"Why do we need poetry" essay. Do we need poets? Elena Obraztsova, People's Artist of Russia


Today there is a huge gap between the ideas of the creative elite about real poetry and the views of the general audience on this subject. Such a gap has its own laws: elite culture is ahead of society's needs for cultural food, which is the basis of its values ​​and spirituality, sets the direction for the development of society's culture. However, if no one takes responsibility for managing the process of conveying ideas about real art to the population, does not make sure that this gap is reduced, mass culture will not leave a chance for elite culture to be in demand, to influence the basic foundations of society. The insufficiency of institutions for managing such processes will inevitably lead to a crisis of culture: the emasculation of universal human values, the decline of spirituality. Who should take responsibility for these processes?

Communicating with the editors of the leading Russian publishing houses, I encountered disbelief that modern poetry can be in demand by the reader. The editors say that there is a demand for the classics, the poets of the Silver Age. It is these poetic series that are published most often. The publication of collections of contemporary poets is extremely risky and unprofitable.

Most modern poets save up money for years to publish their book. Someone is more lucky: their books are published with the money of sponsors. But now there are not so many patrons of art, lovers of real poetry. Poetry cannot be the basis for business, it does not inherently have a commercial component.

The editors of thick literary magazines do not consider it their mission to convey talented modern poetry to a wide audience, to form, educate people in people with a taste for good poetry. They see as their mission the development of modern poetic creativity, they work within the narrow framework of a professional and elite audience, working as if for the future.

Here is a characteristic opinion of one of the leading literary critics: “The masses, in principle, are not capable of perceiving real poetry - this matter is too subtle and complex. It is impossible not to allow the mass to be saturated with everything low-grade - nothing else saturates it. Give the masses high poetry - they will say that this is a stupid set of words, and they will demand rhymes in case. low-grade. And he will say: these are good verses. This is the point of view of a very good critic, unfortunately, like others, who feels powerless to change anything.

The point of view about the "givenness" of abilities has been discussed by many researchers in the field of psychology. Cesare Lombroso said that criminals and prostitutes are born, and therefore it is pointless to engage in socialization, education of those who cannot be different. His concept has been criticized many times by experts in the field of social psychology and pedagogy. There are many factors that influence the formation of personality and its values. But if literary critics take such a tough position "they are not us, they are nobody", and we are "only for the elite" - this means that they are signing their own failure in the systemic influence on culture. They believe that it is useless to work with the "gray mass", "sow the reasonable, good, eternal", "awaken good feelings with the lyre", look for ways to instill in people a taste for poetry. Either it is given by nature or it is not.

Isn't this one of the reasons for the dominance of mass culture that representatives of the elite culture do not see the point in fighting for true art to be more widely represented in the minds of people? As a result elite art is losing its positions more and more, and people's consciousness is filled with stamps of mass culture, enslaving the individual.

Alexey Alekhin, editor-in-chief

  • The same “actual” poetry, endlessly imitating novelty
  • Unpretentious poetry for the "broad" (relatively) masses
  • And, finally, existing as always in spite of everything and as always thin, a branch of poetry proper - poetry as art.

A. Alekhine sees, however, a certain continuum of poetic creativity, which has the right to exist in society, which leads the reader from the simple to the complex. The purpose of poetry as an art is to be the main reference point of this movement, to set high standards.

In his opinion, "poetry as art" is true poetry, the understanding of which is accessible to few. This corresponds to a more general opinion: real art is elite, at least for contemporaries. For posterity, today's elite art may approach mass art. And yet, if now we do not take care of the institutions of educating people for a taste for real modern poetry, descendants simply will not be able to consider the grain of truth in the stream of ever-increasing information load on a person.

The response of the "masses" to literary editors

Reflecting on the problem of managing the processes of narrowing the gap between the “elite and the mass”, reducing the negative impact of mass culture on the personality of a person, strengthening the value and spiritual foundations of society, I decided to turn to the users of my site edu.jobsmarket.ru and ask them a question: is poetry needed? modern man?

The results of this study are just a way to raise the issue, to form a vision for the problem together with all interested parties and to find non-trivial solutions.

Who took part in the study?

Interest in the topic of the survey was huge, over 5,000 questionnaires were filled out in 2 days.

Age

The size of the settlement, people

Floor

User responses to survey questions

Have you ever written poetry?

How often do you turn to poetry?

How often do you turn to poetry? Answered "NEVER", distribution by age groups in %



What is your reason for turning to poetry?

If you turn to poetry, which poets would you rather read?

What theme of poetry do you like the most?

What carrier of information is preferable for you when reading poetry?

Difference in media preferences depending on the age group, %

Does modern man need poetry?

How often do you turn to poetry ? Answered "NO", distribution by age groups in %



In your opinion, what role does poetry play in the culture of a society?

From the results of this study, it seems to me that our Russian "mass" of readers is not as hopeless as it seems to the editors of thick magazines. It is obvious that the general reader is not only interested in poetry (albeit at their own level of understanding it), but also sees its role in their lives and the life of society.

I hope that this small study will be good food for thought for the literary environment, editors and poets.

Alla Noskova, CEO of the JobsMarket Project Group and the AdFocus Advertising Network. Author and developer of the largest in Russia portal for additional professional education http://www.edu.jobsmarket.ru/, job site http://www.jobsmarket.ru/. Author of social projects “Money for education EduMoney”, competition of grants for education “Dreams come true! - Grants”, tourist competition “Dreams come true! - Rest ". Laureate of the PEOPLE INVESTOR-2011 competition, received an award from the Russian Managers Association for a socially responsible approach to business. Sponsor of the poetry competition "Lost Tram" named after N.S. Gumilyov. Graduated from the Lviv Polytechnic Institute, Faculty of Psychology and Faculty of Management of St. Petersburg State University. More than 10 years of psychological practice, 16 years in management.

Composition: “Is poetry necessary in the 21st century?” You can write using the presented option.

“Does modern man need poetry” essay

Poetry… Such a seemingly simple word in the modern world. But this is a whole engine that can kindle more than one icy heart. And why is poetry important in human life and is poetry generally needed in the modern world?

We have crossed the border of the new millennium — the time of powerful information resources and technological progress. Today, television and the Internet have entered almost all spheres of life. And people began to forget about aesthetic values ​​and spiritual development. Books are no longer needed, writers are no longer needed. Unfortunately, one often hears: why these verses?

Poetry is an important part of my life for me. It's not just a word. This is what kindles a fire in my soul, makes me laugh, cry, enjoy the beautiful. Just think how many aesthetic lines have been given to us by unsurpassed poets. Pushkin, Nekrasov, Lermontov are real titans who, in word, as if in deed, knocked on every door, on every soul. It is their poetry that teaches me from childhood to love the Motherland, my family, to be a good friend and a strong personality. Every word they say sounds like a sweet song to me.

It hurts my heart when you realize that now poetry has lost its value. That now it is only the material of textbooks at school. They learn verses by heart, and in the morning they forget. And this is wrong. Because with them the history and culture of the people are forgotten. Loss of confidence in the future.

Have you tried to read your poems in the bazaar in Terbuny? Next to the musicians who sing other people's songs, to the sound of coins falling into a button accordion case?

Have you tried? Yes, romance disappears, and life becomes more expensive, like a kilogram of buckwheat - quickly and impressively.

Yes. The world has changed dramatically. If you start reading poetry on a train, or just on a park bench, people will no longer gather around you.

In the best case, at the nearest stop or from the nearest mobile phone, an ambulance will be called to you ....

Poems do not sound today. Rhymes and poets are in dissonance with life, the price of housing and communal services, the size of a pension, or grossly contradict the salary of a librarian, or a teacher of the Russian language, with excellent knowledge of Russian poetry.

If a woman loves with her ears, then Russia loves life with oil barrels, and oil barrels are no longer left for poetry.

And in Terbuny it is easier to read a savings book than a collection of poems by local poets.

Poems in the market, in the park or in the train carriage today seem as strange as the unshaven armpits of the models on the catwalk.

Or as a party of the right - next to Putin's party ...

THANKS TO GOD PUSHKIN IS NOT NEAR US

Have you tried cooking borscht without a stove? How about eating scrambled eggs? What about writing poetry without feeling the word?

Speaking of poetry. Our 21st century met poets with hostility.

In the newspapers, verses were reduced to congratulatory verses.

Is it poetry? The husband picks up a pocket book, where some rogue has composed ... rhymed congratulations ...

And if a man used to congratulate his beloved woman with his poems, now his beloved hears other people's poems on the radio or reads in the newspaper, the very ones from a pocket book, where there are couplets for all occasions. Wedding, Anniversary. And even for ... like on the occasion of the fifth divorce from his friend's wife on duty. And separately - congratulations to your beloved mother-in-law ..

Nightmare. Imagine a man, romantically rolling his eyes to the sky, loudly confesses his love for his wife with other people's couplets.

I loved you so sincerely, so tenderly.

How God forbid you, beloved to be different!

Why compose it? Read Pushkin's poems to your wife on her anniversary, and say that you, too, are Alexander Sergeevich.

Poems do not sound today. They come into dissonance with life, the price of housing and communal services, the size of the pension, in comparison with them, the pensions of Australians look like the pensions of the current municipal old people, the motives of Russian poetry themselves in laughter - they contradict the salary of a librarian or the tariff rate of a teacher of the Russian language, with excellent knowledge of Russian poetry.

Thank God that Pushkin was born under tsars and not under presidents.

Live Pushkin today next to us, he died of hunger for poetry.

Because poetry and a comfortable life are mutually exclusive concepts today, even on television.

Where mediocre texts to mediocre music are more important than real poetry.

And where they stupidly inspire young Russians - that this is the rhymed blah blah blah to the music - this is the poetic work of the times of the reign of Medvedev and Putin.

HERE YOU ARE NO LONGER HERE

Poetry! It is so beautiful. But even so today it is not in demand in the real estate market, that is, in the book world ...

Who buys books of poetry today? Literature teacher. Romantic student of philology. Editor of the magazine "Lady and Beauty" ... That's it!

So there is no need for the next Bloks, Yesenins and Pushkins to be born today. You are no longer here!

But without poetry, Russia is like a racehorse without a rider. Without poetry, Russia can rush off into such a jungle where the economic swamp will suck in and iambs and choreas will no longer help.

When the most expensive book in Russia is not a book of a beloved poet, but a savings book, and where it is not love that rules, but calculation - this is Repin's painting - "Sailed", a diagnosis of a crazy territory, a sixth of the earth, with a short name: "Rus!"

Poetry without Russia will survive. Bunin proved this in Paris, and Brodsky in New York. Can Russia - without poetry?

Take a look around you today and understand that today, without poetry, living in Russia is not very type to live with dignity. Especially modern poets.

They would be better off joining Putin's party. Better yet, marry a girl whose dad works at Gazprom. And then it will not pull on poetry ...

NEW IN POETRY

Yes. Sometimes you learn amazing things about poetry in 21st century Russia...

Previously, they rhymed LOVE - CARROT.

Today they rhyme only what makes a profit.

Easily and naturally - officials, prosecutors, judges, deputies and others - pushed Russian poetry to the sidelines of life.

Where does she stand, like a roadside prostitute, ready to give herself into the good, kind hands of the oligarch ... Or at least into the hands of the director of a large book publishing house.

Or join a party, become a state official, gain the opportunity to publish stupid verses, passing them off as a new trend of the Russian Olympus during the time of Putyatin's "United Russia".

TOTAL NUANCES.

Today in Russia in the development of poetic creativity - solid nuances.

For example, here is a poetess.

Well, imagine - pretty, beautiful, dreamily whispering lines, picking up rhymes in the city park.

Are you a poetess?

Are you a rich person? Do you have a Swiss bank account?

Yes. But there is a nuance..

My husband is a major shareholder of Gazprom. And I am a beautiful poetess. In addition to rhymes, I have - 90 - 60-90. This is not a phone number - the size of my poetic body, multiplied by the inspiration of my husband, a shareholder of Gazprom ...

Do you write poetry? And do you publish them?

Yes. But here is a hitch.

They are almost never bought. Books are not to be eaten or dressed in. And because books with poems are not fashionable today.

“But there used to be fashionable poets. On the famous evenings of the poet Voznesensky at the Polytechnic, the people were like herring in a barrel. You are a poetess, you cannot but know about that golden time.

Yes. This is true. And today would I be able to gather full halls?

What's stopping you?

Husband. He will not allow to expose not only the soul at the confluence of the people.

Today, in order to gather a crowd, one should not write poetry, but sing these poems to music.

That is, if Pugacheva sings your poems, will she receive more significant profit? - Certainly! Is a good voice better than good poetry? A good oil well feeds better than multi-volume editions of excellent poetry.

Alexander Yeletskikh

- At modern girls, in most cases, a hobby- it's photography or fitness. Why are there so few who choose poetry? Why not new Pushkins are born and Akhmatova?

Because a modern girl should have an ideal body, career, money. These are stereotypes that have been imposed on us since childhood. When you are still at an age where you do not know all your capabilities, you choose what you see around. Poetry is considered stupid, I don't know why. This myth is somewhat dispelled by Vera Polozkova and others like her. For which we thank them. But on the other hand, they also play a serious role in another, not so pleasant story. I mean the mass “opposition” of poetry. Many girls who do fitness and take pictures now also go to poetry evenings of some Ah A Stakhovs and the like. They are the mass for which such poetry is designed, and therefore they themselves form it. That is, they make graphomania and low-quality poetry in demand. Therefore, new Pushkins are not born. That is, they can and do, but girls are not particularly interested.

- You talk a lot in poetic circles, met you those for whom the writing of poems was the main activity? Maybe whether from this hobby to get some financial benefit?

It is very difficult to achieve real financial success by doing poetry. Cases are single. These are the already mentioned Vera Nikolaevna Polozkova, Akh Astakhova, Sola Monova. There are few such people, but it is still possible to earn money. I know personally a couple of people who benefit from the creation of poems.



- Tell the story of your first poem, what prompted him to write?

It seems that it was in the very elementary grades of the school, in the lessons. Once I tried to write some homework in poetic form, I succeeded. And rushed. It became interesting to do it just like that, on a free topic, on a topic that excites me. The further, the more I discovered techniques, forms, and the more interesting it became to write. I have no idea how it happened, none of my family has anything to do with art, my dad is a physicist, my mom is a biologist.

- You not similar to stereotypical female poetess.

I am quite a gentle and sensitive person, although my job is quite tough: I am a tattoo artist. I love change very much: I like to change my appearance, the environment around me, the location, and so on. I can’t stay in one place at all, I always need to move somewhere. I can hitchhike to distant lands with a huge backpack, I can live on an island for three days, I can sleep on the side of the road, wash in icy water, jump from a roof with a rope and much more. Perhaps I'm unpretentious. Or maybe just open to new things.


- How are you define your writing style?

No way. The smaller the framework in which you drive yourself, the easier it is to live. I can only say that there are personal texts in which every word is experienced, realized, every word is true. And there are texts that are called "a way of communicating with the world." They are the observation of some phenomena, of the surrounding people, an attempt to understand them, to try on their roles, to imagine and dream up. This is a study, and the subject can be anything.

- How important is feedback?

Very important. Plays a decisive role. This is explained very simply - by the egocentric model of the world of each person. If you don’t get a response, positive feedback and the like, then at some point you stop seeing the point in what you are doing. Beware of poets who say they don't care about feedback. They love themselves even more than everyone else.

- What can be the growth of the creative path in poet in our country? What are the prospects, in your opinion?

The outlook is not particularly bright. It is easier to break through if you live in Moscow or St. Petersburg, it is important to invest in advertising, without this step there is no way. At the stage of promotion of VKontakte, you need to understand that it is not enough to fill yourself with more subscribers in the public, it is naive to think that this will lead to success. The creative path is creative, you need to go through it differently than hundreds before you. Of course, there is an opportunity to succeed, but before choosing this activity, you need to seriously think about whether you need it.

I keep dreaming of the porch
Grass and an apple tree by the window,
And there is firewood by the stove, and a radio on the table.
I keep dreaming that troubles
Can't get to us
That gooseberries will always be
Sweet, and we will live a hundred years.

I keep dreaming of a sip of milk
Doubles, swing, tulle,
And raspberries from the bush, and smoke from the chimney,
A fly swatter and a note in a notebook:
July 7th.
strawberries, jam,
A basket with mushrooms in it.

I dream about how
Happiness squeezed my chest,
How not to fall from a great
Down the mountain, holding my breath, rushing
And how grandmother sang -
(Because a lullaby is the easiest way to fall asleep)
Like a broken knee
Dirt stuck again.

I dream like the wind
Was known as a notorious scoundrel
And panama tore off his head,
If you are in a hurry when lunch is on the table.
I dream about everything in the glass of the veranda
grandmother's face,
Often dreams, but
Grandma is no more.

I keep dreaming about the attic
And in the book there is an underlined line,
Spring water, milk porridge,
Galoshes and raincoat
I still feel like I'm on the back of my head
Stroking grandmother's hand.
It's only a moment
The most precious moment.

I keep dreaming of sticky palms,
Berry-strewn bushes,
And a scarf, and on the shoulders
Simple wool vest.
You know, grandma, that's all for me
Dream and dream you.
And the childish belief that
We will live a hundred years.

Poems and photos from the archive of Kira Bergwind

I like the article! 15

Anatoly Cherepashchuk, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences:

What's question! A man differs from a monkey in that he has thoughts about the high, on which he can rely in a difficult moment. Most needed line? "My uncle's most honest rules!"

Boris Pasternak, General Director of the publishing house "Vremya":

It does not depend on our desire whether poetry will exist or not. Now Russian poetry is in its heyday, and the Internet has contributed to this. You can find absolutely wonderful authors on the net.

Victor Erofeev, writer:

Needed, especially in Russia. Poetry is a vivid verb, it is a word that gets into the blood, into the consciousness and subconsciousness. If a poem is written by divine prompting, then it strengthens us in our unstable thoughts, even if poetry is filled with irony in relation to our own fate or despair. We go through the cleansing of poetry, for us it is an inoculation against spiritual diseases.

Elena Obraztsova, People's Artist of Russia:

Poems touch the most delicate strings of the human soul. When feelings cannot be expressed in prose, poetry comes, and after it comes music. Personally, I adore Akhmatova, Blok, Yesenin.

Yuri Mamin, film director:

Poetry is only for those who need it. Music and poetry are things that the body requires if it is brought up on them. Previously, poets could gather huge halls: Voznesensky, Akhmadulina, Yevtushenko ... Today it is difficult to imagine such a thing. Previously, poetry was needed, now it is not.

Maxim Kononenko, Mr.Parker is a popular Internet figure:

The advent of the Internet does not mean that we do not need poetry today. The Internet has its own fashionable poets - Vera Polozkova, Vsevolod Emelin, Vanya Davydov. The Internet is a verbally oriented environment, and a person who masterfully masters the word - and poets are just like that - inspires respect in it. Of course, poetry does not have the same power as before. Previously, there was more noise, verses were easier to remember, and they were passed from mouth to mouth. Now any tongue-tied blogger can play the same social role as a poet before.

Mikhail Boyarsky, People's Artist of Russia:

One cannot live without poetry, because only in this language can one speak with God. But you can’t read poetry, you can either know it or listen to it. Personally, I can not live without Vysotsky. I think that I would have lost a lot in my life if I did not know his poems.

Vladimir Bragin, Financial Analyst at Trust Bank:

I like to listen to good music with good words, with poetic texts. Songs for the soul. I like bards, Russian rock. I don't buy or read collections of poetry on purpose.

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