A. Smirnov literary theory of Russian classicism

Transcript

1 A. A. SMIRNOV LITERARY THEORY OF RUSSIAN CLASSICISM Moscow

2 Contents Preface Introduction 2 6 Chapter 1. Prerequisites for the theory of classicism in Russia 6 11 Chapter 2. Classicism about public importance poetry Chapter 3. Classicism about the specifics of poetic creativity Chapter 4. Classicism about the cognitive significance of the art of poetry Chapter 5 The category of genre in the theoretical system of classicism Chapter 6 Problems of poetic style in the theory of Russian classicism Chapter 7. The fate of the literary theory of classicism at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. Conclusion List of cited literature Bibliography

3 PREFACE The purpose of this book is to serve as a special guide for students of philological faculties of universities in their work on general and special courses on Russian history literature XVII I century. It can also be used by senior students when studying literary trends in special seminars. These tasks determine general construction and method of presentation of the material. The question of the literary theory of Russian classicism is included in the current program on the history of Russian literature for philological departments of universities. In existing textbooks intended for junior students, the theory of Russian classicism is presented extremely briefly, reflecting the state of that stage of its scientific research, which was characteristic of the 1990s. Over the past time, extensive literature has appeared, which has made it possible to rethink the topic and begin its further development. This circumstance, as well as the insufficient knowledge of the methodology of comparative historical analysis of national literary theories, explains the creation of this manual. The book grew out of many years of scientific research and methodological developments of the author, as well as his teaching activities at the Department of History of Russian Literature of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, where both individual sections of the manual and its general concept were first tested. In constructing the work, the author follows the internal logic of those ideas and concepts that arose in the theoretical self-awareness of Russian writers of the 18th century. First, the origins of the theory of classicism in the poetics of F. Prokopovich are traced. The central place is occupied by the analysis of the views of Lomonosov, Trediakovsky and Sumarokov on the role of poetry in public and state life. Two chapters of the manual are devoted to the consideration of the problems of the specifics of poetic activity (the problem of imitation of nature, the theory of fiction, the doctrine of verisimilitude) and the cognitive significance of creativity (the role of reason and feelings in knowledge, the relationship between natural talent, talent and rules, traditions) in the theoretical manifestos and declarations of Russian classicists . Special chapters reveal the uniqueness of the categories of genre (criteria of value, grounds for their differentiation) and style (the relationship between linguistic norms and speech use, criteria of perfection). The final chapter is an overview of the general trends in the development of the theory of classicism at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.

4 INTRODUCTION 1 The subject of this work is the literary theory of Russian classicism, the leading movement in the literature of the 18th century. The theoretical self-awareness of the writers of that time, their understanding of their own creative principles organically included both a general philosophical justification for the specifics of literature and narrow stylistic problems. The ideas and principles of rhetoric, criticism, stylistics, poetics, and the history of verbal art coexisted in close unity. In attempts to identify the specifics of literary and artistic creativity, writers and critics of the era of classicism consistently did not distinguish between literary theory and aesthetics. The distinction between the aesthetic and the logical remained in the 18th century. quantitative in terms of the degree of clarity of cognition. Isolating the literary and theoretical principles of creativity and the corresponding type of artistic thinking as a subject of special research is legitimate. For many years, both the theory and history of literary creativity existed within the framework of literary programs, which was especially clearly manifested in the Russian literary process of the 18th century. Poetry as an art focuses on special artistic principles, which, as they are realized, receive their formulation in author’s manifestos and theoretical declarations, various kinds of recommendations regulating the work of poets. The process of formation of literary trends is directly related to their theoretical formulation aesthetic program. In the system of classicism, literary theory acquired a normative character: the theoretical justification of creativity was a necessary prerequisite for poetic practice. A literary work was considered a type of scientific creativity that claimed universal significance and could not be limited to the expression of individual quests. Consideration of the literary theory of Russian classicism as a special system of views on the nature, essence and tasks of poetry requires clarification not only of the content of individual problems, but also of their genesis. In this regard, many aspects of the literary theory of Russian classicism can be correctly understood against the background of similar phenomena of the European literary process. Since literary trends exist as factors of international development, it is necessary to take into account the interaction of various national poetic theories. The work will analyze such important monuments of the literary and aesthetic thought of Russian classicism as Lomonosov’s Rhetoric, his 2

5 Preface on the benefits of church books in the Russian language, A word of thanks for the consecration of the Academy of Arts, On the current state of verbal sciences in Russia. Of Trediakovsky’s works, the most important for our topic are his prefaces to Argenida Barkley and Tilemachide, as well as the articles Opinion on the beginning of poetry and poetry in general, A letter to a friend about the current benefit of citizenship from poetry, A letter containing a discussion about the poem... , On ancient, middle and new Russian poems, Discourse on comedy in general, Discourse on odes in general, Discourse on the purity of the Russian language. Sumarokov’s theoretical thought received the most clear expression in the articles On unnaturalness, To senseless rhymers, To typographic typesetters, A letter on reading novels, On the poetry of the Kamchadals, Criticism of an ode, Response to criticism, On the extermination of foreign words from the Russian language, Opinion in a dream about French tragedies, the Sermon at the opening of the Academy of Arts and especially in his epistles about poetry and the Russian language. Essential material for understanding the literary theory of Russian classicism is contained in an anonymously published article in the journal Monthly Works on the qualities of a poet. Reasoning 1. There is often no coincidence between the form that poetic theory takes as presented by the author and its actual content in the system, so the task of the work is not so much a description of the views of individual representatives of Russian classicism, as well as a reconstruction of the system of ideas as a whole. 2 In pre-revolutionary literary criticism, the question of a special study of the literary theory of Russian classicism as a system was not raised. A negative attitude towards the national uniqueness of Russian classicism manifested itself in the critical debates of the Romantic era and was reflected in the concepts of the authors of university courses in the 19th and early 20th centuries. (A. N. Pypin, E. V. Petukhov, A. S. Arkhangelsky, A. M. Loboda) and textbooks for gymnasiums (P. V. Smirnovsky, V. F. Savodnik), who persistently pursued the idea of ​​unoriginal character Russian pseudo-classicism, false classicism. The revision of the thesis about the imitation of Russian classicism began in the works of Soviet literary scholars of the 20s. In a special course on the history of Russian classicism, P. N. Sakulin stated: We have the right to talk about Russian classicism, remaining 1 There are different opinions regarding the attribution of this work to Lomonosov. L. B. Modzalevsky in his doctoral dissertation names G. N. Teplov as the alleged author. 3

6 based on theoretical principles only 2 Fundamental to the entire Soviet science about literature of the 18th century. had the works of G. A. Gukovsky, in which he deeply explored the national characteristics of Russian classicism. The problem of the specific features of the literary theories of Lomonosov, Trediakovsky and Sumarokov was posed in the works of G. A. Gukovsky and P. N. Berkov in the 30s. In the works of D. D. Blagoy, G. N. Pospelov, A. N. Sokolov, the study of the national originality of Russian classicism was deepened and expanded. In close connection with the development of the history of Russian criticism, L. I. Kulakova analyzed the main stages in the development of aesthetic teachings in Russia XVIII V. In the 60s, articles by G. A. Gukovsky from the 40s were posthumously published, in which he consistently characterizes Russian classicism as peculiar type aesthetic thinking and justifies the need for a systematic study of the literary-critical and literary-aesthetic views of Lomonosov, Trediakovsky and Sumarokov. Considering controversial and unexplored problems of the literary process of the 18th century. in domestic and foreign science, P. N. Berkov came to the conclusion that it was inappropriate to study literature according to directions and proposed to remove even the term classicism itself. G. P. Makogonenko, without denying the progressive nature of classicism in Russia, believes that the main content of the historical and literary process of the 18th century. in Russia is the development of educational realism. A. A. Morozov, considering the Baroque the leading direction in literature, attributes many writers of the 18th century to it. 3 Most researchers are in favor of an in-depth study of Russian classicism. According to K.V. Pigarev, in the characterization of the national uniqueness of Russian classicism, much remains only approximately outlined. In an essay on the historiography of Russian literature of the 18th century. P. N. Berkov speaks of the need to pay more attention to the analysis of the theoretical and aesthetic views of Russian writers of the 18th century. . The undeveloped problem of connections between the theory of Russian classicism and the initial stage of the emergence of the Russian science of literature is pointed out by the authors of a general work on the history of Russian literary criticism, The Emergence of the Russian Science of Literature (71). In a detailed and in-depth study by G.V. Moskvicheva, dedicated to the genre system of Russian classicism, it is noted that the problem of Russian classicism, 2 Here and below, the first number in brackets indicates the serial number under which the source is placed in the list of references, and the second page of the cited work; The Roman numeral indicates the volume. 3 For a general summary of opinions on this issue, see the book: Chernov I. A. From lectures on theoretical literary criticism. Vol. 1, Baroque, Tartu,

7 despite significant achievements of modern science, and currently does not seem to be solved. To the insufficient development of aesthetic and literary concepts, related to the study of classicism, is indicated by the author of the newest textbook on Russian literature of the 18th century. Yu.I. Minerals and. 3 The literary and theoretical views of representatives of Russian classicism have not yet been sufficiently studied, among modern scientists there is no unity of opinion on the question of what determined the stability and integrity of the literary doctrine of Russian classicism, the content of the theoretical problems of this literary movement is incompletely defined, the goals and objectives are largely inaccurately clarified, that our theorists put forward, and, finally, the degree of originality and the degree of traditionalism of their literary views remains unclear. We are faced with the task of explaining the connection and interrelation of the basic concepts and categories with which the classicists operated, and answering the question of what are the main features of the type of thinking that manifested itself in the leading principles of their literary program. We strive to show what brought Russian classicists together and constituted a single platform for this literary movement, revealing the literary theory of Russian classicism as a consistent and complete system. It seems that the development of the theory of Russian classicism at the system level is necessary methodological basis modern stage studying it. The study of any system involves identifying its main components, establishing stable mutual connections and relationships between them, and identifying system-forming, leading principles. It is important for us to focus on the internal logic and stable patterns of literary and theoretical thought of Russian classicists. Distraction from the specifics of particular problems does not mean going beyond the specific texts presenting literary theory. The main task is to determine the new specific classicistic content of the literary theory of Lomonosov, Trediakovsky and Sumarokov. In the concepts and terms of the literary theory of classicism, a historically specific type of perception of works of poetic art is recorded. And in order to correctly grasp its specificity, it is necessary to restore the corresponding features of the process of theoretical understanding of the facts of literary creativity. We should immediately point out the following: the theoretical poetics of the 18th century, of course, could not fully explain everything that existed in the literary practice of the writers of the 18th century itself, the analysis of which remains beyond the scope of this work. 5

8 CHAPTER 1 PREREQUISITES OF THE THEORY OF CLASSICISM (Poetics of F. Prokopovich) 1 Classicism as a literary movement becomes a decisive factor in the development of Russian literature in the 40s years XVIII V. and exists as a historically developing whole until the 70s, when signs of pre-romanticism clearly emerged. By the end of the 10s and the beginning of the 20s of the XIX century. classicism ends its existence. The prerequisites for classicism on Russian soil appeared at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. It was at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. In school poetics, some of the main problems of the future literary theory of Russian classicism were outlined. The result of the literary views of representatives of school poetics was F. Prokopovich’s treatise On the Art of Poetry, written in 1705 and published in Latin in 1786. The historical and literary significance of this work is that it contains a number of provisions that precede the literary theory of Russian classicism. F. Prokopovich’s focus on systematizing previous works is combined with a persistent desire to make his own contribution to science, to add something to so many works of rich talents. 4. F. Prokopovich sees the main subject of poetry in the depiction of human actions through poetic speech; he distinguishes poetry from the general sphere rhetoric and objects to Cicero regarding the differences in the tasks of the poet and the orator. He further notes that human feeling in the form of love was the first creator of poetry; Having arisen in the cradle of nature itself, poetry is based on sensual fury. This distinctly Renaissance view leads him to prove the moral benefits of poetry and the legitimacy of its existence as a special type of creativity. The humanistic orientation is also noticeable in the choice of authorities. If neo-Latin authors (J. Pontan, A. Donat, J. Masen, G. Foss, to whom F. Prokopovich often refers) substantiated their conclusions with references to Christian scholarship, then Prokopovich directly turns to ancient authors who are well known to him from the time stay in Rome, when he had the opportunity to read the texts of ancient authors, not spoiled by the editing of the Jesuits. He examines in most detail the question of the social significance of poetry: The very subject with which poetry is usually concerned gives it enormous importance and value, 6

9 because it glorifies great people and transmits the memory of them to posterity. Eradicating vices and promoting the development of social virtues, poetry inspires people to military and civil exploits; philosophy itself is either born or nurtured by poetry. Poetry successfully performs cognitive and educational functions, according to Prokopovich, only thanks to the relationship between benefit and pleasure: A poem that delights but does not bring benefit is empty and like a child’s rattle. That which strives to be useful without pleasure is unlikely to be useful. He severely condemns Catullus and Ovid for their departure from morality and explains: If you want to understand what true pleasure is, call this pleasure healthy, and not infectious. He considers the unity of benefit and entertainment to be an indispensable condition for the social impact of poetry. 2 At the center of F. Prokopovich’s theoretical treatise are the problems of imitation and fiction. He separates imitation of nature from imitation of literary models. In the latter, he traditionally sees one of the ways to improve mastery, emphasizing the role of tradition, previous experience, the assimilation of which is active in poetry: Thinking, having mastered the writer’s style, turns into his thinking and sometimes creates works similar to his with greater ease; imitation consists in some coincidence of our thinking with the thinking of some exemplary author, so that even though we did not take anything from him and transfer it into our work, it would seem as if it were his work, and not ours: to such an extent may be similar style!. F. Prokopovich develops the ideas of Ronsard and Du Bellay about creative borrowing from ancient authors: You can compose something according to the model of Virgil, or develop it in the same way, or even borrow something from him. If a borrowing is discovered, then let it turn out to be more beautiful and better from the imitator than from the author himself. In the problem of imitation of nature, F. Prokopovich essentially comes very close to the classicist understanding of the specifics of poetry, its specific uniqueness. The origins of the theory of imitation on Russian soil can be traced back to the poetics of the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. 5 The authors of this poetics did not have a unified view on the problems of imitation and fiction: poetry was conceptualized either as a science that expresses in poetic form the imitation of people’s actions, or as the art of depicting fictional acts 4 All quotations in the text are given only from the indicated 1961 edition. 5 Before that period, such questions did not arise in Russian literature. See: Berkov P. N. Essay on the development of Russian literary terminology before the beginning of the 19th century. //Izv. USSR Academy of Sciences, ser. language and literature, 1964, vol. 23, 7

10 people in verse, and fiction came closer to imitation of the truth of a separate fact. School poetics freely and approximately conveyed Aristotle as interpreted by neo-Latin theorists of the 16th and 17th centuries. J. Pontana, J. Mason, A. Donat, G. Fossa and others. Fiction was identified with imitation, sometimes with invention. Imitation of models and imitation of nature are distinguished vaguely and formally. The understanding of fiction as fiction led to the increased cultivation of funny verse, which was given a significant place in the applied part of poetics; in this one can see the influence of the Polish-German baroque traditions. Fiction is understood as a means to create a fascinating plot; Without revealing the truth of the real, it loses its cognitive meaning and comes closer to the concept of the miraculous. F. Prokopovich reveals a holistic understanding of the problems of fiction and imitation: he develops the idea of ​​creative imitation by comparing history and poetry, poetry and philosophy, poetry and rhetoric. He considers the poetic form to be an insignificant sign of the poetic and cites Aristotle’s remark that if Empedocles and Herodotus had written their works in verse, they could not be called poets. F. Prokopovich sees the creative principle of poetry in the imitation of human actions through fiction, insisting on the idea that it is more correct to call a poet a creator, writer or imitator, since he invents various experiences of the soul in the characters. Therefore, no matter how many poems you write, they will all remain nothing more than poems, and it will be unfair to call them poetry. Deprived of the freedom to invent the plausible, history, even written in verse, will remain history, not poetry. Imitation is a specific side of poetic creativity, the main means of which is fiction, which contributes to the creation of an artistic image as a unity of the general and the individual. Already in the first book On Poetic Art, F. Prokopovich brings together the concepts of invention and imitation: To invent or depict means to imitate the thing whose photograph or likeness is depicted. Historical writing differs from poetic writing in that poetry glorifies the fictitious, reproducing things through images. The main difference between a historian and a poet is that the historian tells about the actual event, as it happened; with the poet, either the entire story is fictitious, or even if he describes the true story, he talks about it not as it happened in reality, but as it could or should have happened. It is fiction that carries out the function of generalization in a poetic work and determines the creative nature of activity c. 3.8

11 poets. But the sphere of fiction is not limitless: its object can only be natural phenomena, excluding fantasy. The author's fiction is limited and within the limits of the work the poet must comply with the requirements of verisimilitude and achieve persuasiveness: the poet invents the plausible even when there are cases that did not occur in reality, and nothing extraordinary or beyond the bounds of probability should be added to them. According to Prokopovich, poetic fiction, or imitation, should be understood not only as an interweaving of plots, but also as all methods of description by which human actions, even if genuine, are nevertheless depicted believably. To achieve the verisimilitude that makes a narrative worthy of trust is possible provided that we mainly avoid three shortcomings: inconsistency, impossibility and contradiction. The unnatural, unreasonable and uncharacteristic were excluded from the sphere of art. Poetic fiction can be of two types: fiction of the event itself and fiction of the way in which this event occurred. In both cases, the tasks of the poet differ from the tasks of the historian: the first type of fiction includes the depiction of events that never happened in reality and therefore did not become facts of historical reality; in the second type, a true event through the fiction of how it happened, changes significantly and appears only as possible. Fiction of the first type is divided into seemingly plausible and seemingly incredible, implausible. F. Prokopovich suggests using only the first type of fiction. Although F. Prokopovich generally follows the late Renaissance theory of poetry, it is important to note in his theory a new, foreshadowing signs of classicism, desire to bring together fiction and imitation and, on this basis, to identify the specifics of poetry as an art. If a comparison of poetry and history should reveal the specificity of art in relation to the individual, then a comparison of the poet and philosopher in relation to the general: Poetry also diverges from philosophy, because the philosopher analyzes the general in general and does not limit it to any particularities, while the poet represents the general in form of special actions. F. Prokopovich concludes: Poetry is different from philosophy and history and somehow touches them as if with both hands. Here he outlines, in fact, a classicist understanding of the way of typifying human characters: some human actions seem arbitrary, others are considered as inevitable due to natural properties. Referring to Aristotle, he calls for celebrating common virtues and vices in certain individuals. So, for example, when depicting a ruler, it is necessary to reproduce only those 9

12 sides of his character that are inherent in him not as a private individual, but as a ruler. Each character must appear before the reader in a specific field of activity, while the private properties and habits of a particular person are excluded when creating the image: If a poet wants to sing of a brave commander, he does not inquisitively examine how he waged a war, but considers in what way he should wage Any brave commander ascribes this method to his hero. Loyalty to nature should not contradict the social status of the person depicted: this or that character is characterized in terms of social duties. The superiority of poetry over history lies in the generalizing aspect of the artistic image. The requirement of verisimilitude in relation to character is called decorum. 6 This term means that when depicting any character, the author must choose only what is decent and appropriate to his social status of this person: the poet should carefully consider what corresponds to such and such a person, time, place and what suits this or that person, i.e. his facial expression, gait, appearance, attire, various body movements and gestures. F. Prokopovich is outraged by any violation of this rule. He sharply attacks the essay of a certain Canon About the Bosnian Mines, where the king’s daughter begs her father to give her salt mines. Bizarre characters and situations in Baroque works evoked a negative attitude from him. F. Prokopovich adhered to the tradition of Aristotle on the issue of the relationship between art and reality (in terms of artistic knowledge), but in the interpretation of reality itself as a philosophical category, he significantly diverged from him. If for Aristotle a sufficient basis for recognizing the fact of reality was its logical consistency, then for F. Prokopovich the reality of reality should be independent of the will of the poet. An appeal to ancient poetics and the humanistic theories of the Renaissance, the desire to go beyond the creative practice of the Baroque, attempts to give a holistic and consistent answer to the question of the specifics of poetry - all this characterizes F. Prokopovich as a unique theorist in the history of Russian poetic thought. 6 F. Prokopovich borrows the concept of decorum from J. Vida, who demanded that certain proportions be observed when depicting a character, indicating the age, gender, social rank and nationality of the hero; Cicero and Quintilian demanded the same from the rhetorician. 10

13 CHAPTER 2 CLASSICISM ABOUT THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF POETRY 1 IN THE XVIII century. The capabilities of Russian literary figures are expanding unusually, their self-awareness is being formed, Russian literature is becoming the most important means of quickly and effectively disseminating the ideas of enlightenment and humanism. The establishment of new ideas in the Peter the Great era, which reflected national interests and therefore had progressive significance, found its direct expression in the art of classicism. Writers are realizing their creative individuality and their tasks in a fundamentally new way. Classicism freed the world of the individual from many traditions and conventions of frozen scholasticism, revealing new aspects of human nature, revealing the contradiction between the church’s idea of ​​​​the depravity of man and the humanistic thought about the natural character of man’s good and free will. In the era of classicism, it is not the dogma of Christian teaching, but the truth of reason, that is, the truth known by the human mind, that determines the principles of depicting a person. Classicists sought to find a humanistic justification for the goals and purpose of poetry, as opposed to the patristic and medieval view that poetry represents the untrue and fictitious. Within the framework of the so-called theory of seven liberal arts In the Middle Ages, poetry was understood only as versified rhetoric. The main argument of humanists in favor of the existence of poetry is its necessity for virtue. Poetry is put at the service of civil and national-patriotic goals. Thanks to its ability to entertain, it teaches virtue with greater effect than philosophy. The emergence of the concept of poetic individuality in Russian literature dates back to the era of classicism. This is the result of a new socio-economic and political situation, the people of the Middle Ages, with their transcendentally oriented worldview and economic dependence on the feudal lord, could not solve such a problem. 2 The central place in the poetics of Russian classicism was occupied by the question of the social significance of poetry. Advanced Russian poets and critics of the 18th century. persistently asserted the socially useful role of art, poetry was for them a means of implementing high civic ideals. The rationalistic justification for creativity led directly to the demand for public benefit; poetry was perceived as 11

14 a special kind of moralizing philosophy. By its very essence, it is designed to exert a moral influence on a person, contributing to the political and civic education of people. But edifying didacticism, which denies the possibility of expressing the poet’s personal aspirations, is alien to Russian classicism. Sumarokov, in his article On Criticism, states: Criticism brings benefit and averts harm, it is necessary for the benefit of the people. . The author spoke with indignation about the qualities of a reasoning poet about that poet who would curse the desire to serve the people with science. Kantemir assessed the meaning of poetic activity from a civic perspective: Everything that I write is written as a citizen, almost every line contains some kind of rule useful for the establishment of life. Trediakovsky and Sumarokov concentrated their efforts on justifying the moral purpose of poetry, Lomonosov rushed towards the broad horizons of its social tasks. In the remaining unfinished review of the current state of verbal sciences in Russia, Lomonosov from the first lines speaks about the benefits and power of the poetic word: If exercise in verbal sciences is useful for human society, this is evidenced by (crossed out the European word. A.S.) ancient and modern peoples. By keeping silent about so many famous examples, let us imagine France alone, about which one can rightly doubt whether by its power it attracted other states to its veneration more or by sciences, especially verbal ones, having purified and decorated its language with the industriousness of skilled writers (13, VII, 581]. From the position of strict moralism, Anacreon is condemned in article On the qualities of the poet, a discussion who only with his lyre made a reproach to the muses about vile and extranatural deeds so sweetly speaking.This article firmly and adamantly affirms the civil purpose of the poet: If from the rules of politics you already know the position of a citizen, the position of a friend and the position in the owner’s house and all the articles that practice in philosophy teaches, then it is not difficult to decorate the wealth of thoughts with verses, if only you had a poetic spirit in you... The entire content of poetry is comprehended from the point of view of its social impact, since the poet must serve the people with science, publish what Particularly remarkable is the ending of this article, in which with the utmost clarity the author formulates in the words of Cicero his social and poetic credo: I don’t see a poet in trifles, I want to see him in the society of a citizen, with a finger measuring human vices. The poet's public service, patriotic orientation, and glorification of the glory of the fatherland are all the main criteria for evaluating a poetic creation. Exactly 12

15 Lomonosov points to them in his dedication to Rhetoric: The bliss of the human race, since so much depends on the word, everyone can quite see. How would it be possible for scattered peoples to gather in communities, to create cities, to build temples and ships, to take up arms against the enemy and other necessary, allied forces that require work, if they did not have a way to communicate their thoughts to each other? The successes of modern literature are significant precisely in correcting human morals, in describing the glorious deeds of heroes and in many political behaviors. Russian literature, according to Lomonosov, will bring world glory to his state: The language that the Russian state commands over a great part of the world, according to its power, has natural abundance, beauty and strength, which is not inferior to any European language. And there is no doubt that the Russian word could not be brought to such perfection as we are surprised at in others. Lomonosov continues to develop thoughts about the glory and greatness of the Fatherland in the Preface about the benefits of church books, where he speaks with admiration about those who strive to glorify the Fatherland in natural language, knowing that with the fall of it, without writers skilled in it, the glory of the entire people will be greatly eclipsed. Many peoples did not preserve in their memory the outstanding events of national history, and everyone plunged into deep ignorance, since these events were not reflected in poetry due to the lack of skilled writers. The fate of the peoples of Greece and Rome, whose world-famous writers conveyed to us their glorious history, is different: Through sounds in distant centuries the loud voice of writers is heard preaching the deeds of their heroes, so that later descendants, distant by great antiquity and the distance of places, listen to them with with the same movement of the heart as their modern fellow Earthmen. A great future is opening up for Russian literature as well: Our fatherland received such happiness from the enlightenment of Petrov<...>in Russia, verbal sciences will never allow the Russian word to decline. Enlightenment and the development of Russian literature are inseparable in achieving their patriotic goal. Similar problematics are found in Lomonosov’s judgments about the fine arts and architecture. In the Word of thanks for the consecration of the Academy of Arts, he notes: the sculptural images, reviving metal and stone, represent Russian heroes and heroines in gratitude for their services to the fatherland, as an example and to encourage their descendants to courageous virtue; painters will bring to the present the burden of past Russian deeds to show the ancient glory of our forefathers, in order to provide instruction in matters that extend to the common benefit. Thus, Lomonosov approached the assessment of the social significance of literature 13

16 with broad national criteria that opened up European horizons for it. Russian literature must become as great as ancient literatures, but its benefits will not be confined to a narrow national framework; it will have to eclipse the glory of its neighbors and surpass their achievements. The basis of his confidence was the activity of an enlightened monarch, beneficial influence whose culture was not questioned by Lomonosov. 3 Sumarokov also put forward the thesis about the social benefits of art, demanded the direct educational impact of poetry and drama on society, as a result of which a noble and virtuous nobleman would have a harmonizing influence on all public life. Any genre of literature only gains the right to exist when it has certain civil and moral goals and objectives. Sumarokov wants to justify his position philosophically. Polemicizing with the views of Rousseau in his article On Superstition and Hypocrisy, he calls virtue the main science. Sumarokov is alien to the republican pathos of Rousseau's moralism, since he advocates the subordination of human passions to the supreme power in the person of an ideal noble sovereign, and not for the fullness and freedom of disclosure of human feelings and passions. Sumarokov came close to Western European moralism in that education is the most important means of social progress, but his understanding of the political and ideological content of this progress is sharply different: Sumarokov denies the virtue of sentimentalism and defends the ideals of stoicism, citizenship, and renunciation of personal passions. Particularly indicative in this regard are his judgments about the drama of Eugene Beaumarchais, in which the condemnation of the inconsistency and inconsistency of the feelings and behavior of the protagonist comes to the fore. This condemnation of Sumarokov comes from the standpoint of stoic morality: This rake and deceiver, worthy of the gallows for desecrating religion and the noble daughter whom he fraudulently deceived, is deceiving another bride, a noble maiden; goes from idleness to idleness, refuses his bride and, suddenly changing his system again, marries his first wife a second time, but who will vouch for such a vile person; that he won’t marry anyone else tomorrow unless the government and clergy exterminate him. This vile rake is not subject to weakness and delusion, but to dishonesty and crime. This attitude towards the hero of Beaumarchais is understandable in the light of the demands that Sumarokov made to the theater. He needs the benefit directly displayed on stage, 14

17 active impact on the viewer. Thus, in a letter to Catherine II, he motivates the need to create permanent theater in Moscow: The theater is more necessary here than in St. Petersburg, because there are more people and stupidity here. Moscow demands a hundred Moliers, and I am the only one with other matters regarding my exercises. G. A. Gukovsky in his article Russian Literary Critical Thought in the years connected the tendencies of Sumarokov’s moralism, the cult of virtue and emotional soulfulness with the worldview of the early movements of sentimentalism. This statement requires some clarification. There is no doubt that moralism is the most important aspect ideological content of both sentimentalists and classicists, but its specific content among the writers of these two movements is radically different: sentimentalism proceeded from subjective-individual, and classicism from civil-political ideals. Thus, in the article Is a Man Born for Good or for Worse?, full of hidden polemics with Rousseau, Sumarokov writes: We are inclined toward virtue not by nature, but by morality and politics. Morals and politics make us, by the measure of enlightening the mind and purifying the hearts, useful to the common good. Sumarokov insists that morality without politics is useless, politics without morality is inglorious. The writer is not only a moralist, but also an active politician; morality contributes to the cause of civic education only when it is inextricably linked with politics. Sumarokov distinguishes painters and sculptors from artisans on the basis that the fine arts, like the art of speech, carry out cognitive and educational tasks. In his Address to the opening of the Academy of Arts, Sumarokov explains the social benefits of the fine arts as follows: The bodily qualities of great people, which neither history nor poetry can explain, are outlined in our minds, revive the images of their spiritual qualities and give a desire to imitate them, for in bodily forms the subtlest spiritual qualities are hidden. The role of such images is very great: they multiply heroic fire and love for the fatherland, pass on enlightenment to posterity in history; the power of contagion in the imitation of glorious deeds, the delight of the curious and the benefit of the world. Also, pyitic expressions and their images serve the knowledge of nature, imitation of great deeds, aversion from vices and everything that humanity requires for correction. The high mission of poetry and its social purpose place strict demands on the poet: he bears full responsibility for the verisimilitude of what is depicted and for the active influence on the reader. 4 Discussed the issue of public appointments even more passionately and interestedly 15

18 poetry Trediakovsky. Since the most ancient times of human history, poetry has become more famous: it prophesies truly from the right, falsely from flatterers; instructions on virtuous living are taught; laws are prescribed, in a word, everything that is most important and great is included. The purpose of poetry is to make people better people. The idea of ​​utilitarian art is outlined in his preface to the book Trip to the Island of Love, where the reader is invited to enjoy the wise moral teaching contained in almost every line. In the article Opinion on the beginning of poetry and poetry in general, Trediakovsky emphasized that from the moment of its inception, poetry taught a way of life and showed the path to virtues. The idea of ​​the moral benefits of poetry is a cross-cutting theme in most of Trediakovsky’s other arguments. The preface to Argenida says that the author’s intention in composing this great story is to offer perfect instruction on how to act as a sovereign. Developing this idea in the preface to Tilemakhida, he deliberately combines the moral and political benefits of poetry. Only in this unity will it be able to fulfill its civic purpose as a means of teaching the truth and awakening in us the hidden springs of our soul into mobility. Fenelon achieved extraordinary success because he combined the most perfect politics with the utmost virtue. According to Trediakovsky, the primary goal in an ironic creation is instruction; he perceived the epic poem as a kind of moralizing philosophy. Let us remember that Lomonosov took the same position in relation to the works of Fenelon, believing that they contain examples and teachings about politics and good morals. A special place among Trediakovsky’s works, which examine the social meaning of poetry, is occupied by his Letter to a Friend about the current benefit of poetry to citizenship. The course of his reasoning can be understood as follows. In ancient times, poetry described the brave and glorious deeds of great people, instructed in virtue and corrected human morals, proposed philosophical dogmas, laid down rules for obtaining from justice both true well-being and peaceful cohabitation. In subsequent times, it was supplanted by prose: What would be the need for poetry and verse now, when everything is corrected by prose. At the present time, poetry is losing its meaning, since unfavorable social conditions prevent the fulfillment of the high mission of political and moral education people: This busy work of verses in ancient times and the untold benefits received from them then would be in our times of equal importance and just as much respect, 16

19 If only all these high advantages had not now been taken away from poetry; Previously, poetry was a necessary and useful thing, but now it is a comforting and cheerful pastime. Therefore, he looks skeptically at the future development of poetry: from poetry, there is truly neither the greatest need nor the most significant benefit, it is needed insofar as fruits and sweets are on the rich table for solid foods. Deprived of its moral and political meaning, it becomes fun and entertains through the struggle of witty inventions, through the skillful combination and position of flowers and colors, through the amazing harmony of strings, sounds and singing, through the delicious mixing and dissolution of various juices and fruits. Trediakovsky’s thoughts about the civic sound of poetry are filled with notes of skepticism when he turns to modernity. 5 The second aspect of the problem public role art was the relationship between the useful and the pleasant as the expected results of the impact of poetry on the reader. The ideal of the Russian classicists was an organic combination of instruction and pleasure: the ironic Pyima also gives firm instruction to the human race, teaching this to love virtue, and she teaches not with a gloomy frowning gaze or a powerful voice deafening in arrogance, but with a kindly and touching face, amusing and amusing with songs. Russian classicists are devoid of stern rigorism in determining the results of poetic education; they have no desire to straightforwardly impose their opinion: poetry should correct us by amusing us. Explaining D. Barkley's plan in Argenida, Trediakovsky noted; The author had this intention, so that the reader’s heart, which nowhere in this work rests on firmness, would, if possible, be amused by pleasantries and sweets. The art of this author lies in the fact that he was able to lure readers to his book so that they use it not as something that sternly instructs, but as if it amuses them with a game. But the entertaining side does not exist without the didactic side: All writers in general should not try to do anything else in their writings except to bring benefit, or to please the reader, or to provide instruction for honest and virtuous conduct in life. And Sumarokov put the poet’s achievement of a moral goal in the first place, although he also did not equate aesthetic perfection with moral edification: And I think that my comedies can make no less adjustments than they can bring amusement and laughter. The moralistic attitude of the work does not remove the question of entertainment; benefit and pleasure are combined out of necessity. In the Word on Opening 17

20 of the Academy of Arts Sumarokov makes the following comparison in this regard: Often the eyes of grazing animals are attracted by more flower-bearing meadows than by lush meadows. And if the meadows are both flower-bearing and fat, don’t they have a special power of attraction? . One of the early Russian philosophers G. N. Teplov actively developed this issue in his article Discourse on the beginning of poetry. He proposed to separate the sciences and the arts on the basis that the former address themselves directly to benefit, and the latter sometimes to benefit, sometimes to the sole amusement or sophistication of our mind, which then always serves as a guide to the knowledge of other things. Sharing the doctrine of poetry as a specific type of eloquence, Teplov sees in it a means that can act in human hearts more than any other action. For a long time, eloquence had the task of softening tyrants, inducing society to war and battle, quenching passions, and arousing the fire of love with speech. It was in these tasks that eloquence began to come closer to poetry. At first, being unregulated, poetry set as its main goal the satisfaction of passions, and then began to serve the implementation of useful goals. The rules developed by the sages contributed to the process of transforming poetry from a means of expressing passions into a serious matter of national importance. The goals of civic education began to determine its meaning and purpose. The pleasant in poetry became a means of expressing its usefulness: Poetry had a good reason to take root when it contained something so useful with pleasantness, and the useful received a fair chance when it was depicted in such a pleasant style. Moral edification should not be straightforward: the more perfection there is in a work, the more it serves the rules in correcting the morals of the people, since readers receive benefit and amusement, being attracted to fun and amusements insensitively. Like Trediakovsky, Teplov sees the social function of ancient literature in its usefulness for the formation of public opinion. Russian classicists did not insist on direct expression of the moralizing tendency; in their opinion, it should be present in the artistic image itself, but poetry does not have a goal in itself, its task is to develop and prescribe certain moral norms. The poet had a double task: to exercise political influence in relation to the whole society, and in relation to an individual to give pleasure and benefit. This was most clearly reflected in the main conflict of classicist drama in the form of a sharp opposition between public duty and personal passions. 18

21 However, Russian classicists did not clearly understand the essence of the contradictions between the individual and absolutist statehood, which was explained by the insufficient degree of maturity of the social conflicts of the era. Enlightened absolutism was perceived by them as the main condition for harmony in the relationship between the individual and society, and therefore the actual social dependence of the classicist writer on state protectionism in the field of culture did not appear in the form of a limitation of the writer’s individual capabilities. Most theorists of Russian classicism shared a civic-moralistic point of view on art, which led them to an abstract awareness of human characters. 6 What do the reasoning and conclusions of Russian theorists look like against the background of the European theory of poetry? The question of what is pleasant and useful in poetry was raised in ancient times. Horace in his Epistle to the Piso gave a clear answer to this: Poets strive to bring either benefit or pleasure, or to say what is both pleasant and useful in life, therefore the one who mixes the useful with the pleasant, and also entertains, will receive general approval. and teaching the reader. During the Renaissance, the need to justify the independent significance of poetry led theorists to actively defend the thesis about the benefits of poetry, with the help of which humanists tried to neutralize attacks from the scholastics, emphasizing that it was the didactic side of poetry that connected it with the needs of life: poetry teaches people to highly value virtue and condemn vices. Renaissance theorists insisted that a poet must know many sciences and have a university education. It was in this era that the Aristotelian concept of catharsis was given an exclusively moralistic meaning. The pedagogical-moralistic concept of creativity dominates in Scaliger: the poet’s goal is to teach by delighting. The moralistic goal of poetry comes first, and the pleasure derived from poetry is only a means for this. Of the Italian theorists, only Robortello and Castelvetro defend the independence of pleasure from instruction: entertainment in itself is a source of benefit. French classicists saw the main task of a poet as being to please his readers. The secret of success is to captivate the viewer with an excited verse, recommends Boileau. In the preface to the first edition of the fables, J. Lafontaine stated: The main and, perhaps, the only rule is that 19

22 so that the readers like the essay. Racine also considers this principle fundamental to the tragedy genre: The main rule is to please and touch, all others are developed only in order to fulfill it. In the words of Dorant from the 6th phenomenon of Moliere’s comedy Critique of the School of Wives, the voice of the author is heard: The most important rule like . Reasonable pleasure is not the enemy, but the instrument of virtue. A noticeable strengthening of moralizing tendencies occurs in the literary and aesthetic theories of the 18th century. Voltaire, Diderot, Jaucourt, Marmontel, La Harpe 7 believe that all types of art serve the exclusively useful purpose of making people morally purer and nobler. In carrying out this task, the artist consciously represents virtue as pleasant and vice as disgusting. Each person has a special type of perception for this purpose, to see in the way that his ability to perceive the beautiful as beautiful and the ugly as ugly is pre-organized by nature. 7 Russian classicists, without going to the extremes of didacticism or hedonism, believed that their main task was to determine the political role of poetry. Lomonosov emphasized the social meaning of creativity, connected it with political good and benefit, saw in the poet a political preacher, whose calling was to be the memory of Russian state glory, Sumarokov widely developed the theme of moral virtue, closely connecting it with politics and condemning its interpretation by sentimentalists. Teplov and Trediakovsky traced the change in the social role of poetry in different periods of its development. Trediakovsky noted the narrowing of the educational possibilities of poetry in the present. The general view of the role of the poet was summed up by the author's discussion on the qualities of a poet: It is not enough that a poet wants to please when he cannot teach anything. The poet is at the same time a moralist and a political mentor; this thesis, according to the classicists, is confirmed both by the entire history of the development of poetry and by the very fact of its emergence in certain social conditions. The moralistic task of the writer became his social task. According to the views of Russian classicists, the art of words recreates a rational artistic world, in which the determining principle is the ethical will of the author, the possibilities of which are limitless. The basis of an optimistic view of the socially transformative value of poetry rested on three main premises. Firstly, on the idea of ​​the omnipotence of nature, the classicists shared Leibniz’s opinion that people 7 In Germany Leibniz, Gottsched, Baumgarten, Sulzer; in Italy Gravina, Muratori; in England J. Dennis, A. Pop. 20

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Social - political, philosophical and aesthetic views of A.P. Sumarokova. “Two Epistles” - Sumarokova - a manifesto of Russian classicism. The creative range of Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov is very wide. He wrote odes, satires, fables, eclogues, songs, but the main thing with which he enriched the genre composition of Russian classicism was tragedy and comedy. Sumarokov’s worldview was formed under the influence of the ideas of Peter the Great’s time. But unlike Lomonosov, he focused on the role and responsibilities of the nobility. A hereditary nobleman, a graduate of the gentry corps, Sumarokov did not doubt the legality of noble privileges, but believed that high office and ownership of serfs must be confirmed by education and service useful to society. A nobleman should not humiliate human dignity peasant, to burden him with unbearable exactions. He sharply criticized the ignorance and greed of many members of the nobility in his satires, fables and comedies. Best form government system Sumarokov considered the monarchy. But the high position of the monarch obliges him to be fair, generous, and able to suppress bad passions. In his tragedies, the poet depicted the disastrous consequences resulting from the monarchs’ forgetfulness of their civic duty.

In general, in the middle of the 18th century. accounts for the formation of Russian classicism (in Europe, the heyday of classicism by this time was long in the past: Corneille died in 1684, Racine - in 1699.) V. Trediakovsky and M. Lomonosov tried their hand at classicist tragedy, but the founder of Russian classicism (and Russian literary dramaturgy in general) became A. Sumarokov. Sumarokov looked at his work as a kind of school of civic virtues. Therefore, they put moralistic functions in first place. At the same time, Sumarokov was acutely aware of the purely artistic tasks that faced Russian literature. He outlined his thoughts on these issues in two epistles: “On the Russian language” and “On poetry”. Subsequently, he combined them in one work entitled “Instruction for those who want to be writers” (1774). The model for the “Instructions” was Boileau’s treatise “The Art of Poetry,” but in Sumarokov’s work there is an independent position dictated by the urgent needs of Russian literature. Boileau's treatise does not raise the question of the creation national language, since in France in the 17th century. this problem has already been resolved. Sumarokov begins his “Instructions” precisely with this: “We need a language like the Greeks had, // Like the Romans had, And following them in that // As Italy and Rome speak now.” The main place in the “Instructions” is given to the characteristics of genres new to Russian literature: idylls, odes, poems, tragedies, comedies, satires, fables. Most of the recommendations are related to the choice of style for each of them: “In poetry, know the difference between genders // And when you start, look for decent words for it.” But the attitude towards specific genres for Boileau and Sumarokov it does not always coincide. Boileau speaks very highly of the poem. He puts it even above tragedy. Sumarokov says less about her, content with only characterizing her style. He never wrote a single poem in his entire life. His talent was revealed in tragedy and comedy. Boileau is quite tolerant of small genres - the ballad, rondo, madrigal. Sumarokov in the epistle “On Poetry” calls them “trinkets,” but in the “Admonition” he passes over them in complete silence. In particular, in Epistole on poetry(1747) he defends principles similar to the classicist canons of Boileau: a strict division of drama genres, adherence to "three unities". Unlike the French classicists, Sumarokov was based not on ancient subjects, but on Russian chronicles ( Khorev, Sinav and Truvor) and Russian history ( Dmitry the Pretender and etc.). The connection between Sumarokov’s epistles and Lomonosov’s “Rhetoric” is undeniable. For example, the author, following Lomonosov, resolves the issue of the use of Church Slavonic words in the Russian language, where Mikhail Vasilyevich advises “to run away from old Slavic sayings” that are incomprehensible to the people, but to preserve in “solemn styles those whose meaning is known to the people.” In “Epistole on Poetry,” Sumarokov advocated the equality of all genres provided for by the poetics of classicism, in contrast to Lomonosov, who affirmed the value of only “high” literature:

Everything is praiseworthy: whether a drama, an eclogue or an ode -

Decide what your nature draws you to...

Worldview foundations and aesthetics of classicism. The problem of the individual and the state in the classic system of values. Classicism as “the art of a united, all-powerful state that absorbs the individual” (G. A. Gukovsky). Rationalistic metaphysics of R. Descartes and Gassendi’s doctrine of two souls in man. The concept of personality and the typology of conflict in classic tragedy. Classicism as “the art of “reasonable” discipline of man” (G. A. Gukovsky). The cult of state and civic virtues. Ethical pathos. “Abstraction of the State” (K. Marx). The principle of imitation of nature. Focus on classic designs. Classicism as a reception of antiquity (Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Pindar, Anacreon). Normativity of the poetics of classicists. The role of the “living canon person” in classic art. “Poetic art” N. Boileau. Regulation of the genre system. Logical clarity of style, requirement of noble simplicity.

National originality of Russian classicism. Chronological delay. The relationship between theory and practice. Reform of versification, stylistic and language reforms, streamlining of the genre system. Requirement of equal value of all genres. The synthetic nature of Russian classicism (selectivity in mastering the European tradition “from the standpoint of results”). The organic nature of Russian classicism, its historically progressive character. Socially critical orientation, high teaching pathos. The tyrannical character of Russian tragedy. Classicism as the art of the “noble front”. Priority to the genres of comedy and satire. The nature of lyricism. Status of spiritual odes. Connection with folklore tradition.

Poetic creativity of A. P. Sumarokov (1717–1777). The main milestones of the biography. The role of the writer in the development of domestic education. Magazine "Hardworking Bee" and its staff. Sumarokov's poetic school. Political views of the artist. His relationship with authorities. Genre “encyclopedicism” of poetry: laudatory odes, spiritual odes, idylls, eclogues, elegies, sonnets, stanzas, songs. Criticism of the aesthetic canons of Lomonosov’s “rhetorical odes” (polemical orientation of the poet’s “nonsensical” odes). The emergence of emotional reflection. Psychologism in the construction of a lyrical image. The book “Spiritual Poems” (St. Petersburg, 1774). Motives of the frailty of human existence, religious understanding of life (“Ode to M. M. Kheraskov”, “Ode to the vanity of the world”, “On the vanity of man”, “Sonnet to despair”, “The last hour of life”). Role-playing lyrics. The tragedy of the worldview (“The Last Judgment”, sonnet “O beings, a mixed composition without an image...”). The originality of satire (“Crooked Talk”, “On Nobility”, “Admonition to the Son”). Didacticism, pamphleteering and outright parody. The main objects of satire in “A Chorus to the Perverse Light.” Innovation in the genre of fables (parables). Focus on the achievements of La Fontaine's poetic fable. The role of the image of the author-storyteller. Specificity of free iambic. Epigrams and poetic tales.

Tragediography of Sumarokov. The theory of the tragic genre in the epistole “On poetry.” Russian tragedies as “heroic comedies” (G. A. Gukovsky): features of the conflict, the concept of personality. The tragedy of Horev. An original interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamlet story. The use of a found plot model (“This tragedy will show Shakespeare to Russia”) in the tragedy “Dimitri the Pretender” (1777). Static action, limited number of characters. Principles of character building. The role of monologues. The image of a classic villain and an ideal citizen. Specifics of the conflict. The role of love affair in conflict resolution. The meaning of turning to real historical material. The plot is rich in political allusions. Dispute on issues of freedom and honor. The role of the images of Parmen and George in ideological structure plays. Moral and political didacticism. Author's position. Elements of “reasoning” in tragedy.

Sumarokov-comedian. Characteristics of the comedy genre in the epistole “On Poetry.” National originality of the Russian comedy genre. Features of composition, style and language. The problem of genre evolution. Traditions of Russian sideshow and farce theater, Italian comedy of masks in Tresotinius. Comedy-farce genre. Departure from national customs, use of foreign names. Pamphleteering as a characteristic feature of the genre. Elements of poetic and linguistic parody. From situation comedy to character comedy. The image of the Stranger in the comedy "Guardian". “Linguistic mask” of a bigot and a hypocrite. The collision of temporarily triumphant vice and suffering virtue. A turn towards serious comedy. The peculiarity of the denouement is the mixing of the comic and tragic in it. Strengthening the role of moral descriptive and everyday elements in “Cuckold by Imagination.” Genre of national comedy. Taking into account the comedy tradition of D. I. Fonvizin. Vivid individualization of portraits of “old world landowners” Vikula and Khavronya. Transmission of everyday speech, features of the nationality and ethnography. The role of folk proverbs in the play.

The next normative act of Russian classicism was the regulation of the genre system of Russian literature, carried out in 1748 by Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov in a poetic didactic message based on the traditions of the aesthetic message of Horace “To the Pisoes (On the Art of Poetry)” and the didactic poem by N. Boileau “The Poetic art". Printed in 1748 as a separate brochure “Two epistles (The first is about the Russian language, and the second about poetry)” by Sumarokov, later united by him under the title “Instructions for those who want to be a writer,” provided the developing Russian classicism with an aesthetic code, which, despite all in his orientation towards the European aesthetic tradition, he was completely original both in his description of literary genres (since he was focused on the Russian literary process) and in his relations with the living literary process (since in a number of cases theoretical descriptions of genres preceded their real appearance in Russian literature). Thus, the name of Sumarokov is connected with Russian classicism by a particularly strong associative connection: he acted both as a theorist of the method and as its recognized leader in his literary practice.

As for the general aesthetic provisions of “Two Epistles...”, they practically do not differ from the main theses of European classicism: in Sumarokov’s view, literary creativity is a rational process: Whoever writes must clear his thoughts in advance

And first give yourself the light<...>

<...>the creator finds a way

To touch your caretakers through action<...>

For knowledgeable people, don’t write games:

Making people laugh without reason is the gift of a vile soul<...> .

The genre system of literature seemed to Sumarokov to be clearly hierarchically organized: in the theoretical aspect, he put forward a general classicist position on the inadmissibility of mixing high and low styles, but in practice, as we will see later, his own high and low genre models were in constant interaction: Know the difference in poetry childbirth

And when you start, look for decent words,

Without annoying the muses with your bad success:

Thalia with tears, and Melpomene with laughter (117).

At the same time, “Two Epistles...” by Sumarokov testify to a certain aesthetic independence of Russian classicism, its reliance on the living practice of Russian literature of the 18th century. In addition to the “exemplary” Western European writers, the text of the epistle on poetry mentions Kantemir, Feofan Prokopovich and Lomonosov, and in a characteristic comparative context: the satirist Kantemir is likened to the satirist Boileau, the odopist Lomonosov - to the odopist Pindar and Malherbe, and Sumarokov himself, in a place that, according to In his opinion, he occupied a position in Russian literature, likening him to Voltaire.

Most of all, Sumarokov’s orientation towards national trends literary development noticeable in the composition of the genres that he characterizes in his epistles. So, for example, he devoted practically no space to the highest genre of European classicism - the epic poem - and briefly mentioned the very fact of the existence of the literary epic. The genres that in Russian literature have taken on the charge of satirical exposure and didactics are characterized in exceptional detail and fully - satire as such, the heroic-comic poem (a parody of the epic), fable and comedy, and the description of comedy itself is also very original. If Boileau, describing a comedy, fluently lists the comedic types of characters and focuses mainly on the plot, intrigue, witty and brilliant style, then Sumarokov’s entire description of the genre comes down to characterology: Russian comedy, which has yet to appear in literature, differs from Western European comedy precisely on this basis: French comedy is mainly a comedy of intrigue, Russian is a comedy of character: Imagine a soulless clerk in an order,

The judge, who will not understand what is written in the decree,

Imagine me a dandy who lifts his nose,

What a whole century thinks about the beauty of hair<...>

Imagine a Latin scholar at his debate,

Who won’t lie without “ergo” anything.

Present to me the proud one, swollen like a frog,

The stingy one who is ready to strangle him for half a ruble (121).

Even in this cursory sketch, it is obvious that the comedic characters in Sumarokov’s presentation are incomparably brighter and more specific than Boileau’s universal “fool, miser and spendthrift”. In those cases when Sumarokov describes genres that already exist in Russian literature, he relies precisely on national rather than European genre models. This happens, for example, with the characteristic of a song (absent in Boileau), very popular since the Peter the Great era, as well as with the characteristic of a solemn ode, described according to the genre model that developed in Lomonosov’s work: The sound thundering in the ode, like a whirlwind, pierces the ear,

The ridge of the Riphean Mountains far exceeds<...>

The creator of such poems looks up everywhere,

Soars to heaven, falls to hell,

And, rushing at speed to all ends of the universe,

The gates and paths are open everywhere (118).

But, perhaps, the most important proof of Sumarokov’s orientation specifically towards national aesthetic problems is the leitmotif of the need for a special poetic language, which internally organizes the entire problematic of “Two Epistles...”, the first of which is symptomatically devoted specifically to issues of stylistic literary norm: it was its absence that was one of the the main difficulties in the formation of Russian literature in the 18th century. The cross-cutting requirement for “purity of style”, following the “order in verse” already achieved as a result of the versification reform, reinforced by Sumarokov’s conviction that “Our beautiful language is capable of everything,” directly connects the emerging problem of stylistic reform of the Russian literary language with hierarchical genre thinking, recorded in the “Two Epistles...”. Having arranged genres along the hierarchical ladder of high and low, Sumarokov came close to realizing the necessary aesthetic relationship between genre and style: There is no secret to writing madly

Art - to correctly offer your style,

So that the creator's opinion is clearly imagined

And the speeches would flow freely and accordingly (113).

And even the main direction of the future stylistic reform, namely, establishing the proportions of the spoken Russian language and the stylistics of Slavic book writing, was already quite obvious to Sumarokov in 1748: in addition to the declaration of the need for a Russian literary language (“We need a language like the Greeks had” ), Sumarokov directly indicates the path on which this universal norm could be achieved: In addition, we have many spiritual books<...>

And what from antiquity is still irreplaceable,

That may be what you should be everywhere.

Do not imagine that our language is not the same as in books,

Which you and I call non-Russian (115).

Pre-classicism

Reforms of Peter I

Handwritten stories

Love verses

Theater and dramaturgy

Feofan Prokopovich

The formation of Russian classicism

A. D. Kantemir

V. K. Trediakovsky

M. V. Lomonosov

A. P. Sumarokov

The development of Russian classicism and the beginning of its fundamental changes

Magazine satire 1769-1774. N. I. Novikov

I. A. Krylov

Drama of the 60-90s of the 18th century.

D. I. Fonvizin

N. P. Nikolev

Ya. B. Knyazhnin

V. V. Kapnist

M. M. Kheraskov

V. I. Maikov

I. F. Bogdanovich

G.R.Derzhavin

Mass prose literature of the late 18th century.

Sentimentalism

A. N. Radishchev

N. M. Karamzin

I. I. Dmitriev

Synchronicity of Russian literature of the 18th century.

Application

The textbook is written in accordance with the program for the course on the history of Russian literature of the 18th century. (M., 1990). It reflects the principles of the internal development of literary trends and movements of the 18th century. The textbook is intended for undergraduate and graduate students of philological faculties of universities.

Due to the unexpected and sudden death author - Professor of the Department of History of Russian Literature of Moscow University P. A. Orlov, the text of the manuscript was brought to the final stage by an employee of this department, Associate Professor A. A. Smirnov, who brought it into line with modern scientific data, supplemented control questions that expand students’ understanding of development of Russian literature, compiled a synchronistic table designed to systematize the historical and philological knowledge of students.

Pavel Aleksandrovich Orlov (1922-1990) - a prominent specialist in the history of Russian literature, Doctor of Philology, author of the major monograph “Russian Sentimentalism” (M., 1977). This book is the fruit of scientific research and methodological developments of the author, his many years of teaching activity at the Department of History of Russian Literature of Moscow State University, where the textbook received its first approval.

The department expresses gratitude to the Gorky State University. N.I. Lobachevsky (Head of the Department of Russian Literature, Professor G.V. Moskvicheva) and the Head of the Department of Russian Literature of Tomsk State University, Doctor of Philology, Professor F. Z. Kanunova, as well as the Head of the Department of Russian Literature of the 18th Century. Institute of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences of the USSR to the candidate of philological sciences N.D. Kochetkova for a number of important clarifications of the dates of life and work of writers of the 18th century.

Department staff

INTRODUCTION

The eighteenth century opens a new page in the history of Russian fiction. The changes that have taken place in it in just a few decades can be compared in their importance with such events as the appearance of writing, the emergence critical realism. In the literary process, there are always two interrelated trends: continuity and innovation. Each of them is unthinkable without the other, but the relationship between them in different eras is not the same. In the 18th century a radical renewal of all spheres of social and spiritual life, including literature, was required. The historical boundary between old and new Russia was reforms. Peter I, which affected a wide variety of areas of policy of the Russian state, including the ideological sphere. A culture was born that was sharply different from its predecessor. Seven and a half centuries of ancient Russian writing created works for which the highest authority lay in religious beliefs and ideas. “The dogmas of the church,” Engels wrote about medieval ideology, “became at the same time political axioms, and biblical texts received in any case the force of law... This supreme dominance of theology in all areas of mental activity was at the same time a necessary consequence of the situation that occupied by the church as the most general synthesis and the most general sanction of the existing feudal system."

The reforms of Peter I undermined the authority of the church in the political life of the country, which, in turn, affected fiction, which became a purely secular art. Lives, apocrypha, sermons, chronicles and military stories are replaced by ode, satire, comedy, tragedy, poem, novel. This kind of renewal of almost the entire genre system of literature testified to profound changes in social thought itself. The secularization of consciousness also had an impact on the literary language; its basis became not Church Slavonic, but Russian. Church Slavonicisms are now used as style-forming means mainly in the so-called high genres. Innovations also penetrate into the field of poetry. The syllabic system, inherited from the 17th century, is being replaced by a new type of versification - syllabic-tonic. In their searches, Russian writers used the experience of Western European authors. “Russia entered Europe,” wrote Pushkin, “like a deflated ship, with the sound of an ax and the thunder of cannons... European enlightenment landed on the shores of the conquered Neva... A new literature, the fruit of a newly formed society, was soon to be born.” But this was not imitation, not copying, but a bold, creative development of someone else’s secular heritage. Progress in art, as in science, is always achieved as a result of the joint efforts of different peoples. Any isolation leads to stagnation and lag. The renewal of Russian literature proceeded intensively and rapidly. The path from classicism to romanticism, which in France lasted more than a century and a half, was completed in Russia in eighty years. Of course, such drastic changes could not immediately bring the desired results.

In its historical development, Russian literature of the 18th century. went through three stages. The first begins in 1700 and continues until the end of the 20s. Basically it coincides with the reign of Peter I. It can be called pre-classical. The works of this period are distinguished by great genre and stylistic diversity and are in many ways still connected with the previous period. Neither a general creative method nor a harmonious genre system had yet been developed, but the main ideological prerequisites of Russian classicism were already ripening in it: the protection of state interests, the glorification of Peter I as an “enlightened” monarch. During this period, interest in ancient culture, an important part of the new culture, increased significantly. artistic system.

The next stage dates back to the 30-50s of the 18th century. This is the time of the formation of Russian classicism. Its founders - Kantemir, Trediakovsky, Lomonosov, Sumarokov - belong entirely to the eighteenth century. They were born in the Peter the Great era, from childhood they breathed its air and with their creativity they strive to protect and approve Peter’s reforms in the years following the death of Peter I. Radical transformations are taking place in literature. New classic genres are being created, literary language and versification are being reformed, and theoretical treatises appearing to substantiate these innovations. But for now these are just the first steps of Russian classicism.

The final stage is associated with the final four decades of the 18th century. In the 60-90s, educational ideology began to play a major role. Under her influence, Russian classicism rises to a new level of its ideological and artistic development. Representatives of the second generation of Russian classicism were Fonvizin, Derzhavin, Knyazhnin, Kapnist. But the time of the heyday of classicism was at the same time the time of the beginning of its transformation. On the same educational basis, parallel to classicism in the last third of the 18th century. Another direction is emerging - sentimentalism. It originated in the 60s and reached its apogee in the 90s in the works of Radishchev and Karamzin.

PRE-CLASSICISM

Reforms of Peter I

History of Russia in the 18th century. opens with the reforms of Peter I. The transformations carried out by him were caused by urgent tasks that arose before the Russian state at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries. For trade and defensive purposes, Russia had to reach its natural borders - the shores of the Baltic and Black Seas. Meanwhile, in the west and south it was threatened by strong and dangerous neighbors: Sweden, Poland, Turkey and Persia. It was necessary to quickly eliminate the gap with the advanced European countries in the military, economic and cultural fields. Therefore, factories and manufactories were opened, a fleet was built, and a regular army was created. The public administration: instead of the boyar duma and orders, the Senate and collegiums subordinate to it are established.

The question of the qualities that determine the dignity of a person and his place in society is being addressed in a new way. Boyar privileges are abolished. Promotion now depends not on the antiquity of the family, but on personal merits of a nobleman, from his intelligence, knowledge, zeal. In 1722, a “table of ranks” was introduced. All ranks, both civilian and military, were divided into 14 degrees, or ranks. Compulsory service for all began at the lowest, 14th rank. Further advancement in ranks was made directly dependent on each individual’s personal success. Peter himself did not do himself any favors, either, starting his service with the rank of drummer and ending it with the rank of generalissimo.

A number of events were carried out by Peter I in the church area. In 1721 the patriarchate was destroyed. Instead, a spiritual college is created - the Holy Governing Synod. A special civilian was introduced into the synod - the chief prosecutor. Thus, the church and its actions became completely dependent on the government. To clearly differentiate secular and church literature, a civil font was introduced, after which only theological and liturgical books were printed in the old font.

Radical changes have occurred in the field of education and science. In pre-Petrine Rus', education was of a purely ecclesiastical nature and was designed for the training of the clergy and a few government officials. At the beginning of the 18th century. the picture changes dramatically. The Moscow Zaikonospasskoe School is being transformed into the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. Much attention is paid to the study of ancient languages: Greek and Latin. Education in the overwhelming majority of educational institutions is distinguished by a pronounced secular and even professional character. The country needed engineers, doctors, builders, and sailors. For this purpose, an engineering school was opened in Moscow in 1712. Here, at the military hospital, the first medical school in Russia is being created. In 1715, the Maritime Academy was organized in St. Petersburg. “Digital” schools are appearing in many cities. Textbooks are written for educational needs. Magnitsky and Kopievsky were the authors of “Arithmetic”, Polikarpov - “Grammar”. The old letter designation for numbers was replaced by Arabic numerals. ABC books appear. Various scientific activities are carried out. A special expedition is being organized to survey the natural resources of Russia. Geographic maps are being compiled, including those of the Caspian Sea. Bering is tasked with determining whether there is a strait between Asia and America. By order of Peter, the Kunstkamera was opened in St. Petersburg, where minerals, ancient weapons, clothing, and dishes were exhibited. Shortly before his death, Peter drew up a project for organizing the Academy of Sciences in Russia, which opened after his death. Foreign, mainly German, scientists were invited to work on it. To train domestic personnel, a gymnasium and a university were created at the Academy of Sciences.

New trends powerfully invaded not only the state and scientific fields, but also sometimes violently daily life nobility, in its life. Long-skirted clothing is replaced by kaftans, sewn according to European fashion. A special tax was imposed for wearing a beard. The house-building order of the towers is being destroyed. Young women and girls are required to appear in society. For this purpose, so-called assemblies were organized in private homes, where young people of both sexes met. There was dancing in the main room. In the neighboring rooms they played chess and cards, and smoked pipes. The norms of behavior were regulated by a special “polites”, for violation of which appropriate punishments were imposed.

Guides are published designed to teach the rules of good manners. Thus, in the book “An Honest Mirror of Youth,” young people were given numerous pieces of advice: how to behave with parents, guests, servants, how to sit at the dinner table, use cutlery, etc. In another manual, “Butts, how to write Compliments” contains samples of letters: official, intimate, congratulatory, “regretful” and other content. From the end of 1702, the first newspaper in Russia, Vedomosti, began to be published, which had an informational and propaganda character. Brief notices contained information about Russia's latest successes in the economic, military and diplomatic fields.

New trends have also affected the fine arts. In Ancient Rus', painting was represented only by icons, and only in the 17th century. so-called “parsuns” appear, i.e. portraits. The painting technique is being improved. Tempera paint is replaced by oil paint, which opens up immeasurably greater possibilities for artists. Appear talented painters- A. Matveev, I. M. Nikitin. By order of Peter I, Nikitin was sent to Italy, where he studied with the best professors. Peter was pleased with his success and wrote that “there are good masters among our people.” Nikitin's brushes include portraits of members of the royal family, representatives of the Russian aristocracy. He was also commissioned to depict Peter I on his deathbed. In addition to portraits, Nikitin painted two battle paintings- image of the Poltava and Kulikovo battles.

Serious changes are taking place in architecture. The ancient capital of the Russian state, Moscow, was decorated with churches, cathedrals, and monasteries. In the new capital, St. Petersburg, military and administrative buildings were erected - the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Admiralty, the building of twelve colleges. The music of Peter the Great’s time is also distinguished by its secular character: marches, victorious patriotic “cants,” dance melodies. Literature of the first third of the 18th century. - a complex, contradictory phenomenon. Having emerged at a turning point in Russian history, it bears the imprint of two eras with a predominance of new trends. It is connected with Old Russian literature by the handwritten method of distribution and the anonymous nature of most works, the syllabic system of versification, and some traditional genres: the everyday story, school drama, panegyric, sermon. At the same time, in this motley, disordered literary material, ideological and artistic phenomena are formed that prepare Russian classicism. Among them, it should be noted the clearly expressed state pathos of many works. The idea of ​​the state as the highest value was persistently promoted at this time in government documents, orders and letters of Peter I. A person’s behavior was determined by the degree of his usefulness to society. Fiction actively supported these ideas. The image of Peter I occupies an important place in it. folk songs, school dramas and church sermons are dedicated to him. Thus, the theme of enlightened absolutism, characteristic of classicism, was gradually prepared. At this time, ancient culture began to play a significant role. A translation of Aesop's fables is published, illustrations to Ovid's "Metamorphoses" are published with brief explanations, and the medieval "History of the Ruin of the City of Troy" is published. On the stage of a foreign theater in Moscow, plays are staged, the heroes of which were Alexander the Great, Scipio Africanus, and Julius Caesar. In 1725, the work of the ancient Greek writer Apollodorus, “The Library, or About the Gods,” was published, which contained a retelling of almost all ancient mythological stories. In 1705, as one of the guides for painting and poetry, a book called “Symbola et emblemata” was published, containing 840 allegorical paintings - “symbols” and aphoristic inscriptions for them - “emblems”. Subsequently, this kind of symbolism will be widely used, especially in odes, by classic writers.

Handwritten stories

In the first decades of the 18th century. Handwritten everyday stories, known in Rus' since the 17th century, continue to spread. But under the influence of Peter’s reforms, significant changes took place in their content. One of these works was “The History of the Russian sailor Vasily Koriotsky and the beautiful princess Irakli of the Florensky land.” With the word “history,” the unknown author emphasized the genuine, non-fictional nature of his narrative. The hero of the story, Vasily Koriotsky, is a young nobleman, a representative of the class on which Peter I primarily relied in his transformations. The author endows him with hard work, curiosity, resourcefulness, and fearlessness. The plot of the “history” absorbed a number of motifs drawn from handwritten stories of the 17th century, including the story of the nobleman Dolthorn, as well as motifs from a folk tale. But the author managed to introduce topical content for the Petrine era into these traditional forms.

First of all, the traditional theme of “fathers and sons” is addressed in a new way. In the stories of the 17th century. about Misfortune, about Savva Grudtsyn, the parental home was declared the custodian of not only material, but also moral values. The break with him led the hero to complete life collapse. In the story about Vasily Koriotsky, a rethinking of the traditional theme occurs. Parents' house goes bankrupt, and a representative of the younger generation acts as his savior. Vasily becomes a sailor. This choice was dictated by the new political situation, when Russia, having recaptured the shores of the Baltic Sea, became a major maritime power. Unlike many young nobles who were burdened by service, Vasily fulfills all the assignments offered to him with great willingness and diligence and wins the love of his comrades and the respect of his superiors. Vasily’s trip to Holland was also marked as a feature of the times. Here, at the shipyards, Peter I himself mastered shipbuilding.

The story reflects the growth in the early 18th century. the international prestige of Russia, which the author calls “Russian Europe,” i.e., a country that has joined the circle of European states. The ruler of Austria - the “Tsar” - honorably receives Vasily - a simple Russian sailor - in the palace and provides him with every possible
help. The love theme is also interpreted in a new way. In the stories of the 17th century. love is generally considered a sinful emotion. Suffice it to recall Savva Grudtsyn, who is helped by a demon in his love affairs. In the story of Vasily Koriotsky, love is ennobled. She forces the hero, in order to save Iraklia, the daughter of the “Floren” king, to neglect danger and risk his life. The dizzying transformation of the sailor Vasily into the king also conveys the originality of the Peter the Great era, which favored the promotion of persons of humble origin. The rootless Menshikov became, in the words of Pushkin, a “semi-sovereign ruler.” Pastor Gluck's maid Marta Skavronskaya became the Russian Empress Catherine I. The language of the story also bears the stamp of novelty. It widely included popular expressions of Peter the Great’s Russia: “marching”, “commanding”, “term”, “to frunt”, “dismissing”, etc.

A slightly different version of the fate of a young nobleman of Peter the Great’s time is presented by “The History of the Brave Russian Cavalier Alexander and His Lovers Tyra and Eleanor,” written, according to G.N. Moiseeva, between 1719 and 1725. Unlike Vasily Koriotsky, Alexander - the son of wealthy parents, therefore his departure from home is motivated by the desire to receive an education worthy of a nobleman. “...I ask you to teach me,” he declares, “equally with others like you, for through your withholding you can inflict eternal reproach on me. And what can I call myself and what can I boast about! Not only to boast, but I won’t even be worthy of being called a nobleman.” Unfortunately, Alexander’s behavior is not distinguished by the single-mindedness of Vasily Koriotsky. Arriving in France, instead of studying, he gives himself up to love interests. Noteworthy is the abundance of heroines in the story - Alexander's mistresses. Each of them is endowed with a special character: touching, defenseless Eleanor; determined, aggressive Hedwig-Dorothea; loyal and patient Tyra. Of interest is the peculiar debate about female virtue that three foreign noblemen conduct among themselves. The increased attention to the “women’s issue” is explained primarily by the changed position of the Russian woman, who, having left the tower, entered society and aroused increased interest in herself,

The story about the nobleman Alexander reflected the influence of a wide variety of sources. In the first place among them is a love-adventure novel, including “The Tale of Peter the Golden Keys.” The love-adventure tragedy is especially felt in the second part of the story. Alexander and Tyra, fleeing from their ill-wishers, end up in Egypt, China and even Florida, where, according to the author, “man-eaters,” that is, cannibals, lived. During their wanderings, the hero and heroine are separated and still find each other. At the end of the story, Alexander’s frivolity and love inconstancy receive a peculiar, albeit purely accidental, retribution. Just before returning to Russia, he drowned while swimming in the sea.

The fate of Alexander complements our information about the Russian nobles of the first quarter of the 18th century. Among them were people like Vasily Koriotsky, who consistently and selflessly fulfilled their civic duty. At the same time, there were also people of a different type who, once abroad, succumbed to all sorts of temptations. It is precisely this type that is depicted in the “history” of the nobleman Alexander.

Under the influence of the first part of the story about the nobleman Alexander, “The Tale of the Merchant John” arose. This work reflected the changes that took place in the merchant environment. Unlike the merchants of pre-Petrine Rus', John’s father conducts extensive trade with the West and himself sends his son to Paris to gain experience in trading matters. As in the “story” of Alexander, the plot of the story is connected with the hero’s love interest. However, the story about John is distinguished by its calm and even humorous content. There are no bloody ones in it, dramatic episodes and loud, pathetic phrases. It reflected the practical business thinking of the trading environment, to which, apparently, the author himself belonged.

Love verses

Love lyrics in pre-Petrine Rus' were represented only by folk songs. The reforms of the beginning of the century favored the emancipation of the individual, freeing him from church and home care. The communication of young people at assemblies and the free expression of feelings of love created a need for intimate lyrics. The spread of literacy made this task easier. Thus, along with folklore songs, handwritten love verses are created, influenced by book literature. European literature. Love verses were written in both syllabic and tonic verses, borrowed from folklore and German poetry. Love poems were composed, for example, by Peter I's adjutant Willim Mons, his secretary Stoletov and a number of other noble persons. Authors love works there could be not only men, but [also] women. Most of the love verses remained anonymous. Their content, as a rule, was minor. Unknown poets complained bitterly about the painful suffering that love causes them, or about the circumstances that prevent them from uniting with a loved one. Artistic images were drawn from both oral and book poetry. From ancient mythology Cupida (i.e. Cupid), Fortune, Venus came. “Fortune is evil that you do this, //It’s almost like you’re separating me from my sweetheart,” we read in one of the poems. “Oh, what great joy have I found: //Cupid brought mercy to Venus,” says another work. "Arrows" piercing the hearts of lovers are often mentioned. Suffering caused by love is likened to physical torment, compared to a “wound” or “ulcer,” while love itself is compared to fire that burns the “heart” and even the “womb” of the lover. All these images, which later became literary templates, were then perceived as a truly poetic discovery.

Theater and dramaturgy

Theatrical performances appeared in Russia in the 17th century, under the father of Peter I, Alexei Mikhailovich. But the theater of that time served only for the amusement of the royal court. Peter set him a completely different task. In an era of almost universal illiteracy, the theater was supposed to become a source of knowledge, a propagandist for the policies pursued by the state. For this purpose, the German entrepreneur Johann Kunst was invited to Russia in 1702 with a troupe of artists. By order of Peter, a wooden building was built on Red Square - a “theater temple”. To prepare Russian artists, clerks from various orders were assigned to Kunst’s troupe. Each of them was entitled to a salary corresponding to the importance of the assigned role. Entrance prices to the theater were low. Its doors were open to everyone. In 1703, Kunst died, and his work was continued until 1707 by a resident of the German settlement in Moscow, Otto Furst. The repertoire of the Kunst Theater consisted of the so-called “English comedies”, brought from England to Germany at the end of the 16th century. traveling actors. These plays were dramatizations of chivalric romances, historical legends, fairy tales, and short stories, which were extremely helpless in dramatic terms. The game was played in an exaggerated manner. The characters shouted pathetic monologues and gesticulated desperately. Bloody scenes coexisted with crude buffoonery. The indispensable character of the play was a comic character, called “stupid person” in Russia, and Pickelgering or Hanswurst in Germany. The partially preserved repertoire of the Kunst Theater includes the following plays: “About Don Jan and Don Pedre” - one of the many adaptations of the plot about Don Juan, “About the Grubston fortress, in which the first person is Alexander the Great”, “The Honest Traitor, or Friederico von Popley and Aloysia, his wife”, “Two conquered cities, in which the first person is Julius Caesar”, “Prince Pickelgering, or Jodelette, his very own prisoner” - a reworking of the comedy by Thomas Corneille, which in turn goes back to one from Calderon's comedies, "About the Beaten Doctor" - a reworking of Moliere's play "The Reluctant Doctor".

The Kunst-Fürst Theater did not live up to the hopes of Peter I, who once said that he would like to see “a touching play, without this love, pasted in everywhere... and a cheerful farce without buffoonery.” . In terms of their content, Kunst’s performances were very far from Russian reality and, for this reason, could not explain or promote Peter’s events. A serious drawback of these plays was their language; the speech of the characters looked especially helpless in love or pathetic remarks.
And at the same time, the plays of the Kunst Theater played their positive role. The theater moved from the palace to the square. He contributed to the emergence of theatrical translators and Russian artists in Rus'. The plays staged by Kunst helped to “secularize” dramatic art. They introduced the Russian audience to great historical figures, such as Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, and the plots of plays by European playwrights, including Moliere, and thus fulfilled not only entertaining, but also educational tasks.

In the first quarter of the 18th century. In Russia, the so-called school theaters were preserved. One of them existed at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, the other was opened in Moscow, at the Hospital, which had its own medical school. The Hospital was headed by Nikolai Bidloo, a native of Holland. Created on Russian soil, these theaters more successfully fulfilled a task that was beyond the power of the Kunst Theater. They zealously explained and promoted the policies of Peter I. Allegorical plots and images dominated in the plays of the school theater. This dramaturgy does not know specific, real characters. The allegories were of two kinds: drawn from the Bible and having a completely secular character - Vengeance, Truth, Peace, Death, etc.

For better recognition, they were endowed with the appropriate attributes: Fortune - a wheel, Peace - an olive branch, Hope - an anchor, Wrath - a sword. In stage action, both in Russian and foreign plays, different types of arts were combined: recitation, singing, music and dance.

In 1705, Russian troops captured the Narva fortress and liberated the original Russian lands, illegally seized by Sweden. The response to this victory was the play “The Liberation of Livonia and Ingermanland”, staged at the Theological Academy. Political events were clothed in an allegorical plot about the withdrawal of the Israelites from Egypt by Moses. At the same time, secular allegorical images also appeared in the play. The main characters were Russian Jealousy, which meant Peter I, and Unrighteous Theft - Sweden. Their allegorical meaning was explained with the help of two emblematic images - the “double-headed” Eagle and the “pre-proud” Leo. A struggle took place between Jealousy and Theft, in which the Eagle and the Lion took part. Jealousy was winning. At the end of the play, Triumph laid a laurel wreath on Jealousy. The text of this play has not been preserved, only its lengthy program has been preserved. The events of the Northern War also prompted another play from the repertoire of the theological academy - “God's Humiliation of the Proud,” from which only the program has also been preserved. The immediate reason for its creation was the Battle of Poltava. As a biblical parallel unknown author The duel between the Israeli youth David and the Philistine warrior Goliath was reproduced. The image of David was associated with the Russian army, Goliath - with the Swedish. Characters familiar to us - the Eagle and the Lion - helped us decipher the allegories. The meaning of the events was explained by special inscriptions. One of them - “Chrome, but fierce” - referred to Leo and hinted at Charles XII, who was wounded in the leg on the eve of the Battle of Poltava.

The plays of the surgical school were also distinguished by their propaganda and political content. In 1824, “Russian Glory”, written by F. Zhuravsky, was staged on its stage. Peter I and his wife were present at the performance. The play was composed on the occasion of Catherine's coronation, but its content went beyond the scope of this event. The performance seemed to sum up the reign of Peter I. All the images in “Russian Glory” are allegorical, or, as stated in the program, represented by “fictitious persons.” These are either the names of countries, or abstract concepts - Wisdom, Truth, Reasoning. The content of the play is purely political and boils down to the fact that states that were previously hostile to Russia - Turkey, Sweden, Poland, Persia - recognize its glory and greatness. The performance ends with a solemn scene: along the path decorated with flowers, “Victoria of Russia is coming in triumph on lions.” . Closely related to “Russian Glory” is another dramatic work, “Sad Glory,” possibly written by the same Zhuravsky. The play was created in 1725 in connection with the death of Peter I. The first place is given to numerous glorious deeds that marked the reign of Peter: his victories at sea and on land, the enlightenment of the country, the founding of St. Petersburg and Kronstadt. Then mournful Russia announces the death of Peter and bitterly mourns his death. Russia's sadness is shared by other countries: Poland, Sweden, Persia. Thus, both works are very close to each other both in content and form. The main goal of the author was to glorify the activities of Peter I and the successes of the Russian state.

In the first decades of the 18th century. Amateur court theaters appeared. One of them was created in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow at the court of Peter I’s sister Natalya Alekseevna. The second is in Izmailovo in the palace of the Dowager Tsarina Praskovya Feodorovna, wife of the late Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich. The third - in Moscow, and then in St. Petersburg at the court of Princess Elizaveta Petrovna. The repertoire of Natalya Alekseevna’s theater was very colorful and eclectic. Along with the adaptation of everyday stories, dramatizations of secular adventurous stories were created here: “The Comedy of the Beautiful Melusine”, “The Comedy of Olundin”, “The Comedy of Peter of the Golden Springs”. The author of several plays was Natalya Alekseevna herself. Unlike poetic school dramas, all these plays are written in prose and devoid of allegorical images. Little information has been preserved about the theaters of Praskovya Fedorovna and Elizaveta Petrovna and their repertoire. However, it is known that one of the best plays of that time, “The Comedy about Count Farson,” is associated with Elizaveta Petrovna’s theater. Its beginning echoes the handwritten stories of the Peter the Great era. A young Frenchman, Count Farson, asks his parents to let him go “to foreign countries for a walk. And try to know foreigners there.” Subsequently, the plot of the “comedy” becomes very close to the plays of the Kunst Theater, where the love affair often ended in a dramatic denouement. Count Farson arrives in Portugal. The Portuguese queen noticed and fell in love with him. The successes of Count Farson aroused the envy of the senators, who managed to kill their dangerous favorite. The angry queen executes the senators and stabs herself with a sword.

The comedy is written in rhymed syllabic verses different lengths, which brings them closer to the paradise. The style of the play contrasts rude, sometimes vulgar remarks with mannered phrases designed for sophistication. So, in a verbal skirmish with the captain who insulted him, Count Farson declares: “Tut, that was invigorating! With my rod I will clear your snout. I’ll cut your lips so you can’t put them back together, where your teeth lie.” The queen’s love confession addressed to Farson has a completely different stylistic connotation: “Oh, my dear deomante. And a precious diamond!.. My mind is confused. Cupida happen to me.” Interludes between acts were filled with interludes. This was the name given to short plays in school theaters, performed in front of a closed curtain in the intervals between acts. The number of characters did not exceed three or four people.

Interludes were written in rhymed syllabic verse. The language of the characters well reproduced folk, often rude speech. Satirical interludes reflected the topical phenomena of the Petrine era. Thus, in one of the plays, “The Sexton and Sons,” they ridiculed the sexton who did not want to send his children to the seminary. The sexton tries to bribe the clerks. And they take a bribe, but take their sons away.

In the second half of the 18th century. sideshows gained independent existence along with other small comic plays.

Feofan Prokopovich (1681-1736)

In his transformative activities, Peter I sometimes tried to rely on the clergy, taking into account their influence on the masses. The reforms had an impact on some church ministers. One of them was the son of a Kyiv merchant, a talented preacher, public figure and writer Feofan Prokopovich. The transition period of the early 18th century was clearly reflected in Feofan’s personality and work. His belonging to the clergy class brings him closer to the writers of Ancient Rus'. After graduating from the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, he became a monk and was later ordained an archbishop. As a church minister, he composed and delivered sermons and achieved great success in this area.

But in his way of thinking, Feofan was far from mysticism and orthodoxy. His mind was distinguished by a critical bent; his nature demanded not faith, but evidence. Theophan's poem in Latin is remarkable, in which he reproaches the Pope for persecuting Galileo. Fluent in ancient languages, he reads ancient authors in the original. Along with theology, he is interested in the exact sciences - physics, arithmetic, geometry, which he taught at the Kyiv Academy. With his characteristic insight, Prokopovich quickly understood and appreciated the significance of Peter's reforms, with whom he was personally familiar. Feofan fully shared the king's thoughts on the need to spread education. In the dispute between secular and ecclesiastical authorities, he unconditionally sided with the government, causing a storm of indignation on the part of the clergy. In 1718, Peter instructed him to write a charter called the “Spiritual Regulations,” according to which the church was to be governed by a special board - the Synod. After the death of Peter, especially during the reign of Peter II, church reaction raised its head. A serious threat of reprisal hangs over Feofan. But he managed to rally around himself a small number of like-minded people - Tatishchev, Khrushchev, young Cantemir - into the so-called “Scientific Squad”. The members of the “squad” gained confidence in the new Empress Anna Ioannovna, and Feofan’s position was strengthened again.

Sermons occupy a prominent place in Prokopovich's work. He managed to give a new sound to this traditional church genre. Preaching in Ancient Rus' pursued mainly religious goals. Feofan subordinated it to pressing political tasks. Many of his speeches are dedicated to Peter's military victories, including Battle of Poltava. He glorifies not only Peter, but also his wife Catherine, who accompanied her husband on the Prut campaign in 1711. In his speeches, Feofan talks about the benefits of education, the need to visit foreign countries, and admires St. Petersburg. Theophan's weapons in his sermons were reasoning, evidence, and in some cases a witty satirical word. His arguments in “A Word of Commendation about the Russian Navy” are interesting. “We will briefly consider,” he writes, “how the Russian state itself needs and benefits the navy. And firstly, since this monarchy does not extend its borders to a single sea, how is it not dishonorable for it not to have a fleet? We will not find a single village in the world that is located above a river or lake and does not have boats. But if a glorious and strong monarchy... didn’t have ships... it would be dishonorable and reproachful. We stand over the water and watch how guests come and go to us, but we don’t know how to do it ourselves. Word for word, just like in poetic plots, a certain Tantalus stands in the water and thirsts.”

Prokopovich is also known as a playwright. He wrote the play “Vladimir” in 1705 for the school theater at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. The content for it was the adoption of Christianity in 988 by the Kyiv prince Vladimir. The conflict of the drama is represented by Vladimir’s struggle with the defenders of the old faith - the pagan priests Zherivol, Kuroyad and Piyar. Thus, the basis of the play is not a biblical one, as was previously accepted, but a historical event, although also related to religion. The historical plot of the play “Vladimir” does not prevent it from remaining an acutely topical work. This happens because Prokopovich associates the spread of enlightenment with Christianity, and with paganism the triumph of ignorance and conservatism. Vladimir's struggle with the priests clearly hinted at the conflict between Peter I and the reactionary clergy. The superiority of Christianity over paganism is especially clearly shown in the third act, where a dispute takes place between the Greek philosopher defending Christianity and the priest Zherivol. Zherivol responds to all his opponent’s arguments with rude abuse. After this dispute, Vladimir becomes even more convinced of the correctness of his decision. The play ends with the complete disgrace of the priests and the overthrow of the pagan idols.

Prokopovich defined the genre of his play with the term “tragedy-comedy.” In the treatise “On Poetic Art” he wrote about it: “From these two genera (tragedy and comedy. - P.O.) a third, mixed genus is formed, called tragicomedy, or, as Plautus prefers to call it in “Amphitryon”, - tragic-comedy, since it was in it that the witty and funny were mixed with the serious and sad, and insignificant faces with the outstanding ones” (p. 432). The “serious” theme is represented in Feofan’s play by the image of Vladimir, in whose soul there is a painful struggle between old habits and the decision made. The temptations tempting Vladimir are personified in the images of three demons - the demon of the flesh, the demon of blasphemy and the demon of the world. The carriers of the comedic principle are the priests, whose names emphasize their base, carnal passions - gluttony and drunkenness. They are greedy, selfish and cling to the pagan faith only because it allows them to eat the sacrifices made to the gods. Zherivol's gluttony is depicted in the play in hyperbolic proportions. He is capable of eating an entire bull in one day. Even in his sleep, Zherivol continues to move his jaws, continuing his favorite activity. Prokopovich addressed exactly the same reproaches of greed, drunkenness and debauchery to the clergy of his day in his sermons. Prokopovich's play is largely connected with the Baroque traditions. It presents two principles - tragic and comic, which the poetics of classicism categorically forbade to combine in one work. In addition to “high” and “low”, Feofan’s work also combines real and fantastic images. Thus, next to the priests and Prince Vladimir, the ghost of Yaropolk, demons, as well as “charm” appear, that is, temptation “with many other girls.” A musical element is introduced into the dramatic action, in which the same contrasts are present: the songs of Zherivol and Kuroyad are contrasted with a choir of angels, in which Apostle Andrew participates.

The third section of Prokopovich’s artistic creativity is represented by lyrical poetic works. They are written in syllabic verse and are distinguished by a variety of themes. Serious heroic genres include “Epinikion”, or, as Theophanes himself explains this word, “victory song”. This panegyric genre preceded the classicist ode in Russia. Feofan's "Epinikion" is dedicated to the victory of the Russian army in the Battle of Poltava. Adjacent to the “Epinikion” in its military theme is the poem “Beyond the Pockmarked Grave,” which describes one of the episodes of the Prut campaign of Peter I, in which the author himself participated. It is distinguished by light and rather rhythmic verses for that time, and was even later included in the songbooks of the 18th century: “Behind the Ryabaya grave/ /Above the Prutovaya river/ /There was an army in a terrible battle” (p. 214). In the poem “The Shepherd Boy Cries in Long Bad Weather,” the author speaks in allegorical form about the difficult time that he had to endure after the death of Peter I. He likens himself to a shepherd caught in bad weather, whose flock has thinned out, and there is still no hope for “red” days. . At the end of this five-year period, Theophanes read Antiochus Cantemir's handwritten satire “To His Mind.” In its author, he immediately felt like a like-minded person. He writes a message in syllabic octaves entitled “Theophan, Archbishop of Novgorod to the author of the satire.” Prokopovich hastens to congratulate the unknown poet in this poem and advises him not to be afraid of the enemies he ridiculed: “Spit on their thunderstorms! You are threefold blessed” (p. 217).

The transitional nature of Feofan’s activity was also manifested in his theoretical works. This primarily refers to the course of lectures in Latin, which he read in 1705 for students of the Kiev Academy and called “De arte poetica” (“On the Poetic Art”). In his views, Feofan relies on ancient writers revered by classicists - on Horace, Aristotle, as well as the French theorist of the 16th century, predecessor of the classicists - Yu. Ts. Scaliger. He quotes Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Pindar, Catullus and other ancient writers. In creativity itself, an important place is given to the rules derived from “model essays.” Along with the rules, “imitation of models” is strongly recommended. It is impossible to become a good poet, asserts Feofan, “if we do not have leaders, that is, excellent and famous authors in the poetic art, following in whose footsteps we will achieve the same goal as them.” (p. 381). Feofan considered epic and tragedy to be the most serious and authoritative works. In dramatic works, according to him, there must necessarily be five acts. This number would later be legitimized by classicists. There is already a clear tendency towards establishing the unity of action and time. “In a tragedy,” writes Prokopovich, “one should not represent a whole life in action... but only one action that occurred or could have occurred within two or at least three days” (p. 435). Thus, the artistic and theoretical activity of Feofan Prokopovich paved the way for Russian classicism.

Questions and tasks

1. Get acquainted with the book “The Honest Mirror of Youth” (1717) and compare it with “Domostroy”, monument XVI V. What are the similarities and differences between these works?

2. Compare the fate of Vasily Koriotsky from “The History of the Russian sailor Vasily Koriotsky” with the fate of the main characters from “The Tale of Misfortune” and “The Tale of Savva Gruddyn”. Motivate the life paths of the heroes with historical conditions.

3. Write out words of foreign origin from the stories about Vasily Koriotsky and the nobleman Alexander. What caused their appearance?

4. Demonstrate the genre specificity of “The History of the Russian sailor Vasily Koriotsky” by identifying the functions of historical realities, traditions of adventure fairy tales and novels.

5. Identify the main historical sources of the tragic comedy “Vladimir” and determine the features of their use in its plot and system of images.

6. What rhetorical devices did Feofan Prokopovich use in “The Tale of the Burial of Peter the Great”?

7. Show with several examples the transitional nature from ancient literature to something new in the work of Feofan Prokopovich.

8. How do everyday and literary etiquette compare in ancient Russian literature and in the Petrine era?

9. What is common and what distinguishes the aesthetic ideas of Avvakum Petrov and Feofan Prokopovich (compare “On Icon Writing” and “Poetic Art”)?

10. Determine the possibilities of the aesthetic impact of theater, poetry, masquerades, assemblies and triumphal processions on the consciousness of the public of the Peter the Great era.

11. Show with specific examples the principle of unmotivated mixing of styles in dramatic texts of Peter the Great’s time.

12. Under the influence of what factors were the artistic canons of the Middle Ages transformed during the period of Peter the Great’s reforms?

13. What are the main controversial problems of Russian literary baroque? Can Baroque be considered a pan-European style, devoid of national differences? What position do you take in modern debates about the place of the Baroque within the styles of Russian literature of the transition period from ancient to modern literature?

14. Highlight the stylistic features of the Baroque in the process of analyzing the texts of Avvakum Petrov, Simeon of Polotsk, Feofan Prokopovich.

16. What are the forms and methods of poetic approval of Peter’s transformations in the stories of the early 18th century?

17. What do you see as the main features of use? folklore traditions in handwritten stories of the Peter the Great era?

18. Identify the relationship between Western European and Old Russian traditions in the development of the motifs “man and fate”, “fathers and sons”, “love and marriage” in “Peter’s” stories.

FORMATION OF RUSSIAN CLASSICISM

In the 30-50s, the struggle between supporters and opponents of Peter's reforms did not stop. However, Peter's successors on the throne turned out to be extremely mediocre people. The stamp of increasing self-interest in this era marked the behavior of the nobility, which, while retaining their privileges, sought to throw off all responsibilities.

During the reign of Peter III, on February 18, 1762, a Decree on the Liberty of the Nobility was issued, freeing nobles from compulsory service.

And yet, neither the inertia of the rulers, nor the predation of the favorites, nor the greed of the nobles could stop the progressive development of Russian society. “After the death of Peter I,” Pushkin wrote, “the movement, transmitted by a strong man, still continued in the huge composition of the transformed state.” But the bearers of progress were now not representatives of the authorities, but the advanced noble and common intelligentsia. The Academy of Sciences begins its activities. The first Russian professors appeared in it - V.K. Trediakovsky and M.V. Lomonosov. The Academy of Sciences publishes the journal “Monthly Works for Use and Entertainment.” The future writers A.P. Sumarokov and M.M. Kheraskov studied in the Land Noble Corps, created in 1732. In 1756, the first state theater was opened in St. Petersburg. Its core was an amateur troupe of Yaroslavl artists led by the merchant's son F. G. Volkov. The first director of the theater was playwright A.P. Sumarokov. In 1755, thanks to the persistent efforts of Lomonosov and with the assistance of the prominent nobleman I. I. Shuvalov, Moscow University was opened and two gymnasiums were opened with it - for nobles and for commoners. Serious changes are also taking place in the field of literature. It formed the first literary movement in Russia - classicism.

The name of this direction comes from the Latin word classicus, i.e. exemplary. This was the name of ancient literature, which was widely used by classicists. Classicism received its most vivid embodiment in the 17th century. in France in the works of Corneille, Racine, Moliere, Boileau. The ideological basis of literary movements is always a broad social movement. Russian classicism was created by a generation of European-educated young writers who were born in the era of Peter’s reforms and sympathized with them. “The basis of this artistic system,” G. N. Pospelov writes about Russian classicism, “was an ideological worldview that developed as a result of awareness of the strengths of the civil transformations of Peter I.”

The main thing in the ideology of classicism is state pathos. The state, created in the first decades of the 18th century, was declared the highest value. The classicists, inspired by Peter's reforms, believed in the possibility of its further improvement. It seemed to them to be a reasonably structured social organism, where each class fulfills the duties assigned to it. “Peasants plow, merchants trade, warriors defend the fatherland, judges judge, scientists cultivate science,” wrote A.P. Sumarokov. The state pathos of Russian classicists is a deeply contradictory phenomenon. It reflected progressive trends associated with the final centralization of Russia, and at the same time - utopian ideas coming from a clear overestimation of the social possibilities of enlightened absolutism.

The attitude of the classicists to the “nature” of man is equally contradictory. Its basis, in their opinion, is selfish, but at the same time amenable to education and the influence of civilization. The key to this is reason, which the classicists contrasted with emotions and “passions.” Reason helps to realize “duty” to the state, while “passions” distract from socially useful activities. “Virtue,” wrote Sumarokov, “we do not owe to our nature. Morals and politics make us, by the measure of enlightenment, reason and purification of hearts, useful to the common good. Without this, people would have destroyed each other long ago without a trace.”

The uniqueness of Russian classicism lies in the fact that in its formation era it combined the pathos of serving the absolutist state with the ideas of the early European Enlightenment. In France in the 18th century. absolutism had already exhausted its progressive possibilities, and society was facing a bourgeois revolution, which was ideologically prepared by the French enlighteners. In Russia in the first decades of the 18th century. absolutism was still at the head of progressive transformations for the country. Therefore, at the first stage of its development, Russian classicism adopted some of its social doctrines from the Enlightenment. These include, first of all, the idea of ​​enlightened absolutism. According to this theory, the state should be headed by a wise, “enlightened” monarch, who in his ideas stands above the selfish interests of individual classes and demands from each of them honest service for the benefit of the whole society. An example of such a ruler for Russian classicists was Peter I, a unique personality in intelligence, energy and broad political outlook.

Unlike French classicism XVII century and in direct accordance with the Age of Enlightenment in Russian classicism of the 30s -50s, a huge place was given to sciences, knowledge, and enlightenment. The country has made a transition from church ideology to secular one. Russia needed accurate knowledge useful to society. Lomonosov spoke about the benefits of science in almost all his odes. Cantemir’s first satire, “To Your Mind. On those who blaspheme the teaching." The very word “enlightened” meant not just an educated person, but a citizen, to whom knowledge helped to realize his responsibility to society. “Ignorance” implied not only a lack of knowledge, but at the same time a lack of understanding of one’s duty to the state. In Western European educational literature of the 18th century, especially at the later stage of its development, “enlightenment” was determined by the degree of opposition to the existing order. In Russian classicism of the 30s and 50s, “enlightenment” was measured by the measure of civil service to the absolutist state. Russian classicists - Kantemir, Lomonosov, Sumarokov - were close to the struggle of enlighteners against the church and church ideology. But if in the West it was about defending the principle of religious tolerance, and in some cases atheism, then Russian enlighteners in the first half of the 18th century. denounced the ignorance and rude morals of the clergy, defended science and its adherents from persecution by church authorities. The first Russian classicists were already aware of the educational idea about the natural equality of people. “The flesh in your servant is one-person,” Cantemir pointed out to the nobleman beating the valet. Sumarokov reminded the “noble” class that “born from women and from ladies // Without exception, Adam is the forefather of all.” But this thesis at that time had not yet been embodied in the demand for the equality of all classes before the law. Cantemir, based on the principles of “natural law,” called on the nobles to treat the peasants humanely. Sumarokov, pointing to the natural equality of nobles and peasants, demanded that the “first” members of the fatherland through education and service confirm their “nobility” and commanding position in the country.

In the purely artistic field, Russian classicists faced such complex tasks that their European brothers did not know. French literature of the mid-17th century. already had a well-developed literary language and secular genres that had developed over a long time. Russian literature at the beginning of the 18th century. had neither one nor the other. Therefore, it was the share of Russian writers of the second third of the 18th century. The task fell not only of creating a new literary movement. They had to reform the literary language, master genres unknown until that time in Russia. Each of them was a pioneer. Kantemir laid the foundation for Russian satire, Lomonosov legitimized the ode genre, Sumarokov acted as the author of tragedies and comedies. In the field of literary language reform, the main role belonged to Lomonosov. The Russian classicists also faced such a serious task as the reform of Russian versification, the replacement of the syllabic system with a syllabic-tonic one.

The creative activity of Russian classicists was accompanied and supported by numerous theoretical works in the field of genres, literary language and versification. Trediakovsky wrote a treatise entitled “A New and Brief Method for Composing Russian Poems,” in which he substantiated the basic principles of the new, syllabic-tonic system. Lomonosov, in his discussion “On the Use of Church Books in the Russian Language,” carried out a reform of the literary language and proposed the doctrine of “three calms.” Sumarokov in his treatise “Instructions for those who want to be writers” gave a description of the content and style of classicist genres.

As a result of persistent work, a literary movement was created that had its own program, creative method and harmonious system of genres. Artistic creativity was thought by classicists as strict adherence to “reasonable” rules, eternal laws created on the basis of studying the best examples of ancient authors and French literature of the 17th century. A distinction was made between “correct” and “incorrect” works, that is, those that corresponded or did not comply with the classicist “rules.” Even Shakespeare's best tragedies were classified as "wrong". Rules existed for each genre and required strict implementation. Creative method classicists is formed on the basis of rationalistic thinking. Like the founder of rationalism, Descartes, they strive to decompose human psychology into its simplest component forms. It is not social characters that are typified, but human passions and virtues. This is how the images of a miser, a prude, a dandy, a braggart, a hypocrite, etc. are born. It was strictly forbidden to combine different “passions” and even more so “vice” and “virtue” in one character. Genres were distinguished by exactly the same “purity” and unambiguity. A comedy was not supposed to include “touching” episodes. The tragedy excluded the showing of comic characters. As Sumarokov said, one should not irritate the muses “with your bad success: Thalia with tears, // and Melpomene with laughter” (p. 136).

The works of classicists were represented by high and low genres clearly opposed to each other. There was a rationalistic, well-thought-out hierarchy here. High genres included the ode, the epic poem, and the eulogy. Low - comedy, fable, epigram. True, Lomonosov also proposed “middle” genres - tragedy and satire, but tragedy was more inclined towards high genres, and satire - towards low genres. Each of the groups assumed its own moral and social significance. In high genres, “exemplary” heroes were depicted - monarchs, generals who could serve as role models. Among them, the most popular was Peter I. In low genres, characters were depicted who were overwhelmed by one or another “passion.”

Special rules existed in the classicist “code” for dramatic works. They had to observe three “unities” - place, time and action. These unities subsequently caused many criticisms. But, oddly enough, the demand for “unities” was dictated in the poetics of the classicists by the desire for verisimilitude. The classicists wanted to create a unique illusion of life on stage. In this regard, they sought to bring the stage time closer to the time that the audience spends in the theater. “Try to measure the clock for me in the game by the hour, / So that, having forgotten myself, I can believe you” (p. 137), Sumarokov instructed novice playwrights. The maximum time allowed in classic plays was not to exceed twenty-four hours. The unity of the place was due to another rule. The theater, divided into an auditorium and a stage, gave the audience the opportunity to see someone else's life. Transferring the action to another place, the classicists believed, would break this illusion. Therefore, the best option was considered to be a performance with permanent scenery, much worse, but acceptable, was the development of events within the confines of one house, castle, palace. And finally, the unity of action implied in the play the presence of only one storyline and the minimum number of characters participating in the events depicted.

Of course, such plausibility was too superficial. At this time, playwrights could not yet fully understand the fact that convention is one of the attributes of each type of creativity, without which it is impossible to create genuine works of art. “Plausibility,” wrote Pushkin, “is still considered the main condition and foundation of dramatic art... What if they prove to us that the very essence of dramatic art excludes verisimilitude?.. Where is verisimilitude in a building divided into two parts, one of which is filled spectators who agreed etc.” .

And yet, in the stage laws proposed by the classicists, in the notorious “unities” there was also a rational grain. It consisted in the desire for a clear organization of a dramatic work, in concentrating the viewer’s attention not on the external, entertainment side, but on the characters themselves, on their dramatic relationships. However, these demands were expressed in too harsh and categorical form.

Subsequently, in the era of romanticism, the indisputable rules of classicist poetics caused ridicule. They seemed to be constraining bonds that fettered poetic inspiration. This reaction was absolutely correct for that time, since outdated norms interfered with the forward movement of Russian literature. But in the era of classicism they were perceived as a saving principle created by enlightenment and the principles of public order.

It should be noted that, despite such regulation of creativity, the works of each of the classic writers had their own individual characteristics. Thus, Kantemir and Sumarokov attached great importance to civic education. Both writers were painfully aware of the self-interest and ignorance of the nobility, their oblivion of their social duty. Satire was used as one of the means to achieve this goal. In his tragedies, Sumarokov subjected the monarchs themselves to harsh judgment, appealing to their civic conscience.

Lomonosov and Trediakovsky are absolutely not concerned about the problem of educating nobles. They are closer not to class, but to the national pathos of Peter’s reforms: the spread of science, military successes, and the economic development of Russia. Lomonosov in his laudatory odes does not judge the monarchs, the heirs of Peter I, but strives to captivate them with the tasks of further improving the Russian state. This determines the style of each writer. So, artistic media Sumarokov are subordinated to didactic techniques. Hence the desire for clarity, preciseness, unambiguousness of the word, for the logical thoughtfulness of the composition of works. Lomonosov's style is distinguished by pomp, an abundance of bold metaphors and personifications corresponding to the grandeur of state reforms.

Russian classicism of the 18th century. went through two stages in its development. The first of them dates back to the 30-50s. This is the formation of a new direction, when one after another genres unknown to that time in Russia are born, the literary language and versification are reformed. The second stage falls on the last four decades of the 18th century. and is associated with the names of such writers as Fonvizin, Kheraskov, Derzhavin, Knyazhnin, Kapnist. In their work, Russian classicism most fully and widely revealed its ideological and artistic possibilities.

Each major literary movement, leaving the stage, continues to live in more later literature. Classicism bequeathed to her high civic pathos, the principle of human responsibility to society, the idea of ​​duty based on the suppression of personal, egoistic principles in the name of general state interests.

A. D. Cantemir (1709-1744)

Antioch Dmitrievich Kantemir is the first Russian classicist writer, author of poetic satires. The son of a Moldavian ruler who accepted Russian citizenship in 1711, Cantemir was raised in the spirit of sympathy for Peter's reforms. During the years of reaction that followed the death of Peter, he boldly denounced the militant ignorance of high-born nobles and clergy. Kantemir owns nine satires: five written in Russia and four abroad, where he was sent as an ambassador in 1732. The satirical activity of the writer clearly confirms the organic connection of Russian classicism with the needs of Russian society. Unlike previous literature, all of Cantemir’s works are distinguished by a purely secular character.

Satires

The young writer’s early literary experience was the “Symphony on the Psalter,” i.e., an alphabetical-thematic index to one of the books of the Bible. His songs on love themes that have not reached us date back to the same time, which were very popular among his contemporaries, but the poet himself did not value them highly. The best works Cantemir had satires, the first of which “On those who blaspheme the teaching. To Your Mind" was written in 1729.

Cantemir's early satires were created in the era following the death of Peter I, in an atmosphere of struggle between defenders and opponents of his reforms. One of the points of disagreement was the attitude towards science and secular education. In this situation, according to one of the researchers, Cantemir, the first satire “was a work of enormous political resonance, since it was directed against ignorance as a specific social and political force, and not an abstract vice... militant and triumphant ignorance, invested with the authority of the state and church authority."

Object

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