In the late 1980s, a crisis of positivism began in Europe. If the positivists, following Auguste Comte, believed in the triumph of scientific thought, facts, and logic, then their opponents called for a return to romantic values, defended the freedom of creative thought, and glorified fantasy and imagination.

A new trend in art had to be correctly named in order to express its very essence in the name. In 1886, the French poet Jean Moreas published a manifesto "Le Symbolisme" in the largest Parisian newspaper "Le Figaro".

Symbolism was born as a new form of romanticism. Of course, symbolism is not only literary works, but also aesthetic and philosophical treatises. The most important work in European symbolism is Maurice Maeterlinck's philosophical and poetic work Treasure of the Humble (1896).

Symbolism seeks to penetrate the mystery of eternal life, to find the origins of eternal wisdom, to know the invisible "absolute" life that runs parallel to our visible, "superficial" life. Science was too materialistic, mundane for the symbolist writers, it did not recognize anything but the facts that can be observed. Maeterlinck argued that there is "another life nearby, where everything becomes significant, everything is defenseless, nothing dares to laugh, autocracy reigns, where nothing is forgotten anymore." This infinite absolute world, in which beings reign, which are incomparably higher than people in their qualities, exists simultaneously with our world and every moment is found in the world of phenomena. Even the simplest event that takes place in this world correlates with the absolute world and finds its explanation and highest appreciation in that world. This is in a scientific explanation, everything is clear and simple, Maeterlinck believed, but in the life around him he saw an acute need for feelings, faced various kinds of spiritual phenomena, felt manifestations of the mysterious and unknown, such a rapprochement of human souls, which he had never heard of before. He was interested in what rational people simply ignored: questions “about a presentiment, about a strange impression from a meeting or a glance, about a decision made in a field inaccessible to the human mind, about the intervention of an inexplicable but comprehensible force, about the secret laws of antipathy and sympathy, about conscious and instinctive drives, about the predominant influence of the unspoken.

Of course, Maeterlinck was an enthusiastic person, like any artist. For example, he argued that since the meaning is not in the usual clear words that we pronounce in real life, but in the secret wisdom of the higher world, there is no particular need to speak. And why speak, since the meaning is not in words and not in this world at all? After all, it is not words that participate in the dialogues of people, but their souls.

But what then is the true terrestrial language? We live on earth, and not in a higher world, and how can a soul understand earthly truth and another soul. The relationship between souls is beauty. “Beauty is the only language of our souls. They don't understand anything else. They have no other life, they cannot create anything else, they cannot be interested in anything else.” Of course, such a cult of beauty puts poetry much higher than life, because only poets are attentive to the "endless shadow." The main thing in a poetic work is “the idea that embraces the entire work and creates an inherent mood for it alone, that is, the poet’s own idea of ​​​​the unknown, where creatures and objects hover, caused by him from the mysterious world that dominates them, judges and controls their fate." However, writers do not always understand this unknown. This is the reason for the decline of literature, which Maeterlinck opposes: “Our writers of tragedy and mediocre artists believe the interest of their works in the power of the reproduced plot and wish to entertain us with the same thing that gave pleasure to the barbarians, for whom atrocities, murders and treason were commonplace. Meanwhile, most of our lives pass away from blood, screams and swords, and the tears of people have become silent, invisible, almost spiritual. What is needed instead? It is only necessary to show "what is surprising in the simple fact of life."

So, we see that symbolism comes from the existence of a second, higher world. Beauty is the only possible language with which this higher world can be comprehended. Even from the simple facts of life one should extract the "surprising", otherwise there is no point in art.

In the cultural life of Russia, an important event was the defense of the master's thesis by Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov. The young scientist was then in his twenty-second year. The dissertation was titled “The Crisis of Western Philosophy. against the positivists. Rejecting the materialism of Feuerbach and Comte, popular in Russian philosophy and aesthetics (especially after N.G. Chernyshevsky’s dissertation “The Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality”), Solovyov argued that the world around him, the “world of things”, is only an imperfect and ugly reflection of the other world absolute harmony and beauty, the world of beautiful eternal ideas.

Eternal Femininity reigns in this world - Sophia, the Wife. Of course, this is only a coincidence with the name of the woman-wife: it was a biblical image from the Apocalypse. In the poem "Three dates" V.S. Solovyov described three mystical meetings that he had with his Wife, "clothed in the sun."

At the end of the 19th century, the poet declared himself, who helped Russian symbolism to form organizationally. It was a young and very ambitious writer Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov. The purpose of life was clear to him from childhood - glory. Awareness of himself as a great man came to him very early. He liked Russian poets K.M. Fofanov and D.S. Merezhkovsky, a little later he learned about the French Symbolists. He called acquaintance with the work of P. Verlaine, S. Mallarme, A. Rimbaud, M. Maeterlinck a genuine discovery. Articles by M. Nordau and Z. Vengerova helped Bryusov to understand their work. Bryusov rejected his previous ideas about literature and passionately, furiously began work on the creation of Russian symbolism, whose representatives were at first called decadents. In 1894, a modest book “Russian Symbolists. Issue I. Valery Bryusov and A.L. Miropolsky. Moscow, 1894". Under the pseudonym A.L. Miropolsky was printed by a gymnasium friend Bryusov A.A. Lang is the first and for the time being the only one whom Bryusov managed to persuade "to become a symbolist." As usual, Bryusov's theory was not always reflected in poetic practice, but the main thing was achieved: Russian Symbolists were talked about in many printed publications.

How could one miss, for example, such a poem by Bryusov (from the third collection), which consisted of one line:

Oh, close your pale feet.

Although some of V. Bryusov's poems were criticized by Vl. Solovyov, who wittily parodied them, Bryusov adequately answered, pointing out that he, Solovyov, himself was the forerunner of a new literary trend. In his diary, Bryusov writes: “I am a connection. I still live with the ideas of the 19th century, but I was already the first to give a hand to the young men of the 20th... Oh, you, my current friends, looking at the children, think one thing: we will try to keep up with them!

In the book of 1896-1897 "Me eum esse" Bryusov affirms the greatness of the poet, his artistic will.

Bryusov works with amazing energy. In 1898, his book "On Art" was published, in which he argues that art is the disclosure of the artist's soul.

Valery Bryusov, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Zinaida Gippius stood at the origins of an important direction for Russian culture - symbolism. Merezhkovsky and Gippius created the leading magazine of the Symbolists, The New Way (1902-1904), which became an important addition to the society organized by them in 1901, the Religious-Philosophical Meetings in St. Petersburg. The society was closed after the 22nd meeting in 1903 by a special decree of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod K. Pobedonostsev. However, it no longer occurred to anyone to ridicule the Symbolists, among whom were Andrei Bely, Alexander Blok, Jurgis Baltrushaitis, Vyacheslav Ivanov.

Source (abbreviated): Russian language and literature. Literature: Grade 11 / B.A. Lanin, L.Yu. Ustinova, V.M. Shamchikov; ed. B.A. Lanina. — M. : Ventana-Graf, 2015

Symbolism is a trend of modernism, which is characterized by "three main elements of the new art: mystical content, symbols and the expansion of artistic impressionability ...", "a new combination of thoughts, colors and sounds"; the main principle of symbolism is the artistic expression through the symbol of the essence of objects and ideas that are beyond sensory perception.

Symbolism (from French simbolism, from Greek simbolon - sign, symbol) appeared in France in the late 60s and early 70s. 19th century (initially in literature, and then in other arts - visual, musical, theatrical) and soon included other cultural phenomena - philosophy, religion, mythology. The favorite topics addressed by the symbolists were death, love, suffering, the expectation of any events. Scenes of gospel history, half-mythical-half-historical events of the Middle Ages, ancient mythology prevailed among the plots.

Russian symbolist writers are traditionally divided into "senior" and "junior".

The elders - the so-called "decadents" - Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Zinaida Gippius, Valery Bryusov, Konstantin Balmont, Fyodor Sologub - reflected in their work the features of pan-European pan-aestheticism.

The younger symbolists - Alexander Blok, Andrei Bely, Vyacheslav Ivanov - in addition to aestheticism, embodied in their work the aesthetic utopia of the search for the mystical Eternal Femininity.

Silently locked doors

We dare not open them.

If the heart is true to the legends,

Consoling ourselves by barking, we bark.

What is in the menagerie is fetid and nasty,

We forgot a long time ago, we don't know.

The heart is accustomed to repetitions, -

Monotonous and boring cuckoo.

Everything in the menagerie is impersonal, usually.

We have not longed for freedom for a long time.

The doors are firmly closed

We dare not open them.

F. Sologub

The concept of theurgy is connected with the process of creating symbolic forms in art. The origin of the word "theurgy" comes from the Greek teourgiya, which means a divine act, sacred ritual, mystery. In the era of antiquity, theurgy was understood as the communication of people with the world of the gods in the process of special ritual actions.

The problem of theurgical creativity, in which the deep connection of symbolism with the sphere of the sacred, was expressed, worried V.S. Soloviev. He argued that the art of the future must create a new connection with religion. This connection should be freer than it exists in the sacred art of Orthodoxy. In restoring the connection between art and religion on a fundamentally new basis, V.S. Solovyov sees a theurgical beginning. Theurgy is understood by him as a process of co-creation of the artist with God. Understanding theurgy in the works of V.S. Solovyov found a lively response in the works of religious thinkers of the early twentieth century: P.A. Florensky, N.A. Berdyaeva, E.M. Trubetskoy, S.N. Bulgakov and others, as well as in poetry and literary-critical works of Russian symbolist poets of the early twentieth century: Andrei Bely, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Maximilian Voloshin and others.

These thinkers and poets felt the deep connection between symbolism and the sacred.

The history of Russian symbolism, covering various aspects of the phenomenon of Russian culture of the late XX - early XX century, including symbolism, was written by the English researcher A. Payman.

The disclosure of this issue is essential for understanding the complexity and diversity of the aesthetic process and artistic creativity in general.

The Russian symbolism of the late 19th - early 20th centuries was immediately preceded by the symbolism of icon painting, which had a great influence on the formation of the aesthetic views of Russian religious philosophers and art theorists. At the same time, Western European symbolism, represented by the “damned poets” of France P. Verlaine, A. Rimbaud, S. Mallarme, primarily adopted the ideas of irrationalist philosophers of the second half of the 19th century - representatives of the philosophy of life. These ideas were not associated with any particular religion. On the contrary, they proclaimed the "death of God" and "loyalty to the earth."

Representatives of European irrationalism of the 19th century, in particular

F. Nietzsche, sought to create a new religion from art. This religion should not be a religion that proclaims the one God as the highest sacred value, but a religion of a superman who is connected with the earth and the bodily principle. This religion established fundamentally new symbols, which, according to F. Nietzsche, should express the new true meaning of things. The symbolism of F. Nietzsche had a subjective, individual character. In form and content, it opposed the symbols of the previous stage in the development of culture, since the old symbols were largely associated with traditional religion.

Russian symbolist poets Vyacheslav Ivanov and Andrei Bely, following F. Nietzsche, proceeded from the fact that the destruction of traditional religion is an objective process. But their interpretation of the "art-religion" of the future differed significantly from Nietzsche's. They saw the possibility of a religious renewal on the paths of the revival of the art of antiquity and the Middle Ages, art that speaks the language of a myth-symbol. Possessing a significant potential for the sacred and preserving itself in artistic forms accessible to the understanding mind, the art of past eras, according to symbolist theorists, can be revived in a new historical context, in contrast to the dead religion of antiquity, and the spiritual atmosphere of the Middle Ages that has gone down in history.

This is exactly what happened already once during the Renaissance, when the sacred beginning of past eras, having transformed into an aesthetic one, became the basis on which the great art of the European Renaissance was formed and developed. As unattainable examples of theurgical creativity, the works of art of antiquity embodied the foundation, thanks to which it became possible to preserve for many years the sacredness of the art of the Christian Middle Ages, which was already depleting in the aesthetic sense. This is what led to the unattainable rise of European culture in the Renaissance, synthesizing ancient symbolism and Christian sacredness.

The Russian symbolist poet Vyacheslav Ivanov comes to theurgy through the comprehension of the cosmos through the artistic expressive possibilities of art. According to his statements, in art, along with the symbol, such phenomena as myth and mystery play the most important role. IN AND. Ivanov emphasizes the deep connection that exists between a symbol and a myth, and the process of symbolic creativity is considered by him as myth-making: “Approaching the goal of the most complete symbolic disclosure of reality is myth-making. Realistic symbolism follows the path of the symbol to the myth; the myth is already contained in the symbol, it is immanent to it; contemplation of the symbol reveals the myth in the symbol.

The myth, in the understanding of Vyacheslav Ivanov, is devoid of any personal characteristics. This is an objective form of preserving knowledge about reality, found as a result of mystical experience and taken for granted until, in the act of a new breakthrough of consciousness to the same reality, new knowledge of a higher level is discovered about it. Then the old myth is removed by the new one, which takes its place in the religious consciousness and in the spiritual experience of people. Vyacheslav Ivanov connects myth-making with "the sincere feat of the artist himself."

According to V.I. Ivanov, the first condition for true myth-making is “the spiritual feat of the artist himself”. IN AND. Ivanov says that the artist "should stop creating without connection with the divine all-unity, he must educate himself to the possibility of creative realization of this connection" . As V.I. Ivanov: “And the myth, before it is experienced by everyone, must become an event of inner experience, personal in its arena, supra-personal in its content.” This is the “theurgical goal” of symbolism, which many Russian symbolists of the “Silver Age” dreamed of.

Russian symbolists proceed from the fact that the search for a way out of the crisis leads to a person's awareness of his possibilities, which appear before him on two paths potentially open to humanity from the beginning of its existence. As Vyacheslav Ivanov emphasizes, one of them is erroneous, magical, the second is true, theurgic. The first way is connected with the fact that the artist tries to breathe "magic life" into his creation through magic spells and thereby commits a "crime", since he transgresses the "reserved limit" of his abilities. This path ultimately leads to the destruction of art, to its transformation into an abstraction completely divorced from real life. The second way was in theurgical creativity, in which the artist could realize himself precisely as a co-creator of God, as a conductor of the divine idea and revive the reality embodied in artistic creativity with his work. It is the second way that means the creation of the living. This path is the path of theurgical symbolist creativity. Since Vyacheslav Ivanov considers works of ancient art to be the highest example of symbolist creativity, he puts the ideal image of Aphrodite on a par with the “miracle-working icon”. Symbolist art, according to the concept of Vyacheslav Ivanov, is one of the essential forms of the influence of higher realities on lower ones.

The problem of theurgical creativity was also connected with the symbolic aspect of the nature of the sacred in another representative of Russian symbolism - A. Bely. Unlike Vyacheslav Ivanov, who was an adherent of ancient art, Andrey Bely's theurgy is predominantly oriented towards Christian values. Andrei Bely considers the internal engine of theurgic creativity to be precisely the Good, which, as it were, instills in the theurgist. For Andrey Bely, theurgy is the goal towards which all culture in its historical development and art as part of it is directed. He considers symbolism as the highest achievement of art. According to the concept of Andrei Bely, symbolism reveals the content of human history and culture as a desire to embody the transcendent Symbol in real life. This is how theurgical symbolization appears to him, the highest stage of which is the creation of life. The task of the theurgists is to bring real life as close as possible to this “norm”, which is possible only on the basis of a new understanding of Christianity.

Thus, the sacred, as a spiritual principle, seeks to be preserved in new forms that are adequate to the worldview of the twentieth century. The high spiritual content of art is ensured as a result of the recoding of the sacred as religious into the aesthetic, which ensures the search for an artistic form in art that is adequate to the spiritual situation of the era.

“The Symbolist poets, with their characteristic sensitivity, felt that Russia was flying into the abyss, that the old Russia was ending and a new Russia, still unknown, should arise,” said the philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev. Eschatological predictions, thoughts excited everyone, “the death of Russia”, “the edge of history”, “the end of culture” - these statements sounded like an alarming alarm. As in the painting by Leon Bakst “The Death of Atlantis”, in the prophecies of many, impulse, anxiety, doubts breathe. The impending catastrophe is seen as a mystical insight, destined above:

Already the curtain is trembling before the start of the drama ...

Already someone in the dark, all-seeing like an owl,

Draws circles and builds pentagrams

And whispers prophetic spells and words.

A symbol for symbolists is not a commonly understood sign. It differs from a realistic image in that it conveys not the objective essence of the phenomenon, but the poet's individual idea of ​​the world, most often vague and indefinite. The symbol transforms the "rough and poor life" into a "sweet legend".

Russian symbolism arose as an integral trend, but refracted into bright, independent, dissimilar individuals. If the coloring of F. Sologub's poetry is gloomy and tragic, then the worldview of the early Balmont, on the contrary, is permeated with the sun, optimistic.

The literary life of St. Petersburg at the beginning of the Silver Age was in full swing and concentrated on the "Tower" by V. Ivanov and in the salon of Gippius-Merezhkovsky: individuals developed, intertwined, repulsed in heated discussions, philosophical disputes, impromptu lessons and lectures. It was in the process of these living mutual intersections that new trends and schools departed from symbolism - acmeism, headed by N. Gumilyov, and ego-futurism, represented primarily by the word creator I. Severyanin.

Acmeists (Greek acme - the highest degree of something, blooming power) opposed themselves to symbolism, criticized the vagueness and unsteadiness of the symbolist language and image. They preached a clear, fresh and "simple" poetic language, where words would directly and clearly name objects, and would not refer, as in symbolism, to "mysterious worlds".

Indefinite, beautiful, sublime symbols, understatement and underexpression were replaced by simple objects, caricature compositions, sharp, sharp, material signs of the world. Innovative poets (N. Gumilyov, S. Gorodetsky, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, V. Narbut, M. Kuzmin) felt themselves to be the creators of fresh words and not so much prophets as masters in the "working room of poetry" (I. Annensky). No wonder the community united around the acmeists called itself the guild of poets: an indication of the earthly background of creativity, the possibility of a collective inspired effort in poetic art.

As you can see, the Russian poetry of the "Silver Age" has come a long way in a very short time. She threw her seeds into the future. The thread of legends and traditions did not break. The poetry of the turn of the century, the poetry of the "Silver Age" is the most complex cultural phenomenon, the interest in which is just beginning to wake up. Ahead of us are waiting for new and new discoveries.

The poetry of the "Silver Age" reflected in itself, in its large and small magic mirrors, the complex and ambiguous process of the socio-political, spiritual, moral, aesthetic and cultural development of Russia in a period marked by three revolutions, a world war and an especially terrible for us internal war. , civil. In this process, captured by poetry, there are ups and downs, light and dark, dramatic sides, but in its depths it is a tragic process. And although time pushed aside this amazing layer of poetry of the Silver Age, it radiates its energy to this day. The Russian "Silver Age" is unique. Never - neither before nor after - has there been in Russia such agitation of consciousness, such tension of searches and aspirations, as when, according to an eyewitness, one line of Blok meant more and was more urgent than the entire content of "thick" magazines. The light of these unforgettable dawns will forever remain in the history of Russia.

symbolism block verlaine literati

A direction in the art of the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries, which is based on the expression of intuitively comprehended entities and ideas through a symbol. The real world in symbolism is conceived as a vague reflection of some otherworldly true world, and the creative act is the only means of knowing the true essence of things and phenomena.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Symbolism in Russia

Russian symbolism arose in the 1890s as an opposition to the positivist tradition prevailing in society, which most clearly manifested itself in the so-called. populist literature. In addition to the sources of influence common to Russian and European Symbolists, Russian authors were influenced by classical Russian literature of the 19th century, in particular creativity, F.I. Tyutcheva, . Philosophy, in particular his doctrine of Sophia, played a special role in the development of symbolism, while the philosopher himself was rather critical of the works of the symbolists.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Details Category: A variety of styles and trends in art and their features Posted on 08/08/2015 12:43 Views: 4834

"Imagination, creating analogies or correspondences and conveying them in an image - this is the formula of symbolism" (Rene Gil).

And indeed, everything “natural”, real seemed to them only “appearance”, which had no independent artistic value.
Symbolism as an artistic phenomenon was one of the largest trends in literature, music and painting at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It originated in France in the 1870s and 1880s, and by the end of the century it had spread to most European countries. But it is in Russia that symbolism is realized as the most large-scale, significant and original phenomenon in culture.

The meaning of symbolism

The French poet Jean Moréas (he was also the author of the term “symbolism” in art) was best of all said about the essence of symbolism: “Symbolic poetry is the enemy of teachings, rhetoric, false sensibility and objective descriptions; it seeks to clothe the Idea in a sensually comprehensible form, but this form is not an end in itself, it serves to express the Idea without leaving its power. On the other hand, symbolic art resists the Idea shutting itself in, rejecting the magnificent robes prepared for it in the world of appearances. Pictures of nature, human deeds, all the phenomena of our life are significant for the art of symbols, not in themselves, but only as tangible reflections of the first Ideas, indicating their secret affinity with them ... Symbolist synthesis must correspond to a special, primordial, wide-ranging style; hence the unusual word formations, the periods that are either awkwardly heavy, or captivatingly flexible, meaningful repetitions, mysterious silences, unexpected reticence - everything is bold and figurative ... ".
There was another term for the new direction in literature - decadence. And since the main mood cultivated by the Symbolists was despairing pessimism, and decadence (from French décadent - decadent) is a modernist trend in art of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, characterized by perverse aestheticism, individualism, immoralism, then between symbolism and decadence there were no contradictions.
But in Russia, nevertheless, these two phenomena in art were distinguished: in symbolism, spirituality was noted, and in decadence, only immorality and a passion for external form.
In this regard, we would like to turn to two pictures. The first painting is by the Finnish artist Hugo Simberg "The Wounded Angel". Since the author himself did not give any interpretation of this picture, leaving the viewer to draw their own conclusions, we will use this and say that the picture personifies symbolism.

Hugo Simberg "Wounded Angel" (1903). Canvas, oil. 127 x 154 cm. Ateneum (Helsinki)
And the picture of Ramon Casas "Young decadent" (1899) personifies decadence.

The Symbolists tried to depict the life of every soul. But since the human soul is mysterious, their works are full of experiences, vague moods, subtle feelings, fleeting impressions. Symbolist poets filled poetry with new expressive images, but often left in a meaningless play on words and sounds. Symbolism distinguishes two worlds: the world of things and the world of ideas, and unites these worlds in art.
The basic principles of the aesthetics of symbolism are expressed in the works of French poets Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Stephane Mallarmé, Lautreamont.

G. Courbet "Portrait of Paul Verlaine" (circa 1866)

Paul Verlaine "Autumn Song"

from afar
Longing pours
Autumn violins -
And without breathing
The soul freezes
In a daze.

The hour will ring -
And chills
The echo of the threat
And remember
In the heart of spring -
Tears roll.

And until the morning
Evil winds
In a plaintive howl
They circle me
Like a chase
With fallen leaves.

It is not known what autumn violins weep at Verlaine. Maybe it's the sad noise of the trees. Or maybe these are the feelings of a person tired of life? The same applies to the strike of the clock - where, when? The vagueness of the images confirms the poet's mournful thought about the bitter loneliness of every creature doomed to perish in a cold, indifferent world.
The method of symbolism involves the embodiment of the main ideas of the work in the many-valued and many-sided associative aesthetics of symbols, i.e. such images, the meaning of which is comprehensible through their direct expression in the word, painting, music, etc. The main content of a symbolic work is the eternal Ideas expressed in the figurativeness of symbols, i.e. generalized ideas about a person and his life, the highest Meaning, comprehended only in a symbol, as well as Beauty embodied in it.

Symbolism in literature

Symbolism in literature has manifested itself in many countries: adherents of this trend were Maurice Maeterlinck, Emile Verharn (Belgium); Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, Jules Laforgue, Henri de Regnier, Paul Valery, Paul Claudel, Paul Faure, Saint-Paul Roux, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Lautreamont (France); Rainer Maria Rilke, Hugo von Hofmannsthal (Austria and Germany; late Henrik Ibsen (Norway); Valery Bryusov, Alexander Blok, Fedor Sologub, Andrei Bely, Konstantin Balmont, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Zinaida Gippius, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Maximilian Voloshin and many others. (Russia).

S. Malarme. Photograph 1896
Stéphane Mallarmé(1842-1898) - French poet, one of the leaders of the Symbolists. Mallarme believed that poetry does not "show", but inspires. The visible phenomenon is only the external side. The poet expresses his intuitive knowledge symbolically. Mallarme understands the symbol as a system of analogies. His lyrics are subjective, thematically indefinite. The main motives are loneliness and grief. But feelings are not expressed directly, but by a series of allegories.

Mallarme

The flesh is saddened, and the books are tired ...
Run... I can feel the birds getting drunk
From the newness of heaven and foamy water.
No - not in my eyes ancient gardens
Do not stop the heart, dancing, share;
Not with a lamp in a desert halo
On unwritten and virgin sheets;
Not a young mother with a child in her arms...
Mallarmé "The Swan"

Mighty, virgin, in the beauty of winding lines,
Madness will not break the wings
He is the lake of dreams, where the patterned hoarfrost hid
Flights bound by transparent blue ice?

And the Swan of former days, in a fit of proud torment
He knows that he cannot rise, cannot sing:
He did not create a country in a song to fly away,
When winter comes in the radiance of white boredom.

He will shake off the deadly impotence with his neck,
To whom the free is now imprisoned by the distance,
But not the shame of the earth that froze its wings.

He is bound by the whiteness of the earthly garment,
And freezes in proud dreams of unnecessary exile,
Wrapped in haughty sadness.
(Translated by M. Voloshin)

B. M. Kustodiev "Portrait of Voloshin" (1924)

Russian symbolism

As we said earlier, in Russia, symbolism has become a large-scale, significant and original phenomenon in culture, while it has acquired its own unique Russian features.

V. Serov "Portrait of K. Balmont"
The Silver Age of Russian literature coincides in time with the era of symbolism. But symbolism in Russia was very diverse and did not represent any single school.

M. Vrubel "Portrait of V. Bryusov"
Two periods are seen in the course of Russian symbolism: the older symbolists (V. Bryusov, D. Merezhkovsky, Z. Gippius, N. Minsky, K. Balmont, etc.) and the “young symbolists” (the second generation of symbolists - Sergey Solovyov, A. Bely, A. Blok, Ellis, I. Annensky, Vyacheslav Ivanov).

K. Somov “Portrait of Vyach. Ivanova"
The work of Russian symbolism (especially of the younger generation) was strongly influenced by the philosophy of Vl. Solovyov. The image of Hagia Sophia often served as a source of inspiration for Russian symbolists. Saint Sophia Solovyova is at the same time the Old Testament wisdom and the Platonic idea of ​​wisdom, the Eternal Femininity and the World Soul, the "Virgin of the Rainbow Gates" and the Immaculate Wife - the subtle invisible spiritual principle of the universe. The cult of Sophia was accepted by A. Blok, A. Bely, S. Solovyov. A. Blok called Sophia the Beautiful Lady, M. Voloshin saw her incarnation in the legendary Queen Taiah. The younger symbolists were in tune with Solovyov's appeal to the invisible, "ineffable" as the true source of being. Solovyov's poem "Dear Friend" was perceived as a summary of their idealistic moods of the symbolists:

Dear friend, can't you see
That everything we see
Only reflections, only shadows
From invisible eyes?
Dear friend, don't you hear
That the noise of life is crackling -
Just a garbled response.
Triumphant harmonies?

Symbolism in painting

Symbolism includes the work of artists A. Benois, L. Bakst, M. Dobuzhinsky, V. Borisov-Musatov, M. Vrubel and others. But it should always be remembered that each representative of the symbolist movement had his own path to it, therefore the work of all symbolists is impossible united by some one characteristic feature.

V. Borisov-Musatov "Ghosts" (1903)
“... With the end of the life of the empty landowner's house, “everything was a thing of the past”, as he depicted in the foreground the pictures of the receding ghostly figures of women” (according to the memoirs of the artist’s sister Elena).

Symbolism in music

The brightest representative of this style is A.N. Scriabin. Scriabin's music is unusual and original: impulsive, nervously disturbing, not alien to mysticism. The composer was attracted by images associated with fire: the titles of his works often mention fire, flame, light, etc. This is due to his search for ways to combine sound and light. He is the first composer in history to use color music.

Correspondence of colors and tonalities according to Scriabin
One of the last, unfulfilled plans of Scriabin was "Mystery", which was supposed to be embodied in a grandiose action: the union of sounds, colors, smells, movements, and even sounding architecture.
Through the "Mystery" A. N. Scriabin was going to complete the current cycle of the existence of the world, to unite the World Spirit with inert Matter in some kind of cosmic erotic act and thus destroy the current Universe, clearing the place for the creation of the next world. His "Poem of Ecstasy" and "Prometheus" are the preface ("Preliminary Act") of the "Mystery".

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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