Ticket 4. Conventionality and lifelikeness. Conditionality and realism. Conventionality and fantasy in a work of art.
Artistic Fiction on early stages the formation of art, as a rule, was not realized: the archaic consciousness did not distinguish between historical and artistic truth. But already in folk tales, which never pretend to be a mirror of reality, conscious fiction is quite pronounced. For a number of centuries, fiction appeared in literary works as a common property, as inherited by writers from their predecessors. Most often, these were traditional characters and plots, which were somehow transformed each time. Much more than before, fiction manifested itself as an individual property of the author in the era of romanticism, when imagination and fantasy were recognized as the most important facet of human existence.
In the post-romantic era, fiction narrowed its scope somewhat. Flight of the imagination 19th writers in. often preferred direct observation of life: characters and plots were close to their prototypes. Through fiction, the author summarizes the facts of reality, embodies his view of the world, and demonstrates his creative energy.
Forms of "primary" reality (which again is absent in "pure" documentary) are reproduced by the writer (and the artist in general) selectively and somehow transformed, resulting in a phenomenon that D.S. Likhachev called inner world works: "Each work of art reflects the world of reality in its creative perspectives<...>. The world of a work of art reproduces reality in a kind of "abbreviated", conditional version.<...>.
There are two trends artistic imagery, which are denoted by the terms conventionality (the author's emphasis on non-identity, and even opposition between the depicted and the forms of reality) and lifelikeness (leveling such differences, creating the illusion of the identity of art and life). The distinction between conventionality and lifelikeness is already present in the statements of Goethe (the article "On Truthfulness in Art") and Pushkin (notes on dramaturgy and its implausibility).
It is customary to call the grotesque the artistic transformation of life forms, leading to some kind of ugly inconsistency, to the combination of the incompatible.
Realism and convention in literature.
Realism in Literature. In fiction, realism develops gradually, over many centuries. But the term “realism” itself appeared only in the middle of the 19th century. Realism in literature and art is a truthful, objective reflection of reality by specific means inherent in one or another type of artistic creativity. During historical development R. art takes concrete forms of certain creative methods.
Artistic convention is non-identity artistic image playback object. Distinguish between primary and secondary convention depending on the degree of plausibility of images and awareness of fiction in different historical eras.
Primary conventionality is closely related to the nature of art itself, which is inseparable from conventionality, and therefore characterizes any work of art, because it is not identical with reality. Such conventionality is perceived as something generally accepted, for granted.
Secondary conventionality, or conventionality itself, is a demonstrative and conscious violation of artistic plausibility in the style of a work.
Violation of proportions, combining and emphasizing any components artistic world that betray the frankness of the author's fiction, give rise to special stylistic devices that testify to the awareness of the author's game with conventionality, referring to it as a purposeful, aesthetically significant means. Types of conventional figurativeness - fantasy, grotesque (it is customary to call the grotesque the artistic transformation of life forms, leading to some kind of ugly incongruity, to the combination of the incongruous); related phenomena - hyperbole, symbol, allegory - can be fantastic (Woe-Misfortune in ancient Russian literature, Demon by Lermontov), ​​and believable (a symbol of a seagull, a cherry orchard by Chekhov).
Conventionality and fantasy in a work of art
Esin A.B. Principles and methods of analysis literary work. - M., 1998
The artistic world is conventionally similar to primary reality. However, the measure and degree of conventionality in different works is different. Depending on the degree of conventionality, such properties of the depicted world as lifelikeness and fantasy are distinguished, which reflect a different degree of difference between the depicted world and the real world.
Life-likeness implies “the depiction of life in the forms of life itself”, according to Belinsky, that is, without violating the physical, psychological, causal and other patterns known to us.
Fiction implies a violation of these laws, the emphasized implausibility of the depicted world. So, for example, Gogol's story "Nevsky Prospekt" is lifelike in its imagery, while his "Viy" is fantastic.
Most often we meet in a work with individual fantastic images- for example, the images of Gargantua and Pantagruel in the novel of the same name by Rabelais, but fantasy can also be plot, as, for example, in Gogol's story "The Nose", in which the chain of events from beginning to end is completely impossible in the real world.

ARTISTIC CONVENTION- in a broad sense, the original property of art, manifested in a certain difference, mismatch artistic picture world, individual images with objective reality. This concept indicates a kind of distance (aesthetic, artistic) between reality and artwork, the awareness of which is an essential condition for adequate perception of the work. The term "conventionality" is rooted in art theory because artistic creativity carried out mainly in "forms of life". Linguistic, sign means of expression the arts, as a rule, represent some degree of transformation of these forms. Three types of conventionality are usually distinguished: conventionality expressing the specificity of art, due to the properties of its language material: paints in painting, stone in sculpture, words in literature, sound in music, etc., which predetermines the possibility of each type of art in the display of various aspects of reality and the self-expression of the artist - a two-dimensional and planar image on canvas and screen, static in fine arts, the lack of a "fourth wall" in the theater. At the same time, painting has a rich color spectrum, cinema has a high degree of image dynamism, and literature, thanks to the special capacity of verbal language, completely compensates for the lack of sensual clarity. This conditionality is called "primary" or "unconditional". Another type of convention is the canonization of the totality of artistic characteristics, stable techniques and goes beyond the partial reception, free artistic choice. Such a condition may be art style an entire era (Gothic, Baroque, Empire), to express the aesthetic ideal of a particular historical time; it is strongly influenced by ethno-national features, cultural representations, ritual traditions of the people, mythology. The ancient Greeks endowed their gods with fantastic powers and other symbols of the deity. The religious and ascetic attitude to reality affected the conventions of the Middle Ages: the art of this era personified the otherworldly, mysterious world. The art of classicism was instructed to depict reality in the unity of place, time and action. The third type of convention is actually artistic technique depending on the creative will of the author. The manifestations of such conventionality are infinitely diverse, they are distinguished by pronounced metaphor, expressiveness, associativity, deliberately open re-creation of “forms of life” - deviations from the traditional language of art (in ballet - the transition to a normal step, in opera - to colloquial speech). In art, it is not necessary that the shaping components remain invisible to the reader or viewer. A skillfully implemented open artistic device of conventionality does not violate the process of perception of the work, but, on the contrary, often activates it.

ARTISTIC CONVENTION in a broad sense

the original property of art, manifested in a certain difference, the discrepancy between the artistic picture of the world, individual images and objective reality. This concept indicates a kind of distance (aesthetic, artistic) between reality and a work of art, the awareness of which is an essential condition for an adequate perception of the work. The term "conventionality" is rooted in the theory of art, since artistic creativity is carried out mainly in "forms of life". Linguistic, symbolic expressive means of art, as a rule, represent one or another degree of transformation of these forms. Usually, three types of conventionality are distinguished: conventionality expressing the species specificity of art, due to the properties of its language material: paints in painting, stone in sculpture, words in literature, sound in music, etc., which predetermines the possibility of each type of art in displaying various aspects of reality and self-expression of the artist - a two-dimensional and planar image on canvas and screen, static in fine art, the absence of a “fourth wall” in the theater. At the same time, painting has a rich color spectrum, cinema has a high degree of image dynamism, and literature, due to the special capacity of verbal language, fully compensates for the lack of sensual clarity. Such conditionality is called “primary” or “unconditional”. Another type of convention is the canonization of a set of artistic characteristics, stable techniques and goes beyond the partial reception, free artistic choice. Such a convention can represent the artistic style of an entire era (Gothic, Baroque, Empire), express the aesthetic ideal of a particular historical time; it is strongly influenced by ethnic and national characteristics, cultural representations, ritual traditions of the people, mythology. The ancient Greeks endowed their gods with fantastic power and other symbols of the deity. The religious and ascetic attitude to reality affected the conventions of the Middle Ages: the art of this era personified the otherworldly, mysterious world. The art of classicism was instructed to depict reality in the unity of place, time and action. The third type of conventionality is an artistic technique that depends on the creative will of the author. The manifestations of such conventionality are infinitely diverse, they are distinguished by pronounced metaphor, expressiveness, associativity, deliberately open re-creation of “forms of life” - deviations from the traditional language of art (in ballet - a transition to a normal step, in opera - to colloquial speech). In art, it is not necessary that the shaping components remain invisible to the reader or viewer. A skillfully implemented open artistic device of conventionality does not violate the process of perception of the work, but, on the contrary, often activates it.

There are two types of artistic convention. Primary artistic convention is associated with the material itself, which is used this species art. For example, the possibilities of the word are limited; it does not give the possibility to see color or smell, it can only describe these sensations:

The music rang in the garden

With such unspeakable grief

Fresh and pungent smell of the sea

Oysters on ice on a platter.

(A. A. Akhmatova, "In the Evening")

This artistic convention is characteristic of all types of art; the work cannot be created without it. In literature, the peculiarity of artistic convention depends on the literary genre: the external expressiveness of actions in drama, description of feelings and experiences in lyrics, description of the action in epic. The primary artistic convention is associated with typification: depicting even real person, the author seeks to present his actions and words as typical, and for this purpose he changes some properties of his hero. So, the memoirs of G.V. Ivanova"Petersburg Winters" evoked many critical responses from the characters themselves; e.g. A.A. Akhmatova was indignant at the fact that the author had invented never-before dialogues between her and N.S. Gumilyov. But G.V. Ivanov wanted not only to reproduce real events, but to recreate them in artistic reality, create the image of Akhmatova, the image of Gumilyov. The task of literature is to create a typified image of reality in its sharp contradictions and peculiarities.
Secondary artistic convention is not characteristic of all works. It involves a deliberate violation of plausibility: the nose of Major Kovalev cut off and living on its own in N.V. Gogol, the mayor with a stuffed head in the "History of one city" M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Secondary artistic convention is created through the use of religious and mythological images(Mephistopheles in "Faust" by I.V. Goethe, Woland in The Master and Margarita by M. A. Bulgakov), hyperbole(the incredible power of the heroes of the folk epic, the scale of the curse in N.V. Gogol's "Terrible Revenge"), allegories (Grief, Famously in Russian fairy tales, Stupidity in "Praise of Stupidity" Erasmus of Rotterdam). A secondary artistic convention can also be created by a violation of the primary one: an appeal to the viewer in the final scene of N.V. Chernyshevsky“What is to be done?”, the variability of the narrative (several options for the development of events are considered) in “The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman” by L. Stern, in the story of H. L. Borges"Garden of Forking Paths", violation of cause and effect connections in the stories of D.I. Kharms, plays by E. Ionesco. Secondary artistic convention is used to draw attention to the real, to make the reader think about the phenomena of reality.

This ideological and thematic basis, which determines the content of the work, is revealed by the writer in life pictures, in actions and experiences. actors, in their characters.

People, thus, are depicted in certain life circumstances, as participants in the events developing in the work that make up its plot.

Depending on the circumstances and characters depicted in the work, the speech of the characters acting in it and the author's speech about them (see Author's speech), i.e., the language of the work, are constructed.

Consequently, the content determines, motivates the writer's choice and depiction of life pictures, the characters of the characters, plot events, the composition of the work and its language, i.e., the form of a literary work. Thanks to it - life pictures, composition, plot, language - the content is manifested in all its completeness and versatility.

The form of a work is thus inextricably linked with its content, determined by it; on the other hand, the content of a work can manifest itself only in a certain form.

The more talented the writer, the more fluent he is in the literary form, the more perfectly he depicts life, the deeper and more accurately he reveals the ideological and thematic basis of his work, achieving unity of form and content.

S. of L.N. Tolstoy's story "After the Ball" - the scenes of the ball, the execution and, most importantly, the author's thoughts and emotions about them. Ph is a material (i.e., sound, verbal, figurative, etc.) manifestation of S. and its organizing principle. Turning to the work, we are directly confronted with the language fiction, with composition, etc. and through these components of F, we comprehend the S. of the work. For example, by changing the language bright colors dark, through the contrast of actions and scenes in the plot and composition of the above-mentioned story, we comprehend the author's angry thought about the inhuman nature of society. Thus, S. and F. are interconnected: F. is always meaningful, and C is always formed in a certain way, but in the unity of S. and F., the initiating principle always belongs to C: new F. are born as an expression of a new S.