Literature, like any other creativity, allows a person to express his opinion, attitude to certain events, admiration or disappointment, emotions. The works of poets and writers of all times were influenced by events in society, political or economic changes. Previously, a frequent occurrence among creative natures was the expression of protest against the arbitrariness of influential people with the help of creativity.
Historical events of the 19th century
Even at the beginning of the Golden Age of Russian literature, a new reform was carried out by Alexander I, the essence of which was to strengthen the feudal-absolutist policy that promoted the power of the bourgeoisie. This fact called the creators of thought to protest through their art. Starting with Pushkin and Tsvetaeva and ending with aspiring writers and poets, more and more works appeared that glorified freedom.
After a littlea period of time, the Council of State was created, whose tasks included the centralization of laws and the uniformity of the norms of jurisdiction. And as a result, in 1861, serfdom was abolished and a course aimed at capitalism was adopted.
What is the Golden Age?
Why is the 19th century the golden age of Russian literature? The 19th century acquired this name due to its incredible flourishing and we alth of creative masterpieces. Some of the works of this time were distinguished by special courage and audacity. At the same time, sensual romanticism was at the peak of popularity. Without fear, serious topics were raised about the problems of society and political flaws, attention was focused on value factors and aesthetic norms. Never before has poetry had such an impact on society. Each person showed interest in the works and listened to what was said. It was during this period that Russian literature was especially popular even abroad.
Written in seemingly distant times remains relevant and popular today. Therefore, the 19th century is deservedly called the "Golden Age" of Russian literature.
Characteristics of the Golden Age
In the 19th century, literature again updated its format and style, and previously little-known directions began to develop. Creative innovations include:
- The transition from sentimentalism to romanticism, closely related to political themes. Affected this direction in particular poetry. Came into beingmany beautiful love poems.
- Poets and writers have acquired the title of prophets. Thanks to works with philosophical overtones, filled with the reasoning of the creator, creativity had a strong influence on self-awareness and a person's view of the world around him. At the same time, artists had a huge responsibility for their role as educators and teachers.
- The development of prose as a way of expressing thoughts. Prose writers were inspired by the novels of the foreign genius W. Scott and other English masterpieces and began to promote this trend in Russia as well. The idea was successful and took a prominent place in the literature of the 19th century.
- Development of satirical works. In this way, the main shortcomings of social foundations were portrayed and emphasis was placed on human vices. Also, the use of an abstract and unusual grotesque manner in writing stories began, expressed in sometimes absurd situations, combining incongruous, ridiculing certain things and phenomena in a terrible form.
- The significant role of realistic works during the special crisis of serfdom. It was during this period of time that terrible and cruel events that really exist were often covered. Public attention was riveted to the problems of the poor strata of society and the lawlessness of power, the bourgeoisie.
- Decadent. After the completion of the revolution and changes in the political system, realism faded into the background. Creativity took the direction of mysticism and religiosity, the alleged future and future changes were touched upon. Over time, the works received a symboliccharacter.
The Poetry of the Golden Age of Russian Literature, which leaves no one indifferent
Variety of genres and acute socialist themes have made more than one master of words and rhymes popular. The struggle for the rights of the oppressed and offended is reflected in the work of almost every writer. Creativity inspired more and more people to rebel, gave confidence to action.
Genius poets and prose writers of the 19th century
Due to the myriad of creative personalities in the Golden Age, the main idea of the period will be considered using the example of the most famous of them.
The genius of literature and the leader of the Golden Age of Russian literature - Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich. To this day, it is this poet who is considered the ancestor of the Russian literary word. He is a lyrical innovator and a talented rhymer. Pushkin for the first time ventured to mix different language styles and start experimenting with genres. Thanks to his work, classical realism has developed
Masterpieces of the literary genius are dedicated to the world around, phenomena, events, thoughts, human philosophy. And Pushkin himself became an inspiration for many people and aspiring poets of the Golden Age of Russian literature.
- Evgeny Abramovich Baratynsky and Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky are known as the founders of romanticism in literature. Pushkin, as a poet, and other great writers grew up on their work.
- Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov. The golden age of Russian literature knew him as a mystical poet withbroad soul and deep inner world. His works are imbued with symbolism, secret subtext and philosophy, saturated with the experiences of the main characters, their thoughts and aspirations. A frequent theme was the problem of loneliness and spiritual imbalance. The main genres used are romanticism and realism.
- Alexey Nikolaevich Pleshcheev. Genius in revolutionary-democratic poems. Along with bold statements and calls to fight injustice, Pleshcheev was a talented translator of the works of popular foreign authors and the first person to start creating literature for children in Russia.
- Ivan Zakharovich Surikov. The idea of "peasant" literature is peculiar to him. The poet himself, who comes from the people, helped to reveal the creative potential of other poorly educated and poor people.
- Ivan Savvich Nikitin. His art is varied and covers both social genres and lyrics. Nikitin's poems served as the basis for the songs.
- Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet is a representative of philosophical lyrics. An emotional and sensual poet who creates works filled with feelings and thoughts.
- Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov and Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy are the creators of masterpieces on historical themes. The first of the poets dedicated his work to Greece and Byzantium, and the second to Russian history.
- Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. A unique creator of his kind, representing the people's opinion in his works.
- Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev is a Russian poet, distinguished by a special dynamism and emotionality of his works. Despite the small volume of creations, he was able to perfectly reveal the inside of the protagonist, elevated above social concepts and foundations.
Almost forgotten, but no less talented poets and prose writers of the 19th century
Such surnames as Pushkin, Tyutchev, Nekrasov, Tolstoy are always heard, are studied at school and are still popular among lovers of classical literature. But in the 19th century, no less skillful and interesting masters of the word worked, which are not particularly mentioned in the 21st century. For those who want to expand their literary horizons, a list of writers of the Golden Age of Russian literature, little known in modern times, but talented, is provided:
- Grigory Nedetovsky, aka O. Forgotten, a little-known author of collections with topics that reveal the life of the clergy. He lived in the family of a priest, and therefore adhered to the religious genre. The most famous work is the story "Mirages".
- Innokenty Omulevsky is the creator of the autobiographical novel "Step by Step", which touches upon important problems of society in the 19th century. The topic of psychology was often mentioned in his works, which made readers think about ordinary things that turned out to be not as simple as at first glance. Innokenty Omulevsky was even arrested for his work.
- Georgy Shilin. The writer who first publicized the subject of sick and oppressed people in social exile. The novel "Lepers" fully shows the experiences, sadness and heavinessthe existence of people with leprosy. His works are imbued with kindness and sympathy for the characters created on real examples.
- Ivan Kushchevsky is a Siberian author of works about "prosperous" people who are capable of any meanness and tricks to achieve goals and their own benefit. His work is aimed at revealing the psychology of hypocritical and vile people.
- Vasily Sleptsov is a writer who proved himself in the sixties of the 19th century. His works are based on his own observations and deep psychoanalysis of the situation. In novels and short stories, Sleptsov initially gives a superficial vision of what is happening, and then gradually reveals hidden moments that radically change the overall picture. The story "Hard Times" is one of the best creations of this writer.
- Vsevolod Garshin. The author of creations on military subjects, which touched upon the senselessness of war in general and its cruelty, the life of ordinary soldiers. Garshin himself also took part in several battles, after which his work subsided and consisted of rare everyday stories and children's fairy tales, such as "The Traveling Frog".
The best works of the "golden" period, which will not lose their significance for many more years
The golden age of Russian culture and literature was considered a period of true writing art, rich in masterpieces of creativity. Many books were studied in educational institutions, many were constantly heard. The following masterpieces belong to the Golden Age of Russian literature:
- The book of Leo Tolstoy "War and Peace" belongs to the genre of the epic novel and describes the events taking place during the invasion of Napoleon. Many chapters and characters, each of which has its own story, the interweaving of storylines and multifaceted meaning raised this work to the highest level of fame.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment". This work belongs to the genre of socio-philosophical novels and tells about a student Rodion Raskolnikov, who kills an old pawnbroker for the sake of profit. The work is based on several draft versions of the author's stories.
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky "The Idiot". The most favorite author's own creation, which fully reflects his views on society. The novel qualitatively criticizes the morals of that time, for which the work gained popularity abroad and is included in the list of the hundred best books of the book club of Norway.
- The work "Dead Souls" by Nikolai Gogol was originally planned in three volumes, but the second volume was destroyed by the author, and the third remained only in unfulfilled plans. The poem is written in a mockingly satirical genre and fully shows human vices.
- The list of the most popular works could not do without "Eugene Onegin" written by Alexander Pushkin. The novel in poetic form reveals the hidden aspects of the life of the noble intelligentsia. Pushkin worked on his best work of the 19th century for 7 years.
- Leo Tolstoy also wrote a masterpiece about the nobility. The novel "Anna Karenina" tells about the secret love of the main character toattractive officer Vronsky. The work was printed in parts for 7 years.
- A Hero of Our Time is a classic novel with a unique storyline. Mikhail Lermontov shows the main character at first from the side of other characters, and in the other part, the emphasis is on the feelings and inner experiences of Pechorin, he is unraveled as a person.
- Relevant and in our time, the topic of misunderstanding between the older and younger generations is described in Ivan Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons". The main character, the nihilist Bazarov in the 19th century became the idol of youth and a role model.
- Another example of a quality satirical work of the 19th century is the verse comedy Woe from Wit, written by Alexander Griboyedov. This creation makes fun of the life of the aristocratic elite.
Actual genres of literature
The 19th century is a period with a great variety of different styles. The writers of the Golden Age of Russian literature experimented with their works, mixed genres, and some of them were opened to Russian readers for the first time. A wide choice of directions of creativity could not fail to please even the most picky lover to spend his leisure time reading a book.
Romanticism, sentimentalism, satire, realism and folk poetry
Initially, as already mentioned, romanticism was in demand. The authors of this genre prioritized feelings over reason. Much attention was paid to the love experience of the characters. This genre is clearly visible in the works of Pushkin and the early works of Gogol. Romanticism itself was originally born in Germany, and after some time, gained popularity among Russian writers.
Simultaneously with romanticism in the early 19th century - the Golden Age of Russian literature - often wrote in the genre of sentimentalism. This style is aimed at awakening the feelings of readers and their spiritual response. One of the first writers to use this genre was Karamzin. Many authors have been inspired by his example.
Satirical prose is an integral part of the Golden Age. In the works of Gogol, one can fully realize the whole essence of the genre. Creations of a satirical nature were distinguished by criticism of stupidity and laziness, affected all strata of society, upper and lower, focused attention on the low level of spiritual development of the poor.
In the middle of the 19th century - the Golden Age of Russian literature - romanticism and sentimentalism give way to realism. The brightest representative of realistic novels is Dostoevsky. The creativity of realism shows the real problems of society as they are, and also touches on the dark sides of society and individuals separately.
To a lesser extent, but still relevant was the folk poem. Nekrasov in the 19th century pleased with his works in this genre. What is worth the poem "Who is living well in Russia?", in which revolutionary, peasant and heroic genres are professionally combined.
The end of the history of the Golden Age of Russian literature
At the end of the 19th century, the history of literature was replenished with a myriad of various masterpieces. The variety of genres and styles of authors is interesting to read even after centuries. Despite the time difference in the books, which represent the literature of a great creative period, the characters, their types and actions resemble the people of today's society. Conflicts, injustice, the struggle for freedom have not gone away and are also found in modern times. Written in the 19th century has remained significant for an infinite period of time and has not lost its relevance to this day.
