Dramat rosyjski okresu Oświecenia : ze studiów nad komedią i gatunkami pokrewnymi

Abstract

In this study the dramatic works of the period mentioned in the title are analysed from the aspect of their poetry, taking into account the genre changes taking place in them during the course of years. It should be stressed that taken into considehere are all the variants of comedy: satirical, lachrymose and salon comedy and also comic opera and bourgeois dramatic works, leaving aside tragedy, differing in every respect from the types of plays mentioned here which are closely related and hence lend themselves to being studied under one heading. Apart from this, tragedy did not undergo such radical changes as comedy and for long maintained its classicist form. For this reason it will be analysed in a separate study. In these considerations stress is laid on the most significant aspect of the artistic form of the most outstanding plays by second rate authors, who were nevertheless popular in their time and brought many novel values to Russian drama, particularly in the struggle against the inflexible classicist rules governing dramatic works. Russian drama of the time endeavoured to combat canons imposed by classical poetic forms and tried to create other methods of manifesting the actuality presented. Introducing into the scenic arts the new themes and problem matter directly associated with the ideology of the Enlightment wrought many changes on the stage. A particularly notable impression on contemporary comedy was made by the satirical-critical trend, and later the emergence of a new literary fashion — sentimentalism. Plays began gradually to grow away from the eternal amatory intrigues as the cornerstone of the dramatic construction. The action of the plays began to develop on the basis of other conflicts, having nothing in common with amatory intrigues. New types of conflict appeared, for example the satirical, played out against the background of the bureaucratic environment, among merchants of village folk. In the bourgeois comedy the love interest conflict turned to family conflicts etc. Many plays were written basing on various conflicts making the genesis of new trends. In this way the principle of unity of action, which had been obligatory up till then, was also overruled, a development which was diametrically opposed to the classicist system of successive events and the course of amatory intrigues. Many changes were also wrought in the method of drawing the dramatic characters. In certain plays may be observed a blurring of the rigorous division into virtuous and evil protagonists, character drawing became enriched by calling attention to both the good and bad sides of the personality of a single character. Certain dramatists even attempted to show the processes by which the character of a person may change under the influence of experiences and internal struggles, which may be attributed above all to the sentimental drama. The linguistic structure of the plays analysed here also shows a great wealth of semantic tones. The title itself is broadly expressive, giving information on the content of the play, its subject matter, the hero, even the composition, finale, the ideas proposed. Information on all these component elements of the play was widened and supplemented by the dedication which was often placed before the description of the contents, next a foreword, sometimes taking the form of a complete theoretical treatise and then the dramatis personae. A specific characteristic of the dialogue was its approach to a monologue form, slowing the tempo of the action in certain parts, and high flown idealistic speeches. Certain verbal constructions were a determinant of the genre, e.g. sung texts in the comic operas. From analysis of the function of lingual structures and their nature, individuality and role of the dramatic conflict, intrigues and make up of the characters, it has been possible to determine in these consideration the novel contribution to the creative method of the dramatic composition and from this the genre changes that took place in them. The particular traits of the artistic form of dramatic works was the result of the merging in them of characteristics of various ways of presenting reality, the influence of different literary trends, the coexistence of the classicist traditions and the first breaths of the new winds. The elements of satire and sentimental affectation were linked in the lachrymose comedy, introducing in the comic form village humour and folklore components, manifested in folk songs, giving as a result comic opera. The didactism so characteristic of the whole drama of the period considered also penetrated to the lachrymose comedy, in which we may often find elements of satirical hue etc. It was those factors that decided the similarity of these different dramatic variants and justified their being treated in one group. It should, however, be noted that in this group an outstanding element is the sentimental comedy, a new type of eighteenth century drama, showing a certain difference in the interpretation of the created world, which is seen most notably in the construction of the theatrical vision. The bourgeois drama allowed a greater freedom in the actor’s playing of his part, he could make a wider use of gesture and of the dramatic environment, than in comedy growing directly from the classicist tradition.