Symbolism is a literary trend that originated at the end of the 19th century in France and spread in many countries of Europe. However, it was precisely in Russia that symbolism became the most significant and large-scale phenomenon. Symbolist Russian poets brought something new into this direction, something that their French predecessors did not have. Simultaneously with the advent of symbolism, the Silver Age of Russian literature begins. But I must say that in Russia there was no single school of this modernist trend, there was no unity of concepts, one style. The creativity of the symbolist poets was united by one thing: distrust of the ordinary word, the desire to be expressed in symbols and allegories.
Currents of Symbolism
This literary direction in terms of worldview and formation time is classified into two stages. Symbolist poets that appeared in the 1890s, the list of which includes such figures as Balmont, Gippius, Bryusov, Sologub, Merezhkovsky, are called "elders." In the 1900s, the direction was replenished with new forces that significantly changed its appearance. The "younger" symbolist poets made their debut, such as Ivanov, Blok, Bely. The second wave of the current is called young symbolism.
Representatives of the "senior" school perceived this literary trend in aesthetic terms. Balmont and Bryusov expressed the idea that the poet is primarily a creator of purely artistic and purely personal values. The "younger" poets saw the current in the religious-philosophical aspect. Philosophy refracted in poetic consciousness - that is, in their opinion, symbolism. Symbolist poets of the second generation are also represented by Sergei Solovyov , Innocent Annensky and others.
"Senior" Symbolists
In Russia, this literary trend manifested itself in the late 1890s. Valery Bryusov stood at the origins of symbolism in Moscow, and Dmitry Merezhkovsky in Petersburg. However, the most striking and radical representative of the early school of symbolism in the city on the Neva was Alexander Dobrolyubov. Separately and separately from all modernist groups, another Russian symbolist poet, Fedor Sologub, created his poetic world.
But perhaps the most readable, musical and sonorous at that time were the poems of Konstantin Balmont. At the end of the 19th century, he distinctly declared a “search for correspondences” between meaning, color and sound. Similar ideas were met by Rimbaud and Baudelaire, and subsequently by many Russian poets, such as Blok, Bryusov, Khlebnikov, Kuzmin. Balmont saw this search for correspondences mainly in the creation of a sound-semantic text - music that gives rise to meaning. The poet became interested in sound recording, began to use colorful adjectives in the works instead of verbs, as a result of which he created, as ill-wishers considered, verses almost meaningless. At the same time, this phenomenon in poetry led over time to the formation of new poetic concepts, among which melodiclamation, zaum, sound recording.
"Younger" Symbolist Poets
The second generation of symbolists includes poets who first began to be published in the 1900s. Among them were very young authors, for example, Andrei Bely, Sergey Solovyov, Alexander Blok, and respectable people, for example, the scientist Vyacheslav Ivanov, the director of the gymnasium Innokenty Annensky.
At that time, in St. Petersburg, the “center” of symbolism was V. Ivanov ’s apartment on the corner of Tavricheskaya Street, in which M. Kuzmin, A. Bely, A. Mintslova, V. Khlebnikov used to live, N. Berdyaev, A. Akhmatova, A. Blok, A. Lunacharsky. In Moscow, symbolist poets gathered in the editorial office of the Scorpion Publishing House, whose editor in chief was V. Bryusov. Here the editions of the most famous symbolist publication, Libra, were being prepared. The authors of Scorpio were such authors as K. Balmont, A. Bely, Yu. Baltrushaitis, A. Remizov, F. Sologub, A. Blok, M. Voloshin and others.
Features of early symbolism
In Russia, the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. it was a time of change, disappointment, gloomy omens and suspense. During this period, the approach of the destruction of the existing socio-political system was clearly felt. Such trends could not but have an impact on Russian poetry. The poems of the symbolist poets were heterogeneous, since the poets held different views. For example, authors such as D. Merezhkovsky and N. Minsky, at first were representatives of civic poetry, and later began to focus on the ideas of “religious public” and “god-building”. The "elder" symbolists did not recognize the surrounding reality and told the world "no." So, Bryusov wrote: “I don’t see our reality, I don’t know our century ...” The early representatives of the current of reality opposed the world of creativity and dreams, in which the person becomes completely free, and they depicted reality as boring, evil and meaningless.
Of great importance to the poets was artistic innovation - the conversion of the meanings of words, the development of rhyme, rhythm and the like. The “elder” symbolists were impressionist, striving to convey subtle shades of impressions and moods. They have not yet used a system of symbols, but the word as such has already lost its price and has become significant only in quality of sound, musical note, link in the general construction of the poem.
New trends
In the years 1901-1904. a new stage in the history of symbolism began, and it coincided with a revolutionary upsurge in Russia. Pessimistic sentiments inspired in the 1890s gave way to a premonition of "unheard of change." At that time, young characters appeared in the literary arena, who were followers of the poet Vladimir Solovyov, who saw the old world on the verge of death and said that “divine beauty should save the world” by combining the heavenly principle of life with the material, earthly. In the works of symbolist poets, landscapes often began to appear, but not as such, but as a means of revealing mood. So, in poems there is constantly a description of the languidly sad Russian autumn, when the sun does not shine or only fading sad rays are thrown to the ground, the leaves are falling and rustling quietly, and everything is shrouded in a swaying misty haze.
Also, the city was a favorite motif of the "younger" symbolists. They showed him as a living being with his character, with his form. Often the city appeared as a place of horror, madness, a symbol of vice and soullessness.
Symbolists and Revolution
In 1905-1907, when the revolution began, symbolism again underwent changes. Many poets responded to events. So, Bryusov wrote the famous poem “The Coming Huns”, in which he glorified the end of the old world, but ranked himself and all people who lived during the dying, old culture. Block in his works created images of people of the new world. In 1906, Sologub published a book of poems "Homeland", and in 1907 Balmont wrote a series of poems "Songs of the Avenger" - the collection was published in Paris and banned in Russia.
The decline of symbolism
At this time, the artistic understanding of the symbolists changed. If before they perceived beauty as harmony, now for them it has found a connection with folk elements, with the chaos of struggle. At the end of the first decade of the 20th century, symbolism fell into decay and did not give new names. Everything viable, vigorous, young was already outside of him, although separate works were still created by symbolist poets.
List of major poets representing symbolism in literature
- Innocent Annensky;
- Jurgis Baltrushaitis ;
- Valery Bryusov;
- Zinaida Gippius;
- Fedor Sologub;
- Konstantin Balmont;
- Alexander Tinyakov;
- Wilhelm Sorgenfrey;
- Alexander Dobrolyubov;
- Victor Strazhev;
- Andrey Bely;
- Konstantin Fofanov;
- Vyacheslav Ivanov;
- Alexander Blok;
- George Chulkov;
- Dmitry Merezhkovsky;
- Ivan Konevskaya;
- Vladimir Piast;
- Poliksen Soloviev;
- Ivan Rukavishnikov.