The main feature of romanticism. Signs of Romanticism in Literature

An inexperienced person in literature, talking about this era, reduces its importance to such a familiar romance, which, it should be noted, is fundamentally wrong. Similarly, the assumption that the aesthetics of this time interval is reduced to the cult of love. In fact, any work of literature, painting or cinema basically has this beautiful light feeling in the variety of its manifestations, but this is by no means the only fundamental sign.

This article will attempt to determine what are the main features of the aesthetics of Romanticism. For this, let us turn to the historical and cultural memory of mankind, its heritage in the field of art.

Time frame

Before you determine the main features of romanticism, you should understand when it was the main direction in art. The aesthetics characteristic of this period arose as a result of a reaction to a strictly standardized classicism. If we talk about time frames, the style of romanticism arose and was established in the second half of the 18th century. Like other directions, the formation we are considering is being formed in Europe, namely in Germany, from where it spread to England, France, Italy and eventually America. After the aesthetics of romanticism was finally formed, the direction spread almost all over the world.

The reaction of protest against normativity

As mentioned earlier, representatives of Romanticism wrote their works for disagreement with the aesthetics of classicism, which art was exposed to at that time.

The whole point is that the whole previous era (from the culturological point of view) in the world there was a distinct tendency towards normalization, note to the model. With respect to the genre system, extremely strict canons acted, and the content of the works was determined solely by the problem of choosing between the heart and the debt. This kind of framework substantially limited both creative potential and problems. In addition, the society of this period made a significant leap forward, which required global changes in the aesthetic system and formed the distinctive features of romanticism.

Humanity suddenly realized its fragility, defenselessness before the universe and instantly reacted to this discovery with completely new, revolutionary creativity. The main feature of romanticism is in this very protest the way of life, normality and complete suppression of the personality of the writer, poet, artist or composer.

Attitude to authorship

If in the Renaissance the author was put on a pedestal and elevated to the status of a creator, then classicism did not recognize this. The lyrics were ruthlessly pushed into the background and gave way to epic and dramatic works. The main feature of romanticism lies in the fact that this era can be safely called individual-author's. Literature returns lyrics, music - feeling, expression, and in painting - dynamics, emotion, a certain nerve.

In addition, the theme of works of art has radically changed, but this should be said a little later.

Philosophical basis

Like any phenomenon in world culture, Romanticism relied on certain views in philosophy. In Germany, from where the direction spread throughout the globe, the works of Gottlieb Fichte and Immanuel Kant acted as such a foundation . At the head of the basic teachings of this period was the problem of the creative possibilities of the mind. Despite the fact that the above works formed the basis of aesthetics, they were constantly controversial, thanks to which romantic art opened up more and more opportunities.

The former leading positions of the concept of Benedict Spinoza, John Locke and Rene Descartes almost immediately fell into the background and were severely criticized. The all-absorbing rationalism and deification of man as a rational being have become unacceptable for the developing direction and have given way to the chanting of the sentient person.

Such a successful German direction Coleridge noticed, thanks to which the style of Romanticism penetrated into England and further to France.

Manifestations of characteristic features in art

Of course, the changes in the philosophical conception could not but entail changes in the work itself. Works of art began to acquire a completely new character: new genres entered the scene, and new stylistic figures began to prefer.

The main feature of romanticism in painting began to manifest itself in the form of a change in the theme of the work. Artists began to attract the theme of a mysterious, unknown, that is hidden behind the horizon. Night canvases began to appear more often on canvases. The motive of the road, the journey became an invariable attribute of romantic painting. The first plan of the canvases of this epoch is, as a rule, paid much less attention than the second, which draws to infinity.

Music of Romanticism regained its expression, an emotional tear. Moreover - the composition of works has become more blurred, and the genre boundaries are ghostly.

Almost all kinds of arts have gone through the rejection of a strict division into high, medium and low genres, which received the greatest attention during the era of classicism.

Literature of Romanticism

Speaking about this direction in art, the greatest attention should be given, perhaps, to literature, since it is in it that the traditional aesthetics of romanticism manifested itself most fully and diversely.

It has been repeatedly said that this tendency is characterized by a certain desire for obscurity, finding yourself in a completely different form, seeking freedom from conventions and everyday life. If you look at the most famous, you can say canonical, literary works, this feature can be easily found.

Striving for suspense

Signs of romanticism in literature are manifested in several aspects. First of all, it is necessary to emphasize the constant opposition of true creators, free, lofty natures and so-called philistines.

The art of this period extols creativity, puts it above any other life realities. This is what determines the classic hero of works of the Romantic era. It is always a person in conflict with the rest of the world, alien to him, striving to escape from the clingy paws of everyday gray and limited life.

Confrontation between two worlds

The main feature of romanticism in literature is also determined by the presence of an obligatory mystical, mysterious element, the second plane of reality. If expressed philological terminology, this component of aesthetics can be called dvoemirieem. A romantic hero is always characterized by some escapism. Magic and everyday coexist on the pages of literary works at the same time, staying in a permanent conflict with each other.

Recognizable place and time

Characteristic features of romanticism in literature also appear in the so-called local color. Authors of this period very actively turned to folklore, study of history, culture, which was reflected in literary creativity. Cities, streets, the era are always obvious, palpable in the literature of this period.

It is noteworthy that the authors more often resorted to describing the events of past epochs, rather than to the present. Almost always in the works there is a certain time distance between the writing of the work and the events in it. Even completely fictional story lines often resonate with the real reality, plunge into it.

How this was reflected in Russian literature

Of course, romantic aesthetics could not bypass receptive Russian literature. Writers and poets eagerly picked up the European phenomenon and adapted to their reality. If you look closely at the Russian literature that existed in this time frame, you can see that the main features of Russian Romanticism were reflected, above all, in his striving for a magical, mystical, and sometimes even demonic. If in the works of European authors this moment was only present as one of the components, in Russian literature it became an absolute dominant.

Unlike English or German literature, the Russian, though absorbed the characteristic features of romanticism, paid more attention to lyrical works: ballads, poems, poems, rather than novels and short form works. Poetry has become a defining type of creativity for this period.

The features of Russian Romanticism in many respects resonate with the European, however, and differ significantly from it, which is due to the historical situation of this period of time.

Representatives in the literature

Of course, we should start with the German Romantics, because they gave the world this literary direction. Of course, first of all, these are the brothers Schlegel and Novalis, who first declared themselves representatives of the new art. The main feature of romanticism - the desire to escape from reality - manifested in their works early and quite powerful. Of course, Heinrich Heine and Johann Wolfgang Goethe are among the main representatives of this direction.

In England, the main representatives of romanticism are George Gordon Byron, William Blake and Robert Burns. Among the French authors of this direction can not be named Victor Hugo, Chateaubriand, Adelbert Musset.

The Russian representatives of romanticism are, first of all, Zhukovsky, Batiushkov, Odoevtsev. Within the framework of this aesthetics, some of Pushkin's works fit well (Ruslan and Lyudmila are considered by many researchers to be exclusively a romantic work).

One of the canonical examples of romantic poetry is Lermontov's poem "Parus".