Vladimir Odoevsky: works by genres, their poetics

Russian literature of the century before last preserved for descendants many names of talented poets and writers. The works of Odoevsky, one of them, are of interest today. About his tales, the utopian novel "4338th year: Petersburg letters", the collection "Russian Nights" will be discussed in the article.

Periodization of creativity

Creativity of the writer is divided conditionally into three periods - depending on the place where he created Odoyevsky works. The first "Moscow" stage was marked by his participation in the circle "Society of Wisdom" and with feathers. After in 1826 Odoevsky moved to Petersburg, a new period of his creative work began, very fruitful. The writer has published several collections of fairy tales, which are read with pleasure even now, almost 200 years later. The second "Moscow" stage is marked by the creation of Odoyevsky "Russian Nights" - his best work, as well as works on music.

"Colored Tales"

Odoevsky often built his own works in cycles. Thus, creating the "Colored Tales", the writer worked in parallel on the collection "The House of the Madmen", dedicated to the theme of genius insanity. The gravitation towards cyclization can be explained by some general processes peculiar to Russian literature of those times. Then, at the beginning of the 1930s, "Belkin's Tale" and "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" came out, which were nothing but cycles. Orientation to Pushkin also determines the complex system of narrative in the "Colored Tales". Abstract for the work of Odoevsky (or preface) introduces the figure of the narrator - Irenaeus Modestovich Gomozeyko. Unlike the all-encompassing Ivan Petrovich Belkin, the narrator in "Mysterious Tales" has a pronounced autobiographical trait. Subsequently, he will try on the role of a "literary double", on whose behalf the writer will conduct a dialogue with the perceiving party - the reader.

The Mystery of the Town in a Snuffbox

In fact, the writer was a pioneer in the genre of a literary fairy tale, intended for reading in the first place by a child. In 1834 appeared almost the most famous work Odoyevsky - "Town in a snuffbox." His plot is simple: Dad shows the boy Misha a music box-snuffbox. The son wants to know how it works, to get into it (which, by the way, it succeeds when a man from a snuffbox beckons a boy with a finger). Misha gets acquainted with the inhabitants of the town - hammers and bells - and, waking up, understands the principle of the work of the acquired thing. With all its artistic merit, the fairy tale is interesting as a successful combination of educational pathos and fiction. The main idea of the work is to convince the reader that the child needs to learn to think, analyze, it is necessary to educate his desire for knowledge from childhood.

"Russian Nights"

The genre of the "Russian Nights", published in 1844, is difficult to define. Often this work Odoevsky defined as a collection of articles that are of a philosophical nature. They fully reflected his ideas about the transformation of the world, the way Russia should go. Note that the publication of "Russian Nights" was preceded by Odoevsky's deepening into the secrets of the exact sciences - mathematics, physiology and psychology, and philosophy.

At the same time, the writer remains faithful to the skill of the word. Like Voltaire, he puts ideas into capacious images, hides his philosophicality behind an interesting plot. This is how Odoevsky works for the whole creative process. The plot of the collection unfolds around several young people who gather in a common acquaintance, called Faust. There they discuss history, trying to understand the laws of the existence of society and penetrate into the secrets of the surrounding world. The work is distinguished by intellectualism, which reaches a maximum in the descriptions of the creative process. In this case, the images created by Odoevsky perform the function of a meta-language: the art narrates about art. Thus, the Russian writer of the first half of the century before last appears unexpectedly close to the later experiences of the authors of the twentieth century (we have in mind first and foremost the intellectual novels of Thomas Mann).

Dialogism "Russian nights" - that's what Odoevsky adhered to. The works, placed in the collection, seem to be afraid of giving a definitive answer, to dot the i. Instead of a ready conclusion, the reader is invited to speculate, to speculate. This "Russian nights" are close to the works of other writers - Herzen and Belinsky - quite unexpectedly, I must say, taking into account the difference in their aesthetic orientation.

"4338th year" as a utopian novel

In the century before last, Comet Bijela made a lot of noise. It was believed that after a while it would even collide with the Earth's surface. Some of Odoevsky's works reflected this "comet theme", among them - the utopian novel "4338th year: Petersburg letters", which, unfortunately, remained unfinished. The author depicts the world in 2500 years, when the development of mankind will save the earth from a threatening comet. The work contains features of prognostic fiction and utopian novel; The author foresees the emergence of many inventions of the future, including the Internet. However, the depicted society is not as happy as it seems: an increasing information wave does not spare human brain reserves. Utopia grows into an anti-utopia, in order to present this genre in further works (especially in the "City without a name").