The symbolic meaning of animal images in the fairy tales of M. Saltykov-Shchedrin

1. Satire by Saltykov-Shchedrin.
2. Genre features fairy tales
3. Heroes.
4. Fantastic motives.

The fairy tales of M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin are a completely special layer of the writer’s creativity. Almost everything Saltykov-Shchedrin created in last years life. These short works amaze with variety artistic techniques, as well as its social significance. The writer addresses his “fairy tales” to “children of a fair age.” Thus, Saltykov-Shchedrin seems to want to debunk the naive illusions of some adults who are accustomed to looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. The writer treats his readers harshly and does not spare them. Saltykov-Shchedrin's satire in fairy tales is especially sharp and merciless. The writer uses fantastic motives, so that thanks to them they emphasize social contradictions. He can be poisonous and merciless. But otherwise his works would not be so accurate and truthful. I. S. Turgenev wrote about the work of Saltykov-Shchedrin: “I saw listeners writhing with laughter when reading some of Saltykov’s essays. There was something scary in that laughter. The audience, laughing, at the same time felt like a scourge was lashing itself.” The writer used satire to make readers think about social contradictions, to arouse indignation in their minds about what is happening around them.

Saltykov-Shchedrin repeatedly emphasizes the wretchedness, stupidity, and short-sightedness of representatives of the ruling class. For example, the fairy tale “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” makes you think about how helpless the generals are and how strong and savvy the common man is. The generals cannot do without his help, and he himself lives well alone. Saltykov-Shchedrin endows animals with human traits and reproduces any social situation. In the fairy tale “The Selfless Hare,” the hare is cowardly, weak, and indecisive. He is a typical victim, humiliated and helpless. The wolf is vested with power, personifies the master. The hare puts up with his position as a slave and does not try to do anything to change his life. The despot wolf revels in power, humiliating the unfortunate victim. People are visible under the masks of animals. Tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin - realistic works. The writer calls a spade a spade using allegory. In the fairy tale “The Selfless Hare,” the wolf says: “Because you didn’t stop at my first word, here’s my decision for you: I sentence you to be deprived of your belly by being torn to pieces. And since now I’m full, and my wolf is full, and we have enough reserves for another five days, then sit under this bush and wait in line. Or maybe... ha ha... I’ll have mercy on you.” He is clearly mocking the victim. But the trouble is that the victim deserves such treatment. After all, a slavishly obedient hare is devoid of pride and self-respect. He represents the common people, patient, humble and helpless. From the point of view of Saltykov-Shchedrin, all these qualities deserve reproach. The writer considered satire to be an effective and efficient weapon, capable of opening eyes to various social and personal vices.

The writer's tales occupy a very important place in the treasury of Russian literature. Their relevance is obvious even now, when a lot of time has passed since they were written. There are also phenomena in society that deserve sharp condemnation.

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Introduction……………………………………………………………..3

1. The originality of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s tales…………………….4

2. Elements of fantasy in “The Story of a City”…………..9

Conclusion……………………………………………………………19

References……………………………………………………………………...20

Introduction

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin in his work chose the satirical principle of depicting reality using elements of fantasy as the right weapon. He became a successor to the traditions of D.I. Fonvizin, A.S. Griboyedov, N.V. Gogol in that he made satire his political weapon, fighting with its help the pressing issues of his time.

M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote more than 30 fairy tales. Turning to this genre was natural for Saltykov-Shchedrin. Elements of fantasy permeate the entire work of the writer. In the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin, political problems are developed and current issues are resolved. Defending the progressive ideals of his time, the author acted in his works as a defender popular interests. Having enriched folklore stories with new content, Saltykov-Shchedrin directed the fairy tale genre to instill civic feelings and special respect for the people.

The purpose of the essay is to study the role of fantasy elements in the works of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin.

1. The originality of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s tales

Saltykov-Shchedrin turns to the fairy tale genre several times in his work: first in 1869, and then after 1881, when historical conditions (the murder of the Tsar) led to stricter censorship.

Like many writers, Saltykov-Shchedrin uses the fairy tale genre to reveal the vices of man and society. Written for “children of a fair age,” the fairy tales are a sharp criticism of the existing system and, in essence, serve as a weapon denouncing the Russian autocracy.

The themes of the fairy tales are very diverse: the author not only opposes the vices of autocracy (“The Bear in the Voivodeship,” “The Bogatyr”), but also denounces noble despotism (“The Wild Landowner”). The satirist especially condemns the views of liberals (“Crucian carp is an idealist”), as well as the indifference of officials (“Idle Conversation”) and philistine cowardice (“The Wise Minnow”).

However, there is a theme that can be said to be present in many fairy tales - this is the theme of an oppressed people. In the fairy tales “How one man fed two generals” and “The Horse” it sounds especially vivid.

Themes and issues determine the variety of characters acting in these sharply satirical works. These are stupid rulers, striking with their ignorance and tyrant landowners, officials and ordinary people, merchants and peasants. Sometimes the characters are quite reliable, and we find specific traits in them historical figures, and sometimes the images are allegorical and allegorical.

Using the folklore and fairy tale form, the satirist illuminates the most pressing issues of Russian life, acts as a defender of people's interests and progressive ideas.

The fairy tale “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” stands out from all others due to its special dynamism and variability of plot. The writer uses a fantastic technique - generals, as if “by pike command”, are transferred to a desert island, and here the writer, with his characteristic irony, shows us the complete helplessness of officials and their inability to act.

“Generals served all their lives in some kind of registry; they were born there, raised and grew old, and therefore did not understand anything. They didn’t even know any words.” Because of their stupidity and narrow-mindedness, they almost died of hunger. But a man who is a jack of all trades comes to their aid: he can both hunt and cook. The image of a “hefty man” personifies both the strength and weakness of the Russian people in this fairy tale. Mastery and his extraordinary abilities are combined in this image with humility and class passivity (the man himself weaves a rope to be tied to a tree at night). Having collected ripe apples for the generals, he takes himself sour, unripe ones, and he was also glad that the generals “favored him, a parasite, and did not disdain his peasant labor.”

The tale of two generals suggests that the people, according to Saltykov-Shchedrin, are the support of the state, they are the creator of material and spiritual values.

The theme of the people is developed in another tale by Saltykov-Shchedrin - “The Horse,” which was created in 1885. In style, it differs from others in its lack of action.

This tale is called the strongest work in the series dedicated to the plight of the Russian peasantry. The image of a hard-working horse is a collective one. He personifies the entire forced working people, he reflects the tragedy of millions of men, this enormous force, enslaved and powerless.

This tale also contains the theme of the people’s submission, their dumbness and lack of desire to fight. A horse, “tortured, beaten, narrow-chested, with protruding ribs and burnt shoulders, with broken legs” - such a portrait is created by an author who mourns the unenviable lot of a powerless people. Thinking about the future and the fate of the people is painful, but filled with selfless love.

In the tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin, various themes are heard using Aesopian language, elements of fantasy, folklore traditions and satirical techniques.

What brings Saltykov-Shchedrin’s fairy tales closer to folk tales? Typical fairy tale beginnings (“Once upon a time there were two generals...”, “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a landowner...”; sayings (“at the command of a pike,” “neither to say in a fairy tale, nor to describe with a pen.” ); characteristic of folk speech turns (“thought and thought”, “once said and done”); close to vernacular syntax, vocabulary, orthoepy. Exaggeration, grotesque, hyperbole: one of the generals eats the other; the “wild landowner,” like a cat, climbs a tree in an instant; a man cooks a handful of soup. As in folk tales, a miraculous incident sets the plot in motion: by the grace of God, “there was no man in the entire domain of the stupid landowner.” Folk tradition Saltykov-Shchedrin also follows in fairy tales about animals, when in an allegorical form he ridicules the shortcomings of society.

The difference: the interweaving of the fantastic with the real and even historically accurate. "Bear in the Voivodeship": among characters- the animals suddenly appear in the image of Magnitsky, a well-known reactionary in Russian history: even before Toptygin began to appear in the forest, Magnitsky destroyed all the printing houses, students were sent to soldiers, academicians were imprisoned. In the fairy tale “The Wild Landowner,” the hero gradually degrades, turning into an animal. Incredible story The hero’s character is largely explained by the fact that he read the newspaper “Vest” and followed its advice. Saltykov-Shchedrin simultaneously respects the form of a folk tale and destroys it. The magical in Saltykov-Shchedrin’s fairy tales is explained by the real; the reader cannot escape reality, which is constantly felt behind the images of animals and fantastic events. Fairy-tale forms allowed Saltykov-Shchedrin to present ideas close to him in a new way, to show or ridicule social shortcomings.

“The Wise Minnow” is an image of a frightened man in the street, who “only saves his hateful life.” Can the slogan “survive and not get caught by the pike” be the meaning of life for a person?

The theme of the tale is connected with the defeat of the Narodnaya Volya, when many representatives of the intelligentsia, frightened, withdrew from public affairs. A type of coward, pathetic, and unhappy is being created. These people did no harm to anyone, but lived their lives aimlessly, without impulses. This tale is about civic position man and meaning human life. In general, the author appears in a fairy tale in two faces at once: a folk storyteller, a simpleton joker and at the same time a wise man life experience, writer-thinker, citizen. The description of the life of the animal kingdom with its inherent details intersperses details real life of people. The language of the fairy tale combines fairy-tale words and phrases, the colloquial language of the third estate and the journalistic language of that time.

2. Elements of fiction in"HistoryAndone city"

“The History of a City” is the most significant fantastic and satirical work of Russian literature. This book is the only successful attempt in our country to give in one work a picture (parodic and grotesque, but surprisingly accurate) not only of the history of Russia, but also contemporary writer her image. Moreover, while reading “The History of a City,” you constantly catch yourself thinking that this book is about our time, about “post-perestroika” Russia, its socio-political, psychological and artistic discoveries are so topical for us.

Saltykov-Shchedrin could have written something so universal for Russia literary work only in the form of grotesque, fantasy and satire. Contemporary critics of Saltykov-Shchedrin, his fellow writers and ordinary readers adhered to two different opinions about “The History of a City”: some saw in it only an unfair caricature of Russian history and the Russian people (Leo Tolstoy was among the supporters of this point of view), others saw in Saltykov-Shchedrin’s satire the dawn of a new, happy life (liberal democrats, socialists) democrats). During the Soviet period, official science pretended that the work had nothing in common with Soviet reality. Only now is it becoming clear that “The History of a City” is a book “for all times” and not only about Russia at the end of the 20th century, but also about other countries.

Despite the fact that Saltykov-Shchedrin’s book is the first such significant grotesque-satirical work of Russian literature, the forms of grotesque, fantasy and satire in literature and art themselves are far from new. This, and also, to a certain extent, the essence of these methods is indicated by the very origin of the words: fantastich (fantasy) in Greek in literally words are the art of imagination; satira (satura) in Latin - mixture, all sorts of things; grottesco in Italian - “cave”, “grotto” (to denote bizarre ornaments found in the 15-16th centuries during excavations of ancient Roman premises - “grottoes”). Thus, "fantastic grotesque" and satirical works go back to ancient, the so-called “mythological archaic” (“low version” of myth) and to ancient satirical novel, to the folk fantasy grotesque of the Renaissance. Later, these terms became the subject of special studies in literary criticism and aesthetics. First serious research The grotesque as an artistic, aesthetic method was undertaken more than 200 years ago in 1788 in Germany by G. Schneegans, who first gave a generalized definition of the grotesque. Later, in 1827, the famous French writer Victor Hugo, in his “Preface to Cromwell,” was the first to give the term “grotesque” a broad aesthetic interpretation and attracted the attention of wide sections of the reading public to it.

Nowadays, “grotesque”, “fantasy”, “satire” are understood as approximately the following. Grotesque in literature is one of the types of typification, mainly satirical, in which real life relationships are deformed, verisimilitude gives way to caricature, fantasy, and a sharp combination of contrasts. (Another, similar definition: Grotesque is a type artistic imagery, generalizing and sharpening life relationships through a bizarre and contrasting combination of the real and the fantastic, verisimilitude and caricature, the tragic and the comic, the beautiful and the ugly. Fiction - a specific method artistic display life, using an artistic form-image (an object, a situation, a world in which the elements of reality are combined in a way that is unusual for it - incredibly, “miraculously”, supernaturally). Satire - specific form artistic reflection of reality, through which negative, internally perverse phenomena are exposed and ridiculed; a kind of comic, a destructive ridicule of the person depicted, revealing his internal inconsistency, his inconsistency with his nature or purpose, “idea”. It is noteworthy that these three definitions have something in common. Thus, in the definition of the grotesque, both the fantastic and the comic are mentioned as its elements (a type of the latter is satire). It is advisable not to separate these three concepts, but to speak of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s work as satirical, written in the form of a fantastic grotesque. Moreover, the unity of all three artistic methods is emphasized by many researchers of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s work when they talk about his works as parts of an integral satirical, grotesque world. Analyzing this world (the most striking embodiment of which is “The History of a City”), literary scholars note the following features. The grotesque seems to “destroy” the real country of Russia and its people in “everyday” verisimilitude and creates new patterns and connections. A special grotesque world arises, which is essential, however, for revealing the real contradictions of reality. Therefore, Saltykov-Shchedrin’s grotesque consists of two planes, and its perception is dual. What at first glance seems random, arbitrary, in fact turns out to be deeply natural. The nature of the comic in “The Story of a City” does not at all consist in strengthening the farcical principle (in “comic”), but is associated with its two-dimensionality. The comic is released along with the comprehension of the essence of the grotesque, with the movement of the reader's thought from a superficial plane to a deeper one. Moreover, in Shchedrin’s “The History of a City” the grotesque beginning is not just an essential part. On the contrary, the grotesque principle lies at the very basis of the work. The grotesque is often characterized by a desire for extreme generalization, mainly satirical, to comprehend the essence of a phenomenon and extract from it a certain meaning, a concentrate of history. That is why the grotesque turned out to be the only possible form for Saltykov-Shchedrin and the basis of his work. The range of generalized phenomena in “The History of a City” expands to amazingly wide limits - to a generalization of the trend of all Russian history and modernity. The generality and concentration of historical content determine a particularly sharp combination of humor and sarcasm, comic and tragic elements in the grotesque. Reading “The History of a City,” one becomes convinced of the validity of another important conclusion made by philologists: the grotesque is aimed at a holistic and multifaceted expression of the basic, cardinal problems of human life.

In the work of the great satirist one can see, on the one hand, the element of folk artistic creativity and folk comedy, on the other hand, an expression of the inconsistency and complexity of life. Images of folk grotesque, built on the unity of polar, contrasting (and in their contrasting fusion, comical) elements, capture the essence of a sharply contradictory life, its dialectics. The reduction of laughter, the bringing together of contrasts, seems to abolish all unambiguity, exclusivity and inviolability. The grotesque world realizes a kind of folk laughter utopia. All contents of “The History of a City” in compressed form fits into the “Inventory for mayors”, therefore “Inventory for mayors” the best way illustrates the techniques with which Saltykov-Shchedrin created his work.

It is here, in the most concentrated form, that we encounter “bizarre and contrasting combinations of the real and the fantastic, verisimilitude and caricature, the tragic and the comic,” characteristic of the grotesque. Probably never before in Russian literature has such a compact description of entire eras and layers been encountered. Russian history and life. In “Inventory” the reader is bombarded with a stream of absurdity, which, oddly enough, is more understandable than the real contradictory and phantasmagorical Russian life. Let's take the first mayor, Amadeus Manuilovich Clementy. Only seven lines are dedicated to him (about the same amount of text is devoted to each of the 22 mayors), but every word here is more valuable than many pages and volumes written by Saltykov-Shchedrin’s contemporary official historians and social scientists. A comic effect is created already in the first words: an absurd combination of foreign, beautiful and high for the Russian ear sounding name Amadeus Klementiy with the provincial Russian patronymic Manuilovich speaks about many things: about the rapid “Westernization” of Russia “from above”, about how the country was flooded with foreign adventurers, about how alien ordinary people there were morals imposed from above and about many other things. From the same sentence, the reader learns that Amadeus Manuilovich became a mayor “for skillfully cooking pasta” - a grotesque, of course, and at first it seems funny, but after a moment the modern Russian reader realizes with horror that in the one hundred and thirty years that have passed since writing “The History of a City”, and in the 270 years that have passed since the time of Biron, little has changed: and before our eyes, numerous “advisers”, “experts”, “creators of monetary systems” and the “systems” themselves were signed up from the West, signed up for chattering foreign chatter, for a beautiful, exotic surname for the Russian ear... And they believed, they believed, like Foolovites, just as stupidly and just as naively. Nothing has changed since then. Further, the descriptions of the “city governors” almost instantly follow one another, pile up and get confused in their absurdity, together making up, oddly enough, an almost scientific picture of Russian life. From this description it is clearly visible how Saltykov-Shchedrin “constructs” his grotesque world. To do this, he really first “destroys” the verisimilitude: Dementy Vaolamovich Brudasty had “some special device” in his head, Anton Protasyevich de Sanglot flew through the air, Ivan Panteleevich Pyshch ended up with a stuffed head. In the “Inventory” there is also something not so fantastic, but still very unlikely: the mayor Lamvrokakis died, eaten by bedbugs in bed; Brigadier Ivan Matveevich Baklan was broken in half during a storm; Nikodim Osipovich Ivanov died from strain, “striving to comprehend some Senate decree,” and so on. So, the grotesque world of Saltykov-Shchedrin is constructed, and the reader has a good laugh at it. However, soon our contemporary begins to understand that the absurd, fantasy world Saltykova is not as absurd as it seems at first glance. More precisely, it is absurd, it is absurd, but real world, the real country is no less absurd. In this “high reality” of Shchedrin’s world, in the modern reader’s awareness of the absurdity of the structure of our life, lies the justification and purpose of Shchedrin’s grotesque as artistic method. Organchik The detailed description of the “acts” of the mayors and the description of the behavior of the Foolovites that follows the “Inventory” more than once makes the modern reader involuntarily exclaim: “How could Saltykov-Shchedrin 130 years ago know what was happening to us at the end of the twentieth century?” The answer to this question, as Kozintsev puts it, must be looked for in the dictionary for the word “genius.” In places the text of this chapter is so stunning and so testifies to the exceptional visionary gift of Saltykov-Shchedrin, supported by the methods of hyperbole, grotesque and satire he used, that it is necessary to provide several quotes here. “The residents rejoiced... They congratulated each other with joy, kissed, shed tears... In a fit of delight, the old Foolovian liberties were remembered. The best citizens..., having formed a national assembly, shook the air with exclamations: our father! Even dangerous dreamers appeared. Guided not so much by reason as by the movements of a noble heart, they argued that under the new mayor trade would flourish and that, under the supervision of quarterly overseers, sciences and arts would emerge. We couldn't resist making comparisons. They remembered the old mayor who had just left the city, and it turned out that although he, too, was handsome and smart, but that, for all that, the new ruler should be given priority for this alone, because he was new. In a word, in this case, as in other similar ones, both the usual Foolovian enthusiasm and the usual Foolovian frivolity were fully expressed... Soon, however, the townsfolk became convinced that their rejoicings and hopes were, at least, premature and exaggerated. .. The new mayor locked himself in his office... From time to time he ran out into the hall... saying “I will not tolerate it!” - and again disappeared into the office. The Foolovites were horrified... suddenly the thought dawned on everyone: well, how can he flog an entire people in this manner!... they became agitated, made noise and, inviting the caretaker of the public school, asked him a question: have there been examples in history of people giving orders and waging wars? and concluded treatises with an empty vessel on their shoulders?” Much has already been said about the “organ”, the mayor Brudast, from this amazing chapter. No less interesting, however, is the description of the Foolovites in this chapter.

During the time of Saltykov-Shchedrin, and even now, the grotesque image of the Russian people he created seemed and still seems to many to be strained, and even slanderous. Monarchists, liberals, and social democrats tended to idealize the people in many ways and attribute to them certain sublime, abstract qualities. Both liberals and socialists considered it incredible that the broad masses of the population could endure for centuries a long line of “organs” and “former scoundrels,” sometimes bursting into outbursts of unfounded enthusiasm or anger. This situation was considered a “historical error” or “a contradiction between the productive forces and the relations of production” and seemed correctable by introducing representative democracy or putting into practice the theories of Marxism. Only later did it gradually become clear that the seemingly paradoxical, absurd and grotesque features of the national Russian character were confirmed by serious scientific analysis. Thus, we see that Saltykov-Shchedrin’s grotesque and satire were not only expressive means with which he solved artistic tasks, but also as a tool for analyzing Russian life - contradictory, paradoxical and seemingly fantastic, but internally holistic and containing not only negative traits, but also elements of sustainability and a guarantee of future development. In turn, the very foundations of the contradictory Russian life dictated to Saltykov-Shchedrin the need to use precisely the forms of the fantastic grotesque.

The story about Ugryum-Burcheev is probably the most widely quoted chapter of “The History of a City” during perestroika. As is known, the immediate prototypes of the image of Gloomy-Burcheev were Arakcheev and Nicholas I, and the prototype of the barracks city of Nepreklonsk was the military settlements of the Nicholas era, and literary scholars of the Soviet period paid attention to this. However, reading this chapter, you clearly see the striking similarities between Nepreklonsk and barracks socialism of the Stalinist type. Moreover, Saltykov-Shchedrin managed to point out the main features of the society built by the “levellers”, and even such details of this society that, it seems, were absolutely impossible to predict 60 years before. The accuracy of Saltykov-Shchedrin's foresight is amazing. In his book, he foresaw both the “barracks” look of the society to which the “idea of ​​universal happiness” would lead, elevated into “a rather complex administrative theory that is not free of ideological tricks,” and the enormous sacrifices of the Stalin era (“the resolved issue of general extermination,” “ a fantastic failure in which “everyone and everyone disappeared without a trace”), and the wretched straightforwardness of the ideology and “theory” of barracks socialism (“Having drawn a straight line, he planned to squeeze the entire visible and invisible world into it” - how can one not recall here the primitive theories gradual “erasing of edges” and “improving” everything), and annoying collectivism (“Everyone lives together every minute...”), and much more. And the more specific features of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s “society of the future” are like two drops of water similar to the reality of the Stalinist dictatorship. Here are the low origins of the “mayor”, and his incredible, inhuman cruelty towards members of his own family, and two official ideological holidays in Nepreklonsk in the spring and autumn, and spy mania, and Burcheev’s gloomy “plan for the transformation of nature”, and even details of the disease and death of Ugryum-Burcheev... When you reflect on how Saltykov-Shchedrin managed to foresee the future of Russia with such accuracy, you come to the conclusion that his literary method of studying the world and the country, based on the artistic logic of fantastic hyperbole, turned out to be much more accurate and more powerful than the scientific methods of forecasting that guided social scientists and philosophers, the writer’s contemporaries. Moreover, in the chapter on Gloomy-Burcheev, he gave a more accurate diagnosis of the society of barracks socialism than most Russian scientists of the twentieth century! This aspect of the problem also attracts attention. When Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote his “dystopia,” much of what he said about Nepreklonsk seemed and was for that time precisely fantasy, hyperbole and grotesque. But 60 years later, the writer’s most fantastic predictions turned out to be realized with amazing accuracy. Here we have an example of how (perhaps for the only time in the history of literature) the fantastic grotesque and artistic hyperbole of such proportions will absolutely become real life. IN in this case fantastic grotesque allowed the writer to reveal hidden for the time being, but inexorable mechanisms of transformation of society. The reason that Saltykov-Shchedrin turned out to be more insightful than all the major philosophers of his time lay, obviously, in the very nature of his artistic creativity and method: the method of fantastic grotesque allowed him to highlight essential elements and patterns historical process, and great artistic talent made it possible to simultaneously (unlike the social sciences) preserve the entire set of details, accidents and features of living, real life. Art world, designed in this way by Saltykov-Shchedrin, turned out to be a reflection of such a real force that over time it inexorably and menacingly made its way into life. Instead of a conclusion: “It” The final lines of “The History of a City” contain a gloomy and mysterious prediction, not deciphered by the author: “The north darkened and became covered with clouds; From these clouds something was rushing towards the city: either a downpour, or a tornado... It was getting closer, and as it got closer, time stopped running. Finally the earth shook, the sun darkened... the Foolovites fell on their faces. An inscrutable horror appeared on all faces and gripped all hearts. It has arrived...” Many researchers of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s work write that by “it” the writer meant social revolution, “Russian rebellion”, and the overthrow of the autocracy. The fantastic nature of the image of “it” emphasizes in Saltykov-Shchedrin the tragedy of the social cataclysms he expects. It is interesting to compare the prophecy of Saltykov-Shchedrin with the forecasts of other Russian writers. M.Yu. Lermontov in his poem, which is called “Prediction,” wrote: The year will come, Russia’s black year, When the kings’ crown falls; The mob will forget their former love for them, And the food of many will be death and blood;... It is significant that Pushkin described similar events with much greater optimism regarding changes in society itself, and welcomed the most “radical” measures against the tsar, his family and children: Autocratic villain! I hate you, your throne, I see your death, the death of children with cruel joy. Finally, Blok in “Voice in the Clouds” also looks into the future with a fair amount of optimism: We fought with the wind and, with frowning eyebrows, In the darkness we could hardly discern the path... And so, like an ambassador of a growing storm, A prophetic voice struck the crowd. - Sad people, tired people, Wake up, find out that joy is close! There, where the seas sing about a miracle, There the light of the lighthouse is directed! As we see, the opinions of the great Russian poets regarding future Russian vicissitudes differed radically.

It is known that the forecasts of events in Russia made by other great Russian writers - Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov - turned out to be much less accurate than the visions of Saltykov-Shchedrin.

Conclusion

Like his works, the figure of Saltykov-Shchedrin still remains one of the most paradoxical in the history of Russian literature. While many literary scholars and the “general reader” often place him much lower than Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Chekhov, connoisseurs of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s work consider him a successor to the traditions of the titans of Renaissance and Enlightenment literature: Rabelais, Cervantes, Swift.

Saltykov-Shchedrin, with the help of elements of fantasy, was able to see and reflect in his fairy tales not only the concrete and passing troubles of his time, but also eternal problems relations between the people and the authorities, shortcomings of the people's character.

Perhaps centuries will pass, and the work of our great satirist writer will be as relevant as it was a hundred years ago, as it is now. In the meantime, together with him, we “laughingly say goodbye to our past” and peer with anxiety and hope into the future of our great and unfortunate Motherland.

Bibliography

1. Efimov A.I. The language of Saltykov-Shchedrin's satire. - M.: Moscow University Publishing House, 1953.

2. Makashin S.A. Saltykov, Mikhail Evgrafovich. // KLE. T.6. - M.: SE, 1971.

3. Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Evgrafovich // Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: Who is Who / Ed. V. Gakova. - Minsk: IKO Galaxias, 1995.

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The history of fairy tales by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The main features of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s satire, manifested in the fairy tales “The Wild Landowner” and “The Bear in the Voivodeship”. Expressive means humor and satire in fairy tales. Phraseologism as a means of satire.

abstract, added 11/17/2003


Familiarization with the stylistic features of writing and storyline satirical painting “The History of a City” by Saltykov-Shchedrin. Depiction of general lack of faith and loss of moral values ​​of the nation in the novel “Crime and Punishment” by Dostoevsky.

abstract, added 06/20/2010


Characteristics of the genre "satire". Laughter as a consequence satirical creativity. An important type of satire, represented by artistic parodies. Expressive means of humor and satire in Saltykov-Shchedrin’s fairy tales “The Wild Landowner” and “The Bear in the Voivodeship.”

abstract, added 10/19/2012


Comparison of the ideological positions of M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. Tolstoy. Comparative analysis two images of the main characters (Judushka and Ivan Ilyich). Conditions for the onset of a crisis: mental shock and loneliness. The death of Porfiry Golovlev is like forgiveness without words.

thesis, added 04/06/2012


Brief biographical sketch life path M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin - Russian writer and prose writer. Start literary activity Saltykov-Shchedrin, his first stories. The writer's exile to Vyatka. Resuming his writing and editing work.

FICTION AS A MEANS OF SATIRE. “I love Russia to the point of heartache,” said the great satirist M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. And all his work is imbued with anger, resentment and pain for the fate of Russia, for the bitter life of its people. Everything that he subjected to satirical denunciation aroused in him justifiable indignation. And although he understood that it was impossible to rid society overnight of cruelty, violence, and injustice, he nevertheless saw in satire an effective “ powerful weapon”, which can make people think about ways to change their lives for the better. In “The Story of a City,” he draws a caricature of a standard provincial Russian town. The action takes place in the stunningly fantastic city of Foolov, personifying the absurdity and parody of the existing way of life Russian life. This is facilitated by the extraordinary diversity artistic forms, which it uses

Showing Foolov's mayors, the author skillfully uses techniques of grotesque, fantastic distortion of reality. Thus, characterizing the mayor Brudasty, nicknamed Organchik, the writer says that he has a certain primitive mechanism installed in his head that reproduces only two words: “I will not tolerate it!” and “I’ll ruin you!” And Ivan Matveyevich Baklan “boasts that it comes in a direct line from Ivan the Great” (the famous bell tower in Moscow). The Marquis de Sanglot flies “through the air and the city garden,” Major Pimple carries a “stuffed head” on his shoulders.

Each of the twenty-two mayors of the city of Foolov has his own surname-nickname, is endowed with an absurd, memorable appearance and is marked by the same absurd “deeds”: mayor Benevolensky composes laws like the “Charter on Respectable Pie Baking”, which prohibits making pies from mud, clay and other building materials; The basilisk Wartkin introduces (against bedbugs) mustard, Provençal oil and chamomile, and wages wars with the help of tin soldiers and dreams of conquering Byzantium, and Gloomy-Burcheev arranges life in Foolov like a military camp, having previously destroyed the old city and built a new one in its place. The rulers of Foolov are sent into oblivion for reasons that are absurd, curious or shameful: Dunka the Thick-Footed is eaten to death by bedbugs at a bedbug factory, Pimple’s stuffed yearling was eaten away by the leader of the nobility; one died from gluttony, another - from the effort with which he tried to overcome the Senate, the third - from lust... And the most “terrible” of all the mayors - Gloomy-Burcheev - melted in the air when the mysterious “it” approached from nowhere.

In the novel, the author contrasts the satirically depicted mayors, mayors and Foolovites with symbolic image a river that embodies the element of life itself, which no one can either abolish or conquer. Not only does she not submit to the wild gaze of the basilisk Ugryum-Burcheev, but she also demolishes a dam made of garbage and manure.

The life of the city of Foolov for many centuries was a life “under the yoke of madness,” so the author depicted it in an ugly-comic form: everything here is fantastic, incredible, exaggerated, everything is funny and at the same time scary. “From Glupov to Umnev the road lies through Buyanov, and not through semolina,” Shchedrin wrote, hinting that he sees the only way out of the current situation in revolution. And therefore he sends a formidable “it” to the city - something reminiscent of a tornado sweeping over Foolov in anger - a raging element that sweeps away all the absurdity of the social order of life and the slavish obedience of the Foolovites. Fantasy also occupies a huge place in the satirical tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin, which became the logical conclusion of his work. They most closely intertwine reality and fantasy, the comic and the tragic.

The relocation of the generals to a desert island may at first glance seem like something fantastic, and the writer actually generously uses the device of a fantastic assumption, but it turns out to be deeply justified in this tale. Retired officials who rose to the rank of general in the St. Petersburg chancellery, suddenly finding themselves without servants, “without cooks,” demonstrate their absolute inability to perform useful activities.

All their lives they have existed thanks to the labor of ordinary “men”, and now they cannot feed themselves, despite the surrounding abundance. They turned into hungry savages, ready to tear each other to pieces: an “ominous fire” appeared in their eyes, their teeth chattered, a dull growl came out of their chests. They began to slowly crawl towards each other and in an instant they became frantic.” One of them even swallowed the order of the other, and it is unknown how their fight would have ended if magically the man did not appear on the island. He saved the generals from starvation, from complete savagery. And he got fire, and caught hazel grouse, and prepared swan fluff so that the generals could sleep in warmth and comfort, and learned to cook soup in a handful. But, unfortunately, this dexterous, skillful man with limitless capabilities is accustomed to meekly obeying his masters, serving them, fulfilling all their whims, content with “a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver.” He cannot imagine any other life. Shchedrin laughs bitterly at such slavish resignation, submission and humility.

The hero of the fairy tale “The Wild Landowner,” who groomed and cherished his “soft, white, crumbly” body, became worried that the man might not “eat up” all his “goods,” and decided to expel the common people, in a special way, “according to the rules.” oppressing him. The men prayed, seeing the lordly tyranny: it would be easier for them to perish, “than to toil like this all their lives,” and the Lord heard their prayer. And the landowner, left alone, turned out to be, like the generals, helpless: he went wild, turned into a four-legged predator, rushing at animals and people. He would have disappeared completely, but the authorities intervened, since not a piece of meat or a pound of bread could be bought at the market, and most importantly, taxes had stopped flowing into the treasury. Amazing ability Saltykova-Shchedrin The use of fantastic techniques and images was also evident in other works. But Saltykov-Shchedrin’s fiction does not take us away from real life, does not distort it, but, on the contrary, serves as a means of deeper knowledge and satirical exposure of the negative phenomena of this life.

Saltykov-Shchedrin valued realistic concreteness and therefore exposed flaws and irregularities, based on real facts, convincing life examples. But at the same time, he always animated his satirical analysis with a bright thought and faith in the triumph of goodness, truth and justice on earth.

With his creativity, Saltykov-Shchedrin significantly enriched not only Russian culture, but also world literature. I.S. Turgenev, determining the global significance of “The History of a City,” compared Shchedrin’s manner with the works of the Roman poet Juvenal and Swift’s cruel humor, introducing the work of the Russian writer into a pan-European context. And the Danish critic Georg Brandes thus characterized the advantages of the great Shchedrin over all the satirists of his time: “... the sting of Russian satire is unusually sharp, the end of its spear is hard and red-hot, like the point stuck by Odysseus in the giant’s eye...”

Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote fairy tales mainly from 1880 to 1886, at the final stage of his work. The form of a fairy tale was chosen by the writer not only because this genre provided the opportunity to hide the true meaning of the work from censorship, but also because it allowed a simple and accessible interpretation of the most complex problems of politics and morality. He seemed to pour all the ideological and thematic richness of his satire into the form most accessible to the masses.

Shchedrin's tales are truly encyclopedic. Everything was reflected in them Russian society post-reform era, all public and social forces in Russia.

The main themes of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s tales were: denunciation of autocracy (“The Bear in the Voivodeship”), the ruling class (“Wild Landowner”), and liberalism (“ The wise minnow”, “Liberal”, “Crucian idealist”), and also touched upon the problem of the people (“The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals”).

Folklore traditions are clearly visible in Shchedrin's fairy tales. The connection with folklore is established with the help of the traditional “once upon a time,” which is the beginning of the fairy tale. The writer also uses sayings (“By the command of the pike, according to my desire...”), refers to folk sayings presented in a socio-political interpretation.

The plot of Saltykov-Shchedrin's fairy tales is also folkloric, since here good is opposed to evil, good is opposed to bad. However, the usual boundaries between these two concepts are blurred, and even positive characters endowed negative traits, which are then ridiculed by the author himself.

Saltykov-Shchedrin had to constantly improve his allegorical style in order to make his work accessible to the reader, so his closeness to folklore is also manifested in the figurative structure, which gives him the opportunity to directly use epithets, and when choosing animals for allegory, also rely on the fable tradition. The writer uses roles familiar to both fables and fairy tales. For example, in the fairy tale “The Bear in the Voivodeship” the Bear-voivode is a major, the Donkey is an adviser, the Parrots are buffoons, and the Nightingale is a singer.

The allegory of Shchedrin’s fairy tales is always as transparent as in Krylov’s fables, where, according to Belinsky, there are no animals, but there are people, “and, moreover, Russian people.” It was no coincidence that Saltykov-Shchedrin’s tales were called fables in prose, since they clearly showed the tradition of depiction corresponding to this genre human vices in the images of animals. In addition, Shchedrin's fairy tale, like Krylov's or Aesop's fable, always carries a lesson and morality, being a spontaneous educator and mentor of the masses.

In his fairy tales, Saltykov-Shchedrin continues the Russian satirical literary tradition. For example, in a number of fairy tales Gogolian motifs and polemics with Gogol can be traced. In general, Gogol’s satire largely determined the nature of the writer’s further literary activity. For example, both Gogol’s “The Overcoat” and Saltykov-Shchedrin’s “The Wise Piskar” show the psychology of a frightened average person. Shchedrin's innovation was that he introduced political satire into fairy tales, which had both a topical and universal resonance. This writer revolutionized the very idea of ​​satire, going beyond Gogol's psychological method, pushed the boundaries of the possibilities of satirical generalization and ridicule. From now on, the subject of satire was not individual, often random events and incidents and not the private individuals involved in them, but the entire life of the state from top to bottom, from the essence of the tsarist autocracy to the dumb slave people, whose tragedy lay in the inability to protest against cruel forms of life. Thus, the main idea of ​​the fairy tale “The Bear in the Voivodeship” is that the causes of national disasters are not only in the abuse of power, but also in the very nature of the autocratic system. This means that the salvation of the people lies in the overthrow of tsarism.

Shchedrin's satire thus acquires a persistent political overtones.

The satirist fights not against specific phenomena, but against the social system that generates and feeds these phenomena. Saltykov-Shchedrin considers each individual person as a product of the social environment that gave birth to him, deprives artistic image all human traits and replaces individual psychology manifestations of class instinct. Every action of the hero is interpreted by Shchedrin as socially necessary and inevitable.

In all Saltykov-Shchedrin's tales, two levels are organically combined: real and fantastic, life and fiction, and fantasy is always based on real events.

The depiction of the “ghostliness” of political reality required an appropriate form that, by bringing the phenomenon to the point of absurdity, to the point of ugliness, would expose its true ugliness. This form could only be the grotesque (the combination of the incompatible), which is an important source in fairy tales comic effect. Thus, the grotesque distorted and exaggerated reality, while fantasy was the most unusual life phenomena gave a character of familiarity and routine, and the thought of the daily and regularity of what was happening only strengthened the impression. Excessive cruelty political regime and the complete lack of rights of the people really bordered on magic, on fantasy. So, for example, in the fairy tale “The Wild Landowner” Shchedrin in an ugly-comic form showed the apogee of both moral and external “negligence” of man. The landowner “has grown hair, his nails have become like iron,” he began to walk on all fours, “he has even lost the ability to pronounce articulate sounds,” “but has not yet acquired a tail.” And in “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” the generals find a copy of “Moskovskie Vedomosti” on a desert island.

Shchedrin very actively uses hyperbole. Both the peasant's dexterity and the generals' ignorance are extremely exaggerated. A skilled man cooked a handful of soup, stupid generals don’t know that buns are made from flour, and one even swallowed his friend’s medal.

Sometimes - although not as often and obviously as other means artistic image, - Saltykov-Shchedrin uses antithesis (opposition). This can be seen in the example of “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals.” The generals “raked in so much money - it’s impossible to say in a fairy tale, not to describe it with a pen,” and the man received “a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver.”

Important in understanding a fairy tale is the author's irony, thanks to which the author's position is revealed. Irony can be seen in all the images present in fairy tales. For example, in “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals,” the calligraphy teacher cannot distinguish between the cardinal directions.

The language of all Saltykov-Shchedrin's tales is particularly aphoristic. The writer not only actively uses elements of folklore (proverbs, sayings), already established in the language, but also introduces new expressions into it, for example: “Please accept the assurances of my complete respect and devotion,” “Actually, I was not angry, but so, a brute.” "

So, the active use of artistic techniques allowed the writer to more deeply reveal the essence of the autocratic apparatus. In addition, Saltykov-Shchedrin’s tales had an impact big influence on further development Russian literature and especially the genre of satire.

The plots of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s fairy tales are based on a grotesque situation, but behind it one can always guess the real ones. public relations, reality is shown under the guise of a fairy tale. The grotesque-hyperbolic images of the heroes are essentially metaphors for the actual socio-psychological types of Russia at that time.

Found in fairy tales real people, newspaper names, references to topical socio-political topics. Along with this, there are also stylized situations that parody reality. In particular, ideological cliches and their typical linguistic forms are parodied.

Animals in fairy tales often perform a typical fable function, rather than a fairy tale one. Saltykov-Shchedrin uses “ready-made” roles assigned to some animals; traditional symbolism is found in his fairy tales.

Saltykov-Shchedrin demonstrates his commitment to the fable tradition; in particular, he includes in some fairy tales a moral, a typical fable device, for example, “let this serve as a lesson to us.”

The grotesque, as Saltykov-Shchedrin’s favorite means of satire, is expressed in the very fact that animals act as people in specific situations, most often associated with

ideological disputes, socio-political issues relevant to Russia in the 1880s. The depiction of these incredible, fantastic events reveals the originality of Shchedrin's realism, which notices the essence of social conflicts and relationships, the characteristic features of which are exaggerated.

Evil, angry ridicule slave psychology- one of the main objectives of Shchedrin's fairy tales. He not only states these features of the Russian people - their long-suffering, irresponsibility, and not only anxiously seeks their origins and limits.

Saltykov-Shchedrin widely uses the technique of allegory in his works. Including fairy tales. He also masterfully uses the vernacular.

In conclusion, I would like to add that the thoughts expressed by the writer in fairy tales are still contemporary today. Shchedrin's satire is time-tested and it sounds especially poignant in times of social unrest, such as those that Russia is experiencing today.

“The story of how one man fed two generals.”

The plot of the tale is as follows: two generals suddenly, in an unimaginable way, found themselves on a desert island in a completely helpless state. This is the first of the features of Saltykov-Shchedrin’s fairy tales - a combination of the real and the fantastic. The second feature is irony. The image of these generals is filled with it; their appearance is funny. They are in nightgowns, barefoot, but with an order around their necks. Thus, in Saltykov-Shchedrin’s description, the order is depreciated and loses its meaning, since they received it not for work, but for “sitting for a long time in the department.” The author also speaks ironically about the general’s abilities: he cannot remember them, except perhaps the calligraphic handwriting.

But the general’s stupidity is visible, their ignorance of life is obvious. They don’t know how to do anything, they are used to living at the expense of others, they think that rolls grow on trees. The third visual device used here is hyperbole, that is, exaggeration. Of course, there couldn’t be such stupid generals, but they didn’t receive their salaries based on merit - as much as they wanted. With the help of hyperbole, the author ridicules and depersonalizes this phenomenon. To emphasize the worthlessness of the generals, the author uses the fourth feature - contrast. The generals are not alone: ​​miraculously, a man ended up on the island. A jack of all trades, he fed the insatiable generals. Capable of creating anything: even boiling soup in a handful. Saltykov-Shchedrin is ironic not only about the generals, but also about the peasant. In particular, over his submission to stupid, defenseless generals. They forced him to make a rope for himself - the generals wanted to tie him so that he would not run away. The situation is fabulous, but the author used it to laugh evilly at his contemporary life, namely, at mediocre newspapers. After futile attempts to get food, the generals find one of these newspapers on the island and read it out of boredom. Saltykov-Shchedrin invites the reader to make fun of its content and stupid articles. The fairy tale ends with the man returning the generals to St. Petersburg, and in gratitude they give a glass of vodka and a copper penny. Saltykov-Shchedrin uses a phrase from a folk tale: “It flowed down my mustache, but didn’t get into my mouth.” But here it is used in the same ironic sense - the man got nothing. The masters live by the labor of the peasants, and the latter are ungrateful, and the savior people receive nothing from their labor.

Saltykov-Shchedrin said: “I love Russia to the point of heartache.” It was love and the desire for change that guided him when, with the help of various visual means, he painted a real-life fantastic story about two worthless generals and a smart guy.

“Crucian carp is an idealist.”

This tale by Saltykov-Shchedrin, like all his tales, has a telling title. From the title you can already tell that this tale describes a crucian carp who had idealistic views on life. Crucian carp is the object of satire, and in his image people are represented who, like him, hope for a class idyll.

He is pure in soul, and says that evil has never been a driving force, it devastates our lives and puts pressure on it. And good is driving force, it is the future.

But immersed in my ideological thoughts, he completely forgot that he lives in a world where there was, is and will be a place for evil. But Saltykov-Shchedrin does not ridicule idealistic views, but the methods by which he wanted to achieve an idyll. In his fairy tales, the author uses threefold repetition. Three times the crucian carp went to debate with the pike. Seeing her for the first time, he was not intimidated; she seemed to him like an ordinary fish, like everyone else, only mouth to ear. He also told her about happy life, where all the fish will be united, that even she listened to him, but the methods seemed funny to her too. Karas proposed to pass laws prohibiting, for example, pike from eating crucian carp. Yes, the fact is that these laws did not exist and, perhaps, never will. So the pike had three disputes with crucian carp, but accidentally swallowed it with water.

There is irony in this tale, because they secretly mock the crucian carp, saying that he is smart.

The images of Saltykov-Shchedrin's fairy tales have entered our daily life, and now you can see people promoting their ideology, but not knowing how to implement it.

"Sane Hare"

The sane hare is a hero fairy tale of the same name, “he reasoned so sensibly that it fits a donkey.” He believed that “every animal is given its own life” and that, although “everyone eats hares,” he is “not picky” and “agrees to live in every possible way.” In the heat of this philosophizing, he was caught by the Fox, who, bored with his speeches, ate him.

The heroes of the tale are standard for most fairy tales. You can remember not a single fairy tale where the main characters are a fox and a hare and their confrontation is discussed throughout the entire work. In essence, it is exciting and quite interesting story. That is why Saltykov-Shchedrin focused on these characters in one of his fairy tales.

The main theme of the tale is that when depicting animals, the author wanted each reader to transfer the content to himself, i.e. a fairy tale is like a fable and has a hidden meaning.

In my opinion, if you apply a fairy tale to modern world, then its main idea is that for the most part stupid people much more and therefore those who are more literate and educated face many problems and lack of recognition in society. Also, the hare's intelligence is intertwined with a degree of boasting and talkativeness, which ultimately leads to a disastrous end.

Each of the characters has their own point of view and expresses their thoughts. For excessive talkativeness, the hare was eaten by a fox, although his reasoning cannot be called meaningless and irrelevant.

"Wild Landowner"

The theme of serfdom and the life of the peasantry played important role in the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin. The writer could not openly protest the existing system. Saltykov-Shchedrin hides his merciless criticism of autocracy behind fairy-tale motives. He wrote his political tales from 1883 to 1886. In them, the writer truthfully reflected the life of Russia, in which despotic and all-powerful landowners destroy hardworking men.

In this tale, Saltykov-Shchedrin reflects on the unlimited power of landowners, who abuse the peasants in every possible way, imagining themselves almost as gods. The writer also talks about the landowner’s stupidity and lack of education: “that landowner was stupid, he read the newspaper “Vest” and his body was soft, white and crumbly.” Shchedrin also reflects the disenfranchised position of the peasantry in Tsarist Russia in this fairy tale: “There was no torch to light the peasant’s light, there was no rod with which to sweep out the hut.” The main idea of ​​the fairy tale was that the landowner cannot and does not know how to live without the peasant, and the landowner dreamed of work only in nightmares. So in this fairy tale, the landowner, who had no idea about work, becomes a dirty and wild beast. After all the peasants abandoned him, the landowner never even washed himself: “Yes, I’ve been walking around unwashed for so many days!”

The writer caustically ridicules all this negligence of the master class. The life of a landowner without a peasant is far from reminiscent of normal human life.

The master became so wild that “he was overgrown with hair from head to toe, his nails became like iron, he even lost the ability to pronounce articulate sounds. But he had not yet acquired a tail.” Life without peasants was disrupted even in the district itself: “no one pays taxes, no one drinks wine in taverns.” “Normal” life begins in the district only when the men return to it. In the image. Saltykov-Shchedrin showed this one landowner the life of all the gentlemen in Russia. And the final words of the tale are addressed to each landowner: “He plays grand solitaire, yearns for his former life in the forests, washes himself only under duress, and moos from time to time.”

This fairy tale is full folk motifs, close to Russian folklore. There are no sophisticated words in it, but there are simple Russian words: “once said and done”, “peasant trousers”, etc. Saltykov-Shchedrin sympathizes with the people. He believes that the suffering of the peasants will not be endless, and freedom will triumph.

"Horse"

In the tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin, the image of the Russian people, which was embodied in the image of a horse, is very well revealed. Konyaga are ordinary people, peasants who work for the benefit of the entire state, who with their labor are able to feed all the inhabitants of Russia. The image of Konyaga is imbued with the pain and fatigue that a difficult task gives him.

If Saltykov-Shchedrin had described verbatim the life of various social classes, then his works would not have been published due to censorship, but thanks to Aesopian language, he achieved a very touching and natural description of the classes. What is Aesopian language? This is a special type of secret writing, censored allegory, to which fiction, deprived of freedom of expression under conditions of censorship, often turned. In Saltykov-Shchedrin’s fairy tale “The Horse,” this technique is widely used, which allows one to expose reality and serves as a means of combating the infringement of the rights of the lower strata of society by political figures. This work shows the difficult, even ugly, life of the Russian people. Saltykov-Shchedrin himself sympathizes with the peasants, but he still shows this terrible picture of a beggarly lifestyle.

The field on which a man and a horse work is limitless, just as their work and importance for the state are limitless. And, apparently, the images of the Idle Dancers contain all the upper strata of the population: gentlemen, officials - who only watch the work of the horse, because their life is easy and cloudless. They are beautiful and well-fed, they are given the food that the horse provides with his hard work and he himself lives from hand to mouth.

Saltykov-Shchedrin calls to think about the fact that such hard work of the Russian people for the benefit of the state does not provide them with freedom from serfdom and does not save them from humiliation in front of officials and gentlemen who live easily, who can afford a lot.

The problem of the people and the bureaucracy is still very relevant today, because for modern readers she will be interesting and curious. Also thanks to the use of such artistic medium Like Aesopian language, the problem of the fairy tale “The Horse” is acute to this day.

Details

Fairy tale by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, which you read. Real and fantastic in a fairy tale

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin is a direct follower of the literary traditions of N.V. Gogol. The satire of the great writer found its continuation in the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin, it gained new uniform, but has not lost its sharpness and relevance.

Creativity M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin is extremely diverse. But among the satirist’s enormous legacy, his fairy tales are perhaps the most popular. The form of folk tale was used by many writers before Shchedrin. Literary tales, written in poetry or prose, recreated the world folk poetry, and sometimes contained satirical elements. The form of the fairy tale met the writer’s objectives, because it was accessible, close to the common people, and because the fairy tale has always been characterized by didacticism and a satirical orientation, the satirist turned to this genre because of censorship persecution. Saltykov-Shchedrin's tales in miniature contain the problems and images of the entire work of the great satirist.

What brings Saltykov-Shchedrin’s fairy tales closer to folk tales? Typical fairy tale beginnings (“Once upon a time there were two generals...”, “In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a landowner...”; sayings (“at the command of a pike,” “neither to say in a fairy tale, nor to describe with a pen.” ); phrases characteristic of folk speech (“thought-thought”, “said-done”); syntax, vocabulary, spelling close to the folk language. As in folk tales, a miraculous incident sets the plot in motion: two generals “suddenly found themselves on a desert island "; by the grace of God, "there was no man in the entire domain of the stupid landowner." Saltykov-Shchedrin also follows the folk tradition in fairy tales about animals, when he ridicules the shortcomings of society in an allegorical form.

Fairy tales differ from folk tales primarily by intertwining the fantastic with the real and even historically accurate. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin introduces topical political motives into the world of fairy tales, reveals complex problems modernity. It can be said that ideological content And artistic features satirical tales are aimed at instilling respect for the people and civic feelings in Russian people. The main evil that the author condemns is serfdom, destroying both slaves and masters.

In “The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals” there is a fantastic situation when the generals end up on a desert island. The writer's sarcasm in this tale reaches its peak. The reader laughs at the helpless generals who are capable of dying of hunger amid the abundance of food, and only a “slacker man” who appears out of nowhere saves them from inevitable death. The naivety of the generals is also fantastic. “Who would have thought, Your Excellency, that human food, in its original form, flies, swims and grows on trees? - said one general." The man is dexterous and dexterous, and has reached the point where he can cook soup in a handful. He is capable of any task, but this character evokes more than one admiration from the author and readers.

Together with Saltykov-Shchedrin, we grieve over the bitter fate of the people, who are forced to shoulder the care of parasite landowners, generals, officials - quitters and slackers who can only push others around and force them to work for themselves.

The writer leads his readers to the idea of ​​the need for decisive changes in society. Saltykov-Shchedrin set the abolition of serfdom as the main condition for the normal life of society. The end of “The Tale...” is surprisingly consonant with Nekrasov’s “ Railway”, when instead of gratitude the hero is sent “a glass of vodka and a nickel of silver: have fun, man!” According to contemporaries, Saltykov-Shchedrin hated the self-righteous and indifferent, and considered violence and rudeness to be the main evils. With all his work, the writer uncompromisingly fought against these vices, trying to eradicate them in Russia.