What is the theme of the work? Theme and idea of a work of art.

This book contains 2,000 original ideas for stories and novels

When analyzing a literary work, the concept of “idea” is traditionally used, which most often means the answer to the question allegedly posed by the author.

The idea of a literary work - this is the main idea that summarizes the semantic, figurative, emotional content of a literary work.

Artistic idea of the work - this is content-semantic integrity work of art as a product of emotional experience and mastery of life by the author. This idea cannot be recreated by means of other arts and logical formulations; it is expressed throughout artistic structure work, the unity and interaction of all its formal components. Conventionally (and in a narrower sense), an idea stands out as the main thought, ideological conclusion and “life lesson” that naturally follows from a holistic comprehension of the work.

An idea in literature is a thought contained in a work. There are a great many ideas expressed in literature. Exist logical ideas And abstract ideas . Logical ideas are concepts that are easily conveyed without figurative means; we are able to perceive them with our intellect. Logical ideas are characteristic of nonfiction literature. Fictional novels and stories are characterized by philosophical and social generalizations, ideas, analyzes of causes and consequences, that is, abstract elements.

But there is also a special type of very subtle, barely perceptible ideas in a literary work. Artistic idea is a thought embodied in figurative form. It lives only in figurative transformation and cannot be expressed in the form of sentences or concepts. The peculiarity of this thought depends on the disclosure of the topic, the author’s worldview, conveyed by the speech and actions of the characters, and on the depiction of pictures of life. It lies in the combination of logical thoughts, images, and all significant compositional elements. An artistic idea cannot be reduced to a rational idea that can be specified or illustrated. The idea of this type is integral to the image, to the composition.

Forming an artistic idea is a complex creative process. In literature it is influenced personal experience, the writer’s worldview, understanding of life. An idea can be nurtured for years and decades, and the author, trying to realize it, suffers, rewrites the manuscript, and looks for suitable means of implementation. All themes, characters, all events selected by the author are necessary for a more complete expression of the main idea, its nuances and shades. However, it is necessary to understand that artistic idea is not equal to the ideological plan, the plan that often appears not only in the writer’s head, but also on paper. Exploring extra-artistic reality, reading diaries, notebooks, manuscripts, archives, literary scholars restore the history of the idea, the history of creation, but often do not discover the artistic idea. Sometimes it happens that the author goes against himself, yielding to the original plan for the sake of artistic truth, an internal idea.

One thought is not enough to write a book. If you know in advance everything that you would like to talk about, then you should not contact artistic creativity. Better - to criticism, journalism, journalism.

The idea of a literary work comes from the visual image

The idea of a literary work cannot be contained in one phrase and one image. But writers, especially novelists, sometimes struggle to formulate the idea of their work. Dostoevsky about “The Idiot” he wrote: “The main idea of the novel is to portray positively wonderful person" For such a declarative ideology Dostoevsky scolded: here he “distinguished himself”, for example, Nabokov. Indeed, the phrase of the great novelist does not clarify why, why he did it, what is the artistic and vital basis of his image. But here you can hardly take sides Nabokov, a down-to-earth second-line writer, never, unlike Dostoevsky who does not set himself creative super-tasks.

Along with the attempts of authors to determine the so-called main idea of their work, opposite, although no less confusing, examples are known. Tolstoy to the question “what is “War and Peace””? answered as follows: “War and Peace” is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.” Reluctance to translate the idea of your work into the language of concepts Tolstoy demonstrated once again, speaking about the novel “Anna Karenina”: “If I wanted to say in words everything that I had in mind to express in a novel, then I would have to write the very one that I wrote first” (from a letter to N. Strakhov).

Belinsky very accurately pointed out that “art does not allow abstract philosophical, much less rational ideas: it allows only poetic ideas; and the poetic idea is<…>It’s not a dogma, it’s not a rule, it’s a living passion, pathos.”

V.V. Odintsov expressed his understanding of the category “artistic idea” more strictly: “The idea of a literary work is always specific and is not directly derived not only from the individual statements of the writer lying outside it (the facts of his biography, public life etc.), but also from the text - from replicas goodies, journalistic inserts, comments from the author himself, etc.”

Literary critic G.A. Gukovsky also spoke about the need to distinguish between rational, that is, rational, and literary ideas: “By idea I mean not only a rationally formulated judgment, statement, not even just the intellectual content of a work of literature, but the entire sum of its content, constituting its intellectual function, its goal and task.” And he further explained: “To understand the idea of a literary work means to understand the idea of each of its components in their synthesis, in their systemic interconnection.<…>At the same time, it is important to take into account structural features works - not only the words-bricks from which the walls of the building are made, but the structure of the combination of these bricks as parts of this structure, their meaning.”

The idea of a literary work is an attitude towards what is depicted, the fundamental pathos of the work, a category that expresses the author's tendency (inclination, intention, preconceived thought) in the artistic coverage of a given topic. In other words, idea -it is the subjective basis of a literary work. It is noteworthy that in Western literary criticism, based on other methodological principles, instead of the category “artistic idea”, the concept of “intention”, a certain premeditation, the tendency of the author to express the meaning of the work is used.

The greater the artistic idea, the longer the work lives. The creators of pop literature who write outside of great ideas face very rapid oblivion.

V.V. Kozhinov called an artistic idea a semantic type of work that grows out of the interaction of images. An artistic idea, unlike a logical idea, is not formulated by an author’s statement, but is depicted in all the details of the artistic whole.

IN epic works the idea can be partly formulated in the text itself, as was the case in the narrative Tolstoy: “There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” More often, especially in lyric poetry, the idea permeates the structure of the work and therefore requires a lot of analytical work. A work of art as a whole is much richer than the rational idea that critics usually isolate, and in many lyrical works isolating an idea is simply impossible, because it practically dissolves in pathos. Consequently, the idea of a work should not be reduced to a conclusion or a lesson, and in general one should certainly look for it.

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Subject

(Greek theme - what is supposed to be), in literary criticism - the content of a work in the most general form or the content of any fragment of a work. In the literature of antiquity, the Middle Ages, Renaissance And classicism the topic of the essay was strictly related to his genre. Thus, the exploits of kings and generals were narrated in epic poems; their deeds were praised in solemn odah; the conflict between man and fate or the struggle between duty and passion was depicted in tragedies, and human vices were exposed in comedies. In the era romanticism the clear correlation between genre and theme was destroyed; it was preserved only in some genres. For example, idyll- a short poetic work about the simple joys of rural life, and elegy- a sad lyrical poem about lost youth and disappointed hopes. Various literary trends and trends (see. Literary direction and current) have preference different topics. In classicism these are heroic themes, themes of service to the state, in romanticism - love theme, themes of loneliness, death, etc., in symbolism– religious and mystical themes.

Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .

SUBJECT- the main idea, the main sound of the work. Representing that indecomposable emotional-intellectual core that the poet seems to be trying to decompose with each of his works, the concept of theme is by no means covered by the so-called. content. The theme in the broad sense of the word is that complete image world, which determines the artist’s poetic worldview. Under the sign of this image, the artist combines the most diverse phenomena of reality. Thanks to this image, the synthetic activity of the artist is possible, which distinguishes him from the non-artist.

Every artist has his own theme, his own image of the world.

But depending on the material through which this image is refracted, we have one or another reflection of it, i.e. one or another idea (specific topic), which determines exactly this work, where only one of the faces of the single image guiding the artist’s entire work is revealed. If, from this point of view, we approach, approximately, Lermontov, whose main theme is the Demon, then we can outline a number of particular themes that determined one or another plot of his individual works. The theme of a demon seeking salvation through love defines the plot of “The Demon”; the theme of a demon being reduced to a human image - the plot of “A Hero of Our Time,” etc. The concept of the theme will become even more prominent if we compare it with musical concept leit-motif, with what is usually called, when applied to a literary work, the “red thread”. Because the famous topic, the main idea, influences the significance of a particular moment and individual moments are perceived against the background of the thematic whole, one can, of course, talk about a “red thread” running through the entire work. But at the same time, the concept of theme is by no means covered by the concept of “leit motif” or “red thread”. While the leit-motif, the guiding motive, runs through the entire work, then in the form of repetitions (repetition of the same sounds, thoughts, repetition of positions characters, repetition of descriptions in general or in particular, etc.), then in the form of different variations - if the leit-motif and the “red thread” clearly breaks through here and there, connecting individual parts - the theme itself remains outwardly unidentified, forming a mental center around which everything is located, but which is not fixed in any single phrase. For this reason, it seems completely wrong to define the theme of a well-known work only by this or that technique and repeating moment, because the theme comes through in every moment, it is everywhere and nowhere, as someone noted when applied to music, which can be extended to literature. A theme can only repeat itself, and its development lies in these repetitions. Proof of the validity of this thought is both the work of great writers in general (Lermontov’s theme is the demon, Tyutchev’s theme is the struggle between the day and night principles, etc.), and their individual works.

J. Zundelovich.

Subject. This is sometimes the name given to the derived verb stem of the common Indo-European language. on O, alternating with e, Wed Greek φέρομεν “we carry” (μεν - the end of the 1st l. plural), φέρετε “you carry” (τε - the end of the 2nd l. plural); most vowel sounds O, e at the end of T. called. thematic vowels, and the conjugation of verbs from T. to oh - thematic conjugation(cm.).

N.D. Literary encyclopedia: Dictionary literary terms: In 2 volumes / Edited by N. Brodsky, A. Lavretsky, E. Lunin, V. Lvov-Rogachevsky, M. Rozanov, V. Cheshikhin-Vetrinsky. - M.; L.: Publishing house L. D. Frenkel, 1925

Synonyms:

See what “theme” is in other dictionaries:

subject- y, w. theme, German Thema gr. theme installed; position. 1. A range of life phenomena, events that make up the content of a work of literature, painting, etc. or that form the basis of a scientific research, report, etc. BAS 1. Here’s your topic... Historical Dictionary Gallicisms of the Russian language

Subject- THEME is the main idea, the main sound of the work. Representing that indecomposable emotionally intellectual core, which the poet seems to be trying to decompose with each of his works, the concept of theme is by no means covered by the so-called... ... Dictionary of literary terms

- (lat. theme). 1) content. 2) the main idea of the essay. 3) in music: the main motive that must be developed by the composer. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. TOPIC [gr. theme] linguistic with current... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

TOPIC, themes, women. (Greek theme). 1. The subject of some kind of reasoning or presentation. Essay on the topic of the Napoleonic Wars. Choose collective farm life as the theme of the story. “Let me tell you a small incident on this topic.” Leskov. ||… … Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

Cm … Synonym dictionary

- “THEME”, USSR, Mosfilm, 1979, color, 99 min. Psychological drama. The “theme” stated in the previous film by director Gleb Panfilov “I Ask for the Word” found a direct continuation in this film. Panfilov undergoes in-depth research... ... Encyclopedia of Cinema

TOPIC (in philosophy and history of science) is a term introduced by J. Holton as a key concept of thematic analysis. The term “theme” is used by Holton in three different aspects: thematic concepts, hypotheses and methodologies. Holton doesn't... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Subject- [from the Greek thema, literally what is put (as the basis)], 1) the subject of description, research, conversation, etc. 2) In art (literature, theater, cinema, painting) the object of artistic depiction, the range of life phenomena captured in ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Proposal, subject of discussion, development task; Main thought. Wed. “We won’t talk about this topic, we’re talking about the mother.” And in general, let’s drop all topics for now. Au revoir. A. A. Sokolov. Secret. 20. Wed. He... private letters...... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

TOPIC, s, women. 1. Subject, main content of reasoning, presentation, creativity. Move to another topic. T. story. 2. Main motive piece of music. T. with variations. | adj. thematic, aya, oe (to 1 meaning). The thematic line of the novel... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Female, Greek a proposal, position, task that is being discussed or explained. | Melody, tune, musical. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dahl. 1863 1866 … Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Books

Topic 1. Part 1. Food, products, in a restaurant (DVD), Bystrova Marina. Topic 1. Part 1. Increase your vocabulary quickly! DVD cards + usage examples + voice-over (Russian-English). Food, groceries, in a restaurant. Learn Russian words in a quick way! DVD...

1. Theme as the objective basis of the content of the work. 2. Types of topics. 3. Question and problem.

4. Types of ideas in a literary text. 5. Pathos and its types.

1. In the last lesson we studied the categories of content and form of a literary work. Topic and idea are the most important components of content.

The term theme is often used in different meanings. Word theme of Greek origin, in Plato's language it means position, foundation. In the science of literature, the theme most often refers to the subject of the image. The theme holds all parts of a literary text together and gives meaning to it. individual elements unity. Theme is everything that has become the subject of depiction, evaluation, and knowledge. It contains the general meaning of the content. O. Fedotov in a textbook on literary criticism gives the following definition of the theme category: “Theme is a phenomenon or subject selected, comprehended and reproduced by certain artistic means. The theme runs through all images, episodes and scenes, ensuring unity of action.” This objective the basis of the work, its depicted part. The choice of topic and work on it are related to the experience, interests, and mood of the author. But the topic is not evaluative or problematic. Subject little man– traditional for Russian classics and characteristic of many works.

2. In a work, one theme can dominate, subjugate the entire content, the entire composition of the text; such a theme is called the main or leading one. This theme is the main content point in the work. In a fable work it is the basis of the hero’s fate, in a dramatic work it is the essence of the conflict, in a lyrical work it is formed by dominant motives.

Often the main theme is suggested by the title of the work. The title may give a general idea of life phenomena. “War and Peace” are words denoting the two main states of humanity, and Tolstoy’s work with that name is a novel that embodies life in these main states. But the title may indicate the specific phenomenon being depicted. Thus, Dostoevsky’s story “The Gambler” is a work that reflects man’s destructive passion for the game. Understanding of the theme stated in the title of the work can expand significantly as the literary text unfolds. The title itself may acquire symbolic meaning. Poem " Dead Souls"became a terrible reproach of modernity, lifelessness, lack of spiritual light. The image introduced by the title can become the key to the author's interpretation of the events depicted.

M. Aldanov’s tetralogy “The Thinker” contains a prologue that depicts the time of construction of the Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris, that moment when in 1210-1215. the famous chimera of the devil is created. Chimera in medieval art- This is an image of a fantastic monster. From the top of the cathedral, a horned, hook-nosed beast, with its tongue hanging out, soulless eyes, looks at the center of the eternal city and contemplates the Inquisition, fires, the great French revolution. The motif of the devil, skeptically contemplating the course of world history, turns out to be one of the means of expressing the author's historiosophy. This motive is leading; at the theme level, it is the leitmotif of Aldanov’s four books about world history.

Often the title indicates the most pressing social or ethical problems of reality. The author, interpreting them in the work, can include the question in the title of the book: this happened with the novel “What is to be done?” N.G. Chernyshevsky. Sometimes the title indicates a philosophical opposition: for example, Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment.” Sometimes there is an assessment or verdict, as in Sullivan's (Boris Vian) scandalous book I Will Come to Spit on Your Graves. But the title does not always exhaust the theme of the work; it can be provocative, even polemical to the entire content of the text. Thus, I. Bunin deliberately titled his works so that the title did not reveal anything: neither the plot, nor the theme.

In addition to the main topic, there may be topics for certain chapters, parts, paragraphs and, finally, just sentences. B.V. Tomashevsky noted the following about this: “In artistic expression, individual sentences, combined with each other according to their meaning, result in a certain construction, united by a commonality of thought or theme.” That is, the entire literary text can be divided into its constituent parts, and a specific topic can be highlighted in each. So, in the story “ Queen of Spades“The theme of the cards turns out to be an organizing force, it is suggested by the title, the epigraph, but in the chapters of the story other themes are expressed, which are sometimes reduced to the level of motives. In a work, several themes can be of equal importance; they are stated by the author as strongly and significantly as if each of them were main theme. This is the case of the existence of contrapuntal themes (from Lat. punctum contra punctum– point versus point), this term has musical basis and means the simultaneous combination of two or more melodically independent voices. In literature, this is a combination of several topics.

Another criterion for distinguishing themes is their connection with time. Transient topics, topics of one day, the so-called topical ones, do not live long. They are characteristic satirical works(the theme of slave labor in the fairy tale “The Horse” by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin), texts of journalistic content, fashionable superficial novels, that is, fiction. Topical topics live as long as they are given by the topic of the day, interest modern reader. The capacity of their content may be either very small or completely uninteresting to subsequent generations. The theme of collectivization into villages, presented in the works of V. Belov, B. Mozhaev, now does not affect the reader, who lives not so much with the desire to understand the problems of history Soviet state, how much in the problems of life in a new capitalist country. Universal human values reach the widest limits of relevance and significance. (ontological) Topics. Human interests in love, death, happiness, truth, and the meaning of life have remained constant throughout history. These are themes that relate to all times, all nations and cultures.

“Thematic analysis involves consideration of the timing, location, and breadth or narrowness of the material depicted.” A.B. writes about the methodology for analyzing topics in his manual. Yesin.

3. In most works, especially of the epic kind, even general ontological themes are concretized and sharpened in the form current problems. To solve a problem, you often need to go beyond old knowledge, previous experience, and reassess values. The theme of the “little man” has existed in Russian literature for the third hundred years, but the problem of his life is solved differently in the works of Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoevsky. The hero of the story “Poor People” Makar Devushkin reads “The Overcoat” by Gogol and “ Stationmaster"Pushkin and notices the peculiarity of his situation. Devushkin looks at human dignity otherwise. He is poor, but proud, he can declare himself, his right, he can challenge " big people», strong of the world this, because he respects the person in himself and others. And where does he go closer character Pushkin, also a man of a big heart, depicted lovingly, rather than Gogol’s character, a suffering, petty person, presented very low. G. Adamovich once noted that “Gogol is essentially mocking his unfortunate Akaki Akakievich, and it is no coincidence that [Dostoevsky in “Poor People”] contrasted him with Pushkin, who in “The Station Agent” treated the same helpless old man much more humanely.” .

Often the concepts topic and problem are identified and used as synonyms. It will be more accurate if the problem is seen as concretization, updating, sharpening of the topic. The topic may be eternal, but the problem may change. The theme of love in “Anna Karenina” and “The Kreutzer Sonata” has a tragic content precisely because in Tolstoy’s time the problem of divorce in society was completely unresolved; there were no such laws in the state. But the same theme is unusually tragic in Bunin’s book “ Dark alleys", written during the 2nd World War. It unfolds against the backdrop of the problems of people whose love and happiness are impossible in the era of revolutions, wars, and emigrations. The problems of love and marriage of people born before the cataclysms of Russia are solved by Bunin in an extremely unique way.

In Chekhov's story "Fat and Thin" the theme is the life of Russian bureaucrats. The problem will be voluntary servility, the question of why a person goes to self-humiliation. The theme of space and possible interplanetary contact, the problem of the consequences of this contact are clearly outlined in the novels of the Strugatsky brothers.

In works of Russian classical literature, the problem most often has the nature of a socially significant issue. And more than that. If Herzen posed the question “Who is to blame?”, and Chernyshevsky asked “What to do?”, then these artists themselves offered answers and solutions. Books of the 19th century provided an assessment, analysis of reality and ways to achieve a social ideal. Therefore, Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?” Lenin called it a textbook of life. However, Chekhov said that solving problems is not necessary in literature, because life, continuing endlessly, does not itself provide final answers. What is more important is the correct formulation of problems.

Thus, a problem is one or another feature of life individual person, an entire environment or even a people, leading to some generalizing thoughts.

The writer does not speak to the reader in rational language, he does not formulate ideas and problems, but presents us with a picture of life and thereby prompts thoughts that researchers call ideas or problems.

4. When analyzing a work, along with the concepts of “theme” and “problematics”, the concept of idea is also used, by which most often we mean the answer to the question allegedly posed by the author.

Ideas in literature can be different. An idea in literature is a thought contained in a work. There are logical ideas, or concepts that we are able to perceive with the intellect and which are easily conveyed without figurative means. Novels and stories are characterized by philosophical and social generalizations, ideas, analyzes of causes and consequences, and a network of abstract elements.

But there is a special type of very subtle, barely perceptible ideas in a literary work. An artistic idea is a thought embodied in figurative form. It lives only in figurative transformation and cannot be expressed in the form of sentences or concepts. The peculiarity of this thought depends on the disclosure of the topic, the author’s worldview, conveyed by the speech and actions of the characters, and on the depiction of pictures of life. It lies in the combination of logical thoughts, images, and all significant compositional elements. An artistic idea cannot be reduced to a rational idea that can be specified or illustrated. The idea of this type is integral to the image, to the composition.

Forming an artistic idea is a complex creative process. It is influenced by personal experience, the writer’s worldview, and understanding of life. An idea can be nurtured for years; the author, trying to realize it, suffers, rewrites, and searches for adequate means of implementation. All themes, characters, all events are necessary for a more complete expression of the main idea, its nuances, shades. However, it is necessary to understand that an artistic idea is not equal to an ideological plan, that plan that often appears not only in the writer’s head, but also on paper. By exploring extra-artistic reality, reading diaries, notebooks, manuscripts, archives, scientists restore the history of the idea, the history of creation, but do not discover the artistic idea. Sometimes it happens that the author goes against himself, yielding to the original plan for the sake of artistic truth, an internal idea.

One thought is not enough to write a book. If you know in advance everything you would like to talk about, then you should not turn to artistic creativity. Better - to criticism, journalism, journalism.

The idea of a literary work cannot be contained in one phrase and one image. But writers, especially novelists, sometimes struggle to formulate the idea of their work. Dostoevsky said about “The Idiot”: “The main idea of the novel is to portray a positively beautiful person.” But Nabokov did not accept him for this same declarative ideology. Indeed, the novelist’s phrase does not clarify why, why he did it, what is the artistic and vital basis of his image.

Therefore, along with cases of defining the so-called main idea, other examples are known. Tolstoy’s answer to the question “What is “War and Peace”? answered as follows: ““War and Peace” is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.” Tolstoy demonstrated his reluctance to translate the idea of his work into the language of concepts once again, speaking about the novel “Anna Karenina”: “If I wanted to say in words everything that I had in mind to express in a novel, then I would have to write the very one that I wrote first” (letter to N. Strakhov).

Belinsky very accurately pointed out that “art does not allow abstract philosophical, much less rational ideas: it allows only poetic ideas; and the poetic idea is<…>not a dogma, not a rule, it is a living passion, pathos" (lat. pathos- feeling, passion, inspiration).

V.V. Odintsov expressed his understanding of the category of artistic idea more strictly: “The idea of a literary work is always specific and is not directly derived not only from the individual statements of the writer lying outside it (facts of his biography, social life, etc.), but also from the text - from replicas positive characters, journalistic inserts, comments from the author himself, etc.”

Literary critic G.A. Gukovsky also spoke about the need to distinguish between rational, that is, rational, and literary ideas: “By idea I mean not only a rationally formulated judgment, statement, not even just the intellectual content of a work of literature, but the entire sum of its content, which constitutes its intellectual function, its goal and purpose." And he further explained: “To understand the idea of a literary work means to understand the idea of each of its components in their synthesis, in their systemic interrelation<…>At the same time, it is important to take into account the structural features of the work - not only the words-bricks from which the walls of the building are made, but the structure of the combination of these bricks as parts of this structure, their meaning.”

O.I. Fedotov, comparing the artistic idea with the theme, the objective basis of the work, said the following: “An idea is an attitude towards what is depicted, the fundamental pathos of a work, a category that expresses the author’s tendency ( inclination, intention, preconceived thought) in the artistic treatment of this topic.” Therefore, the idea is the subjective basis of the work. It is noteworthy that in Western literary criticism, based on other methodological principles, instead of the category of artistic idea, the concept of intention, a certain premeditation, the tendency of the author to express the meaning of the work is used. This is discussed in detail in the work of A. Kompanion “The Demon of Theory”. In addition, in some modern domestic studies, scientists use the category “creative concept”. In particular, it appears in the textbook edited by L. Chernets.

The more majestic the artistic idea, the longer the work lives.

V.V. Kozhinov called an artistic idea a semantic type of work that grows out of the interaction of images. Summarizing the statements of writers and philosophers, we can say that thin. An idea, in contrast to a logical idea, is not formulated by an author’s statement, but is depicted in all the details of the artistic whole. The evaluative or value aspect of a work, its ideological and emotional orientation is called a tendency. In literature socialist realism the tendency was interpreted as partisanship.

In epic works, the ideas may be partly formulated in the text itself, as in Tolstoy's narrative: “There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” More often, especially in lyric poetry, the idea permeates the structure of the work and therefore requires a lot of analytical work. A work of art as a whole is richer than the rational idea that critics usually isolate. In many lyrical works, isolating an idea is untenable, because it practically dissolves in pathos. Consequently, the idea should not be reduced to a conclusion, a lesson, and one should certainly look for it.

5. Not everything in the content of a literary work is determined by themes and ideas. The author expresses an ideological and emotional attitude to the subject with the help of images. And, although the author's emotionality is individual, some elements are naturally repeated. IN different works similar emotions and similar types of illumination of life appear. The types of this emotional orientation include tragedy, heroism, romance, drama, sentimentality, as well as the comic with its varieties (humor, irony, grotesque, sarcasm, satire).

The theoretical status of these concepts is subject to much debate. Some modern scientists, continuing the traditions of V.G. Belinsky, call them “types of pathos” (G. Pospelov). Others call them “modes of artistry” (V. Tyupa) and add that these are embodiments of the author’s concept of personality. Still others (V. Khalizev) call them “worldview emotions.”

At the heart of the events and actions depicted in many works is conflict, confrontation, the struggle of someone with someone, something with something.

At the same time, contradictions can be not only different strengths, but also of different content and character. A kind of answer that the reader often wants to find can be considered the author’s emotional attitude to the characters of the characters portrayed and to the type of their behavior, to conflicts. Indeed, a writer can sometimes reveal his likes and dislikes for a particular type of personality, while not always clearly assessing it. So, F.M. Dostoevsky, condemning what Raskolnikov came up with, at the same time sympathizes with him. I.S. Turgenev examines Bazarov through the lips of Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, but at the same time appreciates him, emphasizing his intelligence, knowledge, and will: “Bazarov is smart and knowledgeable,” Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov says with conviction.

It is on the essence and content of the contradictions exposed in a work of art that its emotional tone depends. And the word pathos is now perceived much more broadly than a poetic idea; it is the emotional and value orientation of the work and characters.

So, different types pathos.

Tragic tone is present where there is a violent conflict that cannot be tolerated and cannot be safely resolved. This may be a contradiction between man and non-human forces (fate, God, the elements). This could be a confrontation between groups of people (a war of nations), and finally, an internal conflict, that is, a clash of opposing principles in the mind of one hero. This is the awareness of an irreparable loss: human life, freedom, happiness, love.

The understanding of the tragic goes back to the works of Aristotle. The theoretical development of the concept relates to the aesthetics of romanticism and Hegel. The central character is a tragic hero, a person who finds himself in a situation of discord with life. This is a strong personality, not bent by circumstances, and therefore doomed to suffering and death.

Such conflicts include those between personal impulses and supra-personal restrictions - caste, class, moral. Such contradictions gave rise to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, who loved each other, but belonged to different clans of Italian society of their time; Katerina Kabanova, who fell in love with Boris and understood the sinfulness of her love for him; Anna Karenina, tormented by the awareness of the gap between her, society and her son.

A tragic situation can also arise if there is a contradiction between the desire for happiness, freedom and the hero’s awareness of his weakness and powerlessness in achieving them, which entails motives of skepticism and doom. For example, such motives are heard in the speech of Mtsyri, pouring out his soul to the old monk and trying to explain to him how he dreamed of living in his aul, but was forced to spend his entire life, except for three days, in a monastery. The tragic fate of Elena Stakhova from the novel by I.S. Turgenev “On the Eve”, who lost her husband immediately after the wedding and went with his coffin to a foreign country.

The height of tragic pathos is that it instills faith in a person who has courage, remaining true to himself even before death. Since antiquity tragic hero you have to experience a moment of guilt. According to Hegel, this guilt lies in the fact that a person violates the established order. Therefore, works of tragic pathos are characterized by the concept of tragic guilt. It is in both the tragedy “Oedipus the King” and the tragedy “Boris Godunov”. The mood in works of this type is sorrow, compassion. Since the second half of the 19th century, the tragic has been understood more and more widely. It includes everything that causes fear and horror in human life. After the spread of the philosophical doctrines of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, the existentialists gave universal meaning to the tragic. In accordance with such views, the main property human existence- this is catastrophic. Life is meaningless due to the death of individual beings. In this aspect, the tragic is reduced to a feeling of hopelessness, and those qualities that were characteristic of a strong personality (affirmation of courage, perseverance) are leveled out and not taken into account.

In a literary work, both tragic and dramatic principles can be combined with heroic. Heroics arises and is felt there and then when people take or perform active actions for the benefit of others, in the name of protecting the interests of a tribe, clan, state, or simply a group of people in need of help. People are ready to take risks and face death with dignity in the name of realizing lofty ideals. Most often, such situations occur during periods of national liberation wars or movements. Moments of heroism are reflected in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” in Prince Igor’s decision to enter into the fight against the Polovtsians. At the same time, heroic-tragic situations can also occur in Peaceful time, in moments natural Disasters arising due to the “fault” of nature (floods, earthquakes) or man himself. Accordingly, they appear in the literature. Events in folk epic, legends, epics. The hero in them is an exceptional figure, his actions are a socially significant feat. Hercules, Prometheus, Vasily Buslaev. Sacrificial heroism in the novel “War and Peace”, the poem “Vasily Terkin”. In the 1930s and 1940s, heroism was required under duress. From Gorky’s works the idea was instilled: there should be a feat in everyone’s life. In the 20th century, the literature of struggle contains heroics of resistance to lawlessness, heroics of defending the right to freedom (stories by V. Shalamov, novel by V. Maksimov “The Star of Admiral Kolchak”).

L.N. Gumilyov believed that the truly heroic could only exist at the origins of the life of the people. Any process of nation formation begins with heroic deeds small groups of people. He called these people passionaries. But crisis situations that require heroic and sacrificial achievements from people always arise. Therefore, the heroic in literature will always be significant, lofty and inescapable. An important condition Heroic, Hegel believed, is free will. A forced feat (the case of a gladiator), in his opinion, cannot be heroic.

Heroics can also be combined with romance. Romance They call an enthusiastic state of personality caused by the desire for something high, beautiful, and morally significant. The sources of romance are the ability to feel the beauty of nature, to feel part of the world, the need to respond to someone else’s pain and someone else’s joy. Natasha Rostova’s behavior often gives reason to perceive it as romantic, because of all the heroes of the novel “War and Peace,” she is the only one who has a lively nature, a positive emotional charge, and dissimilarity from secular young ladies, which the rational Andrei Bolkonsky immediately noticed.

Romance for the most part manifests itself in the sphere of personal life, revealing itself in moments of anticipation or the onset of happiness. Since happiness in people's minds is primarily associated with love, the romantic attitude most likely makes itself felt at the moment of the approach of love or hope for it. We find images of romantically minded heroes in the works of I.S. Turgenev, for example, in his story “Asya”, where the heroes (Asya and Mr. N.), close to each other in spirit and culture, experience joy, emotional uplift, which is expressed in their enthusiastic perception of nature, art and themselves, in joy communication with each other. And yet, most often, the pathos of romance is associated with an emotional experience that does not turn into action. Achieving a sublime ideal is impossible in principle. Thus, in Vysotsky’s poems, it seems to young men that they were born too late to participate in wars:

... And in basements and semi-basements

The kids wanted to see the tanks,

They didn’t even get a bullet...

The world of romance - dream, fantasy, romantic ideas are often correlated with the past, exoticism: “Borodino” by Lermontov, “Shulamith” by Kuprin, “Mtsyri” by Lermontov, “Giraffe” by Gumilyov.

The pathos of romance can appear together with other types of pathos: irony in Blok, heroism in Mayakovsky, satire in Nekrasov.

The combination of heroism and romance is possible in cases where the hero accomplishes or wants to accomplish a feat, and this is perceived by him as something sublime. Such an interweaving of heroism and romance is observed in “War and Peace” in the behavior of Petya Rostov, who was obsessed with the desire to personally take part in the fight against the French, which led to his death.

The predominant tonality in the content of the vast majority of works of art is undoubtedly dramatic. Trouble, disorder, dissatisfaction of a person in the mental sphere, in personal relationships, in social status - these are the real signs of drama in life and literature. The failed love of Tatyana Larina, Princess Mary, Katerina Kabanova and other heroines of famous works testifies to the dramatic moments of their lives.

Moral and intellectual dissatisfaction and unrealized personal potential of Chatsky, Onegin, Bazarov, Bolkonsky and others; social humiliation of Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin from the story by N.V. Gogol's "The Overcoat", as well as the Marmeladov family from the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”, many heroines from the poem by N.A. Nekrasov’s “Who Lives Well in Rus'”, almost all the characters in M. Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths” - all this serves as a source and indicator of dramatic contradictions.

Emphasizing romantic, dramatic, tragic and, of course, heroic moments in the lives of heroes and their moods in most cases becomes a form of expressing sympathy for the heroes, the way the author supports and protects them. There is no doubt that V. Shakespeare worries together with Romeo and Juliet about the circumstances that impede their love, A.S. Pushkin takes pity on Tatyana, who is not understood by Onegin, F.M. Dostoevsky mourns the fate of such girls as Dunya and Sonya, A.P. Chekhov sympathizes with the suffering of Gurov and Anna Sergeevna, who fell in love with each other very deeply and seriously, but they have no hope of uniting their destinies.

However, it happens that the depiction of romantic moods becomes a way of debunking the hero, sometimes even condemning him. So, for example, Lensky’s vague poems evoke the slight irony of A. S. Pushkin. F. M. Dostoevsky's depiction of Raskolnikov's dramatic experiences is in many ways a form of condemnation of the hero, who conceived a monstrous option for correcting his life and became confused in his thoughts and feelings.

Sentimentality is a type of pathos with a predominance of subjectivity and sensitivity. All R. In the 18th century, it was dominant in the works of Richardson, Stern, and Karamzin. He is in “The Overcoat” and “ Old world landowners”, in early Dostoevsky, in “Mu-mu”, Nekrasov’s poetry.

Much more often they play a discrediting role humor and satire. Under humor and satire in in this case another variant of emotional orientation is implied. Both in life and in art, humor and satire are generated by such characters and situations that are called comic. The essence of the comic is to discover and reveal the discrepancy between the real capabilities of people (and, accordingly, characters) and their claims, or the discrepancy between their essence and appearance. The pathos of satire is destructive, satire reveals socially significant vices, exposes deviations from the norm, and ridicules. The pathos of humor is affirming, because the subject of the humorous sensation sees not only the shortcomings of others, but also his own. Awareness of one's own shortcomings gives hope of healing (Zoshchenko, Dovlatov). Humor is an expression of optimism (“Vasily Terkin”, “Adventures good soldier Seamstress" at Hasek's).

A mocking and evaluative attitude towards comic characters and situations is called irony. Unlike the previous ones, it carries skepticism. She does not agree with the assessment of life, situation or character. In Voltaire’s story “Candide, or Optimism,” the hero with his fate refutes his own attitude: “Everything that is done is for the better.” But the opposite opinion “everything is for the worse” is not accepted. Voltaire's pathos lies in his mocking skepticism towards extreme principles. Irony can be light and non-malicious, but it can also become unkind and judgmental. Deep irony, which causes not a smile and laughter in the usual sense of the word, but a bitter experience, is called sarcasm. The reproduction of comic characters and situations, accompanied by an ironic assessment, leads to the appearance of humorous or satirical works of art: Moreover, not only works of verbal art (parodies, anecdotes, fables, stories, short stories, plays), but also drawings and sculptural images can be humorous and satirical , facial performances.

In the story by A.P. Chekhov's “The Death of an Official”, the comic is manifested in the absurd behavior of Ivan Dmitrievich Chervyakov, who, while in the theater, accidentally sneezed on the general’s bald head and was so frightened that he began to pester him with his apologies and pursued him until he aroused the general’s real anger that and led the official to death. The absurdity lies in the discrepancy between the act committed (he sneezed) and the reaction it caused (repeated attempts to explain to the general that he, Chervyakov, did not want to offend him). In this story, the funny is mixed with the sad, since such fear of a high-ranking person is a sign of the dramatic position of a small official in the system of official relations. Fear can give rise to unnaturalness in human behavior. This situation was reproduced by N.V. Gogol in the comedy "The Inspector General". The identification of serious contradictions in the behavior of heroes, giving rise to a clearly negative attitude towards them, becomes a hallmark of satire. Classic designs satire comes from the creativity of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (“How a man fed two generals”).

Grotesque(French grotesque, literally - whimsical; comical; Italian grottesco - whimsical, Italian grotta - grotto, cave) - one of the varieties of the comic, combines the terrible and funny, the ugly and the sublime in a fantastic form, and also brings together the distant, combines the incongruous , interweaves the unreal with the real, the present with the future, reveals the contradictions of reality. As a form of the comic, the grotesque differs from humor and irony in that in it the funny and amusing are inseparable from the terrible and sinister; As a rule, images of the grotesque carry a tragic meaning. In the grotesque, behind the external improbability and fantasticness, lies a deep artistic generalization of important phenomena of life. The term "grotesque" became widespread in the fifteenth century, when excavations of underground rooms (grottoes) revealed wall paintings with intricate patterns that used motifs from plant and animal life. Therefore, distorted images were originally called grotesque. As an artistic image, the grotesque is distinguished by its two-dimensionality and contrast. Grotesque is always a deviation from the norm, a convention, an exaggeration, an intentional caricature, therefore it is widely used for satirical purposes. Examples literary grotesque may serve as N.V. Gogol's story "The Nose" or "Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober" by E.T.A. Hoffmann, fairy tales and stories by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin.

To define pathos means to establish the type of attitude towards the world and man in the world.

Literature

1. Introduction to literary criticism. Fundamentals of the theory of literature: a textbook for bachelors / V. P. Meshcheryakov, A. S. Kozlov [etc.]; under general ed. V. P. Meshcheryakova. 3rd ed., revised. and additional M., 2013. pp. 33–37, 47–51.

2. Esin A. B. Principles and techniques for analyzing a literary work: Textbook. allowance. M., 1998. pp. 34–74.

additional literature

1. Gukovsky G. A. Studying a literary work at school: Methodological essays on methodology. Tula, 2000. pp. 23–36.

2. Odintsov V.V. Stylistics of the text. M., 1980. pp. 161–162.

3. Rudneva E. G. Pathos of a work of art. M., 1977.

4. Tomashevsky B.V. Theory of Literature. Poetics. M., 1996. P. 176.

5. Fedotov O.I. Introduction to literary criticism: Textbook. allowance. M., 1998. pp. 30–33.

6. Esalnek A. Ya. Fundamentals of literary criticism. Analysis of literary text: Textbook. allowance. M., 2004. pp. 10–20.

Fedotov O.I. Introduction to literary criticism. M., 1998.

Sierotwiński S. Słownik terminów literackich. S. 161.

Tomashevsky B.V. Theories of literature. Poetics. M., 1996. P. 176.

Esalnek A.Ya. Fundamentals of literary criticism. Analysis of a work of art: Tutorial. M., 2004. P. 11.

Esin A.B. Principles and techniques of analyzing a literary work: Textbook. M., 1998. pp. 36-40.

Adamovich G. Report on Gogol // Berberova N. People and Lodges. Russian Masons of the 20th century. – Kharkov: “Kaleidoscope”; M.: “Progress-Tradition”, 1997. P. 219.

A logically formulated general thought about a class of objects or phenomena; idea of something. The concept of time.

Dostoevsky F.M. Collection of works: In 30 volumes. T. 28. Book 2. P.251.

Odintsov V.V. Stylistics of the text. M., 1980. S. 161-162.

Gukovsky G.A. Studying a literary work at school. M.; L., 1966. P.100-101.

Gukovsky G.A. P.101, 103.

Companion A. Demon theory. M., 2001. P. 56-112.

Chernets L.V. A literary work as an artistic unity // Introduction to literary criticism / Ed. L.V. Chernets. M., 1999. P. 174.

Esalnek A. Ya. S. 13-22.

When analyzing a work of art, it is always important not only what the author wanted to say in it, but also what he accomplished - “had an impact.” The writer’s plan may be realized to a greater or lesser extent, but it is the author’s point of view in assessing the characters, events, and problems raised that should be the ultimate truth in the analysis

Definition of the concept

Illustrative examples

Let us recall one of the masterpieces of Russian and world literature of the 19th century - L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”. What the author said about him: he loved “folk thought” in the book. What are the main ideas of the work? This is, first of all, a statement that the people are the main asset of the country, driving force history, creator of material and spiritual values. In the light of this understanding, the author develops the narrative of the epic. Tolstoy persistently leads the main characters of “War and Peace” through a series of tests, to “simplification”, to familiarization with the people’s worldview, worldview, and worldview. So, Natasha Rostova is much closer and more expensive for the writer and to us than Helen Kuragina or Julie Karagina. Natasha is far from being as beautiful as the first, and not as rich as the second. But it is in this “countess”, who hardly speaks Russian, that there is something primordial, national, natural that makes her similar to the common people. And Tolstoy sincerely admires her during the dance (episode “Visiting Uncle”), and describes her in such a way that we too fall under the amazing charm of the image. The author's idea of the work is remarkably revealed using examples from Pierre Bezukhov. Both aristocrats, who at the beginning of the novel live with their own personal problems, each go through their own paths of spiritual and moral quest. And they also begin to live in the interests of their country and the common people.

Cause-and-effect relationships

The idea of a work of art is expressed by all its elements, the interaction and unity of all components. It can be considered a conclusion, a kind of “life lesson” that the reader makes and learns when joining literary text, getting acquainted with its content, imbued with the thoughts and feelings of the author. Here it is important to understand that parts of the writer’s soul exist not only in positive, but also negative heroes. In this regard, F. M. Dostoevsky said very well: in each of us, the “ideal of Sodom” is fighting with the “ideal of Madonna,” “God with the devil,” and the battlefield of this battle is human heart. Svidrigailov from Crime and Punishment is a very revealing personality. A libertine, a cynic, a scoundrel, in fact a murderer; sometimes pity, compassion and even some decency are not alien to him. And before committing suicide, the hero does several good deeds: he settles Katerina Ivanovna’s children, lets Dunya go... And Raskolnikov himself, the main character of the work, obsessed with the idea of becoming a superman, is also torn by conflicting thoughts and feelings. Dostoevsky, a very difficult person in everyday life, reveals in his heroes different sides and your "I". From biographical sources about the writer we know that in different periods He played a lot in his life. Impressions of the destructive impact of this destructive passion are reflected in the novel “The Gambler.”

Theme and idea

There remains one more important question to consider - how the theme and idea of the work relate. In a nutshell, this is explained as follows: the theme is what is described in the book, the idea is the author’s assessment and attitude towards it. Let's say Pushkin's story “The Station Agent”. It reveals the life of a “little man” - powerless, oppressed by everyone, but having a heart, soul, dignity and awareness of himself as part of a society that looks down on him. This is the topic. And the idea is to reveal the moral superiority of a small person with a rich inner world over those who are above him on the social ladder, but are poor in soul.

What is the theme of the work? Theme and idea of ​​a work of art.