Features of the development of literature in the 17th century. General characteristics of the literature of the XVII century

In the 17th century, the purposeful movement of Russia towards Europe begins. After the Russian land partially squeezed out and partially dissolved the Mongol invasion (it was a victory of a higher culture that preserved religion, language, art, statehood), after the Byzantine Empire fell (the main spiritual authority for Russia during the Middle Ages), The East became interesting only as a source of new lands (remember the conquest of Siberia).

It was in the 17th century, which is sometimes called the Russian Renaissance, that a restructuring of the consciousness of medieval man took place. Of course, he still considers himself a slave to fate, as before, God for him is a stern father who punishes for deviations from the generally accepted rules of behavior, as before, the manifestation of his will is the gravest sin. By the 17th century old Russian man gets rich historical experience: the collapse of the seemingly unshakable foreign yoke, Time of Troubles and victory over the Polish-Lithuanian invaders, expansion of geographic and state borders, church schism, breaking of the class framework ...

There was a feeling of individuality, uniqueness of each person. Fate plays with a person, throwing him up and down (otherwise it could not be - the time of radical changes!) he likes ". Doubts about the fairness of fate are also doubts about the inviolability of the existing world order. A person resolves these doubts in any way: he can rebel against traditions, or he can laugh at them.

All this, of course, was reflected in the art and literature of the 17th century, especially in its second half. There is a change in the genre system Old Russian literature... Genres are becoming more secular, traditional living often turns into a biography of a private person, as we saw in " Lives of Archpriest Avvakum". There is a satirical literature, ridiculing priests who have forgotten their vocation, unrighteous judges, drunkenness and adultery. A rogue story has become a new genre (for example," The story of Frol Skobeev"), Where completely new hero, who does not believe "neither in sleep, nor in choh", enterprising and successful. Poetic and dramatic works... This literature could already be called fiction: it was built on fiction, if it taught, then in an entertaining form, skillfully building a plot.

And yet the era new literature came not in the 17th, but in the 18th century, when not streams, but a powerful stream broke through the dam of the Middle Ages. The countdown of the new era began with the Peter's reforms - even in the literal sense, when a new chronology was adopted.

Russian literature of the 17th century

Literature of the 17th century, on the one hand, introduced new features into the Russian literary process and thus is quite organically integrated into the beginning of the “transitional” 17th century, and on the other hand, it fully continues with a number of features the previously existing tradition. In the literature of the 17th century, new genres for Russian literature were actively emerging. Satirical stories and book poetry appear. Subsequently, these genres took their own special niche in Russian literature.

17th century, was last century chronicles in Russia. The "New Chronicler" describes events from the reign of Ivan the Terrible to the end of the "Troubles". The main role in the literature of the 17th century was occupied by works historical themes... A feature of books on historical topics of the 17th century era was their bright journalism.

In the 10s of the XVII century. Abraham Palitsyn, the cellarer of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, wrote "The Tale" - one of the most famous and popular literary monuments of the Time of Troubles. In the center of the story is the famous siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, the story was brought to 1618. Historians give this text a rather high rating for its factual nature.

Trying to reveal the reasons for the Troubles, Avraamy Palitsyn speaks of a general decline in morals and emphasizes the social contradictions of the previous period. Mention is made of the terrible famine that happened under Boris Godunov and as a result of which a huge number of people died: then it turned out that the barns of the rich were bursting with a huge amount of bread hidden from people. The rich did not spare their people, so our enemies did not spare us.

Another reason for the Troubles is, according to Palitsyn, the transformation of autocracy into autocracy by Boris Godunov. The publicist condemns the tsarist arbitrariness and the associated blind obedience to the monarch of his advisers, who are called to rule the state. However, even more than the autocracy of the tsar, Palitsyn is afraid of the autocracy of the people.

In Russian literature of the 17th century, there is a great, lively interest in history. Appear historical writings generalizing nature. In the 70s of the 17th century, the first historical book "Synopsis" (review) appeared. It was written by Innokenty Gizel, a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. Gisel's work told the stories of Russia and Ukraine from the very beginning, from the moment of formation Kievan Rus... In the 17th and 18th centuries, the book "Synopsis" was used as a textbook on Russian history.

There were also several valuable handwritten works in the literature of the 17th century. The book "Scythian Histories", by A.I. Lyzlova describes the struggle of the Russian people and the Europeans with the "Scythians". The author attributed the Mongolo-Tatars and Turks to the "Scythians". The value of Lyzlov's work lies in the fact that in the book, he skillfully linked the knowledge of Russian and European sources, compiling a fairly truthful and clear picture happening.

Literature of the 17th century included not only historical narratives of the distant past. In this century, events took place that deserve the attention of modern writers. "The Tale of Azov siege seat»Talks about the Azov campaigns. The story is based on the capture by the Don Cossacks turkish fortress... The author of this remarkable work has not been established, but it is likely that this is the head of the military chancellery Fedor Poroshin. Books of moral content also took their niche in the literature of the 17th century. The Lives of the Saints became widespread. Also very popular was the autobiography of the ideologue of the Old Believers Avvakum - "The Life of Archpriest Avvakum".

The process of the genre transformation of Old Russian literature did not begin from the outside and was not so much associated with Western influence as it turned out to be initially gradually provoked by the internal laws of literary development.

The emergence of verse writing should undoubtedly be attributed to the new features of the literature of the Time of Troubles. The fact that these are still poems can be judged, perhaps, only by the presence of rhyme (almost always paired, quite often - verb). Initially, such poems, called "pre-syllabic verses" (from the Polish wiersz - verse) were formed in Ukraine. Perhaps one of the earliest examples of such verses is the short verses of Gerasim Smotrytsky, appended to the Ostrog Bible, printed by Ivan Fedorov in Ostrog in 1581. Russian-Polish contacts during the Time of Troubles contributed to an extremely intense penetration of pre-syllabic verses from Ukraine (which was at that time under the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian state) to Russia. Verses could represent independent works, but for the most part they were part of traditional prose (most often rhetorical, oratory or journalistic) works.

D.S. Likhachev noted at one time that an innovative feature of the period early XVII centuries should be considered the discovery of literature human character- the character of not only a socially significant, but also an ordinary person, an ordinary, sometimes even ordinary, contemporary. The traditional features of the literature of the Time of Troubles include the ideological orientation, themes, problems, genre characteristics and most of the stylistic features of the works of this time.

The works about the Troubles can be divided into two groups. The first includes texts that arose before the election of Mikhail Romanov to the throne. They represent a direct response to events. Their main purpose can be defined as propaganda, in connection with which the works themselves can be included in the journalistic group. The second group includes texts written after the end of the Time of Troubles itself and representing an attempt at a historical comprehension of what happened. Both those and others appeal to old Russian tradition, but, as a rule, to different aspects of it.

In the fall of 1606, when Bolotnikov's troops were approaching Moscow, “The Tale of a Vision to a Certain Spiritual Husband” was composed, based on the plot scheme of the vision. The story is about a resident of Moscow who "in a subtle dream" saw how the Mother of God, John the Baptist and the holy saints in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin prayed to Christ to spare Russian Orthodox people suffering from the horrors of the Troubles. In accordance with the tradition dating back to the sermons of Serapion of Vladimir, the misfortune of the Moscow state is associated with the fact that the people have become stagnant in sins. Christ, touched by the tears of the Mother of God, tells her that necessary condition forgiving the Russian people and alleviating their lot is complete and sincere repentance. After that, one of the saints turns to the dreamer with the words: "Go and tell, saint of Christ, you have seen and heard." The unnamed "spiritual husband" told about the vision of the Protopope of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, Terenty, who ordered to write a story about this event and gave it to the patriarch, and also told the tsar.

The genre of visions was extremely common during this time. The participants in the vision vary: it may be the Mother of God, Christ, the "wonderful wife" in bright vestments and holding an icon, local patron saints (for example, the patrons of Ustyug the Great Procopius and John of Ustyug are the patrons of Ustyuzhan Grigory Klementyev). In the same way, the conditions necessary for salvation are denoted in different ways: it can speak of the need for repentance, fasting and prayer, and the building of a church. In the Nizhny Novgorod tradition, it is said that an unlit candle should be placed on the throne in a newly built church and a blank sheet of paper should be laid. Forgiveness will be marked by the fact that "the candle will be kindled from the fire of heaven, and the bells themselves will ring, and the name of who will own the Russian state will be written on paper."

Researchers of this group of works have repeatedly noted their inherent everyday concreteness. As earlier, big role everyday details are playing, most likely indicating the reliability of the story. So, in one of the Moscow visions by name, as witnesses of the miracle, "6 watchmen from the ovoshnovo row" are named.

Another popular genre during the Time of Troubles was propaganda letters and "unsubscribe", combining literary forms and forms of business writing.

Between 1610 and 1612 unknown author was written "A new story about the glorious Russian kingdom and the great state of Moscow" - a kind of publicistic manifesto, designed to raise the spirit of the people, awaken patriotic feelings and inspire to fight. In difficult conditions, when many rich, noble and powerful people betrayed Russia and support the Poles, the author appeals to “all ranks of people who have not yet turned their souls away from God, and have not retreated from the Orthodox faith, and do not follow delusions in faith, but hold on to piety, and have not surrendered to their enemies, and have not perverted into their apostate faith, but are ready to stand up to the blood for the Orthodox faith. " For the author, the Orthodox faith and the Russian Church, headed by Patriarch Hermogenes, are the only stronghold, a powerful and invincible force that no army is able to break.

In 1612, the "Lament for captivity for the ultimate ruin of the superior and most luminous Moscow state" was created. The text was written at a time when Minin and Pozharsky were already gathering the zemstvo militia, but Moscow was still in the hands of the Poles and no one could predict the outcome of the coming heavy and bloody struggle (i.e., until the fall of 1612). Both the name of the monument and its style bring the reader back to the Old Russian rhetorical tradition, to the “commonplaces” of hagiographic and preaching literature. The traditional hagiographic formula is reminiscent of the rhetorical question with which the work begins: “Where do we begin to mourn, alas! such a fall of glorious, glorious, great Russia? What source will fill the abyss of tears of our sobs and groans? " “Lament” is an attempt to give a detailed account of the events of recent years, starting with the appearance of the first impostor, “forerunner of the Antichrist,” “son of darkness,” as well as an invitation to reflect not only on the consequences, but also on the causes of the Troubles. And here again, like the ancient Russian preachers of the era of the Tatar-Mongol invasion (for example, Serapion Vladimirsky), the author of "Lamentation ..." in the damage to the mores of the Russian people, who have forgotten God and immersed in numerous vices, who have become like the inhabitants of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah: "Truth is scarce in men and untruth will reign ... and expose anger, and cover ourselves with lies."

In 1616-1619. clerk Ivan Timofeev creates "The Vremennik", in which he depicts the history of Russia from Ivan the Terrible to Mikhail Romanov. The author of "Vremennik" is a supporter of the hereditary monarchy, he sees in the succession to the throne within one surname the order established by God. From the point of view of this order, Ivan Timofeev speaks of Ivan the Terrible - the legal heir of the great princes of the Russian state. This principle is interrupted after the death of the son of the Terrible Fyodor Ioannovich, who left the kingdom “without child and without inheritance”. This is how the great family of Russian autocrats, dating back to ancient times, ended. And then illegal rulers appeared on the throne, whom Timofeev calls “liars,” “worker-kings,” “self-righteous people,” and so on. Along with such rulers, there are those who did not arbitrarily seize power, but were elected by the Zemsky Sobor - such, for example, Boris Godunov. But in this case, human expression of will was not accompanied by divine recognition, so Godunov on the throne turned out to be not an autocrat, but a lawless "autocrat". Mikhail Romanov is fundamentally different from all these rulers, a worthy descendant of an ancient family, in the act of whose election the will of the people was the expression of the will of God.

D.S. Likhachev noted the duality of characteristics that certain figures of Russian history receive in Timofeev's work (as well as in a number of other works of the Time of Troubles). Next to the rhetorically decorated praise for Ivan the Terrible is a passionate condemnation of the story of his "fiery anger." Speaking about Boris Godunov, the author sees his duty to talk not only about his evil, but also about his good deeds, so that no one has the opportunity to reproach him with bias or one-sidedness: do not hide his benefits to the world. " Good and evil in a person are not initially laid down and are not given to him in an unchanged form. Some people can be influenced by others: for example, Anastasia Romanova had a very positive influence on Grozny, and after her death his character does not change for the better. Boris Godunov, in turn, was positively influenced by the kind Fyodor Ioannovich. The most radically changed Godunov, according to Timofeev, was the power he unexpectedly received, to which he had no legal right: “Upon receiving that majesty, Abiy pretended to be and intolerable in every way, everyone would be cruel and heavy.”

The researchers noted that by the nature of his service, Ivan Timofeev had access to the archives where the most important documents were kept, therefore his "Vremennik" describes important historical events that are no longer recorded in any other source. But along with this, Ivan Timofeev acts not only as a historian, but also as a memoirist, recording the events that he himself witnessed. So, he talks about the people's walk to the Novodevichy Convent, when people asked Boris Godunov to accept the royal crown. During this event, a certain youth deliberately climbed under the very window of Queen Irina's cell and there screamed loudly, begging her to bless her brother to the kingdom, and Boris himself hypocritically wrapped his neck with a handkerchief, "showing that he was forced to strangle himself for the sake of at least, if the supplicants did not stop." ...

Another source that Ivan Timofeev boldly and often used was, according to D.S. Likhachev, a variety of rumors, rumors, rumors and conversations that create a polyphonic sound in the narrative, the effect of many points of view. This feature manifests itself most forcefully when the author speaks about different versions of the interpretation of the events associated with the death of Ivan the Terrible.

Another historian of the Time of Troubles is Ivan Andreevich Khvorostinin, who came from a clan of Yaroslavl princes and in his youth was close to False Dmitry I, who granted him a kravchim. Under Shuisky, he was sent to repentance at the Joseph-Volokolamsky monastery, then returned to Moscow, at the beginning of 1613 he already served as a voivode in Mtsensk, then in Novosili, and in 1618 - in Pereyaslavl Ryazansky. Tsar Michael rewarded him for his service and appointed him steward. The charge of high treason was forgotten, but soon it was replaced by another - of free-thinking and atheism. In 1623 he was exiled to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery under the supervision of a "good" and "strong" monk. Khvorostinin received forgiveness from the tsar and patriarch shortly before his death, which followed in 1625.

Wanting to whitewash himself and give his view of the historical events of the early 17th century, Khvorostinin, apparently shortly before his death, wrote a large-scale work "The Word of the Days and Tsars and Saints of Moscow." Like Avraamy Palitsyn, Khvorostinin pays much attention to his role in certain events: he writes that he tried to expose the vain pride of False Dmitry and was concerned about the salvation of his soul; claims that he was valued and at one time singled out from others by the patriarch Hermogenes himself, etc.

Like Ivan Timofeev, Khvorostinin gives complex, sometimes ambiguous and contrasting characteristics to the historical figures of that time. Boris Godunov turns out to be both power-loving and God-loving at the same time. On the one hand, he builds temples, decorates cities, tames the covetous; he "clothe himself in the wisdom of this world, like a kind giant, and receive glory and honor from the kings." On the other hand, it is reported that he embittered people against each other, provoked "hatred and flattery" in his subjects, restored slaves to masters, killed many noble people and, in general, "seduce the world and introduce hatred."

Around the same time, two stories were created, dedicated to the tragic death of a brave commander, who especially showed himself in the fight against False Dmitry II, Prince Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky. The prince died suddenly after a feast at Prince Borotynsky, and the people believed that the cause of death was poison, which was allegedly given to him by the wife of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Shuisky, Maria. These events are discussed in "The Tale of the Death and Burial of Prince Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky". The traditional features of the "Tale ..." include the author's close attention to the genealogy of his hero (Skopin-Shuisky was a royal family, belonged to "a single branch with the owner of the universe Augustus, Caesar of Rome" and among his direct ancestors had "the founder of the single Orthodox Christian faith, the prince Kiev and All Russia Vladimir ”), the mention of the devilish instigation as a force prompting Mary to commit a crime, a combination of elements of lamentation and glory (in this case, however, with a significant predominance of the former over the latter). The hero's mourning is exaggerated: "And the same princesses, his mother and his wife, who came to his house, and fell prostrate on the table, lamenting the mountaineer ... pouring out his tears, and tears, like a river stream, spilled on the floor from the table" ...

A.S. Demin drew attention to the description of the appearance of the mortally poisoned Mikhail. When the prince returned home after the feast, "his eyes were brightly indignant, and his face was marked with terrible blood, and the hair on his head, standing, hesitated." According to the researcher, the manifestations of the fatal disease in this case “are more like anger: dull, burning eyes; bloodshot face; hair standing on end. " Michael is poisoned by a fierce evil potion - as a result, ferocity and anger poured into Mikhail and manifested in him.

Finally, another work of the era of the Time of Troubles is the Chronicle Book, attributed by some scholars to Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Katyrev-Rostovsky, and others to Prince Semyon Ivanovich Shakhovsky. The very name of this work, according to researchers, indisputably testifies to the importance for the author of the ancient Russian chronicle tradition, on which he tries to rely, although it transforms its individual elements. The work begins with a lengthy title, which is at the same time an "announcement", a statement of the content of the text, which will set out the history of the "reigning city of Moscow" from its beginning, about the origin of the great dukes of Moscow, "about the suppression of the royal root from the Tsar Augustus", about the reign of Boris Godunov and about the attack on Moscow of the heretic Grishka Otrepiev (False Dmitry I). As in the "Tale" by Abraham Palitsyn, in the "Chronicle Book" prose narration is interspersed with pre-syllabic verses.

A common feature of the literature of the Time of Troubles A.S. Demin considered an exaggerated depiction of feelings. Indeed, the authors of that time did not skimp on paints when describing emotional experiences. Anger makes a person mad, makes him, like a dog, bark in the air and throw ridiculous words like stones. Grief not only causes river flows of tears, but also encourages banging your head on the ground, scratching your chest with your nails. Fear strikes right into the human heart. Noting that such exaggeration of feelings is generally not typical of oral folk art, A.S. Demin drew attention to the analogy of this exaggeration in the song about the murder of Tsarevich Dimitri:

political literature vague russian

Not a whirlwind twirls along the valley,

Not gray feather grass slopes to the ground.

Then comes the terrible wrath of God

For Orthodox Russia.

According to A.S. Demina, “the spread of a new manner of telling about feelings was largely due to the prevailing difficult situation, which gave rise to feelings of uncertainty, distrust and fear in the country ... The authors used exaggerations to expose the secret and reveal the hidden ... tears, were considered a kind of proof of the truth of the statements. "

Researchers of the Time of Troubles literature also drew attention to the very noticeable heterogeneity of the literary stratum of that time. There is a monk, an orderly clerk, and princes from the Rurik family, although they represent minor surnames. All this testifies to the fact that there were no professional writers yet, the literary class had not yet developed and there was no monopoly on writing at that time, anyone who wanted to be a writer, guided by one or another motive, could become a writer - to tell about the events he witnessed; try to reveal the causes of events and give them an assessment; finally, whitewash yourself and present your own activities in a favorable light.

(estimates: 1 , the average: 5,00 out of 5)

The 17th century is a new time, when in many European countries and a bourgeois system was established in America. At this time there is civil development personality, as well as the formation of national states.

English society has experienced several bourgeois revolutions, only veiled under religious wars. That is, religion still made itself felt and provided a huge impact on all aspects of a person's life, but at the same time new ideological factors of a new life began to appear. You can find this in books of the 17th century.

The literature of the 17th century is also interesting in that it tells information about scientific discoveries. So, the telescope was invented, which proved the absence of God, because the universe has no limits. The medieval picture of the world was destroyed, because now the Earth is not flat, there is no cozy firmament, space is a cold space without borders, and man himself has lost his exclusivity, and has become a grain of sand in the vast world.

Books of the 17th century have one feature - for the first time, genres were so clearly divided, having their own directions, differences and programs. At the same time, two directions can be traced in them - baroque and classicism. The first is an absolute belief in the reality of the spiritual, and the second is the desire to adhere to the rules of the classicist doctrine. Classicism has been well described French writer Nicola Boileau, so it was in France that he reached his peak.

Russian literature of the 17th century was rather gloomy, since the country was not going through the brightest and most peaceful times. All this was covered by the writers of that time in their works.

Foreign and domestic works of that era, we have collected in one list so that you can familiarize yourself with the best works and understand how people lived then, what was happening in the countries. Books are the best source of information about the past centuries.

In Russian literature, as in culture in general, this century was the time of transition from the Middle Ages to the New Age. The literary heritage of previous eras at this time easily gets along with many innovations. TO XVII century the circle of readers in Russia is significantly expanding at the expense of the inhabitants of the posad, and accordingly the social experience of literature is expanding, henceforth designed to satisfy more different tastes. The range of literary genres is becoming broader. Elements of business writing and folklore are beginning to penetrate into traditional bookishness. Among the new genre forms, which appeared in the second half of the 17th century, can be noted everyday story... Similar compositions, such as "The Tale of Grief-Misfortune" and "The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn", in the center of which were the most ordinary ordinary characters, not saints, not princes or historical figures, in quite ordinary life situations, were not devoid of some entertaining beginning, designed to make the reader empathize with the hero. However, in this century, almost all literary genres: from historical narratives before the translated knightly novel. Perhaps, for the first time in the history of Russian literature, the fascination of reading begins to gradually prevail over its mental benefit.

One of the most interesting literary innovations of the 17th century is a whole group of works that have received the not entirely successful name of "democratic satire" in Russian literary criticism. In fact, all of them are vivid examples of the special laughter culture of the Middle Ages, where the traditions of books are closely intertwined with the traditions of oral buffoonery. However, the connection between bookishness and folklore in the 17th century, again, is not limited to monuments of democratic satire. In the literature of this time, in general, a kind of fashion for folk art was developing. Along with the first recordings of folk art (songs recorded for the Englishman Richard James), there are numerous reworkings in it. folklore works... Such are the "Tale of Grief-Misfortune", "The Tale of Eruslan Lazarevich", "The Legend of the Kiev Heroes." The influence of folklore is felt in many other literary monuments, for example, in the "Tale of Azov".

In the 17th century, syllabic versification and court theater first appeared in Russian literature and immediately began to develop dynamically.

Along with the emergence of new genres, the old ones that already existed in the book industry of previous centuries are undergoing great changes. The greatest metamorphoses are taking place with the genre of living, traditional for medieval literature. If at the beginning of the 17th century, in accordance with the spiritual searches of the era, there is a certain shift in hagiographic narratives towards everyday life, as in the "Life of Juliania Lazarevskaya", then at the end of the century we already have a very peculiar example of lyrical autobiography, such is the "Life of Archpriest Avvakum."

If in the literature of the previous time the style of a work largely depended on its genre, then in most of the works of the second half of XVII century, the individual style of the authors is already quite clearly manifested. From now on, the detailed scientific style of Simeon of Polotsk is absolutely impossible to confuse with the colorful vernacular of Archpriest Avvakum.

Among the translated works of the 17th century, works of fictional entertainment also predominate. A distinctive feature of this time is a large number of translations from Polish. Through the mediation of Polish literature, some examples of Western European knightly and adventurous novels (stories about Bove the Korolev, Peter the Golden Keys and others), as well as numerous comic and moralizing stories, become known in Russia.

The tradition of translations and natural science works, such as Physics by Aristotle, Cosmography by Mercator, continues at this time; however, from that time on, such works are already perceived as separate, distinct from fiction.

Such is general review the main trends in the development of Old Russian literature in its various periods.

The last century in the history of Old Russian literature has a special character. It is transitional from the Middle Ages to the New Age and is literally woven from contradictions. In literature there is a fight old and new, therefore the subject of poeticization can be both a martyr's feat for the glory of faith, and love for a woman, for the sake of which the hero is able to risk his life and even sell his soul to the devil.

For a long time, the cause of the crisis of medieval literature was seen in the process that had begun. Europeanization of Russian life, however, the myth of the cultural isolation of Russia in the XI-XVI centuries. is a thing of the past. Russian literature of the Middle Ages has always recognized itself as a part of the common European literary process, was not ashamed of the role of a student, assimilating the artistic experience of more developed countries, for example Byzantium, where Christianity came from. Over time, the European orientation of Rus changed: from the South Slavic states (Bulgaria, Serbia) it was transferred to the West Slavic states (Poland, Czech Republic); from the traditions of Greek culture - to the spiritual heritage of the Latin world. The main reasons for innovations in Russian literature of the 17th century. it is necessary to look not so much in the change of influences as in the internal processes. The huge avalanche of translated products that poured into Russia did not supplant the works of domestic authors, did not deprive Russian literature original character, but stimulated the overdue process of its renewal.

An intense search for ways of development led to the fact that literature turned into an artistic laboratory, where one's own and someone else's, traditional and existing at the level of experiment, freely coexisted. DS Likhachev wrote that never - neither before nor after the 17th century. - Russian literature "was not so variegated in terms of genre." In it, "two literary systems collided: one dying out, medieval, the other nascent - of the New Age." In the circle of reading a Russian person of the 17th century. included the life of the saint and a translated novel of chivalry, a pilgrimage to the Christian East and a secular journey through the countries Western Europe, a historical story and a roguish story. The expansion of the genre range was due to the forms that came from folklore, translated books and business writing. The genre system of literature also grew due to the emerging new types artistic creation – poetry, drama, satire.

The literature was updated by transformation of traditional genres The Middle Ages, which acquired different functions than before, realizing their internal potencies. Life was reborn in everyday story, if the saint performed a spiritual deed in the world, or in memoir and biographical work, if it was written as a memory of a teacher or close relative. The genre was formed on the basis of life autobiography, where the images of the author and the hero went back to one real person.

The genres of literature have been tested for centuries in the conditions of the 17th century. received a new life, such as the medieval form visions... If earlier the vision existed in the depths of hagiographic, chronicle or legendary-historical literature, now it has acquired genre independence. According to N.I. Prokofiev, the genre flourished during the Time of Troubles. The visions of the early 17th century that emerged from the folk legend. have had journalistic coloration. Their goal was not to glorify a saint or a religious shrine, but to substantiate a particular political idea with the help of the authority of a miracle. As works of propaganda literature, these works were designed for public speaking, reading aloud, as a result of which their authors took care of creating a lyrical atmosphere of the narrative, the rhythmic structure of speech. Of the three plot components of the genre ( transgression – repentance - forgiveness) The visions of the Time of Troubles were mainly developed by one: almost all the artistic space of the works was occupied by prayer and repentance, which was supposed to unite the people in the hope of salvation.

Gregory, author "A story of a vision" v Nizhny Novgorod 1611, told about a miracle, of which he was a self-visioner. "Falling into a subtle sleep", he saw how the cover of the temple disappeared and God descended from the sky in the radiance of light, accompanied by a certain "Belorizian". From the dialogue between God and his companion, the "secret viewer" understood that the Russians can count on heavenly help and protection from an enemy invasion in the event of national repentance and a three-day fast... The Lord commanded to build a new church in Moscow "on the Fire, near Vasily Blazhennov", to transfer the icon there Our Lady of Vladimir, and leave a candle and a blank sheet of paper on the throne. On the fourth day, the candle itself will light up from the "heavenly fire" and the name of the Russian tsar will appear on the sheet. For violation of God's will, the Russian state expects destruction. The Tale of a Vision was of an agitational nature: it warned of the perniciousness of establishing a new impostor on the Russian throne. It is significant that the vision happened in Nizhny Novgorod - one of the centers of the formation of the people's militia against the Poles who seized Moscow.

In the XVII century. happens a sharp increase in book production, which is associated with the social and geographic expansion of literature. At this time, local literary schools were formed in the North and in Siberia, on the Don and in the Volga region. If earlier literary activity was mainly the prerogative of the clergy, then in the transitional period all strata of society practice writing: from Tsar Fedor Alekseevich, who composed syllabic verses, to fugitive slaves - Cossacks who defended the Azov. The democratization of the writing staff led to the emergence of Posada literature close to laughter culture people. Democratic literature, often anti-church and anti-government in orientation, cultivated the genres satire... The object of parody in satire could be the traditional form of secular and liturgical literature, business prose (the life of a saint, petition, church service). Thus, rethinking old forms, satirists created new ones that destroyed the canonicity and hierarchies of the ancient Russian system of genres.

In the XVII century. is planned delimitation of the spheres of fiction and scientific literature... If earlier books of the natural history cycle ("Six-Day", "Physiologist", "Christian Topography", etc.) were part of the literature, since they did not so much satisfy scientific curiosity as they glorified the wisdom of the Creator of all things, now culture is secularized, freeing itself from the care of the church, and knowledge acquires an independent value. On the basis of the spiritual writing of the Middle Ages, theological science is formed, which is necessary for new translations of the Holy Books, for conducting theological disputes. The Psalter and the Book of Hours, as the books by which the ancients mastered the reading and writing, replace the alphabets and primers, since the 17th century. firmly established in the repertoire printed publications. Professionalization of authors and readers leads to the fact that works devoted to the problems of medicine and military affairs, physics and geography, mathematics and astronomy, are taken out of the framework of literature, not only intended for cognitive reading but also developing creative thinking and aesthetic taste that shapes moral concepts. Russian literature of the modern era will inherit only indistinct distinction between fiction and historiography, which will most clearly manifest itself in the "History of the Russian State" by N. M. Karamzin, where psychologically reliable portraits of historical figures will be created on the basis of documentary evidence, will come to life in fictionalized stories of "deep antiquity."

Professionalization of the work of a writer- the process is difficult and lengthy, emerging in the literature of the New Time. In the century that was transitioning from the Middle Ages to the New Age, when a person's authority depended largely on the level of education, erudition, depth of scientific knowledge, schools were created in the Spassky Monastery and at the Printing House, a Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy appeared, where civil and spiritual sciences were taught. The largest centers of book culture are the Moscow Printing House and the Posolsky Prikaz, from where a whole cohort of writers and translators emerges, for whom literary work becomes an official duty and is of a secular nature.

The secular principle actively asserts its rights in painting, music, architecture, arts and crafts. Isographers Simon Ushakov and Joseph Vladimirov in theory and in practice, they break with the traditions of ancient icon painting, the flat image of a person in the spirit of religious symbolism. They glorify material beauty and variety of life. Polemising with supporters of the archaic style of painting, Joseph Vladimirov asked: "Where is such an instruction invented, senseless amateurs, who in one form, dark and dark, holy persons command to write? Is the whole human race created in a single guise? Were all the saints swarthy and skinny? "

In Russian architecture of the 17th century. thanks to the influence wooden architecture and the richness of folk fantasy, a deeply distinctive style is formed. The eighth wonder of the world was called by contemporaries the palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye near Moscow, striking with bizarre carvings, a game of gilding and bright colors in the decor. Many churches erected at that time in Moscow, Yaroslavl, Kostroma and Rostov and lavishly decorated with tiles, painted platbands, lace stone carving, are more temples of beauty than prayers. Church ceremonies are theatricalized, a tradition of dramatic performances and festive processions arises. The process of secularization of cult art leads to the formation of a new secular culture.

In the XVII century. the attitude of the writer to reality, literary work, to the understanding of man is changing. The religious-symbolic worldview, when everything that happens on earth was explained by the struggle of the forces of good and evil in the other world, is replaced by pragmatic type of thinking. The writer tries to establish causal links between historical events, between the character and behavior of a person without appeal to the "heavenly world", "Divine providence". The image of a person loses the features of medieval abstraction, when the hero was either righteous or a sinner, acquires signs of everyday and social specifics. A person begins to be perceived as a complex and contradictory nature. The rebellious rights of a literary character are revealed in his conflict with family and clan, society and fate itself. Is happening hero decline, who becomes either a drunken monk, or a hungry peasant or a homeless vagabond, and immersion of the story in a low life, into the atmosphere of a riotous tavern life, wandering in search of happiness along the roads of Russia. At the same time, the author does not hide his sincere sympathy " little man", who entered into an unequal duel with" grief-malice. " literary character... The emancipation of personality affects in literature both the hero who leaves the parental home, wanting to live with his own mind, and the author, who, violating the genre stereotype, expresses his own point of view on what is depicted.

Dissemination of the author's styles and the growth of the subjective principle in interpretation historical events clearly manifested themselves already in the works of the Time of Troubles. Among the stories that reflected the events of 1604–1613, there is a vehicle where interests are expressed upper layers society and glorified the unity with the people of the boyar tsar Vasily Shuisky in the struggle against the "defrocked and heretic" Grishka Otrepiev. This view of history is characteristic of "Tale of 1606" and the resulting "Another legend" written in the traditional bookish manner. To prove the legitimacy of Shuisky's power, the author of "The Tale" traces his family back to the Prince of Kiev Vladimir Svyatoslavich and opposes to the noble boyar the ignorant, but "nosy" Boris Godunov, who, in his opinion, is the main culprit in the death of Tsarevich Dimitri and all the troubles that befell Russian land during the Time of Troubles. A different, anti-boyar, orientation is inherent "A new story about the glorious Russian kingdom", created at the turn of 1610-1611, when Moscow was captured by the Poles, and Novgorod by the Swedes. Its nameless author called on Russians "of all ranks of people" to unite in the struggle against enemies, glorified the resilience of the Smolyans, who bravely defended their city from the "Poles", and denounced the treacherous policy of the boyars. The style of the "New story", which has the form of a letter-appeal, is pathetically excited, publicistic: "Come, come, Orthodox Christians! Come, come, love of Christ! Take courage, and arm yourself, and strive for your enemies, how can you defeat them and the kingdom of freedom!"

"The Legend" by Avraamy Palitsyn(c. 1550-1626), the cellarer of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, presents a broad picture of "disorder" in the Russian state, including imposture and the Polish-Lithuanian intervention, civil strife and famine. There are so many people who have died of hunger that their bodies, like firewood, are transported on carts; people try to hide from robbery in the "impassable wilds"; in times of war, epidemics are raging in the country, especially in the cities besieged by the enemy. Most of the book is dedicated to the heroic defense of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery from the besieging Polish-Lithuanian troops (1608-1610). The cellarer Avraamy describes the feats of arms of Anania Selevin with epic scope, the battle between the Russian army and the "Lithuanian hetmans", but he also does not shy away from the image of everyday life. The author tells how the Poles are digging and feasting in anticipation of the assault, and "Lithuania" raids the monastery garden.

For Abraham, the Trinity Monastery is an outpost of the Russian land, holding back the attack of the interventionists against the "reigning city." The writer is not limited to events of local significance, he is concerned about the fate of the entire country, which "is wicked against false kings." He transfers the action of the "Legend" from the walls of the monastery to the enemy camp, includes in the work a letter written on behalf of Hetman Sapega, and a formal reply from the defenders, according to whom, "ten years of the Christian youth" is laughing at the crazy plan of the Poles, because on the side of the besieged " heavenly host "headed by the Mother of God and Saints Sergius and Nikon. The cellarer of the richest Russian monastery will create verbal portraits of his contemporaries, saturating them with value judgments. The leader of the popular uprising, Ivan Bolotnikov, is the "breeder of all trouble", when "Rabbi Ubo God is at least everyday life." Boris Godunov is a cruel but wise ruler who tried to strengthen the international prestige of the Russian state through dynastic marriages and kinship with Western European royal courts.

Avraamy Palitsyn's "Legend" is a vivid example of self-justification. An intelligent, active, but at times unprincipled person who was in close relations with Vasily Shuisky and sought benefits from Sigismund III for the monastery, he creates "Legend" in order to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of public opinion, to emphasize his merits in the fight against the interventionists and in the election to throne of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. Outlining events "in a row", Abraham seeks to document the narrative, saturating it with the names of the participants in the siege of the Trinity Monastery, accurate chronological and geographical calculations, introducing the genres of business writing into the "Tale".

"Vedomosti" by Ivan Timofeev(c. 1555-1631) is also interesting for the author's interpretation of the events and persons depicted in it. Clerk Ivan Timofeev, who served in Novgorod, witnessed the capture and occupation of the city by the Swedes (1610-1617). The book was written under the direct impression of the experience, when, according to the author, under the weight of thinking about the reasons for the death "overnight" of the beauty of the ancient city and the all-Russian "ruin", he "walked like a madman", and the thought of the need to capture it on paper "like a finger poked him in the ribs. " He looked at the reasons that gave rise to the Troubles through the prism of religious morality, explaining the "heavenly punishment" by the sinfulness of the Russians. However, the very concept of sin was interpreted by the writer already in the socio-political aspect. This is the "wordless silence" of the people, non-resistance to the criminal authorities, as a result of which either "yesterday's slaves" like Boris Godunov or impostors like Grigory Otrepiev began to encroach on the Russian throne.

The work of Ivan Timofeev covers the period from the reign of Ivan the Terrible to the reign of Vasily Shuisky, representing not a traditional historical story, but gallery of portraits of historical figures of the XVI-XVII centuries. The writer strives for the objectivity of the image, not hiding the royal vices and virtues; trying to find out what caused certain actions of the heroes. This leads to the fact that "the most glorious of all former kings"Ivan the Terrible turns under his pen into a" crowned villain "possessed by fits of rage," intoxicated "the Russian land with the blood of his subjects at the time of the oprichnina and the conquest of Novgorod. Avoiding" untruth ", Ivan Timofeev pays tribute to the" child-killer "and" comedian "Boris God : under him, urban planning is expanding, a struggle is being waged against bribery and “wine drinking.” The author not indifferently weighs on the scales of justice the good and the evil in the characters of the heroes, he does not hide from the reader his personal attitude to the autocrat, his painful reflections on how the mind can coexist in a person and cruelty, piety and pride. Creating the image of the ruler, Ivan Timofeev gives him in action, through his actions, surrounded by relatives, courtiers, servants. Moreover, the persons of the second plan help the author to highlight certain features in the character of the main character. , the oprichniki dressed in black inspire the people with the same horror as the "furious" tsar himself, to whom St. An intimate image of Ivan IV's wife Anastasia Romanovna.

Ivan Timofeev's style is complex due to its metaphorical nature, active use of allegory, and the inclusion of parables in the narrative. Russia, left without a tsar, is likened to a widow who, in misfortune, was abandoned by deceitful friends and robbed by negligent slaves. The writer compares the external enemy to a monster who, having come "secretly to sleep," tore the flesh and "bones of the gladness."

From one-sided assessment historical personality the author also departs "Chronicle book", compiled in 1626 in circles close to the government, and reflecting the official point of view on the events of the Peasant War and the Polish-Swedish intervention. To the "Chronicle Book", the creation of which is attributed to IM Katyrev-Rostovsky, then to SI Shakhovsky, scientists turn to, exploring the history of genres verbal portrait and literary landscape. Among the portrait part of the book, the description of Ivan the Terrible, devoid of an idealization mindset, is distinguished by historical reliability and psychological complexity: "Tsar Ivan is in an absurd way, his eyes are gray, his nose is stretched out, a gag"; he was "a man of great discernment," experienced "in the science of book worship," but "impudent and implacable to kill." Drawing the "image" and "disposition" of the impostor, the writer notes that False Dmitry I was "witty ... and he was content with learning books," he was brave in the army, but "his face was not a royal property", he was "daring and many-sided evil ". The author's high literary skill can be judged by the way he describes the spring awakening of nature, praising the creative labor of man on earth: "I melt the snow and quietly blowing in the wind," and "rat by ralom" "draws a sweet brood, and calls upon the fruit-giver of God for help." ... Although the landscape does not completely free itself from the traditional symbolic function, a new beginning appears in it - an aesthetic admiration of nature. The picture of jubilant spring nature emphasizes the tragedy of "disorder" in Russian society, but instills confidence in the inevitability of changes for the better.

During the Time of Troubles, profound changes took place in the public and literary consciousness. Historiographers of this time belonged to different social groups, among them were monks, clerks and princes of Rurikovich, they had different levels of education and literary skill, but their writings reflected the general sign of the era - a new attitude towards the history of Russia and state power. The unshakable authority of the tsar nal, his actions and character became the subject of discussion. God's chosen one, the "ruler" of the Russian throne begins to bear the burden of moral responsibility for the fate of his subjects and the country, is subject not only to heavenly, but also to earthly judgment. The delineation of the concepts of "service to the sovereign" and "service to the state" is outlined.

O growth of the author's self-awareness in the 17th century. only the development of an individual point of view on history, the relationship between the ruler and the people is evidenced. The emancipation of the creative personality is also manifested in the strengthening of the feeling of copyright ownership, social significance labor of the writer, "reference", translator. The principle of the anonymity of creativity is being revised. Monuments of fiction and satire preserve the author's namelessness, but in order to emphasize the nationality of the work, to avoid conflict with the public and tacit censorship. "Fabulous", entertaining stories, translated and original, belonged to mass literature; the process of their creation and distribution in Russia was uncontrollable.

The transition period is marked by increasing professionalization of literary work... The old Russian scribe, thanks to the genre canon who knew well what and how to write, was replaced by the writer - the creator of new literary forms and traditions. The author's collections of works, writers' archives and libraries are being formed. By the surviving author's editions of the work, one can judge the movement of the idea of ​​its creator. Commonality ideological positions and views on the tasks of literature unites writers in circles and schools. The author of the work is gradually abandoning the medieval guise of a "thin and sinful" person. So, Fyodor Gozvinsky, known as a translator into Russian of Aesop's "Proverbs, or Fables" (1607), ends one of his works with verses in his honor:

The glorified wisdom

And praised in reason,

Honestly honored by the honesty of honor,

In his more deeds, artistically cognizable,

Still hardworking

And diligently committed,

God himself instructed -

Theodore Kasiyanov, son of Gozvinsky,

Greek words and Polish translator.

In the Russian history of the 17th century. entered as "rebel". The beginning of the century is called Time of Troubles because of the crisis of the tsarist power that erupted after the death of Fyodor Ivanovich, the last ruler from the house of Kalita, because of imposture and the Polish-Swedish intervention. According to the Code Zemsky Cathedral 1649 the final enslavement of the peasants took place; the people, as it was written in one petition, "became impoverished and impoverished to the end." After the suppression of the first peasant war under the leadership of Ivan Bolotnikov, the country was shaken by a series of new unrest: "plague", "salt" and "copper" riots were replaced by Cossack and peasant uprisings in the Volga region. In the 1660-1670s. the second flares up peasant war under the leadership of Stepan Razin, the Solovetsky uprising takes place; Streltsy revolts end the century.

The armed struggle of the townspeople and peasants against the feudal lords needed an ideological justification. The official church stood guard over the existing world order, preached humility and obedience, condemning all forms of resistance to secular and spiritual power. However, the Russian church in the 17th century. was no longer united. Church schism of the 1650s divided it into two warring camps: Old Believers and Nikonian... In the XVII century. the church was the only institution of the feudal state, the existence of which violated the principle of centralization of power. The Troubles exposed many of the vices of Russian life. The Moscow state almost perished as a result of internal strife, betrayal of national interests and a sharp decline in morals. The Russian Church realized the need for spiritual renewal, strengthening of moral authority in order to consolidate society and resist the attempts of the "kingdom" to subjugate the "priesthood". The Time of Troubles, which forced the monks to take up arms in order to keep the defense of cities and monasteries, worked out new type an ascetic among the Russian clergy - a warrior for the faith. The indomitable spirit is a trait inherent in the ideologue of the Old Believers Habakkuk and the patriarch Nikon... It is no coincidence that there are so many similarities in their characters and destinies. Both hails from Nizhny Novgorod villages, they began early careers of clergy, under whose heavy hand the flock sometimes groaned. Both took part in the movement of "zealots of ancient piety" headed by the tsar's confessor Stephen Vonifatyev. For the conflicting nature and religious and political convictions, both experienced the severity of disgrace and exile; both went down in the history of Russian literature as writers.

Church reform of Patriarch Nikon was associated with the process of unification of the Great Russian Church with the reunited Ukrainian and Belarusian. The reform was inspired by the idea of ​​"Moscow is the third Rome", since by that time in the Orthodox world only the Russian state was sovereign and could become a stronghold of the fight against pagan confrontation in the north and east, with Catholic expansion in the west, Muslim influence in the south, where the Balkan countries were under the rule of the Turks. To come to the aid of the fraternal Slavic peoples, it was necessary to emphasize their former unity, to unify the church ritual system, which is why Nikon's reform focused primarily on editing books and worship according to Greek models, for Christianity was inherited by the Slavs from Byzantium.

In the reform that caused the church schism, one cannot see only an external conflict between the Old Believers and adherents of the renewed church, and the conflict itself can be reduced only to how to be baptized (with two or three fingers), which bows to put (earthly or waist), how to write the name of Christ ( Jesus or Jesus), what rules to follow when creating icons and erecting religious buildings. It is necessary to see in the Old Believers a protest against unlimited power, secular and ecclesiastical. The Old Believers were against the orientation of the Russian Church towards foreign models; defending the faith of their fathers and grandfathers, they defended their national identity, the traditional way of life. Expressing social protest in a religious form, the Old Believers saw their ideal in the past, opposed everything new, tried to prevent the Europeanization of Russian life. Thus, Russian Old Belief is a complex and internally contradictory phenomenon.

The Old Believers' environment was rich in talents. Seeing in Nikon's "novelties" the seal of the Antichrist, the impending doom of the world and the Last Judgment, none of the Old Believers rushed to take refuge in the woods or go through purification by fire through self-immolation. Many of them got in the way of the growing evil in the world, turning to writing. The elder enjoyed exceptional authority among the Old Believers Epiphanius, about whose life and death legends were made. According to one of the legends, his remains were not found after the empty lake execution in 1682, and witnesses saw "from the frame of the fire of Father Epiphanius into the air ascended up to heaven." Preferring a "desert life", the elder, after the split of the church, came to Moscow with books denouncing the Nikonians, began to read them aloud on the cathedral square, and gave the tsar a petition, in which he reproached Alexei Mikhailovich: "O tsar, his Christian faith in Russia was lost by the accursed Nikon ssi, and now you have found faith in other lands, like a lion roaming. "

Old Believer writers tried to capture the feat of new martyrs for the faith, resorting to the traditional form of living, but filling it with new content. Under the pen of "fiery" Avvakum, it turned into the story of the first years of the schism, into the autobiography of a man who "laid down his life" for the ideals he passionately preached. Elder Epiphanius, the spiritual teacher of Habakkuk, created an autobiographical work of a different type, focusing on inner life a person on the way to spiritual perfection. The life of Epiphanius is considered a monument of self-profound loneliness, close to folk spiritual poetry, penitential literature. For all the dissimilarity of the worlds in which the heroes of the lives of Habakkuk and Epiphany exist, they have one thing in common - proximity to the sacred world. In Habakkuk it is found in abundant quotations from Scripture with the aim of bringing his life of martyrdom closer to the exploit of Christ. The consecration of the hero by Epiphanius goes through the active entry into his living space of higher powers through miraculous icons, visions of the Mother of God. Thus, Old Believer literature was not literature of one theme and one form. Autobiography, which manifested itself most vividly in hagiography, permeated all the works of the Old Believers, penetrating even the pages of theological treatises on the essence of the Trinity, the dual nature of Christ, and the form of the sign of the cross.

In hagiographic traditions, created "The Tale of the Life of the Boyaryn Morozova", where the element of religious fiction is weakened and the main miracle becomes heroic character Russian woman. Fedosya Prokopyevna Morozova, the spiritual daughter of Avvakum, belonged to one of the noblest families, was close to the royal court and after the death of her husband became the owner of a huge fortune. Defending her religious beliefs, she courageously endures arrest and torture, separation from her beloved son, his untimely death, and in 1675 dies of hunger in the earthen prison of Borovsk, joining the ranks of new Russian martyrs for the faith.

Among the Old Believers were poets (monk Abraham) and travel writers (Ivan Lukyanov), brilliant preachers (Ivan Peronov) and publicists (Archpriest Avvakum). For agitation purposes, they turned to the genres of polemical treatises and messages. In order to multiply the ranks of co-religionists, to find a way to the heart of a simple worker, they developed a special style of writing, close to the folk linguistic element. Avvakum called this style "blathering" and contrasted with refined book speech, decorated with "philosophical verses". "You, Mikhailovich, are a Russian, not a Greek," he turned to the tsar. The struggle for the national character of literature and its language led the Old Believer

Avvakum to rejection of both the Greek and Latin trends in the development of Russian culture. The style of the works of both Epiphanius Slavinetsky and Simeon Polotsky - "sheep-like wolves" and "evil figures" was alien to him.

The high level of self-awareness of the Old Believer, who challenged the official ideology and was ready to die for a single "az" in the text of the prayer, is best evidenced by the vision of Avvakum, about which he told in a message to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich: after many days of fasting, he dreamed that the Lord contained in him and heaven and earth and all creation. Man as the focus of all that exists, whose mind soars and embraces the whole world, a man who is free in the manifestation of his feelings and the choice of the form of self-expression - this is a new ideal, suffered by the Old Believers and became the property of the literature of the New Time.

The struggle of ideas in the 17th century, which reached its climax in the literature of the Time of Troubles and Church schism, is due to the growth national identity and choice historical path Russia. Old Believers tried to revive "Holy Russia", believing in the self-sufficiency of Russian culture. The Nikonians raised the concept of "Moscow - the third Rome" on the shield, dreaming of restoring the Orthodox community of the Greco-Slavic world. However, the winners in this dispute were not "Rusks" and not "Grekophiles", but "Latinists" who offered Russia a way of rapprochement with Western countries and further ingrowth into European culture.