Romanticism is an ideological and artistic direction in culture late XVIII- 1st half of XIX centuries Romanticism arose as a response to the disappointment that prevailed in Europe in the ideals of the French Revolution of 1789-1794, the Enlightenment and bourgeois values. So what is romanticism, and what are its signs?

The main features of romanticism

In contrast to classicism, which asserted the inviolability of state foundations and the service of public interests, the new direction expressed the desire for personal freedom, independence from society. Romanticism brought a lot of new things to all spheres of artistic activity.

Works of a lyrical orientation made it possible to reflect the emotions of a person. Becoming a new hero strong personality experiencing a discrepancy between the internal aspirations and requirements of society. Nature also acts as an independent character. Her image (often with elements of mysticism) helps to convey the state of a person.

Appeal to national history, folk epics became the basis new topics. There are works that highlight the heroic past, depicting heroes sacrificing their lives for the sake of lofty goals. Legends and traditions made it possible to escape from the ordinary into the world of fantasy and symbols.

Romanticism in literature

Romanticism arose in Germany, in the literary and philosophical circles of the Jena school (the Schlegel brothers and others). Outstanding representatives of the direction are F. Schelling, the brothers Grimm, Hoffmann, G. Heine.

In England, new ideas were adopted by W. Scott, J. Keats, Shelley, and W. Blake. by the most prominent representative Romanticism was J. Byron. His work had a great influence on the spread of the direction, including in Russia. The popularity of his "Journey of Childe Harold" led to the emergence of the phenomenon of "Byronism" (Pechorin in "A Hero of Our Time" by M. Lermontov).

French romantics - Chateaubriand, V. Hugo, P. Merimet, George Sand, Polish - A. Mickiewicz, American - F. Cooper, G. Longfellow, etc.

Russian romantic writers

Romanticism developed in Russia after Patriotic War 1812 due to Alexander I's refusal to liberalize public life, the beginning of the reaction, consigning to oblivion the merits before the patronymic of a whole galaxy of heroes. This was the impetus for the emergence of works that depict strong characters, violent passions, conflicts. During this significant period for Russian culture, literature appeared using new artistic means. So what is romanticism in literature? This greatest development such genres as ballad, elegy, lyric-epic poem, historical novel.

Features of romanticism are manifested in the work of V. Zhukovsky and are developed by Baratynsky, Ryleev, Kuchelbeker, Pushkin ("Eugene Onegin"), Tyutchev. And the works of Lermontov, the "Russian Byron", are considered the pinnacle of Russian romanticism.

Romanticism in music and painting

What is romanticism in music? This is a reflection of the world of emotional experiences, the pursuit of ideals through fabulous and historical images. Hence the development of such genres as symphonic poem, opera, ballet, song genre(ballad, romance).

Leading romantic composers - F. Mendelssohn, G. Berlioz, R. Schumann, F. Chopin, I. Brahms, A. Dvorak, R. Wagner and others. In Russia - M. Glinka, A. Dargomyzhsky, M. Balakirev, A. Borodin, M. Mussorgsky, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, P. Tchaikovsky, S. Rachmaninov. In music, romanticism lasted until the beginning of the twentieth century.

For romantic painting characteristic dynamism of the composition, a sense of movement, rich color. In France, these are Gericault, Delacroix, David; in Germany - Runge, Koch, Biedermeier style. In England - Turner, Constable, pre-Raphaelites Rossetti, Morris, Burne-Jones. In Russian painting - K. Bryullov, O. Kiprensky, Aivazovsky.

From this article, you learned what romanticism is, the definition of this concept and its main features.

The artistic method that developed at the beginning of the 19th century. and widely used as a direction (flow) in the art and literature of most European countries, including Russia, as well as in the literature of the United States. To more later eras the term "romanticism" is used largely on the basis of artistic experience first half of the 19th century

The work of romantics in each country has its own specifics, explained by the peculiarities of the national historical development, and at the same time has some stable common features.

In this generalizing characteristic of romanticism, one can distinguish: the historical soil on which it arises, the features of the method and the character of the hero.

The common historical ground on which European romanticism arose was a turning point associated with the Great French Revolution. Romantics adopted from their time the idea of ​​individual freedom put forward by the revolution, but at the same time in Western countries they realized the defenselessness of man in a society where monetary interests were victorious. Therefore, the attitude of many romantics is characterized by confusion and confusion in front of the outside world, the tragedy of the fate of the individual.

The main event of Russian history early XIX V. were the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Decembrist uprising of 1825, which had a huge impact on the entire course of the artistic development of Russia and determined the range of topics and issues that worried Russian romantics (see Russian literature XIX V.).

But for all the originality and originality of Russian romanticism, its development is inseparable from general movement European romantic literature how milestones of national history are inseparable from the course of European events: political and social ideas Decembrists are successively connected with the basic principles put forward by the French Revolution.

At general trend denial of the surrounding world, romanticism did not constitute a unity of social political views. On the contrary, the views of the romantics on society, their positions in society, the struggle of their time were sharply dissimilar - from revolutionary (more precisely, rebellious) to conservative and reactionary. This often gives grounds for dividing romanticism into reactionary, contemplative, liberal, progressive, etc. It is more correct, however, to speak of progressiveness or reactionaryness not of the method of romanticism itself, but of the social, philosophical or political views of the writer, given that the artistic work of such, for example, , a romantic poet, like V. A. Zhukovsky, is much broader and richer than his political and religious convictions.

Special interest in the individual, the nature of her relationship to surrounding reality, on the one hand, and the opposition real world ideal (non-bourgeois, anti-bourgeois) - on the other. The romantic artist does not set himself the task of accurately reproducing reality. It is more important for him to express his attitude towards it, moreover, to create his own, fictional image of the world, often on the principle of contrast with the surrounding life, so that through this fiction, through contrast, to convey to the reader both his ideal and his rejection of the world he denies. This active personal principle in romanticism leaves an imprint on the entire structure artwork determines its subjective nature. Events taking place in romantic poems ah, dramas and other works, are important only for revealing the characteristics of the personality that interests the author.

So, for example, the story of Tamara in the poem "The Demon" by M. Yu. Lermontov is subordinate main task- to recreate the "restless spirit" - the spirit of the Demon, to convey the tragedy in cosmic images modern man and, finally, the attitude of the poet himself to reality,

Where they do not know how without fear
Neither hate nor love.

The literature of romanticism put forward its hero, most often expressing author's attitude to reality. This is a man with special strong feelings, with a uniquely acute reaction to a world that rejects the laws that others obey. Therefore, he is always placed above those around him (“... I am not created for people: I am too proud for them, they are too mean for me,” says Arbenin in M. Lermontov’s drama “A Strange Man”).

This hero is lonely, and the theme of loneliness varies in works of various genres, especially often in lyrics (“It is lonely in the wild north ...” G. Heine, “An oak leaf came off a darling branch ...” M. Yu. Lermontov). Lonely are the heroes of Lermontov, the heroes of J. Byron's oriental poems. Even rebel heroes are lonely: Byron's Cain, A. Mickiewicz's Conrad Wallenrod. These are exceptional characters in exceptional circumstances.

The heroes of romanticism are restless, passionate, indomitable. “I was born / With a seething soul, like lava,” Arbenin exclaims in Lermontov's Masquerade. “Hateful is the languor of rest” to the hero of Byron; “... this is a human personality, indignant against the general and, in its proud rebellion, leaning on itself,” wrote V. G. Belinsky about Byron's hero.

The romantic personality, carrying rebelliousness and denial, is vividly recreated by the Decembrist poets - representatives of the first stage of Russian romanticism (K. F. Ryleev, A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, V. K. Kyuchelbeker).

An increased interest in the individual and the spiritual world of a person contributed to the flourishing of lyrical and lyrical-epic genres - in a number of countries it was the era of romanticism that put forward great national poets (in France - Hugo, in Poland - Mickiewicz, in England - Byron, in Germany - Heine). At the same time, the deepening of the romantics into the human "I" in many ways prepared the psychological realism XIX V. major discovery romanticism was historicism. If the whole life appeared before the romantics in motion, in the struggle of opposites, then this was also reflected in the depiction of the past. Was born

historical novel (V. Scott, V. Hugo, A. Dumas), historical drama. Romantics sought to colorfully convey the color of the era, both national and geographical. They did a lot to popularize oral folk art, as well as works of medieval literature. Promoting the original art of their people, the Romantics drew attention to the artistic treasures of other peoples, emphasizing the unique features of each culture. Turning to folklore, romantics often embodied legends in the ballad genre - story song dramatic content german romantics, poets of the "lake school" in England, V. A. Zhukovsky in Russia). The era of romanticism was marked by a flourishing literary translation(in Russia, V. A. Zhukovsky was a brilliant propagandist of not only Western European, but also Eastern poetry). Rejecting the strict norms prescribed by the aesthetics of classicism, the Romantics proclaimed the right of every poet to diversity. art forms created by all nations.

Romanticism does not disappear from the scene immediately with the affirmation critical realism. For example, in France such famous romantic novels Hugo, like "Les Misérables" and "93rd year", were created many years after the completion of the creative path of the realists Stendhal and O. de Balzac. In Russia, the romantic poems of M. Yu. Lermontov, the lyrics of F. I. Tyutchev were created when literature had already declared itself significant successes of realism.

But the fate of romanticism did not end there. Many decades later, in other historical conditions, writers often again turned to romantic means artistic image. So, young M. Gorky, creating both realistic and romantic stories, it was in romantic works that he most fully expressed the pathos of the struggle, the spontaneous impulse for the revolutionary reorganization of society (the image of Danko in "The Old Woman Izergil", "The Song of the Falcon", "The Song of the Petrel").

However, in the XX century. romanticism no longer constitutes a whole artistic direction. It's about only about the features of romanticism in the work of individual writers.

IN Soviet literature features of the romantic method were clearly manifested in the work of many prose writers (A. S. Grin, A. P. Gaidar, I. E. Babel) and poets (E. G. Bagritsky, M. A. Svetlov, K. M. Simonov , B. A. Ruchev).

period in the history of literature of the late 18th - first half of the 19th century, as well as the direction in art and literature that arose in Europe and America at that time with common artistic ideas and literary style, characterized by a certain set of themes, images and techniques. Romantic works are characterized by the rejection of rationality and rigid literary rules characteristic of classicism, the literary movement from which romanticism was repelled. Romanticism opposes the freedom of the writer-creator to the strict rules of classicism. The individuality of the author, his peculiar inner world- the highest values ​​for romantics. The worldview of romantics is characterized by the so-called dual world - the opposition of the ideal to meaningless, boring or vulgar reality. The ideal beginning in romanticism can be either the creation of the imagination, the dream of the artist, or the distant past, or the way of life of peoples and people "natural", free from the chains of civilization, or the other world. Melancholy, sadness, inescapable grief, despair are moods that distinguish romantic literature.

The word "romantic" existed in European languages long before the era of romanticism. It meant, firstly, belonging to the genre of the novel, and secondly, belonging to the literatures that developed in the Middle Ages on Romance languages- Italian, French, Spanish. Thirdly, especially expressive and exciting (sublime and picturesque) in life and literature were called romantic. The word "romantic" as a characteristic of medieval poetry, in many ways unlike ancient poetry, spreads after the publication in England of T. Wharton's treatise "On the Origin of Romantic Poetry in Europe" (1774). Definition new era V European literature and the new ideal of beauty, the word "romantic" became in aesthetic treatises and literary critical articles of the late 1790s. German writers and thinkers belonging to the so-called. "Jena school" (named after the city of Jena). The works of the brothers F. and A. Schlegel, Novalis (the poetic cycle "Hymns to the Night", 1800; the novel "Heinrich von Ofterdingen", 1802), L. Tieck (the comedy "Puss in Boots", 1797; the novel "The Wanderings of Franz Sternbald" , 1798) expressed such features of romanticism as an orientation towards folk poetry And medieval literature, installation on the connection of literature with philosophy and religion. They own the concept romantic irony”, meaning irony caused by the discrepancy between the lofty ideal and reality: romantic irony is outwardly directed at an abstract ideal, but in essence its subject is ordinary, dull or vicious reality. In the work of the late romantics: the prose writer E. T. A. Hoffmann (the cycle of fantastic short stories and fairy tales “The Serapion Brothers”, 1819–21; the novel “Everyday Views of Cat Moore ...”, 1819–21, not finished), the poet and prose writer G. Heine (poetic "Book of Songs", 1827; poem "Germany, winter fairy tale", 1844; prose "Travel Pictures", 1829-30) - the motive of the gap between the dream and everyday reality prevails, grotesque techniques are abundantly used, including for satirical purposes.

IN English literature romanticism was expressed primarily in the writings of the so-called poets. "lake school" W. Wordsworth, S. T. Coleridge, R. Southey, in the poetry of P. B. Shelley and J. Keats. Like German, English romanticism cultivates national antiquity, but it is less philosophical and religious. In Europe, the most famous of the English romantics was J. G. Byron, who created examples of the genre of the romantic poem (Gyaur, 1813; Bride of Abydos, 1813; Lara, 1814). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–21) was especially successful. Byron created sublime images individualist heroes who challenge the world, theomachistic motives and criticism are strong in his poetry modern civilization. In prose, the English romantic W. Scott created the genre of the historical novel, and C. R. Maturin created the adventurous fantasy novel Melmoth the Wanderer (1820). The term "romanticism" as a designation of the new literary period began to be used in England quite late, in the 1840s.

French romanticism was clearly manifested in the genre of the novel dedicated to egoism and the “disease of the century” - disappointment: “Adolf” (1815) by B. Constant, Stendhal’s novels, “Confession of the son of the century” (1836) by A. de Musset. French romantics turn to the exotic material of the life of the social bottom, as, for example, the early O. de Balzac, as J. Janin in the novel The Dead Ass and the Guillotine Woman (1829). Prose of Balzac, V. Hugo, J. Janin, dedicated to the image strong passions, full of bright contrasts and spectacular images, was called "frantic literature". In French dramaturgy, romanticism is affirmed in a fierce struggle with classicism (the dramas of V. Hugo).

In US literature, romanticism is represented by prose: novels from history North America J. F. Cooper, novels and short stories by W. Irving, fantasy and detective stories by E. A. Poe.

First in Russia romantic works become lyric poems and ballads by V. A. Zhukovsky, inspired by Western European romanticism. The influence of J. G. Byron is noticeable in the work of A. S. Pushkin, especially in the works of the first half. 1820s (Russian version of the Byronic romantic poem). romantic traits characteristic of the lyrics and poems of E. A. Baratynsky and other poets. The prose of Russian romanticism is dominated by the so-called. secular, fantastic, philosophical and historical stories (A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, V. F. Odoevsky, N. V. Gogol, etc.). Romantic motifs of loneliness are presented in the works of M. Yu. Lermontov. Romantic symbolism of dissonance, discord between man and the natural world, being as an unstable combination of two principles: harmony and chaos - the motives of F. I. Tyutchev's poetry.

The term "romanticism" is also used to refer to the artistic method, which includes works created after the end of romanticism as a literary period. Thus, researchers attribute many works of literature of the 20th century to romanticism, for example, the prose of A. Green and K. G. Paustovsky. As a variant of romanticism, such literary movement like symbolism.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

3. Romanticism as literary direction. Peculiarities of Russian Romanticism.

The debate about romanticism has been going on for about 200 years. The very definition of "romanticism" causes various interpretations, although this word has deeply entered the culture. In the era of the birth of romanticism, there were heated debates about it. Vyazemsky wrote to Pushkin: "Romanticism is like a brownie - you don't know how to put your finger on it." The complexity of defining romanticism is also connected with the dark etymology of the word. According to the first version, the word comes from the concept of "novel" and is associated with a legend; according to the second version, the word comes from the concept of "romance" and is associated with the knightly culture of the Middle Ages; according to the third version, the word "romanticism" is associated with the Romance languages ​​and culture. Unity in the definition of romanticism was not observed until the beginning of the 19th century. Romanticism has always been associated with poetic groundlessness, mysticism. It was clear that he did not have certain standards.

A certain shift towards the understanding of romanticism occurred in German philosophy. Friedrich Schelling and the Schlegel brothers tried to define romanticism. Romanticism is the opposition between dream and reality, what is and what should be, what is and what should be. Romanticism is the brainchild of social upheavals, national social movements, and philosophical revolutions. Chronological boundaries of the era of romanticism: 1789 - 1848 This era is the time of the formation of romanticism as a worldview and artistic direction.

In England and France, romanticism is an earlier phenomenon than in Russia. In Russia, the formation of romanticism falls on 1810-1820. Romanticism arrived in the United States in the 1830s. Romanticism is also developing in science: mathematics, medicine, biology. General ferment organically entered romanticism. There is a revision of the concepts of classicism. Romanticism recognized the priority of the internal state of a person, his conflict with state power. Romanticism sought to comprehend the whole world, everything in man. Romantics were excited by the idea of ​​a comprehensive, synthesis. Romanticism lost one-sided views.

Romanticism arose on the wave of revolutions as a manifestation of freedom (the liberation of Greece, the movement of etherists in Moldova, the Carbonari in Italy, the liberation movement associated with the Napoleonic wars). Freedom becomes the slogan of the romantics. In Russia, the growth of freedom-loving sentiments was facilitated by

The Patriotic War of 1812 National self-consciousness developed, the main principle of which was interest in national history and nationality.

The philosophical foundations of romanticism were formed in line with ideal philosophy. In this philosophy, the cults of the soul and feelings become predominant. Idealism becomes the basis of romanticism. Awakens interest in the subconscious, the desire to identify instincts. Mysticism and religion acquire special value in the era of romanticism. In parallel with the idealistic philosophy, a romantic aesthetics is being formed.

The aesthetics of classicism was quite dogmatic, its poetics was based on certain rules. Romanticism was free in its poetic principles. The normal form of aesthetic expression for him is a fragment, a passage. The passage is the most important principle of the romantic attitude. It shows the fragmentation of the vast canvas of life.

Basic principles of romanticism:

1. Romantic negation associated with the concept of time, the existing world. In it, the romantics saw the cult of the utilitarian, the petty-bourgeois. The bourgeois system is especially alien to romantics. Romantics have created a special world - the world of dreams. Romantic art is based on antinomy - a constant contradiction between the material and historical world.

2. The emergence of the cult of the medieval Renaissance, the concept of romantic history, the opposition between "today" and "yesterday", the birth of the historical novel. Passion for Walter Scott, Victor Hugo. Historical thinking is being introduced into literature, the boundaries of the artistic are being moved apart.

3. The dual world, the anthropological embodiment of which is duality, contributes to the psychologization of literature. The idea of ​​the world and of man becomes more complicated. There is an interest in the story. The fairy tale is considered as the basis of human feeling (Brothers Grimm, E.T.A. Hoffman, V. Hauf, G.Kh. Andersen).

4. Departure into science fiction in all its forms, the birth of a new idea of ​​the universe itself.

5. The cult of the romantic hero. The very concept of a hero is etymologically connected with the concept of heroics. romantic hero not like everyone else, he is strange. He changes his appearance, in connection with which the cult of the portrait is born. Romantics have everything wide open, their appearance is a mess, they have a burning look. Becomes a cult home. But a romantic hero is also a wanderer hero. The concept of "wanderer" here is associated with the concept of "strange". Feature romantic consciousness - the image of the road, movement.

Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" became the manifesto of romanticism. The psychological image of the hero is important. The hero lost faith in this world and did not find himself in that one. The concept of "world sorrow" arises. The romantic hero is a mourner, a wandering hero, an enthusiast, doubting, suffering, not finding himself, closed in space and on himself. As a result, the hero's egoism arises as a complex romantic consciousness. The romantic hero is lonely. At this time, an anthropological revolution took place: the romantics found a new person. This is a hero of immoderate passions.

Types of romantic heroes:

1. Hero-titan, originating from mythological and biblical images. It becomes an expression of titanic passions, maximalism, demonic consciousness; Demon Lermontov

2. Hero-wanderer, pilgrim, discovering new spaces, in constant motion. It brings together the concepts of the road - real space- and the way - life outlook. This hero is strange both in appearance and in actions;

3. Hero-artist. Romanticism shows a person in the sphere of the tragedy of creativity, associated with the inability to express everything. A characteristic feature of the romantic hero-creator is improvisation. There are many musicians among such heroes. Music and lyrics are deeply intertwined.

There are deep connections between the author and the hero. The hero becomes the bearer and spokesman of the author's consciousness, his alter ego. The inseparability of the author's consciousness and the hero's consciousness did not allow the development of art. To overcome the subjective position, it was necessary to create a distance between the author's consciousness and the hero's consciousness. The romantic hero blew up the very idea of ​​the world. Romantic literature is the literature of dialogue about the world. In the romantic world, even animals become creators.

Romantic aesthetics gravitates towards miracles, mysteries, everything unusual. Victor Hugo said: "Ordinary is the death of art." The new chronotope becomes the first form of fantasy expression. The spaces of day and night become important. The sense of time disappears at night. Romantic heroes act in the evening and at night. Important is the moment of a kind of wakefulness of the spirit. A new lyric is born: nocturnes, for which the riddle of the sunset becomes important. The English poet Jung created the first work of this kind - "Night Reflections". The topos of romantic art is a psychological reflection of the soul. Mountain and sea landscapes are cultivated. The sea is a passion, a raging landscape, a folklore image that acquires a real concept. Mountains are the moment of ascent from the earth to the sky, reflecting the motif of the two worlds. The aspiration of the soul to the mountain heights illustrates the romantic landscape. The cross on the mountain is the embodiment of the rapprochement of the mountainous and the mountainous.

The topos of the cemetery is also important. This is a philosophical topos that solves the issues of being, existence, life and death. The evening and night cemetery is the embodiment of the mysteries of life. The real space, according to the romantics, was inhabited by spirits. Romantics discovered the teachings of the medieval mystic Paracelsus, who spoke of the special role of the elements - fire, water, air and earth. Romantic chronotope is cosmogonic. In this regard, Alexander Humboldt's novel Cosmos can be called programmatic, in which he tried to determine the place of man in the Cosmos.

The world, inhabited by different creatures, gave romance the opportunity to show this world in dynamics. The most important principle of romantic art is the change of pictures. Romantic space is sinuous and radiant.

Music determined the style of romanticism, a special lyrical content. No less important was painting. Romantics gravitated towards the landscape way of thinking. There is a living picture in the word. The cult of architecture was important for Romantic art. The word becomes acoustic and visual. For European literature in this regard, the work of E.T.A. was important. Hoffmann.

Romantics liberated the possibilities of artists. For romantics, the very moment of creativity was important. The figure of the artist-sufferer becomes decisive for romantic art. There is a phenomenon of madness generated by the conflict of dreams and actions.

Features of Russian romanticism:

1. Russian romanticism is a chronologically later phenomenon than European. He is experiencing the formation in 1810 - 1820. This is the era of national liberation movements, the Patriotic War of 1812, the era of hope, faith in the future revival of Russia. Russian romanticism was more associated with the ideas of the Enlightenment. At this time, European romanticism is in crisis;

2. For Russian romanticism, the power of reason remains unchanged;

3. In European romanticism, the moral problem is opposed to the aesthetic one. The development of bourgeois relations and the cult of calculation does not make it possible to link art with morality. The interaction of aesthetics and ethics - main feature Russian romanticism. We can talk about a peculiar phenomenon of kalokagatiya. In European Romanticism, aesthetics becomes an end in itself;

4. In Russian romanticism, the individual moment is reduced. The European individualist hero flees society. The Russian hero, by virtue of the results of the war of 1812, gravitates towards the people. The ideas of nationality, national art are fundamental for romantics. For romantics, the problem of the “hero of our time” is especially acute;

5. Ethical pathos is opposed to carnal themes. For Russian romantics, love is a special sacrament filled with chastity;

6. In Russian romanticism, the idea of ​​freedom was associated with the ideas of the abolition of serfdom, reforms in society. In addition to the Decembrists, the pathos of love of freedom was shared by other romantics. A.M. Gorky distinguished between progressive or civic romanticism and reactionary or psychological romanticism. This concept has damaged the study of the work of the Romantics. Nevertheless, romanticism is a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon.

The Problem of Romanticism belongs to the most complex in the science of literature. Difficulties in solving this problem are predetermined to some extent by insufficient clarity of terminology. Romanticism is called artistic method, and literary direction, and a special type of consciousness and behavior. However, despite the debatability of a number of provisions of a theoretical and historical-literary nature, most scholars agree that romanticism was a necessary link in artistic development humanity, that without it the achievement of realism would not have been possible.

Russian romanticism at its inception was associated, of course, with the pan-European literary movement. At the same time, it was internally conditioned by the objective process of the development of Russian culture; the tendencies that were laid down in Russian literature of the previous period found development in it. Russian romanticism was generated by the impending socio-historical turning point in the development of Russia, it reflected the transition, instability of the existing socio-political structure. The gap between the ideal and reality caused a negative attitude advanced people in Russia (and above all the Decembrists) to the cruel, unjust and immoral life of the ruling classes. Until recently, the most daring hopes were associated with the ideas of the Enlightenment for the possibility of creating public relations based on the principles of reason and justice.

It soon became clear that these hopes were not justified. Deep disappointment in educational ideals, a resolute rejection of bourgeois reality, and at the same time a misunderstanding of the essence of the antagonistic contradictions that exist in life, led to feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, disbelief in reason.

Romantics claimed, What highest value a human person appears, in whose soul a beautiful and mysterious world is enclosed; only here you can find inexhaustible sources of true beauty and high feelings. Behind all this, one can see (albeit not always clearly) a new concept of a person who cannot and should no longer submit himself to the power of estate-feudal morality. In his artistic creativity Romantics in most cases sought not to reflect the reality (which seemed to them low, anti-aesthetic), not to clarify the objective logic of the development of life (they were not at all sure that such a logic existed). At the heart of them art system it turned out not to be an object, but a subject: the personal, subjective beginning acquires decisive importance among the romantics.

Romanticism is based on the assertion of an inevitable conflict, the complete incompatibility of everything truly spiritual, human with the existing way of life (whether it be a feudal or bourgeois way of life). If life is based only on material calculation, then, naturally, everything lofty, moral, humane is alien to it. Therefore, the ideal is somewhere beyond this life, beyond feudal or bourgeois relations. Reality, as it were, fell apart into two worlds: the vulgar, ordinary here and the wonderful, romantic there. Hence the appeal to unusual, exceptional, conditional, sometimes even fantastic images and paintings, the desire for everything exotic - everything that opposes everyday, everyday reality, everyday prose.

The romantic concept of human character is built on the same principle. The hero is opposed to the environment, rises above it. Russian romanticism was not homogeneous. It is usually noted that there are two main currents in it. The terms psychological and civic romanticism adopted in modern science highlight the ideological and artistic specificity of each movement. 15 one case of romance, feeling the growing instability of social life that did not satisfy them ideal ideas, went into the world of dreams, into the world of feelings, experience, psychology. Recognition of self-worth human personality, keen interest in inner life man, the desire to reveal the richness of his spiritual experiences - these were strengths psychological romanticism, the most prominent representative of which was V.

A. Zhukovsky. He and his supporters put forward the idea of ​​the inner freedom of the individual, its independence from public environment, from the world in general, where a person cannot be happy. Having not achieved freedom in the socio-political plane, the Romantics insisted all the more stubbornly on the affirmation of the spiritual freedom of man.

With this current genetically linked appearance in the 30s XIX years V. a special stage in the history of Russian romanticism, which is most often called philosophical.

Instead of high genres cultivated in classicism (ode), other genre forms. In area lyric poetry among romantics, the elegy becomes the leading genre, conveying moods of sadness, grief, disappointment, melancholy. Pushkin, having made Lensky ("Eugene Onegin") a romantic poet, in a subtle parody listed the main motifs of elegiac lyrics:

• He sang separation and sadness,
• And something, and a foggy distance,
• And romantic roses;
• He sang those distant countries

Representatives of another trend in Russian romanticism called for a direct fight against modern society, glorifying the civic prowess of the fighters.

Creating poems of high social and patriotic sound, they (and these were primarily the Decembrist poets) also used certain traditions of classicism, especially those genre and stylistic forms that gave their poems the character of an upbeat public speaking. They saw literature primarily as a means of propaganda and struggle. Whatever forms the controversy took between the two main currents of Russian romanticism, there were still common features romantic art that united them: the opposition of a lofty ideal hero to the world of evil and lack of spirituality, a protest against the foundations of autocratic serf reality that fettered a person.

Of particular note is the persistent desire of the Romantics to create an original national culture. In direct connection with this is their interest in national history, oral folk poetry, the use of many folklore genres, etc.

d. Russian romantics also united the idea of ​​the need for a direct connection between the life of the author and his poetry. In life itself, the poet must behave poetically, in accordance with the high ideals that are proclaimed in his poems. K. N. Batyushkov expressed this requirement in the following way: “Live as you write, and write as you live” (“Something about a Poet and Poetry”, 1815). This established a direct connection literary creativity with the life of the poet, his very personality, which gave the poems a special power of emotional and aesthetic impact.

In the future, Pushkin succeeded for more than high level combine the best traditions and artistic achievements of both psychological and civic romanticism. That is why Pushkin's work is the pinnacle of Russian romanticism of the 20s of the 19th century. Pushkin, and then Lermontov and Gogol, could not pass by the achievements of romanticism, its experience and discoveries.