You have probably heard more than once about such a concept as “ silver Age" It refers to the period of the beginning of the 20th century, but it would be incorrect to say that this name directly concerns the entire history of the beginning of this century. And below we will figure out why the beginning of the 20th century is called the Silver Age.

What is called the "Silver Age"

People who love literature and poetry probably know that there was such a time as the “Golden Age”. This era included the activity of such talented people as, for example, A.S. Pushkin. But time passed, artists and poets passed away, and the Golden Age rolled towards its decline.

Fortunately, talented people have always existed and appeared on Russian territory. And the 20th century was no exception. The beginning of the century was marked by many new and fresh names who were distinguished by their skills, abilities, and bright minds.

Why was the beginning of the 20th century called the “Silver Age”

Due to the appearance of such a large number of talented people, it became obvious that a new century had begun for the development of literature and art. Of course, the “Golden Age” was already over, and modern history it would be inappropriate to approach her. Therefore, this period of heyday of spiritual culture received a different, but very similar name. This is how the beginning of the 20th century began to be called the Silver Age.

Chronological framework of the “Silver Age”

Of course, it is necessary to note what exactly is called the Silver Age in order to understand the chronology of this stage in the history of the heyday of Russian spiritual culture.

The history of this century began in the 90s of the nineteenth century. And the next 25-30 years, which stretched until the twenties of the 20th century, became a story that admirers of beauty, lovers of literature and art, know today as the “Silver Age”.

"Silver Age" in surnames

And in order to understand what kind of people the Silver Age gave to history, it is necessary to note some surnames that are familiar to perhaps each of us today, even if he is not a big fan of literature and culture.

This era gave us such people as:

• Anna Akhmatova;
• Boris Pasternak;
• Igor Severyanin;
• Alexander Blok;
• Marina Tsvetaeva.

And the best thing is that this list can be continued for quite a long time. However, you can find out its continuation yourself. How to get acquainted with the work of all these people. The main thing is that now you know why the Silver Age is called that.

The beginning of the 20th century entered the history of literature under beautiful name"Silver Age". This period marked the great rise of Russian culture, which enriched poetry with new names. The beginning of the “Silver Age” occurred in the 90s of the 19th century; it is associated with the appearance of such wonderful poets as V. Bryusov, I. Annensky, K. Balmont. The heyday of this period in Russian culture is considered to be 1915 - the time of its highest rise.
We are aware of the disturbing historical events of this time. Poets, like politicians, tried to discover something new for themselves. Politicians sought social change, poets sought new forms of artistic reflection of the world. The classics of the 19th century are being replaced by new literary movements: symbolism, acmeism, futurism.
One of the first alternative literary movements was symbolism, which united such poets as K. Balmont, V. Bryusov, A. Bely and others. Symbolists believed that new art should convey the moods, feelings and thoughts of the poet with the help of symbolic images. At the same time, the artist learns about the world around him not as a result of reflection, but in the process of literary creativity - at the moment of creative ecstasy sent down to him from above.

Shadow uncreated creatures
sways in his sleep,
Like patching blades
On the enamel wall...
Half-asleeply draw sounds
In the ringing silence...

This is how the most prominent representative of symbolism, V. Bryusov, described the feeling of the birth of a creative idea. He formulated the ideas of this literary movement in his work. In the poem “To the Young Poet” we find the following lines:

A pale young man with a burning gaze,
Now I give you three covenants.
First accept: don’t live in the present,
Only the future is the domain of the poet.
Remember the second: don’t sympathize with anyone,
Love yourself infinitely.
Keep the third: worship art,
Only to him, thoughtlessly, aimlessly.

But these covenants do not mean that the poet should not see life, create art for art’s sake. This is proven by the multifaceted poetry of Bryusov himself, reflecting life in all its diversity. The poet finds a successful combination of form and content. He's writing:

And I want all my dreams to
Having reached the word and the light,
We found the traits we wanted.

Symbolists are characterized by a focus on the poet’s inner world. For K. Balmont, for example, the external world existed only so that the poet could express his own experiences in it:

I hate humanity
I run away from him in a hurry.
My united fatherland -
My desert soul.

This can be seen in the following lines, where Balmont’s appeal to the inner world is reflected not only in content, but also in form (frequent use of the pronoun “I”):

I dreamed of catching the passing shadows,
The fading shadows of the fading day,
I climbed the tower, and the steps trembled,
And the steps shook under my feet.

In the poetry of K. Balmont one can find a reflection of all his emotional experiences. It was they, according to the symbolists, who deserved special attention. Balmont tried to capture in an image, in words, any, even fleeting, sensation. The poet writes:

I do not know wisdom suitable for others,
I put only fleeting things into verse.
In every fleeting moment I see worlds,
Full of changing rainbow play.

In a dispute with symbolism, a new literary movement of the “Silver Age” was born - Acmeism. Poets of this movement - N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam - rejected the craving of symbolism for the unknown, the poet’s excessive concentration on the inner world. They preached the idea of ​​display real life, the poet’s appeal to what can be known. And by reflecting reality, the Acmeist artist becomes involved in it.
And indeed, in the works of Nikolai Gumilyov we find, first of all, a reflection of the surrounding world in all its colors. In his poetry we find exotic landscapes and customs of Africa. The poet penetrates deeply into the world of legends and traditions of Abyssinia, Rome, Egypt. The following lines speak about this:

I know funny tales mysterious countries
About the black maiden, about the passion of the young leader,
But you inhaled the heavy fog for too long,
You don't want to believe in anything other than rain.
And how can I tell you about the tropical garden,
About slender palm trees, about the smell of incredible herbs.
You are crying? Listen... far away, on the lake
Chad Exquisite Giraffe Wanders
.
Each poem by Gumilev opens up a new facet of the poet’s views, his moods, and his vision of the world. For example, in the poem “Captains” he appears before us as a singer of courage, risk, courage. The poet sings a hymn to people who challenge fate and the elements:

The swift-winged ones are led by captains -
Discoverers of new lands,
For those who are not afraid of hurricanes,
Who has experienced malstroms and shoals.
Whose is not the dust of lost charters -
The salt of the sea soaks my chest,
Who is the needle on the torn map
Marks his daring path.

Contents and sophisticated style Gumilyov's poems help us feel the fullness of life. They are confirmation that a person himself can create a bright, colorful world, moving away from the gray everyday life.
The poetry of Anna Akhmatova also introduces us to the world of beauty. Her poems amaze with the inner strength of feeling. Akhmatova’s poetry is both a confession of a woman’s soul in love and the feelings of a person living with all the passions of the 20th century. According to O. Mandelstam, Akhmatova “brought to Russian lyrics all the enormous complexity and psychological richness of the Russian novel of the 19th century.” Indeed, Akhmatova’s love lyrics are perceived as a huge novel in which many human destinies are intertwined. But most often we come across the image of a woman thirsting for love and happiness:

You can't confuse real tenderness
With nothing, and she is quiet.
You are in vain carefully wrapping
My shoulders and chest are covered in fur.
And in vain are the words submissive
You're talking about first love.
How do I know these stubborn
Your unsatisfied glances!

The new literary movement of the “Silver Age”, Futurism, which replaced Acmeism, was distinguished by its aggressive opposition to the traditional verses of the classical poets. The first collection of futurists was called “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.” The early work of Vladimir Mayakovsky was associated with futurism. In the poet's early poems one can sense a desire to amaze the reader with the unusualness of his vision of the world. For example, in the poem “Night” Mayakovsky uses an unexpected comparison. The poet associates the illuminated windows of the night city with a fan of maps. The image of a city-player appears in the reader’s mind:

The crimson and white are discarded and crumpled,
They threw handfuls of ducats into the green,
And the black palms of the converging windows
Burning yellow cards were handed out.

Futurist poets V. Mayakovsky, V. Khlebnikov, V. Kamensky opposed themselves to classical poetry, they tried to find new poetic rhythms and images, to create the poetry of the future.
The poetry of the “Silver Age” reveals to us a unique and amazing world of beauty and harmony. She teaches us to see the beauty in the ordinary, to better understand the inner world of a person. And the searches by the “Silver Age” poets for new poetic forms, their rethinking of the role of creativity, give us a deeper understanding of poetry.

"Silver Age"... The atmosphere of this period was created not only by the creative artists themselves. But also the organizers artistic life, famous philanthropists. If you believe the legend, this golden page of Russian culture was called the “Silver Age” philosopher Nikolay Berdyaev. The poetry of the “Silver Age” was marked by a spiritual surge unprecedented in the history of culture. We know only a small part of the cultural wealth accumulated by humanity. Poets and philosophers of the “Silver Age” strove to master all layers of world culture.

It is customary to define the boundaries of the “Silver Age” by just a quarter of a century: 1890-1913. However, these boundaries are highly controversial on both sides. In scientific works, the beginning is usually taken to be the middle of 1890 - Merezhkovsky and early Bryusov. Anthologies - starting from the time of the famous anthologies of Yezhov and Shamurin - usually begin with Vl. Solovyov, whose poetics were formed back in the 1870s. The collection “Sonnet of the Silver Age” opens with Pleshcheev. At the beginning of the century, Gogol, Tupgenev, and Dostoevsky were considered the predecessors of modernism. The symbolists placed at the origins of their school either Sluchevsky and Fofanov, or Aeschylus - and almost the poetry of Atlantis.

To the question: “When did the “Silver Age” end? a normal, average intelligent person will answer: “October 25, 1917.” Many will call 1921 - marked by the death of Blok and Gumilyov. But the poets of the “Silver Age” include Akhmatova, Mandelstam, Pasternak, Tsvetaeva, who created their poems both after 1920 and after 1930.

The work of some poets of the post-revolutionary era does not fit into the framework of socialist realism. Therefore, it would be more correct to determine the poet’s attribution to the “Silver Age” not by dates, but by poetics.

The poets of the “Silver Age” were interested in the poetic possibilities of the word, subtle shades meanings in poems. Epic genres are rare in this era: the poem “The Twelve” by A. Blok, “The Trout Breaks the Ice” by M. Kuzmin, but these works lack a coherent plot.

Form in the “Silver Age” plays main role, poets experiment with words and rhyme. Each author is clearly individual: you can immediately determine who owns certain lines. But everyone strives to make the verse more tangible, so that everyone can feel every line.

Another feature of the poetry of the “Silver Age” is the use of mystical meanings and symbols. Mysticism colored eternal themes: love, creativity, nature, homeland. Even small details in the poems were given a mystical meaning...

The poetry of the “Silver Age” is tragic, imbued with a feeling of universal catastrophe, motives of death, destruction, withering - hence the term “decadence”. But the ending is always the beginning, and in the minds of the poets of the “Silver Age” there is a premonition of the beginning of a new life, grandiose, glorious.

The complexity and ambiguity of the worldviews of the “Silver Age” gave rise to many poetic movements: symbolism, acmeism, futurism.

If you want to get more specific information about the life and work of poets and writers, or get to know their works better, online tutors are always happy to help you. Online teachers will help you analyze a poem or write a review about the work of the selected author. Training is based on specially developed software. Qualified teachers provide assistance in completing homework and explaining incomprehensible material; help prepare for the State Exam and the Unified State Exam. The student chooses for himself whether to conduct classes with the selected tutor for a long time, or use the help of the teacher only for specific situations when difficulties arise with a certain task.

website, when copying material in full or in part, a link to the source is required.

A new stage in the development of Russian culture is conditional, starting from the reform of 1861 to October revolution 1917 is called the “Silver Age”. This name was first proposed by the philosopher N. Berdyaev, who saw in the highest cultural achievements of his contemporaries a reflection of the Russian glory of the previous “golden” eras, but this phrase finally entered literary circulation in the 60s of the last century.
The “Silver Age” occupies a very special place in Russian culture. This controversial time of spiritual search and wandering significantly enriched all types of arts and philosophy and gave birth to a whole galaxy of outstanding creative personalities. On the threshold of the new century, the deep foundations of life began to change, giving rise to the collapse of the old picture of the world. Traditional regulators of existence - religion, morality, law - did not cope with their functions, and the age of modernity was born.
However, they sometimes say that the “Silver Age” is a Westernizing phenomenon. Indeed, he chose as his reference points the aestheticism of Oscar Wilde, the individualistic spiritualism of Alfred de Vigny, the pessimism of Schopenhauer, and the superman of Nietzsche. The “Silver Age” found its ancestors and allies in various European countries and in different centuries: Villon, Mallarmé, Rimbaud, Novalis, Shelley, Calderon, Ibsen, Maeterlinck, d'Annuzio, Gautier, Baudelaire, Verhaeren.
In other words, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries there was a reassessment of values ​​from the perspective of Europeanism. But in the light new era, which was the complete opposite of the one it replaced, national, literary and folklore treasures appeared in a different light, brighter than ever. Truly, it was the most creative era in Russian history, a canvas of the greatness and impending troubles of holy Russia.

Slavophiles and Westerners

The abolition of serfdom and the development of bourgeois relations in the countryside exacerbated contradictions in the development of culture. They are revealed, first of all, in the discussion that has gripped Russian society and in the formation of two directions: “Western” and “Slavophile”. The stumbling block that did not allow the disputants to reconcile was the question: along what path is Russian culture developing? According to the “Western”, that is, bourgeois, or it preserves its “Slavic identity”, that is, it preserves feudal relations and agrarian character culture.
The reason for highlighting the directions was the “Philosophical Letters” of P. Ya. Chaadaev. He believed that all the troubles of Russia were derived from the qualities of the Russian people, which were supposedly characterized by: mental and spiritual backwardness, underdeveloped ideas about duty, justice, law, order, and the absence of an original “idea.” As the philosopher believed, “the history of Russia is a “negative lesson” to the world.” A.S. Pushkin gave him a sharp rebuke, declaring: “For nothing in the world I would not want to change the Fatherland or have a different history other than the history of our ancestors, the way God gave it to us.”
Russian society was divided into “Slavophiles” and “Westerners.” The “Westerners” included V. G. Belinsky, A. I. Herzen, N. V. Stankevich, M. A. Bakunin and others. The “Slavophiles” were represented by A. S. Khomyakov, K. S. Aksakov, Yu. Samarin.
The “Westerners” were characterized by a certain set of ideas that they defended in disputes. This ideological complex included: denial of the originality of the culture of any people; criticism of Russia's cultural backwardness; admiration for Western culture, its idealization; recognition of the need for modernization, “modernization” Russian culture, as borrowing Western European values. Westerners considered the European to be the ideal person - a businesslike, pragmatic, emotionally restrained, rational being, distinguished by “healthy egoism.” Characteristic of the “Westerners” was also a religious orientation towards Catholicism and ecumenism (the fusion of Catholicism with Orthodoxy), as well as cosmopolitanism. In terms of political sympathies, the “Westerners” were republicans; they were characterized by anti-monarchist sentiments.
In essence, the “Westerners” were supporters of industrial culture - the development of industry, natural science, technology, but within the framework of capitalist, private property relations.
They were opposed by the “Slavophiles”, distinguished by their complex of stereotypes. They were characterized by a critical attitude towards European culture; its rejection as inhumane, immoral, unspiritual; absolutization in it of the features of decline, decadence, decomposition. On the other hand, they were distinguished by nationalism and patriotism, admiration for the culture of Russia, the absolutization of its uniqueness and originality, and the glorification of the historical past. The “Slavophiles” pinned their expectations on the peasant community, viewing it as the custodian of everything “sacred” in culture. Orthodoxy was considered the spiritual core of culture, which was also viewed uncritically, and its role in the spiritual life of Russia was exaggerated. Accordingly, anti-Catholicism and a negative attitude towards ecumenism were asserted. The Slavophiles were distinguished by a monarchical orientation, admiration for the figure of the peasant - owner, “master”, and a negative attitude towards workers as a “ulcer of society”, a product of the decomposition of its culture.
Thus, the “Slavophiles”, in essence, defended the ideals of an agrarian culture and took protective, conservative positions.
The confrontation between the “Westerners” and the “Slavophiles” reflected the growing contradiction between agrarian and industrial cultures, between two forms of property - feudal and bourgeois, between two classes - the nobility and capitalists. But hidden contradictions also worsened within capitalist relations - between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The revolutionary, proletarian direction in culture stands out as independent and, in fact, will determine the development of Russian culture in the twentieth century.

Education and enlightenment

In 1897, the All-Russian population census was carried out. According to the census, in Russia the average literacy rate was 21.1%: men - 29.3%, women - 13.1%, about 1% of the population had higher and secondary education. In relation to the entire literate population, only 4% studied in secondary school. At the turn of the century, the education system still included three levels: primary (parochial schools, public schools), secondary (classical gymnasiums, real and commercial schools) and high school(universities, institutes).
In 1905, the Ministry of Public Education issued a draft law “On the introduction of universal primary education V Russian Empire"for consideration by the Second State Duma, but this project never received the force of law. But the growing need for specialists contributed to the development of higher, especially technical, education. In 1912, there were 16 higher technical educational institutions in Russia, in addition to private higher educational institutions. The university accepted persons of both sexes, regardless of nationality and political views. Therefore, the number of students increased significantly - from 14 thousand in the mid-90s to 35.3 thousand in 1907. Further development received higher education for women, and legally in 1911 women’s right to higher education.
Simultaneously with Sunday schools, new types of cultural and educational institutions for adults began to operate - work courses, educational workers' societies and folk houses– original clubs with a library, assembly hall, teahouse and trading shop.
The development of periodicals and book publishing had a great influence on education. In the 1860s, 7 daily newspapers were published and about 300 printing houses operated. In the 1890s there were 100 newspapers and approximately 1000 printing houses. And in 1913, 1263 newspapers and magazines were already published, and there were approximately 2 thousand bookstores in the cities.
In terms of the number of books published, Russia ranked third in the world after Germany and Japan. In 1913, 106.8 million copies of books were published in Russian alone. The largest book publishers are A.S. Suvorin in St. Petersburg and I.D. Sytin in Moscow contributed to introducing people to literature by publishing books on affordable prices: “cheap library” by Suvorin and “library for self-education” by Sytin.
The process of enlightenment was intensive and successful, and the number of the reading public grew rapidly. This is evidenced by the fact that at the end of the 19th century. there were approximately 500 public libraries and about 3 thousand zemstvo public reading rooms, and already in 1914 there were about 76 thousand different public libraries in Russia.
An equally important role in the development of culture was played by “illusion” - cinema, which appeared in St. Petersburg literally a year after its invention in France. By 1914 Russia already had 4,000 cinemas, which showed not only foreign but also domestic films. The need for them was so great that between 1908 and 1917 more than two thousand new feature films were produced. In 1911-1913 V.A. Starevich created the world's first three-dimensional animations.

The science

The 19th century brings significant successes in the development of domestic science: it claims equality with Western European science, and sometimes even superiority. It is impossible not to mention a number of works by Russian scientists that led to world-class achievements. D. I. Mendeleev discovers in 1869 periodic table chemical elements. A. G. Stoletov in 1888-1889 establishes the laws of the photoelectric effect. In 1863, I. M. Sechenov’s work “Reflexes of the Brain” was published. K. A. Timiryazev founded the Russian school of plant physiology. P. N. Yablochkov creates an electric arc light bulb, A. N. Lodygin creates an incandescent light bulb. A. S. Popov invents radiotelegraph. A. F. Mozhaisky and N. E. Zhukovsky laid the foundations of aviation with their research in the field of aerodynamics, and K. E. Tsiolkovsky is known as the founder of astronautics. P.N. Lebedev is the founder of research in the field of ultrasound. I. I. Mechnikov explores the field of comparative pathology, microbiology and immunology. The foundations of new sciences - biochemistry, biogeochemistry, radiogeology - were laid by V.I. Vernadsky. And this is not a complete list of people who have made an invaluable contribution to the development of science and technology. The significance of scientific foresight and a number of fundamental scientific problems posed by scientists at the beginning of the century is becoming clear only now.
The humanities were greatly influenced by the processes taking place in natural science. Humanities scientists like V.O. Klyuchevsky, S.F. Platonov, S.A. Vengerov and others worked fruitfully in the field of economics, history, and literary criticism. Idealism has become widespread in philosophy. Russian religious philosophy, with its search for ways to combine the material and spiritual, the establishment of a “new” religious consciousness, was perhaps the most important area not only of science, ideological struggle, but also of all culture.
The foundations of the religious and philosophical Renaissance, which marked the “Silver Age” of Russian culture, were laid by V.S. Soloviev. His system is an experience of synthesis of religion, philosophy and science, “and it is not Christian doctrine that is enriched by him at the expense of philosophy, but on the contrary, he introduces Christian ideas into philosophy and with them enriches and fertilizes philosophical thought” (V.V. Zenkovsky). Possessing a brilliant literary talent, he made philosophical problems accessible to wide circles of Russian society; moreover, he brought Russian thought to universal spaces.
This period, marked by a whole constellation of brilliant thinkers - N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, D.S. Merezhkovsky, G.P. Fedotov, P.A. Florensky and others largely determined the direction of development of culture, philosophy, and ethics not only in Russia, but also in the West.

Spiritual quest

During the “Silver Age” people are looking for new foundations for their spiritual and religious life. All kinds of mystical teachings are very widespread. The new mysticism willingly sought its roots in the old, in the mysticism of the Alexander era. Just as a hundred years earlier, the teachings of Freemasonry, Skoptchestvo, the Russian schism and other mystics became popular. Many creative people of that time took part in mystical rituals, although not all of them fully believed in their content. V. Bryusov, Andrei Bely, D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius, N. Berdyaev and many others were fond of magical experiments.
Theurgy occupied a special place among the mystical rites that spread at the beginning of the twentieth century. Theurgy was conceived “as a one-time mystical act, which must be prepared by the spiritual efforts of individuals, but, once accomplished, irreversibly changes human nature as such” (A. Etkind). The subject of my dream was real transformation each person and the entire society as a whole. In a narrow sense, the tasks of theurgy were understood in almost the same way as the tasks of therapy. We also find the idea of ​​the need to create a “new man” in such revolutionary figures as Lunacharsky and Bukharin. A parody of theurgy is presented in the works of Bulgakov.
The “Silver Age” is a time of opposition. The main opposition of this period is the opposition of nature and culture. Vladimir Solovyov, philosopher who a huge impact on the formation of the ideas of the “Silver Age”, he believed that the victory of culture over nature would lead to immortality, since “death is a clear victory of meaninglessness over meaning, chaos over space.” Theurgy was ultimately supposed to lead to victory over death.
In addition, the problems of death and love were closely connected. “Love and death become the main and almost the only forms of human existence, the main means of understanding him,” Solovyov believed. The understanding of love and death brings together the Russian culture of the “Silver Age” and psychoanalysis. Freud recognizes the main internal forces, affecting a person - libido and thanatos, respectively sexuality and the desire for death.
Berdyaev, considering the problem of gender and creativity, believes that a new natural order must come in which creativity will win - “the gender that gives birth will be transformed into the gender that creates.”
Many people sought to break out of everyday life, in search of a different reality. They chased emotions, all experiences were considered good, regardless of their consistency and expediency. Life creative people were saturated and overwhelmed with experiences. However, the consequence of such an accumulation of experiences was often profound emptiness. Therefore, the fates of many people of the “Silver Age” are tragic. And yet, this difficult time of spiritual wandering gave birth to a beautiful and original culture.

Literature

Realistic trend in Russian literature at the turn of the 20th century. continued L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov, who created his best works, the theme of which was the ideological quest of the intelligentsia and the “little” man with his everyday worries, and young writers I.A. Bunin and A.I. Kuprin.
In connection with the spread of neo-romanticism, new artistic qualities appeared in realism, reflecting reality. The best realistic works by A.M. Gorky reflected a broad picture of Russian life at the turn of the 20th century with its inherent uniqueness of economic development and ideological and social struggle.
At the end of the 19th century, when, in the context of political reaction and the crisis of populism, part of the intelligentsia was overwhelmed by the mood of social and moral decline, decadence became widespread in artistic culture, a phenomenon in the culture of the 19th-20th centuries, marked by a renunciation of citizenship and immersion in the sphere of individual experiences. Many motifs of this direction became the property of a number of artistic movements of modernism that emerged at the turn of the 20th century.
Russian literature of the early 20th century gave rise to wonderful poetry, and the most significant direction was symbolism. For symbolists who believed in the existence of another world, the symbol was its sign and represented the connection between two worlds. One of the ideologists of symbolism D.S. Merezhkovsky, whose novels are permeated with religious and mystical ideas, considered the predominance of realism main reason the decline of literature, and proclaimed “symbols”, “mystical content” as the basis of a new art. Along with the demands of “pure” art, the Symbolists professed individualism; they were characterized by the theme of “spontaneous genius,” close in spirit to Nietzsche’s “superman.”
It is customary to distinguish between “senior” and “junior” symbolists. “The Elders”, V. Bryusov, K. Balmont, F. Sologub, D. Merezhkovsky, 3. Gippius, who came to literature in the 90s, a period of deep crisis in poetry, preached the cult of beauty and free self-expression of the poet. “Younger” Symbolists, A. Blok, A. Bely, Vyach. Ivanov, S. Solovyov, brought philosophical and theosophical quests to the fore.
The symbolists offered the reader a colorful myth about a world created according to the laws of eternal Beauty. If we add to this exquisite imagery, musicality and lightness of style, the enduring popularity of poetry in this direction becomes clear. The influence of symbolism with its intense spiritual quest and captivating artistry of creative manner was experienced not only by the Acmeists and Futurists who replaced the Symbolists, but also by the realist writer A.P. Chekhov.
By 1910, “symbolism completed its circle of development” (N. Gumilev), it was replaced by Acmeism. The participants of the acmeist group were N. Gumilyov, S. Gorodetsky, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, V. Narbut, M. Kuzmin. They declared the liberation of poetry from symbolist calls for the “ideal”, the return of clarity, materiality and “joyful admiration of being” (N. Gumilyov). Acmeism is characterized by a rejection of moral and spiritual quests and a tendency towards aestheticism. A. Blok, with his characteristic heightened sense of citizenship, noted the main drawback of Acmeism: “... they do not have and do not want to have a shadow of an idea about Russian life and the life of the world in general.” However, the Acmeists did not put all their postulates into practice, as evidenced by the psychologism of A. Akhmatova’s first collections and the lyricism of the early 0. Mandelstam. Essentially, the Acmeists were not so much an organized movement with a common theoretical platform, but rather a group of talented and very different poets who were united by personal friendship.
At the same time, another modernist movement arose - futurism, which split into several groups: “Association of Ego-Futurists”, “Mezzanine of Poetry”, “Centrifuge”, “Gilea”, the participants of which called themselves Cubo-Futurists, Budtulians, i.e. people from the future.
Of all the groups that at the beginning of the century proclaimed the thesis: “art is a game,” the futurists most consistently embodied it in their work. Unlike the Symbolists with their idea of ​​“life building”, i.e. transforming the world through art, the futurists focused on the destruction of the old world. What the futurists had in common was the denial of traditions in culture and a passion for form-creation. The demand of the Cubo-Futurists in 1912 to “throw Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy from the Steamship of Modernity” became scandalous.
The groups of Acmeists and Futurists, which arose in polemics with symbolism, in practice turned out to be very close to it in that their theories were based on an individualistic idea, and the desire to create vivid myths, and primary attention to form.
Were in the poetry of this time bright personalities, which cannot be attributed to a specific movement - M. Voloshin, M. Tsvetaeva. No other era has given such an abundance of declarations of its own exclusivity.
Peasant poets like N. Klyuev occupied a special place in the literature of the turn of the century. Without putting forward a clear aesthetic program, they embodied their ideas (the combination of religious and mystical motifs with the problem of protecting the traditions of peasant culture) in their creativity. “Klyuev is popular because it combines the iambic spirit of Boratynsky with the prophetic melody of an illiterate Olonets storyteller” (Mandelshtam). WITH peasant poets, especially with Klyuev, S. Yesenin was close at the beginning of his journey, combining the traditions of folklore and classical art in his work.

Theater and music

The most important event in the social and cultural life of Russia at the end of the 19th century. was the opening of an art theater in Moscow in 1898, founded by K. S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. In the production of plays by Chekhov and Gorky, new principles of acting, directing, and performance design were formed. An outstanding theatrical experiment, enthusiastically greeted by the democratic public, was not accepted by conservative critics, as well as representatives of symbolism. V. Bryusov, a supporter of the aesthetics of conventional symbolic theater, was closer to the experiments of V.E. Meyerhold, the founder of metaphorical theater.
In 1904, the V.F. Theater arose in St. Petersburg. Komissarzhevskaya, whose repertoire reflected the aspirations of the democratic intelligentsia. Director's creativity E.B. Vakhtangov was marked by the search for new forms, his productions of 1911-12. are joyful and spectacular. In 1915, Vakhtangov created the 3rd studio of the Moscow Art Theater, which later became a theater named after him (1926). One of the reformers of the Russian theater, founder of the Moscow Chamber Theater A.Ya. Tairov strove to create a “synthetic theater” with a predominantly romantic and tragic repertoire, and to develop actors of virtuoso skill.
The development of the best traditions of musical theater is associated with the St. Petersburg Mariinsky and Moscow Bolshoi Theaters, as well as with the private opera of S. I. Mamontov and S. I. Zimin in Moscow. The most prominent representatives of the Russian vocal school, world-class singers were F.I. Shalyapin, L.V. Sobinov, N.V. Nezhdanov. The reformers of the ballet theater were choreographer M.M. Fokin and ballerina A.P. Pavlova. Russian art has received worldwide recognition.
Outstanding composer N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov continued to work in his favorite genre of fairy tale opera. The highest example of realistic drama was his opera The Tsar's Bride (1898). He, being a professor of composition at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, trained a whole galaxy of talented students: A.K. Glazunov, A.K. Lyadov, N.Ya. Myaskovsky and others.
In the works of composers of the younger generation at the turn of the 20th century. There was a shift away from social issues and an increase in interest in philosophical and ethical problems. This found its most complete expression in the work of the brilliant pianist and conductor, the outstanding composer S. V. Rachmaninov; in the emotionally intense music of A.N., with sharp features of modernism. Scriabin; in the works of I.F. Stravinsky, which harmoniously combined interest in folklore and the most modern musical forms.

Architecture

The era of industrial progress at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. made a real revolution in construction. New types of buildings, such as banks, shops, factories, and train stations, occupied an increasing place in the urban landscape. The emergence of new building materials (reinforced concrete, metal structures) and the improvement of construction equipment made it possible to use constructive and artistic techniques, the aesthetic understanding of which led to the establishment of the Art Nouveau style!
In the works of F.O. Shekhtel embodied to the greatest extent the main development trends and genres of Russian modernism. The formation of style in the master’s work proceeded in two directions – national-romantic, in line with the neo-Russian style, and rational. The features of Art Nouveau are most fully manifested in the architecture of the Nikitsky Gate mansion, where, having abandoned traditional schemes, an asymmetrical planning principle is applied. The stepped composition, the free development of volumes in space, the asymmetrical projections of bay windows, balconies and porches, the emphatically protruding cornice - all this demonstrates the principle inherent in modernism of likening an architectural structure to an organic form. IN decorative finishing The mansion uses such typical Art Nouveau techniques as colored stained glass windows and a mosaic frieze with floral patterns that encircles the entire building. The whimsical twists of the ornament are repeated in the interlacing of stained glass windows, in the design of balcony bars and street fencing. The same motif is used in interior decoration, for example, in the form of marble staircase railings. The furniture and decorative details of the building's interiors form a single whole with the overall design of the structure - to transform the domestic environment into a kind of architectural spectacle, close to the atmosphere of symbolic plays.
With the growth of rationalistic tendencies, features of constructivism emerged in a number of Shekhtel’s buildings, a style that would take shape in the 1920s.
In Moscow a new style expressed himself especially clearly, in particular in the work of one of the creators of Russian modernism L.N. Kekusheva A.V. worked in the neo-Russian style. Shchusev, V.M. Vasnetsov and others. In St. Petersburg, modernism was influenced by monumental classicism, as a result of which another style appeared - neoclassicism.
In terms of the integrity of the approach and the ensemble solution of architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts, Art Nouveau is one of the most consistent styles.

Sculpture

Like architecture, sculpture at the turn of the century was liberated from eclecticism. The renewal of the artistic and figurative system is associated with the influence of impressionism. The features of the new method are “looseness”, lumpy texture, dynamic forms, permeated with air and light.
The very first consistent representative of this trend was P.P. Trubetskoy, refuses impressionistic modeling of the surface, and enhances the overall impression of oppressive brute force.
The wonderful monument to Gogol in Moscow by sculptor N.A. is also alien to monumental pathos. Andreev, subtly conveying the tragedy of the great writer, “fatigue of the heart,” so in tune with the era. Gogol is captured in a moment of concentration, deep thought with a touch of melancholic gloominess.
An original interpretation of impressionism is inherent in the work of A.S. Golubkina, who reworked the principle of depicting phenomena in motion into the idea of ​​awakening the human spirit. Women's images, created by the sculptor, are marked by a feeling of compassion for people who are tired, but not broken by life’s trials.

Painting

At the turn of the century, instead of the realistic method of directly reflecting reality in the forms of this reality, the priority of artistic forms that reflected reality only indirectly was established. The polarization of artistic forces at the beginning of the 20th century and the polemics of multiple artistic groups intensified exhibition and publishing (in the field of art) activities.
Genre painting lost its leading role in the 90s. In search of new themes, artists turned to changes in the traditional way of life. They were equally attracted by the theme of the split of the peasant community, the prose of stultifying labor and the revolutionary events of 1905. The blurring of the boundaries between genres at the turn of the century in the historical theme led to the emergence of the historical genre. A.P. Ryabushkin was not interested in global historical events, but in the aesthetics of Russian life in the 17th century, the refined beauty of ancient Russian patterns, and emphasized decorativeness. The artist’s best paintings are marked by penetrating lyricism and a deep understanding of the unique way of life, characters and psychology of the people of pre-Petrine Rus'. Ryabushkin’s historical painting is a country of ideal, where the artist found relief from the “lead abominations” modern life. Therefore, historical life on his canvases appears not as a dramatic, but as an aesthetic side.
In the historical paintings of A.V. Vasnetsov we find the development of the landscape principle. Creativity M.V. Nesterov presented a version of a retrospective landscape through which the high spirituality of the heroes was conveyed.
I.I. Levitan, who brilliantly mastered the effects of plein air painting, continued the lyrical direction in landscape, approached impressionism and was the creator of a “conceptual landscape” or “mood landscape”, which is characterized by a rich range of experiences: from joyful elation to philosophical reflections on the frailty of all earthly things.
K.A. Korovin is the most prominent representative of Russian impressionism, the first among Russian artists to consciously rely on the French impressionists, increasingly moving away from the traditions of the Moscow school of painting with its psychologism and even dramatism, trying to convey one or another state of mind with the music of color. He created a series of landscapes, not complicated by any external plot-narrative or psychological motives. In the 1910s, under the influence of theatrical practice, Korovin came to a bright, intense style of painting, especially in the artist’s favorite still lifes. With all his art, the artist affirmed the intrinsic value of purely pictorial tasks; he made people appreciate the “charm of incompleteness”, the “study quality” of the painting manner. Korovin’s canvases are a “feast for the eyes.”
The central figure of turn-of-the-century art is V.A. Serov. His mature works, with impressionistic luminosity and the dynamics of free strokes, marked a turn from the critical realism of the Wanderers to “poetic realism” (D.V. Sarabyanov). The artist worked in different genres, but his talent as a portrait painter, endowed with a keen sense of beauty and the ability for sober analysis, is especially significant. The search for the laws of artistic transformation of reality, the desire for symbolic generalizations led to a change in artistic language: from the impressionistic authenticity of the paintings of the 80-90s to the conventions of modernity in historical compositions.
One after another, two masters of pictorial symbolism entered Russian culture, creating a sublime world in their works - M.A. Vrubel and V.E. Borisov-Musatov. The central image of Vrubel’s work is the Demon, who embodied the rebellious impulse that the artist himself experienced and felt in his best contemporaries. The artist's art is characterized by a desire to pose philosophical problems. His thoughts about truth and beauty, about the high purpose of art are sharp and dramatic, in his inherent symbolic form. Gravitating towards the symbolic-philosophical generalization of images, Vrubel developed his own pictorial language - a broad stroke of “crystalline” shape and color, understood as colored light. The colors, sparkling like gems, enhance the feeling of special spirituality inherent in the artist’s works.
The art of the lyricist and dreamer Borisov-Musatov is reality transformed into a poetic symbol. Like Vrubel, Borisov-Musatov created in his canvases a beautiful and sublime world, built according to the laws of beauty and so different from the surrounding one. Borisov-Musatov’s art is imbued with sad reflection and quiet sorrow, the feelings experienced by many people of that time, “when society was yearning for renewal, and many did not know where to look for it.” His style developed from impressionistic light-air effects to a pictorial and decorative version of post-impressionism. In Russian artistic culture at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Borisov-Musatov’s creativity is one of the most striking and large-scale phenomena.
Far from modern themes, “dreamy retrospectivism” is the main theme of the association of St. Petersburg artists “World of Art”. Rejecting academic-salon art and the tendentiousness of the Wanderers, relying on the poetics of symbolism, the “MirIskusniks” searched for an artistic image in the past. For such an open rejection of modern reality, the “Mir Iskusstiki” were criticized from all sides, accusing them of fleeing to the past - passeism, decadence, and antidemocratism. However, the emergence of such an artistic movement was not an accident. “The World of Art” was a unique response of the Russian creative intelligentsia to the general politicization of culture at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. and excessive publicity visual arts.
Creativity N.K. Roerich is drawn to pagan Slavic and Scandinavian antiquity. The basis of his painting has always been landscape, often directly from nature. The features of Roerich’s landscape are associated both with the assimilation of the experience of the Art Nouveau style - the use of elements of parallel perspective to combine in one composition various objects, understood as pictorially equivalent, and with a passion for culture ancient india– the opposition of earth and sky, understood by the artist as the source of the spiritualistic principle.
The second generation of “World of Art” students included B.M. Kustodiev, a gifted author of ironic stylization of folk popular prints, Z.E. Serebryakova, who professed the aesthetics of neoclassicism.
The merit of the “World of Art” was the creation of highly artistic book graphics, printmaking, new criticism, and extensive publishing and exhibition activities.
Moscow participants in the exhibitions, opposing the Westernism of the “World of Art” with national themes and graphic stylistics with an appeal to the plein air, established the exhibition association “Union of Russian Artists”. In the depths of the “Union” the Russian version of impressionism and an original synthesis of the everyday genre with the architectural landscape developed.
The artists of the “Jack of Diamonds” association (1910-1916), turning to the aesthetics of post-impressionism, fauvism and cubism, as well as the techniques of Russian popular prints and folk toys, solved the problems of identifying the materiality of nature and constructing forms with color. Basic principle their art was the affirmation of the subject as opposed to spatiality. In this regard, the image of inanimate nature - still life - was put in first place. The materialized, “still life” element was also introduced into the traditional psychological genre – portraiture.
“Lyrical Cubism” by R.R. Falka was distinguished by his peculiar psychologism and subtle color-plastic harmony. School of excellence, completed at the school by such outstanding artists and teachers as V.A. Serov and K.A. Korovin, in combination with the pictorial and plastic experiments of the leaders of the “Jack of Diamonds” I.I. Mashkov, M.F. Larionova, A.V. Lentulov determined the origins of Falk’s original artistic style, a vivid embodiment of which is the famous “Red Furniture”.
From the mid-10s, futurism became an important component of the visual style of “Jack of Diamonds,” one of the techniques of which was the “montage” of objects or their parts, taken from different points and in different time.
The primitivist tendency associated with the assimilation of the stylistics of children's drawings, signs, popular prints and folk toys, manifested itself in the work of M.F. Larionov, one of the organizers of the “Jack of Diamonds. The fantastic and irrational paintings of M.Z. are close to both folk naive art and Western expressionism. Chagall. A combination of fantastic flights and miraculous signs with everyday details provincial life on Chagall’s canvases are akin to Gogol’s subjects. The unique creativity of P.N. came into contact with the primitivist line. Filonova.
The first experiments of Russian artists in abstract art date back to the 10s of the last century; V.V. Kandinsky and K.S. became true theorists and practitioners. Malevich. At the same time, the work of K.S. Petrov-Vodkin, who declared a continuity with ancient Russian icon painting, testified to the vitality of the tradition. The extraordinary diversity and inconsistency of artistic quests, numerous groups with their own programmatic guidelines reflected the tense socio-political and complex spiritual atmosphere of their time.

Conclusion

The “Silver Age” became precisely the milestone that predicted future changes in the state and became a thing of the past with the advent of the blood-red year of 1917, which changed human souls beyond recognition. And no matter how much they wanted to assure us of the opposite today, it all ended after 1917, with the beginning civil war. There was no “Silver Age” after that. In the twenties, inertia still continued (the heyday of imagism), because such a wide and powerful wave as the Russian “Silver Age” was, could not move for some time before collapsing and breaking. If most of the poets, writers, critics, philosophers, artists, directors, composers, individual creativity and common labor which the “Silver Age” was created, but the era itself ended. Each of its active participants realized that, although people remained, the characteristic atmosphere of the era, in which talents grew like mushrooms after rain, had come to naught. What was left was a cold lunar landscape without atmosphere and creative individuals - each in a separate closed cell of his creativity.
The attempt to “modernize” culture associated with the reform of P. A. Stolypin was unsuccessful. Its results were less than expected and gave rise to new contradictions. The increase in tension in society occurred faster than responses to emerging conflicts were found. The contradictions between agrarian and industrial cultures intensified, which was expressed in the contradictions of economic forms, interests and motives of people’s creativity, in political life society.
Deep social transformations were required in order to provide space for the cultural creativity of the people, significant investments in the development of the spiritual sphere of society and its technical base, for which the government did not have enough funds. Patronage, private support and financing of significant public and cultural events did not help either. Nothing could radically transform the cultural appearance of the country. The country found itself in a period of unstable development and found no other way out other than social revolution.
The canvas of the “Silver Age” turned out to be bright, complex, contradictory, but immortal and unique. It was a creative space full of sunshine, bright and life-giving, thirsting for beauty and self-affirmation. It reflected the existing reality. And although we call this time the “silver” and not the “golden age,” perhaps it was the most creative era in Russian history.

1. A. Etkind “Sodom and Psyche. Essays on the intellectual history of the Silver Age", M., ITs-Garant, 1996;
2. Vl. Soloviev, “Works in 2 volumes,” vol. 2, Philosophical Heritage, M., Mysl, 1988;
3. N. Berdyaev “Philosophy of freedom. The meaning of creativity”, From Russian philosophical thought, M., Pravda, 1989;
4. V. Khodasevich “Necropolis” and other memories”, M., World of Art, 1992;
5. N. Gumilyov, “Works in three volumes”, vol. 3, M., Fiction, 1991;
6. T.I. Balakin “History of Russian culture”, Moscow, “Az”, 1996;
7. S.S. Dmitriev “Essays on the history of Russian culture early. XX century", Moscow, "Enlightenment", 1985;
8. A.N. Zholkovsky “Wandering dreams. From the history of Russian modernism", Moscow, "Sov. Writer", 1992;
9. L.A. Rapatskaya " Art culture Russia", Moscow, "Vlados", 1998;
10. E. Shamurin “Main trends in pre-revolutionary Russian poetry”, Moscow, 1993.

). This also includes authors from the Russian diaspora, whose work is also considered in line with modernism ( cm. LITERATURE OF RUSSIAN ABROAD). There is another approach that seeks to consider the entire border era as a single whole, in a complex interrelation not only of different literary movements, but also of all phenomena of the cultural life of this period (art, philosophy, religious and political movements). This idea of ​​the “Silver Age” has been widespread in recent decades both in Western and domestic science.

The boundaries of the designated period are defined differently by different researchers. Most scientists date the beginning of the “Silver Age” to the 1890s, some to the 1880s. Disagreements regarding its final boundary are great (from 1913–1915 to the mid-20th century). However, the view is gradually gaining ground that the “Silver Age” came to an end in the early 1920s.

In modern usage, the expression “silver age” either does not have an evaluative character, or carries a touch of poeticization (silver as a noble metal, lunar silver, special spirituality). The initial use of the term was rather negative, because the silver age, which comes after the golden age, implies decline, degradation, decadence. This idea goes back to antiquity, to Hesiod and Ovid, who built the cycles of human history in accordance with the succession of generations of gods (under the titan Crone-Saturn there was a golden age, under his son Zeus-Jupiter the silver age began). The metaphor of the “golden age” as a happy time for humanity, when eternal spring reigned and the earth itself bore fruit, received new development in European culture, starting with the Renaissance (primarily in pastoral literature). Therefore, the expression “Silver Age” was supposed to indicate a decrease in the quality of the phenomenon, its regression. With this understanding, Russian literature of the Silver Age (modernism) was contrasted with the “golden age” of Pushkin and his contemporaries as “classical” literature.

R. Ivanov-Razumnik and V. Piast, who were the first to use the expression “silver age”, did not contrast it with Pushkin’s “golden age”, but highlighted it in the literature of the early 20th century. two poetic periods (the "golden age", powerful and talented poets; and the "silver age", poets of less power and less importance). For Piast, the “Silver Age” is primarily a chronological concept, although the sequence of periods correlates with a certain decrease in the poetic level. On the contrary, Ivanov-Razumnik uses it as evaluative. For him, the “silver age” is a decline in the “creative wave”, the main signs of which are “self-sufficient technology, a decrease in spiritual take-off with a seeming increase in the technical level and brilliance of form.”

N. Otsup, the popularizer of the term, also used it in different senses. In an article in 1933, he defined the Silver Age not so much chronologically as qualitatively, as a special type of creativity.

Subsequently, the concept of “Silver Age” became poetic and lost its negative connotation. It was reinterpreted as a figurative, poetic designation of an era marked by a special type of creativity, a special tonality of poetry, with a touch of high tragedy and refined sophistication. The expression “Silver Age” replaced analytical terms and provoked debate about the unity or contradictory nature of the processes of the early 20th century.

The phenomenon that the term “Silver Age” denotes was an unprecedented cultural upsurge, a tension of creative forces that came in Russia after the populist period, marked by positivism and a utilitarian approach to life and art. The “decay of populism” in the 1880s was accompanied by a general mood of decline, “the end of the century.” In the 1890s, overcoming the crisis began. Having organically accepted the influence of European modernism (primarily symbolism), Russian culture created its own versions of “new art”, which marked the birth of a different cultural consciousness.

With all the differences in poetics and creative attitudes, the modernist movements that arose in the late 19th and early 20th centuries came from the same ideological root and had many common features. “What united the young Symbolists was not a common program... but the same decisiveness of denial and rejection of the past, “no” thrown in the face of their fathers,” he wrote in his Memoirs A. Bely. This definition can be extended to the entire set of trends that emerged at that time. In contrast to the idea of ​​​​the “usefulness of art,” they argued inner freedom the artist, his chosenness, even messianism, and the transformative role of art in relation to life. N. Berdyaev, who called this phenomenon “Russian cultural renaissance” (or “Russian spiritual renaissance”), described it this way: “Now we can definitely say that the beginning of the 20th century was marked in our country by a renaissance of spiritual culture, a philosophical and literary-aesthetic renaissance, an aggravation of religious and mystical sensitivity. Never before has Russian culture reached such refinement as at that time.” Unlike critics who preferred the expression “Silver Age,” Berdyaev did not contrast the beginning of the 20th century. Pushkin’s era, but brought them closer: “There was a similarity with the romantic and idealistic movement of the early 19th century.” He expressed the general feeling of a turning point, of transition, which reigned at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries: “A spiritual crisis was taking place among the Russian intelligentsia, the most cultural, the most educated and gifted, a transition was taking place to a different type of culture, perhaps closer to the first half 19th century than the second. This spiritual crisis was associated with the decomposition of the integrity of the revolutionary intellectual worldview, oriented exclusively socially; it was a break with Russian “enlightenment”, with positivism in in a broad sense words, was a declaration of rights to the “otherworldly.” It was the liberation of the human soul from the yoke of sociality, the liberation of creative forces from the yoke of utilitarianism.”

Apocalyptic aspirations, a sense of crisis both in life and in art, were associated with the spread of the ideas of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Spengler in Russia, on the one hand, and with the anticipation of new revolutions, on the other. Some movements recorded a state of chaos associated with the awareness of the “end” (expressionism), while others called for renewal and hoped for a future that was already approaching. This focus on the future gave rise to the idea of ​​a “new man”: the Nietzschean Superman and the androgyne of the Symbolists, the New Adam of the Acmeists, the “Futurist” of the Futurists ( cm. FUTURISM). At the same time, even within one direction, opposing aspirations coexisted: extreme individualism, aestheticism (in the decadent part of symbolism) and the preaching of the World Soul, new Dionysianism, conciliarism (among the “younger” symbolists). The search for truth, the ultimate meaning of existence resulted in various shapes mysticism, occultism, which was popular at the beginning of the 19th century, again came into fashion. A characteristic expression of these sentiments was the novel by V. Bryusov Fire Angel. Interest arose in Russian sectarianism (“Khlystovism” by N. Klyuev, individual motifs in the poetry of S. Yesenin, novel Silver Dove White). Turning inward, neo-romantic intoxication with the depths of the human “I” were combined with the rediscovery of the world in its sensually comprehended objectivity. A special trend at the turn of the century was new myth-making, also associated with the expectation of an emerging future, with the need to rethink human existence. The fusion of the everyday and the existential, everyday life and metaphysics is discernible in the works of writers of different directions.

At the same time, there was a universal desire to renew the artistic form and to master the language anew. The modernization of verse, begun by the experiments of the Symbolists, who introduced rare words and combinations into poetry, was brought to a poetic level by the Futurists. The symbolists, developing the legacy of Verlaine (“Music first!”) and Mallarmé (with his idea of ​​inspiring a certain mood, “suggestive” poetry), were looking for a kind of “magic of words” in which their special, musical combination would correlate with a secret, inexpressible content . Bryusov described the birth of a symbolist work in this way: “Words lose their usual meaning, figures lose their specific meaning - what remains is a means of mastering the elements of the soul, giving them voluptuous-sweet combinations, which is what we call aesthetic pleasure.” Bely saw in the “embodied”, “living” (creative) word a saving principle that protects a person from death in the “era of general decline”: “from under the dust of a collapsing culture we call and conjure with the sounds of words”; “humanity is alive as long as the poetry of language exists” ( The magic of words, 1910). Picking up the thesis of the Symbolists about the importance of the word for the construction of life, the Moscow futurists-“Budetlyans” proposed a radical approach to updating linguistic means. They proclaimed the value of the “self-existent word”, “the real word beyond life and vital benefit”, the need for word creation, the creation of a new, “universal” language. V. Khlebnikov was looking for the “magic stone of transformation of all Slavic words from one to another." A. Kruchenykh wrote: “the greatest expressiveness is achieved through chopped words and their bizarre, cunning combinations (abstruse language), and this is precisely what distinguishes the language of rapid modernity. V. Mayakovsky, who reformed poetry not so much with the help of “zaumi” as through the introduction of colloquial words, neologisms, and expressive images, also sought to “bring the future closer with the help of poetry.” The Acmeists, with a different meaning, called for valuing “the word as such” - in its completeness, in the unity of its form and content, in its reality as a material, like a stone, becoming part of an architectural structure. Clarity of the poetic image, rejection of the vagueness and mysticism of the symbolists and futurist sound play, a “healthy” relationship between word and meaning - these were the demands of the Acmeists, who wanted to return poetry from the realm of pure experiment to harmony and life. Another variant of the creative program was presented by imagism. The focus on a bright, unexpected image and the “rhythm of images” was proclaimed by the Imagists in their Declarations(1919). The basis of their method was the creation of a metaphor by connecting incompatible concepts and objects that are remote in meaning, “image as an end in itself,” “image as theme and content.”

Poetic achievements were developed and continued in prose. The “stream of consciousness” technique, nonlinear storytelling, the use of leitmotifs and montage as principles of text organization, expressiveness and even illogicality of images characterize the prose works of symbolism and expressionism ( Petersburg White, Drops of blood And Little devil F. Sologub, prose by E. Gabrilovich and L. Andreev).

In their own way, writers who continued the tradition of realism (A. Chekhov, I. Bunin, A. Kuprin, I. Shmelev, B. Zaitsev, A. N. Tolstoy) and Marxist writers (M. Gorky) met the requirements for updating the artistic form. . Neorealism of the early 20th century. embraced the creative discoveries of the modernists. Comprehension of being through everyday life is the main feature of this direction. Not just to depict reality, but to listen “to the mysterious rhythm with which world life is full,” to give contemporaries the necessary life philosophy called for the “new realists” theorist V. Veresaev. The turn from the positivism of the “old realists” towards questions of existence was combined with a change in poetics, which was reflected primarily in the “lyricization” of prose. However, there was also a reverse influence of realistic depiction, expressed in the “objectification” of poetry. This is how one of the essential features of this period manifested itself - the desire for artistic synthesis. Synthetic in nature was the desire to bring poetry closer to music, to philosophy (among the Symbolists), and to a social gesture (among the Futurists).

Similar processes occurred in other arts: in painting, in theater, in architecture and in music. Thus, symbolism corresponded to “total”, which extended to all visual and applied arts, as well as on architecture, the “modern” style (in France called “Art Nouveau”, in Germany “Jugendstil”, in Austria the style of “Secession”). Impressionism, which emerged as a movement in painting, created an equally powerful movement in music, influencing literature. The same can be said about expressionism, which gave equally significant results painting, music, literature, drama. And this also reflected the tendency towards synthesis, characteristic of that time. It was no coincidence that the appearance of such “synthetic” creators as the composer and artist M. Churlenis, poets and artists Voloshin, Mayakovsky, Kruchenykh and others.

The Russian theater experienced a special flourishing. Being basically synthetic, theatrical art absorbed influences coming from literature (drama) and music (opera and ballet). Through scenography he was associated with new artistic trends. Such artists as A. Benois, Bakst, M. Dobuzhinsky, N. Roerich turned to the design of dramatic, opera and ballet performances. Like other arts, theater refused the dictates of life-likeness.

At the same time, along with the desire for unity, there was a desire for differentiation, for a clear definition of one’s own creative program. Numerous “trends”, groups, associations that arose within each of the arts declared their artistic guidelines in theoretical manifestos, which were no less an important part of creativity than its practical manifestations. The situation in the successive directions of modernist literature is indicative: each subsequent one defined itself in repulsion from the previous one, affirmed itself through negation. Acmeism and Futurism, inheriting symbolism, opposed themselves to it on different grounds, while simultaneously criticizing each other and all other directions: Acmeists in articles The legacy of symbolism and acmeism And Morning of Acmeism, cubo-futurists in the program manifesto A slap in the face to public taste (1912).

All these trends were reflected in philosophy and criticism.

The creativity of the figures of the first wave of emigration, which transferred the cultural forms developed in Russia to “other shores”, developed in the same direction.

Thus, the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. can be considered as a special stage of Russian culture, internally holistic with all the diversity of its phenomena. It gave birth in Russia to a new consciousness of the “non-classical era” and a new art corresponding to it, in which the “re-creation” of reality was replaced by its creative “re-creation”.

Tatiana Mikhailova

Philosophy of the Silver Age

Conventionally, the beginning of the “Silver Age” in philosophy can be associated with the time between the two Russian revolutions. If before the first revolution of 1905 the Russian intelligentsia was more or less united on the issue of the need for political reforms (considering the form of government to be the main reason for the unsatisfactory state of affairs in the country and society), then after the introduction of basic constitutional freedoms in 1905, public minds were directed to the search for new forms of views to the world and life.

Philosophers and writers of this period for the first time comprehended the state of personal freedom and sought an answer to the question: “How to realize human freedom for his personal and social development?” After the revolution of 1917 and the civil war, most of the philosophers of the “Silver Age” found themselves in exile, where their interests were increasingly focused on the religious side of the life of the Russian Orthodox community abroad. As a result of this, such a phenomenon of spiritual culture of the 20th century as Russian religious philosophy arises.

Philosophers of the Silver Age traditionally include N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, B.P. Vysheslavtsev, S.L. Frank, N.O. Lossky, F.A. Stepun, P.B. Struve, V. N. Ilyina, L. P. Karsavina,

In 1907, the St. Petersburg Religious and Philosophical Society was created. During that period traditional themes philosophical and religious thought were developed in new literary forms. The era of the “Silver Age” of Russian culture is rich in experiences of expressing metaphysical ideas in artistic creativity. Such examples of “literary” metaphysics are the works of two writers and polemicists - D.S. Merezhkovsky and V.V. Rozanov.

The main platform for philosophers of the “Silver Age” was participation in literary and philosophical magazines (Logos, New Ideas in Philosophy, Put’ Publishing House) and collections. Collection Milestones (1909) (cm. MILESTONES AND VEKHOVTSY) has a pronounced ideological character. The authors - M.O. Gershenzon, Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, A. Izgoev, B. Kistyakovsky, P.B. Struve, Frank - wanted to influence the mood of the intelligentsia, to offer them new cultural, religious and metaphysical ideals. At the same time, the main criticism was the tradition of Russian radicalism. Meaning Wekh as the most important document of the era was a kind of change in the philosophical paradigm Russian society. But it is necessary to take into account that the main transition to religious and philosophical views occurred among Berdyaev, Bulgakov, and Frank much later, already in emigration.

The philosophers of the Silver Age had different destinies: some of them left their homeland along with the “white movement”, some were expelled from Soviet Russia and lived in exile, some were subjected to repression and died in Stalin years. There were also those who were able to fit into university and academic philosophical life in the USSR. But, despite this, the conditional association of these thinkers under the name “philosophers of the Silver Age” is legitimate on the basis of a combination of broad erudition, based on the European cultural tradition, and literary and journalistic talent.

Fedor Blucher

Literature:

Ippolit Udushev [Ivanov-Razumnik R.V.]. Look and Something. Excerpt.(To the centenary of “Woe from Wit”). – In: Contemporary Literature . L., 1925
Otsup N. silver Age. – In: Numbers, ed. Nikolai Otsup. Book 7–8. Paris, 1933
Veide V. Russia's task. New York, 1956
Otsup N. Contemporaries. Paris, 1961
Makovsky S. On Parnassus« Silver Age» . Munich, 1962
Kolobaeva L.A . The concept of personality in Russian literature of the turn 19 – started 20V. M., 1990
Gasparov M.L. Poetics« silver age" – In the book: Russian poetry of the “Silver Age”: an anthology. M., 1993
Memories of the Silver Age. Comp. Kreid V. M., 1993
Berdyaev N. Russian spiritual renaissance of the early twentieth century and the magazine« Path» (by the tenth anniversary« Paths"). – In the book: Berdyaev N. Philosophy of creativity, culture and art. In 2 volumes, vol. 2. M., 1994
History of Russian literature: 20th century: Silver Age. Ed. Niva J., Sermana I., Strady V., Etkinda E.M. M., 1995
Jesuitova L.A. What was called the “golden” and “silver age” in cultural Russia of the 19th – early 20th centuries. – In the collection: Gumilyov readings: Materials of the international conference of philologists-Slavists . St. Petersburg, 1996
Etkind A. Sodom and Psyche: Essays on the Intellectual History of the Silver Age. M., 1996
Piast Vl. Meetings. M., 1997
Imagist poets. – Comp. E.M. Shneiderman. St. Petersburg – M., 1997
Etkind A. Khlyst: Sects, literature and revolution. M., 1998
Bogomolov N.A. Russian literature of the early twentieth century and the occult. M., 1999
Hardy W. Guide to Art Nouveau style. M., 1999
Ronen O. The Silver Age as intent and fiction. M., 2000
Keldysh V.A. Russian literature« silver age» like a complex whole. – In the book: Russian literature at the turn of the century (1890 – early 1920s) . M., 2001
Koretskaya I.V. Literature in the circle of arts. – In the book: Russian literature at the turn of the century (1890 – early 1920s). M., 2001
Isupov K.G. Philosophy and literature of the “Silver Age”(convergences and intersections). – In the book: Russian literature at the turn of the century (1890 – early 1920s). M., 2001
Smirnova L.A. silver Age. - In the book: Literary encyclopedia terms and concepts. M., 2003
Mildon V.I. Russian Renaissance, or Falsehood« silver age» . – Questions of philosophy. M., 2005, No. 1