Work of art: the concept and its components. Artistic work
Even at first glance, it is clear that a work of art consists of certain sides, elements, aspects, and so on. In other words, it has a complex internal composition. At the same time, the individual parts of the work are connected and united with each other so closely that this gives reason to metaphorically liken the work to a living organism. The composition of the work is characterized, therefore, not only by complexity, but also by order. A work of art is a complexly organized whole; from the realization of this obvious fact follows the need to know the internal structure of the work, that is, to single out its individual components and realize the connections between them. The rejection of such an attitude inevitably leads to empiricism and unsubstantiated judgments about the work, to complete arbitrariness in its consideration, and ultimately impoverishes our understanding of the artistic whole, leaving it at the level of the primary reader's perception.
In modern literary criticism, there are two main trends in establishing the structure of a work. The first proceeds from the separation of a number of layers or levels in a work, just as in linguistics in a separate statement one can distinguish the level of phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactic. At the same time, different researchers unequally imagine both the set of levels and the nature of their relationships. So, M.M. Bakhtin sees in the work, first of all, two levels - “plot” and “plot”, the depicted world and the world of the image itself, the reality of the author and the reality of the hero*. MM. Hirshman proposes a more complex, mostly three-level structure: rhythm, plot, hero; in addition, the subject-object organization of the work permeates “vertically” these levels, which ultimately creates not a linear structure, but rather a grid that is superimposed on the work of art**. There are other models of a work of art, representing it in the form of a number of levels, slices.
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* Bakhtin M.M. Aesthetics of verbal creativity. M., 1979. S. 7–181.
** Girshman M.M. Style of a literary work // Theory of literary styles. Modern aspects of study. M., 1982. S. 257-300.
Obviously, the subjectivity and arbitrariness of the allocation of levels can be considered as a common drawback of these concepts. Moreover, no attempt has yet been made substantiate division into levels by some general considerations and principles. The second weakness follows from the first and consists in the fact that no division by levels covers the entire richness of the elements of the work, does not give an exhaustive idea even of its composition. Finally, the levels must be thought of as essentially equal in rights - otherwise the principle of structuring itself loses its meaning - and this easily leads to a loss of understanding of some core of a work of art, linking its elements into a real integrity; connections between levels and elements are weaker than they really are. Here we should also note the fact that the “level” approach very poorly takes into account the fundamental difference in quality of a number of components of the work: for example, it is clear that an artistic idea and an artistic detail are phenomena of a fundamentally different nature.
The second approach to the structure of a work of art takes such general categories as content and form as its primary division. In the most complete and reasoned form, this approach is presented in the works of G.N. Pospelova*. This methodological trend has far fewer drawbacks than the one discussed above, it is much more in line with the real structure of the work and is much more justified from the point of view of philosophy and methodology.
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* See e.g.: Pospelov G.N. Problems of literary style. M., 1970. S. 31–90.
We will begin with the philosophical substantiation of the allocation of content and form in the artistic whole. The categories of content and form, excellently developed back in Hegel's system, have become important categories of dialectics and have been repeatedly successfully used in the analysis of various complex objects. The use of these categories in aesthetics and literary criticism also forms a long and fruitful tradition. Nothing prevents us, therefore, from applying philosophical concepts that have proven themselves so well to the analysis of a literary work; moreover, from the point of view of methodology, this will only be logical and natural. But there are also special reasons to begin the division of a work of art with the allocation of content and form in it. A work of art is not a natural phenomenon, but a cultural one, which means that it is based on a spiritual principle, which, in order to exist and be perceived, must certainly acquire some material embodiment, a way of existing in a system of material signs. Hence the naturalness of defining the boundaries of form and content in a work: the spiritual principle is the content, and its material embodiment is the form.
We can define the content of a literary work as its essence, spiritual being, and the form as a way of existence of this content. The content, in other words, is the “statement” of the writer about the world, a certain emotional and mental reaction to certain phenomena of reality. Form is the system of means and methods in which this reaction finds expression, embodiment. Simplifying somewhat, we can say that content is what what the writer said with his work, and the form - as he did it.
The form of a work of art has two main functions. The first is carried out within the artistic whole, so it can be called internal: it is a function of expressing content. The second function is found in the impact of the work on the reader, so it can be called external (in relation to the work). It consists in the fact that the form has an aesthetic impact on the reader, because it is the form that acts as the bearer of the aesthetic qualities of a work of art. The content itself cannot be beautiful or ugly in a strict, aesthetic sense - these are properties that arise exclusively at the level of form.
From what has been said about the functions of form, it is clear that the question of conventionality, which is so important for a work of art, is solved differently in relation to content and form. If in the first section we said that a work of art in general is a convention in comparison with primary reality, then the measure of this convention is different for form and content. Within a work of art the content is unconditional, in relation to it it is impossible to raise the question “why does it exist?” Like the phenomena of primary reality, in the artistic world the content exists without any conditions, as an immutable given. Nor can it be a conditionally fantasy, arbitrary sign, by which nothing is meant; in the strict sense, the content cannot be invented - it directly comes to the work from the primary reality (from the social being of people or from the consciousness of the author). On the contrary, the form can be arbitrarily fantastic and conditionally implausible, because something is meant by the conditionality of the form; it exists "for something" - to embody the content. Thus, Shchedrin's city of Foolov is a creation of the author's pure fantasy, it is conditional, since it never existed in reality, but autocratic Russia, which became the theme of the "History of a City" and embodied in the image of the city of Foolov, is not a convention or fiction.
Let us note to ourselves that the difference in the degree of conventionality between content and form gives clear criteria for attributing one or another specific element of a work to form or content - this remark will come in handy more than once.
Modern science proceeds from the primacy of content over form. In relation to a work of art, this is true as for a creative process (the writer looks for the appropriate form, even for a vague, but already existing content, but in no case vice versa - he does not first create a “ready-made form”, and then pours some content into it) , and for the work as such (features of the content determine and explain to us the specifics of the form, but not vice versa). However, in a certain sense, namely in relation to the perceiving consciousness, it is the form that is primary, and the content secondary. Since sensory perception is always ahead of the emotional reaction and, moreover, the rational comprehension of the subject, moreover, it serves as the basis and basis for them, we perceive in the work first its form, and only then and only through it - the corresponding artistic content.
From this, by the way, it follows that the movement of the analysis of a work - from content to form or vice versa - is of no fundamental importance. Any approach has its justifications: the first is in the defining nature of the content in relation to the form, the second is in the patterns of the reader's perception. Well said about this A.S. Bushmin: “It is not at all necessary ... to start research from the content, guided only by the one thought that the content determines the form, and not having other, more specific reasons for this. Meanwhile, it was precisely this sequence of consideration of a work of art that turned into a forced, hackneyed, boring scheme for everyone, having become widespread in school teaching, and in textbooks, and in scientific literary works. The dogmatic transfer of the correct general proposition of literary theory to the methodology of the concrete study of works gives rise to a dull pattern. Let us add to this that, of course, the opposite pattern would not be any better - it is always mandatory to start the analysis from the form. It all depends on the specific situation and specific tasks.
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* Bushmin A.S. The Science of Literature. M., 1980. S. 123–124.
From all that has been said, a clear conclusion suggests itself that both form and content are equally important in a work of art. The experience of the development of literature and literary criticism also proves this position. Belittling the meaning of content or completely ignoring it leads in literary criticism to formalism, to meaningless abstract constructions, leads to oblivion of the social nature of art, and in artistic practice, guided by this kind of concept, it turns into aestheticism and elitism. However, the neglect of the art form as something secondary and, in essence, optional has no less negative consequences. Such an approach actually destroys the work as a phenomenon of art, forces us to see in it only this or that ideological, and not ideological and aesthetic phenomenon. In creative practice, which does not want to reckon with the enormous importance of form in art, flat illustrativeness, primitiveness, the creation of “correct”, but emotionally unexperienced declarations about a “relevant”, but artistically unexplored topic, inevitably appear.
Highlighting the form and content in the work, we thereby liken it to any other complexly organized whole. However, the relationship between form and content in a work of art has its own specifics. Let's see what it consists of.
First of all, it is necessary to firmly understand that the relationship between content and form is not a spatial relationship, but a structural one. The form is not a shell that can be removed to open the nut kernel - the content. If we take a work of art, then we will be powerless to “point the finger”: here is the form, but the content. Spatially they are merged and indistinguishable; this unity can be felt and shown at any “point” of a literary text. Let's take, for example, that episode from Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov, where Alyosha, when asked by Ivan what to do with the landowner who baited the child with dogs, answers: "Shoot!". What is this "shoot!" content or form? Of course, both are in unity, in fusion. On the one hand, it is part of the speech, verbal form of the work; Alyosha's remark occupies a certain place in the compositional form of the work. These are formal points. On the other hand, this "shoot" is a component of the hero's character, that is, the thematic basis of the work; the replica expresses one of the turns of the moral and philosophical searches of the characters and the author, and of course, it is an essential aspect of the ideological and emotional world of the work - these are meaningful moments. So in one word, fundamentally indivisible into spatial components, we saw content and form in their unity. The situation is similar with the work of art in its entirety.
The second thing to note is the special connection between form and content in the artistic whole. According to Yu.N. Tynyanov, relations are established between the artistic form and the artistic content, unlike the relations of “wine and glass” (glass as form, wine as content), that is, relations of free compatibility and equally free separation. In a work of art, the content is not indifferent to the specific form in which it is embodied, and vice versa. Wine will remain wine, whether we pour it into a glass, a cup, a plate, etc.; content is indifferent to form. In the same way, milk, water, kerosene can be poured into a glass where there was wine - the form is “indifferent” to the content that fills it. Not so in a work of art. There, the connection between formal and substantive principles reaches its highest degree. Perhaps this is best manifested in the following regularity: any change in form, even seemingly small and private, is inevitable and immediately leads to a change in content. Trying to find out, for example, the content of such a formal element as poetic meter, versifiers conducted an experiment: they “transformed” the first lines of the first chapter of “Eugene Onegin” from iambic to choreic. It turned out this:
Uncle of the most honest rules,
He was not jokingly sick,
Made me respect myself
Couldn't think of a better one.
The semantic meaning, as we see, remained practically the same, the changes seemed to concern only the form. But it can be seen with the naked eye that one of the most important components of the content has changed - the emotional tone, the mood of the passage. From epic-narrative, it turned into playful-superficial. And if we imagine that the entire "Eugene Onegin" was written in chorea? But such a thing is impossible to imagine, because in this case the work is simply destroyed.
Of course, such an experiment on form is a unique case. However, in the study of a work, we often, completely unaware of this, perform similar "experiments" - without directly changing the structure of the form, but only without taking into account one or another of its features. So, studying in Gogol's "Dead Souls" mainly Chichikov, landlords, and "individual representatives" of the bureaucracy and the peasantry, we study hardly a tenth of the "population" of the poem, ignoring the mass of those "minor" heroes who, in Gogol, are just not secondary , but are interesting to him in themselves to the same extent as Chichikov or Manilov. As a result of such an “experiment on form”, our understanding of the work, that is, its content, is significantly distorted: after all, Gogol was not interested in the history of individuals, but in the way of national life, he created not a “gallery of images”, but an image of the world, a “way of life”.
Another example of the same kind. In the study of Chekhov's story "The Bride", a fairly strong tradition has developed to consider this story as unconditionally optimistic, even "spring and bravura"*. V.B. Kataev, analyzing this interpretation, notes that it is based on "reading not completely" - the last phrase of the story in its entirety is not taken into account: "Nadya ... cheerful, happy, left the city, as she thought, forever." “The interpretation of this “as I thought,” writes V.B. Kataev, - very clearly reveals the difference in research approaches to Chekhov's work. Some researchers prefer, interpreting the meaning of "The Bride", to consider this introductory sentence as if it does not exist"**.
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* Ermilov V.A. A.P. Chekhov. M., 1959. S. 395.
** Kataev V.B. Chekhov's prose: problems of interpretation. M, 1979. S. 310.
This is the “unconscious experiment” that was discussed above. “Slightly” the structure of the form is distorted – and the consequences in the field of content are not long in coming. There is a “concept of unconditional optimism, “bravura” of Chekhov’s work of recent years”, while in reality it represents “a delicate balance between truly optimistic hopes and restrained sobriety in relation to the impulses of those very people about whom Chekhov knew and told so many bitter truths” .
In the relationship between content and form, in the structure of form and content in a work of art, a certain principle, a regularity, is revealed. We will talk in detail about the specific nature of this regularity in the section “Comprehensive consideration of a work of art”.
In the meantime, we note only one methodological rule: For an accurate and complete understanding of the content of a work, it is absolutely necessary to pay as close attention as possible to its form, down to its smallest features. In the form of a work of art there are no "little things" that are indifferent to the content; According to a well-known expression, “art begins where “a little bit” begins.
The specificity of the relationship between content and form in a work of art has given rise to a special term, specifically designed to reflect the inseparability, fusion of these sides of a single artistic whole - the term "meaningful form". This concept has at least two aspects. The ontological aspect affirms the impossibility of the existence of an empty form or unformed content; in logic such concepts are called correlative: we cannot think one of them without simultaneously thinking the other. A somewhat simplified analogy can be the relationship between the concepts of "right" and "left" - if there is one, then the other inevitably exists. However, for works of art, another, axiological (evaluative) aspect of the concept of “substantial form” seems to be more important: in this case, we mean the regular correspondence of the form to the content.
A very deep and in many ways fruitful concept of meaningful form was developed in the work of G.D. Gacheva and V.V. Kozhinov "Contentiousness of literary forms". According to the authors, "any art form is<…>nothing but a hardened, objectified artistic content. Any property, any element of a literary work that we now perceive as "purely formal" was once directly meaningful." This content of the form never disappears, it is really perceived by the reader: “turning to the work, we somehow absorb into ourselves” the content of formal elements, their, so to speak, “primary content”. “It is a matter of content, of a certain sense, and not at all about the senseless, meaningless objectivity of form. The most superficial properties of the form turn out to be nothing but a special kind of content that has turned into a form.
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* Gachev G.D., Kozhinov V.V. Content of literary forms // Theory of Literature. The main problems in historical coverage. M., 1964. Book. 2. P. 18–19.
However, no matter how meaningful this or that formal element is, no matter how close the connection between content and form, this connection does not turn into identity. Content and form are not the same, they are different, singled out in the process of abstraction and analysis of the sides of the artistic whole. They have different tasks, different functions, different, as we have seen, the degree of conventionality; there is a certain relationship between them. Therefore, it is unacceptable to use the concept of meaningful form, as well as the thesis of the unity of form and content, in order to mix and lump together formal and content elements. On the contrary, the true content of the form is revealed to us only when the fundamental differences between these two sides of a work of art are sufficiently realized, when, consequently, it becomes possible to establish certain relationships and regular interactions between them.
Speaking about the problem of form and content in a work of art, it is impossible not to touch, at least in general terms, on another concept that is actively existing in the modern science of literature. It is about the concept of "inner form". This term really implies the presence “between” the content and form of such elements of a work of art that are “form in relation to elements of a higher level (image as a form expressing the ideological content), and content in relation to lower levels of the structure (image as the content of a compositional and speech form)"*. Such an approach to the structure of the artistic whole looks doubtful, primarily because it violates the clarity and rigor of the original division into form and content as, respectively, the material and spiritual principles in the work. If some element of the artistic whole can be both meaningful and formal at the same time, then this deprives the very dichotomy of content and form and, which is important, creates significant difficulties in further analysis and comprehension of the structural relationships between the elements of the artistic whole. One should undoubtedly listen to the objections of A.S. Bushmin against the category of "inner form"; “Form and content are extremely general correlative categories. Therefore, the introduction of two concepts of form would require, respectively, two concepts of content. The presence of two pairs of similar categories, in turn, would entail the need, according to the law of subordination of categories in materialistic dialectics, to establish a unifying, third, generic concept of form and content. In a word, terminological duplication in the designation of categories does not give anything but logical confusion. And general definitions external and inner, allowing the possibility of spatial differentiation of form, vulgarize the idea of the latter”**.
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* Sokolov A.N. style theory. M., 1968. S. 67.
** Bushmin A.S. The Science of Literature. S. 108.
So, fruitful, in our opinion, is a clear opposition of form and content in the structure of the artistic whole. Another thing is that it is immediately necessary to warn against the danger of dismembering these aspects mechanically, roughly. There are such artistic elements in which form and content seem to touch, and very subtle methods and very close observation are needed in order to understand both the fundamental non-identity and the closest relationship between formal and content principles. The analysis of such “points” in the artistic whole is undoubtedly the most difficult, but at the same time it is of the greatest interest both in terms of theory and in the practical study of a particular work.
? TEST QUESTIONS:
1. Why is it necessary to know the structure of a work?
2. What is the form and content of a work of art (give definitions)?
3. How are content and form related?
4. “The relationship between content and form is not spatial, but structural” - how do you understand this?
5. What is the relationship between form and content? What is a "substantial form"?
Fiction is one of the types of art, along with music, painting, sculpture, etc. Fiction is a product of the creative activity of a writer or poet, and, like any art, it has aesthetic, cognitive and world-contemplative (associated with the author's subjectivity) aspects. This unites literature with other art forms. A distinctive feature is that the material carrier of the imagery of literary works is the word in its written incarnation. At the same time, the word always has a pictorial character, forms a certain image, which, according to V.B. Khalizeva, refer literature to the fine arts.
The images formed by literary works are embodied in texts. A text, especially a literary one, is a complex phenomenon characterized by a variety of properties. The literary text is the most complex of all types of text, in fact it is a completely special type of text. The text of a work of art is not the same message as, for example, a documentary text, since it does not describe real concrete facts, although it names phenomena and objects using the same linguistic means. According to Z.Ya. Turaeva, natural language is a building material for a literary text. In general, the definition of a literary text differs from the definition of a text in general by pointing to its aesthetic and figurative-expressive aspects.
By definition I.Ya. Chernukhina, a literary text is "... an aesthetic means of mediated communication, the purpose of which is a figurative and expressive disclosure of the topic, presented in the unity of form and content and consisting of speech units that perform a communicative function." According to the researcher, literary texts are characterized by absolute anthropocentrism, literary texts are anthropocentric not only in the form of expression, like any texts, but also in content, in focus on revealing the image of a person.
I.V. Arnold notes that "a literary and artistic text is an internally connected, complete whole, which has an ideological and artistic unity." The main specific feature of a literary text, which distinguishes it from other texts, is the fulfillment of an aesthetic function. At the same time, the organizing center of the literary text, as L.G. Babenko and Yu.V. Kazarin, is its emotional and semantic dominant, which organizes the semantics, morphology, syntax and style of a literary text.
The main function of fiction is to contribute to the disclosure of the author's intention through the use of linguistic and specific stylistic means.
One of the most striking features of fiction is imagery. The image, which is created by various language means, evokes in the reader a sensory perception of reality and, thereby, contributes to the creation of the desired effect and reaction to what is written. A literary text is characterized by a variety of forms and images. The creation of generalized images in works of art allows their authors not only to determine the state, actions, qualities of a particular character by comparing it with an artistic symbol, but also makes it possible to characterize the hero, determine the attitude towards him not directly, but indirectly, for example, through artistic comparison .
The most common leading feature of the style of artistic speech, closely related and interdependent with imagery, is the emotional coloring of statements. The property of this style is the selection of synonyms for the purpose of emotional impact on the reader, the variety and abundance of epithets, various forms of emotional syntax. In fiction, these means receive their most complete and motivated expression.
The main category in the linguistic study of fiction, including prose, is the concept of the writer's individual style. Academician V.V. Vinogradov formulates the concept of the writer's individual style as follows: "a system of individual-aesthetic use of the means of artistic and verbal expression characteristic of a given period in the development of fiction, as well as a system of aesthetic-creative selection, comprehension and arrangement of various speech elements."
Literary artistic text, like any other work of art, is aimed primarily at perception. Without providing the reader with literal information, a literary text evokes a complex set of experiences in a person, and thus it meets a certain inner need of the reader. A specific text corresponds to a specific psychological reaction, and the order of reading corresponds to a specific dynamics of change and interaction of experiences. In an artistic text, behind the depicted pictures of real or fictional life, there is always a subtextual, interpretive functional plan, a secondary reality.
The literary text is based on the use of figurative and associative qualities of speech. The image in it is the ultimate goal of creativity, in contrast to a non-fiction text, where verbal imagery is not fundamentally necessary, and if available, it becomes only a means of transmitting information. In a literary text, the means of figurativeness are subordinated to the aesthetic ideal of the writer, since fiction is a kind of art.
A work of art embodies the individual-author's way of perceiving the world. The author's ideas about the world, expressed in literary and artistic form, become a system of ideas directed to the reader. In this complex system, along with universal human knowledge, there are also unique, original, even paradoxical ideas of the author. The author conveys to the reader the idea of his work by expressing his attitude to certain phenomena of the world, by expressing his assessment, by creating a system of artistic images.
Imagery and emotionality are the main features that distinguish a literary text from a non-fiction one. Another characteristic feature of a literary text is personification. In the characters of works of art, everything is compressed to an image, to a type, although it can be shown quite concretely and individually. Many heroes-characters of fiction are perceived as certain symbols (Hamlet, Macbeth, Don Quixote, Don Juan, Faust, D "Artagnan, etc.), behind their names are certain traits of character, behavior, attitude to life.
In the texts of fiction, a description of a person can be given both in a pictorial and descriptive register, and in an informative and descriptive one. The author has complete freedom to choose and use various stylistic devices and means that allow creating a visual-figurative representation of a person and expressing his assessment of his external and internal qualities.
When describing and characterizing the characters of a work of art, the authors use various means of emotional evaluation both from the standpoint of the author and from the standpoint of other characters. The author's assessment of the heroes of his works can be expressed both explicitly and implicitly, it is usually conveyed through the use of a complex of speech and stylistic means: lexical units with evaluative semantics, epithets, metaphorical nominations.
The stylistic means of expressing the expressiveness of emotionality, the author's assessment, and the creation of images are various stylistic devices, including tropes, as well as various artistic details used in the texts of artistic prose.
Thus, based on the results of studying literary sources, we can conclude that fiction is a special kind of art, and a literary text is one of the most complex types of text in terms of structure and style.
Literature and library science
The structure of a literary work is a certain structure of a work of verbal art, its internal and external organization, a way of connecting its constituent elements. The presence of a certain structure ensures the integrity of the work, its ability to embody and convey the content expressed in it. Basically, the structure of a work of art is as follows: The idea is the main idea of the work, which expresses the attitude of the writer to the phenomena depicted.
The structure of a work of art.
A work of art is an object that has an aestheticvalue, a material product of artistic creativity, conscious human activity.
A work of art is a complex whole. It is necessary to know its internal structure, that is, to highlight its individual components.
The structure of a literary work niya is a kind ofthe formation of a work of verbal art, its internal and external organization, the way of connecting its constituent elements. The presence of a certain structure ensures the integrity of the work, its ability to embody and convey the content expressed in it. And that is very important in the work.
Basically, the structure of a work of art is as follows:
Idea - this is the main idea of the work, which expresses the attitude of the writer to the depicted phenomena.General, emotional, figurative thought underlying the work of art. Why was this work written?
Plot - this is a set of events and relations between the characters of the work, developing in the work in time and space. Simply put, this is what the work is about.
Composition - the internal organization of a work of art, the construction of episodes, main parts, a system of events and images of characters.
The composition has its main components:
exposition - information about the life of the characters before the development of events. This is a depiction of the circumstances that make up the background of the action.
Tie - an event that exacerbates or creates contradictions leading to conflict.
Development of action- this is the identification of relationships and contradictions between the characters, the further deepening of the conflict.
climax - the moment of maximum tension of action, the aggravation of the conflict to the limit. In the climax, the goals and characters of the characters are best manifested.
Interchange - the part in which the conflict comes to its logical resolution.
Epilogue - the image of events after a certain period of time after the denouement.
Conclusion - a part that completes the work, providing additional information about the heroes of the work, drawing a landscape.
With a normal reading of the work, this structure is not traced, and we do not notice any sequence, but with a detailed analysis of the text, it can be easily identified.
Thus, we can say that it is impossible to write a work and interest the reader in it without a certain structure. Although we do not notice any structure while reading it, nevertheless it plays a very important, and even one of the most important roles in writing a work of art.
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Plan
1. Initial literary and psychological provisions that determine the methodology of reading in the primary grades.
2. Literary foundations for the analysis of a work of art
3. Psychological features of the perception of a work of art by younger students
4. Methodological patterns of work with a literary text in elementary grades
Literature
1. Lvov M.R., Ramzaeva T.G., Svetlovskaya N.N. Methods of teaching the Russian language in elementary school. M.: Enlightenment, -1987. –p.106-112
2. Lvov M.R., Goretsky V.G., Sosnovskaya O.V. Methods of teaching the Russian language in primary school. M .: publishing house "Academy", 2000 - 472s
3. Russian language in primary school: Theory and practice of teaching. / M.S. Soloveychik, P.S. Zhedek, N.N. Svetlovskaya and others. - M .: 1993. - 383s
4. Rozhina L.N. Psychology of perception of a literary hero by schoolchildren. M., 1977. - p.48
1. Initial literary and psychological provisions that determine the methodology of reading in the primary grades.
In the methodological science of the 30-50s, a certain approach to the analysis of a work of art in elementary school developed, which was based on the originality of a work of art in comparison with a scientific and business article, assumed the phased work on the work, the development of reading skills, the analysis of the work in parts, followed by generalization, systematic work on the development of speech. E.A. Adamovich, N.P. Kanonykin, S.P. Redozubov, N.S. Rozhdestvensky and others made a great contribution to the development of the explanatory reading methodology.
In the 1960s, changes were made to the content and methods of teaching classroom reading. This led to an improvement in the methodology for analyzing a work of art: more creative exercises were given, work on the work was carried out as a whole, and not on separate small parts, various types of tasks were used in working with the text. The methodologists V.G.Goretsky, K.T.Golenkina, L.A.Gorbushina, M.I.Omorokova and others took part in the development of the classroom reading methodology.
In the 1980s, reading programs for the three-year school were improved and programs were created for teaching in the four-year elementary school. The authors of programs and books for reading: V.G. Goretsky, L.F. Klimanova and others, focusing on the implementation of educational, upbringing and developmental functions of education, conducted a selection of works, taking into account their cognitive value, social and ideological and moral orientation, educational significance, compliance with the age characteristics of younger students.
The modern method of reading a work of art involves the mandatory analysis of the text in the classroom under the guidance of a teacher. This principle of work, firstly, has historical roots, secondly, it is determined by the peculiarities of fiction as an art form, and thirdly, it is dictated by the psychology of the perception of a work of art by younger students.
The previously existing method of explanatory reading required the teacher to pose questions to the text being read. The questions were of a stating nature and helped not so much the student to understand the work as the teacher to make sure that the main facts of the work were learned by the children. In the subsequent generalization at the lesson, the educational potential of the work was revealed.
In modern teaching to read, the general principle of working with a work has been preserved, but the nature of the questions has changed significantly. Now the task of the teacher is not to explain the facts of the work, but to teach the child to reflect on them. With this approach to reading, the literary foundations of the analysis of a work of art become fundamental.
Main methodological provisions, defining the approach to the analysis of a work of art are as follows:
Clarification of the ideological and thematic basis of the work, its images, storyline, composition and visual means serves the overall development of students as individuals, and also ensures the development of students' speech;
Reliance on the life experience of students is the basis for conscious perception of the content of the work and a necessary condition for its correct analysis;
Reading is considered as a means of enhancing the cognitive activity of students and expanding their knowledge of the surrounding reality;
Text analysis should awaken thoughts, feelings, arouse the need to speak out, correlate your life experience with the facts presented by the author.
The modern methodology is based on theoretical principles developed by such sciences as literary criticism, psychology, and pedagogy. For the correct organization of reading and literature lessons, the teacher needs to take into account the specifics of a work of art, the psychological foundations of the reading process at different stages of education, the peculiarities of perception and assimilation of the text by schoolchildren, etc.
2. Literary foundations for the analysis of a work of art
Reading books include both fiction of various genres and popular science articles. The objective content of any work is reality. In a work of art, life is represented in images. The figurative form of reflection of reality is a significant difference between a work of art and a scientific work. Under way is understood as “a generalized reflection of reality in the form of a single, individual” (L.I. Timofeev). Thus, the figurative reflection of reality is characterized by two traits: generalization and individuality.
In the center of a work of art, most often there is a person in all the complexity of his relationship with society and nature.
In a literary work, along with the objective content, there is a subjective assessment by the author of events, facts, human relations. This subjective assessment is transmitted through the image. The very selection of life situations in which the character finds himself, his actions, relationships with people and nature bear the author's assessment. These provisions are of theoretical and practical importance for the methodology. Firstly, when analyzing a work of art, the teacher gives a central place to the disclosure of the motives for the behavior of the characters and the author's attitude to the depicted. Secondly, a correct reading of the text, a correct understanding of the motives of the characters, a reliable assessment of the facts and events described in the work are possible under the condition of a historical approach to the depicted in the work. This indicates the need for a brief familiarization of students with the time reflected in the work and the development of an evaluative approach to the actions of actors, taking into account temporal and social factors. Thirdly, it is advisable to acquaint children with the life of the writer, his views, since in the work the author seeks to convey his attitude to the depicted facts, phenomena, specific ideas of certain strata of society. The writer's evaluation of life material constitutes the idea of a work of art. When analyzing a work of art, it is important to teach students to understand the ideological orientation of the work, which is necessary for the correct perception of the work, for the formation of students' worldviews, their civic feelings.
For the correct organization of work on a work of art, it is necessary to proceed from the position on the interaction of form and content. This interaction permeates all components of the work, including images, composition, plot, visual means. The content manifests itself in the form, the form interacts with the content. One does not exist without the other. Therefore, when analyzing a work in a complex, its specific content, images, artistic means of depiction are considered.
All of the above allows us to make methodical findings:
1) when analyzing a work of art, it is necessary to keep the images created by the author in sight. In literature, there are image-landscape, image-thing and image-character;
2) in elementary school, when analyzing epic works, the reader's attention is focused on the image-character. The term image is not used, words are used hero of the work, protagonist, character;
3) in elementary school, works of landscape lyrics are offered for reading, i.e. those in which the lyrical hero is focused on the experiences caused by external pictures. Therefore, it is very important to bring the created pictorial image-landscape closer to the child, to help him see the realities that made an impression on the poet. To do this, it is useful to draw parallels between the emerging imaginary representations (images) and the verbal fabric (dictionary) of the work;
5) when analyzing, it is important to pay attention to form works and teach to comprehend formal components.
3. Psychological features of the perception of a work of art by younger students
Literature is a special kind of art, since the act of perceiving the images at the center of a work is a complex process. The artist depicts the world with the help of colors, the composer uses sounds, the architect uses spatial forms, and the writer, poet uses the word. Spectators, listeners perceive works of fine art, music, architecture directly with the senses, i.e. perceive the material from which the work is “made”. And the reader perceives graphic signs printed on paper, and only by turning on the mental mechanisms of the brain these graphic signs are transformed into words. Thanks to the words and the recreating imagination, images are built, and already these images evoke an emotional reaction from the reader, give rise to empathy for the characters and the author, and from this arises an understanding of the work and an understanding of one’s attitude to what is read.
Psychologists identify several levels of understanding of the text. First, the most superficial is the understanding of what is being said. Next ( second) the level is characterized by an understanding of “not only what is being said, but also what is being said in the statement” (I.A. Zimnyaya)
Perfect reading skill involves the complete automation of the first steps of perception. Decoding graphic signs does not cause difficulties for a qualified reader, he spends all his efforts on understanding the figurative system of the work, on recreating the artistic world of the work in the imagination, on understanding its idea and his own attitude towards it. However, the younger student does not yet have sufficient reading skills, therefore, for him, converting graphic characters into words, understanding the meanings of words and their connections are rather laborious operations that often overshadow all other actions, and reading thus turns into simple voicing, and does not become a communication with the author of the work. The need to read the text on your own often leads to the fact that the meaning of the work remains unclear to the novice reader. That is why, according to M.R. Lvov, the primary reading of the work should be carried out by the teacher. It is important to carry out thorough vocabulary work: explain, clarify the meanings of words, provide preliminary reading of difficult words and phrases, emotionally prepare children for the perception of the work. It should be remembered that at this stage the child is still listener, but not reader. Perceiving the work by ear, he encounters voiced content and voiced form. Through the form presented by the teacher, focusing on intonation, gestures, facial expressions, the child penetrates the content.
A qualified reader perceives a work of art simultaneously with two points of view: First of all, as a special world within which the described events take place; Secondly, as a reality constructed for special purposes and according to special laws, which obeys the will of the author, corresponds to his plan. The harmonious combination of these two points of view in the reader's activity makes an individual who knows how to voice graphic signs, reader.
An unqualified, untrained reader, respectively, can be two types:
1) one who stands only on the "internal" point of view, does not separate himself from the text, perceives what is written, based only on his worldly experience. Such readers are called naive realists". They perceive the artistic world of the work as a reality and experience when reading not aesthetic, but worldly emotions. A long stay in the stage of a “naive realist” prevents the reader from enjoying the harmonious unity of the form and content of a work of art, deprives him of the pleasure of adequately understanding the author’s intention, and also correlating his subjective reader experiences with the objective interpretation of the work in literary science;
2) one who stands only on the "external" point of view and perceives the world of the work as an invention, an artificial construction, devoid of the truth of life. Such individuals do not correlate their personal attitudes with the author's values, they do not know how to understand the position of the author, therefore they do not emotionally respond and aesthetically do not react to the work.
Junior student - "naive realist"". At this age, he does not realize the special laws of constructing a literary text and does not notice the form of the work. His thinking is still active-figurative. The child does not separate the object, the word denoting this object, and the action that is performed with this object, therefore, in the child's mind, the form is not separated from the content, but merges with it. Often a complex form becomes an obstacle to understanding the content. Therefore, one of the tasks of the teacher is to teach children the "external" point of view, that is, the ability to understand the structure of the work and to assimilate the patterns of construction of the artistic world.
For the correct organization of the analysis of a work, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the perception of a work of art by children of primary school age. In the studies of O.I. Nikiforova, L.N. Rozhina and others, the psychological characteristics of the perception and evaluation of literary heroes by younger schoolchildren were studied. Two types of attitudes towards literary heroes were established:
Emotional, which is formed on the basis of a specific operation with figurative generalizations;
Intellectual-evaluative, in which students use moral concepts at the level of elemental analysis. These two types of relationships depend on the characteristics of the analysis and generalization by children of their everyday and reading experience.
According to O.I. Nikiforova, younger students in the analysis of their own life experience are on two levels: a) emotional-figurative generalization, b) elementary analysis. When evaluating the characters in the work, students operate with such moral concepts that were in their personal experience. Most often they name such moral qualities as courage, honesty, diligence, kindness. Children experience significant difficulties in characterizing heroes because they do not know the appropriate terminology. The teacher's task is to introduce words into the children's speech when analyzing the work, which characterize the moral, intellectual, emotional qualities of the characters.
It is known that the reader's understanding of the characters in the work occurs on the basis of awareness of the motives of their behavior, therefore, purposeful work with students on the motives of the hero's behavior is necessary.
Special studies have established the dependence of younger students' awareness of the qualities of actors on the methods (conditions) for the manifestation of these qualities. In particular, L.N. Rozhina notes that students experience the least difficulty when the author describes an act (the quality is manifested in the act). The most difficult for children to understand are those qualities that are manifested in the experiences and thoughts of the characters. The following fact is not without interest: “If the qualities are named not by the author, but by the characters of the work, then they are more often distinguished by children, but on one condition - if, after pointing to a particular quality, it is told how it manifested itself, and if an assessment is heard in the characters’ statements these qualities” (Rozhina L.N.). In order to properly organize the process of analyzing a work of art, the teacher needs to know what conditions affect the perception of the work and, in particular, its characters.
Thus, the age dynamics of understanding a work of art in general and characters in particular can be represented as a kind of path from empathy with a particular character, sympathy for him to understanding the author's position and further to a generalized perception of the art world and awareness of one's attitude towards it, to understanding the influence of the work on their personal settings. However, only with the help of an adult, a teacher, can a younger student go this way. Concerning teacher tasks can be defined as the need to: 1) together with the children, clarify and consolidate their primary reading impressions; 2) to help clarify and understand the subjective perception of the work, comparing it with the objective logic and structure of the work.
At the same time, the teacher should remember that the levels of reading maturity of students in grades 1-11 and grades 111-1U differ significantly.
Pupils of grades 1-11 cannot independently, without the help of an adult, realize the ideological content of the work; children of this age cannot, according to the description, recreate in their imagination the image of a previously unknown object, but perceive it only on an emotional level: “scary”, “funny”; a reader of 6-8 years does not realize that in a work of art it is not real reality that is recreated, but the attitude of the author to reality, therefore they do not feel the author's position, and therefore do not notice the form of the work. A reader of this level of training cannot assess the correspondence between content and form.
Pupils in grades 111-1U have already acquired some reading experience, their life baggage has become more significant, and some literary and everyday material has already been accumulated, which can be consciously generalized. At this age, the child, on the one hand, begins to feel like a separate person, on the other hand, parting with childish egocentrism. He is open to communication, ready to "hear" the interlocutor, to sympathize with him. As a reader, he already manifests himself at a higher level:
Able to independently understand the idea of a work, if its composition is not complicated, and a work of a similar structure was previously discussed;
The imagination is sufficiently developed to recreate a previously unseen object according to the description, if mastered language means are used to describe it;
Without outside help, he can understand the formal features of a work, if he has already observed similar figurative and expressive techniques in his reading activity;
Thus, he can experience the pleasure of perceiving the form, notice and evaluate cases of correspondence between content and form.
At this age, a new trend appears in reading activity: the child is not satisfied only with a sensual, emotional reaction to what he read, he seeks to logically explain what he reads for himself; everything that is read must be understandable to him. However, this trend, along with the positive side, also has a negative side: everything that is not clear is simply not read in the text. It is difficult for an untrained reader to make efforts to reveal the "code of the work", and for this reason, the reader's emotional deafness gradually develops, when no image, idea or mood arises behind the word. Reading becomes uninteresting and boring, reading activity fades, a person grows up, but does not become a reader.
4. Methodological patterns of work with a literary text in elementary grades
Methodical conclusions all of the above could be:
When analyzing a work, it is necessary to develop an understanding of about what work and as this is stated in the work, thus helping to realize the form of the work;
Language means should be understood, thanks to which the images of the work are created;
When analyzing a work, the attention of children should be drawn to the structure of the work;
It is necessary to activate in the speech of children words denoting emotional and moral qualities;
When analyzing a work, the data of methodological science should also be taken into account. In particular, the teacher should keep in mind the doctrine of the type of correct reading activity, which dictates the need to think about the work. before reading, during reading and after reading, and also do not forget about the principle of productive multi-reading, which involves re-reading text fragments that are important for understanding the idea of the work.
Assignment for independent work
1. In your opinion, which of the three types of attitudes to literature, named below, is inherent in primary school students? What attitude to literature is more productive for the development of the reader's personality?
1. Identification of literature with reality itself, that is, a specific, non-generalized attitude to the facts described in the work.
2. Understanding literature as a fiction that has nothing to do with real life.
3. Attitude towards literature as a generalized image of reality (the classification is borrowed from the book by O.I. Nikiforova).
11. Is imagination necessary for a full perception and understanding of fiction? What for? (see Marshak S.Ya. About a talented reader // Collected Works: In 8 vol. - M., 1972 - p. 87)
111. Based on what you have read, describe the next, higher level of artistic perception - “thinking” perception. How can a teacher organize such reading so that communication with literature includes both “direct” and “thinking” perception, so that it becomes reading-thinking, reading-discovery?
The key to the task for independent work
1. The first type of attitude to literature is inherent in younger students - naive-realistic perception.
Naive realism is characterized by a lack of understanding that a work of art was created by someone and for something, insufficient attention to the artistic form of the work.
Naive realists perceive only the eventful, plot outline of the work, not capturing the meaning for which the literary work was created. Under the influence of the read work, such readers have a desire to reproduce in the game or in life circumstances the actions of the characters they like, and to avoid repeating the actions of negative characters. The impact of literature on such readers is primitive due to the imperfection of their perception.
The task of the teacher is to help children preserve the immediacy, emotionality, brightness of the perception of specific content and at the same time teach them to understand the deeper meaning of the work, embodied by the author with the help of figurative means of fiction. According to Kachurin A., second-graders are capable not only of "naive-realistic reading", but also of understanding the inner meaning of the text
11. “Literature needs talented readers as well as talented writers. It is on them, on these talented, sensitive, imaginative readers, that the author counts when he strains all his mental strength in search of the right image, the right turn of action, the right word. The artist-author takes on only part of the work. The rest must be supplemented by the artist-reader with his imagination ”(Marshak S.Ya.)
There are two types of imagination - recreative and creative. The essence of the recreating imagination is to present, according to the author's verbal description, a picture of life created by the writer (portrait, landscape ...)
Creative imagination consists in the ability to present in detail a picture that is sparingly presented in verbal form.
The ability to see and feel what is reflected by the author in the text characterizes the first of the stages of a full-fledged comprehension of a literary work - the stage of "direct" perception.
111. With a defective mechanism of perception, readers assimilate only the plot scheme of the work and abstract, schematic ideas about its images. That is why it is necessary to teach children "thinking" perception, the ability to reflect on a book, and therefore about a person and about life in general. The analysis of the work should be a joint (teacher and student) thinking aloud, which over time will allow you to develop the need to understand what you read yourself.
Tests and assignments for lecture No. 5
Scientific basis for the analysis of a work of art
1. Name the methodologists who have made a great contribution to the development of the explanatory reading methodology: A) E.A. Adamovich, B) Ramzaeva T.G., C) N.P. Kanonykin, D) S.P. Redozubov, E) N. S. Rozhdestvensky
11. Name the methodologists who have made a great contribution to the classroom reading methodology: A) D.B. Elkonin, B) M.R. Lvov, C) V.G. Goretsky, D) K.T. Golenkina, E) L.A. .Gorbushina, E) M.I. Omorokova.
111. What is the essential difference between a work of art and a scientific work: A) artistic means of representation, B) specific content, C) figurative form of reflection of reality?
1U. Criteria for the formation of a high-level reader: A) the ability to retell the work, B) the ability to understand the idea of the work; C) the ability to recreate a previously unseen object according to the description; D) the formation of the ability to "breed" one's own reader's position and the position of the author; D) knowledge of the formal features of the work; E) the ability to notice and evaluate cases of correspondence between content and form.
List the criteria for the formation of a high-level reader
U1 When analyzing a work, you need to: A) form the ability to find the main idea, B) breed an understanding of what about what work and as this is stated in the work; C) linguistic means should be understood, thanks to which images of the work are created; D) when analyzing a work, the attention of children should be drawn to the structure of the work; E) it is necessary to activate in the speech of children words denoting emotional and moral qualities; E) when analyzing a work, the data of methodological science should also be taken into account.
Lecture number 6.
Similar information.
General concept of the theme of a literary work
The concept of a topic, as well as many other terms in literary criticism, contains a paradox: intuitively, a person, even far from philology, understands what is being discussed; but as soon as we try to define this concept, to attach to it some more or less strict system of meanings, we find ourselves faced with a very difficult problem.
This is due to the fact that the topic is a multidimensional concept. In a literal translation, “theme” is what is laid at the foundation, which is the support of the work. But therein lies the difficulty. Try to unequivocally answer the question: “What is the basis of a literary work?” Once such a question is asked, it becomes clear why the term "theme" resists clear definitions. For some, the most important thing is the material of life - something what is depicted. In this sense, we can talk, for example, about the topic of war, about the topic of family relationships, about love adventures, about battles with aliens, etc. And each time we will go to the level of the topic.
But we can say that the most important thing in the work is what the most important problems of human existence the author poses and solves. For example, the struggle between good and evil, the formation of personality, the loneliness of a person, and so on ad infinitum. And this will also be a theme.
Other answers are possible. For example, we can say that the most important thing in a work is language. It is language, words, that are the most important theme of the work. This thesis usually makes students more difficult to understand. After all, it is extremely rare that a work is written directly about words. It happens, of course, and this, it is enough to recall, for example, the well-known poem in the prose of I. S. Turgenev "Russian language" or - with completely different accents - V. Khlebnikov's poem "Change", which is based on a pure language game, when the string is read the same from left to right and right to left:
Horses, trampling, monk,
But not speech, but he is black.
Let's go, young, down with copper.
Chin is called the sword backwards.
Hunger, how long is the sword?
In this case, the linguistic component of the theme clearly dominates, and if we ask the reader what this poem is about, we will hear a completely natural answer that the main thing here is the language game.
However, when we say that a language is a topic, we mean something much more complex than the examples just given. The main difficulty is that a phrase said differently also changes the “piece of life” that it expresses. In any case, in the mind of the speaker and listener. Therefore, if we accept these "rules of expression", we automatically change what we want to express. To understand what is at stake, it suffices to recall a well-known joke among philologists: what is the difference between the phrases “the young maiden trembles” and “the young maiden trembles”? You can answer that they differ in the style of expression, and this is true. But for our part, we will put the question differently: are these phrases about the same thing, or do “young maid” and “young maid” live in different worlds? Agree, intuition will tell you that in different. These are different people, they have different faces, they speak differently, they have a different social circle. All this difference was suggested to us only by the language.
These differences can be felt even more clearly if we compare, for example, the world of "adult" poetry with the world of poetry for children. In children's poetry, horses and dogs do not "live", horses and dogs live there, there is no sun and rain, there is sun and rain. In this world, the relationship between the characters is completely different, everything always ends well there. And it is absolutely impossible to depict this world in the language of adults. Therefore, we cannot take the "language" theme of children's poetry out of the brackets.
As a matter of fact, the different positions of scientists who understand the term “theme” in different ways are connected precisely with this multidimensionality. Researchers single out one or the other factor as a determining factor. This is reflected in the tutorials as well, which creates unnecessary confusion. Thus, in the most popular textbook on literary criticism of the Soviet period - in the textbook by G. L. Abramovich - the topic is understood almost exclusively as a problem. Such an approach is, of course, vulnerable. There are a huge number of works where the basis is not a problem at all. Therefore, the thesis of G. L. Abramovich is rightly criticized.
On the other hand, it is hardly correct to separate the topic from the problem, limiting the scope of the topic exclusively to the “circle of life phenomena”. This approach was also characteristic of Soviet literary criticism of the mid-twentieth century, but today it is an obvious anachronism, although echoes of this tradition are sometimes still felt in secondary and higher schools.
The modern philologist must be clearly aware that any infringement of the concept of "theme" makes this term non-functional for the analysis of a huge number of works of art. For example, if we understand the topic solely as a circle of life phenomena, as a fragment of reality, then the term retains its meaning in the analysis of realistic works (for example, the novels of L. N. Tolstoy), but becomes completely unsuitable for the analysis of the literature of modernism, where the usual reality is deliberately distorted, or even completely dissolves in the language game (recall the poem by V. Khlebnikov).
Therefore, if we want to understand the universal meaning of the term "theme", we must talk about it in a different plane. It is no coincidence that in recent years the term "theme" is increasingly interpreted in line with structuralist traditions, when a work of art is viewed as an integral structure. Then the "topic" becomes the supporting links of this structure. For example, the theme of a snowstorm in Blok's work, the theme of crime and punishment in Dostoevsky, etc. At the same time, the meaning of the term "theme" largely coincides with the meaning of another basic term in literary criticism - "motive".
The theory of motive, developed in the 19th century by the outstanding philologist A. N. Veselovsky, had a huge impact on the subsequent development of the science of literature. We will dwell on this theory in more detail in the next chapter, for now we will only note that motives are the most important elements of the entire artistic structure, its “bearing pillars”. And just as the supporting pillars of a building can be made of different materials (concrete, metal, wood, etc.), the structural supports of text can also be different. In some cases, these are life facts (without them, for example, no documentary is fundamentally impossible), in others - problems, in the third - author's experiences, in the fourth - language, etc. In a real text, as well as in real construction, it is possible and most often there are combinations of different materials.
Such an understanding of the theme as the verbal and subject support of the work removes many misunderstandings associated with the meaning of the term. This point of view was very popular in Russian science in the first third of the twentieth century, then it was subjected to sharp criticism, which was more ideological than philological in nature. In recent years, this understanding of the topic has again found an increasing number of supporters.
So, the theme can be correctly understood if we return to the literal meaning of this word: that which is laid at the foundation. The theme is a kind of support for the entire text (event, problem, language, etc.). At the same time, it is important to understand that the different components of the concept of "theme" are not isolated from each other, they represent a single system. Roughly speaking, a work of literature cannot be "disassembled" into vital material, problems and language. This is only possible for educational purposes or as an aid to analysis. Just as in a living organism the skeleton, muscles and organs form a unity, in works of literature the different components of the concept of “theme” are also united. In this sense, B. V. Tomashevsky was absolutely right when he wrote that “the theme<...>is the unity of the meanings of the individual elements of the work. In reality, this means that when we talk, for example, about the theme of human loneliness in M. Yu. Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time, we already have in mind the series of events, the problematics, the structure of the work, and the linguistic features of the novel.
If we try to somehow streamline and systematize all the almost infinite thematic wealth of world literature, we can distinguish several thematic levels.
See: Abramovich G. L. Introduction to literary criticism. M., 1970. S. 122–124.
See, for example: Revyakin A. I. Problems of studying and teaching literature. M., 1972. S. 101–102; Fedotov O. I. Fundamentals of the theory of literature: In 2 hours. Part 1. M., 2003. P. 42–43; Without a direct reference to the name of Abramovich, such an approach is also criticized by V. E. Khalizev, see: Khalizev V. E. Theory of Literature. M., 1999. S. 41.
See: Shchepilova L.V. Introduction to literary criticism. M., 1956. S. 66–67.
This trend manifested itself among researchers directly or indirectly associated with the traditions of formalism and - later - structuralism (V. Shklovsky, R. Yakobson, B. Eichenbaum, A. Evlakhov, V. Fischer, etc.).
For details on this, see, for example: Revyakin A. I. Problems of studying and teaching literature. M., 1972. S. 108–113.
Tomashevsky B. V. Theory of Literature. Poetics. M., 2002. S. 176.
Thematic levels
First, these are the topics that touch on the fundamental problems of human existence. This, for example, is the theme of life and death, the struggle with the elements, man and God, etc. Such topics are usually called ontological(from the Greek ontos - the essence + logos - teaching). Ontological issues dominate, for example, in most of the works of F. M. Dostoevsky. In any particular event, the writer strives to see a "glimpse of the eternal", projections of the most important issues of human existence. Any artist who raises and solves such problems finds himself in line with the most powerful traditions that in one way or another influence the solution of the topic. Try, for example, to depict the feat of a person who gave his life for other people in an ironic or vulgar style, and you will feel how the text will begin to resist, the topic will begin to demand a different language.
The next level can be formulated in the most general form as follows: "Man in Certain Circumstances". This level is more specific; ontological issues may not be affected by it. For example, a production theme or a private family conflict may turn out to be completely self-sufficient in terms of the theme and not claim to solve the “eternal” questions of human existence. On the other hand, the ontological basis may well “shine through” through this thematic level. Suffice it to recall, for example, the famous novel by L. N. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina", where the family drama is comprehended in the system of eternal human values.
Next, one can highlight subject-pictorial level. In this case, ontological issues may fade into the background or not be updated at all, but the linguistic component of the topic is clearly manifested. The dominance of this level is easy to feel, for example, in a literary still life or in playful poetry. This is how, as a rule, poetry for children is constructed, charming in its simplicity and clarity. It is pointless to look for ontological depths in the poems of Agnia Barto or Korney Chukovsky, often the charm of the work is explained precisely by the liveliness and clarity of the thematic sketch being created. Let us recall, for example, the cycle of poems by Agnia Barto “Toys” known to everyone since childhood:
The hostess abandoned the bunny -
A bunny was left in the rain.
Couldn't get off the bench
Wet to the skin.
What has been said, of course, does not mean that the subject-pictorial level always turns out to be self-sufficient, that there are no deeper thematic layers behind it. Moreover, the art of modern times tends to ensure that the ontological level "shines through" through the subject-pictorial. It is enough to recall the famous novel by M. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" to understand what is at stake. For example, Woland's famous ball, on the one hand, is interesting precisely for its picturesqueness, on the other hand, almost every scene in one way or another touches on the eternal problems of man: this is love, and mercy, and the mission of man, etc. If we compare the images of Yeshua and Behemoth, we can easily feel that in the first case the ontological thematic level dominates, in the second - the subject-pictorial level. That is, even within one work you can feel different thematic dominants. So, in the famous novel by M. Sholokhov "Virgin Soil Upturned" one of the most striking images - the image of grandfather Shchukar - mainly correlates with the subject-pictorial thematic level, while the novel as a whole has a much more complex thematic structure.
Thus, the concept of "theme" can be considered from different angles and have different shades of meaning.
Thematic analysis allows the philologist, among other things, to see some regularities in the development of the literary process. The fact is that each era actualizes its range of topics, "resurrecting" some and as if not noticing others. At one time, V. Shklovsky remarked: "each era has its own index, its own list of topics forbidden due to obsolescence." Although Shklovsky primarily had in mind the linguistic and structural "supports" of the themes, without too much actualization of life's realities, his remark is very prescient. Indeed, it is important and interesting for a philologist to understand why certain topics and thematic levels turn out to be relevant in a given historical situation. The "thematic index" of classicism is not the same as in romanticism; Russian futurism (Khlebnikov, Kruchenykh, etc.) actualized completely different thematic levels than symbolism (Blok, Bely, etc.). Having understood the reasons for such a change in indices, a philologist can say a lot about the features of a particular stage in the development of literature.
Shklovsky V. B. On the theory of prose. M., 1929. S. 236.
External and internal theme. Intermediary sign system
The next step in mastering the concept of "theme" for a novice philologist is to distinguish between the so-called "external" and "internal" themes of the work. This division is conditional and is accepted only for the convenience of analysis. Of course, in a real work there is no "separately external" and "separately internal" theme. But in the practice of analysis, such a division is very useful, since it allows you to make the analysis concrete and conclusive.
Under "external" topic usually understand the system of thematic supports directly presented in the text. This is vital material and the plot level associated with it, the author's commentary, in some cases - the title. In modern literature, the title is not always associated with the external level of the topic, but, say, in the 17th - 18th centuries. tradition was different. There, the title often included a brief summary of the plot. In a number of cases, such "transparency" of titles makes the modern reader smile. For example, the famous English writer D. Defoe, the creator of The Life and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, used much more lengthy titles in his subsequent works. The third volume of "Robinson Crusoe" is called: "Serious reflections of Robinson Crusoe throughout his life and amazing adventures; with the addition of his visions of the angelic world. And the full title of the novel “The Joys and Sorrows of the Famous Mole Flanders” takes up almost half of the page, since it actually lists all the adventures of the heroine.
In lyrical works, in which the plot plays a much smaller role, and often does not exist at all, “direct” expressions of the author's thoughts and feelings, devoid of metaphorical veil, can be attributed to the field of external theme. Let us recall, for example, the textbook famous lines of F. I. Tyutchev:
Russia cannot be understood with the mind,
Do not measure with a common yardstick.
She has a special personality.
One can only believe in Russia.
There is no discrepancy here between about what it is said that what it is said not to be felt. Compare with Block:
I can't pity you
And I carefully carry my cross.
What kind of sorcerer do you want
Give me the rogue beauty.
These words cannot be taken as a direct declaration, there is a gap between about what it is said that what said.
The so-called "thematic image". The researcher who proposed this term, V. E. Kholshevnikov, commented on it with a quote from V. Mayakovsky - “felt thought”. This means that any object or situation in the lyrics serve as a support for the development of the author's emotions and thoughts. Let us recall the textbook famous poem by M. Yu. Lermontov “Sail”, and we will easily understand what is at stake. At the “external” level, this is a poem about a sail, but the sail here is a thematic image that allows the author to show the depth of human loneliness and the eternal throwing of a restless soul.
Let's sum up the intermediate result. The external theme is the most visible thematic level directly presented in the text. With a certain degree of conventionality, we can say that the external theme refers to what about what says in the text.
Another thing - internal subject. This is a much less obvious thematic level. To understand internal topic, it is always necessary to abstract from what was said directly, to catch and explain the internal connection of the elements. In some cases, this is not so difficult to do, especially if the habit of such recoding has been developed. Let's say, behind the external theme of I. A. Krylov's fable "The Crow and the Fox", we would easily feel the internal theme - the dangerous weakness of a person in relation to flattery addressed to him, even if Krylov's text did not begin with open morality:
How many times have they told the world
That flattery is vile, harmful; but everything is not for the future,
And in the heart the flatterer will always find a corner.
A fable in general is a genre in which the external and internal thematic levels are most often transparent, and the morality that connects these two levels makes the task of interpretation completely easier.
But in most cases, it's not that simple. The internal theme loses its obviousness, and the correct interpretation requires both special knowledge and intellectual effort. For example, if we think about the lines of Lermontov’s poem “It stands alone in the wild north ...”, then we easily feel that the internal theme is no longer amenable to an unambiguous interpretation:
Stands alone in the wild north
On the bare top of a pine tree,
And dozing, swaying, and loose snow
She is dressed like a robe.
And she dreams of everything that is in the distant desert,
In the region where the sun rises
Alone and sad on a rock with fuel
A beautiful palm tree is growing.
We can see the development of the thematic image without difficulty, but what is hidden in the depths of the text? Simply put, what are we talking about here, what problems are the author worried about? Different readers may have different associations, sometimes very far from what is actually in the text. But if we know that this poem is a free translation of a poem by G. Heine, and we compare Lermontov's text with other translation options, for example, with a poem by A. A. Fet, we will get much more weighty grounds for an answer. Compare with Fet:
In the north, a lonely oak
It stands on a steep hillock;
He slumbers, sternly covered
And snow and ice carpet.
In his dream he sees a palm tree
In a far eastern country
In silent, deep sadness,
One, on a hot rock.
Both poems were written in 1841, but what a difference between them! In Fet's poem - "he" and "she", yearning for each other. Emphasizing this, Fet translates "pine" as "oak" - in the name of preserving the love theme. The fact is that in German "pine" (more precisely, larch) is a masculine word, and the language itself dictates the reading of the poem in this vein. However, Lermontov not only “crosses out” the love theme, but in the second edition in every possible way enhances the feeling of endless loneliness. Instead of a “cold and bare peak”, “the wild north” appears, instead of “a distant eastern land” (cf. Fet), Lermontov writes: “in a distant desert”, instead of a “hot rock” - “a combustible cliff”. If we summarize all these observations, we can conclude that the inner theme of this poem is not the longing of separated, loving people, like in Heine and Fet, not even the dream of another wonderful life - Lermontov is dominated by the theme of “the tragic insurmountability of loneliness with a common affinity of fate, ”as R. Yu. Danilevsky commented on this poem.
In other cases, the situation can be even more complicated. For example, the story of I. A. Bunin "The Gentleman from San Francisco" is usually interpreted by an inexperienced reader as the story of the ridiculous death of a wealthy American, whom no one feels sorry for. But a simple question: “And what did this gentleman do to the island of Capri and why only after his death, as Bunin writes, “peace and tranquility again settled on the island””? - confuses students. The lack of analysis skills, the inability to “link” various fragments of the text into a single whole picture affects. At the same time, the name of the ship - “Atlantis”, the image of the Devil, the nuances of the plot, etc. are missed. If we connect all these fragments together, it turns out that the inner theme of the story will be the eternal struggle of two worlds - life and death. The gentleman from San Francisco is terrible by his very presence in the world of the living, he is foreign and dangerous. That is why the living world calms down only when it disappears; then the sun comes out and illuminates "the unsteady massifs of Italy, its near and distant mountains, the beauty of which is powerless to express the human word."
It is even more difficult to talk about an internal theme in relation to works of a large volume that raise a whole range of problems. For example, to discover these internal thematic springs in L. N. Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" or in M. A. Sholokhov's novel "The Quiet Flows the Flows Flows the Don" can only be discovered by a qualified philologist who has both sufficient knowledge and the ability to abstract from the specific vicissitudes of the plot. Therefore, it is better to learn independent thematic analysis on works of relatively small volume - there, as a rule, it is easier to feel the logic of the interconnections of thematic elements.
So, we conclude: internal theme is a complex complex consisting of problems, internal connections of plot and language components. Correctly understood internal theme allows you to feel the non-randomness and deep connections of the most heterogeneous elements.
As already mentioned, the division of thematic unity into external and internal levels is very arbitrary, because in a real text they are merged. It is more of an analysis tool than the actual structure of the text as such. However, this does not mean that such a technique is any kind of violence against the living organics of a literary work. Any technology of knowledge is based on some assumptions and conventions, but this helps to better understand the subject being studied. For example, an x-ray is also a very conditional copy of the human body, but this technique will allow you to see what is almost impossible to see with the naked eye.
In recent years, after the appearance of the research by A.K. Zholkovsky and Yu.K. The researchers proposed to distinguish between the so-called "declared" and "elusive" themes. "Elusive" topics are touched upon in the work most often, regardless of the author's intention. Such, for example, are the mythopoetic foundations of Russian classical literature: the struggle between space and chaos, the motives of initiation, etc. In fact, we are talking about the most abstract, supporting levels of the internal theme.
In addition, the same study raises the question of intraliterary topics. In these cases, thematic supports do not go beyond the literary tradition. The simplest example is a parody, the theme of which, as a rule, is another literary work.
Thematic analysis involves understanding the various elements of the text in their relationship to the external and internal levels of the topic. In other words, the philologist must understand why the outer plane is the expression this internal. Why, when reading poems about a pine tree and a palm tree, we sympathize human loneliness? This means that there are some elements in the text that ensure the “translation” of the external plan into the internal one. These elements can be called intermediaries. If we can understand and explain these intermediary signs, the conversation about thematic levels will become substantive and interesting.
In the strict sense of the word mediator is the entire text. In essence, such an answer is impeccable, but methodologically it is hardly correct, since for an inexperienced philologist the phrase "everything in the text" is almost equal to "nothing." Therefore, it makes sense to concretize this thesis. So, what elements of the text can be first of all paid attention to when conducting a thematic analysis?
First of all, it is always worth remembering that no text exists in a vacuum. It is always surrounded by other texts, it is always addressed to a specific reader, etc. Therefore, often the "mediator" can be found not only in the text itself, but also outside it. Let's take a simple example. The famous French poet Pierre Jean Beranger has a funny song called "The Noble Friend". It is a monologue of a commoner, to whose wife a rich and noble count is clearly not indifferent. As a result, some favors fall to the hero. How does the hero perceive the situation?
Last, for example, winter
Appointed by the Minister of Ball:
The count comes for his wife, -
As a husband, and I got there.
There, squeezing my hand with everyone,
Called my friend!
What happiness! What an honor!
After all, I'm a worm compared to him!
Compared to him,
With a face like this
With his Excellency himself!
It is easy to feel that behind the external theme - the enthusiastic story of a small person about his "benefactor" - there is something completely different. The entire poem by Beranger is a protest against slave psychology. But why do we understand it this way, because there is not a word of condemnation in the text itself? The fact of the matter is that in this case, a certain norm of human behavior acts as an intermediary, which turns out to be violated. The elements of the text (style, plot fragments, willing self-deprecation of the hero, etc.) reveal this unacceptable deviation from the reader's idea of a worthy person. Therefore, all elements of the text change polarities: what the hero considers a plus is a minus.
Secondly, the title can act as an intermediary. This does not always happen, but in many cases the title is involved in all levels of the topic. Let us recall, for example, Gogol's Dead Souls, where the outer row (Chichikov's purchase of dead souls) and the inner theme (the theme of spiritual dying) are linked by the title.
In some cases, misunderstanding of the connection between the title and the internal theme leads to reading oddities. For example, the modern reader quite often perceives the meaning of the title of Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" as "war and peacetime", seeing here the antithesis device. However, Tolstoy's manuscript does not say "War and Peace", but "War and Peace". In the nineteenth century, these words were perceived as different. "Mir" - "the absence of a quarrel, enmity, disagreement, war" (according to Dahl's dictionary), "Mir" - "a substance in the universe and a force in time // all people, the whole world, the human race" (according to Dahl). Therefore, Tolstoy had in mind not the antithesis of war, but something completely different: “War and the human race”, “War and the movement of time”, etc. All this is directly related to the problems of Tolstoy's masterpiece.
Thirdly, the epigraph is a fundamentally important intermediary. The epigraph, as a rule, is chosen very carefully, often the author refuses the original epigraph in favor of another, or even the epigraph does not appear from the first edition. For a philologist, this is always “information for thought”. For example, we know that Leo Tolstoy originally wanted to preface his novel Anna Karenina with a completely “transparent” epigraph condemning adultery. But then he abandoned this plan, choosing an epigraph with a much more voluminous and complex meaning: "Vengeance is mine and I will repay." Already this nuance is enough to understand that the problems of the novel are much broader and deeper than the family drama. Anna Karenina's sin is just one of the signs of the colossal "unrighteousness" in which people live. This change of emphasis actually changed the original idea of the whole novel, including the image of the main character. In the first versions, we meet with a woman of repulsive appearance, in the final version - this is a beautiful, intelligent, sinful and suffering woman. The change of epigraphs was a reflection of the revision of the entire thematic structure.
If we remember N.V. Gogol's comedy "The Inspector General", then we will inevitably smile at its epigraph: "There is nothing to blame on the mirror, if the face is crooked." It seems that this epigraph has always existed and is a genre remark of a comedy. But in the first edition of The Inspector General there was no epigraph; Gogol introduces it later, surprised by the incorrect interpretation of the play. The fact is that Gogol's comedy was originally perceived as a parody of some officials, on some vices. But the future author of Dead Souls had something else in mind: he made a terrible diagnosis of Russian spirituality. And such a “private” reading did not satisfy him at all, hence the peculiar polemical epigraph, in a strange way echoing the famous words of the Governor: “Who are you laughing at! Laugh at yourself!" If you carefully read the comedy, you can see how Gogol emphasizes this idea at all levels of the text. universal lack of spirituality, and not at all the arbitrariness of some officials. And the story with the epigraph that appeared is very revealing.
Fourth, you should always pay attention to proper names: the names and nicknames of the characters, the scene, the names of objects. Sometimes the thematic clue is obvious. For example, N. S. Leskov’s essay “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” already in the very title contains a hint at the theme of Shakespearean passions, so close to the writer’s heart, raging in the hearts of seemingly ordinary people of the Russian hinterland. "Talking" names here will be not only "Lady Macbeth", but also "Mtsensk district". "Direct" thematic projections have many names of heroes in the dramas of classicism. We feel this tradition well in A. S. Griboedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit”.
In other cases, the connection of the hero's name with the internal theme is more associative, less obvious. For example, Lermontov's Pechorin already refers to Onegin with his last name, emphasizing not only similarities, but also differences (Onega and Pechora are northern rivers that gave names to entire regions). This similarity-difference was immediately noticed by the insightful V. G. Belinsky.
It may also be that it is not the name of the hero that is significant, but his absence. Recall the story I. A. Bunin mentioned, "The Gentleman from San Francisco." The story begins with a paradoxical phrase: “A gentleman from San Francisco - no one remembered his name either in Naples or in Capri ...” From the point of view of reality, this is completely impossible: the scandalous death of a supermillionaire would have preserved his name for a long time. But Bunin has a different logic. Not only the gentleman from San Francisco, none of the passengers on the Atlantis is ever named. At the same time, the old boatman who appeared episodically at the end of the story has a name. His name is Lorenzo. This, of course, is not accidental. After all, a name is given to a person at birth, it is a kind of sign of life. And the passengers of Atlantis (think about the name of the ship - "non-existent land") belong to another world, where everything is the other way around and where names should not be. Thus, the absence of a name can be very revealing.
Fifth, it is important to pay attention to the stylistic pattern of the text, especially when it comes to fairly large and diverse works. Style analysis is a self-sufficient subject of study, but this is not the point here. We are talking about a thematic analysis, for which it is more important not to scrupulously study all the nuances, but rather “change of timbres”. It is enough to recall the novel by M. A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" to understand what is at stake. The life of literary Moscow and the history of Pontius Pilate are written in completely different ways. In the first case, we feel the pen of the feuilletonist, in the second we have before us the author, impeccably accurate in psychological details. There is no trace of irony and ridicule.
Or another example. The story of A. S. Pushkin "The Snowstorm" is the story of two novels of the heroine, Marya Gavrilovna. But the inner theme of this work is much deeper than the plot intrigue. If we carefully read the text, we will feel that the point is not that Marya Gavrilovna "accidentally" fell in love with the person with whom she was "accidentally" and mistakenly married. The fact is that her first love is completely different from the second. In the first case, we clearly feel the author's soft irony, the heroine is naive and romantic. Then the style drawing changes. Before us is an adult, interesting woman, very well distinguishing "bookish" love from real. And Pushkin very accurately draws the line separating these two worlds: "That was in 1812." If we compare all these facts, we will understand that Pushkin was not worried about a funny incident, not an irony of fate, although this is also important. But the main thing for the mature Pushkin was the analysis of "growing up", the fate of romantic consciousness. Such an exact date is not accidental. 1812 - the war with Napoleon - dispelled many romantic illusions. The private fate of the heroine is significant for Russia as a whole. This is precisely the most important internal theme of the Snowstorm.
At sixth, in thematic analysis, it is fundamentally important to pay attention to how different motives relate to each other. Let us recall, for example, A. S. Pushkin's poem "Anchar". Three fragments are clearly visible in this poem: two are approximately equal in length, one is much smaller. The first fragment is a description of the terrible tree of death; the second is a small plot, a story about how the lord sent a slave for poison to certain death. This story is actually exhausted with the words "And the poor slave died at the feet / of the Invincible lord." But the poem does not end there. Last stanza:
And the prince fed that poison
Your obedient arrows
And with them death sent
To neighbors in alien lands, -
this is a new piece. The internal theme - the sentence of tyranny - receives a new round of development here. The tyrant kills one in order to kill many. Like anchar, he is doomed to carry death within himself. Thematic fragments were not chosen by chance, the last stanza confirms the legitimacy of conjugation of the two main thematic fragments. An analysis of the options shows that Pushkin chose his words most carefully. at the borders fragments. Far from immediately, the words “But a man / He sent a man to the Anchar with an authoritative look” were found. This is not accidental, since it is here that the thematic support of the text is.
Among other things, thematic analysis involves the study of the logic of the plot, the correlation of different elements of the text, etc. In general, we repeat, the entire text is a unity of external and internal topics. We paid attention only to some components that an inexperienced philologist often does not update.
For an analysis of the titles of literary works, see, for example. in: Lamzina A. V. Title // Introduction to Literary Studies ” / Ed. L. V. Chernets. M., 2000.
Kholshevnikov V. E. Analysis of the composition of a lyrical poem // Analysis of one poem. L., 1985. S. 8–10.
Lermontov Encyclopedia. M., 1981. S. 330.
Zholkovsky A.K., Shcheglov Yu.K. On the concepts of "theme" and "poetic world" // Uchenye zapiski Tartu gos. university Issue. 365. Tartu, 1975.
See, for example: Timofeev L.I. Fundamentals of the theory of literature. M., 1963. S. 343–346.
The concept of the idea of a literary text
Another basic concept of literary criticism is idea artistic text. The distinction between the theme of an idea is very arbitrary. For example, L. I. Timofeev preferred to talk about the ideological and thematic basis of the work, without too actualizing the differences. In O. I. Fedotov's textbook, the idea is understood as an expression of the author's tendency; in fact, it is only about the author's attitude towards the characters and the world. “An artistic idea,” the scientist writes, “is subjective by definition.” In the authoritative manual on literary criticism edited by L. V. Chernets, built according to the dictionary principle, the term “idea” did not find a place at all. This term is not updated in the voluminous reader compiled by N. D. Tamarchenko. Even more wary is the attitude towards the term "artistic idea" in Western criticism of the second half of the 20th century. Here, the tradition of the very authoritative school of “new criticism” (T. Eliot, C. Brooks, R. Warren, etc.) affected, whose representatives sharply opposed any analysis of the “idea”, considering it one of the most dangerous “heresies” of literary criticism. . They even coined the term "heresy of communication", implying the search for any social or ethical ideas in the text.
Thus, the attitude to the term "idea", as we see, is ambiguous. At the same time, attempts to “remove” this term from the lexicon of literary critics seem not only wrong, but also naive. Talking about an idea implies interpretation figurative meaning works, and the vast majority of literary masterpieces are permeated with meanings. That is why works of art continue to excite the viewer and reader. And no loud statements by some scientists will change anything here.
Another thing is that one should not absolutize the analysis of an artistic idea. Here there is always a danger of "breaking away" from the text, of diverting the conversation into the mainstream of pure sociology or morality.
This is exactly what literary criticism of the Soviet period sinned, hence gross errors arose in the assessments of this or that artist, since the meaning of the work was constantly “checked” with the norms of Soviet ideology. Hence the accusations of lack of ideas addressed to outstanding figures of Russian culture (Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Shostakovich, etc.), hence the naive attempts from a modern point of view to classify the types of artistic ideas (“idea - question”, “idea - answer”, “false idea”, etc.). This is also reflected in the textbooks. In particular, L. I. Timofeev, although he speaks of conditionality by classification, nevertheless specifically highlights even the “idea is a mistake”, which is completely unacceptable from the point of view of literary ethics. The idea, we repeat, is the figurative meaning of the work, and as such it can be neither “correct” nor “erroneous”. Another thing is that this may not suit the interpreter, but personal assessment cannot be transferred to the meaning of the work. History teaches us that the assessments of interpreters are very flexible: if, say, we trust the assessments of many of the first critics of A Hero of Our Time by M. Yu. Lermontov (S. A. Burachok, S. P. Shevyrev, N. A. Polevoy, etc. ), then their interpretation of the idea of Lermontov's masterpiece will seem, to put it mildly, strange. However, now only a narrow circle of specialists remembers such assessments, while the semantic depth of Lermontov's novel is beyond doubt.
Something similar can be said about Leo Tolstoy's famous novel Anna Karenina, which many critics hastened to dismiss as "ideologically alien" or not deep enough. Today it is obvious that the criticisms were not deep enough, but everything is in order with Tolstoy's novel.
Such examples could go on and on. Analyzing this paradox of contemporaries’ misunderstanding of the semantic depth of many masterpieces, the well-known literary critic L. Ya. Ginzburg perspicaciously noted that the meanings of masterpieces correlate with “modernity of a different scale”, which a critic who is not endowed with brilliant thinking cannot accommodate. That is why the evaluative criteria of an idea are not only incorrect, but also dangerous.
However, all this, we repeat, should not discredit the very concept of the idea of a work and interest in this side of literature.
It should be remembered that an artistic idea is a very voluminous concept and one can speak of at least several of its facets.
First, this author's idea, that is, those meanings that the author himself more or less consciously intended to embody. Not always the idea is expressed by a writer or a poet. logically, the author embodies it differently - in the language of a work of art. Moreover, writers often protest (I. Goethe, L. N. Tolstoy, O. Wilde, M. Tsvetaeva - just some of the names) when they are asked to formulate the idea of the created work. This is understandable, because, let us repeat the remark of O. Wilde, “the sculptor thinks with marble”, that is, he does not have an idea “torn off” from stone. Similarly, the composer thinks in sounds, the poet in verses, and so on.
This thesis is very popular among both artists and specialists, but at the same time there is an element of unconscious craftiness in it. The fact is that the artist almost always in one way or another reflects both on the concept of the work and on the already written text. The same I. Goethe repeatedly commented on his "Faust", and L. N. Tolstoy was generally inclined to "clarify" the meanings of his own works. Suffice it to recall the second part of the epilogue and afterword to "War and Peace", the afterword to the "Kreutzer Sonata", etc. In addition, there are diaries, letters, memoirs of contemporaries, drafts - that is, a literary critic has at his disposal quite extensive material that directly or indirectly affects problem of the author's idea.
Confirming the author's idea by actually analyzing the literary text (with the exception of comparing options) is a much more difficult task. The fact is that, firstly, in the text it is difficult to distinguish between the position of the real author and the image that is created in this work (in modern terminology, it is often called implicit author). But even direct assessments of the real and implicit author may not coincide. Secondly, in general, the idea of the text, as will be shown below, does not copy the author's idea - something is "spoken out" in the text that the author might not have had in mind. Thirdly, the text is a complex entity that allows for various interpretations. This volume of meaning is inherent in the very nature of the artistic image (remember: the artistic image is a sign with an incremental meaning, it is paradoxical and opposes unambiguous understanding). Therefore, every time it must be borne in mind that the author, creating a certain image, could put in completely different meanings that the interpreter saw.
The foregoing does not mean that it is impossible or incorrect to talk about the author's idea in relation to the text itself. It all depends on the subtlety of the analysis and the tact of the researcher. Convincing are parallels with other works of this author, a finely selected system of circumstantial evidence, the definition of a system of contexts, etc. In addition, it is important to consider what facts of real life the author chooses to create his work. Often this very choice of facts can become a weighty argument in a conversation about the author's idea. It is clear, for example, that of the innumerable facts of the civil war, writers who sympathize with the Reds will choose one, and those who sympathize with the Whites will choose another. Here, however, it must be remembered that a great writer, as a rule, avoids a one-dimensional and linear factual series, that is, the facts of life are not an "illustration" of his idea. For example, in M. A. Sholokhov's novel The Quiet Flows the Don, there are scenes that the writer, who sympathizes with the Soviet government and the Communists, would seem to have had to omit. For example, one of Sholokhov's favorite heroes, communist Podtelkov, in one of the scenes, cuts down captured whites, which shocks even the worldly-wise Grigory Melekhov. At one time, critics strongly advised Sholokhov to remove this scene, so much so that it did not fit into linearly understood idea. Sholokhov at one moment heeded these advice, but then, in spite of everything, he reintroduced it into the text of the novel, since volumetric the author's idea without it would be flawed. The talent of the writer resisted such bills.
But in general, the analysis of the logic of facts is a very effective argument in talking about the author's idea.
The second facet of the meaning of the term "artistic idea" is text idea. This is one of the most mysterious categories of literary criticism. The problem is that the idea of the text almost never completely coincides with the author's. In some cases, these coincidences are striking. The famous "Marseillaise", which became the anthem of France, was written as a marching song of the regiment by officer Rouger de Lille without any pretensions to artistic depth. Neither before nor after his masterpiece, Rouget de Lisle created anything like it.
Leo Tolstoy, creating "Anna Karenina", conceived one thing, but it turned out another.
This difference will be even clearer if we imagine that some mediocre graphomaniac tries to write a novel full of deep meanings. In a real text, there will be no trace of the author's idea, the idea of the text will turn out to be primitive and flat, no matter how much the author wants the opposite.
The same discrepancy, although with other signs, we see in geniuses. Another thing is that in this case the idea of the text will be incommensurably richer than the author's. This is the secret of talent. Many meanings that are important for the author will be lost, but the depth of the work does not suffer from this. Shakespeare scholars, for example, teach us that the brilliant playwright often wrote "on the topic of the day", his works are full of allusions to the real political events of England in the 16th - 17th centuries. All this semantic "secret writing" was important for Shakespeare, it is even possible that it was these ideas that provoked him to create some tragedies (most often, Richard III is remembered in connection with this). However, all the nuances are known only to Shakespeare scholars, and even then with great reservations. But the idea of the text does not suffer from this. In the semantic palette of the text there is always something that does not obey the author, which he did not mean and did not think about.
That is why the point of view, which we have already spoken about, that the idea of the text exclusively subjective, that is, always associated with the author.
In addition, the idea of the text related to the reader. It can be felt and detected only by the perceiving consciousness. And life shows that readers often actualize different meanings, see different things in the same text. As they say, how many readers, so many Hamlets. It turns out that one cannot fully trust either the author's intention (what he wanted to say) or the reader (what he felt and understood). Then is there any point in talking about the idea of the text?
Many modern literary scholars (J. Derrida, J. Kristeva, P. de Mann, J. Miller, and others) insist on the fallacy of the thesis about any semantic unity of the text. In their opinion, the meanings are reconstructed every time a new reader encounters the text. All this resembles a children's kaleidoscope with an infinite number of patterns: everyone will see his own, and it is pointless to say which of the meanings is in fact and which perception is more accurate.
Such an approach would be convincing, if not for one "but". After all, if there is no objective the semantic depth of the text, then all texts will be fundamentally equal: the helpless rhymer and the brilliant Blok, the naive text of a schoolgirl and Akhmatova's masterpiece - all this is absolutely the same, as they say, whoever likes what. The most consistent scholars of this trend (J. Derrida) just conclude that all written texts are fundamentally equal.
In fact, this levels out talent and crosses out the entire world culture, because it was built by masters and geniuses. Therefore, such an approach, while seemingly logical, is fraught with serious dangers.
Obviously, it is more correct to assume that the idea of a text is not a fiction, that it exists, but exists not in a frozen form once and for all, but in the form of a meaning-generating matrix: meanings are born whenever the reader encounters a text, but this is not at all a kaleidoscope, here has its own boundaries, its own vectors of understanding. The question of what is constant and what is variable in this process is still very far from being resolved.
It is clear that the idea perceived by the reader is most often not identical to the author's. In the strict sense of the word, there is never a complete coincidence; we can only talk about the depth of discrepancies. The history of literature knows many examples when reading even a qualified reader turns out to be a complete surprise for the author. Suffice it to recall the violent reaction of I. S. Turgenev to the article by N. A. Dobrolyubov “When will the real day come?” The critic saw in Turgenev's novel "On the Eve" a call for the liberation of Russia "from the internal enemy", while I. S. Turgenev conceived the novel about something completely different. The case, as you know, ended in a scandal and Turgenev's break with the editors of Sovremennik, where the article was published. Note that N. A. Dobrolyubov rated the novel very highly, that is, we cannot talk about personal grievances. Turgenev was outraged precisely by the inadequacy of the reading. In general, as studies of recent decades show, any literary text contains not only a hidden author's position, but also a hidden supposed reader's position (in literary terminology, this is called implicit, or abstract, reader). This is a kind of ideal reader, under which the text is built. In the case of Turgenev and Dobrolyubov, the discrepancies between the implicit and the real reader turned out to be colossal.
In connection with all that has been said, one can finally raise the question of objective idea works. The legitimacy of such a question has already been substantiated when we spoke about the idea of the text. The problem is, what take it as an objective idea. Apparently, we have no other choice but to recognize as an objective idea some conditional vector value, which is formed from the analysis of the author's idea and the set of perceived ones. Simply put, we must know the author's intent, the history of interpretations, of which our own is also a part, and on this basis find some of the most important points of intersection that guarantee against arbitrariness.
There. pp. 135–136.
Fedotov OI Fundamentals of the theory of literature. Ch. 1, M., 2003. S. 47.
Timofeev L. I. Decree. op. S. 139.
See: Ginzburg L. Ya. Literature in search of reality. L., 1987.
This thesis is especially popular among the representatives of the scientific school called "receptive aesthetics" (F. Vodichka, J. Mukarzhovsky, R. Ingarden, especially H. R. Jauss and W. Iser). These authors proceed from the fact that a literary work receives its final existence only in the reader's mind, so the reader cannot be taken "out of the brackets" when analyzing the text. One of the basic terms of receptive aesthetics is "waiting horizon"- just designed to structure these relationships.
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