Characteristic features of Old Russian literature. Features of Old Russian literature. Main genres and works

Literature Ancient Rus' arose in the 11th century. and developed over seven centuries until the Petrine era. Old Russian literature is a single whole with all the diversity of genres, themes, and images. This literature is the focus of Russian spirituality and patriotism. On the pages of these works there are conversations about the most important philosophical, moral problems, about which heroes of all centuries think, speak, reflect. The works form a love for the Fatherland and one’s people, show the beauty of the Russian land, so these works touch the innermost strings of our hearts.

Significance ancient Russian literature as the basis for the development of new Russian literature is very great. Thus, images, ideas, even the style of writings were inherited by A. S. Pushkin, F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy.

Old Russian literature did not arise out of nowhere. Its appearance was prepared by the development of language, oral folk art, cultural ties with Byzantium and Bulgaria and is due to the adoption of Christianity as a single religion. The first literary works to appear in Rus' were translated. Those books that were necessary for worship were translated.

The very first original works, i.e. written by ourselves Eastern Slavs, date back to the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries. V. The formation of Russian national literature took place, its traditions took shape, the features that determined it specific features, a certain dissimilarity with the literature of our days.

The purpose of this work is to show the features of Old Russian literature and its main genres.

II. Features of Old Russian literature.

2. 1. Historicism of content.

Events and characters in literature, as a rule, are the fruit of the author's imagination. Authors works of art, even if they describe the true events of real people, they conjecture a lot. But in Ancient Rus' everything was completely different. The ancient Russian scribe only talked about what, in his opinion, really happened. Only in the 17th century. Everyday stories with fictional characters and plots appeared in Rus'.

Both the ancient Russian scribe and his readers firmly believed that the events described actually happened. So the chronicles were a peculiar thing for the people of Ancient Rus' legal document. After the death of Moscow Prince Vasily Dmitrievich in 1425, his younger brother Yuri Dmitrievich and son Vasily Vasilyevich began to argue about their rights to the throne. Both princes turned to Tatar Khan so that he could judge their dispute. At the same time, Yuri Dmitrievich, defending his rights to Moscow reign, referred to ancient chronicles, which reported that power had previously passed from the prince-father not to his son, but to his brother.

2. 2. Handwritten nature of existence.

Another feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of its existence. Even the appearance of the printing press in Rus' changed the situation little until the middle of the 18th century. Existence literary monuments in manuscripts led to special veneration of the book. What even separate treatises and instructions were written about. But on the other hand, handwritten existence led to instability ancient Russian works literature. Those works that have come down to us are the result of the work of many, many people: the author, editor, copyist, and the work itself could last for several centuries. Therefore, in scientific terminology, there are such concepts as “manuscript” (handwritten text) and “list” (rewritten work). The manuscript may contain lists of various works and may be written either by the author himself or by copyists. Another fundamental concept in textual criticism is the term “edition,” i.e., the purposeful processing of a monument caused by socio-political events, changes in the function of the text, or differences in the language of the author and editor.

Closely related to the existence of a work in manuscripts is such a specific feature of Old Russian literature as the problem of authorship.

The author's principle in Old Russian literature is muted, implicit. Old Russian scribes were not thrifty with other people's texts. When rewriting, the texts were processed: some phrases or episodes were excluded from them or inserted into them, and stylistic “decorations” were added. Sometimes the author's ideas and assessments were even replaced by the opposite ones. The lists of one work differed significantly from each other.

Old Russian scribes did not at all strive to reveal their involvement in literary composition. Many monuments remained anonymous; the authorship of others was established by researchers based on indirect evidence. So it is impossible to attribute to someone else the writings of Epiphanius the Wise, with his sophisticated “weaving of words.” The style of Ivan the Terrible’s messages is inimitable, boldly mixing eloquence and rude abuse, learned examples and the style of simple conversation.

It happens that in a manuscript one or another text was signed with the name of an authoritative scribe, which may or may not correspond to reality. Thus, among the works attributed to the famous preacher Saint Cyril of Turov, many, apparently, do not belong to him: the name of Cyril of Turov gave these works additional authority.

The anonymity of literary monuments is also due to the fact that the ancient Russian “writer” did not consciously try to be original, but tried to show himself as traditional as possible, that is, to comply with all the rules and regulations of the established canon.

2. 4. Literary etiquette.

The famous literary critic, researcher of ancient Russian literature, Academician D. S. Likhachev, proposed a special term to designate the canon in the monuments of medieval Russian literature - “literary etiquette”.

Literary etiquette consists of:

From the idea of ​​how this or that course of events should have taken place;

From ideas about how one should behave actor according to your position;

From ideas about what words the writer should have described what was happening.

We have before us the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior and the etiquette of words. The hero is supposed to behave this way, and the author is supposed to describe the hero only in appropriate terms.

III. The main genres of ancient Russian literature.

The literature of modern times is subject to the laws of “genre poetics.” It was this category that began to dictate the ways of creating a new text. But in ancient Russian literature the genre did not play such an important role.

A sufficient amount of research has been devoted to the genre uniqueness of Old Russian literature, but there is still no clear classification of genres. However, some genres immediately stood out in ancient Russian literature.

3. 1. Hagiographic genre.

Life is a description of the life of a saint.

Russian hagiographic literature includes hundreds of works, the first of which were written already in the 11th century. The Life, which came to Rus' from Byzantium along with the adoption of Christianity, became the main genre of ancient Russian literature, that literary form, in which the spiritual ideals of Ancient Rus' were clothed.

The compositional and verbal forms of life have been refined over the centuries. High theme - story about a life that embodies ideal service to the world and God - determines the image of the author and the style of narration. The author of the life tells the story excitedly; he does not hide his admiration for the holy ascetic and his admiration for his righteous life. The author's emotionality and excitement color the entire narrative in lyrical tones and contribute to the creation of a solemn mood. This atmosphere is also created by the style of narration - high solemn, full of quotations from the Holy Scriptures.

When writing a life, the hagiographer (the author of the life) was obliged to follow a number of rules and canons. The composition of a correct life should be three-fold: introduction, story about the life and deeds of the saint from birth to death, praise. In the introduction, the author asks forgiveness from readers for their inability to write, for the rudeness of the narrative, etc. The introduction was followed by the life itself. It cannot be called a “biography” of a saint in the full sense of the word. The author of the life selects from his life only those facts that do not contradict the ideals of holiness. The story about the life of a saint is freed from everything everyday, concrete, and accidental. In a life compiled according to all the rules, there are few dates, exact geographical names, names of historical figures. The action of the life takes place, as it were, outside of historical time and specific space; it unfolds against the backdrop of eternity. Abstraction is one of the features of the hagiographic style.

At the end of the life there should be praise to the saint. This is one of the most important parts of life, requiring great literary art, good knowledge of rhetoric.

The oldest Russian hagiographic monuments are two lives of princes Boris and Gleb and the Life of Theodosius of Pechora.

3. 2. Eloquence.

Eloquence is an area of ​​creativity characteristic of ancient period development of our literature. Monuments of church and secular eloquence are divided into two types: teaching and solemn.

Solemn eloquence required depth of concept and great literary skill. The speaker needed the ability to construct a speech effectively in order to capture the listener, set him in a high mood corresponding to the topic, and shock him with pathos. Existed special term to denote a solemn speech - “word”. (There was no terminological unity in ancient Russian literature. “Word” could also be called war story.) Speeches were not only delivered, but written and distributed in numerous copies.

Solemn eloquence did not pursue narrow practical goals; it required the formulation of problems of broad social, philosophical and theological scope. The main reasons for creating “words” are theological issues, issues of war and peace, defense of the borders of the Russian land, internal and foreign policy, the struggle for cultural and political independence.

The most ancient monument of solemn eloquence is the “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion, written between 1037 and 1050.

Teaching eloquence is teachings and conversations. They are usually small in volume, often devoid of rhetorical embellishments, and written in the Old Russian language, which was generally accessible to people of that time. Church leaders and princes could deliver teachings.

Teachings and conversations have purely practical purposes and contain information necessary for a person. “Instruction to the Brethren” by Luke Zhidyata, Bishop of Novgorod from 1036 to 1059, contains a list of rules of behavior that a Christian should adhere to: do not take revenge, do not utter “shameful” words. Go to church and behave quietly in it, honor your elders, judge truthfully, honor your prince, do not curse, keep all the commandments of the Gospel.

Theodosius of Pechora is the founder of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. He owns eight teachings to the brethren, in which Theodosius reminds the monks of the rules of monastic behavior: not to be late for church, make three prostrations, maintain decorum and order when singing prayers and psalms, and bow to each other when meeting. In his teachings, Theodosius of Pechora demands complete renunciation from the world, abstinence, and constant prayer and vigil. The abbot sternly denounces idleness, money-grubbing, and intemperance in food.

3. 3. Chronicle.

Chronicles were weather records (by “summers” - by “years”). The annual entry began with the words: “Into the summer.” After this there was a story about events and incidents that, from the point of view of the chronicler, were worthy of the attention of posterity. These could be military campaigns, raids by steppe nomads, natural disasters: droughts, crop failures, etc., as well as simply unusual incidents.

It is thanks to the work of chroniclers that modern historians have amazing opportunity look into the distant past.

Most often, the ancient Russian chronicler was a learned monk, who sometimes spent time compiling the chronicle long years. In those days, it was customary to start telling stories about history from ancient times and only then move on to the events of recent years. The chronicler had to first of all find, put in order, and often rewrite the work of his predecessors. If the compiler of the chronicle had at his disposal not one, but several chronicle texts at once, then he had to “reduce” them, that is, combine them, choosing from each what he considered necessary to include in his own work. When materials relating to the past were collected, the chronicler moved on to recounting the events of his time. The result of this great job the chronicle was forming. After some time, other chroniclers continued this collection.

Apparently, the first major monument ancient Russian chronicles became a chronicle compiled in the 70s of the 11th century. The compiler of this code is believed to have been the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nikon the Great (? - 1088).

Nikon's work formed the basis of another chronicle, which was compiled in the same monastery two decades later. IN scientific literature it received the code name “Initial Vault”. Its nameless compiler replenished Nikon's collection not only with news of last years, but also chronicle information from other Russian cities.

“The Tale of Bygone Years”

Based on the chronicles of the 11th century tradition. The greatest chronicle of the era was born Kievan Rus- “The Tale of Bygone Years.”

It was compiled in Kyiv in the 10s. 12th century According to some historians, its probable compiler was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor, also known for his other works. When creating “The Tale of Bygone Years,” its compiler used numerous materials with which he supplemented the Primary Code. These materials included Byzantine chronicles, texts of treaties between Rus' and Byzantium, monuments of translated and ancient Russian literature, and oral traditions.

The compiler of “The Tale of Bygone Years” set as his goal not just to tell about the past of Rus', but also to determine the place of the Eastern Slavs among the European and Asian peoples.

The chronicler talks in detail about the settlement Slavic peoples in ancient times, about the settlement of territories by the Eastern Slavs that would later become part of Old Russian state, about the morals and customs of different tribes. The Tale of Bygone Years emphasizes not only the antiquity of the Slavic peoples, but also the unity of their culture, language and writing, created in the 9th century. brothers Cyril and Methodius.

The chronicler considers the adoption of Christianity to be the most important event in the history of Rus'. The story of the first Russian Christians, the baptism of Rus', the spread of the new faith, the construction of churches, the emergence of monasticism, and the success of Christian enlightenment occupies a central place in the Tale.

The wealth of historical and political ideas reflected in “The Tale of Bygone Years” suggests that its compiler was not just an editor, but also a talented historian, a deep thinker, and a brilliant publicist. Many chroniclers of subsequent centuries turned to the experience of the creator of the Tale, sought to imitate him and almost necessarily placed the text of the monument at the beginning of each new chronicle.

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

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

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

“Every artistic method,” the researcher distinguishes, “makes up a whole system of large and small means to achieve certain artistic goals. Therefore, each artistic method has many characteristics, and these characteristics are correlated with each other in a certain way.” Likhachev D.S. To the study of artistic methods of Russian literature of the 11th-17th centuries // TODRL, M., Leningrad, 1964, vol. 20, p.7.

The worldview of medieval man absorbed, on the one hand, speculative religious ideas about the human world, and on the other, a specific vision of reality, resulting from labor practice man of feudal society.

In his daily activities, a person faces reality: nature, social, economic and political relations. The Christian religion considered the world around man to be temporary, transitory and sharply contrasted it with the eternal, imperishable world. The principles of the temporal and eternal are contained in man himself: his mortal body and immortal soul; the result of divine revelation allows a person to penetrate the secrets of the ideal world. The soul imparts life to the body and spiritualizes it. The body is the source of carnal passions and the diseases and suffering that result from them.

A person perceives reality with the help of the five senses - this is the lowest form of sensory knowledge." visible world". The "invisible" world is comprehended through reflection. Only internal spiritual insight as a doubling of the world largely determined the specifics artistic method Old Russian literature, its leading principle is symbolism. Medieval man was convinced that symbols were hidden in nature and in man himself, symbolic meaning filled with historical events. The symbol served as a means of revealing meaning and finding truth. Just as the signs of the visible world around a person are polysemantic, so is the word: it can be interpreted both in literal and figurative meanings.

Religious Christian symbolism in the consciousness of ancient Russian people was closely intertwined with folk poetic symbolism. Both had a common source - the nature surrounding man. And if the labor agricultural practice of the people gave this symbolism earthly concreteness, then Christianity introduced elements of abstractness.

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

An Old Russian writer creates his work within the framework of an established tradition: he looks at models, canons, and does not allow “self-thinking,” i.e. fiction. Its task is to convey the “image of truth.” The medieval historicism of ancient Russian literature is subordinated to this goal. All events occurring in the life of a person and society are considered as a manifestation of divine will.

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

The character of medieval literature is stamped by the dominance of the estate-corporate principle. The heroes of her works, as a rule, are princes, rulers, generals or church hierarchies, “saints” famous for their deeds of piety. The behavior and actions of these heroes are determined by their social status.

Thus, symbolism, historicism, ritualism or etiquette and didacticism are the leading principles of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature, which incorporates two sides: strict factuality and the ideal transformation of reality.

Old Russian(or Russian medieval, or ancient East Slavic) literature is the totality written works, written on the territory of Kievan and then Muscovite Rus' in the period from the 11th to the 17th centuries. Old Russian literature is common ancient literature of the Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples.

Map of Ancient Rus'
The largest researchers Old Russian literature are academicians Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev, Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov, Alexey Aleksandrovich Shakhmatov.

Academician D.S. Likhachev
Old Russian literature was not the result of artistic invention and had a number of features .
1. Fiction was not allowed in ancient Russian literature, since fiction is a lie, and lies are sinful. That's why all works were of a religious or historical nature. The right to fiction was conceptualized only in the 17th century.
2. Due to the lack of fiction in ancient Russian literature there was no concept of authorship, since the works either reflected real historical events or were expositions of Christian books. Therefore, works of ancient Russian literature have a compiler, a copyist, but not an author.
3. Works of ancient Russian literature were created in accordance with etiquette, that is, according to certain rules. Etiquette was formed from ideas about how the course of events should unfold, how the hero should behave, and how the compiler of the work should describe what is happening.
4. Old Russian literature developed very slowly: over seven centuries, only a few dozen works were created. This was explained, firstly, by the fact that the works were copied by hand, and the books were not replicated, since before 1564 there was no printing in Rus'; secondly, the number of literate (reading) people was very small.

Genres Old Russian literature differed from modern ones.

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

TEST QUESTIONS AND TASKS

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

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

Medieval picture of the world.

Russian ancient and medieval culture Since the adoption of Christianity, it has been characterized by the concepts of holiness, conciliarity, sophia, and spirituality. Special aesthetic value in the traditional picture of the world Medieval Rus' acquired the categories of personality and transformation, light, luminosity.
Many religious, Orthodox values ​​entered the ancient Russian picture of the world quite organically and naturally and became entrenched in it for a long time. First of all, it should be noted that the assimilation and understanding of Christian dogma and cult, and all worship, took place largely in the language artistic imagery as closest to the consciousness of ancient Russian man. God, spirit, holiness were perceived not as theological concepts, but rather as aesthetic and praxeological categories, more as living (mythological, according to A.F. Losev) rather than as symbolic.
Beauty was perceived in Rus' as an expression of the true and essential. Negative, unseemly phenomena were considered as deviations from the truth. As something transitory, not related to essence and therefore actually having no existence. Art acted as the bearer and exponent of the eternal and imperishable - absolute spiritual values. This is one of its most characteristic features and, moreover, one of the main principles of ancient Russian artistic thinking in general - Sofian art, which consists in the deep feeling and awareness by the ancient Russians of the unity of art, beauty and wisdom and in amazing ability Russian medieval artists and scribes express artistic means the basic spiritual values ​​of one’s picture of the world, the essential problems of existence in their universal significance.
Art and wisdom were seen by the people of Ancient Rus' as inextricably linked; and the terms themselves were perceived almost as synonyms. Art was not conceived by the wise, and this applied equally to the art of speech, icon painting or architecture. Starting his work, opening the first page, the Russian scribe asked God for the gift of wisdom, the gift of insight, the gift of speech, and this plea was by no means just a traditional tribute to the rhetorical fashion of his time. It contained true faith in the Divinity of creative inspiration, in the high purpose of art. .
The best expressive means The icon served as the sophia of the ancient Russian artistic and religious picture of the world. The icon, this “window” into the world of spiritual, transcendental religions, was also one of the most important paths to God. At the same time, in Rus' not only the direction of this path from the bottom up (from man to " mountain world"), but also vice versa - from God to man. God was understood by medieval Russian consciousness as the focus of all positive properties and characteristics of the “earthly” understanding of good, virtue, moral and aesthetic perfection, brought to the limit of idealization, that is, acting as an ideal, extremely distant from human earthly existence. Among its main characteristics, holiness, “honesty”, purity, luminosity most often appear - the main values ​​on which religion is based.
Another component of the traditional picture of the world - holiness - in the broadest Old Russian Orthodox understanding is sinlessness, and in the strict sense “God alone is holy.” In relation to a person, holiness means a state that is as far removed from sin as possible; It also means a state of special isolation of a person from the general mass. This singularity (or separateness) is manifested in extraordinary good deeds of the individual, in speeches marked by wisdom and insight, in amazing spiritual qualities. After accepting Christianity in ancient Russian spirituality Next to the holy heroes appear heroes of a very special kind - passion-bearers. The first Russian passion-bearers are Boris and Gleb. However, brothers, warrior princes do not perform valiant feats of arms. Moreover, in a moment of danger, they deliberately leave the sword in its sheath and voluntarily accept death. The images of the passion-bearing saints were, in the words of G.P. Fedotov, a genuine religious discovery of the newly baptized Russian people. Why?
Old Russian man I saw, first of all, in the behavior of Boris and Gleb, a readiness for the unconditional implementation of Christian ideals: humility, meekness, love for one’s neighbor, even to the point of self-sacrifice, revealed not in words, but in deeds.

Features of Old Russian literature.

Russian literature XI-XVII centuries. developed under unique conditions. It was entirely handwritten. Typography, which appeared in Moscow in mid-16th century century very little changed the nature and methods of dissemination of literary works.

The handwritten nature of literature led to its variability. When rewriting, scribes made their own amendments, changes, abbreviations, or, conversely, developed and expanded the text. As a result, the monuments of ancient Russian literature for the most part did not have a stable text. New editions and new types of works appeared in response to new demands of life and arose under the influence of changes in literary tastes.

The reason for the free handling of monuments was also anonymity ancient Russian monuments. The concept of literary property and author's monopoly was absent in Ancient Rus'. Literary monuments were not signed, since the author considered himself only an executor of God's will. The literary monuments were not dated, but the time of writing of this or that work is established with an accuracy of five to ten years using the chronicle, where all the events of Russian history are accurately recorded, and this or that work, as a rule, appeared “hot on the heels of the events” of history itself .

Old Russian literature is traditional. Author literary work“dresses” a given topic in its corresponding “literary attire.” As a result, the works of Ancient Rus' are not fenced off from each other by strict boundaries, their text is not fixed by precise ideas about literary property. This creates some illusion of inhibition literary process. Old Russian literature developed strictly according to traditional genres: hagiography, apocryphal, circulation genre, teachings of the church fathers, historical stories, didactic literature. All these genres are translated. Along with translated genres, the first Russian original genre appeared in the 11th century - chronicle writing.

Ancient Russian literature is characterized by “medieval historicism”, therefore artistic generalization in Ancient Rus' is built on the basis of a single specific historical fact. The work is always attached to a specific historical person, while any historical event receives a purely church interpretation, that is, the outcome of the event depends on the will of God, who either has mercy or punishes. The “medieval historicism” of Russian literature of the 11th-17th centuries is in connection with another important feature of it, which has been preserved and developed in Russian literature up to the present day - its citizenship and patriotism.

Called to consider reality, follow this reality and evaluate it, the ancient Russian writer already in the 11th century perceived his work as a work of service home country. Old Russian literature has always been particularly serious, trying to answer the basic questions of life, calling for its transformation, and possessing diverse and always high ideals.

Peculiarities.

1. Ancient literature is filled with deep patriotic content, heroic pathos of serving the Russian land, state, and homeland.

2. The main theme of ancient Russian literature is world history and the meaning of human life.

3. Ancient literature glorifies the moral beauty of the Russian person, capable of sacrificing the most precious thing for the sake of the common good - life. It expresses a deep belief in the power, the ultimate triumph of good and the ability of man to elevate his spirit and defeat evil.

4. A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is historicism. The heroes are mainly historical figures. Literature strictly follows fact.

5. A feature of the artistic creativity of the ancient Russian writer is the so-called “literary etiquette”. This is a special literary and aesthetic regulation, the desire to subordinate the very image of the world to certain principles and rules, to establish once and for all what should be depicted and how.

6. Old Russian literature appears with the emergence of the state and writing and is based on bookish Christian culture and developed forms of oral poetic creativity. At this time, literature and folklore were closely connected. Literature often perceived plots, artistic images, and visual means of folk art.

7. The originality of ancient Russian literature in the depiction of the hero depends on the style and genre of the work. In relation to styles and genres, the hero is reproduced in the monuments of ancient literature, ideals are formed and created.

8. In ancient Russian literature, a system of genres was defined, within which the development of original Russian literature began. The main thing in their definition was the “use” of the genre, the “practical purpose” for which this or that work was intended.

The originality of ancient Russian literature:

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

A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is historicism. Its heroes are predominantly historical figures; it allows almost no fiction and strictly follows the fact. Even numerous stories about “miracles” - phenomena that seemed supernatural to a medieval person, are not so much the invention of an ancient Russian writer, but rather accurate records of the stories of either eyewitnesses or the people themselves with whom the “miracle” happened. Old Russian literature, inextricably linked with the history of the development of the Russian state and the Russian people, is imbued with heroic and patriotic pathos. Another feature is anonymity.

Literature glorifies the moral beauty of the Russian person, capable of sacrificing what is most precious for the sake of the common good - life. It expresses deep faith in the power and ultimate triumph of good, in man's ability to elevate his spirit and defeat evil. The Old Russian writer was least of all inclined to an impartial presentation of facts, “listening to good and evil indifferently.” Any genre of ancient literature, be it historical story or a legend, life or church sermon, as a rule, includes significant elements of journalism. Touching primarily on state-political or moral issues, the writer believes in the power of words, in the power of conviction. He appeals not only to his contemporaries, but also to distant descendants with an appeal to ensure that the glorious deeds of their ancestors are preserved in the memory of generations and that descendants do not repeat the sad mistakes of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

The literature of Ancient Rus' expressed and defended the interests of the upper echelons of feudal society. However, it could not help but show an acute class struggle, which resulted either in the form of open spontaneous uprisings or in the forms of typically medieval religious heresies. The literature vividly reflected the struggle between progressive and reactionary groups within the ruling class, each of which sought support among the people. And since the progressive forces of feudal society reflected national interests, and these interests coincided with the interests of the people, we can talk about the nationality of ancient Russian literature.

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

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

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

Features of Old Russian works

1. The books were written in Old Russian. There were no punctuation marks, all words were written together.

2. Artistic images were influenced by the church. Mostly the exploits of saints were described.

3. Monks wrote books. The writers were very literate; they had to know the ancient Greek language and the Bible.

3. In ancient Russian literature there was a large number of genres: chronicles, historical stories, lives of saints, words. There were also translated works of a religious nature.
One of the most common genres is the chronicle.