Scientific research and Lomonosov's contribution to literature

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

Mikhailo Vasilyevich Lomonosov went down in history forever as a great reformer of the Russian language and versification. Russian literature in the XVIII century was influenced by significant changes that came to the cultural and social life of the country after the reforms of Peter. M. V. Lomonosov was at the origins of the emergence of new Russian literature. He is not only a great scientist of his time, but also the best poet of that era. So what is Lomonosov's contribution to literature? His pen belongs to works of completely different genres: fables, epigrams, lyrical poems, satirical, odes, tragedies. But his merit is not only in this.

Russian language reform

We associate the reform of the Russian language with the name of Lomonosov. He was the first to create a scientific Russian grammar. His work on three styles, the essence of which is that church-book speech is outdated and is a kind of brake, was revolutionary at that time. Therefore, Lomonosov's contribution to the development of literature can hardly be overestimated. He was the first to call for the development of a clear and lively language. And for this, borrow all the best from folk speech and introduce these elements intoworks of art. In "Letter on the rules of Russian poetry" (1739), he says that the language should be developed based on its natural properties, and not borrow elements of someone else's speech. But this remark is very relevant even today, when the Russian language is full of English terms, Americanisms, which are replacing native speech.

M. V. Lomonosov: contribution to the Russian language and literature

Linguistics and literary criticism are multifaceted sciences. In the process of studying them, attention is paid to style. And here Lomonosov's contribution to literature is truly invaluable. He suggested using low, mediocre, and high styles. What it is? The high style was to be used for writing odes, poems, festive speeches. Medium - for friendly letters. And in a low style it was recommended to tell ordinary stories, compose comedies, epigrams, songs. In this vein, the use of simple adverbs was also allowed. So Mikhail Vasilievich harmoniously combined both the old and the new into one whole.

The phrase that Lomonosov made a huge contribution to the development of the Russian language and literature is not just pathos. He had deep knowledge in the field of exact sciences, was familiar with Western European languages, Latin and Greek. Natural talents allowed Lomonosov to lay the foundation for Russian scientific and technical terminology. His advice in this area is of great importance even today. We often do not even notice that many of the terms compiled according to his recommendations are still used today. For example, the specific gravity, the axis of the earth … It was Mikhailo Vasilievich who introduced a number of words into scientific terminology that have an ordinary everyday meaning: movement, particles, experiments. Gradually, these innovations replaced the old terminology. So the great famous Russian scientist laid the foundations of the scientific language, without which it would be difficult for both modern scientists and ordinary people to do.

Achievements in Literary Creativity

And now let's return to the main topic of our conversation and remember (and someone may only find out) what was Lomonosov's contribution to literature … It should be said that he completed the reform of versification and reinforced it with his own poetic works genre.

In addition, Lomonosov contributed to the formation of classicism in Russian literature. With his odes, he glorified the Russian victories over their enemies (“Ode on the Capture of Khotin”). But they included both scientific and religious themes (“Morning Reflections on the Majesty of God”). Lomonosov by nature was a poet-citizen. In his works, he vividly demonstrates his own attitude to poetry. Mikhailo Vasilyevich sings of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna as a supporter of education, welcomes peace and tranquility as a guarantee of the development of sciences. He praises Peter's reforms.

And how the poet describes the vastness of Mother Russia, the sea, rivers and forests! All these riches must be mastered and placed at the service of the state and the people by learned people. Lomonosov deeply believed in the Russian people. In his opinion, the strength and good of the statelie in the development of the exact sciences.

Multifaceted personality

Lomonosov's contribution to literature is both a new meter of verse, and a different speech, and content. In fact, this began a new era in literature. It should be noted that for all the value of Lomonosov's works in this area, they were only secondary for him. His main specialization was natural science. In this area, the genius of this man manifested itself with greater force. And he looked at his literary works as the best form of expression of revolutionary thoughts. Lomonosov also used such forms of poetry as epigrams, satirical works, poetic humorous plays. With the dullness of the literature of those times, his plays sometimes caused a storm and harsh criticism.

Works of the great scientist

Lomonosov introduced the theory of classicism into the emerging Russian literature, where it dominated the entire eighteenth century. The most important works of Mikhail Vasilievich in the field of Russian literary language and versification were: "Russian Grammar" (1755-1757), "Discourse on the Usefulness of Church Books in the Russian Language" (1757), "Letter on the Rules of Russian Poetry" (1739).

To appreciate Lomonosov's contribution to literature and language, it is necessary to understand the position of the Russian language in that era. In ancient Russian writing, a sharp divergence was initially established between literary speech, living and the language of the "book". This situation continued for seven centuries. But with the reformsPeter the Great appears an indefinite mixture of new elements. And only Lomonosov, with his characteristic genius, managed to build orderly ranks of a new literary language out of chaos. In the study of Russian grammar, Mikhailo Vasilyevich for the first time formulated strict scientific rules, accurately defining the difference between literary and church language.

Summing up

What did MV Lomonosov do for us? The contribution to the Russian language and literature of this pundit is truly enormous, however, as well as achievements in the field of exact sciences. He expanded the boundaries of the strictly regulated poetics of classicism, showed further ways of developing Russian versification. Romantic poets would use his techniques in the early nineteenth century. Mikhailo Vasilyevich became the founder of the ode, having developed a special poetic form necessary for presenting lofty patriotic ideas.

This was Lomonosov's contribution to Russian literature.