Imagism in literature: definition and features. Representatives of Imagism in Russian Literature of the 20th Century

Imagism as a literary trend in Russia was formed in the 1910s. It was connected with the inability of the cultural system of that time to respond to new challenges that emerged in the transition period with its rapidly growing rhythm of life. The disintegration of the familiar picture of the world and the emergence of an alternative with particular acuity affected the entire literary and artistic process. First of all, it concerned young artists and poets.

The origin of the term "Imagism"

The very term "Imagism" in literature is a borrowing from the avant-garde school of poetry in England. This school was called Imagism. We will tell briefly about it. In the Russian press, the first information about the British imaginations appeared in 1915. It was then that the article "The English Futurists" ZA was published in the collection "Sagittarius". Wengerova. It spoke of a poetic group from London, led by T. Hume, E. Pound, R. Oldington, T. Eliot.

Imagism, which appeared in England in the 1910s, set itself a definite artistic task. It was not abstract-poetic, but concrete and vital-it was necessary to reproduce reality directly. Patterned, worn poetic clichés the imagists contrasted "fresh", unusual images (in English - image, where the name of this school came from). They sought to update the poetic language. This was reflected in their theories of free verse, the image.

When did Imagism arise in Russian literature?

The term "imamzhionizm" in Russia appeared in the book "Green Street ..." V.G. Shershenevich, published in 1916. In it, the author, who has not yet broken ties with futurism, has called himself so. Shershenevich paid special attention to the content of the poetic image, and not to its form. It was he who became the main ideologist of the new trend. In 1918, Shershenevich declared about the appearance of "Imagianism" as a phenomenon broader than futurism. The modern term has been fixed since 1919. From that time on, the notions of "Imagists" and "Imagism" often appeared in literature. A brief definition of the latter can be given the following: the literary trend that affirmed the main role of the verbal image over the idea, the meaning that came to replace Russian Futurism.

"Declaration" of the Imagists

Imagism in the literature of our country played a significant role. In all known encyclopedias there were articles about him. The group of Imagists, formed at that time, made a bet on imagery. It was she who was considered the main feature of poetic creativity. In 1919 in the journal Sirena was published "Declaration" - the first manifesto of a new direction. Poets argued that the identification of life with the help of the image and its rhythm is the only law of all art, its incomparable method. In this document the creative program of the adherents of the new trend was presented. It was argued that in the structure of a work of art, the key is the image. His theory built the whole program. From the text of the "Declaration" we learn that Imagism in literature has the following basis: a specific understanding by its representatives of the role of the aesthetic impact of the image. It is the impression of the last, artificially constructed, is the defining one in poetry.

"2x2 = 5"

Another theoretical justification for the new direction is Shershenevich's treatise (pictured above) under the name "2x2 = 5". His author saw poetry as akin to mathematics. It seemed unnecessary to any attempts to interpret the text, except for the author's. For the appearance of the image, the principle of equality of the impure and pure was affirmed. This turned into at times frankly carnal images.

Language from the point of view of imagination

His vision of the language was suggested by those who created Imagism in literature. His representatives formulated the idea that the language of poetry is unique. At an early stage of development, they believed, he was all imbued with figurative ideas. Therefore representatives of imagism in Russian literature considered it logical to study the origins of the language. In this way they wanted to find the original images of different words. Moreover, analyzing the traditional word formation and language properties, they began to create images themselves. However, the researcher DL. Shukurov notes that the way the Imagists understood the artistic word is nominalistic and extremely rationalized.

Striving for the original imagery of the word

Representatives of the new direction declared their main goal is a unique image, and not just an unusual word. V.G. Shershenevich reinterpreted the experience of the futurists, in particular, the theory of "abstruse poetry" created by them. He created another version of the concept of the so-called "self-written word." Under the latter should be understood the basis of the triad of the works of AA. Potebni on linguistics.

The scientist within the word singled out its content (the "inner form"), the original imagery and the external form. Rejecting the formal-sound and content aspects, the Imagists focused their attention specifically on imagery. They were eager to saturate her works as much as possible. However, at the same time the Imaginists sought that the images were not often encountered.

The lack of unity among the Imagists

In poetic matters, despite the existence of some community, there was no absolute unity among the representatives of the new direction. Companions and friends in life, they were adherents of completely different approaches to creativity (in the photo in the center - Yesenin, on the left - Marienhof, on the right - Kusikov).

It is hardly possible to characterize in detail the imagism in the literature of the 20th century. The school consisted of poets who had very diverse theoretical views and features of creativity, different both in literary and in social relations. Between Marienhof and Shershenevich, on the one hand, and Kusikov and Yesenin, on the other, one can find more differences than similarities. Imaginism of the former is urban and urban, and the second one is rustic. Both these streams express the being and psychology of different social groups that collided during the declassation. All this makes it difficult to answer the question "What is Imagism in Literature?". The definition of its characteristic features sometimes leads to the identification of opposites.

Poetry of Marienhof and Shershenevich

The poetry of Mariengof (his photo is presented above) and Shershenevich is a product of urban declassed intelligentsia, which lost its soil. She found her last refuge and social ties in bohemia. The creativity of these poets is a picture of emptiness and decay. The declarative appeals of Mariengof and Shershenevich to the joy are powerless. Decadent eroticism is filled with their poetry. The themes that are revealed in it are associated with deeply personal experiences. They are full of pessimism, which was due to the rejection of these poets by the October Revolution.

The nature of Yesenin's imagination

The nature of Yesenin's imagination is completely different. He was representative of the well-to-do rustic peasantry, the kulaks, which was also declassed. True, in his work you can see a passive attitude to the world. However, the prerequisites for it were completely different. Imagism of Sergei Aleksandrovich comes from a natural economy, its concrete concreteness. It was on the basis of the latter that he grew up. It is based on zoomorphism and anthropomorphism of primitive psychology of peasants.

Controversy of the Imagists

In "Sheets of the Imagist" V. Shershenevich polemised with Esenin's work "The Keys of Mary", in which his theoretical ideas were expressed. In addition, he criticized the poetry of his fellow artists. Shershenevich wrote that the connection in the poem of individual images is a mechanical work, and not an organic one, as A. Kusikov and S. Esenin believe. A poem is a crowd of images, not an organism. From it you can draw without damage one of them or insert another ten. With the ideas of S. Yesenin, A. Mariengof also polemised in his work under the name "Buyan-island".

He believed that modern folk art must "be twilight" by all means. In other words, it is "second grade", "semi-art", "transition stage", however, necessary for the masses. And in the life of art itself, it does not play any role. Yesenin answered with his article "Life and art". Sergei Alexandrovich wrote that his colleagues did not recognize the agreement and order in a combination of images and words. And in this they are wrong.

Split

Thus, the split was brewing. In 1924 he took shape. Then in the newspaper "Pravda" appeared "Letter to the Editor", which S. Yesenin and I. Gruzinov wrote. They announced that as creators of the Imagisme they decided to bring to the public notice that in the known group the "Imagists" group is declared to be dissolved.

The role of imagism in Russian literature

Till now among literary critics there are disputes concerning, whether it is necessary to place imagism next to such directions, as futurism, acmeism and symbolism. Perhaps, it is more correct to consider this phenomenon in the series of numerous currents that existed in literature in the 1920s. Nevertheless, the significant contribution made to the rhyme culture by its representatives, as well as the requirement of unity of the poetic composition from the lyrical point of view and other searches in the field of poetics became actual in the 1920s. They served as a reference point for a number of authors who worked in the second half of the 20th century and developed modernist traditions.

Now you know how to continue the phrase "Imagism in literature is ...". We briefly described this trend, we named its main representatives. You learned about the main ideas that the adherents of this school brought to the art. The features of imagism in Russian literature were in many ways an expression of the era in which his representatives lived.