Works and periodization of Old Russian literature. Ii

XI-XII centuries took off cultural development Kievan Rus. Cultural centers there were large cities, many of which acquired the importance of European centers: Novgorod, Kiev, Galich.

The excavations carried out by archaeologists allow us to talk about high culture townspeople, many of whom were literate. This is evidenced by the surviving promissory notes, petitions, orders on household matters, notices of arrival, letters that were written on birch bark, as well as inscriptions preserved in different cities on things, on the walls of churches. Schools were organized to teach literacy in cities. The first schools for boys appeared in the X century, and in the XI century a school for girls was opened in Kiev.

It is known for certain that even before the adoption of Christianity, Ancient Rus knew writing. The first handwritten books that have come down to us are real works of art. The books are written on a very expensive material - parchment, which was made from lamb, calf or goat skin. They were decorated with amazingly beautiful colored miniatures.

Most of the books that have come down to us from this period of time are of religious content. So, out of 130 surviving books, 80 contain the basics of Christian doctrine and morality. However, at this time there was also religious literature for reading. A collection of stories about real and legendary animals, trees, stones - "Physiologist" has been well preserved. This collection consists of several stories, at the end of each there is a small interpretation of what is described in the spirit of Christianity. For example, natural property woodpecker hammering trees correlated with the devil, who stubbornly searches for the weak points of man.

Such prominent monuments of church literature as "The Lay of Law and Grace" by Metropolitan Hilarion and the sermons of Cyril Turovsky belong to the same period of time. There were also religious books that unconventionally interpreted famous biblical stories... Such books were called apocrypha. The name comes from Greek word"hidden". The most popular was the apocryphal "The Walking of the Mother of God".

Lives of the saints were created in large numbers, which described in detail the life, activities, deeds of people numbered among the saints by the church. The plot of the life could be exciting, like, for example, "The Life of Alexei, the Man of God."

Also known are the literary monuments of the Vladimir-Suzdal land. Among them is the "Word" ("Prayer") by Daniel the Imprisoned.

In the 11th century, the first works of a historical (documentary) nature also appeared. The oldest surviving chronicle collection - "The Tale of Bygone Years", belongs to this period of time. This document allows us to judge not only the political situation of that time, but also about the way of life, the customs of the ancient Russians.

V large cities detailed chronicles were kept, which recorded the events that took place. The chronicles contained copies of original documents from the prince's archives, detailed descriptions battles, reports of diplomatic negotiations. However, one cannot talk about the objectivity of these annalistic collections, since their compilers were primarily children of their time, who tried to justify the actions of their prince and denigrate his opponents.

Outstanding monument Old Russian literature, - "Instructions" by Vladimir Monomakh. It was intended for the children of the prince and contained instructions on how young princes, children of warriors, should behave. He ordered both his own and strangers not to offend the inhabitants in the villages, always help the one asking, feed the guests, not pass by the person without greeting, take care of the sick and the weak.

And finally, the most significant monument of Old Russian literature is The Lay of Igor's Host. The work is based on the campaign undertaken by Prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the Polovtsians. Unfortunately, the only surviving manuscript of the Lay burned down during a fire in Moscow in 1812.

Old Russian literature Patristics

The heyday of 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.

In relation to negative characters, the writer is less official than in relation goodies your story.

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

On the XII icon in the 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 chronicler writers 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 is, along with other monuments of Russian literature, a significant indicator of growth, national self-awareness in Ancient Rus... The language of the chronicle, preserving 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 an outstanding monument 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 Campaign” with oral folk poetry is most clearly felt within two genres, most often it is mentioned in the word Lament and song praises - “Glory”: Yaroslavna's lament is mentioned at least 5 times, the laments of the same Russian soldiers, in the campaign Igor, the cry of Yaroslavna's mother, Crying, is meant by 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 more often feels himself to be a speaker than a writer, his readers - listeners, not readers, his topic - a teaching, not 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 a 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. Everything famous lists The prayers 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 as follows: "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.

Lesson 2

Theme: Original character Old Russian literature. Wealth and variety of genres.

Target: briefly acquaint students with the circumstances of the emergence of ancient Russian literature; to form an idea of ​​the specifics of Old Russian literature, the features of its traditions; to provide an overview of the genres of Old Russian literature

Tasks:

Subject: Know: main features and genres of Old Russian literature, stages of its development; genre features. Understand: patriotic pathos of the works of Dr. Rusi Be able to: build detailed statements based on what you read; argue your point of view

Metasubject: develop motives and interests cognitive activities

Personal: the formation of motivation for learning and purposeful cognitive activity.

Interdisciplinary connections: history, Russian language.

Lesson type: a lesson in the assimilation of new knowledge and the formation of new concepts.

Equipment: textbook

During the classes

I .Organizing time.

II . Learning new material.

Teacher's word.

You already know that the emergence of literature in Russia is associated with the adoption of Christianity as a state religion. Today our goal is to get the most general idea about Old Russian literature and get acquainted with one of its monuments.

The concept of "Old Russian literature" includes literary works written in the 11-17 centuries. They are represented by different genres.A genre is a historically formed type of literary work, an abstract sample, on the basis of which the texts of specific literary works are created. The system of genres of literature in Ancient Rus was significantly different from that of the present. Old Russian literature developed largely under the influence of Byzantine literature and borrowed from it a system of genres, reworking them on a national basis: the specificity of the genres of Old Russian literature lies in their connection with traditional Russian folk art. It is customary to divide the genres of Old Russian literature into primary and unifying ones.

Among them are chronicles, walks, teachings, lives, messages, compositions of the oratorical genre, etc. It is impossible to indicate the very first ancient Russian monument, since the first monuments, the first books have not survived to this day. The first surviving monument of Old Russian literature is

"The Tale of Bygone Years".

It is known that, in addition to church books, books on the history of the country, its connections with world history, have become widespread in Russia. Records were kept of everything important that happened in the country: about the princes and their struggle for power, about the attacks of enemies and the fight against them. Such books are called chronicles.

The word "chronicle" comes from two words: summer, and write. Thus,chronicle - this is an essay, the narration is presented on an annual basis. The basis of the narrative in the annals is the annual record ( short message about the event, no description), chronicle tale ( detailed story about the event) and an obituary description (description of the prince and praise to him).

The compilers of the annals considered themselves not the authors, but the registrars of the events taking place. Therefore, they do not mention the edge of themselves. Most often, the ancient Russian chronicler is a learned monk.

Being the author's, literary works, as a rule, are anonymous, since, on the one hand, ancient Russian authors rarely indicated their name in manuscripts, considering only the executors of the highest Divine will; on the other hand, Old Russian texts were circulated in handwrittenIand the ancient scribes, when copying, could rework the texts, and became "co-authors." This explains the existence of different editions of the same literary monument.

Chronicle writing began in Russia inXIcentury. The first chronicler was Nikon, a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, whom he called the Great. His life was full of stormy events, he was actively involved in the political struggle against those Kiev princes who put their interests above those of all Russian, was twice forced to flee to Tmutarakan. At the end of his life Nikon became abbot Kiev-Pechersky Monastery... It was then, apparently, that he worked on the chronicle.

At the beginningXIIcentury the monk of the same monastery Nestor compiled "The Tale of Bygone Years" - one of the remarkable works of Russian literature. This story has come down to us, rewritten and partly revised by the monk of the neighboring Vydubetsky monastery Sylvester. This "Story ..." is the fruit of the creativity of several generations of chroniclers. After all, there was no book printing in those days, books were copied by hand, this work was entrusted to the elite, the scribes. When rewriting the chronicles, the followers inevitably made some additions, corrections, and sometimes made mistakes. In addition, new information was added, since the annals were kept strictly by year, and everything important that happened in a year was entered into the annals.

Reading the chronicle, we hear the living voice of distant ancestors. The works of the past destroy the barriers of time, and by the power of our imagination we can imagine ourselves as participants in those events, see what happened and how.

The following genres of Old Russian literature also stand out:LifeWordTeachingThe storyit also includes the weather record, the chronicle story, the chronicle legend and the church legend.

Life The genre of the life was borrowed from Byzantium. This is the most widespread and favorite genre of Old Russian literature. Life was an indispensable attribute when a person was canonized, i.e. canonized. Life was created by people who directly communicated with a person or could reliably testify about his life. Life was always created after the death of a person. It performed a tremendous educational function, because the life of the saint was perceived as an example of a righteous life that must be imitated. In addition, living deprived a person of the fear of death, preaching the idea of ​​immortality. human soul... The life was built according to certain canons, from which they did not depart until the 15-16 centuries.

The canons of life The pious origin of the hero of the life, whose parents must have been righteous. The saint's parents often begged God.The saint was born a saint, and did not become one.The saint was distinguished by an ascetic lifestyle, spent time in solitude and prayer.An obligatory attribute of the life was a description of the miracles that took place during the life of the saint and after his death.The saint was not afraid of death.The life ended with the glorification of the saint.One of the first works hagiographic genre in ancient Russian literature there was the life of the holy princes Boris and Gleb.Teaching - a kind of genre of Old Russian eloquence. Teaching is a genre in which ancient Russian chroniclers tried to present a model of behavior for any ancient Russian person: both for the prince and for the commoner. The most striking example of this genre is included in the "Tale of Bygone Years" "The Teaching of Vladimir Monomakh." In "The Tale of Bygone Years" "The Teaching of Vladimir Monomakh" is dated 1096. At this time, strife between the princes in the battle for the throne reached its climax. In his teaching, Vladimir Monomakh gives advice on how to organize your life. He says that there is no need to seek the salvation of the soul in seclusion. Serving God is necessary by helping those in need. Going to war, you should pray - God will definitely help. Monomakh confirms these words with an example from his life: he took part in many battles - and God kept him. Monomakh says that you should look at how the natural world works, and try to arrange public relations modeled on a harmonious world order. The teaching of Vladimir Monomakh is addressed to the descendants.

Word Word - is a kind of genre of Old Russian eloquence. An example of the political variety of Old Russian eloquence is The Lay of Igor's Host. This work causes a lot of controversy over its authenticity. This is because the original text of The Lay of Igor's Host has not survived. It was destroyed by a fire in 1812. Only copies have survived. Since that time, it has become fashionable to refute its authenticity. The word tells about the military campaign of Prince Igor against the Polovtsians, which took place in history in 1185. Researchers suggest that the author of "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" was one of the participants in the described campaign. Disputes about the authenticity of this work were conducted, in particular, because it is knocked out of the system of genres of Old Russian literature by the unusualness used in it. artistic means and receptions. Here the traditional chronological principle of narration is violated: the author is transported into the past, then returns to the present (this was not typical for Old Russian literature), the author does lyrical digressions, there are inserted episodes (Svyatoslav's dream, Yaroslavna's cry). There are a lot of elements of the traditional spoken word in the word. folk art, characters. There is a clear influence of a fairy tale, an epic. The political background of the work is obvious: in the struggle against a common enemy, the Russian princes must be united, disunity leads to death and defeat.Another example of political eloquence is the "Lay of the death of the Russian land", which was created immediately after the Mongol-Tatars came to Russia. The author glorifies the bright past and mourns the present.An example of the solemn variety of Old Russian eloquence is the "Word of Law and Grace" by Metropolitan Hilarion, which was created in the first third of the 11th century. The word was written by Metropolitan Hilarion on the occasion of the completion of the construction of military fortifications in Kiev. The word carries the idea of ​​the political and military independence of Russia from Byzantium. By "Law" Hilarion means Old Testament, which was given to the Jews, but it does not suit the Russian and other peoples. Therefore God gave New Testament, which is called "Grace". In Byzantium, the emperor Constantine is revered, who contributed to the spread and establishment of Christianity there. Hilarion says that Prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko, who baptized Russia, is no worse than the Byzantine emperor and should also be revered by the Russian people. The work of Prince Vladimir is continued by Yaroslav the Wise. The main idea of ​​the "Word of Law and Grace" is that Russia is as good as Byzantium.

The story A story is a text of an epic character, telling about princes, about military exploits, about the princely crimes. Examples of military stories are "The Tale of the Battle on the Kalka River", "The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Khan Batu", "The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky".

Message - usually used for journalistic purposes.

Walking is a genre in which all kinds of travel to other lands and adventures were described.

Chronicle Is a story about historical events. This is the most ancient genre Old Russian literature. In Ancient Russia, the chronicle played very important role since not only reported on the historical events of the past, but also was a political and legal document, testified about how to act in certain situations. The oldest chronicle is the "Tale of Bygone Years", which has come down to us in the lists of the Laurentian Chronicle of the 14th century and the Ipatiev Chronicle of the 15th century. The chronicle tells about the origin of the Russians, the genealogy of the Kiev princes and the emergence of the ancient Russian state.

Literature of ancient Russia General characteristics of the period

Old Russian literature has passed a long period development, which is 7 centuries: from 9 to 15 centuries. Scientists associate the formation of Old Russian literature with the adoption of Christianity in Russia in 988. This year is the starting point for the periodization of literature. It is reliably known that writing in Russia existed even before the adoption of Christianity. But very few monuments of pre-Christian writing have been found. According to the available monuments, it cannot be said that before the adoption of Christianity in Russia there was literature and bookishness.Spreading Christian religion in Russia it involved the study of Holy Scripture and Christian rituals. To preach Christian canons, it was necessary to translate religious books from ancient Greek and Latin languages into a language that the Slavs understood. The Old Slavonic language became such a language. Scientists talk about the special status of the Old Church Slavonic language. Old Church Slavonic is literary language all Slavs. They did not speak it, but only wrote and read books. The Old Slavonic language was created by the Christian preachers Cyril and Methodius on the basis of the Solun dialect of the Old Bulgarian language specifically in order to make the canons of the Christian religion understandable to the Slavs and to preach these canons in the language of the Slavs. Books in the Old Slavonic language were copied in different territories inhabited by Slavs, where they spoke in different ways: in different dialects. Gradually, the peculiarities of the speech of the Slavs began to be reflected in the letter. So, on the basis of the Old Slavonic language, the Church Slavonic language arose, reflecting the peculiarities of speech Eastern Slavs, and then the ancient Russian man.Christian preachers came to Russia and created schools. Schools taught reading, writing and canons Orthodox Christianity... Over time, a layer of people appeared in Russia who could read and write. They copied the Holy Scripture, translated it into the Old Church Slavonic language. Over time, these people began to write down historical events that took place in Russia, make generalizations, use images of oral folk art, evaluate the described events and facts. This is how the original Old Russian literature gradually took shape.Old Russian literature was fundamentally different from what we are used to understanding by literature at the present time. Literature in Ancient Russia was closely connected with the spread of the Christian religion and served as an instrument for the preaching and consolidation of Christianity in Russia. This determined a special attitude to the book, as to a holy subject, and to reading, as a sacred process of communion with God's Word.

How were ancient Russian books written? Old Russian books were huge tomes, the pages of which were made of cowhide. Books were bound into boards, which were covered with leather and decorated. Crafted cowhide was an expensive material that needed to be saved. That is why ancient Russian books were written in a special way: there were no spaces between words in books. Naturally, reading such books was very difficult. In addition, many frequently used words were not written in full. For example, BG is God, BGTs is the Mother of God, NB is the sky. Above such words, they put the sign "title" - an abbreviation. Because of the high cost of the material, entire villages were worth the books. Only rich princes could afford to have books.

The book is the source of divine grace One of the differences between ancient Russian literature and modern literature is that ancient Russian books do not and could not have an author. In Ancient Russia, the concept of authorship did not exist at all; it appeared much later. It was believed that the hand of the book-writer was led by God. Man is only a mediator through which God communicates his Word to people. It was considered a great sin to put your name in the book. Belief in this was strong, so for a long time no one dared to indicate their name in books. But some could not resist and put an inconspicuous, but so important for them, an inscription like “I’ve put my hand to my heart”.There was a strong belief that the book miraculously affects a person, giving him divine grace. Communicating with the book, old Russian man believed in communicating with God. That is why, before reading books, it was customary to fast and pray for at least a week.

Historicism of Old Russian Literature Old Russian authors were aware of their special historical mission- the mission of the witnesses of time. They believed that they were obliged to record all the events that took place on their land in order to convey the story through the book to their descendants. In addition, the texts included many legends and legends that were oral. So in ancient Russian texts, along with Christian saints, pagan deities are mentioned. This meant that Christianity existed in Russia with the original religion of the Slavs, which is usually called paganism, although the pagans themselves did not call themselves that. Folklore significantly enriched Old Russian literature.There were no lyrics in ancient Russian literature. Ancient Russian literature, being exclusively religious in nature, placed the preaching of the laws of Christian morality at the forefront. That is why it did not pay any attention privacy person. Maximum objectivity is one of the basic canons of Old Russian literature. Among the genres in ancient Russian literature, the lives of the saints of the chronicle, chronographs, chetya-menaea, patericons, and also the apocrypha prevailed. Old Russian literature was distinguished by religiosity and historicism.Many Old Russian books have not reached us: they were destroyed by fires, some were taken to Poland and Lithuania, and some were destroyed by the scribes themselves - the old inscriptions were washed off, and new ones were written on top. This was done in order to save money. expensive material from which the books were made.

III Work with utterance

Useful when the soul asks for something unusual "

A. S. Demin

Monuments to Peter and Fevronia:

In Ulyanovsk. Opening date: July 5, 2009 .

Installation site: in front of the building of the Ulyanovsk State University.

Sculptors: Oleg Klyuev and Nikolay Antsiferov.

The monument to Peter and Fevronia in Ulyanovsk is made of bronze and represents the young princes Peter and Fevronia with a dove symbolizing love and fidelity.

The monument in Ulyanovsk was erected within the framework of the national program "In the Circle of the Family".

In Samara:

The monument was erected within the framework of the “In the Family Circle” program, which appeared in 2004 with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II. Within the framework of the same program, monuments to Saints Peter and Fevronia were opened today in Vladivostok and Omsk, and over the past three years sculptural compositions Murom saints have already been installed in Arkhangelsk, Ulyanovsk, Yaroslavl, Sochi and Blagoveshchensk.

Orthodox believers on July 8 celebrate the day of remembrance of the Russian saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom, patrons of marital fidelity and love.

Saints Peter and Fevronia are princes who ruled in Murom in the 13th century. The spouses were an example of loyalty and love for each other, in old age they accepted monasticism and soon died at one o'clock. After being buried in different graves, their bodies miraculously turned out to be nearby, the legend says. After that, the spouses were buried in Murom near the Church of the Nativity. Holy Mother of God... In 1547 the Church canonized them.

IV ... Consolidation of the passed material

1. Conversation .

In this article we will look at the features of Old Russian literature. The literature of Ancient Russia was primarily ecclesiastical... After all, book culture in Russia appeared with the adoption of Christianity. Monasteries are becoming centers of writing, and the first literary monuments are mainly works of a religious nature. Thus, one of the first original (that is, not translated, but written by a Russian author) works was "The Word of Law and Grace" by Metropolitan Hilarion. The author proves the advantage of Grace (the image of Jesus Christ is associated with it) over the Law, which, according to the preacher, is conservative and nationally limited.

Literature was not created for entertainment, but for teaching... Considering the features of Old Russian literature, one should note its instructiveness. She teaches to love God and her Russian land; she creates images of ideal people: saints, princes, faithful wives.

Let us note one seemingly insignificant feature of Old Russian literature: it was handwritten... Books were created in a single copy and only then were rewritten by hand when it was necessary to make a copy or the original text fell into disrepair from time to time. This gave the book a special value, engendered respect for it. In addition, for the ancient Russian reader, all books were derived from the main one - Holy Scripture.

Since the literature of Ancient Rus was basically religious, they saw in the book a storehouse of wisdom, a textbook of a righteous life. Old Russian literature is not fiction, in modern meaning this word. She in every way avoids fiction and strictly follows the facts. The author does not show his individuality, hides behind a narrative form. He does not strive for originality, for an ancient Russian writer it is more important to stay within the framework of tradition, not to violate it. Therefore, all the lives are similar to one another, all the biographies of princes or military stories are drawn up according to a general plan, observing the "rules". When "The Tale of Bygone Years" tells us about the death of Oleg from his horse, this beautiful poetic legend sounds like a historical document, the author really believes that everything was so.

The hero of Old Russian literature does not possess neither personality nor character in our view today. The destiny of man is in the hands of God. And at the same time, his soul is the arena of the struggle between good and evil. The first will triumph only when a person lives by moral rules given once and for all.

Of course, in Russian medieval works we will not find either individual characters or psychologism - not because the ancient Russian writers did not know how to do this. In the same way, icon painters created flat, and not volumetric images not because they could not write "better", but because there were others in front of them artistic tasks: the face of Christ cannot be like the usual human face... The icon is a sign of holiness, not an image of a saint.

The literature of Ancient Rus adheres to the same aesthetic principles: it creates faces, not faces, gives the reader pattern of good behavior rather than portraying a person's character. Vladimir Monomakh behaves like a prince, Sergius of Radonezh - like a saint. Idealization is one of the key principles of ancient Russian art.

Old Russian literature in every possible way avoids groundedness: she does not describe, but narrates. Moreover, the author does not narrate on his own behalf, he only conveys what is written in the sacred books, what he read, heard or saw. There can be nothing personal in this story: neither a manifestation of feelings, nor an individual manner. ("The Lay of Igor's Campaign" in this sense is one of the few exceptions.) Therefore, many works of the Russian Middle Ages anonymous, the authors do not expect such immodesty - to put their name. And the ancient reader cannot even imagine that the word is not from God. And if God speaks through the mouth of the author, then why does he need a name, a biography? Therefore, the information available to us about the ancient authors is so scarce.

At the same time, in ancient Russian literature, a special, national beauty ideal captured by the ancient scribes. First of all, it is spiritual beauty, the beauty of the Christian soul. In Russian medieval literature, in contrast to Western European of the same era, the chivalrous ideal of beauty - the beauty of weapons, armor, victorious battle - is much less represented. The Russian knight (prince) wages war for the sake of peace, and not for the sake of glory. The war for the sake of glory and profit is condemned, and this is clearly seen in "The Lay of Igor's Host." The world is assessed as an unconditional good. The Old Russian ideal of beauty presupposes a wide space, an immense, "decorated" land, and temples adorn it, for they were created specifically for the exaltation of the spirit, and not for practical purposes.

The attitude of Old Russian literature is also connected with the theme of beauty. To oral poetry, folklore. On the one hand, folklore had a pagan origin, therefore it did not fit into the framework of a new, Christian worldview. On the other hand, he could not help but penetrate into literature. After all, the written language in Russia from the very beginning was Russian, and not Latin, as in Western Europe, and there was no impassable border between the bookish and the spoken word. Popular ideas about beauty and goodness also generally coincided with Christian ones, Christianity almost unhindered penetrated into folklore. Therefore, the heroic epic (epics), which began to form in the pagan era, presents its heroes both as warriors-patriots and as defenders Christian faith surrounded by "filthy" pagans. Just as easily, sometimes almost unconsciously, are used by ancient Russian writers folklore images and plots.

The religious literature of Russia quickly outgrew the narrow church framework and became a truly spiritual literature that created a whole system of genres. Thus, "The Word of Law and Grace" refers to the genre of solemn sermons delivered in the church, however, Hilarion not only proves the Grace of Christianity, but also glorifies the Russian land, combining religious pathos with patriotic ones.

Genre of life

The most important for ancient Russian literature was the genre of the life, the biography of the saint. At the same time, the task was pursued, by telling about the earthly life of the saint canonized by the church, to create an image ideal person for the edification of all people.

V " Lives of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb"Prince Gleb appeals to his murderers with a request to spare him:" Do not cut an ear that is not yet ripe, filled with milk of good-naturedness! Do not cut a vine that is not fully grown, but bearing fruit! " Abandoned by his squad, Boris in his tent “weeps with a broken heart, but is joyful in soul”: death is terrible for him and at the same time he realizes that he is repeating the fate of many saints who have been martyred for their faith.

V " Lives of Sergius of Radonezh"it is said that the future saint in his adolescence had difficulty comprehending literacy, lagging behind his peers in teaching, which caused him a lot of suffering; when Sergius retired into the desert, a bear began to visit him, with whom the hermit shared his meager food gave the last piece of bread to the beast.

In the traditions of living in the 16th century, “ The story of Peter and Fevronia of Murom”, But it was already sharply at odds with the canons (norms, requirements) of the genre and therefore was not included in the collection of the lives of“ Great Cheti-Mena ”along with other biographies. Peter and Fevronia are real historical figures, who reigned in Murom in the 13th century, were Russian saints. The author of the 16th century did not have a life, but an entertaining story, built on fairy-tale motives, glorifying the love and loyalty of the heroes, and not only their Christian exploits.

A " Life of Archpriest Avvakum", Written by him in the 17th century, turned into a bright autobiographical work filled with credible events and real people, living details, feelings and experiences of the hero-narrator, behind which stands the vivid character of one of the spiritual leaders of the Old Believers.

Genre of teaching

Since religious literature was intended to educate true christian, one of the genres was teaching. Although this is an ecclesiastical genre, close to preaching, it was also used in secular (secular) literature, since the ideas of the people of that time about a correct, righteous life did not differ from the church ones. You know " The teachings of Vladimir Monomakh", written by him around 1117" sitting on a sleigh "(shortly before his death) and addressed to children.

The ideal appears before us old Russian prince... He cares about the welfare of the state and each of his subjects, guided by Christian morality. Another concern of the prince is about the church. All earthly life should be viewed as a work to save the soul. This is a work of mercy and kindness, and military work, and mental. Diligence is the main virtue in the life of Monomakh. He made eighty-three large campaigns, signed twenty peace treaties, studied five languages, and did what his servants and vigilantes did.

Chronicle

A significant, if not the largest, part of Old Russian literature is works of historical genres that were included in the chronicles. The first Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years"created in early XII century. Its significance is extremely great: it was proof of the right of Russia to state independence, independence. But if the chroniclers could record recent events "according to the epics of this time", reliably, then the events of pre-Christian history had to be restored according to oral sources: legends, legends, sayings, geographical names... Therefore, the compilers of the chronicle turn to folklore. These are the legends about the death of Oleg, about Olga's revenge on the Drevlyans, about Belgorod jelly, etc.

Already in "The Tale of Bygone Years" two essential features Old Russian literature: patriotism and connection with folklore. Book-Christian and folklore-lingual traditions are closely intertwined in "The Lay of Igor's Campaign."

Elements of fiction and satire

Of course, Old Russian literature has not been unchanged throughout the seven centuries. We saw that over time it became more secular, elements of fiction intensified, more and more often satirical motives penetrated into literature, especially in the 16th-17th centuries. Such are, for example, " The Tale of Woe-Evil"showing to what troubles disobedience can bring a person, the desire to" live as he pleases ", and not as taught by the elders, and" The Story of Ruff Ershovich", ridiculing the so-called" provincial court "in the tradition of folk tales.

But on the whole, one can speak of the literature of Ancient Rus as a single phenomenon, with its end-to-end ideas and motives that have passed through 700 years, with its own general aesthetic principles, with a stable system of genres.

With the advent of writing and the spread of literacy, ancient Russian literature developed.

Chronicles are monuments of historical writing and literature of Ancient Rus. The narration in them was carried out over the years: the chroniclers consistently recorded the events that occurred in a particular year. The emergence of the first historical writings refers to the time of Yaroslav the Wise. Chronicles were created in Kiev and Novgorod, on their basis the monk Nestor in the XI century compiled the chronicle collection that has come down to us "The Tale of Bygone Years"(Initial Chronicle), which contains an exposition ancient history Slavs, as well as the history of Russia up to 1100.

The NIRO library invites you to familiarize yourself with the book "Old Russian Chronicles", in which you will find the text of the Primary Chronicle, as well as Kiev and Galicia-Volyn.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" was included in Laurentian Chronicle, which got its name from the monk Lawrence, who rewrote it in 1377. The chronicle together with the "Tale of Bygone Years" contains a description of the events that took place in the southern Russian principalities, and then in Vladimir-Suzdal Rus. Full text You will find "Tale" according to the Laurentian list in the book

Thanks to Lawrence, we have not only the most ancient list"The Tale of Bygone Years", but also the only text "Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh to Children." "A lesson to children" by Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh is addressed not only to children - heirs state power, but also to everyone who reads it. You can familiarize yourself with the text of the "Teaching" and its translation by clicking on the link.

"A word about Igor's regiment"- literary monument XII century, which is based on historical event- an unsuccessful campaign of Novgorod-Northern Prince Igor Svyatoslavovich against the Polovtsians in 1185.

Edition spread

"A word about Igor's regiment"

The only copy of the Lay has come down to us as part of a collection that was kept in the library of the Spaso-Yaroslavl Monastery. Author name and exact date spelling of "Lay" is unknown. Most researchers believe that it was created at the end of the 12th century.

"Domostroy" is one of the most famous ancient Russian monuments literature. It reflects the ideals of spiritual, social and family life, brightly showing pictures medieval life, the rituals associated with centuries-old Russian traditions are described.