Russian literature in the last half of the nineteenth century provided an artistic medium for the discussion of political and social issues that could not be addressed directly because of government restrictions. The writers of this period shared important qualities: great attention to realistic, detailed descriptions of everyday Russian life; the lifting of the taboo on describing the unattractive side of life; and a satirical attitude toward routines. Although varying widely in style, subject matter, and viewpoint, these writers stimulated government bureaucrats, nobles, and intellectuals to think about important social issues. This period of literature, which became known as the Age of Realism, lasted from about mid-century to 1905. The literature of the Age of Realism owed a great debt to three authors and to a literary critic of the preceding half-century Aleksandr Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Nikolai Gogol, and Vissarion Belinsky. These figures set a pattern for language, subject matter, and narrative techniques, which before 1830 had been very poorly developed. The critic Belinsky became the patron saint of the radical intelligentsia throughout the century.
Ivan Turgenev was successful at integrating social concerns with true literary art. His «Hunter's Sketches» and «Fathers and Sons» portrayed Russia's problems with great realism and with enough artistry that these works have survived as classics. Many writers of the period did not aim for social commentary, but the realism of their portrayals nevertheless drew comment from radical critics. Such writers included the novelist Ivan Goncharov, whose «Oblomov» is a very negative portrayal of the provincial gentry, and the dramatist Aleksandr Ostrovsky, whose plays uniformly condemned the bourgeoisie.
Above all the other writers stand two: Lev Tolstoy and Fedor Dostoevsky, the greatest talents of the age. Their realistic style transcended immediate social issues and explored universal issues such as morality and the nature of life itself. Although Dostoevsky was sometimes drawn into polemical satire, both writers kept the |main body of their work above the dominant social and political I preoccupations of the 1860s and 1870s. Tolstoy's «War and Peace» and «Anna Karenina» and Dostoevsky's «Crime and Punishment» and «The Brothers Karamazov» have endured as genuine classics because they drew the best from the Russian realistic heritage while focusing on broad human questions. Although Tolstoy continued to write into% the twentieth century, he rejected his earlier style and never again reached the level of his greatest works.
The literary careers of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Turgenev had all ended by 1881. Anton Chekhov, the major literary figure in the last decades of the nineteenth century, contributed in two genres: short stories and drama. Chekhov, a realist who examined not society as a whole but the defects of individuals, produced a large volume of sometimes tragic, sometimes comic, short stories and several outstanding plays, including «The Cherry Orchard», a dramatic chronicling of the decay of a Russian aristocratic family.
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Vocabulary
Artistic medium – художественное средство
Government restrictions – правительственные ограничения
Subject matter - тема
Government bureaucrats – государственные чиновники
Owe – быть обязанным
Preceding – предшествующий
Patron saint – покровитель
Negative portrayal – отрицательное изображение
Provincial gentry – провинциальное дворянство
Human rights
In November 1960 the American people elected Senator John F. Kennedy to the Presidency. Kennedy defeated by a narrow margin his Republican opponent, Vice President Richard Nixon. The two youthful presidential candidates highlighted their campaigns by appearing on television in a serious of debates - Nixon emphasized the experience he had gained during his eight years in the administration and reminding voters of the «peace and prosperity» achieved under Republican leadership, and Kennedy calling for new, forward-looking leadership and more effective use of the country's human and economic resources.
Almost everything about the new President caught the imagination of the people, and his Inauguration was no exception. In his. eloquent address the President set the tone of youthful energy and dedication that was the mark of his administration. Kennedy said: «Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined" by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed... Let every nation know that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.» But the address was not merely a call to battle but an invitation to peace as well. «Let us never negotiate out of fear,» said the President, «but let us never fear to negotiate. Co-operation is better than conflict; let us then substitute co-operation for conflict. Let both sides explore what problems unite us... Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease.»
The first President to be born in the twentieth century, and the youngest ever to be elected to the presidency, Kennedy was not only spokesman for a new generation, but symbol as well. He brought to the presidency an alert intelligence, immense personal charm, a warm and generous humanitarianism, but also a lively awareness of the immense potentialities of presidential leadership. Indeed, his Cabinet and his White House advisers made up the youngest group of top-level officials in the country's history -a group notable for its openness to new ideas and its readiness to take vigour actions.
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Vocabulary
Narrow margin – небольшое преимущество
Highlight – освещать
Inauguration - инаугурация
Eloquent - красноречивый
Heritage - наследие
Burden - бремя
Hardship – неприятности
Substitute - заменить
Awareness – осведомленность, информированность
Immense – огромный
Vigour - решительные
Take actions – принимать действия
Culture of the youth
The foundation of the great schools which were named Universities was everywhere throughout Europe a special mark of the new impulse that Christendom had got from the Crusades. A new desire for study sprang up in the West from its contact with the more cultured East. Oxford and Cambridge are the oldest universities in England. Both of these universities are very beautiful. They have some of the finest architecture in Britain. Some of their colleges, chapels and libraries are three, four and even five hundred years old, and are full of valuable books and precious paintings. Of the early history of Cambridge little is known, but enough remains to enable us to trace the early steps by which Oxford gained its intellectual glory. The history of Cambridge is believed to begin in 1209 when several hundred students and scholars arrived at the little town of Cambridge after having walked 60 miles from Oxford According to the custom they joined themselves into “Universities” or a society of people with common employment. Only later they came to be associated with scholarship. '
Cambridge won independence from the Town rule in 1500. Students were of different ages and came from everywhere. Gradually the idea of the College developed and in 1284 Peter house, the oldest College was established. In 1440 King Henry VI founded King’s College, and other colleges followed. The first college of Oxford University was founded in 1249. At hat time with the revival of classic studies many teachers became enemies of parliament, and the Church. The lectures of Vicarious on the Civil Law at Oxford were prohibited by the English king. Now the university of Oxford has thirty-five colleges and about thirteen thousand students. There were no woman students at Oxford until 1878, when the first women’s college, Lady Margaret Hall, was up. Now, most colleges are open to man and women. Oxford is famous for its first-class education as well as its beautiful buildings. Many students want to study there. It is not so easy to get a place at Oxford University to study for a degree. But outside the university there are many smaller private colleges, which offer less difficult courses and where it is easy to enrol.
Vocabulary
Architecture - архитектура
Valuable - ценный
Precious - дорогой
Christendom – Христианский мир
Crusade – крестовый поход
Spring up - возникать
Revival of classic studies – возрождение классических наук
Prohibit - запрещать
Degree – ученая степень
Enrol – зачислять