Why is the Silver Age of Russian culture called so. silver Age

VSEVOLOD SAKHAROV

silver Age Russian literature ... This is the customary name for the period in the history of Russian poetry, which falls at the beginning of the 20th century.

A specific chronological framework has not yet been established. Many historians and writers from all over the world argue over this. The Silver Age of Russian literature begins in the 1890s and ends in the first decade of the 20th century. It is the end of this period that causes controversy. Some researchers believe that it should be attributed to 1917, while others insist on 1921. What is the rationale for this? Started in 1917 Civil War, and the silver age of Russian literature as such ceased to exist. But at the same time, in the 1920s, those writers who created this phenomenon continued their work. There is a third category of researchers who argue that the end of the Silver Age falls on the period from 1920 to the 1930s. It was then that Vladimir Mayakovsky took his own life and the government did everything to strengthen ideological control over literature. Therefore, the time limits are quite extensive and are approximately 30 years.

As in any period in the development of Russian literature, the Silver Age is characterized by the presence of various literary movements. They are often identified with artistic methods. Each trend is characterized by the presence of common fundamental spiritual and aesthetic principles. Writers unite in groups and schools, each of which has its own programmatic and aesthetic orientation. The literary process develops following a clear pattern.

DECADE

At the end of the 19th century, people begin to abandon civic ideals, finding them unacceptable to themselves and society as a whole. They refuse to believe in reason. The authors feel this and fill their works with individualistic experiences of the characters. There are more and more literary images that express the socialist position. The artistic intelligentsia tried to disguise the difficulties real life in a fictional world. Many works are filled with features of mysticism and unreality.

MODERNISM

Beneath this current lies a variety of literary trends. But Russian literature of the Silver Age is characterized by the manifestation of absolutely new artistic and aesthetic qualities. Writers are trying to expand the scope of a realistic vision of life. Many of them want to find a way to express themselves. As before, Russian literature of the Silver Age occupied an important place in the cultural life of the entire state. Many authors began to unite in modernist communities. They differed in ideological and artistic appearance. But they have one thing in common - they all see literature as free. The authors want it not to succumb to the influence of moral and social rules.

At the end of the 1870s, Russian literature of the Silver Age was characterized by such a direction as symbolism. The authors tried to focus on artistic expression and used intuitive symbols and ideas for this. In the course were the most sophisticated feelings. They wanted to know all the secrets of the subconscious and see what is hidden from the gaze of ordinary people. In their works, they focus on candle beauty. The symbolists of the Silver Age expressed their rejection of the bourgeoisie. Their works are imbued with longing for spiritual freedom. This is what the authors missed so much! Different writers perceived symbolism in their own way. Some are like an art direction. Others are like theoretical basis philosophy. Still others - as a Christian teaching. The Silver Age of Russian literature is represented by many symbolist works.

In the early 1910s, the authors began to move away from striving for the ideal. Their works were endowed with material features. They created a cult of reality, their heroes were distinguished by a clear view of what was happening. But at the same time, writers avoided describing social problems. The authors fought to change lives. Acmeism in Russian literature of the Silver Age was expressed by a kind of doom and sadness. It is characterized by such features as intimacy of themes, unemotional intonations and psychological accents on the main characters. Lyricism, emotionality, faith in spirituality... All this is characteristic of the Soviet period in the development of literature. the main objective acmeists was reduced to returning the image to its former concreteness and taking the shackles of fictitious encryption.

FUTURISM

Following acmeism in Russian literature of the Silver Age, such a direction as futurism began to develop. It can be called avant-garde, the art of the future... The authors began to deny traditional culture and endow their works with features of urbanism and machine industry. They tried to combine the incompatible: documentaries and science fiction, to experiment with linguistic heritage. And, we must admit that they succeeded. Main feature this period of the Silver Age of Russian literature is a contradiction. Poets, as before, united in various groups. A revolution of form was proclaimed. The authors tried to free it from content.

Imagism

In the Russian literature of the Silver Age, there was also such a direction as Imagism. It manifested itself in the creation of a new image. The emphasis was on metaphor. The authors tried to create real metaphorical chains. They compared the most diverse elements of opposite images, endowed words with direct and figurative meaning. The Silver Age of Russian literature in this period was characterized by shocking and anarchic features. The authors began to move away from rudeness.

The Silver Age is characterized by heterogeneity and diversity. The peasant theme is especially traced. It can be observed in the works of such writers as Koltsov, Surikov, Nikitin. But it was Nekrasov who caused a special surge of interest. He created real sketches of rural landscapes. The theme of the peasant people in the Russian literature of the Silver Age is beaten from all sides. The authors talk about the difficult fate of the common people, about how hard they have to work and how bleak their life looks in the future. Nikolay Klyuev, Sergey Klychkov and other authors, who themselves come from the village, deserve special attention. They did not focus on the theme of the village, but tried to poeticize village life, crafts and environment. Their works also reveal the theme of centuries-old national culture.

The revolution also had a considerable influence on the development of Russian literature of the Silver Age. Peasant poets took it with great enthusiasm and completely surrendered to it within the framework of creativity. But during this period, creativity was not in the first place, it was perceived in the second place. The first positions were occupied by proletarian poetry. She was declared forward. After the revolution, power passed to the Bolshevik Party. They tried to control the development of literature. Driven by this idea, the poets of the Silver Age spiritualize the revolutionary struggle. They glorify the power of the country, criticize everything old and call ahead for the leaders of the party. This period is characterized by the chanting of the cult of steel and iron. The fracture of traditional peasant foundations was experienced by such poets as Klyuev, Klychkov and Oreshin.

The Silver Age of Russian literature is always identified with such authors as K. Balmont, V. Bryusov, F. Sologub, D. Merezhkovsky, I. Bunin, N. Gumilev, A. Blok, A. Bely. M. Kuzmina, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam can be added to this list. No less significant for Russian literature are the names of I. Severyanin and V. Khlebnikov.

Conclusion

Russian literature of the Silver Age is endowed with the following features. This is love for the small Motherland, following the ancient folk customs and traditions of morality, the widespread use of religious symbols, etc. They traced Christian motives and pagan beliefs. Many authors tried to turn to folk stories and images. Annoyed by all the urban culture has acquired the features of denial. It was compared with the cult of appliances and iron. The Silver Age left a rich legacy to Russian literature and replenished the fund of Russian literature with bright and memorable works.

Who was the first to start talking about the "Silver Age", why this term was so disgusting to contemporaries and when it finally became a commonplace - Arzamas retells the key points of Omri Ronen's work "The Silver Age as intent and fiction"

Applied to the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, the concept of "Silver Age" is one of the fundamental ones for describing the history of Russian culture. Today, no one can doubt the positive (one might even say “noble”, like silver itself) coloring of this phrase - opposed, by the way, to such “decadent” characteristics of the same historical period in Western culture as fin de siècle (“the end century") or "the end of a beautiful era." The number of books, articles, anthologies and anthologies, where the "Silver Age" appears as an established definition, simply cannot be counted. Nevertheless, the appearance of the phrase, and the meaning that contemporaries put into it, is not even a problem, but a whole detective story.

Pushkin at the lyceum exam in Tsarskoye Selo. Painting by Ilya Repin. 1911 Wikimedia Commons

Every time has its own metal

It is worth starting from afar, namely, with two significant examples when the properties of metals are attributed to an era. And here it is worth mentioning the ancient classics (primarily Hesiod and Ovid), on the one hand, and Pushkin's friend and co-editor on Sovremennik, Pyotr Aleksandrovich Pletnev, on the other.

The first imagined the history of mankind as a succession of various human races (in Hesiod, for example, gold, silver, copper, heroic and iron; Ovid would subsequently abandon the age of heroes and prefer the classification only “according to metals”), alternately created by the gods and eventually disappearing off the face of the earth.

The critic Pyotr Alexandrovich Pletnev first called the era of Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Pushkin and Baratynsky the "golden age" of Russian poetry. The definition was quickly accepted by contemporaries and by the middle of the 19th century it had become a commonplace. In this sense, calling the next great surge of poetic (and not only) culture the "silver" age is nothing but humiliation: silver is a metal much less noble than gold.

So it becomes clear why the humanities scholars, who emerged from the cultural cauldron of the turn of the century, were deeply disgusted by the phrase "silver age". These were the critic and translator Gleb Petrovich Struve (1898-1985), the linguist Roman Osipovich Yakobson (1896-1982) and the literary historian Nikolai Ivanovich Khardzhiev (1903-1996). All three spoke of the "Silver Age" with considerable irritation, directly calling such a name erroneous and incorrect. Conversations with Struve and Jacobson's lectures at Harvard inspired Omri Ronen (1937-2012) to explore the origins and reasons for the rise of the term "Silver Age" in a fascinating (almost detective) way. This note only claims to be a popular retelling of the work of the remarkable scholar-erudite "The Silver Age as intent and fiction."

Berdyaev and the memoirist's mistake

Dmitry Petrovich Svyatopolk-Mirsky (1890-1939), one of the most influential critics of the Russian diaspora and the author of one of the best "History of Russian Literature", preferred to call the cultural abundance surrounding him the "second golden age". In accordance with the hierarchy of precious metals, Mirsky called the era of Fet, Nekrasov and Alexei Tolstoy the “silver age”, and here he coincided with the philosophers Vladimir Solovyov and Vasily Rozanov, who allotted for the “silver age” a period from approximately 1841 to 1881.

Nikolai Berdyaev Wikimedia Commons

It is even more important to point out that Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev (1874-1948), who is traditionally credited with the authorship of the term "Silver Age" in relation to the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, actually imagined cultural development in much the same way as his colleagues in the philosophical workshop . According to the established tradition, Berdyaev called the Pushkin era the golden age, and the beginning of the 20th century, with its powerful creative upsurge, the Russian cultural (but by no means religious) renaissance. It is characteristic that the phrase "silver age" is not found in any of Berdyaev's texts. In attributing to Berdyaev the dubious fame of the discoverer of the term, several lines from the memoirs of the poet and critic Sergei Makovsky "On the Parnassus of the Silver Age", published in 1962, are to blame:

“The languor of the spirit, the desire for the “beyond” has permeated our age, the “Silver Age” (as Berdyaev called it, as opposed to Pushkin’s “Golden Age”), partly under the influence of the West.”

The mysterious Gleb Marev and the emergence of the term

The very first writer who worked at the turn of the century and declared his own era the "Silver Age" was the mysterious Gleb Marev (almost nothing is known about him, so it is possible that the name was a pseudonym). In 1913, under his name, the pamphlet “Vsedury. Gauntlet with Modernity”, which included the manifesto of the “End Age of Poesi”. It is there that the formulation of the metallurgical metamorphoses of Russian literature is contained: “Pushkin is gold; symbolism - silver; modernity is a dull-coppered all-fool.”

R. V. Ivanov-Razumnik with children: son Leo and daughter Irina. 1910s Russian National Library

If we take into account the quite probable parodic nature of Marev's work, it becomes clear the context in which the phrase "Silver Age" was originally used to describe the modern era for writers. It was in a polemical vein that the philosopher and publicist Razumnik Vasilievich Ivanov-Razumnik (1878-1946) spoke, in the article of 1925 "The Look and Something" poisonously mocking (under the pseudonym of Griboedov Ippolit Udushyev) over Zamyatin, "Serapion Brothers" "Serapion Brothers" - an association of young prose writers, poets and critics, which arose in Petrograd on February 1, 1921. The members of the association were Lev Lunts, Ilya Gruzdev, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Veniamin Kaverin, Nikolai Nikitin, Mikhail Slonimsky, Elizaveta Polonskaya, Konstantin Fedin, Nikolai Tikhonov, Vsevolod Ivanov., acmeists and even formalists. The second period of Russian modernism, which flourished in the 1920s, Ivanov-Razumnik contemptuously dubbed the "Silver Age", predicting the further decline of Russian culture:

Four years later, in 1929, the poet and critic Vladimir Pyast (Vladimir Alekseevich Pestovsky, 1886-1940), in the preface to his memoirs "Meetings", spoke seriously about the "silver age" of contemporary poetry (it is possible that he did this in the order of the dispute with Ivanov-Razumnik) - although very inconsistently and prudently:

“We are far from claiming to compare our peers, “eighties” by birth, with representatives of some kind of “Silver Age” of Russian, say, “modernism”. However, in the mid-eighties, a fairly significant number of people were born who were called to “serve the muses.”

Piast also found the "golden" and "silver" ages in classical Russian literature - he tried to project the same two-stage scheme onto contemporary culture, speaking of different generations of writers.

The Silver Age is getting bigger

Magazine "Numbers" imwerden.de

The expansion of the scope of the concept of "Silver Age" belongs to the critics of the Russian emigration. The first to spread the term, applying it to the description of the entire pre-revolutionary era of modernism in Russia, was Nikolai Avdeevich Otsup (1894-1958). Initially, he only repeated Piast's well-known thoughts in a 1933 article entitled "The Silver Age of Russian Poetry" and published in the popular Parisian émigré magazine Chisla. Otsup, without mentioning Piast in any way, actually borrowed from the latter the idea of two centuries of Russian modernism, but threw out the “golden age” from the 20th century. Here is a typical example of Otsup's reasoning:

“Belated in its development, Russia, by the force of a number of historical reasons was forced to carry out in a short time what had been done in Europe for several centuries. The inimitable rise of the "golden age" is partly explained by this. But what we have called the “Silver Age”, in terms of strength and energy, as well as the abundance of amazing creatures, has almost no analogy in the West: these are, as it were, phenomena squeezed into three decades, which occupied, for example, in France throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."

It was this compilation article that introduced the expression "silver age" into the lexicon of the Russian literary emigration.

One of the first to pick up this phrase was the well-known Parisian critic Vladimir Vasilievich Veidle (1895-1979), who wrote in his article “Three Russias” published in 1937:

"The most amazing recent history Russia is that that silver age of Russian culture, which preceded its revolutionary collapse, turned out to be possible.

Members of the Sounding Shell Studio. Photo by Moses Nappelbaum. 1921 On the left - Frederica and Ida Nappelbaum, in the center - Nikolai Gumilyov, on the right - Vera Lurie and Konstantin Vaginov, below - Georgy Ivanov and Irina Odoevtseva. Literary Crimea / vk.com

Here the new term for the era is just beginning to be used as something obvious, although this does not mean that it was from 1937 that the idea of the “Silver Age” has already become public property: the morbidly jealous Otsup in a revised version of his article, which was published after the death of the critic , specially added the words that it was he who first owned the name "to characterize modernist Russian literature." And here a reasonable question arises: what did the "figures" of the "Silver Age" era think about themselves? How did the poets themselves define themselves, representing this era? For example, Osip Mandelstam applied the well-known term “Sturm und Drang” (“Storm and Drang”) to the era of Russian modernism.

The phrase "silver age" as applied to the beginning of the 20th century is found only in two major poets (or rather, poetesses). In Marina Tsvetaeva's article "The Devil", published in 1935 in the leading Parisian émigré magazine Sovremennye Zapiski, the following lines were removed during publication (they were later restored by researchers): we, the children of the silver age, need about thirty pieces of silver.”

From this passage it follows that Tsvetaeva, firstly, was familiar with the name "Silver Age"; secondly, she perceived it with a sufficient degree of irony (it is possible that these words were a reaction to the above reasoning of Otsup in 1933). Finally, perhaps the most famous are the lines from Anna Akhmatova's Poem Without a Hero:

On Galernaya arch darkened,
In Summer, the weather vane sang subtly,
And the silver moon is bright
Frozen over the Silver Age.

Understanding these lines is impossible without referring to the broader context of the poet's work, but there is no doubt that Akhmatova's "Silver Age" is not a definition of an era, but a common quotation that has its own function in a literary text. For the author of “A Poem without a Hero”, dedicated to summarizing the results, the name “Silver Age” is not a characteristic of the era, but one of its names (obviously not indisputable) given by literary critics and other cultural figures.

Nevertheless, the phrase under discussion quickly lost its original meaning and began to be used as a classification term. Mikhail Leonovich Gasparov wrote in the preface to the poetic anthology of the turn of the century: “The poetics of the Silver Age in question is, first of all, the poetics of Russian modernism. This is how it is customary to call three poetic trends that announced their existence between 1890 and 1917 ... ”So the definition quickly took hold and was accepted on faith by both readers and researchers (it is possible that for lack of a better one) and spread to painting, sculpture, architecture and other areas of culture.

The Silver Age is not a chronological period. At least not only the period. And this is not the sum of literary movements. Rather, the concept of "Silver Age" is appropriate to apply to the way of thinking.

Atmosphere of the Silver Age

At the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia experienced an intense intellectual upsurge, which was especially pronounced in philosophy and poetry. The philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev (read about him) called this time the Russian cultural renaissance. According to Berdyaev's contemporary Sergei Makovsky, it is Berdyaev who owns another, more well-known definition of this period - the "Silver Age". According to other sources, the phrase "Silver Age" was first used in 1929 by the poet Nikolai Otsup. This concept is not so much scientific as emotional, immediately evoking associations with another short period in the history of Russian culture - with the "golden age", the Pushkin era of Russian poetry (the first third of the 19th century).

“Now it is difficult to imagine the atmosphere of that time,” Nikolai Berdyaev wrote about the Silver Age in his “philosophical autobiography” “Self-Knowledge”. - Much of the creative upsurge of that time was included in the further development of Russian culture and now is the property of all Russian cultured people. But then there was intoxication with a creative upsurge, novelty, tension, struggle, challenge. During these years, many gifts were sent to Russia. It was the era of the awakening of independent philosophical thought in Russia, the flowering of poetry and the sharpening of aesthetic sensibility, religious anxiety and quest, interest in mysticism and the occult. New souls appeared, new sources of creative life were discovered, new dawns were seen, the feeling of decline and death was combined with the hope of the transformation of life. But everything happened in a rather vicious circle ... "

The Silver Age as a period and way of thinking

The art and philosophy of the Silver Age were distinguished by elitism and intellectualism. Therefore, it is impossible to identify all the poetry of the late XIX - early XX century with the Silver Age. This is a narrower concept. Sometimes, however, when attempting to determine the essence of the ideological content of the Silver Age through formal features (literary movements and groupings, socio-political subtexts and contexts), researchers mistakenly confuse them. In fact, within the chronological boundaries of this period, the most diverse phenomena in origin and aesthetic orientation coexisted: modernist movements, poetry of the classical realistic tradition, peasant, proletarian, satirical poetry ... But the Silver Age is not a chronological period. At least not only the period. And this is not the sum of literary movements. Rather, the concept of the “Silver Age” is appropriate to apply to the way of thinking, which, being characteristic of artists who were at enmity with each other during their lifetime, ultimately merged them in the minds of their descendants into some kind of inseparable galaxy that formed that specific atmosphere of the Silver Age that Berdyaev wrote about. .

Poets of the Silver Age

The names of the poets who made up the spiritual core of the Silver Age are known to everyone: Valery Bryusov, Fedor Sologub, Innokenty Annensky, Alexander Blok, Maximilian Voloshin, Andrei Bely, Konstantin Balmont, Nikolai Gumilyov, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Igor Severyanin, Georgy Ivanov and many others.

In its most concentrated form, the atmosphere of the Silver Age was expressed in the first decade and a half of the twentieth century. It was the heyday of Russian modern literature in all its diversity of artistic, philosophical, religious searches and discoveries. First World War, the February bourgeois-democratic and October socialist revolutions partly provoked, partly shaped this cultural context, and partly were provoked and shaped by it. Representatives of the Silver Age (and Russian modernism in general) sought to overcome positivism, reject the legacy of the "sixties", denied materialism, as well as idealistic philosophy.

The poets of the Silver Age also sought to overcome the attempts of the second half of XIX centuries to explain human behavior by social conditions, environment and continued the traditions of Russian poetry, for which a person was important in itself, his thoughts and feelings, his attitude to eternity, to God, to Love and Death in a philosophical, metaphysical sense are important. The poets of the Silver Age, both in their artistic work and in theoretical articles and statements, questioned the idea of progress for literature. For example, one of the brightest creators of the Silver Age, Osip Mandelstam, wrote that the idea of progress is "the most disgusting kind of school ignorance." And Alexander Blok in 1910 stated: “The sun of naive realism has set; it is impossible to comprehend anything outside of symbolism. Poets of the Silver Age believed in art, in the power of the word. Therefore, for their creativity, immersion in the element of the word, the search for new means of expression is indicative. They cared not only about the meaning, but also about the style - the sound, the music of the word and complete immersion in the elements were important for them. This immersion led to the cult of life creation (the inseparability of the creator's personality and his art). And almost always in connection with this, the poets of the Silver Age were unhappy in their personal lives, and many of them ended badly.

The Silver Age is the era of modernism, captured in Russian literature. This is the period when innovative ideas captured all spheres of art, including the art of the word. Although it lasted only a quarter of a century (starting from 1898, ending around 1922), its legacy is the golden ford of Russian poetry. Until now, the poems of that time do not lose their charm and originality, even against the background of modern creativity. As we know, the works of the Futurists, Imagists and Symbolists became the basis of many famous songs. Therefore, in order to understand the current cultural realities, it is necessary to know the primary sources that we have listed in this article.

The Silver Age is one of the main, key periods of Russian poetry, covering the period of the late XIX - early XX century. The debate about who was the first to use this term is still going on. Some believe that the "Silver Age" belongs to Nikolai Avdeevich Otsup, a well-known critic. Others are inclined to believe that the term was introduced thanks to the poet Sergei Makovsky. But there are also options regarding Nikolai Aleksandrovich Berdyaev, a famous Russian philosopher, Razumnikov Vasilyevich Ivanov, a Russian literary critic, and the poet Vladimir Alekseevich Piast. But one thing is certain: the definition was coined by analogy with another, no less important period - the Golden Age of Russian literature.

As for the time frame of the period, they are arbitrary, since it is difficult to establish the exact dates for the birth of the Silver Age of poetry. The beginning is usually associated with the work of Alexander Alexandrovich Blok and his symbolism. The end is attributed to the date of the execution of Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov and the death of the previously mentioned Blok. Although echoes of this period can be found in the work of other famous Russian poets - Boris Pasternak, Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam.

Symbolism, Imagism, Futurism and Acmeism are the main currents of the Silver Age. All of them belong to such a direction in art as modernism.

The main philosophy of modernism was the idea of positivism, that is, hope and faith in the new - in the new time, in new life, into becoming new/modern. People believed that they were born for something high, they have their own destiny, which they must fulfill. Now culture is aimed at eternal development, constant progress. But all this philosophy collapsed with the advent of wars. It was they who forever changed the worldview and attitude of people.

Futurism

Futurism is one of the directions of modernism, which is an integral part of the Russian avant-garde. For the first time, this term appeared in the manifesto "Slap in the face of public taste", written by members of the St. Petersburg group "Gileya". It included Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vasily Kamensky, Velimir Khlebnikov and other authors, who were most often called "budetlyane".

Paris is considered the ancestor of futurism, but its founder comes from Italy. However, it was in France in 1909 that Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's manifesto was published, skimping on the place of this movement in literature. Further, futurism "came" to other countries. Marinetti has shaped attitudes, ideas and thoughts. He was an eccentric millionaire, most of all fond of cars and women. However, after the accident, when the man lay next to the pulsing heart of the engine for several hours, he decided to sing the beauty of an industrial city, the melody of a rumbling car, the poetics of progress. Now the ideal for man was not the surrounding natural world, but the urban landscape, the noise and roar of the bustling metropolis. The Italian also admired the exact sciences and came up with the idea of composing poetry using formulas and graphs, created a new “ladder” size, etc. However, his poetry turned out to be something like another manifesto, a theoretical and lifeless rebellion against old ideologies. From the point of view of artistry, a breakthrough in futurism was made not by its founder, but by the Russian admirer of his discovery - Vladimir Mayakovsky. In 1910, a new literary trend comes to Russia. Here it is represented by the four most influential groups:

Moscow group "Centrifuge" (Nikolai Aseev, Boris Pasternak, etc.);
The previously mentioned St. Petersburg group "Gileya";
Petersburg group "Moscow Egofuturists" under the control of the publishing house "Petersburg Herald" (Igor Severyanin, Konstantin Olimpov, etc.);
Moscow group "Moscow ego-futurists" under the control of the publishing house "Mezzanine of Art" (Boris Lavrenev, Vadim Shershenevich, etc.).

Since all these groups had a huge influence on futurism, it developed heterogeneously. There were such offshoots as egofuturism and cubofuturism.

Futurism influenced not only literature. He also had a great influence on painting. Characteristic such canvases are a cult of progress and a protest against traditional artistic canons. This trend combines the features of cubism and expressionism. The first exhibition took place in 1912. Then in Paris they showed pictures that depicted various means of transportation (cars, planes, etc.). Futurist artists believed that technology would take the lead in the future. The main innovative move was an attempt to depict movement in statics.

The main features of this trend in poetry are as follows:

the denial of everything old: the old way of life, the old literature, the old culture;
orientation to the new, the future, the cult of change;
feeling of imminent change;
creation of new forms and images, countless and radical experiments:
the invention of new words, speech turns, sizes.
desemantization of speech.

Vladimir Mayakovsky

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (1893-1930) is a famous Russian poet. One of the greatest representatives of futurism. He began literary experiments in 1912. Thanks to the poet, such neologisms as “nate”, “hollow-shtanny”, sickle” and many others were introduced into the Russian language. Vladimir Vladimirovich also made a huge contribution to versification. His "ladder" helps to correctly place accents when reading. And the lyrical lines in the creation “Lilichka! (Instead of a letter) "became the most poignant love confessions in the poetry of the 20th century. We have discussed it in detail in a separate article.

To the most famous works the poet can include the following examples of futurism: the previously mentioned "", "V.I. Lenin", "", poems "I get out of wide trousers", "Could you? (Listen!) ”,“ Poems about the Soviet passport ”,“ Left March ”,“ ”, etc.

Mayakovsky's main themes include:

the place of the poet in society and his purpose;
patriotism;
glorification of the socialist system;
revolutionary theme;
love feelings and loneliness;
purposefulness on the way to a dream.

After October 1917, the poet (with rare exceptions) was inspired only by revolutionary ideas. He sings of the power of change, the Bolshevik ideology and the greatness of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Igor Severyanin

Igor Severyanin (1887 - 1941) is a famous Russian poet. One of the representatives of egofuturism. First of all, he is known for his outrageous poetry, where his own personality is sung. The Creator was sure that he was a pure incarnation of genius, so he often behaved selfishly and arrogantly. But that was only in public. In normal Everyday life The northerner was no different from others, and after emigrating to Estonia, he completely “tied up” with modernist experiments and began to develop in line with classical poetry. His most famous works are the poems "!", "Nightingales of the monastery garden", "Classic roses", "Nocturne", "A girl was crying in the park" and the collections "The Thundering Cup", "Victoria regia", "Zlatolira". We have covered it in detail in another article.

The main themes of Igor Severyanin's work:

technical progress;
own genius;
the poet's place in society;
love theme;
satire and scourging of social vices;
politics.

He was the first poet in Russia to boldly call himself a futurist. But in 1912, Igor Severyanin founded a new, own trend - ego-futurism, which is characterized by the use of foreign words and the presence of a sense of "selfishness".

Alexey Kruchenykh

Alexey Eliseevich Kruchenykh (1886 - 1968) - Russian poet, journalist, artist. One of the representatives of Russian futurism. The creator became famous for bringing “zaum” into Russian poetry. “Zaum” is an abstract speech, devoid of any meaning, which allows the author to use any words (strange combinations, neologisms, parts of words, etc.). Aleksey Kruchenykh even issues his own “Declaration of the abstruse language”.

The most famous poem of the poet is “Dyr bul shchyl”, but there are other works: “Reinforced concrete weights are at home”, “I left”, “ A tropical forest”, “In the gambling house”, “Winter”, “Death of the artist, “Rus” and others.

The main themes of Khlebnikov's work include:

the theme of love;
the theme of the language;
creation;
satire;
food theme.

Velimir Khlebnikov

Velimir Khlebnikov (1885 - 1922) - a famous Russian poet, one of the main figures of the avant-garde in Russia. He became famous, first of all, for being the founder of futurism in our country. Also, one should not forget that it was thanks to Khlebnikov that radical experiments began in the field of “creativity of the word” and the previously mentioned “zaumi”. Sometimes the poet was also called "the chairman the globe". The main works are poems, poems, superstories, autobiographical materials and prose. Examples of futurism in poetry include:

"Bird in a cage";
"Vremysh - reeds";
"Out of the bag";
"Grasshopper" and others.

For poems:

"Menagerie";
"Forest longing";
“Love comes like a terrible whirlwind”, etc.

Super stories:

"Zangezi";
"War in the Mousetrap".

"Nikolai";
“Great is the day” (Imitation of Gogol);
"Cliff from the future".

Autobiographical materials:

"Autobiographical note";
"Answers to the questionnaire of S. A. Vegnerov."

The main themes of V. Khlebnikov's work:

the theme of the revolution and its glorification;
the theme of predestination, rock;
connection of times;
the theme of nature.

Imagism

Imagism is one of the currents of the Russian avant-garde, which also appeared and spread in the Silver Age. The concept originated from English word"image", which translates as "image". This direction is an offshoot of futurism.

Imagism first appeared in England. The main representatives were Ezra Pound and Percy Wyndham Lewis. Only in 1915 did this trend reach our country. But Russian Imagism differed significantly from English. In fact, only the name remained from it. For the first time the Russian public heard the works of Imagism on January 29, 1919 in the building of the All-Russian Union of Poets in Moscow. It provides that the image of the word rises above the idea, the idea.

For the first time the term "Imagism" appears in Russian literature in 1916. It was then that Vadim Shershenevich's book "Green Street ..." was published, in which the author announced the emergence of a new trend. More extensive than futurism.

Just like Futurism, Imagism influenced painting. The most popular artists are: Georgy Bogdanovich Yakulov (avant-garde artist), Sergey Timofeevich Konenkov (sculptor) and Boris Robertovich Erdman.

The main features of Imagism:

dominance of the image;
extensive use of metaphors;
content of the work = development of the image + epithets;
epithet = comparisons + metaphors + antithesis;
poems perform, above all, an aesthetic function;
one work = one figurative catalogue.

Sergey Yesenin

Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin (1895 - 1925) - a famous Russian poet, one of the most popular representatives of Imagism, an outstanding creator of peasant lyrics. we described in an essay about his contribution to the culture of the Silver Age.

During his short life, he managed to become famous for his outstanding creativity. Everyone read his heartfelt poems about love, nature, the Russian village. But the poet was also known for being one of the founders of Imagism. In 1919, he, along with other poets - V.G. Shershenevich and A.B. Mariengof - for the first time told the public about the principles of this trend. Main Feature was that the poems of the Imagists can be read from the bottom up. At the same time, the essence of the work does not change. But in 1922, Sergei Alexandrovich realized that this innovative creative association was very limited, and in 1924 he wrote a letter announcing the closure of the Imagist group.

The main works of the poet (it should be noted that not all of them are written in the style of Imagism):

“Goy you, Russia, my dear!”;
"Letter to a woman";
"Hooligan";
“You don’t love me, you don’t regret ...”;
"I have one fun left";
Poem "";

The main themes of Yesenin's work:

theme of the Motherland;
the theme of nature;
love lyrics;
longing and spiritual crisis;
nostalgia;
rethinking the historical transformations of the 20th century

Anatoly Mariengof

Anatoly Borisovich Mariengof (1897 - 1962) - Russian imaginist poet, playwright, prose writer. Together with S. Yesenin and V. Shershenevich, he founded a new direction of avant-garde - imaginism. First of all, he became famous for his revolutionary literature, since most of his writings praise this political phenomenon.

The main works of the poet include such books as:

"A novel without lies";
"" (1991 a film adaptation of this book was released);
"Shaved Man";
"Immortal Trilogy";
"Anatoly Mariengof about Sergei Yesenin";
"Without a fig leaf";
"Showcase of the Heart"

To poems-examples of Imagism:

"Meeting";
"Jugs of Memory";
"March of revolutions";
"Hands with a tie";
"September" and many others.

Themes of Mariengof's works:

revolution and its chanting;
the theme of "Russianness";
bohemian life;
socialist ideas;
anticlerical protest.

Together with Sergei Yesenin and other Imagists, the poet participated in the creation of issues of the magazine "Hotel for Travelers in Beauty" and the book "Imagists".

Symbolism

- a trend headed by an innovative image-symbol that replaced the artistic one. The term "symbolism" comes from the French "symbolisme" and the Greek "symbolon" - a symbol, a sign.

France is considered to be the ancestor of this trend. After all, it was there, in the 18th century, that the famous French poet Stéphane Mallarmé united with other poets to create a new literary movement. Then the symbolism "migrated" to other European countries, and already in late XVIII century came to Russia.

For the first time this concept appears in the works of the French poet Jean Moréas.

The main features of symbolism include:

dual world - division into reality and the illusory world;
musicality;
psychologism;
the presence of a symbol as the basis of meaning and idea;
mystical images and motives;
reliance on philosophy;
cult of individuality.

Alexander Blok

Alexander Alexandrovich Blok (1880-1921) is a famous Russian poet, one of the most important representatives of symbolism in Russian poetry.

The block belongs to the second stage of development of this trend in our country. He is a "junior symbolist", who embodied in his works the philosophical ideas of the thinker Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov.

The main works of Alexander Blok include the following examples of Russian symbolism:

"On the railway";
"Factory";
“Night, street, lamp, pharmacy…”;
"I enter dark temples";
"The girl sang in the church choir";
"I'm scared to meet you";
"Oh, I want to live crazy";
poem "" and much more.

Blok's themes:

the theme of the poet and his place in the life of society;
the theme of sacrificial love, love-worship;
the theme of the Motherland and understanding of its historical fate;
beauty as an ideal and the salvation of the world;
the theme of the revolution;
mystical and folklore motifs

Valery Bryusov

Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov (1873 - 1924) - Russian symbolist poet, translator. One of the most well-known representatives Silver Age of Russian Poetry. He stood at the origins of Russian symbolism along with A.A. Block. The success of the creator began with the scandal associated with the monostich "Oh, close your pale legs." Then, after the publication of even more defiant works, Bryusov finds himself at the epicenter of fame. He is invited to various secular and poetic evenings, and his name becomes a real brand in the art world.

Examples of symbolist verses:

"Everything is over";
"In the past";
"Napoleon";
"Woman";
"Shadows of the Past";
"Mason";
"Tormenting gift";
"Clouds";
"Images of Time".

The main themes in the work of Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov:

mysticism and religion;
problems of personality and society;
departure to a fictional world;
the history of homeland.

Andrey Bely

Andrey Bely (1880 - 1934) - Russian poet, writer, critic. Just like Blok, Bely is considered one of the most famous representatives of symbolism in our country. It is worth noting that the creator supported the ideas of individualism and subjectivism. He believed that symbolism represents a certain worldview of a person, and not just a trend in art. He considered the language of signs to be the highest manifestation of speech. The poet was also of the opinion that all art is a kind of spirit, the mystical energy of higher powers.

He called his works symphonies, including "Dramatic", "Northern", "Symphonic" and "Return". Famous poems include: “And the water? The moment is clear ... "," Asya (Azure is pale), "Balmont", "Madman" and others.

Themes in the poet's work are:

the theme of love or passion for a woman;
struggle against petty-bourgeois vulgarity;
ethical and moral aspects of the revolution;
mystical and religious motives;

Konstantin Balmont

Konstantin Dmitrievich Balmont (1867 - 1942) - Russian symbolist poet, literary critic and writer. He became famous for his "optimistic narcissism". According to the famous Russian poet Anninsky, he raised the most important philosophical questions in his works. The main works of the poet are the collections “Under the Northern Sky”, “We Will Be Like the Sun” and “Burning Buildings” and the well-known poems “Butterfly”, “In the Blue Temple”, “There is not a day that I do not think about You ...”. These are very illustrative examples of symbolism.

The main themes in the work of Balmont:

the sublime place of the poet in society;
individualism;
the theme of infinity;
questions of being and non-being;
beauty and mystery of the surrounding world.

Vyacheslav Ivanov

Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov (1866 - 1949) - poet, critic, playwright, translator. Although he survived the heyday of symbolism much, he still remained true to his aesthetic and literary principles. The creator is known for his idea of Dionysian symbolism (he was inspired by the ancient Greek god of fertility and wine, Dionysus). His poetry was dominated by ancient images and philosophical questions posed by ancient Greek philosophers like Epicurus.

Ivanov's main works:

"Alexander Blok";
"The ark";
"News";
"Scales";
"Contemporaries";
"Valley - temple";
"The Sky Lives"

Topics of creativity:

the secret of natural harmony;
the theme of love;
the theme of life and death;
mythological motives;
true nature of happiness.

Acmeism

Acmeism is the last trend that made up the poetry of the Silver Age. The term comes from the Greek word "acme", which means the dawn of something, the peak.

As a literary manifestation, acmeism was formed at the beginning of the 20th century. Beginning in 1900, young poets began to gather in the apartment of the poet Vyacheslav Ivanov in St. Petersburg. In 1906-1907 a small group broke away from everyone and formed a "circle of young people". He was distinguished by the desire to move away from symbolism and form something new. Also, the literary group "Workshop of Poets" made a great contribution to the development of acmeism. It included such poets as Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Georgy Adamovich, Vladimir Narbut and others. The workshop was headed by Nikolay Gumilyov and Sergey Gorodetsky. After 5 - 6 years, another part separated from this group, which began to call themselves acmeists.

Acmeism is also reflected in painting. The views of such artists as Alexandre Benois (“Marquise’s Bath” and “The Venetian Garden”), Konstantin Somov (“The Mocked Kiss”), Sergei Sudeikin and Leon Bakst (all of whom were part of the art group of the late 19th century “The World of Arts”) were similar to the views of acmeist writers. In all the pictures we can see how modern world opposed to the world of the past. Each canvas is a kind of stylized decoration.

The main features of acmeism:

rejection of the ideas of symbolism, opposition to them;
return to the origins: connection with past poets and literary movements;
the symbol is no longer a way to influence / influence the reader;
the absence of everything mystical;
connection of physiological wisdom with the inner world of man.
Striving for simplicity and ultimate clarity of the image, theme, style.

Anna Akhmatova

Anna Andreevna Akhmatova (1889 - 1966) - Russian poetess, literary critic, translator. She is also a nominee for Nobel Prize in the field of literature. As a talented poetess, the world recognized her in 1914. It was in this year that the collection "Rosary" was released. Further, her influence in bohemian circles only increased, and the poem "" provided her with scandalous fame. In the Soviet Union, criticism did not favor her talent, mainly her fame went underground, to samizdat, but the works from her pen were copied by hand and learned by heart. It was she who patronized Joseph Brodsky in the early stages of his work.

Significant creations include:

“I learned to live simply, wisely”;
“She clenched her hands over a dark veil”;
“I asked the cuckoo…”;
"Grey-eyed king";
"I'm not asking for your love";
“And now you are heavy and dull,” and others.

Poetry themes include:

the theme of conjugal and maternal love;
the theme of true friendship;
topic Stalinist repressions and the suffering of the people;
the theme of the war;
the place of the poet in the world;
reflection on the fate of Russia.

Basically, the lyrical works of Anna Akhmatova are written in the direction of acmeism, but sometimes there are manifestations of symbolism, most often against the background of some kind of action.

Nikolay Gumilyov

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev (1886 - 1921) - Russian poet, critic, prose writer and literary critic. At the beginning of the 20th century, he was already part of the “Workshop of Poets” already known to you. It was thanks to this creator and his colleague Sergei Gorodetsky that acmeism was founded. They spearheaded this pioneering separation from the general group. Gumilyov's poems are understandable and transparent, there is no pomposity and zaum in them, so they are still rehearsed and played on stages and music tracks. He speaks simply, but beautifully and sublimely about complex feelings and thoughts. For his connection with the White Guards, he was shot by the Bolsheviks.

The main works include:

"Giraffe";
"The Lost Tram";
“Remember more than once”;
"From a bouquet of a whole lilac";
"Comfort";
"The escape";
"I laughed at myself";
"My Readers" and much more.

The main theme of Gumilyov's poetry is overcoming life's failures and obstacles. They also touched upon the philosophical, love, military theme. His view of art is curious, because for him creativity is always a sacrifice, always an anguish, to which you surrender without a trace.

Osip Mandelstam

Osip Emilievich Mandelstam (1891 - 1938) - a famous poet, literary critic, translator and prose writer. He is the author of original love lyrics, devoted many poems to the city. His work is distinguished by a satirical and clearly oppositional orientation in relation to the current authorities at that time. He was not afraid to touch on topical issues and ask uncomfortable questions. For his caustic and insulting "dedication" to Stalin, he was arrested and convicted. The mystery of his death in the labor camp remains unsolved to this day.

Examples of acmeism can be found in his works:

Notre Dame;
“We live without feeling the country under us”;
"Insomnia. Homer. Tight sails…”;
Silentium;
"Self-portrait";
“The evening is gentle. Twilight is important…”;
"You smile" and much more.

Themes in the work of Mandelstam:

the beauty of Petersburg;
the theme of love;
the place of the poet in public life;
the theme of culture and freedom of creativity;
political protest;
poet and power.

Sergei Gorodetsky

Sergei Mitrofanovich Gorodetsky (1884 - 1967) - Russian poet - acmeist, translator. His work is characterized by the presence of folklore motifs, he was fond of folk epos and ancient Russian culture. After 1915 he became a peasant poet, describing the customs and life of the village. While working as a war correspondent, he created a cycle of poems dedicated to the Armenian genocide. After the revolution, he was mainly engaged in translations.

Significant works of the poet, which can be considered examples of acmeism:

"Armenia";
"Birch";
cycle "Spring";
"Town";
"Wolf";
“My face is a hiding place of births”;
"Remember, the blizzard came";
"Lilac";
"Snow";
"Series".

The main themes in the poems of Sergei Gorodetsky:

the natural splendor of the Caucasus;
the theme of the poet and poetry;
Armenian genocide;
the theme of the revolution;
the theme of the war;
love and philosophical lyrics.

Creativity of Marina Tsvetaeva

Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (1892-1941) is a well-known Russian poetess, translator, prose writer. First of all, she is known for her love poems. She also tended to reflect on the ethical aspects of the revolution, and nostalgia for the old times was traced in her works. Perhaps that is why she was forced to leave the country of the Soviets, where her work was not appreciated. She knew other languages brilliantly, and her popularity spread not only to our country. The talent of the poetess is admired in Germany, France and the Czech Republic.

The main works of Tsvetaeva:

"Come, you look like me";
“I will win you back from all lands, from all heavens ..”;
"Homesickness! For a long time…";
“I like that you are not sick with me”;
"I would like to live with you";

The main themes in the work of the poetess:

theme of the Motherland;
the theme of love, jealousy, separation;
theme of home and childhood;
the theme of the poet and his significance;
the historical fate of the fatherland;
spiritual relationship.

One amazing feature Marina Tsvetaeva is that her poems do not belong to any literary movement. All of them are outside any direction.

The work of Sofia Parnok

Sofia Yakovlevna Parnok (1885 - 1933) - Russian poetess, translator. She gained fame thanks to a scandalous friendship with the famous poetess Marina Tsvetaeva. The fact is that communication between them was attributed to something more than friendly relations. Parnok was also awarded the nickname "Russian Sappho" for her statements about the right of women to non-traditional love and equal rights with men.

Main works:

"White Night";
“In a barren land no grain can grow”;
“Not yet spirit, almost not flesh”;
"I love you in your space";
"How bright the light is today";
"Divination";
"The lips were too tight."

The main themes in the work of the poetess are prejudice-free love, spiritual connection between people, independence from public opinion.

Parnok does not belong to a certain direction. All her life she tried to find her special place in literature, not tied to a particular trend.

Religious and philosophical meetings (RFS) of representatives of the Russian intelligentsia and the Orthodox clergy opened in St. Petersburg on November 29, 1901 at the initiative of a group of writers.
For the first time the idea of their organization was expressed by Z.N. Gippius and picked up by her husband D.S. Merezhkovsky and V.V. Rozanov. On October 8, 1901, authorized founding members of the RFU - D.S. Merezhkovsky, D.V. Philosophers, V.V. Rozanov, V.S. Mirolyubov and V.A. Ternavtsev - were received by the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod K.P. Pobedonostsev. In the evening of the same day, the founding members of the RFU - D.S. Merezhkovsky, Z.N. Gippius, V.A. Ternavtseva, N.M. Minsky, V.V. Rozanova, D.V. Filosofova, L.S. Bakst and A.N. Benois received Met. Anthony (Vadkovsky).
The RFU took place in the building of the Geographical Society.
The permanent chairman of the RFU was Bp. Yamburgsky Sergiy (Stragorodsky), Rector of St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The Council of Assemblies also included: a future participant in the Renovationist schism, Archim. Antonin (Granovsky), Protopresbyter I.L. Yanyshev, Archpriest S.A. Sollertinsky, D.S. Merezhkovsky, V.S. Mirolyubov (publisher of the journal Life for All), V.V. Rozanov, treasurer - V.A. Ternavtsev. Later, the original composition of the founding members was expanded to include Archim. Sergiy (Tikhomirov), V.M. Skvortsov (editor of the Missionary Review), M.A. Novoselov (publisher-editor of the "Religious and Philosophical Library"), Z.N. Gippius, D.V. Philosophers, A.V. Kartashev, V.V. Uspensky, N.M. Minsky, P.P. Pertsov, E.A. Egorov.
Many representatives of the literary and artistic elites of Russia of those times were visitors to the RFU, among them - I.E. Repin, A.N. Benois, V.Ya. Bryusov, L.S. Bakst, S.P. Diaghilev, A.A. Block.
A total of 22 RFU meetings took place. The following topics were discussed: “On the relationship of the Church to the intelligentsia”, “Leo Tolstoy and the Russian Church”, “On the relationship between the Church and the state”, “On freedom of conscience”, “On the spirit and flesh”, “On marriage”, “On dogmatic development Churches". The minutes of the meetings were published in the journal "New Way", then "Notes of the St. Petersburg Religious and Philosophical Meetings" (St. Petersburg, 1906) were published.
A common valuation of the RFS as manifestations of the religious and philosophical revival, the revival of Russian theological apologetic thought etc., does not coincide with the diatribe of St. rights. John of Kronstadt "On the Old and New Ways of Salvation" (March 1903). On April 5, 1903, by a decree of K.P. Pobedonostsev RFU were closed.
According to the plan of the organizers, during the RFU under the guise of discussing burning issues of religious and civil life of the Church it was proposed to reconsider the attitude to Orthodox dogmas, to heretical teachings, to state power and marriage, and thereby overcome a certain “internal crisis” that supposedly hinders the Russian Orthodox Church fulfill the "great task of public salvation." In the first report of V.A. Ternavtsev called the Church give an answer not in word, but in deed to universal human requests. In subsequent speeches, the ideas of a religious renewal of society, "neo-Christianity", were put forward for the sake of saving Russia in its "hopeless" situation.
The results of the RFU, this meeting of the "two worlds", the participants, as a rule, evaluate negatively, noting the lack of dialogue, mutual understanding of the parties, the imminent closure of the meetings. Despite this imaginary disappointment with the results of the RFU, with t. Sp. modernists, the action was a success in its own way. Representatives of the Orthodox clergy, with the exception of St. John of Kronstadt, did not give a church-canonical assessment of the new false teachings that were voiced during the RFU.
The consequences of the RFU, as a manifestation of modernism in the Russian Church, can be traced far ahead, up to early XXI v. Literally each of the ideas voiced at the RFU: Gnostic mixing of the Church and the world, dogmatic development, immorality, "collective salvation", opposition to the foundations of Christian statehood and the public, etc. - received further development, both in the immediate period of the Renovationist split, and in subsequent years. This can be seen on the examples of the teachings of Mariology, the materials of the conference "The Sacrament of Marriage - the Sacrament of Unity" (St. Petersburg, 2008), the teachings of prof. A.I. Osipov, sectarian activity about. G. Kochetkova and others.

Quotes from speeches at the RFU:
D.S. Merezhkovsky: For us, theological science is not the last authority, not a peremptory instance. If it prevents us from going to Christ, then we recognize that it must be destroyed, not to leave stone unturned.
V.A. Ternavtsev: There is absolutely nothing to do with the dogmas preserved by the Church, either in the state, or in artistic creativity, or in the struggle for the organization of a good public life. Yes, with them one can renounce all this, but not build up... While Christianity is tragically divided into warring confessions and stands in conflict with the state and culture, we are told that everything is complete in the teaching of the Church. This is the most unfortunate mistake of our scholastic school theology.
D.V. Philosophers: In our doctors, female students, students, who went to the service of their neighbor in a famine year, there was an unconscious “religiosity”, since they were true to true love for the “earth”. But "religiosity" is not a religion. Faith in God was replaced by their faith in progress, civilization, in the categorical imperative. And now, before our eyes, the consciousness of society has grown, and the old ideals have ceased to satisfy it. Dostoevsky and Nietzsche clearly showed their futility, so as not to talk about spiritual writers. In the name of love for one's neighbor, without love for God, there can be no true work on earth. Without God, there can be no real culture that embraces the fullness of human existence... The Church, in contrast to an intelligent society, understood and consciously accepted only the first half of the commandment: “Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” And unable to accommodate the second, she began to deny it, brought her love for God, her service to Him - to hatred of the world, to contempt for culture. Historical Christianity, right up to the 20th century, focused all its attention only on the ascetic side of the teachings of Christ, on serving God, neglecting in its one-sidedness those God's peace part of which are those who work in the sweat of their faces.

Sources

1. St. John of Kronstadt. On the Old and New Ways of Salvation // Missionary Review. 1903. No. 5. SS. 690-692
2. Prot. G. Florovsky. Ways of Russian theology. Paris, 1937
3. S.M. Polovinkin. At the turn of the century (Religious and philosophical meetings in St. Petersburg in 1901-1903) // "Russia XXI". 2001. №6