Where acmeism originated. Acmeists. And a man countless like the stars
Acmeism is a poetic movement that began to take shape around 1910. The founders were N. Gumilyov and S. Gorodetsky, and O. Mandel'shtam, V. Narbut, M. Zenkevich, N. Otsup and some other poets who proclaimed the need for a partial rejection of some of the precepts of "traditional" symbolism were also adjacent to them. The mystical aspirations to the “unknowable” were criticized: “For the Acmeists, the rose again became good in itself, with its petals, smell and color, and not with its imaginable likenesses with mystical love or anything else” (S. Gorodetsky). Taking all the basic tenets of symbolism, which was considered a "worthy father", they demanded its reform in only one area; they were against the fact that the Symbolists directed "their main forces into the realm of the unknown" ["fraternized now with mysticism, now with theosophy, now with the occult" (Gumilev)], into the area of the unknowable. Opposing these elements of symbolism, the Acmeists pointed out that the unknowable, by the very meaning of the word, cannot be known. Hence the desire of the Acmeists to free literature from those incomprehensibility that were cultivated by the Symbolists, and to restore clarity and accessibility to it. "The main role of literature," says Gumilev, "was seriously threatened by the symbolist mystics, for they turned it into formulas for their own mysterious contacts with the unknowable."
Acmeism was even more heterogeneous than symbolism. But if the Symbolists relied on the traditions of romantic poetry, then the Acmeists were guided by the traditions of French classicism of the 18th century. The goal of the new trend is to accept the real world, tangible, visible, audible. But, rejecting the symbolist deliberate obscurity and indistinctness of the verse, enveloping the real world with a foggy veil of mystical allegories, the Acmeists did not deny the existence of the other being of the spirit, or the unknowable, but refused to write about all this, considering it "unchaste." At the same time, it was still allowed for the artist to approach the border of this "unknowable", especially where the conversation is about the psyche, the secret of feelings and confusion of the spirit.
One of the main provisions of Acmeism is the thesis of "unconditional" acceptance of the world. But the ideals of the Acmeists faced the social contradictions of Russian reality, from which they tried to get away, trying to lock themselves in aesthetic problems, for which Blok reproached them, saying that the Acmeists "do not have and do not want to have a shadow of an idea about Russian poetry and the life of the world in general."
The task of literature was Acmeism proclaimed "excellent clarity" (MA Kuzmin), or clarism (from the Latin clarus - clear). The Acmeists called their course Adamism, connecting with the biblical Adam the idea of a clear and direct view of the world. The Acmeists tried with all their might to return literature to life, to things, to man, to nature. "As Adamists, we are a little forest animals," Gumilev declares, "and in any case we will not give up what is bestial in us in exchange for neurasthenia." They began to fight, in their words, "for this world, sounding, colorful, having forms, weight and time, for our planet earth." Acmeism preached a "simple" poetic language, where words would directly name objects. In comparison with symbolism and related currents - surrealism and futurism - it is possible to single out, first of all, such features as the materiality and this-sidedness of the depicted world, in which "each depicted object is equal to itself." Acmeists from the very beginning declared a love of objectivity. Gumilev urged to look not for "shaky words", but for words "with a more stable content." Subtlety determined the predominance of nouns in verses and the insignificant role of the verb, which is completely absent in many works, especially in Anna Akhmatova's.
If the Symbolists saturated their poems with an intense musical beginning, then the Acmeists did not recognize such an endless intrinsic value of poetic and verbal melody and carefully cared about the logical clarity and substantive clarity of the verse.
The weakening of the verse melodiousness and the gravitation towards the turns of the simple spoken language are also characteristic.
The verse narratives of the acmeists are distinguished by laconicism, clarity of the lyrical plot, sharpness of completion.
The acmeists' creativity is characterized by an interest in the past literary eras: "Longing for world culture" - this is how OE Mandelstam subsequently defined acmeism. These are the motives and moods of Gumilyov's "exotic novel"; images of Old Russian writing by Dante and the psychological novel of the 19th century. from A. A. Akhmatova; antiquity in Mandelstam.
The aestheticization of the "earthly", the narrowing of the problematic (as a result of ignoring the true passions of the era, its signs and conflicts), the aestheticization of trifles did not allow the poetry of Acmeism to rise (sink) to reflect real reality, primarily social. Nevertheless, and perhaps due to the inconsistency and inconsistency of the program, the need for realism nevertheless expressed itself, predetermining the further paths of the most powerful masters of this group, that is, Gumilyov, Akhmatova and Mandelstam. Their inner realism was well felt by their contemporaries, who at the same time understood the specificity of their artistic method. Trying to find a term that replaces the full-valued word "realism" and fits the characterization of acmeism, V.M. Zhirmunsky wrote in his article "Overcome Symbolism":
“With some caution, we could speak of the ideal of the“ Hyperboreans ”as neo-realism, understanding by artistic realism the exact, little distorted by subjective mental and aesthetic experience, the transmission of separate and distinct impressions of mainly external life, as well as mental life, perceived from the external separate and distinct side; with the proviso, of course, that for young poets it is not at all necessary to strive for the naturalistic simplicity of prose speech, which seemed inevitable to former realists, that from the era of symbolism they inherited an attitude towards language as a work of art ”.
Indeed, the realism of the Acmeists was marked by clear features of novelty - above all, of course, in relation to symbolism.
There were many differences between the Acmeists, which were revealed almost from the very beginning of the emergence of this group. Few of them adhered to the proclaimed manifestos - almost all were broader and higher than the proclaimed and declared programs. Everyone went their own way, and it is difficult to imagine more dissimilar artists than, for example, Akhmatova, Gumilyov, Mandelstam, whose creative destinies took shape in internal polemics with acmeism.
On the poetic flow:
Acmeism (from the Greek akme - the highest degree of anything, flourishing, maturity, peak, edge) is one of the modernist trends in Russian poetry of the 1910s, which was formed as a reaction to the extremes of symbolism.
Overcoming the symbolists' predilection for the "super-real", polysemy and fluidity of images, complicated metaphor, Acmeists strove for a sensual plastic-material clarity of the image and accuracy, the coherence of the poetic word. Their "earthly" poetry is prone to intimacy, aestheticism and the poeticization of the feelings of the primordial man. Acmeism was characterized by extreme apoliticality, complete indifference to the pressing problems of our time.
The Acmeists, who replaced the Symbolists, did not have a detailed philosophical and aesthetic program. But if in the poetry of symbolism the decisive factor was the fleetingness, the momentaryness of being, a certain mystery covered with a halo of mysticism, then a realistic view of things was laid as the cornerstone in the poetry of Acmeism. The hazy unsteadiness and indistinctness of symbols was replaced by precise verbal images. The word, according to the Acmeists, had to acquire its original meaning.
The highest point in the hierarchy of values for them was a culture identical to universal human memory. Therefore, acmeists often refer to mythological subjects and images. If the Symbolists in their work focused on music, then the Acmeists - on spatial arts: architecture, sculpture, painting. The gravitation towards the three-dimensional world was expressed in the acmeists' fascination with objectivity: a colorful, sometimes exotic detail could be used for a purely pictorial purpose. That is, the “overcoming” of symbolism took place not so much in the field of general ideas as in the field of poetic stylistics. In this sense, Acmeism was as conceptual as Symbolism, and in this respect they are undoubtedly in a continuity.
A distinctive feature of the Acmeist circle of poets was their "organizational cohesion." In essence, the Acmeists were not so much an organized movement with a common theoretical platform, but a group of talented and very different poets who were united by personal friendship. The Symbolists had nothing of the kind: Bryusov's attempts to reunite his brothers were in vain. The same was observed among the futurists - despite the abundance of collective manifestos that they issued. The Acmeists, or - as they were also called - “Hyperboreans” (after the name of the printed mouthpiece of Acmeism, the magazine and publishing house “Hyperborey”), immediately acted as a single group. They gave their union the significant name "Poets' Workshop". And the beginning of a new trend (which later became almost a "prerequisite" for the emergence of new poetic groups in Russia) was laid by a scandal.
In the fall of 1911, a "riot" broke out in the poetry salon of Vyacheslav Ivanov, the famous "Tower", where the poetry society gathered and the reading and discussion of poetry took place. Several talented young poets defiantly left the next meeting of the Academy of Verse, outraged by the derogatory criticism of the “masters” of Symbolism. Nadezhda Mandelstam describes this incident as follows: “The 'Prodigal Son' of Gumilyov was read at the Academy of Verse, where Vyacheslav Ivanov reigned, surrounded by respectful students. He subjected the "Prodigal Son" to a real defeat. The performance was so rude and harsh that Gumilyov's friends left the Academy and organized the Workshop of Poets, as opposed to it. "
And a year later, in the fall of 1912, the six main members of the "Workshop" decided not only formally, but also ideologically to separate from the Symbolists. They organized a new community, calling themselves "Acmeists", that is, the pinnacle. At the same time, the "Workshop of Poets" as an organizational structure was preserved - the Acmeists remained in it as an internal poetic association.
The main ideas of Acmeism were outlined in the programmatic articles by N. Gumilyov "The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism" and S. Gorodetsky "Some Trends in Contemporary Russian Poetry", published in the journal Apollo (1913, no. 1), published under the editorship of S. Makovsky. The first of them said: “Symbolism is being replaced by a new direction, no matter what it is called, whether acmeism (from the word akme - the highest degree of something, a blossoming time) or adamism (courageously firm and clear view of life), in every case, requiring a greater balance of power and a more accurate knowledge of the relationship between subject and object than was the case in symbolism. However, in order for this movement to assert itself in its entirety and become a worthy successor to the previous one, it must accept its inheritance and answer all the questions it posed. The glory of the ancestors obliges, and symbolism was a worthy father. "
S. Gorodetsky believed that "symbolism ... having filled the world with" correspondences "turned it into a phantom, important only insofar as it ... shines through with other worlds, and belittled its high intrinsic value. Among the Acmeists, the rose again became good by itself, with its petals, scent and color, and not with its imaginable likenesses with mystical love or anything else. "
In 1913, Mandelstam's article "The Morning of Acmeism" was also written, which was published only six years later. The postponement in publication was not accidental: Mandelstam's acmeistic views diverged significantly from the declarations of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky and did not make it to the pages of Apollo.
However, as T. Scriabin notes, “for the first time the idea of a new direction was expressed on the pages of Apollo much earlier: in 1910 M. Kuzmin appeared in the magazine with an article“ On beautiful clarity ”, anticipating the appearance of the declarations of acmeism. By the time of this writing, Kuzmin was already a mature person, had experience of cooperation in Symbolist periodicals. To the otherworldly and hazy revelations of the Symbolists, “incomprehensible and dark in art” Kuzmin opposed “excellent clarity”, “clarism” (from the Greek clarus - clarity). The artist, according to Kuzmin, should bring clarity to the world, not muddy, but clarify the meaning of things, seek harmony with the environment. The philosophical and religious searches of the Symbolists did not captivate Kuzmin: the artist's job was to focus on the aesthetic side of creativity, artistic skill. The symbol “dark in the last depth” gives way to clear structures and admiration for “pretty little things”. ” Kuzmin's ideas could not help but influence the acmeists: “excellent clarity” was in demand by the majority of the participants in the “Workshop of Poets”.
Another "harbinger" of Acmeism can be considered Jn. Annensky, who, being formally a Symbolist, actually paid tribute to him only in the early period of his work. Later Annensky took a different path: the ideas of late symbolism practically did not affect his poetry. But the simplicity and clarity of his poems was well assimilated by the acmeists.
Three years after the publication of Kuzmin's article in Apollo, the manifestos of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky appeared - from that moment on, it is customary to count the existence of Acmeism as an established literary trend.
Acmeism has six of the most active participants in the movement: N. Gumilev, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut. G. Ivanov claimed the role of the "seventh acmeist", but this point of view was protested by A. Akhmatova, who stated that "there were six acmeists, and there never was a seventh." O. Mandelstam was in solidarity with her, who believed, however, that six was too much: “There are only six Akmeists, and among them there was one extra ...” Mandelstam explained that Gorodetsky was “attracted” by Gumilev, "Yellow-mouthed". "Gorodetsky was [by that time] a famous poet ...". At different times in the work of the "Workshop of Poets" took part: G. Adamovich, N. Bruni, Nas. Gippius, Vl. Gippius, G. Ivanov, N. Klyuev, M. Kuzmin, E. Kuzmina-Karavaeva, M. Lozinsky, V. Khlebnikov and others. a school of mastering poetic skills, a professional association.
Acmeism as a literary trend united extremely gifted poets - Gumilyov, Akhmatova, Mandelstam, the formation of creative individualities of which took place in the atmosphere of the "Workshop of Poets". The history of Acmeism can be viewed as a kind of dialogue between these three outstanding representatives of it. At the same time, the Adamism of Gorodetsky, Zenkevich and Narbut, who constituted the naturalistic wing of the current, significantly differed from the "pure" acmeism of the aforementioned poets. The difference between the Adamists and the Gumilev-Akhmatov-Mandelstam triad has been repeatedly noted in criticism.
As a literary trend, Acmeism did not last long - about two years. In February 1914, it split. The Poets' Workshop was closed. Acmeists managed to publish ten issues of their magazine "Hyperborey" (editor M. Lozinsky), as well as several almanacs.
“Symbolism was fading away” - in this Gumilev was not mistaken, but he failed to form a current as powerful as Russian symbolism. Acmeism failed to gain a foothold in the role of the leading poetic trend. The reason for such a rapid extinction is called, among other things, "the ideological inability of the direction to the conditions of the abruptly changed reality." V. Bryusov noted that “the acmeists are characterized by a gap between practice and theory”, and “their practice was purely symbolist”. It was in this that he saw the crisis of acmeism. However, Bryusov's statements about Acmeism have always been harsh; at first he said that "... acmeism is an invention, a whim, a metropolitan whim" and foreshadowed: "... most likely, in a year or two there will be no acmeism. His very name will disappear ", and in 1922 in one of his articles he generally denies him the right to be called a direction, a school, believing that there is nothing serious and original in Acmeism and that he is" outside the mainstream of literature. "
However, attempts to resume the activities of the association were subsequently made more than once. The second “Workshop of Poets”, founded in the summer of 1916, was headed by G. Ivanov together with G. Adamovich. But it did not last long either. In 1920, the third "Workshop of Poets" appeared, which was Gumilyov's last attempt to organizationally preserve the Acmeist line. Under his wing poets who consider themselves to be the school of acmeism united: S. Neldikhen, N. Otsup, N. Chukovsky, I. Odoevtseva, N. Berberova, Vs. Rozhdestvensky, N. Oleinikov, L. Lipavsky, K. Vatinov, V. Pozner and others. The third "Workshop of Poets" existed in Petrograd for about three years (in parallel with the studio "Sounding Shell") - until the tragic death of N. Gumilyov.
The creative fates of the poets, one way or another connected with acmeism, developed in different ways: N. Klyuev subsequently declared his innocence in the activities of the community; G. Ivanov and G. Adamovich continued and developed many of the principles of Acmeism in emigration; Acmeism did not have any noticeable influence on V. Khlebnikov. In Soviet times, the poetic manner of the Acmeists (mainly N. Gumilyov) was imitated by N. Tikhonov, E. Bagritsky, I. Selvinsky, M. Svetlov.
In comparison with other poetic trends of the Russian Silver Age, acmeism is seen as a marginal phenomenon in many ways. In other European literatures it has no analogues (which cannot be said, for example, about symbolism and futurism); all the more surprising seem to be the words of Blok, a literary opponent of Gumilyov, who declared that acmeism was just "an imported foreign trick". After all, it was Acmeism that turned out to be extremely fruitful for Russian literature. Akhmatova and Mandelstam managed to leave behind "eternal words". Gumilyov appears in his poems as one of the brightest personalities of the cruel time of revolutions and world wars. And today, almost a century later, interest in acmeism has been preserved mainly because the work of these outstanding poets, who had a significant impact on the fate of Russian poetry of the 20th century, is associated with it.
Basic principles of acmeism:
Liberation of poetry from symbolist appeals to the ideal, the return of clarity to it;
Rejection of mystical nebula, acceptance of the earthly world in its diversity, visible concreteness, sonority, brilliance;
The desire to give the word a definite, precise meaning;
Objectivity and clarity of images, sharpness of details;
Appeal to a person, to the "authenticity" of his feelings;
Poeticization of the world of primordial emotions, primitive biological natural principles;
A roll call with past literary eras, the broadest aesthetic associations, "longing for world culture."
Acmeism is a trend that originated in Russian poetry in 1910 as an alternative to symbolism at the time of its crisis. This was the time when “the poetic youth already clearly realized that it was not only risky to continue dancing on its symbolic rope over the abyss of the universe, but also in vain, since the spectators, who were tired of the sun and cardboard stars stuck on the black calico of the symbolic sky, began to yawn and scatter. The journal "Vesy" ceased to exist, around which the most significant representatives of this trend were grouped. The magazine "Apollo", which has appeared at the present time, gave shelter to the former "vekhovites", although it did not become their parental home. There was no unity and agreement among the representatives of this trend and in their views on the future fate of symbolism, on poetic creativity. So, V. Bryusov considered poetry only art, and V. Ivanov saw in it religious and mystical functions.
The emergence of acmeism was also due to the urgent need of the time. “Symbolism was born at a time of historical decline and spiritual wilderness. His mission was to restore the rights of the spirit, to breathe poetry back into a world that had forgotten about it. Acmeism ... appeared in Russia to face a great test in the 20th century: 1914, 1917, and for some people in 1937, ”says Nikita Struve.
On October 20, 1911, The Echo of Poets was created (not accidental and the very name, which expressed the attitude to poetry as a craft), which became the forerunner of Acmeism. The main core of the Shop was made by M. S. Gumilev, A. A. Akhmatova, O. E. Mandel'shtam, V. I. Narbut, M. A. Zenkevich. In October, the first issue of the magazine "Hyperborey" ("Wind of Wanderings") was published.
The first discussions related to the emergence of a new literary direction began shortly after the creation of the Workshop. On February 18, 1912, V. Ivanov and A. Bely delivered reports on symbolism in the editorial office of the Apollo magazine at a regular meeting of the Academy. Objections, which proclaimed isolation from symbolism, were made by their opponents - M. Gumilyov and S. Gorodetsky, who announced the creation of a literary school - acmeism.
Acme - from Greek, which means the highest degree of something, color, flowering time. Thus, acmeism meant life full of power, blossoming, apogee, higher development, acmeist - a creator, a pioneer who glorifies life in all its manifestations ... Acmeists' shield read: clarity, simplicity, confirmation of the reality of life. "
In contrast to S. Gorodetsky (see his report "Symbolism and Acmeism", 1912) M. Gumilev believed that Acmeism emerges from Symbolism and has points of contact with it. In his article, published for the first time in the journal Apollo in 1913, "The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism," M. Gumilev reveals the common features and differences between Acmeism and Symbolism. He believes that Acmeism should become a worthy heir to the direction that preceded it, perceive its heritage and answer the questions raised by it.
The defining feature of the aesthetic conception of the Acmeists was the objection to the "obligatory mysticism" of the Symbolists. "I am afraid of any mysticism," said Nikolai Stepanovich (Gumilyov), "I am afraid of impulses into other worlds, because I do not want to issue promissory notes to the reader, for which it will not be me who will pay, but some unknown force."
But in contrast to the Symbolists, the Acmeists asserted the ideals of the beautiful, which were born from the esthetization of nature itself. The highest beauty of the world was proclaimed "free nature" and the enjoyment of it. In S. Gorodetsky's atheistic manifesto "Some trends in modern Russian poetry" the "indissoluble unity of the earth and man" is promoted and an attempt is made to instill in art a new worldview - acmeism.
The Acmeists call the ideal of man the "primordial Adam" whom they wanted to see as cheerful, spontaneous and wise. Hence, Acmeists have the courage to call things by their proper names, as well as a courageous, sober view of the material, material world.
The word was proclaimed as the single artistic value of the verse, and the significance of its material side was emphasized. The main thing in a word is its "conscious content, Logos", which is not an integral part of the content of the word, but acts as its formal component. The content of the word was proclaimed by its form.
O. Mandelstam saw the main feature of the Russian language in because it is a "Hellenic" language. The Russian language does not need someone else's symbolism, since the language itself is already symbolic in its essence and gives the poet images.
In deliberate symbolization, the Acmeists saw the cause of the death of the real dynamic nature of language. Therefore, they strove for the semantics of simplicity and clarity, the "purity" of the vocabulary. When the Symbolists reduced the symbol of the basic artistic principle, the Acmeists used it as one of the tropes. "We do not agree to sacrifice to him other ways of poetic influence and are looking for their complete coherence." Striving for simplicity and clarity, a sense of the material world, acmeists resorted to detailed sketching of things and objects, and the principle of detailing became for them a canonized artistic device. They revived the architectural harmony and completeness of the composition of the verse. "The spirit of construction, architectural design is the recognition of the suitability of things, reality as such (without correlation with another reality), this is the recognition of the three-dimensional dimension of the world not as a prison, not as a burden, but as the God of the given palace."
The material for the construction, the supporting elements of the composition were the word, color, light, color, space, line, which contributed to the picturesque, decorative style (G. Ivanov, G. Adamovich, V. Junger), plastic, gesture were used (M. Gumilev, O. Mandelstam).
Therefore, in order to seek and find peace in oneself, to live in peace with oneself and the world, to write logically, to be understandable in the expression, to love the word, to be a master architect, to contain chaos in a clear form, one more principle of acmeistic poetics, the principle of claricism ( excellent clarity), developed by G. Kuzmin.
The main literary genus of Acmeists is constant lyrics. Lyric miniatures, sketches from nature, and sketches were created. An attempt is made to revive the classical forms of ancient Greek poetry. Adamovich, Verkhovensky, Capital, Kuzmin restore in their work bucolistic genres of idylls, pastorals, eclogs.
The poetry of Acmeism was marked by a heightened inclination towards cultural associations, it entered into a roll call with past literary eras. "Longing for world culture" - this is how O. Mandelstam later defined acmeism. “Each direction feels in love with one or another of the creators of the era. And it is no coincidence that Shakespeare, who showed the “inner world of man,” Rabelais, who glorified “the body and its joys, wise physiology,” Willon, who “told ... about life,” and Théophile Gaultier, who found for this life "in art, clothes worthy of impeccable forms." To combine these four moments in oneself is the dream that unites people who so boldly called themselves Acmeists.
summaries of other presentations"Poets of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry" - The Silver Age of Russian poetry. Russian "Silver Age". The fundamental question. Symbol. Poets are futurists. A slap in the face for public taste. Alone among the hostile host. Conscious meaning of the word. Representatives of symbolism. Acmeist poets.
"Poems of the Silver Age Poets" - Gippius Zinaida Nikolaevna. The gray-eyed king. Name the poets of the Silver Age. The sophistication of Russian slow speech. Gumilev Nikolay Stepanovich. Analyze the poem "Giraffe". Strings. Annensky Innokenty Fedorovich. Balmont Konstantin Dmitrievich. Symbolism. Futurism. Pasternak Boris Leonidovich. Dictionary. Poem. Akhmatova. The path of the conquistadors. Poems by Z. Gippius. Akhmatova and Gumilyov.
"Themes of the poetry of the Silver Age" - Symbolism in the world. Paul Gauguin. And I dedicate a verse to all the gods. Contemporaries about the era. Romantic flowers. Key categories of acmeism. Philosophical basis of symbolism. The tasks of the futurists. A look at the world. Musical and compositional techniques. The rhythm of Bryusov's verse. The origin of modernism. Collections of poems by N.S. Gumilyov. The founder of Russian symbolism. Poetics of Gumilyov's Late Lyrics. Futurism in poetry.
"Directions of Poetry of the Silver Age" - Features of Symbolism. Features of acmeism. The main directions of the Silver Age. V.V. Mayakovsky. Symbolism. Aesthetics of Acmeism. The Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Symbolist poets. Aesthetics of futurism. The aesthetics of symbolism. Way of thinking. Groups of futurists. The emergence of symbolism. The emergence of acmeism. The concept of the "Silver Age". Acneism. Futurism. Speeches by futurists. Poets-futurists. Acmeism.
"Anthology of Poetry of the Silver Age" - Peasant poetry. Alexander Blok. Imagists. Vladimir Mayakovsky. Basic principles of acmeism. Acmeists. Vladislav Khodasevich. Prisoner. Innokenty Annensky. Symbolist poets. Daniil Kharms. Harbingers. Shershenevich Vadim. Igor Severyanin. Centrifuge. Sergey Yesenin. Oberiu. Konstantin Konstantinovich Sluchevsky. Futurists. Symbolists. Nikolay Gumilyov. Osip Mandelstam. Foliage.
"Poetry of the Silver Age" - Relationship to the word. Relationship to previous cultures. Futurism. Symbolism. Decades have passed. Existentialism. The Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Silver Age. Electronic educational resources. Features of literary trends. Acmeism. Modernism. The purpose of the modernist poets. Figurative expression. Alexander Blok.
Acmeism (from the Greek akme - the highest degree of anything, flourishing, maturity, peak, edge) is one of the modernist trends in Russian poetry of the 1910s, which was formed as a reaction to the extremes of symbolism.
Overcoming the symbolists' predilection for the "super-real", polysemy and fluidity of images, complicated metaphor, Acmeists strove for a sensual plastic-material clarity of the image and accuracy, the coherence of the poetic word. Their "earthly" poetry is prone to intimacy, aestheticism and the poeticization of the feelings of the primordial man. Acmeism was characterized by extreme apoliticality, complete indifference to the pressing problems of our time.
The Acmeists, who replaced the Symbolists, did not have a detailed philosophical and aesthetic program. But if in the poetry of symbolism the decisive factor was the fleetingness, the momentaryness of being, a certain mystery covered with a halo of mysticism, then a realistic view of things was laid as the cornerstone in the poetry of Acmeism. The hazy unsteadiness and indistinctness of symbols was replaced by precise verbal images. The word, according to the Acmeists, had to acquire its original meaning.
The highest point in the hierarchy of values for them was a culture identical to universal human memory. Therefore, acmeists often refer to mythological subjects and images. If the Symbolists in their work focused on music, then the Acmeists - on spatial arts: architecture, sculpture, painting. The gravitation towards the three-dimensional world was expressed in the acmeists' fascination with objectivity: a colorful, sometimes exotic detail could be used for a purely pictorial purpose. That is, the “overcoming” of symbolism took place not so much in the field of general ideas as in the field of poetic stylistics. In this sense, Acmeism was as conceptual as Symbolism, and in this respect they are undoubtedly in a continuity.
A distinctive feature of the Acmeist circle of poets was their "organizational cohesion." In essence, the Acmeists were not so much an organized movement with a common theoretical platform, but a group of talented and very different poets who were united by personal friendship. The Symbolists had nothing of the kind: Bryusov's attempts to reunite his brothers were in vain. The same was observed among the futurists - despite the abundance of collective manifestos that they issued. The Acmeists, or - as they were also called - “Hyperboreans” (after the name of the printed mouthpiece of Acmeism, the magazine and publishing house “Hyperborey”), immediately acted as a single group. They gave their union the significant name "Poets' Workshop". And the beginning of a new trend (which later became almost a "prerequisite" for the emergence of new poetic groups in Russia) was laid by a scandal.
In the fall of 1911, a "riot" broke out in the poetry salon of Vyacheslav Ivanov, the famous "Tower", where the poetry society gathered and the reading and discussion of poetry took place. Several talented young poets defiantly left the next meeting of the Academy of Verse, outraged by the derogatory criticism of the “masters” of Symbolism. Nadezhda Mandelstam describes this incident as follows: “The 'Prodigal Son' of Gumilyov was read at the Academy of Verse, where Vyacheslav Ivanov reigned, surrounded by respectful students. He subjected the "Prodigal Son" to a real defeat. The performance was so rude and harsh that Gumilyov's friends left the Academy and organized the Workshop of Poets, as opposed to it. "
And a year later, in the fall of 1912, the six main members of the "Workshop" decided not only formally, but also ideologically to separate from the Symbolists. They organized a new community, calling themselves "Acmeists", that is, the pinnacle. At the same time, the "Workshop of Poets" as an organizational structure was preserved - the Acmeists remained in it as an internal poetic association.
The main ideas of Acmeism were outlined in the programmatic articles by N. Gumilyov "The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism" and S. Gorodetsky "Some Trends in Contemporary Russian Poetry", published in the journal Apollo (1913, no. 1), published under the editorship of S. Makovsky. The first of them said: “Symbolism is being replaced by a new direction, no matter what it is called, whether acmeism (from the word akme - the highest degree of something, a blossoming time) or adamism (courageously firm and clear view of life), in every case, requiring a greater balance of power and a more accurate knowledge of the relationship between subject and object than was the case in symbolism. However, in order for this movement to assert itself in its entirety and become a worthy successor to the previous one, it must accept its inheritance and answer all the questions it posed. The glory of the ancestors obliges, and symbolism was a worthy father. "
S. Gorodetsky believed that "symbolism ... having filled the world with" correspondences "turned it into a phantom, important only insofar as it ... shines through with other worlds, and belittled its high intrinsic value. Among the Acmeists, the rose again became good by itself, with its petals, scent and color, and not with its imaginable likenesses with mystical love or anything else. "
In 1913, Mandelstam's article "The Morning of Acmeism" was also written, which was published only six years later. The postponement in publication was not accidental: Mandelstam's acmeistic views diverged significantly from the declarations of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky and did not make it to the pages of Apollo.
However, as T. Scriabin notes, “for the first time the idea of a new direction was expressed on the pages of Apollo much earlier: in 1910 M. Kuzmin appeared in the magazine with an article“ On beautiful clarity ”, anticipating the appearance of the declarations of acmeism. By the time of this writing, Kuzmin was already a mature person, had experience of cooperation in Symbolist periodicals. To the otherworldly and hazy revelations of the Symbolists, “incomprehensible and dark in art” Kuzmin opposed “excellent clarity”, “clarism” (from the Greek clarus - clarity). The artist, according to Kuzmin, should bring clarity to the world, not muddy, but clarify the meaning of things, seek harmony with the environment. The philosophical and religious searches of the Symbolists did not captivate Kuzmin: the artist's job was to focus on the aesthetic side of creativity, artistic skill. The symbol “dark in the last depth” gives way to clear structures and admiration for “pretty little things”. ” Kuzmin's ideas could not help but influence the acmeists: “excellent clarity” was in demand by the majority of the participants in the “Workshop of Poets”.
Another "harbinger" of Acmeism can be considered Jn. Annensky, who, being formally a Symbolist, actually paid tribute to him only in the early period of his work. Later Annensky took a different path: the ideas of late symbolism practically did not affect his poetry. But the simplicity and clarity of his poems was well assimilated by the acmeists.
Three years after the publication of Kuzmin's article in Apollo, the manifestos of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky appeared - from that moment on, it is customary to count the existence of Acmeism as an established literary trend.
Acmeism has six of the most active participants in the movement: N. Gumilev, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut. G. Ivanov claimed the role of the "seventh acmeist", but this point of view was protested by A. Akhmatova, who stated that "there were six acmeists, and there never was a seventh." O. Mandelstam was in solidarity with her, who believed, however, that six was too much: “There are only six Akmeists, and among them there was one extra ...” Mandelstam explained that Gorodetsky was “attracted” by Gumilev, "Yellow-mouthed". "Gorodetsky was [by that time] a famous poet ...". At different times in the work of the "Workshop of Poets" took part: G. Adamovich, N. Bruni, Nas. Gippius, Vl. Gippius, G. Ivanov, N. Klyuev, M. Kuzmin, E. Kuzmina-Karavaeva, M. Lozinsky, V. Khlebnikov and others. a school of mastering poetic skills, a professional association.
Acmeism as a literary trend united extremely gifted poets - Gumilyov, Akhmatova, Mandelstam, the formation of creative individualities of which took place in the atmosphere of the "Workshop of Poets". The history of Acmeism can be viewed as a kind of dialogue between these three outstanding representatives of it. At the same time, the Adamism of Gorodetsky, Zenkevich and Narbut, who constituted the naturalistic wing of the current, significantly differed from the "pure" acmeism of the aforementioned poets. The difference between the Adamists and the Gumilev-Akhmatov-Mandelstam triad has been repeatedly noted in criticism.
As a literary trend, Acmeism did not last long - about two years. In February 1914, it split. The Poets' Workshop was closed. Acmeists managed to publish ten issues of their magazine "Hyperborey" (editor M. Lozinsky), as well as several almanacs.
“Symbolism was fading away” - in this Gumilev was not mistaken, but he failed to form a current as powerful as Russian symbolism. Acmeism failed to gain a foothold in the role of the leading poetic trend. The reason for such a rapid extinction is called, among other things, "the ideological inability of the direction to the conditions of the abruptly changed reality." V. Bryusov noted that “the acmeists are characterized by a gap between practice and theory”, and “their practice was purely symbolist”. It was in this that he saw the crisis of acmeism. However, Bryusov's statements about Acmeism have always been harsh; at first he said that "... acmeism is an invention, a whim, a metropolitan whim" and foreshadowed: "... most likely, in a year or two there will be no acmeism. His very name will disappear ", and in 1922 in one of his articles he generally denies him the right to be called a direction, a school, believing that there is nothing serious and original in Acmeism and that he is" outside the mainstream of literature. "
However, attempts to resume the activities of the association were subsequently made more than once. The second “Workshop of Poets”, founded in the summer of 1916, was headed by G. Ivanov together with G. Adamovich. But it did not last long either. In 1920, the third "Workshop of Poets" appeared, which was Gumilyov's last attempt to organizationally preserve the Acmeist line. Under his wing poets who consider themselves to be the school of acmeism united: S. Neldikhen, N. Otsup, N. Chukovsky, I. Odoevtseva, N. Berberova, Vs. Rozhdestvensky, N. Oleinikov, L. Lipavsky, K. Vatinov, V. Pozner and others. The third "Workshop of Poets" existed in Petrograd for about three years (in parallel with the studio "Sounding Shell") - until the tragic death of N. Gumilyov.
The creative fates of the poets, one way or another connected with acmeism, developed in different ways: N. Klyuev subsequently declared his innocence in the activities of the community; G. Ivanov and G. Adamovich continued and developed many of the principles of Acmeism in emigration; Acmeism did not have any noticeable influence on V. Khlebnikov. In Soviet times, the poetic manner of the Acmeists (mainly N. Gumilyov) was imitated by N. Tikhonov, E. Bagritsky, I. Selvinsky, M. Svetlov.
In comparison with other poetic trends of the Russian Silver Age, acmeism is seen as a marginal phenomenon in many ways. In other European literatures it has no analogues (which cannot be said, for example, about symbolism and futurism); all the more surprising seem to be the words of Blok, a literary opponent of Gumilyov, who declared that acmeism was just "an imported foreign trick". After all, it was Acmeism that turned out to be extremely fruitful for Russian literature. Akhmatova and Mandelstam managed to leave behind "eternal words". Gumilyov appears in his poems as one of the brightest personalities of the cruel time of revolutions and world wars. And today, almost a century later, interest in acmeism has been preserved mainly because the work of these outstanding poets, who had a significant impact on the fate of Russian poetry of the 20th century, is associated with it.
Basic principles of acmeism:
Liberation of poetry from symbolist appeals to the ideal, the return of clarity to it;
Rejection of mystical nebula, acceptance of the earthly world in its diversity, visible concreteness, sonority, brilliance;
The desire to give the word a definite, precise meaning;
Objectivity and clarity of images, sharpness of details;
Appeal to a person, to the "authenticity" of his feelings;
Poeticization of the world of primordial emotions, primitive biological natural principles;
A roll call with past literary eras, the broadest aesthetic associations, "longing for world culture."
The name of the literary modernist movement in Russian poetry at the beginning of the 20th century, acmeisim, comes from the Greek word “akme”, translated into Russian, meaning the heyday, peak or peak of something (according to other versions, the term comes from the Greek roots of Akhmatova’s pseudonym “akmatus”).
This literary school was created in opposition to symbolism, as a response to its extremes and excesses. The Acmeists advocated the return of clarity and materiality to the poetic word, and for the refusal to fill the mysterious fog of mysticism when describing reality (as was customary in symbolism). Adepts of Acmeism advocated the accuracy of the word, the objectivity of themes and images, the acceptance of the surrounding world in all its diversity, color, sonority and tangible concreteness.
The founders of Acmeism are considered to be such Russian poets of the Silver Age of Russian poetry as Nikolai Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova and Sergei Gorodetsky, later they were joined by O. Mandelstam, V. Narbut, M. Zenkevich.
In 1912, they founded their own school of professional skill, "The Workshop of Poets," acmeism ”, its main features are described. These articles, which are a kind of program of the Acmeist movement, proclaimed its main humanistic idea - the revival of a new thirst for life in people, the return of a sense of its brilliance and brightness. The first works of poets-acmeists were published in the third issue of the journal Apollo (1913) after the publication of articles-manifestos. During 1913-1919. published their own magazine of acmeists "Hyperboreans" (therefore they were also often called "Hyperboreans").
Unlike symbolism, which, according to many literary researchers, has undeniable similarities with musical art (like music, it is also mysterious, polysemantic, can have a large number of interpretations), such spatial three-dimensional trends in art as architecture, sculpture or painting.
The poems of the Acmeist poets are distinguished not only by their amazing beauty, but also by their accuracy, folding, extremely simple meaning, understandable for any reader. The words used in the works of Acmeists are intended to convey exactly the meaning that was originally laid in them, there are no various exaggerations or comparisons, metaphors and hyperboles are practically not used. Aggressiveness was alien to the Acmeist poets, they were not interested in political and social topics, great importance is attached to the highest human values, the spiritual world of man is put forward in the first place. Their poems are very easy to understand, auditory perception and memorization, because complex things in their talented description become simple and understandable for each of us.
Representatives of this literary movement were united not only by a single passion for the new school of poetry, in life they were also friends and like-minded people, their organization was distinguished by great cohesion and unity of views, although they did not have a certain literary platform and standards on which they could rely when writing their works. The poems of each of them, differing in structure, character, mood and other creative features, were extremely specific, accessible to the understanding of readers, as the school of acmeism demanded, and did not raise additional questions after reading them.
Despite the friendship and solidarity between the Acmeist poets, the limited scope of this literary movement for such genius poets as Gumilyov, Akhmatova or Mandelstam soon became cramped. After the disagreement between Gumilyov and Gorodetsky in February 1914, the school of professional skill "Poets' workshop" after two years of its existence, issued 10 issues of the magazine "Hyperborey" and several poetry collections fell apart. Although the poets of this organization did not cease to attribute themselves to this literary movement and were published in literary magazines and newspapers, in which the publishers called them acmeists. Young poets Georgy Ivanov, Georgy Adamovich, Nikolai Otsup, Irina Odoevtseva called themselves the successors of Gumilyov's ideas.
A unique feature of such a literary trend as Acmeism is that it originated and developed exclusively on the territory of Russia, having a tremendous impact on the further development of Russian poetry in the early twentieth century. Literary researchers call the invaluable merit of acmeist poets for the invention of a special, subtle way of conveying the spiritual world of lyric characters that can be betrayed with the help of one single movement, gesture, a way of listing any things or important trifles that cause many associations to appear in the imagination of readers. This ingeniously simple kind of "materialization" of the feelings and experiences of the main lyrical hero has a tremendous power of influence and becomes understandable and accessible to every reader.
The name "acmeism" comes from the Greek. “Acme” - a point, a top.
The theoretical basis is N. Gumilyov's article "The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism." Acmeists: N. Gumilev, A. Akhmatova, S. Gorodetsky, M. Kuzmin.
AKMEISM is a modernist movement that declared a concrete-sensory perception of the external world, the return to a word of its original, non-symbolic meaning.
At the beginning of their career, young poets, future acmeists, were close to symbolism, they attended “Ivanovo Wednesday” - literary meetings at Vyach.Ivanov’s St. Petersburg apartment, which was named “tower”. In the "tower" classes were conducted with young poets, where they studied versification. In October 1911, the students of this “poetry academy” founded a new literary association “Poets' Workshop”. The "shop" was a school of professional skill, and the young poets N. Gumilyov and S. Gorodetsky became its leaders. They, in January 1913, published the declarations of the Acmeist group in the Apollo magazine.
The new literary movement, which rallied the great Russian poets, did not last long. The creative searches of Gumilev, Akhmatova, Mandelstam went beyond the framework of acmeism. But the humanistic meaning of this trend was significant - to revive a person's thirst for life, to return the feeling of its beauty. It also included A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut and others.
Acmeists are interested in the real, not the other world, the beauty of life in its concrete - sensual manifestations. Nebulae and hints of symbolism were contrasted with a major perception of reality, the reliability of the image, the clarity of the composition. In some ways, the poetry of Acmeism is the revival of the “golden age,” the time of Pushkin and Baratynsky.
The highest point in the hierarchy of values for them was a culture identical to universal human memory. Therefore, acmeists often refer to mythological subjects and images. If the Symbolists in their work focused on music, then the Acmeists - on spatial arts: architecture, sculpture, painting. The gravitation towards the three-dimensional world was expressed in the acmeists' fascination with objectivity: a colorful, sometimes exotic detail could be used for a purely pictorial purpose.
Aesthetics of Acmeism:
- the world should be perceived in its visible concreteness, appreciate its realities, and not get off the ground;
- you need to revive love for your body, the biological principle in a person, to appreciate a person, nature;
- the source of poetic values is on earth, and not in the unreal world;
- in poetry 4 principles should be merged together:
1) Shakespeare's traditions in depicting the inner world of a person;
2) the tradition of Rabelais in the chanting of the body;
3) Villon's tradition of singing the joys of life;
4) the tradition of Gaultier in praising the power of art.
Basic principles of acmeism:
- the liberation of poetry from symbolist appeals to the ideal, the return of clarity to it;
- rejection of mystical nebula, acceptance of the earthly world in its diversity, visible concreteness, sonority, brilliance;
- the desire to give the word a definite, precise meaning;
- objectivity and clarity of images, perfection of details;
- appeal to a person, to the "authenticity" of his feelings;
- poeticization of the world of primordial emotions, primitive biological natural principle;
- a roll call with past literary eras, the broadest aesthetic associations, "longing for world culture."
Distinctive features of acmeism:
- hedonism (enjoyment of life), adamism (animal essence), clarism (simplicity and clarity of language);
- lyrical plot and depiction of the psychology of experience;
- colloquial elements of the language, dialogues, narration.
