What is the innovation of ancient Russian literature? Seven centuries of ancient Russian literature: general features, spirituality and genres

Old Russian literature is a conventional name, that is, the ancient period, the medieval period and the period of feudal fragmentation. This is the initial and historically logical stage in the development of Russian literature. Its emergence is associated with the process of formation of the early feudal state. Literature is subordinated to the strengthening of the feudal system and religion - Christianity, therefore, mainly church-religious genres developed.

Factors in the emergence of Old Russian literature:

- the emergence of writing,

- acceptance of Christianity,

– the development of monasteries (which played a huge role in the spread of religion, literacy and writing; Cyril and Methodius - the Slavic alphabet; the proximity of the Old Russian language to the Old Bulgarian and Old Church Slavonic contributed to the spread of writing),

- folklore.

Old Russian literature has specific features that distinguish it from folklore and literature of modern times:

1. The handwritten nature of the existence of distribution, and each work existed as part of various collections, and not in the form of separate manuscripts; these collections pursued practical goals. Basil the Great wrote: “Everything that serves not for the sake of benefit, but for the sake of beauty, is subject to accusation of vanity.” The value of the book was assessed in terms of usefulness. In the “Tale of Bygone Years” under the year 1037 it is written: “There is great benefit from the teaching of books, through books we teach repentance, books are rivers that fill the Universe, they help abstain from bad deeds, if you look for wisdom, you will find benefits for the soul.”

Depending on the genre, on the sacred meaning of the work, this or that text underwent changes in accordance with the social, national, professional or personal sympathies of a person, therefore “author, editor, scribe” for Old Russian literature are very fragile concepts. In accordance with this, the works existed in several lists or editions, so we can talk about the relationship between Old Russian literature and Russian folklore.

2. Anonymity is a very common phenomenon. Almost no information about authors and scribes has been preserved. Anonymity was determined not only by historical reality, but also by the paucity of information about the authors that has reached us, which is associated with the religious-Christian attitude of feudal society towards the individual and the work of the scribe. The Church considered the creation and rewriting of books to be a godly work; the work of scribes required humility; they should not be proud of their work, so names were rarely preserved. In addition, in medieval society the idea of ​​authorship was very poorly developed, there was no copyright at all, individual characteristics and personality were very poorly reflected in the texts.

The author's texts have not reached us, but were preserved in later copies, which were sometimes several centuries distant from the time of the original. So, for example, Nestor’s “Tale” of 1113 has not survived, but has come to us in a later edition; its edition by Sylvester 1116 is known only as part of the Laurentian Chronicle of 1377; “The Tale of Igor’s Host” from the 12th century has reached us only in a 16th-century collection in the list.

3. Lack of dating for most literary monuments. Therefore, historians resort to different methods to clarify the date of certain texts.

4. Until the 16th century, literature was closely connected with church and business writing, which is due to the fact that by this time literature had not yet emerged as an independent sphere of consciousness, but was connected with philosophy, science and religion. Gradually, it stands out from the general flow of writing; at the same time, literature becomes secularized and democratized; literature is gradually liberated from the power of the church and the connection with church writing disappears.

5. Historicism: Heroes are predominantly heroic individuals; literature never allowed fiction, strictly followed the facts of life, and miracles related to real phenomena, since the author referred to eyewitnesses of the events. Fiction was equated with lies.

Throughout the development of literature, the leading genres were historical, but in the 17th century they began to be replaced by fictional genres (everyday stories, satirical stories and fairy tales appeared).

Historicism was medieval in nature, that is, the course and development of historical events is often explained from a religious point of view, providentialism dominates (when the source on earth is always God).

Artistic generalization was very poorly developed, built on the basis of a single specific historical fact or event, and a single event was selected that bore traces of its prevalence. Stories about battles were widely circulated; they were based on specific historical events. But for Rus' it was important to prove the harm of strife. Princely crimes and, accordingly, stories about them were very common: “The Tale of the Blinding of Vasilko Terebovalsky” (he was blinded by his brothers, fearing his coming to the throne); as well as walks to the Holy Land (Jerusalem), for example, “The Walks of Hegumen Daniel.” The heroes of the works are mainly princes, high church leaders and rulers.

6. The normativity of poetics (that is, the totality of artistic means) is manifested in the wide dissemination of “commonplaces”; a certain “etiquette” was adopted, which was composed of an idea of ​​​​how the course of events should have taken place, how the character should have behaved in accordance with his position in society, what words should be used to describe the event. Thus, the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior, and verbal etiquette were important. Verbal etiquette: stable verbal formulas; but there were also repeating situational formulas, similar descriptions of characteristics (situations of defeat, victory). In addition, the author’s declarative statements about his ignorance, about his lack of learning.

7. Genres and styles.

There is a clear division into church and secular genres, and there is a hierarchy (the highest genre is the books of Holy Scripture: the Bible, testaments). Church genres include solemn preaching genres (hymnographies), lives, chetya menaia (monthly readings), patericon or fatherland (collections of short stories about the lives of saints).

Gradually, purely church genres were destroyed, secular material and folklore (laments), as well as walks, appeared in them.

Secular works: chronicles, chronographs, military stories, historical stories.

The genre of teaching is something between the church and secular genres.

“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” is a synthesis of genres.

Styles and genres are very closely related to each other.

D.S. Likhachev presents the history of Russian literature in the relationship of literary styles, genres and characters:

11th century - 12th century - the dominance of the style of monumental historicism and epic style.

14th century - 15th century - the style of monumental historicism is replaced by an expressive-emotional style, although the traditions of the style of monumental historicism continue to be preserved.

16th century – second monumentalism or idealizing biographism (“Graduate Book of the Royal Genealogy”).

8. Old Russian literature is patriotic and carries a very deep civic principle.

9. High moral content: great attention was paid to the moral qualities of princes, and later of people in general.

All these features vary depending on the period and era.

The oldest translated literature

(late 10th – first half of 11th centuries)

These are biblical books, apocrypha, lives; secular translated stories (chronicles, historical stories, “scientific literature”).

Christianity played a big role in the development of Russian culture. After this, Kievan Rus became one of the leading countries in Europe. Rus' drew literary monuments from Bulgaria, which adopted Christianity somewhat earlier. In Rus' there were no words for the new religion, so the first literary monuments were translated. Under Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise, many translations were carried out.

Biblical books were the basis of teaching and worldview. This is a collection of books of different genres, which was compiled from the 12th century BC. to 2-3 centuries AD Therefore, it contains various and sometimes contradictory tales: mythological, folk beliefs, religious journalism, lyrical and epic works, historical texts based on legends, peculiar “stories” about the origin of the world and man. There is no unity or religious views in it, since there is a cult of nature, polytheism, belief in magic, and belief in a single deity.

The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament books tell about the history of the Jewish people, their ancient fate and religion. The New Testament books are associated with the initial period of Christianity and set out the foundations of Christian doctrine. The structure of the Bible is quite complex.

Scientists classify everything books of the Old Testament in 5 groups:

– historical,

– prophetic,

– poetic,

– didactic,

– eschatological.

This classification is conditional.

Historical books: this is the Pentateuch of Moses, in which the history of the Jewish people unfolds until they occupied Palestine in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. Here the inequality of rights and power of the king was justified.

Prophetic books: The books of the prophets are the writings attributed to the early prophets (the book of Joshua). It describes the history of the Jewish people from their settlement in Palestine until the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, that is, until the end of the 6th century BC. There are also writings of later prophets, the 12 minor prophets. These books are rather mournful, pathetically emotional sermons, denunciations, threats, laments, sorrowful reflections on the fate of the Jewish people and a prediction that they will receive complete freedom.

Poetry books: These are the Psalter, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes.

The Psalter is a collection of psalms (hymns, prayers and songs of a religious and secular nature that were used in worship). This is one of the first books translated into Russian. The psalms are based on folklore genres (spells, wedding songs, laments, etc.). The particular popularity of the Psalter in Rus' is explained by the lyricism of many psalms - religious lyricism.

The Song of Songs is a kind of love poem, written in rhythmic phrases, its authorship is attributed to Solomon, the love of Solomon and Shulamith is described.

Ecclesiastes – IV-III centuries BC. The style allows one to judge that it was created among professional scribes. It is based on pessimistic reasoning about the futility and vanity of human life. The main motive is the futility of a person’s intentions to subjugate life; life is cyclical, stable, repeatable, so the preacher looks at life sadly.

Educational books: Solomon's parables are a book of aphorisms, a teaching attitude - the need to learn wisdom, the rules of prudence, justice. This part is very contradictory: on the one hand, there is trust in God, on the other, there is trust in man.

Eschatological books: These are books about the ultimate destinies of the world. They develop the idea that earthly life is temporary, and the hour will come when it will be destroyed.

New Testament books can also be classified into the same categories. All books reflect a higher level of development of religious culture - Christianity. They include the Gospel, the apostolic acts and their epistles (Apostle), and the revelation or apocalypse of John the Evangelist.

Historical books:

Gospel - “good news or good news” - the biography of Jesus Christ, told by his disciples: from Matthew, from Mark, from Luke, from John - this is the four Gospels. Their narratives differ in certain facts, but in general they are a story about the life of Christ - historical events associated with the life of Christ.

The apostolic acts are stories about the disciples of Christ, a description of their deeds about the spread of Christianity.

Educational books:

These are the letters of the apostles, consisting of 21 canonical letters of the disciples of Christ; their goal is to popularize, interpret the teachings of Christ, preach the teachings, and therefore are instructive in nature.

Eschatological books:

This is the Revelation of John the Evangelist (about 68 - 70 AD)

The Revelation arose on the basis of Jewish literature and contains an account of fantastic visions that predict catastrophic events before the end of the world. These catastrophes will end with the second coming of Christ, who will finally defeat the enemy.

The Bible was translated into Russian from Bulgarian in the 10th – 11th centuries in fragments. First of all, the Psalter was translated; it was in two versions - explanatory and fortune-telling. The entire text of the Old Testament was translated at the end of the 15th century in Novgorod on the initiative of Archbishop Gennady (Gennady's Bible). The New Testament was not completely translated during the Kievan period.

Bible Meaning:

During the period of strengthening of feudalism - to strengthen the system. From a moral point of view, it contains a certain moral code. From the point of view of literary and aesthetic value, the books were rich in folklore material; they also contained very vivid plot and conflict stories, which were distinguished by their emotionality and imagery. The language of the Bible is of particular importance; we learned to read from the Psalter. In addition, the biography of Christ influenced the hagiographic literature in Rus'.

But the assimilation of the new Christian teaching also took place through the widespread use of apocrypha (translated as secret, hidden, not accessible to everyone). These are works designed primarily for a narrow circle of select people. Later, heretics began to use them to criticize the official church, so the apocrypha was not recognized by the church.

Apocrypha are legendary religious narratives that are close in themes and images to canonical books, but differ sharply in the interpretation of events and characters. They incorporated folk ideas and folklore techniques.

Thematically, the Apocrypha is divided into Old Testament, New Testament and eschatological. In the Old Testament - the heroes are Adam, Eve, forefathers, etc., the New Testament - are devoted to stories about Christ and the apostles, eschatological ones contain fantastic stories about the afterlife and the fate of the world.

A special group consists of apocryphal lives(for example, the life of St. George the Victorious). The bulk of such literature came to us from Bulgaria and was associated with the heresy of priest Bogomil. This heresy revised the orthodox monotheistic teaching and proposed dualism - the dominance in the world of two principles - good and evil.

In Rus', already in 10741, in the Tale of Bygone Years, one of the apocryphal legends was recorded, setting out the Bogomil ideas about the dual nature of man.

The apocrypha includes the gospels of Nicodemus, James, and Thomas, in which the personality of Christ is depicted in a more down-to-earth manner. Eschatological apocrypha - Agapit's walk to heaven, the Virgin Mary's walk through torment.

Hagiography (hagiographical) translated literature

This is a church genre dedicated to saints. It arose at the end of the 11th century, came to us from Byzantium and existed as literature for reading.

In all the lives, a conventional idealized image of the saint is given, his life and exploits in an atmosphere of miracle. The peculiarity is that the lives depicted the moral church ideal of a person who achieved the complete triumph of the spirit over the sinful flesh, this was a person who followed Christ in everything, therefore there is always an approach to the moral image of Christ.

Lives were popular because they combined an entertaining plot narrative and a certain dose of edification and panegyric.

Lives were built according to a certain scheme:

It began with an indication of the origin of the saint (from pious parents), then a description of his childhood (he does not play games, secludes himself, learns to read and write early, reads the Bible), refuses marriage, retires to a deserted place, founds a monastery there, becomes a monk, to him the brethren flock, he endures various temptations, predicts the day and hour of his death, instructs the brethren, dies, his body is incorruptible and emits a fragrance - evidence of holiness; then miracles happen. Then there is a brief praise, which lists all the virtues of the saint, sometimes there are laments.

It should be noted that the image of the hero of life was devoid of individual character traits, freed from everything accidental.

Lives of two types:

– lives-martyrium – about the torment of the saint (life of St. Irene),

- the lives of saints who voluntarily accepted the feat of seclusion.

Lives were distributed in two forms:

– in short – prologue lives, as part of collections of prologues, were used in divine services,

- in lengthy form - the menaine readings - were intended to be read at monastic meals.

A special type of hagiographic literature - patericon or otechniki- these are collections that contained only the most important from the point of view of holiness the deeds of the saints and the events of their lives. These are a kind of short stories-legends. (Sinai Patericon).

All patericons had entertaining plots that combined naive fantasy and everyday pictures.

In the 12th century, the lives of Nicholas the Wonderworker, Anthony the Great, and John Chrysostom were already known in the lists. The life of Alexei, the man of God by an unknown author, gained particular popularity, which had a great influence on hagiographic literature and formed the basis of spiritual poems.

In addition, among the translated literature there are works of natural science - “The Physiologist” (2-3 centuries AD about the world, plants and animals) and “Sex Day” (about the creation of the world).

In the 12th century, an adventure novel about the life and exploits of Alexander the Great, “Alexandria,” was translated from Greek.

All medieval states usually learned from the countries that inherited ancient culture. Bulgaria and Byzantium were of great importance for Rus'. The perception of foreign culture among the Eastern Slavs has always been creative; the works always met the internal needs of developing Rus', and therefore they acquired their own characteristics.

“Separate observations on the artistic specifics of Old Russian literature were already available in the works of F.I. Buslaev, I.S. Nekrasov, I.S. Tikhonravov, V.O. Klyuchevsky.” Likhachev D.S. Poetics of Old Russian Literature, M., 1979, p. 5.

But only at the end of the twentieth century did works appear that set out the general views of their authors on the artistic specifics and artistic methods of Old Russian literature. “These views can be traced in the works of I.P. Eremin, V.P. Andrianova-Peretz, D.S. Likhachev, S.N. Azbelev.” Kuskov V.V. History of Old Russian Literature, M., 1989, p. 9.

D.S. Likhachev put forward the position of the diversity of artistic methods not only in all ancient Russian literature, but in this or that author, in this or that work.

“Every artistic method,” the researcher distinguishes, “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 are correlated with each other in a certain way.” Likhachev D.S. To the study of artistic methods of Russian literature of the 11th-17th centuries // TODRL, M., Leningrad, 1964, vol. 20, p.7.

The worldview of a medieval person absorbed, on the one hand, speculative religious ideas about the human world, 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 faces 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, imperishable world. The principles of the temporal and eternal are contained in man himself: his mortal body and immortal soul; the result of divine revelation allows a person to penetrate the secrets of the ideal world. The soul imparts life to the body and spiritualizes it. The body is the source of carnal passions and the diseases and suffering that result from them.

A person perceives reality with the help of the five senses - this is the lowest form of sensory knowledge of the “visible world”. The “invisible” world is comprehended through reflection. Only internal spiritual insight as a doubling of the world largely determined the specificity of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature, its leading principle being 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. Just as the signs of the visible world around a person are polysemantic, so is the word: it can be interpreted both in literal and figurative meanings.

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.

A characteristic feature of medieval thinking was retrospectiveness and traditionalism. Thus, the ancient Russian writer constantly refers to texts of “scripture”, which he interprets not only historically, but also allegorically, tropologically and analogically.

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,” i.e. artistic invention. 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.

History is a constant arena for the struggle between good and evil. The source of goodness, good thoughts and actions is God. The devil pushes people to evil. But ancient Russian literature does not relieve responsibility from the person himself. He is free to choose either the thorny 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. The ancient Russian writer usually builds his works on the contrast of good and evil, virtues and vices, ideal and negative heroes. It shows that high moral qualities of a person are the result of hard work and moral achievement.

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 hierarchies, “saints” famous for their deeds of piety. The behavior and actions of these heroes are determined by their social status.

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.

The originality of ancient Russian literature:

Works of ancient Russian literature existed and were distributed in manuscripts. Moreover, this or that work did not exist in the form of a separate, independent manuscript, but was part of various collections. Another feature of medieval literature is the absence of copyright. We know of only a few individual authors, book writers, who modestly put their name at the end of the manuscript. At the same time, the writer supplied his name with such epithets as “thin”. But in most cases, the writer wished to remain anonymous. As a rule, the author’s texts have not reached us, but later lists of them have been preserved. Often, scribes acted as editors and co-authors. At the same time, 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 the time. As a result, new editions of monuments were created. Thus, a researcher of ancient Russian literature must study all available lists of a particular work, establish the time and place of their writing by comparing various editions, variants of lists, and also determine in which edition the list most closely matches the original author's text. Such sciences as textual criticism and paleography (studies the external signs of handwritten monuments - handwriting, lettering, the nature of writing material) can come to the rescue.

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 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.

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.

In the 11th – first half of the 12th century, the main writing material was parchment, made from the skin of calves or lambs. Birch bark played the role of student notebooks.

To save writing material, the words in the line were not separated and only paragraphs of the manuscript were highlighted with red initial letters. Frequently used, well-known words were written abbreviated under a special superscript - title. The parchment was pre-lined. Handwriting with regular, almost square letters was called charter.

The written sheets were sewn into notebooks, which were bound into wooden boards.

The problem of artistic method:

The artistic method of ancient Russian literature is inextricably linked with the nature of the worldview, the worldview of medieval man, which absorbed religious speculative ideas about the world and a concrete vision of reality associated with labor practice. In the minds of medieval man, the world existed in two dimensions: real, earthly and heavenly, spiritual. The Christian religion insisted that human life on earth is temporary. The purpose of earthly life is preparation for eternal, incorruptible life. These preparations should consist of moral improvement of the soul, curbing sinful passions, etc.

Two aspects of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature are associated with the dual nature of the worldview of medieval man:

1) reproduction of individual facts in all their specificity, purely empirical statements;

2) consistent transformation of life, that is, the idealization of the facts of real life, the depiction of not what is, but what should be.

The first side of the artistic method is associated with the historicism of Old Russian literature in its medieval understanding, and with the second - its symbolism.

The Old Russian writer was convinced that symbols are hidden in nature, in man himself. He believed that historical events were also full of symbolic meaning, since he believed that history moves and is directed by the will of the deity. The writer considered symbols as the main means of revealing the truth, discovering the inner meaning of a phenomenon. Just as the phenomena of the surrounding world are polysemantic, so is the word. This is where the symbolic nature of metaphors and comparisons in ancient Russian literature stems.

An Old Russian writer, trying to convey an image of truth, strictly follows a fact that he himself witnessed or about which he learned from the words of an eyewitness, a participant in the event. He does not doubt the truth of miracles, supernatural phenomena, he believes in their reality.

As a rule, the heroes of works of ancient Russian literature are historical figures. Only in some cases do representatives of the people turn out to be heroes.

Medieval literature is still alien to any individualization of human character. Old Russian writers create generalized typological images of an ideal ruler, a warrior, on the one hand, and an ideal ascetic, on the other. These images are sharply contrasted with the generalized typological image of the evil ruler and the collective image of the demon-devil, personifying evil.

In the view of the ancient Russian writer, life is a constant arena of the struggle between good and evil.

The source of goodness, good thoughts and actions is God. The devil and demons push people to evil. However, Old Russian literature does not relieve responsibility from the person himself. Everyone is free to choose their own path.

In the consciousness of the ancient Russian writer, the categories of ethical and aesthetic merged. Good is always beautiful. Evil is associated with darkness.

The writer builds his works on the contrast of good and evil. He brings the reader to the idea that high moral qualities of a person are the result of hard moral work.

The behavior and actions of the heroes are determined by their social status, their belonging to the princely, boyar, druzhina, and church classes.

Strict adherence to the rhythm and order established by the ancestors forms the vital basis of etiquette and ceremoniality of ancient Russian literature. So the chronicler, first of all, sought to put the numbers in a row, that is, to arrange the material he selected in chronological sequence.

The works of ancient Russian literature were didactic and moralizing in nature. They were called upon to help get rid of vices.

So, medieval historicism, symbolism, ritualism and didacticism are the leading principles of artistic representation in works of ancient Russian literature. In different works, depending on the genre and time of their creation, these features manifested themselves differently.

The historical development of Old Russian literature proceeded through the gradual destruction of the integrity of its method, liberation from Christian symbolism, ritualism and didacticism.

3 – 6. “The Tale of Bygone Years.”

The main ideas of the initial chronicle. Already in the title itself - “Behold the tales of the bygone years, where did the Russian land come from, who began to reign first in Kyiv, and where did the Russian land come from” - contains an indication of the ideological and thematic content of the chronicle. The Russian land, its historical destinies, from its origin to the first decade of the 12th century, are the focus of the chronicle. The high patriotic idea of ​​the power of the Russian land, its political independence, religious independence from Byzantium constantly guides the chronicler when he introduces into his work the “traditions of deep antiquity” and truly historical events of the recent past.

The chronicles are unusually topical, journalistic, full of sharp condemnation of princely strife and strife that weakens the power of the Russian land, a call to guard the Russian land, not to disgrace the Russian land in the fight against external enemies, first of all with the steppe nomads - the Pechenegs, and then the Polovtsians.

The theme of the homeland is decisive and leading in the chronicle. The interests of the homeland dictate to the chronicler one or another assessment of the prince’s actions and are the measure of his glory and greatness. A living sense of the Russian land, homeland and people gives the Russian chronicler that unprecedented breadth of political horizon, which is unusual in Western European historical chronicles.

From written sources, chroniclers borrow the historical Christian-scholastic concept, connecting the history of the Russian land with the general course of development of “world” history. The Tale of Bygone Years opens with the biblical legend of the division of the earth after the flood between the sons of Noah - Shem, Ham and Japheth. The Slavs are the descendants of Japhet, that is, they, like the Greeks, belong to a single family of European peoples.

Finally, it is possible to “establish” the first date - 6360 - (852) - mentioned in "Chronicles of the Greeks" "Russian Land". This date makes it possible to put "numbers in a row" that is, proceed to a consistent chronological presentation, more precisely, the arrangement of the material "by the years" - on years. And when they cannot attach any event to a particular date, they limit themselves to simply fixing the date itself (for example: “in the summer of 6368”, “in the summer of 6369”). The chronological principle provided ample opportunities for free handling of the material, made it possible to introduce new legends and stories into the chronicle, exclude old ones if they did not correspond to the political interests of the time and the author, and supplement the chronicle with records of events of recent years, of which its compiler was a contemporary.

As a result of the application of the weather chronological principle of presenting the material, the idea of ​​history gradually emerged as a continuous sequential chain of events. The chronological connection was reinforced by a genealogical, tribal connection, the continuity of the rulers of the Russian land, starting from Rurik and ending (in the Tale of Bygone Years) with Vladimir Monomakh.

At the same time, this principle made the chronicle fragmentary, which I. P. Eremin drew attention to.

Genres included in the chronicle. The chronological principle of presentation allowed the chroniclers to include in the chronicle material that was heterogeneous in nature and genre characteristics. The simplest narrative unit of a chronicle is a laconic weather record, limited only to a statement of fact. However, the very inclusion of this or that information in the chronicle indicates its significance from the point of view of the medieval writer.

The chronicle also presents a type of detailed record, recording not only the “actions” of the prince, but also their results. For example: "IN summer 6391. Until Oleg fought the Derevlyans, and, having tormented them, imposed a tribute on them, according to black kun.” and so on.

Both a brief weather record and a more detailed documentary one. There are no speech-decorating tropes in them. The recording is simple, clear and concise, which gives it special significance, expressiveness and even majesty.

The chronicler's focus is on the event - "What's going on in the summer of strength." They are followed by news of the death of the princes. The birth of children and their marriage are recorded less often. Then information about the construction activities of the princes. Finally, reports on church affairs, which occupy a very modest place. True, the chronicler describes the transfer of the relics of Boris and Gleb, includes legends about the beginning of the Pechersk Monastery, the death of Theodosius of Pechersk and stories about the memorable monks of Pechersk. This is quite explainable by the political significance of the cult of the first Russian saints Boris and Gleb and the role of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery in the formation of the initial chronicle.

An important group of chronicle news consists of information about heavenly signs - eclipses of the sun, moon, earthquakes, epidemics, etc. The chronicler sees a connection between unusual natural phenomena and the lives of people, historical events. Historical experience associated with the evidence of the chronicle of George Amartol leads the chronicler to the conclusion: “For signs in the heavens, or the stars, or the sun, or birds, or creatures, are not for good; but there are signs of evil, whether the manifestation of an army, or a famine, or death.”

News of various topics can be combined within one chronicle article. The material included in the “Tale of Bygone Years” allows us to distinguish a historical legend, a toponymic legend, a historical legend (associated with the heroic druzhina epic), a hagiographic legend, as well as a historical legend and a historical story.

The connection between the chronicle and folklore . The chronicler draws material about the events of the distant past from the treasury of folk memory.

The appeal to the toponymic legend was dictated by the chronicler’s desire to find out the origin of the names of Slavic tribes, individual cities and the word “Rus” itself. Thus, the origin of the Slavic tribes Radimichi and Vyatichi is associated with the legendary people from the Poles - the brothers Radim and Vyatko. This legend arose among the Slavs, obviously, during the period of decomposition of the clan system, when an isolated clan elder, in order to justify his right to political dominance over the rest of the clan, creates a legend about his supposedly foreign origin. Close to this chronicle legend is the legend about the calling of princes, placed in the chronicle under 6370 (862). At the invitation of the Novgorodians from overseas "to reign and to become voluptuous" Three Varangian brothers come to the Russian land with their families: Rurik, Sineus, Truvor.

The folklore nature of the legend confirms the presence of the epic number three - three brothers.

The legend about the calling of the princes served as an important argument for proving the sovereignty of the Kyiv state, and did not at all indicate the inability of the Slavs to independently organize their state, without the help of Europeans, as some scientists tried to prove.

A typical toponymic legend is also the legend about the founding of Kyiv by three brothers - Kiy, Shchek, Khoryv and their sister Lybid. The chronicler himself points to the oral source of the material included in the chronicle: “Ini, ignorant, rekosha, what kind of carrier Kiy was.” The chronicler indignantly rejects the version of the folk legend about Kie the Carrier. He categorically states that Kiy was a prince, made successful campaigns against Constantinople, where he received great honor from the Greek king and founded the settlement of Kievets on the Danube.

Echoes of ritual poetry from the times of the clan system are filled with chronicles about Slavic tribes, their customs, wedding and funeral ceremonies.

The chronicle news about Vladimir’s marriage to the Polotsk princess Rogneda, about his abundant and generous feasts held in Kyiv - the Korsun legend - goes back to folk tales. On the one hand, before us appears a pagan prince with his unbridled passions, on the other, an ideal Christian ruler, endowed with all the virtues: meekness, humility, love for the poor, for the monastic and monastic order, etc. A contrasting comparison of the pagan prince With the Christian prince, the chronicler sought to prove the superiority of the new Christian morality over pagan morality.

The reign of Vladimir was covered in the heroism of folk tales already at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century.

The legend of the victory of the Russian youth Kozhemyaki over the Pecheneg giant is imbued with the spirit of the folk heroic epic. As in the folk epic, the legend emphasizes the superiority of a person of peaceful labor, a simple artisan over a professional warrior - a Pecheneg hero. The images of the legend are built on the principle of contrastive comparison and broad generalization. At first glance, the Russian young man is an ordinary, unremarkable person, but he embodies the enormous, gigantic strength that the Russian people possess, decorating the land with their labor and protecting it on the battlefield from external enemies. The Pecheneg warrior with his gigantic size terrifies those around him. The boastful and arrogant enemy is contrasted with a modest Russian youth, the youngest son of a tanner. He accomplishes the feat without arrogance and boasting. At the same time, the legend is confined to the toponymic legend about the origin of the city of Pereyaslavl - “the zone of reaping the glory of the youth”, but this is a clear anachronism, since Pereyaslavl was already mentioned more than once in the chronicle before this event.

The legend of Belgorod jelly is associated with the folk fairy tale epic. This legend glorifies the intelligence, resourcefulness and ingenuity of the Russian people.

The folklore basis is clearly felt in the church legend about the visit to the Russian land by the Apostle Andrew. By placing this legend, the chronicler sought to “historically” substantiate the religious independence of Rus' from Byzantium. The legend claimed that the Russian land received Christianity not from the Greeks, but allegedly by the disciple of Christ himself - the Apostle Andrew, who once walked the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" along the Dnieper and Volkhov, Christianity was predicted on Russian soil. The church legend about how Andrei blessed the Kyiv mountains is combined with the folk tale about Andrei’s visit to the Novgorod land. This legend is of an everyday nature and is associated with the custom of the inhabitants of the Slavic north to steam in hotly heated wooden baths.

Most of the chronicles dedicated to the events of the 9th - late 10th centuries are associated with oral folk art and its epic genres.

Historical stories and legends as part of the chronicle . As the chronicler moves from narrating events of long ago to the recent past, the chronicle material becomes increasingly historically accurate, strictly factual and official.

The chronicler's attention is drawn only to historical figures at the top of the feudal hierarchical ladder. In depicting their actions, he follows the principles of medieval historicism. According to these principles, only purely official events that have historical significance for the state should be recorded in the chronicle, and the private life of a person and the everyday environment around him are not of interest to the chronicler.

The chronicle develops the ideal of a prince-ruler. This ideal is inseparable from the general patriotic ideas of the chronicle. The ideal ruler is the living embodiment of love for his native land, its honor and glory, the personification of its power and dignity. All his actions, all his activities are determined by the good of his homeland and people. Therefore, in the view of the chronicler, the prince cannot belong to himself. He is first and foremost a historical figure who always appears in an official setting, endowed with all the attributes of princely power. D. S. Likhachev notes that the prince in the chronicle is always official, he seems to be addressed to the viewer and is presented in his most significant actions. The prince's virtues are a kind of ceremonial clothing; at the same time, some virtues are purely mechanically attached to others, thanks to which it became possible to combine secular and church ideals. Fearlessness, courage, military valor are combined with humility, meekness and other Christian virtues.

If the prince’s activities are aimed at the good of his homeland, the chronicler glorifies him in every possible way, endowing him with all the qualities of a predetermined ideal. If the prince’s activities run counter to the interests of the state, the chronicler does not spare black paint and attributes to the negative character all the mortal sins: pride, envy, ambition, greed, etc.

The principles of medieval historicism are vividly embodied in stories "About the murder of Borisov"(1015) and about the blinding of Vasilko Terebovlsky, which can be classified as historical stories about princely crimes. However, in style these are completely different works. Tale "About the murder of Borisov" sets out the historical facts of the murder of the brothers Boris and Gleb by Svyatopolk with extensive use of elements of hagiographic style. It is built on the contrast of the ideal prince-martyrs and the ideal villain. "cursed" Svyatopolk. The story ends with praise oh, glorifying “Christ-loving passion-bearers”, “shining lamps”, “bright stars” - “intercessors of the Russian land”. At its end there is a prayer call to the martyrs to conquer the filthy "under the nose of our prince" and deliver them "from the internal army" so that they may remain in peace and unity. This is how the patriotic idea common to the entire chronicle is expressed in hagiographic form. At the same time the story "About the murder of Borisov" interesting for a number of “documentary” details, “realistic details”.

The story does not idealize Vasilko. He is not only a victim of slander, cruelty and treachery of Davyd Igorevich, gullibility of Svyatopolk, but he himself reveals no less cruelty both towards the perpetrators of evil and towards innocent people. There is no idealization in the depiction of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Svyatopolk, indecisive, gullible, weak-willed. The story allows the modern reader to imagine the characters of living people with their human weaknesses and strengths.

The story was written by a medieval writer, who builds it on the opposition of two symbolic images of “cross” and “knife”, which run through the entire narrative as a leitmotif.

Thus, “The Tale of the Blinding of Vasilko Terebovlsky” sharply condemns the princes’ violation of their contractual obligations, leading to terrible bloody crimes, bringing evil to the entire Russian land.

Descriptions of events related to the military campaigns of the princes take on the character of a historical documentary tale, indicating the formation of the genre of military stories. Elements of this genre are present in the tale of Yaroslav’s revenge on the Accursed Svyatopolk in 1015-1016.

This chronicle tale already contains the main plot and compositional elements of a military story: gathering troops, going on a campaign, preparing for battle, battle and its denouement.

All this allows us to talk about the presence in “The Tale of Bygone Years” of the main components of the genre of a military story.

Within the framework of the historical documentary style, messages about heavenly signs are kept in the chronicle.

Elements of hagiographic style . The compilers of the “Tale of Bygone Years” also included hagiographic works: a Christian legend, a martyr’s life (the tale of two Varangian martyrs), a legend about the founding of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery in 1051, about the death of its abbot Theodosius of Pechersk in 1074 and the legend of the Pechersk monks. The tales included in the chronicles about the transfer of the relics of Boris and Gleb (1072) and Theodosius of Pechersk (1091) were written in a hagiographic style.

The chronicle exalted the exploits of the founders of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery, which was "set" neither "from kings, and from boyars, and from wealth", A "tears, and fasting, and vigil" Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk. In 1074, following the story of the death of Theodosius, the chronicler tells about the Pechersk monk people who “Like the lights shine in Rus'.”

One of the forms of glorification of princes in the chronicle is posthumous obituaries associated with the genre of funeral laudatory words. The first such word of praise is the obituary of Princess Olga, placed under 969. It begins with a series of metaphorical comparisons glorifying the first Christian princess. The metaphorical images of “daybreak”, “dawn”, “light”, “moon”, “beads” (pearls) were borrowed by the chronicler from Byzantine hagiographic literature, but they were used to glorify the Russian princess and emphasize the significance for Rus' of her feat - the adoption of Christianity.

The obituary-praise of Olga is stylistically close to the praise of Vladimir, placed in the chronicle under 1015. The deceased prince receives an evaluative epithet "blissful", that is, righteous, and his feat is equal to the feat of Constantine the Great.

Obituaries of Mstislav and Rostislav can be classified as a genre of verbal portrait, which describes the appearance and moral qualities of the princes: “But Mstislav was stout in body, dark-faced, great-eyed, brave in the army, merciful, loving his squad to the fullest, not sparing his property, neither drink nor food.”

The obituaries of Izyaslav and Vsevolod, along with the hagiographic idealization of these princes, concern specific moments of their activities, and in the obituary of Vsevolod a voice of condemnation is heard, since Vsevolod began to “to love the meaning of the lost, creating light with them.”

The chronicler drew moralizing maxims and figurative comparisons from Christian literature.

The function of biblical comparisons and reminiscences in the chronicle is different. These comparisons emphasize the significance and greatness of the Russian land, its princes; they allow chroniclers to transfer the narrative from a “temporary” historical plane to an “eternal” one, that is, they perform the artistic function of symbolic generalization. In addition, these comparisons are a means of moral assessment of events and the actions of historical figures.

7. The sermon “the word on law and grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion as an outstanding work of oratory of the 11th century. The theme is the equality of peoples, the glorification of the Russian land and its princes. Three-part composition. Metaphors-symbols, rhetorical questions and exclamations, rhythmic organization of the “Words on Law and Grace.”

"The Sermon on Law and Grace" by Hilarion. An outstanding work of oratorical prose of the 11th century is “The Sermon on Law and Grace.” It was written between 1037-1050. priest of the princely church in Berestov Hilarion.

“The Sermon on Law and Grace” is imbued with the patriotic pathos of glorifying Rus' as equal among all states of the world. Hilarion contrasts the Byzantine theory of the universal empire and the church with the idea of ​​​​the equality of all Christian peoples. Comparing Judaism (Law) with Christianity (Grace), Hilarion at the beginning of his “Word” proves the advantages of Grace over the Law. The law was distributed only among the Jewish people. Grace is the property of all nations. The Old Testament - the Law given by God to the prophet Moses on Mount Sinai, regulated the life of only the Jewish people. The New Testament - Christian doctrine - has worldwide significance, and every people has the full right to freely choose this Grace. Thus, Hilarion rejects the monopoly rights of Byzantium to the exclusive possession of Grace. He creates, as D.S. Likhachev rightly notes, his own patriotic concept of world history, glorifying Rus' and its "enlightener" "kagan" Vladimir.

Hilarion exalts Vladimir's feat in accepting and spreading Christianity in Rus'. Thanks to this feat, Rus' entered the family of Christian countries as a sovereign state. Vladimir ruled “not in harm’s way and not in unknown lands”, A “In Russian, which is known and heard by all, there are the ends of the earth.”

In his praise of Vladimir, Hilarion lists the prince’s services to his homeland. He says that his activities contributed to the glory and power of Rus'. At the same time, he emphasizes that the Christian faith was accepted by the Russians as a result of free choice, that the main merit in the baptism of Rus' belongs to Vladimir, and not to the Greeks. The Lay contains a comparison of Vladimir with Tsar Constantine, which was very offensive to the Greeks.

Hilarion’s “Word” is built according to a strict, logically thought-out plan, which is communicated by the author in the title of the work: “The word about the law that Moses gave to him, and about grace and truth, Jesus Christ was, and as the law came, grace and truth filled the whole earth, and faith in all languages ​​​​extended to our Russian language and praise to our kagan Vlodimer, from him We were baptized and prayed to God from the weight of our earth.”

The first part - a comparison of Law and Grace - is a lengthy introduction to the second, central, part of praise to Vladimir, ending with the author's appeal to Vladimir with a call to rise from the grave, shake off his sleep and look at the deeds of his son George (the Christian name of Yaroslav). The second part aims to directly glorify the ruler of Rus' contemporary to Hilarion and his activities. The third part is a prayer appeal to God "from all our land."

The “Word” is addressed to people “we have had our fill of book sweets”, therefore, the author puts his work into bookish rhetorical form. He constantly uses quotes from the Bible, biblical comparisons, comparing the Law with the slave Hagar and her son Ishmael, and Grace with Sarah and her son Isaac. These symbolic parallels are intended to more clearly demonstrate the superiority of Grace over the Law.

In the first part of the Lay, Hilarion consistently observes the principle of antithesis - the most typical technique of oratorical eloquence. “First the law, then grace: first the steppe(shadow) you, then the truth.”

Hilarion widely uses book metaphors - symbols and metaphorical comparisons: Law is "dry lake"; paganism - “darkness of idols”, “darkness of demonic service”; Grace is "flooded spring" etc. He often uses rhetorical questions and exclamations - typical techniques of solemn eloquence, with the help of which greater emotionality of speech is achieved. The rhythmic organization of the Lay serves the same purpose. Hilarion often resorts to repetitions and verbal rhymes. For example: “... drive away the warriors, establish peace, tame the countries, make gladugobzi, make the Bolyars wise, disperse the cities, grow your church, preserve your property, save husbands and wives and babies.”

High artistic skill ensured “The Word of Law and Grace” great popularity in medieval writing. It becomes a model for scribes of the 12th-15th centuries, who use individual techniques and stylistic formulas of the Lay.

8. Didactic “Instruction” by Vladimir Monomakh” - a work of political and moral instruction. The image of an outstanding politician and warrior. Autobiographical elements in "Instruction". Emotional and lyrical coloring of the work.

“Teaching” by Vladimir Monomakh, written by him "sitting on a sleigh" that is, shortly before his death, somewhere around 1117, it was attributed by chroniclers to similar wills addressed to children.

The outstanding statesman of the late 11th - early 12th centuries, Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (1052-1125), through his policies contributed to the temporary cessation of princely strife. He became famous for his successful campaigns against the Polovtsians. Having become the Grand Duke of Kyiv in 1113, Monomakh contributed in every possible way to strengthening the unity of the Russian land.

The central idea of ​​the “Instruction” is a call addressed to the children of Monomakh and everyone who will hear "this grammar" strictly observe the requirements of the feudal legal order, be guided by them, and not by personal, selfish family interests. “Instruction” goes beyond the narrow framework of a family will and acquires great social significance.

Using the example of his personal rich life experience, Vladimir gives a high example of serving the prince to the interests of his land.

A characteristic feature of the “Teaching” is the close interweaving of didactics with autobiographical elements. Monomakh’s instructions are supported not only by maxims from the “holy scripture,” but primarily by specific examples from his own life.

The “Teaching” brings to the fore the tasks of a national order. The sacred duty of the prince is concern for the good of his state, its unity, strict and strict observance of oaths and contracts. The prince must “care for the souls of the peasants”, “about the evil stench” And "poor widow." Internecine strife undermines the economic and political power of the state. Only peace leads to the prosperity of a country. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the ruler to maintain peace.

Another equally important duty of the prince, according to Monomakh, is care and concern for the welfare of the church. He understands that the church is the prince's faithful assistant. Therefore, in order to strengthen his power, the prince must vigilantly take care of the priestly and monastic rank. True, Monomakh does not recommend that his children save their souls in a monastery, that is, become a monk. The ascetic monastic ideal is alien to this life-loving, energetic person.

In accordance with Christian morality, Vladimir demands a caring attitude towards "poor"(to the poor).

The prince himself must be an example of high morality. The main positive quality of a person is hard work. Labor, in the understanding of Monomakh, is, first of all, a military feat, and then hunting, when the body and soul of a person are tempered in the constant struggle against dangers.

Vladimir gives examples from his personal life: he made only 83 large campaigns, and does not remember small ones, he concluded 20 peace treaties. While hunting, he was in constant danger and risked his life more than once: “Tura threw me 2 narozekh and with a horse, a deer was one big, and 2 moose, one trampled with his feet, and the other was a big one; ...a fierce beast jumped onto my hips and the horse fell with me.”

Vladimir considers laziness to be the main vice: “Laziness is the mother of everything: if you know how, you’ll forget, but if you don’t know how, you can’t teach it.”

Monomakh himself appears in his “Teachings” as an unusually active person: “Whatever my youth had to do, I myself did, deeds in war and fishing, night and day, in heat and winter, without giving myself peace.”

One of the positive qualities of the prince is his generosity, constant concern for increasing and spreading his good name.

In everyday life, the prince should be a model for those around him: to visit the sick, to see off the dead, for everyone is mortal. Family relationships should be built on respect between husbands and wives: “Love your wife, but do not give them power over you,” he instructs.

Thus, in the “Instructions” Monomakh covers a fairly wide range of life phenomena. He gives clear answers to many social and moral questions of his time.

At the same time, the “Instruction” is a very valuable material for understanding the personality of the author himself - the first secular writer of Ancient Rus' known to us. First of all, he is a widely educated person who knows the literature of his time well. In his work, he uses the Psalter, the Book of Psalms, the teachings of Basil the Great, Xenophon and Theodora to children, placed in the “Izbornik 1076”, “Six Days”.

The “Instruction” is built according to a specific plan: an introduction addressed to children, with self-deprecation characteristic of the ancient Russian writer - not to laugh at his writing, but to accept it in your heart, not to scold, but to say that “On the long journey, and sitting on the sleigh, I said a foolish thing,” and finally, a request: “...if you don’t love the last one, take the first one.”

The central didactic part of the “Instruction” begins with a general philosophical discussion about the love of mankind and the mercy of God, about the need for victory over evil and the possibility of this victory, the guarantee of which is the beauty and harmony of the world created by God.

Gives a kind of diary of military campaigns, in a manner reminiscent of brief chronicle weather records, only without dates. Listing your "paths" Vladimir arranges them in chronological order starting from 1072 to 1117.

And again the conclusion follows. When addressing children or others, "who will read" Monomakh asks not to judge him. He praises not himself, not his courage, but praises God, who "thin and sinful" saved from death for so many years and created “not lazy”, “thin”, “all human needs are needed.”

In the style of the “Teaching” one can easily detect, on the one hand, its bookish elements associated with Vladimir’s use of literary sources, and on the other, elements of a living spoken language, especially clearly manifested in the description "paths" and the dangers to which he was exposed during the hunt. A characteristic feature of the “Teaching” style is the presence of polished, vivid, easy-to-remember aphoristic expressions.

In general, the “Instruction” and the letter clearly reveal the appearance of an extraordinary statesman of the Russian Middle Ages, a man in whom the ideal of a prince who cared about the glory and honor of his native land was vividly embodied.

Old Russian literature (DRL) is the foundation of all 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 nature. 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. Another feature of our ancient literature is anonymity, the impersonality of her 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. At best, 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 In most cases, the author of the work prefers to remain unknown, and sometimes hide behind the authoritative name of one or another “church father” - John Chrysostom, Basil the Great. 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 and s t o r i z m. 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. The historicism of ancient Russian literature has a 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. Themes are also connected with historicism: the beauty and greatness of Rus', historical events. The DR writer creates within the framework of an established tradition, looks at models, and does not allow artistic invention.

In this article we will look at the features of Old Russian literature. The literature of Ancient Rus' was primarily church. After all, book culture in Rus' appeared with the adoption of Christianity. Monasteries became centers of writing, and the first literary monuments were mainly works of a religious nature. Thus, one of the first original (that is, not translated, but written by a Russian author) works was the “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion. The author proves the superiority of Grace (the image of Jesus Christ is associated with it) over the Law, which, according to the preacher, is conservative and nationally limited.

Literature was created not for entertainment, but for teaching. Considering the features of ancient Russian literature, it should be noted that it is instructive. She teaches to love God and her Russian land; she creates images of ideal people: saints, princes, faithful wives.

Let us note one seemingly insignificant feature of ancient Russian literature: it was handwritten. Books were created in a single copy and only then copied by hand when it was necessary to make a copy or the original text became unusable over time. This gave the book special value and generated respect for it. In addition, for the Old Russian reader, all books traced their origins to the main one - the Holy Scriptures.

Since the literature of Ancient Rus' was fundamentally religious, the book was seen as a storehouse of wisdom, a textbook of righteous life. Old Russian literature is not fiction, in the modern sense of the word. She does everything avoids fiction and strictly follows the facts. The author does not show his individuality; he hides behind the narrative form. He does not strive for originality; for an ancient Russian writer it is more important to stay within the framework of tradition, not to break it. Therefore, all lives are similar to one another, all biographies of princes or military stories are compiled according to a general plan, in compliance with the “rules”. When “The Tale of Bygone Years” tells us about Oleg’s death from his horse, this beautiful poetic legend sounds like a historical document; the author really believes that everything happened that way.

The hero of ancient Russian literature does not have no personality, no character in our view today. Man's destiny is in the hands of God. And at the same time, his soul acts as an arena for the struggle between good and evil. The first will win only when a person lives by moral rules given once and for all.

Of course, in Russian medieval works we will not find either individual characters or psychologism - not because ancient Russian writers did not know how to do this. In the same way, icon painters created planar rather than three-dimensional images, not because they could not write “better,” but because they were faced with other artistic tasks: the face of Christ cannot be similar to an ordinary human face. An icon is a sign of holiness, not a depiction of a saint.

The literature of Ancient Rus' adheres to the same aesthetic principles: it creates faces, not faces, gives the reader example of correct behavior rather than depicting a person's character. Vladimir Monomakh behaves like a prince, Sergius of Radonezh behaves like a saint. Idealization is one of the key principles of ancient Russian art.

Old Russian literature in every possible way avoids mundaneness: she does not describe, but narrates. Moreover, the author does not narrate on his own behalf, he only conveys what is written in the sacred books, what he read, heard or saw. There can be nothing personal in this narrative: no manifestation of feelings, no individual manner. (“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” in this sense is one of the few exceptions.) Therefore, many works of the Russian Middle Ages anonymous, the authors do not even assume such immodesty - to put your name. And the ancient reader cannot even imagine that the word is not from God. And if God speaks through the mouth of the author, then why does he need a name, a biography? That is why the information available to us about ancient authors is so scarce.

At the same time, in ancient Russian literature a special national ideal of beauty, captured by ancient scribes. First of all, this is spiritual beauty, the beauty of the Christian soul. In Russian medieval literature, in contrast to Western European literature of the same era, the knightly ideal of beauty - the beauty of weapons, armor, and victorious battle - is much less represented. The Russian knight (prince) wages war for the sake of peace, and not for the sake of glory. War for the sake of glory and profit is condemned, and this is clearly seen in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” Peace is assessed as an unconditional good. The ancient Russian ideal of beauty presupposes a wide expanse, an immense, “decorated” earth, and it is decorated with temples, because they were created specifically for the exaltation of the spirit, and not for practical purposes.

The attitude of ancient Russian literature is also connected with the theme of beauty to oral and poetic creativity, folklore. On the one hand, folklore was of pagan origin, and therefore did not fit into the framework of the new, Christian worldview. On the other hand, he could not help but penetrate literature. After all, the written language in Rus' from the very beginning was Russian, and not Latin, as in Western Europe, and there was no impassable border between the book and the spoken word. Folk ideas about beauty and goodness also generally coincided with Christian ideas; Christianity penetrated folklore almost unhindered. Therefore, the heroic epic (epics), which began to take shape in the pagan era, presents its heroes both as patriotic warriors and as defenders of the Christian faith, surrounded by “filthy” pagans. Just as easily, sometimes almost unconsciously, ancient Russian writers use folklore images and plots.

The religious literature of Rus' quickly outgrew its narrow church framework and became truly spiritual literature, which created a whole system of genres. Thus, “The Sermon on Law and Grace” belongs to the genre of a solemn sermon delivered in church, but Hilarion not only proves the Grace of Christianity, but also glorifies the Russian land, combining religious pathos with patriotic ones.

Genre of life

The most important genre for ancient Russian literature was the hagiography, the biography of a saint. At the same time, the task was pursued, by telling about the earthly life of a saint canonized by the church, to create an image of an ideal person for the edification of all people.

IN " Lives of the Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb"Prince Gleb appeals to his killers with a request to spare him: “Do not cut the ear, which is not yet ripe, filled with the milk of goodness! Do not cut the vine, which is not yet fully grown, but bears fruit!” Abandoned by his squad, Boris in his tent “cries with a broken heart, but is joyful in his soul”: he is afraid of death and at the same time he realizes that he is repeating the fate of many saints who accepted martyrdom for their faith.

IN " Lives of Sergius of Radonezh“It is said that the future saint in his adolescence had difficulty comprehending literacy, lagged behind his peers in learning, which caused him a lot of suffering; when Sergius retired into the desert, a bear began to visit him, with whom the hermit shared his meager food, it happened that the saint gave the last piece of bread to the beast.

In the traditions of life in the 16th century, “ The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom”, but it already sharply diverged from the canons (norms, requirements) of the genre and therefore was not included in the collection of lives of the “Great Chet-Minea” along with other biographies. Peter and Fevronia are real historical figures who reigned in Murom in the 13th century, Russian saints. The author of the 16th century produced not a hagiography, but an entertaining story, built on fairy-tale motifs, glorifying the love and loyalty of the heroes, and not just their Christian deeds.

A " Life of Archpriest Avvakum", written by himself in the 17th century, turned into a vivid autobiographical work, filled with reliable events and real people, living details, feelings and experiences of the hero-narrator, behind which stands the bright character of one of the spiritual leaders of the Old Believers.

Genre of teaching

Since religious literature was intended to educate a true Christian, teaching became one of the genres. Although this is a church genre, close to a sermon, it was also used in secular (secular) literature, since the ideas of the people of that time about the correct, righteous life did not differ from the church ones. You know" Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh", written by him around 1117 "while sitting on a sleigh" (shortly before his death) and addressed to children.

The ideal ancient Russian prince appears before us. He cares about the welfare of the state and each of his subjects, guided by Christian morality. The prince's other concern is about the church. All earthly life should be considered as work to save the soul. This is the work of mercy and kindness, and military work, and mental work. Hard work is the main virtue in Monomakh’s life. He made eighty-three major campaigns, signed twenty peace treaties, learned five languages, and did what his servants and warriors did.

Chronicles

A significant, if not the largest, part of ancient Russian literature is works of historical genres that were included in the chronicles. The first Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years""was created at the beginning of the 12th century. Its significance is extremely great: it was proof of the right of Rus' to state independence, independence. But if the chroniclers could record recent events “according to the epics of this time,” reliably, then the events of pre-Christian history had to be restored from oral sources: legends , legends, sayings, geographical names. Therefore, the compilers of the chronicle turn to folklore. These are the legends about the death of Oleg, about Olga’s revenge on the Drevlyans, about Belgorod jelly, etc.

Already in The Tale of Bygone Years, two most important features of Old Russian literature appeared: patriotism and connections with folklore. Book-Christian and folklore-pagan traditions are closely intertwined in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.”

Elements of fiction and satire

Of course, ancient Russian literature was not unchanged throughout all seven centuries. We saw that over time it became more secular, elements of fiction intensified, and satirical motifs increasingly penetrated into literature, especially in the 16th-17th centuries. These are, for example, " The Tale of Misfortune", showing what troubles disobedience and the desire to “live as he pleases,” and not as his elders teach, can bring a person, and “ The Tale of Ersha Ershovich", ridiculing the so-called "voivode's court" in the tradition of a folk tale.

But in general, we can talk about the literature of Ancient Rus' as a single phenomenon, with its own enduring ideas and motives that have passed through 700 years, with its own general aesthetic principles, with a stable system of genres.