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Often, when reading works, you can encounter a special style of narration: the authors seem to be distracted from the main plot, action, flaunting their personal thoughts, experiences, memories, or directly addressing the reader himself. This literary device is called a lyrical digression.
If we give this concept exact value, then it will sound like this: a lyrical digression is a compositional and stylistic element of a work, which represents the reasoning, thoughts or expression of the writer’s feelings, which reflect his direct (or indirect) attitude to the plot itself.
Types of lyrical digressions
Lyrical digressions are usually divided into several groups:
- Copyright.
- Critical-journalistic.
- Digressions on everyday topics.
- The image of the lyrical.
- Digressions on civil topics.
- Mixed.
The author's digression, as a rule, contains a direct expression of the author's thoughts on what is happening. It is characterized by an abrupt break in the narrative, an unexpected transition to the writer’s comments about the actions committed by the characters, or his attitude to the ongoing events in the society of that time, descriptions of the era when the actions take place.
By including such a technique in his works, the author demonstrates freedom and non-subordination to the rules of sequential presentation, slows down all the actions taking place, and sets his own pace. Application of such literary device more typical for lyrical-romantic poems.
Vivid examples can be found in the poems of Byron, and.
The poem “Eugene Onegin” is almost entirely built on the alternation of the author’s digressions, for example, in the first chapter we read about the memories of the first love that comes in his youth, the author ironically talks about “legs”; Chapter 7 presents collective image capital's "beauty". Chapter 8 begins with biographical notes from the author and ends with the same. And in “Excerpts from Onegin’s Travels,” Alexander Sergeevich discusses the rethinking of romantic values, their changeable and fickle nature.
Critical-journalistic digressions represent a kind of monologue addressed to the reader about styles and genres in literature. During the process of writing the work itself, the author makes his comments and shares his thoughts with us on how best to write it. The meaning of this retreat is the search for a new style, a manner of presenting events.
If we take literally the statement of A.S. himself. Pushkin that “a novel requires chatter,” then the next type of lyrical digression – conversations on everyday topics – precisely reflects the meaning of what was said. In such digressions, the focus is on discussions about family, love, children, marriage, friendship, fidelity, education, fashion, morals, etc. Often the author speaks out on such topics through the monologues of his characters.
The lyrical image includes digressions revealing inner world characters, their moods, it can also be landscape sketches.
Digressions on civil topics are devoted to the described historical events, relationships in society, social trends, etc.
The mixed type of lyrical digression contains a kind of mixture of the above types, or some facts from the author’s biography.
Lyrical digression is an integral and important part of the work. Through them, the author reveals the invisible, subtle world of his emotional experiences, feelings, thoughts, attitudes towards people, love, homeland, moral values, kindness.
Gives you the opportunity to penetrate into the depth of the work, understand its idea, design and, perhaps, take a fresh look at some life situations. This is the role of lyrical digressions.
Lyrical digression in literature
Lyrical digression in literature is quite widespread, both in classical and modern literature. Their value is no less than the main part of the work.
Lyrical digressions works by Russian authors are numerous; examples include Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”, Sholokhov’s “ Quiet Don", poem "Poem without a Hero", Voznesensky's poem "Triangular Pear", Gogol's poem " Dead souls"and others.
The role of lyrical digressions in the poem “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol
Lyrical digressions in " Dead souls ah" are an integral part of the entire work, the author's monologues occupy the lion's share of the entire content. Thanks to this, we feel the presence of the author on every page. Reading the poem, in the course of events, we look forward to the author’s caustic, precise comments, his personal opinion, and assessment of actions. The author himself becomes a necessary guide, a silent interlocutor. At first, lyrical digressions concern only the heroes themselves, but as events develop, the topics become more numerous.
Talking about Manilov and Korobochka, the author stops his narration, fades into the background, allowing us to independently experience the created atmosphere of that life. The digression at the moment of the story about Korobochka appears before the reader with a comparison with a “sister from the society of aristocrats”, who is similar to the landowner-mistress, despite the change in her appearance.
An example of a lyrical digression in a poem of a slightly different nature, not at all related to the characters, is found at the conclusion of Chapter 5, where the author talks about the entire Russian people, about their power and strength. It may seem that there is absolutely no connection between this lyrical digression and the main events of the work, but it is they that carry the semantic load of the poem: real Russia- these are not nostrils, boxes and dogs for everyone, but whole people, powerful and irresistible.
Introduction. Lyrical digression as an extra-plot element.
Types of lyrical digressions.
The role of lyrical digressions in the novel by A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin".
The role of lyrical digressions in the composition of the poem by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls".
Historiosophy L.N. Tolstoy in the novel "War and Peace".
Conclusion. The meaning of lyrical digressions in literature.
I. Lyrical digression as an extra-plot element.
My essay is called “Lyrical digression in Russian literature”; I chose this topic because the author’s statements, although they are an extra-plot element, are very important for understanding the idea of the work. Lyrical digressions allow you to address readers directly from the pages of a story or novel, and not on behalf of any of the acting characters. With the help of author's digressions, writers and poets seem to lift the veil over their thoughts and feelings, forcing us to think about such enduring values as love for the motherland, for people, respect, kindness, courage and self-sacrifice.
A lyrical digression is the author’s expression of feelings and thoughts in connection with the image in the work. For example, at the end of the first volume of “Dead Souls” N.V. Gogol, having mentioned that Chichikov loved driving fast, interrupts the narration, pauses the development of the plot and begins to express his thoughts about Russia, which he represents in the form of a fast-moving troika. This digression forces the reader to take a fresh look at the novel and delve deeper into the author’s ideological plan. By invading the work, the writer violates the unity of the figurative picture, slows down the development of the action, but a lyrical digression naturally enters the work, since it arises in relation to what is depicted in it, imbued with the same feeling as artistic images. Their content is determined by the same views of the author as the artistic depiction.
Lyrical digressions are widespread in literature, including modern literature. They matter no less than the main text of the work.
Lyrical digressions can occupy a very large place in a work. These are the digressions in “Eugene Onegin” by A.S. Pushkin (only in Chapter I - digressions about the theater, youth, creativity, the plan of the novel, and others). These digressions, diverse in topics and rich in content, contribute to the breadth of coverage of reality, making Pushkin’s novel in verse, according to Belinsky, a true “encyclopedia of Russian life.”
Lyrical digressions begin to play a leading role, and the reader’s main attention is directed to the feelings and thoughts of the great poet. In contrast to the life of the “lyrical man,” the digressions gradually reveal the fullness of the life of a person—a creator. In the same way, in the poem “Don Juan” by J. Byron, it is in the lyrical digressions that the most important theme for the work unfolds, the need to fight for freedom against tyranny and oppression.
The lyrical digressions in the poems of A.T. are filled with deep philosophical and journalistic content. Tvardovsky, O.F. Berggalts, E.A. Yevtushenko and other poets of the 20th century. In some cases, the literary digressions themselves constitute an entire poem (“Poem without a Hero” by A.A Akhmatova, 40 lyrical digressions from the poem “Triangular Pear” by A.A Voznesensky).
Lyrical digressions give the author the opportunity to directly address the reader. Their excitement and thoughtfulness have a special power of persuasion. At the same time, the lyricism of the digressions does not mean that writers are isolated in the world of their own “I”; they convey thoughts, feelings, and moods that are important for everyone. Generally significant content is expressed in them usually on behalf of the narrator or lyrical hero, who embodies the typical position of a contemporary, his views and feelings. It is enough to recall the digressions in “Eugene Onegin” to be convinced that their themes are much broader than intimate, personal, love experiences. Lyrical digressions are often journalistic, expressing the author’s active civic position and the connection of his work with modern socio-political life.
II. Types of lyrical digressions examined using the example of A.S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin.”
Lyrical digressions can be divided into several groups:
Author's digressions. (Memories of youthful love in the first chapter, adjacent to a humorous and ironic discussion about “legs”. Memories of the Moscow “beauty” in chapter 7 (collective image). References to biography at the beginning and end of chapter 8. Digressions on the revaluation of romantic values in "Excerpts from Onegin's Journey").
Critical and journalistic digressions (conversation with the reader about literary examples, styles, genres). The poet comments on his novel as he writes it and, as it were, shares with the reader his thoughts on how best to write it. The general semantic dominant of these digressions is the idea of searching for a new style, a new manner of writing, offering greater objectivity and concreteness in the depiction of life (later this became known as realism).
Conversations on everyday topics (“a novel requires chatting”). We are talking about love, family, marriage, modern tastes and fashions, friendship, education, etc. Here the poet can appear in a variety of guises (literary masks): we see either a convinced epicurean (mocking the boredom of life), or a Byronic hero disillusioned with life, or a feuilletonist of everyday life, or a peaceful landowner accustomed to living in the countryside.
The image of the lyrical (as always in Pushkin), on the one hand, is kaleidoscopic and changeable, on the other, it remains holistic and harmoniously complete. Landscape digressions are also included in the lyrical digressions. Usually nature is depicted through the prism of the poet’s lyrical perception, his inner world, and mood. At the same time, some landscapes are shown through the eyes of the characters (“Tatyana saw through the window...”).
Digressions on a civil topic - about the heroic Moscow of 1812.
Some digressions are of a “mixed” type (they include autobiographical, critical-journalistic, and everyday-aphoristic elements.
Autumn road. Both in the general mood of the author’s monologue and in the quickly changing pictures, a hint of the image of a three-bird bird is clearly felt, from which this lyrical digression is separated by a large chapter dedicated to the adventures of Chichikov. The story about the main character of the poem is completed by the author’s statements, presenting sharp objections to those who may be shocked by how main character, and the poem as a whole...
The Nest", "War and Peace", "The Cherry Orchard". It is also important that the main character of the novel seems to open a whole gallery " extra people"in Russian literature: Pechorin, Rudin, Oblomov. Analyzing the novel "Eugene Onegin", Belinsky pointed out that in early XIX century, the educated nobility was the class “in which the progress of Russian society was expressed almost exclusively,” and that in “Onegin” Pushkin “decided...
That’s right, Your roads will change immensely... Now our roads are bad, Forgotten bridges are rotting... etc. That’s why roads are the second most important theme of “Dead Souls”, connected with the theme of Russia. The road is an image that organizes the entire plot, and Gogol introduces himself into lyrical digressions as a man of the road. “Before, long ago, in the summer of my youth... it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time... Now...
Bellinsky called the novel “an encyclopedia of Russian life.” And this is true. An encyclopedia is a systematic overview, usually from “A” to “Z”. This is the novel “Eugene Onegin”: if we carefully look at all the lyrical digressions, we will see that the thematic range of the novel expands from “A” to “Z”. In the eighth chapter, the author calls his novel “free.” This freedom is...
The novel "Eugene Onegin" is full of digressions of different nature, these are autobiographical, philosophical digressions, as well as comments about love, friendship, theater and literature. Also, from the author’s comments, you can understand how he personally feels about the characters, what likes and dislikes he has.
As for Onegin himself, Pushkin says about him: “I became friends with him at that time. I liked his features." But Pushkin does not endow Onegin with such a deep love for Russian nature as he himself possesses:
Flowers, love, village, idleness,
Fields! I am devoted to you with my soul
I'm always happy to notice the difference
Between Onegin and me.
IN to the greatest extent close to the image of the author of the novel, Tatyana, who with all her soul was devoted to her native land, loved nature with all her heart. In his comments, Pushkin more than once calls this heroine “sweet,” speaks of her with tenderness and affection, and takes pity on her.
Pushkin in his comments indulges in various thoughts, including mentioning his own person. Such digressions are classified as autobiographical. For example, the following lines:
The spring of my days has flown by
(What was he jokingly repeating until now)?
And she really has no age?
Am I really going to be thirty soon?
You can also learn about Pushkin’s lifestyle from autobiographical digressions:
I knew you
Everything that is enviable for a poet:
Oblivion of life in the storms of light,
Sweet conversation with friends.
Also in the novel there are Pushkin's statements about literature, for example, when he ironically describes romance novel, which Tatyana reads:
Now with what attention she pays
Reading a sweet novel...
...With the happy power of dreaming
Animated creatures...
...And the incomparable Grandison,
Which makes us dream...
Pushkin also touches on eternal questions in the novel: about the frailty of existence, about the inevitability of death, giving comments philosophical nature. For example, the second chapter of the novel, the moment when we are talking about the Larin family. Pushkin raises the question of procreation, the natural outcome of life, the same for everyone:
Our time will come, our time will come,
And our grandchildren in good time
They will push us out of the world too!
What exactly does relatives mean?
These are the native people:
We must caress them
Love, respect...
Pushkin discusses the relationship between Onegin and Lensky, making a brief but very accurate digression that their friendship arose “There is nothing to do, friends.”
Pushkin’s statements about culture and theater can be found on the pages of the novel; thanks to them, he expresses his own opinion about creativity. For example, in this digression:
Brilliant, half-airy,
I obey the magic bow,
Surrounded by a crowd of nymphs,
Worth Istomin.
Pushkin does not hide his admiration for the famous Istomina; in his lines one can feel admiration for the talent of this woman.
A lot of discussions about love are found in the work: “What smaller woman we love, the easier it is for her to like us”..., “All ages are submissive to love...” and the most important and relevant remark:
O people! you all look alike
To the ancestor Eve:
What is given to you does not entail
The serpent is constantly calling you
To yourself, to the mysterious tree;
Give me the forbidden fruit:
And without that, heaven is not heaven for you...
This digression contains the great truth about the “forbidden fruit.” Tatyana became such a “fruit” for Onegin when he saw her as the general’s wife, so inaccessible and majestic. This is what attracted Onegin.
With the help of lyrical digressions, Pushkin conveys to readers his own view of culture, society, prejudices and rules that existed at that time. Pushkin reflects on the meaning of existence, expresses his opinion about the heroes of the novel and their actions. All the author’s digressions help readers better understand the position of the author himself and his personal attitude to many life values.
(336 words) Some readers think that the lyrical digressions in the novel “Eugene Onegin” are just a manifestation of the author’s desire to express his opinion on pressing issues. However, in fact, they have a number of important functions, which I will try to describe in the following paragraphs.
Firstly, lyrical digressions play a compositional role. The author sometimes interrupts the story about the characters when no significant events occur in their lives. These breaks in the plot are filled with lyrical digressions and landscape sketches. For example, between Tatiana’s explanation with Onegin and the meeting at the name day, about six months pass. Pushkin skips this period of time and connects the episodes through his reasoning. Secondly, with the help of such digressions the image of the author is created. For example, when he comments
Tatiana's letter then protects her from sanctimonious views. He explains to the reader that the heroine’s action is not motivated by immorality, but, on the contrary, by purity of feeling. This speaks of Alexander Sergeevich’s humanism, of his ability to understand other people’s experiences and not submit to secular conventions. In the seventh chapter we see lines dedicated to Moscow. They express the patriotic feelings of the author. He is proud of her, because she did not submit to Napoleon. In lyrical digressions, the poet also talks about his own work, here his ability for self-irony is manifested:
Or after a boring lunch
A neighbor wandered in to see me,
Having caught him unexpectedly on the floor,
Soul tragedy in the corner...
Thirdly, in lyrical digressions an image of the era is created. The novel contains Pushkin’s discussion about the upbringing and education of noble youth: “We all learned a little, Something and somehow.” In addition, the author talks about the theater of his time. We can find out that plays by Fonvizin and Knyazhnin were staged, that Didelot was a famous ballet director, and that the ballerina Istomina, who had beauty and talent, was very popular. The poet also touches on the problem of the development of the Russian language, which was actively discussed in society in his time. The struggle was between the views of Karamzin and Shishkov. Karamzin's followers believed that it was necessary to borrow vocabulary from European languages, and Shishkov’s supporters opposed this. Pushkin believed that it was possible to use foreign words if there were no corresponding Russian words: “But trousers, a tailcoat, a vest - All these words are not in Russian.”
Thus, lyrical digressions form the composition of the novel, express the image of the author and provide comprehensive information about the place and time of action in the work.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!The author's voice directly sounds in lyrical digressions, the role of which in the novel is diverse. Firstly, lyrical digressions reveal the author's world: the author's assessments, comments, reflections reveal the versatility and richness of the poet's inner world, his life values, perception of the world and man. Secondly, in lyrical digressions a large-scale and multifaceted picture of life in Russia in the first quarter of the 19th century is created; the encyclopedicism of the novel is associated primarily with the thoughts of the author. Thirdly, lyrical digressions help Pushkin directly express his attitude towards the characters, as well as establish a dialogue with the reader.
The theme of love in lyrical digressions. One of the cross-cutting themes of the lyrical digressions is the theme of love. The element of love, according to Pushkin, is free, diverse, unpredictable - this, in particular, is palpable in the famous lyrical digression about “ladies' legs”, at first playful and light, but gradually turning into a different key - to high passion and excited lyricism, when Pushkin remembers his feelings for Maria Raevskaya. The atmosphere of light playfulness disappears, and in its place is a romantically grandiose picture of the sea, associated with the theme of violent passion:
I remember the sea before the storm,
How I envied the waves
Running in a stormy line
Lay down with love at her feet...
No, never a rush of passion
Never tormented my soul like that!
The framework of love and the framework of life, according to Pushkin, are identical, and therefore “all ages are submissive to love”: love, like life itself, changes, it is so multifaceted that it is new every time.
The theme of freedom. The theme of freedom becomes, just like the theme of love, running through the lyrical digressions of the novel; moreover, one can feel the evolution of this theme associated with the spiritual evolution of the poet himself: if at the beginning of the novel, in 1823, freedom was recognized by Pushkin as an external element, as “free running” along the waves of life, not constrained by police surveillance and the position of an exile, then in the thirties freedom was a psychological concept, loyalty to one’s ideals, one’s life choice, that “independence”, which the poet called the “guarantee of greatness” of a person.
Theme of creativity. Pushkin in the novel is not only a hero, but also his creator, and therefore the theme of creativity could not help but become one of the key ones. It is in this work that Pushkin’s famous definition of poetry appears as “the union of magical sounds, feelings and thoughts.” This union creates the “distance of the free novel” - a completely special, new genre for that time, and Pushkin was clearly aware of this novelty. “Free novel” is freedom of content, composition and verbal organization: a harmonious combination of different storylines, an open ending, the inclusion of lyrical digressions, a lively, free and natural language. For Pushkin, creativity is, first of all, freedom of expression, therefore any restrictions that are outdated language norms and genre boundaries are overcome by the poet. Pushkin argues with literary opponents easily, with sparkling humor, affirming new literary forms as something organic, in tune with the coming time.
The special atmosphere of the novel is created by the extraordinary ease of communication between the author and the reader. For Pushkin, a reader is a friend, an understanding one, smart, capable of appreciating a joke. It is with such a reader that one can consult about the choice of the heroine’s name, interrupt the story about Onegin with memories of the theater, the village, love, remember with irony literary opponents, and only at the end of the seventh chapter “remember” the introduction, noting with a smile: “Even though it’s late, the introduction There is". Pushkin's smile, soft, bright, intelligent, permeates many lines of the novel. With the same smile, the poet speaks about the lyrical digressions themselves:
It's time for me to become smarter
Get better in business and style
And this fifth notebook
Clear from deviations.
Reflections on life and its purpose in lyrical digressions. The eternal mystery of life, its content and meaning is another topic of lyrical digressions. Life is unstoppable: in youth, which “is in a hurry to live and in a hurry to feel,” this movement is felt with joy, but on the threshold of his thirtieth birthday, Pushkin for the first time felt the drama of this unstoppability:
Is it really really possible?
Without elegiac undertakings
The spring of my days has flown by
(What have I been jokingly repeating until now?)
And is there really no return for her?
Am I really going to be thirty soon?
But Pushkin would not have been Pushkin if farewell to youth had not simultaneously become a meeting with a new, still unknown stage of life, if the poet had not welcomed this new path with a “clear soul”:
But so be it: let’s say goodbye together,
Oh my easy youth!
Thank you for the pleasures
For sadness, for sweet torment,
For the noise, for the storms, for the feasts,
For everything, for all your gifts...
Enough! With a clear soul
I am now setting out on a new path
Take a break from your past life.
Pushkin had an amazing ability to perceive life as a movement, including joy and sadness, light and darkness. For example, the end of the sixth chapter is the scene of the duel between Onegin and Lensky: winter numbness in nature, winter in the relationship of two friends, Onegin, struck by the death of the young poet, is doused with “instant cold.” It seemed that it was no longer possible to awaken from this winter cold, but the seventh chapter begins with swiftly light lines describing spring:
Driven by spring rays,
There is already snow from the surrounding mountains
Escaped through muddy streams
To the flooded meadows...
Spring - the time of awakening and life - reigns not only in nature, and it brings changes and transformations to the destinies of the heroes of the novel, because life cannot stand still: Onegin goes on a journey, Olga marries a lancer, Tatyana after visiting Onegin’s office and penetration into his mysterious world for her, she agrees to go to Moscow for the “bride fair”. Thus, through the fates of his heroes, Pushkin reflects the perception of life, which knows how to wisely overcome moments of melancholy and grief, and heals spiritual wounds. Probably, it was precisely this attitude to life that became the source of the poet’s luminous, “Mozartian” worldview.
Without pathos or loudness, with a slight smile and soft sadness, Pushkin speaks about the most important thing - about the meaning of human life, which cannot and should not turn into oblivion:
Without an inconspicuous trace
I would be sad to leave the world,
I live and write not for praise;
But I think I would like
To glorify your sad lot,
So that about me, like a faithful friend,
I remembered at least a single sound.
Nature in lyrical digressions. In the author’s thoughts and memories, the novel includes the vast world of Russia - with its nature, culture, history, and lifestyle. Nature in the novel is given in the perception of Tatiana and the author himself. There is no beauty or “luxury” in Pushkin’s style; it is as simple as Russian nature, but it is precisely this style that conveys the uniqueness and living charm of the Russian first snow, the charm of autumn silence, spring transformation. Each season brings its own poetry, the movement of nature is the movement of life itself, the movement of time.
Spiritual life of Russian society. Theatre, literature, science (for example, Onegin’s passion for Adam Smith) - all this is reflected in one way or another in the novel. Not only Russian, but also Western European culture, without which the spiritual life of the enlightened Russian society of the 19th century is unthinkable, is presented in the novel. Byron, Schiller, Goethe, Kant, Richardson, Corneille 0 are far from full list“rulers of thoughts” of the Russian nobility.
The theater, which Pushkin calls “a magical land,” becomes an indispensable part of Onegin’s day and the content of lyrical digressions. The state of the theater and interest in it have always become indicators of the fullness of the spiritual life of society: the boiling of theatrical life is consonant with the boiling of Russia itself at the beginning of the 19th century. In a few lines, Pushkin outlines the history of the Russian theater, remembering Fonvizin, Knyazhnin, and speaks with rapture about the brilliant acting of Semyonova and the aerial dance of Istomina.
With the image of the author, the elements of the literary struggle of that time enter the novel. Pushkin argues with the outdated dogmas of classicism easily, with sparkling humor, for example, only at the end of the seventh chapter, recalling the indisputable introduction in a work of classicism, saying with a smile: “I saluted classicism: even though it’s late, there is an introduction.” And the “introduction” itself is a brilliant parody of the pompous introductions of classicism:
I sing to my young friend
And many of his quirks.
Bless my long work,
O you epic muse!
And, handing me the faithful staff,
Don't let me wander at random and crookedly.
Pushkin asserts the writer’s right to freedom of choice of a character, construction of a work, freedom of choice literary forms and language. Life is not divided into high and low, it is diverse and complex, and Pushkin reflected precisely this diversity in the novel, asserting his right to see life this way.