100 r first order bonus
Choose the type of work Graduate work Course work Abstract Master's thesis Report on practice Article Report Review Test Monograph Problem solving Business plan Answers to questions creative work Essay Drawing Essays Translation Presentations Typing Other Increasing the uniqueness of the text Candidate's thesis Laboratory work On-line help
Ask for a price
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 ancient Russian literature that have come down to us are of a church nature. A characteristic feature ancient 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 at each historical stage in the development of literature and in its individual monuments was different. However, the wider and deeper literature used artistic experience folklore, the brighter 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 heroes are predominantly historical figures, she 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. 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.
132.78kb.
- Conditions for the emergence and features of the study of ancient Russian literature.
Conditions for the emergence of ancient Russian literature.
There was a period when there was no literature. There was oral folk art.
Conditions for creating literature:
- The existence of the state (formed in the IX century). In 862, the tribes decided to call on foreign rulers to end the wars. 3 brothers were called. Their names were Sineus, Truvor and Rurik. It was proved that there was only one Rurik. He created his dynasty in Novgorod. After his death, Oleg took the throne. The Varangians declared their right to power, but there was little evidence, because. few oral traditions remain. Written traditions were required.
- The adoption of Christianity (Igor's wife Olga was the first to accept it). In 988, Vladimir adopted Christianity as the state religion. Church books were needed. Christianity was supposed to stop believing in paganism. After the adoption of Christianity, canonization began.
- Writing (ancient Russian language is a variant of Bulgarian). Oleg, Olga, Svyatoslav knew how to write, but not in today's Russian (not in Cyrillic).
- End of X - beginning of XII century. Literature of Kievan Rus, chronicle (Kyiv and Novgorod).
- The end of the XII - the first third of the XIII century. United Rus' splits into principalities. A single chronicle is being destroyed, and separate chronicles are created in separate principalities.
- The second third of the XIII - the end of the XIV century. 1240 - 1380 - Tatar-Mongol yoke(almost no literature - "The Word about the death of the Russian land." The author cries about the death of Rus').
- The end of the XIV - the first half of the XV century. Consolidation of lands around Moscow. Again there is one common chronicle ("Zadonshchina"; "On the fight against the Tatars" - one of the few chronicles).
- The second half of the XV - the middle of the XVI century. centralized state(in the annals they glorify the rulers). Publicity appears.
- Mid 16th - late 17th century. The transitional stage from ancient Russian literature to new Russian, the system of genres is changing, they begin to think about relationships and power.
Features of the study of ancient Russian literature.
- Manuscript (1564 - "Apostle" - a church book. The first printed book. The first printer was Ivan Fedorov). Usually the books were rewritten. Whoever rewrote the book considered himself a co-author. He had the right to rewrite the text the way he liked it. "Zadonshchina" - a rewritten "Word about Igor's Campaign". Most of the texts were formed by rewriting completely different texts.
- Anonymity (the writers did not sign their works. The authors were educated monks). The monks viewed their books as a service to God.
- Genres of ancient Russian literature.
Genres are groups of works that are identical in form and similar in content.
Church books were brought from different countries, but other works also came to Rus' with them. According to the translation of these works, original Russian books began to be written (the lives of the saints “the life of Boris and Gleb”). There was a genre of apocrypha, the opposite of life. These are stories about saints, but the saints are presented there as living people who can also commit sins. They wrote apocrypha about Jesus Christ. “Walking of the Virgin through the torments” - the Virgin is good, and Christ is evil. The Mother of God asks to forgive sinners, but Christ refuses. People begin to doubt that the Bible is true. Walking(Walking). People rarely traveled. Mostly only merchants traveled. They were amazed by the life of foreigners. This genre noticed about other lands ("Walking over three seas" - Afanasy Nikitin book written about his travels). chronicle. Originated from the genre of the chronicle (chronograph). Chronicles have been written since the creation of the world. Written about different countries(originated in Byzantium). At first, Russian monks translated them, but then they began to supplement them. Recorded in chronicles oral tradition. All chronicles also begin from the creation of the world and the Byzantine chronicles. Now chronicles from the creation of Rus' are being published. In the 17th century, a genre breakthrough will begin at the junction of ancient and modern literature, when new genres appear. There will be the end of ancient Rus'.
- Sources, editions and main ideas of The Tale of Bygone Years.
Sources and editions of The Tale of Bygone Years.
Sources - those documents from which information was taken (codes - "the legend of the adoption of Christianity by Russia." 1039 - Yaroslav the Wise. The adoption of Christianity by Russia).
Revision - a version of the text that arose by rewriting.
1050 - "Novgorod Chronicle". So is the adoption of Christianity.
1095 - The "Second Kiev-Pechersk Code" ("Initial Code") was compiled on the basis of the two previous ones.
1113 - PVL (author - monk Nestor). The first edition of the PVL: the text of this chronicle is lost. Compiling an annals is the task of a political annals. Task: to glorify the prince reigning at this time. When the first PVL was written, Svyatopolk reigned. The chronicle was not finished yet, but Svyatopolk died and Monomakh took the throne. The chronicle had to be rewritten because Vladimir took it from Nestor. The Kiev-Pechersk Monastery ceased to be the main one. The Vydubitsky Monastery took its place. PVL was rewritten for 3 years, and in 1116 the second edition appeared. Its compiler was Sylvestor. This edition of the chronicle has come down to us. The third edition of the PVL: 1118 - the son of Monomakh Mstislav takes the throne. He took the chronicle from the monastery and returned it to the Kiev Caves Monastery. It did not differ much from the second edition. Mstislav ordered to turn on his father's "Instruction to Children". She, too, has come down to our times.
Basic ideas of PVL.
There are two main ideas:
- The idea of the unity of the Russian land (fragmentation).
- Independence of the Russian Church. There are many stories about campaigns against Tsargrad.
- History of publication, problems of authenticity and authorship of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign".
Publication history.
In the 90s of the XVIII century in the city of Yaroslavl in the Spaso-Priobrazhensky monastery A.I. Musin - Pushkin found the chronicle "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". Mentions about the find began in the press, but this chronicle was not real. Catherine II was then on the throne. In 1796 she asked to make a copy of the chronicle. The copy was called "Catherine's List". In 1800 the chronicle was published for the first time. In 1812 there was a war with Napoleon, and Moscow burned down => the chronicle too. When the war ended, they began to express doubts about the "Tale of Igor's Campaign". Only a few copies have come down to us.
Reasons for disputes:
- The word is written in very clear language. The chronicle is a dry enumeration of facts, but here there is an artistic interpretation of the text.
- There are many obscure places in the chronicle. Specialists cannot read some passages. Or maybe this work was written by non-Russians? In the 19th century, "Zadonshchina" was found. She repeats “The Tale of Igor's Campaign” for whole pages. The society insisted that Musin-Pushkin himself wrote The Tale of Igor's Campaign. They called both Zhukovsky and Karamzin. We cannot say for sure whether this text is ancient or a forgery of the 18th century. The only way is to find the original, but we still consider it ancient.
- Satirical works of Antioch Cantemir.
In the 18th century, unofficial literature arose. The first was Antioch Dmitrievich Kantemir. He was Greek. His father was the ruler of Moldova. He believed that Moldova should be free. Signed an agreement with Peter. 1711 - Peter loses the battle for the liberation of Moldavia and rewards Dmitry. Dmitry's son received very good home education. Antioch was acquainted with Feofan Prokopovich, the fourth court poet. After the death of Peter in 1729, he wrote “On those who blaspheme the teaching. To your mind." This satire has not been published. His entourage was called the "scientific squad." Kantemir and Prokopovich were for Anna and against the nobles. Feofan Prokopovich wanted to become a court poet again, but Anna deceived their expectations. She decided to teach Cantemir a lesson. 1735 - he is ambassador to England and France. In 1744 he died. One edition of his satires was published in Paris in French, and in 1784 in Russia in Russian. He wrote eight satires in total. They are divided into two groups: Russian and foreign.
- Creativity M.V. Lomonosov (reforms of Russian poetry, stylistic teaching, odic creativity).
(1711 - 1765) He was a peasant, but not a serf. His father was rich. Was a fisherman. Owned his own ship. Born in the village of Denisovka, located on the Northern Dvina River. 200 km from the village was the city of Arkhangelsk. Lomonosov's father was illiterate, as was his mother. She died when her son was five years old. Since childhood, Lomonosov helped his father. He was a sailor on a whaling ship. Suddenly he wanted to study. He quickly learned to read from the deacon in the local church, then re-read all the church books, and then decided to run away to Moscow. In 1730, when he was 19, he ran away. Then it was December. On the way he was picked up by fishermen. They took him to Moscow, but there was only one educational institution where the peasants were not taken. Lomonosov had to forge documents in order to be accepted. A year later, the deception was revealed, but he was not kicked out. The father, having learned that his son had fled to Moscow, did not give him money for education. Life was difficult for Lomonosov. His classmates were small children who were much younger than him. He studied for five years. Was the best student. In 1735 he was sent to study in St. Petersburg. In 1736 he went to study in Germany, in Marburg. He was a chemist, engaged in mining. He was an inconsiderate person. After arguing with his teacher, he left. For two years he tried to return to his homeland. Married in Germany. He had two children. In 1741 he returned to St. Petersburg and entered the service. In 1745 he became an academic chemist. In the same year, Trediakovsky became an academician of eloquence. Lomonosov became the court poet of Elizabeth. Befriended Shuvalov. Together with him in 1755 he founded Moscow University. He was not only a master in all matters, but also an artist. It was easier for him to learn than for us in our time. When he studied, he thought about the reform of versification. Leaving for Germany, he took Trediakovsky's treatise with him. Lomonosov disagreed with many things. For example, with restrictions. He wrote another treatise "Letter on the rules of Russian poetry" - 1739. It was indeed a letter that he sent to Russia, but it was not published. It was only printed in 1742.
Three dimensional dimensions:
Dactyl.
Anapaest.
Amphibrach.
Syllabo-tonic system; rhyme is equal; iambic is the best size.
To Lomonosov's letter there was an appendix with a verse, which was written in iambic 4 foot.
"Ode on the Capture of Khotyn" (written in Germany, dedicated to Turkey). After this ode, they switched from the syllabic to the syllabic-tonic system.
Odic works of Lomonosov:
Lomonosov wrote odes, which were divided into solemn and spiritual (the main feeling is delight). "Ode on the capture of Khotin" - he did not witness the battle, did not know what really happened. I learned about the events from a German newspaper. Poetic confusion, mythological geography, the story takes place on Olympus, the characters are mostly gods. He wrote mainly on behalf of the whole people. All his odes are symbolic.
Refers to the monarch, who is devoid of personal traits (is a symbol of Russia). In his odes, Lomonosov criticized only dead monarchs.
The theory of three calms.
| I The doctrine of the types of speeches. Church Slavonic Common colloquial | II Calm doctrine Average Short | III The doctrine of genres High (spiritual, solemn odes; heroic poem; tragedy) Medium (other lyric poems; Low - includes all comic works (fable, satire, comedy, epigram) |
| -obsolete - "mean" - curses and dialects | It was proposed in the article "Foreword About the benefits of books Church in Russian" 1757. |
- Derzhavin's poetic innovation.
G.R. Derzhavin was born in Kazan. He was from a poor noble Tatar family. His ancestor was Murza Bagrim. They had a small estate near Kazan with ten serfs. When Derzhavin was five years old, his father died, and his mother had to sell the estate. He had no education. His mother hired teachers for him, but they were bad teachers. They had a hard time teaching him to read. For three years he studied at the Kazan gymnasium, but then he left it. In 1762, he entered the service as a soldier in the guards, where he served as a soldier for 10 years, since he had to pass an exam to be promoted, but he could not pass it. Derzhavin had a complex character. Finally he received an officer's rank, where he served for six years, then he became a secretary in the Senate. Until the age of 35, he did not even think of becoming a poet. In the 1770s, when he served in the Senate, he met with the St. Petersburg writer N.A. Lvov. He was an amateur. Lvov was still an artist, an architect, and so on. He was a man of inspiration. Loved to nurture talent. When Derzhavin met him, Lvov decided to make him a poet. In 1779, Derzhavin published three of his poems: "The Key", "On the Birth of a Parfiraborn Child" and "On the Death of Prince Meshchersky". In 1782 he wrote the ode "Felitsa". This ode was dedicated to Catherine. In 1782 it was published, and Catherine saw this ode. Derzhavin was appointed governor in Olonets, and then in Tambov. Each governorate ended in failure, because. he quarreled with his superiors. In 1785 he was brought to trial, but he was acquitted and dismissed. Derzhavin wrote several more about Catherine. She decided to patronize him. In 1791 he became secretary and court poet, but he was not fit for the position. He believed that the troubles in Russia came from the fact that Catherine did not know about them. Derzhavin allowed himself to swear at his reports. Catherine was tired of Derzhavin's behavior. He stopped glorifying her, because. he stopped doing it. In 1793 he was removed from his position as secretary, but after his resignation he remained in the highest position. His last position was Minister of Justice. Then Alexander I was already ruling. In 1803, he dismissed Derzhavin, but he was rewarded and therefore became rich. He became a classic. He participated in solemn events. In 1815 he was present at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where he met with Pushkin. Dies in 1816.
Derzhavin's poetry.
He destroyed the Lomonosov ode. Derzhavin didn't do it on purpose.
- There are common ideas between Lomonosov and Derzhavin. Derzhavin wrote solemn odes. Lomonosov believed that a person should be Always citizen, and Derzhavin believed that a person should be a citizen only in the service. The rest of the time he could do whatever he wanted.
- Derzhavin had a lot of everyday specifics in his poems. For him, the monarch was not only a symbol, he was also just a person. 1800 - "Bullfinch" - dedicated to Suvorov. It was called so because Derzhavin had a bullfinch (according to him). Derzhavin was friends with Suvorov. Derzhavin taught the bullfinch to sing a military song. When he returned from the funeral, he saw a bullfinch, he sang a march. It was unfair, because Suvorov is already dead. In Snegir, Derzhavin wrote that Suvorov was a strange man. He traveled to old horse, ate crackers and slept on straw even outside the campaign.
- Derzhavin broke the theory of three calms. For example, the ode "Nobleman".
- He made changes to the image of the author. The author has become a concrete person.
"Felitsa" - 1782.
Felitsa - a year before the publication of this ode, Catherine wrote a fairy tale "About Tsarevich Chlorus." Chlorine was looking for a rose without thorns. There was the heroine Felitsa (lat. Happy). Was negative character- Lentyag. Chlorine found a rose without thorns.
- Felitsa is taken from this tale. Felitsa - Ekaterina. Derzhavin describes her specific features. She loved to walk. Murza is a satirical image (the courtiers are ridiculed). For example, he makes fun of Potemkin. The ode is written on behalf of Murza, because he was Derzhavin's ancestor. He wants to become good, so he goes to Catherine.
- The first Russian newspaper, Vedomosti, appeared. It was founded by Peter I. On December 15, 1702, a decree was issued on the publication of the newspaper. On January 2, 1703, the first issue was published. He took into account the experience of his father Alexei. Chimes - handwritten books (excerpts from foreign newspapers). They talked about life in the west. Written for the king. Peter I wanted to make this newspaper publicly available. He wanted to make readers allies in the cause of reform. This newspaper did not big articles. Mostly there were short notes. They were written on small pieces of paper. The newspaper wrote about the opening of new schools, about an increase in the birth rate, about the fact that minerals were found, that the Indian tsar gave the tsar a gift, the Russians beat the Swedes, etc. Peter himself wrote and edited the newspaper. It cost one penny, but more often it was distributed simply for free. The circulation was about 100 copies, but it was not sorted out, because. almost all the people were illiterate.
- The appearance of the first Russian magazine - "Monthly essays, for the benefit and amusement of employees." Published at the Academy of Sciences. The editor was G.F. Miller is the author of The Norman Theory. The best writers of the 1950s were published in this magazine. The magazine was divided into several sections. Almost everything was written there, and Miller tried to make it non-political. The authorities did not influence the magazine. There was controversy.
- Golden age. It lasted 1769. There was satirical journalism. Catherine II gave her a start. She subscribed to many foreign magazines, where they wrote that there were satirical magazines in England and other countries. Catherine wanted to do the same in Russia. She wanted to set a very strict framework and explain what you can write about and what you can’t. January 2, 1769 - "All sorts of things." On the cover was the name of one of Catherine's secretaries. The first issue contained an article urging all writers to follow her example and publish satirical magazines. This magazine was the "grandmother of Russian magazines". There were 7 of them, but they were of dubious quality. But one magazine competed - "Truten". It was published by N.I. Novikov. This journal had a dispute with Ekaterininsky about satire. Catherine II explained that there is satire, and urged to ridicule not specific people, power and "keep philanthropy" ("Smiling satire"). She gave her examples. Novikov, on the other hand, offered social satire: aimed at specific people. whole year they competed. And 6 magazines have joined this dispute. The peasant question was raised in Trutnya. Novikov wrote that they were unhappy. Satirical journalism began to go beyond. The magazine was closed along with other satirical magazines.
- 1990s - early 19th century. This time is associated with N.M. Karamzin. He published two magazines. 1791 - 1793 - "Moscow Journal". The idea of cultural rapprochement between Russia and Europe. There have been many translations Western culture. He was a sentimentalist. Karamzin wrote a lot in this magazine, like other writers. The magazine was very popular.
- Classicism as a literary movement.
Russian drama of the 18th century is associated with such literary direction like classicism.
- Classicism developed in France as early as the 16th and 17th centuries, and was used by many countries. The 18th century is fading, but at the same time it only appears in Russia. 16th - 17th century in Europe, the time of absolutism. Monarchy. The person in the state did not matter. He is a servant of the state. Servant of the ruler.
- Classicism was based on the doctrine of "Rationalism" (Cartesianism). Ratio (lat.) - mind. The founder was the French philosopher Rene Descartes - Cartesius (lat.). Thus he tried to prove the existence of God. The proof is the human mind. All human society is arranged reasonably (rationally). The classicists felt the same way. From this comes the conflict between passion and reason (feeling and duty). Good heroes obeyed duty. Negative - emotions. Classicism was imitative (even the name - "Classic" - ancient literature). Classicists borrowed the construction of works from ancient literature. Aristotle wrote the book "Poetics" (a set of rules for writing works). He formulated the rules of literature. The classicists were guided by it.
- The rule of three unities. It is the unity of place, time, action. In antiquity it was not possible to change the scenery. The action could not last more than a day. There was no difference between stage and regular time. The play was supposed to have one plot.
- The scheme of construction of the play was borrowed. There were five parts. 1 - exposure; 2 - the beginning of the conflict; 3 - development of action; 4 - climax; 5 - denouement (another part of the indefinite denouement was included in the fifth - deux ex mahina - God from the machine. In the final they interfered higher power(state)).
Classicism - 1747. A.P. Sumarokov wrote two treatises:
"Epistole on Poetry"
"Epistole about the Russian language"
He was a poet and journalist - "singer of the nobility". He believed that noble families were the most important.
"Satire on Nobility".
He was an opponent of Lomonosov. Sumarokov believed that it was necessary to write clearly and simply. He was a classic of medium genres. Classical playwright. He was called Russian Racine.
His first play was written in 1747 - "Khorev" (names taken from PVL). The first play of classicism. Main character Kiy and his brother Khorev. There is a girl named Osnelda. She is the daughter of the ruler who was killed by Kiy. Khorev is in love with Osnelda, and Kiy sees his brother's betrayal in this and orders her to be killed. Because of this, Khorev commits suicide, and Kiy suffers very much after that.
One canon is missing (the unity of time). She was put on stage school theater at Cadet Corps. The staging was very good.
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 problems that heroes of all centuries think about, talk about, meditate on. 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 arose not on empty place. 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 Rus' 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. V. 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 ancient 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 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. 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 Rus' did little to change the situation until mid-eighteenth V. 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). A manuscript may contain lists of various works and may be written by the author himself or by scribes. Another fundamental concept in textual criticism is the term "edition", i.e. purposeful processing of the 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 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 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” 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 includes hundreds of works, the first of which were written already in the 11th century. Life, which came to Rus' from Byzantium along with the adoption of Christianity, became the main genre of ancient Russian literature, the 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 of rhetoric.
The oldest Russian hagiographic monuments are two lives of princes Boris and Gleb and The Life of Theodosius of Pechora.
3. 2. Eloquence.
Eloquence is an area of creativity characteristic of 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 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 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. 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 many years compiling the chronicle. 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 job became a chronicle. 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 annalistic monument of the era of Kievan Rus - "The Tale of Bygone Years" was born.
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 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 Eastern Slavs among European and Asian peoples.
The chronicler tells in detail about the settlement of the Slavic peoples in antiquity, about the settlement by the Eastern Slavs of the 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.
Old Russian literature is a conventional name, that is, ancient period, the medieval period and the period of feudal fragmentation. This is the initial and historically natural stage in the development of Russian literature. Its emergence is associated with the process of formation of the early feudal state. Literature is subordinated to the strengthening of the feudal system and religion - Christianity, therefore, mainly church-religious genres developed.
Factors of the emergence of Old Russian literature:
- the development of monasteries (which played a huge role in the spread of religion, literacy and writing; Cyril and Methodius - the Slavic alphabet; the proximity of the Old Russian language to the Old Bulgarian and Old Slavonic contributed to the spread of writing),
- folklore.
Old Russian literature has specific features that distinguish it from folklore and literature of the New Age:
1. The handwritten nature of the existence of distribution, and each work existed as part of various collections, and not in the form of separate manuscripts, these collections pursued practical goals. Basil the Great wrote: "Everything that serves not for the sake of benefit, but for the sake of beauty, is liable to be accused of vanity." The value of the book was judged in terms of usefulness. In The Tale of Bygone Years, under the year 1037, it is written: “Great is the benefit of the teaching of the book, through books we teach repentance, books are rivers that fill the Universe, help to refrain from bad deeds, if you look for wisdom, you will find benefit for the soul.”
Depending on the genre, on the sacred meaning of the work, this or that text underwent changes in accordance with the social, national, professional or personal sympathies of a person, therefore, “author, editor, scribe” for ancient Russian literature are very shaky concepts. In accordance with this, the works existed in several lists or editions, so we can talk about the relationship of ancient Russian literature and Russian folklore.
2. Anonymity is a very common phenomenon. Almost no information about the authors and scribes has been preserved. Anonymity was determined not only by historical reality, but also by the scarcity of information about the authors that has come down to us, which is associated with the religious-Christian attitude of feudal society to the work of a scribe. The church considered the creation and copying of books a charitable deed, the work of scribes required humility, they should not have been proud of their work, so names were rarely preserved. In addition, in medieval society, the concept of authorship was very poorly developed, there was no copyright at all, individual characteristics and personality were very poorly reflected in the texts.
The author's texts have not come down to us, but have been preserved in later lists, which sometimes separated from the time of the original by several centuries. So, for example, Nestor's "Tale" of 1113 has not been preserved, but has come down to us in a later edition; the edition of her by Sylvester 1116 is known only as part of the Laurentian Chronicle of 1377; "The word about Igor's regiment" of the 12th century has come down to us only in the collection of the 16th century in the list.
3. Lack of dating in most literary monuments. Therefore, historians resort to different ways to clarify the date of certain texts.
4. Until the 16th century, literature was closely connected with church and business writing, which is due to the fact that by that time literature had not yet emerged as an independent sphere of consciousness, but was associated with philosophy, science and religion. Gradually, it stands out from the general flow of writing, along with this, the secularization of literature and its democratization takes place, gradually literature is freed from the power of the church and the connection with church writing disappears.
5. Historicism: Heroes are predominantly heroic personalities; literature never allowed fiction, strictly followed the facts of life, and miracles were related to real phenomena, since the author referred to eyewitnesses of events. Fiction was equated with lies.
During the development of literature, the leading genres were historical, in the 17th century they began to be replaced by fiction genres (everyday stories, satirical stories and fairy tales appeared).
Historicism was of a medieval nature, that is, the course and development of historical events is often explained from a religious point of view, providentialism dominates (when God is always the source on earth).
Artistic generalization was very poorly developed, built on the basis of a single concrete historical fact or events, while such a single event was chosen that bore traces of prevalence. Tales of battles were widely circulated, based on specific historical events. But for Rus' it was important to prove the harm of strife. Princely crimes were very common and, accordingly, stories about them: “The Tale of the Blinding of Vasilko Terebovalsky” (the brothers blinded him, fearing his accession to the throne); as well as walking to the Holy Land (Jerusalem), for example, "The Walking of Hegumen Daniel". The heroes of the works are mainly princes, the highest church leaders and rulers.
6. The normativity of poetics (that is, the totality artistic means) is manifested in the widespread " common places”, a certain “etiquette” was adopted, which was composed of the idea of \u200b\u200bhow the course of events should have taken place, how the actor should have behaved in accordance with his position in society, what words should describe the event. Thus, the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior, verbal etiquette were important. Verbal etiquette: stable verbal formulas; but there were also repeated situational formulas, similar descriptions of characteristics (situations of defeat, victory). In addition, the author's declarative statements about his ignorance, about his ignorance.
7. Genres and styles.
There is a clear division into church and secular genres, and there is a hierarchy ( the highest genre– books Holy Scripture: Bible, covenants). The church includes solemn preaching genres (hymnographies), lives, whose menaion(monthly readings), patericons or fathers (collections of short stories about the life of saints).
Gradually, purely church genres were destroyed, secular material and folklore (weeping), as well as walking, appeared in them.
Secular works: chronicles, chronographs, military stories, historical stories.
The genre of teaching is something between the church and secular genres.
"The Tale of Igor's Campaign" is a synthesis of genres.
Styles and genres are very closely related.
D.S. Likhachev presents the history of Russian literature in the interrelation of literary styles, genres and characters:
11th century - 12th century - the dominance of the style of monumental historicism and the epic style.
14th century - 15th century - the style of monumental historicism is replaced by an expressive-emotional style, although the traditions of the style of monumental historicism continue to be preserved.
16th century - the second monumentalism or idealizing biographism ("The Power Book of the Royal Genealogy").
8. Old Russian literature is patriotic and carries a very deep civic principle.
9. High moral content: great attention was paid to the moral qualities of princes, and later of a person in general.
All these features change depending on the period and era.
The oldest translated literature
(late 10th - first half of 11th century)
These are biblical books, apocrypha, lives; secular translated novels (chronicles, historical novels, "scientific literature").
Christianity played a big role in the development of Russian culture. Kievan Rus is then promoted to the ranks of the advanced countries of Europe. Rus' drew literary monuments from Bulgaria, which adopted Christianity a little earlier. In Rus' there were no words for new religion, so the first literary monuments were translated. Under Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise, many translations were made.
bible books were the basis of teaching and understanding of the world. This is a collection of books of different genres, which was compiled from the 12th century BC. to 2-3 centuries AD Therefore, various and sometimes contradictory legends are concentrated in it: mythological, folk beliefs, religious journalism, lyrical and epic works, historical texts based on legends, original "stories" about the origin of the world and man. It lacks unity and religious beliefs, since here is the cult of nature, and polytheism, and faith in magic, and faith in a single deity.
The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament books tell about the history of the Jewish people, their ancient fate and religion. New Testament books associated with initial period Christianity, set out the foundations of the Christian faith. The structure of the Bible is quite complex.
Scientists classify everything old testament books by 5 groups:
- historical,
- prophetic
-poetic,
- didactic,
- eschatological.
This classification is conditional.
Historical books: this is the Pentateuch of Moses, in which the history of the Jewish people unfolds before their occupation of Palestine in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. Here inequality and the power of the king were justified.
prophetic books: The books of the prophets are writings that are attributed to the early prophets (the book of Joshua). It describes the history of the Jewish people from their settlement in Palestine to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, that is, until the end of the 6th century BC. There are also writings of later prophets, 12 minor prophets. These books are rather mournful, pathetically agitated sermons, denunciations, threats, lamentations, sorrowful reflections on the fate of the Jewish people and a prediction that they will receive complete freedom.
poetry books: These are the Psalter, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes.
A psalter is a collection of psalms (hymns, prayers and songs of a religious and secular nature that were used in worship). This is one of the first books translated into Russian. The psalms are based folklore genres(spells, wedding songs, laments, etc.). The special popularity of the Psalter in Rus' is explained by the lyricism of many psalms - religious lyricism.
The Song of Songs is a kind of love poem written in rhythmic phrases, its authorship is attributed to Solomon, and the love of Solomon and Shulamith is described.
Ecclesiastes - IV-III centuries BC The style makes it possible to judge what was created among professional scribes. It is based on pessimistic reasoning about the futility and vanity of human life. The main motive is the futility of man's intentions to subdue life; life is cyclical, stable, repeatable, so the preacher looks at life sadly.
Didactic books: the parables of Solomon are a book of aphorisms, a teaching setting is the need to know wisdom, the rules of prudence, justice. This part is very contradictory: on the one hand, there is hope in God, on the other, there is hope in man.
Eschatological books: these are books about the final destinies of the world. They develop the idea that earthly life temporary, and the hour will come when it will be destroyed.
New Testament books can also be classified under the same categories. All books reflect a higher stage of development religious culture- Christianity. They include the gospel, the apostolic deeds and their epistles (Apostle) and the revelation or apocalypse of John the Evangelist.
Historical books:
The gospel - “the good news or the gospel” - the biography of Jesus Christ, told by his disciples: from Matthew, from Mark, from Luke, from John - this is the four gospel. Their narratives differ in individual facts, but in general this is a story about the life of Christ - historical events connected with the life of Christ.
Acts of the Apostles are stories about the disciples of Christ, a description of their deeds about the spread of Christianity.
Didactic books:
These are the epistles of the apostles, consisting of 21 canonical epistles of the disciples of Christ; their goal is to popularize, interpret the teachings of Christ, preach the teachings, therefore they are instructive in nature.
Eschatological books:
This is the Revelation of John the Evangelist (approximately 68 - 70 AD)
Revelation arose on the basis of Jewish literature, contains a statement of fantastic visions in which catastrophic events are predicted before the end of the world. These catastrophes will end with the second coming of Christ, who will finally defeat the enemy.
The Bible was translated into Russian from Bulgarian in the 10th - 11th centuries in fragments. First of all, the Psalter was translated, it was in two versions - sensible and divinatory. The full text of the Old Testament was translated at the end of the 15th century in Novgorod on the initiative of Archbishop Gennady (Gennadiev Bible). The New Testament in the Kievan period was not fully translated.
Bible Meaning:
During the period of strengthening feudalism - to strengthen the system. From a moral point of view, it contains a certain moral code. From the point of view of literary and aesthetic value, the books were saturated with a lot of folklore material, there were also very vivid plot and conflict stories, they were distinguished by emotionality and imagery. Special meaning the language of the Bible, they learned to read the Psalms. In addition, the biography of Christ influenced hagiographic literature in Rus'.
But learning new Christian doctrine also went through the widespread use of apocrypha (in translation, it is secret, secret, not accessible to everyone). These are works designed primarily for a narrow circle of the elite. Later, heretics began to use them to criticize the official church, so the apocrypha was not recognized by the church.
Apocrypha are legendary-religious narratives that are close to the canonical books in terms of themes and images, but differ sharply in the interpretation of events and characters. They absorbed folk ideas and folklore techniques.
Thematically, the apocrypha are divided into Old Testament, New Testament and eschatological. In the Old Testament - the heroes are Adam, Eve, the forefathers, etc., the New Testament - are devoted to stories about Christ and the apostles, eschatological ones contain fantastic stories about afterlife and the fate of the world.
A special group is apocryphal lives(for example, the life of George the Victorious). The bulk of such literature came to us from Bulgaria and was connected with the heresy of the priest Bogomil. This heresy revised the orthodox monotheistic doctrine and proposed dualism - the domination in the world of two principles - good and evil.
In Rus', already in 10741, in the Tale of Bygone Years, one of the apocryphal legends was recorded, outlining the Bogomil ideas about the dual nature of man.
The apocrypha include the gospels of Nicodemus, James, Thomas, in which the person of Christ is more mundanely depicted. The eschatological apocrypha is the journey of Agapit to paradise, the journey of the Virgin through torments.
Hagiographic (hagiographic) translated literature
This is a church genre dedicated to saints. It arose at the end of the 11th century, came to us from Byzantium and existed as literature for reading.
In all hagiographies, a conditional idealized image of the saint is given, his life and exploits in the setting of a miracle. The peculiarity is that the lives depicted the moral church ideal of a person who achieved the complete triumph of the spirit over sinful flesh, this was a person who followed Christ in everything, therefore there is always an approximation to the moral image of Christ.
The Lives were popular because they combined the entertaining nature of storytelling with a certain dose of edification and panegyric.
Lives were built according to a certain scheme:
It began with an indication of the origin of the saint (from pious parents), then a description of childhood (he does not play games, secludes himself, learns to read and write early, reads the Bible), refuses marriage, retires to a deserted place, founds a monastery there, becomes a monk, to him brethren flock, he undergoes various temptations, predicts the day and hour of his death, instructs the brethren, dies, his body is incorruptible and emits a fragrance - evidence of holiness; then miracles happen. Then comes a brief praise, which lists all the virtues of the saint, sometimes there are laments.
It should be noted that the image of the hero of life was devoid of individual qualities of character, freed from everything random.
Lives of two kinds:
- lives-martiria - about the torment of the saint (life of St. Irene),
- the lives of saints who voluntarily accepted the feat of seclusion.
Lives circulated in two forms:
- in short - prologue lives, as part of collections of prologues, were used in worship,
- in a lengthy form - menaine readings - were intended for reading at monastic meals.
A special kind of hagiographic literature - pateriki or otemniks- these are collections in which only the most important from the point of view of holiness were placed the exploits of the saints, the events of their lives. This is a kind of legend novel. (Sinai patericon).
All patericons had entertaining stories that combined naive fiction and household paintings.
In the 12th century, the lives of Nicholas the Wonderworker, Anthony the Great, John Chrysostom were already known in the lists. The life of Alexei, the man of God by an unknown author, gained particular popularity, which had a great influence on hagiographic literature and formed the basis of spiritual poems.
In addition, among the translated literature there are works of natural science - "Physiologist" (2-3 centuries AD about the world, plants and animals) and "Shestodnev" (about the creation of the world).
In the XII century, an adventure novel about the life and exploits of Alexander the Great "Alexandria" was translated from Greek.
All medieval states usually learned from the successor countries ancient culture. For Rus' great importance played by Bulgaria and Byzantium. The perception of foreign culture among the Eastern Slavs has always been creative, the works have always met the internal needs of developing Rus', in connection with which they acquired their own characteristics.
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 became centers of writing, and the first literary monuments were 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 the modern sense of the 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 a 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 the 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 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 the manifestation of feelings, nor 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. Old Russian ideal beauty presupposes a wide expanse, an immense, “decorated” land, and temples decorate it, for 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, the written language in Rus' from the very beginning was Russian, and not Latin, as in Western Europe, and there was no impassable boundary 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 in the pagan era, presents its heroes both as patriotic warriors and as defenders 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" refers 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. 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.
A " Life of Archpriest Avvakum”, written by himself in the 17th century, turned into a vivid autobiographical work filled with reliable 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, we 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 own general aesthetic principles, with a stable system of genres.
