Silver age of Russian poetry. Literary movements of modernist poetry: symbolism, acmeism, futurism. Literary trends of the "Silver Age"

As we noted above, another important spiritual phenomenon of the Silver Age was Russian modernism. He is part of the spiritual renaissance and embodies Russian artistic revival. Similarly, modernism set itself the task of reviving the intrinsic value and self-sufficiency of art, freeing it from a social, political or any other service role.

He spoke out simultaneously against utilitarianism in the approach to art, and against academicism, believing that in the first case art is dissolved in some extra-artistic and extra-aesthetic useful function: it should enlighten, educate, teach, inspire great deeds and actions, and thereby justify one's existence; in the second case, it ceases to be alive and loses its inner meaning.

From the point of view of modernism, art must move away from these two extremes. It must be “art for art’s sake”, “pure” art. Its purpose is to solve its internal problems, to search for new forms, new techniques and means of expression. Its competence includes the inner spiritual world of a person, the sphere of feelings and passions, intimate experiences, etc.

Russian modernism has noticeable differences from the religious renaissance. If the latter gravitated toward Slavophilism and was concerned with the search and preservation of Russian identity, the former embraced the Europeanized part of the Russian intelligentsia. This is especially true for Russian symbolism, arose under the direct influence of Western symbolism. Like Western, Russian modernism is marked by decadence and decadence. Many of its representatives were fond of mysticism, magic, the occult, and fashionable religious sects. In general, Russian modernism is a complex, heterogeneous and contradictory phenomenon.

Russian modernism has its domestic predecessors. The first and foremost among them is A.S. Pushkin, the founder of Russian classical literature, who at one time put forward a clear statement: “The goal of poetry is poetry.” He himself, however, did not follow this attitude too strictly. His work organically combined high artistry with active involvement in real life.

After him, the tendency towards a close connection between art and life intensified. Played a special role in this process N.V. Gogol, who considered art as a way of reorganizing life, a way of influencing and transforming reality. Concept N.V. Gogol had a decisive influence on subsequent literature, the main direction of which was realism. This is evidenced by the famous expression, which was shared by many Russian writers: “We all came out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat.”

Along with the main direction in poetry, there was a tendency that sought to protect it from everyday life and everyday life, the prosaic aspects of life, to fill it with subtle imagery, high artistry, genuine spirituality, bright and noble impulses. This trend was supported by poets such as K.N. Batyushkov, F.I. Iotchev, A.A. Fet. In the 1880s she noticeably weakened and was heading towards extinction. It was this trend that Russian modernism, represented by symbolism, acmeism and some other movements, decided to support and continue.

Symbolism

Symbolism included two generations of poets. The first included D.S. Merezhkovsky. V.Ya. Bryusov, K.D. Balmont. In the second - A.A. Blok, A. Bely, V.I. Ivanov.

D.S. Merezhkovsky was one of the first to express the need to choose between the art of “artistic materialism” and the art of “passionate ideal impulses of the spirit,” making his choice unconditionally in favor of the latter. He believes that true art should include complex symbols, mystical content, and new means of artistic influence. Poetry, in his opinion, begins where there is an impulse towards the ideal meaning of eternal images.

K.D. views art in the same spirit. Balmont. He defines symbolic poetry as “poetry in which two contents organically and non-violently merge: hidden abstraction and obvious beauty.” For him, poetry begins where there is an impulse for a new combination of colors and sounds in their irresistible persuasiveness.

V.Ya. Bryusov is one of the central figures of symbolism. In his poetry and theoretical works, this movement appears in its most complete and developed form. He is convinced that genuine art is inherently elitist. It cannot be accessible and understandable to everyone. Only a sage can truly understand an artist.

Bryusov emphasizes the autonomy of art, its independence both from science and rational knowledge, and from religion and mysticism. He views symbolism only as art, seeing in it a special method of art. True, in late period In his work, he was interested in the occult and no longer doubted the existence of an otherworldly world, accessible only to the occult sciences.

Bryusov also proclaims the freedom of art from socio-political, ideological and other external factors. In the poem “To the Young Poet,” he strongly advises: “Worship art, only it, undividedly, aimlessly.” But, emphasizing the intrinsic value of art, he still does not lean toward the position of “art for art’s sake,” which does not need a viewer, reader, or listener.

Following romanticism, Bryusov contrasts the ideal and reality, heaven and earth, relating reality and earth to the sphere of “practical speech,” and the ideal and heaven to the realm of poetry. The content of his poetry becomes the theme of leaving this world, immersion in the inner world, impulses to the beyond, to the otherworldly world, insights and premonitions. He declares: “The earth is foreign to me.” The symbol is opposed to all evidence, generally accepted norms, and simple facts. The sky and the impulses of the spirit are declared its sphere. For Bryusov, poetry begins where there is an impulse towards the infinite. He accepted the revolution of 1917, declaring on this occasion: “The revolution is beautiful and, as a historical phenomenon, majestic.”

Second generation, based on the teachings of Vl. Solovyov about “positive All-Unity”, made noticeable changes to the concept of symbolism. The latter ceases to be a purely aesthetic phenomenon, only art. It acquires a religious and philosophical dimension and is more closely associated with mysticism and the occult.

The symbol becomes more complex and multidimensional, its scope expands significantly. At the same time, art strengthens its connection with real life, it is increasingly endowed with life-giving and life-transforming power. The understanding of art as the highest way of knowledge is equally strengthened. At the same time, the previous opposition between ideal and reality, earthly and heavenly was significantly weakened. Their antithesis was preserved, but at the same time I allowed the establishment of unity and harmony between them.

The mystical and religious-philosophical sides of symbolism were especially clearly manifested in the work Vyach. Ivanova. He also emphasized the multidimensionality of the symbol, believing that a true symbol is always limitless and inexhaustible, multifaceted and multifaceted. Similar ideas are developed by A. White.

Symbolism as poetry and art received the most vivid and complete embodiment in creativity A. Blok. Among his first works, the best was “Poems about a Beautiful Lady,” written under the direct influence of the ideas of Vl. Solovyova about Sofia, Eternal Femininity. In them, the image of the ideal and divine Sophia is embodied in the concrete and living features of the beloved, future wife of the poet.

Later in the work of A. Blok, the theme of Russia and love for it comes to the fore. His best poems are devoted to this topic, including “Rus”, “Scythians”, “Motherland”. He even notes: “Everything I wrote is all about Russia.” Now sublime and chivalrous worship is addressed to the Motherland.

The theme of revolution, the theme of “music of the revolution,” occupies a significant place in A. Blok’s work. He was among those who accepted the October Revolution and its radicalism. He dedicated many philosophical and aesthetic works to her, as well as the poem “The Twelve.” However, accepting the revolution, listening to its “music,” he saw that the real revolution was far from its ideal. Nevertheless, he accepts it as an objective inevitability, as “retribution” for a “terrible world.”

Realizing the inevitability of the revolution and seeing its destructive nature, A. Blok puts forward his solution to the problem in the poem “The Twelve”. He proposes to combine the revolution with Christianity, to put Christ at its head. Not to “abolish” it - this is impossible, but to combine it with Christian humanism and thereby “humanize” it.

Acmeism

Acmeism (from the Greek “acme” - the highest degree of flowering) is represented primarily by three names: N.S. Gumilev (1886-1921), O.E. Mandelstam (1891-1938), A.A. Akhmatova (1889-1966). It arose as a poetic association “The Workshop of Poets” (1911), opposing itself to symbolism, the center of which was the “Academy of Verse”. Supporters of Acmeism rejected the ambiguity and allusions, polysemy and immensity, abstraction and abstraction of symbolism.

They rehabilitated a simple and clear perception of life, restored the value of harmony, form and composition in poetry. We can say that the Acmeists brought poetry down from heaven to earth and returned it to the natural, earthly world. At the same time, they preserved the high spirituality of poetry, the desire for true artistry, deep meaning and aesthetic perfection.

N. Gumilev made the greatest contribution to the development of the theory of Acmeism. He defines it as a new poetry, replacing symbolism, which does not aim to penetrate into transcendental worlds and comprehend the unknowable. She prefers to do things that are more accessible to understanding. However, this does not mean reducing it to any practical purposes. Gumilyov brings poetry and religion closer together, believing that both of them require spiritual work from a person. They play a major role in the spiritual transformation of man into a higher type. Subject " strong man", his spiritual growth, his ability to make a free and worthy choice constitutes the central theme of N. Gumilyov’s poetry.

O. Mandelstam in his work he most consistently pursues the line of rejecting boundless worlds, outer space, immeasurable abysses, from everything mysterious, mysterious and incomprehensible. To all this he prefers “small kingdoms” and “small forms,” earthly and human. In his creativity, he relies not on unconscious inspiration, but on the inspiration of mastery. uniting both art and work. At the same time, his works are marked by subtle poetry and strict taste.

A. Akhmatova is one of the most prominent figures of Russian poetry and Russian culture. Her poetry was born under the strong influence of A.S. Pushkin and became the truest continuation of the line of the great Russian poet. There was no aesthetics, no salon, nothing artificial in her poetry. Her voice sounded extremely sincere and natural. A. Akhmatova’s poetic language is closer to colloquial speech, which makes it surprisingly simple and natural. The source of her creativity was her amazingly deep, generous and open soul.

Unlike the symbolists, who drew their inspiration from the mysteries of the universe, the secrets of death, and eastern mysticism, A. Akhmatova found her inspiration in specific events of living life. As if emphasizing the peculiarity of her understanding of poetry, she wrote: “If only you knew from what rubbish poetry grows, without knowing shame. Like a yellow dandelion by the fence. Like burdocks and quinoa.”

A. Akhmatova’s poetry began with the theme of love, which then became central and ran through all of her creativity. Along with this, her works deeply reflected all the troubles, joys and losses that her people, her country and herself had to experience and suffer. A. Akhmatova’s masterpieces include “Biblical Motifs”, “Poet”, “Dante”, “Epic Motifs”, “Requiem”, “When a Man Dies”. These and other works are filled deep meaning, life of the spirit, intense psychologism, beauty and harmony.

The poetry of the Silver Age also includes M.I. Tsvetaeva(1892-1941), S.A. Yesenin(1895-1925) and B. L. Parsnip(1890-1960), although they avoided all kinds of associations and groupings.

M. Tsvetaeva entered poetry a little earlier than A. Akhmatova. They are brought together by exceptional talent and high poetry. However, the creative and life fate of M. Tsvetaeva turned out to be even more complex and tragic. Recognition and fame also came to her the more difficult way. Feeling this, she wrote: “My poems, like precious wines, will have their turn.” Her poetry is more characterized by intense dynamism, romantic maximalism, and passionate impulses. These are her poems from the book “Versts”.

The work of the period of emigration (1922-1939) is filled with longing for the Motherland, a feeling of loneliness, restlessness, and alienation from the surrounding world. With deep bitterness she notes: “I’m unnecessary here. I’m impossible there.” This state of mind found expression in the book “After Russia.” Returning to her homeland, M. Tsvetaeva could not withstand the difficult trials that befell her. Her life was tragically ruined! as b.

S. Yesenin was endowed with a rare poetic gift. His genius was fully manifested already in his first collections - “Radunitsa” and “Rural Book of Hours”. He became the unsurpassed singer of peasant Russia. He rightly called himself the last peasant poet. With incredible penetration and poignancy, S. Yesenin sang the beauty of Russian nature.

S. Yesenin's poetry is surprisingly musical and melodic. His poems themselves turn into music.

S. Yesenin proved himself to be a subtle, inimitable lyricist. Real masterpieces of high lyricism are “Persian Motifs” and “Letter to Mother”. "To Kachalov's Dog." The processes generated by the revolution caused deep mental confusion in the poet. It was hard and painful for him to say goodbye to his old way of life. He expressed his inner state in the cycles “Mare’s Ships”, “Moscow Tavern”, and in the poem “The Black Man”. And although in general S. Yesenin accepted the transformations that were taking place, he never found spiritual peace. Internal discord with oneself and discord with the outside world ultimately led to a tragic outcome.

B. Pasternak began publishing his poems in 1913, and a year later his first book, “Twin in the Clouds,” was published. At the beginning of his creative career he was influenced by A. Blok, but he parted ways with symbolism. He participated in the futurist group “Centrifuge”, was close to V. Mayakovsky, but did not accept the avant-garde, especially its slogan about a break with the culture of the past.

In his work, Pasternak continued the line of Russian philosophical lyrics. One of the central themes of his poetry was the theme of inextricable unity with the world and nature, with life in general. These feelings are expressed in the lyrical collection “My Sister is Life.” Pasternak recognized the moral rightness of the revolution, but rejected its violence. After the revolution, internal dynamism and tension, acuity of feelings and passions intensified in his poetry. The themes of his works are expanding. He creates the revolutionary historical poems “Nine Hundred and Fifth” and “Lieutenant Schmidt”. However, the main genre remains lyrics. After the war, he wrote the novel Doctor Zhivago, which was awarded Nobel Prize, which B. Pasternak was forced to abandon.

Russian modernism clearly manifested itself not only in literature, but also in other spheres of artistic culture, in particular in painting. It is most fully represented by the artistic association “World of Art”, which was created in St. Petersburg A.N. Benoit (1870-1960) And S.P. Diaghilev (1872-1929). IN it included artists L.S. Bakst (1866-1924). M.V. Dobuzhineky (1875-1957). HER. Lanceray (1875-1946), A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva (1871-1955),N.K. Roerich (1874-1947), K.A. Somov (1869-1939).

The association published a magazine of the same name and organized exhibitions. Its representatives professed the aesthetics of symbolism, defended the ideas of “pure” art, opposed academicism and utilitarianism in the approach to art, and considered it as a means of spiritual transformation of life. The paintings and graphics of the artists of the association are distinguished by their bright colors, exquisite decorativeness, and subtle ornamentation. They made a significant contribution to the development of book graphics and theatrical decoration. The composer A.N. also belongs to the Silver Age. Scriabin(1871/72-1915) and artist M.A. Vrubel (1856-1910).

Had great importance for the development of not only Russian, but also world culture. For the first time, its leaders expressed serious concern that the emerging relationship between civilization and culture was becoming dangerous, and that the preservation and revival of spirituality was an urgent need.

The original task of Art is to
to capture moments of insight, inspiration...
V. Bryusov

Lesson objectives:

Give the concept of words - terms: acmeism, futurism, symbolism, modernism, decadence.
To form an idea of complex phenomena in the literature of the last century.
to cultivate a tolerant attitude towards the work of poets of the beginning of the century, who created a new concept of the world and man in this world.

During the classes

Equipment: on the board there is a table with the main trends in the literature of this period.

Words are written down and a brief description of words: decadence, symbolism, acmeism, futurism, modernism.

Repetition. general characteristics late 19th – early 20th centuries.

Teacher's word.

The famous Russian philosopher N. Berdyaev spoke about this era as “the era of independent awakening in Russia philosophical thought, the flowering of poetry..."

The era of three revolutions gave rise to a complex phenomenon in literature - decadence. Many poets and artists were at a loss in the face of social reality. They did not understand the political and economic changes in society. Many went abroad. The term “decadence” (from the French word decadense - decline) in the 90s was more widespread than “modernism”, but modern literary criticism increasingly speaks of modernism as a general concept that covers all decadent movements - symbolism, acmeism and futurism . This is also justified by the fact that the term “decadence” was used in two senses at the beginning of the century - as the name of one of the movements within symbolism and as a generalized characteristic of all decadent, mystical and aesthetic movements.
For some representatives of symbolism, acmeism and futurism, being in these groups marked only a certain (initial) period of creativity in their subsequent ideological and artistic quests (V. Mayakovsky, A. Blok, V. Bryusov, A. Akhmatova, M. Zenkevich, S. Gorodetsky, V. Rozhdestvensky), for others (D. Merezhkovsky, 3. Gippius, Ellis, G. Adamovich, G. Ivanov, V. Ivanov, M. Kuzmin, A. Kruchenykh, I. Severyanin, B. Sadovskoy and others. ) the fact of belonging to a certain modernist movement expressed the main direction of their work.

Decadence in Russia arose in the early 90s and was a clear expression of the collapse of bourgeois-noble art. The founders of Russian decadence were N. Minsky (Vilenkin), D. Merezhkovsky, F. Sologub (pseudonym of Teternikov), K. Balmont and others. But the history of Russian decadence is a complex phenomenon. Its influence included such major poets as V. Bryusov and A. Blok, whose talents were immeasurably higher than the programmatic guidelines of the decadents and broke the theoretical framework in the creation of which these poets themselves participated.
So, decadence (French decadence, from late Latin decadentia - decline), the general name for the crisis phenomena of bourgeois culture of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, marked by moods of hopelessness, rejection of life, and individualism. A number of features of a decadent mentality are also distinguished by some areas of art, which are united by the term modernism (new, cutting-edge).

Decadence

(Additions from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.)

Student. A complex and contradictory phenomenon, Decadence has its source in the crisis of bourgeois consciousness, the confusion of many artists before the sharp antagonisms of social reality, before the revolution, in which they saw only the destructive force of history. From the point of view of the decadents, any concept social progress, any form of social class struggle pursues crudely utilitarian goals and must be rejected. “The greatest historical movements of mankind seem to them to be deeply “philistine” in nature” (Plekhanov G.V., Literature and Aesthetics, vol. 2, 1958, p. 475). Decadents considered art’s refusal of political and civil themes and motives to be a manifestation of creative freedom. The decadent understanding of individual freedom is inseparable from the aestheticization of individualism, and the cult of beauty as the highest value is often imbued with immoralism; constant for decadence are the motifs of non-existence and death. In Russia, decadence was reflected in the work of symbolist poets [primarily the so-called. “senior” symbolists of the 1890s: N. Minsky, the decadence of Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius (for criticism, see Plekhanov’s article “The Gospel of Decadence”), then V. Bryusov, K. Balmont], in a number of works by L. N. Andreev, in the works of F. Sologub and especially in the naturalistic prose of M.P. Artsybashev, A.P. Kamensky and others. Decadent sentiments became especially widespread after the defeat of the Revolution of 1905-07. Realist writers (L.N. Tolstoy, V.G. Korolenko, M. Gorky), advanced writers and critics (V.V. Stasov, V.V. Borovsky, G.V. Plekhanov) actively fought against the sentiments of Decadence in rus. art and literature. After the October Revolution, these traditions were continued by Soviet literary and art criticism.

Teacher. Let us characterize poetic movements and reflect on the problems of creativity of individual authors.

Symbolism.

Russian symbolism as a literary movement emerged at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The theoretical, philosophical and aesthetic roots and sources of creativity of symbolist writers were very diverse. So V. Bryusov considered symbolism a purely artistic movement, Merezhkovsky relied on Christian teaching, Vyach. Ivanov sought theoretical support in the philosophy and aesthetics of the ancient world. V. Ya. Bryusov (1873 – 1924) went through a complex and difficult path of ideological quest.

The revolution of 1905 aroused the admiration of the poet and contributed to the beginning of his departure from symbolism. However, Bryusov did not immediately come to a new understanding of art. Bryusov’s attitude towards the revolution is complex and contradictory. He welcomed the cleansing forces that had risen to fight the old world, but believed that they only brought the elements of destruction:

I see a new battle in the name of a new will!
Break - I will be with you! build - no! (1905)

The poetry of V. Bryusov of this time is characterized by the desire for a scientific understanding of life and the awakening of interest in history. A. M. Gorky highly valued the encyclopedic education of V. Ya. Bryusov, calling him the most cultural writer in Rus'. Bryusov accepted and welcomed the October Revolution and actively participated in the construction of Soviet culture.

The sound expressiveness of verse acquired very great importance in the poetry of the Symbolists, for example, in F. Sologub:

And two deep glasses
From thin-sounding glass
You put it to the bright cup
And the sweet foam poured out,
Leela, Leela, Leela, rocked

Two dark scarlet glasses.
Whiter, lily, whiter
You were white and ala...

Revolution of 1905 found a unique refraction in the work of the Symbolists. Merezhkovsky greeted 1905 with horror, having witnessed with his own eyes the coming of the “coming boor” he had predicted. Excitedly, with a keen desire to understand, Blok approached the events. V. Bryusov welcomed the cleansing thunderstorm. By the tenth years of the twentieth century, symbolism needed updating. “In the depths of symbolism itself,” wrote V. Bryusov in the article “The Meaning of Modern Poetry,” “new movements arose, trying to infuse new strength into the decrepit organism. But these attempts were too partial, their founders were too imbued with the same school traditions for the renewal to be any significant.” As N.S. put it in one of his articles. Gumilev, “symbolism has completed its circle of development and is now falling.” It was replaced by acmeism (Greek “acme” - the highest degree of something, a blooming time). The founders of Acmeism are considered to be N. S. Gumilev (1886 - 1921) and S. M. Gorodetsky (1884 - 1967). The new poetic group included A. A. Akhmatova, O. E. Mandelstam, M. A. Zenkevich, M. A. Kuzmin and others. Acmeism (French acmēisme, from Greek akmē - the highest degree of something, blooming power ), a movement in Russian poetry of the early 20th century, which emerged in the conditions of the crisis of bourgeois culture and expressed a decadent mentality. from the encyclopedia: Student: Acmeism arose as a reaction to symbolism. Representatives of Acmeism, united in the group “Workshop of Poets” and speaking in the magazine “Apollo” (1909-17), objected to the departure of poetry into “other worlds”, into the “unknowable”, against polysemantic and fluid poetic images. Declaring a preference for real, earthly life and the return of poetry to the elements of “nature,” the Acmeists, however, perceived life asocially and ahistorically. The person was excluded from the sphere of social practice. Acmeists contrasted social conflicts with aesthetic admiration for the little things of life, things (M. Kuzmin), the objective world, images of past culture and history (O. Mandelstam, collection “Stone”, 1913), poeticization of the biological principles of existence (M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut) . The apology for the “strong personality” and “primitive” feelings inherent in N. Gumilyov’s early poetry left him within the framework of an anti-democratic, individualistic consciousness.

Acmeists constantly sound notes of doom and melancholy. Creativity A.A. Akhmatova (A. A. Gorenko, 1889 - 1966) occupies a special place in the poetry of Acmeism. Her first collection of poetry, “Evening,” was published in 1912. Critics immediately noted the distinctive features of her poetry: restraint of intonation, emphasized intimacy of subject matter, psychologism. Akhmatova's early poetry is deeply lyrical and emotional. With her love for man, faith in his spiritual powers and capabilities, she clearly departed from the Acmeistic idea of the “primordial Adam.” The main part of A. A. Akhmatova’s creativity falls on the Soviet period.

I'm cold...
Winged or wingless,

A. Akhmatova understands that “we live solemnly and difficultly,” that “somewhere there is a simple life and light,” but she does not want to give up this life: Yes, I loved them, those nightly gatherings - On small table The glasses are icy, Above the black coffee there is a fragrant, thin steam, The red fireplace is heavy, the winter heat, The caustic gaiety of a literary joke And a friend's first glance, helpless and creepy.

O. E. Mandelstam); proclaimed the liberation of poetry from symbolist impulses towards the “ideal”, from the polysemy and fluidity of images, complicated metaphors, a return to the material world, the object (or element of “nature”), exact value words. The “earthly” poetry of Acmeism is characterized by individual modernist motifs, a tendency towards aestheticism, intimacy or poeticization of the feelings of primordial man. (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary)

In 1912 With the collection “Hyperborea”, a new literary movement announced itself, which appropriated the name Acmeism (from the Greek acme, which means the highest degree of something, the time of flourishing). “The Workshop of Poets,” as its representatives called themselves, included N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, G. Ivanov, M. Zenkevich and others. M. Kuzmin, M. Voloshin also joined this direction , V. Khodasevich et al.

The Acmeists considered themselves the heirs of a “worthy father” - symbolism, which, in the words of N. Gumilyov, “... has completed its circle of development and is now falling.” Affirming the bestial, primitive principle (they also called themselves Adamists), the Acmeists continued to “remember the unknowable” and in its name proclaimed any renunciation of the struggle to change life. “To rebel in the name of other conditions of existence here, where there is death,” writes N. Gumilev in his work “The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism,” “is as strange as a prisoner breaking a wall when in front of him is - opened door”.

S. Gorodetsky also asserts this: “After all the “rejections,” the world was irrevocably accepted by Acmeism, in all its beauties and ugliness.” Modern man felt like a beast, “devoid of both claws and fur” (M. Zenkevich “Wild Porphyry”), Adam, who “... looked around with the same clear, keen eye, accepted everything he saw, and sang Hallelujah to life and the world.”

And at the same time, the Acmeists constantly sound notes of doom and melancholy. The work of A. A. Akhmatova (A. A. Gorenko, 1889 - 1966) occupies a special place in the poetry of Acmeism. Her first collection of poetry, “Evening,” was published in 1912. Critics immediately noted the distinctive features of her poetry: restraint of intonation, emphasized intimacy of subject matter, psychologism. Akhmatova's early poetry is deeply lyrical and emotional. With her love for man, faith in his spiritual powers and capabilities, she clearly departed from the Acmeistic idea of the “primordial Adam.” The main part of A. A. Akhmatova’s creativity falls on the Soviet period.

A. Akhmatova’s first collections “Evening” (1912) and “Rosary” (1914) brought her great fame. A closed, narrow intimate world is reflected in her work, painted in tones of sadness and sadness: I do not ask for wisdom or strength.

Oh, just let me warm myself by the fire!
I'm cold...
Winged or wingless,
The cheerful god will not visit me.

The theme of love, the main and only one, is directly related to suffering (which is due to the facts of the poetess’s biography): Let love lie like a tombstone on my life.

Characterizing the early work of A. Akhmatova, Al. Surkov says that she appears “... as a poet of sharply defined poetic individuality and strong lyrical talent... emphatically “feminine” intimate lyrical experiences...”.

A. Akhmatova understands that “we live solemnly and difficultly,” that “somewhere there is a simple life and light,” but she does not want to give up this life:

Yes, I loved them, those nightly gatherings -
There are ice glasses on the small table,
Above the black coffee there is a fragrant, thin steam,
The red fireplace is heavy, winter heat,
The hilarity of a caustic literary joke
And the friend's first glance, helpless and creepy.

The Acmeists sought to return the image to its living concreteness, objectivity, to free it from mystical encryptedness, which O. Mandelstam spoke very angrily about, assuring that the Russian symbolists “... sealed all words, all images, destining them exclusively for liturgical use. It turned out to be extremely uncomfortable - I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t sit down. You can't dine on a table, because it's not just a table. You can’t light a fire, because it might mean something that you yourself won’t be happy with.”

And at the same time, Acmeists claim that their images are sharply different from realistic ones, because, in the words of S. Gorodetsky, they “... are born for the first time” “as hitherto unseen, but from now on real phenomena.” This determines the sophistication and peculiar mannerism of the Acmeistic image, no matter how deliberate bestial savagery it may appear. For example, from Voloshin:

People are animals, people are reptiles,
Like a hundred-eyed evil spider,
They entwine glances into rings.

The circle of these images is narrowed, which achieves extreme beauty, and which makes it possible to achieve greater sophistication when describing it:

Slower the snow hive,
Crystal is clearer than a window,
And a turquoise veil
Carelessly thrown on a chair.
Fabric, intoxicated with itself,
Pampered by the caress of light,
She's experiencing summer
As if untouched in winter.
And if in icy diamonds
Frost flows forever,
Here is the fluttering of dragonflies
Fast-living, blue-eyed
(O. Mandelstam).

The literary heritage of N. S. Gumilyov is significant in its artistic value. His work was dominated by exotic and historical themes, and he was a singer of “strong personality.” Gumilev played a large role in the development of the form of verse, which was distinguished by precision and accuracy.

It was in vain that the Acmeists so sharply dissociated themselves from the Symbolists. We find the same “other worlds” and longing for them in their poetry. Thus, N. Gumilev, who welcomed the imperialist war as a “sacred” cause, asserting that “seraphim, clear and winged, are visible behind the shoulders of warriors,” a year later wrote poems about the end of the world, about the death of civilization: Monsters are heard roaring peacefully, Suddenly they whip It's raining madly, And everything is being sucked in by fat, light green horsetails.

The once proud and brave conqueror understands the destructiveness of the enmity that has engulfed humanity:

Does it really matter?
Let time roll on
We understand you, earth:
You're just a gloomy gatekeeper
At the entrance to God's fields.

This explains their rejection of the October Revolution of 1917. But their fate was not the same. Some of them emigrated; N. Gumilyov allegedly “took an active part in the counter-revolutionary conspiracy” and was shot. In the poem “Worker,” he predicted his end at the hands of a proletarian who cast a bullet, “which will separate me from the earth.”

And the Lord will reward me in full measure
For my short time and brief century.
I did this in a light gray blouse
A short old man.

Such poets as S. Gorodetsky, A. Akhmatova, V. Narbut, M. Zenkevich were unable to emigrate.

For example, A. Akhmatova, who did not understand and did not accept the revolution, refused to leave her homeland:

I had a voice.
He called comfortingly,
He said: “Come here,
Leave your land deaf and sinful,
Leave Russia forever.
I will wash the blood from your hands,
I will take the black shame out of my heart,
I'll cover it with a new name
The pain of defeat and resentment.”

But indifferently and calmly I closed my hearing with my hands. She did not immediately return to creativity. But Great Patriotic War again awakened the poet in her, a patriotic poet, confident in the victory of her Motherland (“Courage”, “Oath”, etc.). A. Akhmatova wrote in her autobiography that for her in poetry “... my connection with time, with new life my people."

Futurism

Futurism (from the Latin futurum - future), avant-garde art movements of the 10s - early 20s. 20th century in Italy and Russia. Being different, sometimes opposing ideological orientations, they were brought together by certain aesthetic declarations and partly by a range of motives; a number of features were found in common with avant-garde movements in Germany, France, England, Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. In Russia, the term “Futurism” soon also became a designation for the entire front of “leftist” art, a synonym for avant-gardeism in general.

Student addition.

In Russia, the Futurism movement clearly manifested itself in literature and represented a complex interaction of various groups: the most characteristic and radical was the St. Petersburg “Gilei” (D. D. Burlyuk, V. V. Khlebnikov, Elena Guro, V. V. Mayakovsky, V. V. Kamensky, A. E. Kruchenykh, B. K. Livshits; first editions - collections “Zadok of Judges”, 1910, “Slap in the Face of Public Taste”, 1913), St. Petersburg “Association of Ego-Futurists” (I. Severyanin, K. K. Olimpov). and others; first edition - “Prologue of Egofuturism” by Severyanin, 1911), intermediate Moscow associations “Mezzanine of Poetry” (V. G. Shershenevich, R. Ivnev, B. A. Lavrenev) and “Centrifuge” (S. P. Bobrov , I. A. Aksenov, B. L. Pasternak, N. N. Aseev), as well as futuristic groups in Odessa, Kharkov, Kyiv (including the work of M. V. Semenko), Tbilisi. The literature of Futurism was associated with “leftist” movements in the fine arts (Gilei’s contacts were especially close with the M group, Larionov’s Futurism “Donkey’s Tail” and the St. Petersburg “Youth Union”). The similarity of ideological and aesthetic views of poets and painters of the new formation, the intertwining of their creative interests (at the same time, the turn of poets to painting, and painters to poetry), their frequent joint performances assigned the name “Futurism” to the “left” movements in painting. However, despite the organization of a number of exhibitions under the sign of Futurism (“Target”, 1913, “No. 4”, 1914, “Tram B”, “0, 10”, 1915, etc.), Futurism was not expressed in Russian painting in any way. Italian version (with the exception of individual works by K. S. Malevich, Larionov, N. S. Goncharova, O. V. Rozanova, P. N. Filonov, A. V. Lentulov), nor any other holistic system, capturing both general concept wide circle phenomena: “post-Cezanism” of “Jack of Diamonds”, a decorative national version of Cubism, searches consonant with German expressionism and French Fauvism or close to primitivism, “non-objectivity”, Dadaism.

Avant-garde movement in European art of the 1910s - 20s, mainly in Italy and Russia. In an effort to create “the art of the future,” he declared (in the manifestos and artistic practice of the Italian poet F. T. Marinetti, Russian Cubo-Futurists from “Gilea,” participants in the “Association of Ego-Futurists,” “Mezzanine of Poetry,” “Centrifuge”) the denial of traditional culture (heritage “ past"), cultivated the aesthetics of urbanism and machine industry. Painting (in Italy - U. Boccioni, G. Severini) is characterized by shifts, influxes of forms, multiple repetitions of motifs, as if summing up the impressions received in the process of rapid movement. For literature - the interweaving of documentary material and fiction, in poetry (V.V. Khlebnikov, V.V. Mayakovsky, A.E. Kruchenykh, I. Severyanin) - language experimentation ("words in freedom" or "zaum"). (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary)

Simultaneously with Acmeism in 1910 - 1912. Futurism arose. Like other modernist movements, it was internally contradictory. The most significant of the futurist groups, which later received the name cubo-futurism, united such poets as D. D. Burliuk, V. V. Khlebnikov, A. Kruchenykh, V. V. Kamensky, V. V. Mayakovsky, and some others. A type of futurism was the egofuturism of I. Severyanin (I.V. Lotarev, 1887 - 1941). In a group of futurists called “Centrifuge” they began their creative path Soviet poets N. N. Aseev and B. L. Pasternak.

Futurism proclaimed a revolution of form, independent of content, absolute freedom of poetic speech. Futurists rejected literary traditions. In their manifesto with the shocking title “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste,” published in a collection of the same name in 1912, they called for throwing Pushkin, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy off the “Steamboat of Modernity.” A. Kruchenykh defended the poet’s right to create an “abstruse” language that does not have a specific meaning. In his writings, Russian speech was indeed replaced by a meaningless set of words. However, V. Khlebnikov (1885 - 1922), V. V. Kamensky (1884 - 1961) managed to implement in their creative practice interesting experiments in the field of words, which had a beneficial effect on Russian and Soviet poetry.

Among the futurist poets, the creative path of V. V. Mayakovsky (1893 - 1930) began. His first poems appeared in print in 1912. From the very beginning, Mayakovsky stood out in the poetry of Futurism, introducing his own theme into it. He always spoke out not only against “all sorts of old things,” but also for the creation of something new in public life.

In the years preceding the Great October Revolution, Mayakovsky was a passionate revolutionary romantic, an exposer of the kingdom of the “fat”, anticipating a revolutionary storm. The pathos of negation of the entire system of capitalist relations, humanistic faith in man sounded with enormous force in his poems “Cloud in Pants”, “Spine Flute”, “War and Peace”, “Man”. The theme of the poem “A Cloud in Pants,” published in 1915 in a censored form, was subsequently defined by Mayakovsky as four cries of “down with”: “Down with your love!”, “Down with your art!”, “Down with your system!”, “ Down with your religion!” He was the first of the poets who showed in his works the truth of the new society.

In Russian poetry of the pre-revolutionary years there were bright personalities, which are difficult to attribute to a specific literary movement. These are M. A. Voloshin (1877 - 1932) and M. I. Tsvetaeva (1892 - 1941).

After 1910, another direction emerged - futurism, which sharply contrasted itself not only with the literature of the past, but also with the literature of the present, entering the world with the desire to overthrow everything and everyone. This nihilism was also manifested in the external design of futuristic collections, which were printed on wrapping paper or back side wallpaper, and in the names - “Mares’ Milk”, “Dead Moon”, etc.

In the first collection, “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste” (1912), a declaration was published, signed by D. Burliuk, A. Kruchenykh, V. Khlebnikov, V. Mayakovsky. In it, the futurists asserted themselves and only themselves as the only exponents of their era. They demanded “Throw away Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, etc. and so on. from the Steamboat of Modernity,” they at the same time denied the “perfume fornication of Balmont,” spoke about the “dirty slime of books written by the endless Leonid Andreevs,” and indiscriminately discounted Gorky, Kuprin, Blok, etc.

Rejecting everything, they affirmed “Dawns of the new coming Beauty of the Self-Valuable (Self-Valuable) Word.” Unlike Mayakovsky, they did not try to overthrow the existing system, but only sought to update the forms of reproduction of modern life.

The basis of Italian futurism with its slogan “war is the only hygiene of the world” in the Russian version was weakened, but, as V. Bryusov notes in the article “The Meaning of Modern Poetry,” this ideology “... appeared between the lines, and the masses of readers instinctively shunned this poetry."

“Futurists were the first to raise form to the proper height,” says V. Shershenevich, “giving it the meaning of an end in itself, the main element of a poetic work. They have completely rejected poetry that is written for an idea.” This explains the emergence of a huge number of declared formal principles, such as: “In the name of personal freedom, we deny spelling” or “We have abolished punctuation marks - which is why the role of the verbal mass was put forward for the first time and realized” (“Tank of Judges”).

The futurist theorist V. Khlebnikov proclaims that the language of the future “will be an abstruse language.” The word is deprived of its semantic meaning, acquiring a subjective coloring: “We understand vowels as time and space (the nature of aspiration), consonants – paint, sound, smell.” V. Khlebnikov, trying to expand the boundaries of language and its capabilities, proposes the creation of new words based on root characteristics, for example: (roots: chur... and char...).

We are enchanted and shunned.
Enchanted there, shunned here,
Now churakhar, then churakhar,
Here's a churil, there's a churil.
From the churyn the gaze of the enchantress.
There is churavel, there is churavel.
Charari! Churari!
Churel! Charel!
Chares and chures.
And shy away and be enchanted.

The futurists contrast the emphasized aestheticism of the poetry of the Symbolists and especially the Acmeists with deliberate de-aestheticization. So, in D. Burliuk, “poetry is a shabby girl,” “the soul is a tavern, and the sky is trash,” in V. Shershenevich, “in a spit-stained square,” a naked woman wants to “squeeze milk from saggy breasts.” In the review “The Year of Russian Poetry” (1914), V. Bryusov, noting the deliberate rudeness of the futurists’ poems, rightly notes: “It is not enough to vilify with abusive words everything that happened and everything that exists outside one’s circle in order to find something new.” He points out that all their innovations are imaginary, because we met some of them in the poets of the 18th century, others in Pushkin and Virgil, and that the theory of sounds and colors was developed by T. Gautier.

It is curious that, despite all the denials of other movements in art, the futurists feel their continuity from symbolism.

It is curious that A. Blok, who followed Severyanin’s work with interest, says with concern: “He has no theme,” and V. Bryusov, in an article in 1915 dedicated to Severyanin, points out: “Lack of knowledge and inability to think belittle the poetry of Igor Severyanin and extremely narrow her horizon.” He reproaches the poet for bad taste, vulgarity, and especially sharply criticizes his war poems, which make a “painful impression”, “winning cheap applause from the public.”

A. Blok back in 1912 doubted: “I’m afraid about the modernists that they have no core, but only talented curls around them, emptiness.”

Let's return to the epigraph, to the words of V. Bryusov: “The original task of Art is to capture moments of insight and inspiration...”

Question for the class: Do you agree with the poet's opinion?

Teacher: Russian culture on the eve of the Great October Revolution was the result of a complex and enormous path. Distinctive features it has always remained democracy, high humanism and genuine nationality, despite periods of cruel government reaction, when progressive thought and advanced culture were suppressed in every possible way.

The richest cultural heritage of pre-revolutionary times, cultural values created over centuries constitute the golden fund of our national culture.

Homework.

Memorize poems for each of the studied movements. (see program.)
Write an essay and defend it in class.
Abstract topics:
Symbolism is the “poetry of hints.”
“The theme of dual perception of reality in the poetry of Vladimir Solovyov.”
New poetry by cubo-futurist Vasily Kamensky.
New rhythms of the poetry of Vladimir Mayakovsky.
The bright individuality of I. Severyanin’s creativity.
Prepare for the erudite competition.
Ratings are given and commented on.

(Literary dictation.)

* Literary dictation is conducted on the theory of literature. Students prepare it themselves. Students prepare 15 word meanings. The leader, as assigned by the teacher, goes to the board and reads the meaning of the word; the rest writes the terms in a notebook, separated by commas. Whoever manages 15 words gets a score of “5”; 13-14 words in a dictation - accordingly, the score is “4”. C grades are not given, it is suggested that you work extra during the lesson.

Literature.

TSB, 3rd edition, 1970-1977
Bazin S.P., Semibratova I.V. The fate of the poets of the Silver Age. - M., 1993
Bely A., Symbolism as a worldview (series “Thinkers of the 20th Century”), “Politizdat”, Moscow 1994.
Memories of the Silver Age. - M., 1993.
Karetskaya I.V. Above the pages of Russian poetry and prose of the early twentieth century. – M., 1995.
Ehrenburg I., “Portraits of modern poets”, St. Petersburg, “Neva Magazine”, 1999).

DECADENCE

In Russian artistic culture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, DECADENCE became widespread, denoting such phenomena in art as the rejection of civic ideals and faith in reason, immersion in the sphere of individualistic experiences. These ideas were an expression of the social position of part of the artistic intelligentsia, which tried to “escape” the complexities of life into the world of dreams, unreality, and sometimes mysticism. But even in this way she reflected in her work the crisis phenomena of the then social life.

Decadent moods captured figures of various artistic movements, including realistic ones. However, more often these ideas were inherent in modernist movements.

DECADENTITY (French decadence; from the medieval Latin decadentia - decline) - designation of a movement in literature and art of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, characterized by opposition to generally accepted "philistine" morality, the cult of beauty as a self-sufficient value, often accompanied by the aestheticization of sin and vice, ambivalent experiences of disgust for life and refined enjoyment of it, etc. (French poets C. Baudelaire, P. Verlaine, A. Rimbaud, etc.; Decadent magazine, 1886-89; see Symbolism). The concept of decadence is one of the central ones in the criticism of culture by F. Nietzsche, who associated decadence with the increasing role of the intellect and the weakening of the original life instincts, the “will to power.” (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary)

MODERNISM The concept of “MODERNISM” (French moderne - newest, modern) included many phenomena of literature and art of the twentieth century, born at the beginning of this century, new in comparison with the realism of the previous century. However, even in the realism of this time, new artistic and aesthetic qualities appear: the “framework” of a realistic vision of life is expanding, a search is underway for ways of personal self-expression in literature and art. The characteristic features of art are synthesis, an indirect reflection of life, in contrast to the critical realism of the 19th century with its inherent concrete reflection of reality. This feature of art is associated with the wide spread of neo-romanticism in literature, painting, music, and the birth of a new stage realism. MODERNISM is a general designation for all avant-garde movements in the iso-culture of the 20th century, which programmatically opposed themselves to traditionalism as the only true “art of modernity” or “art of the future.” In a more strict historical sense - early stylistic trends of this direction (impressionism, post-impressionism, symbolism, art nouveau), in which the break with tradition was not yet as sharp and fundamental as later. Thus, modernism is not so much a synonym for avant-gardeism as its precursor or early stage. (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary)

Russian literature continued to play an extremely important role in the cultural life of the country. Directions opposing realism began to take shape in artistic culture in the 90s. The most significant of them, both in terms of time of existence and in terms of distribution and influence on social and cultural life, was modernism. Modernist groups and movements united writers and poets, different in their ideological and artistic appearance, and further fate in literature. The strengthening of reactionary-mystical ideas in the public consciousness led to a certain revival of anti-realistic movements in artistic culture.

SYMBOLISM

SYMBOLISM - a movement in European and Russian art of the 1870-1910s. Focuses primarily on artistic expression through symbol of intuitive entities and ideas, vague, often sophisticated feelings and visions. The philosophical and aesthetic principles of symbolism go back to the works of A. Schopenhauer, E. Hartmann, F. Nietzsche, and the work of R. Wagner. Trying to penetrate into the secrets of being and consciousness, to see through visible reality the supra-temporal ideal essence of the world (“from the real to the most real”) and its “imperishable” or transcendental beauty, the symbolists expressed rejection of bourgeoisism and positivism, longing for spiritual freedom, a tragic premonition of world social -historical shifts. In Russia, symbolism was often thought of as “life-creativity” - a sacred act that goes beyond the boundaries of art. The main representatives of symbolism in literature are P. Verlaine, P. Valery, A. Rimbaud, S. Mallarmé, M. Maeterlinck, A. A. Blok, A. Bely, Vyach. I. Ivanov, F. K. Sologub. Visual arts: E. Munch, G. Moreau, M. K. Ciurlionis, M. A. Vrubel, V. E. Borisov-Musatov; Close to symbolism is the work of P. Gauguin and the masters of the Nabi group, the graphic artist O. Beardsley, and the work of many masters of the Art Nouveau style. (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary) Russian symbolism as a literary movement developed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The theoretical, philosophical and aesthetic roots and sources of creativity of symbolist writers were very diverse. So V. Bryusov considered symbolism a purely artistic movement, Merezhkovsky relied on Christian teaching, Vyach. Ivanov sought theoretical support in the philosophy and aesthetics of the ancient world, refracted through the philosophy of Nietzsche; A. Bely was fond of Vl. Solovyov, Schopenhauer, Kant, Nietzsche.

The artistic and journalistic organ of the Symbolists was the magazine “Scales” (1904 – 1909). “For us, representatives of symbolism as a harmonious worldview,” wrote Ellis, “there is nothing more alien than the subordination of the idea of life, the inner path of the individual, to the external improvement of the forms of community life. For us there can be no question of reconciling the path of the individual heroic individual with the instinctive movements of the masses, always subordinated to narrowly egoistic, material motives.” These attitudes determined the struggle of the Symbolists against democratic literature and art, which was expressed in the systematic slander of Gorky, in an effort to prove that, having joined the ranks of proletarian writers, he ended as an artist, in attempts to discredit revolutionary democratic criticism and aesthetics, its great creators - Belinsky, Dobrolyubov, Chernyshevsky. The symbolists tried in every possible way to make “theirs” Pushkin, Gogol, called by Vyacheslav Ivanov “the frightened spy of life,” Lermontov, who, according to the same Vyacheslav Ivanov, was the first to tremble with “the presentiment of the symbol of symbols - the Eternal Femininity.”

I see a new battle in the name of a new will! Break - I will be with you! build - no!

In the creative life of L.N. Andreev (1871 - 1919) they affected a certain departure from the realistic method. However, realism as a direction in artistic culture has retained its position. Russian writers continued to be interested in life in all its manifestations, fate common man, important problems of social life.

The traditions of critical realism continued to be preserved and developed in the works of the greatest Russian writer I. A. Bunin (1870 - 1953). His most significant works of that time are the stories “Village” (1910) and “Sukhodol” (1911).

The year 1912 marked the beginning of a new revolutionary upsurge in the socio-political life of Russia. D. Merezhkovsky, F. Sologub, Z. Gippius, V. Bryusov, K. Balmont and others are a group of “senior” symbolists who were the founders of the movement. In the early 900s, a group of “younger” symbolists emerged - A. Bely, S. Solovyov, Vyach. Ivanov, "A. Blok et al.

The platform of the “younger” symbolists is based on the idealistic philosophy of Vl. Solovyov with his idea of the Third Testament and the coming of Eternal Femininity. Vl. Soloviev argued that the highest task of art is “. the creation of a universal spiritual organism”, that a work of art is an image of an object and phenomenon “in the light of the future world”, which is connected with the understanding of the role of the poet as a theurgist and clergyman. This, as explained by A. Bely, contains “the combination of the peaks of symbolism as art with mysticism.”

The recognition that there are “other worlds”, that art should strive to express them, determines the artistic practice of symbolism as a whole, the three principles of which are proclaimed in the work of D. Merezhkovsky “On the causes of the decline and new trends in modern Russian literature.” This - ". mystical content, symbols and expansion of artistic impressionability.”

The poetry of the Symbolists is poetry for the elite, for the aristocrats of the spirit. A symbol is an echo, a hint, an indication; it conveys a hidden meaning. Symbolists strive to create a complex, associative metaphor, abstract and irrational. This is “ringing-resonant silence” by V. Bryusov, “And the bright eyes are dark with rebellion” by Vyacheslav Ivanov, “dry deserts of shame” by A. Bely and by him: “Day - matte pearls - a tear - flows from sunrise to sunset " This technique is revealed very precisely in poem 3. Gippius “The Seamstress”:

There is a stamp on all phenomena. One seems to be merged with the other. Having accepted one thing, I try to guess something else behind it, something that is hidden.

The sound expressiveness of verse acquired very great importance in the poetry of the Symbolists, for example, in F. Sologub:

And two deep glasses of thin, ringing glass You placed them in the light bowl And poured the sweet foam, Leela, poured, poured, dipped Two dark scarlet glasses. Belei, lily, alee gave Belei was you and ala.

The revolution of 1905 found a unique refraction in the work of the Symbolists. Merezhkovsky greeted 1905 with horror, having witnessed with his own eyes the coming of the “coming boor” he had predicted. Excitedly, with a keen desire to understand, Blok approached the events. V. Bryusov welcomed the cleansing thunderstorm.

By the tenth years of the twentieth century, symbolism needed updating. “In the depths of symbolism itself,” wrote V. Bryusov in the article “The Meaning of Modern Poetry,” “new movements arose, trying to infuse new strength into the decrepit organism. But these attempts were too partial, their founders were too imbued with the same school traditions for the renewal to be any significant.”

The last decade before October was marked by quests in modernist art. The controversy surrounding symbolism that took place in 1910 among the artistic intelligentsia revealed its crisis. As N.S. Gumilev put it in one of his articles, “symbolism has completed its circle of development and is now falling.” It was replaced by acmeism (from the Greek “acme” - the highest degree of something, a blooming time).

On the topic: Symbolism in literature: V. Bryusov, D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius, K. Balmont, A. Bely, V. Ivanov

to the beginning ACMEISM

ACMEISM (from the Greek akme - the highest degree of something, blooming power), a movement in Russian poetry of the 1910s. (S. M. Gorodetsky, M. A. Kuzmin, early N. S. Gumilev, A. A. Akhmatova, O. E. Mandelstam); proclaimed the liberation of poetry from symbolist impulses towards the “ideal”, from the polysemy and fluidity of images, complicated metaphors, a return to the material world, the object (or element of “nature”), the exact meaning of the word. The “earthly” poetry of Acmeism is characterized by individual modernist motifs, a tendency towards aestheticism, intimacy or poeticization of the feelings of primordial man. (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary) The founders of Acmeism are considered to be such poets of the Silver Age as N. S. Gumilyov (1886 - 1921) and S. M. Gorodetsky (1884 - 1967). The new poetic group included A. A. Akhmatova, O. E. Mandelstam, M. A. Zenkevich, M. A. Kuzmin and others.

The Acmeists, in contrast to the symbolist vagueness, proclaimed the cult of real earthly existence, “a courageously firm and clear view of life.” But at the same time, they tried to establish primarily the aesthetic-hedonistic function of art, evading social problems in their poetry. The aesthetics of Acmeism clearly expressed decadent tendencies, and its theoretical basis remained philosophical idealism. However, among the Acmeists there were poets who, in their work, were able to go beyond the framework of this “platform” and acquire new ideological and artistic qualities (A. A. Akhmatova, S. M. Gorodetsky, M. A. Zenkevich). In 1912, with the collection “Hyperborea”, a new literary movement announced itself, which appropriated the name Acmeism (from the Greek acme, which means the highest degree of something, the time of flourishing). “The Workshop of Poets,” as its representatives called themselves, included N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, G. Ivanov, M. Zenkevich and others. M. Kuzmin, M. Voloshin also joined this direction , V. Khodasevich et al.

The Acmeists considered themselves the heirs of a “worthy father” - symbolism, which, in the words of N. Gumilyov, “. has completed its circle of development and is now falling.” Affirming the bestial, primitive principle (they also called themselves Adamists), the Acmeists continued to “remember the unknowable” and in its name proclaimed any renunciation of the struggle to change life. “To rebel in the name of other conditions of existence here, where there is death,” writes N. Gumilev in his work “The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism,” “is as strange as a prisoner breaking a wall when there is an open door in front of him.” The Acmeists sought to return the image to its living concreteness, objectivity, to free it from mystical encryptedness, which O. Mandelstam spoke very angrily about, assuring that the Russian symbolists “. sealed all words, all images, destining them exclusively for liturgical use. It turned out to be extremely uncomfortable - I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t sit down. You can't dine on a table, because it's not just a table. You can’t light a fire, because it might mean something that you yourself won’t be happy with.” And at the same time, Acmeists claim that their images are sharply different from realistic ones, because, in the words of S. Gorodetsky, they “. are born for the first time” “as hitherto unseen, but from now on real phenomena.” This determines the sophistication and peculiar mannerism of the Acmeistic image, no matter how deliberate bestial savagery it may appear. For example, from Voloshin:

People are animals, people are reptiles, Like a hundred-eyed evil spider, They entwine their gazes into rings.

The circle of these images is narrowed, which achieves extreme beauty, and which makes it possible to achieve greater sophistication when describing it:

Slower than a snow beehive, More transparent than a crystal window, And a turquoise veil Carelessly thrown on a chair. Fabric, intoxicated with itself, Pampered by the caress of light, It experiences summer, As if untouched by winter. And, if the frost of eternity flows in the icy diamonds, Here is the fluttering of fast-living, blue-eyed dragonflies. (O. Mandelstam)

It was in vain that the Acmeists so sharply dissociated themselves from the Symbolists. We find the same “other worlds” and longing for them in their poetry. Thus, N. Gumilyov, who welcomed the imperialist war as a “sacred” cause, asserting that “seraphim, clear and winged, are visible behind the shoulders of warriors,” a year later wrote poems about the end of the world, about the death of civilization:

You can hear the peaceful roars of monsters, Suddenly the rains are lashing furiously, And everything is being sucked in by fat, light green horsetails.

The once proud and brave conqueror understands the destructiveness of the enmity that has engulfed humanity:

Does it really matter? Let time roll on, We understand you, earth: You are only a gloomy gatekeeper At the entrance to God's fields.

And the Lord will reward me in full measure For my short and short life. This was done in a light gray blouse by a short old man.

Such poets as S. Gorodetsky, A. Akhmatova, V. Narbut, M. Zenkevich were unable to emigrate. For example, A. Akhmatova, who did not understand and did not accept the revolution, refused to leave her homeland:

I had a voice. He called comfortingly, He said: “Come here, Leave your deaf and sinful land, Leave Russia forever. I will wash the blood from your hands, I will take the black shame out of my heart, I will cover the pain of defeats and insults with a new name.” But indifferently and calmly I closed my hearing with my hands.

She did not immediately return to creativity. But the Great Patriotic War again awakened in her a poet, a patriotic poet, confident in the victory of her Motherland (“Courage”, “Oath”, etc.). A. Akhmatova wrote in her autobiography that for her in poetry “. my connection with time, with the new life of my people.”

FUTURISM (from Latin futurum - future), avant-garde movement in European art of the 1910s - 20s, mainly in Italy and Russia. In an effort to create “the art of the future,” he declared (in the manifestos and artistic practice of the Italian poet F. T. Marinetti, Russian Cubo-Futurists from “Gilea,” participants in the “Association of Ego-Futurists,” “Mezzanine of Poetry,” “Centrifuge”) the denial of traditional culture (heritage “ past"), cultivated the aesthetics of urbanism and machine industry. Painting (in Italy - U. Boccioni, G. Severini) is characterized by shifts, influxes of forms, multiple repetitions of motifs, as if summing up the impressions received in the process of rapid movement. For literature - the interweaving of documentary material and fiction, in poetry (V.V. Khlebnikov, V.V. Mayakovsky, A.E. Kruchenykh, I. Severyanin) - language experimentation ("words in freedom" or "zaum"). (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary) Simultaneously with Acmeism in 1910–1912. Futurism arose. Like other modernist movements, it was internally contradictory. The most significant of the futurist groups, which later received the name Cubo-Futurism, united such poets of the Silver Age as D. D. Burliuk, V. V. Khlebnikov, A. Kruchenykh, V. V. Kamensky, V. V. Mayakovsky, and some others. A type of futurism was the egofuturism of I. Severyanin (I.V. Lotarev, 1887–1941). In the group of futurists called “Centrifuge,” Soviet poets N. N. Aseev and B. L. Pasternak began their creative careers.

Futurism proclaimed a revolution of form, independent of content, absolute freedom of poetic speech. Futurists rejected literary traditions. In their manifesto with the shocking title “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste,” published in a collection of the same name in 1912, they called for throwing Pushkin, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy off the “Steamboat of Modernity.” A. Kruchenykh defended the poet’s right to create an “abstruse” language that does not have a specific meaning. In his writings, Russian speech was indeed replaced by a meaningless set of words. However, V. Khlebnikov (1885 - 1922), V. V. Kamensky (1884 - 1961) managed in their creative practice to carry out interesting experiments in the field of words, which had a beneficial effect on Russian and Soviet poetry.

In Russian poetry of the pre-revolutionary years there were bright individuals who are difficult to attribute to a specific literary movement. These are M. A. Voloshin (1877 - 1932) and M. I. Tsvetaeva (1892 - 1941). After 1910, another direction emerged - futurism, which sharply contrasted itself not only with the literature of the past, but also with the literature of the present, entering the world with the desire to overthrow everything and everyone. This nihilism was manifested in the external design of futuristic collections, which were printed on wrapping paper or the back of wallpaper, and in the titles - “Mares’ Milk”, “Dead Moon”, etc.

We are enchanted and shunned. Enchanting there, shying away here, Now a churakhar, now a churakhar, Here a churil, there a churil. From the churyn the gaze of the enchantress. There is churavel, there is churavel. Charari! Churari! Churel! Charel! Chares and chures. And shy away and be enchanted. The futurists contrast the emphasized aestheticism of the poetry of the Symbolists and especially the Acmeists with deliberate de-aestheticization. So, in D. Burliuk, “poetry is a shabby girl,” “the soul is a tavern, and the sky is trash,” in V. Shershenevich, “in a spit-stained square,” a naked woman wants to “squeeze milk from saggy breasts.” In the review “The Year of Russian Poetry” (1914), V. Bryusov, noting the deliberate rudeness of the futurists’ poems, rightly notes: “It is not enough to vilify with abusive words everything that happened and everything that exists outside one’s circle in order to find something new.” He points out that all their innovations are imaginary, because we met some of them in the poets of the 18th century, others in Pushkin and Virgil, and that the theory of sounds and colors was developed by T. Gautier.

It is curious that, despite all the denials of other movements in art, the futurists feel their continuity from symbolism. It is curious that A. Blok, who followed Severyanin’s work with interest, says with concern: “He has no theme,” and V. Bryusov, in an article in 1915 dedicated to Severyanin, points out: “Lack of knowledge and inability to think belittle the poetry of Igor Severyanin and extremely narrow its horizon.” He reproaches the poet for bad taste, vulgarity, and especially sharply criticizes his war poems, which make a “painful impression”, “winning cheap applause from the public.” A. Blok had his doubts back in 1912: “I’m afraid about the modernists that they have no core, but only talented curls around them, emptiness.”

Russian culture on the eve of the October Revolution of 1917 was the result of a complex and enormous path. Its distinctive features have always remained democracy, high humanism and genuine nationality, despite periods of brutal government reaction, when progressive thought and advanced culture were suppressed in every possible way.

The richest cultural heritage of pre-revolutionary times, cultural values created over centuries constitute the golden fund of our national culture.

Symbolism – literary movement, one of the characteristic phenomena of the transitional era from the 19th to the 20th centuries, the general state of culture of which is defined by the concept of “decadence”. There were two streams in Russian symbolism. In the 1890s, the so-called “senior symbolists” made themselves known: Minsky, Merezhkovsky, Gippius, Bryusov, Balmont, Sologub. Their ideologist was Merezhkovsky, their master was Bryusov. In the 1900s, the “Young Symbolists” entered the literary arena: Bely, Blok, Solovyov, Vyach. Ivanov, Ellis and others. Andrei Bely became the theoretician of this group.

Russian symbolism made its presence known in the first half of the 1890s. Several publications are usually cited as the starting points of his history; first of all, these are: “On the causes of the decline...”, the literary-critical work of D. Merezhkovsky and the almanacs “Russian Symbolists”, published at his own expense by student Valery Bryusov in 1894. These three brochures (the last book was published in 1895) were created by two authors (often acting as translators within this publication): Valery Bryusov (as editor-in-chief and author of manifestations and under the guise of several pseudonyms) and his student friend A.L. Miropolsky.

Younger Symbolists in Russia are mainly called writers who made their first publications in the 1900s. Among them were really very young authors, like Sergei Solovyov, A. Bely, A. Blok, Ellis, and very respectable people, like the director of the gymnasium I. Annensky, scientist Vyacheslav Ivanov, musician and composer M. Kuzmin. In the first years of the century, representatives of the younger generation of symbolists created a romantically colored circle, where the skills of future classics matured, which became known as the “Argonauts”, or Argonautism.

In St. Petersburg at the beginning of the century, the “tower” of Vyach is perhaps most suitable for the title of “center of symbolism”. Ivanova, is a famous apartment on the corner of Tavricheskaya Street, among the inhabitants of which at different times were Andrei Bely, M. Kuzmin, V. Khlebnikov, A.R. Mintslova, which was visited by A.A. Blok, N.A. Berdyaev, A.V. Lunacharsky, A.A. Akhmatova, “miriskusniki” and spiritualists, anarchists and philosophers. A famous and mysterious apartment: legends tell about it, researchers study the meetings of secret societies that took place here (Haphysites, Theosophists, etc.), gendarmes carried out searches and surveillance here, in this apartment most famous poets of the era read their poems publicly for the first time, here for several years, three completely unique writers lived simultaneously, whose works often present fascinating riddles for commentators and offer readers unexpected language models - this is the constant “Diotima” of the salon, Ivanov’s wife, L.D. Zinovieva-Annibal, composer Kuzmin (the author of romances at first, later novels and poetry books), and, of course, the owner. The owner of the apartment himself, the author of the book “Dionysus and Dionysianism,” was called “the Russian Nietzsche.” With undoubted significance and depth of influence in culture, Vyach. Ivanov remains a “semi-familiar continent”; This is partly due to his long stays abroad, and partly to the complexity of his poetic texts, which, in addition, require from the reader a rarely encountered erudition.

In Moscow in the 1900s, the editorial office of the Scorpion publishing house, where Valery Bryusov became the permanent editor-in-chief, was unhesitatingly called the authoritative center of symbolism. This publishing house prepared editions of the most famous symbolist periodical, “Scales.” Among the permanent employees of “Libra” were Andrei Bely, K. Balmont, Jurgis Baltrushaitis; Other authors regularly collaborated - Fyodor Sologub, A. Remizov, M. Voloshin, A. Blok, etc., many translations from the literature of Western modernism were published.

Symbolism was a multifaceted cultural phenomenon, and covered not only literature but also music, theater, and fine arts. The main motives of this movement can be seen in the works of such outstanding composers as Alexander Scriabin, Igor Stravinsky and others. The art magazine “World of Art” under the direction of S.P. Diaghilev becomes not only the brightest magazine about art in Russia, but also a powerful means of promoting Russian culture in Europe through the organization of international exhibitions and the publication of reproductions of works of Russian art in the European press. This magazine was based on the work of the founders - a group of young artists: A. Benois, L. Bakst, M. Dobuzhinsky. In addition to those mentioned, V. Borisov-Musatov, M. Vrubel and others collaborated with this magazine at different times.

Acmeism (from Greek - tip, peak, highest degree of something, flourishing) - a literary movement of the 1910s that arose in response to the crisis of symbolism as its “overcoming” and as an alternative to contemporary futurism (later understanding repeatedly combined these two movements in the concept of post-symbolism). The emergence of post-symbolism marks the advent in Russian poetry (to paraphrase Akhmatova) of the “non-calendar, real 20th century.” The historical and literary paradox of Acmeism (including in comparison with futurism) is the short duration of its existence (a year or two) and the almost initial quarrel between its leaders, Gumilyov and Gorodetsky. Attempts at later revival undertaken by Gumilev (the “second” and “third” “Workshop of Poets”) were unproductive. At the same time, Acmeism, unlike other movements, had only 6 participants: N.S. Gumilev, S.M. Gorodetsky, A.A. Akhmatova, O.E. Mandelstam, M.A. Zenkevich, I.I. Narbut. The breeding ground and sympathetic environment of the Acmeists were the “Workshop of Poets” and the magazines “Hyperborea” and “Apollo”, but none of the other participants in the “Workshop” and the magazines were Acmeists, nor were such students as G. Ivanov or G. Adamovich .

Theoretically, A. declared himself in the declarations of 1913 in “Apollo”: “The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism” by Gumilyov and “Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry” by Gorodetsky. The term itself appears in the earlier correspondence of the Acmeists (1912), its origin is surrounded by legends and hoaxes, but less well known. the term "Adamism".

The pathos of Acmeism consisted in the “secularization” of poetry, a return to the actual poetic tasks of literature, hence the declarative pathos of craftsmanship, the madeness of things, and an orientation towards the guild tradition of the Middle Ages. Acmeism did not deny the “extraliterary” aspirations of the symbolists (“Beautiful Lady theology,” religion, the highest meaning hidden behind the world of phenomena), but argued that comprehending them is not the work of poetry. Hence the rejection of a direct “breakthrough” into the unearthly, a demonstrative acceptance of the world, with all the awareness of its tragedy, attention to the forms of things and poetry, harmony in the world and in poetry, interest in details, everyday life, things. Here, the predecessor of Acmeism is Kuzmin with his cult of everyday life and “beautiful clarity” (Acmeists willingly used his term “Clarism”), and in the field of “sharpness” of emotion and its analysis, avoiding “metaphysical hints,” In. Annensky. The above gave rise to the important theme of Adam and the secondary motif of “primitiveness.”

Futurism (lat. futurum – future) is the general name for the artistic avant-garde movements of the 1910s and early 1920s, primarily in Italy and Russia.

The author of the word and the founder of the movement is the Italian poet Filippo Marinetti (poem “Red Sugar”). The name itself implies a cult of the future and discrimination of the past along with the present. On February 20, 1909, Marinetti published the “Futurist Manifesto” in the Le Figaro newspaper. It was written for young Italian artists. Marinetti wrote: “The oldest among us are thirty years old, in 10 years we must complete our task, until a new generation comes and throws us into the trash basket...”). Marinetti’s manifesto proclaimed a “telegraph style”, which, in particular, marked the beginning of minimalism. In 1912, the first exhibition of Futurist artists took place in Paris.

Futurism is characterized by a rejection of traditional grammar, the poet’s right to his own spelling, and word creation. They dedicated their paintings to trains, cars, and airplanes. In a word, all the momentary achievements of a civilization intoxicated with technical progress. The motorcycle was declared a more perfect creation than Michelangelo's sculptures. Marinetti said: “The heat emanating from a piece of wood or iron excites us more than the smile and tears of a woman,” “New art can only be violence, cruelty.”

The pathos of destruction and explosion is proclaimed. Wars and revolutions are glorified as the rejuvenating force of an decrepit world. Futurism can be viewed as a kind of fusion of Nietzscheanism and the Communist Party manifesto. The dynamics of movement should replace the static of posing sculptures, paintings and portraits. A camera and a movie camera will replace the imperfections of painting and the eyes.

In the visual arts, futurism started from Fauvism, borrowing color finds from it, and from Cubism, from which it adopted artistic forms, but rejected cubic analysis (decomposition) as an expression of the essence of a phenomenon and strived for a direct emotional expression of the dynamics of the modern world.

The main artistic principles are speed, movement, energy, which some futurists tried to convey using fairly simple techniques. Their paintings are characterized by energetic compositions, where the figures are fragmented into fragments and intersect sharp corners, where flashing forms, zigzags, spirals, and beveled cones predominate, where movement is conveyed by superimposing successive phases on one image - the so-called principle of simultaneity.

In Russia, the first futurists were the artists the Burliuk brothers. David Burliuk is the founder of the futurist colony “Gilea” on his estate. He manages to unite around himself the most diverse, bright, and unique individuals. Mayakovsky, Khlebnikov, Kruchenykh, Benedikt Livshits, Elena Guro are the most famous names.

Futurism is one of the currents of avant-gardeism, which gave rise to many other directions and schools: the imagism of Yesenin and Mariengof, the constructivism of Selvinsky, Lugovsky, the ego-futurism of Severyanin, the Budelism of Khlebnikov, OBERIU Kharms, Vvedensky, Zabolotsky, Oleinikov, and, finally, the “Nichevoks”.