American Literature: Elite and Mass. American Literature in the First Half of the 20th Century

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Despite the relatively short story, American literature has made an invaluable contribution to world culture. Although already in the 19th century all of Europe was reading gloomy detective stories Edgar Poe and the beautiful historical poems of Henry Longfellow, these were only the first steps; It was in the 20th century that American literature flourished. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, two world wars and the struggle against racial discrimination in America, classics of world literature, Nobel Prize winners, writers are born who characterize an entire era with their works.

Radical economic and social change the lives of Americans in the 20s and 30s provided the perfect breeding ground for realism, which reflected the desire to capture the new realities of America. Now along with books whose purpose was to entertain the reader and make him forget about others social problems, on the shelves there are works that clearly show the need to change the existing social order. The work of the realists was distinguished by great interest in various kinds of social conflicts, attacks on socially accepted values ​​and criticism of the American way of life.

Among the most prominent realists were Theodore Dreiser, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner And Ernest Hemingway. In their immortal works they reflected true life America, sympathized with the tragic fate of young Americans who went through the first world war, supported the struggle against fascism, spoke openly in defense of the workers and did not hesitate to depict the depravity and spiritual emptiness of American society.

THEODORE DREISER

(1871-1945)

Theodore Dreiser was born in a small town in Indiana to a bankrupt small business owner. Writer from childhood he knew hunger, poverty and need, which was later reflected in the themes of his works, as well as in a brilliant description of the life of the ordinary working class. His father was a strict Catholic, limited and despotic, which made Dreiser hate religion till the end of one's days.

At the age of sixteen, Dreiser had to leave school and work part-time in order to somehow earn his living. Later, he was still enrolled in the university, but he could only study there for a year, again because of money problems. In 1892, Dreiser began working as a reporter for various newspapers, and eventually moved to New York, where he became editor of the magazine.

His first significant work is the novel "Sister Kerry"- comes out in 1900. Dreiser describes close to his own life the story of a poor country girl who goes to Chicago in search of work. As soon as the book barely made it to print, it immediately was called contrary to morality and withdrawn from sale. Seven years later, when it became too difficult to hide the work from the public, the novel nevertheless appeared on store shelves. Writer's second book "Jenny Gerhard" published in 1911 was also crushed by critics.

Further, Dreiser begins to write a cycle of novels "Trilogy of Desires": "Financier" (1912), "Titanium"(1914) and unfinished novel "Stoic"(1947). Its purpose was to show how late XIX century in America is being "big business".

In 1915, a semi-autobiographical novel was published. "Genius", in which Dreiser describes the tragic fate of a young artist whose life was broken by the cruel injustice of American society. Myself the writer considered the novel his own the best work , but critics and readers greeted the book negatively and it is practically not for sale.

most famous work Dreiser is an immortal romance "American tragedy"(1925). This is a story about a young American who is corrupted by the false morals of the United States, which leads him to become a criminal and a murderer. novel reflects american lifestyle, in which the poverty of workers from the outskirts stands out against the backdrop of the wealth of the privileged class.

In 1927, Dreiser visited the USSR and published a book the following year. "Dreiser looks at Russia", which became one of the first books about the Soviet Union, published by a writer from America.

Dreiser also supported the movement of the American working class and wrote several non-fiction works on this topic - "Tragic America"(1931) and "America Worth Saving"(1941). With tireless strength and the skill of a true realist, he depicted the social order around him. However, despite how harsh the world appeared before his eyes, the writer never did not lose faith to the dignity and greatness of man and his beloved country.

Apart from critical realism, Dreiser worked in the genre naturalism. He scrupulously depicted seemingly insignificant details of the everyday life of his heroes, cited real documents, sometimes very long in size, clearly described the actions related to business, etc. Because of this style of writing, criticism is often accused Dreiser in the absence of style and fantasy. By the way, despite such condemnations, Dreiser was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in 1930, so you yourself can judge their veracity.

I do not argue, maybe sometimes an abundance small parts confusing, but it is their ubiquitous presence that allows the reader to most clearly imagine the action and, as it were, become a direct participant in it. The writer's novels are large in size and can be quite difficult to read, but they are undoubtedly masterpieces american literature, worth spending time on. It is highly recommended to fans of Dostoevsky's work, who will certainly be able to appreciate Dreiser's talent.

Francis Scott Fitzgerald

(1896-1940)

Francis Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most famous American writers lost generation(these are young people called to the front, sometimes not yet finished school and started killing early; after the war they often could not adapt to peaceful life, drank themselves, committed suicide, some went crazy). They were devastated people who had no strength left to fight the corrupt world of wealth. They try to fill their spiritual emptiness with endless pleasures and entertainment.

The writer was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in a wealthy family, so he got the opportunity to study in prestigious Princeton University. At that time, the university was dominated by a competitive spirit, under the influence of which Fitzgerald also fell. He tried with all his might to become a member of the most fashionable and famous clubs, which attracted with their atmosphere of sophistication and aristocracy. Money for the writer was synonymous with independence, privilege, style and beauty, and poverty was associated with avarice and narrow-mindedness. Later Fitzgerald realized the falsity of their views.

He never finished his studies at Princeton, but it was there that his literary career (he wrote for the university magazine). In 1917, the writer volunteered for the army, but he never took part in real military operations in Europe. At the same time he falls in love with Zelda Sayre who came from a wealthy family. They married only in 1920, two years later, after the resounding success of Fitzgerald's first serious work. "On the Other Side of Paradise" because Zelda didn't want to marry a poor unknown man. The fact that beautiful girls are attracted only by wealth made the writer think about social injustice, and Zelda was later often called the prototype of the heroines his novels.

Fitzgerald's wealth grows in direct proportion to the popularity of his novel, and soon the spouses become epitome of luxury lifestyle they even came to be called the king and queen of their generation. They lived chic and ostentatious, enjoying a fashionable life in Paris, expensive rooms in prestigious hotels, endless parties and receptions. They constantly threw out various eccentric antics, scandals and became addicted to alcohol, and Fitzgerald even began to write articles for glossy magazines of that time. All this is undoubtedly destroyed the talent of the writer, although even then he managed to write several serious novels and stories.

His major novels appeared between 1920 and 1934: "On the Other Side of Paradise" (1920), "The Beautiful and the Damned" (1922), "The Great Gatsby", which is the writer's most famous work and is considered a masterpiece of American literature, and "Night is tender" (1934).

The Best Fitzgerald Stories Included in Collections "Tales of the Jazz Age"(1922) and "All those sad young people" (1926).

Shortly before his death, in an autobiographical article, Fitzgerald compared himself to broken plate. He died from heart attack December 21, 1940 in Hollywood.

The main theme of almost all of Fitzgerald's works was the corrupting power of money, which leads to spiritual decay. He considered the rich to be a special class, and only over time began to realize that it was based on inhumanity, his own uselessness and lack of morality. He realized this along with his characters, who were mostly autobiographical characters.

Fitzgerald's novels are written in beautiful language, understandable and refined at the same time, so the reader can hardly tear himself away from his books. Although after reading the works of Fitzgerald, despite the amazing imagination a journey into the luxurious Jazz Age, there remains a feeling of emptiness and futility of being, it is rightfully considered one of the most prominent writers XX century.

WILLIAM FAULKNER

(1897-1962)

William Cuthbert Faulkner is one of the leading novelists of the mid-twentieth century, in New Albany, Mississippi, in an impoverished aristocratic family. He studied at Oxford when the First World War began. The experience of the writer, received at this time, played important role in shaping his character. He entered military flight school, but the war ended before he could complete the course. After that, Faulkner returned to Oxford and worked head of the post office at the University of Mississippi. At the same time, he began taking courses at the university and trying to write.

His first published book, a collection of poems "Marble Faun"(1924), was not successful. In 1925, Faulkner met the writer Sherwood Anderson who provided big influence to his creativity. He recommended Faulkner engage in poetry, prose, and gave advice to write about American South, about the place Faulkner grew up in and knows best. It is in Mississippi, namely in the fictional district Yoknapatofa most of his novels will take place.

In 1926 Faulkner wrote the novel "Soldier Award" who was congenial lost generation. The writer showed tragedy of people who returned to civilian life crippled both physically and mentally. The novel was also not a great success, but Faulkner was recognized as an inventive writer.

From 1925 to 1929 he worked carpenter And painter and successfully combines this with writing work.

In 1927, the novel "Mosquitoes" and in 1929 - "Sartoris". In the same year, Faulkner published the novel "Sound and Fury" which brings him fame in literary circles. After that, he decides to devote all his time to writing. His work "Sanctuary"(1931), a story about violence and murder, became a sensation and the author finally gained financial independence.

In the 1930s, Faulner wrote several gothic novels: "When I was dying"(1930), "Light in August"(1932) and "Absalom, Absalom!"(1936).

In 1942, the writer publishes a collection of short stories "Come down, Moses", which includes one of its famous works- story "Bear".In 1948 Faulkner writes "The Defiler of Ashes", one of the most important social novels associated with racism.

In the 40s and 50s, his best job- a trilogy of novels "Village", "City" And "Mansion" dedicated the tragic fate of the aristocracy of the American South. Last novel Faulkner "The Kidnappers" comes out in 1962, it also enters the Yoknapatof saga and depicts the story of the beautiful but dying South. For this novel, and for "Parable"(1954), whose themes are humanity and war, Faulkner received Pulitzer Prizes. In 1949, the writer was awarded "for significant and with artistic point view of a unique contribution to the development of the modern American novel".

William Faulkner was one of the most important writers of his time. He belonged to Southern School of American Writers. In his writings, he turned to the history of the American South, especially during the Civil War.

In his books, he tried to deal with racism, knowing full well that it is not so much social as psychological. Faulkner saw African Americans and whites as inextricably linked. common history. He condemned racism and cruelty, but was sure that both whites and African Americans were not ready for legislative action, so Faulkner mainly criticized the moral side of the issue.

Faulkner was proficient with the pen, although he often claimed to have little interest in writing technique. He was a bold experimenter and had an original style. He wrote psychological novels, in which great attention was paid to the replicas of the characters, for example, the novel "When I was dying" built like a chain of characters' monologues, sometimes long, sometimes one or two sentences. Faulkner fearlessly combined opposing epithets to powerful effect, and his writings often have ambiguous, indefinite endings. Of course, Faulkner knew how to write in such a way that excite the soul even the pickiest reader.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

(1899-1961)

Ernest Hemingway - one of the most widely read writers of the 20th century. He is a classic of American and world literature.

He was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of a provincial doctor. His father was fond of hunting and fishing, he taught his son shoot and fish and also instilled a love for sports and nature. Ernest's mother was a religious woman who was entirely devoted to the affairs of the church. On the ground different views for life, quarrels often broke out between the writer's parents, because of which Hemingway couldn't feel at home.

Ernest's favorite place was a house in northern Michigan, where the family usually spent their summers. The boy always accompanied his father on various trips to the forest or fishing.

Ernest's school gifted, energetic, successful student and excellent athlete. He played football, was a member of the swim team and boxed. Hemingway also loved literature, writing weekly reviews, poetry and prose in school magazines. However school years were not calm for Ernest. The atmosphere created in the family by his demanding mother put a lot of pressure on the boy, so that he ran away from home twice and worked on farms as a laborer.

In 1917, when America entered World War I, Hemingway wanted to join the army, but due to poor eyesight, he was refused. He moved to Kansas to live with his uncle and started working as a reporter for the local newspaper. The Kansas city star. Journalistic experience clearly visible in distinctive style Hemingway's letters, terseness, but at the same time the clarity and accuracy of the language. In the spring of 1918, he learned that the Red Cross needed volunteers for Italian front. It was his long-awaited chance to be at the center of the battles. After a short stop in France, Hemingway arrived in Italy. Two months later, while rescuing a wounded Italian sniper, the writer came under fire from machine guns and mortars and was badly injured. He was taken to a hospital in Milan, where, after 12 operations, 26 fragments were removed from his body.

Experience Hemingway received in war, was very important for young man and influenced not only his life, but also writing activity. In 1919 Hemingway returns as a hero to America. Soon he travels to Toronto, where he begins working as a reporter for a newspaper. The Toronto star. In 1921, Hemingway married the young pianist Hadley Richardson, and the couple moves to Paris, the city that the writer has long dreamed of. To collect material for his future stories, Hemingway travels around the world, visiting Germany, Spain, Switzerland and other countries. His first job "Three Stories and Ten Poems"(1923) was not successful, but the next collection of short stories "In our time", published in 1925, achieved public recognition.

Hemingway's first novel "And the Sun Rises"(or "Fiesta") published in 1926. "A Farewell to Arms!", a novel depicting World War I and its aftermath, comes out in 1929 and brings great popularity to the author. In the late 20s and into the 30s, Hemingway released two collections of short stories: "Men Without Women"(1927) and "Winner Gets Nothing" (1933).

by the most outstanding works, written in the first half of the 30s, are "Death in the Afternoon"(1932) and "Green Hills of Africa" (1935). "Death in the Afternoon" narrates about the Spanish bullfight, "Green Hills of Africa" and widely famous compilation "Snows of Kilimanjaro"(1936) describe Hemingway's hunting in Africa. nature lover, the writer skillfully draws African landscapes for readers.

When in 1936 began Spanish Civil War Hemingway hastened to the theater of war, but this time as an anti-fascist correspondent and writer. The next three years of his life are closely connected with the struggle of the Spanish people against fascism.

He took part in the filming of the documentary "Land of Spain". Hemingway wrote the script and read the text himself. The impression of the war in Spain reflected in the novel "For whom the Bell Tolls"(1940), which the writer himself considered his best job.

A deep hatred of fascism made Hemingway active participant in World War II. He organized counterintelligence against Nazi spies and hunted German submarines in the Caribbean on his boat, after which he served as a war correspondent in Europe. In 1944, Hemingway took part in combat flights over Germany and even, standing at the head of a detachment of French partisans, was one of the first to liberate Paris from German occupation.

After the war Hemingway moved to Cuba, occasionally visited Spain and Africa. He ardently supported the Cuban revolutionaries in their struggle against the dictatorship that had developed in the country. He talked a lot with ordinary Cubans and worked a lot on new story "The Old Man and the Sea", which is considered the pinnacle of the writer's work. In 1953 Ernest Hemingway received Pulitzer Prize for this brilliant story, and in 1954 Hemingway was awarded Nobel Prize in Literature "for storytelling once again demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea."

During his trip to Africa in 1953, the writer was in a serious plane crash.

In the last years of his life he was seriously ill. In November 1960, Hemingway returned to America in the town of Ketchum, Idaho. Writer suffered from a number of diseases, because of which he was admitted to the clinic. He was in deep depression, because he believed that FBI agents were watching him, listening to telephone conversations, checking mail and bank accounts. In the clinic, this was taken as a symptom of mental illness and the great writer was treated with electric shock. After 13 Hemingway sessions I lost my memory and ability to create. He was depressed, suffered from bouts of paranoia, and increasingly thought about suicide.

Two days after his release from the psychiatric hospital, on July 2, 1961, Ernest Hemingway shot himself with his favorite hunting rifle at his home in Ketchum, leaving no suicide note.

In the early 80s, the Hemingway case at the FBI was declassified, and the fact of surveillance of the writer in his last years was confirmed.

Ernest Hemingway was by far the greatest writer of his generation, with an amazing and tragic fate. He was freedom fighter, vehemently opposed wars and fascism, and not only through literary works. He was incredible master of writing. His style is distinguished by conciseness, accuracy, restraint in describing emotional situations, and concrete details. The technique he developed was included in the literature under the name "iceberg principle", because the writer gave the main meaning to the subtext. The main feature of his work was truthfulness, he was always honest and sincere with his readers. While reading his works, there is confidence in the reliability of events, the effect of presence is created.

Ernest Hemingway is the writer whose works are recognized as real masterpieces of world literature and whose works, no doubt, should be read by everyone.

MARGARET MITCHELL

(1900-1949)

Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the daughter of a lawyer who was chairman of the Atlanta Historical Society. The whole family loved and was interested in history, and the girl grew up in atmosphere of stories civil war .

At first, Mitchell studied at the Washington Seminary, and then entered the prestigious Smith College for Women in Massachusetts. After graduation, she began working in The Atlanta Journal. She wrote hundreds of essays, articles and reviews for the newspaper, and in four years she has grown to reporter, but in 1926 she suffered an ankle injury that made her work impossible.

The energy and liveliness of the character of the writer were traced in everything she did or wrote. Margaret Mitchell married John Marsh in 1925. From that moment on, she began to write down all the stories about the Civil War that she heard as a child. This resulted in a novel « gone With the Wind» , which was first published in 1936. The writer has been working on it for ten years. This is a novel about the American Civil War, told from the point of view of the North. main character is, of course, a beautiful girl named Scarlett O'Hara, the whole story revolves around her life, family plantation, love relationships.

After the release of the novel, the American classic bestseller, Margaret Mitchell quickly became a worldwide famous writer. Over 8 million copies have been sold in 40 countries. The novel has been translated into 18 languages. He won Pultzer Prize in 1937. The very successful movie with Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable and Leslie Howard.

Despite numerous fan requests for a continuation of O'Hara's story, Mitchell did not write more. not a single novel. But the name of the writer, like her magnificent work, will forever remain in the history of world literature.

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The most ancient form of AD, (abbreviated as English-language dramaturgy) associated with pagan people. games, - dialogues between two singers (or female with Kim and male semi-choirs) in Nar. ballads (recordings date back to later times).

A turning point in the development of the English drama as art. forms was the appeal (under the influence of Italian humanists) to ancient samples and the emergence of the so-called. correct drama, the next classic. rules. From Ser. 16th century the first “correct” comedies appear - “Ralph Royster Doyster” (c. 1551) by N. Yudalla

The highest flowering of A. d. the Renaissance reaches after 1588, during the period of strengthening the position of the bourgeoisie and the new nobility, in an environment of nat. upsurge caused by the struggle against Spain. At this time, a galaxy of playwrights appeared in London, creating vivid examples of poetic. dramas (Kid, Green, Shakespeare) Main form literary language A.D. becomes blank verse, introduced for the first time by Marlo and Kid and replacing the rhymed verse that dominated the drama of the Middle Ages. Prod. of this period are imbued with the ideas of humanism, assert human rights to enjoy all the blessings of life (Marlo), deny feud. - estate restrictions, emphasize the heroism and dignity of people from the people (Green).

After finishing creative activity Shakespeare (1613) begins the decline of Renaissance art. The reason for this was the aristocratization of the theater, its deepening gap with the bunks. spectator.

Late 18th century marked the emergence of a new genre of tragedy "nightmares and horrors", akin to the romantic genre of the Gothic novel. The creator of the genre H. Walpole had numerous. imitators who cultivated this type of play in the beginning. 19

Critical approval. realism in English literature, the emergence of socio-critical. novels by Ch. Dickens and W. Thackeray who denounced the vices of the bourgeoisie. society, was not reflected in the AD, the repertoire of theaters was dominated by production. epigones of romanticism - S. Knowles, S. Phillips, and others. The establishment of realism in AD was hindered by government censorship and the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie, which blocked the access of life's truth to the stage.

Truly realistic. and socio-critical. the character of A. d. acquired in creativity B. Shaw, performing in the 1890s. with their " unpleasant plays"- "Widower's House" (1892), "Mrs. Warren's Profession" (1893, "Stage Society" - 1902).

IN "Unpleasant Plays"we face outwardly quite decent respectable English bourgeois, who have significant capital and lead a calm arranged life. But this calmness is deceptive. It conceals such phenomena as exploitation, as the dirty, dishonest enrichment of the bourgeois at the expense of poverty and misfortune. common people. Before the eyes of readers and viewers of Shaw's plays, there are pictures of injustice, cruelty and meanness of the bourgeois world. Characteristically, Shaw's plays begin with traditional paintings. everyday life bourgeois family. The second series of plays by Bernard Shaw were "Pleasant Plays" These included: "War and Man", "Candida", "The Chosen One of Fate", "Never You Can Tell". In "Pleasant Pieces" Shaw changes the methods of satirical denunciation. In these plays, Shaw aims to throw off those romantic veils that hide the cruel truth of reality. He calls on people to take a sober and bold look at life and free themselves from the sticky web of prejudices, obsolete traditions, delusions and empty illusions. In the very name - "Pleasant plays" - quite frank irony sounds. In the period from 1897 - 1899. created "Plays for the Puritans" - "The Devil's Disciple", "Caesar and Cleopatra", "Appeal of Captain Brassbound".

How authentic innovator Shaw acted in the field of drama. He approved a new type of drama in the English theater - intellectual drama, in which the main place belongs not to intrigue, not to an exciting plot, but to those intense disputes, witty verbal duels that his characters wage. Shaw called his plays discussion plays.

Other playwrights, trying to show social conditions in their plays, approached naturalism. The well-known novelist J. Galsworthy, who created significant social dramas such as The Silver Box (1909), The Struggle (1909), The Mob (1914), The Stranglehold (1920), and others, contributed to realism in academia.

Creativity was of great importance in the period between the 1st and 2nd World Wars. J.B. Priestley. Representative of a radical petty-bourgeois. intelligentsia, Priestley reflected conflicting tendencies in his plays. Social and ethical bourgeois criticism. society (“A Dangerous Turn”, 1932, “Time and the Conway Family”, 1937, “They Came to the City”, 1943, “The Linden Family”, 1947, etc.) is combined in his work with decadent and mystical. motives ("Music at night", 1938, "Johnson over Jordan", 1939

In 1932, Priestley wrote and staged the play "Dangerous bend" The local conflict of the play "Dangerous Turn" is clearly expressed and fairly straightforward - it is a conflict of truth and lies. The characters form two opposing camps: on the one hand, Robert Kaplan, a "stubborn truth-seeker", a seeker of truth, on the other hand, his relatives and friends - Robert's wife Fred, the Whitehouse spouses, as well as Stanton and Olwen, who believe that without lies and hypocrisy, human existence will become simply unbearable. Maud Mockridge occupies a special position - she acts as a spectator of everything that happens and does not openly express her position on the issue under discussion. The plot of the action becomes a "dangerous turn", when those present from the conversation between Freda and Olwen learn that both of them are hiding some kind of secret. The emergence of a conflict may be due to Robert's decision to reveal this secret - if he had come to terms with the current situation, the action would have developed differently.

In 1937 he graduated philosophical drama "Time and the Conway family". In none of these plays is there a trace of that optimism which determines the general intonation of the novels. Priestley the playwright turns to the image of the intelligentsia and upper layers the so-called middle class or "people of society". It shows the moral collapse experienced by these people, their deep emptiness. Refusing any conclusions, and even more so any instructive tendency, the playwright seeks refuge in imaginary objectivity. At the same time, in all his plays of these years, one feels confusion: neither his characters nor he himself can answer the question that arises before them - how to live. Priestley is trying to create a theory of the new drama, contrasting it with the traditional "well-made play" or the parlor-entertainment play. His drama should be active, devoid of any didactic conclusions imposed on the viewer beforehand. Time and the Conway Family” is complicated by tangible philosophical overtones. The confusion of the author in front of the steady course of time, acting as a terrible monster devouring a person, is noticeable. In the second act, Priestley shows the collapse of the illusions and hopes of several young people, whose images are outlined in the first. The third act develops the first, is its direct continuation. But the viewer already knows where what is happening on the stage will lead to in the future. Through time shifting, Priestley lets the viewer know what's to come. actors- dramas in 20 years, what the future conceals from them - how their bright, but illusory hopes will inevitably collapse. Each piece of the life of this or that person, Priestley wants to say, acquires meaning only if one understands the direct connection of the future with the present, the fragility of the lines between “today” and “tomorrow”. The history of human existence is perceived by the author not as a complex process subordinated to general laws development, but how in advance given value. The characters act as voiceless puppets in the hands of omnipotent necessity, they are completely helpless before the fate that awaits each of them.

SEAN O'CASEY(1880-1964) Defending the ideologically rich drama of B. Shaw, he opposes supporters of entertaining plays, he fights for the theater of high passions and big ideas all his life. The stages of the national liberation struggle of Ireland form the background of three plays of the so-called "Dublin cycle": "Shadow of the Gunslinger" (1923), "Juno and the Peacock" (1924) and "The Plow and the Stars" (1926).

In them, O "Casey spoke about the real Ireland - the Ireland of the Dublin slums, a bleeding country. The viewer saw life's clashes, the occurrence of which was caused by social storms. The bearers of a positive beginning in his early plays were not participants in the battles, but victims of the struggle, mainly women: young girls and mothers crushed by worries and grief.

The playwright's ability to reveal the bright humanistic principle in ordinary working people was deeply innovative. Time of the tragedy "The Shadow of the Arrow»-1920 year. The national liberation uprising was brutally suppressed. The English are atrocious. They are not far behind the detachments of the Irish Auxiliary Police, formed by reactionaries and nicknamed because of confusion. military uniform khaki with black police "black and piebald". Looting and reprisals against the civilian population cause hatred and fear.

The Irish are guerrilla fighting terrorists. “The slums of Dublin are at war with the British Empire. All the might of the army, flanked by gangs of ruthless hooligans, all the forces of the government of the crown, all the monetary power of the banks, took up arms against the ragged tenement girls. The fight is unequal, but the slums will win!” - wrote O "Casey.

About "Casey managed, following B. Shaw and D. M. Sing (1), to reveal the dangerous tendency of the Irish people to a romantic perception of life. About" Casey was able not only to ridicule this dangerous property national character Irish, but also present it in a tragic aspect. The playwright urged to get rid of romantic illusions, not to die a meaningless death, taught to prepare for a conscious struggle for better life. At the heart of the play "Plow and Stars" lies the uprising of 1916. The duration of the first two acts is the eve of the uprising, the period of preparation of the civil army for action. The third and fourth acts are the days of the famous Dublin uprising. The name "Plow and Stars" is associated with the emblem depicted on the flag of the civilian army. “On heavy poplin, on a deep blue background, a symbolic pattern stretched in full length and width - a plow, uplifting golden-brown, reddish layers of earth, and above all this a magnificent abundance of stars sparkled, flooding the northern sky with light.”

O "Casey was a participant in the uprising. Together with the ordinary people of Ireland, he suffered his defeat hard. But he could not help but see the weak preparation of the uprising, its prematureness, the isolation of its leaders from the people. The tragic sound of the play is connected with this.

In the first place in the play is the tragedy of a woman who lost her husband during the days of the struggle. Before us is a collision of two opposite human natures: Jack and Nora Cliterow, which is the central conflict of the play.

Nora Cliterow loves her husband dearly. She has no other interests, except for the interests of a small family, except for thoughts about the future of the child, how to decorate and furnish the apartment, dress smartly. She seeks to isolate herself from the outside world and does everything possible to prevent her husband from participating in the political life of the country.

But the rhythm of another life, full of struggle and danger, persistently invades a quiet family corner; the homeland calls its sons under the banner of struggle, and Jack Cliterow goes to the camp of the defenders of the independence of Ireland. The fear of losing a loved one drives Nora crazy.

Bricklayer Jack Cliterow is the first and only hero of the tragedies of O'Casey's "Dublin cycle" who takes a direct part in the national struggle and dies in open battle.

The playwright was able to show the process of formation of the character of his hero. At the beginning of events, Clitheroe is a man like everyone else. He has no mature political convictions, he is vain. But here we are listening to Brannon's story and we understand that Jack's ostentatious heroism has grown into a genuine one, that he managed to find his place among the fighters for the bright future of his homeland.

Talking about the personal tragedy of the Cliterow spouses, the author reveals the topic of great importance- the defeat of the uprising of 1916. Introducing many characters into the play, the playwright sought to give a more complete picture of the life of Dublin on the eve and during the uprising.

Influence of Russian literature

CASEY. The great school of realism, high artistic skill considered O "Casey throughout his life Russian literature - creativity Chekhov, Tolstoy, Gorky. Here is his assessment of A. Chekhov's work: “What is the meaning of Chekhov's work for me? He is my friend, he great writer, a great playwright, a great person ... A poet, like Whitman, a playwright, like Shakespeare, a great person, like all of them, he seemed to combine everyone in himself. But Chekhov is even more, he is a friend.”

No less deeply O "Casey knew and appreciated the work of L. Tolstoy: "Tolstoy had an extremely deep and courageous mind and a broad outlook ... His powerful intellect was complex and multifaceted. All of Tolstoy's thinking was stamped with poetic spirituality. Such minds combined with a poetic worldview are so rare, their significance for humanity is so great that they are not allowed to die. "O" Casey always drew a lot of thoughts from the treasury of Russian literature: "In my youth I recognized Tolstoy; a little later I heard about Turgenev, but I had no idea about Gorky ... Now Gorky is my comrade ”

In Priestley's plays, the influence of Chekhov's dramaturgy is tangible. In accordance with the Chekhovian tradition, Priestley seeks to convey the drama of everyday life, to achieve a free development of events, to show life with all its halftones, to reveal the characters of not only central, but also secondary characters. Based on the traditions of Chekhov's drama, Priestley also develops his own original techniques, which are associated primarily with special attention to the category of time. In the second act of the drama Conway Time and the Family, Priestley moves the action into the future, trying to imagine what his characters could become, and in the third act returns them again to the time of the first act.

Amid the ocean of conflicting passions that Russian-American political relations seem to be today, American interest in Russian literature remains an island of normality. Evidence of this was the Week of Russian Literature held in New York in May. Translation Festival, organized by the non-profit project Read Russia, which has existed since 2012.

This week saw a series of readings, discussions and round tables in prestigious cultural spots of the "Big Apple" (as New Yorkers lovingly call their crazy metropolis). Authors from Moscow appeared in them: Pavel Basinsky, Andrey Gelasimov, Maya Kucherskaya, Vadim Leventhal and Marina Stepnova, as well as stars of American Slavic studies and translation. Among them are Stephanie Sandler (Harvard), Caryl Emerson (Princeton), Elif Batuman, Antonina Buis and Marian Schwartz.

Anticipating one such evening, Read Russia director Peter Kaufman jokingly remarked: “We know that our Senate intends to hold hearings about Russian influence on political life in USA. They should perhaps also investigate the influence of Russian literature on American culture."

Indeed, this influence is enormous. Hemingway studied with Leo Tolstoy, Faulkner studied with Dostoyevsky, Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller studied with Chekhov. Philip Roth told me that he wrote his story The Chest, inspired by Gogol's The Nose.

I recall a poll the New York Times Book Review once conducted among leading American authors: "Who influenced you the most?" Every second named Nabokov. Nobel laureate Czesław Milosz wrote a long essay on Doctor Zhivago as a Christian novel, rare in the nihilistic 20th century.

I am of the opinion that culture and politics are closely intertwined, sometimes it is difficult to separate them. In fact, the success in America of Tolstoy (Basinsky spoke about him in New York), Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn is inextricably linked with the political (and religious) ideas of these writers. On the other hand, "Lolita" or "The Master and Margarita" owe their popularity to completely different reasons.

Did the Russian literature XXI century examples of the same popularity? Let's be honest: no. Although the works of Vladimir Sorokin, Viktor Pelevin, Lyudmila Ulitskaya and some other authors are respected in the circles of lovers of translated literature. Expand the range of available American reader significant opuses of Russian literature, created under the wing of Columbia University Press with the support and participation of Rospechat, the Institute of Translation ( Executive Director- Evgeny Reznichenko) and Read Russia Russian Library.

This is a very ambitious initiative: it is planned to publish 100 books in ten years. Among the first titles are a novel by the futurist Ilyazd (a pseudonym for Ilya Zdanevich), a collection of plays by Andrei Platonov, and Walks with Pushkin by Andrei Sinyavsky.

At a meeting with inquisitive readers at the university's Book Culture bookstore, the director of the Pushkin House, Vsevolod Bagno, and I talked about Yevgeny Yevtushenko. This is a powerful tree on the American island of Russian literature, a whole Siberian cedar!

His departure was marked by a lengthy obituary in the New York Times, which is not very fond of Russia these days. There they noted with approval that the poet had "the charisma of an actor and the instincts of a politician", and they especially emphasized memorable fact the appearance of a portrait of Yevtushenko on the cover of Time magazine in April 1962 is an honor that politicians and cultural figures around the world are still seeking to this day.

They also remembered Yevtushenko's many years of professorial work at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was not so much a lecturer as an educator of young souls. “Someone needs to be the leader of their generation! - exclaimed the poet, addressing his students. "Why not one of you?"

I can confirm that Yevtushenko's popularity in Tulsa was enormous. When the film crew of Channel One, headed by director Anna Nelson, arrived there to film a series of dialogues with the poet for a week (I was entrusted with the role of host), we were convinced of this: Yevtushenko was recognized on the street, asked for an autograph, for a joint photo. Students adored him, despite his peculiar, as he put it, English "with a Siberian accent" and unthinkable jackets and ties. And maybe that's why?

This accent and bright outfits did not interfere with Yevtushenko in snobbish New York either. I will never forget how he read his famous "Babi Yar" there in the Philharmonic Hall, anticipating the performance of Shostakovich's 13th symphony. In that concert, I found myself between two decent ladies in mink capes. When the poet finished his recitation, I suddenly heard, along with applause, loud squelching - both ladies were sobbing, not in the least embarrassed by their tears.

The New York cultural elite knew and respected Yevtushenko, and the poets even envied him: after all, he alone could fill Carnegie Hall. They never dreamed of such a thing. Later, they, like poets in Russia, were divided into admirers of Yevtushenko and Brodsky: older generation gravitated towards the first, the younger towards the second.

Personally, the rivalry between Yevtushenko and Brodsky reminded me of a competition between two weightlifters. One walks around the bar for a long time, carefully prepares and immediately squeezes out a record weight. The other makes many attempts, often fails, but in the end also becomes the winner. In the literature, this is called the difference in creative methods.

My American acquaintances (in particular, the famous Susan Sontag) watched the duel of these two champions with genuine interest. What a sin to hide, fights of this kind stir up interest in literary process. Now they have no one to root for. It's a pity. The Russian literary island in America needs drama.