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Imagism in Russian literature. Imagism and imagists are a literary and artistic movement

The literary movement of imagism (French imag - image) officially took shape in Russia in 1919 and was caused, like other new phenomena in literature at the turn of the century, by a changing cultural situation. The basis of imagism is a word-metaphor with a single specific meaning. The Imagists were a poetic group whose members were interested in the “theory of image.” The current was headed by V.G. Shershenevich, S.A. Yesenin and A.B. Mariengof. Supporters of imagism argued that poetry should be written in such a way that it could be read from both the beginning and the end. On the initiative of V. Shershenevich, the Great Order of Imagists was established, which had its own publishing house, bookstore and cafe “Stable of Pegasus”, where literary evenings were held and S. Yesenin read poetry with great success. In 1919, poets came out with a statement of the principles of the new movement. The intrinsic value of the word-image, not connected with reality, was declared: “The only law of art, the only and incomparable method is the identification of life through the image and rhythm of images” (“Declaration”),

Along with the formation of imagism, this year was marked for S.A. new paths in poetry. And almost as an experiment, he wrote poems that would later be published with the title “Hooligan.”

In the poems of 19-20, Yesenin expands the meaning of each word and makes the reader look at it in a new way. But, despite his thriving career and life, sad and even, in a sense, philosophical notes creep into his poetry. They begin to sound in the poem “Winds, winds, oh snowy winds...” and continue in poems such as “I am the last poet of the village...”, “The soul is sad about heaven...”...

But already in 1920, in the article “Life and Art,” Yesenin noted: “My brothers were carried away by the visual figurativeness of the verbal form, it seems to them that the word and image are everything.

Yesenin: “this approach to art is too frivolous, one can talk about the art of superficial impressions... but not at all about that real strict art, which is a meaningful service of identifying the internal needs of the mind.” A year later, Yesenin admits that in imagism he “feltly strived for what he found more or less conscious.” For him, traditional poetic images also retained their significance - the homeland, nature, etc. “

    Poetics of the OBERIUTs and the work of N. Zabolotsky.

The Leningrad literary and philosophical group “Union of Real Art” entered the history of the avant-garde under the abbreviated name OBERIU (1927-1930). This abbreviation, according to the authors, should be perceived by the reader as a sign of nonsense and absurdity. In their manifesto of January 24, 1928, the Oberiuts stated that they were “real and concrete people to the core,” that it was necessary to abandon the everyday literary understanding of reality for the sake of “a new sense of life and its objects.”

The philosophical basis of the circle as a whole was a synthesis of the ideas of I. Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason”, the philosophy of intuitionism and real consciousness (A. Bergson and N. O. Lossky), the phenomenology of G. Shpet and the “technique of behavior” of the ancient Chinese sage Lao Tzu.

The difference between the Oberiuts was that they abandoned searches in the spheres of mystical-religious, ethical-philosophical or ideological-aesthetic thoughts. Their young minds turned to mathematics, geometry, physics, logic, astronomy and natural sciences. At first they also rejected the Aristotelian theory of reflection, actively implementing their views in real life.

The work of Nikolai Zabolotsky did not completely coincide with the Oberiut concept of poetry. The poet was fond of the natural philosophical ideas of Leibniz, Timiryazev, Tsiolkovsky, folk astronomy, he believed in the mind inherent in all living and inanimate nature. In his poems, animals and plants are no longer literary personifications and allegories, but thinking beings. The poet's poems written for children's publications show his understanding of child psychology and familiarity with pedagogy.

The generation of children and teenagers of the 60-80s was more familiar with Zabolotsky for his “adult” poems (“Ugly Girl”, 1955; “Don’t Let Your Soul Be Lazy”, 1958), and for his poetic adaptation of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (1938, 1945 ), included in the school curriculum, based on “children’s” adaptations of the novels by F. Rabelais “Gargantua and Pantagruel” (1934) and S. de Coster’s “Till Eulenspiegel”, based on a translation of S. Rustaveli’s poem “The Knight in the Skin of a Tiger”, revised for youth.

To create their own style, the Oberiuts proceeded from a “real” understanding of such phenomena as movement, thinking, memory, imagination, speech, vision and hearing. In each phenomenon they discovered a certain shift, inaccuracy, evasion from “correctness”, i.e. reality was revealed to the Oberiuts as the realm of the absurd. Kharms’s poems spin a funny, absurd world where everything is the other way around: They didn’t eat porridge, but drank, walked backwards, and an incomprehensible something “chirped kindly...

The poems of the Oberiuts, especially for children, are different games. The favorite motif of the “plane trees” is confusion (you can compare Chukovsky’s “Confusion” with “Ninochka’s Shopping” and “Cranks” by Yuri Vladimirov). Oberiuts found new ways of dialogue with the reader, “borrowed” from children’s rules of communication: a funny catch, a practical joke, a provocation. Kharms has especially many such examples (for example, “The Brave Hedgehog”, “Have you been to the Zoological Garden?”, “The Adventures of a Hedgehog”, “Seven Cats”, “Bulldog and Taxi”, etc.).

A huge influence on Zabolotsky’s work, on his philosophical views, were provided by such poets as Pushkin, whose poetic language he always strove for, and Khlebnikov. In his work, Zabolotsky turns to nature during the period of human invasion of it, when man imagined that plant and fauna subject to him. The poet categorically disagrees with this, he believes that man should live in harmony with nature, she “is also alive and also breathes.” In the poem “Lodeinikov” Zabolotsky notices every little thing and sings of it: ...The foggy horn of the moon rose above the village, and the rustling of grass and silence gradually turned into singing. However, not only nature interests the poet; in his work he also raises other philosophical questions. One of them is the theme of human beauty, both internal and external. Zabolotsky is concerned about the fates of unexceptional people; he knows how to see the charm of spirituality behind external simplicity, and poeticize the everyday. Thus, in the poem “The Ugly Girl,” the author begins by describing the unattractive appearance of her heroine: Among other children playing, She resembles a frog. But then, unexpectedly, Zabolotsky proceeds to reflect on the inner qualities of the girl: This creature does not yet know a shadow of envy, not a malicious intent. So what's more important? A beautiful vessel in which there is emptiness, or “fire flickering in the vessel”? Of course, a bright soul, not looks or fame. This idea becomes the leading one in the poem “The Old Actress.” A capricious old woman, who no longer has anything - neither her former glory, nor beauty - keeps a timid girl in the basement for “household needs”: “here she beats out carpets at the doors, wipes dust and mold from the Empire style.” But the girl, due to her simplicity, childish naivety and purity of soul, does not understand anything. And when her old aunt scolds, And counts and hides the coins, - Oh, with what surprise the child looks at these beautiful portraits! Philosophical views on life and death are revealed in Zabolotsky’s poem “Metamorphoses”. Metamorphoses mean changes. The poet is interested in the question of eternal life, or rather, the flow from one state to another, more perfect one. He is sure, for example, that “thought was once a simple flower.” From a religious point of view, immortality is rebirth in a new guise. Zabolotsky supports this idea, but he also relies on scientific discoveries, philosophical and psychological theories. The world is changing every second and people are changing with it: How the world is changing! And how I myself am changing! I am called by only one name, - In fact, what is called me is not me alone. There are many of us. I am alive. Zabolotsky’s man simultaneously develops spiritually and physically; throughout his life he dies and immediately appears in a new guise: But I’m still alive! The accumulation of wondrous creatures embraces the spirit more and more purer and fuller. In the works of N. Zabolotsky fully reflected the philosophical perception of the world. Most of all, the poet was concerned with the themes of true human beauty and the perfection of nature - the “singing organ” in which everything is harmonious, as well as issues of life and death.

    Neorealism in Russian literature of the early twentieth century. Main representatives. Features of the direction.

“neorealism” is the desired synthesis, a combination of the best achievements of realism and symbolism: “dialectically: realism is the thesis, symbolism is the antithesis, and now - a new, third, synthesis, where there will be both a microscope of realism and telescopic, leading to infinity, glass of symbolism" 6.

The main features of this new literature (neorealism, or synthetism), according to E. Zamyatin, are:

    the apparent implausibility of characters and events, revealing the true reality;

    conveying images and moods with one particularly characteristic impression, that is, using the technique of impressionism;

    sculptural definition and sharp, often exaggerated brightness of colors, expressionism;

    the life of the village, the wilderness, broad abstract generalizations - by depicting everyday trifles;

    conciseness of language, laconicism;

    showing, not telling, increased role, dynamism of the plot;

    the use of folk, local dialects, the use of skaz;

    using the music of words.

The new quality of literature, according to E. Zamyatin, is derived from real reality, which “today ceases to be flatly real: it is projected not onto the previous fixed, but onto the dynamic coordinates of Einstein and revolution. In this new projection, the most familiar formulas and things are shifted, fantastic, unfamiliar-familiar. Hence, it is so logical in today’s literature to strive specifically for a fantastic plot or a fusion of reality and fantasy” 6.

Neorealism- a trend in Russian literature in the 1910s. The term arose in criticism as a result of rethinking the ideas of S.A. Vengerova. He spoke about changing the Russian aesthetic system. Literary writers at the end of the 19th century (1890-1910), called the creativity of different styles under the same name “neo-romanticism”. He himself spoke about the controversial nature of such a global association.

Issues in the work of neorealist writers there is a transition from sociologism to moral and philosophical themes, “eternal questions.”

Poetics among neorealists - subjectification and lyricization of prose, strengthening the meaning of symbols, the use of mythology as an artistic means, and generally enriching the poetics of neorealists due to the artistic discoveries of symbolism.

As a distinct artistic trend, neorealism emerged in the second half of 1900 – early 1910s. Particularly significant phenomena belonging to him are the works of I. S. Shmelev, A. N. Tolstoy, S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky, M. M. Prishvin, E. I. Zamyatin, I. A. Bunin.

Socio-political issues He is especially "attracted now by the elements of everyday life. At the same time, the everyday theme is often associated with the image of the vast Russian outback, Rus', "driven into the middle of nowhere" ("In the middle of nowhere" by Zamyatin). Among the frequent heroes of literature are those who are hopelessly obsolete and those who have not yet begun or those who have barely begun to live a historical life. This is the closed world of the last of the nobility, and the patriarchal islands of people scattered across the expanses of the European North and Siberia, and the inert way of life of the Central Russian village, and the provincial wilderness, overwhelmed by the philistine elements, and the miserable, destitute life of the urban lower classes.

However, the key phenomenon of the realistic movement was the neorealist movement, which addressed much broader and more general categories. Its main feature can be defined as “being through everyday life.” It was to him that the clearly increased reader's interest in realistic literature at that time was primarily due, prompting critics to talk about the “revival of realism.”

They resonated with each other by the similarity of their leading themes, especially the theme of the Russian “outback”. The neorealists also used predominantly household materials as the foundation for their artistic construction. The vision of “history through everyday life” and constant attention to current social processes were also characteristic of them. But the difference was that it, this vision, did not become the main focus in their works. And there were explanations for this. The painful moods of previous years were replaced by a feeling of historical movement, devoid, however, of that anticipation of “unheard-of changes” (remembering Blok’s words) that many writers experienced before the first revolution. Became predominant in literature (before the start of the World War) special type perception of historical time - a perception that is alien to the feeling of stagnation and at the same time quite skeptical in relation to the immediate historical prospects.

The first years after October Revolution In 1917, it dissociated itself from futurism and began to be called imagism - from the French word image, which means “image”. The most famous imagists are Sergei Yesenin, Anatoly Mariengof, Vadim Shershenevich, Rurik Ivnev.

Origin

The term was borrowed from the imagists - there was such an avant-garde English poetic school. Russian readers first saw this word in an article that Z. Vengerova published in 1915. The author talked about Ezra Pound and Wyndham Lewis - London imagist poets who tried to focus on those images that were made up of the primordial element of poetry itself. Russian Imagists did not write anything similar to the poems of the Imagists; they were not initially intended to be their successors, only the term was borrowed.

This was the very last poetic school of those that made any splash in the first half of the twentieth century. Despite the fact that the Imagist poets organized themselves two years after the revolution, they did not bring anything revolutionary to poetry. Although they believed that they had their own way. Russian Imagists are a small group of poets who moved away from futurism, and some continued to write in the same direction. All the poets were absolutely diverse; none of them adhered to the declared principles of versification. The first Imagist exhibition took place on January 29, 1919, on the premises of the All-Russian Union of Poets.

Declaration and composition

The next day, January 30, the Imagists published their first Declaration of Creative Principles, signed by Yesenin, Ivnev, Mariengof and Shershenevich, as well as the artists Erdman and Yakulov. Researchers and literary scholars have still not decided whether Imagism should be placed alongside Acmeism, Symbolism and Futurism. An interesting phenomenon in the field of literary creativity, but it should be considered rather as one of the stages in the development of post-symbolism, since this movement could not provide any new load for the theory of literature. In theory, the Imagists are futurists, since they did not discover a single new path for the development of poetry.

Throughout the entire pre- and post-revolutionary period, the country experienced a creative boom, including a theoretical one. There was a search for rational and scientific methods, adding craft and skill to generate new poetic system. Imagism is one such attempt, and it is certainly viable, like any movement that can influence the development of poetic language. Imagist theorists proclaimed imagery to be the basic principle of poetry. Not a word-symbol, which has an infinite number of meanings, like the Symbolists, not a word-sound, like the Cubo-Futurists, not a word-name, as Acmeism preached, but a word-metaphor, with a single definite meaning. Imagism in literature is an image and only an image, the only production tool of a true master of art.

How did the Imagists see imagery?

Imagist poets called the image mothballs, pouring over the work, saving it from time, which they identified with moths. They believed that a poetic line seemed to be covered with armor from the presence of an image, and the whole picture of the poem was protected as if by a shell. For the theatrical action of the verse, the image is fortress artillery.

Regarding the content of a work of art, the Imagists of the 20th century were slightly mistaken; subsequently Mariengof corrected what was said in the Declaration with an absolutely opposite statement. And at first it was stated that the content was meaningless nonsense. They saw the development of language only through metaphor. Of course, there was nothing new in these techniques: imagery is the prerogative of symbolism, and the futurists also used these principles. The subordination of form and content to the image was new, but quite stupid.

Overcoming futurism

The development of Russian poetry in the first two decades of the twentieth century can be characterized as an irreconcilable struggle and endless rivalry between each and everyone else. Just as the futurists and acmeists were born screamingly out of symbolism, so is the overcoming of futurism.

Although it is strange, just like the murder of a close relative: to wish futurism futurism’s death, to write an obituary that a ten-year-old loud-mouthed guy (1909-1919) has died - futurism is dead... “Good” imagism, sibling I didn't regret it.

Vadim Shershenevich

The ideological leader and main organizer of the Imagists Silver Age unanimously recognized Vadim Shershenevich. He was both a theoretician of the new movement and its propagandist. The fact that he began (and continued) as a futurist did not prevent him from becoming a fierce critic and subverter of his own poetic cradle.

The reasons were probably not so much political as personal, since Shershenevich expressed himself unequivocally that, while accepting futurism, he did not accept futurists. However, his further poetic and theoretical experiments confirm the blood connection with the ideas of Marinetti and the work of Khlebnikov and Mayakovsky. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to believe claims that the Imagists are completely different poets.

Anatoly Mariengof

Also a very active member of the Imagist group, Mariengof was theoretically more conservative, although he was distinguished by an aesthetic nihilism that quite often surpassed all the avant-garde experiments of the futuristic Shershenevich. Mariengof is a rather controversial figure. Researchers of imagism then define him as a follower of Yesenin, taking into account the fact that they are close friendly relations, then they contrast Yesenin, uniting him with Shershenevich.

Being the same theorist of imagism as Shershenevich, Mariengof does not pay so much attention to the image as such; moreover, he is focused on the content. He denotes art by form, and content by the filling of this form, and the whole will be beautiful only in one case: when each of these parts is beautiful.

Rurik Ivnev

Something in common had to unite completely different and not similar friends on a friend of poets. What it was - researchers still cannot clearly explain. The fact is that aesthetic positions and all creative activity a separate imagist was not so important for comrades, so much friendship, purely everyday communication and extra-literary connections.

So the Russian Imagists considered them absolutely theirs, although even Bryusov noted that Ivnev was not only not an Imagist, he was generally halfway from Acmeism to Futurism. But all this does not mean that Rurik Ivnev’s poems are not good. On the contrary - they are good, and very good.

Sergei Yesenin - imagist

The theory of imagism was greatly influenced by theoretical research and everything poetic, which was the core of this association of poets. Even before the creation of the group, he wrote a treatise “The Keys of Mary” with reflections on the essence of creativity and verbal art. The organic figurativeness of language - as he called imagery - should be based on folklore and national elements, Yesenin believed. Folk mythology and its parallel regarding nature and man have always been the basis of the poet’s poetic worldview.

This is not at all consistent with the principles of imagism, but Yesenin nevertheless joined these ranks and signed the Declaration, that is, the ideological postulates of Mariengof and Shershenevich. Let us remember that the first was spiritually drawn to futurism, and the second came from futurist circles. They were certainly irritated by Yesenin’s “nationalism”, but they wisely used the great name of a truly Russian singer and carried his banner in front of the growing movement. It must be admitted that they could not do this for long. Yesenin - an imagist in name only - moved away from the group, calling their activities antics, and their mockery - a lack of sense of homeland.

Activity

The poems of the Imagists were published widely and almost continuously. This was facilitated by the fact that they owned several publishing houses, the famous Pegasus Stable cafe and their own magazine. Exploiting scandals as a path to success, as the futurists once did, they did not succeed in this either. There were debates where the Imagists tried to make a fuss, but it was all feigned and secondary. Not enough talent. Although there were actions, if not funny, then criminal: either the walls of the Strastnoy Monastery would be painted with blasphemous words, then Tverskaya Street would be renamed Yeseninskaya, changing the signs, then the state would be separated from art...

But the publishing business was going great. Several permanent publishing houses, two bookstores, and a cinema belonged to the elite of the Imagists. They published so many books that contemporaries were amazed where the Imagists got so much paper from. There were even misunderstandings. In 1920, Shershenevich published a book of poems, “A Horse Like a Horse.” The title was a let down: the entire circulation went to the warehouse of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture to distribute the book about horses among the peasantry. The fact was so blatant that even Lenin was informed.

Disagreement and breakup

In the company of poets so different in form, affiliation and quality, creative disagreements inevitably occur. First, the group is divided into two wings - Mariengof, Shershenevich and Erdman were on the left, and Yesenin, Kusikov, Ivnev, Roizman, Gruzinov were on the right. Views on the content and form of poetry, as well as on its tasks - including the tasks of the image - turned out to be diametrically opposed. And in 1924 Yesenin open letter in the newspaper declared the Imagist group no longer existing.

The rest of the Imagists did not expect such a step; they tried to refute the words of the poet-seer, but everything happened as he predicted. The magazine closed, publishing with the establishment of Glavlit became almost impossible, and “Pegasus Stable” also failed to be revived. Without Yesenin, imagism really ceased to exist. “Moth of Time” nevertheless put an end to almost everything that the Imagists wrote, along with the “mothballs of images.” Not a single formal poetic school can survive - there are no roots under it. “Nationalist” Yesenin understood this well.

Story

Major Imagist publications

  • 1918 Almanac of poets “Reality”
  • 1920 Collection “Tavern Dawns”
  • 1920 Collection “Melting of Words”
  • 1920 Collection “Cavalry of Storms”
  • 1920 Collection “Cavalry of Storms. Collection 2"
  • 1920 A. Mariengof. "Buyan Island"
  • 1920 S. Yesenin “The Keys of Mary”
  • 1921 V. G. Shershenevich. “2x2=5: Imagist Sheets”
  • 1921 Lvov-Rogachevsky. "Imagism"
  • 1921 I. Gruzinov. “The main thing of imagism”
  • 1921 A. M. Avraamov “Incarnation: Yesenin - Mariengof”
  • 1921 Rurik Ivnev. “Four shots at Yesenin, Kusikov, Mariengof, Shershenevich”
  • 1922 Magazine “Hotel for Travelers in Beauty”, No. 1
  • 1923 Magazine “Hotel for Travelers in Beauty”, No. 3
  • 1924 Magazine “Hotel for Travelers in Beauty”, No. 4
  • 1925 Collection “Imagists”

Modern editions

Imagist poets / Comp., compilation. text, biographer. notes and notes by E.M. Shneiderman. - SPb.: Pb. writer, M., Agraf, 1997. - 536 p. (B-poet. Large series).

Literature

  • Arkhangelsky V. Imagists /V. Arkhangelsky // Sarrabis. - 1921. - No. 3. - P. 3-4.
  • Vasiliev I. E. Russian poetic avant-garde of the 20th century. Ekaterinburg: Ural publishing house. University, 1990. - 231 p.
  • Zakharov A.N., Savchenko T.K. Yesenin and imagism / A.N. Zakharov. T.K. Savchenko // Russian literary journal. - 1997. - No. 11. pp. 3 -40.
  • Krusanov A.V. Russian avant-garde. T.2, books 1, 2. - M.: New Literary Review, 2003.
  • Kudryavitsky A.I. “Words are not sung by trumpets...” / A. Kudryavitsky // October. - 1993. - No. 9 - P. 15 - 20.
  • Makarova I.A. Poetics and theory of Russian imagism / I.A. Makarova // Russian literature of the 20th century: Schools. Directions. Methods creative work. Textbook for higher students educational institutions. - St. Petersburg, M.: Logos, Higher School, 2002. - P. 111 - 152.
  • Markov A. A. “My life, or did I dream about you?” (Yesenin and his entourage) / A.A. Markov // Dialogue. - 1995. - No. 9. - P. 86 - 91.
  • Meksh E. B. Who founded imagism? / E.B. Meksh // Russian poetry: the year 1919. - Daugavpils, 1998. - P. 103 - 115.
  • Savich O. Imagist (1922) / O. Savich // Questions of literature. - 1989. - No. 12. - P. 16 -23.
  • Huttunen T. Imagist Mariengof: Dandy. Installation. Cynics. M.: New Literary Review, 2007.
  • Markov, Vladimir. Russian Imagism, 1919-1924. Bausteine ​​zur Geschichte der Literatur bei den Slawen, 15/1. Giessen, 1980.
  • Nilsson N. The Russian imaginists. - Ann Arbor: Almgvist and Wiksell, 1970. - 75 p.
  • Ponomareff C. The image Seekers: Analysis of imaginists Poetic Theory, 1919-1924 / S. Ponomareff // The Slavic and East European journal. - 1986. -V. XII. - No. 3.
  • Huttunen T. Word and Image in Russian Imaginism // The Gaze Unlimited. Helsinki, 2009.

Links

Additional materials

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what “Imagists” are in other dictionaries:

    - (from the English imagism imagery), a literary group in 1919 mid-1920s, which proclaimed the primacy of the word image over the idea; in Moscow belonged to the “imaginists”, V.G. Shershenevich, A.B. Kusikov, and partly, who together with... ... Moscow (encyclopedia)

    Imagists- lit. a group that announced its existence in print in the beginning. 1919. Existed for 8 years: until 1924 under the auspices of the anarchist association of freethinkers, pred. S. A. Yesenin was in the swarm, and from 1924 until the self-dissolution that followed in 1927... ... Russian humanitarian encyclopedic dictionary

    - (from the French image image) direction in literature and painting. It arose in England shortly before the war of 1914-1918 (its founders were Ezra Pound and Wyndham Lewis, who broke away from the Futurists), and developed on Russian soil in the first years of the revolution. Russians... ... Literary encyclopedia

    - (from Latin imago image) literary movement in Russian poetry of the 20th century, whose representatives stated that the purpose of creativity is to create an image. Basics means of expression Imagists metaphor, often metaphorical chains ... Wikipedia

    Alexander Borisovich Kusikov Birth name: Alexander Borisovich Kusikyan Date of birth: September 17, 1896 (1896 09 17) Place of birth: Armavir, Kuban region Date of death ... Wikipedia

    Kusikov, Alexander Borisovich Alexander Borisovich Kusikov Birth name: Alexander Borisovich Kusikyan Date of birth: September 17, 1896 (1896 09 17) Place of birth: Armavir Date of death: 20 and ... Wikipedia

    Imagism- IMAGINISM. On February 10, 1919, a manifesto of the “Imagists” was published in the “Sovetskaya Strana”, published in Moscow. Poets new group Vadim Shershenevich, Sergei Yesenin, Alexander Kusikov, A. Mariengof borrowed their name from... ... Dictionary literary terms

    - (from lat. image) lit. a movement that arose in the first post-revolutionary years on the basis of art. Russian searches avant-garde. The name goes back to English. Imagism (1908) (T.E. Hume, E. Pound), acquaintance with the Crimea in Russia occurred after the article... ... Encyclopedia of Cultural Studies

    Imagism literary direction in Russian poetry of the 20th century, whose representatives stated that the goal of creativity is to create an image. The main expressive means of the Imagists is metaphor, often metaphorical chains comparing various ... Wikipedia

Municipal Educational Institution

Average General Education School №14

The period of imagism in the work and life of Sergei Yesenin (1919 – 1923)

Completed:

student 11 “B” Voinkova Anastasia

Teacher:

Smerdova Galina Ivanovna


Introduction

I The Creation of Imagism

1. Definition of imagism

2.On the creation of imagism

II The period of “imaginism” in the life and work of Sergei Yesenin

1. Yesenin’s poetics in 1919-1920.

2. “Order of the Imagists” in 1919-1920.

3. Poems “Sorokoust”, “Mares’ Ships”, “Pugachev”

4. Isadora Duncan

5. “Black Man”, “Moscow Tavern”

III The Collapse of Imagism

1. Dissolution of Imagism

References


Introduction

In every era, people are born who change this era and leave their mark on history. Sergei Yesenin was such a person. Yesenin was and remains one of the most famous Russian poets. The most famous and the most mysterious. Legends have always arisen around his name, and his death remains a mystery to this day. It would seem that Yesenin’s biography has been studied far and wide, but still new facts, previously unknown, emerge every now and then. Personally, every person, be it a writer, artist, scientist or poet, is primarily interesting to me as a “person”, so I will consider Yesenin not only as a poet. And this, in my opinion, will be very useful, because many of us see writers as people who are strict and correct, who have nothing in common with “mere mortals.”

IN school curriculum Yesenin is studied in some detail, but one of the periods of his life (from 1919 to 1923) is considered somehow in passing. And this is, to say the least, strange, because it was this period that was, as it were, a turning point in the work of S.A. It was during this period that he gained wide popularity among the reading public, as well as their love. Officially, this period does not have a name, but I would call it the “Imagism Period.”

So what is this imagism? Yes, indeed, many of our contemporaries have never heard of this. And dictionaries give a rather vague idea of ​​it. In fact, imagism is a formal theoretical school that arose along with many other literary movements popular at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Here is more accurate information about this literary movement that preaches the intrinsic value of the image.


I The creation of imagism

1. Definition of imagism

IMAGINISM (from French and English image - image) is a literary and artistic movement that arose in Russia in the first post-revolutionary years on the basis of the literary practice of futurism.

On January 29, 1919, the first poetic evening of the Imagists was held at the Moscow branch of the All-Russian Union of Poets. The next day, a Declaration was published in the Voronezh magazine “Sirena” (No. 4) and later in the newspaper “Soviet Country” (M., 1919, February 10), in which the principles of creativity of the “front line of imagists” were proclaimed. The poets signed it:

S.A. Yesenin,

A.B. Mariengof,

V.G. Shershenevich.

Artists:

B. Erdman,

G. Yakulov.

The term imagism is borrowed from the avant-garde school of English-language poetry - imagism. They learned about him in Russia from an article by Z.A. Vengerova English Futurists (collection “Sagittarius”. Pg., 1915): “We are not futurists,” wrote E. Pound, “in poetry we are “imagers.” Our task is to focus on the images that make up the primordial element of poetry...” However, Russian Imagists cannot be called complete successors of the Imagists.

The Imagists fought against a thematically meaningful definition of art: “Art built on content, art based on intuition..., art framed by habit, had to die from hysteria.” Like the Futurists, the Imagists claimed to be true masters of form, freeing it “from the dust of content.” “Arrhythmicity, agrammaticality and vacuity – these are the three pillars of the poetry of the coming tomorrow.” The Imagists put forward the demand: “Everyday life must be idealized and romanticized...”

2. On the creation of imagism

The definition of imagism is now clear, but how did it originate in Russia?

In August 1918 S.A. meets A. Mariengof. And since at that time he was working on a theoretical article “The Keys of Mary” (Maria in the language of the Shelaput Khlysts means soul (approx. S. Yesenin.)), he obviously shared his thoughts about the organic figurativeness or imagism of the poetry of the Russian language with new friend. This is how Anatoly Borisovich himself describes it in his “Novel without Lies”:

“Vadim Shershenevich and Rurik Ivnev began to visit us on Petrovka. Rumors arose about a new poetic school of image. Several times at our publishing house I exchanged thoughts about this with Sergei Yesenin. Finally, it was agreed to meet for a conspiracy and, if we did not lose our senses and understanding of verbal art, to develop a manifesto.

They talked about the “inventive” image, about its place in poetry, about the revival of the great verbal art of “Song of Songs”, “Kalevala” and “The Tale of Igor’s Host”. Yesenin already had his own classification of images. He called static screensavers, dynamic, moving ones - ship screensavers, placing the latter incomparably higher than the former; spoke about the ornament of our alphabet, about the figurative symbolism in everyday life, about the ridge on the roof of a peasant house, carrying the hut into the sky like a cart, about the pattern on fabrics, about the grain of the image in riddles, proverbs and today's ditty<…>

Conversations revolve around the poetic image, around imagism. And soon, a manifesto signed by Yesenin, Shershenevich, Rurik Ivnev, artist Georgy Yakulov and me appears in the newspaper "Soviet Country".

Here's part of it:

"Publishing House of Imagists"

A group of imagists organized on an artel basis and has already begun printing the following books: “THE IMAGISTS.” Collection - manifestos, articles, prose, drawings; “MELTER OF WORDS” - poetry, prose; "Two-rower." 1. Yesenin. “Pantocrate” (poem), A. Mariengof. "Mary Magdalene" (poem); Anatoly Mariengof. “MISCARRIOR OF DESPAIR,” poetry, and “PASTRY SHOP OF THE SUN,” poetry; S. Yesenin. “POEMS”, “KEYS OF MARIA” (the theory of imagism)..."

This is how the theoretical school of imagism appeared, which subsequently gained enormous popularity among the reading public and brought fame to its creators.


II The period of imagism in the work and life of Sergei Yesenin

1. Poetics of Yesenin in 1919 – 1920.

In the “Berlin” autobiography of 1919. Yesenin calls best year in your life. Along with the formation of imagism, this year was marked for S.A. new paths in poetry. As you know, at the beginning of the twentieth century, listeners responded not so much to the content of the verse, but to the strength of the performer’s personality. And poems such as “Inonia” and “Transfiguration” were not very suitable for oral performance. The public only grasped fragments - the whole was not understood. Yesenin, who had an absolute sense of the audience, very soon understood: complex texts are written for the eye, but for auditory perception a different, simpler and clearer gait of the verse is needed. And almost as an experiment, he wrote poems that would later be published with the title “Hooligan.” Yesenin chose this name not by chance, and in literary circles and in the press he was dubbed this nickname a long time ago, but he simply waved his hand at it and agreed: a hooligan is a hooligan, whatever you want. This poem was the first in which the poet managed to realize a task that had not been given to him for a long time: how to learn to write in such a way as not to lose oneself and to be understandable to the general public:

The rain cleans with wet brooms

Willow droppings in the meadows.

The wind spits armfuls of leaves,

I'm just like you, bully.

A black horror roams the hills,

The thief's anger flows into our garden.

Only I myself am a robber and a boor

And by blood a steppe horse thief.

Who has seen how it boils in the night?

A army of boiled bird cherries?

I would like a night in the blue steppe

Stand somewhere with a flail.

Yesenin, of course, assumed that such strong, but essentially simple poems should appeal to the public - the success of “Hooligan” exceeded all expectations. This is how the poet’s friend Galina Benislavskaya describes his public reading:

“1920. Autumn. The trial of the Imagists. Great Hall of the Conservatory. Cold and unheated. The hall is young, lively... ‹…› The trial begins. Speakers from different groups. Neoclassicists, Acmeists, Symbolists... The defendants are talking, chewing something, laughing... The defendants are given the floor. I don’t remember who said what. It even became boring... Suddenly... a boy comes out... a short, open deerskin jacket, hands in his trouser pockets and completely golden hair...

Spit, wind, with armfuls of leaves!

I'm just like you, bully.

He is the whole element... a mischievous, rebellious, uncontrollable element, not only in poetry, but in every movement that reflects the movement of the verse... What happened after reading it is difficult to convey. Everyone suddenly jumped up with vengeance and rushed to the stage, to him. They not only shouted at him, they begged him: “Read something else...” When I came to my senses, I saw that I was also right next to the stage.”

It would seem, what else is needed? It is precisely such poems that bring success and fame, but the soul of a person, as Yesenin himself said in “The Keys of Mary,” “is too complex to be chained to the sounds of any one melody or sonata”... Yesenin thinks a lot about the meaning of poetry and its purpose a poet... and not only a poet, but also just a person. A letter to R.V. dates back to this period. Ivanov-Razumnik.

Yesenin - Ivanov-Razumnik.

Yesenin left for Leningrad, and I learned about his speech in the F. Lassalle Hall (former City Duma) from letters from members of the Militant Order of Imagists (V. Ehrlich, V. Richiotti, G. Schmerelson). Sergei tried to talk about “abomination in literature”, make a “Challenge to fellow travelers” and, by the way, publicly announce “Freethinker”. But his speech did not have the success that he had hoped for, and, on the contrary, the reading of poetry was met with a grandiose ovation. Did Sergei tell the Leningrad Imagists about “Freethinker”? As Wolf Ehrlich told me, Yesenin told him about the magazine he was starting, but without much detail. Perhaps this was because the Leningrad Imagists themselves were going to publish their own magazine: “An Extraordinary Meeting of Friends.” However, upon returning to Moscow, Sergei explained that he had agreed with someone in Leningrad, for example, with Nikolai Nikitin. Yesenin, after a quarrel with Mariengof, did not give his poems to the fourth issue of “Hotel”. At a meeting of the “order” it was decided that the magazine, like the collections, would be edited by a collegium. Mariengof, Shershenevich, and Gruzinov were elected to it. The right wing was clearly losing its influence. Gruzinov told me to prepare my photograph: Anatoly wants to place portraits of all the Imagists.
- We should give a portrait of Yesenin! - I said.
- Where should I put it? - asked Ivan. - After all, there are no poems by Sergei!
- Write an article about him!
- OK! I’ll put the question to the board!
- Place it! I'll talk to Vadim!
Shershenevich agreed with my proposal, but when this question arose at the board, Mariengof became stubborn. After the release of the fourth issue, Gruzinov swore:
- Bath room! A real bath room!
- But you are a member of the editorial board!
- You can’t argue with Mariengof!
- Why?
- Do you want to know the truth, Mariengof’s mother-in-law controls imagism! I knew this harmless old woman and was surprised. Gruzinov explained: Anatoly has large expenses for his family, and he needs to publish and publish.