The concept of "dialogue" has firmly entered our lives. We, pronouncing this word, do not even think about its true meaning.
Dialogue is a complex tool
The meaning of the word "dialogue" in Latin is a conversation between two people. But this, so to speak, is the simplest interpretation of the definition. In a high sense, dialogue is the opposition to a monologue. In the old days, this tool was especially often used in such complex and difficult things as philosophy, rhetoric, logic, sophistry. The goal pursued by the dialogue is the most understandable presentation of the idea to the listener, while considered from several points of view. Of these, in the end, either the most accurate wording will be chosen, or a general one corresponding to the position of the author will be deduced. Here, in general, this is the meaning of the dialogue. Dialogue punctuation is easy to remember: each line starts on a new line and is preceded by a dash.
Multiple simplification
For a long time, the dialogue remained to live only in the simplest interpretation, that is, it was just communication. And the first use of it as a genre, as a philosophical and literary tooltook place several thousand years before our era. By the way, the return of dialogue to the serious spheres of art after several centuries of oblivion is just being celebrated.
Wise Asia
Being still mostly a European civilization, we, from the point of view of Europe, will talk about dialogue. However, it would be wrong not to mention that in the East this literary tool and concept has also existed for a very long time. And we are talking about a high interpretation of this type of communication. The first material references to the use of dialogue in a philosophical sense in the Middle East and Asia date back to the second century BC. This instrument is actively used in the hymns of the Rig Veda and in the Mahabharata. In general, we can say that the understanding, in a high sense, of the dialogue between East and West is the same.
Plato follower
The first use of dialogue in philosophy and literature is usually credited to Plato. It is implied that it was this ancient Greek philosopher who systematized and made this tool an independent literary form. It is customary to consider his experiments in the early work "Lachet" as a starting point. However, Plato is not at all a founder, but a follower, which he himself writes about in some of his works. About half a century earlier, the Sicilian poets Sofron and Epicharmus used this instrument. And so skillfully that they made an indelible impression on Plato, and in his first works he tried to imitate these masters.
Forgotten teachers
To this day, unfortunately,the works of these two authors have not survived, so one can only speculate about their strength if they so struck Plato. By the way, there is reason to believe that there were a number of other figures, in addition to those mentioned above, who used dialogue as a device. But history, unfortunately, has not even preserved their names.
Difficult student
In the works of Plato, dialogue is a very strong philosophical and literary element. But at the same time, the author simplified the very concept. The fact is that in his works he used only argumentation, while his teachers had no less important mimic component. For some reason, the ancient Greek philosopher almost abandoned it, and his followers eventually stopped using it altogether. It is still possible to more or less understand what a dialogue was originally and what meaning its "inventors" put into this definition.
First followers
After the death of Plato, many of his followers appeared not only in philosophy, but also in literature. One of them was Lucian of Samostat. The works of this author were distinguished by irony, rare for that time, and at the same time, by the seriousness of the topics covered. About the gods, about death, about courtesans and love, about philosophy, finally, this ancient Greek poet, who lived in the second century of our era, simply wrote about the world around him in his works. Moreover, he had to pay for some of his creations, they were painfully caustic. Dialogue was a favorite genre of smart literature until the 12th century.
Forgotten Tool
Fashion is a changeable thing, even if we are talking about "smart" literature and philosophy. Authors such as Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas toppled dialogue as a literary form from its pedestal, replacing it with sums. Serious authors in the next half a millennium denounced mainly their thoughts, evidence and reflections in them. In sums, the studied object was considered from all possible points of view, it was analyzed, sometimes citing encyclopedic data. The problem is that the dynamics and ease of understanding of the dialogue from these creations is gone. The formation of the sum as the main genre of philosophy largely explains the "darkness" of the Middle Ages. In order to understand the complex processes of life and death, to find out what the great sages think about them, it was necessary to have a huge store of knowledge, access to which was limited by this format. The simplicity and clarity of dialogue has been lost.
Triumphant return
The epoch of the Renaissance and modern times returned the dialogue as a genre to its rightful place. Notable and important works begin to appear in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The thirst for knowledge and the desire to convey their thoughts to as many people as possible again makes this genre popular with philosophers, theologians, writers, even musicologists will join them. Dialogues are written by figures such as Fontenelle and Fenelon, their works of the same name, in fact, gave impetus to the new popularity of this genre. In the wake of the new fashion, Italian authors decided to go even further - they build their works in the image and likeness of Platonic treatises, sometimescompletely copying them, of course, adding their own thoughts. Celebrities such as Galileo, Tasso and Leopardi wrote their dialogues in Italy.
New time, revolution and oblivion
The industrial revolution, which began during the next peak of the popularity of dialogues, plunged him into another abyss of oblivion. Life has accelerated so much that there is simply no time left for lengthy intelligent conversations. "Speak clearly and to the point!" - this is the main motto of the industrial revolution. Of course, with this approach, the dialogues were again equated with ordinary conversation. New time has created a direct relationship between word and deed. That's just the ideological component, present in the works of Plato, disappeared without a trace. Dialogues have become not a way to explain and understand something, but a call to action, just a means of communication.
The rapid twentieth century
With the end of the new time, the newest time has come. This is perhaps the most terrible, fast and bloody period in the history of mankind. There was almost no time left for reflection, wars followed one after another, just like revolutions. There were simply no prerequisites for the return of dialogue as a serious genre. It cannot be said that he was in absolute oblivion, he was used, but only a few.
The "Return" of Plato and Socrates
Rare writers experimenting with dialogues most often used these ancient Greek philosophers as interlocutors. It was often enough. As a result, even a new subspecies of this literary device was formed, called"Platonic Dialogue".
Russia and concept
It so happened that talking about the dialogue as a concept and genre, we did not touch Russia at all. The fact is that in our country this instrument, in fact, has never lost its popularity. There have always been authors writing in this genre. Moreover, it was the Russian philosopher, literary critic and theorist of European culture and art, Mikhail Bakhtin, who was finally able to give a complete definition of the concept of "dialogue". He found examples for research in the works of Dostoevsky. As a result, Mikhail Mikhailovich made certain conclusions. In particular, Bakhtin defined the forms of dialogue. There are two in total. The first type is comprehensive. In this case, the tool is considered as a kind of universal reality necessary for the full formation of personality. The second type is direct dialogue. In this case, an event is implied - human communication.
Modernity
By the end of the twentieth century, dialogue becomes the main instrument of our lives. This is due to the fact that in the midst of the Cold War, which threatened complete annihilation, humanity was able to stop and think about its future. This was the impetus for the return of this genre. Moreover, today dialogues are no longer just a tool of philosophers, writers and other scientists, they are a whole social institution. Pedagogy cannot imagine itself without a conversation between a teacher and a student; politics also cannot do without this form of communication. Please note that many international organizations designed to solve problemshumanity, have this word in their name. For example, "Civil Society Dialogue". Moreover, having finally appreciated all the beauty and possibilities of this tool in the process of exchanging their own unique vision of the world, people began to distinguish between special types of dialogues: equal, structured, debatable and confrontational. And people use each of them to the maximum to reach consensus on a variety of issues or to inform the world about their own point of view.
Dialogues are the road to the future
Today, contrary to the desire of some to return communication to the level of monologues, "communication between two" is developing more and more. Mankind has finally realized the full power and possibilities of dialogues in a high sense, learned the lessons of history, which show us that it is worth coming to the dictatorship of one voice, as the "dark time" begins. I would like to believe that communication, during which all points of view are heard, will continue to develop further, only this way will lead humanity to prosperity.
