What does the concept of “artistic method” mean in literature? What are its distinguishing characteristics? What method have your favorite writers or have they been following? Want to distinguish symbolism from acmeism? This article is for you! It sets out the base that will help you feel confident in a vast literary space.
What is an artistic method?
This is one of the most important concepts in art. It means a set of general assessments, visions of the world and the perception of certain things by writers. Thus, various directions in the literature arose. The nature of the vision of the surrounding reality depends on what method the creator adheres to.
Adherents of a certain artistic (creative) method are united by the idea of ideals, human life, good and evil, and about art as a whole. They aim at different target audiences, therefore the existence of many literary methods is extremely important, as they satisfy the spiritual needs of people with different mindsets.
Distinctive features
The main feature of the artistic method is the diversity of its forms. In the literature there are a huge number of directions and their "mixtures", with the help of which we can take a different look at the subject and phenomenon. Classicism, romanticism, realism, sentimentalism, naturalism, modernism, symbolism, acmeism, futurism, impressionism, expressionism, existentialism, postmodernism are the main directions that have their own individual strength and character.
What kind of art methods in literature exist?
Each writer certainly has his own individual style of expression of thought, unlike anyone, but he is intertwined with one specific direction, which is close to him.
We pass from general to particular and understand the basic artistic methods in literature, starting from the 17th century and ending with the end of the 20th.
Classical directions of the XVII - XVIII centuries
Classicism is the first literary movement that arose in the 17th century. It is characterized by educational morality, simplicity of presentation, a clear division into positive and negative heroes, “three unities” - place, time and action. Such famous writers as J. Racin, M. Lomonosov, G. Derzhavin worked in this direction. You can find the main features of classicism in "Ode for the capture of Khotin."
In the next literary direction - sentimentalism - in the 18th century, J. Russo, I. Goethe, N. Karamzin wrote. In this direction, it is important to depict the state of the character’s inner world, his mental torment and sincere emotions. You can get acquainted with this direction closer by reading “Poor Lisa”.
Romanticism appeared at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. Love, feelings, desires, suffering, escape from oppressive reality - all this is incredibly beautifully described in their works by D. Byron, V. Hugo, M. Lermontov. "Demon" is a vivid work that will give you a complete picture of this direction.
Ordinary XIX century
Realism, which arose in the 19th century, describes a typical hero in a situation typical of an average person through colloquial vocabulary. C. Dickens, O. de Balzac, L. Tolstoy, F. Dostoevsky, A. Chekhov, I. Turgenev subtly felt this direction. “Fathers and Sons” is a revealing novel that, without falsehood and pretense, will tell about the difference between generations and their perception, this is the essence of realism.
Naturalism is an artistic method that emerged at the end of the 19th century. This direction is distinguished by an accurate and objective image of fate, life, everyday life, and the nature of a person. Representatives of this direction, such as M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, N. Nekrasov, believed that there are no unworthy topics for presentation, even typical human experiences are real art. "To whom it is good to live in Russia" - a poem about the realities of peasant life and a difficult fate - an indisputable representative of naturalism.
Catchy and unusual methods of expressing thoughts of the XIX - early XX centuries
Modernism is the general name for such movements as symbolism, impressionism, acmeism, futurism, expressionism. To have an idea of modernism, we characterize all of the above areas.
- Symbolism arose in the 1870s, it differs from other directions in figurative vision, the secret meaning of objects and phenomena, the use of words with multiple meanings. For example, Z. Hippus, V. Bryusov, K. Balmont, A. Blok wrote in this interesting and unusual direction. "Pharmacy, street, lantern" - a poem that is worth reading or refreshing in memory in order to understand the essence of symbolism.
- Acmeism is an artistic method that only our compatriots followed, for example, O. Mandelstam, A. Akhmatova, N. Gumilev. There is no ambiguity in this direction, words have an exact meaning, and images are clearly seen; using the power of the word of art, writers reinterpreted life processes in which there are flaws. "Gray-eyed king" - you must immerse yourself in this poem in order to understand the logic of poets in this direction.
- Futurism is the direction in which Russian and Italian creators worked. This catchy trend appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. Outrageous, bold decisions and non-standard construction of a poem, for example with a ladder, as in the bright representative of this direction V. Mayakovsky. In addition to him, I. Severyanin, V. Khlebnikov, D. Burliuk created and broke the idea of classical art in this direction. "And could you?" - extravagant, unusual, inspirational, absolutely futuristic poem.
- Impressionism in literature appeared at the end of the 19th century, writers in this direction described in detail the feelings, feelings and emotions, turned the moments of life into art. The brightest representatives of this trend can be considered G. de Maupassant, M. Proust. “Dear friend” is an emotional and light work, having read which, you will certainly become a fan of impressionism.
- At the beginning of the 20th century, gloomy expressionism spread in Germany. The main topics of this direction are death, destruction, loss, ugliness of the surrounding reality. F. Kafka and E. Zamyatin were most clearly able to convey the essence of this trend. “We” is the strongest dystopia of our compatriot, which does not give rise to a feeling of depression, but fully reveals all the above themes of expressionism.
Modern views on literature from the middle of the 20th century
Existentialism, which appeared in France in the middle of the 20th century, is based on the ideas of loneliness and the tragedy of being, the insignificance of human ideals. J.P. Sartre, A. Camus were able to most confidently and clearly state this on paper. “The Fall” is a book in which you will not find sharp turns in the plot, but subtle and intelligent dialogs will fall in love with existentialism.
The most modern direction - postmodernism - appeared in the second half of the 20th century; it is distinguished by maximalism of execution, irony and a satirical attitude to what is happening. H. Murakami, V. Nabokov, K. Vonnegut saw the world through a satirical prism. The work "Slaughter number 5" is written in the best traditions of postmodernism, it will immerse you in deep thoughts about the value of life and views on it.
The value of literary movements for modern man
The power of a word can make a person look at certain things differently. Reading the works of writers who adhere to different artistic methods will make you a multifaceted person who can critically and from different angles look at any situation.