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 complemented the folk ideal of man, which had 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 Russia, 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's why epic historical themes and genres play a leading role in it.
Deep historicism in the medieval sense determined the connection between our ancient literature with 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 the disclosure of the inner dynamics of feelings, to the image of various psychological states of a person, to the identification of individual personality traits.
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 already by late XVII centuries old Slavic literary language was a new living colloquial, a wide stream pouring into the literature of the second half of XVII in.
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. Story ancient Russian literature. - M., 1998
The originality of ancient Russian literature:
Works of ancient Russian literature existed and were distributed in manuscripts. 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. Another feature of medieval literature is the absence of copyright. We know of only a few individual authors, writers of books, 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 come down to us, but their later lists have been preserved. Often scribes acted as editors and co-authors. At the same time, they changed ideological orientation of the rewritten work, the nature of its style, reduced 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 Old Russian literature must study all available lists of a particular work, establish the time and place of their writing by comparing different editions, variants of lists, and also determine in which edition the list most closely matches the original author's text. Such sciences as textology and paleography can come to the rescue (studies external signs handwritten monuments - handwriting, lettering, the nature of the writing material).
Feature ancient Russian literature - historicism. 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 supernatural to a medieval person, are not so much the fiction of an ancient Russian writer, but accurate records of the stories of either eyewitnesses or the persons themselves with whom the "miracle" happened. Old Russian literature, inextricably linked with the history of the development of the Russian state, the Russian people, is imbued with heroic and patriotic pathos. Another feature is anonymity.
Literature glorifies the moral beauty of the Russian man, who is capable of giving up the most precious thing for the sake of the common good - life. It expresses a deep faith in the power and ultimate triumph of good, in the ability of a person 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 a historical story or a legend, a life story or a church sermon, as a rule, includes significant elements of journalism. Concerning mainly state-political or moral issues, the writer believes in the power of the word, in the power of conviction. He appeals not only to his contemporaries, but also to distant descendants with an appeal to take care that the glorious deeds of their ancestors are preserved in the memory of generations and that the descendants do not repeat the sad mistakes of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.
The literature of Ancient Russia expressed and defended the interests of the upper classes of feudal society. However, it could not fail to show an acute class struggle, which resulted either in the form of open spontaneous uprisings, or in the forms of typical medieval religious heresies. Literature clearly reflected the struggle between progressive and reactionary groupings within the ruling class, each of which was looking for support among the people. And since the progressive forces of feudal society reflected the interests of the whole state, and these interests coincided with the interests of the people, we can talk about the folk character of ancient Russian literature.
In the 11th - the 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, words in a line were not separated, and only paragraphs of the manuscript were highlighted with a red capital letter. Often used well-known words were written in abbreviated form, under a special superscript - title. The parchment was pre-lined. The handwriting with the correct almost square lettering was called the charter.
The written sheets were sewn into notebooks, which were bound into wooden boards.
Artistic Method Problem:
The artistic method of ancient Russian literature is inextricably linked with the nature of the worldview, worldview medieval man, which absorbed religious speculative ideas about the world and a specific vision of reality associated with labor practice. In the mind of medieval man, the world existed in two dimensions: real, earthly and heavenly, spiritual. The Christian religion insisted that human life on earth is temporary. The purpose of earthly life is preparation for eternal, imperishable life. These preparations should consist in the moral perfection of the soul, the curbing of sinful passions, and so on.
Two aspects of the artistic method of ancient Russian literature are connected with the dual nature of the worldview of medieval man:
1) reproduction of individual facts in all their concreteness, a purely empirical statement;
2) the consistent transformation of life, that is, the idealization of the facts of real life, the image of not what is, but what should be.
The historicism of Old Russian literature in its medieval understanding is connected with the first side of the artistic method, and its symbolism is associated with the second.
The ancient Russian writer was convinced that symbols are hidden in nature, in man himself. He believed that historical events were also fulfilled symbolic meaning, because he believed that history moves and is directed by the will of the deity. The writer considered symbols as the main means of revealing the truth, discovering inner meaning phenomena. As the phenomena of the surrounding world are ambiguous, so is the word. Hence the symbolic nature of metaphors, comparisons in ancient Russian literature.
The Old Russian writer, in an effort to convey the image of truth, strictly follows the fact, which he himself witnessed or which he learned about from the words of an eyewitness, a participant in the event. He does not doubt the truth of miracles, supernatural phenomena, believes in their reality.
As a rule, the heroes of the works of ancient Russian literature are historical figures. Only in some cases, the heroes are representatives of the people.
Medieval literature is still alien to any individualization of human character. Old Russian writers create generalized typological images of an ideal ruler, a warrior, on the one hand, and an ideal ascetic, on the other. These images are sharply opposed to the generalized typological image of an evil ruler and the collective image of the demon-devil personifying evil.
In the view of the ancient Russian writer, life is a constant arena of the struggle between good and evil.
The source of goodness, good thoughts and deeds is God. The devil and demons are pushing people to evil. However, the Old Russian literature does not remove responsibility from the person himself. Everyone is free to choose their own path.
In the understanding of the ancient Russian writer, the categories of ethical and aesthetic merged. Good is always great. Evil is associated with darkness.
The writer builds his works on the contrast between good and evil. He leads the reader to the idea that high moral qualities man is the result of hard moral labor.
The behavior and actions of the heroes are determined by their social status, their belonging to the princely, boyar, squad, church estates.
Strict observance of the rhythm established by the ancestors of the order is the vital basis of etiquette, ceremoniality of ancient Russian literature. So the chronicler, first of all, sought to put the numbers in a row, that is, to arrange the material he selected in chronological order.
The works of ancient Russian literature were didactic, moralizing in nature. They were designed to help get rid of vices.
So, medieval historicism, symbolism, ritualism and didacticism are the leading principles artistic image in works of ancient Russian literature. In various works, depending on the genre and time of their creation, these features manifested themselves in different ways.
The historical development of ancient Russian literature proceeded through the gradual destruction of the integrity of its method, liberation from Christian symbolism, ritualism and didacticism.
The literature of Ancient Russia 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.
The significance of Old Russian literature as the basis for the development of new Russian literature is very great. So the 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. The first literary works that appeared in Russia were translated. Those books that were necessary for worship were translated.
The very first original works, that is, written by the Eastern Slavs themselves, belong to the end of the 11th-beginning of the 12th century. in. There was a formation of Russian national literature, its traditions were formed, features that determine its 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 ancient Russian literature.
2. 1. Historicism of content.
Events and characters in literature, as a rule, are the fruit of the author's fiction. Authors of fiction, even if they describe true events real faces, conjecture a lot. But in ancient Russia, 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 Russia 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 Russia 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. 2. Manuscript nature of existence.
Another feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of existence. Even the appearance of the printing press in Russia did little to change the situation until mid-eighteenth in. 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 instability Old Russian works 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 "edition", i.e. purposeful processing of the monument, caused by social and 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 specific trait Old Russian literature as a 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 discover their involvement in literary composition. 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” deliberately 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.
2. 4. Literary etiquette.
A well-known literary critic, researcher of ancient Russian literature, academician D.S. Likhachev proposed a special term for designating 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.
III. 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.
3. 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 Russia 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 Russia were clothed.
The compositional and verbal forms of life have been polished for centuries. High theme - 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.
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: 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. A military story could also be called a "Word".) 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, domestic 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 Luka 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 Pechorsky - founder Kievo-Pechersky 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. 3. Chronicle.
Chronicles were called weather records (according to "years" - according to "years"). The annual entry 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. This great work became a chronicle. After some time, this code was continued by other chroniclers.
Apparently, the first major monument of ancient Russian chronicle writing was the 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. AT 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 Initial Code. Among these materials were Byzantine chronicles, texts of treaties between Russia 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 Russia, 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 Russia. The story about the first Russian Christians, about the baptism of Russia, 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.
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 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.
In this article we will consider the features of Old Russian literature. The literature of ancient Russia was primarily church. After all book culture appeared in Russia 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 a special value, gave rise to a respectful attitude towards it. In addition, for the Old Russian reader, all books originated from the main one - Holy Scripture.
Since the literature of Ancient Russia 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 the lives are similar to one another, all the biographies of princes or military stories are compiled according to a 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, rather than three-dimensional 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 Russia adheres to the same aesthetic principles: it creates faces, not faces, gives the reader pattern of correct behavior rather than portraying the character of a person. 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, and therefore 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 Russia from the very beginning there was Russian, and not Latin, as in Western Europe, and there was no impassable boundary between the book and the spoken word. Folk ideas 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 plots.
The religious literature of Russia 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 the image of an ideal person for the edification of all people.
AT " 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.
AT " 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. The author of the 16th century did not get 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.
BUT " 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 large 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"was created at the beginning of the 12th century. Its significance is extremely great: it was proof of Russia's right to state independence, independence. But if the recent events could be recorded by the chroniclers "according to the epics of this time", reliably, then the events of pre-Christian history had to be restored according to oral sources: 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 most important features of Old Russian literature appeared: 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 Russia as a single phenomenon, with its own cross-cutting ideas and motives that have passed through 700 years, with its common aesthetic principles, With sustainable system genres.
Old Russian literature, like any medieval literature, has a number of features that distinguish it from modern literature. characteristic feature The literature of the medieval type is a broad interpretation of the concept of "literature" as a written word with the obligatory inclusion of functional genres in it, usually performing religious, ritual or business functions. Attention should be paid to the fact that in the Middle Ages the basis genre system constitute precisely functional genres, which have special non-literary functions. On the contrary, genres with reduced functionality are on the periphery of this system. In the transitional period from the Middle Ages to the culture of modern times, a reverse process occurs: genres with weakened functionality move to the center of the system, while functional genres are pushed to the periphery.
In this way, DRL is a complex conglomeration of artistic and business memorabilia (1). This feature was due to its close connection with history, christian religion and writing in general.
The handwritten nature of the existence of the works of the DRL (2) fundamentally distinguishes it from modern literature. The work, as a rule, existed not in one, but in several lists. The scribe sometimes simply copied the manuscript, creating a new one. list, but often changed its ideological orientation in accordance with the requirements of the time, shortened or expanded the text, changed the style of the monument. In this case, we are talking about a new editions works. The author's list of text is called autographed. In the process of processing the work, its editions. Since the composition in the DRL existed for several centuries and in different regions, then there could be several editions. The list that turns out to be the basis for revisions is called protographer. They may not always be the author's version. Researchers of the movement and development of texts in DRL - textologists and paleographers– they consider the types of handwriting of scribes-scribes, the features of spelling, grammar, identify individual language differences and, on the basis of this, draw up a hypothetical scheme for the development and distribution of editions of the monument. Textology and paleography are auxiliary disciplines that help in the study of handwritten texts. Textology deals with the study of the text itself, and paleography examines the material on which and with the help of which a handwritten monument was created.
Anonymity (3) most of the works of DRL - her other distinguishing feature, associated with the Christian concept of human personality, according to which pride was considered one of the greatest sins, and humility - the height of virtue. Because of this individual characteristics The personalities of the writer in medieval literature did not receive such a vivid manifestation as in the literature of modern times. However, anonymity should not be confused with impersonality. It has long been proven that the individual authorial principle existed in DRL, but the forms of its expression were different than in the literature familiar to us. Attitude to copyright in DRL it was completely different. Anonymity allowed the authors to use parts of "foreign" texts to compose their own. Exceptions were made only for authoritative works - texts of Holy Scripture and Tradition, writings of the Church Fathers, state documents. References were necessarily made to the names of their creators. However, authoritative church texts were recognizable due to their wide popularity.
Medieval historicism (4). DRL began as literature devoid of fiction. The scribe strictly followed the fact, connected his work with a specific historical event or person. Even when we are talking about supernatural phenomena, about persons and events that, from our point of view, did not exist or were impossible in reality, all the same, both the compiler of the work and the reader in Ancient Russia perceived everything written as real. And this attitude to the written text remained very long time. Perhaps only in the XVII century, this tradition was destroyed.
The principle of historicism is associated with providentialism (5), that is, the idea of predestination. So, any hero of hagiographic literature, even in childhood, shows a penchant for a holy life. If he begins his life sinfully, then his belief, the change in quality spiritual state inevitable, preordained from above. The suffering of the Russian people “for our sins” is also predetermined in the stories about the Tatar-Mongol invasion.
The peculiarities of the worldview of a medieval person are due to the authoritarian thinking of the ancient Russian scribe and authoritarianism (6) as a feature of the artistic method of DRL. A reference to historical, literary or political authority is very important for an ancient Russian person (this has already been mentioned above). Often, new compositions were signed with the names of the church fathers, hierarchs of past years, only to give them greater weight. The reader, who first gets acquainted with the monuments of the DRL, pays attention to the abundance of direct quotations and indirect references to the texts of the New and Old Testament, numerous references to the works of authoritative church writers. In these quotations, the author, as it were, consolidated his moral, didactic, political and aesthetic assessment of a fact, event, person, affirmed its universal significance and universal recognition.
Closely related to authoritarian thinking principle of retrospective historical analogy (7) , which is the most important author's assessment any historical event. Here is what V.V. writes about this. Kuskov: “A retrospective historical analogy allows one to reveal more deeply the meaning of one or another historical event, to assess the behavior of its participants, to glorify them or condemn them, to establish a peculiar typological commonality events of Ancient Russia with the events of world history and thereby point to their certain regularity. Using the material of the Kulikovo cycle monuments, the researcher shows how a continuous chain of victories won by the Russian princes Yaroslav the Wise, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy is established. “Traditional reception,” continues V.V. Kuskov, - a retrospective historical analogy with biblical characters in the "Tale of the Battle of Mame" emphasizes the significance of the victory won on the Kulikovo field. It is equated with the victory of Gideon over Midian, Moses over Amalek and Pharaoh, David over Goliath. The troops of the Moscow prince are like the army of Alexander the Great, the courage of the Russian soldiers is like Gideon's allies. And the heavenly powers help Dmitry just as they once helped Tsar Constantine in his fight against the wicked. The regiments of Dmitry Volynets are like the youths of Davidov, “whoever has hearts, like lions, like lyuti vljtsi on the flock of sheep.” In his prayers, Dmitry asks God to help him in the same way as Ezekiah - to tame the heart of the ferocious beast Mamai.
Authority dominated in the field of artistic form. DRL can be called exemplary literature, sustainable etiquette literature. Traditional (8) covers not only the content of works, but also their form: the principles of depicting a person, plot, composition, language. The traditionalism of medieval literature should not be taken as the result of the "childish spontaneity", inability or "incompetence" of the scribe. This is a phenomenon of the era, an urgent need of the time, a fact moral consciousness a person without whom he could not explain the world and navigate in it.
The authoritarianism of the DRL reflects the class-corporate principle of the existence of an ancient Russian person. A clear awareness of the impossibility of breaking the class-corporate principle leaves an imprint on literature. If you are a prince, then you must be one and behave in accordance with the idea of \u200b\u200bworthy princely behavior. “Just as a cauldron cannot escape blackness and burning, so a serf cannot escape servility” (“Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik). Human behavior in medieval society is determined by rank. Likhachev called this feature of life etiquette. But it is more accurate to use the terms chivalry and orderliness. Even the clothing of a medieval person is a sign of rank. Order is order. Disorder, disorder, disorder. A person must take his place in the general row. Order, rows become indicators of the structure of the world. In the work of the 17th century "The constable of the falconer's way", created not without the participation of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the creed of human behavior and order is clearly formulated. Old Russian "chin" as literary concept corresponds to some extent to the modern concept of “rhythm”, for it is precisely the measured adherence to order, ceremoniality that creates the vital basis for the ceremoniality of Russian literature.
Traditional becomes a type medieval creativity, the most important factor intellectual exploration of reality. It rests on a deep conviction that there is only one correct worldview in the world - the Christian ideology. Traditionalism of ideological and artistic thinking, reflecting medieval performances about the new as heretical, did not allow a different approach to assessing the phenomenon, regarding any other point of view as coming from the devil.
The Old Russian writer creates within a certain tradition. true value Medieval art is seen by him in strict adherence to the model. The highest standard and highest truth is, of course, the authority of Holy Scripture.
D.S. Likhachev introduced the concept literary etiquette (9) , by which we mean the system of canonical literary devices- compositional, system of images, language, stylistic clichés, etc., necessary to create works of certain genres, images of certain characters.
An essential feature of DRL is its direct and more stable connection with ideology (10) . A.N. Robinson explains this by the fact that in the Middle Ages “artistic literary creativity did not develop independently (as special form ideology), but, as it were, “inside” or as part of variously practically purposeful genres of writing (for example, in chronicles, and in a solemn sermon, and in hagiography, etc.) ... Such combined and practically purposeful functions of literature delayed allocation proper artistic creativity from writing and caused a more direct (than in the literature of modern times) dependence of aesthetics on ideology as a whole. It also follows from this didacticism DRL. The author always put before his work practical and didactic goals, because medieval literature is utilitarian, it is created for the benefit of the soul. Even history is always an edifying lesson.
The process of creating a literary work in Ancient Russia was closely connected with the process of cognition, which in turn was due to the peculiarities of the worldview of a medieval person. The worldview of the ancient Russian scribe is characterized by binary, contrasting the real with the unreal, the temporal with the eternal. These features of the vision of the world affected the theory of knowledge: surrounding reality, ordinary things the scribe comprehends with “bodily eyes”. The secrets of the ideal world are revealed to a person through spiritual insight, divine revelation, therefore knowledge of the heavenly is possible only with “spiritual eyes”.
From the point of view of a medieval person, divine forces could manifest themselves in life either directly or indirectly, with the help of various hints. Perceiving reality as a symbol of the ideal world, a person perceived any phenomenon, any object real world as a sign expressing the sacred essence of this phenomenon or object. On the basis of such a vision of the world is actively developing symbolism (11) is one of the most characteristic features medieval literatures. The emergence of symbolism in the DRL should not be associated exclusively with the dominance of Christian ideology. It is inherent in art and pre-Christian eras. So, A.N. Veselovsky distinguished between pagan symbolism and Christian symbolism. In his opinion, in paganism "the symbol came out of life", while in Christianity "life begins to be determined by the mental material introduced into it."
Medieval literature and art is built on symbols. Dionysius the Areopagite states: "Things that are revealed are images of invisible things." Every thing is a symbol of the invisible. In medieval consciousness, the world doubles. The real world below is a symbol and prototype of the ideal, heavenly world. Only those who have gained perfection through inner contemplation can penetrate into the heavenly world, then the inner gazes open and prophets are born. Note that literature does not forget anything. Based on the principle of doubling the world in romantic aesthetics, images of prophetic poets appear.
Events are also doubled. They have analogues in the past, primarily in biblical and gospel history, which is conceived as a reality. AT historical event important to find hidden meaning. God is a smart and wise mentor who tries to educate humanity with his batog. Please note that symbolism, as well as DRL historicism, turns out to be associated with the idea of predestination, providentialism. Symbolic items. The sword is a symbol of power and justice, the shield is protection, defense. The church is a symbol of heaven, the earthly sky, the ark of salvation (just as God saved Noah in the ark, so the temple saves a person). Gold symbolizes eternity and Christ. The cross is salvation, the torment of the cross. It should be noted that the symbolism of the DRL gave rise to the predominance of the parable genre, which was the fundamental basis of genre systems.
Of course, all these features of DPD could not remain unchanged for seven centuries, they gradually transformed as literature developed.
