A little about the author
An analysis of the poem “Russian Language” will not be complete in terms of its philosophical content without a few words from the writer’s biography. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818−1883) is a famous talented figure in Russian literature of the nineteenth century, publicist and translator, poet and playwright. The key theme of the classic's work was realism .
It was by working in this direction of art that Ivan Sergeevich, despite his noble noble origin, exposed the whole bitter truth about the difficult life of the simple peasant people.
In addition to serving literature, the writer devoted a lot of energy to theatrical and screenwriting. Turgenev produced many plays about peasant life, including:
- "Freeloader";
- "Provincial";
- "A month in the village."
For his works exposing the true state of affairs in the state, Turgenev was expelled from Russia, which was real torture for the writer. The author passionately missed his homeland, but, alas, he died and was buried far beyond its borders - in France.
The classic had very similar views on the Russian people with his comrade-in-arms N.A. Nekrasov, whom they met at the publishing house of the literary magazine Sovremennik.
Turgenev, who received an excellent education at Moscow University at the Faculty of Literature, and then in St. Petersburg, wrote about his native language with knowledge of the matter.
It was in Russian speech and its wealth that the writer saw the spiritual strength of his nation.
Prerequisites for creation
It is impossible to deeply understand a work without at least a brief excursion into the history of its writing. Turgenev's prose poems, the analysis of which is presented in the essay, were written in 1882 and published in Vestnik Evropy. The opus belongs to the late period of the author’s work and reflects the writer’s mature life concept. Moreover, the lines were created during a period of long stay outside the homeland and are permeated with patriotism and longing for Russia and everything connected with it.
The poem “Russian Language,” like the entire cycle of “Poems in Prose” within which it was created, was written by Ivan Sergeevich several months before his own death. It was during this period that the writer felt especially proud of his native country and its people, regretting that he was passing away without ever visiting Russia again.
On the eve of the creation of the poem, an alarming event occurs in Rus' - an attempt on the life of the monarch, and then the murder of Emperor Alexander II. Such state force majeure leads to the emergence of a revolutionary reaction in the country and the most severe censorship that affected the poet’s close friends and colleagues in the literary workshop.
All this together encourages the writer to create a lyrical hymn to the Russian language.
Poem “Russian language” - analysis according to plan
Option 1
History of creation
Turgenev’s prose poem “Russian Language” was created in 1882 and published in “Bulletin of Europe” No. 12 for 1882.
This prose poem, along with the other forty-nine, was sent to the editor of Vestnik Evropy, Stasyulevich. Turgenev gave the prose poems a subtitle, which is translated from Latin as “Senile.” All the wisdom of the 65-year-old writer is embodied in these works. “Russian Language” was one of the last to write the poem, and it was placed last in the publication.
Literary direction and genre
The realist writer Turgenev defined the genre of these small works, which did not even immediately form into a cycle, as “poems without rhyme or meter.” He explained to Stasyulevich that such works are similar to sketches or sketches from life that an artist writes before creating a large painting. But researchers agree that Turgenev was disingenuous and did not intend to write novels on these subjects. In addition, many prose poems are plotless, like “Russian Language”.
Theme, main idea and composition
If Turgenev in his letter to Stasyulevich called all the prose poems the last heavy sighs of an old man, then “The Russian Language” is his most bitter sigh. “Poems in Prose” is the writer’s farewell to life, homeland and creativity. In recent years, Turgenev spent winters in Paris, and in the summer he moved to Bougival near Paris, where the Viardot estate was located. He often came to Russia, but could look at the events taking place in his homeland from the outside.
In March 1881, an attempt was made on Tsar Alexander II, which ended in his death. After this event, there was a reaction in Russia. Alexander III canceled the constitutional reform. All departments were obliged to carry out the orders of the head of security. Not only revolutionary but also liberal publications were closed, and the most severe censorship was introduced. The hope for any democratic changes has disappeared.
The poem “Russian Language” is the writer’s feelings about events in his homeland. Turning to language, Turgenev pointed out the role of language in human life, which has not yet been discussed. The native language is the core that helps you survive adversity at a time when there is no one close to you, no family, no compatriots, when you yourself are far from your homeland and cannot hear your native speech.
The native language is all generations of people who speak it, all their thoughts and feelings, aspirations, all works of literature in this language. Every Russian feels like a part of current and past generations. This is Turgenev's hope.
The theme of the poem is the role of the Russian language in the life of a Russian person. The main idea: the Russian language has absorbed all the wisdom of a great people, it is the last hope and support of anyone who speaks it. The poem entirely reflects the richness of Turgenev’s thought. This is a single aphoristic expression. Stasyulevich called 5 lines of the poem golden lines, more capacious than the whole treatise.
Paths and images
The main trope of the poem is personification. For the lyrical hero, who is close to the author in the poem, language is a living native being, a friend in need.
In the poem, nouns with a negative connotation and epithets attached to them are contrasted with positive ones: doubts and painful thoughts, despair - support and support (metaphors). Arranging epithets in order of increasing value for himself personally, Turgenev uses gradation. Great and mighty are almost synonymous. The power of language lies in the impact it can have. The epithets truthful and free are also related. Freedom of language, like freedom of a person, lies precisely in the ability to speak the truth.
Only language helps the lyrical hero survive the reaction taking place in his homeland. The use of the synonym for the word homeland (home) conveys the lyrical hero’s perception of all of Russia as his own home, about which you care. In the last sentence, the epithet great (people) corresponds to the pronoun such (language). The pronoun replaces the four epithets listed in the first sentence.
To create an artistic image, the syntax of a prose poem is important. The poem consists of three sentences, the first sentence is simple, common, the second is non-union. Turgenev strives for a brief and aphoristic statement. The last complex sentence with its syntactic construction confuses the modern reader. The idea is clear, but it is expressed strangely.
Indeed, Turgenev uses Gallicism, a construction peculiar to the French language. There is a double negative in Russian, which does not exist in French. For the Russian reader, it would be necessary to add a second not: but one cannot help but believe. This double negative replaces the statement: you can believe. Negation in the second part of the sentence: was not given - this is just a figure of speech. The last sentence means the following: you can believe that the Russian language was given to a great people. Numerous nos are an attempt to persuade opponents, those who doubt the greatness of the people, and therefore the language.
Option 2
Turgenev has several works that he wrote at the end of his life, and they are called poems. He loved his homeland very much, and at times, being away from it, he created lyrical masterpieces, through which he showed his feelings and faith in the happy fate of his native fatherland.
So, in one of his poems, Ivan Sergeevich raised the problem of his native language. He considered him his “support and hope” and believed in him. And although he then lived abroad, he was always worried about the fate of the country and its main exponent, the Russian language. Showing all its beauty, melodiousness and lyricism, the great writer Turgenev, in a few lines, assessed this cultural phenomenon, showed his love and devotion to it. Having collected and precisely verified the words, Turgenev created a highly cultural work, masterfully using all kinds of artistic means. There is no clearly defined plot in these lines, and the composition divides it into parts with rhetorical questions, to which, most often, there are no answers.
The author's position is acutely felt in the poem. He seems to be talking to the language, asking it questions: what needs to be done and where to direct one’s path in difficult times, of which there have been many in Russia. In this, Turgenev is helped by tropes: epithets and personifications, metaphors, antitheses and stylistic figures of speech: rhetorical exclamations, questions and appeals.
Emotional and evaluative vocabulary also came into place, that is, these are words that express the attitude and direct assessment of the author. Turgenev loved Russian culture and his native language, and was proud of all the achievements of the “great and mighty.” Having become acquainted with this work, we will appreciate this gift of historical, literary heritage, given to us forever.
Means of expression
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev’s poem “Russian Language,” although it consists of only a few phrases, without a doubt, fully embodies the author’s main idea. In this, the writer is helped by classical literary and visual techniques, such as composition and rhythm.
Despite the fact that the work does not have a poetic meter as such, it is simply impossible to read it without a certain solemn mood. This is why Turgenev's writing talent is so unique. The classic himself compared prose poems with sketches and small sketches in painting.
Ivan Sergeevich complements the named means of expression with literary tropes.
Among the traditional techniques, the author uses:
- epithets: “painful thoughts”, “great people”, “mighty language”, “free and truthful language”;
- metaphor: “fall into despair”;
- personification: “language, you are my support and support.”
Turgenev also uses a rhetorical question as a method of enhancing the artistic expressiveness of the work: “If it weren’t for you, how could I not fall into despair at the sight of everything that is happening at home?”
It is noteworthy that the author identifies Russia with home, directly calling the homeland with this word in the lines of his poem.
(1 option)
The lyrical miniature “Russian Language” is the writer’s reflection on the peculiarities of the Russian language and its connection with the common people.
To sum up my thoughts, in the last years of I.S. Turgenev writes “Poems in Prose,” with the help of which he conveys his thoughts and feelings to the reader. Small lyrical miniatures do not rhyme, but reflect the experiences and moods of the author. One of the most famous Turgenev miniatures from the “Poems in Prose” cycle is “Russian Language”.
In this lyrical etude I.S. Turgenev reflects on the essence of the Russian language, on the need for the native language, especially “in days of doubt, in days of painful thoughts about the fate of ... the homeland.” The Russian word is support and support for the author who is far from his homeland, because while writing lyrical miniatures I.S. Turgenev lived abroad. The writer characterizes the Russian language using the following epithets: “great, powerful, truthful and free.” Reflecting on the plight of his people, I.S. Turgenev writes: “...how not to fall into despair at the sight of everything that is happening at home.” But the ending of the prose poem is not tragic; the writer believes in the spiritual strength, moral strength, and spiritual resilience of his people: “But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!” The fate of the people is directly related to the development of the Russian language, which amazes with its depth and beauty.
Thus, the lyrical miniature by I.S. Turge-
Neva “Russian Language” contains enormous content: the writer’s reflections on the peculiarities of his native language and its connection with the common people.
(Option 2)
In this prose poem by I.S. Turgenev does not have a plot, but there is a composition and a clearly expressed author’s position. It can be divided into several parts: the first is the conditions, time, reason for turning to language as a support in life (“In days of doubt, in days of painful thoughts about the fate of my homeland, you alone are my support and support...”); the second is the characteristics of the language (“...oh great, mighty, truthful and free Russian language!”); the third is a rhetorical question, a repeated assertion that the only support and hope for the best in critical days for the homeland is language (“If it weren’t for you, how would one not fall into despair at the sight of everything that is happening at home?”); the fourth is the argument that a great language was given to a great people and the author does not allow any other thought (“But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!”). Judging by the fact that the author falls into despair “at the sight of what is happening at home,” he is outside Russia at this time. And the more dear to him is his native language, and not only language. Turgenev is proud of the Russian language, Russian literature, and culture. He did a lot to ensure that foreigners could read Russian novels, stories, stories, and lyrics. What is the “Russian language” for a Russian person? This is a person’s way of self-expression, a way to express his thoughts and make them accessible to many.
Language is the language of personal writing in which you can declare your love, share grief and joy with a friend, and help loved ones; it is the language of works of art, scientific articles, journalistic and critical essays. He may be more or less truthful, but the more truthful he is, the greater and more dangerous he is. He may be more or less free, but the more free he is, the more powerful and beautiful in his clarity, his anger. Fluent, even masterful, command of the language allows you to achieve a lot in life. The way each of us speaks characterizes us as people, reveals our shortcomings, because we let it slip, shows our strengths. Literary speech, jargon, foreign words... By language and speech one can judge a person’s social status, what kind of education he received, what kind of society he moves in, what he reads. By the language of a nation one can judge the degree of its development, the cultural level of the country, and its readiness for dialogue.
Ideological content
An analysis of Turgenev’s poem made it possible to identify the main literary techniques with the help of which the classic managed to write down the entire essence and power of his native dialect in just three sentences. In Ivan Sergeevich’s interpretation, the language of the people embodies its spiritual unity and true strength .
It is possible that the tragic coincidence of circumstances that did not allow the author to visit his homeland before his death served as a catalyst for the creation of this talented work.
And, although such a happy day did not come for Turgenev, schoolchildren still learn lines about the Russian language by heart, which means that the main idea of the classic opus lives on centuries later. The author’s mental pain, which could not subside, gave Russian literature another legacy of Turgenev, adding to the already considerable cultural heritage left by the writer to his country.
Thus, the prose poem “Russian Language” is a cry from the soul of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, reflecting the author’s longing for his forcedly abandoned homeland and at the same time an ode to Russian literature, in which he, as a true master of words and a patriot, saw the strength of the people’s spirit.
