Baroque in literature of the 17th century. Baroque in Russian literature of the 17th century

Writers and poets in the Baroque era perceived the real world as an illusion and a dream. Realistic descriptions were often combined with their allegorical depiction. Symbols, metaphors, theatrical techniques, graphic images (lines of poetry form a picture), saturation with rhetorical figures, antitheses, parallelisms, gradations, oxymorons are widely used. There is a burlesque-satirical attitude to reality. Baroque literature is characterized by the desire for diversity, for the summation of knowledge about the world, inclusiveness, encyclopedism, which sometimes turns into chaos and collecting curiosities, the desire to study being in its contrasts (spirit and flesh, darkness and light, time and eternity). Baroque ethics is marked by a craving for the symbolism of the night, the theme of frailty and impermanence, life-dream (F. de Quevedo, P. Calderon). Calderon's play "Life is a dream" is well-known. Such genres as the gallant-heroic novel (J. de Scudery, M. de Scudery), the real-life and satirical novel (Furetière, C. Sorel, P. Scarron) are also developing. Within the framework of the Baroque style, its varieties and trends are born: Marinism, Gongorism (Culteranism), Conceptism (Italy, Spain), the Metaphysical School and Eufuism (England) (see: Precise Literature).

The actions of the novels are often transferred to the fictional world of antiquity, to Greece, court cavaliers and ladies are depicted as shepherdesses and shepherdesses, which is called the pastoral (Honoré d'Urfe, "Astrea"). Poetry flourishes pretentiousness, the use of complex metaphors. Common forms such as sonnet, rondo, concetti (a short poem expressing some witty thought), madrigals.

In the west, in the field of the novel, an outstanding representative is G. Grimmelshausen (the novel "Simplicissimus"), in the field of drama - P. Calderon (Spain). V. Voiture (France), D. Marino (Italy), Don Luis de Gongora y Argote (Spain), D. Donne (England) became famous in poetry. In Russia, Baroque literature includes S. Polotsky, F. Prokopovich. In France, "precious literature" flourished during this period. It was then cultivated mainly in the salon of Madame de Rambouillet, one of the aristocratic salons of Paris, the most fashionable and famous. In Spain, the baroque trend in literature was called "gongorism" after the name of the most prominent representative (see above).

In German literature, the traditions of the Baroque style are still maintained by members of the literary community "Blumenorden". They gather in the summer for literary festivals in the Irrhain grove near Nuremberg. The society was organized in 1646 by Georg Philipp Harsdörffer with the aim of restoring and maintaining the German language, which had been badly corrupted during the Thirty Years' War.

Lecture 5

1. New time as a special historical and cultural phenomenon. General characteristics of the literary trends of the 17th century.

2. Baroque is a specific type of culture. National forms of baroque.

3. Classicism and its role in the culture and literature of the 17th century.

Starting to study the literary process of the 17th century, we get acquainted with a special historical and cultural phenomenon, which is usually called new time, in contrast to the previous large historical and cultural stages - antiquity and the Middle Ages. Thus, the line between the Renaissance and the 17th century is, as it were, double: it is both a new period on the scale of the “small periodization” of literary epochs and a global cultural shift on the scale of “great periodization”, the transition from medieval civilization, within which the culture of the Renaissance remained, to civilization new type. Historians of culture call New Time the era when modern man, that is, a man of the 21st century, "begins to recognize himself." It was in the 17th century that the formation of a new picture of the world took place, cardinal changes in which would arise only at the end of the 19th century. This is the period when a new worldview of a person is born, due not only to changes in the external circumstances of life, but also to the crisis of the old forms of thinking and feeling.

It should be realized that for all the obvious transitional nature, the 17th century also acts as a completely independent, original stage of literary development, possessing relative autonomy and specific contradictory integrity, capturing the unique artistic appearance of the time. Let us pay special attention to only one, but extremely important aspect: the role and meaning of popular movements in the 17th century were marked by obvious duality for the very reason that, participating in the destruction of the traditionalist medieval way of life, these movements understood the goal of their struggle as a return to the “good old times”, the restoration of lost justice, freedom, etc., and not as a renewal of the social order. Historians also note that the increased unevenness of the political and economic development of individual countries and regions is paradoxically combined with their general objective orientation towards renewal, with a gradual awareness of interdependence, with the universalization of the civilizational development of peoples and closer cultural communication between them. It was in modern times that the historical and cultural concept of "Europe" was finally formed.

The 17th century is traditionally and rightly called the age of absolutism. It was in the 17th century that such an important phenomenon as "public opinion" was born - a special ideological and psychological phenomenon that is possible only in a civil society that is aware of both its connection with the state and relative independence from it. The role of public opinion in the production, functioning and evaluation of literary phenomena in the 17th century is significant. Evidence of this is the active development of literary criticism, literary theory during this period. The status of the writer and writer's life is also changing throughout the 17th century: circles, salons, clubs, literary schools and societies that arise in different countries and are increasingly spreading not only contribute to a constant critical discussion of works of art that have received recognition from contemporaries, reflection on the general problems of creativity, but and gradually lead to the formation of a professional writing environment. At the end of the 17th century, the first professional writers appeared in Western Europe. The atmosphere of public discussion of literary and aesthetic problems, as well as other issues of public life, contributes to the flourishing of journalism, which is very noticeable during this period, and this process becomes widespread with the advent of the periodical press.

The seventeenth century is also characterized as the century of science. Indeed, this is the time of secularization of scientific knowledge, its consistent dissociation from other forms of knowledge of man and reality. A new, much more recognizable by modern man classification of branches of science and their new hierarchy is emerging, associated with worldview changes in the minds of people in the 17th century. It should be remembered, however, that the worldview of the people of the 17th century, or, as they often say now, the mentality of the era, was both uniform and contradictoryly diverse; in it, fighting and interacting, rationalism and sensationalism, rationality and mysticism collided. An integral part of the new mentality, its core was the awareness of the crisis of the ideals of the Renaissance (cheerful and optimistic idea of ​​the harmony of the Universe, the power of the human mind and the greatness of man, etc.).

The historical and cultural chronology of the era under study does not coincide with the usual calendar division into centuries. The beginning of the "XVII century" as a new literary period falls approximately in the 90s of the XVI century, and its end is already in the mid-80s-90s of the next century. Such a chronology takes into account a whole complex of historical and cultural changes, which ultimately leads to new patterns in the development of literature.

The main literary trends of the 17th century were baroque and classicism.

The very word " baroque"As a term of art history, they began to apply to a certain range of artistic phenomena of the 17th century only in the next, 18th century, and with a negative connotation. So, in the "Encyclopedia" of the French Enlighteners, the word "baroque" is used with the meanings "strange, bizarre, tasteless." It is difficult to find a single linguistic source for this term, because the word was used, with shades of meaning, in Italian, and in Portuguese, and in Spanish. It should only be emphasized that etymology allows us to capture some features of baroque poetics: whimsicality, unusualness, ambiguity.

Signs of a new style began to appear at the end of the 16th century, but it was the 17th century that became its heyday. Baroque is a response to social, political, economic instability, an ideological crisis, the psychological tension of the frontier era, it is the desire to creatively rethink the tragic outcome of the humanistic program of the Renaissance, it is the search for a way out of a state of spiritual crisis.

The Baroque era came after a deep spiritual and religious crisis caused by the Reformation - a powerful religious movement aimed at reforming the doctrine and organization of the Christian church, which arose in Germany in the early 16th century, quickly spread to a large part of Europe and led to the separation from Rome and the formation new form of Christianity.

In this era, a peculiar look at a person and a passion for everything theatrical give rise to an all-penetrating image: the whole world is a theater. For all those who know English, this image is associated with the name of Shakespeare - after all, it is taken from his comedy As You Like It. But it can be found in all major works of European literature. The rich port of Amsterdam opened in 1638 the city theater, above the entrance to which one could read the lines of the greatest Dutch poet Vondel: “Our world is a stage, everyone here has their own role and everyone is rewarded according to their deserts.” And in Spain, rivaling Holland, Vondel's contemporary Calderón de la Varca created his famous masterpiece, The Great Theater of the World, which presents the world as a stage in a truly baroque sense.

The tragically sublime content also determined the main features of the Baroque as an artistic method. Baroque works are characterized by theatricality, illusory nature (it is no coincidence that P. Calderon's drama is called "Life is a dream"), antinomy (the clash of personal principles and social duty), the contrast of the sensual and spiritual nature of man, the opposition of the fantastic and the real, the exotic and the ordinary, the tragic and the comic . Baroque is replete with complex metaphors, allegories, symbolism, it is distinguished by the expressiveness of the word, the exaltation of feelings, semantic ambiguity, the mixing of motifs of ancient mythology with Christian symbols. Baroque poets paid great attention to the graphic form of the verse, created "curly" poems, the lines of which formed a pattern of a heart, a star, etc.

Actualizing the thesis “life is a dream” known in the Middle Ages, the Baroque draws attention primarily to the fragility of the boundaries between “sleep” and “life”, to the constant doubt of a person whether he is in a state of sleep or awake, to contrasts or bizarre rapprochements between the face and mask, "to be" and "to seem".

The Baroque era rejects naturalness, considering it ignorance and savagery. At that time, a woman should be unnaturally pale, in an elaborate hairstyle, in a tight corset and a huge skirt, and a man in a wig, without a mustache and beard, powdered and perfumed.

People of that time always felt the eye of God and the attention of the whole world on themselves, but this filled them with a sense of self-respect, the desire to make their life as bright and meaningful as it appeared in painting, sculpture and dramaturgy. Like pictorial portraits, Baroque palaces reflect their creators' conception of themselves. They are panegyrics in stone, extolling the virtues of those who live in them. The work of the Baroque era, glorifying the greats and their accomplishments, amaze us with their challenge and at the same time demonstrate an attempt to drown out the longing of their creators. The shadow of disappointment lies on the art of the Baroque from the very beginning. Love for the theater and stage metaphor reveals the realization that any external manifestation is illusory.

A sharp feeling of rushing time, absorbing everything and everyone; a sense of the futility of everything earthly, about which poets and preachers throughout Europe spoke; a gravestone that inevitably awaits everyone and reminds that the flesh is mortal, man is dust - all this, oddly enough, led to an unusual love of life and life affirmation. This paradox has become the main theme of baroque poetry, the authors called people to pick flowers of pleasure while summer is raging around; love and enjoy life's multicolor masquerade. The knowledge that life would end like a dream revealed its true meaning and value to those who were lucky. Despite special attention to the theme of the frailty of all things, the baroque culture gave the world literary works of unprecedented vitality and strength.

The typological features of the Baroque also determined the genre system, which was characterized by mobility. Characteristic is the advancement, on the one hand, of the novel and dramaturgy (especially the genre of tragedy), on the other hand, the cultivation of poetry that is complex in concept and language. Pastoral, tragicomedy, novel (heroic, comic, philosophical) become predominant. A special genre is burlesque - a comedy parodying high genres, roughly grounding the images, conflict and plot moves of these plays. In general, a “mosaic” picture of the world was built in all genres, and imagination played a special role in this picture, and incompatible phenomena were often combined, metaphorical and allegory were used.

It should also be remembered about the evolution of the Baroque during the 17th century, about its relative movement from the "materiality" of style inherited from the Renaissance, the picturesqueness and colorfulness of empirical details to the strengthening of philosophical generalization, symbolic and allegorical imagery, intellectuality and refined psychologism.

baroque architecture(L. Bernini, F. Borromini in Italy, V. V. Rastrelli in Russia): spatial scope, fusion, fluidity of complex, usually curvilinear forms are characteristic for sculpture (Bernini) and painting (P. P. Rubens, A. van Dyck in Flanders) - spectacular decorative compositions, ceremonial portraits. Michelangelo is considered both the last master of the Renaissance and the creator of the Baroque style, for it was he who realized its main style-forming element - the plasticity of the wall. The crown of his work - St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is already considered a Baroque style.

baroque music. The Baroque era saw an explosion of new styles in music. The further weakening of the political control of the Catholic Church in Europe, which began during the Renaissance, allowed non-religious music to flourish. Vocal music, which prevailed during the Renaissance, was gradually replaced by instrumental music. The understanding that musical instruments must be combined in some standard way led to the emergence of the first orchestras. Two of the greatest composers of the time were Corelli and Vivaldi, and in Italy the first operas were written by composers Cavaleri and Monteverdi. Johann Sebastian Bach - the greatest genius in the history of music, lived and worked in the Baroque era. Great works of the Baroque era: Handel "Music on the Water", Bach "Brandenburg Concertos" and cantatas, Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", Purcell "Dido and Aeneas", Menteverdi "Orpheus".

The most famous Baroque writers were: in Spain Luis de Gongora (1561–1627), Pedro Calderon (1600–1681) and Lope de Vega (1562–1635), in Italy Torquato Tasso (1544–1595), Giambattista Marino (1569–1625 ), in Germany Hans Jakob von Grimmelshausen (c. 1621–1676).

Baroque in French literature. French literature of the 17th century, which gave France its great classics, was extremely rich in artistic achievements, had a significant influence on other national literatures of Europe, and largely determined the cultural image of the century as a whole. This was facilitated by the peculiarities of the socio-historical development of the country in the 17th century. It is necessary not only to take into account the active process of centralization of the French state, but also the dramatic vicissitudes of this process throughout the century. The first stage in the development of French literature is associated with the beginning of the process of strengthening absolutism after the period of religious wars at the end of the 16th century. This is also the time of the formation of classicism in French poetry.

In addition to baroque poetry, baroque drama is also developing in France. In the work of Alexander Ardi, the genre features of the tragicomedy genre characteristic of the Baroque theater are clearly visible: saturation with dynamic action, spectacular mise-en-scenes, complexity of the plot, etc. However, the French baroque dramaturgy is less artistically significant than the dramaturgy of classicism.

The situation is different in the realm of artistic prose, especially in the novel. Here, in the first period of the development of French literature, as, indeed, further, the baroque dominates both in its "high" and in its "grassroots" democratic version, forming a single and antinomic at the same time system of the baroque novel. An extremely important role in the formation of this genre in the 17th century, in the development of a special secular civilization, was played by the love-psychological pastoral novel by Honore d'Yurfe "Astrea".

The peculiarity of the Spanish Baroque. The philosophical basis of the Baroque style (probably from the Italian barocco - whimsical), which developed in the Spanish literature of the 17th century, was the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe boundless diversity and eternal variability of the world.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Spain was in a state of deep economic crisis. The defeat of the "Invincible Armada" (1588) off the coast of England, the unreasonable colonial policy, the weakness of Spanish absolutism, its political shortsightedness made Spain a minor European country. In Spanish culture, on the contrary, new trends were clearly identified, which had not only national, but also pan-European significance.

The Spanish 17th century in literature was completely baroque. To a certain extent, it summarizes, enhances and emphasizes the experience of the whole Baroque Europe. Baroque culture manifested itself in almost all areas of artistic creativity and touched all artists. Spain, in the 17th century. in decline, under the rule not so much of the king as of the church, gave a special mood to baroque literature: here the baroque acquired not only a religious, but also a fanatical character, the desire for the otherworldly, emphasized asceticism, was actively manifested. However, it is here that the influence of folk culture is felt.

Spanish poetry of the 17th century Baroque gave rise to two currents that fought among themselves - cultism and conceptualism. Proponents of the first opposed the disgusting and unacceptable real world to the perfect and beautiful world created by the human imagination, which is given to only a few to comprehend. Adherents of cultism turned to Italian, the so-called. The "dark style", which is characterized by complex metaphors and syntax, turned to the mythological system. The followers of conceptism used the same complex language, and complex thought was clothed in this form, hence the ambiguity of each word, hence the play on words and use of puns characteristic of conceptists.

Luis de Gongora contemporaries called "Spanish Homer". It is important to understand that the comparison with Homer means in this case not the similarity of the poetic language of the Spanish Baroque lyricist with ancient epic poetry, but some kind of superlative degree of skill.

Where is ivory, where is snow-white

Parian marble, where the sapphire is radiant,

Eben so black and crystal so pure

Silver and gold filigree obscure,

Where is such the finest beads, where is the coastal

Amber transparent and ruby ​​sparkling

And where is that master, that true artist,

What in the highest hour will create with a diligent hand

From rare treasures a statue, -

Or will it still be the fruit of his efforts

Not with praise - an involuntary insult

For the sun of beauty in the rays of pride,

And the statue will fade before the apparition

Clarinda, my sweet enemy?

(Translated by M. Kvyatkovskaya)

Baroque in English literature.

The beginning of a new historical and literary era in England, most experts refer to the 20s of the XVII century. Such a concept has a certain justification, for example, in the fact that the Renaissance in England was a late phenomenon and the work of many writers, in particular such a remarkable, undeniably great one as Shakespeare, falls at the turn of the century. Shakespeare's legacy includes both Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque style trends. That is, like Spain, in England, the artistic phenomena of the late Renaissance and the baroque and classicism of the 17th century are superimposed on each other. A special variant has developed here, which combines elements of baroque and classicism literature. Baroque motifs and elements most affected poetry and drama, although the English theater of the 17th century. did not give the world baroque playwrights who could be compared with the Spanish.

In England, Baroque literature can be divided into three stage: the first third of the century (the period of the crisis of the Renaissance ideals); 40-50s (participation in the thick of revolutionary fights); 60-80s (years of artistic reflection and comprehension of the results of the revolution). At all these stages, English Baroque literature is distinguished by two leading features - creative power and a sense of breaking the existing foundations, painted in different shades.

The most prominent baroque writer in England is John Donne.

German Reality in the Baroque Works of Writers. German literature of the 17th century is a tragic, but very bright page in German history. The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), which brought incalculable misfortunes to the country, and the triumph of reaction at its end, still could not hinder the work of outstanding German poets, playwrights and prose writers.

If by the beginning of the 17th century all the major countries of the West already had their own national classical literature (Italy, England, Spain, France, Holland), then in Germany a different picture was observed. First of all, the fragmentation of the state prevented the creation of a national German literature. Throughout the 16th century, there was a regression of the economic life of Germany, which led to the decline of the German bourgeoisie. Germany is returning to the omnipotence, almost absolutism of the great feudal lords (princes). Fragmentation prevented the unification of the people's forces to organize a large peasant war, but frequent uprisings still instilled fear in the landowners.

In the German literature of the 17th century, there was a flourishing of poetry, in addition to which the genre of the novel with "characteristic features of anti-realist aesthetics", borrowed from French literature, was widely represented. Among the German nobles, the French aristocratic novel of all kinds was popular: pastoral, gallant, pseudo-knightly, pseudo-oriental, pseudo-historical, historical-state. A distinctive feature of these novels was, firstly, an unusually large volume, and secondly, the extreme complexity of the plot, saturated with a huge number of intersecting storylines, which can be explained not at all by the mediocrity of the authors, but by the specificity of their artistic goal. The novelists sought to embrace the whole world, to cover a wide panorama with their description. Therefore, they were not at all interested in the inner life of the characters; in these novels there was not even a hint of character development and psychologism. Baroque aesthetics could not imagine love outside of wars, campaigns and victories, which entailed the inevitable complication of the plot. The third characteristic feature of baroque novels was the presence of lengthy scholarly comments, notes, digressions, discussions about history, government, etc.

The second literary trend, which became widespread in the 17th century, is classicism. His homeland was Italy (XVI century). Here, classicism arose along with the revived ancient theater and was originally conceived as a direct opposition to medieval drama. The humanists of the Renaissance decided speculatively, without taking into account the uniqueness of specific historical epochs and peoples, to revive the tragedy of Euripides and Seneca, the comedy of Plautus and Terentius. Thus, classicism initially acted as a theory and practice of imitation of ancient art. The rationalistic doctrine of Descartes became the philosophical basis of the classic method. The philosopher believed that the only source of truth is reason. Taking this statement as a starting point, the classicists created a strict system of rules that would harmonize art with the requirements of reasonable necessity in the name of observing the artistic laws of antiquity. Rationalism became the dominant quality of classic art. The classicists also established a clearly regulated hierarchy of literary genres: the exact boundaries of the genre and its features were determined.

Classicism(from Latin classicus - exemplary) - an artistic style and aesthetic trend in European literature and art of the 17th - early 19th centuries, one of the important features of which was the appeal to the images and forms of ancient literature and art as an ideal aesthetic standard.

CLASSICISM is one of the most important areas of art of the past, an artistic style based on normative aesthetics, requiring strict adherence to a number of rules, canons, unities. The rules of classicism are of paramount importance as a means to ensure the main goal of enlightening and instructing the public, referring it to sublime examples. The aesthetics of classicism reflected the desire for the idealization of reality, due to the rejection of the image of a complex and multifaceted reality.

Classicism of the 17th century became a kind of reflection of post-Renaissance humanism. The classicists are characterized by the desire to explore the personality in its connections with the world. Classicism as an artistic system combines an orientation towards antiquity with a deep penetration into the inner world of characters, a reflective, rebellious world. The main conflict of classicism is the struggle between feeling and duty. Through its prism, writers tried to resolve many of the contradictions of reality.

Classicism - from the Latin classicus - first-class, exemplary - originated in Italy in the 16th century in university circles as a practice of imitation of antiquity. Humanist scholars tried to oppose the feudal world with the high optimistic art of the ancients. They sought to revive the ancient drama, studied the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, tried to deduce from the works of ancient masters some general rules, on the basis of which ancient Greek plays were allegedly built. In fact, ancient literature had no rules, but humanists did not understand that art from one era could not be “transplanted” into another. After all, any work arises not on the basis of certain rules, but on the basis of specific conditions of social development. The mistake of the humanists was that they did not take into account the historical conditions for the development of the society and culture of the ancients, they ignored the peculiarities of the artistic thinking of past eras. It is no coincidence that classicism in Italy remained one of the interesting university experiments of the humanists.

Classicism is formed, experiencing the influence of other pan-European trends in art that are directly in contact with it: it repels the aesthetics of the Renaissance that preceded it and opposes the Baroque art that actively coexists with it, imbued with the consciousness of general discord generated by the crisis of the ideals of the past era. Continuing some of the traditions of the Renaissance (admiration for the ancients, faith in reason, the ideal of harmony and measure), classicism was a kind of antithesis to it; Behind the external harmony in classicism lies the internal antinomy of the worldview, which makes it related to the Baroque (for all their deep differences). Generic and individual, public and private, reason and feeling, civilization and nature, which acted (in a trend) in the art of the Renaissance as a single harmonious whole, in classicism are polarized, become mutually exclusive concepts.

Principles rationalism, corresponding to the philosophical ideas of R. Descartes, underlie the aesthetics of classicism. They define the view of a work of art as an artificial creation - consciously created, reasonably organized, logically constructed. The entire artistic system of classicism was imbued with the spirit of rationalism, which also determined the technique of creating works. In an effort to influence not the feelings of readers and viewers, but their minds, the classicists never painted scenes of battles, duels, death. The characters were just talking about it. Therefore, classicist tragedy and comedy most often were not eventful, but verbal in nature.

Recognition of the existence of eternal and objective laws of art, that is, independent of the consciousness of the artist, entailed the requirement for a strict discipline of creativity, the denial of "unorganized" inspiration and masterful fantasy. For the classicists, of course, the Baroque exaltation of the imagination as the most important source of creative impulses is completely unacceptable. Proponents of classicism return to the Renaissance principle of "imitation of nature", but interpret it more narrowly. The principle of "imitation of nature" did not imply the veracity of the reproduction of reality, but plausibility, by which they meant the depiction of things not as they are in reality, but as they should be according to reason. Hence the most important conclusion: the subject of art is not all of nature, but only a part of it, revealed after careful selection and reduced in essence to human nature, taken only in its conscious manifestations. Life, its ugly sides should appear in art ennobled, aesthetically beautiful, nature - "beautiful nature", delivering aesthetic pleasure.

The classicists were convinced that human types are eternal. According to them, a miser, a jealous person, a liar, and similar characters always and everywhere behave in the same way, regardless of national or class dependence. Ancient art had already developed a number of universal types, so the imitation of antiquity, the borrowing of ancient plots and heroes was considered a guarantee of plausibility. The classicists did not see movement in history, they perceived it as a sum of examples illustrating eternal, unchanging human qualities. Nevertheless, by developing characters built on a single trait, classic writers learned the art of full and capacious expression of this single trait. They have learned to subordinate all the elements of a work of art to the most prominent selection of one quality of character, one trait.

The most important norms of classicism (the unity of action, place and time) follow from the substantive premises discussed above. In order to more accurately convey the idea to the viewer and inspire selfless feelings, the author did not have to complicate anything. The main intrigue should be simple enough so as not to confuse the viewer and not deprive the picture of integrity. The requirement of three unities arose from the rationalistic proposition that a spectator who spends only a few hours in the theater will not believe if events take place on the stage in front of him, the duration of which is very different from the actual duration of the theatrical performance. The demand for unity of time was closely connected with the unity of action, and many diverse events did not occur in the tragedy. The unity of place has also been interpreted in different ways. It could be the space of one palace, one room, one city, and even the distance that the hero could cover within twenty-four hours. Particularly bold reformers decided to stretch the action for thirty hours. The tragedy must have five acts and be written in Alexandrian verse (iambic six-foot).

Despite the commitment to the ideals of antiquity, classicism did not follow the path already beaten by it. The masters of this era developed a number of principles on which not only classicism itself was based, but also some subsequent trends. So, the classicists proclaimed Reason as their deity. Everything and everything is subject to him, even nature itself is its wise incarnation. That is why the nature of many parks in the style of classicism, as it were, is subject to the laws of reason, that is, it has clear proportions, straight lines, and a regular geometric shape.

The main ideological tasks of classical art were the glorification of the monarch, as the center of the mind of the nation, and the glorification of heroism in the name of fulfilling duty to fellow citizens. The latter was just embodied through the prism of antiquity.

In France In the 17th century, classicism not only develops rapidly, finds its methodological justification in philosophy, but also becomes, for the first time in history, an official literary movement. This was facilitated by the policy of the French court. N. Boileau in his treatise "Poetic Art" (1674) summarized the experience of French classic writers. The obvious addiction of classicism to generalization, to aphoristic clarity and laconism of expression brings to the fore precisely moralistic aphoristic prose.

The highest achievements of French literature of the 17th century are associated with the classic theater, in which the genre of tragedy turned out to be the most successful. For the first stage of French classicism, the most significant phenomenon was the work of the creator of the classic tragedy, Pierre Corneille (1606–1684): Sid, Horace, Cinna; at the second stage, in the second half of the century, Jean Racine (1639–1699) was recognized as the greatest master of tragedy: Andromache, Phaedra, Esther, Athalia. In their creations, the conflict of duty and feeling and the rule of three unities are implemented in completely different ways. But no matter how great the merits of Corneille and Racine, the national theater in France arose only with the advent of the greatest European comedian Molière (1622 - 1673) into dramaturgy: Tartuffe, Don Juan, Misanthrope, Miser, Bourgeois in the nobility.

Under the influence of French literature, classicism also developed in other European countries: in England (A. Pope, J. Addison), Italy (V. Alfieri, partly Hugo Foscolo), and Germany (I. Gottsched).

To create the illusion of power and wealth. A style that can elevate is becoming popular, and this is how baroque appeared in Italy in the 16th century.

Origin of the term

Origin of the word baroque causes more controversy than the names of all other styles. There are several versions of the origin. Portuguese barroco- an irregularly shaped pearl that does not have an axis of rotation; such pearls were popular in the 17th century. in italian baroco- a false syllogism, an Asian form of logic, a sophistry technique based on metaphor. Like pearls of irregular shape, baroque syllogisms, the falsity of which was hidden by their metaphor.

The use of the term by critics and art historians dates back to the 2nd half of the 18th century and refers, at first, to figurative art and, consequently, also to literature. In the beginning, the Baroque took on a negative connotation, and only at the end of the 19th century did the re-evaluation of the Baroque take place, thanks to the European cultural context from Impressionism to Symbolism, which highlights the links with the Baroque era.

One controversial theory suggests the origin of all these European words from the Latin bis-roca, twisted stone. Another theory - from Latin verruca, steep high place, defect in gemstone .

In different contexts, the word baroque could mean “pretentiousness”, “unnaturalness”, “insincerity”, “eliteness”, “deformity”, “exaggerated emotionality”. All these shades of the word baroque in most cases were not perceived as negative.

Finally, another theory suggests that this word in all the languages ​​​​mentioned is parodic from the point of view of linguistics, and its word formation can be explained by its meaning: unusual, unnatural, ambiguous and deceptive.

The ambiguity of the Baroque style is explained by its origin. According to some researchers, it was borrowed from the architecture of the Seljuk Turks.

Baroque features

Baroque is characterized by contrast, tension, dynamic images, affectation, striving for grandeur and pomp, for combining reality and illusion, for the fusion of arts (urban and palace and park ensembles, opera, cult music, oratorio); at the same time - a tendency towards autonomy of individual genres (concerto grosso, sonata, suite in instrumental music).

The ideological foundations of the style were formed as a result of a shock, which the Reformation and the teachings of Copernicus became for the 16th century. The idea of ​​the world as a reasonable and permanent unity, which was established in antiquity, has changed, as well as the Renaissance idea of ​​man as a most rational being. In the words of Pascal, a person began to realize himself "something in between everything and nothing", "one who catches only the appearance of phenomena, but is not able to understand either their beginning or their end."

Baroque era

The Baroque era gives rise to a huge amount of time for entertainment: instead of pilgrimages - the promenade (walks in the park); instead of jousting tournaments - "carousels" (horse rides) and card games; instead of mysteries, theater and a masquerade ball. You can add the appearance of swings and "fiery fun" (fireworks). In the interiors, portraits and landscapes took the place of icons, and music turned from spiritual into a pleasant play of sound.

The Baroque era rejects tradition and authority as superstition and prejudice. Everything that is “clear and distinct” is thought or has a mathematical expression is true, declares the philosopher Descartes. Therefore, the baroque is still the age of Reason and Enlightenment. It is no coincidence that the word "baroque" is sometimes raised to designate one of the types of inferences in medieval logic - to baroco. The first European park appears in the Palace of Versailles, where the idea of ​​the forest is expressed extremely mathematically: linden alleys and canals seem to be drawn along a ruler, and the trees are trimmed in the manner of stereometric figures. In the armies of the Baroque era, which for the first time received a uniform, much attention is paid to "drill" - the geometric correctness of constructions on the parade ground.

baroque man

Baroque man rejects naturalness, which is identified with savagery, arrogance, tyranny, brutality and ignorance - all that in the era of romanticism will become a virtue. The Baroque woman cherishes the pallor of her skin, she wears an unnatural, frilly hairstyle, a corset and an artificially extended skirt on a whalebone frame. She is in heels.

And the gentleman becomes the ideal of a man in the Baroque era - from the English. gentle: “soft”, “gentle”, “calm”. Initially, he preferred to shave his mustache and beard, wear perfume and wear powdered wigs. Why force, if now they kill by pulling the trigger of a musket. In the Baroque era, naturalness is synonymous with brutality, savagery, vulgarity and extravagance. For the philosopher Hobbes, the state of nature state of nature) is a state characterized by anarchy and war of all against all.

Baroque is characterized by the idea of ​​ennobling nature on the basis of reason. The need is not tolerated, but “it is good to offer in pleasant and courteous words” (Youth, an honest mirror, 1717). According to the philosopher Spinoza, the instincts no longer constitute the content of sin, but "the very essence of man." Therefore, the appetite is formalized in exquisite table etiquette (it was in the Baroque era that forks and napkins appeared); interest in the opposite sex - in a courteous flirtation, quarrels - in a sophisticated duel.

Baroque is characterized by the idea of ​​a sleeping God - deism. God is conceived not as a Savior, but as a Great Architect who created the world just as a watchmaker creates a mechanism. Hence such a characteristic of the Baroque worldview as mechanism. The law of conservation of energy, the absoluteness of space and time are guaranteed by the word of God. However, having created the world, God rested from his labors and does not interfere in the affairs of the Universe in any way. It is useless to pray to such a God - one can only learn from Him. Therefore, the true guardians of the Enlightenment are not prophets and priests, but natural scientists. Isaac Newton discovers the law of universal gravitation and writes the fundamental work “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” (), and Carl Linnaeus systematizes biology “ System of Nature” (). Academies of Sciences and scientific societies are being established everywhere in European capitals.

The diversity of perception raises the level of consciousness - something like the philosopher Leibniz says. Galileo for the first time directs a telescope to the stars and proves the rotation of the Earth around the Sun (), and Leeuwenhoek under a microscope discovers tiny living organisms (). Huge sailboats plow the expanses of the world's oceans, erasing white spots on the geographical maps of the world. Travelers and adventurers become literary symbols of the era: the ship's doctor Gulliver and Baron Munchausen.

Baroque in painting

The Baroque style in painting is characterized by the dynamism of compositions, the “flatness” and pomp of forms, the aristocracy and originality of subjects. The most characteristic features of the Baroque are catchy flamboyance and dynamism; a striking example is the work of Rubens and Caravaggio.

Michelangelo Merisi (1571-1610), who was nicknamed Caravaggio from his birthplace near Milan, is considered the most significant master among Italian artists who created at the end of the 16th century. new style in painting. His paintings, painted on religious subjects, resemble realistic scenes of the author's contemporary life, creating a contrast between late antiquity and modern times. The heroes are depicted in twilight, from which the rays of light snatch out the expressive gestures of the characters, contrastingly writing out their specificity. Followers and imitators of Caravaggio, who were at first called caravaggists, and the very current of caravagism, such as Annibale Carracci (1560-1609) or Guido Reni (1575-1642), adopted the riot of feelings and the characteristic manner of Caravaggio, as well as his naturalism in depicting people and events.

Baroque in architecture

In Italian architecture, the most prominent representative of the Baroque art was Carlo Maderna (1556-1629), who broke with Mannerism and created his own style. His main creation is the facade of the Roman church of Santa Susanna (g.). The main figure in the development of baroque sculpture was Lorenzo Bernini, whose first masterpieces executed in the new style date back approximately to Mr. Bernini, also an architect. He owns the decoration of the square of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome and the interiors, as well as other buildings. A significant contribution was made by D. Fontana, R. Rainaldi, G. Guarini, B. Longhena, L. Vanvitelli, P. da Cortona. In Sicily, after a major earthquake in 1693, a new style of late baroque appeared - Sicilian baroque.

In Germany, the outstanding baroque monument is the New Palace in Sanssouci (authors - I. G. Bühring, H. L. Manter) and the Summer Palace in the same place (G. W. von Knobelsdorff).

Baroque in sculpture

Trier. Baroque Sphinx at the Elector's Palace

Pope Innocent XII. Cathedral of Saint Peter in Rome

Baroque gnomes in the Hofgarten of Augsburg

Sculpture is an integral part of the Baroque style. The greatest sculptor and recognized architect of the 17th century was the Italian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). Among his most famous sculptures are the mythological scenes of the abduction of Proserpina by the god of the underworld Pluto and the miraculous transformation into a tree of the nymph Daphne pursued by the god of light Apollo, as well as the altar group "The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa" in one of the Roman churches. The last of them, with its clouds carved from marble and the clothes of characters fluttering in the wind, with theatrically exaggerated feelings, very accurately expresses the aspirations of the sculptors of this era.

In Spain, in the era of the Baroque style, wooden sculptures prevailed, for greater credibility they were made with glass eyes and even a crystal tear, real clothes were often put on the statue.

Baroque in literature

Writers and poets in the Baroque era perceived the real world as an illusion and a dream. Realistic descriptions were often combined with their allegorical depiction. Symbols, metaphors, theatrical techniques, graphic images (lines of poetry form a picture), saturation with rhetorical figures, antitheses, parallelisms, gradations, oxymorons are widely used. There is a burlesque-satirical attitude to reality. Baroque literature is characterized by the desire for diversity, for the summation of knowledge about the world, inclusiveness, encyclopedism, which sometimes turns into chaos and collecting curiosities, the desire to study being in its contrasts (spirit and flesh, darkness and light, time and eternity). Baroque ethics is marked by a craving for the symbolism of the night, the theme of frailty and impermanence, life-dream (F. de Quevedo, P. Calderon). Calderon's play "Life is a dream" is well-known. Such genres as the gallant-heroic novel (J. de Scuderi, M. de Scuderi), the real-everyday and satirical novel (Furetière, C. Sorel, P. Scarron) are also developing. Within the framework of the Baroque style, its varieties, directions are born: marinism, gongorism (culteranism), conceptism (Italy, Spain), metaphysical school and euphuism (England) (See Precise Literature).

The actions of the novels are often transferred to the fictional world of antiquity, to Greece, court cavaliers and ladies are depicted as shepherdesses and shepherdesses, which is called the pastoral (Honoré d'Urfe, "Astrea"). Poetry flourishes pretentiousness, the use of complex metaphors. Common forms such as sonnet, rondo, concetti (a short poem expressing some witty thought), madrigals.

In the west, in the field of the novel, an outstanding representative is G. Grimmelshausen (the novel "Simplicissimus"), in the field of drama - P. Calderon (Spain). V. Voiture (France), D. Marino (Italy), Don Luis de Gongora y Argote (Spain), D. Donne (England) became famous in poetry. In Russia, Baroque literature includes S. Polotsky and F. Prokopovich. In France, "precious literature" flourished during this period. It was then cultivated mainly in the salon of Madame de Rambouillet, one of the aristocratic salons of Paris, the most fashionable and famous. In Spain, the baroque trend in literature was called " Gongorism"After the name of the most prominent representative (see above).

In Germanic literature, the baroque tradition is still maintained by members of the literary community Blumenorden. They gather in the summer for literary holidays in the Irrhain grove near Nuremberg. The society was organized in the year by the poet Philipp Harsdörfer in order to restore and support the German language, badly damaged during the Thirty Years' War

baroque music

Baroque music appeared at the end of the Renaissance and preceded the music of the Classical era.

baroque fashion

First, when he was still a child (he was crowned at the age of 5), short jackets called bracer, richly decorated with lace . Then trousers came into fashion, regraves, similar to a skirt, wide, also richly decorated with lace, which lasted a long time. Later appeared justocor(from French it can be translated: "exactly in the body"). This is a type of caftan, knee length, in this era it was worn buttoned up, a belt was worn over it. A camisole was worn under the caftan, without sleeves. The caftan and camisole can be compared with the later jacket and waistcoat, which they will become after 200 years. The Justocor collar was first turned-down, with semicircular ends stretched down. It was later replaced by the jabot. In addition to lace, there were many bows on the clothes, on the shoulders, on the sleeves and pants - a whole series of bows. In the previous era, under Louis XIII, boots were popular ( over the knee boots). This is a field type of footwear, they were usually worn by the military class. But at that time there were frequent wars, and boots were worn everywhere, even at balls. They continued to be worn under Louis XIV, but only for their intended purpose - in the field, in military campaigns. In a civilian setting, shoes came to the fore. Until 1670, they were decorated with buckles, then the buckles were replaced by bows. The intricately decorated buckles were called agraph.

Baroque in the interior

The baroque style is characterized by ostentatious luxury, although it retains such an important feature of the classical style as symmetry.

Painting has always been popular, and in the Baroque style it became a must, as interiors required a lot of color and large, richly decorated details. The frescoed ceiling, painted marble walls and gilding were more popular than ever. Contrasting colors were often used in the interior: it was not uncommon to find a marble floor resembling a chessboard. Gold was everywhere, and everything that could be gilded was gilded. Not a single corner of the house was left unattended when decorating.

The furniture was a real piece of art, and seemed to be intended only for decorating the interior. Chairs, sofas and armchairs were upholstered in expensive, richly colored fabric. Huge four-poster beds with flowing bedspreads and giant wardrobes were widespread. Mirrors were decorated with sculptures and stucco with floral patterns. Southern walnut and Ceylon ebony were often used as furniture material.

Baroque style is not suitable for small spaces, because massive furniture and decorations take up a lot of space, and in order for the room not to look like a museum, there should be a lot of free space. But even in a small room, you can recreate the spirit of this style, limiting yourself to stylization, using some baroque details, such as:

• figurines and vases with floral ornaments;
• tapestries on the walls;
• mirror in a gilded frame with stucco;
• chairs with carved backs, etc.

It is important that the parts used are combined with each other, otherwise the interior will look clumsy and tasteless.

BAROQUE, LITERATURE- literature of the ideological and cultural movement, known as the baroque, which affected various spheres of spiritual life and developed into a special artistic system.

The transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque was a long and ambiguous process, and many features of the Baroque were already maturing in Mannerism (the stylistic trend of the late Renaissance). The origin of the term is not entirely clear. Sometimes it is raised to the Portuguese term, which means "pearl of a bizarre shape", sometimes to a concept denoting one of the types of logical syllogism. There is no consensus on the content of this concept, the interpretation remains ambiguous: it is defined as a cultural era, but often limited to the concept of "artistic style". In domestic science, the interpretation of the baroque as a cultural trend, characterized by the presence of a certain worldview and artistic system, is affirmed.

The emergence of the Baroque was determined by a new worldview, the crisis of the Renaissance worldview, the rejection of its great idea of ​​a harmonious and grandiose universal personality. By virtue of this alone, the emergence of the Baroque could not be associated only with the forms of religion or the nature of power. At the heart of the new ideas that determined the essence of the Baroque, there was an understanding of the complexity of the world, its deep inconsistency, the drama of being and the destiny of man, to some extent these ideas were influenced by the strengthening of the religious quest of the era. The features of the Baroque determined the differences in the attitude and artistic activity of a number of its representatives, and within the existing artistic system, artistic movements that were very little similar to each other coexisted.

Baroque literature, like the whole movement, is characterized by a tendency towards complexity of forms and a desire for stateliness and pomp. In baroque literature, the disharmony of the world and man, their tragic confrontation, as well as internal struggles in the soul of an individual, are comprehended. Because of this, the vision of the world and man is most often pessimistic. At the same time, the baroque in general and its literature in particular are permeated by faith in the reality of the spiritual principle, the greatness of God.

Doubt about the strength and steadfastness of the world led to its rethinking, and in the culture of the Baroque, the medieval doctrine of the frailty of the world and man was intricately combined with the achievements of the new science. The idea of ​​the infinity of space has led to a radical change in the vision of the picture of the world, which is acquiring grandiose cosmic proportions. In the baroque, the world is understood as eternal and majestic nature, and man - an insignificant grain of sand - is simultaneously merged with it and opposes it. He seems to dissolve in the world and becomes a particle, subject to the laws of the world and society. At the same time, a person in the representation of the figures of the Baroque is subject to unbridled passions that lead him to evil.

Exaggerated affectation, extreme exaltation of feelings, the desire to know the beyond, elements of fantasy - all this is intricately intertwined in the worldview and artistic practice. The world, in the understanding of the artists of the era, is torn and disordered, a person is just a miserable toy in the hands of inaccessible forces, his life is a chain of accidents and, by virtue of this, is chaos. Therefore, the world is in a state of instability, an immanent state of change is inherent in it, and its laws are difficult to grasp, if at all comprehensible. Baroque, as it were, splits the world: in it, next to the heavenly, the earthly coexists, next to the sublime, the lowly. This dynamic, rapidly changing world is characterized not only by inconstancy and transience, but also by the extraordinary intensity of being and the intensity of disturbing passions, the combination of polar phenomena - the grandeur of evil and the greatness of good. Baroque was also characterized by another feature - it sought to identify and generalize the patterns of being. In addition to recognizing the tragedy and inconsistency of life, representatives of the Baroque believed that there was some higher divine intelligence and that there was a hidden meaning in everything. Therefore, we must come to terms with the world order.

In this culture, and especially in literature, in addition to focusing on the problem of evil and the frailty of the world, there was also a desire to overcome the crisis, to comprehend the highest rationality, combining both good and evil principles. Thus, an attempt was made to remove contradictions, the place of man in the vast expanses of the universe was determined by the creative power of his thought and the possibility of a miracle. With such an approach, God appeared as the embodiment of the idea of ​​justice, mercy and higher reason.

These features were more clearly manifested in literature and fine arts. Artistic creativity gravitated towards monumentality, it strongly expresses not only the tragic beginning, but also religious motives, themes of death and doom. Many artists were characterized by doubts, a sense of the frailty of being and skepticism. Arguments are characteristic that the afterlife is preferable to suffering on sinful earth. These features of literature (and of the entire baroque culture) for a long time made it possible to interpret this phenomenon as a manifestation of the counter-reformation, to associate it with the feudal-Catholic reaction. Now this interpretation has been decisively rejected.

At the same time, in the Baroque, and above all in literature, various stylistic trends clearly manifested themselves, and individual trends diverged quite far. The rethinking of the nature of baroque literature (as well as baroque culture itself) in the latest literary criticism has led to the fact that two main stylistic lines stand out in it. First of all, an aristocratic baroque appears in literature, in which a tendency to elitism, to create works for the “chosen ones” manifested itself. There was another, democratic, so-called. "grassroots" baroque, which reflected the emotional shock of the broad masses of the population in the era under consideration. It is in the grassroots baroque that life is depicted in all its tragic contradictions, this trend is characterized by rudeness and often playing with base plots and motives, which often led to parody.

Of particular importance is descriptiveness: the artists sought to depict and set forth in detail not only the contradictions of the world and man, but also the contradictory nature of human nature itself and even abstract ideas.

The idea of ​​the variability of the world gave rise to an extraordinary expressiveness of artistic means. A characteristic feature of baroque literature is the mixing of genres. Internal inconsistency determined the nature of the image of the world: its contrasts were revealed, instead of the Renaissance harmony, asymmetry appeared. Emphasized attentiveness to the mental structure of a person revealed such a trait as exaltation of feelings, emphasized expressiveness, a display of the deepest suffering. Baroque art and literature are characterized by extreme emotional tension. Another important technique is the dynamics that followed from the understanding of the variability of the world. Baroque literature knows no peace and static, the world and all its elements are constantly changing. For her, the baroque becomes typical of a suffering hero, in a state of disharmony, a martyr of duty or honor, suffering turns out to be almost his main property, there is a feeling of the futility of earthly struggle and a sense of doom: a person becomes a toy in the hands of forces unknown and inaccessible to his understanding.

In literature, one can often find an expression of fear of fate and the unknown, an anxious expectation of death, a feeling of omnipotence of malice and cruelty. Characteristic is the expression of the idea of ​​the existence of a divine universal law, and human arbitrariness is ultimately restrained by its establishment. Because of this, the dramatic conflict also changes in comparison with the literature of the Renaissance and Mannerism: it is not so much the struggle of the hero with the outside world as an attempt to comprehend divine plans in a collision with life. The hero turns out to be reflective, turned to his own inner world.

Baroque literature insisted on freedom of expression in creativity, it is characterized by an unbridled flight of fantasy. Baroque strove for excess in everything. Because of this, there is an accentuated, deliberate complexity of images and language, combined with the desire for beauty and affectation of feelings. The Baroque language is extremely complicated, unusual and even deliberate techniques are used, pretentiousness and even pomposity appear. The feeling of the illusory nature of life and the unreliability of knowledge led to the widespread use of symbols, complex metaphor, decorativeness and theatricality, and determined the appearance of allegories. Baroque literature constantly confronts the real and the imaginary, the desired and the real, the problem of "to be or to seem" becomes one of the most important. The intensity of passions led to the fact that feelings pressed the mind in culture and art. Finally, baroque is characterized by a mixture of very different feelings and the appearance of irony, "there is no phenomenon either so serious or so sad that it cannot turn into a joke." A pessimistic worldview gave rise not only to irony, but also to caustic sarcasm, grotesque and hyperbole.

The desire to generalize the world pushed the boundaries of artistic creativity: baroque literature, like fine art, gravitated towards grandiose ensembles, at the same time, one can notice a tendency towards the process of “cultivating” the natural principle in man and nature itself, subordinating it to the will of the artist.

The typological features of the Baroque also determined the genre system, which was characterized by mobility. Characteristic is the advancement, on the one hand, of the novel and dramaturgy (especially the genre of tragedy), on the other hand, the cultivation of poetry that is complex in concept and language. Pastoral, tragicomedy, novel (heroic, comic, philosophical) become predominant. A special genre is burlesque - comedy, parodying high genres, roughly grounding the images, conflict and plot moves of these plays. In general, a “mosaic” picture of the world was built in all genres, and imagination played a special role in this picture, and incompatible phenomena were often combined, metaphorical and allegory were used.

Baroque literature had its own national specifics. It largely determined the emergence of individual literary schools and trends - Marinism in Italy, Concepsionism and Cultism in Spain, the Metaphysical School in England, Preciosity, Libertinage in France.

First of all, baroque arose in those countries where the power of the Catholic Church increased most: Italy and Spain.

With regard to the literature of Italy, one can speak of the origin and development of Baroque literature. Italian baroque found its expression first of all in poetry. Its ancestor in Italy was Gianbatista Marino (1569–1625). A native of Naples, he lived a turbulent, adventurous life and gained European fame. His worldview was inherent in a fundamentally different vision of the world compared to the Renaissance: he was quite indifferent in matters of religion, he believed that the world consists of contradictions, which create unity. Man is born and doomed to suffering and death. Marino used the usual literary forms of the Renaissance, primarily the sonnet, but filled it with other content, at the same time he searched for new linguistic means in order to amaze and stun the reader. His poetry used unexpected metaphors, comparisons and images. A special technique - a combination of contradictory concepts such as "scientific ignoramus" or "rich beggar", is inherent in Marino and such a Baroque feature as an understanding of the grandeur of the natural world, the desire to combine the cosmic principle with the human (collection Lyra). His most important work is a poem Adonis(1623) and Massacre of the innocents. Both mythological and biblical subjects were interpreted by the author in an emphatically dynamic way, were complicated by psychological collisions and were dramatic. As a baroque theorist, Marino promoted the idea of ​​unity and consubstantiality of all arts. His poetry brought to life the school of Marinism and received a wide response beyond the Alps. Marino connected Italian and French cultures, and his influence on French literature was such that he was experienced not only by the followers of the Baroque in France, but even by one of the founders of French classicism, F. Malherbe.

Baroque acquires special significance in Spain, where baroque culture manifested itself in almost all areas of artistic creativity and touched all artists. Spain, in the 17th century. in decline, under the rule not so much of the king as of the church, gave a special mood to baroque literature: here the baroque acquired not only a religious, but also a fanatical character, the desire for the otherworldly, emphasized asceticism, was actively manifested. However, it is here that the influence of folk culture is felt.

The Spanish Baroque turned out to be an unusually powerful trend in Spanish culture due to the special artistic and cultural ties between Italy and Spain, specific internal conditions, and features of the historical path in the 16th–17th centuries. The golden age of Spanish culture was associated primarily with the Baroque, and to the maximum extent it manifested itself in literature, focused on the intellectual elite ( cm. SPANISH LITERATURE). Some techniques were already used by artists of the late Renaissance. In Spanish literature, the Baroque found its expression in poetry, prose, and dramaturgy. Spanish poetry of the 17th century Baroque gave rise to two currents that fought among themselves - cultism and conceptualism. Proponents of the first opposed the disgusting and unacceptable real world to the perfect and beautiful world created by the human imagination, which is given to only a few to comprehend. Adherents of cultism turned to Italian, the so-called. The "dark style", which is characterized by complex metaphors and syntax, referred to the mythological system. The followers of conceptism used the same complex language, and complex thought was clothed in this form, hence the ambiguity of each word, hence the play on words and use of puns characteristic of conceptists. If Gongora belonged to the first, then Quevedo belonged to the second.

Baroque first manifested itself in the work of Luis de Gongora y Argote, whose writings were published only after his death ( Works in verse by Spanish Homer, 1627) and brought him fame as the greatest poet of Spain. The largest master of the Spanish Baroque, he is the founder of "cultism" with its learned Latin words and the complexity of forms with very simple plots. . Gongora's poetics was distinguished by the desire for polysemy, his style is replete with metaphors and hyperbole. He achieves exceptional virtuosity, and his themes are usually simple, but revealed in an extremely complicated way, complexity, according to the poet, is an artistic means of enhancing the impact of poetry on the reader, not only on his feelings, but also on the intellect. In his works ( The Tale of Polyphemus and Galatea, Loneliness) he created the Spanish Baroque style. Gongora's poetry quickly gained new supporters, although Lope de Vega was in opposition to it. No less significant for the development of the Spanish Baroque is the prose heritage of F. Quevedo (1580–1645), who left a large number of satirical works, which show a disgusting ugly world that acquires a distorted character through the use of the grotesque. This world is in a state of motion, fantastic, unreal and miserable. Dramaturgy is of particular importance in the Spanish Baroque. Mostly Baroque masters worked in the genre of tragedy or drama. A significant contribution to the development of Spanish dramaturgy was made by Tirso de Molina (Frey Gabriel Telles). He created about 300 plays (86 have survived), mostly religious dramas (auto) and comedies of manners. A master of masterfully designed intrigue, Tirso de Molina became the first author to process the image of Don Juan in world literature. His Seville mischievous or stone guest is not only the first development of this plot, but also sustained in the spirit of baroque with the utmost naturalism in the last scene. The work of Tirso de Molina, as it were, threw a bridge from Mannerism to Baroque, in many ways he opened the path that the playwrights of the Calderon school took, building their artistic system, the synthesis of Mannerism and Baroque.

Calderon became the classical master of baroque dramaturgy. In all his dramas, he used a logically coherent and well-thought-out composition to the smallest detail, maximally intensified the intensity of the action, concentrating it around one of the characters, an expressive language. His legacy is connected with baroque dramaturgy. In his work, the pessimistic beginning found its ultimate expression, primarily in religious and moral-philosophical writings. The pinnacle is the play Life is a dream, where the baroque worldview received the most complete expression. Calderon showed the tragic contradictions of human life, from which there is no way out, except for turning to God. Life is portrayed as a painful suffering, any earthly blessings are illusory, the boundaries of the real world and sleep are blurred. Human passions are transitory, and only the awareness of this transitoryness gives knowledge to a person.

The Spanish 17th century in literature was completely baroque, as in Italy. To a certain extent, it summarizes, enhances and emphasizes the experience of the whole Baroque Europe.

In the Netherlands, the baroque is asserted almost completely, but here there is almost no feature characteristic of Italy and Spain: aspiration to God, religious frenzy. The Flemish baroque is more bodily and rough, permeated with impressions of the surrounding everyday material world or is turned to the contradictory and complex spiritual world of man.

The baroque touched German culture and literature much more deeply. Artistic techniques, the Baroque attitude spread in Germany under the influence of two factors. 1) The atmosphere of the princely courts of the 17th century, in everything following the elite fashion of Italy. Baroque was conditioned by the tastes, needs and moods of the German nobility. 2) The tragic situation of the Thirty Years' War influenced the German Baroque. Because of this, an aristocratic baroque existed in Germany along with a folk baroque (the poets Logau and Gryphius, the prose writer Grimmelshausen). The greatest German poet was Martin Opitz (1597–1639), whose poetry is quite close to the poetic forms of the Baroque, and Andreas Griphius (1616–1664), whose work reflected both the tragic upheavals of the war and the theme of frailty and futility of all earthly things, typical of Baroque literature. joys. His poetry was ambiguous, used metaphors, it reflected the deep religiosity of the author. The largest German novel of the 17th century is associated with the Baroque. Simplicissimus H. Grimmelshausen, where the suffering of the people during the war years was captured with tremendous force and tragedy. Baroque features are fully reflected in it. The world in the novel is not just a realm of evil, it is disorderly and changeable, and the changes only take place for the worse. The chaos of the world determines the destiny of man. The fate of man is tragic, man is the embodiment of the variability of the world and being. To an even greater extent, the Baroque attitude manifested itself in German dramaturgy, where the tragedy is bloody and depicts the wildest crimes. Life here is seen as a vale of sorrow and suffering, where any human undertakings are in vain.

Much less baroque was inherent in the literature of England, France, the Dutch Republic. In France, elements of the Baroque clearly manifested themselves in the first half of the 17th century, but after the Fronde, the Baroque was supplanted in French literature by classicism, and as a result, the so-called “grand style” was created. Baroque in France took such specific forms that there is still debate about whether it existed there at all. Its elements are already inherent in the work of Agrippa d "Aubigne, who in tragic poems expressed horror and protest against the cruelty of the surrounding world and in The Adventures of Baron Fenest posed the problem of "to be or to seem." In the future, in the French Baroque, admiration and even the image of the cruelty and tragedy of the world are almost completely absent. In practice, the baroque in France turned out to be connected, first of all, with such a common feature (inherited from mannerism) as the desire for illusoryness. French authors sought to create a fictional world, far from the rudeness and absurdity of reality. Baroque literature turned out to be associated with mannerism and goes back to the novel by O. d "Yurfe astrea(1610). Precise literature arose, which demanded the maximum distraction from everything vile and rude in real life, was estranged from prosaic reality. The principles of the pastoral were affirmed in the precise novel, as was the emphatically refined, complicated and flowery speech. The language of precision literature made extensive use of metaphors, hyperbole, antitheses, and paraphrases. This language was clearly formed under the influence of Marino, who visited the French court. Literary salons became the conductor of a precise, lofty language. The representatives of this trend include, first of all, M. de Scuderi, the author of novels Artamen or the great Cyrus(1649) and Clelia. Baroque gets a different life during the Fronde, in the work of the so-called freethinking poets, in which the features of mannerism and baroque are intertwined (Cyrano de Bergerac, Theophile de Vio). The burlesque poem is widely spread, where there is a dissonance of style and content (exalted heroes under base, rude circumstances). Baroque tendencies manifested themselves in the dramaturgy of the first half of the 17th century, where pastorals and tragicomedies triumphed, which reflected ideas about the diversity and variability of being and an appeal to dramatic conflicts (A. Ardi).

In France, the baroque found its expression in the work of one of the greatest philosophers of the 17th century, the thinker and stylist B. Pascal. He expressed in France the whole tragedy of the Baroque worldview and its sublime pathos. Pascal - a brilliant natural scientist - in 1646 turned to Jansenism (a trend in Catholicism condemned by the church) and published a series of pamphlets Letters from a provincial. In 1670 his Thoughts, where he spoke of the dual nature of man, manifested both in glimpses of greatness and in insignificance, the blatant contradiction of his nature. The greatness of a man is created by his thought. Pascal's worldview is tragic, he speaks of the boundless spaces of the world, firmly believes in the expediency of the world order and contrasts the greatness of the world with the weakness of man. It is he who owns the famous baroque image - "Man is a reed, but this is a thinking reed."

In England, baroque tendencies were most clearly manifested in the theater after Shakespeare and in literature. A special variant has developed here, which combines elements of baroque and classicism literature. Baroque motifs and elements most affected poetry and dramaturgy. English theater 17th century did not give the world baroque playwrights who could be compared with Spanish ones, and even in England their work is incomparable in scale with the talents of the poet J. Donne or R. Burton. In dramaturgy, the Renaissance ideals were gradually combined with the ideas of mannerism, and the last playwrights of the pre-revolutionary era were closely connected with the aesthetics of the Baroque. Baroque features can be found in late dramaturgy, especially in Fr. Beaumont and J. Fletcher, J. Ford ( Broken heart, Perkin Warbeck), F. Massinger ( Duke of Milan), among individual playwrights of the Restoration era, in particular in Saved Venice T. Otway, where the exaltation of passion is found, and the characters have the features of baroque martyrs. In the poetic heritage, under the influence of the Baroque, the so-called “metaphysical school” took shape. Its founder was one of the greatest poets of the era, J. Donn. He and his followers were characterized by a penchant for mysticism and subtly refined complex language. For greater expressiveness of paradoxical and pretentious images, not only metaphors were used, but also a specific technique of versification (the use of dissonances, etc.). Intellectual complexity, along with inner turmoil and dramatic feelings, determined the rejection of social problems and the elitism of this poetry. After the revolution in the era of the Restoration, both baroque and classicism coexist in English literature, and elements of both artistic systems are often combined in the work of individual authors. This is typical, for example, for the most important work of the greatest of the English poets of the 17th century. - Paradise Lost J. Milton. Epic poem Lost heaven(1667) was distinguished by grandiosity unprecedented for the literature of the era both in time and space, and the image of Satan, a rebel against the established world order, was characterized by gigantic passion, rebelliousness and pride. Emphasized drama, extraordinary emotional expressiveness, allegorism of the poem, dynamism, wide use of contrasts and oppositions - all these features Paradise Lost brought the poem closer to the Baroque.

Baroque literature created its own aesthetic and literary theory, which summarized the already existing artistic experience. The most famous works of B. Grasian Wit or the Art of the Sophisticated Mind(1642) and Aristotle's spyglass E.Tesauro (1655). In the latter, in particular, the exceptional role of metaphor, theatricality and brightness, symbolism, and the ability to combine polar phenomena are noted.

Irina Elfond

Literature:

Golenishchev-Kutuzov I.N. Spanish and Italian Literature of the Baroque. In the book: - Romance Literature . M., 1975
Stein A.L. Spanish Baroque literature. M., 1983
Vipper Yu.B. Baroque in Western European literature of the 17th century. – In the book: Creative Fates and History. M., 1990
17th century in European literary development. St. Petersburg, 1996
Foreign Literature of the Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism. M., 1998
History of foreign literature in the 17th century. M., 1999
Silyunas V.Yu. Lifestyle and art styles (Spanish Mannerist and Baroque theater). St. Petersburg, 2000
Pakhsaryan N.T. History of foreign literature of the 17th–18th centuries. M., 2001
Baroque and classicism in the history of world culture. M., 2001
Chekalov K.A. Mannerism in French and Italian Literature. M., 2001

The supposedly fundamental “anti-lyricism” of the 17th century is sought to be explained both in the dominance of the court culture leveling the human personality, and in the oppression of absolutism (the supreme power is not limited to representative institutions), and in the influence on the minds of the metaphysical way of thinking (the original nature of reality, the world and being as such). A heightened interest in the problem of movement is one of the distinguishing features of the intellectual life of this era. Heightened interest to the dynamic aspects of reality to full of drama character movement, events and about circumstances, to understanding and reproduction of contradictions. The seventeenth century produced such eminent poets as Milton, Marino, La Fontaine and Boileau, Fleming. There are many features in the artistic system of European poetry of the 17th century, connected with the literary traditions of the past. To the Renaissance, in many respects, the dominant structure of lyrical and epic genres, and the ongoing enhanced appeal to ancient mythology as a storehouse of plots and images, and the impact of the canons of Petrarchism in love lyrics (a lady who is fundamentally unattainable, metaphors, death comes first than love). Baroque writers, moreover, widely use dating back to medieval culture symbols, emblems and allegories embody their mindsets with the help of traditional biblical images are often inspired ideals drawn from chivalric romances. But at its core, it is deeply original, original, fundamentally different from the aesthetic concepts and ideals of both the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment. The greatest achievements of European poetry of the 17th century were captured in a perfect artistic form spiritual quests, suffering, joys and dreams people of this era. The "seventeenth century" as an epoch plays in many respects a key, critical role in the development of that process of struggle between the forces that defend the feudal foundations and the forces that shake these foundations, the initial stage of which belongs to the Renaissance, and the final stage embraces the Enlightenment. The heightened dramatism of the 17th century as an epoch is also given by the fact that social clashes are played out in this historical period under the conditions of a sharp activation of conservative and reactionary circles. phenomenon like the Counter-Reformation. strictly ascetic in nature, then from the beginning of the 17th century, the champions of this movement (and primarily the Jesuits) resorted to more and more versatile and flexible methods of influence. propagandistic and expressive possibilities of the Baroque style, with its characteristic pomp, emphasis and pathos, craving for sensuality. One of the central events in Western Europe in the 17th century was Thirty Years' War.

The increased complexity of the conditions in which the social and ideological struggle unfolds in the 17th century is clearly reflected in the fiction of the era. In 17th century literature compared with the Renaissance is affirmed a more complex and at the same time more dramatic in its essence idea of ​​the relationship between a person and the reality surrounding him. The literature of the 17th century reflects the steadily growing interest in the problem of social conditioning of human destiny, interaction in the inner world of a person of personal and social principles. , dependence of a person not only on his nature and the whims of fortune, but on the objective laws of being, including the laws of development, the movement of social life. In the Renaissance, the limitless possibilities inherent in human nature were revealed. But in the Baroque, their dreams and ideals had a utopian connotation. the image and understanding of the flaws and ulcers of the surrounding reality is put forward; critical and satirical tendencies are growing in literature. motifs are also widely represented in the legacy of those outstanding poets of the 17th century who, by the nature of their work, are by no means satirists. An expressive evidence of this is, for example, poetry of Gongora.

The personality of the Renaissance was characterized by unity, the merging of the beginnings of the personal and the public, due at the same time to their indivisibility. For the inner world of a person, depicted by the literature of the 17th century, it is indicative, on the contrary, not only the dismemberment, isolation of these principles, but also their clash, struggle, often direct antagonism.

Baroque flourished especially brightly in the 17th century in the literature and art of those countries where feudal circles temporarily triumphed, slowing down for a long time the development of capitalist relations, that is, in Italy, Spain, Germany.

In baroque literature reflects the desire of the court environment crowding around the throne of absolute monarchs, surround themselves with brilliance and glory, sing of their greatness and power. The contribution made to the Baroque is also very significant. Jesuits, figures of the Counter-Reformation, on the one hand, and representatives of the Protestant Church, on the other The heyday of the Baroque in the literatures of the West, as a rule, coincides with periods of time when church forces are activated and a wave of religious sentiments is growing, or with periods of upsurge experienced by noble circles. Baroque embodied both the desire to defend human dignity from the onslaught of hostile forces, and attempts to creatively rethink the results of the outbreak of the crisis, draw constructive conclusions from it, enrich, in the light of its historical lessons, humanistic ideas about man and reality, in one way or another reflect moods and aspirations of advanced public circles. The best example of this is Milton's poem "Paradise Lost". Baroque poetry is characterized, on the one hand, by a heightened sense of the contradictory nature of the world, and, on the other hand, by the desire to reproduce life phenomena in their dynamics, fluidity, and transitions. Baroque poets willingly turn to the theme of the inconstancy of happiness, the precariousness of life values, the omnipotence of fate and chance. Renaissance enthusiastic admiration for man and his capabilities - emphasizing his duality, inconsistency, depravity. At the same time, the antithetical character of the Baroque worldview makes itself felt even when one or another writer directly reproduces only one of the opposing principles in his work. One opposite seems to imply another. Baroque literature is distinguished, as a rule, by increased expressiveness and emotionality gravitating towards pathos. In the literature of the Baroque, various currents are indicated. They share common features; there is a certain unity between them, but there are also serious fundamental differences. Italy- a fragmented country, tends to hedonism. There are forces from the Renaissance. Contrast predetermines the self-development of poetry in Spain XVII century; it is based on the clash of two different currents within the Spanish Baroque: cultism (and conceptism). Cultism is based on the opposition of art to ugliness and chaos. Conceptists sought to capture the eye-catching paradoxes of modern life. French baroque - precision poetry cultivated by regulars in aristocratic salons. Once upon a time, this poetry enjoyed wide recognition, and at the same time the idea of ​​the Baroque style in French literature was reduced to it. French baroque poetry as a whole is distinguished by grace, realistic inclinations, a sense of proportion in the embodiment of emotions, and subtle musicality. Baroque poetry takes place in England the same three stages as English literature as a whole: the period of the crisis of Renaissance ideals, participation in the thick of revolutionary struggles, artistic reflection and comprehension of their results. At all these three stages, English baroque poetry is distinguished by two leading features - creative power and a sense of breaking the existing foundations, painted in different shades. In German poetry The tragic and irrational aspects of the Baroque are expressed more vividly than anywhere else. It is not surprising that in the German poetry of the 17th century the theme of death so often pops up.