idea in a literary work. Theme and idea of ​​a literary work

Video lesson 2: Composition, stages of action development

Theme. Idea. Issues. Plot. Composition. Epigraph. Antithesis

Theme- a set of events that form the basis literary work.

In other words, the theme is everything that the author tells his reader about.

Idea artwork- this is the main idea, the emotional component, the semantic content of the work.

To understand the idea, you need to carefully analyze the text. The idea contains the individual view of the writer on the world, his purely personal understanding of ongoing processes and phenomena.

• National Historical
• philosophical
• Socio-political
• Moral and ethical

When they are interested in any work, they are primarily interested in the plot. This is the set of events that make up the work.

Plot represents the content of a literary opus, reveals the characters' characters, demonstrates the author's attitude to the phenomena and life situations described by him.

In addition to the events taking place in the lives of the characters, the plot may contain lyrical digressions that reveal the events of the author's inner life.

Composition- the method of constructing a literary work.

The organization of the composition can be plot or non-plot. Compositional construction necessary for the author to fully realize his intention.

Components of the composition:

plot composition

grouping of characters

arrangement of other actors

speech features

composition of elements not included in the plot

Epigraph.Often, before the work, the author places some short saying, one or two lines, a quatrain.

The purpose of this technique is to help the reader better understand the author's intention. The epigraph is the key to understanding the intention of the author of the work.

Antithesis- a stylistic device in literature, when images and concepts are opposed to each other in a diametrically opposite sense.

Stages of action development

Exposure.The exposition “opens” the plot of the work. In this part, the reader is given an introduction to events that will soon develop.

The author tells the reader about what happened before the start of the work. Basically, in this part, the main characters are characterized. Exposure can be direct or delayed. If the work begins with an exposition, this is a direct view, if the author determines the place of exposition in the middle or closer to the end, then there is a delayed exposition part. Most popular example such an arrangement is a description of Chichikov's life.

tie- an event that determines the start of an action.

The plot either organizes the conflict itself, or reveals the conflict situation at the beginning of the work.

climax- the highest, most intense point in the development of action, when the conflict reaches the top of its development.

After the climax, the action gradually moves to the denouement.

denouement- the outcome of the action, a certain semantic point of the work.

The conflict took place, the plot goes into the final stage.

Epiloguecompletes the work. As a rule, in this part the author talks about future fate their heroes later certain time after the events described in the work.

Lyrical digression – special reception composition, with the help of which the author has the opportunity to express his subjective opinion regarding the heroes of the work, any actions or phenomena, to comment on the development of the plot.

AT digression may contain abstract author's reflections that are not directly related to the plot, but thematically retain unity with the general theme of the work ("Dead Souls", "Eugene Onegin").

Conflict(lat. "collision") - confrontation, contradictions that determine the development of the plot of any literary work.

Between whom and whom does the conflict arise? All literature is built on several types of conflict:

• between actors
• between the main character and other characters
• between the hero and society
• hero's conflict with himself

The form of conflict expression is external or internal.

The conflict is most obvious in dramatic works, epic.

The story is often told in the first person. In this case, the writer himself, called the author - the narrator, acts as a narrator. He personally observed the events that he describes in his work. The author-narrator does not become part of the characters, he only observes what is happening, evaluates the events and their participants. So, Maxim Maksimovich is well acquainted with Pechorin, he can tell a lot about him.

Sometimes the author - the narrator, by the will of the author, turns into the Narrator (writing with capital letter emphasizes its equal position in the text). The narrator is endowed with character, supplied with certain manners, his own character.

The first image of the author in domestic literature created in "Eugene Onegin", he enters the general circle of characters on equal terms, participates in the action, explains what is happening, gives assessments, comments on events. The reader observes him as the author - the narrator, the author - the character, the author - the lyrical hero.

Character . No literary work can exist without characters through which the plot develops. The character can be the main character or the minor character. In addition to active personal participation in the action, the character can be introduced to the reader by another actor or author. The center of attention in some works can be one character (Rudin, Pechorin), in others - several at once ("Quiet Don").

Interiorin a work of fiction depicts an interior setting (saying modern language- draws the design of the room).

The authors often use the description of the home environment to characterize the character, enhancing the emotional perception of the text. For instance home furnishings in "War and Peace" characterizes inner world the inhabitants of the house.

Literary character. Any work consists of several components, including characters, human images. literary character carries in itself something single, individual and unique, relating only to specific image works. Character is one of the main constituent parts works in general.

Type of- the hero of a literary work, a certain collective image that has absorbed the phenomenon of time, historical moment, public event, etc.

Pechorin or Onegin can serve as an example of a literary hero by which one can judge people who have not found a common language with society, rejected, misunderstood.

Hero lyrical - a lyrical image of a poet whose inner world is revealed through a state of mind or experience in a particular situation.

To be more precise, this is one of the possible manifestations of the author's consciousness. Lyrical hero may have own biography, sometimes an outlined appearance.

Represents a complex artistic images a work that incorporates not only the images of characters, but also accompanying images - details, symbols, etc.

Portraitcontains a description of the appearance of the character, how he looks, so that the reader can more clearly imagine the character of the work, reproduce it in his imagination.

The portrait gives a description not only of facial features, but also how and what the character is dressed in, notes the manner of conversation, facial features, and characteristic gestures. In addition, the literature often uses psychological picture- when the author wants to show the inner world of his hero through appearance.

Landscape, depicting nature in a literary work, can serve as a special device for describing the state of a character at a certain moment, an original means of characterizing him.

"Talking Surname" . Very often, for better "recognizability" of the character, the authors resort to such a special technique as giving acting person"talking" surname. The surname at the same time reflects any trait of his character, behavior. The method was especially often used by Russian classic writers (Skotinin, Lyapkin-Tyapkin, Vralman, etc.).

remark most often accompanies dramatic works. With the help of a remark, the author, as it were, "accompanies" the action - he explains what is happening, clarifies, explains. The remark is intended for the actors involved in the play, it facilitates the work of the director when staging the action on stage.

« Eternal themes"and" eternal images "in literature. When it comes to the “eternal” in literature, the conversation concerns “eternal topics” and “ eternal images". Eternal implies something that has enduring significance for all mankind throughout the entire period of existence of the universe.

1. Theme, subject matter, problematics of the work.

2. ideological concept works.

3. Paphos and its varieties.

Bibliography

1. Introduction to literary criticism: textbook / ed. L.M. Krupchanov. - M., 2005.

2. Borev Yu.B. Aesthetics. Theory of Literature: encyclopedic Dictionary terms. - M., 2003.

3. Dal V.I. Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language: in 4 volumes. - M., 1994. - V.4.

4. Esin A.B.

5. Literary encyclopedic dictionary / ed. V.M. Kozhevnikov, P.A. Nikolaev. - M., 1987.

6. Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts / ed. A.N. Nikolyukin. - M., 2003.

7. Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary / ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov. - 4th ed. - M., 1989.

Literary critics rightly assert that it is not the hero who gives the literary work a holistic character, but the unity of the problem posed in it, the unity of the idea being revealed. Thus, in order to delve deeper into the content of the work, it is necessary to determine its components: theme and idea.

"Theme ( Greek. thema), - according to the definition of V. Dahl, - a proposal, position, task, which is discussed or explained.

The authors of the Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary give the topic a slightly different definition: “Theme [what is the basis] - 1) the subject of description, image, research, conversation, etc.; 2) in art object artistic image, a circle of life phenomena displayed by a writer, artist or composer and held together by the author's intention.

In dictionary literary terms”we find the following definition: “The theme is what is the basis of a literary work, the main problem posed in it by the writer” .

In the textbook "Introduction to Literary Studies" ed. G.N. Pospel's theme is treated as a subject of knowledge.

A.M. Gorky defines a theme as an idea "that originated in the author's experience, is prompted by life, but nestles in the receptacle of his impressions still unformed and, requiring embodiment in images, arouses in him the urge to work on its design."

As you can see, the above definitions of the topic are diverse and contradictory. The only statement with which one can agree without reservations is that the theme is indeed the objective basis of any work of art. About how the process of birth and design of the theme takes place, how the writer studies reality and selects life phenomena, what is the role of the writer's worldview in the choice and development of the theme, we have already spoken above ( see the lecture "Literature - special kind artistic activity human").

However, the statements of literary critics that the theme is a circle of life phenomena displayed by the writer, in our opinion, are not exhaustive enough, since there are differences between the life material (the object of the image) and the theme (theme) of the work of art. The subject of the image in works of fiction can be a variety of phenomena. human life, life of nature, animal and flora, as well as material culture(buildings, furnishings, views of cities, etc.). Sometimes they are even shown fantasy creatures- talking and thinking animals and plants, various kinds of spirits, gods, giants, monsters, etc. But this is by no means the theme of a literary work. Images of animals, plants, types of nature often have an allegorical and auxiliary meaning in a work of art. They either mark people, as happens in fables, or are created to express human experiences (in lyrical images of nature). Even more often, the phenomena of nature with its flora and fauna are depicted as an environment in which human life takes place with its social characteristics.

When defining a theme as the vital material taken for depiction by a writer, we must reduce its study to an analysis of the objects depicted, and not to the characteristic features of human life in its social essence.

Following A.B. Esin, under theme literary work, we will understand " object of artistic reflection , those life characters and situations (the relationship of characters, as well as the interaction of a person with society as a whole, with nature, life, etc.), which, as it were, pass from reality into a work of art and form the objective side of its content ».

The theme of a literary work encompasses everything depicted in it and therefore can be comprehended with the necessary completeness only on the basis of penetration into all the ideological and artistic richness of this work. For example, to determine the theme of the work of K.G. Abramov "Purgaz" ( unification of the Mordovian people fragmented into many often warring clans at the end of XII - early XIII centuries, which contributed to the salvation of the nation, the preservation of its spiritual values), it is necessary to take into account and comprehend the multilateral development of this topic by the author. K. Abramov also shows how the character of the protagonist was formed: the influence of everyday life and national traditions the Mordovian people, as well as the Volga Bulgars, among whom, by the will of fate and his own desire, he happened to live for 3 years, and how he became the head of the clan, how he fought with the Vladimir princes and the Mongols because of dominance in the western part of the Middle Volga region, what efforts did he make to ensure that the Mordovian people became united.

In the process of analyzing the topic, it is necessary, according to the authoritative opinion of A.B. Esin, firstly, to distinguish between the actual reflection object(topic) and image object(specific depicted situation); secondly, it is necessary distinguish between concrete historical and eternal themes. Specific historical themes are characters and circumstances born and conditioned by a certain socio-historical situation in a particular country; they do not repeat beyond a given time, are more or less localized (for example, the topic " extra person in Russian literature of the 19th century). When analyzing a specific historical topic, one must see not only the socio-historical, but also the psychological definiteness of character, since the comprehension of character traits helps to correctly understand the unfolding plot, the motivation for its ups and downs. Eternal themes fix recurring moments in the history of various national societies, they are repeated in different modifications in life different generations, in different historical eras. Such, for example, are the themes of love and friendship, life and death, relationships between generations and others.

Due to the fact that the topic requires various aspects of consideration, along with its general concept, the concept is also used. topics, i.e., those lines of development of the theme that are outlined by the writer and constitute its complex integrity. Close attention to the diversity of topics is especially necessary in the analysis of large works, in which there is not one, but many topics. In these cases, it is advisable to single out one or two main themes related to the image central hero, or a number of characters, and the rest are considered as side ones.

When analyzing the content aspects of a literary work great importance has a definition of its problem. Under the problems of a literary work in literary criticism, it is customary to understand the area of ​​​​comprehension, understanding by the writer of the reflected reality: « Issues (Greek. problema - something thrown forward, i.e. isolated from other aspects of life) – this is the ideological comprehension by the writer of those social characters that he depicted in the work. This comprehension lies in the fact that the writer singles out and enhances those properties, aspects, relations of the characters depicted, which he, based on his ideological worldview, considers the most significant.

In works of art that are large in volume, writers, as a rule, pose various problems: social, moral, political, philosophical, and so on. It depends on what sides of the characters and what contradictions of life the writer focuses on.

For example, K. Abramov in the novel "Purgaz" through the image of the main character realizes the policy of uniting the Mordovian people scattered into numerous clans, however, the disclosure of this problem (socio-political) is quite closely connected with the moral problem (refusal of a beloved woman, order to kill Tengush , one of the leaders of the clan, etc.). Therefore, when analyzing a work of art, it is important to realize not only the main problem, but the whole problem as a whole, to identify how deep and significant it is, how serious and significant are the contradictions of reality that the writer depicted.

One cannot but agree with the statement of A.B. Esin that the problematic contains a unique author's view of the world. Unlike the subject matter, the problematic is the subjective side of the artistic content, therefore, the author's individuality, "original moral attitude author to the subject. Often various writers create works on the same topic, however, there are no two major writers whose works would coincide in their problems. The peculiarity of the problem is a peculiar business card writer.

For a practical analysis of the problem, it is important to identify the originality of the work, comparing it with others, to understand what is its uniqueness and originality. For this purpose, it is necessary to establish in the researched work type of problems.

The main types of problems in domestic literary criticism were identified by G.N. Pospelov. Based on the classification of G.N. Pospelov, taking into account the current level of development of literary criticism A.B. Esin proposed his own classification. He singled out mythological, national, novel, sociocultural, philosophical problems. In our opinion, it makes sense to highlight the issues moral .

Writers not only pose certain problems, they look for ways to solve them, correlate the depicted with social ideals. Therefore, the theme of the work is always connected with its idea.

N.G. Chernyshevsky in his treatise "The Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality", speaking about the tasks of art, argues that works of art "reproduce life, explain life and pass judgment on it." It is difficult to disagree with this, since works of fiction always express the ideological and emotional attitude of writers towards topics. social characters that they depict. The ideological and emotional assessment of the depicted characters is the most active side of the content of the work.

"Idea (Greek. idea - idea, prototype, ideal) in literature - expression copyright to the depicted, the correlation of this depicted with the ideals of life and man approved by the writers”, - such a definition is given in the Dictionary of Literary Terms. A somewhat refined version of the definition of an idea can be found in the textbook by G.N. Pospelova: " The idea of ​​a literary work is the unity of all aspects of its content; this is a figurative, emotional, generalizing thought of the writer, manifested both in the choice, and in the comprehension, and in the assessment of the characters ».

When analyzing a work of art, the identification of an idea is very important and essential for the reason that the idea is progressive, corresponding to the course of history, the trends of social development, is necessary quality all genuine works of art. Understanding the main idea of ​​the work should follow from the analysis of its entire ideological content(the author's assessment of events and characters, the author's ideal, pathos). Only under this condition can we judge correctly about it, about its strength and weakness, about the nature and roots of the contradictions that exist in it.

If we talk about the novel by K. Abramov "Purgaz", then the main idea that the author expresses can be formulated as follows: the strength of the people lies in its unity. Only by uniting all the Mordovian clans, Purgaz, as a talented leader, was able to resist the Mongols, liberate the Mordovian land from the conquerors.

We have already noted that the themes and problems of works of art must meet the requirements of depth, relevance and significance. The idea, in turn, must meet the criterion of historical truthfulness and objectivity. It is important for the reader that the writer express such an ideological and emotional understanding of the characters portrayed that these characters really deserve in terms of the objective, essential properties of their lives, in their place and significance in national life in general, in the prospects for its development. Works containing a historically true assessment of the depicted phenomena and characters are progressive in their content.

The primary source of artistic ideas in reality, according to I.F. Volkov, are "only those ideas that entered the flesh and blood of the artist, became the meaning of his existence, his ideological and emotional attitude to life." V.G. Belinsky called such ideas pathos . “A poetic idea,” he wrote, “is not a syllogism, not a dogma, not a rule, it is a living passion, it is pathos.” The very concept of pathos was borrowed by Belinsky from Hegel, who in his lectures on aesthetics meant the word "pathos" ( Greek. pathos - a strong, passionate feeling) the high inspiration of the artist by comprehending the essence of the depicted life, its "truth".

E. Aksenova defines pathos in this way: “Paphos is an emotional animation, a passion that permeates a work (or parts of it) and gives it a single breath, which can be called the soul of a work.. In pathos, the feeling and thought of the artist form a single whole; it contains the key to the idea of ​​the work. Paphos is not always and not necessarily a pronounced emotion; here it is most clearly seen creative individuality artist. Along with the authenticity of feelings and thoughts pathos gives the work liveliness and artistic persuasiveness, is a condition for its emotional impact on the reader ". Paphos is created artistic means: the image of the characters, their actions, experiences, the events of their lives, the entire figurative structure of the work.

Thus, pathos is the emotional and evaluative attitude of the writer to the depicted, which is distinguished by a great strength of feelings .

In literary criticism, the following main types of pathos are distinguished: heroic, dramatic, tragic, sentimental, romantic, humorous, satirical.

Heroic pathos affirms the greatness of the feat individual and the whole team, its great importance for the development of the people, nation, humanity. Figuratively revealing the main qualities heroic characters, admiring them and singing them, the artist of the word creates works imbued with heroic pathos (Homer "Iliad", Shelley "Prometheus Unchained", A. Pushkin "Poltava", M. Lermontov "Borodino", A. Tvardovsky "Vasily Terkin"; M Saigin "Hurricane", I. Antonov "In a single family").

Dramatic pathos characteristic of works that depict dramatic situations that arise under the influence of external forces and circumstances that threaten the desires and aspirations of the characters, and sometimes their lives. Drama in fiction can be both ideologically affirmative pathos, when the writer deeply sympathizes with the characters (“The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu”), and ideologically negative, if the writer condemns the characters of his characters in the dramatic nature of their position (Aeschylus “Persians”).

Quite often, the drama of situations and experiences arises during military clashes between peoples, and this is reflected in works of fiction: E. Hemingway “Farewell to Arms”, E.M. Remarque “A time to live and a time to die”, G. Fallada “A wolf among wolves”; A. Beck "Volokolamsk Highway", K. Simonov "The Living and the Dead"; P. Prokhorov "Stood" and others.

Often, writers in their works depict the drama of the position and experiences of the characters, arising from social inequality people (“Father Goriot” by O. Balzac, “Humiliated and Insulted” by F. Dostoevsky, “Dowry” by A. Ostrovsky, “Tashto Koise” (“According to Old Customs”) by K. Petrova and others.

Often the impact of external circumstances gives rise to internal inconsistency in the mind of a person, a struggle with oneself. In this case, the drama deepens to tragedy.

tragic pathos its roots are associated with the tragic nature of the conflict in a literary work, due to the fundamental impossibility of resolving existing contradictions, and is most often present in the tragedy genre. Reproducing tragic conflicts, writers depict the painful experiences of their heroes, difficult events in their lives, thereby revealing the tragic contradictions of life that have a socio-historical or universal character (W. Shakespeare "Hamlet", A. Pushkin "Boris Godunov", L. Leonov "Invasion", Y. Pinyasov "Erek ver" ("Living Blood").

Satirical pathos. Satirical pathos is characterized by the denial of negative aspects public life and personality traits of people. The tendency of writers to notice the comic in life and reproduce it on the pages of their works is determined primarily by the properties of their innate talent, as well as by the peculiarities of their worldview. Most often, writers pay attention to the inconsistency of claims and real opportunities people, resulting in a comic life situations.

Satire helps to understand important aspects human relationships, gives orientation in life, frees from false and obsolete authorities. In the world and Russian literature there are a lot of talented, highly artistic works with satirical pathos, among which are: the comedies of Aristophanes, Gargantua and Pantagruel by F. Rabelais, Gulliver's Travels by J. Swift; "Nevsky Prospekt" by N. Gogol, "The History of a City" by M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, " dog's heart» M. Bulgakov). AT Mordovian literature any significant work with a pronounced satirical pathos has not yet been created. Satirical pathos is characteristic mainly of the fable genre (I. Shumilkin, M. Beban, and others).

Humorous pathos. As a special kind of pathos, humor stood out only in the era of romanticism. As a result of false self-esteem, people, not only in public life, but also in everyday and family life, can discover internal contradictions between who they really are and who they pretend to be. These people claim to be significant, which they really do not have. Such a contradiction is comical and causes a mocking attitude, mixed more with pity and sadness than with indignation. Humor is laughter at the relatively harmless comic contradictions of life. A striking example of a work with humorous pathos is the story " Posthumous notes Pickwick Club» Ch. Dickens; “The Tale of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich” by N. Gogol; “Lavginov” by V. Kolomasov, “Sas the agronomist to the collective farm” (“The agronomist came to the collective farm” by Yu. Kuznetsov).

Sentimental pathos It is characteristic primarily for sentimental works created in the 18th century, characterized by exaggerated attention to the feelings and experiences of heroes, depicting the moral virtues of socially humiliated people, their superiority over the immorality of a privileged environment. As vivid examples are the works "Julia, or new Eloise» J.J. Rousseau, "The Suffering of Young Werther" by I.V. Goethe, "Poor Lisa" N.M. Karamzin.

Romantic pathos conveys spiritual enthusiasm, which arises as a result of identifying a certain sublime beginning and the desire to designate its features. Examples include the poems of D.G. Byron, poems and ballads by V. Zhukovsky, etc. In Mordovian literature, there are no works with a pronounced sentimental and romantic pathos, which is largely due to the time of occurrence and development written literature(second half of the 19th century).

CONTROL QUESTIONS:

1. What are the definitions of the topic in literary criticism? Which definition do you think is the most accurate and why?

2. What is the problematic of a literary work?

3. What types of problems are distinguished by literary critics?

4. Why problem solving counts milestone in the analysis of works?

5. What is the idea of ​​the work? How is it related to the concept of pathos?

6. What types of pathos are most often found in works native literature?

Lecture 7

PLOT

1. The concept of the plot.

2. Conflict like driving force plot development.

3. Plot elements.

4. Plot and plot.

Bibliography

1) Abramovich G.L. Introduction to Literary Studies. – 7th ed. - M., 1979.

2) Gorky A.M.. Conversations with the Young (any edition).

3) Dobin E.S. Plot and reality. Art details. - L., 1981.

4) Introduction to literary criticism / ed. G.N. Pospelov. - M., 1988.

5) Esin A.B. Principles and methods of analysis of a literary work. - 4th ed. - M., 2002.

6) Kovalenko A.G.. Artistic conflict in Russian literature. - M., 1996.

7) Kozhinov V.V.. Plot, plot, composition // Theory of Literature: Main problems in historical coverage: in 2 books. - M., 1964. - Book 2.

8) Literary encyclopedic dictionary / ed. V.M. Kozhevnikova, P.A. Nikolaev. - M., 1987.

9) Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts / ed. A.N. Nikolyukin. - M., 2003.

10) Shklovsky V.B.. The energy of delusion. A book about the plot // Selected: in 2 vols. - M., 1983. - T 2.

11) Brief literary encyclopedia: in 9 t / Ch. ed. A.A. Surkov. - M., 1972. - V.7.

It is well known that a work of art is a complex whole. The writer shows how this or that character grows and develops, what are his connections and relationships with other people. This development of character, the history of growth are shown in a series of events, which, as a rule, reflect the life situation. The direct relationships of people presented in the work, shown in a certain chain of events, in literary criticism are usually denoted by the term plot.

It should be noted that the understanding of the plot as the course of events has a long tradition in Russian literary criticism. It developed in the 19th century. This is evidenced by the work of an outstanding literary critic, a representative of the comparative historical school in Russian literary criticism XIX century A.N. Veselovsky "Poetics of plots".

The problem of plot has occupied researchers since Aristotle. great attention devoted to this problem and G. Hegel. Despite such long history, the problem of the plot remains to this day largely debatable. For example, there is still no clear distinction between the concepts of plot and plot. In addition, the definitions of the plot that take place in textbooks and teaching aids on literary theory are different and rather contradictory. For example, L.I. Timofeev considers the plot as one of the forms of composition: “Composition is inherent in any literary work, since we will always have one or another ratio of its parts in it, reflecting the complexity of the phenomena of life depicted in it. But not in every work we will deal with the plot, i.e. with the disclosure of characters with the help of events in which the properties of these characters are revealed ... We should reject the widespread and erroneous idea of ​​the plot only as a distinct, fascinating system of events, due to which they often talk about the "non-plot" of certain works in which there is no such distinctness and fascination of the system of events (actions). Here we are talking not about the absence of a plot, but about its weak organization, ambiguity, and so on.

The plot in a work is always evident when we are dealing with certain actions of people, with certain events that happen to them. By linking the plot with the characters, we thereby determine its content, its conditionality by the reality that the writer is aware of.

We thus approach both the composition and the plot as a means of revealing, revealing a given character.

But in a number of cases the general content of a work does not fit only into the plot, cannot be revealed only in the system of events; hence, along with the plot, we will have elements outside the plot in the work; the composition of the work will then be wider than the plot and will begin to manifest itself in other forms.

V.B. Shklovsky considers the plot as "a means of knowing reality"; in the interpretation of E.S. Dobin's plot is a "concept of reality".

M. Gorky defined the plot as "connections, contradictions, sympathies, antipathies and, in general, the relationship of people - the history of growth and organization of one or another character, type." This judgment, like the previous ones, in our opinion, is not accurate, because in many works, especially dramatic ones, characters are depicted outside the formation of their characters.

Following A.I. Revyakin, we tend to adhere to the following definition of plot: « The plot is an event (or system of events) selected in the process of studying life, realized and embodied in a work of art, in which conflict and characters are revealed in certain conditions of the social environment.».

G.N. Pospelov notes that literary plots are created in different ways. Most often they quite fully and reliably reproduce real life events. These are, firstly, works based on historical events (« Young years King Henry IV” by G. Mann, “Cursed Kings” by M. Druon; "Peter I" by A. Tolstoy, "War and Peace" by L. Tolstoy; "Polovt" by M. Bryzhinsky, "Purgaz" by K. Abramov); Secondly, autobiographical stories(L. Tolstoy, M. Gorky); third, known to the writer life facts . The events depicted are sometimes fully fiction, a figment of the author's imagination ("Gulliver's Travels" by J. Swift, "The Nose" by N. Gogol).

There is also such a source of plot creativity as borrowing, when writers widely rely on already known literary plots, processing them and supplementing them in their own way. In this case, folklore, mythological, antique, biblical and other plots are used.

The driving force behind any story is conflict, contradiction, struggle or, according to Hegel, collision. The conflicts underlying the works can be very diverse, but they, as a rule, have general significance and reflect certain life patterns. Allocate conflicts: 1) external and internal; 2) local and substantial; 3) dramatic, tragic and comic.

Conflict external - between individual characters and groups of characters - is considered to be the simplest. There are quite a few examples of this type of conflict in the literature: A.S. Griboedov "Woe from Wit", A.S. Pushkin "The Miserly Knight", M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "History of one city", V.M. Kolomasov "Lavginov" and others. A conflict is considered more complex, embodying the confrontation between the hero and the way of life, personality and environment (social, everyday, cultural). The difference from the first type of conflict is that no one specifically opposes the hero here, he does not have an enemy with whom he could fight, who could be defeated, thereby resolving the conflict (Pushkin "Eugene Onegin").

Conflict interior - a psychological conflict, when the hero is not in harmony with himself, when he carries certain contradictions in himself, sometimes contains incompatible principles (Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, etc.).

Sometimes in a work one can simultaneously find both named types of conflict, both external and internal (A. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm").

Local(Solvable) conflict implies the fundamental possibility of resolving with the help of active actions (Pushkin "Gypsies", etc.).

Substantial(unsolvable) conflict depicts a persistently conflicted existence, and real practical actions capable of resolving this conflict are unthinkable (Shakespeare's Hamlet, Chekhov's Bishop, etc.).

Tragic, dramatic and comic conflicts are inherent dramatic works with the same genre name. (For more on the types of conflict, see the book A.G. Kovalenko "Artistic conflict in Russian literature", M., 1996).

The disclosure of a socially significant conflict in the plot contributes to understanding the trends and patterns of social development. In this regard, we should note some points that are essential for understanding the multifaceted role of the plot in the work.

The role of the plot in the work of G.L. Abramovich defined it as follows: “Firstly, it must be borne in mind that the artist’s penetration into the meaning of the conflict presupposes, as the modern English writer D. Lindsay rightly says, “penetration into the souls of people who are participants in this struggle.” Hence the great cognitive value plot.

Secondly, the writer "willy-nilly gets involved in the mind and heart in the conflicts that make up the content of his work." Thus, the logic of the development of events by the writer affects his understanding and assessment of the depicted conflict, his social views, which he somehow conveys to readers, inspiring them with the necessary, from his point of view, attitude towards this conflict.

Thirdly, every great writer focuses his attention on the conflicts that are important for his time and people.

Thus, the plots of the works of great writers have a deep socio-historical meaning. Therefore, when considering them, it is necessary first of all to determine which public conflict underlies the work and from what positions it is depicted.

The plot will only fulfill its purpose when, first, it is internally complete, i.e. revealing the causes, nature and ways of development of the depicted conflict, and secondly, it will attract the interest of readers and make them think about the meaning of each episode, every detail in the course of events.

F.V. Gladkov wrote that there are different gradations of plot: “... one book is plot calm, there is no intrigue in it, cleverly tied knots, it is a chronicle of the life of one person or a whole group of people; another book from exciting plot: these are adventure novels, mystery novels, detective, criminal. Many literary scholars, following F. Gladkov, distinguish two types of plots: the plot is calm (adynamic) and the plot is sharp(dynamic). Along with the above types of plots, modern literary criticism also offers others, for example, chronic and concentric (Pospelov G.N.) and centrifugal and centripetal (Kozhinov V.V.). Chronicles are plots with a predominance of purely temporary connections between events, and concentric - with a predominance of causal relationships between events.

Each of these types of plots has its own artistic possibilities. As G.N. Pospelov, the chronicle of the plot is, first of all, a means of recreating reality in the diversity and richness of its manifestations. Chronicle plot construction allows the writer to master life in space and time with maximum freedom. Therefore, it is widely used in epic works large form (“Gargantua and Pantagruel” by F. Rabelais, “Don Quixote” by M. Cervantes, “Don Juan” by D. Byron, “Vasily Terkin” by A. Tvardovsky, “Wide Moksha” by T. Kirdyashkin, “Purgaz” by K. Abramov). Chronicle plots perform various artistic functions: they reveal the decisive actions of the heroes and their various adventures; depict the formation of a person's personality; serve the development of socio-political antagonisms and the way of life of certain sections of society.

The concentricity of the plot - the identification of causal relationships between the events depicted - allows the writer to explore any one conflict situation, stimulates the compositional completeness of the work. Such a plot structure dominated drama until the 19th century. Of the epic works, one can cite as an example “Crime and Punishment” by F.M. Dostoevsky, "Fire" by V. Rasputin, "At the beginning of the journey" by V. Mishanina.

chronicle and concentric plots often coexist (“Resurrection” by L.N. Tolstoy, “Three Sisters” by A.P. Chekhov, etc.).

From the point of view of the emergence, development and completion of the life conflict depicted in the work, we can talk about the main elements of the plot construction. Literary critics distinguish the following elements of the plot: exposition, plot, development of action, climax, ups and downs, denouement; prologue and epilogue. It should be noted that not all works of fiction that have a plot structure contain all the indicated elements of the plot. Prologue and epilogue are quite rare, most often in epic works, large in volume. As for exposition, it is quite often absent in short stories and short stories.

Prologue is defined as an introduction to a literary work, not directly related to the developing action, but, as it were, preceding it with a story about the events that preceded it, or about their meaning. The prologue is present in "Faust" by I. Goethe, "What is to be done?" N. Chernyshevsky, “Who should live well in Rus'” by N. Nekrasov, “The Snow Maiden” by A. Ostrovsky, “Apple tree at high road» A. Kutorkina.

Epilogue in literary criticism it is characterized as the final part in a work of art, reporting on the further fate of the characters after those depicted in a novel, poem, drama, etc. events. Epilogues are often found in the dramas of B. Brecht, the novels of F. Dostoevsky ("The Brothers Karamazov", "The Humiliated and Insulted"), L. Tolstoy ("War and Peace"), K. Abramov's "Kachamon Pack" ("Smoke Above the Earth" ).

exposure (lat. expositio - explanation) call the background of the events underlying the work. The exposition sets out the circumstances, preliminarily outlines the characters, characterizes their relationships, i.e. the life of the characters before the start of the conflict (tie) is depicted.

In the work of P.I. Levchaev "Kavonst kudat" ("Two matchmakers") the first part is an exposition: it depicts the life of the Mordovian village shortly before the first Russian revolution, the conditions in which people's characters are formed.

The exposition is determined by the artistic objectives of the work and can be different in nature: direct, detailed, scattered, supplemented throughout the entire work, delayed (see "Dictionary of Literary Terms").

outstretched in a work of art, the beginning of the conflict is usually called, the event from which the action begins and due to which subsequent events arise. The tie can be motivated (in the presence of exposure) and sudden (without exposure).

In the story of P. Levchaev, the plot will be the return of Garay to the village of Anai, his acquaintance with Kirei Mikhailovich.

In the subsequent parts of the work, Levchaev shows action development, that the course of events that follows from the plot: meeting with his father, with his beloved girl Anna, matchmaking, Garay's participation in a secret meeting.

Artistic idea

Artistic idea

The main idea of ​​a work of art. The idea expresses the attitude of the author to the problem posed in his essay, to the thoughts expressed by the characters. The idea of ​​the work is a generalization of the entire content of the work.
Only in normative-didactic essays does the idea of ​​a work take on the character of a clearly expressed, unambiguous judgment (such, for example, fable). As a rule, an artistic idea cannot be reduced to some individual statement reflecting the author's thought. So, the idea of ​​“War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy cannot be reduced to thoughts about the insignificant role of the so-called. great people in history and about fatalism as the idea most acceptable in explaining historical events. When perceiving the plot narrative and the historical and philosophical chapters of "War and Peace" as a single whole, the idea of ​​​​the work is revealed as a statement about the superiority of natural, spontaneous life over the false and vain existence of those who thoughtlessly follow the social fashion, strive for fame and success. The idea of ​​the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky"Crime and Punishment" is broader and more multifaceted than the idea expressed by Sonya Marmeladova about the inadmissibility for a person to decide whether another has the right to live. For F. M. Dostoevsky, no less important are the thoughts about murder as a sin committed by a person against himself, and as a sin that alienates the killer from people close and dear to him. Just as important for understanding the idea of ​​the novel is the idea of ​​the limitations of human rationality, of an insurmountable flaw in the mind, capable of constructing any logically consistent theory. The author shows that only life and religious intuition, faith can be a refutation of the God-fighting and inhuman theory.
Often the idea of ​​a work is not reflected at all in the statements of the narrator or characters and can be determined very approximately. This feature is inherent primarily in many so-called. post-realistic works (for example, stories, novels and plays by A.P. Chekhov) and the writings of modernist writers depicting an absurd world (for example, novels, stories and short stories by F. Kafka).
The denial of the existence of the idea of ​​a work is characteristic of literature postmodernism; the idea of ​​a work is not recognized by the theorists of postmodernism either. According to postmodern ideas, artistic text is independent of the will and intention of the author, and the meaning of the work is born when it is read by the reader, who freely places the work in one or another semantic context. Instead of the idea of ​​a work, postmodernism offers a play of meanings, in which a certain final semantic instance is impossible: any idea contained in a work is presented with irony, with detachment. However, in fact, it is hardly justified to speak of the absence of an idea in postmodernist writings. The impossibility of a serious judgment, the total irony and the playful nature of existence - this is the idea that unites postmodern literature.

Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Under the editorship of prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .

See what an "artistic idea" is in other dictionaries:

The content of the semantic integrity of works of art as a product of emotional experience and mastery of life by the author. Adequately cannot be recreated by means of other arts and logical formulations; expressed throughout... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

The content of the semantic integrity of a work of art as a product of emotional experience and mastery of life by the author. Adequately cannot be recreated by means of other arts and logical formulations; expressed throughout... encyclopedic Dictionary

IDEA artistic- (from the Greek idea idea) embodied in production. a claim is an aesthetically generalized author's thought that reflects a certain concept of the world and a person (Artistic Concept). I. is the value-ideological aspect of the artist. prod. and… … Aesthetics: Dictionary

ARTISTIC IDEA- ARTISTIC IDEA, a generalizing, emotional, figurative thought underlying a work of art. The subject of artistic thought is always such individual phenomena of life in which it is most clearly and actively manifested ... ...

artistic idea- (from the Greek idea idea, concept, prototype, representation) the main idea underlying the work of art. Them. realized through the entire system of images, revealed in the entire artistic structure works and thus gives ... ... Dictionary of literary terms

art form- ARTISTIC FORM is a concept denoting the constructive unity of a work of art, its unique integrity. Includes the concepts of architectural, musical and other forms. There are also spatial and temporal ... ... Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science

Children's art school of the city of Obninsk (MU "Children's art school") Founded 1964 Director Nadezhda Petrovna Sizova Address 249020, Kaluga region, Obninsk, Guryanov street, house 15 Phone Work + 7 48439 6 44 6 ... Wikipedia

Coordinates: 37°58′32″ s. sh. 23°44′57″ E  / 37.975556° N sh. 23 ... Wikipedia

ARTISTIC CONCEPT- (from lat. conceptus thought, idea) figurative interpretation of life, its problems in production. art wa, a specific ideological and aesthetic orientation of both a separate product and the artist's work as a whole. Differ K. x. both direct and... Aesthetics: Dictionary

ARTISTRY- ARTISTRY, a complex combination of qualities that determines the belonging of the fruits of creative work to the field of art. For H., a sign of completeness and adequate embodiment of a creative idea, that “artistry”, which is ... ... Literary Encyclopedic Dictionary

Books

• The Knight in the Panther's Skin, Shota Rustaveli. Moscow, 1941. State publishing house " Fiction". Publisher's binding with a gilded profile of the author. Good preservation. With many individual illustrations ...

There is an inextricable logical connection.

What is the theme of the work?

If you raise the issue of the theme of the work, then intuitively each person understands what it is. He just explains from his point of view.

The theme of a work is what underlies a particular text. It is with this basis that the most difficulties arise, because it is impossible to determine it unambiguously. Someone believes that the theme of the work - which are described there, is the so-called life material. For example, topic love relationship, war or death.

Also, the topic can be called the problems of human nature. That is, the problem of the formation of personality, moral principles or a conflict of good and bad deeds.

Another topic can be a verbal basis. Of course, it is rare to find works about words, but this is not the point here. There are texts in which the play on words comes to the fore. Suffice it to recall the work of V. Khlebnikov "Changeling". His verse has one feature - the words in the line are read the same in both directions. But if you ask the reader what the verse actually was, he is unlikely to answer something intelligible. Since the main highlight of this work is the lines that can be read both from left to right and from right to left.

The theme of the work is a multifaceted component, and scientists put forward one or another hypothesis regarding it. If we talk about something universal, then the theme of a literary work is the “foundation” of the text. That is, as Boris Tomashevsky once said: "The theme is a generalization of the main, significant elements."

If the text has a theme, then there must be an idea. An idea is the writer's intention, which pursues a specific goal, that is, what the writer wants to present to the reader.

Figuratively speaking, the theme of the work is what made the creator create the work. So to speak, the technical component. In turn, the idea is the "soul" of the work, it answers the question of why this or that creation was created.

When the author is completely immersed in the topic of his text, truly feels it and is imbued with the problems of the characters, then an idea is born - spiritual content, without which the page of the book is just a set of dashes and circles.

Learning to find

For example, you can give a short story and try to find its main theme and idea:

• The autumn downpour did not bode well, especially late at night. All the inhabitants of a small town knew about this, so the lights in the houses had long gone out. In all but one. It was an old mansion on a hill outside the city, which was used as an orphanage. In this terrible downpour, on the threshold of the building, the teacher found a baby, because there was a terrible turmoil in the house: to feed, bathe, change clothes and, of course, tell a fairy tale - after all, this is the main tradition of the old orphanage. And if any of the inhabitants of the city knew how grateful the child found on the doorstep would be, they would have answered the soft knock on the door that sounded in every house that terrible rainy evening.

In that small excerpt two themes can be distinguished: abandoned children and an orphanage. In fact, these are the main facts that forced the author to create the text. Then you can see that the introductory elements appear: a foundling, a tradition and a terrible thunderstorm that forced all the inhabitants of the city to lock themselves in their houses and turn off the lights. Why is the author talking about them? These introductory descriptions will be the main idea of ​​the passage. They can be summarized by saying that the author is talking about the problem of mercy or unselfishness. In a word, he tries to convey to every reader that, regardless of weather conditions, one must remain human.

How is a theme different from an idea?

The theme has two differences. First, it determines the meaning (main content) of the text. Secondly, the topic can be developed as in great works as well as in short stories. The idea, in turn, shows the main goal and task of the writer. If you look at the presented passage, you can say that the idea is the main message from the author to the reader.

Determining the theme of a work is not always easy, but such a skill is useful not only in literature lessons, but also in Everyday life. It is with its help that it will be possible to learn to understand people and enjoy pleasant communication.

Along with the terms "theme" and "problem", the concept of an artistic idea represents one of the facets of the content of a work of art. The concept of an idea was put forward in antiquity. Plato interpreted ideas as entities that are beyond reality and make up an ideal world, true, in Plato's understanding, reality. For Hegel, the idea is objective truth, the coincidence of subject and object, the highest point of development. I. Kant introduced the concept of "aesthetic idea", associated with the concept of beauty, which, according to Kant, is subjective.

In literary criticism, the term "idea" was used to designate the author's thoughts and feelings figuratively expressed in works of art - this is an emotionally colored content center of a work of art. The author is presented here as a bearer of a certain philosophical and artistic position, an exponent of a certain point of view, and not a passive "imitator" of nature. In this regard, along with the word "idea", the concepts "concept of the work", "author's concept" were used.

An artistic idea is not an abstract concept, unlike scientific and philosophical categories. It cannot be expressed in a specific verbal formula, as happens, for example, in scientific texts. A figurative idea is always deeper than its schematic representation (a kind of verbal paraphrase).

However, it happens that the ideas are expressed by the author directly, in fixed verbal formulas. This sometimes happens in lyrical poetic texts, striving for laconism of expression. For example, M.Yu. Lermontov in the poem “Duma” puts the main idea in the first lines: “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 inaction.

In addition, some of the author's ideas can be "entrusted" to characters who are close in worldview to the author. For example, Starodum in D.I. Fonvizina becomes the "mouthpiece" of the author's ideas, as it is "supposed" to be a reasoner in classic comedies. In a realistic novel of the 19th century, a hero close to the author can express thoughts consonant with the author - such is Alyosha Karamazov in The Brothers Karamazov by F.M. Dostoevsky.

Some writers themselves formulate the idea of ​​their works in their prefaces (for example, M.Yu. Lermontov in the preface to the second edition of A Hero of Our Time).

It is thanks to its figurative expression that an artistic idea becomes deeper than even the author's abstract explanations of his intention. As already mentioned, a specific feature of an artistic idea is its irreducibility to an abstract position, the imagery is expressed only in the artistic whole of the work. From this follows another feature of the artistic idea. A truly artistic idea is not initially given. It can change significantly from the stage of conception to the moment of completion of the work.

The idea of ​​the work includes an assessment by the author of selected facts and phenomena of life. But this assessment is also expressed in a figurative form - by artistic reflection of the typical in the individual. The thought expressed in the work is not only figurative, but also emotionally colored. V.G. Belinsky wrote that the poet contemplates the idea “not with reason, not with reason, not with feeling, and not with any one ability of his soul, but with all the fullness and integrity of his moral being, and therefore the idea is, in his work, not an abstract thought, not dead form, but a living creature, in which the living beauty of the form testifies to the presence of the divine idea in it, and in which ... there is no boundary between the idea and the form, but both are a whole and unified organic creation.

Literary creation is thoroughly imbued with the personal attitude of the author. This component within the ideological core in modern literary criticism is called differently: emotional-value orientation, artistry mode, type of author's emotionality.

The literary text is full of meanings, they can be in different relationships to each other. Ideological meaning the work is a unity of several ideas (according to the figurative definition of L. Tolstoy - “an endless labyrinth of links”), united by the main idea that permeates the entire structure of the work. For example, the multifaceted ideological meaning of "The Captain's Daughter" by A.S. Pushkin is a conjugation of the ideas of nationality, mercy, historical justice.