According to the explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, a symbol is (from the Greek symbolon - a conventional sign), an object or a word that conditionally expresses the essence of a phenomenon.
A symbol for symbolists is not a commonly understood sign. It differs from the realistic image in that it conveys not the objective essence of the phenomenon, but the poet's own individual idea of the world, most often vague and indefinite.
Symbolism - a set of any symbols.
A symbol is a special communication model that integrates individual consciousnesses into a single semantic space of culture. Its function is associated with "the integration of collective consciousness within the framework of a single semantic space" and with "the ultimate individualization of semantic "worlds"". The dialogical structure of the symbol performs an integrative and individualizing function. A symbol is one of the central concepts of philosophy, aesthetics, philology, without it it is impossible to build either a theory of language or a theory of knowledge. Despite the illusion of common understanding, the concept of a symbol is one of the most vague and controversial. The symbol has more than two thousand years of history of comprehension (“The symbol is as ancient as human consciousness in general”, it has received various interpretations, but there is still no holistic view of it.
In philology, the concept of a symbol is often replaced by the concept of a concept, which is such a modification of a symbol that, in its balanced unity, puts forward cultural-collective meanings, and refers individual shades of meaning to the “periphery”. Whereas the symbol is the dialectical unity of the individual and the universal, in which the most transcendent experience is the most universal. Terminological confusion in the theory of the concept can be eliminated by relying on the theory of the symbol.
Also, for the definition of the symbol, we can refer to the book of L. I. Timofeev. One can quote: “A symbol is an objective or verbal sign that conditionally expresses the essence of a phenomenon from a certain point of view, which determines the very nature, quality of a symbol (revolutionary, reactionary, religious, etc.).” “Basically, a symbol always has a figurative meaning. Taken in verbal terms, this is a trope. In the symbol there is always a hidden comparison, one or another connection with the phenomena of everyday life, with the phenomena of a historical order, with historical legends, beliefs, etc. ". “In art, the symbol has always (and still has) a particularly important meaning. This is due to the nature of the image, the main category of art. For in one way or another, every image is conditional and symbolic already because in the individual it embodies the general. In fiction, however, a certain symbolism lurks in any comparison, metaphor, parallel, even sometimes an epithet. Personification in fables, allegory of fairy tales, allegory in general - these are essentially varieties of symbolism.
Goethe defined the symbol as the unity of scheme and allegory. For example, such a symbol as a dove of peace is both a dove and a sign of peace (going back to the Christian tradition). In understanding the symbol, it is impossible to separate the schematic from the allegorical; it is this inseparability that distinguishes the symbol from the sign or path.
Pavel Florensky: "A symbol is a kind of being whose energy is co-dissolved with the energy of another, higher being, therefore it can be argued - although this might seem paradoxical - that a symbol is such a reality that is greater than itself. A symbol is such a reality, which, being akin to another from within, according to the force that produces it, from the outside only resembles this other, but is not identical with it. Symbolism is not invented by anyone, does not arise through conditioning, but is revealed by the spirit in the depths of our being, in the center of all forces of life and from here is exhausted, embodied in a series of successive, layering shells, in order to finally be born from a contemplator who has known and made it incarnate. to study it predominantly in one direction or another. The basis of symbolism is reality itself."
The symbolism of the images of Alexander Blok's poem "The Twelve"
“The business of the artist, the duty of the artist is to see what is intended”, “Arrange so that everything becomes new; so that our deceitful, dirty, boring, ugly life becomes a fair, clean, cheerful and wonderful life”, “Listen to the Revolution with your whole body, with your whole heart, with your whole consciousness,” Alexander Blok wrote in the article “Intelligentsia and Revolution”. These words truly and truly guide us to a correct understanding of the content and idea of his poem "The Twelve"
The poem "The Twelve" (1918) is a sharply innovative work. Here, a technique based on the contrast effect is consistently applied. The petty and pitiful are combined with the big and majestic, the sinful with the saint, the base with the sublime, satire with romance, the grotesque with heroism. Caricatured shadows of the old world with cosmic whirlwinds, a rollicking ditty with a solemn march, a "lousy dog" with Jesus Christ. The integrity of the poem lies in the indissoluble unity of these intersecting planes. Not for nothing, after finishing the poem, Blok wrote in his diary: “Today I am a genius.”
After analyzing Alexander Blok's poem "The Twelve", we found the following symbols, which, like the poem itself, are allegorically opposed to each other:
The number "Twelve". The most symbolic in the poem "The Twelve" is its title. This number, like different states of aggregation of the same substance, appears before the reader in a variety of guises. The first thing that catches your eye in connection with the number "twelve" is the twelve parts of the poem, each of which differs in rhythm, style and content from all previous and subsequent ones, and although the poem is a sequential presentation of events, each of the parts carries a completely independent semantic and emotional load. Also, the number "twelve" is midnight, a certain boundary, the boundary of completion and beginning, the death of the old and the birth of the new. The symbol of the cyclicity of all processes and the inevitability of change is also contained in the number of months in a year, which are also twelve. However, the most important symbol in the poem, directly related to its title, are the twelve Red Guards. The very first mention of their number makes the reader think about the meaning of this number. Something missionary reigns in all their actions, words, in their very existence:
And they go without the name of a saint
All twelve - away.
Ready for everything
Nothing to be sorry about.
These twelve marchers are subordinated to a single goal. They firmly believe in the righteousness of the idea they serve. They, like crusaders, plant faith in a bright communist future "with fire and sword."
The number "Twelve" personifies the collective heroes - guys from the urban lower classes, from the "working people" who voluntarily joined the Red Guard and are ready, in which case, "to lay down their heads violently" for the bright ideas of the revolution. The author also emphasizes that they are a reckless "bastard", ready for robbery, stabbing, all kinds of revelry. They do not skimp on irresponsible cries: "Today there will be robberies!", "I'll drink blood!". At the same time they repeat: “Comrade, keep your eyes peeled!”, “Revolutionary keep step!”, “Forward, forward, working people!”. That is, in the souls of the twelve both tambourine prowess and a sense of revolutionary duty are mixed.
On the other hand, “Twelve” is an apostolic number: that is how many first associates were chosen by Jesus Christ, the twelve apostles - members of the Christian Creed. Gospel motifs in the poem are not limited to the final image of Christ. The very number of those walking “in the distance”, “without a cross”, “without the name of a saint”, shooting at a vision “in a white halo of roses”, corresponds to the twelve disciples of Christ. It seems to me that the comparison of the revolutionary patrol with the apostles of Christian teaching was ambiguous for the author himself, like any other symbol.
I believe that Blok, with the help of the image of this small detachment, reveals in the poem the terrible truth of the “cleansing power of the revolution”: inhumanity, general anger, the manifestation of baseness and vices in a person. From all this follows the loss of pure human feelings and the "name of the saint", hatred and blood
The symbol of the "World Fire" in fiction in a figurative sense is always associated with great upheavals, cataclysms in this case with a revolution - a radical upheaval in the entire socio-economic structure of society, leading to a transition from one historically established social system to another.
The names of the heroes of the poem are used in everyday colloquial style with an underestimated lexical meaning. Vanka, Petka, Andryukha - a reckless "bastard", ready for robbery, stabbing, all kinds of revelry. And in biblical stories, John is the first beloved disciple of Christ, to whom he entrusted the care of his mother after his crucifixion. Peter - the founder of the Church of Christ, the supreme apostle, standing at the gates of paradise with the keys, Andrew - Andrew the First-Called - was called by Jesus to serve as the first, one of the most revered apostles in Rus'.
A very striking symbol is the female image embodied in the image of Katya, as well as in the “white halo of roses” on the head of Jesus Christ. It is no coincidence that Blok introduces the female image into the revolutionary poem. Thus, he emphasizes that the revolution taking place in society concerns all spheres of life, including the sphere of “Eternal Femininity”, that is, love and its ideal. Katka is the beloved of one of the main characters, a girl of easy virtue, walking with an officer - an enemy of the "working people" who voluntarily joined the Red Guard, and on the other hand Catherine - (from the Greek. "pure") - a great martyr, executed by order of the Roman emperor Maximian, who unsuccessfully offered her the royal throne instead of a martyr's crown, is one of the most revered saints in Christianity: the monastery with her relics on Mount Sinai is a favorite place of pilgrimage.
The symbols of the revolution are, first of all, “wind”, “blizzard”, “blizzard”, “blizzard”. Logically, the poem can be divided into two parts. In the first part of the poem (before the episode of the chase and the subsequent murder), it is the wind that is present: “The wind is curling the White snowball”, “The wind is biting! The frost is not far behind! ”,“ The wind is walking, the snow is fluttering. The image of a blizzard, a blizzard, shows not only a vague, incomprehensible time, but also the forced physical blindness of the heroes, which, as a result, is evidence of spiritual blindness:
And the blizzard dusts them in the eyes
All day and all night"
The wind of incredible strength covers the whole world, knocks passers-by off their feet. The fact is that the image of the raging elements always played a special, significant, one might say, enormous role in Blok's poetry. Wind, storm, blizzard - all these are familiar concepts of a romantic worldview for him. In this context, the wind symbolizes both change and chaos reigning in the world. But the phenomenon of nature not only creates the background of the action, the blizzard becomes, as it were, the protagonist. It seems to me that the blizzard, first of all, personifies the revolution. In the rampant wind and snow, the poet hears the "music of the revolution", which is opposed to the most terrible thing for the author - philistine peace and comfort, the possibility of returning to the old order.
Black and white. The black and white background present in the poem (black wind, white snow) personifies the struggle between light and dark forces, the struggle between good and evil.
Black evening.
White snow.
Black, black sky.
These two opposite colors have always been considered symbols of good and evil, truth and lies, spirituality and evil spirits. Here they also symbolize the opposing sides, but it is up to the reader to decide which color to paint. Black evening, black sky and “black, black malice in the chest” - these symbols help us to visualize with all sharpness what anger has accumulated in those twelve who are walking down the street. The black color also tells us about the cruelty of the intentions of these people, who are ready for anything because of their hatred. The souls of the twelve are black, empty and cold.
And white snow is a symbol of new life, purification. And what draws attention to itself, it falls from the black sky, from black clouds. This is also deeply symbolic. The poet wants to say that a new life will come from the most "black" depths. From those depths of spiritual emptiness, there are twelve who "sorry nothing." The white color is used by Blok to express his thoughts about the ability of the revolution to cleanse the old world of everything dirty - the poet sincerely believed in this.
The block also shows the duality of the actions of the twelve. On the one hand, they go to a new life, to a fair reprisal against the “mangy dog”, on the other hand, their hands are washed with the blood of a real person. The senseless murder of Katya is another confirmation of complete spiritual emptiness. "Eka darkness!" one of them says. Darkness is also a symbol, a symbol of the darkness of unbelief. No wonder they joyfully chant: “Freedom, eh, eh, without a cross!” What is this freedom?
The red color appears along with the twelve Red Guards:
The wind is blowing, the snow is falling.
Twelve people are coming.
In the teeth - a cigarette, a cap is crushed,
On the back you need an ace of diamonds!
Such a red card suit symbolizes captivity; it is a sign of prisoners. These twelve people voluntarily shackled themselves into the fetters of the idea of revolution, and now they sacredly belong to their common cause, their cherished goal, which justifies any means. At the same time, white and red are antagonistic colors, because red is a symbol of revolution, and white is a symbol of monarchy. And it is precisely them that Block connects in the image of the leader of the twelve walking Jesus Christ:
Ahead - with a bloody flag,
In a white corolla of roses -
In front is Jesus Christ.
The red flag on the hands of the twelve is a red cloth attached to the shaft - a symbol of the struggle, the blood of the fighters who fell for the revolution.
Cross and crown of thorns. The red flag is opposed to the cross and the crown of thorns on the hands of Jesus Christ. The cross is a symbol and object of Christian worship, because Christ was crucified on such a cross. A crown is a headdress, a crown as a symbol of the power and glory of the monarch.
At the end of the poem, Jesus Christ appears - God - the Redeemer, a preacher of high moral truths, the leader of the miserable, outcast, hungry, dark and sinful, who is the embodiment of holiness, purity, humanity, justice. This is an image that signifies a spontaneous, rebellious, democratic, liberating beginning and the triumph of a new world-historical idea. This symbol of the poem is the most complex. Gumilev, discussing this topic with Blok, expressed the opinion that this place in the poem seems to him “artificially glued”. Blok replied to this: “I don’t like the end either. When I finished, I myself was surprised: why Christ. But the more I looked, the more clearly I saw Christ.” Some associate the presence of this symbol in the poem with Blok's justification of the revolution, while others, on the contrary, argue that he wanted to warn of its terrible destructive power. Be that as it may, Alexander Blok, with the help of the symbol of Christ - God and the messenger of God, reminds us of eternal values - goodness, beauty, love. They should not be forgotten by people for the sake of even the most just social deeds.
put this work of Blok among the brightest and most truthful works devoted to this topic.
And the Antichrist is the main opponent of Christ, who must appear before the end of the world.
Rootless Dog Symbols are the main means of depiction in the poem. They are diverse and different, and all are deep in meaning. For example, Blok compares the old world with a rootless dog:
There is a bourgeois, like a hungry dog,
It stands silent, like a question.
And the old world, like a rootless dog,
Standing behind him with his tail between his legs.
The old world is represented in the poem by several more symbolic images: a lady in a karakul, an old woman, a gloomy “comrade priest”, a “writer, orchid”.
Conclusion.
An unconventional reading of the images of the poem allows us to understand the meaning and meaning of Blok's interpretation, which allowed the poet to make an entry in his diary: "Today I am a genius." And the main meaning of the poem is that all Russian culture is Christocentric, and to understand one's culture outside of its spiritual basis is to join the ranks of Ivanovs, who do not remember their kinship. Throughout the 12 parts of the poem, all the twelve New Apostles are blind, not limited in their actions by either law or morality, they trample on almost every one of the 10 Christian commandments, they could not discern the enemy of the human race, the Antichrist, who leads them.
The role of symbols in Blok's poem "The Twelve" is very great. If we generalize them, we will penetrate deeper into the meaning of the poem - this is not only the struggle of the new with the old, but also more broadly - the confrontation of light and darkness, good and evil.
Goals:
1.Educational:
To consolidate the basic knowledge, skills, skills of analyzing a work of art; develop the ability to interpret a literary text in connection with the historical era; to teach a holistic perception of a work of art through integration with history, music, linguistics, and painting.
2.Developing:
Develop imaginative thinking, logic; the ability to match images.
3.Educational:
To educate moral principles, love for a person, for the history of his country.
Equipment and resources: personal computer, multimedia projector. Powerpoint program, Microsoft Word program.
Sources:
Textbooks and methodical literature.
Sites:
http://www.russofile.ru
http://www.litera.ru/stixiya/articles/18.html
http://www.kostyor.ru/biography/
http://litera.edu.ru/catalog.asp?cat_ob_no=12446&ob_no=12720
http://www.peoples.ru/art/literature/poetry/oldage/blok/
During the classes:
Epigraphs for the lesson:
“When a thunderstorm gathers in the air, the great poets feel this thunderstorm, although their contemporaries usually do not expect a thunderstorm. The soul of a poet is like a receiver that collects from the air and concentrates in itself all the power of electricity.
A. Blok
Corruption of souls and emptiness,
What gnaws the mind and aches in the heart, -
Who will heal them, who will cover them?..
You, pure robe of Christ... F.I. Tyutchev
“Today I am a genius! “Twelve” – whatever it was – is the best thing I wrote, because then I was living in modernity.” A. Blok
“Destroying, we are still the same slaves of the old world.” A. Blok
1. Teacher's word
Blok is the greatest Russian poet of the early 20th century. The fate of Russia, the great historical upheavals that befell it at the beginning of the 20th century, became one of the main themes of his work. A. Blok in his work reflected the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary era. Blok is a lyric poet. He heard, felt and understood the world in which he had to live in his own way. He was aware of the poet's prophetic mission, able to look into the future, displaying the present.
Today in the lesson we will discover for ourselves what Blok saw and heard in the fateful revolution of 1917 and how, with the help of language means, he embodied this in the poem "The Twelve".
But first, let's recall the main historical, cultural and biographical events of the turn of the century - the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Checking homework:
2.Project 1 group"Symbolism as a literary movement". Annex 1 .
3.Project 2 groups"Biography of Blok" Annex 2.
4.Project 3 groups"Block and Revolution" Annex 3.
5. Work on the analysis of Blok's work "The Twelve".
1. Word of the teacher.Appendix 4
Many literary critics interpret Blok's poem as a hymn to the revolution, a hymn to the sweeping and cleansing power. Is the interpretation of the poem unambiguous? The poem surprised even Blok's contemporaries. According to V. Mayakovsky, "some read in this poem a satire on the revolution, others - the glory of it." Let's try to figure it out during the lesson, and if you like the work, we will continue to work in the Block and Revolution project.
As Blok's diary entries of this time show, he himself had no doubts about the legitimacy of perceiving the revolution as a purification and justification of rebellion, the elements of "music".
Blok once said that he began to write "The Twelve" from the words that later became part of the poem:
I'm with a knife
Stripe, stripe!
Is it by chance that these very words first appeared in the mind of the poet who decided to write a poem about the revolution?
What is the meaning of the title of the poem? Why exactly 12? (In his famous book "Ten Days That Shook the World" John Reed wrote: "Pickets of twelve soldiers with rifles and attached bayonets were on duty at the crossroads ...", 12 apostles, 12 hours = the fateful hour of fate, 12 months a year = a circle, 12 chapters of the poem).
What conflict is at the heart of the work ? (the struggle of the old and the new, the struggle of two "worlds".)
- What is the symbolism of the work?
A) wind, blizzard, snow- elements, the global scale of events.
B) Twelve Red Army men.
B) a woman- a symbol of rebirth.
D) Bourgeois, lady, poet-vitia- the simplest images, representatives of the old world.
D) The dog is rootless- a symbol of the old world.
E) Jesus Christ.
A) element- a symbolic image of the poem. She personifies universal cataclysms; 12 apostles of the revolutionary idea promise to "stand the world fire", a blizzard is played out.
Black evening.
White snow.
Wind, wind!
A person does not stand on his feet.
Wind, wind -
In all God's world!
From the first lines, a feeling of danger subconsciously arises, when “in all God's world” it is difficult for a person to stay on his feet, because there is a force that knocks him out of his usual, measured life. The severity of such a time is also confirmed by the following words:
Ice under the snow.
Slippery, hard
Every walker ... slips.
But this element is the same for everyone: The wind is cheerful
And angry and happy ....
Tears, crumples and wears
Large poster:
"All power to the Constituent Assembly"...
It is symbolic that during the storm
Can't see each other at all
In four steps!
People become insensitive to the grief of others.
And next to the constant block color epithet - the motive of hatred.
Black, black sky.
Anger, sad anger
Boiling in the chest...
Such is the feeling of time, such is the feeling of revolution.
B) How are the images of 12 Red Army soldiers revealed?
1. Blok does not idealize his heroes in the least. Spokesmen for the people's element, they carry within themselves all its extremes. On the one hand, these are people who see their lofty revolutionary duty to fight in an invisible enemy (“Revolutionary, keep striding! Restless enemy does not sleep!”) And are ready to fulfill it. On the other hand, in their psychology, the moods of a spontaneous, anarchist "freedom" are clearly expressed.
Lock up the floors
Today there will be robberies!
Open cellars -
Walking now nakedness!
Chapter 2 In their description, Block is quite straightforward:
In the teeth - a cigarette, a cap is crushed,
On the back you need an ace of diamonds!
Briefly and clearly - the prison is crying for them (the rhombus was sewn on by convicts)
Freedom, freedom
Eh, eh, no cross!
"Freedom without a cross" - in their mouths it sounds like a wild, robber cry. Behind it lies a free hand for everything that yesterday could only be conceived of in dreams, a renunciation of forcibly imposed "rules".
Comrade, hold the rifle, don't be afraid!
Let's fire a bullet at Holy Rus' -
In the condo
Into the hut
Into the fat ass!
How many times does the refrain sound in chapter 2 Eh, eh, no cross!?(3 times)
It is an accident? Or is this how he wants to draw our attention to the sacrilege against believing Rus'? Twelve Red Guards make their way through a fierce blizzard; they are "ready for anything", alert; they are driven forward by instinct, but they still do not fully understand the whole meaning of their struggle, their "powerful step" into the future.
Do not the words of the Red Army soldiers sound mocking, who, in "torn coat" but with an Austrian gun in hand:
We are on the mountain to all bourgeois
Let's fan the world fire
World fire in the blood -
God bless!
At the same time, the Red Army subconsciously or out of habit turn to the Lord.
4,5,6 chapters.
What feelings do the twelve Red Army men experience in a conversation about Vanka with Katya and in a further clash with them?
(Not without envy, they think about the warmth and the tavern in which Vanka and Katka are found. In a collision with Vanka, the heroes manifest not only envy of his carefree life, his dashing and luck, but also revenge for betraying his comrades, their common, even if it is not clearly presented, the case).
How do the Red Army soldiers react to the murder of Katya?
What, "Katka, are you glad? - No gu-gu ...
Lie down, you carrion, in the snow! ..
The murder of Katya is perceived by them as a revolutionary retribution, as an evil directed not only against Petrukha, but also against them. Petka's friends are dissatisfied with him because he indulges in his grief and dear memories too violently, they do not allow him to think about his act, to turn his “soul inside out”.
Chapter 7 Petrukha's grief is a hindrance to the Red Guards.
Not such a time now
To babysit you!
The burden will be heavier
Us, dear comrade!
- Can anything be "heavier" than killing a person?
- And how does Petruha behave? (“the poor murderer cannot see his face at all,” he hides his confusion from his comrades. After the murder, the face of a loving, insulted, suffering person appears before us. A hidden personal drama was revealed behind the smart bravado. It is clear that human values are not completely lost in this person .Maybe that explains the words at the end of chapter 8: « Rest, Lord, the soul of your servant ... Boring! possibly belonged to Petrukha)
What word do you think Blok missed in Petrusha's words?
I ruined, stupid,
I ruined in the heat of the moment ... ah!(Katka's life? Your soul?)
The poem raises the problem of the relationship between the revolution and the individual, about the sacrifices that a person brings to the revolution. Blok seemed to look into the near future.
What do you think, is it possible to step over a person's life in order to achieve any goals? What does Christian teaching say about this?
Chapter 11 And they go without the name of a saint
All twelve - away.
Ready for everything
Nothing to be sorry...
Is it by chance that Blok has an ellipsis at the end? (expectation of something terrible from someone who does not feel sorry for anything in this world? ..)
Conclusion: the freedom to violate Christ's commandments, namely, to kill, is transformed into the element of permissiveness. There are 12 sentinels in the blood - a "global fire", the atheists are ready to shed blood, whether it be Katya who cheated on her lover or a bourgeois. Throughout the poem, the Red Army soldiers go "without a cross" in their souls, without faith, without God.
B) a woman symbol of rebirth.
How is Katya shown? Can we see her appearance? (find lines)
How do you think Katya found herself "on the edge"? Blok has a poem "Before the Court":
Not only do I not have the right
I can't blame you
For your painful, for the evil one,
Many women are destined for the path ...
But I'm a little different
Than others, I know your life,
More than the judges, I know
How did you end up on the edge?
Do you remember, Katya, an officer -
He did not leave the knife ...
The voice of the poet himself, who feels the guilt of the whole society before this fate, merges in mourning for Katya in the voice of Petrukha.
Conclusion: love affair plays a key role in revealing the theme of wasted blood during the period of historical retribution, the theme of rejection of violence. An intimate conflict develops into a social conflict. By killing Katya, the patrol kills the future.
D) Images of representatives of the old world.
- A historical act is being performed - the old world is collapsing, but what kind of world is going to meet it? (Maybe a world of more violence?)
- Are there visible (and invisible) enemies of the Red Army in the poem? Is it possible to consider Katya or her cavalier as enemies?
- How are the images of representatives of the old world represented? Find the lines about the old woman Read them. There is nothing wrong with the old woman being happy about the uselessness of the poster, from which so many clothes can be sewn for poor children.
- Find the lines about the Vitiya writer. Read. Turning to one of the epigraphs of the poem, we will see how Blok himself sees the mission of the poet (and writer) - this is a person who sees further and more than ordinary people. And if a writer says: “Russia has perished!”, it means that he felt something that others could not feel. He cannot speak loudly so that everyone can hear him, he speaks in an undertone, because even though a proletarian, but dictatorship has come.
Is it possible to see the sworn enemy of the proletariat in the image of a priest? Is he scared?
- Find references to the bourgeois. Associatively, the author associates the bourgeois with a sparrow, and not with a bird of prey. Let us draw a picture for ourselves, which can be imagined from the lines about the bourgeois: he did not just hide his nose in his collar (he is cold here, like everyone else), he is like a hungry dog, he is silent (all those who were led to be shot at Stalin's rule), the bourgeois stands as a question, he is confused, stunned. And what is an intersection, if it is depicted graphically? Cross. This cross will be carried by the former bourgeois.
Conclusion: in Blok's poem, 12 Red Army soldiers have practically no enemies. The old world will be replaced by a new one, new people and worldviews. But are they really better?
D) The dog is rootless- a symbol of the old world.
- Many literary critics talk about the threat to the new system hidden in the image of a dog. Let's try, by finding and analyzing the lines of the poem and Pse, to understand whether this statement is unambiguous.
Is it possible to see behind these descriptions a menacing, evil, hating old world? After all, a dog can be driven away with a stick, and if you feed it, it will become a faithful mongrel.
Why, at the end of the poem, did the dog not lag behind the Red Army soldiers, but followed them, although they drove him away with evil? ( Get off you, mangy, I'll tickle with a bayonet!)
Conclusion: it is impossible to build something in a wasteland without having roots, a foundation. It is impossible to “destroy the old world to its foundations” and build a new world so that the one “who was nobody” becomes everything. The history of the country, whatever it may be, is part of our love for the Motherland.
E) Jesus Christ.
What does Christ have to do with the content of the poem?
To understand this, we first turn to the history of writing the work.
In 1904-1906. Blok, carried away by the struggle with the old world, wishing to “be tougher”, “hate a lot”, assured that he would not go “to heal Christ”, he would never accept Him. But already in 1918, a new motive appeared in his work, embodied in the image of Christ - the motive of universal expediency, rationality, and a higher principle.
As Blok’s diary entries of that time show, he himself had no doubts about the legitimacy of perceiving the revolution as a purification and justification of rebellion, the elements of “music” (“He (Jesus) goes with them, but it is necessary for the Other to go”, i.e. Antichrist , - entry dated February 20, 1918). In other words, it would initially be more legitimate to depict the Antichrist who does not leave them next to the marching patrol. In the same diary entries we read: “When I finished, I myself was surprised: why Christ? But the more I peered, the more clearly I saw Christ ... "
Who throughout the poem turns to God's beginning?
What is the attitude towards God among the Red Army?
They will not understand anything, but will immediately open fire. And it doesn’t matter who gets into this shootout (cf. the accidental murder of Katya)
Why Jesus walks at a quick pace, burying himself behind all the houses?(Those who do not believe in Him do not see. Non-believers are blind)
Can the watchmen and Christ be called antipodes?
Why did Blok depict Christ walking not next to them, but in front of them? Does this detail play any role?
Twelve are walking with a "sovereign step" into the distance. What significance does this spatial dimension have for Blok? (distance - a fair, bright future)
On July 27, 1918, Blok noted in his diary: “The people say that everything that happens is from the fall of religion ...”
Is it possible to say that in his poem Blok outlined a perspective for the revolutionaries - the coming faith in Christ's commandments?
Fighters go from freedom "without a cross" to true freedom - with Christ. And this metamorphosis occurs against their will, as it is a manifestation of a higher principle. These heroes found each other (remember the story - Jesus was with those who feel bad). Ideas are contained in the image of Christ:
redemption by Christ of the next bloody sin of the people of forgiveness.
6. Conclusion. The poet stands for creation in the revolution, and not for destruction. He is attracted by the poetry of the revolution, but he is frightened by the Russian revolt, which Pushkin was so afraid of.
The concept of the poem was affected by the contradictions of Blok’s worldview, on the one hand, a person who wants to believe in the new, creative, on the other hand, a citizen, a creative, thinking person, based on the moral principles of the Russian people, the eternal values of Christianity. Hence the rejection of the old and the rejection of the new, inhumane, that can step over any person, make the neighbor unhappy and indifferent to the suffering. And only then is world harmony achieved when those who have crossed through blood come to faith, Christian covenants, to the ideals of love, to eternal values.
7. Homework.
The final stanza of the poem gave rise to many disputes not only from the semantic point of view, but also from the point of view of syntactic analysis.
Try to analyze the syntax of this sentence, on which your interpretation of the stanza will depend: who is walking with a red flag - someone in front or Jesus Christ (pay attention to the punctuation mark after the word flag)? Prove your point by substituting other punctuation marks.
Find in additional sources of information another interpretation of the poem that is different from this one. Prepare a message about which point of view is close to you?
Based on your judgment, answer the question of the lesson: "Is the poem "The Twelve" the anthem of the revolution?"
Fill out the express diagnostic sheet.
| Abstracts | Yes | No |
| 1. The thoughts that sounded at the lesson contradict my previous ideas. | ||
| 2. I liked this interpretation of Blok's poem. | ||
| 3. I learned a lot of new and interesting things about the life and work of A. Blok. | ||
| 4. I want to know more about Blok's work. | ||
| 5. Acquaintance with this poem may affect my worldview. | ||
| 6. I want to participate in the creation of a project on the work of A. Blok. |
The images of A. Blok's poem are beyond the scope of this work, because the author resorts to allusion. The meaning of the images must be sought in historical events, the works of other writers, and, finally, in the Bible. The book of books has become a source for creating a collective image of the twelve Red Army soldiers, who bind all the verses of the poem into a single whole.
Twelve Red Army soldiers are associated with the apostles of Christ. A. Blok does not name them all, but the sacred names mentioned are enough to evoke a biblical association in the reader. In the text we meet Andryukha, Petrukha (remember the apostles Peter, Andrew and Paul).
Blok's "apostles of the revolution" differ from the sacred ones. They rob, kill, destroy everything "old" in their path. At every step they break God's commandments. But the author does not in vain present precisely this side of the revolutionaries. Alexander Blok believed that coups were impossible without robberies, violence, and chaos. Only in this way can one come to the “new world”. So this perception was reflected in the image of the twelve Red Guards.
Outwardly, all revolutionaries are the same: "Ragged coat, Austrian gun." Already by the uniform it is clear that the guys ended up in the army not because of material gain, they stood for the idea. The author immediately stipulates that the guys knew that everything could end in death: “How our guys went to serve in the Red Army! Lay down your head." Chaos and ruin gradually absorb them, educate them into robbers who go to their goal, despite the blood on their hands.
The Red Army soldiers go, despite the wind and snowy weather. Using this technique, the author shows their attitude to revolutionary events, because the image of the wind should be understood precisely as a revolution. They enthusiastically pour into anarchy and chaos, because such an environment only fuels the revolutionaries' dreams of a new free world.
Stands out from the company of the Red Army Petruha. The guy kills his beloved after he notices her betrayal. At the time of the murder, he is cold-blooded, but realizing what he has done, he feels mental anguish. He hides his eyes, admits that he loved the girl. A. Blok brought this image to the fore in just such a light to show that under any socio-political circumstances, human feelings remain. Thanks to them, a person retains a human appearance, at least for a short time.
By killing Katya, Petruha crossed one of God's main commandments. And if you look at this image more broadly, you can recognize the allusion to the Apostle Peter, who renounced Christ in his time. Neither the Biblical Apostle, nor the Blokovsky revolutionary go astray even after a terrible act. They stubbornly continue to move towards their goal, which, in fact, is common.
To interpret the image of the twelve Red Army soldiers from Blok's poem "The Twelve", it is also important to notice the details around them. For example, an old dog follows them, which the comrades drive away. This is because this animal is a legacy of the previous way of life.
The image of the twelve Red Army soldiers is multifaceted, in a few dozen lines about them A. Blok “hid” everything that another would write a whole novel about.
In Blok's lyrics of the 1910s, aching, sorrowful notes of melancholy, homelessness, unaccountable anxiety, a sense of the impending death of the world around him are growing. The poet's voice is perceived by contemporaries as "the tragic tenor of the era", his lyrical hero bears the stamp of the "withering" "terrible years of Russia".
The "musical" perception of the revolution as a destructive element was reflected in the famous poem "The Twelve". Her final image, Jesus Christ, leading the procession of twelve Red Army soldiers, caused a "storm of passions" in the literary camp. The poem was sharply negatively received by 3. N. Gippius, D. S. Merezhkovsky, G. I. Chulkov, F. Sologub, but at the same time it was highly appreciated by Andrei Bely and M. A. Voloshin.
Twelve Apostles of Alexander Blok
The number 12 in Russian tradition is overflowing with meanings. This is both the sacred twelve apostles and the mystical “mediastinum” of the arrows on the dial - an ominous midnight, a time of chaos and uncertainty. Perhaps there is no work that has absorbed all the mysticism and symbolism of a dozen more than Blok's poem "The Twelve". It seems to be on a par with other examples of mysticism in Russian culture: Malevich's Black Square, the burnt volume of Dead Souls, Bulgakov's devilry...
The words formed into lines by themselves in a matter of days. Blok spoke of his then state as an "unconscious fever". Having added the famous line about Jesus Christ, the poet exclaimed: "Today I am a genius."
The entire text is permeated with an infernal atmosphere with a thick admixture of revolutionary fever. And all this against the backdrop of a blizzard, icy, January Petrograd a year after the 1917 revolution.
Black evening.
White snow.
Wind, wind!
A person does not stand on his feet.
Wind, wind
In all God's world!
The block starts with black. It is unlikely that the symbolist could not attach importance to this. In these contrasts, one can feel: the new world after the revolution will be created from ... ominous chaos.
Who will create it?
The wind is blowing, the snow is falling.
Twelve people are coming.
Rifles black straps,
All around - lights, lights, lights ...
History has preserved a lot of evidence that the Red Guard patrols consisted of 12 people. But in addition, these are also the 12 folk Kudeyarovsky robbers who shed "the blood of honest Christians."
In the teeth - a cigarette, a cap is crushed,
On the back you need an ace of diamonds!
The ace of diamonds was called the yellow quadrangle on the backs of the prisoners - so that in case of escape it would be easier to shoot at them. This is what Blok's characteristic is for the builders of the "new world".
“Eh, eh, without a cross!” Block continues. Here one can hear the echo of Dostoevsky's postulate: "if there is no God (i.e., the cross), then everything is permitted", as well as the continuation of the answer to the question: "what will happen if Jesus comes to earth again?", put by the writer in "Legend about the Grand Inquisitor.
The last lines of the poem, where Jesus leads this gang of thugs marching with rifles on their shoulders, still cause heated debate. Even Gumilyov claimed that Blok, having written "The Twelve", served the "cause of the Antichrist" - "crucified Christ a second time and shot the sovereign again."
... So they go with a sovereign step,
Behind is a hungry dog
Ahead - with a bloody flag,
And behind the blizzard, invisible
And unharmed by a bullet
With a gentle step over the wind,
Snowy scattering of pearls,
In a white corolla of roses -
In front is Jesus Christ.
Why is Christ leading this procession of evil spirits? We see that again a caricature crown, “a white halo of roses”, is placed on the passion-bearer, and again he steps over the elements, “with a tread of overwind”.
He did not come to lead this procession. Since there is no cross, everything is permitted. These twelve anti-apostles do not know what they are doing! “Jesus said: Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." OK. Chapter 23, Article 34
Blok's Jesus descended to hellish Petrograd to save: to atone for the sins of others and to bring out the righteous from there. So the bloody flag in the refraction of the symbolists could well mean purple purple - a sign of supreme power.
The appearance of Christ, perhaps, is a guarantee of the future light, a symbol of the best, justice, love, a sign of faith. He is "unharmed from a bullet", and he is dead - "in a white halo of roses." "Twelve shoot him, let the" invisible ".Blok did not "bless" the revolution with an attribute of the people's faith, but only asserted historical continuity. Listen to the music of the revolution,” Blok called.
Alexander Blok lived a short life - only 40 years old, but his creative path with truly extraordinary brightness, depth and sincerity reflected the most difficult years in the fate of his Motherland. Indeed, the turn of two centuries, the beginning of the 20th century, the first Russian revolution, the time between the two revolutions, the Great October Revolution and the first years after it - these are the stages of his fate. And to understand the world and Blok's poetry is possible only in an inseparable connection with the life of Russia in the troubled time when he created his works.
Blok's poem "12" was written in January 1918. The work became the writer's response to the events of the October Revolution. A. Blok's poem "The Twelve" is one of the most striking works of Russian literature of the era of symbolism.
The events of the poem unfold in revolutionary St. Petersburg in the winter of 1917–1918. At the same time, the city itself in the work is the personification of all of Russia.
Main characters
Squad of twelve- Red Guards.
Vanka- a former Red Guard who became a soldier.
katka- a walking girl, was killed by Petrukha during a shootout.
Petruha- one of the squad of twelve, loved Katya, but killed her.
1
"Black evening. White snow. Wind" . Snowstorm and sleet, passers-by "do not stand on their feet", it is very difficult to move. A rope with a poster will be stretched between the buildings: "All power to the Constituent Assembly!" .
An old woman passing by "kills - cries." She does not understand why it was necessary to put “such a huge flap” on the poster, because it could be used to make footcloths for so many “undressed, undressed” guys. The old woman is indignant that "the Bolsheviks will drive her into a coffin."
On the street there is also a "bourgeois" who hides his nose in his collar from the cold, and a writer chanting that Russia has died. Past the snowdrift, “on the side”, passes the “cheerless comrade pop”, but before he walked belly forward and it “shone like a cross” on the people. The lady, complaining to another that she had to cry a lot, slips and falls.
"The wind is cheerful
Both angry and happy.
Twisting the hems
Passers-by mows.
The wind "tears, crushes and wears" the poster. From afar, the words of prostitutes are heard, who, in this very building, discussed and decided how much to take from someone per time and per night.
Late evening, the street is empty, only "one tramp stoops" and the wind whistles.
2
“The wind is blowing, the snow is fluttering. Twelve people are coming" with rifles. The author notes that they “should have an ace of diamonds on their backs” - a sign that distinguishes exiled convicts.
At this time, in a tavern with Katka, the “son of a bitch, bourgeois” Vanka, who used to be a revolutionary too, but now became a soldier, is sitting.
Stepping forward, twelve people keep a revolutionary step, remember that "the enemy does not sleep."
“Comrade, hold your rifle, don’t be afraid!
Let's fire a bullet at Holy Rus' [father-in-law, at "old" Rus'] -
In the condo
Into the hut
Into the fat ass!
Eh, eh, without a cross!
3
A squad of twelve sing the song. It talks about how "our guys" went to serve in the Red Guard. “To serve is to lay down a violent head!”.
In torn "coats" and with Austrian rifles, they are ready "on grief to all bourgeois" to inflate the "global fire in the blood", enlisting help from higher powers: "Lord, bless!" .
4
Blizzard. Vanka and Katya are in a hurry, riding "on the shafts" of the "reckless" crew. Vanka in a soldier's overcoat, with a black mustache, broad-shouldered. He hugs Katya, "talks", calling her "fat-faced".
5
Vanka reminds Katya of her past. The scar from the knife on her neck has not yet healed, and the “scratch” under her breast is also fresh. Reminds her of how she walked around in lace underwear and "fornicated with officers". One of those officers "didn't escape the knife" - she killed him.
“I wore gray leggings,
Mignon ate chocolate,
I went for a walk with the junker -
Have you gone with the soldier now?
And he asks her to "sin" with him - "it will be easier for the soul."
6
The crew, on which Vanka and Katya are traveling, collides with twelve. Red Army soldiers attack Vanka. They begin to shoot, shouting: "You will know how to walk with a strange girl." Vanka and the scorcher manage to escape. Katya dies in a shootout - she was killed by Petruha. They leave the girl like this: “Lie down, carrion, in the snow.”
7
Twelve move on. Only the killer, Petrukha, "can't see his face at all." He regrets the death of Katya, since he loved her - "he spent his black, drunken nights with this girl." Comrades tell him to stop "turning his soul inside out", he's not a "woman", and keep control over himself: "Now is not the time to babysit you!" .
He is cheerful again - twelve go to "have fun".
"Lock the floors,
Today there will be robberies!
Open cellars -
The nakedness is walking now!
8
The Red Army soldier kills the “bourgeois” with a knife “for a sweetheart, black-browed ...” and prays for the repose of her soul. But after the bloody scene, the killer is "bored".
9
A “hungry and silent bourgeois” stands at the crossroads, hiding his nose in his collar, next to him is a “lousy dog” with his tail between his legs.
"And the old world, like a rootless dog,
Stands behind him [bourgeois], tail between his legs.
10
A blizzard broke out - nothing could be seen in four steps. Comrades ask Petka, who constantly turns to God: what did the “golden iconostasis” save him from? They call Petka "unconscious", because he already has "blood on his hands" anyway, which means that God will not help. And they remind you that you need to keep the revolutionary step - "the restless enemy is near."
11
“... And they go without the name of a saint
All twelve are off.
Ready for everything
Nothing to be sorry about…”
A red flag beats in the eyes with the wind. Everyone expects that the “fierce enemy will wake up” soon. The blizzard "dusts in their eyes", but the working people are moving forward.
12
The Twelve notice that someone is waving a red flag up ahead. They turn to the walker, but no one answers.
Behind twelve hobbles "poor hungry dog". The marchers are trying to drive away with a bayonet either the dog, or the "old world". But the “hungry wolf”, “rootless dog” bares its teeth and does not lag behind.
The revolutionaries order the one in front with a red flag to get out, not to hide behind a snowdrift, otherwise they will shoot. Shots are fired. But "only a blizzard is filled with long laughter in the snow."
Twelve continue to walk with a "powerful step". Behind them is a hungry dog.
"Ahead - with a bloody flag,
And invisible behind the blizzard
And unharmed by a bullet"
"In a white corolla of roses -
Ahead is Jesus Christ
Conclusion
In the poem "The Twelve" Blok opposes a detachment of twelve Red Guards to other characters encountered on the streets of the city - an old woman, a bourgeois, a mistress, a comrade priest and the rest. They are part of the "old world". A detachment of twelve are representatives of the "new world", behind which the "old world" in the form of a dog trudges, baring its teeth. The figure of Christ in the poem is ambiguous - even Blok himself could not fully explain the complex symbolism of this image.
The retelling of "12" will be of interest to schoolchildren and students in preparation for test papers, as well as to everyone who loves Blok's work and Russian literature of the 19th century.
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