The literature of which centuries is called Old Russian. Features of Old Russian literature

Description of the work: “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu”, “Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh”, etc. These works belong to Old Russian literature. The literature of antiquity is based on real events and reflects Rus', its position at one time or another. Old Russian literature reflects the character of Rus' and its inhabitants. It, like the history of Rus', contains information about its relationships with other countries and within the country. This literature is rich in discussions about kings, princes and the common people. We simply must protect and study its riches.

Russian literature is a thousand years old. We know our great classical writers well, but we know little about our literature of the first seven centuries. Every Russian person knows only “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” well. Meanwhile, our ancient literature is rich in works of various genres. The chronicles told about the history of our country, starting from ancient, pre-literate times and ending with the events of the turbulent 17th century. Biographies (“lives”) told about the lives of individual people. In ancient Russian literature there are works of oratory, descriptions of travel (“walkings”) to the East or Western Europe, journalistic works aimed at eradicating social evil and injustice, calling for truth and goodness. There are a number of so-called “military stories” dedicated to the struggle of the Russian people against foreign enemies: the Pechenegs, Polovtsians, Mongol-Tatars, German knights. Stories telling about princely civil strife and crimes have been preserved. These stories are full of pain for the untruth, for the suffering brought to people and the entire country. In the 17th century, stories of a domestic nature appeared. At the end of the same century, dramatic and poetic works appeared.

Old Russian literature, as you can see, is rich in written monuments. She was even richer. After all, of its entire treasury, only a small part has reached us; the rest was destroyed in fires, plundered by enemies, perished from storage in damp rooms, due to the negligence and indifference of people.

We consider ancient Russian literature to be especially significant because it contains features that are consonant with our era. The works of our antiquity are marked by high citizenship and sincere love for the motherland. Writers, separated from us by many centuries, were proud of the greatness of Rus', its vastness, beauty, the “bright lightness and red decoration” of its fields and forests, the “audacity” of the Russian people, and high moral qualities. True patriotism ancient Russian authors was also manifested in the fact that they boldly wrote about the shortcomings and crimes of princes.

The works of Ancient Rus' captivate with their chastity and purity. Old Russian literature does not dwell on descriptions of atrocities and does not cherish the dream of retribution against enemies. She calls for the sublime, the good. In it we find noble ideals. Almost every writer of Ancient Rus' could, like A. S. Pushkin, say about himself that he aroused “good feelings” with his work. He could declare, together with N.A. Nekrasov, that he “sowed the reasonable, the good, the eternal.” Therefore, the works of ancient Russian authors so vividly respond to our time and the growing need for goodness and kindness in our country.

Ancient Russian literature, as well as Russian literature in general, is characterized by life-affirmation, lightness and clarity. Let's take for example. The most tragic “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu”. What could be more terrible! The army was defeated, all the princes were killed on the battlefield, the city was taken, plundered, burned, almost all the inhabitants were killed. All that was left was “smoke, earth and ashes.” But there is no despair, no despondency in the story. Crying for the Russian princes, glorifying their valor, pride in the fact that there were such princes. And the story ends with a major chord: one of the Ryazan princes, who accidentally survived, arrives, pays tribute to the murdered, buries them with honor, gathers the surviving residents, restores the city, and everything ends with general pacification. This fortitude is amazing.

Another property of ancient Russian literature is especially attractive in our time: ancient Russian writers treated other peoples, their customs, and their beliefs with deep respect. Tolerance is manifested in the relationship between the Russian governor Pritech and the Pecheneg prince in the Tale of Bygone Years, in the Tale of the Emshan Grass, which conveys the Polovtsian tradition, in the sermons of the Bishop of Vladimir Serapion, who wrote about the torment of the Russian people under Tatar oppression, lamented the loss former glory Rus' and at the same time spoke about the moral virtues of the Tatars. Respect for other peoples, sympathy for their troubles sounds with particular force in “Walking across Three Seas” by Afanasy Nikitin.

Even in stories describing the fight against enemies, for example in “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev,” the author notes the combat prowess of the enemies and considers both Russians and Tatars to be children of the same mother Earth. The admiration for the courage of enemies in “Kazan History”, a work dedicated to the centuries-old struggle of Russians with the people of Kazan, sounds absolutely amazing.

In the new Russian literature of the 18th-20th centuries, the best traditions of ancient literature continue. However, ancient literature has its own characteristics that distinguish it from the literature of modern times.

In the art of the word of modern times, we are dealing with individual authors, and ancient literature, although it retained a number of names of writers - Hilarion, Nestor, Kirill of Turovsky and many others - was generally a collective work. If in modern times works of classical literature are published in the form in which the author wrote them, then the works of ancient writers have been changed over the centuries by different copyists. Each new copyist either shortened the text somewhat, or sought to “embellish” the presentation, or changed the overall focus of the work. He adapted the work of his predecessor to the literary taste and ideological requirements of his time. This is how new types arose, or, as they say, editions of the same monument. This situation is close to oral folk art: each narrator sang the same epic in a different way, adding or omitting something.

In all new editions, the monuments of ancient Russian literature lived on, retaining the main original features and acquiring new ones. Rare monuments have survived to us in the form in which they were first written, most of them came down to us in later correspondence, “lists”.

Old Russian literature, unlike modern literature, did not have fictional characters or plots. In ancient stories they always acted historical figures, historical events were described. Even if the author introduced the miraculous and fantastic into his narrative, it was not a conscious fiction, because the writer himself and his readers believed in the veracity of what was being described. Conscious fiction appeared only in the literature of the 17th century. And even then, as a rule, he hid behind references to historical events. Thus, the fictional hero of one of the stories of the 17th century, Savva Grudtsyn, appears in the Russian army of the boyar Shein, who besieged Smolensk.

We are used to the works we read being entertaining. Entertaining for us is mainly associated only with the rapid development of a complex plot. The writers of Ancient Rus', of course, also sought to interest the reader. But their plot is simple, the story is told calmly, not hastily.

The people of Ancient Rus' read books earnestly, slowly, rereading the same work several times, reverently seeking in it instructions, advice, or images of significant events from the history of their country or other countries. It is not for nothing that books have been figuratively compared to the depths of the sea, and the reader - to a pearl diver.

One of the achievements of modern literature was that it began to depict the everyday, that its characters were the same people as each of us. In ancient Russian literature there are no simple characters, there are heroes who perform great feats on the battlefield and moral improvement.

Like folklore, literature dwelled only on exceptional events; it did not condescend to the reader, but sought to raise him to its heights.

In ancient literature there were no poems, but there was poetry. Only the imagery of this poetry is different than in modern times, we need to get used to it, understand it. The images appeared as if by themselves. We would say: “I’ll come in the spring,” and a man of the 11th-17th centuries wrote: “I’ll arrive as soon as the leaves dawn on the trees.” Ancient authors did not write that someone did a lot for their homeland, they wrote: “He lost a lot of sweat for his homeland”; we would say: “The enemies fled,” and the ancient scribe wrote: “They showed their shoulders.” They loved hyperbole: the name of Alexander Nevsky, according to his biographer, was glorified “throughout all countries to the Sea of ​​Egypt and to the mountains of Ararat.” Old Russian authors often resorted to comparisons: warriors were compared to falcons, flying arrows to rain, enemies to ferocious beasts.

In ancient Russian works you will find many examples of rhythmic speech.

The poetry of ancient Russian literature is largely due to its closeness to oral folk art. In our time, literature and folklore are strictly separated. Writers of the 18th-20th centuries turn to folklore, but never become storytellers. In ancient Russian literature it was different. Writers, like storytellers, created epic works. Not only the initial tales of the “Tale of Bygone Years” are epic, based on oral traditions - about Oleg, Igor, Olga, Vladimir, about the young man-kozhemyak and Belgorod wells. Epic and more late works XV, XVI, and even XVII centuries. Many narratives that are examples of high rhetoric organically include epic parts. This is the story about Evpatiy Kolovrat in “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu”, about six brave men in “The Life of Alexander Nevsky”. Woven into the fabric of many works folk songs, for example, in “The Tale of Prince Skopin-Shuisky”. The “Tale of Woe-Misfortune” is based on the literary basis of a lyrical song. And what beautiful folk laments can be found in chronicles and stories! In addition to laments, glorifications—“glories”—are also heard in literature. Ritual in origin, pagan poetry was a living source to which writers turned all the time.

There is no need to exaggerate the importance of oral folk art in the literature of Ancient Rus'. Despite its closeness to folklore, it was written literature (the word “literature” comes from the Latin “litera” - letter), and the literature was very high, skillful, and artistic. It arose back in the 10th century along with the adoption of Christianity under the influence of the needs of the church and state.

With the adoption of Christianity (988) from Slavic Bulgaria, which was experiencing a cultural dawn at that time, books were brought to Rus'. Some books were copied into Bulgarian language. The Old Bulgarian language, called Church Slavonic in Rus', because liturgical books were written in it, was close to Old Russian and was well understood by Russian readers of that time. The Church Slavonic language, flexible and subtle, capable of expressing the most complex abstract ideas, extremely enriched the ancient Russian language and made it more expressive. Synonyms still live in our language: Russian-eyes, Slavic-eyes, etc. Western Catholic countries were united by Latin, Slavic countries- Church Slavonic language. From the end of the 10th to the beginning of the 11th century, translated books of a wide variety of genres, styles and purposes appeared in Rus'. There are biblical historical books, Byzantine chronicles, and lyrical chants, sometimes joyful, sometimes full of sorrow and sadness. Collections of works of oratory that were part of the art of eloquence of antiquity, and collections of aphorisms appeared. Natural history and history books were brought to Rus'.

In the first half of the 11th century, “words” (speeches) appeared in Rus'. From the forties of the 11th century, the “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion, remarkable for its harmony and elaborate oratorical techniques, has been preserved. Hilarion was a “Rusin” (Russian) by birth, a priest of the country church of the Savior in the village of Berestovo near Kiev (this church has survived to this day). Yaroslav the Wise appointed him metropolitan, head of the entire Russian church. In “The Sermon on Law and Grace,” delivered in the presence of Yaroslav the Wise and his family, Hilarion gives a unique overview of world history and asserts the equality of “new people,” that is, Russians recently introduced to Christianity, with the rest of the peoples of the Christian world.

The pinnacle of literature of the 12th century is “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” - a work typical of this century, when the art of speech reached a high development, and the consciousness of the need to preserve the unity of the Russian land was especially strong.

We do not know the names of the authors of the tales about Oleg’s campaigns, Olga’s baptism, or Svyatoslav’s wars. The first known author of a literary work in Rus' was the priest of the princely church in Berestov, later Metropolitan Hilarion. In the early 40s of the 11th century, he created his famous “Sermon on Law and Grace.” It talks about the Church of the Annunciation on the Golden Gate, built in 1037, and mentions Irina (Ingigerda), the wife of Yaroslav the Wise, who died in 1050. The word introduces us to the struggle of religious and political ideas of the 11th century. Hilarion speaks in it about the baptism of Rus' and praises Vladimir, who baptized the Russian land: “Let us praise our teacher and mentor, the great Khagan of our land, Vladimir, the grandson of old Igor, the son of the glorious Svyatoslav, who in his years ruled, having listened with courage and bravery in in many countries they are now remembered for their victories and strength. It’s not in the worst of battles, it’s not in the unknown that the land has dominion, but in Russia, which is known and heard, there is the end of the land.” Hilarion appeals to Vladimir to look at the greatness of Kyiv under Yaroslav, who “covered the glorious city of Kyiv with majesty like a crown.” These words, apparently, should be understood as an indication of the newly built and majestic fortifications that surrounded the capital of the Kyiv princes. In the second half of the 11th century, other striking literary and journalistic works appeared: “Memory and Praise of Vladimir” by the monk Jacob, in which Hilarion’s ideas are further developed and applied to the historical figure of Vladimir I. At the same time, “The Legend of the Initial Spread of Christianity in Rus'”, “The Legend of Boris and Gleb”, patron saints and defenders of the Russian land.

In the last quarter of the 11th century, the monk Nestor began to work on his writings. The chronicle was his final fundamental work. Before that, he created the famous “Reading about the Life of Boris and Gleb.” In it, as in Hilarion’s “Word”, as later in the Tale of Bygone Years, the ideas of the unity of Rus' are heard, and tribute is paid to its defenders and guardians. Already at that time, Russian authors were worried about this growing political hostility in the Russian lands, in which they discerned a harbinger of a future political catastrophe.

The literature of the 12th century continues the traditions of Russian writings of the 11th century. New ecclesiastical and secular works are being created, marked by a vivid form, richness of thoughts, and broad generalizations; new genres of literature emerge.

In his declining years, Vladimir Monomakh wrote his famous “Instruction for Children,” which became one of the favorite readings of the Russian people of the early Middle Ages. The teaching clearly depicts for us the life of Russian princes at the end of the 11th – beginning of the 12th centuries. Vladimir Monomakh talks about his campaigns and travels. His whole life was spent in continuous wars, either with the Poles, or with the Polovtsians, or with hostile princes. It has 83 large trips, not counting small ones, as well as 19 peace treaties with the Polovtsians. To characterize feudal ideology, the image of the ideal prince depicted by Monomakh is interesting. The prince must monitor everything in the house, and not rely on the tiun or the warrior (“youth”), so as not to laugh at the order in the house and at dinner. During military campaigns, one must avoid excess food and drink, as well as long periods of sleep. By nightfall, appoint guards yourself, Monomakh teaches, and, having arranged the army around you, go to bed and get up early; and do not quickly take off your weapons without looking, out of laziness, “suddenly a person dies.” The prince's life is filled with wars and hunting, death follows on the warrior's heels. And this knightly ideology is perfectly expressed by the words of Monomakh addressed to his second cousin Oleg Svyatoslavovich of Chernigov. Monomakh offers him peace and friendship and promises not to avenge the death of his son, killed in battle with Oleg: “Isn’t it amazing that my husband died in the regiment” (is it surprising that a warrior died during the battle). The teaching provides a lot of historical information that is missing in the chronicle; it is a valuable historical source.

At the beginning of the 12th century, one of Monomakh’s associates, Abbot Daniel, created his own, no less famous, “Hegumen Daniel’s Walk to Holy Places.”

The pious Russian man went to the Holy Sepulcher and walked a long and hard way- to Constantinople, then through the islands of the Aegean Sea to the island of Crete, from there to Palestine and to Jerusalem, where at that time the first crusader state was founded, led by King Baldwin. Daniel described in detail his entire journey, spoke about his stay at the court of the King of Jerusalem, about the campaign with him against the Arabs. Daniel prayed at the Holy Sepulcher, placed there a lamp from the entire Russian land: near the tomb of Christ he sang fifty liturgies “for the Russian princes and for all Christians.”

Both “Teaching” and “Walking” were the first genres of their kind in Russian literature.

XII – early XIII century. They gave many other bright religious and secular works that added to the treasury of Russian culture. Among them are “The Word” and “Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik, who, having been in captivity and having experienced a number of other everyday dramas, reflects on the meaning of life, on a harmonious person, on an ideal ruler. In the “Word” the author himself calls himself Daniel the prisoner, that is, a prisoner, exiled. The word is addressed to Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich. The Message (Prayer) is addressed to Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich.

The word gives an interesting characterization of feudal relations in the 12th century. First of all, what is striking is the indication of the importance of the personality of the prince as a feudal sovereign, to whom, depending on his personal qualities, “servants” - vassals - gather: “The psaltery is formed by fingers, and the body is based on veins; oak is strong with many roots; so is our city your dominion. The prince is generous, the father has many servants: many people leave their father and mother and resort to him. By serving a good master, you will earn a settlement, and by serving an evil master, you will earn more work.” The prince is famous for those who surround him: “The pavoloka (expensive fabric) is speckled with many silks and reds, your face shows: so you, prince, are honest and glorious with many people in all countries.” The word of Daniil Zatochnik is a most valuable source for studying the class struggle in ancient Russian society. It repeatedly emphasizes the antagonism of rich and poor. The word clearly characterizes the order of the patrimony of the period of feudal fragmentation: do not have a courtyard near the king’s court, exclaims Daniel, and do not keep a village near the prince’s village; His thiun is like a covered fire, and his “rank and file” are like sparks. If you guard against fire, then you cannot “guard yourself” from sparks and from burning clothes. The word of Daniel the Sharper is woven from a number of aphorisms and teachings. It was this feature that made him very popular in medieval Rus'.

In the Word we also encounter a constant theme in many ancient Russian works - about evil wives. The ascetic nature of church writing contributed to the view of a woman as a “vessel of the devil.” Here are a few of the Sharpener’s attacks against malicious wives: if any husband looks at the beauty of his wife and her kind and flattering words, but does not check her deeds, then God forbid he had better have a fever. Or in another place: “What is the wife of evil - an irresistible inn, a demonic blasphemer. What is an evil wife? Worldly rebellion, blindness of the mind, the master of all malice,” etc.

No less interesting is the second work associated with Daniil Zatochnik, the so-called Epistle (Prayer). The message begins with an appeal to Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who researchers consider to be Pereyaslavl, and later Grand Duke Yaroslav, son of Vsevolod the Big Nest. The message is extremely interesting in its social orientation. The author paints for us the appearance of a prince from the era of feudal fragmentation, which harmonizes well with the biography of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, a warlike, intelligent and at the same time cruel prince: “The people are wise, strong and their cities are strong; The brave ones are strong and crazy: for them there is victory. Many people take up arms against large cities and attack their own, smaller cities.” In this characterization of the prince one can involuntarily sense historical features. Such was Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who chased the Novgorod table and often lost it. In the Epistle we read an unusually harsh review of monastic life: “Or you will say, prince: take monastic vows. So I didn’t see a dead man riding a pig, not a damn woman, I didn’t eat figs from oak trees. After all, many, having departed from this world into monasticism, return again to worldly life and to the worldly race, like dogs to their vomit: they go around the villages and houses of the glorious houses of this world, like caressing dogs. Where there are weddings and feasts, there are monks and monks and lawlessness. They wear an angelic image on themselves, but they have a dissolute disposition and a holy rank, but their customs are obscene.”

Addressing his prince in “Prayer,” Daniel says that a real man must combine the strength of Samson, the courage of Alexander the Great, the intelligence of Joseph, the wisdom of Solomon, and the cunning of David. Appeal to biblical stories and ancient history helps him convey his ideas to the addressee. A person, according to the author, must strengthen his heart with beauty and wisdom, help his neighbor in sorrow, show mercy to those in need, and resist evil. The humanistic line of ancient Russian literature firmly asserts itself here too.

An interesting monument of the 12th century is the Epistle of Metropolitan Clement. Clement Smolyatich, originally from Smolensk, in 1147 was elected by a council of Russian bishops as metropolitan of All Rus' without the installation of a patriarch, while other metropolitans were appointed by the patriarch in Constantinople. “The message was written by Clement, Metropolitan of Russia, to Thomas the Presbyter, interpreted by Athanasius the Mnich” was preserved in a 15th-century manuscript. The authorship of Clement is attributed only to the first two parts, and the last to the monk Athanasius. The message provides interesting material for characterizing the education of Kievan Rus. The author turns to Thomas with a response to his message, which denounced Clement for being proud of his philosophical knowledge, since Clement made references to Homer, Aristotle and Plato in his writings. Averting reproaches of pride from himself, Clement at the same time attacks those bishops who add “house to house, village to village, expelling the siabrs, and the borti, and the reapers, the lads and the old ones, from them the accursed Klim greatly free."

In his “Parable of the Human Soul” (late 12th century), Bishop Kirill of the city of Turov, relying on the Christian worldview, gives his interpretation of the meaning of human existence and discusses the need for a constant connection between soul and body. At the same time, in his “Parable” he raises questions that are quite topical for Russian reality, reflects on the relationship between church and secular authorities, defends the national-patriotic idea of ​​​​the unity of the Russian land, which was especially important, while the Vladimir-Suzdal princes began to implement centralization policy on the eve of the Mongol-Tatar invasion.

Simultaneously with these works, where religious and secular motives were constantly intertwined, copyists in monasteries, churches, princely and boyar houses diligently copied church service books, prayers, collections of church traditions, biographies of saints, and ancient theological literature. All this wealth of religious and theological thought also formed an integral part of general Russian culture.

But, of course, the most vivid synthesis of Russian culture, the interweaving of pagan and Christian features, religious and secular, universal and national motives in it was heard in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” The Word tells about the campaign of the Seversky princes in 1185, led by Prince Igor Svyatoslavovich, against the Polovtsians. Shortly before this, the Severn princes refused to participate in the campaign against the Polovtsians, which was undertaken by their relative, the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. From the very beginning, the participants in the campaign were confused by bad omens - an eclipse of the sun occurred. However, the princes decided to move on. The first battle was successful for the Russians. But soon things took a different turn. The Polovtsians defeated the Russian troops, and Igor Svyatoslavovich was captured, from which he escaped with the help of a certain Ovlur.

The story of Igor's regiment perfectly depicts princely relations at the end of the 12th century. What stands out in particular is the power of two princes, who in strength are on a par with Svyatoslav of Kyiv or even higher than him. This is the Galician prince Yaroslav Osmomysl and Vsevolod the Big Nest. Yaroslav sits high on his gold-plated table, he propped up the Carpathian (Hungarian) mountains with his iron regiments, closing the path for the Hungarian king and closing the Danube Gate for him, dominating all the way to the Danube. “Your thunderstorms flow across the lands, shooting a hundred gold from the Saltani table beyond the lands. Shoot, sir, Konchak, that filthy bastard, for the Russian land, for the wounds of Igor, my dear Svyatoslavovich.” This praise of Yaroslav Galitsky is confirmed in the chronicle. He was a wise, eloquent, God-fearing prince, revered in other lands, glorious in battles, we read in the chronicle about Yaroslav of Galicia.

The Vladimir-Suzdal prince Vsevolod the Big Nest seems no less powerful for the singer of the Word. He addresses him with the words: “You can sprinkle the Volga with oars, and pour out the Don with helmets.” If we remember that the Tale of Igor’s Campaign was compiled in southern Rus', then such princely characteristics are obtained for us special meaning. They show the true balance of power between the princes of feudal Rus' at the end of the 12th century, when the Galicia-Volyn and Vladimir-Suzdal lands became especially strong.

“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” has another remarkable feature. Created in an era of feudal fragmentation, it nevertheless testifies to the unity of the Russian people. The entire content of the Word about Igor's Campaign rests on the idea that the Russian land can fight against the Polovtsian raids only as a single whole. A constant refrain is patriotic words, full of ardent love for the homeland, about the Russian land hidden behind the hills (“Oh, Russian land, you are already behind the shelomyan”).

The word unusually vividly depicts feudal strife and discord among the princes, mourning the fact that they are weakening the Russian land.

“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” is of great interest for studying the beliefs of ancient Rus'. Nature is personified in Yaroslavna’s cry: “Oh the wind! – Yaroslavna turns to the wind. - “Why, sir, did you force yourself? Why do the Khinov arrows moo on their easy wings in my own way? You never know how grief blows under the clouds, cherishing ships on the blue sea.” The Dnieper River appears as the same living creature in Yaroslavna’s lament. She even calls him with his patronymic – Slovutich. The Word also mentions ancient Slavic deities. Bayan, named the grandson of Veles, god of livestock and abundance, patron of singers; Russians are the children of Dazhd-God, the great sun god.

Unlike other monuments of ancient Russian literature, The Tale of Igor's Campaign does not reflect church ideology. Only once is it mentioned the church of the Mother of God Pirogoshcha, to which Igor goes when returning to Kyiv.

The Word about Igor's Campaign included many legends unknown to us from other works. One of the sources for the author was Boyan’s songs, to which he refers. Boyan recalled “the first times of strife.” He sang songs about old Yaroslav, about the brave Mstislav, who stabbed Redea in front of the Kasozh regiments, about the beautiful Roman Svyatoslavovich.

We do not know the sources of the Word about Igor's Campaign. But its author undoubtedly used a lot oral traditions. This is confirmed by many epithets that find analogies in monuments of oral literature: “golden table”, “golden stirrup”, “gray eagle”, “blue sea”, “green grass”, “sharp swords”, “open field”, “black crow".

A remarkable feature of the Tale of Igor's Campaign is its focus. While the chronicles preserved mainly the Kyiv tradition, the Tale of Igor's Campaign mainly reflects the Chernigov and Polotsk traditions. The singer's sympathies are with the Chernigov princes. He writes about the “resentment” of the Chernigov prince Oleg Svyatoslavovich, a young and brave prince expelled by Vladimir Monomakh from his principality. But Vladimir himself is depicted as a cowardly prince, covering his ears from the ringing of Oleg’s golden stirrups. The nickname “Gorislavich”, which the singer gives to Oleg, is an epithet denoting a person famous for his grief and misadventures.

High artistic skill“Words” is based not only on folk tradition, but also on Russian writing known to the author. It is impossible not to see what pearls the author selected in the chronicles and other works known to him! All this places “The Lay” next to the greatest monuments of Russian culture of the 12th century.

The development of literature in the 15th century was facilitated by the reduction in cost of writing material: at this time, instead of expensive parchment and specially treated calfskin, they began to use paper imported from the West.

Serious changes are taking place in the literary style of works. The upsurge that came after the Kulikovo victory led to the development of the so-called panegyric style: a lush and solemn style, ornate and complex; it was figuratively called “weaving words” (meaning that the authors weaved verbal wreaths to the glory of ascetics and warriors). The most sophisticated writer who worked in this direction was Epiphanius the Wise and Pachomius Logofet, a native of Serbia. Both were writers - professionals, connoisseurs of the art of words.

Such subtle and elegant works as “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom” and “The Life of Sergei of Radonezh” date back to the 15th century.

For the history of literature, the “Degree Book” is of significant interest - a collection of biographies of the rulers of the Russian state. There are many legends in biographies, often of a romantic nature.

Interesting works of the mid-16th century include “Domostroy”; its creation is attributed to Sylvester, a priest of the Annunciation Church in the Kremlin.

Old Russian literature is valuable both for its own artistic achievements and for the fact that it prepared the emergence of great Russian literature of modern times. Knowledge of ancient Russian literature helps to more fully and deeply understand the literature of the 19th-20th centuries.

But the value of ancient Russian literature lies not only in this. For us, she is a pure and life-giving source to which we turn in times of troubles and trials, “in days of doubt, in days of painful thoughts,” as well as in times of recovery. We draw deep thoughts from it, we find in it high ideals, beautiful images. Her faith in goodness and the victory of justice, her ardent patriotism strengthens and inspires us. M.V. Lomonosov called Russian chronicles “books of glorious deeds.” The same can be said about most of the ancient Russian stories.

Introduction

The emergence of ancient Russian literature

Genres of literature of Ancient Rus'

Periodization of the history of ancient Russian literature

Features of Old Russian literature

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The centuries-old literature of Ancient Rus' has its own classics, there are works that we can rightfully call classics, which perfectly represent the literature of Ancient Rus' and are known throughout the world. Every educated Russian person should know them.

Ancient Rus', in the traditional sense of the word, embracing the country and its history from the 10th to the 17th centuries, had a great culture. This culture, the immediate predecessor of the new Russian culture of the 18th-20th centuries, nevertheless had some of its own phenomena, characteristic only of it.

Ancient Rus' is famous all over the world for its painting and architecture. But it is remarkable not only for these “silent” arts, which allowed some Western scientists to call the culture of Ancient Rus' the culture of great silence. Recently, the rediscovery of ancient Russian music has begun to occur again, and more slowly - much more difficult to understand art - the art of words, literature. That is why Hilarion’s “The Tale of Law and Grace,” “The Tale of Igor’s Host,” “The Walk across the Three Seas” by Afanasy Nikitin, the Works of Ivan the Terrible, “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum” and many others have now been translated into many foreign languages. Getting acquainted with the literary monuments of Ancient Rus', a modern person will easily notice their differences from the works of literature of modern times: this is the lack of detailed characters, this is the paucity of details in the description of the appearance of the heroes, their surroundings, landscape, this is the psychological lack of motivation for actions, and the “facelessness” of remarks that can be conveyed to any hero of the work, since they do not reflect the individuality of the speaker, this is also the “insincerity” of monologues with an abundance of traditional “commonplaces” - abstract reasoning on theological or moral topics, with excessive pathos or expression .

It would be easiest to explain all these features by the student nature of ancient Russian literature, to see in them only the result of the fact that the writers of the Middle Ages had not yet mastered the “mechanism” of plot construction, which in common features ah is now known to every writer and every reader. All this is true only to some extent. Literature is constantly evolving. The arsenal of artistic techniques is expanding and enriching. Each writer in his work relies on the experience and achievements of his predecessors.

1. The emergence of Old Russian literature

Pagan legends in Ancient Rus' were not written down, but were transmitted orally. Christian teaching was presented in books, therefore, with the adoption of Christianity, books appeared in Rus'. Books were brought from Byzantium, Greece, and Bulgaria. The Old Bulgarian and Old Russian languages ​​were similar, and Rus' could use the Slavic alphabet created by the brothers Cyril and Methodius.

The need for books in Rus' at the time of the adoption of Christianity was great, but there were few books. The process of copying books was long and difficult. The first books were written by statute, or rather, they were not written, but drawn. Each letter was drawn separately. Continuous writing appeared only in the 15th century. First books. The oldest Russian book that has reached us is the so-called Ostromir Gospel. It was translated in 1056-1057. by order of the Novgorod mayor Ostromir.

Original Russian literature arose around the middle of the 11th century.

Chronicle is a genre of ancient Russian literature. Consists of two words: “summer”, i.e. year, and “write”. “Description of years” - this is how you can translate the word “chronicle” into Russian

The chronicle as a genre of Old Russian literature (only Old Russian) arose in the middle of the 11th century, and chronicle writing ended in the 17th century. with the end of the Old Russian period of literature.

Features of the genre. Events were arranged by year. The chronicle began with the words: In the summer, then the year from the creation of the world was named, for example, 6566, and the events of the present year were set out. I wonder why? The chronicler, as a rule, is a monk, and he could not live outside the Christian world, outside the Christian tradition. And this means that the world for him is not interrupted, is not divided into past and present, the past connects with the present and continues to live in modern times.

Modernity is the result of past deeds, and the future of the country and the fate of an individual depend on today's events. Chronicler. Of course, the chronicler could not tell about the events of the past on his own, so he attracted older chronicles, earlier ones and supplemented them with stories about his time.

To prevent his work from becoming enormous, he had to sacrifice something: skip some events, rewrite others in his own words.

In the selection of events, in the retelling, the chronicler, willingly or unwillingly, offered his own view, his assessment of history, but it was always the view of a Christian, for whom history is a chain of events that have a direct relationship. The oldest chronicle is the “Tale of Bygone Years,” compiled by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor at the beginning of the 12th century. The title is written like this (of course, translated from the Old Russian language): “Here are the stories of past years, where the Russian land came from, who became the first to reign in Kyiv and how the Russian land arose.”

And here is its beginning: “So let’s begin this story. After the flood, the three sons of Noah divided the land, Shem, Ham, Japheth. ... But Shem, Ham and Japheth divided the land, casting lots, and decided not to enter into the share of their brother and lived each in his own part. There was one people... After the destruction of the pillar and the division of the peoples, the sons of Shem took the eastern countries, and the sons of Ham took the southern countries, and the Japhethites took the west and northern countries. From these same 70 and 2 language came the people Slavic, from the tribe of Japheth - the so-called Noriks, who are the Slavs." Connection with modernity. The chronicler associated this biblical event about the division of the earth with modern life. In 1097, the Russian princes gathered to establish peace and said to each other: Why are we destroying the Russian land, arranging strife among ourselves? Let us unite with one heart from now on and let us guard the Russian land, and let everyone own his homeland.

Russian chronicles have long been read and translated into modern language. The most accessible and fascinating information about the events of Russian history and the life of our ancestors is written in the book “Stories of Russian Chronicles” (author-compiler and translator T.N. Mikhelson).

. Genres of literature of Ancient Rus'

ancient Russian genre story literature

To understand the peculiarity and originality of original Russian literature, to appreciate the courage with which Russian scribes created works that “stand outside genre systems”, such as “The Tale of Igor’s Host”, “Teaching” by Vladimir Monomakh, “Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik and the like , for all this it is necessary to get acquainted with at least some examples of individual genres of translated literature.

Chronicles.Interest in the past of the Universe, the history of other countries, and the destinies of great people of antiquity was satisfied by translations of Byzantine chronicles. These chronicles began with an account of events from the creation of the world, retold biblical history, cited individual episodes from the history of the countries of the East, talked about the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and then about the history of the countries of the Middle East. Having brought the narrative to the last decades before the beginning of our era, the chroniclers went back and outlined the ancient history of Rome, starting from the legendary times of the founding of the city. The rest and, as a rule, most of the chronicles were occupied by the narrative of the Roman and Byzantine emperors. The chronicles ended with a description of events contemporary to their composition.

Thus, the chroniclers created the impression of the continuity of the historical process, of a kind of “change of kingdoms.” Of the translations of Byzantine chronicles, the most famous in Rus' in the 11th century. received translations of the Chronicles of George Amartol and the Chronicles of John Malala. The first of them, together with the continuation made on Byzantine soil, brought the narrative to the middle of the 10th century, the second - until the time of Emperor Justinian (527-565).

Perhaps one of the defining features of the composition of the chronicles was their desire for an exhaustive completeness of the dynastic series. This feature is characteristic of biblical books (which contain long lists of genealogies), medieval chronicles, and historical epics.

"Alexandria".The novel about Alexander the Great, the so-called “Alexandria,” was extremely popular in Ancient Rus'. This was not a historically accurate description of the life and deeds of the famous commander, but a typical Hellenistic adventure novel 7.

In "Alexandria" we also encounter action-packed (and also pseudo-historical) collisions. "Alexandria" is an indispensable component of all ancient Russian chronographs; from edition to edition, the adventure and fantasy theme is increasingly intensified in it, which once again indicates an interest in the plot-entertaining, and not the actual historical side of this work.

"The Life of Eustathius Placidas."In ancient Russian literature, imbued with the spirit of historicism and addressed to ideological problems, there was no place for open literary fiction (readers apparently trusted the miracles of “Alexandria” - after all, all this happened a long time ago and somewhere in unknown lands, at the end of the world!), everyday stories or a novel about the private life of a private person. Strange as it may seem at first glance, to a certain extent the need for such subjects was fulfilled by such authoritative and closely related genres as the lives of saints, patericon or apocrypha.

Researchers have long noticed that the lengthy lives of Byzantine saints in some cases were very reminiscent of an ancient novel: sudden changes in the fate of heroes, imaginary death, recognition and meetings after many years of separation, attacks by pirates or predatory animals - all these traditional plot motifs of the adventure novel strangely coexisted in some lives with the idea of ​​glorifying an ascetic or martyr for the Christian faith 8. A typical example of such a life is “The Life of Eustathius Placidas,” translated back in Kievan Rus.

Apocrypha.The apocrypha - legends about biblical characters that were not included in the canonical (recognized by the church) biblical books, discussions on topics that worried medieval readers: about the struggle in the world of good and evil, about the ultimate fate of humanity, descriptions of heaven and hell or unknown lands "at the end of the world."

Most of the apocrypha are entertaining plot stories that captured the imagination of readers either with unknown everyday details about the life of Christ, the apostles, and prophets, or with miracles and fantastic visions. The Church tried to fight apocryphal literature. Special lists of prohibited books were compiled - indices. However, in judgments about which works are definitely “renounced books,” that is, unacceptable for reading by true Christians, and which are only apocryphal (literally apocryphal - secret, hidden, that is, designed for a reader experienced in theological matters), the medieval censors did not there was unity.

The indices varied in composition; in collections, sometimes very authoritative, we also find apocryphal texts next to the canonical biblical books and lives. Sometimes, however, even here they were overtaken by the hand of zealots of piety: in some collections the sheets with the text of the apocrypha were torn out or their text was crossed out. Nevertheless, there were a lot of apocryphal works, and they continued to be copied throughout centuries-old history ancient Russian literature.

Patristics.A large place in ancient Russian translated writing was occupied by patristics, that is, the writings of those Roman and Byzantine theologians of the 3rd-7th centuries who enjoyed special authority in the Christian world and were revered as “fathers of the church”: John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Athanasius of Alexandria and others.

Their works explained the dogmas of the Christian religion, interpreted the Holy Scriptures, affirmed Christian virtues and exposed vices, and posed various ideological questions. At the same time, works of both teaching and solemn eloquence had considerable aesthetic significance.

The authors of the solemn words intended for utterance in the church during the service were excellent at creating an atmosphere of festive ecstasy or reverence, which should have gripped the believers when remembering the glorified event of church history, and were fluent in the art of rhetoric, which Byzantine writers inherited from antiquity: By chance, many of the Byzantine theologians studied with pagan rhetoricians.

In Rus', John Chrysostom (died in 407) was especially famous; From words belonging to him or attributed to him, entire collections were compiled, bearing the names “Zlatoust” or “Zlatostruy”.

The language of liturgical books is especially colorful and rich in tropes. Let's give a few examples. In the service menaions (a collection of services in honor of saints, arranged according to the days on which they are venerated) of the 11th century. we read: “The vines of thought appeared as ripening grapes, but you were cast into the winepress of torment; you poured out the wine of tenderness for us.” A literal translation of this phrase will destroy the artistic image, so we will only explain the essence of the metaphor.

The saint is compared to a ripe bunch of grapevine, but it is emphasized that this is not a real, but a spiritual (“mental”) vine; the saint subjected to torment is likened to grapes that are pressed in a “press” (pit, vat) in order to “extract” the juice for making wine; the saint’s torment “exudes” the “wine of tenderness” - a feeling of reverence and compassion for him.

A few more metaphorical images from the same service minions of the 11th century: “From the depths of evil, the last one ends the heights of virtue, like an eagle, flying high, gloriously in the east, the most praiseworthy of Matthew!”; “You have strained your prayer bows and arrows and the cruel and slithering serpent, you have slain, O blessed one, having delivered the holy flock from that harm”; “The towering sea of ​​the charming polytheism, you gloriously passed through the storm of divine rule, a quiet refuge for all, being drowned.” “Prayer bows and arrows”, “the storm of polytheism”, which raises waves on the “lovely [treacherous, deceptive] sea” of vain life - all these are metaphors designed for a reader with a developed sense of words and a sophisticated imaginative thinking, excellently versed in traditional Christian symbolism.

And as one can judge from the original works of Russian authors - chroniclers, hagiographers, creators of teachings and solemn words, this high art was completely accepted by them and implemented in their creativity.

Speaking about the system of genres of ancient Russian literature, it is necessary to note one more important circumstance: this literature for a long time, right up to the 17th century, did not allow literary fiction. Old Russian authors wrote and read only about what actually happened: about the history of the world, countries, peoples, about the generals and kings of antiquity, about holy ascetics. Even when conveying outright miracles, they believed that it could have happened, that there were fantastic creatures inhabiting unknown lands, through which Alexander the Great walked with his troops, that in the darkness of caves and cells demons appeared to holy hermits, then tempting them in the form of harlots , then frightening in the guise of animals and monsters.

Talking about historical events, ancient Russian authors could report different, sometimes mutually exclusive versions: some say this, the chronicler or chronicler will say, and others say differently. But this, in their eyes, was just the ignorance of the informants, so to speak, a delusion from ignorance, however, the idea that this or that version could simply be invented, composed, and even more so composed for purely literary purposes - such a thought apparently appealed to older writers seemed implausible. This non-recognition of literary fiction also, in turn, determined the system of genres, the range of subjects and themes to which a work of literature could be devoted. The fictional hero will come to Russian literature relatively late - not earlier than the 15th century, although even at that time he will still masquerade as a hero of a distant country or an ancient time for a long time.

Outright fiction was allowed only in one genre - the genre of the apologist, or parable. It was a miniature story, each of the characters and the entire plot existed only to clearly illustrate an idea. It was an allegory story, and that was its meaning.

In ancient Russian literature, which knew no fiction, historical in large or small ways, the world itself was presented as something eternal, universal, where events and people’s actions are determined by the very system of the universe, where the forces of good and evil are forever fighting, a world whose history is well known ( after all, for each event mentioned in the chronicle, it was indicated exact date- the time that has passed since the “creation of the world”!) and even the future is destined: prophecies about the end of the world, the “second coming” of Christ and the Last Judgment awaiting all people on earth were widespread.

This general ideological attitude could not but affect the desire to subordinate the very image of the world to certain principles and rules, to determine once and for all what should be depicted and how.

Old Russian literature, like other Christian medieval literatures, is subject to a special literary and aesthetic regulation - the so-called literary etiquette.

3. Periodization of the history of ancient Russian literature

The literature of Ancient Rus' is evidence of life. That is why history itself, to a certain extent, establishes the periodization of literature. Literary changes largely coincide with historical ones. How should we periodize the history of Russian literature XI-XVII centuries?

The first period in the history of ancient Russian literature is a period of relative unity of literature. Literature mainly develops in two (interrelated) cultural relations) centers: Kyiv in the south and Novgorod in the north. It lasts a century - the 11th - and covers the beginning of the 12th century. This is the century of formation of monumental historical style literature. The century of the first Russian lives - Boris and Gleb and the Kiev-Pechersk ascetics - and the first monument of Russian chronicle that has come down to us - “The Tale of Bygone Years”. This is the century of a single ancient Russian Kiev-Novgorod state.

The second period, the middle of the 12th - the first third of the 13th century, is the period of the emergence of new literary centers: Vladimir Zalessky and Suzdal, Rostov and Smolensk, Galich and Vladimir Volynsky; At this time, local features and local themes appeared in literature, genres diversified, and a strong stream of topicality and journalisticism was introduced into literature. This is a period of beginning feudal fragmentation.

A number of common features of these two periods allow us to consider both periods in their unity (especially taking into account the difficulty of dating some translated and original works). Both first periods are characterized by the dominance of the monumental-historical style.

Next comes a relatively short period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, when the stories about the invasion of Mongol-Tatar troops in Rus', the Battle of Kalka, the capture of Vladimir Zalessky, “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land” and “The Life of Alexander Nevsky” were created. Literature is compressed into one theme, but this theme manifests itself with extraordinary intensity, and the features of the monumental-historical style acquire a tragic imprint and the lyrical elation of a high patriotic feeling. This short but bright period should be considered separately. It stands out easily.

The next period, the end of the 14th and the first half of the 15th century, is the century of the Pre-Renaissance, coinciding with the economic and cultural renaissance Russian land in the years immediately preceding and following the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. This is a period of expressive-emotional style and patriotic upsurge in literature, a period of revival of chronicle writing, historical storytelling and panegyric hagiography.

In the second half of the 15th century. New phenomena are being discovered in Russian literature: works of translated secular narrative literature (fiction) are becoming widespread, and the first original works of this type are appearing, such as “The Tale of Dracula” and “The Tale of Basarga”. These phenomena were associated with the development of reformation-humanistic movements at the end of the 15th century. However, the insufficient development of cities (which in Western Europe were centers of the Renaissance), the subordination of the Novgorod and Pskov republics, and the suppression of heretical movements contributed to the fact that the movement towards the Renaissance slowed down. The conquest of Byzantium by the Turks (Constantinople fell in 1453), with which Rus' was closely connected culturally, closed Rus' within its own cultural borders. The organization of a single Russian centralized state absorbed the main spiritual forces of the people. Journalism is developing in literature; The internal politics of the state and the transformation of society occupy more and more attention of writers and readers.

From the middle of the 16th century. In literature, the official current is increasingly reflected. The time is coming for the “second monumentalism”: traditional forms literature dominate and suppress the individual principle in literature that arose in the era of the Russian Pre-Renaissance. Events of the second half XVI V. delayed the development of fiction, entertaining literature. century - the century of transition to the literature of modern times. This is the age of development of the individual principle in everything: in the very type of writer and in his work; a century of development of individual tastes and styles, literary professionalism and a sense of authorial ownership, individual, personal protest associated with tragic turns in the writer’s biography. The personal principle contributes to the emergence of syllabic poetry and regular theater.

. Features of Old Russian literature

The literature of Ancient Rus' arose in the 11th century. and developed over seven centuries until the Petrine era. Old Russian literature is a single whole with all the diversity of genres, themes, and images. This literature is the focus of Russian spirituality and patriotism. On the pages of these works there are conversations about the most important philosophical and moral problems that heroes of all centuries think, talk about, and reflect on. The works form a love for the Fatherland and one’s people, show the beauty of the Russian land, so these works touch the innermost strings of our hearts.

The significance of Old Russian literature as the basis for the development of new Russian literature is very great. Thus, images, ideas, even the style of writings were inherited by A.S. Pushkin, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy.

Old Russian literature did not originate from empty space. Its appearance was prepared by the development of language, oral folk art, cultural ties with Byzantium and Bulgaria and due to the adoption of Christianity as a single religion. The first literary works to appear in Rus' were translated. Those books that were necessary for worship were translated.

The first original works, that is, written by the Eastern Slavs themselves, date back to the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries. V. There was a formation of Russian national literature, its traditions and features developed that determined its specific features, a certain dissimilarity with the literature of our days.

The purpose of this work is to show the features of Old Russian literature and its main genres.

Features of Old Russian literature

1. Historicism of content.

Events and characters in literature, as a rule, are the fruit of the author's imagination. Authors works of art, even if they describe true events real persons, they speculate a lot. But in Ancient Rus' everything was completely different. The ancient Russian scribe only talked about what, in his opinion, really happened. Only in the 17th century. Everyday stories with fictional characters and plots appeared in Rus'.

2. Handwritten nature of existence.

Another feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of its existence. Even the appearance of the printing press in Rus' changed the situation little until the middle of the 18th century. The existence of literary monuments in manuscripts led to a special veneration of the book. What even separate treatises and instructions were written about. But on the other hand, handwritten existence led to the instability of ancient Russian works of literature. Those works that have come down to us are the result of the work of many, many people: the author, editor, copyist, and the work itself could last for several centuries. Therefore, in scientific terminology, there are such concepts as “manuscript” (handwritten text) and “list” (rewritten work). The manuscript may contain lists of various works and may be written either by the author himself or by copyists. Another fundamental concept in textual criticism is the term “edition,” i.e., the purposeful reworking of a monument caused by socio-political events, changes in the function of the text, or differences in the language of the author and editor.

Closely related to the existence of a work in manuscripts is the following: specific trait Old Russian literature as a problem of authorship.

The author's principle in Old Russian literature is muted, implicit. Old Russian scribes were not thrifty with other people's texts. When rewriting, the texts were processed: some phrases or episodes were excluded from them or inserted into them, and stylistic “decorations” were added. Sometimes the author's ideas and assessments were even replaced by the opposite ones. The lists of one work differed significantly from each other.

Old Russian scribes did not at all strive to reveal their involvement in literary composition. Many monuments have remained anonymous; the authorship of others has been established by researchers based on indirect evidence. So it is impossible to attribute to someone else the writings of Epiphanius the Wise, with his sophisticated “weaving of words.” The style of Ivan the Terrible’s messages is inimitable, boldly mixing eloquence and rude abuse, learned examples and the style of simple conversation.

It happens that in a manuscript one or another text was signed with the name of an authoritative scribe, which may or may not correspond to reality. Thus, among the works attributed to the famous preacher Saint Cyril of Turov, many, apparently, do not belong to him: the name of Cyril of Turov gave these works additional authority.

The anonymity of literary monuments is also due to the fact that the ancient Russian “writer” did not consciously try to be original, but tried to show himself as traditional as possible, that is, to comply with all the rules and regulations of the established canon.

4. Literary etiquette.

Well-known literary critic, researcher of ancient Russian literature, Academician D.S. Likhachev proposed a special term to designate the canon in the monuments of medieval Russian literature - “literary etiquette”.

Literary etiquette consists of:

from the idea of ​​how this or that course of events should have taken place;

from ideas about how the actor should have behaved in accordance with his position;

from ideas about what words the writer should have used to describe what was happening.

We have before us the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior and the etiquette of words. The hero is supposed to behave this way, and the author is supposed to describe the hero only in appropriate terms.

Main genres of ancient Russian literature

The literature of modern times is subject to the laws of the “poetics of the genre.” It was this category that began to dictate the ways of creating a new text. But in ancient Russian literature the genre did not play such an important role.

A sufficient amount of research has been devoted to the genre uniqueness of Old Russian literature, but there is still no clear classification of genres. However, some genres immediately stood out in ancient Russian literature.

1. Hagiographic genre.

Life - a description of the life of a saint.

Russian hagiographic literature includes hundreds of works, the first of which were written already in the 11th century. The Life, which came to Rus' from Byzantium along with the adoption of Christianity, became the main genre of Old Russian literature, the literary form in which the spiritual ideals of Ancient Rus' were clothed.

The compositional and verbal forms of life have been refined over the centuries. High topic- a story about life that embodies ideal service to the world and God - determines the image of the author and the style of the narrative. The author of the life tells the story excitedly; he does not hide his admiration for the holy ascetic and his admiration for his righteous life. The author's emotionality and excitement color the entire narrative in lyrical tones and contribute to the creation of a solemn mood. This atmosphere is also created by the style of narration - high solemn, full of quotations from the Holy Scriptures.

When writing a life, the hagiographer (the author of the life) was obliged to follow a number of rules and canons. The composition of a correct life should be three-fold: introduction, story about the life and deeds of the saint from birth to death, praise. In the introduction, the author asks forgiveness from readers for their inability to write, for the rudeness of the narrative, etc. The introduction was followed by the life itself. It cannot be called a “biography” of a saint in the full sense of the word. The author of the life selects from his life only those facts that do not contradict the ideals of holiness. The story about the life of a saint is freed from everything everyday, concrete, and accidental. In a life compiled according to all the rules, there are few dates, exact geographical names, or names of historical figures. The action of the life takes place as if outside of historical time and specific space, it unfolds against the backdrop of eternity. Abstraction is one of the features of the hagiographic style.

At the end of the life there should be praise to the saint. This is one of the most important parts of life, which required great literary art and a good knowledge of rhetoric.

The oldest Russian hagiographic monuments are two lives of princes Boris and Gleb and the Life of Theodosius of Pechora.

2. Eloquence.

Eloquence is an area of ​​creativity characteristic of the most ancient period of the development of our literature. Monuments of church and secular eloquence are divided into two types: teaching and solemn.

Solemn eloquence required depth of concept and great literary skill. The speaker needed the ability to construct a speech effectively in order to capture the listener, set him in a high mood corresponding to the topic, and shock him with pathos. Existed special term to denote a solemn speech - “word”. (There was no terminological unity in ancient Russian literature. A military story could also be called “the Word.”) Speeches were not only pronounced, but written and distributed in numerous copies.

Solemn eloquence did not pursue narrow practical goals; it required the formulation of problems of broad social, philosophical and theological scope. The main reasons for creating “words” are theological issues, issues of war and peace, defense of the borders of the Russian land, internal and foreign policy, the struggle for cultural and political independence.

The most ancient monument of solemn eloquence is the “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion, written between 1037 and 1050.

Teaching eloquence is teachings and conversations. They are usually small in volume, often devoid of rhetorical embellishments, and written in the Old Russian language, which was generally accessible to people of that time. Church leaders and princes could deliver teachings.

Teachings and conversations have purely practical purposes and contain necessary for a person information. “Instruction to the Brethren” by Luke Zhidyata, Bishop of Novgorod from 1036 to 1059, contains a list of rules of behavior that a Christian should adhere to: do not take revenge, do not utter “shameful” words. Go to church and behave quietly in it, honor your elders, judge truthfully, honor your prince, do not curse, keep all the commandments of the Gospel.

Theodosius of Pechora is the founder of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. He owns eight teachings to the brethren, in which Theodosius reminds the monks of the rules of monastic behavior: not to be late for church, make three prostrations, maintain decorum and order when singing prayers and psalms, and bow to each other when meeting. In his teachings, Theodosius of Pechora demands complete renunciation from the world, abstinence, constant prayer and vigil. The abbot sternly denounces idleness, money-grubbing, and intemperance in food.

3. Chronicle.

Chronicles were weather records (by “years” - by “years”). The annual entry began with the words: “Into the summer.” After this there was a story about events and incidents that, from the point of view of the chronicler, were worthy of the attention of posterity. These could be military campaigns, raids by steppe nomads, natural disasters: droughts, crop failures, etc., as well as simply unusual incidents.

It is thanks to the work of chroniclers that modern historians have an amazing opportunity to look into the distant past.

Most often, the ancient Russian chronicler was a learned monk who sometimes spent many years compiling the chronicle. In those days, it was customary to start telling stories about history from ancient times and only then move on to the events of recent years. The chronicler had to first of all find, put in order, and often rewrite the work of his predecessors. If the compiler of the chronicle had at his disposal not one, but several chronicle texts at once, then he had to “reduce” them, that is, combine them, choosing from each what he considered necessary to include in his own work. When materials relating to the past were collected, the chronicler moved on to recounting the events of his time. The result of this great job the chronicle was forming. After some time, other chroniclers continued this collection.

Apparently, the first major monument of ancient Russian chronicle writing was the chronicle code compiled in the 70s of the 11th century. The compiler of this code is believed to have been the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nikon the Great (? - 1088).

Nikon's work formed the basis of another chronicle, which was compiled in the same monastery two decades later. In the scientific literature it received the code name "Initial arch". Its nameless compiler replenished Nikon's collection not only with news from recent years, but also with chronicle information from other Russian cities.

"The Tale of Bygone Years"

Based on the chronicles of the 11th century tradition. The greatest chronicle monument of the era of Kievan Rus was born - “The Tale of Bygone Years”.

It was compiled in Kyiv in the 10s. 12th century According to some historians, its probable compiler was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor, also known for his other works. When creating The Tale of Bygone Years, its compiler used numerous materials with which he supplemented the Primary Code. These materials included Byzantine chronicles, texts of treaties between Rus' and Byzantium, monuments of translated and ancient Russian literature, and oral traditions.

The compiler of “The Tale of Bygone Years” set as his goal not just to tell about the past of Rus', but also to determine the place of the Eastern Slavs among the European and Asian peoples.

The chronicler talks in detail about the settlement of Slavic peoples in ancient times, about the settlement of territories by the Eastern Slavs that would later become part of the Old Russian state, about the morals and customs of different tribes. The Tale of Bygone Years emphasizes not only the antiquity of the Slavic peoples, but also the unity of their culture, language and writing, created in the 9th century. brothers Cyril and Methodius.

The chronicler considers the adoption of Christianity to be the most important event in the history of Rus'. The story of the first Russian Christians, the baptism of Rus', the spread of the new faith, the construction of churches, the emergence of monasticism, and the success of Christian enlightenment occupies a central place in the Tale.

The wealth of historical and political ideas reflected in The Tale of Bygone Years suggests that its compiler was not just an editor, but also a talented historian, a deep thinker, and a brilliant publicist. Many chroniclers of subsequent centuries turned to the experience of the creator of the Tale, sought to imitate him and almost necessarily placed the text of the monument at the beginning of each new chronicle.

Conclusion

So, the main range of works of ancient Russian literature are religious and edifying works, lives of saints, and liturgical chants. Old Russian literature arose in the 11th century. One of its first monuments, the “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion of Kyiv, was created in the 30s and 40s. XI century. XVII century- the last century of ancient Russian literature. During its course, traditional ancient Russian literary canons are gradually destroyed, new genres and new ideas about man and the world are born.

Literature refers to the works of ancient Russian scribes, and texts by authors of the 18th century, and the works of Russian classics of the last century, and the works of modern writers. Of course, there are obvious differences between literature XVIII, XIX and XX centuries But all Russian literature of the last three centuries is not at all similar to the monuments of ancient Russian verbal art. However, it is precisely in comparison with them that it reveals many similarities.

The cultural horizon of the world is constantly expanding. Now, in the 20th century, we understand and appreciate the past not only of classical antiquity. The Western European Middle Ages have firmly entered into the cultural baggage of humanity, back in the 19th century. seemed barbaric, “Gothic” (the original meaning of this word was precisely “barbaric”), Byzantine music and iconography, African sculpture, Hellenistic romance, Fayum portrait, Persian miniature, Inca art and much, much more. Humanity is freeing itself from “Eurocentrism” and egocentric focus on the present 10.

Deep penetration into the cultures of the past and the cultures of other peoples brings times and countries closer together. The unity of the world is becoming more and more tangible. Distances between cultures are shrinking, and there is less and less room for national enmity and stupid chauvinism. This greatest merit humanities and the arts themselves - a merit that will be fully realized only in the future.

One of the most urgent tasks is to introduce monuments of the literary art of Ancient Rus' into the circle of reading and understanding of the modern reader. The art of words is in an organic connection with the fine arts, with architecture, with music, and there cannot be a true understanding of one without an understanding of all other areas of artistic creativity of Ancient Rus'. In the great and unique culture of Ancient Rus', fine art and literature, humanistic and material culture, broad international connections and a pronounced national identity are closely intertwined.

Bibliography

Likhachev D.S. Great Heritage // Likhachev D.S. Selected works in three volumes. Volume 2. - L.: Artist. lit., 1987.

Polyakov L.V. Book centers of Ancient Rus'. - L., 1991.

The Tale of Bygone Years // Monuments of literature of Ancient Rus'. The beginning of Russian literature. X - beginning of the XII century. - M., 1978.

Likhachev D.S. Textology. Based on the material of Russian literature of the X-XVII centuries. - M.-L., 1962; Textology. Brief essay. M.-L., 1964.

Old Russian literature

Study

Preliminary remarks. Concept Old Russian literature denotes in a strict terminological sense the literature of the Eastern Slavs of the 11th – 13th centuries. until their subsequent division into Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Since the 14th century The special book traditions that led to the formation of Russian (Great Russian) literature are clearly visible, and from the 15th century. – Ukrainian and Belarusian. In philology, the concept Old Russian literature used traditionally in relation to all periods in the history of Russian literature of the 11th – 17th centuries.

All attempts to find traces of East Slavic literature before the baptism of Rus' in 988 ended in failure. The evidence presented is either crude forgeries (the pagan chronicle “Vlesova Book”, covering a huge era from the 9th century BC to the 9th century AD inclusive), or untenable hypotheses (the so-called “Chronicle of Askold” in the Nikon Code of the 16th century. among articles 867–89). This does not mean at all that there was a complete absence of writing in pre-Christian Rus'. Treaties of Kievan Rus with Byzantium in 911, 944 and 971. as part of the “Tale of Bygone Years” (if we accept the evidence of S.P. Obnorsky) and archaeological finds (an inscription from firing on a Gnezdovo pot of the first decades or no later than the middle of the 10th century, a Novgorod inscription on a wooden cylinder lock, according to V.L. . Ioannina, 970–80) show that in the 10th century, even before the baptism of Rus', the Cyrillic letter could be used in official documents, government apparatus and everyday life, gradually preparing the ground for the spread of writing after the adoption of Christianity in 988.

§ 1. The emergence of Old Russian literature

§ 1.1 .Folklore and literature. The predecessor of Old Russian literature was folklore, widespread in the Middle Ages in all layers of society: from peasants to the princely-boyar aristocracy. Long before Christianity it was already litteratura sine litteris, literature without letters. In the written era, folklore and literature with their genre systems existed in parallel, mutually complementing each other, sometimes coming into close contact. Folklore accompanied ancient Russian literature throughout its history: from the chronicles of the 11th – early 12th centuries. (see § 2.3) to the “Tale of Woe-Misfortune” of the transitional era (see § 7.2), although in general it was poorly reflected in writing. In turn, literature influenced folklore. The most striking example of this is spiritual poetry, folk songs of religious content. They were strongly influenced by church canonical literature (biblical and liturgical books, lives of saints, etc.) and apocrypha. Spiritual poems retain a vivid imprint of dual faith and represent a motley mixture of Christian and pagan ideas.

§ 1.2 .The Baptism of Rus' and the beginning of the “book teaching”. The adoption of Christianity in 988 under the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir Svyatoslavich brought Rus' into the orbit of influence of the Byzantine world. After baptism, the country was transferred from the south and, to a lesser extent, from Western Slavs rich Old Slavonic literature created by the Thessalonian brothers Constantine the Philosopher, Methodius and their students in the second half of the 9th–10th centuries. A huge corpus of translated (mainly from Greek) and original monuments included biblical and liturgical books, patristics and church teaching literature, dogmatic-polemical and legal works, etc. This book fund is common to the entire Byzantine-Slavic Orthodox world , ensured within it a consciousness of religious, cultural and linguistic unity for centuries. From Byzantium the Slavs adopted primarily church-monastic book culture. The rich secular literature of Byzantium, which continued the traditions of antiquity, with few exceptions was not in demand by the Slavs. South Slavic influence at the end of the 10th – 11th centuries. marked the beginning of ancient Russian literature and book language.

Ancient Rus' was the last of the Slavic countries to accept Christianity and became acquainted with the Cyril and Methodius book heritage. However, in a surprisingly short time, she turned him into her national treasure. Compared to other Orthodox Slavic countries, Ancient Rus' created a much more developed and genre-diverse national literature and preserved the pan-Slavic book fund immeasurably better.

§ 1.3 .Worldview principles and artistic method of ancient Russian literature. For all its originality, Old Russian literature had the same basic features and developed according to the same general laws as other medieval European literatures. Her artistic method was determined by the peculiarities of medieval thinking. He was distinguished by theocentrism - belief in God as the primary cause of all being, goodness, wisdom and beauty; providentialism, according to which the course of world history and the behavior of each person is determined by God and is the implementation of his pre-planned plan; understanding of man as a creature in the image and likeness of God, endowed with reason and free will in choosing good and evil. In the medieval consciousness, the world bifurcated into a heavenly, higher, eternal, inaccessible to touch, revealed to the elect in a moment of spiritual insight (“a hedgehog cannot be seen with the eyes of the flesh, but is heard by the spirit and mind”), and an earthly, lower, temporary one. This faint reflection of the spiritual, ideal world contained images and likenesses divine ideas, by which man came to know the Creator. The medieval worldview ultimately predetermined the artistic method of ancient Russian literature, which was religious and symbolic at its core.

Old Russian literature is imbued with a Christian moralistic and didactic spirit. Imitation and assimilation to God were understood as the highest goal of human life, and service to him was seen as the basis of morality. The literature of Ancient Rus' had a clearly defined historical (and even factual) character and for a long time did not allow artistic fiction. It was characterized by etiquette, traditionalism and retrospectiveness, when reality was assessed based on ideas about the past and the events of the sacred history of the Old and New Testaments.

§ 1.4 .Genre system of ancient Russian literature. In the ancient Russian era, literary examples were of exceptionally great importance. First of all, translated Church Slavonic biblical and liturgical books were considered such. Exemplary works contained rhetorical and structural models of different types of texts, defined the written tradition, or, in other words, codified the literary and linguistic norm. They replaced grammars, rhetoric and other theoretical manuals on the art of words, common in medieval Western Europe, but absent for a long time in Rus' . By reading Church Slavonic examples, many generations of ancient Russian scribes comprehended the secrets of literary technique. The medieval author constantly turned to exemplary texts, used their vocabulary and grammar, sublime symbols and images, figures of speech and tropes. Sanctified by hoary antiquity and the authority of holiness, they seemed unshakable and served as a measure of literary skill. This rule constituted the alpha and omega of ancient Russian creativity.

The Belarusian educator and humanist Francis Skaryna argued in the preface to the Bible (Prague, 1519) that the books of the Old and New Testaments are an analogue of the “seven liberal arts” that formed the basis of medieval Western European education. Grammar is taught by the Psalter, logic, or dialectics, by the Book of Job and the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, rhetoric by the works of Solomon, music by biblical chants, arithmetic by the Book of Numbers, geometry by the Book of Joshua, astronomy by the Book of Genesis and other sacred texts.

Biblical books were also perceived as ideal genre examples. In the Izbornik of 1073 - an Old Russian manuscript dating back to the collection of the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon (893–927), translated from Greek, the article “from the apostolic charter” states that the standard of historical and narrative works is the Book of Kings, an example in the genre of church hymns is the Psalter , exemplary “cunning and creative” works (that is, related to the writing of the wise and poetic) are the teaching Books of Job and the Proverbs of Solomon. Almost four centuries later, around 1453, the Tver monk Thomas called the Book of Kings, the epistolary genre - the apostolic epistles, and the "soul-saving books" - the lives of the book of Kings in his "Laudatory Word about Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich" as an example of historical and narrative works.

Such ideas, which came to Rus' from Byzantium, were widespread throughout medieval Europe. In the preface to the Bible, Francis Skorina referred those who wanted to “know about the military” and “about heroic deeds” to the Books of Judges, noting that they are more truthful and useful than “Alexandria” and “Troy” - medieval novels with adventure stories about Alexander Macedonian and Trojan Wars, known in Rus' (see § 5.3 and § 6.3). By the way, the canon says the same thing in M. Cervantes, convincing Don Quixote to leave his extravagances and come to his senses: “If... you are drawn to books about exploits and knightly deeds, then open the Holy Scriptures and read Book of Judges: here you will find great and genuine events and deeds as true as they are brave” (part 1, 1605).

The hierarchy of church books, as it was understood in Ancient Rus', is set out in the preface of Metropolitan Macarius to the Great Menaions Chetiy (finished ca. 1554). The monuments that formed the core of traditional book literature are located in strict accordance with their place on the hierarchical ladder. Its upper levels are occupied by the most revered biblical books with theological interpretations. At the top of the book hierarchy is the Gospel, followed by the Apostle and the Psalter (which in Ancient Rus' was also used as an educational book - they learned to read from it). Next follow the works of the church fathers: collections of works by John Chrysostom “Zlatostruy”, “Margarit”, “Chrysostom”, works of Basil the Great, words of Gregory the Theologian with interpretations of Metropolitan Nikita of Irakli, “Pandects” and “Taktikon” by Nikon Chernogorets, etc. The next level is oratorical prose with its own genre subsystem: 1) prophetic words, 2) apostolic, 3) patristic, 4) festive, 5) laudable. At the last stage there is hagiographic literature with a special genre hierarchy: 1) lives of martyrdom, 2) venerables, 3) patericons of the Alphabet, Jerusalem, Egyptian, Sinai, Skete, Kiev-Pechersk, 4) lives of Russian saints canonized by the councils of 1547 and 1549.

The Old Russian genre system, having developed under the influence of the Byzantine one, was rebuilt and developed over the course of seven centuries of its existence. Nevertheless, it was preserved in its main features until the New Age.

§ 1.5 .Literary language of Ancient Rus'. Together with Old Slavonic books to Rus' at the end of the 10th–11th centuries. was moved Old Slavonic language- the first common Slavic literary language, supranational and international, created on the Bulgarian-Macedonian dialect basis in the process of translations of church books (mainly Greek) by Constantine the Philosopher, Methodius and their students in the second half of the 9th century. in Western and South Slavic lands. From the first years of its existence in Rus', the Old Church Slavonic language began to adapt to the living speech of the Eastern Slavs. Under its influence, some specific South Slavicisms were supplanted by Russianisms from the book norm, while others became acceptable options within its limits. As a result of the adaptation of the Old Church Slavonic language to the peculiarities of Old Russian speech, a local (Old Russian) version of the Church Slavonic language was formed. Its formation was close to completion in the second half of the 11th century, as shown by the oldest East Slavic written monuments: the Ostromir Gospel (1056–57), the Arkhangelsk Gospel (1092), the Novgorod service Menaions (1095–96, 1096, 1097) and other contemporary manuscripts.

The linguistic situation of Kievan Rus is assessed differently in the works of researchers. Some of them recognize the existence of bilingualism, in which the spoken language was Old Russian, and the literary language was Church Slavonic (Old Church Slavonic in origin), which was only gradually Russified (A. A. Shakhmatov). Opponents of this hypothesis prove the originality of the literary language in Kievan Rus, the strength and depth of its folk East Slavic speech basis and, accordingly, the weakness and superficiality of the Old Slavic influence (S. P. Obnorsky). There is a compromise concept of two types of a single Old Russian literary language: book-Slavic and folk-literary, which interacted widely and diversified with each other in the process of historical development (V.V. Vinogradov). According to the theory of literary bilingualism, in Ancient Rus' there were two book languages: Church Slavonic and Old Russian (F. I. Buslaev was close to this point of view, and then it was developed by L. P. Yakubinsky and D. S. Likhachev).

In the last decades of the 20th century. The theory of diglossia became very famous (G. Hütl-Folter, A. V. Isachenko, B. A. Uspensky). In contrast to bilingualism in diglossia, the functional spheres of bookish (Church Slavonic) and non-bookish (Old Russian) languages ​​are strictly distributed, almost do not overlap and require speakers to evaluate their idioms on a scale of “high - low”, “solemn - ordinary”, “ecclesiastical - secular” . Church Slavonic, for example, being a literary and liturgical language, could not serve as a means of spoken communication, but for Old Russian this was one of the main functions. Under diglossia, Church Slavonic and Old Russian were perceived in Ancient Rus' as two functional varieties of one language. There are other views on the origin of the Russian literary language, but they are all debatable. It is obvious that the Old Russian literary language was formed from the very beginning as a language of complex composition (B. A. Larin, V. V. Vinogradov) and organically included Church Slavonic and Old Russian elements.

Already in the 11th century. Different written traditions developed and a business language appeared, ancient Russian in origin. It was a special written, but not literary, not actually bookish language. Official documents (letters, petitions, etc.), legal codes (for example, “Russian Truth”, see § 2.8) were drawn up on it, and writs were conducted in the 16th – 17th centuries. Texts with everyday content were also written in Old Russian: birch bark letters (see § 2.8), graffiti inscriptions drawn with a sharp object on the plaster of ancient buildings, mainly churches, etc. At first, the business language had little interaction with the literary one. However, over time, the once clear boundaries between them began to collapse. The rapprochement of literature and business writing took place mutually and was clearly manifested in a number of works of the 15th–17th centuries: “Domostroye”, the messages of Ivan the Terrible, the work of Grigory Kotoshikhin “On Russia during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich”, “The Tale of Ersha Ershovich”, “Kalyazinskaya petition”, etc.

Old Russian literature

includes works of the 11th-17th centuries, not only literary ones themselves, but also historical ones (chronicles), descriptions of travel (walkings), teachings, lives, messages, etc. All these monuments contain elements of artistic creativity and emotional reflection of life. The vast majority of works have not preserved their authors. The general character of the style is monumental historicism.

Persons: Hilarion, Simon and Polycarp, Nestor, Kirill of Turov

Example: "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"

“Russian literature is almost a thousand years old. It is one of the most ancient literatures in Europe. It is older than French, English, and German literature. Its beginning dates back to the second half of the 10th century. Of this great millennium, more than seven hundred years belong to the period that is commonly called “ ancient Russian literature".

Before us is literature that rises above its seven centuries as a single grandiose whole, as one colossal work, striking us with its subordination to one theme, a single struggle of ideas, contrasts that enter into unique combinations... Old Russian literature can be considered as a literature of one theme and one plot . This plot is world history, and this theme is the meaning of human life" (D.S. Likhachev).

Terminological dictionary-thesaurus on literary criticism. From allegory to iambic. - M.: Flinta, Science. N.Yu. Rusova. 2004.

See what “Old Russian literature” is in other dictionaries:

Old Russian literature- Old Russian literature: Old Russian literature of the X-XI centuries Old Russian literature of the XII century Old Russian literature of the XIII century Old Russian literature XIV centuries Old Russian literature of the 15th century Russian literature (section Old Russian ... ... Wikipedia

Old Russian literature of the X-XI centuries- This term has other meanings, see Old Russian literature. Contents 1 Writing, folklore and literature of the 10th century 2 Literature of the 11th century ... Wikipedia

Old Russian literature of the 15th century- This term has other meanings, see Old Russian literature. Contents 1 Original works 1.1 1400s 1.2 1410s ... Wikipedia

Old Russian literature of the 14th century- This term has other meanings, see Old Russian literature. Contents 1 Original works 1.1 First quarter of the 14th century ... Wikipedia

Old Russian literature of the 13th century

Old Russian literature of the 12th century- This term has other meanings, see Old Russian literature. Contents 1 Original works 2 Translated works ... Wikipedia

Old Russian literature of the 10th–11th centuries- Contents 1 Writing, folklore and literature of the 10th century 2 Literature of the 11th century 3 Translated monuments of the 11th century ... Wikipedia

RUSSIAN LITERATURE. Old Russian literature- Old Russian literature (late X-XVII centuries), like other medieval literatures, did not stand out from the totality of other written monuments, which were predominantly “applied” - business and educational in nature: ecclesiastical... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

LITERATURE- (French litterature, from littera letter). Literature, writing, the totality of written and oral monuments of the word belonging to a famous people. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. LITERATURE in general... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

LITERATURE- LITERATURE, literature, women. (lat. litteratura). 1. The entire set of written and printed works of one or another people, era or all of humanity as a whole; writing, as opposed to oral language. Old Russian literature. 2.… … Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

Books

• Old Russian literature, Demin S.A.. The book is a textbook containing a broad analysis of Old Russian literary monuments dedicated to Russian literature of the 11th beginning. XVIII centuries. The collection is based on works...

For my work, I chose the topic “Ancient Russian literature as an outstanding cultural phenomenon.” I didn't find it in the library a large number of literature about this period. But, looking through books on ancient Russian literature, I learned a lot of new things for myself, and also noticed that many famous people, scientists, and academicians were interested in the literature of this period. Old Russian literature occupies seven centuries (period XI-XVIII centuries), and this is very long period. I’ll tell you about a short period from the 11th to the beginning of the 13th century. I learned that Peter I was interested in ancient Russian books; he even issued a decree on collecting various manuscripts on parchment and paper from monasteries and churches. On the personal instructions of the tsar, a copy of the Radzivilov Chronicle was made. Companion of Peter I, historian V.N. Tatishchev continued collecting manuscripts and chronicles. I learned about many other scientists who devoted their lives to the study of ancient Russian literature. These are such scientists as: Rumyantsev, Stroev, Buslaev, Pynin, Orlov, Shakhmatov, Likhachev and others. But they not only studied, they collected manuscripts, tried to study them and bring them to people, write and publish their works.

I learned that Russian literature of the X-XVII centuries. developed under unique conditions. It was handwritten. But printing has hardly changed the methods of distributing literary works. Until the 17th century, all works were distributed through correspondence. I also learned that the scribes who rewrote made their own corrections, changes, shortened the manuscripts, or added their own to what was written.

Knowledge and study of the past is very responsible; the heroic pages of history are dear to us.

In my work I will consider the issue of the emergence of ancient Russian literature, which will help to find out historical conditions and the reasons for its occurrence. Knowing this, I will try to explain its genre system and talk about the complex relationship between literature and the church. I’ll touch a little on writing, talk about the Slavic alphabet and literacy schools. Also, using the example of “The Tale of Bygone Years” and “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” I will talk about the heroic pages in literature, about the ideas that found expression in descriptions of the heroic struggle of the Russian people against foreign invaders, about the views of the writers of that time, about their wisdom and optimism . I will tell you about the variety of genres of ancient Russian literature, the periodization of history, and the broad outlook of writers and readers. And also about high skill ancient Russian writers, about the peculiarities of the poetics of literature.

Without knowing this, it is impossible to correctly assess the level of literature of the Russian Middle Ages. There were no fictions in ancient Russian literature: its heroes were historical figures (princes, tsars, church ministers, warrior heroes), and the subject of the depiction were actual events (battles, engagements).

And in conclusion of my work I will describe the world of ancient Russian literature. Where the main idea is highlighted that literature was a means of knowledge and a means of educating a person. Literature is the art of words; it enriches a person’s aesthetic experience, helps a person to know himself, reveals the reasons for human actions and words. From the heroic examples of this literature, we learn to be truthful, courageous, obedient, and respect our elders.

There have been and are many peoples on earth, each of which has its own special and unique culture.

Chapter 1. Old Russian literature as part of culture.

1.1 The emergence of ancient Russian literature.

At the end of the 10th century, the literature of Ancient Rus' arose, literature on the basis of which developed literature of three fraternal peoples– Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. Old Russian literature arose along with the adoption of Christianity and was initially called upon to serve the needs of the church: to provide church ritual, disseminate information on the history of Christianity, and educate societies in the spirit of Christianity. These tasks determined both the genre system of literature and the features of its development.

The adoption of Christianity had significant consequences for the development of books and literature in Ancient Rus'.

Old Russian literature was formed on the basis of the unified literature of the southern and eastern Slavs, which arose under the influence of Byzantine and Old Bulgarian culture.

Bulgarian and Byzantine priests who came to Rus' and their Russian students needed to translate and rewrite books that were necessary for worship. And some books brought from Bulgaria were not translated, they were read in Rus' without translation, since there was a closeness between the Old Russian and Old Bulgarian languages. Liturgical books, lives of saints, monuments of eloquence, chronicles, collections of sayings, historical and historical stories were brought to Rus'. Christianization in Rus' required a restructuring of the worldview, books about the history of the human race, about the ancestors of the Slavs were rejected, and Russian scribes needed works that would set out Christian ideas about world history, about natural phenomena.

Although the need for books in the Christian state was very great, the possibilities for satisfying this need were very limited: in Rus' there were few skilled scribes, and the writing process itself was very lengthy, and the material on which the first books were written - parchment - was very expensive . Therefore, books were written only for rich people - princes, boyars and the church.

But before the adoption of Christianity, Slavic writing was known in Rus'. It was used in diplomatic (letters, contracts) and legal documents, and there was also a census between literate people.

Before the emergence of literature, there were speech genres of folklore: epic tales, mythological legends, fairy tales, ritual poetry, laments, lyrics. Folklore played a major role in the development of national Russian literature. There are known legends about fairy-tale heroes, about heroes, about the foundations of ancient capitals about Kiy, Shchek, Horeb. There was also oratory: princes spoke to soldiers and made speeches at feasts.

But literature did not begin with the recordings of folklore, although it continued to exist and develop with literature for a long time. For the emergence of literature, special reasons were needed.

The stimulus for the emergence of Old Russian literature was the adoption of Christianity, when it became necessary to acquaint Rus' with the Holy Scriptures, with the history of the church, with world history, with the lives of the saints. Without liturgical books, the churches being built could not exist. And also there was a need to translate from the Greek and Bulgarian originals and distribute a large number of texts. This is what was the impetus for the creation of literature. Literature had to remain purely church, cultic, especially since secular genres existed in oral form. But in reality everything was different. Firstly, the biblical stories about the creation of the world contained a lot of scientific information about the earth, the animal world, and the structure of human body, the history of the state, that is, had nothing to do with Christian ideology. Secondly, the chronicle, everyday stories, such masterpieces as “Tales of Igor’s Campaign”, “Teaching” by Vladimir Monomakh, “Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik were left out of cult literature.

That is, the functions of literature at the time of its origin and throughout history differ.

The adoption of Christianity contributed to the rapid development of literature only for two centuries; in the future, the church did its best to hinder the development of literature.

And yet the literature of Rus' was devoted to ideological issues. The genre system reflected the worldview typical of Christian states. “Old Russian literature can be considered as literature of one theme and one plot. This plot is world history, and this theme is the meaning of human life” - this is how D. Likhachev formulated the features of the literature of the most ancient period of Russian history in his work.

There is no doubt that the Baptism of Rus' was an event of enormous historical importance, not only politically and socially, but also culturally. The history of ancient Russian culture began after Russia adopted Christianity, and the date of the Baptism of Rus' in 988 becomes the starting point for the national-historical development of Russia.

Since the Baptism of Rus', Russian culture has continually faced a difficult, dramatic, tragic choice of its path. From the point of view of cultural studies, it is important not only to date, but also to document this or that historical event.

1.2 Periods of the history of ancient literature.

The history of ancient Russian literature cannot but be considered in isolation from the history of the Russian people and the Russian state itself. Seven centuries (XI-XVIII centuries), during which Old Russian literature developed, were full of significant events in the historical life of the Russian people. The literature of Ancient Rus' is evidence of life. History itself has established several periods of literary history.

The first period is the literature of the ancient Russian state, the period of the unity of literature. It lasts a century (XI and early XII centuries). This is the century of formation of the historical style of literature. Literature of this period developed in two centers: in the south of Kyiv and in the north of Novgorod. A characteristic feature of the literature of the first period is the leading role of Kyiv, as cultural center the entire Russian land. Kyiv is the most important economic link on the world trade route. The Tale of Bygone Years belongs to this period.

Second period, mid-12th century. – first third of the 13th century. This is the period of the emergence of new literary centers: Vladimir Zalessky and Suzdal, Rostov and Smolensk, Galich and Vladimir Volynsky. During this period, local themes emerged in literature and different genres appeared. This is the period of the beginning of feudal fragmentation.

Next comes a short period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. During this period, the stories “Words about the destruction of the Russian land” and “The Life of Alexander Nevsky” were created. During this period, one topic was discussed in the literature, the topic of the invasion of Mongol-Tatar troops in Rus'. This period is considered the shortest, but also the brightest.