Baroque literature - what is it? Stylistic features of baroque literature. Baroque literature in Russia: examples, writers

Baroque - this artistic direction, which was developed in the early XVII century. In the translation from the Italian language the term means "quaint", "strange". This trend has touched on different types of art and, above all, architecture. And what are the characteristic features of Baroque literature?

A bit of history

The leading position in the social and political life of Europe in the seventeenth century was occupied by the church. Evidence of this is the outstanding architectural monuments. To strengthen church power was necessary with the help of artistic images. It needed something bright, artsy, even somewhat intrusive. Thus, a new artistic direction was born, the birthplace of which was the then cultural center of Europe - Italy.

This direction began its development in painting and architecture, but later embraced other types of art. Writers and poets did not stay away from new trends in culture. A new direction was born - baroque literature (accent on the second syllable).

Works in the Baroque style were called upon to glorify power and the church. In many countries this trend was developed as a kind of court art. However, later, varieties of baroque were identified. There were also specific features of this style. The most active development of baroque was in the Catholic countries.

Main features

Aspirations of the Catholic Church to strengthen howl the power could not be better matched art, the characteristic features of which were grace, pomposity, sometimes exaggerated expressiveness. In literature it is pathetic, attention to sensuality and, oddly enough, the bodily principle. A distinctive feature of Baroque art is the combination of the sublime and the earthly.

Varieties

Baroque literature is a collection of works of art, which can be contrasted with the classic. Moliere, Racine and Corneille created their creations in accordance with strict standards. In works written by representatives of such a direction as baroque literature, there are metaphors, symbols, antitheses, gradation. They inherent illusory, the use of various means of expression.

Baroque literature was subsequently divided into several varieties:

• Marinism;
• Gongorizm;
• Conceptism;
• euphuism.

Trying to understand the features of each of these directions is not worth it. We should say a few words about the stylistic features of Baroque literature, who are its main representatives.

Aesthetics of baroque

In the Renaissance, the idea of humanism began to manifest itself in literature. In place of the dark medieval worldview came the realization of the value of the human person. In the era of the Enlightenment , scientific, philosophical and social thought actively developed. But before that, there appeared such a direction as baroque literature. What is it? It can be said that Baroque literature is a kind of transition link. It replaced the Renaissance poetics, but did not become its negation.

At the heart of Baroque aesthetics is the clash of two opposing views. In the works of this artistic direction, the belief in human possibilities and conviction in the omnipotence of the natural world is whimsically combined. They reflect both ideological and sensory needs. What is the main theme in the creations created in the direction of "baroque literature"? Writers did not give preference to a certain point of view regarding the place of man in society and the world. Their ideas ranged between hedonism and asceticism, earth and sky, God and the devil. Another characteristic feature of Baroque literature is the return of the ancient motifs.

Baroque literature, examples of which can be found not only in Italian, but also in Spanish, French, Polish and Russian cultures, is based on the principle of combining incongruous. The authors combined in their work various genres. Their main task was to surprise, stun the reader. Strange pictures, unusual scenes, a heap of various images, a combination of secularism and religiosity are all features of Baroque literature.

Worldview

The Baroque era does not abandon the humanistic ideas peculiar to the Renaissance. But these ideas get a tragic shade. Man of the Baroque era is full of conflicting thoughts. He is ready to fight his passions and the forces of the social environment.

An important idea of the baroque worldview is also a combination of the real and the fictional, the ideal and the earthly. Authors who created their works in this style often showed a tendency to disharmony, grotesqueness, exaggeration.

An external feature of Baroque art is a special understanding of beauty. The pretentiousness of forms, splendor, splendor are characteristic features of this trend.

Heroes

A typical character of Baroque works is a person who has a strong will, nobility, the ability to think rationally. For example, the heroes of Calderon - a Spanish playwright, one of the brightest representatives of baroque literature - are seized with a thirst for knowledge, a desire for justice.

Europe

Representatives of Italian Baroque literature are Jacopo Sannadzor, Tebideo, Tasso, and Gvarini. In the works of these authors there is pretentiousness, ornamentalism, verbal play and attraction to mythological subjects.

The main representative of the Spanish Baroque literature is Luis de Gongora, by whose name one of the varieties of this artistic direction is named. Other representatives are Baltasar Gracian, Alonso de Ledesco, Francesco de Quevedo. It should be said that, having arisen in Italy, the aesthetics of the Baroque was later actively developed in Spain. The features of this literary trend are also present in prose. Suffice it to recall the famous "Don Quixote". The hero of Cervantes is partly in the world he invented. The Misfortunes of the Knight of the Sorrowful Image resemble the journey of the Homeric character. But in the book of the Spanish writer there is grotesqueness and comedy.

The monument of Baroque literature is Simplicissimus Grimelshausen. In this novel, which contemporaries may seem rather eccentric and not without a comic, tragic events in the history of Germany, namely the Thirty Years' War , are reflected . In the center of the plot is a simple young man who is on an endless journey and experiences both sad and hilarious adventures.

In France during this period, preference literature was predominantly popular.

In Poland, Baroque literature is represented by such names as Zbigniew Morshtyn, Vespasian Kohovsky, Vaclav Potocki.

Russia

S. Polotsky and F. Prokopovich - representatives of baroque national literature. This direction became in a sense official. Baroque literature in Russia found its expression primarily in court poetry, but it developed somewhat differently than in Western European countries. The fact is that, as is known, Baroque replaced the Renaissance, which in Russia was almost unknown. Literary direction, referred to in this article, had little difference from the artistic direction inherent in the culture of the Renaissance.

Simeon of Polotsk

This poet sought to reproduce in his verses various concepts and representations. Polotsky gave logic to logic and even brought her closer to science. Collections of his creations resemble encyclopedic dictionaries. His works are mainly devoted to various public issues.

What poetry does the contemporary reader perceive? Of course, later. What is dearer to a Russian person - baroque literature or the Silver Age? Most likely, the second. Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Gumilev ... Creations created by Polotsky can hardly be a pleasure for the current lover of poetry. This author wrote a series of poems of a moralizing nature. To perceive them today is rather difficult because of the abundance of obsolete grammatical forms and archaisms. "A man is a certain wine drinker" - a phrase, a meaning that not every contemporary of ours understands.

Literature of the Baroque, like other arts in this style, set the freedom of choice of means of expressiveness. Works differed in the complexity of their forms. And in them, as a rule, there was pessimism, caused by the belief in the powerlessness of man against external forces. At the same time, awareness of the impermanence of the world was combined with the desire to overcome the crisis. With the help of literary works an attempt was made to know the higher reason, to comprehend the place of man in the expanses of the universe.

The style of the Baroque became a product of political and social upheavals. It is sometimes perceived as an attempt to restore the medieval worldview. However, this style occupies an important place in the history of literature, and primarily because it has become the mainstream for the development of later trends.