The goals of creating a literary work of ancient Russian literature. Seven centuries of ancient Russian literature: general features, spirituality and genres

25.04.2019

Ancient literature is filled with deep patriotic content, the heroic pathos of serving the Russian land, state, and homeland.
Main topic ancient Russian literature — world history and meaning human life.
Ancient 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 a deep belief in the power, the ultimate triumph of good and the ability of man to elevate his spirit and defeat evil.
A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is historicism. The heroes are mainly historical figures. Literature strictly follows fact.
Feature artistic creativity The ancient Russian writer also has the so-called “literary etiquette”. This is a special literary and aesthetic regulation, the desire to subordinate the very image of the world to certain principles and rules, to establish once and for all what should be depicted and how.
Old Russian literature appears with the emergence of the state and writing and is based on book Christian culture and developed forms of oral poetic creativity. At this time, literature and folklore were closely connected. Literature often perceived plots artistic images, visual arts folk art.
The originality of ancient Russian literature in the depiction of the hero depends on the style and genre of the work. In relation to styles and genres, it is reproduced in monuments ancient literature hero, ideals are formed and created.
In ancient Russian literature, a system of genres was defined, within which the development of original Russian literature began. The main thing in their definition was the “use” of the genre, the “practical purpose” for which this or that work was intended.
The traditions of Old Russian literature are found in the works of Russian writers of the 18th-20th centuries.

TEST QUESTIONS AND TASKS

How does Academician D.S. characterize Likhachev ancient Russian literature? Why does he call it “one grandiose whole, one colossal work”?
What does Likhachev compare ancient literature with and why?
What are the main advantages of ancient literature?
Why would the artistic discoveries of literature of subsequent centuries be impossible without the works of ancient literature? (Think about what qualities of ancient literature were adopted by Russian literature of modern times. Give examples from works of Russian classics known to you.)
What did Russian poets and prose writers value and adopt from ancient literature? What A.S. wrote about her Pushkin, N.V. Gogol, A.I. Herzen, L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak?
What does ancient literature write about the benefits of books? Give examples of “praise of books” known in ancient Russian literature.
Why were ideas about the power of words high in ancient literature? What were they connected with, what did they rely on?
What is said about the word in the Gospel?
What do writers compare books to and why; why are books rivers, sources of wisdom, and what do the words mean: “if you diligently search for wisdom in the books, you will find great benefit for your soul”?
Name the monuments of ancient Russian literature known to you and the names of their scribes.
Tell us about the method of writing and the nature of ancient manuscripts.
Name the historical background for the emergence of ancient Russian literature and its specific features in contrast to the literature of modern times.
What is the role of folklore in the formation of ancient literature?
Using vocabulary and reference material, briefly retell the history of the study of ancient monuments, write down the names of the scientists involved in their research and the stages of study.
What is the image of the world and man in the minds of Russian scribes?
Tell us about the depiction of man in ancient Russian literature.
Name the themes of ancient literature, using vocabulary and reference material, characterize its genres.
List the main stages in the development of ancient literature.

Read also the articles in the section “National identity of ancient literature, its origin and development.”

Any national literature has its own distinctive (specific) features.

Old Russian literature (DRL) is doubly specific, since in addition to national features it bears the features of the Middle Ages (XI-XVII centuries), which had a decisive influence on the worldview and human psychology Ancient Rus'.

Two blocks of specific features can be distinguished.

The first block can be called general cultural, the second is most closely connected with the inner world of the personality of a person in the Russian Middle Ages.

Let's talk about the first block very briefly. Firstly, ancient Russian literature was handwritten. In the first centuries of Russian literary process the writing material was parchment (or parchment). It was made from the skin of calves or lambs and therefore it was called “veal” in Rus'. Parchment was an expensive material, it was used extremely carefully and the most important things were written on it. Later, paper appeared instead of parchment, which partly contributed, in the words of D. Likhachev, to “the breakthrough of literature to the masses.”

In Rus', three main types of writing successively replaced each other. The first (XI–XIV centuries) was called the charter, the second (XV–XVI centuries) was called the semi-ustav, the third (XVII century) was called cursive.

Since writing material was expensive, the book’s customers (large monasteries, princes, boyars) wanted the most interesting works of various subjects and the time of their creation to be collected under one cover.

Works of ancient Russian literature are usually called monuments.

Monuments in Ancient Rus' functioned in the form of collections.

Particular attention should be paid to the second block of specific features of DRL.

1. The functioning of monuments in the form of collections is explained not only by the high price of the book. Old Russian man, in his desire to acquire knowledge about the world around him, strove for a kind of encyclopedicism. Therefore, ancient Russian collections often contain monuments of various themes and issues.

2. In the first centuries of the development of DRL, fiction had not yet emerged as an independent area of creativity and social consciousness. Therefore, one and the same monument was simultaneously a monument of literature, a monument of historical thought, and a monument of philosophy, which existed in Ancient Rus' in the form of theology. It is interesting to know that, for example, Russian chronicles until the beginning of the 20th century were considered exclusively as historical literature. Only thanks to the efforts of Academician V. Adrianova-Peretz did the chronicles become the object of literary criticism.

At the same time, the special philosophical richness of Old Russian literature in subsequent centuries of Russian literary development will not only be preserved, but will actively develop and become one of the defining national features of Russian literature as such. This will allow Academician A. Losev to state with certainty: “Fiction is a storehouse of original Russian philosophy. In the prose works of Zhukovsky and Gogol, in the works of Tyutchev, Fet, Leo Tolstoy, Dostoevsky<...>basic ones are often developed philosophical problems, of course, in their specifically Russian, exclusively practical, life-oriented form. And these problems are resolved here in such a way that an unbiased and knowledgeable judge will call these solutions not just “literary” or “artistic,” but philosophical and ingenious.”

3. Old Russian literature was anonymous (impersonal) in nature, which is inextricably linked with another characteristic feature - the collectivity of creativity. The authors of Ancient Rus' (often called scribes) did not strive to leave their name for centuries, firstly, due to the Christian tradition (scribe-monks often call themselves “unreasonable,” “sinful” monks who dared to become creators of the artistic word); secondly, due to the understanding of one’s work as part of an all-Russian, collective endeavor.

At first glance, this trait seems to indicate a poorly developed personality in the Old Russian author compared to Western European masters artistic word. Even the name of the author of the brilliant “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” is still unknown, while Western European medieval literature can “boast” of hundreds of great names. However, there can be no talk of the “backwardness” of ancient Russian literature or its “impersonality.” We can talk about its special national quality. Once D. Likhachev very accurately compared Western European literature with a group of soloists, and Old Russian literature with a choir. Really choral singing less beautiful than the performances of individual soloists? Is there really no manifestation of human personality in him?

4. The main character of ancient Russian literature is the Russian land. We agree with D. Likhachev, who emphasized that the literature of the pre-Mongol period is the literature of one theme - the theme of the Russian land. This does not mean at all that ancient Russian authors “refuse” to depict the experiences of an individual human personality, “get fixated” on the Russian land, depriving themselves of individuality and sharply limiting the “universal” significance of the DRL.

Firstly, ancient Russian authors always, even in the most tragic moments of Russian history, for example, in the first decades of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, sought through the richest Byzantine literature to join the highest achievements of the culture of other peoples and civilizations. Thus, in the 13th century, the medieval encyclopedias “Melissa” (“Bee”) and “Physiologist” were translated into Old Russian.

Secondly, and this is the most important thing, we must keep in mind that the personality of a Russian person and the personality of a Western European are formed on different ideological foundations: the Western European personality is individualistic, it is affirmed due to its special significance and exclusivity. This is due to the special course of Western European history, with the development of the Western Christian Church (Catholicism). A Russian person, by virtue of his Orthodoxy (belonging to Eastern Christianity - Orthodoxy), denies the individualistic (egoistic) principle as destructive both for the individual himself and for his environment. Russian classical literature- from the nameless scribes of Ancient Rus' to Pushkin and Gogol, A. Ostrovsky and Dostoevsky, V. Rasputin and V. Belov - depicts the tragedy of the individualistic personality and affirms his heroes on the path to overcoming the evil of individualism.

5. Old Russian literature did not know fiction. This refers to a conscious orientation towards fiction. The author and the reader absolutely believe in the truth of the literary word, even if we are talking about fiction from the point of view of a secular person.

A conscious attitude towards fiction will appear later. This will happen at the end of the 15th century during a period of intensified political struggle for leadership in the process of unifying the primordially Russian lands. Rulers will also appeal to the unconditional authority of the book word. This is how the genre of political legend will arise. In Moscow there will appear: the eschatological theory “Moscow - the Third Rome”, which naturally took on a topical political overtones, as well as “The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir”. In Veliky Novgorod - “The Legend of the Novgorod White Cowl.”

6. In the first centuries of DRL, they tried not to depict everyday life for the following reasons. The first (religious): everyday life is sinful, its image prevents earthly man from directing his aspirations to the salvation of the soul. Second (psychological): life seemed unchanged. Both grandfather, father, and son wore the same clothes, weapons did not change, etc.

Over time, under the influence of the process of secularization, everyday life penetrates more and more into the pages of Russian books. This will lead to the emergence in the 16th century of the genre of everyday stories (“The Tale of Ulyaniya Osorgina”), and in the 17th century the genre of everyday stories will become the most popular.

7. DRL is characterized by a special attitude to history. The past is not only not separated from the present, but is actively present in it, and also determines the fate of the future. An example of this is “The Tale of Bygone Years”, “The Story of the Crime of the Ryazan Princes”, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, etc.

8. Old Russian literature wore teacher character. This means that the ancient Russian scribes sought, first of all, to enlighten the souls of their readers with the light of Christianity. In DRL, unlike Western medieval literature, there was never a desire to entice the reader with a wonderful fiction, to take him away from life’s difficulties. Adventurous translated stories will gradually penetrate into Russia from the beginning of the 17th century, when the Western European influence on Russian life becomes obvious.

So, we see that certain specific features of DID will gradually be lost over time. However, those characteristics of Russian national literature that determine the core of its ideological orientation will remain unchanged until the present time.

Old Russian literature is a conventional name, that is ancient period, medieval period and period 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,

– adoption 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),

– oral folk art.

Old Russian literature has specific features, which distinguish it from folklore and literature of the New Age:

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 weakly reflected in the texts.

The author's texts have not reached us, but have been preserved in more later lists, which sometimes differed from the time of the original by several centuries. 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 Campaign” 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 in different ways 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 a fact 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 events, and a single event was selected that bore traces of 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. Normativity of poetics (that is, the totality artistic means) is manifested in the widespread use of “commonplaces”, a certain “etiquette” was adopted, which was composed of an idea of how the course of events should have taken place, how one should behave character in accordance with one’s 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 ( highest genre– books of the Holy Scriptures: the Bible, covenants). 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 relation to 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: moral qualities princes, and later people in general, received great attention.

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. Kievan Rus After this, it becomes 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 legends: mythological, folk beliefs, religious journalism, lyrical and epic works, historical texts based on legends, original “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 destiny and religion. The New Testament books are associated with the initial period of Christianity, laying out the foundations 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.

History 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 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 the 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 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 stage of development religious culture- Christianity. They include the Gospel, the apostolic acts and their epistles (Apostle), and the revelation or apocalypse of John the Evangelist.

History 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 learning something new Christian teaching also went through the widespread use of apocrypha (in translation it is secret, intimate, 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 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, comes 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 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 their successor countries ancient culture. For Rus' great value played by Bulgaria and Byzantium. Perception of foreign culture Eastern Slavs was always creative, the works always met the internal needs of developing Rus', and therefore they acquired their own characteristics.

Let's start with the fact that they appeared along with the adoption of Christianity in Rus'. The intensity of its spread is indisputable evidence that the emergence of writing was caused by the needs of the state.

History of appearance

Writing was used in various fields public and state life, in the legal field, international and domestic relations.

After the emergence of writing, the activities of copyists and translators were stimulated, and various genres of Old Russian literature began to develop.

It served the needs and needs of the church, and consisted of solemn words, lives, and teachings. Secular literature appeared in Ancient Rus' and chronicles began to be kept.

In the minds of people of this period, literature was considered together with Christianization.

Old Russian writers: chroniclers, hagiographers, authors of solemn phrases, they all mentioned the benefits of enlightenment. At the end of the X - beginning of the XI century. In Rus', a huge amount of work was carried out aimed at translating from ancient Greek language literary sources. Thanks to such activities, ancient Russian scribes managed to become familiar with many monuments of Byzantine times over two centuries, and on their basis created various genres of ancient Russian literature. D. S. Likhachev, analyzing the history of Rus'’s introduction to the books of Bulgaria and Byzantium, identified two characteristic features similar process.

He confirmed the existence of literary monuments that became common to Serbia, Bulgaria, Byzantium, and Rus'.

Such intermediary literature included liturgical books, sacred scriptures, chronicles, works of church writers, and natural science materials. In addition, this list included some monuments historical narrative, for example, "The Romance of Alexander the Great".

Most of the ancient Bulgarian literature, the Slavic medium, were translations from Greek, as well as works of early Christian literature written in the 3rd-7th centuries.

It is impossible to mechanically divide ancient Slavic literature into translated and original; they are organically connected parts of a single organism.

Reading other people's books in Ancient Rus' is evidence of secondary national culture in the field of artistic expression. At first, among the written monuments there was a sufficient number of non-literary texts: works on theology, history, and ethics.

The main type of verbal art became folklore works. To understand the uniqueness and originality of Russian literature, it is enough to familiarize yourself with works that are “outside genre systems": "Teaching" by Vladimir Monomakh, "The Tale of Igor's Host", "Prayer" by Daniil Zatochnik.

Primary genres

The genres of ancient Russian literature include works that became building material for other directions. These include:

teachings;
stories;
word;
hagiography

Such genres of works of ancient Russian literature include chronicle story, weather record, church legend, chronicle legend.

Life

Was borrowed from Byzantium. Life as a genre of ancient Russian literature has become one of the most beloved and widespread. Life was considered an obligatory attribute when a person was ranked among the saints, that is, canonized. It was created by people who directly communicate with a person, who are able to reliably tell about bright moments his life. The text was compiled after the death of the one about whom it was spoken. It performed a significant educational function, since the life of the saint was perceived as a standard (model) of righteous existence and was imitated.

The Life helped people overcome the fear of death, the idea of immortality was preached human soul.

Canons of Life

Analyzing the features of the genres of ancient Russian literature, we note that the canons according to which the hagiography was created remained unchanged until the 16th century. First they talked about the origin of the hero, then they gave space detailed story about his righteous life, about the absence of fear of death. The description ended with glorification.

Discussing which genres ancient Russian literature considered the most interesting, we note that it was the life that made it possible to describe the existence of the holy princes Gleb and Boris.

Old Russian eloquence

Answering the question about what genres existed in ancient Russian literature, we note that eloquence came in three versions:

political;
didactic;
solemn.

Teaching

The system of genres of Old Russian literature distinguished it as a type of Old Russian eloquence. In their teaching, the chroniclers tried to highlight the standard of behavior for everyone ancient Russian people: commoner, prince. The most striking example of this genre is considered to be the “Teaching of Vladimir Monomakh” from the “Tale of Bygone Years”, dating back to 1096. At that time, disputes for the throne between the princes reached their maximum intensity. In his teaching, Vladimir Monomakh gives recommendations regarding the organization of his life. He suggests seeking the salvation of the soul in seclusion, calls for helping people in need, and serving God.

Monomakh confirms the need for prayer before a military campaign with an example from own life. He proposes to build public relations in harmony with nature.

Sermon

Analyzing the main genres of ancient Russian literature, we emphasize that this oratorical church genre, which has a unique theory, was involved in historical and literary study only in the form that at some stages it was indicative of the era.

The sermon called Basil the Great, Augustine the Blessed, John Chrysostom, and Gregory Dvoeslov “fathers of the church.” Luther's sermons are recognized as an integral part of the study of the formation of modern German prose, and the statements of Bourdalou, Bossuet, and other speakers of the 17th century are the most important examples of the prose style of French classicism. The role of sermons in medieval Russian literature is high; they confirm the uniqueness of the genres of ancient Russian literature.

Samples of Russian ancient pre-Mongol sermons that give a complete idea of the creation of composition and elements artistic style, historians consider the “Words” of Metropolitan Hilarion and Cyril of Turvo. They skillfully used Byzantine sources, and based on them they created quite good works of their own. They use a sufficient amount of antitheses, comparisons, personifications of abstract concepts, allegories, rhetorical fragments, dramatic presentation, dialogues, and partial landscapes.

Professionals consider the following examples of sermons designed in an unusual stylistic design to be the “Words” of Serapion of Vladimir and the “Words” of Maxim the Greek. The heyday of the practice and theory of preaching art occurred in the 18th century, they discussed the struggle between Ukraine and Poland.

Word

Analyzing the main genres of ancient Russian literature, we will pay special attention to the word. It is a type of genre of ancient Russian eloquence. As an example of its political variability, let us name “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” This work causes serious controversy among many historians.

The historical genre of ancient Russian literature, to which “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” can be attributed, amazes with the unusualness of its techniques and artistic means.

In this work, the chronological traditional version of the narrative is violated. The author first moves into the past, then mentions the present, uses lyrical digressions, which make it possible to write in various episodes: Yaroslavna’s cry, Svyatoslav’s dream.

"Word" contains different elements oral traditional folk art, symbols. It contains epics, fairy tales, and there is also a political background: Russian princes united in the fight against a common enemy.

“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” is one of the books that reflect the early feudal epic. It is on a par with other works:

"Song of the Nibelungs";
"The Knight in Tiger Skin";
"David of Sasun".

These works are considered single-stage and belong to one stage of folklore and literary formation.

The Word combines two folklore genre: lamentation and glory. Throughout the entire work there is a mourning of dramatic events and glorification of princes.

Similar techniques are characteristic of other works of Ancient Rus'. For example, “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land” is a combination of the lament of the dying Russian land with the glory of the powerful past.

As a solemn variation of ancient Russian eloquence, the “Sermon on Law and Grace”, authored by Metropolitan Hilarion, appears. This work appeared at the beginning of the 11th century. The reason for writing was the completion of the construction of military fortifications in Kyiv. The work contains the idea of complete independence of Rus' from the Byzantine Empire.

Under the “Law,” Hilarion notes the Old Testament, given to the Jews, which was not suitable for the Russian people. God gives New Testament, called "Grace". Hilarion writes that just as Emperor Constantine is revered in Byzantium, the Russian people also respect Prince Vladimir the Red Sun, who baptized Rus'.

Tale

Having examined the main genres of ancient Russian literature, we will pay attention to stories. These are the texts epic looking, telling about military exploits, princes, and their deeds. Examples of such works are:

“The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky”;
“The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu Khan”;
"The Tale of the Battle of the Kalka River."

The most widespread genre in ancient Russian literature was the military story. Were published various lists works related to it. Many historians paid attention to the analysis of stories: D. S. Likhachev, A. S. Orlova, N. A. Meshchersky. Despite the fact that traditionally the genre of the military story was considered the secular literature of Ancient Rus', it integrally belongs to the circle of church literature.

The versatility of the themes of such works is explained by the combination of the heritage of the pagan past with the new Christian worldview. These elements give rise to new perceptions military feat, combining heroic and everyday traditions. Among the sources that influenced the formation of this genre at the beginning of the 11th century, experts highlight translated works: “Alexandria”, “Devgenie’s Act”.

N.A. Meshchersky, engaged in in-depth research of this literary monument, believed that “History” had the greatest influence on the formation of the military history of Ancient Rus'. He confirms his opinion with a significant number of quotations used in various ancient Russian literary works: “The Life of Alexander Nevsky”, the Kyiv and Galician-Volyn Chronicles.

Historians admit that Icelandic sagas and military epics were used in the formation of this genre.

The warrior was endowed with courageous valor and holiness. The idea of it is similar to the description epic hero. The essence of military feat has changed; the desire to die for great faith comes first.

A separate role was assigned to princely service. The desire for self-realization turns into humble self-sacrifice. The implementation of this category is carried out in connection with verbal and ritual forms of culture.

Chronicle

It is a kind of narrative about historical events. The chronicle is considered one of the first genres of ancient Russian literature. In Ancient Rus' she played special role, since it did not just report some historical event, but was also a legal and political document, and was a confirmation of how to behave in certain situations. Most ancient chronicle It is generally accepted to consider the “Tale of Bygone Years”, which came down to us in the Ipatiev Chronicle of the 16th century. She talks about the origin Kyiv princes, about the emergence of the ancient Russian state.

Chronicles are considered “unifying genres” that subordinate the following components: military, historical story, life of a saint, words of praise, teachings.

Chronograph

These are texts that contain detailed description time XV-XVI centuries. Historians consider “Chronograph according to the Great Exposition” to be one of the first such works. This work did not reach in full until our time, so information about it is quite contradictory.

In addition to those genres of ancient Russian literature that are listed in the article, there were many other directions, each of which had its own distinctive characteristics. The variety of genres is a direct confirmation of the versatility and uniqueness of literary works created in Ancient Rus'.

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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 meaning of this or that handwritten book 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. IN best case scenario we know the names of individual authors, “writers” 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. Feature ancient Russian literature - 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.