Ideas of physical education of the younger generation in works of classic writers of Russian literature of the XIX - early XX centuries

Sleptsova Tat'yana Vasil'evna Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Siberian State University of Physical Education and Sports 144 Maslennikova str., Omsk, Omsk region, 644071, Russia stv_3@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The relevance of research. A comprehensively developed personality embodying the unity of spiritual, intellectual and physical perfection is an ideal that humanity has been striving for throughout its development. In different epochs, the nature and essence of man were determined through attributive relations: from "reasonable man" – Homo sapiens (Anaxagoras, V century BC), "creative man" – Homo faber (A. Alberti, XV century.) to "playing man" – Homo ludens (J. Huizinga, XX century.), "creative man" – Homo creator (V. Muhlmann, XX century.), Homo nudes (E. F. Kazakov, XXI century.) – expressions of the metaphysical essence of man.

Understanding the concepts of "human nature", "human essence", defined by as its "essential characteristics" ^{[1, p. 1247]}, it is based on the provisions of the doctrine of man by I. Kant: the physiological principle is "what nature makes of man", and the pragmatic one is "what man, as a freely acting being, does or can and should do of himself" ^{[2, p. 350]}.

It should be noted that none of the above definitions reflects the nature and essence of a person fully and accurately. In the research of S. E. Mansurova and N. M. Mammadov, it is emphasized: the variety of definitions indicates that the specificity of a person is associated with the presence of "supra-biological life programs" in which the principle of value-oriented choice of behavior and activity strategies is the leading one ^{[3, p. 1094]}. The ability to think, therefore, to make an informed choice of strategies of behavior and activity, depends on the specifics of the culture in which personality formation and development took place – such a conclusion can be drawn based on the research of P. S. Gurevich ^[4].

Modern man is involved in various types of activities and in social relations conditioned by temporal and spatial conditions and factors, cultural traditions, and achievements of civilization. The problem of the study lies in the mismatch of content and the pragmatic orientation of information presented in modern mass media and the Internet space, which often has a negative impact on the personality of a child, teenager and the younger generation as a whole, with the rich positive experience accumulated by mankind in matters of upbringing and education, including physical education and physical education.

Physical culture and sport as one of the significant segments of mass culture from the objects of modern scientific knowledge contains "special cultural codes, develops a system of cultural symbols and signs" reflecting values and ideological attitudes characteristic of a certain socio-historical epoch ^{[5, pp. 4-5]}. Modern socio-humanitarian and psychological and pedagogical studies emphasize that physical education and sports are one of the factors of socialization and inculturation of personality. The works of V. M. Vydrin ^[6], L. I. Lubysheva ^[7], I. M. Bykhovskaya ^[8], A.V. Kylasov ^[9] and other Russian authors emphasize the need for harmonious development of the physical, moral and intellectual principles of personality, especially among the younger generation. This paradigm originates ideologically in the works of thinkers of antiquity – Aristotle, Juvenal, Hippocrates – on the preservation of human health, education, and the unity of soul and body. The idea of harmony – the coherence of parts in a single whole – is conceptualized in the Pythagorean idea of harmony of spheres. These sources became the basis for the works of humanists of the Renaissance and Enlightenment – Ya. A. Komensky, D. Locke, J.-J. Rousseau, K. Helvetia, I. Pestalozzi ^[10], who presented the foundations of harmonious personality development in the unity of physical, moral and intellectual education ^[11]. The works of Russian authors N. I. Novikov, N. G. Chernyshevsky, N. A. Dobrolyubov, K. D. Ushinsky, etc. on the problems of physical education – a continuation of the polylogue of the epochs on the harmonious development of personality ^[12].

Speaking about the importance of physical education of a person, we note that in physical culture and sports there are huge opportunities for the formation and development of physical qualities, the realization of spiritual, moral and cultural values and the introduction of the younger generation to them. Emphasizing the influence of sport on the lifestyle of a modern person, I. M. Bykhovskaya notes that it "... often acts as a significant socializing and inculturation factor" ^[8].

The experience of the past, as noted by sports historian A. B. Sunik, is valuable for understanding the present and the future: "In the ideas and approaches to the problems of physical education and sports that prevailed in the late XIX – early XX centuries, there is a lot of rational, interesting, instructive for our days" ^{[13, p.13]}. Cultural scientists, philosophers, philologists, and historians have focused on phenomena and problems in connection with which the concepts of "cultural memory" ^[14], "collective and historical memory" ^[15] are being actualized. However, without the relevance of the experience of the past, "... recognition of the existence of its effective transformative potential in solving problems significant in the context of the present," it is impossible to form an image of the past as a cultural phenomenon, - emphasized in the works of V. S. Zuckerman and M. L. Shub ^{[16, p. 43]}. That is why, in solving modern problems of the educational plan, it is advisable to turn to the historical and cultural context.

Artistic creativity is one of the areas of representation of the phenomenon of physical culture and sports. The literary centrality of Russian culture determines the consideration of works of art as a dialogue or polylogue of authors communicating in a certain space-time context ^{[17, pp. 68-69]}. Thus, the works of certain classics of Russian literature of the pre-revolutionary period (A. S. Pushkin, L. N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov, I. A. Bunin, A. I. Kuprin, V. V. Nabokov, etc.) reflected the ideas of the creative intelligentsia, teachers and public figures about the importance of physical education and sports for children, adolescents and youth ^{[18, pp. 16-20]}.

The purpose of the study is to consider the ideas of physical education of the younger generation reflected in the works of classics of Russian literature of the XIX – early XX centuries, and to determine their value in the context of the problem of harmonious personal development.

The theoretical significance of the study lies in the actualization of the value aspect of physical education of the younger generation. The historical retrospective provides an opportunity to correlate the views of modern scientists on the problem of the relationship between physical education and intellectual and spiritual-moral education with the pedagogical ideas of the historical epoch of the XIX – early XX centuries, projected in the works of classics of Russian literature.

The scientific novelty of the research. The material on the reflection of the phenomenon of physical culture and sports in the fiction of the pre-revolutionary period has been introduced into scientific circulation, which makes it possible to more clearly outline the contours of the problem of "Man in the space of sports" in the context of the developing philosophical and anthropological approach in Russian cultural studies.

The practical significance of the study. The results of the study may be of interest for further scientific and practical developments, as well as for use by teachers in the practice of educational and educational activities, for example, in literary reading lessons and extracurricular activities, introducing the younger generation to the experience of the past and traditions that act as cultural bonds of generations.

The results of the study. The social significance of physical activity and the increased attention of the Russian intelligentsia to this problem is evidenced by the fact that the publisher of the newspaper Moskovskie Vedomosti, the magazines Bee and Drone, N. I. Novikov, in writings dating back to the last third of the XVIII century, introduced the concept of "physical education" for the first time in Russian pedagogical literature, indicating the components of education: physical, mental and moral. The work "On the upbringing and mood of children for the emancipation of school–wide knowledge and general well-being" emphasizes that outdoor games are an important means of physical education, the content of which was running and walking, hardening, nutrition and recreation, and from the age of 12 – wrestling. N. I. Novikov also recommends teachers to have conversations with children about the benefits of physical exercise and hardening ^{[6, p. 72]}.

A significant contribution to the development of the national science of physical culture was made by the works of the Russian scientist, teacher and public figure P. F. Lesgaft, who developed the foundations of the system of physical education and education. Studying the history of Ancient Greece, generalizing the experience of organizing physical training in military educational institutions in St. Petersburg, as well as analyzing the experience of sports movement in Western countries allowed the scientist to develop the concept presented in the "Manual on Physical Education of school-age children" (published in 1901). It is emphasized that physical education is a necessary means of forming a harmoniously developed person which is based on the unity of physical and spiritual forces of a person with the leading role of consciousness, and methodically correctly applied physical exercises as the main means of physical education contribute to the development of human intellectual abilities. Appreciating games as a means of physical, mental and moral education of preschool and school-age children, P. F. Lesgaft considered sports undesirable in the process of education, emphasizing the manifestation of excitement and negative moral qualities during wrestling, the absence of the principle of gradual physical exertion and intensity ^{[19, pp. 22-23]}.

The diversity of the Russian society of the pre-revolutionary period led to the diversity of the fragments of texts of works of art presented for consideration, the plot outline of which reflects the inclusion in the curricula of educational institutions of certain aspects of physical education of the younger generation, recreational sports and physical culture and wellness practices, as well as the fascination with sports as a new phenomenon for Russian public life, borrowed from the Western European cultural tradition in the second the half of the XIX century.

In noble families, in the system of general upbringing and education of children, great attention was paid to physical education: physical exercises were offered for performance, horse riding, cycling, fencing, lawn tennis, etc. were common.

Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy's short story "How I Learned to Ride" (1871) contains the writer's childhood impressions. Horse riding was popular in noble society, its basics were learned from childhood and were part of the system of physical education of the younger generation. The lines from the story confirm this: "Once the father said: "The older children need to learn to ride. To send them to the playpen" ... I began to ask him to teach me too… The priest said, "Well, good, and you too. Just look: don't cry when you fall..." ^{[20, p. 127]}. The principles of systematicity ("So we rode in the arena twice a week..."), the gradual complication of riding techniques (with the help of a trainer, then independently walking, trotting), a great desire to learn how to ride were crowned with success: "... I soon learned to ride well and was not afraid of anything."

The lines from the part "Youth" (1854) of L. N. Tolstoy's trilogy "Childhood", "Adolescence", "Youth" are also indicative: "At that time I was in my sixteenth year at the end. ... Outside of teaching, my activities consisted of solitary incoherent dreams and reflections, doing gymnastics in order to become the first strongman in the world..." ^{[21, p. 6]}.

The main character of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin's short story "At the Cottage" (1895) – the son of an architect, student Grisha Primo reflects the writer's views on the physical, intellectual and moral education of young people. Lines from the story: "... Grisha devoted exactly an hour after bathing to gymnastics. At first, he pulled himself up on a rope and hung on a trapeze in the garden, then in his room he stood in lion poses, playing with two-pound weights" ^{[22, p. 106]}. The hero of Bunin's story, in addition to physical exercises (he dreams of making himself perfect balls and hammers for playing cricket, which he was also passionate about), is also concerned about the problems of the spiritual essence of man and his destiny, which was reflected in the student's conversations with "Tolstoy" Kamensky on "eternal" topics.

In Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Other Shores" (1954), which is autobiographical in nature, a fragment is indicative when the writer's entire family (parents and two sons) play lawn tennis on the playground "... An airy blouse and a narrow peaked blouse of my mother (she plays with me in pairs against my father and brother, and I get angry on her blunders) belongs to the same era as men's flannel shirts and trousers. In the distance, beyond the blooming meadow surrounding the playground, passing peasants look with respectful surprise at the frolic of the gentlemen" ^{[23, pp.151–152]}. The model of organizing active family leisure and the caring attitude of parents to physical activity and sports is a necessary condition for the younger generation to accept these value orientations and implement them in their adult life. The interest in fencing and boxing, horse riding, lawn tennis, boating and cycling, common in Russia at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, reflects the attitude of the nobility to sports as an emerging trend in the cultural life of the upper classes of Russian society.

Having left the framework of elitism, at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries. the sports movement in Russia is gradually becoming widespread. High school students and students – this is the environment where sports and physical activity found more and more adherents. It should be noted that at the beginning of the XVIII century in Russia, physical education became an obligatory part of noble education, and in the 50s fencing and dancing were included in the curricula of gymnasiums, fencing and gymnastics were taught in lyceums. Dancing and gymnastics lessons were among the compulsory ones in women's educational institutions ^{[6, p. 69]}.

In the work of I. A. Bunin, it is necessary to highlight the story "Easy Breathing" (1916), which opens the veil of the history of the development of women's sports and classical education of girls from wealthy families. High school student Olya Meshcherskaya is "a pretty, rich and happy girl." Here is an excerpt from the text: "No one danced like Olya Meshcherskaya at balls, no one skated like her..." ^{[24, p. 6]}. In Bunin's stories, the plots of which are connected with the XIX–XX centuries abroad, the characters, and most importantly– the girls, show interest in physical activity and sports leisure games. In confirmation, we can give an example from the story "Natalie": a student Meshchersky, who grew up "... in a strict noble family, in the village ...", on whose behalf the story is being narrated, his sister Sonya and her friend Natalie play cricket in the evenings. The stereotype that sport is an activity for men was broken, and by the last third of the 19th century, sports leisure play had become a "fashionable addition" to the image of a modern "educated lady" who is fond of playing the piano, singing and dancing, painting, poetry.

As V. V. Nabokov writes in the novel "The Defense of Luzhin", high school students rushed to the courtyard during breaks and after classes, where there were games (one of their favorites was snowballs) and other forms of physical activity. In the novel "Other Shores", which is autobiographical in nature, Nabokov notes: "There was a breed of boys in Russia (Vasya Buketov, Zhenya Kann, Kostya Maltsev, etc.) who played football, tennis, chess, shone on ice rinks, swam, rode horseback, jumped on skis and immediately learned every new sport. I was one of them..." ^{[23, pp. 264-265]}. After lessons, high school students hurried to the football field, and young ladies enthusiastically looked at their chosen ones.

Ice skating has been popular in Russia since the time of Peter the Great. In the second half of the 19th century, ice rinks were organized in city parks of capitals and large cities. In A. P. Chekhov's short story "Frost" (1887), the reader is transported to the pavilion, where representatives of the upper strata of society of the provincial city of N. gathered. They are watching what is happening at the rink: "This is Smirnov… This is Gruzdev," the director said, calling by the last name the high school students who flew past the pavilion" ^{[25, pp. 18-19]}. The given details from the story "Frost" confirm that in the late XIX – early XX centuries, the popularity of speed skating in Russia increased markedly. The lines from Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin's novel "Eugene Onegin" (1825-1932) – "The joyful boys cut ice with ice skates sonorously" – illustrate the popularity of ice skating among different age groups and strata of society.

So, in the late XIX – early XX centuries, one of the most significant reasons for the rapid development of physical culture and sports was the introduction of physical education into educational programs implemented in lyceums and gymnasiums, which had a positive impact on the formation of a paradigm of harmonious personal development.

Let's highlight several texts that identify the problem of the inhumane attitude of adults towards children associated with the processes of commercialization and professionalization of Russian sports at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries. The theme of "Children in the space of sports" can be seen in D. V. Grigorovich's story "Gutta-Percha Boy" (1883), which has a real life basis. Overloads and grueling workouts of Petit, a pupil of acrobat Becker, deprive a child of childhood. During one of the performances, performing exercises on a high pole with an iron crossbar ends in a fall, as a result of which the boy received injuries incompatible with life.

The tragic notes of the theme "Children in the space of sports" were also reflected in the stories of A. I. Kuprin "Allez!" (1897) and "The White Poodle" (1904). In the center of the story "Allez!" is the image of an aerial gymnast, her joyless childhood and youth. Circus, grueling training, fear – the impressions that Nora took out from childhood. "She walks high above the ground on a thin, trembling wire, unbearably cutting her legs..." ^{[26, pp. 327-328]}. The author managed to convey the psychological tension of the heroine to the smallest detail, where every training and performance bordered on danger.

A. I. Kuprin's short story "The White Poodle" (1904) is addressed to children. Traveling artists – organ grinder Martin Lodizhkin, twelve–year-old boy Seryozha and poodle Artaud - earn their living by performing in front of summer residents of the Crimea. Sergey juggles with bone balls, tumbles on a mat, walks on his hands, performs "frog" and "American knot" The author shows the life of a teenager full of hardship and tragedy.

The examples given from the texts are evidence that the classics of Russian literature have comprehended a new phenomenon in their works – an inhumane attitude towards children and adolescents in the aspect of hypertrophied physical development, when sports performance becomes an end in itself to achieve a commercial effect.

The cultural and historical monuments depict the elements of bodily and motor activity that are common in the folk environment. In G. I. Uspensky's short story "Mikhalych" (1862), the heroes of the story are boys of 8 and 10 years old riding ice skates in winter, in summer Mikhalych teaches them to make a snake and launch it, takes the boys to the river to swim and forces them to race in the field.

Among the stories written for children's reading by the teacher K. D. Ushinsky, we note "Four Wishes" (1854): "Mitya was tobogganing from an icy mountain and skating on a frozen river, ran home rosy, cheerful and said to his father:

- It's so much fun in winter! I would like it to be winter all the time!" ^{[27, p. 3]}.

Games, fun, entertainment and physical exercises formed an original system of physical education, which was complemented by folk means of hardening – bathing, immersion in an ice hole, wiping with snow, which contributed to the formation and development of motor skills necessary in labor and military training. In conclusion, we note that A.V. Kylasov speaks about the need to actualize folk games in the process of physical education of children and adolescents, emphasizing the importance of the ethnocultural component in modern educational technologies ^[28].

Conclusions

1. The upbringing of the younger generation as one of the urgent socio–cultural problems of mankind, which are of a timeless nature, is projected in the works of outstanding thinkers of antiquity, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, the works of foreign and domestic authors of the XIX-XX centuries, modern scientists. It is emphasized that physical culture and sports have great opportunities for the formation and development of physical qualities of a person, the realization of spiritual, moral and cultural values and the introduction of the younger generation to them.

2. Representatives of the creative intelligentsia in their works reflect pedagogical ideas about the need to include educational practices related to physical education in the curricula of educational institutions. In the stories of A. P. Chekhov "Frost", I. A. Bunin "Easy Breathing", V. V. Nabokov's novels "Other Shores" and "Protection of Luzhin" we find vivid fragments showing the positive effect of physical activity of high school students at recess and after lessons, providing cheerfulness and good mood of students, a change of activities as a necessary condition training. Outdoor games of children and adolescents organized outdoors, in addition to the health-improving effect, are of great educational importance, since they contribute to the development of positive character traits, foster a sense of camaraderie and mutual assistance in a team.

3. In the education system in noble families, the issues of physical development and active leisure of the younger generation were of great importance in shaping the need for a healthy lifestyle, which was confirmed in the works of L. N. Tolstoy (in the story "How I learned to ride"; parts "Youth" from the trilogy "Childhood", "Adolescence", "Youth"), in the stories of I. A. Bunin "At the cottage", "Natalie". The "dialogue" of the writers testifies to the understanding of the positive impact of physical education and sports on the comprehensive harmonious development of personality, the involvement of all family members in the organization and conduct of active leisure, and the positive example of parents. Today, this remains an urgent and socially relevant problem, and therefore the experience of the past can be considered as positive.

4. At the turn of the XIX–XX centuries, the basis for the emergence of youth sports as a socio-cultural phenomenon was formed in the Russian cultural tradition. However, the increasing trend of commercialization of Russian sports has often had a negative impact on the health and fate of children and adolescents involved in this field. The realities of the era are reflected in the story of D. V. Grigorovich "Gutta-Percha Boy", as well as in the stories of A. I. Kuprin "Allez!" and "The White Poodle".

5. In the traditions of physical education, which took place in the original folk culture, a unique experience was accumulated in introducing younger generations to physical activity, developing skills and abilities (coordination and dexterity of movements, speed of running, etc.), qualities (endurance, strength, accuracy, etc.) necessary in work and military training.

6. In the paradigm of harmonious personality development, combining the unity of physical, intellectual and spiritual principles, depending on the goals and focus of research, the vectors of consideration of the problem are projected: socio-cultural (presented in this article), philosophical-anthropological, socio-political, psychological-pedagogical, etc., determined by cultural-historical, ideological, socio-economic factors, spatial and temporal characteristics.