Chekhov, a great Russian critical realist writer at the end of the 19th century, a master of humorous satire with timeless taste and sharp writing, a master of short stories and a famous playwright. With his outstanding talent for satirical humor, he added two immortal artistic images to the gallery of world literary figures. His famous saying "Simplicity is the sister of genius" has also become a motto pursued by later writers.
His novels are short and concise, simple and simple, with compact structure, vivid plots, humorous writing style, bright language, full of musical rhythm and profound meaning. He was good at discovering people and things of typical significance from daily life, making artistic summaries through humorous plots, and creating complete typical images to reflect the Russian society at that time. His representative works "The Chameleon" and "The Man in the Trap" can be called exquisite and perfect artistic treasures in the history of Russian literature. The former has become synonymous with those who adapt to the wind, are good at disguise, and opportunistic; the latter has become the symbol of those who are conservative, timid, and afraid of change. Symbol symbolism.
The following is a more detailed introduction:
Chekhov, A. П． (АнтонПавловичЧехов 1860～1904) Russian novelist and dramatist. Born on January 29, 1860 in Taganrog, Rostov Province. My grandfather was a redeemed serf. His father once opened a grocery store, but it went bankrupt in 1876 and the family moved to Moscow. But Chekhov stayed alone in Taganrog, working as a tutor to make ends meet and continue his studies. In 1879, he entered the Department of Medicine of Moscow State University. After graduating in 1884, he practiced medicine in Zvenigorod and other places, where he had extensive contact with civilians and learned about life, which had a good influence on his literary creation.
In Russia in the 1880s, the reactionary book censorship system was unprecedentedly strict, and vulgar and boring humorous publications were all the rage. When Chekhov began to write, he often submitted articles to such magazines (such as "Dragonfly" and "Fragment") under the pseudonym Antonsha Chihont. The short story "A Letter to a Learned Friendly Neighbor" (1880) and the humorous sketch "What is the most common thing in novels, novellas, etc.?" "(1880) is his first published work. Before the mid-1980s, he wrote a large number of witty sketches and humorous short stories. Many of them were jokes and anecdotes of little value, but there were also some outstanding works, which inherited the fine democratic tradition of Russian literature and criticized the social trends at that time. Ugly phenomena, such as writing about petty officials who bully the weak ("On the Nail", "Death of an Official", "Victor's Victory", all 1883), gentry and lords who bully the weak ("English Woman" 1883) , a slave who adapts to the wind ("Chameleon", 1884), and a defender of the autocratic system ("Sergeant Prishibeev", 1885). However, he was forced to make ends meet and lack experience. At that time, he mainly only wanted quick results and productivity. In March 1886, the famous writer Grigorovich wrote a letter asking him to respect his talent. He was deeply inspired and began to take creation seriously. "Wanka" and "Affliction" written in 1886 and "Sleep" in 1888 show the writer's deep sympathy for the poor working people. The famous novella "Prairie" published in 1888 depicts and praises the nature of the motherland, ponders the fate of farmers, and expresses the people's desire for a happy life. "Name Day" (1888) and "The Duchess" (1889) exposed hypocrisy, vanity and vulgarity. These works have obvious progress in ideological content and artistic skills. However, Chekhov, who was influenced by the petty bourgeois environment, did not care about politics at this time. He just "wanted to be a free artist" and had "the most absolute freedom." From 1886 he wrote for the "New Times" published by the reactionary literary man Suvorin, and despite the advice of the critic N. Mikhailovsky, he still maintained relations with it. In October 1888, Chekhov won half of the "Pushkin Prize". By this time he was the author of five short story collections ("The Story of Melpomeni", 1884; "Colorful Stories", 1886; "In the Dark", 1887; "Innocent Words", 1887; "Short Stories"). Collected Stories, 1888). His increasing reputation and status made him strongly aware of his social responsibility as a writer, and he seriously thought about the purpose of life and the meaning of creation. He said: "A conscious life, if it lacks a clear world view, is not life, but a burden and a terrible thing." This idea is vividly expressed in the novella "The Boring Story" (1889).
From this period, Chekhov began to write dramas. One-act plays "Marriage" (1890) and "On the Dangers of Tobacco" (1886), "The Idiot" (1888), "The Proposal" (1888～1889), "An Involuntarily Tragic Character" (1889～1890), "Memorial Day" "(1891～1892) and other light-hearted comedies are close to his early humorous works in terms of ideological content and comedy. The play "Ivanov" (1887~1889) criticizes the "superfluous people" of the 1980s who lack firm beliefs and cannot withstand the test of life.
From April to December 1890, the frail Chekhov traveled long distances to Sakhalin Island, where the tsarist government settled hard labor prisoners and exiled prisoners. He visited all the residents there, "nearly 10,000 Prisoners and immigrants" are investigated one by one. The trip to Sakhalin improved his ideological consciousness and creative artistic conception.
In 1891, he said in a letter: "... If I am a writer, I need to live among the people... I need at least a little bit of social life and political life, even a little bit." He began to realize He realized that writing for the New Times brought him nothing but "disaster", and he finally severed ties with the publication in 1893. He had a relatively deep understanding of the Russian autocratic system, and wrote works such as "Sakhalin" (1893-1894) and "In Exile" (1892), and the most important thing is the shocking "The Sixth The Ward" (1892). This novella indicts the horror of the prison-like Tsarist Russia, and also criticizes his own Tolstoyanism of "Do not resist evil with violence" that he was obsessed with not long ago. After reading it, Lenin was strongly affected and said that he "felt so terrible" that he "could not stay in the room" and "felt as if he was also locked in the 'Sixth Ward'".
Between 1890 and 1900, Chekhov went to Milan, Venice, Vienna and Paris to recuperate and travel. From 1892 he settled in the newly acquired Merikhovo estate in Serpukhov District, Moscow Province. In 1898, Chekhov, who was seriously ill with tuberculosis, moved to Yalta. In 1901 he married Olga Knibil, an actress of the Moscow Art Theater. In Yalta he often met with Tolstoy, Gorky, Bunin, Kuprin and Levitan.
The 1890s and early 20th century were the heyday of Chekhov's creation. At that time, the Russian liberation movement entered a new stage of proletarian revolution. Agitated by the passionate sentiments of the revolutionary class, the democratic spirit among students and other residents became increasingly active. Chekhov also gradually overcame his apolitical tendency and actively participated in social activities: in 1892, he provided famine relief in Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh provinces; from 1892 to 1893, he participated in the work of eradicating cholera in Serpukhov County. ; Participated in the census work in 1897; In 1898, he supported French writer Zola's just action to defend Dreyfus, and therefore alienated his relationship with Suvorin; In 1902, in order to protest against the decision of the tsarist authorities to cancel Gorky's qualifications as an honorary academician of the Academy of Sciences , he and Korolenko gave up the title of honorary academician of the Academy of Sciences they had received in 1900; in 1903, he funded young students who were persecuted for fighting for democracy and freedom. His democratic stance became increasingly firm, his observation of the fundamentals of social life became more profound, and his premonition of the brewing revolution became increasingly clear, and he gradually saw vague "fire" in the dark reality. His creation entered a new stage. He emphasized that works of art should have clear ideas (play "The Seagull", 1896); he touched on major social issues in a series of works. For example, "The Peasant" (1897) reflects the poverty of the material and spiritual life of the peasants with sober realism: abject poverty, ignorance, backwardness and barbarism; "In the Canyon" (1900) also depicts the rural bourgeoisie - the rich peasants going crazy Looting wealth and cruel nature. These novels were a powerful rebuttal to the populists who glorified rural commune life. The theme of exposing capitalism can also be found in works such as "The Kingdom of Woman" (1894) and "Three Years" (1895); while "The Doctor" (1898) shows that the "devil" of capitalism not only oppresses workers, but also tortures factory owners. The conscience of the descendants, who realize that life is meaningless and unreasonable, is deeply depressed and disturbed. The play "Uncle Vanya" (1897) describes the sad fate of intellectuals who have no real ideals and serious goals. Their honest and selfless labor eventually becomes a meaningless sacrifice. "The Woman with the Dog" (1899) takes love as the theme, exposes vulgarity and hypocrisy, and arouses readers' "disgust for the muddy, half-dead life...". "The House with an Attic" (1896) and "My Life" (1896) deny the "little things" theory that replaced social struggle with daily work, which was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. They criticize the gradualism of liberals and believe that a A "stronger, braver and faster way of struggle" must go out of the narrow circle of daily activities and influence the broad masses. The cry of "Can't live like this anymore!" gradually resounded in his creation. In "The Trapped Man" (1898), he reveals the suppression of society by the reactionary forces in the 1980s and their conservatism and weakness, and denounces the trapping habit that existed at that time. In "Gooseberry" (1898) and "Yao Nitch" (1898), he portrayed the spiritual emptiness and depravity of selfish mediocre people who huddled in their own small world of personal happiness, and pointed out that "what people need is not three feet of land. , nor a manor, but the whole earth, the whole nature, in that vast space man can develop to the fullest all the qualities and characteristics of his free spirit.”
With the further rise of social movements in the early 20th century, Chekhov realized that a powerful "storm" that would wipe out everything was about to come, and vices such as laziness, apathy, and aversion to labor in society would be wiped out. Sweep away. He praised labor and hoped that everyone would use their own work to prepare for a better future ("Three Sisters", 1900-1901). "The Bride" (1903), written on the eve of the 1905 revolution, expresses the desire to "turn over life" and rush to a new life.
The play "The Cherry Orchard" (1903-1904) shows the inevitable decline of the aristocracy and the historical process of its replacement by the emerging bourgeoisie. It also expresses the optimism of resolutely bidding farewell to the past and yearning for a happy future: The ax used to cut wood in the Cherry Orchard Accompanied by cheers of "Long live the new life!" However, because Chekhov's ideological stance never transcended the scope of democracy, the newcomers he wrote did not know the only way to create a new life. The "new life" they longed for was always just a vague longing.
In June 1904, due to the deterioration of his condition, Chekhov went to Badenweiler, Germany for treatment. He died there on July 15, and his body was transported back to Moscow for burial.
Chekhov created a lyrical psychological novel with unique style, conciseness and comprehensiveness, and exquisite art. He intercepts fragments of ordinary daily life and uses exquisite artistic details to truly depict and depict life and characters, displaying important social content. This kind of novel has a strong lyrical flavor, expressing his dissatisfaction with the ugly reality and yearning for a better future, and melting praise and derogation, joy and pain into the image system of the work. He believes: "The sister of genius is conciseness" and "the skill of writing is the skill of deleting poor writing". He advocates "objective" narration, saying "the more objective it is, the deeper the impression will be." He trusts readers' imagination and understanding, and advocates letting readers figure out the meaning of the work from the image system.
The themes, tendencies and styles of Chekhov’s drama creations are basically similar to his lyrical psychological novels. He does not pursue bizarre and tortuous plots. He describes ordinary daily life and characters, revealing important aspects of social life. There are rich subtexts and strong lyricism in Chekhov's plays; his realism is full of inspiring power and profound symbolic significance. "The Seagull" and "The Cherry Orchard" are both his original artistic symbols. Stanislavsky, Danchenko and the Moscow Art Theater (founded in 1898) collaborated creatively with Chekhov and made major innovations in stage technique.
Chekhov occupies his place in world literature. He is as famous as Maupassant for his short stories. Many writers in Europe and the United States have talked about the impact of Chekhov's creations on 20th century literature. In China, novels such as "The Black Priest" and "The Sixth Ward" were translated and introduced shortly after Chekhov's death. His plays "Haiou", "Uncle Vanya", "Three Sisters" and "The Cherry Orchard" were also translated into Chinese by Zheng Zhenduo and Cao Jinghua as early as 1921 and 1925 respectively. Later, Lu Xun Art Academy performed "Idiot", "Proposal" and "Anniversary" in Yan'an. Qu Qiubai, Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Guo Moruo, Ba Jin, etc. have all discussed Chekhov. Almost all of his novels and plays have been translated into Chinese.
“On the stage, everything must be as complicated as in life, and at the same time as simple. People eat, just eat, but at this time their happiness is formed, or their lives are destroyed.
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——Chekhov
What are you doing downstairs?