A proper place in children's reading is given to legends and myths of various times and peoples. Especially great value has an ancient Greek, Olympian mythological cycle. For younger and middle children school age The legends about the exploits of Hercules and the Argonauts contain a lot of interesting and instructive things. Older people are attracted by the severity of conflict situations, confrontation contradictory characters and titanic passions, retellings of the Illiad and Odyssey. In legends and myths Ancient Greece young readers encounter the system for the first time symbolic images, who have become household names of heroes who are included in the permanent collection of world culture. Without prior acquaintance with the “primary sources” of ancient imagery, many works of Russian and foreign literature that appeal to the immortal colors and images of ancient Greek art may subsequently prove difficult to perceive.
English and English-language American literature in children's and youth reading belongs to the most important place. Russian children have access to works of British folklore, songs, ballads, and fairy tales in translations and retellings. The richest library of English fiction for children there are also numerous high-quality translations into Russian. Books and heroes by D. Defoe, D. Swift, W. Scott, R.L. Stevenson, C. Dickens, A. Conan-Doyle, L. Carroll, A.A. Milne, O. Wilde and many others with early childhood accompany our children along with national literary works.
Daniel Defoe (c. 1660-1731). The name Defoe became known throughout the world thanks to the hero of his work, Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is rightfully considered one of the creators of English realistic novel. Thanks to this, the story he told caused numerous imitations in his time. The title of his work is very long and bizarre. The novel usually comes to Russian children in an adapted form under an abbreviated title. Especially famous is “Robinson Crusoe” in the retelling of K.I. Chukovsky. This novel is without a doubt one of the favorite works for numerous generations of young readers. The indescribable aroma of distant travels, the romance of adventure, discovery, creative work, the persistent defense of one’s human face amid the vicissitudes of fate - the basis of the educational and artistic power of the book, all this continues to attract more and more readers to Defoe’s hero.
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) did not count on a child reader when creating his satirical novel “Travels to Various Distant Countries of the World of Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and Then a Captain of Several Ships.” The addressee of his books is the common people of England, who with humor and mocking sarcasm perceive dirty political intrigues, the arrogance of aristocrats, and the futility of scientific disputes that are far from life. Children's reading in a modified, adapted form includes the first two stories telling about Gulliver's adventures in the land of Lilliputians and the land of giants. In children's editions of Gulliver's travels, the main interest is focused on the adventure side of the plot, the unusual situations in which the hero finds himself. If Defoe is able to captivate the young imagination with the unusualness of the life-like, then the beauty of Swift’s book lies in the ability to turn the most bizarre into a reason for thinking about the eternal moral values on which the world is based.
Among the numerous English-language works of the historical adventure genre, a special place belongs to the novels of Walter Scott (1771 - 1832). The novel Ivanhoe, which tells the story of valiant knight glorious King Richard the Lionheart.
The works of the Englishman Thomas Mayne Reid (1818-1883), who traveled all over Europe and America, leading a wanderer’s life full of adventures and trials, and his older contemporary, the first great US novelist James Fenimore, were also dedicated to exotic countries and peoples, written somewhat later and included in children’s reading. Cooper (1789-1851). The plots of Mayne Reed's novels "The Headless Horseman", his most popular work among middle school children, and Cooper's "Pathfinder, or on the Shores of Ontario", one of the writer's many works telling about the colonization and conquest of North America by Europeans, are connected with American realities. Cooper and Mayne Reid's favorite heroes are brave, frank, and profess a cult of noble and calm strength. Their life is full of surprises, numerous enemies do not stop intrigues, intrigues, more and more new dangers and trials await the characters after the ones they have just overcome. The fascination of the plot, the mystery of the conflicts, and the unpredictability of the outcome maintain interest throughout the reading and are a sure guarantee of success for the teenage reader.
Among the adventure books of the English writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), the best is the novel “Treasure Island”. Its main and, in fact, only positive hero is teenager Jim. It is his view of the world, where passions rage, ambitions fight, fate and circumstances laugh at people, that allows us to revive the romance that is leaving the too pragmatic world.
Romantic adventure line in the development of English and English-language American literature at a different historical stage was transformed into a deeply unique creativity R. Kipling, who told children about exotic and wonderful world Indian jungle, D. London, who introduced gold miners, travelers, adventurers of the world corroded by contradictions at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.
With realistic image ordinary life, where passions also run high, people must make choices, and goodness does not always easily find its way to people’s hearts, as G. Beecher Stowe introduces in the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” This book, in life-like pictures, revealed to its fellow citizens the full horror of the existence of black slaves.
A significant part of the work of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known under the pseudonym Mark Twain (1835-1910), is distinguished by its initial focus on children's perception. The writer himself called “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” a hymn to childhood. The actual adventure motif in Twain’s work is presented quite realistically, and the adventures of Tom and Huckleberry Finn do not go beyond the realm of the entirely possible in the conditions in which they lived. The true merit of Twain’s work is that he was able to fill conflicts with moral and psychological content, reliably show everyday realities, social types of its time. And all this is colored by the perception of a living boy, well versed in the motives and passions of people, a sincere dreamer, poet and bully, who knows how to make friends, love, and fight. The cheerfulness of Tom and his friends always preserves hope, gives joy, affirms the light. Subsequent works of M. Twain’s “children’s cycle”, “The Prince and the Pauper”, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, become more and more perfect and complex in plot, composition and stylistics.
A funny teddy bear has become quite comfortable among Russian children. Winnie the Pooh, his master, the boy Christopher Robin and all, all, all the heroes of the book American writer Alana Alexander Milne (1882-1956). His work was translated into Russian by B. Zakhoder in 1960 and since then has firmly established itself among the books most beloved by preschoolers and primary schoolchildren.
Lewis Carroll (pseudonym of Charles Latwidge Dodgson, 1832-1898) creates a strange, seemingly deformed world in his fairy tales. He was not a professional writer and initially composed his stories about “Alice in Wonderland” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass” orally for specific children. A professor of mathematics by profession, Carroll also in literature strives to prove the abstractness of much in the world, the relativity of the great and the small, and to emphasize the juxtaposition of the terrible and the funny.
In recent years, the greatest attention of publishers in our country has been attracted by the trilogy of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) “The Lord of the Rings” (“The Watchmen”, “The Two Towers”, “The Return of the Sovereign”). He tried in his own way to continue the Carroll tradition. This was facilitated by studies in mathematical linguistics and the birth of heroes in direct communication with children. Tolkien’s book, written quite a long time ago and already half-forgotten, was remembered and revived also because the genre of so-called “fantasy” gained enormous commercial popularity; Tolkien’s plots became the basis for corresponding bright, technically sophisticated visual films, appealing to even less complex, although violently manifested human emotions than the literary source.
French children's literature is widely represented in translations into Russian.
And this acquaintance begins for most of our little readers with the fairy tales of Charles Perrault (1628-1703).
He wrote the fairy tales “Sleeping Beauty”, “Cinderella”, “Bluebeard”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Puss in Boots”, “Tom Thumb”. Hard work, generosity, resourcefulness of representatives common people Perrault tried to establish the values of his circle. The poeticization of these qualities makes his fairy tales important for the modern child.
The books of Jules Verne (1828-1905) firmly retain their place in children's reading. The success of his novel Five Weeks hot air balloon"(1863) exceeded all expectations. And therefore, the aerial fantasy is replaced by a geological one - “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (1864), followed by the publication of the novel “The Journey and Adventures of Captain Hatteras” (1864-1865), “From the Earth to the Moon” (1865). Upon completion of the novel “The Children of Captain Grant,” the writer combined the previously written and all subsequent works into a common series called “Extraordinary Journeys.” The main advantage of his books is associated with the created characters of people striving to learn all the secrets of the earth, to overcome evil and social illnesses. This aspect has become especially important for the writer since the creation of the famous novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” The image of Captain Nemo was originally conceived as the character of a rebel, a Protestant, a fighter against injustice, tyranny and oppression. Of the other novels included in “Extraordinary Journeys” and which are popular to this day, it should be noted “Around the World in 80 Days” (1872), “The Mysterious Island” (1874). New for its time in Verne’s works was also the affirmation of the idea of the absolute equality of people before the court of morality. This is the only thing that distinguishes people of different nationalities in his works, social status: they represent the best or worst sides of a single humanity.
Among the French artists of the 20th century who wrote about children and for children, the most famous among us is Antoine-Marie-Roger de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944), author of the fairy tale “ The Little Prince" The genre is a philosophical fairy tale. Its main character is an inhabitant of an asteroid planet who unexpectedly appears in front of a pilot who has suffered an accident in the sands of the Sahara. The pilot calls him the Little Prince. The fairy tale delights more and more generations of readers. Many phrases from it have become aphorisms.
For young readers of our country, German children's literature is associated primarily with the names of great storytellers: the Brothers Grimm, Hoffmann, Hauff.
Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) Grimm lived during the era of the birth and heyday of romanticism, as an important trend in world culture at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. Most of the fairy tales were collected by the brothers Grimm, professors of philology, during their numerous expeditions throughout rural Germany, recorded from the words of storytellers, peasants, and townspeople. In the form processed by the Brothers Grimm, they have become an important part of children's reading in many countries around the world. These are the fairy tales “The Brave Little Tailor”, “A Pot of Porridge”, “Grandma Snowstorm”, “Brother and Sister”, “Clever Elsa”. Simplicity, transparency of plot action and depth of moral and ethical content are perhaps the main distinctive features Grimm's fairy tales. Their " Bremen Town Musicians"continue their journey through times and countries.
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822) was also influenced by romanticism. The discord between dreams and reality is not only a sign of a romantic worldview, they also characterized the state of mind of Hoffmann himself, who led a boring life as an official, but dreamed of traveling and freely serving beauty and fantasy. These contradictions were also reflected in his fairy tales: “The Sandman”, “The Nutcracker”, “Alien Child”, “The Golden Pot”, “Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober”. The Nutcracker is the most firmly established in children's reading. This is one of Hoffmann's most life-affirming and cheerful fairy tales, although the heroes of this Christmas story have to go through a long series of difficult trials before they find happiness.
Wilhelm Hauff (1802-1827) tried to create a completely special type based on the fairy-tale traditions of various peoples. literary fairy tale, fantastic-allegorical short stories, united in cycles. His tales: “Little Muk”, “Caliph Stork”, “Dwarf Nose”. The fairy tale “Dwarf Nose” for young children is interesting with its mysterious and fantastic story of the boy Jacob’s transformation into a squirrel, an ugly hunchback, and his return to normal human form. Affects the feelings of a child and a touch of eerie “bloody” romance associated with the actions of an evil sorceress.
The best tale of the third volume, “Frozen,” illustrates everything significant that this early-dead writer enriched the genre with. Everyday storytelling is organically combined with a magical element. The hero goes through a difficult path of moral search, loss and gain. The classically simple and traditional idea of the fairy tale is to affirm goodness, justice, and generosity, embodied in the image of the Glass Man, as opposed to the cruelty, greed, and heartlessness of Michel the Giant and his henchmen.
The original role in the array of children's literature of various nations translated into Russian belongs to Italian writers.
The hero of Raffaello Giovagnoli's (1883-1915) novel Spartacus brings with him a spirit of heroism. Being a professional historian, the writer managed to create memorable portraits of real historical figures - Sulla, Julius Caesar, Cicero, Crassus; the work plastically reconstructs the atmosphere of life in Ancient Rome that fascinates people of our time.
The Italian writer Collodi (Carlo Lorenzini, 1826-1890) renders great services to the young readers of our country. After all, it was his book “The Adventures of Pinocchio” that inspired A. Tolstoy to create the fairy tale “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio.”
Several interesting children's writers came from Northern European countries and Scandinavia, where an original tradition of creativity for children and about children has developed.
First of all, of course, we should name the great Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875). He, like no one else, managed in his own way to embody in his work the folklore-Pushkin principle - “a fairy tale is a lie - but there is a hint in it, good fellows lesson". The moral, philosophical and social-didactic principles in his fairy tales grow through plots and conflicts that are absolutely accessible to children.
Andersen's fairy tales retain their charm for people even after they leave childhood. They attract unobtrusively, folk origin wisdom, versatility of embodied emotions. Almost never does Andersen's work come down to the embodiment of a single all-consuming feeling. His fairy tales painted in the tones of life, where joy, sadness, lyrical sadness, laughter of different shades, from cheerful to sarcastic, disappointment, hope replace each other, coexist, conveying the bittersweet taste of true existence.
The writer's sympathies are always on the side of simple people, with noble hearts and pure impulses. This is how the narrator appears in fairy tales. He is in no hurry to show emotions, is in no hurry to make assessments, but behind the outwardly calm narrative one can feel the unshakable firmness of moral principles, which nothing can force either the beloved characters or the narrator to abandon.
Some of his tales contained indirect assessments of specific contradictions of the era (“The Princess and the Pea,” “The King’s New Clothes,” “The Swineherd”). But over time, their actual political significance faded away, while the moral and ethical potential did not become less: “The gilding will all be erased - the pigskin remains.” The heroes of his fairy tales are not only “come to life” toys (“The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, “The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep”), humanized animals (“The Ugly Duckling”, “Thumbelina”), plants (“Chamomile”, “Spruce”), but also the most common household items: darning needle, bottle shard, collar, old street lamp, drop of water, matches, old house. Having defended the right to life and love in serious trials, the storyteller’s favorite heroes turn out to be especially happy (“ Snow Queen", "Thumbelina", "Wild Swans").
Original reasons prompted Selma Ottilie Lagerlöf (1858-1940) to create the book “The Wonderful Journey of Nils Holgerson with wild geese in Sweden." She received an order for a children's book about Sweden, but unexpectedly she fairy tale plot, characters emerged that were interesting and without connection with the historical, ethnographic, regional studies aspect of the book.
Fascinating art worlds and memorable characters were also created by Tove Janson in books about life in Troll Valley, Astrid Lindgren in the fairy tale “Pippi Long stocking", in the trilogy about the Kid and Carlson, who lives on the roof.
Slide 2
...Give the world that you influence a direction towards good... You gave this direction to him if, by teaching, you elevate his thinking to the necessary and eternal.
F. Schiller
Slide 3
Here they are - the undying images of Enlightenment literature: Robinson Crusoe, who lived alone on a desert island for twenty-nine years and remained alive despite all assumptions, maintaining not only his sanity, but also his self-esteem;
Slide 4
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment: Lemuel Gulliver, a beloved childhood hero, a passionate traveler who visited amazing countries - Lilliputians and giants, on a flying island and in the country of talking horses;
Slide 5
Here they are - the undying images of the literature of the Enlightenment: Candide, a philosopher reflecting on the fate of the world and the place of man in it, a traveler who saw “what is really going on on our sad and funny globe,” and whose last words were: “We must cultivate our garden, for our world is crazy and cruel... let us set the boundaries of our activity and try to carry out our humble task as best as possible”;
Slide 6
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment era: Figaro, a servant in the count's house, who in all situations deceives his master, laughs at him, and with him at the entire class of feudal lords, showing the advantage of his class, his strength, his intelligence, energy and determination;
Slide 7
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment era: The hero of the tragedy Faust is a historical figure, he lived in the 16th century, was known as a magician and warlock, and, having rejected modern science and religion, sold my soul to the devil. Doctor Faustus was legendary, he was a character theatrical performances, many authors turned to his image in their books. But under the pen of Goethe, the drama about Faust, dedicated eternal theme knowledge of life, became the pinnacle of world literature.
Slide 8
All the characters created in the 18th century bear the features of their time, talking about their contemporaries, their feelings and thoughts, dreams and ideals. The authors of these images are Defoe and Swift, Voltaire, Schiller and Goethe - great enlightenment writers whose names stand next to their immortal heroes.
Slide 9
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) He hasn't read Robinson Crusoe since childhood... Let's see if Robinson Crusoe will amaze him now! Collins
You become just a Man while you read it.S. Coleridge
Slide 10
The Enlightenment movement originated in England after the events bourgeois revolution end of the 17th century (1688). Its compromise nature preserved many remnants of the feudal system, and the English enlighteners saw their duty in consolidating the victories already achieved by the revolution. They sought to re-educate a person in the spirit of bourgeois virtues. Among them is D. Defoe.
Daniel Defoe - English writer, founder of the European novel. He was born in London into a petty bourgeois family and after graduating from the Puritan Theological Academy, where he received an excellent education, he began to engage in commerce.
Slide 11
He was a real bourgeois! Getting acquainted with his biography, you are amazed by his ebullient energy, efficiency, practical acumen, and incredible hard work. Subsequently, Defoe would endow his favorite hero, Robinson Crusoe, with these traits. And the life of Defoe himself resembles the life of Robinson before the desert island. Having been involved in commerce all his life, Defoe was convinced that the enterprises he started for personal enrichment also benefited society.
Slide 12
When the book was published, it was a completely unexpected success. It was quickly translated into major European languages. Readers, not wanting to part with the hero, demanded a continuation. Defoe wrote two more novels about Robinson, but neither of them compares with the first in artistic power.
Despite the enormous success among contemporaries, the true appreciation of the novel came later, after the death of the writer. Literary researchers argue that, being a mirror of its time, the novel "Robinson Crusoe" had a great influence on public thought and artistic culture XVIII, XIX and even XX centuries.
Slide 13
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
And I glanced at the people,
I saw them arrogant, low,
Cruel, flighty friends,
Fools, always the villainy of loved ones...
A. S. Pushkin
Give me the pleasure of speaking about you in the same way that posterity will speak.
- Voltaire in a letter to Swift
Slide 14
Jonathan Swift was a contemporary and compatriot of D. Defoe, and their heroes Robinson and Gulliver were compatriots and contemporaries. They lived in the same country - England, under the same rulers, read each other's works, although they did not know each other personally. Undoubtedly, there was much in common in their work, but the talent of each of them was brightly original, unique, just as their personalities and destinies were unique.
Jonathan Swift called himself a “joker, an extreme joker,” who was sad and bitter about his jokes. Many satirists of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. called him their predecessor.
Slide 15
An Englishman by birth, Swift was born in 1667 in Ireland, in Dublin, where the father of the future writer moved in search of work. After graduating from Dublin University in 1789, Swift received a position as secretary to the influential nobleman William Temple.
This service weighed heavily on Swift, but he was kept in Moore Park by the Temple’s extensive library and his young pupil Esther Johnson, for whom Swift carried a tender affection throughout his life.
After Temple's death, Swift went to the Irish village of Laracor to become a priest there. Stella, as Esther Johnson called Swift, followed him.
Slide 16
Swift could not limit himself only to the modest activities of a pastor. While Temple was still alive, he published his first poems and pamphlets, but the real beginning literary activity Swift can be considered his book "The Tale of a Barrel". (“Barrel Tale” is an English folk expression that means “to talk nonsense”, “to talk nonsense”). It is based on the story of three brothers, which contains a sharp satire on three main trends Christian religion: Catholic, Protestant and Anglican. "The Tale of a Barrel" brought great fame in the literary and political circles of London. His sharp pen was appreciated by both political parties: the Tories and the Whigs.
Slide 17
The main work of Swift's life was his novel “A Journey to Some Distant Countries of the World of Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and Then a Captain of Several Ships” - this is its full title. Swift surrounded his work with extreme mystery; even the publisher, who received the manuscript of the novel from an unknown person in 1726, did not know who its author was.
The book about Gulliver had a fate similar to the book about Robinson: it soon became world famous, the favorite book of both adults and children.
Slide 18
“Gulliver's Travels” is the programmatic manifesto of Swift the satirist. In the first part, the reader laughs at the ridiculous conceit of the Lilliputians. In the second, in the land of giants, the point of view changes, and it turns out that our civilization deserves the same ridicule. The third ridicules science and the human mind in general. Finally, in the fourth, vile Yahoos (disgusting humanoid creatures) appear as a concentrate of primordial human nature, not ennobled by spirituality. Swift, as usual, does not resort to moralizing instructions, leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions - to choose between the Yahoos and their moral antipode, bizarrely dressed in horse form.
Slide 19
VOLTER (1694-1778)
Boo me without hesitation, I will answer you in the same way, my brothers.
- Voltaire
He was more than a man, he was an era.
- V. Hugo
Slide 20
In each country, the educational movement had its own characteristic features. The French Enlightenment was heading towards the revolution, preparing it. Enlightenmentists, denying the existing order, looked for ways to rationally organize society. Their ideas, their demands were embodied in the slogan - Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood of all people. During the second half of the 18th century. French enlighteners were the rulers of the thoughts of all progressive Europe. And the first among the first in their rank was Voltaire.
Slide 21
Great poet and playwright, philosopher and scientist, politician, Voltaire was a symbol and the first figure not only in the history of the French Enlightenment, but also the educational movement throughout Europe. He was at the head of those who prepared France for the coming revolution. Voltaire's voice has been listened to throughout the century. He had the final say on the most important problems of its time.
Slide 22
An important part artistic heritage Voltaire's philosophical stories. Philosophical story - literary genre, created in the 18th century. Presenting philosophical ideas, problems, discussing political and social topics, the author puts the narrative into artistic form. Voltaire often resorts to fantasy, allegory, and introduces an exotic flavor, turning to the little-studied East.
In his most famous philosophical story, “Candide, or Optimism” (1759), Voltaire reflects on religion, wars, the fate of the world and the place of man in it.
Slide 23
The center of the story is Germany. Its action begins in Westphalia, on the estate of Baron Tunder der Tronck. The Prussians appear in the novel under the guise of Bulgarians. Forcibly recruited into the Bulgarian (Prussian) army, main character In the story, Candide becomes a witness and participant in a bloody war of conquest - a massacre in which Voltaire is especially shocked by the atrocities against the civilian population. He draws scary picture the death of the entire population of the Avar village, burned “by virtue of international law.”
Slide 24
But the narrative goes beyond one state. “Candide” provides a panorama of the world order, which must be rebuilt on the basis of reason and justice. The writer-philosopher takes the reader to Spain and makes him a witness to the trial of the Inquisition and the burning of heretics; in Buenos Aires he shows him the abuses of the colonial authorities; in Paraguay - denounces the state created by the Jesuits. Everywhere lawlessness and deception go hand in hand with murder, debauchery, theft, and humiliation of man. In all corners of the globe, people are suffering; they are not protected under the dominance of feudal orders.
Slide 25
Voltaire contrasts this terrible world with his utopian dream of the ideal country of Eldorado, where the hero ends up. Eldorado - translated from Spanish means “golden” or “lucky”. The state is ruled by an intelligent, educated, enlightened king-philosopher. All residents work, they are happy. Money has no value for them. Gold is considered only as a convenient and beautiful material. Even rural roads are paved with gold and precious stones. The people of Eldorado do not know oppression, there are no prisons in the country. Art plays a huge role. It permeates and organizes the entire life of society. The largest and most beautiful building in the city is the Palace of Sciences.
Slide 26
However, the writer himself understands that the dream of Eldorado is just a dream. Voltaire separates El Dorado from the whole world by huge seas and impassable mountain ranges, and everything that Candide and his companion managed to take out of this fabulously rich country could not serve the enrichment and happiness of the heroes. Voltaire brought the reader to the conclusion: the happiness and prosperity of people can only be won by their own labor. The end of the story is symbolic. The heroes, having gone through many trials, meet in the vicinity of Constantinople, where Candide buys a small farm. They grow fruits and live peacefully, quiet life. “Let us work without reasoning,” says one of them, “this is the only way to make life bearable.” “We must cultivate our garden,” Candide clarifies this thought. Work as the fundamental principle of life, which is capable of “saving us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need”, work as the basis of creation, practical action - this is the true calling of man. This is Candide's final call.
Slide 27
Who is able, however, to express full gratitude to the great poet, the most precious pearl of the nation!
- L. Beethoven about Goethe
Slide 28
Mine national traits had the work of German enlighteners.
The main task The leading people of Germany at that time had the task of unifying Germany, and this means awakening a sense of national unity, national self-awareness of the people, instilling intolerance towards despotism and hopes for possible changes.
The heyday of the German Enlightenment occurred in the second half of the 18th century. But already in the first half of the century, the gigantic figure of I.S. rises above the torn Germany. Bach, whose work laid the most important foundations for the self-awareness of the German people.
Slide 29
All the best that the German Enlightenment achieved was embodied in the work of Johann Wolfgang Goethe. He was 21 years old when he came to Strasbourg to continue his education. Behind him is his childhood spent in the ancient free city of Frankfurt am Main in the house of a highly educated burgher, three years of study at the University of Leipzig, where Goethe studied jurisprudence. Strasbourg is an ordinary German city. It lay on the main route from central Europe to Paris. Here the influences of French and German culture seemed to collide and the provincial way of life was less felt.
Slide 30
Slide 31
Goethe’s life’s work and the philosophical result of the European Enlightenment was “Faust” - a work about the greatness of the human mind, faith in the unlimited possibilities of man. "Faust" - monumental philosophical tragedy. Goethe wrote it all his life, about sixty years, and completed it in 1831, already in a different era, the aspirations and hopes of which were reflected in his immortal creation.
Slide 32
Writing in a notebook
The Enlightenment movement originated in England after the events of the bourgeois revolution of the late 17th century. (1688).
They sought to re-educate a person in the spirit of bourgeois virtues.
Slide 33
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)
English writer, founder of the European novel. He was born in London into a petty bourgeois family, received an excellent education, and began to engage in commerce.
Slide 34
"Robinson Crusoe"
Most famous novel“Robinson Crusoe,” whose hero lived alone on a desert island for twenty-nine years and remained alive despite all assumptions, maintaining not only his sanity, but also his self-esteem.
Slide 37
Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832)
All the best that the German Enlightenment achieved was embodied in the work of Johann Wolfgang Goethe.
Goethe’s life’s work and the philosophical result of the European Enlightenment was “Faust” - a work about the greatness of the human mind, faith in the unlimited possibilities of man. Faust is a monumental philosophical tragedy that took 60 years to write.
View all slides
Here they are - the undying images of Enlightenment literature: Robinson Crusoe, who lived alone on a desert island for twenty-nine years and remained alive despite all assumptions, maintaining not only his sanity, but also his self-esteem;
Here they are - the undying images of the literature of the Enlightenment: Candide, a philosopher reflecting on the fate of the world and the place of man in it, a traveler who saw “what is really going on on our sad and funny globe,” and whose last words were: “We must cultivate our garden, for our world is crazy and cruel... let us set the boundaries of our activity and try to carry out our humble task as best as possible”;
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment era: Figaro, a servant in the count's house, who in all situations deceives his master, laughs at him, and with him at the entire class of feudal lords, showing the advantage of his class, his strength, his intelligence, energy and determination;
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment era: The hero of the tragedy Faust is a historical figure, he lived in the 16th century, was known as a magician and warlock, and, rejecting modern science and religion, sold his soul to the devil. There were legends about Doctor Faustus, he was a character in theatrical performances, and many authors turned to his image in their books. But under the pen of Goethe, the drama about Faust, dedicated to the eternal theme of knowledge of life, became the pinnacle of world literature.
All the characters created in the 18th century bear the features of their time, talking about their contemporaries, their feelings and thoughts, dreams and ideals. The authors of these images are Defoe and Swift, Voltaire, Schiller and Goethe, great enlightenment writers whose names stand next to their immortal heroes.
Daniel Defoe () He hasn't read Robinson Crusoe since childhood... Let's see if Robinson Crusoe will amaze him now! W. Collins You become just a Man while you read it. S. Coleridge
The Enlightenment movement originated in England after the events of the bourgeois revolution of the late 17th century. (1688). Its compromise nature preserved many remnants of the feudal system, and the English enlighteners saw their duty in consolidating the victories already achieved by the revolution. They sought to re-educate a person in the spirit of bourgeois virtues. Among them is D. Defoe. Daniel Defoe is an English writer, the founder of the European novel. He was born in London into a petty bourgeois family and after graduating from the Puritan Theological Academy, where he received an excellent education, he began to engage in commerce.
He was a real bourgeois! Getting acquainted with his biography, you are amazed by his ebullient energy, efficiency, practical acumen, and incredible hard work. Subsequently, Defoe would endow his favorite hero Robinson Crusoe with these traits. And the life of Defoe himself resembles the life of Robinson before the desert island. Having been involved in commerce all his life, Defoe was convinced that the enterprises he started for personal enrichment also benefited society.
When the book was published, it was a completely unexpected success. It was quickly translated into major European languages. Readers, not wanting to part with the hero, demanded a continuation. Defoe wrote two more novels about Robinson, but neither of them compares with the first in artistic power. Despite the enormous success among contemporaries, the true appreciation of the novel came later, after the death of the writer. Literary researchers argue that, being a mirror of its time, the novel "Robinson Crusoe" had a great influence on social thought and artistic XVIII culture, XIX and even XX centuries.
Jonathan Swift () And I glanced at people, I saw their arrogant, low, Cruel, flighty friends, Fools, always the villainy of loved ones... A. S. Pushkin Give me the pleasure of talking about you in the same way as posterity will talk. Voltaire in a letter to Swift
Jonathan Swift was a contemporary and compatriot of D. Defoe, and their heroes Robinson and Gulliver were compatriots and contemporaries. They lived in the same country, England, under the same rulers, read each other’s works, although they did not know each other personally. Undoubtedly, there was much in common in their work, but the talent of each of them was brightly original, unique, just as their personalities and destinies were unique. Jonathan Swift called himself a “joker, an extreme joker,” who was sad and bitter about his jokes. Many satirists of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. called him their predecessor.
An Englishman by birth, Swift was born in 1667 in Ireland, in Dublin, where the father of the future writer moved in search of work. After graduating from Dublin University in 1789, Swift received a position as secretary to the influential nobleman William Temple. This service weighed heavily on Swift, but he was kept in Moore Park by the Temple’s extensive library and his young pupil Esther Johnson, for whom Swift carried a tender affection throughout his life. After Temple's death, Swift went to the Irish village of Laracor to become a priest there. Stella, as Esther Johnson called Swift, followed him.
Swift could not limit himself only to the modest activities of a pastor. While Temple was still alive, he published his first poems and pamphlets, but the real beginning of Swift’s literary activity can be considered his book “The Tale of a Barrel.” (“Barrel Tale” is an English folk expression that means “talk nonsense”, “talk nonsense”). It is based on the story of three brothers, which is a sharp satire on the three main branches of the Christian religion: Catholic, Protestant and Anglican. "The Tale of a Barrel" brought great fame in the literary and political circles of London. His sharp pen was appreciated by both political parties: the Tories and the Whigs.
The main work of Swift's life was his novel “A Journey to Some Distant Countries of the World of Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and Then a Captain of Several Ships” - this is its full title. Swift surrounded his work with extreme mystery; even the publisher, who received the manuscript of the novel from an unknown person in 1726, did not know who its author was. The book about Gulliver had a fate similar to the book about Robinson: it soon became world famous, the favorite book of both adults and children.
"Gulliver's Travels" is the programmatic manifesto of Swift the satirist. In the first part, the reader laughs at the ridiculous conceit of the Lilliputians. In the second, in the land of giants, the point of view changes, and it turns out that our civilization deserves the same ridicule. The third ridicules science and the human mind in general. Finally, in the fourth, vile Yahoos (disgusting humanoid creatures) appear as a concentrate of primordial human nature, not ennobled by spirituality. Swift, as usual, does not resort to moralizing instructions, leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions and choose between the Yahoos and their moral antipode, bizarrely dressed in horse form.
VOLTER () Boo me without hesitation, I will answer you in the same way, my brothers. Voltaire He was more than a man, he was an era. V. Hugo
In each country, the educational movement had its own characteristic features. The French Enlightenment was heading towards the revolution, preparing it. Enlightenmentists, denying the existing order, looked for ways to rationally organize society. Their ideas, their demands were embodied in the slogan Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood of all people. During the second half of the 18th century. French enlighteners were the rulers of the thoughts of all progressive Europe. And the first among the first in their rank was Voltaire.
A great poet and playwright, philosopher and scientist, political figure, Voltaire was a symbol and the first figure not only in the history of the French Enlightenment, but also the educational movement throughout Europe. He was at the head of those who prepared France for the coming revolution. Voltaire's voice has been listened to throughout the century. He spoke the decisive word on the most important problems of his time.
An important part of Voltaire's artistic heritage are his philosophical stories. Philosophical story is a literary genre created in the 18th century. Presenting philosophical ideas, problems, discussing political and social topics, the author puts the narrative into artistic form. Voltaire often resorts to fantasy, allegory, and introduces an exotic flavor, turning to the little-studied East. In his most famous philosophical story, “Candide, or Optimism” (1759), Voltaire reflects on religion, wars, the fate of the world and the place of man in it.
The center of the story is Germany. Its action begins in Westphalia, on the estate of Baron Tunder der Tronck. The Prussians appear in the novel under the guise of Bulgarians. Forcibly recruited into the Bulgarian (Prussian) army, the main character of the story, Candide, becomes a witness and participant in a bloody war of conquest, a massacre in which Voltaire is especially shocked by the atrocities against the civilian population. He paints a terrible picture of the death of the entire population of the Avar village, burned “by virtue of international law.”
But the narrative goes beyond one state. “Candide” provides a panorama of the world order, which must be rebuilt on the basis of reason and justice. Writer-philosopher takes the reader to Spain and makes him a witness to the trial of the Inquisition and the burning of heretics; in Buenos Aires he shows him the abuses of the colonial authorities; in Paraguay denounces the state created by the Jesuits. Everywhere lawlessness and deception go hand in hand with murder, debauchery, theft, and humiliation of man. In all corners of the globe, people are suffering; they are not protected under the dominance of feudal orders.
Voltaire contrasts this terrible world with his utopian dream of the ideal country of Eldorado, where the hero ends up. Eldorado means “golden” or “lucky” in Spanish. The state is ruled by an intelligent, educated, enlightened king-philosopher. All residents work, they are happy. Money has no value for them. Gold is considered only as a convenient and beautiful material. Even rural roads are paved with gold and precious stones. The people of Eldorado do not know oppression, there are no prisons in the country. Art plays a huge role. It permeates and organizes the entire life of society. The largest and most beautiful building in the city is the Palace of Sciences.
However, the writer himself understands that the dream of Eldorado is just a dream. Voltaire separates El Dorado from the whole world by huge seas and impassable mountain ranges, and everything that Candide and his companion managed to take out of this fabulously rich country could not serve the enrichment and happiness of the heroes. Voltaire brought the reader to the conclusion: the happiness and prosperity of people can only be won by their own labor. The end of the story is symbolic. The heroes, having gone through many trials, meet in the vicinity of Constantinople, where Candide buys a small farm. They grow fruits and live a peaceful, quiet life. “Let us work without reasoning,” says one of them, “this is the only way to make life bearable.” “We must cultivate our garden,” Candide clarifies this thought. Work as the fundamental principle of life, which is capable of “saving us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need”, work as the basis of creation, practical action is the true calling of man. This is Candide's final call.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe () Who is able, however, to express full gratitude to the great poet, the most precious pearl of the nation! L. Beethoven about Goethe
The work of German enlighteners had its own national characteristics. The main task of the progressive people of Germany at that time was the task of unifying Germany, which means awakening a sense of national unity, national self-awareness of the people, instilling intolerance towards despotism and hopes for possible changes. The heyday of the German Enlightenment occurred in the second half of the 18th century. But already in the first half of the century, the gigantic figure of I.S. rises above the torn Germany. Bach, whose work laid the most important foundations for the self-awareness of the German people.
All the best that the German Enlightenment achieved was embodied in the work of Johann Wolfgang Goethe. He was 21 years old when he came to Strasbourg to continue his education. Behind him is his childhood spent in the ancient free city of Frankfurt am Main in the house of a highly educated burgher, three years of study at the University of Leipzig, where Goethe studied jurisprudence. Strasbourg is an ordinary German city. It lay on the main route from central Europe to Paris. Here the influences of French and German culture seemed to collide and the provincial way of life was less felt.
Goethe’s life’s work and the philosophical result of the European Enlightenment was “Faust,” a work about the greatness of the human mind and faith in the unlimited possibilities of man. "Faust" is a monumental philosophical tragedy. Goethe wrote it all his life, about sixty years, and completed it in 1831, already in a different era, the aspirations and hopes of which were reflected in his immortal creation.
Daniel Defoe () English writer, founder of the European novel. He was born in London into a petty bourgeois family, received an excellent education, and began to engage in commerce.
Jonathan Swift () English writer, politician, philosopher. Most famous works: “The Tale of the Barrel” (based on the story of three brothers, which contains a sharp satire on the three main directions of the Christian religion: Catholic, Protestant and Anglican); "Gulliver's Travels".
VOLTAIRE () The great French poet and playwright, philosopher and scientist, politician, was a symbol and the first figure of the educational movement throughout Europe. In his most famous philosophical story, “Candide, or Optimism” (1759), Voltaire reflects on religion, wars, the fate of the world and the place of man in it.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe () All the best that the German Enlightenment achieved was embodied in the work of Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Goethe’s life’s work and the philosophical result of the European Enlightenment was “Faust,” a work about the greatness of the human mind and faith in the unlimited possibilities of man. "Faust" is a monumental philosophical tragedy that was written over 60 years.
Slide 1
Slide 2
...Give the world that you influence a direction towards good... You gave this direction to him if, by teaching, you elevate his thinking to the necessary and eternal. F. Schiller
Slide 3
Here they are - the undying images of Enlightenment literature: Robinson Crusoe, who lived alone on a desert island for twenty-nine years and remained alive despite all assumptions, maintaining not only his sanity, but also his self-esteem;
Slide 4
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment: Lemuel Gulliver, a beloved childhood hero, a passionate traveler who visited amazing countries - Lilliputians and giants, a flying island and a land of talking horses;
Slide 5
Here they are - the undying images of the literature of the Enlightenment: Candide, a philosopher reflecting on the fate of the world and the place of man in it, a traveler who saw “what is really going on on our sad and funny globe,” and whose last words were: “We must cultivate our garden, for our world is crazy and cruel... let us set the boundaries of our activity and try to carry out our humble task as best as possible”;
Slide 6
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment era: Figaro, a servant in the count's house, who in all situations deceives his master, laughs at him, and with him at the entire class of feudal lords, showing the advantage of his class, his strength, his intelligence, energy and determination;
Slide 7
Here they are - the undying images of literature of the Enlightenment era: The hero of the tragedy Faust is a historical figure, he lived in the 16th century, was known as a magician and warlock, and, rejecting modern science and religion, sold his soul to the devil. There were legends about Doctor Faustus, he was a character in theatrical performances, and many authors turned to his image in their books. But under the pen of Goethe, the drama about Faust, dedicated to the eternal theme of knowledge of life, became the pinnacle of world literature.
Slide 8
All the characters created in the 18th century bear the features of their time, talking about their contemporaries, their feelings and thoughts, dreams and ideals. The authors of these images are Defoe and Swift, Voltaire, Schiller and Goethe - great enlightenment writers whose names stand next to their immortal heroes.
Slide 9
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) He hasn't read Robinson Crusoe since childhood... Let's see if Robinson Crusoe will amaze him now! W. Collins You become just a Man while you read it. S. Coleridge
Slide 10
The Enlightenment movement originated in England after the events of the bourgeois revolution of the late 17th century. (1688). Its compromise nature preserved many remnants of the feudal system, and the English enlighteners saw their duty in consolidating the victories already achieved by the revolution. They sought to re-educate a person in the spirit of bourgeois virtues. Among them is D. Defoe. Daniel Defoe is an English writer, the founder of the European novel. He was born in London into a petty bourgeois family and after graduating from the Puritan Theological Academy, where he received an excellent education, he began to engage in commerce.
Slide 11
He was a real bourgeois! Getting acquainted with his biography, you are amazed by his ebullient energy, efficiency, practical acumen, and incredible hard work. Subsequently, Defoe would endow his favorite hero, Robinson Crusoe, with these traits. And the life of Defoe himself resembles the life of Robinson before the desert island. Having been involved in commerce all his life, Defoe was convinced that the enterprises he started for personal enrichment also benefited society.
Slide 12
When the book was published, it was a completely unexpected success. It was quickly translated into major European languages. Readers, not wanting to part with the hero, demanded a continuation. Defoe wrote two more novels about Robinson, but neither of them compares with the first in artistic power. Despite the enormous success among contemporaries, the true appreciation of the novel came later, after the death of the writer. Literary researchers argue that, being a mirror of its time, the novel “Robinson Crusoe” had a great influence on social thought and artistic culture of the 18th, 19th and even 20th centuries.
Slide 13
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) And I glanced at people, I saw their arrogant, low, Cruel, flighty friends, Fools, always the villainy of loved ones... A. S. Pushkin Give me the pleasure of talking about you the same way as he will talk offspring. Voltaire in a letter to Swift
Slide 14
Jonathan Swift was a contemporary and compatriot of D. Defoe, and their heroes Robinson and Gulliver were compatriots and contemporaries. They lived in the same country - England, under the same rulers, read each other's works, although they did not know each other personally. Undoubtedly, there was much in common in their work, but the talent of each of them was brightly original, unique, just as their personalities and destinies were unique. Jonathan Swift called himself a “joker, an extreme joker,” who was sad and bitter about his jokes. Many satirists of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. called him their predecessor.
Slide 15
An Englishman by birth, Swift was born in 1667 in Ireland, in Dublin, where the father of the future writer moved in search of work. After graduating from Dublin University in 1789, Swift received a position as secretary to the influential nobleman William Temple. This service weighed heavily on Swift, but he was kept in Moore Park by the Temple’s extensive library and his young pupil Esther Johnson, for whom Swift carried a tender affection throughout his life. After Temple's death, Swift went to the Irish village of Laracor to become a priest there. Stella, as Esther Johnson called Swift, followed him.
Slide 16
Swift could not limit himself only to the modest activities of a pastor. While Temple was still alive, he published his first poems and pamphlets, but the real beginning of Swift’s literary activity can be considered his book “The Tale of a Barrel.” (“Barrel Tale” is an English folk expression that means “to talk nonsense”, “to talk nonsense”). It is based on the story of three brothers, which is a sharp satire on the three main branches of the Christian religion: Catholic, Protestant and Anglican. "The Tale of a Barrel" brought great fame in the literary and political circles of London. His sharp pen was appreciated by both political parties: the Tories and the Whigs.
Slide 17
The main work of Swift's life was his novel “A Journey to Some Distant Countries of the World of Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and Then a Captain of Several Ships” - this is its full title. Swift surrounded his work with extreme mystery; even the publisher, who received the manuscript of the novel from an unknown person in 1726, did not know who its author was. The book about Gulliver had a fate similar to the book about Robinson: it soon became world famous, the favorite book of both adults and children.
Slide 18
“Gulliver's Travels” is the programmatic manifesto of Swift the satirist. In the first part, the reader laughs at the ridiculous conceit of the Lilliputians. In the second, in the land of giants, the point of view changes, and it turns out that our civilization deserves the same ridicule. The third ridicules science and the human mind in general. Finally, in the fourth, vile Yahoos (disgusting humanoid creatures) appear as a concentrate of primordial human nature, not ennobled by spirituality. Swift, as usual, does not resort to moralizing instructions, leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions - to choose between the Yahoos and their moral antipode, bizarrely dressed in horse form.
Slide 19
VOLTAIRE (1694-1778) Boo me without hesitation, I will answer you in the same way, my brothers. Voltaire He was more than a man, he was an era. V. Hugo
Slide 20
In each country, the educational movement had its own characteristic features. The French Enlightenment was heading towards the revolution, preparing it. Enlightenmentists, denying the existing order, looked for ways to rationally organize society. Their ideas, their demands were embodied in the slogan - Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood of all people. During the second half of the 18th century. French enlighteners were the rulers of the thoughts of all progressive Europe. And the first among the first in their rank was Voltaire.
Slide 21
A great poet and playwright, philosopher and scientist, political figure, Voltaire was a symbol and the first figure not only in the history of the French Enlightenment, but also the educational movement throughout Europe. He was at the head of those who prepared France for the coming revolution. Voltaire's voice has been listened to throughout the century. He spoke the decisive word on the most important problems of his time.
Slide 22
An important part of Voltaire's artistic heritage are his philosophical stories. The philosophical story is a literary genre created in the 18th century. Presenting philosophical ideas, problems, discussing political and social topics, the author puts the narrative into artistic form. Voltaire often resorts to fantasy, allegory, and introduces an exotic flavor, turning to the little-studied East. In his most famous philosophical story, “Candide, or Optimism” (1759), Voltaire reflects on religion, wars, the fate of the world and the place of man in it.
Slide 23
The center of the story is Germany. Its action begins in Westphalia, on the estate of Baron Tunder der Tronck. The Prussians appear in the novel under the guise of Bulgarians. Forcibly recruited into the Bulgarian (Prussian) army, the main character of the story, Candide, becomes a witness and participant in a bloody war of conquest - a massacre in which Voltaire is especially shocked by the atrocities against the civilian population. He paints a terrible picture of the death of the entire population of the Avar village, burned “by virtue of international law.”
Slide 24
But the narrative goes beyond one state. “Candide” provides a panorama of the world order, which must be rebuilt on the basis of reason and justice. The writer-philosopher takes the reader to Spain and makes him a witness to the trial of the Inquisition and the burning of heretics; in Buenos Aires he shows him the abuses of the colonial authorities; in Paraguay - denounces the state created by the Jesuits. Everywhere lawlessness and deception go hand in hand with murder, debauchery, theft, and humiliation of man. In all corners of the globe, people are suffering; they are not protected under the dominance of feudal orders.
Slide 25
Voltaire contrasts this terrible world with his utopian dream of the ideal country of Eldorado, where the hero ends up. Eldorado - translated from Spanish means “golden” or “lucky”. The state is ruled by an intelligent, educated, enlightened king-philosopher. All residents work, they are happy. Money has no value for them. Gold is considered only as a convenient and beautiful material. Even rural roads are paved with gold and precious stones. The people of Eldorado do not know oppression, there are no prisons in the country. Art plays a huge role. It permeates and organizes the entire life of society. The largest and most beautiful building in the city is the Palace of Sciences.
Slide 26
However, the writer himself understands that the dream of Eldorado is just a dream. Voltaire separates El Dorado from the whole world by huge seas and impassable mountain ranges, and everything that Candide and his companion managed to take out of this fabulously rich country could not serve the enrichment and happiness of the heroes. Voltaire brought the reader to the conclusion: the happiness and prosperity of people can only be won by their own labor. The end of the story is symbolic. The heroes, having gone through a lot of torture, meet in the vicinity of Constantinople, where Candide buys a small farm. They grow fruits and live a peaceful, quiet life. “Let us work without reasoning,” says one of them, “this is the only way to make life bearable.” “We must cultivate our garden,” Candide clarifies this thought. Work as the fundamental principle of life, which is capable of “saving us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need”, work as the basis of creation, practical action - this is the true calling of man. This is Candide's final call.
Slide 27
Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) Who is able, however, to express full gratitude to the great poet, the most precious pearl of the nation! L. Beethoven about Goethe
Slide 28
The work of German enlighteners had its own national characteristics. The main task of the progressive people of Germany at that time was the task of unifying Germany, which means awakening a sense of national unity, national self-awareness of the people, instilling intolerance towards despotism and hopes for possible changes. The heyday of the German Enlightenment occurred in the second half of the 18th century. But already in the first half of the century, the gigantic figure of I.S. rises above the torn Germany. Bach, whose work laid the most important foundations for the self-awareness of the German people.
The Age of Enlightenment call the period of the late 17th and entire 18th centuries in Europe, when the scientific revolution that changed humanity's view of the structure of nature. The educational movement arose in Europe at a time when it became obvious crisisfrom the feudal system. Social thought is on the rise, and this leads to the emergence of a new generation of writers and thinkers who are trying to comprehend the mistakes of history and derive a new optimal formula for human existence.
The beginning of the Age of Enlightenment in Europe can be considered the emergence of labor John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding(1691), which subsequently made it possible to call the 18th century the “age of reason.” Locke argued that all people have the inclinations for various forms of activity, and this led to the denial of any class privileges. If there are no “innate ideas,” then there are no “blue blood” people who claim special rights and advantages. Enlightenment educators have a new type of hero - an active, self-confident person.
The concepts that became fundamental to the writers of the Enlightenment Mind and Nature. These concepts were not new - they were present in the ethics and aesthetics of previous centuries. However, the enlighteners gave them a new meaning, making them the main ones both in condemning the past and in affirming the ideal of the future. The past was in most cases condemned as unreasonable. The future was vigorously asserted, as the enlighteners believed that through education, persuasion and continuous reforms it was possible to create a “kingdom of reason.”
Locke, “Thoughts on Education”: “The educator must teach the pupil to understand people... to tear off the masks imposed on them by profession and pretense, to discern what is genuine, which lies in the depths under such an appearance.”
The so-called “laws of nature” were also discussed. Locke wrote: “The state of nature is a state of freedom, it is governed by the laws of nature, which everyone is obliged to obey.”
Thus, a new type of hero appears in literature - "natural man" who was brought up in the bosom of nature and according to its fair laws and is opposed to man noble origin with his perverted ideas about himself and his rights.
Genres
In the literature of the Enlightenment, the former rigid boundaries between philosophical, journalistic and actual artistic genres. This is especially noticeable in the essay genre, which became most widespread in the literature of the early Enlightenment (French essai - attempt, test, essay). Intelligible, relaxed and flexible, this genre made it possible to quickly respond to events. In addition, this genre often bordered on a critical article, a journalistic pamphlet, or an educational novel. The importance of memoirs (Voltaire, Beaumarchais, Goldoni, Gozzi) and epistolary genre(form open letter often made extensive speeches on a wide variety of social, political and artistic life) Personal correspondence of prominent figures of the Enlightenment also becomes available to readers (“Persian Letters” by Montesquieu). Another documentary genre is gaining popularity - travel or travel notes, which gives wide scope for pictures of social life and customs, and for deep socio-political generalizations. For example, J. Smollett in “Travels in France and Italy” foresaw the revolution in France 20 years in advance.
The flexibility and fluidity of storytelling manifests itself in a variety of forms. Author's digressions, dedications, inserted short stories, letters and even sermons are introduced into the texts. Often jokes and parodies replaced a learned treatise (G. Fielding “The Tragedy of Tragedies, or the Life and Death of the Great Boy Thumb”). Thus, in educational XVIII literature century, what is first of all striking is its thematic richness and genre diversity. Voltaire: “All genres are good, except the boring” - this statement seems to emphasize the rejection of any normativity, the reluctance to give preference to one genre. Yet the genres developed unevenly.
The 18th century is predominantly a century of prose, so the novel, which combines high ethical pathos with the skill of depicting the social life of different strata, acquires great importance in literature. modern society. In addition, the 18th century is distinguished by the variety of types of novels:
1. romance in letters
(Richardson)
2. education novel
(Goethe)
3. philosophical novel
The theater was the platform for enlighteners. Along with classic tragedy, the 18th century discovered bourgeois drama
– new genre, which reflected the process of democratization of the theater. Reached a special peak comedy
. In the plays, the audience was attracted and excited by the image of the hero - the accuser, the bearer of the educational program. For example, Karl Moor "The Robbers". This is one of the features of the literature of the Enlightenment - it carries a high moral ideal, most often embodied in the image positive hero(didactism - from Greek didaktikos - teaching).
The spirit of denial and criticism of everything that is obsolete naturally led to the rise of satire. Satire penetrates all genres and puts forward world-class masters (Swift, Voltaire).
Poetry was represented very modestly in the Age of Enlightenment. Probably, the dominance of rationalism hampered the development lyrical creativity. Most educators had a negative attitude towards folklore. Folk songs they perceived them as “barbaric sounds”; they seemed primitive to them, not meeting the requirements of reason. Only at the end of the 18th century did poets appear who entered the world literature(Burns, Schiller, Goethe).
Directions
In the literature and art of the Enlightenment, there are different artistic directions. Some of them existed in previous centuries, while others became a merit of the 18th century:
1) baroque
;
2) classicism
;
3) educational realism
– the heyday of this trend dates back to the mature Enlightenment. Enlightenment realism, unlike the critical realism of the 19th century, strives for the ideal, that is, it reflects not so much the real as the desired reality, therefore the hero of Enlightenment literature lives not only according to the laws of society, but also according to the laws of Reason and Nature.
4) rococo
(French rococo - “small pebbles”, “shells”) - writers are interested in the private, intimate life of a person, his psychology and his weaknesses. Writers depict life as a pursuit of fleeting pleasure (hedonism), as a gallant game of “love and chance” and as a fleeting holiday ruled by Bacchus (wine) and Venus (love). However, everyone understood that these joys were fleeting and fleeting. This literature is intended for a narrow circle of readers (visitors of aristocratic salons) and is characterized by small works (in poetry - sonnet, madrigal, rondo, ballad, epigram; in prose - heroic-comic poem, fairy tale, romance novel and erotic novella). Artistic language works easy, elegant and relaxed, and the tone of the narrative is witty and ironic (Prevost, Guys).
5) sentimentalism
;
6) pre-romanticism
- arose in England at the end of the 18th century and criticized the main ideas of the Enlightenment. Characteristics:
a) dispute with the Middle Ages;
b) connection with folklore;
c) a combination of the terrible and the fantastic - a “Gothic novel.” Representatives: T. Chatterton, J. McPherson, H. Walpole
