The period of development of ancient Russian literature. Old Russian literature

In the Middle Ages it was impossible to draw a clear boundary between secular and ecclesiastical literature. They developed together, not denying, but enriching each other. Main types of Old Russian literary creativity- chronicles, lives, eloquence, which includes teachings, genres of praise and words; military stories, walks (walkings) and messages. There was no poetry, drama, novel, or story in the modern understanding of these genres in the 11th-16th centuries. They appear only in the 17th century.
All genres ancient Russian literature develop in close relationship with oral folk art. Most of all, the folklore element influenced the chronicle. Like folklore, ancient Russian literature did not know the concept of copyright: every scribe could use everything that was written before him. This was manifested in widespread textual borrowing. Scribes sought to leave only the texts of liturgical books and legislative acts unchanged.
The main role of books in culture Ancient Rus'- serve as a means of saving the soul. In this regard, the New Testament, Holy Scripture, patristic works, hagiographic literature and church traditions were considered the most important. Also considered important historical works and monuments of business writing. The least valued were secular works that did not pursue didactic purposes. They were considered "vain."
At the beginning of its development, ancient Russian literature was very closely connected with everyday life, especially liturgical life. Works other than literary significance, they also have practical, applied. Only gradually over time does the artistic and aesthetic function separate from the everyday, applied one.
Old Russian literature is pre-realistic, medieval, studying it shows us how different our perception of the world is from the perception of our ancestors. In the minds of the inhabitants of Ancient Rus', the book was a symbol of Christianity, enlightenment and a special way of life. When Christianity was tested by idolaters, the book was first tested. The Life of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir tells how the pagans demanded that Patriarch Photius put into the fire a book that teaches the Christian faith. The gospel did not go up in flames. The amazed pagans believed in the truth of the new teaching and were baptized. Both the book and writing itself are surrounded by an aura of miracle. The Slavic alphabet was given to Constantine after his prayer as a divine revelation. The concepts of “Christianity”, “book” and “miracle” were closely intertwined.
The miracle of the Russian language is that a person, even with little philological training, can read (prepared) texts almost a thousand years ago. But often words that seem familiar to us have a different meaning, there are many unclear words, syntactic constructions are difficult to perceive. The names of objects, names, details of everyday life, the very logic of events - everything requires comment. Without trying to think about the meaning of the work, the modern reader seems to be deceiving himself. So, for example, “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom” seems to him a funny fairy tale, and its theological problematics and philosophical depth remain unnoticed.
Behind last centuries stereotypes of social consciousness, norms of behavior, human thinking have radically changed, old words have become new meaning, actions were filled with a different content. Already with the invention of printing, books began to be treated differently.
Initially, all literature was exclusively ecclesiastical. The themes and ideas of the works could be different, but the worldview of the authors and readers was deeply religious. This is manifested not only in liturgical and theological texts, but also in the description of history, in military stories and secular subjects.
In the view of the Orthodox Middle Ages, “book reverence” was a moral merit and virtue that brought a person closer to the comprehension of God. To do this, it was necessary to read and re-read spiritual literature “night and day.” The Tale of Bygone Years writes that this is exactly what Yaroslav the Wise did. The art of reading consisted of slow, concentrated and deliberate perception of what was written “with all my heart.” The reader stopped, re-read important passages, carefully peering into the depth of meaning. Such a culture of reading taught to recognize the hidden nature of things behind the outer shell, to comprehend the invisible with “spiritual eyes.” to the naked eye world.
The book is a microcosm in which “lovers of soul-nourishing words” enjoy eternal truths and receive spiritual medicine - consolation and instruction. It was necessary to read not in a hurry, but to take refuge from the bustle of life and empty worries. It was believed that if you turn to a work with sinful thoughts, you cannot extract anything useful from it for the soul. To this day, the ancient belief in the miraculous power of the word remains in our minds.

Literature

Writing and enlightenment

Writing among the Slavic tribes originated even before the adoption of Christianity. This is evidenced by Oleg’s agreement with Byzantium, drawn up in Russian and Greek.

Not only the princes, but also the ordinary population were literate. Archaeologists find signed household items of peasants, for example, a clay vessel discovered by archaeologists near Smolensk, on which it is written gorushna, i.e. vessel for spices. In ancient times, letters in Rus' were carved on wooden tablets and called cuts.

Subsequently, birch bark and parchment served as writing materials. On birch bark (birch bark), letters and drawings were pressed with a special stick - wrote. Both princes and peasants used birch bark letters.

A more expensive writing material made from specially tanned calfskin was called parchment Books were written on it. The Slavs wrote on birch bark and parchment until the 14th century.

Evidence of the development of literacy are the inscriptions preserved on the walls - graffiti. The young Vladimir Monomakh wrote a short inscription on the wall of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. The young prince said: “Oh, it’s hard for me!” – and signed with his Christian name: Vasily. There are graffiti records on the wall of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv about the death of “our Tsar” Yaroslav the Wise on February 20, 1054.

In the 60s of the 9th century, the Moravian brothers Cyril and Methodius created the Slavic alphabet ( Glagolitic, later renamed to Cyrillic alphabet), which was based on the alphabet that existed among the eastern, southern and Western Slavs before their Christianization. Slavic Writing penetrated into Rus' in the 10th century.

Literacy in Rus' was quite widespread, education was conducted in secular, city, church and monastic schools in the native language. Schools taught reading, writing, basics Christian doctrine, account.

Since the 11th century, rich families began to teach literacy not only to boys, but also to girls. Vladimir Monomakh's sister Yanka, the founder of a convent in Kyiv, created a school there to educate girls.

The adoption of Christianity in Ancient Rus' had significant consequences for the development of literature and the appearance of handwritten books.

The Christianization of Rus' required a radical restructuring of the worldview; former pagan ideas about the structure of the Universe, history human race, about the ancestors of the Slavs were now rejected, and Russian scribes were in dire need of works that would give a new, Christian interpretation of the world order.

The Church needed an increasing number of liturgical books. Bulgarian and Byzantine priests who came to Rus' and their Russian students needed to immediately rewrite or translate the books necessary for worship. It was also necessary to acquaint newly converted Christians with the writings of theologians - the “fathers of the church”, with the lives of saints, with the teachings and instructions of Christian preachers. Therefore, book writing in Rus' in the 9th - 14th centuries. was the prerogative of the church.

The very first handwritten books that have reached us date back to the beginning of the 11th century. Although scientists believe that such books could have appeared in Rus' as early as the 9th century, following the invention of Slavic writing.

Scribes copied books. In most cases, they copied texts and drawings from some originals. But dictation could also take place.

Copying the book was a very labor-intensive and time-consuming task. And, although the need for books in the young Christian state was very great, the possibilities for satisfying this need were very limited: in Rus' at first there were few skilled scribes, and the process of writing itself was very long. For example, the Ostromir Gospel, considered the oldest handwritten book that has survived to our time, was rewritten in 7 months: from October 1056 to May 1057. The book has 294 pages, which means one and a half pages were copied per day.

The first books were written charter- large handwriting, in which each letter was separated from its neighbors and was drawn rather than written. Continuous writing appeared only in the 15th century.

Until the 14th century. served as material for handwritten books parchment- specially tanned calfskin. It was the main writing material before the invention of paper. Parchment was very expensive, so the customers for the books could be either very rich people - princes and boyars, or the church.

With the advent of parchment, the shape of the book changed: instead of a scroll, it acquired a look close to the modern one. The sheets were cut off at the edges and given a rectangular shape. Later, parchment was used to cover the binding. Sometimes birch bark was used instead of paper.

The main tools for writing were pen and ink of different shades. From the 11th to the 14th centuries they wrote with bird-goose feathers and ferrous ink of various shades: from rusty to black.

. The books were decorated with pictures illustrating the text - miniatures.

The surviving miniatures depict arctic foxes at work. They sit on carved benches. They write on scrolls, on separate sheets, and in bound notebooks. The original manuscript is mounted on a music stand. Next to the place of work there is a cabinet with tools: an inkwell (it had two holes - for cinnabar with red paint and ordinary ink), a pencil case, a compass, a knife, a feather, a ruler, and scissors. The main position of the book sheet when writing is oblique.

To obtain even lines, a sheet of parchment (later paper) was ruled with a sharp tool. Only after this did they begin to rewrite each letter.

The drop caps are especially admirable - these are the initial letters of the article. They were often written with cinnabar (a red-colored mineral). Hence the name “red line”. The initial letter had to interest the reader and attract his attention. It was written out much larger than the main text. It was entwined with an ornament through which one could see a mysterious animal, bird or human face. Manuscripts were often decorated with numerous drawings, not only on individual pages, but also in the margins.

Ornamental headpieces were placed at the beginning of the text. Ornamentation ancient Russian books is a special subject of study for art critics and historians. Its color scheme tells whether the book was copied from foreign publications or written in Ancient Rus'.

In 1037, Prince Yaroslav the Wise ordered the gathering of scribes who translated and rewrote many books. In the first half of the 11th century. In Rus', many monuments of Byzantine and Bulgarian literature became known.

Among the books copied and translated, liturgical texts predominated. However, scribes brought from Bulgaria, translated or rewrote works of other genres: chronicles, historical and historical stories, natural science works, collections of sayings.

Among more than 130 handwritten books of the 11th-12th centuries, now stored in our archives and libraries, about 80 are liturgical. This is explained by the fact that these books, which were located in stone churches, could have been preserved rather than perish in the fire of fires, from which wooden residential buildings, including princely or boyar mansions, primarily suffered.

Therefore, we can judge exactly which books or works and in what number of copies were circulated in Rus' in the 11th-12th centuries only by indirect data, since the manuscripts that have reached our time are an insignificant part of the book fund of the 11th-12th centuries.

Old Russian literature existed and developed over seven centuries.

Old Russian literature almost did not allow fiction and strictly followed fact. Task ancient Russian author- convey the truth. However, it was not historical literature in the real sense of the word. Everything in it was created according to canon- certain rules and patterns, so often the image of a historical figure was far from reality. IN various works the image of the ideal prince was unchanged: piety, courage, mercy, justice were his mandatory qualities. The author's principle in ancient Russian literature is muted, the image of the author is rather conventional.

1. Literature of the period Kievan Rus(XI-XII centuries)

This is the literature of a single ancient Russian nation. The literature of this period is also called the literature of Kievan Rus. The Kiev state was one of the most advanced states of its time. The Russian land was famous for its rich cities. In the 12th century. it had more than 200 cities. The oldest Russian cities included Kyiv, Novgorod, Chernigov, and Smolensk.

In Kyiv and other Russian cities, from the end of the 11th century in Kyiv, the sister of Prince Yaroslav, Anna, established a women's school, the first in Europe. Literature XI-XII centuries. was the basis on which the subsequent development of the literatures of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus took place. The main monuments of this period are associated with Kyiv. The most important genres of literature are created here: chronicle, historical story, hagiography, word.

2. Literature of the period of feudal fragmentation and unification of North-Eastern Rus' (XII-XV centuries)

The process of feudal fragmentation led to the collapse of Kievan Rus and the formation of new political and cultural centers: Vladimir, Moscow, Novgorod, Tver principalities. Literature develops separately in each of them. But during the period of the struggle against the Tatar-Mongols, literature called for the unification of all forces to fight against the enemies. The most significant literary monuments of this period are “The Prayer of Daniel the Prisoner”, “The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu”, “Zadonshchina”, “Walking across the Three Seas”, “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia”.

3. Literature of the period of the centralized Russian state (XVI-XVII centuries)

During this period, the literature of the emerging Russian nation was created. The church worldview is giving way to a secular one, and a more widespread democratic readership is appearing. Literary genres are becoming more democratic in both form and content. Arises fiction, which until the 17th century. was not in the literature. Literature of the 17th century was mainly of a journalistic nature, reflecting the ideological positions of the warring parties (Correspondence between Tsar Ivan the Terrible and Prince Andrei Kurbsky). The literature of this period is characterized by the development of the story, presented in its various genre exploits: hagiographical (“The Tale of Juliania Lazarevskaya”), historical (“The Tale of the Azov Siege of the Don Cossacks”), everyday (“The Tale of Woe and Misfortune”), satirical (“The Tale of Shemyakin’s Court”, “The Tale of Ersha Ershovich”, “The Tale of Hawkmoth”).

An outstanding writer of the 17th century. was Archpriest Avvakum, author of the Life.

In addition to democratic literature in the 17th century. High literature continues to develop, and a special style emerges, called “Baroque.” Baroque was an aristocratic phenomenon, opposed to Russian democratic and satirical literature. This trend embraced court poetry and drama.

6. Main themes and genres of Old Russian literature

So, the literature of Ancient Rus' had very special circumstances of its origin, a special place and functions in the life of society. It was they who were ahead of the system of original genres. In fact, it was “one theme and one plot. This plot is world history, and this theme is the meaning of human life,” as D.S. Likhachev noted

The genres of ancient Russian literature were as follows: chronicles and chronographs - about the history of the world, chronicles - about the history of Rus'; further - countless biblical books and paleys (from the Greek palaios - ancient) - the same description of biblical events, but with reasoning and interpretation. 

 The lives of saints were popular - a large collection of biographies of Christian ascetics, famous for their piety and asceticism, or who died for their religious beliefs at the hands of pagans or infidels, and patericons - collections of short, often action-packed stories from the lives of monks. Teachings and "words" represented the genre of solemn eloquence : the first denounced vices, welcomed virtues and in every possible way instructed believers in Christian morality; and secondly, pronounced in church during the service, religious symbols and meanings of church holidays were revealed. 

 Dogmatic works were also related to them - they dealt with theological issues and denounced heresies. 

 The modern genre of “travel notes” had in its ancestors stories of travel to the “Holy Land”, that is, Palestine: pilgrims, their authors, not only retold biblical legends associated with the places they walked through, but also described the architecture and nature and the customs of those places. 

 Many genres of modern times - such as the everyday novel or story, drama - will appear only much later - in the 15th or even 17th century, but this does not mean at all that the ancient Russian reader was not interested in either emotional prose or descriptions of life ordinary people. The everyday story-anecdote, love song, fairy tale, legend and heroic epic existed in Ancient Rus', but not at all in written form, that is, in the form of folklore, not literature: it was too irrational to write down accessible and well-known works of oral literature on expensive parchment for everyone through the efforts of a few scribes, occupied with more necessary Christian and historical literature. Unfortunately, we cannot completely reconstruct ancient folklore, but its later examples that have come down to us and its mentions in the literature of older times give us undoubted evidence of the presence of an extensive system of genres of ancient Russian folklore. The system of literary genres was not specific to only one ancient Russian literature: in Byzantium in the 9th-10th centuries. we will find almost the same genres in the same proportions. Secular genres - the love story and lyric poetry - appeared in Byzantine literature somewhat later, in the 11th-12th centuries, but under the conditions of strict selection of literature for translation, books of this kind were practically not represented in Ancient Rus', with rare exceptions: for example, epic poems about Digenis Akrites. 

 Pay attention to one more important circumstance: until the 17th century. Literary fiction was not allowed in literature. By fiction we should understand the fiction of the author himself: the scribe always only wrote down the witnesses of events will appear in Russian literature no earlier than the 15th century, although he will still be masquerading as a hero of a distant country or an ancient time. 

 Only one genre allowed outright fiction, but only to illustrate an idea - this is the apologist, or parable.

Is it possible today to imagine a life in which there are no books, newspapers, magazines, or notebooks? Modern man I am so accustomed to the fact that everything important and requiring ordering should be written down, that without this knowledge would be unsystematized and fragmentary. But this was preceded by a very difficult period that lasted for millennia. Literature consisted of chronicles, chronicles and lives of saints. Works of art They started writing much later.

When did ancient Russian literature emerge?

The prerequisite for the emergence of Old Russian literature was various shapes oral folklore, pagan legends. Slavic writing originated only in the 9th century AD. Until this time, knowledge and epics were passed on from mouth to mouth. But the baptism of Rus' and the creation of the alphabet by Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius in 863 opened the way for books from Byzantium, Greece, and Bulgaria. Through the first books it was transmitted Christian teaching. Since there were few written sources in ancient times, the need arose to rewrite books.

ABC contributed cultural development Eastern Slavs. Since the Old Russian language is similar to the Old Bulgarian, the Slavic alphabet, which was used in Bulgaria and Serbia, could be used in Rus'. East Slavs gradually adopted the new writing. In ancient Bulgaria, by the 10th century, culture had reached its peak of development. Works by writers John the Exarch of Bulgaria, Clement, and Tsar Simeon began to appear. Their works also influenced ancient Russian culture.

Christianization ancient Russian state made writing a necessity, because without it it is impossible public life, public, international relations. The Christian religion is not able to exist without teachings, solemn words, lives, and the life of the prince and his court, relations with neighbors and enemies were reflected in the chronicles. Translators and copyists appeared. They were all church people: priests, deacons, monks. Rewriting took a lot of time, and there were still few books.

Old Russian books were written mainly on parchment, which was obtained after special processing of pork, calf, and lamb skin. In the ancient Russian state, handwritten books were called “harateynye”, “harati” or “veal books”. The durable but expensive material also made books expensive, which is why it was so important to find a replacement for pet leather. Foreign paper, called “overseas”, appeared only in the 14th century. But until the 17th century, to write valuable state documents used parchment.

Ink was made by combining old iron (nails) and tannin (growths on oak leaves called “ink nuts”). To make the ink thick and shiny, cherry and molasses glue was poured into it. Ferrous ink having brown tint, were distinguished by increased durability. To add originality and decorativeness, colored ink, gold or silver sheets were used. Used for writing goose feathers, the tip of which was cut off, and a cut was made in the middle of the tip.

What century does ancient Russian literature belong to?

The first ancient Russian written sources date back to the 9th century. The ancient Russian state of Kievan Rus occupied an honorable place among others European states. Written sources contributed to the strengthening of the state and its development. Ends Old Russian period in the 17th century.

Periodization of Old Russian literature.

1. Written sources of Kievan Rus: the period covers the 11th century and the beginning of the 13th century. At this time, the main written source was the chronicle.
2. Literature of the second third of the 13th century and the end of the 14th century. The Old Russian state is going through a period of fragmentation. Dependence on the Golden Horde set back the development of culture many centuries ago.
3. The end of the 14th century, which is characterized by the unification of the principalities of the northeast into one Moscow principality, the emergence of appanage principalities, and the beginning of the 15th century.
4. XV - XVI centuries: this is the period of centralization of the Russian state and the emergence of journalistic literature.
5. The 16th - end of the 17th century is the New Age, which marks the emergence of poetry. Now works are released with an indication of the author.

The oldest of famous works Russian literature is the Ostromir Gospel. It received its name from the name of the Novgorod mayor Ostromir, who ordered the scribe Deacon Gregory to translate it. During 1056 - 1057 the translation has been completed. This was the mayor's contribution to the St. Sophia Cathedral, erected in Novgorod.

The second Gospel is the Arkhangelsk Gospel, which was written in 1092. From the literature of this period there is a lot of hidden and philosophical meaning hidden in the Izbornik of Grand Duke Svyatoslav of 1073. The Izbornik reveals the meaning and idea of ​​mercy, the principles of morality. The basis philosophical thought The Gospels and Apostolic Epistles came to Kievan Rus. They described earthly life Jesus, and also described his miraculous resurrection.

Books have always been the source of philosophical thought. Translations from Syriac, Greek, and Georgian penetrated into Rus'. There were also translations from European countries: England, France, Norway, Denmark, Sweden. Their works were revised and rewritten by ancient Russian scribes. Old Russian philosophical culture- This is a reflection of mythology and has Christian roots. Among the monuments of ancient Russian writing, the “Messages of Vladimir Monomakh” and “Prayers of Daniil the Zatochnik” stand out.

The first ancient Russian literature is characterized by high expressiveness and richness of language. To enrich the Old Church Slavonic language, they used the language of folklore and the performances of orators. There were two literary style, one of which is “High” for ceremonial purposes, the other is “Low”, which was used in everyday life.

Genres of literature

1. lives of saints, include biographies of bishops, patriarchs, founders of monasteries, saints (created in compliance with special rules and required a special style of presentation) - patericon (life of the first saints Boris and Gleb, Abbess Feodosia),
2. lives of saints, which are presented from a different point of view - apocrypha,
3. historical works or chronicles (chronographs) - brief records of the history of ancient Rus', Russian chronograph of the second half of the 15th century,
4. works about fictional travels and adventures - walking.

Genres of Old Russian literature table

The central place among the genres of ancient Russian literature is occupied by chronicle writing, which developed over the centuries. These are weather records of the history and events of Ancient Rus'. The chronicle is a preserved written chronicle (from the word - summer, records begin “in the summer”) monument from one or several lists. The names of the chronicles are random. This may be the name of the scribe or the name of the area where the chronicle was written. For example, Lavrentyevskaya - on behalf of the scribe Lavrenty, Ipatyevskaya - after the name of the monastery where the chronicle was found. Often chronicles are collections that combine several chronicles at once. The source for such vaults were protographs.

The chronicle that served as the basis for the vast majority of ancient Russian written sources is the Tale of Bygone Years of 1068. A common feature chronicles of the XII - XV centuries is that the chroniclers no longer consider political events in their chronicles, but focus on the needs and interests of “their principality” (Chronicle of Veliky Novgorod, Pskov chronicle, chronicle of the Vladimir-Suzdal land, Moscow chronicle), and not events of the Russian land as a whole, as it was before

What work do we call a monument of ancient Russian literature?

“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” of 1185-1188 is considered the main monument of ancient Russian literature, describing not so much an episode from Russian-Polovtsian wars, as much as it reflects events on an all-Russian scale. The author connects Igor’s failed campaign in 1185 with strife and calls for unification for the sake of saving his people.

Sources of personal origin are heterogeneous verbal sources that are united by a common origin: private correspondence, autobiographies, travel descriptions. They reflect the author's direct perception historical events. Such sources first appeared in the princely period. These are the memoirs of Nestor the chronicler, for example.

In the 15th century, the heyday of chronicle writing began, when voluminous chronicles and short chroniclers coexisted, telling about the activities of one princely family. Two parallel directions emerge: the official and oppositional point of view (the church and princely descriptions).

Here we should talk about the problem of falsification historical sources or the creation of documents that have never existed before, amendments to original documents. For this purpose, entire systems of methods were developed. In the 18th century, interest in historical science was universal. This led to the emergence large quantity a falsification presented in an epic form and passed off as the original. A whole industry is emerging in Russia for falsifying ancient sources. We study burned or lost chronicles, for example the Lay, from surviving copies. This is how copies were made by Musin-Pushkin, A. Bardin, A. Surakadzev. Among the most mysterious sources is the “Book of Veles,” found on the Zadonsky estate in the form of wooden tablets with text scratched on them.

Old Russian literature of the 11th – 14th centuries is not only teachings, but also rewriting from Bulgarian originals or translation from Greek huge amount literature. The large-scale work done allowed ancient Russian scribes to get acquainted with the main genres and literary monuments Byzantium.

I. Literature of the ancient 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 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 literary process should be considered:

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 displaying reality and the nature of genres and styles that determine the specifics literary development of this 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 - 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 in beginning of XII V. 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. Spiritual lights of the Russian land, ideal moral beauty her devotees perform. to his "toil and sweat" the 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 XII - the first half XIII V. 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 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 Rus' saw 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 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. IN historical narrative Entertainment and artistic fiction begin to penetrate more widely. 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 reaches its peak Novgorod literature, which clearly reflected the acute struggle of classes within the feudal urban republic. Novgorod chronicles and hagiography with its democratic tendencies played an important role in the development of ancient Russian literature.

There is growing interest in the literature psychological states 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 Makaryevskaya literary school. Polemical journalistic literature gives birth to freer, more vibrant literary forms related to 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, 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 of the development of Russian literature, the second half XVII V. 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. 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. Folk genres satirical tale, epic, 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, and 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 beginnings and prepared the emergence of classicism in Russian XVIII literature V.

Features of Old Russian literature

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

Another feature of our ancient literature is anonymity, impersonality her works. This was a consequence of the religious-Christian attitude of feudal society towards man, and in particular towards the work of a writer, artist, and architect. IN best case scenario we know the names of individual authors, “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, character social activities very, very scarce. Therefore, if when studying literature of the 18th-20th centuries. literary scholars widely use biographical material, reveal the nature of political, philosophical, aesthetic views of this or that writer, using the author's manuscripts, trace the history of the creation of works, reveal the creative individuality of the writer, then the monuments of ancient Russian writing have to be approached differently.

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 ​​public consciousness; it was inextricably linked with philosophy, science, and religion.

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

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

One of characteristic features 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 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 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.