Russian literature. Just about the important things. Styles, directions and trends
Three pillars of Russian literature
Dostoevsky rightly deduces all Russian literature “straight from Pushkin.” And this is not an exaggeration: it was in Pushkin’s works that the three main principles that underlie Russian classical literature were first laid down and developed: the principles of free personality, historicism and universalism.
• Freedom of the individual.
The individual in Pushkin’s works confronts his environment and openly declares his rights, the main one of which is the right to happiness. This leads to inevitable conflict.
Such is the conflict in all of Pushkin’s romantic (“southern”) poems, such is the intrigue of “Eugene Onegin.” The three main characters of this novel - Onegin, Tatyana and Lensky - constantly find themselves in conflict with the environment that surrounds them, and inevitably fail. They all end up unhappy.
Pushkin shows that if a hero stands out even a little from his environment, he will definitely be unhappy, because society needs stupid vulgarities and mediocrities (like Olga Larina or Uncle Onegin, who “for forty years cursed with the housekeeper, looked out the window and crushed flies” , that is, he was drunk). Here all the great Russian writers agree with Pushkin (except, perhaps, Tolstoy, who deliberately creates the epic novel “War and Peace” with happy heroes): Chatsky is unhappy in Griboedov’s “Woe from Wit,” Katerina is unhappy in Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm,” Bazarov in Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons, Oblomov is unhappy in Goncharov’s novel of the same name. All of them were not afraid to contrast their values with the values of the environment and openly declared their values and the right to happiness.
The roots of this phenomenon must be sought in romanticism, the heir of which was Pushkin’s realism. Even the first critics of Pushkin’s works argued that the Russian poet borrowed a lot from Byron and other romantics. The hero who puts his own interests above the interests of the team, of course, also comes from romanticism. As the French romantic George Sand accurately said, “individualism is the need for happiness that consumes us. Maybe this is not a vice, but the right of every person.”
• Historicism.
The second principle is that literary heroes were inscribed in a specific historical era. This is how the concept of “modern man” arose, that is, a person who is different from people of previous generations.
Historicism also came from romanticism and appeared thanks to the Great French Revolution. Under feudalism there was no sense of different eras: if your grandfather was a carpenter, then your father and you will be one. The revolution turned everything upside down: Napoleon, the son of a petty lawyer, became Emperor of France. Man grabbed the backbone of history, and an understanding of the difference between eras, important for realism, came.
The concept of “modern man” was again first formulated by Pushkin in “Eugene Onegin” - a novel “in which the century is reflected and modern man is depicted quite correctly.” And later Mikhail Lermontov brought out modern man in the form of an aphoristic formula - “Hero of our time.” These discoveries seem obvious today. But at the beginning of the 19th century, they gave Russian realism a concrete connection with the time in which the work was written.
• Universalism
- the concept according to which everything in this world is connected and should be in harmony. Russian classics also borrowed this idea from the romantics. In their works it usually had a religious-mystical character. British poet William Blake wrote:
See eternity in one moment,
A huge world in a grain of sand,
In a single handful - infinity
And the sky is in the cup of a flower.
Seeing the big in the small is the task that Russian writers set themselves. And this led them to the most important principle - typification. According to the classic definition of Friedrich Engels, “realism means ‹…›, in addition to fidelity to detail, fidelity in the reproduction of typical characters in typical circumstances.”
In depicting a typical hero, Pushkin was again the first in Russian literature, along with his contemporary, Alexander Griboyedov. The appearance of Onegin and Chatsky tells the reader that in the early 1820s an educated minority arose in Russia, which did not suit society. These people did not hide their ideas, expressing them out loud. It was they who came to Senate Square in 1825, and then went to the mines of Siberia for this. Judging by Pechorin, in the 1830s (“the era of timelessness”), heroes appeared suffering from their uselessness, feeling certain “immense forces” and “high purpose,” but not knowing where to apply these forces. It is about them that Lermontov will say:
I look sadly at our generation!
His future is either empty or dark,
Meanwhile, under the burden of knowledge and doubt,
It will grow old in inactivity.
Chichikov became a symbol of the businessmen who emerged in the 1840s among the impoverished nobles. They could no longer look into the “bedside table with money”, like Onegin, so they began to earn money themselves - including through all sorts of fraud and deception. It was in the 1840s that the first shoots of capitalism appeared in Russia.
Bazarov's hobbies say that in the 1850s, university youth became interested in the natural sciences: chemistry, biology, medicine. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, published in 1859, gave a powerful impetus to the development of natural sciences throughout the world. Therefore, Bazarov, who studies frogs in Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons,” puzzles the “fathers” - Nikolai Petrovich and Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov. They studied twenty years earlier, and in the 1830s the main sciences were considered to be the humanities: philosophy, history, literature.
Even Raskolnikov can be called a typical hero of the 1860s. This does not mean that then students took axes and went to kill old women. But after the abolition of serfdom in 1861, capitalism developed rapidly in Russia, and stratification in society increased: the rich became richer, and the poor became poorer. And Raskolnikov’s protest against social injustice is quite understandable and typical.
Russian literature is read all over the world. People from different countries are interested in following characters who are looking for answers to complex moral questions. Writers pay more attention to the inner world of characters rather than external literary effects. Russian literature is based on three principles introduced by Pushkin: personal freedom, historicism and universalism. In this book, we will look at the most important works of Russian literature of the 19th century and find out what other unique features make it great.
1820s CHATSKY and ONEGIN
(hero - “Decembrist”)
1830s PECHORIN
(hero of the “era of timelessness”)
1840s CHICHIKOV
(the hero is a bourgeois entrepreneur, or a “scoundrel-acquirer”)
1850s BAZAROV
(hero-naturalist, “chemist” and “nerd”)
1860s RASKOLNIKOV
(a hero who sharply protests against the imperfections of the world)
1870s VERKHOVENSKY
(terrorist hero)
1880s BELIKOV
(a quiet fiscal teacher who dreams of hiding the whole world in a “case”)
Thoughts on the peculiarities of Russian literature
We are so accustomed to the consciousness of the height and uniqueness of Russian classical literature that this truth has long become hackneyed for us, not requiring proof or special reflection. And this is bad: not wanting to think, using templates from school years, we are poorly aware of the uniqueness of Russian literature and more often limit ourselves to arrogant confidence in the artistic superiority of the works of Russian geniuses over all others, which only feeds our own pride.
For many reasons, the properties of the objective and subjective, the basic originality of Russian classical literature, were almost not touched upon by its numerous researchers and critics. The philosophical, ethical, aesthetic, social, political problems associated with this great manifestation of the Russian national spirit, character, and our national culture are traced in their development almost thoroughly. Traditional literary criticism sees the main value of the work of our classics only in the critical pathos of their works. But even if there is some truth in this approach, it is still secondary to the most important thing in Russian literature - its religious, Orthodox worldview, the nature of the reflection of reality.
The religiosity of our literature does not manifest itself in a simple connection with church life, just as it does not manifest itself in exclusive attention to the subjects of the Holy Scriptures - far from it. (The interpretation of the Gospel themes can be anti-Orthodox, and even anti-religious, as, for example, in M.A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” or in “The Scaffold” by Ch.T. Aitmatov.) Russian writers looked at life events, characters and aspirations of people, illuminating them with the light of the Gospel truth, were thought in the categories of Orthodoxy, and not only in direct journalistic statements (“Selected passages from correspondence with friends” by N.V. Gogol, “The Diary of a Writer” by F.M. Dostoevsky) This manifested itself, but also in artistic creativity itself.
First, let’s trust an outsider’s view and think about how non-Russian writers perceived the creations of Russian writers. Stefan Zweig:
“Open any of the 50 thousand books produced annually in Europe. What are they talking about? Oh happiness. A woman wants a husband or someone wants to get rich, become powerful and respected. For Dickens, the goal of all aspirations will be a pretty cottage in the middle of nature with a cheerful crowd of children, for Balzac - a castle with a peerage title and millions. And if we look around, on the streets, in shops, in low rooms and bright halls - what do people want there? To be happy, content, rich, powerful. Which of Dostoevsky's heroes strives for this? - Nobody. No one".
Lev Tolstoy
Turkish translator and critic Erol Güney:
“The ideal of the characters created by Dickens is a good home, a happy family life. Balzac's heroes strive to acquire magnificent castles and accumulate millions. However, neither the heroes of Turgenev, nor the heroes of Dostoevsky, nor the heroes of Tolstoy are looking for anything like that... Russian writers demand a lot from people. They don’t agree with people putting their own interests and their selfishness first.”
Conscience was affirmed by our writers as the basic measure of all things. Not external success in life, comfortable well-being - which in Western literature was stated as the ideal of all aspirations of people - but conscience as the basis of the foundations of human existence. This is what is important: not private questions, but the most important, universal ones—excited the consciousness and soul of the creators of Russian literature. And in this it is united throughout its history - from the great “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion. New literature, although we single it out especially, was built on the traditions of previous centuries, and these traditions were sanctified by the ideals of Orthodoxy. This is the main feature of great Russian literature: it is primarily Orthodox literature.
It was Orthodoxy that influenced a person’s close attention to his spiritual essence, his inner self-deepening - reflected in literature. This is generally the basis of the Russian worldview and the Russian way of being in the world. The outstanding Russian philosopher I.V. Kireevsky wrote about it this way: “Western man sought to alleviate the severity of internal shortcomings by developing external means. The Russian man sought to escape the burden of external needs by internal elevation above external needs.” And this could only be determined by the Orthodox worldview. For the very understanding of salvation underlying Orthodoxy - that is, the goal of all earthly existence - differs significantly from what we can find in Western confessions. Western man understands salvation as a reward for some good deed (Catholicism), or as something that he receives only by virtue of faith (Protestantism). A Catholic “earns” his salvation; through the work of virtue he “redeems” his own sin. For a Protestant, the problem is not revealed even this way: in his judgment, the Savior has already “paid” for him. Protestantism generally removes the question of the need for good deeds for salvation, and aims a person at external practical activity as the main content of his existence in the world.
Installation of Hilarion as Metropolitan in Rus' by Yaroslav Vladimirovich of Kyiv in the St. Sophia Cathedral
Salvation in Orthodoxy is conceptualized as the internal rebirth of a person, his spiritual transformation, deification. The Monk Isaac the Syrian wrote: “Virtue is the mother of sorrow; from sadness comes humility; grace is given to humility. And then the reward is no longer for virtue, and not for work for it, but for the humility that is born from them. If it is lost, then the first will be in vain” (62nd ascetic instruction. Philokalia. Vol. 2). This is amazing: it is not virtue that is crowned with a reward, nor good deeds for its sake, but humility! Without humility, virtue is in vain! Sin cannot be “worked off” by good deeds; it can only be overcome through internal rebirth, the beginning of which is humility.
But why is humility the basis of salvation? Because it establishes a system of true criteria for a sober assessment of the real state of a person’s inner world, allowing everyone to clearly see the true sinfulness of their own soul (“virtue is the mother of sorrow”).
The transformation of virtue into an end in itself can give rise to arrogance in the soul when achieving (not only imaginary, but also real) this goal, can lead to intoxication with one’s own perfection and thereby strengthen human pride, the source of world evil. That is why the holy ascetic teaches us: without humility, virtue is in vain. Without humility, a person does not realize his need for a Savior. He imagines himself as the performer of salvation. That is, he ultimately becomes an anti-Christian.
And so we see: Orthodoxy establishes the only true point of view on life - and this is what Russian literature assimilates (not always in full) as the main idea, thus becoming Orthodox in its spirit.
Orthodox literature teaches the Orthodox view of man, establishes the correct view of man’s inner world, and defines the most important criterion for assessing a person’s inner being: humility.
So, by the way, we are once again convinced that religious dogmas, which seem to many as something far from life, scholastic-abstract, the subject of meaningless theological debates, actually have a decisive influence on a person’s worldview, his awareness of his place in existence, on his method of thinking. Moreover: religious dogmas shaped the character of the nation, the political and economic uniqueness of its history, and the fate of its peoples.
That is why new Russian literature (always after ancient Russian) saw its task and meaning of existence in kindling and maintaining spiritual fire in human hearts. This is where the recognition of conscience as the measure of all life values comes from. Russian writers perceived their work as a prophetic ministry (which the rest of Catholic and Protestant Europe did not know), the attitude towards literary figures as spirit seers, soothsayers has been preserved in the Russian consciousness to this day - albeit in a muted manner.
It is important that those processes in the literature of the 19th century that developed, as it were, outside the Orthodox tradition, are characterized not by indifference towards religion, but by active repulsion from it, opposition to Orthodoxy. This allows us to consider these processes in close connection with the general course of the entire literary work of Russian classics.
It would be incorrect to say that the most important feature of Russian literature was not at all touched upon by those who thought and wrote about it; Russian religious philosophers, from the Slavophiles to the “Vekhovites,” undoubtedly looked at literature precisely from this point of view, but literary criticism was not their primary specialty, so appeals to the work of this or that writer were episodic. This could not be expected from professional critics of the revolutionary-democratic persuasion, as well as from the so-called “Soviet” literary criticism that inherited their traditions (let’s not talk about the impossibility of religious comprehension of literature under the dominance of ideology of a certain kind).
Nikolai Gogol in Optina Desert
The situation is only beginning to improve recently. The emigrant heritage is being assimilated, in-depth studies of the works of Russian classics, carried out by Russian literary scholars, are appearing. However, we are only at the beginning of a long process of renewed historical knowledge of Russian literature. The most important task of such knowledge becomes clear: the transition from a social or purely aesthetic analysis of literature to a religious one. Our literature was (let’s use Gogol’s image) an “invisible step” to Christ; it primarily reflected the test of faith that took place in the life of the people and the individual, which, in fact, is the main test to which we are subject in our earthly life.
But in our reflections on the most important things in Russian literature (as well as in the very understanding of life among Russian writers), what can we rely on in order to understand the essential? As Gogol wrote: “You can’t invent anything higher than what is already in the Gospel.” Of course, every Orthodox person must look for the criterion of truth in the Gospel revelations, must verify all his reasoning, like everything in general generated by the human mind, by the word of the Savior.
We will find support for ourselves in the Sermon on the Mount: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break through and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal...” (Matthew 6:19-20). This great commandment defines the innermost essence of two understandings of the meaning of human life, as well as two worldviews, two different types of thinking, two types of culture. These words of Christ indicate the meaning of the division that He brought into the world (Luke 12:51–53). Two systems of life values associated with one or another orientation of a person in the earthly world also determine the difference in the understanding of good and evil in general.
After all, without further ado, each of us understands by good that which in one way or another contributes to the achievement of the goal of existence that we recognize. Evil is that which prevents such achievement. And if someone sets himself exclusively material goals (collecting treasures on earth), then everything spiritual will only hinder him and be perceived as evil. And vice versa.
Preference for one or the other is a matter of everyone’s conscience and freedom. It is only necessary to clearly realize that the Western civilization so glorified today is nothing more than a desire for the absolute completeness of enjoyment of the treasures on earth. And the so-called progress is the search for more and more advanced means for mastering such treasures.
The desire for earthly things is clear and close to everyone: there is no need to explain what it is. It should only be clarified that earthly things include not only immediate material goods and the sensory pleasures associated with them, but sometimes also the rejection of exclusively material values for the sake of, for example, earthly power (remember the external asceticism of many tyrants and despots), fame, the desire for self-affirmation in society, etc. Even what others see as belonging to a purely spiritual sphere can also become a purely earthly value. For example, aesthetic experiences that are turned into an end in themselves - for the sake of egoistic mental pleasure. Or love, understood as possession (not only in the physiological sense, but also in the moral sense). Even moral searches, when they are carried out for the sake of finding means for a more prosperous earthly arrangement, can turn out to be unspiritual at their core. This happened with Leo Tolstoy, for example, who rejected the idea of salvation, and from the entire teaching of Christ he accepted only moral postulates, which he wanted to specifically adapt for the organization of social life, but the value of which, apart from Divine Revelation, turned out to be very doubtful. The Church of Christ can also turn out to be an earthly treasure in the minds of people when it begins to be viewed, like other pragmatic politicians, only as a means suitable for use in the struggle for power.
One way or another, the craving for earthly treasures is observed at all levels of our earthly existence. And it cannot but become the subject of philosophical and aesthetic comprehension.
But where is the criterion for collecting treasures? How to determine exactly what exactly a person is collecting? Indeed, due to necessity, everyone is forced to exist in the earthly world and cannot do without earthly, material things, connections, thoughts. Christ outlined this criterion clearly and simply:
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).
What we are attached to in our hearts - we quite definitely feel this if we begin to listen to the voice of conscience - which is why we so often muffle it in order to drive away the unsightly truth.
This is the main theme of Russian literature - the confrontation between two aspirations that tear apart our soul and heart - for heavenly treasures and earthly treasures. This is a topic, a problem not just of literature exclusively, it is a problem of life, creative search (often - throwing) and the writers themselves, whose path was by no means straight and directed only to the mountain heights, but marked by many mistakes, falls, deviations from the Truth.
A person is doomed to choose between good and evil, but he aggravates the tragedy of his existence contained in this by also tossing between different understandings of good and evil. It was this confusion of the soul that Russian literature highlighted, making it, in fact, the main subject of its compassionate research. She managed to introduce the reader to such inner experiences, such torments of conscience, to plunge him into such abysses of the soul, of which near-European literature had very little idea.
It’s generally easier for a Westerner. “Commercial soteriology” (from the Greek “soterio” - salvation) of Catholicism, Protestant denial of the need for any internal struggle with sin makes life outwardly clearer and more joyful, in some sense more harmonious, devoid of mental torment. It is worth re-reading the thoughts of writers cited a little earlier who compared Russian and Western literature in order to easily see that the differences are determined precisely by the different directions of internal aspirations - Western writers (and readers) for purely earthly treasures and Russians for the unearthly. A Western person may, of course, suffer, but from the lack of a million, a title, a cottage, etc. And only in Russian literature is it possible for a hero to appear who suffers, possessing all such benefits in abundance:
I am young, the life in me is strong; What should I expect? Melancholy, melancholy!..
How to relate to such suffering depends on the understanding of life by each of us. Some will consider it a manifestation of madness. But the Russian people were doomed to this (although not everyone without exception, of course), and literature accurately reflected this. And this happened because the very vector of spiritual aspirations was turned by Orthodoxy in the direction opposite to earthly goods.
One of the most important problems that initially faced the Russian Orthodox consciousness was precisely this problem - the choice between heavenly and earthly treasures. Kiev Metropolitan Hilarion spoke directly about this when enlightening Rus' in the “Sermon on Law and Grace” back in the 11th century. (Russian literature in general begins with this work.) Thus, from the early years of Christianity in Rus', Truth and Grace were affirmed side by side and inextricably by the word of the Saint. Deep thought: By Law a person is confirmed in his own egoism, by Grace he is saved in generous self-giving to the entire created world. Preference for one or the other depends on the understanding of a person’s purpose. Those who want to assert themselves on earth prefer the Law, those striving for salvation in the heavenly world prefer Grace. Where is the Truth? The question for the Orthodox consciousness is rhetorical.
But to know the Truth and follow the Truth - what a gulf there is sometimes between these two states. And what a torment it is for a person to feel that abyss not just somewhere, but in his very soul. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt spoke about this: “To be a spirit, to have spiritual needs and aspirations and not find satisfaction for them - what torment for the soul!”
It was such torment that became, first of all, the subject of aesthetic comprehension and reflection in Russian literature. But not as a reason for detached contemplation and cold rational analysis, but as a subject of the artist’s own mental torment.
The main reason for such torment was precisely that happy (by the highest measure) circumstance that no matter how strong the Western influence was, no matter how victoriously earthly temptation penetrated into Russian life, Orthodoxy still remained uneradicated, remained with all the fullness of the Truth contained in it - and could not disappear anywhere. Souls were damaged - yes! - but no matter how the public and personal life of Russians wandered in the dark labyrinths of temptations, the arrow of the spiritual compass still stubbornly pointed in the same direction, even though the majority was moving in the exact opposite direction. For Western man, let us say again, it was simpler: for him there were no intact landmarks, so even if he lost his way, he sometimes might not even suspect it at all.
People from the outside marveled at the internal torments of the Russian people, they were perplexed and even mocked, but they provided lasting strength, strengthened mental strength, and spread a cleansing influence on the world around them. This is reflected primarily in our literature.
Let us limit ourselves to just one example – but an authoritative and instructive one. In the memoirs of the famous church figure of the first third of the twentieth century, Metropolitan Evlogii (Georgievsky), we find evidence that is too important for understanding the merits of Russian literature. Bishop Evlogy tells how in his early youth, in the first two years of his seminary life, he was distinguished by not very worthy behavior and lifestyle. And what helped you avoid falling? Reading Russian literature. “The educational value of literature for young people is enormous,” says the memoirist based on his own experience. “It’s difficult to even take into account the extent of its beneficial influence.” It increased self-knowledge, saved from rudeness, promiscuity, and ugliness of actions, and nourished the youthful soul’s inclination toward idealism. I began to straighten out, study well, I developed mental needs, more serious interests... My passion for literature... prepared the ground for further mental development..."
Additional explanations are probably not required at all.
Our literature has captured in word and image the religious experience of Russian people: both light and dark, both salutary and dangerous for the soul. The experience of faith and the experience of unbelief.
Mikhail Dunaev
REFERENCE Mikhail Mikhailovich Dunaev (1945–2008), Doctor of Philology, Doctor of Theology, professor, teacher of the Moscow Theological Academy (1990–2008).
Author of more than 200 books and articles, including the 6-volume work “Orthodoxy and Russian Literature,” based on a course of lectures by M.M. Dunaeva in the MDA.
Russian literature from ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century
Genres of drama
Dramaturgy originated in ancient times. Even then, two most important dramatic genres arose - tragedy
and
comedy
. The main conflict in the tragedy even then was the conflict in the soul of the protagonist between duty and conscience. However, ancient drama had its own distinctive features, the most important of which was the idea of fate, predetermination, fate. The choir played an important role in ancient drama - it formulated the audience’s attitude to what was happening on stage, pushing them towards empathy (i.e. the audience seemed to themselves be participants in the action). It is assumed that the enactment of tragedies was originally an integral part of the so-called “Dionysia” or, in the Roman version, “Bacchanalia”, festivals associated with the veneration of the god of winemaking and viticulture, Dionysus (Bacchus); the presentation of scenes from the life of this god was an important link in the so-called “orgaistic” (i.e. erotic) rituals, the ultimate goal of which was: to release pent-up instinctual desires and, merging with others in a common ecstasy, to experience purification, the so-called “catharsis” , which is defined in Aristotle’s Poetics as “purification through fear and compassion.”
The comedy was based mainly on everyday stories, which were based on funny misunderstandings, mistakes, comic incidents, etc.
In the Middle Ages, the Christian Church contributed to the emergence of new dramatic genres - liturgical drama, mystery, miracle, morality, school drama
.
In the 18th century, drama emerged as a genre (see below), and melodramas
,
farces
, and
vaudevilles
.
After ancient times, drama reached a special flowering in the era of classicism. It was in the era of classicism that special rules of drama were formulated, the main of which was the so-called “unity of place, time and action” (see section “Classicism”). In modern drama, a genre such as tragicomedy is becoming increasingly important. The drama of the last century also includes a lyrical element - the so-called “lyrical dramas”
(M. Maeterlinck, A. A. Blok).
Currently
In dramaturgy,
are traditionally distinguished
: tragedy, comedy and drama.
1. Tragedy
- a genre that shows reality and the characters depicted in their tragic development. Tragedy is characterized by the so-called tragic conflict. Events lead the hero of the tragedy to the point that, for example, his ideas about duty come into conflict with his concepts of conscience, with his personal feelings, etc. These contradictions cannot be resolved by the hero himself, therefore they are called “tragic” . An attempt to resolve them usually leads the hero to death - a natural way out of a deadlock situation. The main pathos of the tragedy lies not in its plot, not in the content of the conflict, but in how the hero tries to resolve insoluble contradictions. That is why the pathos of tragedy is usually heroic. The concept of tragic contradictions is very often associated with the concept of the tragic guilt of the protagonist. Having embarked on the path of resolving the insoluble, the main character commits actions that aggravate his internal discord; the more efforts he makes to get out of the conflict, the more acute this conflict becomes. In this regard, the idea of predestination, fate, doom arises. For example, W. Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet". Duty calls on Hamlet to avenge his father, but his concepts of humanity, his love for his mother and Ophelia conflict with the need to take revenge. Having embarked on the path of revenge, Hamlet, wanting to kill Claudius (the new king), accidentally kills Polonius (the father of his beloved). Now he bears a tragic guilt, aggravated by the fact that Ophelia goes crazy and commits suicide (as a result of the same tragic contradictions - duty towards her father and love for Hamlet are fighting in her), and Laertes (her brother) vows to take revenge on Hamlet for father's blood. As a result of his oath, Laertes becomes a blind instrument in the hands of Claudius (this is Laertes’ tragic guilt), and then dies. Claudius, trying to get rid of Hamlet, bribes his friends - Rosencrantz and Guildestern, who die because they betrayed their friend, Hamlet (this is their tragic fault). Hamlet's mother also bears a tragic guilt - she connived with the murderer Claudius, which is why she dies after drinking poison instead of Hamlet.
Currently, the concept of “tragic guilt” has gone far beyond the boundaries of drama, becoming one of the characteristic features, for example, of epic genres. As an example, we can cite the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment”, where the idea of obligatory retribution, even for unintentional evil, with “the best intentions”, is carried out quite clearly: for example, Raskolnikov, having decided to kill the old money-lender, is forced kill her sister Lizaveta, one of those “humiliated and insulted” for whose sake he, in fact, decides to commit a crime; Mikolka confesses to the murder that Raskolnikov committed in order to “suffer for others”; Svidrigailov commits suicide, etc. (see the section dedicated to F. M. Dostoevsky). Thus, Raskolnikov, as it were, initially bears the tragic guilt. Just as it begins to dominate Hamlet from the very moment when he decides to take revenge, so it appears over Raskolnikov when he decides to kill the old money-lender. The genius of both works, not least of all, lies in the fact that they especially acutely raise the problem of a person’s free choice of his path, the choice of one or another “scenario” for his future life (unlike the ancient tragedy, where the hero did not decide anything, and everything was predetermined by the gods - for example, in the famous tragedy of Sofola “Oedipus” all the tragic events that happen to Oedipus do not depend on his personal will, they are predetermined by the “curse of the family”).
It is conscious and free choice - and freedom of choice consists of imagining its consequences and being ready to “pay the bills” - that are characteristic of the modern understanding of tragic pathos, starting from the Renaissance. Perhaps this is precisely where lies the answer to one of the most famous mysteries of Shakespeare's Hamlet, namely, why Hamlet takes so long to make a decision and hesitates to take revenge. Perhaps he behaves this way because he makes a conscious choice, consciously takes on the tragic guilt, understanding from the very beginning that he will have to pay the highest price for the right to take revenge. He understands that before making a choice, several paths lie before him (for example, leave Denmark or marry Ophelia and lead a happy family life, etc.), while after making a decision, all other paths will be closed to him and only one will remain, and it will lead to death. In this context, the famous monologue “To be or not to be” takes on a very important meaning: it raises with particular poignancy the problem of a person’s choice of his own destiny, including a tragic scenario in which the payback is always life. This is precisely the main and main meaning of Shakespeare's great tragedy, and at the same time its fundamental difference from everything that came before it. “Hamlet” is a work not about revenge, not about tragic circumstances and ways to resolve them, but about the greatness of the human spirit and about freedom of choice, including one’s own destiny.
2. Comedy
- a genre in which characters, situations and action are presented in funny forms or imbued with the comic. Until classicism, comedy meant a work opposite to tragedy, with an obligatory happy ending; her heroes, as a rule, were from the lower class (see the article “Classicism”). For a long time, comedy was considered a “low genre,” and only in the Age of Enlightenment (starting with J.-B. Moliere) this was broken by the recognition of a “middle genre,” the so-called “philistine drama.” In the 19th and especially in the 20th centuries, comedy was a free and very diverse genre. Comedy is aimed primarily at ridiculing the ugly (“improper”, contrary to a social ideal or norm): the heroes of the comedy are internally bankrupt, incongruous, do not correspond to their position, purpose, and thus are sacrificed to laughter, which debunks them, thereby fulfilling its “ ideal" mission. However, even in a sharp social comedy (for example, in “Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboedov), the depiction of human suffering (“a million torments” by Chatsky) is permissible only to a certain extent; otherwise, compassion crowds out laughter and comedy turns into drama.
3. Drama
- like comedy, it mainly reproduces the private life of people, but its main goal is not to ridicule morals, but to depict the individual in his dramatic relationship with society. Like tragedy, drama tends to recreate acute contradictions, but at the same time its conflicts are not so intense and insoluble and allow for the possibility of a successful ending, and its characters are not so exceptional. As an independent genre, drama emerged in the 18th century among enlighteners (“bourgeois drama” in France and Germany); her interest in the social structure and way of life, the moral ideals of a democratic environment, and the psychology of the “average person” contributed to the strengthening of realistic principles in European art. As the drama develops, its internal drama thickens, a successful outcome becomes less and less common, the hero usually remains at odds with society and himself (“The Thunderstorm”, “Dowry” by A. N. Ostrovsky, plays by A. P. Chekhov, A. M. Gorky). Drama of the 19th—20th centuries. is predominantly psychological.
Periodization of Russian literature
All Russian literature can be divided into the following historical periods:
- Old Russian literature (XI - XVII centuries);
- Literature of the 18th century;
- Literature of the 19th century;
- Literature of the XX century;
- Modern literature (literature of the 21st century).
Old Russian literature includes all works written in Old Russian and Old Church Slavonic languages. This is the earliest stage in the development of Russian literature. Most of the monuments of ancient Russian literature have not reached us, but from those that have survived the passage of time, we can conclude that the works of that era were characterized by a desire for historical accuracy, religiosity, patriotism and anonymity.
Note 2
The plots of ancient Russian literature were mostly based on the Bible or Gospel. Christianity had a great influence on the development of literature; Christian values were praised in their lives, words and walks.
Finished works on a similar topic
Course work Characteristics of Russian literature 440 ₽ Abstract Characteristics of Russian literature 270 ₽ Test paper Characteristics of Russian literature 230 ₽
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The literature of the 18th century, the time of the “Russian Enlightenment,” adhered to strict genre canons.
According to many literary scholars, the most significant figure in Russian literature of the 18th century was Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov - “the father of Russian literature.” It was he who became the first Russian poet to express the idea of Russian national identity, which later migrated to the work of writers and poets of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The literature of the 18th century, like ancient Russian literature, was characterized by socio-political themes. It was during this period that the foundations of classical Russian poetry and prose were laid. The 18th century became the basis for the literature of the 19th century; It was at this time that the foundation was laid on which the Russian literary tradition was subsequently built.
The 19th century is called the Golden Age of Russian literature. It was during this period that literature received its maximum development.
Note 3
The prose writers of the 19th century are the classic writers we all know. These are authors whose works are examples of their genre.
The Golden Age drew heavily on the literary traditions and achievements of 18th-century authors. For example, it was from the previous era that the writers of the Golden Age adopted the journalisticism and love of satire characteristic of A.D. Kantemir. In the literature of the 19th century, authors exposed the vices and shortcomings of their contemporary society - just as the writers of the 18th century criticized the shortcomings of their Russia. A distinctive feature of the Golden Age is its great psychology; The inner world of the hero is increasingly interested in writers.
The literature of the 20th century reflected the changes that swept the country. Soviet literature and literature about the Great Patriotic War form the basis of Russian literature of the twentieth century.
Modern literature includes all works that were published after the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
Lesson number 1 on native Russian literature
Native literature, 6th grade. Lesson 1. Topic: The originality of native literature. The importance of reading and studying native literature for further human development. Native literature as a way of learning about life.
Planned results
Personal
1. Awareness of ethnicity, knowledge of the history, language, culture of one’s people, one’s land, the foundations of the cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia and humanity (a person’s identity with the Russian multinational culture, involvement in the history of the peoples and states located on the territory of modern Russia); interiorization of humanistic, democratic and traditional values of multinational Russian society. A conscious, respectful and friendly attitude towards history, culture, religion, traditions, languages, values of the peoples of Russia and the peoples of the world.
2. Readiness and ability of students for self-development and self-education based on motivation for learning and knowledge; readiness and ability to make a conscious choice and build a further individual educational trajectory based on orientation in the world of professions and professional preferences, taking into account sustainable cognitive interests.
3. Developed moral consciousness and competence in solving moral problems based on personal choice, the formation of moral feelings and moral behavior, a conscious and responsible attitude towards one’s own actions (the ability for moral self-improvement; religious tolerance, respect for religious feelings, people’s views or their absence; knowledge of basic moral norms, moral, spiritual ideals preserved in the cultural traditions of the peoples of Russia, readiness on their basis for conscious self-restraint in actions and behavior.
4. Formation of a holistic worldview that corresponds to the modern level of development of science and social practice, taking into account the social, cultural, linguistic, spiritual diversity of the modern world.
5. Conscious, respectful and friendly attitude towards another person, his opinion, worldview, culture, language, faith, civic position
. Willingness and ability to conduct dialogue with other people and achieve mutual understanding in it (identifying oneself as a full-fledged subject of communication, readiness to construct an image of a dialogue partner, readiness to construct an image of acceptable methods of dialogue.
6. Mastery of social norms, rules of behavior, roles and forms of social life in groups and communities. Participation in school self-government and public life within the limits of age competencies, taking into account regional, ethnocultural, social and economic characteristics (formation of readiness to participate in the process of streamlining social ties and relationships in which students themselves are included and formed; involvement in direct civic participation, readiness participate in the life of a teenage public association that productively interacts with the social environment and social institutions; identifying oneself as a subject of social change, mastering competencies in the field of organizational activities; 7. Formation of the value of a healthy and safe lifestyle; internalization of the rules of individual and collective safe behavior in emergencies situations that threaten the life and health of people, rules of conduct in transport and on the roads.
8. Development of aesthetic consciousness through the development of the artistic heritage of the peoples of Russia and the world, creative activity of an aesthetic nature (the ability to understand works of art reflecting different ethnocultural traditions; the formation of the foundations of the artistic culture of students as part of their general spiritual culture, as a special way of understanding life and a means of organizing communication ; aesthetic, emotional and value vision of the surrounding world; ability for emotional and value development of the world, self-expression and orientation in the artistic and moral space of culture; respect for the cultural history of one’s Fatherland, expressed, among other things, in the understanding of human beauty/
9. Formation of the foundations of ecological culture corresponding to the modern level of environmental thinking, the presence of experience in environmentally oriented reflexive-evaluative and practical activities in life situations
Metasubject
Regulatory UUD
1. The ability to independently determine learning goals, set and formulate new tasks in learning and cognitive activity, develop the motives and interests of one’s cognitive activity. The student will be able to:
analyze existing and plan future educational results;
identify your own problems and determine the main problem;
justify targets and priorities with references to values, indicating and justifying the logical sequence of steps.
2. The ability to independently plan ways to achieve goals, including alternative ones, to consciously choose the most effective ways to solve educational and cognitive problems. The student will be able to:
determine the necessary action(s) in accordance with the educational and cognitive task and draw up an algorithm for their implementation;
justify and implement the choice of the most effective ways to solve educational and cognitive problems;
plan and adjust your individual educational trajectory.
3. The ability to correlate one’s actions with the planned results, monitor one’s activities in the process of achieving results, determine methods of action within the framework of the proposed conditions and requirements, and adjust one’s actions in accordance with the changing situation. The student will be able to:
determine, together with the teacher and peers, the criteria for planned results and criteria for assessing their educational activities;
evaluate your activities, arguing the reasons for achieving or not achieving the planned result;
find sufficient means to carry out learning activities in a changing situation and/or in the absence of the planned result;
check your actions against the goal and, if necessary, correct errors yourself.
4. The ability to evaluate the correctness of completing a learning task and one’s own capabilities to solve it. The student will be able to:
determine the criteria for the correctness (correctness) of completing the educational task;
5. Knowledge of the basics of self-control, self-esteem, decision-making and making informed choices in educational and cognitive matters. The student will be able to:
observe and analyze one’s own educational and cognitive activities and the activities of other students in the process of mutual examination;
correlate real and planned results of individual educational activities and draw conclusions;
make decisions in a learning situation and bear responsibility for them;
demonstrate techniques for regulating psychophysiological/emotional states to achieve a calming effect (eliminating emotional tension), a restoration effect (weakening the manifestations of fatigue), an activation effect (increasing psychophysiological reactivity).
Cognitive UUD
6. The ability to define concepts, create generalizations, establish analogies, classify, independently select grounds and criteria for classification, establish cause-and-effect relationships, build logical reasoning, inference (inductive, deductive, by analogy) and draw conclusions. The student will be able to:
select words that are subordinate to the keyword, defining its characteristics and properties;
build a logical chain consisting of a keyword and its subordinate words;
present the information received, interpreting it in the context of the problem being solved;
verbalize the emotional impression made on him by the source;
draw a conclusion based on a critical analysis of different points of view, confirm the conclusion with your own argumentation or independently obtained data.
7. The ability to create, apply and transform signs and symbols, models and diagrams to solve educational and cognitive problems. The student will be able to:
designate an object and/or phenomenon with a symbol and sign;
analyze/reflect on the experience of developing and implementing an educational project, research (theoretical, empirical) based on the proposed problem situation, the set goal and/or the specified criteria for evaluating the product/result.
8. Semantic reading. The student will be able to:
navigate the content of the text, understand the holistic meaning of the text, structure the text;
9. Development of motivation to master the culture of active use of dictionaries and other search engines.
identify the necessary keywords and queries
Communicative UUD
11. The ability to organize educational cooperation and joint activities with the teacher and peers; work individually and in a group: find a common solution and resolve conflicts based on coordinating positions and taking into account interests; formulate, argue and defend your opinion. The student will be able to:
-identify possible roles in joint activities;
-play a certain role in joint activities;
-accept the position of the interlocutor, understanding the position of the other, distinguish in his speech: opinion (point of view), evidence (arguments), facts; hypotheses, axioms, theories;
- identify your own actions and those of your partner that contributed to or hindered productive communication;
-build positive relationships in the process of educational and cognitive activities;
12. The ability to consciously use verbal means in accordance with the task of communication to express one’s feelings, thoughts and needs to plan and regulate one’s activities; mastery of oral and written speech, monologue contextual speech. The student will be able to:
determine the task of communication and, in accordance with it, select speech means;
make a decision during the dialogue and coordinate it with the interlocutor;
13. Formation and development of competence in the field of using information and communication technologies (hereinafter referred to as ICT). The student will be able to:
use information taking into account ethical and legal standards;
Subject
- awareness of the importance of reading and studying native literature for one’s further development; the formation of the need for systematic reading as a means of understanding the world and oneself in this world, harmonizing relations between man and society, and multidimensional dialogue;
-understanding of native literature as one of the main national and cultural values of the people, as a special way of understanding life;
The student will learn:
- navigate the educational information space: work with encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference books, and specialized literature;
-use library catalogs, bibliographic indexes, and Internet search systems.
During the classes
- Organizational moment (welcome, course objectives for the new academic year, the topic is determined together with the students)
— A new subject has appeared in the school schedule of 6th graders - native (Russian) literature. How do you understand NATIVE literature?
What are your expectations from getting to know this academic discipline?
(Children express their guesses.) Try to formulate the topic of the 1st lesson from these words given in the initial form. (On the board the words: 1. Originality, native, literature. 2. Significance, reading. Study, native, literature, development, person. 3. Native, literature, method, knowledge, life.)
In any work there should be an awareness of the fact that what are you doing and why. Your work is study. How important it is for each of you to understand what your personal (individual) educational trajectory is. In the lessons of native (Russian) literature, we must understand ethnicity, knowledge of the history, language, culture of our people, our region, the foundations of the cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia and humanity. We will study
conscious, respectful and friendly attitude towards history, culture, religion, traditions, languages, values of the peoples of Russia and the peoples of the world.
- New topic. (Slide)
There is only one way to become a cultured person - reading.
A. Maurois 1. The teacher's word.
—What is literature?
Literary theory
: The word “literature” comes from the Latin language. Litera is a letter, that is, it is everything that is written down, printed, that can be read or retold.
Fiction is a type of art that reflects life through words, written or spoken (before the development of writing). At the center of literature is the image of man in all his material and spiritual life in the process of social development. Literature is:
All artistic works of a particular people, era or all of humanity. Literature is the art of words, artistic creativity. Sources of literature: CNT, historical chronicles (summer - year). The basis of literature: the life and way of life of the people, their history, culture.
—Let's talk about the topic of the lesson: “THE ORIGINALITY OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE.” What is the uniqueness of Russian literature?
(in NATIONALITY, PATRIOTISM, REALISM, HUMANISM) Let's understand the terms and give examples from the literature you have read. (We work in 4 teams. On the students’ desks are literature textbooks by G.S. Merkin for grade 5.)
1.Nationality of literature
- this is the relationship of literature to the people, manifested in various aspects.
Nationality is a measure of the interpenetration of literature and folklore
.
Literature borrows plots, images and motifs from folk works (for example, fairy tales by A. S. Pushkin
, using material from Russian folk tales).
Sometimes it happens the other way around - songs with Russian verses. poets become popular (for example, the song “Peddlers”, which is based on an excerpt from N. A. Nekrasov
“Who Lives Well in Russia”).
—Name the works of literature studied up to 6th grade. or read in the summer, which
written on the material of Russian folk tales (for example, the tales of A. S.
Pushkin
).
2. Patriotism
in literature - a moral and political principle, a social feeling, the content of which is love for the Motherland and the willingness to sacrifice one’s interests for its sake.
PATRIOTISM
- love for the fatherland, devotion to it, the desire to serve its interests with one’s actions.
—Name the works of literature studied up to 6th grade. or read in the summer, in which the heroes are patriots of their land.
(M. Lermontov. “Borodino”)
3.Realism in literature
represents a direction
in literature
and art that truthfully and realistically reflects the typical features of reality, in which there are no various distortions and exaggerations.
—Name works of literature that truthfully reflect life. (A. Chekhov. “Over-Salted”, L. Andreev. “Petka in the Dacha”, A. Platonov. “Flower on the Earth.”)
Summary of
A. Chekhov.
“Over salted.” Land surveyor Gleb Gavrilovich Smirnov was called to survey the land in one estate. At the station where he arrived, Smirnov could not find a horse to get to his destination. In the end, he found a cab driver with a rather brutal appearance and powerful build. The land surveyor was quite frightened: everything about the cab seemed suspicious to him. Gleb Gavrilovich built all sorts of horrors in his head: this fellow could rob him, even kill him. On the way to the estate, Smirnov decided to intimidate him, began to tell him how strong he was, what he did alone with the robbers who attacked Gleb Gavrilovich, he even remembered that he took a revolver with him, just in case. To Smirnov’s surprise, the driver jumped off the cart and, shouting: “Take everything, you damned one, just don’t destroy it!” he rushed into the forest. The surveyor called him until he was hoarse, and only in the morning the cabman crawled out of the bushes. Gleb Gavrilovich told him that he was joking. The entire further road no longer seemed so scary to Smirnov.
L. Andreev. "Petka at the dacha."
The cook's 10-year-old son Petka was apprenticed to a hairdresser. He is constantly scolded and offended, Petka wants to go home and asks his mother, the cook Nadezhda, to take him away from Osip Abramovich. Petka’s whole life seems like one boring gray dream, he is often sick, and his face looks like the face of an old man with many small wrinkles. the boy knows neither holidays nor weekends.
And only once was Petka truly happy; he was released to the dacha of the gentlemen for whom his mother served. Petka was traveling on a train for the first time, smiling happily and asking passengers about this and that. His eyes become radiant, and all the wrinkles disappear from his joyful face.
At the dacha, Petka became friends with high school student Mitya, with whom he went swimming, fishing and just playing boyish games.
But one day it all ends. Mom received a letter from the hairdresser, who ordered the boy to be brought back to the city. Petka is terrified, she screams, cries, falls to the ground, but nothing helps, and his mother takes him to the city.
And again reproaches, swearing, shouting, slaps on the head. Life becomes the same, and only on dark nights does Petka tell his friend about how well he lived at the dacha.
A.Platonov. "Flower on the ground"
The story teaches that the most important thing is in simple things, that you need to appreciate, respect and take care of these little things, and that it is very important to give as much life and kindness as possible to others even in the most difficult situations.
4. Humanism
— “humanity” is a system for building a human society, where the highest value is human life.
5. Spirituality is a state of being spiritual. Spiritual, incorporeal, not corporeal, consisting of one spirit and soul... everything attributable to the soul of a person, all his mental and moral powers, mind and will.” (Dal) “In the Russian language dictionary” by S.I. Ozhegova “spirituality is a property of the soul, consisting in the predominance of spiritual, moral and intellectual interests over material ones”
— Let’s move on to the 1st subtopic of our lesson: “The importance of reading and studying native literature for the further development of a person.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
(an ancient Roman politician, orator and philosopher? b. 106 BC) said: “
A house in which there are no books is like a body without a soul.”
The English philosopher of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, F. Bacon, argued: “Books are ships of thought, traveling on the waves of time and carefully carrying their precious cargo from generation to generation.”
- Working as a team, make a list of points on the function of the book (activity, duty, work, purpose).
For example: 1. The book takes you from era to era, from country to country and allows you to see a lot. 2. A book - pulls out a certain part of reality for the reader from the darkness of ignorance. 3. G. Lichtenberg (German writer, satirist, critic, physicist of the 18th century spoke about the purpose of a book: “A book is a mirror. And if a monkey looks into it, then the face of the apostle cannot look out of it.” 4. “ A book is a window through which the soul looks at the world." (R. Wilson, English artist, 18th century) 5. The main functions of a book are to store someone else's experience and convey it to the reader. CONTINUE...
— The second subtopic of our lesson: “Native literature as a way of learning about life.” What gives a person the knowledge of life? (Work in groups. (Increasing erudition, literacy, norms of behavior, gaining knowledge, understanding life, the question of finding the meaning of life.
- Teacher's word.
It is estimated that there are only 24 or 36 (according to other sources) plots in world literature. That is, all life, if you look at it in general, is described by these 24 plots. Read, read and read again - after all, nothing new happens in life - from the point of view of a person’s spiritual life. You just need to read good literature.
- Reflection. Target: evaluate the results of your own activities.
– What new things have you discovered? What points caused difficulties? Rate the lesson using emoticons.
- D.z. - read the fairy tale “ Two Ivans - Soldiers’ Sons” (for September 28)
7
Russian classical literature
One of the distinctive features of the Russian state is its literary potential. For several centuries, many people around the world have been in awe of the novels of Dostoevsky and Gogol. Over the past two centuries, Russian writers and poets have made an enormous contribution to the development of classical literature. Undoubtedly, Russia is one of the most spiritually developed countries.
The period of classical Russian literature falls on the 19th – early 20th centuries and is associated, first of all, with the dominant literary movement at that time - realism, which was characterized by a truthful depiction of reality. Russian writers interpreted realism, which came from the West, in their own way: as a direction designed to point society to existing problems and think about them. In other words, the distinctive feature of Russian realism was its educational character . Classical literature is not just reading at leisure, but a real “textbook of life,” according to N. G. Chernyshevsky.
Before trying to understand the mystery of Russian literature, you need to pay attention to how the writers and poets themselves understood their purpose. This is very accurately noted by A.S. Pushkin in the poem “The Prophet”. We all remember from school that it talks about a poet, tormented by “spiritual thirst,” who is reborn into a prophet endowed with the Almighty gift of “burning the hearts of people with the verb.” And it is not just words. Writers of the 19th century truly saw their purpose as being mediators between truth, God, and the people. The writer never had to calm down or reconcile himself with reality, but to convey the truth to people's consciousness, regardless of whether it was pleasing to the ruling class or not. Without understanding the self-sacrifice of Russian writers in order to proclaim the truth, it is impossible to understand Russian classical literature.
Self-sacrifice was based on a deep belief in the power of words as a powerful weapon that brings about revolutions in the minds of people. Where does the word come from? How does a writer and poet know what he should write? The answer to these questions may be Pushkin’s line:
By the command of God, O muse, be obedient...
This line contains one of the main differences between Russian classical literature and any other: Russian writers sought to focus attention on spiritual values and lead the reader to an awareness of simple truths found in the Bible. The deep spirituality of Russian consciousness, based on the Orthodox faith, is also of great importance, which could not help but be reflected in literature. After all, what did Orthodoxy teach? The fact that only a righteous life according to the laws of God can give peace of mind and harmony of the inner world with the outside world. Orthodoxy did not claim that every person is sinful from birth, as the Catholic religion did, and did not call for acceptance of fate, like the Jewish religion, but provided each person with the right to free choice. If you want, live according to the laws of God, and you will be rewarded for this in heaven, and if you have chosen the path of sin, then be prepared for the fact that you will have to atone for it, during life or after death. And here’s what’s strange: all people tend to make mistakes, but probably only Russians are ready to repent of their sins with such passion and sincerity and beg for forgiveness for themselves, because there will be no peace for the Russian sinful soul until it repents.
The theme of atonement for sin is one of the most important in Russian literature. I immediately remember F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment.” As soon as the hero comes to the idea that everything is allowed to him, it immediately turns out that he is not able to bear the cross of permissiveness and responsibility. He begins to be tormented by fears and doubts, the harmony of the inner and surrounding world is disturbed, the soul cannot find peace and falls ill, and, as the inevitable and only possible way out of the current situation, repentance comes and the desire to atone for sin. And why all? Yes, because material wealth does not give peace to people and harmony to the soul.
A feature of Russian culture was the desire for higher, spiritual values . This is also reflected in the literature. After all, the heroes of A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, I. S. Turgenev, L. N. Tolstoy and many other authors do not strive for wealth and celebrity. They are in constant search for something about which they do not even have a clear idea, but continue to greedily search both in their souls and in the world around them. They constantly ask themselves questions: why did they come into this world, what is their purpose? After all, there is some higher meaning in the fact that I live and in what I do? And the highest purpose for a Russian person is precisely to “live according to conscience,” which, as we know, is the voice of God in our soul.
Classical Russian literature is permeated with deep psychologism, revealing the emotional experiences of the heroes, their inner world. There are a lot of such heroes in Russian literature: this is a whole gallery of “superfluous” people (Onegin, Pechorin, Rudin, Oblomov, Bazarov), “little people” in the works of A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, F. M. Dostoevsky , L. N. Tolstoy. But no amount of spiritual torment is an excuse for their actions. They only allow the reader to better imagine the character of the hero. Thus, the personality of the hero comes first in the works of Russian classics, but only in order to demonstrate the insignificance of base desires or the desire for higher values.
Only now, having accepted as a given the three obligatory components of classical Russian literature: spirituality based on Orthodoxy, psychologism and philosophical understanding of the world, we can understand why for the Russian people it has not lost its relevance today, but for foreigners it was and is a mystery. The fact is that behind the life situations and characters of the heroes of Russian classical works there is always a generalized image of Russia, its history, worldview and culture. After all, there were probably “superfluous” people in Russia before the 19th century, and they still exist now. But it was at that moment that the time came to say about it, and it was at that moment that everything was said about it. Russian literature has always been characterized by Christian themes , because Russian literature itself began with religious books. And even in the works of Soviet writers who quite sincerely declared themselves atheists, Christian images and motifs can often be traced, but it was then that spirituality and religiosity became a distinctive feature of Russian literature. Therefore, even today, when reading classical works, we understand the experiences of the heroes and their problems, perhaps in our own way, transferring them to the modern world, but not excluding their existence in our time. But for foreigners, they remain signs of the historical past, which must be accepted as a given of the historical era. And history, as we know, can neither be judged nor corrected.
So, the distinctive features of Russian classical literature are:
- Deep psychologism
- Spirituality based on Orthodoxy
- Philosophy
- Connection with Russian culture and history
The material was prepared using the Great Encyclopedia of Russia.
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