General characteristics of ancient Russian literature of the XII century. Ii

08.04.2019

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The word "Monument" comes from the word "memory". Most often, structures or busts, erected in honor and glory of a person, are called monuments. For example, many monuments to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin have been created. To perpetuate the memory of the great poet, his grateful admirers erected monuments to him. Monuments in those places where the poet lived and wrote his works are especially dear to us. They keep the memory of the poet's stay in these places. Ancient temples and old buildings in general are called architectural monuments, because they also keep the memory of the past centuries of native history. www.tracetransport.ru

It takes time for some composition to be recognized as a literary monument. The ancient Russian writer who compiled the chronicles, stories or biographies of the saints probably did not think that he was creating monuments. But after some time, the descendants evaluate the work as a monument if they see in it something outstanding or characteristic of the era when it was created.

What is the value of literary, architectural and cultural monuments in general? The monument is a witness of its time.

Among the outstanding monuments Old Russian literature include "The Tale of Bygone Years" by Nestor the Chronicler, "The Tale of Boris and Gleb", "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", "The Life of Sergius of Radonezh", "The Chronicle of the Battle of Kulikovo" and others heroic works Ancient Rus... One of the most remarkable monuments of Old Russian literature is "The Teaching of Vladimir Monomakh to His Children", extracted from the Laurentian Chronicle. All these monuments of Old Russian literature cannot but turn to those who study native history and Russian literature. We will also turn to them, because they all bear us a living testimony about the past of our Fatherland.

Literature is a part of reality, it occupies a certain place in the history of the people and fulfills enormous social responsibilities. In the period of the IX-early XIII centuries. serves the purpose of unification, expresses the national consciousness of unity. She is the keeper of history and legends, and these latter were a kind of means of conquering space, celebrating the sanctity or significance of this or that place: a tract, a mound, a village, etc. within which the entire vast Russian land was perceived and became visible. The chronicles and lives of saints, historical stories and stories about the founding of monasteries played the same role. All Russian literature was distinguished by its deep historicism. Literature was one of the ways of assimilating the surrounding world.

What did ancient Russian literature teach? The secular element of ancient Russian literature was deeply patriotic. She taught active love for the motherland, fostered civic consciousness, and strove to correct the shortcomings of society.

In fact, all the monuments of ancient Russian literature thanks to their historical themes much more closely related to each other than at present. They can be arranged in chronological order, but as a whole they tell one story: Russian and world. Ancient literature by the nature of its existence and creation, it stands for folklore than for the personal creativity of the new time. The work, once created by the author, then in numerous rewritings was changed by scribes, reworked, in different environments acquired different ideological colors, supplemented, overgrown with new episodes, etc.: therefore, almost every work that has come down to us in several copies is known to us in various editions, types and editions.

The first Russian works are full of admiration for the wisdom of the universe, but wisdom not closed in itself, but serving man. On the way of such an anthropocentric perception of the universe, the relationship between the artist and the object of art also changed. And this new attitude led a person away from the canonically recognized church.

The appeal of art to its creators and to all people became the style-forming dominant of all monumental art and all literature of the pre-Mongol period. It is from here that the imposing, solemnity, ceremoniality of all forms of art and literature of this time comes from.

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Old Russian literature Patristics

Flourishing Kievan Rus, the time of the triumph of Christianity. in Kiev alone, about four hundred churches were built. A variety of genres is encouraged, the influence of folklore on Old Russian literature does not dry out. The priority of the book tradition is affirmed.

The style of monumental historicism continues its development, as in the images and frescoes, the prince in the annals is always official, as if turned to the viewer. The Christian worldview in depicting people was put at the service of strengthening the feudal system. It appeared mainly where it came to legal crimes: murder, fraud.

With regard to negative heroes the writer is less formal than in relation goodies your story.

One of the most negative characters in the Ipatiev Chronicle is Vladimir Galitsky. Its main feature: greed; he acts not directly, not by war, but by bribery, money. This image of Vladimir expressed the hatred of the representatives of the poor Kiev principality to the richer in the XII century. the principality of Galitsky. Literary portraits princes are also laconic, energetically inscribed in space.

On the icon of the XII century Tretyakov Gallery from the Novgorod Yuryev Monastery, George the Victorious stands with a shield behind his back, with a spear and sword in his hands. The authors strive to emphasize the courage of the princes not only in the description, but also in the commendable description of the heroes, but also in the description of the action. There are almost no characters here and there is no connection between the development of historical events and characteristic features participants. Each prince performs his life work as a representative of a certain clan, princes.

Dependent chroniclers tried to portray their prince in terms of ideal behavior. They talked mainly about the activities of certain strata of society. XII is characterized by the awakening of thought, Klyuchevsky believes. The initial Russian chronicle, along with other monuments of Russian literature, is a significant indicator of growth, national self-awareness in Ancient Rus. The language of the chronicle, retaining in church narratives and in quotations from biblical books, the vocabulary, the form of the Church Slavonic language in other cases, is especially informative in the patericon included in the folk poetic living Russian language. New genres are partly formed at the intersection of folklore and literature.

The most outstanding monument of this era is "The Lay of Igor's Campaign". “The word was created in the 12th century. First pronounced at the Lyubech congress. The author saw the essence of this event in conveying the idea of unity. Genre system restoration theme. The work has a unity of composition. "Word ..." is dedicated to Igor's campaign. In "Word ..." it is natural that there are often unexpected transitions, from one part to another. the text of the Word is artistically homogeneous, in mood, thanks to a single picture of the Russian land. The theme of love and care dominates. The connection "The Lay of Igor's Host" with oral folk poetry is most clearly felt within two genres; Igor, the lament of Yaroslavna's mother Plach means the author of the word when he speaks of the groans of Kiev and Chernigov and the entire Russian land, after Igor's campaign. Twice the author cites the most crying: the cry of Yaroslavna, the cry of Russian wives. Repeatedly distracted from the narrative, resorting to exclamations. The closeness of the Word to crying is strong in Yaroslavna's cry. The author of the Lay of Igor's Polk constantly resorts to the images of the animal world, never introduces foreign animals into his work, resorting only to the images of Russian nature.

The pagan elements in the word about Igor's regiment are, as you know, strongly exposed. The slenderness of the composition is maintained by dividing the word into a series of songs, the picture ends with a refrain. The poem is divided into stanzas. The composition is determined by the concept and lyroepic nature, the author gives an assessment in the network of the conciliar unity of the past and the present. Russian women embody care, love for a deceased son. IP Eremin rightly notes in the "Lay of Igor's Campaign" many of the techniques of oratory. Before us in the Word, as in many ancient Russian monuments the author often feels himself to be a speaker rather than a writer, his readers are listeners rather than readers, and his topic is a teaching rather than a story.

The victory of the weapon was forged in the righteous age. Focus on people who don't call different forces... The word about Polk Igor is a lyrical revelation to nature. Genre education takes place in this era. Characteristic is the work outside the traditional genres, to which the aforementioned "Word" and "The Prayer of Daniel the Zatochnik" belong.

The Prayer was opened and partially published by N.M. Karamzin. Prayer has come down to us in lists XVI-XVIII not earlier with traces of later insertions and interpolations. All known prayer lists are clearly divided into 2 editions. The prayer of Daniel the imprisoned is a petition letter, from which it follows that a certain Daniel, judging by the text of the Prayer, is in captivity. Prayer names different princes. The first is composed like this "The word of Daniel the Hedgehog was written to his prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich." The second edition dates back to the XII century. in some sources, others - in the XIII century.

The system of folklore genres was sufficiently adapted, for the most part, to reflect the needs of the pagan tribal community... The cult of the brothers Boris and Gleb, who meekly obeyed the hand of the murderer, the followers of Svyatopolk, is created. Princes Boris and Gleb were the first saints to be canonized by the Russian Church. Boris and Gleb were the first married elect of the Russian Church, the first recognized miracle workers, its recognized heavenly prayer books for the new Christian people. Boris and Gleb were not martyrs for Christ, but fell victim to a political crime in the princely civil strife, like many before and after them.

In ancient times on the territory modern Russia inhabited by numerous tribes with various pagan beliefs and rituals associated with the worship of many gods. The Slavs were among the first to live on this territory. The Slavs carved idols from wood. The heads of these idols were covered with silver, and the beard and mustache were made of gold. They worshiped the god of thunder - Perun. There was a sun god - Dazhdbog, Stribog - disposed of the air elements, winds. Idols were put on a high place, and in order to appease the gods they brought bloody sacrifices (bird, animal). By the 9th century, the tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs formed principalities, which were headed by princes. Each prince had a squad (the richest higher nobility) Relations between the princes were complicated, internecine wars often broke out.

In the I X - X centuries. various principalities of the Eastern Slavs united, created a single state, which became known as the Russian land or Rus. The central city was Kiev, the head of state was Grand Duke Kiev. Rurik became the founder of the dynasty of Kiev princes. Slavic tribes fought with each other and then decided to call one of the foreigners. The Slavs went to the Varangians who lived on the shores of the Baltic Sea. One of the leaders, named Rurik, was offered to come to the Slavic lands and rule. Rurik came to Novgorod, where he began to reign. He founded the Rurik dynasty, which ruled in Russia until the 16th century. The Slavic lands ruled by Rurik increasingly began to be called Rus, and the inhabitants were called Russians, and later Russians. In the language of the Varangians, a detachment of rowers, which sailed led by Rurik on a large boat to Novgorod, was called Rus. But the Russians themselves understood the word rus differently: the bright land. Light brown meant light. The princes who began to rule after Rurik (Igor, Princess Olga, Oleg, Vladimir Svyatoslav, Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir Monomakh, etc.) sought to end civil strife within the country, defended the independence of the state, strengthened and expanded its borders.

Significant date in the history of Russia-988. This is the year of the adoption of Christianity. Christianity came to Russia from Byzantium. Writing spreads with Christianity. In the second half of the 9th century, brothers Cyril and Methodius created Slavic alphabet... Two alphabets were created: Cyrillic (named after Cyril) and Glagolitic (verb-word, speech), Glagolitic did not become widespread. The brothers are revered by the Slavic peoples as enlighteners and they are recognized as saints. Writing contributed to the development of Old Russian literature. The literature of Ancient Russia has a number of features.

I. Feature - syncretic, i.e. compound. This feature is associated with underdevelopment genre forms... In one ancient Russian genre, features characteristic of other genres can be distinguished, that is, elements of several genres are combined in one genre, for example, in "Voyages" there are descriptions of geographical and historical places, and preaching and teaching. A vivid manifestation of syncreticism can be traced in the annals, they contain a military tale, and legend, and samples of contracts, and reflections on religious topics.

II. Feature - monumentality. The scribes of Ancient Russia showed the greatness of the world, they were interested in the fate of the Motherland. The scribe seeks to portray the eternal; Eternal values defined by the Christian religion. Hence, there is no image of appearance, life, tk. it's all mortal. The scribe seeks to lead a story about the entire Russian land.

III. Feature - historicism. In ancient Russian monuments, historical figures were described. These are stories about battles, about princely crimes. The heroes were princes, generals, saints. In ancient Russian literature, there are no fictional heroes, there are no works on fictional plots. Fiction was equal to a lie, and a lie was unacceptable. The writer's right to fiction was realized only in the 17th century.

IV. Feature - patriotism. Ancient Russian literature is marked by high patriotism and civic consciousness. The authors always grieve over the defeats suffered by the Russian land. The scribes have always tried to put boyars and princes on the true path. The worst princes were condemned, the best were praised.

V. Feature - anonymity. Old Russian literature is mostly anonymous. Very rarely, some authors put their names at the end of the manuscripts, calling themselves "unworthy", "many sinful", sometimes ancient Russian authors signed the names of popular Byzantine writers.

VI. Feature - Old Russian literature was entirely handwritten. And although book printing appeared in the middle of the 16th century. even before the eighteenth century, works were circulated by correspondence. When rewriting, the scribes made their own corrections, changes, shortened or expanded the text. Therefore, the monuments of Old Russian literature did not have a stable text. From the 11th to the 14th century, the main writing material was parchment, made from calf skins. Parchment from the title ancient city(in Greece) Pergamum, where in the II century BC. began to make parchment. In Russia, parchment is called "veal" or "haratya". This expensive material was available only to the propertied class. Craftsmen and traders used birch bark. Recordings were made on birch bark. Wooden boards were fastened together in the form of student notebooks. Famous birch bark letters are written monuments of the 11th-15th centuries. Birch bark letters - a source on the history of society and Everyday life medieval people, as well as the history of the East Slavic languages.

On birch bark or parchment they wrote in ink. The ink was made from decoctions of alder or oak bark, from soot. Until the 19th century. they used a quill pen, since parchment was expensive, so to save writing material, the words in the line were not separated, everything was written together. The paragraphs in the manuscript were written in red ink - hence the “red line”. Frequently used words were written in abbreviated form - under special sign- “titlom” For example litter (short for verbs, ie to speak) Buka (Mother of God)

The parchment was lined with a ruler. Each letter was written out. The texts were rewritten by scribes either in the width of the entire page, or in two columns. There are three types of handwriting: charter, semi-charter, cursive. Charter - handwriting of the XI - XIII centuries. This is a handwriting with a regular, almost square outline of the letters. The letter is solemn, calm, wide, but not high letters were written. The work on the manuscript required painstaking work and great art. When the scribe finished his hard work, he happily noted this at the end of the book. So, at the end of the Laurentian Chronicle it is written: "Rejoice, book writer, who has reached the end of books." They wrote slowly. Thus, the "Ostromir Gospel" was created for seven months.

From the second half of the X1V century, paper came into use and the charter gave way to a semi-ustav, a more fluent writing. The division of the text into words and the use of punctuation marks is associated with the semi-ustav. Straight lines of the charter give way to oblique lines. The charter of Russian manuscripts is drawing, calligraphic writing. In semi-ustav it was allowed a large number of abbreviations of words, put stress. The semi-statutory letter was faster and more convenient than the statutory one. Since the 16th century, semi-official writing has been replaced by cursive writing. "Cursive" is a tendency to speed up writing. This is a special type of writing that differs in its graphics from the statute and semi-statute. This is a simplified version of these two types. The monuments of ancient writing testify to the high level of culture and skill of the ancient Russian scribes, who were entrusted with the correspondence of texts. They tried to give handwritten books a highly artistic and luxurious appearance, decorating them with various types of ornaments and drawings. With the development of the charter, a geometric ornament develops. It is a rectangle, arch and others geometric figures, inside of which, on the sides of the title, patterns were applied in the form of circles, triangles and others. The ornament could be one-color and multi-colored. Ornaments with images of plants and animals were also used. We painted in capital letters, used miniatures - that is, illustrations to the text. The written sheets were stitched together in notebooks, which were bound into wooden boards. The boards were covered with leather, and sometimes they were clothed in frames specially made of silver and gold. A remarkable example of jewelry art is the frame of the Mstislavov Gospel (XII). In the middle of the XV1 century, book printing appeared. Church works were printed, and artistic monuments were copied for a long time. The original manuscripts have not reached us; their later copies of the 15th century have survived. Thus, "The Lay of Igor's Regiment", written in the late 80s of the XII century, was found in the list of the XVI century. Textologists study the monuments, establish the time and place of their writing, determine which list is more consistent with the original author's text. And paleographers, based on handwriting, writing material, and miniatures, establish the time of creation of the manuscript. In ancient Russia, the word book in singular was not used because the book consisted of several notebooks bound together. The books were treated with care, they believed that poor handling of the book could harm a person. On one of the books the inscription was preserved: "Who will spoil the books, who will steal, let it be damned."

Monasteries were the centers of book writing, education and culture of Ancient Rus. In this respect, the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery played a major role. Theodosius of the Caves made it the duty of monks to write books. In his Life, Theodosius of Pechersky describes the process of creating books. Day and night the monks wrote books in their cells. The monks led an ascetic lifestyle, were educated people... They not only rewrote books, but also translated from Greek Bible, Psalter (religious songs), church prayers, clarified the meaning church holidays... Several books have survived since the 11th century. They are tastefully decorated. There are books decorated with gold and pearls. Such books were very expensive. In Russia, book printing was considered a state affair.

The first printing house was founded by Ivan Fedorov in 1561 in Moscow. He creates a printing press, a font, according to his scheme, a Printing House is being built near the Kremlin. 1564 - the year of birth of Russian book printing. Fedorov publishes the first Russian primer, which taught both adults and children to read and write. Books and ancient manuscripts are kept in the libraries of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Yaroslavl, Kostroma. Few parchment manuscripts have survived, many in one copy, but most of burned down during fires.

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4. Monuments of Old Russian literature

What is the value of literary, architectural and cultural monuments in general? The monument is a witness of its time.

Among the outstanding monuments of Old Russian literature are "The Tale of Bygone Years" by Nestor the Chronicler, "The Legend of Boris and Gleb", "The Tale of Igor's Regiment", "The Life of Sergius of Radonezh", "The Chronicle of the Battle of Kulikovo" and other heroic works of Ancient Russia ... One of the most remarkable monuments of Old Russian literature is "The Teaching of Vladimir Monomakh to His Children", extracted from the Laurentian Chronicle. All these monuments of Old Russian literature cannot but be addressed by those who study their native history and Russian literature. We will also turn to them, because they all bear us a living testimony about the past of our Fatherland.

In fact, all the monuments of ancient Russian literature due to their historical themes are much more closely related to each other than at the present time. They can be arranged in chronological order, but as a whole they tell one story: Russian and world. By the nature of its existence and creation, ancient literature stands for folklore rather than for the personal creativity of modern times. The work, once created by the author, then in numerous rewritings was changed by scribes, reworked, in different environments acquired different ideological colors, supplemented, overgrown with new episodes, etc.: therefore, almost every work that has come down to us in several copies is known to us in various editions, types and editions.

The literary style of the entire pre-Mongol period can be defined as the style of monumental historicism. People of that time strove to see in everything significant in content, powerful in its forms. The style of monumental historicism is characterized by the desire to view the depicted as if from great distances - spatial, temporal (historical), hierarchical distances. This is a style within which everything that is most beautiful appears large, monumental, majestic. A kind of "panoramic vision" develops. The chronicler sees the Russian land as if from great height... He strives for a narrative about the entire Russian land, immediately and easily passes from an event in one principality to an event in another - at the opposite end of the Russian land. This happens not only because the chronicler combined sources of different geographical origins in his narrative, but also because it was precisely such a "wide" story that corresponded to the aesthetic ideas of his time.

The desire to combine various geographical points in his narrative is also characteristic of the works of Vladimir Monomakh - especially his biography.

It is characteristic that the writers of the IX - XIII centuries. perceive victory over the enemy as gaining "space", and defeat as loss of space, misfortune as "crampedness", Life path, if he is full of need and grief, it is, first of all, a "cramped path."

The ancient Russian writer seeks to mark more different places that happened in them. historical events... The land is sacred for him, it is consecrated by these historical events. He marks both the place on the Volga where Boris's horse stumbled in the field and broke his leg, and Smyadyn, where Gleb found the news of his father's death. and Vyshgorod, where the brothers were later buried, etc. The author seems to be in a hurry to connect with the memory of Boris and Gleb more different places, tracts, rivers and cities. This is especially significant in connection with the fact that the cult of Boris and Gleb directly served the idea of the unity of the Russian land, directly emphasized the unity of the princely family, the need for brotherly love, the strict subordination of the younger princes to the elders.

The writer makes sure that all the characters behave in an appropriate way, so that they utter all the necessary words. "The Legend of Boris and Gleb" from beginning to end is surrounded by speeches of the characters, as if ceremonially commenting on what is happening.

And one more feature of the aesthetic formation is its ensemble character.

Medieval art is a systemic art, systemic and unified. It unites visible world and invisible, created by man with the entire cosmos. The works of literature of this period are not self-contained and not isolated worlds. Each of them, as it were, gravitates towards the neighbors that already existed before it. Each new work is, first of all, an addition to the existing ones, but the addition is not in form, but in the theme, in the plot. Each new work is, first of all, an addition to the existing ones, but the addition is not in form, but in the theme, in the plot.

5. "Word of Law and Grace"

"The Lay of Law and Grace" of the first Kiev metropolitan from the Russians, Illarion, delivered at the behest of the Kiev prince Yaroslav the Wise, is devoted to the most complicated historiosophical problem. It speaks about the place of Russia in world history, about historical role of the Russian people.

It is full of pride in the successes of Christian culture in Russia, and how surprising that with all this it is devoid of national limitations. Hilarion does not put the Russian people above other peoples, but speaks of the equality of all the peoples of the world who have joined Christianity.

This is the most perfect work, both in the depth of its content and in the brilliant form in which it is clothed: consistency, consistency, ease of transitions from topic to topic, rhythmic organization of speech, a variety of images, artistic laconicism make Illarion's Lay one of the best works of the world oratory. art. And this work is not a rehash of Byzantine samples, for it is not just a theological sermon of the type that was widespread in Byzantium, but a theological and political speech that Byzantine oratory did not know, and at the same time on a national-Russian theme.

6. "The Tale of Bygone Years"

A completely different character. This is the work of many chroniclers. The last of them, Nestor, gave the Initial Chronicle an artistic and ideological completeness and gave it a name.

This work expresses artistic unity, but the unity of a special, medieval type. Now we demand from a work of art complete uniformity of style, rigid unity of ideas, complete absence of seams and differences in individual parts. If there are differences, they enter into a certain strictly uniting unity. Artistic unity in Ancient Russia was understood much more broadly. This could be the unity of the ensemble, which was created over several decades and retained the author's characteristics in each of its layers of different times.

In the stories about the most ancient events of Russian history, the chronicler reflected the innocence characteristic of the legends that have come down to him. In the story about the baptism of Russia and about the first Christian martyrs, the chronicler applies all the church ceremoniality of presentation. On the other hand, the chronicle story about the blinding of Prince Vasilko of Terebovlsky has a very special character. Here the chronicler had to amaze the reader with the horror of the crime committed, and this story is full of a kind of medieval naturalism, which perfectly describes all the terrible events.

The historical consciousness expressed in The Tale of Bygone Years is very high level... The first chroniclers did not just describe events, they were kind of researchers, weighed different versions the same event. Restoring the course of Russian history, the chroniclers strove to connect this history of Russia with the history of the world, to understand it as a part of world history, to find out the origin of the Slavs and individual East Slavic tribes. The chronicler describes with pedagogical clarity geographic location Rus, starting his description from the watershed of the Volga, Dnieper, Western Dvina, and following their current, describes - into which sea each of them flows and into which countries can be on each of the seas.

7. "Teachings"

The works of the Kiev prince Vladimir Monomakh are included in one of the lists of the "Tale of Bygone Years" under the year 1097 and are known as "Teachings" by Vladimir Monomakh. In fact, only the first of them can be called "teaching"; this first is followed by Monomakh's autobiography, where he talks about his campaigns and hunts; the autobiography is followed by a letter from Monomakh to his age-old enemy Oleg Svyatoslavovich - the ancestor of the princes of Olgovichi. All three works are written in a different manner, respectively. different genres which they represent, but all three are linked by the same political idea.

Vladimir Monomakh promotes strict adherence mutual obligations and mutual compliance of princes. Strive to show the need to observe the principles of contentment with hereditary destinies by personal example, but he is not afraid to talk about those violations of this principle that he himself allowed.

8. "Life of Theodosius of Pechersky"

The Life of Theodosius, although it was essentially the first Russian life, informed the completeness of the biographical genre. The story about a person is conducted in this work by highlighting only some moments of his life: those in which he reaches, as it were, his highest self-manifestation.

From the "Life" we learn a lot about the life around him and the people completely immersed in this life. Here and the life of a wealthy provincial house in Vasilva - at home, the leadership of his domineering matter. We can learn something about the position of the servants. The flight of Theodosius to Kiev depicts a trade train with carts heavily loaded with goods. But the description of everyday life is conducted in a very restrained manner - only to the extent that it is necessary for the plot, - the plot is always above the insignificance and vanity of "passing" life. In the setting of the temporary, the eternal is seen, in the accidental - the significant. Thanks to this, everyday life is dressed up in the ceremonial forms of high church virtues. These are, as it were, those old and poor relics that lie in precious vessels and which the pilgrims who have come to the monastery worship.

Conclusion

The beginning of ancient Russian literature determined its character for the following time. It is significant that the influence of The Tale of Bygone Years remained effective for half a millennium. In full or abridged form, it was rewritten at the beginning of most of the regional and grand ducal chronicles. She was imitated by subsequent chroniclers. For political glorifications, Metropolitan Hilarion's "Word on Law and Grace" remained exemplary for many centuries, for hagiographic literature such as "martyas" - the lives of Boris and Gleb, for hagiographic biographies - "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves", for church teachings - the teachings of the same Theodosius etc.

In the future, Russian literature is enriched with new genres, becomes more complex in content; its social functions acquire more and more ramified forms and diverse applications, literature becomes more and more publicistic, but at the same time does not lose its monumentality and medieval historicism.

Literature

1. Adrianova-Peretz V.P. The main tasks of studying Old Russian literature in research - pp. 5-14

2. Adrianova-Peretz V.P. Old Russian literature and folklore: (To the problem statement). - S. 5-16

3. Klyuchevsky V.O. Old Russian lives of the saints, as historical source- M .: graduate School, 1879 - 254s.

4. Kuskov V. Literature and culture of Ancient Rus: dictionary-reference book. - M .: Higher school, 1994 .-- 229s.

5. Moral experience in the bookishness of Ancient Rus // Thought. Yearbook of the St. Petersburg Association of Philosophers. - Issue. No. 1, 2000.

Kuskov V. Literature and culture of Ancient Russia: dictionary-reference book. - M .: Higher school, 1994 .-- P. 129

Klyuchevsky V.O. Old Russian Lives of Saints as a Historical Source - M .: Higher School, 1879 - P. 14

Moral experience in the bookishness of Ancient Rus // Thought. Yearbook of the St. Petersburg Association of Philosophers. - Issue. No. 1, 2000.

Adrianova-Peretz V.P. Ancient Russian literature and folklore: (To the problem statement). - S. 5-16

Adrianova-Peretz V.P. The main tasks of studying ancient Russian literature in research pp. 5-14

Ancient Russian literature. There is no need to consider all the monuments that existed in Ancient Russia. Using the example of several works, we will consider how the theme of man and his deeds developed in ancient Russian literature. 2. Man in the literature of ancient Russia One of the first, most important genres of emerging Russian literature was the genre of the chronicle. The oldest surviving chronicle collection ...

To the Soviet deficit, but also to Old Russian literature. But the differences between ancient Russian literature and contemporary literatures of the Latin West or Byzantium do not at all speak of its inferiority, "inferiority." It's just that Old Russian culture is different in many ways. Culturologist and semioticist B.A. Ouspensky explained the originality of Old Russian literature as follows. The word, according to semiotics (the science of signs), is a conditional ...

... "The word about Igor's regiment" "each era finds ... new and its own" [Likhachev, 1994: 3] Conclusion The study made it possible to reveal the aesthetic and functional nature of ancient Russian literature, using the cultural aspects of the analysis artistic text, to comprehend the spiritual atmosphere of Ancient Russia and the author's model of the world, to identify and analyze methodological and methodological ...

He cannot help us: he himself calls his work either a "word", then a "song", then a "story" ("Why, brethren, this story ..."). The "Word" has no analogies among other monuments of ancient Russian literature. Consequently, this is either an exceptional work in its genre originality, or a representative special genre, whose monuments have not reached us, since this genre, combining features ...

The literature of Ancient Russia originated in the 11th century. and developed over the course of seven centuries before the Peter's era. Old Russian literature is a single whole with all the variety of genres, themes, images. This literature is the focus of Russian spirituality and patriotism. On the pages of these works, there is talk about the most important philosophical, moral issues, about which the heroes of all centuries think, speak, reflect. 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 images, ideas, even the style of compositions were inherited by A.S. Pushkin, F.M.Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy.

Old Russian literature did not arise from scratch. Its appearance was prepared by the development of language, oral folk art, cultural ties with Byzantium and Bulgaria and is due to the adoption of Christianity as a single religion. The first literary works, which appeared in Russia, are transferable. The books were translated that were necessary for the divine service.

The very first original compositions, i.e. written by ourselves Eastern Slavs, belong to the end of the XI-beginning of the XII century. v. The formation of the Russian national literature, its traditions took shape, features 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 fiction. Authors works of art, even if they describe the true events of real persons, they conjecture a lot. But in Ancient Russia, it was not at all like that. The Old Russian scribe told only about what, in his opinion, really happened. Only in the XVII century. Household stories appeared in Russia with fictional characters and plots.

Both the ancient Russian scribe and his readers firmly believed that the events described really happened. So the chronicles were for the people of Ancient Russia a kind of legal document. After the death of the Moscow prince Vasily Dmitrievich in 1425, his younger brother Yuri Dmitrievich and son Vasily Vasilievich began to argue about their rights to the throne. Both princes appealed to the Tatar khan to judge their dispute. At the same time, Yuri Dmitrievich, defending his rights to Moscow reign, referred to the ancient chronicles, in which it was reported that power had previously passed from the prince-father not to his son, but to his brother.

2. 2. The handwritten nature of existence.

Another feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of existence. Even the appearance of the printing press in Russia did little to change the situation until mid XVIII v. The existence of literary monuments in manuscripts led to a special reverence for the book. About which even individual treatises and instructions were written. But on the other hand, handwritten existence led to the instability of ancient Russian literary works. 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 continue for several centuries. Therefore, in scientific terminology, there are concepts such as "manuscript" (handwritten text) and "list" (rewritten work). The manuscript may contain lists different compositions and can be written both by the author himself and by scribes. Another fundamental concept in textual criticism is the term "editorial", that is, 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.

The existence of a work in manuscripts is closely related to such a specific feature of Old Russian literature as the problem of authorship.

The author's principle in Old Russian literature is muffled, implicitly, Old Russian scribes were not thrifty with other people's texts. When rewriting, the texts were reworked: some phrases or episodes were inserted from them or inserted into them, stylistic "decorations" were added. Sometimes the ideas and assessments of the author were even replaced by the opposite. The lists of one work differed significantly from each other.

Old Russian scribes did not at all seek to discover their involvement in literary composition... Many monuments have remained anonymous, the authorship of others has been established by researchers on the basis of indirect evidence. So it is impossible to ascribe to someone else the works of Epiphanius the Wise, with his sophisticated "weaving of words." The style of the messages of Ivan the Terrible is inimitable, insolently mixing eloquence and rude abuse, learned examples and the style of simple conversation.

It happens that in a manuscript this or that text was signed with the name of an authoritative scribe, which may equally correspond and not correspond to reality. Thus, among the works attributed to the famous preacher Saint Cyril of Turovsky, many apparently do not belong to him: the name of Cyril Turovsky 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.

The well-known literary critic, researcher of ancient Russian literature, academician DS Likhachev proposed a special term for the canon in the monuments of medieval Russian literature - "literary etiquette."

Literary etiquette is composed:

From the idea of how this or that course of the event should have taken place;

From ideas about how the actor was supposed to behave in accordance with his position;

From ideas about what words the writer should have described what is happening.

Before us is the etiquette of the world order, etiquette of conduct and verbal etiquette. The hero is supposed to behave in this way, and the author is supposed to describe the hero only with appropriate expressions.

III. The main genres of Old 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 class of classification of genres. However, some genres immediately stood out in ancient Russian literature.

3. 1. Life genre.

Life is a description of the life of a saint.

Russian hagiographic literature has hundreds of works, the first of which were written already in the 11th century. The life that came to Russia from Byzantium along with the adoption of Christianity became the main genre of Old Russian literature, that literary form, in which the spiritual ideals of Ancient Rus were clothed.

The compositional and verbal forms of life have been polished for centuries. High theme-story about a life that embodies ideal service to the world and to God - defines the author's image and the style of the story. The author of the life leads the story excitedly, he does not hide his admiration for the holy ascetic, admiration for his righteous life. The author's emotionality, his excitement paint the entire narrative in lyrical tones and contribute to the creation of a solemn mood. Such an atmosphere is also created by the narrative style - high solemn, saturated with quotes 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 threefold: an introduction, a story about the life and deeds of a saint from birth to death, praise. In the introduction, the author asks the readers for forgiveness for the inability to write, for the rudeness of the narration, 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 the saint is freed from all that is everyday, concrete, and accidental. In a life drawn up according to all the rules of life, there are few dates, exact geographical names, names historical figures... The action of living takes place, as it were, outside of historical time and concrete space; it unfolds against the background 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 critical parts of life, requiring a lot 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 earliest period development of our literature. Monuments of ecclesiastical and secular eloquence are divided into two types: teaching and solemn.

Solemn eloquence demanded depth of design and great literary skill. The orator needed the ability to effectively construct a speech in order to capture the listener, tune in a high mood corresponding to the topic, and shake him with pathos. There was special term to designate a solemn speech - "word". (There was no terminological unity in Old Russian literature. A military tale could also be called a "Word".) Speeches were not only pronounced, but written and disseminated in numerous copies.

Solemn eloquence did not pursue narrowly practical goals, it demanded the posing of problems of a wide social, philosophical and theological scope. The main reasons for the creation of "words" are theological questions, questions 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 the "Sermon on Law and Grace" by Metropolitan Hilarion, written between 1037 and 1050.

Teaching eloquence is teaching and conversation. They are usually small in volume, often devoid of rhetorical embellishments, and are written in the ancient Russian language, which is generally accessible to people of that time. Lectures could be given by church leaders, princes.

Teachings and conversations have purely practical purposes, they contain information necessary for a person. "A Teaching 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, not curse, keep all the commandments of the Gospel.

Feodosiy Pechorsky - founder Kiev-Pechersky Monastery... He owns eight teachings to the brethren, in which Theodosius reminds the monks of the rules of monastic behavior: do not be late for church, put three bowing to the ground, observe decency and order when singing prayers and psalms, bow to each other when meeting. In his teachings, Theodosius of Pechora requires a complete detachment from the world, abstinence, constant prayer and vigilance. The hegumen severely denounces idleness, money-grubbing, and intemperance in food.

3. 3. Chronicle.

Chronicles called weather (by "years" - by "years") records. The annual record began with the words: "In the summer." After that, there was a story about events and incidents that, from the point of view of the chronicler, were worthy of the attention of descendants. It could be military campaigns, raids of 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.

Often ancient Russian chronicler was a learned monk who sometimes spent the compilation of the chronicle long years... It was customary to start telling about history in those days 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 at the disposal of the compiler of the chronicle was not one, but several chronicle texts at once, then he had to "bring them together", that is, combine them, choosing from each one that he considered necessary to include in his own work. When materials related to the past were collected, the chronicler moved on to presenting the events of his time. The result of this great work became the annals. After some time, this collection was continued by other chroniclers.

Apparently, the first major monument of Old Russian annals was the annals compiled in the 70s of the 11th century. The compiler of this code is believed to have been the hegumen of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nikon the Great (? - 1088).

Nikon's work formed the basis for another corpus of chronicles, which was compiled in the same monastery two decades later. V scientific literature he received the code name "Primary vault". Its unnamed compiler added to Nikon's collection not only news of recent years, but also 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 - "The Tale of Bygone Years" was born.

It was compiled in Kiev in the 10s. 12th century According to some historians, its likely 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 drew on numerous materials, which he added to the Primary Code. Among these materials were Byzantine chronicles, texts of treaties between Russia and Byzantium, monuments of translated and Old Russian literature, oral legends.

The compiler of the "Tale of Bygone Years" set as his goal not only to tell about the past of Russia, but also to determine the place of the Eastern Slavs among the European and Asian peoples.

The chronicler tells in detail about the settlement of the Slavic peoples in antiquity, about the settlement of the territories by the Eastern Slavs that would later become part of the Old Russian state, about the manners 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. A story about the first Russian Christians, about the baptism of Rus, about the spread of new faith, the construction of temples, the emergence of monasticism, the success of Christian enlightenment occupies a central place in the "Tale".

The wealth of historical and political ideas reflected in The Tale of Bygone Years suggests that its compiler was not just an editor, but also a talented historian, deep thinker, and a brilliant publicist. Many chroniclers of subsequent centuries turned to the experience of the creator of the Tale, tried to imitate him, and almost certainly placed the text of the monument at the beginning of each new collection of chronicles.

General characteristics of ancient Russian literature of the XII century. Ii

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