Baroque is an art movement that was developed at the beginning of the 17th century. Translated from Italian, the term means "bizarre", "strange." This direction has affected various types of art and, above all, architecture. And what are the characteristics of baroque literature?
A bit of history
The leading position in the social and political life of Europe in the seventeenth century was occupied by the church. Evidence of this - outstanding monuments of architecture. Strengthening church authority was necessary with the help of artistic images. Something bright, pretentious, even somewhat intrusive, was required. So a new art direction was born, the birthplace of which was the then cultural center of Europe - Italy.
This direction began its development in painting and architecture, but later embraced other forms of art. Writers and poets did not stand aside from new trends in culture. A new direction arose - Baroque literature (emphasis on the second syllable).
Baroque works were designed to glorify power and the church. In many countries, this trend was developed as a kind of court art. However, later baroque varieties were identified. Specific features of this style also appeared. The most active development of baroque was in the Catholic countries.
Main features
The aspirations of the Catholic Church to strengthen its power were in the best possible correspondence with art, the characteristic features of which were grace, pomp, sometimes exaggerated expressiveness. In literature, this is pathetics, attention to sensuality and, oddly enough, the bodily principle. A distinctive feature of Baroque art is the combination of the sublime and the earthly.
Varieties
Baroque literature is a collection of works of art that can be contrasted with classic ones. Moliere, Racine and Cornell created their creations in accordance with strict standards. In the works that were written by representatives of such a trend as baroque literature, there are metaphors, symbols, antitheses, gradation. They are inherent in the illusory nature of the use of various means of expression.
Baroque literature was subsequently divided into several varieties:
- marinism;
- gongorism;
- Conceptism
- euphuism.
Trying to understand the features of each of these areas is not worth it. It should be said a few words about what are the stylistic features of Baroque literature, who are its main representatives.
Baroque aesthetics
In the Renaissance, the idea of humanism began to appear in literature. The dark medieval worldview has been replaced by an awareness of the value of the human person. In the era of Enlightenment , scientific, philosophical and social thought was actively developing. But before there was such a direction as Baroque literature. What is it? We can say that Baroque literature is a kind of transitional link. She replaced the Renaissance poetics, but did not become her denial.
At the heart of Baroque aesthetics is the clash of two opposing views. The works of this artistic direction fancifully combine faith in human capabilities and a belief in the omnipotence of the natural world. They reflect both ideological and sensory needs. What is the main theme in the creations created as part of the Baroque Literature? The writers did not give preference to a certain point of view regarding the place of man in society and the world. Their ideas ranged between hedonism and asceticism, earth and heaven, God and the devil. Another characteristic feature of Baroque literature is the return of ancient motifs.
Baroque literature, examples of which can be found not only in Italian, but also in Spanish, French, Polish and Russian cultures, is based on the principle of combining incongruous. The authors combined various genres in their work. The main task was to surprise them, to stun the reader. Strange pictures, unusual scenes, a heap of various images, a combination of secularism and religiosity - all these are the features of Baroque literature.
Worldview
The Baroque era does not abandon the humanistic ideas inherent in the Renaissance. But these ideas get some tragic connotation. The man of the Baroque era is full of conflicting thoughts. He is ready to fight with his passions and forces of the social environment.
An important idea of a baroque worldview is also a combination of the real and the fictional, ideal and earthly. Authors who created their works in this style often found a tendency to disharmony, grotesque, exaggeration.
An external feature of Baroque art is a special understanding of beauty. The pretentiousness of forms, splendor, splendor are characteristic features of this direction.
Heroes
A typical character of Baroque works is a person with a strong will, nobility, and the ability to think rationally. For example, the heroes of Calderon - the Spanish playwright, one of the most prominent representatives of Baroque literature - are seized with a thirst for knowledge, a desire for justice.
Europe
Representatives of Italian Baroque literature are Jacopo Sannadzoro, Tebeldeo, Tasso, and Guarini. In the works of these authors there is pretentiousness, ornamentalism, verbal play and a tendency to mythological subjects.
The main representative of Spanish Baroque literature is Luis de Gongora, by whose name one of the varieties of this art movement is named.
Other representatives are Balthasar Gracian, Alonso de Ledesmo, Frnisko de Quevedo. It should be said that, having originated in Italy, the Baroque aesthetics in the future was actively developed precisely in Spain. Features of this literary trend are present in prose. It is enough to recall the famous “Don Quixote”. The hero of Cervantes resides partly in a fantasy world. The misfortunes of the Knight of the Sad Image resemble the journey of a Homeric character. But in the book of the Spanish writer there is grotesque and comic.
Baroque literature monument is the "Simplicissimus" of Grimelshausen. This novel, which contemporaries may seem rather eccentric and not devoid of comic, reflects the tragic events in the history of Germany, namely the Thirty Years War. The plot focuses on a simple young man who is on an endless journey and experiencing both woeful and funny adventures.
In France during this period, mainly “precision literature” was popular.
In Poland, Baroque literature is represented by such names as Zbigniew Morsztyn, Vespasian Kokowski, Vaclav Potocki.
Russia
S. Polotsky and F. Prokopovich - representatives of baroque Russian literature. This direction has become, in a sense, official. Baroque literature in Russia found its expression primarily in court poetry, but it developed somewhat differently than in Western European countries. The fact is that, as you know, baroque replaced the renaissance, which almost did not know in Russia. The literary direction referred to in this article had little difference from the artistic direction inherent in Renaissance culture.
Simeon of Polotsk
This poet sought to reproduce various concepts and ideas in his poems. Polotsky made poetry logical and even brought it a little closer to science. Collections of his creations resemble encyclopedic dictionaries. His works are mainly devoted to various social issues.
What poetic works does the modern reader perceive? Of course, later. What is nicer to Russian people - Baroque literature or the Silver Age? Most likely the second. Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Gumilyov ... The creations that Polotsky created could hardly give pleasure to the current poetry lover. This author has written a number of poems of a moralizing character. It is rather difficult to perceive them today due to the abundance of outdated grammatical forms and archaisms. “A man is a certain Vinopian better” is a phrase, a meaning that not every contemporary of ours will understand.
Baroque literature, like other forms of art in this style, tuned for freedom of choice of means of expression. The works were distinguished by the complexity of forms. And in them, as a rule, there was pessimism caused by the belief in a person's powerlessness against external forces. At the same time, awareness of the temporality of the world was combined with a desire to overcome the crisis. With the help of literary works , an attempt was made to cognize a higher mind, to comprehend a person’s place in the vastness of the universe.
The Baroque style was the product of political and social upheaval. It is sometimes perceived as an attempt to restore the medieval worldview. However, this style occupies an important place in the history of literature, and above all because it became the main one for the development of later trends.