Last decade XIX century opens in Russian and world culture new stage. Major fundamental natural scientific discoveries, including Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, sharply shook previous ideas about the structure of the world, formed in the traditions of the European Enlightenment and based on judgments about unambiguous patterns, on the fundamental principle of predictability natural phenomenon. Repeatability and predictability of processes were considered as generic properties of causality in general. On this basis were formed positivist principles of thinking, dominated the world science XIX V. These principles also applied to social sphere: human life was understood as completely determined by external circumstances, by one or another chain of active causes. Although not everything in human life could be satisfactorily explained, it was understood that science would someday achieve universal omniscience and be able to understand and subordinate the entire world to the human mind. New discoveries sharply contradicted ideas about the structural completeness of the world. What previously seemed stable turned into instability and endless mobility. It turned out that any explanation is not universal and requires additions - this is ideological consequence of the principle of complementarity, born in line with theoretical physics. Moreover, the idea of ​​the knowability of the world, which was previously considered an axiom, was called into question.

The complication of ideas about the physical picture of the world was accompanied by reassessment of the principles of understanding history. The previously unshakable model of historical progress, based on ideas about the linear dependence of causes and consequences, was replaced by an understanding of the conventionality and approximateness of any historiosophical logic. The crisis of historical ideas was expressed primarily in the loss of a universal point of reference, of one or another ideological foundation. A variety of theories of social development have emerged. In particular, it has become widespread Marxism, who relied on the development of industry and the emergence of a new revolutionary class - the proletariat, free from property, united by the conditions of common labor in a team and ready to actively fight for social justice. IN political sphere this meant a rejection of the enlightenment of the early populists and the terrorism of the later populists and a transition to the organized struggle of the masses - up to the violent overthrow of the system and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat over all other classes.

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The idea of ​​a person not only rebellious, but also capable of remaking an era, creating history, in addition to the philosophy of Marxism, is developed in the works of M. Gorky and his followers, who persistently highlighted Man with a capital M, the owner of the earth. Gorky's favorite heroes were the semi-legendary Novgorod merchant Vaska Buslaev and the biblical character Job, who challenged God himself. Gorky believed that revolutionary activity by restructuring the world, it transforms and enriches the inner world of man. Thus, the heroine of his novel “Mother” (1907) Pelageya Nilovpa, becoming a participant revolutionary movement, experiences a maternal feeling of love not only for her son, but also for all oppressed and powerless people.

The rebellious beginning sounded more anarchic in the early poetry of V.V. Mayakovsky, in the poems and poems of V. Khlebnikov, A.N. Kruchenykh, D.D. Burliuk, who opposed (at least in manifestos and declarations) the ideals of a consumer society inspired by materialistic industrial utopias.

Another large group of writers, convinced after the tragic events of March 1, 1881 (the murder of the Tsar-Liberator) and especially after the defeat of the 1905 revolution of the futility of violent methods of influencing society, came to the idea of ​​spiritual transformation, albeit slow but consistent improvement inner world person. The guiding ideological star for them was Pushkin’s idea of ​​the inner harmony of man. They considered close in spirit the writers of the post-Pushkin era - N.V. Gogol, M.Yu. Lermontov, F.I. Tyutchev, F.M. Dostoevsky, who felt the tragedy of the destruction of world harmony, but yearned for it and foresaw its restoration in the future .

It was these writers who saw in the Pushkin era golden age national culture and taking into account the fundamental changes in the sociocultural context, they sought to develop its traditions, nevertheless realizing the dramatic complexity of such a task. And although the culture of the turn of the century is much more contradictory and internally conflicting than the culture of the first half of the 19th century c., the new literary era will receive later (in memoirs, literary criticism and journalism of the Russian emigration of the 1920-1930s) a bright evaluative name - “Silver Age”. This historical and literary metaphor connects the literature of the beginning of the century with the literature of the 19th century, in the second half of the 20th century. will acquire terminological status and will be extended, in fact, to all literature of the turn of the century: this is how in our time it is customary to call the era of M. Gorky and A. A. Blok, I. I. Bunin and A. A. Akhmatova. Although these writers looked very differently at the world and the place of man in it, there was something that united them: awareness of the crisis, the transition of the era, which was supposed to lead Russian society to new horizons of life.

The pluralism of political and philosophical views shared by different writers led to radical change big picture artistic directions and currents. The former smooth gradualism, when, for example, classicism in literature gave way to sentimentalism, which, in turn, was replaced by romanticism; when at each stage of the history of literature one direction occupied a dominant position, such stadiality became a thing of the past. Now At the same time, different aesthetic systems existed.

In parallel and, as a rule, in struggle with each other, realism and modernism, the largest literary movements, developed, while realism was not a stylistically homogeneous formation, but was a complex complex of several “realisms” (each variety requires additional research from the literary historian definitions). Modernism, in turn, was distinguished by extreme internal instability: various movements and groupings were continuously transformed, emerged and disintegrated, united and differentiated. The new situation created the ground for the most unexpected combinations and interactions: stylistically intermediate works appeared, short-lived associations arose that tried to combine artistic practice principles of realism and modernism. That is why, in relation to the art of the early 20th century. the classification of phenomena on the basis of “directions” and “currents” is obviously conditional and non-absolute.

Introduction

In Russia at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. During the period of “unheard-of changes” and “unprecedented revolts”, scientific and technological progress and acute political cataclysms, deep and serious changes took place in art, which determined new and unique paths for its development.

On the one hand, the art of that time was a rejection of the old artistic traditions, an attempt to creatively rethink the legacy of the past. Never before has an artist been so free in his creativity - creating a picture of the world, he received a real opportunity to focus on his own taste and preferences.

The culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is multifaceted. Sometimes it seems like a continuous jumble of styles, trends, movements and schools, simultaneously interacting and opposing each other. Experienced shocks, wars, changes in social structure, the trends of new values ​​and aspirations of the West, the increasing interest of society in the sciences and art - all this greatly influenced the development of the culture of that time. A surge of creative energy, the emergence of new genres, changes and complication of the themes of works became the beginning new era, which is called the Silver Age.

This period is still of great interest to both professionals and ordinary art lovers. My goal is to review the literature in as much detail as possible. art, architecture and performing arts that era, since these areas of culture provide the most accurate understanding of the essence of the Silver Age. I would like to consider and classify the main movements, highlight specific genres from them and describe their most striking features. Also, my task is to list the main cultural figures who contributed to the development of a particular type of art.

Literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Symbolism

The Silver Age began with the Symbolists; Symbolism became the first significant modernist movement in Russia. All changes in literature, new schools and movements are partly under his influence, even those created in contradiction to him. There is no unity of concepts in Russian symbolism; it did not have a single school, nor a single style; it was expressed in an abundance of ways of self-expression. What united the Symbolists was a distrust of the ordinary and banal, a desire to express their thoughts through symbols and allegories, be it fine art or literature; the desire to give his creation an even more vague, ambiguous coloring.

Initially, Russian symbolism has the same roots as Western - “a crisis of positive worldview and morality.” The desire to replace morality and logic with aesthetics, the position that “beauty will save the world” became the main principle of the early Russian symbolists, as opposed to the ideology of populism. At the end of the 19th century, the intelligentsia and bohemians, looking with some alarm at a future that did not promise anything good, took symbolism like a sip fresh air. It became more and more popular, involving more and more talented people, who, each with their own unique view of things, made symbolism so multifaceted. The symbolists became an expression of longing for spiritual freedom, a tragic premonition of future changes, a symbol of trust in proven centuries-old values. A feeling of trouble and instability, fear of change and the unknown united people who were so different in philosophy and attitude to life. Symbolism is an amazing collection of many individuals, characters, intimate experiences and impressions that are stored deep in the soul of a poet, writer or artist. Only a feeling of decline, nostalgic moods, and melancholy unite many faces into one.

At the origins of symbolism in St. Petersburg were Dmitry Merezhkovsky and his wife Zinaida Gippius, in Moscow - Valery Bryusov. The motives of tragic isolation, detachment from the world, and strong-willed self-affirmation of the individual can be traced in the works of Gippius; social orientation, religious and mythological stories- at Merezhkovsky; the balance of the opposite, the struggle for life and humility before death permeate Bryusov’s work. The poems of Konstantin Balmont, who declared the “search for correspondences” between sound, meaning and color, characteristic of symbolists, are becoming very popular. Balmont's passion for sound writing, colorful adjectives displacing verbs, leads to the creation of almost “meaningless” texts, according to his ill-wishers, but this phenomenon later leads to the emergence of new poetic concepts.

A little later, a movement of younger symbolists developed, creating romantically colored circles in which, exchanging experiences and ideas, they honed their skills. A. Blok, A. Bely, V. Ivanov and many others paid great attention moral and ethical ideals, trying to combine the interests of society with their own.

Literature and art at that time were experiencing a rapid rise, old styles were reborn, new ones appeared, and it was impossible to determine exactly where one ended and the other began, the boundaries were ethereal and foggy, everything was in the air.

The history of symbolism is very tragic, as is the history of many other genres. At first, the symbolism was met more than coldly - the works, unadapted to Russian society, having no relation to the land and people, were incomprehensible to the broad masses, and were practically ridiculed. After a short period of heyday, in defiance of the Symbolists, innovative movements with more down-to-earth and rigid principles began to form. In the last decade before the revolution, symbolism experienced crisis and decline. Some Symbolists did not accept the 1917 revolution and were forced to immigrate from the country. Many continued to write, but symbolism inexorably faded away. Those who remained in the country were faced with a rethinking of previous values. The symbolist had nothing to earn a living in post-revolutionary Russia.

At the beginning of the 20s, several centers of Russian emigration were formed, including in Paris, Prague, Berlin, Harbin, and Sofia. Taking into account the conditions of a particular country, the foundations were formed here cultural life Russian diaspora. The culture of Russian emigration was based on the traditions of classical culture. These people considered their task to be the preservation and development of Russian culture. Russian newspapers played a significant role in establishing the spiritual life of the emigration; about a hundred of them were published. Countries such as Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria have opened educational establishments Russian diaspora. In Berlin there were good conditions for the publication of works by emigrant authors. Among the foreign intelligentsia, various ideological and political movements arose, which reflected the search for ways to revive Russia and its culture; one of these movements was Eurasianism.

Complication international situation in the 30s, it contributed to the resumption of disputes among emigrants about the fate of Russia and the possibility of returning to their homeland. Writer A. Kuprin and poetess M. Tsvetaeva returned to the USSR. But the strengthening totalitarian system forced many to abandon the idea of ​​returning home.

Last thing decade XIX century opens a new stage in Russian and world culture. Over the course of about a quarter of a century - from the early 1890s to October 1917 - literally every aspect of Russian life changed radically - economics, politics, science, technology, culture, art. Compared to the social and, to some extent, literary stagnation of the 1880s, the new stage of historical and cultural development was distinguished by rapid dynamics and extreme drama. In terms of the pace and depth of change, as well as the catastrophic nature internal conflicts Russia at this time was ahead of any other country.

Therefore, the transition from the era of classical Russian literature to the new literary time was accompanied by a far from peaceful nature of general cultural and intraliterary life, an unexpectedly rapid - by the standards of the 19th century - change of aesthetic guidelines, and a radical renewal of literary techniques. Russian poetry developed especially dynamically at this time, again - after the Pushkin era - coming to the forefront of the country's general cultural life. Later, the poetry of this time was called the “poetic renaissance” or “silver age.” Having arisen by analogy with the concept of the “golden age,” which traditionally denoted the Pushkin period of Russian literature, this phrase was initially used to characterize the peak manifestations of poetic culture of the early 20th century - the work of A. Blok, A. Bely, I. Annensky, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam and other brilliant masters of words. However, gradually the term “ silver Age"began to define that part of the whole artistic culture Russia late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, which was associated with symbolism, acmeism, “neo-peasant” and partly futuristic literature. Today, many literary scholars have made the definition of “Silver Age” synonymous with the concept of “culture of the turn of the century,” which, of course, is inaccurate, since a number of significant phenomena of the turn of the century (primarily associated with revolutionary theories) can hardly be compared with what was originally called art of the Silver Age.

What was new compared to the 19th century at the turn of the two centuries was, first of all, man’s worldview. The understanding of the exhaustion of the previous era grew stronger, and directly opposite assessments of the socio-economic and general cultural prospects of Russia began to appear. Common denominator The ideological disputes that flared up in the country towards the end of the 19th century were to define the new era as a border era: the previous forms of life, work, and political organization of society were irretrievably becoming a thing of the past, and the very system of spiritual values ​​was being decisively revised. Crisis - keyword era, wandering through the pages of journalistic and literary-critical articles (the words “revival”, “turning point”, “crossroads”, etc., which are similar in meaning, were often used).

She quickly joined the discussion of current issues fiction, traditionally for Russia, has not stood aloof from public passions. Her social engagement was manifested in the titles of her works that were characteristic of that era. “Without a Road”, “At the Turning” - V. Veresaev calls his stories; “The Decline of the Old Century” - echoes the title of the chronicle novel by A. Amphitheaters; “At the last line” - M. Artsybashev responds with his novel. Awareness of the crisis of the time, however, did not mean recognition of its futility.

On the contrary, most wordsmiths perceived their era as a time of unprecedented achievements, when the importance of literature in the life of the country increased sharply. Therefore, so much attention began to be paid not only to creativity itself, but also to ideological and public position writers, their connections with political life countries.

Despite all the differences in positions and views, there was something in common in the worldview of the writers of the turn of the century, which was brilliantly captured in his time by the outstanding literature connoisseur Professor Semyon Afanasyevich Vengerov in the preface to the three-volume “History of Russian Literature of the 20th Century” (1914) that he conceived. The scientist noted that uniting the social activist M. Gorky and the individualist K. Balmont, the realist I. Bunin, the symbolists V. Bryusov, A. Blok and A. Bely with the expressionist L. Andreev and the naturalist M. Artsybashev, the pessimist-decadent F. Sologub and the optimist A. Kuprin was a challenge to the traditions of everyday life, “aspiration to the heights, to the distance, to the depths, but only away from the hateful plane of gray vegetation.”

Another thing is that the development paths new literature writers imagined it differently. In the 19th century, Russian literature had high degree ideological unity. It has developed a fairly clear hierarchy of literary talents: at one stage or another, it is not difficult to identify masters who served as reference points for an entire generation of writers (Pushkin, Gogol, Nekrasov, Tolstoy, etc.). Here's the legacy turn of XIX-XX centuries is not limited to the work of one or two dozen significant artists of words and logic literary development that time cannot be reduced to a single center or the simplest scheme changing directions. This legacy is a multi-tiered artistic reality, in which individual literary talents, no matter how outstanding they may be, turn out to be only part of a grandiose whole.

When starting to study turn-of-the-century literature, one cannot do without brief overview social background and general cultural context of this period (context - environment, external environment, in which art exists).

Composition

Goal: to familiarize students with the general characteristics and originality of Russian literature of the 19th century V. from the point of view of history and literature; give an idea of ​​the main trends in literature of the late XIX - early XX centuries; show the significance of Russian literature of this period in the development of Russian and world literary process; to cultivate a sense of belonging and empathy for the history of Russia, love for its culture. equipment: textbook, portraits of writers and poets of the turn of the century.

Projected

Results: students know general characteristics and the originality of Russian literature of the 19th century. from the point of view of history and literature; have an idea of ​​the main trends in literature of the late 19th - early 20th centuries; determine the significance of Russian literature of this period in the development of the Russian and world literary process. lesson type: lesson on learning new material.

DURING THE CLASSES

I. Organizational stage

II. Updating basic knowledge Checking homework (frontal)

III. Setting the goals and objectives of the lesson.

Motivation educational activities

Teacher. The twentieth century began at zero o'clock on January 1, 1901 - this is its calendar beginning, from which it counts its history and world art XX century From this, however, it does not follow that at one moment a general revolution took place in art, establishing a certain a new style XX century Some of the processes that are essential for the history of art originate in the last century.

The last decade of the 19th century. opens a new stage in Russian and world culture. Over the course of about a quarter of a century - from the early 1890s to October 1917 - literally every aspect of Russian life changed radically: economics, politics, science, technology, culture, art. Compared to the social and, to some extent, literary stagnation of the 1880s. The new stage of historical and cultural development was distinguished by rapid dynamics and acute drama. In terms of the pace and depth of changes, as well as the catastrophic nature of internal conflicts, Russia at that time was ahead of any other country. Therefore, the transition from the era of classical Russian literature to the new literary time was accompanied by far from peaceful processes in general cultural and intraliterary life, which were unexpectedly fast by the standards of the 19th century. - change of aesthetic guidelines, radical renewal literary devices.

The legacy of the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. is not limited to the work of one or two dozen significant literary artists, and the logic of the literary development of this time cannot be reduced to a single center or the simplest scheme of successive directions. This heritage is a multi-tiered artistic reality in which individual literary talents, no matter how outstanding they may be, are only part of a grandiose whole. When starting to study the literature of the turn of the century, one cannot do without a brief overview of the social background and general cultural context of this period (“context” is the environment, the external environment in which art exists).

IV. Working on the topic of lesson 1. teacher's lecture

(Students write theses.)

Literature of the late XIX - early XX centuries. existed and developed under the powerful influence of a crisis that gripped almost all aspects of Russian life. His sense of the tragedy and disorder of Russian life of this time with great artistic power managed to convey the great realist writers XIX century, finishing their creative and life path: l. N. Tolstoy and A. P. Chekhov. Continuers of the realistic traditions of I. a. Bunin, A. I. Kuprin, l. N. Andreev, A. N. Tolstoy, in turn, created magnificent examples of realistic art. However, the plots of their works became more and more disturbing and gloomy from year to year, the ideals that inspired them became more and more unclear. Life-affirming pathos, characteristic of Russian classics of the 19th century c., under the weight of sad events, gradually disappeared from their work.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. Russian literature, which previously had a high degree of ideological unity, became aesthetically multi-layered.

Realism at the turn of the century continued to be a large-scale and influential literary movement.

The most brilliant talents among the new realists belonged to the writers who united in the 1890s. to the Moscow circle “Sreda”, and in the early 1900s. who formed the circle of regular authors of the publishing house “Znanie” (one of its owners and actual leader was M. Gorky). In addition to the leader of the association in it, different years included l. N. Andreev, I. a. Bunin, V.V. Veresaev, N. Garin-Mikhailovsky, a. I. Kuprin, I. S. Shmelev and other writers. With the exception of I. a. Bunin was not among the realists major poets, they showed themselves primarily in prose and, less noticeably, in drama.

Generation of realist writers of the early 20th century. received as an inheritance from A. P. Chekhov's new principles of writing - with much greater authorial freedom than before, with a much wider arsenal artistic expression, with a sense of proportion obligatory for the artist, which was ensured by increased internal self-criticism.

In literary criticism, it is customary to call, first of all, three literary movements who declared themselves in the period 1890–1917. These are symbolism, acmeism and futurism, which formed the basis of modernism as literary direction.

In general, Russian culture of the late XIX - early XX centuries. amazes with its brightness, wealth, and abundance of talent in various fields. And at the same time, it was the culture of a society doomed to destruction, a premonition of which could be seen in many of her works.

2. familiarization with the textbook article on the topic of the lesson (in pairs)

3. Heuristic conversation

Š What new styles and trends have appeared in Russian culture at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries? How were they related to a specific historical setting?

♦ Which historical events late XIX - early XX centuries. influenced the destinies of Russian writers, were reflected in works of literature?

♦ What philosophical concepts had an impact on Russian literature at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries? what explains the special interest of writers in the philosophy of a. Schopenhauer, F. Nietzsche?

♦ How did the craving for irrationalism, mysticism, and religious quest manifest itself in Russian literature of this time?

♦ is it possible to say that at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Is realism losing the role of the dominant literary process that belonged to it in the 19th century?

♦ How do traditions compare in turn-of-the-century literature? classical literature and innovative aesthetic concepts?

♦ What is unique? late creativity A. P. Chekhov? How justified is judgment a. Bely that a. P. Chekhov “most of all a symbolist”? What features of Chekhov's realism allow modern researchers to call the writer the founder of absurd literature?

♦ What character did the literary struggle take at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries? Which publishing houses, magazines, almanacs played a particularly important role in the development of Russian literature?

♦ How is the problem of the relationship between man and the environment solved in Russian literature at the turn of the century? What traditions " natural school" found development in the prose of this time?

♦ What place did journalism occupy in the literature of this period? What problems were especially actively discussed on the pages of magazines and newspapers during these years?

V. Reflection. Summing up the lesson

1. “Press” (in groups)

The teacher’s generalizing word - thus, the deepest aspirations of those in conflict with each other modernist movements turned out to be very similar, despite the sometimes striking stylistic dissimilarities, differences in tastes and literary tactics. That's why the best poets eras were rarely confined within a certain literary school or currents. Almost a rule of their creative evolution has become the overcoming of directional frameworks and declarations that are narrow for the creator. That's why real picture literary process at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. is determined to a much greater extent creative individuals writers and poets than the history of trends and trends.

VI. Homework

1. Prepare a message “the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. in the perception... (one of the representatives of Russian art of this time)", using memoir prose by A. Bely, Yu. P. Annenkov, V. F. Khodasevich, Z. N. Gippius, M. I. Tsvetaeva, I. V. Odoevtseva, and other authors.

2. individual task(3 students). Prepare " literary business cards"about the life and work of M. Gorky:

Autobiographical trilogy(“Childhood”, “In People”, “my universities”);

“We sing glory to the madness of the brave!” (“Song of the Falcon”);