The style of realistic painting of the 19th century spread to almost all genres: portraits, landscapes, still lifes. Favorite themes of realist artists: paintings with genre scenes of rural and urban life of the working class, peasants, scenes of street life, cafes and nightclubs. Realists sought to convey a moment of life in dynamics, emphasizing as plausibly as possible the features of the appearance of the characters, their experiences and feelings.

Paintings depicting the human body are distinguished by their sensuality, emotionality, and naturalism. Realism reflects the progressive meaning and function of art. The founder of the style, according to researchers, is Gustav Kurbe.

The style has developed into many subtypes - socialist, social, magical, verism and others.

Style Features

Realism in painting actively developed in France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and the USA in the 19th century.

French features: the landscape genre was dominant. The artists sought to convey the real world, the nature of the province. According to painters, it is rural landscapes that demonstrate the “real” France.

Painters of this era depicted real people, not idealized types, and freely conveyed real situations on canvas, devoid of conventional aesthetics and universal truths.

The time of development was the 19th century, and the most prominent representatives: Jean-François Millet, Gustave Courbet, Honore Daumier. An interesting example of realism in Russia is the work of the Russian artist Ilya Repin. The paintings stand out: the tendency towards naturalism and impressionism made it possible to create recognizable, unique works.

The realistic direction was the result of the development of impressionism, naturalism, and romanticism. The strong influence of impressionism is observed in France.

The main schools of style during the 19th century are represented by:

• English Figurative School;
• French Courbet school;
• Repin School in Russia;
• German, led by Adolf von Menzel;
• American School of Thomas Eakins.

Numerous artists created paintings in combined styles. For example, Degas and Géricault combined the features of realism and romanticism in creating landscapes.

Main directions of realism

The period of the late 19th century - early 20th century forced painters to reconsider their views on the essence and deep meaning of fine art. Political events in the world, world wars gave new topics for work and an impetus for the formation of new schools of painting:

Verism

At the end of the 19th century - at the beginning of the 20th, verism arose in Italy. The paintings reliably conveyed the phenomena and objects of the surrounding reality literally, without the need for interpretation.

Precisionism

Developed in the USA in the 20s of the 20th century. American painters depicted urban and industrial landscapes using elements of futurism and cubism. The style was also known as "sharp focus realism". The most famous representatives of the movement were Charles Schiller, Charles Demuth and Georgia O'Keeffe.

Social

It arose in the 1920s - 1930s of the 20th century - an American trend during the Great Depression. It is a naturalistic view that focuses exclusively on social issues and everyday difficulties. The most famous representatives were Ben Shahn, Jack Levine and Jacob Lawrence.

Socialist

It arose during the era of the construction of the USSR state and developed in Russia in 1925 – 1935. This is a form of public propaganda of art, established by Joseph Stalin during the period of accelerated industrialization. The monumental-heroic style of art in Russia glorifies the Soviet way of development of society, man and worker in huge posters. The direction also developed in France and Spain.

Euston Road School

Formed in 1938, they are a contemporary realist group of artists who taught at or graduated from the Euston Road School of Painting and Drawing, London. Opposed to avant-garde art, their main goal was to depict traditional objects in a realistic manner, making art more socially relevant. Representatives: Graham Bell, William Coldstream, Lawrence Gowing, Rodrigo Moynihan, Claude Rogers.

Beaux Arts Quartet (1952 – 1955)

Was an important place for the development of modern realistic painting. The paintings were presented at personal exhibitions of four young realist artists John Bratby, Derrick Greaves, Edward Middledch, Jack Smith.

American modern

Appeared in the 1960s - early 1970s - a relatively simple realistic approach to art, common among artists of the post-abstract era. Representatives of the style prefer to create in a more traditional manner. Famous painters include William Bailey, Neil Welliver and Philip Pearlstein. The modern movement differs from photorealism due to the latter's tendency to exaggerate.

19th century Wandering

Realism of Russia, representatives: Vasnetsov, Myasoedov, Serov, Repin and others.

Photorealism

Arose in the 1960s - 1970s - the direction of realism, characterized by a special creative technique. The goal is to convey reality as plausibly as possible, copying photographs.

Hyperrealism

A general term describing an extreme form of realist painting and sculpture that emerged in the early 1970s. It is fundamentally different from photorealism: the latter is an exact copy of a photo, the first seeks to create a new reality such that viewers believe that the picture was painted from life.

Magic realism

It has features of surrealism and realism in the classical sense. The paintings reflect reality with fantasy details.

Surrealism

A style based on the theory of psychoanalysis of S. Freud and interest in the subconscious and the occult. Artists sought to move away from the tenets of painting and present something new.

Chinese

Realism in Chinese painting of the 1990s is distinguished by its acute social orientation with notes of irony and satire.

In a short video you can see the works of Iranian realist artists: Morteza Ketouzian, Iman Maleki and Kasr Kiai:

Meaning

One of the most famous trends in the development of painting of the 19th century, which became the basis for the development of new styles in the 20th century. The development of realism in almost all parts of the world became an entire era in art. Realism does not have clear origins from painting or philosophy - each variety has its own meaning and characteristics.

Regional features of the style are explained by specific features of political and economic development, level of culture, and ideology. The paintings are distinguished by their accuracy and natural rendering of shape and color. Realism has become one of the main directions of painting in Russia, the USA, and Western European countries.

The emergence of realism

In the 30s of the XIX century. Realism is becoming widespread in literature and art. The development of realism is primarily associated with the names of Stendhal and Balzac in France, Pushkin and Gogol in Russia, Heine and Buchner in Germany. Realism develops initially in the depths of romanticism and bears the stamp of the latter; not only Pushkin and Heine, but also Balzac experienced a strong passion for romantic literature in their youth. However, unlike romantic art, realism refuses the idealization of reality and the associated predominance of the fantastic element, as well as an increased interest in the subjective side of man. In realism, the prevailing tendency is to depict a broad social background against which the lives of the heroes take place (Balzac's "Human Comedy", Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin", Gogol's "Dead Souls", etc.). In their depth of understanding of social life, realist artists sometimes surpass the philosophers and sociologists of their time.

Stages of development of realism of the 19th century

The formation of critical realism occurs in European countries and in Russia almost at the same time - in the 20s - 40s of the 19th century. It is becoming a leading trend in the literature of the world.

True, this simultaneously means that the literary process of this period is irreducible only in a realistic system. Both in European literatures, and - especially - in US literature, the activity of romantic writers continues in full measure. Thus, the development of the literary process largely occurs through the interaction of coexisting aesthetic systems, and the characteristics of both national literatures and the work of individual writers presuppose that this circumstance must be taken into account.

Speaking about the fact that since the 30s and 40s, realist writers have occupied a leading place in literature, it is impossible not to note that realism itself turns out to be not a frozen system, but a phenomenon in constant development. Already within the 19th century, the need arises to talk about “different realisms”, that Merimee, Balzac and Flaubert equally answered the main historical questions that the era suggested to them, and at the same time their works are distinguished by different content and originality forms.

In the 1830s - 1840s, the most remarkable features of realism as a literary movement that gives a multifaceted picture of reality, striving for an analytical study of reality, appear in the works of European writers (primarily Balzac).

The literature of the 1830s and 1840s was largely fueled by statements about the attractiveness of the century itself. The love for the 19th century was shared, for example, by Stendhal and Balzac, who never ceased to be amazed at its dynamism, diversity and inexhaustible energy. Hence the heroes of the first stage of realism - active, with an inventive mind, not afraid of facing unfavorable circumstances. These heroes were largely associated with the heroic era of Napoleon, although they perceived his two-facedness and developed a strategy for their personal and public behavior. Scott and his historicism inspire Stendhal's heroes to find their place in life and history through mistakes and delusions. Shakespeare makes Balzac say about the novel “Père Goriot” in the words of the great Englishman “Everything is true” and see echoes of the harsh fate of King Lear in the fate of the modern bourgeois.

Realists of the second half of the 19th century will reproach their predecessors for “residual romanticism.” It is difficult to disagree with such a reproach. Indeed, the romantic tradition is very noticeably represented in the creative systems of Balzac, Stendhal, and Merimee. It is no coincidence that Sainte-Beuve called Stendhal “the last hussar of romanticism.” Traits of romanticism are revealed

– in the cult of exoticism (Merimee’s short stories such as “Matteo Falcone”, “Carmen”, “Tamango”, etc.);

– in the predilection of writers for depicting bright individuals and passions that are exceptional in their strength (Stendhal’s novel “Red and Black” or the short story “Vanina Vanini”);

– a passion for adventurous plots and the use of fantasy elements (Balzac’s novel “Shagreen Skin” or Merimee’s short story “Venus of Il”);

– in an effort to clearly divide heroes into negative and positive – carriers of the author’s ideals (Dickens’s novels).

Thus, between the realism of the first period and romanticism there is a complex “family” connection, manifested, in particular, in the inheritance of techniques and even individual themes and motifs characteristic of romantic art (the theme of lost illusions, the motif of disappointment, etc.).

In Russian historical and literary science, “the revolutionary events of 1848 and the important changes that followed them in the socio-political and cultural life of bourgeois society” are considered to be what divides “the realism of foreign countries of the 19th century into two stages - realism of the first and second half of the 19th century "(History of foreign literature of the 19th century / Edited by Elizarova M.E. - M., 1964). In 1848, popular protests turned into a series of revolutions that swept across Europe (France, Italy, Germany, Austria, etc.). These revolutions, as well as the unrest in Belgium and England, followed the “French model”, as democratic protests against class-privileged and inappropriate rule of the time, as well as under the slogans of social and democratic reforms. Overall, 1848 marked one huge upheaval in Europe. True, as a result of it, moderate liberals or conservatives came to power everywhere, and in some places even a more brutal authoritarian government was established.

This caused general disappointment in the results of the revolutions, and, as a consequence, pessimistic sentiments. Many representatives of the intelligentsia became disillusioned with mass movements, active actions of the people on a class basis and transferred their main efforts to the private world of the individual and personal relationships. Thus, the general interest was directed towards the individual, important in itself, and only secondarily - towards his relationships with other individuals and the world around him.

The second half of the 19th century is traditionally considered the “triumph of realism.” By this time, realism was loudly asserting itself in the literature not only of France and England, but also of a number of other countries - Germany (late Heine, Raabe, Storm, Fontane), Russia (“natural school”, Turgenev, Goncharov, Ostrovsky, Tolstoy , Dostoevsky), etc.

At the same time, since the 50s, a new stage in the development of realism begins, which involves a new approach to the depiction of both the hero and the society around him. The social, political and moral atmosphere of the second half of the 19th century “turned” writers towards the analysis of a person who can hardly be called a hero, but in whose fate and character the main signs of the era are refracted, expressed not in a major deed, a significant act or passion, compressed and intensely conveying global shifts of time, not in large-scale (both social and psychological) confrontation and conflict, not in typicality taken to the limit, often bordering on exclusivity, but in everyday life, everyday life. Writers who began working at this time, as well as those who entered literature earlier but worked during this period, for example, Dickens or Thackeray, certainly were guided by a different concept of personality. Thackeray’s novel “The Newcombs” emphasizes the specificity of “human studies” in the realism of this period - the need to understand and analytically reproduce multidirectional subtle mental movements and indirect, not always manifested social connections: “It is difficult to even imagine how many different reasons determine each of our actions or passions, how often, when analyzing my motives, I mistook one thing for another...” This phrase by Thackeray conveys perhaps the main feature of the realism of the era: everything is focused on the depiction of a person and character, and not circumstances. Although the latter, as they should in realistic literature, “do not disappear,” their interaction with character acquires a different quality, associated with the fact that circumstances cease to be independent, they become more and more characterologized; their sociological function is now more implicit than it was with Balzac or Stendhal.

Due to the changed concept of personality and the “human-centrism” of the entire artistic system (and “man - the center” was not necessarily a positive hero, defeating social circumstances or dying - morally or physically - in the fight against them), one may get the impression that the writers of the second half centuries abandoned the basic principle of realistic literature: dialectical understanding and depiction of the relationships between character and circumstances and adherence to the principle of socio-psychological determinism. Moreover, some of the most prominent realists of this time - Flaubert, J. Eliot, Trollott - when talking about the world surrounding the hero, the term “environment” appears, often perceived more statically than the concept of “circumstances”.

An analysis of the works of Flaubert and J. Eliot convinces us that artists need this “stacking” of the environment primarily so that the description of the situation surrounding the hero is more plastic. The environment often narratively exists in the inner world of the hero and through him, acquiring a different character of generalization: not poster-sociologized, but psychologized. This creates an atmosphere of greater objectivity in what is being reproduced. In any case, from the point of view of the reader, who trusts such an objectified narrative about the era more, since he perceives the hero of the work as a person close to him, just like himself.

Writers of this period do not at all forget about one more aesthetic setting of critical realism - the objectivity of what is reproduced. As is known, Balzac was so concerned about this objectivity that he looked for ways to bring literary knowledge (understanding) closer together with scientific knowledge. This idea appealed to many realists of the second half of the century. For example, Eliot and Flaubert thought a lot about the use of scientific, and therefore, as it seemed to them, objective methods of analysis in literature. Flaubert thought especially a lot about this, who understood objectivity as synonymous with impartiality and impartiality. However, this was the spirit of the entire realism of the era. Moreover, the work of realists in the second half of the 19th century occurred during the period of takeoff in the development of natural sciences and the heyday of experimentation.

This was an important period in the history of science. Biology developed rapidly (C. Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species” was published in 1859), physiology, and the formation of psychology as a science took place. The philosophy of positivism by O. Comte became widespread, and later played an important role in the development of naturalistic aesthetics and artistic practice. It was during these years that attempts were made to create a system of psychological understanding of man.

However, even at this stage of the development of literature, the character of the hero is not conceived by the writer outside of social analysis, although the latter acquires a slightly different aesthetic essence, different from that which was characteristic of Balzac and Stendhal. Of course, in Flaubert's novels. Eliot, Fontana and some others, what is striking is “a new level of depiction of the inner world of man, a qualitatively new mastery of psychological analysis, which consists in the deepest disclosure of the complexity and unforeseenness of human reactions to reality, the motives and causes of human activity” (History of World Literature. Vol. 7. – M., 1990).

It is obvious that the writers of this era sharply changed the direction of creativity and led literature (and the novel in particular) towards in-depth psychologism, and in the formula “social-psychological determinism” the social and psychological seemed to change places. It is in this direction that the main achievements of literature are concentrated: writers began not just to draw the complex inner world of a literary hero, but to reproduce a well-functioning, thoughtful psychological “character model”, in it and in its functioning, artistically combining the psychological-analytical and social-analytical. Writers updated and revived the principle of psychological detail, introduced dialogue with deep psychological overtones, and found narrative techniques for conveying “transitional,” contradictory spiritual movements that were previously inaccessible to literature.

This does not mean at all that realistic literature abandoned social analysis: the social basis of reproduced reality and reconstructed character did not disappear, although it did not dominate character and circumstances. It was thanks to the writers of the second half of the 19th century that literature began to find indirect ways of social analysis, in this sense continuing a series of discoveries made by writers of previous periods.

Flaubert, Eliot, the Goncourt brothers and others “taught” literature to reach out to the social and what is characteristic of the era, characterizes its social, political, historical and moral principles, through the ordinary and everyday existence of an ordinary person. Social typification among writers of the second half of the century is the typification of “mass appearance, repetition” (History of World Literature. Vol. 7. - M., 1990). It is not as bright and obvious as among representatives of classical critical realism of the 1830s - 1840s and most often manifests itself through the “parabola of psychologism”, when immersion in the inner world of a character allows you to ultimately immerse yourself in the era, in historical time, as seen by writer. Emotions, feelings, and moods are not transtemporal, but of a specific historical nature, although it is primarily ordinary everyday existence that is subject to analytical reproduction, and not the world of titanic passions. At the same time, writers often even absolutized the dullness and wretchedness of life, the triviality of the material, the unheroic nature of time and character. That is why, on the one hand, it was an anti-romantic period, on the other, a period of craving for the romantic. This paradox, for example, is characteristic of Flaubert, the Goncourts, and Baudelaire.

There is another important point related to the absolutization of the imperfection of human nature and slavish subordination to circumstances: writers often perceived the negative phenomena of the era as a given, as something insurmountable, or even tragically fatal. That is why in the works of realists of the second half of the 19th century the positive principle is so difficult to express: the problem of the future interests them little, they are “here and now”, in their time, comprehending it in an extremely impartial manner, as an era, if worthy of analysis, then critical.

As noted earlier, critical realism is a literary movement on a global scale. Another notable feature of realism is that it has a long history. At the end of the 19th and 20th centuries, the work of such writers as R. Rolland, D. Golusorsi, B. Shaw, E. M. Remarque, T. Dreiser and others gained worldwide fame. Realism continues to exist to this day, remaining the most important form of world democratic culture.

Realism in literature is a direction whose main feature is a truthful depiction of reality and its typical features without any distortion or exaggeration. This originated in the 19th century, and its adherents sharply opposed sophisticated forms of poetry and the use of various mystical concepts in works.

Signs directions

Realism in 19th-century literature can be distinguished by clear characteristics. The main one is the artistic depiction of reality in images familiar to the average person, which he regularly encounters in real life. Reality in works is considered as a means for a person to understand the world around him and himself, and the image of each literary character is worked out in such a way that the reader can recognize himself, a relative, a colleague or an acquaintance in him.

In the novels and stories of realists, art remains life-affirming, even if the plot is characterized by a tragic conflict. Another feature of this genre is the desire of writers to consider the surrounding reality in its development, and each writer tries to discover the emergence of new psychological, public and social relations.

Features of this literary movement

Realism in literature, which replaced romanticism, has the signs of art that seeks and finds truth, striving to transform reality.

In the works of realist writers, discoveries were made after much thought and dreaming, after analyzing subjective worldviews. This feature, which can be distinguished by the author’s perception of time, determined the distinctive features of realistic literature of the early twentieth century from traditional Russian classics.

Realism inXIX century

Such representatives of realism in literature as Balzac and Stendhal, Thackeray and Dickens, George Sand and Victor Hugo, in their works most clearly reveal the themes of good and evil, avoiding abstract concepts and showing the real life of their contemporaries. These writers make it clear to readers that evil lies in the lifestyle of bourgeois society, capitalist reality, and people’s dependence on various material values. For example, in Dickens's novel Dombey and Son, the owner of the company was heartless and callous not by nature. It’s just that such character traits appeared in him due to the presence of a lot of money and the ambition of the owner, for whom profit becomes the main achievement in life.

Realism in literature is devoid of humor and sarcasm, and the images of the characters are no longer the ideal of the writer himself and do not embody his cherished dreams. From the works of the 19th century, the hero practically disappears, in whose image the author’s ideas are visible. This situation is especially clearly seen in the works of Gogol and Chekhov.

However, this literary trend is most clearly manifested in the works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, who describe the world as they see it. This was expressed in the image of characters with their own strengths and weaknesses, the description of mental torment, a reminder to readers of the harsh reality that cannot be changed by one person.

As a rule, realism in literature also affected the fate of representatives of the Russian nobility, as can be judged from the works of I. A. Goncharov. Thus, the characters of the heroes in his works remain contradictory. Oblomov is a sincere and gentle person, but due to his passivity he is not capable of better things. Another character in Russian literature has similar qualities - the weak-willed but gifted Boris Raisky. Goncharov managed to create the image of an “anti-hero” typical of the 19th century, which was noticed by critics. As a result, the concept of “Oblomovism” appeared, referring to all passive characters whose main features were laziness and lack of will.

Introduction

A new type of realism emerged in the 19th century. This is critical realism. It differs significantly from the Renaissance and from the Enlightenment. Its flourishing in the West is associated with the names of Stendhal and Balzac in France, Dickens, Thackeray in England, and in Russia - A. Pushkin, N. Gogol, I. Turgenev, F. Dostoevsky, L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov.

Critical realism portrays the relationship between man and the environment in a new way. Human character is revealed in organic connection with social circumstances. The subject of deep social analysis has become the inner world of man; critical realism at the same time becomes psychological.

Development of Russian realism

A peculiarity of the historical aspect of the development of Russia in the mid-19th century is the situation after the Decembrist uprising, as well as the emergence of secret societies and circles, the appearance of works by A.I. Herzen, a circle of Petrashevites. This time is characterized by the beginning of the raznochinsky movement in Russia, as well as the acceleration of the process of formation of world artistic culture, including Russian. realism Russian creativity social

Creativity of realist writers

In Russia, the 19th century is a period of exceptional strength and scope in the development of realism. In the second half of the century, the artistic achievements of realism brought Russian literature to the international arena and won it worldwide recognition. The richness and diversity of Russian realism allow us to talk about its different forms.

Its formation is associated with the name of Pushkin, who led Russian literature onto the broad path of depicting “the fate of the people, the fate of man.” In the conditions of the accelerated development of Russian literature, Pushkin seems to be making up for its previous lag, paving new paths in almost all genres and, with his universality and his optimism, turning out to be akin to the talents of the Renaissance.

Griboedov and Pushkin, and after them Lermontov and Gogol, comprehensively reflected the life of the Russian people in their works.

Writers of the new movement are united by the fact that for them there are no high or low objects for life. Everything that is encountered in reality becomes the subject of their depiction. Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol populated their works with heroes of “lower, middle, and upper classes.” They truly revealed their inner world.

Writers of the realistic school saw in life and showed in their works that “a person living in society depends on it both in the way he thinks and in the way he acts.”

Unlike the romantics, realistic writers show the character of a literary hero not only as an individual phenomenon, but also as a result of certain, historically established social relations. Therefore, the character of the hero of a realistic work is always historical.

A special place in the history of Russian realism belongs to L. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. It was thanks to them that the Russian realistic novel acquired global significance. Their psychological mastery and insight into the “dialectics” of the soul opened the way for the artistic quests of 20th century writers. Realism in the 20th century throughout the world bears the imprint of the aesthetic discoveries of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. It is important to emphasize that Russian realism of the 19th century did not develop in isolation from the world historical and literary process.

The revolutionary liberation movement played a major role in the realistic understanding of social reality. Until the first powerful uprisings of the working class, the essence of bourgeois society and its class structure remained largely mysterious. The revolutionary struggle of the proletariat made it possible to remove the seal of mystery from the capitalist system and expose its contradictions. Therefore, it is quite natural that it was in the 30-40s of the 19th century that realism in literature and art was established in Western Europe. Exposing the vices of serfdom and bourgeois society, the realist writer finds beauty in objective reality itself. His positive hero is not elevated above life (Bazarov in Turgenev, Kirsanov, Lopukhov in Chernyshevsky, etc.). As a rule, it reflects the aspirations and interests of the people, the views of the advanced circles of the bourgeois and noble intelligentsia. Realistic art bridges the gap between ideal and reality, characteristic of romanticism. Of course, in the works of some realists there are vague romantic illusions where we are talking about the embodiment of the future (“The Dream of a Funny Man” by Dostoevsky, “What to Do?” Chernyshevsky...), and in this case we can rightfully talk about the presence in their work romantic tendencies. Critical realism in Russia was a consequence of the rapprochement of literature and art with life.

Critical realism took a step forward along the path of democratization of literature also in comparison with the work of the enlighteners of the 18th century. He took a much broader view of his contemporary reality. Feudal modernity entered the works of critical realists not only as the arbitrariness of serf owners, but also as the tragic situation of the masses - the serf peasantry, the dispossessed urban people.

Russian realists of the mid-19th century depicted society in contradictions and conflicts, which reflected the real movement of history and revealed the struggle of ideas. As a result, reality appeared in their work as an “ordinary flow,” as a self-propelled reality. Realism reveals its true essence only if art is considered by writers as a reflection of reality. In this case, the natural criteria of realism are depth, truth, objectivity in revealing the internal connections of life, typical characters acting in typical circumstances, and the necessary determinants of realistic creativity are historicism, the nationality of the artist’s thinking. Realism is characterized by the image of a person in unity with his environment, the social and historical concreteness of the image, conflict, plot, and the widespread use of such genre structures as the novel, drama, story, story.

Critical realism was marked by an unprecedented spread of epic and drama, which noticeably replaced poetry. Among the epic genres, the novel gained the greatest popularity. The reason for its success is mainly that it allows the realist writer to most fully implement the analytical function of art, to expose the causes of social evil.

At the origins of Russian realism of the 19th century is Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. In his lyrics one can see contemporary social life with its social contrasts, ideological quests, and the struggle of progressive people against political and feudal tyranny. The poet's humanism and nationality, along with his historicism, are the most important determinants of his realistic thinking.

Pushkin’s transition from romanticism to realism was manifested in “Boris Godunov” mainly in a specific interpretation of the conflict, in recognition of the decisive role of the people in history. The tragedy is imbued with deep historicism.

The further development of realism in Russian literature is associated primarily with the name of N.V. Gogol. The pinnacle of his realistic work is “Dead Souls”. Gogol watched with alarm how everything truly human was disappearing in modern society, how man was becoming smaller and more vulgarized. Seeing art as an active force for social development, Gogol cannot imagine creativity that is not illuminated by the light of a high aesthetic ideal.

The continuation of Pushkin and Gogol traditions was the work of I.S. Turgenev. Turgenev gained popularity after the publication of “Notes of a Hunter.” Turgenev’s achievements in the genre of the novel are enormous (“Rudin”, “The Noble Nest”, “On the Eve”, “Fathers and Sons”). In this area, his realism acquired new features.

Turgenev's realism was expressed most clearly in the novel Fathers and Sons. His realism is complex. It shows the historical concreteness of the conflict, reflections of the real movement of life, the truthfulness of details, the “eternal questions” of the existence of love, old age, death - the objectivity of the image and tendentiousness, penetrating lyricism.

Democratic writers (I.A. Nekrasov, N.G. Chernyshevsky, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, etc.) brought a lot of new things into realistic art. Their realism was called sociological. What it has in common is the denial of the existing serfdom system, the demonstration of its historical doom. Hence the sharpness of social criticism and the depth of artistic exploration of reality.