The novel "What to do?" unique in terms of genre. There is no lyrical beginning in it. Everything is very rational. In it you can see the genres: social-utopian, political and philosophical novel.

Art, according to Chernyshevsky, should truthfully “reproduce life.” A clear confirmation of these thoughts of Chernyshevsky is given by his novel, written in full accordance with the aesthetic views of the author. All the merits of the story are given to it only by its truth, notes Chernyshevsky. The desire for “truth” determined the absence of “showiness” and “embellishment” in the novel. Its content is simple and significant, just as life is simple and significant. In an effort to strengthen the impression of “truth”, the authenticity of what is being told, Chernyshevsky introduces “human documents” into the novel: Vera Pavlovna’s diaries, letters from Lopukhov and Katya Polozova, Kryukova’s confessional story, etc.

“Poetry is in the truth of life,” said Chernyshevsky. Promoting the ideas of socialism, he was not afraid to introduce into the novel a special chapter about how Vera Pavlovna’s workshop was organized, or a letter from Katya Polozova, proving with detailed digital calculations the benefits and advantages of free collective labor. From the introduction of such chapters, the novel gained in truthfulness, and the prosaic details themselves ceased to be prosaic and, with their irresistible persuasiveness, gave the impression of a “miracle.”

"What to do?" - philosophical and journalistic novel. The novel indicated what to do, how to live, what to strive for. Therefore, it seems natural to use the author’s intervention in the lives of the characters, his discussions about women’s independence and the benefits of science. For Chernyshevsky himself, “What to do?” is a novel, a full-fledged literary work associated with certain traditions in Russian and world literature (Diderot, Montesquieu, Voltaire, George Sand, Herzen) and polemically opposed to the theory and practice of a hostile aesthetic school. And in the text of the novel itself, Chernyshevsky persistently asserts his understanding of the principles of artistry. A dispute with an astute reader was necessary for the author to discredit aesthetic theories alien to him, because astute reader not only embodies the philistine worldview, but belongs to the camp of “pure aesthetics”, expresses their established concepts and ideas.

The highest ethical law for Chernyshevsky and his favorite heroes is simple. Happiness for one is impossible if it is built on the misfortune of another. This is how the concept of rational egoism arises, of calculating benefits: we must make sure that all people are happy and free. The heroes of the novel see their personal benefit in the struggle for the happiness of the entire people. They are guided by these same noble principles when they strive to rethink the difficult situation that has arisen in their personal lives. According to Chernyshevsky, the attitude of people in love, in the family is a test, a test of their social maturity, perseverance, integrity, readiness to fight for human rights in a broader sphere. And it is quite natural that the theme of love in the novel directly leads to Vera Pavlovna’s fourth dream, where we're talking about about the future triumph of communism. For Chernyshevsky, communism is not just a palace made of cast iron and glass, aluminum furniture, machines that do almost everything for a person. This is a new nature of human relationships, and in particular, a new nature of love.

Chernyshevsky's innovation as a writer was manifested primarily in the creation of images of representatives of the revolutionary democratic camp. These include Lopukhov, Kirsanov, Vera Pavlovna. These, according to the author’s description, are new people - “kind and strong, knowledgeable and able.” Along with these new people, one can also distinguish higher, exceptional people (Rakhmetov is one of them).

Chernyshevsky’s images of “new people” are presented in development. This structural originality of the work is most clearly manifested through the image of Rakhmetov, whom the author calls a special person. This is a professional revolutionary who consciously gave his life to serving the great cause of liberating the people from centuries-old oppression.

The difference between a special person and ordinary “new people” in the novel is not absolute, but relative. The heroes of the work can rise one step higher - and there is no end to this movement. That's the point plot development: life does not stand still, it develops, and the author’s favorite heroes grow with it. A break with the old world was once fundamentally important and necessary for them. Now reality itself poses new challenges for them. The family and everyday plot naturally develops into a socio-political one. Therefore, Chernyshevsky does not end the novel with a picture of the serene happiness of the heroes. A new character appears - a lady in mourning with her tragic fate. Thus, in the plot, in the system of images, the author conveyed the concept of patterns historical development Russian life of those years. The heroes go into revolution, although this portends not only joy, but also sadness, perhaps even mourning, not only victory, but also temporary defeats.

The most important character trait of Vera Pavlovna is her deep aversion to all kinds of oppression and the desire for independence and freedom. “I only know,” she says to Julie, “that I don’t want to give in to anyone, I want to be free, I don’t want to owe anything to anyone, I want not to restrict anyone’s freedom and I want to be free myself.” She says the same thing to Lopukhov: “The main thing is independence! To do what I want, to live as I want, without asking anyone, without demanding anything from anyone, without needing anyone! This is how I want to live!”

Another characteristic feature Vera Pavlovna’s ability to take practical action, organizational talent, and the ability to overcome difficulties and adversity. Coming out of the “basement,” she begins to fight for the liberation of other women, sets up sewing workshops, and organizes the life and work of many girls in a new way. By freeing herself, she frees others.

She is characterized by a constant desire for spiritual growth, improvement, she is not satisfied with what has been done, and is alien to stagnation. Like other “new people” of Chernyshevsky, she can only be happy when she brings joy and happiness to other people. She knows that personal happiness is “impossible without the happiness of others.” Like all “new people,” Vera Pavlovna unshakably believes in the triumph of the people’s cause, in the fact that “this will certainly be so, that it cannot not happen.”

In the storylines, one can highlight the following of certain traditions: the motive of a girl’s suffering in her own family, alien to her in spirit, and a meeting with a person of high civil ideals, the situation of a love triangle, from which a woman finds a way out.

The novel What to Do has a through-line narrative. This is a story about the formation younger generation builders of a new life. Therefore, stories about Dmitry Lopukhov and Alexander Kirsanov, Katya Polozova, Nastya Kryukova, Rakhmetov are naturally included in the story about the life of Vera Pavlovna. The originality of the novel genre lies in the combination of three content-structural elements in it: a description of intimate and family life, an analysis of the process of mastering a new ideology and morality, and characterization of ways to realize ideals in reality.

The unity of the novel is also given by the function of the author-narrator. It plays the role of a "brace". The narrator constantly addresses the reader in his judgments. The author-narrator substantiates the “main requirements of artistry”, new principles of plotting “without any tricks”. The creative laboratory of the novel opens before the reader: in the narrator’s digressions we talk about the relationship between documentary and fictional realism in art. The dialogue with the reader is built on the principle of gradation: starting with a question, the conversation gradually acquires a moralizing character, and the intonation of a solemn address is replaced by outright mockery.

A special role in the structure of the novel belongs to Vera Pavlovna’s dreams, which are necessary to disguise revolutionary and socialist ideas. Dreams are an interpretation of the key elements of an event plot. In the first two, Vera’s relationship with “vulgar people” is completed. The third - psychologically substantiates the second marriage, the fourth - the idea spiritual world the developed personality of Vera Pavlovna and the image of a wonderful future was created.

The important role of poetic inclusions in dreams. They perform several functions. They can be considered as a lyrical version of the main theme of the novel - the theme of liberation, sounding in the journalistic digressions of the author-narrator. Poetic inserts introduce into the novel the motif of an inspired poet singing a hymn to the sun, light and love.

In his novel, Chernyshevsky introduced the reader to different types of “new people”. He risked an artistic substantiation of the possibility of dividing new people into ordinary (Lopukhov, Kiranov, Vera, Polozova, Mertsalova) and special (Rakhmetov). Chernyshevsky almost deprived Rakhmetov of his individuality. He does not show a special hero in the field of practical activity, as happens with ordinary people who carry out educational work among the people. The image of Rakhmetov is limited by his peculiarity: in the event of victory or destruction of the cause, he must assimilate with ordinary people. accepting their way of life.

The highest ethical law for Chernyshevsky and his favorite heroes is simple. Happiness for one is impossible if it is built on the misfortune of another. This is how the concept of rational egoism arises, of calculating benefits: we must make sure that all people are happy and free. The heroes of the novel see their personal benefit in the struggle for the happiness of the entire people. They are guided by these same noble principles when they strive to rethink the difficult situation that has arisen in their personal lives. According to Chernyshevsky, the attitude of people in love, in the family is a test, a test of their social maturity, perseverance, integrity, readiness to fight for human rights in a broader sphere. And it is quite natural that the theme of love in the novel directly leads to Vera Pavlovna’s fourth dream, where we are talking about the future triumph of communism. For Chernyshevsky, communism is not just a palace made of cast iron and glass, aluminum furniture, machines that do almost everything for a person. This is a new nature of human relationships, and in particular, a new nature of love.

According to numerous memoirs of contemporaries, it is known that the novel was greeted with extraordinary enthusiasm by progressive youth, who perceived it as “a revelation and a program.” Chernyshevsky created his novel, guided by those basic aesthetic principles, which were formulated in his famous dissertation. However, we must not forget that Chernyshevsky’s aesthetic views did not remain unchanged. They were refined in the process of his literary critical activity. The experience of directly working on a work of art, in turn, forced him to reconsider or rethink some ideas, the simplicity or clarity of which he no longer felt from the position of a theorist, but from the point of view of a practitioner.

System of images in romance. Ordinary people and a special person. The innovation of Chernyshevsky as a writer was manifested primarily in the creation of images of representatives of the revolutionary-democratic camp. These include Lopukhov, Kirsanov, Vera Pavlovna. These, according to the author’s description, are new people - “kind and strong, knowledgeable and able.”

Thus, for Chernyshevsky himself, “What to do?” is a novel, a full-fledged literary work associated with certain traditions in Russian and world literature (Diderot, Montesquieu, Voltaire, George Sand, Herzen) and polemically opposed to the theory and practice of a hostile aesthetic school. And in the text of the novel itself, Chernyshevsky persistently asserts his understanding of the principles of artistry. A dispute with an insightful reader was necessary for the author to discredit aesthetic theories alien to him, for an insightful reader not only embodies the philistine worldview, but belongs to the camp of “pure aesthetics”, expresses their established concepts and ideas.

Forms and techniques psychological analysis in the novel “What to do?” are also internally polemical. The author and his heroes not only act, but, above all, think according to the laws of reason. Enlightenment rationalism takes on a new character in Chernyshevsky; it becomes an aesthetic category. The most complex feelings of heroes always lend themselves to rational interpretation. They don’t have any mental anguish or painful hesitation. They have such moral health, such stability in life, such optimism, which have not yet been found in Russian literature. The clarity and rationality of the feelings experienced by the characters in “What is to be done?” contrasts with irrationality inner world heroes of Dostoevsky.

The appearance on the pages of Sovremennik of Chernyshevsky’s novel, which was then located in the Peter and Paul Fortress, was an event of enormous importance both in terms of socio-political and literary. The fiery word of the writer was heard throughout Russia, calling for the fight for a future socialist society, for new life, built on the principles of reason, for truly human relationships between people, for a new revolutionary humanism.

However, in the process of work, Chernyshevsky comes to the conclusion that he has the necessary data to create a work of art - a novel, and not a memoir, a documentary narrative “from the life” of the author’s good friends. A few months after the end of What Is To Be Done? Chernyshevsky summed up his thoughts about artistic originality of his first novel: “...When I was writing “What is to be done?”, the thought began to appear in me: it may very well be that I have some creative power. I saw that I was not portraying my friends, I was not copying, that my faces were just as fictitious as Gogol’s faces...” These considerations of Chernyshevsky are extremely important not only as an autocharacteristic of the EGR own novel. They also have theoretical significance, helping, in particular, to judge a certain evolution in aesthetic views author. Now he realizes artistic nature of his work, pointing out the creative imagination manifested in it.

The difference between a special person and ordinary “new people” in the novel is not absolute, but relative. The heroes of the work can rise one step higher - and there is no end to this movement. This is the essence of plot development: life does not stand still, it develops, and the author’s favorite characters grow with it. A break with the old world was once fundamentally important and necessary for them. Now reality itself poses new challenges for them. The family and everyday plot naturally develops into a socio-political one. Therefore, Chernyshevsky does not end the novel with a picture of the serene happiness of the heroes. A new character appears - a lady in mourning with her tragic fate. Thus, in the plot, in the system of images, the author conveyed the concept of the laws of the historical development of Russian life in those years. The heroes go into revolution, although this portends not only joy, but also sadness, perhaps even mourning, not only victory, but also temporary defeats.

"What to do?" - a novel-sermon addressed to the masses of readers. Even in the article “Russian Man,” Chernyshevsky directly demanded: “What should I do now, let each of you say.” What to do? - this is the same one vital question, which became the title of the novel. When? Now, immediately, now. And everyone must resolve this issue, understanding their personal responsibility for everything that happens around them. These words, which Chernyshevsky wrote back in 1857, contain the grain of his novel.

The novel “What to do?” polemical in relation to many phenomena of contemporary Russian literature. It is considered established in science that it was partly conceived as a kind of response to Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons.” It can be added that Chernyshevsky consciously started from the creative experience of Goncharov (who, in turn, did not accept Chernyshevsky’s artistic method). Goncharov's world is predominantly static; Chernyshevsky's world, on the contrary, is dynamic. Reproduction of life in its movement and development directly follows from main feature novel "What to do?" - the power of thought.

Chernyshevsky’s images of “new people” are presented in development. This structural originality of the work is most clearly manifested through the image of Rakhmetov, whom the author calls a special person. This is a professional revolutionary who consciously gave his life to serving the great cause of liberating the people from centuries-old oppression.

NOVEL “WHAT TO DO?” ISSUES,

GENRE, COMPOSITION. "OLD WORLD"

IN THE IMAGE OF CHERNYSHEVSKY

Objectives: to introduce students to the creative history of the novel “What is to be done?”, talk about the prototypes of the novel’s heroes; give an idea of ​​the subject matter, genre and composition of the work; find out what the attractive power of Chernyshevsky’s book was for his contemporaries, how the novel “What is to be done?” on Russian literature; name the heroes of the novel, convey the content of the most important episodes, dwell on the writer’s depiction of the “old world”.

If the truth is holy

The world does not know how to find a road -

Honor the madman who inspires

A golden dream for humanity!

V. Kurochkin (translation from Beranger) 1862

There is nothing higher than a man, there is nothing higher than a woman (N.G. Chernyshevsky)

During the classes

Situation for girls: you have been married for more than 3 years, “how quietly and actively these years passed, how full they were of peace, and joy, and all the best.” (Ch. 3, V) You are happy, it seems that nothing can darken your relationship with your husband. One day your husband brings his old friend, a fellow university student, to the house. And from that moment on, he often visits you. After about six months, you realize that the feelings you had for your husband are anything but love. But love has awakened only now, and besides, it is mutual. How will you try to get out of this situation?

Girls offer different things: leave with your loved one (isn’t it cruel to your husband?), end all relationships with your husband’s friend (betray love?). There was also this option: hiding from her husband, having an affair with his friend, like Varvara Kabanova from “The Thunderstorm” by A.N. Ostrovsky (well, very modern!).

The young men, after listening to the “confessions of their wives,” answer the question: what will you do if you find yourself in this situation? The guys' answers are interesting, but in my lessons there has never been anything close to what the hero of the novel did. This is what we talk about next.

This is exactly the problem that the heroes of N.G. Chernyshevsky’s novel “What to do?” faced. How did you do it? loving husband? He guesses everything, does not wait for explanations and tells his wife that he is going to Moscow for a while. He himself, without leaving the city, rented a hotel room, and at night “at half past two o’clock... in the middle of the Liteiny Bridge a fire flashed and a shot was heard. The guards rushed to the shot, a few passers-by came running - there was no one and nothing at the place where the shot was heard. This means he didn’t shoot, but shot himself. There were hunters to dive, after a while they brought in hooks, they even brought some kind of fishing net, they dived, groped, caught, caught fifty large chips, but the bodies were not found or caught. And how to find it? - the night is dark." (I, “Fool”) On the morning of the same day, his wife receives a letter with the following content: “I embarrassed your calm. I'm leaving the stage. Don’t be sorry, I love you both so much that I am very happy with my determination. Farewell." (II, “The First Consequence of a Stupid Case”)

How do you evaluate this action?

There is usually someone in the classroom who shouts, “Fool!”

Apparently, that night you were in the crowd on the bridge. We open the first chapter of the novel and read its title. Yes, "Fool". Guys, what do you think the novel will be about?

Students offer options: about love, about a love triangle, or maybe it’s a detective story?

Most famous novel Chernyshevsky “What to do?” was written in the solitary confinement of the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress for as soon as possible: started December 14, 1862 and completed April 4, 1863. The novel's manuscript was double censored. First of all, members of the investigative commission, and then the censor of Sovremennik, became acquainted with Chernyshevsky’s work. To say that the censors completely “overlooked” the novel is not entirely true. Censor O. A. Przhetslavsky directly pointed out that “this work... turned out to be an apology for the way of thinking and actions of that category of the modern young generation, which is understood under the name “nihilists and materialists” and who call themselves “new people”. Another censor, V.N. Beketov, seeing the commission’s seal on the manuscript, was “imbued with awe” and let it pass without reading, for which he was fired.

The novel “What to do? From stories about new people” (this is the full title of Chernyshevsky’s work) caused a mixed reaction from readers. Progressive youth spoke with admiration about “What is to be done?” Fierce opponents of Chernyshevsky were forced to admit the “extraordinary power” of the novel’s impact on young people: “Young people followed Lopukhov and Kirsanov in a crowd, young girls became infected with the example of Vera Pavlovna... The minority found their ideal... in Rakhmetov.” Chernyshevsky's enemies, seeing the unprecedented success of the novel, demanded brutal reprisals against the author.

D. I. Pisarev, V. S. Kurochkin and their magazines spoke in defense of the novel (“ Russian word", "Iskra"), etc.

About prototypes. Literary scholars believe that the plotline is based on the life story of the Chernyshevsky family doctor, Pyotr Ivanovich Bokov. Bokov was the teacher of Maria Obrucheva, then, in order to free her from the oppression of her parents, he married her, but a few years later M. Obrucheva fell in love with another person - the scientist-physiologist I.M. Sechenov. Thus, the prototypes of Lopukhov were Bokov, Vera Pavlovna - Obruchev, Kirsanov - Sechenov.

In the image of Rakhmetov, features of Bakhmetyev, a Saratov landowner, who transferred part of his fortune to Herzen for the publication of a magazine and revolutionary work, are seen. (There is an episode in the novel when Rakhmetov, while abroad, transfers money to Feuerbach for the publication of his works). In the image of Rakhmetov one can also see those character traits that were inherent in Chernyshevsky himself, as well as Dobrolyubov and Nekrasov.

The novel “What to do?” Chernyshevsky dedicated to his wife Olga Sokratovna. In her memoirs, she wrote: “Verochka (Vera Pavlovna) - I, Lopukhov was taken from Bokov.”

The image of Vera Pavlovna captures the character traits of Olga Sokratovna Chernyshevskaya and Maria Obrucheva.

III. Teacher lecture(summary).

PROBLEMS OF THE NOVEL

In "What to do?" the author proposed the theme of a new theme discovered by Turgenev in “Fathers and Sons” public figure(mainly from commoners), who changed the type " extra person" E. Bazarov’s “nihilism” is opposed by the views of “new people”, his loneliness and tragic death - by their cohesion and resilience. “New people” are the main characters of the novel.

Problems of the novel: the emergence of “new people”; people of the “old world” and their social and moral vices; love and emancipation, love and family, love and revolution (D.N. Murin).

About the composition of the novel. Chernyshevsky's novel is structured in such a way that life, reality, appears in it in three time dimensions: in the past, present and future. The past is the old world, existing, but already becoming obsolete; the present is the emerging positive principles of life, the activities of “new people”, the existence of new human relations. The future is an approaching dream (“Vera Pavlovna’s Fourth Dream”). The composition of the novel conveys movement from past to present and future. The author not only dreams of a revolution in Russia, he sincerely believes in its implementation.

About the genre. There is no unanimous opinion on this issue. Yu. M. Prozorov considers “What to do?” Chernyshevsky - socio-ideological novel, Yu. V. Lebedev - philosophical-utopian a novel created according to the laws typical of this genre. The compilers of the bio-bibliographic dictionary “Russian Writers” consider “What to do?” artistic and journalistic novel.

(There is an opinion that Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?” is family, detective, journalistic, intellectual, etc.)

The question of the “primary sources” of a work is of fundamental importance for understanding artistic method the author of “What is to be done?”, its genre and plot-compositional structure. What is the relationship between reality and creative fantasy novelist?

What are the relationships between the real life of the young generation of commoners of the sixties and the worldview of the heroes of the novel, their educational practice and the socio-philosophical concept of the author-thinker?

How did the reorientation of genre criteria from a love-intimate novel to a social-philosophical novel take place?

How were the traditional plot solutions of predecessors used and revised, and on what paths was the original genre structure of the new narrative built?

Chernyshevsky believed that in life every minute there are “poetic events” that “in their development and denouement” often have “artistic completeness and completeness,” and “the prototype for a poetic person very often serves as a real person.”

It is no coincidence that actual events and the lives of people he knew aroused in him the need to comprehend them in an artistic diary essay (1848) and in the story “Theory and Practice” of 1849-1850. (events caused by the marriage of V.P. Lobodovsky, Chernyshevsky’s university friend), and the original creativity in the story “Understanding” (on which Chernyshevsky also worked during his university years) historically existing persons served as inspiration (Louise, Goethe’s sister).

IN scientific literature prototypes of many have been established quite convincingly literary characters from the work of Chernyshevsky: V. A. Obruchev - for Alferyev (from the story of the same name), N. A. Dobrolyubov - for Levitsky, K. D. Kavelin - for Ryazantsev, S. I. Serakovsky - for Sokolovsky, N. A. Milyutin - for Savelov, and N.G. Chernyshevsky himself - for Volgin (novel “Prologue”).

All researchers of the novel “What is to be done?” they agree that the songs and additional explanations of the “lady in mourning,” especially when performing Walter Scott’s Scottish romance-ballad “The Robber,” reproduce in a disguised form the scene of Chernyshevsky’s explanation with his bride Olga Sokratovna Vasilyeva.

“Of course,” he clarifies the artist’s right to fiction, “I had to slightly alter these facts so that they wouldn’t point fingers at the people I’m talking about, that, they say, here she is, whom he renamed Vera Pavlovna, but for real This is her name, and her second husband, whom he transferred to the Medical Academy, is our famous scientist so-and-so, who serves in a different department, precisely in this department.”

Researchers have different points of view on the advisability of studying the prototypes of the heroes of “What is to be done?” For example, Academician M.V. Nechkina believes that “Rakhmetov’s type authorizes researchers to search for all prototypes, especially those indicated by the author himself.”

It should only be noted that the prototype will never be identical artistic image. In particular, despite a number of similar details in the behavior of Rakhmetov and P. A. Bakhmetov, about whom much has already been written, it is by no means possible to put an equal sign between them.

Real sources to a certain extent provide an opportunity to look into creative laboratory writer. In this sense, such a parallel, for example, is curious. Rakhmetov's interest in Newton's commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John" as a "classical source on the issue of mixing madness with intelligence" echoes the work of the "landlord" N.I. Utin on an article on the Apocalypse for " Encyclopedic Dictionary”, published with the participation of P. L. Lavrov, and with a translation of the Bible carried out by V. I. Kelsiev and published in London (1860).

However, there are few such transparent hints about Rakhmetov’s connection with his prototypes in the novel. All data on the similarity of the “special person” with the most prominent figures of the period of the revolutionary situation (N.A. Dobrolyubov, P.D. Ballod, brothers N.A. and A.A. Serno-Solovyevich, etc.) are of a general nature. But even in this case, we can come to the conclusion that when working on the image of Rakhmetov (“I have met so far only eight examples of this breed (including two women)”), the writer artistically summarized the main thing in worldview and psychology, in personal and social practice of friends in the revolutionary underground.

Believing that “the original already has a general meaning in its individuality,” Chernyshevsky saw the writer’s task as understanding “the essence of character in a real person,” to understand “how this person would act and speak in the circumstances among which he would be delivered by the poet,” “to convey it as the poet understands it.”

This was the artistic and transformative function of the novelist, preventing the danger of illustrativeness and naturalism.

It is noteworthy that democratic writers of the 60s and 70s. XIX century, continuing the traditions of Chernyshevsky, they relied in their creative practice on real historical events of their time, artistically transforming them. It is quite likely that N. Bazhin, while working on the story “Stepan Rulev” (1864), became acquainted with the first steps of the revolutionary organization N. A. Ishutin - I. A. Khudyakov (1863-1866).

In any case, one of the characters in his story, Ilya Kudryakov, “ best friend and comrade-in-arms" Stepan Rulev, resembles the largest revolutionary figure Ivan Khudyakov (similarity of surnames: Khudyakov - Kudryakov; the lameness of both as a result of injury suffered from a horse in childhood; spiritual kinship and a similar method of educational activities of the folklorist and book-carrier wandering through the villages).

I. Kushchevsky in the novel “Nikolai Negorev, or the Prosperous Russian” (1870) responded to the events of the first revolutionary situation, spoke about the activities of the sixties, who organized revolutionary “societies” and “branches” and decided “not to miss the favorable opportunity to announce the decree on the liberation of the peasants” for a popular uprising.

With great warmth, the author writes about a member of this “branch” Andrei Negorev, who distributed brochures and proclamations, who later became a political emigrant, about Overin, who, under the influence of these proclamations, rushed “into the abyss” and led a peasant uprising.

Kushchevsky deliberately brings Overin’s feat closer to the revolutionary activities of Chernyshevsky, when in the description of Overin’s civil execution he historically accurately reproduces the place, circumstances and details of the government abuse of Nikolai Gavrilovich (the bouquet of flowers thrown from the crowd to the “criminal in the pillory” is not forgotten!).

V. Bervi-Flerovsky’s novel “For Life and Death” (1877), in its first part is largely correlated with social events 60s; the title character of this part, Pavlush Skripitsyn, even meets Chernyshevsky himself!

The second part of Flerovsky’s work “Disciples” corresponds to the time and circumstances of the propaganda activities of the “Chaikovites” and “Dolgushinites” in workers’ circles (early 70s), and the third part (“ New religion") is dedicated to the events of “going to the people” in 1874-1875. This novel combines all the key problems that occupied advanced Russian society for a long period of time (40-70s of the 19th century).

A participant in the revolutionary underground, S. Stepnyak-Kravchinsky captured in his works (“Underground Russia”, 1881; “Andrei Kozhukhov”, 1889, etc.) the mood and circumstances of the heroic struggle against tsarism of his comrades from the era of “going to the people” (Peter Kropotkin , Dmitry Lizogub, Vera Zasulich, Dmitry Klements) and the “People's Will” period (Sofya Perovskaya, Stepan Khalturin, Alexander Mikhailov).

Some researchers of the novel “What is to be done?” believe that Chernyshevsky expanded the circle literary sources, turning to the thought experiment technique adopted in exact sciences, when “a scientist, based on the data of his theory, creates a model of an experience that in reality cannot be produced at a given technical level, and thus proves the fundamental correctness of the idea.”

“The method of hypothetical simplification of situations and conflicts” is transferred in this case to the structure of a utopian novel, which “is, as it were, a description of the “mental” implementation of an idea into life.

This experience is “described” as real, and the novel is often perceived by readers as a scientific description.” The hypothetical research method of Chernyshevsky the novelist is seen primarily in the story of Vera Pavlovna’s organization of a sewing workshop-commune and in the description of socialist society (“Vera Pavlovna’s Fourth Dream”) as a historically already emerged and inevitably growing process of social reorganization.

These observations undoubtedly help clarify the origins social psychology, the worldview of the novel's heroes. They allow you to concretely imagine the internal “mechanism” of the artistic embodiment of a dream. real people about a bright future.

However, when deciding the relationship between reality and fiction, there is no reason to “translate” Chernyshevsky’s entire novel from a realistic work into the category of utopian novels, to reduce the “first cases” of personal and social activity of “new people” who have “historical interest” only to “imitation of experience "

A work that imitates objectivity and accuracy of description, achieving verisimilitude and fascination in the narrative in the name of proving some author’s postulate, will have nothing in common with realistic art and in best case scenario will perform an illustrative function.

Contemporaries perceived the novel “What is to be done?” otherwise. Prominent figure in the revolutionary movement of the 60s. N. I. Utin (who later became one of the organizers of the Russian section of the First International) wrote on February 22, 1864 to N. P. Ogarev about Chernyshevsky’s work: “I in no way agree that his goal is fantastic, because he doesn’t even think of talking that everything is achievable this very minute, on the contrary, he shows that you need to go step by step, and then says: this is what will happen at the end of your labors and aspirations, this is how you can live. And therefore, “work and work.”

The principles of the socialist organization of labor associations have already become accessible to the best part of the mixed intelligentsia of the 60s. XIX century The socialist ideal in the worldview of the “sixties” (even in a utopian version!) is reality, not fantasy.

Hypothetical calculation of the profits that each seamstress receives from the workshop, their benefits from life together and the general economy is an operation of “real”, “living” people who know what to do, in the name of what to live. Therefore, Chernyshevsky writes about workshop-communes as labor associations that actually exist in life.

Were there really sources for a realistic description of Vera Pavlovna’s sewing workshop?

Chernyshevsky, talking about the work of Vera Pavlovna’s workshop, sought to somehow respond to the aspirations of women of the 60s. improve your working conditions. According to statistical data from 1860, it is known that in St. Petersburg “4,713 artisans were content with a salary of 2-3-5 rubles. per month on the master's table and tea. Those who worked at home, living with their husbands or relatives, earned 2-3 rubles a month on gloves and agramant, and even less on stockings.”

The circle of Maria Vasilyevna Trubnikova carried out energetic work to improve the lives of women in need. In 1859, he founded the “Society for Cheap Apartments and Other Benefits for Needy Residents” of St. Petersburg. The society first rented apartments for its clients in different parts of the city, but then, with the money raised from the lottery, it was purchased big house, to which all the poor were transferred.

“At the same time, the Society had the opportunity to begin fulfilling its cherished desire - the establishment of a school for children and a sewing workshop, where residents could receive and perform work and where outside seamstresses could also come and do their own work on the sewing machines provided to them free of charge.

N.V. Stasova worked especially energetically in the workshop, through whose efforts she soon received a large order from the commissariat, which provided her with work for a long time. At the school, teaching was conducted first by members of the society, and then by teachers invited for this purpose.” However, we do not yet see the embodiment of socialist principles in the work of the workshop.

The same memoirs state that M.V. Trubnikova’s circle, having begun its social activities with philanthropy, then “evolved, reflecting the influence of other, often more radical circles, for example, the Chernyshevsky circle (the Land and Freedom society), with which Maria Vasilievna personally was directly connected through her friends, brothers Nikolai and Alexander Serno-Solovievich, and to which she was attracted by her own democratic and anti-monarchical tendencies.”

It is interesting to recall another attempt by M.V. Trubnikova’s circle - to create a “Women’s Labor Society”. Information about him expands our understanding of the era of the 60s. and once again testify to the great difficulties facing enthusiasts of the women's movement.

The society was conceived with broad plans. It should have the right to establish various workshops: sewing, bookbinding, translation offices and publishing children's and scientific books. P. L. Lavrov took part in drawing up its charter in 1863.

Only part of this program was implemented. At the beginning of 1863, it was possible to organize a women's artel or society of translators-publishers, which included 36 people (M. V. Trubnikova, N. V. Stasova, A. N. Engelgardt, N. A. Belozerskaya, M. A. Menzhinskaya , A. P. Filosofova, V. V. Ivasheva, E. A. Stackenschneider, etc.). The bookbinding and binding of books published by the society were carried out by a women's bookbinding artel founded by V. A. Inostrantseva. Illustrations and engravings were also done by women.

Thus, there is every reason to believe that in the story about labor activity Vera Pavlovna Chernyshevsky relied on real life facts. There have already been attempts to find new forms of organizing work, organizing everyday life and educating workers.

The description of the revolutionary educational work of Lopukhov, Kirsanov and Mertsalov among the sewing workshop workers has a vital basis. We know about the existence of Sunday schools for adults, organized by “landers”. And yet, actual facts from life were not enough to realize Chernyshevsky’s artistic vision.

In the novel, Vera Pavlovna’s workshop did not resemble an enterprise organized by Trubnikova’s circle. Therefore, the writer wrote in the draft version of the novel: “There is one more feature in the story that I invented: this is a workshop. In fact, Vera Pavlovna was not busy setting up a workshop; and I did not know such workshops as I described: they do not exist in our dear fatherland. She was actually [working on] something like Sunday school<...>not for children, but for adults."

Chernyshevsky had to, to a certain extent, “invent” Vera Pavlovna’s workshop. In this sense, the “hypothetical method of research” of Chernyshevsky the economist was really useful to Chernyshevsky the novelist as an additional, auxiliary way of artistic motivation for Vera Pavlovna’s plan to organize workshops according to the models proposed by “kind and smart people”, who wrote “many books about how to live in the world so that everyone can have a good time.”

However, it should be clarified that in this case the method of thought experiment has already been removed from the author and has become the property of Vera Pavlovna (“These are my thoughts”), a real sign of the intellectual achievements of the “new people.”

Subsequently, the reader of the novel learns that it turned out to be impossible to realize the socialist ideal in a country of autocratic despotism. As we know from the novel, after Kirsanov’s visit to the “enlightened husband” (a representative of the authorities) and conversation with him (XVII section of the fourth chapter), there was “nothing to think about the development of the enterprise, which was just asking to go forward.” The path to a new life in socialist labor associations lies only through revolution.

Chernyshevsky already had a theoretical justification for the difference between the dream of idle fantasy, divorced from reality, and the dream of a bright future, conducive to social progress. In the concept of reality, he included “not only the present, but also the past, as far as it is expressed in action, and the future, as far as it is prepared by the present.” This connection of the future with the present determines the artistic “compatibility” of realism and romanticism in “What is to be done?”

The fate of the works of utopian writers, who were forced to construct the elements of a new society from their own heads, because these elements were not yet clearly visible to everyone in the depths of the old society, depended on the great theoretical preparation and artistic tact of the author, on his ability to correctly reveal the historical patterns of the development of society .

The danger of “arbitrary regulation of details, and precisely those details, for the prediction and depiction of which reality does not yet provide sufficient data,” lay in wait, according to M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, and the author of “What is to be done?” However, Chernyshevsky largely (as confirmed by the practice of the developed socialist society that has come to fruition in our time) avoided this danger.

As far as it was possible for him, when working on the novel, he used the achievements of science and technology of his time in order to more clearly, artistically recreate the picture of the future (the construction of canals and irrigation systems that had already begun at that time, the discovery of electricity, the use of aluminum in industry and in the home). everyday life, experience in growing fruit in greenhouses, architectural achievements).

However, all this is just a “hint” for the writer, an impetus for recreating a more sublime picture, but without this “hint” it was impossible to achieve a concrete emotional perception of the pictures of the future. For example, such a “hint” of the huge “crystal palace” that Vera Pavlovna sees in her dream was the Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill in England. Chernyshevsky first described the “Paxton Palace” in the August issue of Sovremennik magazine for 1854.

Thus, the utopian pictures in Chernyshevsky’s novel have many of their artistic details rose to reality, and this prevented the danger of abstract schematism. Romantic solemnity, elation in the description of a bright and wonderful future corresponded to the laws of romantic art and their individual manifestation in artistic form dreams.

The latter, in turn, did not allow the reader to forget that he was touching the worldview and innermost dream of the real heroine - his contemporary.

Thus, in the complex relationship between historical reality and utopia, the real and the romantic, events from the lives of familiar people and “mental”, “hypothetical” situations and conflicts, the original artistic structure Chernyshevsky's novel, in which the first - realistic - link is the leading one both in its primary sources and in its artistic form.

“Chernyshevsky relies on realism, which stems from knowledge of life and has rich colors,” A.V. Lunacharsky asserted authoritatively. As for romantic tendencies in fiction about “new people”, then they, manifesting themselves in an increased craving for “idealization”, arise where “an aesthetically conscious need to fill the lack of real life material with lyricism and authorial conviction” is acutely felt.

The “first cases” of production activity of the heroes of “What is to be done?”, which have “historical interest”, are noteworthy in another respect. Talking about the organization of a sewing workshop-commune and Lopukhov’s educational activities among workers, Chernyshevsky essentially opened a new plot-organizing center for future novels about “new people.”

Sewing workshops, Sunday schools, educational readings for workers, and savings and loan banks were strongholds of propaganda activity for the raznochintsy revolutionaries and, naturally, were reflected in literature, laying solid foundations for the new plot and compositional structure of the work (N. Bazhin, “Stepan Rulev ", "The story of one partnership"; I. Omulevsky, "Step by step"; K. Stanyukovich, "Without outcome"; P. Zasodimsky, "Chronicle of the village of Smurin", etc.).

In Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?” for the first time in literature the idea was realized artistic image socialist labor association, the head of collective production from among the common intelligentsia is shown, ways of increasing general culture and the political consciousness of the “common people” through Sunday schools. Chernyshevsky foresaw the need to study the experience of the revolutionary labor movement in the West (the trip abroad of Rakhmetov and Lopukhov).

In N. Bazhin’s story “Stepan Rulev” the influence of the novel “What is to be done?” is reinforced by impressions of the efforts of the Ishutin residents to set up a plant on an artisanal basis. The meaning of the main “enterprise” of Rulev and Walter is precisely the preparation of an artisanal plant in the Urals.

The works of I. Omulevsky “Step by Step” (1870) and K. Stanyukovich “No Exodus” (1873) continue to artistically develop the theme of propaganda among workers through Sunday schools, introducing the difficulties of the legal activities of these schools. Svetlov, the first of the “new people” in democratic literature, had to become acquainted with a spontaneous strike of workers and exert a still timid influence on its development within legal limits. G. Uspensky noticed in the worker Mikhail Ivanovich a stable tendency towards rebellion, towards protest against “squeezing” (“Ravage”, 1869).

In an upswing social movement at the turn of the 60-70s, the organization of the Russian section of the First International and the activities of the Great Propaganda Society in workers' circles, the populist propagandists themselves demanded that writers reflect the contacts of Russian revolutionaries with the workers' movement Western Europe(V. Troshchansky, “Ideals of our public figures”).

M. Kovalsky welcomes Svetlov’s activities. L. Shchegolev develops a plan literary work from the life of workers, A. Obodovskaya writes a story about the fate of a freedom-loving village boy who went through a school of social education at a factory (“Neustrashimko”). However, creative implementation working theme in literature was complicated by the underdevelopment of the proletarian movement in Russia.

In the early 70s. artistic development The “labor question” and the connections of Russian “enlightenment” with the revolutionary West was complicated by Bakunin-Nechaev propaganda, adventurism and the dictatorship of anarchists. S. Smirnova’s (Sazonova) novel “The Salt of the Earth” (1872) crossed the contradictory trends of the early 70s: on the one hand, for the first time in literature, the colorful image of the worker-agitator Levka Trezvov was recreated, combining the strength and skill of a hammer worker with talent a revolutionary propagandist who clearly explains to workers the need for social solidarity in the struggle for their rights; on the other hand, the image of Levka reflected the weaknesses of Nechaevism (demagoguery and ambition, “the desire to play a role,” adherence to the rule: “the end justifies the means”).

In the same novel, the idea of ​​a socialist-type industrial association is replaced by propaganda for the Lassallean plan for creating a credit and industrial partnership under the patronage of the authorities.

In the second half of the 70s - early 80s. There is a noticeable tendency in the literature to rethink the work of the “new people” with workers. In 1877, Bervi-Flerovsky turns to the early 70s. and the activities of agitators from the Great Propaganda Society in workers’ “cells” (“For Life and Death”).

In the second part of the novel, Bervy is introduced artistic characterization different types workers who went to the school of political education from Ispot and Anna Semyonovna, attention is drawn to the emergence of class-conscious workers with “a deeper and keener understanding of science than most educated young men” who are interested in the life and struggle of the working class abroad.

To the events of the early 70s. addressed in the novel “Two Brothers” (1880) by K. Stanyukovich. The hero of this novel, Mirzoev, has connections with Russian political emigration and gives lectures to workers.

Along with the populist interest in peasant revolts, Russian literature of the period of the second revolutionary situation showed attention to unrest among the workers (N. Zlatovratsky, “Golden Hearts,” 1877; A. Osipovich-Novodvorsky, “History,” 1882; O. Shapir, “One of many", 1879). Forest worker Abramov led a revolt of workers at a sugar factory; a technician at the Utyuzhinsky plant, Nezhinsky, who studied the experience of the proletarian movement in the West, systematically leads the workers’ struggle for their rights at four factories.

Not all works of democratic literature that recreate the artistic chronicle of the labor movement and the role of the various intelligentsia in it are given here.

However, the material presented is sufficient to convince oneself of the historical and literary prospects artistic discoveries author of “What to do?” when describing the organizational activities of “new people” in work collectives of a new type, which turned from a “thought experiment” of a semi-utopian nature into the real practice of propaganda work of the democratic intelligentsia in workers’ circles at the dawn of the proletarian movement in Russia. This is how new plot-organizing trends emerged in realistic literature, originating in Chernyshevsky’s first novel.

(It is noteworthy that in Chernyshevsky’s last (unfinished) novel “Reflections of Radiance,” written in Siberian exile (1879-1883), a story is introduced about Aurora Vasilievna’s organization of a labor gardening association and a factory on a collective basis).

History of Russian literature: in 4 volumes / Edited by N.I. Prutskov and others - L., 1980-1983.

BH – this is the first and most famous novel Chernyshevsky, which was created by the writer in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

This is a novel that has both artistic and socio-ideological sides. The novel is ideological due to the fact that:

From Makeev's lecture: The motivations of the characters, the principles of life of Lopukhov, Kirsanov, Vera Pavlovna (the achievements of science, for example) by which they are guided, do not seem very realistic. At the same time, the task of implementing these motivations falls on the readers. Therefore, the novel is rather an ideological novel, a sermon novel. It is based on Chernyshevsky’s idea that the path to the realization of the ideals of socialism lies through moral re-education and moral degeneration of man.

It is also worth noting the feminist orientation of ''What to do''. The bearer of all that is good in a work is precisely feminine– it is truly life-giving and moves progress forward. It is interesting that the prototype of Vera Pavlovna was Chernyshevsky’s wife.

Problems of artistry: features of the novel.

1. Unusuality of the plot. Under the pen of Chernyshevsky, the seemingly everyday story of the liberation of the daughter of a petty St. Petersburg official from domestic captivity resulted in a stormy, intense story of the struggle of a Russian woman for the freedom of her personality, for civil equality. Vera Pavlovna achieves material independence in a truly unheard of and previously unseen way. She runs a sewing workshop and here she develops an active, purposeful, and proactive character.

This story line intertwined with another, showing the new woman’s implementation of even more significant life goals - achieving spiritual, moral and social independence. In her relationships with Lopukhov and Kirsanov, the heroine finds love and happiness in their truly human high sense. Finally, a third storyline appears in the narrative - Rakhmetov’s, which, it seems, only externally intersects with the first two. In fact, it is not a side episode, not an “insert” or a branch from the main plot, but its real skeleton.

2. The originality of the composition What to do?" The novel begins with a scene "torn out" from the middle - the climax: suicide on the bridge, the mysterious disappearance of one of the main characters in the work. The central character of the novel, contrary to literary tradition, is given a modest place in the story, just one chapter. And on top of that, the narrative is continually interrupted by extraneous episodes, theoretical conversations, and dreams by A.V. better job about Chernyshevsky’s fiction, noted: the author of “What is to be done?” used deeply thought-out compositional techniques. These are some situations (provisions) characteristic of love-adventure novels: mysterious incidents, unexpected turns in the development of events, spectacular collisions. All this gives Chernyshevsky’s novel a multifaceted character and makes its composition complex.

And the story ends with a well-encrypted episode that occupies one incomplete page in the novel, which the author without hesitation called a chapter - “Change of scenery.” And it is no coincidence that the victory of the revolution was predicted here, for which the novel was written.

3. Journalism and polemical nature of the novel.

Of particular interest is the image of the author, who in the work directly conducts a dialogue with the reader. The author hopes for a reader-friend, a like-minded person who can read between the lines, unravel the unsaid, understand the intricacies of Aesopian speech, and for a less enlightened, but inquisitive reader who, interested in the personal fate of the heroes, will gradually enter the circle of thoughts of the author.