The term "sentimentalism" (sensuality) in art is called thinking, which emphasizes the emotional background of all manifestations of life. Sentimentalism in literature is represented by a whole generation of both Western and Russian word artists, despite the fact that its era did not last long - from the beginning of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century. The birthplace of this literary genre is Great Britain. It was here that at the end of the second decade of the 18th century, James Thomson was born and became available to the general reader. This literary work, consisting of several previously scattered poems, instilled in people a love for the world around them. Each poem opened to the reader a wonderful world of rural open spaces, the beauty of suburban landscapes.
Thomson's baton was accepted by the English writer Thomas Gray in his elegy “Rural Cemetery”. The author also tried to interest the reader with a description of nature, to awaken in him love or even compassion for a simple village people who live simply and work in the sweat of their faces for the benefit of their family and homeland. All of Gray’s work is permeated with thoughts about the life of rural people, which gives him a thoughtful and melancholy character. Sentimentalism in literature is invariably associated with the names of Lawrence Stern ("Sentimental Journey") and Samuel Richardson ("Clarisse Harlow"). The second never wrote about nature, the meaning of his works was to describe different human characters, as well as the fate of their owners. Richardson skillfully made at one time the whole of high English society to sigh and worry, love and hate, along with the main characters of his works.
Sentimentalism in French literature is associated with the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Jacques de Saint-Pierre. Influenced by the sentimental mood of English writers, such works as "The Life of Marianne", "New Eloise", "Paul and Virginie" were created. The novels of French writers of the mid-18th century are dominated by a combination of sentimental moods of heroes against the background of the beauty of nature: city parks, forest lakes and rivers. De Saint-Pierre goes especially far in his literary research, transferring the main characters of the novel "Paul and Virginie" to faraway South Africa. Before the reader of his work appears a couple of young people in love, living far from city smog and bustle, alone with the virgin nature and their sincere feelings.
Sentimentalism in Russian literature only manifests itself in the last decades of the 18th century, when Nikolai Karamzin writes his “Letters of a Russian Traveler” inspired by the works of Goethe, Richardson and Rousseau. It should be noted that in the future, Karamzin found a dozen imitators, both at the beginning of the 19th century and many years later. His work “Poor Lisa” is considered a real masterpiece of Russian sentimental prose. The story of a poor girl deceived by a man won the hearts of many thousands of readers. Inspired by the novel, Alexander Izmailov wrote his “Poor Masha” in 1801, and Ivan Svechinsky - “Henrietta” (1802). The main features of Russian sentimentalism are:
- the cult of sensuality, the predominance of feelings over the will of man;
- the wealth of the inner world of the main characters;
- the desire of heroes for high ideals, their eternal search for real feelings.
The goal of Russian sensual prose was to create a new poetic language, which was supposed to replace the old pompous and long-obsolete language of aristocrats. Unfortunately or fortunately, this did not happen. By 1820, Russian sentimentalism had completely exhausted itself, and its goals remained unattained.
Today, many historians and art historians are inclined to believe that the sentimental literary trend was just a fleeting stage in the development of world literature as a whole. Sentimentalism in mid-18th century literature was a transitional stage from classicism to romanticism. Having become ultimately unnecessary, he exhausted himself, thereby opening the way for a new literary direction.