Neorealism: Genre and Style Searches in Russian Literature of the Late 19th – Early 20th Century. Neorealism in literature

The movement of literature is possible only as a dialogue of various aesthetic systems, stylistic trends, concepts of the world and man.

In the first third of XIX century, classical realism opposed romanticism, in the last third - modernism: having overcome romantic aesthetics, realism experienced a flourishing period ( mid XIX century) and the crisis (the turn of the 19th–20th centuries), but did not disappear from literature, but changed. The change in realistic aesthetics was associated with an attempt by realism to adapt to the worldview of a person at the turn of the century, to new philosophical, aesthetic and everyday realities. In Russian literature, this attempt was realized in two stages: at the end of the 19th century, primarily in the work of V. Garshin, V. Korolenko and A. Chekhov; then at the beginning of the 20th century in the works of M. Gorky, L. Andreev, M. Artsybashev, B. Zaitsev, A. Remizov, E. Zamyatin and others.

As a result, a new realistic aesthetic emerged - neorealism: realism, enriched with elements of the poetics of romanticism and modernism.

In modern literary criticism, the term "neorealism" is usually used as a definition of the post-symbolist stylistic trend in Russian realistic or modernist literature of the early 20th century, i.e. neorealism is seen as a trend within realism or modernism 1 . At the same time, more and more scientists are inclined to think about the need to revise previously developed concepts, terminological apparatus, and form a new approach to typology. literary process of the past century: in particular, it is proposed to expand the scope of even such a well-established concept in the history of Russian literature as the "Silver Age" 2 . In our opinion, the semantic potential of the term "neorealism" is wider than the literary phenomenon that is usually referred to by it. It is logical to expand the scope of its use: it seems to us that neorealism should be considered on a par with realism and modernism - as a literary trend, and not a trend. Neorealism was formed at the same time as modernism (the last quarter of the 19th century) and developed in parallel with it throughout the 20th century 3 . It seems that in this interpretation the concept of "neorealism" contains a direct indication that the artistic discoveries at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries predetermined the nature of the development of Russian literature throughout the 20th century. In addition, such an expansion of the meaning of an already established concept contains the idea of ​​a fundamental novelty of the literary and artistic consciousness of the 20th century in relation to Russian classical literature.

In classic realism XIX century, human nature is verified by the algebra of rational discourse. At the turn of the 20th century (fin de siecle), the formula of the artistic consciousness of the previous century is becoming obsolete: realism can no longer claim the role of a universal aesthetic system capable of explaining the world - modernism and neorealism arise as an antithesis to a rational picture of the world. Waves of modernist and neorealist currents rolled in one after another, trying to crush precisely this idea, primarily by expanding the scope of meaning. But if in modernism the discovery of new semantic spaces often became an end in itself (hence the need for outrageousness), then in neorealism the main thing is a breakthrough to a new artistic reality that lies on the verge of realistic and romantic or realistic and modernist art.

Neorealism, like modernism, includes many currents. Representatives of various neorealist movements had a breakthrough to a new artistic reality in different ways.

Subjective-confessional (pessi-/optimistic) and subjective-objective paradigms in neorealism late XIX centuries (V. Garshin, V. Korolenko, A. Chekhov) are formed as a result of the interaction of realistic and romantic principles of reflecting reality 4 ; impressionistic-naturalistic (B. Zaitsev, A. Kuprin, M. Artsybashev), existential (M. Gorky, L. Andreev, V. Bryusov), mythological (F. Sologub, A. Remizov, M. Prishvin) and fairy-ornamental (A. Bely, E. Zamyatin, I. Shmelev) paradigms in neorealism of the early 20th century are formed on the basis of the interaction of realism and modernism.

In the 1st chapter of our manual, the role of the lyrical principle in the interaction of realistic and romantic principles of reflecting reality is determined, which allows us to see the "dialectics of subjective and objective in style" 5 . Among Russian writers of the late 19th century, the romantic stylistic trend was most clearly expressed in the work of V. Garshin, V. Korolenko and A. Chekhov. Their poetics in the aspect that interests us is considered in the works of G. Byaly, V. Kaminsky, T. Maevskaya and others. 6 Characteristically, among the ways of recreating romantic imagery in realistic literature At the end of the 19th century, all researchers call lyricism - however, none of them dwells on the problem of the lyrical beginning in the works of V. Garshin, V. Korolenko and A. Chekhov, limiting themselves to individual indications of the lyrical sound of the landscape, the expressiveness of romantic symbolism, etc. Thus, the nature of the lyricism of V. Garshin, V. Korolenko and A. Chekhov, the functions and methods of its expression still need careful study and specific analysis. Of course, we consider only the most characteristic forms expressions of the lyrical principle in the work of these writers, only those works by V. Garshin, V. Korolenko and A. Chekhov are analyzed, in which, as it seems to us, the specificity of their lyricism is most clearly manifested.

In the 2nd chapter, we are talking about overcoming traditional realism in Russian literature of the early 20th century: here we examine the modernist stylistic trend in the work of neorealist writers. Their works are analyzed in terms of genre and style - preference is given to the genre of the story as "intermediate" between the story and the novel 7 . The story is a primordially Russian literary genre with a long written tradition. But in his modern form it began to take shape only in the 20s of the XIX century. During the period of establishment and development of realism, general trends in the evolution of the story were outlined - its genre varieties are widely represented in the works of A. Pushkin, N. Gogol, I. Turgenev, L. Tolstoy, F. Dostoevsky and other writers of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the story continues to develop the structural possibilities of its genre, absorbing features characteristic of other types of narrative prose (novel, short story, essay, myth), and influencing them itself. In this regard, when studying various genre varieties of stories by L. Andreev, A. Bely, B. Zaitsev, M. Artsybashev, A. Remizov, E. Zamyatin, M. Prishvin and other neorealist writers, we take into account two mutually exclusive trends in the process of genre formation: interaction with other genres and the desire to preserve the genre identity. At the same time, we take into account that the development of genres at the beginning of the 20th century is moving towards ever greater diversity, towards ever greater individualization: the theoretical concept of genre no longer determines the features of those individual forms that it takes in the work of individual writers.

Neorealism is considered by us as a literary movement that includes romantic and modernist stylistic trends that arose on a common realistic basis in the process of mutual influence - up to the synthesis - of romantic, realistic and modernist arts. Of course, the proposed typology of neorealism is debatable and will require clarification.

The position that realism learned and develops best traditions previous literary movements (among them the tradition of romantic art), became commonplace in the modern science of literature: researchers note the influence of romantic poetics on the work of I. Turgenev, N. Leskov, V. Garshin, V. Korolenko, A. Chekhov and other Russian realist writers 1 . Nonetheless theoretical aspects The "revival of romanticism" in the literature of the turn of the 19th-20th centuries has not been fully elucidated. Clarity, as T. Maevskaya once rightly pointed out, “is hindered by the disorder of terminology, the fuzziness of the initial settings.” Some researchers see this phenomenon as a synthesis of romantic and realistic methods, suggest that romantic tendencies in the realistic literature of this period are so intensified that they lead to a qualitative restructuring of realism (“romantic realism”, “romantic-realistic duality”); others consider romantic phenomena in the literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a stylistic trend in realism 2 . At the same time, all of them in their works, to one degree or another, necessarily touch on the problem of lyricization of the epic narrative, but this problem, as a rule, is not in the center of their attention.

In the last decades of the XIX century. the creative achievements of Russian literature can be considered relatively modest and, in general, stagnation was obvious. A wave of criticism swept over current poetry in the first place. Philosopher and poet V. S. Solovyov was one of the first, both in articles and in verse, to talk about the loss of her former "sonority" both in content and in form.

In general, such assessments have stood the test of time. In particular, a modern scholar connects this period with the "crisis of the Pushkin school of Russian lyrics."

With the flourishing of symbolist poetry at the beginning of the 20th century. the stagnation of the poetry of the preceding decades became even more evident. However, “timelessness” (this is how the spiritual atmosphere, the moods of the two final decades of the past century were defined by the first historians of modern literature S. A. Vengerov, P. S. Kogan, I. F. Tkhorzhevsky) equally affected prose, from it, too, can be say, the "voicing" is gone. The population of stories, short stories and novels of those years lives without high impulses: doctors and artists of A.P. Chekhov, engineers N.M. Garin-Mikhailovsky, dreamers V.G. Korolenko, disillusioned intellectuals A.I. Ertel, etc. In the books of both these and other prose writers, there are almost no pathos passions characteristic of the work of I. S. Turgenev, F. M. Dostoevsky. From a major thought early creativity"Long live the whole world!" During the period of the creation of the epic novel "War and Peace", the late L. N. Tolstoy, working on the novel "Anna Karenina", turns to chamber, "family" thought. Literary critic I. F. Tkhorzhevsky took revenge that by the beginning of the 20th century. even from the pro-government literature, ideology and "the former pochvennik pathos" have disappeared.

However, at the same time creative personalities optimistically predicted the birth of a "new art", and their predictions resulted in disputes about how it should be, on what paths and how soon the desired renewal would happen. Modernist writers acted as resolute propagandists and theorists of renewal. They agreed that the “decline of art” that had occurred was connected with its deviations from “eternal” tasks towards “utilitarian”, i.e. socially useful tasks of the current time.

The transformation of Russian literature took place clearly faster than expected, in ways predicted and not predicted. Poetry - the light cavalry of literature - was recovering much faster than other types of verbal creativity, which set some authors, in fact, to the funeral of prose in general, and first of all, that which did not break with classical traditions. However, contrary to pessimistic forecasts, by the end of the first decade of the new century, the achievements of this particular prose were especially pleasing to readers. Criticism spoke of the "resurrection of realism." R. V. Ivanov-Razumnik defined this phenomenon as new realism later, M. Voloshin, G. I. Chulkov, E. A. Koltonovskaya, and others wrote about renewed realism. At the end of the second decade, E. I. Zamyatin introduced the term "neorealism" into use.

There was no need to talk about the renewal of modernist, symbolist prose: it had just debuted then, surprising even its prepared readership with its extravagant novelty. The same authors created modernist prose and poetry. On the one hand, such literature was an elitist art, written with the understanding of "its own", "initiated" reader (the calculation was not always justified: understanding, sometimes, was late). On the other hand, it played the role of a kind of artistic laboratory, directly or indirectly pushing all writers to bold new experiments, including those who were openly opposed to modernism.

A fairly rapid revival, the acquisition of new poetic forms, new creative achievements to replace the old ones that have exhausted themselves - all this can be explained not only by the immanent laws of art, its ability to regenerate, but also by the circumstances of the emerging cultural and historical reality.

At the turn of the century, remarkable events took place in the sphere of European intellectual and spiritual life. New ideas that penetrated philosophy, religion, sociology provoked new discussions. Old paradigms and values ​​that seemed undeniable and sacred were subjected to rethinking. Trends in art and phenomena of intellectual life were perceived by contemporary artists as interconnected phenomena. A. Bely defined all this as a "crisis of consciousness."

It can be assumed that the activation of the search work of thought in the sphere of world outlook at the turn of the New and Modern times enriched the imagination, figurative thinking, contributed to the flourishing of European, including Russian, art. The creativity of modern times, including neorealism, was built, in particular, on the ideas of synthesis of forms of social consciousness that arose at that time, on experiments related to the phenomenon of intergenre, interspecies synthesis in figurative creativity. "Crisis" and "synthesis" are fashionable words in journalism at the beginning of the 20th century. It can be assumed that art Silver Age grew up on the dramatic soil of the search for a way out of a large-scale intellectual crisis, global creative shifts and worldview changes. It is clear that it is about high art, built on abstract imagery, timeless themes.

At the turn of the New and Modern times, many artists - among their ranks were neorealists - turned to existential conflicts, to truths without evaluative criteria. The real conflict in works of this kind is obscured by an imaginary conflict, which "is taken out of the text, hidden behind the 'backstage' of what is happening ... its true 'location' is the dual, contradictory consciousness of the author." An imaginary conflict often appears as a parable-like conflict, a clash of antinomies that are far apart from each other and carries an obvious great moral and philosophical burden.

It cannot be said that in the course of five to ten years all, relatively speaking, realistic literature has been restructured and updated. There were artists who, as before, gazed intently at the current reality, social conflicts, gravitated towards natural, relatively transparent imagery (familiarity with works on history and sociology is especially helpful in understanding these artists). Some of them did not creatively or insufficiently creatively related to the heritage of their predecessor artists, could not or did not want to turn to new topics, problems, poetics. Indeed, E. N. Chirikov, S. A. Naydenov, S. S. Yushkevich, S. G. Skitalets, S. I. Gusev-Orenburgsky, D. Ya. Aizman, A. S. Serafimovich, V. V. Muyzhel, S. P. Podyachev, A. P. Chapygin, I. E. Volnoy in the 1890s. and later followed the path of ethical realism, made by N. G. Pomyalovsky, F. M. Reshetnikov, V. A. Sleptsov, and other authors 20-30 years ago. As a rule, they concentrated their attention on socio-historical conflicts, drew a clear dividing line between good and evil, in the subtext or directly pointed to the path of restructuring society and all life according to the laws of beauty. These writers were not without talent (the last of these writers were excellent ethnographers of everyday life), they had their reader, their place in the mosaic layout of contemporary literature, but their books had little chance of becoming an event. literary life because of the recognizability, predictability of the conflicts they affect and the ways of resolving them proposed outside the plot.

There are natural discussions among literary critics: a realist, a neorealist or a modernist, this or that writer. This is understandable, because in art the factor of taste is insurmountable, there can be no clear criteria, and belonging is often only a tendency. Creativity, for example, V. V. Rozanov, A. M. Remizov, O. Dymov, M. P. Artsybashev, V. Ropshin, L. D. Zinovieva-Annibal is quite difficult to associate with any one direction. Note that classical modernists, such as F. K. Sologub, V. Ya. Bryusov, have works in the style of new realism: the mystical element in them is not the main thing that occupies the author.

V. A. Keldysh excludes from the ranks of the neorealists authors who have not freed themselves from the pressure of the ideas of social determinism, who painted "history through everyday life." An important criterion by which the scientist ranks the writer among the cohort of neorealists is the desire to present "being through life."

This desire in the review "Modern Russian Literature" (1918) was pointed out by E. I. Zamyatin, who wrote that "using the same material as realists, i.e. life, neorealist writers use this material mainly to depict that the same aspects of life as the Symbolists.

V. A. Keldysh defines neorealism as "a special trend within the realist movement, more than others, in contact with the processes that took place in the modernist movement, and freed from the strong naturalistic trend that had colored the broad realist movement of previous years." In this case, "contact" can be interpreted as enriched from the modernist movement, but can be understood (probably it will be more correct) as participating in the modernist movement. Keldysh recognizes the "permeability" of the boundaries between the two distinguished currents.

Literature, in particular neorealistic, responded to the requirements of modern times, the aesthetic, cognitive needs of a person in the era of the "crisis of consciousness". Neorealist writers who grew up on the achievements of the masters of foreign and domestic classics can be fully called overcome realism. The first neorealists: I. A. Bunin, L. N. Andreev, A. I. Kuprin - began to publish at the end of the past century and in critical articles they were often called "realists". The fact is that many of their works were published in popular collections of the Znanie publishing partnership, side by side with the works of a large number of the aforementioned prose writers, who did not go beyond ethical realism. Neorealists were aware of their dissimilarity from their realist predecessors. So, for example, L. N. Andreev spoke on various occasions about his conscious desire to combine the searches of the masters of the past with the searches of the modernists.

I. A. Bunin's confession made by him in a private letter, in which he objected to classifying him as a classical realist, is noteworthy: "Calling me a" realist "- means either not knowing me, or not understanding anything in my extremely diverse scriptures... (highlighted by the author)2.

Then, in the second half of the 1910s, S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky, B. K. Zaitsev, I. S. Shmelev, A. II. Tolstoy, M. M. Prishvin, E. I. Zamyatin and others. Between them and the classics of the New Age stood the literature of older contemporaries, whose experience they, of course, also took into account. These word artists were immediately perceived as innovative writers.

It is noteworthy that M. Gorky, who contributed a lot to the entry of many neorealists into literature, is not classified by all literary critics as neorealists. However, the fact remains that Gorky played a significant role in the ideological and stylistic searches of literature. As an artist, he displayed life in its contradictions, painted different facets of human nature. In one of the pseudonyms, Gorky called himself "Perplexed", his talent as a "romantic realist" (V. G. Korolenko) manifested itself especially expressively where he looked with bewilderment at the paradoxes of life. Gorky's desire for renewal along the paths of synthesis will find development in neorealism. In an era of crisis for humanism, Gorky defended the belief in the unlimited creative possibilities of man. Asserting this belief, he, as a critic, narrowed down the socio-philosophical meaning of even the images he himself created, for example, he gave an unambiguously negative assessment of the merchant Mayakin from the novel Foma Gordeev (1899), the wanderer Luka from the play At the Bottom (1902). Some contemporaries saw in his works, consonant with the poem "Man" (1903), the development of the ancient myth about Icarus, about a man who overcomes gravity. The books of M. Gorky had a great resonance, they inspired both like-minded people and opponents to work.

Compared to its predecessor, neorealist prose is less didactic. In the conditions of the collapse of the former holistic ideas about the world, society, man, many authors abandoned claims to create literature capable of being a textbook of life, evaded commenting on what they reflect, from indicating what is true. Writers, such as A. Bely, M. Voloshin, spoke with regret about the loss of ideas about a harmonious past, when the wise view of the artist on the world merged with the caressing look of the scientist. Chekhov's principle "let the jury judge" (i.e., the readers) found a rather broad embodiment in the new realism.

In the second half of the 1910s. social and political conflicts in the works of neorealists recede into the background or third plan. The refusal of a significant part of cultured people from social radicalism happened after - and in many respects as a result of - the barricade events of 1905-1907, in which many innocent, random people died. The attitude of the intelligentsia to the revolution is expressively conveyed by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky's painting "The October Idyll" (1905). An inexplicable horror emanates from the wide city street depicted on the canvas - with many doors, windows, signs, but without a single passer-by. A doll, glasses, galoshes are lying on the paving stones. A large blood stain connects the pavement with carriageway. It doesn't matter whose blood it is, what matters is that human blood...

Then and later, sympathy for the disadvantaged in neorealism is no longer accompanied by the propaganda of rebellion, the search for higher truth in the element of the people. It can be said that in their civic position, the neorealists evolved towards the symbolists, who connected the ideals of a perfect community of life not with a senseless and merciless rebellion, but with a general spiritual revolution. Moreover, if the established writers (L. N. Andreev, A. I. Kuprin, V. V. Veresaev) avoided the seduction of revolutionism, the debutants initially delicately approached issues of class antagonism.

About the "humanism" of hatred, the story-parable "Dragon" (1918) by E. I. Zamyatina. Knight of the revolution, yesterday's peasant, who new government gave the right to kill, warms the frozen "sparrow" with her breath. This exhausts his potential for good, he easily, with a "bayonet", cracks down on the "enemy", recognized by the "intelligent muzzle". About the "cave" times of the revolution and Zamyatin's stories "Mamai" (1921), "Cave" (1922).

Leonid Andreev addresses the contradictions of life, about which literature has spoken a lot, but at the same time argues with the predecessor authors who believed in the solvability of socio-political conflicts, that these conflicts lead to the renewal of life, that the truth lives only in one of the warring parties . He shows all sorts of social conflicts as something ineradicable and predetermined. In the current temporary the prose writer discovers the everlasting, eternal, and uncertainty, the mimicry of truth. Andreev is an experimental artist, in whom the collision of one work can be highlighted by the collision of another. In the story The Governor (1905) he reveals the truth on one side of the barricades, and in The Tale of the Seven Hanged Men (1908) on the other. Revolutionaries and guardians of the foundations are all right in their own way, all unhappy in their own way, all deserve compassion. In both works, the writer points to the absurdity of life, to the inevitability of the victory of the mysterious "Law-Avenger".

L. N. Andreev was always close to universal values, the position of a non-party artist, and in more early works, seemingly written on the theme of the revolution, for example, "Into the Dark Distance" (1900), "La Marseillaise" (1903), the most important thing for the author is to show something inexplicable and indestructible in a person, the paradox of an act. Other works on this topic are united by the thought that runs like a refrain through his famous story: "so it was, so it will be." Andreev also plays with the classical conflict in an original way, which is based on compassion for the "little man". On the one hand, the writer opposed the desecration of human dignity, in this sense, he also "came out of Gogol's Overcoat", on the other hand, the nature of the desecration was decisively rethought by him. Among the classics of the golden age of Russian literature, the "little man" was suppressed by position, character, wealth " big man". In Andreev, in the mature period of creativity, the material and social hierarchy does not play a decisive role. His official Petrov from the story "The City" (1902) is akin to Gogol's Bashmachkin, but for the writer of modern times, the main cause of human suffering is that the classic had a consequence, - loneliness. Andreevsky gentlemen are not devoid of virtue, but they are the same Petrovs, only at a higher rung of the social ladder. Andreev sees tragedy in the fact that individuals do not constitute a community, a commonwealth.

Classical philosophy - Christian in its essence - could not, speaking of the Absolute, avoid the question of God. Its crisis naturally coincided with the crisis of religious consciousness. "Religion," wrote the once popular critic of his "rebellious" era, "stopped answering modern soul..." S. A. Makovsky, reflecting on the fate of Christianity in literature, rightly pointed out the "litigation" of the writers of the beginning of the century with the Lord God. I-:. I. Zamyatin in articles of the late 1920s. pointed to the "anti-religious" nature of the neorealists. The excessive unambiguity of this indication is obvious, but one can and should see the originality of Christianity and essentially reformist modernism, on the one hand, and neorealism, on the other. They threaten the sky, scolding the Creator for the imperfection of creation, the characters of very different writers. Even the well-balanced heroes of A. I. Kuprin indignantly call the Creator "an old deceiver" ("Duel", 1905). And nothing is forgiven the Son of Man: "I am the son of man" - the murderer foolishly "out of interest" in I. A. Bunin's story "Loopy Ears" (1916). Both the "singer of victory" M. Gorky ("Mother", 1907) and the "prophet of defeat" LN Andreev ("Judas Iscariot", 1907) interpret the New Testament in a new way.

Figuratively speaking, man came into conflict with God, and this was widely reflected in neo-realistic prose. philosophical problems. Not only sharp, but unthinkable conflicts a few years earlier appeared in it. The story "Judas Iscariot", created in the genre of the "Gospel of Judas", can also be read as an answer divine beginnings on human claims to Him, in other words, as a collision of the divine and the human. People did not accept the Word of God and killed the one who brought it. The plot of the story is based on the author's vision of the predestination of the tragedy: the Savior could not be recognized without blood, without the miracle of the resurrection, and therefore without Judas ... Damned until the very end of the tragedy on Golgotha, he hoped that the people, the very ones who would soon cursed, about to see the light, realize who they are executing.

The work of L. N. Andreev is a striking phenomenon of neorealism at the beginning of the 20th century.

The conflict, which is based on a different attitude to the past and the future, has long existed in literature. In secular literature, in contrast to religious literature, as a rule, an inharmonious past and present were opposed to a harmonious future; a positive charge was carried by the heroes, not satisfied with what is, striving for what, in their opinion, will or should be. At the turn of the New and Newest times, primarily in neorealism, the progressive historical approach and simply historicism in displaying the realities of life are weakening. Many artists of the word, even closely associated with the realism of the previous century, such as A. I. Kuprin, create works without a specific historical "registration". There was a desire to understand and present the essence of man "in general", in connection with the intention of the Creator or nature, outside of class, property, intellectual divisions. The searches of M. Gorky, I. A. Bunin went in the direction of comprehending the mysterious "soul of the Slav", L. Andreev wanted to understand and tell about a person as such, without paying attention to whether he is "good-natured or a beast", M. M. Prishvin admitted to desire to know "the universal human soul... how it came out of the hands of the Creator." The neorealists did not abandon the task of creating vital character, however, they were no less concerned about the creation of the type, while a more variant attitude towards the past was manifested. The myth of a brighter future has not gone away at all; it has made room, and has given place to the myth of the bright, holy times of the past, of the unmercenaries, the saints. This myth was created by A. M. Remizov, V. V. Rozanov, later B. K. Zaitsev, A. N. Tolstoy, M. M. Prishvin and others.

Ivan Bunin has a special place among the writers who rethought the collisions of the past and the present. Both as an artist and as a historian-philosopher, he spoke of the permanent devaluation of the social and spiritual values ​​of life. The writer almost excluded the future from the coordinates of his artistic space. In fact, Bunin, years before the publication of the works of the theorists of the "decline" (of Europe) of life, pointed to the effectiveness of the "theory of regression" in it. In "Antonov's apples" (1900), and then in other works, he, or rather its narrator, nostalgically experiences the irrevocably gone, the loss of the "right path", turns back and in the past discovers a life, in his opinion, a different, more worthy one. . This dramatic conviction will remain in the writer until the end of his days. In the still bright, albeit sad, narrative in "Antonov's Apples" there is a mention of a beautiful and business-like elder, "important as a Kholmogory cow." “A household butterfly!” the tradesman says about her, shaking his head. “Now such people are being translated ...” This elder stands in a large number of stately, as if coming out of the past, Bunin characters, both peasant and noble, opposed to the characters of modern times, implicitly or explicitly conflicting with them. In this sense, one can point to such works as "The Last Date" (1912), "Grammar of Love" (1915), "Last Spring", "Last Autumn" (both - 1916). The old man Ivanushka, Molodaya ("Village", 1910), the saddler Cricket from the story of the same name (1911), the teacher, the elder Taganok ("Ancient Man", 1911), the old woman Anisya ("Merry Yard", 1911), who saved the "soul of life", Natalya (Sukhodol, 1911), Zakhar Vorobyov from the story of the same name (1912), and long before him Kastryuk and Meliton, whose names also headlined typologically similar works (1892, 1901), are archaic heroes. The Bunin elders are colorful, as if lost in the labyrinths of history. In the mouth of one of them, the charming Arsenich ("Saints", 1914), the author puts a remarkable phrase: "My soul, however, is not of this century ..."

In general, neorealism expressed distrust of ideology. This distrust was also reflected in the work of those prose writers who began as acutely social writers.

Alexander Kuprin, admitting that as an artist his interest in everyday life is weakening1, he moved away from social conflicts. The Marxist critic V.V. Borovsky scolded and condemned him for his "universal humanism", called him "apolitical". Together with other neorealists, Kuprin began to look for other formulas of being, turning to living life, bypassing the class approach, paying considerable attention to the collision of light natural and dark public in people. The writer contrasts the "official" man of his time with the "natural", asocial man. Such is his Sashka the violinist, the hero of the story-anthem of the triumphant life "Gambripus" (1907). The plots of his little poems in the prose "Listrigons" (1907-1911) are built on a non-antagonistic conflict between strong-willed workers of the sea and this element itself. The writer turns to satire and humor in the spirit of Mark Twain. In a number of works, for example, in the story "Temptation" (1910), the prose writer's inclination to mysticism, descriptions of implausible cases, fatal coincidences, was affected. In "Temptation" the narrator reflects on the theme of Lermontov's "Fatalist". A. I. Kuprin also turns to the genre in which HG Wells could have been his teacher - he writes the fantastic stories "Liquid Sun" (1912), the story "The Star of Solomon" (in 1917 it was published under the title "Every Desire" ). Here, too, there is a place for mysticism, and the author also plunges into the mysterious depths of the subconscious, points to the clash of mutually exclusive instincts. And in the panoramic picture of the current reality in the story "The Pit" (1909-1916), the author, outside of politics and its conflicts, displays the interconnection of natural phenomena, human instincts, and society.

Of course, interest in the subconscious originated long before neorealism, but it is here that attention to the dotted line of the subconscious of the characters, I think, was equalized by attention to the line of their consciousness. In the impulses of the subconscious, artists see the manifestation or even the dictates of sacred forces. R. V. Ivanov-Razumnik, who preferred literature that gravitated towards realism, nevertheless wrote: "The greater the influence ... of subconscious elements, the greater the artistic and any other significance of the work."

The influence of symbolism on realism, as well as the reverse influence, is beyond doubt. The formation of neorealist prose coincided with the phenomenon of acmeism and futurism - probably, these circumstances determined some of the characteristic features. With futurism, new realism is related to bold experimentation, attitude to the word as to material, with acmeism - involvement in past culture, hidden religiosity, the desire to assimilate and develop traditions, the understanding that life is both tragic and beautiful.

Boris Konstantinovich Zaitsev(1881-1972) spoke of the beautiful tragedy called life. He poeticized the life of inconspicuous people, whose spirituality is stronger than the gloomy everyday life. His positive characters are typologically close to Prince Myshkin; in a life torn apart by passions, they retain goodwill. In the Christianity of the young Zaitsev, the pantheistic beginning was especially felt. The author sees God in nature, feels the unity of the living and the cosmic: people, flora, fauna, earth, water, sky - all links of a single system. Antagonistic conflicts are rare in Zaitsev's works. Narratives are often built on the opposition of relatively independent plot lines, the hidden opposition of animal and human, natural and social, eternal and temporary - harmony and disharmony ("Wolves", 1902; "Mist", 1904). In the first stories (collection Quiet Dawns, 1906), the narrator is frightened by the fatal mysteries of life, the thought of death. In subsequent collections ("Colonel Rozov", 1909; "Dreams", 1911) scary world overcome by the harmony of the Christian soul. And further, in the stories, the novel "The Far Land" (1913), the story "The Blue Star" (1918), he will not deviate from the path of affirming the good of harmony with the God-given world.

In the writer's work, impressionism characteristic of neorealism was clearly manifested. As an artist, Zaitsev prefers pastel colors and epithets, balancing between symbolist vagueness and acmeistic clarity. Its dawns are quiet, the light is autumn, the stars are blue. The mystical element is organically included in the description of ordinary events, landscape sketches. The fatal, the miraculous lies in strange coincidences, forebodings that have come true, in prophetic dreams. Life conflicts fade into the background, the author is primarily interested in the human soul, existential experiences1. This is stated in the titles of the works: "Myth" (1906), "Dreams" (1909), "Death" (1910), "Soul" (1921), "White Light" (1922). The role of the compositional core is often performed by the author's mood. Zaitsev's idealists are aware of the illusory nature of hopes for happiness in this life and are saved by faith in the light of eternal life. The writer - and this is typical of neorealists - writes not about drama, but about the tragedy of life: drama speaks of the triumph of death, tragedy - of the triumph of the spirit. This faith is often given to his characters from birth, less often, as in the story "Dreams" (1909), the story "Student of the Benedicts" (1913), his characters acquire it in suffering. Reflecting on the life of an ordinary person, the prose writer turns to the facts of world biblical history. He uses the poetics of life, apocrypha, walking.

“I believe,” B.K. Zaitsev wrote in his autobiographical essay “About Myself” (1943), “that everything is not in vain, the plans and drawings of our life were drawn not in vain and for our own good.” Believe in this and his characters.

Ivan Shmelev began his writing career as an artist of county Russia, the dramatic collapse of the old merchant way of life. One of his stories is called "Decay" (1906). In his works, usually not attractive, sulfurs are both the masters of life, old and new, and the social lower classes. Shmelev was not limited to displaying cruel customs, harsh laws of life. In his stories, in the story "The Wall" (1912), he tried to comprehend the causal roots of what was happening, to look at things from an extratemporal side. In the stories "Citizen U sticky" (1908), "In a hole" (1909), "Under the sky" (1910), in the story "The Man from the Restaurant" (1911), and other works, sympathy for the offended is interspersed with an anxious expectation of change, a brewing social conflict. The skill, stylistic innovation of the prose writer was expressed in the ability to look at the world through the eyes of the characters. Everyday life is subtly opposed to existential harmony in nature. Sometimes, for example, in the stories "Rosstani" (1913), "Grapes" (1913), the author speaks of a bright rebirth of those who comprehend this harmony. Later, he approaches the theme of Orthodox Russia, dear to him, vividly embodied in the story "The Inexhaustible Chalice" (1918). Many of the characters of I. S. Shmelev, as well as the prose writer B. K. Zaitsev, who is close to him, seek salvation from worldly dramas in faith in the absolute, timeless, transcendental.

Promising was the literary debut of Sergei Nikolaevich Sergeev-Tsensky (1875-1958). In his path to neorealism, the search for domestic literature was reflected. The stories "Delirium", "Murder", the story "The Garden" - all created in 1905, but if the first two works speak of the author as a modernist, then the third one presents him as a "knowledgeer". Soon enough, he found the opportunity to talk about being, about the existential and fatal, without looking up from everyday life. The writer looks longingly at the swamp of provincial life, which originates in the soul of a peasant, a worker, a tradesman, a merchant. A typical example is the story "Forest Marsh" (1907)". "Painful hopelessness" - this is how A. A. Blok defined the subject of the writer.

Sergeev-Tsensky- an artist of hidden conflicts, "walls" that prevent a person from taking off and make him walk in circles, crawl, break his head. Symbolic is the story "The flapping of the wings" (1904), which tells about the mortal battle of a mentally ill person with the walls of a hospital ward. The subtitle of the work is sadly ironic: "A poem in prose." The artist acquires creative originality at the end of the first decade of the 20th century, his works become more lyrical and ambiguous. The story "Smiles" (1909) has the same subtitle, but without irony. A line from the exposition: "There is a stunning amount of sun all around" - could be his epigraph. About the same story "The Leisurely Sun", very musical, subtitled "Poem" (1911). One of the author's digressions here begins with a phrase that is related to many things in the work of a mature writer: "There is some kind of sunny truth on earth ..."

How I. S. Shmelev, other neorealists of his generation, S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky, seem to trust the characters, whose speech reflects their natural and social essence, to tell about themselves and the world "in their own words."

Here, as if written off from the soundtrack, are the arguments of the always not quite sober stove-maker Fyodor: “Roar, he ... it seems that I left him with the doctor ... This one, how the hell is she? .. She has a tooth, she wears glasses ... Here she is, how much of it ... the Greek is so black, I corrected the stove there.

In his best works, for example, in the stories "Sky" (1908), "Nedra" (1912), even in the dramatic story "The Sorrow of the Fields" (1909), S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky expresses an enthusiastic attitude to life, realizing the inevitability of the tragic in her. In this he is close to B. Zaitsev, other writers of the same age. Sergeev-Tsensky's metaphor "works" to create the effect of being present in the environment he describes: the reader is tuned in to see, hear, and touch. The "convex-bright" language of the writer was highly appreciated by Zinaida Gippius, who did not favor realists. "He, like some other neorealists, reveals the conscious use of the "stream of consciousness" technique: feelings, thoughts, sensations, associations, memories - everything is conveyed as if illogical conjugation of words forming an internal monologue. This technique, especially significant, for example, in the stories "Movement" (1909-1910), "Bailiff Deryabin" (1910), helps the author to reveal the inner world of the characters. Like many of his contemporaries, the "law of beauty" S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky discovers in the perpetual motion of nature.His talent as a landscape painter was recognized by such masters of the player as A. S. Serafimovich, M. A. Sholokhov.

Mikhail Prishvin- a kind of prose writer-poet, who in his own way experienced a feeling of unity "with a blade of grass on the ground and a star in the sky." Prishvin's mother nature determines the lifestyle of people-children, and the ethnographic element organically fits into his writings. The path to the native "soil", the environment that gives life, he called "the path to himself", to the "personal creativity of life." A hidden pantheist, Prishvin revealed the human soul in connection with the soul of nature, hidden in animals, birds, plants, reservoirs, mountains, valleys. She is his" white god", kind, joyful, generous. "Black God", iconic - is completely different.

"The black, faceless god looks at the joy of life, at the bright sparks of happiness, at the creativity of the bright god, at flowers as big as the sun - and poisons all joy, all creativity, all life with one common deadly word: sin."

This is an argument from the essay book "At the invisible city of the steppe" (1909). Along with the first two - "In the land of fearless birds" (1907), "Behind the magic bun" (1908), she made a name for the writer. In the work of M. M. Prishvin, much determines the explicit or hidden conflict of the "white God" and false gods.

Neorealism opened up the provinces, paid considerable attention to the remote corners of the south and north of Russia, and gave birth to "local" literatures. The hero of S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky traveled through the southern provinces of Russia. The hero of M. M. Prishvin travels to the northern provinces untouched by civilization, meets with the population of epic moral purity. He has many wanderers who are somewhat akin to the wanderers of N. S. Leskov. The author peers into the origins folk soul to understand the contemporary person, himself: "The simpler the soul, the easier it is to see in it the beginning of everything." The Pomors, frightened by the avalanche of petty malice and envy coming from the "Ishbut" cities, yearn for the past - many of the writer's works are built on this conflict. "Is it now possible to seem like a hero!" the old people grieve. The narrator of the story "The Krutoyarsky Beast" (1911) sees the causes of troubles and degeneration in isolation from the "roots". He believes that goodness is the innermost depth, the original core of the world, corrupted by superficial evil, and this evil can be overcome only by constructive deeds.

Alexey Tolstoy- an artist of the Volga region, his debut work combines dramatic and comic beginnings. He continued the theme of the ruin of "noble nests", but unlike I. A. Bunin, I. S. Shmelev, his narrative is devoid of tragedy ("Tales and Stories", 1910). A. Tolstoy is lyrical; almost laughing, he says goodbye to a sweet past. The prose writer, in his own way, cherishes the "lasts" (the lasts of Nekrasov's lasts), the "eccentrics", the unlucky Mishki, the weak-willed Haggei, just as A. P. Chekhov was dear to his "stupid". Many conflicts of the young A. II. Tolstoy is reminiscent of situation comedy conflicts. The author exposes new politicians, nouveau riches, to satirical ridicule, for example, the stock market player Rastegin (the story "For Style", 1913), who travels around the provinces in search of stylish furniture - a kind of Chichikov in a car. The author's vision of life is quite light: to live, to love - this is happiness; The meaning of life lies in life itself.

During the period under review, many original writers appeared, shining in the sky of Russian literature with several works. Such is Boris Savinkov, aka V. Ropshin, who created the novel about the revolutionaries Pale Horse (1909). According to the memories

V. T. Shalamov, this novel by a professional revolutionary attracted increased attention of young people. Such is Osip Dymov (Perelman), who wrote mainly about the intelligentsia. He borrows the pseudonym "Dymov" from his teacher A.P. Chekhov. His book of short stories, The Solstice (1905), in which tragic motifs are defeated by a hymn to the source of life, was a resounding success. The author demonstrates a metaphorical vision of the world: the statues of Hellas, Michelangelo, Pushkin, history, science - all these are "sunbeams hardened in the images of the word", rats - "lumps of the night", etc.

Yevgeny Zamyatin saw himself as a representative of the new realism, its theoretician. Success came to him with the publication of the story "Uezdnoe" (1913). Based on the traditions of N. V. Gogol, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, G. I. Uspensky, F. K. Sologub, M. Gorky, the author creates an original work imbued with his own vision of the "dark kingdom". The theme of the story is the provincial routine, the entry of the "little man" in the person of the thief and provocateur Baryba into power. After L. N. Andreev, this is probably the most radical rethinking of the classic conflict between the "little man" and society. At the beginning of the story, Baryba is miserable, insignificant, at the end - a monster from the people, "a resurrected barrow woman." Here, as in other thematically close stories ("Sergeant Major", 1915; "Writing", 1916), in the story "Altar" (1915), Zamyatin departs from the social interpretation of behavior: the neorealist is interested in elemental principles in characters. The path of his searches is parallel, but the final conclusions are different. In Zamyatin's world, only rare souls shine, yearning for what is not in the world, experiencing a conflict between dreams and reality. Such, for example, is his Pomor hero from the story "Africa" ​​(1916).

The writer is cinematic: he does not explain, but shows, the metaphor makes the interior visible, convex. His comparisons and metonymy are very expressive. Here is one of Baryba's descriptions: "Heavy iron jaws, a wide, square mouth and a narrow forehead: like an iron, with the nose up." Significantly and clearly is the description of the reflection of the newly-minted sergeant in the polished corrugation of the samovar. The story organically turns into a tale. His works are synthetic, they combine naturalistic, romantic, lyrical, ethnographic elements, which fully correspond to the conclusions of Zamyatin the critic about the specifics of the new realism. E. I. Zamyatin also turned to humorous poetics, and in dramatic things, for example, in the story "The True Truth" (1916), and to harsh satire, as if tuning in to writing the prophetic dystopian novel "We" (1921) about the state in which the public "we" completely defeated the individual "I".

neorealism- a bridge between the classics and the latest literature; he connected everyday life and being, brought together prose and lyrics, realistic and modernist searches, verbal and other types of art. The work of neorealists, as a rule, is distinguished by exceptional laconicism: their story often has the capacity of a story, and the story has the capacity of a novel. The school of neorealism at the beginning of the century largely predetermined and predetermines the further development of belles-lettres.

Each exam question can have multiple answers from different authors. The answer may contain text, formulas, pictures. The author of the exam or the author of the answer to the exam can delete or edit the question.

What is neorealism? Reading options.

Definition of Yandex

neorealism- organizationally unformed flow in Russian. realism of the 1910s. The term "N." arose in criticism as a result of rethinking the ideas of S. A. Vengerov about the beginning of the 90s. 19th century change of psychological mood and aesthetic system of Rus. liters. Vengerov characterized the works of various literature. trends (both modernist and realistic) 1890-1910 with a single term "neo-romanticism", as if leveling the specifics of the artist. method of writers united by a "single psychological attitude". But Vengerov himself recognized the controversy of such an association. To designate the creative method of a number of realists who were influenced by modernism, he also used the term "synthetic modernism", "symbolic realism". The greatest distribution in criticism of the 1910s. (G. Chulkov, V. Bryusov and others) acquired the term "N.". Naib. detailed characteristics of this trend are given in the articles by E. Koltonovskaya "A Poet for the Few" (B. Zaitsev), 1909; "Ways and Moods of Young Literature", 1912; "On the way to a new realism. Concerning the "Movements" of Sergeev-Tsensky", 1912; "Our fiction in 1913", 1914, etc. In the region. problematics for neorealist writers is characterized by a transition from sociologism and tendentiousness to morality.-philos. topics, to " eternal questions". In the field of poetics - the subjectification and lyricization of prose, the strengthening of the role of the symbol, the use of the mythopoetical beginning as an artistic means. Critics noted the enrichment of the neorealist poetics due to the assimilation of the artistic discoveries of symbolism. The representatives of neorealism included S. Sergeev-Tsensky, B. Zaitsev, I. Novikov, A. Remizov, A. Tolstoy and others.

A. Tolstoy

From the finished ticket:

neorealism- a trend in Russian literature in the 1910s. The term arose in criticism as a result of rethinking the ideas of S.A. Vengerov. He spoke about the change in the aesthetic system of Russian. literature at the end of the 19th century (1890-1910), called the work of different styles with one name "neo-romanticism". He himself spoke about the controversy of such a global association. To denote the work of some realists who were influenced by modernism, he took the term "synthetic modernism", "symbolic realism", "neorealism" (most used in criticism - Bryusov and others).

Issues in the work of neo-realist writers - the transition from sociologism to moral and philosophical themes, "eternal questions".

Poetics among neorealists - the subjectification and lyricization of prose, the strengthening of the meaning of the symbol, the use of mythology as an artistic means, in general, the enrichment of neorealist poetics due to the artistic discoveries of symbolism.

While retaining to the fullest extent the originally realistic nature, it was at the same time especially attentive to the experience modernist movements. This receptivity, sometimes unwitting, has become one of the important sources of heritage renewal. Being in itself a major artistic fact, the neo-realist trend significantly influenced the literary relations of that era as a whole. It demonstrated the viability and "competitiveness" of the traditional art system, its readiness for development, self-movement in the conditions of the new time, contrary to the version common among literary opponents about the crisis of realism as an obsolete system.

As a distinct artistic trend, neorealism took shape in the second half of the 1900s and early 1910s. Especially significant phenomena belonging to him are the works of I. S. Shmelev, A. N. Tolstoy, S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky, M. M. Prishvin, E. I. Zamyatin, I. A. Bunin. The latter was not only the largest figure among them, but also in a certain respect their forerunner, since the neorealist quality was already formed in his previous work, which at that time was largely at odds with the main aspirations of the realist movement.

Ivanov-Razumnik. During 1913-1914. neorealism was most extensively substantiated by Ivanov-Razumnik in the St. Petersburg magazine Zavety, where many neorealists were published. Their main refuge was the Book Publishing House of Writers in Moss, formed in 1912 and headed by V.V. continuity in relation to "Knowledge", which by that time was fading away. But not only continuity. "Knowledge" arose in the wake of the liberation movement of the 1900s, and its main focus in those years was social and public issues. “Book publishing...” arose in a different period of history, and the problems that prevailed in the works of a number of leading writers associated with it were different.

Considering its “public teaching” a “great public merit” of Russian literature, Ivanov-Razumnik was at the same time concerned that it “did not suppress” “higher moral, aesthetic, philosophical and, in a broad sense, religious demands” human spirit”(in relation to neorealism, the latter are understood in a philosophical and anthropological sense - as“ the religion of Man ”). They form the basis artistic creativity". This is exactly how Ivanov-Razumnik saw the “new realism”.

Veresaev

Veresaev had a similar position. He was the author of well-known novels and stories of the 1890-1900s about the relations between the intelligentsia and the people, ideological disputes in the intelligentsia, social processes in the village and the city (the stories "Without a Road", "At the Turn", "Two Ends", the story "Fad", etc.) at a new stage of his work came into contact with the neorealist movement, preferring a broad moral and philosophical problems of social and ideological issues. This was reflected in his original philosophical and essayist book "Living Life" (the first part of which - "On Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy" - was published at the very beginning of 1911) and the program "Book Publishing..." put forward by him. "Loyalty to the earth" and "faith in man" - this is the direction of the upcoming collections "Word" he outlined in a letter to Gorky dated November 8, 1912.

The main features of neorealism. The significance of the new paths of realism can only be understood in general context literary movement of the late 1900s and early 1910s. The thought of the writers returns to recent history - "a heavy hangover of the fifth year," as one of the critical articles said. There are novels that claim to comprehend the events of the revolutionary time and the spiritual changes they caused in Russian life: “The Legend of the Creation” by F.K. Sologub (1907-1914), “Sashka Zhegulev” by L.N. Z.N. Gippius (1911), "Petersburg" by Andrei Bely (1911 - 1913), etc.

Similarities and differences between realism and neorealism

Socio-political issues post-revolutionary time recedes into the background. This is clearly seen in the realist movement of those years, the main interests of which are shifting in a different direction. He is especially "attracted now by the elements of everyday life. At the same time household theme very often associated with the image of the vast Russian outback, Russia, “driven into the middle of nowhere” (“In the middle of nowhere” by Zamyatin). Among the frequent heroes of literature are those hopelessly obsolete, and those who have not yet begun or have barely begun to live a historical life. This is a closed world of noble descendants, and patriarchal folk islands scattered across the expanses of the European North and Siberia, and the inert way of the Central Russian village, and the county wilderness, overwhelmed by the philistine elements, and the miserable, destitute life of the urban lower classes.

But the opposition between the "everyday" and the "historical" was nevertheless relative. The work of many "bytoviki" moved away from the historical arena as a direct "object", but at the same time retained a constant sense of the general historical background. "History through life" - this is how one of the characteristic trends in Russian realism of this time can be called, concentrated - in the spirit of the traditions of "sociological" realism of the last third of the 19th century. - on the image of the social environment. This includes much that was written in those years about provincial Russia, including on a rural theme (works by V.V. Muyzhel, S.P. Podyachev, K.A. Trenev, I.E. Volnov, I.M. etc.).

However, the key phenomenon of the realist movement was the neorealist current, which turned to categories much broader and more general. Its main feature can be defined as "being through life". It was to him, first of all, that the reader's interest in realistic literature, which clearly increased at that time, was indebted, prompting criticism to talk about the "revival of realism."

They echoed each other already by the closeness of the leading themes, especially the theme of the Russian "outback". Among the neorealists, the foundation of an artistic building also lay predominantly household material. The vision of "history through everyday life", constant attention to current social processes was also characteristic of them. But the difference was that it, this vision, did not become the cornerstone in their works. And it had an explanation. The painful moods of previous years were replaced by a feeling of historical movement, devoid, however, of that anticipation of "unheard of changes" (remembering Blok's words) that many writers experienced before the first revolution. A special type of perception of historical time became predominant in literature (before the start of the World War) - a perception alien to a sense of stagnation and at the same time quite skeptical about the immediate historical prospects.

Eloquent in this sense literary hero evolution. In the realism of the late 1890s and subsequent years, the most common idea of ​​the true purpose of a person was associated with an effective beginning, and in the midst of social storms, with active resistance to the dominant way of life and thoughts of a heroic individuality. These thoughts are muffled by the realists of the new wave. Their writings are most often committed to the structure of an existence remote from directly historical life, revealing - here Chekhov's tradition is undoubted - spiritual fullness in the private existence of a person. But this did not disturb him or writers close to him orientation. Realizing the exhaustion of the old ideological platforms, they most often do not look for new ones, preferring to reflect on worries about their lives in another dimension of thought. à

à This measurement has become a kind of synthetic worldview of the neorealists. It combined the broad essential categories of thought with socially concrete ones, raising the former over the latter, giving final preference to the contemplative-philosophical view, which is turned to that which is not subject to time.

But speaking of the contemplative motive in neorealist literature, it is important to keep in mind its spiritual nature, alien to passivity, in which the anti-positivist tendency inherent in frontier Russian realism was again expressed in a special way: contemplation as a manifestation of internal activity, internal opposition to the environment. A person, now suffering from the life around him, now outwardly coexisting with it, is protected from submission to the power of things, raised above it by the intense life of the soul, attracted to higher values. To those that elevate the spirit on the paths of moral and aesthetic, free from individualistic alienation. These are eternal values ​​- a sense of belonging to the unity of world existence in time and space, "pantheistic" kinship with nature, beauty, love, art. Belief in them is sometimes much stronger than faith in current history. The feeling of drama of the surrounding reality is constant and irremovable, but it is often enlightened by the idea, especially persistent in neorealism, that the primordial principles of existence are not subject to empirical circumstances. Existential good opposes social evil.

Since the 1st World War - a sense of disaster.

Since the First World War, interest in history has again become more acute in the world outlook of the artistic intelligentsia and, at the same time, tense dramatic notes have sharply increased. The illusions of the liberation mission of the warring Russia, which captured some of the writers, as events unfold, are increasingly oppressed by a sense of catastrophe. But even in these years, the main spiritual support remains the “eternal” values.

Artistic synthesis corresponded to the world-contemplative synthesis in the works of the neorealists. In the first of the introductory chapters, two stylistic currents, two stylistic tendencies that interacted in the realistic literature of the turn of the century, were mentioned - "pictorial", oriented towards artistic objectivity, realistic concreteness, objective accuracy of capturing reality, and "expressive", associated with subjective-lyrical , expressive figurative word. At the turn of the 1890s and 1900s, these tendencies basically existed "on an equal footing" (with some predominance of the first). In the literature of the revolutionary years, the importance of the expressive form of realism sharply increases, moving away from, relatively speaking, Chekhov's stylistic line towards Gorky's (publicistic beginning, romantic pathos, satirical grotesque). It is curious that, until recently, Kuprin, who had been close to the Chekhov school, wrote in 1905: “... Now that the time has come<...>coarse, hard, daring words, burning like sparks carved from flint, fragrant, subtle<...>the language of Chekhov's speech seems to us like magical music heard in a dream. But this period was short-lived.

The formation of neo-realism on the verge of the 1910s gives a special direction, a certain completeness to the noted stylistic processes, strengthens their common striving for synthesis. In the renewed realistic movement, the lyrical element recedes before the firmly rooted subject representation, up to a return to its pre-Chekhovian forms - a generously descriptive narrative. And yet, the growing descriptiveness did not supplant subjectivity, but only modified it. The lyrical beginning, the lyrical voice of the author now and then lose their isolation, become all the time integral part Pictures of everyday external life appear from within it. Thanks to this, the empirical boundaries of the subject image, which is often imbued with intense lyrical and symbolic content, are sort of pushed apart. There is a further significant convergence of "pictorial" and "expressive" tendencies, their "reconciliation". It has become a kind of stylistic analogue of that connection of being with everyday life, in which, first of all, the artistic worldview of neorealism was expressed.

+ according to Keldysh ( this is generally about neorealists piece ):

According to Keldysh:

Neorealist writers deepened existential, philosophical principles in their work. The most important parameter for them was the development of the elements of the "earthly" perception of the world. Shmelev among his literary associates was the most "soil". His first publications appeared in the 1890s. The final entry into the path of creativity takes place during the years of the first revolution. From then until the early 1910s, the theme of the collapse of foundations under the influence of the events of the time becomes the main one in Sh.

By writers (just in case).

Zaitsev

"Agrafena" 1987

Manifesto of Zaitsev neo-realism. Here he is a lyric-epic, mystic, pantheist, neorealist.

Zaitsev loved the hagiographical genre: an integral coverage of life.

Zaitsev's religious outlook: pantheism. The deity is everywhere, wherever you spit: Agrafena prayed to God, the earth, the fields.

Features of neorealism: mystical being in everyday life, everyday details.

"Blue Star" 1918

Epitaph to the Moscow bohemia. A narrow stratum of Moscow's artistic bohemia. Miniature about the Silver Age.

Perhaps the prototype of Khristoforov is Blok. For the bearer of the symbolist worldview.

He felt a much greater closeness not to Mashura and not to Moscow, but to the stars (a kind of philosophical vanilla).

The world is depicted transparently, mystical.

"Far End"

Impressionistic encyclopedia of the capital's intelligentsia.

Petya is an intellectual, an aristocrat, he reads Solovyov, lives in love.<=>Stepan is a revolutionary who organizes crimes.

Stronger - female Har-ry.

Lizaveta, Claudia, Anna Lvovna.

Through these images comes the idea: the meaning is not in politics, but in the mysticism of life.

"The Far Edge" is a text-manifesto of neo-realism.

(Here's another piece of another ticket, the same as above detailed, only briefly)

Neorealism in Russian prose of the late 1900s-1910s (Zamiatin, Shmelev, Zaitsev, Tolstoy and others). Origins and main thin. signs of neorealism.

In the criticism of the 1900s-1910s, the need for links between modernism and realism was vigorously discussed.

Block (in "O contemporary criticism”, 1907): the realists are drawn to the symbolists, the symbolists to the realists.

There is a question of synthesis.

Ivan Razumnik(ov?) writes that neorealism is the overcoming of symbolism and a return to realism.

On the contrary, in the 1910 Henri de Vigne manifesto (I don't know what the context is), Voloshin argues that neorealism is a current within modernism.

The modern point of view is closer to this option:

Elena Kolmanovskaya, in her 1914 article “Our Artistic Literature in 1913,” writes that neorealism is a productive phenomenon, not a return to realism, not a new stage of modenism, but a stupid synthesis of them.

For example: writers of 1900-1910s, Shmelev, A.K. Tolstoy, Zamyatin, Prishvin. She goes on to show how these writers began with modernism and (ended up for the rest) came to neorealism.

Based on the experience of non-classical prose, neorealists returned literature to everyday life and modernity.

Their poetics:

The development of tale forms is the subjectification of the narrative.

Development of an impressionistic style (Zaitsev)

Contemporary literature understands neorealism as a synthesis of modernist and realistic aesthetics: the microscope of realism + the telescope of modernism.

What is realism in literature? It is one of the most common areas, reflecting a realistic image of reality. The main task of this direction is reliable disclosure of phenomena encountered in life, with the help of a detailed description of the depicted characters and the situations that happen to them, through typing. Important is the lack of embellishment.

In contact with

Among other directions, only in the realistic one special attention is paid to the correct artistic depiction of life, and not to the emerging reaction to certain life events, for example, as in romanticism and classicism. The heroes of realist writers appear before readers exactly as they were presented to the author's gaze, and not as the writer would like to see them.

Realism, as one of the most widespread trends in literature, settled closer to the middle of the 19th century after its predecessor, romanticism. The 19th century was subsequently designated as the era of realistic works, but romanticism did not cease to exist, it only slowed down in development, gradually turning into neo-romanticism.

Important! The definition of this term was first introduced into literary criticism by D.I. Pisarev.

The main features of this direction are as follows:

1. Full compliance with reality depicted in any work of the picture.
2. True specific typing of all the details in the images of the characters.
3. The basis is the conflict situation between the individual and society.
4. Image in the work deep conflict situations the drama of life.
5. The author pays special attention to the description of all phenomena environment.
6. A significant feature of this literary trend is the writer's considerable attention to the inner world of a person, his state of mind.

Main genres

In any of the areas of literature, including the realistic, a certain system of genres is being formed. It was the prose genres of realism that had a special influence on its development, due to the fact that more than others were suitable for a more correct artistic description new realities, their reflection in literature. The works of this direction are divided into the following genres.

1. A social novel that describes way of life and a certain type of characters inherent in this way of life. A good example of a social genre was Anna Karenina.
2. A socio-psychological novel, in the description of which one can see the full detailed disclosure of the human personality, his personality and inner peace.
3. The realistic novel in verse is a special kind of novel. A wonderful example of this genre is "", written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
4. A realistic philosophical novel contains age-old reflections on topics such as: the meaning of human existence, opposition of good and evil sides, a certain purpose human life. An example of a realistic philosophical novel is "", the author of which is Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov.
5. Story.
6. Tale.

In Russia, its development began in the 1830s and became a consequence of the conflict situation in various spheres of society, the contradictions between the highest ranks and the common people. Writers began to turn to topical issues of his time.

Thus begins the rapid development of a new genre - a realistic novel, which, as a rule, described the hard life of the common people, their hardships and problems.

The initial stage in the development of the realistic trend in Russian literature is the "natural school". During the "natural school" period literary works more sought to describe the position of the hero in society, his belonging to any kind of profession. Among all genres, the leading place was occupied by physiological outline.

In the 1850s-1900s, realism began to be called critical, since the main goal was to criticize what was happening, the relationship between a certain person and spheres of society. Such questions were considered as: the measure of society's influence on the life of an individual; actions that can change a person and the world around him; reason for the lack of happiness in human life.

This literary trend has become extremely popular in Russian literature, as Russian writers were able to make the world genre system richer. There were works from in-depth questions of philosophy and morality.

I.S. Turgenev created an ideological type of heroes, the character, personality and internal state of which directly depended on the author's assessment of the worldview, finding a certain meaning in the concepts of their philosophy. Such heroes are subject to ideas that are followed to the very end, developing them as much as possible.

In the works of L.N. Tolstoy, the system of ideas that develops during the life of the character determines the form of his interaction with the surrounding reality, depends on the morality and personal characteristics of the heroes of the work.

Founder of realism

The title of the initiator of this direction in Russian literature was rightfully awarded to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He is a generally recognized founder of realism in Russia. "Boris Godunov" and "Eugene Onegin" are considered a vivid example of realism in the domestic literature of those times. Also distinguishing examples were such works by Alexander Sergeevich as Belkin's Tales and The Captain's Daughter.

Classical realism gradually begins to develop in Pushkin's creative works. The depiction of the personality of each character of the writer is comprehensive in an effort to describe the complexity of his inner world and state of mind which unfold very harmoniously. Recreating the experiences of a certain personality, its moral character helps Pushkin to overcome the willfulness of describing passions inherent in irrationalism.

Heroes A.S. Pushkin appear before readers with the open sides of their being. The writer pays special attention to the description of the sides of the human inner world, depicts the hero in the process of development and formation of his personality, which are influenced by the reality of society and the environment. This was served by his awareness of the need to depict a specific historical and national identity in the features of the people.

Attention! Reality in the image of Pushkin collects in itself an accurate concrete image of the details of not only the inner world of a certain character, but also the world that surrounds him, including his detailed generalization.

Neorealism in literature

New philosophical, aesthetic and everyday realities at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries contributed to a change in direction. Implemented twice, this modification acquired the name neorealism, which gained popularity during the 20th century.

Neorealism in literature consists of a variety of currents, since its representatives had a different artistic approach to depicting reality, which includes the characteristic features of a realistic direction. It is based on appeal to the traditions of classical realism XIX century, as well as to problems in the social, moral, philosophical and aesthetic spheres of reality. A good example containing all these features is the work of G.N. Vladimov "The General and his army", written in 1994.

from the Greek nЕos - new and realism), direction in Italian art, especially in the cinema that emerged after the 2nd World War, under the influence of the Resistance. In literature, representatives of neorealism are V. Pratolini, E. Vittorini, I. Calvino, B. Fenoglio, R. Vigano, C. Levi; A. Moravia, L. Bijaretti, A. Gatto and others also experienced the influence of this trend. The usual hero of neorealism is a simple person; the main genre is a narrative based on real events, but introducing fiction into them, a story about the spiritual development of the hero, about changes in his soul. For example, a typical neo-realist story plot: two heroes - poor musicians - earn a living by performing songs in restaurants. One of them tries to add as much clownery as possible to the song in order to amuse the audience. One day a listener breaks down and sings the same song himself sincerely, without buffoonery. The singer, shocked by this, is found hanged the next morning ... (A. Moravia, the story "Clown" from "New Roman Tales").

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

NEOREALISM

direction in Italian cinema and literature of the mid-40s-ser. 50s 20th century A new form of realism developed in Italy on the basis of the Resistance Movement with its socialist and democratic ideas. Therefore, the main theme of the works of the neorealists was the working man, fighting for his rights, the memory of the fight against fascism, guerrilla warfare. The task of the neorealists was to show an ordinary person in a cruel and unjust world, to preserve personal dignity in this situation. The formation of neorealism was greatly influenced by Soviet cinematography and the work of French directors. To solve the tasks set, the directors were looking for new expressive means, changing the film language. They strove for the accuracy of details, showing the true life of the people, so the films of the neorealists are devoid of false prettiness and splendor. They were black and white, filmed on location, non-professional performers were involved, the national language and local dialects were widely used. This gave the films a special authenticity. These aesthetic principles were set forth by C. Zavattini. The film directed by R. Rossellini "Rome - open city» (1945). The largest representatives of neo-realism in cinema were L. Visconti, V. De Sica, R. Rossellini. by the most famous films became "Bicycle Thieves", "Tragic Hunt", "Under the Sky of Sicily", "Road of Hope", etc.

In painting, the ideas of neorealism were set forth in the manifesto "On the Other Side of Guernica" (1946), and in 1947 a "New Art Front" arose, uniting anti-fascist artists different directions, from realism to abstractionism. They also made it their goal to depict the life of ordinary people and their struggle for their rights. For this, a dynamic composition, energetic delineation of volumes, and saturated color were used. Representatives of neorealism in painting were R. Guttuso, G. Mukki, E. Treccani, D. Degayna and others.