Types of literary characters. Image, character, literary type, lyrical hero

literary type

The concept of "literary type" is first encountered in Hegel's Aesthetics. In literary theory, "type" and "character" are close, but not interchangeable; "character" to a greater extent reveals typical personality traits, its psychological properties, and "type" is a generalization of certain social phenomena and is associated with typical features. For example, Maxim Maksimych is a typical Russian soldier, “just a decent person,” as L. N. Tolstoy said about him, while Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is a type of “suffering egoist”, the embodiment of “the vices of a whole generation in their full development.”

The concept of "typification" includes the process of creating a holistic picture of the world, is the basis of the creative process.

Recognizing typification as an internal need and law of art, writers realize that the typical is not a copy of reality, but an artistic generalization.

In Molière, Harpagon and Tartuffe are typical characters, but these are not social, but psychological types, illustrating the neglect of the requirements of morality. If we want to call someone a miser or a hypocrite, then we use these proper names as common nouns.

V. G. Belinsky in the article “On the Russian story and the stories of Mr. Gogol” defines the typifying features of a literary hero: “Do not say: here is a man with a huge soul, with ardent passions, with a vast mind, but a limited mind, who loves to such fury his wife, that he is ready to strangle her with his hands at the slightest suspicion of infidelity - say simply and briefly: here is Othello!

The schematism of classic images is associated with the intentional setting of the authors on the example of a particular character to illustrate ethical and aesthetic positions. That is why the image, reduced to a theoretical premise, is marked by maximum typicality. However, an image that carries any one dominant feature, winning in typicality, often loses in artistry.

The aesthetics of classicism are based on the principles of rationalism. Classicists affirm the view of a work of art as a creation consciously created, reasonably organized, logically provable. Having put forward the principle of "imitation of nature", the classicists consider observance of known rules and restrictions as an indispensable condition. The goal of art is the artistic transformation of nature, the transformation of nature into a beautiful and ennobled aesthetic reality.

The strict hierarchy of genres of classicism also gives rise to the normalization of literary types. Social conflicts appear in the work reflected in the souls of the characters. The division of characters into positive and negative in classic aesthetics is natural. There should be no intermediate types, since art is charged with the task of correcting vices, glorifying the virtues of an ideal person.

Classical playwrights turn to Aristotle, who argued that tragedy "strives to portray better people than those who currently exist." The heroes of classic plays are forced to struggle with circumstances that, as in the tragedy of antiquity, cannot be prevented. In the classic version of the conflict, the resolution of the tragic situation now depends not on fate, but on the titanic will of the hero, personifying the ideal of the author.

According to the poetics of the genre, the heroes of the tragedy could be mythological characters, monarchs, generals, persons who determined the fate of many people and even an entire nation by their will. It is they who embody the main requirement - to give up selfish interests in the name of the common good. As a rule, the content of character in a tragedy is reduced to one essential feature. She determined the moral and psychological appearance of the hero. So, in the tragedies of Sumarokov, Kiy ("Khorev"), Mstislav ("Mstislav") are described by the playwright only as monarchs who violated their duty to their subjects; Khorev, Truvor, Vysheslav - like heroes who know how to control their feelings, to subordinate them to the dictates of duty. Character in classicism is not depicted in itself, but is given in relation to the opposite property. The conflict between duty and feeling, caused by a dramatic combination of circumstances, made the characters of the heroes of the tragedies similar, and sometimes indistinguishable.

In the works of classicism, especially in comedy, the main character trait of the hero is fixed in his behavior and in his name. For example, the image of Pravdin cannot show at least some kind of flaw, and Svinin - not the slightest dignity. Vice or virtue take a specific figurative form in the comedies of Fonvizin: the hypocrite Outsider, the braggart Verkholet.

In the literature of sentimentalism, the accents are transferred from the environment to the person, to the sphere of his spiritual life. Preference is given to characters in which "sensitivity" prevails. Sentimentality, according to G. Pospelov, “is a more complex condition, caused mainly by the ideological understanding of a certain inconsistency in the social characters of people. Sensitivity is a personal-psychological phenomenon, sentimentality has a generalizing-cognitive meaning. Sentimentality of experience is the ability to recognize in the external insignificance of the lives of other people, and sometimes in one's own life, something internally significant. This feeling requires the spiritual reflection of the hero (emotional contemplation, the ability of introspection). A vivid example of a sentimental character is Werther Goethe. The title of the novel is symptomatic - "The Suffering of Young Werther". In Goethe's work, suffering is perceived not as a chain of unfortunate events, but as an experience of spiritual experience that can purify the hero's soul and ennoble his feelings. The author did not idealize his hero. At the end of work on the novel, Goethe wrote that he depicted "a young man immersed in extravagant dreams" who "is dying ... as a result of unfortunate passions."

After a century of “thinking” (as Voltaire called the Age of Enlightenment), authors and readers felt that thought, a logically proven idea, does not exhaust the potential of the individual: one can put forward a spectacular idea to improve the world, but this is not enough to correct the vicious world. The era of romanticism is coming. In its content, art reflects the rebellious spirit of man. The romantic theory of genius crystallizes in literature. “Genius and villainy are two incompatible things” - this phrase of Pushkin defines the main types of characters in romanticism. Poets discovered the unusual complexity, the depth of the spiritual world of man, the inner infinity of the individual.

An intense interest in strong feelings and secret movements of the soul, in the mysterious side of the universe gives rise to an exceptionally intense psychologism of images. The craving for the intuitive encourages writers to imagine heroes in extreme situations, to persistently comprehend the hidden sides of nature. The romantic hero lives in imagination, not reality. There are special psychological types: rebels, opposing a high ideal to triumphant reality; villains who tempt man with omnipotence and omniscience; musicians (gifted people who can penetrate the world of ideas). Many heroes of romanticism become literary myths, symbolizing the thirst for knowledge (Faust), uncompromising devotion (Quasimodo) or absolute evil (Cain). In romanticism, as well as in sentimentalism, the extra-class value of a person is decisive in assessing the character of a literary hero. That is why the authors deliberately weaken the fact that a person depends on the circumstances caused by social conflicts. The lack of motivation of the character is explained by its predetermined nature and self-sufficiency. "One, but fiery passion" guides the actions of the heroes.

At the center of romantic aesthetics is a creative subject, a genius rethinking reality, or a villain convinced of the infallibility of his vision of reality. Romanticism professes the cult of individualism, focusing not on the universal, but on the exclusive.

The basis of the literary characterology of realism is the social type. The psychological discoveries of romanticism are supported in realism by a broad social and historical analysis, the ideological motivation of the hero's behavior. The character, as a rule, is determined by circumstances and environment.

In Russian realistic literature, types of literary characters are formed that have common characterological features, their behavior is due to similar circumstances, and the disclosure of the image in the text is based on traditional plot collisions and motifs. The most striking were the "extra man", "little man", "simple man".

Reading works of art, we first of all pay attention to its main characters. All of them have clear characteristics in literary theory. Which ones - we learn from this article.

The word "image" in Russian literary criticism has several meanings.

First, all art is figurative; reality is recreated by the artist with the help of images. In the image, the general, generic is revealed through the individual, transformed. In this sense, we can say: the image of the Motherland, the image of nature, the image of man, i.e. image in the art form of the Motherland, nature, man.

Secondly, at the linguistic level of the work, the image is identical to the concept of "tropes". In this case, we are talking about a metaphor, comparison, hyperbole, etc., i.e. about figurative means of poetic language. If we imagine the figurative structure of the work, then the first figurative layer is images-details. A second figurative layer grows out of them, consisting of actions, events, moods, i.e. everything that is dynamically deployed in time. The third layer is images of characters and circumstances, heroes who find themselves in conflicts. From the images of the third layer, a holistic image of fate and the world is formed, i.e. concept of being.

The image of the hero is an artistic generalization of human properties, character traits in the individual appearance of the hero. A hero can cause admiration or repulsion, perform actions, act. The image is an artistic category. It is impossible, for example, to say: "I despise the image of Molchalin." You can despise the silent type, but his image as an artistic phenomenon causes admiration for the skill of Griboyedov. Sometimes instead of the concept of "image" the concept of "character" is used.

The concept of "character" is broader than the concept of "image". A character is any character in a work. You can not say instead of "lyrical hero" "lyrical character." Lyrical hero - the image of a hero in a lyrical work, experiences, feelings, whose thoughts reflect the author's worldview. This is the artistic "double" of the author-poet, which has its own inner world, its own destiny. The lyrical hero is not an autobiographical image, although it reflects personal experiences, attitudes towards different aspects of the "life of the author himself. The lyrical hero embodies the spiritual world of the author and his contemporaries. The lyrical hero of A. S. Pushkin is a harmonious, spiritually rich personality who believes in love, friendship , optimistic in outlook on life. Another lyrical hero of M. Yu. Lermontov. This is the "son of suffering", disappointed in reality, lonely, romantically rushing to freedom and freedom and tragically not finding them. Characters, like heroes, can be the main and secondary, but only the term "character" is used in relation to episodic actors.

Often, a character is understood as a minor person who does not influence events, and a literary hero is a multifaceted character that is important for expressing the idea of ​​a work. You can meet the judgment that the hero is only that character who carries positive principles and is the spokesman for the author's ideal (Chatsky, Tatyana Larina, Bolkonsky, Katerina). The statement that negative satirical characters (Plyushkin, Iudushka Golovlev, Kabanikha) are not heroes is incorrect. Two concepts are mixed here - the hero as a character and the heroic as a way of human behavior.

The satirical hero of a work is a character, a character against whom the point of satire is directed. Naturally, such a hero is hardly capable of heroic deeds; is not a hero in the behavioral sense of the word. In the creative process of creating images of heroes, some of them embody the most characteristic features of a given time and environment. Such an image is called a literary type.

A literary type is a generalized image of human individuality, the most possible, characteristic of a certain social environment at a certain time. The literary type reflects the laws of social development. It combines two sides: individual (single) and general. Typical (and this is important to remember) does not mean average; the type always concentrates in itself everything that is most striking, characteristic of a whole group of people - social, national, age, etc. Literature has created types of goodies (Tatyana Larina, Chatsky), "superfluous people" (Eugene Onegin, Pechorin), Turgenev's girls. In aesthetically perfect works, each type is a character.

Character - human individuality, consisting of certain mental, moral, mental traits. This is the unity of emotional reaction, temperament, will, and the type of behavior determined by the socio-historical situation and time (epoch). Character consists of diverse traits and qualities, but this is not an accidental combination of them. In each character there is a main, dominant feature, which gives a living unity to the whole variety of qualities and properties. The character in the work can be static, already formed and manifested in actions. But most often the character is presented in change, in development, evolution. There is a pattern in the development of character. The logic of character development sometimes comes into conflict with the author's intention (even A. S. Pushkin complained to Pushchin that Tatyana got married without his "knowledge"). Obeying this logic, the author cannot always turn the fate of the hero the way he wants.

- (Greek imprint, model). The problem of T. and typification is not a specific problem of literary criticism. It takes place in the sciences of different fields of knowledge. The question of T. and typification in the literature is characterized by its own characteristics, to rye ... ... Literary Encyclopedia

Type- TYPE (Τυπος blow, sign from blow, seal, image, Aristotle has a general idea). An object or phenomenon that contains features that are repeated in a large number of other similar phenomena or objects we consider typical. Elementary… … Dictionary of literary terms

type- a, m. type typos imprint, form, sample. 1. outdated. Letter, letter, font. Printed same gradared sheets hitherto were called their fryazh work. Where did this grydar and his type get his start in Russia, that one knows for sure ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

literary house- This article is about I. F. Lopatin's house at 68 Nevsky Prospekt. About I. F. Lopatin's house at 100 Nevsky Prospekt, see Nevsky, 100. This article is about Dekhterev's house on Nevsky Prospekt. About Dekhterev's house according to ... ... Wikipedia

Literary language- - the main, supradialectal form of existence of the language, characterized by a greater or lesser degree of processing, normalization, polyfunctionality, stylistic differentiation, a tendency to regulation. According to its social and ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Media

LITERARY LIFE- LITERARY LIFE, special forms of life, human relations and behavior generated by the literary process and constituting one of its historical contexts; the term was introduced by B. M. Eikhenbaum and Yu. N. Tynyanov (in 1927 1929). L. b., not ... ...

literary character- (Greek charakter trait, feature) the artistic embodiment of a set of stable mental characteristics that form the personality of a literary character; in a literary character is imprinted as conditioned by the socio-historical ... ... Terminological dictionary-thesaurus on literary criticism

Literary language- Literary language is the main, supradialectal form of existence of the language, characterized by greater or lesser processing, polyfunctionality, stylistic differentiation and a tendency to regulation. According to its cultural and social ... ... Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary

THE LITERARY PROCESS- LITERARY PROCESS, the historical existence, functioning and evolution of literature both in a certain era and throughout the history of a nation, country, region, world. L. p. At every historical moment includes both themselves verbally ... Literary Encyclopedic Dictionary

Literary language- - the main form of existence of the national language, taken by its speakers as an exemplary one; a historically established system of commonly used language means that have undergone a long cultural processing in the works of authoritative masters ... ... Stylistic encyclopedic dictionary of the Russian language

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• Russian archive. Historical and literary collection. 1863, . This book will be produced in accordance with your order using Print-on-Demand technology. "Russian Archive" is a monthly historical and literary magazine published in Moscow from 1863 to 1917. ...

At first glance, both the image, and the character, and the literary type, and the lyrical hero are the same concepts, or at least very similar. Let's try to understand the vicissitudes of the meanings of the concepts under study.

Image- this is an artistic generalization of human properties, character traits in the individual appearance of the hero. The image is an artistic category that we can evaluate from the point of view of the author's skill: one cannot despise the image of Plyushkin, since it causes admiration for Gogol's skill, one can not love the type of Plyushkin.

concept "character" wider concept of "image". A character is any protagonist of a work, therefore it is wrong to replace the concepts of “image” or “lyrical hero” with this concept. But we note that in relation to the secondary persons of the work, we can only use this concept. Sometimes you can come across the following definition: a character is a person who does not influence the event, is not important in revealing the main problems and ideological conflicts.

Lyrical hero- the image of the hero in a lyrical work, experiences, thoughts, whose feelings reflect the author's worldview; it is the artistic "double" of the author, which has its own inner world, its own destiny. This is not an autobiographical image, although it embodies the spiritual world of the author. For example, the lyrical hero M.Yu. Lermontov is the "son of suffering", disappointed in reality, romantic, lonely, constantly looking for freedom.

literary type- this is a generalized image of human individuality, the most possible, characteristic, for a certain social environment at a certain time. The literary type is the unity of the individual and the typical, and “typical” is not a synonym for “average”: the type always incorporates all the brightest features characteristic of a particular group of people. The apogee of the author's skill in developing the type is the transition of the type to the category of common nouns (Manilov is a common noun for an idle dreamer, Nozdrev is a liar and a braggart, etc.).

Often we come across another concept - character. Character is a human individuality, consisting of certain mental, moral, mental traits; it is the unity of emotional reaction, temperament, will, and the type of behavior determined by the socio-historical situation and time. In each character there is a dominant feature that gives a living unity to the whole variety of qualities and properties.

Thus, when characterizing a hero, it is very important not to forget the differences discussed above.

Good luck in characterizing your favorite literary characters!

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type it a generalized artistic image that embodies the typical features inherent in a particular social environment; a number of literary characters connected by common social characteristics, characteristic of the works of Russian literature.

The difference between type and character

The type of a literary character, in contrast to the character, represents not only the individual characteristics of the hero, but also a generalization of the established qualities of a particular category of persons. A number of characters of the same type are not identical in character, they are united by social trends. The nature of a character is often a variation of one literary type. Writers usually continue to develop, improve the type of hero they founded, or discover new types.

Examples and origins of literary types

The names of the types come from literary origins or the names of their discoverers:

• type of "extra person"- the combination was fixed in literary theory after the publication of I. S. Turgenev's story "The Diary of a Superfluous Man" (1850);
• type "lady of Balzac's age"- a summary description of the heroines, which came into use after the appearance of Honore de Balzac's novel "The Thirty-Year-Old Woman" (1842);
• double type- the term began to be used after the publication of the story “Double. Petersburg Poem” (1846) by F. M. Dostoevsky;
• type "Turgenev girl"- a generalized image of female characters from the works of I. S. Turgenev in the 50-80s of the XIX century;
• tyrant type- the characteristic hero of the plays by A. N. Ostrovsky ("Thunderstorm", "Dowry", "Hangover in someone else's feast");
• "bastard" type- a typical image of Gorky's stories ("Konovalov", "Twenty-six and One", "Spouses Orlovs").

Type "little man"

Under the influence of realism in the 20-30s of the nineteenth century, a type of little man appeared in Russian literature. "Little Man" is a character of low origin and social status, who, unlike rebellious romantic heroes, does not have superpowers, but is a sincere and kind person. Forming and cultivating the image of a small person, the writers sought to democratize literature and call attention, humanity to the common man, who deserves favor.

The type of little man was discovered by A. S. Pushkin in the person of the protagonist of the story "The Stationmaster" (1831) and revealed it in subsequent works ("The Bronze Horseman"; 1837). The tradition of the literary type was continued in the stories of N.V. Gogol "Notes of a Madman" (1835), "The Overcoat" (1842). The theme of the fragile commoner is also present in the works of A. P. Chekhov, F. M. Dostoevsky, Gorky, M. A. Bulgakov and others.

Type of "extra person"

“The Superfluous Man” is a character characteristic of Russian literature of the 40s and 50s of the 19th century, who embodies the type of a desperate Russian nobleman.

The type of superfluous person is an intellectual from the highest circles, oppressed by insoluble life issues and the foundations of power. A typical hero resists society, is fond of festivities, which is due to his fatigue, passivity and loss of the meaning of life.

The earliest and classic representatives of the “extra person” type are the main characters of the works of A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”, A. S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit”, M. Yu. Lermontov “A Hero of Our Time” - Onegin, Chatsky, Pechorin - in which disappointment is combined with the features of the Byronic hero of the era of romanticism.

Type "new man"

In the 50-60s of the 19th century, the “superfluous person” in Russian literature was replaced by a type of new person associated with changes in Russian socio-political orders.

The type of hero "new man" is distinguished by illumination, vigorous activity, a propagandist position, and a strong-willed character.

The images of new people are vividly represented in the novels by I. S. Turgenev "Rudin" (1856), "On the Eve" (1860), as well as "Fathers and Sons" (1862), the main character of which is Yevgeny Bazarov - uncompromising nihilist.

Type value in literature

Types go back to the concept of the personality of literary movements, the peculiarity of which is revealed through characteristic social signs. Thus, the correlation of a literary hero with a specific type determines the essence of the personality.

The word type comes from Greek typos, which in translation means - an imprint, a sample.