Russian Literature at the Turn of the 19th – 20th Centuries. Features of Russian literature at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries Characteristics of literature of the 19th and 20th centuries

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-1.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> Literature of Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries PERFORMED BY: STUDENT"> Литература России на рубеже 19 -20 веков ВЫПОЛНИЛА: УЧЕНИЦА 11 Б КЛАССА ШНУРКОВА А.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-2.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> General characteristics of the period The last years of the 19th century became a turning point for Russian"> Общая характеристика периода Последние годы XIX столетия стали поворотными для русской и западной культур. Начиная с 1890 - х гг. и вплоть до Октябрьской революции 1917 года изменились буквально все стороны российской жизни, начиная от экономики, политики и науки, и заканчивая технологией, культурой и искусством. Новая стадия историко-культурного развития была невероятно динамична и, в то же время, крайне драматична. Можно сказать, что Россия в переломное для нее время опережала другие страны по темпам и глубине перемен, а также по колоссальности внутренних конфликтов.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-3.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> What were the most important historical events that took place in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century? Russia"> Какие важнейшие исторические события происходили в России в начале 20 века? Россия пережила три революции: -1905 года; -Февральскую и Октябрьскую 1917 г. , -Русско-японскую войну 1904 -1905 гг. -Первую мировую войну 1914 -1918 гг. , -Гражданскую войну!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-4.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> Domestic political situation in Russia"> Внутриполитическая обстановка в России Конец XIX столетия обнажил глубочайшие кризисные явления в экономике Российской Империи. -Противоборство трех сил: защитники монархизма, сторонники буржуазных реформ, идеологи пролетарской революции. Выдвигались различные пути перестройки: «сверху» , законными средствами, «снизу» - путем революции.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-5.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>Scientific discoveries of the 20th century"> Научные открытия н. 20 века Начало XX столетия стало временем глобальных естественнонаучных открытий, особенно в области физики и математики. Самыми важными из них стали изобретение беспроволочной связи, открытие рентгеновских лучей, определение массы электрона, исследование феномена радиации. Мировоззрение человечества перевернули создание квантовой теории (1900), специальной (1905) и общей (1916 -1917) теории относительности. Прежние представления о строении мира были полностью поколеблены. Идея познаваемости мира, бывшая прежде непогрешимой истиной, подверглась сомнению.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-6.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> A tragic history of 20th century literature 1. In the 20th"> Трагическая история литературы 20 века 1. В 20 -е годы уехали или были изгнаны писатели, составлявшие цвет русской литературы: И. Бунин, А. Куприн, И. Шмелев и др. 2. Воздействие цензуры на литературу: 1926 год- конфискован журнал «Новый мир» с « Повестью непо- гашенной луны» Б. Пильняка. В 30 -е годы писателя рас- стреляют. (Е. Замятин, М. Булгаков и др.) И. А. Бунин!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-7.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>A tragic history of literature in the early 20th century 3. Since the early 30s - 1990s"> Трагическая история литературы н. 20 века 3. С начала 30 -х годов начался процесс физического уничтожения писателей: были расстреляны или погибли в лагерях Н. Клюев, И. Бабель, О. Мандельштам и многие другие.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-8.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> A tragic history of literature in the early 20th century 4. Since the early 30s - 1990s"> Трагическая история литературы н. 20 века 4. С начала 30 -х годов появилась тен- денция приве- дения литературы к единому методу - социалистическо му реализму. Одним из представителей стал М. Горький.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-9.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> In other words, almost all creative people in the 20th century were in conflict"> Иными словами, почти все творческие люди были 20 века были в конфликте с государством, которое, будучи тоталитарной системой, стремилось подавлять творческий потенциал личности.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-10.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>"> Литература к. 19 - н. 20 веков В конце XIX - начале XX века русская литература стала эстетически многослойной. Реализм на рубеже веков оставался масштабным и влиятельным литературным направлением. Так, в эту эпоху жили и творили Толстой и Чехов. (отражение реальности, жизненной правды) А. П. Чехов. Ялта. 1903 г.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-11.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>"> Переход от эпохи классической русской литературы к новому литературному времени сопровождался необычайно быстрой. На авансцену общекультурной жизни страны снова вышла русская поэзия, не похожая на прежние образцы. Так началась новая поэтическая эпоха, получившая название "поэтического ренессанса" или "серебряного века".!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-12.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> The Silver Age is part of the artistic culture of Russia in the late 19th - early 20th centuries ,"> Серебряный век- часть художественной культуры России конца XIX - начала XX века, связанная с символизмом, акмеизмом, "неокрестьянской" литературой и отчасти футуризмом.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-13.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>New trends in Russian literature at the turn of the century Between 1890 and 1917"> Новые течения в литературе России рубежа веков В период с 1890 по 1917 год особенно ярко заявили о себе три литературных течения - символизм, акмеизм и футуризм, которые составили основу модернизма как литературного направления.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-14.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>SYMBOLISM"> СИМВОЛИЗМ Март 1894 г. - вышел в свет сборник с названием "Русские символисты". Через некоторое время появились еще два выпуска с таким же названием. Автором всех трех сборников был молодой поэт Валерий Брюсов, использовавший разные псевдонимы для того, чтобы создать впечатление существования целого поэтического направления.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-15.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> SYMBOLISM Symbolism is the first and largest of the modernist movements,"> СИМВОЛИЗМ Символизм является первым и самым крупным из модернистских течений, возникших в России. Теоретическая основа русского символизма была заложена в 1892 году лекцией Д. С. Мережков- ского "О причинах упадка и о новых течениях современной русской литературы". В названии лекции содержалась оценка состояния литературы. Надежда на ее возрождение возлагалась автором на "новые течения". Дмитрий Сергеевич Мережковский!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-16.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>Main provisions of the current Andrey Bely Symbol - central aesthetic"> Основные положения течения Андрей Белый Символ - центральная эстетическая категория нового течения. Представление о символе заключается в том, что он воспринимается как иносказание. Цепь символов напоминает набор иероглифов, своеобразных шифров для "посвященных". Таким образом, символ оказывается одной из разновидностей тропов.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-17.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> The main provisions of the current The symbol is polysemantic: it contains an infinite number of meanings."> Основные положения течения Символ многозначен: он содержит безграничное множество смыслов. "Символ - окно в бесконечность", - сказал Федор Сологуб.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-18.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> Main provisions of the current Relations between"> Основные положения течения По-новому строились в символизме отношения между поэтом и его аудиторией. Поэт- символист не стремился быть общепонятным. Он обращался не ко всем, но лишь к "посвященным", не к читателю- потребителю, а к читателю -творцу, читателю- соавтору. Символистская лирика будила "шестое чувство" в человеке, обостряла и утончал а его восприятие. Для этого символисты стремились максимально использовать ассоциативные возможности слова, обращались к мотивам и образам разных культур.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-19.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>Acmeism The literary movement of acmeism arose in the early 1910s. ( from Greek acme -"> Акмеизм Литературное течение акмеизма возникло в начале 1910 -х годов. (от греч. acme - высшая степень чего- либо, расцвет, вершина, острие). Из широкого круга участников "Цеха" выделилась более узкая и эстетически более сплоченная группа акмеистов - Н. Гумилев, А. Ахматова, С. Городецкий, О. Мандельштам, М. Зенкевич и В. Нарбут.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-20.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> Basics of the flow of skipping syllables and New rhythms are created"> Основные положения теченияпропуска слогов и Новые ритмы создаются путем А. Ахматова перестановки ударения Самоценность каждого явления «Непознаваемые по своему смыслу слова нельзя познать»!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-21.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>Symbolist creative individuality Clenched her hands under a dark veil. . ."> Творческие индивидуальности символистов Сжала руки под темной вуалью. . . "Отчего ты сегодня бледна? " - Оттого, что я терпкой печалью Напоила его допьяна. Как забуду? Он вышел, шатаясь, Искривился мучительно рот. . . Я сбежала, перил не касаясь, Я бежала за ним до ворот. Задыхаясь, я крикнула: "Шутка Все, что было. Уйдешь, я умру". Улыбнулся спокойно и жутко И сказал мне: "Не стой на ветру". 8 января 1911!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-22.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> Futurism (from lat. futurum - future). He first declared"> Футуризм (от лат. futurum - будущее). Впервые он заявил Футуризм о себе в Италии. Временем рождения русского футуризма считается 1910 год, когда вышел в свет первый футуристический сборник "Садок Судей" (его авторами были Д. Бурлюк, В. Хлебников и В. Каменский). Вместе с В. Маяковским и А. Крученых эти поэты вскоре составили группировку кубофутуристов, или поэтов "Гилеи" (Гилея - древнегреческое название части Таврической губернии, где отец Д. Бурлюка управлял имением и куда в 1911 году приезжали поэты нового объединения).!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-23.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>Current Highlights As an art program"> Основные положения течения В качестве художественной программы футуристы выдвинули утопическую мечту о рождении сверхискусства, способного перевернуть мир. Художник В. Татлин всерьез конструировал крылья для человека, К. Малевич разрабатывал проекты городов- спутников, курсирующих по земной орбите, В. Хлебников пытался предложить человечеству новый универсальный язык и открыть "законы времени".!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-24.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> A kind of shocking repertoire has developed in futurism. Biting names were used:"> В футуризме сложился своего рода репертуар эпатирования. Использовались хлесткие названия: "Чукурюк" - для картины; "Дохлая луна" - для сборника произведений; "Идите к черту!" - для литературного манифеста.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-25.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>A slap in the face of public taste Throw Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy"> Пощечина общественному вкусу Бросить Пушкина, Достоевского, Толстого и проч. , и проч. с Парохода Современности. . Всем этим Максимам Горьким, Куприным, Блокам, Сологубам, Ремизовым, Аверченкам, Черным, Кузминым, Буниным и проч. нужна лишь дача на реке. Такую награду дает судьба портным. . . С высоты небоскребов мы взираем на их ничтожество!. . Мы приказываем чтить права поэтов: 1. На увеличение словаря в его объеме произвольными и производными словами (Словоновшество). 2. На непреодолимую ненависть к существовавшему до них языку. 3. С ужасом отстранять от гордого чела своего из банных веников сделанный Вами венок грошовой славы. 4. Стоять на глыбе слова "мы" среди свиста и негодования. И если пока еще и в наших строках остались грязные клейма Ваших "Здравого смысла" и "Хорошего вкуса", то все же на них уже трепещут впервые Зарницы Новой Грядущей Красоты Самоценного (самовитого) Слова. Д. Бурлюк, Алексей Крученых, В. Маяковский, Виктор Хлебников Москва, 1912 г. Декабрь!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-26.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>Creative Individualities of Futurism In David's Poems"> Творческие индивидуальности футуризма В стихотворениях Давида Бурлюка "звезды - черви, пьяные туманом", "поэзия - истрепанная девка, а красота - кощунственная дрянь". В его провокационных текстах понижающие образы используются предельно максимально: Мне нравится беременный мужчина Как он хорош у памятника Пушкина Одетый в серую тужурку Ковыряя пальцем штукатурку !}<. .="">

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-27.jpg" alt="(!LANG:>Creative individualities of futurism Oh, laugh, laughers!"> Творческие индивидуальности футуризма О, рассмейтесь, смехачи! О, засмейтесь, смехачи! Что смеются смехами, что смеянствуют смеяльно. О, засмейтесь усмеяльно! О, рассмешищ надсмеяльных - смех усмейных смехачей! О, иссмейся рассмеяльно, смех надсмейных смеячей! Смейево, смейево, Усмей, осмей, смешики, Смеюнчики, смеюнчики. О, рассмейтесь, смехачи! О, засмейтесь, смехачи! 1910!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-28.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> Summing up What historical events is Russia going through during this period?"> Подведем итоги Какие исторические события переживает Россия в этот период? Как развивалась литература на рубеже 19 -20 веков? Сформулируйте основные положения символизма, акмеизма, футуризма. Чем эти течения отличаются друг от друга? Назовите творческие индивидуальности каждого из литературных направлений.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-29.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> Let's draw conclusions"> Сделаем выводы На рубеже веков русская литература переживала расцвет, сравнимый по яркости и многообразию талантов с блистательным началом 19 века. Это период интенсивного развития философской мысли, изобразительного искусства, сценического мастерства. В литературе развиваются различные направления. В период с 1890 по 1917 год особенно ярко заявили о себе три литературных течения - символизм, акмеизм и футуризм, которые составили основу модернизма как литературного направления. Литература серебряного века явила блестящее созвездие ярких поэтических индивидуальностей, каждый из которых являл собой огромный творческий пласт, обогативший не только русскую, но и мировую поэзию XX века.!}

Src="https://present5.com/presentation/3/15630017_267582300.pdf-img/15630017_267582300.pdf-30.jpg" alt="(!LANG:> Let's draw conclusions The last years of the 19th century became a turning point for Russian and Western"> Сделаем выводы Последние годы XIX столетия стали поворотными для русской и западной культур. Начиная с 1890 - х гг. и вплоть до Октябрьской революции 1917 года изменились буквально все стороны российской жизни, начиная от экономики, политики и науки, и заканчивая технологией, культурой и искусством. Новая стадия историко-культурного развития была невероятно динамична и, в то же время, крайне драматична. Можно сказать, что Россия в переломное для нее время опережала другие страны по темпам и глубине перемен, а также по колоссальности внутренних конфликтов.!}

Literature of Russia at the turn of the century Main literary trends, currents

General characteristics of the period The last years of the 19th century became a turning point for Russian and Western cultures. Starting from the thirteenth century and until the October Revolution of 1917, literally all aspects of Russian life changed, from the economy, politics and science, to technology, culture and art. The new stage of historical and cultural development was incredibly dynamic and, at the same time, extremely dramatic. It can be said that Russia, at a critical time for it, was ahead of other countries in terms of the pace and depth of changes, as well as the colossal nature of internal conflicts.

What major historical events took place in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century? Russia has gone through three revolutions: years; -February and October 1917, -Russian-Japanese war. - World War I, Civil War

Domestic political situation in Russia The end of the 19th century revealed the deepest crisis phenomena in the economy of the Russian Empire. Confrontation of three forces: defenders of monarchism, supporters of bourgeois reforms, ideologists of the proletarian revolution. Various ways of perestroika were put forward: "from above", by legal means, "from below" - through revolution.

Scientific discoveries of the 20th century The beginning of the 20th century was the time of global natural scientific discoveries, especially in the field of physics and mathematics. The most important of these were the invention of wireless communication, the discovery of X-rays, the determination of the mass of the electron, and the study of the phenomenon of radiation. The worldview of mankind was turned over by the creation of quantum theory (1900), special (1905) and general () theory of relativity. Previous ideas about the structure of the world were completely shaken. The idea of ​​the knowability of the world, which was previously an infallible truth, was questioned.

Philosophical foundations of culture at the turn of the century: The main question is the question of Man and God. Without faith in God, a person will never find the meaning of existence. (F.M. Dostoevsky) Poetization of the image of Man: “Man - it sounds proud!” (M. Gorky) Russian thought echoed with the "gloomy German genius." (Alexander Blok). The philosophy of F. Nietzsche about the superman is “the will to reevaluate.” (A. Bely) The superman is a common and incredibly distant perspective of humanity, which will find the meaning of its existence without God: “God is dead.”

Painting Strong positions were held by representatives of the Russian academic school and the heirs of the academic Wanderers The emergence of a new style - modern (followers of this style united in the creative society "World of Art") modern Symbolism in painting (the exhibition "Blue Rose", is closely connected with poetry; symbolism was not unified stylistic direction) Symbolism-medium The emergence of groupings representing the avant-garde trend in art (the exhibition "Jack of Diamonds"), the avant-garde favorite genre of avant-garde artists is still life Neo-primitivism (exhibition "Donkey's Tail") Neo-primitivism Author's style (synthesis of European avant-garde trends with Russian national traditions) Author's

The tragic history of literature of the 20th century 1. In the 20s, the writers who made up the color of Russian literature left or were expelled: I. Bunin, A. Kuprin, I. Shmelev and others. 2. The impact of censorship on literature: 1926 - the magazine " New World” with “The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon” by B. Pilnyak. In the 1930s the writer was shot. I.A. Bunin

Literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Russian literature became aesthetically multilayered. Realism at the turn of the century remained a large-scale and influential literary movement. So, Tolstoy and Chekhov lived and worked in this era. (reflection of reality, life truth) A.P. Chekhov. Yalta

The transition from the era of classical Russian literature to the new literary time was accompanied by an unusually fast one. Russian poetry again entered the forefront of the country's general cultural life, unlike previous examples. Thus began a new poetic era, called the "poetic renaissance" or "silver age".

Modernism (from the French moderne - “newest”, “modern”) is a new phenomenon in literature and art. Its goal is the creation of a poetic culture that contributes to the spiritual revival of mankind, the transformation of the world by means of art. Symbolism (from the Greek symbolon - “sign, omen)” is a literary and artistic direction, which considered the goal of art to be an intuitive comprehension of world unity through symbols. Existentialism is a worldview that raised questions about how a person should live in the face of impending historical catastrophes, based on the principle of the opposition of subject and object.

The ideological foundations of realism and modernism The ideological foundation of realism The philosophy of modernism in the XX century. Truth is One, good overcomes evil, God overcomes the devil. The world is not cognizable, a person is not able to separate good from evil. Hero Seeking the path to higher, eternal values, carrying the ideals of goodness, love. Complex, contradictory, standing out from the rest of the world, often opposing it. Highest values ​​Spiritual, Christian ideals Personality in its diversity Purpose of art Harmonization of life Expressing oneself and one's understanding of the world and man.

The fundamental principles of the old realists adopted by the new ones Democracy is the rejection of elitist literature, understandable only to a "bunch" of the initiated. Taste for the public - awareness of the public role and responsibility of the writer. Historicism: art is a reflection of an era, its truthful mirror. Traditionalism is a spiritual and aesthetic connection with the precepts of the classics. Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich Chekhov Anton Pavlovich

Writers - realists Bunin Ivan Alekseevich Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich Zaitsev Boris Konstantinovich Veresaev Vikenty Vikentievich

Realist writers Maxim Gorky Korolenko Vladimir Galaktionovich Andreev Leonid Nikolaevich Zamyatin Evgeny Ivanovich

The Silver Age The Silver Age is part of the artistic culture of Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, associated with symbolism, acmeism, "neo-peasant" literature, and partly futurism.

SYMBOLISM In March 1894, a collection entitled "Russian Symbolists" was published. After some time, two more issues with the same name appeared. The author of all three collections was the young poet Valery Bryusov, who used various pseudonyms in order to create the impression of the existence of a whole poetic movement.

SYMBOLISM Symbolism is the first and largest of the modernist movements that arose in Russia. The theoretical basis of Russian symbolism was laid in 1892 by D. S. Merezhkovsky's lecture "On the Causes of the Decline and on New Trends in Modern Russian Literature." The title of the lecture contained an assessment of the state of the literature. The hope for its revival was placed by the author on "new trends". Dmitry Sergeevich Merezhkovsky

The main provisions of the current Andrey Bely The symbol is the central aesthetic category of the new trend. The idea of ​​a symbol is that it is perceived as an allegory. The chain of symbols resembles a set of hieroglyphs, a kind of cipher for "initiates". Thus, the symbol turns out to be one of the varieties of tropes.

The main provisions of the current The symbol is polysemantic: it contains an infinite number of meanings. "A symbol is a window to infinity," said Fyodor Sologub.

The main provisions of the current were built in a new way in the symbolism of the relationship between the poet and his audience. The symbolist poet did not seek to be universally intelligible. He did not address everyone, but only the "initiates", not the reader-consumer, but the reader-creator, the reader-co-author. Symbolist lyrics awakened the "sixth sense" in a person, sharpened and refined his perception. To do this, the Symbolists sought to make the most of the associative possibilities of the word, turned to the motives and images of different cultures.

Senior Symbolists Gippius Zinaida Nikolaevna Balmont Konstantin Dmitrievich Fyodor Sologub Kuzmin Mikhail Alekseevich

The Young Symbolists "The ultimate goal of art is the re-creation of life." (A. Blok) Andrey Bely Alexander Alexandrovich Blok Ivanov Vyacheslav Ivanovich

Acmeism The literary movement of acmeism arose in the early 1910s. (from the Greek acme - the highest degree of something, flourishing, peak, point). A narrower and aesthetically more cohesive group of acmeists stood out from a wide circle of participants in the "Workshop": N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, S. Gorodetsky, O. Mandelstam, M. Zenkevich and V. Narbut.

Acmeists Akhmatova Anna Andreevna Mandelstam Osip Emilievich Gumilyov Nikolay Stepanovich Sergey Gorodetsky

Futurism Futurism (from lat. futurum - future). He first announced himself in Italy. The time of birth of Russian futurism is considered to be 1910, when the first futuristic collection "The Garden of Judges" was published (its authors were D. Burliuk, V. Khlebnikov, V. Kamensky). Together with V. Mayakovsky and A. Kruchenykh, these poets soon formed a grouping of cubo-futurists, or poets of "Gilea"
The main provisions of the current As an artistic program, the futurists put forward a utopian dream of the birth of a super-art capable of turning the world upside down. The artist V. Tatlin seriously designed wings for humans, K. Malevich developed projects for satellite cities plying the earth's orbit, V. Khlebnikov tried to offer mankind a new universal language and discover the "laws of time".

In futurism, a kind of shocking repertoire has developed. Biting names were used: "Chukuryuk" - for the picture; "Dead Moon" - for a collection of works; "Go to hell!" - for a literary manifesto.

A slap in the face to public taste To abandon Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and so on and so forth. from the Steamboat of Modernity .... To all these Maxims Gorky, Kuprin, Blok, Sologub, Remizov, Averchenko, Cherny, Kuzmin, Bunin and so on. and so on. All you need is a cottage on the river. Such a reward is given by fate to tailors... From the height of skyscrapers we gaze at their insignificance! 2. An irresistible hatred for the language that existed before them. 3. With horror, remove from your proud brow a wreath of penny glory you made from bath brooms. 4. To stand on a block of the word "we" amid whistling and indignation. And if the dirty stigmas of your "Common Sense" and "Good Taste" still remain in our lines, then for the first time the Lightning Lightnings of the New Coming Beauty of the Self-valuable (self-sufficient) Word are already trembling on them. D. Burliuk, Alexei Kruchenykh, V. Mayakovsky, Viktor Khlebnikov Moscow, 1912 December

Neo-peasant poets We are early morning clouds, dewy spring dawns. N. Gumilyov Yesenin Sergey Alexandrovich Oreshin Pyotr Vasilyevich Klyuev Nikolai Alekseevich

Writers who were not members of literary groups Maximilian Aleksandrovich Voloshin Boris Leonidovich Pasternak Vladislav Felitsianovich Khodasevich Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva

Let's draw conclusions At the turn of the century, Russian literature flourished, comparable in brightness and variety of talents with the brilliant beginning of the 19th century. This is a period of intensive development of philosophical thought, fine arts, stage skills. There are various trends in the literature. In the period from 1890 to 1917, three literary movements, symbolism, acmeism and futurism, were especially pronounced, which formed the basis of modernism as a literary movement. The literature of the Silver Age showed a brilliant constellation of bright poetic individuals, each of which was a huge creative layer that enriched not only Russian, but also world poetry of the 20th century.

Let's draw conclusions The last years of the 19th century became a turning point for Russian and Western cultures. Starting from the thirteenth century and until the October Revolution of 1917, literally all aspects of Russian life changed, from the economy, politics and science, to technology, culture and art. The new stage of historical and cultural development was incredibly dynamic and, at the same time, extremely dramatic. It can be said that Russia, at a critical time for it, was ahead of other countries in terms of the pace and depth of changes, as well as the colossal nature of internal conflicts.

Questions: What major historical events took place in Russia at the turn of the century? What philosophical ideas occupied the minds of mankind? Who introduced the definition of "Silver Age"? What trends existed in the literature of the turn of the century? What traditions were developed by realist writers at the beginning of the 20th century? What does the term "modernism" mean? What is meant by the term "Party Literature"? Name the representatives of the Silver Age.

Literature of the turn of the XIX - XX centuries

Aleksandrova T. L.

General characteristics of the era

The first question that arises when referring to the topic "Russian literature of the 20th century" is from what moment to count the 20th century. According to the calendar, from 1900 - 1901? But it is obvious that a purely chronological boundary, although significant in itself, gives almost nothing in the sense of delimiting epochs. The first milestone of the new century is the revolution of 1905. But the revolution passed, there was some lull - until the First World War. Akhmatova recalled this time in "A Poem without a Hero":

And along the embankment of the legendary

Not a calendar one was approaching,

The real 20th century...

The "real twentieth century" began with the First World War and the two revolutions of 1917, with Russia's transition into a new phase of its existence. But the cataclysm was preceded by the "turn of the century" - a most difficult, turning point, which largely predetermined the subsequent history, but was itself the result and resolution of many contradictions that had been brewing in Russian society long before it. In Soviet times, it was customary to talk about the inevitability of a revolution that liberated the creative forces of the people and opened the way to a new life for them. At the end of this "new life" period, a reassessment of values ​​began. There was a temptation to a new and simple solution to the problem: simply change the signs to the opposite ones, declare everything that was considered white to be black, and vice versa. However, time shows the haste and immaturity of such reassessments. It is clear that it is impossible for a person who has not experienced it to judge this era, and one should judge it with great caution.

After a century, the Russian turn of the 19th-20th centuries seems to be a time of prosperity - in all areas. Literature, art, architecture, music - but not only that. The sciences, both positive and humanitarian (history, philology, philosophy, theology), are rapidly developing. The pace of industrial growth is no less rapid; factories, mills and railroads are being built. And yet Russia remains an agricultural country. Capitalist relations penetrate the life of the village, on the surface - the stratification of the former community, the ruin of noble estates, the impoverishment of the peasants, famine - but until the First World War, Russia feeds the whole of Europe with bread.

But what Tsvetaeva wrote about, referring to the children of emigration, brought up in a nostalgic spirit, is also true:

You, in orphan capes

Clothed from birth

Stop making excuses

By Eden, in which you

There was no ... ("Poems to the son")

What seems to be the heyday now, contemporaries seemed to decline. Not only descendants, but also the eyewitnesses of all subsequent events will only be surprised to what extent they did not notice the bright sides of the reality surrounding them. "The dull Chekhovian twilight", in which there is an acute shortage of bright, bold, strong - such is the feeling that preceded the first Russian revolution. But this view is inherent, first of all, to the intelligentsia. In the mass of the population back in the 80-90s. lived confidence in the inviolability of the foundations and fortress of "Holy Russia".

Bunin in "The Life of Arseniev" draws attention to the mindset of the bourgeois Rostovtsev, whose high school student Alyosha Arseniev, Bunin's "lyrical hero", lives as a "freeloader" - a mindset very characteristic of the era of Alexander III: "Pride in the words of Rostovtsev sounded quite often in general. Pride By the fact, of course, that we, the Rostovtsevs, are Russians, genuine Russians, that we live that very special, simple, apparently modest life, which is the real Russian life and which is not and cannot be better, because it is modest it is only in appearance, but in fact it is plentiful, as nowhere else, it is a legitimate offspring of the primordial spirit of Russia, and Russia is richer, stronger, more righteous and more glorious than all countries in the world. And was this pride inherent in Rostovtsev alone? and very many, but now I see something else: the fact that she was then even a certain sign of the times was felt at that time especially and not only in our city. Are we all that we so proudly called Russian, in the strength and truth of which we seemed to be so sure? Be that as it may, I know for sure that I grew up at the time of the greatest Russian power and its enormous consciousness. "Further, Arseniev - or Bunin - recalls how Rostovtsev listened to the reading of Nikitin's famous "Rus" "And when I reached the proud and joyful end , until the resolution of this description: “This is you, my sovereign Russia, my Orthodox homeland” - Rostovtsev clenched his jaw and turned pale. S. 62).

Approximately the same mood is recalled in his memoirs by the famous spiritual writer, Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov) (1880 - 1961): "As for social views, they were also essentially based on religion. It was the humble upbringing that the Christian Church gave us that taught us about power, that it is from God, and it must not only be recognized, obey it, but also loved and honored. The king is a person especially blessed by God, the anointed of God. He is anointed at the coronation to serve the state. He is the ruler over the whole country We were brought up to him and his family not only in fear and obedience, but also in deep love and reverence, as persons sacred, inviolable, truly "highest", "autocratic", "great"; all this was not subject to any doubt among our parents and among the people. So it was in my childhood "(Veniamin (Fedchenkov), metropolitan. At the turn of two eras. M., 1994, p. 95). Metropolitan Benjamin recalls the sincere grief among the people on the occasion of the death of Emperor Alexander III. Under the emperor in his last days, the revered shepherd throughout Russia, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, was inseparable. “It was the death of a saint,” the heir to the crown prince, the future Emperor Nicholas II, writes in his diary (Diary of Emperor Nicholas II. 1890 - 1906, M., 1991., P. 87).

What happened next? What kind of demons have taken root in the Russian people - "God-bearer", that he went to destroy his own shrines? Another temptation: to find a specific culprit, to explain the fall by someone's pernicious external influence. Someone invaded us from the outside and destroyed our life - aliens? Gentiles? But such a solution to the problem is not an option. Berdyaev once wrote in his "Philosophy of Freedom": a slave is always looking for someone to blame, a free person is responsible for his own actions. The contradictions of Russian life have been noticed for a long time - at least what Nekrasov wrote about:

You are poor, you are abundant,

You are powerful, you are powerless,

Mother Russia.

Part of the contradictions are rooted in the reforms of Peter the Great: the split of the nation into an apex aspiring to Europe and a mass of people alien to Europeanization. If the cultural level of a part of the privileged strata of society has reached the highest European standards, then among the common people it has undoubtedly become lower than before, in the era of the Muscovite state - in any case, literacy has sharply decreased. The antinomies of Russian reality are also reflected in the well-known comic poem by V.A. Gilyarovsky:

There are two misfortunes in Russia

Below is the power of darkness,

And above - the darkness of power.

European influence, gradually penetrating ever deeper into Russian life, itself sometimes transformed and was refracted in the most unexpected way. The ideas of the liberation movement became a kind of new religion for the emerging Russian intelligentsia. ON THE. Berdyaev subtly noticed a parallel between her and the schismatics of the 17th century. "In the same way, the Russian revolutionary intelligentsia of the 19th century will be schismatic and will think that an evil force is in power. Both in the Russian people and in the Russian intelligentsia there will be a search for a kingdom based on truth" (Berdyaev N.A. The origins and meaning of Russian communism. M ., 1990, p. 11). The Russian revolutionary movement had its martyrs and "saints" who were ready to sacrifice their lives for an idea. The revolutionary "religion" was a kind of near-Christian heresy: denying the Church, it itself borrowed a lot from the moral teachings of Christ - it is enough to recall Nekrasov's poem "N.G. Chernyshevsky":

He has not yet been crucified,

But the hour will come - he will be on the cross;

Sent by the God of Wrath and Sorrow

Remind the kings of the earth about Christ.

Zinaida Gippius wrote about the peculiar religiosity of the Russian democrats in her memoirs: "Only a thin film of unconsciousness separated them from true religiosity. Therefore, they were, in most cases, carriers of high morality." Therefore, people of an amazing spiritual fortress could appear at that time (Chernyshevsky), capable of heroism and sacrifice. Real materialism extinguishes the spirit of chivalry. "(Gippius Z.N. Memoirs. M. 2001. P. 200.)

It should be noted that the actions of the authorities were far from always reasonable and their consequences often turned out to be opposite to those expected. The archaic and clumsy bureaucratic apparatus, over time, less and less met the urgent needs of managing a gigantic country. The dispersion of the population, the multinationality of the Russian Empire presented additional difficulties. The intelligentsia was also irritated by the excessive police zeal, although the rights of opposition-minded public figures to express their civic position were incomparably wider than in the future "free" Soviet Union.

A kind of milestone on the road to revolution was the Khodynka disaster, which happened on May 18, 1896, during the days of the celebrations for the coronation of the new emperor, Nicholas II. Due to the negligence of the administration, a stampede occurred during a festivities on the Khodynka field in Moscow. According to official figures, about 2,000 people died. The sovereign was advised to cancel the celebrations, but he did not agree: "This catastrophe is the greatest misfortune, but a misfortune that should not overshadow the coronation holiday. The Khodynka catastrophe should be ignored in this sense" (Diary of Emperor Nicholas II. 1890 - 1906. M., 1991 ., S. 129). This attitude outraged many, many thought it was a bad omen.

Metropolitan Veniamin recalled the impact that "Bloody Sunday" had on the people on January 9, 1905. “The first revolution of 1905 began for me with the well-known action of workers in St. Petersburg on January 9. Under the leadership of Father Gapon, thousands of workers, with crosses and banners, moved from behind the Nevsky Zastava to the royal palace with a request, as they said then. I was a student at that time academy. The people went with sincere faith in the tsar, the defender of truth and the offended. But the tsar did not accept him, instead he was shot. I do not know the behind-the-scenes history of events and therefore do not enter into their assessment. Only one thing is certain that there was shot (but not yet shot) faith in the tsar. I, a man of monarchical sentiments, not only did not rejoice at this victory of the government, but felt a wound in my heart: the father of the people could not but accept his children, no matter what happened later ... "(Veniamin (Fedchenkov) , metropolitan At the turn of two eras. M., 1994, p. 122) And the emperor wrote in his diary that day: "A hard day! Serious unrest occurred in St. Petersburg due to the desire of the workers to reach the Winter Palace. The troops should b They were shooting in different parts of the city, there were many killed and wounded. Lord, how painful and hard! "(Diary of Emperor Nicholas II. 1890 - 1906. M., 1991., S. 209). But it is clear that he did not have anyone in his mind to accept. It is difficult to talk about this event to say: it is only clear that this is a tragedy of mutual misunderstanding between the authorities and the people. He who was labeled "Nicholas the Bloody", who was considered a nonentity and a tyrant of his country, was in fact a man of high moral qualities, faithful to his duty, ready to give his life for Russia, - which he later proved by the feat of a passion-bearer, while many of the "freedom fighters" who condemned him saved themselves by compromise with power alien to them or flight outside the country. No one can be condemned, but this fact should be stated.

Metropolitan Veniamin does not deny the responsibility of the Church for everything that happened to Russia: “I must admit that the influence of the Church on the masses of the people was weakening and weakening, the authority of the clergy was falling. There are many reasons. One of them is in ourselves: we have ceased to be “salty salt "and therefore they could not salt others" (Veniamin (Fedchenkov), metropolitan. At the turn of two eras. M., 1994, p. 122). Recalling his student years at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, he wonders over the years: why did it never occur to them, future theologians, to go to Kronstadt to see Fr. John. “Our religious appearance continued to be still brilliant, but the spirit weakened. And the “spiritual” became worldly. Student life went past religious interests. There is absolutely no need to think that theological schools were nurseries for apostates, atheists, renegades. There were also very few of them. But much more dangerous was the internal enemy: religious indifference. How shameful now! And now how weeping from our poverty and from petrified insensitivity. No, not everything was prosperous in the Church. We became those of whom it is said in the Apocalypse: "Because you are not cold hot, I will vomit you from My mouth…″ The times soon came and we, many, were vomited even from the Motherland… We did not appreciate its shrines. My Spiritual Encounters, Moscow, 1997, pp. 197-199). Nevertheless, the very capacity for such repentance testifies that the Church was alive and soon proved its viability.

All these aggravated contradictions were reflected in the literature in one way or another. According to the already established tradition, the “turn of the century” covers the last decade of the 19th century and the period before the 1917 revolution. But the 1890s are also the 19th century, the time of Tolstoy and Chekhov in prose, Fet, Maikov and Polonsky in poetry. It is impossible to separate the outgoing 19th century from the emerging 20th, there is no strict border. The authors of the nineteenth century and the authors of the twentieth century are people of the same circle, they are familiar with each other, they meet in literary circles and editorial offices of magazines. Between them there is both mutual attraction and repulsion, the eternal conflict of "fathers and children."

The generation of writers born in the 60s - 70s. 19th century and who made an outstanding contribution to Russian culture, in his aspirations was somewhat different from the still dominant "sixties" and seventies. More precisely, it split, and the event that they experienced in childhood or early adolescence, but which, perhaps, had a decisive influence on it, was the assassination of Alexander II on March 1, 1881. For some, it awakened the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe fragility of autocracy (the murder of the "anointed of God" happened, but the world did not collapse) and the desire to more actively continue the work of the revolutionary intelligentsia (these were people like Lenin and Gorky), others shuddered at the cruelty of the "fighters for the people's happiness" and thought more carefully about eternal questions - from these came mystics, religious philosophers, poets, alien to social themes. But the traditional Orthodox clergy, in which many were brought up, seemed to them too mundane, rooted in everyday life and not in keeping with the spirit of their ideal aspirations. They were looking for spirituality, but often they were looking for on roundabout and dead-end paths. Some eventually returned to the Church, some remained in eternal opposition to it.

Behind the literature of the turn of the century, the name "Silver Age" was established. For some, this concept is colored negatively. What does it include? Approaching the common European tradition - and to some extent neglecting the national one, "opening new horizons" in the field of form - and narrowing the content, attempts at intuitive insights and moral blindness, the search for beauty - and a certain morbidity, damage, the spirit of hidden danger and the sweetness of sin. Bunin described his contemporaries as follows: "At the end of the nineties, he had not yet arrived, but a 'big wind from the desert' was already felt. thoughts and feelings," as it was then expressed. Some of the former still ruled, but the number of their adherents was decreasing, and the fame of the new ones was growing. And almost all of those new ones that were at the head of the new, from Gorky to Sologub, were naturally gifted people. endowed with rare energy, great strength and great abilities.But here is what is extremely significant for those days when the "wind from the desert" was already approaching: the strengths and abilities of almost all innovators were of a rather low quality, vicious by nature, mixed with vulgar, deceitful, speculative, servile to the street, with a shameless thirst for success, scandals ... "(Bunin. Sobr. soch. v. 9. P. 309).

The temptation for the educator: to ban this literature, not to let the poisonous spirit of the Silver Age "poison" the younger generation. It was precisely this impulse that was followed in the Soviet period, when the pernicious "Silver Age" was opposed by the "life-affirming romanticism" of Gorky and Mayakovsky. Meanwhile, Gorky and Mayakovsky are the most typical representatives of the same Silver Age (which is also confirmed by Bunin). Forbidden fruit attracts, official recognition repels. That is why in the Soviet period it was precisely Gorky and Mayakovsky that many, while reading, did not read, but absorbed the forbidden symbolists and acmeists with all their hearts - and in some ways, indeed, they were morally damaged, losing a sense of the border between good and evil. The ban on reading is not a way to protect morality. It is necessary to read the literature of the Silver Age, but it must be read with reason. “Everything is possible for me, but not everything is good for me,” said the apostle Paul.

In the 19th century, Russian literature performed in society a function close to religious, prophetic: Russian writers considered it their duty to awaken conscience in a person. The literature of the 20th century partly continues this tradition, partly protests against it; continuing, protests, and protesting, nevertheless continues. Starting from his fathers, he tries to return to his grandfathers and great-grandfathers. B.K. Zaitsev, a witness and chronicler of the Silver Age of Russian literature, comparing it with the previous, Golden Age, pronounces the following verdict on his time: The Golden Age is the harvest of genius. The Silver Age is the harvest of talents. This is what was lacking in this literature: love and faith in Truth" (Zaitsev B.K. Silver Age. - Collected works in 11 vols. vol. 4., p. 478). However, such a judgment cannot be accepted unambiguously.

Literary and social life 1890 - 1917

The intelligentsia has always defended its internal freedom and independence from the government, and meanwhile the dictate of public opinion was much more severe than the pressure "from above". Politicization was the reason why writers and critics formed different factions, sometimes neutral, sometimes hostile to each other. Zinaida Gippius in her memoirs well showed the spirit of the Petersburg literary groups, which she had the opportunity to observe at the beginning of her literary activity, in the 1890s: people, literary old people, and indeed everyone in general, perhaps. There are, it turns out, 'liberals', like Pleshcheev, Weinberg, Semevsky and then others, not liberals or less liberals" (Gippius. Memoirs. P. 177.). Pleshcheev, for example, never talks about Polonsky or Maikov, because Polonsky is a censor, and Maikov is also a censor, and an even bigger official, a privy councilor (at the same time, an interesting remark: the radical democrat Pleshcheev is most similar in type to good Russian master). Young people were allowed to enter both circles, but directives were already given, "what is good and what is bad." "The worst was considered the old man Suvorin, who was still unknown to me, the editor of Novoye Vremya. Everyone reads the newspaper, but you can't write in it" (Gippius, ibid.). However, Tolstoy and Chekhov were published in the "reactionary" Novoye Vremya.

Both St. Petersburg and Moscow had their own legislators of public opinion. Nikolai Konstantinovich Mikhailovsky (1842 - 1904) was considered the leader of the populist trend - a sociologist, publicist, critic, who from 1892 headed the St. Petersburg magazine "Russian wealth". His closest collaborators and associates were Sergei Nikolaevich Krivenko (1847 - 1906), Nikolai Fedorovich Annensky (1843 - 1912), the brother of the still unknown poet I.F. Annensky. V.G. constantly collaborated in Russian Wealth. Korolenko. The journal engaged in active polemics, on the one hand, with the conservative press, and, on the other hand, with Marxist ideas spreading in society.

The mainstay of populism in Moscow was the journal Russkaya Mysl. From the moment of its foundation in 1880, the editor of "Russian Thought" was the journalist and translator Vukol Mikhailovich Lavrov (1852 - 1912), then, from 1885, the critic and publicist Viktor Aleksandrovich Goltsev (1850 - 1906). V.A. Gilyarovsky. A small episode cited by him in his memoirs characterizes the era well. In relation to the government, "Russian Thought" was considered oppositional, and Goltsev, who in his views was a supporter of liberal reforms, had a reputation almost as a revolutionary. In the early 90s, Lavrov bought a plot of land near the town of Staraya Ruza; he and his staff built dachas there. In the Moscow literary environment, the place was called "Writers' Corner", while the police dubbed it "Supervised Area". A donated public library was opened in Lavrov's house, on which a sign was hung half in jest, half in earnest: "The V. A. Goltsev Public Library." “This sign,” writes Gilyarovsky, “flaunted for no more than a week: the police appeared, and the words “named after Goltsev” and “folk” were destroyed, and only one thing was left - “library.” So menacing was the name of Goltsev and the word “ the people "for the authorities" (Gilyarovsky V.A. Collected works in 4 vols. M., 1967. v. 3. P. 191). There were many such, in essence, worthless clashes between the authorities and the democratic intelligentsia, and they nourished and supported unceasing mutual irritation.

The Narodniks regarded the new literature with skepticism. So, evaluating the work of Chekhov, Mikhailovsky believes that the writer could not fulfill one of the main tasks of literature: "to create a positive ideal." Nevertheless, Chekhov is published both in Russian Wealth and Russian Thought quite regularly (it was in Russian Thought that his Ward No. 6, Gooseberry, On Love, Lady with a Dog, essays "Sakhalin Island" were published, etc.). Gorky, Bunin, Kuprin, Mamin-Sibiryak, Garin-Mikhailovsky and others also publish in these journals.

There were also less politicized press organs. Thus, a prominent place in literary life was occupied by the "thick" St. Petersburg magazine Vestnik Evropy, published by the historian and publicist Mikhail Matveyevich Stasyulevich (1826 - 1911). This journal arose in the 60s, the name was repeated by N.M. Karamzin and thereby claimed the right to succession. Stasyulevich's "Bulletin of Europe" ("a journal of history, literature and politics" that gained a reputation as "professional") published critical studies, monographs, biographies and historical fiction, reviews of foreign literature (the magazine, for example, introduced the reader to the poetry of the French Symbolists). Vladimir Solovyov published a number of his works in Vestnik Evropy. Serious philosophical works were published in the journal Questions of Philosophy and Psychology.

The magazines "Niva" (with monthly literary supplements), "Journal for All", "World Illustration", "Sever", "Books of the Week" (an appendix to the newspaper "Nedelya"), "Picturesque Review", "Russian Review" (occupied a "protective position"), etc. Literary works and critical articles were published not only in magazines, but also in newspapers - "Russian Vedomosti", "Birzhevye Vedomosti", "Russia", "Russian Word", " Courier" and others. In total, more than 400 titles of various newspapers and magazines, central and local, were published in Russia at that time.

The Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences, whose president since 1889 was Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov (1858 - 1915), a poet who signed with the initials K.R. The Academy was guided by the Pushkin tradition in Russian literature. In 1882, the Pushkin Prizes were established at the Academy of Sciences - for a capital of 20,000 rubles, which remained, for all expenses, from the amount collected by subscription for the construction of a monument in Moscow in 1880. The prize was awarded every two years, in the amount of 1000 or 500 rubles. (half premium) and was considered very prestigious. Prizes were awarded not only for original literary works, but also for translations. A notable event was the jubilee celebrations held at the initiative of the Academy in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pushkin. At the initiative of K.R. Petersburg, the Pushkin House was founded - the largest literary archive and research center.

Bunin in his memoirs cites "someone's wonderful words": "In literature, there is the same custom as the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego: the young, growing up, kill and eat the old people" (Bunin. Collected works. T. 9., S. 271) In the 1890s, new trends were born, and in the 1900s already dominated. In the democratic camp, populism is being replaced by Marxism, on the other hand, modernism is developing and gaining strength - a new phenomenon that can only conditionally be successively traced to " pure art" and a conservative direction, because there were many revolutionary moments in it. Marxists condescendingly recognize the historical merits of the populists, considering revolutionary work in Russia an evolutionary process, the decadents consider themselves the successors only of the luminaries of Russian and world literature - Dante, Shakespeare, Pushkin , Dostoevsky, Verlaine, and also condescendingly (but also contemptuously) evaluate the closest predecessors - the poetry of the 1880s - 1890s.

It is characteristic that representatives of the older generation perceived the multidirectional youth in the same way. Bunin draws a memorable portrait of the populist writer Nikolai Nikolaevich Zlatovratsky (1843-1912), one of the leading contributors to Russian Wealth and Russian Thought, who spent the last years in Moscow and near Moscow on his estate in the village of Aprelevka: Zlatovratsky, he, frowning his shaggy brows in a Tolstoyan way - he generally played a little like Tolstoy, thanks to his certain resemblance to him - sometimes said with joking grumbling: “The world, my friends, is still saved only by bast shoes, which no matter what the Marxists say! ″ From year to year, Zlatovratsky lived in a small apartment with invariable portraits of Belinsky, Chernyshevsky; he walked, swaying like a bear, in his smoky office, in worn-out felt shoes, in a cotton kosovorotka, in low-down thick trousers , on the go, made cigarettes with a typewriter, sticking it into his chest, and muttered: “Yes, I’m dreaming of going to Aprelevka again this summer - you know, this is along the Bryansk road, only an hour away We are from Moscow, but grace ... God willing, I will catch fish again, I will have a heart-to-heart talk with old friends - there I have wonderful male friends ... All these Marxists, some kind of decadents, ephemeris, scum! "(Bunin. Sobr. op. v. 9, p. 285).

“Everything really was at a turning point, everything changed,” writes Bunin, “Tolstoy, Shchedrin, Gleb Uspensky, Zlatovratsky - Chekhov, Gorky, Skabichevsky - Uklonsky, Maikov, Fet - Balmont, Bryusov, Repin, Surikov - Levitan, Nesterov, Maly theater - Artistic ... Mikhailovsky and V.V. - Tugan-Baranovsky and Struve, "The Power of the Earth" - "The Cauldron of Capitalism", "Foundations" of Zlatovratsky - "Men" Chekhov and "Chelkash" Gorky (Bunin. Collected works. Vol. 9. S. 362).

"The revolutionary intelligentsia of that time was sharply divided into two hostile camps - the camp of ever-decreasing populists and the camp of ever-arriving Marxists," he wrote about the 90s. V.V. Veresaev (Veresaev V.V. Memoirs. M., 1982. P. 495). - The journals Novoye Slovo, Nachalo, Zhizn, etc., became the tribune for the preaching of Marxism. They mainly publish "legal Marxists" (P.B. Struve, M.I. Tugan-Baranovsky, as well as young philosophers, soon departed from Marxism - S.N. Bulgakov, N.A. Berdyaev), from time to time and revolutionary Marxists (Plekhanov, Lenin, Zasulich, etc.) Journal. "Life" promotes a sociological or estate-class approach to literature. The leading critic of Zhizn, Yevgeny Andreyevich Solovyov-Andreevich (1867-1905), considers the question of the "active personality" to be the defining one in literature. The first modern writers for him are Chekhov and Gorky. Famous writers Chekhov, Gorky, Veresaev and lesser-known Evgeny Nikolaevich Chirikov (1864 - 1932), Wanderer (real name Stepan Gavrilovich Petrov, 1869 - 1941) are published in "Life". This magazine positively evaluates Lenin. A sociological approach was also preached by the journal Mir Bozhiy. The ideologist and soul of his editorial board was the publicist Angel Ivanovich Bogdanovich (1860 - 1907) - an adherent of the aesthetics of the sixties and critical realism. Kuprin, Mamin-Sibiryak, and at the same time Merezhkovsky are published in the World of God.

In the 1890s In Moscow, a writers' circle "Sreda" was founded, uniting writers of a democratic direction. Its founder was the writer Nikolai Dmitrievich Teleshov (1867 - 1957), in whose apartment the writers' meetings were held. Their regular participants were Gorky, Bunin, Veresaev, Chirikov, Garin-Mikhailovsky, Leonid Andreev, and many others. Chekhov and Korolenko visited "Wednesdays", artists and actors came in: F.I. Chaliapin, O.L. Knipper, M.F. Andreeva, A.M. Vasnetsov and others. “The circle was closed, outsiders were not allowed into it,” recalled V.V. Veresaev, “Writers read their new works in the circle, which were then criticized by those present. The main condition was not to be offended by any criticism. And criticism was often cruel , destroying, so that some of the more conceited members even avoided reading their things on Wednesday (Veresaev. Memoirs. S. 433).

A notable event in the life of the democratic camp (but not only it) was the foundation in 1898 of the Moscow Art Theater. The first meeting of the two founders of the theater - Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky (1863 - 1938) and Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858 - 1943) - took place on June 22, 1897 in the Moscow restaurant "Slavyansky Bazaar". These two people found each other and, having met for the first time, could not part for 18 hours: a decision was made to create a new, "director's" theater and the basic principles were developed, in addition to creative ones, practical issues were also discussed.

Initially, the theater was housed in the building of the Hermitage Theater in Karetny Ryad. His first performance was "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich" by A.K. Tolstoy with Moskvin in the title role, but a truly significant event was the production of Chekhov's "The Seagull", which premiered on December 17, 1898. Already the premiere made it possible to see some of the characteristic features of directing: "playing with a pause", attention to "small roles" and speech characteristics, even the very lifting of the curtain was unusual: it did not rise, but moved apart. "The Seagull" was an unprecedented success, and later the seagull on the curtain became the emblem of the Moscow Art Theater. Its author was the architect F.O. Shekhtel.

In 1902, the theater moved to a new building in Kamergersky Lane (they began to call it: "Art Public Theater in Kamergersky". The first performance in the new building was Gorky's Petty Bourgeois, and since then Gorky's plays have become part of the permanent repertoire of the Moscow Art Theater. Soon for the Moscow Art Theater, a mansion in Kamergersky lane was rebuilt according to the project of Shekhtel.A high relief "Wave" (or "Swimmer" according to the project of the sculptor A.S. Golubkina) was installed above the side entrance to the theater in 1903. "Wave", like the emblem - the seagull reflected the revolutionary aspirations of the intelligentsia and was also associated with the "Song of the Petrel". The Moscow Art Theater "skits" - evenings of the creative intelligentsia, so named because they were held during Lent (when in general all spectacular gatherings stopped), and in what To some extent they claimed to observe the rules of piety: they were served pies with cabbage as a treat.

Democratic Writers in the 1900s are grouped around the publishing house of the "Knowledge" partnership. The publishing house was founded in 1898 by literacy figures, its managing director was Konstantin Petrovich Pyatnitsky (1864 - 1938) - the one to whom Gorky dedicated his play "At the Bottom". Gorky himself joined the partnership in 1900, and became its ideological inspirer for a whole decade. "Knowledge" carried out cheap "folk" publications, which were distributed in mass circulation (up to 65,000 copies). In total, for the period from 1898 to 1913, 40 titles of books were published. At first, the publishing house produced mainly non-fiction literature, but Gorky attracted the best literary forces of writers, mostly prose writers, to it. In general, by the beginning of the 1900s. there was still a sense of the priority of prose over poetry, of its more significant social significance, which was established in the middle of the 19th century. But at the beginning of the century, the situation began to change.

An exponent of the modernist trend in the 1890s. In the early 19th century, the Severny Vestnik magazine became the editorial board of which was reorganized and the critic Akim Lvovich Volynsky (real name Flexer) (1861 - 1926) became its actual leader. Volynsky considered the main task of the journal to be "the struggle for idealism" (this was the title of his book, published as a separate edition in 1900, which included his numerous articles published earlier in Severny Vestnik). The critic called for the "modernization" of populism: to fight not for the socio-political reorganization of society, but for a "spiritual revolution", thereby infringing on the "holy of holies" of the Russian democratic intelligentsia: the idea of ​​public service. “The Russian reader,” he wrote, “in general, is a rather carefree creature. He opens only the edition recommended to him once and for all by critics and reviewers recognized by him. according to the extent to which he complies with the code of artistic requirements, we have - according to what his political catechism is "(Volynsky A.L. Russian critics. - Sever, 1896, p. 247).

Young writers grouped around Severny Vestnik, striving to overthrow the dictates of democratic unanimity and Russian national provincialism and to merge with the pan-European literary process. Nikolai Minsky, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Zinaida Gippius, Fyodor Sologub, Konstantin Balmont, Mirra Lokhvitskaya, Konstantin Ldov and others collaborate in the journal. At the same time, separate articles by Tolstoy are published in the Severny Vestnik, and Gorky's "Malva" also appeared in it.

The new direction was initially not united, the "fighters for idealism" did not form a united front. Characteristically, Vladimir Solovyov, whom the modernists considered their predecessor and ideological inspirer, did not recognize them. Widely known were his parodies of the first decadents, in which the favorite techniques of the new poetry are played up.

Horizons are vertical

In chocolate skies

Like half-mirror dreams

In the laurel forests.

The ghost of a fire-breathing ice floe

In the bright twilight went out,

And it is worth not hearing me

Hyacinth Pegasus.

Mandrakes immanent

rustled in the reeds,

And rough and decadent

Verses in withering ears.

In 1895, the publication of the Russian Symbolists collections, the leading author of which was the 22-year-old poet Valery Bryusov, who published his poems not only under his own name, but also under several pseudonyms in order to create the impression already existing strong school. Much of what was printed in the collection was such that it seemed that there was no need for parody, since it sounded parody in itself. Of particular notoriety was the poem, which consisted of one line: "Oh, close your pale legs!"

In the 1890s decadence was considered a marginal phenomenon. Of the writers of the new direction, not all were admitted to print (among the "outcasts" was Bryusov, who was called a poet, perhaps in quotation marks); those who were nevertheless published (Balmont, Merezhkovsky, Gippius) collaborated in magazines of various trends, including populist ones, but this was not thanks to, but in spite of, their desire for novelty. But by the 1900s, the situation had changed - this was noted by one of the literary observers of that time: "Earlier than the Russian public learned about the existence of symbolist philosophers, it had an idea of ​​the" decadents "as special people writing about" blue sounds ″ and in general any rhymed nonsense, then some romantic traits were attributed to the decadents - daydreaming, contempt for worldly prose, etc. Recently, romantic traits have been replaced by a new trait - the ability to arrange one's affairs. The decadent has turned from a dreamer into a practice "(Literary Chronicle. - Books "Weeks", 1900. No. 9., P. 255). This can be treated differently, but it really was so.

To understand the prerequisites for the flourishing of culture and art at the beginning of the 20th century, it is also important to understand the financial platform on which this flourishing was based. To a large extent, this was the activity of enlightened merchants-philanthropists - such as Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, Savva Timofeevich Morozov, Sergey Alexandrovich Polyakov and others. P.A. Buryshkin, an entrepreneur and collector, later recalled the merits of the Russian merchants: "The Tretyakov Gallery, the Shchukinsky and Morozov Museums of Contemporary French Painting, the Bakhrushinsky Theater Museum, the collection of Russian porcelain by A.V. Morozov, the collection of icons by S.P. Ryabushinsky, ... Private Opera S. I. Mamontov, the Art Theater of K. S. Alekseev - Stanislavsky and S. T. Morozov, M. K. Morozov - and the Moscow Philosophical Society, S. I. Shchukin - and the Philosophical Institute at Moscow University ... Naidenov Collections and publications on the history of Moscow... The clinical town and Maiden's Field in Moscow were created mainly by the Morozov family... Soldatenkov - and his publishing house, and the "Shchepkinskaya" library... Soldatenkov Hospital, Solodovnikovskaya Hospital, Bakhrushinsky, Khludovsky, Mazurinsk, Gorbovsky hospices and shelters, Arnold-Tretyakov School for the Deaf and Dumb, Shelaputinskaya and Medvednikovskaya Gymnasiums, Alexander Commercial School; Practical Academy I of Commercial Sciences, the Commercial Institute of the Moscow Society for the Promotion of Commercial Education ... were built by some family, or in memory of some family. And always, in everything, they put the public good in the first place, concern for the benefit of all the people "( Buryshkin P.A. Moscow is merchant. M., 2002). Patronage and charity had a high prestige, among the merchants there was even a semblance of competition: who would do more for their city.

At the same time, merchants sometimes did not seem to know what to use the funds for. The desire to excel led to the experiment. At the beginning of the 20th century, new mansions built in traditionally merchant cities, primarily in Moscow, were considered a model of pretentiousness and bad taste. It took years and even decades for the Art Nouveau to be recognized and the buildings of the architects F.O. Shekhtel, L.N. Kekusheva, V.D. Adamovich, N.I. Pozdeeva, A.A. Ostrogradsky were appreciated. But there were also completely different kinds of investments: for example, Savva Morozov, through the mediation of Gorky, donated about one hundred thousand rubles (a huge amount at that time) to the Bolshevik Party for the development of the revolution.

Among the decadents, there were indeed practical people who managed to find significant funds for the development of new art. Valery Bryusov, first of all, possessed such talent as a practitioner and organizer, through whose efforts in Moscow in 1899 the decadent publishing house "Scorpion" was created. Its financial basis was as follows. In 1896 the poet K.D. Balmont married one of the richest Moscow heirs, E.A. Andreeva. The marriage was concluded against the wishes of the parents and the bride did not receive large funds at her disposal. However, having become related to the Andreev family, Balmont turned out to be connected by family ties with Sergei Alexandrovich Polyakov (1874 - 1948), a highly educated young man, mathematician and polyglot, who willingly became close to a new relative and his friends, including Bryusov, who quickly managed to turn things in the right direction. Several poetic almanacs were published with Pushkin's title "Northern Flowers" (the latter, however, was called "Northern Assyrian Flowers"). The monthly decadent magazine "Vesy" began to appear, in which Bryusov attracted, first of all, young poets. The circle of employees was small, but each wrote under several pseudonyms: for example, Bryusov was not only Bryusov, but also Aurelius, and simply "VB", Balmont - "Don" and "Lionel"; published in the magazine "Boris Bugaev" and "Andrei Bely" - and no one yet suspected that this was one person, the unknown "Max Voloshin" ("Vax Kaloshin", as Chekhov ironically) was published, for a short time a gifted young man Ivan appeared Konevskaya (real name - Ivan Ivanovich Oreus, 1877 - 1901), whose life soon ended tragically and absurdly: he drowned.

In the early years, Bunin also collaborated in Scorpio, who later recalled: “Scorpio existed (under the editorship of Bryusov) on the money of a certain Polyakov, a wealthy Moscow merchant, one of those who had already graduated from universities and were drawn to all kinds of arts, a man still young , but shabby, balding, with a yellow mustache... This Polyakov was on a rampage almost every night and very satisfyingly fed and watered Bryusov in restaurants, and all the other brethren of Moscow decadents, symbolists, "magicians", "argonauts", seekers of the "golden fleece" "However, with me he turned out to be more stingy than Plyushkin. But Polyakov published excellently. And, of course, he acted smartly. The publications of" Scorpio "dispersed very modestly -" Libra ", for example, reached (in the fourth year of its existence) a circulation of only three hundred copies - but their appearance contributed a lot to their fame. And then - the names of the Polish publications: ″Scorpio″, ″Scales″ or, for example, the name of the first almanac published by ″Scorpion″: ″Northern Flowers Ass Irians″ Everyone was perplexed: why ″Scorpio″? And what kind of ″Scorpio″ is a reptile or a constellation? And why did these "Northern flowers" suddenly turn out to be Assyrian? However, this bewilderment was soon replaced by many with respect and admiration. So, when soon after that Bryusov even declared himself an Assyrian magician, everyone already firmly believed that he was a magician. It's not a joke, it's a label. “What you call yourself, you will be known for” (Bunin. Collected work. vol. 9. P. 291). With the advent of Scorpion, Moscow became a citadel of decadence, and an undoubted “candidate for leader” was outlined - the tirelessly energetic Valery Bryusov - "one of the most painful figures of the Silver Age" - as B.K. Zaitsev will say about him. The Moscow "Literary and Artistic Circle", which arose in 1899 and existed until 1919, also became a tribune for the dissemination of new ideas. it was headed by Bryusov.

Petersburg had its own leaders. In the 90s. poets of different directions gathered for "Fridays" at the venerable poet Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1818 - 1898). When he died, literally at the funeral, another poet, of a younger generation, but also of quite respectable years, Konstantin Konstantinovich Sluchevsky (1837 - 1904), offered to meet with him. This is how Sluchevsky's "Fridays" began. Sluchevsky at that time was a high-ranking official (editor of the official newspaper "Government Gazette", member of the Council of the Minister of Internal Affairs, chamberlain of the court), therefore, naturally, radical democrats did not visit his salon, but still people gathered very different. It must be said that both Polonsky and Sluchevsky were tactful and diplomatic people and knew how to reconcile guests of very different views. Bryusov also visited them, leaving their descriptions in his diary: “The poets call these Friday meetings at Sluchevsky’s their academy. listen ... There were relatively few people - among the elders there was the decrepit old man Mikhailovsky and not particularly decrepit Likhachev, there was the publisher of the "Week" Gaydeburov, the censor and translator of Kant, Sokolov, later Yasinsky came; from the young there were Apollo Corinthian, Safonov, Mazurkevich, Gribovsky We ", three decadents - Balmont, Sologub and I, sadly hid in a corner. And they say that this is an even better evening, because Merezhkovsky was not there. Otherwise, he terrorizes the whole society. Oh! The word! The word cannot be false, for it is holy. No low words! The old people are silent, fearing that he will beat them with authorities, because they are not very learned, old people. Young people do not dare to object and are bored, only Zinochka Gippius triumphs "(Bryusov V.Ya. Diaries. M., 2002. C 69). Bryusov judges the educational status of the older generation with the impudence of a young snob. Different, of course, there were "old men". But the owner himself, K. K. Sluchevsky, for example, had a Ph.D. from Heidelberg. He happened to study at the universities of Paris, Berlin, Leipzig. If desired, he must have been able to object to Merezhkovsky - but he was delicately silent.

The married couple of the Merezhkovskys occupied a prominent place in the literary life of the capital. Dmitry Sergeevich Merezhkovsky (1865 - 1941) entered literature as a populist poet, but soon "changed milestones" and turned to spiritual quests of universal scope. His poetry collection "Symbols" (1892) by its very name indicated a kinship with the poetry of French symbolism, and for many beginning Russian poets it became a program. In those years, A.N. Maykov wrote a parody of the "decadents", referring primarily to Merezhkovsky:

Dawn blooms in the steppe. The river dreams of blood

Inhuman love in heaven

The soul is bursting at the seams. Baal got angry

He grabs the soul by the legs. Back at sea

Columbus left to look for America. Tired.

When will the sound of the earth against the coffin end the grief?

As a poet, Merezhkovsky did not receive wide recognition; not satisfied with poetry, he turned to prose, and in a decade he created three major historical and philosophical novels, united by the common title "Christ and Antichrist": "Death of the Gods (Julian the Apostate) - Resurrected Gods (Leonardo da Vinci) - Antichrist (Peter and Alexei) ". In his novels, Merezhkovsky posed and tried to resolve serious religious and philosophical questions. In addition, he appeared in print both as a critic and as a translator of Greek tragedy. Merezhkovsky's capacity for work and his literary prolificness were astonishing.

No less prominent figure was Merezhkovsky's wife, Zinaida Nikolaevna Gippius (1869 - 1943) - a poet, prose writer, critic and just a beautiful woman ("Zinaida the Beautiful", as her friends called her), who had an unfeminine mind, an inexhaustible polemical fuse, and a penchant for all kinds of outrageous. The lines of her early poems: "But I love myself as God, / Love will save my soul ..." or "I need something that is not in the world, // which is not in the world ..." - they repeated with bewilderment and disapproval. Bunin (and not he alone) draws their portrait with a hostile pen: “In the artistic room, squinting too much, a kind of paradise vision slowly entered, as it were, an amazingly thin angel in a snow-white robe and with golden flowing hair, along whose bare arms it fell to the very floor something like sleeves, or wings: Z.N. Gippius, accompanied from behind by Merezhkovsky "(Bunin. Collected works. Vol. 9. P. 281). In general, the Merezhkovskys were considered, they were respected, appreciated and not loved. Contemporaries were repelled by their "almost tragic egoism", their hostile and squeamish attitude towards people; in addition, memoirists noted with displeasure that they were very "flexible" in organizing their own affairs. However, those who knew them better found attractive features in them: for example, for 52 years of their married life they did not part for a day, they took care of each other very much (despite the fact that they did not feel passionate feelings for each other). Gippius had a talent for imitating someone else's handwriting, and when Merezhkovsky was hounded in the press to cheer him up, she herself wrote and sent him letters supposedly from enthusiastic admirers and admirers. They knew how to be true friends and in relation to the people of their circle. But still, the impressions of those who did not enter their orbit were mostly negative.

Ironically, it was these people, who seemed to exude coldness and arrogance, who represented the "Christian" wing of Russian symbolism. At the initiative of the Merezhkovskys, at the beginning of the new century (1901-1903), Religious-Philosophical Meetings were organized, at which representatives of the creative intelligentsia, who considered themselves "heralds of a new religious consciousness," discussed with representatives of the Church. The level of meetings was quite high. They were chaired by the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Bishop Sergius (Stragorodsky) of Yamburg (1867-1944), the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, and other prominent theologians of the Academy were also present. Their opponents were philosophers, writers, public figures: N.A. Berdyaev, V.V. Rozanov, A.V. Kartashev, D.V. Philosophers, V.A. Ternavtsev and others. Based on the materials of the meetings, the journal "New Way" (later renamed "Questions of Life") began to be published. However, the parties did not find a common language. The "heralds of a new religious consciousness" expected the advent of the era of the Third Testament, the era of the Holy Spirit, asserted the need for "Christian socialism", accused Orthodoxy of the absence of social ideals. From the point of view of theologians, all this was heresy; The participants in the Religious-Philosophical Meetings began to be called "God-seekers", since their constructions were erected not on the foundation of a firm faith, but on the shaky ground of a shaky religious consciousness. K. Balmont, himself sharply anti-Christian at that time, nevertheless subtly felt a certain strain of God-seeking efforts.

Ah, the devils are now professors,

Magazines are published, volumes are written after volumes.

Their boring faces are full, like a coffin, of sadness,

When they cry "Joy is with Christ"

(printed according to the edition: Valery Bryusov and his correspondents. // Literary heritage. vol. 98. M., 1991. kn. 1., p. 99)

But nevertheless, these meetings were a stage in the life of the Russian intelligentsia, since they showed their desire (even if not crowned with success at that moment) to return to the origins of national self-consciousness, to synthesize religion and a new culture, to sanctify the dechurched life. Bryusov cites the words of Gippius in his diary: “If they say that I am a decadent Christian, that I go to a reception with the Lord God in a white dress, that will be true. But if they say that I am sincere, that will also be true” (Bryusov. Diaries 136).

The Silver Age was a syncretic phenomenon. Phenomena parallel to literary ones were also observed in other types of arts, which also correlated with socio-political currents. Thus, in painting, the democratic camp was represented by the Association of Wanderers, which existed since 1870, whose task was to depict the everyday life and history of the peoples of Russia, its nature, social conflicts, and denunciation of public order. At the turn of the century, this trend was represented by I.E. Repin, V.M. Vasnetsov, I.I. Levitan, V.A. Serov and others. At the same time, modernist groups were emerging. In 1898, the artistic association "World of Art" was created, inspired by the young artist and art critic Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (1870 - 1960). In 1898 - 1904. the society publishes a magazine with the same name - "World of Art", whose editor, along with Benois, is Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev (1872 - 1929) - a man of versatile activity, who soon gained world fame thanks to the organization of the "Russian Seasons" of ballet in Paris and the creation of a troupe "Russian Ballet Diaghilev". Among the participants of the "World of Art" at first were Benois' classmates - D. Filosofov, V. Nouvel, N. Skalon. Later they were joined by K. Somov, L. Rosenberg (later known under the name Bakst), and E. Lanceray, A. Benois' nephew. M. Vrubel, A. Golovin, F. Malyavin, N. Roerich, S. Malyutin, B. Kustodiev, Z. Serebryakova soon joined the core of the circle. The ideologist of the Wanderers V.V. Stasov branded this group as "decadent", but some of the artists of the Itinerant movement (Levitan, Serov, Korovin) began to actively cooperate with the "World of Art". The main principles of the "World of Art" were close to the principles of modernism in literature: interest in the culture of the past (domestic and world), orientation towards rapprochement with Europe, orientation towards the "tops". A number of the already mentioned artists (V. A. Serov, M. A. Vrubel, V. M. Vasnetsov, M. V. Nesterov, V. D. and E. D. Polenov, K. A. Korovin, I. E. Repin) worked in the Abramtsevo workshop of S.I. Mamontov, where there was also a search for new forms, but with an emphasis on the study of Russian antiquity. Artists of the new direction showed great interest in the theater and the art of the book - they, in particular, designed the editions of "Scorpion".

Such, in general terms, is the spectrum of the literary life of the period preceding the first Russian revolution. Culturally, the period between the two revolutions was no less, if not more eventful. The already mentioned book publishing houses, editorial offices of magazines, theaters continued to operate, new ones arose.

Bunin, recalling and painting this time many years later, focuses on a certain internal similarity - with external dissimilarity - between two opposing literary camps, democratic and decadent: "The Wanderer, Andreev, came for Gorky. And there, in another camp, Blok appeared, White, Balmont flourished... The wanderer - a kind of cathedral chanter ″drunkard″ - pretended to be a gusliar, ushkuinik, growled at the intelligentsia: ″You are toads in a rotten swamp″ - reveled in his unexpected, unexpected glory and posed for photographers: sometimes with a harp, -″ Oh, you goy, you are a kid, a thief-robber! ”- either embracing Gorky, or sitting on the same chair with Chaliapin, Andreev grew stronger and gloomier in his drunkenness, clenched his teeth both from his dizzying successes, and from those ideological abysses and heights, among which he considered his specialty.And everyone went around in undershirts, in loose silk shirts, in belt belts with a silver set, in long boots - I once met them all immediately in the foyer of the Art Theater during the intermission and could not resist, he asked in a stupid tone Koko from the “Fruits of Enlightenment”, who saw the peasants in the kitchen:

- Uh-uh ... Are you hunters?

And there, in another camp, the image of curly-haired Blok was drawn, his classic dead face, heavy chin, dull blue eyes. There Bely "launched a pineapple into the sky", yelled about the impending transformation of the world, twitched all over, squatted, ran up, ran away, looked around senselessly cheerfully with some strangely insinuating antics, brightly, blissfully joyfully shone his eyes and poured new thoughts. ..

In one camp, publications of Knowledge were torn up; there were books "Knowledge", a month, two dispersed in one hundred thousand copies, as Gorky said. And there, too, one striking book replaced another - Hamsun, Przybyszewski, Verharn, "Urbi et Orbi", The world of art" - "Apollo", "Golden Fleece", - followed the triumph after the triumph of the Art Theater, on the stage of which were either the ancient Kremlin chambers, then the office of "Uncle Vanya", then Norway, then "Dno", then Maeterlinck Island, on where some bodies lay in heaps, muffledly moaning “We are scared!” - either the Tula hut from the “Power of Darkness”, all cluttered with carts, arcs, wheels, collars, reins, troughs and bowls, then real Roman streets with real bare-footed plebs. Then the triumphs of Rosehip began. He and the Art Theater were destined to greatly contribute to the unification of these two camps. ″Rosehip″ began to print Serafimovich, ″Knowledge″ - Balmont, Verkharn. The Art Theater connected Ibsen with Hamsun, Tsar Fyodor with ″Bottom″, ″The Seagull″ with ″Children of the Sun″. This unification was greatly facilitated by the end of 1905, when Balmont appeared in the newspaper Borba next to Gorky Bryusov, next to Lenin…” (Bunin, vol. 9, p. 297).

Indeed, the events of 1905 drew many people into the revolutionary whirlpool, in principle, far from the revolution. In addition to the newspaper "Borba" mentioned by Bunin - the first legal Bolshevik newspaper, published in 1905, but which did not exist for a very long time, the newspaper "New Life" became a field of cooperation for people of different opinions, the official publisher of which was the decadent poet Nikolai Maksimovich Minsky (real name Vilenkin) (1855 - 1937). On the one hand, Lenin, Lunacharsky, Gorky collaborated in the newspaper, on the other hand, Minsky himself, Balmont, Teffi and others. However, as Lunacharsky later recalled, the cooperation did not last long, since “it turned out to be impossible to harness our Marxist horse with a semi-decadent quivering doe into one cart.” not allowed".

The writer Nadezhda Alexandrovna Teffi (real name Lokhvitskaya, sister of the poetess M. Lokhvitskaya) (1872 - 1952), who, by coincidence, collaborated with the Bolsheviks in 1905, recalled this time like this: "Russia suddenly immediately went to the left. The students were worried, the workers were on strike "Even the old generals grumbled about bad practices and spoke sharply about the personality of the sovereign. Sometimes the public leftism took on a directly anecdotal character: the Saratov police chief, together with the revolutionary Topuridze, who married a millionaire, began to publish a legal Marxist newspaper. Agree that there was nowhere to go further. The Petersburg intelligentsia experienced the new mood sweetly and sharply: The Green Parrot, a play from the time of the French Revolution, hitherto banned, was staged in the theatre; publicists wrote articles and satires that shook the order; public applause University and Institute of Technology were temporarily closed, and rallies were held in their premises, into which the bourgeois city dwellers very easily and simply penetrated, were inspired, then still new, by the cries of "right" and "down" and carried poorly realized and poorly expressed ideas to friends and families . New illustrated magazines are on sale. ″Machine gun″ Shebuev and some others. I remember one of them had a bloody palm print on the cover. They forced out the pious "Niva" and were bought up by a completely unexpected audience. SPb. 1999).

After the first Russian revolution, many members of the intelligentsia became disillusioned with the old social ideals. This position was reflected, in particular, in the collection "Milestones" (1909), published by a group of philosophers and publicists (N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, P.B. Struve, S.L. Frank, etc.). Criticism of the views of the Russian intelligentsia was largely fair, but not everyone agreed with it - in any case, the revolutionary ferment, outwardly calmed down for a while, continued and undermined the foundations of the Russian Empire.

It must be said that the revolution gave a powerful impetus to the development of satire, later, in the 1910s, with a change in the political situation, which returned to the mainstream of humor. In the 1910s The Satyricon magazine, formed in 1908 from the previously existing weekly Dragonfly, was very popular. Teffi, Sasha Cherny (Alexander Mikhailovich Glikberg, 1880 - 1932), Petr Petrovich Potemkin (1886 - 1926) and others collaborated in the journal. , Mayakovsky). The works of the "satiriconists" were not entertaining momentary "mass", but real good literature, which does not lose its relevance over time - like Chekhov's humorous stories, they are read with interest even a century later.

The publishing house "Shipovnik" was founded in 1906 in St. Petersburg by cartoonist Zinoviy Isaevich Grzhebin (1877 - 1929) and Solomon Yuryevich Kopelman. In 1907 - 1916. it published a number of almanacs (26 in total), in which the works of symbolist writers and representatives of realism were equally represented. The leading authors of the publishing house were the "realist" Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev (1871 - 1919) and the "symbolist" Fyodor Kuzmich Sologub (1863 - 1927) (real name Teternikov). However, the line between the two methods became more and more unsteady, a new style of prose was formed, which experienced the undoubted influence of poetry. This can be said about the prose of such authors as Boris Konstantinovich Zaitsev (1877 - 1972) and Alexei Mikhailovich Remizov (1877 - 1957), whose beginning of creative activity is also associated with the Rosehip.

In 1912, writers V.V. Veresaev, I.A. Bunin, B.K. Zaitsev, I.S. Shmelev and others organized the "Book Publishing House of Writers in Moscow". The leading role in the publishing house was played by Vikenty Vikentievich Veresaev (real name Smidovich, 1867 - 1945). "We proposed a negative ideological platform," he recalled: nothing anti-life, nothing anti-social, nothing anti-artistic; a struggle for clarity and simplicity of language" (Veresaev. Memoirs. P. 509). To a large extent, thanks to this publishing house, the work of Ivan Sergeevich Shmelev (1873 - 1950) became known to the general public, since it published an eight-volume collection of his works - works written before the revolution. However, real fame was brought to him by works created already in exile.

Book publishing house "Knowledge" by the beginning of the 1910s. lost its former meaning. Gorky at that time lived in exile in Capri. But when he returned to his homeland, in 1915, together with the social democrat Ivan Pavlovich Ladyzhnikov (1874 - 1945) and the writer Alexander Nikolaevich Tikhonov (1880 -1956), he organized the Parus publishing house, which continued the traditions of Knowledge, and began to publish a literary and public magazine "Chronicle", in which writers of different generations collaborated: I.A. Bunin, M.M. Prishvin, K.A. Trenev, I.E. Volnov, as well as scientists from all branches of science: K.A. Timiryazev, M.N. Pokrovsky and others.

In the early 1900s a new generation of poets enters the literary field, who are usually called "junior symbolists" or "young symbolists", the most famous of which were Alexander Blok and Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880 - 1934). However, the "younger" poets were not always younger than the "older" ones. For example, the poet-philologist Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov (1866 - 1949), was closer in age to the elders, but in the 1900s. he lived abroad, seriously studying the history of ancient Rome, and only in 1905 returned to Russia. Together with his wife, the writer Lydia Dmitrievna Zinovieva-Annibal, he settled in St. Petersburg in a house on Tavricheskaya Street, which soon became known as the "tower" of Vyacheslav Ivanov ("Vyacheslav the Magnificent", as he was called) - a literary salon visited by writers of different directions predominantly modernist. The bizarrely painful life of the "tower" and the atmosphere of Ivanovo's "environments" were described in his memoirs by Andrei Bely: interweaving of the most bizarre corridors, rooms, doorless anterooms; square rooms, rhombuses and sectors; rugs drowned out the step, propped bookshelves between gray-storm carpets, figurines, swinging whatnots; this one is a museum; that one is like a shed; if you enter, you will forget what you are in country, in what time; everything will sag; and the day will be at night, the night - during the day; even Ivanov's "Wednesdays" were already Thursdays; they began later than 12 at night "(Bely Andrey. Beginning of the century. M.-L. 1933. S. 321 ).

The second symbolist publishing house after Scorpio was Grif, a publishing house that existed in Moscow in 1903-1914. Its founder and editor-in-chief was the writer Sergei Krechetov (real name Sergei Alekseevich Sokolov) (1878 - 1936).

In 1906 - 1909. in Moscow, the symbolist magazine "Golden Fleece" was published. It was published at the expense of the merchant N.P. Ryabushinsky. As "Balance" was an expression of the position of older symbolists, declaring a comprehensive aestheticism and individualism, so "The Golden Fleece" reflected the views of those who saw a religious and mystical action in art - i.e. predominantly younger ones, whose leader was Andrei Bely. The idol of the younger symbolists was the great Russian philosopher Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov; like him, and to a much greater extent than him, elements of Christianity and Russian religious philosophy were intertwined in their constructions with theosophy, anthroposophy and occultism. But Solovyov's conviction that the meaning of life lies in the creation of good, as well as Dostoevsky's well-known thought that beauty will save the world, inspired their creativity, at least at the beginning of their journey. “One can laugh at such an expenditure of energy,” recalled the first wife of Andrei Bely, the artist A.A. Turgeneva, “but it must be noted that nowhere, except in Russia, in these pre-revolutionary years of the century, the hope for spiritual renewal was not experienced with such force. - and nowhere with such force was the failure of these hopes soon experienced" (Turgeneva A.A. Andrei Bely and Rudolf Steiner. - Memories of Andrei Bely. M., 1995, pp. 190 - 191).

The "World of Art" and other modernist artists took part in the design of the "Golden Fleece". The artistic department of the editorial board was headed by the artist V. Milioti. With the financial support of Ryabushinsky, art exhibitions were held, the main participants of which were the artists of the Blue Rose association: P. Kuznetsov, V. Milioti, N. Sapunov, S. Sudeikin, M. Maryan, P. Utkin, G. Yakulov. In 1907 - 1911. exhibitions "salon of the Golden Fleece" were held in Moscow.

In 1909, the publishing house "Musaget" was organized in Moscow (Musaget - "driver of the muses" - one of the nicknames of Apollo). Its founders were Andrey Bely and Emily Karlovich Medtner (1872 - 1936) - a music critic, philosopher and writer. The poet Ellis (Lev Lvovich Kobylinskiy), as well as writers and translators A.S. Petrovsky and M.I. Sizov.

In this era, the ratio of poetry and prose is changing. Lyrical poetry, more mobile and spontaneous than prose, responds more quickly to the anxious mood of the era and itself finds a response more quickly. At the same time, the average reader is unprepared for the complex language of the new lyrics. “The time is coming and has come,” wrote one of the literary critics of that era, “when the broad masses begin to treat poets as they used to treat philosophers: not directly, not through their own brains, but through the reviews of sworn connoisseurs. The reputations of great poets begin to be built by hearsay "(Leonid Galich. - Theater and Art. 1905, No. 37, September 11). Indeed, in parallel with poetry, literary criticism is developing - and often the poets themselves act as interpreters of their own ideas. The symbolists were the first theorists. Bryusov, Balmont, Andrey Bely, Innokenty Annensky and others created theoretical studies and substantiations of symbolism, wrote studies on the theory of Russian verse. Gradually, the ideal of a "prophet" poet was replaced by the image of a "master" poet, able and willing to "verify harmony with algebra". The similarity with Pushkin's Salieri ceased to frighten, even the poets of the "Mozart" warehouse paid tribute to the possession of the "craft".

By the beginning of the 1910s. the history of Russian symbolism spanned about two decades, and its founders from the age of "children" passed into the age of "fathers" and again found themselves drawn into the eternal conflict, but in a different capacity. The new generation, raised in an environment of great expectations and significant change, was even more radical. The language of the new poetry was already familiar to them, and a penchant for theorizing was also familiar. Some young authors in the 1900s collaborated in modernist journals, studied with the leaders of symbolism. In the early 1910s the leaders of the new trends were determined. Acmeism (from the Greek akme - "top") became a moderate reaction to symbolism, futurism became a more radical one. Both acmeists and futurists did not accept, first of all, the mysticism of the symbolists - this was partly due to the progressive impoverishment of religiosity in society. Each of the two new directions tried to justify its principles and its right to supremacy.

The poets Nikolai Gumilyov, Sergei Gorodetsky (1884 - 1967), Osip Mandelstam (1891 - 1938), Anna Akhmatova, Georgy Adamovich (1892 - 1972) considered themselves among the acmeists. The trend originated in the literary circle "Workshop of Poets" formed in 1912 (the name reflected the general desire for "handicraft"). The tribune of acmeists was the journal "Hyperborea", the editor of which was the poet-translator Mikhail Leonidovich Lozinsky (1886 - 1965). Acmeists also actively collaborated in the literary and artistic journal "Apollo", which in 1909 - 1917. published in St. Petersburg art historian and essayist Sergei Konstantinovich Makovsky (1877 - 1962).

Gorodetsky most definitely formulated the principles of acmeism: “The struggle between acmeism and symbolism, if it is a struggle, and not the occupation of an abandoned fortress, is, first of all, a struggle for this world, sounding, colorful, having shapes, weight and time, for our planet Earth. Symbolism, in the end, filling the world with "correspondences", turned it into a phantom, important only insofar as it sees through and shines through other worlds, and belittled its high intrinsic value. Among the Acmeists, the rose again became good in itself, with its petals, smell and color, and not their conceivable likenesses with mystical love or something else "(Gorodetsky S. Some trends in modern Russian poetry - Apollo. 1913. No. 1).

The Futurists declared themselves even more self-confidently. “Only we are the face of our Time,” said the manifesto, signed by David Burliuk, Alexei Kruchenykh, Vladimir Mayakovsky and Velimir Khlebnikov. “The horn of time blows us in verbal art. The past is crowded. The Academy and Pushkin are more incomprehensible than hieroglyphs. Tolstoy, etc., etc. from the Steamboat of our time We order to honor the rights of poets:

1. To increase the vocabulary in its volume with arbitrary and derivative words. (The word is new).

2. An irresistible hatred for the language that existed before them.

3. With horror, remove from your proud brow a wreath of penny glory you made from bath brooms.

4. To stand on a block of the word "we" in the midst of the sea, whistling and indignation.

5. And if the dirty stigmas of your “common sense” and “good taste” still remain in our lines, nevertheless, for the first time, the lightning of the new future beauty of the self-valuable (self-sufficient) word is already trembling on them "(Quoted by: Yezhov I. S., Shamurin E.I. Anthology of Russian lyrics of the first quarter of the 20th century, S. XVIII).

The “purple hands” and “pale legs” that once shocked the public seemed an innocent prank in front of the sample of poetry that A. Kruchenykh offered:

Hole, bul, schyl,

This direction was called "cubo-futurism". The organizer of the Cubo-Futurist group was the poet and artist David Davidovich Burliuk (1882-1967).

In addition to "cubofuturism", there was "egofuturism", not so much known as a poetic school, but which gave one bright representative - Igor Severyanin (real name Igor Vasilyevich Lotarev, 1887 - 1941). With the Cubo-Futurists, Severyanin was united by a penchant for word creation, but unlike them, he was not so much a rebel as a singer of modern civilization:

Elegant stroller in electric beat,

Elastically rustled on the highway sand,

There are two virgin ladies in it, in fast-tempo rapture,

In the scarlet-oncoming aspiration - these are the bees to the petal ...

Severyanin was a talented poet, but he often lacked taste and sense of proportion. Futuristic neologisms were quickly picked up by parodists:

Dulcinated by success

And acclaimed by the crowd

Dressed in a fur coat with fur on top,

Laughs in the face with obvious laughter

Modernized hero.

And with the frivolity of a woman

The crowd praises everything with a hundred lips,

What is Kamensky’s sanatorium for her,

And Sergeyev-Tsensky will be wise

And nafedorit Sologub.

- wrote the critic and parodist A.A. Izmailov

In addition to cubo-futurists and ego-futurists, there were other futuristic groups that united around the publishing houses they created "Mezzanine of Poetry" (Konstantin Bolshakov, Rurik Ivnev, Boris Lavrenev, Vadim Shershenevich, etc.) and "Centrifuga" (Sergei Bobrov, Boris Pasternak, Nikolai Aseev, etc. .). These groups were less radical.

Processes parallel to literary ones are also observed in the visual arts, where in the early 1910s. radical trends also arise: fauvism, futurism, cubism, suprematism. Like the Futurist poets, the avant-garde artists reject the experience of traditional art. The new direction was aware of being at the forefront of the development of art - the avant-garde. The most prominent representatives of the avant-garde were the founder of abstract art, V. V. Kandinsky, M. Z. Chagall, P. A. Filonov, K. S. Malevich, and others. Avant-garde artists took part in the design of Futurist books.

The search for new ways was also in music - it is associated with the names of S.V. Rachmaninov, A.N. Scriabin, S.S. Prokofiev, I.N. Stravinsky and a number of other more or less famous composers. If Rachmaninov's work developed more in line with tradition, and Scriabin's music was close to symbolism, then Stravinsky's style can be compared with avant-garde and futurism.

The formation of the modernist theater is associated with the name of Vsevolod Emilievich Meyerhold (1874 - 1940). He began his acting and directing career with Stanislavsky, but quickly separated from him. In 1906, the actress V.F. Komissarzhevskaya invited him to St. Petersburg as the chief director of her theatre. In one season, Meyerhold staged 13 performances, including Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, L. Andreev's Life of a Man, A. Blok's Puppet Show. After leaving the theater Komissarzhevskaya, in 1907 - 1917. Meyerhold worked in the St. Petersburg imperial theaters, participated in small studio, including amateur, home productions. In the book "On the Theater" (1913), Meyerhold theoretically substantiated the concept of "conditional theater", opposed to stage naturalism.

Both in literature and in other forms of art, not all creative people were drawn into one direction or another, there were quite a few "loners" who gravitated towards certain groups, but for some reason - ideological or purely personal - were not included in any of them at all. in one of the groups or only partly in contact with them. So, from the poets who entered the literary field in the late 90s - early 90s. Konstantin Fofanov (1862 - 1911), Mirra Lokhvitskaya (1869 - 1905), Bunin (who made his debut as a poet) did not adjoin any of the currents, Innokenty Annensky, who was later ranked among the Symbolists, kept apart during his lifetime better known as a philologist and teacher than as poet; in the 900s relative independence from the Symbolists was maintained by Maximilian Voloshin (1877-1932) and Mikhail Kuzmin (1875-1936); Vladislav Khodasevich (1886 - 1939) collaborated with the Symbolists, but did not fully join them, was close to the Acmeists, but Georgy Ivanov (1894 - 1958) was not an Acmeist, Marina Tsvetaeva was a completely independent figure. In the 1910s poets began their journey, after the revolution classified as "peasant" or "new peasant": Nikolai Klyuev (1884 - 1937), Sergei Klychkov (1889 - 1937), Sergei Yesenin.

The cultural life of Russia was not limited to the capitals - each city had its own initiatives, although, perhaps, on a lesser scale. Literature, painting, architecture, music, theater - there is, perhaps, no area that would not have been marked during this period by something bright, original, talented. “And the feast of all these arts went both at home and at the editorial offices,” Bunin recalled, “both at the Yar in Moscow, and in the St. Petersburg Tower of Vyacheslav Ivanov, and at the Vienna restaurant, and in the basement of the Stray Dog ″:

We are all thugs here, harlots...

Block wrote about this time (quite seriously):

The rebellion of the purple worlds subsides. The violins who have been praising the ghost discover their true nature. The lilac twilight dissipates ... And in the rarefied air there is a bitter smell of almonds ... In the lilac twilight of the vast world, a huge hearse sways, and on it lies a dead doll with a face vaguely reminiscent of that which was seen through the hearts of heavenly roses ... "(Bunin. Collected Op. T 9, p. 298).

Despite the "blooming complexity" and the exceptional creative energy that manifested itself in all types of creativity, contemporaries themselves felt a kind of moral wormhole in this flourishing organism, so the tragic events of subsequent years were perceived by religiously minded people as a well-deserved retribution.

The highest point of the cultural heyday of the beginning of the 20th century was 1913. In 1914, the First World War began, followed by two revolutions in 1917 - and although cultural life did not stop, the scope of undertakings began to be gradually restrained by a lack of funds, and then by the ideological dictates of a new authorities. But there is no clear boundary of the Silver Age, since many writers, artists, philosophers, formed by this era, continued their creative activity both under Soviet rule in their homeland and in the Russian Diaspora.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Russia experienced changes in all areas of life. The date of the transition from century to century acted magically and was perceived tragically. Public moods were dominated by moods of uncertainty, decline, the end of history.

What are the most important historical events that took place in Russia at the turn of the century? Firstly, Russia survived three revolutions: the revolution of 1905, the February and October revolutions of 1917. Secondly, 1904-1905. - Russo-Japanese War, which followed it in 1914-1918. World War I Civil War.

There have also been shifts in public consciousness. Dissatisfaction with the rational foundations of spiritual life is becoming brighter and brighter. According to the philosopher V. Solovyov, all previous history is over, it is replaced not by a new stage of history, but by something new - either a time of decline and savagery, or a time of new barbarism. There are no connecting links between the end of the old and the beginning of the new, i.e., according to the philosopher, "the end of history converged with its beginning."

In search of an explanation of the processes taking place in society, the appeal to religion became more and more frequent.

The time of the turn of the century was the time of the introduction of various philosophical ideas into the consciousness of Russian society. In society, they talked about F. Nietzsche, about his ideas related to the denunciation of Christianity as an obstacle on the path of the individual to its self-improvement, they talked about the philosopher’s teaching “on will and freedom” with the rejection of morality, of God (“God is dead!”). Thus, the decline is connected with the crisis of Christianity, instead of the God-man, a new, strong “superman” is needed.

Nietzsche's ideas were accepted in Russian society, but Russian thinkers did not follow the philosopher to the end. Without abandoning Christianity, the "God-seekers" sought to find ways to connect it with pagan "joy". In the revolutionary movement, God-seekers saw only a "Russian revolt against culture." Culture was given special importance. Art and literature served as an art form for expressing philosophical ideas. The new literature was supposed to become theurgical (theurgist is a god, an initiate), it was supposed to become a way to establish world harmony. The way to understand the truth.

The literature of the turn of the century and the beginning of the 20th century, which became a reflection of the contradictions and searches of the era, was called the Silver Age. This definition was introduced in 1933. N.A. Otsup (Parisian magazine of Russian emigration "Numbers"). In literary criticism, the term "Silver Age" was assigned precisely to that part of the artistic culture of Russia, which was associated with new, modernist trends - symbolism, acmeism, "neo-peasant" and futuristic literature.

The feeling of the crisis of the era was universal, but it was reflected in the literature in different ways. Unlike the realistic aesthetics of the 19th century, which represented in literature the author's ideal embodied in some image, the new realistic literature essentially abandoned the hero - the bearer of the author's ideas. The author's view lost its sociological orientation and turned to eternal problems, symbols, biblical motifs and images, and folklore. The author's reflections on the fate of man and the world counted on the reader's cooperation, calling for dialogue. New realism focused on Russian classical literature, primarily on the creative legacy of Pushkin.

The concept of "Silver Age" is primarily associated with modernist trends. Modernism (from the French "newest", "modern") meant new phenomena in literature and art compared to the art of the past, its goal was to create a poetic culture that would transform the world through art. A special role was assigned to the author, artist - theurgist, soothsayer, prophet, able to comprehend the harmony of the world by means of art. Modernism united a number of trends, trends, the most significant of which were symbolism, acmeism and futurism. In each direction there was a core of masters and "ordinary" participants, who largely determined the strength and depth of the direction.

The aesthetics of modernism reflected the mood of the "end of the century", the death of the world. Doom. The main thing that united the currents of modernism, different in their aesthetics, was the orientation to the world-changing power of creativity. The aesthetic struggle between the leading literary trends - realism and modernism - was characteristic of the literature of the turn of the century, although at the deepest basis of each there was one thing - the desire for harmony and beauty.

Modernists, supporters of "pure art", believed in the divine, transformative power of art, identified poets and artists with prophets. Their opponents sharply criticized this position. "Pure art" was opposed to "useful" art. However, the Silver Age did not end in 1917, it continued to exist in hidden forms in the poetry of A. Akhmatova, M. Tsvetaeva, in the work of B. Pasternak, in the literature of the Russian emigration.

Lesson Objectives

1. To give an idea of ​​the traditional periodization of literature of the 20th century.

2. Recognize the crisis of the era of the beginning of the 20th century and understand its cause.

3. Give a general idea of ​​the literary movements of the early 20th century

The value of fiction is enormous because

it acts simultaneously and equally strongly on thought and

M. Gorky.

During the classes.

1. Introduction to the lesson. At the turn of the century, Russia experienced changes in all areas of life. This milestone was characterized by extreme tension, the tragedy of time. For Russia, this time was marked by three revolutions, two world wars, a civil war, a whole series of victories that had an impact on world history, and perhaps fewer tragedies that brought untold suffering to the people.

What was the political situation in the country like?

(The need for change, perestroika. In Russia, 3 main political forces fought: defenders of the monarchy, supporters of bourgeois reforms, ideologists of the proletarian revolution).

And if, in spite of everything, our country has survived, it is only thanks to the spiritual culture that has been formed for centuries in the bowels of the people and has found its embodiment in national folklore, Orthodoxy, Russian philosophy, literature, music, and painting.

The literature of the 20th century is both Soviet literature and literature of the Russian diaspora.

Periodization of Russian literature6

Silver Age (1900-1917)

The first decades of Soviet literature (1917-1941)

Literature during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)

Mid-Century Literature (50s-70s)

Literature of the 80-90s

Modern literature

The last decade of the 19th century opens a new stage in Russian literature. Literally all aspects of life in Russia have changed radically - the economy, politics, science, culture, art. N. Berdyaev said this about this time: “It was the era of awakening in Russia of independent philosophical thought, the flowering of poetry and the sharpening of aesthetic sensitivity ...” Russian literature became multi-layered. Various literary trends have emerged. Let's list them.

1. critical realism.
2. Decadence.
3. Modernism: symbolism, acmeism, futurism.
4. socialist realism.

Let's consider them in more detail. Students create a spreadsheet as the lesson progresses.

In the wide world, in the noisy sea

We are the crest of the rising wave

It's strange and sweet to live in the present,

The songs are full of anticipation.

Rejoice, brothers, for sure victories!

Look at the distance from above!

Doubt is alien to us, trembling is unknown to us, -

We are the crest of the rising won.

Here are the matching results:

1. Restructuring in all areas of life.

2. Struggle of ideas.

3. Multi-party system.

4. The path of reforms and the violent path (terrorism)

4. Conclusion. Our task, the task of the reader, is to understand the spiritual life of the bygone age. The spiritual memory of the people must survive centuries and millennia for the spiritual might of Russia to be resurrected. The best poets of the era rarely locked themselves into a particular literary movement. Therefore, the real picture of the literary process of this period is determined by the creative personalities of writers and poets, rather than by the history of trends and trends.

5. Homework.

1) Learn the main points of the lecture.

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Introductory literature lesson in 11th grade.

Topic: Characteristics of the literary process at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Lesson Objectives

1. To give an idea of ​​the traditional periodization of literature of the 20th century.
2. Recognize the crisis of the era of the beginning of the 20th century and understand its cause.

3. Give a general idea of ​​the literary movements of the early 20th century

The value of fiction is enormous because

It acts simultaneously and equally strongly on thought and

Feeling.

M. Gorky.

During the classes.

1. Introduction to the lesson. At the turn of the century, Russia experienced changes in all areas of life. This milestone was characterized by extreme tension, the tragedy of time. For Russia, this time was marked by three revolutions, two world wars, a civil war, a whole series of victories that had an impact on world history, and perhaps fewer tragedies that brought untold suffering to the people.

What was the political situation in the country like?

(The need for change, perestroika. In Russia, 3 main political forces fought: defenders of the monarchy, supporters of bourgeois reforms, ideologists of the proletarian revolution).

And if, in spite of everything, our country has survived, it is only thanks to the spiritual culture that has been formed for centuries in the bowels of the people and has found its embodiment in national folklore, Orthodoxy, Russian philosophy, literature, music, and painting.

The literature of the 20th century is both Soviet literature and literature of the Russian diaspora.

Periodization of Russian literature6

Silver Age (1900-1917)

The first decades of Soviet literature (1917-1941)

Literature during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)

Mid-Century Literature (50s-70s)

Literature of the 80-90s

Modern literature

2. Russian literature at the turn of the century.

The last decade of the 19th century opens a new stage in Russian literature. Literally all aspects of life in Russia have changed radically - the economy, politics, science, culture, art. N. Berdyaev said this about this time: “It was the era of awakening in Russia of independent philosophical thought, the flowering of poetry and the sharpening of aesthetic sensitivity ...” Russian literature became multi-layered. Various literary trends have emerged. Let's list them.

The main directions of literature of the 19th-20th centuries.

1. critical realism.
2. Decadence.
3. Modernism: symbolism, acmeism, futurism.
4. socialist realism.

Let's consider them in more detail. Students create a spreadsheet as the lesson progresses.

3. Listen to V. Bryusov's poem "We" and compare the time in which we live with the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In the wide world, in the noisy sea

We are the crest of the rising wave

It's strange and sweet to live in the present,

The songs are full of anticipation.

Rejoice, brothers, for sure victories!

Look at the distance from above!

Doubt is alien to us, trembling is unknown to us, -

We are the crest of the rising won.

Here are the matching results:

1. Restructuring in all areas of life.

2. Struggle of ideas.

3. Multi-party system.

4. The path of reforms and the violent path (terrorism)

5. More…

4. Conclusion. Our task, the task of the reader, is to understand the spiritual life of the bygone age. The spiritual memory of the people must survive centuries and millennia for the spiritual might of Russia to be resurrected. The best poets of the era rarely locked themselves into a particular literary trend. Therefore, the real picture of the literary process of this period is determined by the creative personalities of writers and poets, rather than by the history of trends and trends.

5. Homework.

1) Learn the main points of the lecture.

2) A mini-essay on one of the topics: “I recommend reading”, “My favorite book of modern prose”, “The book shocked me”, etc.