Report: Traditions of folklore and ancient Russian literature in the story by N. S.

As a manuscript

FILATOVA Natalya Andreevna

Traditions of Old Russian literature

in the works of N.s. Leskova

Specialty 10.01.01 - Russian literature

dissertations for an academic degree

candidate of philological sciences

Astrakhan C 2012

The work was carried out at the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, Astrakhan State University.

Scientific supervisor - Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor

Ivashneva Lidiya Leonidovna.

Official opponents: Doctor of Philology, Professor

Demchenko Adolf Andreevich

(Pedagogical Institute at

National Research

Saratov State

University named after Chernyshevsky);

Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor

Kalashnikov Sergey Borisovich

(FSBEI HPE Volgograd State University).

The leading organization is the Volgograd State Social Pedagogical University.

The defense will take place on March 16, 2012 at 13.00 at a meeting of the dissertation council DM 212.009.11 for the award of the academic degree of Doctor and Candidate of Sciences in specialties 10.01.01 - Russian literature and 10.02.01 - Russian language at the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education Astrakhan State University at the address: 414056 , Astrakhan, Tatishcheva st., 20 a, conference room.

The dissertation can be found in the scientific library of the Astrakhan State University.

Scientific Secretary

dissertation council

Doctor of Philology E.E. Zavyalova

General description of work

In the second half of the 19th century, when the systematic study and publication of monuments of ancient Russian literature began, a huge creative interest in the heritage of ancient literature arose among writers. It is difficult to name a writer who is not interested in ancient Russian writing. Studying the problem of the influence of ancient Russian literature on the works of authors of the 19th century requires today the development of a more subtle and in-depth research approach.

The work of N.S.aLeskov is of constant interest. The works of A.I.aFaresov, A.N.aLeskov, and articles by A.I.aVvedensky deserve special attention. Subsequently, monographs by V.A.aGebel, L.P.aGrossman, B.M.aDrugov, V.Yu.aTroitsky, I.V.aStolyarova, V.A.aDesnitsky, B.M.Eikhenbaum and others appeared.

One of the developing areas was the study of the Gospel text. According to E. V. Dushechkina, N. S. Leskov’s Christmas stories are a unique development of the Levangelical text in the writer’s works. For researchers of N. S. Leskov’s work, such features of the author’s artistic world as the Orthodox context are also important. This problem is discussed in the articles by A. B. Rumyantsev, A. A. Novikova and others.

The search for eternal moral values invariably led N.S.aLeskov to ancient Russian literature, which, along with folklore and biblical texts, was a powerful source of plots and motifs in the writer’s work. It is quite explainable and understandable that, according to N.I.aProkofiev, it is in ancient Russian literature that a whole system of literary work, the foundations of N.S.aLeskov’s characterology, is laid down, and Leskov’s righteous men also originate from here1.

The problem of interaction between N.S.aLeskov’s prose and ancient Russian literature is covered in a number of studies: M.P.aCherednikova, A.A.aKretova, B.S.aDykhanova, E.A.aMakarova, O.E.aMayorova, G.A. .aShkuta, E.V.aYakhnenko, I.E.aMelentyeva, E.A.Ternovskaya. Researchers have identified the most important dominants of N.S.aLeskov’s poetics and developed individual aspects of worldview, aesthetic concept, and figurative structure.

Meanwhile, the question of the functioning of motifs, images, plot schemes dating back to ancient Russian literature, their modification and transformation in the prose of N.S.aLeskov is one of the most promising today. The possibility of involving N.S. in the analysis of texts. Leskov's literature of spiritual content, works of ancient Russian literature and the increased interest in his heritage generate the need to study and comprehend the ancient Russian literary sources of the writer's work. A multi-level analysis of intertextual connections between N.S.aLeskov’s prose and works of literature of Ancient Rus' expands the semantization of both individual author’s texts and the artistic space as a whole. Such a systematic approach to the heritage of N.S.aLeskov allows us to identify new possibilities for its interpretation, helps to reveal deep layers of content, which determines the relevance of the topic under study.

The scientific novelty of the work lies in the systematic approach to the study of intertextual connections in N.S.aLeskov’s work, in particular, the functions of the author’s appeal to ancient Russian literature and folklore are determined. Thus, the dissertation research demonstrates a fundamentally new, comprehensive view of the creative path of N.S.aLeskov, which allows us to significantly expand the framework of interpretation of most of the writer’s works and create a dynamic concept of his work.

The object of the study is the stories, novellas and chronicles of N.S.aLeskov.

The main research material is the works of N.S. Leskova: A seedy family, Old years in the village of Plodomasovo, Cathedrals, At the end of the world, Pechersk antiquities, The life of a woman, Vagabonds of the clergy, Stopping the growing language, Midnight Offices. The comparative analysis uses the texts of the literature of Ancient Rus' of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The subject of the study is the system of invariant intertextual connections between N.S.aLeskov’s work and Old Russian literature.

The purpose of the work is to characterize the various forms and levels of manifestation of the traditions of the literature of Ancient Rus' in the work of N.S.aLeskov, tracing the dynamic processes of its modification and transformation.

The goal involves solving the following tasks:

to identify ancient Russian texts that, genetically and at the typological level, are the plot and figurative basis of the analyzed works of N.S. Leskova;
determine the forms of the author’s appeal to the literary traditions of Ancient Rus';
to explore the uniqueness of the spatio-temporal organization of N.S.’s texts. Leskov in the aspect of multidimensional polysemanticism of the chronotope, at the level of archetype and symbol;
reveal the intertextual relationships between plot motifs and images of N.S.aLeskov and the traditions of medieval Russian literature, identifying the nature and functions of intertextual inclusions;
to study the features of the writer’s interpretation of Christian-mythological symbolism of ancient Russian literature.

The theoretical and methodological basis of this dissertation is the concept of genre memory by M.M. Bakhtin, the understanding of the genre phenomenon as a historical and cultural perspective by Yu.N.a Tynyanov, Yu.M. Lotman, N.D. Tamarchenko, the principles of genre history by D.S. and S.S.aAverintsev, as well as works on domestic medieval studies and folklore by V.Ya.aPropp, S.A.aZenkovsky, M.P.aCherednikova, A.S.aOrlov, V.N.aToporov, A.A.aPotebni , F.I.aBuslaeva, E.E.aLevkievskaya, T.A.aBernshtam, A.F.aLoseva, N.M.aVedernikova, A.N.afanasyev, A.K.aBaiburin, G.A.aLevinton, N S.aDemkova, V.P.anikin, D.N.aMedrish, E.M.aMeletinsky, E.N.aKuprianova. The works of I.V.aStolyarova, A.A.aGorelov, V.Yu.aTroitsky, B.M.aDrugov, L.P.aGrossman and others are extremely important.

The dissertation research is based on the following methodological principles: an interdisciplinary approach to the study of N.S.aLeskov’s prose from the point of view of the problem of interaction between Old Russian literature and the literature of the second half of the 19th century; multi-level analysis of intertextual inclusions in the text space of the author's narrative. Comparative-historical, historical-typological, methods of intertextual and systemic analysis were used.

The theoretical significance of the dissertation research is due to the development of the principles of classification and typology of forms of manifestation of the traditions of Old Russian literature in the works of N.S.aLeskov.

The practical significance of the dissertation research lies in the possibility of using its results in university and school courses on the History of Russian Literature of the 19th century, as well as special courses and special seminars devoted to the problems of theoretical poetics and the work of N.S. Leskova.

Main provisions submitted for defense:

1. Deep knowledge of ancient Russian literature allows N.Saleskov to creatively use themes, plots, motifs and images that refer to well-known monuments (The Life of Equal-to-the-Apostles and Glorious in Wisdom Grand Duchess Olga, The Life of Euphrosyne of Suzdal, The Life of Euphrosyne of Polotsk, The Life of Archpriest Avvakum, Kiev -Pechersk Patericon, etc.), as well as to less studied texts (Memory of Blessed Taisia, Life of John Kolov, Life of Anastasia the Pattern Maker, Life of Solomonia the Possessed, Life of Ephraim the Syrian, Life of Mary of Egypt, etc.). The system of images and techniques for their creation (the principle of likening, allusive onyms), thematic and motivic complexes (motives of asceticism, exclusion from the family, silence, prayerful solitude) in N.S.aLeskov’s prose are genetically connected with the traditions of Old Russian literature.

2. The variety of forms of N.S.aLeskov’s appeal to medieval Russian literature (genre allusions, plot borrowings, reminiscences, figurative parallels, etc.), types of interaction between N.S.aLeskov’s texts and literature of the 11th-17th centuries. (stylization, reconstruction, modification, transformation), as well as levels of manifestation of the Old Russian literary tradition, corresponds to the conceptual principle of artistic world modeling, within which the author’s idea of the interaction of man and the Universe is formed. In particular, N.S.aLeskov reproduces the structural principles of hagiography (The Life of a Woman, Midnight Offices, etc.) and patericon legends (Pechersk Antiques), genre features of the chronicle (A Seedy Family).

3. The complex interweaving of chronotopic plans, the combination of various temporal (event and historical, linear and cyclic) and spatial (point and planar, closed and open) forms, creating the image of a multidimensional, hierarchically organized chronotope with a dominant concentric movement of time, activates the motive of historical memory, where the fixation of large ontological time performs a structure-forming function. Spatial and temporal images in the works of N.S.aLeskov acquire a symbolic and archetypal sound in correlation with the texts of ancient Russian literature and folklore (the image of Stargorod, the Azhidatsiya Hotel, the otherworldly space of Masha’s dream in the story The Life of a Woman). The author's model of the world in the works of N.S.aLeskov is characterized, on the one hand, by compression of the chronotope, which is due to attention to human character, and on the other, by the expansion of the spatio-temporal background against which historical events unfold.

4. The creative rethinking and transformation of plot schemes, motifs and images, dating back to the literature of Ancient Rus', testifies not so much to N.S.aLeskov’s deviation from the ancient Russian model, but rather to the intentions of this unique dialogue within the framework of artistic synthesis as a generic one (the interaction of folklore and literary traditions), and of a specific nature (in particular, the author’s appeal to the hagiographic and chronicle genre canon, etc.). The images of the righteous in the chronicles of N.S.aLeskov become a projection of the role forms of personal manifestation and behavior that developed in the literature of Ancient Rus'.

5. The writer gives an original interpretation of the rich symbolism of ancient Russian literature. In the works of N.S.aLeskov, as in the aesthetics of Ancient Rus', both systems of symbolic images and individual symbols are identified, distinguished by their special semantic capacity and artistic expressiveness. Attributes of Christ and the Mother of God, images of a garden, a wreath, a city, the tree of life and water, a path, a bridge, a house, center and periphery, a book, clothing and human food - all these and many other traditional symbols become archetypal in N.S.aLeskov’s texts and author's connotations. Symbols help the writer show the path from the earthly state of man to the universal, eternal state. Images-symbols are often key in the structure of a literary text, determining the character’s life calling, his desire for spiritual achievement, moral rebirth.

Approbation of the dissertation. The main provisions and conclusions of the dissertation research were reflected in reports at international scientific conferences at various levels: Picture of the world in a work of fiction (Astrakhan, 2008); Literary character as a form of embodiment of the author's intentions (Astrakhan, 2009); Archetypes, mythologies, symbols in the writer’s artistic picture of the world (Astrakhan, 2010); Cognitive approach to the analysis and interpretation of a work of art (Astrakhan, 2011); Linguistic and cultural contacts of different peoples (Penza, 2011); Problems of language and culture (Moscow, 2011); Theoretical and practical aspects of the development of modern science (Moscow, 2012); Philological sciences in Russia and abroad (Aginskoye, 2011); Philology, art history and cultural studies in the 21st century (Novosibirsk, 2012), as well as in 15 publications, 3 of them in publications recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation.

The structure of the dissertation is determined by the stated goals and objectives of the research. The work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a bibliography that includes 308 titles.

The introduction provides an overview of literary studies on the chosen topic, substantiates its choice, motivates the relevance of the topic, formulates the purpose and objectives of the research, defines the object and subject of the dissertation work and scientific novelty.

The first chapter of the hagiographic tradition in the works of N.S.aLeskov includes two sections. In the first section, Poetics of the story by N.S. Leskov's "The Life of a Woman" reveals intertextual connections between the writer's prose and the hagiographic tradition. Based on the material of N.S.aLeskov’s early works, the transformation of borrowed motifs and images is traced. The elements of structural citation are analyzed in detail, textual parallels are noted. Particular attention is paid to the creative rethinking of the hagiographic canon.

One of the first works by N.S. Leskova's title is The Life of a Woman. (From Gostomel memories). The author's genre nomination serves as a kind of allusive marker, referring the reader to variations of the hagiographic canon. By indicating the genre of the work, the principle of presentation of the material becomes clear. The problem of genre identification of the text posed by the writer himself, which allows us to consider it as a synthetic phenomenon (combining elements of several genre forms), largely acts as a genre-forming and structure-forming factor.

The Life brings to life a whole complex of stable images and motives that create a completely definite emotional background for the perception by the 19th century reader of traditional spiritual reading. In the title of an ancient Russian life, the name of the saint is required. The name becomes a symbol that determines the path of life.

Model of the title of the story by N.S. Leskova reflects one of the significant aesthetic attitudes of critical realism - the typification of characters. In this case, a transformation of hagiographic discourse occurs: the declared stylization comes into conflict with the absence of an onym, which is obligatory for the canonical life and included in the title of the work. Such a dialogical coupling of traditions can be motivated by the following: firstly, the universalization and archetypalization of the image of the main character, secondly, the combination of profane and sacred plans for its interpretation, thirdly, the ultimate generalization of the plot situation itself, and finally, the destruction of the mono-character principle of constructing a system of images .

N.S. Leskov could not help but turn to one of the principles of ancient Russian hagiography - the principle of likenings. When depicting each new face, the scribe finds a corresponding hagiographic example among the great ascetics of antiquity, in whose likeness he builds the image of the saint he glorifies. N.S. Leskov often focused on certain hagiographic and biblical examples. For example, due to the similarity of life circumstances, the fate of Nastya Prokudina has much in common with the fate of Blessed Taisiya (Memory of Blessed Taisiya)2. Nastya Prokudina is also forced into marriage, thereby provoking her to commit sinful acts. The main character experiences moral suffering and cannot come to terms with her new situation. The relationship between Nastya and Sila Ivanovich Krylushkin - one of the heroes of the story - is similar to the spiritual friendship between Taisiya and Ivan Kolov.

The traditional image of the logged serpent is noteworthy. In the story by N.S. Leskov, it is associated with the plot motif of an unwanted marriage. The prevailing ideas about the fiery serpent are only interspersed in the text of the Life of a Woman. The motif of a woman cohabiting with a demon (serpent) is well known in Russian folklore, mythological prose and fairy tales. It is developed by ancient Russian authors in the Tale of Ivan, the long-suffering recluse, in the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, in the Tale of Solomonia the Demoniac and in the Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom. In the life of one woman, the vision of a fiery serpent is due to the melancholy and loneliness of the main character.

In N. S. Leskov’s story, as in the tradition of ancient Russian literature, the role of symbols is great. Of interest is the symbolism of the dream of Masha, the daughter of a landowner, a pupil of Nastya Prokudina. In the context of the work by N.S. Leskov’s image of Khvastovsky Meadow takes on the meaning of a Garden of Eden. The heroine reaches spiritual paradise, as she dies in infancy, and, following the tradition of the ancient Russian scribe, becomes an angel. The girl's death is preceded by a dream: Masha sees an unusual woman who takes her with her. This image is projected onto the image of the Virgin Mary. The woman appears in a meadow, which is a traditional symbol of the eternal virginity of Our Lady.

In a dream, a girl sees gold bugs. In ancient Russian literature, a beetle is an insect that embodies the souls of the dead.3 There is a Christian legend about the connection between the firefly beetle and John the Baptist. The Ivanovo beetle is especially loved because it flies around the house of the parents of John the Baptist and illuminates the cradle of the holy baby. The golden beetles from Masha's dream are the dead souls of the righteous.

In a symbolic dream, Masha finds herself in heaven, and Nastya Prokudina rushes down, where wolves tear her to pieces. In her life, she really experiences a series of falls, even to the point of madness, which can also be perceived as receiving special grace. Nastya Prokudina did not go through the path of asceticism, as is customary in traditional hagiography. However, thanks to the interaction in N.S.aLeskov’s story of the realistic tradition of the 19th century and hagiographic literature of the Middle Ages, the life story of an ordinary Russian peasant woman acquired a special multidimensionality, psychological fullness and deep symbolic meaning.

In the second section, Life topic in the story by N.S. Leskov's "Midnight Watchers" presents an even more complete implementation of the hagiographic tradition. In the story Midnight Office one can find echoes with the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk, with the Life of the Holy Reverend Princess Euphrosyne of Polotsk, the Life of the Holy Reverend Princess Euphrosyne of Suzdal, and the Life of Juliania of Lazarevskaya.

The main thing in the heroine N.S. Leskova - a toilful feat by which holiness and vocation are determined. Therefore, the parallels with the Life of Euphrosyne of Suzdal, which sets out in detail the rules of conduct for nuns, are not without interest. Like the saint of hagiographical literature, Claudia discovers in her interests, passions and activities an amazing unity, a concentrated focus of spiritual aspirations that reveal her abilities and the gift of love for God, ordained from above.

A common motif in the hagiographic works of Ancient Rus' is the conflict between the saint and his family, which arose due to his desire to enter a monastery (Life of Alexander Oshevensky, Life of Theodosius of Pechersk). In the story by N.S. Leskov's mother Claudia spent a lot of effort trying to turn her daughter away from her chosen ascetic path.

Claudia’s attitude towards her appearance, in particular, towards clothes, is noteworthy. Many heroes of ancient Russian hagiography behave similarly, for example: Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Juliania Lazarevskaya, Euphrosyne of Suzdal, etc. To a non-religious consciousness and even a religious one, but devoid of ascetic pathos and indifferent to how a person builds his relationship with a thing, the whole incident of clothing may seem like an immoderate exaggeration of some elementary everyday situation. In hagiographies, a serious rift often arises in the relationship between the heroes and their parents due to the fact that the elders cannot understand their children’s attraction to modest and even shabby clothes.

There are other aspects to this topic. One of the most important among them is determined by the old mythopoetic idea of the connection between man and the Universe, microcosm and macrocosm through a certain single plan of creation, uniting the isomorphism of these two worlds. From this general idea follows another - about the line separating a person from the Universe, about the sphere in which their interaction takes place in positive (contacts, exchange) and negative (protection, protection, guarantee of security) plans. The main participants in this intermediate zone, belonging to the world and man, are drink, food, clothing. There are clothes that are bright and glorious, and clothes that are thin and poor. The first is a sign of the norm, social prestige, the second refers to the thin vestments of Jesus Christ and becomes a sign of spiritual choice. It is precisely because of this example that the main character of the story wants to wear miserable and thin clothes. This is an important sign of a certain holistic position, which is inherently ascetic.

Appearance is very important for characterizing the main character of the story Midnight Owls, as it reveals such traits as purposefulness, the combination of humility and obedience with fidelity to the chosen path. This characteristic of the heroine N.S. Leskova evokes the image of a monk in the reader’s mind. Claudia does not strive to join a monastery; she is a hard worker who does not reject everyday life, but spreads spirituality to worldly affairs. Ascetics of this kind are also found in ancient Russian literature, for example, in the Tale of Juliania Lazarevskaya.

The images of the city and the house are of interest. The lexeme city carries not only an allegorical, but also a symbolic and mythological load. The image of the soul as a city or castle is traditional in Christian literature, culture and mythology. It is appropriate to draw an analogy with St. Augustine’s book On the City of God. In Midnight Offices, the modern city, having lost the divine law, has lost its grace. However, it is also connected with space, with the universal world order. U
N.S. Leskov's house Ajidatsiya takes on a parodic meaning. The meaning of the lexeme home-hearth is violated. This is not a home, but a temporary refuge for those supposedly awaiting divine grace.

In the stories The Life of a Woman and Midnight Office by N.S. Leskov creatively transforms the features of the artistic structure of classical hagiography (topic, compositional organization, figurative series, the principle of likening to a hagiographic model, etc.), and also accumulates the features of various types of lives, which are motivated by the hierarchy of ranks of holiness historically established in church practice (the taxonomy of lives identifies subtypes: lives of martyrs, confessors, saints, saints, holy fools, etc.).

The second chapter is Old Russian culture as a factor in the formation of the figurative system of prose by N.S. Leskova. Its first section: Images of the righteous in the chronicle of N.S. Leskov's "A Seedy Family" is dedicated to the figurative system of N. S. Leskov's chronicles, its genetic and typological connection with the tradition of Old Russian literature. A separate aspect of the research is the study of the structure and genesis of the archetypal image of the Christian and warrior Don Quixote.

Appeal from N.S. Leskov (in the chronicles A seedy family, Old years in the village of Plodomasovo, Soboryan) to the ancient Russian literary tradition was caused by special reasons. The writer explores the possibility of depicting a positively beautiful person in modern life circumstances. N.S.aLeskov’s favorite type of righteous person is a character who lives according to his inner sense of humanity, following the gospel precepts. As a rule, Leskov's righteous people implement more than one traditional line of ancient Russian literature. They structure their behavior as a mosaic of situations that give rise to certain role-based forms of personal behavior. The writer turns not only to ancient Russian hagiography, but also to chronicle sources. N. S. Leskov is interested in the philosophy of Christianity as a whole. This is an understanding of the Gospel, the New Testament commandments in human life. In the heroes of the chronicle, the author sees Christians in the highest sense of the word. Their whole life is based on the Beatitudes and the commandments of love. On this occasion, N. S. Leskov remembers John the Theologian.

The image of Varvara Nikanorovna Protozanova (chronicle A seedy family) resembles the image of Olga, the first Christian princess in Rus' from the Life of the Holy Blessed and Equal-to-the-Apostles and Glorious in Wisdom Grand Duchess Olga. One can find many similarities in the destinies of Princess Olga and Varvara Nikanorovna Protozanova. Both came from a humble and poor family. Varvara Nikanorovna, like Olga, lost her husband early, who was killed in battle, and was left alone with her small children to manage the huge estate of the Protozanov princes.

Varvara Nikanorovna Protozanova zealously cared for the preservation of the Orthodox faith and observance of church rituals on her estate. At the same time, she is also loyal to the Old Believers. The princess openly opposes herself to the secular society of St. Petersburg, because she believes in Christian truth. Preserving the soul is the main task of a Christian. Protozanova's lifestyle is based on the Beatitudes.

The chronicle also presents the tempting quasi-word of God, distorting the biblical commandments. It is no coincidence that the main character is contrasted with Khotetova, as in the lives of saints - truth and lies, good and evil, holiness and sin. Thus, N.S. Leskov builds his value system on a very broad religious basis. The main thing for Protozanova is to dissolve oneself in others and renounce one’s own desires.

Chervev is a positively wonderful person in all respects. His appearance is an indicator of inner beauty. In Chervev's description, the role of detail is great (eyes and voice, in which purity and straightforwardness sound). The hero's name is unusual - Methodius. Here it is appropriate to recall the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles first teachers and educators of the Slavic brothers Cyril and Methodius. Chervev works as a teacher, but his whole life’s work is to preach the word of God.

The chronicle A Seedy Family presents the image of a Christian and a warrior who is trying to restore justice on earth. In this image, the writer gives his own understanding of the concept of a Christian warrior for faith, for truth. Dorimedont Rogozhin, hero of the chronicle N.S. Leskov, endowed with the qualities of Don Quixote, the hero of the novel by Cervantes. As you know, the main character of Cervantes's novel is mad in his practical service to the postulates of chivalry and wise in his understanding of true human ideals.

In the second section of the Traditions of Old Russian Literature in the Chronicle of N.S. Leskova’s “Old Years in the Village of Plodomasovo” receives the realization of a family thought, the bearer of which is Marfa Andreevna. The time frame of N.S.aLeskov’s historical chronicle is quite wide. It covers the entire 18th and part of the 19th centuries. History is shown through the private fate of the most ordinary people.

The organization of a home (in the broad sense - a family, even a chain of generations), raising children, relationships between spouses - is the subject of Domostroy and the chronicle Old Years in the village of Plodomasovo. The texts are united by the motif of contrasting the right and wrong families. The lifestyle of a proper family in the chronicle is in many ways similar to Domostroy. On the pages of the work by N.S. Leskova talks about household chores and needlework (a dowry for Marfa Andreevna’s little grandson), about home preparations and advice on raising children. Old Russian practical guide to ethics (Domostroy) and the chronicle of N.S. Leskov have direct analogies in the Gospel instructions of the Apostle Paul: the house is above passion, because the spirit is above the body.

Marfa Andreevna Plodomasova can be compared to the heroine of a fairy tale (a girl in the house of robber brothers). Hawthorn is on the verge of life and death for some time - namely, she is sleeping (the situation of a fairy tale). Through sleep (death) and awakening (resurrection), as well as a stay in Plodomasov’s house (before the wedding), the hawthorn undergoes a kind of initiation rite. But this initiation is different from magical. It contributes to the renewal of the main character. In this case, we can talk about a dedication that is more Christian than folklore.

In the chronicle of N.S. Leskov develops the theme of sin and repentance. It is appropriate to draw parallels with the lives of great sinners. In traditional hagiography, there is an ideal figure of a righteous person from birth, alien to earthly life and infinitely far from its sinful temptations. In popular Orthodoxy, a fundamentally different type of saint, a great sinner, rises to the heights of the Christian ideal from the abyss of a terrible moral decline. A fundamental feature of the lives of great sinners is their tripartite composition: sin - repentance - salvation. The hero of N.S.aLeskov’s chronicle N.Yu.aPlodomasov undergoes a metamorphosis that leads his sinful soul onto the path of repentance and moral renewal.

In the chronicle Old Years in the Village of Plodomasovo, the theme of sin and repentance sounds in a special way: we are talking about especially serious sins, hardly redeemable, but the emphasis here is not on punishment, but on forgiveness. Particularly revealing is the comparison of the boyar Plodomasov with Andrei Kritsky, which makes it possible to detect a number of comparable motives and plot schemes: departure to distant countries, rejection, repentance in captivity.

No less interesting are comparisons of Nikita Yurich with Ivan the Terrible and Prince Vladimir. If a compositional connection can be traced with the lives of great sinners, then with the image of Tsar Ivan the Terrible - character traits, inner world, spiritual side of life, and with Prince Vladimir - elements of biography. Old Russian sources enable the author to create a very special, deeply religious, spiritually rich character of the protagonist.

In the third section, Images-symbols in the chronicle of N.S. Leskov's "Soborians" unusually presents an interweaving of incompatible, at first glance, opposite symbols. With the help of symbolism, the writer comprehends a number of philosophical and social problems: the connection between the present, past and future, the meaning of human existence, divine law and its embodiment in the human mind, the unity of all living things, etc.

The image of a tree (oak) carries the greatest semantic load in the chronicle. In a symbolic sense, a tree expresses forms of life in the organic relationships of nature and man as part of the cosmos.
N.S. Leskov is close to the idea of two planes of existence, embodied in the symbolism of a tree: their parallelism and irreducibility into one whole, since the unity of the world has been lost. This is palpable in the thunderstorm scene, when lightning cuts down a mighty oak tree, in whose leaves a raven is hiding.

During a thunderstorm, the truth is revealed to Father Savely. He acutely senses the unity of all living things and understands that man artificially distances himself from this harmony, not realizing that this is happiness and the meaning of his existence. The main character sets a task: to find the truth and help others with it. Contemplating the oak tree, Father Savely feels like he is part of the cosmos. A tree is a symbol of birth and death, the growth and formation of a person, leaning on the earth and striving for the sun and light. A tree is also a sign of the doom of all living things, subject to the natural rhythm of flowering, fertility, withering and death.

In the chronicle of N.S. Leskov’s image of water symbolizes renewal, purification and sanctification of the surrounding world. For Tuberozov, it is identical to the teachings of Christ. Lightning reflected in the water of a spring does not mean an omen of trouble, but illumination with the light of truth. The thunderstorm is followed by heavy rain, like life force pouring from the sky.

The alternation of different historical layers, the philosophical rethinking of the past from the standpoint of the present, the combination of an emphasis on the objectivity of the image and the subjective type of narration determine the constitutive features of N.S.’s chronicles. Leskova. The features of a family chronicle are combined with the genre features of a historical novel. Such a parabolic structure, which involves distancing from historical reality in order to return to it at the level of philosophical generalization, is dictated by the author’s focus on identifying the eternal in the temporal, on the search for a socio-ethical ideal in the past.

The aesthetic task facing N.S. Leskov, - the creation of images of righteous people, positive types - determines the writer’s close interest in the ethical-axiological paradigm of ancient Russian literature. An appeal to various genre models (life, chronicle, paterikon legends), on the one hand, and an appeal to religious and book sources (Domostroy, Holy Scripture and Tradition), on the other, allow the writer to expand the boundaries of possible interpretations and receptive practices, as well as fill artistic image with archetypal connotations.

The fourth section, Semantic transformation of the images of the “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon” in N.S.aLeskov’s “Pechersk Antiques,” is devoted to the characteristics of Leskov’s heroes in accordance with the traditions of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon. The heroes of the ancient Russian monument (Nikolai Svyatosha, Moses Ugrin, Theodore, etc.) are mentioned by N.S. Leskov in works of different years (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Childhood. From the memoirs of Merkul Forefathers, etc.). The entire space of the author’s memories is occupied by portraits of people who once lived in Pechersk. The portraits are painted using means that correspond to the personality type of a particular patericon image.

Father Efim Botvinovsky, in his lifestyle and actions, resembles the monk Matthew. This character’s frivolous attitude towards church service and his monastic duties is combined with deep religiosity. Dionysius Ivanovich, character of Pechersk antiquities N.S. Leskova, has the same qualities as Prokhor Lebednik from the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon. But if Prokhor supplies the starving Kyivans with bread baked from quinoa, and turns the ashes taken from the cell into salt, then the quarterly performs antiquarian work: he makes old boards from new material. The personality of the Old Believer Malafey Pimych is revealed through the symbols of the bridge and the Dnieper (movement along the bridge here takes on the symbolic meaning of a person’s transition to a new state; the Dnieper symbolizes Ancient Rus'). The relationship between Malafey Pimych and young Gehazi reveals similarities with the biblical Old Testament prophet Elisha and his disciple.

The images of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, transformed in the work of N.S. Leskov, help to reveal the essence of a particular hero, his character, inner world, which, in turn, contributes to understanding the main idea of this work.

In conclusion, the main conclusions are formulated.

N.S.aLeskov in his works refers to motifs, images, plot schemes, architextual sources that go back to folklore and, more broadly, to the mythopoetic tradition. Double citation acquires particular significance, in which a chain of continuity is formed (for example, the Gospel - hagiographic literature - chronicles).

The writer is interested in the techniques of thematic (figurative parallels), biographical (allusions to the events of his own life, biography and historical chronicle) and structural citation; he uses elements of compositional organization that go back to the hagiographic genre invariant (sacralization of the image of the main character, a three-part model of hagiographic narration, chronotope, built on the principle of reverse perspective, etc.).

N. S. Leskov’s appeal to ancient Russian literature is associated with the accumulation of the individual author’s genre consciousness, producing such synthetic forms that are archi-textually related to the system of genres of literature of Ancient Rus', such as a family chronicle (A Seedy Family), a landscape and a genre (Midsummers), excerpts from youth memories (Pechersk antiquities). The position of the author, the genre point of view on the world and the choice of the hero are mediated by the work’s belonging to the Old Russian literary tradition.

The writer’s increased interest in Russian history and culture, in the origins of the national character, forms a chain of interconnected problematic relationships: man and nature, spirituality and the emptiness of the inner world of people, city and countryside, history and modernity. The cultural continuum, which is formed in the works of N. S. Leskov and represents a polylogue of different, sometimes opposing, religious, mythological and literary contexts, time plans and historical eras, determines the polyphony of the writer’s prose.

1. Filatova N. A. Images and symbols in the chronicle of N. S. Leskova Council [Text] / N. A. Filatova // Humanitarian Research. Journal of Basic and Applied Research. - ISSN 1818-4936. - Astrakhan, 2009. - No. 4 (32). - S. 230TS235. (0.3 p.l.)

2. Filatova N.A. Symbolism of sleep in the story by N.S. Leskova Life of a Woman [Text] / N. A. Filatova // Humanitarian Research. Journal of Basic and Applied Research. - ISSN 1818-4939. - Astrakhan, 2010. - No. 3. - P. 160TS163. (0.4 p.l.)

3. Filatova N.A. The theme of family in the chronicle of N.S. Leskova Old years in the village of Plodomasovo [Text] / N. A. Filatova // Humanitarian Research. Journal of Basic and Applied Research. - ISSN 1818-4941. - Astrakhan, 2011 - No. 2. - P. 55Ts57. (0.4 p.l.)

Articles in collections of scientific papers and materials of scientific conferences:

4. Filatova N.A. Hagiographic tradition in the artistic picture of the world of N.S.’s story. Leskova Life of a Woman [Text] / N. A. Filatova // Picture of the world in a work of art: materials of the International Scientific Internet Conference (April 20, 30, 2008) / comp. G. G. Isaev, E. E. Zavyalova, T. Yu. Gromova. - Astrakhan: Astrakhan University Publishing House, 2008. - P. 23Ts25. (0.4 pp.) - ISBN 978-5-9926-0101-5.

5. Filatova N.A. Gospel motifs in the story by N.S. Leskova Sealed Angel [Text] / N. A. Filatova // Questions of linguistics and literary criticism. - ISSN 2074-1715. TsAstrakhan, 2009 - No. 1 (5). - From 49TS52. (0.3 p.l.)

6. Filatova N. A. Characters of the chronicle N. S. Leskova Old years in the village of Plodomasovo and the literature of Ancient Rus' [Text] / N. A. Filatova // Literary character as a form of embodiment of author’s intentions: materials of the international scientific Internet conference (20C25 April 2009) / comp. G. G. Isaev, T. Yu. Gromova, D. M. Bychkov. - Astrakhan: Astrakhan University Publishing House, 2009. - P. 39Ts42. (0.4 pp.) - ISBN 978-5-9926-0194-7.

7.Filatova N.A. Symbolic in the story by N.S. Leskova Midnighters [Text] / N. A. Filatova // Archetypes, mythologems, symbols in the writer’s artistic picture of the world: materials of the International Scientific Internet Conference (April 19, 24, 2010) / comp. G. G. Isaev, T. Yu. Gromova, D. M. Bychkov. - Astrakhan: Astrakhan University Publishing House, 2010. - P. 69TS73. (0.5 pp.) - ISBN 978-5-9926-03157-6.

8. Filatova N.A. The concept of a Christian warrior in the chronicle of N.S. Leskova Seedy family [Text] / N. A. Filatova // Cognitive approach to the analysis and interpretation of a work of art: materials of the International Scientific Internet Conference (April 18/25, 2011) / comp. G. G. Isaev, T. Yu. Gromova, D. M. Bychkov. - Astrakhan: Astrakhan University Publishing House, 2011. - P. 63Ts65. (0.4 pp.) - ISBN 978-5-9926-0466-5.

9. Filatova N.A. The theme of the Old Believers in the essay Stopping the growing language N.S. Leskova [Text] / N. A. Filatova // International scientific and practical conference Modern philology: theory and practice (September 2011). - M.: Institute of Strategic Studies, 2011. - P. 235TS239. (0.4 pp.) - ISBN 978-5-9902915-4-6.

10. Filatova N.A. Images of Old Believers in the story by N.S. Leskova Pechersk antiquities [Text] / N. A. Filatova // International scientific and practical conference Language and cultural contacts of different peoples (June 2011). - Penza: Privolzhsky House of Knowledge, 2011. - P. 163Ts167. (0.4 pp.) - ISBN 978-5-8356-1158-4.

11. Filatova N.A. Relationships between Old Believers and Narodniks in the story by N.S. Leskova Mysterious man [Text] / N. A. Filatova // International scientific and practical conference Problems of language and culture (September 2011). - M.: Institute of Strategic Studies, 2011. - P. 63Ts67. (0.4 pp.) - ISBN 978-5-9902915-6-5.

12. Filatova N. A. Semantics of the word lodezhda and Russian linguistic consciousness (using the example of a fragment of N. S. Leskov’s story Midnight Occupations) [Text] / N. A. Filatova // International Conference Language in Sociocultural Space and Time (October 2011). - Astrakhan: Sorokin Roman Vasilievich, 2011. - P. 54C60. (0.4 pp.) - ISBN 978-5-91910-078-2.

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As a manuscript

FILATOVA Natalya Andreevna

Traditions of Old Russian literature

in the works of N.s. Leskova

Specialty 10.01.01 – Russian literature

dissertations for an academic degree

candidate of philological sciences

Astrakhan– 2012

The work was carried out at the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Astrakhan State University".

Scientific supervisor – candidate of philological sciences, associate professor

Ivashneva Lidiya Leonidovna.

Official opponents: Doctor of Philology, Professor

Demchenko Adolf Andreevich

(Pedagogical Institute at

National Research

Saratov State

University named after Chernyshevsky);

Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor

Kalashnikov Sergey Borisovich

(FSBEI HPE “Volgograd State University”).

The leading organization is the Volgograd State Social and Pedagogical University.

The defense will take place on March 16, 2012 at 13.00 at a meeting of the dissertation council DM 212.009.11 for the award of the academic degree of Doctor and Candidate of Sciences in specialties 10.01.01 - Russian literature and 10.02.01 - Russian language at the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Astrakhan State University" at : 414056, Astrakhan, st. Tatishcheva, 20 a, conference room.

The dissertation can be found in the scientific library of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Astrakhan State University".

Scientific Secretary

dissertation council

Doctor of Philology E.E. Zavyalova

General description of work

The work of N.S. is of constant interest. Leskova. The works of A.I. deserve special attention. Faresova, A.N. Leskov, articles by A.I. Vvedensky. Subsequently, monographs by V.A. appeared. Gebel, L.P. Grossman, B.M. Drugova, V.Yu. Troitsky, I.V. Stolyarova, V.A. Desnitsky, B.M. Eikhenbaum and others.

One of the developing areas was the study of the “gospel text”. According to E. V. Dushechkina, N. S. Leskov’s Christmas stories are a unique development of the “gospel text” in the writer’s works. For researchers of N. S. Leskov’s work, such features of the author’s artistic world as the Orthodox context are also important. This problem is discussed in the articles by A. B. Rumyantsev, A. A. Novikova and others.

The search for eternal moral values invariably led N.S. Leskov to ancient Russian literature, which, along with folklore and biblical texts, was a powerful source of plots and motifs in the writer’s work. It is quite understandable and understandable that, according to N.I. Prokofiev, it is in ancient Russian literature that a whole system of writing work is laid down, the foundations of N.S.’s characterology. Leskov, this is also where Leskov’s righteous people originate from.

The problem of interaction between N.S.’s prose Leskov with ancient Russian literature is covered in a number of studies: M.P. Cherednikova, A.A. Kretova, B.S. Dykhanova, E.A. Makarova, O.E. Mayorova, G.A. Shkuta, E.V. Yakhnenko, I.E. Melentyeva, E.A. Ternovskaya. Researchers have identified the most important dominants of N.S.’s poetics. Leskov, certain aspects of worldview, aesthetic concept, and figurative structure were developed.

Meanwhile, the question of the functioning of motifs, images, plot schemes dating back to ancient Russian literature, their modification and transformation in the prose of N.S. Leskova is one of the most promising today. The possibility of involving N.S. in the analysis of texts. Leskov's literature of spiritual content, works of ancient Russian literature and the increased interest in his heritage generate the need to study and comprehend the ancient Russian literary sources of the writer's work. Multilevel analysis of intertextual connections in N.S.’s prose Leskova with works of literature of Ancient Rus' expands the semantization of both individual author’s texts and the artistic space as a whole. A similar systematic approach to the legacy of N.S. Leskova allows us to identify new possibilities for its interpretation, contributes to the disclosure of deep layers of content, which determines relevance topic under study.

Scientific novelty of the work lies in a systematic approach to the study of intertextual connections in N.S.’s creativity. Leskov, in particular, defines the functions of the author’s appeal to ancient Russian literature and folklore. Thus, the dissertation research demonstrates a fundamentally new, comprehensive view of the creative path of N.S. Leskov, which allows us to significantly expand the framework of interpretation of most of the writer’s works and create a dynamic concept of his work.

Object of study are stories, novellas and chronicles by N.S. Leskova.

As the main research material works by N.S. Leskova: “A Seedy Family”, “Old Years in the Village of Plodomasovo”, “Soborians”, “At the End of the World”, “Pechersk Antiques”, “The Life of a Woman”, “Vagabonds of the Spiritual Order”, “Stopping the Growing Language”, “Midnight Offices” " The comparative analysis uses the texts of the literature of Ancient Rus' of the 11th–17th centuries.

Subject of study– a system of invariant intertextual connections of N.S.’s creativity. Leskov with ancient Russian literature.

Goal of the work– characterize the various forms and levels of manifestation of the literary traditions of Ancient Rus' in the works of N.S. Leskov, tracing the dynamic processes of its modification and transformation.

The set goal involves solving the following tasks:

to identify ancient Russian texts that, genetically and at the typological level, are the plot and figurative basis of the analyzed works of N.S. Leskova;
determine the forms of the author’s appeal to the literary traditions of Ancient Rus';
to explore the uniqueness of the spatio-temporal organization of N.S.’s texts. Leskov in the aspect of multidimensional polysemanticism of the chronotope, at the level of archetype and symbol;
reveal the intertextual relationships of plot motifs and images of N.S. Leskov and the traditions of medieval Russian literature, outlining the nature and functions of intertextual inclusions;
to study the features of the writer’s interpretation of Christian-mythological symbolism of ancient Russian literature.

The theoretical and methodological basis of this dissertation is the concept of genre memory by M.M. Bakhtin, understanding the genre phenomenon as a historical and cultural perspective by Yu.N. Tynyanova, Yu.M. Lotman, N.D. Tamarchenko, principles of genre history D.S. Likhachev and S.S. Averintsev, as well as works on domestic medieval studies and folklore by V.Ya. Proppa, S.A. Zenkovsky, M.P. Cherednikova, A.S. Orlova, V.N. Toporova, A.A. Potebnya, F.I. Buslaeva, E.E. Levkievskaya, T.A. Bernshtam, A.F. Loseva, N.M. Vedernikova, A.N. Afanasyeva, A.K. Bayburina, G.A. Levinton, N.S. Demkova, V.P. Anikina, D.N. Medrisha, E.M. Meletinsky, E.N. Kupriyanova. The works of I.V. are extremely important. Stolyarova, A.A. Gorelova, V.Yu. Troitsky, B.M. Drugova, L.P. Grossman et al.

The dissertation research is based on the following methodological principles: an interdisciplinary approach to the study of N.S. prose Leskov from the point of view of the problem of interaction between Old Russian literature and literature of the second half of the 19th century; multi-level analysis of intertextual inclusions in the text space of the author's narrative. Comparative-historical, historical-typological, methods of intertextual and systemic analysis were used.

Theoretical significance dissertation research is due to the development of principles of classification and typology of forms of manifestation of the traditions of ancient Russian literature in the works of N.S. Leskova.

Practical significance dissertation research is the possibility of using its results in university and school courses on the “History of Russian Literature of the 19th Century,” as well as special courses and special seminars devoted to the problems of theoretical poetics and the work of N.S. Leskova.

Main provisions submitted for defense:

1. Deep knowledge of Old Russian literature allows N.S. Leskov to creatively use themes, plots, motifs and images that refer to famous monuments (“The Life of Equal-to-the-Apostles and Glorious in Wisdom Grand Duchess Olga”, “The Life of Euphrosyne of Suzdal”, “The Life of Euphrosyne of Polotsk” ", "The Life of Archpriest Avvakum", "The Kiev-Pechersk Patericon", etc.), as well as to less studied texts ("Memory of Blessed Taisia", "The Life of John Kolov", "The Life of Anastasia the Patterner", "The Life of Solomonia the Demoniac", “The Life of Ephraim the Syrian”, “The Life of Mary of Egypt”, etc.). The system of images and methods of their creation (the principle of assimilation, allusive onyms), thematic and motive complexes (motives of asceticism, exclusion from the family, silence, prayerful solitude) in the prose of N.S. Leskov are genetically connected with the traditions of ancient Russian literature.

2. Variety of forms of address N.S. Leskov to medieval Russian literature (genre allusions, plot borrowings, reminiscences, figurative parallels, etc.), types of interaction of texts by N.S. Leskov and literature of the 11th-17th centuries. (stylization, reconstruction, modification, transformation), as well as levels of manifestation of the Old Russian literary tradition, corresponds to the conceptual principle of artistic world modeling, within which the author’s idea of the interaction of man and the Universe is formed. In particular, N.S. Leskov reproduces the structural principles of hagiography (“The Life of a Woman,” “Midnight Offices,” etc.) and patericon legend (“Pechersk Antiquities”), genre features of the chronicle (“A Seedy Family”).

3. The complex interweaving of chronotopic plans, the combination of various temporal (event and historical, linear and cyclic) and spatial (point and planar, closed and open) forms, creating the image of a multidimensional, hierarchically organized chronotope with a dominant concentric movement of time, activates the motive of historical memory, where the fixation of “big” ontological time performs a structure-forming function. Spatial and temporal images in the works of N.S. Leskov acquire a symbolic and archetypal sound in correlation with the texts of ancient Russian literature and folklore (the image of Stargorod, the Azhidatsiya hotel, the otherworldly space of Masha’s dream in the story “The Life of a Woman”). The author's model of the world in the works of N.S. Leskov is characterized, on the one hand, by the “compression” of the chronotope, which is due to attention to human character, and on the other, by the expansion of the spatio-temporal background against which historical events unfold.

4. Creative rethinking and transformation of plot schemes, motifs and images, dating back to the literature of Ancient Rus', testifies somewhat to the deviation of N.S. Leskov from the ancient Russian sample, how much about the intentions of this unique dialogue within the framework of artistic synthesis of both generic (interaction of folklore and literary traditions) and specific character (in particular, the author’s appeal to the hagiographic and chronicle genre canon, etc.). Images of the “righteous” in the chronicles of N.S. Leskov become a projection of role forms of personal manifestation and behavior that developed in the literature of Ancient Rus'.

5. The writer gives an original interpretation of the rich symbolism of ancient Russian literature. In the works of N.S. Leskov, as in the aesthetics of Ancient Rus', reveals both systems of symbolic images and individual symbols, distinguished by their special semantic capacity and artistic expressiveness. The attributes of Christ and the Mother of God, images of the garden, wreath, city, tree of life and water, path, bridge, house, center and periphery, book, clothing and human food - all these and many other traditional symbols acquire in the texts of N.S. Leskov's archetypal and author's connotations. Symbols help the writer show the path from the earthly state of man to the universal, eternal state. Images-symbols are often key in the structure of a literary text, determining the character’s life calling, his desire for spiritual achievement, moral rebirth.

Approbation of the dissertation. The main provisions and conclusions of the dissertation research were reflected in reports at international scientific conferences at various levels: “The picture of the world in a work of fiction” (Astrakhan, 2008); “Literary character as a form of embodiment of the author’s intentions” (Astrakhan, 2009); “Archetypes, mythologems, symbols in the writer’s artistic picture of the world” (Astrakhan, 2010); “Cognitive approach to the analysis and interpretation of a work of art” (Astrakhan, 2011); “Linguistic and cultural contacts of different peoples” (Penza, 2011); “Problems of language and culture” (Moscow, 2011); “Theoretical and practical aspects of the development of modern science” (Moscow, 2012); “Philological Sciences in Russia and Abroad” (Aginskoye, 2011); “Philology, art history and cultural studies in the XXI century” (Novosibirsk, 2012), as well as in 15 publications, 3 of them in publications recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation.

Dissertation structure due to the stated purpose and objectives of the study. The work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a bibliography that includes 308 titles.

MAIN CONTENT OF THE WORK

First chapter “Hagiographic tradition in the works of N.S. Leskova" includes two sections. In the first section “The poetics of the story by N.S. Leskova "The Life of a Woman""» intertextual connections between the writer’s prose and hagiographic tradition are revealed. Based on the early works of N.S. Leskov traces the transformation of borrowed motifs and images. The elements of structural citation are analyzed in detail, textual parallels are noted. Particular attention is paid to the creative rethinking of the hagiographic canon.

One of the first works by N.S. Leskova has the title “The Life of a Woman. (From Gostomel memories).” The author's genre nomination serves as a kind of allusive marker, referring the reader to variations of the hagiographic canon. By indicating the genre of the work, the principle of presentation of the material becomes clear. The problem of genre identification of the text posed by the writer himself, which allows us to consider it as a synthetic phenomenon (combining elements of several genre forms), largely acts as a genre-forming and structure-forming factor.

Life brings to life a whole complex of stable images and motives that create a completely definite emotional background for the perception of traditional “spiritual reading” by the 19th century reader. In the title of an ancient Russian life, the name of the saint is required. The name becomes a symbol that determines the path of life.

N.S. Leskov could not help but turn to one of the principles of ancient Russian hagiography - the principle of likenings. When depicting each new face, the scribe finds a corresponding hagiographic example among the great ascetics of antiquity, in whose likeness he builds the image of the saint he glorifies. N.S. Leskov often focused on certain hagiographic and biblical examples. For example, due to the similarity of life circumstances, the fate of Nastya Prokudina has much in common with the fate of Blessed Taisiya (“Memory of Blessed Taisiya”)2. Nastya Prokudina is also forced into marriage, thereby provoking her to commit sinful acts. The main character experiences moral suffering and cannot come to terms with her new situation. The relationship between Nastya and Sila Ivanovich Krylushkin - one of the heroes of the story - is similar to the spiritual friendship between Taisiya and Ivan Kolov.

The traditional image of the “fiery serpent” attracts attention. In the story by N.S. Leskov, it is associated with the plot motif of an unwanted marriage. The prevailing ideas about the fiery serpent are only interspersed in the text of “The Life of a Woman.” The motif of a woman cohabiting with a demon (serpent) is well known in Russian folklore, mythological prose and fairy tales. It is developed by ancient Russian authors in the “Tale of Ivan, the long-suffering recluse”, in the “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon”, in the “Tale of Solomonia the Demoniac” and in the “Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom”. In “The Life of a Woman,” the vision of a fiery serpent is caused by the melancholy and loneliness of the main character.

Traditions of folklore and ancient Russian literature in N. S. Leskov’s story “The Enchanted Wanderer”

“The Enchanted Wanderer” is one of N.S.’s largest works; Leskov, creating a typical hero of the writer, a truly Russian person. Interest in national character is determined by Leskov’s worldview. The essence of the author's thoughts is the search for such a development of Russia, which would be based on Russian cultural and moral values, rooted in the depths of people's life. The movement of a personality personifying the simple Russian people is embodied in the significant title of the story - “The Enchanted Wanderer.” This position determines Leskov’s constant appeal to the experience of folklore and ancient Russian literature.

A comparison of “The Enchanted Wanderer” with the canonical life leads to the idea that the writer “exactly the opposite” reproduces the main features of this genre, which allows us to talk about the story as an anti-life. The life tells the story of a man who has achieved the ideal of holiness, and tells of the trials and temptations overcome by the hero on the path to God. Since childhood, the hagiographic hero knows about the purpose of life. Associated with this is some vision confirming his chosenness. It’s as if the same thing is happening with Ivan Severyanych - he is a prayerful and promised son. The ghost of the monk he killed says that the hero’s path lies in the monastery. But unlike traditional, hagiographic heroes, Flyagin wants to change his fate, to consciously move away from the path predetermined for him. Flyagin is not a saint, and the monastery is not the last place of his wanderings. He was born into an ordinary peasant family. But under the influence of circumstances, he constantly committed serious crimes, although deep down he did not want to do this, he despised and reproached himself for his sins: the murder of an innocent monk, the woman he loved. The plot of “The Enchanted Wanderer” is Flyagin’s story about his life and destiny. This also violates the law of life, which did not imply a narration about oneself. Flyagin can show unconscious cruelty, he turns out to be capable of murder, theft, and deception, nevertheless he embodies the writer’s idea of righteousness. For Nikolai Stepanovich Leskov, a righteous person is one who, overcoming his shortcomings, strives to subordinate his life to serving people. The righteous are “little great people,” dispassionate and selfless, fighting for justice, erring, but overcoming their errors. Leskov paints not a heavenly vision, not a face, but a face. The author, without idealizing the hero or simplifying him, creates a holistic but contradictory character. Ivan Severyanych can be wildly cruel, unbridled in his seething passions. But the basis of his gigantic nature is in good, knightly unselfish deeds for the sake of others, in selfless deeds, in the ability to cope with any task. Innocence and humanity, a sense of duty and love for the homeland - these are the wonderful features of Leskov’s wanderer.

Important for understanding the writer's intention is travel, wandering as the basis of the plot. In ancient Russian literature, the word “path” assumed at least two meanings, which can be conventionally described as geographical and moral. Geographical is the knowledge of the world and ideas about it. Moral meaning presupposes self-knowledge and self-improvement, its result is internal transformation. This is exactly how A. Nikitin, who went on trade business and became acquainted with another faith, not only expanded his horizons, but also tested himself. We find the same intersection of two travel goals in the travels of Ivan Flyagin, because he passes through European Russia from the black soil steppes of the Russian south to Ladoga and Nizhny Novgorod, from capitals to the Caucasus and the Astrakhan saline deserts, because he operates in the most variegated national-ethnic environment: meets symbolic scale. He is seen as the personification of the nation. Ivan Flyagin is drawn across the expanses of his homeland by certain imperious forces that add drama to his fate. But, on the other hand, the hero is characterized by inquisitiveness of self-knowledge. More than once he thinks about why his life turns out this way and not otherwise. Flyagin’s wanderings, like his predecessors in ancient Russian literature, were a search for happiness and a way out of difficult life situations.

There are features in “The Enchanted Wanderer” that make the story similar to a chronicle - this is due to the peculiarities of the narrative style. The narrator here turns into a chronicler, presenting events sequentially, like a chronicler, from a certain angle, although his speeches bear a vivid imprint of the narrator’s personality, which was unacceptable in the chronicle. When creating the main character of the story, Leskov saw in him a Russian hero. From the very first moment of meeting him, the narrator-author associates him with Ilya Muromets. His biography included the defeat of the first steppe hero, and the pacification of a wild “cannibal” horse, and feats of arms, and the salvation of people close to him and complete strangers, and the baptism of nomads, and the fight against imaginary “demons” embodied in low souls. And he also experiences temptations from the charms of earthly beauty. And everything suffers from the consciousness of its own imperfection, and everything goes “from one struggle to another,” without bending or breaking, it goes towards a feat that can worthily crown its bright life. The structure of “The Enchanted Wanderer,” where adventures with cruelties and murders follow one after another, resembles the plot structure of epics. The epic hero, as you know, has extraordinary strength. Creating the image of Flyagin, Leskov also uses hyperbole, describing the capabilities of Ivan Severyanych. He has strength, endurance (an episode of life among the Tatars, a “dispute” with a Tatar), and resourcefulness (this trait brings him closer to the hero of the epic of the Novgorod cycle - Sadko). The military valor necessary for a hero manifested itself during Ivan Severyanych’s service in the army. He was able to perform the most impossible operations. The strength lies in its organic connection with the living national element, with the native land and its nature, with its people and traditions that go back to the distant past. Thus, the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” is written in the best traditions of folklore and ancient Russian literature. Leskov takes a creative approach to rethinking the experience accumulated by literature. This makes it possible to create a contradictory but beautiful character of a simple-minded hero, unusually sensitive to beauty.

Bibliography

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At the end of the 19th century, Russian literature turned to ancient literature in search of moral revival and healing of modern man, as the most important psychological source and source of new forms of artistic storytelling. These features in the development of the traditions of ancient Russian literature were clearly manifested in the works of F. M. Dostoevsky and L. N. Tolstoy.

F. M. Dostoevsky was alien to “a blind, selfless appeal to ancient antiquity.” However, “obsessed with the evils of the day,” “longing for the current,” the writer came to the deep conviction that “a man of independent ideas, a man of independent business, is formed only by the long independent life of the nation, by its centuries-long suffering labor - in a word, is formed by the entire historical life of the country.” .

Already at the beginning of his creative career, developing the theme of the “little man” in “Poor People” and “The Double,” Dostoevsky vividly reflected the protest of the individual against his depersonalization and leveling. You cannot turn a person’s personality into a “rag” - a rag. The image of a man - “rags”, apparently, was generated by the apocryphal legend “The Tale of Bygone Years” under 1071.

Probably, from apocryphal dualistic tales about the eternal struggle between God and the devil, good and evil, comes Dostoevsky’s concept of the constant struggle of these two principles in the human soul, which is the internal psychological tragedy of the individual.

Turning to ancient Russian literature, Dostoevsky sees in it a reflection of the spiritual culture of the people, an expression of their ethical and aesthetic ideals.

“Under the circumstances of almost all of Russian history, our people before... were corrupted, seduced and constantly tormented, what is also surprising is how they lived, preserving their human image, and not just preserving its beauty. But he also preserved the beauty of his image,” wrote Dostoevsky. The writer saw this beauty in the moral ideal of the humble, patient Russian peasant who meekly carries his cross of suffering. The writer was convinced of the indestructibility “in the heart of our people of the thirst for truth, which is dearest to them.” He noted that among the people “there are positive characters of unimaginable beauty and strength.” This is Ilya Muromets - “an ascetic for truth, a liberator of the poor and weak, humble and not arrogant, faithful and pure in heart.”

Dostoevsky considered Jesus Christ to be the highest moral ideal of the people, whose image the Russian people “love in their own way, i.e. to the point of suffering."

It should be noted that in the second half of the 19th century. In Russia, the Christological problem became particularly acute, which was generated by the general crisis experienced by Christian culture.

The appearance of the famous painting by artist A. A. Ivanov “The Appearance of Christ to the People” evoked a warm response in Russian society. I. N. Kramskoy’s painting “Christ in the Desert” was perceived as a kind of manifesto by advanced revolutionary youth.

N. N. Ge gave a new interpretation to the Gospel image in his Christological cycle (“The Last Supper”, “Exit to the Garden of Gethsemane”, “The Kiss of Judas”, “What is Truth?”, “The Judgment of the Sanhedrin”, “Calvary”). Leo Tolstoy tried to cleanse Christianity from church distortions.

Dostoevsky associates with the image of Christ faith in the final triumph of the kingdom of light, goodness and justice.

In Christ, Dostoevsky saw the embodiment of the ideal of a harmonious personality - the “god-man” and contrasted it with the painfully proud, split personality of the egocentrist - the “god-man”.

Dostoevsky's Christ is very far from the orthodox church image and much closer to the apocryphal image, which reflected popular ideas about the ideal person. This was perfectly understood by K. Leontyev, who wrote that Dostoevsky speaks about Christ “not quite Orthodox, not patristic, not church-like.”

Placing philosophical and moral problems of the meaning of life, good and evil at the center of his novels, Dostoevsky transferred their solution from temporary captivity to the plane of “eternal truths” and for this purpose resorted to techniques of abstraction characteristic of ancient Russian literature. The gospel and hagiographic plots, motifs and images used by the writer serve this purpose.

Thus, in the novel “Crime and Punishment” much attention is paid to the gospel parable “The Raising of Lazarus”, and the genre structure of the life is used, depicting the sinner’s path from crime to repentance and moral resurrection. The symbolism of the cross plays a large role in the novel.

The meeting of Christ with Mary Magdalene underlies the plot of the novel “The Idiot,” which also skillfully uses the plot of Dostoevsky’s especially beloved “Life of Mary of Egypt.”

Dostoevsky gives a generalized philosophical meaning to the parable about Christ’s healing of the demoniac in his novel “Demons.”

Dostoevsky contrasts the idea of universal disintegration, the separation of people, “when everyone is apart, even children are apart,” with the idea of fraternal unity of people, the bearer of which is the wanderer Makar Ivanovich Dolgoruky in the novel “The Teenager.” Wandering and “feats of penitence” are characteristic vital phenomena of people’s life,” Dostoevsky asserted. They are generated by the ineradicable thirst for truth living in the Russian people.

In the novel The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky synthesizes and generalizes the philosophical and moral ideas of his work and widely uses the text of the Gospel, plots and images of Russian hagiography, as well as apocryphal literature.

In search of new genre forms in the last period of his work, Dostoevsky turns to “The Life of the Great Sinner”, to the idea of the parable novel “Atheism” and thereby outlines new paths in the development of the Russian novel.

L.N. Tolstoy moved toward mastering the traditions of ancient Russian literature through the “book of humanity’s childhood, the Bible.” The writer paid serious attention to this book in the late 50s and early 60s, during the period of his first passion for teaching. The Bible, according to Tolstoy, opens a new world to man, makes him “without knowledge... fall in love with knowledge.” “Everyone from this book will learn for the first time all the beauty of the epic in its inimitable simplicity and power.”

Tolstoy the teacher is interested in “what books are common among the people, which ones do they love and read more than others?” From his own experience, the writer is convinced that people “read works of folklore, chronicles and all monuments of ancient literature without exception with constant and new eagerness.” The people read not what we want, but what they like... and develop their own moral convictions in their own way.” The moral beliefs of the people become the object of close attention of the writer, are organically assimilated by him and become decisive in the writer’s assessment of various phenomena of modern life.

Turning to the events of the Patriotic War of 1812, Tolstoy in his epic novel “War and Peace” uses the epic traditions of Russian chronicles and military stories 1.

Tolstoy began to take a deep interest in ancient Russian hagiography in the 70s. when creating your own “ABC”. He carefully reads the “Cheti-Minea” and discovers “real Russian poetry” in our lives. For the Slavic section of the ABC, Tolstoy selects materials from the Bible, chronicles and lives. In the first book of the ABC, Tolstoy includes from the Chetyi-Menya of Macarius: “About Philagria Mnich”, “About the woodcutter Murin”, from the Chetyi-Menya of Dmitry of Rostov “The Life of the Venerable David”. In the second book of the “ABC” - “The Life of our Venerable Father Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh, the new wonderworker”, in the third book - “The Miracle of Simeon the Stylite about the Robber” and in the fourth book “The Word of Wrath” from the Makaryev menyas.

All these works were translated into modern Russian “interlinearly, if possible,” while preserving the syntax features of the Old Russian original, and are distinguished by simplicity and clarity of presentation, accessible to a child’s understanding. They reveal the spiritual beauty of Christian ascetics: honesty, hard work, selfless service to people, the destructiveness of anger and hatred.

While working on the ABC, Tolstoy came up with the idea of publishing individual lives for public reading. He turns to Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin), an expert in ancient writing, with a request to “compile a list of the best, dearest lives from the Makaryevskys (Chetih Menya), Dmitry of Rostov and the Patericon.”

Having familiarized himself with the scientific work of Archimandrite Leonid, “The Annunciation Priest Sylvester and His Writings,” Tolstoy wrote: “Judging from it, I can guess what treasures, like which no other nation has, are hidden in our ancient literature.”

Tolstoy’s plan to publish lives for the people was not realized. Only a sketch of the beginning of “The Life and Sufferings of the Martyr Justin the Philosopher” has survived.

Tolstoy prefaced the biblical epigraph “Vengeance is mine and I will repay” for the novel Anna Karenina. This epigraph summarizes the polysemy of the moral and philosophical content of the novel. In the text of the novel, Tolstoy uses symbols dating back to ancient Russian literature: “candles,” “iron,” “machines.”

Tolstoy’s interest in ancient Russian hagiography intensified during the period of turning point in his worldview. Chetii-Minei, Prologues become Tolstoy’s favorite reading, which he writes about in “Confession”. This reading reveals to the writer “the meaning of life” (Vol. 23, p. 52).

Judging by the notebook, Tolstoy is especially interested in the lives of Paphnutius Borovsky, Savva Storzhevsky, Simeon the Righteous, Lawrence of Kaluga, Eleazar of Anzersky, Alexander of Svirsky, Macarius the Great, Barlaam and Josaph. Tolstoy’s close attention is drawn to the personality and “Life” of Archpriest Avvakum. He makes extracts from his life while working on the historical novel “Peter I”.

In the story “Father Sergius” Tolstoy uses an episode from the “Life” of Avvakum - the confession of a harlot. Avvakum reconciled the “prodigal liquefaction” with the flame of a candle, Sergius in Tolstoy cuts off a finger.

The commonality of the “travel” motif in the “Life” of Avvakum and Nekhlyudov in the novel “Resurrection” is noteworthy. Only for Avvakum this is the “forced” journey of a disgraced exiled rebel, for Tolstoy it is a voluntary journey through the stage of a repentant nobleman.

In his philosophical treatises, Tolstoy often uses medieval parables: in “Confession” the parable of the unicorn, he illustrates the treatise “On Life” with parables, and he is working on the drama-parable “Peter Khlebnik”. Many of Tolstoy's folk stories have the character of parables.

Gospel parables and symbols are widely used by Tolstoy in philosophical and journalistic treatises, enhancing their didactic side and accusatory pathos.

In the 1900s, when the writer was concerned about the problem of “leaving” the family, his attention was drawn to “The Life of Alexei, the Man of God,” where this problem occupies an important place.

A new stage in the development of the traditions of ancient Russian literature begins in the 20th century. These traditions are mastered in their own way by Russian symbolism, Maxim Gorky, Mayakovsky, Yesenin.

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