History of Russian Silver Age literature-centrism crisis

Abstract

The article discusses some trends in the artistic thinking of the 19th - 20th centuries, the synthesis of nonfiction and fiction in the genre system, as well as literary and critical discussions about the literature crisis. The analysis is based on the articles of literary critics of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. They did not only assess modern literature but also discussed a wide range of issues: problems of nonfiction and its role in literature, literature boundaries, and ways to overcome the literature crisis. The criticism of this period clearly shows that fiction was pushed to the sidelines, the role of "living texts" increased, and very often they became more important than fiction. Consequently, in the late 19th - early 20th centuries there was a shift in the literature functions. The traditional Russian literature-centrism was weakened.