What is Russian classical literature definition. The concept of literary classics

Very often you hear the term "classic" or "classic". But what is the meaning of this word?

Classic is...

The word "classic" has several meanings. Most explanatory dictionaries offer one of them - the works of the classics: literature, music, painting or architecture. Also, this word is used in relation to some examples of art, for example, "classics of the genre." However, most often this term is mentioned as an indication of a specific time period in the development of one or another, not forgetting that only a few, the most successful, are ranked among the classical authors. In literature, everything that was written in the 18th and 19th centuries is considered a classic. In the 20th century, the classics give way to modernity. Many modernist writers sought to destroy the previous tradition, tried to find a new form, themes, content. Others, on the contrary, used the works of their predecessors for their own purposes. Thus, postmodern works are full of allusions and reminiscences.

Classic is something that will always be in fashion. This is a kind of model that forms our worldview, which reflects all the characteristic features of a nation of a particular time.

Which writers can be called classics?

As noted above, not every author is included in the ranks of the classics, but only those whose work had a significant impact on the development of Russian culture. Perhaps the first classical writers who left a significant mark on the world are Lomonosov and Derzhavin.

Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov

His literary creativity belongs to the first half of the 18th century. He became the founder of such a trend as classicism, so it is impossible not to rank him among the classics of the time. Lomonosov made a huge contribution not only to literature, but also to linguistics (having distinguished three styles in his native language), as well as to chemistry, physics and mathematics. His most significant works: "Morning/Evening Meditation on God's Majesty", "Ode on the Day of the Ascension...", "Conversation with Anacreon", "Letter on the Benefits of Glass". It should be noted that most of Lomonosov's poetic texts were imitative in nature. In his work, Mikhail Vasilyevich was guided by Horace and other ancient authors.

Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin

Writers of the second half of the 19th century

Among the poets, F. I. Tyutcheva and A. A. Fet should be especially singled out. It was they who marked all the poetry of the second half of the 19th century. Among the prose writers are such bright figures as I. S. Turgenev, F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov and others. The works of this period are full of psychological research. Each of the realistic novels opens before us an extraordinary world, where all the characters are drawn vividly and vitally. It is impossible to read these books and not think about anything. Classics is a depth of thought, a flight of fancy, a role model. No matter how sophisticated modernists are when they say that art should be aloof from morality, the works of classical writers teach us the most beautiful things in life.

Classic literature- a body of works that are considered exemplary for a particular era.

The concept of classics in literature developed in the last three centuries of antiquity: it denoted a certain category of writers who, for reasons that are not always clear (due to antiquity or authority in the eyes of enlightened people), were considered worthy to serve as models and mentors in everything related to owning a word and gaining knowledge . Homer was certainly considered the first classical author. "Odyssey" and "Iliad" Already in the classical period of the development of Greece (V century BC) were considered an unattainable dramatic peak (the concept of "drama" among the ancient Greeks was almost identical to the concept of literature in general). In the 5th-8th centuries A.D. e. the canonical list authors(literally: "guarantors"), possessing auctoritas, - texts that determined the norms and theories that were transmitted in the learning process. This canon was not absolutely immutable; however, in different schools it varies minimally, and its core remains constant. As we approach the XIV century, there is a tendency to expand the list. Along with the poets and prose writers of the Augustan era, these lists include writers of later eras, as well as representatives of paganism and Christianity of the 4th, 5th, and sometimes 6th and 8th centuries. All these "authors" serve as a common, as it were, impersonal property; they are constantly quoted, imitated, cut into maxims, they compose glosses.

The modern meaning of the concept of "classical literature" is rooted in the Renaissance, when, in the process of secularization of European culture, writers turned their attention to ancient authors. The result of this was the era of classicism in literature, during which writers imitated the Greek playwrights, most notably Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The canon of classical drama is described in Nicolas Boileau's The Art of Poetry. Since then, in the narrow sense of the word, "classical literature" means all ancient literature. In the broad sense of the word, the concept of "classic" began to be used in relation to any work that set the canon for its genre. This is how the classics of romanticism (Byron), the classics of modernism (Proust, Joyce), the classics of the mass novel (Dumas), and so on.

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An excerpt characterizing Classical Literature

“It happens to you,” Natasha said to her brother when they sat down in the sofa room, “it happens to you that it seems to you that nothing will happen - nothing; that all that was good was? And not just boring, but sad?
- And how! - he said. - It happened to me that everything was fine, everyone was cheerful, but it would occur to me that all this was already tired and that everyone needed to die. Once I didn’t go to the regiment for a walk, and there was music playing ... and I suddenly became bored ...
“Ah, I know that. I know, I know, - Natasha picked up. “I was still little, so it happened to me. Do you remember, since they punished me for plums and you all danced, and I sat in the classroom and sobbed, I will never forget: I was sad and felt sorry for everyone, and myself, and I felt sorry for everyone. And, most importantly, I was not to blame, - said Natasha, - do you remember?
“I remember,” Nikolai said. - I remember that I came to you later and I wanted to console you and, you know, I was ashamed. We were awfully funny. I had a bobblehead toy then and I wanted to give it to you. Do you remember?
“Do you remember,” Natasha said with a thoughtful smile, how long, long ago, we were still very young, our uncle called us into the office, back in the old house, and it was dark - we came and suddenly it was standing there ...
“Arap,” Nikolai finished with a joyful smile, “how can you not remember? Even now I don’t know that it was a black man, or we saw it in a dream, or we were told.
- He was gray, remember, and white teeth - he stands and looks at us ...
Do you remember Sonya? Nicholas asked...
“Yes, yes, I also remember something,” Sonya answered timidly ...
“I asked my father and mother about this arap,” said Natasha. “They say there was no arap. But you do remember!
- How, as now I remember his teeth.
How strange, it was like a dream. I like it.
- Do you remember how we rolled eggs in the hall and suddenly two old women began to spin on the carpet. Was it or not? Do you remember how good it was?
- Yes. Do you remember how daddy in a blue coat on the porch fired a gun. - They sorted through the memories, smiling with pleasure, not sad old, but poetic youthful memories, those impressions from the most distant past, where the dream merges with reality, and laughed quietly, rejoicing at something.
Sonya, as always, lagged behind them, although their memories were common.

Translated from Latin, the word "classic" (classicus) means "exemplary". From this essence of the word comes the fact that literature, called classical, received this “name” due to the fact that it is a kind of landmark, an ideal in line with which the literary process seeks to move at some particular stage of its development.

A look from the present

Several options are possible. It follows from the first that works of art (in this case, literary) are recognized as classics at the time of consideration relating to previous eras, whose authority was tested by time and remained unshakable. So in modern society all previous literature is regarded up to and including the 20th century, while in the culture of Russia, for example, the classics mainly mean the art of the 19th century (which is why it is revered as the "Golden Age" of Russian culture). The literature of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment breathed new life into the ancient heritage and chose as a model the work of exclusively ancient authors (the term “Renaissance” already speaks for itself - this is the “revival” of antiquity, an appeal to its cultural achievements), in view of the appeal to the anthropocentric approach to the world ( which was one of the foundations of the worldview of the man of the ancient world).

In another case, they can become "classic" already in the era of their creation. The authors of such works are usually called "living classics". Among them, you can specify A.S. Pushkin, D. Joyce, G. Marquez, etc. Usually, after such recognition, a kind of “fashion” sets in for the newly minted “classic”, in connection with which a huge number of imitative works appear, which, in turn, cannot be classified as classical, since “follow sample" does not mean to copy it.

The classics were not "classics", but became:

Another approach to the definition of "classical" literature can be taken from the point of view of the cultural paradigm. The art of the 20th century, which developed under the sign "", sought to completely break with the achievements of the so-called "humanistic art", approaches to art in general. And in relation to this, the work of the author, who is outside the modernist aesthetics and adheres to the traditional one (because the “classic” is usually a well-established phenomenon, with an already established history) can be attributed (of course, all this is conditional) to the classical paradigm. However, in the environment of the "new art" there are also authors and works recognized later or immediately as classics (such as, for example, Joyce, cited above, who is one of the most prominent representatives of modernism).

Wikipedia article
Classic literature
- a body of works that are considered exemplary for a particular era.

The concept of classics in literature takes shape in the last three centuries of antiquity: it denoted a certain category of writers who, for reasons that are not always clear (due to antiquity or authority in the eyes of enlightened people), were considered worthy to serve as models and mentors in everything related to owning a word and gaining knowledge . Homer was undoubtedly considered the first classical author.

What is classical literature - detailed articles and brief opinions in the forum "Literary Brotherhood" (2007 - litbratstvo.com/forum/)

Some think that Classical literature is a model to follow contemporary writers , others consider the classics in a purely historical aspect, meaning by the concept of "classical literature" the works of writers of the past.

Russian classics is not an evaluative concept. And not even historical. Russian classical literature is a genre.
Well, for example: Alexei Tolstoy, the author of Aelita, is related to the genre of fantastic literature, but Leo Tolstoy is not. This is neither good nor bad. In the genre of classical literature, the author of "Walking Through the Torments" also left a mark - although this by no means equated him with the "real" Tolstoy.

1. Classics are hard to read, because the authors wrote not for us, but for their contemporaries.
2. It is difficult to read the classics, because in today's pace of life there is almost no place for contemplation, which is necessary for understanding the authors of the past.
3. But you need to read the classics, because there are eternal values, the nature of which originated in the past. You will suddenly discover that all good modern fiction is the same classics, presented in modern language and using modern surroundings.
4. Classics should be read because they can surprise you as a demanding reader.

1) A classic piece, a classic text in textology called all works and texts of late authors, regardless of their place and significance in the work of the writer, the literary process.
Textual criticism is included in the program of study in the specialty "Publishing and Editing".
2) Classics (from lat. Classicus - exemplary, first-class). Exemplary, outstanding, universally recognized works of literature and art that have enduring value for national and world culture. Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary. In the literary sciences, this term does not seem to be used.

Russian classical literature (Sightseeing - www.zemnaya-krasota.ru)

The period of classical Russian literature falls on the 19th - early 20th centuries and is associated, first of all, with the literary trend that prevailed at that time - realism, which was characterized by a truthful depiction of reality.

Russian writers who came from the West realism was comprehended in its own way: as a direction designed to point out to society the existing problems, to think about them. In other words, hallmark Russian realism was its educational character. Classical literature is not just reading at your leisure, but a real "textbook of life", according to N. G. Chernyshevsky.

Classic literature

Classic literature- a body of works that are considered exemplary for a particular era.

The concept of classics in literature takes shape in the last three centuries of antiquity: it denoted a certain category of writers who, for reasons that are not always clear (due to antiquity or authority in the eyes of enlightened people), were considered worthy to serve as models and mentors in everything related to owning a word and gaining knowledge . Homer was undoubtedly considered the first classical author. "Odyssey" and "Iliad" Already in the classical period of the development of Greece (V century BC) were considered an unattainable dramatic peak (the concept of "drama" among the ancient Greeks was almost identical to the concept of literature in general). In the 5th-8th centuries A.D. e. the canonical list authors(literally: "guarantors"), possessing auctoritas, - texts that determined the norms and theories that were transmitted in the learning process. This canon was not absolutely immutable; however, in different schools it varies minimally, and its core remains constant. As we approach the XIV century, there is a tendency to expand the list. Along with the poets and prose writers of the Augustan era, these lists include writers of later eras, as well as representatives of paganism and Christianity of the 4th, 5th, and sometimes 6th and 8th centuries. All these "authors" serve as a common, as it were, impersonal property; they are constantly quoted<, им подражают, их разрезают на сентенции , к ним сочиняют глоссы .

The modern meaning of the concept of "classical literature" is rooted in the Renaissance, when, in the process of secularization of European culture, writers turned their attention to ancient authors. The result of this was the era of classicism in literature, during which writers imitated the Greek playwrights, most notably Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The canon of classical drama is described in Nicolas Boileau's The Art of Poetry. Since then, in the narrow sense of the word, "classical literature" means all ancient literature. In the broad sense of the word, the concept of "classic" began to be used in relation to any work that set the canon for its genre. This is how the classics of romanticism (Byron), the classics of modernism (Proust, Joyce), the classics of the mass novel (Dumas), and so on.


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  • Reading circle. Preschool program. Preparatory group. Part 2. Russian classical literature,. Books of the series "Reading circle. Preschool program" are collections of texts of works of art for reading to children. They are compiled in accordance with the Federal State…