The literature of the Silver Age in Russia, created at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, is an important part of the artistic heritage of our country. This time was characterized by the presence of many different directions and trends, the ideological inconsistency inherent not only to various authors, but also taking place even in the works of individual writers, composers, and artists. During this period, there was an update, a rethinking of many types and genres of creativity. As noted by M.V. Nesterov, there was a "general revaluation of values."
Even among leading thinkers and cultural figures, there was a twofold attitude towards the creative heritage left by the revolutionary democrats.
Decadence
Art culture in general and Silver Age literature in Russia in particular at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries were marked by the widespread use of decadence ("decadence"), which proclaimed faith in reason, loss of civic ideals, departure for personal, individual experiences. Thus, some part of the intelligentsia sought to "get away" from the difficulties of life in the world of unreality, dreams, and sometimes mysticism. This process was the place to be, because at that time there was a crisis in public life, and artistic creativity only reflected it.
Decadence even captured representatives of realistic trends in art. However, more often than not, such ideas were nevertheless characteristic of representatives of modernist movements.
Modernism and realism in art
The term "modernism" is applied to many forms of art of the 20th century. He appeared at the beginning of the century, and his predecessor was realism. However, the latter by that time was still not a thing of the past, thanks to the influence of modernism, new features arose in it: the "frames" of the vision of life were expanded, the search for means of self-expression of the person in art began.
The most important feature of the art of the early 20th century is the synthesis, the union of various forms.
Turn of the Century Literature
As far back as the 90s of the 19th century, Russian literature outlined directions opposing realism that was prevailing at that time. The main one was modernism. Many writers of the Silver Age (we will consider the list, directions and their main representatives below) somehow came out of realism. They continued to create, creating new trends and directions.
Modernism
The literature of the Silver Age in Russia opens with modernism. Various poets and writers were united in it, sometimes very different in their ideological and artistic form. At that time, active modernist searches began, inspired in many ways by F. Nietzsche, as well as some Russian writers, for example A.A. Kamensky, M.P. Artsybashev and others. They proclaimed freedom of literary creation, called themselves its priests, preached the cult of the "superman", rejecting social and moral ideals.
Symbolism
As a direction, symbolism in Russia took shape at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Allocate "senior" symbolists, which include V. Bryusov, F. Sologub, K. Balmont, Z. Gippius and others who were the first to create in this direction. The younger representatives include the writers of the Silver Age A. Bely, V. Ivanov, S. Solovyov, A. Blok and others. The theoretical, aesthetic and philosophical foundations of this movement were very diverse. For example, according to V. Bryusov, symbolism was a purely artistic direction, and Merezhkovsky took Christianity as a basis; Vyacheslav Ivanov relied on the aesthetics and philosophy of antiquity in the refraction of Nietzsche, and A. Bely was fond of the works of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Kant, V. Solovyov. The ideology of the "younger" Symbolists is based on the philosophy of V. Solovyov with the idea of the advent of the Eternal Femininity and the Third Testament.
The Symbolists inherited both poetry and prose, drama. But the most characteristic was poetry, in various genres of which many writers of the Silver Age worked in this direction.
V.Ya. Bryusov
Creativity V.Ya. Bryusov (1873-1924) was marked by many ideological searches. The revolutionary events of 1905 aroused his admiration and laid the foundation for the poet's departure from symbolism. However, Bryusov did not immediately choose a new direction, as he formed his attitude to the revolution, which was very contradictory. The poet joyfully welcomed the forces, which, in his opinion, were to cleanse Russia of its former principles and beliefs and put an end to the old world. However, in his work, he noted that this elemental force carries destruction. "Breaking - I will be with you! Building - no!" - wrote V.Ya. Bryusov.
His work is characterized by a desire for a scientific understanding of life, a revival of interest in history, which was shared by other writers of the Silver Age (a list of representatives of symbolism was indicated above).
Realism
The ideological contradictions characteristic of the era as a whole also influenced some realist writers. For example, in the work of L.N. Andreeva reflected a departure from realistic principles.
But overall, realism has not disappeared. The literature of the Silver Age, the poets of which emerged from realism, retained this trend. The fate of an ordinary person, various social problems, life in many of its manifestations were still reflected in culture. One of the greatest representatives of realism at that time was the writer A. Bunin (1870-1953). In difficult pre-revolutionary times, he created the novel "The Village" (in 1910) and "Sukhodol" (in 1911).
Acmeism
In 1910 there was a controversy surrounding symbolism, and its crisis was outlined. This direction is gradually being replaced by acmeism ("acme" in Greek - the highest degree, flowering time). The founders of the new trend is considered N.S. Gumileva and S.M. Gorodetsky. This group also included Silver Age writers O.E. Mandelstam, M.A. Kuzmin, V. Khodasevich, A.A. Akhmatova, M.A. Zenkevich and others.
Unlike some vagueness, the nebula of symbolism, acmeists proclaimed their support earthly existence, "a clear view of life." In addition, Silver Age acmeist literature (whose poets and writers have just been listed) introduced an aesthetic-hedonistic function into art, trying to get away from social problems in poetry. Decadent motifs are clearly audible in acmeism, and philosophical idealism has become the theoretical pillar of this movement. Some Russian writers of the Silver Age went further in their work, which acquired new ideological and artistic qualities (for example, A.A. Akhmatova, M.A. Zenkevich, S.M. Gorodetsky).
In 1912, the Hyperborean collection appeared, in which a new literary movement first appeared. Acmeists considered themselves to be the successors of symbolism, about which Gumilev said that he "completed his circle of development", and proclaimed the rejection of rebellion, the struggle for changing living conditions, which was often expressed by the literature of the Silver Age.
Writers - representatives of acmeism tried to revive the concreteness, objectivity of the image, to clear it of mysticism. However, their images are very different from realistic ones, as S. Gorodetsky put it, they seem to be "... born for the first time" and appear as something hitherto unprecedented.
A.A. Akhmatova
In the work of this direction A.A. occupies a special place Akhmatova. The first collection of her poems "Evening" appeared in 1912. It is characterized by restrained intonations, psychologism, chamber themes, emotionality and deep lyricism. A.A. Akhmatova was clearly based on the idea of the "primordial Adam", proclaimed by the Acmeists. Her work is characterized by love for a person, faith in his capabilities and spiritual strength. The bulk of the work of this poetess falls on the Soviet years.
The first two collections of Akhmatova, the aforementioned “Evening” and “Rosary” (1914), brought her great fame. They reflect an intimate, narrow world in which notes of sadness and sadness are guessed. The theme of love here, the most important and the only one, is closely connected with the suffering caused by biographical facts from the life of the poetess.
N.S. Gumilev
The great and significant artistic heritage of N.S. Gumilyov. In the work of this poet, the main topics were historical and exotic, and he also sang "strong personality." Gumilev developed the form of the verse, made it more accurate and coined.
The creativity of Acmeists was not always opposed to the Symbolists, because even in their works one can find "other worlds," longing for them. Gumilyov, who at first welcomed the revolution, a year later wrote poetry about the death of the world, the end of civilization. He suddenly realizes the devastating consequences of a war that could be detrimental to humanity. In his poem "Worker", he seems to foresee his death from a shot by the proletariat, a bullet, "that will separate me from the earth." Nikolai Stepanovich was shot allegedly for participating in a counter-revolutionary conspiracy.
Some poets and writers of the Silver Age - representatives of Acmeism subsequently emigrated. Others could not do this. For example, Anna Andreevna Akhmatova, wife of N.S. Gumilyova did not accept the Great October Revolution, but refused to leave her native country. These events left a big imprint in her soul, and the poetess was not immediately able to return to creativity. However, the outbreak of World War II again awakened in it a patriot, a poet, confident in the victory of his country (works “Courage”, “Oath” and others).
Futurism
At the same time, as acmeism (that is, in 1910-1912), futurism arises. He, like other directions, was heterogeneous, highlighting several currents. The largest of them, cubofuturism, united the poets V.V. Mayakovsky, V.V. Khlebnikova, D.D. Burlyuk, V.V. Kamensky, A. Kruchenykh and others. Another kind of futurism was self-futurism, represented by the work of I. Severyanin. The Centrifuge group included the poets N.N. Aseev and B.L. Parsnip, as well as other writers and writers of the Silver Age.
Futurism made a revolution of form, which now became independent of content, proclaimed freedom of speech, completely abandoning literary continuity and traditions. The futurist manifesto “Slap in the face of public taste,” published in 1912, called for the overthrow of such great authorities as Tolstoy, Pushkin, and Dostoevsky from the podium.
Silver Age Writers of Russian Literature V.V. Kamensky and V. Khlebnikov managed to conduct successful experiments with the word, which influenced the further development of Russian poetry.
V.V. Mayakovsky
Among the futurists, the great poet V.V. Mayakovsky (1893-1930). In 1912 his first poems were published. Mayakovsky was not only against "all kinds of junk", but also proclaimed the need to create new things in public life. Vladimir Vladimirovich foresaw the October Revolution, denounced the kingdom of the "fat", which was reflected in his poems War and Peace, Cloud in Pants, Man, Flute-Spine, in which the entire capitalist system was denied and belief in person.
Other Silver Age poets and writers
In the years preceding the revolution, there were other bright poets and writers of the Silver Age of Russian literature, which are difficult to attribute to one direction or another, for example, M.A. Voloshin and M.I. Tsvetaeva. The creativity of the latter is characterized by demonstrative independence, as well as rejection of generally accepted behavioral norms and ideas.
Russian culture of this time was the result of a long and difficult path. Its inalienable features have always remained high humanism, nationality and democracy, despite the high pressure of government reaction. More information can be found in any textbook (Literature, Grade 11), the Silver Age is necessarily included in the school curriculum.