Symbolic work. Paul Verlaine "Autumn Song"

direction in European and Russian art of the 1870-1910s. Focused primarily on artistic expression through the symbol. Trying to break through visible reality to the "hidden realities", the supratemporal ideal essence of the world, its imperishable beauty, the symbolists expressed their rejection of bourgeoisness and positivism, longing for spiritual freedom, the tragic foreboding of world social changes, trust in the centuries-old cultural property as a unifying principle. main representatives. P. Verlaine, P. Valery, A. Rimbaud, M. Metterliik, A. Blok, A. Bely, Vyach. Ivanov, F. Sologub, P. Gauguin, M. K. Chyurlionis, M. Vrubel and others.

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SYMBOLISM

(Greek simbolon - symbol) - literary and artistic direction in European art late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, imbued with mysticism, mystery, the desire to comprehend new higher values ​​\u200b\u200bwith the help of symbols, allegories, generalizations, special associativity. Arose as a result of the crisis of European culture of the second half of XIX century, which pushed many artists on the path of flight from reality to subjectivism, mysticism. Eagerness to search pure beauty and pure aestheticism made symbolism a continuation of the line of romanticism and "art for art's sake". The theoretical roots of symbolism go back to the philosophy of A. Schopenhauer and E. Hartmann, to the work of R. Wagner, to the philosophy of life of F. Nietzsche and intuitionism. The aesthetics of symbolism has developed in the work French poets Stéphane Mallarmé, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine and Charles Baudelaire, whose collection of poems "Flowers of Evil" became the first artwork new style. The term "symbolism" was first used in 1886 by the poet J. Moreas. The Symbolists believed that reason and rational logic could not penetrate the world of "hidden realities", "ideal entities" and "eternal beauty". Only art can do this - thanks to creative imagination, poetic intuition and mystical insight. Symbolists believed that a poetic symbol is a more effective knowledge of the world than an artistic image. They also abandoned the belief in the original goodness of man and the conviction in the possibility of a rational organization of society - the postulates of rationalism. He was accused of the crisis of modern European culture with its dominance of evil and vice. Symbolists called themselves singers of decadence, decline and death of bourgeois culture. Protesting against positivism, naturalism and rationalism, the symbolists used the language of literature, painting, music, poetry, believing that it was inner life the poet, embodied in poetic speech, is closest to the absolute, unreal world of eternal Beauty. Therefore, the Symbolists sought to free art from the intellectual content, from what is comprehended by the mind, and not by the senses. They sought to search for elusive semantic nuances, psychological states, to the discovery of correspondences and analogies. Therefore, in symbolism, the ambiguity of images, the play of metaphors and associations, reaching the deliberate significance, encrypted content, exaggerated ecstatic images, are common. The Symbolists also considered the musical element to be the ancestral basis of life and art. So they enriched poetry with the principles musical composition, striving after Wagner to synthesize different arts. The picture of the world of the symbolists was a system of symbols that are in the ratio of hierarchical subordination. This was in many ways reminiscent of the Neoplatonic and Christian symbolic concepts of the world and culture.

Symbolism quickly became a pan-European trend in art, but it was in Russia that it acquired a deep philosophical meaning, set forth in D. S. Merezhkovsky’s book “On the Causes of the Decline and New Trends in Modern Russian Culture” (1893) and in an article by K. D. Balmont "Elementary Words on Symbolic Poetry". Russian symbolism began at the end

19th century as a consequence of the crisis of liberal and populist ideas, it was an expression of general decadent tendencies (the work of D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius). But since the beginning of the 20th century he switches to experiencing the problem of personality in history, its connection with "eternity", with the universal "world process". Love, melancholy, loneliness become for the Symbolists an indicator of the general tragic state of the world. And symbolism is conceived as “life-creation” that goes beyond art, as a matter of general cultural creation, designed to bridge the historical gap between people (A. Bely), between the artist and the people (Vyach. Ivanov). This connects symbolism with mysticism and the occult, making it a religious and philosophical movement. The evolution of symbolism is associated with the transition from the generation of “senior symbolists” (D. Merezhkovsky, V. Bryusov, K. Balmont) to “junior symbolists” (A. Blok, A. Bely, Vyach. Ivanov). In their work, the ideas of Vl. Solovyov about catholicity as a system of religious connection between people. These ideas were embodied in the discoveries of Russian symbolists in poetics - semantic polyphony, the reform of melodious verse, the renewal of lyric genres, and new principles of cyclization of poems.

Symbolism in literature was closely connected with symbolism in the theater, which proceeded from the idea of ​​a neo-romantic fusion of all the arts on the stage based on the musical principle. The Symbolist directors sought to emphasize the role of subtext in the drama more strongly, to intensify the musical rhythm of the performance, to make the performance a ritual action, in which the viewer would also be involved. Great importance also given to painting. Symbolist theater is characterized by the stylization of dramatic forms of the past - ancient Greek tragedies, medieval mysteries, as well as the complete dictates of the director. The major Symbolist directors were P. Faure, O. M. Lunier-Poe and J. Rouche in France, A. Appiah in Switzerland, G. Craig in Great Britain, G. Fuchs in Germany, and V. Meyerhold in Russia. Meter-link, Verhaarn, Ibsen wrote for the symbolist theater. One of the most successful performances was The Blue Bird by Maeterlinck, staged by K. S. Stanislavsky on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater.

Symbolism in fine arts was very heterogeneous and devoid of a single aesthetic program. Some features of symbolism (the desire to get away from the oppressive everyday life, to comprehend the world in its eternal beauty, to acquire the purity of the old art) were inherent in the work of the Pre-Raphaelists in England and neo-idealism in Germany. Until the end of the XIX century. symbolism in the visual arts was closely connected with literature, embodying literary allegories by means of classicism, romanticism, or a mixture of different techniques. At the same time, artists often combine natural, natural forms with fantastic, surreal visions. At the end of the 1880s. E. Bernard and P. Gauguin declare themselves symbolists. From this moment on, the symbol is increasingly expressed not by plot, but by the very form of the image. The new "symbolic" thinking is laid down mainly in the work of post-impressionists and becomes decisive among modernists who are trying to find single system symbols of the world, reveal the symbolism of each color, find the musical beginning in the rhythmic structure of the drawing and composition. A direct analogy between painting and music is characteristic of the work of the Lithuanian artist and composer M. K. Čiurlionis. In Russia, symbolism in painting is associated with the work of V. E. Borisovamusatov, as well as many artists of the World of Art, who, in their ideological orientation, are opposite to symbolism in literature. Close to the literature of symbolism was the work of M. A. Vrubel. Symbolism has become very complex and controversial phenomenon in the artistic culture of the turn of the XIX–XX centuries. It expressed both the expectation of grandiose changes and the fear of them, a call for the destruction of bourgeois culture and religious mysticism. Symbolism had a great influence on the artistic movements of the 20th century. - expressionism, surrealism, futurism, etc.

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The ancient peoples had a custom to separate, usually break, any thing or plate in two. When parting, each took one part for himself. As the years passed, people or their descendants, heirs recognized each other, connecting the two parts into a single whole.

In fact, this process is the prototype of symbolization in art. A symbol in literature is primarily a combination. It combines a physical picture and its transcendent, metaphysical meaning, which suddenly, suddenly begins to “shine through” through the ordinary real, giving it the features of a different, ideal being. In other words, a symbol in literature is a sign or an object that interferes with some other object, expressing it. hidden entity and at the same time being a conductor of a system of ideas or ideas about the world, characteristic of the one who uses this symbol; conditional expression of the essence of a phenomenon by means of appearance, the form of another object or even its internal qualities, in this case also becoming a "form". Losing its independent essence, the object-symbol or word-symbol begins to "represent" something completely different. So, "voluptuousness" for V. Bryusov is a symbol of communication in the very high sense of this word, merging, interpenetration of two people until they are completely dissolved in each other. In everyday use, this word has a different, much less "high" meaning.

Objects, animals, well-known phenomena, for example, natural ("Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky), signs of objects, actions, etc. can serve as a symbol in literature. Here are examples of symbols that have been stable in the history of culture: scales - justice, orb and scepter - monarchy, power; dove - peace, goat - lust, mirror - another world, lion - strength, courage, dog - devotion, donkey - stubbornness, rose - female beauty, lily - purity, innocence (in France, lily is a symbol of royal power).

All these objects, beings, phenomena, culture gives iconic character. Due to him, they are also the basis of such artistic technique like an allegory.

Lotus is a symbol of the deity and the universe among the Hindus. Bread and salt is a symbol of hospitality and friendship among the Slavs. Serpent - wisdom on the one hand and sin ( Old Testament) - with another. Cross - crucifixion, Christianity. Parabola - infinity. Morning symbolizes youth, blue color - hope (in the subject system, its symbol is an anchor). There are various series of symbols (objective, color, geometric, etc.). In different cultural systems various signs may receive different meaning. So, in the gospel system, fish is a symbol of Christ, in Newest time they acquire a sensual, erotic meaning. The artistic images of the heroes of literary works, due to their value existence in culture, also acquire the character of a symbol in literature (for example, Prometheus, Odysseus, Orpheus, Hamlet, Don Juan, Casanova, Don Quixote, Munchausen, etc.).

Structurally, the symbol is close to the allegory, also consisting of two parts, however, both of its components (both what is symbolized and what symbolizes) exist in reality, while in allegory one component is usually a product of fantasy. Always hidden in a symbol hidden comparison, the connection of the transformed phenomenon with the everyday situation (object), historical event (phenomenon).

AT fiction it can be considered one of the varieties artistic image, but usually it is perceived independently. It can be either an individual creation of one or another author (for example, Gogol’s “triple bird”) or common to two or more authors (Balmont and Brodsky have a poet’s speech as a symbol of his personality as a whole), or a universal cultural unit. Thus, the symbol of the connection between life and death is the journey to the underworld and the return from it, which occurs in the works of folklore. ancient peoples and appearing in the works of the authors of the New and Modern Times. This symbol was used, for example, by Virgil, Dante, J. Joyce, Bryusov and other poets. In addition to the connection of the two polar worlds, it means the initiation of the soul due to the receipt of a complex spiritual experience, her immersion in darkness and further purification, awakening.

Inside the main symbol, poets develop their own particular symbolic system (it can also be considered as a system of metaimages, see Image). Such, for example, is the "swallow" in Mandelstam's poetry, associated with a journey to afterworld and with the search for a lively poetic word(See the verses "What the Grasshopper Clock Sings", "Swallow", "When Psyche-life descends to the shadows...").

The same symbols in literature may appear in different authors, introducing new shades of meanings that are transmitted from one poetic generation to another. For the authors, they add up to a single system in which each link is connected with others, each time repeating an artistic logic that is different from the ordinary. Many are dedicated to symbols. the most interesting works scholars: suffice it to mention, for example, the book by A Losev “The Problem of the Symbol and Realistic Art” and V. Toporov “Myth. Ritual. Symbol. Image".

Symbolism (from French word«symbolisme) is one of the largest trends in art(literature, painting, music), it arose in France in the 70-80s years XIX century, and reached its peak in France, Belgium and Russia in the early twentieth century. Under influence this direction many types of art have radically changed their form and content, changing the very attitude towards them. The followers of the symbolist movement, first of all, extolled the primacy of the use of symbols in art, their work was characterized by a mystical fog, a plume of mystery and mystery, the works are full of hints and understatement. The purpose of art in the concept of adherents of symbolism is to comprehend the world around on an intuitive, spiritual level perception through symbols, which is the only correct reflection of its true essence.

For the first time, the term "symbolism" appeared in world literature and art in the manifesto of the same name by the French poet Jean Moreas "Le Symbolisme" (Figaro newspaper, 1886), which proclaimed its basic principles and ideas. The principles of the ideas of symbolism are vividly and fully reflected in the work of such famous French poets as Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Stéphane Mallarmé and Lautreamont.

Poetic art at the beginning of the twentieth century, which is in a state of decline and has lost its energy, former strength and bright creativity in connection with the defeat of the ideas of revolutionary populism, urgently needed to be revived. Symbolism as literary direction was formed as a protest against the impoverishment of the poetic power of the word, created in order to return strength and energy to poetry, to pour new, fresh words and sound into it.

The beginning of Russian symbolism, which is also considered the beginning of the Silver Age of Russian poetry, is associated with the appearance of an article by a poet, writer and literary critic Dmitry Merezhkovsky "On the Causes of Decline and New Trends in Modern Russian Literature" (1892). And although symbolism originated in Europe, it was in Russia that it reached its highest flowering and the Russian Symbolist poets brought their original sound and something completely new, which was absent from its founders, to it.

Russian symbolists did not differ in unity of views, they did not have general concepts artistic understanding of the reality surrounding them, they were scattered and disunited. The only thing that united them was their unwillingness to use simple, ordinary words in their works, their worship of symbols, the use of metaphors and allegories.

Literary researchers distinguish two stages in the formation of Russian symbolism, which differ in time and in the worldview concepts of symbolist poets.

To the older symbolists who began their literary activity in the 90s of the XIX century, include the work of Konstantin Balmont, Valery Bryusov, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Fyodor Sologub, Zinaida Gippius, for them the poet was the creator of exclusively artistic and spiritual personal values.

The founder of the St. Petersburg symbolist movement is Dmitry Merezhkovsky, his works written in the spirit of symbolism: the collection "New Poems" (1896), "Collected Poems" (1909). His work differs from other symbolist poets in that he expresses in it not his personal experiences and feelings, as Andrei Bely or Alexander Blok did, but the general mood, feelings of hope, sadness or joy of the whole society.

The most radical and striking representative of the early Symbolists is the St. Petersburg poet Alexander Dobrolyubov, who was distinguished not only by his poetic creativity(a collection of innovative poetry "Natura naturans. Natura naturata" - "generating nature. Nature generated"), but by a decadent way of life, the creation of a popular religious sect of "volunteers".

Creator of his own separate poetic world, standing apart from the entire modernist trend in literature - the poet Fyodor Sologub. His work is distinguished by such a bright eccentricity and ambiguity that there are still no single correct interpretations and explanations of the symbols and images he created. The works of Sologub are imbued with the spirit of mysticism, mystery and loneliness, they shock and attract at the same time. close attention, not letting him go until the last line: the poem "Loneliness", the prose epic "Night Dew", the novel "Small Demon", the poems "Devil's Swing", "One-Eyed Dashing".

The most impressive and vivid, full of musical sound and amazing melody were the poems of the poet Konstantin Balmont, a symbolist early school. In search of a correspondence between the semantic sounding, color and sound transmission of the image, he created unique semantic-sound texts-music. In them, he used such a phonetic means of amplification artistic expressiveness as sound writing, used instead of verbs bright adjectives, creating his original poetic masterpieces, which, according to his detractors, were practically devoid of meaning: poetry collections“This is Me”, “Masterpieces”, “Romances without words”, the books “The Third Guard”, “To the City and the World”, “Wreath”, “All Melodies”.

The younger symbolists, whose activity dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, are Vyacheslav Ivanov, Alexander Blok, Andrei Bely, Sergei Solovyov, Innokenty Annensky, Jurgis Baltrushaitis. This second wave of this literary movement was also called Young Symbolism. New stage in the development of the history of symbolism coincides with the rise revolutionary movement in Russia, decadent pessimism and disbelief in the future are replaced by a premonition of imminent changes to come.

Young followers of the poet Vladimir Solovyov, who saw the world on the verge of destruction and spoke of the divine beauty that would save it, in which the heavenly vital beginning earthly, thought about the purpose of poetry in the world around us, the place of the poet in developing historical events, connections between the intelligentsia and the people. In the works of Alexander Blok (the poem "The Twelve") and Andrei Bely, one feels a premonition of impending, turbulent changes, an imminent catastrophe that will shake the foundations of existing society and lead to a crisis of humanistic ideas.

Creativity, main themes and images are associated with symbolism. poetic lyrics(World Soul, Beautiful Lady, Eternal Femininity) by the outstanding Russian poet of the Silver Age Alexander Blok. The influence of this literary trend and the poet's personal experiences (feelings for his wife Lyuba Mendeleeva) make his work mystical and mysterious, isolated and detached from the world. His poems, imbued with the spirit of mystery and riddles, are distinguished by ambiguity, which is achieved through the use of blurry and obscure images, fuzziness and uncertainty, the use of bright colors and colors is rejected, only shades and half-hints.

The end of the first decade of the 20th century was marked by the decline of the Symbolist movement, new names no longer appear, although individual works are still being created by the Symbolists. On the formation and development poetic art beginning of the twentieth century, symbolism as a literary movement had a huge impact, with their masterpieces poetic literature he not only significantly enriched world art, but also contributed to the expansion of the consciousness of all mankind.

Direction in the art of the latter thirds of XIX- the beginning of the twentieth century, which is based on the expression of intuitively comprehended entities and ideas through a symbol. The real world in symbolism is conceived as a vague reflection of some otherworldly true world, and the creative act is the only means of knowing the true essence of things and phenomena.

The origins of symbolism are in the romantic French poetry of the 1850-1860s, its characteristic features are found in the works of P. Verlaine, A. Rimbaud,. The symbolists were influenced by the philosophy of A. Schopenhauer and F. Nietzsche, creativity and. Of great importance in the formation of symbolism was Baudelaire's poem "Correspondences", in which the idea of ​​​​synthesis of sound, color, smells was voiced, as well as the desire to combine opposites. The idea of ​​matching sounds and colors was developed by A. Rimbaud in the sonnet "Vowels". S. Mallarme believed that in poetry one should convey not things, but one's impressions of them. In the 1880s, the so-called bands united around Mallarmé created. "small symbolists" -, G. Kahn, A. Samen, F. Viele-Griffen and others. At this time, criticism calls the poets of the new direction "decadent", reproaching them for being divorced from reality, hypertrophied aestheticism, fashion for demonism and immoralism, decadent worldview.

The term "symbolism" was first mentioned in the manifesto of the same name by J. Moreas (Le Symbolisme // Le Figaro. 09/18/1886), where the author pointed out its difference from decadence, and also formulated the basic principles of the new direction, determined the meaning of the main concepts of symbolism - the image and ideas: “All the phenomena of our life are significant for the art of symbols not in themselves, but only as intangible reflections of the original ideas, indicating their secret affinity with them”; an image is a way of expressing an idea.

Among the largest European symbolist poets are P. Valery, Lautreamont, E. Verharn, R.M. Rilke, S. George, features of symbolism are present in the work of O. Wilde, etc.

Symbolism is reflected not only in poetry, but also in other forms of art. Dramas, G. Hofmannsthal, later contributed to the formation of the Symbolist theater. Symbolism in the theater is characterized by an appeal to the dramatic forms of the past: ancient Greek tragedies, medieval mysteries, etc., the strengthening of the role of the director, the maximum convergence with other types of art (music, painting), the involvement of the viewer in the performance, the approval of the so-called. "conditional theater", the desire to emphasize the role of subtext in the drama. The first symbolist theater was the Parisian Theater d'Art, headed by P. Faure (1890-1892).

R. Wagner is considered the forerunner of symbolism in music, in whose work the characteristic features of this direction were manifested (the French symbolists called Wagner "the true spokesman of nature modern man"). With the symbolists of Wagner, the desire for the inexpressible and the unconscious (music as an expression of the hidden meaning of words), anti-narrativity (language system piece of music determined not by descriptions but by impressions). In general, the features of symbolism appeared in music only indirectly, as a musical embodiment of symbolist literature. Examples include C. Debussy's opera "Pelias et Mélisande" (based on the plot of the play by M. Maeterlinck, 1902), songs by G. Fauré to verses by P. Verlaine. The influence of symbolism on the work of M. Ravel is undeniable (the ballet Daphnis and Chloe, 1912; Three Poems by Stefan Mallarmé, 1913, etc.).

Symbolism in painting developed at the same time as in other forms of art, and was closely associated with post-impressionism and modernity. In France, the development of symbolism in painting is associated with the Pont-Aven school grouped around (E. Bernard, Ch. Laval, and others) and the Nabis group (P. Serusier, M. Denis, P. Bonnard, and others). The combination of decorative conventionality, ornamentality, with clearly defined figures of the foreground as characteristic symbolism are characteristic of F. Knopf (Belgium) and (Austria). The programmatic painting work of symbolism is the "Isle of the Dead" by A. Böcklin (Switzerland, 1883). In England, symbolism developed under the influence of the Pre-Raphaelite school of the 2nd half of the 19th century.

Symbolism in Russia

Russian symbolism arose in the 1890s as an opposition to the positivist tradition prevailing in society, which most clearly manifested itself in the so-called. populist literature. In addition to sources of influence common to Russian and European Symbolists, Russian authors were influenced by classical Russian literature XIX century, especially creativity, F.I. Tyutcheva, . special role philosophy played in the development of symbolism, in particular his doctrine of Sophia, while the philosopher himself was rather critical of the works of the symbolists.

It is customary to share the so-called. "senior" and "junior" symbolists. The "senior" include K. Balmont, F. Sologub. To the younger ones (began to be printed in the 1900s) -, V.I. Ivanov, I.F. Annensky, M. Kuzmin, Ellis, S.M. Solovyov. Many "Young Symbolists" in 1903-1910 were members of literary group"Argonauts".

The program manifesto of Russian symbolism is considered to be a lecture by D.S. Merezhkovsky "On the Causes of the Decline and New Trends in Modern Russian Literature" (St. Petersburg, 1893), in which symbolism was positioned as a full-fledged continuation of the traditions of Russian literature; the three main elements of the new art were declared to be mystical content, symbols, and the expansion of artistic impressionability. In 1894-1895 V.Ya. Bryusov publishes 3 collections "Russian Symbolists", where most of the poems belong to Bryusov himself (published under pseudonyms). Criticism greeted the collections coldly, seeing in the verses an imitation of the French decadents. In 1899, Bryusov, with the participation of Y. Baltrushaitis and S. Polyakov, founded the publishing house Scorpio (1899-1918), which published the almanac Northern Flowers (1901-1911) and the magazine Libra (1904-1909). In St. Petersburg, the Symbolists were published in the magazines Mir Iskusstva (1898-1904) and New way» (1902-1904). In Moscow in 1906-1910 N.P. Ryabushinsky published the magazine "Golden Fleece". In 1909, former members of the Argonauts (A. Bely, Ellis, E. Medtner and others) founded the Musaget publishing house. One of the main "centers" of symbolism is considered to be the apartment of V.I. Ivanov on Tavricheskaya street in St. Petersburg ("Tower"), where many eminent figures Silver Age.

In the 1910s, symbolism went through a crisis and ceased to exist as a single trend, giving way to new literary movements (acmeism, futurism, etc.). The divergence of A.A. Blok and V.I. Ivanova in understanding the essence and goals contemporary art, its connection with the surrounding reality (reports "On state of the art Russian Symbolism" and "Testimonies of Symbolism", both 1910). In 1912, Blok considered symbolism to be a no longer existing school.

The development of the Symbolist theater in Russia is closely connected with the idea of ​​the synthesis of the arts, which was developed by many symbolist theorists (V.I. Ivanov and others). He repeatedly turned to symbolist works, most successfully - in the production of the play by A.A. Blok "Balaganchik" (St. Petersburg, Komissarzhevskaya Theatre, 1906). The Blue Bird by M. Maeterlinck staged by K.S. Stanislavsky (Moscow, Moscow Art Theater, 1908). On the whole, the ideas of the Symbolist theater (conventionality, director's dictate) did not meet with recognition in the Russian theater school with its strong realistic traditions and focus on the vivid psychologism of acting. Disappointment in the possibilities of the symbolist theater occurs in the 1910s, simultaneously with the crisis of symbolism in general. In 1923 V.I. Ivanov, in his article "Dionysus and Pradonisism", developing the theatrical concept of F. Nietzsche, called for theatrical productions of mysteries and other mass events, but his call was not realized.

In Russian music, symbolism had the greatest influence on the work of A.N. Scriabin, which became one of the first attempts to link together the possibilities of sound and color. Striving for synthesis artistic means embodied in the symphonies "Poem of Ecstasy" (1907) and "Prometheus" ("Poem of Fire", 1910). The idea of ​​a grandiose "Mystery" that unites all types of art (music, painting, architecture, etc.) remained unrealized.

In painting, the influence of symbolism is most clearly seen in the work, V.E. Borisov-Musatov, A. Benois, N. Roerich. Symbolist in nature was the Scarlet Rose art association (P. Kuznetsov, P. Utkin and others), which arose in the late 1890s. In 1904, an exhibition of the same name of the group members took place in Saratov. In 1907, after an exhibition in Moscow, a group of artists of the same name arose (P. Kuznetsov, N. Sapunov, S. Sudeikin, and others), which existed until 1910.

Symbolism is a literary trend of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. It originated in France as a protest against bourgeois life, philosophy and culture, on the one hand, and against naturalism and realism, on the other. In the "Manifesto of Symbolism", written by J. Moreas in 1886, it was argued that a direct depiction of reality, everyday life only glides over the surface of life. Only with the help of a hint symbol can we emotionally and intuitively comprehend the "secrets of the world." Symbolism is associated with an idealistic worldview, with the justification of individualism and complete freedom of the individual, with the idea that art is higher than "vulgar" reality. This trend has become popular in Western Europe, penetrated into painting, music and other forms of art.

In Russia, symbolism arose in the early 1890s. In the first decade, the leading role in it was played by the "senior symbolists" (decadents), especially the Moscow group headed by V. Ya. Bryusov and publishing three issues of the collection "Russian Symbolists" (1894-1895). Decadent motifs also dominated the poetry of St. Petersburg authors published in the Severny Vestnik magazine, and at the turn of the century in the World of Art (F.K. Sologub, Z.N. Gippius, D.S. Merezhkovsky, N.M. Minsky). But the views and prosaic work of the St. Petersburg Symbolists also reflected much of what would be characteristic of the next stage of this movement.

The "senior symbolists" sharply denied the surrounding reality, they said "no" to the world:

I don't see our reality
I don't know our age...
(V. Ya. Bryusov)

Earthly life is only a "dream", a "shadow". Reality is opposed to the world of dreams and creativity - a world where a person gains complete freedom:

I am the god of the mysterious world,
The whole world is in my dreams.
I will not create an idol for myself
Neither on earth nor in heaven.
(F.K. Sologub)

This world is beautiful precisely because it “is not in the world” (Z. N. Gippius). Real life is portrayed as ugly, evil, boring and meaningless. Special attention symbolists showed to artistic innovation- the transformation of the meanings of the poetic word, the development of rhythm (see Rhythm of verse and prose), rhyme, etc. The "senior symbolists" have not yet created a system of symbols; they are impressionists who strive to convey the subtlest shades of moods and impressions.

The new period in the history of Russian symbolism (1901-1904) coincided with the beginning of a new revolutionary upsurge in Russia. Pessimistic sentiments inspired by the era of reaction in the 1880s and early 1890s. and the philosophy of A. Schopenhauer, give way to forebodings of grandiose changes. The "junior symbolists" - followers of the idealist philosopher and poet Vl. S. Solovyov, representing that old world evil and deceit on the verge of complete destruction that descends into the world divine Beauty(Eternal Femininity, the Soul of the World), which should "save the world", by connecting the heavenly (divine) beginning of life with the earthly, material, to create the "kingdom of God on earth":

Know this: Eternal Femininity is now
He comes to earth in an incorruptible body.
In the light of the unfading new goddess
The sky merged with the abyss of water.
(Ow. S. Solovyov)

Among the "junior symbolists" the decadent "rejection of the world" is replaced by a utopian expectation of its coming transformation. A. A. Blok in the collection "Poems about beautiful lady"(1904) sings of the same feminine beginning of youth, love and beauty, which will not only bring happiness to the lyrical "I", but also change the whole world:

I anticipate you. Years pass by
All in the guise of one I foresee You.
The whole horizon is on fire - and unbearably clear,
And silently I wait, yearning and loving.

The same motifs are found in A. Bely's collection "Gold in Azure" (1904), which glorifies the heroic aspiration of dream people - "argonauts" - to the sun and the happiness of complete freedom. In the same years, many "senior symbolists" also sharply depart from the mood of the past decade, go towards the glorification of the bright, strong-willed personality. This personality does not break with individualism, but now the lyrical "I" is a freedom fighter:

I want to break the blue
Calm dreams.
I want burning buildings
I want screaming storms!
(K. D. Balmont)

With the advent of the “younger ones”, the concept of a symbol enters the poetics of Russian symbolism. For Solovyov's students, this is - polysemantic word, some meanings of which are associated with the world of "heaven", reflect its spiritual essence, while others draw the "earthly kingdom" (understood as the "shadow" of the kingdom of heaven):

I watch a little, bending my knees,
Meek in sight, quiet in heart,
Drifting shadows
Fussy affairs of the world
Among visions, dreams,
Voices of other worlds.
(A. A. Blok)

The years of the first Russian revolution (1905-1907) again significantly change the face of Russian symbolism. Most poets respond to revolutionary events. Blok creates images of new people, people's peace(“They rose from the darkness of the cellars ...”, “The barque of life”), wrestlers (“They went to the attack. Right in the chest ...”). V. Ya. Bryusov writes famous poem"The Coming Huns", where he glorifies the inevitable end of the old world, to which, however, he counts himself and all the people of the old, dying culture. During the years of the revolution, F. K. Sologub creates a book of poems “Motherland” (1906), K. D. Balmont - a collection of “Songs of the Avenger” (1907), published in Paris and banned in Russia, etc.

More importantly, the years of the revolution rebuilt the symbolic artistic worldview. If earlier Beauty was understood (especially by the "junior symbolists") as harmony, now it is associated with the "chaos" of the struggle, with the elements of the people. Individualism is replaced by the search for a new personality, in which the flowering of the "I" is connected with the life of the people. The symbolism is also changing: previously associated mainly with the Christian, ancient, medieval and romantic tradition, now it turns to the heritage of the ancient “national” myth (V. I. Ivanov), to Russian folklore and Slavic mythology(A. A. Blok, S. M. Gorodetsky). The structure of the symbol also becomes different. An increasingly important role in it is played by its "earthly" meanings: social, political, historical.

But the revolution also reveals the “indoor”, literary-circle character of the direction, its utopianism, political naivety, far from the true political struggle 1905–1907 The main thing for symbolism is the question of the connection between revolution and art. When it is solved, two extremely opposite directions are formed: the protection of culture from destructive power revolutionary element(magazine V. Bryusov "Scales") and aesthetic interest in the problems of social struggle. Only A. A. Blok, who has greater artistic insight, dreams of great public art, writes articles about M. Gorky and the realists.

Controversy 1907 and next years caused a sharp demarcation of the symbolists. During the years of the Stolypin reaction (1907–1911), this led to a weakening of the most interesting tendencies of symbolism. The "aesthetic revolt" of the decadents and the "aesthetic utopia" of the "junior symbolists" are exhausting themselves. They are being replaced by artistic attitudes of "intrinsic aestheticism" - imitation of the art of the past. Styling artists (M. A. Kuzmin) come to the fore. The leading symbolists themselves felt the crisis of direction: their main journals ("Scales", " The Golden Fleece”) closed in 1909. Since 1910, symbolism as a trend has ceased to exist.

However, the symbolism artistic method has not yet exhausted itself. So, A. A. Blok, the most talented poet of symbolism, in the late 1900s - 1910s. creates his most mature works. He tries to combine the poetics of the symbol with the themes inherited from the realism of the 19th century, with the rejection of modernity (the Terrible World cycle), with the motives of revolutionary retribution (the Yamba cycle, the poem Retribution, etc.), with reflections on history ( the cycle "On the Kulikovo Field", the play "The Rose and the Cross", etc.). A. Bely creates the novel "Petersburg", as if summing up the era that gave rise to symbolism.

The last outbreak of activity of Russian symbolists is the days of October, when the Scythians group (A. A. Blok, A. Bely, S. A. Yesenin and others) again seeks to combine symbolism and revolution. The pinnacle of these searches - Blok's poem "The Twelve" lies at the origins of Russian poetry.