ЭСТЕТИКА РУИН И АРХИТЕКТУРНЫЕ ОБРАЗЫ В ТВОРЧЕСТВЕ Ф. Р. ДЕ ШАТОБРИАНА

Abstract

The article is devoted to one of the aspects of the literary creativity of F.-R. de Chateaubriand - the aesthetics of ruins. The historical context of romanticists’ reference to the theme of ruins and remains is considered. Its full and diverse literary development can be traced by the material of the works “Rene”, “Genie du Christianisme” (“The Genius of Christianity”) and “Les Memoires d’Outre-Tombe” (“Memoirs from Beyond the Grave”). The analysis of architectural images of both ancient ruins and Christian monuments in Chateaubriand’s literary texts testifies to the writer’s development of key motives of melancholy, sadness and longing, caused by the contemplation of the destruction of the past and the frailty of human undertakings. It is noted that Chateaubriand revived the interest in medieval architecture which had been lost before. All this becomes a typical sign of the romantic vision of the world, assimilated by the subsequent generations of writers.