Literature Grade 8. Textbook-reader for schools with in-depth study of literature Team of authors
Genre of fable in Russian literature of the 18th century
The eighteenth century was the heyday of the fable genre in Russian literature. This is no coincidence. The fable perfectly met the needs of educational literature. The epic genre demanded reasonable understanding the artistic world contained in it, and the obligatory edification fully corresponded didactic guidelines Enlightenment. At the same time, Russian writers appreciated and democracy fables, allowing them to use the inexhaustible wealth of the Russian language. Allegorical characters of the Russian fable spoke everyday language, often using vernacular. It became common for Russian fabulists to use free verse, giving the genre strength and expressiveness.
Unlike Western European fabulists, who drew the plots of their works from the ancient classics Aesop and Phaedrus, Russian poets showed remarkable imagination and ingenuity, finding allegory, understandable and close to their compatriots. The fable has become a powerful weapon of enlighteners in their struggle against the vices of society and individuals.
In the poetics of classicism, the fable was traditionally considered low genre, therefore, many poets were embarrassed to address her. In Russia, the fable enjoyed great respect, and subtle lyricists, such as A.P. Sumarokov, and ode writers, for example, G. R. Derzhavin, and the creators of epics glorifying Russia, such as M. M. Kheraskov, turned to it. But most of all the fable was loved by satirical poets. It was the fable that brought poetic fame to Ivan Ivanovich Khemnitser. Rival and friend of H.M. Karamzin, Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev, could not surpass Karamzin in creating lyrics, but his fables provided him with a loud poetic name. It is difficult to name a poet who would not have tried his hand at the fable genre in the 18th century.
After reading the works offered to you, try to answer a number of questions: What vices do Russian fabulists ridicule? What artistic techniques do they use to create allegorical images? How does the Russian national poetic tradition manifest itself in their fables? How do poets use the possibilities of free verse?
From the book Russian poets of the second half of the XIX century author Orlitsky Yuri BorisovichV. Kozhinov From the "Book of Russian Lyric Poetry of the XX century" Lyrics of the middle of the century<…>In the 40s, enlightenment literature began to actively take shape, pushing baroque literature from the forefront. And for educational literature, lyrics are of little character; in it
From the book History of Russian Literature of the 19th Century. Part 1. 1795-1830 author Skibin Sergei Mikhailovich From the book Thought armed with rhymes [Poetic anthology on the history of Russian verse] author Kholshevnikov Vladislav EvgenievichVerse of the 18th century Metrics, rhythm. In the first third of the XVIII century. syllabic verse still dominated. Its main features are the uniformity of poetic lines, continuous female rhyme; the dominant forms are the 13-syllable with a caesura after the 7th syllable (7 + 6) and the 11-syllable (5 + 6). disorder
From the book Pushkin: Biography of the writer. Articles. Eugene Onegin: comments author Lotman Yuri Mikhailovich From the book Conversations about Russian Culture. Life and traditions of the Russian nobility (XVIII - early XIX century) author Lotman Yuri Mikhailovich From the book Ways and Faces. On Russian Literature of the 20th Century author Chagin Alexey Ivanovich From the book History of Russian Literature of the 18th Century author Lebedeva O. B.Ideological prose of the first third of the 18th century: the genre of preaching in the work of F. Prokopovich. Poetics of oratorical prose If the everyday image of a new person is created in the authorless histories of the Petrine era, then another, also extremely widespread and popular genre is
From the book History of the Russian Novel. Volume 1 author Philology Team of authors --Satire as a genre and as an aesthetic trend in Russian literature of the 18th century. The satire of Kantemir, which, by the time of its occurrence, is the oldest genre of Russian literature of modern times, at its very origins outlines techniques and methods of purely aesthetic dissimilarity
From the book Practical Lessons in Russian Literature of the 19th Century author Voytolovskaya Ella LvovnaCHAPTER II. THE ORIGIN OF THE NOVEL IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE 18TH CENTURY (GN Moiseeva - § 1, IZ Serman - §§ 2–6) 1In Russian literature of the 18th century, poetry, dramaturgy and narrative prose developed unevenly. Unlike the written literature of previous centuries, where
From the book Venice in Russian literature author Mednis Nina EliseevnaVoytolovskaya E. L. and Rumyantseva E. M. Practical classes in Russian literature of the 19th century. Allowance for students ped. in-tov in the specialty “Rus. lang. and literature. FOREWORD The course of Russian literature of the 19th century. at the philological faculties of universities and pedagogical
From the book Russian Literature and Medicine: Body, prescriptions, social practice [Collection of articles] author Borisova IrinaVenice in Russian Literature of the 18th Century On the Threshold of the Russian Venetians. - Features of the description of Venice in the travel notes of P. A. Tolstoy and D. I. Fonvizin. - Signs of Venice in comedies and interludes presented at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna. - Traits
From the book Roll Call Kamen [Philological Studies] author Ranchin Andrei MikhailovichSuzi K. Frank Mastering Shamanism in Russian Literature at the End of the 18th Century: A. N. Radishchev vs. Catherine II In one of his many letters from Siberian exile, Radishchev, addressing A. R. Vorontsov, who interceded for him (June 1794), mentions a religious rite
From the book Literature Grade 7. Textbook-reader for schools with in-depth study of literature. Part 1 author Team of authors"In the region of hell": an expression from a poem by I.A. Brodsky "On the death of Zhukov" in the context of Russian poetry of the 18th - the first third of the 19th century In 1974, I.A. Brodsky wrote a poem "On the death of Zhukov" - a kind of imitation of "Snigir" - Derzhavin's epitaph of A.V.
From the book Literature Grade 7. Textbook-reader for schools with in-depth study of literature. Part 2 author Team of authorsWorld and Man in Russian Literature of the 18th–19th Centuries
From the book Literature Grade 8. Textbook-reader for schools with in-depth study of literature author Team of authorsThe World and Man in Russian Literature of the 20th Century The October Revolution of 1917 not only changed the political system in Russia, it put writers in the face of a completely new reality that required a new artistic comprehension. Many beautiful
From the author's bookSentimentalism in Russian Literature of the 18th Century
In fables, Krylov showed Russian life, a Russian person; showed the contradictions of life, its social imperfections and vices; showed people of different social status; showed the characters in their social differentiation and conditionality. A number of fables give a critical image of life, morality, social ideology, attitudes towards the peasants of the nobility ("The Fly and the Road", "The Monkey", etc.). Democratic characters also appear in fables, often acting as spokesmen for folk morality (“The Old Man and the Three Young”, “The Peasant and Death”, etc.). Of particular importance were those fables of Krylov, in which issues of a socio-political nature were raised.
The social significance of Krylov's fables will become even more obvious if we take into account the accessibility of this genre to a wide range of readers, the accuracy and transparency of fable images and plots in their ideological content, in their socio-political orientation. The small form of the fable hid, as a rule, a large content.
The nationality and realism of Krylov's fables deeply distinguish them from the fabled work of the Karamzinist poet I. I. Dmitriev, whose fable often took on a parlor character. Of Krylov's predecessors, the fabulist of the late 18th century was closer to him. I. I. Khemnitser, from contemporaries - A. E. Izmailov, but they cannot be put on a par with Krylov.
All this provided Krylov's fables with recognition in leading social and literary circles. A. A. Bestuzhev wrote: “I. Krylov raised the Russian fable to its original classical dignity. The Decembrist critic highly appreciates the nationality of Krylov's language and the "Russian common sense", prominent "in his every verse." Bestuzhev notes the "tangibility of moralizing" in Krylov's fables and their satirical power: "His every fable is satire, the stronger than it is short and told with an air of innocence. A. I. Herzen highly appreciated the "oppositional significance" of Krylov's fables.
Restricted by the genre framework, the fabulist was not able to fully solve the problems facing Russian literature. By its very nature, the fable could not break with allegorism and didacticism. Hence the inevitable schematism, or rather fluency in characterization. The laconism of the fable did not contribute to the completeness and versatility of typification. He interfered with the breadth of the plot display of life. According to the figurative expression of Belinsky, poetry Krylova refers to poetry Pushkin, “like a river, even the most huge, relates to the sea, which takes into its immense bosom thousands of rivers, both large and small.”
6. Realism of Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit"
In terms of content, "Woe from Wit" is a strictly realistic comedy. Griboyedov reveals the typical features of aristocratic morals and the lack of rights of a serf. Thus, the image of Lisa in the comedy quite expressively testifies to the feudal order prevailing in the world of the Famusovs. Sympathy for the enslaved masses of the people is the basis of Griboyedov's portrayal of life: the people that Chatsky speaks of form an integral background of his comedy. In the statements of Famusov, Chatsky, and others, the image of old Moscow arises. Russian life is reproduced with historical fidelity in the images and pictures of the comedy. Griboyedov's hero is perceived by us as a real person in the light of his biography. It is known how he was in Famusov's house in his youth, what happened to him in the next three years. There are changes in the character of Sophia, but less noticeable. Griboedov captures the most essential aspects of the depicted reality. The life and customs of the Famus society is revealed not only in their common landowner-serf essence, but also as the life and customs of the entire Moscow noble society. The main feature of realism is the depiction of typical characters in typical circumstances. Realism finds its confirmation in the fact that living people served as prototypes for many of its heroes. The characters of "Woe from Wit" are revealed in many ways. Famusov is not only a hater of education, but also a loving father, and an important gentleman, the patron of his relatives. Sentimentally tuned Sophia, however, has a strong character and is independent. The comedy depicts such features of life and human relations that went far beyond the beginning of the 19th century. Chatsky was for the next generation a symbol of nobility and love of freedom. The realism of comedy is manifested in the art of speech individualization of characters: each character speaks his own language, thereby revealing his own unique character. The truthfulness and brightness of the comedy depiction of the Moscow noble life of the 20s of the 19th century, the vitality of the language of comedy, the subtlety and persuasiveness of psychological characteristics - all this suggests that Griboyedov's comedy is a truly realistic work.
Thanks to the fable, Krylov got the opportunity to talk with the reader without entering into a fruitless argument with him. Clever, precise, mocking fable itself reached the goal. For example, the reader of the fable "The Wolf and the Lamb" (1808) does not need to explain its meaning - it is transparent and undeniable. Krylov's fables are diverse in subject matter: large groups are political, philosophical, historical and moral fables.
To give the events described in the fable credibility and persuasiveness, Krylov introduces into it the laid-back and slightly ironic voice of the narrator, who conducts a confidential conversation with the reader. If morality or a saying of an instructive nature (maxim) is introduced into the fable, then the narrator refers to history, general opinion, common sense:
With the strong, the weak is always to blame:
That is why we hear a lot of examples in History,
But we do not write stories;
But about how they talk in Fables.
And crafty characteristics and epithets also suggest the social layer of the meaning of the fable: for example, the lamb calls the wolf “the brightest wolf”, trying to propitiate him, but at the same time, a hint appears in the fable - the brightest prince.
The range of plots and heroes of Krylov's fables is extremely wide, which is explained both by the inexhaustible creative imagination and observation of the author, and by careful adherence to the classic models of the plots of Aesop and La Fontaine, as well as the Russian fable tradition - A.P. Sumarokova, I.I. Dmitriev and others. Krylov's fables about animals are very vivid and memorable, because the author skillfully depicts their characters, conveys the features of their speech and behavior. Acquiring many human qualities in a fable, animals do not lose their natural features. From childhood we retain for life the impression of such wonderful fables and characters as "The Fox and the Grapes" (1808). "Dragonfly and Ant" (1808), "Elephant and Pug" (1809) and others. Expressive are the fables in which animals and people act, due to which bad morals and stupid behavior are revealed, for example, in the fable "The Cat and the Cook" (1812). Instructive is the moral of the fables about people, in which their weaknesses and vices are exposed; often philosophical reflections are the essence of fables about plants and objects.
The basis of the fable is always a certain story expressed in the plot. This feature of the fable, despite the fact that we almost always encounter fables in the form of poems, turns out to be decisive for determining the literary type of the fable - it belongs to the epic. The next characteristic of the fable is its allegoricalness, which consists in the fact that the story told in it should not be taken literally, that is, the purpose of the fable is not to tell about the episode in which the wolf ate the lamb, but to stigmatize arbitrariness strong. In the fable, the allegorical effect is enhanced with the help of allegorical images. None of the readers takes the action in the fable literally and sees the ruler in the lion, and the subject in the mouse. Finally, an almost obligatory structural element of the fable is morality, which performs the main function of the fable - to serve as a lesson to people. Morality is needed in a fable, and because it expresses the author’s thought, his assessment and opinion, morality emphasizes an important requirement that must be observed in the fable genre: it should not be ambiguous.
The language and verse of Krylov's fables are unique in their expressiveness and flexibility. Krylov chooses for his stories a predominantly colloquial style of speech with its mobile syntax, appeals, rhetorical questions, and exclamations. The vocabulary of fables tends to be colloquial, common folk, it is close and understandable to every reader. Names, nicknames, characteristics, definitions or are taken from folklore, or are stable: "Kuma Fox", "Naughty Monkey", "Clumsy Bear", "Jumping Dragonfly"; expressions are also colloquial, folk: “summer is red”, “winter rolls in the eyes”, “know it is strong”, “eyes and teeth flared up”. As a poetic size for his fables, Krylov resorts to a free, multi-foot iambic, which can range from one foot per line to six:
naughty monkey,
Donkey,
Goat,
Yes, clubfoot Mishka ...<...>
How does the music go? You don't sit like that.
You with the bass, Mishenka, sit down against the viola...
The varied iambic allows Krylov to convey lively speech, a real conversation between characters, intonations of the conversation between the narrator and the reader.
The main feature of Krylov's fables is their nationality. They have lived among us, in our culture for more than two centuries, and no doubt will live as long as our people exist. In total, Krylov wrote more than two hundred fables, many of them based on the plots of Aesop and La Fontaine, and many original fables were also written. However, even written on borrowed plots, Krylov's fables are perceived as national, Russian works about Russian life.
Ivan Krylov
The frontispiece of the 1815 edition of Ivan Krylov's Fables is adorned with an allegorical picture: the poet, who has reached the heights of Parnassus, leans with his hand on the foot of a pedestal with the names of Aesop and Lafontaine inscribed on it, and the accompanying Muse points to the figure of Truth sitting on the top of the pedestal.
For a long time, fables remained for Krylov, a playwright, publicist, journalist and publisher, an optional activity. On a separate collection of them (previously there were a few publications in the magazines "Morning", "Moscow Spectator" and "Dramatic Bulletin"), he ventured only in 1809, having already exchanged his fifth decade. The second edition of the collection, which appeared in 1811, and at the same time the new book of fables that came out, firmly secured the status of a Russian fabulist for Krylov.
Admiring the first books of Krylov's fables, contemporaries at the same time tried to understand how the writer, who borrowed both "fiction" and "story" from the famous Frenchman La Fontaine, managed to declare himself as a completely original author, who so clearly expressed Russian in his fables. folk character. V.A. Zhukovsky, in his review article “On Krylov’s Fable and Fables” (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1809, No. 9), uttered the catchphrase that has become catchphrase: “A translator in prose is a slave, a translator in verse is a rival.” Later, having learned the ancient Greek language, Krylov will enter into a “rivalry” not only with La Fontaine, but also directly with the founder of the fable genre, Aesop.
The collection of 1815, consisting of three parts, included seventy fables. The topic of the Patriotic War of 1812 occupied a special place in it. In the fables "Section", "The Wolf in the Kennel", "The Cat and the Cook", "The Crow and the Hen", important political events were read: Napoleon's invasion of Russia, strife among military leaders, the appointment of M.I. Kutuzov commander-in-chief, the abandonment of Moscow by Russian troops. The fable "Demyanov's Ear" with its unexpected ending served as a witty conclusion to the entire collection:
Writer, happy are you, since you have a direct gift,
But if you don't know how to be silent during the time
And you do not spare your neighbor's ears,
Then know that your prose and poetry
Everyone will be sicker
Demyanova's ear.
"Fables of Ivan Krylov" in 1815, unlike the two previous collections, is an illustrated edition. The Director of the Public Library, a recognized connoisseur of the arts and a collector of various "antiquities" Alexey Nikolayevich Olenin took an active part in its preparation. Under his command, Krylov served in the Mint Department in 1808-1809, and since 1813 in the Public Library. A member of the Olenin circle, which brought together writers and artists, Krylov often visited both the St. Petersburg house of the Olenins and their estate Priyutino near St. Petersburg.
Taking care of the publication of the collection, Olenin made a cost estimate, obtained 4,000 rubles from the government subsidy, invited artists and engravers who, under his leadership, prepared eleven engravings: an allegory for the frontispiece, two vignettes and eight illustrations for fables.
All drawings for engravings were made by the "promising painter", draftsman and engraver Ivan Alekseevich Ivanov (1779-1848). Many things connected him with Krylov and Olenin: joint participation in meetings of the Free Society of Lovers of Literature, Sciences and Arts, service in the Public Library and, most importantly, belonging to the Olenin circle. In addition to "Fables of Ivan Krylov", I.A. Ivanov illustrated the works of G.R. Derzhavin, V.V. Kapnista, I.I. Chemnitzer,
V.A. Ozerova, A.S. Pushkin, K.N. Batyushkov. Almost all of these works, like the works of many other book graphics, were created "under the supervision" of Olenin, who monitored, in particular, "whether an action or an allegory, presented in vignettes, is decent ... for a lot can be said in the language of the gods, which with a pen can't write."
Often Olenin himself developed plots for drawings for artists, while striving to follow the text of the book as accurately as possible. It is difficult to say to what extent the illustrations for the Krylov edition of 1815 were “dictated” by Olenin, in any case they almost literally convey the content of the fables. Perhaps the only deviation from the text is in the illustration for the Quartet, where it is not a nightingale, like Krylov’s, but the Muse, who is forced to plug her ears from an unimaginable cacophony, to the noise made by unlucky musicians.
The illustrations were also engraved under the supervision of Olenin. Four drawings: the title page, frontispiece, illustrations for the fables "The Donkey and the Nightingale", "Demyanov's Ear" - were engraved by Mikhail Andreevich (Afanasyevich) Ivanov (1781-1839), who repeatedly worked from the drawings of I.A. Ivanova. Three engravings: "The Crow and the Hen", "The Atheist", "The Farmer and the Shoemaker" - were made by the famous engraver and lithographer Stepan Filippovich Galaktionov (1779-1854). Three other engravings: the vignette "Three Cupids with a Mask", "Quartet" and "Eagle and Spider" - signed with the name "Kulybin". We are talking here about the engraver with a chisel, a graduate of the Academy of Arts Dmitry Kulibin (1795-?), about whom it is known that in 1812 he served at the Ministry of Public Education. One engraving - a vignette "Stream" - was made by an engraver with a chisel, also studying at the Academy of Arts, Alexander Petrov.
All engravings in the book are signed. In addition to the names of the artist and engraver, under each picture there is a monogram "A O." - Alexey Olenin. Marking images in this way, Olenin not only indicated his direct participation in the preparation of illustrations, but also, as it were, gave censorship permission for their publication. In addition, the presence of his monogram, in the eyes of contemporaries, guaranteed the quality of engravings. Indeed, the "Fables of Ivan Krylov" in 1815 are recognized by experts as one of the best illustrated editions of the first half of the 19th century.
"Fables" was published with a circulation of 2,000 copies. One hundred books were printed on vellum paper, a small part - on plain paper, but with all engravings, the rest of the edition - on plain paper without engravings, only with a title vignette. The price per copy was twenty-five, fifteen and eight rubles, respectively.
The copy described in the Bibliochronicle is printed on plain paper with all engravings. On the first sheet after binding, an unknown hand inscribed the date: "February 5th day 1816". Maybe this date fixed the time when all three parts of the collection came together under one owner's cover. After all, the first two parts of the "Fables" went on sale in early December 1815, and the third a little later - in January 1816.
In 1816, New Fables by I.A. Krylov" indicating that this is the fourth (21 fables) and fifth (23 fables) parts, i.e. a direct continuation of the 1815 collection. These included the classic Russian fables "Swan, Pike and Cancer", "Trishkin's caftan", "Curious", "Wolf and Crane", "Mirror and Monkey", "Fortune is visiting".
Collection of “New fables by I.A. Krylov" in 1816 is of the greatest value. According to bibliophiles, the fourth and fifth parts together are extremely rare in general. Our copy is even more remarkable: the fourth part of it is accompanied by a portrait of Krylov - an engraving by N.I. Utkin from the original by O.A. Kiprensky. V.A. wrote about the presence of a portrait in the collection of 1816. Vereshchagin in "Russian illustrated editions of the XVIII-XIX centuries" (St. Petersburg, 1898), but in such a unique collection as the library of N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky, there was no copy of "Fables" with a portrait.
Krylov Ivan Andreevich (1768-1844)
Fables.[In 3 parts.] St. Petersburg: In the printing house of the Governing Senate, 1815. Engraved title sheet, 1 sheet. frontispiece. Ch.1., 47 p. with illustrations. Part 2. , 41 p. with illustrations. Part 3. , 41 p. with illustrations; 3 l. illustrations. Each part has its own pagination. Illustrations: engravings by M. Ivanov, S. Galaktionov, A. Petrov and others from the originals by I. Ivanov. All illustrations bear the monogram of A.N. Venison. In Moroccan binding of the modern edition. On the spine - embossed author's name, title and ornament. On the lids there are gold-embossed frames with a geometric pattern. Green wax paper endpapers. Triple gold trim. 23x14 cm. On the reverse side of the free sheet. on the front flyleaf, the owner's mark in hazelnut ink: "February 5th day 1816".
