Speaking of early Russian symbolism, one cannot consider it out of touch with Western European literature. It is significant that Bryusov and Balmont gave a clear preference not to the French symbolists of the end of the century, but to the poets who are usually called their predecessors - Baudelaire, Verlaine and Mallarmé.
One of the creators of poetry big city, imbued with a tragic consciousness of the contradiction between the evil reigning in the world and the unattainable ideal of imperishable beauty, Charles Baudelaire influenced the Russian symbolists in many aspects of his work. Thus, there is no doubt a connection between Baudelaire's anti-aestheticism (a sign of protest against philistine benevolence) and the audacity of poetic images in the early Bryusov. Baudelaire's tragedy will be reflected in Bryusov's poetry of the city, and the Baudelaire's theme of excruciating evil in its demonic coloration was also characteristic of Sologub's poetry.
Russian symbolists picked up from Baudelaire the theory of "correspondences" - hidden, poetically comprehended analogies between spiritual and natural phenomena, between the real world and the world of the poet's own "I". The poem "Conformity" was perceived by the "senior" symbolists as an aesthetic manifesto of a new literary trend. The theme of “correspondences” is developed in the poems of Sologub (“There are correspondences in everything ...”, 1898), Bryusov (“I am a child, not knowing fear ...”, 1900), Balmont (“Baudelaire”, 1904).
The Symbolists highly valued the poetry of Paul Verlaine. “Before Verdun, there was no symbolism,” Bryusov wrote to P. Pertsov in 1905. Verlaine introduced into poetry the impressionist art of capturing fleeting moments of life, the ability to grasp and convey shades in the change of sensations, impressions and moods and, as it were, capture changing outlines through them outside world. Verlaine transferred dissatisfaction with life and poetic admiration for the beauty of nature into sketch sketches painted with sadness, metaphorically reproducing the “landscape of the soul” of the poet.
The decadent melancholy mood in the spirit of the “end of the century” (“fin de siècle”) was answered by the musicality of the lyrics, the melodic intonation of a naive song or romance, and a “seemingly” incoherent stream of images. In Verlaine's lyrics, he was struck by the extraordinary tangibility of the sound side of the verse, sometimes obscuring the meaning of words - assonances, alliterations and rhymes. The words “music first of all” from Verlaine’s programmatic poem “The Art of Poetry” (1874) received great significance among the Symbolists.
The "landscape of the soul" in the manner of Verlaine is present in many symbolists (Balmont, Bryusov, Annensky). They were also drawn to Verdun by the desire to reproduce the rapid change of impressions. The lesson of poetry thus consisted in the discovery of new poetic forms of knowledge of man and nature, perceived by the Symbolists. However, one should not forget that the introduction to the poetry of Verlaine was already to a certain extent prepared for the Russian symbolists by mastering the poetry of Fet, whom they regarded as the first Russian impressionist. In translations from Verlaine, Bryusov and other symbolists often have poetic images and verbal turns in the spirit of Fet.
Simultaneously with Baudelaire and Verdun, Stephan Mallarme entered the poetry of Russian symbolism. It was mainly Bryusov and Annensky who gravitated toward him. Mallarme attracted Russian poets not so much by the content of his chamber poetry, the feeling of longing, the emptiness of life and loneliness, but by the search for new means of poetic expression. His strict in form, somewhat pathetic verses contain hints of a secret meaning hidden in them, due to which objects of the outside world (for example, a mirror or a fan) lose their material value and become symbols of abstract ideas or experiences of the poet. Mallarme mastered the art of hinting, connected with the "obscuration" of the final symbolic meaning poetic images. As a theoretician, he demanded that the poetic impression be created by understatement. This position of the French poet formed the basis of Bryusov's first theoretical speeches, in which he defines symbolism as the art of allusion.
Russian symbolism echoes French in aesthetic rejection of the bourgeois world and philistine complacency, however, anti-bourgeois rebelliousness manifested itself in Russian poets with greater certainty, which was caused by other historical conditions development of Russian literature at the turn of the century.
French symbolism was originally imbued with the spirit of social protest, but later pessimism and disbelief in man prevailed in it; art became an end in itself. Social protest originated in Baudelaire's rebellious Flowers of Evil (1857), a book largely inspired by the revolution of 1848 (more precisely, the July proletarian uprising), but completed after its defeat and therefore bearing a certain decadent coloring. Echoes of the ideological connection with the Paris Commune are contained in the poetic work of Verlaine and Rimbaud, but its tragic defeat, in turn, contributed to their transition to the path of decadence.
Formed as a literary trend in the 80s. French symbolism was already deprived of social protest and evolved in the spirit of strengthening decadent pessimism in it. “French symbolism after the fall of the Paris Commune develops in a downward direction,” states its researcher D. D. Oblomievsky.
History of Russian literature: in 4 volumes / Edited by N.I. Prutskov and others - L., 1980-1983
CHAPTER 3
A. S. PUSHKIN: RUSSIAN "UNIVERSE"
(to the question of the perception of European literature)
Above, several examples of Pushkin's dialogue with a "foreign" word that becomes "one's own" were considered, whether it is the development of the work of Shakespeare or Moliere, which happened to the literatures of the whole world, or Cornwall, forgotten even at home. However, these are only partial manifestations of a more general phenomenon that arose in Russian literature precisely with the advent of Pushkin, which can be designated as Russian "universality". Its origins are Russian classicism XVIII century, which, following European classicism, was focused on imitation of ancient authors, but was even more dependent on models, as it adopted the experience of the European classicists themselves. Of course, some semblance of double imitation is also found in Western literature, but there the imitation of new models, oriented towards ancient models, acted primarily as epigonism and had little to do with great writers. In Russia, however, the greatest writers bore the double burden of imitation, thereby reflecting the student period of the new Russian literature. Pushkin, already in "Ruslan and Lyudmila" having surpassed his immediate teacher V. A. Zhukovsky ("To the victorious student from the defeated teacher" - the great poet greeted the young Pushkin, who through his translations introduced the Russian reader to Homer and Pindar, La Fontaine and Pope, Thomson and Gray, Goethe and Schiller, Burger and Uhland, Southey and Byron, with another fifty writers different countries and eras, and these translations made up the bulk of his work), overcame imitation, apprenticeship, entered into a dialogue with the geniuses of world literature on an equal footing. And this dialogue embraced such a wide range of phenomena in world literature that it was then that the phenomenon of Russian "universality" arose and took root in Russian literature, the responsiveness of the poetic (in the broad sense) soul to the word - written or oral, sounded for everyone or only for the elite, in a temple, a secular salon or in a field, a hut, in a square or in the recesses of the heart - in different countries, in many languages, in different eras. Such an immense field of dialogue creates a literary thesaurus, specific to Russian writers (and readers) since Pushkin's time (an area of the general cultural thesaurus associated with literature). No less significant is the way in which information entering the thesaurus from outside literary information recycled to become part of it. Pushkin also defined the main direction here.
It comes through clearly in Pushkin's dialogue with Shakespeare. Having deeply studied this problem, N.V. Zakharov in his monograph "Shakespeare in the creative evolution of Pushkin" resorted to the term of the middle XIX century Shakespearianism. But today in science the term “Shakespeareanization” is much more often used to denote, it would seem, the same phenomenon. However, the researcher seems to be quite right in his choice of word. Shakespeareization means not only admiration for the genius of the English playwright, but also the gradual expansion of his influence. art system on world culture. This is one of the principles-processes. Principles-processes are categories that convey an idea of the formation, formation, development of the principles of literature, the strengthening of a certain trend. Their names are built on a similar linguistic basis, emphasizing the moment of formation or growth of a certain distinctive quality of a literary text against the background of the literary paradigm (the dominant system of correlations and accents in literary discourses): “psychologization”, “historicization”, “heroization”, “documentation”, etc. e. Shakespeareization was clearly manifested in Western European culture already in XVIII century, primarily in the pre-romantic (and in XIX century - romantic) literature. It was also characteristic of Russian literature, including Pushkin. However, the scale of the affirmation of this principle-process in Russia cannot be compared with the grandiose Shakespeareization of Western culture. Shakespeareization involves the introduction into the universal cultural heritage of images, plots, art forms Shakespearean legacy. Pushkin has it in Boris Godunov, in Angelo, and in numerous reminiscences.
But this is not the main thing that Pushkin took from Shakespeare. He, as it were, rose above the visible details in order to reach the invisible but tangible realm of the “philosophy” of the great English playwright’s work, he moved from the “tactics” to the “strategy” of Shakespeare’s artistic thinking and directed the entire dialogue of Russian literature with Shakespeare in this direction. This is logically defined by the concept of "Shakespeareanism". From this point of view, the work of L. N. Tolstoy, the author of the pogrom article "On Shakespeare", turns out to be one of the highest embodiments of Shakespeareanism, and there is no contradiction here: images, plots, artistic forms of Shakespearean works (the sphere of Shakespeareization) are subjected to Tolstoy criticism, but not the scale of the worldview, not the strategy of Shakespearean artistic thinking (the sphere of Shakespeareanism).
Hundreds of works are devoted to the characterization of Pushkin's literary thesaurus (although such a term, of course, was not used). It is almost impossible to consider this problem in its entirety, and even its most general contours, presented in the recently published experience of a special dictionary edited by the prominent Pushkinist V. D. Rak, required a very solid volume.
We will limit ourselves to a selection of several names of writers, philosophers, speakers, representatives of salon culture - the creators of the word, representatives of European literature and culture of different periods, contemplators and figures, acceptable and not acceptable for Pushkin, writers of different directions, brilliant, major, insignificant, sometimes forgotten with whom he entered into dialogue in the most different forms, which will make it possible to visualize the nature of this dialogue, which gave rise to such a property characteristic of Russian literature as Russian “universality”.
From the Middle Ages to the beginning XVIIIcentury
Villon ) François (1431 or 1432 - after 1463) - French poet , largest representative Pre-revival, in which talent was combined with a wild lifestyle. In one of Pushkin's first poems, "The Monk" (1813), there is an appeal to I. S. Barkov: Will you help me, Barkov? This is a free translation of Boileau's words about the libertine poet Saint-Aman, a characterization that is hardly too negative in Pushkin, who is close to libertinage.
Margeret (Margeret ) Jacques (Jacob) (1560 - after 1612) - French military man, served in the troops of Henry IV , then in Germany, Poland. In Russia, he was the captain of a German company under Boris Godunov, later transferred to the service of False Dmitry I . In 1606 he returned to France, in 1607 he published the book "The current state of the Russian state and the Grand Duchy of Muscovy, so that the most memorable and tragic happened from 1590 to September 1606." This book, which provided material for some episodes of "Boris Godunov", was in Pushkin's library, it was also quoted by Karamzin in "History of the Russian State". Margeret is bred as a character in Boris Godunov (it is he who is called the “overseas frog” there). The coarse French expressions put into the mouth of this character by the author aroused objections from the censors.
Molière , present surname Poquelin, Poquelin ) Jean-Baptiste (1622-1673) - the largest French playwright, actor, director. In the comedies The School of Husbands (1661) and The School of Wives (1662), he began to develop the genre of classic high comedy. The comedies "Tartuffe" (1664 - 1669), "Don Giovanni" (1665), "The Misanthrope" (1666), "The Miser" (1668), "The Tradesman in the Nobility" (1670) became the pinnacles of his dramaturgy. Many of the names of the characters created by Moliere have become common nouns (Tartuffe for a hypocrite, Don Juan for a frivolous lover, Harpagon for a miser, Jourdain for a commoner who imagines himself an aristocrat). In the image of Alceste ("The Misanthrope") he anticipated the "natural man" of the enlighteners.
In Russia, Molière was played during his lifetime in the court theater of Alexei Mikhailovich. "The doctor involuntarily" was translated by Princess Sophia, Peter's older sister I . F. G. Volkov and A. P. Sumarokov, who created the first permanent Russian theater, relied on the comedies of Molière in shaping the tastes of the theatrical public.
Pushkin got acquainted with the work of Molière even before the Lyceum. P. V. Annenkov, referring to the testimony of Pushkin’s sister Olga Sergeevna, wrote: “Sergei Lvovich supported the disposition for reading in children and read selected works with them. They say that he was especially masterful in conveying Moliere, whom he knew almost by heart ... The first attempts at authorship, which generally manifest themselves early in children addicted to reading, were found in Pushkin French and responded to the influence of the famous comic writer of France. In Gorodok (1814), Pushkin, listing his favorite writers, calls Molière a "giant". The most significant facts of Pushkin's appeal to the works of Moliere are his work on the "little tragedies" "The Miserly Knight" and "The Stone Guest" (1830). They contain almost direct borrowings of individual phrases, images, scenes. Wed Cleante's remark in Molière's "The Miser": "This is what our fathers bring us to with their accursed avarice" and Albert's phrase in "The Miserly Knight": "This is what the stinginess brings me // of my own father." The large fragment of The Stone Guest, where Don Juan invites the statue of the commander, is very close to the analogous scene in Molière's Don Juan. However, Pushkin's interpretation of Moliere's plots is fundamentally different: comedy turns into tragedy. Later in " Table - Talk ” Pushkin revealed the essence of this confrontation, comparing Shakespeare’s close to him and Moliere’s approaches to depicting a person in literature, which are alien to him: “The faces created by Shakespeare are not, like Molière’s, types of such and such a passion, such and such a vice; but living beings, filled with many passions, many vices; circumstances develop before the viewer their diverse and multifaceted characters. At Moliere's stingy stingy- but only; in Shakespeare, Shylock is stingy, quick-witted, vengeful, loving, witty. In Molière, the hypocrite drags after the wife of his benefactor, the hypocrite; accepts the estate under preservation, hypocrite; asks for a glass of water, hypocrite. In Shakespeare, the hypocrite pronounces the judgment with conceited severity, but justly; he justifies his cruelty with thoughtful judgment statesman; he seduces innocence with strong, captivating sophisms, an unfunny mixture of piety and red tape."
Rousseau ) Jean Baptiste (1670 or 1671 - 1741) - French poet, a native of the lower classes. In 1712 he was forever expelled from France for slandering his literary competitors. He became famous for his collections of "Odes" and "Psalms", the creation of the cantata genre ("Cantata about Circe", etc.), epigrams. It was Rousseau's epigrams that attracted the most attention of Pushkin, who repeatedly mentioned his name in his works (beginning with the poem "To a Poet Friend", 1814: naked steps into the coffin of Rousseau ... "). Pushkin freely translated one of them, titled "Epigram (imitation of French)" (1814) ("I was so captivated by your wife ..."). In general, for romantic poets, Rousseau became the epitome of epigone classicism.
Age of Enlightenment and Rococo
Locke ) John (1632–1704) - English philosopher. In "an experiment on the human mind" (1690), he argued that experience is the basis of all human knowledge. Locke developed the theory of natural law and the social contract, having a huge impact on the socio-political thought of the Enlightenment. Pushkin in drafts VII The head of "Eugene Onegin" names Locke in a number of enlighteners and ancient writers, whose works Onegin read, judging by the books Tatyana found in his house.
Hume ) David (1711-1776) - an English philosopher who formulated the basic principles of agnosticism in his Treatise on Human Nature (1748), denied the objective nature of causality. Hume is mentioned in the drafts of "Eugene Onegin" in the list of authors read by Onegin (probably his "History of England from the Conquest of Julius Caesar to the Revolution of 1688").
Saint-Pierre ) Charles Irene Castel, Abbé de (1658–1743) - French thinker, member of the French Academy (expelled for disrespectful review of Louis XIV ), author of The Project for Eternal Peace (1713), briefly retold and commented on by J.-J. Rousseau (1760). Pushkin became acquainted with the "Project" (in the presentation of Rousseau) during the period of southern exile and led discussions on the issue of eternal peace in Orlov's house in Chisinau, the nature of which is evidenced by Pushkin's note " Il est impossi ble…” (XII , 189–190, arb. name "On Eternal Peace", 1821).
Grecourt (Grecourt ) Jean Baptiste Joseph Vilard de (1683-1743) - French poet, abbot, representative of free-thinking poetry in the spirit of rococo, replete with frivolities and light in style. For the poem "Filotanus" (1720) he was condemned by the church and deprived of the right to preach. Grecourt's poems were published only posthumously (1747). Pushkin was introduced to Grecourt's poetry early on. In Gorodok (1815), he noted: “Brought up by Cupid, // Vergier, Guys with Grecourt // took refuge in a corner. // (More than once they go out // And take away sleep from the eyes // under the winter evening" ( I, 98).
Gresse (Gresset ) Jean Baptiste Louis (Greset, 1709–1777) - French poet, member of the French Academy (1748). Representative of "light poetry" in the spirit of Rococo. The author of poetic short stories ridiculing the monks. For the short story "Ver-Ver" (1734) about the merry adventures of a parrot raised in a convent, he was expelled from the Jesuit order. Pushkin called Gresse "a charming singer" ( I , 154), repeatedly mentioned and quoted his works - "Ver-Ver"; the poetic message "The Abode" (1735); comedy " Evil person"(1747) -" a comedy, which I considered untranslatable "( XIII, 41).
Crebillon Sr. Crebillon ) Prosper Joliot (1674–1762) - French playwright, father of Crebillon Jr., member of the French Academy (1731). His tragedies, in which the sublime gives way to the terrible, anticipating the transition from classicism to pre-romanticism (Atreus and Fiesta, 1707; Radamist and Zenobia, 1711), were staged in St. Petersburg during Pushkin's lifetime. It is believed that in Pushkin's letters to Katenin (1822) and Kuchelbecker (1825) there are ironic allusions to the finale of the tragedy Atreus and Fiesta.
Crebillon Jr. Crebillon ) Claude-Prosper Joliot de (1707–1777) is a French novelist who wrote works in which the fall of the morals of the aristocracy is depicted in the spirit of Rococo (“Errors of the Heart and Mind”, 1736; “Sofa”, 1742; etc.). Mentioned by Pushkin (as "Cribillon", VIII, 150, 743).
Buffler Rouvrel ( Boufflers - Rouvrel ) Marie-Charlotte, Countess de (d. 1787) - court lady of the court of the Polish king Stanislav in Luneville, one of the brightest representatives of the Rococo salon style, shining with wit, adhering to Epicurean views and not too strict morality. Pushkin mentions it in the article “On the preface of Mr. Lemonte to the translation of the fables of I. A. Krylov” (1825), speaking of the French classicists: “What brought a cold gloss of politeness and wit to all the works of the 18th century? Society M - es du Deffand, Boufflers, d'Espinay , very nice and educated women. But Milton and Dante did not write for favorable smile the fair sex».
Voltaire ) (real name Marie Francois Arouet - Arouet ) (1694–1778) - French writer and philosopher, one of the leaders of the Enlightenment. Starting with lyrics of a light, epicurean content, he became famous as a poet (the epic poem "Henriade", finished in 1728; the heroic-comic poem "The Virgin of Orleans", 1735), a playwright (wrote 54 dramatic works, including the tragedy Oedipus, 1718; "Brutus", 1730), prose writer (philosophical novels "Candide, or Optimism", 1759; "Innocent", 1767), author of philosophical, historical, journalistic works that made him the ruler of the thoughts of several generations of Europeans. Collected works of Voltaire, published in 1784-1789, took 70 volumes.
Pushkin fell in love with the works of Voltaire as a child, before entering the Lyceum, which he later recalled in verse ( III , 472). The study of passages from Voltaire was part of the lyceum program in French rhetoric. Voltaire is Pushkin's first poetic mentor. The appeal to the “Ferney old man” opens Pushkin’s earliest (unfinished) poem “The Monk” (1813): “Voltaire! The Sultan of the French Parnassus...// But just give me your golden lyre,// With it I will be known to the whole world.” The same motives are heard in the unfinished poem "Bova" (1814). In Voltaire's descriptions, Pushkin obviously relies on the popular XVIII century, the poetic genre “portrait of Voltaire” (a later example of this is in the message “To the nobleman”, where Voltaire is depicted as “a gray-haired cynic, / / Minds and fashion leader, crafty and bold”). Initially, Voltaire for Pushkin was first of all a “singer of love”, the author of The Virgin of Orleans, which the young poet imitates. In the poem "Town" (1815) and the poetic passage "Dream" (1816) there is a mention of "Candida". In "Gorodok" Voltaire is characterized in contrast: "... The Ferney evil screamer, / The first poet in poets, / You are here, gray-haired rascal!" During his Lyceum years, Pushkin translated three of Voltaire's poems, including the well-known stanzas "To Madame du Chatelet." In Ruslan and Lyudmila, Gavriliad and other works of the early 1820s, one can clearly feel the influence of the Voltaireian style, energetic, intellectually saturated, based on the game of the mind, combining irony and very conditional exoticism. Pushkin sees himself as a successor to the traditions of Voltaire. The same is true of his contemporaries. In 1818, Katenin for the first time calls Pushkin " le jeune Monsieur Arouet "("Young Mr. Arouet", i.e. Voltaire), then such a comparison becomes common (for example, in M.F. Orlov, P.L. Yakovlev, V.I. Tumansky, N.M. Yazykov).
In later years, the situation changes somewhat. Pushkin leaves most of the mentions of Voltaire only in drafts or letters. So, they disappear from "Eugene Onegin". Attempts to translate The Virgin of Orleans and What Ladies Like are abandoned. Pushkin distances himself from his idol of youth, notes his delusions regarding the enlightenment of Catherine's reign II : "It was forgivable for the Ferney philosopher to extol the virtues of Tartuffe in a skirt and in a crown, he did not know, he could not know the truth" ( XI , 17). Interest in the brilliant style of Voltaire is increasingly replaced by interest in his historical and philosophical works. So, while working on "Poltava" (1828), Pushkin widely uses materials from "The History of Karl XII "and" Stories Russian Empire under Peter the Great" by Voltaire. The researchers noted that the very way of covering historical events by comparing the leaders - Peter as a creator and Charles as a destroyer - was formed under the influence of Voltaire.
While working on an essay on the French Revolution (1831), Pushkin carefully studied 16 of the 138 chapters of Voltaire's major essay An Essay on Morals in order to outline the distant prehistory of the revolutionary events. A number of historical works of Voltaire Pushkin used in his work on the "History of Pugachev" and the unfinished "History of Peter". With the personal permission of Emperor Nicholas I , Pushkin was the first figure in Russian culture to have access to the Voltaire library bought by Catherine II and located in the Hermitage. Here he found a lot of unpublished materials about the era of Peter.
In an unfinished article of 1834, “On the Insignificance of Russian Literature,” Pushkin praises Voltaire as a philosopher and at the same time sharply criticizes his dramaturgy and poetry: “For 60 years he filled the theater with tragedies , he forced his faces to appropriately and inopportunely express the rules of his philosophy. He flooded Paris with charming trinkets, in which philosophy spoke in a generally understandable and playful language, one rhyme and meter different from prose, and this lightness seemed the height of poetry ”( XI , 271). VG Belinsky, analyzing Pushkin's poetry, revealed the unity of her mood, which he defined as light sadness. This conclusion sheds light on Pushkin's cooling off towards Voltaire the poet: as soon as Pushkin overcame the influence of Voltaire's poetic style and found his own, different intonation, he began to look skeptically at poetic legacy Voltaire, even to his beloved "Virgin of Orleans", whom he now condemned for "cynicism".
It is significant that one of Pushkin's last appearances in the press was the publication of his article "Voltaire" (Journal Sovremennik, vol. 3, 1836), written in connection with the publication of Voltaire's correspondence with President de Brosse. Having wonderfully outlined the content and characterized the style of correspondence, Pushkin, after quoting a short poem by Voltaire, which appeared in published papers, notes: “We confess to rococo our belated taste: in these seven verses we find more syllable, more life, more thought, than in a dozen long French poems written in the current taste, where the thought is replaced by a distorted expression, the clear language of Voltaire - by the pompous language of Ronsard, his liveliness - intolerable monotony, and his wit - areal cynicism or languid melancholy. Concerning Voltaire's life hardships, Pushkin expresses, perhaps, the most serious reproach to the philosopher: "Voltaire, throughout his long life, never knew how to preserve his own dignity." And it is this example that allows him to come to the final conclusion of the article, which contains a remarkably deep generalization: “What can be concluded from this? That genius has its weaknesses, which console mediocrity, but sadden noble hearts, reminding them of the imperfection of mankind; that the real place of a writer is his study and that, finally, independence and self-respect alone can elevate us above the trifles of life and above the storms of fate.
D'Alembert (D 'Alembert ) Jean Le Ron (1717–1783) - French philosopher, writer and mathematician, one of the editors of the Encyclopedia (together with Diderot, since 1751), which united the forces of the Enlightenment. Member of the French Academy (1754, since 1772 - its indispensable secretary). Pushkin repeatedly mentions d'Alembert, quotes, somewhat changing, his aphorism: "Inspiration is needed in poetry, as in geometry" ( xi, 41).
Rousseau ) Jean-Jacques (1712–1778) - French writer and philosopher who had a huge impact on European and Russian culture. Born in Geneva, in the family of a watchmaker, he experienced all the hardships of the fate of a commoner trying to realize his talent in a feudal society. Rousseau finds support for his ideas in Paris, among the enlighteners. By order of Diderot, he writes articles for the musical section of the Encyclopedia. In the treatise "Discourse on the Sciences and Arts" (1750), Rousseau first outlined the idea of \u200b\u200bthe dangers of civilization for moral life humanity. He prefers the natural state of savages, merged with nature, to the position of civilized peoples, who, thanks to the sciences and arts, become only "happy slaves." Rousseau's treatises Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality between People (1754) and On the Social Contract (1762) are devoted to upholding a just social order and developing the idea of the "natural man", in which the set of ideas of Rousseauism is finalized. Rousseau - the largest representative of French sentimentalism, the author of the novel "Julia, or New Eloise" (1761) - himself popular work in France XVIII century. innovative pedagogical ideas Rousseau, who constituted a whole stage in world pedagogy, is set forth by him in the treatise novel Emil, or On Education (1762). Rousseau stands at the origins of one of the most influential branches of European pre-romanticism. With his monodrama Pygmalion (1762, 1770), he laid the foundations for the genre of melodrama. Persecuted by the authorities, condemned by the church, Rousseau embodied the story of his life in "Confessions" (1765-1770, published posthumously, 1782, 1789). The leaders of the French Revolution considered Rousseau to be their herald. Romantics created a real cult of Rousseau. In Russia, Rousseau was quite famous back in XVIII century, his works influenced Radishchev, Karamzin, Chaadaev and other figures of Russian culture abroad XVIII - XIX centuries.
For Pushkin, Rousseau is "the apostle of our rights." He shared the Rousseau idea of a happy life in the bosom of nature, far from civilization, the idea of the deep feelings of the common man, the cult of friendship, the passionate defense of freedom and equality.
Pushkin got acquainted early with the work of Rousseau. Already in the poem “To my sister” (1814), he asks the addressee: “What do you do with your heart // Sometimes in the evening? // Do you read Jean Jacques…”, which, by the way, emphasizes the fact that Rousseau’s works were included in the reading circle of the youth of those years. Obviously, already at the Lyceum, Pushkin got acquainted with the novel "Julia, or New Eloise" and, perhaps, with some other works, so far superficially. In the early 1820s, he again turned to Rousseau (“Discourse on the Sciences and Arts”, “Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality”, “Emil, or On Education”, “Confession”), in particular, reread the project in his presentation the eternal peace of Abbé Saint-Pierre (1821) and began working on a manuscript on the idea of eternal peace. Citing Rousseau's words that the way to this world would be opened by "cruel and terrible means for mankind," Pushkin noted: "Obviously, these terrible means that he spoke of are revolutions. Here they come" XII , 189, 480). Pushkin rereads Rousseau at the end of his southern exile, working on the poem "Gypsies" and the first chapter of "Eugene Onegin".
By 1823, a critical attitude to a number of provisions of Rousseauism matured in Pushkin, which was reflected in the poem "Gypsies", which expressed disappointment in the Rousseauist thought of happiness in the bosom of nature, far from civilization. Differences with the philosopher in matters of education are very noticeable. If Rousseau idealizes this process, then Pushkin is interested in him real side, primarily in relation to the peculiarities of education in the conditions of Russian reality. In the article “On Public Education” (1826), Pushkin does not name Rousseau, but opposes the Rousseauist idea of home education: “There is nothing to hesitate: at all costs private education must be suppressed” ( XI , 44), for: “In Russia, home education is the most insufficient, the most immoral…” ( XI , 44). These statements shed light on the ironic coverage of education according to Rousseau in "Eugene Onegin": " Monsieur l'Abbe , a miserable Frenchman, / So that the child would not be exhausted, / He taught him everything jokingly, / He did not bother with strict morality, / Slightly scolded for pranks / And took him for a walk in the Summer Garden. Revealing the irony over Rousseau upbringing explains here such details as the nationality of the educator (in the draft version - even more clearly: "Monsieur the Swiss is very smart" - VI , 215), his name (cf. Abbé Saint-Pierre), method of teaching, forms of punishment (cf. Rousseau's "method of natural consequences"), walks in the Summer Garden (education in the bosom of nature according to Rousseau). Irony, although not evil, is also present in the presentation of an episode from Rousseau's Confession (Pushkin quoted this passage in French in his notes to the novel): clean your nails in front of him, // An eloquent madman. // Defender of liberty and rights // In this case, he is completely wrong. “The eloquent madcap” is an expression that belongs not to Pushkin, but to Voltaire (in the epilogue “ civil war in Geneva). Rousseau's struggle with fashion stemmed from his idea of the original goodness of man, which is destroyed by the achievements of civilization. Pushkin, acting as a defender of fashion, thereby objects both to the Rousseauist interpretation of civilization, and, to an even greater extent, to the Rousseauist view of man. Stanza XLVI The first chapter of the novel (“Whoever lived and thought cannot // In his soul not despise people ...”) is devoted to the criticism of Rousseau's idealism in understanding the essence of man.
The dispute with Rousseau is also present in Pushkin's interpretation of the plot about Cleopatra, to which he first addressed in 1824. As Yu.M. Aurelius Victor.
However, in "Eugene Onegin" it is shown what an important role the ideas and images of Rousseau played in the minds of the Russian people of the beginning. XIX century. Onegin and Lensky argue and reflect on the subjects to which Rousseau devoted his treatises (“Tribes of bygone treaties, // Fruits of science, good and evil ...”). Julia, and among the heroes with whom she associates Onegin is "Julia Volmar's lover." Separate expressions of Tatyana and Onegin's letters directly go back to "Julia, or New Eloise" (by the way, in Pushkin's story "The Snowstorm" there is a direct indication that the characters quite consciously use the letters of this novel as an example of a declaration of love). The plot of "Eugene Onegin" - the final explanation of the characters ("But I am given to another; // I will be faithful to him for a century") - also goes back to the turning point of Rousseau's novel. Pushkin, arguing with the ideas of Rousseau, does not lose touch with the images he created.
Helvetius (Helvetius ) Jean-Claude-Adrian (1715–1772) - French philosopher and enlightener, one of Diderot's associates in the publication of the Encyclopedia, author of the treatises On Mind (1758), On Man (1773), which were popular in Russia . In the drafts of Eugene Onegin, Helvetius is named among the philosophers read by Onegin. In the article “Alexander Radishchev” (1836), Pushkin calls the philosophy of Helvetius “vulgar and fruitless” and explains: “Now it would be incomprehensible to us how cold and dry Helvetius could become the favorite of young people, ardent and sensitive, if we, according to Unfortunately, they did not know how tempting for developing minds are new thoughts and rules, rejected by law and legends.
Grimm ) Friedrich Melchior, baron (1723-1807) - German publicist, diplomat. Having settled in Paris in 1748, he became close to the enlighteners and others. famous people. In 1753–1792 published in 15–16 copies a handwritten newspaper Literary, Philosophical and Critical Correspondence about the news of the cultural life of France (some issues were written by Diderot), whose subscribers were the crowned persons of Poland, Sweden, Russia. Was twice in St. Petersburg, corresponded with Catherine II , carried out her diplomatic missions (and then Paul I ). Sainte-Beuve emphasized the value of this edition as a historical source and noted the subtle, penetrating mind of its author. On the contrary, the educators said almost nothing about him, with the exception of Rousseau, who in his Confession wrote with contempt that he "caught him cleaning his nails with a special brush." It was in this connection that Pushkin's ironic lines appeared in "Eugene Onegin": "Rousseau (I will note in passing) // I could not understand how important Grim // I dared to clean my nails in front of him (...) You can be a practical person // And think about the beauty of nails ... "
Beaumarchais (Beaumarchais) listen)) Pierre-Augustin Caron de (1732–1799) - French writer. He became famous as the creator of the comedies The Barber of Seville (1775) and The Marriage of Figaro (1784), which asserted the dignity common man. Pushkin in the poems "To Natalia" (1813) and "The Page or the Fifteenth Year" (1830) mentions the heroes of the first of them - Rosina, her guardian and young Cherubino. Beaumarchais is the author of the comedy-ballet in the oriental style "Tarar" (1787), on the text of which Salieri wrote the opera of the same name. In Pushkin's little tragedy Mozart and Salieri (1830), Mozart speaks of her: “Yes, Beaumarchais was your friend. // You composed "Tarara" for him, // A glorious thing. There is one motive, / I keep repeating it when I am happy. Beaumarchais lived a stormy life, having been a watchmaker, a prisoner of the Bastille, a teacher of the daughters of Louis XV without losing the presence of mind in the most difficult situations. Salieri in "Mozart and Salieri" says about this: "Beaumarchais // He told me: listen, brother Salieri, // How black thoughts come to you, // Uncork a bottle of champagne // Or re-read The Marriage of Figaro." Beaumarchais's assessment is given by Pushkin in the poem "To the Grandee" (1830), where the "caustic Beaumarchais" is named on a par with encyclopedists and other celebrities. XVIII century: “Their opinions, rumors, passions // Forgotten for others. Look: all around you / Everything new is boiling, the former is destroying.
Chamfort (Chamfort ) Nicolas Sebastien Roque (1741–1794) - French writer, member of the French Academy (1781). The notes and aphorisms collected after his death were included in the 4th volume of his works (1795) under the title Maxims and Thoughts. Characters and anecdotes. Pushkin knew this book well. In "Eugene Onegin" Chamfort is named among the writers read by Onegin (ch. VIII, stanza XXXV ). Probably, the line “But the days of the past are jokes ...” is connected with Chamfort's aphorism: “Only free peoples have a history worthy of attention. The history of peoples enslaved by despotism is only a collection of anecdotes. Pushkin attributed the "hard Chamfort" to the "democratic writers" who prepared the French revolution.
Orators and writers of the era of the French Revolution
Lebrun ) Pons Denis Ekushar, nicknamed Lebrun-Pindar (1729–1807) - French classicist poet, follower of Malherbe and J.-B. Rousseau, author of odes (“Ode to Buffon”, “Ode to Voltaire”, “Republican odes to the French people”, “National ode”, etc.), elegies, epigrams. Supporter of the French Revolution. He was well known in Russia (beginning with Radishchev), translated (Batyushkov, Vyazemsky, and others). Pushkin highly valued Lebrun - "exalted Gaul" ( II , 45), quoted his poems ( XII, 279; XIV, 147).
Marat ) Jean Paul (1743-1793) - French revolutionary, one of the leaders of the Jacobins, eminent speaker. From 1789 he published the newspaper "Friend of the People". Was killed by Charlotte Corday. His brother de Boudry was one of Pushkin's teachers at the Lyceum. Pushkin, like the Decembrists, had a negative attitude towards Marat, seeing in him the embodiment of the element of revolutionary terror. In the poem “The Dagger” (1821), he calls him “the offspring of rebellions”, “the executioner”: “The apostle of death, to the weary Hades // With his finger he appointed victims, // But the supreme court sent him // You and the virgin Eumenides.” The same - in the elegy "Andrei Chenier" (1825): "You sang to the Marat priests // Dagger and the eumenis maiden!"
Mirabeau ) Honoré-Gabriel-Victor Riqueti, Count (1749-1791) - figure of the Great French Revolution. In 1789 he was elected a deputy from the third estate to the General States, became the de facto leader of the revolutionaries. He became famous as an orator who denounced absolutism. Expressing the interests of the big bourgeoisie, he took more and more conservative positions, from 1790 he was secret agent royal court. Pushkin considered Mirabeau as the leader of the first stage of the revolution (there is his drawing depicting Mirabeau, alongside Robespierre and Napoleon). In his mind, Mirabeau is a "fiery tribune", his name and works (in particular, memoirs) are mentioned in poetry, prose, and Pushkin's correspondence. In the article “On the insignificance of Russian literature” (1834), Pushkin noted: “The old society is ripe for great destruction. Still calm, but already the voice of the young Mirabeau, like a distant storm, muffledly rumbles from the depths of the dungeons through which he wanders ... ”But since Mirabeau was also a symbol of secret treason for Pushkin’s entourage, Pushkin’s enthusiastic tone applies only to the young Mirabeau.
Rivarol (Rivarol) Antoine (1753-1801) - French writer and publicist. From a monarchical position, he opposed the French Revolution and emigrated. He became famous for his aphorisms, which were appreciated by Pushkin and Vyazemsky. So, in terms of “Scenes from Knightly Times”, Faust is displayed as the inventor of typography, and Pushkin notes in brackets: “Découvert de l "imprimerie, autre artillerie" (“The invention of typography is a kind of artillery”, and this is Rivarol's modified aphorism about ideological reasons French Revolution: "L "imprimerie est artillerie de la pensée" ("Printing is the artillery of thought").
Robespierre ) Maximilien (1758-1794) - French politician, orator, leader of the Jacobins during the Great French Revolution. Becoming in 1793 the de facto head of the revolutionary government, he fought against the counter-revolution and opposition revolutionary forces with terror methods. He was guillotined by the Thermidorians. If Pushkin had an unambiguously negative attitude towards Marat, who embodied “rebellion” for him, then the attitude towards the “incorruptible” Robespierre is different. It is no coincidence that Pushkin wrote: “Peter I Robespierre and Napoleon at the same time. (Revolution incarnate)." There is an assumption (though disputed by B.V. Tomashevsky) that Pushkin gave Robespierre, drawn by him on the back of a sheet with III and IV stanzas of the fifth chapter of "Eugene Onegin", their own features.
Chenier listen)) André Marie (1762–1794) - French poet and essayist. He welcomed the Great French Revolution (ode "The Oath in the Hall for the ball game"), but condemned terror, entered the liberal-monarchist Feuillants Club, in 1791-1792. published anti-Jacobin articles, in 1793 he was imprisoned in Saint-Lazare prison and executed two days before the collapse of the Jacobin dictatorship. His poetry, close to pre-romanticism in general tendencies, combines the classical harmony of form with the romantic spirit of individual freedom. Chenier's "Works" published only in 1819, which included odes, iambs, idylls, elegies, brought the poet pan-European fame. Chenier took a special place in Russian literature: more than 70 poets turned to his work, including Lermontov, Fet, Bryusov, Tsvetaeva, Mandelstam. Pushkin played a decisive role in the development of Chenier in Russia. His brother L. S. Pushkin noted: “Andre Chenier, a Frenchman by name, and, of course, not by the direction of his talent, became his poetic idol. He is the first in Russia and, it seems, even in Europe he was worthily appreciated. Pushkin made 5 translations from Chenier (“Listen, O Helios, ringing with a silver bow”, 1823; “You wither and are silent; sadness consumes you ...”, 1824; “Oh peaceful gods of fields, oak forests and mountains ...”, 1824; “Near places where golden Venice reigns…”, 1827; “From A. Chenier (“Covering, nourished with caustic blood”)”, 1825, final edition 1835). Pushkin wrote several imitations of Chenier: "Nereid" (1820, imitation of the 6th fragment of idylls), "Muse" (1821, imitation of the 3rd fragment of idylls), "What I used to be, so am I now ..." (final edition - 1828, independent poem based on 1 fragment of elegies, elegy XL ), “Let's go, I'm ready; wherever you are, friends ... ”(1829, based on the 5th fragment of elegies). Most vivid image Chenier himself appears in Pushkin's poem "Andrei Chenier" (1825). Contrasted with another idol of Pushkin - Byron with his fame (“Meanwhile, how the astonished world // looks at Byron’s urn ...”), Chenier appears as an unknown genius (“To the singer of love, oak forests and peace // I carry funeral flowers. // The unknown sounds lira"). Pushkin associates himself with Chenier (as in the letters of these years), 44 lines of the poem are prohibited by censorship, which sees in them allusions to Russian reality, Pushkin is forced to explain about the illegal lists of these lines that have spread, the case ends with the establishment of secret supervision over the poet in 1828 . Chenier is one of the sources of the image of the "mysterious singer" ("The Conversation of a Bookseller with a Poet", 1824; "Poet", 1827; "Arion", 1827). Chenier's lyrics largely determined the prominent place of the elegy genre in Russian romantic poetry. However, Pushkin emphasized: “No one respects me more, loves this poet, but he is a true Greek, one of the classics of the classics. (...) ... there is not a drop of romanticism in it yet ”( XIII , 380 - 381), “French critics have their own concept of romanticism. (...) ... Andrey Chenier, a poet imbued with antiquity, whose even shortcomings stem from the desire to give forms of Greek versification in French, fell into their romantic poets ”( XII , 179). Chenier's greatest influence is noted in Pushkin's anthological lyrics (noted by I. S. Turgenev). Poets are also brought together by a similar spiritual evolution in a number of moments.
EndXVIIIcentury andXIXcentury
La Harpe ) Jean Francois de (1739-1803) - French literary theorist and playwright, member of the French Academy (1776). As a playwright, he was a follower of Voltaire (the tragedy The Earl of Warwick, 1763; Timoleon, 1764; Coriolanus, 1784; Philocletus, 1781; and others). He spoke out against the revolution and condemned the enlightenment theories that prepared it. The most famous work thoroughly studied by Pushkin is The Lyceum, or the Course of Ancient and Modern Literature (16 volumes, 1799–1805), which is based on the lectures given by La Harpe at Saint-Honor (1768-1798). In the Lyceum, La Harpe defended the dogmatically understood rules of classicism. Pushkin in his youth considered La Harpe to be an indisputable authority (cf. in Gorodok, 1815: “... the formidable Aristarchus // Appears bravely // In sixteen volumes. // Even though I’m scared to verse // La Harpe to see the taste, // But often, I confess, / / I'm wasting my time on it.") However, later Pushkin mentioned him as an example of a dogmatist in literature. In a letter to N. N. Raevsky-son (second half of July 1825), criticizing the principle of likelihood, he noted: “For example, in La Harpe, Philocletus, after listening to Pyrrhus’s tirade, says in the purest French: “Alas! I hear the sweet sounds of Hellenic speech," etc. (the same - in the outline of the preface to Boris Godunov, 1829; this line from Philocletus became - with slight changes - the first line of the epigram for Gnedich's translation of Homer's Iliad: "I hear the silent sound of the divine Hellenic speech" - III , 256). Pushkin also mentions La Harpe as proof of the unpoeticism of the French: “Everyone knows that the French are the most anti-poetic people. Their best writers, the most glorious representatives of this witty and positive people, Montaigne, Voltaire, Mon tesquieu , Laharpe and Rousseau himself, proved how a sense of elegance was alien and incomprehensible to them ”(“ Beginning of an article about V. Hugo ”, 1832). But Pushkin pays tribute to La Harpe as one of the founders of literary criticism, which has not received due development in Russia: “If the public can be content with what we call criticism, then this only proves that we still do not need either Schlegels or even Laharpakh" ("Works and translations in verse by Pavel Katenin", 1833).
Genlis (Genlis ) Stephanie Felicite du Cret de Saint-Aubin, Countess (1746–1830) - French writer, author of books for children written for the children of the Duke of Orleans (she was a teacher, including the future King Louis-Philippe) and pedagogical essays in which she developed Rousseau's ideas ("Educational Theater", 1780; "Adele and Theodore", 1782 ; and etc.). Trained by Napoleon good manners”, During the years of the Restoration, she wrote sentimental novels (“The Duchess de La Vallière”, 1804; “Madame de Maintenon”, 1806; etc.), which were immediately translated in Russia, where the work of Genlis was very popular. No less famous in Pushkin's time were her Critical and Systematic Dictionary of Court Etiquette (1818) and Unpublished Memoirs on XVIII century and the French Revolution from 1756 to the present day” (1825). In Pushkin, for the first time, her name is found in the poem “To my sister” (1814): “Do you read Jean-Jacques, // Is Janlis in front of you?” In the future, Pushkin repeatedly mentions Janlis ( I, 343; II, 193; VIII, 565; and etc.).
Arnault ) Antoine Vincent (1766 - 1834) - French playwright, poet and fabulist, member of the French Academy (1829, since 1833 permanent secretary). In 1816, for his adherence to the revolution and Napoleon, he was expelled from France, returned to his homeland in 1819. Author of tragedies (“Mary in Mintourne”, 1791; “Lucretia”, 1792; “Blanche and Moncassin, or the Venetians”, 1798; and others), who developed the ideas of the French Revolution and Napoleonism. He became famous for the elegy "Leaf" (1815), translated into all European languages (in Russia - translations by V. A. Zhukovsky, V. L. Pushkin, D. V. Davydov, etc.). Pushkin wrote in the article “French Academy”: “The fate of this little poem is wonderful. Kosciuszko repeated it before his death on the shores of Lake Geneva; Alexander Ispilanti translated it into Greek…” Arno, having learned about the translation of “Leaflet” made by D. V. Davydov, wrote a quatrain, the beginning of which Pushkin used in a message to Davydov (“To you, singer, you, hero!”, 1836). Pushkin translated Arno's poem "Solitude" (1819). In this article, dedicated to Scribe's replacement of the academic chair after Arno's death, Pushkin sums up his attitude towards the poet: “Arno composed several tragedies that were a great success in their time, but are now completely forgotten. (...) Two or three fables, witty and graceful, give the deceased more right to the poet's title than all his dramatic creations.
Beranger ) Pierre Jean (1780-1857) - French poet, an outstanding representative of the song and poetry genre, which he equated with the "high" genres of poetry. Pushkin (as opposed to Vyazemsky, Batyushkov, Belinsky) had a low regard for Beranger. In 1818, Vyazemsky asked Pushkin to translate two of Beranger's songs, but he did not respond to this request. He undoubtedly knew the freedom-loving, satirical poems of Beranger, in particular, the song "Good God" (he mentions in a letter to Vyazemsky in July 1825). Giving an ironic portrait of Count Nulin, Pushkin laughs at secular people who come to Russia from abroad “With a supply of tailcoats and vests, // S bons-mots French court, // C last song Beranger". Pushkin's poem "My Genealogy" (1830) was inspired not only by Byron, but also by Beranger's song "The Commoner", from where Pushkin took the epigraph to the poem. Pushkin also has sharply negative reviews of Beranger. In the article about Hugo (1832) begun by Pushkin, it is said about the French: “The unbearable Beranger is now revered as their first lyric poet, the composer of strained and mannered songs that have nothing passionate, inspired, but in gaiety and wit far behind the charming pranks of Cole” ( VII , 264). At the end of his life, Pushkin appreciated the song "King Yveto" more than other works by Beranger, but not for freedom-loving motives. In the article “French Academy” (1836) it is noted: “... I confess, it would hardly have occurred to anyone that this song was a satire on Napoleon. She is very sweet (and almost the best of all the songs of the vaunted Beranger ), but, of course, there is not even a shadow of opposition in it. Nevertheless, Pushkin encouraged the young D. Lensky to continue translating Beranger, which indicates the ambiguity of his assessment of the French songwriter.
Fourier ) François Marie Charles (1772-1837) - French utopian socialist, in his "Treatise on the Home Economics and Agricultural Association" (vols. 1-2, 1822, in a posthumous edition titled "The Theory of World Unity") outlined detailed plan organization of the society of the future. Pushkin was familiar with Fourier's ideas.
Vidocq ) Francois Eugene (1775–1857) - French adventurer, first a criminal, then (since 1809) a policeman who rose to the post of chief of the secret Parisian police. In 1828 Vidocq's Memoirs were published (obviously a hoax). Pushkin published a review of them full of sarcasm (“Vidok is ambitious! He becomes furious when reading an unfavorable review of journalists about his style (...), accuses them of immorality and freethinking ...” - XI , 129). Pushkinists rightly believe that this is a portrait of Bulgarin, whom Pushkin called “Vidok-Figlyarin” shortly before in an epigram.
Lamenne (Lamennais ) Felicite Robert de (1782-1854) - French writer and philosopher, abbot, one of the founders of Christian socialism. Starting with a critique of the French Revolution and materialism XVIII century, the approval of the idea of a Christian monarchy, in the late 1820s, he switched to the position of liberalism. In The Words of a Believer (1834) he announced a break with the established church. Pushkin repeatedly mentions Lamenne, including in connection with Chaadaev (“Chedaev and the brethren” - XIV, 205).
Scribe ) Augustin-Eugène (1791–1861) - French playwright, member of the French Academy (1834), became famous as a master of a "well-made play", wrote over 350 plays (vaudeville, melodrama, historical plays, opera librettos), among them "Charlatancy" (1825), "Reasonable marriage" (1826), "Lisbon lute" (1831), "Fellowship, or Ladder of glory" (1837), "Glass of water, or Cause and effect" (1840), "Adrienne Lecouvreur" (1849 ), the libretto of Meyerbeer's operas "Robert the Devil" (1831), "The Huguenots" (1836), etc. Pushkin in a letter to M.P. , from which his not very flattering assessment of Scribe's dramaturgy follows. The censorship of the performance in St. Petersburg of Scribe's historical comedy "Bertrand and Raton" was noted by Pushkin in his diary (entry in February 1835). In the article "The French Academy" (1836), Pushkin gives almost completely (with the exception of the finale given by him in the retelling) Scribe's speech upon entering the Academy on January 28, 1836 and Wilmain's response speech with detailed description Scribe's contribution to French culture. Pushkin calls the speech "brilliant", Scribe - "that Janin in a feuilleton ridiculed both Scribe and Villemin:" In this witty orator, "but slyly mentions that all three representatives of French wit were on stage."
Mérimé P rosper (1803–1870) - French writer, entered literature as a representative of the romantic movement ("Clara Gasoul Theatre", 1825; "Gyuzla", 1827; drama "Jacquerie", 1828, novel "Chronicle of the reign of Charles IX", 1829 ), became famous as a writer-psychologist, one of the creators of a realistic short story (the collection Mosaic, 1833; short stories Double Error, 1833; Colombes, 1840; Arsene Guillot, 1844; Carmen, 1845; etc. .). Member of the French Academy (1844). Pushkin told his friends: “I would like to talk with Merimee” (according to A. ABOUT. Smirnova, possibly unreliable). Through S. A. Sobolevsky, a friend of Merimee, Pushkin got acquainted with the Gyuzla collection. In "Songs of the Western Slavs" Pushkin included 11 translations from "Gyuzla", including the poem "Horse" - the most famous of them. These are rather loose translations. INpreface to the publication of the cycle (1835) Pushkin mentionshoaxes of Merimee, who appeared in Gyuzla as an unknown collector and publisher of South Slavic folklore: “This unknown collector was none other than Merimee, a sharp and original writer, author of the Klara Gazul Theater, Chronicles of the Times of Karl IX , Double error and other works, extremely remarkable in the deep and miserable decline of the current French literature. Mérimée introduced French readers to Pushkin's work, they translated " Queen of Spades”, “Shot”, “Gypsies”, “Hussar”, “Budrys and his sons”, “Anchar”, “Prophet”, “Oprichnik”, fragments from “Eugene Onegin” and “Boris Godunov”. In the article “Literature and slavery in Russia. Notes of the Russian hunter Iv. Turgenev” (1854), Merimee wrote: “Only in Pushkin do I find this true breadth and simplicity, an amazing accuracy of taste, which allows me to find exactly the one that can amaze the reader among thousands of details. At the beginning of the poem "Gypsies" five or six lines are enough for him to show us a gypsy camp and a group lit by a fire with a tamed bear. Every word of this brief description highlights the thought and leaves a lasting impression. Merimee dedicated to the poet great article"Alexander Pushkin" (1868), in which he puts Pushkin above all European writers.
Carr (Karr ) Alphonse Jean (1808-1890) - French writer, publicist, published in 1839-1849. magazine "Osy" (" Les Guê pes ”), which was very popular in Russia. In 1832 he published the novel "Under the Lindens" (" Sous les tilleurs "). In the same year, Pushkin, in a letter to E. M. Khitrovo, exclaimed (letter in French): “How can you not be ashamed to speak so dismissively about carré. Talent is felt in his novel ( son roman a du gé nie ), and it's worth the pretentiousness ( marivaudage ) of your Balzac."
It is quite obvious that the Russian "universality", so noticeable already in Pushkin (where we demonstrated it with just a few examples of the poet's relationship with European literature), is strikingly different from the seemingly close approach presented in the so-called "professorial literature" - a peculiar phenomenon of the literary life of the West. Let's explain this so far rarely encountered term. Since the writer's fee is unstable, many writers create their works at their leisure, working, as a rule, as teachers in universities and engaging in scientific activities (usually in the field of philology, philosophy, psychology, history). Such is the fate of Murdoch and Merle, Golding and Tolkien, Eco and Ackroyd, and many other famous writers. The teaching profession leaves an indelible imprint on their work, their works reveal broad erudition, knowledge of the schemes for constructing literary works. They constantly resort to open and covert citations of the classics, demonstrate linguistic knowledge, fill the works with reminiscences designed for equally educated readers. A huge array of literary, culturological knowledge pushed aside in the "professional literature" a direct perception of the surrounding life. Even fantasy acquired a literary sounding, which was most clearly manifested by the creator of fantasy Tolkien, and then by his followers.
Pushkin, on the contrary, is not at all a professional philologist, as later L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky, A. P. Chekhov and A. M. Gorky, V. V. Mayakovsky and M. A. Sholokhov, I. A. Bunin and M. A. Bulgakov, and many other outstanding representatives of the Russian “universality”. Their dialogue with world literature (and, above all, with European literature) is determined not by the level of intertextuality, but by the level (let us allow ourselves a neologism) of interconceptuality and psychological and intellectual responsiveness to someone else’s feeling and thought, perceived in the process of their “Russification” (in other words: embedding in Russian cultural thesaurus) already as "one's own".
Leading art direction in literature Western Europe At the beginning of the 19th century, romanticism replaced classicism and enlightenment realism. Russian literature responds to this phenomenon in a peculiar way.
It borrows a lot from Western European romanticism, but at the same time solves the problems of its own national self-determination. Russian romanticism, in comparison with Western European, has its own specifics, its own national-historical roots. What is the similarity of Russian romanticism with Western European and what are its national differences?
The end of the 18th century in the history of Christian Europe was marked by a deep social cataclysm that blew up the entire social order to its foundations and called into question faith in human reason and world harmony. The bloody upheavals of the Great French Revolution of 1789-1793, the era of the Napoleonic Wars that followed them, the bourgeois system established as a result of the revolution with its selfishness and commercialism, with the “war of all against all” - all this made the intellectual layer of European society doubt the truth of educational teachings XVIII century, promising humanity the triumph of freedom, equality and fraternity on a reasonable basis.
In a letter from Melodorus to Phil-let published in 1794, the Russian writer N. M. Karamzin noted: “We considered the end of our century the end of the main disasters of mankind and thought that it would be followed by an important, general connection of theory with practice, speculation with activity, that people, morally convinced in the elegance of the laws of pure reason, will begin to fulfill them to the fullest extent and under the shade of the world, in the shelter of peace and tranquility, they will enjoy the true blessings of life. Oh Philalet! Where is this consolatory system now?.. It has collapsed at its foundation! ... Age of Enlightenment! I don’t recognize you - in blood, in flames, but I recognize you, I don’t recognize you among the murders and destruction! ...May your philosophy perish!" And the poor, deprived of a fatherland, and the poor, deprived of a home, and the poor, deprived of a father, or son, or friend, repeat: “Let him perish!” And a good heart, torn apart by the spectacle of fierce disasters, repeats in its sorrow: “Let it perish! »
The collapse of faith in reason led European humanity to "cosmic pessimism", hopelessness and despair, doubting the value of modern civilization. Starting from the imperfect earthly world order, the romantics turned to eternal and unconditional ideals. A deep discord arose between these ideals and reality, which led to the so-called romantic two-world.
In contrast to the abstract mind of the enlighteners of the 18th century, who preferred to extract from everything the general, the typical, and treated the “private”, “personal” with disdain, the Romantics proclaimed the idea of sovereignty and self-worth of each individual with the richness of its spiritual requests, the depth of its inner world. They focused their main attention not on the circumstances surrounding a person, but on his experiences and feelings. Romantics revealed to their readers the complexity and richness of the human soul, unknown to them, its inconsistency and inexhaustibility. They were addicted to depicting strong and vivid feelings, fiery passions, or, on the contrary, the secret movements of the human soul with its intuition and subconscious depths.
At the same time, romanticism discovered the individual identity not only of an individual, but also of an individual nation at a particular period of history. If classicism, with its belief in the universal role of reason, extracted universal human categories from life, dissolving everything private and individual in general, then romanticism turned to depicting the national identity of world cultures, and also suggested that this identity is subject to irreversible historical changes.
For example, classicism perceived antiquity as eta-chop. Kik is a role model. Romanticism saw in the intimate culture of Greece or Rome an individually unique and historically transient stage in the development of Greek or Italian national culture. Antiquity here received a completely different interpretation: such features as the pagan spirit, joy, hedonism hostile to sacrifice, the fullness of individual existence, and a proud sense of human dignity were emphasized. In search of national originality, Romantics paid much attention to oral folk art, folk culture, and folk language.
In Russia, romantic trends also arose under the influence of the events of the Great French Revolution, strengthened during the years of liberal politics at the beginning of the reign of Alexander I, who came to the Russian throne after a palace conspiracy and the assassination of his father, Emperor Paul I, on the night of March 11, 1801. These trends were fed by the rise national self-consciousness during the Patriotic War of 1812.
The reaction that came after the victorious war, the refusal of the government of Alexander I from the liberal promises of the beginning of his reign led society to deep disappointment, which became even more aggravated after the collapse of the Decembrist movement and in its own way fed the romantic worldview.
Such are the historical premises of Russian romanticism, which had common features that brought it closer to Western European romanticism. Russian romantics are also characterized by a heightened sense of personality, aspiration to “the inner world of a person’s soul, the innermost life of his heart” (V. G. Belinsky), increased subjectivity and emotionality of the author’s style, interest in national history and national character.
At the same time, Russian romanticism had its own national characteristics. First of all, unlike Western European romanticism, he retained historical optimism - the hope for the possibility of overcoming the contradictions between the ideal and reality. In Byron's romanticism, for example, Russian poets were attracted by the pathos of love of freedom, rebellion against the imperfect world order, but Byronic skepticism, "cosmic pessimism", and moods of "world sorrow" remained alien to them. Russian romantics also did not accept the cult of the self-satisfied, proud and selfish human personality, opposing to it the ideal image of a patriotic citizen or a humane person endowed with a sense of Christian love, sacrifice and compassion.
The romantic individualism of the Western European hero did not find support on Russian soil, but met with severe condemnation.
These features of our romanticism were connected with the fact that Russian reality at the beginning of the 19th century concealed hidden possibilities for radical renewal: the peasant question was next in line, the prerequisites for great changes were ripening, which took place in the 60s of the 19th century. A significant role in the national self-determination of Russian romanticism was also played by the thousand-year-old Orthodox Christian culture with its craving for common consent and conciliar resolution of all issues, with its rejection of individualism, with condemnation of egoism and vanity. Therefore, in Russian romanticism, unlike Western European romanticism, there was no decisive break with the culture of classicism and the Enlightenment.
Let us return to Philaletes' reply letter to Melodor Karamzin. Philalethos seemed to agree with his friend: “... We exaggeratedly magnified the eighteenth century and expected too much from it. Incidents have shown what terrible delusions the mind of our contemporaries is still subject to! But, unlike Melodorus, Philalethes does not fall into despondency. He believes that these delusions are not in the nature of the mind, but in mental pride: “Woe to that philosophy that wants to solve everything! Lost in a labyrinth of inexplicable difficulties, it can bring us to despair ... "
Literary criticism 189
INTERACTION OF RUSSIAN AND WESTERN EUROPEAN LITERATURES
LATE XVIII-EARLY XIX CENTURIES
I.N. Nikitin
The article highlights the main aspects of the literary interaction between Russian and Western European literatures at the turn of the
18-19 centuries. The historical and literary processes that influenced the development of the aesthetics of pre-romanticism in Russian literature are considered.
Key words: Prose, dramaturgy, sentimentalism, pre-romanticism, novel, hero, image Russian literature of the 18th century developed and enriched itself in wide international communication. The period of transition from classicism to romanticism was characterized by great interest in Western European literatures, from which Russian writers took what was necessary and useful for the development of free artistic creativity. Quality of novelty and depth of originality national literature largely depended on the interaction of Russian literature with European literatures.
The dramaturgy of W. Shakespeare, the poetry of E. Jung, D. Thomson, T. Gray, the work of L. Stern, J.-J. Russo, I.V. Goethe, I.G.
Herder, F. Schiller.
Of the English prose writers, the most popular was L. Stern, the author of the novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (1759-1762), Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy (1768). Stern was interested as the creator of the genre of sentimental travel, as a writer who is able to broadly cover the inner world of a person, who at the same time can show the originality of his inner experiences, when the sublime and the ordinary, the heroic and the vile, the good and the evil are whimsically combined in a person and give vent to his passions. Stern's artistic discoveries were assimilated European literatures including Russian literature.
Stern received the greatest popularity in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, when Stern's Beauty or a collection of the best ego pathetic stories and excellent remarks, on life for sensitive hearts was published (M., 1801) and when numerous imitations of Karamzin and Journey appeared Stern (Shalikov, Izmailov, etc.) and as a rebuff to the extremes of sentimentalism - a comedy by A.A. Shakhovsky "New Stern" (1805).
Karamzin was also one of the admirers of the English writer. This manifested itself in his first novel, Letters from a Russian Traveler (1791-1792) and in his autobiographical story, A Knight of Our Time.
German literature had a particularly strong influence on Karamzin. The poetry of Schiller, Goethe, and representatives of Sturm und Drang in originals and translations was well known in Russia in the second half of the 18th century. German writers F.M. Klinger and J. Lenz lived and worked in Russia. Living threads stretched from German pre-romanticism to Russian. Preferring German literature to French, Karamzin began to get acquainted with it back in Moscow, in the late 70s. thanks to the "Friendly Scientific Society" N.I. Novikov.
Much Karamzin learned about the cultural and literary life of Europe through his journey in 1789. in Germany, Switzerland, France and England. From German writers of that time, H.M. Wieland ("History of Agathon") and G.E. Lessing ("Emilia Galotti").
Pre-romantic tendencies in Karamzin's worldview and work manifest themselves in the late 80s.
As a pre-romantic, at that time he lost faith in the sentimentalist concepts of world harmony and the "golden age" of mankind. Nature in the writer's worldview turns from sympathetic to humanity into a fatal, sometimes creative, sometimes destructive force; man is only a plaything of terrible elemental forces. The laws of society are no longer in harmony with the laws of nature, they now oppose them. Karamzin tried to show all this in his story “Bornholm Island”, covered with romance of the Ossian North.
(1794). One of the essential features of pre-romanticism is a refined sense of nature and, as a result, his landscape painting. works of art. Under the influence of Rousseau, Stern, Jung, Thomson and Gray, “landscape painting” also manifests itself in the works of Karamzin (“Letters from a Russian Traveler”, “Spring Feeling”, “To the Nightingale”, “Lily”, “Proteus, or the Disagreement of the Poet”, “ Village"). Unlike the hero of the works of sentimentalism, the hero of the literature of pre-romanticism does not accept the life order of things as it is. This hero is a rebel by nature, heroic and ordinary, good and evil are whimsically combined in him, as in the heroes of Schiller's dramas. New hero for Russian literature was opened in pre-romantic poetry and prose Karamzin 1789-1793. In the novel "Letters of a Russian Traveler", in the stories " Poor Lisa”, “Natalia, the Boyar’s Daughter”, “Bornholm Island”, “Sierra Morena”, “Julia” Karamzin significantly expanded the possibilities of Russian literature, turning to the disclosure of the rich spiritual life of a person’s inner world, his “I”. By the mid 90s. Karamzin changes his ideological and artistic positions: he moves away from pre-romanticism and turns to sentimentalism.
The influence of Western European literature is also experienced by A.N. Radishchev. During the investigation of him 190 Bulletin of the Bryansk State University. 2016 (1) the writer admitted that the creation of "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" was influenced, in addition to Herder and Reynal, also by Stern in German translation[Babkin, 1957, 167]. The images of Yorick and the Traveler are related to the humane mood and ardent sympathy for the disadvantaged; the episode of the meeting of the Traveler with the blind singer at the Klin station resembles the episode of the meeting of the Traveler Yorick with the monk Lorenzo. Radishchev argues with Stern, rejects the deistic system of morality of English sentimental writers, which is clearly manifested in the chapter from the "Journey" called "Edrovo".
There are far more differences between Stern's and Radishchev's Travels than similarities. Genre-wise, they are completely different. Radishchev's Journey is closer to satire, a political pamphlet. Stern's laughter, which, according to T. Carlyle, is "sader than tears", did not find a response from A.N. Radishchev.
The influence of Herder's ideas on the literary process in Russia is absolutely obvious. Radishchev was the first to mention Herder in his "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" in the chapter "Torzhok", the assessments of Russians also went back to Herder folk songs and the origins of the Russian character in the chapters "Sofia" and "Zaitsovo", as well as opinions on the role of language in society in the chapter "Kresttsy". The organic assimilation of Herder's ideas by Radishchev is confirmed by all the work of the author of Journey, in which the philosophy of history is inseparable from the theory of the people's revolution. Both Derzhavin and Karamzin, who met with Herder and translated some of his works in 1802-1807, turned to Herder, but by no means agreed with the German thinker in everything.
The creative activity of the classics did not go unnoticed in Russia either. German literature Goethe and Schiller. Until 1820, Goethe was known in Russia mainly as the author of The Sufferings young Werther”, a typical pre-romantic work, translated for the first time into Russian in 1787. At the end of the XVIII
Early 19th century Werther was often remembered, this work was often quoted, imitated (for example, Radishchev in the chapter "Wedge" of his "Journey", Karamzin in "Poor Liza"). Goethe's lyric poetry was also popular.
F. Schiller and his work were known in Russia in the second half of the 1780s. Schiller's dramas The Robbers, The Fiesco Conspiracy, Insidiousness and Love, Mary Stuart, Don Carlos, William Tell played a significant role in the formation of a new "romantic" theater in Russia. Along with other phenomena of pre-romanticism, everything new that Schiller's dramaturgy brought with it was perceived. Schiller was read in Russia.
Consideration of the interaction of Russian literature with European literatures can be continued further. Their influence on Russian literature is undeniable.
The article covers the main aspects of literary interaction of Russian and West European literatures at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. The historico-literary processes which influenced the development of the esthetics of Preromanticism in Russian literature are considered.
Keywords: Prose, dramatic art, Sentimentalism, Preromanticism, novel, hero, image References
1. Berkov P.N. The main questions of the study of Russian enlightenment // The problem of Russian education in the literature of the XVIII century. M., L., 1961. S. 26.
2. History of Russian literature: In 10 vols. T. 4, M.-L., 1947
3. Babkin D.S. Process A.N. Radishchev. M.-L., 1957
4. Lukov V.A. Pre-romanticism. M., 2006
6. Pashkurov A.N., Razzhivin A.I. History of Russian literature of the eighteenth century: Proc. for university students educational institutions: at 2 o'clock - Elabuga: YSPU. –2010. - part 1.
7. Makogonenko G.P. Radishchev and his time. M., 1956
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The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of the structure of the initiation motive in works about the First and Second World Wars. The nuclear-peripheral motive model is singled out and considered in the works of Erich Maria Remarque, Richard Aldington, Ernest Hemingway and Viktor Nekrasov. Moving the motif from the core to the periphery and vice versa allows us to talk about the plot-forming function of the motif in the works of writers. Certain typological convergences are also manifested at the spatio-temporal level. The presence of common features of different levels of the text (compositional, motive-thematic and spatio-temporal) among the writers of German, American, English and Russian literature allows us to conclude that typological commonality motive structures of the structures under consideration.
Key words: initiation motif, comparative literature, military prose, composition, plot, artistic space.
Motive of initiation and its role in the structure artistic text reviewed by V.Ya. Propp in his book Morphology of a Fairy Tale. Propp argued that the structure of the fairy tale plot reflects the process of initiation (as an example, he referred to totemic initiations). However, this motif lies not only at the basis of the plot of the fairy tale. When considering the motivic structure military prose we have identified a set of motifs similar to that analyzed by Propp in his Morphology.
This article examines the motive of initiation in the structure of military prose1.
In the traditional sense, initiation is a rite associated with a particular stage of culture. In the psychological sense, initiation2, in the words of M. Eliade, is “ahistorical archetypal behavior of the psyche”. In many cases, initiations are accompanied by difficult psychological and physical tests. At the end of the initiation, purification rites are performed. As a rule, the newly initiated receives certain insignia, emphasizing the social line between the initiated and the uninitiated.
Our model is based on the traditional (three-part) scenario of initiation, according to which the initiate moves away from people, undergoes death-transformation, and is reborn as another person. The material was prose about the First World War: three novels about the First World War (“All Quiet on the Western Front” by E.M. Remarque, “The Death of a Hero” by R. Aldington and “Farewell to Arms!” by E. Hemingway), as well as a story IN.
Nekrasov "In hometown about World War II.
So, the first stage, moving away from people, corresponds to the stage of growing up, or the preparatory stage.
The second is for front-line everyday life and the third is for rebirth. Each of the stages has its own characteristics on different levels text: compositional, motive-thematic and space-time. Let's consider the first of the stages in more detail.
I. Compositional level.
It should be noted that this stage is presented in the text in different ways. Most complete picture we can find growing up and education in Remarque and Aldington. Both authors describe in detail the growing up of the central character, his spiritual world, family relationships, friends, etc. This can be explained by the task that the writers themselves set themselves when writing works. After all, both Remarque and Aldington did not just create a text about the First World War - they tried to discover and explain the causes of the tragedy.
Hemingway (like Nekrasov), in contrast to Remarque and Aldington, provides extremely scarce information about the hero’s young years (childhood and youth). This can be interpreted as follows. If Remarque and Aldington need to show the formation of the hero's worldview - from support public policy and war to complete denial, then Hemingway and Nekrasov had a completely different task. America did not act as an aggressor, like the German Empire, and was not an active participant in hostilities from the first days, like England. Therefore, Henry Hemingway's Frederick is a lone hero, he is not one of many, like Remarque's Paul Bäumer or Aldington's George Winterbourne. His participation in hostilities is his personal choice, which is dictated by inner convictions. That is why it is not so important for the reader to know about his past: about the hobbies of childhood and youth, about family and friends. The main thing is to realize the trauma caused by the war itself, to understand the motives of his refusal to fight at the front and the conscious flight from the front line.
Kerzhentsev, on the other hand, fulfills his duty, acts as a defender of the motherland, therefore Nekrasov focuses on the real hero, giving only rare allusions to his past.
It is worth noting that war poetry about World War II has already been analyzed in terms of the rite of passage. The work of Remarque and Aldington was also analyzed [see: 8, 9].
Of particular interest is the article by R. Efimkina “Three initiations in “female” fairy tales”, which presents the interpretation of the rite in a psychological aspect.
An interesting question, but it should be slightly rephrased. It was precisely imitation (as a servile plagiarism of stylistic devices, copying of plots, abduction of images) by Western writers among the works of Russian classical authors that was extremely rare. But there was much more influence. Therefore, it is better to formulate the question: "Can it be considered that the development of Russian literature occurred due to the influence of Western literature?"
Let's limit the question to the framework of classical Russian literature, without getting into the twentieth century, because beyond this line modernism begins, and there the influence of a completely different kind. Personally, I don't think it should be. The influence of Western literature on Russian classical writers was impressive, that's for sure. However, it would be wrong to completely link the development of Russian literature with Western influence. The formulation of the question suggests that if this influence had not taken place, then the very development of Russian literature would have stopped, and we would not have had that classical literature which we love so much. Nevertheless, if this influence had not been, then development would have continued as usual, but many works familiar to us would have been written in a different style or would not have been written at all. Perhaps, in return, they would have appeared completely different things, written in a different style. There are no writers who have never been influenced by other authors. To be interested literary creativity and start writing, you must first start reading and get carried away with reading. Therefore, there would be no influence of Western literature, then there would be influence, for example, Eastern literature. In addition, many of the Russian classical writers began their work drawing inspiration from the works of their predecessors, other Russian writers. And the main motive of Russian classical literature has always been a reflection of Russian reality, mainly in the style of realism. That is, the books of Russian classics have always had, as it is now fashionable to say, the "setting" of Russian life. The Russian philologist and philosopher Ernest Radlov spoke well on this topic: “The influence of Western writers on Russian classics affected the manner of interpreting well-known plots, the choice of topics and a certain attitude towards them, and not the content itself, which was entirely borrowed from Russian life and conditions. Russian life".
So, which Western writers have most influenced the development of Russian literature?
1. Charles Dickens. This English gentleman greatly influenced the literary manners of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Goncharov, Turgenev. In the words of Tolstoy: "Sift through the prose of the world, and Dickens remains." In the late works of Tolstoy, especially in the novel "Resurrection", sentimental images seasoned with high Christian morality, reflecting class inequality and social injustice, this is a direct influence of Dickens. The second titan of Russian classics, Dostoevsky, reflecting on Dickens, said: “We understand Dickens in Russian, I'm sure, almost the same as the English, even, perhaps, with all shades; even, perhaps, we love him no less than his compatriots. Unlike Tolstoy, who more admired such Dickens novels as Great Expectations and The Pickwick Papers, Dostoevsky was most influenced (as, by the way, by Franz Kafka with his Trial) by a novel executed in the best traditions of English romanticism, called "Bleak House". It is in this novel that the very descriptions of the fractures of the human psyche are present, which will then saturate Dostoevsky's novels. What is the Bleak House scene, where one of the main characters pays a visit to the house of the English poor to enlighten them Christian teaching. Opening the doors, she finds a woman, beaten by her alcoholic husband, sitting in front of the fireplace, rocking and cradling her baby. The conversation with her husband takes place in a humorous manner, in the spirit of "We did not call Christ here", until main character does not come closer to the woman and notices that the child is dead, and the woman herself has gone mad. Why not Dostoevsky?
2. Another English gentleman, but no longer stiff Dickens, but a poet, rebel, pessimist, misanthrope, mystic and occultist, Lord George Byron. His poetry strongly influenced the work of Pushkin and Lermontov. It is even possible to argue that without Byron, the world would not have seen "Eugene Onegin" and "Hero of Our Time". Pushkin, by his own admission, "went crazy about Byron" and brought the image of Onegin closer to the Byronic heroes of Beppo and Don Juan. “We have one soul, the same torments” - this is how Lermontov spoke about Byron, and did not hide the fact that in Pechorin he tried to create one of the domestic versions of Byron's hermit, and in Grushnitsky - a parody of a typical Byronic hero. Pushkin was also strongly influenced by the English novelist Walter Scott, who prompted him to interpret the genre in his own way. historical novel» and contact various events in Russian history.
3. The Germans Goethe, Schiller and Hoffmann. Their works filled the shelves of almost all Russian writers. Before being influenced by English romanticism, many Russian writers were influenced by German romanticism. Faust is one of the main images of world literature in principle, and if it weren't for him, who knows, what we would have missed in the history of literature. The theme of a pact with the devil partially flashes in the works of many Russian classics.
4. The French Balzac, Hugo, Flaubert and Stendhal. They were read by Turgenev, Chernyshevsky, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky. Turgenev wrote in a letter to his friend K. S. Serbinovich: “Balzac has a lot of intelligence and imagination, but also oddities: he looks into the most secret, barely noticeable to others, cracks of the human heart.” Dostoevsky's friend, the writer Grigorovich, said in his memoirs: “When I began to live with Dostoevsky, he had just finished translating Balzac's novel Eugene Grande. Balzac was our favorite writer, both of us read to him equally, considering him immeasurably higher than all French writers. As you can see, Dostoevsky manually translated the books of Balzac, and translation leads to an even stronger influence than reading. It was Balzac who introduced stylistic realism into fashion, which became very popular among Russian classics. Balzac proceeded from the need to portray "men, women and things", understanding by "things" the material embodiment of people's thinking. Goncharov and Turgenev later proceeded from the same principles in their work. But Tolstoy gave more preference to Stendhal. P. A. Sergeenko, Lev Nikolayevich’s secretary, told that Tolstoy’s first work was written by him at the age of sixteen. "It was a philosophical treatise in imitation of Stendhal," said Tolstoy. It turns out that the first literary impulse of the great Russian classic was accomplished only thanks to the influence of the Frenchman Stendhal. Yes, and it is enough to recall how strongly the works of Russian classics were saturated with French expressions, scooped up by them from books French novelists to assess the extent of their influence. In addition to Stendhal, Tolstoy spoke very well of Victor Hugo, considered the novel Les Misérables to be the best work of that era, and borrowed many motifs from it for his Resurrection. Studying the image of Anna Karenina, you involuntarily notice the similarity of her image with Madame Bovary from the novel by Gustave Flaubert.
If desired, the list of perpetrators of Western influence can be continued. Summarizing the answer to the question, we can say that the influence of Western literature on the development of Russian literature was colossal, but this does not mean that it happened only due to this influence. Most of Russian creativity was still original. Each of our great classics had their own insatiable drive, their own motivation, their own fuse, thanks to which they began to write their novels. They began to write not because they decided to imitate their loved ones Western authors(this was just a charge of inspiration), but because they could not do otherwise. They could not help but write, creativity was their main need, which inevitably sought satisfaction. If we remove the influence of Western literature, then many things that made up Russian literature have either changed or disappeared altogether. But in return they would have received other styles, motifs, images and plots. Russian literature would not stop in its development.
