Acmeism is a poetic trend that began to take shape around 1910. The founders were N. Gumilyov and S. Gorodetsky, they were also joined by O. Mandelstam, V. Narbut, M. Zenkevich, N. Otsup and some other poets who proclaimed the need for a partial rejection of some precepts of "traditional" symbolism. Mystical aspirations for the “unknowable” were criticized: “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” (S. Gorodetsky). Accepting all the basic provisions of symbolism, which was considered a "worthy father", they demanded its reform in only one area; they were against the fact that the Symbolists directed "their main forces into the realm of the unknown" ["fraternized with mysticism, then with theosophy, then with the occult" (Gumilyov)], into the realm of the unknowable. Objecting to these elements of symbolism, the acmeists pointed out that the unknowable, in the very meaning of the word, cannot be known. Hence the desire of the acmeists to free literature from those incomprehensibility that was cultivated by the symbolists, and to restore its clarity and accessibility. “The main role of literature,” says Gumilyov, “has been seriously threatened by the symbolist mystics, for they have turned it into formulas for their own mysterious encounters with the unknowable.”

Acmeism was even more heterogeneous than symbolism. But if the Symbolists relied on the traditions of romantic poetry, then the Acmeists relied on the traditions of French classicism of the 18th century. The goal of the new trend is to accept the real world, tangible, visible, audible. But, rejecting the symbolist deliberate obscurity and indistinctness of the verse, enveloping the real world with a foggy veil of mystical allegories, the acmeists did not deny the existence of the otherness of the spirit, nor the unknowable, but refused to write about all this, considering it "unchaste". At the same time, it was still possible for the artist to approach the border of this “unknowable”, especially where the conversation is about the psyche, the mystery of feelings and the confusion of the spirit.

One of the main provisions of acmeism is the thesis of the "unconditional" acceptance of the world. But the ideals of the acmeists collided with the social contradictions of Russian reality, from which they sought to escape, trying to withdraw into aesthetic problems, for which Blok reproached them, saying that the acmeists "do not have and do not want to have a shadow of an idea about Russian poetry and the life of the world in general."

Acmeism proclaimed “beautiful clarity” (M.A. Kuzmin), or clarism (from Latin clarus - clear) as the task of literature. Acmeists called their current Adamism, linking the idea of a clear and direct view of the world with the biblical Adam. Acmeists tried with all their might to bring literature back to life, to things, to man, to nature. “As Adamists, we are a bit of forest animals,” Gumilev declares, “and in any case we will not give up what is bestial in us in exchange for neurasthenia.” They began to fight, in their words, "for this world, sounding, colorful, having shapes, weight and time, for our planet earth." Acmeism preached a "simple" poetic language, where words would directly name objects. In comparison with symbolism and related trends - surrealism and futurism - one can distinguish, first of all, such features as the materiality and this-worldliness of the depicted world, in which "each depicted object is equal to itself." Acmeists from the very beginning declared their love for objectivity. Gumilyov urged to look not for "shaky words", but for words "with a more stable content." The materiality determined the predominance of nouns in poetry and the insignificant role of the verb, which is completely absent in many works, especially in Anna Akhmatova.

If the Symbolists saturated their poems with an intense musical beginning, then the Acmeists did not recognize such an infinite intrinsic value of verse and verbal melody and carefully cared for the logical clarity and clarity of the verse.

Also characteristic is the weakening of verse melody and the inclination towards turns of a simple spoken language.

The poetic narratives of the acmeists are distinguished by conciseness, clarity of the lyrical plot, sharpness of completion.

The creativity of acmeists is characterized by an interest in past literary epochs: "Longing for world culture" - this is how O. E. Mandelstam later defined acmeism. These are the motives and moods of Gumilyov's "exotic novel"; images of ancient Russian writing by Dante and the psychological novel of the 19th century. from A. A. Akhmatova; antiquity at Mandelstam.

The aestheticization of the “earthly”, the narrowing of the problem (as a result of ignoring the true passions of the era, its signs and conflicts), the aestheticization of trifles did not allow the poetry of acmeism to rise (descend) to reflect reality First of all, social. Nevertheless, and perhaps due to the inconsistency and inconsistency of the program, the need for realism nevertheless expressed itself, predetermining the further paths of the most powerful masters of this group, that is, Gumilyov, Akhmatova and Mandelstam. Their inner realism was well felt by contemporaries, who at the same time understood the specificity of their artistic method. Trying to find a term that replaces the full-fledged word "realism" and is suitable for the characterization of acmeism, V.M. Zhirmunsky wrote in the article "Overcoming Symbolism":

“With some caution, we could speak of the ideal of the “Hyperboreans” as neorealism, understanding by artistic realism the accurate, slightly distorted by subjective spiritual and aesthetic experience, the transfer of separate and distinct impressions of mainly external life, as well as the life of the soul, perceived from the outside, most separate and distinct side; with the caveat, of course, that for young poets it is not at all necessary to strive for the naturalistic simplicity of prose speech, which seemed inevitable to the former realists, that from the era of symbolism they inherited an attitude towards language as a work of art.

Indeed, the realism of the acmeists was marked by obvious features of novelty - primarily, of course, in relation to symbolism.

There were many differences between the Acmeists, which were revealed almost from the very beginning of the emergence of this group. Few of them adhered to the proclaimed manifestos - almost all of them were both wider and higher than the proclaimed and declared programs. Everyone went their own ways, and it is difficult to imagine more dissimilar artists than, for example, Akhmatova, Gumilyov, Mandelstam, whose creative destinies developed in an internal polemic with acmeism.

About the poetic flow:

Acmeism (from Greek akme - highest degree something, flourishing, maturity, pinnacle, 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, the chasing of the poetic word. Their "earthly" poetry is prone to intimacy, aestheticism and poeticization of the feelings of primitive man. Acmeism was characterized by extreme apoliticality, complete indifference to the topical problems of our time.

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

The highest point in the hierarchy of values for them was culture, identical to universal human memory. Therefore, acmeists often turn to mythological plots and images. If the Symbolists in their work focused on music, then the Acmeists - on 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”. And the beginning of a new trend (which later became almost a “mandatory condition” for the emergence of new poetic groups in Russia) was laid by a scandal.

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

And a year later, in the autumn of 1912, the six main members of the "Tsekh" decided not only formally, but also ideologically to separate from the Symbolists. They organized a new community, calling themselves "Acmeists", that is, the top. At the same time, the "Workshop of Poets" as 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Basic principles of acmeism:

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

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

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

Objectivity and clarity of images, sharpness of details;

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

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

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

Acmeism is a trend that originated in Russian poetry in 1910 as an alternative to symbolism at the time of its crisis. It was a time when “poetic youth already clearly realized that it was not only risky, but also in vain to continue dancing on its symbolic rope over the abyss of the universe, since the audience, who were tired of the suns and cardboard stars stuck on the black calico of the symbolic sky, began to yawn and run away. The magazine "Vesy", around which the most significant representatives of this trend were grouped, ceased to exist. The Apollo magazine, which has appeared at the present time, sheltered the former Vekhi people, although it did not become their parental home. There was no unity and agreement among the representatives of this trend and in their views on the future fate of symbolism, on poetic creativity. So, V. Bryusov considered poetry only an art, and V. Ivanov also saw religious and mystical functions in it.

The appearance of acmeism due to was also an urgent need of the time. “Symbolism was born at a moment of historical decline and spiritual desert. His mission was to restore the rights of the spirit, to breathe poetry back into a world that had forgotten about it. Acmeism ... appeared in Russia to meet the great test of the 20th century: 1914, 1917, and for some in 1937, ”says Nikita Struve.

On October 20, 1911, the "Echo of Poets" was created (not an accidental name, which expressed the attitude to poetry as a craft), which became the forerunner of acmeism. The main core of the Workshop was M. S. Gumilyov, A. A. Akhmatova, O. E. Mandelstam, V. I. Narbut, M. A. Zenkevich. In October, the first issue of the journal "Hyperborea" ("Wind of Wanderings") was published.

The first discussions related to the emergence of a new literary direction, began shortly after the establishment of the Workshop. On February 18, 1912, V. Ivanov and A. Bely made presentations on symbolism in the editorial office of the Apollo magazine at a regular meeting of the Academy. With objections in which isolation from symbolism was proclaimed, their opponents - M. Gumilyov and S. Gorodetsky, who announced the creation of a literary school - acmeism, made their objections.

Acme - from Greek, which means the highest degree of something, color, blooming time. Thus, acmeism meant the full power of blooming life, apogee, higher development, an acmeist - a creator, a pioneer who sings of life in all its manifestations ... On the shield of the acmeists it was written: clarity, simplicity, affirmation of the reality of life.

In contrast to S. Gorodetsky (see his report "Symbolism and Acmeism", 1912), M. Gumilyov believed that acmeism comes out of symbolism and has points of contact with it. In his article, published for the first time in the Apollo magazine in 1913, “The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism”, M. Gumilyov reveals the common features and differences between acmeism and symbolism. He believes that acmeism should become a worthy heir to the direction that preceded it, accept its assets and answer the questions posed by it.

The defining feature of the aesthetic concept of the acmeists was the objection of the “obligatory mysticism” of the symbolists. “I’m afraid of any mysticism,” said Nikolai Stepanovich (Gumilyov), “I’m afraid of impulses to other worlds, because I don’t want to issue bills to the reader, for which it will not be me who will pay, but some unknown force.”

But in contrast to the symbolists, the acmeists asserted the ideals of beauty, which were born from the aestheticization of nature itself. The highest beauty of the world was proclaimed "free nature" and the enjoyment of it. In S. Gorodetsky's atheistic manifesto "Some Trends in Contemporary Russian Poetry" the "inseparable unity of the earth and man" is promoted and an attempt is made to instill in art a new worldview - acmeism.

The acmeists call the ideal of man the “original Adam”, whom they wanted to see cheerful, spontaneous and wise. Hence the acmeists have the courage to call a spade a spade, as well as a courageous, sober look at the material, material world.

The word was proclaimed the unified artistic value of the verse, and the significance of its material side was emphasized. The main thing in the word is its "conscious content, Logos", which is not integral part the content of the word, but acts as its formal component. The content of the word was proclaimed by its form.

O. Mandelstam saw the main feature of the Russian language in the fact that it is a “Hellish” language. The Russian language also does not need someone else's symbolism, since the language itself is already symbolic in its essence and gives the poet images.

In deliberate symbolization, acmeists saw the cause of the death of the real dynamic nature of language. Therefore, they strove for the semantics of simplicity and clarity, the "purity" of the vocabulary material. When the symbolists reduced the symbol of the main artistic principle, the acmeists used it as one of the tropes. "We do not agree to sacrifice other ways of poetic influence to him and are looking for their complete coherence." Striving for simplicity and clarity, a sense of the material world, the acmeists resorted to a detailed sketch of things and objects, so the principle of detail became a canonized artistic technique for them. They revived the architectural harmony and completeness of the composition of the verse. “The spirit of construction, architecture is the recognition of the suitability of things, reality as such (without correlation with another reality), this is the recognition of the three-dimensional dimension of the world not as a prison, not as a burden, but as the God of a given palace.”

The word, color, light, color, space, line became the material for construction, the basic elements of the composition, which contributed to the picturesque, decorative style (G. Ivanov, G. Adamovich, V. Junger), plasticity, gesture were used (M. Gumilyov, O. Mandelstam).

Therefore, in order to seek and find peace in oneself, to live in peace with oneself and the world, to write logically, to be understandable in the statement, to love the word, to be a master architect, to restrain chaos with a clear form, another principle of acmeist poetics contributed - the principle of claricism ( excellent clarity), developed by G. Kuzmin.

The main literary genus of the acmeists is constant lyrics. Lyrical miniatures, sketches from life, sketches were created. An attempt is made to revive the classical forms of ancient Greek poetry. Adamovich, Verkhovensky, Stolitsa, Kuzmin restore in their work the bucolic genres of idyll, pastoral, eclogue.

Poetry to acmeism was marked by an increased tendency to cultural associations, it entered into a roll call with past literary eras. “Longing for world culture,” O. Mandelstam later defined acmeism. “Each direction feels in love with one or another creator of the era. And it is no coincidence that the spokesmen of the ideas of acmeism, the “foundations” of its structure were Shakespeare, who showed the “inner world of man”, Rabelais, who sang “the body and its joys, wise physiology”, Villon, who “told ... about life”, and Theophilus Gauthier, who found for this life "in art, worthy clothes of impeccable forms." To combine these four moments in oneself is the dream that unites people who so boldly called themselves acmeists.

The name of the literary modernist trend in Russian poetry of the early twentieth century, akmeizim, comes from the Greek word "akme", translated into Russian meaning the heyday, peak or pinnacle of something (according to other versions, the term comes from the Greek roots of Akhmatova's pseudonym "akmatus").

This literary school was created in opposition to symbolism, as a response to its extremes and excesses. Acmeists advocated the return of clarity and materiality to the poetic word and the refusal to let in the mysterious fog of mysticism when describing reality (as was customary in symbolism). The adherents of acmeism advocated the accuracy of the word, the objectivity of themes and images, the acceptance of the surrounding world in all its diversity, colorfulness, sonority and tangible concreteness.

The founders of acmeism are such Russian poets of the Silver Age of Russian poetry as Nikolai Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova and Sergei Gorodetsky, later they were joined by O. Mandelstam, V. Narbut, M. Zenkevich.

In 1912 they founded own school professional skills "Workshop of Poets", in 1913 in the journal "Apollo" there appeared articles by Gumilyov "The Heritage of Symbolism and Acmeism" and S. Gorodetsky "Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry", in which the term "acmeism" first appears, its main features are described . In these articles, which are a kind of program for the acmeist movement, its main humanistic plan was proclaimed - the revival of a new thirst for life in people, the return of a sense of its colorfulness and brightness. The first works of acmeist poets were published in the third issue of the Apollo magazine (1913) after the release of manifesto articles. During 1913-1919. the acmeists' own magazine "Hyperboreans" was published (therefore they were also often called "Hyperboreans").

Unlike symbolism, which, according to many literary scholars, has undeniable similarities with musical art(like music, it is also mysterious, ambiguous, can have a large number of interpretations), the creativity of acmeism is closer to such three-dimensional spatial trends in art as architecture, sculpture or painting.

Poems-poets of acmeists are distinguished not only by their amazing beauty, but also by their accuracy, consistency, extremely simple meaning, understandable to any reader. The words used in the works of acmeists are designed to convey exactly the meaning that was originally laid down in them, there are no various exaggerations or comparisons, metaphors and hyperbole are practically not used. Acmeist poets were alien to aggressiveness, they were not interested in political and social topics, great importance is attached to the highest human values, the spiritual world of man is put forward in the first place. Their poems are very easy to understand, listen to and remember, because complex things in their talented description become simple and understandable for each of us.

Representatives of this literary movement were united not only by a single hobby new school poetry, in life they were also friends and like-minded people, their organization was distinguished by great cohesion and unity of views, although they did not have a certain literary platform and standards on which they could rely when writing their works. The verses of each of them, differing in structure, character, mood and other creative features, were extremely specific, accessible to the understanding of readers, as required by the school of acmeism, and did not cause additional questions after reading them.

Despite the friendship and solidarity between the acmeist poets, the limited scope of this literary movement for such brilliant poets like Gumilyov, Akhmatova or Mandelstam, soon became crowded. After Gumilyov's quarrel with Gorodetsky in February 1914, the Poets' Workshop school of professional skills, after two years of its existence, 10 issues of the Hyperborea magazine and several poetry collections, broke up. Although the poets of this organization did not cease to attribute themselves to this literary movement and were published in literary magazines and newspapers in which the publishers called them acmeists. Young poets Georgy Ivanov, Georgy Adamovich, Nikolai Otsup, Irina Odoevtseva called themselves successors of Gumilyov's ideas.

A unique feature of such a literary movement as acmeism is that it was born and developed exclusively on the territory of Russia, having a huge impact on further development Russian poetry of the early twentieth century. The invaluable merit of the acmeist poets is called by literary researchers the invention of a special, subtle way of conveying spiritual world lyrical characters that can be betrayed with the help of a single movement, gesture, the way of listing any things or important little things that cause many associations to appear in the imagination of readers. This ingeniously simple peculiar "materialization" of feelings and experiences of the main lyrical hero has a huge impact and becomes understandable and accessible to every reader.

The section is very easy to use. In the proposed field, just enter the desired word, and we will give you a list of its meanings. I would like to note that our site provides data from various sources - encyclopedic, explanatory, word-building dictionaries. Here you can also get acquainted with examples of the use of the word you entered.

The meaning of the word acmeism

acmeism in the crossword dictionary

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

acmeism

acmeism, pl. no, m. (from the Greek akme - top) (lit.). One of the trends in Russian poetry in the tenth years of the 20th century, which opposed itself to symbolism.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova.

acmeism

A, m. In Russian literature of the 20th century: a trend that proclaimed liberation from symbolism.

adj. acmeist, -th, -th.

New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

acmeism

m. The modernist trend in Russian literature of the early 20th century, whose representatives, opposing themselves to the symbolists, strove for a subject-specific, detailed depiction of the world, to return the word to its original, non-symbolic meaning.

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

acmeism

ACMEISM (from the Greek akme - the highest degree of something, blooming power) is 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 the "ideal", from the ambiguity and fluidity of images, complicated metaphor, a return to the material world, the object (or element of "nature"), the exact meaning of the word. The "earthly" poetry of acmeism is characterized by individual modernist motifs, a tendency to aestheticism, intimacy, or to the poeticization of the feelings of primitive man.

Acmeism

(French acmēisme, from Greek akmē ≈ the highest degree of something, blooming power), a trend in Russian poetry of the early 20th century, which developed in the conditions of the crisis of bourgeois culture and expressed a decadent mood (see Decadence).

A. arose as a reaction to symbolism. Representatives of poetry, united in the Poets' Guild group and appearing in the journal Apollon (1909-17), objected to the departure of poetry to "other worlds," to the "unknowable," and to the ambiguous and fluid poetic images. Declaring the preference for real, earthly life and the return of poetry to the elements of "nature", however, the acmeists perceived life as extra-social and extra-historical. The person was excluded from the sphere of social practice. Acmeists contrasted social conflicts with aesthetic admiration for the little things of life, things (M. Kuzmin), the objective world, images of past culture and history (O. Mandelstam, the collection "Stone", 1913), the poeticization of the biological principles of being (M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut) . Apologia " strong personality"and" primitive "feelings, inherent early poetry N. Gumilyov, left him within the framework of an anti-democratic, individualistic consciousness.

In the post-revolutionary years, the "Workshop of Poets" ceased to exist as a literary school. The work of the most famous poets, ranked as A., ≈ A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, N. Gumilyov, partly M. Kuzmin ≈ already by the mid-1910s. went beyond the framework of acmeist declarations and acquired individual destinies.

══Lit.: Blok A., "Without a deity, without inspiration." Sobr. soch., vol. 6, M.≈L., 1962; [Acmeist manifestos], "Apollo", 1913, No. 1; Kuzmin M., About beautiful clarity, ibid., 1910, ╧1; Mikhailovsky B., Russian literature of the 20th century, M., 1939; Volkov A., Essays on Russian literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, M., 1955; Orlov V., At the turn of two eras, "Questions of Literature", 1966, ╧ 10; Zhirmunsky V., On the work of Anna Akhmatova, "New World", 1969, ╧ 6; History of Russian poetry, vol. 2, L., 1969.

I. S. Pravdina.

Wikipedia

Acmeism

Acmeism ("Adamism") is a literary movement that opposes symbolism and arose at the beginning of the 20th century in Russia. Acmeists proclaimed materiality, objectivity of themes and images, the accuracy of the word. Acmeism is a cult of concreteness, "materiality" of the image, it is "the art of precisely measured and balanced words." On December 19, 1912, the program of acmeism was publicly announced for the first time. This event took place in the cabaret "Stray Dog" in St. Petersburg.

The formation of acmeism is closely connected with the activities of the "Workshop of Poets", the opposition "Academy of Verse", the central figures of which were the founders of acmeism Nikolay Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova and Sergey Gorodetsky.

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

The term "acmeism" was proposed in 1912 by Nikolai Gumilyov and Sergei 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 Andrei 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 dubbed the group of poets close to him Acmeists.

Features of acmeism:

Self-worth of a separate thing and every life phenomenon;
The purpose of art is to ennoble human nature;
Striving for the artistic transformation of imperfect life phenomena;
Clarity and accuracy of the poetic word, intimacy, aestheticism;
Idealization of the feelings of primitive man;
Distinctness, certainty of images;
Image of the objective world, earthly beauty.

Examples of the use of the word acmeism in literature.

Of course, these formulations do not reflect the whole acmeism, but the starting point of its development.

Gumilyov announced acmeism organically worthy and legitimate heir to the best that symbolism gave, but having its own spiritual and aesthetic foundations - fidelity to the pictorially visible world, its plastic objectivity, increased attention to poetic technique, strict taste, blooming festivity of life.

Kuzmin - Karavaev spoke at the Society of Zealots of the Artistic Word, announcing the separation acmeism 01 symbolism.

Ever since the war, I fell in love with a wonderful poet, who died so terribly in the dungeons of the Petrograd Big House, the head of the Russian acmeism Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov.

It's funny that I actually got a few indignant letters from clean-fisted amateurs afterwards. acmeism- with an expression of indignation over the replacement of a star with a planet.

It was the time when literary life the capital experienced a craze for modernism of all shades: from agonizing symbolism to acmeism and futurism, which debuted on the literary arena.

With such a broad understanding acmeism Mandelstam could consider himself an acmeist until the end of his life.

Modernism, including here futurism, acmeism, Imagism and other schools of the beginning of the century - the concept is faceted.

Consequently, it was Gumilyov's aesthetics that should have been projected onto all representations acmeism about the aesthetic nature of literature.

Acmeism is one of the modernist trends in Russian poetry of the 1910s, formed as a reaction to the extremes of symbolism.

The highest value is culture (memory), hence the appeal to myth plots and images.

Acmeists focused on architecture, sculpture, painting, symbolists - on music. Acmeists are characterized by 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.

The main ideas in the article by N. Gumilyov "The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism" and S. Gorodetsky "Some Trends in Modern Russian Poetry".

Acmeism has six of the most active participants in the current: N. Gumilyov, A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, M. Zenkevich, V. Narbut.

As a literary trend, acmeism did not last long - about two years. 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." They tried to revive it, but to no avail.

Akhmatova and Mandelstam managed to leave behind "eternal words." Gumilyov appears in his poems as one of the brightest personalities of the cruel time of revolutions and world wars. And today, almost a century later, interest in acmeism has survived mainly because the work of these outstanding poets, who had a significant impact on the fate of Russian poetry of the 20th century, is associated with it.

Basic principles of acmeism:

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

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

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

Objectivity and clarity of images, sharpness of details;

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

Poetization of the world of primordial emotions, 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, Zenkevich Mikhail, Ivanov Georgy, Krivich, Valentin, Lozinsky Mikhail, Mandelstam Osip, Narbut Vladimir, Shileiko Vladimir.

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

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

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

Basic principles of acmeism:

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

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

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

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

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

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