The "reading aloud" cultural practice in the Russian tradition: genesis, "scenarios", literary representation

The nineteenth century was a turning point in the development of readership: at that time, a gradual transition from intoned reading to "inner reading" was made, but before the contact with the book became silent, a special passion for reading aloud appeared among the noble people. Formulation of the concept "reading aloud" in the 1800s-1840s, its genesis, semantic content and the main cultural "scenarios" became the subject of this study. The material for the study was the works of K.N. Batyushkov, A.S. Pushkin, N.P Ogarev, as well as memoirs of their contemporaries. In the literary and book-centric nineteenth century, reading aloud accompanied people all their life: the biography of the nobles began with intoned reading as a didactic device. As a rule, parents helped children to learn the alphabet and then encouraged them to read: in this regard, evening reading parties became one of the favourite forms of family leisure. Most memories of the contemporaries are about the didactic "scenario" of reading and family reading. Reading in the circle of friends was a declaration of creative freedom and liberal views. Literary novelties and texts forbidden by censorship were read among the trusted ones. The recitation of texts by heart in a narrow circle was a means of liberal conspiracy and testified to the courage of civil views. In addition, a person who had the gift of expressive reading, was the soul of the company, he easily charmed women (reading aloud to the object of one's love is considered to be one of the romantic reader practices of the early 19th century). The disadvantage of reading was also known to culture: the graphomaniac composition, tedious reading aloud caused the ironic reaction of contemporaries. Following the rebellious youth came maturity, old age, and with them a new scenario of reading appeared: servants and children read to gentlemen while they were having a rest. So the older generation filled home leisure with books and were proud of the success of the children-readers. Thus, in the culture of the Pushkin era, intoned communication with the book was familiar to people of all ages, only its "scenario" incarnations and the literary tastes of the readers themselves changed with time. The fascination with reading aloud at the dawn of the nineteenth century is explained by the orientation of artistic literature on colloquial speech. Oriented on a secular conversation, the literary text required a "reverse translation" - a sound expressive reading aloud. Today, the return of the cultural phenomenon of intoned reading is explained by the desire to revive Russian classics, there is a reason why online initiatives have headlines: "Karenina. Live Edition" or "Chekhov Lives". A. Kirby, speaking of the culture of modernity, says: "The product of pseudomodernist culture cannot and does not exist without the physical intervention of the individual in its production" (Kirby, A. The Death of Postmodernism and Beyond). In creating a work everyone is equal, everyone's voice is needed for a "common cause", and this common cause is reading out aloud.

Keywords

Authors

References