Baroque literature - what is it? Stylistic features of baroque literature. Baroque literature in Russia: examples, writers

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Baroque is an artistic movement that developed in the early 17th century. Translated from Italian, the term means "bizarre", "strange". This direction touched different types of art and, above all, architecture. And what are the characteristics of baroque literature?

A bit of history

The leading position in the social and political life of Europe in the seventeenth century was occupied by the church. Evidence of this is outstanding architectural monuments. It was necessary to strengthen church power with the help of artistic images. Something bright, pretentious, even somewhat intrusive was required. This is how a new artistic direction was born, the birthplace of which was the then cultural center of Europe - Italy.

This direction began its development in painting and architecture, but later covered other types of art. Writers and poets did not stay away from new trends in culture. A new direction was born - baroque literature (emphasis onsecond syllable).

Works in the Baroque style were designed to glorify the authorities and the church. In many countries, this trend was developed as a kind of court art. However, later varieties of Baroque were distinguished. There were also specific features of this style. The most active development of the Baroque was in Catholic countries.

Key Features

The aspirations of the Catholic Church to strengthen its power was perfectly matched by art, the characteristic features of which were grace, pomposity, sometimes exaggerated expressiveness. In literature, this is pathos, attention to sensuality and, oddly enough, the bodily principle. A distinctive feature of baroque art is the combination of the sublime and the earth.

Varieties

Baroque literature is a collection of works of art that can be opposed to the classic. Moliere, Racine and Corneille created their creations in accordance with strict standards. In the works written by representatives of such a trend as baroque literature, there are metaphors, symbols, antitheses, and gradation. They are characterized by illusory nature, the use of various means of expression.

Baroque literature subsequently split into several varieties:

• Marinism;
• gongorism;
• conceptism;
• Euphuism.

Trying to understand the features of each of these areas is not worth it. A few words should be said about whatare the stylistic features of baroque literature, who are its main representatives.

Baroque aesthetics

In the Renaissance, the idea of humanism began to appear in literature. The dark medieval worldview was replaced by an awareness of the value of the human person. In the Age of Enlightenment, scientific, philosophical and social thought actively developed. But before there was such a direction as baroque literature. What's this? We can say that Baroque literature is a kind of transitional link. She replaced the Renaissance poetics, but did not become its negation.

Baroque aesthetics is based on the clash of two opposing views. The works of this artistic movement bizarrely combine faith in human capabilities and belief in the omnipotence of the natural world. They reflect both ideological and sensual needs. What is the main theme in the creations created within the framework of the “baroque literature” direction? Writers did not give preference to a particular point of view regarding the place of man in society and the world. Their ideas vacillated between hedonism and asceticism, earth and heaven, God and the devil. Another characteristic feature of Baroque literature is the return of antique motifs.

Baroque literature, examples of which can be found not only in Italian, but also in Spanish, French, Polish and Russian cultures, is based on the principle of combining the incongruous. The authors combined in theirart of various genres. Their main task was to surprise, stun the reader. Strange paintings, unusual scenes, a heap of various images, a combination of secularism and religiosity - all these are features of Baroque literature.

Worldview

The Baroque era does not abandon the humanistic ideas inherent in the Renaissance. But these ideas take on a certain tragic connotation. Baroque man is full of conflicting thoughts. He is ready to fight against his passions and the forces of the social environment.

An important idea of the Baroque worldview is also the combination of real and fictional, ideal and earthly. Authors who created their works in this style often showed a tendency to disharmony, grotesqueness, exaggeration.

External feature of baroque art is a special understanding of beauty. Pretentiousness of forms, splendor, splendor are the characteristic features of this trend.

Heroes

A typical character of baroque works is a person with a strong will, nobility, and the ability to think rationally. For example, the heroes of Calderon, a Spanish playwright, one of the brightest representatives of baroque literature, are seized with a thirst for knowledge, a desire for justice.

Europe

Representatives of Italian baroque literature are Jacopo Sannadzor, Tebeldeo, Tasso, Guarini. In the works of these authors there is pretentiousness, ornamentalism, verbal play and attraction to mythological subjects.

The main representative of the SpanishBaroque literature is Luis de Gongora, after whom one of the varieties of this artistic movement is named.

Other representatives - B altasar Gracian, Alonso de Ledesmo, Francisco de Quevedo. It should be said that, having originated in Italy, the Baroque aesthetics subsequently received active development in Spain. Features of this literary trend are also present in prose. Suffice it to recall the famous Don Quixote. The hero of Cervantes lives partly in a world he has imagined. The misadventures of the Knight of the Sad Image are reminiscent of the journey of a Homeric character. But there is grotesqueness and comedy in the book of the Spanish writer.

The Simplicissimus by Grimelshausen is a monument of baroque literature. This novel, which may seem rather eccentric and not without comedy to contemporaries, reflects the tragic events in the history of Germany, namely the Thirty Years' War. In the center of the plot is a simple young man who is on an endless journey and experiences both sad and funny adventures.

Precise literature was predominantly popular in France during this period.

In Poland, baroque literature is represented by such names as Zbigniew Morsztyn, Vespasian Kochowski, Vaclav Potocki.

Russia

S. Polotsky and F. Prokopovich are representatives of Russian baroque literature. This trend has become somewhat official. BaroqueLiterature in Russia found its expression primarily in court poetry, but it developed somewhat differently than in Western European countries. The fact is that, as you know, the Baroque replaced the Renaissance, which was almost unknown in Russia. The literary direction referred to in this article had little difference from the artistic direction inherent in the culture of the Renaissance.

Simeon of Polotsk

This poet strove to reproduce various concepts and ideas in his poems. Polotsky gave logic to poetry and even brought it somewhat closer to science. Collections of his works resemble encyclopedic dictionaries. His works are mainly devoted to various social issues.

What poetic works does the modern reader perceive? Certainly more recent. What is dearer to a Russian person - baroque literature or the Silver Age? Most likely the second. Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Gumilyov… Polotsky's creations can hardly give pleasure to today's poetry lover. This author wrote a number of moralizing poems. It is quite difficult to perceive them today due to the abundance of obsolete grammatical forms and archaisms. "A man is a certain wine-drinker" - a phrase, a meaning that not every one of our contemporaries will understand.

Baroque literature, like other forms of art in this style, set the mood for freedom of choice of means of expression. The works were distinguished by the complexity of forms. And in them, as a rule, there was a pessimism caused by the belief inpowerlessness of man against external forces. At the same time, awareness of the frailty of the world was combined with a desire to overcome the crisis. With the help of literary works, an attempt was made to cognize the higher mind, to comprehend the place of man in the expanses of the universe.

The Baroque style was the product of political and social upheavals. It is sometimes seen as an attempt to restore the medieval world view. However, this style occupies an important place in the history of literature, and above all because it became the basis for the development of later movements.