Artistic method: description and features

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

What does the term "artistic method" mean in literature? What are its distinguishing characteristics? What method have your favorite writers followed or follow? Do you want to distinguish symbolism from acmeism? This article is for you! It sets out the foundation that will help you feel confident in a huge literary space.

What is the artistic method?

This is one of the most important concepts in art. Means a set of general assessments, visions of the world and the perception of certain things by writers. Thus, various trends in the literature have arisen. The nature of the vision of the surrounding reality depends on which 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 art in general. They target different target audiences, so the existence of a variety of literary methods is extremely important, as they satisfy the spiritual needs of people with differentthinking.

Distinguishing Features

The main feature of the artistic method is the variety of its forms. In literature, there are a huge number of directions and their "mixtures", with the help of which we can look differently at the object and phenomenon. Classicism, romanticism, realism, sentimentalism, naturalism, modernism, symbolism, acmeism, futurism, impressionism, expressionism, existentialism, postmodernism are the main trends that have their own individual strength and character.

What artistic methods exist in literature?

Each writer certainly has his own individual style of expressing thoughts, unlike anyone else, but it is intertwined with one specific direction that is close to him.

Let's move from the general to the particular and look at the main artistic methods in literature, from the 17th century to the end of the 20th.

Classical trends of the 17th - 18th 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 characters, "three unities" - place, time and action. Such well-known writers as Zh. Racine, M. Lomonosov, G. Derzhavin worked in this direction. You can find the main features of classicism in "Ode on the Capture of Khotyn".

J. Rousseau, I. Goethe, N. Karamzin wrote in the next literary direction - sentimentalism - in the 18th century. In this direction, it is importantdepict the state of the character's inner world, his mental anguish and sincere emotions. You can get to know this direction better by reading "Poor Lisa".

Romanticism appeared at the turn of the 18th-19th 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.

19th century routine

Realism, which arose in the 19th century, describes the typical hero in a typical situation for the average person through colloquial vocabulary. This direction was subtly felt by C. Dickens, O. de Balzac, L. Tolstoy, F. Dostoevsky, A. Chekhov, I. Turgenev. "Fathers and Sons" is a demonstrative 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 depiction of fate, life, everyday life, and the character of a person. Representatives of this trend, such as M. S altykov-Shchedrin, N. Nekrasov, believed that there are no unworthy topics for presentation, even typical human experiences are real art. "Who should live well in Russia" - a poem about the realities of peasant life and a difficult fate - an undeniable representative of naturalism.

Catchy and unusual methods of presenting thought XIX - beginningXX centuries

Modernism is a common name for such movements as symbolism, impressionism, acmeism, futurism, expressionism. To have an idea about modernism, let's characterize all the above directions.

• Symbolism arose in the 1870s, it differs from other areas in figurative vision, the secret meaning of objects and phenomena, the use of words with multiple meanings. For example, Z. Gippus, V. Bryusov, K. Balmont, A. Blok wrote in this interesting and unusual direction. "Pharmacy, street, lantern" is a poem worth reading or refreshing in order to understand the essence of symbolism.
• Acmeism is an artistic method followed only by our compatriots, for example O. Mandelstam, A. Akhmatova, N. Gumilyov. There is no ambiguity in this direction, the words have an exact meaning, and the images are clearly seen; with the help of the power of the artistic word, the writers rethought life processes, in which there are flaws. "The Gray-eyed King" - you need to immerse yourself in this poem in order to understand the logic of the poets of this direction.

• Futurism is the direction in which Russian and Italian creators worked. This catchy direction appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. Outrageous, bold decisions and non-standard construction of the poem, for example, a ladder, like the bright representative of this direction V. Mayakovsky. In addition to him, I. Severyanin, V. Khlebnikov, D. Burliuk created and broke the idea of \u200b\u200bclassical art in this direction. "And you could?" -extravagant, unusual, inspiring, absolutely futuristic poem.

• Impressionism in literature appeared at the end of the 19th century, writers in this direction described in detail feelings, experiences and emotions, turned moments of life into art. G. de Maupassant, M. Proust can be considered the brightest representatives of this trend. "Dear Friend" is an emotional and light work, after reading which you will certainly become a fan of impressionism.
• At the beginning of the 20th century, gloomy expressionism became widespread in Germany. The main themes 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 direction. "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 since the middle of the 20th century

At the heart of existentialism, which appeared in the middle of the 20th century in France, are 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 where you won't find any sharp twists in the plot, but the subtle and intelligent dialogues will make you fall in love with existentialism.

The most modern direction - postmodernism - appeared in the second half of the 20th century, itsare distinguished by maximalism of performance, irony and a satirical attitude to what is happening. H. Murakami, V. Nabokov, K. Vonnegut saw the world through a satirical prism. "Slaughterhouse 5" is written in the best traditions of postmodernism, it will immerse you in deep reflections on the value of life and views on it.

The significance 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.