The brightest literary trends that reached their heyday in Russian literature in the 19th century, having an equally large number of followers, vehemently arguing with each other, are romanticism and realism. Opposite in essence, however, it cannot be said that one is indisputably better than the other. They are both integral parts of literature.
Romanticism
Romanticism as a literary trend appeared in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries. He quickly won love in the literary circles of Europe and America. Romanticism reached its peak in the first half of the 19th century.
The main place in romantic works is assigned to the personality, which is revealed through the conflict between the hero and society. The French Revolution contributed to the spread of this trend. Thus, romanticism became the response of society to the emergence of ideas glorifying reason and science.
Such educational ideas seemed to his adherents a manifestation of selfishness, heartlessness. Of course, there was a similar discontent in sentimentalism, but it is in romanticism that it is expressed most clearly.
Romanticismopposed to classicism. Now the authors were given complete freedom of creativity, in contrast to the framework inherent in classical works. The literary language used to write romantic works was simple, understandable to every reader, as opposed to ornate, overly noble classical works.
Features of Romanticism
- The protagonist of romantic works had to be a complex, multifaceted personality, experiencing all the events that happen to him, sharply, deeply, very emotionally. This is a passionate, enthusiastic nature with an endless, mysterious inner world.
- In romantic works there has always been a contrast between high and base passions, fans of this trend were interested in any manifestation of feelings, they sought to understand the nature of their occurrence. They were more interested in the inner worlds of the characters and their experiences.
- Novelists could choose any era for the action of their novel. It was romanticism that introduced the whole world to the culture of the Middle Ages. Interest in history helped writers create their vivid works, imbued with the spirit of the time they wrote about.
Realism
Realism is a literary trend in which writers sought to reflect reality in their works as truthfully as possible. But this is a very difficult task, because the very definition of "truth", the vision of reality, is different for everyone. It often happened that in an effort to write only the truth to a writerhad to write things that might contradict his beliefs.
No one can say exactly when this direction appeared, but it is considered one of the earliest currents. Its features depend on the specific historical era in which it is considered. Therefore, the main distinguishing feature is an accurate reflection of reality.
Enlightenment
Romanticism and realism clashed at a time when enlightenment ideas began to dominate in the realistic direction. During this period, literature became a kind of preparation of society for the social-bourgeois revolution. All the actions of the characters were evaluated only from the point of view of reasonableness, therefore, positive characters are the embodiment of reason, and negative ones are violating the norms of personality, uncivilized, acting unreasonably.
During this period of realism, its subspecies appear:
- English realistic novel;
- critical realism.
What for the representatives of romanticism was a manifestation of heartlessness, the realists understood as the rationality of actions. Conversely, the freedom of action that the heroes of the novels followed was condemned by representatives of realism.
Romanticism and realism in Russian literature of the 19th century (briefly)
These directions did not bypass Russia. Romanticism and realism in the literature of the 19th century in Russia enter into a struggle that takes place in several stages:
- transition from romanticism to realism, which served as an unprecedented flourishing of classical literature and its recognition throughout the world;
- "literary dual power" is a period when the union and struggle of romanticism and realism gave literature great works and no less great authors, which made it possible to consider the 19th century in Russian literature "golden".
The emergence of romanticism in Russia was due to the victory in the war of 1812, which caused a great public outcry. Of course, romanticism could not help imbued with the ideas of the Decembrists about freedom, which created truly unique works that reflect the internal state of the entire Russian people. The brightest, well-known representatives of romanticism are A. S. Pushkin (poems written in the lyceum period and "southern" lyrics), M. Yu. Lermontov, V. A. Zhukovsky, F. I. Tyutchev, N. A. Nekrasov (early works).
In the 30s, realism was gaining strength, when writers reflected the current reality in an elegant, understandable language, accurately and subtly noticed human and social vices and ironically over them. The founder of this trend is A. S. Pushkin ("Eugene Onegin", "Tales of Belkin"), on a par with no less talented masters of the pen, such as N. V. Gogol ("Dead Souls"), I. S. Turgenev ("The Nest of Nobles", "Fathers and Sons"), L. N. Tolstoy (the great work "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina"), F. M. Dostoevsky ("Crime and Punishment", "BrothersKaramazov"). And it is impossible not to write about the genius of short, but surprisingly lively stories and plays by A. P. Chekhov.
Romanticism and realism are more than literary movements, they are a way of thinking, a way of life. Thanks to the great writers, you can travel back to that era, plunge into the atmosphere that prevailed at that time. The "Golden Age" in Russian literature gave the whole world brilliant works that you want to read again and again.
