The history of Russian literature of the 20th century begins in 1881. The transitional period between centuries is considered to be its “silver age” (in the continuation of Pushkin’s “golden age”). Reforms of the beginning of the 20th century, the clash of different cultures and ways of life could not but affect the mood of the creative intelligentsia. Many authors are no longer satisfied with the description and analysis of social problems; most writers begin to think about the eternal questions of life and death, the existence of good and evil. Religion had a significant impact on the culture of these times, a religious theme becoming one of the fundamental themes of the works of many writers. Russian literature of the 20th century is developing under new historical conditions, which cannot but have an effect on it. The creative intelligentsia of this time understands that the upcoming changes in the life of the country, and therefore in their life, are inevitable. Some are waiting for them with joy and hope, others - with trepidation and horror, which is transmitted to the reader at the time of reading their works.
The revolution of 1917 divides all the literature of Russia in those years into two camps: "proletarian" literature and the work of Russian emigrants. A striking representative of the latter is Vladimir Nabokov, in most of whose works one can clearly trace homesickness.
Russian literature of the 20th century gave our country and the world as a whole a large number of geniuses of the word. This applies primarily to poetry. The poets of the “Silver Age” include: Nikolai Gumilev, Maximilian Voloshin, Anna Akhmatova, Sergey Yesenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Alexander Blok, etc. The first representatives of Soviet literature include Yesenin and Mayakovsky. The founder of the so-called anti-Soviet literature is Alexander Blok, who wrote the poem "Twelve" in those years.
Russian literature of the 20th century is represented by three main areas: realism, literary avant-garde and modernism, each of which is divided into several directions. Thus, modernism laid the foundation for the development of acmeism and symbolism. Bright representatives of the latter were: Valery Bryusov, Konstantin Balmont, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Andrei Bely, Alexander Blok. The founders of Russian literary acmeism are considered Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Nikolai Gumilev.
One of the most interesting areas of literary art in the first decades of the 20th century is the revival of half-forgotten romantic forms. Creativity of Alexander Green is amazing with an endless flight of imagination and reverie. The works of the revolutionary workers poets are written in the vein of a special, new romance of the proletariat. The poets Nechaev, Privalov, Tarasov in their fables, appeals and marches poetize the heroic feat, adding bright colors to them with a description of the glow, fires, sunset, crimson dawn.
With the beginning of World War II, many Soviet writers appeared on the battlefields. The works of this period of time were written in sparkling language, their main idea was the fight against fascism. It is certainly worth noting the patriotic verses of Akhmatova, Tvardovsky, Tikhonov. During the war, writers increasingly turn to the most operational genre of literature: essays, stories, reports and pamphlets.
Russian literature of the second half of the 20th century is represented by several genres at once, the formation of which was greatly influenced by: Stalinism, the Thaw, stagnation, perestroika. Russian literature has experienced enormous difficulties on its way, at times experiencing the guardianship of the state, at times almost completely under its prohibition. Today, Russian literature of the 20th century is recognized all over the world, works of Soviet authors are read far abroad, feature films are made on them, and plays are staged in theaters. A man who has never read in his life the works of Solzhenitsyn, Sholokhov, Bulgakov, truly lost a lot ...