What time period are we talking about when the term "modern Russian literature" is mentioned? Obviously, it originates from 1991, having received an impulse of development after the collapse of the USSR. Doubts about the presence of this cultural phenomenon are currently not arising. Many literary critics agree that four generations of writers are behind his creation and development.
Sixties and modern literature
So, modern Russian literature arose immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Iron Curtain not from scratch. This happened largely due to the legalization of works by sixties writers previously banned from publication.
The general public became aware of the newly discovered names of Fazil Iskander (the novel "The Constellation of Kozlotur", the epic novel "Sandro from Chegem"); Vladimir Voinovich (novel “The Adventures of Ivan Chonkin”, novels “Moscow 2042”, “Design”); Vasily Aksenova (novels “Island of Crimea”, “Burn”), Valentin Rasputin (novel “Fire”, “Live and Remember”, the story “French Lessons”).
70s writers
Along with the works of the generation of disgraced freethinkers of the sixties, modern Russian literature began with the books of authors of the generation of the 70s authorized for publication. She was enriched by the works of Andrei Bitov (the novel “Pushkin House”, the collection “Pharmaceutical Island”, the novel “The Flying Monks”); Venedikt Erofeev (poem in prose “Moscow - Petushki”, the play “Dissidents, or Fanny Kaplan”); Victoria Tokareva (collections of short stories “When it became a little warmer”, “About that which was not”); Vladimir Makanin (the novel “A table covered with cloth and with a decanter in the middle”, “One and One”), Lyudmila Petrushevskaya (the stories “Thunderclap”, “Never”).
Perestroika Writers
The third generation of writers - creators of literature was awakened to creativity directly by perestroika.
Modern Russian literature has been enriched by new bright names of its creators: Victor Pelevin (novels Chapaev and Void, Insect Life, Numbers, Empire Style, T, Snuff), Lyudmila Ulitskaya (novels Medea and her children ”,“ Case of Kukotsky ”,“ Sincerely your Shurik ”,“ Daniel Stein, translator ”,“ Green tent ”); Tatyana Tolstoy (the novel "Kys", the collections of short stories "The Okkervil River", "Love - Don't Love", "Night", "Day", "Circle"); Vladimir Sorokin (the novels “Day of the Oprichnik”, “Blizzard”, the novels “Norma”, “Telluria”, “Blue Fat”); Olga Slavnikova (novels Dragonfly Enlarged to the Size of a Dog, Alone in the Mirror, 2017, Immortal, Waltz with the Beast).
A new generation of writers
And, finally, modern Russian literature of the 21st century was replenished with a generation of young writers, whose work began directly during the state sovereignty of the Russian Federation. Young but already recognized talents include Andrei Gerasimov (novels “Steppe Gods”, “Razgulyaevka”, “Cold”); Denis Gutsko (dilogy "Russian-speaking"); Ilya Kochergin (the story "Chinese Helper", the stories "Wolves", "Altynay", "Altai Tales"); Ilya Stogoff (novels “Macho Don't Cry,” “Apocalypse Yesterday,” “Revolution Now!”, Collected Stories, Ten Fingers, “Dogs of God”); Roman Senchin (novels "Information", "Eltyshevs", "Flooding Zone").
Literary Prizes Stimulate Creativity
It is no secret that modern Russian literature of the 21st century is so rampant due to numerous sponsorship awards. Additional motivation encourages authors to further develop their work. In 1991, the Russian Booker Prize was approved under the auspices of the British company British Petrolium.
In 2000, thanks to the sponsorship of the Wistcom construction and investment company, another major award was established - the National Best. And finally, the most significant is the Big Book, established in 2005 by Gazprom. The total number of current literary prizes in the Russian Federation is approaching one hundred. Thanks to literary awards, the writing profession has become fashionable and prestigious; Russian language and modern literature have received a significant impetus to their development; the previously prevailing method of realism in literature was supplemented by new directions.
Thanks to current writers, the modern Russian language (which manifests itself in literary works) develops as a communicative system, through further universalization, that is, by borrowing syntactic constructions, individual words, speech spoken from vernacular, professional communication, and various dialects.
Styles of modern literature. Mass literature
The works of modern Russian literature are created by their authors in various styles, among which stand out mass literature, postmodernism, blogger literature, dystopian novel, literature for clerks. Let us consider these directions in more detail.
Mass literature today continues the tradition of entertainment literature of the end of the last century: fantasy, science fiction, thriller, action, detective story, romance, adventure novel. However, at the same time, there is a correction in it for the modern rhythm of life, for rapid scientific progress. Readers of mass literature make up the largest share of its market in Russia. Indeed, it attracts various age groups of the population, representatives of various levels of education. Among the works of mass literature, in comparison with books of other literary styles, there are most bestsellers, that is, compositions that have peak popularity.
The development of modern Russian literature today is most determined by the creators of books with the maximum print runs: Boris Akunin, Sergey Lukyanenko, Daria Dontsova, Polina Dashkova, Alexandra Marinina, Evgeny Grishkovets, Tatyana Ustinova.
Postmodernism
Postmodernism as a direction in Russian literature arose in the 90s of the last century. The writers of the 70s, Viktor Erofeev and Andrei Bitov, became his first followers . Representatives of this trend opposed realism with an ironic attitude towards communist ideology. They in artistic form showed evidence of a crisis of totalitarian ideology. Their baton was continued by Vasily Aksyonov “Island of Crimea” and Vladimir Voinovich “The Adventures of the Soldier Chonkin”. Then they were joined by Eduard Limonov, Vladimir Sorokin, Anatoly Korolev. However, the star of Viktor Pelevin lit up brighter than all other representatives of this trend. Each book of this author (and they are published approximately once a year) gives a subtle artistic description of the development of society.
Russian literature at the present stage is ideologically developing thanks precisely to postmodernism. The characteristic irony inherent in the changes in the social system of the dominant chaos over order, the free combination of artistic styles determine the universality of the artistic palette of its representatives. In particular, Victor Pelevin in 2009 was informally honored to be considered the leading intellectual in Russia. The originality of his style lies in the fact that the writer used his unique interpretation of Buddhism and the liberation of personality. His works are multipolar, they include many subtexts. Victor Pelevin is considered a classic of postmodernism. His books have been translated into all languages ​​of the world, including Japanese and Chinese.
Novels - Dystopian
Modern trends in Russian literature have also contributed to the development of the novel genre - dystopia, relevant in times of changing public paradigm. Generic features of this genre is the representation of reality not directly, but already perceived by the consciousness of the protagonist.
Moreover, the main idea of ​​such works is a conflict between the individual and the totalitarian society of the imperial type. In its mission, such a novel is a warning book. Among the works of this genre can be called the novels “2017” (author - O. Slavnikova), “Underground” by V. Makanin, “Railway” by D. Bykov, “Moscow 2042” by V. Voinovich, “Empire Style” by V. Pelevin.
Blogging Literature
Most fully the problems of modern Russian literature are covered in the genre of blogging works. This type of literature has both common features with traditional literature, and significant differences. Like traditional literature, this genre performs cultural, educational, ideological, relaxation functions.
But, unlike her, he has a communicative function and a socialization function. It is blogging literature that fulfills the mission of communication between the participants in the literary process in Russia. Blogging literature performs the functions inherent in journalism.
It is more dynamic than traditional literature, because it uses small genres (reviews, sketches, information notes, essays, short poems, short stories). It is characteristic that the work of a blogger, even after its publication, is not closed, completed. After all, any comment that follows subsequently is not an isolated, but an organic part of a blog work. Among the most popular literary runet blogs, the Russian Book Community, the Discussing Books community, and the What to Read? Community
Conclusion
Modern Russian literature today is in the process of its creative development. Many of our contemporaries read the dynamic works of Boris Akunin, enjoy the subtle psychology of Lyudmila Ulitskaya, follow the intricacies of fantasy stories by Vadim Panov, try to feel the pulse of time in the writings of Victor Pelevin. Today we have the opportunity to argue that in our time, unique writers create unique literature.