Periodization of Old Russian literature, its specific features.
Likhachev identified the following periods in the development of ancient Russian literature:
1. Literature of Kievan RusPeriod"11th century – first floor. 13th century."
Christian culture comes to Rus'. Bookishness is developing in Kyiv, Novgorod, Polotsk. This is the literature of a single ancient Russian nation. This is the literature of Kievan Rus, because The style of monumental historicism dominates. Here are created the most important genres literature: chronicle, historical story, life, word. "The Life of Boris and Gleb" - the first Russian life. The origin of the original Russian genre - chronicle writing - “The Tale of Bygone Years”. Feudal fragmentation began.
2. Literature of the period of fragmentation and the Mongol-Tatar invasion. Period"Tue. floor. 13th century – first floor. 14th century."
Stage of literary conservation. The period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, stories appear about it. Literature is dominated by the theme of the fight against invaders, hence tragedy, patriotism and citizenship. “The Prayer of Daniel the Prisoner”, “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu”, “Zadonshchina”, “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia”.
3. Literature from the time of the unification of the northeastern principalities into a single Moscow principality. Period"Tue. floor. 14th century – first floor. 15th century."
Pre-Renaissance. Rus' is being revived economically and culturally, and the expressive-emotional style characteristic of hagiographies dominates. “The Life of Stephen of Perm”, Epiphanius the Wise.
4. Literature of the centralized Russian state. Period"Tue. floor. 15th century – first floor. 16th century."
The period of government. In Old Russian lit. translated works penetrate, for example, “The Tale of Dracula”. In 1453, Constantinople (the capital of Byzantium) fell, and literature was democratized. A single central state begins to form (Moscow and Novgorod), and a heretical disconnect occurs.
5. Literature of the stage of formation of the Russian nation. Period"Tue. floor. 16th century – beginning 17th century."
A period of lost balance. Riots, unrest, the Rurik dynasty is replaced by the Romanovs. Satire and Baroque are born. The main feature is the dominance of the journalistic style ( Correspondence between Tsar Ivan the Terrible and Prince Andrei Kurbsky).
6. Literature of the era of Peter I. Period"17th century."
Transition to new literature. The development of the individual principle in the work of writers is increasing (authorship, theater, poetry appear). Bookishness is fading into ecclesiastical oblivion.
The specific features of the medieval worldview determined the system of genres of ancient Russian literature, subordinated to practical utilitarian goals - both moral and political. Along with Christianity, Ancient Rus' also adopted the system of genres of church writing that was developed in Byzantium. There were no genres here yet in the modern literary understanding, but there were canons, enshrined in the decrees of ecumenical councils, tradition - tradition and charter. Church literature was associated with ritual Christian cult, monastic life. Its significance and authority were built on a certain hierarchical principle.
Books occupied the top level "sacred scripture". She followed them hymnography And " words"related to interpretations of "scripture", explanations of the meaning of holidays. Such "words" were usually combined into collections - " celebrants", Triodi colored and Lenten. Then followed lives- stories about the exploits of saints. Lives were combined into collections: Prologues (Synaxari), Chetii-Minea, Patericon. Each type of hero: martyr, confessor, monk, stylite, holy fool - corresponded to its own type of life. The composition of the life depended on its use: liturgical practice dictated certain conditions to its compiler, addressing the life to readers and listeners. For example, " The Legend of Boris and Gleb», « Life of Theodosius of Pechersk" Based on Byzantine examples, ancient Russian writers created a number of outstanding works of hagiographic original literature that reflected the essential aspects of the life and everyday life of Ancient Rus'.
Unlike Byzantine hagiography, ancient Russian literature creates an original genre princely life, whose goal was to strengthen the political authority of the princely power and surround it with an aura of holiness. A distinctive feature of the princely life is " historicism", a close connection with chronicles, military stories, i.e. genres of secular literature. Just like the princely life, they are on the verge of transition from church genres to secular ones" walking" - travel, descriptions of pilgrimages to “holy places,” tales of icons. The chronicle could include all genres. The system of genres of worldly (secular) literature is more flexible. It was developed by ancient Russian writers through extensive interaction with the genres of oral folk art, business writing, as well as church literature, it occupies a dominant position among the genres of secular writing. historical story, dedicated to outstanding events related to the struggle against the external enemies of Rus', the evil of princely strife. The story is accompanied by a historical legend and legend. A special place among worldly genres is occupied by " Teaching"Vladimir Monomakh," A Word about Igor's Campaign", "A word about the destruction of the Russian land" And " Word"Daniil Zatochnik. They testify to the high level of literary development achieved by Ancient Russia in the 11th - first half of the 13th centuries. The development of Old Russian literature of the 11th-17th centuries proceeds through the gradual destruction of the stable system of church genres, their transformation. In them, interest in inner world of a person, the psychological motivation of his actions, entertaining and everyday descriptions appear. For changing historical heroes fictitious ones come. In the 17th century this leads to radical changes in the internal structure and style of historical genres and contributes to the birth of new purely fictional works. Virsha poetry, court and school drama, democratic satire, everyday stories, and picaresque short stories appeared.
One of the principles of Christ. cult. – orientation to the addressee.
Genre of life was borrowed from Byzantium. This is the most widespread genre of ancient Russian literature. Life was an indispensable attribute when a person was canonized, i.e. were canonized. The life was created by people who directly communicated with a person or could reliably testify about his life. Life was always created after the death of a person. The life of the saint was perceived as an example of a righteous life that must be imitated. In addition, life deprived a person of the fear of death, preaching the idea of immortality human soul. Life was built according to certain canons, from which they did not depart until the 15-16 centuries. Canons of Life: the pious origin of the hero of the life, whose parents must have been righteous; The saint's parents often begged God for him; a saint was born a saint, and did not become one; the saint was distinguished by an ascetic lifestyle, spending time in solitude and prayer; a description of the miracles that occurred during the life of the saint and after his death; the saint was not afraid of death; The life ended with the glorification of the saint. One of the first works of the hagiographic genre in ancient Russian literature was the life of the holy princes Boris and Gleb.
Chetyi-Minei(literally “reading by month”) - a collection of works about holy people.
Patericon- a description of the life of the holy fathers.
Literature of Kievan Rus. General characteristics.
The first works of original ancient Russian literature that have come down to us date back to the middle XI centuries. Their creation was due to the growth of the political, patriotic consciousness of early feudal society, striving to strengthen new forms of statehood and assert the sovereignty of the Russian land. Substantiating the ideas of political and religious independence of Rus', literature seeks to consolidate new forms of Christian ethics, the authority of secular and spiritual power, to show the inviolability, the “eternity” of feudal relations and the norms of law and order. The main genres of literature of this time historical: legend, legend, story - and religious-didactic: solemn words, teachings, lives, walks. Historical genres, relying in their development on the corresponding genres of folklore, develop specific book forms of storytelling “according to the epics of this time.” The leading genre is historical story, based on a reliable depiction of events. Depending on the nature of the events reflected in the stories, they can be “ military", stories about princely crimes, etc. Each type of historical stories acquires its own specific stylistic features.
The central hero historical stories and legends is prince- warrior, defender of the country's borders, builder of temples, zealot for education, righteous judge of his subjects. His antipode- prince- cram flax, leading bloody internecine wars, seeking to gain power by force. The narration of the good and evil deeds of the princes is based on eyewitness accounts and oral traditions that existed among the warriors. Historical stories and legends do not allow for artistic fiction in the modern sense of the word. The facts presented in them are documented, attached to exact dates, and correlated with other events. Historical genres of ancient Russian literature, as a rule, do not exist separately, but as part of chronicles, where the principle of weather presentation made it possible to include a variety of material: weather records, legends, stories. These historical genres were dedicated to the most important events related to military campaigns, the fight against external enemies of Rus', the prince’s construction activities, strife, and unusual natural phenomena (heavenly signs). At the same time, the chronicle also included church legends, elements of lives, and even entire lives, juristic documents. One of the oldest and greatest historical and literary monuments of the second half of the 11th and early 12th centuries that has come down to us is “ The Tale of Bygone Years" Since the beginning of the 16th century, in connection with the formation of the centralized Russian state in the 15th century, regional trends have weakened. At this time, noble literature was firmly established as dominant.
But in the 17th century, culture, literature, both townsman and partly peasant, were already developing. The literature of Ancient Rus' was at first imbued with church ideology. The means of disseminating ancient Russian literature was exclusively the manuscript. Printing arose only in the middle of the 16th century.
The development of Old Russian literature proceeded in parallel with the evolution of the literary language. The latter is based on the living Russian language, which appears most of all in works of a secular nature. Already in the most distant era, the foundations of the modern Russian language were laid.
4. " Prayer» Daniil Zatochnik. Idea, artistic originality, personality of Daniel.
From the anthology: “Prayer” was written at the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century. It was very popular in Ancient Rus', and has come down to us in two editions and many lists. In some lists the work is called a “message”, in others – a “prayer”, i.e. a petition, a request from a disgraced (falling out of favor) person. The popularity of “Prayer” is due to its progressive ideas of protecting the disadvantaged, people dependent on the prince, along with the praise of princely power, and high literary skill: the brightness of the language, filled with proverbs, aphorisms and craft terminology, the peculiar rhythm of stanzas and syntactic structures, internal riffs and assonances, many expressions in M. are borrowed from the collection “Bee,” popular in Ancient Rus'.
“Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik addressed to the prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich Pereyaslavsky and listeners. “Prayer” can be classified as a work early noble journalism. “Prayer” belongs to the journalistic didactic works, which in short form, filled with philosophical moral content, reveal the life and customs of Rus' on the eve of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. The style of “Prayers of Daniel the Imprisoner” is characterized by a combination of quotations from the Bible, chronicles with live speech, satire directed against the boyars and the clergy. It is distinguished by the author's book knowledge, richness of images, and satirical attitude towards others. Deliberate humiliation is combined with emphasized mental superiority.
The theme of denunciation of monasticism is introduced in “Prayer.” Daniel indignantly rejects the prince's imaginary advice to become a monk. Daniel Sharpener depicts the morals of the monks. He denounces their vicious, base customs, which, like kind-hearted dogs, go around houses and villages "the glorious ones of this world."
Some researchers believe that Daniil the Sharpener is a purely literary image, on whose behalf the anonymous author created a purely literary work, others believe that Daniil the Sharpener is a historical figure, and his work is a real message to the prince. Proponents of the latter point of view define it differently social status Daniel (nobleman, warrior, artisan, serf, chronicler, etc.) and the addressee of the message are considered to be different princes. Finding himself in disgrace for his insolence, excessive straightforwardness and having experienced all the hardships of a beggarly life in exile, Daniel turns to the prince with a request to have mercy on him and return him to the princely squad, pointing out his merits (intelligence, wisdom, gift of artistic expression) and claiming the role of princely advisor, ambassador and rhetorician.
The original text of “Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik was written according to all the rules epistolary genre. Daniel uses aphorisms, phraseology and imagery from the Bible and various ancient Russian monuments, creating from “other people’s words” a deeply personal, integral and organic work. “Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik was written in bookish language, in a high style, which is characterized, in particular, by abstraction And " deconcretization».
5. " The story of Batu's destruction of Ryazan"as an example of a military story.
This work belongs to the best examples of military stories. It arose in the 13th century. and came to us in the lists of the 16th-17th centuries. The creation of the story was greatly influenced by oral poetic legends about the struggle of the Russian people with the Mongol-Tatar conquerors.
The story attracted the attention of poets of the 19th-20th centuries. A poem by L.A. was written based on its plot. Meya and poems by N.M. Yazykov and S.A. Yesenin about Evpatiy Kolovrat. In the 40s XX century part of the story has been translated Soviet poet V. Vasiliev.
The story was written in 1237 the year when Batu came to Rus'.
“The Tale of Batu’s Coming to Ryazan” consists of four parts:
1. The appearance of Batu on the borders of the Ryazan land. Yuri Ingorevich asks for military assistance from the Grand Duke of Vladimir Georgy Vsevolodovich. Georgy Vsevolodovich refuses to help, wanting to fight Batu on his own. The Ryazan prince sends his son Fyodor Yuryevich to Batu with gifts and a request not to attack the Ryazan land. Batu wants the people of Ryazan to bring their wives and daughters to him. Having learned from one traitor, a Ryazan nobleman, that Fyodor Yuryevich himself has a beautiful wife, Batu turns to him with such a “proposal.” Prince Fyodor Yuryevich refuses Batu, for which he orders him to be killed. Having learned about this, Princess Eupraxia threw herself with her little son Ivan from the tower and fell to her death.
2. The heroic defense of Ryazan by Yuri Ingorevich, the death of the defenders and the ruin of Ryazan by Batu. The central episode is a hyperbolic description of the battle. A Russian warrior fights the enemy alone. Princess Agrippina, the mother of the Grand Duke, is killed in the church. The depiction of the devastation of the city is depicted in the story with great drama: everyone died, everything was bad.
3. The feat of Evpatiy Kolovrat. At this time, the brother of the Ryazan prince Yuri, Ingvar, is in Chernigov, and with him the Ryazan nobleman Evpatiy Kolovrat. They rush to the aid of Ryazan, but arrive after its destruction. Evpatiy gathers a squad and goes to fight the Tatars. He suddenly attacks Batu’s army and “cuts them without mercy” so that “the swords become dull.” The Tatars were amazed by the courage and daring of the Russians and, in particular, by the valor of Evpatiy Kolovrat. Evpatiy and Batu’s brother-in-law come together in a duel, in which the Russian hero cuts him in half “to the saddle.” The Tatars still manage to kill Evpatiy Kolovrat, but they are afraid of him even when he is dead. The author points out that the Tatars have respect for Russian brave men, and Tsar Batu says: “If such a person served with me, I would bring him closer to me.”
4. Renewal of Ryazan by Ingvar Ingorevich.
The last, final part of the story begins with the emotional crying of Prince Ingvar Ingorevich, created according to all the rules of book rhetoric. He sadly mourns the dead. The story ends with a story about the revival and renewal by the Russian people of Ryazan, which was incinerated by the enemy. The entire work is an example of a military story, which has absorbed significant elements of folklore. The story is not always accurate in conveying historical facts, but it correctly conveys the mood of society of that time and is distinguished by its liveliness, brightness and dramatic narrative.
6. " Life of Alexander Nevsky». Genre originality, image of Alexander.
"J.Al.N." written at the end of the 13th century. in Vladimir-Suzdal Rus' by an unknown author who personally knew the prince. Subsequently, when Alexander Yaroslavovich was canonized, the secular narrative was supplemented with hagiographical legendary sentiments. In its form, the life is a work in which a military story and a princely life are fused together. In modern times, the life served as a source for a number of works of art: historical paintings by N.K. were written based on its plot. Roerich, A.K. Gorbunova, P.D. Corina; CM. Eisenstein created a historical film.
This work of the hagiographic genre is a princely biography, combining the features of a life and a military story. The composition of the “Life” dates back to the 80s. XIII century and are associated with the names of Dmitry Alexandrovich, son of Alexander Nevsky, and Metropolitan Kirill.
The author of the life, a scribe from the entourage of Metropolitan Kirill, based on his memories and stories of Alexander Nevsky’s comrades-in-arms, creates a biography of the prince, glorifying his military valor and political successes. Compilation full biography Prince Alexander was not part of the author’s tasks. The content of the life is a brief summary of the main, from the author’s point of view, episodes of his life, which allow us to recreate the heroic image of the prince, preserved in the memory of his contemporaries: the prince - a warrior, a valiant commander and an intelligent politician. Descriptions of the famous victories of Alexander Nevsky in the battle on the Neva and on the ice of Lake Peipus, his diplomatic relations with the Horde and the Pope are the central episodes of his life. The story about the actions of the prince is characterized by abstraction. There is not a single annual date in the life; the author almost does not name historical names, especially when it comes to opponents; he is not always accurate in his presentation of events. The narrative is replete with biblical analogies, quotes, and literary parallels. The eternal, timeless nature of Alexander’s activities is emphasized, his deeds are given majesty and monumentality. The author constantly reminds of the prince’s heavenly protection. The idea of the sacredness of princely power determines the features artistic structure biography of Alexander Nevsky.
« Life of Alexander Nevsky", written shortly after the death of the prince (in 1263), creates an ideal image of a ruler, a defender of his fatherland from military and ideological attacks by external enemies. It does not fit into the canons of hagiographic literature, and this was understood by the ancient Russian scribes, who included it primarily in the chronicles, and only in the 16th century. it was included in the “Great Cheti-Menaia” of Macarius. The life describes in detail the course of the battle of July 15, 1240, much attention is paid to the exploits of Alexander and his brave heroic warriors. Alexander himself shows extraordinary courage and fearlessness in battle. The Alexandrov warriors were distinguished by their courage and bravery. A characteristic feature of the life is the constant presence of the author-narrator. Thus, “The Life of Alexander Nevsky” reveals a close connection with both hagiographic literature and military stories.
Literature of the Russian pre-renaissance. General characteristics.
Possibility to consider the period from the end XIV to end XV V. like Russian time Pre-Renaissance has been substantiated in research Likhacheva. Russian literature since the X-XI centuries. was in close ties with the cultures of Byzantium and the South Slavs. The Mongol-Tatar invasion slowed down and interrupted these connections (although not completely), but already in the second half of the 14th century. they are being revived with extraordinary intensity, and Rus' finds itself involved in the process of cultural upsurge that all European states are experiencing during this period and which led some of them to the Renaissance itself.
If the Renaissance discovered man, recognized value, complexity and individuality human personality, then in the Pre-Renaissance era this discovery was still being prepared. And as the first step on this path, a keen interest in a person’s emotional life arises, not only in the narrow sphere of prayerful ecstasy or tenderness, but also in the whole variety of feelings that arise in various life situations. The writers of this time had not yet discovered the individual human character, but they began to willingly depict human emotions and they themselves, together with their heroes, cry, admire, and are indignant. These new interests, in turn, required the development of a new, more flexible, more expressive language style. This style was acquired in the 13th-14th centuries. widespread in the literature of Byzantium, Bulgaria, Serbia and, finally, in Russian literature, in relation to which it is usually called the style of the second South Slavic influence.
In the Pre-Renaissance era, the process of secularization of culture intensified. More free-thinking is manifested in ideology, and various heretical views are becoming widespread. Literature more boldly departs from the canons in the system of genres, in the type of plots, in the nature of the image; The reader is increasingly attracted by the entertaining nature of the narrative and the novelty of plot collisions. All these processes are observed in Russian literature of the 15th century.
The Pre-Renaissance era was also characterized by an increased interest in the world, alien to the barriers of national and even religious limitations. It is enough to mention in this regard that in Rus' at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. translations are made from Latin that Rus', although to a lesser extent than Western Europe, became acquainted with ancient culture, and in particular with ancient epic and ancient mythology. All these examples indicate the similarity of cultural trends in a number of European countries and, therefore, the legitimacy of raising the question of the Russian Pre-Renaissance.
Related information.
According to the established tradition, three main stages are distinguished in the development of Old Russian literature, associated with periods of development of the Russian state:
I. Literature of the Old Russian state of the 11th - first half of the 13th centuries. The literature of this period is often called the literature of Kievan Rus.
II. Literature of the period of feudal fragmentation and the struggle for the unification of northeastern Rus' (second half of the 13th - first half of the 15th centuries).
III. Literature from the period of creation and development of the centralized Russian state (XVI-XVII centuries).
However, when periodizing the literary process, it is necessary to take into account:
- 1. A range of original and translated monuments that appeared in a given period.
- 2. The nature of ideas and images reflected in literature.
- 3. The leading principles of reflecting reality and the nature of genres and styles that determine the specifics of literary development of a given period.
The first monuments of ancient Russian writing that have come down to us are known only from the second half of the 11th century: the Ostromir Gospel (1056–1057), “Izbornik of the Grand Duke Svyatoslav of 1073,” “Izbornik of 1076.” Most of the works created in the 11th–12th centuries were preserved only in later copies of the 14th–17th centuries.
However, the intensive development of writing in Rus' began after the official adoption of Christianity in 988. At the same time, a certain education system arose. In the 30s of the 11th century. in Kyiv there are “many scribes” who not only copy books, but also translate them from Greek language on "Slovenian letter" All this allows us to highlight the end of the 10th - the first half of the 11th century. as the first, initial, period of formation of Old Russian literature. True, we can only speak hypothetically about the range of works of this period, their themes, ideas, genres and styles.
The predominant place in the literature of this period was occupied by apparently, books of religious and moral content: Gospels, Apostle, Service Menaions, Synaxari. During this period, the translation of the Greek chronicles was carried out, on the basis of which the “Chronograph of the Great Exposition” was compiled. At the same time, records of oral legends about the spread of Christianity in Rus' arose. The artistic pinnacle of this period and the beginning of a new one was Hilarion’s “Sermon on Law and Grace.”
The second period - the middle of the 11th - the first third of the 12th century - the literature of Kievan Rus. This is the heyday of original ancient Russian literature, represented by the genres of the didactic “word” (Theodosius of Pechersky, Luka Zhidyata), genre varieties of original lives (“The Legend” and “Reading” about Boris and Gleb, “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersky”, “Memory and Praise to Prince Vladimir” "), historical tales, tales, traditions that formed the basis of the chronicle, which at the beginning of the 12th century. is called "The Tale of Bygone Years". At the same time, the first “walk” appeared - the journey of Abbot Daniel and such an original work as the “Teaching” of Vladimir Monomakh.
Translated literature during this period is widely represented by philosophical-didactic and moral-didactic collections, patericons, historical chronicles, and apocryphal works.
The central theme of the original literature becomes the theme of the Russian land, the idea of its greatness, integrity, and sovereignty. Its devotees are the spiritual lights of the Russian land and the ideal of moral beauty. to his "toil and sweat" formidable princes build the fatherland - "good sufferers for the Russian land."
During this period they develop various styles: epic, documentary-historical, didactic, emotionally expressive, hagiographic, which are sometimes present in the same work.
The third period falls on the second third of the 12th - first half of the 13th century. This is literature from the period of feudal fragmentation, when the “patchwork empire of the Rurikovichs” broke up into a number of independent feudal semi-states. The development of literature takes on a regional character. Based on the literature of Kievan Rus, local literary schools were created: Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, Kiev-Chernigov, Gachitsa-Volyn, Polotsk-Smolensk, Turovo-Pinsk, which then became the source of the formation of the literature of the three fraternal Slavic peoples– Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.
In these regional centers, local chronicles, hagiography, genres of travel, historical stories, epideictic eloquence (the “words” of Cyril of Turov, Kliment Smolyatich, Serapion of Vladimir) are developing, and the “Tale of the Miracles of the Vladimir Icon” begins to take shape Mother of God". Through the works of the Vladimir bishop Simon and the monk Polycarp, the "Kiev-Pechersk Patericon" was created. The pinnacle of literature of this period was the "Tale of Igor's Host", firmly connected with the outgoing traditions of the heroic druzhina epic. The original striking works are "The Lay" by Daniil Zatochnik and "The Lay about the destruction of the Russian land."
The composition of translated literature is replenished with the works of Ephraim and Isaac the Syrians, John of Damascus. The fourth collection “The Triumphant” and “Izmaragd” is being formed. As a result of cultural ties with the southern Slavs, the eschatological story “The Tale of the Twelve Dreams of King Shahaishi” and the utopian “The Tale of Rich India” appear.
The fourth period is the second half of the 13th–15th centuries. - literature from the period of the struggle of the Russian people with the Mongol-Tatar conquerors and the beginning of the formation of a centralized Russian state, the formation of the Great Russian people. The development of literature during this period proceeds in such leading cultural centers, like towering Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver.
Awareness of the need to fight against foreign enslavers led to the unification of popular forces, and this struggle goes hand in hand with the political unification of Rus' around a single center, which becomes Moscow. An important milestone in the political and cultural life of Rus' was the victory won by the Russian people on the Kulikovo field in September 1380 over the hordes of Mamai. It showed that Rus' has the strength to decisively fight the enslavers, and these forces can be united and united by the centralized power of the Grand Duke of Moscow.
In the literature of this time, the main theme was the fight against foreign enslavers - the Mongol-Tatars and the theme of strengthening the Russian state, glorifying the military and moral exploits of the Russian people, their deeds. Literature and art reveal the moral ideal of a person capable of overcoming "the strife of this age" - the main evil that prevents the unification of all forces to fight the hated conquerors.
Epiphanius the Wise revives and raises to a new level of artistic perfection the emotionally expressive style developed by the literature of Kievan Rus. The development of this style was determined by the historical needs of life itself, and not only by the second South Slavic influence, although the experience of Bulgarian and Serbian literature was taken into account and used by the literature of the late XIV - early XV centuries.
The style of historical narration receives further development. It is influenced by the democratic strata of the population, on the one hand, and church circles, on the other. Entertainment and artistic fiction are beginning to penetrate more widely into the historical narrative. Fictional tales appear that are taken as historical (the story of the city of Babylon, “The Tale of the Mutyansky governor Dracula”, “The Tale of the Iveron Queen Dinara”, “The Tale of Basarga”). In these tales, journalistic and political tendencies are intensified, emphasizing the importance of Rus' and its the center of Moscow - the political and cultural successor to the ruling world powers.
In the 15th century Novgorod literature reaches its peak, clearly reflecting the acute struggle of classes within the feudal city republic. Novgorod chronicles and hagiography with its democratic tendencies played an important role in the development of ancient Russian literature.
The development of the style of “idealizing biographism” is outlined in the literature of Tver. “Walking across Three Seas” by Afanasy Nikitin is associated with democratic urban culture.
The emergence and development of the rationalistic heretical movement in Novgorod, Pskov and then Moscow testifies to the shifts that took place in the consciousness of the town, the intensification of its activity in the ideological and artistic spheres.
In literature, there is growing interest in the psychological states of the human soul, the dynamics of feelings and emotions.
The literature of this period reflected the main character traits of the emerging Great Russian people: perseverance, heroism, the ability to endure adversity and difficulties, the will to fight and win, love for the homeland and responsibility for its fate.
The fifth period of development of Old Russian literature falls at the end of the 15th–16th centuries. This is the period of literature of the centralized Russian state. In the development of literature, it was marked by the process of merging local regional literatures into a single all-Russian literature, which provided an ideological justification for the centralized power of the sovereign. The acute internal political struggle to strengthen the sovereign power of the Grand Duke, and then the Sovereign of All Rus', determined the unprecedented flourishing of journalism.
The official style of the era becomes the representative, magnificent, eloquent style of the Makaryev literary school. Polemical journalistic literature gives rise to freer, more vibrant literary forms associated with business writing and everyday life.
In the literature of this time, two trends are clearly visible: one is the observance of strict rules and canons of writing, church ritual, and everyday life; the other is the violation of these rules, the destruction of traditional canons. The latter begins to manifest itself not only in journalism, but also in hagiography and historical narration, preparing the triumph of new beginnings.
The sixth period of development of Old Russian literature falls on the 17th century. The nature of literary development allows us to distinguish two stages in this period: 1st - from the beginning of the century to the 60s, 2nd - 60s - the end of the 17th, the first third of the 18th centuries.
The first stage is associated with the development and transformation of traditional historical and hagiographic genres of ancient Russian literature. The events of the first Peasant War and the struggle of the Russian people against the Polish-Swedish intervention dealt a blow to religious ideology and providentialist views on the course of historical events. In the social, political and cultural life of the country, the role of the posad - the trade and craft population - has increased. A new democratic reader has appeared. Responding to his requests, literature expands the scope of reality, changes the previously established genre system, begins to free itself from provenentialism, symbolism, etiquette - the leading principles artistic method medieval literature. Hagiography is turning into everyday biography, and the genre of the historical story is being democratized.
The second stage in the development of Russian literature in the second half of the 17th century. Connected with church reform Nikon, with the events of the historical reunification of Ukraine with Russia, after which an intensive process of penetration of Western European literature into Old Russian literature began. A historical story, losing connections with specific facts, becomes an entertaining narrative. The life becomes not only an everyday biography, but also an autobiography - a confession of a hot rebellious heart.
Traditional genres of church and business writing become objects of literary parody: church service parodied in the service to the tavern, the life of the saint in the life of a drunkard, the petition and the “judgment case” in the “Kalyazin Petition” and “The Tale of Ersha Ershovich.” Folklore is rushing into literature in a broad wave. The genres of folk satirical fairy tales, epics, and song lyrics are organically included in literary works.
The self-awareness of the individual is reflected in a new genre - the everyday story, in which appears new hero- a merchant's son, a seedy rootless nobleman. The nature of translated literature is changing.
The process of democratization of literature meets with a response from the ruling classes. In court circles, an artificial normative style, ceremonial aesthetics, and elements of Ukrainian-Polish baroque were implanted. Living folk lyrics are contrasted with artificial syllabic book poetry, democratic satire is contrasted with a moralizing abstract satire on morals in general, folk drama- court and school comedy. However, the emergence of syllabic poetry, court and school theater testified to the triumph of new principles and prepared the way for the emergence of classicism in Russian XVIII literature V.
- Cm.: Meshchersky N. A. Sources and composition of ancient Slavic-Russian writing of the 9th–15th centuries. L., 1978.
I. Literature of the Old Russian state of the 11th - first half of the 13th centuries. The literature of this period is often called the literature of Kievan Rus.
II. Literature of the period of feudal fragmentation and the struggle for the unification of north-eastern Rus' (second half of the 13th - first half of the 15th centuries).
III. Literature from the period of creation and development of the centralized Russian state (XVI-XVII centuries).
However, when periodizing the literary process, it is necessary to take into account:
1. A range of original and translated monuments that appeared in a given period.
2. The nature of ideas and images reflected in literature.
3. The leading principles of reflecting reality and the nature of genres and styles that determine the specifics of literary development of a given period.
The first monuments of ancient Russian writing that have come down to us are known only from the second half of the 11th century: the Ostromir Gospel (1056-1057), “Izbornik of the Grand Duke Svyatoslav 1073”, “Izbornik 1076”. Most of the works created in the 11th-12th centuries were preserved only in later copies of the 14th-17th centuries.
However, the intensive development of writing in Rus' began after the official adoption of Christianity in 988. At the same time, a certain education system arose. In the 30s of the 11th century. in Kyiv there are “many scribes” who not only copy books, but also translate them from Greek into "Slovenian letter" All this allows us to highlight the end of the 10th - the first half of the 11th century. as the first, initial, period of formation of Old Russian literature. True, we can only speak hypothetically about the range of works of this period, their themes, ideas, genres and styles.
The predominant place in the literature of this period was apparently occupied by books of religious and moral content: the Gospels, the Apostle, the Service Menaion, the Synaxari. During this period, the translation of the Greek chronicles was carried out, on the basis of which the “Chronograph according to the Great Exposition” was compiled. At the same time, records of oral legends about the spread of Christianity in Rus' arose. The artistic pinnacle of this period and the beginning of a new one was Hilarion’s “Sermon on Law and Grace.”
The second period - the middle of the 11th - the first third of the 12th century - the literature of Kievan Rus. This is the heyday of original ancient Russian literature, represented by the genres of the didactic “word” (Theodosius of Pechersky, Luka Zhidyata), genre varieties of original lives (“The Legend” and “Reading” about Boris and Gleb, “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersky”, “Memory and Praise of Prince Vladimir” "), historical tales, tales, traditions that formed the basis of the chronicle, which at the beginning of the 12th century. is called "The Tale of Bygone Years". At the same time, the first “walk” appeared - the journey of Abbot Daniel and such an original work as the “Teaching” of Vladimir Monomakh.
Translated literature during this period is widely represented by philosophical-didactic and moral-didactic collections, patericons, historical chronicles, and apocryphal works.
The central theme of the original literature becomes the theme of the Russian land, the idea of its greatness, integrity, and sovereignty. Its devotees are the spiritual lights of the Russian land and the ideal of moral beauty. to his "toil and sweat" formidable princes build the fatherland - “good sufferers for the Russian land.”
During this period, various styles developed: epic, documentary-historical, didactic, emotionally expressive, hagiographic, which are sometimes present in the same work.
The third period falls on the second third of the 12th - first half of the 13th century. This is literature from the period of feudal fragmentation, when the “patchwork empire of the Rurikovichs” broke up into a number of independent feudal semi-states. The development of literature takes on a regional character. Based on the literature of Kievan Rus, local literary schools are created: Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, Kiev-Chernigov, Galicia-Volyn, Polotsk-Smolensk, Turovo-Pinsk, which will then become the source of the formation of the literature of the three fraternal Slavic peoples - Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.
In these regional centers, local chronicles, hagiography, genres of travel, historical stories, epideictic eloquence (“words” of Cyril of Turov, Kliment Smolyatich, Serapion of Vladimir) are developing, and the “Tale of the Miracles of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God” begins to take shape. Through the works of Bishop Simon of Vladimir and monk Polycarp, the “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon” was created. The pinnacle of literature of this period was “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” firmly connected with the outgoing traditions of the heroic druzhina epic. The original striking works are “The Lay” by Daniil Zatochnik and “The Lay on the Destruction of the Russian Land.”
The fourth period - the second half of the XIII-XV centuries - literature of the period of the struggle of the Russian people with the Mongol-Tatar conquerors and the beginning of the formation of a centralized Russian state, the formation of the Great Russian people. The development of literature during this period took place in such leading cultural centers as the towering Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, and Tver.
Awareness of the need to fight against foreign enslavers led to the unification of popular forces, and this struggle goes hand in hand with the political unification of Rus' around a single center, which becomes Moscow. An important milestone in the political and cultural life of Rus' was the victory won by the Russian people on the Kulikovo field in September 1380 over the hordes of Mamai. It showed that Rus' has the strength to decisively fight the enslavers, and these forces can be united and united by the centralized power of the Grand Duke of Moscow.
In the literature of this time, the main themes became the fight against foreign enslavers - the Mongol-Tatars and the theme of strengthening the Russian state, glorifying the military and moral exploits of the Russian people, their deeds. Literature and fine arts reveal the moral ideal of a person who is able to overcome “the strife of this age” - the main evil that prevents the unification of all forces to fight the hated conquerors.
Epiphanius the Wise revives and raises to a new level of artistic perfection the emotionally expressive style developed by the literature of Kievan Rus. The development of this style was determined by the historical needs of life itself, and not only by the second South Slavic influence, although the experience of Bulgarian and Serbian literature was taken into account and used by the literature of the late 14th and early 15th centuries.
The style of historical narration receives further development. It is influenced by the democratic strata of the population, on the one hand, and church circles, on the other. Entertainment and artistic fiction are beginning to penetrate more widely into the historical narrative. Fictional tales appear that are taken as historical (the story of the city of Babylon, “The Tale of the Mutyansky governor Dracula”, “The Tale of the Iveron Queen Dinara”, “The Tale of Basarga”). In these tales, journalistic and political tendencies are intensified, emphasizing the importance of Rus' and its center of Moscow - the political and cultural successor of the ruling world powers.
In the 15th century Novgorod literature reaches its peak, clearly reflecting the acute struggle of classes within the feudal city republic. Novgorod chronicles and hagiography with its democratic tendencies played an important role in the development of ancient Russian literature.
In literature, there is growing interest in the psychological states of the human soul, the dynamics of feelings and emotions.
The literature of this period reflected the main character traits of the emerging Great Russian people: perseverance, heroism, the ability to endure adversity and difficulties, the will to fight and win, love for the homeland and responsibility for its fate.
The fifth period of development of Old Russian literature falls at the end of the 15th-16th centuries. This is the period of literature of the centralized Russian state. In the development of literature, it was marked by the process of merging local regional literatures into a single all-Russian literature, which provided an ideological justification for the centralized power of the sovereign. The acute internal political struggle to strengthen the sovereign power of the Grand Duke, and then the Sovereign of All Rus', determined the unprecedented flourishing of journalism.
The official style of the era becomes the representative, magnificent, eloquent style of the Makaryev literary school. Polemical journalistic literature gives rise to freer, more vibrant literary forms associated with business writing and everyday life.
The sixth period of development of Old Russian literature falls on the 17th century. The nature of literary development allows us to distinguish two stages in this period: 1st - from the beginning of the century to the 60s, 2nd - 60s - the end of the 17th, the first third of the 18th centuries.
The first stage is associated with the development and transformation of traditional historical and hagiographic genres of ancient Russian literature. The events of the first Peasant War and the struggle of the Russian people against the Polish-Swedish intervention dealt a blow to religious ideology and providentialist views on the course of historical events. In the social, political and cultural life of the country, the role of the posad, the trade and craft population, increased. A new democratic reader has appeared. Responding to his requests, literature expands the scope of reality, changes the previously established genre system, and begins to free itself from provenentialism, symbolism, etiquette - the leading principles of the artistic method of medieval literature. Hagiography is turning into everyday biography, and the genre of the historical story is being democratized.
The second stage in the development of Russian literature in the second half of the 17th century. associated with Nikon’s church reform, with the events of the historical reunification of Ukraine with Russia, after which an intensive process of penetration of Western European literature into Old Russian literature began. A historical story, losing connections with specific facts, becomes an entertaining narrative. The life becomes not only an everyday biography, but also an autobiography - a confession of a hot, rebellious heart.
Traditional genres of church and business writing become objects of literary parody: a church service is parodied in the service to a tavern, the life of a saint is parodied in the life of a drunkard, petitions and the “court case” in “The Kalyazin Petition” and “The Tale of Ersha Ershovich.” Folklore is rushing into literature in a broad wave. The genres of folk satirical fairy tales, epics, and song lyrics are organically included in literary works.
The self-awareness of the individual is reflected in a new genre - the everyday story, in which a new hero appears - a merchant's son, a seedy rootless nobleman. The nature of translated literature is changing.
The process of democratization of literature meets with a response from the ruling classes. In court circles, an artificial normative style, ceremonial aesthetics, and elements of Ukrainian-Polish baroque were implanted. Living folk lyrics are contrasted with artificial syllabic book poetry, democratic satire with moralizing abstract satire on morals in general, and folk drama with court and school comedy. However, the emergence of syllabic poetry, court and school theater testified to the triumph of new principles and prepared the way for the emergence of classicism in Russian literature of the 18th century.
2. A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten 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 the anonymity and impersonality of its works. This was a consequence of the religious-Christian attitude of feudal society towards man, and in particular towards the work of a writer, artist, and architect. 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. At the same time, the writer will not accept to provide his name with such evaluative epithets as “thin”, “unworthy”, “many sinners”. In most cases, the author of the work prefers to remain unknown, and sometimes hide behind the authoritative name of one or another “father of the church” - John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, etc.
Biographical information about the ancient Russian writers known to us, the volume of their creativity, and the nature of their social activities is very, very scarce. Therefore, if when studying literature of the 18th-20th centuries. literary scholars widely use biographical material, reveal the nature of political, philosophical, aesthetic views of this or that writer, using the author’s manuscripts, trace the history of the creation of works, identify creative individuality writer, then the monuments of ancient Russian writing have to be approached differently.
As a rule, the original texts of works have not reached us, but more than late lists, sometimes distant from the time of writing the original by a hundred, two hundred or more years. For example, “The Tale of Bygone Years,” created by Nestor in 1111-1113, has not survived at all, and the edition of Sylvester’s “story” (1116) is known only as part of the Laurentian Chronicle of 1377. “The Tale of Igor’s Host,” written at the end of 80 s of the 12th century, was found in a list of the 16th century.
When studying ancient Russian literature, one very important circumstance should be taken into account: in the medieval period, fiction had not yet emerged as an independent area of social consciousness; it was inextricably linked with philosophy, science, and religion.
In this regard, it is impossible to mechanically apply to ancient Russian literature the criteria of artistry with which we approach when assessing the phenomena of literary development of modern times.
The process of historical development of ancient Russian literature is a process of gradual crystallization fiction, its isolation from the general flow of writing, its democratization and “secularization,” i.e., liberation from the tutelage of the church.
One of the characteristic features of Old Russian literature is its connection with church and business writing, on the one hand, and oral poetic folk art, on the other. The nature of these connections at each historical stage of the development of literature and in its individual monuments was different.
However, the wider and deeper literature used the artistic experience of folklore, the more clearly it reflected the phenomena of reality, the wider was the sphere of its ideological and artistic influence.
A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is history. Its heroes are predominantly historical figures; it almost does not allow fiction and strictly follows the fact. Even 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. However, having discarded the religious shell, the modern reader easily discovers that living historical reality, the true creator of which was the Russian people.
3 . Genre system.
The specific features of the medieval worldview determined the system of genres of ancient Russian literature, subordinated to practical utilitarian goals - both moral and political. Along with Christianity, Ancient Rus' also adopted the system of genres of church writing that was developed in Byzantium. There were no genres here yet in the modern literary understanding, but there were canons enshrined in the decrees of ecumenical councils, legend - tradition and charter. Church literature was associated with the ritual of Christian worship and monastic life. Its significance and authority were built on a certain hierarchical principle. The top level was occupied by the books of “holy scripture.” Following them came hymnography and “words” associated with interpretations of “scripture” and explanations of the meaning of the holidays. Such “words” were usually combined into collections - “celebrants”, Triodion colored and Lenten. Then followed the lives - stories about the exploits of saints. The Lives were combined into collections: Prologues (Synaxari), Chetii-Minea, Patericon. Each type of hero: martyr, confessor, monk, stylite, holy fool - corresponded to its own type of life. The composition of the life depended on its use: liturgical practice dictated certain conditions to its compiler, addressing the life to readers and listeners.
Based on Byzantine examples, ancient Russian writers created a number of outstanding works of hagiographic original literature that reflected the essential aspects of the life and everyday life of Ancient Rus'. In contrast to Byzantine hagiography, Old Russian literature creates an original genre of princely lives, which aimed to strengthen the political authority of princely power and surround it with an aura of holiness. A distinctive feature of the princely life is “historicism”, a close connection with chronicles, military stories, i.e. genres of secular literature.
Just like the princely life, on the verge of transition from church genres to secular ones there are “walkings” - travels, descriptions of pilgrimages to “holy places”, legends about icons.
The system of genres of worldly (secular) literature is more flexible. It was developed by ancient Russian writers through extensive interaction with the genres of oral folk art, business writing, and church literature.
The dominant position among the genres of secular writing is occupied by the historical story, dedicated to outstanding events related to the struggle against the external enemies of Rus', the evil of princely strife. The story is accompanied by a historical legend and legend. The basis of the legend is some plot-complete episode; the basis of the legend is an oral legend. These genres are usually included in chronicles and chronographs.
A special place among worldly genres is occupied by the “Teaching” of Vladimir Monomakh, “The Lay of Igor’s Host”, “The Lay of the Destruction of the Russian Land” and “The Lay” of Daniil Zatochnik. They testify to the high level of literary development achieved by Ancient Russia in the 11th - first half of the 13th centuries.
Development of Old Russian literature of the 11th-17th centuries. goes through the gradual destruction of a stable system of church genres and their transformation. Genres of worldly literature are subject to fictionalization. They intensify interest in the inner world of a person, the psychological motivation of his actions, and appear entertaining and everyday descriptions. Historical heroes are being replaced by fictional ones. In the 17th century this leads to radical changes in the internal structure and style of historical genres and contributes to the birth of new purely fictional works. Virse poetry, court and school drama, democratic satire, everyday stories, and picaresque short stories appeared.
Original Russian literature.
The genre that best defines the first period is chronicle genre .
As is known, “The Tale of Bygone Years” has come down to us in two forms (second (1116) and third (1118) editions), the best are the “Lavrentievskaya” (2) and Ipatievskaya (3) editions
Indeed, the beginning of chronicle writing dates back to the 30s of the 11th century. But there were probably some records before that. It was hypothesized that there was some historical information in:
oral form (in which detail is removed and generalities are added);
records (which began to be kept with Easter tables where I came from weather recording principle. Each church had Easter tables in which Easter days were calculated several years in advance, and the most significant facts (for example, about princes) were recorded from scratch. But there was a second result of such records - a form of weather record was found, which was the most closed system).
the desire to cover a sufficiently large chronological period, and therefore to cover various episodes, to convey a sense of movement/meaning of the theory;
compilability (use of various sources);
journalistic orientation (to prove something to enemies, friends, our patriotic view of history);
In 1113, Nestor (the chronicler) completed the creation of the chronicle as a genre that existed until the 17th century. Nestor introduces a biblical aspect - he connects everything with biblical history(for example, the division of the land between the sons of Noah). Nestor thinks in terms of world history, but also remains a man of his tribe, and he mocks other tribes (he says about the Drevlyans: there was no marriage, we have no shame). This is local patriotism with open-mindedness. We already have a state chronicle in front of us, hence patriotism.
Nestor also acts as a researcher (his additions to the story of Olga’s revenge from oral sources - legends), he reflects on what is reliable and what is not (for example, reflections on the emergence of Kyiv. According to Kie, Nestor rejects this version, since he this offended him, he says that Kiy was a prince). As a result, the chronicle becomes official history.
Genre Life.
“The Legend of the Initial Spread of Christianity in Rus'” is not yet a life, but there is a description of exploits, stories about death (for example, “Boris and Gleb”). From it grows the first Russian hagiography, which does not have all the hagiographic features (the legend of Boris and Gleb).
An anonymous legend about Boris and Gleb emerges from chronicle history. The anonymous author expands and gives us a detailed description of how Boris and Gleb accepted death. There is no canonical introduction, their infancy and adolescence. Then a story about the sons of Vladimir, and then a story about the death of Boris and Gleb, who are killed by Svyatopolk, their brother (the son of Vladimir’s murdered brother). He was afraid of rivalry with his brothers as princes... the princely family was still perceived as one. But Yaroslav then defeated Svyatopolk. In this story, the focus is on the event of death, which is described in great detail (telling how they feel). The brothers' monologues are very similar (we see that Boris understands what is happening: he is smart, and Gleb cannot believe in fratricide). A feeling of melancholy is described (that the children did not bury their father. For him - Gleb - his father is still alive; his experiences intensify; well described psychological condition). Also, after the death of Gleb’s brother Boris, his feelings intensify even more.
But this is also not a canonical life (that’s why it is so intense and emotional). Since it is not canonical, Nestor undertook to make it canonical. He added an introduction, a story about his youth (and since he knew little, he added what was needed: they read divine books, did not play with children). Nestor removed all the specifics (the name of the boy who tried to save Boris). Specifics belittled their actions and grounded them. When the specifics, sharpness, and emotionality were gone, we got so-called rhetorical exercises. Nestor also edited some of the miracles (removing social motives and specifics). This is an unsuccessful model for constructing a life.
But at the same time, Nestor manages to create a rich, emotional life - “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersk”. This is the man with whom he lived next to in the monastery. It followed the Byzantine canon (correct). This is a deeply religious person who lived a traditional saintly life with the peculiarities of his personal life. Nestor begins and writes his life according to the rules. But Theodosius speaks in detail about his parents (which is not required by the canon!). He says that his mother was domineering, rude, strong, she believed that she knew how to make her son happy. Theodosius does not play, wears bad clothes, he leaves home along with the pilgrims and wanderers. Theodosius thinks about the soul, and his mother wants him to achieve earthly happiness. He goes to Kyiv and takes monastic vows. They don't want to cut his hair anywhere. The mother, having learned this, finds Theodosius and asks him to leave (he comes out for the third time, and on the condition that his mother becomes a nun). He becomes the abbot (abbot) of the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery. His exploits are standard. But he is also an educator and a builder (a story about the construction of new buildings in the Kiev Pechersky Monastery). As a result, Theodosius gets the opportunity to work miracles (since he has purified his soul). The miracles are even funny (the baker’s visit to Theodosius and complaints about the demon - Theodosius shuts himself up in the bakery for the night, prays and the demon disappears. Veselovsky’s wandering plot!). Humility is the most important virtue (obedience was characteristic of Theodosius). There are political things (for example, the clash between Theodosius and the Kyiv prince).
Paterik.
A wonderful monument is “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon”. Psychological and everyday details have been preserved. It also talks about the exploits of the holy monks (the story of Moses and Ungra). The monks perform feats and get the opportunity to work miracles (the story of Olympia). The land itself becomes holy.
A story about two brothers (at the beginning). There is no stench if a person is holy (until death).
Story about Mark. Mark dug graves, but lazily (it often happened that his brother died and the grave was not yet ready!). A story about the relationship between the monaz (when Sid during the service...?). Miracle - Titus is healthy, and Vagriy is numb, as if he had died a few days ago.
The name of Prokhor the Lebednik was known (he ate only quinoa!). If people received bread from Prokhor’s hands, it (the bread) was sweet, but the stolen bread was bitter. Prokhor created salt from ashes, and in the king’s courtyard they turned back into ashes. These are paterik novellas.
Sermon.
Sermon is the word spoken by the minister before the service. The most syncretic and free genre (a combination of different arts). Not only the preacher’s word is important, but also architecture, painting, and to some extent music. These elements are used in different types of preaching.
Sermon highlights:
Everyday (on ordinary days, concerns everyday and sometimes political issues);
Solemn (on major holidays, affects listeners).
Everyday Sermon. Introduction, sequential presentation, conclusion. It must logically prove/convey something to the listener. The personality of the preacher is reflected.
Theodosius in preaching he is a passionate man, a fanatic, which is aimed at glorifying Orthodoxy and fighting enemies - Catholics. Theodosius writes “The Sermon on the Christian and Latin Faith” to convince that in no case should one accept Catholicism. It would seem that the question is serious and we must start with why the churches diverged. Theodosius begins with a spell for the prince not to communicate with Catholics. The first argument is as the fathers commanded; He says they don’t believe rightly, they don’t live purely. Graduation technique (from harmless to disgusting): “They eat soup with cats and drink... urine.” Theodosius is a medieval man; everything alien is bad. He comes to the main creed. The relationship has already been formed.
Image: a strong, fanatical, convinced man, he convinces the prince of what he himself is convinced of.
Hilarion and Kirill– developed solemn sermon. Kirill spoke on very solemn holidays, he is an emotional person. Everything is thin. the funds are aimed at making us feel included. He specifies some things that are unclear to us (for example, the ascension of Christ). His main artistic technique is rhetorical amplification. Kirill wants us to experience the feeling that a peasant/Christian experiences.
Hilarion is the first Russian metropolitan. Demon of consent. His sermon has philosophical and political significance. Writes “The Word on Law and Grace.” The pattern of replacement of Judaism by Christianity. Grace is Christianity, law is Judaism. He comprehends natural historical processes: the worldwide spread of Christianity was planned by the Almighty from the very beginning, it was predetermined. But then people were not ready. God decides which people and when to accept faith. Everything is done according to the will of God.
Hilarion's biography is interesting. When we adopted Christianity, the metropolitans were Greeks. After the death of another metropolitan, Yaroslav the Wise appoints Hilarion as metropolitan without anyone’s consent. A few years later, the Metropolitan was Greek again. There is one hypothesis (but not reliable): Hilarion later accepted monasticism in the Kiev Pechersk Monastery, became a monk and took the name Nikon! Hilarion belonged to a circle of scribes. He has the same interests as Yaroslav the Wise.
In his “Sermon on Law and Grace” Hilarion reflects(!) on the historical movement. It takes one aspect: the replacement of the Jewish religion with Christianity. He varies the scheme and comes to the conclusion that Judaism is a step towards Christianity. The sermon is delivered in the temple, where there are frescoes on this occasion. In this way he achieved syncretism (that is, the connection of different arts). One of those wonderfully structured sermons. It is built on a system of parallels and synthesis.
law grace
shadow, cold, moonlight, warmth, sun
Law - man's relationship with God is strictly regulated. Grace is a free choice, a moral choice every day. In Judaism, everything is predetermined (for example, in Judaism you cannot cook dairy and meat in the same container, you cannot work on the Sabbath, after marriage women are shaved bald). Law is opposed to grace. Hagar and her son Ishmael are contrasted with Sarah and her son Isaac.
“First is the shadow and then is the truth,” teaches Hilarion. Here he is a philosopher. The philosophy of history is presented. Hilarion’s goal is to prove that this change is a completely natural thing, foreseen by the creator. Hilarion gives many examples (for example, the arrival of Grace to God); if Judaism is a natural step to Christianity, then there is no merit of Byzantium (+ independence of Rus'). Everything is according to God's will. The theme is religious-philosophical, the idea is political. For a medieval person, any postulate must be justified religiously and philosophically. Hilarion is first and foremost a philosopher.
Walking.
Travel genre. It arose after the adoption of Christianity. We need to make sure of what is written about. Many people wanted to become pilgrims, so pilgrimages to Constantinople began. People ask eternal questions, but big damage economy. The church harshly characterized this movement: according to the church, this is an encroachment on its mission, the church is concerned about what is happening (the fields are abandoned). Many texts condemned pilgrimage. The Church convinces us that there is no need to go far at all, but rather read the description of the holy places.
Abbot Daniel was the first to write. There is a hypothesis: Daniel’s goal is political; Daniel carried out a diplomatic mission from the Kyiv prince Svyatopolk. At this time, there is the state of the Crusaders with King Baldwin, his support is just right (the beginning of the 12th century, the struggle with Monomakh, who was in full force, + the authority of Constantinople). Svyatopolk needed to put someone behind his back (but he failed). Many documents prove this goal, according to which this hypothesis is quite probable. First, he is respected; Daniel is led alone to the Holy Sepulcher and to the Pillar of David. Daniel himself says that he “applied, and they let him in” - everything is much simpler. Secondly: “The Walking of Hegumen Daniil” - there was a reconstruction of the memorial list: the list is different in different copies, so we turn to the protographer, and there (in the memorial list) there are all the senior, independent princes, so Daniil feels like an intercessor (representative) of the entire Russian land. All these arguments generally confirm everything. Most likely, Daniil is the abbot of one of the southern Russian (Chernigov) monasteries. Its associations are similar to Russian. The most important thing that we see in the text is a special view of the world thanks to the composition.
The composition is justified by purpose. Each chapter intersects past and present. Daniel is inquisitive and wants to make sure of everything. His look is the look of a person who is joyfully convinced that everything he believes in really exists. He is a lively, curious person. This is confirmed by the details he describes. He's interested in everything. At the same time, he is a representative of the entire Russian land and sees the world like all representatives. This “Walking” is a kind of guide.
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1 FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION STATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OF HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION “VORONEZH STATE UNIVERSITY” HISTORY OF ANCIENT RUSSIAN LITERATURE Part 1. Literature of Kievan Rus Educational and methodological manual for universities Compiled by L. I. Bobritskikh Publishing and Printing Center of Voronezh State University 2008
2 Approved by the scientific and methodological council of the Faculty of Philology on February 13, 2008, protocol 4 Reviewer Associate Professor of the Department of Russian Literature of the Faculty of Philology of VSU, Ph.D. Philol. Sciences K.A. Nagina The educational and methodological manual was prepared at the Department of Theory of Literature and Folklore, Faculty of Philology, Voronezh State University. Recommended for foreign 1st year undergraduate students of the Faculty of Philology. For the direction of Philology bachelor's degree 2
3 From the compiler Studying the course “History of Old Russian Literature” by foreign students is associated with objective and subjective difficulties. First of all, the material they have to master includes the history of the development of Russian literature over seven centuries! In addition, there are inevitable difficulties that arise in the process of reading works of that era, when ancient Russian literature was just beginning to take shape as an integral part of Russian culture. Old Russian monuments, in contrast to works of modern times, act only as an object of study and do not arouse keen reader interest. Their rich ideological and emotional content, expressed in peculiar forms, repels the unprepared reader, especially a foreign one. Sometimes the vocabulary, syntax and morphological forms of the Middle Ages can only be understood with the help of special linguistic comments, which involves turning to dictionaries different types. Significant difficulties are also presented by the large volume of textbooks and the abundance of literary texts in anthologies intended for Russian students. All this predetermined the main goal of the present teaching aid help foreign students master a course on the history of ancient Russian literature. The proposed teaching aid represents the first part of the “Literature of Kievan Rus” course on the history of medieval Russian literature. His theoretical articles present the most important and striking material on the specifics of ancient Russian book culture, and the literature of Kievan Rus in particular. For a more detailed study, the manual includes the best examples of ancient Russian literature in content and form from the 11th to 12th centuries: “The Tale of Bygone Years”, “The Instruction” of Vladimir Monomakh and “The Tale of Igor’s Host”, representing the leading genres of literature of Kievan Rus (chronicle, oratory , military story, historical legend and legend). When choosing the sequence of material arrangement, the formation and development of ancient Russian literature was taken into account, since one of the main objectives of the course is to develop students’ skills in relating specific works of art with the patterns of development of the literary process as a whole. Those wishing to study the proposed material in more detail are recommended to refer to the sources named in the “Literature” section. 3
4 Old Russian literature First stage development of Russian literature Historical background for the emergence of Old Russian literature Old Russian literature arose in the 11th century. and developed over seven centuries, until the Petrine era. It had its own artistic content, came from its own aesthetic principles and in her artistic “key” she created works no less significant and artistically convincing than the literature of the New Age. Literature arises only in the conditions of the development of class society. Necessary prerequisites for its emergence are the formation of the state, the emergence of writing, and the existence of highly developed forms of oral folk art. The emergence of Old Russian literature is inextricably linked with the process of creating an early feudal state. New system social relations, based on the class dominance of a minority over the majority of the working population, needed ideological justification. Neither the tribal pagan religion nor the oral folk art that previously served the tribal system could provide this justification. The development of economic, trade and political relations created a need for writing, the existence of which is one of the necessary prerequisites for the emergence of literature. Some scientists argue that writing in Rus' appeared with the introduction of Christianity. In fact, writing was common long before this. Inscriptions on monuments material culture and the texts of treaties between Rus' and Byzantium dating back to the first half of the 10th century irrefutably prove this. At the same time, it should be recognized that the introduction of Christianity in 988 had great importance for the further development and spread of writing throughout the territory of the ancient Russian state. Christian church writing required the establishment of a unified spelling, common writing techniques, and a unified written language. In addition, translated Christian literature that appeared in Rus' after 988 introduced Russian people to new standards of morality and morality, expanded their mental horizons and provided them with many historical information. In the development of book education, including literature, monasteries played a large role, which in the first years of their existence were the center of a new Christian culture. The role of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, created in the middle of the 11th century, was especially great in this regard. Long before the emergence of book learning in Rus', the Eastern Slavs had a widely developed spoken word poetry in its various forms and genres - 4
5 rah, which originated in the pre-feudal period, at the time of the communal tribal system. Even in pre-class society, in addition to conspiracies, proverbs, sayings, fairy tales and fairy tales about animals, ritual poetry was widespread, in particular ritual songs associated with the agricultural calendar and the living conditions of the people. The growth of public consciousness at the time of the formation of the Kyiv state brought to life the most precious heritage of Russian folklore, the epic epic, which reflected historical events era, the heroic struggle of the Russian people with their external enemies, as well as individual episodes from the life of the Kyiv princes and their squad. Subsequently, living in the mouths of the people, folklore continued to be replenished, modified and varied in accordance with the historical situation and the class struggle that determined the course of historical events. The main sources of the formation of ancient Russian literature In the formation of literature, on the one hand, oral folk art, and on the other, bookish Christian culture, coming both from the southern Slavs, in particular the Bulgarians, and from Byzantium, actively participate in the formation of literature. There is no doubt that the rich figurative means of Russian folklore, especially epics, and its linguistic and stylistic features, and ideological content, as well as realistic elements, had a beneficial effect on ancient Russian literature. Assimilating Christian ideology, the people adapted it to their pagan concepts and ideas. This gave rise to such a very characteristic feature of Russian life as “dual faith,” which was retained in the popular consciousness for a long time, which was reflected in ancient Russian literature. Art also played an important role in the formation of literature. oral speech and business writing. Oral speech was widespread in the life practice of early feudal society. Before the start of battles, military leaders addressed their soldiers with a speech, inspiring them to perform a feat of arms. Oral speech was constantly used in diplomatic negotiations: ambassadors going to carry out their diplomatic mission usually memorized the words that one or another ruler ordered them to convey. These speeches contained certain stable phrases and were distinguished by their conciseness and expressiveness. Business writing also developed verbal formulas. Laconism and precision of expression in oral speech and business writing contributed to the development of a concise, aphoristic style of presentation in literary monuments. 5
6 Specific features of Old Russian literature When starting to study Old Russian literature, it is necessary to take it into account specific features, different from the literature of the New Age. A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of its existence and distribution. In the XI-XIV centuries. The material for writing was parchment (specially tanned calfskin). Paper appeared in Rus' only at the end of the 14th century. and by the 16th century. finally replaces parchment. They wrote with ink and kinovary. Until the middle of the 19th century. Goose feathers were used for writing. In the old days they wrote slowly, carefully drawing out each letter. Since the material, especially parchment, was expensive, they wrote sparingly: the width of the entire page or in two columns without dividing into words and sentences, and only paragraphs of the manuscript were highlighted with a red cinnabar initial, a heading with a “red line” in the literal sense of the word. Frequently occurring words were written abbreviated under a special superscript title. For example, glet (the verb speaks), bg ъ (god), bts a (theotokos). Handwriting XI-XIII centuries. in science it is called the charter. It was a calm, solemn handwriting. The letters are clear and large, they are written separately, without slanting, so that each letter can be fit into a rectangle. The charter is characterized by a small number of abbreviations. It is quite obvious that both the quality of the material and the nature of the handwriting in ancient times did not contribute to the widespread development of handwriting: the manuscript was expensive and was written slowly. From the second half of the 14th century. paper comes into use, and the charter gradually gives way to semi-charter. This letter is more fluent and less strict, but retains the clarity and separation of the letters. Wide and rapid spread of the half-rut in the 15th and 17th centuries. connected with the increased need for books in Russian society. Half-shape speeds up the writing process and is convenient for the scribe, as it is smaller and simpler, allowing for slanting and a greater number of abbreviations. At the end of the 16th century. Cursive writing is widely used. This is an oblique letter, where the letters are connected, and many words known to the reader are shortened, so cursive also saves the material necessary for writing. Of course, this is the most democratic and productive type of writing. Manuscripts become cheaper and work on them speeds up, the book becomes more accessible, democratizes, and literary output tends to expand. In addition to parchment and paper, birch bark (birch bark) was used as a writing material. Books were also written on birch bark in Ancient Rus', but such books have not reached us, only ancient letters (private letters and business documents). Basic type ancient Russian book a voluminous manuscript composed of separate notebooks then bound together; the word "book" in 6
7 Ancient Rus' was rarely used in singular usually in the plural (“books”). Such a handwritten book was bound in a wooden binding, covered with embossed leather. Hence the phraseological phrase “read a book from blackboard to blackboard.” To preserve the manuscript, leather ties or metal clasps were attached to the bindings. To protect it from damage, so-called “bugs”, metal plaques made of bronze or copper, were placed in the corners and in the middle of the binding. Already in the 11th century. luxurious books appeared with cinnabar letters, with illustrations and artistic miniature pictures. Their binding is bound with gold or silver, decorated with pearls, precious stones. These are the “Ostromir Gospel” (XI century), “Mstislav Gospel” (XII century). In the old days, the production of a book was a long and difficult process, requiring large expenses and a lot of labor. It is not surprising that in the old days it was relatively difficult to get a book and it was expensive. The book was either purchased by private order or bought on the market. The first bookstore was opened only in the 18th century, in 1728, at the Academy of Sciences. Another feature of Old Russian literature is anonymity or pseudonymity. 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 who modestly put their name either at the end of the manuscript, or in its margins, or (much less often) in the title of the work. At the same time, the writer supplied his name with such evaluative epithets as “thin”, “unworthy”, “many sinners”. In most cases, the authors of the works preferred to remain unknown, and sometimes, in order to give what was written greater authority, they signed the names of popular Byzantine writers, “church fathers” John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, etc. In medieval society there was no concept of copyright, individual personality traits writers did not receive such a vivid manifestation as in the literature of modern times. Copyists often acted as editors and co-authors rather than simple copyists of the text. They could create the work anew, including in it new material, borrowed from other sources, for example, chronicles, local legends, monuments of translated literature. This is how new editions of the work arose, differing from each other in ideological, political and artistic orientation. Even if the copyist simply copied the text, the list was always somehow different from the original: errors appeared, individual letters, words and even entire lines were omitted. The scribes unwittingly reflected in the language of the work the features of their native dialect (Moscow, Ryazan or Novgorod, and 7
8 if they were foreigners Serbian or Bulgarian). In this regard, in science there is a special term “izvod” (for example, the manuscript of the Pskovnovgorod excerpt). As a rule, the author's texts of works have not reached us, but their later lists have been preserved. Thus, the “Tale of Bygone Years”, created by Nestor in 1965, has not survived at all, and the edition of Sylvester’s “Tale” (1116) is known only as part of the Laurentian Chronicle of 1377. “The Tale of Igor’s Host”, written in the late 80s. x of the 12th century, was found in a list of the 16th century. 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. The historicism of ancient Russian literature has a specifically medieval character. The course and development of historical events is explained from a religious point of view. The heroes of the works are princes, rulers of the state, standing at the very top of the hierarchical ladder of feudal society. However, behind the religious shell we discover a living historical reality, the true creator of which was the Russian people. The specific features of medieval Russian literature also include journalisticism and topicality. 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 conviction. 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 mistakes of their predecessors. Periodization of Old Russian literature Old Russian literature is the literature of the Russian Middle Ages, which has gone through a long seven-century path in its development, from the 11th century. until the 17th century For the first three centuries it was common to the Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian peoples. Only in the XIV century. differences emerge between the East Slavic peoples, their language and literature. During the period of the formation of literature, its “apprenticeship”, the center of political and cultural life was 8
9 neither country was Kyiv, “the mother of Russian cities,” therefore the literature of the 11th-12th centuries. is commonly called the literature of Kievan Rus. In the tragic XIII-XIV centuries for Russian history, when the Tatar-Mongol yoke was established in Rus', literary process lost its former unity, its course was determined by the activities of regional literary “schools” (Chernigov, Galicia-Volyn, Ryazan, Vladimir-Suzdal, etc.). Starting from the 15th century, in the history of literature in Rus' there has been a tendency towards the unification of creative forces, and literary development XVI XVII centuries marches under the sign of the rise of the new spiritual center of Moscow. Based on the features historical path, passed by the Russian people, three main periods are distinguished in the literature of Ancient Rus': 1) literature of Kievan Rus (XI-XII centuries); 2) literature from the period of feudal fragmentation and the struggle for the unification of North-Eastern Rus' (XIII-XV centuries); 3) literature from the period of creation and development of the centralized Moscow state (XVI-XVII centuries). System of genres of Old Russian literature The specific features of the medieval worldview determined the system of genres of Old Russian literature, subordinated to moral and political purposes. Along with Christianity, Ancient Rus' also adopted the system of genres of church writing that was developed in Byzantium. There were no genres in the modern literary understanding here, but there were canons. The system of genres of ancient Russian literature was twofold: church and secular genres, but church genres had priority. Church literature was associated with the ritual of church worship and monastic life. Its significance was built on a certain hierarchical principle. The top level was occupied by the books of “holy scripture.” Following them came hymnography and “words” associated with interpretations of “scripture” and explanations of the meaning of the holidays. Then followed the lives of stories about the lives of saints. Based on Byzantine examples, ancient Russian writers created a number of outstanding works of original hagiographic literature, which reflected the essential aspects of the life and way of life of Ancient Rus'. In contrast to Byzantine works, Old Russian literature creates an original genre of princely lives, which aimed to strengthen the political authority of princely power and surround it with an aura of holiness. A distinctive feature of the princely life is “historicism”, a close connection with chronicle legends, military stories, i.e., genres of secular literature. Just like the princely life, on the verge of transition from church genres to secular ones there are “walkings” of travel, descriptions of pilgrimages to “holy places”. 9
10 Transitional genres also include apocrypha, legendary-religious works, which, thematically being closely related to the “holy scriptures,” contained “heretical” elements in their very plots or interpretations, rejected by the official church. The system of genres of worldly (secular) literature is more flexible. It was developed by ancient Russian writers through extensive interaction with the genres of oral folk art, business writing, and church literature. The dominant place among the genres of worldly literature is occupied by the historical story, dedicated to outstanding historical events related to the struggle against the external enemies of Rus', princely strife. The story is accompanied by a historical legend, legend. The legend is based on some plot-completed episode; the legend is based on an oral legend. These genres are usually included in chronicles. A special place among worldly genres is occupied by the “Teaching” of Vladimir Monomakh, “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign”, “The Lay of the Destruction of the Russian Land” and “The Lay” of Daniil Zatochnik. They testify to the high level of literary development achieved by Ancient Russia in the 11th and first half of the 13th century. Development of Old Russian literature of the 11th-17th centuries. goes through the gradual destruction of a stable system of church genres and their transformation. Genres of worldly literature are subject to fictionalization. They intensify interest in the inner world of a person, the psychological motivation of his actions, and appear entertaining and everyday descriptions. Historical heroes are being replaced by fictional ones. In the 17th century this leads to radical changes in the internal structure and style of historical genres and contributes to the birth of new, purely fictional works. Virshes poetry, court and school drama, democratic satire, everyday stories, and picaresque short stories emerge. Main themes of Old Russian literature Old Russian literature, inextricably linked with the history of the development of the Russian state and the Russian people, is imbued with heroic and patriotic pathos. The theme of the beauty and greatness of Rus', which is “known” and “led” in all parts of the world, is one of the central themes of ancient Russian literature. IN medieval monuments the creative work of the Russian people, who selflessly defended their native land from external enemies, is glorified. They contain a sharp voice of condemnation of the policies of the princes, who sowed bloody discord, as a result of which the political and military power of the state was weakened. Ancient Russian literature glorifies the moral beauty of the Russian person, capable of sacrificing for the common good own life. It expresses deep faith in the power and ultimate triumph of good, in man's ability to elevate his spirit and defeat evil. 10
11 Questions 1. Name the chronological framework of Old Russian literature. 2. What are the main prerequisites for the emergence of Russian medieval literature? 3. Name the sources of formation of ancient Russian literature. 4. Tell us about the specific features of the literature of the Russian Middle Ages. 5. Describe the main periods of development of Old Russian literature. 6. What features of the medieval worldview formed the basis of the system of literary genres of Ancient Rus'? 7. List the main themes of Old Russian literature. Literature of Kievan Rus (XI-XII centuries) The literature of Kievan Rus at the very first stages of its existence reached a high degree of development, which corresponded to the high level of general culture of the Old Russian state. The cultural flourishing of Kievan Rus was prepared by all the previous development of the culture of the Eastern Slavs, which is evidenced by monuments of material culture starting from the 6th century, but its rapid growth was facilitated by the inclusion of Rus' at the end of the 10th century. to Christianity. Simultaneously with the adoption of a new religion in Rus', schooling. The chronicle reports that Vladimir, after returning from Greece to Kyiv, “began to take children from deliberate children and began to teach books.” “Book teaching” received further development under Yaroslav the Wise, a great book lover, organizer of a school in Novgorod for three hundred children. Only by admitting that school work was widely established in Kievan Rus can one understand how, in a very short time, just a few decades after the adoption of Christianity, such wonderful literary monuments as the most ancient chronicle or “The Tale of Law and Grace” arose in Rus' "priest, later Metropolitan Hilarion. The most ancient chronicle. “The Tale of Bygone Years” as a literary monument of the early 12th century. The appearance of each genre in literature is historically determined. Chronicle writing in Rus' arose from the need of the early feudal state to have its own written history and was associated with the growth national identity Russian people. The chronicles were historical documents of national importance, including treaty documents 11
12 you, wills of princes, resolutions of feudal congresses, etc. Recording the most significant milestones in the historical development of the ancient Russian state, the chronicler defended the idea of its political, religious and cultural independence, depicting the history of Rus' as part of the world historical process. Chronicle writing does not appear earlier than the 30s. in the 11th century, during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, and soon became one of the leading literary genres in which Russian plot storytelling developed, and at the same time a journalistic genre, sensitively responding to the political demands of its time. The method of compiling the chronicle was that individuals, most of whom belonged to the princely-boyar or monastic environment, recorded certain events that they witnessed or about which they heard from someone. These records, together with legends, traditions and tales about various persons or events, were combined into separate sets, which were subsequently replenished and modified until the first set that reached us was compiled, which bears the title “The Tale of Bygone Years.” “The Tale of Bygone Years” is a work on the creation of which more than one generation of Russian chroniclers worked, it is a monument to collective creativity. At first, in the first half of the 40s. XI century, a set of articles was compiled, which Academician D.S. Likhachev suggested calling it “The Legend of the Spread of Christianity in Rus'.” It included stories about the baptism and death of Princess Olga, a story about the first Russian martyrs, the Varangian Christians, a story about the baptism of Rus', a story about princes Boris and Gleb, and extensive praise for Yaroslav the Wise. The next stage in the development of Russian chronicles occurred in the 1960s. XI century and is associated with the activities of the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nikon. Nikon added to the “Tale of the Spread of Christianity in Rus'” legends about the first Russian princes and stories about their campaigns against Constantinople, the so-called “Varangian legend”, according to which the Kyiv princes descend from the Varangian prince Rurik, who was invited to Rus' to stop internecine Slavic feuds The inclusion of this legend in the chronicle had its own meaning: Nikon tried to convince his contemporaries of the unnaturalness of internecine wars, of the need for all princes to obey the Grand Duke of Kyiv, the heir and descendant of Rurik. Finally, according to researchers, it was Nikon who gave the chronicle the form of weather records. Around 1095, a new chronicle was created, which A. A. Shakhmatov suggested calling it “Initial”. The compiler of this collection continued the chronicle with a description of the events of the years, giving his work, especially in this part, supplemented by him, a clearly published
13 stical character: he reproached the princes for internecine wars, for not caring about the defense of the Russian land. At the beginning of the 12th century. The “Initial Code” was again revised by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor. The chronicler not only outlined the events of the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, of which he was an eyewitness, but also completely reworked the story about the beginning of Rus' “where did the Russian land come from, who began the first princedom in Kyiv.” Nestor introduces the history of Rus' into the mainstream of world history. He begins his chronicle with a presentation of the biblical legend about the division of the earth between the sons of Noah Shem, Ham and Apeth. The east went to Shem, the south to Ham, the north and west to Afet. After the Babylonian pandemonium, God divided a single people into 70 and 2 “tongues” (peoples) and scattered them across the face of the earth: the sons of Shem headed to the “eastern countries”; the sons of Ham to the lands of the midday (to the south); the sons of Afet to the west and to the “midnight countries”. Among these peoples were the Slavs. Nestor talks about the origin of the Slavic tribes, their settlement and relationships with each other. The tribes that settled on Russian soil occupied the territory that belonged to them already in the 1st century. n. e. At first the Slavs lived peacefully, but then they began to quarrel among themselves and eventually lost their independence: foreigners attacked them and demanded tribute. And then the Slavs, in order to stop the strife, called the Varangians three brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor to Rus'. In the struggle for the independence of the Russian land, the Rurikovichs restored its original unity, ensuring “peace” and “silence”. By the 10th century, the Russian state was already one of the strongest in Europe. Kyiv became the capital of Rus', and all appanage princes had to submit to the Grand Duke of Kyiv. Nestor appears in his work as a historical researcher. Based on the study of various historical sources, he calculates the exact dates of certain events, tries to interpret the meaning of the word “Rus”, and includes the texts of treaties between the Russians and the Greeks in the chronicle. The nationality of Nestor’s vision of history is reflected in the fact that in The Tale of Bygone Years he introduces legends that contradict official point view of the history of the country as the history of princely deeds. These are stories that celebrate folk wisdom, courage and patriotism (the legend of Belgorod jelly, the legend of the young man-kozhemyak). We call this edition of the “Tale” (1113) the first. Around 1116, on behalf of Vladimir Monomakh, the “Tale” was revised by the abbot of the Vydubitsky Monastery (near Kiev) Sylvester. In this (second) edition, the interpretation of the events of the years was changed: they were now presented with a clear tendency to glorify the acts of Monomakh. In particular, a story about blindness was introduced into the text of the Tale.
14th anniversary of Vasilko Terebovlsky, for Monomakh acted as a champion of justice and brotherly love in the inter-princely feud of these years. Finally, in 1118, the “Tale” underwent another revision, carried out at the direction of Prince Mstislav, son of Vladimir Monomakh. The narrative was continued until 1117, separate articles for more early years changed. We call this edition of the Tale the third. The genre composition of “The Tale of Bygone Years” The chronological principle of presentation allowed the chroniclers to include in the chronicle heterogeneous in nature and genre features material. The Tale of Bygone Years included legends and tales, tales and war stories, teachings and parables, signs and wonders. The simplest and oldest form of chronicle narration was the weather record, which recorded isolated facts of history. Its main features are documentary accuracy, extreme laconicism, lack of emotional overtones and author's commentary. The message was introduced into the chronicle narrative using traditional formulas: “In the year 6415 (907). Oleg went against the Greeks"; “Per year 6495 (987). Vladimir summoned his boyars and elders”; “Per year 6500 (992). Vladimir went against the Croats,” etc. The structure of these entries is noteworthy: as a rule, the first place is given to the verb, which emphasizes the significance of the action. The chronicle tales in the Tale of Bygone Years are a literary adaptation of an oral source to which the chronicler turned if there was no more reliable material at hand. The oral and poetic origin of a number of chronicle legends of the “Tale” is beyond doubt. These are the legends about the founding of Kyiv, about the calling of the princes, about Oleg’s capture of Constantinople, about Olga’s death, about Igor’s campaigns against Greece, about Igor’s death and Olga’s revenge on the Drevlyans, about Prince Svyatoslav, about Vladimir, etc. The chronicler has Oleg with the ease typical of a fairy-tale hero, overcomes all obstacles on his way: he takes Smolensk, Lyubech, and captures Kiev without a fight; goes to Constantinople and defeats the Greeks by cunning (he ordered wheels to be attached to the boats and so, on wheels, he rode into Constantinople), forcing them to pay him a huge tribute. Wise and prophetic, he does not drink wine poisoned by the Greeks; finally, like many other fairy-tale heroes, he dies unexpectedly, in the prime of his life, according to a “prophetic” prophecy from a snake bite. This is a punishment for the fact that Oleg imagined himself invincible by enemies and fate itself, laughing at the prediction of the Magi and reproaching them: “The Magi are not right, but it is all a lie: the horse is dead, but I am alive.” The horse, according to the ancient beliefs of the Slavs, is a sacred animal, a helper and friend of man, a talisman. Having stepped on the skull of his beloved horse with his foot, Oleg doomed himself to an “evil” death, death-punishment. 14
15 Prince Igor is also portrayed as courageous and brave. He defeats the Greeks in the campaign of 944. The prince is caring and attentive to the needs of his squad, but is greedy for wealth. The desire to collect as much tribute as possible from the Drevlyans becomes the reason for his death. Igor's greed is condemned by the chronicler folk proverb, which he puts into the mouths of the Drevlyans: “If a wolf gets into the habit of the sheep, he will carry out the whole flock until they kill him.” Igor's wife Olga, in the chronicle's interpretation, is a wise woman, faithful to the memory of her husband, rejecting the matchmaking of not only the Drevlyan prince Mal, but also the Greek emperor. She cruelly takes revenge on the murderers of her husband, but her cruelty is not condemned by the chronicler. The description of Olga's four places emphasizes the wisdom, firmness and inflexibility of the character of a Russian woman. All descriptions of Olga’s revenge are based on a bright, laconic dialogue between the princess and the envoys of the Drevlyansky land. Olga is the organizer of the Russian land, the first in the Russian princely family to be baptized, eagerly listening to the teachings of the patriarch in Constantinople and upon returning to Rus' becoming, as the chronicle puts it, the spiritual “boss” of the Russian land, the forerunner of its Christian renewal. According to the chronicler, Svyatoslav is first and foremost a warrior, endowed with extraordinary strength and endurance. “On campaigns, he did not carry carts or cauldrons with him, did not cook meat, but thinly sliced horse meat, or animal meat, or beef and fried it on coals, and ate it like that; He didn’t even have a tent, but he slept on a sweatcloth with a saddle on his head, and so were all his other warriors. And he sent them to other lands with the words: “I want to go against you.” He already shows courage in early childhood; with the ease typical of a fairy-tale hero, he defeats the Vyatichi, Khazars, and Bulgarians without encountering any resistance. Svyatoslav despises wealth, he values only his squad, weapons, with the help of which he can obtain any wealth. Svyatoslav lives in the interests of his squad. He even goes against the admonitions of Olga’s mother and refuses to accept Christianity, fearing the ridicule of the squad. But Svyatoslav’s constant desire for wars of conquest, neglect of the interests of Kyiv, his attempt to move the capital of Rus' to the Danube, to the city of Pereyaslavets, causes the condemnation of the chronicler, which he expresses through the lips of the people of Kiev: “You, prince, are looking for someone else’s land and taking care of it, but have left your own , and the Pechenegs almost took us.” Finally, he dies just like many epic heroes. “And Kurya, the prince of Pecheneg, attacked him, and they killed Svyatoslav, and took his head, and made a cup from the skull, bound it, and drank from it.” His death is his punishment for violating the law of epic morality: he disobeyed his mother, refusing to accept Christianity, and neglected the advice of his old commander Sveneld to bypass the Dnieper rapids, where the Pechenegs settled, lying in wait for the Russian prince, returning from Greece with great booty. 15
16 All chronicles of this type, as already noted, are of oral poetic origin. But it does not follow from this that they are all of folk origin. Along with historical legends reflecting the popular understanding of a particular historical event, the chronicler, undoubtedly, used legends of princely squad origin and content. And this princely squad folklore in the “Tale” occupies great place. These are the majority of legends dedicated to the life and activities of princes Oleg, Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav, and Vladimir. Typical examples of folk legends are the tales of the youth-kozhemyak (under 992) and the Belgorod jelly (under 997). The folk tendency of the legend about the kozhemyak is easily revealed when analyzing its content. The leather craftsman puts the prince's professional squad to shame and saves Rus' from a Pecheneg raid. He accomplishes a feat that none of Prince Vladimir’s warriors could accomplish. The signs of the oral origin of the chronicle legend about the kozhemyak are very clear: this is a search for a fighter; Vladimir’s difficulty (Vladimir “suffers” that he cannot oppose his Pecheneg hero); the appearance of an old man telling Vladimir about his youngest son, unprepossessing in appearance, but very strong (cf. Ivanushka the Fool from Russian folk tales); the fight with the hero, the victory of the youngest son and his award. The etymology of the name of the city “Pereyaslavl” also speaks about the oral origin of this legend: it is named as if in honor of the fact that the young Kozhemyaka “took over the glory” from the Pecheneg hero in a duel. The event was attributed by the chronicler to 992. In fact, this city was already mentioned in the treaty between the Russians and the Greeks in 907. The legend of Belgorod jelly is a typically folk story about deceiving enemies with the help of resourcefulness and ingenuity. Both tales are remarkable in that both here and there the hero is a simple Russian man, saving his land from enemies. The chronicle story is primarily documentary. It is a direct reflection of reality. This is a story in the literal sense of the word, usually compiled from fresh traces of an event by an eyewitness or from the words of an eyewitness. Of course, the reflection of reality before us is not literal. The narrator tells about this or that event as he saw it, how he perceived and understood it. The narrator is a man of his era, his social status and his political orientation, which could not but affect his narrative. Like a weather record, a chronicle story is always strictly factual (the date of the event is indicated, all participants are listed in detail).
17 persons who fought in it), he is characterized by a protocol specificity of descriptions, a dry businesslike tone. One of the most characteristic features of a chronicle story is the speech of the characters in the story. A story sometimes consists entirely of speeches, and the exchange of them constitutes its entire content; The characters constantly exchange speeches on any occasion, sometimes pronouncing extensive monologues. The literary originality of the chronicle story is in the appearance of the author’s personality. Unlike a weather record, it is already clearly felt, declares itself through assessments of certain events, attempts to comment on them, direct characterization of the characters in the story, and especially in its individual manner of telling the story. In the "Tale of Bygone Years" under 1097, a story is read about the blinding of Vasilko Terebovlsky. This is one of the most tragic stories princely civil strife, told in the chronicle. The author strives to accurately depict the smallest details of facts, various kinds of realities, even the very language of the era (manner of speaking, making speeches). This story is one of the unsurpassed examples of chronicle storytelling, which gives a vivid idea of the life of its time. A chronicle story is a special type of story, dedicated to the story of the death of a particular prince, a kind of obituary. The purpose of the story is to give a new image of an ideal prince, endowed with all possible Christian virtues. The story, like life, in depicting a person, sought, if possible, to eliminate all the features of his individual character, and the heroes of the story began to resemble one another, in similar circumstances they acted in the same way, and uttered the same words. In the depths of the “Tale of Bygone Years” a military story begins to take shape. Elements of this genre are present in the story about Yaroslav’s revenge on Svyatopolk the Accursed. The chronicler described the gathering of troops and the march, preparations for the battle of opponents separated by the Dnieper, the climax of the “slaying of the evil” and the flight of Svyatopolk. Stylistic formulas typical of a military story permeate the chronicle story about the battle between Yaroslav and Mstislav (1024): “And Mstislav and Yaroslav went at each other, and the squad of northerners fought with the Varangians, and the Varangians worked, cutting down the northerners, and then Mstislav moved with his squad and began to chop down the Varangians. And the slaughter was strong, and when the lightning flashed, the weapons shone, and there was a great thunderstorm and the slash was strong and terrible.” Thus, “The Tale of Bygone Years” is a monument that contains works of different times, different authors, having different sources and political orientation, differing in genre and style. They are united by a common historical theme and a chronological principle of organizing the material. The main ideas of the “Tale” are the idea of non- 17
18 dependence of Rus', affirmation of the idea of the superiority of Christianity over paganism, the inalienability of Russian universal history, a call for the unity of actions of the princes, the spiritual unity of the Russian people. “The Tale of Bygone Years” and folklore “The Tale of Bygone Years” is the most significant example of the use of folklore tradition in the literature of Kievan Rus. The influence of folklore primarily affects the depiction of the heroes of the initial part of the chronicle. As in works of oral folk art, the chronicle gives the first Russian princes (Oleg, Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav, Vladimir) laconic but vivid characteristics, highlighting the dominant feature, and an individual one, in the image of the hero. Thus, in the image of Olga, the chronicler poetizes the wisdom of a statesman, which is expressed both in the search for a single faith that can unite the East Slavic tribes, and in revenge on the Drevlyans, who, having killed her husband, Prince Igor, refused to obey Kyiv. Echoes of ritual poetry from the times of the clan system are filled with chronicles about the Slavic tribes, their customs, wedding and funeral ceremonies. The appeal to toponymic tradition 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 brothers Radim and Vyatko, who came from the Poles. A typical toponymic legend is the story of the founding of Kyiv by three brothers Kiy, Shchek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid. The folklore nature of the legend confirms the presence of the epic number three three brothers. Once entered into the chronicle, this legend acquired a certain political meaning. It justified the political independence of the princely power from Byzantium. The chronicler claims 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. The chronicle news of Vladimir’s marriage to the Polotsk princess Rogneda dates back to folk tales; The Korsun legend tells about his abundant and generous feasts held in Kyiv. On the one hand, we are presented with a pagan prince with his unbridled passions, on the other, an ideal Christian ruler, endowed with humility, love for the poor, etc. By comparing the pagan prince with the Christian prince, the chronicler sought to prove the superiority of the new Christian morality over the pagan one. 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' 18
19 from Byzantium. The legend claimed that the Russian land received Christianity not from the Greeks, but supposedly the disciple of Christ, the Apostle Andrew, predicted Christianity on the Russian land. With all the richness of the folklore tradition in The Tale of Bygone Years, the connection between the oral and written literature of Kievan Rus cannot be exaggerated. The chronicler carefully selected historical material. He wrote with condemnation both about princely feuds and popular uprisings. The chronicle went further than oral and poetic ideas about Russian history, not only capturing the most striking events, but also showing their interrelation. The range of events reflected in the chronicle has also expanded: these are the heroic deeds of the Russians, their military campaigns, these are the first successes in the Christianization of Rus', in the spread of books. The significance of the “Tale of Bygone Years” “The Tale of Bygone Years” played an important role in the development of regional chronicles and in the creation of all-Russian chronicle collections of the 15th–16th centuries: it was invariably included in these chronicles, revealing the history of Novgorod, Tver, Pskov, and then the history Moscow and the Moscow State. “The Tale of Bygone Years” served as a source of poetic plots and images for many modern writers. Suffice it to recall the historical tragedies of A.P. Sumarokov and Ya.B. Knyazhnina, “thoughts” by K.F. Ryleeva. The poetry of the chronicle legends was perfectly felt, understood and conveyed by A.S. Pushkin in the historical ballad “Song of prophetic Oleg" In the chronicles, he tried to “guess the way of thinking and language of those times” for his tragedy “Boris Godunov”. The image of the chronicler Pimen created by the poet, majestic in its spiritual beauty, appeared, according to F.M. Dostoevsky, evidence of “that powerful spirit folk life, which can highlight images of such undeniable truth” 1. And today the chronicle has not lost its historical, educational and educational significance. It teaches us to respect the historical past of our country, to love our people and our homeland. Questions 1. What is the history of the “Tale of Bygone Years”? 1 Dostoevsky F.M. Writer's diary for 1877, 1880 and 1881. M.; L., S
20 2. Tell us about literary specifics ancient chronicle, about ways of expressing the position of the chronicler and the features of depicting a person as actor Russian history. 3. What is the genre composition of “The Tale of Bygone Years”? 4. What is the connection between chronicle legends and folklore? 5. What is the historical and artistic significance of “The Tale of Bygone Years”? The Tale of Bygone Years HERE IS THE TALE OF THE PAST YEARS, WHERE THE RUSSIAN LAND CAME FROM, WHO BECAME THE FIRST TO REIGN IN KIEV AND HOW THE RUSSIAN LAND ARISED [The legend of the visit to the Russian land by the Apostle Andrei] When Andrei taught in Sinop and arrived in Korsun, he learned that not far from Korsun the mouth of the Dnieper, and wanted to go to Rome, and sailed to the mouth of the Dnieper, and from there went up the Dnieper. And it so happened that he came and stood under the mountains on the shore. And in the morning he got up and said to the disciples who were with him: “Do you see these mountains? On these mountains the grace of God will shine, there will be a great city, and God will erect many churches.” And he ascended these mountains, blessed them, and put up a cross, and prayed to God, and came down from this mountain, where Kyiv later arose, and went up the Dnieper. And he came to the Slavs, where Novgorod now stands, and saw the people living there, what their custom was and how they washed and whipped themselves, and he was surprised at them. And he went to the country of the Varangians, and came to Rome, and told about how he taught and what he saw, and said: “I saw an amazing thing in the Slavic land on my way here. I saw wooden bathhouses, and they would burn them red hot, and they would undress and be naked, and they would douse themselves with leather kvass, and they would lift young rods on themselves and beat themselves, and they would finish themselves off so much that they would barely crawl out, barely alive, and douse themselves with cold water, and This is the only way they will come to life. And they do this every day, not being tormented by anyone, but torturing themselves, and then they perform ablution for themselves, and not torment.” Those who heard about this were surprised; Andrei, having been in Rome, came to Sinop. [Legend about the founding of Kyiv] The Polyans lived separately in those days and were ruled by their own clans< >And there were three brothers: one named Kiy, the other Shchek and the third Khoriv, and their sister was Lybid. Kiy sat on the mountain where Borichev now rises, and Shchek sat on the mountain that is now called Shchekovitsa, and Khoriv on the third mountain, which was nicknamed Khorivitsa after him. And they built a town in the name of their elder brother and called it Kyiv. Was around the city 20
21 The forest and forest were large, and they caught animals there, and those men were wise and sensible, and they were called glades, from them the glades are still in Kyiv. Some, not knowing, say that Kiy was a carrier; At that time, Kyiv had transportation from the other side of the Dnieper, which is why they said: “For transportation to Kyiv.” If Kiy had been a ferryman, he would not have gone to Constantinople; and meanwhile this Kiy reigned in his family, and he went to the king, and great honors were given to him, they say, by the king in whose presence he came. When he was returning, he came to the Danube, and took a fancy to the place, and cut down a small town, and wanted to settle in it with his family, but those nearby did not let him; This is how the Danube residents still call the settlement Kievets. Kiy, returning to his city of Kyiv, died here; and his brothers Shchek and Horiv and their sister Lybid died immediately. [Olga's walk to Constantinople] In the year 6463 (955). Olga went to the Greek land and came to Constantinople. And then Tsar Constantine, the son of Leo, reigned, and Olga came to him, and the king saw that she was very beautiful in face and intelligent, the king marveled at her intelligence, talking with her, and said to her: “You are worthy to reign with us in our capital.” . She, having understood the meaning of this appeal, answered the Caesar: “I am a pagan; If you want to baptize me, then baptize me yourself, otherwise I won’t be baptized.” And the king and the patriarch baptized her. Having been enlightened, she rejoiced in soul and body; and the patriarch instructed her in the faith and said to her: “Blessed are you among the Russian women, because you loved the light and left the darkness. Russian descendants will bless you in future generations of your grandchildren.” And he gave her commandments about church rules, and about prayer, and about fasting, and about almsgiving, and about keeping the body clean. She stood with her head bowed, listening to the teaching like a watered sponge; and bowed to the patriarch with the words: “Through your prayers, lord, may I be saved from the snares of the devil.” And she was given the name Elena in baptism, just like the ancient queen, mother of Constantine the Great. And the patriarch blessed her and released her. After baptism, the king called her and told her: “I want to take you as my wife.” She answered: “How do you want to take me when you yourself baptized me and called me daughter? But Christians are not allowed to do this, you know it yourself.” And the king said to her: “You have outwitted me, Olga.” And he gave her numerous gifts of gold, and silver, and strings, and various vessels; and released her, calling her his daughter. She, getting ready to go home, came to the patriarch and asked him for his blessing to return. Olga lived with her son Svyatoslav, and his mother taught him to accept baptism, but he did not even think of listening to this; but if someone was going to be baptized, he did not forbid it, but only mocked him.< >Olga often said: “I have come to know God, my son, and I rejoice; If you know it, you will also begin to rejoice.” He did not listen to this, saying: “How can I alone accept a different faith? And my squad will mock.” She's 21
22 She said to him, “If you are baptized, everyone will do the same.” He did not listen to his mother, continuing to live according to pagan customs, not knowing that whoever does not listen to his mother will fall into trouble, as it is said: “If anyone does not listen to his father or mother, he will suffer death.” Svyatoslav was also angry with his mother.< >However, Olga loved her son Svyatoslav and used to say: “God’s will be done; If God wants to have mercy on my family and the Russian land, then he will put in their hearts the same desire to turn to God that he gave to me.” And, saying this, she prayed for her son and for people every night and day, guiding her son until he reached manhood and came of age. [Choice of faith] In the year 6495 (987). Vladimir summoned his boyars and city elders and told them: “The Bulgarians came to me, saying: “Accept our law.” Then the Germans came and praised their law. The Jews came for them. After all, the Greeks came, scolding all the laws, and praising their own< >What do you recommend? What is your answer? And the boyars and elders said: “Know, prince, that no one scolds his own, but praises him. If you really want to find out, then you have husbands: send them, find out what kind of service they have and who serves God in what way.” And their prince and all the people liked their speech; They chose ten famous and intelligent men, and said to them: “Go first to the Bulgarians and test their faith.” They set out, and when they came to them, they saw their bad deeds and worship in the mosque, and returned to their land. And Vladimir said to them: “Go again to the Germans, look out and they have everything, and from there go to the Greek land.” They came to the Germans, saw their church service, and then came to Constantinople and appeared before the Tsar. The king asked them: “Why did you come?” They told him everything. Hearing their story, the king rejoiced and on the same day did them great honor. The next day he sent to the patriarch, saying to him: “The Russians have come to test our faith, prepare the church and clergy and dress yourself in the holy vestments so that they can see the glory of our God.” Hearing about this, the patriarch ordered to convene the clergy, performed a festive service according to custom, and lit the censer, and organized singing and choirs. And he went with the Russians to church, and they put them on best place, showing them the beauty of the church, the singing and the bishop's service, the presence of the deacons and telling them about serving their God. They were in admiration, marveled and praised their service. And kings Vasily and Constantine called them and said to them: “Go to your land,” and they sent them away with great gifts and honor. They returned to their land. And Prince Vladimir called his boyars and elders and said to them: “Here the men we sent have come, let’s listen to everything that happened to them,” and turned to the ambassadors: “Speak before the squad.” They said: “We went to Bulgaria, watched how they prayed in the temple, that is, in the mosque, standing there without a belt; Having bowed, he sits down and looks here and there like a madman, and there is no joy in them, only sadness and 22
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Eremeeva N.G. Volgorgrad2006 Literature of Kievan Rus (XI-XII centuries)
Mastering common Slavic intermediary literature and translating from Greek, ancient Russian scribes simultaneously turned to creating original works of various genres. We cannot accurately indicate when the first records of historical legends appeared, when they began to be united into a coherent historical narrative, but there is no doubt that already in the middle of the 11th century, if not earlier, the first Russian chronicles were compiled.
At the same time, the Kiev priest Hilarion (the future metropolitan) wrote “The Sermon on Law and Grace” - a theological treatise in which, however, from dogmatic discussions about the superiority of “grace” (the New Testament) over the “law” (Old Testament) a clearly expressed ecclesiastical political and patriotic theme: Rus', which adopted Christianity, is a country no less authoritative and worthy of respect than Byzantium itself. The Russian princes Igor and Svyatoslav became famous for their victories and “strength”; Vladimir, who baptized Rus', in terms of the significance of his act, is worthy of comparison with the apostles, and the Kiev prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich (under whom Hilarion wrote his “Tale”) does not “destroy”, but “affirms” his father’s undertakings. He created the Church of St. Sophia (St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv), the like of which is not found in the “surrounding” countries, decorating it with “all beauty, gold and silver and precious stones,” as Hilarion writes. D. S. Likhachev explained why it was so important to emphasize the construction of this temple: “by building the Church of Sophia in Kiev, Yaroslav “built” the Russian metropolis, the Russian independent church. Calling the newly built temple by the same name as main temple Greek Church, Yaroslav claimed equality of the Russian Church with the Greek." It was precisely this awareness of the equality of Rus' and Byzantium that was the main idea of Hilarion’s “Lay”. These same patriotic ideas formed the basis of the most ancient Russian chronicles.
Russian scribes also appear in the hagiographic genre: in the 11th - early 12th centuries. the lives of Anthony of Pechersk (it was not preserved), Theodosius of Pechersk, and two versions of the lives of Boris and Gleb were written. In these lives, Russian authors, undoubtedly familiar with the hagiographic canon and the best examples of Byzantine hagiography, show, as we will see later, enviable independence and display high literary skill.
At the beginning of the 12th century. (apparently about
A decade earlier than the “Teaching” of Monomakh was written, the abbot of one of the Russian monasteries, Daniel, visited the Kingdom of Jerusalem (founded by the crusaders in Palestine conquered from the Arabs) and compiled a detailed account of his journey, which is known as “Daniel’s Walking in the Russian Land of the Abbot.” The traveler in detail describes the sights seen, while retelling those associated with them biblical stories and apocryphal legends. Daniel acts as a patriot of his native land, not forgetting about its interests in distant countries, caring about its prestige.
Second half of the 12th century. marked by the rapid development of chronicles. The South Russian code of the early 15th century allows us to judge this. (Ipatiev Chronicle), which contains fragments from chronicles of an earlier time.
At the end of the 12th century. The bishop of the city of Turov, Kirill, one of the most brilliant ancient Russian writers, created his works. A particularly significant place in his work is occupied by words for church holidays, designed to be pronounced in church during a solemn service. The thoughtfulness of the composition, the richness of the language, the courage and brightness of metaphors and comparisons, the skill in constructing phrases and periods with all the tricks of rhetorical art (syntactic parallelism, appeals, expressive antitheses, etc.) - all these advantages of Kirill’s works put him on the same level with the famous Byzantine writers.
The literary development of this era is crowned by “A Word to Igor’s Army.”
Brief list of monuments of original Russian literature of the 11th-12th centuries. - and almost all the most significant works are named here - makes us think about how incomplete our information about the literature of Kievan Rus seems to be. We know only a small fraction of the works created then, only those of them that were lucky enough to survive the terrible years of the Mongol-Tatar invasion.
This comparison involuntarily suggests itself. Artists of the era of classicism loved to depict a romantic landscape: among fields overgrown with bushes, where flocks of sheep graze and colorfully dressed shepherdesses play pipes, rise the ruins of a beautiful and majestic temple, which, it would seem, should stand not here, in the wilderness, but in the square of a busy ancient city...
The literature of Kievan Rus represents something similar for us: several masterpieces that would make the glory of any literature rich in monuments - “The Tale of Bygone Years”, “The Life of Boris and Gleb”, “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersk”, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, the works of Kirill of Turov... But where are the links connecting them, the environment in which these masterpieces were created? It was precisely these feelings that once possessed A.S. Pushkin, who wrote with bitterness: “Unfortunately, ancient literature does not exist among us. Behind us is the dark steppe - and on it rises the only monument - “The Song of Igor’s Campaign.” In those years, ancient Russian literature was not yet “discovered”; Russian researchers would become more familiar with it two or three decades later. But the same feeling of “loneliness” of masterpieces does not leave us to this day. What is the reason for this strange phenomenon?
Of course, these monuments that have come down to us were not alone; they simply could not be alone, since they testify to the existence of literary schools, to the high level of literary skill, and to the literature itself that gave birth to them.
Before approaching the answer to our puzzling question, let us give one fairly striking example. In the Ipatiev Chronicle we read in the article
If the Laurentian Chronicle had not been preserved
In a word, we know very little about the literature and writing of Kievan Rus. The Mongol-Tatar invasion led not only to the death of tens or hundreds of thousands of people, not only to the desolation of cities, including the largest centers of writing, it most cruelly destroyed ancient Russian literature itself. Only those works whose copies managed to survive and attract the attention of scribes of the 14th or 15th centuries became known to researchers of modern times. Thus, the journey of Abbot Daniel took place at the beginning of the 12th century, at which time he wrote his “Walking”, however, the oldest copies of the monument date only to the 15th century.
The oldest copy of the “History of the Jewish War,” translated in the 12th century, dates back to the end of the 15th century. At the same time, as N. A. Meshchersky believes, the copies of the ancient translation were lost in Rus'. But in
So, the literary monuments of the 11th-12th centuries that survived until modern times. - these are only by a happy coincidence the surviving remnants of literature that was in its heyday on the eve of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. The high level of this literature is evidenced, in particular, by those works to the analysis of which we now turn.
"The Tale of Bygone Years"
Every nation remembers and knows its history. In stories, legends, and songs, information and memories of the past were preserved and passed on from generation to generation. The chronicle - a systematic chronicle kept from year to year - grew to a large extent on the basis of oral historical epic.
The chronicle as a literary genre (and not historical records in general!) appears, apparently, in the middle of the 11th century. However, the oldest lists of chronicles date back to a later time: the 13th and 14th centuries. dates from the Synodal list of the First Novgorod Chronicle.
The Laurentian list refers to
The study of chronicles is further complicated by the following circumstance. Almost every chronicle is a vault. This means that the chronicler, as a rule, not only recorded contemporary events, but supplemented with his notes the text of an earlier chronicle that narrated the previous period. Therefore, it turns out that in almost every chronicle the history of Rus' is presented “from the very beginning” - the text of the “Tale of Bygone Years” is given in full or in an abbreviation, sometimes very significant, telling “where the Russian land came from.” When compiling a new chronicle, the chronicler did not treat his sources formally, mechanically “folding” them: he edited the text of his predecessor, shortened it or supplemented it with other sources, and sometimes, in accordance with his historiographical views, changed the assessment of events or reinterpreted individual facts. All These features of the work of ancient Russian historiographers significantly complicate the study of chronicles. However, science has developed a fairly advanced methodology for studying chronicle texts: by comparing them, similarities or differences between fragments telling about the same events are established, the sources of the corpus under study, the degree and nature of their processing in it, and the estimated time of its compilation are determined.
“The Tale of Bygone Years,” which will be discussed below, was created at the beginning of the 12th century. Nestor is traditionally considered the compiler of its first edition, although the question of the possibility of identifying Nestor the chronicler and Nestor the hagiographer, the author of “The Life of Boris and Gleb” and “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersk,” remains debatable to this day. In the rich chronicle tradition of Ancient Rus', “The Tale of Bygone Years” occupies a very special place. According to D. S. Likhachev, it was “not just a collection of facts of Russian history and not just a historical and journalistic work related to the urgent but transitory tasks of Russian reality, but an integral , a literary presentation of the history of Rus'.
“We can safely say,” the scientist continues, “that never before or later, until the 16th century, did Russian historical thought rise to such a height of scholarly inquisitiveness and literary skill.”
The oldest edition of the “Tale of Bygone Years” has not reached us, but the second edition of the “Tale” has been preserved as part of the Laurentian and Radzivilov Chronicles, apparently only slightly changing its original text.
“The Tale of Bygone Years,” like most chronicles, is a collection, a work based on previous chronicle works, which included fragments from various sources, literary, journalistic, folklore, etc. Let us abstract here from the question of the origin of the components of “The Tale of Bygone Years” and, in particular, its relationship with the previous chronicle code end of the 11th century (scientists call it the Initial Vault) and look at it as a solid monument.
“This is the Tale of Bygone Years, where the Russian Land came from, who in Kyiv began to live as the first prince, and where the Russian Land began to eat from” - the chronicle begins with these words, and these first words became its traditional name - “The Tale of Bygone Years”.
For monuments of medieval historiography devoted to the problems of general history, that is, for chronicles, it was typical to begin the presentation “from the very beginning,” with the creation of the world, and to trace the genealogical lines of the ruling dynasties to mythical heroes or even gods.
“The Tale of Bygone Years” did not remain aloof from this trend; Nestor also begins his narrative from a certain initial moment. According to biblical legend, God, angry at the human race, mired in all kinds of sins, decided to destroy it by sending a global flood to the earth. All “antediluvian” humanity perished, and only Noah, his wife, three sons and daughters-in-law managed to escape. From the sons of Noah - Shem, Ham and Japheth - came the people who now inhabit the earth. That's what it said in the Bible.
Nestor therefore begins the “Tale of Bygone Years” with a story about the division of the land between the sons of Noah, listing in detail, following the Byzantine chronicles, the lands that went to each of them. In these chronicles, Rus', of course, was not mentioned, and the chronicler skillfully introduces the Slavic peoples into the context of world history: in the above-mentioned list, after mentioning Ilyuric (Illyria - the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea or the people who lived there), he adds the word “Slavs”. Then, in the description of the lands inherited by the descendants of Japheth, references to Russian rivers appear in the chronicle - the Dnieper, Desna, Pripyat, Dvina, Volkhov, Volga. In the “part” of Japheth, the chronicler reports, live “Rus, Chud and all the languages: Merya, Muroma, all...” And then follows a list of tribes inhabiting the East European Plain.
After this, the chronicler moves on to the history of the Slavs, telling how they settled throughout the land and how they were nicknamed depending on the place where they stayed to live: those who settled along the Morava River were called Maravas, those who settled on the banks of the Polot River were “nicknamed Polochans” , and the Slovenes, who settled on the shores of Lake Ilmen, “were nicknamed by their name.” The chronicler tells about the founding of Novgorod and Kyiv, about the customs of the Polyans, who, unlike the Drevlyans, Vyatichi and Severians, were “men of wisdom and understanding” and kept the custom of their fathers “meek and quiet.” This introductory historiographical part of The Tale of Bygone Years ends with a plot episode. The Khazars demanded tribute from the Polans (the tribe living in and around Kyiv), and they paid them tribute with swords. And the Khazar elders said to their ruler: “The tribute is not good, prince!... They will imati [will collect] tribute on us and in other countries.” “Now everything has come true,” the chronicler concludes with pride.
This introductory part of The Tale of Bygone Years is of considerable historiographical significance. It stated that the Slavs, and Russia among the Slavic peoples, as equals among equals, are mentioned among other peoples - the descendants of the most worthy of the sons of Noah - Japheth. The Slavs, as if fulfilling some destiny from above, populated the lands allotted to them, and the clearings, on the land of which the future capital of Rus', Kyiv, was located, have long stood out for their wisdom and high morality among other tribes. And finally, the prediction of the wise Khazar elders came true - Rus' now does not obey anyone, it itself collects tribute from neighboring peoples. This is how Nestor defined the place of the Slavs and Rus' in world history. An equally important task was to justify the rights of the Kyiv princes to take possession of the entire Russian land. The legend about the calling of the Varangians appeared in the Initial Code; in Nestor it received its final completion. According to this legend, strife began among the Slavic tribes, “from generation to generation,” and it was decided to invite foreign princes from across the sea to come establish order and “rule and rule” over them. The chronicle tells us that three brothers came to Russia - Rurik, Sineus and Truvor. Two of them died, and Rurik began to reign in Novgorod. After the death of Rurik, his relative Oleg became the prince, since Rurik’s son Igor was still a “child Velmi”. Oleg, together with the baby Igor, went from Novgorod to the south, by cunning (and at the same time legally, for he acted “in the name” of Rurik’s son) captured Kyiv and began to reign there. After Oleg’s death, Igor became the prince of Kyiv, that Igor, whose descendants are now ( during the years of the creation of the “Tale of Bygone Years”) princes in Kyiv and in other parts of the Russian land.
Researchers without much difficulty revealed the legendary nature of the story about the calling of the Varangians. Suffice it to mention that the oldest Russian monuments trace the dynasty of the Kyiv princes to Igor, and not to Rurik; It is also strange that Oleg’s “regency” continued under the “young” Igor for no less than 33 years, and that in the Initial Code Oleg is called not a prince, but a governor... But this legend was one of the cornerstones of ancient Russian historiography. It responded primarily to the medieval historiographical tradition, where the ruling clan was often elevated to a foreigner: this eliminated the possibility of rivalry between local clans. “The origin of the French kings from the Trojans was believed even in the 16th century. The Germans derived many of their dynasties from Rome, the Swiss from the Scandinavians, the Italians from the Germans,” D. S. Likhachev illustrates this idea.
Secondly, the statement that the Rurik dynasty had its roots in ancient times, was, according to the chronicler, to raise the prestige of the blood relationship of the Rurik princes, strengthen their consciousness of fraternal ties, and prevent civil strife. However, feudal practice turned out to be stronger than the most convincing historiographical concepts.
The introductory part of The Tale of Bygone Years has no dates. The first date in the chronicle is 6360 (852). From that time, the chronicler claims, “they began to call Ruska the land.” The basis for this was the story of the Byzantine “Chronicle of George Amartol” about the campaign of Rus' against Constantinople, which the chronicler already identified with the campaign of the Kyiv princes Askold and Dir (later killed by Oleg). In the same article
The breadth of historical horizons that characterizes the introductory part of The Tale of Bygone Years is also inherent in its further presentation. Thus, talking about Vladimir’s “choice of faiths,” the chronicler cites a lengthy speech, as if delivered to the prince by a Greek missionary, in which the entire sacred history is briefly recounted (from the “creation of the world” to the crucifixion of Christ), comments on the decisions of the seven ecumenical church councils, at which controversial dogmatic issues were decided questions of Christian doctrine are denounced by the “Latins,” that is, supporters of the Catholic faith, who openly opposed themselves to the Greek Church after
But the chronicler, of course, analyzes and comprehends especially deeply the events in Rus'. He evaluates the significance of its Christianization, the activities of Russian translators and book writers under Yaroslav the Wise; talking about the emergence of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, he persistently emphasizes the connection between Russian monasteries and the famous monasteries of Byzantium.
Chroniclers do not simply recount events, but try, of course, in the traditions of medieval Christian historiography, to comprehend and explain them. Defeat of the Russian princes in the war
The chronicle returns again to the theme of “executions of God” in article 10S2, telling about the defeat of the Russian princes in the battle by the Spolovians at Trepol (south of Kyiv). After discussions abundantly sprinkled with biblical quotations about the reasons that brought about divine punishment, the chronicler paints a dramatic picture: the Polovtsy are leading away captured Russian captives, and those, hungry, suffering from thirst, undressed and barefoot, “their feet are gored with thorns [wounded on thorny grasses], with tears responding to each other to a friend, saying: “I am the beg of this city,” and others: “I am sowing all [villages, settlements]”; they ask [question] with tears, telling their family and lifting their eyes, lifting their eyes to heaven to the highest, who knows the secret.” It is not difficult to understand the feelings of the people of that time and the complexity of the task of scribes and church preachers: having adopted a new religion, the Russian people, it would seem, surrendered themselves to the protection of a powerful and just god. So why does this god grant victory to the filthy (pagan) Polovtsy and condemn his faithful Christians to suffering? This is how the constant theme of divine retribution for sins arises in medieval literature.
The chronicle also addresses this topic in the article
However, Lyubechsky did not put an end to “which”; on the contrary, immediately after its end, a new atrocity was committed: Prince Vasilko Terebovlsky was slandered and blinded. And the chronicler inserts into the text of the chronicle a separate detailed story about the events of this time, a passionate “story of princely crimes” (words by D. S. Likhachev), which should convince not only the mind, but also the heart of readers of the urgent need for sincere and real brotherly love among the Rurikovichs. Only their union and joint actions can protect the country from the ruinous raids of the Polovtsians and warn against internal strife.
“The Tale of Bygone Years,” as a monument to historiography, is permeated with a single patriotic idea: chroniclers strive to present their people as equal among other Christian nations, proudly recall the glorious past of their country - the valor of the pagan princes, the piety and wisdom of the Christian princes. The chroniclers speak for all of Rus', rising above petty feudal disputes, decisively condemning the feuds and “which”, describing with pain and anxiety the disasters brought by the raids of nomads. In a word, “The Tale of Bygone Years” is not just a description of the first centuries of the existence of Rus', it is a story of great beginnings: the beginning of Russian statehood, the beginning of Russian culture, the beginnings that, according to the chroniclers, promise future power and glory for their homeland.
But “The Tale of Bygone Years” is not only a monument of historiography, it is also an outstanding monument of literature. In the chronicle text one can distinguish two types of narration, which differ significantly from each other. One type is weather records, i.e. brief information about the events that took place. Yes, article
In the article
The story does not end there: it is told how Governor Pretich cunningly made peace with the Spepenegs and how Svyatoslav delivered his capital from enemies. However, let's return to the episode we reviewed. Before us is not just information that a certain youth, having reached Pretich, conveyed to him the princess’s request, but an attempt to describe exactly how the youth managed to carry out his daring plan. The youth runs through the camp of enemies with a bridle in his hand, asking in their native language about the supposedly missing horse , - all these details make the story visible and convincing; This is an artistically organized plot, and not dry information about what happened. So, in addition to the actual weather records, the chronicle knows plot stories, and it is they that place the chronicle genre among other genres of ancient Russian literature.
In The Tale of Bygone Years, a special place is occupied by stories that go back to oral historical traditions and legends. These are precisely the stories about the first Russian princes: Oleg, Igor, Princess Olga, about Svyatoslav, during the time of Vladimir. In these stories, the style of chronicle narration that D. S. Likhachev called the epic style was especially evident.
Here it is necessary to emphasize that style in Old Russian literature is not a narrow linguistic phenomenon, not only syllables and linguistic means themselves. Style is a special vision of the world, a special approach to its depiction, and also, of course, the sum of techniques (including linguistic ones) with the help of which this approach is implemented.
Thus, for a narrative in an epic style, it is characteristic that the hero is a man of heroic feat, distinguished by some extraordinary quality - cunning, intelligence, courage, strength; such a “hero is closely connected with one or several exploits, his characteristics are single, unchangeable, attached to the hero.”
A story about such a hero is usually a story about his feat, hence the indispensable feature of such a story is the presence of a sharp, entertaining plot. Very often, the cunning of the hero is the shaping force of a plot collision. The Kiev youth, whom we are talking about above, outwitted the Pechenegs. Princess Olga is also distinguished by cunning in folk legends: the success of all her “revenge” on the Drevlyans for the murder of her husband is determined by the insidious wisdom of the princess, cunningly deceiving the simple-minded and arrogant Drevlyans. Let's see how these chronicle stories about Olga's revenge are constructed.
In the article
“And she told Olza that the Drevlyans had arrived...” the chronicler continues the story. What follows is Olga’s dialogue with the Drevlyan ambassadors. Lively, relaxed dialogue is an indispensable element of the story, it is often psychologically dispassionate, it is characterized by illustrative speech, what is important is not what is said, but only what exactly is said, since this “what” is the grain of the plot. So, Olga invites the Drevlyan ambassadors to go to their boats for the night, and in the morning demand from the people of Kiev: “We will not go on horseback, nor on foot, but you will carry us to the boats.” This favor of Olga towards the ambassadors of her husband’s killer is unexpected, and thanks to this the plot acquires a certain tension and entertainment. However, the author immediately ceases to intrigue the listener, reporting that Olga “ordered to dig a large and deep hole in the yard