Classicism as a literary movement main features. Classicism in Russian literature of the 19th century. Need help studying a topic?

Peoples' Friendship University of Russia

Faculty of Philology

Department of Russian and Foreign Literature

course "History of Russian literature of the 19th century"

Subject:

"Classicism. Basic principles. The originality of Russian classicism"

Performed by student Ivanova I.A.

Group FZHB-11

Scientific adviser:

Associate Professor Pryakhin M.N.

Moscow

The concept of classicism

Philosophical teaching

Ethical and aesthetic program

Genre system

Bibliography

The concept of classicism

Classicism is one of the most important trends in the literature of the past. Having established itself in the works and creativity of many generations, putting forward a brilliant galaxy of poets and writers, classicism left such milestones on the path of artistic development of mankind as the tragedies of Corneille, Racine, Milton, Voltaire, the comedies of Moliere and many other literary works. History itself confirms the viability of the traditions of the classicist artistic system and the value of the underlying concepts of the world and human personality, primarily the moral imperative characteristic of classicism.

Classicism did not always remain identical to itself in everything, but was constantly developing and improving. This is especially obvious if we consider classicism from the perspective of its three-century existence and in the different national versions in which it appears to us in France, Germany and Russia. Taking its first steps in the 16th century, that is, during the mature Renaissance, classicism absorbed and reflected the atmosphere of this revolutionary era, and at the same time it carried new trends that were destined to manifest themselves energetically only in the next century.

Classicism is one of the most studied and theoretically thought-out literary movements. But, despite this, its detailed study is still an extremely relevant topic for modern researchers, largely due to the fact that it requires special flexibility and subtlety of analysis.

The formation of the concept of classicism requires systematic, purposeful work of the researcher based on attitudes towards artistic perception and the development of value judgments when analyzing the text.

Russian classicism literature

Therefore, in modern science, contradictions often arise between new tasks of literary research and old approaches to the formation of theoretical and literary concepts about classicism.

Basic principles of classicism

Classicism as an artistic movement tends to reflect life in ideal images that gravitate toward the universal “norm” model. Hence the cult of antiquity of classicism: classical antiquity appears in it as an example of perfect and harmonious art.

Both high and low genres were obliged to instruct the public, elevate its morals, and enlighten its feelings.

The most important standards of classicism are the unity of action, place and time. In order to more accurately convey the idea to the viewer and inspire him to selfless feelings, the author should not have complicated anything. The main intrigue should be simple enough so as not to confuse the viewer and not deprive the picture of its integrity. The requirement for the unity of time was closely related to the unity of action. The unity of the place was expressed in different ways. This could be the space of one palace, one room, one city, and even the distance that the hero could cover within twenty-four hours.

Classicism is formed, experiencing the influence of other pan-European trends in art that are directly in contact with it: it builds on the aesthetics of the Renaissance that preceded it and opposes Baroque.

Historical basis of classicism

The history of classicism begins in Western Europe at the end of the 16th century. In the 17th century reaches its highest development, associated with the heyday of the absolute monarchy of Louis XIV in France and the highest rise of theatrical art in the country. Classicism continued to exist fruitfully in the 18th and early 19th centuries, until it was replaced by sentimentalism and romanticism.

As an artistic system, classicism finally took shape in the 17th century, although the concept of classicism itself was born later, in the 19th century, when an irreconcilable war was declared on it by romance.

Having studied the poetics of Aristotle and the practice of Greek theater, the French classics proposed rules of construction in their works, based on the foundations of rationalistic thinking of the 17th century. First of all, this is strict adherence to the laws of the genre, division into the highest genres - ode (a solemn song (lyric) poem glorifying glory, praise, greatness, victory, etc.), tragedy (a dramatic or stage work that depicts an irreconcilable conflict between the individual and forces opposing it), epic (depicts actions or events in an objective narrative form, characterized by a calmly contemplative attitude towards the depicted object) and lower - comedy (a dramatic performance or composition for the theater, where society is presented in a funny, amusing form), satire (a type of comic , differing from other types (humor, irony) in the sharpness of its exposure).

The laws of classicism are most characteristically expressed in the rules for constructing tragedy. The author of the play was, first of all, required that the plot of the tragedy, as well as the passions of the characters, be believable. But the classicists have their own understanding of verisimilitude: not just the similarity of what is depicted on stage with reality, but the consistency of what is happening with the requirements of reason, with a certain moral and ethical norm.

Philosophical teaching

The central place in Classicism was occupied by the idea of ​​order, in the establishment of which the leading role belongs to reason and knowledge. From the idea of ​​the priority of order and reason followed a characteristic concept of man, which could be reduced to three leading principles or principles:

) the principle of the priority of reason over passions, the belief that the highest virtue consists in resolving contradictions between reason and passions in favor of the former, and the highest valor and justice lie respectively in actions prescribed not by passions, but by reason;

) the principle of primordial morality and law-abidingness of the human mind, the belief that it is reason that is capable of leading a person to truth, goodness and justice in the shortest way;

) the principle of social service, which asserted that the duty prescribed by reason lies in the honest and selfless service of a person to his sovereign and the state.

In socio-historical, moral and legal terms, Classicism was associated with the process of centralization of power and the strengthening of absolutism in a number of European states. He took on the role of ideology, defending the interests of the royal houses seeking to unite the nations around them.

Ethical and aesthetic program

The initial principle of the aesthetic code of classicism is imitation of beautiful nature. Objective beauty for the theorists of classicism (Boileau, Andre) is the harmony and regularity of the universe, which has as its source a spiritual principle that shapes matter and puts it in order. Beauty, therefore, as an eternal spiritual law, is the opposite of everything sensual, material, changeable. Therefore, moral beauty is higher than physical beauty; the creation of human hands is more beautiful than the rough beauty of nature.

The laws of beauty do not depend on the experience of observation; they are extracted from the analysis of internal spiritual activity.

The ideal of the artistic language of classicism is the language of logic - accuracy, clarity, consistency. The linguistic poetics of classicism avoids, as far as possible, the objective figurativeness of the word. Her usual remedy is an abstract epithet.

The relationship between the individual elements of a work of art is built on the same principles, i.e. a composition that is usually a geometrically balanced structure based on a strict symmetrical division of the material. Thus, the laws of art are likened to the laws of formal logic.

The political ideal of classicism

In their political struggle, the revolutionary bourgeoisie and plebeians in France, both in the decades preceding the revolution and in the turbulent years of 1789-1794, widely used ancient traditions, ideological heritage and external forms of Roman democracy. So, at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. In European literature and art, a new type of classicism emerged, new in its ideological and social content in relation to the classicism of the 17th century, to the aesthetic theory and practice of Boileau, Corneille, Racine, and Poussin.

The art of classicism of the era of the bourgeois revolution was strictly rationalistic, i.e. required complete logical correspondence of all elements of the artistic form to an extremely clearly expressed plan.

Classicism of the 18th-19th centuries. was not a homogeneous phenomenon. In France, the heroic period of the bourgeois revolution of 1789-1794. preceded and accompanied the development of revolutionary republican classicism, which was embodied in the dramas of M.Zh. Chenier, in the early painting of David, etc. In contrast, during the years of the Directory and especially the Consulate and the Napoleonic Empire, classicism lost its revolutionary spirit and turned into a conservative academic movement.

Sometimes, under the direct influence of French art and the events of the French Revolution, and in some cases, independently of them and even preceding them in time, a new classicism developed in Italy, Spain, the Scandinavian countries, and the USA. In Russia, classicism reached its greatest heights in the architecture of the first third of the 19th century.

One of the most significant ideological and artistic achievements of this time was the work of the great German poets and thinkers - Goethe and Schiller.

With all the variety of variants of classicist art, there was much in common. And the revolutionary classicism of the Jacobins, and the philosophical-humanistic classicism of Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, and the conservative classicism of the Napoleonic Empire, and the very diverse - sometimes progressive-patriotic, sometimes reactionary-great-power - classicism in Russia were contradictory products of the same historical era.

Genre system

Classicism establishes a strict hierarchy of genres, which are divided into high (ode, tragedy, epic) and low (comedy, satire, fable).

ABOUT́ Yes- a poetic, as well as musical and poetic work, distinguished by solemnity and sublimity, dedicated to some event or hero.

The tragedy is marked by stern seriousness, depicts reality in the most pointed way, as a clot of internal contradictions, reveals the deepest conflicts of reality in an extremely tense and rich form, acquiring the meaning of an artistic symbol; It is no coincidence that most tragedies are written in verse.

Epić I- generic designation for large epic and similar works:

.An extensive narrative in verse or prose about outstanding national historical events.

2.A complex, long history of something, including a number of major events.

Comá diya- a genre of fiction characterized by a humorous or satirical approach.

Satire- a manifestation of the comic in art, which is a poetic, humiliating denunciation of phenomena using various comic means: sarcasm, irony, hyperbole, grotesque, allegory, parody, etc.

Bá sleeping- a poetic or prose literary work of a moralizing, satirical nature. At the end of the fable there is a short moralizing conclusion - the so-called morality. The characters are usually animals, plants, things. The fable ridicules the vices of people.

Representatives of classicism

In literature, Russian classicism is represented by the works of A.D. Kantemira, V.K. Trediakovsky, M.V. Lomonosov, A.P. Sumarokova.

HELL. Kantemir was the founder of Russian classicism, the founder of the most vital real-satirical direction in it - such are his famous satires.

VC. Trediakovsky, with his theoretical works, contributed to the establishment of classicism, but in his poetic works the new ideological content did not find a corresponding artistic form.

The traditions of Russian classicism manifested themselves differently in the works of A.P. Sumarokov, who defended the idea of ​​​​the inseparability of the interests of the nobility and the monarchy. Sumarokov laid the foundation for the dramatic system of classicism. In his tragedies, under the influence of the reality of that time, he often turns to the theme of the uprising against tsarism. In his work, Sumarokov pursued social and educational goals, preaching high civic feelings and noble deeds.

The next prominent representative of Russian classicism, whose name is known to everyone without exception, is M.V. Lomonosov (1711-1765). Lomonosov, unlike Kantemir, rarely ridicules enemies of enlightenment. He managed to almost completely rework the grammar based on the French canons, and made changes to the versification. Actually, it was Mikhail Lomonosov who became the first who was able to introduce the canonical principles of classicism into Russian literature. Depending on the quantitative mixture of words of three kinds, one or another style is created. This is how the “three calms” of Russian poetry emerged: “high” - Church Slavonic words and Russian ones.

The pinnacle of Russian classicism is the work of D.I. Fonvizin (Brigadier, Minor), the creator of a truly original national comedy, who laid the foundations of critical realism within this system.

Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin was the last in a row of the largest representatives of Russian classicism. Derzhavin managed to combine not only the themes of these two genres, but also the vocabulary: “Felitsa” organically combines the words of “high calm” and vernacular. Thus, Gabriel Derzhavin, who fully developed the possibilities of classicism in his works, simultaneously became the first Russian poet to overcome the canons of classicism.

Russian classicism, its originality

A significant role in the shift in the dominant genre in the artistic system of Russian classicism was played by the qualitatively different attitude of our authors to the traditions of the national culture of previous periods, in particular to national folklore. The theoretical code of French classicism - "Poetic Art" Boileau demonstrates a sharply hostile attitude towards everything that in one way or another had a connection with the art of the masses. In his attack on Tabarin's theater, Boileau denies the traditions of popular farce, finding traces of this tradition in Molière. The harsh criticism of burlesque poetry also testifies to the well-known anti-democratic nature of his aesthetic program. There was no place in Boileau’s treatise to characterize such a literary genre as the fable, which is closely connected with the traditions of the democratic culture of the masses.

Russian classicism did not shy away from national folklore. On the contrary, in the perception of the traditions of folk poetic culture in certain genres, he found incentives for his enrichment. Even at the origins of the new direction, when undertaking a reform of Russian versification, Trediakovsky directly refers to the songs of the common people as a model that he followed in establishing his rules.

The absence of a break between the literature of Russian classicism and the traditions of national folklore explains its other features. Thus, in the system of poetic genres of Russian literature of the 18th century, in particular in the work of Sumarokov, the genre of lyrical love song, which Boileau does not mention at all, receives an unexpected flourishing. In “Epistole 1 on poetry” Sumarokov gives a detailed description of this genre along with the characteristics of recognized genres of classicism, such as ode, tragedy, idyll, etc. In his “Epistole” Sumarokov also includes a description of the fable genre, relying on the experience of La Fontaine . And in his poetic practice, both in songs and in fables, Sumarokov, as we will see, was often directly guided by folklore traditions.

The originality of the literary process of the late XVII - early XVIII centuries. explains another feature of Russian classicism: its connection with the Baroque artistic system in its Russian version.

1. Natural-legal philosophy of classicism of the 17th century. #"justify">Books:

5.O.Yu. Schmidt "Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Volume 32." Ed. "Soviet Encyclopedia" 1936

6.A.M. Prokhorov. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Volume 12. "Published "Soviet Encyclopedia" 1973

.S.V. Turaev "Literature. Reference materials". Ed. "Enlightenment" 1988

The term “classicism” translated from Latin means “exemplary” and is associated with the principles of imitation of images.

Classicism arose in the 17th century in France as a movement outstanding in its social and artistic significance. In its essence, it was associated with absolute monarchy and the establishment of noble statehood.

This direction is characterized by high civic themes and strict adherence to certain creative norms and rules. Classicism, as a certain artistic movement, tends to reflect life in ideal images that gravitate toward a certain “norm” or model. Hence the cult of antiquity in classicism: classical antiquity appears in it as an example of modern and harmonious art. According to the rules of the aesthetics of classicism, which strictly adhered to the so-called “hierarchy of genres,” tragedy, ode and epic belonged to the “high genres” and were supposed to develop especially important problems, resorting to ancient and historical subjects, and display only the sublime, heroic aspects of life. “High genres” were opposed to “low” ones: comedy, fable, satire and others, designed to reflect modern reality.

Each genre had its own theme (selection of themes), and each work was built according to the rules developed for this purpose. Mixing techniques of various literary genres in a work was strictly prohibited.

The most developed genres during the period of classicism were tragedies, poems and odes.

Tragedy, as understood by the classicists, is a dramatic work that depicts the struggle of a personality outstanding in its spiritual strength against insurmountable obstacles; such a struggle usually ends in the death of the hero. Classical writers based the tragedy on the clash (conflict) of the hero’s personal feelings and aspirations with his duty to the state. This conflict was resolved by the victory of duty. The plots of the tragedy were borrowed from the writers of ancient Greece and Rome, and sometimes taken from historical events of the past. The heroes were kings and generals. As in Greco-Roman tragedy, the characters were portrayed either positive or negative, with each person representing one spiritual trait, one quality: positive courage, justice, etc. , negative - ambition, hypocrisy. These were conventional characters. Life and the era were also conventionally depicted. There was no correct depiction of historical reality, nationality (it is unknown where and when the action takes place).

The tragedy had to have five acts.

The playwright had to strictly observe the rules of the “three unities”: time, place and action. The unity of time required that all the events of the tragedy fit within a period of no more than one day. The unity of place was expressed in the fact that the entire action of the play took place in one place - in the palace or in the square. Unity of action presupposed an internal connection of events; in the tragedy nothing unnecessary was allowed that was not necessary for the development of the plot. The tragedy had to be written in solemn and majestic verses.

The poem was an epic (narrative) work that presented an important historical event in poetic language or glorified the exploits of heroes and kings.

Ode is a solemn song of praise in honor of kings, generals, or victories won over enemies. The ode was supposed to express the author’s delight and inspiration (pathos). Therefore, it was characterized by elevated, solemn language, rhetorical questions, exclamations, appeals, personification of abstract concepts (science, victories), images of gods and goddesses and conscious exaggerations. In terms of the ode, “lyrical disorder” was allowed, which was expressed in a deviation from the harmony of presentation of the main theme. But this was a conscious, strictly considered retreat (“proper disorder”).

The doctrine of classicism was based on the idea of ​​the dualism of human nature. The greatness of man was revealed in the struggle between the material and the spiritual. The personality was affirmed in the fight against “passions” and freed from selfish material interests. The rational, spiritual principle in a person was considered as the most important quality of personality. The idea of ​​the greatness of the mind that unites people found expression in the creation of the theory of art by the classicists. In the aesthetics of classicism, it is seen as a way of imitating the essence of things. “Virtue,” wrote Sumarokov, “we do not owe to our nature. Morals and politics make us, by the measure of enlightenment, reason and purification of hearts, useful to the common good. Without this, people would have destroyed each other long ago without a trace.”

Classicism is urban, metropolitan poetry. There are almost no images of nature in it, and if landscapes are given, they are urban; pictures of artificial nature are drawn: squares, grottoes, fountains, trimmed trees.

This direction is formed, experiencing the influence of other pan-European trends in art that are directly in contact with it: it starts from the aesthetics of the Renaissance that preceded it and confronts the Baroque art that actively coexists with it, imbued with the consciousness of the general discord generated by the crisis of the ideals of the past era. Continuing some traditions of the Renaissance (admiration for the ancients, faith in reason, the ideal of harmony and proportion), classicism was a kind of antithesis to it; behind the external harmony it hides the internal antinomy of the worldview, which makes it similar to the Baroque (for all their deep differences). The generic and the individual, the public and the personal, reason and feeling, civilization and nature, which appeared (in a trend) in the art of the Renaissance as a single harmonious whole, are polarized in classicism and become mutually exclusive concepts. This reflected a new historical state, when the political and private spheres began to disintegrate, and social relations began to turn into a separate and abstract force for humans.

For its time, classicism had a positive meaning. Writers proclaimed the importance of a person fulfilling his civic duties and sought to educate a citizen; developed the question of genres, their composition, and streamlined the language. Classicism dealt a crushing blow to medieval literature, full of faith in the miraculous, in ghosts, which subordinated human consciousness to the teachings of the church.

Enlightenment classicism was formed earlier than others in foreign literature. In works devoted to the 18th century, this trend is often assessed as the “high” classicism of the 17th century that had fallen into decline. This is not entirely true. Of course, there is a continuity between enlightenment and “high” classicism, but enlightenment classicism is an integral artistic movement that reveals the previously untapped artistic potential of classicist art and has educational features.

The literary doctrine of classicism was associated with advanced philosophical systems that represented a reaction to medieval mysticism and scholasticism. These philosophical systems were, in particular, the rationalist theory of Descartes and the materialist doctrine of Gassendi. The philosophy of Descartes, who declared reason to be the only criterion of truth, had a particularly great influence on the formation of the aesthetic principles of classicism. In Descartes' theory, materialistic principles, based on the data of the exact sciences, were uniquely combined with idealistic principles, with the assertion of the decisive superiority of the spirit, thinking over matter, being, with the theory of the so-called “innate” ideas.

The cult of reason underlies the aesthetics of classicism. Since every feeling in the minds of adherents of the theory of classicism was random and arbitrary, the measure of a person’s value was for them the compliance of his actions with the laws of reason. Above all else in a person, classicism placed the “reasonable” ability to suppress personal feelings and passions in the name of one’s duty to the state. Man in the works of the followers of classicism is, first of all, a servant of the state, a person in general, for the rejection of the inner life of the individual naturally followed from the principle of subordination of the particular to the general proclaimed by classicism. Classicism depicted not so much people as characters, images and concepts. Typification was therefore carried out in the form of mask images, which were the embodiment of human vices and virtues. Equally abstract was the setting outside of time and space in which these images operated. Classicism was ahistorical even in those cases when it turned to the depiction of historical events and historical figures, because writers were not interested in historical authenticity, but in the possibility through the mouth of pseudo-historical heroes of eternal and general truths, eternal and general properties of characters, supposedly inherent in people of all times and peoples.

The theorist of French classicism Nicolas Boileau, in his treatise “Poetic Art” (1674), outlined the principles of classicist poetics in literature as follows:

But then Malherbe came and showed the French

A simple and harmonious verse, pleasing to the muses in everything,

He ordered harmony to fall at the feet of reason

And by placing the words, he doubled their power.

Having cleansed our language of rudeness and filth,

He developed a discerning and faithful taste,

I carefully followed the ease of the verse

And line breaks were strictly prohibited.

Boileau argued that in a literary work everything should be based on reason, on deeply thought-out principles and rules.

The theory of classicism manifested in its own way the desire for truth in life. Boileau declared: “Only the truthful is beautiful” and called for imitation of nature. However, both Boileau himself and the majority of writers united under the banner of classicism invested a limited meaning in the concepts of “truth” and “nature”, determined by the socio-historical essence of this literary movement. Calling to imitate nature, Boileau did not mean all nature, but only “beautiful nature,” which in fact led to the depiction of reality, but embellished, “ennobled.” Boileau's code of poetry protected literature from the penetration of the democratic current into it. And it is very characteristic that for all his friendship with Moliere, Boileau condemned him for the fact that he often deviated from the aesthetic requirements of classicism and followed the artistic experience of the folk theater. Classicism recognized the ancient Greek and Roman classics as the highest authorities in matters of poetic art, who provided eternal and immutable solutions to ideological and artistic problems, declaring their works “models” to follow. The poetics of classicism relied heavily on the mechanical and historically learned rules of ancient poetics (Aristotle and Horace). In particular, the rules of the so-called three unities (time, place and action) that are obligatory for the playwright of the school of classicism go back to the ancient tradition.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) is the most significant representative of English representative classicist poetry.

In his “Essay on Criticism” (1711), relying on Boileau’s “Poetic Art” and Horace’s “Science of Poetry,” he generalized and developed classicist principles with extraordinary insight for a young man in an enlightening spirit. He considered “imitation of nature” as imitation of an ancient model. Adhering to the concepts of “measure,” “appropriateness,” and “plausibility,” he, as an educational humanist, called for a reasonable, “natural” life. Pope considered taste to be innate, but becoming correct under the influence of education, and, therefore, inherent in a person from any class. He opposed the pompous style of the Baroque adherents, but the “simplicity” of the language in his understanding appeared as the “clarity” and “appropriateness” of the style, and not the expansion of the vocabulary and the democratization of expressions. Like all educators, Pope had a negative attitude towards the “barbarian” Middle Ages. In general, Pope went beyond the strict classicist doctrine: he did not deny the possibility of deviation from ancient rules; he recognized the influence of “genius” and “climate” on the appearance of masterpieces of art not only in Ancient Greece and Rome. By opposing the twelve-syllable verse, he contributed to the final approval of the heroic couplet. In his Essay on Criticism, Pope addressed not only general problems - selfishness, wit, humility, pride, etc. , - but also private questions, including the motives for the behavior of critics.

French classicism reached its highest flowering in the tragedies of Corneille and Racine, in the fables of La Fontaine and the comedies of Molière. However, the artistic practice of these luminaries of French literature of the 17th century often diverged from the theoretical principles of classicism. So, for example, despite the inherent one-linearity in the depiction of a person, they managed to create complex characters full of internal contradictions. The preaching of public “reasonable” duty is combined in the tragedies of Corneille and Racine with an emphasis on the tragic inevitability of the suppression of personal feelings and inclinations. In the works of La Fontaine and Moliere - writers whose work was closely connected with the humanistic literature of the Renaissance and folklore - democratic and realistic tendencies are deeply developed. Because of this, a number of Moliere's comedies are essentially and externally connected with the dramatic theory of classicism.

Moliere believed that comedy has two tasks: to teach and to entertain. If comedy is deprived of its edifying effect, it will turn into empty ridicule; if you take away its entertainment functions, it ceases to be a comedy, and its moralizing goals will also not be achieved. In a word, “the imperative of comedy is to correct people by amusing them.”

Moliere's ideas about the tasks of comedy do not fall outside the circle of classicist aesthetics. The task of comedy, as he imagined it, was “to give on stage a pleasant portrayal of common shortcomings.” He shows here a characteristic tendency among classicists towards the rationalistic abstraction of types. Moliere's comedies touch on a wide range of problems of modern life: relations between fathers and children, education, marriage and family, the moral state of society (hypocrisy, greed, vanity, etc.), class, religion, culture, science (medicine, philosophy), etc. . This complex of themes is resolved using Parisian material, with the exception of Countess d'Escarbagna, which takes place in the provinces. Moliere takes plots not only from real life; he draws them from ancient (Plautus, Terence) and Renaissance Italian and Spanish drama (N. Barbieri, N. Secchi, T. de Molina), as well as from the French medieval folk tradition (fablio, farces).

Racine Jean is a French playwright whose work represents the pinnacle of French classic theater. Racine Sutyaga's only comedy was staged in 1668. In 1669, the tragedy Britannic was performed with moderate success. In Andromache, Racine first used a plot structure that would become common in his later plays: A pursues B, who loves C. A version of this model is given in Britannica, where the criminal and innocent couples confront each other: Agrippina and Nero - Junia and Britannicus. The following year's production of Berenice, in which Racine's new mistress, Mademoiselle de Chanmelet, played the title role, became one of the greatest mysteries in literary history. It was argued that in the images of Titus and Berenice, Racine brought out Louis XIV and his daughter-in-law Henrietta of England, who allegedly gave Racine and Corneille the idea of ​​writing a play on the same plot. Nowadays, the version that seems more reliable is that the love of Titus and Berenice was reflected in the king’s brief but stormy romance with Maria Mancini, the niece of Cardinal Mazarin, whom Louis wanted to put on the throne. The version of the rivalry between the two playwrights is also disputed. It is possible that Corneille learned of Racine's intentions and, in accordance with the literary mores of the 17th century, wrote his tragedy Titus and Berenice in the hope of gaining the upper hand over his rival. If this is so, he acted rashly: Racine won a triumphant victory in the competition.

La Fontaine Jean De (1621–1695), French poet. In 1667, the Duchess of Bouillon became La Fontaine's patroness. Continuing to compose poems that were quite free in content, in 1665 he published his first collection, “Stories in Verse,” followed by “Fairy Tales and Stories in Verse” and “The Love of Psyche and Cupid.” Remaining a protégé of the Duchess of Bouillon until 1672 and wanting to please her, La Fontaine began writing Fables and published the first six books in 1668. During this period, his friends included N. Boileau-Dépreo, Madame de Sevigne, J. Racine and Molière. Ultimately coming under the patronage of the Marquise de la Sablière, the poet completed the publication of twelve books of Fables in 1680 and in 1683 was elected a member of the French Academy. Lafontaine died in Paris on April 14, 1695.

Stories in verse and short poems by La Fontaine are now almost forgotten, although they are full of wit and represent an example of the classicist genre. At first glance, the lack of moral edification in them is in clear contradiction with the essence of the genre. But with a more thoughtful analysis, it becomes clear that many of the fables of Aesop, Phaedrus, Nevle and other authors in La Fontaine’s arrangement have lost their edifying meaning, and we understand that behind the traditional form are hidden not entirely orthodox judgments.

La Fontaine's fables are remarkable for their variety, rhythmic perfection, skillful use of archaisms (reviving the style of the medieval Romance of the Fox), sober view of the world and deep realism. An example is the fable “The Wolf and the Fox on Trial Before the Monkey”:

The Wolf made a request to the Monkey,

In it he accused Lisa of deception

And in theft; The fox's temperament is known,

Sly, cunning and dishonest.

And so they call Lisa to court.

The case was dealt with without lawyers, -

The Wolf accused, the Fox defended herself;

Of course, everyone stood for their own benefits.

Themis never, according to the judge,

Never before has a case been so complicated...

And the Monkey thought, groaned,

And after arguments, shouts and speeches,

Knowing the morals of both the Wolf and the Fox very well,

She said: “Well, both of you are wrong;

I've known you for a long time...

I will read my verdict now:

The wolf is to blame for the falseness of the accusation,

The fox is guilty of robbery.”

The judge decided that he would be right

Punishing those who have a thieves' temperament.

In this fable, real people are represented under the guise of animals, namely: the judge, the plaintiff and the defendant. And, what is very important, it is the people of the bourgeoisie who are depicted, and not the peasants.

French classicism was most clearly manifested in drama, but also in prose, where the requirements for compliance with aesthetic standards were less strict, it created a unique genre inherent to it - the genre of aphorism. In France in the 17th century, several aphorist writers appeared. These are those writers who did not create either novels, stories, or short stories, but only short, extremely condensed prose miniatures or wrote down their thoughts - the fruit of life observations and reflections.

In Russia, the formation of classicism occurs almost three-quarters of a century later than it took shape in France. For Russian writers, Voltaire, a representative of contemporary French classicism, was no less an authority than such founders of this literary movement as Corneille or Racine.

Russian classicism had many similarities with Western classicism, in particular with French classicism, since it also arose during the period of absolutism, but it was not a simple imitation. Russian classicism originated and developed on original soil, taking into account the experience that had accumulated before its established and developed Western European classicism.

The peculiar features of Russian classicism are the following: firstly, from the very beginning, Russian classicism has a strong connection with modern reality, which in the best works is illuminated from the point of view of advanced ideas.

The second feature of Russian classicism is the accusatory and satirical current in their work, conditioned by the progressive social ideas of writers. The presence of satire in the works of Russian classic writers gives their work a vitally truthful character. Living modernity, Russian reality, Russian people and Russian nature are to a certain extent reflected in their works.

The third feature of Russian classicism, due to the ardent patriotism of Russian writers, is their interest in the history of their homeland. They all study Russian history, write works on national and historical topics. They strive to create fiction and its language on a national basis, to give it their own, Russian face, and pay attention to folk poetry and the folk language.

Along with the general features inherent in both French and Russian classicism, the latter also exhibits such features that give it the character of national originality. For example, this is an increased civic-patriotic pathos, a much more pronounced accusatory-realistic tendency, less alienation from oral folk art. Everyday and ceremonial cants of the first decades of the 18th century largely prepared the development of various genres of lyric poetry in the middle and second half of the 18th century.

The main thing in the ideology of classicism is state pathos. The state, created in the first decades of the 18th century, was declared the highest value. The classicists, inspired by Peter's reforms, believed in the possibility of its further improvement. It seemed to them to be a reasonably structured social organism, where each class fulfills the duties assigned to it. “Peasants plow, merchants trade, warriors defend the fatherland, judges judge, scientists cultivate science,” wrote A.P. Sumarokov. The state pathos of Russian classicists is a deeply contradictory phenomenon. It reflected progressive trends associated with the final centralization of Russia, and at the same time - utopian ideas coming from a clear overestimation of the social possibilities of enlightened absolutism.

The establishment of classicism was facilitated by four major literary figures: A.D. Kantemir, V.K. Trediakovsky, M.V. Lomonosov and A.P. Sumarokov.

A.D. Kantemir lived in an era when the first foundations of the modern Russian literary language were just being laid; his satires were written according to the syllabic system of versification, which was already outlived at that time, and nevertheless the name of Cantemir, in the words of Belinsky, “has already outlived many ephemeral celebrities, both classical and romantic, and will still outlive many thousands of them,” as Cantemir “ the first in Rus' to bring poetry to life.” “Symphony on the Psalter” is the first printed work of A. Cantemir, but not his first literary work in general, which is confirmed by the authorized manuscript of a little-known translation by Antiochus Cantemir entitled “Mr. Philosopher Constantine Manassis Synopsis Historical,” dated 1725.

In the “Translation of a Certain Italian Letter,” made by A. Cantemir only one year later (1726), the vernacular is no longer present in the form of random elements, but as the dominant norm, although the language of this translation was called by Cantemir, out of habit, “famous -Russian."

The rapid transition from Church Slavonic vocabulary, morphology and syntax to vernacular as the norm of literary speech, which can be traced in the earliest works of A. Cantemir, reflected the evolution of not only his individual language and style, but also the development of the linguistic consciousness of the era and the formation of Russian literary language as a whole.

The years 1726-1728 should include the work of A. Cantemir on poems on a love theme that have not reached us, about which he later wrote with some regret in the second edition of the IV satire. During this period, Antioch Cantemir showed an intense interest in French literature, which is confirmed both by the above-mentioned “Translation of a Certain Italian Letter” and by Cantemir’s notes in his calendar of 1728, from which we learn about the young writer’s acquaintance with French satirical magazines of the English model like “ Le Mentor moderne”, as well as with the work of Moliere (“The Misanthrope”) and the comedies of Marivaux. The work of A. Cantemir on the translation into Russian of Boileau’s four satires and the writing of the original poems “On a Quiet Life” and “On Zoila” should also be attributed to this period.

A. Cantemir's early translations and his love lyrics were only a preparatory stage in the poet's work, the first test of strength, the development of language and style, manner of presentation, his own way of seeing the world.

Poems from philosophical letters

I respect the law here, obeying the rights;

However, I am free to live according to my rules:

The spirit is calm, now life goes on without adversity,

Every day I learn to eradicate my passions

And looking at the limit, this is how I establish life,

Serenely I direct my days to the end.

I don’t miss anyone, there’s no need for penalties,

Happy to have shortened the days of my desires.

I now recognize the corruption of my age,

I don’t wish, I’m not afraid, I expect death.

When you show your mercy to me irrevocably

Show me, then I will be completely happy.

In 1729, the poet began a period of creative maturity, when he quite consciously focused his attention almost exclusively on satire:

In a word, I want to grow old in satires,

But I can’t not write: I can’t stand it.

(IV satire, I ed.)

Cantemir's first satire, “On those who blaspheme the teaching” (“To your mind”), was a work of great political resonance, since it was directed against ignorance as a specific social and political force, and not an abstract vice; against ignorance “in an embroidered dress”, opposing the reforms of Peter I and the Enlightenment, against the teachings of Copernicus and printing; ignorance militant and triumphant; vested with the authority of state and church authorities.

Pride, laziness, wealth - wisdom prevailed,
Ignorance and knowledge have already taken root;
He is proud under his miter, he walks in an embroidered dress,
It judges the red cloth, manages the shelves.
Science is torn, trimmed in rags,
Of all the noblest houses, knocked down with a curse.

Contrary to the preface to the satire, in which the author tried to assure the reader that everything in it was “written for fun” and that he, the author, “did not imagine anyone as a particular person,” Cantemir’s first satire was directed against well-defined and “particular” individuals, - these were enemies of the cause of Peter and the “learned squad”. “The character of the bishop,” Kantemir wrote in one of the notes to the satire, “although described by an unknown person by the author, has many similarities with D***, who in external ceremonies appointed the entire high priesthood.” Making fun of a clergyman in satire, whose entire education is limited to mastering the “Stone of Faith” by Stefan Yavorsky, Cantemir unambiguously pointed to his own ideological position - a supporter of the “learned squad”. The images of churchmen created by Cantemir corresponded to very real prototypes, and yet these were generalization images, they excited minds, reactionary churchmen of new generations continued to recognize themselves in them, when the name of Antioch Cantemir became part of history and when the names of Georgy Dashkov and his associates were betrayed complete oblivion.

If Cantemir gave examples of Russian satire, then Trediakovsky owns the first Russian ode, which was published as a separate brochure in 1734 under the title “Solemn Ode on the surrender of the city of Gdansk” (Danzig). It glorified the Russian army and Empress Anna Ioannovna. In 1752, in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg, the poem “Praise to the Izhera land and the reigning city of St. Petersburg” was written. This is one of the first works glorifying the northern capital of Russia.

In addition to victorious and laudable ones, Trediakovsky also wrote “spiritual” odes, that is, poetic transcriptions (“paraphrases”) of biblical psalms. The most successful of them is the paraphrase “The Second Songs of Moses,” which began with the verses:

Wonmi oh! The sky and the river

Let the earth hear the words of the mouth:

Like rain I will flow with words;

And they will fall like dew to a flower,

My broadcasts to the valleys.

Very heartfelt poems are “Poems of Praise for Russia,” in which Trediakovsky finds clear and precise words to convey both his immense admiration for the Fatherland and longing for his native land.

I’ll start sad poems on the flute,

In vain to Russia through distant countries:

For all this day is her kindness to me

There is little desire to think with the mind.

Russia mother! my endless light!

Allow me, I beg your faithful child,

Oh, how you sit on the red throne!

Russian sky you are the sun is clear

Others are painted with golden scepters,

And precious is the porphyry, mitre;

You decorated your scepter with yourself,

And the Lyceum honored the crown with light...

“Epistola from Russian poetry to Apollin” (to Apollo) dates back to 1735, in which the author gives an overview of European literature, paying special attention to ancient and French. The latter is represented by the names of Malherbe, Corneille, Racine, Moliere, Boileau, Voltaire. The solemn invitation of “Apolline” to Russia symbolized the introduction of Russian poetry to centuries-old European art.

The next step in introducing the Russian reader to European classicism was the translation of Boileau’s treatise “Poetic Art” (Trediakovsky’s “Science of Poetry”) and Horace’s “Epistle to the Pisoes”. Not only “exemplary” writers are presented here, but also poetic “rules”, which, according to the firm conviction of the translator, Russian authors are obliged to follow. Trediakovsky highly appreciated Boileau's treatise, considering it the most perfect guide in the field of artistic creativity. “His pietistic science,” he wrote, “seems to be superior to everything, both in the reasoning of the composition of verses and the purity of language, and in the reasoning ... of the rules proposed in it.”

In 1751, Trediakovsky published his translation of the novel “Argenida” by the English writer John Barclay. The novel was written in Latin and belonged to the number of moral and political works. The choice of Trediakovsky is not accidental, since the problems of “Argenida” resonated with the political tasks facing Russia at the beginning of the 18th century. The novel glorified “enlightened” absolutism and severely condemned any opposition to the supreme power, from religious sects to political movements. These ideas corresponded to the ideology of early Russian classicism. In the preface to the book, Trediakovsky pointed out that the state “rules” set out in it are useful for Russian society.

In 1766, Trediakovsky published a book entitled “Tilemachis, or the Wanderings of Tilemachus, son of Odysseus, described as part of an ironic poem” - a free translation of the novel by the early French educator Fenelon “The Adventures of Telemachus”. Fenelon wrote his work in the last years of the reign of Louis XIV, when France suffered from devastating wars, which resulted in the decline of agriculture and crafts.

The historical and literary significance of "Tilemakhida", however, lies not only in its critical content, but also in the more complex tasks that Trediakovsky set himself as a translator. In essence, it was not a question of translation in the usual sense of the word, but of a radical reworking of the book genre itself. Trediakovsky created, based on Fenelon’s novel, a heroic poem modeled on the Homeric epic and, in accordance with his task, he called the book not “The Adventures of Telemachus”, but “Tilemachis”.

Converting the novel into a poem, Trediakovsky introduces a lot of things that were not in Fenelon’s book. Thus, the beginning of the poem reproduces the beginning characteristic of the ancient Greek epic. Here is the famous “I sing”, and an appeal to the muse for help, and a brief summary of the content of the work. Fenelon's novel is written in prose, Trediakovsky's poem in hexameter. The style of Fenelon's novel has been just as radically updated. According to A. N. Sokolov, “Fenelon’s compressed, strict prose, stingy with prosaic embellishments, did not meet the stylistic principles of the poetic epic as a high genre... Trediakovsky poetizes Fenelon’s prose style.” For this purpose, he introduces into “Tilemachida” complex epithets that are so characteristic of the Homeric epic and completely absent in Fenelon’s novel: honey-streaming, multi-streamed, sharply stern, prudent, bleeding. There are more than a hundred such complex adjectives in Trediakovsky’s poem. Based on the model of complex epithets, complex nouns are created: luminosity, warfare, good neighborliness, splendor.

Trediakovsky carefully preserved the educational pathos of Fenelon's novel. If in “Argenida” we were talking about the justification of absolutism, which suppresses all kinds of disobedience, then in “Tilemachida” the supreme power becomes the subject of condemnation. It talks about the despotism of rulers, about their addiction to luxury and bliss, about the inability of kings to distinguish virtuous people from self-interested people and money-grubbers, about flatterers who surround the throne and prevent monarchs from seeing the truth.

I asked him, what does royal sovereignty consist of?

He answered: the king has power over the people in everything,

But the laws have power over him in everything, of course.

“Tilemakhida” evoked different attitudes towards itself both among contemporaries and descendants. In “Tilemakhide” Trediakovsky clearly demonstrated the variety of possibilities of the hexameter as an epic verse. Trediakovsky’s experience was later used by N. I. Gnedich when translating the Iliad and V. A. Zhukovsky when working on the Odyssey.

Lomonosov's first work concerning the problems of language was the Letter on the Rules of Russian Poetry (1739, published in 1778), written in Germany, where he substantiates the applicability of syllabic-tonic versification to the Russian language.

According to Lomonosov, each literary genre should be written in a certain “calm”: “high calm” is “required” for heroic poems, odes, “prosaic speeches about important matters”; middle - for poetic messages, elegies, satires, descriptive prose, etc.; low - for comedies, epigrams, songs, “writings of ordinary affairs.” “Shtili” were ordered, first of all, in the field of vocabulary, depending on the ratio of neutral (common to Russian and Church Slavonic languages), Church Slavonic and Russian colloquial words. “High calm” is characterized by a combination of Slavicisms with neutral words, “middle calm” is built on the basis of neutral vocabulary with the addition of a certain number of Slavicisms and colloquial words, “low calm” combines neutral and colloquial words. Such a program made it possible to overcome the Russian-Church Slavic diglossia, still noticeable in the first half of the 18th century, and to create a single stylistically differentiated literary language. The theory of the “three calms” had a significant influence on the development of the Russian literary language in the second half of the 18th century. right up to the activities of N.M. Karamzin’s school (from the 1790s), which set a course for bringing the Russian literary language closer to the spoken one.

Lomonosov’s poetic heritage includes solemn odes, philosophical odes-reflections “Morning Reflection on God’s Majesty” (1743) and “Evening Reflection on God’s Majesty” (1743), poetic arrangements of psalms and the adjacent Ode selected from Job (1751) , unfinished heroic poem by Peter the Great (1756–1761), satirical poems (Hymn to the Beard, 1756–1757, etc.), philosophical “Conversation with Anacreon” (translation of Anacreontic odes combined with his own answers to them; 1757–1761), heroic the idyll of Polydor (1750), two tragedies, numerous poems on the occasion of various festivals, epigrams, parables, translated poems.

The pinnacle of Lomonosov’s poetic creativity are his odes, written “just in case” - in connection with significant events in the life of the state, for example, the accession to the throne of Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine II. Lomonosov used ceremonial occasions to create bright and majestic paintings of the universe. The odes are replete with metaphors, hyperboles, allegories, rhetorical questions and other tropes that create the internal dynamics and sound richness of the verse, imbued with patriotic pathos and reflections on the future of Russia. In an Ode on the day of Elizabeth Petrovna’s accession to the All-Russian throne (1747), he wrote:

Sciences nourish youths,

Joy is served to the old,

In a happy life they decorate,

In case of an accident they take care of it.

Classicism marked an important stage in the development of Russian literature. At the time of the establishment of this literary trend, the historical task of transforming versification was solved. At the same time, a solid beginning was laid for the formation of the Russian literary language, which eliminated the contradiction between the new content and the old forms of its expression, which was clearly revealed in the literature of the first three decades of the 18th century.

As a literary movement, Russian classicism was distinguished by its internal complexity and heterogeneity, due to the difference in ideological and literary-artistic features of the work of its founders. The leading genres that were developed by representatives of classicism during the period of establishment of this literary movement were, on the one hand, ode and tragedy, which propagated the ideals of enlightened absolutism in positive images, on the other, satirical genres that fought against political reaction, against enemies of enlightenment, against social vices and etc.

Russian classicism did not shy away from national folklore. On the contrary, in the perception of the tradition of folk poetic culture in certain genres, he found incentives for his enrichment. Even at the origins of the new direction, when undertaking a reform of Russian versification, Trediakovsky directly refers to the songs of the common people as a model that he followed in establishing his rules.

In the purely artistic field, Russian classicists faced such complex tasks that their European brothers did not know. French literature of the mid-17th century. already had a well-developed literary language and secular genres that had developed over a long time. Russian literature at the beginning of the 18th century. had neither one nor the other. Therefore, it was the share of Russian writers of the second third of the 18th century. The task fell not only of creating a new literary movement. They had to reform the literary language, master genres unknown until that time in Russia. Each of them was a pioneer. Kantemir laid the foundation for Russian satire, Lomonosov legitimized the ode genre, Sumarokov acted as the author of tragedies and comedies. In the field of literary language reform, the main role belonged to Lomonosov.

The creative activity of Russian classicists was accompanied and supported by numerous theoretical works in the field of genres, literary language and versification. Trediakovsky wrote a treatise entitled “A New and Brief Method for Composing Russian Poems,” in which he substantiated the basic principles of the new, syllabic-tonic system. Lomonosov, in his discussion “On the Use of Church Books in the Russian Language,” carried out a reform of the literary language and proposed the doctrine of “three calms.” Sumarokov in his treatise “Instructions for those who want to be writers” gave a description of the content and style of classicist genres.

Russian classicism of the 18th century. went through two stages in its development. The first of them dates back to the 30-50s. This is the formation of a new direction, when one after another genres unknown to that time in Russia are born, the literary language and versification are reformed. The second stage falls on the last four decades of the 18th century. and is associated with the names of such writers as Fonvizin, Kheraskov, Derzhavin, Knyazhnin, Kapnist. In their work, Russian classicism most fully and widely revealed its ideological and artistic possibilities.

The uniqueness of Russian classicism lies in the fact that in its formation era it combined the pathos of serving the absolutist state with the ideas of the early European Enlightenment. In France in the 18th century. absolutism had already exhausted its progressive possibilities, and society was facing a bourgeois revolution, which was ideologically prepared by the French enlighteners. In Russia in the first decades of the 18th century. absolutism was still at the head of progressive transformations for the country. Therefore, at the first stage of its development, Russian classicism adopted some of its social doctrines from the Enlightenment. These include, first of all, the idea of ​​enlightened absolutism. According to this theory, the state should be headed by a wise, “enlightened” monarch, who in his ideas stands above the selfish interests of individual classes and demands from each of them honest service for the benefit of the whole society. An example of such a ruler for Russian classicists was Peter I, a unique personality in intelligence, energy and broad political outlook.

Unlike French classicism of the 17th century. and in direct accordance with the Age of Enlightenment in Russian classicism of the 30s -50s, a huge place was given to sciences, knowledge, and enlightenment. The country has made a transition from church ideology to secular one. Russia needed accurate knowledge useful to society. Lomonosov spoke about the benefits of science in almost all his odes. Cantemir’s first satire, “To Your Mind. On those who blaspheme the teaching." The very word “enlightened” meant not just an educated person, but a citizen, to whom knowledge helped to realize his responsibility to society. “Ignorance” implied not only a lack of knowledge, but at the same time a lack of understanding of one’s duty to the state. In Western European educational literature of the 18th century, especially at the later stage of its development, “enlightenment” was determined by the degree of opposition to the existing order. In Russian classicism of the 30s and 50s, “enlightenment” was measured by the measure of civil service to the absolutist state. Russian classicists - Kantemir, Lomonosov, Sumarokov - were close to the struggle of enlighteners against the church and church ideology. But if in the West it was about defending the principle of religious tolerance, and in some cases atheism, then Russian enlighteners in the first half of the 18th century. denounced the ignorance and rude morals of the clergy, defended science and its adherents from persecution by church authorities. The first Russian classicists were already aware of the educational idea about the natural equality of people. “The flesh in your servant is one-person,” Cantemir pointed out to the nobleman beating the valet. Sumarokov reminded the “noble” class that “born from women and from ladies / Without exception, the forefather of all is Adam.” But this thesis at that time had not yet been embodied in the demand for the equality of all classes before the law. Cantemir, based on the principles of “natural law,” called on the nobles to treat the peasants humanely. Sumarokov, pointing to the natural equality of nobles and peasants, demanded that the “first” members of the fatherland through education and service confirm their “nobility” and commanding position in the country.

If in Western European versions of classicism, and especially in the system of genres of French classicism, the dominant place belonged to the dramatic genre - tragedy and comedy, then in Russian classicism the dominant genre shifts to the area of ​​lyricism and satire.

Common genres with French classicism: tragedy, comedy, idyll, elegy, ode, sonnet, epigram, satire.

New Russian literature made a big step forward in the 30s–50s of the 18th century. This is due to the active work of the first major writers - representatives of new Russian literature: A. D. Kantemir (1708–1744), V. K. Trediakovsky (1703–1769), A. P. Sumarokov (1717–1777) and especially the brilliant figure of Russian science and culture Lomonosov. These four writers belonged to different strata of society (Kantemir and Sumarokov belonged to the elite of the nobility, Trediakovsky came from the clergy, Lomonosov was the son of a peasant). But they all fought against supporters of pre-Petrine antiquity and advocated for the further development of education, science, and culture. In the spirit of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment (as the 18th century is usually called), they were all supporters of the so-called enlightened absolutism: they believed that progressive historical development could be carried out by the bearer of supreme power - the king. And as an example of this they set the activities of Peter I. Lomonosov in his laudatory poems - odes (from the Greek word meaning “song”), addressed to the kings and queens, gave them, drawing the ideal image of an enlightened monarch, a kind of lesson, called on them to follow the paths of Peter . In accusatory poems - satires - Cantemir sharply ridiculed adherents of antiquity, enemies of enlightenment and science. He castigated the ignorant and selfish clergy, the sons of boyars, proud of the antiquity of their family and having no merit to the fatherland, arrogant nobles, greedy merchants, bribe-taking officials. In his tragedies, Sumarokov attacked the despot kings, contrasting them with the ideal bearers of royal power. Trediakovsky angrily denounced the “evil kings” in the poem “Tilemakhida”. Progressive ideas, which to a greater or lesser extent permeate the activities of Kantemir, Trediakovsky, Lomonosov, Sumarokov, significantly increase the social weight and significance of the new Russian literature they create. Literature is now moving to the forefront of social development, becoming, in its best manifestations, an educator of society. It was from this time that works of fiction systematically appeared in print, attracting the sympathetic attention of ever wider readership.

New forms are created for new content. Through the efforts of Kantemir, Trediakovsky, Lomonosov and Sumarokov, the first major literary movement, which became dominant throughout almost the entire 18th century, was formed in accordance with the development of advanced European literatures - Russian classicism.

The founders and followers of classicism considered serving the “benefits of society” as the main purpose of literature. State interests, duty to the fatherland should, according to their concepts, unconditionally prevail over private, personal interests. In contrast to the religious, medieval worldview, they considered the highest in man to be his mind, the laws of which artistic creativity must completely obey. They considered the most perfect, classical (hence the name and the whole direction) examples of beauty to be the wonderful creations of ancient, i.e., ancient Greek and Roman art, which grew on the basis of the religious ideas of that time, but in the mythological images of gods and heroes essentially glorified beauty, strength and valor of a person. All this constituted the strengths of classicism, but they also contained its weakness and limitations.

The exaltation of the mind came at the expense of belittling feelings, direct perception of the surrounding reality. This often gave the literature of classicism a rational character. When creating a work of art, the writer tried in every possible way to get closer to ancient models and strictly follow the rules specially developed for this by the theorists of classicism. This constrained creative freedom. And the obligatory imitation of the creations of ancient art, no matter how perfect they were, inevitably separated literature from life, the writer from his modernity, and thereby gave his work a conditional, artificial character. The most important thing is that the socio-political system of the classic era, based on the oppression of the people, did not correspond in any way to reasonable concepts about natural, normal relations between people. This discrepancy made itself felt especially sharply in autocratic-serf Russia of the 18th century, where, instead of enlightened absolutism, the most unbridled despotism reigned. Therefore, it was in Russian classicism, which was not accidentally initiated by Cantemir’s satires, that accusatory, critical themes and motifs began to intensively develop.

This had a particularly strong effect in the last third of the 18th century. - a time of further strengthening of serfdom and the tyrannical dictatorship of the serf-owning nobles led by Empress Catherine II.

A critical attitude towards lawlessness, tyranny and violence corresponded to the sentiments and interests of broad sections of Russian society. The social role of literature is increasingly increasing. The last third of the century is the most flourishing period in the development of Russian literature of the 18th century. If in the 30s–50s writers could be counted on one hand, now dozens of new literary names are appearing. Noble writers occupy a predominant place. But there are also many writers from the lower classes, even from among the serfs. Empress Catherine II herself felt the increased importance of literature. She began to be very actively engaged in writing, trying in such ways to win over public opinion and to manage the further development of literature herself. However, she failed. Few and mostly unimportant authors took her side. Almost all major writers, figures of Russian enlightenment - N. I. Novikov, D. I. Fonvizin, young I. A. Krylov, A. N. Radishchev, the author of the comedy "Yabeda" V. V. Kapnist and many others - joined in a bold and energetic struggle against the reactionary literary camp of Catherine and her servants. This fight was carried out under very difficult conditions. The works of writers disliked by the queen were prohibited by censorship, and sometimes publicly burned “by the hand of the executioner”; their authors were brutally persecuted, imprisoned, sentenced to death, and exiled to Siberia. But, despite this, the advanced ideas that filled their work increasingly penetrated the consciousness of society.

Thanks to the activities of mainly progressive writers, literature itself is remarkably enriched. New literary genera and types are being created. In the previous period, literary works were written almost exclusively in verse. Now the first examples of artistic prose are appearing. Drama is developing rapidly. The development of satirical genres (types) is gaining a particularly wide scope: satires are intensively written not only in verse, but also in prose, satirical fables, so-called irocomic, parody poems, satirical comedies, comic operas, etc. In the work of the greatest poet of the 18th century . Derzhavin’s satirical beginning even penetrates into laudatory, solemn odes.

Satirists of the 18th century. still follow the rules of classicism. But at the same time, their work increasingly reflects pictures and images of real life. They are no longer of a conventionally abstract nature, as in the so-called high genres of classicism (odes, tragedies), but are directly taken from contemporary Russian reality. The works of critical writers - Novikov, Fonvizin, Radishchev - were direct predecessors of the work of the founders of Russian critical realism of the 19th century. - Pushkin, Gogol.

Satire of the 18th century. still limited politically. While sharply denouncing the evil landowners who brutally treated their peasants, the satirists did not oppose the savagery and absurdity of the right of some people to own other people as their working cattle. Scourging the tyranny, violence, bribery, and injustice that reigned in the country, the satirists did not connect them with the autocratic serfdom that gave rise to all this. In the words of the remarkable Russian critic Dobrolyubov, they condemned “the abuse of what in our concepts is already evil in itself.” For the first time, the first Russian revolutionary writer Radishchev indignantly attacked not only individual abuses, but all the evils of autocracy and serfdom as a whole.

Classicism Classicism

An artistic style in European art of the 17th - early 19th centuries, one of the most important features of which was the appeal to the forms of ancient art as an ideal aesthetic standard. Continuing the traditions of the Renaissance (admiration for the ancient ideals of harmony and proportion, faith in the power of the human mind), classicism was also its original antithesis, since with the loss of Renaissance harmony, the unity of feeling and reason, the tendency to aesthetically experience the world as a harmonious whole was lost. Concepts such as society and personality, man and nature, element and consciousness, in classicism are polarized and become mutually exclusive, which brings it closer (while maintaining all the fundamental ideological and stylistic differences) with the baroque, also imbued with the consciousness of the general discord generated by the crisis of Renaissance ideals. Typically, classicism of the 17th century is distinguished. and XVIII - early XIX centuries. (the latter in foreign art history is often called neoclassicism), but in the plastic arts the tendencies of classicism emerged already in the second half of the 16th century. in Italy - in the architectural theory and practice of Palladio, theoretical treatises of Vignola, S. Serlio; more consistently - in the works of J. P. Bellori (XVII century), as well as in the aesthetic standards of the academicians of the Bologna school. However, in the 17th century. classicism, which developed in highly polemical interaction with the Baroque, only developed into a coherent stylistic system in French artistic culture. The classicism of the 18th century, which became a pan-European style, was predominantly formed in the bosom of French artistic culture. The principles of rationalism underlying the aesthetics of classicism (the same ones that determined the philosophical ideas of R. Descartes and Cartesianism) determined the view of a work of art as the fruit of reason and logic, triumphing over the chaos and fluidity of sensory life. In classicism, only what is enduring and timeless has aesthetic value. Attaching great importance to the social and educational function of art, classicism puts forward new ethical norms that shape the image of its heroes: resistance to the cruelty of fate and the vicissitudes of life, subordination of the personal to the general, passions - duty, reason, the supreme interests of society, the laws of the universe. Orientation towards a rational principle, towards enduring examples also determined the normative requirements of the aesthetics of classicism, the regulation of artistic rules, a strict hierarchy of genres - from “high” (historical, mythological, religious) to “low” or “small” (landscape, portrait, still life) ; each genre had strict content boundaries and clear formal characteristics. The consolidation of the theoretical doctrines of classicism was facilitated by the activities of the Royals founded in Paris. Academies - painting and sculpture (1648) and architecture (1671).

The architecture of classicism as a whole is characterized by a logical layout and geometric volumetric shape. The constant appeal of the architects of classicism to the heritage of ancient architecture implied not only the use of its individual motifs and elements, but also the comprehension of the general laws of its architectonics. The basis of the architectural language of classicism was the order, in proportions and forms closer to antiquity than in the architecture of previous eras; in buildings it is used in such a way that it does not obscure the overall structure of the structure, but becomes its subtle and restrained accompaniment. The interior of classicism is characterized by clarity of spatial divisions and softness of colors. By making extensive use of perspective effects in monumental and decorative painting, the masters of classicism fundamentally separated the illusory space from the real. The urban planning of classicism of the 17th century, genetically connected with the principles of the Renaissance and Baroque, actively developed (in the plans of fortified cities) the concept of an “ideal city” and created its own type of regular absolutist city-residence (Versailles). In the second half of the 18th century. New planning techniques are emerging that provide for the organic combination of urban development with elements of nature, the creation of open spaces that spatially merge with the street or embankment. The subtlety of laconic decor, the expediency of forms, and the inextricable connection with nature are inherent in the buildings (mainly country palaces and villas) of representatives of Palladianism in the 18th - early 19th centuries.

The tectonic clarity of the architecture of classicism corresponds to the clear delineation of plans in sculpture and painting. The plastic art of classicism, as a rule, is designed for a fixed point of view and is characterized by smoothness of forms. The moment of movement in the poses of the figures usually does not violate their plastic isolation and calm statuesqueness. In the painting of classicism, the main elements of form are line and chiaroscuro (especially in late classicism, when painting sometimes tends toward monochrome, and graphics toward pure linearity); local color clearly identifies objects and landscape plans (brown - for the near, green - for the middle, blue - for the distant), which brings the spatial composition of the painting closer to the composition of the stage area.

The founder and greatest master of classicism of the 17th century. There was a French artist N. Poussin, whose paintings are marked by the sublimity of their philosophical and ethical content, the harmony of rhythmic structure and color. High development in the painting of classicism of the 17th century. received an “ideal landscape” (Poussin, C. Lorrain, G. Duguay), which embodied the classicists’ dream of a “golden age” of humanity. The formation of classicism in French architecture is associated with the buildings of F. Mansart, marked by clarity of composition and order divisions. High examples of mature classicism in the architecture of the 17th century. - eastern façade of the Louvre (C. Perrault), works by L. Levo, F. Blondel. From the second half of the 17th century. French classicism incorporates some elements of Baroque architecture (the palace and park of Versailles - architects J. Hardouin-Mansart, A. Le Nôtre). In the XVII - early XVIII centuries. classicism was formed in the architecture of Holland (architects J. van Kampen, P. Post), which gave rise to a particularly restrained version of it, and in the “Palladian” architecture of England (architect I. Jones), where a national version was finally formed in the works of K. Wren and others English classicism. Cross connections with French and Dutch classicism, as well as with the early Baroque, were reflected in the short, brilliant flowering of classicism in the architecture of Sweden in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. (architect N. Tessin the Younger).

In the middle of the 18th century. the principles of classicism were transformed in the spirit of Enlightenment aesthetics. In architecture, the appeal to “naturalness” put forward the requirement for constructive justification of order elements of the composition, in the interior - the development of a flexible layout for a comfortable residential building. The ideal setting for the house was the landscape of an “English” park. Huge influence on the classicism of the 18th century. had a rapid development of archaeological knowledge about Greek and Roman antiquity (the splits of Herculaneum, Pompeii, etc.); The works of I. I. Winkelman, I. V. Goethe, and F. Militsiya made their contribution to the theory of classicism. In French classicism of the 18th century. new architectural types were defined: an exquisitely intimate mansion, a ceremonial public building, an open city square (architects J. A. Gabriel, J. J. Souflot). Civil pathos and lyricism were combined in the plastic arts of J. B. Pigalle, E. M. Falconet, J. A. Houdon, in the mythological painting of J. M. Vien, and in the decorative landscapes of Y. Robert. The eve of the Great French Revolution (1789-94) gave rise in architecture to a desire for austere simplicity, a bold search for the monumental geometricism of a new, orderless architecture (C. N. Ledoux, E. L. Bullet, J. J. Lequeu). These searches (also marked by the influence of the architectural etchings of G.B. Piranesi) served as the starting point for the later phase of classicism - Empire style. The painting of the revolutionary direction of French classicism is represented by the courageous drama of historical and portrait images of J. L. David. During the years of the empire of Napoleon I, magnificent representativeness in architecture grew (C. Percier, P. F. L. Fontaine, J. F. Chalgrin). The painting of late classicism, despite the appearance of individual major masters (J. O. D. Ingres), degenerates into official apologetic or sentimental-erotic salon art.

International center of classicism of the 18th - early 19th centuries. became Rome, where the academic tradition dominated in art with a combination of nobility of forms and cold, abstract idealization, not uncommon for academicism (German painter A. R. Mengs, Austrian landscape painter I. A. Koch, sculptors - Italian A. Canova, Dane B. Thorvaldsen) . For German classicism of the 18th - early 19th centuries. The architecture is characterized by the strict forms of the Palladian F. W. Erdmansdorff, the “heroic” Hellenism of K. G. Langhans, D. and F. Gilly. In the work of K. F. Schinkel - the pinnacle of late German classicism in architecture - the harsh monumentality of images is combined with the search for new functional solutions. In the fine art of German classicism, contemplative in spirit, portraits of A. and V. Tischbein, mythological cardboards of A. J. Carstens, plastic works of I. G. Shadov, K. D. Rauch stand out; in decorative and applied arts - furniture by D. Roentgen. In English architecture of the 18th century. The Palladian movement, closely associated with the flourishing of country park estates (architects W. Kent, J. Payne, W. Chambers), dominated. The discoveries of ancient archeology were reflected in the special elegance of the order decoration of R. Adam's buildings. At the beginning of the 19th century. In English architecture, features of the Empire style appear (J. Soane). The national achievement of English classicism in architecture was the high level of cultural design of residential estates and cities, bold urban planning initiatives in the spirit of the idea of ​​a garden city (architects J. Wood, J. Wood the Younger, J. Nash). In other arts, the graphics and sculpture of J. Flaxman are closest to classicism, in decorative and applied arts - the ceramics of J. Wedgwood and the craftsmen of the Derby factory. In the XVIII - early XIX centuries. classicism is also established in Italy (architect G. Piermarini), Spain (architect X. de Villanueva), Belgium, Eastern European countries, Scandinavia, and the USA (architects G. Jefferson, J. Hoban; painters B. West and J.S. Collie). At the end of the first third of the 19th century. the leading role of classicism is disappearing; in the second half of the 19th century. classicism is one of the pseudo-historical styles of eclecticism. At the same time, the artistic tradition of classicism comes to life in neoclassicism in the second half of the 19th - 20th centuries.

The heyday of Russian classicism dates back to the last third of the 18th - first third of the 19th centuries, although it was already the beginning of the 18th century. marked by a creative appeal (in the architecture of St. Petersburg) to the urban planning experience of French classicism of the 17th century. (the principle of symmetrical-axial planning systems). Russian classicism embodied a new historical stage in the flowering of Russian secular culture, unprecedented for Russia in scope, national pathos and ideological content. Early Russian classicism in architecture (1760-70s; J. B. Vallin-Delamot, A. F. Kokorinov, Yu. M. Felten, K. I. Blank, A. Rinaldi) still retains plastic richness and dynamics forms inherent in Baroque and Rococo. The architects of the mature period of classicism (1770-90s; V.I. Bazhenov, M.F. Kazakov, I.E. Starov) created classical types of metropolitan palace-estate and large comfortable residential building, which became models in the widespread construction of suburban noble estates and in the new, ceremonial buildings of cities. The art of the ensemble in country park estates is a major national contribution of Russian classicism to world artistic culture. In estate construction, the Russian version of Palladianism arose (N. A. Lvov), and a new type of chamber palace emerged (C. Cameron, J. Quarenghi). A feature of Russian classicism in architecture is the unprecedented scale of organized state urban planning: regular plans for more than 400 cities were developed, ensembles of the centers of Kostroma, Poltava, Tver, Yaroslavl and other cities were formed; the practice of “regulating” urban plans, as a rule, consistently combined the principles of classicism with the historically established planning structure of the old Russian city. Turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. marked by the largest urban development achievements in both capitals. A grandiose ensemble of the center of St. Petersburg took shape (A. N. Voronikhin, A. D. Zakharov, J. Thomas de Thomon, and later K. I. Rossi). “Classical Moscow” was formed on different urban planning principles, which was built up during the period of its restoration and reconstruction after the fire of 1812 with small mansions with cozy interiors. The principles of regularity here were consistently subordinated to the general pictorial freedom of the spatial structure of the city. The most prominent architects of late Moscow classicism are D. I. Gilardi, O. I. Bove, A. G. Grigoriev.

In the fine arts, the development of Russian classicism is closely connected with the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (founded in 1757). The sculpture of Russian classicism is represented by “heroic” monumental and decorative sculpture, constituting a finely thought-out synthesis with Empire architecture, monuments full of civic pathos, elegiacally enlightened tombstones, and easel sculpture (I. P. Prokofiev, F. G. Gordeev, M. I. Kozlovsky , I. P. Martos, F. F. Shchedrin, V. I. Demut-Malinovsky, S. S. Pimenov, I. I. Terebenev). Russian classicism in painting was most clearly manifested in works of historical and mythological genres (A. P. Losenko, G. I. Ugryumov, I. A. Akimov, A. I. Ivanov, A. E. Egorov, V. K. Shebuev, early A. A. Ivanov). Some features of classicism are also inherent in the subtly psychological sculptural portraits of F. I. Shubin, in painting - in the portraits of D. G. Levitsky, V. L. Borovikovsky, and in the landscapes of F. M. Matveev. In the decorative and applied arts of Russian classicism, artistic modeling and carving in architecture, bronze products, cast iron, porcelain, crystal, furniture, damask fabrics, etc. stand out. From the second third of the 19th century. For the fine art of Russian classicism, soulless, far-fetched academic schematism is becoming more and more characteristic, with which the masters of the democratic movement are fighting.

K. Lorrain. "Morning" ("Meeting of Jacob with Rachel"). 1666. Hermitage. Leningrad.

B. Thorvaldsen. "Jason." Marble. 1802 - 1803. Thorvaldson Museum. Copenhagen.

J. L. David. "Paris and Helen". 1788. Louvre. Paris.

Literature: N. N. Kovalenskaya, Russian classicism, M., 1964; Renaissance. Baroque. Classicism. The problem of styles in Western European art of the XV-XVII centuries, M., 1966; E. I. Rotenberg, Western European art of the 17th century, M., 1971; Artistic culture of the 18th century. Materials of a scientific conference, 1973, M., 1974; E. V. Nikolaev, Classical Moscow, M., 1975; Literary manifestos of Western European classicists, M., 1980; Dispute about the ancient and the new, (translated from French), M., 1985; Zeitier R., Klassizismus und Utopia, Stockh., 1954; Kaufmann E., Architecture in the age of Reason, Camb. (Mass.), 1955; Hautecoeur L., L"histoire de l"architecture classique en France, v. 1-7, P., 1943-57; Tapii V., Baroque et classicisme, 2nd edition, P., 1972; Greenhalgh M., The classical tradition in art, L., 1979.

Source: "Popular Art Encyclopedia." Ed. Polevoy V.M.; M.: Publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1986.)

classicism

(from Latin classicus - exemplary), artistic style and direction in European art 17 - early. 19th century, an important feature of which was the appeal to the heritage of antiquity (Ancient Greece and Rome) as a norm and an ideal model. The aesthetics of classicism is characterized by rationalism, the desire to establish certain rules for creating a work, a strict hierarchy (subordination) of types and genres art. Architecture reigned in the synthesis of arts. Historical, religious and mythological paintings were considered high genres in painting, giving the viewer heroic examples to follow; the lowest - portrait, landscape, still life, everyday painting. Each genre was prescribed strict boundaries and clearly defined formal characteristics; mixing the sublime with the base, the tragic with the comic, the heroic with the ordinary was not allowed. Classicism is a style of oppositions. Its ideologists proclaimed the superiority of the public over the personal, reason over emotions, and a sense of duty over desires. Classical works are distinguished by laconicism, clear logic of design, balance compositions.

In the development of style, two periods are distinguished: classicism of the 17th century. and neoclassicism of the second sex. 18th – first third of the 19th century. In Russia, where until the reforms of Peter I the culture remained medieval, the style manifested itself only from the end. 18th century Therefore, in Russian art history, in contrast to Western art, classicism means Russian art of the 1760s–1830s.

Classicism of the 17th century. manifested itself mainly in France and established itself in confrontation with baroque. In the architecture of the building A. Palladio became a model for many masters. Classicist buildings are distinguished by the clarity of geometric shapes and clarity of layout, appeal to the motifs of ancient architecture, and above all to the order system (see art. Architectural order). Architects are increasingly using post-beam structure, in buildings the symmetry of the composition was clearly revealed, straight lines were preferred to curved ones. The walls are treated as smooth surfaces painted in calm colors, laconic sculptural decor emphasizes the structural elements (buildings by F. Mansart, eastern façade Louvre, created by C. Perrault; creativity of L. Levo, F. Blondel). From the second floor. 17th century French classicism incorporates more and more Baroque elements ( Versailles, architect J. Hardouin-Mansart and others, park layout - A. Lenotre).

The sculpture is dominated by balanced, closed, laconic volumes, usually designed for a fixed point of view; the carefully polished surface shines with a cool shine (F. Girardon, A. Coisevoux).
The establishment of the Royal Academy of Architecture (1671) and the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture (1648) in Paris contributed to the consolidation of the principles of classicism. The latter was headed by C. Lebrun, from 1662 the first painter of Louis XIV, who painted the Gallery of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles (1678–84). In painting, the primacy of line over color was recognized, clear drawing and statuesque forms were valued; preference was given to local (pure, unmixed) colors. The classicist system that developed at the Academy served to develop plots and allegories, glorifying the monarch (“the sun king” was associated with the god of light and patron of the arts Apollo). The most outstanding classicist painters are N. Poussin and K. Lorrain connected their life and work with Rome. Poussin interprets ancient history as a collection of heroic deeds; in the late period, the role of epically majestic landscapes increased in his paintings. Compatriot Lorrain created ideal landscapes in which the dream of a golden age came to life - an era of happy harmony between man and nature.

The emergence of neoclassicism in the 1760s. occurred in opposition to style rococo. The style was formed under the influence of ideas Enlightenment. In its development, three main periods can be distinguished: early (1760–80), mature (1780–1800) and late (1800–30), otherwise called style empire style, which developed simultaneously with romanticism. Neoclassicism became an international style, spreading in Europe and America. It was most vividly embodied in the art of Great Britain, France and Russia. Archaeological finds in the ancient Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Pompeian motifs frescoes and items arts and crafts began to be widely used by artists. The formation of the style was also influenced by the works of the German art historian I. I. Winkelman, who considered the most important qualities of ancient art to be “noble simplicity and calm grandeur.”

In Great Britain, where back in the first third of the 18th century. architects showed interest in antiquity and the heritage of A. Palladio, the transition to neoclassicism was smooth and natural (W. Kent, J. Payne, W. Chambers). One of the founders of the style was Robert Adam, who worked with his brother James (Cadlestone Hall Castle, 1759–85). Adam's style was clearly manifested in interior design, where he used light and sophisticated ornamentation in the spirit of Pompeian frescoes and ancient Greek vase paintings(The Etruscan Room at Osterley Park Mansion, London, 1761–79). D. Wedgwood's enterprises produced ceramic tableware, decorative linings for furniture, and other decorations in the classicist style, which received European recognition. The relief models for Wedgwood were made by the sculptor and draftsman D. Flaxman.

In France, the architect J. A. Gabriel created, in the spirit of early neoclassicism, both chamber buildings, lyrical in mood ("Petit Trianon" in Versailles, 1762–68), and a new ensemble of Place Louis XV (now Concorde) in Paris, which acquired an unprecedented openness. The Church of St. Genevieve (1758–90; in the late 18th century it was turned into the Pantheon), erected by J. J. Soufflot, has a Greek cross in plan, is crowned with a huge dome and more academically and dryly reproduces ancient forms. In French sculpture of the 18th century. elements of neoclassicism appear in individual works of E. Falcone, in tombstones and busts of A. Houdon. Closer to neoclassicism are the works of O. Pazhu (Portrait of Du Barry, 1773; monument to J. L. L. Buffon, 1776), in the beginning. 19th century – D. A. Chaudet and J. Shinard, who created a type of ceremonial bust with a base in the form herms. The most significant master of French neoclassicism and Empire painting was J.L. David. The ethical ideal in David's historical paintings was distinguished by severity and uncompromisingness. In “The Oath of the Horatii” (1784), the features of late classicism acquired the clarity of a plastic formula.

Russian classicism expressed itself most fully in architecture, sculpture and historical painting. Architectural works of the transition period from Rococo to Classicism include buildings St. Petersburg Academy of Arts(1764–88) A. F. Kokorinova and J. B. Vallin-Delamot and the Marble Palace (1768–1785) A. Rinaldi. Early classicism is represented by the names of V.I. Bazhenova and M.F. Kazakova. Many of Bazhenov’s projects remained unfulfilled, but the master’s architectural and urban planning ideas had a significant influence on the formation of the classicism style. A distinctive feature of Bazhenov’s buildings was the subtle use of national traditions and the ability to organically incorporate classicist structures into the existing buildings. The Pashkov House (1784–86) is an example of a typical Moscow noble mansion, which has preserved the features of a country estate. The purest examples of the style are the Senate building in the Moscow Kremlin (1776–87) and the Dolgoruky House (1784–90s). in Moscow, erected by Kazakov. The early stage of classicism in Russia was focused primarily on the architectural experience of France; later, the heritage of antiquity and A. Palladio (N. A. Lvov; D. Quarenghi) began to play a significant role. Mature classicism developed in the work of I.E. Starova(Tauride Palace, 1783–89) and D. Quarenghi (Alexandrovsky Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, 1792–96). In Empire architecture the beginning. 19th century architects strive for ensemble solutions.
The uniqueness of Russian classicist sculpture is that in the works of most masters (F. I. Shubin, I. P. Prokofiev, F. G. Gordeev, F. F. Shchedrin, V. I. Demut-Malinovsky, S. S. Pimenov , I.I. Terebeneva) classicism was closely intertwined with the trends of Baroque and Rococo. The ideals of classicism were expressed more clearly in monumental and decorative sculpture than in easel sculpture. Classicism found its purest expression in the works of I.P. Martos, who created high examples of classicism in the genre of tombstones (S. S. Volkonskaya, M. P. Sobakina; both - 1782). M.I. Kozlovsky, in the monument to A.V. Suvorov on the Champ de Mars in St. Petersburg, presented the Russian commander as a mighty ancient hero with a sword in his hands, wearing armor and a helmet.
In painting, the ideals of classicism were most consistently expressed by the masters of historical paintings (A.P. Losenko and his students I.A. Akimov and P.I. Sokolov), in whose works plots of ancient history and mythology predominate. At the turn of the 18th–19th centuries. interest in national history is increasing (G.I. Ugryumov).
The principles of classicism as a set of formal techniques continued to be used throughout the 19th century. representatives academicism.

During the reign of Peter the Great in Russia, the foundations of a new direction in literature began to be laid. Signs of classicism originated in Italy in the 16th century. A hundred years later, the trend reached its highest development in France during the reign of Louis 14, who claims

The origins of classicism and general characteristics of the era

The ideological basis for the formation of a literary movement is the establishment of strong state power. The main goal of classicism was the glorification of the absolute monarchy. Translated from Latin, the term classicus means “exemplary”. The signs of classicism in literature draw their origins from antiquity, and the theoretical basis is the work of N. Boileau “Poetic Art” (1674). It introduces the concept of three unities and speaks of the strict correspondence of content and form.

Philosophical basis of classicism

The metaphysics of the rationalist Rene Descartes influenced the formation of this literary movement. The main conflict among the classics is the confrontation between reason and passions. In accordance with the division of all genres into high, medium and low, styles of the artistic system were created.

The main features of classicism involve the use of (time, place and action) and normative poetics, which is why the natural development of the class-feudal hierarchy began to slow down, which is reflected in the aristocratic character of classicism. The heroes are mainly representatives of the noble class, who are bearers of virtue. High civic pathos and a sense of patriotism subsequently become the basis for the formation of other literary movements.

Signs of classicism in literature. Features of Russian classicism

In Russia, this literary movement began to take shape at the end of the 17th century. that the works of Russian classicists show a connection with N. Boileau, classicism in Russia is significantly different. It began its active development after the death of Peter the Great, when the clergy and nobles tried to return the state to pre-Petrine times. The following signs of classicism are unique to the Russian movement:

1. It is more humane, since it was formed under the influence of the ideas of the Enlightenment.
2. Affirmed the natural equality of all people.
3. The main conflict was between the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie.
4. Russia had its own antiquity - national history.

Odic poetry of classicism, the work of Lomonosov

Mikhail Vasilyevich was not only a natural scientist, but also a writer. He strictly observed the signs of classicism, and his classical odes can be divided into several thematic groups:

1. Victorious and patriotic. “Ode to the Capture of Khotin” (1739) was attached to a letter about the rules of Russian poetry. The work makes extensive use of symbolism and introduces a collective image of a Russian soldier.
2. Odes associated with the accession to the throne of the monarch, in which the signs of classicism are especially clearly visible. Lomonosov wrote works addressed to Empress Anna, Elizabeth, and Catherine II. The laudatory ode seemed to the writer the most convenient form of conversation with the monarch.
3. Spiritual. In the 18th century they called the transcription of biblical texts with lyrical content. Here the author spoke not only about personal experiences, but also about universal issues.

Odes of Lomonosov

Mikhail Vasilyevich adhered to the writing of works of an exclusively high genre, which was characterized by solemn language, the use of appeals - these are the main signs of classicism in ode. Lomonosov turns to heroic and patriotic themes, glorifies the beauty of his homeland and calls on the people to engage in science. He had a positive attitude towards the monarchy and in “Ode on the Day of Elizabeth Petrovna’s Accession to the Throne” he reflects this idea. Being Mikhail Vasilyevich directs efforts to educate the entire population of Russia, therefore he gives his followers a rich literary heritage.

How to distinguish a classic work? Signs of classicism in the comedy "Minor"

Conditional division of characters into positive and negative
Using speaking surnames	Skotinin, Vralman - negative characters; Milon, Pravdin - positive.
The presence of a reasoning hero
Rule of three unities (time, place, action)	Events take place in Prostakova’s house during the day. The main conflict is love.
The characters behave according to the specifics of the genre - low and mean	The speech of Prostakova and other negative characters is vile and simple, and their behavior confirms this.

The work consists of actions (usually 5 of them) and phenomena, and the subject of conversation in classical comedy is the state. The author also observes these signs of classicism in “The Minor” and “The Brigadier.”

The innovative nature of Fonvizin's comedies

Denis Ivanovich began his literary activity with translations of European texts, and at the same time managed to play roles in the drama theater. In 1762, his comedy "The Brigadier" was presented, and then "Corion". The signs of classicism are best seen in “The Minor,” the author’s most recognizable work. The peculiarity of his work is that he opposes government policies and denies existing forms of landowner domination. He sees the ideal monarchy, fenced by law, which allows the development of the bourgeois class and allows the importance of a person outside of class. Similar views were reflected in his journalistic writings.

"Brigadier": idea and summary

Fonvizin shows himself as a playwright when creating his comedies. The production of "The Brigadier" was a huge success with the audience due to the presentation of a collective image of an entire class. The basis is a plot-love conflict. It is not easy to identify the main character, since each does not exist on its own, but complements the collective image of the Russian nobility. The love plot, traditional for classical comedy, is used by the playwright for satirical purposes. All the characters are united by stupidity and stinginess; they are strictly divided into positive and negative - the main signs of classicism in comedy are clearly preserved. The playwright achieved the comic effect by the complete inconsistency of the characters’ behavior with common sense and moral norms. "The Brigadier" was a new genre phenomenon for Russian literature - it is a comedy of manners. Fonvizin explains the actions of the characters by the everyday situation. His satire is not specific, since he does not identify individual carriers of social vices.

The head of the brigade and his wife decide to marry their son Ivanushka to the smart and beautiful Sophia, the adviser’s daughter, who, observing the behavior of this family, does not want to become related to them. The groom himself also does not have feelings for the bride, and when he finds out that she is in love with Dobrolyubov, he convinces his mother of this idea. Intrigue arises in the house: the foreman falls in love with the adviser, and the adviser falls in love with the foreman’s wife, but in the end everything falls into place and only Sofya and Dobrolyubov remain happy.

"Minor": idea and summary

The main thing in the work is the socio-political conflict. "The Minor" is the most recognizable comedy of classicism, the signs of which - three unities, a strict division into positive and negative characters, telling surnames - Fonvizin successfully observes. For the author, there are two categories of nobles: malevolent and progressive. The theme of the misery of serfdom in Russia is openly heard. The playwright's innovation is manifested in the creation of positive images, which, according to the plan, were supposed to have an educational effect, but he continues to retain the signs of classicism. In the comedy "Minor" the character of Prostakova was a kind of discovery for Fonvizin. This heroine represents the image of a Russian landowner - narrow-minded, greedy, rude, but loving her son. Despite all the typicality, it reveals individual character traits. A number of researchers saw features of educational realism in comedy, while others drew attention to the normative poetics of classicism.

The Prostakov family plans to marry their incompetent Mitrofanushka to the clever Sophia. Mother and father despise education and claim that knowledge of grammar and arithmetic is useless, nevertheless, they hire teachers for their son: Tsyfirkin, Vralman, Kuteikin. Mitrofan has a rival - Skotinin, Prostakova's brother, who wants to get married out of a desire to become the owner of villages with pigs. However, the girl finds a worthy husband, Milon; Sophia's uncle, Starodum, approves of their union.