What are images and symbols in Russian literature? Symbol as a literary phenomenon

One of the most common definitions of art is the following: Art is a special form public consciousness, as well as human activity, which is based on the artistic and educational reflection of reality. 2

As part artistic culture, art is the core of spiritual culture as a whole. In the process of historical development, various types of it have emerged: architecture, art(painting, sculpture, graphics), decorative and applied arts, literature, choreography, music, theater, cinema, design, etc. 2

2. Symbols and symbolism in literature 3

The last outbreak of activity of Russian symbolists was the days of October, when the group “Scythians” (A. A. Blok, A. Bely, S. A. Yesenin, etc.) again sought to combine symbolism and revolution. The pinnacle of these searches, Blok’s poem “The Twelve,” lies at the origins of Soviet poetry. 7

3. Naturalism in literature. 8

4. The role of symbolism and naturalism in modern literature 11

5. Conclusion. 23

6. List of references. 26

1. Introduction. Literature as a form of art.

One of the most common definitions of art is the following: Art is a special form of social consciousness, as well as human activity, which is based on the artistic and educational reflection of reality.

As part of artistic culture, art is the core of spiritual culture as a whole. In progress historical development various types of it have developed: architecture, fine arts (painting, sculpture, graphics), decorative and applied arts, literature, choreography, music, theater, cinema, design, etc.

The reason for dividing art into types is the variety of types of human social practice in the sphere of artistic exploration of the world. Each type of art tends to certain aspects of reality. The relationships and mutual attraction between art forms are historically changeable and fluid.

Each type of art is unique and has its own specifics, means of expression, and materials.

Literature, as an art form, aesthetically masters the world in artistic words. In its various genres, literature covers natural and social phenomena, social cataclysms, and human spiritual life.

Initially, literature existed only in the form of oral verbal creativity, therefore the building material of any literary image is the word. Hegel called the word the most plastic material, directly belonging to the spirit. Fiction takes a phenomenon in its integrity and the interaction of its various properties and features. Literature occupies one of the leading places in the art system and has a significant influence on the development of other types of art.

2. Symbols and symbolism in literature

Symbol (from the Greek symbolon - sign, omen) is one of the types of tropes *. A symbol, like an allegory and a metaphor, forms its figurative meanings based on what we feel - the relationship, the connection between the object or phenomenon that is denoted by some word in the language, and another object or phenomenon to which we transfer the same verbal designation. For example, “morning” as the beginning of daily activity can be compared with the beginning of human life. This is how both the metaphor “morning of life” and the symbolic picture of morning as the beginning of life’s journey arise:

In the morning fog with unsteady steps

I walked towards mysterious and wonderful shores.

(Vl. S. Soloviev)

However, a symbol is fundamentally different from both allegory and metaphor. First of all, because it is endowed with a huge variety of meanings (in fact, innumerable), and all of them are potentially present in every symbolic image, as if “shining through” each other. So, in the lines from A. A. Blok’s poem “You were strangely bright...”:

I am your loving caress

I am illuminated - and I see dreams.

But, believe me, I think it’s a fairy tale

An unprecedented sign of spring

“spring” is the time of year, and the birth of first love, and the beginning of youth, and the coming “new life” and much more. Unlike allegory, the symbol is deeply emotional; in order to comprehend it, you need to “get used to” the mood of the text. Finally, in vallegory and in metaphor, the objective meaning of a word can be “erased”: sometimes we simply don’t notice it (for example, when Mars or Venus are mentioned in 18th-century literature, we often hardly remember the vividly depicted characters of ancient myths, but only know that we're talking about about war and about love. Mayakovsky’s metaphor of “days of a bull is a peg” paints an image of the motley days of human life, and not the image of a spotted bull).

The formal difference between a symbol and a metafaphor is that a metaphor is created, as it were, “before our eyes”: we see exactly which words are compared in the text, and therefore we guess what their meanings are converging to give rise to a third, new one. A symbol can also enter into a metaphorical structure, but it is not necessary for it.

Where does the symbolic meaning of the image come from? The main feature of symbols is that they, in their mass, appear not only in those texts (or even more so in parts of the text) where we find them. They have a history of tens of thousands of years, going back to ancient ideas about the world, to myths and rituals. Certain words (“morning”, “winter”, “grain”, “earth”, “blood”, etc., etc.) have been imprinted in the memory of mankind precisely as symbols since time immemorial. Such words not only have multiple meanings: we intuitively sense their ability to be symbols. Later, these words especially attract word artists, who include them in their works, where they acquire new meanings. Thus, Dante in his “Divine Comedy” used all the variety of meanings of the word “sun”, which went back to pagan cults, and then to Christian symbolism. But he also created his own new symbolism of the “sun”, which then became part of the “sun” among the romantics, symbolists, etc. Thus, the symbol comes into the text from the language of centuries-old cultures, bringing into it all the baggage of its already accumulated meanings. Since a symbol has an innumerable number of meanings, it turns out to be able to “give” them in different ways: depending on the individual characteristics of the reader *.

Symbolism as a literary movement arose at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. in France as a protest against bourgeois life, philosophy and culture, on the one hand, and against naturalism and realism, on the other. In the “Manifesto of Symbolism,” written by J. Moreas in 1886, it was argued that a direct depiction of reality, everyday life only slides on the surface of life. Only with the help of a hint symbol can we emotionally and intuitively comprehend the “secrets of the world.” Symbolism is associated with an idealistic worldview, with the justification of individualism and complete personal freedom, with the idea that art is above “vulgar” reality. This trend became widespread in Western Europe and penetrated into painting, music and other forms of art.

In Russia, symbolism arose in the early 1890s. In the first decade, the leading role in it was played by the “senior symbolists” (decadents), especially the Moscow group headed by V. Ya. Bryusov and which published three editions of the collection “Russian Symbolists” (1894-1895). Decadent motifs also dominated the poetry of St. Petersburg authors published in the magazine “Northern Herald”, and at the turn of the century – in the “World of Art” (F. K. Sologub, Z. N. Gippius, D. S. Merezhkovsky, N. M. Minsky). But the views and prosaic work of the St. Petersburg symbolists also reflected much of what would be characteristic of the next stage of this movement.

The “senior symbolists” sharply denied the surrounding reality and said “no” to the world:

I don't see our reality

I don't know our century...

(V. Ya. Bryusov)

Earthly life is just a “dream”, a “shadow”. Contrasted with reality is the world of dreams of itvism - a world where the individual gains complete freedom:

I am the god of the mysterious world,

The whole world is in my dreams.

I will not make myself an idol

Neither on earth nor in heaven.

(F.K. Sologub)

This is the kingdom of beauty:

There is only one eternal commandment - to live.

In beauty, in beauty no matter what.

(D.S. Merezhkovsky)

This world is beautiful precisely because it “is not in the world” (3. N. Gippius). Real life is portrayed as ugly, evil, boring and meaningless. The symbolists paid special attention to artistic innovation - the transformation of the meanings of the poetic word, the development of rhythm, rhyme, etc. The “senior symbolists” have not yet created a system of symbols; they are impressionists who strive to convey the subtlest shades of moods and impressions.

A new period in the history of Russian symbolism (1901-1904) coincided with the beginning of a new revolutionary famine in Russia. Pessimistic sentiments inspired by the era of reaction of the 1880s - early 1890s. and the philosophy of A. Schopenhauer, give way to feelings of grandiose change. “Younger symbolists - followers of the idealist philosopher and poet Vl.” enter the literary arena. S. Solovyov, who represented that old world evil and deception on the verge of complete destruction, that divine Beauty (Eternal Femininity, Dushamira) descends into the world, which must “save the world”, connecting the heavenly (divine) principle of life with the earthly, material, to create the “kingdom of God on earth”:

Know this: Eternal Femininity is now

In an incorruptible body he goes to earth.

In the unfading light of the new goddess

The sky merged with the abyss of water.

(Vl. S. Soloviev)

Among the “younger symbolists,” the decadent “rejection of the world” is replaced by a utopian expectation of its future transformation. A.A. Blok in the collection “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” (1904) glorifies the same feminine principle of youth, love and beauty, which will not only bring happiness to the lyrical “I”, but will also change the whole world:

I have a feeling about you. The years pass by -

All in one form I foresee You.

The whole horizon is on fire - and unbearably clear,

And I wait silently, yearning and loving.

The same motives are found in A. Bely’s collection “Gold in Azure” (1904), which glorifies the heroic desire of people of dreams - the “Argonauts” - for the sun and the happiness of complete freedom. During these same years, many “senior symbolists” also sharply departed from the sentiments of the last decade and moved towards the glorification of a bright, strong-willed personality. This personality does not break with individualism, but now the lyrical “I” is a freedom fighter:

I want to tear the azure

Calm dreams.

I want burning buildings

I want screaming storms!

(K. D. Balmont)

With the advent of the “younger”, the concept of symbol entered the poetics of Russian symbolism. For Solovyov’s students, this is a multi-valued word, some meanings of which are connected with the world of “heaven”, reflect its spiritual essence, while others depict the “earthly kingdom” (understood as the “shadow” of the kingdom of heaven):

I watch a little, bending my knees,

Meek in appearance, quiet in heart,

Floating Shadows

The fussy affairs of the world

Among visions, dreams,

(A. A. Blok)

The years of the first Russian revolution (1905-1907) again significantly changed the face of Russian symbolism. Most poets respond to revolutionary events. Blok creates images of people of the new, national world (“Rising from the darkness of the cellars...”, “The Barge of Life”), fighters (“Went to attack. Straight to the chest...”). V.Ya. Bryusov writes the famous poem “The Coming Huns,” where he glorifies the inevitable end of the old world, to which, however, he includes himself and all the people of the old, dying culture. During the years of the revolution, F.K. Sologub created a book of poems “To the Motherland” (1906), K.D. Balmont - collection “Songs of the Avenger” (1907), published in Paris and banned in Russia, etc.

Even more important is that the years of revolution restructured the symbolic artistic vision of the world. If earlier Beauty was understood (especially by the “younger symbolists”) as harmony, now it is associated with the chaos of struggle, with the elements of the people. Individualism gives way to quest new personality, in which the flourishing of the “I” is connected with the life of the people. The symbolism is also changing: previously associated mainly with the Christian, ancient, medieval and romantic traditions, now it turns to the heritage of the ancient “national” myth (V.I. Ivanov), to Russian folklore and Slavic mythology (A.A. Blok, S.M. Gorodetsky). The structure of the symbol also becomes different. Its “earthly” meanings also play an increasingly important role in it: social, political, historical.

But the revolution also reveals the “indoor”, literary-circle nature of the trend, its utopianism, political naivety, and its distance from the true political struggle of 1905-1907. The main issue for symbolism is the question of the connection between revolution and art. When solving it, two extremely opposite directions are formed: the protection of culture from the destructive force of the revolutionary elements (V. Bryusov’s magazine “Scales”) and aesthetic interest in the problems of social struggle. Only with A. A. Blok, who has greater artistic insight, dreams of great national art, writes articles about M. Gorky and realists.

The disputes of 1907 and the following years caused a sharp division between the Symbolists. During the years of the Stolypin reaction (1907-1911), this leads to a weakening of the most interesting tendencies of symbolism. The “aesthetic revolt” of the decadents and the “aesthetic utopia” of the “younger symbolists” are exhausting themselves. They are being replaced by artistic attitudes of “intrinsic aestheticism” - imitation of the art of the past. Stylization artists (M. A. Kuzmin) come to the fore. The leading symbolists themselves felt the crisis of the direction: their main magazines ("Scales", "Golden Fleece") were closed in 1909. Since 1910, symbolism as a movement ceased to exist.

However, symbolism as an artistic method has not yet exhausted itself. So, A. A. Blok, the most talented poet of symbolism, in the late 1900s-1910s. creates his most mature works. He tries to combine the poetics of symbols with themes inherited from realism of the 19th century, with a rejection of modernity (the cycle “ Scary world"), motives of revolutionary retribution (the cycle "Iambics", the poem "Retribution", etc.), with reflections on history (the cycle "On the Kulikovo Field", the play "Rose and Cross", etc.). A. Bely creates the novel “Petersburg”, as if summing up the era that gave birth to symbolism.

sacred symbol novel literature

Symbol - from Greek. symbolon - symbol. In Ancient Greece, this was the name given to the halves of a stick cut in two, which helped their owners recognize each other in a distant place. A symbol is an object or word that conventionally expresses the essence of a phenomenon (Lekhin). Artistic symbol- a universal category of aesthetics, best amenable to disclosure through comparison with adjacent categories of image, on the one hand, and sign, on the other. Taking the words broadly, we can say that a symbol is an image taken in the aspect of its signification, and that it is a sign endowed with all the organicity of myth and the inexhaustible ambiguity of the image. Every symbol is an image (and every image is, at least to some extent, a symbol); but if the category of image presupposes objective identity with itself, then the category of symbol places emphasis on the other side of the same essence - on the image going beyond its own limits, on the presence of a certain meaning, intimately fused with the image, but not identical to it. Subject image and deep meaning appear in the structure of the symbol as two poles, inconceivable one without the other (for the meaning loses its manifestation outside the image, and the image without the meaning falls apart into its components), but also separated from each other and generating tension among themselves, which is the essence of the symbol. Transitioning into a symbol, the image becomes “transparent”; the meaning “shines through” through it, being given precisely as semantic depth, a semantic perspective that requires a difficult “entry” into oneself.

The meaning of a symbol cannot be deciphered by a simple effort of reason; one must “get used to” it. This is exactly what it consists of fundamental difference symbol from allegory: the meaning of a symbol does not exist as some kind of rational formula that can be “embedded” in an image and then extracted from the image. The relationship between the signifier and the signified in a symbol is a dialectical relationship of identity in non-identity: “... each image must be understood as what it is, and only thanks to this is it taken as what it designates” (Schelling). Here we have to look for the specifics of the symbol in relation to the category of the sign. If for a purely utilitarian sign system polysemy is only a meaningless hindrance that harms the rational functioning of the sign, then the more polysemantic it is, the more meaningful the symbol is: ultimately, the content of a genuine symbol, through mediating semantic connections, is each time correlated with the “most important thing” - with the idea of the world integrity, with the completeness of the cosmic and human “universe”. The very fact that any symbol generally has “meaning” itself symbolizes the presence of “meaning” in the world and life. “The image of the world, revealed in the word,” these words of B. Pasternak can be attributed to the symbolism of every great poet. The very structure of the symbol is aimed at immersing each particular phenomenon in the element of the “first principles” of existence and through this phenomenon giving complete image peace. Here lies the affinity between symbol and myth; the symbol is the myth, “sublated” (in the Hegelian sense) cultural development, derived from self-identity and aware of its discrepancy with its own meaning.

From myth, the symbol inherited its social and communicative functions, which are indicated by the etymology of the term: the ancient Greeks called symbols the fragments of one plate that fit each other along the break line, by adding them, people connected by a union of hereditary friendship identified each other. By the symbol, “friends” recognize and understand each other. Unlike an allegory, which can be deciphered by a “stranger,” there is a warmth of unifying mystery in the consciousness.

Yu.V. Shatin suggests that every natural language begins with a symbol, which is the first significant point of separation of language from myth. According to C. Pierce, symbols are conventional (i.e. established by agreement) relations of sign and meaning. The symbol, in the words of S.S. Averintsev, points to the image going beyond its own limits, to the presence of a certain meaning, inseparably fused with the image, but not identical to it. Such a symbol cannot be deciphered by a simple effort of reason. It requires not simple recognition as a cultural sign, but active adaptation to its internal structure on the part of the perceiver.

A symbol is a more difficult object to identify compared to metaphor and metonymic transfer. Apparently, the essence of any poetic symbol lies in the fact that the word as a whole and its meaning, being unconnected by specific conceptual and figurative bonds with classes of homogeneous objects and phenomena, still designate them. A symbol can denote many such classes; its conceptual, that is, generalizing, range is very wide.

A typical symbol, firstly, “grows” from a specific detail of the text, which has a clear verbal designation. When the text is expanded, this detail ceases to be perceived as a detail in the direct nominative function. In other cases, its functionality acquires duality: what is designated by the word “detail” can be perceived both as a detail and as a symbol.

Frequent use of a particular word or phrase helps highlight characters. In this case, it is necessary to replace the named elements with other elements that directly “go out” to the object of designation. The phenomenon of a symbol is the unconditional replacement of any other element with this element.

Symbols quite often and naturally have an intertextual nature: for one writer or poet, stable symbols function in various works.

Unfortunately, symbols are quite often confused, even by experienced linguists, with so-called “keywords.” “Key words” are semantically very close to symbols: both are very rich in meaning; they are indeed very important reference points in the texts; both tend to attract the attention of readers; “key words” and symbols are the primary characteristics of specific writing styles.

A symbol is a conventional sign that reveals the meaning of a concept, idea, phenomenon or event. The origin of the symbols is related to Ancient Greece, where symbols first began to be used to denote secrets, understandable only to the group specific persons. A striking example is a cross that stands for Christianity. Muslims designate their faith with a crescent moon symbol. A little later, symbols began to be used to distinguish the manufacture of one owner from that of another. What is the symbol for modern man? For us, the symbol of justice is the scales, and the symbol of power is the state, the symbol of brotherhood is the handshake, and the symbol of the god of the seas, Neptune, is the trident.

A symbol is often confused with a sign, but the differences between a symbol and a sign are very significant. If we consider what a symbol and a sign are, then it should be noted that a symbol characterizes a certain phenomenon, and a sign is hallmark something. For example, trademark denotes that a particular product is produced by a particular brand or brand.

Symbols in literature

In poetry, poets used many symbolic images. For example, in Yesenin’s poems, the word “window” is very often mentioned, which is an image-symbol. In some verses the window separates the outer and inner world poet, and in some acts as a symbolic image separating two periods of the poet’s life - his childhood and young years with in recent years his life. Quite a lot of similar examples can be found in the works of poets and prose writers, answering the question related to what an image-symbol is. Moreover, each author has his own image-symbol, which he uses not in one work, but at least in several.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, a movement called “Symbolism” emerged in literature. But in fact, literary symbols were used much earlier. For each of us, the character of the Wolf from the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” is symbolized with evil, and the main characters of the epics - Dobrynya Nikitich or Ilya Muromets - symbolize strength. All literary symbols contain figurative meaning Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between what a symbol is in literature and what a metaphor is. The symbol is more complex in its structure and meaning. Metaphor is a directly described likening of one phenomenon or object to another. The reader is not always able to fully reveal the image-symbol, because the author contains in it his vision of an object or phenomenon.

Symbols in computer science and mathematics

In computer science, most actions are represented by symbols. What is a symbol in computer science? The Pascal language, which is known both to computer users and programmers, will help answer this question. The Pascal language consists of main and auxiliary symbols. The main characters are 26 Latin capital letters and the same amount lowercase letters. In addition, the Pascal language uses specific symbols and numbers.

TO special characters This includes “_” - the underscore and all operator signs (+ – x / = = := @), as well as delimiters and specifiers (^ # $). Delimiters are the following notations (. , " () (. .) ( ) (* *) … :). The Pascal language uses the series special words and space, which cannot be used inside special (reserved) words and double characters. In computer science, a number of graphic symbols are also used, which are necessary for drawing up block diagrams.

The symbols that are used for mathematics are well known to us from school. These include arithmetic signs, letters and signs denoting “many”, “infinity” and so on.

State symbols

If you don't know what it is State symbols, then you should open the Constitution of the Russian Federation and familiarize yourself with the information regarding national flag, anthem and coat of arms, which are the main symbols of the state. The Russian flag is a canvas of three stripes - white, blue and red. Each color is a symbol of something. For example, White color indicates peace and purity, blue - about faith and fidelity, red - about energy and strength.

The anthem is played by everyone ceremonial events of national significance, at parades and public holidays, as well as with the anthem, the broadcast of state television channels on public holidays begins. Russian coat of arms is an image of a three-headed eagle. The coat of arms identifies the centuries-old history of Russia, since its image is new, but it uses traditional symbols.

Topic of my research : Symbolism of numbers in works of Russian literature.Numbers are all around us. Date of birth, phone number, school grade, zip code, price of an item, quantity - everything is expressed in numbers.Numbers, like symbols, have always attracted hidden meaning, important for a person. Numbers are also widely used in literature.

Relevance of our research is that the language of children's literature still remains poorly understood in primary school, and the analysis of numbers in it has not yet been performed by third graders.

All this determined the purpose of our work- find out exactly what numbers are found in literary works, what meaning they have, how often they are used.

To achieve this goal, we set tasks:

1) Find examples of the use of numbers in the literature.

2) Analyze the frequency of use of numbers in works.

3) Collect information about the symbolism of the most frequent numbers, analyzing various sources.

The object of this study became proverbs and fairy tales.

Subject of research are numbers in proverbs and fairy tales.

Base for research steel collections:The magical world of fairy tales. – Moscow: Bustard-Plus Publishing House, 2011. – 320 pages;Vladimir Ivanovich Dal. Proverbs of the Russian people. - Electronic version.

Practical value The work is due to the possibility of using the material of this study in literary reading lessons.

Let's formulate hypothesis:

2) each number in the product is symbolic.

We began our research by finding numbers in proverbs and fairy tales. It turned out that the most frequent numbers are 3, 7, 4.

Re-reading proverbs and fairy tales, we were convinced that their choice was not accidental.

Studying symbolic meanings numbers we used different sources: encyclopedias, textbooks, Internet resources. Their analysis showed that each number has a special symbolic meaning.

Number 3.

Most often in fairy tales and proverbs we come across the number 3. And this is not accidental, but symbolic, because three is:

man, with his body, soul, spirit;

birth, life, death;

three periods of any entity: beginning, middle and end;

past, present and future.

The Encyclopedia of Symbolism and Heraldry says that 3 is an image of absolute perfection.

In literary works, heroes usually have 3 wishes, and they are performed on third time: must pass 3 tests or 3 attempts to achieve results. Found in fairy tales 3 princes, 3 witches, 3 fairies(two good, one evil). Everyone knows 3 pigs, 3 bears, 3 fat men. At Pushkin's 3 girls, V folk tales - Ivan rode for 3 days and 3 nights.

In proverbs “To learn hard work, it takes three years, to learn laziness - only three days”, “The price of a braggart is three kopecks”, “If you don’t recognize a friend in three days, recognize him in three years” and others, the symbol of three contains the wisdom of life.

Number 7.

In ancient times, people observed 7 planets that revolve around the Earth. With the number of these celestial bodies, apparently, the origin of the seven-day week of the lunar month is related. The Bible talks about "seven spirits of God", "seven lamps". Among the Greeks "7 Wonders of the World", "7 Wise Men", in our proverbs “Seven nannies have a child without an eye”, “Measure 7 times, cut once”, in the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, the Seven Brave Men, the Wolf and the Seven Little Goats, at Pushkin "The Tale of dead princess and seven heroes", in Charles Perrault's fairy tale "The Boy with Thumb" the forester had 7 sons, and the Ogre 7 daughters.

Number 4.

The number four is a symbol of maximum stability. The Greeks believed that earth, water, air and fire came first. To navigate in space, people used knowledge four sides light (north, south, east and west), and calendar year divided into four seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn. The number 4 symbolizes universal stability, order, reliability, stability and strength. Human life is divided into 4 periods: childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age.

So, in the fairy tale “Kolobok” 4 characters met main character(hare, wolf, bear and fox), in the fairy tale “The Seven-Year-Old Daughter” 4 riddles the Tsar wished, and in the fairy tale “The Fox, the Hare and the Rooster” 4 times the animals came to the hare's aid.

In proverbs « A hut cannot be cut without four corners,” “A horse has four legs, and even then it stumbles.”», « Four corners of a house for construction, four seasons for completion" the same stability is observed.

To summarize, literature is riddled with numbers. The presence of numbers is observed everywhere and almost always they appear as sacred.

We have proven our hypothesis:

1) the choice of numbers in the literature is not accidental;

Ancient peoples had a custom of dividing, usually breaking, some thing or plate in two. When parting, everyone took one part for themselves. As years passed, people or their descendants, heirs recognized each other, combining the two parts into a single whole.

In fact, this process is a prototype of symbolization in art. A symbol in literature is primarily a connection. It combines the physical picture and its transcendental, metaphysical meaning, which suddenly, suddenly begins to “shine through” the everyday reality, giving it the features of a different, ideal existence. In other words, a symbol in literature is a sign or object that intermingles with some other object, expressing its hidden essence and at the same time being a conductor of a system of ideas or ideas about the world characteristic of the one who uses this symbol; conditional expression of the essence of a phenomenon through appearance, the shape of another object or even its internal qualities, in this case also becoming a “form”. Losing its independent essence, an object-symbol or a word-symbol begins to “represent” something completely different. Thus, “voluptuousness” for V. Bryusov is a symbol of communication in the highest sense of the word, merging, interpenetration of two people until they are completely dissolved in each other. In everyday use, this word has a different, significantly less “high” meaning.

Symbols in literature can be objects, animals, well-known phenomena, for example, natural ones (Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm"), signs of objects, actions, etc. Here are examples of symbols that have been stable in the history of culture: scales - justice, power and scepter - monarchy, power; dove - peace, goat - lust, mirror - another world, lion - strength, courage, dog - devotion, donkey - stubbornness, rose - female beauty, lily - purity, innocence (in France, the lily is a symbol of royal power).

Culture gives a symbolic character to all named objects, creatures, and phenomena. Due to this, they are also the basis of such artistic technique like an allegory.

Lotus is a symbol of deity and the universe among Hindus. Bread and salt is a symbol of hospitality and friendship among the Slavs. Serpent - wisdom on the one hand and sin ( Old Testament) - with another. Cross - crucifixion, Christianity. Parabola - infinity. Morning symbolizes youth, blue color - hope (in the subject system its symbol is an anchor). There are various series of symbols (subject, color, geometric, etc.). In different cultural systems different signs can receive different meaning. Thus, in the gospel system, fish are a symbol of Christ, in Modern times they acquire a sensual, erotic meaning. Artistic images of heroes literary works due to their value existence in culture, they also acquire the character of a symbol in literature (these are, for example, Prometheus, Odysseus, Orpheus, Hamlet, Don Juan, Casanova, Don Quixote, Munchausen, etc.).

Structurally, the symbol is close to an allegory, also consisting of two parts, however, both of its components (both what is symbolized and what symbolizes) exist in reality, whereas in an allegory one component is usually a figment of the imagination. The symbol always conceals a hidden comparison, a connection between the transformed phenomenon and an everyday situation (object), historical event(phenomenon).

IN fiction it can be considered one of the varieties artistic image, however, it is usually perceived independently. He might be like individual creation of one or another author (for example, Gogol’s “bird-three”) or common to two or more authors (in Balmont and Brodsky, the poet’s speech is a symbol of his personality as a whole), and a universal cultural unit. Thus, a symbol of the connection between life and death is a journey to underworld and the return from it, appearing in works of folklore ancient peoples and appearing in the works of authors of New and Contemporary times. This symbol was used, for example, by Virgil, Dante, J. Joyce, Bryusov and other poets. In addition to the connection between two polar worlds, it means the initiation of the soul through complex spiritual experience, its immersion in darkness and further purification and awakening.

Within the main symbol, poets develop their own symbolic system(it can also be considered as a system of meta-images, see Image). Such, for example, is the “swallow” in Mandelstam’s poetry, associated with a journey to afterworld and with the search for a lively poetic word (see the poems “What the Grasshopper Clock Sings,” “Swallow,” “When Psyche-Life Descends to the Shadows...”).

The same symbols in literature may appear in different authors, introducing new shades of meaning that are transmitted from one poetic generation to another. The authors put them in unified system, in which each link is connected to others, each time repeating an artistic logic that is different from the everyday one. There are many dedicated to symbols most interesting works scientists: it is enough to mention, for example, the book by A. Losev “The Problem of Symbol and realistic art" and V. Toporov "Myth. Ritual. Symbol. Image".