The French word romantisme goes back to the Spanish romance (in the Middle Ages, this was the name for Spanish romances, and then a chivalric romance), the English romantic, which turned into 18th century. in romantique and then meaning “strange”, “fantastic”, “picturesque”. At the beginning of the 19th century. Romanticism becomes the designation of a new direction, opposite to classicism.
Entering into the antithesis of “classicism” - “romanticism,” the movement suggested contrasting the classicist demand for rules with romantic freedom from rules. This understanding of romanticism persists to this day, but, as literary critic Yu. Mann writes, romanticism “is not simply a denial of the ‘rules’, but the following of ‘rules’ that are more complex and whimsical.”
The center of the artistic system of romanticism is the individual, and its main conflict is the individual and society. The decisive prerequisite for the development of romanticism were the events of the Great french revolution. The emergence of romanticism is associated with the anti-enlightenment movement, the reasons for which lie in disappointment in civilization, in social, industrial, political and scientific progress, the result of which was new contrasts and contradictions, leveling and spiritual devastation of the individual.
The Enlightenment preached the new society as the most “natural” and “reasonable”. The best minds of Europe substantiated and foreshadowed this society of the future, but reality turned out to be beyond the control of “reason,” the future became unpredictable, irrational, and the modern social order began to threaten human nature and his personal freedom. Rejection of this society, protest against lack of spirituality and selfishness is already reflected in sentimentalism and pre-romanticism. Romanticism expresses this rejection most acutely. Romanticism also opposed the Age of Enlightenment in verbal terms: the language of romantic works, striving to be natural, “simple”, accessible to all readers, was something opposite to the classics with its noble, “sublime” themes, characteristic, for example, of classical tragedy.
Among the late Western European romantics, pessimism towards society acquires cosmic proportions and becomes the “disease of the century.” The heroes of many romantic works (F.R. Chateaubriand, A. Musset, J. Byron, A. Vigny, A. Lamartine, G. Heine, etc.) are characterized by moods of hopelessness and despair, which acquire a universal character. Perfection is lost forever, the world is ruled by evil, ancient chaos is resurrected. The theme of the “terrible world”, characteristic of all romantic literature, was most clearly embodied in the so-called “black genre” (in the pre-romantic “Gothic novel” - A. Radcliffe, C. Maturin, in the “drama of rock”, or “tragedy of fate” - Z. Werner, G. Kleist, F. Grillparzer), as well as in the works of Byron, C. Brentano, E. T. A. Hoffmann, E. Poe and N. Hawthorne.
At the same time, romanticism is based on ideas that challenge the “terrible world” - above all, the ideas of freedom. The disappointment of romanticism is a disappointment in reality, but progress and civilization are only one side of it. Rejection of this side, lack of faith in the possibilities of civilization provide another path, the path to the ideal, to the eternal, to the absolute. This path must resolve all contradictions and completely change life. This is the path to perfection, “towards a goal, the explanation of which must be sought on the other side of the visible” (A. De Vigny). For some romantics, the world is dominated by incomprehensible and mysterious forces that must be obeyed and not try to change fate (poets of the “lake school”, Chateaubriand, V.A. Zhukovsky). For others, “world evil” caused protest, demanded revenge and struggle. (J. Byron, P. B. Shelley, Sh. Petofi, A. Mitskevich, early A. S. Pushkin). What they had in common was that they all saw in man a single essence, the task of which is not at all limited to solving everyday problems. On the contrary, without denying everyday life, the romantics sought to unravel the mystery of human existence, turning to nature, trusting their religious and poetic feelings.
A romantic hero is a complex, passionate personality, whose inner world is unusually deep and endless; it is a whole universe full of contradictions. Romantics were interested in all passions, both high and low, which were opposed to each other. High passion is love in all its manifestations, low passion is greed, ambition, envy. The romantics contrasted the life of the spirit, especially religion, art, and philosophy, with the base material practice. Interest in strong and vivid feelings, all-consuming passions, secret movements of the soul - characteristic features romanticism.
We can talk about romance as a special type of personality - a person of strong passions and high aspirations, incompatible with the everyday world. This nature is accompanied by exceptional circumstances. Fantasy, folk music, poetry, legends become attractive to romantics - everything that for a century and a half was considered as minor genres, not worth attention. Romanticism is characterized by the affirmation of freedom, the sovereignty of the individual, increased attention to the individual, the unique in man, and the cult of the individual. Confidence in a person’s self-worth turns into a protest against the fate of history. Often the hero of a romantic work becomes an artist who is capable of creatively perceiving reality. The classicist “imitation of nature” is contrasted with the creative energy of the artist who transforms reality. A special world is created, more beautiful and real than the empirically perceived reality. It is creativity that is the meaning of existence; it represents the highest value of the universe. Romantics passionately defended the creative freedom of the artist, his imagination, believing that the genius of the artist does not obey the rules, but creates them.
Romantics turned to various historical eras, they were attracted by their originality, attracted by exotic and mysterious countries and circumstances. Interest in history became one of the enduring achievements of the artistic system of romanticism. He expressed himself in the creation of the genre of the historical novel (F. Cooper, A. Vigny, V. Hugo), the founder of which is considered to be W. Scott, and the novel in general, which acquired a leading position in the era under consideration. Romantics reproduce in detail and accurately the historical details, background, and flavor of a particular era, but romantic characters are given outside of history; they, as a rule, are above circumstances and do not depend on them. At the same time, the romantics perceived the novel as a means of comprehending history, and from history they went to penetrate into the secrets of psychology, and, accordingly, of modernity. Interest in history was also reflected in the works of historians of the French romantic school (A. Thierry, F. Guizot, F. O. Meunier).
It was in the era of Romanticism that the discovery of the culture of the Middle Ages took place, and the admiration for antiquity, characteristic of the previous era, also did not weaken at the end of the 18th century. 19th centuries The diversity of national, historical, and individual characteristics also had a philosophical meaning: the wealth of a single world whole consists of the combination of these individual features, and the study of the history of each people separately makes it possible to trace, as Burke put it, uninterrupted life through new generations succeeding one after another.
The era of Romanticism was marked by the flourishing of literature, one of the distinctive properties of which was a passion for social and political problems. Trying to comprehend the role of man in ongoing historical events, romantic writers gravitated toward accuracy, specificity, and authenticity. At the same time, the action of their works often takes place in settings that are unusual for a European - for example, in the East and America, or, for Russians, in the Caucasus or Crimea. Thus, romantic poets are primarily lyricists and poets of nature, and therefore in their work (as well as in many prose writers), landscape occupies a significant place - first of all, the sea, mountains, sky, stormy elements with which the hero is associated complex relationships. Nature can be akin to the passionate nature of a romantic hero, but it can also resist him, turn out to be a hostile force with which he is forced to fight.
Unusual and vivid pictures of nature, life, way of life and customs of distant countries and peoples also inspired the romantics. They were looking for the traits that constitute the fundamental basis of the national spirit. National identity is manifested primarily in oral folk art. Hence the interest in folklore, the processing of folklore works, the creation of their own works based on folk art.
The development of the genres of the historical novel, fantastic story, lyric-epic poem, ballad is the merit of the romantics. Their innovation was also manifested in lyrics, in particular, in the use of polysemy of words, the development of associativity, metaphor, and discoveries in the field of versification, meter, and rhythm.
Romanticism is characterized by a synthesis of genders and genres, their interpenetration. The romantic art system was based on a synthesis of art, philosophy, and religion. For example, for a thinker like Herder, linguistic research, philosophical doctrines, and travel notes serve the search for ways of revolutionary renewal of culture. Much of the achievements of romanticism were inherited by 19th century realism. – a penchant for fantasy, the grotesque, a mixture of high and low, tragic and comic, the discovery of “subjective man.”
In the era of romanticism, not only literature, but also many sciences flourished: sociology, history, political science, chemistry, biology, evolutionary doctrine, philosophy (Hegel, D. Hume, I. Kant, Fichte, natural philosophy, the essence of which boils down to the fact that nature - one of the garments of God, “the living garment of the Divine”).
Romanticism is a cultural phenomenon in Europe and America. IN different countries his fate had its own characteristics.
Germany can be considered a country of classical romanticism. Here the events of the Great French Revolution were perceived rather in the realm of ideas. Social problems were considered within the framework of philosophy, ethics, and aesthetics. The views of the German romantics became pan-European and influenced public thought and art in other countries. The history of German romanticism falls into several periods.
At the origins of German romanticism are the writers and theorists of the Jena school (W.G. Wackenroder, Novalis, brothers F. and A. Schlegel, W. Tieck). In the lectures of A. Schlegel and in the works of F. Schelling, the concept of romantic art acquired its outline. As one of the researchers of the Jena school, R. Huch, writes, the Jena romantics “put forward as an ideal the unification of various poles, no matter how the latter were called – reason and fantasy, spirit and instinct.” The Jenians also owned the first works of the romantic genre: Tieck's comedy Puss in Boots(1797), lyric cycle Hymns for the night(1800) and novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen(1802) Novalis. The romantic poet F. Hölderlin, who was not part of the Jena school, belongs to the same generation.
The Heidelberg School is the second generation of German romantics. Here the interest in religion, antiquity, and folklore became more noticeable. This interest explains the appearance of a collection of folk songs Boy's magic horn(1806–08), compiled by L. Arnim and Brentano, as well as Children's and family fairy tales(1812–1814) brothers J. and V. Grimm. Within the framework of the Heidelberg school, the first scientific direction in the study of folklore took shape - the mythological school, which was based on the mythological ideas of Schelling and the Schlegel brothers.
Late German romanticism is characterized by motifs of hopelessness, tragedy, rejection of modern society, and a feeling of discrepancy between dreams and reality (Kleist, Hoffmann). This generation includes A. Chamisso, G. Muller and G. Heine, who called himself “the last romantic.”
English romanticism focused on the problems of the development of society and humanity as a whole. The English romantics have a sense of the catastrophic nature of the historical process. The poets of the “lake school” (W. Wordsworth, S. T. Coleridge, R. Southey) idealize antiquity, glorify patriarchal relations, nature, simple, natural feelings. The work of the poets of the “lake school” is imbued with Christian humility; they tend to appeal to the subconscious in man.
Romantic poems on medieval subjects and historical novels of V. Scott are distinguished by an interest in native antiquity, in oral folk poetry.
However, the development of romanticism in France was especially acute. The reasons for this are twofold. On the one hand, it was in France that the traditions of theatrical classicism were especially strong: it is rightly believed that classicist tragedy acquired its complete and perfect expression in the dramaturgy of P. Corneille and J. Racine. And the stronger the traditions, the tougher and more irreconcilable the fight against them. On the other hand, radical changes in all areas of life were given impetus by the French bourgeois revolution of 1789 and the counter-revolutionary coup of 1794. The ideas of equality and freedom, protest against violence and social injustice turned out to be extremely consonant with the problems of romanticism. This gave a powerful impetus to the development of French romantic drama. Her fame was made by V. Hugo ( Cromwell, 1827; Marion Delorme, 1829; Hernani, 1830; Angelo, 1935; Ruy Blaz, 1938, etc.); A. de Vigny ( Marshal d'Ancre's wife, 1931; Chatterton, 1935; translations of Shakespeare's plays); A. Dumas the father ( Anthony, 1931; Richard Darlington 1831; Nelskaya Tower, 1832; Keen, or Dissipation and Genius, 1936); A. de Musset ( Lorenzaccio, 1834). True, in his later drama, Musset moved away from the aesthetics of romanticism, rethinking its ideals in an ironic and somewhat parodic way and imbuing his works with elegant irony ( Caprice, 1847; Candlestick, 1848; Love is no joke, 1861, etc.).
The dramaturgy of English romanticism is represented in the works of the great poets J. G. Byron ( Manfred, 1817; Marino Faliero, 1820, etc.) and P.B. Shelley ( Cenci, 1820; Hellas, 1822); German romanticism - in the plays of I.L. Tieck ( The Life and Death of Genoveva, 1799; Emperor Octavian, 1804) and G. Kleist ( Penthesilea, 1808; Prince Friedrich of Homburg, 1810, etc.).
Romanticism had a huge influence on the development of acting: for the first time in history, psychologism became the basis for creating a role. The rationally verified acting style of classicism was replaced by intense emotionality, vivid dramatic expression, versatility and inconsistency in the psychological development of characters. Empathy has returned to the auditorium; The biggest romantic dramatic actors became public idols: E. Keane (England); L. Devrient (Germany), M. Dorval and F. Lemaitre (France); A. Ristori (Italy); E. Forrest and S. Cushman (USA); P. Mochalov (Russia).
The musical and theatrical art of the first half of the 19th century also developed under the sign of romanticism. – both opera (Wagner, Gounod, Verdi, Rossini, Bellini, etc.) and ballet (Pugni, Maurer, etc.).
Romanticism also enriched the palette of staging and expressive means of the theater. For the first time, the principles of art of the artist, composer, and decorator began to be considered in the context of the emotional impact on the viewer, identifying the dynamics of the action.
By the middle of the 19th century. the aesthetics of theatrical romanticism seemed to have outlived its usefulness; it was replaced by realism, which absorbed and creatively rethought all the artistic achievements of the romantics: renewal of genres, democratization of heroes and literary language, expansion of the palette of acting and production means. However, in the 1880–1890s, the direction of neo-romanticism was formed and strengthened in theatrical art, mainly as a polemic with naturalistic tendencies in the theater. Neo-romantic dramaturgy mainly developed in the genre of verse drama, close to lyrical tragedy. The best plays of neo-romantics (E. Rostand, A. Schnitzler, G. Hofmannsthal, S. Benelli) are distinguished by intense drama and refined language.
Undoubtedly, the aesthetics of romanticism with its emotional elation, heroic pathos, strong and deep feelings is extremely close to theatrical art, which is fundamentally built on empathy and has as its main goal the achievement of catharsis. That is why romanticism simply cannot irretrievably sink into the past; at all times, performances of this direction will be in demand by the public.
Tatiana Shabalina
Literature:
Gaim R. Romantic school. M., 1891
Reizov B.G. Between classicism and romanticism. L., 1962
European romanticism. M., 1973
The era of romanticism. From the history of international relations of Russian literature. L., 1975
Russian romanticism. L., 1978
Bentley E. Life of drama. M., 1978
Dzhivilegov A., Boyadzhiev G. History of Western European theater. M., 1991
Western European theater from the Renaissance to the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Essays. M., 2001
Mann Yu. Russian literature of the 19th century. Romantic era. M., 2001
The problem of romanticism is one of the most complex in the science of literature. The difficulties in solving this problem are predetermined to some extent by the lack of clarity of terminology. Romanticism refers to an artistic method, a literary movement, and a special type of consciousness and behavior. However, despite the debatability of a number of theoretical, historical and literary positions, most scientists agree that romanticism was a necessary link in artistic development humanity, that without it the achievements of realism would be impossible.
Russian romanticism at its inception it was, of course, associated with the pan-European literary movement. At the same time, it was internally determined by the objective process of development of Russian culture; in it, those trends that were laid down in Russian literature of the previous period found development. Russian romanticism was generated by the impending socio-historical turning point in the development of Russia; it reflected the transition and instability of the existing socio-political structure. The gap between ideal and reality caused a negative attitude of progressive people in Russia (and above all the Decembrists) towards the cruel, unjust and immoral life of the ruling classes. Until recently, the most daring hopes for the possibility of creating social relations based on the principles of reason and justice were associated with the ideas of the Enlightenment.
It soon became clear that these hopes were not justified. Deep disappointment in Enlightenment ideals, a decisive rejection of bourgeois reality, and at the same time a lack of understanding of the essence of the antagonistic contradictions that exist in life, led to feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, and disbelief in reason.
Romantics claimed that the highest value is the human personality, in whose soul there is a beautiful and mysterious world; only here can one find inexhaustible sources of true beauty and high feelings. Behind all this one can see (albeit not always clearly) a new concept of personality, which cannot and should no longer subordinate itself to the power of class-feudal morality. In his artistic creativity Romantics in most cases did not strive to reflect real reality (which seemed to them low, anti-aesthetic), or to understand the objective logic of the development of life (they were not at all sure that such logic existed). The basis of their artistic system was not an object, but a subject: the personal, subjective principle acquired decisive importance among the romantics.
Romanticism is built on the affirmation of an inevitable conflict, the complete incompatibility of everything truly spiritual and human with the existing way of life (be it a feudal or bourgeois way). If life is based only on material calculation, then, naturally, everything lofty, moral, and humane is alien to it. Consequently, the ideal is somewhere beyond this life, beyond feudal or bourgeois relations. Reality seemed to fall apart into two worlds: the vulgar, ordinary here and the wonderful, romantic there. Hence the appeal to unusual, exceptional, conventional, sometimes even fantastic images and pictures, the desire for everything exotic - everything that is opposed to everyday, everyday reality, everyday prose.
The romantic concept of human character is built on the same principle. The hero is opposed to the environment, rises above it. Russian romanticism was not homogeneous. It is usually noted that there are two main currents in it. The terms psychological and civil romanticism, adopted in modern science, highlight the ideological and artistic specificity of each movement. In one case, romantics, feeling the growing instability of social life, which did not satisfy their ideal ideas, went into the world of dreams, into the world of feelings, experiences, and psychology. Recognition of the intrinsic value of the human personality, close interest in the inner life of a person, the desire to reveal the richness of his emotional experiences - these were the strengths of psychological romanticism, the most prominent representative of which was V.
A. Zhukovsky. He and his supporters put forward the idea of internal freedom of the individual, its independence from the social environment, from the world in general, where a person cannot be happy. Having failed to achieve freedom in the socio-political sense, the romantics insisted all the more stubbornly on establishing the spiritual freedom of man.
With this current The appearance in the 30s of the 19th century is genetically related. a special stage in the history of Russian romanticism, which is most often called philosophical.
Instead of the high genres cultivated in classicism (ode), other genre forms arise. In the field of lyric poetry, the leading genre among the romantics is the elegy, conveying the mood of sadness, grief, disappointment, and melancholy. Pushkin, having made Lensky (“Eugene Onegin”) a romantic poet, in a subtle parody listed the main motives of elegiac lyrics:
- He sang separation and sadness,
- And something, and a foggy distance,
- And romantic roses;
- He sang those distant countries
Representatives of another movement in Russian romanticism called for direct struggle with modern society, glorifying the civil valor of the fighters.
Creating poems with a high social and patriotic sound, they (and these were primarily Decembrist poets) also used certain traditions of classicism, especially those genre and stylistic forms that gave their poems the character of elevated oratorical speech. They saw literature primarily as a means of propaganda and struggle. Whatever the forms in which the polemics between the two main movements of Russian romanticism took place, there were still common features of romantic art that united them: the opposition of a lofty ideal hero to the world of evil and lack of spirituality, a protest against the foundations of autocratic-serfdom that constrain man.
It is especially necessary to note the persistent desire of the romantics to create an original national culture. Directly related to this is their interest in national history, oral folk poetry, the use of many folk genres, etc.
d. Russian romantics They were also united by the idea of the need for a direct connection between the author’s life and his poetry. In life itself, the poet must behave poetically, in accordance with the high ideals that are proclaimed in his poems. K. N. Batyushkov expressed this requirement this way: “Live as you write, and write as you live” (“Something about the poet and poetry”, 1815). This affirmed the direct connection of literary creativity with the life of the poet, his very personality, which gave the poems a special power of emotional and aesthetic impact.
Subsequently, Pushkin managed to combine at a higher level the best traditions and artistic achievements of both psychological and civil romanticism. That is why Pushkin’s work is the pinnacle of Russian romanticism of the 20s of the 19th century. Pushkin, and then Lermontov and Gogol could not ignore the achievements of romanticism, its experience and discoveries.
Romanticism - (French romantisme, from the medieval French romant - novel) is a direction in art that was formed within the framework of a general literary movement at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. in Germany. It has become widespread in all countries of Europe and America. The highest peak of romanticism occurred in the first quarter of the 19th century.
The French word romantisme goes back to the Spanish romance (in the Middle Ages, this was the name for Spanish romances, and then a chivalric romance), the English romantic, which turned into 18th century. in romantique and then meaning “strange”, “fantastic”, “picturesque”. At the beginning of the 19th century. Romanticism becomes the designation of a new direction, opposite to classicism.
Entering into the antithesis of “classicism” - “romanticism,” the movement suggested contrasting the classicist demand for rules with romantic freedom from rules. The center of the artistic system of romanticism is the individual, and its main conflict is the individual and society. The decisive prerequisite for the development of romanticism were the events of the Great French Revolution. The emergence of romanticism is associated with the anti-enlightenment movement, the reasons for which lie in disappointment in civilization, in social, industrial, political and scientific progress, the result of which was new contrasts and contradictions, leveling and spiritual devastation of the individual.
The Enlightenment preached the new society as the most “natural” and “reasonable”. The best minds of Europe substantiated and foreshadowed this society of the future, but reality turned out to be beyond the control of “reason,” the future became unpredictable, irrational, and the modern social order began to threaten human nature and his personal freedom. Rejection of this society, protest against lack of spirituality and selfishness is already reflected in sentimentalism and pre-romanticism. Romanticism expresses this rejection most acutely. Romanticism also opposed the Age of Enlightenment in verbal terms: the language of romantic works, striving to be natural, “simple”, accessible to all readers, was something opposite to the classics with its noble, “sublime” themes, characteristic, for example, of classical tragedy.
Among the late Western European romantics, pessimism towards society acquires cosmic proportions and becomes the “disease of the century.” The heroes of many romantic works are characterized by moods of hopelessness and despair, which acquire a universal human character. Perfection is lost forever, the world is ruled by evil, ancient chaos is resurrected. The theme of the “terrible world”, characteristic of all romantic literature, was most clearly embodied in the so-called “black genre” (in the pre-romantic “Gothic novel” - A. Radcliffe, C. Maturin, in the “drama of rock”, or “tragedy of rock” - Z. Werner, G. Kleist, F. Grillparzer), as well as in the works of Byron, C. Brentano, E. T. A. Hoffmann, E. Poe and N. Hawthorne.
At the same time, romanticism is based on ideas that challenge the “terrible world” - above all, the ideas of freedom. The disappointment of romanticism is a disappointment in reality, but progress and civilization are only one side of it. Rejection of this side, lack of faith in the possibilities of civilization provide another path, the path to the ideal, to the eternal, to the absolute. This path must resolve all contradictions and completely change life. This is the path to perfection, “towards a goal, the explanation of which must be sought on the other side of the visible” (A. De Vigny). For some romantics, the world is dominated by incomprehensible and mysterious forces that must be obeyed and not try to change fate (Chateaubriand, V.A. Zhukovsky). For others, “world evil” caused protest, demanded revenge and struggle (early A.S. Pushkin). What they had in common was that they all saw in man a single essence, the task of which is not at all limited to solving everyday problems. On the contrary, without denying everyday life, the romantics sought to unravel the mystery of human existence, turning to nature, trusting their religious and poetic feelings.
A romantic hero is a complex, passionate personality, whose inner world is unusually deep and endless; it is a whole universe full of contradictions. Romantics were interested in all passions, both high and low, which were opposed to each other. High passion is love in all its manifestations, low passion is greed, ambition, envy. The romantics contrasted the life of the spirit, especially religion, art, and philosophy, with the base material practice. Interest in strong and vivid feelings, all-consuming passions, and secret movements of the soul are characteristic features of romanticism.
We can talk about romance as a special type of personality - a person of strong passions and high aspirations, incompatible with the everyday world. This nature is accompanied by exceptional circumstances. Fantasy, folk music, poetry, legends become attractive to romantics - everything that for a century and a half was considered as minor genres, not worthy of attention. Romanticism is characterized by the affirmation of freedom, the sovereignty of the individual, increased attention to the individual, the unique in man, and the cult of the individual. Confidence in a person’s self-worth turns into a protest against the fate of history. Often the hero of a romantic work becomes an artist who is capable of creatively perceiving reality. The classicist “imitation of nature” is contrasted with the creative energy of the artist who transforms reality. A special world is created, more beautiful and real than the empirically perceived reality. It is creativity that is the meaning of existence; it represents the highest value of the universe. Romantics passionately defended the creative freedom of the artist, his imagination, believing that the genius of the artist does not obey the rules, but creates them.
Romantics turned to various historical eras, they were attracted by their originality, attracted by exotic and mysterious countries and circumstances. Interest in history became one of the enduring achievements of the artistic system of romanticism. He expressed himself in the creation of the genre of the historical novel, the founder of which is considered to be W. Scott, and the novel in general, which acquired a leading position in the era under consideration. Romantics reproduce in detail and accurately the historical details, background, and flavor of a particular era, but romantic characters are given outside of history; they, as a rule, are above circumstances and do not depend on them. At the same time, the romantics perceived the novel as a means of comprehending history, and from history they went to penetrate into the secrets of psychology, and, accordingly, of modernity. Interest in history was also reflected in the works of historians of the French romantic school (A. Thierry, F. Guizot, F. O. Meunier).
It was in the era of Romanticism that the discovery of the culture of the Middle Ages took place, and the admiration for antiquity, characteristic of the previous era, also did not weaken at the end of the 18th - beginning. XIX centuries The diversity of national, historical, and individual characteristics also had a philosophical meaning: the wealth of a single world whole consists of the combination of these individual features, and the study of the history of each people separately makes it possible to trace, as Burke put it, uninterrupted life through new generations succeeding one after another.
The era of Romanticism was marked by the flourishing of literature, one of the distinctive properties of which was a passion for social and political problems. Trying to comprehend the role of man in ongoing historical events, romantic writers gravitated toward accuracy, specificity, and authenticity. At the same time, the action of their works often takes place in an unusual setting for a European - for example, in the East and America, or, for Russians, in the Caucasus or Crimea. Thus, romantic poets are primarily lyricists and poets of nature, and therefore in their work (as well as in many prose writers), landscape occupies a significant place - first of all, the sea, mountains, sky, stormy elements with which the hero is associated complex relationships. Nature can be akin to the passionate nature of a romantic hero, but it can also resist him, turn out to be a hostile force with which he is forced to fight.
Unusual and vivid pictures of nature, life, way of life and customs of distant countries and peoples also inspired the romantics. They were looking for the traits that constitute the fundamental basis of the national spirit. National identity is manifested primarily in oral folk art. Hence the interest in folklore, the processing of folklore works, the creation of their own works based on folk art.
The development of the genres of the historical novel, fantastic story, lyric-epic poem, ballad is the merit of the romantics. Their innovation was also manifested in lyrics, in particular, in the use of polysemy of words, the development of associativity, metaphor, and discoveries in the field of versification, meter, and rhythm.
Romanticism is characterized by a synthesis of genders and genres, their interpenetration. The romantic art system was based on a synthesis of art, philosophy, and religion. For example, for a thinker like Herder, linguistic research, philosophical doctrines, and travel notes serve the search for ways of revolutionary renewal of culture. Much of the achievements of romanticism were inherited by realism of the 19th century. - a penchant for fantasy, the grotesque, a mixture of high and low, tragic and comic, the discovery of “subjective man.”
In the era of romanticism, not only literature, but also many sciences flourished: sociology, history, political science, chemistry, biology, evolutionary doctrine, philosophy (Hegel, D. Hume, I. Kant, Fichte, natural philosophy, the essence of which boils down to the fact that nature - one of the garments of God, “the living garment of the Divine”).
Romanticism is a cultural phenomenon in Europe and America. In different countries, his fate had its own characteristics.
3. Romanticism as a literary movement. The originality of Russian romanticism.
The debate about romanticism has been going on for about 200 years. The very definition of “romanticism” causes different interpretations, although this word has deeply entered the culture. In the era of the birth of romanticism, there were heated debates about it. Vyazemsky wrote to Pushkin: “Romanticism is like a brownie - you don’t know how to put your finger on it.” The difficulty of defining romanticism is also related to the dark etymology of the word. According to the first version, the word comes from the concept of “novel” and is associated with a legend; according to the second version, the word comes from the concept of “romance” and is associated with the knightly culture of the Middle Ages; according to the third version, the word "romanticism" is associated with Romance languages and culture. There was no unity in the definition of romanticism until the beginning of the 19th century. Romanticism has always been associated with poetic groundlessness and mysticism. It was clear that he did not have certain standards.
A certain shift towards the understanding of romanticism occurred in German philosophy. Friedrich Schelling and the Schlegel brothers attempted to define Romanticism. Romanticism is the opposition between dream and reality, what is and what should be, what is and what should be. Romanticism is the brainchild of social upheavals, national social movements, and philosophical revolutions. Chronological boundaries of the era of romanticism: 1789 – 1848. This era is the time of the formation of romanticism as a worldview and artistic movement.
In England and France, romanticism is an earlier phenomenon than in Russia. In Russia, the formation of romanticism occurred between 1810 and 1820. Romanticism came to the USA in the 1830s. Romanticism also develops in science: mathematics, medicine, biology. General fermentation organically entered into romanticism. The concepts of classicism are being revised. Romanticism recognized the priority of the internal state of man, his conflict with state power. Romanticism sought to comprehend the whole world, everything in man. The Romantics were excited by the idea of a comprehensive, synthesis. Romanticism was deprived of one-sided views.
Romanticism arose in the wake of revolutions as a manifestation of the love of freedom (the liberation of Greece, the Eterist movement in Moldova, the Carbonari in Italy, the liberation movement associated with the Napoleonic wars). Freedom becomes the slogan of the romantics. In Russia, the growth of freedom-loving sentiments was facilitated by
Patriotic War of 1812 National self-awareness developed, the main principle of which was interest in national history and nationality.
The philosophical foundations of romanticism were formed in line with ideal philosophy. In this philosophy, the cults of the soul and feelings become predominant. Idealism becomes the basis of romanticism. Interest in the subconscious awakens, the desire to identify instincts. Mysticism and religion acquire special value in the era of romanticism. In parallel with idealistic philosophy, romantic aesthetics was formed.
The aesthetics of classicism was quite dogmatic; its poetics was based on certain rules. Romanticism was free in its poetic principles. The normal form of aesthetic expression for him is a fragment, an excerpt. The passage is the most important principle of the romantic worldview. It shows the fragmentation of the vast canvas of life.
Basic principles of romanticism:
1. Romantic negation associated with the concept of time, the existing world. In it the romantics saw the cult of the utilitarian, the bourgeois. The bourgeois system is especially alien to the romantics. The romantics created a special world - the world of dreams. The basis of romantic art is antinomy - a constant contradiction between the material and historical world.
2. The emergence of the cult of the medieval Renaissance, the concept of romantic history, the opposition between “today” and “yesterday”, the birth of the historical novel. Passion for Walter Scott, Victor Hugo. Historical thinking is being introduced into literature, and the boundaries of the artistic are being expanded.
3. Duality, the anthropological embodiment of which is duality, contributes to the psychologization of literature. The idea of the world and man becomes more complex. Interest in the fairy tale appears. A fairy tale is considered as the basis of human feeling (the Brothers Grimm, E.T.A. Hoffmann, V. Gauff, G.H. Andersen).
4. Departure to fantasy in all its forms, the birth of a new idea of the universe itself.
5. Cult of the romantic hero. The very concept of a hero is etymologically connected with the concept of heroism. The romantic hero is not like everyone else, he is strange. He changes his appearance, in connection with which the cult of the portrait is born. Romantics have everything wide open, their appearance is in disarray, and they have a fiery gaze. The hearth becomes a cult. But a romantic hero is also a wandering hero. The concept of “wanderer” here is associated with the concept of “strange”. A characteristic feature of the romantic consciousness is the image of the road, movement.
Byron's work "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" becomes a manifesto of romanticism. The psychological image of the hero is important. The hero lost faith in this world and did not find himself in that one. The concept of “world sorrow” arises. The romantic hero is a mourner, a wanderer hero, an enthusiast, doubting, tormented, unable to find himself, closed in space and on himself. As a result, the hero’s egoism arises as a complex romantic consciousness. The romantic hero is lonely. At this time, an anthropological revolution took place: the romantics found a new man. This is a hero of immoderate passions.
Types of Romantic Heroes:
1. Hero-titanium, originating from mythological and biblical images. It becomes an expression of titanic passions, maximalism, demonic consciousness; Lermontov's Demon
2. Hero-wanderer, pilgrim, discovering new spaces, in constant motion. It brings together the concepts of the road - real space - and the path - the life worldview. This hero is strange both in appearance and in actions;
3. Hero-artist. Romanticism shows personality in the sphere of tragedy of creativity associated with the inability to express everything. A characteristic feature of the romantic hero-creator is improvisation. Among such heroes there are many musicians. Music and lyrics are deeply interconnected.
Deep connections appear between the author and the hero. The hero becomes the bearer and exponent of the author's consciousness, his alter ego. The inseparability of the author's consciousness and the hero's consciousness did not allow the development of art. To overcome the subjective position, it was necessary to create a distance between the author's consciousness and the consciousness of the hero. The romantic hero exploded the very idea of the world. Romantic literature is literature of dialogue about the world. In the romantic world, even animals become creators.
Romantic aesthetics gravitate toward miracles, secrets, and everything unusual. Victor Hugo said: “Ordinary life is the death of art.” The first form of expression of fantasy is the new chronotope. The spaces of day and night become important. In the night, the sense of time disappears. Romantic heroes act in the evening and at night. The moment of a kind of wakefulness of the spirit is important. A new lyricism is born: nocturnes, for which the mystery of sunset becomes important. The English poet Jung created the first work of this kind - “Night Reflections”. The topos of romantic art is a psychological reflection of the soul. Mountain and sea landscapes are cultivated. The sea is a passion, a stormy landscape, a folklore image that acquires a real concept. Mountains are the moment of ascent from earth to sky, reflecting the motif of dual worlds. The aspiration of the soul to the mountain heights is illustrated by the romantic landscape. The embodiment of the rapprochement between the mountainous and the heavenly is the cross on the mountain.
The topos of the cemetery is also important. This is a philosophical topos that resolves issues of being, existence, life and death. The evening and night cemetery is the embodiment of the mysteries of existence. Real space, according to the romantics, was inhabited by spirits. The Romantics discovered the teachings of the medieval mystic Paracelsus, who spoke about the special role of the elements - fire, water, air and earth. The romantic chronotope is cosmogonic. In this regard, Alexander Humboldt’s novel “Cosmos” can be called programmatic, in which he tried to determine the place of man in the Cosmos.
A world inhabited by different creatures gave the romantic the opportunity to show this world in dynamics. The most important principle of romantic art is the change of paintings. The romantic space is sinuous and radiating.
Music determined the style of romanticism and its special lyrical fullness. Painting was no less important. Romantics gravitated towards a landscape way of thinking. A living picture appears in the word. The cult of architecture was important for romantic art. The word becomes acoustic and visual. For European literature in this regard, the work of E.T.A. was important. Hoffmann.
The Romantics liberated the possibilities of artists. For the romantics, the moment of creativity itself was important. The figure of the artist-sufferer becomes decisive for romantic art. The phenomenon of madness arises, generated by the conflict between dreams and actions.
Features of Russian romanticism:
1. Russian romanticism is a chronologically later phenomenon than European. He experiences his formation in 1810 - 1820. This is the era of national liberation movements, Patriotic War 1812, an era of hope, faith in the future revival of Russia. Russian romanticism was more associated with the ideas of the Enlightenment. At this time, European romanticism was experiencing a crisis;
2. For Russian romanticism, the power of reason remains unchanged;
3. In European romanticism, the moral problem is opposed to the aesthetic one. The development of bourgeois relations and the cult of calculation does not allow us to connect art with morality. The interaction of aesthetics and ethics is the main feature of Russian romanticism. We can talk about a peculiar phenomenon of kalokagathia. In European romanticism, aesthetics becomes an end in itself;
4. In Russian romanticism, the individual moment is reduced. The European individualist hero flees society. Due to the results of the War of 1812, the Russian hero gravitates towards the people. The ideas of nationality and national art are fundamental to the romantics. For romantics, the problem of the “hero of our time” is especially acute;
5. Ethical pathos is contrasted with carnal themes. For Russian romantics, love is a special sacrament filled with chastity;
6. In Russian romanticism, the idea of love of freedom was associated with the ideas of the abolition of serfdom and reforms in society. In addition to the Decembrists, other romantics also shared the pathos of love of freedom. A.M. Gorky distinguished progressive or civil romanticism and reactionary or psychological romanticism. This concept has harmed the study of the Romantics. But still, romanticism is a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon.
Romanticism is a literary movement that appeared in Western Europe at the end of the 18th century. Romanticism, as a literary movement, involves the creation of an exceptional hero and exceptional circumstances. Such trends in literature were formed as a result of the collapse of all the ideas of the Enlightenment period due to the crisis in Europe, which arose as a result of the unfulfilled hopes of the Great French Revolution.
In Russia, romanticism, as a literary movement, first appeared after the Patriotic War of 1812. After the stunning victory over the French, many progressive minds were waiting for changes in the state structure. Alexander I's refusal to lobby for liberal policies gave rise not only to the Decembrist uprising, but also to changes in public consciousness and literary preferences.
Russian romanticism is a conflict between the individual and reality, society and dreams, desires. But dream and desire are subjective concepts, therefore romanticism, as one of the most freedom-loving literary movements, had two main trends:
- conservative;
- revolutionary.
The personality of the era of romanticism is endowed with a strong character, a passionate zeal for everything new and unrealizable. New man tries to live ahead of those around him in order to accelerate his knowledge of the world by leaps and bounds.
Russian romanticism
Revolutionaries of romanticism of the first half of the 19th century. direct “their face” to the future, strive to embody the ideas of struggle, equality and universal happiness of people. A prominent representative of revolutionary romanticism was K.F. Ryleev, in whose works the image of a strong man was formed. His human hero is zealously ready to defend the fiery ideas of patriotism and the desire for freedom of his fatherland. Ryleev was obsessed with the idea of “equality and free thinking.” It was these motives that became the fundamental tendencies of his poetry, which is clearly visible in the thought “The Death of Ermak.”
Conservatives of romanticism drew the plots of their masterpieces mainly from the past, as they took the literary tradition as a literary basis, or they were consigned to the oblivions of the afterlife. Such images carried the reader into the land of imagination, dreams and reverie. A prominent representative of conservative romanticism was V.A. Zhukovsky. The basis of his works was sentimentalism, where sensuality prevailed over reason, and the hero knew how to empathize and sensitively respond to what was happening around him. His first work was the elegy “Rural Cemetery,” which was filled with landscape descriptions and philosophical discussions.
The romantic in literary works pays great attention to the stormy elements and philosophical reasoning about human existence. Where circumstances do not influence the evolution of character, and spiritual culture gives birth to a special, new type of person in life.
The great representatives of romanticism were: E.A. Baratynsky, V.A. Zhukovsky, K.F. Ryleev, F.I. Tyutchev, V.K. Kuchelbecker, V.F. Odoevsky, I.I. Kozlov.
