Old Russian literature belongs to the period of which century. Features of Old Russian literature

For my work, I chose the topic “Ancient Russian literature as an outstanding cultural phenomenon.” In the library I found a small amount 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 people were interested in the literature of this period famous people, scientists, academicians. 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, battles).

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. On heroic examples From this literature we learn to be truthful, courageous, obedient, respect 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. Legends are known 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 even 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 story - world history, and this topic is the meaning human life“- this is how D. Likhachev formulated the features of literature in his work ancient period Russian history.

There is no doubt that the Baptism of Rus' was an event of enormous historical importance, not only politically and socially, but also culturally. Story 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 age of formation historical style 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 in 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 when 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 beginning of the period 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.

Russian medieval literature is the initial stage in the development of Russian literature. Its emergence is closely connected with the process of formation of the early feudal state. Subordinated to the political tasks of strengthening the foundations of the feudal system, it in its own way reflected various periods of the development of public and social relations in Rus' in the 11th-17th centuries. Old Russian literature is the literature of the emerging Great Russian nationality, gradually developing into a nation.

The question of the chronological boundaries of ancient Russian literature has not been finally resolved by our science. Ideas about the volume of ancient Russian literature still remain incomplete. Many works were lost in the fire of countless fires, during the devastating raids of steppe nomads, the invasion of Mongol-Tatar invaders, and Polish-Swedish invaders! And at a later time, in 1737, the remains of the library of the Moscow tsars were destroyed by a fire that broke out in the Grand Kremlin Palace. In 1777, the Kiev Library was destroyed by fire. Works Old Russian writing were divided into “worldly” and “spiritual”. The latter were supported and disseminated in every possible way, since they contained the enduring values of religious dogma, philosophy and ethics, and the former, with the exception of official legal and historical documents, were declared “vain”. Thanks to this, we present our ancient literature in to a greater extent ecclesiastical than it really was. When starting to study ancient Russian literature, it is necessary to take it into account specific features, different from the literature of modern times. A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is handwritten the nature of its existence and distribution. Moreover, this or that work did not exist in the form of a separate, independent manuscript, but was part of various collections that pursued certain practical goals. “Everything that serves not for the sake of benefit, but for the sake of embellishment, is subject to the accusation of vanity.” These words of Basil the Great largely determined the attitude of ancient Russian society towards written works. The value of a particular handwritten book was assessed from the point of view of its practical purpose and usefulness. One of the characteristic features of Old Russian literature is its connection with church and business writing, on the one hand, and oral poetic folk art, on the other. The nature of these connections on each historical stage the development of literature and in its individual monuments was different. However, the wider and deeper literature used the artistic experience of folklore, the more clearly it reflected the phenomena of reality, the wider was the sphere of its ideological and artistic influence.

A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is historicism. Its heroes are predominantly historical figures; it allows almost no fiction and strictly follows the fact. Even numerous stories about “miracles” - phenomena that seemed supernatural to a medieval person, are not so much the invention of an ancient Russian writer, but rather accurate records of the stories of either eyewitnesses or the people themselves with whom the “miracle” happened. Old Russian literature, inextricably linked with the history of the development of the Russian state and the Russian people, is imbued with heroic and patriotic pathos. Another feature is anonymity.

Literature glorifies the moral beauty of the Russian person, capable of sacrificing what is most precious for the sake of the common good - life. It expresses deep faith in the power and ultimate triumph of good, in man's ability to elevate his spirit and defeat evil. The Old Russian writer was least of all inclined to an impartial presentation of facts, “listening to good and evil indifferently.” Any genre of ancient literature, be it historical story or a legend, life or church sermon, as a rule, includes significant elements of journalism. Touching primarily on state-political or moral issues, the writer believes in the power of words, in the power of persuasion. He appeals not only to his contemporaries, but also to distant descendants with an appeal to ensure that the glorious deeds of their ancestors are preserved in the memory of generations and that descendants do not repeat the sad mistakes of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

The literature of Ancient Rus' expressed and defended the interests of the upper echelons of feudal society. However, it could not help but show an acute class struggle, which resulted either in the form of open spontaneous uprisings or in the forms of typically medieval religious heresies. The literature vividly reflected the struggle between progressive and reactionary groups within the ruling class, each of which sought support among the people. And since the progressive forces of feudal society reflected national interests, and these interests coincided with the interests of the people, we can talk about the nationality of ancient Russian literature.

Periodization

According to the established tradition, three main stages are distinguished in the development of Old Russian literature, associated with periods of development of the Russian state:

I. Literature of the Old Russian state XI - the first half XIII centuries The literature of this period is often called the literature of Kievan Rus. The central image is Kyiv and the Kyiv princes; the unity of the worldview and the patriotic principle are glorified. This period is characterized by the relative unity of literature, which is determined by the interconnection of the two main cultural centers of the state - Kyiv and Novgorod. This is a period of apprenticeship, with Byzantium and Bulgaria as mentors. Translated literature predominates. It is first dominated by religious texts, and then secular literature appears. The main theme is the theme of the Russian land and its position in the family of Christian peoples. Second half of the 11th century (before this period) - Ostromir Gospel, Izborniki, translation of Greek chronicles, based on cat. “Chronograph according to the great exposition”, “The Sermon on the Law and Grace of Hilarion.” In the middle of the 11th - first third of the 12th genres of didactic words appeared

(Theodosius of Pechersk, Luka Zhidyata), genre varieties of original lives (“The Legend” and “Reading” about Boris and Gleb, “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersk”, “Memory and Praise to Prince Vladimir”), historical tales, stories, traditions that formed the basis of the chronicle , which at the beginning of the 12th century. is called "The Tale of Bygone Years". At the same time, the first “walk”-journey of Abbot Daniel and such an original work as “Teaching” appeared.

Vladimir Monomakh.

II. Literature of the period of feudal fragmentation and the struggle for the unification of north-eastern Rus' (second half of the 13th - first half of the 15th centuries). The flourishing of bookishness. Vladimir-Suzdal Rus'. “The Tale of the Tatar-Mongol Invasion,” a cycle of stories about the Battle of Kulikovo. In regional centers, local chronicles, hagiography, genres of travel, and historical stories are created. “The Kiev-Pechersk Patericon”, “The Lay of Igor’s Host”, “The Lay” of Daniil Zatochnik and “The Lay of the Destruction of the Russian Land”. In the 14th century the fictional tales “The Tale of the City of Babylon” appeared. “The Tale of the Mutyansky Governor Dracula.” B15th century "Walking across Three Seas" by Afanasy Nikitin appeared.

III. Literature from the period of creation and development of the centralized Russian state (XVI-XVII centuries). The fight against heresy, liberation from spiritual illness. Satire appears everyday story.

The historical significance of the Battle of Kulikovo and its reflection in the literature of the late 14th-15th centuries\ chronicle story, “Zadonshchina”, “The Tale of the Life and Repose of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich”, “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamaev”.

In 1380, Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich rallied almost all of North-Eastern Rus' under his banners and dealt a crushing blow to the Golden Horde. The victory showed that the Russian people have the strength to decisively fight the enemy, but these forces can only be united by the centralized power of the Grand Duke. After the victory on the Kulikovo Field, the question of the final overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar yoke was only a matter of time. The historical events of 1380 were reflected in oral folk art and works of literature: the chronicle story, “Zadonshchina”, “The Tale of the Life and Death of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich”, “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev”.

Chronicle story about the Battle of Kulikovo. The chronicle story about the Battle of Kulikovo has reached us in two versions: short and lengthy. The story not only sets out the main facts: the gathering of enemy forces and Russian troops, the battle on the Nepryadva River, the Grand Duke’s return to Moscow with victory, the death of Mamai, but also gives an emotionally expressive journalistic assessment of these facts. The central character of the chronicle story is Grand Duke Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich. He "Christ-loving" And "God-loving" the prince is an ideal Christian, constantly turning to God with prayers, at the same time a brave warrior who fights on the Kulikovo field "ahead" The battle itself is depicted using techniques characteristic of a military story: “The slaughter was great and the battle was strong and the coward was great... shedding blood like a rain cloud of both... corpse fell on corpse, and the Tatar body fell on the body of the peasants.”

The main goal of the chronicle story is to show the superiority of the courage of the Russian troops over arrogance and cruelty "raw food eaters" "godless Tatars" And "filthy Lithuania" stigmatize the betrayal of Oleg Ryazansky.

The short story was included in the “Rogozhsky Chronicler” and is an informative work with a traditional 3-part structure. Considerable space is devoted to the 3rd part - the consequences of the battle. But new details also appear: the list of dead at the end of the story; techniques of stringing together homogeneous tropes (“the godless, evil Horde prince, the filthy Mamai”) and combining tautological phrases (“the dead are countless in number”). The lengthy story was preserved as part of the Novgorod 4th Chronicle. The composition of the factual information is the same as in the summary, but... This is an event-type story; the author has increased the number of compositional elements characterizing the heroes. The number of prayers of the main character increases: before the battle - 3, after the battle - a prayer of thanks. Another lyrical fragment, previously unused, also appears - the lament of Russian wives. A variety of figurative and expressive means are also used, especially vivid in relation to enemies: “dark raw foodist Mamai”, the apostate Oleg Ryazansky, “soul-destroying”, “bloodsucking peasant”. The descriptions of the Battle of Kulikovo itself in all the stories are distinguished by their emotionality, which is created by the author’s exclamations and the inclusion in the text of landscape elements that have not previously been used. All these features make the narrative more plot-motivated and emotionally intense.

The composition of “Tales” structurally follows the tradition of a military story, but the narrative consists of a number of separate episodes-micro-plots, interconnected by plot-motivated or chronological inserts, which is an innovation. Also new is manifested in the author’s desire to show the personality of each character individually and show his role throughout the story. The characters are divided into main (Dmitry Ivanovich, Vladimir Andreevich and Mamai), secondary (Sergius of Radonezh, Dmitry Bobrok, Oleg Ryazansky, etc.) and episodic (Metropolitan Cyprian, Thomas Katsibey, etc.). Also a compositional feature is a lot of lyrical fragments (prayers, crying) and natural descriptions. A vision also appears in the text. A new descriptive element appears - an image of the Russian army, as the princes saw it from the hill. Along with the preservation of military formulas, many epithets and comparisons are used, and the role of metaphors is enhanced, emphasizing the experiences of the heroes. The author of “Zadonshchina” took “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” as a model. Boyan is also mentioned in the introduction, and at the end the time of the event is established (“And from the Kalat army to the Mamaev massacre is 160 years”). The further text as a whole is traditional - a 3-part structure. But within each part, the narrative is built on the basis of individual episodes-pictures, alternating with the author’s digressions. The story contains documentary elements, the use of digital data, and lists. There are minor deviations from the chronology, which is unconventional for a military story. Lyrical fragments are few in number, according to the canons of a military story. There are no detailed descriptions of the characters (except for Dmitry Ivanovich), and the enemies are described quite schematically. The folklore influence is visible in the use of negative comparisons (“You were not gray wolves, but having come to the Tatar’s abomination, they want to go through the whole Russian land fighting”). “Zadonshchina” is a monument created at the intersection of traditions: folklore, military tales and “The Lay”. But the tradition of the military story should still be recognized as the leading one.

"Zadonshchina." Zadonshchina" came to us in six lists, the earliest of which (Efrosin's list) dates back to the 1470s, and the latest - to the end of the 17th century. “Zadonshchina” is the name given to the work in question in Efrosyn’s list. In other lists it is called “The Tale of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich.” The Efrosinovsky list is an abbreviated reworking of the original lengthy text that was not received; in the remaining lists the text is replete with errors and distortions.

“Zadonshchina” expresses the author’s poetic attitude to the events of the Battle of Kulikovo. His story (as in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”) is transferred from one place to another: from Moscow to the Kulikovo Field, again to Moscow, to Novgorod, again to the Kulikovo Field. The present is intertwined with memories of the past. The author himself described his work as “pity and praise for Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his brother, Prince Vladimer Ondreevich,” “Pity” is a lament for the dead, “Praise” is glory to the courage and military valor of the Russians.

The first part of "Zadonshchina" - "a pity" describes the gathering of Russian troops, their march, the first battle and defeat. Nature in “Zadonshchina” is on the side of the Russians and portends defeat "filthy": The birds are screaming, and the sun is shining for Dmitry Donskoy. The fallen warriors are mourned by their wives: princesses and noblewomen. Their laments are built, like Yaroslavna’s lament, on an appeal to the wind, the Don, and the Moscow River.

The second part of "Zadonshchina" - "praise" glorifies the victory won by the Russians when the regiment of Dmitry Bobrok Volynets emerged from an ambush. The enemies fled, and the Russians got rich booty, and now Russian wives wear the outfits and jewelry of women from the Horde.

The entire text of “Zadonshchina” is correlated with “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”: there is a repetition of entire passages from the “Tale”, and the same characteristics, and similar poetic devices. But the appeal of the author of “Zadonshchina” to “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” is of a creative, not a mechanical nature. The victory of the Grand Duke of Moscow over Mamai is perceived by the author of “Z.” as revenge for the defeat suffered by Igor on Kayal. The Christian element in “Zadonshchina” is significantly strengthened and there are no pagan images at all.

It is generally accepted that “Zadonshchina” was written by Sophony Ryazan: this name, as the name of its author, is named in the title of two works. However, Sofoniy Ryazanets is also called the author of “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev” in a number of lists of the main edition of “The Tale”. The name of Sophony Ryazan is mentioned in the text of “Zadonshchina” itself, and the nature of this mention is such that in Sophony Ryazan one should most likely see not the author of “Zadonshchina”, but the author of some poetic work about the Battle of Kulikovo that has not reached us, which, regardless from each other, both the author of “Zadonshina” and the author of “The Tale of Mamaev’s Massacre” took advantage of . We do not have any information about Zephaniah Ryazan, except for the mention of his name in “Zadonshchina” and in “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev.”

“Zadonshchina” is an interesting literary monument, created as a direct response to the most important event in the history of the country. This work is also remarkable in that it reflected the advanced political idea of its time: Moscow should be at the head of all Russian lands and the unity of Russian princes under the rule of the Moscow Grand Duke serves as a guarantee of the liberation of the Russian land from Mongol-Tatar domination.

"The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev." “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev” is the most extensive monument of the Kulikovo cycle, written in the mid-15th century. This is not only a literary monument, but also the most important historical source. In it the most detailed story about the events of the Battle of Kulikovo has reached us. The “Legend” describes the preparation for the campaign and the “organization” of the regiments, the distribution of forces and the assignment of their military task to the detachments. The “Tale” describes in detail the movement of the Russian army from Moscow through Kolomna to the Kulikovo Field. Here is a list of the princes and governors who took part in the battle, and tells about the crossing of Russian forces across the Don. Only from the “Tale” do we know that the outcome of the battle was decided by a regiment under the leadership of Prince Vladimir Serpukhovsky: before the start of the battle, he was ambushed and, with an unexpected attack from the flanks and rear of the enemy who had broken into the Russian position, inflicted a crushing defeat on him. From the “Tale” we learn that the Grand Duke was shell-shocked and found unconscious after the end of the battle. These details and a number of others, including legendary epic ones (the story of the duel before the start of the battle between the monk-hero Peresvet and the Tatar hero, episodes telling about the help of Russian saints, etc.), were brought to us only by “The Legend of "Mamaev's massacre."

The “Tale” was rewritten and revised many times, until the beginning of the 18th century, and came to us in eight editions and a large number of options. ABOUT popularity The monument's status among the medieval reader as a “fourth” (intended for individual reading) work is evidenced by the large number of front copies (illustrated with miniatures) of it.

The main character of “The Tale” is Dmitry Donskoy. “The Legend” is not only a story about the Battle of Kulikovo, but also a work dedicated to the praise of the Grand Duke of Moscow. The author portrays Dmitry as a wise and courageous commander, emphasizing his military valor and courage. All other characters in the work are grouped around Dmitry Donskoy. Dmitry is the eldest among the Russian princes, all of them are his faithful assistants, vassals, his younger brothers. The image of Dmitry Donskoy still mainly bears the features of idealization, but future trends in turning to the personal principle are visible in it - the author sometimes talks about the special emotions of DD (sadness, rage, etc.)

In the “Tale”, Dmitry Ivanovich’s campaign is blessed by Metropolitan Cyprian. In fact, Cyprian was not in Moscow in 1380. This is not a mistake by the author of “The Tale”, but. For journalistic reasons, the author of “The Tale”, who set himself the task of drawing perfect image the Grand Duke of Moscow, ruler and head of all Russian forces, was supposed to illustrate the strong alliance of the Moscow Prince with the Metropolitan of All Rus'. And in a literary work, he could, contrary to historical truth, talk about the blessing of Dmitry and his army by Metropolitan Cyprian, especially since formally Cyprian really was at that time the Metropolitan of All Rus'.

During the Battle of Kulikovo, the Ryazan prince Oleg and the Lithuanian prince Jagiello, the son of the Lithuanian prince Olgerd, who died in 1377, entered into an alliance with Mamai. In the “Tale”, which describes the event of 1380, Olgerd is named as Mamai’s Lithuanian ally. As in the case of Cyprian, we are faced not with a mistake, but with a conscious literary and journalistic device. For Russian people of the late XIV - early XV centuries, and especially for Muscovites, the name of Olgerd was associated with memories of his campaigns against the Moscow Principality. He was an insidious and dangerous enemy of Rus', whose military cunning was reported in the chronicle obituary article about his death. Therefore, they could call Olgerd an ally of Mamai instead of Jogaila only at a time when this name was still well remembered as the name of a dangerous enemy of Moscow. At a later time, such a change of names did not make sense .

Mamai, the enemy of the Russian land, is portrayed by the author of the “Tale” in sharply negative tones. There is a contrast: if Dmitry is the bright beginning, the head of a good cause, whose actions are guided by God, then Mamai is the personification of darkness and evil - the devil stands behind him. Heroic character the events depicted in the “Tale” determined appeal author to oral traditions about the Mamaev massacre. The oral tradition most likely dates back to the episode of single combat before the start of the general battle of the monk of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery of Peresvet with the Tatar hero. The epic basis is felt in the story about the “test of signs” by Dmitry Volynets; The experienced governor Dmitry Volynets and the Grand Duke, on the night before the battle, go into the field between the Russian and Tatar troops, and Volynets hears how the earth is crying “in two” - about the Tatar and Russian soldiers: there will be many killed, but still the Russians will prevail. Oral tradition probably underlies the message in the “Tale” that Dmitry, before the battle, put princely armor on his beloved commander, and himself, in the clothes of a simple warrior with an iron club, was the first to rush into battle. In Evdokia’s cry, there are also notes of folkloric crying and lamentation.

Descriptions of the Russian army are bright and imaginative pictures. In descriptions of pictures of nature, a certain lyricism and a desire to connect these descriptions with the mood of events can be noted. Some of the author's remarks are deeply emotional and not devoid of life-like truthfulness. Talking, for example, about farewell to the wives of soldiers leaving Moscow for battle, the author writes that the wives “were unable to utter a word in tears and heartfelt exclamations,” and adds that “the great prince himself could hardly resist the tears, not choking to make people cry for the sake of it.”

“The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev” was of interest to readers simply because it described in detail all the circumstances of the Battle of Kulikovo. However, this is not the only attractiveness of the work. Despite a significant touch of rhetoric, “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev” has a pronounced plot character. Not only the event itself, but also the fate of individuals, the development of the twists and turns of the plot made readers worry and empathize with what was being described. And in a number of editions of the monument, the plot episodes become more complex and increase in number. All this made “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev” not only a historical and journalistic monument, but also a plot-captivating work.

“A Sermon on the Life and Death of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, Tsar of Russia”

“The Tale of the Life and Death of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, Tsar of Russia” in its style can be attributed to hagiographic monuments of expressive-emotional style.

This praise deeds of Dmitry Donskoy, about which the author of the Lay self-deprecation characteristic of the genre declares at the end of his work that he is not worthy to describe the actions of the master.

Stylistically and compositionally, “The Lay” is close to the works of Epiphanius the Wise.

The book traditions of military biography and folklore traditions are combined (Evdokia’s lament is filled with physical images).

The time when the Lay was written is dated differently. Most researchers attributed its creation to the 90s. XIV century, believing that it was written by an eyewitness to the death and burial of the prince (died in 1389).

It has a traditional structure of life (characteristics of the DD, his father and mother), but at the same time another hypostasis of the DI is interwoven - a statesman.

Accurate biographical information about Dmitry Donskoy and historical data are of little interest to the author. At the beginning, Dmitry’s continuity in relation to Grand Duke Vladir I and the fact that he is a “relative” of the holy princes Boris and Gleb are emphasized. The Battle of Vozha and the Massacre of Mamayevo are mentioned. Both in these parts of the “Tale of Life” and in others, where some specific events are implied; it is not so much the story about them that is given, but their generalized characteristics. "Word" - a chain of praises for Dmitry and the author’s philosophical, very complex reflections on the greatness of the prince, into which biographical details are interjected. By comparing his hero with biblical characters (Adam, Noah, Moses), the writer emphasizes the superiority of his hero over them. In the same series of comparisons, Dmitry appears as the greatest ruler of all known to world history.

Particularly highlighted in the “Word” the cry of Dmitry Donskoy's wife, Princess Evdokia, imbued with deep lyricism. It reflects the influence of the folk widow's lament: Evdokia addresses the deceased as if he were alive, as if conducting a conversation with them, characteristic of folklore and the comparison of the deceased with the sun, month, or setting star. However, the cry also glorifies the Christian virtues of the prince.

“The Tale of Life” pursued a clear political goal: to glorify the Moscow prince, the conqueror of Mamai, as the ruler of the entire Russian land, the heir of the Kiev state, to surround the prince’s power with an aura of holiness and raise his political authority to unattainable heights.

The problem of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature.

To understand and determine the uniqueness of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature, it is necessary to dwell on the nature of the worldview of medieval man. It absorbed, on the one hand, speculative religious ideas about the world and man, and, on the other, a specific vision of reality, resulting from the labor practice of a person in feudal society. In his daily activities, a person came across reality: nature, social, economic and political relations. The Christian religion considered the world around man to be temporary, transitory and sharply contrasted it with the eternal, invisible, imperishable world.

The doubling of the world inherent in medieval thinking largely determined the specifics of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature, its leading principle is symbolism. Medieval people were convinced that symbols were hidden in nature and in man himself, and that historical events were filled with symbolic meaning. The symbol served as a means of revealing meaning and finding truth. How ambiguous are the signs of the surrounding person? visible world, the word is so polysemantic: it can be interpreted not only in its literal, but also in figurative meanings. This determines the nature of symbolic metaphors and comparisons in ancient Russian literature. Religious Christian symbolism in consciousness ancient Russian man closely intertwined with folk poetry.

A characteristic feature of medieval thinking was retrospectiveness and traditionalism. The Old Russian writer constantly refers to texts of “scripture”, which he interprets not only historically, but also allegorically, tropologically and analogically. In other words, what the books of the Old and New Testaments narrate is not only a narration about “historical events”, “facts”, but each “event”, “fact” is an analogue of modernity, a model of moral behavior and assessment and contains hidden sacramental truth. “Communication” with the Truth is carried out, according to the teachings of the Byzantines, through love (their most important epistemological category), contemplation of the deity in oneself and outside yourself in images, symbols, signs: by imitation and likening to God, and finally, in the act of merging with him." The Old Russian writer creates his work within the framework of an established tradition: he looks at models, canons, does not allow "self-thinking", i.e. fiction. Its task is to convey the “image of truth.” The medieval historicism of ancient Russian literature is subordinated to this goal. All events occurring in the life of a person and society are considered as a manifestation of divine will. God sends people signs of his anger - heavenly signs, warning them of the need for repentance, cleansing from sins and inviting them to change their behavior - to leave “lawlessness” and turn to the path of virtue. “Sin for our sake” God, according to the conviction of the medieval writer, brings foreign conquerors, sends the country an “unmerciful” ruler or grants victory, wise prince as a reward for humility and piety. Thus, symbolism, historicism, ritualism, or etiquette, and didacticism are the leading principles of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature, which incorporates two sides: strict factuality and the ideal transformation of reality.

UDC 881.01 BBK 83.3(2 Ros)

Kuskov V.V.

K 94 History of Old Russian Literature: Textbook. for philol. specialist. universities/V.V. Kuskov. - 7th ed. - M.: Higher. school, 2003. - 336 p.: ill.

ISBN 5-06-004219-7

A book by a remarkable scientist and teacher, honorary professor of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosova V.V. Kuskova has long and firmly entered the educational process of philological faculties of universities, having published six editions (6th - 1998). The textbook discusses the process of formation and development, as well as artistic specificity Literature of Ancient Rus' XI-XVII centuries.

The textbook is intended for students of philological and historical faculties of universities, students of lyceums and colleges, and everyone interested in the history of national culture.

UDC 881.01 BBK 83.3(2 Ros)

PREFACE

This seventh edition of the history of ancient Russian literature is intended as a textbook for students of philological specialties at universities.

The book focuses on the process of formation and development of Old Russian literature, from the 11th to the 17th centuries. The author sought to show the artistic specificity of ancient Russian literature, the nature of its genres and styles, as well as its role in patriotic, moral and aesthetic education.

Compared to previous editions, the text contains minor changes related to clarification of individual provisions; the latest works The recommendatory bibliography of Russian medievalists has been replenished.

Each section ends control questions, helping the student in organizing independent work over the material.

www.infanata.org

INTRODUCTION

Old Russian literature is the solid foundation on which to build majestic building national Russian artistic culture XVIII-XX centuries It is based on high moral ideals, faith in man, in his possibilities for limitless moral improvement, faith in the power of the word, its ability to transform the inner world of man, the patriotic pathos of serving the Russian land - the state - the Motherland, faith in the ultimate triumph of good over the forces of evil, universal unity of people and its victory over hateful discord.

Without knowing the history of ancient Russian literature, we will not understand the full depth of the work of A. S. Pushkin, the spiritual essence of the work of N. V. Gogol, moral quest L. N. Tolstoy, the philosophical depth of F. M. Dostoevsky, the originality of Russian symbolism, the verbal quest of the futurists.

Chronological boundaries of Old Russian literature and its specificity

technical features. Russian medieval literature is the initial stage in the development of Russian literature. Its emergence is closely connected with the process of formation of the early feudal state. Subordinated to the political tasks of strengthening the foundations of the feudal system, it in its own way reflected various periods of the development of public and social relations in Rus' in the 11th-17th centuries. Old Russian literature is the literature of the emerging Great Russian nationality, gradually developing into a nation.

Pushkin, Buturlin, Bauze, Demidov, the Moscow Society of Lovers of Russian Literature.

The main keepers and copyists of books in Ancient Rus', as a rule, were monks, who were least interested in storing and copying books of secular (secular) content. And this largely explains why the overwhelming majority of works of Old Russian writing that have reached us are of an ecclesiastical nature1.

Works of ancient Russian literature were divided into “secular” and “spiritual”. The latter were supported and disseminated in every possible way, since they contained the enduring values of religious dogma, philosophy and ethics, and the former, with the exception of official legal and historical documents, were declared “vain.” Thanks to this, we present our ancient literature as more ecclesiastical than it actually was.

When starting to study ancient Russian literature, it is necessary to take into account its specific features that differ from the literature of the new

In this case, this or that work did not exist in the form of a separate, independent manuscript, but was part of various collections that pursued certain practical goals. “Everything that serves not for the sake of benefit, but for the sake of embellishment, is subject to the accusation of vanity.” These words of Basil the Great largely determined the attitude of ancient Russian society towards written works. The value of a particular handwritten book was assessed from the point of view of its practical purpose and usefulness.

“Great is the crawling from the teachings of books, for by books we show and teach the ways of repentance, for we gain wisdom and abstinence from the words of books; These are the rivers that feed the universe, these are the sources of wisdom, the books are unsought depth, these are the ones that console us for our sorrows, these are the bridles of self-restraint... If you diligently look for wisdom in the books, you will find great creeping in your soul...” - the chronicler teaches under 1037

Another feature of our ancient literature is the anonymity, the impersonality of its works. This was a consequence of the religious-Christian attitude of feudal society towards man, and in particular towards the work of a writer, artist, and architect. IN best case scenario we know the names of individual authors, “copywriters” of books, who modestly put their name either at the end of the manuscript, or in its margins, or (which is much less common) in the title of the work. Wherein

See: Union catalog of Slavic-Russian handwritten books stored in the USSR

(XI-XIII centuries). M, 1984.

the writer will not accept to provide his name with such evaluative epithet-

tami, as “thin”, “unworthy”, “many sinners”. In the majority

Biographical information about the ancient Russian writers known to us, the volume of their creativity, character social activities very, very scarce. Therefore, if when studying literature of the 18th-20th centuries. literary scholars widely use biographical material, reveal the nature of political, philosophical, aesthetic views of this or that writer, using the author's manuscripts, trace the history of the creation of works, reveal the creative individuality of the writer, then the monuments of ancient Russian writing have to be approached differently.

In medieval society, the concept of copyright did not exist; the individual characteristics of the writer’s personality did not receive such a vivid manifestation as in the literature of modern times. Copyists often acted as editors and co-authors rather than simple copyists of the text. They changed the ideological orientation of the work being copied, the nature of its style, shortened or distributed the text in accordance with the tastes and demands of their time. As a result, new editions of monuments were created. And even when the copyist simply copied the text, his list was always somehow different from the original: he made typos, omitted words and letters, and involuntarily reflected in the language the features of his native dialect. In this regard, in science there is a special term - “izvod” (manuscript of the Pskov-Novgorod edition, Moscow, or - more broadly - Bulgarian, Serbian, etc.).

As a rule, the author's texts of works have not reached us, but their later lists have been preserved, sometimes distant from the time the original was written by a hundred, two hundred or more years. For example, “The Tale of Bygone Years,” created by Nestor in 1111-1113, has not survived at all, and the edition of Sylvester’s “story” (1116) is known only as part of the Laurentian Chronicle of 1377. “The Tale of Igor’s Host,” written at the end of 80 s of the 12th century, was found in a list of the 16th century.

All this requires from the researcher of ancient Russian literature unusually thorough and painstaking textual work: studying all available lists of a particular monument, establishing the time and place of their writing by comparing various editions, variants of lists, as well as determining which edition the list most matches original author's text. These issues are dealt with by a special branch of philology.

Deciding difficult questions about the time of writing of this or that monument, its lists, the researcher turns to such an auxiliary historical and philological science as paleography. Based on the characteristics of letters, handwriting, the nature of writing material, paper watermarks, the nature of headpieces, ornaments, miniatures illustrating the text of a manuscript, paleography makes it possible to relatively accurately determine the time of creation of a particular manuscript and the number of scribes who wrote it.

In the XI - first half of the XIV century. The main writing material was parchment, made from calf skin. In Rus', parchment was often called “veal” or “haratya”. This expensive material was, naturally, available only to the propertied classes, and artisans and traders used birch bark for their business correspondence. Birch bark also served as student notebooks. This is evidenced by the remarkable archaeological discoveries Novgorod birch bark documents1.

To save writing material, the words in a line were not separated, and only paragraphs of the manuscript were highlighted with a red cinnabar letter - the initial, the title - a “red line” in the literal sense of the word. Frequently used, widely known words were written abbreviated under a special superscript - t and t - l o m. For example, (verb -says), (god), (theotokos).

"The parchment was pre-lined by a scribe using a ruler with a chain. Then the scribe laid it on his knees and carefully wrote out each letter. Handwriting with a regular, almost square outline of the letters was called ustavom. Working on the manuscript required painstaking work and great skill, therefore When the scribe completed his hard work, he celebrated it with joy. “The merchant rejoices, having bought the goods, and the helmsman has left the bailiff and the wanderer has gone to his fatherland, and so he rejoices. book writer, reached the end of the books...”- read at the end of the Laurentian Chronicle.

The written sheets were sewn into notebooks, which were intertwined into wooden boards. Hence the phraseological turn - “read a book from board to board.” The binding boards were covered with leather, and sometimes covered with special frames made of silver and gold. A remarkable example of jewelry art is, for example, the setting of the Mstislav Gospel (early 12th century).

In the XIV century. paper replaced parchment. This cheaper writing material made the writing process easier and faster. The charter letter is replaced by slanted, rounded handwriting with a large number of extended superscripts - poluustav. In the monuments of business writing, cursive appears, which gradually replaces the semi-ustav and occupies a dominant position in manuscripts of the 17th century.2

The emergence of printing in the mid-16th century played a huge role in the development of Russian culture. However, until the beginning of the 18th century. Mostly church books were printed, but secular and artistic works continued to exist and were distributed in manuscripts.

When studying ancient Russian literature, one very important circumstance should be taken into account: in medieval period Fiction had not yet emerged as an independent area of public consciousness; it was inextricably linked with philosophy, science, and religion.

In this regard, it is impossible to mechanically apply to ancient Russian literature the criteria of artistry with which we approach when assessing the phenomena of literary development of modern times.

The process of historical development of ancient Russian literature is a process of gradual crystallization fiction, its isolation from the general flow of writing, its democratization and “secularization,” i.e., liberation from the tutelage of the church.

One of the characteristic features of Old Russian literature is its connection with church and business writing, on the one hand, and oral poetic folk art, on the other. The nature of these connections at each historical stage of the development of literature and in its individual monuments was different.

However, the wider and deeper literature used the artistic experience of folklore, the more clearly it reflected the phenomena of reality, the wider was the sphere of its ideological and artistic influence.

A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is history. Its heroes are predominantly historical figures; it almost does not allow fiction and strictly follows the fact. Even the numerous stories about “miracles” - phenomena that seemed supernatural to a medieval person, are not so much the invention of an ancient Russian writer, but rather accurate records of the stories of either eyewitnesses or the people themselves with whom the “miracle” happened.

The historicism of ancient Russian literature is specifically medieval character. The course and development of historical events is explained by God's will, the will of providence. The heroes of the works are princes, rulers of the state, standing at the top of the hierarchical ladder of feudal society. However, having discarded the religious shell, modern reader easily reveals that living historical reality, the true creator of which was the Russian people.

Main themes of ancient Russian literature. Old Russian literature, inextricably linked with the history of the development of the Russian state and the Russian people, is imbued with heroic and patriotic pathos. The theme of the beauty and greatness of Rus', the motherland,"bright and ornate"Russian land, which“known” and “led” in all corners of the world, - one from the central themes of ancient Russian literature. It glorifies the creative work of our fathers and grandfathers, who selflessly defended great land Russian from external enemies and strengthening a powerful sovereign state"great and spacious" which shines “light”, “like the sun in the sky.”

The Old Russian writer was least of all inclined to an impartial presentation of facts, “listening to good and evil indifferently.” Any genre of ancient literature, be it a historical story or legend, hagiography or church sermon, as a rule, includes significant elements of journalism.

Touching primarily on state-political or moral issues, the writer believes in the power of words, in the power of persuasion. He appeals not only to his contemporaries, but also to distant descendants with an appeal to ensure that the glorious deeds of their ancestors are preserved in the memory of generations and that descendants do not repeat the sad mistakes of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

And since the progressive forces of feudal society reflected national interests, and these interests coincided with the interests of the people, we can talk about the nationality of ancient Russian literature.

The problem of artistic method. The question of the specifics of the artistic method of Old Russian literature was first raised by Soviet researchers I.P. Eremin, V.P. Adrianova-Peretz,

D. S. Likhachev, S. N. Azbelev, A. N. Robinson.

D. S. Likhachev put forward the position of the diversity of artistic methods not only in all ancient Russian literature, but also in this or that author, in this or that work. “Any artistic method,” notes the researcher, “makes up a whole system of large and small means to achieve certain artistic goals. Therefore, each artistic method has many characteristics, and these characteristics in a certain way are related to each other" 1 . He believes that artistic methods differ according to the individuality of the writers, according to eras, according to genres, according to various types connections with business writing. With such an expander

Likhachev D.S. To the study of artistic methods of Russian literature of the 11th-17th centuries. // Heaps of the department of ancient Russian literature. M.; L., 1964. T. 20. P. 7. See also: Likhachev D. S. Poetics of Old Russian Literature. 3rd ed. M., 1973.

In the new understanding of the artistic method, this term is deprived of the certainty of its literary content and cannot be spoken of as a principle of figurative reflection of reality1.

Researchers who believe that ancient Russian literature is characterized by one artistic method are more correct; S. N. Azbelev defined it as syncretic2, I. P. Eremin as pre-realistic3, A. N. Robinson as the method of symbolic historicism4. However, these definitions are not entirely precise and are not exhaustive. I. P. Eremin very successfully noted two sides of the artistic method of Old Russian literature: the reproduction of individual facts in all their specificity, “purely empirical statement,” “reliability,” and the method of “consistent transformation of life.”

To understand and determine the uniqueness of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature, it is necessary to dwell on the nature of the worldview of medieval man5.

It absorbed, on the one hand, speculative religious ideas about the world and man, and on the other hand, a specific vision of reality resulting from the labor practice of a person in feudal society.

In his daily activities, a person is faced with reality: nature, social, economic and political relations. The Christian religion considered the world around man to be temporary, transitory and sharply contrasted it with the eternal, invisible, imperishable world.

The doubling of the world inherent in medieval thinking largely determined the specifics of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature, its leading principle is s y vol i m. “Revealed things are truly images of invisible things,” emphasized the pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite. Medieval people were convinced that symbols were hidden in nature and in man himself, and that historical events were filled with symbolic meaning. The symbol served as a means of revealing meaning and finding truth. Just as the signs of the visible world around a person are polysemantic, so is the word: it can be interpreted not only in its direct, but also in figurative meanings.

Pospelov G. N. Problems of the historical development of literature. M., 1972. P. 14.

Azbelev S. N. On the artistic method of ancient Russian literature // Russian literature. 1959. No. 4. P. 9-22.

Eremin IL. Literature of Ancient Rus'. M; L„ 1966. S. 245-254.

Robinson A. N. Literature of Ancient Rus' in literary process Middle Ages XI-XIII centuries. M., 1980. P. 5-44.

This determines the nature of symbolic metaphors and comparisons in ancient Russian literature1.

Religious Christian symbolism in the consciousness of ancient Russian people was closely intertwined with folk poetic symbolism. Both had a common source - the nature surrounding man. And if the labor agricultural practice of the people gave this symbolism earthly concreteness, then Christianity introduced elements of abstractness.

An Old Russian writer creates his work within the framework of an established tradition: he looks at models, canons, and does not allow “self-thinking,” that is, artistic invention. Its task is to convey the “image of truth.” The medieval historicism of ancient Russian literature, which is inextricably linked with providentialism, is subordinated to this goal. All events occurring in the life of a person and society are considered as a manifestation of divine will. God sends people signs of his anger - heavenly signs, warning them of the need for repentance, cleansing from sins and inviting them to change their behavior - to leave “lawlessness” and turn to the path of virtue. "Sin ours" God, according to the conviction of the medieval writer, brings foreign conquerors, sends the country an “unmerciful” ruler or grants victory, a wise prince as a reward for humility and piety.

History is a constant arena for the struggle between good and evil. The source of goodness, good thoughts and actions is God. The devil and his servants demons push people to evil, “Hate the human race from time immemorial.” However, ancient Russian literature does not relieve responsibility from the person himself. He is free to choose either thorny

Adrianova-Peretz V.P. Essays on the poetic style of Ancient Rus'. M.; L., 1947. P. 9-132.

Bychkov V.V. Byzantine aesthetics. M., 1947. P. 44.

the path of virtue, or the spacious road of sin. In the consciousness of the ancient Russian writer, the categories of ethical and aesthetic organically merged. Good is always beautiful, it is full of light and radiance. Evil is associated with darkness, darkness of the mind. An evil person is like wild beast and even worse than a demon, since the demon is afraid of the cross, and an evil person “is not afraid of the cross, nor is he ashamed of people.”

The ancient Russian writer usually builds his works on the contrast of good and evil, virtues and vices, what should be and what is, ideal and negative heroes. It shows that high moral qualities of a person are the result of hard work, moral feat, "high life" The ancient Russian writer is convinced that

“name and glory are more honorable to a person than personal beauty; glory endures forever, but the face fades after death.”

The character of medieval literature is stamped by the dominance of the estate-corporate principle. The heroes of her works, as a rule, are princes, rulers, generals or church hierarchs, “saints” famous for their deeds of piety. The behavior and actions of these heroes are determined by their social position, “rank”.

“Ordinance” and “orderliness” constituted characteristic feature social life of the Middle Ages, which was strictly regulated by “order”, a system of rules, ritual, ceremonies, and tradition. The order had to be strictly observed from the moment a person was born and accompany him throughout his life until death. Every person is obliged to take his rightful place in general series, i.e. public order. Observance of order is “decorum”, beauty, its violation is “disorderliness”, ugliness. The Old Russian word “rank” corresponds to the Greek “rhythmos”. Strict adherence to the rhythm established by the ancestors of the order constitutes life basis etiquette, ceremoniality of ancient Russian literature1. Thus, the chronicler first of all sought "put the numbers in order" that is, present the material he selected in a strict time sequence. Each time the violation of order was specifically stipulated by the author. Ritual and symbol were the leading principles of reflecting reality in medieval literature.

Thus, symbolism, historicism, ritualism, or etiquette, and didacticism are the leading principles of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature, which incorporates two sides: strict factuality and the ideal transformation of reality. Being unified, this artistic method manifests itself in different ways in specific works. Depending on the genre, time of creation, degree of talent of its author, these principles received

different ratio and stylistic expression. The historical development of Old Russian literature proceeded through the gradual destruction of the integrity of its method, liberation from etiquette, didacticism and Christian symbolism.

Genre system. D. S. Likhachev introduced scientific circulation concept of a genre system. “Genres,” the researcher noted, “are a certain system due to the fact that they are generated by a common set of causes, and also because they interact, support each other’s existence and at the same time compete with each other.”

The specific features of the medieval worldview determined the system of genres of ancient Russian literature, subordinated to practical utilitarian goals - both moral and political2. Along with Christianity, Ancient Rus' also adopted the system of genres of church writing that was developed in Byzantium. There were no genres here yet in the modern literary understanding, but there were canons enshrined in the decrees of ecumenical councils, tradition and charter. Church literature was associated with the ritual of Christian worship and monastic life. Its significance and authority were built on a certain hierarchical principle. The top level was occupied by the books of “holy scripture”. Following them came hymnography and “words” associated with interpretations of “scripture” and explanations of the meaning of the holidays. Such “words” were usually combined into collections - “celebrants”, Triodion colored and Lenten. Then followed the lives - stories about the exploits of saints. The Lives were combined into collections: Prologues (Synaxari), Chetii-Minea, Patericon. Each type of hero: martyr, confessor, monk, stylite, holy fool - corresponded to its own type of life. The composition of the life depended on its use: liturgical practice dictated certain conditions to its compiler, addressing the life to readers and listeners.

Based on Byzantine models, ancient Russian writers created whole line outstanding works hagiographic original literature that reflected the essential aspects of life and everyday life of Ancient Rus'. In contrast to Byzantine hagiography, Old Russian literature creates an original genre of princely lives, which aimed to strengthen the political authority of princely power and surround it with an aura of holiness. Distinctive feature Princely life is “historicism”, a close connection with chronicles, military stories, i.e. genres secular literature.

Likhachev D.S. Poetics of Old Russian Literature. P. 56.

Just like the princely life, on the verge of transition from church genres to secular ones there are “walkings” - travel, descriptions of pilgrimages to “holy places”, legends about icons.

The system of genres of worldly (secular) literature is more flexible. It was developed by ancient Russian writers through extensive interaction with the genres of oral folk art, business writing, as well as church literature.

The dominant position among the genres of secular writing is occupied by the historical story, dedicated to outstanding events related to the struggle against the external enemies of Rus', the evil of princely strife. The story is accompanied by a historical legend and legend. A legend is based on some plot-completed episode; a legend is based on an oral legend. These genres are usually included in chronicles and chronographs.

A special place among worldly genres is occupied by the “Teaching” of Vladimir Monomakh, “The Lay of Igor’s Host”, “The Lay of the Destruction of the Russian Land” and “The Lay” of Daniil Zatochnik. They testify to the high level of literary development achieved by Ancient Russia in the 11th - first half of the 13th century.1

Development of Old Russian literature of the 11th-17th centuries. goes through the gradual destruction of a stable system of church genres and their transformation. Genres of worldly literature are subject to fictionalization. They are becoming increasingly interested in inner world of a person, the psychological motivation of his actions, entertaining and everyday descriptions appear. For changing historical heroes fictitious ones come. In the 17th century this leads to radical changes in the internal structure and style of historical genres and contributes to the birth of new purely fictional works. Virsha poetry, court and school drama, democratic satire, everyday stories, and picaresque short stories appeared.

Each genre of ancient Russian literature had a stable internal compositional structure, its own canon and had, as A. S. Orlov rightly noted, “its own stylistic template.”

D. S. Likhachev examined in detail the history of the development of styles of ancient Russian literature2: in the 11th-12th centuries. The leading style is medieval monumental historicism and at the same time there is a folk epic style, in the XIV-XV centuries. the style of medieval monumental historicism is replaced by emotionally expressive

See: Kuskov V.V. The nature of the medieval worldview and the system of genres of ancient Russian literature of the 11th - first half of the 13th centuries. // Bulletin of Moscow University. Ser. 9. Philology. 1981. No. 1. P. 3-12.

See: Likhachev D.S. Development of Russian literature in the X-XVII centuries. L., 1973.

strong, and in the 16th century - the style of idealizing biographism, or second monumentalism.

However, the picture of the development of styles drawn by D. S. Likhachev somewhat schematizes the more complex process of development of our ancient literature.

Main stages of study. The collection of monuments of ancient Russian writing begins in the 18th century. V. Tatishchev, G. Miller, A. Shletser pay a lot of attention to their study. The remarkable work of V.N. Tatishchev “Russian History from Ancient Times” has not lost its source study significance even today. Its creator used a number of such materials, which were then irretrievably lost.

In the second half of the 18th century. publication of some monuments begins ancient writing. Selected works our ancient literature includes N.I. Novikov in his “Ancient Russian Vifliofika” (the first edition was published in 1773-1774 in 10 parts, the second in 1778-1791 in 20 parts). He also owned the “Experience of a Historical Dictionary of Russian Writers” (1772), which collected information about the life and work of more than three hundred writers of the 11th-18th centuries.

An important event in the history of the study of ancient Russian literature was the publication in 1800 of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” which awakened a keen interest in the past in Russian society.

"Columbus ancient Russia“, according to A. S. Pushkin’s definition, N. M. Karamzin appeared. His “History of the Russian State” was created based on the study of handwritten sources, and the commentaries included precious extracts from these sources, some of which were then lost (for example, the Trinity Chronicle).

In the first third of the last century, the circle of Count N. Rumyantsev played a major role in collecting, publishing and studying monuments of ancient Russian writing.

Members of the Rumyantsev circle published a number of valuable scientific materials. In 1818, K. Kalaidovich published “Ancient Russian Poems of Kirsha Danilov,” in 1821, “Monuments of Russian Literature of the 12th Century,” and in 1824, the study “John the Exarch of Bulgaria” was published.

The scientific publication of Russian chronicles began to be carried out by P. Stroev, who published the “Sofia Temporary” in 1820. For a number of years, from 1829 to 1835, he led archaeographic expeditions to the northern regions of Russia.

Evgeniy Bolkhovitinov took upon himself the colossal work of creating bibliographic reference books. Based on the study of handwritten material, in 1818 he published the “Historical Dictionary of writers of the clergy of the Greek-Russian Church who were in Russia,” in 2 volumes, including 238 names (“The Dictionary” was republished in 1827 and in

1995). His second work - “Dictionary of Russian secular writers, compatriots and foreigners who wrote in Russia” - was published posthumously: the beginning of the “Dictionary” was in 1838, and completely in 1845 by M. P. Pogodin (reprint reprint 1971 G.).

The scientific description of manuscripts began with A. Vostokov, who published “Description of Russian and Slovenian manuscripts of the Rumyantsev Museum” in 1842.

By the end of the 30s of the XIX century. enthusiastic scientists have collected great amount handwritten material. To study, process and publish it when Russian Academy Sciences in 1834 the Archaeographic Commission was created. This commission began the publication of the most important monuments: a complete collection of Russian chronicles (from the 40s of the last century to the present day, 39 volumes have been published), legal, hagiographic monuments, in particular, the publication of the “Great Chetya-Menya” of Metropolitan Macarius began.

Reports of newly found manuscripts and materials related to their study were published in the specially published “Chronicle of the Activities of the Archaeographical Commission.”

In the 40s of the XIX century. At Moscow University, the “Society of Russian History and Antiquities” is active, publishing its materials in special “Readings” (CHOIDR). The “Society of Lovers of Ancient Literature” emerges in St. Petersburg. The works of members of these societies are used to publish the series “Monuments of Ancient Writing” and “Russian Historical Library”.

The first attempt to systematize historical and literary material was made in 1822 by N. I. Grech in “Experience brief history Russian literature".

A significant step forward was “The History of Ancient Russian Literature” (1838) by M. A. Maksimovich, a professor at Kyiv University. Here is a periodization of literature in accordance with the periodization of civil history. The main part of the book is devoted to the presentation of general bibliographic information about the composition of the written language of this period.

The popularization of works of ancient Russian literature and folk literature was facilitated by the publication of I. P. Sakharov’s “Tales of the Russian People” in the second half of the 30s and early 40s. The nature of this publication was thoroughly reviewed on the pages of Otechestvennye Zapiski by V. G. Belinsky.

A special course of lectures was devoted to Old Russian literature, given at Moscow University by Professor S.P. Shevyrev. This course, entitled “History of Russian Literature, Mainly Ancient,” was first published in the second

Belinsky V. G. Poli. collection cit.: In 13 volumes. M., 1954. P. 289-450.

half of the 40s and then was republished twice: in 1858-1860.

And in 1887 S.P. Shevyrev collected a lot of factual material, but

To his interpretation was approached from a Slavophile position. However, his course summarized everything that had been accumulated by researchers to 40 years old.

The systematic study of ancient Russian literature begins in the middle of the last century. Russian philological science at this time was represented by outstanding scientists F.I. Buslaev, A.N. Pypin, N.S. Tikhonravov, A. N. Veselovsky.

Most significant works F. I. Buslaev in the field of ancient writing are “Historical Reader of the Church Slavonic and Old Russian Languages” (1861) and “Historical Sketches of Russian Folk Literature and Art” in 2 volumes (1861).

The anthology of F.I. Buslaev became an outstanding phenomenon not only of its time. It contained the texts of many monuments of ancient writing based on manuscripts with their variants. The scientist tried to present ancient Russian writing in all its diversity genre forms, included in the anthology, along with literary works, monuments of business and church writing.

“Historical Sketches” is devoted to the study of works of oral folk literature (volume 1) and ancient Russian literature and art (volume 2). Sharing the point of view of the so-called “historical school” created by the brothers Grimm and Bopp, Buslaev, however, went further than his teachers. In works of folklore and ancient literature, he not only looked for their “historical” - mythological - basis, but also connected their analysis with specific historical phenomena of Russian life, everyday life, and the geographical environment.

Buslaev was one of the first in our science to raise the question of the need for an aesthetic study of works of ancient Russian literature. He drew attention to the nature of her poetic imagery, noting the leading role of the symbol. Many interesting observations were made by the scientist in the field of relationships between ancient literature and folklore, literature and fine arts; he tried in a new way to solve the issue of the nationality of ancient Russian literature.

By the 70s, Buslaev moved away from the “historical” school and began to share the positions of the “borrowing” school, the theoretical provisions of which were developed by T. Benfey in “Panchatantra”. F. I. Buslaev sets out his new theoretical position in the article “Passing Stories” (1874), considering the historical and literary process as the history of borrowing plots and motifs that pass from one people to another.

A. N. Pypin began his scientific career with the study of ancient Russian literature. In 1858 he published his master's thesis "Essay literary history ancient stories and Russian fairy tales”, devoted to the consideration of mainly translated ancient Russian stories.

Then the attention of A. N. Pypin was attracted to the apocrypha, and he was the first to introduce this most interesting type of ancient Russian writing into scientific circulation, devoting a number of scientific articles to the apocrypha and publishing them in the third issue of “Monuments of Ancient Russian Literature”, published by Kushelev-Bezborodko, “False and renounced books of Russian antiquity."

A. N. Pypin summed up the results of his many years of study of Russian literature in the four-volume “History of Russian Literature,” the first edition of which was published in 1898-1899. (the first two volumes were devoted to ancient Russian literature).

Sharing the views of the cultural-historical school, A. N. Pypin actually does not distinguish literature from general culture. He refuses the chronological distribution of monuments by century, arguing that “due to the conditions in which our writing was formed, it knows almost no chronology.” In his classification of monuments, A. N. Pypin strives to “combine what is homogeneous, although different in origin.”

A. N. Pypin’s book is rich in historical, cultural and literary material, its interpretation is given from the position of liberal enlightenment; the artistic specificity of the works of ancient Russian literature remains outside the field of view of the scientist.

In the development of scientific textual criticism not only of ancient, but also of new Russian literature, the works of Academician N. S. Tikhonravov are of great importance. From 1859 to 1863, he published seven editions of the Chronicles of Russian Literature and Antiquities, in which a number of monuments were published. In 1863, N. S. Tikhonravov published 2 volumes of “Monuments of Renounced Russian Literature,” which compares favorably in completeness and quality of textual work with the publication of A. N. Pypin. Tikhonravov began studying the history of Russian theater and dramaturgy of the late 17th - first quarter of the 18th centuries, which resulted in the publication in 1874 of Russian texts dramatic works 1672-1725 in 2 volumes.

The review of “The History of Russian Literature” by A.D. Galakhov, published by N. S. Tikhonravov in 1878, was of important methodological significance (the 1st edition of this book was published in the early 60s). Tikhonravov criticized the concept of Galakhov, who viewed the history of literature as the history of exemplary verbal works. Tikhonravov contrasted this tasteful, “aesthetic” principle of evaluating literary phenomena with a historical principle. Only compliance with this principle, the scientist argued, will give

the opportunity to create a true literary history. The main works of N. S. Tikhonravov were published posthumously in 1898 in 3 volumes, 4 issues.

A huge contribution to Russian philological science was made by Academician A. N. Veselovsky.

Developing the principles of comparative historical study of literature, in the first period of its scientific activity in 1872, Veseloveky published his doctoral dissertation “Slavic tales of Solomon and Kitovras and Western legends of Morolf and Merlin,” where he established connections between the eastern apocryphal story about King Solomon and Western European chivalric novels dedicated to King Arthur and the knights of the round table.

Veselovsky paid great attention to the relationship between literature and folklore, devoting such interesting works, as “Experiments on the history of the development of Christian legend” (1875-1877) and “Research in the field of Russian spiritual verse” (1879-1891). IN last job he applied the principle of sociological study of literary phenomena, which became leading in the most significant theoretical works scientist.

Veselovsky’s general literary concept was idealistic in nature, but it contained many rational grains, many correct observations, which were then used by Soviet literary criticism. Speaking about the history of the study of ancient Russian literature at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, one cannot fail to mention such a wonderful Russian philologist and historian as Academician A. A. Shakhmatov. The breadth of knowledge, extraordinary philological talent, and scrupulous textual analysis gave him the opportunity to achieve brilliant results in studying the fate of the most ancient Russian chronicles.

The successes achieved by the Russian philological science in the field of studying ancient writing by the beginning of the 20th century, were enshrined in the historical and literary courses of P. Vladimirov “Ancient Russian literature of the Kiev period (XI-XIII centuries)” (Klev, 1901),

A. S. Arkhangelsky “From lectures on the history of Russian literature” (vol. 1st, 1916), E. V. Petukhova “Russian literature. Ancient period" (3rd ed. Pg., 1916), M. N. Speransky "History of ancient Russian literature" (3rd ed. M., 1920). It is appropriate to mention the book here

B. N. Peretz " Brief essay methodology of the history of Russian literature,” last published in 1922.

All these works, distinguished by the great content of the factual material contained in them, gave only a static idea of ancient Russian literature. The history of ancient literature was considered as a history of changing influences: Byzantine, first South Slavic, second South Slavic, Western European (Polish). No class was applied to literary phenomena.

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 Russia, 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. Most shining example This includes spiritual poems, 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 by 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 literary language in Kievan Rus, the strength and depth of its folk East Slavic speech basis and, accordingly, the weakness and superficiality of 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 compiled 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.

At the end of the 10th century, the literature of Ancient Rus' arose, literature on the basis of which the literature of three fraternal peoples developed - 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.

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 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, the structure of the human body, the history of the state, that is, they 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 in his work D. Likhachev formulated the features of the literature of the most ancient period of Russian history.

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.

1.2 Periods of the history of ancient literature.

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 the cultural center of 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.

The next period, the end of the 14th century. and the first half of the 15th century, this is a period of patriotic upsurge in literature, a period of chronicle writing and historical storytelling. This century coincides with the economic and cultural renaissance Russian land before and after the Battle of Kulikovo 1380. In the middle of the 15th century. New phenomena appear in literature: translated literature, “The Tale of Dracula”, “The Tale of Basarga” appear. All these periods, from the 13th century. to the 15th century can be combined into one period and defined as the period of feudal fragmentation and the unification of North-Eastern Rus'. Since the literature of the second period begins with the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders (1204), and when the main role of Kyiv had already ended and three fraternal people: Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.

The third period is the period of literature of the Russian centralized state of the XIV - XVII centuries. When the state plays an active role in the international relations of its time, and also reflects the further growth of the Russian centralized state. And since the 17th century. begins new period Russian history. .