Over the course of seven centuries of development, our literature has consistently reflected the main changes taking place in the life of society.
Long time artistic thinking was inextricably linked with the religious and medieval historical form of consciousness, but gradually with the development of national and class consciousness it begins to free itself from church ties.
Literature has developed clear and definite ideals of the spiritual beauty of a person who devotes himself entirely to the common good, the good of the Russian land, the Russian state.
She created ideal characters of persistent Christian ascetics, valiant and courageous rulers, “good sufferers for the Russian land.” These literary characters complemented the folk ideal of man, formed in epic oral poetry.
D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak spoke very well about the close connection between these two ideals in a letter to Ya. L. Barskov dated April 20, 1896: “It seems to me that the “heroes” serve as an excellent complement to the “hierarchs.” Representatives here and there native land, behind them one can see the Rus' they stood guard over. Among the heroes, the predominant element is physical strength: they defend their homeland with broad chests, and that is why this “heroic outpost”, put forward on the battle line, in front of which wandered historical predators, is so good... The “Saints” show another side of Russian history, even more important as a moral stronghold and holy of holies of the future multi-million people. These chosen ones had a presentiment of the history of a great people...”
The focus of literature was on the historical destinies of the motherland, questions state building. That's why epic historical topics and genres play a leading role in it.
Deep historicism in the medieval understanding determined the connection between our ancient literature with heroic folk epic, and also determined the features of the image of human character.
Old Russian writers gradually mastered the art of creating deep and versatile characters, the ability to correctly explain the reasons for human behavior.
From a static, still image of a person, our writers moved on to revealing the internal dynamics of feelings, to depicting various psychological states of a person, to identifying individual personality traits.
The latter became most clearly evident in the 17th century, when personality and literature began to free themselves from the undivided power of the church and, in connection with the general process of “secularization of culture,” the “secularization” of literature also occurred.
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, 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: the obsolete language was replaced by the end XVII century Old Slavic literary language there was a new one alive colloquial, which poured into literature in a wide stream in the second half of the 17th century.
A characteristic feature of ancient literature is its inextricable connection with reality.
This connection gave our literature an extraordinary journalistic poignancy, excited 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 subsequent centuries of the development of the Russian nation and Russian culture.
Kuskov V.V. Story ancient Russian literature. - M., 1998
Old Russian literature, like any medieval literature, has a number of features that distinguish it from the literature of modern times. A characteristic feature literature of the medieval type is a broad interpretation of the concept of “literature” as written word with the obligatory inclusion of functional genres that usually perform religious, ritual or business functions. It should be noted that in the Middle Ages the basis genre system They constitute functional genres that have special extra-literary functions. On the contrary, genres with weakened functionality are on the periphery of this system. IN transition period from the Middle Ages to the culture of modern times, a reverse process arises: genres with weakened functionality move to the center of the system, and functional genres are pushed to the periphery.
Thus, DRL is a complex conglomerate of artistic and business monuments (1). This feature was due to its close connection with history, the Christian religion and writing in general.
Handwritten nature of the existence of DRL works (2) fundamentally distinguishes it from the literature of modern times. A work, as a rule, appeared not in one, but in several lists. The scribe sometimes simply copied the manuscript, creating a new list, but often changed its ideological orientation in accordance with the requirements of the time, shortened or expanded the text, and changed the style of the monument. In this case we are talking about a new editorial staff works. The author's list of text is called autograph. In the process of processing a work, its editorial staff. Since writing in DRL existed for several centuries and in different regions, then there could be several editions. The list, which turns out to be the basis for processing, is called protographer. It may not always be the author's version. Researchers of movement and text development in DRL – textualists and paleographers– consider the types of handwriting of scribes, 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- These are auxiliary disciplines that help in the study of handwritten texts. Textual criticism studies the text itself, while paleography examines the material on which and with the help of which a handwritten monument was created.
Anonymity (3) most of DRL's works - her other distinctive feature, associated with the Christian concept of human personality, according to which pride was considered one of the greatest sins, and humility was the height of virtue. Due to this individual characteristics The personality 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 individual authorship existed in DRL, but the forms of its expression were different than in the literature we are accustomed to. The attitude towards copyright in DRL was completely different. Anonymity allowed authors to use parts of “other people’s” texts to compose their own. Exceptions were made only for works of authoritative texts Holy Scripture and Tradition, the 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 facts, connecting his work with a specific historical event or person. Even when we're talking about 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 Ancient Rus' They perceived everything written as something that actually happened. And this attitude towards the written text remained very long time. Perhaps only in the 17th century this tradition was destroyed.
The principle of historicism is associated with providentialism (5), that is, the idea of predestination. Yes, any hero hagiographic literature even in childhood he shows a penchant for holy living. If he begins his life sinfully, then his belief, a change in the quality of his spiritual state is inevitable, predetermined 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 medieval man determined the authoritarian thinking of the ancient Russian scribe and authoritarianism (6) like hell artistic method DRL. Reference to historical, literary or political authority is very important for ancient Russian man(this has already been mentioned above). Often new works were signed with the names of church fathers and hierarchs of past years just to give them greater weight. The reader who first becomes acquainted with the monuments of the DRL draws attention to the abundance of direct quotes and indirect references to the texts of the New and Old Testament, numerous references to the works of authoritative church writers. In these quotes, the author seemed to consolidate his moral, didactic, political and aesthetic assessment of a fact, event, person, and asserted its universal significance and universal acceptance.
Closely related to authoritarian thinking principle of retrospective historical analogy (7) , which is the most important means of the author’s assessment of a particular historical event. Here is what V.V. writes about this. Kuskov: “A retrospective historical analogy allows us to more deeply reveal the meaning of a particular historical event, assess the behavior of its participants, glorify them or condemn them, and establish a unique typological community events of Ancient Rus' with the events of world history and thereby indicate their certain pattern.” Using the material from the monuments of the Kulikovo cycle, the researcher shows how an unbroken chain of victories won by the Russian princes Yaroslav the Wise, Alexander Nevsky, and Dmitry Donskoy is established. " Traditional reception, continues V.V. Kuskov, - a retrospective historical analogy with biblical characters in “The Tale of the Battle of Mama” emphasizes the significance of the victory won on the Kulikovo field. It is equated to the victory of Gideon over Midian, Moses over Amalek and Pharaoh, David over Goliath. The troops of the Moscow prince are similar to the army of Alexander the Great, the courage of the Russian soldiers is similar to Gideon’s allies. And the heavenly forces 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 David, “those who had hearts, like the lvovs, like the luthiers, who came to the flock of sheep.” In his prayers, Dmitry asks God to help him in the same way as Hezekiah - to tame the heart of the ferocious beast Mamai.”
Authority also dominated in the area artistic form. DRL can be called exemplary literature, literature of sustainable etiquette. Traditional (8) covers not only the content of works, but also their form: principles of depicting a person, plot, composition, language. The traditionalism of medieval literature cannot be perceived as the result of the “childish spontaneity”, inability or “ineptitude” of the scribe. This is a phenomenon of the era, an urgent need of the time, a fact of man’s moral consciousness, without which he could not explain the world and navigate in it.
The authoritarianism of the DRL reflects the estate-corporate principle of the existence of ancient Russian people. A clear awareness of the impossibility of breaking the estate-corporate principle leaves its mark on literature. If you are a prince, then you are obliged to be one and behave in accordance with the idea of worthy princely behavior. “Just as a cauldron cannot be freed from blackness and burning, so a slave cannot be freed from servitude” (“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 decorum and orderliness. Even the clothing of a medieval person is a sign of rank. Decency is order. Disorder, disorder - disorder. A person must take his place in the general ranks. Order and rowness become indicators of the structure of the world. In the 17th-century work “The Officer of the Falconer’s Way,” created not without the participation of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the credo of human behavior and order is clearly formulated. Old Russian "rank" as literary concept corresponds to some extent modern concept“rhythm”, for it is precisely the measured adherence to order and decorum that creates life basis ceremoniality of Russian literature.
Traditionality becomes a type of medieval creativity, the most important factor intellectual mastery of reality. It rests on the deep conviction that there is only one correct worldview in the world - Christian ideology. Traditionalism of ideological and artistic thinking, reflecting medieval ideas 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.
An ancient Russian writer creates within a certain tradition. True Value medieval art seems to him to be exactly following the model. The highest example and the highest truth is, of course, the authority of Holy Scripture.
D.S. Likhachev introduced the concept literary etiquette (9) , by which we will understand 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 saying that in the Middle Ages “artistic literary creativity did not develop independently (as special shape ideology), but as if “inside” or as part of differently practically purposeful genres of writing (for example, in chronicles, and in solemn sermons, and in hagiography, etc.) ... Such combined and practically purposeful functions of literature delayed the separation of artistic creativity itself from writing and determined a more direct (than in modern literature) dependence of aesthetics on ideology as a whole.” It follows from this that didacticism DRL. The author always set practical and didactic goals for his work, for 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 Rus' was closely connected with the process of cognition, which in turn was determined by the peculiarities of the worldview of medieval man. The worldview of the ancient Russian scribe is characterized by binary, the opposition of the real to the unreal, the temporary to the eternal. These features of the vision of the world affected the theory of knowledge: surrounding reality, the scribe comprehends everyday things with “bodily eyes.” The secrets of the ideal world are revealed to man 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 powers could manifest themselves in life either directly or indirectly, with the help of various hints. Perceiving reality as a symbol of the ideal world, man perceived any phenomenon, any object of the real world as a sign expressing the sacred essence of this phenomenon or object. Based on this vision of the world, the symbolism (11) - one of the most characteristic features medieval literature. The emergence of symbolism in the DRL should not be associated solely with the dominance of Christian ideology. It is inherent in the art of 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 are built on symbols. Dionysius the Areopagite states: “Manifest things are images of invisible things.” Each thing is a symbol of the invisible. In the medieval consciousness, the world doubles. The real, earthly world is a symbol and prototype of the ideal, heavenly world. Only one who has achieved perfection through internal contemplation can penetrate into the heavenly world; then the inner eyes open and prophets are born. Let us note that literature does not forget anything. Based on the principle of doubling the world, images of poet-prophets appear in romantic aesthetics.
Events also double up. They have analogues in the past, primarily in biblical and evangelical history, which is thought of as reality. In a historical event it is important to find hidden meaning. God is an intelligent and wise mentor who is trying to educate humanity with his batog. Please note that symbolism, like the historicism of the DRL, turns out to be associated with the idea of predestination, providentialism. Objects are symbolic. 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 man). Gold symbolizes eternity and Christ. The cross is salvation, the torment of the cross. Let us note 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 DRL could not remain unchanged for seven centuries; they gradually transformed as literature developed.
The literature of Ancient Rus' arose in the 11th century. and developed over seven centuries until the Petrine era. Old Russian literature is a single whole with all the diversity of genres, themes, and images. This literature is the focus of Russian spirituality and patriotism. On the pages of these works there are conversations about the most important philosophical, moral problems, about which heroes of all centuries think, speak, reflect. The works form a love for the Fatherland and one’s people, show the beauty of the Russian land, so these works touch the innermost strings of our hearts.
The significance of Old Russian literature as the basis for the development of new Russian literature is very great. Thus, images, ideas, even the style of writings were inherited by A. S. Pushkin, F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy.
Old Russian literature did not originate from empty space. Its appearance was prepared by the development of language, oral folk art, cultural ties with Byzantium and Bulgaria and was due to the adoption of Christianity as a single religion. First literary works, appeared in Rus', translated. Those books that were necessary for worship were translated.
The very first original works, i.e. written by ourselves Eastern Slavs, date back to the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century. V. There was a formation of Russian national literature, its traditions and features developed that determined 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 Old Russian literature.
2. 1. Historicism of content.
Events and characters in literature, as a rule, are the fruit of the author's imagination. Authors of works of fiction, even if they describe true events real persons, they speculate a lot. But in Ancient Rus' everything was completely different. The ancient Russian scribe only talked about what, in his opinion, really happened. Only in the 17th century. Everyday stories with fictional characters and plots appeared in Rus'.
Both the ancient Russian scribe and his readers firmly believed that the events described actually happened. So the chronicles were a peculiar thing for the people of Ancient Rus' legal document. After the death of Moscow Prince Vasily Dmitrievich in 1425, he 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 arbitrate 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. Handwritten nature of existence.
Another feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of its existence. Even the appearance of the printing press in Rus' changed the situation little until the middle of the 18th century. Existence literary monuments in manuscripts led to special veneration of the book. What even separate treatises and instructions were written about. But on the other hand, handwritten existence led to instability ancient Russian works literature. Those works that have come down to us are the result of the work of many, many people: the author, editor, copyist, and the work itself could last for several centuries. Therefore, in scientific terminology, there are such concepts as “manuscript” (handwritten text) and “list” (rewritten work). The manuscript may contain lists various works and can be written either by the author himself or by scribes. Another fundamental concept in textual criticism is the term “edition,” i.e., the purposeful processing of a monument caused by social political events, changes in the function of the text, or differences in the language of the author and editor.
Closely connected with the existence of a work in manuscripts is such a specific feature of Old Russian literature as the problem of authorship.
The author's principle in Old Russian literature is muted, implicit. Old Russian scribes were not thrifty with other people's texts. When rewriting, the texts were processed: some phrases or episodes were excluded from them or inserted into them, and stylistic “decorations” were added. Sometimes the author's ideas and assessments were even replaced by the opposite ones. The lists of one work differed significantly from each other.
Old Russian scribes did not at all strive to reveal their involvement in literary composition. Many monuments have remained anonymous; the authorship of others has been established by researchers based on indirect evidence. So it is impossible to attribute to someone else the writings of Epiphanius the Wise, with his sophisticated “weaving of words.” The style of Ivan the Terrible’s messages is inimitable, boldly mixing eloquence and rude abuse, learned examples and the style of simple conversation.
It happens that in a manuscript one or another text was signed with the name of an authoritative scribe, which may or may not correspond to reality. Thus, among the works attributed to the famous preacher Saint Cyril of Turov, many, apparently, do not belong to him: the name of Cyril of Turov gave these works additional authority.
The anonymity of literary monuments is also due to the fact that the ancient Russian “writer” did not consciously try to be original, but tried to show himself as traditional as possible, that is, to comply with all the rules and regulations of the established canon.
2. 4. Literary etiquette.
Famous literary critic, researcher ancient Russian literature Academician D.S. Likhachev proposed a special term to designate the canon in the monuments of medieval Russian literature - “literary etiquette”.
Literary etiquette consists of:
From the idea of how this or that course of events should have taken place;
From ideas about how the actor should have behaved in accordance with his position;
From ideas about what words the writer should have described what was happening.
We have before us the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior and the etiquette of words. The hero is supposed to behave this way, and the author is supposed to describe the hero only in appropriate terms.
III. The main genres of ancient Russian literature.
The literature of modern times is subject to the laws of “genre poetics.” It was this category that began to dictate the ways of creating a new text. But in ancient Russian literature the genre did not play such an important role.
A sufficient amount of research has been devoted to the genre uniqueness of Old Russian literature, but there is still no clear classification of genres. However, some genres immediately stood out in ancient Russian literature.
3. 1. Hagiographic genre.
Life is a description of the life of a saint.
Russian hagiographic literature includes hundreds of works, the first of which were written already in the 11th century. The Life, which came to Rus' from Byzantium along with the adoption of Christianity, became the main genre of ancient Russian literature, that literary form, in which the spiritual ideals of Ancient Rus' were clothed.
The compositional and verbal forms of life have been refined over the centuries. High topic- a story about life that embodies ideal service to the world and God - determines the image of the author and the style of the narrative. The author of the life tells the story excitedly; he does not hide his admiration for the holy ascetic and his admiration for his righteous life. The author's emotionality and excitement color the entire narrative in lyrical tones and contribute to the creation of a solemn mood. This atmosphere is also created by the style of narration - high solemn, full of quotations from the Holy Scriptures.
When writing a life, the hagiographer (the author of the life) was obliged to follow a number of rules and canons. The composition of a correct life should be three-fold: introduction, story about the life and deeds of the saint from birth to death, praise. In the introduction, the author asks forgiveness from readers for their inability to write, for the rudeness of the narrative, etc. The introduction was followed by the life itself. It cannot be called a “biography” of a saint in in every sense this word. The author of the life selects from his life only those facts that do not contradict the ideals of holiness. The story about the life of a saint is freed from everything everyday, concrete, and accidental. In a life compiled according to all the rules, there are few dates, exact geographical names, names of historical figures. The action of the life takes place, as it were, outside of historical time and specific space; it unfolds against the backdrop of eternity. Abstraction is one of the features of the hagiographic style.
At the end of the life there should be praise to the saint. This is one of the most important parts of life, requiring great literary art, good knowledge of rhetoric.
The oldest Russian hagiographic monuments are two lives of princes Boris and Gleb and the Life of Theodosius of Pechora.
3. 2. Eloquence.
Eloquence is an area of creativity characteristic of ancient period development of our literature. Monuments of church and secular eloquence are divided into two types: teaching and solemn.
Solemn eloquence required depth of concept and great literary skill. The speaker needed the ability to construct a speech effectively in order to capture the listener, set him in a high mood corresponding to the topic, and shock him with pathos. Existed special term to denote a solemn speech - “word”. (There was no terminological unity in ancient Russian literature. “Word” could also be called war story.) Speeches were not only delivered, but written and distributed in numerous copies.
Solemn eloquence did not pursue narrow practical goals; it required the formulation of problems of broad social, philosophical and theological scope. The main reasons for creating “words” are theological issues, issues of war and peace, defense of the borders of the Russian land, internal and foreign policy, the struggle for cultural and political independence.
The most ancient monument of solemn eloquence is the “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion, written between 1037 and 1050.
Teaching eloquence is teachings and conversations. They are usually small in volume, often devoid of rhetorical embellishments, and written in the Old Russian language, which was generally accessible to people of that time. Church leaders and princes could deliver teachings.
Teachings and conversations have purely practical purposes and contain the information a person needs. “Instruction to the Brethren” by Luke Zhidyata, Bishop of Novgorod from 1036 to 1059, contains a list of rules of behavior that a Christian should adhere to: do not take revenge, do not utter “shameful” words. Go to church and behave quietly in it, honor your elders, judge truthfully, honor your prince, do not curse, keep all the commandments of the Gospel.
Theodosius of Pechora is the founder of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. He owns eight teachings to the brethren, in which Theodosius reminds the monks of the rules of monastic behavior: not to be late for church, make three prostrations, maintain decorum and order when singing prayers and psalms, and bow to each other when meeting. In his teachings, Theodosius of Pechora demands complete renunciation from the world, abstinence, constant prayer and vigil. The abbot sternly denounces idleness, money-grubbing, and intemperance in food.
3. 3. Chronicle.
Chronicles were weather records (by “summers” - by “years”). The annual entry began with the words: “Into the summer.” After this there was a story about events and incidents that, from the point of view of the chronicler, were worthy of the attention of posterity. These could be military campaigns, raids steppe nomads, natural disasters: droughts, crop failures, etc., as well as simply unusual incidents.
It is thanks to the work of chroniclers that modern historians have amazing opportunity look into the distant past.
More often ancient Russian chronicler there was a learned monk who sometimes spent time compiling a chronicle long years. In those days, it was customary to start telling stories about history with ancient times and only then move on to the events of recent years. The chronicler had to first of all find, put in order, and often rewrite the work of his predecessors. If the compiler of the chronicle had at his disposal not one, but several chronicle texts at once, then he had to “reduce” them, that is, combine them, choosing from each what he considered necessary to include in his own work. When materials relating to the past were collected, the chronicler moved on to presenting the events of his time. The result of this great work was the chronicle collection. After some time, other chroniclers continued this collection.
Apparently, the first major monument of ancient Russian chronicle writing was the chronicle code compiled in the 70s of the 11th century. The compiler of this code is believed to have been the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nikon the Great (? - 1088).
Nikon's work formed the basis of another chronicle, which was compiled in the same monastery two decades later. IN scientific literature it received the code name “Initial Vault”. Its nameless compiler replenished Nikon's collection not only with news from recent years, but also with chronicle information from other Russian cities.
“The Tale of Bygone Years”
Based on the chronicles of the 11th century tradition. The greatest chronicle of the era was born Kievan Rus- “The Tale of Bygone Years.”
It was compiled in Kyiv in the 10s. 12th century According to some historians, its probable compiler was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor, also known for his other works. When creating “The Tale of Bygone Years,” its compiler used numerous materials with which he supplemented the Primary Code. These materials included Byzantine chronicles, texts of treaties between Rus' and Byzantium, monuments of translated and ancient Russian literature, and oral traditions.
The compiler of “The Tale of Bygone Years” set as his goal not just to tell about the past of Rus', but also to determine the place of the Eastern Slavs among the European and Asian peoples.
The chronicler talks in detail about the settlement Slavic peoples in ancient times, about the settlement of territories by the Eastern Slavs that would later become part of the Old Russian state, about the morals and customs of different tribes. The Tale of Bygone Years emphasizes not only the antiquity of the Slavic peoples, but also the unity of their culture, language and writing, created in the 9th century. brothers Cyril and Methodius.
The chronicler considers the adoption of Christianity to be the most important event in the history of Rus'. The story of the first Russian Christians, the baptism of Rus', the spread of the new faith, the construction of churches, the emergence of monasticism, and the success of Christian enlightenment occupies a central place in the Tale.
The wealth of historical and political ideas reflected in “The Tale of Bygone Years” suggests that its compiler was not just an editor, but also a talented historian, a deep thinker, and a brilliant publicist. Many chroniclers of subsequent centuries turned to the experience of the creator of the Tale, sought to imitate him and almost necessarily placed the text of the monument at the beginning of each new chronicle.
The literature of Ancient Rus' arose in the 11th century. and developed over seven centuries until the Petrine era. Old Russian literature is a single whole with all the diversity of genres, themes, and images. This literature is the focus of Russian spirituality and patriotism. On the pages of these works there are conversations about the most important philosophical and moral problems that heroes of all centuries think, talk about, and reflect on. The works form a love for the Fatherland and one’s people, show the beauty of the Russian land, so these works touch the innermost strings of our hearts.
The significance of Old Russian literature as the basis for the development of new Russian literature is very great. Thus, images, ideas, even the style of writings were inherited by A.S. Pushkin, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy.
Old Russian literature did not arise out of nowhere. Its appearance was prepared by the development of language, oral folk art, cultural ties with Byzantium and Bulgaria and due to the adoption of Christianity as a single religion. The first literary works to appear in Rus' were translated. Those books that were necessary for worship were translated.
The first original works, that is, written by the Eastern Slavs themselves, date back to the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries. V. The formation of Russian national literature was taking place, its traditions and features were taking shape, determining 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.
Features of Old Russian literature
1. Historicism of content.
Events and characters in literature, as a rule, are the fruit of the author's imagination. Authors of works of fiction, even if they describe the true events of real people, conjecture a lot. But in Ancient Rus' everything was completely different. The ancient Russian scribe only talked about what, in his opinion, really happened. Only in the 17th century. Everyday stories with fictional characters and plots appeared in Rus'.
Both the ancient Russian scribe and his readers firmly believed that the events described actually happened. Thus, chronicles were a kind of legal document for the people of Ancient Rus'. After the death of Moscow Prince Vasily Dmitrievich in 1425, his younger brother Yuri Dmitrievich and son Vasily Vasilyevich began to argue about their rights to the throne. Both princes turned to the Tatar Khan to arbitrate their dispute. At the same time, Yuri Dmitrievich, defending his rights to reign in Moscow, referred to ancient chronicles, which reported that power had previously passed from the prince-father not to his son, but to his brother.
2. Handwritten nature of existence.
Another feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of its existence. Even the appearance of the printing press in Rus' changed the situation little until the middle of the 18th century. The existence of literary monuments in manuscripts led to a special veneration of the book. What even separate treatises and instructions were written about. But on the other hand, handwritten existence led to the instability of ancient Russian works of literature. Those works that have come down to us are the result of the work of many, many people: the author, editor, copyist, and the work itself could last for several centuries. Therefore, in scientific terminology, there are such concepts as “manuscript” (handwritten text) and “list” (rewritten work). The manuscript may contain lists of various works and may be written either by the author himself or by copyists. Another fundamental concept in textual criticism is the term “edition,” i.e., the purposeful reworking of a monument caused by socio-political events, changes in the function of the text, or differences in the language of the author and editor.
Closely connected with the existence of a work in manuscripts is such a specific feature of Old Russian literature as the problem of authorship.
The author's principle in Old Russian literature is muted, implicit. Old Russian scribes were not thrifty with other people's texts. When rewriting, the texts were processed: some phrases or episodes were excluded from them or inserted into them, and stylistic “decorations” were added. Sometimes the author's ideas and assessments were even replaced by the opposite ones. The lists of one work differed significantly from each other.
Old Russian scribes did not at all strive to reveal their involvement in literary composition. Many monuments have remained anonymous; the authorship of others has been established by researchers based on indirect evidence. So it is impossible to attribute to someone else the writings of Epiphanius the Wise, with his sophisticated “weaving of words.” The style of Ivan the Terrible’s messages is inimitable, boldly mixing eloquence and rude abuse, learned examples and the style of simple conversation.
It happens that in a manuscript one or another text was signed with the name of an authoritative scribe, which may or may not correspond to reality. Thus, among the works attributed to the famous preacher Saint Cyril of Turov, many, apparently, do not belong to him: the name of Cyril of Turov gave these works additional authority.
The anonymity of literary monuments is also due to the fact that the ancient Russian “writer” did not consciously try to be original, but tried to show himself as traditional as possible, that is, to comply with all the rules and regulations of the established canon.
4. Literary etiquette.
Well-known literary critic, researcher of ancient Russian literature, Academician D.S. Likhachev proposed a special term to designate the canon in the monuments of medieval Russian literature - “literary etiquette”.
Literary etiquette consists of:
From the idea of how this or that course of events should have taken place;
From ideas about how the actor should have behaved in accordance with his position;
From ideas about what words the writer should have described what was happening.
We have before us the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior and the etiquette of words. The hero is supposed to behave this way, and the author is supposed to describe the hero only in appropriate terms.
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 amount of research has been devoted to the genre uniqueness of Old Russian literature, but there is still no clear classification of genres. However, some genres immediately stood out in ancient Russian literature.
1. Hagiographic genre.
Life - a description of the life of a saint.
Russian hagiographic literature includes hundreds of works, the first of which were written already in the 11th century. The Life, which came to Rus' from Byzantium along with the adoption of Christianity, became the main genre of Old Russian literature, the literary form in which the spiritual ideals of Ancient Rus' were clothed.
The compositional and verbal forms of life have been refined over the centuries. The high theme - a story about life that embodies ideal service to the world and God - determines the image of the author and the style of the narrative. The author of the life tells the story excitedly; he does not hide his admiration for the holy ascetic and his admiration for his righteous life. The author's emotionality and excitement color the entire narrative in lyrical tones and contribute to the creation of a solemn mood. This atmosphere is also created by the style of narration - high solemn, full of quotations from the Holy Scriptures.
When writing a life, the hagiographer (the author of the life) was obliged to follow a number of rules and canons. The composition of a correct life should be three-fold: introduction, story about the life and deeds of the saint from birth to death, praise. In the introduction, the author asks forgiveness from readers for their inability to write, for the rudeness of the narrative, etc. The introduction was followed by the life itself. It cannot be called a “biography” of a saint in the full sense of the word. The author of the life selects from his life only those facts that do not contradict the ideals of holiness. The story about the life of a saint is freed from everything everyday, concrete, and accidental. In a life compiled according to all the rules, there are few dates, exact geographical names, or names of historical figures. The action of the life takes place, as it were, outside of historical time and specific space; it unfolds against the backdrop of eternity. Abstraction is one of the features of the hagiographic style.
At the end of the life there should be praise to the saint. This is one of the most important parts of life, which required great literary art and a good knowledge of rhetoric.
The oldest Russian hagiographic monuments are two lives of princes Boris and Gleb and the Life of Theodosius of Pechora.
2. Eloquence.
Eloquence is an area of creativity characteristic of the most ancient period of the development of our literature. Monuments of church and secular eloquence are divided into two types: teaching and solemn.
Solemn eloquence required depth of concept and great literary skill. The speaker needed the ability to construct a speech effectively in order to capture the listener, set him in a high mood corresponding to the topic, and shock him with pathos. There was a special term for a solemn speech - “word”. (There was no terminological unity in ancient Russian literature. A military story could also be called “the Word.”) Speeches were not only pronounced, but written and distributed in numerous copies.
Solemn eloquence did not pursue narrow practical goals; it required the formulation of problems of broad social, philosophical and theological scope. The main reasons for creating “words” are theological issues, issues of war and peace, defense of the borders of the Russian land, domestic and foreign policy, the struggle for cultural and political independence.
The most ancient monument of solemn eloquence is the “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion, written between 1037 and 1050.
Teaching eloquence is teachings and conversations. They are usually small in volume, often devoid of rhetorical embellishments, and written in the Old Russian language, which was generally accessible to people of that time. Church leaders and princes could deliver teachings.
Teachings and conversations have purely practical purposes and contain the information a person needs. “Instruction to the Brethren” by Luke Zhidyata, Bishop of Novgorod from 1036 to 1059, contains a list of rules of behavior that a Christian should adhere to: do not take revenge, do not utter “shameful” words. Go to church and behave quietly in it, honor your elders, judge truthfully, honor your prince, do not curse, keep all the commandments of the Gospel.
Theodosius of Pechora is the founder of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. He owns eight teachings to the brethren, in which Theodosius reminds the monks of the rules of monastic behavior: not to be late for church, make three prostrations, maintain decorum and order when singing prayers and psalms, and bow to each other when meeting. In his teachings, Theodosius of Pechora demands complete renunciation from the world, abstinence, constant prayer and vigil. The abbot sternly denounces idleness, money-grubbing, and intemperance in food.
3. Chronicle.
Chronicles were weather records (by “years” - by “years”). The annual entry began with the words: “Into the summer.” After this there was a story about events and incidents that, from the point of view of the chronicler, were worthy of the attention of posterity. These could be military campaigns, raids by steppe nomads, natural disasters: droughts, crop failures, etc., as well as simply unusual incidents.
It is thanks to the work of chroniclers that modern historians have 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 telling stories about history from ancient times and only then move on to the events of recent years. The chronicler had to first of all find, put in order, and often rewrite the work of his predecessors. If the compiler of the chronicle had at his disposal not one, but several chronicle texts at once, then he had to “reduce” them, that is, combine them, choosing from each what he considered necessary to include in his own work. When materials relating to the past were collected, the chronicler moved on to presenting the events of his time. The result of this great work was the chronicle collection. After some time, other chroniclers continued this collection.
Apparently, the first major monument of ancient Russian chronicle writing was the chronicle code compiled in the 70s of the 11th century. The compiler of this code is believed to have been the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nikon the Great (? - 1088).
Nikon's work formed the basis of another chronicle, which was compiled in the same monastery two decades later. In the scientific literature it received the code name "Initial arch". Its nameless compiler replenished Nikon's collection not only with news from recent years, but also with chronicle information from other Russian cities.
"The Tale of Bygone Years"
Based on the chronicles of the 11th century tradition. The greatest chronicle monument of the era of Kievan Rus was born - “The Tale of Bygone Years”.
It was compiled in Kyiv in the 10s. 12th century According to some historians, its probable compiler was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor, also known for his other works. When creating The Tale of Bygone Years, its compiler used numerous materials with which he supplemented the Primary Code. These materials included Byzantine chronicles, texts of treaties between Rus' and Byzantium, monuments of translated and ancient Russian literature, and oral traditions.
The compiler of “The Tale of Bygone Years” set as his goal not just to tell about the past of Rus', but also to determine the place of the Eastern Slavs among the European and Asian peoples.
The chronicler talks in detail about the settlement of Slavic peoples in ancient times, about the settlement of territories by the Eastern Slavs that would later become part of the Old Russian state, about the morals and customs of different tribes. The Tale of Bygone Years emphasizes not only the antiquity of the Slavic peoples, but also the unity of their culture, language and writing, created in the 9th century. brothers Cyril and Methodius.
The chronicler considers the adoption of Christianity to be the most important event in the history of Rus'. The story of the first Russian Christians, the baptism of Rus', the spread of the new faith, the construction of churches, the emergence of monasticism, and the success of Christian enlightenment occupies a central place in the Tale.
The wealth of historical and political ideas reflected in The Tale of Bygone Years suggests that its compiler was not just an editor, but also a talented historian, a deep thinker, and a brilliant publicist. Many chroniclers of subsequent centuries turned to the experience of the creator of the Tale, sought to imitate him and almost necessarily placed the text of the monument at the beginning of each new chronicle.
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Old Russian literature (DRL) is the foundation of all literature. The main keepers and copyists of books in Ancient Rus', as a rule, were monks, who were least interested in storing and copying books of secular (secular) content. And this largely explains why the vast majority of works that have come down to us Old Russian writing has an ecclesiastical character. A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is handwritten the nature of its existence and distribution. Moreover, this or that work did not exist in the form of a separate, independent manuscript, but was part of various collections that pursued certain practical goals. “Everything that serves not for the sake of benefit, but for the sake of embellishment, is subject to the accusation of vanity.” These words of Basil the Great largely determined the attitude ancient Russian society to written works. The value of a particular handwritten book was assessed from the point of view of its practical purpose and usefulness. Another feature of our ancient literature is anonymity, the impersonality of her works. This was a consequence of the religious-Christian attitude of feudal society towards man, and in particular towards the work of a writer, artist, and architect. At best, we know the names of individual authors, “copywriters” of books, who modestly put their name either at the end of the manuscript, or in its margins, or (which is much less common) in the title of the work In most cases, the author of the work prefers to remain unknown, and sometimes hide behind the authoritative name of one or another “church father” - John Chrysostom, Basil the Great. One of the characteristic features of Old Russian literature is its connection with church and business writing, on the one hand, and oral poetic folk art, on the other. The nature of these connections on each historical stage development of literature and in its individual monuments was different. However, the wider and deeper literature used artistic experience folklore, the more clearly it reflected the phenomena of reality, the wider was the scope of its ideological and artistic influence. Feature ancient Russian literature - and s t o r i z m. Its heroes are mainly historical figures, it allows almost no fiction and strictly follows the fact. Even numerous stories about “miracles” - phenomena that seem medieval man supernatural, not so much the invention of an ancient Russian writer, but rather accurate records of the stories of either eyewitnesses or the people themselves with whom the “miracle” happened. The historicism of ancient Russian literature has a specifically medieval character. The course and development of historical events is explained by God's will, the will of providence. The heroes of the works are princes, rulers of the state, standing at the top of the hierarchical ladder of feudal society. Themes are 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 models, and does not allow artistic invention.
