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Who is this little man? The meaning of the phrase “little man.” The history of the concept of “little man”

1. Introduction page 3

2. Main part

2.1. The history of the concept of “little man” p.4

2.2. The image of the “little man” in the works of A. S. Pushkin (“The Station Warden”) pp. 4 – 5

2.3. Reflection of the theme of the “little man” in “The Overcoat” pp. 5 - 6

N.V. Gogol.

2.4. The image of the “little man” in creativity pp. 6 - 7

Dostoevsky.

2.5. Reflection of the “little man” theme in stories pp. 7 - 9

V.M. Shukshin and M.M. Zoshchenko

3. Conclusion page 9

4. References page 10

Introduction.

The words are well known: “We all came out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat,” although their authorship
The circumstances of the pronouncement are still being discussed. But the meaning itself is attractive:
Gogol was able to talk about something that was then deepened, developed, developed
other writers, he brought out the human type that has always been and will always be.
Or maybe “we” are ordinary people who have been in Bashmachkin’s place more than once?
“Little Man” is a type of literary hero that arose in Russian
literature with the advent of realism, that is, in the 20-30s of the 19th century.
This image interested writers, and many works help
convey to us the high value of “small” people.
The idea of the “little man” changed throughout the 19th century.
20 centuries. Each writer had his own personal views on this hero.
In my work, I tried to reveal the significance of each character in individual
works of classics and writers of the 19th - 20th centuries.

Relevance (significance) of this topic: behind all the ordinariness of our lives, we do not notice the “little people” nearby, their existence in society. Usually a small person is interpreted as a separate type - humiliated, humble, resigned. Has this little man's life changed over the years? Apparently not. In the same way, he is defenseless against passers-by, swindlers, bosses, offices, departments, organizations, authorities, the state, fate, circumstances, and who knows how many other offenders the unfortunate man has? The authors - and we along with them - mourn not only the untimely death of a little man, but the loss of the very title of man, when people are divided into significant and insignificant, when the timid, weak, patient are neglected, they are offended and indifferently taken away from them what is most precious, therefore The relevance of the theme of the “little” person does not fade today.

Research problem: evolution of the image of the “little” man in the works of Russian writers.

Object of study: creativity of Russian writers.

Subject of research: the image of a “small” person.

Purpose of the study: identification and comparison of symbolic nature
“little man” in literature, the evolution of the image.

Research objectives:

1. Summarize and compare critical literature on the topic.

2. Analyze the works,

3. Trace the development of the theme of the “little man” in Russian literature.

Research hypothesis: The image of the “little man” is found in the literature of the 19th-20th centuries. in connection with the historical events of that time and evolves as the situation in social circles changes.

Research methods:

Analysis of the material read;
- generalization and systematization of data obtained during research;
- comparison and contrast of heroes;
- use of Internet resources.

Main part.

The history of the origin of the concept of “little man”.

The first period of Russian literature, as we know, is ancient Russian literature, the heroes of whose works were princes, saints, and wars. Only at the end of the period of the existence of ancient Russian literature is a simple person, not a hero, not a saint, not a ruler, “allowed” into it. Then classicism came to literature from the West; this direction corresponded to the needs of that time. Peter I built a “strong” state. The classicists were concerned with the needs of the state and the individual citizen useful to his country. Only with the advent of sentimentalism, again from Western literature, in Russian literature, did writers become interested in the personal needs and experiences of people. The first writer to discover the world of “little people” was Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. The greatest influence on subsequent literature was his story “Poor Liza.” The narrator talks with sadness and sympathy about the fate of the heroine. It was essential for the sentimentalist writer to address social issues. The social inequality of the heroes and the natural complexity of the human soul become an obstacle to Liza’s happiness. The author does not accuse Erast of Lisa’s death: the young man is as unhappy as the peasant girl. But this is especially important: Karamzin was perhaps the first to discover in Russian literature the “living soul” in the “little man,” in the representative of the “lower” class. “And peasant women know how to love” - this phrase became popular in Russian literature for a long time. This is where another tradition of Russian literature begins: sympathy for the “little man,” his joys and troubles. Protecting the weak, oppressed and voiceless is the main moral task of word artists. Humanity, the ability to sympathize and be sensitive turned out to be very consonant with the spirit of the times, when literature moved from civil themes, characteristic of the Enlightenment, to the topic of a person’s personal, private life, and the main object of its attention became the inner world of an individual. Karamzin laid the foundation for a huge series of works about “little people” and took the first step in researching a previously unknown topic. It was he who opened the way for such writers as Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky.

" Pushkin’s traditions were continued by N.V. Gogol in the story “The Overcoat”.

A little man is a person of low social status and origin, not gifted with outstanding abilities, not distinguished by strength of character, but at the same time kind, does no harm to anyone, and is harmless. Both Pushkin and Gogol, creating the image of a little man, wanted to remind readers who were accustomed to admiring romantic heroes that the most ordinary person is also a person worthy of sympathy, attention, and support.

Writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries also addressed the theme of the little man: A. Chekhov, M. Gorky, L. Andreev, F. Sologub, A. Averchenko, K. Trenev, I. Shmelev, S. Yushkevich. The power of tragedy of little people - “heroes of fetid and dark corners” (A. Grigoriev) - was correctly defined by P. Weil:

The little man from the great Russian literature is so small that it cannot be further reduced. Changes could only go upward. This is what the Western followers of our classical tradition did. From our Little Man came the heroes of Kafka, Beckett, Camus, who grew to global proportions […]. Soviet culture threw off Bashmachkin's overcoat - onto the shoulders of the living Little Man, who, of course, did not disappear anywhere, simply disappeared from the ideological surface, died in literature.

The little man, who did not fit into the canons of socialist realism, migrated to the literary underground and began to exist in the everyday satire of M. Zoshchenko, M. Bulgakov, V. Voinovich.

From the multifaceted literary gallery of little people, heroes stand out who strive to gain universal respect through changing their material status or appearance (“Luka Prokhorovich” - 1838, E. Grebenki; “The Overcoat” - 1842, N. Gogol); gripped by fear of life (“Man in a Case” - 1898, A. Chekhov; “Our Man in a Case” - 1989, V. Pietsukha); who, in conditions of overwhelming bureaucratic reality, become ill with mental disorders (“Double” - 1846, F. Dostoevsky; “Diaboliad” - 1924, M. Bulgakov); in whom an internal protest against social contradictions coexists with a painful desire to elevate oneself, to acquire wealth, which ultimately leads them to loss of reason (“Notes of a Madman” - 1834, N. Gogol; “The Double” by F. Dostoevsky); whose fear of superiors leads to madness or death (“Weak Heart” - 1848, F. Dostoevsky, “Death of an Official” - 1883, A. Chekhov); who, fearing to expose themselves to criticism, change their behavior and thoughts (“Chameleon” - 1884, A. Chekhov; “Jolly Oysters” - 1910, A. Averchenko); who can find happiness only in love for a woman (“Senile Sin” - 1861, A. Pisemsky; “Mountains” - 1989, E. Popova) who want to change their lives through the use of magical means (“The Right Medicine” - 1840, E. Combs; “Little Man” - 1905, F. Sologuba); who, due to failures in life, decide to commit suicide (“Senile sin” - A. Pisemsky; “The Story of Sergei Petrovich” - 1900, L. Andreeva)

Notes

Literature

Mazurkiewicz E., Mały człowiek, , t. V, pod red. Andrzeja de Lazari, Łódź 2003, s. 152-154.
Gonczarowa O., Sentymentalism, Idea w Rosji. Leksykon rosyjsko-polsko-angielski, t. V, pod red. Andrzeja de Lazari, Łódź 2003, s. 256-260.
Sakharova E. M., Semibratova I. V., Encyclopedia of Russian life, Moscow 1981.

Links

Erofeev, V. Troubling lessons Little devil
Dmitrievskaya, L.N. A new look at the image of the “little man” in the story by N.V. Gogol’s “The Overcoat” // Russian language, literature, culture at school and university. - Kyiv, No. 4, 2009. P.2-5.
Epstein, M. Little man in a case: Bashmachkin-Belikov syndrome

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Synonyms:

See what “Little Man” is in other dictionaries:

Trifle, fifth spoke in a chariot, small fry, zero, nothing, not a great bird, empty space, nobody, retired goat drummer, small fry, zero without a stick, insignificance, tenth spoke, little ones of this world, small fry, pawn, styutsky, last spoke V… … Dictionary of synonyms

- “LITTLE MAN”, Georgia, KVALI (Georgia), 1993, b/w, 3 min. Animation. The story is about a little dreamer who tries to make everyone believe his inventions. And then one day he really comes face to face with the monster... Director: Amiran... ... Encyclopedia of Cinema

"LITTLE MAN"- in literature, the designation of rather heterogeneous heroes, united by the fact that they occupy one of the lowest places in the social hierarchy and that this circumstance determines their psychology and social behavior (humiliation combined with a feeling ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

They call you the Little Man or the Ordinary Man. They tell you that your time has come - the “Era of the Ordinary Man” has arrived.

But don't say that, little man. Let them say so: vice-presidents of great nations, trade union leaders, well-fed bourgeois, statesmen and philosophers. They give you the future, but it never occurs to them to ask about the past.

And you inherited a terrible past. Your inheritance is a diamond turning to ash right before your eyes. This is what I want to tell you about.

Any person, be it a doctor, a shoemaker, a mechanic or a teacher, must know his limitations if he has to earn a living by work. Over the course of several decades, you have proven yourself all over the world. The future of humanity as a species will depend on the way you think and act. But your teachers and masters did not explain to you how to think and what you really are - no one dares to impose on you the only true way to become the master of your destiny. You are “free” from only one thing - from self-criticism, which gives you the opportunity to manage your own life.

I have never heard this kind of complaint: “You exalt me as the future master of myself and my world, but you do not talk about how a person becomes master of himself and about what mistakes I make, what mistakes are contained in my thoughts and actions."

You allow those in power to demand power "for the little man." But you yourself are silent. You help the strong gain even more power or you allow weak and evil people to represent your interests. When you realize that you have been fooled, it is too late.

I understand you. Because I have seen your body and soul naked many times, without masks, political labels and national pride. Naked like a newborn baby, like a marshal in his underwear. I heard your sobs and complaints; you shared with me your troubles, your aspirations, revealed to me your love and suffering. I know and understand you. I'm going to tell you who you really are, little man, because I truly believe in your future. For the future is undoubtedly yours.

Look at you, little man. Try to see yourself as you are. Realize that none of your leaders dares to say to you: “You are a “little man” or an “ordinary person.” Think about the double meaning of the words “small” and “ordinary”...

Don't bury your head in the sand! Have the courage to look at yourself! "By what right do you lecture me?" I see this question in your frightened eyes. I sense the insulting tone you're using, little man. You are simply afraid to look at yourself, you are afraid of criticism and the power that this honest look promises you. What benefit does this power have to you?

You don't know. You're afraid to admit it to yourself. that there is a difference between you and who you would like to someday become. You would like to be free, not intimidated: sincere, not stilted; capable of love; not to be like a thief at night, but to live in the bright light of day.

You despise yourself, little man. You say, “Who am I to have my own opinion and create my own world?” You're right: who are you to lay claim to your life? So I'm going to tell you who you are.

Only one thing distinguishes you from a great man: a great man was once a very small man, but he cultivated in himself one most important quality: he realized his insignificance, as well as the narrowness and limitations of his thoughts and deeds. While solving some very important problem for himself, he saw how his smallness and insignificance jeopardized his happiness.

In other words, a great man understands why and how he is a small man, while a small man not only does not understand this, but is also afraid to understand.

He hides his insignificance and limitations, hiding behind the illusion of strength and greatness. He is proud of his generals, but not of himself. He is fascinated by the idea that there is something in them that is not in him.

The less he understands, the more he is confirmed in this error, and vice versa - the more he understands, the sooner he rejects such an idea. Perhaps I'll start with the little person in myself. For twenty-five years I have defended your right to happiness in this world, rejecting your failure to defend this right, which you won by shedding your blood in the struggle on the barricades in Paris and Vienna, in the battles of the American Civil War, in the revolution in Russia.

But your Paris ended with the coming of Pétain and Laval, your Vienna with the coming of Hitler, your Russia with the coming of Stalin, and your America has every chance of ending with the coming to power of the Ku Klux Klan. It has always been easier for you to win freedom than to maintain it. I have known all this for a long time.

But what I can’t understand is why, again and again, when you get out of one swamp with bloody battles, you inevitably plunge into a new swamp, even worse than the previous one. Then, carefully and carefully looking around me, I gradually came to the conclusion: your main enslaver is yourself. There is no one else to blame for your enslavement. I repeat to you: No one else is guilty! Isn't this news to you?

Your liberators convince you that your oppressors are Kaiser Wilhelm, Tsar Nicholas, Pope Gregory XXVIII, Morgan, Krupp and Ford. Who are your liberators? Mussolini, Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin.

Yes, I say: No one but yourself can become your liberator?

What confuses me here is that I claim to be a fighter for truth and purity. But now, after I decided to tell you the truth about yourself, I am worried about your attitude towards this truth.

The truth is dangerous if it touches you. The truth can be beneficial, but any bandit is able to take possession of it before others and use it in his own way. If it weren't, you wouldn't be who you are.

My mind says: “Always, no matter what the cost, tell the truth.”

The little man in me says something else: “It would be great stupidity to follow the lead of the little man. The little man does not want to hear the truth about himself. He does not want to deal with the responsibility that will fall on him when he realizes this truth, he wants it.” or not. He prefers to remain a small man or become a small big man. He dreams of becoming the head of a large concern or the chairman of a society of moral upliftment. But he does not want to take responsibility for his activities, for providing food, for building mines, transport. , education, scientific research, administration and the like."

The little man in me continues: “You have become a big man. You have become famous in Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, England, America and Palestine. You are hated by the communists and the so-called “saviors of cultural values”. You are persecuted by the emotionally infected. You have written a dozen books and one and a half hundred articles about the hardships and sufferings of a small man. Your works are studied in universities. Other lonely big people consider you a very big man. You have made the greatest discovery of the century, since you discovered cosmic life energy and laws. vital matter. You explained the nature of the cancer. You were persecuted in many countries. Enjoy your success and fame. You have done enough. So you can relax. Devote yourself to working on the laws of nature."

That's what the little man in me says, because he's afraid of you, little man.

I have been in very close contact with you for many years, and since I got to know your life through my own, I really wanted to help you. I continued to communicate with you, because I saw that I was bringing you real benefit, and you willingly accepted my help, although often with tears in your eyes.

That is, in the years of the 19th century.

The first image of a little man was Samson Vyrin from A. S. Pushkin’s story “”. Pushkin’s traditions were continued by N.V. Gogol in the story “The Overcoat”.

Writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries also addressed the theme of the little man: A. P. Chekhov, A. I. Kuprin, M. Gorky, L. Andreev, F. Sologub, A. Averchenko, K. Trenev, I. Shmelev, S. Yushkevich, A. Meshcheryakov. The power of tragedy of little people - “heroes of fetid and dark corners” (A. Grigoriev) - was correctly defined by Peter Weil:

The little man from the great Russian literature is so small that it cannot be further reduced. Changes could only go upward. This is what the Western followers of our classical tradition did. From our Little Man came the heroes of Kafka, Beckett, Camus, who grew to global proportions […]. Soviet culture threw off Bashmachkin's overcoat - onto the shoulders of the living Little Man, who, of course, did not disappear anywhere, simply disappeared from the ideological surface, died in literature.

The little man, who did not fit into the canons of socialist realism, migrated to the literary underground and began to exist in the everyday satire of M. Zoshchenko, M. Bulgakov, V. Voinovich.

From the multifaceted literary gallery of little people, heroes stand out who strive to gain universal respect through changing their material status or appearance (“Luka Prokhorovich” by E. Grebenka, 1838; “The Overcoat” by N. Gogol, 1842); gripped by fear of life (“Man in a Case” by A. Chekhov, 1898; “Our Man in a Case” by V. Pietsukha, 1989); who, in conditions of overwhelming bureaucratic reality, become ill with mental disorders (“The Double” by F. Dostoevsky, 1846; “The Diaboliad” by M. Bulgakov, 1924); in whom an internal protest against social contradictions coexists with a painful desire to elevate oneself, to acquire wealth, which ultimately leads them to loss of reason (“Notes of a Madman” by N. Gogol, 1834; “The Double” by F. Dostoevsky); whose fear of superiors leads to madness or death (“Weak Heart” by F. Dostoevsky, 1848, “The Death of an Official” by A. Chekhov, 1883); who, fearing to expose themselves to criticism, change their behavior and thoughts (“Chameleon” by A. Chekhov, 1884; “Jolly Oysters” by A. Averchenko, 1910); who can find happiness only in the love of a woman (“Senile Sin”

"little man"

A number of diverse characters in Russian literature of the 19th century, united by common features: a low position in the social hierarchy, poverty, insecurity, which determines the peculiarities of their psychology and the plot role - victims of social injustice and a soulless state mechanism, often personified in the image of a “significant person”. They are characterized by fear of life, humility, meekness, which, however, can be combined with a feeling of injustice of the existing order of things, with wounded pride and even a short-term rebellious impulse, which, as a rule, does not lead to a change in the current situation. The “little man” type, discovered by A.S. Pushkin(“The Bronze Horseman”, “The Station Agent”) and N.V. Gogol(“The Overcoat”, “Notes of a Madman”), creatively, and sometimes polemically in relation to tradition, rethought F.M. Dostoevsky(Makar Devushkin, Golyadkin, Marmeladov), A. N. Ostrovsky(Balzaminov, Kuligin), A.P. Chekhov(Chervyakov from “The Death of an Official”, the hero of “Thick and Thin”), M.A. Bulgakov(Korotkov from “The Diaboliad”), M. M. Zoshchenko and other Russian writers of the 19th–20th centuries.

Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .

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