Origins of Acmeism. Acmeism as a literary movement. Basic principles of acmeism

Contemporaries gave the term other interpretations: Vladimir Pyast saw its origins in the pseudonym Anna Akhmatova, which sounds like “akmatus” in Latin, some pointed to its connection with the Greek “akme” - “point”.

The term "acmeism" was proposed in N. Gumilyov and S. M. Gorodetsky: in their opinion, the crisis of symbolism is being replaced by a direction that generalizes the experience of predecessors and leads the poet to new heights of creative achievements.

The name for the literary movement, according to A. Bely, was chosen in the heat of controversy and was not entirely justified: Vyacheslav Ivanov jokingly spoke about "Acmeism" and "Adamism", Nikolai Gumilyov picked up accidentally thrown words and christened a group of poets close to him acmeists .

At the heart of acmeism was a preference for describing real, earthly life, but it was perceived extrasocially and extrahistorically. The little things of life, the objective world were described. The gifted and ambitious organizer of acmeism dreamed of creating a "direction of directions" - literary movement reflecting the appearance of all contemporary Russian poetry.

Acmeism in the works of writers

Literature

Cossack V. Lexicon of Russian literature of the XX century = Lexikon der russischen Literatur ab 1917. - M .: RIK "Culture", 1996. - 492 p. - 5000 copies. - ISBN 5-8334-0019-8
Kikhney L. G. Acmeism: Worldview and Poetics. - M.: Planeta, 2005. Ed. 2nd. 184 p. ISBN 5-88547-097-X.

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See what "Acmeism" is in other dictionaries:

- (from the Greek flourishing, peak, tip) a literary movement that reflected new aesthetic. trends in art 1910s, covering not only literature, but also painting (K. Korovin, F. Malyavin, B. Kustodiev), and music (A. Lyadov ... Encyclopedia of cultural studies

Acmeism, pl. no, m. [from Greek. akme - peak] (lit.). One of the trends in Russian poetry in the tenth years of the 20th century, which opposed itself to symbolism. Big Dictionary foreign words. Publishing house "IDDK", 2007. acmeism a, pl. No m. (… Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

acmeism- a, m. acmé f. gr. vertex. An extremely reactionary bourgeois noble trend in Russian literature that arose in 1912-1913. Acmeist poetry was characterized by individualism, aestheticism, formalism, the preaching of art for art's sake. SIS… … Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

- (from the Greek akme the highest degree of something, blooming power), a trend in Russian poetry of the 1910s. (S.M. Gorodetsky, M.A. Kuzmin, early N.S. Gumilyov, A.A. Akhmatova, O.E. Mandelstam). Overcoming the addiction of the symbolists to the super-real, ... ... Modern Encyclopedia

- (from the Greek akme, the highest degree of something, a flowering power), a trend in Russian poetry of the 1910s. (S. M. Gorodetsky, M. A. Kuzmin, early N. S. Gumilyov, A. A. Akhmatova, O. E. Mandelstam); proclaimed the liberation of poetry from symbolist impulses to ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

ACMEISM, acmeism, pl. no, husband. (from Greek akme peak) (lit.). One of the trends in Russian poetry in the tenth years of the 20th century, which opposed itself to symbolism. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

ACMEISM, a, husband. In Russian literature of the 20th century: a trend that proclaimed liberation from symbolism. | adj. acmeist, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Acmeism- (from the Greek akme the highest degree of something, blooming power), a trend in Russian poetry of the 1910s. (S.M. Gorodetsky, M.A. Kuzmin, early N.S. Gumilyov, A.A. Akhmatova, O.E. Mandelstam). Overcoming the addiction of the symbolists to the "superreal", ... ... Illustrated encyclopedic Dictionary

- (from the Greek akme - the highest degree of something, blooming power), a trend in Russian poetry of the 1910s. Acmeism arose from the literary school "Workshop of Poets" (1911 14), which was headed by N. S. Gumilyov and S. M. Gorodetsky, the secretary was A. A. Akhmatova, in ... ... Literary Encyclopedia

acmeism- a, only unit, m. Modernist trend in Russian poetry at the beginning of the 20th century. (see also modernism). When acmeism was born and we had no one closer to Mikhail Leonidovich [Lozinsky], he still did not want to renounce symbolism (Akhmatov). Related … Popular dictionary of the Russian language

Books

History of Russian Literature of the Silver Age (1890s - early 1920s) in 3 parts. Part 3. Acmeism, futurism and others. Textbook for undergraduate and graduate studies, Mikhailova M.V. Category: Textbooks for universities Series: School program Publisher: URAIT, Manufacturer: URAIT,
History of Russian literature of the Silver Age (1890s - early 1920s) in 3 parts. Part 3. Acmeism, futurism and others. Textbook for undergraduate and graduate studies, Mikhailova M.V. , The textbook reflects the history of Russian literature of the 1890-1920s, presents creative individuals, trends, modifications of artistic practices, the specifics of genre searches,… Category: Tutorials: basic Series: Bachelor and Master. academic course Publisher:

ACMEISM(from the Greek akme - the highest degree, peak, flowering, flowering time) - a literary movement that opposes symbolism and arose at the beginning of the 20th century in Russia.

The formation of acmeism is closely connected with the activities of the "Workshop of poets" , the central figure of which was the organizer of acmeism N. Gumilyov. Contemporaries gave the term other interpretations: Vl. point." The term acmeism was proposed in 1912 by N. Gumilyov and S. Gorodetsky: in their opinion, the symbolism in crisis is being replaced by a direction that generalizes the experience of its predecessors and leads the poet to new heights of creative achievements. The name for the literary movement, according to A. Bely, was chosen in the heat of controversy and was not entirely justified: Vyach. own poets. The gifted and ambitious organizer of acmeism dreamed of creating a "direction of directions" - a literary movement that reflects the appearance of all contemporary Russian poetry.

S. Gorodetsky and N. Gumilyov also used the term "Adamism": the first poet, in their view, was Adam, giving names to objects and creatures and thereby participating in the creation of the world. In Gumilyov's definition, Adamism is "a courageously firm and clear view of the world."

As a literary trend, acmeism did not last long - about two years (1913-1914), but one cannot ignore its ancestral ties with the "Poets' Workshop", as well as the determining influence on the fate of Russian poetry of the twentieth century. Acmeism consisted of six of the most active participants in the movement: N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut. G. Ivanov claimed the role of the "seventh acmeist", but A. Akhmatova protested this point of view: "There were six acmeists, and there never was a seventh." IN different time G. Adamovich, N. Bruni, Vas. V. Gippius, Vl. V. Gippius, G. Ivanov, N. Klyuev, M. Kuzmin, E. Kuzmina-Karavaeva, M. Lozinsky , S. Radlov, V. Khlebnikov. At the meetings of the "Workshop", in contrast to the meetings of the Symbolists , specific issues were resolved: “Workshop » was a school for mastering poetic skills, a professional association. The creative destinies of poets who sympathized with acmeism developed in different ways: N. Klyuev subsequently declared his non-participation in the activities of the community, G. Adamovich and G. Ivanov continued and developed many principles of acmeism in emigration, acmeism did not have any effect on V. Khlebnikov noticeable influence.

The platform of the acmeists was the Apollo magazine, edited by S. Makovsky, in which the declarations of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky were published. The program of acmeism in "Apollo" included two main provisions: firstly, concreteness, materiality, this-worldliness, and secondly, the improvement of poetic skill. The rationale for the new literary trend was given in the articles of N. Gumilyov The legacy of symbolism and acmeism(1913), S. Gorodetsky (1913), O. Mandelstam Morning of acmeism(1913, not published in Apollo).

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

Three years after the publication of Kuzmin's article in Apollo, the manifestos of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky appeared - from that moment it is customary to count the existence of acmeism as a literary movement that has taken shape. In the article "The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism" N. Gumilyov drew a line under the "indisputable values and reputations" of the Symbolists. “Symbolism has completed its circle of development and is now falling,” N. Gumilyov stated. The poets who succeed the Symbolists must declare themselves worthy successors of their predecessors, accept their legacy and answer the questions they pose. “Russian symbolism directed its main forces into the realm of the unknown. Alternately, he fraternized with mysticism, then with theosophy, then with the occult,” Gumilev wrote. He called attempts in this direction "unchaste". One of the main tasks of acmeism is to correct the tilt towards the otherworldly, characteristic of symbolism, to establish a “living balance” between the metaphysical and the earthly. The acmeists did not renounce metaphysics: “always remember the unknowable, but do not offend your thoughts about it with more or less probable guesses” - such is the principle of acmeism. Acmeists did not renounce the highest reality, recognized by the Symbolists as the only true one, but preferred to remain silent about it: the unsaid must remain unsaid. Acmeism was a kind of movement towards "true symbolism", based on attachment to everyday life, respect for simple human existence. Gumilev proposed to consider the recognition of the “intrinsic value of each phenomenon” as the main difference between acmeism - it is necessary to make the phenomena of the material world more tangible, even rough, freeing them from the power of foggy visions. Here Gumilyov named the names of the artists most dear to acmeism, its "cornerstones": Shakespeare, Rabelais, Villon, T. Gauthier. Shakespeare showed inner world man, Rabelais - his body and physiology, Villon told us about "a life that does not doubt itself a lot." T. Gauthier found "worthy clothes of impeccable forms." The combination of these four moments in art is the ideal of creativity. Having absorbed the experience of their predecessors, the acmeist poets begin a new era of "aesthetic puritanism, great demands on the poet as a creator of thought and on the word as a material of art." Equally rejecting the utilitarian approach to art and the idea of "art for the sake of art", the founder of acmeism proclaimed an attitude to poetic creativity as a "higher craft".

S. Gorodetsky in the article Some currents in modern Russian poetry(1913) also noted the catastrophe of symbolism: the attraction of symbolism to the “fluidity of the word”, its ambiguity leads the artist from the “calling, colorful world” into the foggy spheres of fruitless wanderings. “Art is balance,” Gorodetsky argued, “there is strength.” “The struggle for our planet Earth” is the work of the poet, the search for “moments that can be eternal” is at the heart of the poetic craft. The world of acmeists is "good in itself", outside of its mystical "correspondences". “Among the Acmeists, the rose again became good in itself, with its petals, smell and color, and not with its conceivable similarities with mystical love or anything else ...”.

In 1913, Mandelstam's article was also written Morning of acmeism published only six years later. The delay in publication was not accidental: Mandelstam's acmeistic calculations differed significantly from the declarations of Gumilyov and Gorodetsky and did not make it to the pages of Apollo. The central metaphor of Mandelstam's article is architecture, architecture. Poetic creativity Mandelstam likens construction: "We do not fly, we climb only those towers that we ourselves can build." A collection of the same stellar for acmeism and rich in the declaration of 1913, Mandelstam called Stone. A stone is “the word as such”, waiting for its sculptor for centuries. Mandelstam likens the work of the poet to the work of a carver, an architect who hypnotizes space.

The term “word as such” was proposed by the futurists and rethought by Mandelstam: for the futurists, the word is a pure sound, free from meaning, Mandelstam, on the contrary, emphasizes its “heaviness”, loaded with meaning. If the Futurists sought to return to the foundations of nature through the sound of the word, then Mandelstam saw in the comprehension of its meanings the way to the foundations of culture. The article also contained a controversy with the Symbolists: not the musicality of speech, but “conscious meaning”, Logos was exalted by Mandelstam. “... Love the existence of a thing more than the thing itself and your being more than yourself - this is the highest commandment of acmeism,” wrote Mandelstam.

The publication of articles by Gorodetsky and Gumilyov in Apollo was accompanied by a representative selection of poetic materials, which by no means always corresponded to the theoretical provisions of acmeism, revealing their precocity, vagueness, and weak argumentation. Acmeism as a trend did not have a sufficient theory: “the intrinsic value of the phenomenon”, “the struggle for this world” were hardly sufficient arguments for declaring a new literary direction. “Symbolism was fading away” - Gumilyov was not mistaken in this, but he failed to form a current as powerful as Russian symbolism.

Questions of religion and philosophy, which acmeism shied away from in theory (A. Blok blamed the acmeists for their absence), received a tense sound in the work of N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam. The acmeistic period of these poets did not last long, after which their poetry went far into the realm of the spirit, intuitive revelations, and mystery. This largely allowed researchers, in particular the literary critic B. Eikhenbaum, to consider acmeism as a new stage in the development of symbolist poetics, denying him independence. However, the titanic questions of the spirit, which were in the center of attention of symbolism, were not specially pointed out by the acmeists. Acmeism returned to literature "a man of normal growth", spoke to the reader in compliance with the usual intonation, devoid of exaltation and superhuman tension. The main accomplishment of acmeism as a literary trend is the change in scale, the humanization of the literature of the turn of the century that deviated towards the gigantomania. The outstanding scientist S. Averintsev wittily called acmeism "a challenge to the spirit of the times as the spirit of utopia." The proportionality of a person to the world, subtle psychology, colloquial intonation, the search for a full-fledged word were proposed by the acmeists in response to the transcendent nature of the symbolists. The stylistic wanderings of the Symbolists and Futurists were replaced by exactingness towards single word, "chains of difficult forms", to replace religious and philosophical searches - the balance of metaphysics and the "local". The acmeists preferred the poet’s difficult service to the world to the idea of “art for the sake of art” (the human and creative path of A. Akhmatova became the highest expression of such service).

Poorly substantiated as a literary trend, acmeism united exceptionally gifted poets - N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, the formation of creative individuals of which took place in the atmosphere of the "Poet's Workshop", disputes about "beautiful clarity". The history of acmeism can be viewed as a kind of dialogue between its three prominent representatives. Subsequently, acmeistic poetics was complexly and ambiguously refracted in their work.

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

A. Akhmatova's acmeism had a different character, devoid of attraction to exotic plots and colorful imagery. The originality of the creative manner of Akhmatova as a poet of the acmeist direction is the imprint of spiritualized objectivity. Through the amazing accuracy of the material world, Akhmatova displays a whole spiritual structure. “In this couplet - the whole woman,” spoke of Akhmatova The song of the last meeting M. Tsvetaeva. In delicately drawn details, Akhmatova, as Mandelstam remarked, gave "all the enormous complexity and psychological richness of the Russian novel of the 19th century." The poetry of A. Akhmatova was greatly influenced by the work of In. Annensky, whom Akhmatova considered "a harbinger, an omen, of what happened to us later." The material density of the world, the psychological symbolism, the associativity of Annensky's poetry were largely inherited by Akhmatova.

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

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

Another Adamist, M. Zenkevich, according to the apt definition of Vyach. Ivanov, "was captivated by Matter and was horrified by it." Dialogues between man and nature in Zenkevich's work were replaced by gloomy pictures of the present, a premonition of the impossibility of restoring the lost harmony, balance in the relationship between man and the elements.

Book by V. Narbut Hallelujah contained variations on the theme of poems by S. Gorodetsky, included in the collection Willow. In contrast to Gorodetsky, Narbut gravitated not to the "leaf life", but to the image of the unsightly, sometimes naturalistically ugly sides of reality.

Acmeism united dissimilar creative individualities, manifested itself in various ways in the “spiritual objectivity” of A. Akhmatova, the “distant wanderings” of M. Gumilyov, the poetry of O. Mandelstam’s reminiscences, pagan dialogues with nature by S. Gorodetsky, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut. The role of acmeism is in an effort to maintain a balance between symbolism, on the one hand, and realism, on the other. In the work of acmeists there are numerous points of contact with symbolists and realists (especially with the Russian psychological novel of the 19th century), but in general, representatives of acmeism found themselves in the “middle of contrast”, not slipping into metaphysics, but not “mooring to the ground”.

Acmeism strongly influenced the development of Russian poetry in exile, on the "Parisian note": G. Ivanov, G. Adamovich, N. Otsup, I. Odoevtseva emigrated to France from Gumilyov's students. The best poets of the Russian emigration G. Ivanov and G. Adamovich developed acmeistic principles: restraint, muffled intonation, expressive asceticism, subtle irony. IN Soviet Russia the manner of acmeists (mainly N. Gumilyov) was imitated by Nik. Tikhonov, I. Selvinsky, M. Svetlov, E. Bagritsky. Acmeism also had a significant impact on the author's song.

Tatiana Scriabina

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Simultaneously with acmeism in 1910-1912. futurism emerged.

ACMEISM (from Greek. act- the highest degree of something, flowering power, peak) - a modernist literary trend in Russian poetry of the 1910s. Representatives: S. Gorodetsky, early A. Akhmatova, J.I. Gumilyov, O. Mandelstam. The term "acmeism" belongs to Gumilyov. The aesthetic program was formulated in Gumilyov's articles "The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism", Gorodetsky's "Some Currents in Modern Russian Poetry" and Mandelstam's "Morning of Acmeism".

Acmeism stood out from symbolism, criticizing its mystical aspirations for the “unknowable”: “Among the Acmeists, the rose again became good in itself, with its petals, smell and color, and not with its conceivable similarities with mystical love or anything else” (Gorodetsky) . Acmeists proclaimed the liberation of poetry from symbolist impulses to the ideal, from the ambiguity and fluidity of images, complicated metaphor; talked about the need to return to the material world, the subject, the exact meaning of the word. Symbolism is based on the rejection of reality, and the acmeists believed that one should not abandon this world, one should look for some values in it and capture them in their works, and do this with the help of accurate and understandable images, and not vague symbols.

Actually, the acmeist current was small, did not last long - about two years (1913-1914) - and was associated with the "Workshop of Poets". The "Workshop of Poets" was created in 1911 and at first united a fairly large number of people (not all of them later became involved in acmeism). This organization was much more cohesive than the disparate symbolist groups. At the meetings of the "Workshop" poems were analyzed, problems of poetic mastery were solved, and methods for analyzing works were substantiated. The idea of a new direction in poetry was first expressed by Kuzmin, although he himself did not enter the "Workshop". In his article “On Beautiful Clarity”, Kuzmin anticipated many declarations of acmeism. In January 1913, the first manifestos of acmeism appeared. From this moment, the existence of a new direction begins.

Acmeism proclaimed “beautiful clarity” as the task of literature, or clarism (from lat. clarus - clear). Acmeists called their current Adamism, linking the idea of a clear and direct view of the world with the biblical Adam. Acmeism preached a clear, “simple” poetic language, where words would directly name objects, declare their love for objectivity. So, Gumilyov urged to look not for “unsteady words”, but for words “with a more stable content”. This principle was most consistently realized in Akhmatova's lyrics.

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

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

The acmeists, who replaced the symbolists, did not have a detailed philosophical and aesthetic program .. The word, according to the acmeists, should have acquired its original meaning.

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

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

In the autumn of 1911, in the poetic salon of Vyacheslav Ivanov, the famous "Tower", where the poetic society gathered and poetry was read and discussed, a "revolt" broke out.

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

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

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

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

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

Acmeism has six of the most active participants in the current: N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut. G. Ivanov claimed the role of the "seventh acmeist", but this point of view was protested by A. Akhmatova, who stated that "there were six acmeists, and there never was a seventh."

Acmeism failed to gain a foothold in the role of the leading poetic direction. The reason for its rapid extinction is called, among other things, "the ideological unsuitability of the direction to the conditions of a drastically changed reality."

However, attempts to resume the activities of the association were subsequently made more than once. (G. Ivanov together with G. Adamovich). and (Gumilyov)

In comparison with other poetic trends of the Russian Silver Age, acmeism in many ways is seen as a marginal phenomenon. It has no analogues in other European literatures.

Basic principles of acmeism:

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

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

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

Objectivity and clarity of images, sharpness of details;

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

Poetization of the world of primordial emotions, the primitive biological natural principle;

A call to past literary eras, the broadest aesthetic associations, "longing for world culture."

Acmeist poets (Akhmatova Anna, Gumilyov Nikolay, Gorodetsky Sergey, Mandelstam Osip and others)

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