L.N. Tolstoy's epic novel is practically the only work of Russian literature of this scale. It reveals a whole layer of history - the Patriotic War of 1812, the military campaigns of 1805-1807. Real historical figures are depicted, such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor Alexander I, commander-in-chief of the Russian army Mikhail Ilarionovich Kutuzov. Using the example of the Bolkonskys, Rostovs, Bezukhovs, and Kuragins, Tolstoy shows the development of human relationships and the creation of families. The People's War becomes the central image of the War of 1812. The composition of Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" is complex, the novel is enormous in its volume of information, and is striking in the number of characters (more than five hundred). Tolstoy showed everything in action, in life.
Family thought in Tolstoy's novel
There are four storylines running through the entire novel - four families, changing their composition depending on the circumstances. Kuragins are an image of vulgarity, self-interest and indifference to each other. The Rostovs are an image of love, harmony and friendship. The Bolkonskys are an image of prudence and activity. Bezukhov builds his family by the end of the novel, having found his ideal of life. Tolstoy describes families using the principle of comparison, and sometimes the principle of contrast. But this does not always indicate what is good and what is bad. What is present in one family may be a complement to another. So in the epilogue of the novel we see the union of three families: the Rostovs, the Bezukhovs and the Bolkonskys. This gives a new round of relationships. Tolstoy says that the main component of any family is love and respect for each other. And family is the main meaning of life. There are no great stories of people, they are worth nothing without family, without loved ones and loving families. You can survive in any difficult situations if you are strong, and you are strong with your family. The importance of family in the novel is undeniable.
Popular thought in Tolstoy's novel
The War of 1812 was won thanks to the strength, resilience and faith of the Russian people. The people in their entirety. Tolstoy does not differentiate between peasants and nobles - in war everyone is equal. And everyone has the same goal - to free Russia from the enemy. “The club of the people’s war,” says Tolstoy about the Russian army. It is the people who are the main force that defeated the enemy. What can military leaders do without the people? A simple example is the French army, which Tolstoy shows in contrast to the Russian one. The French fought not for faith, not for strength, but because they needed to fight. And the Russians, following the old man Kutuzov, for the faith, for the Russian land, for the Tsar-Father. Tolstoy confirms the idea that the people make history.
Features of the novel
Many characteristics in Tolstoy's novel are presented through contrast or antithesis. The image of Napoleon is contrasted with the image of Alexander I as an emperor and the image of Kutuzov as a commander. The description of the Kuragin family is also built on the principle of contrast.
Tolstoy is a master of the episode. Almost all portraits of heroes are given through action, their actions in certain situations. The stage episode is one of the features of Tolstoy's narrative.
Landscape in the novel “War and Peace” also occupies a certain place. The description of the old oak tree is an integral element of the description of Andrei Bolkonsky’s state of mind. We see the calm Borodino field before the battle, not a single leaf moves on the trees. The fog in front of Austerlitz warns us of an invisible danger. Detailed descriptions of the estate in Otradnoye, natural views that appear to Pierre when he is in captivity - all these are necessary elements of the composition of War and Peace. Nature helps to understand the state of the characters without forcing the author to resort to verbal descriptions.
Title of the novel
The title of the novel “War and Peace” contains an artistic device called an oxymoron. But the name can also be taken literally. The first and second volumes share scenes of either war or peace. The third volume is almost entirely devoted to war; in the fourth, peace prevails. This is also Tolstoy's trick. Still, peace is more important and necessary than any war. At the same time, war without life in “peace” is impossible. There are those who are there, at war, and those who are left to wait. And their wait, sometimes, is the only salvation for returning.
Novel genre
L.N. Tolstoy himself did not give the exact name of the genre to the novel “War and Peace”. In fact, the novel reflects historical events, psychological processes, social and moral problems, raises philosophical questions, and the characters experience family and everyday relationships. The novel contains all aspects of human life, reveals characters, shows destinies. An epic novel - this is precisely the genre given to Tolstoy’s work. This is the first epic novel in Russian literature. Truly L.N. Tolstoy created a great work that has stood the test of time. It will be read at all times.
Work test
The question of the “War and Peace” genre is one of the most difficult topics in school lessons. Usually, students find it difficult to answer due to the large volume of this work, which does not allow them to understand all the features of the book the first time. Therefore, while reading, it is necessary to draw students’ attention to the main points in the construction of the composition, which will help determine the genre features of the novel.
Plot Features
The problem of the “War and Peace” genre directly rests on the plot of the work. The novel covers several decades in the lives of the main characters. The author pays main attention to the period of the struggle of the Russian people with the French army of Napoleon. The epic scope of events determined the structure of the work, which consists of several storylines dedicated to different families, whose destinies are intertwined during the course of the narrative.
However, the Russian people are considered the main character of the work. Therefore, the genre of War and Peace should be defined as an epic. The wide scope of events also determined the features of the plot. The heroes of the work act against the backdrop of historical events of the early 19th century. They find themselves drawn into the military events of the period under review, and their destinies and lives turn out to be dependent on the vicissitudes of the war.
Historical background
When determining the genre of War and Peace, the historical basis of the plot should also be taken into account. The author not only limited himself to describing the struggle of the Russian people for liberation from the French invasion, but also depicted a panorama of Russian social life at the beginning of the 19th century. It focuses on the life of several noble families (Rostov, Bolkonsky and others). However, he did not ignore the lives of ordinary people.
His book contains sketches of peasant and village life, a description of the life of ordinary people. All this allows us to say that the novel “War and Peace” is a broad epic of people’s life. The book can be called a kind of encyclopedia of Russian history at the beginning of the reign of Alexander I. L.N. Tolstoy used a large amount of archival material to depict real events and historical figures. Therefore, his work is distinguished by truthfulness and authenticity.
Characters
It is traditional to highlight the three main characters of the work - Natasha Rostova, Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov. It was in their images that the writer embodied the best qualities inherent in the noble class of the time in question. In addition, supporting characters also played a large role in the development of the plot: Natasha’s brother Nikolai Rostov, the family of Prince Andrei and other representatives of the noble class who appear from time to time during the narrative.
Such a large number of characters gave scale to the work of art, which once again proves that the novel “War and Peace” is a work of epic nature.
Storylines
To determine the genre of a book, it is also necessary to pay attention to the large number of plot narratives in the work. In addition to the main stories - the lines of Pierre, Natasha and Prince Andrei - the novel contains a large number of additional auxiliary sketches from the life of society of the time in question. Tolstoy describes a number of noble families who in one way or another influence the main plot.
The heroes of the novel “War and Peace” belong to very different strata of society, and this complicates the composition of the narrative. In addition to secular paintings, the writer very truthfully shows the rise of the people's spirit during the French invasion. Therefore, military themes occupy a prominent, perhaps even the main place in the narrative.
Image of war
Tolstoy in his work focused on the popular nature of the war. It is the ordinary Russian people who are rightfully considered the main character of the entire book. That is why the work is usually called an epic. This idea of the author determined the features of the plot. In the text, the life of the nobles during a common disaster is closely intertwined with the life of ordinary people.
The heroes of the novel “War and Peace” are for some time torn out of the usual circle of their lives and find themselves in the most terrible epicenter of events. Prince Andrei is mortally wounded, Pierre is captured by the French and, together with his new friend, an ordinary peasant peasant Platon Karataev, endures all the hardships of captivity, Natasha and her family leave Moscow and care for the wounded. Thus, the writer showed how, in a moment of danger, the entire population of Russia united to fight. This once again proves that the work “War and Peace” is an epic novel.
Main events
The fact that the book is written in the spirit of an epic is evidenced by the fact that the most important key events of the narrative are large-scale in nature. For example, the wounding of Prince Andrei on the Field of Austerlitz, when a revolution took place in his worldview, is a scene that amazes the reader with the grandeur and breadth of the panorama. After all, this battle was one of the most important during the Napoleonic wars, a large number of participants were involved in it, and it was of great importance for strengthening the success of France. The same can be said about the Battle of Borodino. “War and Peace” is a novel in which the author sought, first of all, to show the common impulse of the entire Russian people in the fight against the enemy. And the scene of this battle best shows the patriotic enthusiasm of all participants. Pierre helps ordinary soldiers as best he can during an artillery attack, and although he does not know how to handle weapons at all, he nevertheless acts to the best of his ability in order to help the soldiers.
Thus, the author places his heroes at the very epicenter of events in order to show their unity with the people. This once again proves the epic nature of the work. Coverage of all aspects of social life is an important feature of the work. The writer showed the history of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century by depicting the social and cultural life of all its classes. Therefore, his book is rightfully considered the most famous and significant epic in the literature of this century. And only in the 20th century M. Sholokhov managed to create an equally grandiose canvas of folk life in the novel “Quiet Don”.
Non-state educational institution
Parochial school "Kosinskaya"
Moscow
Article
“The epic novel “War and Peace”: history of creation, issues, genre originality”
prepared
teacher of Russian language and literature
Ganeeva Victoria Nikolaevna
Moscow 2014
The epic novel “War and Peace”: history of creation, issues, genre originality
It is simply impossible to imagine Russian literature in which “War and Peace” does not exist. This is one of her central works. “Russian literature, even before Tolstoy, knew high examples of realistic art. But for the first time, Tolstoy study the hidden springs of the movements of the human soul, the historical life of the people, the connection, the “conjugation” of the particular and the general are brought to the pages of the narrative.”
The influence of the epic novel on writers of later times, especially in the twentieth century, was enormous: the works of Yu. Bondarev, V. Bykov, M. Bubennov, I. Ehrenburg, K. Vorobyov appear in the spirit of Tolstoy’s traditions. Artistic laws discovered in “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy constituted and constitute an indisputable model for foreign literature.
The artistic impact of the epic on everyone who touched its poetic universe was and remains enormous. It is difficult to imagine Russian patriotic consciousness without War and Peace. “There is no doubt that the experience of an entire people was embodied here; the writer so clearly and widely expressed the unshakable values of his land. A Russian person cannot help but love this book, just as it is impossible not to love a living part of his own destiny.”
The novel “War and Peace” has long been one of the main books in the school curriculum. Despite all the “contradictions and paradoxes” of this book, the great epic carries within itself a huge educational principle, affirming the enduring ideals of patriotism, duty, family, and motherhood.
History of creation
L.N. himself Tolstoy, in one of the rough drafts of the preface, talks about the beginning of work on the novel: “In 1856, I began to write a story with a well-known direction, the hero of which was supposed to be a Decembrist returning with his family to Russia. Involuntarily, I moved from the present to 1825, the era of my hero’s delusions and misfortunes, and left what I started. But even in 1825, my hero was already a mature family man. To understand him, I needed to travel back to his youth, and his youth coincided with the glorious era of 1812 for Russia. Another time I abandoned what I had started and began to write from the time of 1812, the smell and sound of which are still audible and dear to us, but which is now so distant from us that we can think about it calmly. But the third time I left what I had started, but not because I needed to describe the first youth of my hero, on the contrary: between those semi-historical, semi-public, semi-fictional great characters of the great era, the personality of my hero receded into the background, and into the foreground became, with equal interest, both young and old people, and men and women of the time. For the third time I returned back due to a feeling that may seem strange to most readers, but which, I hope, will be understood by those whose opinions I value; I did this out of a feeling similar to shyness and which I cannot define in one word. I was ashamed to write about our triumph in the fight against Bonaparte’s France without describing our failures and our shame. Who has not experienced a hidden but unpleasant feeling of shyness and distrust when reading patriotic essays about the 12th year? If the reason for our triumph was not accidental, but lay in the essence of the character of the Russian people and troops, then this character should have been expressed even more clearly in the era of failures and defeats.
So, having returned from 1856 to 1805, from now on I intend to take not one, but many of my heroines and heroes through the historical events of 1805, 1807, 1812, 1825 and 1856.”
Before us is a grandiose historical plan. Unfortunately, it was not realized immediately and not completely, changing as the work progressed.
The novel about the Decembrist did not advance beyond the first chapters. From a story about the fate of one Decembrist hero, it was transformed into a story about a whole generation of people who lived during the period of historical events that predetermined the emergence of the Decembrists. It was intended to trace the fate of this generation until the Decembrists returned from exile. The name changed: “Three Pores. Part 1. 1812”, “From 1805 to 1814. Novel by Count L.N. Tolstoy. 1805th year. Part 1". In November 1864, part of the manuscript was submitted for publication to the magazine “Russian Messenger” under the title “One Thousand Eight Hundred and Five.” In 1865, chapters of the book appeared in the magazine with the subtitles: “In St. Petersburg,” “In Moscow,” “In the Village.” The next group of chapters is called “War” (1866) and is devoted to the Russian campaign abroad, ending with the Battle of Austerlitz.
The first edition of the novel was created throughout 1866 and the beginning of 1867; the novel was to be called “All's Well That Ends Well.” This version of the novel (in six volumes) was published in 1867-1869. The fate of the heroes turned out differently: Andrei Bolkonsky and Petya Rostov do not die, but Natasha Bolkonsky “yields” to his friend Pierre. But the main difference from the final edition is the following: “the historical-romantic narrative has not yet become an epic, it is not yet imbued, as it will be in the final text, with “people's thought” and is not “the history of the people.” Tolstoy himself wrote about this version of the future of War and Peace: “In my work, only princes who speak and write in French, counts, etc. act, as if all Russian life of that time was concentrated in these people. I agree that this is wrong and illiberal, and I can give one, but irrefutable answer. The life of officials, merchants, seminarians and peasants is uninteresting and half incomprehensible to me, the life of the aristocrats of that time, thanks to the monuments of that time and other reasons, is understandable, interesting and sweet to me.”
In September 1867, Tolstoy decided to inspect the field of the Borodino battle. He stayed in Borodino for two days, taking notes, drawing a plan of the area in order to understand the actual disposition of the troops. The author was very pleased with his trip and hoped to describe the Battle of Borodino like no one had done before. In the last volume, the author's detailed discussions about the popular nature of guerrilla warfare appeared.
On December 17, 1867, the newspaper Moskovskie Vedomosti announced the publication of the first three volumes of War and Peace and the fourth volume being printed. An advertisement for the sixth volume appeared in the same newspaper on December 12, 1869. The grandiose plan was not fully realized. The era of 1825 and 1856 was not included in the narrative. The epic was over.
Meaning of the title
On January 6, 1867, the Astrakhan newspaper “Vostok” published the following note:
"Literary news. Count L.N. Tolstoy completed half of his novel, which appeared in the Russian Messenger under the name “1805.” Currently, the author has brought his story up to 1807 and ended with the Peace of Tilsit. The first part, already known to readers of the Russian Messenger, has been significantly redone by the author, and the entire novel under the title “War and Peace” in four large volumes with excellent drawings in the text will be published as a separate edition.”
In the Russian language of Tolstoy's era, there were two words: world meaning “not war” and m i r as a community of people, people. Tolstoy apparently did not attach much importance to the difference in the spelling of this word. Both options appear in the text; in print the novel appeared as “War and Peace” with And octal.
In literary criticism, the point of view of E.E. Zaidenshnur is known, according to which the title “War and Peace,” that is, “War and the People,” is more consistent with the main idea of the novel, since Tolstoy’s task was to show the great role of the people in the liberation war, and not at all compare military and peaceful life." However, not all researchers agree with this. S.G. Bocharov writes about the many meanings, about the comprehensiveness of the meaning of a word world.“The world turns out to be not only a theme, but it unfolds as a multi-valued artistic idea of such completeness and capacity that cannot be conveyed in another language.”
L.D. Opulskaya adds: “... and the concept of “war” in Tolstoy’s narrative means more than just military clashes between warring armies. War is generally hostility, misunderstanding, selfish calculation, separation.
War does not only exist in war. In the ordinary, everyday life of people separated by social and moral barriers, conflicts and clashes are inevitable.”
Historical background and problems of the novel
The novel "War and Peace" tells about the events that took place during three stages of Russia's struggle with Bonapartist France. The first volume describes the events of 1805, when Russia fought in alliance with Austria on its territory; in the second volume - 1806-1811, when Russian troops were in Prussia; the third volume is 1812, the fourth volume is 1812-1813, both are devoted to a broad depiction of the Patriotic War of 1812, which Russia waged on its native soil. In the epilogue, the action takes place in 1820. Thus, the action in the novel spans fifteen years.
The basis of the novel is historical military events, artistically translated by the writer. We learn about the war of 1805 against Napoleon, which the Russian army waged in alliance with Austria, about the battles of Schöngraben and Austerlitz, about the war in alliance with Prussia in 1806 and the Peace of Tilsit. Tolstoy depicts the events of the Patriotic War of 1812: the passage of the French army across the Neman, the retreat of the Russians into the interior of the country, the surrender of Smolensk, the appointment of Kutuzov as commander-in-chief, the Battle of Borodino, the council in Fili, the abandonment of Moscow. The writer depicts events that testify to the indestructible power of the national spirit of the Russian people, which suppressed the French invasion: Kutuzov’s flank march, the Battle of Tarutino, the growth of the partisan movement, the collapse of the invading army and the victorious end of the war.
The range of problems in the novel is very wide. It reveals the reasons for the military failures of 1805-1806, and pictures of the partisan war are drawn with extraordinary artistic expressiveness; the great role of the Russian people, who decided the outcome of the Patriotic War of 1812, is reflected, pictures of the family life and morals of the nobles, both the best representatives of the noble environment and its typical part, are shown.
Simultaneously with the historical problems of the era of the Patriotic War of 1812, the novel also reveals topical issues of the 60s of the nineteenth century about the role of the nobility in the state, about the identity of a true citizen of the Motherland, about the position of women, etc. Therefore, the novel reflects the most significant phenomena of political and social life countries, various ideological movements (Freemasonry, legislative activity of Speransky, the emergence of the Decembrist movement in the country). Tolstoy depicts high-society receptions, entertainment of secular youth, ceremonial dinners, balls, hunting, Christmas fun of gentlemen and servants. Pictures of transformations in the village by Pierre Bezukhov, scenes of the rebellion of Bogucharovsky peasants, episodes of indignation of urban artisans reveal the nature of social relations in village life and in the life of the urban lower classes.
"People's thought" and "family thought"
The famous words of L. Tolstoy that in “War and Peace” he loved “people's thought”, and in “Anna Karenina” - “family thought”, should not be interpreted too literally and categorically. Family motives in the novel are by no means the last place. But it is “popular thought” that makes War and Peace epic.
L.D. Opulskaya writes that the composition of the planned monumental work was determined at an early stage by the Decembrist theme. The historical preparation of the Decembrist movement was reflected in the completed novel, although this topic did not occupy a central place in it. “The pathos of “War and Peace” lies in the affirmation of “people's thought.”
“To explore the character of an entire people, a character that manifests itself with equal force in peaceful, everyday life and in large, landmark historical events, during military failures and defeats and at the moment of highest glory - this is the most important artistic task of War and Peace. The path of ideological and moral growth leads the positive heroes of War and Peace, as always with Tolstoy, to rapprochement with the people. In accordance with the foundations of his worldview of the 60s, Tolstoy in “War and Peace” does not yet require noble heroes to break with the class to which they belong by birth and upbringing; but complete moral unity with the people is already becoming the norm of truly human behavior. All heroes are, as it were, tested by the Patriotic War.”
The comparison in "War and Peace" of people's life with the fate of the central characters has a deep meaning. “The unreflective involvement of people from the people in the collective experience and the “independence” of a person in a complex, no longer patriarchal world appear in Tolstoy as different, in many ways dissimilar to each other, but complementary and equivalent principles of national existence. They constitute the facets of a single, indivisible Russian life and are marked by a deep internal kinship: the main characters of the novel and the people depicted in it share the same inclination towards free, non-forced unity.”
L.D. Opulskaya believes that “the viability of each of the characters in War and Peace is tested by popular thought.” Indeed, the best qualities of Pierre Bezukhov - extraordinary physical strength, simplicity, lack of pride, egoism - turn out to be necessary precisely among the people. Prince Andrei is not considered a person from a completely different world by the soldiers, calling him “our prince.” Natasha Rostova, the “countess,” shows all the power of the national spirit contained in her in Russian dance. The unusual character of Natasha is revealed with particular vividness at the moment when, rescuing the wounded, she frees the carts, leaving family goods in Moscow, which is almost occupied by the French. The timid Princess Marya is transformed when she hears her companion Bourrienne's proposal to seek protection from the French, and angrily rejects it.
The truth of the author of “War and Peace” is the “conjugation” of the values embodied in the images of the main characters of the novel with the customs of people’s life, the preservation, despite the sharply more complex, personal forms of consciousness and being, of a person’s original involvement with the people as a whole. “The focus of Tolstoy the artist is on the indisputably valuable and poetic that the Russian nation conceals within itself: both the life of the people with its centuries-old traditions, and the life of a relatively small layer of educated nobles, formed in the post-Petrine century.”
“The artistic outlook of the author of War and Peace paradoxically combines the personal principle, which in our culture is predominantly of Western European origin and the traditions of the East, and, most importantly, the beginnings of the original Russian existence, predominantly rural, patriarchal, far from statehood. In the depths of Russian national life XIX century, Tolstoy saw something that brought it closer to the best manifestations of both Western European and Eastern culture. On the basis of this vital synthesis, “folk thought” was formed in the consciousness and work of the writer of the 60s, which became the semantic center of “War and Peace”.
(The definition of “East” refers to East Slavic culture).
As mentioned above, “traditionally novel problems: family, everyday life, the prose of life and history, the people as its creator” in the novel “War and Peace” are inextricably linked, constantly appearing in each other, forming a unique plot-compositional structure.
For Tolstoy, the views and fate of a person, the makeup of his psychology are largely determined by his family environment and tribal traditions. Therefore, many chapters of the epic are devoted to the home life of the heroes, their way of life, intra-family relationships, where the main thing is genuine live communication between people dear and close to each other. "Family world Throughout the entire novel, she opposes, as a kind of active force, extra-family discord and alienation. This is the stern harmony of the orderly, strict way of life of the Lysogorsk house, and the poetry of warmth that reigns in the Rostov house with its everyday life and holidays (remember the hunt and Christmastide, which form the center of the fourth part of the second volume). The Rostov family relations are by no means patriarchal. Here everyone is equal, everyone has the opportunity to express themselves, intervene in what is happening, and act proactively.”
The Rostov tradition of the family as a free personal unity of people is inherited by the newly formed families that appear before us in the epilogue of the novel. Here the relationship between husband and wife is not regulated in any way; it is established each time in a new way.
“The family, according to Tolstoy, is not a closed clan, not isolated from everything around it, patriarchally ordered and existing for a number of generations (monastic isolation is most alien to it), but uniquely individual “cells”, renewed as generations change , always having their age. In War and Peace, families are subject to qualitative changes, sometimes quite significant ones.”
The atmosphere of the family world in the epic is enduring, but it is most clearly presented in the epilogue, where the “Rostov” element of unity is noticeably strengthened: the families of Nikolai and Pierre here harmoniously combine “Bolkon-Bezukhov” spirituality and “Rostov” artless kindness. This unity is conceived by the author as a viable union of two family and tribal traditions.
The genre nature of the novel “War and Peace”
In modern literary criticism, the genre designation of “War and Peace” has been firmly established - the epic novel (foreign science has not accepted this term). This is a genre created by Tolstoy. This issue was first raised by A.V. Chicherin in the book “The Emergence of the Epic Novel” (1958). In another of his works, the researcher offers the following definition: “An epic novel is a novel that internally and externally goes beyond its framework, in which the private lives of people are imbued with history and the philosophy of history, in which a person is presented as a living part of his people. The epic novel captures the change of historical periods, the change of generations, it is addressed to the future destinies of a people or class.”
V.N. Sabalenko, based on the works of P. Bekedin, A. Chicherin, L. Ershov, V. Piskunov, gives the following definition: “An epic is a work that tells about the life of a people at turning points in history. In an epic novel, private life is connected with the history of the people; when depicting the change of generations, the family acquires social and historical meaning; for an epic novel, it is no coincidence that the people are depicted in the role of the creator of history. The task of the epic is to show the fate of an entire people, recreating its past and present, projecting the future. The life of the new epic is given by folk thought, the folk-heroic beginning, the restoration of the epic state of the world.”
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia gives the following definition: “In modern times, epic refers to the most complex forms of epic narration, in which the process of social life is reflected with the greatest breadth and versatility, problems of national significance are posed, and significant historical events are reflected; In connection with these events, the fates of the heroes of the epic are determined.
The completeness of coverage of various aspects of reality in the epic determines the complexity of its composition, the multi-linearity of the plot, the large number of characters, the variety of linguistic features, and the wide development of events over time.”
The Brief Literary Encyclopedia gives the following interpretation: “... when the novel became the leading genre of epic in world literature, sometimes works appeared in which the development of the character of the main characters was carried out against a broad national-historical background and in connection with decisive events in public life. In Soviet literary criticism they were called “epic novels.” The largest of them is “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy. In it, the disclosure of the formation of the characters of the main characters - Andrei, Pierre, Natasha - and the depiction of the grandiose national-historical events of 1805-1812, in which these heroes do not take an active part - influencing the course of events - are of equal importance, but in which the evolution of their characters is completed.
Such works represent, as it were, an external unity of two different genres – the romantic and the national-historical, realized in a monumental epic form.”
Tolstoy himself compared his work with the great creation of the ancient Greek epic: “Without false modesty, this is like the Iliad.”
T.L. Motyleva defines the innovation of L.N. Tolstoy as the creator of the epic novel and the artistic discoveries made by him are as follows:
"1. First... this is the criterion of quantity. An epic novel, as a rule, is a work of considerable size with numerous characters, with a large spatial and temporal extent. Tolstoy expanded the scope of the novel in this very literal sense. And yet, what is incomparably more important, both in “War and Peace” and in the works of foreign writers that are typologically close to it, is not the external parameters, but the depth of those shifts, the significance of those popular movements that are reflected by the artist.
2. ... The main thing that makes “War and Peace” an epic novel and that was fruitfully received by many writers XX century, this is precisely “folk thought”. And, moreover, in different aspects: thought O people, approval of his role in history, his fate, future, as a problem facing the author and the central characters - and thought himself people, his point of view on things, shared by the author, determining his way of seeing.
In War and Peace, the masses of the people are not the main subject of the image (let us not forget, the central characters are “princes and counts”!), but it is they, this mass, that directs both the development of the action and the internal development of the heroes. Tolstoy as the author of War and Peace introduced the fates of his main characters into the wide stream of people's, national life, - and his example has been followed by many others in the literature of our century.
3. In War and Peace, as in the Iliad, the center of action is a nationwide war. The rise of the forces of the nation, their unity in the name of a common task creates an atmosphere of heroism and gives the story a special poetic tone.
It is significant that in the epic novel there arises new quality of historicism.
4. Hence the special, new meaning that psychological analysis acquires in the epic novel... The epic novel brings with it an increased development of the personal principle. It does not lift a person and does not dissolve a person in the mass, but correlates him with the movement of the masses. In an epic novel, a person’s mental life takes on new dimensions because he is included in events on a national scale, he must understand, find his role and place in these events, and determine his attitude towards them.
Multidimensionality of psychological analysis... in “War and Peace” is felt especially clearly - precisely because there a person’s attitude to the world in the broadest sense, to the natural world and the human “world”, the social environment, family, society, the state, is especially rich and diverse.
5. Connected with this is the intellectual, problematic nature of the epic novel, which so noticeably distinguishes this genre from the epic of the Homeric type. The moving picture of historical events includes comprehension of events, their philosophical and moral interpretation - both on behalf of the author and on behalf of characters spiritually close to the author.”
List of used literature
Great Soviet Encyclopedia. – 1957. – T.49.
Bocharov S.G. Peace in “War and Peace” // Tolstoy in our time. – M.: Nauka, 1978.
Brazhnik N.I. Study of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" in high school. – M.: Uchpedgiz, 1959.
Gulin A.V. On Poklonnaya Hill. Napoleon and Moscow in the novel “War and Peace” // Literature at school. – 2002. – No. 9.
Gulin A. The knot of Russian life // Tolstoy L.N. War and Peace: A Novel in four volumes. – M.: Synergy Publishing House, 2002.
Gusev N.N. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy: Materials for a biography from 1828 to 1855. – M.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1954.
Brief literary encyclopedia. – M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1975.
Motyleva T.L. "War and Peace" abroad: Translations. Criticism. Influence. – M.: Soviet writer, 1978.
Motyleva T.L. About the global significance of L.N. Tolstoy. – M.: Soviet writer, 1957.
Motyleva T.L. Epic L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace” and its global significance // Literature at school. – 1953. – No. 4.
Opulskaya L.D. Epic novel by L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”: Book. for the teacher. – M.: Education, 1987.
Sabalenko V.N. Genre of the epic novel: Experience of comparative analysis of “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy and “Quiet Don” by M. Sholokhov. – M.: Fiction, 1986.
Tolstoy L.N. War and Peace: A Novel in Four Parts. – M.: Synergy Publishing House, 2002.
Khalizev V.E., Kormilov S.I. Roman L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”: Textbook. manual for teachers Inst. – M.: Higher. school, 1983.
Chicherin A.V. Ideas and style. – M.: Soviet writer, 1968.
Opulskaya L.D. Epic novel by L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”: Book. for the teacher. – M.: Education, 1987.– P.7.Khalizev V.E., Kormilov S.I. Roman L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”: Textbook. manual for teachers Inst. – M.: Higher. school, 1983. – p.53. Opulskaya L.D. Epic novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace". – M.: Education, 1987. – P.96. Khalizev V.E., Kormilov S.I. Roman L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”: Textbook. manual for teachers Inst. – M.: Higher. school, 1983. – P.59. Khalizev V.E., Kormilov S.I. Roman L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”: Textbook. manual for teachers Inst. – M.: Higher. school, 1983. – P.61. Sabalenko V.N. Genre of the epic novel: Experience of comparative analysis of “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy and “Quiet Don” by M. Sholokhov. – M.: Fiction, 1986. – P.9.Brief literary encyclopedia. – M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1975. – P.926. Quote Based on the book: Opulskaya L.D. Epic novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace". – M.: Education, 1987. – P.3. Motyleva T. L. “War and Peace” abroad: Translations. Criticism. Influence. – M.: Soviet writer, 1978. – P.400-405.
Writers create their works in various genres. Some literary forms, such as epic, drama and lyric poetry, were used by ancient authors. Others appeared much later. Leo Tolstoy, having combined several directions in his great book, created a new “War and Peace” - an epic novel. This genre is a combination of elements of family life, philosophy. This genre mixture was first used by a Russian classic.
Family and household theme
In his great work, Tolstoy depicts the fate of several generations of representatives of the nobility. And although the lives of these people are inextricably linked with the book, there are clear features of such a literary direction as the family genre. “War and Peace” is a work in which the theme of family plays a significant role. The writer devoted other works to this topic. But the image of the “ideal family” emerges only at the end of the epic novel.
Historicism
Leo Tolstoy's book describes historical events and personalities, which indicates a specific genre. "War and Peace" is a historical work. The legendary characters in Tolstoy's novel are Kutuzov and Napoleon. Although it should be said that the Russian classic’s attitude to history was peculiar. He believed that nothing depends on even the most prominent personalities in history. They are just vivid images. Historical events are spontaneous in nature and cannot depend on the will of even the most active and talented people.
Depiction of battles and battles
The battle scenes in the work indicate that this is a military genre. “War and Peace” is a novel, a significant part of which was devoted to the war, which the author himself called “a bloody massacre, disgusting to human essence.” From these considerations, another aspect of the brilliant work was born, thanks to which the novel became a reflection of the author’s philosophical views.
Philosophical ideas
One of the most patriotic books in Russian literature is “War and Peace.” The literary genre of this work is, first of all, a philosophical novel. The author criticizes the official church, conveying his ideas in the thoughts of the main characters.
He does not give instant answers to the questions that worried Pierre Bezukhov. The search takes years and many mistakes made by the main character. But this character is not devoid of a moral principle, which helps him find himself and find spiritual harmony. The highest task of a person is to exist without unnecessary fuss, to be close to the people - Pierre comes to this conviction already at the end of the work.
Returning to the question of man's inability to decide the destinies of peoples and influence the course of events, Tolstoy argues that anyone who seeks to slow down or speed up the historical process looks ridiculous and naive. The genre of Tolstoy's War and Peace is not easy to define. This is an epic novel, full of philosophical judgments of the author, which force many years later to re-read the work not only in his homeland, but also abroad.
Socio-psychological novel
This genre differs from others in its psychological depiction of heroes in difficult life situations, multi-linear plot and large volume. What is the genre of War and Peace? This question does not deserve a definitive answer. Tolstoy's brilliant book is very multifaceted and extremely complex. But the features of a socio-psychological novel, along with the features of other genres, are present in it.
The problems of society and questions about its structure worried Leo Tolstoy. The author of the novel examines the relationship of the nobles to the peasants from a completely realistic point of view. His views in this regard are also mixed. But the inner world of an individual was also of considerable importance to the writer. By depicting the character’s external appearance, the author conveyed his spiritual world. Bezukhov's friendly eyes are associated with his gentleness and kindness. Helen Kuragina is the owner of “victoriously effective beauty.” But this beauty is dead and unnatural, since there is no inner content in this heroine.
The genre of the great work “War and Peace” is an epic novel. However, due to the scale of the events and the global nature of the problems, this book is unique in terms of genre.
Artistic features of the novel "War and Peace"
1. Mastery of composition. The composition of the novel is striking in its complexity and harmony. The novel develops many plot lines. These storylines often intersect and intertwine. Tolstoy traces the fates of individual heroes (Dolokhov, Denisov, Julie Karagina) and entire families (Rostov, Bolkonsky, Kuragin).
The complex interweaving of human relationships, the complex feelings of people, their personal, family, and social lives are revealed on the pages of the novel along with the depiction of great historical events. A person is somehow captured by these events.
A distinctive feature of the composition of “War and Peace” is that the writer constantly transfers the action from one place to another, moves from events associated with one line to events associated with another line, from private destinies to historical paintings. Now we are in the Bolkonsky estate, now in Moscow, in the Rostov house, now in the St. Petersburg social salon, now at the theater of military operations.
This transfer of actions is far from accidental and is determined by the author’s intention. Due to the fact that the reader sees different events taking place simultaneously in different areas, he compares and contrasts them and thus understands their true meaning more deeply. Life appears before us in all its fullness and diversity.
In order to more sharply highlight the features of certain events and characters, the writer often resorts to the method of contrast. This is expressed in the very title of the novel “War and Peace”, and in the system of images, and in the arrangement of the chapters.
Tolstoy contrasts the corrupt life of the St. Petersburg aristocracy with the life of the people. The contrast is contained in the depiction of individual heroes (Natasha Rostova and Helen Bezukhova, Andrei Bolkonsky and Anatol Kuragin, Kutuzov and Napoleon), and in the description of historical events (Battle of Austerlitz - Battle of Borodino).
2. Psychological analysis. In the novel we find the deepest psychological analysis, manifested in the author’s narration, in the transmission of the characters’ internal monologues, in “eavesdropping on thoughts.” Psychologism also has an effect in dreams as a form of reproducing emotional experiences and subconscious processes. One of the psychologists discovered in the novel 85 shades of eye expression and 97 shades of a human smile, which helped the writer reveal the variety of emotional states of the characters. Such attention to the slightest nuances of the movement of the human soul became a real discovery of L.N. Tolstoy and was called the method of disclosure "dialectics of the soul".
3. Portraits of heroes. Psychological characteristics are provided by portraits of heroes, the function of which is to give a visible image of a person. The peculiarity of the portrait characteristics of the characters in the novel is that it is usually woven from details, one of which is persistently repeated (the radiant eyes of Princess Marya, Helen’s smile, which is the same for everyone, Lisa Bolkonskaya’s short lip with a mustache, etc.)
4. Landscape descriptions. An equally important role is played by landscape descriptions that help to understand the environment in which the hero lives and acts (the hunting scene of the Rostovs), his state and train of thoughts (the sky of Austerlitz), the nature of his experiences (Prince Andrei’s double meeting with the oak tree), the emotional world of the hero (moonlit night in Otradnoye). Tolstoy's pictures of nature are given not in themselves, but in the perception of his characters.
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the novel - the epic "War and Peace", which remains a great work of Russian classical literature for all times.