Socialist realism in literature. Socialist realism (prof.

The writing

Gorky's novel was published in 1907, when, after the defeat of the first Russian revolution, a reaction broke out in the country, the cruel Black Hundred terror raged. “The Mensheviks retreated in panic, not believing in the possibility of a new upsurge of the revolution, they shamefully renounced the revolutionary demands of the program and the revolutionary slogans of the party ...” Only the Bolsheviks “were confident in the new upsurge of the revolutionary movement, prepared for it, gathered the forces of the working class.”

In the heroes of his novel, Gorky managed to show the indestructible revolutionary energy and the will of the working class to win. (This material will help you write correctly on the topic of Socialist realism in the novel Mother. The summary does not make it possible to understand the whole meaning of the work, so this material will be useful for a deep understanding of the work of writers and poets, as well as their novels, short stories, stories, plays, poems .) “We, the workers, will win,” Pavel Vlasov says with deep conviction. Neither the dispersal of demonstrations, nor exile, nor arrests can stop the mighty growth of the liberation movement, break the will of the working class to win, the great writer asserted in his novel. He showed that the ideas of socialism lead people more and more powerfully. He portrayed these people who grew and grew stronger in the struggle for the triumph of the ideas of socialism in our country. The people shown by Gorky embodied the best features of a revolutionary fighter, and their life was an example for readers of how to fight for the liberation of the people.

The optimism of the novel was especially significant in the years of reaction. Gorky's book sounded like evidence of the invincibility of the labor movement, like a call for a new struggle.

In the article of 1905 “Party Organization and Party Literature”, V. I. Lenin, characterizing the literature of the future socialist society, wrote: “It will be free literature, because not self-interest and not a career, but the idea of ​​socialism and sympathy for the working people will recruit new and new strength in its ranks.

The idea of ​​socialism, the Bolshevik party membership is the source of Gorky's strength as an artist who managed to create the image of a Bolshevik, a fighter for socialism. This image found its further development in the heroes of the best works of Soviet literature. Clarity of the revolutionary goal, strength of mind, which allows to overcome any obstacles, not to be afraid of them, readiness for a feat in the name of the liberation of the people - these are the features of this image, introduced by Gorky into world literature and which had a huge influence on the advanced, progressive literature of the whole world, on all its further development.

We recognize the best features of Gorky's heroes in Levinson from Fadeev's "Defeat", in N. Ostrovsky's Pavel Korchagin. In the new historical conditions, the heroic features of the Bolshevik revolutionaries, first shown by Gorky, are manifested in them.

It took the genius insight of a great artist to be able to see these basic features of the Bolsheviks at the dawn of the labor movement, to embody them in the living images of the heroes of the work, in their actions, thoughts and feelings.

The closest connection with the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat helped Gorky create a new artistic method - the method of socialist realism. And this allowed him to see what other realist writers of his time could not see.

Socialist realism is based on the Bolshevik partisanship, on the artist's understanding of reality from the point of view of the struggle for socialist ideals. In fiction, Gorky implemented Lenin's call to show the masses "in all its grandeur and in all its charm our democratic and socialist ideal ... the closest, most direct path to complete, unconditional, decisive victory"

And in the same article, "Party Organization and Party Literature," V. I. Lenin described the features of the new, free literature, literature based on Bolshevik party spirit. First of all, Lenin noted the idea of ​​socialism as the main feature of this literature. He further pointed out that the new literature would proceed from sympathy for the working people, from the experience of the workers' struggle. Lenin saw its essential feature in the scientific understanding of life, in the ability to see life in development, to see in it the progressive, new being born. And, finally, he spoke about the nationality of socialist literature / addressed to tens of millions of working people and expressing their interests.

These main features distinguish the method of socialist realism, theoretically substantiated by Lenin and for the first time practically, creatively implemented by Gorky in the plays “Petty Bourgeois”, “Enemies” and in the novel “Mother”. The new creative principles were most vividly and fully embodied in this novel; it was a response to the basic demand of the era - to create a new, free literature expressing the advanced, revolutionary aspirations of the working class.

It is based on the idea of ​​socialism, the socialist ideal "in all its grandeur and in all its beauty."

Gorky finds his heroes among the workers; they are the bearers of the socialist ideal. Gorky shows the workers in revolutionary development, in the struggle of the old, dying, and the emerging new, advanced, to which in life, as Comrade Stalin teaches, belongs the future. The socialist ideal, a man - a fighter for socialism - as the bearer of this ideal, the ability to show tomorrow, advanced, without breaking away from today, in which this advanced is born, unity with the people fighting for freedom - this was expressed in the novel "Mother" the main features of socialist realism.

Other writings on this work

Socialist realism, social realism is the main artistic method used in the art of the Soviet Union since the 1930s, allowed, either recommended, or imposed (at different periods of the country's development) by state censorship, and therefore closely associated with ideology and propaganda. It was officially [source not specified 260 days] approved since 1932 by party bodies in literature and art. In parallel, unofficial art of the USSR existed.

Works in the genre of socialist realism are characterized by the presentation of the events of the era, "dynamically changing in their revolutionary development." The ideological content of the method was laid down by dialectical materialist philosophy and the communist ideas of Marxism (Marxist aesthetics) in the second half of the 19th-20th centuries. The method covered all areas of artistic activity (literature, drama, cinema, painting, sculpture, music and architecture). It affirmed the following principles: [source not specified 736 days]

describe reality "accurately, in accordance with the specific historical revolutionary development."

coordinate their artistic expression with the themes of ideological reforms and the education of workers in the socialist spirit.

History of origin and development

Lunacharsky was the first writer who laid its ideological foundation. Back in 1906, he introduced such a concept as "proletarian realism" into everyday life. By the twenties, in relation to this concept, he began to use the term “new social realism”, and in the early thirties he devoted to “dynamic and through and through active socialist realism”, “a good, meaningful term that can be revealed interestingly with the right analysis”, a cycle of programmatic and theoretical articles published in Izvestia.

The term "socialist realism" was first proposed by I. Gronsky, chairman of the Organizing Committee of the USSR Writers' Union, in Literaturnaya Gazeta on May 23, 1932. It arose in connection with the need to direct the RAPP and the avant-garde to the artistic development of Soviet culture. Decisive in this was the recognition of the role of classical traditions and understanding of the new qualities of realism. In 1932-1933 Gronsky and head. the sector of fiction of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks V. Kirpotin intensively promoted this term.

At the 1st All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934, Maxim Gorky stated:

“Socialist realism affirms being as an act, as creativity, the purpose of which is the continuous development of the most valuable individual abilities of a person for the sake of his victory over the forces of nature, for the sake of his health and longevity, for the sake of great happiness to live on the earth, which he, in accordance with the continuous growth of his needs, wants to process everything as a wonderful dwelling of mankind, united in one family. ”The state needed to approve this method as the main one for better control over creative individuals and better propaganda of its policy. In the previous period, the twenties, there were Soviet writers who sometimes took aggressive positions in relation to many outstanding writers. For example, the RAPP, an organization of proletarian writers, was actively involved in criticizing non-proletarian writers. The RAPP consisted mainly of aspiring writers. During the period of the creation of modern industry (the years of industrialization), the Soviet government needed art that lifts the people to "labor feats." The fine arts of the 1920s also presented a rather motley picture. It has several groups. The most significant group was the Association of Artists of the Revolution. They depicted today: the life of the Red Army, workers, peasantry, leaders of the revolution and labor. They considered themselves the heirs of the Wanderers. They went to factories, plants, to the Red Army barracks in order to directly observe the life of their characters, to “draw” it. It was they who became the main backbone of the artists of "socialist realism". Less traditional masters had a much harder time, in particular, members of the OST (Society of Easel Painters), which united young people who graduated from the first Soviet art university.

Gorky solemnly returned from exile and headed the specially created Union of Writers of the USSR, which included mainly writers and poets of a pro-Soviet orientation.

For the first time, an official definition of socialist realism was given in the Charter of the Writers' Union of the USSR, adopted at the First Congress of the Writers' Union: Socialist realism, being the main method of Soviet fiction and literary criticism, requires from the artist a truthful, historically concrete depiction of reality in its revolutionary development. Moreover, the truthfulness and historical concreteness of the artistic depiction of reality must be combined with the task of ideological reworking and education in the spirit of socialism. This definition became the starting point for all further interpretations up to the 80s. “Socialist realism is a deeply vital, scientific and most advanced artistic method, developed as a result of the successes of socialist construction and the education of Soviet people in the spirit of communism. The principles of socialist realism ... were a further development of Lenin's teaching on the partisanship of literature. (Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1947) Lenin expressed the idea that art should stand on the side of the proletariat as follows: “Art belongs to the people. The deepest springs of art can be found among a wide class of working people... Art must be based on their feelings, thoughts and demands and must grow with them.

[edit]

Principles of social realism

Nationality. This meant both the comprehensibility of literature for the common people, and the use of folk speech turns and proverbs.

Ideology. Show the peaceful life of the people, the search for ways to a new, better life, heroic deeds in order to achieve a happy life for all people.

Concreteness. In the image of reality, show the process of historical development, which, in turn, must correspond to the materialistic understanding of history (in the process of changing the conditions of their existence, people change their consciousness and attitude towards the surrounding reality).

As the definition from the Soviet textbook stated, the method implied the use of the heritage of world realistic art, but not as a simple imitation of great examples, but with a creative approach. “The method of socialist realism predetermines the deep connection of works of art with contemporary reality, the active participation of art in socialist construction. The tasks of the method of socialist realism require from each artist a true understanding of the meaning of the events taking place in the country, the ability to evaluate the phenomena of social life in their development, in a complex dialectical interaction.

The method included the unity of realism and Soviet romance, combining the heroic and romantic with "a realistic statement of the true truth of the surrounding reality." It was argued that in this way the humanism of "critical realism" was supplemented by "socialist humanism".

The state gave orders, sent on creative business trips, organized exhibitions - thus stimulating the development of the layer of art that it needed.

[edit]

In literature

The writer, in the famous expression of Stalin, is "an engineer of human souls." With his talent, he must influence the reader as a propagandist. He educates the reader in the spirit of devotion to the party and supports it in the struggle for the victory of communism. The subjective actions and aspirations of the individual had to correspond to the objective course of history. Lenin wrote: “Literature must become party literature… Down with the non-party writers. Down with the superhuman writers! Literary work must become a part of the common proletarian cause, "cogs and wheels" of one single great social-democratic mechanism set in motion by the entire conscious vanguard of the entire working class.

A literary work in the genre of socialist realism should be built "on the idea of ​​the inhumanity of any form of exploitation of man by man, expose the crimes of capitalism, inflame the minds of readers and viewers with just anger, inspire them to the revolutionary struggle for socialism." [Source not specified 736 days]

Maxim Gorky wrote the following about socialist realism:

It is vital and creative for our writers to take a point of view from the height of which - and only from its height - all the dirty crimes of capitalism, all the meanness of its bloody intentions are clearly visible, and all the greatness of the heroic work of the proletariat-dictator is visible.

He also argued: "... the writer must have a good knowledge of the history of the past and knowledge of the social phenomena of the present, in which he is called upon to play two roles at the same time: the role of a midwife and a gravedigger." Gorky believed that the main task of socialist realism is the education of a socialist, revolutionary view of the world, a corresponding sense of the world.

Social realism is an artistic method of literature and art, which is an aesthetic expression of the socialist conscious concept of the world and man, due to the era of the struggle for the establishment and creation of a socialist society. The depiction of life in the light of the ideals of socialism determines both the content and the basic artistic and structural principles of the art of Socialist Realism. Its origin and development are connected with the spread of socialist ideas in different countries, with the development of the revolutionary working-class movement. The initial trends in literature and art of a new type date back to the middle and second half of the 19th century: revolutionary proletarian literature in Great Britain (the poetry of the Chartist movement, the work of E. C. Jones), in Germany (the poetry of H. Herweg, F. Freiligrath, G. Veert), in France (literature of the Paris Commune, "Internationale" by E. Pottier). At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Proletarian literature is developing intensively in Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, and other countries. As an artistic method, social realism was formed at the beginning of the 20th century. in Russia, primarily in the work of M. Gorky, as well as, to one degree or another, M. M. Kotsyubinsky, J. Rainis, A. Akopyan, I. I. Evdoshvili and others.

This is due to the world-historical significance of the revolutionary movement in Russia, where the center of the world revolutionary struggle moved at the beginning of the 20th century.

Following Gorky, a realistic depiction of social reality and a socialist worldview are becoming essential features of the work of writers from a number of countries (A. Barbusse, M. Andersen-Nexo, J. Reed).

After the October Revolution of 1917, in various European countries (Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, France, Czechoslovakia, etc.), socialist literary movements were formed in the 1920s, and the method of Socialist Realism is already acting as a natural phenomenon in world literature.

Growth of the anti-fascist movement in the 1930s contributed to the expansion of the international front of revolutionary literature and art. The unifying role in this process was played by Soviet literature, which by that time had rallied ideologically and created outstanding works of art. Socialist realism has become a broad international trend in literature and art.

After the Second World War of 1939-1945, especially after the formation of the world socialist system, the positions of Socialist Realism as the vanguard of artistic progress were even more firmly established.

Along with the work of Gorky, V. V. Mayakovsky, M. A. Sholokhov, the theater of K. S. Stanislavsky and V. E. Meyerhold, the cinematographic discoveries of S. M. Eisenstein, V. I. Pudovkina, A. P. Dovzhenko, music by S. S. Prokofiev, D. D. Shostakovich, painting by B. V. Ioganson, A. A. Deineka, B. I. Prorokov, P. D. Korin, R Guttuso, sculpture by S. T. Konenkov, V. I. Mukhina, dramaturgy by B. Brecht, V. V. Vishnevsky.

The very term "Social Realism" first appeared in the Soviet press in 1932 (Literaturnaya Gazeta, May 23). It arose in connection with the need to oppose Rappov's thesis, which mechanically transferred philosophical categories to the field of literature ("dialectical-materialistic creative method"), with a definition that corresponds to the main direction of the artistic development of Soviet literature.

Decisive in this was the recognition of the role of classical traditions and the understanding of the new qualities of realism (socialist), due to both the novelty of the life process and the socialist worldview of Soviet writers.

By this time, writers (Gorky, Mayakovsky, A. N. Tolstoy, A. A. Fadeev) and critics (A. V. Lunacharsky, A. K. Voronsky) made a number of attempts to determine the artistic originality of Soviet literature; it was about proletarian, tendentious, monumental, heroic, romantic, social realism, about the combination of realism with romance.

The concept of socialist realism immediately became widespread and was consolidated by the 1st All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers (1934), at which Gorky spoke of the new method as a creative program aimed at the implementation of revolutionary humanistic ideas: "socialist realism affirms being as an act, as creativity , the purpose of which is the continuous development of the most valuable individual abilities of a person for the sake of his victory over the forces of nature, for the sake of his health and longevity, for the sake of great happiness to live on earth "(First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers. Verbatim report, 1934, p. 17).

Continuing the humanistic traditions of previous art, combining them with a new socialist content, Socialist Realism represents a new type of artistic consciousness. Its novelty is connected with the contribution that Marxism made to materialist philosophy - the assertion of the role of revolutionary-transforming activity ("Theses on Feuerbach" by K. Marx), which served as the source of the idea of ​​depicting reality in its revolutionary development.

The basis of the method of Socialist Realism is the concept of revolutionary-effective, socialist humanism, in which the ideas of the harmonious development of man, the fullness of the real manifestation of his spiritual and moral capabilities, the truly human relationship of people to each other, to nature and society find their expression. This humanistic orientation is inherent in all types of socialist artistic culture (literature, painting, architecture, music, theater, etc.) and constitutes the most important and universal distinguishing feature of Socialist Realist art.

To understand the principles of socialist art, a number of statements by the classics of Marxism-Leninism are of great importance. Speaking about the art of the future, F. Engels saw its features in "the complete fusion of great ideological depth, conscious historical content ... with Shakespeare's liveliness and richness of action ..." (Marx and Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 29 , p. 492). Engels' idea of ​​the conscious historicism of artistic thinking was developed in the principle of partisanship in literature and art, formulated by V. I. Lenin.

Lenin actually pointed out the main features of the new literature. He noted its conditionality by the objective course of the life process, understanding its inconsistency, its development in the most acute conflicts. Finally, he emphasized the party spirit of this struggle, that the artist consciously and openly takes the side of the progressive tendencies of historical development. Genuine creative freedom is not the arbitrariness of the individual, but its conscious action in accordance with the requirements of real historical development.

The deeper, more multifaceted and objective understanding of the world, the wider and more significant the subjective capabilities of a person, the scope of his creative freedom. This is exactly what the Leninist partisanship of art requires - the combination of the depth of objective knowledge with the pathos of subjective activity. When the subjective aspirations of the individual coincide with the objective course of history, then the individual gains perspective, confidence.

As a result, a basis arises for the revolutionary activity of a person, for the comprehensive development of his talents, and in particular for the formation and flourishing of various artistic and creative individuals, which explains the extraordinary breadth of the aesthetic possibilities of socialist art. Social realism expresses the historical perspective of the development of progressive art, relying in its movement on the entire previous experience of world literature and art. The artistic innovation of Socialist Realism was already evident in its early stages. With the works of Gorky "Mother", "Enemies", the Andersen-Neksö novels "Pelle the Conqueror" and "Ditte, Child of Man", proletarian poetry of the late 19th century, a reflection of the struggle between the old and the new world, the formation of man - a fighter and creator of the new society.

This determined the nature of the new aesthetic ideal, historical optimism - the disclosure of the collisions of modernity in the perspective of social revolutionary development; Gorky inspired a person with confidence in his strength, in his future, poeticized the work and practice of revolutionary activity.

From the first steps of Soviet literature, its main theme was the "global conflagration" of the revolution. At the same time, the theme of the pre-revolutionary world occupied an important place, which, however, was not a simple continuation of the traditions of critical realism: the past was perceived in a new aesthetic light, the pathos of the image was determined by the idea that there was no return to the past. A new quality of historicism in the literature of Socialist Realism took shape in comparison with the historicism of critical realism (The Artamonov Case and The Life of Klim Samgin by M. Gorky), various genres of satire were developed (Mayakovsky, Ya. Gashek), and S. p. did not copy classical genres, but enriched them, which was reflected primarily in the novel.

Already in the first major works of Soviet prose, a folk-epic scale appeared in the depiction of the revolution ("Chapaev" by D. Furmanov, "The Iron Stream" by A. S. Serafimovich, "The Rout" by Fadeev). Different than in the epics of the 19th century, the picture of "the fate of the people" appeared. In the novels of the 20-30s. the element of the people in the revolution, and the organization of the element by the "iron will" of the Bolsheviks, and the formation of a socialist collective were portrayed.

The image of the masses was combined with the depiction of individual and holistic characters representing this mass ("Quiet Flows the Don" by Sholokhov, "Walking through the torments" by A. N. Tolstoy, novels by F. Gladkov, L. Leonov, K. Fedin, A. Malyshkin, etc. .). The epic nature of the novel of Socialist Realism was also manifested in the work of writers from other countries (L. Aragon - France, A. Zegers - GDR, M. Puimanova - Czechoslovakia, J. Amado - Brazil). Literature and art of Socialist Realism created a new image of a positive hero - a fighter, a builder, a leader. Through him, the historical optimism of Socialist Realism is more fully revealed: the hero affirms faith in the victory of communist ideas, despite individual defeats and losses.

The term "optimistic tragedy" can be applied to many works that convey the dramatic situations of the revolutionary struggle: "The Defeat" by Fadeev, plays by V. Vishnevsky, F. Wolf (GDR), "Report with a noose around his neck" by Y. Fuchik (Czechoslovakia). Socialist realism is characterized by works depicting revolutionary heroism and its bearers, leading the masses. Pavel Vlasov, the hero of M. Gorky's novel "Mother", was the first classical image of the proletarian leader; later - Levinson ("The Defeat" of Fadeev), Korchagin ("How the Steel Was Tempered" by N. A. Ostrovsky), Davydov ("Virgin Soil Upturned" by Sholokhov). Karaslavova

The images of communist leaders are embodied in the books of J. Amado, M. Puimanova, V. Bredel (GDR), G. Karaslavov (Bulgaria). The positive heroes of Socialist Realism are different in nature and scale of activity, in temperament, and mental disposition. The variety of different types of heroes is an integral feature of Socialist Realism. From the first years of the October Revolution of 1917, the image of V. I. Lenin entered the poetry of many peoples - realistic and at the same time acting as a symbol of the revolution, absorbing all the romanticism of the era.

The formation of Socialist Realism was inseparable from the pathos of establishing a new life, elation in reproducing the heroism of the revolutionary struggle during the Civil War, the socialist restructuring of the country, the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. These features were widely manifested in the poetry of the anti-fascist Resistance in France, Poland, Yugoslavia, and others, in works depicting the people's struggle ("The Sea Eagle" by J. Aldridge).

The work of artists of Socialist Realism is characterized by "... the ability to look at the present from the future" (Gorky A. M., see Lenin V. I. and Gorky A. M. Letters. Memoirs. Documents, 3rd ed., 1969, p. 378 ), due to the historical originality of the development of socialist society, in which the sprouts of a visible future clearly appear in the real phenomena of reality.

Socialist realism and internationalism represent a historically unified movement of art in the era of the socialist reorganization of the world. This commonality is manifested in the diversity of national paths and forms of development of the new method. According to Amado, shared by many artists, "in order for our books - novels and poetry - to serve the cause of the revolution, they must first of all be Brazilian, this is their ability to be international" (Second All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers. Verbatim Report , 1956, p. 88). In this regard, the experience of Soviet literature and art is of fundamental importance for world artistic development.

In the USSR, Socialist Realism is the unifying principle of Soviet literature as a whole, despite the differences in national literatures, their historical traditions, and other individual characteristics. The nature of the development of Socialist Realism and its stages were varied depending on the specific national-historical conditions in which it found support for its artistic originality, acquiring ever new forms and stylistic manifestations, as if being born anew each time, but at the same time maintaining a fundamental commonality. E. Mezhelaitis and A. Tvardovsky, Ch. Aitmatov and M. Stelmakh, V. Kozhevnikov, R. Gamzatov and Y. Smuul are artists who are different in style, but close to each other in the general ideological direction of creativity.

The process of formation of Socialist Realism included the moment of transition to its positions by a number of artists, whose work was built in line with other methods and directions. So, in the Soviet literature of the 20s. a number of writers who were formed in the pre-revolutionary era only gradually mastered new artistic trends, the socialist character of the new humanism, sometimes in sharp contradictions (the path of A. N. Tolstoy). A prominent role in the formation of the poetry of Socialist Realism in the West was played by artists associated with the so-called leftist avant-garde movements of the 10-20s. 20th century: L. Aragon, P. Eluard, I. Becher, N. Hikmet, V. Nezval, P. Neruda, A. Jozsef. The representatives of critical realism of the 20th century also experienced the influence of Socialist Realism: K. Czapek, R. Rolland, R. Martin du Gard, G. Mann, and others. Sadovyanu, A. Zweig). Zweig

A contribution to the development of the theory of new art was made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. prominent Marxist aesthetics (the works of G. Plekhanov, V. Vorovsky, M. Olminsky, F. Mehring, D. Blagoev, Yu. Prominent theorists of socialist art spoke abroad: R. Focke, G. Bakalov, T. Pavlov, J. Fick, B. Vaclavek, K. Konrad, E. Urke, J. Jovanovich. creators of new art - Gorky, Becher, Brecht, I. Volker, Fadeev.

Social realism must be understood historically as a changing and at the same time internally unified creative process. The aesthetics of Socialist Realism now encompasses the entire multinational experience of the art of the countries of socialism, the revolutionary art of the bourgeois West, and the cultures of the "Third World", which develops in a complex confrontation of various influences.

Social realism is constantly expanding its boundaries, acquiring the significance of the leading artistic method of the modern era. This expansion, by virtue of the principles that determine it, is opposed to the so-called. the theory of "realism without shores" by R. Garaudy, aimed essentially at destroying the ideological foundations of the new art, at blurring the lines separating realism from modernism. At the same time, it renders fruitless attempts at dogmatic definitions of the creative methods of Socialist Realism. Marxist aesthetic theory, relying on the international experience of socialist art, came to the conclusion about its widest possibilities.

Social realism is considered as a new type of artistic consciousness, not closed within one or even several ways of depiction, but representing a historically open system of forms of artistically truthful depiction of life, absorbing the advanced trends of the world artistic process and finding new forms for their expression. Therefore, the concept of social realism is inextricably linked with the concept of artistic progress, reflecting the progressive movement of society towards ever more multidimensional and full-fledged forms of spiritual life.

XX centuries The method covered all areas of artistic activity (literature, drama, cinema, painting, sculpture, music and architecture). It affirmed the following principles:

• describe reality "accurately, in accordance with the specific historical revolutionary development."
• coordinate their artistic expression with the themes of ideological reforms and the education of workers in the socialist spirit.

History of origin and development

The term "socialist realism" was first proposed by I. Gronsky, chairman of the Organizing Committee of the USSR Writers' Union, in Literaturnaya Gazeta on May 23, 1932. It arose in connection with the need to direct the RAPP and the avant-garde to the artistic development of Soviet culture. Decisive in this was the recognition of the role of classical traditions and understanding of the new qualities of realism. In 1932-1933 Gronsky and head. the sector of fiction of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks V. Kirpotin intensively promoted this term.

At the 1st All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934, Maxim Gorky stated:

“Socialist realism affirms being as an act, as creativity, the purpose of which is the continuous development of the most valuable individual abilities of a person for the sake of his victory over the forces of nature, for the sake of his health and longevity, for the sake of great happiness to live on the earth, which he, in accordance with the continuous growth of his needs, wants to process everything, as a beautiful dwelling of mankind, united in one family.

The state needed to approve this method as the main one for better control over creative individuals and better propaganda of its policy. In the previous period, the twenties, there were Soviet writers who sometimes took aggressive positions in relation to many outstanding writers. For example, the RAPP, an organization of proletarian writers, was actively engaged in criticism of non-proletarian writers. The RAPP consisted mainly of aspiring writers. During the period of the creation of modern industry (the years of industrialization), the Soviet government needed art that lifts the people to "labor feats." The fine arts of the 1920s also presented a rather motley picture. It has several groups. The most significant was the Association of Artists of the Revolution group. They depicted today: the life of the Red Army, workers, peasantry, leaders of the revolution and labor. They considered themselves the heirs of the Wanderers. They went to factories, plants, to the Red Army barracks in order to directly observe the life of their characters, to “draw” it. It was they who became the main backbone of the artists of "socialist realism". Less traditional masters had a much harder time, in particular, members of the OST (Society of Easel Painters), which united young people who graduated from the first Soviet art university.

Gorky solemnly returned from exile and headed the specially created Union of Writers of the USSR, which included mainly writers and poets of a pro-Soviet orientation.

Characteristic

Definition in terms of official ideology

For the first time, an official definition of socialist realism was given in the Charter of the Writers' Union of the USSR, adopted at the First Congress of the Writers' Union:

Socialist realism, being the main method of Soviet fiction and literary criticism, requires from the artist a truthful, historically concrete depiction of reality in its revolutionary development. Moreover, the truthfulness and historical concreteness of the artistic depiction of reality must be combined with the task of ideological reworking and education in the spirit of socialism.

This definition became the starting point for all further interpretations up to the 80s.

« socialist realism is a deeply vital, scientific and most advanced artistic method, developed as a result of the successes of socialist construction and the education of Soviet people in the spirit of communism. The principles of socialist realism ... were a further development of Lenin's teaching on the partisanship of literature. (Great Soviet Encyclopedia , )

Lenin expressed the idea that art should stand on the side of the proletariat in the following way:

“Art belongs to the people. The deepest springs of art can be found among a wide class of working people... Art must be based on their feelings, thoughts and demands and must grow with them.

Principles of social realism

• Ideology. Show the peaceful life of the people, the search for ways to a new, better life, heroic deeds in order to achieve a happy life for all people.

• concreteness. In the image of reality, show the process of historical development, which, in turn, must correspond to the materialistic understanding of history (in the process of changing the conditions of their existence, people change their consciousness and attitude towards the surrounding reality).

As the definition from the Soviet textbook stated, the method implied the use of the heritage of world realistic art, but not as a simple imitation of great examples, but with a creative approach. “The method of socialist realism predetermines the deep connection of works of art with contemporary reality, the active participation of art in socialist construction. The tasks of the method of socialist realism require from each artist a true understanding of the meaning of the events taking place in the country, the ability to evaluate the phenomena of social life in their development, in complex dialectical interaction.

The method included the unity of realism and Soviet romance, combining the heroic and romantic with "a realistic statement of the true truth of the surrounding reality." It was argued that in this way the humanism of "critical realism" was supplemented by "socialist humanism".

The state gave orders, sent on creative business trips, organized exhibitions - thus stimulating the development of the layer of art that it needed.

In literature

The writer, in the famous expression of Stalin, is "an engineer of human souls." With his talent, he must influence the reader as a propagandist. He educates the reader in the spirit of devotion to the party and supports it in the struggle for the victory of communism. The subjective actions and aspirations of the individual had to correspond to the objective course of history. Lenin wrote: “Literature must become party literature… Down with the non-party writers. Down with the superhuman writers! Literary work must become a part of the common proletarian cause, "cogs and wheels" of one single great social-democratic mechanism set in motion by the entire conscious vanguard of the entire working class.

A literary work in the genre of socialist realism should be built "on the idea of ​​the inhumanity of any form of exploitation of man by man, expose the crimes of capitalism, inflame the minds of readers and viewers with just anger, and inspire them to the revolutionary struggle for socialism."

Maxim Gorky wrote the following about socialist realism:

It is vital and creative for our writers to take a point of view from the height of which - and only from its height - all the dirty crimes of capitalism, all the meanness of its bloody intentions are clearly visible, and all the greatness of the heroic work of the proletariat-dictator is visible.

He also claimed:

"... the writer must have a good knowledge of the history of the past and knowledge of the social phenomena of the present, in which he is called upon to play two roles at the same time: the role of a midwife and a gravedigger."

Gorky believed that the main task of socialist realism is the education of a socialist, revolutionary view of the world, a corresponding sense of the world.

Criticism

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Socialist realism is an artistic method of literature and art and, more broadly, an aesthetic system that took shape at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. and established in the era of the socialist reorganization of the world.

The concept of socialist realism first appeared on the pages of Literaturnaya Gazeta (May 23, 1932). The definition of socialist realism was given at the First Congress of Soviet Writers (1934). In the Charter of the Union of Soviet Writers, socialist realism was defined as the main method of fiction and criticism, requiring from the artist “a truthful, historically concrete depiction of reality in its revolutionary development. At the same time, the truthfulness and historical concreteness of the artistic depiction of reality must be combined with the task of ideologically reshaping and educating the working people in the spirit of socialism. This general direction of the artistic method did not in any way restrict the freedom of the writer in choosing artistic forms, “providing, as stated in the Charter, for artistic creativity an exceptional opportunity for the manifestation of creative initiative, the choice of various forms, styles and genres.”

M. Gorky gave a broad description of the artistic wealth of socialist realism in a report at the First Congress of Soviet Writers, showing that "socialist realism affirms being as an act, as creativity, the goal of which is the continuous development of the most valuable individual abilities of a person ...".

If the emergence of the term dates back to the 30s, and the first major works of socialist realism (M. Gorky, M. Andersen-Nexo) appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, then certain features of the method and some aesthetic principles were already outlined in the 19th century. since the rise of Marxism.

“Conscious historical content”, an understanding of reality from the standpoint of the revolutionary working class can to a certain extent already be found in many works of the 19th century: in the prose and poetry of G. Weert, in W. Morris’s novel “News from Nowhere, or the Age of Happiness”, in the works the poet of the Paris Commune E. Pottier.

Thus, with the entry into the historical arena of the proletariat, with the spread of Marxism, a new, socialist art and socialist aesthetics are being formed. Literature and art absorb the new content of the historical process, beginning to illuminate it in the light of the ideals of socialism, summarizing the experience of the world revolutionary movement, the Paris Commune, and from the end of the 19th century. - revolutionary movement in Russia.

The question of the traditions on which the art of socialist realism relies can be resolved only by taking into account the diversity and richness of national cultures. Thus, Soviet prose is largely based on the tradition of Russian critical realism of the 19th century. Polish literature of the 19th century romanticism was the leading trend, its experience has a noticeable influence on the modern literature of this country.

The richness of traditions in the world literature of socialist realism is determined primarily by the diversity of national ways (both social and aesthetic, artistic) of the formation and development of a new method. For writers of some nationalities of our country, the artistic experience of folk narrators, the themes, manner, style of the ancient epic (for example, among the Kyrgyz "Manas") is of great importance.

The artistic innovation of the literature of socialist realism was already reflected in the early stages of its development. With the works of M. Gorky "Mother", "Enemies" (which were of particular importance for the development of socialist realism), as well as the novels of M. Andersen-Neksö "Pelle the Conqueror" and "Ditte - a human child", proletarian poetry of the late XIX century. literature included not only new themes and characters, but also a new aesthetic ideal.

Already in the first Soviet novels, the folk-epic scale in the depiction of the revolution manifested itself. The epic breath of the era is palpable in "Chapaev" by D. A. Furmanov, "Iron Stream" by A. S. Serafimovich, "The Rout" by A. A. Fadeev. In a different way than in the epics of the 19th century, the picture of the fate of the people is shown. The people appear not as a victim, not as a mere participant in events, but as the driving force of history. The image of the masses was gradually combined with the deepening of psychologism in the depiction of individual human characters representing this mass (“Quiet Flows the Don” by M. A. Sholokhov, “Walking through the torments” by A. N. Tolstoy, novels by F. V. Gladkov, L. M. Leonov, K. A. Fedin, A. G. Malyshkin, etc.). The epic scale of the novel of socialist realism was also manifested in the work of writers from other countries (in France - L. Aragon, in Czechoslovakia - M. Puimanova, in the GDR - A. Zegers, in Brazil - J. Amado).

The literature of socialist realism has created a new image of a positive hero - a fighter, a builder, a leader. Through him, the historical optimism of the artist of socialist realism is more fully revealed: the hero affirms faith in the victory of communist ideas, despite temporary defeats and losses. The term "optimistic tragedy" can be attributed to many works that convey difficult situations of revolutionary struggle: "The Defeat" by A. A. Fadeev, "The First Horse", Vs. V. Vishnevsky, "The Dead Remain Young" A. Zegers, "Reporting with a noose around his neck" Y. Fuchik.

Romance is an organic feature of the literature of socialist realism. The years of the civil war, the restructuring of the country, the heroism of the Great Patriotic War and the anti-fascist resistance determined in art both the real content of romantic pathos and romantic pathos in the transfer of reality. Romantic features were widely manifested in the poetry of the anti-fascist Resistance in France, Poland and other countries; in works depicting popular struggle, for example, in the novel by the English writer J. Aldridge "The Sea Eagle". The romantic beginning in one form or another is always present in the work of artists of socialist realism, going back in its essence to the romance of socialist reality itself.

Socialist realism is a historically unified movement of art within the epoch of the socialist reorganization of the world common to all its manifestations. However, this community is, as it were, born anew in specific national conditions. Socialist realism is international in its essence. The international beginning is its integral feature; it is expressed in it both historically and ideologically, reflecting the internal unity of the multinational socio-historical process. The idea of ​​socialist realism is constantly expanding as the democratic and socialist elements in the culture of a given country become stronger.

Socialist realism is a unifying principle for Soviet literature as a whole, with all the differences in national cultures depending on their traditions, the time they entered the literary process (some literatures have a centuries-old tradition, others received writing only during the years of Soviet power). With all the diversity of national literatures, there are tendencies that unite them, which, without erasing the individual characteristics of each literature, reflect the growing rapprochement of nations.

A. T. Tvardovsky, R. G. Gamzatov, Ch. T. Aitmatov, M. A. Stelmakh are artists who are deeply different in their individual and national artistic traits, in the nature of their poetic style, but at the same time they are close friends. friend in the general direction of creativity.

The international principle of socialist realism is also clearly manifested in the world literary process. While the principles of socialist realism were being formed, the international artistic experience of literature created on the basis of this method was relatively poor. A huge role in the expansion and enrichment of this experience was played by the influence of M. Gorky, V. V. Mayakovsky, M. A. Sholokhov, and all Soviet literature and art. Later, the diversity of socialist realism was revealed in foreign literature, and the greatest masters came to the fore: P. Neruda, B. Brecht, A. Zegers, J. Amado, and others.

Exceptional diversity was revealed in the poetry of socialist realism. So, for example, there is poetry that continues the tradition of folk songs, classical, realistic lyrics of the 19th century. (A. T. Tvardovsky, M. V. Isakovsky). Another style was designated by V. V. Mayakovsky, who began with a breakdown of classical verse. The diversity of national traditions in recent years has been revealed in the work of R. G. Gamzatov, E. Mezhelaitis and others.

In a speech on November 20, 1965 (on the occasion of receiving the Nobel Prize), M. A. Sholokhov formulated the main content of the concept of socialist realism as follows: “I am talking about realism, which carries the pathos of renewing life, remaking it for the benefit of man. I am talking, of course, about the kind of realism that we now call socialist. Its originality lies in the fact that it expresses a worldview that does not accept either contemplation or escape from reality, calling for the struggle for the progress of mankind, making it possible to comprehend goals that are close to millions of people, to illuminate the path of struggle for them. From this follows the conclusion about how I, as a Soviet writer, think of the place of an artist in the modern world.

“Socialist realism affirms being as an act, as creativity, the goal of which is the continuous development of the most valuable individual abilities of a person for the sake of his victory over the forces of nature, for the sake of his health and longevity, for the sake of great happiness to live on the earth, which he, in accordance with the continuous growth of his needs, wants to process everything, as a wonderful dwelling of mankind, united in one family ”(M. Gorky).

This characteristic of the method was given by M. Gorky at the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934. And the term “socialist realism” itself was proposed by the journalist and literary critic I. Gronsky in 1932. But the idea of ​​the new method belongs to A.V. Lunacharsky, revolutionary and Soviet statesman.
A perfectly justified question: why was a new method (and a new term) needed if realism already existed in art? And how did socialist realism differ from just realism?

On the need for socialist realism

The new method was needed in a country that was building a new socialist society.

P. Konchalovsky "From the mowing" (1948)
First, it was necessary to control the creative process of creative individuals, i.e. now the task of art was to promote the policy of the state - there were still enough of those artists who sometimes took an aggressive position in relation to what was happening in the country.

P. Kotov "Worker"
Secondly, these were the years of industrialization, and the Soviet government needed an art that would raise the people to "labor exploits."

M. Gorky (Alexey Maksimovich Peshkov)
Having returned from emigration, M. Gorky headed the Union of Writers of the USSR, created in 1934, which included mainly writers and poets of a Soviet orientation.
The method of socialist realism demanded from the artist a truthful, historically concrete depiction of reality in its revolutionary development. Moreover, the truthfulness and historical concreteness of the artistic depiction of reality must be combined with the task of ideological reworking and education in the spirit of socialism. This setting for cultural figures in the USSR operated until the 1980s.

Principles of socialist realism

The new method did not deny the heritage of world realistic art, but predetermined the deep connection of works of art with contemporary reality, the active participation of art in socialist construction. Each artist had to understand the meaning of the events taking place in the country, be able to evaluate the phenomena of social life in their development.

A. Plastov "Haymaking" (1945)
The method did not exclude Soviet romance, the need to combine the heroic and the romantic.
The state gave orders to creative people, sent them on creative business trips, organized exhibitions, stimulating the development of new art.
The main principles of socialist realism were nationalism, ideology and concreteness.

Socialist realism in literature

M. Gorky believed that the main task of socialist realism is the education of a socialist, revolutionary view of the world, a corresponding sense of the world.

Konstantin Simonov
The most significant writers representing the method of socialist realism: Maxim Gorky, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Alexander Tvardovsky, Veniamin Kaverin, Anna Zegers, Vilis Latsis, Nikolai Ostrovsky, Alexander Serafimovich, Fyodor Gladkov, Konstantin Simonov, Caesar Solodar, Mikhail Sholokhov, Nikolai Nosov, Alexander Fadeev , Konstantin Fedin, Dmitry Furmanov, Yuriko Miyamoto, Marietta Shaginyan, Yulia Drunina, Vsevolod Kochetov and others.

N. Nosov (Soviet children's writer, best known as the author of works about Dunno)
As we can see, the list also includes the names of writers from other countries.

Anna Zegers(1900-1983) - German writer, member of the Communist Party of Germany.

Yuriko Miyamoto(1899-1951) - Japanese writer, representative of proletarian literature, member of the Communist Party of Japan. These writers supported the socialist ideology.

Alexander Alexandrovich Fadeev (1901-1956)

Russian Soviet writer and public figure. Laureate of the Stalin Prize of the first degree (1946).
From childhood, he showed the ability to write, was distinguished by the ability to fantasize. He was fond of adventure literature.
While still studying at the Vladivostok Commercial School, he carried out the instructions of the underground committee of the Bolsheviks. He wrote his first story in 1922. In the course of working on the novel The Defeat, he decided to become a professional writer. "Defeat" brought fame and recognition to the young writer.

Frame from the film "Young Guard" (1947)
His most famous novel is “Young Guard” (about the Krasnodon underground organization “Young Guard”, which operated on the territory occupied by Nazi Germany, many of whose members were destroyed by the Nazis. In mid-February 1943, after the liberation of Donetsk Krasnodon by Soviet troops, not far from the city of mine No. 5, several dozen corpses of teenagers tortured by the Nazis, who during the period of occupation were in the underground organization Young Guard, were recovered.
The book was published in 1946. The writer was sharply criticized for the fact that the “leading and guiding” role of the Communist Party was not clearly expressed in the novel; he received criticism in the Pravda newspaper, in fact, from Stalin himself. In 1951, he created the second edition of the novel, and in it he paid more attention to the leadership of the underground organization by the CPSU (b).
Standing at the head of the Union of Writers of the USSR, A. Fadeev carried out the decisions of the party and government in relation to the writers M.M. Zoshchenko, A.A. Akhmatova, A.P. Platonov. In 1946, the well-known decree of Zhdanov came out, effectively destroying Zoshchenko and Akhmatova as writers. Fadeev was among those who carried out this sentence. But the human feelings in him were not completely killed, he tried to help the financially distressed M. Zoshchenko, and also fussed about the fate of other writers who were in opposition to the authorities (B. Pasternak, N. Zabolotsky, L. Gumilyov, A. Platonov). Hardly experiencing such a split, he fell into depression.
May 13, 1956 Alexander Fadeev shot himself with a revolver at his dacha in Peredelkino. “... My life, as a writer, loses all meaning, and with great joy, as a deliverance from this vile existence, where meanness, lies and slander fall upon you, I am leaving life. The last hope was to at least say this to the people who rule the state, but for the past 3 years, despite my requests, they can’t even accept me. I ask you to bury me next to my mother ”(A. A. Fadeev’s suicide letter to the Central Committee of the CPSU. May 13, 1956).

Socialist realism in the visual arts

In the visual arts of the 1920s, several groups emerged. The most significant group was the Association of Artists of the Revolution.

"Association of Artists of the Revolution" (AHR)

S. Malyutin "Portrait of Furmanov" (1922). State Tretyakov Gallery
This large association of Soviet artists, graphic artists and sculptors was the most numerous, it was supported by the state. The association lasted 10 years (1922-1932) and was the forerunner of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Pavel Radimov, the last head of the Association of the Wanderers, became the head of the association. From that moment on, the Wanderers as an organization actually ceased to exist. The AKhRites rejected the avant-garde, although the 1920s were the heyday of the Russian avant-garde, which also wanted to work for the benefit of the revolution. But the paintings of these artists were not understood and accepted by society. Here, for example, the work of K. Malevich "Reaper".

K. Malevich "Reaper" (1930)
Here is what the artists of the AHR declared: “Our civic duty to humanity is the artistic and documentary depiction of the greatest moment in history in its revolutionary outburst. We will depict today: the life of the Red Army, the life of the workers, the peasantry, the leaders of the revolution and the heroes of labor ... We will give a real picture of events, and not abstract fabrications that discredit our revolution in the face of the international proletariat.
The main task of the members of the Association was to create genre paintings based on subjects from modern life, in which they developed the traditions of painting by the Wanderers and "brought art closer to life."

I. Brodsky “V. I. Lenin in Smolny in 1917” (1930)
The main activity of the Association in the 1920s was exhibitions, of which about 70 were organized in the capital and other cities. These exhibitions were very popular. Depicting the present day (the life of the Red Army soldiers, workers, peasantry, leaders of the revolution and labor), the artists of the AHR considered themselves the heirs of the Wanderers. They visited factories, factories, Red Army barracks to observe the life of their characters. It was they who became the main backbone of the artists of socialist realism.

V. Favorsky
Representatives of socialist realism in painting and graphics were E. Antipova, I. Brodsky, P. Buchkin, P. Vasiliev, B. Vladimirsky, A. Gerasimov, S. Gerasimov, A. Deineka, P. Konchalovsky, D. Maevsky, S. Osipov, A. Samokhvalov, V. Favorsky and others.

Socialist realism in sculpture

In the sculpture of socialist realism, the names of V. Mukhina, N. Tomsky, E. Vuchetich, S. Konenkov, and others are known.

Vera Ignatievna Mukhina (1889 -1953)

M. Nesterov "Portrait of V. Mukhina" (1940)

Soviet monumental sculptor, Academician of the USSR Academy of Arts, People's Artist of the USSR. Laureate of five Stalin Prizes.
Her monument "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" was installed in Paris at the World Exhibition of 1937. Since 1947, this sculpture has been the emblem of the Mosfilm film studio. The monument is made of stainless chromium-nickel steel. The height is about 25 m (the height of the pavilion-pedestal is 33 m). Total weight 185 tons.

V. Mukhina "Worker and Collective Farm Girl"
V. Mukhina is the author of many monuments, sculptural works and decorative and applied items.

V. Mukhina "Monument" P.I. Tchaikovsky" near the building of the Moscow Conservatory

V. Mukhina "Monument to Maxim Gorky" (Nizhny Novgorod)
An outstanding Soviet sculptor-monumentalist was N.V. Tomsk.

N. Tomsky "Monument to P. S. Nakhimov" (Sevastopol)
Thus, socialist realism has made its worthy contribution to art.