Literature of the war years. Literature during the war years WWII literature in brief

It was widely covered in literature, especially in Soviet times, as many authors shared personal experiences and themselves experienced all the horrors described along with ordinary soldiers. Therefore, it is not surprising that first the war and then the post-war years were marked by the writing of a number of works dedicated to the feat Soviet people in the brutal struggle against Nazi Germany. It is impossible to pass by such books and forget about them, because they make us think about life and death, war and peace, past and present. We bring to your attention a list of the best books dedicated to the Great Patriotic War that are worth reading and re-reading.

Vasil Bykov

Vasil Bykov (books are presented below) is an outstanding Soviet writer, public figure and WWII participant. Probably one of the most famous authors of war novels. Bykov wrote mainly about a person during the most severe trials that befell him, and about the heroism of ordinary soldiers. Vasil Vladimirovich sang in his works the feat of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. Below we will look at the most famous novels of this author: “Sotnikov”, “Obelisk” and “Until Dawn”.

"Sotnikov"

The story was written in 1968. This is another example of how it was described in fiction. Initially, the arbitrariness was called “Liquidation”, and the basis of the plot was the author’s meeting with a former fellow soldier, whom he considered dead. In 1976, the film “The Ascension” was made based on this book.

The story tells about a partisan detachment that is in dire need of provisions and medicine. Rybak and the intellectual Sotnikov, who is sick, but volunteers to go because no more volunteers were found, are sent for supplies. Long wanderings and searches lead the partisans to the village of Lyasina, here they rest a little and receive a sheep carcass. Now you can go back. But on the way back they come across a detachment of policemen. Sotnikov is seriously wounded. Now the Fisherman must save the life of his comrade and bring the promised provisions to the camp. However, he fails, and together they fall into the hands of the Germans.

"Obelisk"

Vasil Bykov wrote a lot. The writer's books have often been filmed. One of these books was the story “Obelisk”. The work is constructed according to the “story within a story” type and has a pronounced heroic character.

The hero of the story, whose name remains unknown, comes to the funeral of Pavel Miklashevich, a village teacher. At the wake, everyone remembers the deceased with a kind word, but then the conversation comes up about Frost, and everyone falls silent. On the way home, the hero asks his fellow traveler what kind of relationship a certain Moroz has with Miklashevich. Then they tell him that Moroz was the teacher of the deceased. He treated the children as family, took care of them, and took Miklashevich, who was oppressed by his father, to live with him. When the war began, Moroz helped the partisans. The village was occupied by police. One day, his students, including Miklashevich, sawed off the bridge supports, and the police chief and his assistants ended up in the water. The boys were caught. Moroz, who by that time had fled to the partisans, surrendered to free the students. But the Nazis decided to hang both the children and their teacher. Before his execution, Moroz helped Miklashevich escape. The rest were hanged.

"Until Dawn"

A story from 1972. As you can see, the Great Patriotic War in literature continues to be relevant even after decades. This is also confirmed by the fact that Bykov was awarded the USSR State Prize for this story. The work tells about the daily life of military intelligence officers and saboteurs. Initially, the story was written in Belarusian, and only then translated into Russian.

November 1941, the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Lieutenant of the Soviet army Igor Ivanovsky, main character story, commands a sabotage group. He will have to lead his comrades beyond the front line - to the lands of Belarus occupied by the German invaders. Their task is to blow up a German ammunition depot. Bykov talks about the feat of ordinary soldiers. It was they, and not the staff officers, who became the force that helped win the war.

In 1975, the book was filmed. The script for the film was written by Bykov himself.

“And the dawns here are quiet...”

A work by the Soviet and Russian writer Boris Lvovich Vasiliev. One of the most famous front-line stories, largely thanks to the 1972 film adaptation of the same name. “And the dawns here are quiet...” Boris Vasiliev wrote in 1969. The work is based on real events: during the war, soldiers serving on Kirovskaya railway, prevented German saboteurs from blowing up the railway track. After the fierce battle, only the commander of the Soviet group survived, who was awarded the medal “For Military Merit.”

“And the dawns here are quiet...” (Boris Vasiliev) - a book describing the 171st patrol in the Karelian wilderness. Here is the calculation of anti-aircraft installations. The soldiers, not knowing what to do, begin to drink and idle. Then Fyodor Vaskov, the commandant of the patrol, asks to “send non-drinkers.” The command sends two squads of female anti-aircraft gunners to him. And somehow one of the new arrivals notices German saboteurs in the forest.

Vaskov realizes that the Germans want to get to strategic targets and understands that they need to be intercepted here. To do this, he assembles a detachment of 5 anti-aircraft gunners and leads them to the Sinyukhin ridge through the swamps along a path known to him alone. During the campaign, it turns out that there are 16 Germans, so he sends one of the girls for reinforcements, while he himself pursues the enemy. However, the girl does not reach her own people and dies in the swamps. Vaskov has to engage in an unequal battle with the Germans, and as a result, the four girls remaining with him die. But still, the commandant manages to capture the enemies, and he takes them to the location of the Soviet troops.

The story describes the feat of a man who himself decides to confront the enemy and not allow him to walk around his native land with impunity. Without an order from his superiors, the main character goes into battle himself and takes 5 volunteers with him - the girls volunteered themselves.

"Tomorrow there was a war"

The book is a kind of biography of the author of this work, Boris Lvovich Vasiliev. The story begins with the writer telling about his childhood, that he was born in Smolensk, his father was the commander of the Red Army. And before becoming anyone in this life, choosing his profession and deciding on his place in society, Vasiliev became a soldier, like many of his peers.

“Tomorrow there was war” is a work about the pre-war period. Its main characters are still very young students of the 9th grade, the book tells about their growing up, love and friendship, idealistic youth, which turned out to be too short due to the outbreak of the war. The work tells about the first serious confrontation and choice, about the collapse of hopes, about the inevitable growing up. And all this against the backdrop of an looming, grave threat that cannot be stopped or avoided. And within a year, these boys and girls will find themselves in the heat of a fierce battle, in which many of them are destined to burn. However, in their short lives they learn what honor, duty, friendship and truth are.

"Hot Snow"

A novel by front-line writer Yuri Vasilyevich Bondarev. The Great Patriotic War is particularly widely represented in the literature of this writer and became the main motive of all his work. But Bondarev’s most famous work is the novel “Hot Snow,” written in 1970. The action of the work takes place in December 1942 near Stalingrad. The novel is based on real events - the attempt of the German army to relieve Paulus's sixth army, surrounded at Stalingrad. This battle was decisive in the battle for Stalingrad. The book was filmed by G. Yegiazarov.

The novel begins with the fact that two artillery platoons under the command of Davlatyan and Kuznetsov have to gain a foothold on the Myshkova River, and then hold back the advance of German tanks rushing to the rescue of Paulus’s army.

After the first wave of the offensive, Lieutenant Kuznetsov’s platoon has one gun and three soldiers left. Nevertheless, the soldiers continue to repel the onslaught of enemies for another day.

"The Fate of Man"

“The Fate of Man” is a school work that is studied within the framework of the topic “The Great Patriotic War in Literature.” The story was written by the famous Soviet writer Mikhail Sholokhov in 1957.

The work describes the life of a simple driver Andrei Sokolov, who had to leave his family and home with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. However, before the hero gets to the front, he is immediately wounded and ends up in Nazi captivity, and then in a concentration camp. Thanks to his courage, Sokolov manages to survive captivity, and at the end of the war he manages to escape. Having reached his family, he receives leave and goes to his small homeland, where he learns that his family died, only his son survived, who went to war. Andrei returns to the front and learns that his son was shot by a sniper on the last day of the war. However, this is not the end of the hero’s story; Sholokhov shows that even after losing everything, you can find new hope and gain strength in order to live on.

"Brest Fortress"

The book by the famous journalist was written in 1954. For this work the author was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1964. And this is not surprising, because the book is the result of Smirnov’s ten-year work on the history of the defense of the Brest Fortress.

The work “Brest Fortress” (Sergei Smirnov) is itself a part of history. Writing literally bit by bit he collected information about the defenders, wanting their good names and honor not to be forgotten. Many of the heroes were captured, for which they were convicted after the end of the war. And Smirnov wanted to protect them. The book contains many memories and testimonies of participants in the battles, which fills the book with true tragedy, full of courageous and decisive actions.

"The Living and the Dead"

The Great Patriotic War in the literature of the 20th century describes the life of ordinary people who, by the will of fate, turned out to be heroes and traitors. This cruel time ground many, and only a few managed to slip between the millstones of history.

“The Living and the Dead” is the first book in the famous trilogy of the same name by Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov. The second two parts of the epic are called “Soldiers Are Not Born” and “The Last Summer.” The first part of the trilogy was published in 1959.

Many critics consider the work one of the brightest and most talented examples of describing the Great Patriotic War in the literature of the 20th century. At the same time, the epic novel is not a historiographical work or a chronicle of the war. The characters in the book are fictional people, although they have certain prototypes.

“War does not have a woman’s face”

Literature dedicated to the Great Patriotic War usually describes the exploits of men, sometimes forgetting that women also contributed to the overall victory. But the book of the Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, one might say, restores historical justice. The writer collected in her work the stories of those women who took part in the Great Patriotic War. The title of the book was the first lines of the novel “War Under the Roofs” by A. Adamovich.

“Not on the lists”

Another story whose theme was the Great Patriotic War. In Soviet literature, Boris Vasiliev, whom we already mentioned above, was quite famous. But he gained this fame precisely thanks to his military work, one of which is the story “Not on the Lists.”

The book was written in 1974. The action takes place in the Brest Fortress itself, besieged by fascist invaders. Lieutenant Nikolai Pluzhnikov, the main character of the work, ends up in this fortress before the start of the war - he arrived on the night of June 21-22. And at dawn the battle begins. Nikolai has the opportunity to leave here, since his name is not on any military list, but he decides to stay and defend his homeland to the end.

"Babi Yar"

Anatoly Kuznetsov published the documentary novel “Babi Yar” in 1965. The work is based on the childhood memories of the author, who during the war found himself in German-occupied territory.

The novel begins with a short introduction by the author, a short introductory chapter and several chapters, which are combined into three parts. The first part tells about the withdrawal of retreating Soviet troops from Kyiv, the collapse of the Southwestern Front and the beginning of the occupation. Also included were scenes of the execution of Jews, the explosions of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and Khreshchatyk.

The second part is completely devoted to the occupation life of 1941-1943, the deportation of Russians and Ukrainians as workers to Germany, the famine, clandestine production, and Ukrainian nationalists. The final part of the novel tells about the liberation of the Ukrainian land from the German occupiers, the flight of the police, the battle for the city, and the uprising in the Babi Yar concentration camp.

"The Tale of a Real Man"

Literature about the Great Patriotic War also includes the work of another Russian writer who went through the war as a military journalist, Boris Polevoy. The story was written in 1946, that is, almost immediately after the end of hostilities.

The plot is based on an event from the life of USSR military pilot Alexei Meresyev. Its prototype was a real character, the hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Maresyev, who, like his hero, was a pilot. The story tells how he was shot down in battle with the Germans and seriously wounded. As a result of the accident, he lost both legs. However, his willpower was so great that he managed to return to the ranks of Soviet pilots.

The work was awarded the Stalin Prize. The story is imbued with humanistic and patriotic ideas.

"Madonna of Ration Bread"

Maria Glushko is a Crimean Soviet writer who went to the front at the beginning of the Second World War. Her book “Madonna with Ration Bread” is about the feat of all mothers who had to survive the Great Patriotic War. The heroine of the work is a very young girl, Nina, whose husband is going to war, and she, at the insistence of her father, goes to be evacuated to Tashkent, where her stepmother and brother are waiting for her. The heroine is in the last stages of pregnancy, but this will not protect her from the flow of human troubles. And in a short time, Nina will have to learn what was previously hidden from her behind the prosperity and tranquility of her pre-war existence: people live so differently in the country, what life principles, values, attitudes they have, how they differ from her, who grew up in ignorance and prosperity. But the main thing that the heroine has to do is to give birth to a child and save him from all the scourges of war.

"Vasily Terkin"

Literature portrayed such characters as the heroes of the Great Patriotic War to the reader in different ways, but the most memorable, cheerful and charismatic, undoubtedly, was Vasily Terkin.

This poem by Alexander Tvardovsky, which began publication in 1942, immediately received popular love and recognition. The work was written and published throughout the Second World War, the last part was published in 1945. The main task of the poem was to maintain the morale of the soldiers, and Tvardovsky successfully accomplished this task, largely thanks to the image of the main character. The daring and cheerful Terkin, who is always ready for battle, won the hearts of many ordinary soldiers. He is the soul of the unit, a cheerful fellow and a jokester, and in battle he is a role model, a resourceful warrior who always achieves his goal. Even being on the verge of death, he continues to fight and is already entering into battle with Death itself.

The work includes a prologue, 30 chapters of main content, divided into three parts, and an epilogue. Each chapter is a short front-line story from the life of the main character.

Thus, we see that the literature of the Soviet period widely covered the exploits of the Great Patriotic War. We can say that this is one of the main themes of the mid and second half of the 20th century for Russian and Soviet writers. This is due to the fact that the entire country was involved in the battle with the German invaders. Even those who were not at the front worked tirelessly in the rear, providing the soldiers with ammunition and provisions.

The theme of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) became one of the main ones in Soviet literature. Many Soviet writers took direct part in hostilities on the front line, some served as a war correspondent, some fought in a partisan detachment... Such iconic authors of the 20th century as Sholokhov, Simonov, Grossman, Erenburg, Astafiev and many others left amazing evidence for us. Each of them had their own war and their own vision of what happened. Some wrote about pilots, some about partisans, some about child heroes, some about documentaries, and some about fiction. They left terrible memories of those fatal events for the country.

This evidence is especially important for modern teenagers and children who should definitely read these books. Memory cannot be bought; it can either not be lost, lost, or restored. And it’s better not to lose. Never! And don't forget about victory.

We decided to compile a list of the TOP 25 most remarkable novels and stories by Soviet writers.

• Ales Adamovich: “The Punishers”
• Victor Astafiev: “Cursed and killed”
• Boris Vasiliev: ""
• Boris Vasiliev: “I wasn’t on the lists”
• Vladimir Bogomolov: “The moment of truth (In August forty-four)”
• Yuri Bondarev: “Hot snow”
• Yuri Bondarev: “The battalions are asking for fire”
• Konstantin Vorobyov: “Killed near Moscow”
• Vasil Bykov: “Sotnikov”
• Vasil Bykov: “Survive until dawn”
• Oles Gonchar: “Flag Bearers”
• Daniil Granin: “My lieutenant”
• Vasily Grossman: “For a just cause”
• Vasily Grossman: “Life and Fate”
• Emmanuel Kazakevich: “Star”
• Emmanuel Kazakevich: “Spring on the Oder”
• Valentin Kataev: “Son of the regiment”
• Viktor Nekrasov: “In the trenches of Stalingrad”
• Vera Panova: “Satellites”
• Fyodor Panferov: “In the land of the vanquished”
• Valentin Pikul: “Requiem for the PQ-17 caravan”
• Anatoly Rybakov: “Children of Arbat”
• Konstantin Simonov: “The Living and the Dead”
• Mikhail Sholokhov: “They fought for their Motherland”
• Ilya Erenburg: "Storm"

More about the Great Patriotic War The Great Patriotic War was the bloodiest event in world history, which claimed the lives of millions of people. Almost every Russian family has veterans, front-line soldiers, blockade survivors, people who survived the occupation or evacuation to the rear; this leaves an indelible mark on the entire nation.

The Second World War was the final part of World War II, which rolled like a heavy roller throughout the European part of the Soviet Union. June 22, 1941 became its starting point - on this day, German and allied troops began bombing our territories, launching the implementation of the “Barbarossa Plan”. Until November 18, 1942, the entire Baltic region, Ukraine and Belarus were occupied, Leningrad was blocked for 872 days, and troops continued to rush deep into the country to capture its capital. Soviet commanders and military personnel were able to stop the offensive at the cost of heavy casualties both in the army and among the local population. From the occupied territories, the Germans drove the population into slavery en masse, distributed Jews into concentration camps, where, in addition to unbearable living and working conditions, they practiced various types of research on people, which resulted in many deaths.

In 1942-1943, Soviet factories evacuated deep to the rear were able to increase production, which allowed the army to launch a counteroffensive and push the front line to the western border of the country. The key event in this period is the Battle of Stalingrad, in which the victory of the Soviet Union became a turning point that changed the existing balance of military forces.

In 1943–1945, the Soviet army went on the offensive, recapturing the occupied territories of right-bank Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states. During the same period, a partisan movement flared up in the not yet liberated territories, in which many local residents, including women and children, took part. The final goal of the offensive was Berlin and the final defeat of the enemy armies; this happened late in the evening of May 8, 1945, when the act of surrender was signed.

Among the front-line soldiers and defenders of the Motherland were many key Soviet writers - Sholokhov, Grossman, Ehrenburg, Simonov and others. Later they would write books and novels, leaving their descendants with their vision of that war in the images of heroes - children and adults, soldiers and partisans. All this today allows our contemporaries to remember the terrible price of a peaceful sky above our heads, which was paid by our people.

I. Introduction

II. Literature during the Second World War

Sh. Art during the Second World War

3.1. Cinematography and theatrical art.

3.2. Propaganda poster as the main form of fine art during the Second World War.

I. Introduction

During the Great Patriotic War, the struggle for freedom and independence of the Motherland became the main content of the life of Soviet people. This struggle required them to exert extreme spiritual and physical strength. And it was precisely the mobilization of the spiritual forces of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War that was the main task of our literature and our art, which became a powerful means of patriotic agitation.

II. Literature during the Second World War

The Great Patriotic War was a difficult test that befell the Russian people. The literature of that time could not remain aloof from this event.

So on the first day of the war, at a rally of Soviet writers, the following words were spoken: “Every Soviet writer is ready to give everything, his strength, all his experience and talent, all his blood, if necessary, to the cause of the holy people’s war against the enemies of our Motherland.” These words were justified. From the very beginning of the war, writers felt “mobilized and called upon.” About two thousand writers went to the front, more than four hundred of them did not return. These are A. Gaidar, E. Petrov, Y. Krymov, M. Jalil; M. Kulchitsky, V. Bagritsky, P. Kogan died very young.

Front-line writers fully shared with their people both the pain of retreat and the joy of victory. Georgy Suvorov, a front-line writer who died shortly before the victory, wrote: “We lived our good life as people, and for people.”

Writers lived the same life with the fighting people: they froze in the trenches, went on the attack, performed feats and... wrote.

Russian literature of the Second World War period became literature of one theme - the theme of war, the theme of the Motherland. The writers felt like “trench poets” (A. Surkov), and all literature as a whole, in the apt expression of A. Tolstov, was “the voice of the heroic soul of the people.” The slogan “All forces to defeat the enemy!” directly related to writers. Writers of the war years mastered all types of literary weapons: lyricism and satire, epic and drama. Nevertheless, the lyricists and publicists said the first word.

Poems were published by the central and front-line press, broadcast on the radio along with information about the most important military and political events, and sounded from numerous improvised stages at the front and in the rear. Many poems were copied into front-line notebooks and learned by heart. The poems “Wait for me” by Konstantin Simonov, “Dugout” by Alexander Surkov, “Ogonyok” by Isakovsky gave rise to numerous poetic responses. The poetic dialogue between writers and readers testified that during the war years a cordial contact unprecedented in the history of our poetry was established between poets and the people. Spiritual closeness with the people is the most remarkable and exceptional feature of the lyrics of 1941-1945.

Homeland, war, death and immortality, hatred of the enemy, military brotherhood and camaraderie, love and loyalty, the dream of victory, thinking about the fate of the people - these are the main motives of military poetry. In the poems of Tikhonov, Surkov, Isakovsky, Tvardovsky one can hear anxiety for the fatherland and merciless hatred of the enemy, the bitterness of loss and the awareness of the cruel necessity of war.

During the war, the feeling of homeland intensified. Torn away from their favorite activities and native places, millions of Soviet people seemed to take a new look at their familiar native lands, at the home where they were born, at themselves, at their people. This was reflected in poetry: heartfelt poems appeared about Moscow by Surkov and Gusev, about Leningrad by Tikhonov, Olga Berggolts, and about the Smolensk region by Isakovsky.

Love for the fatherland and hatred for the enemy is the inexhaustible and only source from which our lyrics drew their inspiration during the Second World War. The most famous poets of that time were: Nikolai Tikhonov, Alexander Tvardovsky, Alexey Surkov, Olga Berggolts, Mikhail Isakovsky, Konstantin Simonov.

In the poetry of the war years, three main genre groups of poems can be distinguished: lyrical (ode, elegy, song), satirical and lyrical-epic (ballads, poems).

During the Great Patriotic War, not only poetic genres developed, but also prose. It is represented by journalistic and essay genres, war stories and heroic stories. Journalistic genres are very diverse: articles, essays, feuilletons, appeals, letters, leaflets.

Articles written by: Leonov, Alexey Tolstoy, Mikhail Sholokhov, Vsevolod Vishnevsky, Nikolai Tikhonov. With their articles they instilled high civic feelings, taught an uncompromising attitude towards fascism, and revealed the true face of the “organizers of the new order.” Soviet writers contrasted fascist false propaganda with great human truth. Hundreds of articles presented irrefutable facts about the atrocities of the invaders, quoted letters, diaries, testimonies of prisoners of war, named names, dates, numbers, and made references to secret documents, orders and instructions of the authorities. In their articles, they told the harsh truth about the war, supported the people's bright dream of victory, and called for perseverance, courage and perseverance. "Not a step further!" - this is how Alexei Tolstov’s article “Moscow is threatened by an enemy” begins.

Journalism had a huge influence on all genres of wartime literature, and above all on the essay. From the essays, the world first learned about the immortal names of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Liza Chaikina, Alexander Matrosov, and about the feat of the Young Guards who preceded the novel “The Young Guard.” Very common in 1943-1945 was an essay about the feat of a large group of people. Thus, essays appear about the U-2 night aviation (Simonov), about the heroic Komsomol (Vishnevsky), and many others. The essays on the heroic home front are portrait sketches. Moreover, from the very beginning, writers pay attention not so much to the fate of individual heroes, but to mass labor heroism. Most often, Marietta Shaginyan, Kononenko, Karavaeva, and Kolosov wrote about people on the home front.

The defense of Leningrad and the battle of Moscow were the reason for the creation of a number of event essays, which represent an artistic chronicle of military operations. This is evidenced by the essays: “Moscow. November 1941” by Lidin, “July - December” by Simonov.

During the Great Patriotic War, works were also created in which the main attention was paid to the fate of man in war. Human happiness and war - this is how one can formulate the basic principle of such works as “Simply Love” by V. Vasilevskaya, “It Was in Leningrad” by A. Chakovsky, “The Third Chamber” by Leonidov.

In 1942, V. Nekrasov’s war story “In the Trenches of Stalingrad” appeared. This was the first work of a then unknown front-line writer, who rose to the rank of captain, who fought at Stalingrad all the long days and nights, participated in its defense, in the terrible and back-breaking battles waged by our army

The war became a great misfortune and misfortune for everyone. But it is precisely at this time that people show their moral essence, “it (war) is like a litmus test, like some kind of special manifestation.” For example, Valega is an illiterate person, “...reads syllables, and ask him what his homeland is, he, by God, won’t really explain. But for this homeland... he will fight to the last bullet. And the cartridges will run out - with fists, teeth...” The battalion commander Shiryaev and Kerzhentsev are doing everything possible to save as many human lives as possible in order to fulfill their duty. They are contrasted in the novel with the image of Kaluzhsky, who thinks only about not getting to the front line; the author also condemns Abrosimov, who believes that if a task is set, then it must be completed, despite any losses, throwing people under the destructive fire of machine guns.

Reading the story, you feel the author’s faith in the Russian soldier, who, despite all the suffering, troubles, and failures, has no doubts about the justice of the liberation war. The heroes of the story by V. P. Nekrasov live in faith in a future victory and are ready to give their lives for it without hesitation.

Sh. Art during the Second World War

The Great Patriotic War revealed to the artist’s gaze a wealth of material that concealed enormous moral and aesthetic riches. The mass heroism of people has given so much to art as human studies that the gallery of folk characters that was started in those years is constantly replenished with new and new figures. The most acute collisions of life, during which the ideas of loyalty to the Fatherland, courage and duty, love and camaraderie were revealed with particular vividness, are capable of nourishing the plans of the masters of the present and future.

3.1. Cinematography and theatrical art.

A major role in the development of art, starting from the first war years, was played by the theatrical dramaturgy of A. Korneychuk, K. Simonov, L. Leonov and others. Based on their plays “Partisans in the steppes of Ukraine”, “Front”, “The Guy from Our City”, “Russian People”, “Invasion” and later films were made based on these plays.

Propaganda and journalism, a caricature and a poem, an entry from a front-line notebook and a play published in a newspaper, a novel and a radio speech, a poster figure of the enemy and an image of a mother elevated to pathos, personifying the Motherland - the multi-colored spectrum of art and literature of those years included cinema, where many types and genres martial art melted into visible, plastic images.

During the war years, the meaning of different types movie.

In art, newsreels have come to the forefront as the most efficient form of cinema. A wide spread of documentary filming, prompt release of film magazines and thematic short and full-length films - film documents allowed the chronicle as a type of information and journalism to take a place next to our newspaper periodicals.

The years of the Great Patriotic War... the country experienced days and months of mortal danger, and only the colossal tension of patriotic forces, the mobilization of all reserves of spirit helped to avert a terrible disaster. “The Great Patriotic War,” wrote G.K. Zhukov, “was the largest military conflict. It was a nationwide battle against an evil enemy who encroached on the most precious thing that the Soviet people have.”

Art and literature have reached the firing line. “Moral categories,” wrote Alexei Tolstoy, “are acquiring a decisive role in this war. The verb is no longer just a coal burning in a person’s heart, the verb goes on the attack with millions of bayonets, the verb acquires the power of an artillery salvo.”

Konstantin Simonov noted in the pre-war years that “feathers are stamped from the same steel that tomorrow will be used for bayonets.” And when the “brown plague” broke into their home early on a June morning, the writers changed their civilian clothes to a tunic and became army correspondents.

Alexei Surkov has a poem that embodies the moods and feelings of Soviet writers who went to the front. There were over a thousand of them... More than four hundred did not return home.

I walked along the battle-charred boundary,
To reach the hearts of soldiers.
He was his own man in any dugout,
At any fire along the way.

Writers of the war years mastered all types of literary weapons: lyricism and satire, epic and drama.
As during the Civil War, the word of lyric poets and publicist writers became the most effective.

The theme of the lyrics changed dramatically from the very first days of the war. Responsibility for the fate of the Motherland, the bitterness of defeat, hatred of the enemy, perseverance, loyalty to the Fatherland, faith in victory - this is what, under the pen of various artists, was molded into unique poems, ballads, poems, songs.

The leitmotif of the poetry of those years were lines from Alexander Tvardovsky’s poem “To the Partisans of the Smolensk Region”: “Rise up, my entire land is desecrated, against the enemy!” “The Holy War,” usually attributed to Vasily Lebedev-Kumach, conveyed a generalized image of the time, its harsh and courageous breath:

May the rage be noble
Boils like a wave -
There is a people's war going on,
Holy war!

Odic poems, expressing the anger and hatred of the Soviet people, were an oath of allegiance to the Fatherland, a guarantee of victory, and hit the enemy with direct fire. On June 23, 1941, A. Surkov’s poem “We Swear Victory” appeared:

An uninvited guest knocked on our door with a rifle butt.
The breath of a thunderstorm swept over the Fatherland.
Listen, Motherland! In a terrible time of war
Your fighting sons swear victory.

The poets turned to the heroic past of their homeland and drew historical parallels: “The Tale of Russia” by Mikhail Isakovsky, “Rus” by Demyan Bedny, “The Thought of Russia” by Dmitry Kedrin, “Field of Russian Glory” by Sergei Vasiliev.

An organic connection with Russian classical lyric poetry and folk art helped poets reveal the traits of their national character. Vsevolod Vishnevsky noted in his diary of the war years: “The role of national Russian self-awareness and pride is increasing.” Concepts such as Motherland, Rus', Russia, Russian heart, Russian soul, often included in the titles of works of art, acquired unprecedented historical depth and poetic volume. Thus, revealing the character of the heroic defender of the city on the Neva, a Leningrad woman during the siege, Olga Berggolts writes:

You are Russian – with your breath, your blood, your thoughts.
They united in you not yesterday
Avvakum's manly patience
And the royal fury of Peter.

A number of poems convey the soldier’s feeling of love for his “small homeland”, for the house in which he was born. To those “three birches” where he left part of his soul, his pain and joy (“Motherland” by K. Simonov).

A woman-mother, a simple Russian woman, who saw off her husband and sons to the front, who experienced the bitterness of an irreparable loss, who bore on her shoulders inhuman hardships and hardships, but who did not lose faith - for many years she will wait for those from the war who will never return - The poets dedicated heartfelt lines:

I remembered every porch,
Where did you have to go?
I remembered all the women's faces,
Like your own mother.
They shared bread with us -
Is it wheat, rye, -
They took us out to the steppe
A secret path.
Our pain hurt them, -
Your own trouble doesn't count.
(A. Tvardovsky “The Ballad of a Comrade”)

M. Isakovsky’s poems “To a Russian Woman” and lines from K. Simonov’s poem “Do you remember, Alyosha, the roads of the Smolensk region...” sound in the same key:

The bullets still have mercy on you and me.
But, having believed three times that life is all over,
I was still proud of the sweetest one,
For the Russian land where I was born.
Because I was destined to die on it,
That a Russian mother gave birth to us,
What, accompanying us into battle, is a Russian woman
She hugged me three times in Russian.

The harsh truth of the times, faith in the victory of the Soviet people permeate the poems of A. Prokofiev (“Comrade, have you seen…”), A. Tvardovsky (“The Ballad of a Comrade”) and many other poets.
The work of a number of major poets is undergoing a serious evolution. Thus, Anna Akhmatova’s muse acquires a tone of high citizenship and patriotic sound. In the poem “Courage,” the poetess finds words and images that embody the invincible resilience of the fighting people, sounding with the power of a majestic chorale:

We know what's on the scales now
And what is happening now.
The hour of courage has struck on our watch.
And courage will not leave us.
It's not scary to lie dead under bullets,
It’s not bitter to be homeless, -

And we will save you, Russian speech,
Great Russian word.
We will carry you free and clean.
We will give it to our grandchildren and save us from captivity
Forever!

The fighting people needed both angry lines of hatred and heartfelt poems about love and fidelity in equal measure. That is why K. Simonov’s poems “Kill him!”, “Wait for me, and I will return...”, A. Prokofiev’s angry poem “Comrade, have you seen...”, and his poem “Russia”, filled with love for the Motherland, were widely popular. Often both of these motives merge together, gaining greater emotional power.

The poets' lines addressed to one person - to a soldier, to a loved one - simultaneously embodied the thoughts and feelings of many. It is about this, piercingly personal and at the same time close to the entire military generation, that the words of the famous “Dugout” by A. Surkov are about:

You're far, far away now
Between us there is snow and snow,
It's not easy for me to reach you,
And there are four steps to death.

Strong feelings are evoked by the poems of young poets for whom the war was the first and last test in their lives. Georgy Suvorov, Mikhail Kulchitsky and many other talented young men did not return from the battlefield. In the winter of 1942, Nikolai Mayorov, a political instructor of a machine gun company and a student at Moscow University, died in the Smolensk forests. Lines from the poem “We,” which he wrote back in 1940 and prophetically bequeathed to those following:

We were tall, brown-haired.
You will read in books like a myth,
About people who left without loving,
Without finishing the last cigarette... -

They will forever remain a poetic monument to his generation.

Wartime songs are extremely diverse in terms of genre. Thoughts and feelings conveyed in poems set to music sound especially clearly and acquire additional emotional power. The theme of the sacred struggle against the fascist invaders becomes the main one for the anthem songs. Written in a solemnly upbeat tone, designed to create a generalized symbolic image of the fighting people, devoid of everyday details and details, these hymns sounded stern and solemn.

During times of difficult hard times, a Soviet person’s sense of homeland becomes more intense. The image of Russia with its open spaces, fields and forests of fabulous beauty acquires either a romantic-sublime or a lyrical-intimate sound in songs based on poems by A. Prokofiev, E. Dolmatovsky, A. Zharov, A. Churkin and many other poets. Particularly popular were lyrical songs based on the words of M. Isakovsky, A. Fatyanov, A. Surkov, K. Simonov and other poets, dedicated to friendship, love, fidelity, separation and the happiness of meeting - everything that excited and warmed a soldier far from home (“Dugout” by A. Surkov, “Spark” by M. Isakovsky, “Dark Night” by V. Agatov, “Evening on the Roadstead” by A. Churkin); poems about military everyday life, humorous, set to the melodies of soulful Russian songs, ditties, and waltzes. Such works as “Roads” by L. Oshanin, “Here the Soldiers Are Coming” by M. Lvovsky, “Nightingales” by A. Fatyanov and others were constantly broadcast on the radio and performed during concerts at the front and in the rear.

The growing solidarity of peoples bound by the unity of a socio-historical goal determines the strengthening of mutual influence and mutual enrichment of national literatures. In front-line conditions, interethnic communication became especially close, and the friendship of peoples became even stronger. The writers revealed the spiritual values ​​that were born in the joint struggle against fascism.

The theme of national feat inspired poets of the older generation (Maxim Rylsky, Pavlo Tychyna, Yanka Kupala, Dzhambul Dzhabayev, Georgy Leonidze and others) and very young ones, whose poetic voices grew stronger during the testing years (Maxim Tank, Kaisyn Kuliev, Arkady Kuleshov and others). The title of the book by the Latvian poet J. Sudrabkaln “In a Brotherly Family” is more than a designation for a collection of poems; it reflects the core themes of wartime poetry - friendship of peoples, internationalist, humanistic ideas. In this vein, works of various genres were created: lyrics and heroic-romantic ballads, song-legends and lyrical-journalistic poems.

The consciousness of the justice of the fight against fascism cements the strength of people of all nationalities. The Estonian poet Ralf Parve, in his poem “At the Crossroads” (1945), expressed the idea of ​​military cooperation at the fiery crossroads of the Great Patriotic War:

We came from different divisions.
Here is a Latvian - he defended Moscow,
Dark-skinned native of Kutaisi,
The Russian who treated me to makhorka,
A Belarusian and a Ukrainian are nearby,
The Siberian who walked from Stalingrad,
And the Estonian... We came for that
May happiness smile on everyone!

The Uzbek poet Hamid Alimdzhan wrote in his poem “Russia” (1943):

O Russia! Russia! Your son, not my guest.
You are my native land, my father’s shelter.
I am your son, flesh of your flesh, bone of bone, -
And I am ready to shed my blood for you.

The ideas of friendship between peoples also inspired the Tatar poet Adel Kutuy:

I am on the shore of the Russian capital.
For the Tatar capital to live.

The unity of feelings and thoughts of the peoples of the country was evidenced by their careful attitude to cultural traditions, to the treasury of spiritual values, and the ability to poetically perceive the nature of not only their native land, but also that of foreign countries. That is why, in a high and pure moral atmosphere, even a fragile branch of lilac, as A. Kutuy told about it in the poem “Morning Thoughts” (1942), grows into a symbol of indestructibility:

How I love spring Leningrad,
Your avenues have a proud glow,
The immortal beauty of your communities,
Your dawn fragrance!

Here I stand, clutching a machine gun,
And I say to my enemies on spring day:
- Do you hear the lilac scent?
Victory in this lilac scent!

A heightened sense of homeland fueled the flames of righteous anger and inspired the Soviet people to heroic deeds in battle and labor. Hence the constant motif of Georgian poets’ dear Kartli (the ancient name of Georgia), Vladimir Sosyura’s glorification of his beloved Ukraine, and the inspired paintings of Polesie and Belovezhskaya Pushcha by Belarusian poets. All this gave birth, using the dictionary of Yakub Kolas, to “consonance and harmony” of the small and large Fatherland in the mind of the lyrical hero:

There is only one homeland in the world. Know that there are no two, -
There is only the one where your cradle hung.
There is only one who gave you faith and purpose,
The one who overshadows your difficult path with stellar glory...
(Valdis Luks, “Leaving for Battle Today”)

In 1944, when the Soviet Army, having liberated Poland and Bulgaria, was already reaching the borders of the Elbe, the poet Sergei Narovchatov wrote:

It’s not a word that bursts into a word:
From the Urals to the Balkans
The brotherhood is growing stronger, formidable again,
The glorious brotherhood of the Slavs.
(from the series “Polish Poems”)

The Kazakh poet A. Sarsenbaev spoke about the humane mission of the Soviet victorious soldiers:

This is the glory of Russian soldiers,
These are our great-grandfathers’ countries...
Like they were many years ago,
We are passing the ridge of the Balkans...
And the road winds like a snake,
Crawling through dangerous places,
Old battle monument
Foretells victory for us.

Commonwealth in the common struggle against fascism, internationalism - these themes are embodied in the works of many poets.

The era of the Great Patriotic War gave birth to poetry of remarkable strength and sincerity, angry journalism, harsh prose, and passionate drama.

The accusatory satirical art of that time was born as an expression of the humanism and generosity of Soviet people who defended humanity from the fascist hordes. Ditties, proverbs, sayings, fables, satirical rehashes, epigrams - the entire arsenal of witticisms was adopted. The sarcastic inscription or signature under the TASS Window poster or caricature was exceptionally effective.

D. Bedny, V. Lebedev-Kumach, A. Tvardovsky, A. Prokofiev, A. Zharov and a whole galaxy of front-line satirists and humorists successfully performed in the genre of satirical miniatures. Not a single significant event at the front passed without leaving a trace for satirists. The defeat of the Nazis on the Volga and near Leningrad, in Crimea and Ukraine, daring partisan raids on enemy rear lines, confusion and confusion in the camp of the Hitlerite coalition, the decisive weeks of the battle in Berlin - all this was wittily and accurately recorded in satirical verse. Here is the quatrain “In the Crimea”, characteristic of the style of D. Bedny the satirist:

- What is this? – Hitler howled, his eyes squinting in fear. –
Lost - Sivash, and Perekop, and Kerch!
A storm is coming towards us from Crimea!
Not a storm, you vile bastard, but a tornado!

All means of comic exaggeration were used in order to finally deal with the enemy. This goal was served by ironic stylizations in the spirit of ancient romances, madrigals, folk tunes, skillfully caricatured scenes, and dialogues. The poet Argo came up with a series of “Epitaphs for Future Use” on the pages of “Crocodile”. “The pot-bellied Goering in a blue uniform,” which net weighs “one hundred twenty-four, with orders one hundred and twenty-five kilos,” Rommel, raging under the African sky, who, “so as not to be dragged out of the grave,” had to be “crushed down with a grave slab,” finally, the champion According to lies, Goebbels is the object of the poet’s satirical pen.

We find the embodiment of the fundamental social, moral, humanistic ideals of the fighting people from the standpoint of in-depth historicism and nationalism in such a large epic genre as the poem. The years of the Great Patriotic War became no less fruitful for the poem than the era of the 1920s. “Kirov with us” (1941) by N. Tikhonova, “Zoya” (1942) by M. Aliger, “Son” (1943) by P. Antakolsky, “February Diary” (1942) by O. Berggolts, “Pulkovo Meridian” (1943) V. Inber, “Vasily Terkin” (1941–1945) by A. Tvardovsky - these are the best examples of the poetic epic of the war years.
In the poem as a synthetic genre there is both everyday life and a panoramic picture of the era, written out with all the specific details - from wrinkles and rowan spots on a person’s face to the famous quilted jackets and train cars, individual human fate and thoughts about great history, about the fate of the country and the planet in the mid-twentieth century.

The evolution of the poets P. Antakolsky and V. Inber is indicative. From the oversaturation of associations and reminiscences of pre-war poetry, P. Antakolsky boldly moves on to stern and simple verse. The poem “Son” captivates with its combination of lyricism with high pathos, soulful sincerity with a civic principle:

...Snow. Snow. Debris of snow. Hills.
Thickets covered with snow caps up to the eyebrows.
Cold smoke of the nomad. The smell of grief.
The grief becomes more and more inexorable, the more dead.
Front edge. Eastern Front of Europe –
This is the meeting place for our sons.

High civic pathos and social and philosophical reflections determine the sound of V. Inber’s military poetry. Already in the first chapter of “Pulkovo Meridian” the credo of the entire work is contained:

Rid the world, the planet from the plague -
This is humanism! And we are humanists.

In the poetic arsenal of N. Tikhonov, the gunpowder of the civil war era has not become damp. In the embossed lines of the poem “Kirov is with us,” the image of the leader of the city on the Neva rises as a symbol of the unbending courage of the heroic Leningraders:

Houses and fences are broken,
The ruined vault gapes,
In the iron nights of Leningrad
Kirov is walking through the city.
“Let our soups be watery,
Let bread become worth its weight in gold, -
We will stand like steel.
Then we will have time to get tired.

The enemy could not overpower us by force,
He wants to starve us,
Take Leningrad from Russia,
It's full of Leningraders to pick up.
This won't happen forever
On the Neva holy bank,
Working Russian people
If they die, they will not surrender to the enemy.

The poem of the war years was distinguished by a variety of stylistic, plot and compositional solutions. N. Tikhonov’s poem “Kirov is with us” is marked by a strictly consistent ballad-narrative structure. “Russia” by A. Prokofiev was created using folk poetics, melodious and free-flowing Russian verse:

How many stars are blue, how many are blue.
How many showers have passed, how many thunderstorms.
Nightingale Throat – Russia,
White-legged birch forests.

Yes, a broad Russian song,
Suddenly from some paths and paths
Immediately splashed into the sky,
In the native way, in the Russian way - excitedly...

The lyrical and journalistic poem synthesizes the principles and techniques of narrative and sublimely romantic style. M. Aliger's poem “Zoe” is marked by the amazing unity of the author with the spiritual world of the heroine. It inspiredly and accurately embodies moral maximalism and integrity, truth and simplicity.

Moscow schoolgirl Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, without hesitation, voluntarily chooses a harsh fate. What are the origins of Zoya’s feat, her spiritual victory? A. Tvardovsky, reflecting on what shaped the worldview of people in the 1930s, noted: “This is not the war. Whatever it was... gave birth to these people, and then... what happened before the war. And the war revealed and brought to light these qualities of people” (from the poet’s diary of 1940, which contained the original plan of “Vasily Terkin”).

The poem “Zoya” is not so much a biography of the heroine as a lyrical confession on behalf of a generation whose youth coincided with a formidable and tragic time in the history of the people. This is why the poem so often has intimate conversations with the young heroine:

Girl, what is happiness?
Have we figured it out...

At the same time, the three-part structure of the poem conveys the main stages in the formation of the heroine’s spiritual appearance. At the beginning of the poem, with light but precise strokes, the appearance of the “long-legged” girl is outlined. Gradually, a large social theme enters into the wonderful world of her youth (“We lived in the world light and spacious…”), a sensitive heart absorbs the anxieties and pain of the “shocked planet.” Here openly journalistic lines invade the lyrical structure of the poem:

An alarming sky swirls above us.
The war is coming to your bedside,
And we no longer have to pay our dues in rubles,
Or maybe with your own life and blood.

The final part of the poem becomes the apotheosis of a short but wonderful life. The inhuman torture that Zoya is subjected to in a fascist dungeon is spoken sparingly, but powerfully, with journalistic poignancy. The name and image of the Moscow schoolgirl, whose life was cut short so tragically early, have become a legend:

And already almost above the snow,
Rushing forward with a light body,
The girl takes her last steps
Walks barefoot into immortality.

That is why in the finale of the poem it is so natural to identify Zoe’s appearance with the ancient goddess of victory - the winged Nike.

“Vasily Terkin” by A. Tvardovsky is the largest, most significant poetic work of the Great Patriotic War era. If in A. Prokofiev’s lyric-epic poem “Russia” the image of the Motherland, its most poetic landscapes are in the foreground, and the characters (mortar brothers Shumov) are depicted in a symbolically generalized manner, then Tvardovsky achieved a synthesis of the particular and the general: the individual image of Vasily Terkin and the image of the homeland are of different sizes in the artistic concept of the poem. This is a multifaceted poetic work, covering not only all aspects of front-line life, but also the main stages of the Great Patriotic War.

The immortal image of Vasily Terkin embodied with particular force the features of the Russian national character of that era. Democracy and moral purity, greatness and simplicity of the hero are revealed by means of folk poetry; the structure of thoughts and feelings of the hero is akin to the world of images of Russian folklore.

In the era of the Patriotic War of 1812, much, according to L. Tolstoy, was determined by the “hidden warmth of patriotism.” Mass heroism, such as the history of mankind has never known, mental strength, fortitude, courage, and the immense love of the people for the Fatherland were revealed with particular fullness during the Great Patriotic War. A heightened patriotic, social and moral principle determined the structure of thoughts and actions of the soldiers of the Soviet Army. Writers and publicists of those years told about this.

The greatest masters of words - A. Tolstoy, L. Leonov, M. Sholokhov - also became outstanding publicists. The bright, temperamental words of I. Ehrenburg were popular at the front and in the rear. An important contribution to the journalism of those years was made by A. Fadeev, V. Vishnevsky, N. Tikhonov.

The art of journalism has gone through several main stages in four years. If in the first months of the war it was characterized by a nakedly rationalistic manner, often abstract and schematic ways of depicting the enemy, then at the beginning of 1942 journalism was enriched with elements of psychological analysis. The fiery word of the publicist also contains a rallying note. And an appeal to the spiritual world of a person.

The next stage coincided with a turning point in the course of the war, with the need for an in-depth socio-political examination of the fascist front and rear, clarification of the root causes of the approaching defeat of Hitlerism and the inevitability of fair retribution. These circumstances prompted the use of such genres as pamphlets and reviews.
At the final stage of the war, a tendency towards documentary appeared. For example, in TASS Windows, along with the graphic design of posters, the method of photomontage was widely used. Writers and poets included diary entries, letters, photographs and other documentary evidence into their works.

Journalism during the war years is a qualitatively different stage in the development of this martial and effective art, compared to previous periods. The deepest optimism, unshakable faith in victory - that’s what supported the publicists even in the most difficult times. Their appeal to history and to the national sources of patriotism gave their speeches special power. An important feature of journalism of that time was the widespread use of leaflets, posters, and caricatures.

During the four years of war, prose underwent significant evolution. Initially, the war was covered in a sketchy, schematic, fictionalized version. These are the numerous stories and tales of the summer, autumn, and early winter of 1942. Later, front-line reality was comprehended by writers in the complex dialectic of the heroic and the everyday.

Already in the first two years of the war, over two hundred stories were published. Of all the prose genres, only the essay and story could compete in popularity with the story. The story is an unusual genre for Western European literature (many of them do not know the term “story” itself. And if it occurs, as, for example, in Polish literature, it means “novel”), and is very characteristic of the Russian national tradition.

In the 20-30s, psychological-everyday, adventure and satirical-humorous varieties of the genre dominated. During the Great Patriotic War (as well as during the Civil War), the heroic, romantic story came first.

The desire to reveal the harsh and bitter truth of the first months of the war, achievements in the field of creating heroic characters are marked by “Russian Tale” (1942) by Pyotr Pavlenko and Vasily Grossman’s story “The People are Immortal.” However, there are differences between these works in the way the theme is embodied. In P. Pavlenko, the event-plot element dominates the disclosure of the psychology of war. In the story “The People Are Immortal,” the images of ordinary soldiers and officers are recreated incomparably more fully and deeply.

Wanda Vasilevskaya wrote the stories “Rainbow” and “Simply Love”. “Rainbow” captures the tragedy of Ukraine, devastated and bleeding, popular hatred of the invaders, the fate of the courageous partisan Olena Kostyuk, who did not bow her head to the executioners.

A characteristic feature of military prose of 1942 - 1943 is the appearance of short stories, cycles of stories connected by the unity of characters, the image of the narrator, or a lyrical through theme. This is exactly how “Stories of Ivan Sudarev” by Alexei Tolstoy, “Sea Soul” by L. Sobolev, “March–April” by V. Kozhevnikov are constructed. The drama in these works is shaded by a lyrical and at the same time sublimely poetic, romantic feature, which helps to reveal the spiritual beauty of the hero. Penetration into the inner world of a person deepens. The socio-ethical origins of patriotism are revealed more convincingly and artistically.

In the soldier's trench, in the naval cockpit, a special feeling of solidarity was born - front-line brotherhood. L. Sobolev in the cycle of stories “Sea Soul” creates a series of portrait sketches of sailor heroes; each of them is the personification of courage and perseverance. It is no coincidence that one of the heroes of the short story “Battalion of Four” addresses the fighters: “One sailor is a sailor, two sailors are a platoon, three sailors are a company... Battalion, listen to my command...”

The achievements of these writers were continued and developed by K. Simonov in the story “Days and Nights” - the first major work dedicated to the Battle of the Volga. In “The Unconquered” by B. Gorbatov, using the example of the family of Taras Yatsenko, it is shown how the flame of resistance to the enemy, even in his deep rear, gradually develops into the fire of a nationwide struggle. The image of the officer of the legendary Panfilov division Baurdzhan Momysh-Ula - a skillful and strong-willed commander, a strict professional military leader, a somewhat rationalistic person, but selflessly courageous in battle - is created by A. Bek in the story “Volokolamsk Highway” (1944).

The deepening of historicism, the expansion of temporal and spatial horizons is the undoubted merit of the story of 1943–1944. At the same time, there was an enlargement of the characters. At the center of A. Platonov’s story “Defense of the Seven Dvories” (1943) is peace and war, life and death, duty and feeling. The company of Senior Lieutenant Ageev is waging a fierce battle, attacking a village of seven courtyards captured by the enemy. It would seem like a small bridgehead, but behind it is Russia. The battle is shown as hard, persistent, bloody work. Ageev inspires his subordinates that “in war, the battle is short, but long and constant. And most of all, war consists of labor... The soldier is now not only a warrior, he is the builder of his fortresses...". Reflecting on his place in battle, Ageev assigns a special role to himself, as an officer: “... it’s difficult for our people now - they carry the whole world on their shoulders, so let it be harder for me than everyone else.”

The harsh everyday life and drama of a warrior, comprehended on the scale of large social, moral and philosophical categories, appear from the pages of L. Leonov’s story “The Capture of Velikoshumsk”. The thoughts of the commander of the tank corps, General Litovchenko, as if continuing the thread of thoughts of the hero of the story by A. Platonov, interrupted by a bullet, are a kind of ethical dominant of the book: “Peoples should be studied not at dance festivals, but in hours of military trials, when history peers into the face of a nation, measuring it out suitability for one's lofty goals..."

L. Leonov’s story “The Capture of Velikoshumsk” was written in January–June 1944, when the still strongly snarling, but already noticeably “plucked German eagle” was rolling back to the original lines of 1941. This determined the special meaning and tone of the book, giving its drama a solemn and majestic flavor. And although the role of battle scenes, as befits a work about war, is quite large, it is not they, but the artist’s thoughts and observations that organize the internal structure of the book. For even in the war of “motors,” as the author is convinced, “mortal human flesh is stronger than bar steel.”

At the center of the story is the fate of the tank crew - the legendary T-34. Under its armor, the “iron apartment” number 203 has brought together very different people. Here are the highly experienced tank commander Lieutenant Sobolkov, and the yet-to-be-fired driver-mechanic young Litovchenko, and the silent radio operator Dybok, and the talkative towerman Obryadin - a songwriter, a lover of sharp words and simple earthly pleasures.

The composition of the story is constructed as a combination of two plans of vision of life: from the viewing slit of tank number 203 and from the command post of General Litovchenko (the mechanic's namesake), commander of the tank corps. But there is a third point of understanding reality - from the moral and aesthetic heights of the artist, where both plans are combined.

The author recreates the atmosphere of a tank battle at all its stages: at the moment of the start of the attack, the formidable battle and, finally, the victorious finale, showing what kind of moral and physical stress, tactical art and mastery of vehicles and weapons a modern battle requires. It is as if the reader himself is immersed in the “hot stench of machine combat,” experiencing everything that befalls the soldier who chose as his motto: “Fate does not love those who want to live. And those who want to win!” Feat 203, which ripped open the German rear with a “dagger raid,” paved the way for the victory of the tank corps and helped capture Velikoshumsk.

The picture of the battle for Velikoshumsk takes on the features of a battle between two worlds and is conceptualized as a battle of two polar civilizations. On the one hand, the invasion of a monstrous fascist horde, equipped beyond measure with the most modern technology of destruction, vehicles on which “nails are used to nail babies for targets, quicklime and metal gloves for torturing prisoners...”. On the other hand, the personification of true humanism is the soldiers carrying out the historical mission of liberation. It's not just two that collide here social systems, but the past and future of the planet.

Leonov came close to that exciting topic, which at the same time he embodied in his work the greatest artists of the word A. Tolstoy, M. Sholokhov, A. Tvardovsky - to the origins of our victory, to the problem of national character. The national way of thinking and feeling of the hero, the connection between generations - this is what becomes the subject of the writer’s close study. “...A hero who fulfills his duty is not afraid of anything in the world except oblivion,” writes Leonov. - But he is not afraid when his feat outgrows the size of his debt. Then he himself enters the heart and mind of the people, gives birth to the imitation of thousands, and together with them, like a rock, changes the course of the historical river, becoming a particle of the national character.”

It was in “The Capture of Velikoshumsk”, more than in any other previous work of the artist, that Leonov’s connection with the Russian folklore tradition was revealed with particular completeness and strength. Here is not only the frequent appeal of the heroes of the story to various genres of oral creativity, not only the techniques of sculpting images of tank crews borrowed from the folk poetic tradition - for all their earthly essence, truly epic miracle heroes. Perhaps more important is that the very principles of folk thinking, its moral and aesthetic foundations turned out to be decisive in recreating the inner world of the characters.

“The Capture of Velikoshumsk” by L. Leonov immediately after its publication was perceived as an artistic canvas that is akin to a minor epic. It is no coincidence that one of the French critics noted that in Leonov’s story “there is some kind of solemnity, similar to the fullness of a river; it is monumental...” And this is true, for the past and future of the world, the present day and historical distances were clearly visible from the pages of the story.

In addition, Leonov’s story is a book with a broad philosophical sound. On the scale of such concepts, the soldier’s thoughts (“We, like a chick, hold the fate of progress in our rough palms”) or the final phrase of General Litovchenko, who ordered the heroic machine number 203 to be placed on a high pedestal, did not seem at all overly pathetic: “Let the centuries see who they are.” defended from the whip and slavery..."

By the end of the war, the prose's gravitation towards a broad epic understanding of reality is noticeable. Two artists - M. Sholokhov and A. Fadeev - are especially sensitive to the trend of literature. “They Fought for the Motherland” by Sholokhov and “The Young Guard” by Fadeev are distinguished by their social scale, opening new paths in the interpretation of the theme of war.

M. Sholokhov, true to the nature of his talent, makes a bold attempt to depict the Great Patriotic War as a truly national epic. The very choice of the main characters, private infantry - the grain grower Zvyagintsev, the miner Lopakhin, the agronomist Streltsov - indicates that the writer seeks to show different layers of society, to trace how the people's sea stirred and made a menacing noise in times of severe trials.

The spiritual and moral world of Sholokhov’s heroes is rich and diverse. The artist paints broad pictures of the era: sad episodes of retreats, scenes of violent attacks, relationships between soldiers and civilians, short hours between battles. At the same time, the whole gamut of human experiences can be traced - love and hatred, severity and tenderness, smiles and tears, tragic and comic.

In A. Fadeev’s novel “The Young Guard”, little remains of the former analytical, “Tolstoyian manner” inherent in the author of “Destruction” and “The Last of the Udege”. Fadeev moves away from a fictional narrative and relies on specific facts and documents. At the same time, he writes his novel in colors characteristic of high romantic tragedy, selecting contrasting tones. Good and evil, light and darkness, beautiful and ugly stand at different poles. The boundaries between antagonistic concepts are not just drawn, but, as it were, cut through. The intense, emotionally expressive style fully corresponds to this manner.

Fadeev's book is romantic and at the same time full of the sharp journalistic thoughts of a sociologist and historian. It is based on documentary material and at the same time surprisingly poetic.

The writer gradually unfolds the action. In the first chapter there is a distant echo of anxiety, in the second the drama is shown - people leave their homes, mines are blown up, a feeling of national tragedy permeates the narrative. The underground is crystallizing, connections between the young fighters of Krasnodon and the underground are becoming stronger. The idea of ​​continuity of generations determines the basis of the plot structure of the book. That is why Fadeev devotes such a significant place to the depiction of underground workers - I. Protsenko, F. Lyutikov. Representatives of the older generation and Komsomol Young Guard members act as a single popular force opposing Hitler’s “new order.”

In The Young Guard the role of poetics of contrast is unusually large. The writer alternates a leisurely and detailed narrative, where the main place is given to the analysis of human characters, with a depiction of the dynamism and swiftness of the deployment of military operations on the Don and in the Krasnodon underground itself.

Severe and strict realism coexists with romance, the objectified narrative is interspersed with the excited lyricism of the author's digressions. When recreating individual images, the role of the poetics of contrast is also very significant (Lyutikov’s stern eyes and the sincerity of his nature; the emphatically boyish appearance of Oleg Koshevoy and the not at all childish wisdom of his decisions; the dashing carelessness of Lyubov Shevtsova and the daring courage of her actions, indestructible will). Even in appearance Fadeev’s heroes do not deviate from their favorite technique: Protsenko’s “clear blue eyes” and the “demonic sparks” in them; “severe-tender expression” of Oleg Koshevoy’s eyes; white lily in Ulyana Gromova’s black hair; “blue children’s eyes with a hard steel tint” from Lyubov Shevtsova.

This principle finds its most complete embodiment in a generalized description of young people whose formation occurred in the pre-war years: “The most seemingly incompatible traits are dreaminess and efficiency, flights of fancy and practicality, love of goodness and mercilessness, breadth of soul and sober calculation, passionate love for earthly joys and self-restraint - these seemingly incompatible traits together created the unique appearance of this generation.”

If poetry, journalism and prose of the first years of the war were characterized by a keen interest in a distant historical era, then the attention of the author of “The Young Guard” is attracted by the difficult, heroic era of the 30s as the spiritual and moral soil on which such amazing fruits ripened. The formation of the Young Guards occurred precisely in the 30s, and their rapid maturity in the early 40s. The most significant merit of the writer should be considered his artistically soulful portrayal of the younger generation. First of all, this is Oleg Koshevoy, a civically mature and intelligent person with a natural talent for organizing. These are ordinary members of the underground organization, whose characters are masterfully individualized: the poetic nature of the dreamy, spiritually deep and subtle Ulyana Gromova, the temperamental and recklessly brave Lyubov Shevtsova, Sergei Tyulenin, a boy “with an eagle’s heart,” filled with a thirst for achievement.

The Nazis doomed the Young Guard to inhuman torment and executed them. However, the ominous colors of war cannot overcome the bright, jubilant tones of life. The tragedy remains, but the tragedy of hopelessness has been removed, overcome by sacrifice in the name of the people, in the name of the future of humanity.

DRAMATURGY

Over three hundred plays were created during the war years. Not all of them saw the stage light. Only a few were lucky enough to survive their time. Among them are “Front” by A. Korneychuk, “Invasion” by L. Leonov, “Russian People” by K. Simonov, “Fleet Officer” by A. Kron, “Song of the Black Sea People” by B. Lavrenev, “Stalingraders” by Yu. Chepurin and some others .

The plays that appeared at the very beginning of the war and were created in the wake of pre-war sentiments turned out to be far from the tragic situation of the first months of heavy fighting. It took time for the artists to be able to realize what had happened, evaluate it correctly and illuminate it in a new way. The year 1942 became a turning point in drama.

L. Leonov’s drama “Invasion” was created at the most difficult time. The small town where the events of the play unfold is a symbol of the national struggle against the invaders. The significance of the author’s plan lies in the fact that he interprets local conflicts in a broad socio-philosophical manner, revealing the sources that feed the force of resistance.

The play takes place in Dr. Talanov's apartment. Unexpectedly for everyone, Talanov’s son Fedor returns from prison. Almost simultaneously the Germans entered the city. And along with them appears the former owner of the house in which the Talanovs live, the merchant Fayunin, who soon became the mayor of the city.

The tension of the action increases from scene to scene. The honest Russian intellectual, doctor Talanov, does not imagine his life apart from the struggle. Next to him are his wife, Anna Pavlovna, and daughter Olga. There is no question of the need to fight behind enemy lines for the chairman of the city council, Kolesnikov: he heads a partisan detachment. This is one - the central - layer of the play. However, Leonov, a master of deep and complex dramatic collisions, is not content with only this approach. Deepening the psychological line of the play, he introduces another person - the Talanovs' son.

Fedor's fate turned out to be confusing and difficult. Spoiled in childhood, selfish, selfish. He returns to his father's house after a three-year sentence, where he served a sentence for an attempt on the life of his beloved woman. Fyodor is gloomy, cold, wary. It is no coincidence that his former nanny Demidyevna speaks of him this way: “People do not spare their lives, they fight the enemy. And you still look callous in your heart.” Indeed, the words of his father spoken at the beginning of the play about the national grief do not touch Fyodor: personal adversity obscures everything else. He is tormented by the lost trust of people, which is why Fyodor feels uncomfortable in the world. With their minds and hearts, the mother and nanny understood that under the buffoon mask Fyodor hid his pain, the melancholy of a lonely, unhappy person, but they could not accept him as before. Kolesnikov’s refusal to take Fedor into his squad hardens the heart of young Talanov even more.

It took time for this man, who once lived only for himself, to become the people's avenger. Captured by the Nazis, Fedor pretends to be the commander of a partisan detachment in order to die for him. Leonov paints a psychologically convincing picture of Fedor’s return to people. The play consistently reveals how war, national grief, and suffering ignite in people hatred and a thirst for revenge, a willingness to give their lives for the sake of victory. This is exactly how we see Fedor at the end of the drama.

For Leonov, there is a natural interest not just in the hero, but in human character in all the complexity and contradictions of his nature, consisting of social and national, moral and psychological. At the same time as identifying the laws of struggle on the gigantic battle front, the artist-philosopher and artist-psychologist did not shy away from the task of showing the struggles of individual human passions, feelings and aspirations.

The same technique of nonlinear depiction was used by the playwright when creating images of negative characters: at first, the inconspicuous, vengeful Fayunin, the shy and obsequious Kokoryshkin, who instantly changes his disguise when the government changes, and a whole gallery of fascist thugs. Fidelity to the truth makes the images lifelike even if they are presented in a satirical, grotesque light.

The stage history of Leonov’s works during the Great Patriotic War (in addition to “Invasion”, the drama “Lenushka”, 1943, was also widely known), which went around all the main theaters of the country, once again confirms the injustice of the reproaches of some critics who wrote about the incomprehensibility, intimacy of Leonov’s plays, and the overcomplication of the characters. and language. During the theatrical embodiment of Leonov's plays, their special dramatic nature was taken into account. Thus, when staging “Invasion” at the Moscow Maly Theater (1942), I. Sudakov first saw Fyodor Talanov as the main figure, but during rehearsals the emphasis gradually shifted and Fyodor’s mother and his nanny Demidyevna became the center as the personification of the Russian mother. At the Mossovet Theater, director Yu. Zavadsky interpreted the performance as a psychological drama, the drama of an extraordinary person, Fyodor Talanov.

If L. Leonov reveals the theme of heroic deeds and the invincibility of the patriotic spirit by means of in-depth psychological analysis, then K. Simonov in the play “Russian People” (1942), posing the same problems, uses the techniques of lyricism and journalism of open folk drama. The action in the play takes place in the autumn of 1941 on the Southern Front. The author's attention is focused on both the events in Safonov's detachment, located not far from the city, and the situation in the city itself, where the occupiers are in charge.

Unlike the pre-war play “A Guy from Our Town,” the composition of which was determined by the fate of one character - Sergei Lukonin, Simonov now creates a work with a large number of characters. The mass nature of heroism suggested a different path to the artist - there is no need to look for exceptional heroes, there are many of them, they are among us. “Russian People” is a play about the courage and resilience of ordinary people who had very peaceful professions before the war: driver Safonov, his mother Marfa Petrovna, nineteen-year-old Valya Anoshchenko, who drove the chairman of the city council, paramedic Globa. They would build houses, teach children, create beautiful things, love, but the cruel word “war” dispelled all hopes. People take rifles, put on greatcoats, and go into battle.

Defense of the Fatherland. What's behind this? First of all, a country that has instilled in human hearts the most humane feelings - love and respect for people of different nationalities, pride in human dignity. This is also the native corner with which the first childhood impressions are associated, which remain in the soul for life. Here the journalistic note, organically fused with the form of lyrical confession, reaches a special height. The most cherished thing is said by the intelligence officer Valya, leaving for a dangerous mission: “Motherland, Motherland... they probably mean something big when they say. But not me. In Novo-Nikolaevsk we have a hut on the edge of the village and near a river and two birch trees. I hung the swing on them. They tell me about the Motherland, but I remember all these two birch trees.”

The playwright depicts the war in all its harsh and formidable guise; he is not afraid to show the most severe trials, the death of the defenders of the Fatherland. The artist’s great success is the image of the military paramedic Globa. Behind the outward rudeness and mockery of this man, hidden spiritual generosity, Russian prowess, and impudent contempt for death.

The play “Russian People” already in the summer of 1942, during the most difficult time of the war, was staged on the stage of a number of theaters. The English journalist A. Werth, who was present at one of the performances, especially noted the impression that the episode of Globa leaving on a mission from which he would not return made on the audience: “I remember how dead silence, unbroken for at least ten seconds, reigned in the hall of the branch of the Moscow Art Theater, when the curtain fell at the end of the 6th scene. For the last words in this scene were: “Have you heard or not how Russian people go to their deaths?” Many of the women in the auditorium were crying..."

The success of the play was also explained by the fact that the playwright showed the enemy not as a primitive fanatic and sadist, but as a sophisticated “conqueror” of Europe and the world, confident in his impunity.

The theme of a number of interesting dramatic works was the life and heroic deeds of our fleet. Among them are the psychological drama by A. Kron “Fleet Officer” (1944), the lyrical comedy by Vs. Azarov, Vs. Vishnevsky, A. Kron “The Wide Sea Spreads Out” (1942), B. Lavrenev’s lyrical and pathetic oratorio “Song of the Black Sea People” (1943).

Everything in B. Lavrenev’s play is subordinated to the heroic-romantic pathos: the choice of location (Sevastopol. Covered with the glory of legendary courage), and the special principles of the enlarged depiction of human characters, when the analysis of individual actions is combined with the embodiment of the high symbolism of the national spirit, and, finally, constant appeals to the heroic past of the fortress city. The immortal names of Nakhimov and Kornilov call today's sailors and officers to exploits.

The plot of the drama was one of the episodes of the defense of Sevastopol. The whole play is permeated with the thought - to stand to death, even more: “Even after death we must stand rooted to the spot.” The drama ends with the death of the guards battery, which, having fired all the shells, calls fire on itself.

A special place in the drama of the war years belongs to such a unique genre as a satirical play. The meaning of “Front! (1942) by A. Korneichuk, primarily in typical negative images, in the force with which the playwright ridiculed routine, inert methods of warfare, backward, but arrogant military leaders.

The satirical intent of the play is dictated by the very choice of the characters' surnames. Here is the editor of the front-line newspaper Tihiy - a cowardly, lack of initiative, timid person. Instead of supporting the necessary good initiatives, he, frightened by the rude shout of the front commander Gorlov, babbles: “It’s my fault, comrade commander. We’ll take it into account, we’ll fix it, we’ll try.” The intelligence chief is a match for Quiet, the Amazing, cheeky correspondent Screamer, the ignorant and martinet Khripun, as well as the one who fawns over the front commander, but is certainly rude to his subordinates. The Local is the “mayor of the city,” rushing to finish the wine at a banquet in honor of the commander. And then “give all your strength to the front.” The weapon used by the playwright to expose all these opportunists, self-interested people looking for an easy life is merciless, evil laughter.

The image of Gorlov was created using comic means - from irony to sarcasm. Taking advantage of his position, he mainly laughs at others, although at the same time, painted in the colors of a satirical pamphlet, he himself appears in a tragic form. Gorlov became aware of General Ognev’s appearance in the press with a critical article. An ironic tirade follows at his address: “He signed up to be a clicker with us... He became a writer!” It is enough for a member of the Military Council, Gaidar, to express doubt about the accuracy of Gorlovka’s information about enemy tanks, when the commander self-confidently interrupts:
“- Nonsense! We know for sure. That they have fifty tanks at the station...
(- What if they throw you because of the river?...)
“What if there’s an earthquake?... (laughs).”

Gorlov most often uses irony in the fight against those whom he considers weak military leaders. We hear the intonations of Gogol’s mayor mocking the merchants at the zenith of his imaginary triumph in Gorlov’s voice when he meets Kolos and Ognev after his successful operation. Not noticing that he is on the eve of his fall, Gorlov continues to attack: “Why are you dressed up like that today? Do you think we’ll congratulate you and throw a banquet for you? No, my dears, we made a mistake!”

Until the end of the play, nothing can shake Gorlov's complacency. His confidence in his infallibility and indispensability lies neither in military failures, nor in the death of his son, nor in his brother’s persistent advice to voluntarily give up his post.

Korneychuk from the inside, through imaginary aphorisms and Gorlov’s irony of everyone who opposes the front commander, reveals Gorlov’s conservatism, his reluctance to navigate the situation, and his inability to lead. Gorlov’s ridicule of others is a means of self-exposure of the character. In Korneychuk's play, laughter at Gorlov's laughter is a special satirical way of revealing typical character traits.

In the play “Front,” I. Gorlov and his immediate circle are opposed by Ognev, Miron Gorlov, Kolos, Gaidar, and others. It is they who expose Gorlov. And not only and not so much in words, but in all his activities.

The play “Front” evoked a lively response in the army and in the rear. Military leaders also mention it in their memoirs. Thus, the former head of the operations department of the General Staff, S.M. Shtemenko, wrote: “And although in our General Staff every minute counted then, even the most distinguished read the plays. With all our hearts we were on Ognev’s side and spoke out against Gorlov.”

At the end of 1942, the premiere of the play “Front” took place in many theaters across the country. Despite all the differences in interpretation of the play, directors and actors were irreconcilable with Gorlov as a specific person responsible for many military failures. The best was the performance staged by director R. Simonov, in which actor A. Dikiy severely and uncompromisingly condemned Gorlov and Gorlovshchina as a synonym for ignorance, backwardness, arrogance, as the source of many disasters and defeats in the initial stage of the war.

During the war years, plays were created about our heroic home front, about the unparalleled labor enthusiasm of millions, without which victories at the front would have been unthinkable. Unfortunately, for the most part, these works did not reach the aesthetic level and the power of emotional impact that marked the plays of military history.

Historical drama achieved certain achievements during this period. Such historical plays were written as A. Tolstoy’s dilogy “Ivan the Terrible”, V. Solovyov’s tragedy “The Great Sovereign”, etc.

In the field of music, the most significant aesthetic heights were achieved by mass song and symphony. Dmitry Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, written in Leningrad during the terrible blockade of 1942, is rightly considered the pinnacle of symphonic art. A. Tolstoy expressed his impression of this work. As if crowning the efforts of Soviet artists that tragic. But the time still vividly worries us: “Hitler failed to take Leningrad and Moscow... He failed to turn the Russian people to the gnawed bones of cave life. The Red Army created a formidable symphony of world victory. Shostakovich put his ear to the heart of his homeland and played a song of triumph...
He responded to the threat of fascism - to dehumanize man - with a symphony about the victorious triumph of everything lofty and beautiful created by humanitarian culture..."

Many years separate us from the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). But time does not reduce interest in this topic, drawing the attention of today’s generation to the distant years at the front, to the origins of the feat and courage of the Soviet soldier - a hero, liberator, humanist. Yes, it is difficult to overestimate the writer’s word on war and about war; A well-aimed, striking, uplifting word, poem, song, ditty, a bright heroic image of a fighter or commander - they inspired warriors to exploits and led to victory. These words are still full of patriotic resonance today; they poeticize service to the Motherland and affirm the beauty and greatness of our moral values. That is why we return again and again to the works that made up the golden fund of literature about the Great Patriotic War.

Just as there was nothing equal to this war in the history of mankind, so in the history of world art there was not such a number of different kinds of works as about this tragic time. The theme of war was especially strong in Soviet literature. From the very first days of the grandiose battle, our writers stood in line with all the fighting people. More than a thousand writers took part in the fighting on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, defending their native land “with pen and machine gun.” Of the more than 1,000 writers who went to the front, more than 400 did not return from the war, 21 became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Famous masters of our literature (M. Sholokhov, L. Leonov, A. Tolstoy, A. Fadeev, Vs. Ivanov, I. Erenburg, B. Gorbatov, D. Bedny, V. Vishnevsky, V. Vasilevskaya, K. Simonov, A Surkov, B. Lavrenev, L. Sobolev and many others) became correspondents for front-line and central newspapers.

“There is no greater honor for a Soviet writer,” A. Fadeev wrote in those years, “and there is no higher task for Soviet art than the daily and tireless service of the weapon of artistic expression to his people in the terrible hours of battle.”

When the guns thundered, the muses were not silent. Throughout the war - both in the difficult times of failures and retreats, and in the days of victories - our literature sought to reveal as fully as possible the moral qualities of the Soviet person. While instilling love for the Motherland, Soviet literature also instilled hatred of the enemy. Love and hate, life and death - these contrasting concepts were inseparable at that time. And it was precisely this contrast, this contradiction that carried within itself the highest justice and the highest humanism. The strength of wartime literature, the secret of its remarkable creative successes, lies in its inextricable connection with the people heroically fighting the German invaders. Russian literature, which has long been famous for its closeness to the people, has perhaps never been so closely connected with life and has not been as purposeful as in 1941-1945. In essence, it became literature of one theme - the theme of war, the theme of the Motherland.

The writers breathed the same breath with the struggling people and felt like “trench poets,” and all literature as a whole, in the apt expression of A. Tvardovsky, was “the voice of the heroic soul of the people” (History of Russian Soviet Literature / Edited by P. Vykhodtsev.-M ., 1970.-P.390).

Soviet wartime literature was multi-issue and multi-genre. Poems, essays, journalistic articles, stories, plays, poems, and novels were created by writers during the war years. Moreover, if in 1941 small - “operative” genres predominated, then over time works of larger literary genres begin to play a significant role (Kuzmichev I. Genres of Russian literature of the war years - Gorky, 1962).

The role of prose works in the literature of the war years was significant. Relying on the heroic traditions of Russian and Soviet literature, the prose of the Great Patriotic War reached great creative heights. The golden fund of Soviet literature includes such works created during the war years as “Russian Character” by A. Tolstoy, “The Science of Hate” and “They Fought for the Motherland” by M. Sholokhov, “The Capture of Velikoshumsk” by L. Leonov, “The Young Guard” A. Fadeeva, “The Unconquered” by B. Gorbatov, “Rainbow” by V. Vasilevskaya and others, which became an example for writers of post-war generations.

The literary traditions of the Great Patriotic War are the foundation of the creative search for modern Soviet prose. Without these traditions, which have become classical, which are based on a clear understanding of the decisive role of the masses in the war, their heroism and selfless devotion to the Motherland, the remarkable successes achieved by Soviet “military” prose today would not have been possible.

Prose about the Great Patriotic War received its further development in the first post-war years. “The Bonfire” was written by K. Fedin. M. Sholokhov continued to work on the novel “They Fought for the Motherland.” In the first post-war decade, a number of works appeared that were considered to be called “panoramic” novels for their pronounced desire for a comprehensive depiction of the events of the war (the term itself appeared later, when the general typological features of these novels were defined). These are “White Birch” by M. Bubyonnov, “Flag Bearers” by O. Gonchar, “Battle of Berlin” by Vs. Ivanov, “Spring on the Oder” by E. Kazakevich, “Storm” by I. Ehrenburg, “Storm” by O. Latsis, “The Rubanyuk Family” by E. Popovkin, “Unforgettable Days” by Lynkov, “For the Power of the Soviets” by V. Kataev, etc.

Despite the fact that many of the “panoramic” novels were characterized by significant shortcomings, such as some “varnishing” of the events depicted, weak psychologism, illustrativeness, straightforward opposition of positive and negative heroes, a certain “romanticization” of the war, these works played their role in development of military prose.

A great contribution to the development of Soviet military prose was made by writers of the so-called “second wave,” front-line writers who entered the mainstream literature in the late 1950s and early 1960s. So, Yuri Bondarev burned Manstein’s tanks near Stalingrad. E. Nosov, G. Baklanov were also artillerymen; poet Alexander Yashin fought in the Marine Corps near Leningrad; poet Sergei Orlov and writer A. Ananyev - tank crews, burned in the tank. The writer Nikolai Gribachev was a platoon commander and then commander of a sapper battalion. Oles Gonchar fought in a mortar crew; the infantrymen were V. Bykov, I. Akulov, V. Kondratyev; mortarman - M. Alekseev; a cadet and then a partisan - K. Vorobyov; signalmen - V. Astafiev and Y. Goncharov; self-propelled gun - V. Kurochkin; paratrooper and scout - V. Bogomolov; partisans - D. Gusarov and A. Adamovich...

What is characteristic of the work of these artists, who came to literature in greatcoats smelling of gunpowder with sergeant's and lieutenant's shoulder straps? First of all, the continuation of the classical traditions of Russian Soviet literature. Traditions of M. Sholokhov, A. Tolstoy, A. Fadeev, L. Leonov. For it is impossible to create something new without relying on the best that was achieved by predecessors. Exploring the classical traditions of Soviet literature, front-line writers not only mechanically assimilated them, but also creatively developed them. And this is natural, because the basis of the literary process is always a complex mutual influence of tradition and innovation.

Front-line experience varies from writer to writer. The older generation of prose writers entered 1941, as a rule, already established artists of words and went to war to write about the war. Naturally, they could see the events of those years more broadly and comprehend them more deeply than the writers of the middle generation, who fought directly on the front line and hardly thought at that time that they would ever take up a pen. The circle of vision of the latter was quite narrow and was often limited to the boundaries of a platoon, company, or battalion. This “narrow strip through the entire war,” in the words of front-line writer A. Ananyev, also runs through many, especially early, works of prose writers of the middle generation, such as “Battalions Ask for Fire” (1957) and “The Last Salvos” ( 1959) by Y. Bondarev, “Crane Cry” (1960), “The Third Rocket” (1961) and all subsequent works by V. Bykov, “South of the Main Strike” (1957) and “An Inch of Earth” (1959), “The Dead Shame Not imut" (1961) by G. Baklanov, "Scream" (1961) and "Killed near Moscow" (1963) by K. Vorobyov, "Shepherd and Shepherdess" (1971) by V. Astafieva and others.

But, inferior to the writers of the older generation in literary experience and “broad” knowledge of the war, the writers of the middle generation had their clear advantage. They spent all four years of the war on the front line and were not just eyewitnesses of battles and battles, but also their direct participants, who personally experienced all the hardships of trench life. “These were people who bore all the hardships of the war on their shoulders - from its beginning to its end. These were men of the trenches, soldiers and officers; They themselves went on the attack, fired at tanks to the point of frantic and furious excitement, silently buried their friends, took high-rise buildings that seemed impregnable, felt with their own hands the metallic trembling of a red-hot machine gun, inhaled the garlicky smell of German felt and heard how sharply and splashingly the fragments pierced the parapet from exploding mines" (Yu. Bondarev. A look at the biography: Collected works. - M., 1970. - T. 3. - P. 389-390.). While inferior in literary experience, they had certain advantages, since they knew war from the trenches (Literature of the great feat. - M., 1975. - Issue 2. - P. 253-254).

This advantage - direct knowledge of the war, the front line, the trench, allowed writers of the middle generation to give an extremely vivid picture of the war, highlighting the smallest details of front-line life, accurately and powerfully showing the most intense minutes - minutes of battle - everything that they saw with their own eyes and that themselves experienced four years of war. “It is precisely deep personal upheavals that can explain the appearance of the naked truth of war in the first books of front-line writers. These books became a revelation such as our literature about war had never known before” (Leonov B. Epic of Heroism. - M., 1975. - P. 139.).

But it was not the battles themselves that interested these artists. And they wrote the war not for the sake of the war itself. A characteristic tendency of literary development of the 1950-60s, clearly manifested in their work, is to increase attention to the fate of man in its connection with history, to the inner world of the individual in its indissolubility with the people. To show a person, his inner, spiritual world, most fully revealed at the decisive moment - this is the main thing for which these prose writers took up their pen, who, despite the uniqueness of their individual style, have one common feature - sensitivity to the truth.

Another interesting distinctive feature is characteristic of the work of front-line writers. In their works of the 50s and 60s, compared to the books of the previous decade, the tragic emphasis in the depiction of war increased. These books “carried a charge of cruel drama; they could often be defined as “optimistic tragedies”; their main characters were soldiers and officers of one platoon, company, battalion, regiment, regardless of whether dissatisfied critics liked it or didn’t like it, demanding large-scale paintings, global sound. These books were far from any kind of calm illustration; they lacked even the slightest didacticism, tenderness, rational precision, or substitution of internal truth for external ones. They contained the harsh and heroic soldier’s truth (Yu. Bondarev. Trend in the development of the military-historical novel. - Collected works. - M., 1974. - T. 3. - P. 436.).

War, as depicted by front-line prose writers, is not only, and not even so much, spectacular heroic deeds, outstanding deeds, but tedious everyday work, hard, bloody work, but vitally necessary, and from this, how everyone will perform it in their place, victory ultimately depended. And it was in this everyday military work that the writers of the “second wave” saw the heroism of the Soviet man. The personal military experience of the writers of the “second wave” determined to a large extent both the very depiction of war in their first works (the locality of the events described, extremely compressed in space and time, a very small number of heroes, etc.), and the genre forms that were most appropriate the contents of these books. Small genres (story, story) allowed these writers to most powerfully and accurately convey everything that they personally saw and experienced, with which their feelings and memory were filled to the brim.

It was in the mid-50s - early 60s that short stories and novellas took a leading place in the literature about the Great Patriotic War, significantly displacing the novel, which occupied a dominant position in the first post-war decade. Such a tangible overwhelming quantitative superiority of works written in the form of small genres has led some critics to hastily assert that the novel can no longer regain its former leading position in literature, that it is a genre of the past and that today it does not correspond to the pace of the times, the rhythm of life, etc. .d.

But time and life themselves have shown the groundlessness and excessive categoricalness of such statements. If in the late 1950s - early 60s the quantitative superiority of the story over the novel was overwhelming, then since the mid-60s the novel has gradually regained its lost positions. Moreover, the novel undergoes certain changes. More than before, he relies on facts, on documents, on actual historical events, boldly introducing real people into the narrative, trying to paint a picture of the war, on the one hand, as broadly and completely as possible, and on the other, historically as accurately as possible. Documents and fiction go hand in hand here, being the two main components.

It was on the combination of document and fiction that such works, which became serious phenomena of our literature, as “The Living and the Dead” by K. Simonov, “Origins” by G. Konovalov, “Baptism” by I. Akulov, “Blockade”, “Victory” by A. .Chakovsky, “War” by I. Stadnyuk, “Just One Life” by S. Barzunov, “Sea Captain” by A. Kron, “Commander” by V. Karpov, “July 41” by G. Baklanov, “Requiem for the PQ-17 Caravan” "V. Pikul and others. Their appearance was caused by growing demands in public opinion to objectively, fully present the degree of preparedness of our country for war, the reasons and nature of the summer retreat to Moscow, the role of Stalin in leading the preparation and course of military operations of 1941-1945 and some other socio-historical “knots” that attracted keen interest starting from the mid-1960s and especially during the perestroika period.