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What genre was considered the leading central in classicism. On the way to classicism of the 18th century: features of classicism, appearance in Russian literature

Classicism as a literary movement

Literature is a constantly changing, constantly evolving phenomenon. Speaking about the changes that have taken place in Russian literature in different centuries, it is impossible to ignore the theme of successive literary trends.

Definition 1

Literary direction - a set of ideological and aesthetic principles characteristic of the works of many authors of the same era.

There are many literary directions. This is romanticism, and realism, and sentimentalism. A separate chapter in the history of the development of literary movements is classicism.

Definition 2

Classicism (from lat. classicus- exemplary) - a literary movement based on the ideas of rationalism.

From the point of view of classicism, all works of art must strictly adhere to the established canons. The genre hierarchy of classicism divided all genres into high and low and forbade the possibility of mixing genres.

High genres:

Tragedy;
epic.

Low Genres:

Comedy;
Satire;
Fable.

Classicism was formed in the 17th century in France, soon covering all of Europe, as well as Russia. French classicism declared the human personality to be the highest value. Previously, the theological picture of the world suggested that God was at the center of the universe; With the development of science and social thought, the emphasis shifted from God to man.

Remark 1

Classicism relied heavily on the art of Antiquity. Antique works have become standards for classicists.

Classicism dominated Russian literature in the second half of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. The reason for this was the Europeanization of Russian culture. Classicism preceded all other literary movements. All of them, one way or another, were based on the ideas of classicism, most often denying them in their dogmas.

Classicism above all put the concept of reason. Classicists believed that only with the help of the mind can we understand the world around us. Often in the works the issues of the struggle of reason and feelings, duty and passions were raised.

The heroes of classic works are necessarily on good and bad, and the positive ones could not look ugly. In the works, the rule of three unities was necessarily observed: the unity of time, place and action.

Classicism was only interested in eternal themes and essential features of phenomena and objects.

Classicism in Russian literature of the 18th century

Despite the fact that classicism originated in the 17th century, it was “brought” to Russia along with the ideas of the European Enlightenment only a century later, during the reign of Peter I.

The development of Russian classicism in this century can be divided into several periods.

The first stage was the literature of the time of Peter the Great. It was secular literature, very different from the church literature previously known to the Russian reader. At first, only translated works by European authors were classicist, but very soon Russian writers became involved in the development of this literary trend.

An important role in the formation of Russian classicism was played by A.D. Kantemir, A.P. Sumarokov and V.K. Trediakovsky. Being reformers of the Russian literary language, they actively worked on the creation of odes and satires.

Remark 2

The satires of Cantemir gained extraordinary fame.

The literary creativity of the authors of the 20s led to the flourishing of Russian classicism in the 1730s - 1770s. During this period, the development of the direction and Russian literature as a whole is associated with the name of M.V. Lomonosov, "the father of Russian literature". Lomonosov wrote tragedies, poems and odes, developed the Russian national language and sought to free literature from the influence of the church. It was Lomonosov who became the first Russian poet who expressed the idea of Russian national self-consciousness, which later migrated to the work of writers and poets of the 19th-20th centuries.

The last quarter of the 18th century is considered the final stage in the development of Russian classicism. At this time, the old direction began to be replaced by a new one - sentimentalism.

Definition 3

Sentimentalism is a literary trend that, in contrast to classicism, put forward the cult of the soul. Sentimentalist authors tried to appeal to the feelings and experiences of the reader.

The crisis of classicism was inevitable. The last Russian classicist authors are A.N. Radishchev, D.I. Fonvizin and G.R. Derzhavin. These authors were more likely destroyers than developers of the ideas of classicism: in their works they began to violate the precepts of classicism. Fonvizin, for example, did not observe the principle of three unities in his comedies, and Radishchev added psychologism, unusual for classicism, to his works.

Definition 4

Psychologism is the image in the work of the rich inner world of the hero, his thoughts, feelings and experiences.

Some Classical Works of the 18th Century:

“Ode on the Day of Ascension...”, M.V. Lomonosov;
"Monument", G.R. Derzhavin;
"Undergrowth", "Foreman", D.I. Fonvizin;
“On those who blaspheme the teachings. To your mind”, A.D. Cantemir;
"Tilemakhida", V.K. Trediakovsky;
"Dmitry the Pretender", A.P. Sumarokov;
“Mot, corrected by love”, V.I. Lukin;
"Letters of Ernest and Doravra", F.A. Emin;
"Elisha, or the Irritated Bacchus", V.I. Maikov;
"Darling", I.F. Bogdanovich.

Classicism in Russian literature of the 19th century

In the 19th century, classicism was replaced by sentimentalism, then replaced by romanticism and realism. And although these trends somehow relied on classicist ideas (most often denying them), classicism itself is a thing of the past.

Classical ideas and classical features gradually disappeared from literature. Works that were considered classics were so only formally, since very often the principles of this direction were used intentionally, to create a comic effect.

Literary direction - often identified with the artistic method. Designates a set of fundamental spiritual and aesthetic principles of many writers, as well as a number of groups and schools, their programmatic and aesthetic principles, and the means used. In the struggle and change of direction, the laws of the literary process are most clearly expressed.

It is customary to single out the following literary directions:

a) Classicism
b) sentimentalism,
c) naturalism,
d) romanticism,
e) Symbolism,
e) realism.

Literary movement - often identified with a literary group and school. Denotes a set of creative personalities, which are characterized by ideological and artistic closeness and programmatic and aesthetic unity. Otherwise, a literary trend is a variety (as it were, a subclass) of a literary trend. For example, in relation to Russian romanticism, one speaks of a "philosophical", "psychological" and "civil" trend. In Russian realism, some distinguish between "psychological" and "sociological" trends.

Classicism

Artistic style and direction in European literature and art of the XVII-beginning. XIX centuries. The name is derived from the Latin "classicus" - exemplary.

Features of classicism:

Appeal to the images and forms of ancient literature and art as an ideal aesthetic standard, putting forward on this basis the principle of “imitation of nature”, which implies strict adherence to unshakable rules drawn from ancient aesthetics (for example, in the person of Aristotle, Horace).
Aesthetics is based on the principles of rationalism (from the Latin “ratio” - mind), which affirms the view of a work of art as an artificial creation - consciously created, reasonably organized, logically constructed.
The images in classicism are devoid of individual features, as they are intended primarily to capture stable, generic, timeless features that act as the embodiment of any social or spiritual forces.
Social and educational function of art. Education of a harmonious personality.
A strict hierarchy of genres has been established, which are divided into “high” (tragedy, epic, ode; their scope is public life, historical events, mythology, their heroes are monarchs, generals, mythological characters, religious ascetics) and “low” (comedy, satire). , a fable that depicted the private daily life of middle-class people). Each genre has strict boundaries and clear formal features; no mixing of the sublime and the base, the tragic and the comic, the heroic and the mundane was allowed. The leading genre is tragedy.
Classical dramaturgy approved the so-called principle of "unity of place, time and action", which meant: the action of the play should take place in one place, the duration of the action should be limited by the duration of the performance (possibly more, but the maximum time that the play should have narrated was one day), the unity of action meant that the play should reflect one central intrigue, not interrupted by side actions.

Classicism originated and developed in France with the establishment of absolutism (classicism, with its concepts of "exemplary", a strict hierarchy of genres, etc., is generally often associated with absolutism and the flourishing of statehood - P. Corneille, J. Racine, J. La Fontaine, J. B. Moliere, etc. Having entered a period of decline at the end of the 17th century, classicism was revived in the Enlightenment - Voltaire, M. Chenier and others. After the French Revolution, with the collapse of rationalist ideas, classicism falls into decay, the dominant style of European art becomes romanticism.

Classicism in Russia:

Russian classicism originated in the second quarter of the 18th century in the work of the founders of new Russian literature - A. D. Kantemir, V. K. Trediakovsky and M. V. Lomonosov. In the era of classicism, Russian literature mastered the genre and style forms that had developed in the West, joined the pan-European literary development, while retaining its national identity. Characteristic features of Russian classicism:

but) Satirical orientation - an important place is occupied by such genres as satire, fable, comedy, directly addressed to specific phenomena of Russian life;
b) The predominance of national-historical themes over ancient ones (the tragedies of A. P. Sumarokov, Ya. B. Kniazhnin, and others);
in) The high level of development of the ode genre (by M. V. Lomonosov and G. R. Derzhavin);
G) General patriotic pathos of Russian classicism.

At the end of XVIII - early. XIX century, Russian classicism is influenced by sentimental and pre-romantic ideas, which is reflected in the poetry of G. R. Derzhavin, the tragedies of V. A. Ozerov and the civil lyrics of the Decembrist poets.

Sentimentalism

Sentimentalism (from English sentimental - “sensitive”) is a trend in European literature and art of the 18th century. It was prepared by the crisis of enlightenment rationalism, was the final stage of the Enlightenment. Chronologically, it basically preceded romanticism, passing on a number of its features to it.

The main signs of sentimentalism:

Sentimentalism remained true to the ideal of the normative personality.
In contrast to classicism with its enlightening pathos, the dominant of “human nature” was declared by feeling, and not by reason.
He considered the condition for the formation of an ideal personality not "a reasonable reorganization of the world", but the release and improvement of "natural feelings".
The hero of the literature of sentimentalism is more individualized: by origin (or convictions), he is a democrat, the rich spiritual world of a commoner is one of the conquests of sentimentalism.
However, unlike romanticism (pre-romanticism), “irrational” is alien to sentimentalism: he perceived the inconsistency of moods, the impulsiveness of spiritual impulses as accessible to rationalistic interpretation.

Sentimentalism took its most complete expression in England, where the ideology of the third estate was formed the earliest - the works of J. Thomson, O. Goldsmith, J. Crabb, S. Richardson, JI. Stern.

Sentimentalism in Russia:

In Russia, representatives of sentimentalism were: M. N. Muravyov, N. M. Karamzin (naib, famous work - “Poor Liza”), I. I. Dmitriev, V. V. Kapnist, N. A. Lvov, young V A. Zhukovsky.

Characteristic features of Russian sentimentalism:

a) Rationalist tendencies are quite clearly expressed;
b) The didactic (moralizing) attitude is strong;
c) Enlightenment trends;
d) Improving the literary language, Russian sentimentalists turned to colloquial norms, introduced vernacular.

The favorite genres of sentimentalists are elegy, epistle, epistolary novel (a novel in letters), travel notes, diaries and other types of prose, in which confessional motifs predominate.

Romanticism

One of the largest trends in European and American literature of the late 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, which gained worldwide significance and distribution. In the 18th century, everything fantastic, unusual, strange, found only in books, and not in reality, was called romantic. At the turn of the XVIII and XIX centuries. "romanticism" begins to be called a new literary movement.

The main signs of romanticism:

Anti-Enlightenment orientation (i.e., against the ideology of the Enlightenment), which manifested itself in sentimentalism and pre-romanticism, and reached its highest point in romanticism. Socio-ideological prerequisites - disappointment in the results of the French Revolution and the fruits of civilization in general, a protest against the vulgarity, routine and prosaic nature of bourgeois life. The reality of history turned out to be beyond the control of "reason", irrational, full of secrets and unforeseen events, and the modern world order turned out to be hostile to human nature and personal freedom.
The general pessimistic orientation is the ideas of "cosmic pessimism", "world sorrow" (heroes of the works of F. Chateaubriand, A. Musset, J. Byron, A. Vigny, etc.). The theme of the “terrible world” “lying in evil” was particularly clearly reflected in the “drama of rock” or “tragedy of rock” (G. Kleist, J. Byron, E. T. A. Hoffman, E. Poe).
Belief in the omnipotence of the human spirit, in its ability to renew itself. Romantics discovered the extraordinary complexity, the inner depth of human individuality. Man for them is a microcosm, a small universe. Hence - the absolutization of the personal principle, the philosophy of individualism. In the center of a romantic work there is always a strong, exceptional personality who opposes society, its laws or moral standards.
"Two worlds", that is, the division of the world into real and ideal, which are opposed to each other. Spiritual insight, inspiration, which are subject to a romantic hero, is nothing more than penetration into this ideal world (for example, the works of Hoffmann, especially brightly in: "The Golden Pot", "The Nutcracker", "Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober") . Romantics contrasted the classic "imitation of nature" with the creative activity of the artist with his right to transform the real world: the artist creates his own, special world, more beautiful and true.
"Local color" A person who opposes society feels spiritual closeness to nature, its elements. That is why romantics so often have exotic countries and their nature (the East) as the scene of action. exotic wild nature quite consistent in spirit with a romantic personality striving beyond the ordinary. Romantics were the first to pay close attention to the creative heritage of the people, and to its national, cultural and historical features. National and cultural diversity, according to the philosophy of the Romantics, was part of one big single whole - the "universe". This was clearly realized in the development of the historical novel genre (such authors as W. Scott, F. Cooper, V. Hugo).

Romantics, absolutizing the creative freedom of the artist, denied rationalistic regulation in art, which, however, did not prevent them from proclaiming their own romantic canons.

Genres developed: a fantastic story, a historical novel, a lyrical-epic poem, and lyrics reached an extraordinary flowering.

Classical countries of romanticism - Germany, England, France.

Beginning in the 1840s, romanticism in the main European countries gave way to the leading position of critical realism and faded into the background.

Romanticism in Russia:

The birth of romanticism in Russia is associated with the socio-ideological atmosphere of Russian life - a nationwide upsurge after the war of 1812. All this led not only to the formation, but also to the special character of the romanticism of the Decembrist poets (for example, K. F. Ryleev, V. K. Kuchelbeker, A. I. Odoevsky), whose work was animated by the idea of civil service, imbued with the pathos of freedom and struggle.

Characteristic features of romanticism in Russia:

but) The accelerated development of literature in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century led to the “running in” and the combination of various stages that were experienced in stages in other countries. In Russian romanticism, pre-romantic tendencies intertwined with the tendencies of classicism and the Enlightenment: doubts about the omnipotent role of reason, the cult of sensitivity, nature, elegiac melancholy combined with the classic orderliness of styles and genres, moderate didacticism (edification) and the fight against excessive metaphor for the sake of "harmonic accuracy" (expression A. S. Pushkin).

b) A more pronounced social orientation of Russian romanticism. For example, the poetry of the Decembrists, the works of M. Yu. Lermontov.

In Russian romanticism, such genres as elegy and idyll are especially developed. Very important for the self-determination of Russian romanticism was the development of the ballad (for example, in the work of V. A. Zhukovsky). The contours of Russian romanticism were most sharply defined with the emergence of the genre of the lyric-epic poem (the southern poems of A. S. Pushkin, the works of I. I. Kozlov, K. F. Ryleev, M. Yu. Lermontov, etc.). The historical novel is developing as a great epic form (M. N. Zagoskin, I. I. Lazhechnikov). A special way of creating a large epic form is cyclization, that is, the unification of apparently independent (and partially published separately) works (“The Double or My Evenings in Little Russia” by A. Pogorelsky, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” by N. V. Gogol, “A Hero of Our time" by M. Yu. Lermontov, "Russian Nights" by V. F. Odoevsky).

Naturalism

Naturalism (from the Latin natura - “nature”) is a literary trend that developed in the last third of the 19th century in Europe and the USA.

Characteristic features of naturalism:

The desire for an objective, accurate and dispassionate depiction of reality and human character, due to the physiological nature and environment, understood primarily as a direct domestic and material environment, but not excluding socio-historical factors. The main task of naturalists was to study society with the same completeness with which a naturalist studies nature, artistic knowledge was likened to scientific.
A work of art was considered as a “human document”, and the main aesthetic criterion was the completeness of the cognitive act carried out in it.
Naturalists refused to moralize, believing that reality depicted with scientific impartiality was in itself expressive enough. They believed that literature, like science, has no right in choosing material, that there are no unsuitable plots or unworthy topics for a writer. Hence, plotlessness and public indifference often arose in the works of naturalists.

Naturalism received particular development in France - for example, naturalism includes the work of such writers as G. Flaubert, the brothers E. and J. Goncourt, E. Zola (who developed the theory of naturalism).

In Russia, naturalism was not widespread, it played only a certain role in initial stage development of Russian realism. Naturalistic tendencies can be traced among the writers of the so-called "natural school" (see below) - V. I. Dal, I. I. Panaev and others.

Realism

Realism (from the late Latin realis - real, real) is a literary and artistic movement of the 19th-20th centuries. It originates in the Renaissance (the so-called "Renaissance realism") or in the Enlightenment ("enlightenment realism"). Features of realism are noted in ancient and medieval folklore, ancient literature.

The main features of realism:

The artist depicts life in images that correspond to the essence of the phenomena of life itself.
Literature in realism is a means of man's knowledge of himself and the world around him.
Cognition of reality comes with the help of images created by typing the facts of reality ("typical characters in a typical setting"). The typification of characters in realism is carried out through the "truthfulness of details" in the "concreteness" of the conditions of the characters' existence.
Realistic art is life-affirming art, even in the tragic resolution of the conflict. The philosophical basis for this is gnosticism, the belief in knowability and an adequate reflection of the surrounding world, unlike, for example, romanticism.
Realistic art is inherent in the desire to consider reality in development, the ability to detect and capture the emergence and development of new forms of life and social relations, new psychological and social types.

Realism as a literary trend was formed in the 30s of the XIX century. The immediate forerunner of realism in European literature was romanticism. Having made the unusual the subject of the image, creating an imaginary world of special circumstances and exceptional passions, he (romanticism) at the same time showed a personality richer in spiritual and emotional terms, more complex and contradictory than was available to classicism, sentimentalism and other trends of previous eras. Therefore, realism developed not as an antagonist of romanticism, but as its ally in the struggle against the idealization of social relations, for national historical originality. artistic images(color of place and time). It is not always easy to draw clear boundaries between romanticism and realism in the first half of the 19th century; in the work of many writers, romantic and realistic features merged together - for example, the works of O. Balzac, Stendhal, V. Hugo, partly C. Dickens. In Russian literature, this was especially clearly reflected in the works of A. S. Pushkin and M. Yu. Lermontov (Pushkin’s southern poems and Lermontov’s Hero of Our Time).

In Russia, where the foundations of realism were still in the 1820s and 30s. laid down by the work of A. S. Pushkin (“Eugene Onegin”, “Boris Godunov”, “The Captain's Daughter”, late lyrics), as well as some other writers (“Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboyedov, fables by I. A. Krylov ), this stage is associated with the names of I. A. Goncharov, I. S. Turgenev, N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Ostrovsky and others. socio-critical. The aggravated socially critical pathos is one of the main distinguishing features of Russian realism - for example, The Inspector General, Dead Souls by N.V. Gogol, the activities of the writers of the "natural school". The realism of the second half of the 19th century reached its peak precisely in Russian literature, especially in the works of L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky, who at the end of the 19th century became the central figures of the world literary process. They enriched world literature with new principles for constructing a socio-psychological novel, philosophical and moral issues, new ways of revealing the human psyche in its deepest layers.

Time of occurrence.

In Europe- XVII -beginning of XIX century

The end of the 17th century was a period of decline.

Classicism was revived during the Enlightenment - Voltaire, M. Chenier and others. After the French Revolution, with the collapse of rationalist ideas, classicism declined, and romanticism became the dominant style of European art.

In Russia- in the 2nd quarter of the 18th century.

Place of origin.

France. (P. Corneille, J. Racine, J. La Fontaine, J. B. Molière, etc.)

Representatives of Russian literature, works.

A. D. Kantemir (satire "On those who blaspheme the teaching", fables)

V.K. Trediakovsky (novel "Riding to the Island of Love", poems)

M. V. Lomonosov (poem "Conversation with Anacreon", "Ode on the day of accession to the throne of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, 1747"

A. P. Sumarokov, (tragedies "Khorev", "Sinav and Truvor")

Ya. B. Knyazhnin (tragedies "Dido", "Rosslav")

G. R. Derzhavin (ode "Felitsa")

representatives of world literature.

P. Corneille (tragedies "Sid", "Horace", "Cinna".

J. Racine (tragedies Phaedra, Mithridates)

Voltaire (tragedies Brutus, Tancred)

J.B. Molière (comedies "Tartuffe", "The tradesman in the nobility")

N. Boileau (treatise in verse "Poetic Art")

J. Lafontaine (fables).

Classicism from fr. classicisme, from lat. classicus - exemplary.

features of classicism.

Purpose of art- moral influence on the upbringing of noble feelings.
Reliance on ancient art(hence the name of the style), which was based on the principle of "imitation of nature".
IN basis - principle rationalism((from Latin "ratio" - mind), a view of a work of art as an artificial creation - consciously created, reasonably organized, logically built.
Cult of the mind(belief in the omnipotence of reason and in the fact that the world can be rearranged on reasonable grounds).
Headship public interest over private, the predominance of civil, patriotic motives, the cult of moral duty. Affirmation of positive values and state ideal.
Main conflict classic works - this is the struggle of the hero between mind and feeling. A positive hero must always make a choice in favor of reason (for example, choosing between love and the need to completely surrender to the service of the state, he must choose the latter), and a negative one - in favor of feelings.
Personality is the highest value of being.
Harmony content and form.
Compliance with the rule in a dramatic work "three unities": unity of place, time, action.
The division of heroes into positive and negative. The hero had to embody any one character trait: stinginess, hypocrisy, kindness, hypocrisy, etc.
Strict hierarchy of genres, mixing of genres was not allowed:

"high"- epic poem, tragedy, ode;

"middle" - didactic poetry, epistole, satire, love poem;

"low"- fable, comedy, farce.

The purity of the language (in high genres - high vocabulary, in low genres - vernacular);
Simplicity, harmony, logical presentation.
Interest in the eternal, unchanging, the desire to find typological features. Therefore, the images are devoid of individual features, since they are designed primarily to capture stable, generic, enduring signs over time.
Socio-educational function of literature. Education of a harmonious personality.

Features of Russian classicism.

Russian literature mastered the style and genre forms of classicism, but it also had its own characteristics, distinguished by its originality.

The state (and not the individual) was declared the highest value) in conjunction with belief in the theory of enlightened absolutism. According to the theory of enlightened absolutism, the state should be headed by a wise, enlightened monarch, who requires everyone to serve for the benefit of society.
General patriotic pathos Russian classicism. Patriotism of Russian writers, their interest in the history of their homeland. All of them study Russian history, write works on national, historical themes.
Humanity, since the direction was formed under the influence of the ideas of the Enlightenment.
Human nature is selfish, subject to passions, that is, feelings that oppose reason, but at the same time education.
Affirmation of the natural equality of all people.
Main conflict between the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie.
In the center of the works are not only the personal experiences of the characters, but also social problems.
satirical focus- an important place is occupied by such genres as satire, fable, comedy, satirically depicting specific phenomena of Russian life;
The predominance of national-historical themes over the antique. In Russia, “antiquity” was domestic history.
High level of genre development odes(by M. V. Lomonosov and G. R. Derzhavin);
The plot is based, as a rule, on a love triangle: the heroine is the hero-lover, the second lover.
At the end of a classic comedy, vice is always punished and good triumphs.

Three periods of classicism in Russian literature.

30-50s of the 18th century (the birth of classicism, the creation of literature, the national language, the flowering of the ode genre - M.V. Lomonosov, A.P. Sumarkov, etc.)
60s - end of the 18th century (the main task of literature is the education of a person-citizen, the service of a person for the benefit of societies, exposing the vices of people, the flowering of satire - N.R. Derzhavin, D.I. Fonviin).
The end of the XVIII-beginning of the XIX century (the gradual crisis of classicism, the emergence of sentimentalism, the strengthening of realistic tendencies, national motifs, the image of the ideal nobleman - N.R. Derzhavin, I.A. Krylov, etc.)

The material was prepared by: Melnikova Vera Alexandrovna.

In literature, classicism was born and spread in France in the 17th century. The theoretician of classicism is Nicolas Boileau, who formed the basic principles of style in the article "Poetic Art". The name comes from the Latin "classicus" - exemplary, which emphasizes the artistic basis of the style - the images and forms of antiquity, which began to have a special interest at the end of the Renaissance. The emergence of classicism is associated with the formation of the principles of a centralized state and the ideas of "enlightened" absolutism in it.

Classicism glorifies the concept of reason, believing that only with the help of the mind can one obtain and streamline a picture of the world. Therefore, the main thing in the work is its idea (that is, the main idea and form of the work must be in harmony), and the main thing in the conflict of reason and feelings is reason and duty.

The main principles of classicism, characteristic of both foreign and domestic literature:

Forms and images from ancient (Greek and Roman) literature: tragedy, ode, comedy, epic, poetic odic and satirical forms.
A clear division of genres into "high" and "low". The "high" include ode, tragedy and epic, the "low", as a rule, funny - comedy, satire, fable.
Distinctive division of heroes into good and bad.
Compliance with the principle of the trinity of time, place, action.

Classicism in Russian literature

18th century

In Russia, classicism appeared much later than in European countries, as it was "brought" along with European works and enlightenment. The existence of style on Russian soil is usually placed in the following framework:

1. The end of the 1720s, the literature of the time of Peter the Great, secular literature, which differs from the church literature that had previously dominated Russia.

The style began to develop first in translations, then in original works. The names of A. D. Kantemir, A. P. Sumarokov and V. K. Trediakovsky (reformers and developers of the literary language, they worked on poetic forms - on odes and satires) are associated with the development of the Russian classical tradition.

1730-1770 - the heyday of style and its evolution. It is associated with the name of M. V. Lomonosov, who wrote tragedies, odes, and poems.
The last quarter of the XVIII century - the emergence of sentimentalism and the beginning of the crisis of classicism. The time of late classicism is associated with the name of D. I. Fonvizin, the author of tragedies, dramas and comedies; G. R. Derzhavin (poetic forms), A. N. Radishcheva (prose and poetry).

(A. N. Radishchev, D. I. Fonvizin, P. Ya. Chaadaev)

D. I. Fonvizin and A. N. Radishchev became not only developers, but also destroyers of the stylistic unity of classicism: Fonvizin in comedies violates the trinity principle, introduces ambiguity in the assessment of heroes. Radishchev becomes a harbinger and developer of sentimentalism, providing psychologism to the narrative, rejecting its conventions.

(Representatives of classicism)

19th century

It is believed that classicism existed by inertia until the 1820s, however, during the late classicism, the works created within its framework were only formally classical, or its principles were used intentionally, to create a comic effect.

Russian classicism of the early 19th century is moving away from its breakthrough features: the assertion of the primacy of reason, civic pathos, opposition to the arbitrariness of religion, against its oppression of reason, criticism of the monarchy.

Classicism in foreign literature

The original classicism relied on the theoretical developments of ancient authors - Aristotle and Horace ("Poetics" and "Epistle to the Pisons").

In European literature, with identical principles, style ends its existence from the 1720s. Representatives of classicism in France: Francois Malherbe (poetic works, reformation of the poetic language), J. La Fontaine (satirical works, fable), J.-B. Molière (comedy), Voltaire (drama), J.-J. Rousseau (late classic prose writer, forerunner of sentimentalism).

There are two stages in the development of European classicism:

The development and flourishing of the monarchy, contributing to the positive development of the economy, science and culture. At this stage, representatives of classicism see as their task the glorification of the monarch, the assertion of its inviolability (Francois Malherbe, Pierre Corneille, the leading genres are ode, poem, epic).
The crisis of the monarchy, the discovery of shortcomings in the political system. Writers do not glorify, but rather criticize the monarchy. (J. Lafontaine, J.-B. Moliere, Voltaire, leading genres - comedy, satire, epigram).