The literary art of the Middle Ages is a special world, in many ways “hidden” for modern man. He has a special system of artistic values, his own laws literary creativity, unusual forms of works. This world can only be discovered by someone initiated into its secrets, who has learned its specific features.

Old Russian literature is the literature of the Russian Middle Ages, which went through a long, seven-century path in its development, from the 11th to XVII century. For the first three centuries it was common to the Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian peoples. Only by the 14th century did differences emerge between the three East Slavic peoples, their language and literature. During the period of the formation of literature, its “apprenticeship”, the focus of political and cultural life was Kyiv, “the mother of Russian cities,” therefore the literature of the 11th–12th centuries is usually called literature Kievan Rus. In the tragic XIII-XIV centuries for Russian history, when Kiev fell under the blows of the Mongol-Tatar hordes and the state lost its independence, the literary process lost its former unity, its course was determined by the activities of regional literary “schools” (Chernigov, Galician-Volyn, Ryazan, Vladimir -Suzdal, etc.). Since the 15th century in Rus' there has been a tendency to unite creative forces, and literary development The 16th–17th centuries are marked by the rise of a new spiritual center- Moscow.

Old Russian literature, like folklore, did not know the concepts of “copyright” and “canonical text”. Works existed in handwritten form, and the scribe could act as a co-author, create the work anew, subjecting the text to sampling, stylistic editing, including in it new material, borrowed from other sources (for example, chronicles, local legends, monuments of translated literature). This is how new editions of works arose, differing from each other in ideological, political and artistic attitudes. Before publishing the text of a work created

In the Middle Ages, it was necessary to do a huge amount of grunt work to study and compare various lists and editions in order to identify those that are closest to the original appearance of the monument. These goals are served by the special science of textual criticism; its tasks also include attribution of the work, that is, establishing its authorship, and resolving questions: where and when was it created, why was its text subject to editing?

Literature Ancient Rus', as the art of the Middle Ages in general, was based on a system of religious ideas about the world; it was based on a religious-symbolic method of cognition and reflection of reality. Peace in the mind ancient Russian man seemed to split into two: on the one hand, this is real, earthly life man, society, nature, which can be known with the help of everyday experience, with the help of feelings, that is, “bodily eyes”; on the other hand, it is a religious-mythological, “high” world, which, in contrast to the “down”, is revealed to chosen people pleasing to God in moments of spiritual revelation and religious ecstasy.

It was clear to the ancient Russian scribe why certain events were happening; he was never tormented by questions that Russian classics would think about solving. XIX century: "who is guilty?" and “what should I do?” to change to the best person and peace. For a medieval writer, everything that happens on earth is a manifestation God's will. If “a great star appeared, the rays of which are as bloody,” then this served the Russians as a formidable warning about future trials, Polovtsian raids and princely feuds: “Behold, those who do not show it in advance. For this reason, there were many tussocks and the invasion of the FILTHY on the Russian land, this is a star, like a bloody one, showing the shedding of blood.” For medieval man, nature had not yet acquired its independent aesthetic value; unusual a natural phenomenon, be it an eclipse of the sun or a flood, acted as a certain symbol, a sign of the connection between the “high” and “down” worlds, and was interpreted as an evil or good omen.

Historicism of medieval literature of a special kind. Often in the work two planes are intertwined in the most bizarre way: real-historical and religious-fantastic, and the ancient man believed in the existence of demons as well as in the fact that Princess Olga traveled to Constantinople, and Prince Vladimir baptized Russia. Demons, as depicted by the ancient Russian writer as “mobs, creeps, with tails,” were endowed with the ability to perform human actions:

scatter flour at the mill, lift logs to the high bank of the Dnieper for construction Kiev-Pechersk Monastery.

A mixture of fact and fiction is characteristic of the ancient part of The Tale of Bygone Years, the origins of which are in folklore. Talking about Princess Olga's journey to Constantinople and her adoption of Christianity, the chronicler follows the popular legend according to which Olga, the “wise maiden,” “outwitted” (outwitted) the Byzantine emperor. Struck by her “blindness,” he decided to “marry” Olga for himself, that is, to take her as his wife, but after the baptism of the Gentile (a marriage condition put forward by Olga) he was forced to abandon his intention: Godfather could not become the husband of his goddaughter. Recent studies of this chronicle fragment, comparing it with data from translated chronicles, indicate that Princess Olga at that time was at a very advanced age, Byzantine emperor was much younger than her and had a wife. The chronicler used a folk poetic version of this historical event in order to show the superiority of the Russian mind over the foreign one, to elevate the image of a wise ruler who understood that without a single religion the formation of a single state is impossible.

Glorifying the fortitude and wisdom of the Russian people, the medieval writer was an exponent of the idea of ​​religious tolerance and humane attitude towards people of other faiths. In the 11th century, Theodosius of Pechersk, in a letter to Izyaslav Yaroslavich, denouncing the “wrong Latin faith,” nevertheless calls on the prince: “Merciful with alms, not only your own v”ry, nb and mu-zhey. whether in winter, or E"bdoyu Odrzhi-ml, whether a child of a Jew, or a Sorochinin, or a Volgdrin, or a heretic, or an ldtnnin, or from the weather, have mercy on everyone and from f*cking from abroad, as you can, and bribes from “Eogd don’t drown.”

Old Russian literature is distinguished by high spirituality. The life of the human soul is the center of gravity of medieval literature, education and improvement of the moral nature of man is its main task. The external, the objective, recedes into the background here. As in an icon, where the “face” and “eyes” are shown in close-up, that which reflects the inner essence of the saint, the “light” of his soul, in literature, especially hagiography, the image of a person is subordinated to the glorification of the proper, ideal, eternally beautiful moral qualities: mercy and modesty, generosity and non-covetousness.

In the Middle Ages, there was a different system of artistic values ​​than in our time; the aesthetics of similarity, rather than the aesthetics of uniqueness, prevailed. According to the definition of D.S. Likhacheva, Old Russian

the writer proceeded in his work from the concept of “literary etiquette,” which was composed of ideas about “how this or that course of events should have taken place,” “how one should behave actor", "What words should a writer use to describe what is happening. Before us, therefore, is the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior and the etiquette of words.”

Old Russian literature valued the general, repetitive, and easily recognizable, avoiding the particular, random, and unusual for the reader. That is why in the monuments of the 11th–17th centuries there are so many “ common places"in the depiction of a military or monastic feat, in obituary characteristics of Russian princes and in words of praise to saints. Comparison of heroes national history with biblical characters, quoting books of the Holy Scriptures, imitation of the authoritative Fathers of the Church, borrowing entire fragments from the works of previous eras - all this in the Middle Ages testified to a high book culture, the skill of the writer, and was not a sign of his creative impotence.

The literature of Ancient Rus' is characterized by a special system of genres. To a greater extent than in the literature of modern times, it is connected with extraliterary circumstances, with the practical needs of ancient Russian society. Each literary genre served a specific area of ​​life. So, for example, the emergence of chronicles was due to the need of the state to have its own written history, where they would be recorded major events(the birth and death of rulers, wars and peace treaties, the founding of cities and the building of churches).

In the 11th–17th centuries, several genre systems: folklore, translated literature, business writing, liturgical and secular, artistic and journalistic literature. Of course, the genres of liturgical literature (“Prologue”, “Book of Hours”, “Apostle”, etc.) were more closely connected with the sphere of their existence and were more static.

The basis for the identification of genres in the literature of Ancient Rus' was the object of the image. The military exploits of the Russians were depicted in military stories, travel to other countries, first only for pilgrimage, and then for trade and diplomatic purposes - in walks. Each genre had its own canon. For example, for a hagiographic work, where the object of the image was the life of a saint, a three-part composition is required: a rhetorical introduction, a biographical part and praise to one of the “armies of Christ.” Type

the narrator in the life is a conventionally sinful person, “thin and foolish,” which was necessary for the exaltation of the hero - a righteous man and a miracle worker, therefore, for this genre, the main thing was the idealizing way of depiction, when the hero’s behavior was freed from everything temporary, sinful and he was presented only in ceremonial moments of your life as “positive wonderful person" The style of monuments of hagiographic literature, in contrast to chronicles, is florid and verbally decorated, especially in the introductory and final parts, which are often called the “rhetorical mantle” of a life.

Fate ancient Russian genres has developed differently: some of them have disappeared from literary use, others have adapted to changed conditions, and others continue to actively function, filled with new content. Essay literature XIX- XX centuries, literary travels of the 18th century go back to the traditions of ancient Russian movements - one of the most stable genre formations of the Middle Ages. Researchers see the origins of the Russian novel in everyday stories of the 17th century. The poetics of odes in the literature of Russian classicism, of course, developed under the influence of the works of oratory of Ancient Russia.

Thus, ancient Russian literature is not a dead, bygone phenomenon; it did not sink into oblivion, leaving no posterity. This phenomenon is alive and prolific. She bequeathed to Russian literature of modern times a high spiritual spirit and a “teaching” character, the ideas of patriotism and a humane attitude towards people, regardless of their religion. Many genres of literature of Ancient Rus', having undergone evolution, found a second life in the literature of the 18th – 20th centuries.

In ancient Russian literature, which knew no fiction, historical in large or small ways, the world itself was presented as something eternal, universal, where events and people’s actions are determined by the very system of the universe, where the forces of good and evil are forever fighting, a world whose history is well known ( after all, for each event mentioned in the chronicle, it was indicated exact date- the time that has passed since the “creation of the world”!) and even the future is destined: prophecies about the end of the world, the “second coming” of Christ and Last Judgment waiting for all the people of the earth. Obviously, this could not but affect literature: the desire to subordinate the very image of the world, to determine the canons by which this or that event should be described led to that very schematicism ancient Russian literature, which we talked about in the introduction. This sketchiness is called subordination to the so-called literary etiquette - D. S. Likhachev discusses its structure in the literature of Ancient Rus': 1) how this or that course of events should have taken place; 2) how the character should have behaved in accordance with his position; 3) How should a writer describe what is happening?

“What we have before us, therefore, is the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior and the etiquette of words,” he says. To explain these principles, consider next example: in the life of a saint, according to the etiquette of behavior, it should have been told about the childhood of the future saint, about his pious parents, about how he was drawn to church from infancy, shunned games with peers, and so on: in any life this plot component is not only necessarily is present, but is also expressed in every life in the same words, that is, verbal etiquette is observed. Here, for example, are the opening phrases of several lives, belonging to different authors and written at different times: Theodosius of Pechersk “is drawn by the love of God with his soul, and goes to the church of God all day, listening to divine books with all attention, and also to children who play approaching, as is the custom of the wise, but (o) and abhorring their games... Therefore, and give in to the teaching of divine books...

And soon all grammar was forgotten"; Niphon of Novgorod "was given by his parents to study divine books. And soon I became completely unaccustomed to book teaching, and was not at all similar to my peers in children’s games, but more closely attached to the church of God and read the divine scriptures to my heart’s content.” divine scripture...

not too shy away from some kind of game or disgrace of a “spectacle,” but even more so from reading the divine scriptures.” The same situation is observed in the chronicles: descriptions of battles, posthumous characteristics of kings or church hierarchs are written using practically the same limited vocabulary. On the problem of authorship Among the scribes of Ancient Rus', the attitude was also somewhat different from the modern one: for the most part, the name of the author was indicated only to verify events, in order to certify the reader of the authenticity of what was being described, and authorship itself had no value in the modern concept. Based on this, the situation developed next: on the one hand, most of ancient Russian works anonymous: we do not know the name of the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Host”, or of many other works, such as “The Tale of Mamaev's massacre", "The Word about the Destruction of the Russian Land" or "The Kazan History". On the other hand, we encounter an abundance of so-called falsely inscribed monuments - its authorship is attributed to some famous person in order to make it more significant.

In addition, the insertion into one’s works not only of individual phrases, but also of entire fragments was not considered plagiarism, but testified to the scribe’s erudition, high book culture and literary training. So, getting acquainted with historical conditions and some principles of work of authors of the XI-XVII centuries.

gives us the opportunity to appreciate the special style and methods of presentation of the ancient Russian scribes, who built their narrative according to accepted and justified canons: they introduced a fragment from exemplary works into the narration, demonstrating their erudition and describing events according to a certain stencil, following literary etiquette. Poverty of details, everyday details, stereotypical characteristics, “insincerity” of the characters’ speeches - all these are not literary shortcomings at all, but precisely features of the style, which implied that literature is intended to tell only about the eternal, without going into passing everyday trifles and mundane details. On the other hand, the modern reader especially appreciates the deviations from the canon that were periodically allowed by the authors: it was these deviations that made the narrative lively and interesting. These retreats were given at one time terminological definition- "realistic elements".

Of course, this in no way correlates with the term “realism” - there are still seven centuries before it, and these are precisely anomalies, violations of the basic laws and trends of medieval literature under the influence of living observation of reality and the natural desire to reflect it. Of course, despite the presence of a strict framework of etiquette, which significantly limited the freedom of creativity, ancient Russian literature did not stand still: it developed, changed styles, etiquette itself, its principles and means of its implementation changed. D.

S. Likhachev in his book “Man in the Literature of Ancient Rus'” (M., 1970) showed that each era had its own dominant style - it was the style of monumental historicism of the 11th-13th centuries. , then the expressive-emotional style of the 14th-15th centuries, then there was a return to the previous style of monumental historicism, but on a new basis - and the so-called “style of second monumentalism” arose, characteristic of the 16th century. Also D.

S. Likhachev considers several main directions leading to the development of ancient Russian literature into the literature of modern times: the increase in the personal element in literature and the individualization of style, the expansion of the social circle of people who can become heroes of works. The role of etiquette is gradually decreasing, and instead of schematic images of the conventional standards of a prince or saint, attempts appear to describe a complex individual character, its inconsistency and variability. One caveat must be made here: V. P. Adrianova-Peretz showed that understanding complexity human character, the finest psychological nuances were inherent in medieval literature already at the very early stages its development, but the norm for depiction in chronicles, stories, and lives was still the depiction of etiquette, conventional characters depending on the social status of their owners.

The choice of plots or plot situations became wider, fiction appeared in literature; genres that do not have a primary need gradually enter literature. Works of folk satire begin to be recorded and translated chivalric novels; moralizing, but essentially entertaining short stories - facets; in the 17th century syllabic poetry and dramaturgy emerge. In a word, by the 17th century. In literature, features of the literature of modern times are more and more revealed.

In this article we will look at the features of Old Russian literature. The literature of Ancient Rus' was primarily church. After all, book culture in Rus' appeared with the adoption of Christianity. Monasteries became centers of writing, and the first literary monuments were 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 “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion. The author proves the superiority of Grace (the image of Jesus Christ is associated with it) over the Law, which, according to the preacher, is conservative and nationally limited.

Literature was created not for entertainment, but for teaching. Considering the features of ancient Russian literature, it should be noted that it is instructive. 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 ancient Russian literature: it was handwritten. Books were created in a single copy and only then copied by hand when it was necessary to make a copy or the original text became unusable over time. This gave the book special value and generated respect for it. In addition, for the Old Russian reader, all books traced their origins to the main one - the Holy Scriptures.

Since the literature of Ancient Rus' was fundamentally religious, the book was seen as a storehouse of wisdom, a textbook of righteous life. Old Russian literature is not fiction, but modern meaning this word. She goes out of her way avoids fiction and strictly follows the facts. The author does not show his individuality; he hides behind the 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 break it. Therefore, all lives are similar to one another, all biographies of princes or military stories are compiled according to a general plan, in compliance with the “rules”. When “The Tale of Bygone Years” tells us about Oleg’s death from his horse, this beautiful poetic legend sounds like a historical document; the author really believes that everything happened that way.

The hero of ancient Russian literature does not have no personality, no character in our view today. Man's destiny is in the hands of God. And at the same time, his soul acts as an arena for the struggle between good and evil. The first will win 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 ancient Russian writers did not know how to do this. In the same way, icon painters created planar rather than three-dimensional images, not because they could not write “better”, but because others stood in front of them artistic tasks: The face of Christ cannot be similar to an ordinary human face. An icon is a sign of holiness, not a depiction of a saint.

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

Old Russian literature in every possible way avoids mundaneness: 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 narrative: no manifestation of feelings, no individual manner. (“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” in this sense is one of the few exceptions.) Therefore, many works of the Russian Middle Ages anonymous, the authors do not even assume such immodesty - to put your 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? That is why the information available to us about ancient authors is so scarce.

At the same time, in ancient Russian literature a special national ideal of beauty, captured by ancient scribes. First of all, this is spiritual beauty, the beauty of the Christian soul. In Russian medieval literature, in contrast to Western European literature of the same era, the knightly ideal of beauty - the beauty of weapons, armor, and victorious battle - is much less represented. The Russian knight (prince) wages war for the sake of peace, and not for the sake of glory. War for the sake of glory and profit is condemned, and this is clearly seen in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” Peace is assessed as an unconditional good. The ancient Russian ideal of beauty presupposes a wide expanse, an immense, “decorated” earth, and it is decorated with temples, because they were created specifically for the exaltation of the spirit, and not for practical purposes.

The attitude of ancient Russian literature is also connected with the theme of beauty To oral and poetic creativity, folklore On the one hand, folklore was of pagan origin, and therefore did not fit into the framework of the new, Christian worldview. On the other hand, he could not help but penetrate literature. After all, the written language in Rus' from the very beginning was Russian, and not Latin, as in Western Europe, and there was no impassable border between the book and the spoken word. Folk ideas about beauty and goodness also generally coincided with Christian ideas; Christianity penetrated folklore almost unhindered. Therefore, the heroic epic (epics), which began to take shape in the pagan era, presents its heroes both as patriotic warriors and as defenders Christian faith, surrounded by “filthy” pagans. Just as easily, sometimes almost unconsciously, ancient Russian writers use folklore images and stories.

The religious literature of Rus' quickly outgrew its narrow church framework and became truly spiritual literature, which created a whole system of genres. Thus, “The Sermon on Law and Grace” belongs to the genre of a solemn sermon delivered in church, but 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 genre for ancient Russian literature was the hagiography, the biography of a saint. At the same time, the task was pursued, by telling about the earthly life of a saint canonized by the church, to create an image of an ideal person for the edification of all people.

IN " Lives of the Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb"Prince Gleb appeals to his killers with a request to spare him: “Do not cut the ear, which is not yet ripe, filled with the milk of goodness! Do not cut the vine, which is not yet fully grown, but bears fruit!” Abandoned by his squad, Boris in his tent “cries with a broken heart, but is joyful in his soul”: he is afraid of death and at the same time he realizes that he is repeating the fate of many saints who accepted martyrdom for their faith.

IN " Lives of Sergius of Radonezh“It is said that the future saint in his adolescence had difficulty comprehending literacy, lagged behind his peers in learning, 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, it happened that the saint gave the last piece of bread to the beast.

In the traditions of life in the 16th century, “ The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom”, but it already sharply diverged from the canons (norms, requirements) of the genre and therefore was not included in the collection of lives of the “Great Chet-Minea” along with other biographies. Peter and Fevronia are real historical figures who reigned in Murom in the 13th century, Russian saints. The author of the 16th century produced not a hagiography, but an entertaining story, built on fairy-tale motifs, glorifying the love and loyalty of the heroes, and not just their Christian deeds.

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

Genre of teaching

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

The ideal ancient Russian prince appears before us. He cares about the welfare of the state and each of his subjects, guided by Christian morality. The prince's other concern is about the church. All earthly life should be considered as work to save the soul. This is the work of mercy and kindness, and military work, and mental work. Hard work is the main virtue in Monomakh’s life. He made eighty-three major campaigns, signed twenty peace treaties, learned five languages, and did what his servants and warriors did.

Chronicles

A significant, if not the largest, part of ancient Russian literature is works of historical genres that were included in the chronicles. The first Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years""was created at the beginning of the 12th century. Its significance is extremely great: it was proof of Rus''s right 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: traditions, legends, sayings, geographical names. Therefore, the chroniclers 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 the most important features Old Russian literature: patriotism and connection with folklore. Book-Christian and folklore-pagan traditions are closely intertwined in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.”

Elements of fiction and satire

Of course, ancient Russian literature was not unchanged throughout all seven centuries. We saw that over time it became more secular, elements of fiction intensified, and satirical motifs increasingly penetrated into literature, especially in the 16th-17th centuries. These are, for example, " The Tale of Misfortune", showing what troubles disobedience and the desire to “live as he pleases,” and not as his elders teach, can bring a person, and “ The Tale of Ersha Ershovich", ridiculing the so-called "voivode's court" in the tradition of a folk tale.

But in general, we can talk about the literature of Ancient Rus' as a single phenomenon, with its own enduring ideas and motives that have passed through 700 years, with its own general aesthetic principles, with a stable system of genres.

The literature of Ancient Rus' arose in the 11th century. and developed over seven centuries until the Petrine era. Old Russian literature is a single whole with all the diversity of genres, themes, and images. This literature is the focus of Russian spirituality and patriotism. On the pages of these works there are conversations about the most important philosophical, moral problems, about which heroes of all centuries think, speak, reflect. The works form a love for the Fatherland and one’s people, show the beauty of the Russian land, so these works touch the innermost strings of our hearts.

The significance of Old Russian literature as the basis for the development of new Russian literature is very great. Thus, images, ideas, even the style of writings were inherited by A. S. Pushkin, F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy.

Old Russian literature did not arise out of nowhere. Its appearance was prepared by the development of language, oral folk art, cultural ties with Byzantium and Bulgaria and was due to the adoption of Christianity as a single religion. The first literary works to appear in Rus' were translated. Those books that were necessary for worship were translated.

The very first original works, i.e. written by ourselves Eastern Slavs, date back to the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century. V. The formation of Russian national literature was taking place, its traditions and features were taking shape, determining its specific features, a certain dissimilarity with the literature of our days.

The purpose of this work is to show the features of Old Russian literature and its main genres.

II. Features of Old Russian literature.

2. 1. Historicism of content.

Events and characters in literature, as a rule, are the fruit of the author's imagination. Authors of works of fiction, even if they describe the true events of real people, conjecture a lot. But in Ancient Rus' everything was completely different. The ancient Russian scribe only talked about what, in his opinion, really happened. Only in the 17th century. Everyday stories with fictional characters and plots appeared in Rus'.

Both the ancient Russian scribe and his readers firmly believed that the events described actually happened. Thus, chronicles were a kind of legal document for the people of Ancient Rus'. After the death of Moscow Prince Vasily Dmitrievich in 1425, his younger brother Yuri Dmitrievich and son Vasily Vasilyevich began to argue about their rights to the throne. Both princes turned to the Tatar Khan to arbitrate their dispute. At the same time, Yuri Dmitrievich, defending his rights to reign in Moscow, referred to ancient chronicles, which reported that power had previously passed from the prince-father not to his son, but to his brother.

2. 2. Handwritten nature of existence.

Another feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of its existence. Even the appearance of the printing press in Rus' changed the situation little until the middle of the 18th century. Existence literary monuments in manuscripts led to special veneration of the book. What even separate treatises and instructions were written about. But on the other hand, handwritten existence led to the instability of ancient Russian works of literature. Those works that have come down to us are the result of the work of many, many people: the author, editor, copyist, and the work itself could last for several centuries. Therefore, in scientific terminology, there are such concepts as “manuscript” (handwritten text) and “list” (rewritten work). The manuscript may contain lists various works and can be written either by the author himself or by scribes. Another fundamental concept in textual criticism is the term “edition,” i.e., the purposeful processing of a monument caused by socio-political events, changes in the function of the text, or differences in the language of the author and editor.

Closely related to the existence of a work in manuscripts is the following: specific trait Old Russian literature as a problem of authorship.

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

Old Russian scribes did not at all strive to reveal their involvement in literary composition. Many monuments have remained anonymous; the authorship of others has been established by researchers based on indirect evidence. So it is impossible to attribute to someone else the writings of Epiphanius the Wise, with his sophisticated “weaving of words.” The style of Ivan the Terrible’s messages is inimitable, boldly mixing eloquence and rude abuse, learned examples and the style of simple conversation.

It happens that in a manuscript one or another text was signed with the name of an authoritative scribe, which may or may not correspond to reality. Thus, among the works attributed to the famous preacher Saint Cyril of Turov, many, apparently, do not belong to him: the name of Cyril of Turov gave these works additional authority.

The anonymity of literary monuments is also due to the fact that the ancient Russian “writer” did not consciously try to be original, but tried to show himself as traditional as possible, that is, to comply with all the rules and regulations of the established canon.

2. 4. Literary etiquette.

The famous literary critic, researcher of ancient Russian literature, Academician D. S. Likhachev, proposed a special term to designate the canon in the monuments of medieval Russian literature - “literary etiquette”.

Literary etiquette consists of:

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

From ideas about how the actor should have behaved in accordance with his position;

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

We have before us the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior and the etiquette of words. The hero is supposed to behave this way, and the author is supposed to describe the hero only in appropriate terms.

III. The main genres of ancient Russian literature.

The literature of modern times is subject to the laws of “genre poetics.” It was this category that began to dictate the ways of creating a new text. But in ancient Russian literature the genre did not play such an important role.

A sufficient amount of research has been devoted to the genre uniqueness of Old Russian literature, but there is still no clear classification of genres. However, some genres immediately stood out in ancient Russian literature.

3. 1. Hagiographic genre.

Life is a description of the life of a saint.

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

The compositional and verbal forms of life have been refined over the centuries. High theme - story about a life that embodies ideal service to the world and God - determines the image of the author and the style of narration. The author of the life tells the story excitedly; he does not hide his admiration for the holy ascetic and his admiration for his righteous life. The author's emotionality and excitement color the entire narrative in lyrical tones and contribute to the creation of a solemn mood. This atmosphere is also created by the style of narration - high solemn, full of quotations from the Holy Scriptures.

When writing a life, the hagiographer (the author of the life) was obliged to follow a number of rules and canons. The composition of a correct life should be three-fold: introduction, story about the life and deeds of the saint from birth to death, praise. In the introduction, the author asks forgiveness from readers for their inability to write, for the rudeness of the narrative, etc. The introduction was followed by the life itself. It cannot be called a “biography” of a saint in the full sense of the word. The author of the life selects from his life only those facts that do not contradict the ideals of holiness. The story about the life of a saint is freed from everything everyday, concrete, and accidental. In a life compiled according to all the rules, there are few dates, exact geographical names, names of historical figures. The action of the life takes place, as it were, outside of historical time and specific space; it unfolds against the backdrop of eternity. Abstraction is one of the features of the hagiographic style.

At the end of the life there should be praise to the saint. This is one of the most important parts of life, requiring great literary art, good knowledge of rhetoric.

The oldest Russian hagiographic monuments are two lives of princes Boris and Gleb and the Life of Theodosius of Pechora.

3. 2. Eloquence.

Eloquence is an area of ​​creativity characteristic of ancient period development of our literature. Monuments of church and secular eloquence are divided into two types: teaching and solemn.

Solemn eloquence required depth of concept and great literary skill. The speaker needed the ability to construct a speech effectively in order to capture the listener, set him in a high mood corresponding to the topic, and shock him with pathos. There was a special term for a solemn speech - “word”. (There was no terminological unity in ancient Russian literature. A military story could also be called “the Word.”) Speeches were not only pronounced, but written and distributed in numerous copies.

Solemn eloquence did not pursue narrow practical goals; it required the formulation of problems of broad social, philosophical and theological scope. The main reasons for creating “words” are theological issues, issues of war and peace, defense of the borders of the Russian land, internal and foreign policy, the struggle for cultural and political independence.

The most ancient monument of solemn eloquence is the “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion, written between 1037 and 1050.

Teaching eloquence is teachings and conversations. They are usually small in volume, often devoid of rhetorical embellishments, and written in the Old Russian language, which was generally accessible to people of that time. Church leaders and princes could deliver teachings.

Teachings and conversations have purely practical purposes and contain information necessary for a person. “Instruction to the Brethren” by Luke Zhidyata, Bishop of Novgorod from 1036 to 1059, contains a list of rules of behavior that a Christian should adhere to: do not take revenge, do not utter “shameful” words. Go to church and behave quietly in it, honor your elders, judge truthfully, honor your prince, do not curse, keep all the commandments of the Gospel.

Theodosius of Pechora is the founder of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery. He owns eight teachings to the brethren, in which Theodosius reminds the monks of the rules of monastic behavior: do not be late for church, put three prostrations, observe decorum and order when singing prayers and psalms, and bow to each other when meeting. In his teachings, Theodosius of Pechora demands complete renunciation from the world, abstinence, constant prayer and vigil. The abbot sternly denounces idleness, money-grubbing, and intemperance in food.

3. 3. Chronicle.

Chronicles were weather records (by “summers” - by “years”). The annual entry began with the words: “Into the summer.” After this there was a story about events and incidents that, from the point of view of the chronicler, were worthy of the attention of posterity. These could be military campaigns, raids by steppe nomads, natural disasters: droughts, crop failures, etc., as well as simply unusual incidents.

It is thanks to the work of chroniclers that modern historians have an amazing opportunity to look into the distant past.

Most often, the ancient Russian chronicler was a learned monk who sometimes spent many years compiling the chronicle. In those days, it was customary to start telling stories about history from ancient times and only then move on to the events of recent years. The chronicler had to first of all find, put in order, and often rewrite the work of his predecessors. If the compiler of the chronicle had at his disposal not one, but several chronicle texts at once, then he had to “reduce” them, that is, combine them, choosing from each what he considered necessary to include in his own work. When materials relating to the past were collected, the chronicler moved on to recounting the events of his time. The result of this great job the chronicle was forming. After some time, other chroniclers continued this collection.

Apparently the first major monument The ancient Russian chronicle was compiled by a chronicle code compiled in the 70s of the 11th century. The compiler of this code is believed to have been the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nikon the Great (? - 1088).

Nikon's work formed the basis of another chronicle, which was compiled in the same monastery two decades later. In the scientific literature it received the code name “Initial arch”. Its nameless compiler replenished Nikon's collection not only with news of last years, but also chronicle information from other Russian cities.

“The Tale of Bygone Years”

Based on the chronicles of the 11th century tradition. The greatest chronicle monument of the era of Kievan Rus - “The Tale of Bygone Years” was born.

It was compiled in Kyiv in the 10s. 12th century According to some historians, its probable compiler was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor, also known for his other works. When creating “The Tale of Bygone Years,” its compiler used numerous materials with which he supplemented the Primary Code. These materials included Byzantine chronicles, texts of treaties between Rus' and Byzantium, monuments of translated and ancient Russian literature, and oral traditions.

The compiler of “The Tale of Bygone Years” set as his goal not just to tell about the past of Rus', but also to determine the place of the Eastern Slavs among the European and Asian peoples.

The chronicler talks in detail about the settlement of Slavic peoples in ancient times, about the settlement of territories by the Eastern Slavs that would later become part of the Old Russian state, about the morals and customs of different tribes. The Tale of Bygone Years emphasizes not only the antiquity of the Slavic peoples, but also the unity of their culture, language and writing, created in the 9th century. brothers Cyril and Methodius.

The chronicler considers the adoption of Christianity to be the most important event in the history of Rus'. The story of the first Russian Christians, the baptism of Rus', the spread of the new faith, the construction of churches, the emergence of monasticism, and the success of Christian enlightenment occupies a central place in the Tale.

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

Genres of Old Russian literature.

A genre is a historically established type literary work, an abstract sample on the basis of which the texts of specific literary works are created. The system of genres of literature of Ancient Rus' differed significantly from the modern one. 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. The genres of ancient Russian literature are usually divided into primary and unifying.

Primary genres.

These genres are called primary because they served as building material for unifying genres. Primary genres:

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

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.
• - A saint was born a saint, and did not become one.
• - The saint was distinguished by an ascetic lifestyle, spending time in solitude and prayer.
• - A mandatory attribute of the life was a description of the miracles that occurred 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 of the hagiographic genre in ancient Russian literature was the life of the holy princes Boris and Gleb.

Old Russian eloquence - this genre was borrowed by Old Russian literature from Byzantium, where eloquence was a form of oratory. In ancient Russian literature, eloquence appeared in three varieties:

• - didactic (instructive)
• - political
• - solemn

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 the “Teaching of Vladimir Monomakh” included in the “Tale of Bygone Years” and dates back to 1096. At this time, the 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. It is necessary to serve God by helping those in need. When 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 protected him. Monomakh says that one should look at how the natural world is structured and try to arrange public relations modeled on a harmonious world order. The teaching of Vladimir Monomakh is addressed to descendants.

The word is a type of genre of ancient Russian eloquence. An example of the political variety of ancient Russian eloquence is “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.”

Another example of political eloquence is the “Word about the Destruction of the Russian Land,” which was created immediately after the Mongol-Tatars came to Rus'. The author glorifies the bright past and mourns the present. An example of the solemn variety of ancient Russian eloquence is the “Sermon on 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 Kyiv. The word conveys the idea of ​​​​the political and military independence of Rus' from Byzantium.

A story is a text of an epic nature, telling about princes, military exploits, and princely crimes. Examples of military stories are “The Tale of the Battle of the Kalka River”, “The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu Khan”, “The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky”.

Unifying genres - primary genres acted as part of unifying genres, such as the chronicle, chronograph, cheti-menaion, patericon.

Chronographs are texts containing a description of time in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Cheti-Minea - a collection of works about holy people.

Patericon - a description of the life of the holy fathers.

Apocrypha - literally translated from ancient Greek as “intimate, secret.” These are works of a religious and legendary nature. Apocrypha became particularly widespread in the 13th and 14th centuries, but the church did not recognize this genre and does not recognize it to this day.