Realism is a trend in literature and art that truthfully and realistically reflects the typical features of reality, in which there are no various distortions and exaggerations. This direction followed romanticism, and was the predecessor of symbolism.

This trend originated in the 30s of the 19th century and reached its peak in the middle of it. His followers sharply denied the use of any sophisticated techniques, mystical trends or idealization of characters in literary works. The main feature of this trend in literature is the artistic representation of real life with the help of ordinary and familiar images to readers, which for them are part of their everyday life (relatives, neighbors or acquaintances).

(Alexey Yakovlevich Voloskov "At the tea table")

The works of realist writers are distinguished by a life-affirming beginning, even if their plot is characterized by a tragic conflict. One of the main features of this genre is the authors’ attempt to consider the surrounding reality in its development, to discover and describe new psychological, public and social relations.

Having replaced romanticism, realism has the characteristic features of an art that strives to find truth and justice, and wants to change the world for the better. The main characters in the works of realist authors make their discoveries and conclusions after much thought and deep introspection.

(Zhuravlev Firs Sergeevich "Before the Crown")

Critical realism developed almost simultaneously in Russia and Europe (approximately 30-40s of the 19th century) and soon emerged as the leading trend in literature and art throughout the world.

In France, literary realism is primarily associated with the names of Balzac and Stendhal, in Russia with Pushkin and Gogol, in Germany with the names of Heine and Buchner. All of them experience the inevitable influence of romanticism in their literary work, but gradually move away from it, abandon the idealization of reality and move on to depicting a broader social background, where the lives of the main characters take place.

Realism in Russian literature of the 19th century

The main founder of Russian realism in the 19th century is Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. In his works “The Captain's Daughter”, “Eugene Onegin”, “Belkin’s Tale”, “Boris Godunov”, “The Bronze Horseman”, he subtly captures and skillfully conveys the very essence of all important events in the life of Russian society, presented by his talented pen in all its diversity , colorfulness and inconsistency. Following Pushkin, many writers of that time came to the genre of realism, deepening the analysis of the emotional experiences of their heroes and depicting their complex inner world (“Hero of Our Time” by Lermontov, “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls” by Gogol).

(Pavel Fedotov "The Picky Bride")

The tense socio-political situation in Russia during the reign of Nicholas I aroused keen interest in the life and fate of the common people among progressive public figures of that time. This is noted in the later works of Pushkin, Lermontov and Gogol, as well as in the poetic lines of Alexei Koltsov and the works of the authors of the so-called “natural school”: I.S. Turgenev (cycle of stories “Notes of a Hunter”, stories “Fathers and Sons”, “Rudin”, “Asya”), F.M. Dostoevsky (“Poor People”, “Crime and Punishment”), A.I. Herzen (“The Thieving Magpie”, “Who is to Blame?”), I.A. Goncharova (“Ordinary History”, “Oblomov”), A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit”, L.N. Tolstoy (“War and Peace”, “Anna Karenina”), A.P. Chekhov (stories and plays “The Cherry Orchard”, “Three Sisters”, “Uncle Vanya”).

Literary realism of the second half of the 19th century was called critical; the main task of his works was to highlight existing problems and address issues of interaction between man and the society in which he lives.

Realism in Russian literature of the 20th century

(Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky "Evening")

The turning point in the fate of Russian realism was the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when this direction was experiencing a crisis and a new phenomenon in culture loudly declared itself - symbolism. Then a new updated aesthetics of Russian realism arose, in which History itself and its global processes were now considered the main environment shaping a person’s personality. The realism of the early 20th century revealed the complexity of the formation of a person’s personality, it was formed under the influence of not only social factors, history itself acted as the creator of typical circumstances, under the aggressive influence of which the main character fell.

(Boris Kustodiev "Portrait of D.F. Bogoslovsky")

There are four main trends in realism of the early twentieth century:

• Critical: continues the traditions of classical realism of the mid-19th century. The works place emphasis on the social nature of phenomena (the works of A.P. Chekhov and L.N. Tolstoy);
• Socialist: displaying the historical and revolutionary development of real life, analyzing conflicts in conditions of class struggle, revealing the essence of the characters of the main characters and their actions committed for the benefit of others. (M. Gorky “Mother”, “The Life of Klim Samgin”, most works by Soviet authors).
• Mythological: display and rethinking of real life events through the prism of plots of famous myths and legends (L.N. Andreev “Judas Iscariot”);
• Naturalism: an extremely truthful, often unsightly, detailed depiction of reality (A.I. Kuprin “The Pit”, V.V. Veresaev “A Doctor’s Notes”).

Realism in foreign literature of the 19th-20th centuries

The initial stage of the formation of critical realism in European countries in the mid-19th century is associated with the works of Balzac, Stendhal, Beranger, Flaubert, and Maupassant. Merimee in France, Dickens, Thackeray, Bronte, Gaskell - England, the poetry of Heine and other revolutionary poets - Germany. In these countries, in the 30s of the 19th century, tension was growing between two irreconcilable class enemies: the bourgeoisie and the labor movement, a period of growth was observed in various spheres of bourgeois culture, and a number of discoveries were taking place in natural science and biology. In countries where a pre-revolutionary situation developed (France, Germany, Hungary), the doctrine of the scientific socialism of Marx and Engels arose and developed.

(Julien Dupre "Return from the Fields")

As a result of complex creative and theoretical polemics with the followers of romanticism, critical realists took for themselves the best progressive ideas and traditions: interesting historical themes, democracy, trends in folklore, progressive critical pathos and humanistic ideals.

Realism of the early twentieth century, which survived the struggle of the best representatives of the “classics” of critical realism (Flaubert, Maupassant, France, Shaw, Rolland) with the trends of new non-realistic trends in literature and art (decadence, impressionism, naturalism, aestheticism, etc.) is acquiring new character traits. He addresses the social phenomena of real life, describes the social motivation of human character, reveals the psychology of the individual, the fate of art. The modeling of artistic reality is based on philosophical ideas, the author's focus is primarily on the intellectually active perception of the work when reading it, and then on the emotional one. A classic example of an intellectual realistic novel is the works of the German writer Thomas Mann “The Magic Mountain” and “Confession of the Adventurer Felix Krull”, the dramaturgy of Bertolt Brecht.

(Robert Kohler "Strike")

In the works of realist authors of the twentieth century, the dramatic line intensifies and deepens, there is more tragedy (the work of the American writer Scott Fitzgerald “The Great Gatsby”, “Tender is the Night”), and a special interest in the inner world of man appears. Attempts to depict conscious and unconscious moments of a person’s life lead to the emergence of a new literary technique, close to modernism, called “stream of consciousness” (works by Anna Segers, W. Keppen, Yu. O’Neill). Naturalistic elements appear in the work of American realist writers such as Theodore Dreiser and John Steinbeck.

Realism of the 20th century has a bright, life-affirming coloring, faith in man and his strength, this is noticeable in the works of American realist writers William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, Mark Twain. The works of Romain Rolland, John Galsworthy, Bernard Shaw, and Erich Maria Remarque were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Realism continues to exist as a trend in modern literature and is one of the most important forms of democratic culture.

Realism

Realism (material, real) is an artistic movement in art and literature, which was established in the first third of the 19th century. The origins of realism in Russia were I. A. Krylov, A. S. Griboyedov, A. S. Pushkin (realism appeared in Western literature somewhat later, its first representatives were Stendhal and O. de Balzac).

Features of realism.

The principle of life's truth, which guides the realist artist in his work, striving to give the most complete reflection of life in its typical properties. The fidelity of the depiction of reality, reproduced in the forms of life itself, is the main criterion of artistry.

Social analysis, historicism of thinking. It is realism that explains the phenomena of life, establishes their causes and consequences on a socio-historical basis. In other words, realism is unthinkable without historicism, which presupposes an understanding of a given phenomenon in its conditionality, development and connection with other phenomena. Historicism is the basis of the worldview and artistic method of a realist writer, a kind of key to understanding reality, allowing one to connect the past, present and future. In the past, the artist looks for answers to pressing questions of our time, and interprets modernity as the result of previous historical development.

Critical portrayal of life. Writers deeply and truthfully show the negative phenomena of reality, focusing on exposing the existing order. But at the same time, realism is not devoid of life-affirming pathos, because it is based on positive ideals - patriotism, sympathy for the masses, the search for a positive hero in life, faith in the inexhaustible possibilities of man, the dream of a bright future for Russia (for example, “Dead Souls”). That is why in modern literary criticism, instead of the concept of “critical realism,” which was first introduced by N. G. Chernyshevsky, they most often speak of “classical realism.” Typical characters in typical circumstances, that is, characters were depicted in close connection with the social environment that raised them and formed them in certain socio-historical conditions.

The versatility of the characters’ characters: their actions, deeds, speech, lifestyle and inner world, the “dialectics of the soul,” which is revealed in the psychological details of its emotional experiences. Thus, realism expands the possibilities of writers in the creative exploration of the world, in the creation of a contradictory and complex personality structure as a result of subtle penetration into the depths of the human psyche.

Expressiveness, brightness, imagery, precision of the Russian literary language, enriched with elements of lively, colloquial speech, which realist writers draw from the common Russian language.

A variety of genres (epic, lyrical, dramatic, lyric-epic, satirical), in which all the richness of the content of realistic literature is expressed.

Reflection of reality does not exclude fiction and fantasy (Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Sukhovo-Kobylin), although these artistic means do not determine the main tone of the work.

Typology of Russian realism. The question of the typology of realism is associated with the disclosure of known patterns that determine the dominance of certain types of realism and their replacement.

In many literary works there are attempts to establish typical varieties (trends) of realism: Renaissance, educational (or didactic), romantic, sociological, critical, naturalistic, revolutionary-democratic, socialist, typical, empirical, syncretic, philosophical-psychological, intellectual, spiral-shaped, universal, monumental... Since all these terms are rather arbitrary (terminological confusion) and there are no clear boundaries between them, we propose to use the concept of “stages of development of realism”. Let us trace these stages, each of which takes shape in the conditions of its time and is artistically justified in its uniqueness. The complexity of the problem of the typology of realism is that typologically unique varieties of realism not only replace each other, but also coexist and develop simultaneously. Consequently, the concept of “stage” does not at all mean that within the same chronological framework there cannot be another kind of flow, earlier or later. That is why it is necessary to correlate the work of one or another realist writer with the work of other realist artists, while identifying the individual uniqueness of each of them, revealing the closeness between groups of writers.

First third of the 19th century. Krylov’s realistic fables reflected the real relationships of people in society, depicted living scenes, the content of which was varied - they could be everyday, social, philosophical and historical.

Griboedov created “high comedy” (“Woe from Wit”), that is, a comedy close to drama, reflecting in it the ideas that lived the educated society of the first quarter of the century. Chatsky, in the fight against serf owners and conservatives, defends national interests from the standpoint of common sense and popular morality. The play contains typical characters and circumstances.

In Pushkin's work, the problems and methodology of realism have already been outlined. In the novel “Eugene Onegin” the poet recreated the “Russian spirit”, gave a new, objective principle for depicting the hero, was the first to show the “superfluous man”, and in the story “The Station Warden” - the “little man”. In the people, Pushkin saw the moral potential that determines national character. In the novel "The Captain's Daughter" the historicism of the writer's thinking was revealed - both in the correct reflection of reality, and in the accuracy of social analysis, and in the understanding of the historical patterns of phenomena, and in the ability to convey the typical characteristics of a person's character, to show him as a product of a certain social environment.

30s of the XIX century. In this era of “timelessness”, public inaction, only the brave voices of A. S. Pushkin, V. G. Belinsky and M. Yu. Lermontov were heard. The critic saw in Lermontov a worthy successor to Pushkin. The man in his work bears the dramatic features of the time. In fate

Pechorin, the writer reflected the fate of his generation, his “age” (“Hero of Our Time”). But if Pushkin devotes his main attention to the description of the character’s actions and actions, giving “outlines of character,” then Lermontov focuses on the inner world of the hero, on an in-depth psychological analysis of his actions and experiences, on the “history of the human soul.”

40s of the XIX century. During this period, realists received the name “natural school” (N.V. Gogol, A.I. Herzen, D.V. Grigorovich, N.A. Nekrasov). The works of these writers are characterized by accusatory pathos, rejection of social reality, and increased attention to everyday life. Gogol did not find the embodiment of his lofty ideals in the world around him, and therefore was convinced that in the conditions of contemporary Russia, the ideal and beauty of life could be expressed only through the denial of ugly reality. The satirist explores the material, material and everyday basis of life, its “invisible” features and the spiritually wretched characters arising from it, firmly confident in their dignity and right.

Second half of the 19th century. The work of writers of this time (I. A. Goncharov, A. N. Ostrovsky, I. S. Turgenev, N. S. Leskov, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, V. G. Korolenko, A.P. Chekhov) distinguishes a qualitatively new stage in the development of realism: they not only critically comprehend reality, but also actively look for ways to transform it, show close attention to the spiritual life of man, penetrate into the “dialectic of the soul”, and create. a world populated by complex, contradictory characters, full of dramatic conflicts. The works of writers are characterized by subtle psychologism and large philosophical generalizations.

The turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The features of the era were most clearly expressed in the works of A. I. Kuprin and I. A. Bunin. They sensitively captured the general spiritual and social atmosphere in the country, deeply and faithfully reflected the unique pictures of life of the most diverse segments of the population, and created a complete and truthful picture of Russia. They are characterized by such themes and problems as the continuity of generations, the heritage of centuries, the root connections of man with the past, the Russian character and features of national history, the harmonious world of nature and the world of social relations (devoid of poetry and harmony, personifying cruelty and violence), love and death , the fragility and fragility of human happiness, the mysteries of the Russian soul, loneliness and the tragic predestination of human existence, ways of liberation from spiritual oppression. The original and original creativity of the writers organically continues the best traditions of Russian realistic literature, and above all, deep penetration into the essence of the life depicted, the disclosure of the relationship between the environment and the individual, attention to the social and everyday background, and the expression of the ideas of humanism.

Pre-October decade. A new vision of the world in connection with the processes taking place in Russia in all areas of life determined a new face of realism, which differed significantly from classical realism in its “modernity”. New figures emerged - representatives of a special trend within the realistic direction - neorealism ("renewed" realism): I. S. Shmelev, L. N. Andreev, M. M. Prishvin, E. I. Zamyatin, S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky , A. N. Tolstoy, A. M. Remizov, B. K. Zaitsev, etc. They are characterized by a departure from the sociological understanding of reality; mastering the sphere of the “earthly”, deepening the concrete sensory perception of the world, artistic study of the subtle movements of the soul, nature and man coming into contact, which eliminates alienation and brings us closer to the original, unchanging nature of being; a return to the hidden values ​​of the folk-village element, capable of renewing life in the spirit of “eternal” ideals (pagan, mystical flavor of the depicted); comparison of the bourgeois urban and rural way of life; the idea of ​​​​the incompatibility of the natural force of life, existential good with social evil; a combination of the historical and the metaphysical (next to the features of everyday or concrete historical reality there is a “super-real” background, a mythological subtext); the motive of purifying love as a kind of symbolic sign of the all-human natural unconscious principle that brings enlightened peace.

Soviet period. The distinctive features of the socialist realism that emerged at this time were partisanship, nationality, the depiction of reality in its “revolutionary development,” and the promotion of the heroism and romance of socialist construction. In the works of M. Gorky, M. A. Sholokhov, A. A. Fadeev, L. M. Leonov, V. V. Mayakovsky, K. A. Fedin, N. A. Ostrovsky, A. N. Tolstoy, A. T. Tvardovsky and others affirmed a different reality, a different person, different ideals, different aesthetics, principles that formed the basis of the moral code of a fighter for communism. A new method in art was promoted, which was politicized: it had a pronounced social orientation and expressed state ideology. At the center of the works there was usually a positive hero, inextricably linked with the team, who constantly had a beneficial influence on the individual. The main sphere of application of the forces of such a hero is creative work. It is no coincidence that the industrial novel has become one of the most common genres.

20-30s of the XX century. Many writers, forced to live under a dictatorial regime, under conditions of cruel censorship, managed to maintain internal freedom, showed the ability to remain silent, to be careful in their assessments, to switch to allegorical language - they were devoted to the truth, to the true art of realism. The genre of dystopia was born, in which a harsh critique of a totalitarian society based on the suppression of personality and individual freedom was given. The fates of A.P. Platonov, M.A. Bulgakov, E.I. Zamyatin, A.A. Akhmatova, M.M. Zoshchenko, O.E. Mandelstam were tragic; they were deprived of the opportunity to publish in the Soviet Union for a long time.

The “thaw” period (mid-50s - first half of the 60s). At this historical time, young poets of the sixties (E. A. Evtushenko, A. A. Voznesensky, B. A. Akhmadulina, R. I. Rozhdestvensky, B. Sh. Okudzhava, etc.) loudly and confidently declared themselves “rulers of thought” of their generation together with representatives of the “third wave” of emigration (V. P. Aksenov, A. V. Kuznetsov, A. T. Gladilin, G. N. Vladimov,

A. I. Solzhenitsyn, N. M. Korzhavin, S. D. Dovlatov, V. E. Maksimov, V. N. Voinovich, V. P. Nekrasov, etc.), whose works were characterized by a sharply critical understanding of modern reality, preservation the human soul in the conditions of the command-administrative system and internal opposition to it, confession, moral quests of the heroes, their liberation, emancipation, romanticism and self-irony, innovation in the field of artistic language and style, genre diversity.

The last decades of the 20th century. A new generation of writers, already living in somewhat relaxed political conditions within the country, came up with lyrical, urban and rural poetry and prose that did not fit into the rigid framework of socialist realism (N. M. Rubtsov, A. V. Zhigulin,

V. N. Sokolov, Yu. V. Trifonov, Ch. T. Aitmatov, V. I. Belov, F. A. Abramov, V. G. Rasputin, V. P. Astafiev, S. P. Zalygin, V. M. Shukshin, F. A. Iskander). The leading themes of their work are the revival of traditional morality and the relationship between man and nature, which revealed the writers’ closeness to the traditions of Russian classical realism. The works of this period are permeated with a feeling of attachment to the native land, and therefore responsibility for what happens on it, a feeling of the irreplaceability of spiritual losses due to the severance of age-old ties between nature and man. The artists comprehend the turning point in the sphere of moral values, the shifts in society in which the human soul is forced to survive, and reflect on the catastrophic consequences for those who lose historical memory and the experience of generations.

The latest Russian literature. In the literary process of recent years, literary scholars have identified two trends: postmodernism (blurred boundaries of realism, awareness of the illusory nature of what is happening, a mixture of different artistic methods, stylistic diversity, increased influence of avant-gardeism - A. G. Bitov, Sasha Sokolov, V. O. Pelevin, T. N. . Tolstaya, T. Yu. Kibirov, D. A. Prigov) and post-realism (traditional for realism attention to the fate of a private person, tragically lonely, in the vanity of his humiliating everyday life, losing his moral guidelines, trying to self-determinate - V. S. Ma- Kanin, L. S. Petrushevskaya).

So, realism as a literary and artistic system has a powerful potential for continuous renewal, which manifests itself in one or another transitional era for Russian literature. In the works of writers who continue the traditions of realism, there is a search for new themes, heroes, plots, genres, poetic devices, and a new manner of conversation with the reader.

Before the emergence of realism as a literary movement, most writers had a one-sided approach to depicting a person. The classicists portrayed a person mainly in terms of his duties to the state and showed very little interest in him in his everyday life, in family and private life. Sentimentalists, on the contrary, moved on to depicting a person’s personal life, his spiritual feelings. The Romantics were also interested mainly in the spiritual life of man, the world of his feelings and passions.

But they endowed their heroes with feelings and passions of exceptional strength, and placed them in unusual conditions.

Realist writers portray a person in many ways. They draw typical characters and at the same time show in what social conditions this or that hero of the work was formed.

This ability to give typical characters in typical circumstances is the main feature of realism.

We call typical images those in which the most vividly, fully and truthfully embodied the most important features characteristic of a particular historical period for a particular social group or phenomenon (for example, the Prostakovs-Skotinins in Fonvizin’s comedy are typical representatives of the Russian middle-class nobility of the second half XVIII century).

In typical images, a realist writer reflects not only those traits that are most common at a certain time, but also those that are just beginning to appear and develop fully in the future.

The conflicts underlying the works of classicists, sentimentalists and romantics were also one-sided.

Classical writers (especially in tragedies) depicted the clash in the hero’s soul of the consciousness of the need to fulfill his duty to the state with personal feelings and drives. For sentimentalists, the main conflict grew out of the social inequality of heroes belonging to different classes. In romanticism, the basis of the conflict is the gap between dream and reality. Among realist writers, conflicts are as diverse as in life itself.

Krylov and Griboyedov played a major role in the formation of Russian realism at the beginning of the 19th century. Krylov became the creator of the Russian realistic fable. Krylov's fables deeply truthfully depict the life of feudal Russia in its essential features. The ideological content of his fables, democratic in their orientation, the perfection of their construction, wonderful verse and a living colloquial language developed on a folk basis - all this was a major contribution to Russian realistic literature and influenced the development of the work of such writers as Griboyedov, Pushkin, Gogol and others.

Griboyedov, with his work “Woe from Wit,” gave an example of Russian realistic comedy.

But the true founder of Russian realistic literature, who gave perfect examples of realistic creativity in a wide variety of literary genres, was the great national poet Pushkin.

Realism- 19th - 20th centuries (from Latin realis- valid)

Realism can define heterogeneous phenomena united by the concept of vital truth: spontaneous realism of ancient literature, Renaissance realism, educational realism, “natural school” as the initial stage of the development of critical realism in the 19th century, realism of the 19th-20th centuries, “socialist realism”

Main features of realism:
• Depiction of life in images that correspond to the essence of life phenomena, through typing the facts of reality;
• A true reflection of the world, a wide coverage of reality;
• Historicism;
• The attitude towards literature as a means of a person’s knowledge of himself and the world around him;
• Reflection of the connection between man and environment;
• Typification of characters and circumstances.

Realist writers in Russia. Representatives of realism in Russia: A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, A. N. Ostrovsky, I. A. Goncharov, N. A. Nekrasov, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, I. S. Turgenev, F. M. Dostoevsky, L N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov, I. A. Bunin and others.

What is realism in literature? It is one of the most common trends, reflecting a realistic image of reality. The main task of this direction is reliable disclosure of phenomena encountered in life, using a detailed description of the characters depicted and the situations that happen to them, through typification. What is important is the lack of embellishment.

In contact with

Among other directions, only in the realistic is special attention paid to the correct artistic depiction of life, and not to the emerging reaction to certain life events, for example, as in romanticism and classicism. The heroes of realist writers appear before readers exactly as they were presented to the author's gaze, and not as the writer would like to see them.

Realism, as one of the widespread trends in literature, settled closer to the middle of the 19th century after its predecessor - romanticism. The 19th century was subsequently designated as the era of realistic works, but romanticism did not cease to exist, it only slowed down in development, gradually turning into neo-romanticism.

Important! The definition of this term was first introduced into literary criticism by D.I. Pisarev.

The main features of this direction are as follows:

1. Full compliance with the reality depicted in any work of the painting.
2. True specific typification of all the details in the images of the heroes.
3. The basis is a conflict situation between a person and society.
4. Image in the work deep conflict situations, the drama of life.
5. The author pays special attention to the description of all environmental phenomena.
6. A significant feature of this literary movement is considered to be the writer’s significant attention to the inner world of a person, his state of mind.

Main genres

In any direction of literature, including realistic, a certain system of genres develops. The prose genres of realism had a particular influence on its development, due to the fact that they were more suitable than others for a more correct artistic description of new realities and their reflection in literature. Works of this direction are divided into the following genres.

1. A social and everyday novel that describes a way of life and a certain type of character inherent in this way of life. A good example of a social genre was “Anna Karenina”.
2. A socio-psychological novel, in the description of which one can see a complete detailed disclosure of the human personality, his personality and inner world.
3. A realistic novel in verse is a special type of novel. A remarkable example of this genre is “”, written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
4. A realistic philosophical novel contains eternal reflections on such topics as: the meaning of human existence, the confrontation between good and evil sides, a certain purpose of human life. An example of a realistic philosophical novel is “”, the author of which is Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov.
5. Story.
6. Tale.

In Russia, its development began in the 1830s and was a consequence of the conflict situation in various spheres of society, the contradictions between higher ranks and ordinary people. Writers began to turn to pressing issues of their time.

Thus begins the rapid development of a new genre - the realistic novel, which, as a rule, described the hard life of ordinary people, their hardships and problems.

The initial stage in the development of the realistic trend in Russian literature is the “natural school”. During the period of the “natural school,” literary works tended to a greater extent to describe the position of the hero in society, his belonging to some kind of profession. Among all genres, the leading place was occupied by physiological essay.

In the 1850s–1900s, realism began to be called critical, since the main goal was to criticize what was happening, the relationship between a certain person and spheres of society. Issues such as: the measure of the influence of society on the life of an individual were considered; actions that can change a person and the world around him; the reason for the lack of happiness in human life.

This literary trend has become extremely popular in Russian literature, as Russian writers were able to make the world genre system richer. Works appeared from in-depth questions of philosophy and morality.

I.S. Turgenev created an ideological type of heroes, the character, personality and internal state of which directly depended on the author’s assessment of the worldview, finding a certain meaning in the concepts of their philosophy. Such heroes are subject to ideas that they follow until the very end, developing them as much as possible.

In the works of L.N. Tolstoy, the system of ideas that develops during the life of a character determines the form of his interaction with the surrounding reality and depends on the morality and personal characteristics of the heroes of the work.

Founder of realism

The title of pioneer of this trend in Russian literature was rightfully awarded to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He is the generally recognized founder of realism in Russia. “Boris Godunov” and “Eugene Onegin” are considered striking examples of realism in Russian literature of those times. Also distinguishing examples were such works by Alexander Sergeevich as “Belkin’s Tales” and “The Captain’s Daughter”.

Classical realism gradually begins to develop in Pushkin’s creative works. The writer’s portrayal of the personality of each character is comprehensive in an effort to describe the complexity of his inner world and state of mind, which unfold very harmoniously. Recreating the experiences of a certain person, his moral character helps Pushkin overcome the self-will of describing passions inherent in irrationalism.

Heroes A.S. Pushkin appear before readers with open sides of their being. The writer pays special attention to describing the aspects of the human inner world, depicts the hero in the process of development and formation of his personality, which are influenced by the reality of society and the environment. This was due to his awareness of the need to depict a specific historical and national identity in the characteristics of the people.

Attention! Reality in Pushkin’s depiction collects an accurate, concrete image of the details of not only the inner world of a certain character, but also the world that surrounds him, including his detailed generalization.

Neorealism in literature

New philosophical, aesthetic and everyday realities at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries contributed to a change in direction. Implemented twice, this modification acquired the name neorealism, which gained popularity during the 20th century.

Neorealism in literature consists of a variety of movements, since its representatives had different artistic approaches to depicting reality, including the characteristic features of the realistic direction. It is based on appeal to the traditions of classical realism XIX century, as well as to problems in the social, moral, philosophical and aesthetic spheres of reality. A good example containing all these features is the work of G.N. Vladimov “The General and His Army”, written in 1994.

Representatives and works of realism

Like other literary movements, realism has many Russian and foreign representatives, most of whom have works of the realistic style in more than one copy.

Foreign representatives of realism: Honoré de Balzac - “The Human Comedy”, Stendhal - “The Red and the Black”, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Dickens - “The Adventures of Oliver Twist”, Mark Twain - “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Jack London – “The Sea Wolf”, “Hearts of Three”.

Russian representatives of this direction: A.S. Pushkin - “Eugene Onegin”, “Boris Godunov”, “Dubrovsky”, “The Captain’s Daughter”, M.Yu. Lermontov - “Hero of Our Time”, N.V. Gogol - “”, A.I. Herzen - “Who is to blame?”, N.G. Chernyshevsky - “What to do?”, F.M. Dostoevsky - “Humiliated and Insulted”, “Poor People”, L.N. Tolstoy - "", "Anna Karenina", A.P. Chekhov – “The Cherry Orchard”, “Student”, “Chameleon”, M.A. Bulgakov - “The Master and Margarita”, “Heart of a Dog”, I.S. Turgenev - “Asya”, “Spring Waters”, “” and others.

Russian realism as a movement in literature: features and genres

Unified State Exam 2017. Literature. Literary movements: classicism, romanticism, realism, modernism, etc.

Realism (from Late Latin reālis - material) is an artistic method in art and literature. The history of realism in world literature is unusually rich. The very idea of ​​it changed at different stages of artistic development, reflecting the persistent desire of artists for a truthful depiction of reality.

Illustration by V. Milashevsky for the novel by Charles Dickens “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.”



Illustration by O. Vereisky for L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “Anna Karenina”.



Illustration by D. Shmarinov for F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment.”



Illustration by V. Serov for M. Gorky’s story “Foma Gordeev”.



Illustration by B. Zaborov for the novel by M. Andersen-Nexo “Ditte - Child of Man.”

However, the concept of truth, truth is one of the most difficult in aesthetics. For example, the theorist of French classicism N. Boileau called for being guided by the truth and “imitating nature.” But the romantic V. Hugo, an ardent opponent of classicism, urged “to consult only nature, truth and your inspiration, which is also truth and nature.” Thus, both defended "truth" and "nature".

The selection of life phenomena, their assessment, the ability to present them as important, characteristic, typical - all this is connected with the artist’s point of view on life, and this, in turn, depends on his worldview, on the ability to grasp the advanced movements of the era. The desire for objectivity often forces the artist to depict the real balance of power in society, even contrary to his own political convictions.

The specific features of realism depend on the historical conditions in which art develops. National historical circumstances also determine the uneven development of realism in different countries.

Realism is not something given and unchangeable once and for all. In the history of world literature, several main types of its development can be outlined.

There is no consensus in science about the initial period of realism. Many art historians attribute it to very distant eras: they talk about the realism of cave paintings of primitive people, about the realism of ancient sculpture. In the history of world literature, many features of realism are found in the works of the ancient world and the early Middle Ages (in folk epic, for example, in Russian epics, in chronicles). However, the formation of realism as an artistic system in European literature is usually associated with the Renaissance (Renaissance), the greatest progressive revolution. A new understanding of life by a person who rejects the church sermon of slavish obedience is reflected in the lyrics of F. Petrarch, the novels of F. Rabelais and M. Cervantes, in the tragedies and comedies of W. Shakespeare. After centuries of medieval churchmen preaching that man is a “vessel of sin” and calling for humility, Renaissance literature and art glorified man as the supreme creature of nature, seeking to reveal the beauty of his physical appearance and the richness of his soul and mind. The realism of the Renaissance is characterized by the scale of images (Don Quixote, Hamlet, King Lear), the poeticization of the human personality, its capacity for great feeling (as in Romeo and Juliet) and at the same time the high intensity of the tragic conflict, when the clash of personality with the inert forces opposing it is depicted .

The next stage in the development of realism is the educational stage (see Enlightenment), when literature becomes (in the West) an instrument of direct preparation for the bourgeois-democratic revolution. Among the educators there were supporters of classicism; their work was influenced by other methods and styles. But in the 18th century. The so-called Enlightenment realism was also taking shape (in Europe), the theorists of which were D. Diderot in France and G. Lessing in Germany. The English realistic novel, whose founder was D. Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe (1719), acquired worldwide significance. A democratic hero appeared in the literature of the Enlightenment (Figaro in the trilogy of P. Beaumarchais, Louise Miller in the tragedy “Cunning and Love” by I. F. Schiller, images of peasants in A. N. Radishchev). Enlighteners assessed all phenomena of social life and people's actions as reasonable or unreasonable (and they saw the unreasonable, first of all, in all the old feudal orders and customs). They proceeded from this in their depiction of human character; their positive heroes are, first of all, the embodiment of reason, the negative ones are a deviation from the norm, the product of unreason, the barbarism of former times.

Enlightenment realism often allowed for convention. Thus, the circumstances in the novel and drama were not necessarily typical. They could be conditional, as in the experiment: “Suppose a person finds himself on a desert island...”. At the same time, Defoe depicts Robinson’s behavior not as it could actually be (the prototype of his hero went wild, even lost his articulate speech), but as he wants to present the person, fully armed with his physical and mental strength, as a hero, conqueror of forces nature. Faust in I. V. Goethe, shown in the struggle for the establishment of high ideals, is also conventional. Features of a well-known convention also distinguish D. I. Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor.”

A new type of realism emerged in the 19th century. This is critical realism. It differs significantly from both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Its flourishing in the West is associated with the names of Stendhal and O. Balzac in France, C. Dickens, W. Thackeray in England, in Russia - A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, I. S. Turgenev, F. M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov.

Critical realism portrays the relationship between man and the environment in a new way. Human character is revealed in organic connection with social circumstances. The subject of deep social analysis has become the inner world of man; critical realism therefore simultaneously becomes psychological. Romanticism, which sought to penetrate the secrets of the human “I,” played a large role in the preparation of this quality of realism.

Deepening the knowledge of life and complicating the picture of the world in the critical realism of the 19th century. do not mean, however, some kind of absolute superiority over previous stages, for the development of art is marked not only by gains, but also by losses.

The scale of the images of the Renaissance was lost. The pathos of affirmation characteristic of the Enlighteners, their optimistic faith in the victory of good over evil, remained unique.

The rise of the labor movement in Western countries, the formation in the 40s. XIX century Marxism not only influence the literature of critical realism, but also give rise to the first artistic experiments in depicting reality from the perspective of the revolutionary proletariat. In the realism of such writers as G. Weert, W. Morris, and the author of “The International” E. Pothier, new features are outlined that anticipate the artistic discoveries of socialist realism.

In Russia, the 19th century is a period of exceptional strength and scope in the development of realism. In the second half of the century, the artistic achievements of realism, bringing Russian literature to the international arena, won it worldwide recognition.

The richness and diversity of Russian realism of the 19th century. allow us to talk about its different forms.

Its formation is associated with the name of A. S. Pushkin, who led Russian literature onto the broad path of depicting “the fate of the people, the fate of man.” In the conditions of the accelerated development of Russian culture, Pushkin seems to be catching up with its previous lag, paving new paths in almost all genres and, with his universality and his optimism, turning out to be akin to the titans of the Renaissance. Pushkin’s work lays the foundations of critical realism, developed in the work of N.V. Gogol and after him in the so-called natural school.

Performance in the 60s. revolutionary democrats led by N. G. Chernyshevsky gives new features to Russian critical realism (the revolutionary nature of criticism, images of new people).

A special place in the history of Russian realism belongs to L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky. It was thanks to them that the Russian realistic novel acquired global significance. Their psychological mastery and insight into the “dialectics of the soul” opened the way for the artistic quests of 20th century writers. Realism in the 20th century all over the world bears the imprint of the aesthetic discoveries of L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky.

The growth of the Russian liberation movement, which by the end of the century transferred the center of the world revolutionary struggle from the West to Russia, leads to the fact that the work of the great Russian realists becomes, as V. I. Lenin said about L. N. Tolstoy, “a mirror of the Russian revolution” according to their objective historical content, despite all the differences in their ideological positions.

The creative scope of Russian social realism is reflected in the wealth of genres, especially in the field of the novel: philosophical and historical (L. N. Tolstoy), revolutionary journalistic (N. G. Chernyshevsky), everyday (I. A. Goncharov), satirical (M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin), psychological (F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy). By the end of the century, A.P. Chekhov became an innovator in the genre of realistic stories and a kind of “lyrical drama”.

It is important to emphasize that Russian realism of the 19th century. did not develop in isolation from the world historical and literary process. This was the beginning of an era when, in the words of K. Marx and F. Engels, “the fruits of the spiritual activity of individual nations become the common property.”

F. M. Dostoevsky noted as one of the features of Russian literature its “capacity for universality, all-humanity, all-response.” Here we are talking not so much about Western influences, but about the organic development in line with European culture of its centuries-old traditions.

At the beginning of the 20th century. The appearance of M. Gorky's plays "The Bourgeois", "At the Demise" and especially the novel "Mother" (and in the West - the novel "Pelle the Conqueror" by M. Andersen-Nexo) testifies to the formation of socialist realism. In the 20s Soviet literature declared itself with major successes, and in the early 30s. In many capitalist countries, a literature of the revolutionary proletariat is emerging. The literature of socialist realism is becoming an important factor in world literary development. It should be noted that Soviet literature as a whole retains more connections with the artistic experience of the 19th century than literature in the West (including socialist literature).

The beginning of the general crisis of capitalism, two world wars, the acceleration of the revolutionary process throughout the world under the influence of the October Revolution and the existence of the Soviet Union, and after 1945 the formation of the world system of socialism - all this affected the fate of realism.

Critical realism, which continued to develop in Russian literature until the October Revolution (I. A. Bunin, A. I. Kuprin) and in the West, in the 20th century. received further development, while undergoing significant changes. In critical realism of the 20th century. in the West, a variety of influences are more freely assimilated and intersected, including some features of the unrealistic movements of the 20th century. (symbolism, impressionism, expressionism), which, of course, does not exclude the struggle of realists against non-realistic aesthetics.

From about the 20s. In the literature of the West, there is a tendency towards in-depth psychologism, the transmission of the “stream of consciousness”. The so-called intellectual novel of T. Mann arises; subtext takes on special significance, for example, in E. Hemingway. This focus on the individual and his spiritual world in Western critical realism significantly weakens its epic breadth. Epic scale in the 20th century. is the merit of the writers of socialist realism (“The Life of Klim Samgin” by M. Gorky, “Quiet Don” by M. A. Sholokhov, “Walking through the Torment” by A. N. Tolstoy, “The Dead Remain Young” by A. Zegers).

Unlike the realists of the 19th century. writers of the 20th century more often they resort to fantasy (A. France, K. Chapek), to convention (for example, B. Brecht), creating parable novels and parable dramas (see Parable). At the same time, in the realism of the 20th century. the document, the fact, triumphs. Documentary works appear in different countries within the framework of both critical realism and socialist realism.

Thus, while remaining documentary, the autobiographical books of E. Hemingway, S. O'Casey, I. Becher, such classic books of socialist realism as “Report with a Noose Around the Neck” by Yu. Fuchik and “The Young Guard” by A. A. Fadeeva.