From Harry Potter to Kafka: how literature is studied in schools in different countries. Studying foreign literature at school

Discussions about literature lessons in Russian schools are ongoing. Recently, officials called for the return of “” literature to schools and now with new strength discussing what to read to children and what should be included in this very “canon”. What do high school students read in literature classes at schools? different countries peace? It turns out that in most Western countries there is not even an item with that name. But there is “native language” and “literature”.

For those who work at school and love their profession very much

Germany. Interpret, debate, defend

In Germany the school curriculum " native language» are developed at the regional level - each federal state may have its own. Children in German schools read less than in Russian schools, but in more depth. Start with modern works, and then they study the classics. An essay is the final part of a large preliminary work on mastering written speech. This is how the translator from German Vera Komarova, who together with her daughter moved from Moscow to one of the villages in Bavaria, spoke about the study of literature in Germany.

Classics in schools begin to be read from the 8th grade. “From the 9th grade, they must read Goethe and Schiller, as well as Hoffmann, Buchner, Lessing, Fontane, Storm, Hauptmann, Schnitzler, Kafka, Brecht,” Komarova lists. “Of course, there are modern authors too: Frisch, Süskind, Timm, Kehlmann, Schlink, Grass.”

From the 9th grade, German schoolchildren are required to read Goethe

In essays based on read works, the main thing is not knowledge of the content or biography of the writer, but the ability to interpret what you read, clearly express your thoughts, lead a discussion, and defend your point of view. “In the gymnasium, the texts studied become more complex year after year,” says Komarova. - Letter (private and official), report, protocol, newspaper article, public speech, report or presentation. Schoolchildren explore the literary means with which they were created, and try to write similar things themselves.”

France. The main thing is style

A huge role in the fact that the French managed to preserve their culture “was played by the absence of self-examination, self-condemnation, which is usual for Russians, and a reverent and creative attitude towards the national cultural tradition,” Vasily Knyazev said on the pages of the newspaper “September 1”. “This respect, along with a readiness for dialogue, is brought up in France from school,” he writes. “Literature lessons in a French school are important precisely because they place a person in the context of language and culture.”

The Ministry of Education quite strictly regulates the list of literature for exams, but the teachers themselves formulate the program. In France, as in Germany, the personality of the author of the work is not considered paramount. The emphasis is on the style and language of the book. “Already in the first lessons in college, children are given the task: to complete a passage in the style of Moliere, in the style of Racine, in the style of Voltaire,” says Knyazev.

In high school there is an emphasis on philological analysis works. At the same time, the teachers leave fundamental works in volume to the students - if they want, they will read them. And you can evaluate the elegance of literature by passages or small works.

In French colleges, children are given the task of completing a passage in the style of Voltaire.

“French teachers say that they are especially pleased when students show a sense of language, interest and attraction to the beauty of the statement,” writes the author of the publication. - For example, a boy or a girl says: “Georges Simenon?” Francoise Sagan? Well, it may be interesting, but it's poorly written. You stumble over every word." And instead of reading detectives from the “black series” or romance novels, he recites Ronsard and du Bellay.”

In addition, schoolchildren, like their peers in neighboring Germany, analyze parliamentary debates and recordings of old radio broadcasts. Literature lessons in French schools are often formed around certain topics: “Description of yourself”, “Declaration of love”, “City”, “Irony”. “My daughter in the last grade had, for example, the topic “Freedom of Morals” (Libertinage), during which they read excerpts from “Dangerous Liaisons” and the works of de Sade,” “September 1” quotes Alla Yarho, who taught for several years at the Sorbonne.

United Kingdom. TOAD and OWL

The National Curriculum is the name of the document that regulates the school curriculum in the UK. It is compiled by the English government and adjusted every few years. The plan does not contain specific instructions, only “necessary skills and knowledge.” Among them, for example: “at least one play by Shakespeare, one novel XIX century, published anywhere, and one fiction or dramatic work, written after 1914 in the British Isles."

There are no literature textbooks in Great Britain either. The teacher decides what to read to the student

“The curriculum says that children “should appreciate the depth and power of English literary heritage, writes Natalia Lizorkina on Ucheba.ru. - Therefore, teachers are advised to pay attention to classics, non-fiction authors and journalistic texts. Shakespeare is for the British, as Pushkin is for us, that is, “our everything,” and special emphasis is placed on his plays.”

“In literature, you need to write coursework about Shakespeare, about war poetry, about plays and short stories,” a Russian woman who studied in England shared her memories with Novaya Gazeta. - This is not very simple because of the language barrier. But you shouldn’t be afraid, because the English themselves don’t understand Shakespeare’s language.”

The British have a wide selection of literature - it could be Shakespeare, Dickens, or JK Rowling.

However, schoolchildren are taught to learn to write, think, and analyze junior classes, this is exactly what they focus on. “Immediately after learning the alphabet, schoolchildren write essays,” Tatyana Bogacheva, whose grandson studies in England, told Gazeta.ru. - First about myself, about my family. At the age of seven, Dima wrote fairy tales in class. The teacher tells how to build a plot, how to describe the characters and the setting, how to make the text expressive, what connections there are.”

Reading, in addition, is presented as a pleasure, hence the wide choice of literature - it could be Shakespeare with Dickens, or JK Rowling with Harry Potter. You are not forced to cram anything, and even during the exam you can take with you books based on which topics are asked. Exams, by the way, are just the same TOAD and OWL from Hogwarts. IN real world they are called GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) and GCE (General Certificate of Education).

USA. 10 books and 10 criteria

“Teachers have a responsibility to embrace the diversity of worldviews of their students,” says the preview to the Polk County Public Schools recommended reading list. This list is formed before August 31 of each year, and it must contain at least 10 books, selected according to 10 criteria. The recommended list is large: it contains dozens of authors and works. The authors are mostly American or British. But there is also Pasternak, and Tolstoy, and Turgenev, and Dostoevsky. And also Remarque, Poe, Moliere, Le Guin, Kafka, Homer, Hugo.

In addition to American or British authors, schoolchildren in the United States also read Pasternak, Tolstoy, Turgenev and Dostoevsky

In addition to being well-written and included in the lists recommended by leading American libraries, the book should, in its content, reveal fundamental themes for humanity and personality, inspire and enlighten its readers. About how literature is studied in American school, says LJ user hettie_lz. Hetty was born and raised in St. Petersburg, and then moved overseas. Her three children studied in the village of Palatine, Illinois, near Chicago. In order to “finish school somehow,” she writes, you need to study English for at least four years, which, in addition to the language itself, also includes literature. And in order to enter a “normal college,” a graduate must meet several requirements. For example, “read and understand literary works relating to different eras, societies and ideological movements,” as well as “be able to express one’s thoughts in writing in different topics" In addition, you need to “be able to listen and speak effectively in different situations” and “have the language skills necessary to receive and transmit a variety of information.”

Japan. Structuring thoughts

“The Japanese school cultivates the national spirit of the Japanese, forms in its pupils appropriate moral standards, lays down and develops in them the characteristics national character“, says the chapter on education in the book “The Japanese: Ethnopsychological Essays” by Vladimir Pronnikov and Ivan Ladanov. Interestingly, the school year in Japan begins in the spring, on April 1st. There is a unified educational and methodological manual in the country. According to him, second graders, for example, should “listen with admiration to the reading children's story and fairy tales; understand the development of events while listening short story; convey the content of what you heard in your own words, isolating main idea; be able to speak in front of the whole class; when retelling, observe the sequence of presentation; understand questions based on the content of what you listened to and answer them.”

Classical literature is a subject that appears in the schedule of the general education department high school second stage (kotto gako) for girls and boys aged 15 to 18 years. "IN Japanese literature, studied at school, has no analogues, and there is no emphasis on long, grandiose epics like Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” writes Yuri Panchul in his LJ (his wife studied at the Japanese school). “The Japanese are introverts, so the most meaningful novels (from the point of view of the Japanese public) involve the gradual structuring of the characters’ thoughts.”

And although textbooks in different schools may be different, there is something in common. For example, everyone reads “Kokoro” (“Heart”) by the writer Natsume Soseke. Everyone also reads Akutagawa's Rashomon, which was filmed by Kurasawa in 1950. “Modern Japanese consider Yukishi Fukuzawa to be the key thought leader and writer-philosopher,” Panchul writes. They teach and modern authors(XX–XXI centuries): Mukoda Kuniko, Haruki Murakami, Shiba Ryotaro, Seicho Matsumoto.

Alena Baltseva 01/18/2016 20007

If there is a schoolchild in your family, this is a great reason to re-read with him the most best books included in the literature program. We can bet that many works will open up to you from an unexpected side and will become a reason for frank conversations on important topics.

Everyone knows that in the novel “Fathers and Sons” Turgenev touches on the theme of generational conflict, but this work is much deeper. This is not only the story of the relationship between an eccentric son and elderly parents who dote on him and are at the same time afraid of him. This small book is about the conflict of worldviews, human values, the meaning of life.

Perhaps, rereading “Fathers and Sons” with your child, you will recognize each other there. Isn’t it a great opportunity to invite your child to an open discussion and learn from other people’s mistakes, even literary ones?

A censored novel written for prison bars, which caused a real storm in the Russian Empire and beyond - it seems that this is enough to intrigue a teenager, doesn’t it?

In many ways this philosophical work Nikolai Chernyshevsky is a response to Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons”. In Notes from Underground, his ideas were challenged by Fyodor Dostoevsky. And Lenin and Mayakovsky, for example, admired him.

So what is the mystery hidden in this book? Is the new society that Chernyshevsky wrote about possible? Try to figure this out together.

“Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right?” - this question tormented not only Raskolnikov, but at certain moments in life it arises before each of us. Is evil allowed for good? Does the criminal have a chance for redemption and forgiveness? The teenager must find answers to all this first of all together with his parents. Read Crime and Punishment together.

Admit it honestly: did you get through all four volumes of War and Peace at school without missing a single line about the war? If you answered yes, you can only envy your endurance!

In fact, Tolstoy’s epic novel has only two drawbacks that scare away schoolchildren: the abundance of quotations in French and its impressive length. Everything else is all about merit: a fascinating plot (love for girls, war for boys), dynamic storytelling, vivid characters.

Help your child consider all the beauty of this work. To make reading more fun, add an element of competition: who can finish the first volume faster? And the second one? How about reading the entire book to the end? You will not regret that you decided to re-read this great work.

“The less we love a woman, the easier it is for her to like us”, “We all learned a little something and somehow”, “We honor everyone with zeros, and ourselves with ones”, “But I was given to another and I will be faithful to him forever “- the list of catchphrases from this poem can be continued indefinitely. No wonder Pushkin considered this work one of the most significant works of his own composition.

This book contains the story of the first unrequited love of a romantic girl, the story of the idle life of a young dandy, the story of fidelity and self-denial. All this will appear before your eyes in colors if you arrange family readings according to the roles of this masterpiece of Russian literature.

Fonvizin's hysterically funny play about the Prostakov family won instant success on the day of its premiere at the end of the 18th century and continues to make readers laugh beginning of XXI. They say that Grigory Potemkin himself praised Fonvizin with the following words: “Die, Denis, you can’t write better”.

Why did this play fall into the category of immortals? Thanks to at least two quotes:

• “I don’t want to study - I want to get married!
• “Here are the fruits of evil.”

At the most, thanks to caustic satire exposing ignorance. Another brilliant story about the relationship between parents and children.

Quoting Griboyedov, “ happy hours They’re not watching.” Especially when you hold “Woe from Wit” in your hands, because reading it is a sheer pleasure. As Pushkin predicted for the work, almost half of the poems became proverbs.

This brilliant tragicomedy only scratches the surface love theme, denouncing sycophancy and servility. Important questions for every person, whether he is 15 years old or 40.

Most famous novel Gogol is a standard example of Russian ironic prose, a kind of “Odyssey” that describes the journey of the enterprising landowner Chichikov through the Russian province, an encyclopedia of archetypes.

To learn to recognize buns, manilas, boxes in life, it’s worth reading “ Dead Souls" back in my youth. And in order not to “lose your skill”, re-read it in adulthood.

The plot of this ironic, witty novel is indecently simple: for the most part main character lies on the sofa in an old robe, occasionally distracted by attempts to arrange his personal life. Despite this, Oblomov is easy to read and interesting.

Unfortunately, “Oblomovism” affects not only lazy bachelors just over 30, but also respectable fathers of a family already over 40, and originates in the minds of spoiled children under 18. In order to prevent this acute disease, read Goncharov with the whole family!

Unlike Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, the heroes of Chekhov's plays behave quite active work, but the result is still the same - indecision and mental anguish, which in the end do not lead to anything good. To cut down a garden or not to cut down? To lease land or not?

Indeed, what would you do if you were there? main character Ranevskaya's plays? Good topic for family discussion.

Orest Kiprensky, “Poor Liza”

This dramatic novel- a good reason to discuss with a teenager the ethics of relationships with the opposite sex, talk about male decency and maiden honor. Story poor Lisa who committed suicide because of the betrayal of her seducer young man, unfortunately, is repeated too often in real life in various variations, so as to consider it only a literary invention.

An epic work, the main character of which is the classic “bad guy”, the skeptic and fatalist Pechorin. "A Hero of Our Time" inspired romantic works Walter Scott and Lord Byron, as well as “Eugene Onegin” by Pushkin.

The gloomy main character will seem in many ways relatable to a teenager, and to a seasoned adult too.

Replenish your vocabulary with Ella Shchukina’s laconic phrases, learn to beg in several European languages, get a master class on turning a skin of dubious quality into Shanghai leopard fur, learn 400 relatively honest ways of taking money? Easily!

While a schoolchild will most likely see only a sparkling humorous story in the novel by a talented writing duo, his parents will appreciate the subtle irony of the authors.

Another work that is literally bursting with quotes. Re-read Mikhail Bulgakov’s brilliant satire to remind yourself and explain to your child that “devastation is not in closets, but in heads.”

Studying foreign literature in primary and high school as a means of forming universal communicative actions (from work experience).

Litvinova E. A., teacher of Russian language and literature

Municipal educational institution secondary school No. 84 Central region Volgograd

H.G. Wells, who visited Russia in 1920, wrote: “In this incomprehensible Russia, warring, cold, hungry, experiencing endless hardships, a literary endeavor is being carried out, now unthinkable in rich England and rich America... hundreds of people are working on translations, books , translated by them, are published and will be able to give new Russia such an acquaintance with world literature that is inaccessible to any other people.”

IN Soviet era Great importance was attached to the study of foreign literature. Thus, the high school program of 1927 was structured according to eras of style. Each topic, from class VIII, covered some important stage in the development of literature. We must pay tribute to the consistency with which the People's Commissariat for Education included Western classics in the school curriculum of those years.

In subsequent years, an increase program material did not make it possible to restore foreign literature to its previous volume. The quantitative reduction of material has given rise to a misconception about the place and significance of world literature in the secondary education system in general.

Thus, the most important direction in teaching Western European literature at school should be the study of its monuments in direct connection with Russian literature, since the latter did not develop in isolation from the world literary process, but was an organic part of it.

Russian literature has been included in the European literary process since approximately the middle of the 18th century, and already in the 19th century. It is impossible to imagine Russian and European literature isolated from each other. It is worth noting that the Russian classics themselves understood this well.

In one of the recently published letters from K.I. Chukovsky to V.A. Kaverin there is an important observation: “Let us not forget that Dostoevsky knew two foreign languages ​​perfectly, Turgenev - three, Herzen - four, Tolstoy - five, and all literature in these languages they studied the originals.” And not without reason, K.I. Chukovsky concludes from this: “All of them are great writers because they were introduced to world culture.”

In connection with the above, it is necessary to emphasize some features of the study of creativity foreign writers at school.

When selecting names sparingly, it is very important to concentrate and intensively use the time allotted by the program and consider, first of all, questions that cannot be raised on the basis of Russian literature alone. After all, the task is not for schoolchildren to receive unnecessary information, remember five more names and learn the content of five more works.

These names are intended to help introduce students to the world historical and literary process, to make them feel some broad patterns, so that everything learned in lessons about Russian literature fits into this process. The study of foreign authors should be organized in such a way that it becomes obvious to everyone - both teacher and student - that without these five names, schoolchildren’s understanding of literature in general will be impoverished. As a result of these lessons, a new concept of “world literature” will be learned.

Therefore, the very structure of a lesson on the work of a Western writer should be fundamentally different from the usual structure of a lesson on Russian literature. The lesson should be aimed at solving the problem main task, which is formulated above, is an introduction to the concept of world literature.

Now let me turn to the content of the lesson. What to study?

It should be noted that foreign literature is interesting to students, however, first of all, even the most active and inquisitive students have very fragmentary and largely random information about modern foreign literature. Many have read S. Lem, R. Tolkien, R. Zelazny, K. Simak, but may not have heard of B. Brecht. You also need to take into account that children read with particular interest works that touch on the fate of their peers.

So, I complete my literature study in 5th grade with a quiz lesson based on Mark Twain’s novel “Tom Sawyer.” The lesson involves preparation. I divide the class into 4 groups, and I try to do it according to the list. Next, I propose to choose a captain in each group, since they will have to speak for the team in a spelling competition (I propose to write complex names from the novel). 2 weeks before the lesson, I invite each group to choose an excerpt from the work to dramatize. As a rule, the lesson does not go smoothly. Since students are just learning to work in groups. Therefore, I invite them to evaluate the dramatization competition themselves and express their point of view: what they liked and why, whose performance was more interesting. But the most important thing is still the conversation about their peer Tom Sawyer, his adventures, about good and evil, about love, friendship, nobility.

In the 6th grade, in addition to the proposed works, I teach a lesson on the story by D. London “Where the Paths Diverge.” Students are not always able to answer the question: is Hitchcock right in saving a girl from the tribe and thereby putting his friends in danger. I raise this question in advance for consideration. As a rule, the class is divided into two groups, those who condemn Hitchcock, and those who consider his action to be correct. I first help each group formulate their pros and cons of Hitchcock’s action and formulate their questions for each group. During the discussion I try to bringcbring them to a common decision. I help the kids figure out that argument and discussion are not the same thing. Discussion is a process that changes under the influence new information. You must follow the discussion rules.

In this form, I teach a lesson on Cervantes’s novel “Don Quixote” in the 6th grade. I bring up for discussion the question: “Who is he, Don Quixote - a madman or a sage?” No less interesting and controversial for sixth-graders is the question of whether Matteo Falcone did the right thing by killing his ten-year-old son, Fortunato, for treason.

In the 9th grade, a lesson on studying Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet" can be conducted as a debate and discuss the questions: What is the character of Hamlet? Do you consider him a strong or weak-willed, active or passive person? Does Hamlet love Ophelia? If he loves her, then why does he behave so strangely with her? Also problematic issues can be proposed for discussion when studying Goethe's Faust. Why does Mephistopheles consider Margarita a sinner whose place is in hell, and the Voice from above justifies her? How does Mephistopheles make you feel? If sympathy, then why? Reveal the meaning of “Prologue in the Theater.” What requirements for theater and drama does Goethe put into the mouths of his interlocutors? Which one do you think is right?

Works of foreign literature, and above all “Faust,” make it possible to more fully reveal the concept of convention in art. Schoolchildren who paid most attention to realistic works were accustomed to highly assessing the persuasiveness of the motivation (for example, social conditions, psychological situations, etc.), usually dealt with a consistent depiction of the course of events, and therefore with a more or less accurate depiction of the passage of time and the relationship of historical time with events in the life of the hero. In Faust they will encounter a conventional time and a conventional place of action; The motivations here will also be different (in comparison with the motivations in the literature of the 19th century); to a certain extent, the characters and circumstances here are conventional.

The foreign section of the program takes us to the origins " eternal images" - Hamlet, Faust, and if you remember what you learned in the 6th grade, then to Don Quixote.

In 11th grade we study literatureXXV. Scientific and pedagogical approach to studying multifaceted literature different countries of the world should manifest itself in the fact that it will be presented to students as an example of creativity that does not have complete analogies in Russian literature.

With the smallest amount of information, this will help students to become familiar with the artistic world of other peoples, to understand that artistic consciousness is not standard, that there are different ways of aesthetically mastering reality. On the other hand, students should also feel the common features of all wonderful works of world literature: humanistic orientation, imagery, the desire to cover the problems of their time.

In my opinion, it is more appropriate after studying the literature Silver Age get acquainted with the works of F. Kafka, Remarque and Hemingway. When studying F. Kafka's short story “The Metamorphosis,” I offer 4 groups 4 different points of view on the “transformation” of Gregor Samsa: D. Zatonsky, A.V. Karelsky, V. Nabokov and Daniel Burt. I suggest that each group choose a wording with which they agree and justify their answer. As a result of the discussion, we come to the conclusion that all 4 reading options are possible, since a symbol-metaphor is always polysemantic and involves many interpretations.

It goes without saying that familiarization with the works of several Western European writers in the classroom does not solve the problem of introducing schoolchildren to the treasures of world literature. Therefore, it is very important that these lessons are complemented by a whole series of events, primarily on organizing extracurricular reading. It is necessary that the design of the school literature room should include the presence of world classics.

A useful form of familiarization with world literature is to hold evenings associated with regular anniversaries.

Much has been written about the enormous advantages of the project method, in which the student himself obtains information, selects the most significant, sets goals, etc. At the same time, the teacher becomes the organizer of joint work with students, facilitating the transition to real cooperation in the course of mastering knowledge. During the study of foreign literature, I propose this form of project as a book cover. Covers can be created individually or in pairs. These are usually the final lessons in which students learn to defend their work. I use many covers in handwritten books. So, together with the students, we worked on the handwritten book “Through the Pages of Favorite Books,” in which a significant share was occupied by works of foreign literature. In addition to covers, an interesting project is creating a poster. In the 8th grade, I give two weeks for such work after reading the comedy-ballet by J.-B. Molière “The Bourgeois in the Nobility.” Before such work, we usually review well-known posters using Internet resources, or I invite students to independently examine the Youth Theater posters, Youth Theater. That is, work is underway on what the poster should contain.

While working on a personal project, students have the opportunity to realize a cognitive motive by choosing topics related to their hobbies. So, in the 8th grade, the student prepared computer presentation about Japan (lesson on learning haiku). These could be presentations about the life of Goethe, Shakespeare, etc. In the 11th grade, for a lesson on the works of F. Kafka, she suggested making a slide show about painting of the early 20th century.

Thus, the study of foreign classics and modern foreign writers opens up great opportunities for expanding the theoretical horizons of schoolchildren, helps to raise the level of understanding of literature as an art and, undoubtedly, will create the basis for a deeper understanding of native literature, which is an integral part of the world literary process. And this approach is enshrined in the “Concept of School Philological Education,” which talks about the importance of studying along with Russian classics works of foreign literature.

The course "Foreign Literature" is an integrated program that includes elements of such academic disciplines as "Literature" and " Foreign language" This course is designed for one year of study in grades 9-11 in the humanities and philology to introduce students to Western cultural space Europe and the USA in accordance with the norms and values ​​of an open society.

The regional studies content of the course is designed to complete the formation of high school students' understanding of world literature. Students become familiar with factual information about the literature of foreign-language countries in different historical periods.

Getting to know the culture foreign countries based on constant comparison of the acquired knowledge with knowledge about one’s country and oneself. As a result, a unique dialogue of cultures occurs, which contributes to unification, rapprochement, development of understanding and good relations to the country, its people and traditions. Comparison also requires students to express their own opinions, their own active life position on any issue, which in turn stimulates and motivates the desire to constantly increase and deepen the amount of knowledge about one’s own country and other countries.

Home the task of the educational aspect of the program“Foreign Literature” is the systematization, generalization and further consolidation of material in the academic disciplines “Literature” and “Foreign Language”, as well as preparing students for exams in accordance with the requirements of the state standard.

In the field of reading, the task is to improve the three most common types of reading: reading with a general coverage of content, reading with a detailed understanding of what has been read, and search reading. Reading instruction is based on authentic texts that correspond to the age-related interests of students.

Due to the fact that training is based on translated and authentic texts of different nature, great importance is attached to students’ independent access to the linguistic and regional studies reference book, the tasks of which include: firstly, to expand the general educational horizons of students when familiarizing them with regional geographic information, secondly, to create a need and develop the ability to use reference literature such as lexicons, encyclopedic dictionaries, stimulating thereby the cognitive activity of students.

Given elective course Designed for use in grades 9-11. Classes are held once a week for one year. It is expected to give lectures, conduct practical (seminar) classes and monitor student reading. The course lasts 32 hours and ends with a test.

General concepts used when studying the course

1. The concept of literature as the art of words, enshrined in written form.
2. Types of literature. Epic, lyric and drama. Their differences depend on the author’s position in relation to the depicted material. Various genre forms within childbirth. Novel, story, story, short story, epic poem, fable, aphorism in an epic. Comedy and tragedy in drama. Lyric poem, a lyric poem.
3. Artistic image, trope – special shape reflections of reality, a “magic crystal” (A.S. Pushkin), transforming the phenomenon of life. The concept of metaphor and epithet.
4. The theme of a work is its concentrated content. Idea is the main idea of ​​the work.
5. Construction work of art. The concept of composition, plot, climax and denouement. The plot is like a “chain of causes and consequences” (B.V. Tomashevsky).
6. The concept of classicism, baroque, romanticism, realism, modernism.

While studying the course “Foreign Literature”, students form short dictionary basic literary terms and supplement it with examples while listening to the course. For example, the theme of Homer's Iliad is the Trojan War. "The Wrath of Achilles" and the consequences of this anger. The idea is the priority of the public over the personal. Love for the homeland is higher than selfish interests.

Course program

1. 1) Literature as an art form. Thousand-year history written form art of words. Ancient literary monuments East and West. The concept of myth and epic. Homer's Iliad is a classic example of an epic. - 3 hours.
2) Medieval literature Western Europe. Heroic epic. Romance. Urban literature - 3 hours.

2. Literature of the Renaissance. General characteristics Renaissance. Dante Alighieri as the last poet the Middle Ages and the first poet of modern times. Features of the Renaissance in Italy ("The Decameron" by G. Boccaccio, sonnets of Petrarch), England (the works of W. Shakespeare), France (the novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" by F. Rabelais), Spain (the novel "Don Quixote" by M. de Cervantes) - 5 o'clock.

3. Seventeenth century European countries. Baroque and classicism. The triumph of absolutism in France. French theater of the 17th century. Moliere's comedies - 3 hours.

4. General characteristics of the Enlightenment in Western Europe and North America. Enlightenment ideology as a reaction to feudal system. Enlightenment as the ideological basis of the War of Independence of 1775-1783. The revolutionary nature of the Enlightenment in France. English educational novel D. Defoe and J. Swift. Philosophical story M.A. Voltaire J.J. Rousseau and Rousseauism. The Sturm and Drang movement in Germany. Creativity I.V. Goethe and F. Schiller - 3 hours.

5. Literature of the first third of the 19th century. Romanticism as artistic method and style. Social and methodological prerequisites for the emergence of the romantic trend and its national characteristics in England, France, Germany, Italy. J. Byron and Byronism. Historical novel V. Scott and V. Hugo. Romantic lyrics and drama. Germany is a classic country of romanticism. Tales of E.T.A. Hoffman - 4 hours.

6. Realistic conditioning of man by the social environment in the literature of the 19th century. The concept of a typical hero in typical circumstances. Realistic principles plot structure, depiction of man and living conditions. O. de Balzac - creator of "The Human Comedy", father social novel. The story of a young man in the novel "Père Goriot". - 3 hours.

7. Modernism in the literature of the 20th century. Depiction of the gap between the spiritual experience of the individual and the course public life. Features of postmodernism. English novel of the 20th century - 1 hour.

8. Creative path B. Shaw. Concept " intellectual drama". Discussion, paradox, grotesque in "unpleasant plays" Show - 1 hour.

9. The works of H. Wells. Social and philosophical fiction. The main themes of the novel "The Invisible Man" - 1 hour.
Social and philosophical novel by W. Golding. Symbolism and parable beginning - 1 hour.

10. Postmodernism in English literature. Aesthetic fundamentals. The principle of the game. The artistic originality of the novel "The French Lieutenant's Woman" by Fowles - 1 hour.

11. Detective in modern English-language literature. Features of the genre, composition. System of images - 1 hour.

12. Main trends in the development of the English language science fiction. Issues and artistic originality. The nature of psychologism in S. King's novel "The Green Mile". Features of the dystopian genre. The works of R. Bradbury - 2 hours.

1. Vasiliev K.B. The English Tutor. English tutor. Tutorial in English. Book 2: British Literature. – M.: Intellect-Center, 2001.
2. Grekhnev V.A. Verbal image and literary work. Book for teachers. Nizhny Novgorod, 1997.
3. Brief dictionary literary terms. Book for students. Any edition.
4. Literary encyclopedic dictionary. M., 1987.
5. Encyclopedia for children. World literature. Volume 15. Part 1,2. – Moscow: Avanta +, 2001

List of literature for the course

1. Legends and myths of ancient Greece.
2. Homer. Iliad.
3. Song of Roland.
4. The Song and the Nibelungs.
5. Bedier J. Tristan and Isolde.
6. Dante A. Divine Comedy. Hell.
7. Rabelais F. Gargantua and Pantagruel (books 1-2)
8. Shakespeare W. Romeo and Juliet. Hamlet. Sonnets. Twelfth Night.
9. Boccaccio G. Decameron. (selectively)
10. Cervantes M. Don Quixote. (book 1)
11. Corneille P. Seed.
12. Moliere J.-B. A tradesman among the nobility. Tartuffe.
13. Voltaire M.A. Candide.
14. Swift J. Gulliver's Travels.
15. Defoe D. Robinson Crusoe.
16. Goethe I.-V. Faust. The sufferings of young Werther.
17. Schiller F. Cunning and love.
18. Goffman E.T.A. Golden pot.
19. Hugo V. Notre Dame Cathedral.
20. Scott W. Ivanhoe.
21. Byron J.G. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.
22. Balzac O.de. Gobsek. Father Goriot.
23. Dickens C. Oliver Twist.
24. According to E.A. Crow. Novels.
25. Twain M. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Novels.
26. Saint-Exupéry A. de. The Little Prince.
27. Kafka F. Metamorphosis.
28. Show B. Plays.
29. Wells G. The Invisible Man.
30. Golding W. Lord of the Flies.
31. Christy A. Detectives (selected).
32. Fowles. The woman of a French lieutenant.
33. Kinga S. Green Mile.

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Having been relegated to the second row as unnecessary, with the advent of the “presidential” essay, literature returned to the ranks of the most important subjects in the Russian school. But parents and students are still concerned about the extent to which our education in this area can compete with foreign ones.

Let's see how and what works students study foreign schools. We included 10 main authors in each list school curriculum.

France

Dividing into two different subjects, « French" And " French literature", for schoolchildren does not exist. In literature lessons, young French people pay practically no attention to plots, images, or the development of characters in works. The main thing is style! And the style of authors before the 19th century is considered ideal. Schoolchildren often complete tasks to write an excerpt on a given topic in the style of Moliere (Racine, Corneille, etc.). Ancient Greek and Roman authors are seriously studied.

In the compulsory program

1. Chretien de Troyes. "Lancelot".
2. Jean Baptiste Moliere. "Stingy".
3. Pierre Corneille. "Sid."
4. Pedro Calderon. "Life is a dream."
5. Victor Hugo. "Les Miserables".
6. Emile Zola. "Germinal".
7. Gustave Flaubert. "Madame Bovary."
8. Honore de Balzac. "Human Comedy".
9. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. "The Little Prince".
10. Albert Camus. "Falling"

USA

As such, there is no single school curriculum in literature in the United States. In class English language read and discuss the works chosen by the teacher. Main selection criteria: artistic value text, fascinating content, the ability to take away from it moral lessons. Today it is customary to include in the list of studied works more books about the war, the Holocaust, US history and democratic values.

In the compulsory program

1. Theodore Dreiser. "American Tragedy", "Financier".
2. William Faulkner. "The Sound and the Fury"
3. Robert Louis Stevenson. "Treasure Island"
4. Joseph Conrad. "Heart of Darkness"
5. George Orwell. "Barnyard".
6. Terry Pratchett. "Flat World"
7. Edith Wharton. "The Age of Innocence."
8. Herman Melville. "Moby Dick".
9. Daniel Keyes. "Flowers for Algernon."
10. Edgar Poe. Poems and poems.

United Kingdom

The British read at school what is considered to be the classics of English literature. Study form big topics each class is often chosen by vote. For example, " English literature XIX century" - a topic that students may want to study in the form of discussion, writing essays, individual lessons, preparing group projects and so on. Some program works are familiar to Russian graduates from childhood, and the names of many authors are one way or another well-known due to frequent mentions.

In the compulsory program

1. J. Chaucer. "The Canterbury Tales".
2. K. Marlowe. " Tragic story Doctor Faustus."
3. D. Defoe. "Robinson Crusoe".
4. J. Swift. "Gulliver's Travels", "Letters from a Clothmaker".
5. S. Richardson. "Clarissa, or the Story of a Young Lady", "Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded".
6. G. Fielding. "The Story of Tom Jones, Foundling."
7. Charles Dickens. "The Adventures of Oliver Twist", "Dombey and Son".
8. William Thackeray. "Vanity Fair."
9. George Eliot. "Mill on the Floss".
10. S. Coleridge. "The Old Sailor"

Germany

IN different types Schools teach literature in different ways. Ordinary schools teach mainly works German authors. There are many gymnasiums in the country with a humanitarian focus, where works from ancient authors to the most modern are studied in detail. In some educational institutions The literature course is divided according to the topics raised in the works. For example, “Law and Justice”, “Motherland and Foreign Land”, “Science and Responsibility” and others. Thus, F. Schiller’s drama “The Robbers” belongs to the topic “Law and Justice”, his “Mary Stuart” is studied in the section “The Conflict of Man and History”, and “Cunning and Love” naturally falls into the section “Love Stories”.

In the compulsory program

1. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. "Nathan the Wise."
2. Friedrich Schiller. "The Robbers", "Mary Stuart", "Cunning and Love".
3. Johann Wolfgang Goethe. "The Sorrows of Young Werther."
4. Heinrich Heine. "Journey through the Harz."
5. Thomas Mann. "Buddenbrooks", "Magic Mountain".
6. Heinrich von Kleist. "Marquise d"O."
7. Friedrich Durrenmatt. "The Old Lady's Visit", "Physicists".
8. Amadeus Hoffman. “Little Tsakhes”, “Everyday views of the cat Murra”.
9. Eduard Mörike. “The Artist Nolten”, “Mozart on the way to Prague”.
10. Georg Buchner. "The Death of Danton"

Japan

In high school in Japanese schools, literature is studied in more or less detail, depending on the chosen direction; textbooks on literature are also very different - there is no single standard. Just as in Russia, Germany and Great Britain, the main attention is paid to the study of domestic literature. The greatest interest for the Japanese - including Japanese schoolchildren - are those works where one can observe and analyze the process of developing the character of the hero.

1. Murasaki Shikibu. "The Tale of Genji".
2. Sei-Shonagon. “Notes at the headboard.”
3. Higuchi Ichiyo. "Peers".
4. Yukio Mishima. "Golden Temple".
5. Kobo Abe. "Woman in the Sands"
6. Soseki Natsume. "Heart".
7. Ryunosuke Akutagawa. "Rashomon".
8. Ogai Mori. "Dancer".
9. Haruki Murakami. "Sheep Hunting"
10. Shiki Masaoka. Poetry.

Everyone is reading this

Certainly, domestic literature always comes first. But there are works of world literature that are included in the advanced school course for high school students from almost all countries. So, the “world ten”:

1. Homer. "Iliad", "Odyssey".
2. William Shakespeare. "Hamlet", "Romeo and Juliet".
3. Harper Lee. "To Kill a Mockingbird"
4. William Golding. "Lord of the Flies."
5. Charles Dickens. "Great Expectations"
6. Mary Shelley. "Frankenstein".
7. Johann Wolfgang Goethe. "Faust".
8. Franz Kafka. "Transformation."
9. Leo Tolstoy. "Anna Karenina".
10. Fyodor Dostoevsky. "Crime and Punishment."

In none of the countries considered is it given of great importance the main principle by which literature is studied in high schools in Russian schools - the historical and artistic method: classicism, romanticism, realism, etc. Meanwhile, it is precisely this approach that is closest to the scientific view of literature - it can be considered an advantage of our education system.

It requires systemic theoretical knowledge. And if school teachers are forced to sacrifice literature lessons while preparing graduates for the Unified State Exam, then a good tutor can fill in the gaps and form in the student’s mind a coherent picture of the entire history of the literary process. After all, this is precisely the knowledge of the subject that will be required during entrance tests in literature at prestigious universities.