, the more difficult it is for him without Russia.”
Almost all of Kuprin’s foreign work is a dreary “look into the past.” But, yearning for the past “sweet, carefree, cozy, kind Russian life” he now idealized, the writer could not free himself from the thought that he did not understand something and still does not understand it, but it is necessary to understand it. This anxiety led Kuprin to the inevitable thought of returning home, which he did shortly before his death.
History of Russian literature: in 4 volumes / Edited by N.I. Prutskov and others - L., 1980-1983.