What periods did ancient Russian literature go through? Periods of development of ancient Russian literature

I. Literature of the ancient Russian state of the 11th - first half of the 13th centuries. The literature of this period is often called literature Kievan Rus.

II. Literature of the period feudal fragmentation and the struggle for the unification of northeastern Rus' (second half of the 13th - first half of the 15th centuries).

III. Literature from the period of creation and development of the centralized Russian state (XVI-XVII centuries).

However, when periodizing literary process should be considered:

1. A range of original and translated monuments that appeared in a given period.

2. The nature of ideas and images reflected in literature.

3. The leading principles of displaying reality and the nature of genres and styles that determine the specifics literary development of this period.

The first monuments that have reached us Old Russian writing known only from the second half of the 11th century: the Ostromir Gospel (1056-1057), “Illustration of the Grand Duke Svyatoslav of 1073”, “Izbornik of 1076”. Most of the works created in the 11th-12th centuries were preserved only in later copies of the 14th-17th centuries.

However, the intensive development of writing in Rus' began after the official adoption of Christianity in 988. At the same time, a certain education system arose. In the 30s of the 11th century. in Kyiv there are “many scribes” who not only copy books, but also translate them from Greek into "Slovenian letter". All this allows us to highlight the end of the 10th - first half of the 11th century. as the first, initial, period of formation ancient Russian literature. True, we can only speak hypothetically about the range of works of this period, their themes, ideas, genres and styles.

The predominant place in the literature of this period was apparently occupied by books of religious and moral content: the Gospels, the Apostle, the Service Menaion, the Synaxari. During this period, the translation of the Greek chronicles was carried out, on the basis of which the “Chronograph according to the Great Exposition” was compiled. At the same time, records of oral legends about the spread of Christianity in Rus' arose. Artistic pinnacle of this period and the beginning of a new one was Hilarion’s “Sermon on Law and Grace.”

The second period - the middle of the 11th - the first third of the 12th century - the literature of Kievan Rus. This is the heyday of original ancient Russian literature, represented by the genres of the didactic “word” (Theodosius of Pechersky, Luka Zhidyata), genre varieties of original lives (“The Legend” and “Reading” about Boris and Gleb, “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersky”, “Memory and Praise of Prince Vladimir” "), historical tales, stories, legends that formed the basis of the chronicle, which in beginning of XII V. is called "The Tale of Bygone Years". At the same time, the first “walk” appeared - the journey of Abbot Daniel and such an original work as the “Teaching” of Vladimir Monomakh.

Translated literature during this period is widely represented by philosophical-didactic and moral-didactic collections, patericons, historical chronicles, apocryphal works.

Central theme original literature becomes the theme of the Russian land, the idea of ​​its greatness, integrity, sovereignty. Spiritual lights of the Russian land, ideal moral beauty her devotees perform. to his "toil and sweat" formidable princes build the fatherland - “good sufferers for the Russian land.”

During this period, various styles developed: epic, documentary-historical, didactic, emotionally expressive, hagiographic, which are sometimes present in the same work.

The third period falls on the second third of XII - the first half XIII V. This is literature from the period of feudal fragmentation, when the “patchwork empire of the Rurikovichs” broke up into a number of independent feudal semi-states. The development of literature takes on a regional character. Based on the literature of Kievan Rus, local literary schools: Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, Kiev-Chernigov, Galicia-Volyn, Polotsk-Smolensk, Turovo-Pinsk, which will then become the source of the formation of the literature of the three fraternal Slavic peoples- Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.

In these regional centers, local chronicles, hagiography, genres of travel, historical stories, epideictic eloquence (“words” of Kirill Turovsky, Kliment Smolyatich, Serapion of Vladimirsky) are developing, and the “Tale of Miracles” begins to take shape. Vladimir icon Mother of God" Through the works of Bishop Simon of Vladimir and monk Polycarp, the “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon” was created. The pinnacle of literature of this period was “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” firmly connected with the outgoing traditions of the heroic druzhina epic. The original striking works are “The Lay” by Daniil Zatochnik and “The Lay on the Destruction of the Russian Land.”

The fourth period - the second half of the XIII-XV centuries - literature of the period of the struggle of the Russian people with the Mongol-Tatar conquerors and the beginning of the formation of a centralized Russian state, the formation of the Great Russian people. The development of literature during this period proceeds in such leading cultural centers, like towering Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver.

Awareness of the need to fight against foreign enslavers led to the rallying of popular forces, and this struggle goes hand in hand with the political unification of Rus' around a single center, which becomes Moscow. An important milestone in political and cultural life Rus' saw the victory won by the Russian people on the Kulikovo field in September 1380 over the hordes of Mamai. It showed that Rus' has the strength to decisively fight the enslavers, and these forces can be united and united by the centralized power of the Grand Duke of Moscow.

In the literature of this time, the main theme is the fight against foreign enslavers - the Mongol-Tatars and the theme of strengthening the Russian state, glorifying military and moral deeds Russian people, their deeds. Literature and art reveal moral ideal personality capable of overcoming "the strife of this age" - the main evil that prevents the unification of all forces to fight the hated conquerors.

Epiphanius the Wise revives and raises to a new level of artistic perfection the emotionally expressive style developed by the literature of Kievan Rus. The development of this style was determined by the historical needs of life itself, and not only by the second South Slavic influence, although the experience of the Bulgarian and Serbian literature was taken into account and used by the literature of the late XIV - early XV centuries.

Further development receives the style of historical narrative. It is influenced by the democratic strata of the population, on the one hand, and church circles, on the other. Entertaining is beginning to penetrate more widely into the historical narrative, fiction. Fictional tales appear that are taken as historical (the story of the city of Babylon, “The Tale of the Mutyansky governor Dracula”, “The Tale of the Iveron Queen Dinara”, “The Tale of Basarga”). In these tales, journalistic and political tendencies are intensified, emphasizing the importance of Rus' and its center of Moscow - the political and cultural successor of the ruling world powers.

In the 15th century Novgorod literature reaches its peak, clearly reflecting the acute struggle of classes within the feudal city republic. The Novgorod chronicle and hagiography with its democratic tendencies played important role in the development of ancient Russian literature.

There is growing interest in the literature psychological states the human soul, the dynamics of feelings and emotions.

The literature of this period reflected the main character traits of the emerging Great Russian people: perseverance, heroism, the ability to endure adversity and difficulties, the will to fight and win, love for the homeland and responsibility for its fate.

The fifth period of development of Old Russian literature falls at the end of the 15th-16th centuries. This is the period of literature of the centralized Russian state. In the development of literature, it is marked by the process of merging local regional literature into a single all-Russian literature, which provided an ideological justification for the centralized power of the sovereign. The acute internal political struggle to strengthen the sovereign power of the Grand Duke, and then the Sovereign of All Rus', determined the unprecedented flourishing of journalism.

The official style of the era becomes the representative, magnificent, eloquent style of the Makaryev literary school. Polemical journalistic literature gives birth to freer, more vibrant literary forms related to business writing and everyday life.

The sixth period of development of Old Russian literature falls on the 17th century. The nature of literary development allows us to distinguish two stages in this period: 1st - from the beginning of the century to the 60s, 2nd - 60s - end of XVII, first third of the 18th century.

The first stage is associated with the development and transformation of traditional historical and hagiographic genres of ancient Russian literature. The events of the first Peasant War and the struggle of the Russian people against the Polish-Swedish intervention dealt a blow to religious ideology and providentialist views on the course of historical events. In the social, political and cultural life of the country, the role of the posad—the trade and craft population—increased. A new democratic reader has appeared. Responding to his requests, literature expands the scope of reality, changes the previously established genre system, begins to free itself from provenentialism, symbolism, etiquette - the leading principles artistic method medieval literature. Hagiography is turning into everyday biography, and the genre of the historical story is being democratized.

The second stage of the development of Russian literature, the second half XVII V. associated with Nikon’s church reform, with the events of the historical reunification of Ukraine with Russia, after which an intensive process of penetration of Western European literature into Old Russian literature began. A historical story, losing connections with specific facts, becomes an entertaining narrative. The life becomes not only an everyday biography, but also an autobiography - a confession of a hot rebellious heart.

Traditional genres church and business writing become objects literary parody: a church service is parodied in the service to a tavern, the life of a saint is parodied in the life of a drunkard, a petition and a “judgment case” in “The Kalyazin Petition” and “The Tale of Ersha Ershovich.” Folklore is rushing into literature in a broad wave. Folk genres satirical tale, epic, song lyrics are organically included in literary works.

The self-awareness of the individual is reflected in a new genre - the everyday story, in which appears new hero- a merchant's son, a seedy rootless nobleman. The nature of translated literature is changing.

The process of democratization of literature meets with a response from the ruling classes. In court circles, an artificial normative style, ceremonial aesthetics, and elements of Ukrainian-Polish baroque were implanted. Living folk lyrics are contrasted with artificial syllabic book poetry, and democratic satire is contrasted with a moralizing abstract satire on morals in general, folk drama- court and school comedy. However, the emergence of syllabic poetry, court and school theater testified to the triumph of new beginnings and prepared the emergence of classicism in Russian XVIII literature V.

Features of Old Russian literature

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

Another feature of our ancient literature is anonymity, impersonality her works. This was a consequence of the religious-Christian attitude of feudal society towards man, and in particular towards the work of a writer, artist, and architect. At best, we know the names of individual authors, “copywriters” of books, who modestly put their name either at the end of the manuscript, or in its margins, or (which is much less common) in the title of the work. At the same time, the writer will not accept to provide his name with such evaluative epithets as “thin”, “unworthy”, “many sinners”. In most cases, the author of the work prefers to remain unknown, and sometimes hide behind the authoritative name of one or another “father of the church” - John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, etc.

Biographical information about the ancient Russian writers known to us, the volume of their creativity, character social activities very, very scarce. Therefore, if when studying literature of the 18th-20th centuries. literary scholars widely use biographical material, reveal the nature of political, philosophical, aesthetic views of this or that writer, using the author’s manuscripts, trace the history of the creation of works, identify creative individuality writer, then the monuments of ancient Russian writing have to be approached differently.

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.

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 field 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.

Process historical development ancient Russian literature represents 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 on each historical stage the development of literature and in its individual monuments was different.

However, the wider and deeper the literature used artistic experience 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 seem medieval man supernatural, not so much the invention of an ancient Russian writer, but rather accurate records of the stories of either eyewitnesses or the people themselves with whom the “miracle” happened.

The historicism of ancient Russian literature has a specifically medieval character. The course and development of historical events is explained by God's will, the will of providence. The heroes of the works are princes, rulers of the state, standing at the top of the hierarchical ladder of feudal society. However, having discarded the religious shell, modern reader easily reveals that living historical reality, the true creator of which was the Russian people.

The issue of periodization of ancient Russian literature has not yet been completely resolved. Undoubtedly, the stages of development of Old Russian literature are closely related to the stages of development of Old Russian people and state. Taking into account the uniqueness of ideas, original and translated works, main genres and styles, four periods can be distinguished in the history of the development of Old Russian literature (in addition to the initial one):

- Literature of Kievan Rus (11th – first third of the 12th century). Associated with the intensive development of Old Russian writing. Ancient Rus' becomes acquainted with a large number of monuments of translated literature, both canonical, church, and apocryphal, didactic, historical and narrative. During this period, original ancient Russian literature was born and developed. The most important genres are being formed - hagiography, didactic and solemn sermon, teaching, description of travel, chronicle, historical and war story, legend. The literature of this period is imbued with the patriotic, civic pathos of love for the great Russian land.

- Literature of the period of feudal fragmentation (second third of the 12th - mid-13th century). Russia breaks up into a number of independent feudal semi-states, and the development of literature takes on a regional character. Literary schools are being created: Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, Kiev-Chernigov, Galicia-Volyn, Polotsk-Smolensk, Turovo-Pinsk. In these regional centers, local chronicles, hagiography, the genres of travel, historical stories, and solemn oratorical eloquence are developing (“words” of Kirill Turovsky, Kliment Smolyatich; “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon”, “The Tale of Igor’s Host”, “The Prayer of Daniil Zatochnik”).

- Literature from the period of the struggle against foreign invaders and the unification of northeastern Rus' (mid-13th - early 14th centuries). The heroic struggle of the Russian people against foreign invaders is clearly reflected. “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu”, “The Life of Alexander Nevsky”, “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land”. In the literature of this time, the main themes were the struggle against foreign enslavers - the Mongol-Tatars - and the strengthening of the Russian state, glorifying the military and moral exploits of the Russian people.

During this period, Epiphanius the Wise revived and raised the emotionally expressive style to a new level of artistic perfection. The style of historical narration is further developed and strengthened political theory“Moscow is the third Rome” (“The Tale of the Capture of Constantinople”).

In the 15th century, Novgorod literature, as well as the literature of Tver, reached its peak. Afanasy Nikitin’s “Walking across Three Seas” is associated with democratic urban culture.

The literature of this period reflected the main character traits of the emerging Great Russian people: perseverance, heroism, the ability to endure adversity and difficulties, the will to fight and win. Interest in the psychological states of the human soul is growing.

- Literature of the period of Russian strengthening centralized state(16th – 17th centuries). In the 16th century, the process of merging regional literatures into one common one took place. Two trends are strictly observed: one is the observance of strict rules and canons of writing, church rites, and everyday life, the other is the violation of these rules. The latter begins to appear not only in journalism, but also in hagiography and historical narrative. Literature, in connection with historical changes ( peasant war Bolotnikov, the fight against intervention) expands the scope of reality, changes the genre system, and begins to free itself from the belief in divine predestination. The principles of the artistic method of medieval literature - symbolism, etiquette - are being destroyed. The life turns into an everyday biography. Vivid evidence of this is “The Life of Juliania Lazarevskaya” and “The Tale of the Azov Siege” Don Cossacks in 1641." In the second half of the 17th century, the process of secularization of literature, its liberation from the tutelage of the church, and the process of its democratization accelerated. Traditional genres of church and business writing become objects of literary parody (“Kazan Petition” and “The Tale of Ersha Ershovich”). Folklore is rushing into literature in a broad wave. The genres of folk satirical tales, epics, and song lyrics are organically included in literary works.

The task of paleography is to determine the time and place of writing of undated manuscripts based on data from dated manuscripts (in which the time and place are indicated, when and where they were written). One should not think that paleography is able to give more or less precise definitions and point to decades or quarters of centuries, as to the time of writing manuscripts. Given the abundance of data, she can only talk about half a century; given the paucity of data, it has to limit itself to centuries. Definitions of the genus accepted in paleography: “XIV century” mean that the manuscript could have been written both at the beginning and at the end of the named century; definitions in the genus: “XIV-XV centuries” indicate the possibility of attributing the manuscript to the second half of the XIV and the first half of the XV centuries; definitions such as “early 14th century” indicate that the manuscript may be dated last decade XIII century and the first four decades of the XIV century.

Caution in determining the time of writing is necessary in view of the very fact that the same scribe could freely work for an entire half-century, generally preserving the same features of writing.

Moreover, paleography can give indications of the features of the original to which the manuscript dates back, and answer the question of the origin of the text found in the manuscript.

The data that paleography uses are writing material, writing (or letterforms), ornamentation and spelling of manuscripts.

Our ancestors distinguished between a book, a scroll and a letter.

Question 3

The genres of ancient Russian literature are usually divided into primary and unifying. Primary 1) Genre Life. It was created by people who were directly familiar with the person who was canonized and canonized after his death. 2) Old Russian eloquence. It was borrowed from Byzantium and served as a form of oratory. 3) Teaching. Teaching is a genre in which ancient Russian chroniclers tried to present a model of behavior for any ancient Russian person: both for the prince and for the commoner. 4) Word. The word is a type of genre of ancient Russian eloquence. An example of the political variety of Old Russian eloquence is “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” 5) Tale. This is a text of an epic nature, telling about princes, military exploits, and princely crimes. Uniting 1) The chronicle is a narrative about historical events. This is the most ancient genre of ancient Russian literature. 2) Chronograph - these are texts containing a description of the time of the 15-16 centuries. 3) Cheti-Minea (literally “reading by month”) - a collection of works about holy people. 4) Patericon - a description of the life of the holy fathers. 5) Apocrypha - literally translated from ancient Greek as “intimate, secret.” These are works of a religious and legendary nature.

Question 4 Periodization of Old Russian literature

There are three main periods in the development of Old Russian literature:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Works of literature Ancient Rus' always attached to a specific historical event, to a specific historical figure. These are stories about battles (about victories and defeats), about princely crimes, about trips to the holy land and simply about real people: most often about saints and prince-commanders. There are stories about icons and the building of churches, about miracles that are believed in, about phenomena that supposedly happened. But not new works on clearly fictional plots.

Literature accompanies Russian reality, Russian history in a huge stream, following on its heels. Fearing lies, writers base their works on documents, which they consider to be all previous writing.

The literature of Ancient Rus' is evidence of life. That is why history itself, to a certain extent, establishes the periodization of literature.

The literature of the 11th - first third of the 13th century can be considered as a single literature of Kievan Rus. This is the century of a single ancient Russian state. The century of the first Russian lives - Boris and Gleb and the first monument of Russian chronicle that has come down to us - “The Tale of Bygone Years”.

Next comes a relatively short period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, when stories about the invasion of Mongol-Tatar troops in Rus', the Battle of Kalka, “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land” and “The Life of Alexander Nevsky” were created. Literature is compressed into one theme, but this theme manifests itself with extraordinary intensity, and the features of the monumental-historical style acquire a tragic imprint and the lyrical elation of a high patriotic feeling.

The next period, the end of the 14th century and the first half of the 15th century, is the century of the Pre-Renaissance, coinciding with the economic and cultural revival of the Russian land in the years immediately preceding and following the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. This is a period of expressive-emotional style and patriotic upsurge in literature, a period of revival of chronicle writing and historical storytelling.

The victory won by the Russians over the Mongol-Tatars on the Kulikovo Field made a huge impression not only on their contemporaries. This explains the fact that a number of literary monuments are dedicated to the Mamaev massacre: “Zadonshchina”, “The Legend of Mamaev's massacre" and etc.

In the second half of the 15th century, new phenomena were discovered in Russian literature: works of translated literature became widespread, and journalism developed.

Since the middle of the 16th century, literature has become increasingly influenced by the official trend. The 17th century is the century of transition to the literature of modern times. This is the age of development of the individual principle in everything: in the very type of writer and his work, the age of the development of individual tastes and styles, writer’s professionalism and a sense of authorial ownership.

This is the periodization of the history of ancient Russian literature. There is no need to consider all the monuments that existed in Ancient Rus'. Using the example of several works, we will consider how the theme of man and his deeds developed in ancient Russian literature.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6. Main themes and genres of Old Russian literature

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

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

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

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

 Modern genre". The everyday story-anecdote, love song, fairy tale, legend and heroic epic existed in Ancient Rus', but not at all in written form, that is, in the form of folklore, not literature: it was too irrational to write down accessible and well-known works of oral literature on expensive parchment through the efforts of a few scribes, occupied with more necessary Christian and historical literature. Unfortunately, we cannot completely reconstruct ancient folklore, but its later examples that have come down to us and its mentions in the literature of older times give us undoubted evidence of the presence of an extensive system of genres of ancient Russian folklore. System literary genres was not specific to only one ancient Russian literature: in Byzantium in the 9th-10th centuries. we will find almost the same genres in the same proportions. Secular genres - romance novel and lyric poetry- will appear in Byzantine literature somewhat later, in the 11th-12th centuries, but under the conditions of strict selection of literature for translation, books of this kind were practically not represented in Ancient Rus', with rare exceptions: for example, the epic poem about Digenis Akritos. 

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



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

• Academic science has been using the periodization of Old Russian literature based on historical principles since the 11th century:
• Literature of Kievan Rus (XI - first third of the XIII century) Literature of the period of fragmentation and Tatar-Mongol yoke
• (second third of the XIII–XIV centuries)
• Literature from the time of the unification of the northeastern principalities into a single Moscow state (late XIV - early XV centuries)
• Literature of the centralized Russian state (late 15th–16th centuries)

Literature of the stage of formation of the Russian nation (XVI–XVII centuries) The stages in this periodization were the most important historical events

• , such as
• invasion of the Tatar-Mongols in 1237-1240,
• the emergence of appanage principalities in the post-space of Kievan Rus,
• unification of the northeastern lands,

But literary historians have differing opinions on this matter. All existing periodizations are similar, but at the same time they are different. The number of stages ranges from 4 to 7. There were attempts by D.I. Chizhevsky, D.S. Likhacheva, G.K. Wagner distinguishes periods in ancient Russian literature based on the style of the eras. But scientists have not come to a consensus.

Literature of Kievan Rus (XI - first third of the XIII century)

The literature of this period, which arose with the introduction of Christianity in Rus', is closely connected with the church. The first chroniclers were monks St. Sophia Cathedral and the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" - the oldest written source that time. It consists of chronicle materials written and rewritten by several authors of the 10th-11th centuries. The Tale of Bygone Years has survived in the form of the Laurentian, Ipatiev and Radziwill lists, created in subsequent centuries. The chronicles described the main events in the state and in the world in chronological order, described the dynasties of princes, armed campaigns, bible stories, stories and legends from oral history were used folk art And Holy Scripture. Many interpret the history of Kievan Rus based on this source.

Other examples of literature from this period were:

• oratorical prose “The Sermon on Law and Grace” (1037 - 1050 of the 11th century) by Hilarion,
• set of legal rules “Russian Truth” (1019-1054) by Yaroslav the Wise,
• biography “The Tale of Boris and Gleb” (mid-11th century) by an unknown author,
• pedagogical prose “Teaching to Children” by Vladimir Monomakh,
• sample pilgrimage notes “The Walk of Abbot Daniel”,
• “Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik (1213 – 1236),
• philosophical reflections "Parable of human soul» Kirill Turovsky ( end XII century).

In 2000, Novgorod archaeologists found three wooden waxed tablets with scratched writings. This find was called the Novgorod Codex and dates back to no later than the 1st quarter of the 11th century. Psalms are written on the tablets, but more ancient texts are “hidden” under the wax. Scientists have yet to solve this riddle, like the riddle of the Book of Veles.

Literature of the period of fragmentation (mid-XIII–XIV centuries)

During the period of absence of a single center, chronicles were kept in separate principalities by each. Kyiv, Novgorod and Pskov chronicle collections have reached us. The legendary “Tale of Igor's Campaign” (circa 1185) became the apogee of the development of literature during the period of fragmentation. Written figurative language, absorbed folk beliefs“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” told about the campaign of the Russian princes in 1185 against the Polovtsians, which ended in failure. The word is imbued with patriotism and the desire to unite the disparate Russian lands.

A genre such as a military story emerges:

• “Tales of the murder of Mikhail of Chernigov and his boyar Fyodor in the Horde,”
• "The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu."

Both “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land” and “The Life of Alexander Nevsky,” written after the death of the Grand Duke, glorify the greatness and power of the Russian land, the courage and glory of Russian soldiers.

Literature from the time of the unification of the northeastern principalities into a single Moscow state (late XIV - early XV centuries)

Literature is dominated by an expressive-emotional style and theme. After the Tatar-Mongol period in many big cities Chronicle writing is revived, works appear historical nature and panegyric hagiography. In the wake of admiration for the victory in the Battle of Kulikovo, the military stories “The Tale of Mamaev’s Massacre” and “Zadonshchina” appeared.

Literature of the centralized Russian state (late 15th–16th centuries)

Translated literature, journalism, and historical prose are developing.

Fiction (secular narrative literature, translated from other languages):

• "The Tale of Dracula"

• "The Tale of Basarga".

Literature of the stage of formation of the Russian nation (XVI–XVII centuries)

During this period, traditional forms dominate, official influence on literature from rulers is felt, and individual styles are suppressed.

• “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum”, written by himself,
• “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom” by Ermolai-Erasmus,
• a collection of spiritual rules and instructions “Domostroy”, attributed to the priest of the Annunciation Cathedral Sylvester,
• collection of religious content “Great Cheti-Minea”,
• travel notes of ambassadors “The Walk of Trifon Korobeinikov to Constantinople”

and “Tales of the death and burial of M.V. Skopin-Shuisky" are the most bright works that time.

During this period there was a transition to new literature, the basis of which was the professionalism of each individual author, his personal perception of reality, protests and preferences.