An extraordinary avant-garde trend, expressionism, originates in the mid-90s of the 19th century. The founder of the Sturm magazine, H. Walden, is considered the founder of the term.
Researchers of expressionism believe that he is most clearly expressed in the literature. Although expressionism was no less colorful, it manifested itself in sculpture, graphics and painting.
New style and new world order
With changes in the social and social order of the beginning of the 20th century, a new orientation in art, theatrical life and music appeared. Expressionism in literature was not long in coming. The definition of this direction did not work out. But literary scholars explain expressionism as a large array of multidirectional courses and trends, developing within the framework of the modernist trend in Europe at the beginning of the last century.
Speaking of expressionism, they almost always mean the German current. The highest point of this trend is called the fruits of creativity of the "Prague School" (German-speaking). It included K. Chapek, P. Adler, L. Perutz, F. Kafka and others. With a large difference in the creative settings of these authors, they were associated with an interest in the situation of idiotic-ridiculous claustrophobia, mystical, mysterious hallucinogenic dreams. In Russia, this direction was developed by Andreev L. and Zamyatin E.
Many writers were inspired by romanticism or baroque. But the expressionism in literature felt especially deeply the influence of German symbolism and French (especially S. Baudelaire and A. Rimbaud). Examples from the works of any author-follower show that attention to realities of life occurs through the beginnings of philosophical being. The famous slogan of the adepts of expressionism is "Not a falling stone, but the law of gravity."
The prophetic pathos inherent in George Game became a recognizable typical feature of the beginning of expressionism as a trend. His readers in the verses "Great dying is coming ..." and "War" saw the prophetic prediction of the impending catastrophe in Europe.
The Austrian expressionist Georg Trakl, with a very small poetic heritage, had a huge impact on all German-language poetry. In the verses of Trakl there were symbolically complicated images, tragedy in connection with the collapse of the world order and deep emotional juiciness.
The dawn of expressionism came in the years 1914-1924. These were Franz Werfel, Albert Ehrenstein, Gottfried Benn and other authors, whom the colossal losses at the fronts convinced of firm pacifist convictions. This trend is particularly clearly revealed in the works of Kurt Hiller. Poetic expressionism in literature, the main features of which quickly captured dramaturgy and prose, resulted in the famous anthology of Twilight of Humanity, which appeared in the readerâs court in 1919.
New philosophy
The basic philosophical and aesthetic idea of ââthe followers of expressionists was borrowed from the âIdeal Entitiesâ - E. Husserlâs theory of knowledge , and on the recognition of intuition as ânavel of the earthâ by A. Bergson in his system of âlifeâ breakthrough. It is believed that this system is able to overcome the stagnation of philosophical matter in an unstoppable stream of evolution.
That is why expressionism in the literature manifests itself as a perception of non-fictional reality as âobjective appearanceâ.
The expression "Objective Visibility" came from the classical works of German philosophy and meant the perception of reality with cartographic accuracy. Therefore, in order to find ourselves in the world of âideal entities,â one must again contrast the spiritual with the material.
This idea is very similar to the ideological idea of ââthe Symbolists, while expressionism in literature focuses on Bergson's intuitionism, and therefore seeks the meaning of being in life and irrational. A breakthrough in life and a deep intuition at the level of intuition are declared the most important weapon in approaching spiritual cosmic reality. At the same time, expressionists claimed that the world of the material (that is, the outside world) disappears in personal ecstasy and the clue to the centuries-old âmysteryâ of life becomes insanely close.
Expressionism in the literature of the 20th century is clearly different from the currents of surrealism or cubism, which developed almost in parallel. Pathetics, moreover, socially critical, makes the difference between the works of expressionists profitable. They are full of protests against the stratification of society into social strata and wars, against the persecution of the human person by social and social institutions. Sometimes expressionist authors effectively portrayed the image of a revolutionary hero, thereby showing rebellious moods expressing a mystically terrible horror before the insurmountable mess of life.
The crisis of the world order as being in the works of expressionists expressed itself as the main link of the apocalypse, which, moving at great speed, promises to absorb both humanity and nature.
Ideological origin
Expressionism in literature highlights a request for a universal prophecy. This is what requires the isolation of style: it is necessary to teach, urge and declare. Only in this way, having got rid of pragmatic morality and stereotypes, the adherents of expressionism tried to release in every person a riot of imagination, deepen their sensitivity and strengthen their attraction to everything secret.
Maybe that's why expressionism began with the unification of a group of artists.
Cultural historians believe that the year in which expressionism was born is 1905. This year in German Dresden there was an association of like-minded people who called themselves the âBridgeâ group. Under her leadership, student architects came together: Otto MĂźller, Erich Heckel, Ernst Kirchner, Emil Nolde, and others. And by the beginning of 1911, the legendary Blue Horseman group announced itself. It included influential artists of the early twentieth century: Franz Marc, August Mack, Paul Klee, Vasily Kandinsky and others. The group published the almanac of the same name in March 1912, which talked about the latest creative samples of the new school, formulated goals and set goals for its direction.
Representatives of expressionism in literature closed on the basis of the magazine "Action" ("Action"). The first issue was published in Berlin in early 1911. It was attended by poets and not yet well-known playwrights, but already bright rebels in this direction: E. Toller, Frank L., I. Becher and others.
The traits of expressionism were most colorful in German, Austrian and Russian literature. French expressionists are represented by the poet Pierre Garnier.
Expressionist Poet
The poet of this direction got the "Orpheus" function. That is, he must be a magician who, struggling with disobedience to bone matter, comes to the inner true essence of what is happening. The main thing for the poet is the essence that appeared initially, and not the real phenomenon itself.
The poet is the highest caste, the upper class. He should not be involved in "crowd affairs." Yes, and pragmatism, and lack of principle should be completely absent from it. That is why, as the founders of expressionism believed, it is easy for a poet to achieve a universal, addictive vibration of "ideal entities."
Only the cult of a deified act of creativity, adepts of expressionism are called the only sure way to modify the world of matter to subjugate it.
It follows from this that truth stands above beauty. Secret, secret knowledge of expressionists is clothed in figures with explosive expansiveness, which is created by the mind as if in a state of intoxication or hallucinations.
Creative ecstasy
To create for an adherent of this direction is to create masterpieces in a state of intense subjectivity, which is based on a state of ecstasy, improvisation and the changeable mood of the poet.
Expressionism in literature is not observation, it is a tireless and restless imagination, it is not a contemplation of an object, but an ecstatic state of seeing images.
The German expressionist, his theorist and one of the leaders, Casimir Edschmid, believed that the real poet depicts, but does not reflect reality. Therefore, as a consequence, literary works in the style of expressionism are the result of a heart rush and an object for aesthetic delight of the soul. Expressionists do not burden themselves with concern for the refinement of the expressed form.
The ideological value of the language of artistic expression among expressionists is the distortion, and often the grotesque, which appears as a result of wild hyperbolism and a constant battle with resisting matter. Such a distortion not only deforms the external features of the world. It gives shocking and striking grotesque created images.
And here it becomes clear that the main goal of expressionism is the reconstruction of the human community and the achievement of unity with the universe.
The âExpressionist Decadeâ in German-Language Literature
In Germany, as in the rest of Europe, expressionism manifested itself after violent upheavals in the social sphere, which stirred the country in the first decade of the last century. In German culture and literature, expressionism was the brightest phenomenon from 10 to 20 of the twentieth century.
Expressionism in German literature was the response of the intelligentsia to the problems that exposed the First World War, the November Movement of Revolutionaries in Germany and the overthrow of the tsarist regime in Russia in October. The old world was collapsing, and a new one appeared on its wreckage. The writers, in the eyes of whom this transformation was taking place, acutely felt the failure of the existing order and at the same time the squalor of the new and the impracticability of any progress in the new society.
German expressionism was vivid, rebellious, anti-bourgeois. But at the same time, revealing the imperfection of the capitalist system, the expressionists revealed the proposed in exchange, completely fuzzy, abstract and ridiculous socio-political program that could revive the spirit of humanity.
Not fully understanding the ideology of the proletariat, expressionists believed in the coming end of the world order. The death of mankind and the impending catastrophe are the central themes of the works of expressionists from the beginning of the First World War. This is especially pronounced in the lyrics of G. Trakl, G. Geim and F. Werfel. J. Van Goddis responded to the events taking place in the country and the world with the verse âEnd of the Worldâ. And even satirical works show the whole drama of the situation (K. Kraus âThe Last Days of Humanityâ).
The aesthetic ideals of expressionism gathered under their wing very different authors in artistic style, tastes and political principles: from F. Wolf and I. Becher, who accepted the ideology of revolutionary restructuring of society, to G. Jost, who later became a poet in the court of the Third Reich.
Franz Kafka - a synonym for expressionism
Franz Kafka is rightly called a synonym for expressionism. His conviction that a person lives in a world that is completely hostile to him, the human being cannot overcome the opposing institutions, and therefore there is no way to achieve happiness, is the main idea of ââexpressionism in the literary environment.
The writer believes that there is no reason for the person to be optimistic and, perhaps, therefore, there is no life perspective. However, in his works Kafka sought to find something unchanging: "light" or "indestructible."
The author of the famous "Process" was called the poet of chaos. The world around him was frighteningly scary. Franz Kafka was afraid of the forces of nature that mankind already owned. His confusion and fear are easy to understand: people, having subjugated nature, could not figure out the relationship between themselves. In addition, they fought, killed each other, destroyed villages and countries and did not allow each other to be happy.
Almost 35 centuries of civilization are separated from the era of myths of the origin of the world by the author of myths of the twentieth century. Kafka's myths are filled with horror, despair and hopelessness. The fate of man does not belong to the person himself, but to some otherworldly force, and it is easily separated from the man himself.
The man, the writer believes, is a social creation (it cannot be otherwise), but it is the structure of being formed by the public that completely perverts the human essence.
Expressionism in the literature of the 20th century in the person of Kafka recognizes and recognizes the insecurity and frailty of a person from the social and social institutions that he has formed and is no longer controlled. The proof is obvious: a person suddenly falls under investigation (having no rights to defend!), Or suddenly âstrangeâ people start to take an interest in them, led by obscure, and therefore dark, ignorant forces. A person under the influence of socio-social institutions quite easily feels his disempowerment, and then the message of the remainder of existence makes unsuccessful attempts to allow him to live and be in this unjust world.
Kafka surprised with his gift of insight. This is especially pronounced in the work (published posthumously) "Process". In it, the author foresees new madness of the twentieth century, monstrous in its destructive power. One of them is the problem of bureaucracy, which is gaining strength, like a thundercloud dragging the whole sky, while the person becomes a defenseless, invisible insect. Reality, aggressively hostile, completely destroys the personality in a person, and, therefore, the world is doomed.
The spirit of expressionism in Russia
The direction in the culture of Europe, which developed in the first quarter of the twentieth century, could not but affect the literature of Russia. The authors, who worked from 1850 to the end of the 1920s, sharply responded to the bourgeois injustice and social crisis of this era, which arose as a result of the First World War and subsequent reactionary coups.
What is expressionism in the literature? Briefly - this is a rebellion. Indignation arose against the dehumanization of society. It, along with the new statement about the existential value of the human spirit, was close in spirit, traditions and customs to the native Russian literature. Her role of the messiah in society was expressed through the immortal works of N.V. Gogol and F.M. Dostoevsky through the stunning paintings of M.A. Vrubel and N.N. Ge, through enriching the whole world V.F. Komissarzhevskaya and A.N. Scriabin.
Very clearly seen in the near future there is a great opportunity for the emergence of Russian expressionism in the âDream of a funny manâ by F. Dostoevsky, âPoem of Ecstasyâ by A. Scriabin, âRed Flowerâ by V. Garshin.
Russian expressionists sought universal integrity, in their works sought to embody the "new man" with a new consciousness, thereby contributing to the unity of the entire cultural and artistic society of Russia.
Literary scholars emphasize that expressionism did not take shape as an independent, separate movement. It only manifested itself through the isolation of poetics and stylization, originating in the environment of various already established currents, which made their borders more transparent, and even conditional.
So, letâs say, expressionism, born within the framework of realism, resulted in the works of Leonid Andreyev, the works of Andrei Bely escaped from the symbolist trend, acmeists Mikhail Zenkevich and Vladimir Narbut released collections of poetic works with a vivid expressionist theme, and Vladimir Mayakovsky, also a futurist, also wrote in manner of expressionism.
Expressionism style on Russian soil
For the first time in Russian, the word âexpressionismâ âsoundedâ in Chekhovâs story âThe Jumperâ. The heroine was mistaken in using âexpressionistsâ instead of âimpressionistsâ. Researchers of Russian expressionism believe that it is closely and in every possible way combined with the expressionism of old Europe, which was formed on the basis of Austrian, but more German expressionism.
Chronologically, this trend in Russia arose much earlier and came to naught much later than the âdecade of expressionismâ in German-language literature. Expressionism in Russian literature began with the publication of Leonid Andreevâs short story âThe Wallâ in 1901, and ended with the performance of âMoscow Parnassusâ and a group of emotionalists in 1925.
Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev - rebel of Russian expressionism
The new direction, which quickly captured Europe, did not leave aside the Russian literary milieu. The founding father of expressionists in Russia is Leonid Andreev.
In his first works, the author deeply dramatically analyzes the reality surrounding him. This is very clearly seen in the early works: âGaraskaâ, âBargamotâ, âCityâ. Already here you can trace the main motives of the writer.
âThe Life of Vasily of Thebesâ and the story âThe Wallâ outline the authorâs skepticism in human reason and extreme skepticism. During his passion for faith and spiritualism, Andreev wrote the famous "Judas Iscariot."
At the beginning of the revolutionary movements, the author seriously sympathizes with the revolutionary movement, and as a result the stories âIvan Ivanovichâ, âGovernorâ and the play âTo the Starsâ appear.
After a fairly short period of time, the work of Andreev Leonid Nikolaevich makes a sharp turn. This is due to the beginning of the revolutionary movement of 1907. The writer revises his views and understands that mass riots, except for great torment and mass casualties, lead to nothing. These events are described in The Tale of the Seven Hanged Men.
The story âRed Laughterâ continues to reveal the authorâs views on events taking place in the state. The work describes the horrors of hostilities based on the events of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. Unhappy with the established world order, heroes are ready to start an anarchist rebellion, but they can save and be passive with the same ease.
The writer's later works are saturated with the concept of victory of otherworldly forces and deep depression.
Post scriptum
Formally, German expressionism as a literary movement came to naught by the mid-20s of the last century. However, he, like no other, had a significant impact on the literary traditions of the next generation.