Humanism of Russian classical literature. The best examples of humanity from life

The 19th century is usually called the century of humanism in literature. The directions that literature chose in its development reflected the social sentiments that were inherent in people during this time period.

What characterized the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries?

First of all, this is due to various historical events, with which this revolutionary century in world history was full. But many writers who began their work at the end of the 19th century revealed themselves only at the beginning of the 20th century, and their works were characterized by the mood of two centuries.

At the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. Many brilliant, memorable Russian poets and writers arose, and many of them continued the humanistic traditions of the last century, and many tried to transform them in accordance with the reality that belonged to the 20th century.

Revolutions and civil wars completely changed the consciousness of people, and naturally, this significantly influenced Russian culture. But the mentality and spirituality of the people cannot be changed by any cataclysms, therefore morality and humanistic traditions began to be revealed in Russian literature from a different perspective.

Writers were forced to raise the theme of humanism in his works, since the amount of violence that the Russian people experienced was blatantly unfair, it was impossible to be indifferent to it. The humanism of the new century has other ideological and moral aspects that were not and could not be raised by the writers of past centuries.

New aspects of humanism in literature of the 20th century

The civil war, which forced family members to fight against each other, was filled with such cruel and violent motives that the theme of humanism was closely intertwined with the theme of violence. The humanistic traditions of the 19th century are reflections on what is the place of a true person in the whirlpool of life events, what is more important: a person or society?

The tragedy with which people's self-awareness was described writers XIX centuries (Gogol, Tolstoy, Kuprin), is more internal in nature than external. Humanism declares itself from the inner side of the human world, and the mood of the 20th century is more connected with war and revolution, which changes the thinking of the Russian people in an instant.

The beginning of the 20th century is called " silver age"in Russian literature, this creative wave brought a different artistic look on the world and man, and a certain realization of the aesthetic ideal in reality. Symbolists reveal the more subtle, spiritual nature of man, which stands above political upheavals, the thirst for power or salvation, above the ideals that the literary process of the 19th century presents to us.

The concept of “creativity of life” appears; this theme is explored by many symbolists and futurists, such as Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Mayakovsky. Religion begins to play a completely different role in their work, its motives are revealed in a more profound and mystical way, and somewhat different concepts of “male” and “female” principles appear.

Remaining human in any situation is perhaps the main, primary task of each of us. This allows you to move on in any troubles in life, move forward and hope for the best. That is why the formation of humanity is one of the most important educational goals for teachers, teachers, parents and every member of society as a whole. In our article today we will look at this topic in detail.

Such a simple, deep word

Ideas about the norms of etiquette and morality are constantly dynamic, changing and improving. What was wild several centuries ago seems quite commonplace to us today, and vice versa.

Each of us can recall certain examples of humanity from life that can console us in difficult times and instill confidence even in the most difficult situation. This could be a memory of a little kitten taken from a tree by a neighbor's boy, or a grandmother's stories about a terrible war time, when many could not save their faces.

Getting out of hopeless situations

In conditions of eternal haste, as a rule, he is guided exclusively by the present day, looking little back at the past. he finds in his own actions, the actions of his friends, or Sometimes we don’t even pay attention to the greatness, correctness and beauty of this or that act, which is performed with our participation or without it at all.

We find examples of humanity from life in animals saved during a flood or alms given to a homeless person from the last savings. We are amazed at the courage and kindness of motorists who pick up people voting on the roads and allow them into their homes, families and lives.

We retell to our friends examples of humanity from life, seeing how firefighters carry a child out of a burning house, and military men bandage the wounds of enemy wives. We notice something good every day, and perhaps this is what allows the world to continue to exist smoothly.

Humanity in inhuman conditions

What is Edith Piaf worth, who gave concerts to German soldiers and helped with the production of fake documents? Or the feat of carrying Jewish children out of concentration camps organized by the Nazis?

How much spiritual strength did it take for a young eighteen-year-old black woman, Cashier Thomas, to cover up a racist at a demonstration? Or the priest who calmed a soldier under bullets during the uprising in Venezuela?

All these examples are just a small, insignificant part of those wonderful deeds that people with huge hearts did.

Literature and reality

It is not at all surprising that such feats were and are reflected in art. Examples of humanity in literature are found in almost every work. Finding them is not at all difficult if you think about this topic.

This is Bulgakov's Margarita, who spared Frida, who was sobbing at her feet during the ball of dark forces. This is Sonya, who took pity and tried to correct Rodion Raskolnikov, in A.S. Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter,” who gave a hare’s sheepskin coat for help in fighting a blizzard. This is a huge gallery of characters that demonstrate examples of humanity in literature.

Children's books

Such cases are not uncommon, both by the author and represented by recorded oral folk art. Helping heroes in fairy tales tell us from childhood about how to preserve human face in the most terrible, most difficult situations, when, it would seem, there is no hope left.

Examples of humanity in Russian literature for children are also found quite often. What is the goodwill and willingness to help of Doctor Aibolit worth? Or, for example, heroic deeds The Little Humpbacked Horse, who constantly helps the main character out of trouble?

Does not lag behind domestic and foreign literature. The series of novels about Harry Potter, on which more than one generation has grown up, in itself becomes an example of humanity, self-sacrifice and love of life.

Fostering quality in schoolchildren

It is quite obvious that the formation of morals should begin in early childhood, when the greatest influence on the individual is exerted by the family in general and parents in particular. However, it is no less important to continue this great work within the walls of the school, which is what the efforts of teachers have been aimed at from time immemorial.

In addition to reading the literature provided for in the curriculum, children are usually offered other tasks designed not only to improve writing and reasoning skills, but also to form ideas about moral and aesthetic values.

Every teacher faces, first of all, the task of instilling humanity in a child. Essay "Example from life" or any other creative work on similar topics are best suited for this.

At every lesson, every day, students should be presented with one or another problem, the solution of which would help children at least one step closer to understanding the ideals of truth, goodness and beauty.

A person must always remain a person, no matter what happens to him, no matter what surprises life has in store for him. The foundation for this should be laid in early childhood: during heart-to-heart conversations with parents, while watching films and listening to songs, when writing essays and participating in problem discussions. It doesn’t matter how this happens, only the result matters. What is important are actions that will constantly make the world a better place and will be passed on to friends, acquaintances and complete strangers as an example of behavior worthy of admiration and imitation.

Thesis

Shulgin, Nikolai Ivanovich

Academic degree:

Candidate of Philosophy

Place of thesis defense:

HAC specialty code:

Speciality:

Theory and history of culture

Number of pages:

Chapter 1. Basic philosophical and cultural problems of humanistic thought.

§1. Origins and various meanings of the concept “humanism”.

§ 2. Trends in the development of secular humanism in philosophical and cultural studies thoughts XIX- XX centuries.

§3. Religious-idealistic humanism in Russian and Western European thought of the 19th-20th centuries.

Chapter 2. Reflection of the problems of humanism in the literature of the second half of the 19th century.

§ 1. Fiction in the socio-historical and general cultural context of the 19th century.

§2. The crisis of humanism in fiction

Western Europe and the USA.

§ 3. Russian literature: synthesis of Christian and Renaissance humanism.

Introduction of the dissertation (part of the abstract) On the topic "Humanism in European and Russian culture of the second half of the 19th century: based on the material of fiction"

The relevance of research

Problems of humanism are attracting growing attention not only from specialists, but also from public and cultural figures in different countries. This is due to the general interest in the problem of man that characterizes the entire twentieth century; with the rapid development of disciplines that study man in his various aspects - philosophical anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, psychology. At the same time, many authors note that, along with the deepening of specific knowledge, a holistic idea of ​​what a person is has not only not developed, but, on the contrary, is increasingly falling apart into many different theories and concepts. And if in theoretical terms such a variety of approaches can be considered justified, then in practical terms it entails many problems. With the “erosion” of a person’s image, ideas about his place in the world, about his relationship with nature, society, with other people, about the criteria for assessing certain behavioral practices and social trends, educational and psychotherapeutic methods, etc., are also “blurred.” and in connection with this, the understanding of humanism becomes increasingly uncertain. And it can be assumed that further research in this area will, simultaneously with the growth of diversity of views, approaches, points of view, still strive to develop an integral system of ideas about man. Thus, the relevance of the chosen topic seems undoubted.

Interest in this problem is also caused by the fact that in the twentieth century the differences that exist between the Russian and Western types of humanism became clearer: between humanism, which is based on ideas about the unity and reality of the highest spiritual values ​​(developed in religious-philosophical, philosophical -idealistic directions), and secular, secularized humanism. Social practice last centuries gave many examples of the concrete embodiment and development of ideas of both ideas about humanism, and thus, now researchers have rich empirical material for verifying various concepts. In particular, in our opinion, those dead ends of secularized humanism that Russian philosophers wrote about have come to light: the loss of the idea of ​​the reality of higher values ​​and ideals has led not only to the erosion moral standards, the growth of negative social trends, but also to the processes of personality disintegration, moreover, to the justification of these trends, for example, in the postmodern paradigm. This situation also requires special understanding.

At the same time, it can be noted that research into the problem of humanism is more fruitful when it is based not only on the material of sociology, psychology, cultural studies or other scientific disciplines, but also on the material of art and especially fiction, since fiction has man as its central theme and most directly influences the development of humanitarian knowledge. Outstanding writers in their works act not only as psychologists and sociologists, often penetrating deeper into the problem than scientists, but also as thinkers, often far ahead of scientific thought and, moreover, giving it new ideas. It is no coincidence that philosophical and scientific texts that have man as their theme constantly refer the reader to literary examples. Therefore, tracing the development of the ideas of humanism on the material of fiction seems not only relevant, but also logical.

The period of development of fiction analyzed in this work is almost unanimously noted by literary critics as the most holistic and complete, on the one hand, and diverse in areas, on the other. Moreover, it was in the second half of the 19th century that the trends that became dominant in the next century were formed and reflected in literary, artistic and literary critical works. At the same time, the similarities and differences in the ideological and artistic approaches of Russian and Western literature were determined. The choice of specific countries and works from the entire body of Western literature for research is determined, firstly, by their greatest representativeness, and secondly, by the scope of the work.

Degree of development of the problem

Research in line with the chosen topic falls into two blocks: on the one hand, these are philosophical and cultural works devoted to human problems and the problems of humanism as such, on the other hand, literary critical works related to the selected period. Since the very appearance and approval of the term “humanism” is traditionally associated with the Renaissance, the dissertation research was based on works written since this period.

These include, firstly, the works of the Renaissance thinkers themselves, among whom are C. de Bovel, G. Boccaccio, JI. Bruni, P. Brazzolini, JI. Valla, G. Manetti, Pico della Mirandola, F. Petrarca, M. Ficino, C. Salutati, B. Fazio, later M. Montaigne, N. Cusansky, and others. Further development of the ideas of humanism occurs in the New Age and the Age of Enlightenment in the works of such authors as F.-M. Voltaire, A.C. Helvetius, T. Hobbes,

P. Holbach, D. Diderot, J.-J. Rousseau, T. Starkey and others. In the 19th century. Social issues are developing in the works of F. Baader, J1.

Feuerbach, ML. Bakunin, A. Bebel, V.G. Belinsky, A.A. Bogdanova,

I. Weidemeyer, A.I. Herzen, I. Dietzgen, N.A. Dobrolyubov, E. Kaabe, K. Kautsky, P.A. Kropotkina, N.V. Stankevich, N.G. Chernyshevsky, as well as K. Marx, F. Engels and later V.I. Lenin. At the same time, philosophical, anthropological and cultural studies developed in classical European philosophy in the works of G. Hegel, J.-G. Herdera, G.E. Lessing, I. Kant, etc.; in German classical literature in the works of I.V. Goethe, F. Schiller; The historical and cultural perspective of the research is reflected in the works of A. Bastian, F. Graebner, J. McLennan, G. Spencer, E. Tylor, J. Fraser, F. Frobenius, C. Levi-Strauss, and domestic authors such as S.S. Averintsev and others. In the 20th century, axiological and anthropological problems developed in the works of many authors - A. Bergson, N. Hartmann, A. Gehlen, E. Cassirer, G. Marcel, H. Plessner, M. Scheler, P. Teilhard de Chardin , M. Heidegger, etc. In addition, research concerning the problems of suppression of personality through total manipulation of consciousness has acquired a special role; issues of interaction between man and technology, models of a new stage of social development, etc. These themes were developed by many authors, such as G. Lebon, G. Tarde, S. Silege, then F. Nietzsche, O. Spengler, N.A. Berdyaev, X. Ortega y Gasset, E. Fromm; G. M. McLuhan, J. Galbraith, R. Aron, G. Marcuse, K. Popper, F. Fukuyama, J. Attali, etc.

And many works are also devoted to the topic of humanism, to the analysis of this concept. It was raised by many of the above-mentioned authors, and in the twentieth century it became the subject of special research in the works of P. Kurtz, S. Neering, L. Harrison, M.

Zimmerman, T. Erizer, in Russia - JT.E. Balashova, JT.M. Batkina, N.K. Batova, I.M. Borzenko, G.V. Gilishvili, M.I. Drobzheva, G.K. Kosikova, A.A. Kudishina, O.F. Kudryavtseva, S.S. Slobodenyuka, E.V.

Finogentova, Yu.M. Mikhalenko, T.M. Ruyatkina, V.A. Kuvakin and many others. It can be summarized that, thus, the overwhelming majority of representatives of humanitarian thought in one way or another contributed to the development of the problem of humanism.

Analysis of Western and Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century is presented both in articles by the writers themselves, who often acted as literary critics, and in the works of Western and Russian literary and art critics of the 19th and 20th centuries. - M. Arnold, E. Auerbach, JT. Butler, G. Brandes, S.T. Williams, J. Gissing, J. Ruskin, I. Tan, E. Starkey, T.S. Eliot; N.N. Strakhova, N.A. Dobrolyubova, N.G. Chernyshevsky, D.I. Pisareva; A.A. Aniksta, M. M. Bakhtina, N.V. Bogoslovsky, L.Ya. Ginzburg, Ya.E. Golosovkera, Yu.I. Danilina, A.S. Dmitrieva, V.D. Dneprova, E.M. Evnina, Ya.N. Zasursky, D.V. Zatonsky, M.S. Kagan, V.V. Lashova, J1.M. Lotman, V.F. Pereverzeva, A. Puzikova, N.Ya. Eidelman, B.Ya. Eikhenbaum and many others. Thus, one can note a very large volume of works devoted to various aspects of the chosen topic, but at the same time, a special comparative analysis of humanism in Russian and Western literature has not been carried out, which determined the choice of the research topic.

Object of study: the main trends in the development of fiction in Russia and Western countries in the second half of the 1st 19th century.

Subject of research: interpretation of humanism in Russian and Western fiction of the second half of the 19th century.

Purpose of the study: to conduct a comparative analysis of the embodiment of Western and Russian types of humanism in fiction of the second half of the 19th century.

In accordance with the purpose of the study, the following research objectives were set:

1. Conduct an analysis of the development of the concept of humanism in philosophical and cultural thought and determine its various meanings and interpretations.

2. Systematize the main differences between secular and religious humanism; identify problems associated with the affirmation of secularized humanism.

3. Give a comparative historical overview of the main trends in the development of fiction in the second half of the 19th century in the USA, European countries and Russia; trace the connection of the main literary trends with one or another interpretation of humanism.

4. Show the internal unity of various trends in Russian fiction.

5. To substantiate the special, synthetic character of the Russian type of humanism on the material of the most outstanding works Russian fiction of the second half of the 19th century.

Methodological basis of dissertation research

In the philosophical and cultural aspect, the methodological basis of the study was made up of the principles of dialectical methodology (the principle of comprehensive consideration of the subject, the principle of unity of the historical and logical, the principle of development, the principle of unity and struggle of opposites), the method of comparative historical analysis, elements of hermeneutic methodology, as well as general scientific methods: inductive , deductive and comparative historical. When studying fiction of the selected period, methods became theoretically and methodologically significant for # the author literary analysis, used by Russian and Western researchers.

Scientific novelty of the research

1. The main aspects of the development of humanistic thought are identified: socio-political, historical-cultural, philosophical-anthropological, ethical-sociological.

2. Three main types of humanism are identified: religious-idealistic humanism; classical secular (Renaissance) humanism; converted secular humanism; the transition from the second to the third type of humanism is justified; the concept is revealed and the dead-end nature of the transformed secular humanism is shown. sch

3. The relationship between the ideological and artistic crisis in Western literature of the second half of the 19th century is shown. and disappointment in the ideals of classical secular humanism.

4. The formation of the main literary movements of the second half of the 19th century is analyzed from the position of the secularization of classical secular humanism and its transformation into converted secular humanism.

5. A synthetic type of humanism characteristic of Russian culture has been identified and its main features have been highlighted: affirmation of the ideals of man and society; a call to implement these ideals in life; humanism in the aspect of compassion and sacrifice; psychologism,

It is aimed at identifying and affirming the Human in any personality.

The study obtained a number of new results, which are summarized in the following provisions for defense:

1. In humanistic thought in the process of its development, several main aspects/problems emerged: the socio-political aspect as the problem of realizing the ideal of personal and social existence in real historical conditions; historical and cultural aspect: problems of the essence of culture, criteria of progress; philosophical and anthropological aspect: questions about the needs, goals, values ​​of the individual; ethical-sociological aspect: problems of relations between the individual and society, the nature of morality, etc. Different answers to these questions have formed different interpretations of humanism.

2. One of the central problems of humanistic thought was the problem of the ideal of man and society. On this basis, three main types of humanism can be distinguished: religious-idealistic humanism; classical secular (Renaissance) humanism; converted secular humanism. The first is based on the idea of ​​the existence of a higher spiritual principle of the universe, which determines personal and social ideals. In classical secular humanism, these ideals are preserved, but their ideological justification loses integrity and is gradually “eroded.” Converted secular humanism is characterized by the destruction of ideals, the justification of “present” existence and the cult of material needs, and a tendency towards moral relativism. On this path, humanistic thought actually reached a dead end, which in practice was expressed in the growth of social and psychological problems.

3. The second half of the 19th century, according to experts, was marked by a social and ideological crisis, which was reflected in the development of fiction in Europe and the USA. The works of leading Western writers questioned the possibility of a just structure of the world, the ability of man to defend his freedom and independence in a hostile environment, and the predominance of good over evil in the human soul. Thus, the crisis was associated with disappointment in the ideals of classical secular humanism.

4. The search for a way out of the crisis in Western fiction was expressed in two main trends: the rejection of ideals that seemed unrealistic, the affirmation of the “natural” person and the legitimacy of any of his desires and passions (the current of naturalism); and the implementation of a kind of escape from the surrounding reality (neo-romanticism, escape into “ pure art", the flow of decadence). Both trends are associated with the gradual destruction of the value core preserved in classical secular humanism, with its further secularization and the establishment of transformed secular humanism.

5. In Russian culture, religious Christian ideas were creatively rethought on the basis best achievements secular Western culture. This gave rise to a special synthetic type of humanism, which brought leading Russian atheist thinkers closer to their opponents standing on a religious-idealistic platform, and at the same time noticeably different from Western European humanism.

6. The synthetic type of humanism, reflected in Russian fiction, was characterized by the following main features: affirmation of the reality and effectiveness of the ideals of man and society, to which every individual should strive; a call to implement these ideals in life; humanism in the aspect of goodness, compassion, sacrifice as central idea most literary works; deep psychologism, not aimed at the naturalistic " anatomical dissection"of the human soul, but to identify and affirm Man in any, even "fallen" personality, colored by love, understanding, and affirmation of the fraternal unity of all people.

Approbation of dissertation research

Approbation of scientific material and conclusions obtained was carried out with participation (in speeches) at:

International conferences: “Formation of a unified educational space in the Greater Altai region: problems and prospects” (Rubtsovsk, 2005);

All-Russian conferences, symposiums and meetings: scientific and practical conference " Theory and practice of educational work in higher school "(Barnaul, 2000); scientific symposium " Man of culture"(Biysk, 2000); seminar-meeting “Problems of transformation and quality of socio-humanitarian education in Russian universities based on second generation state standards” (Barnaul, 2002); scientific and practical conference "" (Rubtsovsk, 2005);

Many regional, interregional, city and intra-university conferences: regional scientific and practical conference " Spiritual origins of Russian culture"(Rubtsovsk, 2001-2004); interregional scientific and practical conference “Psychological and pedagogical training of specialists” (Moscow, 2001); interregional scientific and practical conference " Theory, practice and education in social work: realities and prospects"(Barnaul, 2002); city ​​scientific and practical conference “Science for the city and the region” (Rubtsovsk, 2003, 2004); intra-university scientific and practical conference " Man in the context of the modern sociocultural situation"(Rubtsovsk, 2004, 2005).

Conclusion of the dissertation on the topic "Theory and history of culture", Shulgin, Nikolai Ivanovich

Conclusion

Humanism is one of the most popular and frequently used terms. It is used in a variety of disciplines - in philosophy, sociology, psychology, cultural studies; as well as in everyday language, in literature, in the media. At the same time, humanism is one of the most arbitrarily interpreted concepts. At the same time, the difference in interpretations, as M. Heidegger quite rightly noted in his time, is connected primarily with the general worldview platform of the author who uses this term, and she, in turn, with this or that culture, the mentality of the nation, with a specific social environment . Therefore, even the systematization of the meanings and meanings of this concept, identifying the sources of its various interpretations are relevant from a theoretical point of view.

Perhaps even more relevant is the study of humanism from a socio-practical position, since it is the cornerstone concept of those spheres of social life, trends and processes that directly concern a person - education and upbringing, building civil society, affirmation and protection of human rights; basic principles most social reforms. In this case, as a rule, the initiators and authors social programs and projects do not record the fact that they often contain direct contradictions between the stated “ humanistic“goals and specific practices and methods, which often turn out to be contrary to the real interests of the individual, that is, precisely inhumane. Thus, clarifying the concept of humanism can contribute to more qualified and detailed analysis of these programs, and the development of substantiated recommendations.

Studying the history of the development of this concept, the reasons for the emergence of its various meanings requires the use of theoretical and empirical material from many fields of knowledge, primarily philosophical and cultural thought. But no less important and promising, in our opinion, is the application of the results obtained to the analysis of those areas where humanism is a central concept. These, of course, include fiction. Man, his problems, his place in the world, relationships with other people, with nature and society have always been the main theme of fiction. And without exaggeration, we can say that within its framework a unique literary anthropology developed, which not only intersected with philosophical anthropology, but in many ways significantly ahead of it, putting at its disposal a wealth of empirical material, developing many specific and even general interesting ideas, which were subsequently in demand by philosophers, cultural scientists, psychologists, sociologists and everyone who in one way or another is faced with the problem of man.

When studying the processes and trends in the development of fiction in the second half of the nineteenth century, as the most indicative and in many respects defining period, what is striking is the fact that the ideological and artistic crisis noted by literary scholars, which gripped most European countries and American literature in specified period, is inextricably linked with the crisis of humanism as such. The humanism of this time represented classical Renaissance-Enlightenment humanism, which was in the process of transformation, with its belief in the omnipotence of the human mind, the ability to transform the world on rational principles and in accordance with the principles of justice; with conviction in the triumph of the principles of freedom, equality and fraternity, with faith in the linear progress of civilization. The reality of the noted historical period practically dispelled these illusions. This led to the fact that the old ideals began to be discarded and humanism began to move into its transformed form. If earlier a person, whom the humanistic worldview affirmed, was understood as an ideal person, endowed with very specific qualities, to which every person should strive, now the “real” person has entered the scene, and “humanity” began to be seen as justifying all existence , any manifestations of personality, including those that were previously rejected as unworthy of a person. In other words, there was a denial not of one or another specific ideal, but of the ideal as such. These trends, as we know, were supported by the philosophy of positivism, which gained particular popularity during this period and significantly influenced the art of the second half of the nineteenth century. It was dominated by a non-judgmental attitude, a cold-blooded “scientific” attitude towards what was depicted, towards evil and pathologies, towards the “underground” of the human soul, which later quite naturally turned into an apology for this underground. As has already been said, these processes had and have a serious social refraction, therefore it is especially important to trace their origins and roots, to identify the reasons that led to such a transformation of the concept of humanism.

At the same time, as is known, in Russian fiction these processes proceeded significantly differently. As already mentioned, the religious-Christian worldview played a special role in its formation. Its interaction with secular culture, with rapidly developing social thought, and the scientific worldview is one of the constantly discussed topics. But almost all authors agree that Orthodox Christian ideas in Russia were creatively rethought on the basis of the best achievements of secular Western and domestic culture and gave rise to a special type of worldview, far from both church-dogmatic Orthodoxy and positivism, popular in Europe. As a result, the development of philosophical thought, art, and culture in general in our country proceeded significantly differently.

This largely explains the phenomenon of the extraordinary popularity of Russian fiction in the West, the deep and ongoing interest in it, which, starting from the end of the nineteenth century, continued for many years. And now, as we know, a number of Russian writers are not only included in the golden fund of world literature, but occupy leading positions in it. First of all, this is due to the truly humanistic potential of Russian literature, with its deep interest in the individual, which is fundamentally different from the positivist-scientific, dispassionate research, “scalping” of the human soul. At the same time, she was far from justifying the “bottom” and opposed moral relativism or individualistic closure in “ ivory tower" Russian writers saw their ultimate task not in blaming the “fallen” but also not in justifying them, but in seeing the “divine spark” in every person and promoting his moral awakening.

Thus, the basis of the Russian, synthetic type of humanism is precisely the affirmation of the ideals of the individual and society, to which each individual should strive; a call to affirm these ideals in life; conviction in the reality and effectiveness of higher values; humanism in the aspect of goodness, compassion, sacrifice as the central idea of ​​most literary works. Of course, this does not mean that in Russian literature there were no tendencies similar to Western decadence or naturalism, but they were identified much weaker and, most importantly, reflected the same crisis phenomena that gave rise to these tendencies in the West.

Of course, within the framework of one study it was not possible to cover the entire spectrum of aspects of the problem raised and various approaches to solving it. At the same time, I would like to hope that the work will contribute to the understanding of the importance of analyzing the concept of humanism, its manifestations in culture, art and, in particular, in Russian fiction; will be of interest to other specialists working on similar problems.

List of references for dissertation research Candidate of Philosophical Sciences Shulgin, Nikolai Ivanovich, 2006

Please note that the scientific texts presented above are posted for informational purposes and were obtained through recognition original texts dissertations (OCR). Therefore, they may contain errors associated with imperfect recognition algorithms.
There are no such errors in the PDF files of dissertations and abstracts that we deliver.

The problem of violence and humanism in Russian literature of the 20th century

So in the bitter hour of death civil war Many writers of the 20th century raised the problem of violence and humanism in their works. This can be seen especially clearly in I. Babel’s “Cavalry Army”, and in M. Sholokhov’s “Don Stories”.

The stories of the heroes in these stories show the incompatibility of the terrible destructive power of war and violence with human happiness, human nature itself.

The twentieth century is fraught with such cataclysms that disrupted the music of people's life.

In the deadly battle of the civil war, people living in the same country, in the same village, often related by blood, collided in an extremely acute class struggle. The theme of violence in a fratricidal war, where a brother killed his brother, a son killed his father, only because their views differed in ideological beliefs, became more and more clear. Relatives who had lived side by side for decades, sharing the last piece of bread with each other, brutally killed each other, destroying the way of life that had developed over centuries.

The Civil War forced everyone to choose which side you were on; it left no other choice.

The theme of violence between relatives and blood is especially acute in I. Babel’s “Cavalry” in the short story “Letter”. In this work, the son writes a letter to his mother, where he describes his life in the Red Army, how he is both hungry and cold, “every day I go to rest without eating and without any clothes, so it’s very cold.” Further, Vasily Kurdyukov describes to his mother about his father, how he killed their son Fyodor Timofeevich, not understanding what grief a woman could experience when reading about how “the father began to cut Fedya, saying - skin, red dog, son of a bitch.” Then the guy describes how, now his other brother Senka, “they began to whip dad” and kill him.

This is where the tragedy of the cruel, merciless war, relatives and closest people destroyed each other “And I think that if I get caught by yours, then there will be no mercy for me. And now, daddy, we will finish you...”

Along with the theme of violence, writers of the 20th century showed in their works and romantic stories, where they glorified folk (universal) values. We can trace this from M. Sholokhov’s stories “The Foal” in “Don Stories”. In this work, a small foal, just born, awakens in people, petrified by mortal battles, human qualities: “the heart of stone turns into a washcloth...”, “I look at him, and my hand trembles... I can’t chop.”

Peaceful labor, procreation, the unity of man with nature - these are Sholokhov’s ideals, according to which, like a tuning fork, history should be tuned. Any deviation from this centuries-old life, from the people's experience, threatens with unpredictable consequences and can lead to a tragedy of the people, a tragedy of man.

Humanism in the works of Thomas More “Utopia” and Evgeny Zamyatin “We”

Introduction

Today the whole world is going through difficult times. The new political and economic situation could not but affect culture. Her relationship with the authorities has changed dramatically. The common core of cultural life has disappeared - centralized system management and unified cultural policy. Determining the paths of further cultural development became a matter for society itself and a subject of disagreement. The absence of a unifying sociocultural idea and the retreat of society from the ideas of humanism led to a deep crisis in which the culture of all mankind found itself at the beginning of the 21st century.

Humanism (from Lat. humanitas - humanity, Lat. humanus - humane, Lat. homo - man) is a worldview centered on the idea of ​​man as the highest value; arose as philosophical movement during the Renaissance.

Humanism is traditionally defined as a system of views that recognizes the value of man as an individual, his right to freedom, happiness and development, and declares the principles of equality and humanity to be the norm for relations between people. Among the values traditional culture the most important place was occupied by the values ​​of humanism (goodness, justice, non-acquisitiveness, search for truth), which was reflected in the classical literature of any country, including England.

Over the past 15 years, these values ​​have experienced a certain crisis. The ideas of possessiveness and self-sufficiency (cult of money) were opposed to humanism. As an ideal, people were offered a “self-mademan” - a person who made himself and does not need any external support. The ideas of justice and equality - the basis of humanism - have lost their former attractiveness and are now not even included in the program documents of most parties and governments of various countries in the world. Our society gradually began to turn into a nuclear one, when its individual members began to isolate themselves within the confines of their home and their own family.

The relevance of the topic I have chosen is due to a problem that has bothered humanity for thousands of years and worries us now - the problem of philanthropy, tolerance, respect for one's neighbor, the urgent need to discuss this topic.

With my research I would like to show that the problem of humanism, which originated in the Renaissance, which was reflected in the works of both English and Russian writers, remains relevant to this day.

And to begin with, I would like to return to the origins of humanism, considering its appearance in England.

1.1 The emergence of humanism in England. History of the development of humanism in English literature

The emergence of new historical thought dates back to late Middle Ages, when in the most advanced countries of Western Europe the process of decomposition of feudal relations was actively underway and a new capitalist mode of production was emerging. This was a transitional period when centralized states took shape everywhere in the form absolute monarchies on the scale of entire countries or individual territories, the prerequisites for the formation of bourgeois nations arose, and an extreme intensification of social struggle occurred. The bourgeoisie emerging among the urban elite was then a new, progressive layer and acted in its ideological struggle with the ruling class of feudal lords as a representative of all lower strata of society.

New ideas find their most vivid expression in the humanistic worldview, which had a very significant impact on all areas of culture and scientific knowledge of this transition period. The new worldview was fundamentally secular, hostile to the purely theological interpretation of the world that dominated in the Middle Ages. He was characterized by the desire to explain all phenomena in nature and society from the point of view of reason (rationalism), to reject the blind authority of faith, which previously so strongly constrained the development of human thought. Humanists worshiped the human personality, admired it as the highest creation of nature, the bearer of reason, high feelings and virtues; Humanists seemed to contrast the human creator with the blind power of divine providence. The humanistic worldview was characterized by individualism, which at the first stage of its history, essentially acted as a weapon of ideological protest against the estate-corporate system feudal society, which suppressed the human personality, against church ascetic morality, which served as one of the means of this suppression. At that time, the individualism of the humanistic worldview was still tempered by the active social interests of the majority of its leaders, and was far from the egoism characteristic of later developed forms of the bourgeois worldview.

Finally, the humanistic worldview was characterized by a greedy interest in ancient culture in all its manifestations. Humanists sought to “revive”, that is, to make as a role model, the work of ancient writers, scientists, philosophers, artists, classical Latin, partly forgotten in the Middle Ages. And although already from the 12th century. V medieval culture Interest in the ancient heritage began to awaken; only during the period of the emergence of the humanistic worldview, in the so-called Renaissance, did this trend become dominant.

The rationalism of the humanists was based on idealism, which largely determined their understanding of the world. As representatives of the intelligentsia of that time, the humanists were far from the people, and often openly hostile to them. But for all that, the humanistic worldview at the time of its heyday had a pronounced progressive character, was the banner of the struggle against feudal ideology, and was imbued with humane treatment to people. Based on this new ideological trend in Western Europe The free development of scientific knowledge, previously hampered by the dominance of theological thinking, became possible.

The revival is associated with the process of formation of secular culture and humanistic consciousness. The philosophy of the Renaissance is defined by:

Focus on people;

Belief in his great spiritual and physical potential;

Life-affirming and optimistic character.

In the second half of the 14th century. a tendency emerged and then increasingly increased over the next two centuries (reaching its highest point especially in the 15th century) to give the study of humanistic literature the most great importance and to regard classical Latin and Greek antiquity as the sole example and model for all that concerns spiritual and cultural activity.

The essence of humanism lies not in the fact that it turned to the past, but in the way in which it is cognized, in the relationship in which it is to this past: it is the attitude to the culture of the past and to the past that clearly determines the essence of humanism. Humanists discover the classics because they separate, without mixing, their own from the Latin. It was humanism that really discovered antiquity, the same Virgil or Aristotle, although they were known in the Middle Ages, because it returned Virgil to his time and his world, and sought to explain Aristotle within the framework of the problems and within the framework of the knowledge of Athens of the 4th century BC. In humanism there is no distinction between the discovery of the ancient world and the discovery of man, because they are all one; discover ancient world as such means to measure oneself against it, and to separate oneself, and to establish a relationship with it. Determine time and memory, and the direction of human creation, and earthly affairs, and responsibility. It is no coincidence that the great humanists were for the most part public, active people, whose free creativity in public life was in demand by their time.

The literature of the English Renaissance developed in close connection with the literature of pan-European humanism. England, later than other countries, took the path of developing a humanistic culture. English humanists learned from continental humanists. Particularly significant was the influence of Italian humanism, which dates back in its beginnings to the 14th and 15th centuries. Italian literature, from Petrarch to Tasso, was, in essence, a school for English humanists, an inexhaustible source of advanced political, philosophical and scientific ideas, a rich treasury artistic images, plots and forms, from which all English humanists, from Thomas More to Bacon and Shakespeare, drew their ideas. Acquaintance with Italy, its culture, art and literature was one of the first and main principles of any education in general in Renaissance England. Many Englishmen traveled to Italy to personally come into contact with the life of this advanced country of what was then Europe.

The first center of humanistic culture in England was Oxford University. From here the light of a new science and a new worldview began to spread, which fertilized the entire English culture and gave impetus to the development of humanistic literature. Here, at the university, a group of scientists appeared who fought against the ideology of the Middle Ages. These were people who studied in Italy and learned the basics there new philosophy and science. They were passionate admirers of antiquity. Having studied at the school of humanism in Italy, Oxford scholars did not limit themselves to popularizing the achievements of their Italian brethren. They grew into independent scientists.

English humanists adopted from their Italian teachers an admiration for the philosophy and poetry of the ancient world.

The activities of the first English humanists were predominantly scientific and theoretical in nature. They developed general issues of religion, philosophy, social life and education. Early English humanism of the early 16th century received its fullest expression in the work of Thomas More.

1.2. The emergence of humanism in Russia. History of the development of humanism in Russian literature.

Already in the first significant Russian poets of the 18th century - Lomonosov and Derzhavin - one can find nationalism combined with humanism. No longer Holy Rus', but Great Rus' inspires them; the national epic, the rapture of the greatness of Russia relate entirely to the empirical existence of Russia, without any historical and philosophical justification.

Derzhavin, the true “singer of Russian glory,” defends human freedom and dignity. In poems written for the birth of Catherine II’s grandson (the future Emperor Alexander I), he exclaims:

“Be the master of your passions,

Be a man on the throne."

This motive of pure humanism is increasingly becoming the crystallizing core of the new ideology.

In the spiritual mobilization of the creative forces of Russia, Russian Freemasonry played an enormous role in the 18th and early XIX centuries. On the one hand, it attracted people who were looking for a counterbalance to the atheistic movements of the 18th century, and in this sense it was an expression of the religious needs of the Russian people of that time. On the other hand, Freemasonry, captivating with its idealism and noble humanistic dreams of serving humanity, was itself a phenomenon of extra-church religiosity, free from any church authority. Capturing significant layers of Russian society, Freemasonry undoubtedly raised creative movements in the soul, was a school of humanism, and at the same time awakened and mental interests.

At the heart of this humanism was a reaction against the one-sided intellectualism of the era. The favorite formula here was the idea that “enlightenment without moral ideal carries poison." In Russian humanism associated with Freemasonry, moral motives played a significant role.

All the main features of the future “advanced” intelligentsia were also formed - and in the first place here was the consciousness of duty to serve society, and practical idealism in general. This was the path of ideological life and effective service to the ideal.

2.1. Humanism in the works “Utopia” by Thomas More and “We” by Evgeny Zamyatin.

Thomas More in his work “Utopia” speaks of universal human equality. But is there a place for humanism in this equality?

What is utopia?

“Utopia - (from the Greek u - no and topos - place - i.e. a place that does not exist; according to another version, from eu - good and topos - place, i.e. blessed country), an image of an ideal social system, lacking scientific justification; genre science fiction; designation of all works containing unrealistic plans for social transformation." (" Dictionary living Great Russian language" by V. Dahl)

A similar term arose thanks to Thomas More himself.

Simply put, utopia is a fictional picture of an ideal life arrangement.

Thomas More lived at the beginning of modern times (1478-1535), when the wave of humanism and the Renaissance swept across Europe. Most of More's literary and political works are of historical interest to us. Only “Utopia” (published in 1516) has retained its significance for our time - not only as a talented novel, but also as a work of socialist thought that is brilliant in its design.

The book is written in the “traveler's story” genre, popular at that time. Allegedly, a certain navigator Raphael Hythloday visited the unknown island of Utopia, whose social structure amazed him so much that he tells others about it.

Knowing well the social and moral life of his homeland, the English humanist, Thomas More, was imbued with sympathy for the misfortunes of its people. These sentiments of his were reflected in famous work with a long title in the spirit of that time - “A very useful, as well as entertaining, truly golden book about the best structure of the state and about the new island of Utopia...”. This work instantly gained great popularity in humanistic circles, which did not stop Soviet researchers from calling Mora almost the first communist.

Humanistic worldview the author of “Utopia” led him to conclusions of great social urgency and significance, especially in the first part of this work. The author’s insight was by no means limited to stating the terrible picture of social disasters, emphasizing at the very end of his work that upon careful observation of the life of not only England, but also “all states,” they represent “nothing but some kind of conspiracy of the rich, under the pretext and under in the name of the state, thinking about their own benefits.”

Already these deep observations suggested to More the main direction of projects and dreams in the second part of Utopia. Numerous researchers of this work have noted not only direct, but also indirect references to the texts and ideas of the Bible (primarily the Gospels), especially ancient and early Christian authors. Of all the works that had the greatest impact on More, Plato's Republic stands out. Many humanists saw in Utopia a long-awaited rival to this greatest creation political thought, a work that had existed by that time for almost two millennia.

In line with humanistic quests that creatively synthesized the ideological heritage of antiquity and the Middle Ages and boldly rationalistically compared political and ethnic theories with the social development of that era, More’s “Utopia” emerged, which reflected and originally comprehended the full depth of socio-political conflicts of the era of the decomposition of feudalism and the primitive accumulation of capital.

After reading More's book, you are very surprised at how much the idea of ​​what is good for a person and what is bad has changed since More's time. To the average resident of the 21st century, More’s book, which laid the foundation for the whole “genre of utopias,” no longer seems at all like a model of an ideal state. Quite the contrary. I would really not want to live in the society described by More. Euthanasia for the sick and decrepit, forced labor service, according to which you must work as a farmer for at least 2 years, and even after that you can be sent to the fields during harvesting. "All men and women have one common occupation - agriculture, from which no one is exempt." But on the other hand, the Utopians work strictly 6 hours a day, and all the dirty, hard and dangerous work is done by slaves. The mention of slavery makes you wonder if it's so utopian this work? Are ordinary people equal in it?

Ideas about universal equality are slightly exaggerated. However, slaves in “Utopia” work not for the benefit of the master, but for the entire society as a whole (the same thing, by the way, happened under Stalin, when millions of prisoners worked for free for the benefit of the Motherland). To become a slave, you must commit a serious crime (including treason or lasciviousness). Slaves do hard work until the end of their days physical work, however, in case of diligent work they may even be pardoned.

More's utopia is not even a state in the usual sense of the word, but a human anthill. You will live in standard houses, and after ten years, you will exchange housing with other families by lot. This is not even a house, but rather a hostel in which many families live - small primary units of local government, headed by elected leaders, siphogrants or phylarchs. Naturally, there is a common household, they eat together, all matters are decided together. There are strict restrictions on freedom of movement; in case of repeated unauthorized absence, you will be punished by being made a slave.

The idea of ​​the Iron Curtain is also implemented in Utopia: she lives in complete isolation from the outside world.

The attitude towards parasites here is very strict - every citizen either works on the land or must master a certain craft (moreover, a useful craft). Only a select few who have demonstrated special abilities are exempt from physical labor and can become scientists or philosophers. Everyone wears the same, simplest clothes made of coarse cloth, and while doing business, a person takes off his clothes so as not to wear them out, and puts on coarse skins or skins. There are no frills, just the essentials. Everyone shares the food equally, with any surplus given to others, and the best food donated to hospitals. There is no money, but the wealth accumulated by the state is kept in the form of debt obligations in other countries. The same reserves of gold and silver that are in Utopia itself are used to make chamber pots, cesspools, as well as to create shameful chains and hoops that are hung on criminals as punishment. All this, according to More, should destroy the citizens’ desire for money-grubbing.

It seems to me that the island described by More is some kind of concept of collective farms driven to a frenzy.

The reasonableness and practicality of the author’s view is striking. In many ways, to social relations in the society he has invented, he fits in as an engineer who creates the most efficient mechanism. For example, the fact that the Utopians prefer not to fight, but to bribe their opponents. Or, for example, the custom when people choosing a partner for marriage are obliged to view him or her naked.

Any progress in the life of Utopia makes no sense. There are no factors in society that force science and technology to develop or change attitudes towards certain things. Life as it is suits citizens and any deviation is simply not necessary.

Utopian society is limited on all sides. There is practically no freedom in anything. The power of equals over equals is not equality. A state in which there is no power cannot exist - otherwise it is anarchy. Well, once there is power, there can no longer be equality. A person who controls the lives of others is always in

privileged position.

Communism was literally built on the island: from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. Everyone is obliged to work, engaged in agriculture and crafts. The family is the basic unit of society. Its work is controlled by the state, and what it produces is donated to a common treasury. The family is considered a social workshop, and not necessarily based on blood relationships. If children do not like their parents' craft, they may move to another family. It is not difficult to imagine what kind of unrest this will lead to in practice.

Utopians live a boring and monotonous life. Their whole life is regulated from the very beginning. However, dining is allowed not only in the public canteen, but also in the family. Education is accessible to all and is based on a combination of theory and practical work. That is, children are given a standard set of knowledge, and at the same time they are taught to work.

Social theorists especially praised More for the absence of private property on Utopia. In More's own words, "Wherever there is private property, where everything is measured by money, it is scarcely ever possible for a state to be governed justly or happily." And in general, “there is only one way for social well-being - to declare equality in everything.”

The Utopians strongly condemn war. But even here this principle is not fully observed. Naturally, the Utopians fight when they defend their borders. But they are fighting

also in the case “when they feel sorry for some people oppressed

tyranny." In addition, “the Utopians consider the most just

the cause of war is when some people do not use their own land, but own it as if in vain and in vain.” Having studied these reasons for the war, we can conclude that the Utopians must fight constantly until they build communism and “world peace.” Because there will always be a reason. Moreover, “Utopia”, in fact, must be an eternal aggressor, because if rational, non-ideological states wage war when it is beneficial for them, then the Utopians always do so if there are reasons for it. After all, they cannot remain indifferent for ideological reasons.

All these facts, one way or another, suggest the thought: was Utopia a utopia in the full sense of the word? Was it the ideal system to which one would like to strive?

On this note, I would like to turn to E. Zamyatin’s work “We”.

It should be noted that Evgeniy Ivanovich Zamyatin (1884-1937), who was a rebel by nature and worldview, was not a contemporary of Thomas More, but lived during the creation of the USSR. The author is almost unknown to a wide circle Russian readers, since the works he wrote back in the 20s were published only in the late 80s. The writer spent the last years of his life in France, where he died in 1937, but he never considered himself an emigrant - he lived in Paris with a Soviet passport.

E. Zamyatin's creativity is extremely diverse. He has written a large number of stories and novels, among which the dystopia “We” occupies a special place. Dystopia is a genre that is also called negative utopia. This is an image of such a possible future, which frightens the writer, makes him worry about the fate of humanity, about the soul of an individual, a future in which the problem of humanism and freedom is acute.

The novel “We” was created shortly after the author returned from England to revolutionary Russia in 1920 (according to some information, work on the text continued in 1921). In 1929, the novel was used for massive criticism of E. Zamyatin, and the author was forced to defend himself, justify himself, and explain himself, since the novel was regarded as his political mistake and “a manifestation of sabotage to the interests of Soviet literature.” After another study at the next meeting of the writing community, E. Zamyatin announced his resignation from the All-Russian Union of Writers. The discussion of Zamyatin’s “case” was a signal for a toughening of the party’s policy in the field of literature: the year was 1929 - the year of the Great Turning Point, the onset of Stalinism. It became pointless and impossible for Zamyatin to work as a writer in Russia and, with the permission of the government, he went abroad in 1931.

E. Zamyatin creates the novel “We” in the form of diary entries of one of the “lucky ones”. The city-state of the future is filled with the bright rays of the gentle sun. Universal equality is repeatedly confirmed by the hero-narrator himself. He deduces mathematical formula, proving to himself and to us, the readers, that “freedom and crime are as inextricably linked as movement and speed...”. He sarcastically sees happiness in restricting freedom.

The narration is a summary of the builder of the spaceship (in our time he would be called the chief designer). He talks about that period of his life, which he later defines as an illness. Each entry (there are 40 of them in the novel) has its own title, consisting of several sentences. It is interesting to note that usually the first sentences indicate the micro-theme of the chapter, and the last gives access to its idea: “Bell. Mirror sea. I will always burn”, “Yellow. 2D shadow. Incurable soul", "Author's debt. The ice is swelling. The hardest love."

What immediately alarms the reader? - not “I think”, but “we think”. A great scientist, a talented engineer, does not recognize himself as an individual, does not think about the fact that he does not have his own name and, like the rest of the inhabitants of the Great State, he bears the “number” - D-503. “No one is “one,” but “one of.” Looking ahead, we can say that in the most bitter moment for him, he will think about his mother: for her, he would not be the Builder of the Integral, number D-503, but would be “a simple human piece - a piece of herself.”

The world of the United State, of course, is something strictly rationalized, geometrically ordered, mathematically verified, with the dominant aesthetics of cubism: rectangular glass boxes of houses where numbered people live (“divine parallelepipeds of transparent dwellings”), straight visible streets, squares (“Square Cuba. Sixty-six powerful concentric circles: stands. And sixty-six rows: quiet lamps of faces..."). People in this geometrized world are an integral part of it, they bear the stamp of this world: “Round, smooth balls of heads floated past - and turned around.” The sterile clean planes of glass make the world of the United State even more lifeless, cold, and unreal. The architecture is strictly functional, devoid of the slightest decoration, “unnecessary things,” and in this one can discern a parody of the aesthetic utopias of the futurists of the early twentieth century, where glass and concrete were glorified as new building materials of the technical future.

Residents of the United State are so devoid of individuality that they differ only by index numbers. All life in the United State is based on mathematical, rational principles: addition, subtraction, division, multiplication. Everyone is a happy arithmetic mean, impersonal, devoid of individuality. The emergence of geniuses is impossible; creative inspiration is perceived as an unknown type of epilepsy.

This or that number (resident of the United State) does not have any value in the eyes of others and is easily replaceable. Thus, the death of several “gazeless” builders of the “Integral”, who died while testing the ship, the purpose of whose construction was to “integrate” the universe, is indifferently perceived by the numbers.

Individual numbers who have shown a tendency to think independently are subjected to the Great Operation to remove fantasy, which kills the ability to think. A question mark - this evidence of doubt - does not exist in the United State, but, of course, there is an exclamation mark in abundance.

Not only does the state regard any personal manifestation as a crime, but numbers do not feel the need to be a person, a human individual with their own unique world.

The main character of the novel D-503 tells the story of the “three freedmen”, well known to every schoolchild in the United State. This story is about how three numbers, as an experience, were released from work for a month. However, the unfortunate ones returned to their workplace and spent hours at a time performing those movements that at a certain time of the day were already a need for their body (sawing, planing the air, etc.). On the tenth day, unable to bear it, they held hands and entered the water to the sounds of a march, plunging deeper and deeper until the water stopped their torment. For the numbers, the guiding hand of the Benefactor, complete submission to the control of the guardian spies, became a necessity:

“It’s so nice to feel someone’s watchful eye, lovingly protecting you from the slightest mistake, from the slightest wrong step. This may sound somewhat sentimental, but the same analogy comes to my mind again: the guardian angels that the ancients dreamed of. How much of what they only dreamed of has materialized in our lives...”

On the one hand, the human personality realizes itself as equal to the whole world, and on the other hand, powerful dehumanizing factors appear and intensify, primarily technical civilization, which introduces a mechanistic, hostile principle to man, since the means of influence of technical civilization on man, the means of manipulating his consciousness, become increasingly powerful and global.

One of the most important issues that the author is trying to solve is the issue of freedom of choice and freedom in general.

Both Mora and Zamyatin have forced equality. People cannot differ in any way from their own kind.

Modern researchers determine the main difference between dystopia and utopia is that “utopians are looking for ways to create an ideal world that will be based on a synthesis of the postulates of goodness, justice, happiness and prosperity, wealth and harmony. And dystopians strive to understand how the human person will feel in this exemplary atmosphere.”

Not only equality of rights and opportunities is clearly expressed, but also forced material equality. And all this is combined with total control and restriction of freedoms. This control is needed to maintain material equality: people are not allowed to stand out, do more, surpass their peers (thus becoming unequal). But this is everyone’s natural desire.

Not a single social utopia talks about specific people. Everywhere the masses or individual social groups are considered. The individual in these works is nothing. “One is zero, one is nonsense!” The problem with utopian socialists is that they think about the people as a whole, and not about specific people. The result is complete equality, but this is the equality of unhappy people.

Is happiness possible for people in a utopia? Happiness from what? From victories? Thus they are performed by everyone equally. Everyone is involved in it and, at the same time, no one. From lack of exploitation? So in utopia it is replaced by public

exploitation: a person is forced to work all his life, but not for the capitalist and not

on oneself, but on society. Moreover, this social exploitation is even more terrible, since

How can a person have no way out? If you can quit working for a capitalist, then it is impossible to hide from society. Yes, and move somewhere else

forbidden.

It is difficult to name at least one freedom that is respected on Utopia. There is no freedom of movement, no freedom to choose how to live. A person driven into a corner by society without the right to choose is deeply unhappy. He has no hope for change. He feels like a slave locked in a cage. People cannot live in a cage, either material or social. Claustrophobia sets in and they want change. But this is not feasible. The Utopian society is a society of deeply unhappy, depressed people. People with depressed consciousness and lack of willpower.

Therefore, it should be recognized that the model of social development proposed to us by Thomas More seemed ideal only in the 16th and 17th centuries. Subsequently, with increasing attention to the individual, it lost any sense of implementation, because if we are to build a society of the future, then it must be a society of expressed individualities, a society strong personalities, not mediocrity.

Considering the novel “We”, first of all it is necessary to indicate that it is closely connected with Soviet history, history of Soviet literature. Ideas of ordering life were characteristic of all literature of the first years Soviet power. In our computerized, robotic era, when the “average” person becomes an appendage to a machine, capable only of pressing buttons, ceasing to be a creator, a thinker, the novel is becoming more and more relevant.

E. Zamyatin himself noted his novel as a signal of the danger threatening man and humanity from the hypertrophied power of machines and the power of the state - no matter what.

In my opinion, with his novel E. Zamyatin affirms the idea that the right to choose is always inseparable from a person. The refraction of “I” into “we” cannot be natural. If a person succumbs to the influence of an inhumane totalitarian system, then he ceases to be a person. You cannot build the world only by reason, forgetting that man has a soul. The machine world should not exist without peace, a humane world.

The ideological devices of Zamyatin’s Unified State and More’s Utopia are very similar. In More's work, although there are no mechanisms, the rights and freedoms of people are also squeezed by the grip of certainty and predetermination.

Conclusion

In his book, Thomas More tried to find the features that an ideal society should have. Reflections on the best political system took place against the backdrop of cruel morals, inequality and social contradictions in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Evgeniy Zamyatin wrote about the prerequisites for which he saw with his own eyes. At the same time, the thoughts of Mora and Zamyatin for the most part are just hypotheses, a subjective vision of the world.

More's ideas were certainly progressive for their time, but they did not take into account one important detail, without which Utopia is a society without a future. Utopian socialists did not take into account the psychology of people. The fact is that any Utopia, making people forcibly equal, denies the possibility of making them happy. After all, a happy person is someone who feels better in something, superior to others in something. He may be richer, smarter, more beautiful, kinder. Utopians deny any possibility for such a person to stand out. He must dress like everyone else, study like everyone else, have exactly as much property as everyone else. But man by nature strives for the best for himself. Utopian socialists proposed punishing any deviation from the norm set by the state, while at the same time trying to change the human mentality. Make him an unambitious, obedient robot, a cog in the system.

Zamyatin’s dystopia, in turn, shows what could happen if this “ideal” of society proposed by the utopians is achieved.

But it is impossible to completely isolate people from the outside world. There will always be those who, at least out of the corner of their eye, know the joy of freedom. And it will no longer be possible to drive such people into the framework of totalitarian suppression of individuality. And in the end, it is precisely such people, who have learned the joy of doing what they want, who will bring down the entire system, the entire political system, which is what happened in our country in the early 90s.

What kind of society can rightfully be called ideal, taking into account the achievements of modern sociological thought? Of course, this will be a society of complete equality. But equality in rights and opportunities. And this will be a society of complete freedom. Freedom of thought and speech, action and movement. Modern Western society is closest to the described ideal. It has many disadvantages, but it makes people happy.

If society is truly ideal, how can there not be freedom in it?..

Anthology of world political science thought. In 5 volumes. T.1. – M.: Mysl, 1997.

World history in 10 volumes, Vol.4. M.: Institute of Socio-Economic Literature, 1958.

More T. Utopia. M., 1978.

Alekseev M.P. “Slavic sources of Thomas More’s Utopia,” 1955.

Varshavsky A.S. “Ahead of its time. Thomas More. Essay on life and work", 1967.

Volodin A.I. “Utopia and History”, 1976

Zastenker N.E. " Utopian socialism", 1973

Kautsky K. “Thomas More and His Utopia”, 1924.

Bak D. P., E. A. Shklovsky, A. N., Arkhangelsky. "All the heroes of works of Russian literature." - M.: AST, 1997.-448 p.

Pavlovets M.G. "E.I. Zamyatin. "We".

Pavlovets T.V. "Text analysis. Main content. Works." - M.: Bustard, 2000. - 123 p.