The literature of Ancient Rus' arose in the 11th century. and developed over the course of seven centuries until the Petrine era. Old Russian literature is a single entity with all the variety 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 issues about which the heroes of all centuries think, talk, and meditate. The works form love for the Fatherland and their people, show the beauty of the Russian land, therefore 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 large. So images, ideas, even the style of compositions were inherited by A.S. Pushkin, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy.
Old Russian literature did not arise from scratch. Its appearance was prepared by the development of the language, oral folk art, cultural ties with Byzantium and Bulgaria, and was conditioned by the adoption of Christianity as a single religion. First literary works, which appeared in Rus', translated. Those books that were necessary for worship were translated.
The very first original compositions, i.e., written by themselves Eastern Slavs, belong to the end of the XI-beginning of the XII century. 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.
Features of Old Russian literature
1. Historicism of content.
Events and characters in literature, as a rule, are the fruit of the author's fiction. Authors works of art, even if they describe real events real faces, conjecture a lot. But in ancient Rus', everything was completely different. The Old Russian scribe told only about what, according to his ideas, really happened. Only in the XVII century. Everyday stories appeared in Rus' with fictional characters and plots.
Both the ancient Russian scribe and his readers firmly believed that the events described actually happened. So the chronicles were for the people of Ancient Rus' a kind of legal document. After the death in 1425 of the Moscow prince Vasily Dmitrievich, his younger brother Yuri Dmitrievich and son Vasily Vasilyevich began to argue about their rights to the throne. Both princes turned to the Tatar Khan to judge their dispute. At the same time, Yuri Dmitrievich, defending his rights to reign in Moscow, referred to ancient chronicles, which reported that power had previously passed from the prince-father not to his son, but to his brother.
2. Handwritten nature of existence.
Another feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of existence. Even the appearance of the printing press in Rus' did little to change the situation until the middle of the 18th century. The existence of literary monuments in manuscripts led to a special reverence for the book. What even separate treatises and instructions were written about. But on the other hand, handwritten existence led to the instability of ancient Russian works of literature. Those writings 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 continue for several centuries. Therefore, in scientific terminology, there are such concepts as "manuscript" (handwritten text) and "list" (rewritten work). The manuscript may contain lists different compositions and can be written both by the author himself and by scribes. Another fundamental concept in textual criticism is the term "redaction", 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.
The existence of a work in manuscripts is closely related to such a specific feature of Old Russian literature as the problem of authorship.
The authorial principle in ancient Russian literature is muted, implicit; Old Russian scribes were not careful with other people's texts. When rewriting the texts, they were reworked: some phrases or episodes were excluded from them or some episodes were inserted into them, stylistic "decorations" were added. Sometimes the ideas and assessments of the author were even replaced by the opposite ones. Lists of one work differed significantly from each other.
Old Russian scribes did not at all seek to reveal their involvement in literary writing. Very many monuments remained anonymous, the authorship of others was established by researchers on indirect grounds. 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 epistles is inimitable, impudently mixing eloquence and rude abuse, learned examples and the style of a simple conversation.
It happens that in the manuscript one or another text was signed by the name of an authoritative scribe, which may equally correspond or not correspond to reality. So among the works attributed to the famous preacher St. Cyril of Turov, many, apparently, do not belong to him: the name of Cyril of Turov gave additional authority to these works.
The anonymity of literary monuments is also due to the fact that the Old Russian "writer" consciously did not 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.
4. Literary etiquette.
Well-known literary critic, researcher of ancient Russian literature academician D.S. Likhachev proposed special term to designate the canon in the monuments of medieval Russian literature - "literary etiquette".
Literary etiquette is composed of:
From the idea of how this or that course of an event should have taken place;
From ideas about how the actor should have behaved in accordance with his position;
From the ideas of what words the writer had to describe what is happening.
Before us is the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior and verbal etiquette. The hero is supposed to behave in this way, and the author is supposed to describe the hero only in appropriate terms.
The main genres of ancient Russian literature
The literature of modern times is subject to the laws of the "poetics of the genre". 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 number of studies have been devoted to the genre originality of Old Russian literature, but there is still no clear classification of genres. However, some genres immediately stood out in ancient Russian literature.
1. Hagiographic genre.
Life is a description of the life of a saint.
Russian hagiographic literature has hundreds of works, the first of them were written in the XI century. 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 polished for centuries. A lofty theme - a story about a life that embodies the ideal service to the world and God - determines the image of the author and the style of narration. The author of the life narrates with excitement, he does not hide his admiration for the holy ascetic, admiration for his righteous life. The emotionality of the author, his excitement paint the whole story 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) had to follow a number of rules and canons. The composition of the correct life should be three-part: an introduction, a story about the life and deeds of a saint from birth to death, praise. In the introduction, the author apologizes to the readers for their inability to write, for the rudeness of the narration, etc. The life itself followed the introduction. 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, random. In a life compiled according to all the rules, there are few dates, exact geographical names, names of historical persons. The action of life takes place, as it were, outside historical time and concrete space, it unfolds against the backdrop of eternity. Abstraction is one of the features of hagiographic style.
At the conclusion of the life there should be praise to the saint. This is one of the most important parts of life, which required a lot of literary art, good knowledge rhetoric.
The oldest Russian hagiographic monuments are two lives of princes Boris and Gleb and The Life of Theodosius of Pechora.
2. Eloquence.
Eloquence is an area of creativity characteristic of the most ancient period in the development of our literature. Monuments of church and secular eloquence are divided into two types: instructive and solemn.
Solemn eloquence required depth of conception and great literary skill. The orator needed the ability to effectively build a speech in order to capture the listener, set it up in a high way, corresponding to the topic, shake him with pathos. There was a special term for solemn speech - "word". (There was no terminological unity in ancient Russian literature. The “Word” could also be called military tale.) Speeches were not only delivered, but written and distributed in numerous copies.
Solemn eloquence did not pursue narrowly practical goals, it required the formulation of problems of a wide social, philosophical and theological scope. The main reasons for the creation of "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 oldest monument of solemn eloquence is Metropolitan Hilarion's Sermon on Law and Grace, written between 1037 and 1050.
Teaching eloquence is teachings and conversations. They are usually small in volume, often devoid of rhetorical embellishments, written in the Old Russian language, which was generally accessible to the people of that time. Teachings could be given by church leaders, princes.
Teachings and conversations have purely practical purposes, they contain the 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 conduct that a Christian should adhere to: do not take revenge, do not say "shameful" words. Go to church and behave in it quietly, honor elders, judge by the truth, honor your prince, do not curse, keep all the commandments of the Gospel.
Theodosius of Pechersk, founder of the Kiev Caves Monastery. He owns eight teachings to the brethren, in which Theodosius reminds the monks of the rules of monastic behavior: do not be late for church, make three bows to the earth, observe deanery and order when singing prayers and psalms, and bow to each other when meeting. In his teachings, Theodosius of Pechorsky demands a complete renunciation of the world, abstinence, constant prayer and vigil. The abbot severely denounces idleness, money-grubbing, intemperance in food.
3. Chronicle.
Chronicles were called weather (by "years" - by "years") records. The annual record began with the words: "In the summer." After that, 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 an amazing opportunity to 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 a story about history from ancient times and only then move on to the events of recent years. The chronicler had first of all to 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 one that he considered necessary to include in his own work. When the materials relating to the past were collected, the chronicler proceeded to present the incidents of his time. The result of this great work was the annalistic code. After some time, this code was continued by other chroniclers.
Apparently the first major monument of ancient Russian chronicle writing became an annalistic code compiled in the 70s of the 11th century. The compiler of this code is believed to have been the abbot of the Kiev Caves 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 he received the conditional name "Initial Code". Its nameless compiler supplemented Nikon's code not only with news last years, but also chronicle information from other Russian cities.
"The Tale of Bygone Years"
Based on the annals of the tradition of the 11th century. The greatest chronicle monument of the era was born Kievan Rus- "The Tale of Bygone Years".
It was compiled in Kyiv in the 10s. 12th c. According to some historians, its likely compiler was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nestor, also known for his other writings. When creating The Tale of Bygone Years, its compiler drew on numerous materials with which he supplemented the Primary Code. Among these materials were 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 only to tell about the past of Rus', but also to determine the place of the Eastern Slavs among European and Asian peoples.
The chronicler tells in detail about the resettlement Slavic peoples in antiquity, about the settlement by the Eastern Slavs of territories that would later become part of Old Russian state, about the customs and customs of different tribes. The "Tale of Bygone Years" emphasizes not only the antiquities 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 about the first Russian Christians, about the baptism of Rus', about the spread new faith, the construction of temples, the emergence of monasticism, the success of Christian enlightenment occupies a central place in the Tale.
A 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 bright publicist. Many chroniclers of subsequent centuries turned to the experience of the creator of the "Tale", sought to imitate him and almost always placed the text of the monument at the beginning of each new chronicle collection.
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Old Russian literature (DRL) is the foundation of all literature. The main keepers and copyists of books in Ancient Rus', as a rule, were monks, who were least of all interested in storing and copying books of worldly (secular) content. And this largely explains why the vast majority of the works of Old Russian literature that have come down to us are of a church nature. A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is r u k o p i s n y nature of its existence and distribution. At the same time, 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 charge of vanity.” These words of Basil the Great largely determined the attitude of the ancient Russian society to the works of writing. The value of this or that handwritten book was evaluated in terms of its practical purpose and usefulness. Another feature of our ancient literature is an o n i m o s t, the impersonality of her works. This was a consequence of the religious-Christian attitude of feudal society to man, and in particular to the work of a writer, artist, and architect. At best, we know the names of individual authors, "writers" 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. In most cases, the author of the work prefers to remain unknown, and sometimes even hide behind the authoritative name of one or another "father of the church" - John Chrysostom, Basil the Great. One of the characteristic features of ancient 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 development of literature and in its individual monuments was different. However, the wider and deeper literature used the artistic experience of folklore, the more vividly it reflected the phenomena of reality, the wider was the scope of its ideological and artistic influence. A characteristic feature of ancient Russian literature is and s t o r i z m. Her characters are mostly historical figures, it almost does not allow fiction and strictly follows the fact. Even numerous stories about "miracles" - phenomena that seem medieval man supernatural, not so much the fiction of an ancient Russian writer, as accurate records of the stories of either eyewitnesses or the persons themselves with whom the “miracle” happened. The historicism of Old 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. The theme is also connected with historicism: the beauty and greatness of Rus', historical events. The DR writer creates within the framework of an established tradition, looks at examples, and does not allow artistic fiction.
Over the course of seven centuries of development, our literature consistently reflected the main changes that took place in the life of society.
For a long time, artistic thinking was inextricably linked with religious and medieval historical form consciousness, but gradually with the development of national and class self-consciousness, it begins to free itself from church ties.
Literature has worked out clear and definite ideals of the spiritual beauty of a person who gives himself entirely to the common good, the good of the Russian land, the Russian state.
She created the ideal characters of staunch Christian ascetics, valiant and courageous rulers, “good sufferers for the Russian land.” These literary characters supplemented the folk ideal of man, which has developed in epic oral poetry.
D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak spoke very well about the close connection between these two ideals in a letter to Ya. And here and there representatives native land, behind them is that Rus', on guard of which they stood. Among the heroes, the predominant element is physical strength: they defend their homeland with a broad chest, and that is why this “heroic outpost” is so good, advanced to the battle line, in front of which historical predators roamed ... “Saints” represent the other side of Russian history, even more important as a moral stronghold and the holy of holies of the future multi-million people. These chosen ones had a premonition of the history of a great nation...”
The focus of literature was the historical fate of the motherland, issues of state building. That is why epic historical themes and genres play a leading role in it.
Deep historicism in the medieval sense determined the connection of our ancient literature with the heroic folk epic, and also determined the features of the image of a human character.
Old Russian writers gradually mastered the art of creating deep and versatile characters, the ability to correctly explain the causes of human behavior.
From a static still image of a person, our writers went to reveal the inner dynamics of feelings, to depict various psychological states of a person, to identify individual features personality.
The latter was most clearly marked in the 17th century, when personality and literature began to free themselves from the undivided power of the church and, in connection with common process“secularization of culture” is also a “secularization” of literature.
It led not only to the creation of fictional heroes, generalized and, to a certain extent, socially individualized characters.
This process led to the emergence of new types of literature - drama and lyrics, new genres - everyday, satirical, adventurous and adventure stories.
The strengthening of the role of folklore in the development of literature contributed to its democratization and closer rapprochement with life. This affected the language of literature: to replace the obsolete by the end of the 17th century the Old Slavonic literary language walked new live colloquial, a wide stream pouring into the literature of the second half of XVII V.
A characteristic feature of ancient literature is its inseparable connection with reality.
This connection gave our literature an extraordinary journalistic sharpness, an agitated lyrical emotional pathos, which made it an important means of political education of contemporaries and which gives it the enduring significance that it has in the subsequent centuries of the development of the Russian nation, Russian culture.
Kuskov V.V. History of ancient Russian literature. - M., 1998
In this article we will consider the features of Old Russian literature. The literature of ancient Rus' was primarily church. After all book culture appeared in Rus' with the adoption of Christianity. Monasteries become centers of writing, and the first literary monuments These are mainly works of a religious nature. So, one of the first original (that is, not translated, but written by a Russian author) works was Metropolitan Hilarion's Sermon on Law and Grace. The author proves the superiority of Grace (the image of Jesus Christ is associated with it) over the Law, which, according to the preacher, is conservative and nationally limited.
Literature was not created for entertainment, but for teaching. Considering the features of ancient Russian literature, it should be noted its instructiveness. She teaches to love God and her Russian land; she creates images of ideal people: saints, princes, faithful wives.
We note one seemingly insignificant feature of ancient Russian literature: it was handwritten. Books were created in a single copy and only then copied by hand when it was necessary to make a copy or the original text became unusable from time to time. This gave the book special value, gave rise to a respectful attitude towards her. In addition, for the Old Russian reader, all books originated from the main one - Holy Scripture.
Since the literature of Ancient Rus' was basically religious, the book was seen as a storehouse of wisdom, a textbook of a righteous life. Old Russian literature is not fiction, in modern meaning this word. She in every possible way avoids fiction and strictly follows the facts. The author does not show his individuality, hiding behind the narrative form. He does not strive for originality, for the Old Russian writer it is more important to stay within the framework of tradition, not to break it. Therefore, all lives are similar to one another, all biographies of princes or military stories are compiled according to general plan, in compliance with the "rules". When The Tale of Bygone Years tells us about the death of Oleg from his horse, this beautiful poetic legend sounds like historical document, the author really believes that everything was so.
The hero of ancient Russian literature does not possess neither personality nor character in our current view. The fate of man is in the hands of God. And at the same time, his soul is the arena of the struggle between good and evil. The first will win only when a person lives according to moral rules given once and for all.
Of course, in Russian medieval works we will not find either individual characters or psychologism - not because the ancient Russian writers were not able to do this. In the same way, icon painters created planar, and not volumetric images not because they could not write “better”, but because they faced other artistic tasks: the face of Christ cannot be similar to an ordinary human face. An icon is a sign of holiness, not an image of a saint.
The literature of Ancient Rus' adheres to the same aesthetic principles: it creates faces, not faces, gives the reader pattern of correct behavior rather than depicting a person's character. Vladimir Monomakh behaves like a prince, Sergius of Radonezh behaves like a saint. Idealization is one of the key principles of ancient Russian art.
Old Russian literature in every possible way avoids being grounded: it does not describe, but narrates. Moreover, the author does not narrate on his own behalf, he only conveys what is written in the sacred books, what he read, heard or saw. There can be nothing personal in this narrative: neither a manifestation of feelings, nor an individual manner. (“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” in this sense is one of the few exceptions.) Therefore, many works of the Russian Middle Ages anonymous, the authors do not assume such immodesty - to put their name. And the ancient reader cannot even imagine that the word is not from God. And if God speaks through the mouth of the author, then why does he need a name, a biography? Therefore, the information available to us about ancient authors is so scarce.
At the same time, in ancient Russian literature, a special, national ideal of beauty, captured by ancient scribes. First of all, it is spiritual beauty, the beauty of the Christian soul. In Russian medieval literature, in contrast to Western European literature of the same era, the knightly ideal of beauty is much less represented - the beauty of weapons, armor, victorious battle. The Russian knight (prince) wages war for the sake of peace, and not for the sake of glory. War for the sake of glory, profit is condemned, and this is clearly seen in the Tale of Igor's Campaign. The world is valued as an unconditional good. The ancient Russian ideal of beauty presupposes a wide expanse, an immense, “decorated” land, and temples decorate it, because they were created specifically for the exaltation of the spirit, and not for practical purposes.
The attitude of ancient Russian literature is also connected with the theme of beauty. to oral-poetic creativity, folklore. On the one hand, folklore was of pagan origin, so it did not fit into the framework of the new, Christian worldview. On the other hand, he could not but penetrate into literature. After all written language in Rus' from the very beginning there was the Russian language, and not Latin, as in Western Europe, and there was no impenetrable border between the book and the spoken word. folk performances about beauty and goodness also generally coincided with Christian ones, Christianity penetrated into folklore almost without hindrance. Therefore, the heroic epic (epics), which began to take shape back in the pagan era, presents its heroes both as patriotic warriors and as defenders of the Christian faith, surrounded by "filthy" pagans. Just as easily, sometimes almost unconsciously, ancient Russian writers use folklore images and stories.
The religious literature of Rus' quickly outgrew the narrow church framework and became a truly spiritual literature that created a whole system of genres. Thus, the “Sermon on Law and Grace” belongs to the genre of a solemn sermon delivered in the church, but Hilarion not only proves the Grace of Christianity, but also glorifies the Russian land, combining religious pathos with patriotic.
Genre of life
The most important for ancient Russian literature was the genre of life, the biography of the saint. At the same time, the task was pursued, by telling about the earthly life of a saint canonized by the church, to create an image perfect person for the benefit of all people.
IN " Lives of the Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb" Prince Gleb appeals to his killers with a request to spare him: "Do not cut the ear, which is not yet ripe, filled with milk of malice! Do not cut the vine, which is not fully grown, but bears fruit!" Abandoned by his retinue, Boris in his tent “weeps with a contrite heart, but is joyful in his soul”: he is afraid of death and at the same time he realizes that he is repeating the fate of many saints who were martyred for their faith.
IN " Lives of Sergius of Radonezh"It is said that the future saint in adolescence had difficulty comprehending reading and writing, lagged behind his peers in teaching, which caused him a lot of suffering; when Sergius retired to the desert, a bear began to visit him, with whom the hermit shared his meager food, it happened that the saint gave the beast the last piece of bread.
In the traditions of life in the XVI century was created " The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom”, but it already sharply diverged from the canons (norms, requirements) of the genre and therefore was not included in the collection of lives “Great Menaion” along with other biographies. Peter and Fevronia are real historical figures who reigned in Murom in the 13th century, Russian saints. Author XVI century it turned out not to be a life, but an entertaining story built on fairy-tale motifs, glorifying the love and loyalty of the heroes, and not just their Christian exploits.
A " Life of Archpriest Avvakum”, written by himself in the 17th century, turned into a bright autobiographical work filled with authentic events and real people, living details, feelings and experiences of the hero-narrator, behind which stands the bright character of one of the spiritual leaders of the Old Believers.
Genre of teaching
Since religious literature was called upon to educate true christian, one of the genres was teaching. Although this is a church genre, close to preaching, it was also used in secular (secular) literature, since the then people's ideas about a correct, righteous life did not differ from church ones. you know" Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh", written by him around 1117 "sitting on a sleigh" (shortly before his death) and addressed to children.
Before us appears the ideal old Russian prince. He cares about the welfare of the state and each of his subjects, guided by Christian morality. Another concern of the prince is about the church. All earthly life should be considered as a work for the salvation of the soul. This is the work of mercy and kindness, and military work, and mental. diligence - main virtue in the life of Monomakh. He made eighty-three big campaigns, signed twenty peace treaties, studied five languages, did what his servants and vigilantes did.
Annals
A significant, if not the largest, part of ancient Russian literature is the works of historical genres that were included in the annals. The first Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years"created in early XII century. Its significance is extremely great: it was proof of Rus''s right to state independence and independence. But if the chroniclers could record the recent events "according to the epics of this time", reliably, then the events of pre-Christian history had to be restored from oral sources: traditions, legends, sayings, geographical names. Therefore, the compilers of the chronicle turn to folklore. Such are the legends about the death of Oleg, about Olga's revenge on the Drevlyans, about Belgorod jelly, etc.
Already in The Tale of Bygone Years, two key features Old Russian literature: patriotism and connection with folklore. Literary-Christian and folklore-linguistic traditions are closely intertwined in the Tale of Igor's Campaign.
Elements of fiction and satire
Of course, ancient Russian literature has not been unchanged throughout all seven centuries. We saw that over time it became more secular, elements of fiction intensified, more and more often satirical motifs penetrated into literature, especially in the 16th-17th centuries. These are, for example, " The Tale of Woe-Misfortune"showing to what troubles disobedience can bring a person, the desire to "live as he pleases", and not as the elders teach, and " The Tale of Ersh Ershovich", ridiculing the so-called "voivodship court" in the traditions of a folk tale.
But in general, one can talk about the literature of Ancient Rus' as a single phenomenon, with its own cross-cutting ideas and motives that have passed through 700 years, with its common aesthetic principles, with a stable system of genres.
Any national literature has its distinctive (specific) features.
Old Russian literature (DRL) is doubly specific, because in addition to national traits bears the features of the Middle Ages (XI - XVII centuries), which had a decisive influence on the worldview and psychology of the man of Ancient Rus'.
Two blocks can be distinguished specific features.
The first block can be called general cultural, the second is most closely connected with the inner world of the personality of a person of the Russian Middle Ages.
Let's talk about the first block very briefly. First, ancient Russian literature was handwritten. In the first centuries of Russian literary process The writing material was parchment (or parchment). It was made from the skin of calves or lambs, and therefore it was called "veal" in Rus'. Parchment was an expensive material, it was used extremely carefully and the most important things were written on it. Later, instead of parchment, paper appeared, which partly contributed, in the words of D. Likhachev, to “the breakthrough of literature to mass character”.
In Rus', three main types of writing successively replaced each other. The first (XI - XIV centuries) was called a charter, the second (XV - XVI centuries) - semi-charter, the third (XVII century) - cursive.
Since the writing material was expensive, the book's customers (large monasteries, princes, boyars) wanted the most interesting works to be collected under one cover. various subjects and the time of their creation.
Works of ancient Russian literature are usually called monuments.
Monuments in Ancient Rus' functioned in the form of collections.
Particular attention should be paid to the second block of specific features of the DRL.
1. The functioning of monuments in the form of collections is explained not only at a great cost books. Old Russian man in his desire to acquire knowledge about the world around him, he strove for a kind of encyclopedia. Therefore, in the Old Russian collections there are often monuments of various subjects and problems.
2. In the first centuries of the development of the DRL, fiction had not yet emerged as an independent field of creativity and public consciousness. Therefore, one and the same monument was at the same time a monument of literature, and a monument of historical thought, and a monument of philosophy, which in Ancient Rus' existed in the form of theology. It is interesting to know that, for example, Russian chronicles until the beginning of the 20th century were considered exclusively as historical literature. Only thanks to the efforts of Academician V. Adrianov-Peretz did the annals become an object of literary criticism.
At the same time, the special philosophical saturation of ancient Russian literature in the subsequent centuries of Russian literary development will not only be preserved, but will actively develop and become one of the defining national features of Russian literature as such. This will allow Academician A. Losev to state with all certainty: “Fiction is a storehouse of original Russian philosophy. In the prose writings of Zhukovsky and Gogol, in the works of Tyutchev, Fet, Leo Tolstoy, Dostoevsky<...>often developed basic philosophical problems, of course, in their specifically Russian, extremely practical, life-oriented form. And these problems are resolved here in such a way that an open-minded and knowledgeable judge will call these solutions not just "literary" or "artistic", but philosophical and ingenious.
3. Old Russian literature was anonymous (impersonal) in nature, which is inextricably linked with another feature- collective creativity. The authors of Ancient Rus' (often called scribes) did not seek to leave their name for centuries, firstly, due to Christian tradition(scribe monks often call themselves "unreasonable", "sinful" monks who dared to become creators of the artistic word); secondly, due to the understanding of their work as part of an all-Russian, collective cause.
At first glance, this feature seems to indicate a poorly developed personal beginning in the Old Russian author in comparison with the Western European masters of the artistic word. Even the name of the author of the brilliant Tale of Igor's Campaign is still unknown, while Western European medieval literature can "boast" of hundreds of great names. However, there can be no question of the "backwardness" of ancient Russian literature or its "impersonality". It can be about her special national capacity. Once D. Likhachev very accurately compared Western European literature with a group of soloists, and Old Russian literature with a choir. Is choral singing less beautiful than the performances of individual soloists? Does it lack manifestation? human personality?
4. The main character of ancient Russian literature is the Russian land. We agree with D. Likhachev, who emphasized that the literature of the pre-Mongolian period is the literature of one theme - the theme of the Russian land. This does not mean at all that the ancient Russian authors "refuse" to depict the experiences of an individual human personality, "fixate" on the Russian land, depriving themselves of their individuality and sharply limiting the "universal" significance of DRL.
Firstly, ancient Russian authors always, even in the most tragic moments of Russian history, for example, in the first decades of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, sought through the richest Byzantine literature to join the highest achievements of the culture of other peoples and civilizations. So, in the XIII century they are translated into Old Russian language medieval encyclopedias "Melissa" ("Bee") and "Physiologist".
Secondly, and most importantly, it must be borne in mind that the personality of a Russian person and the personality of a Western European is formed on different worldview foundations: a Western European personality is individualistic, it is affirmed due to its special significance, exclusivity. This is connected with the special course of Western European history, with the development of the Western Christian Church (Catholicism). A Russian person, by virtue of his Orthodoxy (belonging to Eastern Christianity - Orthodoxy), denies the individualistic (egoistic) principle as destructive both for the person himself and for his environment. Russian classic literature- from the nameless scribes of Ancient Rus' to Pushkin and Gogol, A. Ostrovsky and Dostoevsky, V. Rasputin and V. Belov - depicts the tragedy of an individualistic personality and establishes his heroes on the path to overcoming the evil of individualism.
5. Old Russian literature did not know fiction. This refers to a conscious mindset. The author and the reader absolutely believe in the truth of the artistic word, even if it is fiction from the point of view of a secular person.
The conscious attitude to fiction will come later. This will happen at the end of the 15th century, during the period of intensification of the political struggle for leadership in the process of unification of the original Russian lands. The rulers will also appeal to the absolute authority of the written word. This is how the genre of political legend arose. In Moscow there will appear: the eschatological theory "Moscow - the Third Rome", which naturally took on a topical political coloring, as well as "The Legend of the Princes of Vladimir". In Veliky Novgorod - "The Legend of the Novgorod White Klobuk".
6. In the first centuries, DRL tried not to depict everyday life for the following reasons. The first (religious) way of life is sinful, its image prevents an earthly person from directing his aspirations to the salvation of the soul. Second (psychological): life seemed unchanged. Both the grandfather, and the father, and the son wore the same clothes, weapons did not change, etc.
Over time, under the influence of the process of secularization, everyday life more and more penetrates the pages of Russian books. This will lead to the emergence in the 16th century of the genre of everyday story (“The Tale of Ulyaniya Osorgina”), and in the 17th century the genre of everyday story will become the most popular.
7. DRL is characterized by special treatment to history. The past is not only not separated from the present, but is actively present in it, and also determines the fate of the future. An example of this is "The Tale of Bygone Years", "The Story of the Crime of the Ryazan Princes", "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", etc.
8. Old Russian literature wore instructive character. This means that the ancient Russian scribes sought, first of all, to enlighten the souls of their readers with the light of Christianity. In DRL, unlike Western medieval literature, there was never a desire to lure the reader with a wonderful fiction, to lead away from life difficulties. Adventurous translated stories will gradually penetrate into Russia from the beginning of the 17th century, when Western European influence on Russian life will become obvious.
So, we see that some specific features of DID will be gradually lost over time. However, those characteristics of Russian national literature that determine the core of its ideological orientation, remain unchanged up to the present.
The problem of the authorship of literary monuments of Ancient Rus' is directly related to the national specifics of the first centuries of the development of the Russian literary process. “The author's beginning,” noted D.S. Likhachev, “was muted in ancient literature. <…>The absence of great names in ancient Russian literature seems like a death sentence.<…>We biasedly proceed from our ideas about the development of literature - ideas brought up<…>for centuries when it blossomed individual, personal art is the art of individual geniuses.<…>The literature of Ancient Rus' was not the literature of individual writers: it, like folk art, was a supra-individual art. It was an art that was created through the accumulation of collective experience and made a huge impression with the wisdom of traditions and the unity of everything - mostly unnamed- writing.<…>Old Russian writers are not architects of separate buildings. These are city planners.<…>Any literature creates its own world, embodying the world of ideas of contemporary society. Hence, anonymous (impersonal) the nature of the creativity of ancient Russian authors is a manifestation national identity Russian literature and in this regard namelessness"Words about Igor's Campaign" is not a problem.
Representatives of the skeptical literary school (the first half of the 19th century) proceeded from the fact that the "backward" Ancient Rus' could not "give birth" to a monument of such a level of artistic perfection as "The Tale of Igor's Campaign".
Philologist-orientalist O.I. Senkovsky, for example, was sure that the creator of the Lay was imitating the samples of Polish poetry of the 16th-17th centuries, that the work itself could not be older than the time of Peter I, that the author of the Lay was a Galician who moved to Russia or was educated in Kiev. The creators of the "Word" were also called A.I. Musin-Pushkin (the owner of the collection with the text "Words"), and Ioliy Bykovsky (the one from whom the collection was purchased), and N.M. Karamzin as the most gifted Russian writer late XVIII century.
Thus, the "Word" represented literary hoax in the spirit of J. MacPherson, who allegedly discovered in mid-eighteenth century writings legendary warrior and the Celtic singer Ossian, who lived according to legend in the 3rd century AD. in Ireland.
The traditions of the skeptical school in the 20th century were continued by the French Slavist A. Mazon, who initially believed that the “Word” was supposedly created by A.I. Musin-Pushkin to justify the aggressive policy of Catherine II in the Black Sea: "We have a case here when history and literature deliver their evidence at the right time." In many ways, the Soviet historian A. Zimin was in solidarity with A. Mazon, who called Ioliy Bykovsky the creator of the Lay.
The arguments of the supporters of the authenticity of the Lay were very convincing. A.S. Pushkin: the authenticity of the monument is proved by “the spirit of antiquity, under which it is impossible to fake. Which of our writers in the 18th century could have had enough talent for that? VK Küchelbecker: “In terms of talent, this deceiver would have surpassed almost all the then Russian poets, taken together.”
“Surprises of skepticism,” V.A. rightly emphasized. Chivilikhin - were to some extent even useful - they revived the scientific and public interest in the Lay, encouraged scientists to look more sharply into the depths of time, gave rise to research done with scientific thoroughness, academic objectivity and thoroughness.
After disputes related to the time of creation of the Lay and Zadonshchina, the vast majority of researchers, even, ultimately, A. Mazon, came to the conclusion that the Lay is a monument of the 12th century. Now the search for the author of the Lay focused on the circle of contemporaries of the tragic campaign of Prince Igor Svyatoslavich, which took place in the spring of 1185.
V.A. Chivilikhin in the novel-essay "Memory" gives the most complete list of alleged authors of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and indicates the names of the researchers who put forward these assumptions: "they called a certain "Greek" (N. Aksakov), the Galician "wise scribe" Timofey (N. Golovin), " folk singer"(D. Likhachev), Timofey Raguilovich (writer I. Novikov), "Verbal singer Mitus" (writer A. Yugov), "thousand Raguil Dobrynich" (V. Fedorov), some unknown court singer, approximate Grand Duchess Kiev Maria Vasilkovna (A. Soloviev), "singer Igor" (A. Petrushevich), "merciful" Grand Duke Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich chronicle Kochkar (American researcher S. Tarasov), unknown "wandering book singer" (I. Malyshevsky), Belovolod Prosovich (anonymous Munich translator of the Lay), Chernihiv governor Olstin Aleksich (M. Sokol), Kiev boyar Pyotr Borislavich (B. Rybakov), the probable heir of the family singer Boyan (A. Robinson), the nameless grandson of Boyan (M. Shchepkin), in relation to a significant part of the text - Boyan himself (A. Nikitin ), mentor, adviser to Igor (P. Okhrimenko), unknown Polovtsian storyteller (O. Suleimenov)<…>».
V.A. himself Chivilikhin is sure that Prince Igor was the creator of the word. At the same time, the researcher refers to an old and, in his opinion, undeservedly forgotten report by the famous zoologist and at the same time a specialist in the Lay N.V. Charlemagne (1952). One of the main arguments of V. Chivilikhin is the following: “it was not for the singer and not for the combatant to judge the princes of his time, to indicate what they should do; this is the prerogative of a person who stands on the same social level with those to whom he addressed"
