Acmeism(from the Greek akme the highest degree of something, flourishing, maturity, peak, tip) one of the modernist trends in Russian poetry of the 1910s, formed as a reaction to extremes.

Overcoming the predilection of the symbolists for the "superreal", the ambiguity and fluidity of images, the complicated metaphor, the acmeists strove for the sensual plastic-material clarity of the image and accuracy, the chasing of the poetic word. Their "earthly" poetry is prone to intimacy, aestheticism and poeticization of the feelings of primitive man. Acmeism was characterized by extreme apoliticality, complete indifference to the topical problems of our time.

The Acmeists, who replaced the Symbolists, did not have a detailed philosophical and aesthetic program. But if in the poetry of symbolism the determining factor was the transience, the momentaryness of being, a kind of mystery covered with a halo of mysticism, then a realistic view of things was put as the cornerstone in the poetry of acmeism. The hazy unsteadiness and fuzziness of symbols were replaced by precise verbal images. The word, according to the acmeists, should have acquired its original meaning.

The highest point in the hierarchy of values ​​for them was culture, identical to universal human memory. Therefore, acmeists often turn to mythological plots and images. If the Symbolists in their work focused on music, then the Acmeists on the spatial arts: architecture, sculpture, painting. The attraction to the three-dimensional world was expressed in the acmeists' passion for objectivity: a colorful, sometimes exotic detail could be used for a purely pictorial purpose. That is, the “overcoming” of symbolism took place not so much in the sphere of general ideas, but in the field of poetic style. In this sense, acmeism was just as conceptual as symbolism, and in this respect they are undoubtedly in a succession.

A distinctive feature of the acmeist circle of poets was their "organizational cohesion". In essence, the acmeists were not so much an organized movement with a common theoretical platform, but a group of talented and very different poets who were united by personal friendship. The Symbolists had nothing of the kind: Bryusov's attempts to reunite his brethren were in vain. The same was observed among the futurists despite the abundance of collective manifestos that they issued. Acmeists, or as they were also called "Hyperboreans" (after the name of the printed mouthpiece of acmeism, the journal and publishing house "Hyperborey"), immediately acted as a single group. They gave their union the significant name of the “Workshop of Poets”. And the beginning of a new trend (which later became almost an "obligatory condition" for the emergence of new poetic groups in Russia) was laid by a scandal.

In the autumn of 1911, in the poetic salon of Vyacheslav Ivanov, the famous "Tower", where the poetic society gathered and poetry was read and discussed, a "revolt" broke out. Several talented young poets defiantly left the next meeting of the "Academy of Verse", outraged by the derogatory criticism of the "masters" of Symbolism. Nadezhda Mandelstam describes this case in the following way: “Gumilyov's 'Prodigal Son' was read at the 'Academy of Verse', where Vyacheslav Ivanov reigned, surrounded by respectful students. He subjected the "Prodigal Son" to a real debacle. The speech was so rude and harsh that Gumilyov's friends left the Academy and organized the Poets' Workshop in opposition to it.

And a year later, in the autumn of 1912, the six main members of the "Tsekh" decided not only formally, but also ideologically to separate from the Symbolists. They organized a new community, calling themselves "Acmeists", that is, the top. At the same time, the "Workshop of Poets" as an organizational structure was preserved acmeists remained in it as an internal poetic association.

The main ideas of acmeism were outlined in the program articles by N. Gumilyov “The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism” and S. Gorodetsky “Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry”, published in the journal Apollo (1913, No. 1), published under the editorship of S. Makovsky. The first of them said: “Symbolism is being replaced by a new direction, no matter how it is called, whether acmeism (from the word akme the highest degree of something, a flowering time) or adamism (a courageously firm and clear view of life), in any case, requiring a greater balance of power and a more precise knowledge of the relationship between subject and object than was the case in symbolism. However, in order for this trend to assert itself in its entirety and be a worthy successor to the previous one, it must accept its legacy and answer all the questions it posed. The glory of the ancestors obliges, and symbolism was a worthy father.

S. Gorodetsky believed that “symbolism, having filled the world with correspondences”, turned it into a phantom, important only insofar as it shines through other worlds, and belittled its high intrinsic value. Among the Acmeists, the rose again became good in itself, with its petals, smell and color, and not with its conceivable similarities with mystical love or anything else.

In 1913, Mandelstam's article "Morning of Acmeism" was also written, which was published only six years later. The delay in publication was not accidental: Mandelstam's acmeist views differed significantly from the declarations of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky and did not make it to the pages of Apollo.

However, as T. Scriabina notes, “for the first time, the idea of ​​a new direction was expressed on the pages of Apollo” much earlier: in 1910, M. Kuzmin appeared in the journal with an article On beautiful clarity, which anticipated the appearance of declarations of acmeism. By the time the article was written, Kuzmin was already a mature person, he had experience of cooperation in symbolist periodicals. Otherworldly and foggy revelations of the symbolists, incomprehensible and dark in art Kuzmin opposed beautiful clarity, clarism (from the Greek. clarus clarity). The artist, according to Kuzmin, must bring clarity to the world, not obscure, but clarify the meaning of things, seek harmony with those around him. The philosophical and religious searches of the Symbolists did not fascinate Kuzmin: the artist's business is to focus on the aesthetic side of creativity, artistic skill. Dark in the last depth of the symbol gives way to clear structures and admiration of pretty little things. Kuzmin's ideas could not help but influence the acmeists: "beautiful clarity" turned out to be in demand by the majority of participants in the "Workshop of Poets".

Another "harbinger" of acmeism can be considered John. Annensky, who, formally being a symbolist, actually paid tribute to him only in the early period of his work. Later, Annensky took a different path: the ideas of late symbolism had practically no effect on his poetry. On the other hand, the simplicity and clarity of his poems were well received by the acmeists.

Three years after the publication of Kuzmin's article in Apollo, the manifestos of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky appeared from that moment it is customary to count the existence of acmeism as a well-formed literary movement.

Acmeism has six of the most active participants in the current: N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut. G. Ivanov claimed the role of the "seventh acmeist", but this point of view was protested by A. Akhmatova, who stated that "there were six acmeists, and there never was a seventh." O. Mandelstam was in solidarity with her, who, however, considered that six were too many: “There are only six Acmeists, and among them there was one extra” Mandelstam explained that Gorodetsky was “attracted” by Gumilyov, not daring to oppose the then powerful Symbolists with some “ yellow-mouthed." “Gorodetsky was [by that time] a well-known poet.” At various times, G. Adamovich, N. Bruni, Nas. Gippius, Vl. Gippius, G. Ivanov, N. Klyuev, M. Kuzmin, E. Kuzmina-Karavaeva, M. Lozinsky, V. Khlebnikov and others. school of mastering poetic skills, professional association.

Acmeism as a literary trend united exceptionally gifted poets Gumilyov, Akhmatova, Mandelstam, the formation of creative individuals of which took place in the atmosphere of the “Poets' Workshop”. The history of acmeism can be viewed as a kind of dialogue between these three prominent representatives of it. At the same time, the Adamism of Gorodetsky, Zenkevich and Narbut, who made up the naturalistic wing of the current, differed significantly from the “pure” acmeism of the above-mentioned poets. The difference between the Adamists and the triad Gumilyov Akhmatova Mandelstam has been repeatedly noted in criticism.

As a literary trend, acmeism did not last long - about two years. In February 1914, it split. The "shop of poets" was closed. Acmeists managed to publish ten issues of their journal "Hyperborea" (editor M. Lozinsky), as well as several almanacs.

“Symbolism was fading away” Gumilyov was not mistaken in this, but he failed to form a current as powerful as Russian symbolism. Acmeism failed to gain a foothold in the role of the leading poetic trend. The reason for its rapid extinction is called, among other things, "the ideological unsuitability of the direction to the conditions of a drastically changed reality." V. Bryusov noted that "acmeists are characterized by a gap between practice and theory", and "their practice was purely symbolist." It was in this that he saw the crisis of acmeism. However, Bryusov's statements about acmeism were always harsh; at first he declared that “acmeism is an invention, a whim, a metropolitan whim” and predicted: “most likely, in a year or two there will be no acmeism left. His very name will disappear,” and in 1922, in one of his articles, he generally denies him the right to be called a direction, a school, believing that there is nothing serious and original in acmeism and that it is “outside the mainstream of literature.”

However, attempts to resume the activities of the association were subsequently made more than once. The second "Workshop of poets, founded in the summer of 1916, was headed by G. Ivanov together with G. Adamovich. But he didn't last long either. In 1920, the third "Workshop of Poets" appeared, which was Gumilyov's last attempt to organizationally preserve the acmeist line. Under his wing, poets united who consider themselves to be members of the school of acmeism: S. Neldihen, N. Otsup, N. Chukovsky, I. Odoevtseva, N. Berberova, Vs. Rozhdestvensky, N. Oleinikov, L. Lipavsky, K. Vatinov, V. Pozner and others. The third "Poets Workshop" existed in Petrograd for about three years (in parallel with the "Sounding Shell" studio) until the tragic death of N. Gumilyov.

The creative fates of poets, one way or another connected with acmeism, developed in different ways: N. Klyuev subsequently declared his non-participation in the activities of the community; G. Ivanov and G. Adamovich continued and developed many principles of acmeism in exile; Acmeism did not have any noticeable influence on V. Khlebnikov. In Soviet times, the poetic manner of the acmeists (mainly N. Gumilyov) was imitated by N. Tikhonov, E. Bagritsky, I. Selvinsky, M. Svetlov.

In comparison with other poetic trends of the Russian Silver Age, acmeism in many ways is seen as a marginal phenomenon. It has no analogues in other European literatures (which cannot be said, for example, about symbolism and futurism); the more surprising are the words of Blok, Gumilyov's literary opponent, who declared that acmeism was just an "imported foreign thing." After all, it was acmeism that turned out to be extremely fruitful for Russian literature. Akhmatova and Mandelstam managed to leave behind "eternal words." Gumilyov appears in his poems as one of the brightest personalities of the cruel time of revolutions and world wars. And today, almost a century later, interest in acmeism has survived mainly because the work of these outstanding poets, who had a significant impact on the fate of Russian poetry of the 20th century, is associated with it.

Basic principles of acmeism:

the liberation of poetry from symbolist appeals to the ideal, the return of clarity to it;

rejection of mystical nebula, acceptance of the earthly world in its diversity, visible concreteness, sonority, colorfulness;

the desire to give the word a specific, precise meaning;

objectivity and clarity of images, sharpness of details;

appeal to a person, to the "authenticity" of his feelings;

poetization of the world of primordial emotions, primitive biological nature;

echoes of past literary epochs, the broadest aesthetic associations, “longing for world culture”.

Acmeist poets

Moscow State University named after M.V. LOMONOSOV

FACULTY OF JOURNALISM

Performed:

Teacher:

Moscow, 2007

Introduction

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, an interesting phenomenon arose in Russian literature, which was later called "poetry of the silver age." It was a time of new ideas and new directions. If the 19th century, nevertheless, for the most part passed under the sign of a desire for realism, then a new surge in poetic creativity at the turn of the century followed a different path. This period was with the desire of contemporaries for the renewal of the country, the renewal of literature, and with a variety of modernist trends, as a result, that appeared at that time. They were very diverse both in form and content: symbolism, acmeism, futurism, imagism…

Thanks to such different directions and currents, new names appeared in Russian poetry, many of which happened to stay in it forever. The great poets of that era, starting in the bowels of the modernist movement, very quickly grew out of it, striking with their talent and versatility of creativity. This happened with Blok, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Gumilyov, Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Voloshin and many others.

Conventionally, the beginning of the "Silver Age" is considered to be 1892, when the ideologist and oldest member of the Symbolist movement Dmitry Merezhkovsky read a report "On the Causes of the Decline and New Trends in Modern Russian Literature." So for the first time the symbolists declared themselves.

The beginning of the 1900s was the heyday of symbolism, but by the 1910s the crisis of this literary trend began. The attempt of the Symbolists to proclaim a literary movement and master the artistic consciousness of the era failed. The question of the relationship of art to reality, of the significance and place of art in the development of Russian national history and culture, is again sharply raised.

Some new direction should have appeared, raising the question of the relationship between poetry and reality in a different way. This is exactly what acmeism has become.

Acmeism as a literary movement

The emergence of acmeism

In 1911, among the poets who were striving to create a new direction in literature, a circle “Poets' Workshop” appeared, headed by Nikolai Gumilyov and Sergey Gorodetsky. The members of the "Workshop" were mostly novice poets: A. Akhmatova, N. Burliuk, Vas. Gippius, M. Zenkevich, Georgy Ivanov, E. Kuzmina-Karavaeva, M. Lozinsky, O. Mandelstam, Vl. Narbut, P. Radimov. At various times, E. Kuzmina-Karavaeva, N. Nedobrovo, V. Komarovsky, V. Rozhdestvensky, S. Neldikhen were close to the "Workshop of Poets" and acmeism. The most striking of the "junior" acmeists were Georgy Ivanov and Georgy Adamovich. In total, four almanacs "The Workshop of Poets" were published (1921 - 1923, the first under the title "Dragon", the last was published already in Berlin by the emigrated part of the "Workshop of Poets").

The creation of a literary trend called “acmeism” was officially announced on February 11, 1912 at a meeting of the “Academy of Verse”, and articles by Gumilyov “The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism” and Gorodetsky “Some Trends in contemporary Russian poetry", which were considered manifestos of the new school.

Philosophical basis of aesthetics

In his famous article “The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism”, N. Gumilyov wrote: “A new direction is replacing symbolism, no matter how it is called, whether acmeism (from the word acmh (“acme”) is the highest degree of something, color, blooming time ), or Adamism (a courageously firm and clear view of life), in any case, requiring a greater balance of power and a more precise knowledge of the relationship between subject and object than was the case in symbolism.

The chosen name of this direction confirmed the desire of the acmeists themselves to comprehend the heights of literary skill. Symbolism was very closely connected with acmeism, which its ideologists constantly emphasized, starting from symbolism in their ideas.

In the article "The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism", Gumilyov, acknowledging that "symbolism was a worthy father", stated that he "has completed his circle of development and is now falling." After analyzing both domestic and French and German symbolism, he concluded: “We do not agree to sacrifice other methods of influence to him (the symbol) and are looking for their complete consistency”, “It is more difficult to be an Acmeist than a symbolist, as it is more difficult to build a cathedral than tower. And one of the principles of the new direction is to always follow the line of greatest resistance.”

Speaking about the relationship between the world and human consciousness, Gumilyov demanded "always remember the unknowable", but at the same time "not offend your thoughts about it with more or less probable guesses." Negatively referring to the aspiration of symbolism to know the secret meaning of being (it remained secret even for acmeism), Gumilyov declared the “unchasteness” of the knowledge of the “unknowable”, “childishly wise, painfully sweet feeling of one’s own ignorance”, the inherent value of the “wise and clear” reality surrounding the poet. Thus, acmeists in the field of theory remained on the basis of philosophical idealism. The program of acmeistic acceptance of the world was also expressed in the article by Sergei Gorodetsky “Some trends in modern Russian poetry”: “After all sorts of “rejections”, the world was irrevocably accepted by acmeism, in the totality of beauties and ugliness.”

Sorry, captivating moisture

And primeval fog!

There is more goodness in the transparent wind

For countries created for life.

Spacious world and polyphonic,

And he is more colorful than rainbows,

And here he is entrusted to Adam,

Name Inventor.

Name, recognize, rip off the covers

And idle secrets and decrepit haze.

Here is the first feat. New feat

Sing praises to the living earth.

Genre-compositional and stylistic features

The main attention of the acmeists was focused on poetry. Of course, they also had prose, but it was poetry that formed this trend. As a rule, these were works of small volume, sometimes in the genre of a sonnet, an elegy.

The most important criterion was attention to the word, to the beauty of the sounding verse. There was a certain general orientation towards traditions of Russian and world art other than those of the Symbolists. Speaking about this, V.M. Zhirmunsky wrote in 1916: “Attention to the artistic structure of words now emphasizes not so much the importance of the melodiousness of lyrical lines, their musical effectiveness, but the picturesque, graphic clarity of images; poetry of allusions and moods is replaced by the art of precisely measured and balanced words... there is a possibility for young poetry to come closer not to the musical lyrics of the romantics, but to the clear and conscious art of French classicism and the French 18th century, emotionally poor, always rationally self-controlled, but graphic rich variety and sophistication of visual impressions, lines, colors and forms.

It is rather difficult to talk about the general theme and stylistic features, since each outstanding poet, whose, as a rule, early poems can be attributed to acmeism, had his own characteristic features.

In the poetry of N. Gumilyov, acmeism is realized in a craving for the discovery of new worlds, exotic images and plots. The path of the poet in Gumilyov's lyrics is the path of a warrior, a conquistador, a discoverer. The muse that inspires the poet is the Muse of Far Wanderings. Renewal of poetic imagery, respect for the "phenomenon as such" was carried out in Gumilev's work through travels to unknown, but quite real lands. Travels in N. Gumilyov's poems carried the impressions of the poet's specific expeditions to Africa and, at the same time, echoed symbolic wanderings in "other worlds". Gumilyov contrasted the transcendental worlds of the Symbolists with the continents he had first discovered for Russian poetry.

A. Akhmatova's acmeism had a different character, devoid of attraction to exotic plots and colorful imagery. The originality of the creative manner of Akhmatova as a poet of the acmeist direction is the imprint of spiritualized objectivity. Through the amazing accuracy of the material world, Akhmatova displays a whole spiritual structure. In elegantly outlined details, Akhmatova, according to Mandelstam, gave "all the enormous complexity and psychological richness of the Russian novel of the 19th century

The local world of O. Mandelstam was marked by a sense of mortal fragility in the face of faceless eternity. Mandelstam's acmeism is "the complicity of beings in a conspiracy against emptiness and non-existence." The overcoming of emptiness and non-existence takes place in culture, in the eternal creations of art: the arrow of the Gothic bell tower reproaches the sky with the fact that it is empty. Among the acmeists, Mandelstam was distinguished by an unusually sharply developed sense of historicism. The thing is inscribed in his poetry in a cultural context, in a world warmed by “secret teleological warmth”: a person was surrounded not by impersonal objects, but by “utensils”, all the mentioned objects acquired biblical overtones. At the same time, Mandelstam was disgusted by the abuse of sacred vocabulary, the "inflation of sacred words" among the Symbolists.

From the acmeism of Gumilyov, Akhmatova and Mandelstam, the adamism of S. Gorodetsky, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut, who constituted the naturalistic wing of the movement, differed significantly. The dissimilarity of the Adamists with the Gumilyov-Akhmatova-Mandelstam triad has been repeatedly noted in criticism. In 1913, Narbut offered Zenkevich to found an independent group or go "from Gumilyov" to the Cubo-Futurists. The Adamic worldview was most fully expressed in the work of S. Gorodetsky. Gorodetsky's novel Adam described the life of a hero and a heroine - "two smart animals" - in an earthly paradise. Gorodetsky tried to restore in poetry the pagan, semi-animal worldview of our ancestors: many of his poems took the form of incantations, lamentations, contained bursts of emotional imagery extracted from the distant past of the scene of everyday life. The naive adamism of Gorodetsky, his attempts to return man to the shaggy embrace of nature, could not but evoke irony in the modernists, who were sophisticated and well studied the soul of a contemporary. Blok in the preface to the poem Retribution noted that the slogan of Gorodetsky and the Adamists "was a man, but some other man, completely without humanity, some kind of primordial Adam."

It often happens with pioneers that instead of the planned opening of a short route to India, the New World is unexpectedly discovered, and instead of El Dorado, the Inca Empire. Something similar happened at the beginning of the twentieth century with the Acmeists. The direction of acmeism arose in opposition to its predecessors, but, as it turned out later, it only continued them and became a kind of crown of symbolism. However, many researchers believe that the difference between the two poetic groups was much deeper than it seemed at the beginning of the last century. Speaking about what acmeism is, it is worth telling not only about the features of the literary work of its representatives, but also about their life path.

The emergence of the movement

The history of the movement began in 1911, when poets under the leadership of Gorodetsky and Nikolai Gumilyov gathered for the first time in St. Petersburg. In an effort to emphasize the importance of craft and training in poetic creativity, the organizers called the new society the "Poets' Workshop". Thus, answering the question of what acmeism is, we can start with the fact that this is a literary trend, the founders of which were two St. Petersburg poets, who were later joined by no less significant heroes of the literary scene.

The first acmeists manifested their fundamental difference from the symbolists, arguing that, unlike the first, they strive for maximum reality, reliability and plasticity of images, while the symbolists tried to penetrate into "superreal" spheres.

Members of the poetry club

The official opening of the poetry club took place in 1912 at a meeting of the so-called Academy of Verse. A year later, two articles were published in the almanac "Apollo", which became fundamental for a new literary trend. One article, written by Nikolai Gumilyov, was titled "The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism." Another was written by Gorodetsky, and it was called "Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry."

In his programmatic article on acmeism, Gumilyov points out the desire of himself and his associates to reach the heights of literary mastery. In turn, mastery was achievable only by working in a close-knit group. It was the ability to work in such a group and organizational cohesion that distinguished representatives of acmeism.

According to the testimony of Andrei Bely, the name itself appeared quite by accident in the heat of a dispute between friends. On that decisive evening, Vyacheslav Ivanov jokingly began to talk about Adamism and Acmeism, but Gumilyov liked these terms, and since then he began to call himself and his comrades Acmeists. The term "Adamism" was less popular, as it evoked associations with brutality and soilism, with which the acmeists had nothing in common.

Basic principles of acmeism

Answering the question of what acmeism is, one should name the main features that distinguished it from other artistic movements of the Silver Age. These include:

• romanticization of the feelings of the first man;
• talk about earthly primeval beauty;
• clarity and transparency of images;
• understanding of art as a tool for improving human nature;
• influence on the imperfection of life by artistic images.

All these differences were reflected by the members of the informal community and reworked into specific instructions, which were followed by such poets as Nikolai Gumilyov, Osip Mandelstam, Mikhail Zinkevich, Georgy Ivanov, Elizaveta Kuzmina-Karavaeva and even Anna Akhmatova.

Nikolai Gumilyov in acmeism

Although many researchers insist that acmeism was one of the most cohesive movements of the early twentieth century, others, on the contrary, argue that it is more worth talking about the community of very different and talented poets in their own way. However, one thing remains indisputable: most of the meetings were held in Vyacheslav Ivanov's "Tower", and the literary journal "Hyperborea" was published for five years - from 1913 to 1918. In literature, acmeism occupies a very special place, being separated from both symbolism and futurism.

It will be convenient to consider all the internal diversity of this trend using the example of such key figures as Akhmatova and Gumilyov, who were married from 1910 to 1918. These two poets gravitated toward two fundamentally different types of poetic utterance.

From the very beginning of his work, Nikolai Gumilyov chose the path of a warrior, discoverer, conquistador and inquisitor, which was reflected not only in his work, but also in his life path.

In his texts, he used bright expressive images of distant countries and fictional worlds, idealized much in the world around him and beyond, and in the end he paid for it. In 1921 Gumilev was shot on charges of espionage.

Anna Akhmatova and acmeism

This direction played an important role in the life of Russian literature even after the "Workshop of Poets" ceased to exist. Most members of the poetic community have lived difficult and eventful lives. However, Anna Andreevna Akhmatova lived the longest life, becoming a real star of Russian poetry.

It was Akhmatova who was able to perceive the pain of the people around her as her own, because the terrible age also cast its shadow on her fate. However, despite all the hardships of life, Anna Andreevna throughout her entire work remained faithful to acmeist principles: careful attitude to the word, heredity of times, respect for culture and history. One of the main consequences of the influence of acmeism was that in Akhmatova's work, personal experiences always merged with social and historical ones.

It seems that everyday life itself did not leave room for mysticism and romantic reflections on the lyrical. For many years, Akhmatova was forced to stand in lines to deliver parcels to her son in prison, she suffered from deprivation and disorder. Thus, daily life forced the great poetess to follow the acmeist principle of clarity of speech and honesty of expression.

Osip Mandelstam appreciated Akhmatova's work so highly that he compared the richness and imagery of her literary language with all the richness of the Russian classical novel. Anna Andreevna also achieved international recognition, but the Nobel Prize, for which she was nominated twice, was never awarded.

Akhmatova's lyrical acmeism contrasted sharply with the temperament of another poet from her circle, Osip Mandelstam.

Mandelstam in the circle of acmeists

Osip Mandelstam stood apart among young poets, distinguished from his compatriots by a special sense of the historical moment, for which he paid the price by dying in the Far Eastern camps.

The legacy of the great poet has survived to this day only thanks to the truly heroic efforts of his devoted wife, Nadezhda Yakovlevna Mandelstam, who kept her husband's manuscripts for several decades after his death.

It is worth noting that such behavior could cost Nadezhda Yakovlevna her freedom, because even for storing the manuscript of an enemy of the people, a serious punishment was due, and his wife not only saved, but also copied, and also distributed Mandelstam's poems.

Mandelstam's poetics is distinguished by a subject carefully inscribed in the context of European culture. His lyrical hero not only lives in the difficult time of Stalin's repressions, but also in the world of Greek heroes wandering the seas. It is possible that his studies at the historical and philological faculty of the university left their mark on the poet's work.

A conversation about what acmeism is for Russian culture cannot do without mentioning the tragic fates of its main representatives. As already mentioned, after the exile, Osip Mandelstam was sent to the Gulag, where he went missing, and his wife was forced to wander around different cities for a long time, without having a permanent home. The first husband and son of Akhmatova also spent many years in prison, which became an important topic in the texts of the poetess.

Acmeism (from Greek akme- the highest degree of something, flourishing, maturity, peak, tip) - one of the modernist trends in Russian poetry of the 1910s, formed as a reaction to the extremes of symbolism. Acmeists united in the group "Workshop of Poets", in 1912-1913. published the journal "Hyperborea". The main ideas of acmeism were outlined in the program articles by N. Gumilyov “The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism” and S. Gorodetsky “Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry”, published in 1913 in No. 1 of the Apollo magazine (the literary organ of the group during its heyday) , edited by S. Makovsky.

Acmeism did not put forward a detailed philosophical and aesthetic concept. Poets shared the views of the Symbolists on the nature of art, absolutizing the role of the artist. But they called for a cleansing of poetry from the use of vague allusions and symbols, proclaiming a return to the material world and accepting it as it is.

For acmeists, the impressionist tendency to perceive reality as a sign of the unknowable, as a distorted likeness of higher entities, turned out to be unacceptable. Acmeists valued such elements of the artistic form as stylistic balance, pictorial clarity of images, precisely measured composition, and sharpness of details. In their poems, the fragile facets of things were aestheticized, an atmosphere of admiration for everyday, familiar trifles was affirmed.

Basic principles of acmeism:

• the liberation of poetry from symbolist appeals to the ideal, the return of clarity to it;
• rejection of mystical nebula, acceptance of the earthly world in its diversity, visible concreteness, sonority, colorfulness;
• the desire to give the word a specific, precise meaning;
• objectivity and clarity of images, sharpness of details;
• an appeal to a person, to the "authenticity" of his feelings;
• poetization of the world of primordial emotions, the primitive biological natural principle;
• echo with past literary epochs, the broadest aesthetic associations, "longing for world culture"

Acmeists have developed subtle ways of conveying the inner world of a lyrical hero. Often the state of feelings was not revealed directly, it was conveyed by a psychologically significant gesture, by listing things. A similar manner of reification of experiences was typical, in particular, for many poems by A. A. Akhmatova.

O. E. Mandelstam noted that acmeism is not only a literary, but also a social phenomenon in Russian history. Together with him, moral strength was revived in Russian poetry. Depicting the world with its joys, vices, injustice, acmeists defiantly refused to solve social problems and affirmed the principle of "art for art's sake".

After 1917, N. S. Gumilyov revived the "Workshop of Poets", but as an organized trend, acmeism ceased to exist in 1923, although there was another attempt to restore this literary movement in 1931.

The fate of the acmeist poets developed differently. The leader of the Acmeists N. S. Gumilyov was shot. O. E. Mandelstam died in one of the Stalinist camps from extreme exhaustion. A. A. Akhmatova suffered severe hardships: her first husband was shot, her son was arrested twice and sentenced to hard labor in the camp. But Akhmatova found the courage to create a great poetic testimony of the tragic era - "Requiem".

Only S. M. Gorodetsky lived a fairly prosperous life: abandoning the principles of acmeism, he learned to create “according to the new rules”, obeying the ideological demands of the authorities. In the 1930s created a number of opera librettos (“Breakthrough”, “Alexander Nevsky”, “Thoughts about Opanas”, etc.). During the war years, he was engaged in translations of Uzbek and Tajik poets. In the last years of his life, Gorodetsky taught at the Literary Institute. M. Gorky. He passed away in June 1967.