Russian works of the 19th and 20th centuries. XIX century in Russian literature. Pushkin and Gogol
Literature in the 19th century in Russia is associated with the rapid flowering of culture. Spiritual uplift and important are reflected in the immortal works of writers and poets. This article is dedicated to the representatives of the Golden Age of Russian literature and the main trends of this period.
Historical events
Literature in the 19th century in Russia gave birth to such great names as Baratynsky, Batyushkov, Zhukovsky, Lermontov, Fet, Yazykov, Tyutchev. And above all Pushkin. This period was marked by a number of historical events. The development of Russian prose and poetry was influenced by the Patriotic War of 1812, and the death of the great Napoleon, and the passing of Byron. The English poet, like the French commander, for a long time dominated the minds of revolutionary-minded people in Russia. and the Russian-Turkish war, as well as the echoes of the French revolution, heard in all corners of Europe - all these events turned into a powerful catalyst for advanced creative thought.
While revolutionary movements were being carried out in Western countries and the spirit of freedom and equality began to emerge, Russia was strengthening its monarchical power, and suppressing uprisings. This could not go unnoticed by artists, writers and poets. The literature of the early 19th century in Russia is a reflection of the thoughts and experiences of the advanced strata of society.
Classicism
This aesthetic direction is understood as an artistic style that originated in the culture of Europe in the second half of the 18th century. Its main features are rationalism and observance of strict canons. Classicism of the 19th century in Russia was also distinguished by its appeal to ancient forms and the principle of three unities. Literature, however, in this artistic style already at the beginning of the century began to lose ground. Classicism was gradually supplanted by such trends as sentimentalism, romanticism.
Masters of the artistic word began to create their works in new genres. Works in the style of a historical novel, romantic story, ballad, ode, poem, landscape, philosophical and love lyrics gained popularity.
Realism
Literature in the 19th century in Russia is associated primarily with the name of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Closer to the thirties, realistic prose took a strong position in his work. It should be said that Pushkin is the ancestor of this literary movement in Russia.
Journalism and satire
Some features of the European culture of the 18th century were inherited by the literature of the 19th century in Russia. Briefly, we can outline the main features of the poetry and prose of this period - the satirical nature and publicism. The tendency to depict human vices and shortcomings of society is observed in the work of writers who created their works in the forties. In literary criticism, it was later defined that united the authors of satirical and journalistic prose. "Natural School" - this was the name of this artistic style, which, however, is also called the "Gogol School". Other representatives of this literary trend are Nekrasov, Dal, Herzen, Turgenev.
Criticism
The ideology of the "natural school" was substantiated by the critic Belinsky. The principles of the representatives of this literary movement became the denunciation and eradication of vices. Social problems became a characteristic feature in their work. The main genres are essay, socio-psychological novel and social story.
Literature in the 19th century in Russia developed under the influence of the activities of various associations. It was in the first quarter of this century that there was a significant rise in the journalistic field. Belinsky had a huge influence on. This man possessed an extraordinary ability to feel the poetic gift. It was he who first recognized the talent of Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky.
Pushkin and Gogol
The literature of the 19th and 20th centuries in Russia would have been completely different and, of course, not so bright without these two authors. They had a huge impact on the development of prose. And many of the elements they introduced into literature have become classical norms. Pushkin and Gogol not only developed realism, but also created completely new artistic types. One of them is the image of the "little man", which later developed not only in the work of Russian authors, but also in foreign literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Lermontov
This poet also had a considerable influence on the development of Russian literature. After all, it is to him that the creation of such a concept as the “hero of time” belongs. With his light hand, it entered not only literary criticism, but also into public life. Lermontov also took part in the development of the psychological novel genre.
The entire period of the nineteenth century is famous for the names of talented great personalities who worked in the field of literature (both prose and poetry). Russian authors at the end of the eighteenth century adopted some of the merits of Western colleagues. But due to a sharp jump in the development of culture and art, it eventually became an order of magnitude higher than the Western European one that existed at that time. The works of Pushkin, Turgenev, Dostoevsky and Gogol have become the property of world culture. The works of Russian writers became a model on which German, English and American authors later relied.
The 19th century is called the "Golden Age" of Russian poetry and the century of Russian literature on a global scale. It should not be forgotten that the literary leap that took place in the 19th century was prepared by the entire course of the literary process of the 17th and 18th centuries. The 19th century is the time of the formation of the Russian literary language, which took shape largely thanks to A.S. Pushkin.
But the 19th century began with the heyday of sentimentalism and the formation of romanticism. These literary trends found expression primarily in poetry. Poetic works of poets E.A. Baratynsky, K.N. Batyushkova, V.A. Zhukovsky, A.A. Feta, D.V. Davydova, N.M. Yazykov. Creativity F.I. Tyutchev's "Golden Age" of Russian poetry was completed. However, the central figure of this time was Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
A.S. Pushkin began his ascent to the literary Olympus with the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" in 1920. And his novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" was called an encyclopedia of Russian life. Romantic poems by A.S. Pushkin's "The Bronze Horseman" (1833), "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray", "Gypsies" opened the era of Russian romanticism. Many poets and writers considered A. S. Pushkin their teacher and continued the traditions of creating literary works laid down by him. One of these poets was M.Yu. Lermontov. His romantic poem "Mtsyri", the poetic story "Demon", many romantic poems are known. Interestingly, Russian poetry of the 19th century was closely connected with the social and political life of the country. Poets tried to comprehend the idea of their special purpose. The poet in Russia was considered a conductor of divine truth, a prophet. The poets urged the authorities to listen to their words. Vivid examples of understanding the role of the poet and influence on the political life of the country are the poems of A.S. Pushkin "Prophet", ode "Liberty", "The Poet and the Crowd", a poem by M.Yu. Lermontov "On the Death of a Poet" and many others.
Along with poetry, prose began to develop. The prose writers of the beginning of the century were influenced by the English historical novels of W. Scott, whose translations were very popular. The development of Russian prose of the 19th century began with the prose works of A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol. Pushkin, under the influence of English historical novels, creates the story "The Captain's Daughter", where the action takes place against the backdrop of grandiose historical events: during the time of the Pugachev rebellion. A.S. Pushkin did a tremendous job exploring this historical period. This work was largely political in nature and was directed to those in power.
A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol identified the main artistic types that would be developed by writers throughout the 19th century. This is the artistic type of the “superfluous person”, an example of which is Eugene Onegin in the novel by A.S. Pushkin, and the so-called type of "little man", which is shown by N.V. Gogol in his story "The Overcoat", as well as A.S. Pushkin in the story "The Stationmaster".
Literature inherited its publicism and satirical character from the 18th century. In the prose poem N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls", the writer in a sharp satirical manner shows a swindler who buys up dead souls, various types of landowners who are the embodiment of various human vices (the influence of classicism affects). In the same plan, the comedy "The Inspector General" is sustained. The works of A. S. Pushkin are also full of satirical images. Literature continues to satirically depict Russian reality. The tendency to depict the vices and shortcomings of Russian society is a characteristic feature of all Russian classical literature. It can be traced in the works of almost all writers of the 19th century. At the same time, many writers implement the satirical trend in a grotesque form. Examples of grotesque satire are the works of N.V. Gogol "The Nose", M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "Gentlemen Golovlevs", "History of one city".
Since the middle of the 19th century, the formation of Russian realistic literature has been taking place, which is being created against the backdrop of a tense socio-political situation that developed in Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. A crisis in the serf system is brewing, and contradictions between the authorities and the common people are strong. There is a need to create a realistic literature that sharply reacts to the socio-political situation in the country. Literary critic V.G. Belinsky marks a new realistic trend in literature. His position is being developed by N.A. Dobrolyubov, N.G. Chernyshevsky. A dispute arises between Westernizers and Slavophiles about the paths of Russia's historical development.
Writers turn to the socio-political problems of Russian reality. The genre of the realistic novel is developing. Their works are created by I.S. Turgenev, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, I.A. Goncharov. Socio-political and philosophical problems prevail. Literature is distinguished by a special psychologism.
The development of poetry somewhat subsides. It is worth noting the poetic works of Nekrasov, who was the first to introduce social issues into poetry. His poem “Who is living well in Russia?” is known, as well as many poems, where the hard and hopeless life of the people is comprehended.
The literary process of the late 19th century discovered the names of N. S. Leskov, A.N. Ostrovsky A.P. Chekhov. The latter proved to be a master of a small literary genre - a story, as well as an excellent playwright. Competitor A.P. Chekhov was Maxim Gorky.
The end of the 19th century was marked by the formation of pre-revolutionary sentiments. The realist tradition was beginning to fade. It was replaced by the so-called decadent literature, the hallmarks of which were mysticism, religiosity, as well as a premonition of changes in the socio-political life of the country. Subsequently, decadence grew into symbolism. This opens a new page in the history of Russian literature.
19th century rightly called the "golden age" of Russian literature. Already in the first half of the century, literature took a gigantic step forward. At the beginning of the XIX century. Classicism and sentimentalism were replaced by romanticism. In literature, this was most clearly reflected in the work of the poet V. A. Zhukovsky (1783-1852), as well as in the early poems of A. S. Pushkin (1799-1837). Romantics in their works turned to historical events, legends, oral folk poetry.
At the turn of the 20-30s. a new direction begins to develop - realism. One of the first realistic works was the comedy by A. S. Griboyedov (1795-1829) “Woe from Wit”. But A. S. Pushkin should be considered the true founder of realism in Russian literature, he was also the founder of the Russian literary language. The author of lyrical poems and caustic epigrams, the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin", the poems "The Bronze Horseman", "Boris Godunov", "The Captain's Daughter", etc., A. S. Pushkin not only proved himself to be a great poet, but also managed to to comprehend the essence of the most important phenomena of Russian history and reality, depicted by him in all its diversity, complexity and inconsistency. Realism is largely inherent in the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov (1814-1841) "A Hero of Our Time". N. V. Gogol (1809-1852) developed critical realism, the purpose of which was to reveal the vulgarities of life, as well as social criticism (“The Government Inspector”, “Dead Souls”). Gogol deepened the theme of the "little man" ("The Overcoat"), introduced into Russian literature by A. S. Pushkin ("The Stationmaster").
In the 40s. a school of realist writers (“natural school”) is formed, who rallied around V. G. Belinsky (1811-1848). Realists strove to depict everyday life truthfully. They described the details of everyday life, the peculiarities of speech, the emotional experiences of peasants, petty bourgeois, petty officials. The map of Moscow and its environs at that time already numbered thousands of objects used by writers as a setting in their works. The best works of that time include "Poor People" by F. M. Dostoevsky (1821-1881), "Notes of a Hunter" by I. S. Turgenev (1818-1883), "The Thieving Magpie" by A. I. Herzen (1812-1870 ), "Ordinary History" by I. A. Goncharov (1812-1891).
In the 1850-1870s. aphorisms, parodies and poems signed by Kozma Prutkov began to appear. Kozma Prutkov is a generalized image of an official-bureaucrat of the Nikolaev era, who considers himself a model of wisdom. The aphorisms of Kozma Prutkov are a sharp satire on bureaucracy, stupidity, servility, vulgarity and careerism.
An ideological, political and literary struggle flared up around the peasant reform of 1861. The most radical of the "people's defenders" - the revolutionary democrats, whose leader was N. G. Chernyshevsky (1828-1889), and the main mouthpiece - the Sovremennik magazine, even called on Rus to the axe. In this atmosphere of tense struggle, such masterpieces of Russian literature as N. A. Nekrasov’s “Who Lives Well in Russia” (1821-1877), A. I. Herzen’s “Past and Thoughts”, F. M. Dostoevsky, "Fathers and Sons" by I. S. Turgenev, "Thunderstorm" by A. N. Ostrovsky (1823-1886), "What to do?" N. G. Chernyshevsky, “Oblomov” by I. A. Goncharov, “War and Peace” by L. N. Tolstoy (1828-1910), “Lord Golovlevs” by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826-1889). In these, in the full sense of the word, classical works, and this series can be significantly continued, the high civic consciousness, the depth of the depiction of life inherent in Russian literature were most clearly expressed. The dominant literary genre was the novel.
In the last decades of the XIX century. the talents of A.P. Chekhov (1860-1904), V.G. Korolenko (1853-1921), V.M. Garshin (1855-1888) appeared. In their works, they were able to show that dissatisfaction with the autocratic reality is becoming nationwide, that protest is ripening even in the souls of the most downtrodden and humiliated "little" people. The melancholy of Chekhov's heroes, their characteristic feeling of the strangeness and unreasonableness of life, acquired world significance. V. M. Garshin is already planning to overcome naturalistic tendencies and attempt to combine romantic and realistic principles in lyrical prose.
The Medieval Passion of Walter Scott
The ancestor of the historical novel, Walter Scott, was born in the Scottish city of Edinburgh in 1771. All his life the writer limped on one leg (the consequences of childhood paralysis). After studying law, Walter Scott went to work in his father's law firm.
Possessing a phenomenal memory, Walter Scott from an early age was fond of the Middle Ages and the works of ancient authors. At the beginning of his legal career, the future writer traveled extensively around the country in search of various old ballads and legends about Scottish heroes.
At first, Scott's creativity manifested itself in writing poetry, novels in verse, but then he switched his interest to prose. Walter Scott, being a magnificent artist, like no one else could breathe life into events covered with the dust of time. The famous name of Walter Scott was made by his poems "Rockby", "Lady of the Lake" and "Song of the Last Minstrel". These works, dedicated to the beloved Middle Ages, were an unprecedented success among the author's contemporaries.
The historical past of England is reflected in such novels by Walter Scott as Ivanhoe, Woodstock, The Abbot and many others. The first historical work written by a Scottish writer in the prose genre is Waverley, or Sixty Years Ago. This work opened a cycle of novels devoted to a historical theme (the so-called Waverley cycle), which remain popular in our time. Walter Scott died of apoplexy in 1832.
Unstoppable in the manifestation of feelings - Honore de Balzac
The great French writer - Honore de Balzac, was born in 1799 in the French city of Tours in a peasant family. Like many other famous writers, Balzac, at the request of his father, had to become a lawyer. However, the future writer abandoned law, devoting himself to literature.
By nature, Balzac has always been distinguished by an uncontrollable manifestation of feelings for literally everything that surrounded him. If he loved, then for life, if he hated, then completely and completely. The writer was known as a maximalist in everything. He believed that he would certainly become great and famous. Basically, that's what happened.
Balzac's path to glory was long and thorny. At first, he wrote some rather mediocre works, looking for exactly the topic that would be given to him best. As a result of a long search, fame finally came to him after the publication of the work Shagreen Skin. Further, the author, with amazing swiftness, wrote all his most famous works: “The Shine and Poverty of the Courtesans”, “Dark Matter”, “The Mass of the Atheist”, “The Museum of Antiquities” and many others. These works were written by Balzac in a short time. There were legends about his ability to work almost non-stop.
Balzac is a recognized master of the adventure novel. His whole life consisted of a series of adventures. He easily got into debt, invested in illusory financial projects, burned out and repeated all over again. In 1850, a severe heart disease cut short the life of the famous writer.
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin - a treasure of Russian literature
The most famous Russian poet and writer, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, was born in Moscow in 1799. The writer comes from an ancient noble family, whom Pushkin himself was incredibly proud of and often sang in his poems. In addition, Pushkin's maternal great-grandfather, the African Abram Petrovich Gannibal (the prototype of the protagonist of the writer's famous work, Peter the Great's Moor), was also a source of pride for Pushkin.
Alexander Sergeevich was quite famous among the Russian aristocracy of the 19th century. The age in which he lived, in our time, is rightfully the golden age of Russian literature. The writer was friends with many famous personalities - Prince Vyazemsky, Nashchokin, Pushchin, Zhukovsky, this is not the whole list of people who were proud of their friendship with Pushkin.
Much has been written about Pushkin. His ability to skillfully play with words, erecting monumental works from them, can leave few people indifferent. The writer became famous for many prose works - "The Shot", "The Queen of Spades", "The Young Lady Peasant Woman", a large number of poems - "Prisoner of the Caucasus", "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "The Bronze Horseman", as well as a huge number of poems. During his short life (the poet was killed in a duel at the age of 37 in 1837), Pushkin managed to write many works that are rightfully considered one of the best in world literature.
The romantic nature of Victor Hugo
Victor Marie Hugo, one of France's most revered writers, was born in Besançon in 1802. The writer lived almost the entire 19th century, but he devoted himself to literature only after his retirement after engaging in political activities. During the reign of Napoleon III, Hugo was forced to leave France due to differences of opinion with the ruling party. Speaking against the oppression of the people, the writer lived in exile for more than 20 years.
By nature, Victor Hugo was a convinced romantic, believing that the freedom of a person and his convictions should be valued above all else. The writer fiercely opposed the humiliation of his people, calling for the erection of the rights and freedoms of every person on a pedestal.
The main work in the life of Victor Hugo is his novel Les Misérables, on which the author worked for thirty years. The writer himself attached great importance to this novel, believing that such works are designed to rebuild society.
The second, no less famous work of Hugo, is rightfully considered the novel Notre Dame Cathedral. The author's contemporaries highly appreciated this work, but few could have imagined that in the image of Quasimodo the author personified the oppressed and despised French people.
The famous writer lived a life full of all sorts of events. Victor Hugo died in 1885.
Adventurer Alexandre Dumas (father)
Distinguished by a powerful physique and a penchant for adventure, Alexandre Dumas was born in 1802 in a small Parisian town - Villers-Cotres. Having lost his father early, Alexander was too independent and had an unbridled character. He refused to submit to any discipline, often wandered through the forests, and got into various adventures.
Alexandre Dumas decided to devote his life to literature after seeing a production of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Deciding to take Paris by storm, Dumas, with virtually no money in his pocket, went to the capital. Alexander did not have eminent patrons, he did not know what genres literary works are divided into. All he had was a great desire to write and an assertive, fame-hungry character. For the first six years of living in Paris without money and any assistants, Dumas managed to find a calling and gain fame.
The writer devoted the first half of his literary life to the theater. The plays he wrote made it possible to talk about Dumas as an outstanding playwright. Later, Alexandre Dumas wrote several historical novels that brought him worldwide fame - The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Queen Margot, The Iron Mask and others.
Possessing a good sense of humor, Alexandre Dumas did not part with a good mood even on the verge of death. The author of countless novels died in 1870.
The great "storyteller" - Hans Christian Andersen
The famous friend of the children of the whole world - Hans Christian Andersen, was born in 1805 in the small town of Odense, located in Denmark. A boy from an ordinary family of a shoemaker and a laundress surprised everyone with his knowledge of Shakespeare's sonnets. Andersen had an incredible imagination, and by nature he was a sophisticated and emotional person.
Having moved to Copenhagen in his youth, Andersen unsuccessfully tried to get into the theater troupe. Leaving these attempts, the future writer writes his first play. In vain trying to convince the theatergoers to put her on stage, Andersen, nevertheless, accepts their offer to study at school for free (Hans' family was so poor that they could not pay for their son's studies).
Andersen gained fame only in 1829, when the first story of the writer was published - “A walking trip from the Holmen Canal to the eastern tip of Amager”. Only a few years later, Andersen, having received a monetary allowance from the king, will be able to fulfill his dream of traveling abroad and, as a result, become the author of fairy tales that glorified him throughout the world. For a long time the writer will try to become famous as a novelist and playwright, but everyone will perceive him only as a writer of fantastic stories. Few people know that Andersen despised and hated his fairy tales that made him famous. The great storyteller died in his sleep in 1875.
One of the most mysterious and controversial personalities of the 19th century, Edgar Allan Poe, was born in 1809 in the American city of Boston. At an early age, the boy was left an orphan, his father left the family immediately after the birth of Edgar, and his mother died when the future writer was about three years old. Edgar Allan Poe was raised by a wealthy merchant, who later moved to live in England. Growing up, Poe quarreled with his mentor and returned to Boston. There, with the last money, he publishes the first book of his poems. Left without a penny in his pocket, the writer is forced to enlist in the military. Further, Edgar Poe works in various publications, publishes his poems, but this activity does not bring him either money or fame. Poe's life began to improve only after he moved to Philadelphia, where he got a job as a magazine editor. During his work, he publishes two volumes of prose "Grotesques and Arabesques", as well as a large number of literary critical articles.
Subsequently, Poe moved to live in New York, where he published the poem "The Raven", which made him famous. Following this, Edgar Allan Poe begins to pursue a series of failures. His beloved wife Virginia dies, the publishing house where the writer works is closed. All this leaves an imprint on the mind of Poe. He begins to take opium, became addicted to alcohol. In the last goals of his life, the mind of the writer was clouded, he was often visited by gloomy thoughts, ridiculous fantasies. All this affected the poems and stories he wrote. Gothic fantasy, mixed with detective elements, as close as possible to reality, such were the works of the author. The most popular were "The Fall of the House of Usher", "A Ghost Wanders Europe", "Oval Portrait", "The Well and the Pendulum" and many others. The writer died in 1849.
Great mystic - Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol
The recognized genius of world literature - Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich, was born into a family of landowners living in the village of Bolshiye Sorochintsy, Poltava province in 1809. Near the estate of Gogol's father there was a village called Dikanka, which is currently known to everyone, thanks to the writer's works. Growing up, Gogol went to St. Petersburg, where he entered the civil service. This activity extremely disappointed Nikolai Vasilyevich, and he decided to devote himself to literature.
The work, thanks to which Gogol's name gained fame, was the story "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka". Further, Gogol writes no less famous works "Taras Bulba", "The Government Inspector". In them, he describes the struggle of the common people for their sovereignty, ridicules the morals that reign within the so-called "elite" of the state. The well-known works of the writer “Viy” and “Christmas Eve” are also full of mystery, where the writer masterfully describes the life of the Ukrainian people, putting into it elements of folk beliefs and mystical stories.
In 1842, Gogol's main work, Dead Souls, was published. The plot of the novel caused great excitement in reader circles and among critics. The attitude towards him was ambiguous - Gogol was praised and at the same time accused of slandering the existing reality. Subsequently, Gogol began to write the second volume of the famous novel, designed to describe the positive side of Russian life. However, tormented by a premonition of imminent death and doubts about his literary vocation, Gogol destroys part of the manuscript, motivating his act by the fact that it will negatively affect humanity. In 1852 Gogol dies in his apartment.
After the death of the writer, a large number of works remained, many of which have been filmed in our time. The writer's death deeply shocked Russian society. The reburial of Gorky in 1931 at the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent gave rise to rumors that the writer did not die, but fell asleep, just a lethargic sleep, and was buried alive. However, there is currently no confirmation of these speculations.
Charles Dickens is the favorite English writer
Charles Dickens, one of the world's most talented writers, was born in 1812 in Landport, Great Britain. The father of the future writer was a port official, but went bankrupt when Dickens was still going to school. The boy had to go to work in a factory to somehow help feed his family. As a result, Dickens did not receive a serious education.
Once, as an adult and working as a stenographer in Parliament, Dickens decided to earn extra money by writing small essays. They were successful, and Charles was invited to one of the newspapers as a court reporter. It was then that Dickens began to collaborate with various comic artists. The writer composed short humorous stories for them. A series of similar stories called "The Pickwick Club" was extremely popular in England. Subsequently, Dickens wrote a novel, which he called The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, the main character of which was the same comic character - Mr. Pickwick.
In world literature, Charles Dickens is known as a wonderful satirist and humorist. However, this does not mean that the writer could only arouse laughter in the hearts of people. One of the brightest works of the author - "The Adventures of Oliver Twist", made readers all over the world empathize with the main character. The most grandiose novel of the writer "David Copperfield" tells about the heart experiences of the hero, and in some details resembles the personal life of the author himself.
Gradually Dickens became very popular and loved in England. In addition, the works written by him brought wealth to the author. However, at the end of his life, there was some dissatisfaction with his position in Dickens's character, he was seized by a passion for change, anxiety. Apparently, this was a sign of psychological fatigue. In 1870, the famous writer died as a result of a hemorrhage.
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov - the fate of an officer
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov - "the sun of Russian poetry", as his contemporaries called him, was born in Moscow in 1814, into a noble family. The poet graduated from a military school in St. Petersburg, after which he entered the hussar regiment for service. For the publication of poems about the death of Pushkin, Lermontov was exiled by the command to the Caucasus. By nature, Lermontov was quick-tempered, he liked to let unflattering jokes at his acquaintances, to mock everyone. The result of this behavior were duels involving the poet. After the first duel, in which Lermontov fought with the son of the French envoy, the poet was again sent to the Caucasus. There he took part in the fighting, showed courage. However, the tsar did not want to reward the rebellious poet, and refused to transfer him to St. Petersburg. The duel between Lermontov and Martynov in Pyatigorsk in 1841, where the author was undergoing treatment, turned out to be the last. The poet was killed.
Lermontov began to write early. His works became famous when the author was not even 20 years old. Whatever the poet tried himself in, in prose or in poetry, the fruits of his work always became masterpieces. Lermontov's poems "Sail", "Three Palms", the poems "Mtsyri", "Demon", the novel "A Hero of Our Time" - all this will remain in the memory of posterity for a long time. Lermontov's contemporaries found in his works the spirit of the search for truth, an extraordinary depth of feeling. So was the poet himself. He constantly strived for something new, a quiet life weighed on him. He was loved and reviled at the same time. From the outside, Lermontov seemed arrogant, arrogant, ridiculing everyone and everything. But for close friends, he was always a devoted and unusually kind person. The death of the poet deeply shocked everyone, leaving no one indifferent.
"Master of Minds" - Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
This truly brilliant writer was born in Orel in 1818 in a noble family. Turgenev was an extremely weak personality. The consequence of this was the upbringing of the writer in severity. His mother was a rather despotic nature, preferring her whole family to live by her rules. However, despite the cowardice of character and the education of a philosopher, Turgenev took part in the Patriotic War of 1812.
All his life, Turgenev was dissatisfied with serfdom, he was oppressed by the life of the peasants, forced to work up to a sweat under the yoke of the landlords. This mood of Turgenev was reflected in many of the writer's works, these include "The Landowner", "Notes of a Hunter", "A Month in the Village". The writer was also very fond of touching in his works on the topic of problems that arise between society and the individual. A striking example of such a work is "Fathers and Sons". The age-old conflict of two generations, colorfully described by Turgenev, is still relevant to this day.
Turgenev's acquaintances describe him as an overly kind and soft-hearted person. Many said that even with the servants in his house, the writer behaved like a family, as if they were his own people. Turgenev was very friendly with the famous French singer Pauline Viardot. Until his death, he lived in her house with her family. The writer's death occurred in 1883 as a result of a spinal disease.
Great "seer" - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
The famous writer was born in Moscow in 1821. His family came from an ancient Lithuanian family, known from records for its indomitability and violent character. At the age of 18, Dostoevsky loses his father, which is the result of the first epileptic seizure of the future writer. Subsequently, this disease accompanied Dostoevsky all his life. At first, Fedor Mikhailovich served in the drawing room of the engineering department. Almost a year after the start of the service, he retired, as he realized that literature was his vocation.
Dostoevsky's first novel, entitled "Poor People", immediately earned its author recognition as a writer of the "Gogolian trend" or the so-called "natural school". In the work, Dostoevsky very accurately described the social disorder of the “little man”. Fedor Mikhailovich always tried to reflect the image of reality in his work in a realistic way. He was a master of dramatic storytelling and character complexity. In addition, Dostoevsky was a prominent supporter of the revolutionary views that existed at that time in society. For his commitment to the society of "Petrashevites" he was sentenced to death, which was later replaced by hard labor.
One of the great novels of the great writer - "Crime and Punishment" is considered almost prophetic. All the circumstances of the situation, the images of the heroes are reflected in the 20th century - the century of wars and violence. Dostoevsky in many of his works not only showed his contemporary society with its cruelty and oppression of people. The writer also played situations of the development of this situation, described what such a society could come to. In many ways, his subsequent works, The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot, also became prophetic. The famous "seer" passed away in 1881.
Classic adventure genre - Jules Verne
One of the founders of science fiction, which is rightfully considered Jules Verne, was born in the French city of Nantes in 1828 in the family of a lawyer. Initially, Jules Verne was also preparing to become a lawyer, but the love of literature prompted him to change his mind.
In his works, the writer bows to the scientific progress of mankind, invents new ways and methods of its development. During his life, Jules Verne released a huge number of novels, short stories and novellas. Several of his works have been filmed and make us follow the adventures of Jules Verne's heroes with delight even in our time. Almost everyone has known his cult novels since childhood - Around the World in 80 Days, Fifteen-Year-Old Captain, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Captain Grant's Children and many others. A distinctive feature of these adventure works is that Jules Verne, although he described incredible events, carefully thought through technical features and well-known scientific discoveries in order to give his works a certain amount of realism. Jules Verne loved to describe the characters of his heroes magnificently, giving them features of heroism, and sometimes comicality. A breathtaking adventure reigns on almost every page of the books written by this wonderful writer.
Jules Verne was very fond of traveling. He traveled a lot around the world, collecting subjects and faces for his works. However, after being wounded in the leg (the writer was shot by a mentally ill nephew in 1886), Jules Verne had to forget about traveling. The famous "traveler" died of diabetes in 1905.
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
A descendant of an old noble family, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, was born in the family estate of Yasnaya Polyana, which is located near Tula in 1828. At an early age, Tolstoy lost his parents. Numerous relatives took up the upbringing of the future writer and his brothers and sisters. At the beginning, Tolstoy dreamed of becoming a diplomat, but without finishing his studies at the Oriental Faculty, he transferred to law. But Tolstoy also did not have to become a jurist. He went back to the family estate, which he inherited, where he tried to write novels. Without finishing any of them, the writer returned to Moscow. For a long time Tolstoy tried to find a field of activity in which he could realize himself.
Tolstoy's life at first was a series of sprees and parties. At one time, a gypsy camp even lived on his estate. In the end, the writer's older brother takes him with him to the Caucasus, where Tolstoy takes part in hostilities. It is in the Caucasus that Tolstoy contemplates writing a novel consisting of four parts: "Childhood", "Adolescence", "Youth", "Youth", and begins to implement his plan. After the publication of the first part of the novel, recognition and fame come to Tolstoy. The subsequent two parts also caused a stir among the reading population of Russia (the fourth part of the novel was not written). The Caucasian theme is also reflected in the works of the writer - "Hadji Murad", "Cossacks", "Degraded".
Subsequently, Tolstoy takes part in the Russian-Turkish war, participates in the defense of Sevastopol and several times is presented with the St. George Cross, but he never receives it due to difficult relations with the leadership that approved the awards. It was at that time that Tolstoy wrote his legendary "Sevastopol Tales", which struck contemporaries with the reality of a soldier's life. The most important work that brought Tolstoy world fame was his novel War and Peace. Even if the writer did not subsequently write a single line, this novel would still leave him in the memory of his descendants as a great writer. However, Tolstoy did not stop there. Further, Anna Karenina, Resurrection, The Death of Ivan Ilyich and many others are published. Towards the end of his life, Lev Nikolaevich was excommunicated from the church, in connection with open atheistic statements. The great writer died of pneumonia in 1910.
"Protestant" nature of Mark Twain
The real name of this famous writer was Samuel Lenghorne Clemens. He was born in the town of Florida, Missouri in 1835. Orphaned early, Mark Twain had to drop out of school and get a job as an apprentice typesetter in local newspapers. The writer took the pseudonym "Mark Twain" while working as a pilot on a private steamer. Subsequently, during the civil war that began in the United States, Mark Twain was forced to move to the west of the country. It was there that his literary career began. At first, Mark Twain worked as a miner in Nevada, extracting silver. Subsequently, he left this activity, and got a job in a newspaper. Working in various publications, Mark Twain traveled widely. The result of the wanderings were written letters, which later became the basis of his book "Simples Abroad". This work was a huge success, and Mark Twain became famous overnight.
Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered a huge contribution to American literature. No less significant are such works of the author as "A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". It is believed that in the person of Tom Sawyer, the author described himself and his childhood. It was his inner protest against the existing moral foundations of that time that Mark Twain put into the personality of the hero of the book.
Mark Twain began his literary activity with writing humorous stories, and ended with works containing subtle irony in relation to the mores that prevailed in his time, as well as pessimistic moods about the future of his country.
Mark Twain is one of the recognized authors who made an invaluable contribution to the formation of all American literature. The whole life of the famous writer was full of sarcasm and irony. He never lost heart and always tried to treat everything with humor, although many moments of the author's life were completely bleak. The great writer died of angina pectoris in 1910.
The famous "detective" - Arthur Conan Doyle
The great master of the detective genre was born into a family of Irish Catholics in 1859. His homeland is the Scottish city of Edinburgh. The family of the future writer had great financial difficulties due to his father's addiction to alcohol and his mental problems. Wealthy relatives offered the Doyle family to send the boy to study at a closed Jesuit college, to which they agreed. At the end of his studies, the writer, who had taken out hatred of religious prejudice from the walls of the institution, returned home, where he decided to study as a doctor. While in his third year, Doyle decided to try his hand at literature. His first works did not bring him any success. During his studies, Doyle is sent to a whaling ship as a ship's doctor. Subsequently, the impressions he received from his service on the ship became the basis of a story written shortly before the end of his service - "Captain of the North Star".
The glory of Arthur Conan Doyle brought stories about detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson. The first of this cycle was the writer's story - "A Study in Scarlet", then several others followed. Subsequently, all these works were combined into one series, called "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." Quite rightly, Arthur Conan Doyle is called the founder of the detective genre. To this day, the adventures of the famous detective excite the minds of readers. More than once the writer tried to “kill” his hero, who, according to his confession, prevented the author from doing something more important. However, numerous requests from readers forced him to change his mind. The famous writer died of a heart attack in 1930.
"Humorist" - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Chekhov Anton Pavlovich - one of the recognized writers working in the satirical genre, was born in Taganrog in 1860. From his school years, Chekhov became interested in theater and literature. Anton Pavlovich spent his childhood in his native city, after which he left for Moscow with his family. There, the future writer enters Moscow University to study medical practice. While still a student, Chekhov began to write various parodies and humoresques for small comic magazines. Largely thanks to the funds received for this work, the Chekhov family was able to live in Moscow for the first time.
After graduation, Chekhov works as a doctor, but does not stop writing. By that time, he had already developed his own unique style of short humorous stories, which, however, had a double meaning. In his work, Chekhov tried to adhere to truthfulness and preserve the reality of the time in which he lived. In addition to the satire that was present in his works, the writer quite clearly described the psychology of his characters, endowing many of them with elements of drama. Almost all of Chekhov's heroes are taken from everyday life, not endowed with supernatural powers. Among them are the famous "Man in a Case", "Overcoat", "Ward No. 6". All these stories contain the truth of life as it is, without embellishment. In the last six years of his life, Chekhov reincarnated as a playwright. His plays, which were innovative both in style and in spirit, are still in the repertoires of modern theaters. Nowadays, there are few people who have not heard of such works as "Uncle Vanya", "The Cherry Orchard", "The Seagull", "Three Sisters".
Anton Pavlovich had a huge impact on Russian literature, having established the genre of a laconic story in prose. In 1904 the famous writer passed away.
Rudyard Kipling - Nobel Prize for Literature
Rudyard Kipling - truly the most famous English poet, was born in Bombay in 1865. At first, Kipling lived with his parents in his homeland in India, but then moved to England. The writer's father wanted him to become a military man, but Kipling's myopia did not allow these plans to come true. Subsequently, the writer becomes a journalist and goes back to India. There, working in his specialty, Kipling began to write various poems and short stories. Further, the author travels a lot around the world, and gradually becomes a successful writer. His stories are becoming more and more popular.
Childhood spent in exotic India prompted the writer to create magnificent works "Mowgli" and "The Jungle Book", so loved by kids all over the world. In general, in the writer's work there are a lot of works on an oriental theme. He does not belittle the dignity of Eastern culture, but on the contrary, reveals it in all its glory. It is in this spirit that Kipling's legendary novel Kim is written.
In his life, Kipling was famous not only as a prose writer, but also as a talented poet. The whole world knows his poem "The Commandment". All Kipling's works are described in an incredibly rich language containing a huge number of metaphors. This gives the right to say that the author has made a huge contribution to the development of the English language. Few people know that Rudyard Kipling was the first Englishman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The author received this award in 1907. A few years later, the writer beloved by many died. He died in 1936.
The nineteenth century is the golden age of Russian literature. During this period, a whole galaxy of geniuses of the art of the word, poets and prose writers was born, whose unsurpassed creative skill determined the further development of not only Russian literature, but also foreign.
The subtle interweaving of social realism and classicism in literature corresponded exactly to the national ideas and canons of that time. In the 19th century, for the first time, such acute social problems began to be raised, such as the need to change priorities, the rejection of outdated principles, and the confrontation between society and the individual.
The most significant representatives of Russian classics of the 19th century
Word geniuses like A.A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky and A.S. Griboyedov, in their writings openly demonstrated contempt for the upper strata of society for their selfishness, vanity, hypocrisy and immorality. V.A. Zhukovsky, on the contrary, introduced dreaminess and sincere romance into Russian literature with his works. In his poems, he tried to get away from the gray and boring routine in order to show in all colors the sublime world that surrounds a person. Speaking of Russian literary classics, one cannot fail to mention the great genius A.S. Pushkin - poet and father of the Russian literary language. The works of this writer made a real revolution in the world of literary art. Pushkin's poetry, the story "The Queen of Spades" and the novel "Eugene Onegin" became a stylistic presentation, which was repeatedly used by many domestic and world writers.
Among other things, the literature of the nineteenth century was also characterized by philosophical concepts. They are most clearly revealed in the works of M.Yu. Lermontov. Throughout his creative activity, the author admired the Decembrist movements and defended freedoms and human rights. His poems are saturated with criticism of the imperial power and opposition calls. In the field of dramaturgy, A.P. Chekhov. Using subtle but "prickly" satire, the playwright and writer ridiculed human vices and expressed contempt for the vices of representatives of the nobility. His plays from the moment of his birth to the present day do not lose their relevance and continue to be staged on the stage of theaters all over the world. It is also impossible not to mention the great L.N. Tolstoy, A.I. Kuprin, N.V. Gogol, etc.
Group portrait of Russian writers - members of the editorial board of the journal Sovremennik».
Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Goncharov, Leo Tolstoy, Dmitry Grigorovich, Alexander Druzhinin, Alexander Ostrovsky.
Features of Russian literature
In the nineteenth century, Russian realistic literature acquired an unprecedented high artistic perfection. Its main distinguishing feature was originality. The second half of the 19th century in Russian literature passed with the idea of a decisive democratization of artistic creation and under the sign of a tense ideological struggle. Among other things, the pathos of artistic creativity changed in these time frames, as a result of which the Russian writer was faced with the need for artistic understanding of the unusually mobile and impetuous elements of being. In such an environment, literary synthesis originated in much narrower temporal and spatial periods of life: the need for a certain localization and specialization was dictated by the special state of the world, characteristic of the era of the second half of the nineteenth century.
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