The basis of romanticism of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was the denial of modern reality and the opposition to it of the world of fantasy, the world of human dreams.
Romanticism originally emerged in Germany in the late 18th century. Its first representatives were the poet Novalis, the Schlegel brothers, the poet and playwright Tieck, and the philosopher Schelling. The main genres of romanticism are novels (including philosophical ones), fairy tales, and ballads. Romanticism values spontaneous creativity, and hence its passion for folklore: for folk art itself and for collecting it. One of the first collectors of folk tales were the Brothers Grimm.
Romanticism developed not only in Germany. In England, Romanticism was represented by Byron. The features of his romantic poetry are a disappointed hero, a denial of modern reality. In France, the romantics were Germaine de Stael and Chateaubriand. Later, Romanticism was represented both in poetry and in prose and in plays by Victor Hugo.
The romantic trend in Russian literature (as well as in Western literature) was not homogeneous. Russian romanticism developed in two directions: contemplative (Zhukovsky) and revolutionary - the Decembrist poets (Ryleev, A. Odoevsky, Kuchelbecker). Both types of romanticism differed in their ideal and goals. Contemplative romanticism saw happiness not in external conditions, but in the person himself, in the affirmation of high moral virtues in a person, revolutionary - strove to transform the world, glorified civic virtues, the heroic principle. Both directions were united by a departure from modern reality, the recreation in art of a counterbalance to modernity, the anti-world, the ideal world of art. From the second half of the 20s of the 19th century, another direction of romanticism emerged - philosophical romanticism. He is represented by poets of wisdom (Venevitinov, Khomyakov, Shevyrev, Tyutchev, in prose - Vladimir Odoevsky). In their work they strive to combine poetry with philosophy. A typically romantic work was the philosophical novel “Russian Nights” by Vladimir Odoevsky. This is a reflective novel, a novel based on philosophical dialogues.
However, different movements in romanticism had not only differences, but also similarities. This similarity allowed different movements to be called equally romanticism. What was it?
Romantic art has always gravitated toward depicting the unusual, the fantastic, and not the everyday. The heroes of romantic works were most often unusual, and the circumstances in which they found themselves were also unusual. A romantic hero is a dreamer, immersed in himself and his thoughts. These are the heroes of some of Zhukovsky’s ballads. No less often, this is a person opposed to the ordinary people around him, in conflict with them, representing a bright personality, a strong character. These are the heroes of Ryleev’s romantic poems.
All romantic poets and writers are also characterized by an attraction to folk art, to folk poetic forms. In their work, romantics often turned to folk tales and legends; they especially loved those genres that are also found in folklore: fairy tales, songs.
Romantics showed a keen interest in the past, in history. At the same time, often, when developing historical subjects, they expressed not so much thoughts about the past as about the present. The romantic heroes themselves often taught the reader life lessons and moral lessons (in the thoughts of Ryleev, for example).
So, the distinctive features of romanticism can be called the following:
unusualness, exoticism in the depiction of events, landscapes, people
rejection of the prosaic nature of life, expression of an attitude characterized by daydreaming, idealization of reality, cult of freedom
striving for ideal, perfection
strong, bright, sublime image of a romantic hero
depiction of a romantic hero in exceptional circumstances (in a tragic duel with fate)
Romanticism, like other movements, does not disappear once and for all. Having disappeared once, it is repeated or partially repeated on new soil. Thus, at the end of the 19th century it re-emerged in the poetry of the Symbolists.
Romanticism as a literary movement arose in Europe at the end of the 18th century. One of the main reasons for this was the fact that this era was a time of great upheaval both in Russia and throughout Europe. In 1789, the Great French Revolution occurred, which only ended completely in 1814. It consisted of a number of significant events, which ultimately led to a whole literary revolution, as the human mentality changed.
Prerequisites for the emergence of romanticism
Firstly, the French revolution was based on the ideas of the Enlightenment; the slogan Freedom, equality and fraternity was put forward! A person began to be valued as an individual, and not just as a member of society and a servant of the state, people believed that they themselves could control their own destiny. Secondly, many people who were apologists of classicism realized that the real course of history is sometimes beyond the control of reason - the main value of classicism; too many unforeseen turns arose there. Also, in accordance with the new slogan, people began to understand that the structure of the world they were accustomed to could actually be hostile for a particular person and could interfere with his personal freedom.
Features and traits of romanticism
Thus, there is a need for a new, relevant direction in the literature. It became romanticism, the main conflict of which is the conflict between the individual and society. The romantic hero is strong, bright, independent and rebellious, but usually finds himself alone, because the surrounding society is unable to understand and accept him. He is one against everyone, he is always in a state of struggle. But this hero, despite his inconsistency with the world around him, is not negative.
Romantic writers do not set out to derive some kind of morality from their work, to determine where it is good and where it is bad. They describe reality very subjectively, their focus is on the rich inner world of the hero, which explains his actions.
The following features of romanticism can be distinguished:
- 1) Autobiography of the writer in the main character,
- 2) Attention to the hero’s inner world,
- 3) The personality of the main character contains many mysteries and secrets,
- 4) The hero is very bright, but at the same time, no one manages to understand him completely
Manifestations of Romanticism in Literature
The most striking manifestations of romanticism in literature were in two European countries, England and Germany. German romanticism is usually called mystical; it describes the behavior of a hero defeated by society; the main writer here was Schiller. English romanticism was most actively used by Byron; this is freedom-loving romanticism, preaching the idea of the struggle of an misunderstood hero.
For Russia, such an impetus for the emergence of romanticism was the Patriotic War of 1812, when Russian soldiers went to Europe and saw with their own eyes the life of foreigners (for many this came as a shock), as well as the Decembrist uprising in 1825, which excited all Russian minds. However, this factor was rather final, since even before 1825 many writers followed the traditions of romanticism - for example, Pushkin in his Southern poems (this was created in 1820-24).
V. Zhukovsky and K. Batyushkov became apologists of romanticism in Russia, back in 1801 - 1815. This is the time of the dawn of romanticism in Russia and in the world. You may also be interested in learning about the topics and
The era of romanticism occupies an important place in world art. This trend existed for a fairly short amount of time in the history of literature, painting and music, but left a big mark in the formation of trends, the creation of images and plots. We invite you to take a closer look at this phenomenon.
Romanticism is an artistic movement in culture, characterized by the depiction of strong passions, an ideal world and the struggle of the individual with society.
The word “romanticism” itself initially had the meaning of “mystical”, “unusual”, but later acquired a slightly different meaning: “different”, “new”, “progressive”.
History of origin
The period of romanticism occurred at the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. The crisis of classicism and the excessive journalisticism of the Enlightenment led to a transition from the cult of reason to the cult of feeling. The connecting link between classicism and romanticism was sentimentalism, in which feeling became rational and natural. He became a kind of source of a new direction. The romantics went further and completely immersed themselves in irrational thoughts.
The origins of romanticism began to emerge in Germany, where by that time the literary movement “Storm and Drang” was popular. Its adherents expressed quite radical ideas, which contributed to the development of a romantic rebellious attitude among them. The development of romanticism continued in France, Russia, England, the USA and other countries. Caspar David Friedrich is considered the founder of romanticism in painting. The founder of Russian literature is Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky.
The main movements of romanticism were folklore (based on folk art), Byronic (melancholy and loneliness), grotesque-fantastic (depiction of an unreal world), utopian (search for an ideal) and Voltairean (description of historical events).
Main features and principles
The main characteristic of romanticism is the predominance of feeling over reason. From reality, the author takes the reader to an ideal world or he himself yearns for it. Hence another sign - dual worlds, created according to the principle of “romantic antithesis”.
Romanticism can rightfully be considered an experimental movement in which fantastic images are skillfully woven into works. Escapism, that is, escape from reality, is achieved by motives of the past or immersion in mysticism. The author chooses fantasy, the past, exoticism or folklore as a means of escaping reality.
Displaying human emotions through nature is another feature of romanticism. If we talk about originality in the depiction of a person, then often he appears to the reader as lonely, atypical. The motive of the “superfluous man” appears, a rebel disillusioned with civilization and fighting against the elements.
Philosophy
The spirit of romanticism was imbued with the category of the sublime, that is, the contemplation of beauty. Adherents of the new era tried to rethink religion, explaining it as a feeling of infinity, and put the idea of \u200b\u200bthe inexplicability of mystical phenomena above the ideas of atheism.
The essence of romanticism was the struggle of man against society, the predominance of sensuality over rationality.
How did romanticism manifest itself?
In art, romanticism manifested itself in all areas except architecture.
In music
Romantic composers looked at music in a new way. The melodies sounded the motif of loneliness, much attention was paid to conflict and dual worlds, with the help of a personal tone, the authors added autobiography to their works for self-expression, new techniques were used: for example, expanding the timbre palette of sound.
As in literature, interest in folklore appeared here, and fantastic images were added to operas. The main genres in musical romanticism were the previously unpopular song and miniature, which were transferred from classicism to opera and overture, as well as poetic genres: fantasy, ballad and others. The most famous representatives of this movement are Tchaikovsky, Schubert and Liszt. Examples of works: Berlioz “A Fantastic Story”, Mozart “The Magic Flute” and others.
In painting
The aesthetics of romanticism has its own unique character. The most popular genre in Romanticism paintings is landscape. For example, for one of the most famous representatives of Russian romanticism, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, this is the stormy sea element (“Sea with a ship”). One of the first romantic artists, Caspar David Friedrich, introduced third-person landscape into painting, showing a person from the back against the backdrop of mysterious nature and creating the feeling that we are looking through the eyes of this character (examples of works: “Two Contemplating the Moon”, “Rocky Mountains”) shores of Ryugin Island"). The superiority of nature over man and his loneliness is especially felt in the painting “Monk on the Seashore.”
Fine art in the era of romanticism became experimental. William Turner preferred to create canvases with sweeping strokes, with almost imperceptible details (“Blizzard. Steamboat at the entrance to the harbor”). In turn, the harbinger of realism Theodore Gericault also painted paintings that bear little resemblance to images of real life. For example, in the painting “The Raft of Medusa,” people dying of hunger look like athletic heroes. If we talk about still lifes, then all the objects in the paintings are staged and cleaned (Charles Thomas Bale “Still Life with Grapes”).
In literature
If in the Age of Enlightenment, with rare exceptions, lyrical and lyric epic genres were absent, then in romanticism they play a major role. The works are distinguished by their imagery and originality of plot. Either this is an embellished reality, or these are completely fantastic situations. The hero of romanticism has exceptional qualities that influence his fate. Books written two centuries ago are still in demand not only among schoolchildren and students, but also among all interested readers. Examples of works and representatives of the movement are presented below.
Abroad
Among the poets of the early 19th century are Heinrich Heine (the collection “The Book of Songs”), William Wordsworth (“Lyrical Ballads”), Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, as well as George Noel Gordon Byron, the author of the poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.” The historical novels of Walter Scott (for example, "", "Quentin Durward"), the novels of Jane Austen (""), the poems and stories of Edgar Allan Poe ("", ""), the stories of Washington Irving ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow") have gained great popularity ") and the tales of one of the first representatives of romanticism, Ernest Theodore Amadeus Hoffmann ("The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", "").
Also known are the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (“Tales of the Ancient Mariner”) and Alfred de Musset (“Confessions of a Son of the Century”). It is remarkable with what ease the reader gets from the real world to the fictional one and back, as a result of which they both merge into one whole. This is partly achieved by the simple language of many works and the relaxed narration of such unusual things.
In Russia
Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky is considered the founder of Russian romanticism (elegy "", ballad ""). From the school curriculum, everyone is familiar with Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov’s poem “,” where special attention is paid to the motif of loneliness. It was not for nothing that the poet was called the Russian Byron. The philosophical lyrics of Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev, the early poems and poems of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, the poetry of Konstantin Nikolaevich Batyushkov and Nikolai Mikhailovich Yazykov - all this had a great influence on the development of domestic romanticism.
The early work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is also presented in this direction (for example, mystical stories from the “”) cycle. It is interesting that romanticism in Russia developed in parallel with classicism and sometimes these two directions did not contradict each other too sharply.
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You will find out who the representatives of romanticism in literature were by reading this article.
Representatives of romanticism in literature
Romanticism is an ideological and artistic movement that arose in American and European culture at the end of the 18th century - beginning of the 19th century, as a reaction to the aesthetics of classicism. Romanticism first developed in the 1790s in German poetry and philosophy, and later spread to France, England and other countries.
Basic ideas of romanticism– recognition of the values of spiritual and creative life, the right to freedom and independence. In literature, heroes have a rebellious, strong character, and the plots are characterized by intense passions.
The main representatives of romanticism in Russian literature of the 19th century
Russian romanticism combined the human personality, enclosed in a beautiful and mysterious world of harmony, high feelings and beauty. Representatives of this romanticism in their works depicted a non-real world and a main character filled with experiences and thoughts.
- Representatives of English Romanticism
The works are distinguished by gloomy Gothic, religious content, elements of the culture of the working class, national folklore and peasant class. The peculiarity of English romanticism is that the authors describe in detail travel, journeys to distant lands, as well as their exploration. The most famous authors and works: “Childe Harold’s Travels”, “Manfred” and “Oriental Poems”, “Ivanhoe”.
- Representatives of Romanticism in Germany
The development of German romanticism in literature was influenced by philosophy, which promoted freedom and individualism of the individual. The works are filled with reflections on the existence of man, his soul. They are also distinguished by mythological and fairy-tale motifs. The most famous authors and works: fairy tales, short stories and novels, fairy tales, works.
- Representatives of American Romanticism
In American literature, romanticism developed much later than in Europe. Literary works are divided into 2 types - eastern (supporters of plantation) and abolitionist (those who support the rights of slaves and their emancipation). They are filled with intense feelings of struggle for independence, equality and freedom. Representatives of American romanticism - (“The Fall of the House of Usher”, (“Ligeia”), Washington Irving (“The Phantom Bridegroom”, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”), Nathaniel Hawthorne (“The House of the Seven Gables”, “The Scarlet Letter”), Fenimore Cooper ("The Last of the Mohicans"), Harriet Beecher Stowe ("Uncle Tom's Cabin"), ("The Legend of Hiawatha"), Herman Melville ("Typee", "Moby Dick") and (poetry collection "Leaves of Grass") .
We hope that from this article you learned everything about the most prominent representatives of the movement of romanticism in literature.
Romanticism - (French romantisme, from the medieval French romant - novel) is a direction in art that was formed within the framework of a general literary movement at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. in Germany. It has become widespread in all countries of Europe and America. The highest peak of romanticism occurred in the first quarter of the 19th century.
The French word romantisme goes back to the Spanish romance (in the Middle Ages, this was the name for Spanish romances, and then a chivalric romance), the English romantic, which turned into 18th century. in romantique and then meaning “strange”, “fantastic”, “picturesque”. At the beginning of the 19th century. Romanticism becomes the designation of a new direction, opposite to classicism.
Entering into the antithesis of “classicism” - “romanticism,” the movement suggested contrasting the classicist demand for rules with romantic freedom from rules. The center of the artistic system of romanticism is the individual, and its main conflict is the individual and society. The decisive prerequisite for the development of romanticism were the events of the Great French Revolution. The emergence of romanticism is associated with the anti-enlightenment movement, the reasons for which lie in disappointment in civilization, in social, industrial, political and scientific progress, the result of which was new contrasts and contradictions, leveling and spiritual devastation of the individual.
The Enlightenment preached the new society as the most “natural” and “reasonable”. The best minds of Europe substantiated and foreshadowed this society of the future, but reality turned out to be beyond the control of “reason,” the future became unpredictable, irrational, and the modern social order began to threaten human nature and his personal freedom. Rejection of this society, protest against lack of spirituality and selfishness is already reflected in sentimentalism and pre-romanticism. Romanticism expresses this rejection most acutely. Romanticism also opposed the Age of Enlightenment in verbal terms: the language of romantic works, striving to be natural, “simple”, accessible to all readers, was something opposite to the classics with its noble, “sublime” themes, characteristic, for example, of classical tragedy.
Among the late Western European romantics, pessimism in relation to society acquires cosmic proportions and becomes the “disease of the century.” The heroes of many romantic works are characterized by moods of hopelessness and despair, which acquire a universal human character. Perfection is lost forever, the world is ruled by evil, ancient chaos is resurrected. The theme of the “terrible world”, characteristic of all romantic literature, was most clearly embodied in the so-called “black genre” (in the pre-romantic “Gothic novel” - A. Radcliffe, C. Maturin, in the “drama of rock”, or “tragedy of rock” - Z. Werner, G. Kleist, F. Grillparzer), as well as in the works of Byron, C. Brentano, E. T. A. Hoffmann, E. Poe and N. Hawthorne.
At the same time, romanticism is based on ideas that challenge the “terrible world” - above all, the ideas of freedom. The disappointment of romanticism is a disappointment in reality, but progress and civilization are only one side of it. Rejection of this side, lack of faith in the possibilities of civilization provide another path, the path to the ideal, to the eternal, to the absolute. This path must resolve all contradictions and completely change life. This is the path to perfection, “towards a goal, the explanation of which must be sought on the other side of the visible” (A. De Vigny). For some romantics, the world is dominated by incomprehensible and mysterious forces that must be obeyed and not try to change fate (Chateaubriand, V.A. Zhukovsky). For others, “world evil” caused protest, demanded revenge and struggle (early A.S. Pushkin). What they had in common was that they all saw in man a single essence, the task of which is not at all limited to solving everyday problems. On the contrary, without denying everyday life, the romantics sought to unravel the mystery of human existence, turning to nature, trusting their religious and poetic feelings.
A romantic hero is a complex, passionate personality, whose inner world is unusually deep and endless; it is a whole universe full of contradictions. Romantics were interested in all passions, both high and low, which were opposed to each other. High passion is love in all its manifestations, low passion is greed, ambition, envy. The romantics contrasted the life of the spirit, especially religion, art, and philosophy, with the base material practice. Interest in strong and vivid feelings, all-consuming passions, and secret movements of the soul are characteristic features of romanticism.
We can talk about romance as a special type of personality - a person of strong passions and high aspirations, incompatible with the everyday world. Exceptional circumstances accompany this nature. Fantasy, folk music, poetry, legends become attractive to romantics - everything that for a century and a half was considered as minor genres, not worthy of attention. Romanticism is characterized by the affirmation of freedom, the sovereignty of the individual, increased attention to the individual, the unique in man, and the cult of the individual. Confidence in a person’s self-worth turns into a protest against the fate of history. Often the hero of a romantic work becomes an artist who is capable of creatively perceiving reality. The classicist “imitation of nature” is contrasted with the creative energy of the artist who transforms reality. A special world is created, more beautiful and real than the empirically perceived reality. It is creativity that is the meaning of existence; it represents the highest value of the universe. Romantics passionately defended the creative freedom of the artist, his imagination, believing that the genius of the artist does not obey the rules, but creates them.
Romantics turned to various historical eras, they were attracted by their originality, attracted by exotic and mysterious countries and circumstances. Interest in history became one of the enduring achievements of the artistic system of romanticism. He expressed himself in the creation of the genre of the historical novel, the founder of which is considered to be W. Scott, and the novel in general, which acquired a leading position in the era under consideration. Romantics reproduce in detail and accurately the historical details, background, and flavor of a particular era, but romantic characters are given outside of history; they, as a rule, are above circumstances and do not depend on them. At the same time, the romantics perceived the novel as a means of comprehending history, and from history they went to penetrate into the secrets of psychology, and, accordingly, of modernity. Interest in history was also reflected in the works of historians of the French romantic school (A. Thierry, F. Guizot, F. O. Meunier).
It was in the era of Romanticism that the discovery of the culture of the Middle Ages took place, and the admiration for antiquity, characteristic of the previous era, also did not weaken at the end of the 18th - beginning. XIX centuries The diversity of national, historical, and individual characteristics also had a philosophical meaning: the wealth of a single world whole consists of the totality of these individual features, and the study of the history of each people separately makes it possible to trace, as Burke put it, uninterrupted life through new generations succeeding one after another.
The era of Romanticism was marked by the flourishing of literature, one of the distinctive properties of which was a passion for social and political problems. Trying to comprehend the role of man in ongoing historical events, romantic writers gravitated toward accuracy, specificity, and authenticity. At the same time, the action of their works often takes place in an unusual setting for a European - for example, in the East and America, or, for Russians, in the Caucasus or Crimea. Thus, romantic poets are primarily lyricists and poets of nature, and therefore in their work (as well as in many prose writers), landscape occupies a significant place - first of all, the sea, mountains, sky, stormy elements with which the hero is associated complex relationships. Nature can be akin to the passionate nature of a romantic hero, but it can also resist him, turn out to be a hostile force with which he is forced to fight.
Unusual and vivid pictures of nature, life, way of life and customs of distant countries and peoples also inspired the romantics. They were looking for the traits that constitute the fundamental basis of the national spirit. National identity is manifested primarily in oral folk art. Hence the interest in folklore, the processing of folklore works, the creation of their own works based on folk art.
The development of the genres of the historical novel, fantastic story, lyric-epic poem, ballad is the merit of the romantics. Their innovation was also manifested in lyrics, in particular, in the use of polysemy of words, the development of associativity, metaphor, and discoveries in the field of versification, meter, and rhythm.
Romanticism is characterized by a synthesis of genders and genres, their interpenetration. The romantic art system was based on a synthesis of art, philosophy, and religion. For example, for a thinker like Herder, linguistic research, philosophical doctrines, and travel notes serve the search for ways to revolutionize culture. Much of the achievements of romanticism were inherited by realism of the 19th century. - a penchant for fantasy, the grotesque, a mixture of high and low, tragic and comic, the discovery of “subjective man.”
In the era of romanticism, not only literature flourished, but also many sciences: sociology, history, political science, chemistry, biology, evolutionary doctrine, philosophy (Hegel, D. Hume, I. Kant, Fichte, natural philosophy, the essence of which boils down to the fact that nature - one of the garments of God, “the living garment of the Divine”).
Romanticism is a cultural phenomenon in Europe and America. In different countries, his fate had its own characteristics.
