Characteristic features of the literature of Russian enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment in Russian Literature
The 18th century is the century of the final fall of feudalism in Western Europe, the formation of great European colonial powers, and the formation of the world market. England, the most advanced country of the victorious bourgeois revolution, and France, which was preparing for the epoch-making revolution of 1789-1793, came to the forefront of the historical process; in Catholic Spain and Italy, feudal remnants were still quite persistent, and Germany with its feudal fragmentation and serfdom was the most backward of the Western countries, only recovering from the consequences of the Thirty Years' War by the end of the 18th century.
The 18th century entered culture under the name “Age of Enlightenment”, or “Age of Reason”. "Enlightenment" - the same designation cultural era, as “antiquity”, “Middle Ages” or “Renaissance”, that is, this term has the most broad meaning. The Enlightenment created its own special picture of the world, a special ideology on the basis of which arose new stage in the arts.
The 18th century is a key period of modern times, when traditionalist consciousness collapsed. Modern consciousness begins, according to M. Weber, with the division of the self-sufficient meaning contained in religion and metaphysics into three autonomous spheres: science, morality, and art. They stood out when the unified worldview proposed by religion and metaphysics collapsed. The problematics inherited from these old approaches to the world began to be built on the basis of new criteria: truth, right, authenticity or beauty. Each sphere of culture now corresponded certain profession, and all problems that arose in it were given to specialists for consideration. Thus a gap arose between the culture of specialists and cultural level the general public. J. Habermas characterizes the place of the 18th century in the history of culture as follows: “In the eighteenth century, enlightenment philosophers formulated a project of modernization through the development of objective science, universal morality and law, and autonomous art. Each of these spheres had to develop according to its own internal laws. At the same time, this project was called upon to release the cognitive potential of each of these spheres. The Enlighteners were going to apply the achievements of specialization in culture for the benefit of everyday life, in other words, for a more rational structure Everyday life society.
Enlightenment thinkers with a Condorcet-like mentality still harbored the illusion that the arts and sciences would not only help to gain power over the forces of nature, but would give people an understanding of the world and the place of the individual in it, would promote moral progress, justice government agencies, as well as human happiness in general. The twentieth century put an end to this optimism."
The Enlightenment sought to illuminate the new, critical light all previously existing views and theories, and was especially radical in the areas of religion, philosophy and social thought. It was in the 18th century that reason triumphed over faith and turned from the advocate of religion, as it was with R. Descartes, into its accuser. The explanatory and accusing function of reason creates that specific meaning of the concept of Enlightenment, which was used in the 18th century.
Although at the level of mass consciousness religious prejudices and rituals retained their traditional role, philosophers of the 18th century consistently exposed religious superstitions from the standpoint of reason. Atheism was in vogue among a very small portion intellectual elite, but even those who did not share the extremes of atheism agreed that consistent thinking would not find in the world any traces of the presence of God, nothing except nature. The Enlightenment inherits Descartes' rationalism but rejects the idea of God. The Christian understanding of man, which still prevailed in the 17th century, was replaced by a naturalistic understanding.
The dependence of man on society became even stronger than in the 17th century. The concept of education arose, according to which personality is a reflection of the state of society, therefore, the improvement of society will entail the improvement of man. In man, the founders of the Enlightenment saw a naturally good being, endowed with innate, inalienable rights to freedom, equality, happiness, and reason finds a way to realize these aspirations. This idea of a person's right to happiness on earth, and not in the afterlife, distinguishes the hedonistic, pleasure-prone 18th century from the 17th century with its Christian stern rigorism.
Therefore, everything mystical, supersensible, and irrational was expelled from the philosophy and literature of the Enlightenment, and therefore they are distinguished by a materialistic, purely rationalistic approach to the world and man. But personal freedom and spiritual life are realized in many respects, as it seems to us today, in the sphere of the subconscious, and underestimation of this sphere is fraught with serious distortions in ideas about a person. Still, man is not a “rational social animal”; he cannot be explained solely by logic and common sense; There is always unpredictability in a person, irreducibility to the most comprehensive explanations, and this is what is wonderful, this is the basis of the dissimilarity of people from each other, which must be appreciated and respected. The Enlighteners believed that people have much more in common than they have differences, and if people are explained their errors and shown the path to universal happiness, they, as rational beings, will immediately take this road. This utopian, illusory idea of man was corrected by history itself during the French Revolution, which began under the slogans of freedom, equality, fraternity, and turned into a rampant of bloody terror and the Napoleonic wars that shook all of Europe. Therefore, the words of S. L. Frank are true when he speaks of the 18th century as a century of crisis of an autonomous personal-spiritual culture, “when the Renaissance and Reformation in the West were replaced by flat atheistic enlightenment and when the grandiose collapse of this movement in the face of the great French Revolution was already approaching.” .
During the Enlightenment, political and legal ideas turned out to be the core of the concept of human essence, and this specificity of educational thought led to the justification in the 18th century as the embodiment of these ideas of social institutions of bourgeois democracy, which were designed to guarantee the impossibility of usurping power by one person or group of people.
IN Lately The traditional picture of the Enlightenment as the age of the triumph of Reason is undergoing changes. Recent historians emphasize the importance of feeling and sensitivity in the philosophy of the Enlightenment, especially at its later stage. The English philosopher D. Hume argued: “Reason is a slave of feelings, and can only serve and obey feelings.” In the art of the late Enlightenment - sentimentalism - emotions are more important than intellect, the heart is more important than the head; For the first time, people began to feel other people's pain as if it were their own. Pity, sympathy, disgust for cruelty became the measure of humanity, tears became a sign of a tender heart. These sentiments brought to life sentimental novel S. Richardson, L. Stern, young J.V. Goethe.
Thinking modern man permeated with categories rooted in the Enlightenment (belief in the omnipotence scientific progress, which replaced faith in God, faith in the justice of bourgeois-democratic institutions of power, in social significance art). These provisions expressed historical optimism, the energy of the then young bourgeois class and can relate to the entire history of the bourgeois period: the ideology of the Enlightenment is still embodied in practice in the social structure of Western democracies.
We are still too close to this era, and assessments of the place and role of the Enlightenment will still be clarified in the current debates, but to understand the art of the Enlightenment, it is important to once again emphasize two things: a simplified, overly narrow idea of a person as a sum external influences on the part of nature and society and the utopianism of hopes that explaining to a person his true interests will lead to a rapid reform of society based on the improvement of the individual.
A straightforward understanding of the transformative impact of art on life led to the dominance of the educational principle in the literature of the Enlightenment, to the development of political and philosophical literature and drama. Among the Enlightenment, philosophy replaced art, and fiction The 18th century is not only distinguished by increased rationalism, but is often used as a direct mouthpiece for the ideological and philosophical views of the author. From the problem of “man and the world”, characteristic of the Renaissance, the art of the New Age - and this is especially characteristic of the 18th century - moves on to the problem of “man and society”.
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Foreign literature
AGES
ENLIGHTENMENT
Foreign literature of the Enlightenment
Robinson Crusoe , who lived alone on a desert island for twenty-nine years and remained alive despite all assumptions, maintaining not only his sanity, but also his self-esteem;
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment: Lemuel Gulliver , favorite childhood hero, a passionate traveler who visited amazing countries- Lilliputians and giants, on a flying island and in the land of talking horses;
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment: Candide , a philosopher reflecting on the fate of the world and man’s place in it, a traveler who saw “what is really going on in our sad and funny globe”, and whose last words were: “We must cultivate our garden, for our world is crazy and cruel... let us set the boundaries of our activity and try to fulfill our humble task as best as possible”;
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment: Figaro , a servant in the count's house, who in all situations deceives his master, laughs at him, and with him at the entire class of feudal lords, showing the advantage of his class, his strength, his intelligence, his energy and determination;
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) He hasn't read Robinson Crusoe since childhood... Let's see if Robinson Crusoe will amaze him now! W. Collins
You become just a Man while you read it. S. Coleridge
The Enlightenment movement originated in England after the events of the bourgeois revolution late XVII V. (1688). Its compromise nature preserved many remnants of the feudal system, and the English enlighteners saw their duty in consolidating the victories already achieved by the revolution. They sought to re-educate a person in the spirit of bourgeois virtues. Among them is D. Defoe.
Daniel Defoe - English writer, founder of the European novel. He was born in London into a petty bourgeois family and after graduating from the Puritan Theological Academy, where he received an excellent education, he began to engage in commerce.
When the book was published, it was a completely unexpected success. She was quickly transferred to the main European languages. Readers, not wanting to part with the hero, demanded a continuation. Defoe wrote two more novels about Robinson, but neither of them compares with the first in artistic power.
Despite the enormous success among contemporaries, the true appreciation of the novel came later, after the death of the writer. Literary researchers argue that, being a mirror of its time, the novel "Robinson Crusoe" had a great influence on public thought and artistic culture XVIII, XIX and even XX centuries.
Jonathan Swift
And I glanced at the people,
I saw them arrogant, low,
Cruel, flighty friends,
Fools, always the villainy of loved ones...
A. S. Pushkin
Give me the pleasure of speaking about you in the same way that posterity will speak.
Voltaire in a letter to Swift
Jonathan Swift was a contemporary and compatriot of D. Defoe, and their heroes Robinson and Gulliver were compatriots and contemporaries. They lived in the same country - England, under the same rulers, read each other's works, although they did not know each other personally. Undoubtedly, there was much in common in their work, but the talent of each of them was brightly original, unique, just as their personalities and destinies were unique.
Jonathan Swift called himself a “joker, an extreme joker,” who was sad and bitter about his jokes. Many satirists of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. called him their predecessor.
An Englishman by birth, Swift was born in 1667 in Ireland, in Dublin, where the father of the future writer moved in search of work. After graduating from Dublin University in 1789, Swift received a position as secretary to the influential nobleman William Temple.
This service weighed heavily on Swift, but he was kept in Moore Park by the Temple’s extensive library and his young pupil Esther Johnson, for whom Swift carried a tender affection throughout his life.
After Temple's death, Swift went to the Irish village of Laracor to become a priest there. Stella, as Esther Johnson called Swift, followed him.
The main work of Swift's life was his novel “A Journey to Some Distant Countries of the World of Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and Then a Captain of Several Ships” - this is its full title. Swift surrounded his work with extreme mystery; even the publisher, who received the manuscript of the novel from an unknown person in 1726, did not know who its author was.
The book about Gulliver had a fate similar to the book about Robinson: it soon became world famous, the favorite book of both adults and children.
VOLTER (1694-1778)
Boo me without hesitation, I will answer you in the same way, my brothers.
He was more than a man, he was an era.
An important part artistic heritage Voltaire's philosophical stories. The philosophical story is a literary genre created in the 18th century. Outlining philosophical ideas, problems, discussing political and social topics, the author puts the narrative into artistic form. Voltaire often resorts to fantasy, allegory, and introduces an exotic flavor, turning to the little-studied East.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Who is able, however, to express full gratitude to the great poet, the most precious pearl of the nation!
L. Beethoven about Goethe
Mine national traits had the work of German enlighteners.
The main task of the progressive people of Germany at that time was the task of unifying Germany, and this means awakening a sense of national unity, national identity people, instilling intolerance towards despotism and hopes for possible changes.
The heyday of the German Enlightenment occurred in the second half XVIII V. But already in the first half of the century, rising above the torn Germany giant figure I.S. Bach, whose work laid the most important foundations for the self-awareness of the German people.
Writing in a notebook
The Enlightenment movement originated in England after the events of the bourgeois revolution of the late 17th century. (1688).
They sought to re-educate a person in the spirit of bourgeois virtues.
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)
English writer, founder of the European novel. He was born in London into a petty bourgeois family, received an excellent education, and began to engage in commerce.
"Robinson Crusoe"
The most famous novel is “Robinson Crusoe,” whose hero lived alone on a desert island for twenty-nine years and remained alive despite all assumptions, maintaining not only his sanity, but also his self-esteem.
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
English writer, politician, philosopher.
Most famous works: “The Tale of a Barrel” (based on the story of three brothers, which contains a sharp satire on three main trends Christian religion: Catholic, Protestant and Anglican);
"Gulliver's travels".
VOLTER (1694-1778)
The great French poet and playwright, philosopher and scientist, political figure, was a symbol and the first figure of the educational movement throughout Europe.
In his most famous philosophical story, “Candide, or Optimism” (1759), Voltaire reflects on religion, wars, the fate of the world and the place of man in it.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832)
All the best that the German Enlightenment achieved was embodied in the work of Johann Wolfgang Goethe.
Goethe’s life’s work and the philosophical result of the European Enlightenment was “Faust” - a work about the greatness of the human mind, faith in the unlimited possibilities of man. Faust is a monumental philosophical tragedy that took 60 years to write.
The 18th century entered the history of mankind as an era of greatest social transformations and class battles. The contradictions of the feudal era that had been accumulating for centuries broke out, and in a number of countries the hitherto unprecedented struggle of the oppressed people with their oppressors began to boil.
Popular movements have become an important factor in the social life of many states. Revolutions, which were supposed to destroy the feudal regime, became the order of the day in history.
In the second half of the 18th century. Feudal oppression in Russia acquired a particularly cruel and inhuman character. The autocracy completely surrendered the peasants “to the mercy” and “care” of the landowners, securing their rights and unlimited power by a special decree. Supported by the government, Russian landowners turned serfdom into wild slavery, not limited by any laws.
The response to this policy of the autocracy and the nobility was peasant revolts. The reign of Catherine II took place in the glow of small and large uprisings, which ultimately resulted in the Peasant War of 1773-1775, led by Pugachev. The Peasant War suffered a tragic defeat, serfdom was not destroyed, but the feudal state and serfdom suffered a serious blow.
The issue of serfdom and the fight against it will become central to the entire social life of Russia in the coming decades. The memory of Pugachev’s uprising will be preserved not only by the people - his formidable ghost will long inspire fear in many generations of landowners and tsars.
In 1776, the first outbreak of the 18th century broke out in distant America. bourgeois revolution. Until 1783, there was a revolutionary struggle of the American people against the colonial rule of the British, the progress of which was closely followed by all of Europe - from Paris to St. Petersburg. The victoriously completed revolution overseas not only led to the creation of a republic - the United States of North America, it, in the words of Marx, “sounded an alarm bell” for bourgeois Europe.
This alarm was heard in France, where social contradictions had worsened to the limit. In 1789, the French people made their revolution, overthrew the king, destroyed the feudal regime and the rule of the nobility.
In the 18th century an optimistic belief in the triumph of reason and freedom was born. Advanced public figures understood that it had come great era the collapse of the feudal regime of oppression and enslavement of millions of people, the era of liberation of peoples. Expressing the thoughts and feelings of his contemporaries, Radishchev wrote: “Oh, an unforgettable century! You grant to joyful mortals Truth, freedom and light, a clear constellation forever.”
The anti-feudal struggle of peoples gave birth to a major ideological movement of the century - the Enlightenment movement. The Enlightenment, which developed in the West, where the bourgeoisie was the hegemon of the people's struggle against feudal bondage, went down in history under the name of bourgeois; it was a consistent and militant anti-feudal ideology. Enlighteners subjected destructive criticism to religion and the church, the dominant views on the state, on the role and place of classes in society, declaring all existing feudal orders unreasonable and subject to destruction.
Not being revolutionaries, the enlighteners, while defending the freedom of the people and the individual, pinned all their hopes on peaceful transformations. Idealists in explaining social and social life, they sincerely believed that the existing social system of inequality and enslavement of the people arose from the irrationality of people.
Because its main goal The enlighteners set out to educate the nation, educate the rich and the poor, because, as they believed, some foolishly oppressed, others reconciled themselves to oppression. Criticism of the feudal system was at the same time propaganda of the great truths of freedom. It was carried out using their own means by philosophers and writers, publishers and sociologists, lawyers and artists, historians and actors.
Proving injustice existing society, enlighteners discovered the dependence of morals, beliefs and views of people on their living conditions. If living conditions are unreasonable, they said, then they should be changed and then people will change their beliefs, become better, and justice will prevail in society. Enlightening the minds helped this change, but it took a lot of time.
The same results could be achieved faster with the help of laws. It is the laws that create existing order. Its injustice is determined by unjust laws. IN monarchical state the source of laws is the monarch, therefore, if the monarch is enlightened, he will begin to issue fair laws, under the influence of which the desired changes will come in society.
This is how the political theory of enlightened absolutism was developed. Hence the tactics of the enlighteners - to achieve their goals with the help of monarchs, to influence the kings, to “teach” them to reign.
The development of educational ideology in each country depended on the aggravation of social contradictions between the peasantry and the nobles, on the people’s struggle against their oppressors, and on the role of the bourgeoisie in this struggle. In Russia, this struggle unfolded with particular force since the late 1760s. Its highest expression was the Pugachev uprising.
The era of Russian Enlightenment is associated with the activities of a whole galaxy of writers, scientists and publicists. The early Russian enlighteners - Kantemir, Trediakovsky and Lomonosov - appeared in the public arena in the first half of the 18th century, when the peasant question had not yet become the main one in the life of the nation and state.
Therefore, representatives of the early Enlightenment, defending the interests of the people, did not fight serfdom. In their activities, the first place was given to general tasks enlightenment of the fatherland.
In the 1760s–1770s, when the armed struggle of serfs against landowners shook the state of Catherine II, Russian Enlightenment finally emerged as a broad and rich ideological movement. The following speakers entered the public arena: journalist and writer Nikolai Novikov, playwright and prose writer Denis Fonvizin, philosopher Yakov Kozelsky. Along with them, scientists S. Desnitsky, D. Anichkov, propagandist and popularizer of educational ideology, Professor N. Kurganov, compiler of one of the most popular books century "Pismovnik".
In the 1780s. Novikov created the largest educational center in Moscow on the basis of the Moscow University printing house he rented. At the end of the 1780s. a young writer, a student of Russian enlighteners, entered literature, talented prose writer Ivan Krylov. At the same time, the works of Alexander Radishchev also came out of print. The uniqueness of the socio-historical development of Russia determined the features of the Russian liberation movement.
The first Russian revolutionaries, as is known, were in early XIX V. the best people from the nobles. Subsequently, the liberation movement followed the path of increasing democratization. The noble revolutionaries who launched an uprising in December 1825 relied on the traditions of the Russian Enlightenment of the 18th century, which began the fight against the autocracy of Catherine II and serfdom.
Radishchev, a figure of enormous historical scale, connected these two stages of Russian social thought. He is the highest achievement of Russian XVIII culture V. and the Russian Enlightenment and at the same time - the first revolutionary, the ideological forerunner of the noble revolutionaries of the 19th century.
Enlightenment in the last third of the 18th century. had a huge influence on the entire ideological life of society, and above all on the development of literature and art. Even those major noble writers who did not accept the social program of the Enlightenment (the main one of which was the demand for the liberation of the peasants) were influenced by Enlightenment philosophy, assimilated Enlightenment ideas about the non-class value of man and the concept of enlightened absolutism.
The most important stage aesthetic development V Western Europe XVIII century there was a “revolution in art.” Classicism, established in XVII century in France as a powerful literary movement, and in the next century occupied a dominant position in a number of countries. In the 1720-1760s. it was updated by Voltaire, who made it a mouthpiece for educational ideas.
But at the same time, with each decade, dissatisfaction with classicism grew: its normativity, rules, strict regulation and, most importantly, its rationalism and philosophical rejection of the idea of personality. The need for new art contributed to the development of a fierce struggle against classicism. During this struggle, two new trends in literature emerged, which were later defined as realism and sentimentalism. This was the revolution in art that Goethe wrote about.
The realism of the Enlightenment was not a direct continuation of the realism of the Renaissance, although it acted as its historical heir and successor. He turned out to be dependent on the time that formed him, on the characteristics social development V different countries XVIII century, from other literary movements that preceded it, and above all from classicism, which is why realism fought with it and was formed on the basis of its conquests.
The originality of Enlightenment realism was determined by the nature of its complex relationship with classicism, the peculiarities of the Enlightenment understanding of reality and man, and the search for overcoming the difficulties that arose on the eve of the bourgeois revolution in France.
The “revolution in art” also captured Russia: in the last third of the century, the formation of educational realism and sentimentalism, inspired by the humanism of the Renaissance and Enlightenment, began. For four decades, Russian classicism was the dominant movement.
From the mid-1760s. the situation began to change. The social contradictions in Russia, which were growing from decade to decade, and the simmering social struggle, also put forward new demands for the classicist poets and brought up for discussion large and painful issues of the social and political life of the Russian state. The poetry of classicism could not answer them.
History of Russian literature: in 4 volumes / Edited by N.I. Prutskov and others - L., 1980-1983.
Russian enlighteners in the age of Catherine II
In the second half of the 18th century, Enlightenment ideas spread in Russia. This is the era of the reign of Catherine II (1762 - 1796). The empress herself tried in every possible way to create the image of an enlightened monarch. She corresponded with Voltaire, invited Diderot to St. Petersburg, and read the works of Montesquieu. However, Catherine II's approach to the ideas of enlightenment was selective. She shared the ideas of the enlighteners that education, upbringing, enlightenment are the main means of improving society. At the same time, ideas about “natural” human rights, about the equality of all from birth, which French philosophers actively advocated, were rejected by her. Anything that could shake the absolutist, feudal-serf system was unacceptable to Catherine II.
Literature.
Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin (1743-1816)- Russian poet and playwright of the Enlightenment, statesman of the Russian Empire, senator, active privy councilor.
played a huge role in the liberation of Russian literature from classicism and the formation of elements of the future realistic style.
Derzhavin's civil odes are addressed to persons endowed with great political power: monarchs, nobles. In them the poet rises not only to laudatory, but also to accusatory pathos. In the ode “Felitsa,” Derzhavin the enlightener sees in the monarch a person to whom society has entrusted the care of the welfare of citizens, therefore the right to be a monarch imposes on the ruler numerous responsibilities in relation to the people. Derzhavin's innovation in this ode is not only in the interpretation of the image of an enlightened monarch, but also in the bold combination of laudatory and accusatory principles - ode and satire. This connection is a phenomenon educational literature, because the enlighteners understood the life of society as a constant struggle between truth and error.
In the ode “The Nobleman” by Derzhavin, the evil arising from the indifference of the nobles to their duty is presented with such indignation, which can be traced only in some works of that time. The poet is outraged by the situation of the people suffering from the criminal attitude of the courtiers.
In the poem “To Rulers and Judges,” the indifference and selfishness of those in power do not leave the poet indifferent, and he demands the punishment of the guilty. The poet reminds the kings that they are as mortal as their subjects, and sooner or later they will face the judgment of God.
In Derzhavin’s “Monument” there is a thought about the right of their authors to immortality. In this poem, the poet recalls that he was the first to dare to abandon the solemn pompous style of odes.
Derzhavin insisted on his human dignity and the independence of his judgment over modernity. With this, Derzhavin clarified the idea of the poet’s personal responsibility for his judgments, the idea of sincerity and truthfulness of his ideological propaganda, which is very important for the further development of advanced Russian literature.
Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov(1717-1777) - one of the largest representatives of Russian literature of the 18th century, creator of the repertoire of the first Russian theater.
Sumarokov’s creativity develops within the framework of classicism, in the form that it took in France XVII- beginning XVIII centuries
Sumarokov’s literary activity attracts attention with its external diversity. He tried all genres: odes (solemn, spiritual, philosophical, anacreontic), epistles (epistles), satires, elegies, songs, epigrams, madrigals, epitaphs; In his poetic technique, he used all the meters that existed at that time, made experiments in the field of rhyme, and used a variety of strophic structures.
Sumarokov's classicism is different, for example, from the classicism of his older contemporary Lomonosov. Sumarokov “lowers” classical poetics. The “decline” is expressed in the desire for less “high” themes, in the introduction of personal, intimate motives into poetry, in the preference for “middle” and “low” genres over “high” genres. Sumarokov creates a large number of lyrical works in the genre of love songs, works of many satirical genres - fables, comedies, satires, epigrams.
Sumarokov sets a didactic task for satire - “to correct the temper with mockery, to make people laugh and to use its direct rules”: Sumarokov ridicules the empty class swagger (“not in title, in action one must be a nobleman”), warns against abuse of landowner power (see especially “ Chorus to the Perverse Light”, where the “tit” says that “overseas the sea they don’t trade people, they don’t put villages on the map, they don’t skin peasants”).
Sumarokov is one of the founders of Russian parody, the author of the cycle of “Nonsense Odes”, ridiculing Lomonosov’s “furious” odic style.
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin- Russian writer of the Catherine era, creator of Russian everyday comedy (the action of which takes place in an everyday setting and conflicts are built on the basis of practical and family interests).
Fonvizin entered literature as one of the successors of Kantemir and Sumarokov. He was brought up in the belief that the nobility, to which he himself belonged, should be educated, humane, constantly concerned about the interests of the fatherland, and that the royal government should promote worthy nobles to high positions for the common benefit. But among the nobles he saw cruel ignoramuses, and at court - “nobles in the case” (to put it simply, the empress’s lovers) who ruled the state according to their whim.
He wrote satirical poems. Of these, two were later published and have come down to us: the fable “Fox-Koznodey” (preacher) and “Message to my servants Shumilov, Vanka and Petrushka.” Fonvizin's fable is a vicious satire on court flatterers, and "The Message" is a wonderful work, rather unusual for its time. Fonvizin addresses the most important philosophical question: “Why was this light created?” illiterate people of that time; It is immediately clear that they will not be able to answer it. This is what happens. Honest uncle Shumilov admits that he is not ready to judge such complex things.
In 1769 he created his first original comedy, "The Brigadier". "The Brigadier" made a strong impression on the audience of that time. In the 18th century, the word "brigadier" meant military rank. The Fonvizinsky Brigadier is a rude, limited soldier. N.I. Panin described the work as “the first comedy in our morals.” Fonvizin was compared to Moliere; his comedy never left the stage. During the action, the characters of the play did not speak, but lived on stage. They tell fortunes with cards and play chess. All this was new and unusual for Russian drama of that time. According to Vyazemsky, “in “The Brigadier” for the first time a natural, witty language was heard on our stage.” For the first time, the morals and characters of his era are shown so vividly and comprehensively.
In retirement, Fonvizin devoted himself entirely to literature. He was a member of the Russian Academy, which united the best Russian writers. The Academy worked to create a dictionary Russian language, Fonvizin took upon himself the compilation of a dictionary of synonyms, which he, literally translating the word “synonym” from Greek, called “estates”. His “Experience of a Russian Estatesman” was a very serious linguistic work for its time, and not just a screen for satire on Catherine’s court and the Empress’s methods of governing the state (this is how this work is often interpreted).
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin (1766-1826)- an outstanding historian, the largest Russian writer of the era of sentimentalism (works written within the framework of this artistic movement emphasize reader perception, that is, the sensuality that arises when reading them), nicknamed the Russian Stern.
Karamzin becomes the founder of sentimentalism in Russia. He travels around Europe, and in 1791, having settled in Moscow, he becomes the editor and author of the Moscow Journal, leaving journalism only as a sign of protest during the period of Pavlov’s reign (1796-1801). In 1792, he created two works that became the most famous and beloved works of Russian literature of that time: the story “Natalia, boyar's daughter" and "Poor Lisa." These stories are written in the style of sentimentalism.
To describe the feelings, the depiction of which was the main object of the sentimentalists, it was necessary to choose appropriate words. Words and expressions introduced into the Russian language by N. M. Karamzin: sensitivity, delicacy, love, delicate taste, sophistication, future, representative, public, humane, improve, revolution, development...
Karamzin changed the image of the hero of a literary work. His heroes are not kings and leaders, but young girls, simple peasant women who also know how to love and suffer.
Since 1804, Karamzin took on a huge work, which he would work on for more than twenty years - until the end of his life: writing “The History of the Russian State.” The work on it can be called a feat of Karamzin’s life. “History...” will inspire many Russian writers to create works in historical topics(remember, for example, Pushkin’s “Boris Godunov”).
Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev (1749-1802) - Russian writer, philosopher, poet, de facto head of the St. Petersburg customs, member of the Commission for drafting laws under Alexander I.
He began his literary activity in 1789, with the publication of the story “The Life of Fyodor Vasilyevich Ushakov.” Taking advantage of the decree of Catherine II on free printing houses, Radishchev acquired a home printing house and in 1790 published his main work in it - “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” (1790) - covering a wide range of ideas of the Russian Enlightenment, a truthful, compassionate image of the life of the people, a sharp denunciation autocracy and serfdom. The book attracted the attention of Catherine II, who wrote in the margins: “A rebel, worse than Pugachev.” The author was arrested and exiled to Siberia, the book was confiscated and until 1905 it was distributed in lists.
Artists
Alexey Petrovich Antropov (1716-1795) - A.P. Antropov was born into the family of a soldier of the Semenovsky regiment. In 1732, he was enrolled in the Office of Buildings, where he studied with A. M. Matveev. Having mastered professional skills, from 1739 he worked there in the “painting team”, led by I. Ya. Vishnyakov. In the 1740-50s. the artist performed decorative paintings in the palaces of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. In 1755, Antropov was invited to Moscow, where he painted a ceiling in the palace of the Counts Golovins. When Moscow University was founded in 1759, on the initiative of Count I.I. Shuvalov, the artist was offered a position as a painter at the Faculty of Arts. He did not stay there long, since in 1761 he was appointed to the post of chief artist of the Holy Synod in St. Petersburg.
Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov (1735-1808)- F. S. Rokotov came from serf peasants of the Repnin princes. The scant biographical information tells us nothing about the artist’s teachers or the early period of his work. But his portraits are beautiful and sensual. You can admire them for a very long time.
Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky (1735 - 1822)- D. G. Levitsky belonged to an old Ukrainian family. The artist's father was a hereditary priest and at the same time was engaged in engraving. It was the father who became the first teacher of the future artist. Levitsky studied at home, in Kyiv, with A.P. Antropov, and then in St. Petersburg. Levitsky's portraits masterfully depict materials - silky heavy satin, light airy lace; all objects in the paintings are almost tangible.
Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (1757-1825)- Borovikovsky was born into a poor family, descended from Ukrainian Cossacks. His father and two brothers, Vasily and Ivan, were icon painters who worked in the surrounding churches. Naturally, Vladimir also became an icon painter. In addition to icons, he also painted portraits, in the spirit of that naive semi-professional painting that was widespread in Ukraine. Chance helped him part with the remote province. In 1787, he executed two allegorical paintings to decorate one of the “travel palaces” that were erected along the route of Catherine II to Crimea. His last work was an iconostasis for the church at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg, bearing traces of painful exaltation. Borovikovsky raised two students, one of whom was A.G. Venetsianov, who adopted a poetic perception of the world from his mentor.
Ivan Petrovich Argunov (1729-1802)- I.P. Argunov belonged to a talented family of serf intellectuals - artists and architects. Throughout his life, Argunov had to perform numerous household duties. He was the manager of the houses (actually palaces) of P.B. Sheremetev, first in St. Petersburg, then in Moscow. Apparently, in 1746-47. Argunov studied with G.-Kh. Groot, court artist of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. In any case, in 1747, together with Groot, the young painter painted icons for the church of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace. Argunov also painted icons later. But his main vocation was portraiture.
CONCLUSION. The main aspiration of enlightenment was to find, through the activity of the human mind, the natural principles of human life (natural religion, natural law, the natural order of the economic life of the physiocrats, etc.). Under the influence of the ideas of enlightenment, reforms were also undertaken that were supposed to rebuild the entire social life (enlightened absolutism and the French Revolution). This era left a significant mark on Russian painting and literature. The Enlightenment replaces the Renaissance and precedes Romanticism.
Baroque, classicism, rococo, neoclassicism
Theaters, concerts, exhibitions
Previously, theaters were mainly court theaters; theaters open to the general public operated only in London and Paris. In the 18th century they opened even in small towns Europe. The comedies of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Molière) were the most famous and were regarded everywhere.
The role of music has also changed. Previously, it was intended to accompany worship, court holidays, performances, and in the 18th century. sounded on its own. Harpsichord, piano, violin, steel flute concert instruments. Composers and performers found themselves in the center of attention of the secular public, they were invited by kings and nobles. I.-S. Bach, J. Haydn, W. Mozart, Beethoven achieved world fame as composers and performers.
Painting became accessible to the general public. Exhibitions of paintings were held, then discussed in salons and in the press. Paintings by Nicolas Poussin and Jacques-Louis David were the most popular.
In the second half of the 18th century. in the majority European countries- Italy, Spain, German states, Poland, etc. - Dominant artistic style there was still time baroque. But in France a new style was established - classicism. The art of classicism was guided by ancient examples. Playwrights wrote plays based on themes from Greek and Roman mythology and history. Artists depicted ancient gods and heroes on their canvases. Architects followed the triangular pediments and colonnades of ancient temples. Unlike the masters of the Baroque, writers and artists of classicism in their work consciously sought to imitate the established norms of beauty. The classicists developed a whole theory of what a work of art should be, how to write poetry, plays, and paint pictures. The classicists believed that a work of art should be majestic, clear, strict, understandable, and comply with established rules. No extremes, ill-conceived, false, non-existent.
Having appeared in France, classicism spread to other European countries.
Plays written in this style had a logical and understandable plot and language. At the heart of the play there was always a certain idea, which throughout the play was revealed and denounced by all parties. The events depicted in the play always took place in one place, on one day. No minor storylines was not allowed.
In the literature and art of classicism there was a hierarchy of genres. Tragedy stood above comedy. The heroes of the tragedies could only speak in raised language.
The founder of French classical tragedy was Pierre Corneille(1606-1684). He wrote plays and works on art history. The fate of the heroes of his plays was closely connected with political struggle. The plot unfolded against the backdrop historical events. With his plays, Corneille tried to prove the need to strengthen the absolute monarchy. And here Jean Racine(1639-1699) dedicated his plays to the world human feelings. Although comedy in classicism, as we just noted, was considered a lower genre, the outstanding comedian Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Molière; 1622-1673) managed to prove the opposite with his works. His comedies remain popular today.
Artist Nicolas Poussin(1594-1665) believed that the plot work of art should be noble, majestic and sublime, and the composition should be logical and simple.
The residence has become a world-famous example of the art of classicism French kings in Versailles. The best architects, artists, and gardeners worked on its creation.
In the first half of the 18th century. a new style has spread - rococo(Decorative motifs in the form of a shell). This style was especially evident in decorative and applied arts. It is characterized by intimacy and comfort. Rococo masters created elegant things, surrounded by which a person could live comfortably and pleasantly. This style is characterized by a wealth of decorations, unusualness and sophistication of forms. Everything unusual has become especially popular, especially Chinese paintings and Chinese pavilions in parks.
In the second half of the 18th century. the fascination with ancient classical forms returned again. This style was called neoclassicism, That is, new classicism. A new hobby was caused archaeological excavations the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which were destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius.
The severity of the development of Roman cities prompted the architects of the 18th century. to the idea that cities should be built according to a simple and reasonable plan. An example of such architecture is the ensemble of Place Louis XV (now Place de la Concorde) in Paris.
Neoclassical artists believed that art should educate and ennoble a person. They were looking for a hero, ready for a feat and worthy of imitation.
A new style brought with him changes in clothing: lush women's dresses previous century light ones appeared, similar to ancient Greek chitons.
All major enlighteners skillfully wielded the pen. Their works were read, admired, and discussed. Most enlighteners, especially the French ones (Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau), sought to convey their thoughts to people through a literary work.
Daniel Defoe(1661-1731), Jonathan Swift(1667-1745), Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais (1732-1799), Friedrich Schiller(1759-1805), Johann-Wolfgang Goethe(1749-1832) ... Through their work one can trace the entire evolution of the ideas of the Enlightenment in literature - From the emergence of the new positive hero who acts according to his mind (Robinson Crusoe from Defoe's novel), to Goethe's Faust.
Defoe established a new positive hero in literature; he achieved everything through hard work and intelligence. Another English writer J. Swift, in his novel Gulliver's Travels, tried to show the shortcomings of the ideas of the Enlightenment. Heroes of Beaumarchais and Schiller - simple people, with their hard work, intelligence, and humanity, they were opposed to the aristocrats. These authors affirmed the natural rights of man. Goethe with his literary works tried to raise people to be courageous, strong and kind, capable of challenging the existing unjust system.