Drama content of works. Epic genres of literature

Tragedy(from gr. Tragos - goat and ode - song) - one of the types of drama, which is based on the irreconcilable conflict of an unusual personality with insurmountable external circumstances. Usually the hero dies (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's Hamlet). The tragedy originated in ancient Greece, the name comes from a folk performance in honor of the god of wine, Dionysus. Dances, songs and stories about his suffering were performed, at the end of which a goat was sacrificed.

Comedy(from the gr. comoidia. Comos - cheerful crowd and ode - song) - a type of dramatic arbitrariness that depicts the comic in the social life, behavior and character of people. There is a comedy of situations (intrigue) and a comedy of characters.

Drama - a type of dramaturgy intermediate between tragedy and comedy (“The Thunderstorm” by A. Ostrovsky, “Stolen Happiness” by I. Franko). Dramas mainly depict the private life of a person and his acute conflict with society. At the same time, the emphasis is often placed on universal human contradictions, embodied in the behavior and actions of specific characters.

Mystery(from the gr. mysterion - sacrament, religious service, ritual) - a genre of mass religious theater of the late Middle Ages (XIV-XV centuries), widespread in the countries of Western Nvrotta.

Sideshow(from Latin intermedius - that which is in the middle) - a small comic play or sketch that was performed between the actions of the main drama. In modern pop art it exists as an independent genre.

Vaudeville(from the French vaudeville) a light comic play in which dramatic action is combined with music and dancing.

Melodrama - a play with acute intrigue, exaggerated emotionality and a moral and didactic tendency. Typical for melodrama is a “happy ending”, the triumph of good characters. The genre of melodrama was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, but later acquired a negative reputation.

Farce(from Latin farcio I begin, I fill) is a Western European folk comedy of the 14th - 16th centuries, which originated from funny ritual games and interludes. Farce is characterized by the main features of popular ideas: mass participation, satirical orientation, and rude humor. In modern times, this genre has entered the repertoire of small theaters.

As noted, methods of literary depiction are often mixed within individual types and genres. This mixture is of two kinds: in some cases there is a kind of inclusion, when the main generic characteristics are preserved; in others, the generic principles are balanced, and the work cannot be attributed to either epic, clergy, or drama, as a result of which they are called adjacent or mixed formations. Most often, epic and lyric are mixed.

Ballad(from Provence ballar - to dance) - a small poetic work with a sharp dramatic plot of love, legendary-historical, heroic-patriotic or fairy-tale content. The depiction of events is combined in it with a pronounced authorial feeling, the epic is combined with lyrics. The genre became widespread in the era of romanticism (V. Zhukovsky, A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, T. Shevchenko, etc.).

Lyric epic poem- a poetic work in which, according to V. Mayakovsky, the poet talks about time and himself (poems by V. Mayakovsky, A. Tvardovsky, S. Yesenin, etc.).

Dramatic poem- a work written in dialogical form, but not intended for production on stage. Examples of this genre: “Faust” by Goethe, “Cain” by Byron, “In the Catacombs” by L. Ukrainka, etc.

The dramatic genre of literature has three main genres: tragedy, comedy and drama in the narrow sense of the word, but it also has such genres as vaudeville, melodrama, and tragicomedy.

Tragedy (Greek)

Tragoidia, lit. - goat song) - “a dramatic genre based on a tragic collision of heroic characters, its tragic outcome and filled with pathos...”266.

The tragedy depicts reality as a clot of internal contradictions; it reveals the conflicts of reality in an extremely tense form. This is a dramatic work, which is based on an irreconcilable conflict in life, leading to the suffering and death of the hero. Thus, in a collision with the world of crimes, lies and hypocrisy, the bearer of advanced humanistic ideals, the Danish prince Hamlet, the hero of the tragedy of the same name by William Shakespeare, tragically dies.

In the struggle waged by tragic heroes, the heroic traits of human character are revealed with great completeness.

The genre of tragedy has a long history. It arose from religious cult rituals and was a stage performance of a myth. With the advent of the theater, tragedy emerged as an independent genre of dramatic art. The creators of tragedies were ancient Greek playwrights of the 5th century. BC e. Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, who left perfect examples of it. They reflected the tragic clash of the traditions of the tribal system with the new social order. These conflicts were perceived and depicted by playwrights primarily using mythological material. The hero of an ancient tragedy found himself drawn into an insoluble conflict either by the will of an imperious rock (fate) or by the will of the gods. Thus, the hero of Aeschylus’ tragedy “Prometheus Bound” suffers because he violated the will of Zeus when he gave fire to people and taught them crafts. In Sophocles' tragedy "Oedipus the King" the hero is doomed to be a parricide and to marry his own mother. Ancient tragedy usually included five acts and was structured in compliance with the “three unities” - place, time, action. The tragedies were written in verse and were distinguished by lofty speech; its hero was a “lofty hero.”

The great English playwright William Shakespeare is rightfully considered the founder of modern tragedy. His tragedies “Romeo and Juliet”, “Hamlet”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, “Macbeth” are based on acute conflicts. Shakespeare's characters are no longer heroes of myths, but real people struggling with real, not mythical, forces and circumstances. Striving for maximum truthfulness and completeness in the reproduction of life, Shakespeare developed all the best aspects of ancient tragedy, at the same time freeing this genre from those conventions that in his era had lost their meaning (mythological plot, adherence to the rule of “three unities”). The characters in Shakespeare's tragedies amaze with their life-like persuasiveness. Formally, Shakespearean tragedy is far from antiquity. Shakespeare's tragedy covers all aspects of reality. The personality of the hero of his tragedies is open, not fully defined, and capable of change.

The next stage in the development of the tragedy genre is associated with the work of the French playwrights P. Corneille (Medea, Horace, The Death of Pompey, Oedipus, etc.) and J. Racine (Andromache, Iphigenia, Fed - ra” etc.)* They created brilliant examples of classicism tragedy - the tragedy of “high style” with the obligatory observance of the rule of “three unities”.

At the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries.

F. Schiller updated the “classical” style of tragedy, creating the tragedies “Don Carlos”, “Mary Stuart”, “The Maid of Orleans”.

In the era of romanticism, the content of tragedy becomes the life of a person with his spiritual quest. Tragic dramas were created by V. Hugo (“Ernani”, “Lucrezia Borgia”, “Ruy Blaz”, “The King Amuses himself”, etc.), J. Byron (“Two Faskari”), M. Lermontov (“Masquerade”).

In Russia, the first tragedies within the framework of the poetics of classicism were created in the 18th century. A. Sumarokov (“Khorev”), M. Kheraskov (“Plamena”), V. Ozerov (“Polyxena”), Y. Knyazhnin (“Dido”).

In the 19th century Russian realism also provided convincing examples of tragedy. The creator of a new type of tragedy was A.

S. Pushkin. The main character of his tragedy “Boris Godunov,” in which all the requirements of classicism were violated, was the people, shown as the driving force of history. The understanding of the tragic conflicts of reality was continued by A.N. Ostrovsky (“Guilty Without Guilt”, etc.) and L.N. Tolstoy (“The Power of Darkness”).

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. tragedy is being revived “in high style”: in Russia - in the works of L. Andreev (“The Life of a Man”, “Tsar Famine”), Vyach. Ivanov (“Prometheus”), in the West - in the works of T.-S. Elliot (“Murder in the Cathedral”), P. Claudel (“The Annunciation”), G. Hauptmann (“Rats”). Later, in the 20th century, in the works of J.-P. Sartre (“Flies”), J. Anouilh (“Antigone”).

Tragic conflicts in Russian literature of the 20th century. reflected in the dramaturgy of M. Bulgakov (“Days of the Turbins”, “Running”). In the literature of socialist realism, they acquired a unique interpretation, since the dominant one in them was a conflict based on an irreconcilable clash of class enemies, and the main character died in the name of an idea (“Optimistic Tragedy” by Vs. Vishnevsky, “Storm” by V.

N. Bill-Belotserkovsky, “Invasion” by L. Leonov, “Carrying an Eagle on the Shoulder” by I. Selvinsky, etc.). At the present stage of development of Russian drama, the genre of tragedy is almost forgotten, but tragic conflicts are interpreted in many plays.

Comedy (Latin sotoesIa, Greek kotosIa, from kotoe - cheerful procession and 6с1ё - song) is a type of drama in which characters, situations and actions are presented in funny forms or imbued with the comic1.

Comedy, like tragedy, originated in Ancient Greece. The “father” of comedy is considered to be the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes (V-IV centuries BC). In his works, he ridiculed the greed, bloodthirstiness and immorality of the Athenian aristocracy, and advocated for a peaceful patriarchal life (“Horsemen”, “Clouds”, “Lysistrata”, “Frogs”).

In European literature of modern times, comedy continued the traditions of ancient literature, enriching them. In European literature, stable types of comedies are distinguished. For example, the comedy of masks, commedia dell'arte (1e1Gar1e), which appeared in Italy in the 16th century. Its characters were typical masks (Harlequin, Pulcinella, etc.). This genre influenced the work of J.-B. Moliere, C. Goldoni, C. Gozzi.

In Spain, the comedy “cloak and sword” was popular in the works of Lope de Vega (“The Sheep Spring”), Tirso de Molina (“Don Gil Green Pants”), Calderon (“They don’t joke with love”).

Art theorists have addressed the question of the social purpose of comedy in different ways. During the Renaissance, its role was limited to correcting morals. In the 19th century V. Belinsky noted that comedy not only denies, but also affirms: “True indignation at the contradictions and vulgarity of society is an illness of a deep and noble soul, which stands above its society and carries within itself the ideal of a different, better society.” First of all, comedy had to be aimed at ridiculing the ugly. But, along with laughter, the invisible “honest face” of comedy (according to N.V. Gogol, the only honest face of his comedy “The Inspector General” was laughter), it could contain “noble comicism,” symbolizing the positive principle represented, for example, by in the image of Chatsky by Griboyedov, Figaro by Beaumarchais, Falstaff by Shakespeare.

The art of comedy achieved significant success in the works of W. Shakespeare (“Twelfth Night”, “The Taming of the Shrew”, etc.). The playwright expressed in them the Renaissance idea of ​​the irresistible power of nature over the human heart. The ugliness in his comedies was funny, fun reigned in them, they contained solid characters of strong people who knew how to love. Shakespeare's comedies are still on the stages of theaters around the world.

The French comedian of the 17th century achieved brilliant success. Moliere is the author of the world famous “Tartuffe”, “The Bourgeois in the Nobility”, “The Miser”. Beaumarchais (“The Barber of Seville”, “The Marriage of Figaro”) became a famous comedian.

In Russia, folk comedy has existed for a long time. An outstanding comedian of the Russian Enlightenment was D.N. Fonvizin. His comedy “The Minor” mercilessly ridiculed the “wild lordship” that reigns in the Prostakov family. Wrote comedies I.A. Krylov (“Lesson for Daughters,” “Fashion Shop”), ridiculing the admiration for foreigners.

In the 19th century examples of satirical, social realistic comedy are created by A.S. Griboyedov (“Woe from Wit”), N.V. Gogol (“The Inspector General”), A.N. Ostrovsky (“Profitable place”, “Our people - we will be numbered”, etc.). Continuing the traditions of N. Gogol, A. Sukhovo-Kobylin in his trilogy (“The Wedding of Krechinsky”, “The Affair”, “The Death of Tarelkin”) showed how the bureaucracy “relaxed” the whole of Russia, bringing it troubles comparable to the damage caused by the Tatars. the Mongol yoke and the invasion of Napoleon. Famous comedies by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (“The Death of Pazukhin”) and A.N. Tolstoy (“Fruits of Enlightenment”), which in some ways approached tragedy (they contain elements of tragicomedy).

Comedy has given rise to different genre varieties. There are comedy of situations, comedy of intrigue, comedy of characters, comedy of manners (everyday comedy), slapstick comedy. There is no clear boundary between these genres. Most comedies combine elements of different genres, which deepens the comedic characters, diversifies and expands the very palette of the comic image. This is clearly demonstrated by Gogol in The Inspector General. On the one hand, he created a “situation comedy” based on a chain of funny misunderstandings, the main one being the absurd mistake of six district officials who mistook the “elistratishka”, “kestrel” Khlestakov for a powerful auditor, which served as the source of many comic situations. On the other hand, the comic effect generated by various absurd situations in life does not exhaust the content of The Inspector General. After all, the reason for the mistakes of the district officials lies in their personal qualities? - in their cowardice, spiritual rudeness, mental limitations - and in the essence of the character of Khlestakov, who, while living in St. Petersburg, adopted the behavior of officials. What we have before us is a vivid “comedy of characters,” or rather, a comedy of realistically depicted social types presented in typical circumstances.

In terms of genre, there are also satirical comedies (“The Minor” by Fonvizin, “The Inspector General” by Gogol) and high comedies, close to drama. The action of these comedies does not contain funny situations. In Russian drama, this is primarily “Woe from Wit” by A. Griboedov. There is nothing comical in Chatsky’s unrequited love for Sophia, but the situation in which the romantic young man has put himself is comical. The position of the educated and progressive-minded Chatsky in the society of the Famusovs and the Silences is dramatic. There are also lyrical comedies, an example of which is “The Cherry Orchard” by A.P. Chekhov.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Comedies appear, characterized by increased psychologism and an emphasis on portraying complex characters. These include “comedies of ideas” by B. Shaw (“Pygmalion”, “Millionairess”, etc.), “comedies of moods” by A.P. Chekhov (“The Cherry Orchard”), tragicomedies by L. Pirandello (“Six Characters in Search of an Author” "), J. Anouya ("Savage").

In the 20th century Russian avant-gardeism is making itself known, including in the field of drama, the roots of which, undoubtedly, go back to folklore. However, the folklore principle is already found in the plays of V. Kapnist, D. Fonvizin, in the satire of I. Krylov, N. Gogol, M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, the traditions of which in the 20th century. continued by M. Bulgakov (“Crimson Island”, “Zoyka’s Apartment”, “Adam and Eve”), N. Erdman (“Suicide”, “Mandate”), A. Platonov (“Hurdy Organ”).

In Russian avant-garde of the 20th century. Conventionally, three stages are distinguished: futuristic (“Zangezi” by V. Khlebnikov, “Victory over the Sun” by A. Kruchenykh, “Mystery-bouffe” by V. Mayakovsky), post-futuristic (the theater of the absurd of the Oberiuts: “Elizabeth to You” by D. Kharms, “The Ivanovs’ Christmas Tree” by A. Vvedensky) and the dramaturgy of contemporary avant-gardeism (A. Artaud, N. Sadur, A. Shipenko, A. Slapovsky, A. Zheleztsov, I. Savelyev, L. Petrushevskaya, E. Gremina, etc. ).

Avant-garde trends in modern drama are the subject of literary studies. For example, M.I. Gromova, sees the origins of this phenomenon in the fact that in the 20s of the 20th century. attempts to create an “alternative” art (Oberiut theater) were suppressed, which went underground for many years, giving rise to “samizdat” and “dissidence”, and in the 70s (years of stagnation) was formed on the stages of numerous “underground” studios, which received the right to work legally in the 90s (the years of perestroika), when the opportunity arose to get acquainted with Western European avant-garde drama of all types: “theater of the absurd”, “theater of cruelty”, “theater of paradox”, “happenings”, etc. On the studio stage “Laboratory” staged V. Denisov’s play “Six Ghosts on the Piano” (its content was inspired by a painting by Salvador Dali). Critics were struck by the cruel, absurd reality of the plays by A. Galin (“Stars in the Morning Sky,” “Sorry,” “Title”), A. Dudarev (“Dumping Ground”), E. Radzinsky (“Sports Games of 1981,” “Our Decameron", "I'm Standing at the Restaurant"), N. Sadur ("Moon Wolves"),

A. Kazantsev (“Dreams of Evgenia”), A. Zheleztsov (“Askold’s Grave”, “Nail”), A. Buravsky (“Russian Teacher”). Plays of this kind gave rise to the critic E. Sokolyansky to conclude: “It seems that the only thing that a dramatic writer can convey in the current conditions is a certain madness of the moment. That is, the feeling of a turning point in history with the triumph of chaos”267. All of these plays contain elements of tragicomedy. Tragicomedy is a type of dramatic work (drama as a kind), which has characteristics of both tragedy and comedy, which distinguishes tragicomedy from forms intermediate between tragedy and comedy, i.e. from drama as a type.

Tragicomedy abandons the moral absolute of comedy and tragedy. The attitude that underlies it is associated with a sense of the relativity of existing life criteria. Overestimation of moral principles leads to uncertainty and even abandonment of them; subjective and objective principles are blurred; a unclear understanding of reality can cause interest in it or complete indifference and even recognition of the illogicality of the world. The tragicomic attitude dominates in them at turning points in history, although the tragicomic principle was already present in the dramaturgy of Euripides (“Alcestis”, “Ion”).

The “pure” type of tragicomedy became characteristic of baroque and mannerist drama (F. Beaumont, J. Fletcher). Its features are a combination of funny and serious episodes, a mixture of sublime and comic characters, the presence of pastoral motives, the idealization of friendship and love, intricate action with unexpected situations, the predominant role of chance in the fate of the characters; the heroes are not endowed with constancy of character, but their images are often emphasized one trait that turns a character into a type.

In dramaturgy of the late 19th century. in the works of G. Ibsen, Yu.A. Strindberg, G. Hauptmann, A. Chekhov, L. Pirandello, in the 20th century. - G. Lorca, J. Giraudoux, J. Anouya, E. Ionesco, S. Beckett, the tragicomic element is strengthened, as in Russian avant-garde drama of the 20th century.

Modern tragicomedy does not have clear genre characteristics and is characterized by a “tragicomic effect”, which is created by showing reality simultaneously in both tragic and comic light, the discrepancy between the hero and the situation (the tragic situation is the comic hero, or vice versa, as in Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” "); the insolubility of the internal conflict (the plot presupposes the continuation of the action; the author refrains from making a final assessment), the feeling of the absurdity of existence.

A special type of entertaining comedy is vaudeville (French vaudeville from Vau de Vire - the name of the valley in Normandy, where this genre of theatrical art appeared at the beginning of the 15th century) - a play of everyday content with an entertaining development of action, in which witty dialogue alternates with dancing and singing. - senka couplets.

In France, vaudeville was written by E. Labiche and O. Scribe. Vaudeville appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. He inherited from the comic opera of the 18th century. interest in national subjects. Vaudevilles wrote to A.S. Griboedov (“Feigned Infidelity”), D.T. Lensky (“Lev Gurych Sinichkin”), V.A. Sollogub (“The Coachman, or the Prank of a Hussar Officer”), P.A. Karatygin (“Borrowed Wives”, “Dead Eccentric”), N.A. Nekrasov (“Petersburg Moneylender”), A.P. Chekhov (“Bear”, “The Proposal”, “Wedding”, “On the Harm of Tobacco”). In the second half of the 19th century. vaudeville was supplanted by operetta. Interest in it returned at the end of the 20th century.

In theatrical art of the 19th - 20th centuries. vaudeville comedies of light content with external comic techniques began to be called farces. Farce (French farce, from Latin farcio - I begin: the Middle Ages. Mysteries “began” with comedic inserts) - a type of folk theater and literature of Western European countries of the 14th century. XVI centuries, primarily in France. He was distinguished by a comic, often satirical orientation, realistic concreteness, and freethinking; full of buffoonery. His heroes were the townspeople. The mask images of farce were devoid of an individual beginning (farce is close to the comedy of masks), although they were the first attempt to create social types268.

The means of creating a comic (satirical) effect are speech comedy - alogism, incongruity of situations, parody, playing with paradoxes, irony, in the newest comedy - humor, irony, sarcasm, grotesque, wit, wit, pun.

Wit is based on a sense of humor (in fact, they are one and the same thing) - a special associative ability, the ability to critically approach a subject, notice absurdity, and quickly respond to it269. The paradox “expresses an idea that is absurd at first glance, but, as it later turns out, to a certain extent fair”1. For example, in Gogol’s “Marriage,” after the shameful flight of Podkolesin, Arina Panteleimonovna reprimands Kochkarev: Yes, I’ve been living for sixty years, but I’ve never made such a fortune. Yes, father, I will spit in your face if you are an honest person. Yes, after this you are a scoundrel, if you are an honest person. Disgrace a girl in front of the whole world!

Features of the grotesque style are characteristic of many comedies created in Russian literature of the 20th century. (“Suicide” by N. Erdman, “Zoyka’s Apartment” by M. Bulgakov, “The House that Swift Built” by G. Gorin). E. Schwartz (“Dragon”, “Shadow”) used comic allegory and satirical symbols in his fairy tale plays.

Drama as a genre appeared later than tragedy and comedy. Like tragedy, it tends to recreate acute contradictions. As a type of drama, it became widespread in Europe during the Enlightenment and was then conceptualized as a genre. Drama became an independent genre in the second half of the 18th century. among the enlighteners (philistine drama appeared in France and Germany). It indicated an interest in the social way of life, in the moral ideals of a democratic environment, in the psychology of the “average person.”

During this period, tragic thinking experiences a crisis and is replaced by a different view of the world, which affirms the social activity of the individual. As the drama develops, its internal drama thickens, a successful outcome becomes less and less common, the hero is at odds with society and with himself (for example, the plays of G. Ibsen, B. Shaw, M. Gorky, A. Chekhov).

Drama is a play with an acute conflict, which, unlike the tragic, is not so sublime, more mundane, ordinary and one way or another resolvable. The specificity of the drama lies, firstly, in the fact that it is based on modern, and not on ancient material, and secondly, the drama affirms a new hero who has rebelled against his fate and circumstances. The difference between drama and tragedy lies in the essence of the conflict: tragic conflicts are insoluble, because their resolution does not depend on the personal will of a person. The tragic hero finds himself in a tragic situation involuntarily, and not because of a mistake he made. Dramatic conflicts, unlike tragic ones, are not insurmountable. They are based on the clash of characters with forces, principles, traditions that oppose them from the outside. If the hero of a drama dies, then his death is largely an act of voluntary decision, and not the result of a tragically hopeless situation. Thus, Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” by A. Ostrovsky, acutely worried that she has violated religious and moral norms, not being able to live in the oppressive environment of the Kabanovs’ house, rushes into the Volga. Such a denouement was not mandatory; The obstacles to the rapprochement between Katerina and Boris cannot be considered insurmountable: the heroine’s rebellion could have ended differently.

The heyday of drama begins at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. In the era of romanticism, tragedy reigned in drama. The birth of drama is associated with the appeal of writers to modern social themes. The tragedy, as a rule, was created on historical material. The main character was a major historical figure, fighting in extremely unfavorable circumstances. The emergence of the dramatic genre was characterized by an increased interest in understanding modern public life and the dramatic fate of a “private” person.

The range of drama is unusually wide. The playwright depicts the everyday private life of people, their relationships, clashes caused by estate, property, and class differences. In realistic drama of the 19th century. predominantly psychological drama developed (dramas by A.N. Ostrovsky, G. Ibsen, etc.). At the turn of the century, drama changed in the work of A.P. Chekhov (“Ivanov”, “Three Sisters”) with his mournful and ironic lyricism, using subtext. Similar trends are observed in the work of M. Maeterlinck with his hidden “tragedy of everyday life” (“The Blind,” “Monna Vitta”).

In the literature of the 20th century. The horizons of the drama have expanded significantly, and its conflicts have become more complex. In the drama of M. Gorky (“Bourgeois”, “Enemies”, “Children of the Sun”, “Barbarians”) the problem of the responsibility of the intelligentsia for the fate of the people is raised, but it is considered mainly on family and everyday material.

In the West, dramas were created by R. Rolland, J. Priestley, Y.O. Neal, A. Miller, F. Dürrenmatt, E. Albee, T. Williams.

The “element” of drama is modernity, the private lives of people, situations based on solvable conflicts concerning the destinies of individual people that do not affect problems of public importance.

Such varieties of drama appeared as the lyrical drama of M. Maeterlinck and A. Blok (“Showcase”, “Rose and Cross”), the intellectual drama of J.-P. Sartre, J. Anouilh, drama of the absurd by E. Ionesco (“The Bald Singer”, “Chairs”), S. Beckett (“Waiting for Godot”, “End of the Game”), oratory, rally theater - political theater of B. Brecht with his “epic” plays (“What is that soldier, what is that one”).

In the history of the Soviet theater, political theater, the traditions of which were laid by V. Mayakovsky, V. Kirshon, A. Afinogenov, B. Lavrenev, K. Simonov, distinguished by a clearly expressed author’s position, occupied an important place. In the 60s - 90s of the XX century. journalistic dramas appeared (“A Man from the Outside” by I. Dvoretsky, “Minutes of One Meeting” by A. Gelman, “Interview in Buenos Aires” by G. Borovik, “Further... further... further” by M. Shatrov) and documentaries dramas (“Leaders” by G. Sokolovsky, “Joseph and Nadezhda” by O. Kuchkina, “The Black Man, or Me, Poor Soso Dzhugashvili” by V. Korkiya, “The Sixth of July” and “Blue Horses on Red Grass” by M. Shatrov , “Anna Ivanovna” by V. Shalamov, “Republic of Labor” by A. Solzhenitsyn, etc.). In the genre of drama, such varieties as debate plays, dialogue plays, chronicle plays, parable plays, fairy tale plays and “new drama” appeared.

Certain types of drama merge with related genres, using their means of expression: tragicomedy, farce, mask theater.

There is also such a genre as melodrama. Melodrama (from the Greek m?los - song, melody and drama - action, drama) - 1) a genre of drama, a play with acute intrigue, exaggerated emotionality, a sharp contrast between good and evil, a moral and educational tendency; 2) a musical-dramatic work in which monologues and dialogues of the characters are accompanied by music. J.J. Rousseau developed the principles of this genre and created its example - “Pygmalion”; an example of Russian melodrama is “Orpheus” by E. Fomin.

Melodrama originated in the 18th century. in France (plays by J.-M. Monvel and G. de Pixerécourt), it flourished in the 30s and 40s of the 19th century, and later external entertainment began to predominate in it. In Russia, melodrama appeared in the 20s of the 19th century. (plays by N.V. Kukolnik, N.A. Polevoy, etc.), interest in it was revived in the 20s of the 20th century. There are elements of melodrama in the works of A. Arbuzov (“Old-Fashioned Comedy”, “Tales of the Old Arbat”)270. Dramatic genres turned out to be very flexible.

Summarizing what has been said about the genera, types and genres of literature, it should be noted that there are inter-generic and non-generic forms. According to B.O. Corman, we can distinguish works that combine the properties of two generic forms - “bigeneric formations”271.

For example, the epic beginning, according to V. Khalizev’s remark, is in the plays of A.N. Ostrovsky and B. Brecht, M. Maeterlinck and A. Blok created “lyrical dramas”; the lyrical-epic beginning in the poems became a well-known fact. Non-generic forms in literary criticism include essays, “stream of consciousness” literature, essays, for example, “Essays” by M. Montaigne, “Fallen Leaves” and “Solitary” by V. Rozanov (it tends towards syncretism: the principles of the actual artistic in it are combined with journalistic and philosophical, as in the works of A. Remizov “Posolon” ​​and M. Prishvin “Eyes of the Earth”).

So, V.E. sums it up with his thoughts. Khalizev, “... we can distinguish between the actual generic forms, traditional and undividedly dominant in literary creativity for many centuries, and “non-generic”, non-traditional forms, rooted in “post-romantic” art. The former interact with the latter very actively, complementing each other. Nowadays, the Platonic-Aristotelian-Hegelian triad (epic, lyric, drama), as can be seen, has been significantly shaken and needs to be adjusted. At the same time, there is no reason to declare the usually distinguished three types of literature obsolete, as is sometimes done with the light hand of the Italian philosopher and art theorist B. Croce. Among Russian literary scholars, A.I. spoke out in a similar skeptical spirit. Beletsky: “For ancient literature, the terms epic, lyricism, drama were not yet abstract. They designated special, external ways of transmitting a work to a listening audience. Having turned into a book, poetry abandoned these methods of transmission, and gradually<...>types (meaning types of literature. - V.Kh.) became more and more fiction. Is it necessary to further prolong the scientific existence of these fictions?”1. Without agreeing with this, we note: literary works of all eras (including modern ones) have a certain generic specificity (epic, dramatic, lyrical form, or essay forms, which were not uncommon in the 20th century, "stream of consciousness", essay). Gender affiliation (or, on the contrary, the involvement of one of the “non-generic” forms) largely determines the organization of the work, its formal, structural features. Therefore, the concept of “genus of literature” is integral and vital in theoretical poetics.”2 ? Test questions and assignments I 1.

What served as the basis for identifying three types of literature. What are the signs of the epic, lyrical, dramatic way of reproducing reality? 2.

Name the types of artistic literature and give their characteristics. Tell us about the connection between the genera, types, and genres of literary works. 3.

What is the difference between a novel and a short story? Give examples. 4.

What are the distinctive features of the novella? Give examples. 1 Beletsky A.I. Selected works on literary theory. G. 342.2

Khalizev V.E. Theory of literature. pp. 318 - 319.

Test questions and assignments 5.

Why, in your opinion, have the novel and story become the leading genres of realistic literature? Their differences. 6.

Take notes on the article by M.M. Bakhtin “Epic and Novel: On the methodology of studying the novel” (Appendix 1, p. 667). Complete the tasks and answer the questions given after the article. 7.

Gogol initially called “Dead Souls” a “novel”, then a “small epic”. Why did he choose to define the genre of his work as a “poem”? 8.

Determine the features of an epic novel in the works “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy and “Quiet Don” by M. Sholokhov. 9.

Give a genre definition to N. Shmelev’s work “The Summer of the Lord” and justify it (fairy tale novel, myth novel, legend novel, fable, myth-memory, free epic, spiritual novel). 10.

Read O. Mandelstam’s article “The End of the Novel.” S Mandelstam O. Works: In 2 vols. M., 1990. P. 201-205). Using the example of B. Pasternak’s novel “Doctor Zhivago,” explain what is innovative in the approach of writers of the 20th century. to the problem of the modern novel. Is it possible to say that “...the compositional measure of a novel is a human biography”? I. How do you define the genre of Bulgakov’s work “The Master and Margarita”, in which history and feuilleton, lyricism and myth, everyday life and fantasy are freely combined (novel, comic epic, satirical utopia)?

What are the features of lyrics as a type of literature? 2.

Take notes on the article by V.E. Khalizeva “Lyrics” (Appendix 1, p. 682). Prepare answers to the questions provided. 3.

Based on the article by L.Ya. Ginzburg “On Lyrics” (Appendix 1, p. 693) prepare a message “Style features of lyrics.” Name the main lyrical and lyric epic genres, indicate their differences. What is the classification of lyrics based on thematic principle? 4.

Explain what the terms “suggestive lyrics” and “meditative lyrics” mean. Give examples. 5.

Read the article by A.N. Pashkurov “Poetics of pre-romantic elegy: “Time” by M.N. Muravyov" (Appendix 1, p. 704). Prepare the message “What path did Russian elegy take in its development from pre-romanticism to romanticism?” 6.

Tell us about the history of the development of the sonnet genre. 7.

Read the article by G.N. Esipenko “Study of the sonnet as a genre” (Literature at school. 2005. No. 8. P. 29-33) and complete the tasks proposed in it related to the analysis of sonnets by N. Gumilyov, I. Severyanin, I. Bunin (optional), and also write a poem in the form of a sonnet (permissible in imitation of any poet). 8.

What methods of depicting life does A. Pushkin use in the poem “Gypsies”? 9.

What works are called lyroepic? Using the example of one of the poems by V. Mayakovsky (“Man”, “Good!”), S. Yesenin (“Anna Onegin”) or A. Tvardovsky (“By Right of Memory”), analyze how lyrical and epic elements are combined in them. 10.

What is the image of the lyrical heroine of the “Denisyev cycle” F.I. Tyutchev? 13.

Determine the characteristics of the lyrical heroine in the poetry of M. Tsvetaeva and A. Akhmatova. 14.

Is it possible to talk about the peculiar “passivity” of the lyrical hero of B. Pasternak, as R. Yakobson believed? 15.

How is A. Blok’s biography related to his work? What evolution has the image of the lyrical hero undergone? 16.

Why has modern poetry lost most of its traditional genres?

Describe the division into genres in the dramatic genre. 2.

Take notes on the article by V.E. Khalizeva “Drama” (Appendix 1, p. 713). Prepare answers to the questions provided. 3.

Tell us about the main stages in the development of the tragedy genre. 4.

What is the difference between drama and tragedy? 5.

Name the types of comedy. Give examples. 6.

Describe the “small” dramatic genres. Give examples. 7.

How do you understand the genre definition of A. Ostrovsky's plays? Can the dramas “The Thunderstorm” and “Dowry” be called classic tragedies? 8.

Determine the genre of “The Cherry Orchard” by A.P. Chekhov (comedy, tragedy, farce, melodrama). 9.

Using the example of one of the plays, analyze Chekhov’s new approaches to the organization of dramatic action (decentralization of plot lines, refusal to divide characters into main and secondary ones) and techniques for creating individual characters (self-characteristics, monologues-replicas, constructing the speech part of the character by changing stylistic tonality; “random” » lines in dialogues emphasizing the instability of the psychological state of the characters, etc.). 10.

Read and analyze one of the plays of a contemporary playwright (optional). eleven.

Define the concept of “subtext” (see: Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts. M., 2001. P. 755; Literary encyclopedic dictionary. M., 1987. P. 284). Give examples of lyrical and psychological subtexts in the plays of A.P. Chekhov (optional), in the novels of E. Hemingway, in the poems of M. Tsvetaeva (“Longing for the Motherland! Long time ago...”) and O. Mandelstam (“Slate Ode”).

Drama (Old Greek drama - action) is a type of literature that reflects life in actions taking place in the present.

Dramatic works are intended for production on stage; this determines the specific features of drama:

1) lack of narrative-descriptive image;

3) the main text of a dramatic work is presented in the form of replicas of the characters (monologue and dialogue);

4) drama as a type of literature does not have such a variety of artistic and visual means as epic: speech and action are the main means of creating the image of a hero;

5) the volume of text and time of action is limited to the stage;

6) the requirements of stage art dictate such a feature of drama as a certain exaggeration (hyperbolization): “exaggeration of events, exaggeration of feelings and exaggeration of expressions” (L.N. Tolstoy) - in other words, theatrical showiness, increased expressiveness; the viewer of the play feels the conventionality of what is happening, which A.S. said very well. Pushkin: “the very essence of dramatic art excludes verisimilitude... when reading a poem, a novel, we can often forget ourselves and believe that the incident described is not fiction, but the truth. In an ode, in an elegy, we can think that the poet depicted his real feelings, in real circumstances. But where is the credibility in a building divided into two parts, one of which is filled with spectators who agreed etc.

Drama (ancient Greek δρᾶμα - deed, action) is one of the three types of literature, along with epic and lyric poetry, belonging simultaneously to two types of art: literature and theater. Intended to be played on stage, drama formally differs from epic and lyric poetry in that the text in it is presented in the form of characters’ remarks and author’s remarks and, as a rule, is divided into actions and phenomena. Drama in one way or another includes any literary work constructed in a dialogical form, including comedy, tragedy, drama (as a genre), farce, vaudeville, etc.

Since ancient times, it has existed in folklore or literary form among various peoples; The ancient Greeks, ancient Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and American Indians created their own dramatic traditions independently of each other.

Literally translated from ancient Greek, drama means “action.”

Types of Drama tragedy drama (genre) drama for reading (play for reading)

Melodrama hierodrama mystery comedy vaudeville farce zaju

History of drama The beginnings of drama are in primitive poetry, in which the later elements of lyricism, epic and drama merged in connection with music and facial movements. Earlier than among other peoples, drama as a special type of poetry was formed among the Hindus and Greeks.

Dionysian dances

Greek drama, developing serious religious-mythological plots (tragedy) and funny ones drawn from modern life (comedy), reaches high perfection and in the 16th century is a model for European drama, which until that time had artlessly treated religious and narrative secular plots (mysteries, school dramas and sideshows, fastnachtspiel, sottises).

French playwrights, imitating the Greek ones, strictly adhered to certain provisions that were considered unchangeable for the aesthetic dignity of drama, such as: unity of time and place; the duration of the episode depicted on stage should not exceed a day; the action must take place in the same place; the drama should develop correctly in 3-5 acts, from the beginning (clarification of the initial position and characters of the characters) through the middle vicissitudes (changes of positions and relationships) to the denouement (usually a catastrophe); the number of characters is very limited (usually from 3 to 5); these are exclusively the highest representatives of society (kings, queens, princes and princesses) and their closest servants-confidants, who are introduced onto the stage for the convenience of conducting dialogue and delivering remarks. These are the main features of French classical drama (Cornel, Racine).

The rigor of the requirements of the classical style was no longer observed in comedies (Molière, Lope de Vega, Beaumarchais), which gradually moved from convention to the depiction of ordinary life (genre). Free from classical conventions, Shakespeare's work opened up new paths for drama. The end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries were marked by the appearance of romantic and national dramas: Lessing, Schiller, Goethe, Hugo, Kleist, Grabbe.

In the second half of the 19th century, realism took over in European drama (Dumas fils, Ogier, Sardou, Palieron, Ibsen, Sudermann, Schnitzler, Hauptmann, Beyerlein).

In the last quarter of the 19th century, under the influence of Ibsen and Maeterlinck, symbolism began to take over the European stage (Hauptmann, Przybyszewski, Bar, D'Annunzio, Hofmannsthal).

Design of a dramatic work Unlike other prose and poetic works, dramatic works have a strictly defined structure. A dramatic work consists of alternating blocks of text, each with its own purpose, and highlighted by typography so that they can be more easily distinguished from each other. Dramatic text may include the following blocks:

The list of characters is usually located before the main text of the work. If necessary, it gives a brief description of the hero (age, appearance, etc.)

External remarks - a description of the action, the situation, the appearance and departure of the characters. Often typed either in a reduced size, or in the same font as the replicas, but in a larger format. The external remarks may include the names of the heroes, and if the hero appears for the first time, his name is additionally highlighted. Example:

A room that is still called a nursery. One of the doors leads to Anya's room. Dawn, the sun will rise soon. It’s already May, the cherry trees are blooming, but it’s cold in the garden, it’s morning. The windows in the room are closed.

Dunyasha enters with a candle and Lopakhin with a book in his hand.

Replicas are the words spoken by the characters. Replies must be preceded by the name of the character and may include internal remarks. Example:

Dunyasha. I thought you left. (Listens.) It seems they are already on their way.

Lopakhin (listens). No... Get your luggage, this and that...

Internal remarks, unlike external ones, briefly describe the actions that occur during the hero’s utterance of a line, or the features of the utterance. If some complex action occurs during the utterance of a cue, you should describe it using an external cue, while indicating either in the remark itself or in the remark using an internal remark that the actor continues to speak during the action. An internal remark refers only to a specific replica of a specific actor. It is separated from the replica by brackets and can be typed in italics.

The two most common ways of designing dramatic works are book and cinematic. If in a book format, different font styles, different sizes, etc. can be used to separate parts of a dramatic work, then in cinematic scripts it is customary to use only a monospaced typewriter font, and to separate parts of a work, use spacing, typesetting for different formats, typesetting for all capitalization, space, etc. - that is, only those facilities that are available on a typewriter. This allowed script changes to be made many times during production while maintaining readability .

Drama in Russia

Drama in Russia was brought from the West at the end of the 17th century. Independent dramatic literature appeared only at the end of the 18th century. Until the first quarter of the 19th century, the classical direction predominated in drama, both in tragedy and in comedy and comedy opera; best authors: Lomonosov, Knyazhnin, Ozerov; I. Lukin’s attempt to draw the attention of playwrights to the depiction of Russian life and morals remained in vain: all of their plays are lifeless, stilted and alien to Russian reality, except for the famous “Minor” and “Brigadier” by Fonvizin, “Sneak” by Kapnist and some comedies by I. A. Krylov .

At the beginning of the 19th century, Shakhovskaya, Khmelnitsky, Zagoskin became imitators of light French drama and comedy, and the representative of stilted patriotic drama was the Puppeteer. Griboyedov's comedy "Woe from Wit", later "The Government Inspector", Gogol's "Marriage", become the basis of Russian everyday drama. After Gogol, even in vaudeville (D. Lensky, F. Koni, Sollogub, Karatygin) there is a noticeable desire to get closer to life.

Ostrovsky gave a number of wonderful historical chronicles and everyday comedies. After him, Russian drama stood on solid ground; the most outstanding playwrights: A. Sukhovo-Kobylin, I. S. Turgenev, A. Potekhin, A. Palm, V. Dyachenko, I. Chernyshev, V. Krylov, N. Ya. Solovyov, N. Chaev, gr. A. Tolstoy, gr. L. Tolstoy, D. Averkiev, P. Boborykin, Prince Sumbatov, Novezhin, N. Gnedich, Shpazhinsky, Evt. Karpov, V. Tikhonov, I. Shcheglov, Vl. Nemirovich-Danchenko, A. Chekhov, M. Gorky, L. Andreev and others.

Dramatic works (other gr. action), like epic ones, recreate series of events, the actions of people and their relationships. Like the author of an epic work, the playwright is subject to the “law of developing action.” But there is no detailed narrative-descriptive image in the drama.

The actual author's speech here is auxiliary and episodic. These are lists of characters, sometimes accompanied by brief characteristics, indicating the time and place of action; descriptions of the stage situation at the beginning of acts and episodes, as well as comments on individual remarks of the characters and indications of their movements, gestures, facial expressions, intonations (remarks).

All this constitutes the secondary text of a dramatic work. Its main text is a chain of statements by the characters, their remarks and monologues.

Hence some limitations of the artistic possibilities of drama. A writer-playwright uses only part of the visual means that are available to the creator of a novel or epic, short story or story. And the characters of the characters are revealed in drama with less freedom and completeness than in epic. “I perceive drama,” noted T. Mann, “as the art of silhouette and I perceive only the person being told as a three-dimensional, integral, real and plastic image.”

At the same time, playwrights, unlike authors of epic works, are forced to limit themselves to the volume of verbal text that meets the needs of theatrical art. The time of the action depicted in the drama must fit within the strict time frame of the stage.

And the performance in the forms familiar to modern European theater lasts, as is known, no more than three to four hours. And this requires an appropriate size of the dramatic text.

The time of the events reproduced by the playwright during the stage episode is neither compressed nor stretched; characters in the drama exchange remarks without any noticeable time intervals, and their statements, as noted by K.S. Stanislavsky, form a continuous, continuous line.

If with the help of narration the action is captured as something in the past, then the chain of dialogues and monologues in the drama creates the illusion of the present time. Life here speaks as if on its own behalf: between what is depicted and the reader there is no intermediary narrator.

The action is recreated in drama with maximum immediacy. It flows as if before the reader’s eyes. “All narrative forms,” wrote F. Schiller, “transfer the present into the past; everything dramatic makes the past present.”

Drama is oriented towards the demands of the stage. And theater is a public, mass art. The performance directly affects many people, who seem to merge together in responses to what is happening in front of them.

The purpose of drama, according to Pushkin, is to act on the multitude, to engage their curiosity” and for this purpose to capture the “truth of passions”: “Drama was born in the square and was a popular entertainment. People, like children, demand entertainment and action. The drama presents him with unusual, strange incidents. People demand strong sensations. Laughter, pity and horror are the three strings of our imagination, shaken by dramatic art.”

The dramatic genre of literature is especially closely connected with the sphere of laughter, for the theater strengthened and developed in inextricable connection with mass celebrations, in an atmosphere of play and fun. “The comic genre is universal for antiquity,” noted O. M. Freidenberg.

The same can be said about theater and drama of other countries and eras. T. Mann was right when he called the “comedian instinct” “the fundamental basis of all dramatic skill.”

It is not surprising that drama gravitates towards an outwardly spectacular presentation of what is depicted. Her imagery turns out to be hyperbolic, catchy, theatrically bright. “The theater requires exaggerated broad lines both in voice, recitation, and in gestures,” wrote N. Boileau. And this property of stage art invariably leaves its mark on the behavior of the heroes of dramatic works.

“Like he acted out in the theater,” comments Bubnov (“At the Lower Depths” by Gorky) on the frenzied tirade of the desperate Kleshch, who, by unexpectedly intruding into the general conversation, gave it theatrical effect.

Significant (as a characteristic of the dramatic type of literature) are Tolstoy’s reproaches against W. Shakespeare for the abundance of hyperbole, which allegedly “violates the possibility of artistic impression.” “From the very first words,” he wrote about the tragedy “King Lear,” “one can see the exaggeration: the exaggeration of events, the exaggeration of feelings and the exaggeration of expressions.”

In his assessment of Shakespeare's work, L. Tolstoy was wrong, but the idea that the great English playwright was committed to theatrical hyperbole is completely fair. What has been said about “King Lear” can be applied with no less justification to ancient comedies and tragedies, dramatic works of classicism, to the plays of F. Schiller and V. Hugo, etc.

In the 19th-20th centuries, when the desire for everyday authenticity prevailed in literature, the conventions inherent in drama became less obvious, and they were often reduced to a minimum. The origins of this phenomenon are the so-called “philistine drama” of the 18th century, the creators and theorists of which were D. Diderot and G.E. Lessing.

Works of the greatest Russian playwrights of the 19th century. and the beginning of the 20th century - A.N. Ostrovsky, A.P. Chekhov and M. Gorky - they are distinguished by the authenticity of the life forms they recreate. But even when the Playwrights focused on verisimilitude, plot, psychological and actual speech hyperboles were preserved.

Theatrical conventions made themselves felt even in Chekhov’s dramaturgy, which showed the maximum limit of “life-likeness.” Let's take a closer look at the final scene of Three Sisters. One young woman, ten or fifteen minutes ago, broke up with her loved one, probably forever. Another five minutes ago found out about the death of her fiancé. And so they, together with the elder, third sister, sum up the moral and philosophical results of the past, reflecting to the sounds of a military march about the fate of their generation, about the future of humanity.

It is hardly possible to imagine this happening in reality. But we don’t notice the implausibility of the ending of “Three Sisters”, since we are accustomed to the fact that drama significantly changes the forms of people’s life.

The above convinces us of the validity of A. S. Pushkin’s judgment (from his already cited article) that “the very essence of dramatic art excludes verisimilitude”; “When reading a poem or a novel, we can often forget ourselves and believe that the incident described is not fiction, but the truth.

In an ode, in an elegy, we can think that the poet depicted his real feelings, in real circumstances. But where is the credibility in a building divided into two parts, one of which is filled with spectators who have agreed?

The most important role in dramatic works belongs to the conventions of verbal self-disclosure of heroes, whose dialogues and monologues, often filled with aphorisms and maxims, turn out to be much more extensive and effective than those remarks that could be uttered in a similar situation in life.

Conventional remarks are “to the side”, which do not seem to exist for other characters on stage, but are clearly audible to the audience, as well as monologues pronounced by the characters alone, alone with themselves, which are a purely stage technique for bringing out inner speech (there are many such monologues as in ancient tragedies and in modern dramaturgy).

The playwright, setting up a kind of experiment, shows how a person would speak if in the spoken words he expressed his moods with maximum completeness and brightness. And speech in a dramatic work often takes on similarities with artistic, lyrical or oratorical speech: the characters here tend to express themselves like improvisers-poets or masters of public speaking.

Therefore, Hegel was partly right when he viewed drama as a synthesis of the epic principle (eventfulness) and the lyrical principle (speech expression).

Drama has, as it were, two lives in art: theatrical and literary. Constituting the dramatic basis of performances, existing in their composition, a dramatic work is also perceived by the reading public.

But this was not always the case. The emancipation of drama from the stage was carried out gradually - over a number of centuries and was completed relatively recently: in the 18th-19th centuries. World-significant examples of drama (from antiquity to the 17th century) at the time of their creation were practically not recognized as literary works: they existed only as part of the performing arts.

Neither W. Shakespeare nor J.B. Moliere were perceived by their contemporaries as writers. A decisive role in strengthening the idea of ​​drama as a work intended not only for stage production, but also for reading, was played by the “discovery” of Shakespeare as a great dramatic poet in the second half of the 18th century.

In the 19th century (especially in its first half) the literary merits of the drama were often placed above the stage ones. Thus, Goethe believed that “Shakespeare’s works are not for the eyes of the body,” and Griboyedov called his desire to hear the verses of “Woe from Wit” from the stage “childish.”

The so-called Lesedrama (drama for reading), created with a focus primarily on perception in reading, has become widespread. Such are Goethe's Faust, Byron's dramatic works, Pushkin's small tragedies, Turgenev's dramas, about which the author remarked: “My plays, unsatisfactory on stage, may be of some interest in reading.”

There are no fundamental differences between Lesedrama and a play that is intended by the author for stage production. Dramas created for reading are often potentially stage plays. And the theater (including modern) persistently searches and sometimes finds the keys to them, evidence of which is the successful productions of Turgenev’s “A Month in the Country” (primarily the famous pre-revolutionary performance of the Art Theater) and numerous (although not always successful) stage readings Pushkin's small tragedies in the 20th century.

The old truth remains in force: the most important, main purpose of drama is the stage. “Only during stage performance,” noted A. N. Ostrovsky, “the author’s dramatic invention receives a completely finished form and produces exactly that moral action, the achievement of which the author set himself as a goal.”

The creation of a performance based on a dramatic work is associated with its creative completion: the actors create intonational and plastic drawings of the roles they play, the artist designs the stage space, the director develops the mise-en-scène. In this regard, the concept of the play changes somewhat (more attention is paid to some of its aspects, less attention to others), and is often specified and enriched: the stage production introduces new semantic shades into the drama.

At the same time, the principle of faithful reading of literature is of paramount importance for the theater. The director and actors are called upon to convey the staged work to the audience as fully as possible. Fidelity of stage reading occurs when the director and actors deeply comprehend a dramatic work in its main content, genre, and style features.

Stage productions (as well as film adaptations) are legitimate only in cases where there is agreement (even relative) of the director and actors with the range of ideas of the writer-playwright, when stage performers are carefully attentive to the meaning of the work staged, to the features of its genre, the features of its style and to the text itself.

In the classical aesthetics of the 18th-19th centuries, in particular in Hegel and Belinsky, drama (primarily the genre of tragedy) was considered as the highest form of literary creativity: as the “crown of poetry.”

A whole series of artistic eras actually showed themselves primarily in dramatic art. Aeschylus and Sophocles during the heyday of ancient culture, Moliere, Racine and Corneille at the time of classicism had no equal among the authors of epic works.

Goethe's work is significant in this regard. All literary genres were accessible to the great German writer, and he crowned his life in art with the creation of a dramatic work - the immortal Faust.

In past centuries (until the 18th century), drama not only successfully competed with epic, but also often became the leading form of artistic reproduction of life in space and time.

This is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, theatrical art played a huge role, accessible (unlike handwritten and printed books) to the widest strata of society. Secondly, the properties of dramatic works (depiction of characters with clearly defined features, reproduction of human passions, attraction to pathos and the grotesque) in “pre-realistic” eras fully corresponded to general literary and general artistic trends.

And although in the XIX-XX centuries. The socio-psychological novel, a genre of epic literature, has moved to the forefront of literature; dramatic works still have a place of honor.

V.E. Khalizev Theory of literature. 1999

What is dramaturgy? The answer to this question will depend on the context in which the word was used. First of all, this is a type of literature intended for stage productions, implying the interaction of characters with the outside world, which is accompanied by an explanation from the author.

Dramaturgy also represents works that are built according to a single principle and laws.

Features of dramaturgy

• The action should take place in the present time and develop rapidly in the same place. The viewer becomes a witness and must be in suspense and empathize with what is happening.
• The production can cover a time period of several hours or even years. However, the action should not last more than a day on stage, as it is limited by the viewing capabilities of the audience.
• Depending on the chronology of the work, a drama may consist of one or more acts. Thus, the literature of French classicism is usually represented by 5 acts, and Spanish drama is characterized by 2 acts.
• All drama characters are divided into two groups - antagonists and protagonists (off-stage characters may also be present), and each act is a duel. But the author should not support anyone's side - the viewer can only guess from hints from the context of the work.

Drama Construction

A drama has a plot, plot, theme and intrigue.

• The plot is a conflict, the relationship of characters with events, which, in turn, include several elements: exposition, plot, development of action, climax, decline of action, denouement and finale.
• A plot is a series of interconnected real or fictional events in a time sequence. Both the plot and the plot are a narrative about events, but the plot represents only the fact of what happened, and the plot is a cause-and-effect relationship.
• A theme is a series of events that form the basis of a dramatic work, which are united by one problem, that is, what the author wanted the viewer or reader to think about.
• Dramatic suspense is the interaction of characters that influences the expected course of events in a story.

Elements of Drama

• Exposition - a statement of the current state of affairs, which gives rise to the conflict.
• The beginning is the initiation of a conflict or the prerequisites for its development.
• Climax is the highest point of conflict.
• The denouement is the coup or downfall of the main character.
• The finale is a resolution of the conflict, which can end in three ways: the conflict is resolved and has a happy ending, the conflict is not resolved, or the conflict is resolved tragically - the death of the main character or any other conclusion of the hero from the work in the finale.

The question “what is dramaturgy” can now be answered with another definition - this is the theory and art of constructing a dramatic work. It must rely on the rules of plotting, have a plan and a main idea. But in the course of historical development, dramaturgy, genres (tragedy, comedy, drama), its elements and means of expression changed, which divided the history of dramaturgy into several cycles.

The Birth of Drama

For the first time, the origin of drama was evidenced by wall inscriptions and papyri in the era of Ancient Egypt, which also contained a plot, climax and denouement. The priests, who had knowledge about the deities, influenced the consciousness of the Egyptian people precisely thanks to myths.

The myth of Isis, Osiris and Horus represented a kind of Bible for the Egyptians. Dramaturgy further developed in Ancient Greece in the 5th-6th centuries BC. e. The genre of tragedy originated in ancient Greek drama. The plot of the tragedy was expressed in the opposition of a good and fair hero to evil. The finale ended with the tragic death of the main character and was supposed to cause strong emotions in the viewer for the deep cleansing of his soul. This phenomenon has a definition - catharsis.

The myths were dominated by military and political themes, since the tragedians of that time themselves participated in wars more than once. The dramaturgy of Ancient Greece is represented by the following famous writers: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides. In addition to tragedy, the genre of comedy was also revived, in which Aristophanes made the main theme of peace. People are tired of wars and lawlessness of the authorities, therefore they demand a peaceful and calm life. Comedy originated from comic songs, which were sometimes even frivolous. Humanism and democracy were the main ideas in the work of comedians. The most famous tragedies of that time include the plays “The Persians” and “Prometheus Bound” by Aeschylus, “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles and “Medea” by Euripides.

On the development of drama in the 2nd-3rd century BC. e. influenced by ancient Roman playwrights: Plautus, Terence and Seneca. Plautus empathized with the lower strata of slave-owning society, ridiculed greedy moneylenders and traders, therefore, taking ancient Greek stories as a basis, he supplemented them with stories about the difficult life of ordinary citizens. His works contained many songs and jokes; the author was popular with his contemporaries and subsequently influenced European drama. Thus, Moliere took his famous comedy “Treasure” as a basis when writing his work “The Miser.”

Terence is a representative of a later generation. He does not focus on expressive means, but goes deeper into describing the psychological component of the characters’ character, and the themes for comedies are everyday and family conflicts between fathers and children. His famous play “Brothers” reflects this problem most clearly.

Another playwright who made a great contribution to the development of drama is Seneca. He was the tutor of Nero, Emperor of Rome, and occupied a high position with him. The playwright's tragedies always developed around the protagonist's revenge, which pushed him to commit terrible crimes. Historians explain this by the bloody outrages that took place at that time in the imperial palace. Seneca's work "Medea" later influenced Western European theater, but, unlike Euripides' "Medea", the queen is presented as a negative character, thirsting for revenge and not experiencing any emotions.

In the imperial era, tragedies are replaced by another genre - pantomime. This is a dance accompanied by music and singing, usually performed by one actor with his mouth taped. But even more popular were circus performances in amphitheaters - gladiator fights and chariot competitions, which led to the decline of morals and the collapse of the Roman Empire. For the first time, playwrights presented to the audience as closely as possible what dramaturgy is, but the theater was destroyed, and drama was revived again only after a half-millennium break in development.

Liturgical drama

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, drama was revived again only in the 9th century in church rituals and prayers. The church, in order to attract as many people as possible to worship and control the masses through the worship of God, introduces small spectacular performances, such as the resurrection of Jesus Christ or other biblical stories. This is how liturgical drama developed.

However, people gathered for the performances and were distracted from the service itself, as a result of which a semi-liturgical drama arose - the performances were moved to the porch and everyday stories began to be taken as a basis, based on biblical stories that were more understandable to the audience.

Revival of drama in Europe

Dramaturgy further developed during the Renaissance in the 14th-16th centuries, returning to the values ​​of ancient culture. Stories from ancient Greek and Roman myths inspire Renaissance authors

It was in Italy that theater began to be revived, a professional approach to stage productions appeared, a musical genre of work such as opera was formed, comedy, tragedy and pastoral were revived - a genre of drama whose main theme was rural life. Comedy in its development gave two directions:

• a scholarly comedy intended for a circle of educated people;
• street comedy - improvisational mask theater.

The most prominent representatives of Italian drama are Angelo Beolco ("Coquette", "Comedy without a title"), Giangiorgio Trissino ("Sofonisba") and Lodovico Ariosto ("Comedy of the Chest", "Orlando Furious").

English drama is strengthening the position of the theater of realism. Myths and mysteries are being replaced by a socio-philosophical understanding of life. The founder of Renaissance drama is considered to be the English playwright Christopher Marlowe (“Tamerlane”, “The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus”). The theater of realism was developed under William Shakespeare, who also supported humanistic ideas in his works - “Romeo and Juliet”, “King Lear”, “Othello”, “Hamlet”. The authors of this time listened to the wishes of the common people, and the favorite heroes of the plays were simpletons, moneylenders, warriors and courtesans, as well as modest heroines making self-sacrifice. The characters adapt to the plot, which conveys the realities of that time.

The period of the 17th-18th centuries is represented by the dramaturgy of the Baroque and Classical eras. Humanism as a direction fades into the background, and the hero feels lost. Baroque ideas separate God and man, that is, now man himself is left to influence his own destiny. The main direction of Baroque dramaturgy is mannerism (the impermanence of the world and the precarious position of man), which is inherent in the dramas “Fuente Ovejuna” and “The Star of Seville” by Lope de Vega and the works of Tirso de Molina - “The Seductress of Seville”, “The Pious Martha”.

Classicism is the opposite of baroque mainly in that it is based on realism. The main genre is tragedy. A favorite theme in the works of Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine and Jean-Baptiste Moliere is the conflict of personal and civil interests, feelings and duty. Serving the state is the highest noble goal for a person. The tragedy “The Cid” brought enormous success to Pierre Corneille, and two plays by Jean Racine “Alexander the Great” and “Thebaid, or the Enemy Brothers” were written and staged on the advice of Moliere.

Moliere was the most popular playwright of the time and was under the patronage of the reigning lady and left behind 32 plays written in a variety of genres. The most significant of them are “Madman”, “Doctor in Love” and “Imaginary Patient”.

During the Enlightenment, three movements were developed: classicism, sentimentalism and rococo, which influenced the drama of 18th-century England, France, Germany and Italy. The injustice of the world towards ordinary people has become a major theme for playwrights. The upper classes share places with ordinary people. “Enlightenment theater” frees people from established prejudices and becomes not only entertainment, but also a school of morality for them. The bourgeois drama is gaining popularity (George Lylo "The Merchant of London" and Edward Moore "The Gambler"), which highlights the problems of the bourgeoisie, considering them as important as the problems of the royals.

Gothic dramaturgy was presented for the first time by John Gom in the tragedies “Douglas” and “Fatal Discovery,” whose themes were of a family and everyday nature. French dramaturgy was represented to a greater extent by the poet, historian and publicist Francois Voltaire (“Oedipus”, “The Death of Caesar”, “The Prodigal Son”). John Gay (The Beggar's Opera) and Bertolt Brecht (The Threepenny Opera) opened up new directions for comedy - moralizing and realistic. And Henry Fielding almost always criticized the English political system through satirical comedies (Love in Various Masks, The Coffee House Politician), theatrical parodies (Pasquin), farces and ballad operas (The Lottery, The Scheming Maid). , after which the law on theatrical censorship was introduced.

Since Germany is the founder of romanticism, German drama received its greatest development in the 18th and 19th centuries. The main character of the works is an idealized creatively gifted personality, contrasted with the real world. F. Schelling had a great influence on the worldview of the romantics. Later, Gotthald Lessing published his work “Hamburg Drama,” where he criticizes classicism and promotes the ideas of Shakespeare’s educational realism. Johann Goethe and Friedrich Schiller create the Weimar Theater and improve the school of acting. The most prominent representatives of German drama are Heinrich von Kleist (“The Schroffenstein Family,” “Prince Friedrich of Homburg”) and Johann Ludwig Tieck (“Puss in Boots,” “The World Inside Out”).

The rise of drama in Russia

Russian drama began to actively develop back in the 18th century under the representative of classicism - A. P. Sumarokov, called the “father of the Russian theater”, whose tragedies (“Monsters”, “Narcissus”, “Guardian”, “Cuckold by Imagination”) were focused on the work of Moliere. But it was in the 19th century that this movement played an outstanding role in the history of culture.

Several genres developed in Russian dramas. These are tragedies by V. A. Ozerov (“Yaropolk and Oleg”, “Oedipus in Athens”, “Dimitri Donskoy”), which reflected socio-political problems relevant during the Napoleonic wars, satirical comedies by I. Krylov (“Mad Family”, “The Coffee Shop”) and educational dramas by A. Griboedov (“Woe from Wit”), N. Gogol (“The Inspector General”) and A. Pushkin (“Boris Godunov,” “Feast in the Time of Plague”).

In the second half of the 19th century, realism firmly established its position in Russian dramas, and A. Ostrovsky became the most prominent playwright of this trend. His work consisted of historical plays ("The Governor"), dramas ("The Thunderstorm"), satirical comedies ("Wolves and Sheep") and fairy tales. The main character of the works was a resourceful adventurer, merchant and provincial actor.

Features of the new direction

The period from the 19th to the 20th century introduces us to a new drama, which is naturalistic dramaturgy. Writers of this time sought to convey “real” life, showing the most unsightly aspects of the life of people of that time. A person’s actions were determined not only by his internal beliefs, but also by the surrounding circumstances that influenced them, so the main character of a work could be not just one person, but even a whole family or a separate problem or event.

The new drama represents several literary movements. They are all united by the playwrights’ attention to the character’s state of mind, a plausible rendering of reality, and an explanation of all human actions from a natural science point of view. It was Henrik Ibsen who is the founder of the new drama, and the influence of naturalism was most clearly manifested in his play “Ghosts”.

In the theatrical culture of the 20th century, 4 main directions began to develop - symbolism, expressionism, Dada and surrealism. All the founders of these directions in drama were united by the rejection of traditional culture and the search for new means of expression. Maeterlinck (“The Blind,” “Joan of Arc”) and Hofmannsthal (“The Fool and Death”), as representatives of symbolism, use death and the role of man in society as the main theme in their plays, and Hugo Ball, a representative of Dadaist drama, emphasized the meaninglessness of human existence and the complete denial of all beliefs. Surrealism is associated with the name of Andre Breton (“Please”), whose heroes are characterized by incoherent dialogues and self-destruction. Expressionist drama inherits romanticism, where the main character confronts the whole world. Representatives of this direction in drama were Gun Jost (“Young Man”, “The Hermit”), Arnolt Bronnen (“Revolt Against God”) and Frank Wedekind (“Pandora’s Box”).

Contemporary drama

At the turn of the 20th-21st centuries, modern dramaturgy lost its achieved positions and moved into a state of searching for new genres and means of expression. The direction of existentialism was formed in Russia, and then it developed in Germany and France.

Jean-Paul Sartre in his dramas (“Behind Closed Doors”, “Flies”) and other playwrights choose as the hero of their works a person who is constantly in thoughts of thoughtlessly living life. This fear makes him think about the imperfections of the world around him and change it.

Under the influence of Franz Kafka, the theater of the absurd arises, which denies realistic characters, and the works of playwrights are written in the form of repetitive dialogues, inconsistency of actions and the absence of cause-and-effect relationships. Russian drama chooses universal human values ​​as its main theme. She defends human ideals and strives for beauty.

The development of drama in literature is directly related to the course of historical events in the world. Playwrights from different countries, constantly under the impression of socio-political problems, often themselves led trends in art and thus influenced the masses. The heyday of drama came back in the era of the Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt and Greece, during the development of which the forms and elements of drama changed, and the theme for the works either introduced new problems into the plot, or returned to old problems from antiquity. And if the playwrights of the first millennia paid attention to the expressiveness of speech and the character of the hero, which is most clearly expressed in the work of the playwright of that time - Shakespeare, then representatives of the modern movement strengthened the role of atmosphere and subtext in their works. Based on the above, we can give a third answer to the question: what is dramaturgy? These are dramatic works united by one era, country or writer.