How to use stories and plays content Introduction

1.2 The history of the development of the comedy genre in the work of Russian writers

Looking back, we can say that Russian writers of the 18th century, turning to the genre of comedy, felt its great social significance, its ability to pose important social and ethical problems to the audience. In European culture, classicism remained an actual phenomenon for almost two centuries, while in Russian culture, classicism revealed itself through school drama, tragedy. The long literary life of classicism (with the subsequent rapid change in literary styles and trends) became possible primarily because it “feeded” on a tradition that had millennial roots. In addition to the previously listed genres of drama, comedy borrowed from Europe took place in classicism. It occurred in the history of Russian literature from the early satires of Kantemir.

Kochetkova N.D. emphasizes : “In the work of Kantemir, for the first time, there were trends in the development of the artistic achievements of French classicism by Russian literature. Already at the end of the 20s. 18th century Cantemir began work on poetic satires. In the tense atmosphere of the onset of political reaction, actively supported by the church, Cantemir came out with a bold denunciation of social vices. The satires of Cantemir are the first artistic achievements of the new literature.
Sumarokov A.P. contributed to the further development of comedy in Russian literature, actively engaged in translation activities, while adapting the genre to the national culture of the state. According to O.B. Lebedeva: “Contemporaries of A.S. Griboyedov staged comedies Sumarokov A.P. far below his tragedies. His comedies did not constitute a significant development in Russian dramaturgy, although they had a number of advantages that forced them to take a closer look. The purpose of the comedy Sumarokov defined in one of his poems; its purpose is “to rule the temper with a mockery; mix and use its direct charter. His comedies contain the richest selection of "contemptuous things" that have disfigured Russian life and originated either from ignorance, or from a falsely understood, superficially assimilated European education. Nikolin V.G. writes: “The process of the formation of the comedy genre on Russian soil was more complex. The highest achievements in this genre are associated in the XVIII century. with the name of Fonvizin, his comedies "The Brigadier" (1769) and "Undergrowth" (1783). So, the freethinking of V.V. Kapnist was vividly expressed in his most significant work, Yabeda, which was popular until the 19th century. Kulikova I.D. writes about this: " Snake" is a satirical comedy about officials and, in particular, about judicial officials, about injustice, not only not eradicated by Catherine's legislation, but still spreading after it was put into effect. The theme of "Sneaky", the rampant arbitrariness and robbery of officials, was a sharp, topical topic, necessary at the time for Kapnist V.V. and much later, in the 19th century, which did not lose its interest. The sharpness and persuasiveness of the satire of Kapnist V.V., its orientation against the evil that oppressed the whole people, made it a phenomenon of wide social significance. The action of Yabeda takes place in a provincial town; but the picture of the arbitrariness and corruption of the bureaucratic apparatus, contained in the comedy, is built as a typical judicial chamber, the image of the entire administration, the entire court, the entire Russian imperial government apparatus as a whole. This is the strength of Kapnist's comedy, and in this way it predicts even The Government Inspector.” In turn, Shishkina A.N. notes: “The comedies of P.A. Katenin are not limited to the topics of acute social satire. The appeal of Katenin, who put the vitality of art at the forefront, to the comedy The Writer in the Hallway cannot be considered accidental: it serves to expose human vices and weaknesses; Relating to the "low" genres, comedy experienced the direct influence of reality, was less conventional than works of the "high" genres, less fettered the artist by rules and allowed the authors to turn to the living speech of the people . P.A. Katenin wrote: “... if it was, first of all, the sphere of the embodiment of the ideal, then comedy is a picture of the existing reality. The main work, which became the closest to the usual comedy, was the first, published in 1769, the comedy of D. I. Fonvizin "The Brigadier". G.P. Makogonenko argues: “ The creation of the work coincided with the great events that took place in public life . It is no coincidence that in the comedy it was the nobles who became the main characters, most of them were negative characters. Through the vaudeville form, where all such heroes flirt with each other, except for the Brigadier, the rather unattractive qualities of the “masters of life” suddenly appear. In comedy, the merits of the nobility to the homeland are called into question, while the arbitrariness of the "noble estate" in relation to the serfs is shown in bright colors. The stigma here falls not on notorious robbers or criminals, but on seemingly decent citizens: a nobleman in the rank of a military man, an official and a nobleman.
A full definition of the structure of classical comedy determines the further emergence of new types of genre, which indicates the ambiguous, rather developed nature of comedy in its true manifestation. Mashkin V.A. writes about this: “There is a difference between a comedy of positions and a comedy of characters. Comedy of situations (comedy of situations, situational comedy) is a comedy in which events and circumstances are the source of the funny. Comedy of characters (comedy of manners) is a comedy in which the source of the funny is the inner essence of characters (morals), funny and ugly one-sidedness, an exaggerated trait or passion (vice, flaw) ”²
Consequently, throughout the evolution, the genre of comedy has repeatedly changed, the reason for this was the comic reflection of reality by writers, where the main criterion was living modernity, ordinary, private life of people. The genre, on the one hand, retained an orientation towards entertainment, but, on the other hand, at certain periods of time it also realized a moralistic meaning .
The comedy "Woe from Wit" - as a combination of traditional and innovative techniques, carries a new, previously unknown, which becomes the reason for numerous disputes and disagreements between critics and literary critics. In turn, Griboedov's contemporaries dreamed of the genre of comedy, rare and complex. The peculiarity of this kind of comedy work also stemmed from the fact that it turned out to be a type of good hero, and this was a rather unusual artistic event.