The main genres and works of ancient Russian literature. Old Russian literature - what is it? Works of ancient Russian literature

27.04.2019

Old Russian literature is the solid foundation on which the majestic edifice of national Russian literature is erected. artistic culture XVIII-XX centuries

It is based on high moral ideals, faith in man, in his possibility of limitless moral improvement, faith in the power of the word, its ability to transform the inner world of man, the patriotic pathos of serving the Russian land - the state - the Motherland, faith in the final triumph of good over the forces of evil, the worldwide unity of people and its victory over hateful strife.

Not knowing history ancient Russian literature, we will not understand the full depth of A. S. Pushkin’s creativity, the spiritual essence of creativity

N.V. Gogol, the moral quest of L.N. Tolstoy, the philosophical depth of F.M. Dostoevsky, the originality of Russian symbolism, the verbal quest of the futurists.

Chronological boundaries of Old Russian literature and its specific features.

Russian medieval literature is the initial stage in the development of Russian literature. Its emergence is closely connected with the process of formation of the early feudal state.

Subordinated to the political tasks of strengthening the foundations of the feudal system, it reflected in its own way various periods of development of social and social relations in Rus' XI-XVII centuries. Old Russian literature is the literature of the emerging Great Russian nationality, which is gradually developing into a nation.

The question of the chronological boundaries of ancient Russian literature has not been finally resolved by our science. Ideas about the volume of ancient Russian literature still remain incomplete.

Many works were lost in the fire of countless fires, during the devastating raids of steppe nomads, the invasion of Mongol-Tatar invaders, and Polish-Swedish invaders! And at a later time, in 1737, the remains of the library of the Moscow tsars were destroyed by a fire that broke out in the Grand Kremlin Palace.

In 1777, the Kyiv Library was destroyed by fire. During Patriotic War In 1812, handwritten collections of Musin-Pushkin, Buturlin, Bauze, Demidov, and the Moscow Society of Lovers of Russian Literature were burned in Moscow.

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

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

When starting to study ancient Russian literature, it is necessary to take into account its specific features, which are different from the literature of modern times.

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.

“Great is the benefit of the teachings of books, for we teach through books and teach the ways of repentance, and we gain wisdom and abstinence from the words of books; for these are the rivers that feed the universe, these are the sources of wisdom, these are the sources of wisdom, these are the unsought depths, these are the comforts of us in sorrow, these are the bridles of self-control... If you diligently search for wisdom in the books, you will find great progress in your soul... "- the chronicler teaches in 1037.

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 his name with such evaluative epithets as “thin”, “unworthy”, “many sinners”.

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 the 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 they have to approach the monuments of ancient Russian writing in a different way.

In medieval society there was no concept of copyright, individual characteristics The writer's personality did not receive such a vivid manifestation as in the literature of modern times. Copyists often acted as editors and co-authors rather than simple copyists of the text. They changed the ideological orientation of the work being copied, the nature of its style, shortened or distributed the text in accordance with the tastes and demands of their time.

As a result, new editions of monuments were created. And even when the copyist simply copied the text, his list was always somehow different from the original: he made typos, omitted words and letters, and involuntarily reflected in the language the features of his native dialect. In this regard, in science there is a special term - “izvod” (manuscript of the Pskov-Novgorod edition, Moscow, or, more broadly, Bulgarian, Serbian, etc.).

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

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

When solving complex questions about the time of writing of a particular monument and its lists, the researcher turns to such an auxiliary historical and philological science as paleography.

Based on the characteristics of letters, handwriting, the nature of writing material, paper watermarks, the nature of headpieces, ornaments, miniatures illustrating the text of a manuscript, paleography makes it possible to relatively accurately determine the time of creation of a particular manuscript and the number of scribes who wrote it.

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

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

The parchment was pre-lined by a scribe using a ruler with a chain. Then the scribe placed it on his lap and carefully wrote out each letter. Handwriting with regular, almost square letters was called charter.

Working on the manuscript required painstaking work and great skill, so when the scribe completed his hard work, he celebrated it with joy. “The merchant rejoices when he has made the purchase and the helmsman in the calm of the bailiff and the wanderer who has come to his fatherland, and the book writer rejoices in the same way, having reached the end of the books...” - we read at the end of the Laurentian Chronicle.

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

In the XIV century. paper replaced parchment. This cheaper writing material adhered and speeded up the writing process. The statutory letter is replaced by slanted, rounded handwriting with a large number of superscripts - semi-character. In the monuments of business writing, cursive writing appears, which gradually replaces semi-character and occupies a dominant position in manuscripts of the 17th century.

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

When studying ancient Russian literature, one very important circumstance should be taken into account: in 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. Progress and development historical events 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.

Kuskov V.V. History of Old Russian Literature. - M., 1998

Old Russian literature - what is it? Works of the 11th-17th centuries include not only literary works, but also historical texts (chronicle stories and annals), descriptions of travel (which were called walks), lives (narratives of the lives of saints), teachings, epistles, examples of the oratorical genre, as well as some texts of business content. The themes of ancient Russian literature, as you can see, are very rich. All works contain elements of emotional illumination of life, artistic creativity.

Authorship

At school, students study what ancient Russian literature is and take notes on basic concepts. They probably know that most works dating back to this period did not retain their author's names. Rus' is mostly anonymous and therefore similar to oral folk art. The texts were handwritten and distributed through correspondence - copying, and were often revised to suit new literary tastes, the political situation, and the literary abilities and personal preferences of the copyists. Therefore, the works have come to us in different editions and versions. Their comparative analysis helps researchers restore the history of a particular monument and draw a conclusion about which option is closest to the original source, the author’s text, and also trace the history of its changes.

Sometimes, in very rare cases, we have the author's version, and often in more later lists you can find the monuments of ancient Russian literature closest to the original. Therefore, they should be studied on the basis of all available versions of the works. They are available in large city libraries, museums, and archives. Many texts survive in a large number of lists, some in a limited number. The only option is presented, for example, “The Tale of Misfortune”, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”.

"Etiquette" and repeatability

It is necessary to note such a feature of Old Russian literature as repetition in different texts relating to different eras, certain characteristics, situations, epithets, metaphors, comparisons. The works are characterized by so-called etiquette: the hero behaves or acts in one way or another, since he follows the concepts of his time about how to behave in various circumstances. And events (for example, battles) are described using constant forms and images.

10th century literature

We continue to talk about what ancient Russian literature is. Take notes on the main points if you are afraid of forgetting something. majestic, solemn, traditional. Its origin dates back to the 10th century, or more precisely to its end, when, after the adoption of Christianity as state religion Historical and official texts written in Church Slavonic began to appear in Rus'. Through the mediation of Bulgaria (which was the source of these works), Ancient Rus' joined the developed literature of Byzantium and the South Slavs. To realize its interests, the feudal state led by Kiev needed to create its own texts and introduce new genres. With the help of literature, it was planned to instill patriotism, establish the political and historical unity of the people and ancient Russian princes, denouncing their strife.

Literature of the 11th - early 13th centuries.

The themes and objectives of the literature of this period (the fight against the Polovtsians and Pechenegs - external enemies, questions of the connection between Russian history and world history, the struggle for the Kiev throne of princes, the history of the emergence of the state) determined the nature of the style of this time, which D. S. Likhachev called monumental historicism. The emergence of chronicle writing in our country is associated with the beginning Russian literature.

11th century

The first lives of Theodosius of Pechersk, Boris and Gleb date back to this century. They are distinguished by their attention to contemporary problems, literary excellence, and vitality.

Patriotism, maturity of socio-political thought, journalisticism and high skill are marked by the monuments of oratory "The Sermon on Law and Grace", written by Hilarion in the first half of the 11th century, and "Words and Teachings" (1130-1182). The “teaching” of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Monomakh, who lived from 1053 to 1125, is imbued with deep humanity and concern for the fate of the state.

"The Tale of Igor's Campaign"

It is impossible to avoid mentioning this work when the topic of the article is ancient Russian literature. What is "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"? This greatest work Ancient Rus', created by an unknown author in the 80s of the 12th century. The text is devoted to a specific topic - the unsuccessful campaign in the Polovtsian steppe in 1185 by Prince Igor Svyatoslavovich. The author is interested not only in the fate of the Russian land, he also recalls the events of the present and the distant past, therefore the true heroes of “The Lay” are not Igor or Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, who also receives a lot of attention in the work, but the Russian land, the people are what it is based on Old Russian literature. “The Word” is connected in many ways with the narrative traditions of its time. But, as in any genius creation, it also contains original features, manifested in rhythmic sophistication, linguistic richness, the use of techniques characteristic of oral folk art, and their reinterpretation, civic pathos and lyricism.

National patriotic theme

It is raised during the period of the Horde yoke (from 1243 to the end of the 15th century) by ancient Russian literature. in the works of this time? Let's try to answer this question. The style of monumental historicism acquires a certain expressive connotation: the texts are lyrical and have tragic pathos. The idea of a strong centralized princely power acquired great importance at this time. Some stories and chronicles (for example, “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu”) report on the horrors of the enemy’s invasion and the brave struggle against the enslavers of the Russian people. This is where patriotism comes into play. The image of the defender of the land, the ideal prince, was reflected most clearly in the work “The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky” written in the 70s of the 13th century.

The reader of “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land” is presented with a picture of the greatness of nature and the power of princes. This work is only an excerpt from an incomplete text that has reached us. It is dedicated to the events of the first half of the 13th century - the difficult time of the Horde yoke.

New style: expressive-emotional

In the period 14-50s. In the 15th century, ancient Russian literature changed. What is the expressive-emotional style that emerged at this time? It reflects the ideology and events of the period of unification of northeastern Rus' around Moscow and the formation of a centralized Russian state. Then in literature interest in personality, human psychology, his inner spiritual world(although still only within the framework of religious consciousness). This led to an increase in the subjective nature of works.

And so it appeared new style- expressive-emotional, in which verbal sophistication and “weaving of words” (that is, the use of ornamental prose) should be noted. These new techniques were intended to reflect the desire to depict the feelings of an individual person.

In the second half of the 15th - early 16th centuries. stories arise that go back in their plot to the novelistic nature of oral stories ("The Tale of the Merchant Basarga", "The Tale of Dracula" and others). The number of translated works of a fictional nature is noticeably increasing; the legend genre was widespread at that time (for example, “The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir”).

"The Tale of Peter and Fevronia"

As mentioned above, works of ancient Russian literature also borrow some features of legends. In the mid-16th century, Ermolai-Erasmus, an ancient Russian publicist and writer, created the famous “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia,” which is one of the most significant texts in Russian literature. It is based on the legend of how, thanks to her intelligence, a peasant girl became a princess. Fairy-tale techniques are widely used in the work; they also sound social motives.

Characteristics of 16th century literature

In the 16th century, the official nature of the texts intensified, distinctive feature literature becomes solemn and pompous. Such works are widely distributed, the purpose of which is to regulate political, spiritual, everyday and legal life. A striking example is "The Great Ones", which are a set of texts consisting of 12 volumes, which were intended for home reading for every month. At the same time, "Domostroy" was created, which sets out the rules of behavior in the family, gives advice on housekeeping, as well as on relationships between people. Fiction is increasingly penetrating historical works of that period in order to make the narrative entertaining.

17th century

Works of ancient Russian literature of the 17th century are noticeably transformed. The art of the so-called new era begins to take shape. The process of democratization is underway, the themes of works are expanding. The role of the individual in history is changing due to the events of the Peasant War (late 16th - early 17th centuries), as well as the Time of Troubles. Acts of Boris Godunov, Ivan the Terrible, Vasily Shuisky and others historical characters are now explained not only by the divine will, but also by the personality characteristics of each of them. A special genre appears - democratic satire, where church and government regulations, legal proceedings (for example, “The Tale of Shemyakin’s Court”), clerical practice (“Kalyazin Petition”).

"Life" of Avvakum, everyday stories

In the 17th century it was written autobiographical work who lived from 1620 to 1682. Archpriest Avvakum - "Life". It is presented in the textbook "Old Russian Literature" (grade 9). The peculiarity of the text is its rich, lively language, either colloquial and everyday, or lofty bookish.

During this period, everyday stories about Frol Skobeev, Savva Grudtsyn and others were also created, reflecting the original character of Old Russian literature. Translated collections of short stories appear and poetry develops (famous authors - Sylvester Medvedev, Simeon Polotskits, Karion Istomin).

The history of ancient Russian literature ends with the 17th century, and the next stage begins - the literature of modern times.

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. Artistic works They started writing much later.

When did ancient Russian literature emerge?

The prerequisite for the emergence of ancient Russian literature were various forms 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. Christian teaching was transmitted through the first books. Since there were few written sources in ancient times, the need arose to rewrite books.

The alphabet contributed to the cultural development of the 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'. Eastern 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.

The Christianization of the ancient Russian state made writing a necessity, because without it state life, social and international relations would be impossible. 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, parchment was used to write valuable state documents.

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. For writing, they used goose feathers, the tip of which was cut off, and a cut was made in the middle of the point.

What century does ancient Russian literature belong to?

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

Periodization of Old Russian literature.

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.
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.
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.
XV - XVI centuries: this is the period of centralization of the Russian state and the emergence of journalistic literature.
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. Two literary styles arose, one of which was “High,” which was solemn, and the other, “Low,” which was used in everyday life.

Genres of literature

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),
lives of saints, which are presented from a different point of view - apocrypha,
historical works or chronicles (chronographs) - brief records of the history of ancient Rus', Russian chronograph of the second half of the 15th century,
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 of the chronicles of the 12th – 15th 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 the 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 the Russian-Polovtsian wars, but rather reflecting events on an all-Russian scale. The author connects Igor’s failed campaign of 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 of 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 creating never before existing documents, making 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 counterfeit presented in 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 become acquainted with the main genres and literary monuments of Byzantium over two centuries.

Book culture, recording knowledge, appeared in Rus' in the 10th century along with the advent of Christianity and Cyrillic writing. included both the original works and translated sources.

Genre system, which was determined in ancient Russian literature, although it became the beginning of Russian literature proper, differed from genre system literature of modern times.

In ancient Russian literature, the main issue in determining the genre was the purpose of a particular work, that is, the practical purpose of its writing.

The main genres of ancient Russian literature and their functions

1) year after year, keep a detailed story about national history was the purpose of chronicles (“The Tale of Bygone Years”);

2) the lives of monks and saints were supposed to tell a moralizing story (“The Life of Sergius of Radonezh”);

3) glorifying virtue and exposing vices was the purpose of teachings and stories (“Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh”);

4) the word served as an example of identical eloquence (“The Sermon on Law and Grace”);

5) travel was talked about in walks (some sources indicate another version of the name for this genre - “walking”, for example, “Walking across the Three Seas”).

A characteristic feature of the genre system of Old Russian literature was the presence of major and minor genres.

D.S. Likhachev, speaking about the construction of genres of ancient Russian literature into the so-called "genre ensembles", draws a parallel with the structure of feudal society. Individual works were grouped together and formed a single whole. Moreover, parts of such a work could be written in different genres. For example, chronicle, which is an independent genre, is a separate work, however, it can also include other genres of Old Russian literature. A striking example multi-genre structure chronicle is the famous “Tale of Bygone Years,” written by Nestor. The chronicler intersperses brief records of events, business documentation with works of oral folk art, reports of princely military campaigns of princes and news of the death of commanders with information about heavenly signs.

In addition to The Tale of Bygone Years, D.S. Likhachev notes row works of ancient Russian literature that are outside the traditional framework of the genre system, for example,

"Prayer of Daniel the Imprisoner."

The list of the main genres of ancient Russian literature does not include everyday novels, urban stories, or poetry. These and other genres will appear a little later, when the private life of an ordinary person is reflected in literature.

There will be a gradual transformation of the genre system of literature of Ancient Rus':

destruction of the stable framework of church literature,
fictionalization of genres of secular literature.

with increasing interest in the inner world of a person, everyday descriptions will appear, historical heroes will be replaced by fictional heroes.

Fundamental changes in the genre system will entail the emergence of new works.

Topics of Old Russian Literature

Main themes of ancient Russian literature

the beauty and grandeur of the motherland,
glorification of selfless defenders of the Russian land,
faith in the victory of good,
praise of creative work
and condemnation of political strife that harms state power.

D.S. Likhachev considers the key theme of ancient Russian literature to be the meaning of human life .

From translated sources, the philosophical ideas of the “Hellenic sages” penetrated into the literature of Ancient Rus', which influenced the formation of its problems.

Check out our presentation on this topic:

Problems of literature of this period –uh then resolving questions about human nature, state power and universal human values.

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The concept of “Old Russian literature” includes literary works of the 11th-17th centuries. The literary monuments of this period include not only literary works themselves, but also historical works (chronicles and chronicle stories), descriptions of travel (they were called walks), teachings, lives (stories about the lives of people ranked among the saints by the church), epistles, works of the oratorical genre, some texts of a business nature. All these monuments contain elements of artistic creativity and emotional reflection of modern life.

The overwhelming majority of ancient Russian literary works did not preserve the names of their creators. Old Russian literature, as a rule, is anonymous, and in this respect it is similar to oral folk art. The literature of Ancient Rus' was handwritten: works were distributed by copying texts. In the course of the handwritten existence of works over the centuries, texts were not only copied, but often revised in connection with changes in literary tastes, the socio-political situation, in connection with the personal preferences and literary abilities of the copyists. This explains the existence of different editions and variants of the same monument in handwritten lists. Comparative textual analysis (see Textology) of editions and variants makes it possible for researchers to restore the literary history of a work and decide which text is closest to the original, author’s, and how it has changed over time. Only in the rarest cases do we have author's lists of monuments, and very often in later lists texts come to us that are closer to the author's than in earlier lists. Therefore, the study of ancient Russian literature is based on an exhaustive study of all copies of the work being studied. Collections of Old Russian manuscripts are available in large libraries in different cities, archives, and museums. Many works are preserved in a large number of lists, and many in a very limited number. There are works represented by a single list: “The Teaching” of Vladimir Monomakh, “The Tale of Woe-Misfortune”, etc., in the only list the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” has come down to us, but he also died during Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow in 1812 G.

A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is the repetition of certain situations, characteristics, comparisons, epithets, and metaphors in different works of different times. The literature of Ancient Rus' is characterized by “etiquette”: the hero acts and behaves as he should, according to the concepts of that time, act and behave in the given circumstances; specific events (for example, a battle) are depicted using constant images and forms, everything has a certain ceremoniality. Old Russian literature is solemn, majestic, and traditional. But over the seven hundred years of its existence, it has gone through a complex path of development, and within the framework of its unity we observe a variety of themes and forms, changes in old and creation of new genres, a close connection between the development of literature and the historical destinies of the country. All the time there was a kind of struggle between living reality, creative individuality authors and the requirements of the literary canon.

The emergence of Russian literature dates back to the end of the 10th century, when, with the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in Rus', service and historical narrative texts should have appeared in Church Slavonic. Ancient Rus', through Bulgaria, where these texts mainly came from, immediately joined the highly developed Byzantine literature and literature of the South Slavs. The interests of the developing Kyiv feudal state required the creation of their own, original works and new genres. Literature was called upon to cultivate a sense of patriotism, to affirm the historical and political unity of the ancient Russian people and the unity of the family of ancient Russian princes, and to expose princely feuds.

Objectives and themes of literature XI - beginning of XIII V. (issues of Russian history in its connection with world history, the history of the emergence of Rus', the fight against external enemies - the Pechenegs and Polovtsians, the struggle of princes for the Kiev throne) determined general character style of this time, called by academician D.S. Likhachev the style of monumental historicism. The emergence of Russian chronicles is associated with the beginning of Russian literature. As part of later Russian chronicles, the “Tale of Bygone Years” has come down to us - a chronicle compiled by the ancient Russian historian and publicist monk Nestor around 1113. The “Tale of Bygone Years” is based on, which includes the story of world history, and records by year about events in Rus', and legendary legends, and stories about princely feuds, and laudatory characteristics of individual princes, and philippics condemning them, and copies of documentary materials, lie even earlier chronicle vaults, which have not reached us. The study of lists of ancient Russian texts makes it possible to restore lost titles of literary history ancient Russian works. XI century The first Russian lives (of princes Boris and Gleb, abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Theodosius) also date back. These lives are distinguished by literary perfection, attention to pressing problems of our time, and the vitality of many episodes. Maturity of political thought, patriotism, journalisticism, and high literary skill are also characterized by the monuments of oratorical eloquence “The Sermon on Law and Grace” by Hilarion (1st half of the 11th century), the words and teachings of Cyril of Turov (1130-1182). The “Teaching” of the great Prince of Kyiv Vladimir Monomakh (1053-1125).

In the 80s XII century an author unknown to us creates the most brilliant work of ancient Russian literature - “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” The specific topic to which the “Tale” is devoted is the unsuccessful campaign in 1185 in the Polovtsian steppe of the Novgorod-Seversk prince Igor Svyatoslavich. But the author is concerned about the fate of the entire Russian land, he recalls the events of the distant past and the present, and the true hero of his work is not Igor, not the Grand Duke Kyiv Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, to whom a lot of attention is paid in the Lay, and the Russian people, the Russian land. In many ways, “The Lay” is associated with the literary traditions of its time, but, as a work of genius, it is distinguished by a number of features unique to it: the originality of the processing of etiquette techniques, the richness of the language, the sophistication of the rhythmic structure of the text, the nationality of its very essence and the creative rethinking of oral techniques. folk art, special lyricism, high civic pathos.

The main theme of the literature of the period of the Horde yoke (1243, XIII century - end of the XV century) was national-patriotic. The monumental-historical style takes on an expressive tone: the works created at this time bear a tragic imprint and are distinguished by lyrical elation. Great value The idea of strong princely power acquires in literature. Both in chronicles and in individual stories (“The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu”), written by eyewitnesses and going back to oral traditions, tells about the horrors of the enemy invasion and the infinitely heroic struggle of the people against the enslavers. The image of an ideal prince - a warrior and statesman, defender of the Russian land - was most clearly reflected in the “Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky” (70s of the 13th century). A poetic picture of the greatness of the Russian land, Russian nature, the former power of the Russian princes appears in the “Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land” - in an excerpt from a work that has not survived in full, dedicated to the tragic events of the Horde yoke (1st half of the 13th century).

Literature of the 14th century - 50s XV century reflects the events and ideology of the time of the unification of the principalities of north-eastern Rus' around Moscow, the formation of the Russian nationality and the gradual formation of the Russian centralized state. During this period, ancient Russian literature began to show interest in the psychology of the individual, in his spiritual world (though still within the limits of religious consciousness), which leads to the growth of the subjective principle. An expressive-emotional style emerges, characterized by verbal sophistication and ornamental prose (the so-called “weaving of words”). All this reflects the desire to depict human feelings. In the 2nd half of the 15th - early 16th centuries. stories appear, the plot of which goes back to oral stories of a novelistic nature (“The Tale of Peter, Prince of the Horde”, “The Tale of Dracula”, “The Tale of the Merchant Basarga and his son Borzosmysl”). The number of translated works of a fictional nature is significantly increasing, and the genre of political legendary works (The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir) is becoming widespread.

In the middle of the 16th century. Ancient Russian writer and publicist Ermolai-Erasmus creates “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia” - one of the most remarkable works of literature of Ancient Rus'. The story is written in the tradition of an expressive-emotional style; it is built on the legendary legend about how a peasant girl, thanks to her intelligence, became a princess. The author widely used fairy-tale techniques, but at the same time, social motives sound acutely in the story. “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia” is in many ways connected with the literary traditions of its time and the previous period, but at the same time it is ahead of modern literature, is distinguished by artistic perfection and bright individuality.

In the 16th century the official character of literature intensifies, its distinctive feature becomes pomp and solemnity. Works of a general nature, the purpose of which is to regulate spiritual, political, legal and everyday life, are becoming widespread. The “Great Menaion of Chetya” is being created - a 12-volume set of texts intended for everyday reading for each month. At the same time, “Domostroy” was written, which sets out the rules of human behavior in the family, detailed tips housekeeping, rules of relationships between people. IN literary works manifests itself more noticeably individual style the author, which was especially clearly reflected in the messages of Ivan the Terrible. IN historical narratives Fiction is penetrating more and more, giving the narrative greater plot-level entertainment. This is inherent in the “History of the Grand Duke of Moscow” by Andrei Kurbsky, and is reflected in the “Kazan History” - an extensive plot-historical narrative about the history of the Kazan kingdom and the struggle for Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.

In the 17th century the process of transforming medieval literature into modern literature begins. New pure ones arise literary genres, the process of democratization of literature is underway, its topics are significantly expanding. Events of the Time of Troubles and the Peasant War at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries. change the view of history and the role of the individual in it, which leads to the liberation of literature from church influence. Writers of the Time of Troubles (Abrahamy Palitsyn, I.M. Katyrev-Rostovsky, Ivan Timofeev, etc.) try to explain the acts of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, False Dmitry, Vasily Shuisky not only by the manifestation of divine will, but also by the dependence of these acts on the person himself, his personal characteristics. In literature, the idea of the formation, change and development of human character under the influence of external circumstances arises. Literary work A wider range of people are beginning to engage. The so-called posad literature is born, which is created and exists in a democratic environment. A genre of democratic satire emerges, in which state and church orders are ridiculed: legal proceedings are parodied (“The Tale of Shemyakin’s Court”), church service(“Service to the tavern”), holy scripture (“The Tale of peasant son"), office work practice ("The Tale of Ersha Ershovich", "Kalyazin Petition"). The nature of the lives is also changing, which are increasingly becoming real biographies. The most remarkable work of this genre in the 17th century. is the autobiographical “Life” of Archpriest Avvakum (1620-1682), written by him in 1672-1673. It is remarkable not only for its lively and vivid story about the harsh and courageous life path of the author, but also for its equally vivid and passionate depiction of social and ideological struggle of his time, deep psychologism, preaching pathos, combined with full revelation of confession. And all this is written in a lively, rich language, sometimes in a high bookish language, sometimes in a bright, colloquial language.

The rapprochement of literature with everyday life, the appearance in the narrative of a love affair, and psychological motivations for the hero’s behavior are inherent in a number of stories of the 17th century. (“The Tale of Misfortune-Grief”, “The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn”, “The Tale of Frol Skobeev”, etc.). Translated collections of a novelistic nature appear, with short edifying, but at the same time anecdotally entertaining stories, translated knightly novels (“The Tale of Bova the Prince”, “The Tale of Eruslan Lazarevich”, etc.). The latter, on Russian soil, acquired the character of original, “their” monuments and over time entered the popular print market. folk literature. In the 17th century poetry develops (Simeon Polotsky, Sylvester Medvedev, Karion Istomin and others). In the 17th century The history of the great ancient Russian literature as a phenomenon characterized by common principles, which, however, underwent certain changes, came to an end. Old Russian literature, with its entire development, prepared Russian literature of modern times.