Under the influence of the "classical" Greek novel, in modern times a "pseudo-classical" arose, which relates to its prototype in the same way as a French tragedy to an ancient one.
Next to this "idealistic" novel, partly as a counterbalance to it, arose the novel " realistic". It was of two types: a) "picaresque","adventurous" (Spanish), built, like pseudo-classical, on the linking of various adventures and random whims of "fate". But the main actor in this novel there was no longer an ideal hero, but a rogue and a rogue; that is why this novel, which originated in Spain, was called "picaresque" - and b) novella, which arose in Italy as a result of the literary development of individual anecdotal stories, such as "facetsii", the stories of "Roman Acts", etc. It is possible that collections of these stories provided material for the picaresque novel. But there this material was distributed in the scheme of an adventurous novel built on a long chain of "adventures", and in the Italian short story the individual stories were not combined into one work with one hero, they were combined into collections of "short stories" - and each of them is artistic development borrowed plots simple and uncomplicated.
Under the pen of Boccaccio ("The Decameron"), these short stories were ennobled psychological analysis, which is why Boccaccio is considered one of the outstanding founders of the artistic realistic novel.
Both types of realistic novel were also known in Russia in the 18th century. Especially popular was the French "picaresque" novel Lesage"The Adventures of Gilles Blas" (withstood the 8th edition from 1754 to 1800). Less well known was the “short story” (two or three short stories were translated into Russian from Boccaccio).
We have almost no imitations of the borrowed "picaresque" novel and "short story". This is explained by the fact that our writers were under the strong influence of Russian satirical magazines and Russian everyday comedy. It was mainly under these local influences that the Russian realistic story of the late 18th century took shape.
The most striking work of this kind must be recognized as the well-known work of Radishchev "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow". Scenes from the life of a people oppressed by serfdom, many of the negative aspects of governing the country - all with merciless realism, even naturalism, are depicted in this work by Radishchev. Of course, this work cannot be called either a novel or a story, but it is related to them in its narrative character and can be considered as a “collection of stories”. In addition to tendentious, accusatory realism, many paintings and faces are introduced here, in the depiction of which Radishchev showed himself not only an expert and judge of Russian life, but also a wonderful genre painter.
A small autobiography, imbued with deep and bleak pessimism, belongs to the same species - "Krivonos, a homebody, a fashionable sufferer." This is a satire on the vulgarity and emptiness of Russian life in the 18th century, on the passion for fashion, on the instability of the family and complete disregard for the upbringing of children. The author is a broken and miserable creature, created by the terrible conditions of the then Russian life.
Op. A. L. "Neonila, a fair story" (1794), and Op. A. Izmailova: "Eugene, or the Pernicious Consequences of Bad Education and Community" (St. Petersburg, 1799 - 1801). Both works deeply and widely capture the life of Russian nobles both in the countryside and in the city.
Neonila, the daughter of wealthy landowners, inherited many negative traits from her father, and therefore, despite the careful upbringing and good influence of her mother, she behaves very reprehensibly as a girl. When she gets married, she enjoys even more freedom. In her house - eternal revelry. The novel contains various characteristic types Russian people of that time - from the dandy Voltaireans to various hangers-on, small rural landowners and landowners. The hard life of serfs is also vividly depicted in the novel. Neonila dies a cripple and an unfortunate beggar. In her face it is easy to find some resemblance to the dandies of the 18th century.
The life of Yevgeny, the hero of the novel by A. Izmailov, is told in great detail, from the very beginning. His father, a nobleman, who had risen from the clerks, became dishonestly rich and married a noblewoman, wants to take his son to " big light". From childhood, the child is enlisted in the Guards Regiment, is brought up ugly and early reveals bad inclinations, which only please parents. love affairs Yevgeny in a boarding school, "classes" at the university, where he makes friends with a Voltairian student, are masterfully described.
After university, Eugene goes to St. Petersburg, enters the guards regiment, first as a sergeant, then becomes an officer. A whole series of different adventures (during card games, revelry, courtship) meets him in the capital. Not a single Russian work of the 18th century depicted Russian reality so fully and vividly: the village and the capital, the life of a landowner, student and guards officer, peasant, nobles different types. The richness and variety of all kinds of types of then Rus', a lively talented presentation - make Izmailov's novel a wonderful work.
It is very valuable that the Russian realistic novel, bright and artistic, from the very beginning with us, went, more or less, an independent path. Closely associated with satire of the 18th century, emphasizing under its influence many negative traits Russian life of that time (French mania, bad attitude towards serfs, panache, etc.), he became much higher than Russian satirical literature, favorably differing from it in his broader and calmer attitude towards Russian reality.
The prose of the Sovremennik magazine and the Russian realistic novel of the middle XIX century
The Sovremennik magazine, created by Pushkin and headed by Pletnev after his death, passed into the hands of Panaev and Nekrasov in 1846 and became a printed organ for new literature. It was on the pages of this journal that Belinsky, who was a member of the editorial board, published his articles “A Look at Russian Literature of 1846” and “A Look at Russian Literature of 1847”. In these works, the critic formulated the concept of new literature.
The literature that appeared in the late 1830s, depicting the life of the social lower classes, was negatively received by critics. She was reproached for excessively following nature, that is, for depicting unsightly, unaesthetic pictures of the life of the social majority. Therefore, Thaddeus Bulgarin, in his review of the collection "Physiology of Petersburg", called the new literature belonging to the "natural literary school". This is how the name "natural school" literature arose.
According to Belinsky, it is this literature that determines the first stage of literary development, the beginning of which was laid by Gogol. In this regard, it is also called Gogol. The author of "The Overcoat" was the first, according to the critic, to draw attention to the crowd, began to "depict ordinary people, and not just accepted exceptions to the general rule, which always tempt people to idealize." Already in assessing Gogol's discoveries, Belinsky asserts the first and main feature of the literature of the natural school - to depict life as it is in its mass, "to reproduce reality in all its truth."
The second feature of the literature of the natural school is in the new hero. This hero is a social type, a "little man", a representative of the social majority. The writer of the "natural school" is interested in his interaction with the environment. He is convinced that the environment adversely affects a person, disfigures his nature, turning him into a "small" person, into a social type. Therefore, the third feature of the literature of the "natural school" is the discovery of a new research topic: "the little man" and the environment.
In the literature of the "natural school" the concept of the ideal is rethought. Her hero cannot be a role model. Therefore, "the ideal is understood not as an adornment (hence, a lie), but as a relationship in which the author establishes to each other, the types created by him, in accordance with the thought that he wants to develop with his work." The ideal is a mobile category, born in the creative process of writing and reading a work. Therefore, a special cognitive task is assigned to the literature of the "natural school". It should not entertain the reader, but show him a life that has never before been portrayed in literature. At the same time, following the natural school does not mean following naturalism. The work must not be a copy of reality. The author "needs to be aware of the phenomena of reality run through your fantasy, give them new life". The degree of artistry of the work depends on the talent of the author. Moreover, Belinsky, who affirms the objectivity of the new literature, does not renounce the unconscious in the process of creation. It is the talent of the author that helps the reader to create a clear picture of the era from the contradictory facts of reality.
And Belinsky must admit that there are no great talents in the literature of the natural school. But the new literature is important not by talents, but by the very fact of its existence: “it is only being established, but has not yet been established” . It paves the way for future talent. Opens the way for further development of literature.
The main genre of the new literature was the physiological essay, short story, story. But if the last two genres were familiar to the reader, then the physiological essay is a genre born precisely of the new prose. He most corresponded to its content. The genre of the essay assumes adherence to the facts of reality, excludes abstract fantasy, speculativeness of the image. The purpose of the physiological essay is to create a picture of the social life of Russia in the 1840s. Like a person, society also has its own organism, its own physiology. The primary task of a physiological essay is to describe the social mechanism. His heroes do not go beyond social types, the authors - beyond the reproduction of the life of the social environment.
An example of a physiological essay is the collection "Physiology of Petersburg", published in 1845 by Nekrasov. It included essays by Belinsky, Dal, Grigorovich, Grebenka, Nekrasov, Kulchitsky, Panaev. The titles of the works speak for themselves. "Petersburg organ-grinders", "Petersburg corners", "Petersburg feuilleton player", "Petersburg janitor". The purpose of the collection is to describe the existing social types, to depict their habitat. Others, for example, psychological problems, cannot be solved by a physiological essay. The essay classifies social phenomena. But at the same time, he is preparing the emergence of a literature that will turn to the study of the psychology of the social type.
For example, Grigorovich's essay "Petersburg Organ Grinders" describes three types of organ grinders, Russian, German and Italian. The characteristic of their features is exclusively in the field of social description. But at the same time, there are openings in social psychology and national character. “There is nothing more careless than a Russian organ grinder; he never cares about the next day, and if he happens to snatch some money that secures him for a few days, he will not hesitate to invite his comrades to the nearest cafe-restaurant. ... Like a Neapolitan lazaroni, he will not work if the money obtained in the morning enough for the evening.
By the end of the 1840s, the literature of the "natural school" had accomplished its task. She created a gallery of social phenomena and types. The need for the existence of such literature has disappeared. The essay begins to be replaced by a new story, a novel. As early as 1846, works appeared that depicted the psychology of the social types discovered by the "natural school". These are "Poor People" and "Double" by Dostoevsky.
The formation of a new Russian novel, begun in the mid-1840s. the works of Herzen, Goncharov, Dostoevsky was accompanied by the development of the genre, opened by the literature of the "natural school". But the physiological essay becomes irrelevant, it is replaced by a cycle of essays, a genre association according to the thematic, ideological and artistic principle.
One of the first cycles of essays was Turgenev's Notes of a Hunter (1852). The unity of this cycle is determined by a cross-cutting hero-narrator, a hunter, and a common theme - human life. Turgenev's genre innovation was that in a cycle of essays he connected the social phenomena of reality with their philosophical content, outlined a way out through the social to the universal, which would subsequently determine the originality of the Russian classical novel of the 19th century.
The development of the classic Russian novel took place outside Sovremennik, and essay cycles were created within the framework of the magazine. "Essays on Bursa" (1862-1863) N.G. Pomyalovsky, "Podlipovtsy" F.M. Reshetnikova (1864) gravitate toward the novel in their outward form. But if Pomyalovsky put the genre in the title of the work, then Reshetnikov indicated it in the subtitle "Ethnographic essay". The famous novel by N.G. Chernyshevsky "What to do?" (1863) the author designates as "Stories about new people."
Within the framework of Sovremennik, another novel was being formed, born from the cycle. For example, Yu. Rudenko considers the main structural principle of the novel "What to do?" - the principle of cyclicity. Adherence to the tradition of literature of the "natural school" did not allow either Pomyalovsky or Reshetnikov to rise above social facts life and look at them through the prism of universal categories. But in contrast to the literature of the 1840s, following the tradition of the 1860s, they solve the problem of the relationship between the “little man” and the environment in a different way, put forward the idea of a personality trying to resist the environment.
For example, in the Essays on the Bursa, against the background of the description of the types of Bursaks, the story of a boy nicknamed Karas stands out. Once in the bursat environment, he is forced to obey its laws. But internally, resistance to them ripens in him. This is expressed in the way he studies, he can sit at the first tables as an excellent student or in Kamchatka as a loser. But the real resistance begins when he is deprived of the right to spend the Easter holiday at home. The hero does everything so that this does not happen. Makes circumstances work for you, not against you.
But the various pictures of the life of the students are not collected in a coherent epic canvas due to the lack of a hero, not a social type, but a pronounced character, with its own psychology, the history of the soul.
Turned to the facts of social reality, to the masses, the authors did not see them as a new hero, perhaps also because he had not yet grown out of the environment, had not taken shape and was not determined. Such a self-determination of a hero from the people will occur later and will be reflected in the work of N.S. Leskov.
But Reshetnikov in "Podlipovtsy" depicts folk heroes, Pilu and Sysoika with a pronounced personal beginning. Pila volunteered to mediate between the world of the village and the world of power. The world of Podlipovka is the world before civilization, before morality. Its inhabitants, led by Sysoika, know neither God, nor love, nor the fear of death. They live and die like plants from hunger, cold, domestic inconveniences. The exit of Pila and Sysoika from Podlipovka to the world of civilization and acquaintance with it deprive the heroes of the possibility of finding happiness. If the sons of Pila found at least a quiet life in this world, then Pila and Sysoika are doomed to death. They die under the blows of a broken chain, realizing only that the world was not created for people like them. The heroes cannot and do not know how to resist the reality that kills them.
Reshetnikov's work, although designated by the author as an ethnographic essay, tends to social novel which is just beginning to emerge in the literature. The structure of such a novel is still very mobile; the basic genre principle of plot organization has not been determined. Here, only in the bud, the development of relations is planned, there is no love collision. Before us is the journey of heroes along the road of life. One picture is strung on another, giving rise to a panorama of social reality.
In the 1870s, we will meet with such a principle of plot organization in the satirical novel by Saltykov-Shchedrin "Modern Idyll", in the stories of Leskov. But the nature of generalization in the work of these artists is already different, which makes it possible to expand the social picture of reality to a universal one.
"What to do?" Chernyshevsky also stands at the origins of a new genre of the novel. This work is often called a utopian novel, a social novel. Yu. Rudenko discovers in it the tendencies of the future polyphonic system. The ambiguity of genre interpretations is indicative. Chernyshevsky breaks the usual ideas about the novel, and this is part of his authorial task, which he announces in his introduction. But the principle of cyclicality underlying the new structure also does not contribute to its genre integrity. The expanding space of the novel with the introduction of new themes and characters, with the departure of old ones, reflects the moving panorama of life, the open ending reinforces this movement. But the author's idea, seeking to regulate the moving stream of life, comes into conflict with it, which does not contribute to the strengthening of the genre.
The Russian realistic and classical novel of the 19th century is created in the creative laboratories of Turgenev and Goncharov. The main structure-forming principle of such a novel is the principle of dialogism. The origins of the genre are the novels of A.I. Herzen "Who is to blame?" and I.A. and "Ordinary History", which appeared 1846-1847. The plot in them rests on a dialogic conflict.
The very structure of Herzen's novel reflects the formation of the genre. The first part of it resembles the essays of the "natural school". It presents the biographies of the characters, but the arrangement of the characters does not add up to a conflict. And only the appearance in the second part of Beltov, noble hero, which embodies the type " extra person”, gives impetus to the novel action. The love collision that arises due to its introduction into the plot develops into a philosophical dispute. The dialogic conflict is found in the fact that all the characters are tormented by questions philosophical content: can a person be the master of his own destiny, and as a result, can he be happy. Krucifersky believes in fate, on which the happiness and unhappiness of a person depends, therefore he is afraid of it. Dr. Krupov thinks like a physiologist, that is, he rejects what cannot be proven as a fact. Therefore, personal failures, in his opinion, cannot be a manifestation of fate, and a person can get rid of them if he leads healthy lifestyle life, for example, to pour cold water and not to believe in what is not. For him, man is the truth.
Beltov complicates the situation of a dialogue-argument about fate and happiness. He introduces into it the idea of history as destiny, which selects from the mass of people only those who are needed for its construction. “Unclaimed by history” people are doomed and therefore can do with their lives what they want. Beltov, referring to this kind of people, chooses for himself the last way of self-realization. But at the same time, he involves Kruciferskaya in his game, torn between love-pity for her husband and for Beltov, which as a result kills her.
At the end of the novel, all participants in the dialogue-dispute are defeated. None of the proposed answers to the main questions stand the test of life. The question posed in the title of the novel remained unanswered: who is to blame for the fact that a person did not take place in life? This question belongs to the author and expresses his position: the answer is in life itself, and it is unknown to man.
In the work of Turgenev and Goncharov, a dialogic conflict is dramatized. Its essence is that the logic of life contains an inevitable confrontation as a result of a change in certain periods of development. Therefore, heroes cannot exist without conflict. He can leave the characters' dialogues. But he will never leave the other dialogue that each hero leads to the extent of his spiritual potential with being. The possibility of such a dialogue is due to the consciousness of the hero opening towards life.
For example, in Goncharov, the confrontation between such heroes as the younger and older Aduevs, Oblomov and Stolz, Raysky and Volokhov is dictated by their life experience. None of them deny the subjects about which they come into conflict. Both Aduevs do not deny love, but argue about its essence. The argument is futile only because in youth and maturity love is presented in different ways, but as a result, his hero discovers for himself the presence of a different point of view, which expands the boundaries of his own being. In a dialogue with others and with one's own "I" there is a spiritual development of life and self-determination of the hero. Therefore, the 19th-century novel reaches its universality.
Dostoevsky's polyphonic novel occupies a special place in the development of the realistic novel genre, in which the principle of dialogism reaches its completion. Dialogue becomes not only the structural principle of the novel, but also the mode of existence of the hero's consciousness. Without dialogue, the consciousness of the hero and the author is impossible.
The new novel meets the requirements of the new art formulated by Chernyshevsky - "to reproduce the general interest in life." But at the same time, he retreats from them, because life in a realistic novel is not determined only by its physical, social manifestations. A realistic novel, along with a careful study of the facts of human social existence, affirms the metaphysics of life, which contradicts the logic of the main provisions of Chernyshevsky's philosophy. Therefore, within the framework of the Sovremennik magazine, we discover only the tendencies of the social, social novel.
Works of art
Physiology of Petersburg. Almanac (1845). Pomyalovsky N.G. Bursa Essays (1862-1863). Reshetnikov F.M. Podlipovtsy (1864)
Research
Kuleshov, V.I. The Natural School in Russian Literature of the 19th Century / V.I. Kuleshov. - M., 1982.
Egorov, B.V. The struggle of aesthetic ideas in Russia mid-nineteenth century / B.V. Egorov. - L., 1982
Sazhin, V.M. Books of bitter truth / V.M. Sazhin. - M., 1992
Markovich, V.M. I.S. Turgenev and the Russian realistic novel / V.M. Markovich. - M., 1982. - Ch. 1.2.
For details see: Markovich. V.M. Turgenev and the Russian realistic novel. - M., 1982. - Ch. 2.
Markovich V.M. Decree ed.
The article is devoted to the analysis of the Russian historical novel in the context of cultural consciousness. The author singles out the historical novel as a special phenomenon reflecting the development of Russian cultural and historical thought in the 19th century. From the author's point of view, the historical novel arose and took shape in an atmosphere of romantic quest, on the basis of a romantic interest in the national-historical past. For romantics, the fusion of history with poetic fiction as a means of artistic communication seemed to be a guarantee of true truth.
Analyzing the main historical works, the author notes that the development of the idea of the axiological boundaries of the ideal among novelists, the understanding of the incompatibility of this ideal with the socio-political and philosophical-historical doctrines already entrenched in the collective consciousness, but already untenable and already obsolete, determined a different, alternative direction of writers' intentions on the path of searching for a positive beginning national life. With all the difference in individual positions, representatives of different directions were united by the desire to reveal the driving forces, meaning and goals of history in the categories of good and evil, private and universal, predestination and human freedom in history. The artistic consciousness of the last third of the century (as, indeed, in previous decades) anticipated this aspiration and prepared subsequent historiosophical conclusions.
In the course of the study, it is concluded that throughout the 19th century in Russian literature there was a rapid development of the genre of the historical novel that arose at the turn of the century. Actualized in the context of the process of universal national self-identification and reflecting the peculiarities of public historical consciousness and domestic scientific historiosophy, the historical novel moved mainly in two directions: writers either actively continued to develop the ethical and aesthetic ideas of foreign and domestic predecessors, or, actively participating in the process of development of historical thought and radically rethinking the already developed techniques, they created original creations, while forming new trends in the development of historical narrative. This allows us to identify some general patterns of genre functioning in art system Russian romance.
Key words and phrases: historical novel, Russian literature, Vs. Solovyov, artistic consciousness.
Abstract
The article is devoted to analysis of Russian hysterical novel in the context of the cultural consciousness. The author defines the historical novel as a specific phenomenon, reflecting the development of Russian cultural-historical thought in the nineteenth century From the point of view of the author of the historical novel emerged and developed in an atmosphere of a romantic quest, motivated by romantic interest in national historical past. For the romantics the fusion of history with poetic fiction as a means of artistic communication, it seemed the key to genuine truth.
Analyzing the main historical works, the author notes that the development of the novelists ideas axiological boundaries of the ideal, understanding the incompatibility of this ideal is already entrenched in the collective consciousness, but already untenable and self-obsoleting socio-political and philosophical-historical doctrines determined otherwise, an alternative direction of the writers' intentions towards finding a positive beginning of the national life. With all the differences of individual perspectives of the different directions have in common the desire to reveal the driving forces, the meaning and purpose of history in the categories of good and evil, private and universal, of predestination and human freedom in history. Artistic consciousness of the last third of the century (as, indeed, in the previous decade) had anticipated this desire and thus prepared the subsequent conclusions.
Done in the course of the study it is concluded that throughout the XIX century in the Russian literature there was a rapid development that emerged at the turn of the century the historical novel genre. Updated in the context of the process of the universal of national identity and reflecting the peculiarities of social historical consciousness and national scientific philosophy of history the historical novel was moving mainly in two directions: writers or actively continued to develop the ethical and aesthetic ideas of foreign and domestic predecessors, or, actively engage in the process of development of historical thought and radically rethinking the already developed techniques, created the original creation, shaping new trends in the development of historical narrative. It allows to reveal some common regularities of the functioning of the genre in the artistic system of the Russian romance.
Key words and phrases: a historical novel, Russian literature, V. Soloviev, artistic consciousness.
About publication
Russian historical novel of the 19th century in the context of cultural consciousness
Russian historical novel of the nineteenth century in the context of the cultural consciousness
Historical novel in modern understanding this word originated in Western Europe in late XVIII- the beginning of the 19th century, when historical consciousness began to act as one of the most important factors in worldview culture, and historical events and the participation of an individual in them became an important object of artistic reflection. It was then that the historical novel as a genre became dominant for fiction, acquired proper literary forms, which was due to the situation when "a qualitatively new cultural and historical world of the 19th century, which significantly expanded its civilizational space, gave rise to a number of new paradigms of historiosophical thought, embodied primarily in literature - a historical novel, a historical poem, historical dramaturgy, experiences of literary and artistic philosophizing".
But before talking about the historical novel as a certain genre in literature with its own specific features, it should be noted that neither the content nor the form for many decades gave irrefutable grounds to single it out as an independent kind of epic genre that develops according to its own immanent laws.
Thus, in the historical novels created at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, history acted only as a background for the development of adventurous-adventure, love, edifying-didactic and other plots. In these novels, "there were no living human characters as spokesmen for specific historical epochs; the fates of the heroes developed in isolation and independently of the fates of history."
However, the successful development of narrative prose since the mid-20s of the 19th century made possible the emergence of a more perfect historical novel, because at this time, for the first time, "the foundations of that artistic historicism were laid, which, starting from the 1830s, becomes one of the necessary elements of any narrative not only about the historical past, but also about the present" . This refers to the principle of comprehension of reality, the meaning of which is that all reality is recognized in its essence as historical. The nature of this historicism is projected onto literature, in which a new type of novelism begins to take shape, which evolved throughout the 19th century.
The first half of the 19th century was marked by the appearance of the works of V. Scott, V. Hugo, A. Vigny and other writers who turned to the image of the past, which caused a wide public outcry, but one of the first truly historical works, according to most researchers, is the novel "Martyrs" ( 1809) - written by F.R. Chateaubriand.
It is important to note that it was in English-language literature that the historical novel was created, in various genre forms of which the documentary and artistic beginnings were intricately correlated, as well as different principles for reproducing reality and man. This led to the emergence of various genre forms: the national-historical epic, the historical travel novel, the religious-historical novel, the historical-adventure novel, the historical research novel, the edifying-didactic historical novel, the adventurous-love historical novel, and others that became widespread in most European literatures. The genre traditions formed in European historical romance have been developed in Russian historical narrative prose.
Analyzing the genesis and evolution of the Russian historical novel genre, we will adhere to the views of A.N. Veselovsky, who believed that the history of literature is not only the history of "generals", i.e. peak works and brilliant authors, but also "the totality of many artistic wills of the author" . Our review presents not so much classical and generally recognized historical works as little-known, as well as texts forgotten for various reasons, which allow us to discover the main patterns that are emerging in fiction and popular literature, and see the holistic literary context of the era. This context turns out to be the foundation on which single, but unique in their genre nature and artistic value phenomena of Russian classics, represented by the works of A.S. Pushkin, N.V. Gogol, L.N. Tolstoy.
Based on the objectives of our study, the presented works on the historical theme will be considered through the prism of the concept of "personality - history", around which by the end of the 19th century many different ideas and theories of a very wide spectrum were formed. In the system of conceptual models proposed by theorists, two fundamental ones should be singled out. One of them, the so-called. The theory of the “hero and the crowd” proceeds from the fact that only significant personalities, “heroes” who turn the course of history in the direction they need, can be the creators of history, and the people are an inert, unorganized “crowd”, led in the right direction by taking over historical responsibility of the individual. The other is that the actions of many people, united together, as a result determine the coordinated movement of history as a natural historical process. The inextricably linked problems of "personality and history" and "power and people", which became the object of artistic reflection of Russian writers, gave rise to a diverse, complex and contradictory historical romance. Our focus is more private problem- “Woman and power”, therefore we pay special attention to those works in which female rulers are depicted.
The general interest of the Russian educated society in the national past of Russia arose as early as the middle of the 18th century. Proceedings of M.V. Lomonosov, V.N. Tatishcheva, M.M. Shcherbatova, I.N. Boltin laid the foundations of Russian historiography. The Great French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and other major events of the turn of the era contributed to the awakening of the national self-consciousness of the Russian people. The process of national self-identification actualized the interest of society in the historical past, which could explain the nature of Russian identity.
Thus, the explosion of interest in historical narrative in Russian literature at the beginning of the 19th century was provoked by several factors:
- the formation of the genre of the historical novel in the West, first of all, the appearance of the works of W. Scott and the penetration of the Western historical novel into Russia;
- the situation that developed at the turn of the century: the process of national self-identification and interest in the circumstances of the formation of the national character, which forced us to turn to the national past;
- development of national historical science.
The emergence of interest in Russian history is largely associated with the Patriotic War of 1812, the speech of the Decembrists and the publication of N.M. Karamzin. The generalizing nature of Karamzin's historical work testified to the need to systematize the historiosophical reflections of the milestone era. It is not surprising that the transformation of the verbal-ritual behavior of a person in a historical situation into the genre of a historical novel as a special literary form begins in Russian literature in the 18th century and reaches its fullness in the 19th century. At this time the complex life situations, subordinated to the main idea - understanding the historical fate of Russia, is perceived as a theme that becomes the main feature of the genre. This trend is embodied in various genre forms and modifications, the balance between which is determined by the ethical and aesthetic criteria formed by that time in the cultural consciousness.
History has become not only a subject of study, but also a source of poetic inspiration, which has been embodied in various genre-generic forms. fiction 20-30s of the XIX century. Actually, the Russian historical novel was formed a little later than in England, France and Germany, where in the 20s of the 19th century such works were already widespread. In Russia, the first historical narrative work was published in 1829, and historical novels began to be widely published starting from 1831, although the works of N.M. Karamzin (1766-1826) "Natalya, the boyar's daughter" (1792), "Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novgorod" (1802). These stories appeared as a literary result of the historical studies of N.M. Karamzin, and it was they who opened Russian antiquity to the reader, were the first step in the artistic development of historical material.
It was N.M. Karamzin was one of the first in Russian literature to actualize the problem of "woman and power". He paid tribute to the character of the original personality of Martha Boretskaya from the story "Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novgorod", who sought to defend the independence of the Novgorod Republic. Martha is sure that “a weak wife can be strong with love alone, but, feeling heavenly inspiration in her heart, she can surpass the greatest husbands in generosity and say to fate: “I am not afraid of you!” . The image of the “citizen of Novgorod” Martha, the defender of liberty, was one of the first bright heroic female images in our literature.
Historical genres at this time become especially significant, which is largely due to the state of public consciousness, which, in search of new axiological landmarks, appealed to history. But if in the 18th century genre pathos was directly connected with the theme and determined the hierarchical genre system, then in the novels of the early 19th century the dependence of the genre on the theme is weakening. In the literary movement of this time, there are obvious trends in the change of socio-philosophical, religious-ethical and artistic orientations associated with the intense search for the "spirit of history", which are reflected in the main features of the first decades of the century - the rejection of the old ideological and artistic priorities and the creation of a new ethical aesthetic system. However, this process developed in a complex and ambiguous way, since “the phenomenon of Russian culture of this period is that the process of establishing national historiosophy and the formation of the basic principles of historicism is carried out and acquires distinct features not in the scientific consciousness, but in the depths of literature - it is it that produces or reveals the main tendencies accumulated in the cultural field, and only then they are determined in the field of methodology of historical science.
The mood of the highest circles of Russian society in the period after the Patriotic War of 1812, implicated in mysticism and the occult, was reflected in the plot of a number of historical narratives (A.A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, M.N. Zagoskin, O.M. Somov, V. K. Küchelbecker and others). In the works of these writers, the problems of artistic historicism are embodied on a new worldview basis, which inevitably leads to a reassessment aesthetic principles and brings about changes in the artistic genres. The problems of "personality and history", "personality and power", "power and morality", "historical morality" and others are solved in historical novels in accordance with the new aesthetic consciousness of the era, the ways of depicting and evaluating the personality are correlated with the complex processes of national life. Artistic and aesthetic thought is inextricably linked with the historiosophical and ethical, with the search for new conceptual models of the development of the historical process, in which the genre acquires the status of a meaningful dominant. At the same time, “from the propaganda of civil and political ideas, art seems to be moving away into the spheres of ethical and philosophical problems. But ethics turned into citizenship, a true image of ordinary life revealed its contradictions. Even history and its heroes were evaluated from the standpoint of morality, and this unexpectedly opened up new features in historical events, showed the nationality or anti-nationality, anti-humanism of a statesman, military leader, ruler.
The system of moral values, their absolute, universal meaning and specific historical, national significance are tested on historical events and characters in V.T. Narezhny (1780-1825), in which the relationship between the individual and the universal was most clearly realized.
In 1798, Narezhny's short story on the historical theme "Rogvold" was published, in the collection of stories "Slavensky Evenings" (1809), the novels "Bursak" (1824), "Garkusha, the Little Russian Robber" (not finished, not published in the 19th century) writer refers to different historical eras. In the "Slovenian Evenings", dedicated to the first Russian princes, V.T. Narezhny created a poetic image of the ancient Slavic world and populated it with idealized images of statesmen, real and fictional. Readers and critics tried to find signs of authenticity in Narezhny's novels on historical themes, but the ghostly, fabulous story is here a mask for a fantastic utopia. In the understanding of the historicism of literature, V.T. Narezhny followed the path of borrowing materials from historical sources. However, most often the writer used only the historical names of the Slavic tribes, pagan mythology, individual real situations, practically without recreating the historical picture of the era, but using them to develop fictional plots of stories that work to embody the author's political ideas.
It is worth noting the sentimental-rhetorical style of historical novels by V.A. Zhukovsky "Marina Grove" and K.N. Batyushkov "Predslava and Dobrynya", in which elements of fantasy became the predominant factors in the artistic skill of the authors and which were "little historical, like the stories of N.M. Karamzin".
A.A. Bestuzhev (Marlinsky) (1797-1837) began as an imitator of N.M. Karamzin and V. Scott. In the historical stories "Roman and Olga, a story of 1396" (1823), "The Revel Tournament" (1825), "The Traitor" (1825) and other characteristic early romanticism admiring the exoticism of history, chivalrous and ancient Russian life was combined with attempts to think historically in fiction, with an interest in other national cultures and their development over time. In comparison with N.M. Karamzin, A.A. Bestuzhev was more precise and specific in his presentation of historical facts, in the description of customs and the external situation. Writer's message to folk songs, fairy tales, proverbs as a source of artistic and stylistic means for recreating the national historical past was innovative for that time. Sam A.A. Bestuzhev defined the genre meaning of his historical novels as "doors to the mansions of a complete novel".
The main merit of A.A. Bestuzhev was the development of the poetics of the Russian historical novel, he proposed the basic principles for structuring the historical narrative and a number of plot schemes, which, after him, were very actively and effectively developed by other Russian writers. However, “the historicism of Bestuzhev's stories is still very conditional. The artistic reproduction of a historical event is based on a predetermined interpretation of it, and not on the study of genuine historical causes. Reflecting on the question of the significance of the individual in history, the writer attaches decisive importance to it, showing strong, courageous, often cruel and recalcitrant representatives of the authorities who play a decisive role in the events described (for example, the hero of the story Wenden Castle by Winno von Rohrbach).
In 1819 (for the first time the beginning of the novel was published in 1816), the historical and romantic work of F.N. Glinka (1786-1880) "Zinovy Bogdan Khmelnitsky, or Liberated Little Russia". Describing the life path of the Ukrainian hetman Khmelnytsky, the author introduced the Ukrainian theme into Russian literature, on the basis of which he reflected on the role of the individual in history. In the novel, the idea of the inseparability of the world, in which nature, history and statehood constitute an indivisible unity, was vividly embodied.
A.O. tried to show the era through the significance of the individual in the development of the historical process. Kornilovich (1800-1834) in the stories "Morning is wiser than evening" (1820), "Prayer for God, service does not disappear for the king" (1825), "Tatyana Boltova" (1828), the novel "Andrey Bezymyanny" (1832). It is worth noting that, on the one hand, here for the first time the personality and life of the main character were given quite real historical outlines, on the other hand, psychological traits typical of a romantic hero are manifested in his appearance.
According to the writer, the enlightenment of the people, economic development Russian state owes only to the activities of the rulers. The embodiment of the image of the “enlightened ruler” for Kornilovich was Peter I, who appears in a heroic guise, which is facilitated by the outstanding appearance of the Russian emperor. Such a depiction of Peter was in full accordance with the romantic concept of an outstanding personality and fully corresponded to the author's views on the role of Peter in Russian history. Kornilovich also found traits of an ideal sovereign in Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Mikhail Fedorovich, Alexei Mikhailovich.
In the 20s and 30s of the 19th century, the historical genre in Russian literature became a fact of literature and then flourished in the work of the classics A.S. Pushkin, N.V. Gogol and fiction writers M.N. Zagoskin and I.I. Lazhechnikov. The best novels of these writers were written in the traditions of the European historical novel, which was formed under the influence of W. Scott, A. Vigny, V. Hugo, but the experience of Russian writers of the 18th - early 19th centuries was not completely forgotten.
This literary tradition was fully embodied in the work of M.N. Zagoskin (1789-1852), in whom "the assimilation of the manner of V. Scott turned out to be a simple declaration, but in reality the author followed more elementary patterns of "historical" narration, fusing very heterogeneous trends in his work" . The first Russian classical historical novel "Yuri Miloslavsky, or Russians in 1612" (1829), as well as other historical works - "Askold's Grave" (1833), "Kuzma Roshchin" (1836), "The Tempter" (1838), "Tosca Homeland (1839), Kuzma Petrovich Miroshev (1844), Bryn Forest (1845), Russians at the Beginning of the 17th Century (1848) introduced a new stylistic direction into Russian historical prose: the dramatic beginning of novels. At the same time, M.N. Zagoskin understood the seriousness of the task set before him.
M.N. Zagoskin in his works managed to convey the specifics of the described historical era, show its main features, describe everyday life and life. This was an important step towards the creation of the Russian historical novel, for which in the 20s of the XIX century a kind of foundation was created, necessary for the construction monumental building Russian historical prose.
"Yuri Miloslavsky" N.M. Zagoskin became a harbinger of many Russian historical novels: Dmitry the Pretender (1830), Mazepa (1834) by F.V. Bulgarin, "The Oath at the Holy Sepulcher" (1832) N.A. Polevoy, "The Last Novik" (1833) I.I. Lazhechnikova and others. Each of these authors offered his own interpretation of the patterns of development of the historical process and the role of the individual in history and formed his own poetics of historical narrative, in which, however, some general trends can be found.
Thus, historical works were very popular. I.I. Lazhechnikova(1790-1869) "Ice House" (1835), "Basurman" (1838), "Oprichnik" (1843), "The Last Novik, or the Conquest of Livonia in the reign of Peter the Great" (1831-1833), etc.
In the novel "Ice House" the fate of the characters is completely subordinated to the historical processes taking place in the country, just as in "Basurman", where the writer describes the era of the formation of a unified Russian state under Ivan III, and this difficult time determines the fate of the protagonist. Important events of any historical era, in the view of Lazhechnikov, can be significant for the development of the state, but tragic for the fate of an individual. In this regard, N.N. Petrunina noted that “Lazhechnikov rejects the idea of pre-Petrine Muscovite Rus' as a realm of idyllic patriarchal “benevolence”, but “... he also opposes the forerunners of liberal Westernism, “skeptical” historians, who saw in the Russian Middle Ages only stagnation, obscurantism, historical immobility » .
Historical novels F.V. Bulgarin(1789-1859) genetically date back to the Western European adventurous type of novel. Bulgarin became the author of a Russian novel of a new, "Walter-Scott" type, which was a great success ("Ivan Ivanovich Vyzhigin", 1829, "Dmitry the Pretender", 1830). Less well known are the historical works of F.V. Bulgarin's "The Fall of Wenden" (1827), "Esterka" (1828), "Mazeppa" (1834), which are very indicative as one of the moments in the development of Russian adventure historical narrative.
In another novel "Dmitry the Pretender" F.V. Bulgarin argues with A.S. Pushkin, creating negative image Boris Godunov, who committed the insidious murder of Dmitry, following his cruel principles and inclinations. Thus, the interpretation of the historical personality and the conceptual model of history, which are the basis of the works of A.S. Pushkin and F.V. Bulgarin, were diametrically opposed and reflected the various processes that took place in the Russian historical and aesthetic consciousness of the first half of XIX century.
Peru VK. Küchelbecker(1797-1846) own such works as "The Russian Decameron of 1831" (1836), "The Last Column" (1837), as well as the "Estonian" story "Ado" (1824), reflecting historical views Decembrists, where “the love story only enlivens political and civil ideas that are more important for the author” that influence the historical process.
Kuchelbecker attached great importance to the role of the individual in history, trying in his works to show the negative influence on the development of society of power-hungry and selfish historical figures of the Byronic persuasion, who put their desires above public interests ("Izhorsky" (1826), "Agasver" (1846)). In contrast to such personalities, Kuchelbecker created a positive image of a citizen, a fighter for social justice and the happiness of the people (“The Last Column” (1837)).
During these years, the historical novel acquires an undoubted educational value, replacing for many readers the missing historical writings, allowing you to learn about the mores, customs, private life, ethnographic and everyday circumstances of national reality, the psychological and moral characteristics of Russian people of various historical eras. Works helped readers to “quench their thirst” for historical knowledge R.M. Zotova(1795-1871) - "Twenty-fifth anniversary of Europe in the reign of Alexander I", "Napoleon on the island of St. Helena", "Two brothers, or Moscow in 1812" (1850), "Leonid, or Some Features from the Life of Napoleon I" (1832), "Niklas the Bear's Paw", "The Fool's Hat" (1831), "The Borodino Core and the Berezinsky Ferry" (1844) "The Mysterious Monk" (1871 ). In the novel "The Mysterious Monk" we are interested in the mention of Princess Sofya Alekseevna Romanova, one of the outstanding women of her time. The writer draws the image of an imperious, cunning, cruel ruler who tried to rise through treason and conspiracies.
Another representative of fiction of the 30s - 40s. nineteenth century was K.P. Masalsky(1802-1861). This writer gained fame in the early 1830s, when his historical novels and short stories began to appear, in particular, "Archers" (1832), "Russian Icarus", "Black Box" (1833), "Biron's Regency" (1834) , "The Siege of Uglich" (1841). Criticism noted that K.P. Masalsky knew how to interest the reader with a cleverly constructed adventurous plot. But the novelist failed to connect the private life of the protagonist of the novel "Sagittarius" Burmistrov with the powerful movement of history. True, on the last pages of the work, the figure of Peter I appears as a wise and just sovereign, who helps the hero solve all his problems.
In his other novel, Biron's Regency, Masalsky showed the influence of ongoing historical processes on the fate of his heroes more successfully. To do this, he chose the events associated with the coup d'état of 1740 as the central plot line, here the fate of the heroes completely depends on this important historical moment.
It should be noted that V.A. Nedzvetsky calls the novels of R.M. Zotov and K.P. Masalsky "Russian crafts" and claims that they "profaned the form of the historical novel". Critics ranked the novel A. Andreeva"Dovmont, Prince of Pskov" (1835), V. Ertel"Harald and Elizabeth, or the Age of Ivan the Terrible" (1831), etc. It is not our task to analyze the artistic merits and demerits of these works; we cite them as confirmation of the thesis about the diversity of forms of the Russian historical novel.
It is impossible not to take into account that the historical novel arose and was formed in an atmosphere of romantic quest, on the basis of a romantic interest in the national historical past. For romantics, the fusion of history with poetic fiction as a means of artistic communication seemed to be a guarantee of true truth. A.A. Bestuzhev saw in creative imagination writer "the main means artistic knowledge historical past". This position formed the basis of the romantic-idealistic theory of intuitive insight into history. Romantic criticism considered folklore to be the most important source and necessary element of the historical novel from the era of Ancient Rus'. But history and fiction in the romantic sense were torn apart, and customs, way of life, historical facts existed on their own, without connections with the inner world of a person. Retreat from the ideas of romanticism and the formation realistic beginnings in historical prose it is associated with the works of writers of the 40s of the XIX century: N.A. Polevoy, A.F. Veltman and others.
Among the historical novels of this time, we note, first of all, the works of the historian, journalist and writer ON. Field(1796-1846), in particular, his most famous historical novel "The Oath at the Holy Sepulcher" (1832), as well as novels and short stories "Christmas Stories" (1826), "The Tale of Simeon, Prince of Suzdal" (1828), " Krakow Castle (1829), Tales of a Russian Soldier (1834), John Tzimiskes (1841), Feast of Svyatoslav Igorevich, Prince of Kyiv (1843) and others. The writer’s works on a historical theme, compared with the prose of Karamzin and Bestuzhev, were to a much greater extent saturated with real historical content, are more closely connected with the actual events of Russian history.
In his works of art, N.A. Polevoy developed a historical concept about the decisive role of the "people's principle" in history, which he substantiated in a six-volume historical research"History of the Russian people" (1829-1833). The writer developed his views in polemics with the legacy of N.M. Karamzin, who believed that the history of Russia is the history of its rulers.
On a par with the historical prose of N.A. Field stand works A.F. Veltman(1800-1870), who laid the foundations of Russian historical romance with its "high morality and sharp plot", posing questions about the role of the individual in history and the influence of the era and the social system on the formation of human individuality. His novel Koschei the Immortal (1833) was hailed by his contemporaries as a masterpiece of Russian historical prose. Other Veltman's works were also popular - "The Ancestors of Kalimeros", "Svetoslavich, the Enemy Pet. Wonder of the times of the Red Sun of Vladimir" (1835), "Alexander Filippovich of Macedon" (1836), "Rayna, Princess of Bulgaria" (1843). Novels A.F. Veltman has a folklore-historical flavor of narration and high artistic merit, which allowed readers and critics to distinguish him from the crowd of fiction writers, putting him on a par with M.N. Zagoskin, A.A. Bestuzhev, I.I. Lazhechnikov, seeing in them the classics of Russian historical prose.
historical works N.V. puppeteer(1809-1868) “Sergeant Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov, or All Together” (1841), novels and stories dedicated to the era of Peter I, “Two Ivans, two Stepanychs and two Kostylkovs” (1844), “John III, the gatherer of the Russian land” (1868) and others testify to another direction in the development of Russian historical narrative.
N.V. The puppeteer developed a love-adventure direction within the framework of the historical novel, anticipating the novelism of A. Dumas in his search. His literary searches also went in the direction of creating a novel of the historical and biographical genre, which made it possible to realize his ideas about the role of the individual in history, according to which in the center historical events are strong personalities capable of influencing those around them.
New genre forms of the historical novel are created and G.F. Kvitka(1778-1843) (pseudonym - Grytsko Osnovyanenko). His historical and ethnographic essays "Headed" (1839), "Panna Sotnikovna", "Ukrainian diplomats" (1841), "1812 in the province", "Tales of Garkush" (1842), "Little Russian stories told by Grytskaya Osnovyanenko" ( 1834-1837), "Pan Khalyavsky" (1840) had a strong influence on subsequent Ukrainian literature in that they gave impetus to the development of new genre forms - an artistic and journalistic historical and everyday essay and a historical and everyday novel. However, his works are characterized by emphatic didacticism and the preaching of Christian humility, which undoubtedly diminishes the role of the individual in the historical movement.
In general, historical novels of the 40s, according to S.M. Petrov, were imitative, epigone literature. At this time, there was a change in ethical and aesthetic priorities in Russian literature, established traditions were broken, new ones were created. The natural school had a great influence on this process. Therefore, in 1851 I.S. Turgenev, who himself wrote the historical and everyday story "Three Portraits" (1846), in which he followed the traditions of "The Captain's Daughter" by A.S. Pushkin, in a review of a historical novel E. Tour The Niece stated the decline of the historical novel genre.
By the middle of the 19th century, an understanding of its national and spiritual essence, place and role in the world had formed in the cultural consciousness of Russian society. Variants of philosophical reflection on the historical process, the historicity of individual human existence and the forms of its course, proposed by various historians and philosophers, were tested on artistic models created by writers of the middle of the century. Included in the historiosophical and culturological discourse, Russian historical romance not only reflected the historical and philosophical disputes of its time, but also often outstripped social and philosophical thought, provoked, formed and pushed together various directions and currents (Western and Slavophile, conservative-protective and liberal, materialistic and religious-metaphysical, etc.).
This was the result of internal political reforms that initiated discussions about the ways of Russia's development, its place in the world and in history. The rise of public interest in the national historical past occurred in the 1860s, defining a new round in the development of the historical theme in literature. This, first of all, affected the development of historical drama, however, new trends were also formed in narrative prose on historical topics.
Historical novel published in 1862 A.K. Tolstoy(1817-1875) "Prince Silver" (1861) from the era of Ivan the Terrible, which was conceived by the writer back in the 40s. The novel followed, on the one hand, Western trends (“Saint-Mar” de Vigny), on the other hand, it continued the trends that arose in the historical romance of A.A. Bestuzhev, M.N. Zagoskin and I.I. Lazhechnikov, critically interpreting the practice of absolute autocratic power. The writer portrayed Ivan the Terrible as a cruel tyrant who had a detrimental effect on the formation of the Russian national character. Thus, according to A.K. Tolstoy, a person in history, especially an absolute monarch, is endowed with a huge influence on current events. It was not the Russian people who created the insidious Ivan the Terrible, but the cruel tsar himself brought up negative qualities in his subjects.
The search for new principles for comprehending historical reality is largely corrected by the influence of Western historiosophical schemes and conceptual constructions, which are increasingly spreading and asserting themselves in Russian historical science, in which reason plays a dominant role. Considering history as a concentrated expression of economic relations, philosophers and historians attached decisive importance to it in accelerating the course of the historical process.
Materialistic views in the last third of the century extend to the field of socio-philosophical anthropology, philosophy, history and ethics. Following L. Feuerbach, who proclaimed that man is “the only, universal and highest subject of philosophy”, N.G. Chernyshevsky declared that "the basis for everything that we are talking about some social branch of life<…>, general concepts of human nature, the motives and activities in it, and its needs should serve. All this gradually led to a utilitarian reassessment of morality in relation to history: in the 60s, nihilistic and utopian moralism won the main positions (A.I. Herzen, D.I. Pisarev, N.A. Dobrolyubov, N.G. Chernyshevsky, P. .N. Tkachev), and then the social moralism of populism (P.L. Lavrov, N.K. Mikhailovsky), which in the 70–80s was supplemented by N.V. Shelgunov and V.I. Taneev.
The ideas about the personal interest of morality, about public benefit as a criterion of virtue, about a person as a product of the environment and circumstances (Helvetius) were assimilated and creatively processed by Russian thinkers in relation to history. So, P.L. Lavrov in Historical Letters argued that a person consciously or unconsciously applies to the whole history those moral criteria that seemed unconditional. The moral ideal of history, from the point of view of Lavrov, is the only factor capable of giving meaning and perspective to history, since all history is the embodiment of the ideal of justice.
Proceeding from this, the classical historical novel in Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century turned to the past in order to understand the present and comprehend the ways of development of the future. The present, as extremely negative, was, as it were, removed from the historical context, a bridge was formed between the past and the future. For most novelists, the historical past acted as something more attractive than the present, therefore it was idealized and romanticized as a guarantee of a worthy future, which in these works is often poeticized. Therefore, one of the main ethical and aesthetic tasks of a historical work was the need to create new genre forms capable of artistic embodiment of the prospects for Russia's development.
As an example, one can cite the novels "Pugachevtsy" (1874), "On Moscow" ("Peil on Moscow") (1880), "Breadth and Max" (1885), "Krutoyarskaya Princess" (1893), "Petersburg Action" ( 1880), "Wedding Riot", "Vladimir Monomakhs" E.A. Salias de Turnemira(1842-1908) and others.
Themes for his novels Salias de Tournemire took mainly from the "glorious age" of Catherine II. The novel "Pugachevtsy", while working on which the writer carefully collected materials in the archives and made trips to the places of Pugachev's actions, was a resounding success with readers. However, critics, pointing to the brightness and color of the language, to the successful depiction of some minor personalities and characteristic aspects of the Catherine's era, reproached the author for excessive imitation of L.N. Tolstoy. E.A. Salias believed that the individual in history does not play a big role, since the historical process is a special hidden mechanism, a flow of cause-and-effect relationships (“On Moscow”).
In the 70s - 90s of the XIX century, novels were widely known G.P. Danilevsky(1829-1890) "Potemkin on the Danube" (1876), "Mirovich" (1879), "To India under Peter" (1880), "Princess Tarakanova" (1883), "Burned Moscow" (1885), "Black Year » (1888). Most of the historical novels by G.P. Danilevsky was dedicated to the era of Catherine II. They were distinguished by their striving for eventful spectacularity, vividness of images, realistic depiction of the era, since the writer was a great connoisseur of the 18th century not only from books, but also from living family traditions.
Thus, the novel "Burned Moscow" contained many episodes and images "revealing literary connections with Tolstoy's War and Peace". The clear influence of Tolstoy's work on Danilevsky's novel was manifested not only in the outward similarity of some characters and situations, but also in the writer's peculiar appeal to Tolstoy's concept of interpreting the war as a national disaster, in depicting popular resistance, in relation to the personality of Napoleon. But, assessing the personality of Napoleon from a moral standpoint and debunking the myth of his historical greatness, Danilevsky at the same time considered him the only culprit of the war, which reflected the writer's contradiction in understanding the role of personality in history.
One of the most prolific writers of the late 19th century was D.L. Mordovians(1830-1905) (“The Shadow of Herod” (“Idealists and Realists”) (1876), “The Great Schism” (1878), “False Dmitry” (1879), “The Tsar and the Hetman” (1880), “Mamaev’s Massacre” ( 1881), "Mr. Veliky Novgorod" (1882), "The Twelfth Year" (1880), "Immured Queen" (1884), "The Sovereign Carpenter" (1895), etc.).
In the novels of D.L. Mordovtseva plot basis often constituted important historical events that writers of the 20s and 30s of the 19th century repeatedly referred to: the struggle of Novgorodians for their liberties, the confrontation between schismatics and the official church, Patriotic War 1812, etc. In his works, Mordovtsev, relying on historical facts, tried to comprehend the laws and vicissitudes of the historical process in an artistic form. The writer tried not to adjust the characters to a simple scheme of pre-established intrigue - most often love, but to understand them as they were or could be, but he did not manage to rise to true historicism. According to modern researchers, Mordovtsev's creative method is based on "... the interweaving of reminiscences from secular and spiritual literature", which become "... the basis of a quasi-historical novel".
Almost all essays E.P. Karnovich(1823(?)-1885): "Knights of Malta in Russia" (1878), "On the heights and on the lot: Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna" (1879), "Love and the Crown" (1879), "Self-proclaimed children" (1880) , “Court Lace” (1885), “Destruction” (1887), “Trouble in St. Petersburg” (1887), in which the author refers to the events of the 17th-18th centuries, testify to a different trend, which consists in the conscientious involvement of all important and secondary historical materials and the careful preservation of not only historical facts, but even replicas of genuine participants in the events in question. Therefore, his historical narratives are more similar to the works of a professional historian than to works of art, and can be used as reliable sources to characterize a particular historical era.
A.F. Pisemsky(1820-1881) in the late period of his work (70-80s of the XIX century) turned to historical romance, which develops in line with the established spiritual and moral direction of Russian literature. In one of his main novels (“Masons” (1880)) the writer sought to depict the spiritual and moral development of a person depending on historical events. It is difficult for us to identify Pisemsky's historiosophy in general and to determine his attitude to the role of the individual in history in particular, since the writer has never been distinguished by a clear worldview.
Historical novels P.V. Polezhaeva(1827-1894) “The throne and the monastery. Historical novel in 2 parts from Russian chronicles 1682-1689. (1878), "Biron and Volynsky" (or "150 years ago"), "Lopukhinskoe case", "Favor and disgrace", "Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich" (1885) and others based on rare sources, documents, scientific works solved the problem as objectively and popularly as possible to talk about prominent personalities in the history of the Russian state, to reveal the tragedy of their destinies, to show the influence of the environment and circumstances on their deeds. Provoking interest in unknown moments in Russian history, popularizing historical figures in their political and psychological originality, striving to make readers think about who and what determines the historical result - all this fit well into the framework of the tasks that were set before an illustrative historical narrative.
V.V. Krestovsky(1840-1895) in his historical works was guided by the patriotic idea of the historical role of the Russian people. Therefore, the material collected in the preparation of the "History of the Life Guards of His Majesty's Lancers" (1876) was used in historical stories and essays "Grandfathers" (1876), "Ulans of Tsarevich Konstantin" (1875). Essays on Russian-Turkish war, published in the Russky Vestnik magazine, were included in the book Twenty Months in the Field Army (1877-1878) (1879). Krestovsky, of course, shared the opinion of F.M. Dostoevsky, who wrote that Russians must first learn to respect their people and their nationality, then other peoples will treat us with due reverence.
Fictionist and playwright P.P. Sukhonin(1821-1884) (pseudonym A. Shardin), author of a number of historical novels (“The family of the princes Zatsepin or the struggle of the beginnings” (1880), “Princess Vladimirskaya (Tarakanova), or Zatsepin capitals” (1881), “At the turn” (1882 ), “At the turn of two centuries” (1883)) and stories on historical subjects (“Fyodor Vasilyevich” (1856), “The Failed Queen” (1884), a collection of “Historical Stories” (1884), etc.) - one of the few who thought about the role of women in history. In the novel "At the turn of two centuries" the author presents vivid image Empress Catherine II. However, the gender situation fades into the background, submitting to the idea of an insoluble contradiction between the people and the authorities. Sukhonin ironically talks about glorious reign queen, under which all classes, except the peasantry, it was good to live. “Here are the peasants ... Yes, they were serfs, vile people, was it worth talking about them?” .
Another very noticeable trend was the continuation and development of adventure stories based on national history and culture in the spirit of A. Dumas, which is found, for example, in the works of M.N. Volkonsky and N.E. Heinze.
M.N. Volkonsky(1860-1917) is the author of novels on historical themes: The Chain of Malta (1891), The Duke's Brother (1895), The Empress's Ring (1896), Seek and Find (1904), The Duke's Mystery ( 1912), "Prince Nikita Fedorovich" (1914) and other examples of the historical adventure genre that were still new to Russian literature. In his novels, the writer defended the ideas of monarchism, believing that autocracy is an ideal form of government for Russia. The personality of the monarch occupies a central place in almost all the works of M.N. Volkonsky (“The Ring of the Empress”, “Prince Nikita Fedorovich”, etc.), however, he often uses the image of a “little man”, which, due to historical circumstances, becomes important in the life of his contemporaries (“Brother of the Duke”, “Maltese Chain ”, “The Secret of the Duke”).
For my short life N.E. Heinze(1852-1913) published more than forty novels and stories, among which historical novels occupied an important place. After the success of his first historical novel "Malyuta Skuratov" (1891), Heinze in the novel "Arakcheev" (1893) presented an unconventional image of the military leader A.A. Arakcheev as a suffering and unhappy person. Continuing the traditions of Russian realistic literature in depicting social conflicts, N.E. Heinze in the depiction of personality was oriented towards the aesthetics of romanticism in the first half of the 19th century, which free man beyond social boundaries. The relativity of the writer's historicism is manifested in the fact that the novels "The Prince of Taurida" (1895), "The Crowned Knight" (1895), "Generalissimo Suvorov" (1896), " doomsday Veliky Novgorod (1897), Novgorod Freemen (1895), Ermak Timofeevich (1900) and others can be conditionally called historical only because of the mention of historical figures and events in them.
In historical fiction at this time, a new direction is being formed - military historical prose. One of the first major works of fiction about the heroic defense of Sevastopol was the historical novel MM. Filippova(1858-1903) "Besieged Sevastopol", published in 1888-1889. L.N. Tolstoy, who himself was a participant in the Crimean War, attributed this book to the number of valuable artistic evidence of the era: “... I read the novel ... “Besieged Sevastopol” and was struck by the wealth of historical details. A person who has read this novel will get a completely clear and complete picture not only of the Siege of Sevastopol, but also of the entire war and its causes ... ".
In the 80s he declares himself as a historical novelist Vsevolod Sergeevich Solovyov(1849-1903). Success comes to the writer after the publication of the first historical novel "Princess Ostrozhskaya" (1876), then almost every year the author presents new historical works to the judgment of readers and critics: "The Young Emperor" (1877), "Captain of the Grenadier Company" (1878), "The Tsar Maiden" (1878), "Kasimov's Bride" (1879), "The Tsar's Embassy" (1890), "The Groom of the Princess" (1893) and others, and "the 80s of the 19th century became the peak of Vs. Solovyov as a writer, his name thundered all over Russia, they were read to him in high-society salons, in intellectual circles, and the reading public knew him simpler. The writer achieved the goal to which he stubbornly and persistently strove: he made Russian history in its artistic form the property of the people.
The chronology of Solovyov's novels covers mainly two centuries of Russian history - the 17th and 18th. Sharing the opinions of some historians - representatives of the "state school", who believed that the fate of the state was decided by great statesmen, Sun. Solovyov paid the main attention in his novels to the carriers of the state principle. He also addresses the gender aspect of the problem of power, which is embodied in several works of the writer.
Along with the already mentioned writers, O. Somov, G. Samarov, A. Ladinsky, P.N. Petrov, V.A. Ushakov, N.F. Pavlov, V.Ya. Ivchenko (Svetlov), N.I. Merder (Severin), I.T. Kalashnikov, B.M. Fedorov and other authors, whose works also found their readers and connoisseurs in the 19th century. We do not set ourselves a large-scale goal - to cover the work of all these authors in our brief review, but we note that they also made their own contribution to the development and formation of the historical novel genre in Russian literature of the 19th century.
An analytical look at Russian historical romance of the 19th century reveals that historical concepts of different decades have found their realization in it. The amazing variety of scientific and historical trends, currents and schools, within which the conservative-protective, liberal, materialistic and other ideas about the laws of the historical process are embodied, gave rise to a special artistic historiosophy, which was reflected in the genre diversity of historical narrative.
Major domestic historians N.I. Kostomarov, S.M. Solovyov, V.O. Klyuchevsky, as well as the ideologists of populism P.L. Lavrov, N.I. Kareev, direct the development of historiosophical thought to a materialistic understanding of historical patterns, which led to the emergence of historical novelism of one direction.
The idea of the axiological boundaries of the ideal, the understanding of the incompatibility of this ideal with the already entrenched in the collective consciousness, but untenable and already obsolete socio-political and philosophical-historical doctrines, determined a different, alternative direction of writers' intentions on the path of searching for a positive beginning of national life.
With all the difference in individual positions, representatives of different directions were united by the desire to reveal the driving forces, meaning and goals of history in the categories of good and evil, private and universal, predestination and human freedom in history. The artistic consciousness of the last third of the century (as, indeed, in previous decades) anticipated this aspiration and prepared subsequent historiosophical conclusions.
Thus, throughout the entire 19th century, Russian literature experienced a rapid development of the genre of the historical novel that emerged at the turn of the century. Actualized in the context of the process of universal national self-identification and reflecting the peculiarities of public historical consciousness and domestic scientific historiosophy, the historical novel moved mainly in two directions: writers either actively continued to develop the ethical and aesthetic ideas of foreign and domestic predecessors, or, actively participating in the process of development of historical thought and radically rethinking the already developed techniques, they created original creations, while forming new trends in the development of historical narrative. This allows us to identify some general patterns of functioning of the genre under study in the artistic system of Russian romance.
List of literature / List of literature
In Russian
- Belyaev Y. Favorite of reading Russia // Evgeny Salias. Compositions: In 2 volumes / Vst. Art., comp. and comment. Y. Belyaeva. - M., 1991. - T. 1. Historical prose.
- Bestuzhev-Marlinsky A.A. Works: In 2 vols. - M., 1958. - Vol. 2.
- Veselovsky A.N. Historical poetics. - M., 1989.
- Dudina T.P. Russian historical dramaturgy of the 19th century (Ethical and axiological aspect): Monograph. - Yelets, 2006.
- Karamzin N.M. Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novagod // N.M. Karamzin. Selected works: In 2 volumes - M. - L., 1964.
- Koroleva N.V., Rak V.D. Personality and literary position of Kuchelbecker // V.K. Küchelbecker. Journey. Diary. Articles. - L., 1979.
- Mashinsky S.I. Artistic world of Gogol. - M., 1979.
- Nedzvetsky V.A. History of the Russian novel of the 19th century: non-classical forms: a course of lectures. - M., 2011.
- Ogryzkov K. Salias Evgeny Andreevich // Lipetsk Encyclopedia: In 3 vols. - Lipetsk, 2001. - T. 3.
- Essays on the history of Russian theater criticism. - L., 1975-1979. - Prince. one.
- Plekhanov S. N. Pisemsky (ZhZL). - M., 1986.
- Pereverzev V.F. Forerunner of Dostoevsky // Pereverzev V.F. At the origins of the Russian realistic novel. - M., 1965.
- Petrov S.M. Russian historical novel of the 19th century. - M., 1964.
- Petrunina N.N. Novels by I.I. Lazhechnikov // Lazhechnikov I.I. Works: In 2 vols. - M., 1987. - T. 1.
- Rebecchini D. Russian historical novels of the 30s. XIX century // New literary review. - 1998. - No. 34.
- Rozen A.E. Notes of the Decembrist // And thoughts of high aspiration ... / Comp. ON. Arzumanov; note I.A. Mironova. - M., 1980.
- Sakharov A.N. The historical saga of Vsevolod Solovyov // Questions of history. - 2003. - No. 9. - S. 74-107.
- Stepanov N.L. Prose of the twenties and thirties // History of Russian literature: In 10 volumes / USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute of Russian Literature. - M. - L., 1941-1956. - T. VI. Literature of the 1820s-1830s. 1953.
- Sorochan A.Yu. "Quasi-historical novel" in Russian literature of the 19th century: D.L. Mordovtsev: Monograph. - Tver, 2007.
- Tolstoy L.N. Collected works: In 22 volumes - M., 1984. - T. 20.
- Turgenev I.S. Complete Works: In 12 volumes - M., 1956. - T. 11.
- Feuerbach L. Selected Philosophical Works: In 2 vols. - M., 1955. - T. 1.
- Shardin A. (P.P. Sukhonin) Polish rogue, or at the turn of the century // Adventurers: From the era of the reign of Catherine the Great. - M., 1995.
- Shcheblykin I.P. Early traditions of Russian historical prose // Questions of literature of the 18th century. Scientific notes. Ser. Philology. - Penza, 1972. - T. 123.
- Chernyshevsky N.G. Literary criticism // Complete works: In 15 volumes - M., 1947. - T. 1.
English
- Belyaev Yu. Lyubimec chitayushchej Rossii // Evgenij Salias. Composition: V 2 t. / Vst. st., sost. i comment. YU. Belyaeva. – M., 1991. – T. 1. Historicheskaya proza.
- Bestuzhev-Marlinskij A.A. Composition: V 2 t. - M., 1958. - T. 2.
- Veselovskij A.N. Historical poehtika. – M., 1989.
- Dudina T.P. Russian istoricheskaya dramaturgiya XIX century (EHtiko-aksiologicheskij aspekt): Monografiya. – Elec, 2006.
- Karamzin N.M. Marfa-posadnica, or pokorenie Novagoroda // Karamzin N.M. Izbrannye proizvedeniya: V 2 t. - M. - L., 1964.
- Koroleva N.V., Rak V.D. Lichnost’ i literaturnaya poziciya Kyuhel’bekera // V.K. Kyuhel'beker. Puteshestvie. Dnevnik. Stat'i. – L., 1979.
- Mashinskij S.I. Hudozhestvennyj mir Gogolya. – M., 1979.
- Nedzveckij V.A. Istoriya russkogo romana XIX century: neklassicheskie formy: kurs lekcij. – M., 2011.
- Ogryzkov K. Salias Evgenij Andreevich // Lipeckaya ehnciklopediya: V 3 t. - Lipeck, 2001. - T. 3.
- Ocherki istorii russkoj teatral'noj kritiki. – L., 1975-1979. – Kn. one.
- Plekhanov S. N. Pisemskij (ZHZL). – M., 1986.
- Pereverzev V.F. Predtecha Dostoevskogo // Pereverzev V.F. U istokov russian realisticheskogo romana. – M., 1965.
- Petrov S.M. Russkij istoricheskij roman XIX century. – M., 1964.
- Petrunina N.N. Romany I.I. Lazhechnikova // Lazhechnikov I.I. Composition: V 2 t. - M., 1987. - T. 1.
- Rebekkini D. Russkie istoricheskie romany 30-h gg. HIH veka // Novoe literary obozrenie. - 1998. - No. 34.
- Rosen A.E. Zapiski dekabrista // I dum vysokoe stremlen’e… / Sost. N.A. Arzumanova; primech. I.A. Mironovoj. – M., 1980.
- Saharov A.N. Istoricheskaya saga Vsevoloda Solov’eva // Voprosy istorii. - 2003. - No. 9. - S. 74-107.
- Stepanov N.L. Proza dvadcatyh-tridcatyh godov // Istoriya russkoj literatury: V 10 t. / ANSSSR. In-t russian literature. - M. - L., 1941-1956. – T. VI. Literatura 1820-1830-h godov. 1953.
- Sorochan A.Y.U. "Kvaziistoricheskij roman" v russkoj literature XIX century: D.L. Mordovcev: Monograph. - Tver', 2007.
- Tolstoj L.N. Sobranie sochinenij: V 22 t. - M., 1984. - T. 20.
- Turgenev I.S. Full sobranie sochinenij: V 12 t. - M., 1956. - T. 11.
- Fejerbah L. Izbrannye filosofskie proizvedeniya: V 2 t. - M., 1955. - T. 1.
- Shardin A. (P.P. Suhonin) Pol’skij prohodimec, or na rubezhe stoletij // Avantyuristy: Iz ehpohi carstvovaniya Ekateriny Velikoj. – M., 1995.
- SHCHeblykin I.P. Rannie tradicii russkoj istoricheskoj prozy // Voprosy literatury XVIII century. Teaching notes. Ser. Filologia. - Penza, 1972. - T. 123.
- Chernyshevskij N.G. Literaturnaya kritika // Full sobranie sochinenij: V 15 t. - M., 1947. - T. 1.
The novel developed, overcoming a sharply negative attitude towards itself on the part of moralists, who assessed this genre as low, pandering to bad taste and spoiling morals. This is due to the fact that the novel, as you know, is the product and reflection of the crisis and destruction of the foundations of traditionalist culture, when the personality begins to fall out of ready-made, genre forms of being - the emancipation and individualization of the personality leads to its distancing from any ready-made forms and thus inevitably from the norms of existing morality.
The novel focuses on the individual experience of a person, which does not fit into the norms of existing morality: a novel hero is often a vagabond, a "renegade", a person with "Faustian aspirations", a young man at an age when, in the language of a tolerant moralist, he still has some then the right to "go wild"; he is interesting precisely because he is a violator of generally accepted norms - and precisely by these adventures, by this extraordinary experience of his. The novel expresses the dreams and aspirations of the individual, which lie outside the destiny prepared for her by the existing world order - a person dreams of going beyond the boundaries set for him. He invents for himself a different life in which his dreams will come true - both those that are outside the established moral norms, and those that, in his ideas, correspond to the possibilities of an interesting and free life that representatives of other social worlds have. Of course, from the point of view of traditional morality, any such experience is an unacceptable temptation, all the more unacceptable because it is from the point of view of this experience that a comprehensive picture of the world is built in the novel; as a result, this world appears to be very far from ideal, so that the reader may not find in it a model worthy of emulation from the point of view of a moralist.
Therefore, traditionalist culture requires from the writer not a novel, but an epic: the epic is proclaimed as the true goal of the novel - the novel should strive to become an epic. Epicness, as you know, implies a different point of view than in the novel, a point of view on a person and the world - not from within individual experience, but from the world of super-personal values that ensure the stability of the world order. Hence the "heroism" of the hero of the epic. Therefore, the novel appears as a non-epic or anti-epic genre. At the same time, everything is not so simple: the novel concept is contradictory and paradoxical - after all, the novel, of course, is also an unconditionally epic genre, it implements the most important epic values - narrative as a broad view of the world, a vision of a person in unity with the world, the plot deployment of any events in the space of the big world, etc.
The inconsistency of the poetological, and thus the ethical concept of the genre, is most characteristic of the most balanced form of the novel - the classic novel of the era of realism, which tries to connect the incompatible, to reconcile incompatible things.
It should be recognized that the novel of the middle and second half of the XIX century. is in conflict with some of the principles of the poetics of the novel, set forth by M. Bakhtin - a novel of the 19th century. has a relatively stable, well-structured and describable form, which made it a "traditional novel" in the eyes of the 20th century. Important aesthetic and poetological principles of the internal organization of this form for the Russian realistic novel were determined by N. D. Tamarchenko, who developed the concept of the “internal measure” of a realistic novel, “a novel-specific way to combine variability with stability.”
The classical novel is paradoxical - being a relatively short-term stage in the development of the genre, at which it almost deviates from its unconditionally fundamental genre principles, at the same time it acts as one of the undeniable pinnacles of novel art, the form by which, therefore, you need to study the nature of this genre. Looking ahead, we can say that the ethical concept of this genre form can be assessed both as the pinnacle of modern European humanism and as evidence of its failure. However, in order to understand the poetological and ethical originality of this form, one must look at it in the context of both the previous and subsequent stages of its development.
The situation of a conflict of aspirations and fantasies of a person with a common morality, a ready-made world order that does not provide for her the right to an exceptional fate and a special "interesting" life, in the poetics of the novel of the 18th century, acts as a problem of the authenticity of the statement, characteristic of the genre - a novel that does not have the opportunity to rely on any what tradition, every time he must prove his legitimacy, - compliance with the ideas accepted in society about reality and art. He must appeal to real life experience, which lies on the other side of traditional literary discourse and conflicts with the traditional rhetorical word, burdened with the "truth of moral knowledge", thus asserting its vitality, experienced as truthfulness. Truthfulness is already understood here as the truth of real human experience in conflict with "literature", it appears here as a value that replaces and abolishes the traditionalist norm, and along with it, traditional moral principles.
This means the emergence of new ideas about art. The impression of moral inconsistency, immorality of the novel arises in connection with a serious break with historical tradition understanding of art as a sphere of realization of the ideal. Already in the 17th century, this tradition began to loosen, as evidenced by the active discussion of the problem of the admissibility of an entertaining moment in art - is it worthy not only to teach, but also to entertain the reader. Sigmund von Birken, in the well-known preface to Lohenstein's novel Arminius, says that the novel will achieve its goal more quickly if it does not just teach, but teach while entertaining. A special system of evidence was required to substantiate the writer's right not only to teach. Until the beginning of the 19th century, the idea of art as an image of the ideal as a whole retained its stability - even Schiller and Hegel considered art in this vein. The idea of fidelity of art to nature does not contradict this attitude, since nature is here an abstract concept and acts as a kind of reasonable and natural norm for society, an eternal model of ideas about beauty.
Thus, the attitude towards truthfulness that arises in the modern novel is connected with the denial of traditional normative attitudes and seriously undermines the moralistic foundations of the concept of art.
This attitude manifests itself in the orientation of the novel towards artlessness, which means the rejection of art, understood as the image of the ideal. The novel, as a genre that does not repeat patterns of traditionalist culture, asserts itself precisely by distancing itself from them, demonstrating its special genre nature, the essence of which, as M. M. Bakhtin showed, lies in the fact that he lives on the border with the real world, in direct contact with unfinished reality, and does not imitate ideal patterns. So Byron, starting his well-known poem defiantly as a novel about Childe Harold, first of all not only invokes the muse of the traditional ideal, but also replaces it with a "simple story" about what is in reality and what (unfortunately for the author) does not correspond to moral values of the literary tradition. The idea of free, openly authentic creativity, work with the material of living reality (which includes ideas and literary forms) is a conscious setting of the novel, ensuring its viability as a qualitatively new literary form, starting from "literature" - literature that feeds on tradition. , the ideal.
Hence the methods of creating the effect of authenticity and reliability, characteristic of the novel form, repeatedly described in the scientific literature - the use of the form of narration in the first person, references to original manuscripts, notes, as well as the introduction of the creative act itself into the text, parodying other genres and the author's reflection on creative process. The demonstrative "openness", the incompleteness of the novel form is due to the desire to create the effect of authenticity - contact with the unfinished reality in which the reader resides - participation in the open event of being, and not the reproduction of the ideal.
Thus, the novel defiantly excludes itself from the prevailing system of moral precepts - it is no accident that the new European novel opens with the story of Lazarillo, blasphemously attacking the shrines, which is why he was included in the index of banned books. Leaving aside the nuances and somewhat schematizing - "trimming" the chronology of the process, it can be argued that, on the whole, until the second half of the 20s of the 19th century, the novel responded to the challenge of traditionalist culture with the challenge of "truth", asserting itself essentially as a non-mimetic form that is more does not allow contemplating the ideal, but acts primarily as an open event of communication between the author (narrator), the hero acting as a narrator, and the reader.
Need to download an essay? Press and Save -" A 19th-Century Realist Novel: The Poetics of Moral Compromise. And the finished essay appeared in the bookmarks.The century before last became interesting stage development of human history. The emergence of new technologies, faith in progress, the spread of enlightenment ideas, the development of new public relations, the emergence of a new class of the bourgeoisie, which became dominant in many European countries - all this was reflected in art. The literature of the 19th century reflected all the turning points in the development of society. All shocks and discoveries are reflected in the pages of novels by eminent writers. 19th century literature– multifaceted, diverse and very interesting.
Literature of the 19th century as an indicator of public consciousness
The century began in the atmosphere of the Great French Revolution, the ideas of which captured all of Europe, America and Russia. Under the influence of these events, the greatest books of the 19th century appeared, a list of which you can find in this section. In Great Britain, with the coming to power of Queen Victoria, a new era of stability began, which was accompanied by a national upsurge, the development of industry and art. Public tranquility produced the best books of the 19th century, written in all sorts of genres. In France, on the contrary, there was a lot of revolutionary unrest, accompanied by a change in the political system and the development of social thought. Of course, this also influenced the books of the 19th century. The literary age ended with an era of decadence, which is characterized by gloomy and mystical moods and a bohemian lifestyle of representatives of art. Thus, the literature of the 19th century gave works that everyone needs to read.
Books of the 19th century on the site "KnigoPoisk"
If you are interested in 19th century literature, the list of the KnigoPoisk site will help you find interesting novels. The rating is based on the feedback from visitors to our resource. "Books of the 19th century" - a list that will not leave anyone indifferent.
