The 19th century, which became a period of extraordinary rise in national culture and grandiose achievements in all areas of art, was replaced by a complex, full of dramatic events and turning points of the 20th century. The golden age of social and artistic life was replaced by the so-called silver one, which gave rise to the rapid development of Russian literature, poetry and prose in new bright trends, and subsequently became the starting point of its fall.
In this article we will focus on the poetry of the Silver Age, consider its distinctive features, talk about the main directions, such as symbolism, acmeism and futurism, each of which was distinguished by the special music of the verse and a vivid expression of the experiences and feelings of the lyrical hero.
Poetry of the Silver Age. A turning point in Russian culture and art
It is believed thatThe beginning of the Silver Age of Russian literature falls on 80-90 years. 19th century At this time, the works of many remarkable poets appeared: V. Bryusov, K. Ryleev, K. Balmont, I. Annensky - and writers: L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, M. E. S altykov-Shchedrin. The country is going through difficult times. During the reign of Alexander I, first there is a strong patriotic upsurge during the war of 1812, and then, due to a sharp change in the previously liberal policy of the tsar, society experiences a painful loss of illusions and severe moral losses.
Poetry of the Silver Age reaches its heyday by 1915. Public life and the political situation are characterized by a deep crisis, restless, seething atmosphere. Mass demonstrations are growing, life is being politicized and at the same time personal self-awareness is being strengthened. Society is making strenuous attempts to find a new ideal of power and social order. And poets and writers keep up with the times, mastering new art forms and offering bold ideas. The human personality begins to be realized as a unity of many principles: natural and social, biological and moral. During the years of the February, October revolutions and the Civil War, the poetry of the Silver Age is in crisis.
A. Blok's speech "On the Appointment of the Poet" (February 11, 1921), delivered by him in the House of Writers at a meeting on the occasion of the 84th anniversary of the death of A. Pushkin, becomes the finalsilver age chord.
Characteristics of literature of the 19th - early 20th centuries
Let's look at the features of Silver Age poetry. Firstly, one of the main features of the literature of that time was a huge interest in eternal topics: the search for the meaning of the life of an individual and all of humanity as a whole, the mysteries of the national character, the history of the country, the mutual influence of the worldly and spiritual, the interaction of man and nature. Literature at the end of the 19th century becomes more and more philosophical: the authors reveal the themes of war, revolution, personal tragedy of a person who, due to circumstances, has lost peace and inner harmony. In the works of writers and poets, a new, bold, extraordinary, resolute and often unpredictable hero is born, who stubbornly overcomes all hardships and hardships. In most works, close attention is paid precisely to how the subject perceives tragic social events through the prism of his consciousness. Secondly, a feature of poetry and prose was an intensive search for original artistic forms, as well as means of expressing feelings and emotions. Poetic form and rhyme played a particularly important role. Many authors abandoned the classical presentation of the text and invented new techniques, for example, V. Mayakovsky created his famous "ladder". Often, the authors used speech and language anomalies, fragmentation, alogisms, and even made spelling mistakes to achieve a special effect.
Third, the Silver Age poets of Russian poetry experimented freely withartistic possibilities of the word. In an effort to express complex, often contradictory, "volatile" spiritual impulses, the writers began to treat the word in a new way, trying to convey the subtlest shades of meanings in their poems. Standard, formulaic definitions of clear objective objects: love, evil, family values, morality - began to be replaced by abstract psychological descriptions. Precise concepts gave way to hints and understatements. Such fluctuation, fluidity of verbal meaning was achieved through the brightest metaphors, which often began to be based not on the obvious similarity of objects or phenomena, but on non-obvious signs.
Fourthly, the poetry of the Silver Age is characterized by new ways of conveying thoughts and feelings of the lyrical hero. The poems of many authors began to be created using images, motifs from different cultures, as well as hidden and explicit quotations. For example, many word artists included scenes from Greek, Roman and a little later Slavic myths and traditions in their creations. In the works of I. Annensky, M. Tsvetaeva and V. Bryusov, mythology is used to build universal psychological models that make it possible to comprehend the human personality, in particular its spiritual component. Each poet of the Silver Age is brightly individual. It is easy to understand which of them belongs to certain verses. But they all tried to make their works more tangible, alive, full of colors, so that any reader could feel every word and line.
Basicdirections of poetry of the Silver Age. Symbolism
Writers and poets who opposed realism announced the creation of a new, contemporary art - modernism. There are three main literary trends in the poetry of the Silver Age: symbolism, acmeism, futurism. Each of them had its own striking features. Symbolism originally arose in France as a protest against the everyday display of reality and dissatisfaction with bourgeois life. The founders of this trend, including J. Morsas, believed that only with the help of a special hint - a symbol, one can comprehend the secrets of the universe. Symbolism appeared in Russia in the early 1890s. The founder of this trend was D. S. Merezhkovsky, who proclaimed in his book three main postulates of the new art: symbolization, mystical content and "expansion of artistic impressionability".
Senior and junior symbolists
The first symbolists, later named senior, were V. Ya. Bryusov, K. D. Balmont, F. K. Sologub, Z. N. Gippius, N. M. Minsky and other poets. Their work was often characterized by a sharp denial of the surrounding reality. They portrayed real life as boring, ugly and meaningless, trying to convey the subtlest shades of their feelings.
The period from 1901 to 1904 marks the onset of a new milestone in Russian poetry. The poems of the Symbolists are imbued with a revolutionary spirit and a premonition of future changes. Junior Symbolists:A. Blok, V. Ivanov, A. Bely - do not deny the world, but utopianly await its transformation, praising divine beauty, love and femininity, which will surely change reality. It is with the appearance on the literary arena of the younger symbolists that the concept of a symbol enters literature. Poets understand it as a multifaceted word that reflects the world of "heaven", the spiritual essence and at the same time the "earthly kingdom".
Symbolism during the Revolution
Poetry of the Russian Silver Age in 1905-1907. is undergoing changes. Most Symbolists, focusing on the socio-political events taking place in the country, are reconsidering their views on the world and beauty. The latter is now understood as the chaos of struggle. Poets create images of a new world that comes to replace the dying one. V. Ya. Bryusov creates the poem "The Coming Huns", A. Blok - "The Barque of Life", "Rising from the darkness of the cellars …", etc.
The symbolism is also changing. Now she turns not to the ancient heritage, but to Russian folklore, as well as Slavic mythology. After the revolution, there is a demarcation of the symbolists, who want to protect art from the revolutionary elements and, on the contrary, are actively interested in the social struggle. After 1907, the disputes of the Symbolists exhaust themselves, and imitation of the art of the past takes its place. And since 1910, Russian symbolism has been in crisis, clearly displaying its internal inconsistency.
Acmeism in Russian poetry
In 1911, N. S. Gumilyov organizedliterary group - "Workshop of poets". It included the poets S. Gorodetsky, O. Mandelstam, G. Ivanov and G. Adamovich. This new direction did not reject the surrounding reality, but accepted reality as it is, asserting its value. The "Workshop of Poets" began to publish its own magazine "Hyperborea", as well as print works in "Apollo". Acmeism, originating as a literary school to find a way out of the crisis of symbolism, united poets very different in ideological and artistic settings.
One of the most famous acmeist authors was Anna Akhmatova. Her works were full of love experiences and became like a confession of a woman's soul tormented by passions.
Features of Russian futurism
The Silver Age in Russian poetry gave rise to another interesting trend called "futurism" (from Latin futurum, meaning "future"). The search for new artistic forms in the works of the brothers N. and D. Burlyukov, N. S. Goncharova, N. Kulbin, M. V. Matyushin became a prerequisite for the emergence of this trend in Russia.
In 1910, the futuristic collection "The Garden of Judges" was published, in which the works of such brightest poets as V. V. Kamensky, V. V. Khlebnikov, the Burliuk brothers, E. Guro were collected. These authors formed the core of the so-called Cubo-Futurists. Later, V. Mayakovsky joined them. In December 1912, an almanac was published - "A slap in the face of the publictaste". The cubo-futurists' poems "Bukh lesiny", "Dead moon", "Roaring Parnassus", "Gag" became the subject of numerous disputes. special social involvement.
Egofuturists
Besides cubo-futurism, several other currents have emerged, including ego-futurism, headed by I. Severyanin. He was joined by such poets as V. I. Gnezdov, I. V. Ignatiev, K. Olimpov and others. They created the publishing house "Petersburg Herald", published magazines and almanacs with original names: "Skycops", "Eagles over the abyss", "Zasakhar Kry", etc. Their poems were distinguished by extravagance and were often composed of words created by themselves. In addition to the ego-futurists, there were two more groups: Centrifuge (B. L. Pasternak, N. N. Aseev, S. P. Bobrov) and Mezzanine of Poetry (R. Ivnev, S. M. Tretyakov, V. G. Sherenevich).
Instead of a conclusion
The Silver Age of Russian poetry was short-lived, but united a galaxy of the brightest, most talented poets. Many of their biographies have developed tragically, because by the will of fate they had to live and work in such a fatal for the country, a turning point.the time of revolutions and chaos of the post-revolutionary years, the civil war, the collapse of hopes and rebirth. Many poets died after the tragic events (V. Khlebnikov, A. Blok), many emigrated (K. Balmont, Z. Gippius, I. Severyanin, M. Tsvetaeva), some committed suicide, were shot or disappeared in Stalin's camps. Nevertheless, they all managed to make a huge contribution to Russian culture and enrich it with their expressive, colorful, original works.
