What is a work of art

Before moving on to the actual practice of analysis, it is necessary to understand several theoretical points.

First. On the one hand, any work of art is a complexly constructed statement, materially expressed (fixed) in a certain text. This statement is directed from the author to the reader; accordingly, it has two sides: the author’s side and the reader’s side. We use the term “reader” in the broadest sense of the word, that is, it also means a spectator in a theater or on art exhibition, and the listener piece of music, and the actual reader of a literary text.

On the other hand, any work of art is a text that is built in a certain sign system, which is more conveniently called the “language of art”).

Language of art

There is one subtlety to understand here. We easily perceive the figurative, metaphorical meaning of the expressions “the language of music” or “the language of painting”, but when it comes to the “language of literature”, we often fall into vocabulary confusion, because literature is created, apparently, in ordinary human, “colloquial” language. In fact, it is necessary to strictly differentiate the meanings here. Ordinary human language is only one of many elements of the “language of literature” as a sign system, moreover, it is also a transformed element, “recreated” by the creative efforts of a writer or poet.

Even on the very “lowest floor” of a literary work, that is, in the speech of the heroes, characters often speak in ways that real people never speak. The language seems to be the same, but in reality it is different. When analyzing, we must not forget for a minute that the words of the heroes of a work of art are just a “mirror” reflection of the real speeches of certain real people, relatively speaking - prototypes.

The general rule is this: any word in a work of fiction is only “similar” to the same word in human (non-fiction) language. It is a “transformed” word - insofar as it has entered the fabric of a work of art.

What do I want to say by emphasizing this idea so persistently? I want to draw attention to the fact that the sign system of a verbal (that is, literary) work is not limited only to its language. Language, in fact, is just one element of such a system. Moreover, the element is completely “artificial”, because it was “made” by the author (artist), and did not arise on its own.

In art everything is artificial, because it is made, that is why it is art.

About the signs

What is a sign? A sign is an external (visible, sensually perceived) manifestation of a certain essence, which I prefer to call meaning.

Figuratively speaking, the sign itself is dead if it is not connected with meaning.

As an example. Take a book in a language you don't know. She may be talented or untalented - you will not be able to appreciate her, because she is not available to you. Not as a material body, but as a text, that is, a work created in a certain sign system.

Expanding the analogy, we will come to the conclusion that many texts remain inaccessible to one degree or another, since this sign system is not at all familiar to the reader or has not been fully mastered by him.

When we further speak of, say, poetry, understandable to a wide circle readers (of publicly accessible, or “folk” poetry), then from a theoretical point of view this only means that these poetic texts were created in sign systems that, for some reason, are accessible to the majority or a huge number of poetry readers. First of all, of course, thanks to school education.

By the way, the accessibility of the text does not characterize it in any way artistic merit. That is, the degree of accessibility does not tell us anything about the degree of talent or lack of talent of its author.

Thus, as a subtotal, literary education at school or outside it implies familiarizing potential readers with existing sign systems, as well as those systems that are in the process of emergence and formation, and on this basis - developing the ability to intuitively perceive the sign systems of the future, which this moment does not yet exist (or is in its infancy).

Conventionally (but quite accurately) speaking, literary and artistic education is the maximum expansion of the artistic horizons of future readers. It is clear that such an expansion can occur not only within the framework of any educational institution, but also - even more often - in some other ways and means, including through self-education.

I would like to note in passing that this approach makes it possible to quite strictly resolve the issue of inclusion or non-inclusion of a particular writer in school curriculum on literature. Therefore, first of all, of course, those writers and poets who expand our horizons in the field of literary and artistic sign systems should be included in the program.

Why is the concept of text important?

So, any work of art is a text created in a certain sign system. As such, it can be separated from the author and “appropriated” by the reader.

An analogy with the sacrament of birth is probably appropriate here. You gave birth to a child - that is, you “separated” him from yourself. He is your child, your fruit, but at the same time, he is an entity separate from you, and your rights to him are limited by a number of rules and regulations.

It’s the same with a work: by separating it from himself (in the form of an act of publication, making it public), the author loses some rights to it, namely: the right to explain it. From this moment on, the work falls within the scope of the reader’s rights, the main of which is the right to understanding, to interpretation. of this work. No one can deprive the reader of this right to interpretation as long as art exists, that is, creativity for the public, creativity addressed to “another” and not to oneself.

I would like to clarify here that the author, of course, also has the right to interpret his work, but not as an author, but as an ordinary (albeit qualified) reader. In rare cases, the author may even act as a critic of his works, but, firstly, even in this case he does not have any special prerogatives in relation to other readers, and secondly, such cases are quite rare, if not exceptional .

Accordingly, the author’s statements such as “what I really wanted to say is such and such,” of course, should not be ignored, but one should not give them excessive meaning either. After all, the reader did not sign up to understand the author thoroughly. If the text, and along with it the author, remains incomprehensible, then that too a special case, which is worth dealing with specifically.

Briefly, I will say that the text may not be understood as a result of the following reasons: 1) the novelty of the author’s sign system; 2) insufficient qualifications of the reader; 3) insufficient talent of the author.

Text elements

Since the text is a complexly constructed statement, it necessarily contains the following elements: topic, idea, form.

Theme is what the work is about.
The idea is what the author communicates to the reader.
Form is how a given statement is constructed.

The theme and idea are usually referred to as the content of the work. I plan to speak about the dialectic of form and content in a work of art in another article. Here it will be enough to note the following. We are accustomed to the postulate that the form is meaningful and the content is formalized, but we rarely take this statement seriously enough. Meanwhile, we must always remember that in a work no content exists apart from the form, and the analysis of a work is essentially an analysis of its form.

One more fundamental remark regarding the content and form of the text. It is clear that a work of art is created for the sake of its idea, since the text is a statement. It is important for the author to say something, to convey something with his work, and for the reader it is important to “read” something, that is, to perceive it. Less often - for the sake of form. This is when the form itself becomes the content. Probably, such cases are more common in experimental art, as well as in children's and adult folklore or its imitation. And, probably, extremely rarely - for the sake of the topic. I think that although such cases relate to cultural phenomena (for example, when a social taboo needs to be removed from some topic), they can hardly rightfully be attributed to art itself.

Message or statement?

IN English language The idea of ​​a work is usually called the term “message” - message, message. So, they say: “What is the message of the story?” That is: what is the idea of ​​the story? It seems to me that the English term is more accurate. Therefore, sometimes in my analyzes I call artistic text message. It is important to note this point here. I contrast message with communication. For communication is a two-way process: they told me - I answered; I said - they answered me. Unlike communication, communication is a one-way process: the writer said - the readers read. The exchange of opinions is certainly permissible, but it is outside the boundaries of the actual artistic creative act.

Taking into account the above, we can formulate the matter this way: a literary text is a complexly constructed statement that carries a very specific message. The task of analysis, therefore, is the most adequate reading (perception) of this message(or text ideas). The analysis is carried out as an analysis of the form, or sign system, that the author adopted for a given work.

I THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL PREREQUISITES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS

1. Piece of art and its properties

A work of art is the main object of literary study, a kind of smallest “unit” of literature. Larger formations in literary process– directions, currents, art systems- are built from individual works, represent a union of parts. A literary work has integrity and internal completeness; it is a self-sufficient unit literary development, capable of independent life. A literary work as a whole has a complete ideological and aesthetic meaning, in contrast to its components - themes, ideas, plot, speech, etc., which receive meaning and in general can exist only in the system of the whole.

A literary work as a phenomenon of art

A literary work is a work of art in the narrow sense of the word *, that is, one of the forms of social consciousness. Like all art in general, a work of art is an expression of a certain emotional and mental content, a certain ideological and emotional complex in a figurative, aesthetically significant form. Using the terminology of M.M. Bakhtin, we can say that a work of art is a “word about the world” spoken by a writer, a poet, an act of reaction of an artistically gifted person to the surrounding reality.

___________________

* ABOUT different meanings for the word “art” see: Pospelov G.N. Aesthetic and artistic. M, 1965. pp. 159–166.

According to the theory of reflection, human thinking is a reflection of reality, the objective world. This, of course, fully applies to artistic thinking. A literary work, like all art, is special case subjective reflection of objective reality. However, reflection, especially at the highest stage of its development, which is human thinking, can in no case be understood as a mechanical, mirror reflection, as a one-to-one copy of reality. The complex, indirect nature of reflection is perhaps most evident in artistic thinking, where the subjective moment, the unique personality of the creator, his original vision of the world and the way of thinking about it are so important. A work of art, therefore, is an active, personal reflection; one in which not only the reproduction of life reality occurs, but also its creative transformation. In addition, the writer never reproduces reality for the sake of reproduction itself: the very choice of the subject of reflection, the very impulse to creatively reproduce reality is born from the writer’s personal, biased, caring view of the world.

Thus, a work of art represents an indissoluble unity of the objective and subjective, the reproduction of real reality and the author’s understanding of it, life as such, included in the work of art and cognizable in it, and author's attitude to life. These two sides of art were once pointed out by N.G. Chernyshevsky. In his treatise “Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality,” he wrote: “The essential meaning of art is the reproduction of everything that is interesting to a person in life; very often, especially in works of poetry, also comes to the fore as an explanation of life, a verdict on its phenomena”*. True, Chernyshevsky, polemically sharpening the thesis about the primacy of life over art in the fight against idealistic aesthetics, mistakenly considered only the first task - “reproduction of reality” - to be main and obligatory, and the other two - secondary and optional. It would be more correct, of course, not to talk about the hierarchy of these tasks, but about their equality, or rather, about the indissoluble connection between the objective and the subjective in a work: after all, a true artist simply cannot depict reality without comprehending and evaluating it in any way. However, it should be emphasized that the very presence of a subjective moment in a work was clearly recognized by Chernyshevsky, and this represented a step forward compared, say, with the aesthetics of Hegel, who was very inclined to approach a work of art in a purely objectivist way, belittling or completely ignoring the activity of the creator.

___________________

* Chernyshevsky N.G. Full collection cit.: In 15 volumes. M., 1949. T. II. C. 87.

It is also necessary methodologically to realize the unity of objective image and subjective expression in a work of art, for the sake of practical problems analytical work with the work. Traditionally, in our study and especially teaching of literature, more attention is paid to the objective side, which undoubtedly impoverishes the idea of ​​a work of art. In addition, a kind of substitution of the subject of research may occur here: instead of studying a work of art with its inherent aesthetic patterns, we begin to study the reality reflected in the work, which, of course, is also interesting and important, but has no direct connection with the study of literature as an art form. A methodological approach aimed at studying the mainly objective side of a work of art, wittingly or unwittingly, reduces the importance of art as an independent form of spiritual activity of people, ultimately leading to ideas about the illustrative nature of art and literature. In this case, the work of art is largely deprived of its living emotional content, passion, pathos, which, of course, are primarily associated with the author's subjectivity.

In the history of literary criticism, this methodological tendency has found its most obvious embodiment in the theory and practice of the so-called cultural-historical school, especially in European literary criticism. Its representatives looked for signs and features of reflected reality in literary works; “they saw cultural and historical monuments in works of literature,” but “the artistic specificity, all the complexity of literary masterpieces did not interest researchers”*. Some representatives of the Russian cultural-historical school saw the danger of such an approach to literature. Thus, V. Sipovsky directly wrote: “You cannot look at literature only as a reflection of reality”**.

___________________

* Nikolaev P.A., Kurilov A.S., Grishunin A.L. History of Russian literary criticism. M., 1980. P. 128.

** Sipovsky V.V.History of literature as a science. St. Petersburg; M. . P. 17.

Of course, a conversation about literature may well turn into a conversation about life itself - there is nothing unnatural or fundamentally untenable in this, because literature and life are not separated by a wall. However, it is important to have a methodological approach that does not allow one to forget about the aesthetic specificity of literature and to reduce literature and its meaning to the meaning of illustration.

If in terms of content a work of art represents the unity of reflected life and the author’s attitude towards it, that is, it expresses some “word about the world”, then the form of the work is figurative, aesthetic in nature. Unlike other types public consciousness, art and literature, as is known, reflect life in the form of images, that is, they use such specific, individual objects, phenomena, events that, in their specific individuality, carry a generalization. In contrast to the concept, the image has greater “visibility”; it is characterized not by logical, but by concrete sensory and emotional persuasiveness. Imagery is the basis of artistry, both in the sense of belonging to art and in the sense of high skill: thanks to their figurative nature, works of art have aesthetic dignity, aesthetic value.

So we can give this working definition a work of art: this is a certain emotional and mental content, a “word about the world”, expressed in an aesthetic, figurative form; a work of art has integrity, completeness and independence.

Question 1. A work of art as an object of linguistics

Among linguistic disciplines that study the fundamentals and characteristics of speech in its various forms and functions, stylistics should occupy a special place. Many scientists talk about this (Ries, Bally, Sechehaye, Schober, Maretic, etc.); they tried to determine its relationship with other areas of speech science. But in the vast field of linguistics, which is divided into a number of separate disciplines, there is no established classification of them. The position of linguistics remains uncertain, especially because different researchers, when establishing the concepts of this science, base different principles (for example, the theory of the emotional function of the word and the series of words, the principle of “the word as such,” the theory of “ internal form" and so on.).

First of all, before theory literary styles the task is to fundamentally distinguish - from a linguistic point of view - the main genre modifications speeches of literary and artistic works.

A work of art does not represent a “straightforward” construction in which symbols are attached to one another like dominoes laid out in a row or a mosaic picture where the component parts are directly revealed and clearly separated. Symbols, coming into contact, unite into large concentrations, which in turn should again be considered as new symbols, which in their integrity are subject to new aesthetic transformations. Fractional stylistic associations merge into large stylistic groups, which are included in the composition of the “object” as independent, whole, as newly created symbols. And their meaning in the general concept is by no means equal to the simple sum of the meanings of those verbal series from which they are composed. Thus, in a work of art one should distinguish between simple symbols, correlated with each other, and complex symbols, which combine, like a cycle of morphemes, a group of fractional symbols. These complex symbols are also correlated with complex verbal groups, but they represent a new level of semantic ascent. Therefore, in the theory of literary styles, one of the most central is the question of the types of symbols, the methods of constructing them and the principles of their transformation.

Question 2. The structure of a work of art and its analysis

A work of art is a complexly organized whole. It is necessary to know its internal structure, that is, to isolate its individual components and understand the connections between them.

IN modern literary criticism There are two main trends in establishing the structure of a work.

The first comes from highlighting a number of layers, or levels, in the work. For example, M.M. Bakhtin (“Aesthetics” verbal creativity") sees two levels in a work - “plot” and “plot”, the depicted world and the world of the image itself, the reality of the author and the reality of the hero.

The second approach to the structure of a work of art takes categories such as content and form as the primary division.

A work of art is not a natural phenomenon, but a cultural one, which means that it is based on spirituality, which, in order to exist and be perceived, must certainly acquire some material embodiment, a way of existing in the system of material signs. Hence the naturalness of defining the boundaries of form and content in a work: the spiritual principle is the content, and its material embodiment is the form.

Form is the system of means and techniques in which this reaction finds expression and embodiment. Simplifying somewhat, we can say that content- This is what, What the writer said with his work, and form– How he did it.

The form of a work of art has two main functions.

The first is carried out within the artistic whole, so it can be called internal: it is a function of expressing content.

The second function is found in the impact of the work on the reader, so it can be called external (in relation to the work). It consists in the fact that form has an aesthetic effect on the reader, because form acts as a bearer of the aesthetic qualities of a work of art.

From what has been said, it is clear that the issue of convention, so important for a work of art, is resolved differently in relation to content and form.

Thus, the Shchedrin city of Foolov is a creation of the author’s pure fantasy; it is conventional, since it never existed in reality, but autocratic Russia, which became the theme of “The History of a City” and is embodied in the image of the city of Foolov, is not a convention or a fiction.

The movement of analysis of a work - from content to form or vice versa - does not have principled meanings. It all depends on the specific situation and specific tasks.

A clear conclusion arises that in a work of art both form and content are equally important.

However, the relationship between form and content in a work of art has its own specifics.

First of all, it is necessary to firmly understand that the relationship between content and form is not a spatial relationship, but a structural one.

According to Yu.N. Tynyanova, between artistic form And artistic content relationships are established that are unlike the relationship between “wine and glass” (glass as form, wine as content).

In a work of art, the content is not indifferent to the specific form in which it is embodied, and vice versa. Any change in form is inevitable and immediately leads to a change in content.

There is an important methodological rule: for an accurate and complete assimilation of the content of a work, the closest possible attention to its form is absolutely necessary.

Theme of the work and its analysis.

By topic we mean object of artistic reflection, those life characters and situations that seem to move from reality into a work of art and form objective side its content. Theme in this understanding acts as a link between primary reality and artistic reality; it seems to belong to both worlds at once: the real and the artistic. In this case, one should, of course, take into account the fact that actual characters and character relationships are not copied by the writer “one to one”, but are already creatively refracted at this stage: the writer selects from reality the most characteristic, from his point of view, strengthens this characteristic and simultaneously embodies it in a single artistic image. This is how it is created literary character – person fictitious by the writer with its own character. It is this individual integrity that attention should be directed primarily to when analyzing the topic.

It should be noted that in the practice of school teaching of literature, unjustifiably much attention is paid to the consideration of themes and analysis of “images”, as if the main thing in a work of art is the reality that is reflected in it, whereas in fact the center of gravity of a meaningful analysis should lie entirely on a different plane: not what the author reflected, but how he interpreted what was reflected.

Exaggerated attention to the topic leads to a conversation about the reality reflected in the work of art, and then literature turns into an illustration for a history textbook. This ignores the aesthetic specificity of a work of art and the originality of the author’s view of reality. And a conversation about literature inevitably turns out to be boring, stating, and unproblematic.

WORK OF ART - a product of an artist. creativity, in which the spiritual and content of its creator - the artist is embodied in a sensory-material form and which meets certain criteria aesthetic value; basic keeper and source of information in the field of artistic culture. P. x. can be individual and ensemble, deployed in space and developing in time, self-sufficient or requiring performing art. In the cultural system, it functions thanks to its material-objective carrier: the typographic text of a book, a painting with its physical, chemical and geometric properties, a cinematographic film; in performing arts - orchestra, actor, etc. Actually, P. kh. is constructed on the basis of the primary pictorial series: sounding or imaginary speech, a combination of shapes and color planes in fine arts, a moving image projected onto a film and television screen, an organized system musical sounds etc. Although, unlike a natural object, the creation of P. x. determined by the purpose of man, it occurs on the border with nature, since it uses natural materials(Material of art), and in certain types of art, painting arises in the process of rearranging and emphasizing natural objects (gardening) or in an ensemble with them (memorial-monumental and landscape gardening). Being a specific product creative activity, P. x. at the same time borders on the world of utilitarian and practical things (decorative and applied arts), documentary and scientific sources and other cultural monuments, for example. " historical novel there is, as it were, a point at which history as a science merges with art” (Belinsky). P. x. borders, however, not only “with practically useful”, but also “with unsuccessful attempts at art” (Tolstoy). It must satisfy at least the minimum requirements of artistry, i.e., stand on a step closer to perfection. Tolstoy shared P. x. into three types - P. are outstanding: 1) “by the significance of its content,” 2) “by the beauty of its form,” 3) “by its sincerity and truthfulness.” The coincidence of these three moments gives birth. Artist the merits of P. art are determined by the talent of their creator, the originality and sincerity of the concept (in the art of constantly renewed cultures), the most complete embodiment of the possibilities of the canon (in the art traditional cultures), a high degree of skill. The artistry of P. art is manifested in the completeness of the implementation of the concept, the crystallization of its aesthetic expressiveness, in the meaningfulness of the form, adequate to the general author’s concept and individual nuances of figurative thought (Artistic Concept), in integrity, edges expressed in proportionality, corresponding to the principle of unity in diversity , either in emphasizing either unity or diversity. Organism, apparent unintentionality of real P. x. prompted Kant and Goethe to compare it with a product of nature, the romantics with the universe, Hegel with man, Potebnya with the word. Artist the integrity of the P. claim, its completeness is by no means always adequate to the technical, quantitative side components, its external completeness. And then the sketch is meaningful. so precise that it outweighs in its significance and expressive power the detailed and outwardly large-scale P. x. (for example, V. Serov, A. Scriabin, P. Picasso, A. Matisse). In Soviet fine art there are both detailed, outwardly completed paintings and those in which a tendency towards expressiveness and elevating a fragment to the status of an artist is found. integrity. However, in all cases, genuine P. x. there is a certain organization, orderliness, conjugation into a whole aesthetic ideas. In the process of development of one or another type of art, technical means can also acquire a function, with the help of which P. art. delivered, transmitted to the public that perceives the art (for example, in cinema). In addition to the materially recorded plan of P. x. carries encoded information of an ideological, ethical, socio-psychological order, edges in its structure acquires an artist. value. Despite the relative stability, the content of P. x. updated under the influence social development, artistic changes tastes, trends and styles. Connections in the field of art. contents are not fixed with unambiguous certainty, as is the case in scientific text, they are relatively mobile, thereby P. x. is not locked into a system of once and for all given meanings and meanings, but allows for different readings. P. x., intended for performance, already in its text structure presupposes the versatility of artistic and semantic shades, the possibility of different artistic styles. interpretations. The creation of a new art in the process of cultural inheritance is built on this. integrity through creative borrowing from the treasury of aesthetic discoveries of past eras, transformed and modernized by the power of civic pathos and talent of new generations. artists. It is important, however, to distinguish the fruits of such creative borrowings from Epigonian crafts, where most often only external features one or another manner, imprinted in P. x. other masters, but the emotional and figurative fullness of the original is lost. Formal and unspiritual reproduction of plots and art. techniques does not give rise to a new organic and creatively labored artist. integrity, but an eclectic similarity to it. As a cultural phenomenon, P. x. usually considered aesthetic theory as part of a certain system: for example, in an artistic complex. values ​​of one or several types of art, united by a typological community (genre, style,), or within the framework of a socio-aesthetic process that includes three links: - P. art - . Features of the psychophysiological perception of P. x. are studied by the psychology of art, and its existence in society - by the sociology of art.

Aesthetics: Dictionary. - M.: Politizdat. Under general ed. A. A. Belyaeva. 1989 .

See what a “WORK OF ART” is in other dictionaries:

Piece of art- PIECE OF ART. To define a work of art, it is necessary to understand all its main features. Let's try to do this, keeping in mind the works of our great writers, for example, “The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky... Literary encyclopedia

Piece of art- product artistic creativity: in which the idea of ​​its creator, the artist, is embodied in a sensually material form; and which meets certain categories of aesthetic value. See also: Works of art Works... ... Financial Dictionary

Piece of art- This term has other meanings, see Work... Wikipedia

Piece of art- PIECE OF ART. To define a work of art, it is necessary to understand all its main features. Let’s try to do this, keeping in mind the works of our great writers, for example, “The Brothers Karamazov”... ... Dictionary of literary terms

ARTISTIC SPACE- the space of a work of art, the totality of those properties that give it internal unity and completeness and endow it with an aesthetic character. The concept of "H.p." playing central role in modern aesthetics, it has only become... Philosophical Encyclopedia

A work of art in the era of its technical reproducibility- “The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technical Reproducibility” (Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit) essay, written in 1936, by Walter Benjamin. In his work, Benjamin analyzes the transformation... ... Wikipedia

ARTISTIC KNOWLEDGE- 1) knowledge of objective and subjective reality by a person (not an artist) who has an innate ability to visually see the world and perceives the world in a “beautiful shell”, as subjectively expressively colored (an example of this... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

piece of art- ▲ a work of art in the form of a literary work of action (# of the novel takes place where). plot course of events literary work. plot device. intrigue (twisted #). | episode. exod. remark. | retardation. plot. chorus beginning |… … Ideographic Dictionary of the Russian Language

ARTISTIC TIME AND ARTISTIC SPACE- ARTISTIC TIME AND ARTISTIC SPACE, the most important characteristics artistic image, providing a holistic perception artistic reality and organizing the composition of the work. The art of words belongs to the group... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

Piece of art- a spiritually material reality that meets artistic and aesthetic criteria, which arose as a result of the creative efforts of an artist, sculptor, poet, composer, etc. and represents value in the eyes of certain communities.… … Aesthetics. encyclopedic Dictionary

The integrity of a literary work as an ideological and artistic system. Its conceptuality and specific artistic completeness.

Organic unity of figurative form and emotional-generalizing content. The problem of their analytical differentiation, which arose in European aesthetics of the late 18th - early 19th centuries (F. Schiller, Hegel, Goethe). The scientific significance of such a distinction and its debatability in modern literary criticism (replacement of traditional concepts with “meaning”, “artistic semantics”, “literal content”, “text”, “discourse”, etc.). The concepts of “aesthetic idea” (I. Kant), “ poetic idea"(F. Schiller), "idea of ​​beauty" (Hegel): semantic nuances of these terms, revealing the way of existence and the formative potential of artistic thought (creative concept). “Concreteness” as a general property of idea and image, content and form in a literary work. The creative nature of artistic content and form, the formation of their unity in the process of creating a work, the “transition” of content into form and form into content.

Relative independence of the figurative form, combining aesthetic expediency with “apparent randomness.” Artistic form as the embodiment and deployment of content, its “symbolic” (“metaphorical”) meaning and ordering role. Completeness of form and its “emotional-volitional tension” (M. Bakhtin).

The composition of an artistic form as a scientific problem; “internal” and “external” form (A. Potebnya). Aesthetic organization (composition) of the “artistic world” (depicted fictional reality) and verbal text. The principle of functional consideration of form elements in their meaningful and constructive role. Concept artistic technique and its functions. A formalistic interpretation of this concept, isolating the artistic form from the content. The subordination of the formal elements of the author’s creative concept. The concept of structure as the correlation of elements of the whole. The meaning of the terms “information”, “text”, “context” in the semiotic interpretation of fiction.

2. Content of the work of art

Poetic idea (generalizing emotional-figurative thought) as the basis of artistic content. The difference between a poetic idea and an analytical judgment; organic unity of the objective (subject-thematic) and subjective (ideological-emotional) sides; the convention of such a distinction within the artistic whole. The specificity of poetic thought, overcoming the one-sidedness of abstract thinking, its figurative polysemy, “openness”.

A category of artistic theme that allows one to correlate a poetic idea with its subject, with extra-artistic reality. Author's activity in choosing a topic. The connection between the subject of the image and the subject of cognition; differences between them. The combination of concrete historical and traditional, “eternal” themes in literature. The author's interpretation of the topic: identifying and understanding life's contradictions from a certain angle. Continuity of problems in literature, their artistic originality. The value aspect and emotional orientation of the poetic idea, determined by the author’s ideological and moral attitude to the depicted contradictions human life, “trial” and “sentence” of the artist. Varying degrees of severity emotional assessment in the integrity of the work of art (depending on the programmatic and creative attitude of the author, genre and stylistic tradition). Artistic tendency and tendentiousness.

Category of pathos. The ambiguous use of the term “pathos” in the science of a writer: 1) “the poet’s love for an idea” (V. Belinsky), inspiring his creative plan; 2) the character’s passionate striving for a significant goal, prompting him to act; 3) the sublime emotional orientation of the poetic idea of ​​the work, due to the passionate and “serious” (Hegel) attitude of the poet to the subject of creativity. The connection between pathos and the category of the sublime. True and false pathos. " Pathos" and "mood" are types of poetic ideas.

Typology of poetic ideas as a theoretical and literary problem: thematic principle(social, political, religious, etc. ideas) and aesthetic principle(a figuratively embodied “system of feelings”, according to F. Schiller, conditioned by the relationship between the artist’s ideal and the reality he depicts).

Heroic in literature: depiction and admiration of the feat of an individual or a group in their struggle with natural elements, with an external or internal enemy. The development of artistic heroics from the normative glorification of the hero to his historical concretization. A combination of heroism with drama and tragedy.

Tragic in literature. The significance of ancient myths and Christian legends for understanding the essence of tragic conflicts (external and internal) and recreating them in literature. The moral significance of a tragic character and its pathos that encourages action. A variety of situations reflecting the tragic collisions of life. Tragic mood.

Idyllic is an artistic idealization of the “natural”, close to nature, way of life of “innocent and happy humanity” (F. Schiller), unaffected by civilization.

Sentimental and romantic interest in the inner world of the individual in the literature of modern times. V. Belinsky on the importance of sentimental sensitivity and romantic striving for the ideal in literature. The difference between the typological concepts of “sentimentality” and “romance” from the specific historical concepts of “sentimentalism” and “romanticism”. Sentimentality and romance in realism. Their connection with humor, irony, satire.

Critical orientation of literature. Comic contradictions are the basis of humor and satire, determining the dominance of the laughter principle in them. N. Gogol about the cognitive significance of laughter. Humor is “laughter through tears” in connection with the moral and philosophical understanding of the comic behavior of people. Use of the term "humor" in meaning of the lung, entertaining laughter. The civil orientation of satirical pathos as an angry denunciation of laughter. The connection between satire and tragedy. Irony and sarcasm. Traditions of carnival laughter in literature. Tragicomic.

Compatibility and mutual transitions of types of poetic ideas and moods. Unity of affirmation and negation. The uniqueness of the idea of ​​a separate work and the breadth of its artistic content.

Epicness, lyricism, drama are the typological properties of artistic content. Lyricism as a sublime emotional mood that affirms the value of the inner world of the individual. Drama (dramatic) as a state of mind that conveys a tense experience of acute contradictions in social, moral, and everyday relations between people.

Epic as a sublimely contemplative view of the world, acceptance of the world in its breadth, complexity and integrity.

Interpretation content of a work of art (creative, critical, literary, reading) and the problem of the boundary between its reasonable and arbitrary interpretation. The context of the writer’s work, the intention and creative history of the work as guidelines for interpretation.