The term "literary process" can introduce a stranger to his definition of a person into a stupor. Because it is not clear what kind of process it is, what caused it, what it is connected with, and by what laws it exists. In this article we will analyze this concept in detail. We will pay special attention to the literary process of the 19th and 20th centuries.
What is a literary process?
This concept means:
- creative life in the totality of facts and phenomena of a particular country in a certain era;
- literary development in a global sense, including all centuries, cultures and countries.
When using the term in the second sense, the phrase "historical-literary process" is often used.
In general, the concept describes the historical changes in world and national literature, which, developing, inevitably interact with each other.
During the study of this process, researchers solve many complex problems, among which the main one is the transition of some poetic forms, ideas, currents and directions to others.
The influence of writers
Writers are also included in the literary process, who, with their new artistic techniques and experiments with language and form, change the approach to describing the world and man. However, the authors do not make their discoveries from scratch, as they necessarily rely on the experience of their predecessors, who lived both in his country and abroad. That is, the writer uses almost all the artistic experience of mankind. From this we can conclude that there is a struggle between new and old artistic ideas, and each new literary direction puts forward its own creative principles, which, based on traditions, nevertheless challenge them.
The evolution of trends and genres
The literary process, therefore, includes the evolution of genres and directions. So, in the 17th century, French writers proclaimed instead of the Baroque, welcoming the willfulness of poets and playwrights, classic principles that imposed strict rules. However, in the 19th century, romanticism appeared, rejecting all the rules and proclaiming the freedom of the artist. Then came realism, which expelled subjective romanticism and put forward its demands for works. And the change of these directions is also part of the literary process, as well as the reasons why they occurred, and the writers who worked within their framework.
Do not forget about genres. So, the novel, the largest and most popular genre, has survived more than one change of artistic movements and trends. And in every era, he changed. For example, a striking example of a Renaissance novel, Don Quixote, is completely different from Robinson Crusoe, written during the Enlightenment, and both of them are not similar to the works of O. de Balzac, V. Hugo, C. Dickens.
Russian literature of the 19th century
The literary process of the 19th century It is a rather complicated picture. At this time, the evolution of critical realism takes place . And representatives of this direction are N. V. Gogol, A. S. Pushkin, I. S. Turgenev, I. A. Goncharov, F. M. Dostoevsky and A. P. Chekhov. As you can see, the work of these writers varies greatly, however, they all belong to the same stream. At the same time, literary criticism in this regard speaks not only of the artistic individuality of writers, but also of changes in realism itself and in the method of knowing the world and man.
In the beginning of the 19th century, the “natural school” came to replace romanticism, which already in the middle of the century began to be perceived as something hindering further literary development. F. Dostoevsky and L. Tolstoy begin to attach more and more importance to psychologism in their works. This was a new stage in the development of realism in Russia, and the “natural school” was outdated. However, this does not mean that the tricks of the previous course are stopped using. On the contrary, the new literary direction absorbs the old, partially leaving it in its original form, partially modifying. However, one should not forget about the influence of foreign literature on Russian, as well as, incidentally, domestic literature on foreign.
19th century Western literature
The literary process of the 19th century in Europe includes two main areas - romanticism and realism. Both of them became a reflection of the historical events of this era. Recall that at this time an industrial revolution took place , factories were opened, railways were built, etc. At the same time, the Great French Revolution was taking place, which entailed uprisings throughout Europe. These events, of course, are reflected in the literature, and from completely different perspectives: romanticism seeks to escape from reality and create its own ideal world; realism - analyze what is happening and try to change reality.
Romanticism, which arose at the end of the 18th century, is gradually becoming obsolete by the middle of the 19th century. But realism, which only appears at the beginning of the 19th century, is gaining momentum by the end of the century. The realist trend leaves realism and declares itself in about 30-40 years.
The popularity of realism is explained by its social orientation, which was in demand by the society of that time.
Russian literature of the 20th century
The literary process of the 20th century. very complex, intense and ambiguous, especially for Russia. This is due, first of all, to emigrant literature. Writers who were expelled from their homeland after the 1917 revolution continued to write abroad, continuing the literary traditions of the past. But what is happening in Russia? Here the variegated variety of directions and currents, called the Silver Age, forcibly narrows to the so-called socialist realism. And all attempts by writers to move away from him are brutally suppressed. However, works were created but not published. Among such writers are Akhmatova, Zoshchenko, and from later antagonist authors Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Venedikt Erofeev, etc. Each of these writers was a follower of the literary traditions of the early 20th century, before the advent of socialist realism. The most interesting in this regard is the work “Moscow - Petushki”, written by V. Erofeev in 1970 and published in the west. This poem is one of the first examples of postmodern literature.
Until the end of the existence of the USSR, practically non-socialist works were not printed. However, after the collapse of the state literally begins the dawn of book publishing. Everything that was written in the 20th century, but was forbidden, is published. New writers appear, continuing the tradition of Silver Age literature, banned and foreign.
Western literature of the 20th century
The Western literary process of the 20th century is characterized by a close relationship with historical events, in particular, with the first and second world wars. These events greatly shocked Europe.
In the literature of the 20th century, two major directions are distinguished - modernism and postmodernism (the 70s appeared). The first includes such trends as existentialism, expressionism, surrealism. At the same time, modernism most vividly and intensively develops in the first half of the 20th century, then gradually losing ground to postmodernism.
Conclusion
Thus, the literary process is a combination of currents, directions, works of writers and historical events in their development. Such a notion of literature makes it possible to understand by what laws it exists and what influences its evolution. The beginning of the literary process can be called the first work created by mankind, and its end will come only when we cease to exist.