Romanticism as a literary movement. Romanticism in Russian literature at the beginning of the 19th century
Romanticism represents ideological direction in art and literature, which appeared in the 90s of the 18th century in Europe and became widespread in other countries of the world (Russia is one of them), as well as in America. Main ideas this direction is the recognition of the value of the spiritual and creative life of every person and his right to independence and freedom. Very often, the works of this literary movement depicted heroes with a strong, rebellious character, the plots were characterized by a bright intensity of passions, nature was depicted in a spiritualized and healing way.
Having appeared in the era of the Great French Revolution and the world industrial revolution, romanticism was replaced by such a direction as classicism and the Age of Enlightenment in general. In contrast to the adherents of classicism, who support the ideas of the cult significance of the human mind and the emergence of civilization on its foundations, the romantics put Mother Nature on a pedestal of worship, emphasizing the importance of natural feelings and the freedom of aspirations of each individual.
(Alan Maley "Delicate Age")
The revolutionary events of the late 18th century completely changed the course of everyday life, both in France and in other European countries. People, feeling acute loneliness, were distracted from their problems by playing various gambling games and having fun with the most different ways. It was then that the idea arose to imagine that human life is an endless game where there are winners and losers. Romantic works often depicted heroes opposing the world around them, rebelling against fate and fate, obsessed with their own thoughts and reflections on their own idealized vision of the world, which sharply did not coincide with reality. Realizing their defenselessness in a world ruled by capital, many romantics were in confusion and confusion, feeling infinitely alone in the life around them, which was main tragedy their personalities.
Romanticism in Russian literature of the 19th century
The main events that had a huge impact on the development of romanticism in Russia were the War of 1812 and the Decembrist uprising of 1825. However, distinguished by originality and originality, Russian romanticism of the early 19th century is an inseparable part of the pan-European literary movement and has its general features and basic principles.
(Ivan Kramskoy "Unknown")
The emergence of Russian romanticism coincides in time with the maturation of a socio-historical turning point in the life of society at that time, when the socio-political structure of the Russian state was in an unstable, transitional state. People of progressive views, disillusioned with the ideas of the Enlightenment, promoting the creation of a new society based on the principles of reason and the triumph of justice, decisively rejecting the principles of bourgeois life, not understanding the essence of antagonistic contradictions in life, felt feelings of hopelessness, loss, pessimism and disbelief in a reasonable solution to the conflict.
Representatives of romanticism considered the main value human personality, and the mysterious and beautiful world of harmony, beauty and high feelings contained in it. In their works, representatives of this trend did not depict the real world, which was too base and vulgar for them; they reflected the universe of the protagonist’s feelings, his inner world, filled with thoughts and experiences. Through their prism the outlines appear real world, with which he cannot come to terms and therefore tries to rise above him, not submitting to his social-feudal laws and morals.
(V. A Zhukovsky)
One of the founders of Russian romanticism is considered famous poet V.A. Zhukovsky, who created a number of ballads and poems that had fabulous fantastic content (“Ondine”, “The Sleeping Princess”, “The Tale of Tsar Berendey”). His works have a deep philosophical meaning, the pursuit of a moral ideal, his poems and ballads are filled with his personal experiences and reflections inherent in the romantic direction.
(N.V. Gogol)
Zhukovsky’s thoughtful and lyrical elegies are replaced by the romantic works of Gogol (“The Night Before Christmas”) and Lermontov, whose work bears a peculiar imprint of an ideological crisis in the minds of the public, impressed by the defeat of the Decembrist movement. Therefore, romanticism of the 30s of the 19th century is characterized by disappointment in real life and leaving for an imaginary world where everything is harmonious and ideal. Romantic protagonists were portrayed as people who were divorced from reality and had lost interest in earthly life, who came into conflict with society, and denounced powerful of the world this in their sins. The personal tragedy of these people, endowed with high feelings and experiences, was the death of their moral and aesthetic ideals.
The mindset of progressively thinking people of that era was most clearly reflected in the creative heritage of the great Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov. In his works " Last Son liberties”, “Novgorod”, in which the example of the republican love of freedom of the ancient Slavs is clearly visible, the author expresses warm sympathy to the fighters for freedom and equality, to those who oppose slavery and violence against the personality of people.
Romanticism is characterized by an appeal to historical and national sources, to folklore. This was most clearly manifested in Lermontov’s subsequent works (“Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, the young guardsman and the daring merchant Kalashnikov”), as well as in a cycle of poems and poems about the Caucasus, which the poet perceived as a country of freedom-loving and proud people opposing the country of slaves and masters under the rule of the Tsar-autocrat Nicholas I. The main images in the works of “Ishmael Bey” “Mtsyri” are depicted by Lermontov with great passion and lyrical pathos, bearing the aura of chosen ones and fighters for their Fatherland.
The early poetry and prose of Pushkin (“Eugene Onegin”, “ Queen of Spades"), poetic works of K. N. Batyushkov, E. A. Baratynsky, N. M. Yazykov, the work of the Decembrist poets K. F. Ryleev, A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, V. K. Kuchelbecker.
Romanticism in foreign literature of the 19th century
The main feature of European romanticism in foreign literature The 19th century is the fantastic and fabulous nature of the works of this direction. For the most part, these are legends, fairy tales, stories and short stories with a fantastic, unreal plot. Romanticism manifested itself most expressively in the culture of France, England and Germany; each country made its own special contribution to the development and spread of this cultural phenomenon.
(Francisco Goya" Harvest " )
France. Here literary works in the style of romanticism had a bright political coloring, largely opposed to the newly-minted bourgeoisie. According to French writers, the new society that emerged as a result of social changes after the French Revolution, did not understand the value of the individuality of each person, ruined its beauty and suppressed freedom of spirit. Most famous works: treatise “The Genius of Christianity”, stories “Attalus” and “René” by Chateaubriand, novels “Delphine”, “Corina” by Germaine de Stael, novels by George Sand, Hugo “The Cathedral” Notre Dame of Paris", a series of novels about the Musketeers by Dumas, the collected works of Honore Balzac.
(Karl Brullov "Horsewoman")
England. IN English legends and legends, romanticism was present for quite a long time, but did not stand out as a separate movement until the mid-18th century. English literary works are distinguished by the presence of a slightly gloomy Gothic and religious content; there are many elements of national folklore, the culture of the working and peasant class. Distinctive feature the content of English prose and lyrics - a description of travel and wanderings to distant lands, their research. A striking example: “Eastern Poems”, “Manfred”, “Childe Harold’s Travels” by Byron, “Ivanhoe” by Walter Scott.
Germany. The idealistic philosophical worldview, which promoted the individualism of the individual and his freedom from laws, had a huge influence on the foundations of German romanticism. feudal society, the universe was seen as one living system. German works written in the spirit of romanticism are filled with reflections on meaning human existence, the life of his soul, they are also distinguished by fairy-tale and mythological motifs. The most striking German works in the style of romanticism: tales of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, short stories, fairy tales, novels by Hoffmann, works by Heine.
(Caspar David Friedrich "Stages of Life")
America. Romanticism in American literature and art developed a little later than in European countries (30s of the 19th century), its heyday occurred in the 40s-60s of the 19th century. Its emergence and development were greatly influenced by such large-scale historical events as the American War of Independence at the end of the 18th century and Civil War between North and South (1861-1865). American literary works can be divided into two types: abolitionist (supporting the rights of slaves and their emancipation) and oriental (supporting plantation). American romanticism is based on the same ideals and traditions as European, in its rethinking and understanding in its own way in the conditions of the unique way of life and pace of life of the inhabitants of a new, little-explored continent. American works That period is rich in national trends; the sense of independence, the struggle for freedom and equality is acutely felt in them. Prominent representatives of American romanticism: Washington Irving (“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, “The Phantom Bridegroom”, Edgar Allan Poe (“Ligeia”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”), Herman Melville (“Moby Dick”, “Typee”), Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (The Legend of Hiawatha), Walt Whitman (poetry collection Leaves of Grass), Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom's Cabin), Fenimore Cooper (The Last of the Mohicans).
And even though romanticism reigned in art and literature for only a short time, and heroism and chivalry were replaced by pragmatic realism, this in no way diminishes his contribution to the development of world culture. Works written in this direction are loved and read with great pleasure by a large number of fans of romanticism around the world.
What is romanticism?
What is romanticism?
Types of romanticism.
Features of Romanticism.
The founders of Russian romanticism.
Examples of works of romanticism.
Why do these works relate specifically to romanticism?
a phenomenon of European culture in the 18th-19th centuries, representing a reaction to the Enlightenment and the scientific and technological progress stimulated by it; ideological and artistic direction in European and American culture of the late 18th century - the first half of the 19th century.
this is a kind of reaction to the French Revolution
(Karl Marx).
revolutionary And passive.
There are two types of romanticism: revolutionary And passive.
Revolutionary romanticism - the hero actively expresses his thoughts. Representatives: Hugo, Byron, Lermontov.
Passive romanticism - the hero withdraws into his inner world. Representatives: Andersen, Hoffman, Zhukovsky.
Creation of a certain philosophy
The idea of a romantic discord between dreams and reality
The hero's desire for spiritual freedom, contrary to the order of things in the world
The general scheme for constructing works is “an exceptional hero in exceptional circumstances”
The cult of the artist as an unusual, sublime being, who, with the help of creative activity, rises above the everyday world and comes to the enduring, timeless world
The setting is distinguished by a certain exoticism (tropical countries, the Middle Ages, antiquity); the bright, turbulent landscape corresponds to the violent passions of the characters
Much attention is paid to the experiences of the characters
The founders of Russian romanticism are:
V. A. Zhukovsky
M. Yu. Lermontov
A. S. Pushkin
E. A. Baratynsky
F. I. Tyutchev
Let’s compare the works “Mtsyri”, “Song about
Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, a young guardsman and
the daring merchant Kalashnikov" M.Yu. Lermontov and “The Old Man and the Sea” by E. Hemingway and prove that they belong to romanticism.
In these works the main characters
strive to fulfill their dream (“Mtsyri”,
"The Old Man and the Sea") and achieve justice
(“Song about the merchant Kalashnikov”), despite
against all obstacles and despite their threat
life.
The main characters of these works are
exceptional, and the circumstances in which
they come in are also exceptional.
In the works "Mtsyri" and "The Old Man and the Sea"
The setting is exotic.
In "Mtsyri" the scene is mountainous terrain and exotic forests.
In the work “The Old Man and the Sea,” the scene of action is a hot sea coast.
Thus, all of the above
features characteristic of romanticism,
therefore these works relate to
romanticism.
The French word romantisme goes back to the Spanish romance (in the Middle Ages this was the name for Spanish romances, and then romance), English romantic, which turned into the 18th century. in romantique and then meaning “strange”, “fantastic”, “picturesque”. At the beginning of the 19th century. Romanticism becomes the designation of a new direction, opposite to classicism.
Entering into the antithesis of “classicism” - “romanticism,” the movement suggested contrasting the classicist demand for rules with romantic freedom from rules. This understanding of romanticism persists to this day, but, as literary critic Yu. Mann writes, romanticism “is not simply a denial of the ‘rules’, but the following of ‘rules’ that are more complex and whimsical.”
The center of the artistic system of romanticism is the individual, and his main conflict– individuals and society. The decisive prerequisite for the development of romanticism were the events of the Great french revolution. The emergence of romanticism is associated with the anti-enlightenment movement, the reasons for which lie in disappointment in civilization, in social, industrial, political and scientific progress, the result of which was new contrasts and contradictions, leveling and spiritual devastation of the individual.
The Enlightenment preached the new society as the most “natural” and “reasonable”. The best minds of Europe substantiated and foreshadowed this society of the future, but reality turned out to be beyond the control of “reason,” the future became unpredictable, irrational, and the modern social order began to threaten human nature and his personal freedom. Rejection of this society, protest against lack of spirituality and selfishness is already reflected in sentimentalism and pre-romanticism. Romanticism expresses this rejection most acutely. Romanticism also opposed the Age of Enlightenment in verbal terms: the language of romantic works, striving to be natural, “simple”, accessible to all readers, was something opposite to the classics with its noble, “sublime” themes, characteristic, for example, of classical tragedy.
Among the late Western European romantics, pessimism towards society acquires cosmic proportions and becomes the “disease of the century.” The heroes of many romantic works (F.R. Chateaubriand, A. Musset, J. Byron, A. Vigny, A. Lamartine, G. Heine, etc.) are characterized by moods of hopelessness and despair, which acquire a universal character. Perfection is lost forever, the world is ruled by evil, ancient chaos is resurrected. The theme of a “scary world”, characteristic of all romantic literature, most vividly embodied in the so-called “black genre” (in the pre-romantic “Gothic novel” - A. Radcliffe, C. Maturin, in the “drama of rock”, or “tragedy of rock” - Z. Werner, G. Kleist, F. Grillparzer), as well as in the works of Byron, C. Brentano, E.T.A. Hoffmann, E. Poe and N. Hawthorne.
At the same time, romanticism is based on ideas that challenge scary world”, - first of all, the ideas of freedom. The disappointment of romanticism is a disappointment in reality, but progress and civilization are only one side of it. Rejection of this side, lack of faith in the possibilities of civilization provide another path, the path to the ideal, to the eternal, to the absolute. This path must resolve all contradictions and completely change life. This is the path to perfection, “towards a goal, the explanation of which must be sought on the other side of the visible” (A. De Vigny). For some romantics, the world is dominated by incomprehensible and mysterious forces that must be obeyed and not try to change fate (poets of the “lake school”, Chateaubriand, V.A. Zhukovsky). For others, “world evil” caused protest, demanded revenge and struggle. (J. Byron, P. B. Shelley, Sh. Petofi, A. Mickiewicz, early A. S. Pushkin). What they had in common was that they all saw in man a single essence, whose task is not at all limited to solving everyday problems. On the contrary, without denying everyday life, the romantics sought to unravel the mystery of human existence, turning to nature, trusting their religious and poetic feelings.
A romantic hero is a complex, passionate personality, whose inner world is unusually deep and endless; it's a whole universe full of contradictions. Romantics were interested in all passions, both high and low, which were opposed to each other. High passion is love in all its manifestations, low passion is greed, ambition, envy. The romantics contrasted the life of the spirit, especially religion, art, and philosophy, with the base material practice. Interest in strong and vivid feelings, all-consuming passions, and secret movements of the soul are characteristic features of romanticism.
We can talk about romance as a special type of personality - a person strong passions and high aspirations, incompatible with the everyday world. Exceptional circumstances accompany this nature. Fantasy, folk music, poetry, legends become attractive to romantics - everything that for a century and a half was considered as minor genres, not worth attention. Romanticism is characterized by the affirmation of freedom, personal sovereignty, increased attention to the individual, the unique in man, the cult of the individual. Confidence in the self-worth of man turns into a protest against the fate of history. Often the hero of a romantic work becomes an artist who is capable of creatively perceiving reality. The classicist “imitation of nature” is contrasted with the creative energy of the artist who transforms reality. A special world of its own is created, more beautiful and real than the empirically perceived reality. It is creativity that is the meaning of existence; it represents the highest value of the universe. Romantics passionately defended the creative freedom of the artist, his imagination, believing that the genius of the artist does not obey the rules, but creates them.
Romantics turned to various historical eras, they were attracted by their originality, attracted by exotic and mysterious countries and circumstances. Interest in history became one of the enduring achievements of the artistic system of romanticism. He expressed himself in the creation of the genre of the historical novel (F. Cooper, A. Vigny, V. Hugo), the founder of which is considered to be W. Scott, and the novel in general, which acquired a leading position in the era under consideration. Romantics reproduce in detail and accurately the historical details, background, and flavor of a particular era, but romantic characters are given outside of history; they, as a rule, are above circumstances and do not depend on them. At the same time, the romantics perceived the novel as a means of comprehending history, and from history they went to penetrate into the secrets of psychology, and, accordingly, of modernity. Interest in history was also reflected in the works of historians of the French romantic school (A. Thierry, F. Guizot, F. O. Meunier).
It was in the era of Romanticism that the discovery of the culture of the Middle Ages took place, and the admiration for antiquity, characteristic of the previous era, also did not weaken at the end of the 18th century. 19th centuries Variety of national, historical, individual characteristics It also had a philosophical meaning: the wealth of a single world whole consists of the combination of these individual features, and the study of the history of each people separately makes it possible to trace, as Burke put it, uninterrupted life through new generations following one after another.
The era of Romanticism was marked by the flourishing of literature, one of the distinctive properties of which was a passion for social and political problems. Trying to understand the role of man in what is happening historical events, romantic writers gravitated towards accuracy, specificity, and authenticity. At the same time, the action of their works often takes place in settings that are unusual for a European - for example, in the East and America, or, for Russians, in the Caucasus or Crimea. Thus, romantic poets are primarily lyricists and poets of nature, and therefore in their work (as well as in many prose writers), landscape occupies a significant place - first of all, the sea, mountains, sky, stormy elements with which the hero is associated complex relationships. Nature can be akin to the passionate nature of a romantic hero, but it can also resist him, turn out to be a hostile force with which he is forced to fight.
Extraordinary and bright pictures nature, life, way of life and customs of distant countries and peoples also inspired the romantics. They were looking for the traits that constitute the fundamental basis of the national spirit. National identity is manifested primarily in oral folk art. Hence the interest in folklore, the processing folklore works, creating your own works based on folk art.
The development of the genres of the historical novel, fantastic story, lyric-epic poem, ballad is the merit of the romantics. Their innovation was also manifested in lyrics, in particular, in the use of polysemy of words, the development of associativity, metaphor, and discoveries in the field of versification, meter, and rhythm.
Romanticism is characterized by a synthesis of genders and genres, their interpenetration. The romantic art system was based on a synthesis of art, philosophy, and religion. For example, for a thinker like Herder, linguistic research, philosophical doctrines, and travel notes serve the search for ways to revolutionize culture. Much of the achievements of romanticism were inherited by 19th century realism. – a penchant for fantasy, the grotesque, a mixture of high and low, tragic and comic, the discovery of “subjective man.”
In the era of romanticism, not only literature, but also many sciences flourished: sociology, history, political science, chemistry, biology, evolutionary doctrine, philosophy (Hegel, D. Hume, I. Kant, Fichte, natural philosophy, the essence of which boils down to the fact that nature - one of the garments of God, “the living garment of the Divine”).
Romanticism – cultural phenomenon Europe and America. IN different countries his fate had its own characteristics.
Germany can be considered a country of classical romanticism. Here the events of the Great French Revolution were perceived rather in the realm of ideas. Social problems were considered within the framework of philosophy, ethics, and aesthetics. The views of the German romantics became pan-European and influenced public thought and art in other countries. The history of German romanticism falls into several periods.
At the origins of German romanticism are the writers and theorists of the Jena school (W.G. Wackenroder, Novalis, brothers F. and A. Schlegel, W. Tieck). In the lectures of A. Schlegel and in the works of F. Schelling, the concept of romantic art acquired its outline. As one of the researchers of the Jena school, R. Huch, writes, the Jena romantics “put forward as an ideal the unification of various poles, no matter how the latter were called – reason and fantasy, spirit and instinct.” The Jenians also owned the first works of the romantic genre: Tieck's comedy Puss in Boots(1797), lyric cycle Hymns for the night(1800) and novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen(1802) Novalis. The romantic poet F. Hölderlin, who was not part of the Jena school, belongs to the same generation.
The Heidelberg School is the second generation of German romantics. Here the interest in religion, antiquity, and folklore became more noticeable. This interest explains the appearance of the collection folk songs Boy's magic horn(1806–08), compiled by L. Arnim and Brentano, as well as Children's and family fairy tales(1812–1814) brothers J. and V. Grimm. Within the framework of the Heidelberg school, the first scientific direction in the study of folklore took shape - the mythological school, which was based on the mythological ideas of Schelling and the Schlegel brothers.
Late German romanticism is characterized by motifs of hopelessness, tragedy, and rejection modern society, a feeling of discrepancy between dreams and reality (Kleist, Hoffman). This generation includes A. Chamisso, G. Muller and G. Heine, who called himself “the last romantic.”
English romanticism focused on the problems of the development of society and humanity as a whole. English romantics have a sense of catastrophism historical process. The poets of the “Lake School” (W. Wordsworth, S. T. Coleridge, R. Southey) idealize antiquity and glorify patriarchal relations, nature, simple, natural feelings. The work of the poets of the “lake school” is imbued with Christian humility; they tend to appeal to the subconscious in man.
Romantic poems on medieval subjects and historical novels by W. Scott are distinguished by an interest in native antiquity, to oral folk poetry.
However, the development of romanticism in France was especially acute. The reasons for this are twofold. On the one hand, it was in France that the traditions of theatrical classicism were especially strong: it is rightly believed that classicist tragedy acquired its complete and perfect expression in the dramaturgy of P. Corneille and J. Racine. And the stronger the traditions, the tougher and more irreconcilable the fight against them. On the other hand, radical changes in all areas of life were given impetus by the French bourgeois revolution of 1789 and the counter-revolutionary coup of 1794. The ideas of equality and freedom, protest against violence and social injustice turned out to be extremely consonant with the problems of romanticism. This gave a powerful impetus to the development of French romantic drama. Her fame was made by V. Hugo ( Cromwell, 1827; Marion Delorme, 1829; Hernani, 1830; Angelo, 1935; Ruy Blaz, 1938, etc.); A. de Vigny ( Marshal d'Ancre's wife, 1931; Chatterton, 1935; translations of Shakespeare's plays); A. Dumas the father ( Anthony, 1931; Richard Darlington 1831; Nelskaya Tower, 1832; Keen, or Dissipation and Genius, 1936); A. de Musset ( Lorenzaccio, 1834). True, in his later drama, Musset moved away from the aesthetics of romanticism, rethinking its ideals in an ironic and somewhat parodic way and imbuing his works with elegant irony ( Caprice, 1847; Candlestick, 1848; Love is no joke, 1861, etc.).
The dramaturgy of English romanticism is represented in the works of the great poets J. G. Byron ( Manfred, 1817; Marino Faliero, 1820, etc.) and P.B. Shelley ( Cenci, 1820; Hellas, 1822); German romanticism - in the plays of I.L. Tieck ( The Life and Death of Genoveva, 1799; Emperor Octavian, 1804) and G. Kleist ( Penthesilea, 1808; Prince Friedrich of Homburg, 1810, etc.).
Romanticism had a huge influence on the development of acting: for the first time in history, psychologism became the basis for creating a role. The rationally verified acting style of classicism was replaced by intense emotionality, vivid dramatic expression, versatility and inconsistency in the psychological development of characters. Empathy has returned auditoriums; The biggest romantic dramatic actors became public idols: E. Keane (England); L. Devrient (Germany), M. Dorval and F. Lemaitre (France); A. Ristori (Italy); E. Forrest and S. Cushman (USA); P. Mochalov (Russia).
Under the sign of romanticism, musical performing arts first half of the 19th century – both opera (Wagner, Gounod, Verdi, Rossini, Bellini, etc.) and ballet (Pugni, Maurer, etc.).
Romanticism also enriched the palette of staging and expressive means of the theater. For the first time, the principles of art of the artist, composer, and decorator began to be considered in the context of the emotional impact on the viewer, identifying the dynamics of the action.
By the middle of the 19th century. the aesthetics of theatrical romanticism seemed to have outlived its usefulness; it was replaced by realism, which absorbed and creatively rethought all the artistic achievements of the romantics: the renewal of genres, the democratization of heroes and literary language, expanding the palette of acting and production means. However, in the 1880–1890s, the direction of neo-romanticism was formed and strengthened in theatrical art, mainly as a polemic with naturalistic tendencies in the theater. Neo-romantic dramaturgy mainly developed in the genre of poetic drama, close to lyrical tragedy. Best plays neo-romantics (E. Rostand, A. Schnitzler, G. Hofmannsthal, S. Benelli) are distinguished by intense drama and refined language.
Undoubtedly, the aesthetics of romanticism with its emotional elation, heroic pathos, strong and deep feelings is extremely close to theatrical art, which is fundamentally built on empathy and puts its main goal achieving catharsis. That is why romanticism simply cannot irretrievably sink into the past; at all times, performances of this direction will be in demand by the public.
Tatiana Shabalina
Literature:
Gaim R. Romantic school. M., 1891
Reizov B.G. Between classicism and romanticism. L., 1962
European romanticism. M., 1973
The era of romanticism. From the history international relations Russian literature. L., 1975
Russian romanticism. L., 1978
Bentley E. Life of drama. M., 1978
Dzhivilegov A., Boyadzhiev G. History of Western European theater. M., 1991
Western European theater from the Renaissance to turn of XIX-XX centuries Essays. M., 2001
Mann Yu. Russian literature XIX V. Romantic era. M., 2001
The very etymology of the concept “romanticism” refers to the field of fiction. Initially, the word romance in Spain meant a lyrical and heroic song - romance; then great epic poems about knights; it was subsequently transferred to prose novels of chivalry. In the 17th century the epithet “romantic” (French romantique) serves to characterize adventurous and heroic works written in Romance languages, as opposed to those written in classical languages. In Europe, romanticism began its spread in two countries. England and Germany became the two “homelands” of romanticism.
In the 18th century this word begins to be used in England in relation to the literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. At the same time, the concept of “romance” began to be used to designate a literary genre implying a narrative in the spirit of chivalric romances. And in general, in the second half of the same century in England, the adjective “romantic” describes everything unusual, fantastic, mysterious (adventures, feelings, setting). Along with the concepts of “picturesque” and “Gothic” (gothic), it denotes new aesthetic values, different from the “universal” and “reasonable” ideal of beauty in classicism.
Although the adjective "romantic" has been used in European languages since at least the 17th century, the noun "romanticism" was first coined by Novalis in the late 18th century. At the end of the 18th century. in Germany and at the beginning of the 19th century. in France and a number of other countries, romanticism became the name of an artistic movement that opposed itself to classicism. As a designation for a certain literary style as a whole, it was conceptualized and popularized by A. Schlegel in lectures that he gave in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. in Jena, Berlin and Vienna (“Lectures on Fine Literature and Art,” 1801-1804). During the first two decades of the 19th century. Schlegel's ideas spread in France, Italy and England, in particular, thanks to the popularization activities of J. de Staël. The consolidation of this concept was facilitated by the work of I. Goethe “Romantic School” (1836). Romanticism arose in Germany, in literary and philosophical circles “Jena school” (Schlegel brothers, etc.). Prominent representatives of the direction - F. Schelling, brothers Grimm, Hoffmann, G. Heine.
IN England accepted new ideas W. Scott, J. Keats, Shelley, W. Blake. The most a prominent representative romanticism became J. Byron. His work had a great influence on the spread of the movement, including in Russia. The popularity of his Childe Harold's Travels gave rise to the phenomenon "Byronism"(Pechorin in "Hero of Our Time" by M. Lermontov).
French Romantics - Chateaubriand, V. Hugo, P. Merimee,George Sand, Polish – A. Mickiewicz, American - F. Cooper, G. Longfellow et al.
The term “romanticism” acquired a broader philosophical interpretation and cognitive meaning at this time. Romanticism, in its heyday, created its own movement in philosophy, theology, art and aesthetics. Having manifested itself especially clearly in these areas, romanticism also did not escape history, law, and even political economy.
Romanticism is artistic direction, which occurs in early XIX in Europe and continues until the 40s of the 19th century. Romanticism is observed in literature, fine arts, architecture, behavior, clothing, and human psychology. REASONS FOR THE ARISE OF ROMANTICISM. The immediate cause of the emergence of romanticism was the Great French bourgeois revolution. How did this become possible? Before the revolution, the world was orderly, there was a clear hierarchy in it, each person took his place. The revolution overturned the “pyramid” of society; a new one had not yet been created, so the individual had a feeling of loneliness. Life is a flow, life is a game in which some are lucky and others are not. During this era, gambling emerged and became extremely popular; gambling houses appeared all over the world, and in Russia in particular, and guides on playing cards were published. In literature, images of players appear - people who play with fate. You can recall such works of European writers as “The Gambler” by Hoffmann, “Red and Black” by Stendhal (and red and black are the colors of roulette!), and in Russian literature these are “The Queen of Spades” by Pushkin, “The Players” by Gogol, “Masquerade” Lermontov. A ROMANTIC HERO is a player, he plays with life and fate, because only in a game can a person feel the power of fate. The main features of romanticism: Unusuality in the depiction of events, people, nature. Striving for ideal, perfection. Closeness to oral folk art in terms of plot and fairy-tale images. Portrayal of the protagonist in exceptional circumstances. Very bright, colorful language, the use of a variety of expressive and figurative means of language.
The main ideas of Romanism: One of the main ideas is the idea of movement. The heroes of the works come and leave again. In literature, images of a mail coach, travel, and wanderings appear. Suffice it to recall, for example, the journey of Chichikov in a stagecoach or Chatsky, who at the beginning arrives from somewhere “He was treated, they say, in sour waters.”), and then leaves again somewhere (“A carriage for me, a carriage!”). This idea reflects human existence in an ever-changing world. THE MAIN CONFLICT OF ROMANTICISM. The main one is the conflict between man and the world. A psychology of rebellious personality emerges, which was most deeply reflected by Lord Byron in his work “Childe Harold’s Travels.” The popularity of this work was so great that a whole phenomenon arose - “Byronism”, and entire generations of young people tried to imitate it (for example, Pechorin in Lermontov’s “Hero of Our Time”). Romantic heroes are united by a sense of their own exclusivity. “I” is recognized as the highest value, hence the egocentrism of the romantic hero. But by focusing on oneself, a person comes into conflict with reality. REALITY is a strange, fantastic, extraordinary world, as in Hoffmann’s fairy tale “The Nutcracker,” or ugly, as in his fairy tale “Little Tsakhes.” In these tales, strange events occur, objects come to life and enter into lengthy conversations, the main theme of which is the deep gap between ideals and reality. And this gap becomes the main THEME of the lyrics of romanticism. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RUSSIAN AND EUROPEAN ROMANTICISM. The main literary form of European romanticism were fairy tales, legends, and fantastic stories. In the romantic works of Russian writers, the fairy-tale world arises from the description of everyday life, everyday situations. This everyday situation is refracted and reinterpreted as fantastic. This feature of the works of Russian romantic writers can be most clearly seen in the example of “The Night Before Christmas” by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. But the main work of Russian romanticism is rightfully considered “The Queen of Spades” by A.S. Pushkin. The plot of this work differs significantly from the plot of Tchaikovsky's famous opera of the same name. SUMMARY OF THE STORY: Hussar feast - a story about the secret of three cards, revealed by Mr. Saint-Germain to a Russian countess in Paris - a Russified German, Hermann the engineer - dreams of learning the secret - finds the old countess - her pupil Lisa - writes letters to her, which he copies from romance novels - enters the house when the countess is at the ball - hides behind the curtain - the countess returns - waits for the moment when she is left alone in the room - tries to get the secret of three cards - the countess dies - Genmann is horrified by what happened - Lisa leads him out through the black move - the countess appears to Hermann in a dream and reveals the secret of three cards “three, seven, ace” - Hermann collects all his savings and goes to the gambling house, where the owner of the gambling house, Mr. Chekalinsky, sits down to play with him - Hermann bets on three and wins , on a seven and wins, on an ace and at that moment takes the queen of spades from the deck - she goes crazy and ends up in the Obukhov hospital, and Lisa receives an inheritance, gets married and takes on a pupil. “The Queen of Spades” is a deeply romantic and even mystical work that embodies the best features of Russian romanticism. To this day, this work enjoys a bad reputation among theater artists and directors and is surrounded by many mystical stories that happen to those who stage or act in this work. Traits of romanticism are manifested in creativity V. Zhukovsky and are developed by Baratynsky, Ryleev, Kuchelbecker, Pushkin (“Eugene Onegin”), Tyutchev. And the works Lermontov, the “Russian Byron,” is considered the pinnacle of Russian romanticism.
Features of Russian romanticism. The subjective romantic image contained objective content, expressed in a reflection of the social sentiments of the Russian people in the first third of the 19th century - disappointment, anticipation of change, rejection of both Western European bourgeoisism and Russian despotic autocratic, serf-based foundations.
The desire for nationality. It seemed to Russian romantics that by comprehending the spirit of the people, they became familiar with the ideal beginnings of life. At the same time, the understanding people's soul“And the content of the very principle of nationality was different among representatives of various movements in Russian romanticism. Thus, for Zhukovsky, nationality meant a humane attitude towards the peasantry and poor people in general; he found it in poetry folk rituals, lyrical songs, folk signs, superstitions, legends. In the works of the romantic Decembrists, the national character is not just positive, but heroic, nationally distinctive, which is rooted in the historical traditions of the people. They revealed such a character in historical, bandit songs, epics, and heroic tales.
An idea was put forward national types of romanticism. The “classical” type includes the romantic art of England, Germany, and France. The romanticism of Italy and Spain is singled out as a special type: here the slow bourgeois development of the countries is combined with a rich literary tradition. A special type is represented by the romanticism of countries leading a national liberation struggle, where romanticism takes on a revolutionary-democratic sound (Poland, Hungary). In a number of countries with slow bourgeois development, romanticism solved educational problems (for example, in Finland, where Lenrot’s epic poem “Kalevala” appeared). The question of the types of romanticism remains insufficiently studied.
Romanticism in European literature European romanticism of the 19th century is remarkable in that most of its works have a fantastic basis. These are numerous fairy-tale legends, short stories and stories. The main countries in which romanticism as a literary movement manifested itself most expressively are France, England and Germany. This artistic phenomenon has several stages: 1801-1815. The beginning of the formation of romantic aesthetics. 1815-1830. The formation and flourishing of the movement, the definition of the main postulates of this direction. 1830-1848. Romanticism takes on more social forms. examples of romanticism Each of the above countries made its own special contribution to the development of the designated cultural phenomenon. In France, romantic literary works had a more political overtones; writers were hostile towards the new bourgeoisie. This society, according to French leaders, destroyed the integrity of the individual, her beauty and freedom of spirit. Romanticism has existed in English legends for quite a long time, but until the end of the 18th century it did not stand out as a separate literary movement. English works, unlike French ones, are filled with Gothic, religion, national folklore, and the culture of peasant and working-class societies (including spiritual ones). In addition, English prose and lyrics are filled with travel to distant lands and exploration of foreign lands. In Germany, romanticism as a literary movement was formed under the influence idealistic philosophy. The foundations were the individuality and freedom of man, oppressed by feudalism, as well as the perception of the universe as a single living system. Almost every German work is permeated with reflections on the existence of man and the life of his spirit. The development of romanticism in different national literatures followed different paths. It depended on the cultural situation in specific countries, and not always those writers who were preferred by readers at home turned out to be significant on a pan-European scale. Thus, in the history of English literature, romanticism is embodied primarily by the poets of the “Lake School” William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but for European romanticism the most important figure among the English romantics was Byron.
English Romanticism
The first stage of English romanticism (90s of the 18th century) is most fully represented by the so-called Lake School. The term itself arose in 1800, when in one of the English literary magazines Wordsworth was declared the head of the Lake School, and in 1802 Coleridge and Southey were named as its members. The life and work of these three poets are associated with the Lake District, the northern counties of England, where there are many lakes. Leucist poets magnificently sang this region in their poems. The works of Wordsworth, who was born in the Lake District, forever capture some of the picturesque views of Cumberland - the River Derwent, the Red Lake on Helvellyn, the yellow daffodils on the shores of Lake Ullswater, a winter evening on Lake Esthwaite. The founder of English romanticism was J. G. Byron with his poems about Childe Harold. Such romanticism later began to be called freedom-loving, since its main theme is the life of a non-standard talented person in difficult conditions, in a society that does not want to understand and accept such a person.
The hero strives for freedom not so much actual as spiritual, but he is not always able to achieve it. As a rule, such a hero becomes a “superfluous person”, since he does not have a single outlet or opportunity for self-realization.
The followers of the Byronic tradition in Russia were Pushkin and Lermontov, whose main characters are typical “superfluous people.” Byron's poems combine grief, melancholy, skepticism, and lyricism, thus his work became a role model for many romantic poets in the future. In Russia, his ideas were continued by Pushkin and especially Lermontov.
German (Germanic) romanticism
In Germany, the first recognized work of romanticism was Klinger's drama Sturm und Drang, published at the end of the eighteenth century. This creativity sang of freedom, hatred of tyrants, and cultivated an independent personality.
However, the real symbol of German romanticism was the name of Schiller, with his romantic poems and ballads. German romanticism is called mystical because... Its main themes are the struggle between spirit and matter, the empirical and the tangible.
According to the principles of romanticism, spirit is a priori higher than matter: in Schiller’s poems, life and death, reality and sleep often collide. Much of Romanticism is the line between the otherworldly and the real; Elements such as the living dead and prophetic dreams appear in Schiller's poems.
His ideas in Russia were continued by Zhukovsky in his ballads “Svetlana” and “Lyudmila”, which are filled with folklore elements of the “otherworldly” world. Schiller also strives for freedom, however, in his opinion, for an immature person it can only be evil.
Therefore it romantic creativity, unlike Byron, emphasizes that the ideal world is not freedom from society, but a world on the verge of sleep and reality. Unlike Byron, Schiller believed that a person could exist in harmony with the world around him without compromising his personal freedom, since the main thing for him was freedom of spirit and thoughts.
Conclusion: Romanticism as literary direction provided enough strong influence to musical, theatrical art and painting - just remember the numerous productions and paintings of those times. This happened mainly due to such qualities of the movement as high aesthetics and emotionality, heroism and pathos, chivalry, idealization and humanism. Despite the fact that the age of romanticism was quite short-lived, this did not in any way affect the popularity of books written in the 19th century in subsequent decades - works of literary art from that period are loved and revered by the public to this day.
The formation of the culture of romanticism. Aesthetics of Romanticism
Romanticism is an artistic movement in spiritual and artistic culture, which arose in Europe at the endXVIII– beginningXIXcenturies Romanticism was embodied in literature: Byron, Hugo, Hoffmann, Poe; music: Chopin, Wagner; in painting, in theatrical activities, V gardening art. Under the term "romanticism" in XIX century, modern art was understood, which replaced classicism. The socio-historical cause of the emergence of romanticism was the events of the Great French Revolution. History during this period turned out to be beyond the control of reason. The new world order, disappointment in the ideals of the revolution formed the basis for the emergence of romanticism. On the other hand, the revolution involved the entire people in the creative process and was reflected in its own way in the soul of each person. The involvement of man in the movement of time, the co-creation of man and history was significant for the romantics. Main merit The Great French Revolution, which became one of the prerequisites for the emergence of romanticism in that it brought to the fore the problem of unlimited personal freedom and its creative possibilities. Perception of personality as a creative substance.
The romantic type of consciousness is open to dialogue - it requires an interlocutor and an accomplice in lonely walks, communication with nature, with one’s own nature. It is synthetic, because this artistic consciousness is nourished by various sources of design and enrichment, development. Romantics need dynamics; the process is important to them, not its completion. Hence the interest in fragments, in genre experiments. Romantics see the author as central to the literary process. Romanticism is associated with the liberation of words from pre-prepared and defined forms, filling them with many meanings. The word becomes an object - a mediator in bringing together the truth of life and the truth of literature. XIXcentury is a cultural and historical era that reflected profound changes in the history of society and ideas about human nature, stimulated by the Great French Revolution. This is an age exclusively aimed at the development of human individuality. Humanistic aspirations of writers XIXcenturies relied on the great achievements of the Enlightenment, the discoveries of the romantics, the greatest achievements natural sciences, without which it is impossible to imagine new art. XIXThe century is filled with incredible energy and an unpredictable play of circumstances that a person has to face in conditions of social instability, in conditions of active redistribution of spheres of spiritual activity and the increasing social significance of art, especially literature.
Romanticism abstracted from the world of reality and created its own, in which there were other laws, other feelings, words, other desires and concepts. The romantic strives to escape everyday life and returns to it, discovering the unusual, always carrying with him the eternally alluring image of endless striving for the ideal. Interest in the individual consciousness of the artist and the development of his capabilities is combined with the universal inability of many romantic heroes to consider themselves as full members of an organized society. social society. They are often presented as lonely figures, alienated from a materialistic, selfish and hypocritical world. Sometimes they are outlawed or fight for their own happiness in the most unusual, often illegal ways (robbers, corsairs, infidels).
The free independent thinking of romantics is realized in an endless chain of self-discoveries. Self-awareness and self-knowledge become both the task and the goal of art.
Romanticism as a cultural phenomenon is tied to the era, although it can leave some of its constants as a legacy to future generations appearance personalities, her psychological characteristics: interesting pallor, a penchant for lonely walks, love for a beautiful landscape and detachment from the ordinary, longing for unrealistic ideals and an irretrievably lost past, melancholy and high moral sense, sensitivity to the suffering of others.
Basic principles of the poetics of romanticism.
1. The artist does not strive to recreate life, but to recreate it in accordance with his ideals.
2. Romantic dual worlds are interpreted in the artist’s mind as a discord between ideal and reality, what should be and what is. The basis of dual worlds is rejection of reality. The dual worlds of the romantics are very close to the dialogue with nature, the universe, a silent dialogue, often carried out in the imagination, but always with physical movement or its imitation. The rapprochement of the world of human feelings with the world of nature helped romantic hero to feel part of a larger universe, to feel free and significant. A romantic is always a traveler, he is a citizen of the world, for whom the entire planet is the center of thought, mystery, and the process of creation.
3. The word in romanticism represents a line of demarcation between the world of creative imagination and the real world; it warns of the possible invasion of reality and the suspension of the flight of fantasy. The word, created by the creative energy and enthusiasm of the author, conveys his warmth and energy to the reader, inviting him to empathy and joint action.
4. Concept of personality: man is a small universe. The hero is always an exceptional person who has looked into the abyss of his own consciousness.
5. The basis of modern personality is passion. From here stems the romantics' exploration of human passions, an understanding of human individuality, which led to the discovery of the subjective person.
6. Artists reject all normativity in art.
7. Nationality: each nation creates its own special world image, which is determined by culture and habits. The Romantics addressed issues of national typology of cultures.
8. Romantics often turned to myths: antiquity, the Middle Ages, folklore. In addition, they create their own myths. The symbolism, metaphors, and emblems of romantic artistic consciousness are simple and natural at first glance, but they are complete secret meaning, they are multi-valued, for example, romantic images of a rose, a nightingale, wind and clouds. They can take on a different meaning if placed in a different context: it is the foreign context that helps romantic work live according to the laws of a living being.
9. The romantic vision is designed to mix genres, but in a different way than in previous eras. The nature of their manifestation in the culture as a whole is changing. Such are odes and ballads, essays and novels. Mixing genres, both poetic and prosaic, is important in emancipating consciousness and freeing it from conventions, from mandatory normative techniques and rules. Romantics created new literary genres: historical novel, fantasy story.
10. It is no coincidence that the idea of a synthesis of arts appears in romanticism. On the one hand, this was how the specific task of ensuring maximum liveliness and naturalness of the artistic impression and the completeness of the reflection of life was solved. On the other hand, it served a global purpose: art developed as a collection of different types, genres, schools, just as society seemed to be a collection of isolated individuals. The synthesis of arts is a prototype of overcoming the fragmentation of the human “I”, the fragmentation of human society.
It was during the period of romanticism that a deep breakthrough occurred in artistic consciousness, due to the victory of individuality and the desire for synthesis. various fields spiritual activity, emerging international specialization of mental intellectual work.
Romanticism contrasted the utilitarianism and materiality of the emerging bourgeois society with a break with everyday reality, a retreat into the world of dreams and fantasies, and an idealization of the past. Romanticism is a world in which melancholy, irrationality, and eccentricity reign. Its traces appeared in European consciousness as early asXVIIcentury, but were regarded by doctors as a sign of mental disorder. But romanticism is opposed to rationalism, not humanism. On the contrary, he creates a new humanism, proposing to consider man in all his manifestations.
