The main purpose of the works of ancient Russian literature. The main features of ancient Russian literature and its artistic method

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

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

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

I. Feature - syncretism i.e. compound. This feature is associated with underdevelopment genre forms. In one old Russian genre it is possible to distinguish features characteristic of other genres, i.e., elements of several genres are combined in one genre, for example, in the “Journeys” there are descriptions of geographical and historical places, and a sermon, and a lecture. A vivid manifestation of syncretism can be traced in the chronicles, they contain both a military story, and tradition, and samples of contracts, and reflections on religious topics.

II.Feature - monumentality. The scribes of Ancient Rus' showed the greatness of the world, they were interested in the fate of the motherland. The scribe seeks to portray the eternal; Eternal values defined christian religion. Hence there is no image of appearance, life, because. it's all mortal. The scribe seeks to tell the story of the entire Russian land.

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

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

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

VI.Feature - Old Russian literature was entirely handwritten. And although printing appeared in the middle of the XVI century. even before the 18th century, works were distributed by correspondence. When rewriting, the scribes made their own corrections, changes, shortened or expanded the text. Therefore, the monuments of ancient Russian literature did not have a stable text. From the 11th to the 14th centuries, the main writing material was parchment, made from the skin of calves. Name parchment ancient city(in Greece) Pergamon, where in the 2nd century BC. started making parchment. In Rus', parchment is called "veal" or "haratya". This expensive material was available only to the propertied class. Craftsmen and merchants used birch bark. Recordings were made on birch bark. Wooden boards were fastened together in the form of student notebooks. Famous birch-bark writings are written monuments of the 11th-15th centuries. Birch bark letters - a source on the history of society and Everyday life medieval people, as well as on the history of the East Slavic languages.

They wrote with ink on birch bark or parchment. Ink was made from decoctions of alder or oak bark, from soot. Until the 19th century enjoyed quill pen, since parchment was expensive, then to save writing material, the words in the line were not separated, everything was written together. The paragraphs in the manuscript were written in red ink - hence the “red line”. Frequently used words were abbreviated - under a special sign - “title” For example, litharge (abbreviated from the verb, i.e. speak) Buka

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

From the second half of the 15th century, paper came into use and the charter gave way to a semi-charter, a more fluent letter. The division of the text into words and the use of punctuation marks are associated with the semi-charter. Straight lines of the charter are replaced by oblique lines. The charter of Russian manuscripts is drawing, calligraphically clear writing. In the semi-charter, a large number of abbreviations of words were allowed, stress was placed. The semi-statutory letter was faster and more convenient than the statutory one. Since the 16th century, semi-statutory writing has been replaced by cursive writing. “Cursive writing” is a tendency to speed up writing. This is a special type of letter, which differs in its graphics from the charter and semi-charter. This is a simplified version of these two types. Monuments of ancient writing testify to high level culture and skill of ancient Russian scribes, who were entrusted with the correspondence of texts. They tried to give handwritten books a highly artistic and luxurious appearance, decorating them. various types ornaments and drawings. With the development of the charter, a geometric ornament develops. It is a rectangle, arch and other geometric figures, inside which patterns were applied on the sides of the title, in the form of circles, triangles and others. The ornament could be one-color and multi-color. Ornaments depicting plants and animals were also used. They painted capital letters, used miniatures - that is, illustrations for the text. The written sheets were sewn into notebooks, which were bound into wooden boards. The boards were covered with leather, and sometimes they were clothed in salaries specially made of silver and gold. A remarkable example of jewelry art is the setting of the Mstislav Gospel (XII). In the middle of the 15th century, printing appeared. Church works were printed, and artistic monuments were rewritten for a long time. The original manuscripts have not come down to us; their later lists of the 15th century have been preserved. So, “The Tale of Igor's Campaign”, written in the late 80s of the XII century, was found in the list of the XVI century. Textologists study the monuments, establish the time and place of their writing, determine which list is more consistent with the original author's text. And paleographers, by handwriting, by writing material, miniatures, establish the time of creation of the manuscript. In ancient Rus', the word book in singular was not used, because the book consisted of several notebooks bound together. Books were treated with care, they believed that mishandling a book could harm a person. On one book, the inscription was preserved: “Whoever spoils books, who steals, let him be damned.”

Monasteries were the centers of book writing, education and culture of Ancient Rus'. In this respect big role played the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. Theodosius of the Caves introduced the duty of monks to write books. In his life, Theodosius Pechersky describes the process of creating books. Day and night the monks wrote books in their cells. The monks led an ascetic life educated people. They not only copied books, but also translated from Greek Bible, Psalter (songs of religious content), church prayers, clarified the meaning church holidays. Several books have come down from the 11th century. They are decorated with great taste. There are books trimmed with gold and pearls. These books were very expensive. In Rus', printing was considered a state affair.

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

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Old Russian literature has a number of features due to the originality of the worldview of medieval people and the nature of the creation of written texts:

1) The religious and Christian views of the world inherent in medieval people determined the special character of the depiction of events and people.

characteristic feature ancient Russian literature is historicism: the heroes of the works are well-known historical figures, writers strive to prevent "self-thinking" (fiction), strictly follow the facts.

The historicism of ancient Russian literature is distinguished by a specific medieval character, is inextricably linked with providentialism. From the point of view of the ancient Russian writer, any events occurring in people's lives were perceived as a manifestation of the action higher powers. God is the source of good; the devil, who hates human race. God not only has mercy on people, but also punishes them: “for the sake of sins”, he sends illnesses on people, foreign conquerors, etc. In some cases, God sends people signs of his anger in advance - signs that should enlighten his unreasonable "slaves", warn them of the need for repentance.

2) Old Russian literature was closely connected with political life Rus'. This circumstance determines the interest of writers in certain topics and the nature of writing. One of the central themes is the theme of the Motherland. Writers glorify its power and strength, actively oppose feudal civil strife, weakening the state, glorify the princes who serve the interests of the people.

Old Russian writers are not inclined to impartial presentation of facts. Being sincerely convinced that they know what the life of Rus' should be like, they strive to convey their convictions to those whom they address in their works. Therefore, all works of ancient Russian literature (spiritual and secular) are, as a rule, journalistic in nature.

3) Another characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of its existence and distribution.

Even if the work was simply rewritten, it rarely became an exact copy of the original. Many texts were copied repeatedly, while each of the scribes could act as a kind of co-author. As a result, new lists of works(this term refers to handwritten copies) and editions(varieties of texts in which certain, often quite significant, changes have been made).

4) Most of the works created in Ancient Rus' are anonymous. This is a consequence of the religious-Christian attitude towards people, characteristic of the Middle Ages. A person perceived himself as a “servant of God”, a dependent person, completely dependent on higher powers. The creation and rewriting of a work was seen as something happening at the behest from above. In this case, to sign your name under the work meant to show pride, that is, to commit a sin. Therefore, in most cases, the authors of the works preferred to remain anonymous.

5) As noted earlier, ancient Russian literature was inextricably linked with folklore, from which writers drew themes, images and visual means.

Thus, ancient Russian literature has a number of features that distinguish it from the literature of modern times. Old Russian texts are a product of a certain time, characterized by a rather peculiar worldview of people, and therefore should be considered as unique monuments of a certain era.

Genre system of Old Russian literature

Modern literature has a certain genre-generic system. There are three types of literature: epic, lyrics, drama. Within each of them there are certain genres (novel, tragedy, elegy, story, comedy, etc.). Genres(from French genre - genus, species) historically established types of literary works are called.

In ancient Russian literature there were no genres in modern understanding this word. The term "genre" in relation to works created in the XI- XVII centuries, is used conditionally.

The genres of ancient Russian literature are divided into spiritual(church) and mundane(secular).

Together with Christianity, Rus' adopted the system spiritual (church) genres accepted in Byzantium. Spiritual genres include a number of works (books Holy Scripture(Bible), hymns and "words" related to the interpretation of Scripture, the lives of the saints, etc.)

dominant position among genres of secular literature took up stories. This word denoted narrative works of a different nature (tales were called legends, lives, and even chronicles (“The Tale of Bygone Years”)). Along with this, a prominent place among secular genres was occupied by "words" ("The Tale of Igor's Campaign", "The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land", etc.). They differed from church “words” in their content, in that they were devoted not to the interpretation of Holy Scripture, but to topical issues. contemporary issues. Obviously, calling their works "words", their authors wanted to emphasize that the texts are intended to be pronounced in front of the audience.

The genre-generic system of Old Russian literature has not remained unchanged for centuries. Particularly significant changes in it were noted in the 17th century, when the foundations were laid for such genres of literature, previously unknown in Rus', as lyrics and drama.

The literature of Ancient Rus' arose in the 11th century. and developed over the course of seven centuries until the Petrine era. Old Russian literature is a single entity with all the variety 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 that heroes of all centuries think about, talk about, meditate on. The works form love for the Fatherland and their people, show the beauty of the Russian land, therefore these works touch the innermost strings of our hearts.

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

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

The very first original compositions, i.e., written by themselves Eastern Slavs, belong to the end of the XI-beginning of the XII century. V. There was a formation of Russian national literature, its traditions were formed, features that determine 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 ancient Russian literature.

2. 1. Historicism of content.

Events and characters in literature, as a rule, are the fruit of the author's fiction. Authors works of art, even if they describe the true events of real people, they speculate a lot. But in ancient Rus', everything was completely different. The Old Russian scribe told only about what, according to his ideas, really happened. Only in the XVII century. Everyday stories appeared in Rus' with fictional characters and plots.

Both the ancient Russian scribe and his readers firmly believed that the events described actually happened. So the chronicles were for the people of Ancient Rus' a kind of legal document. After the death in 1425 of the Moscow prince Vasily Dmitrievich, 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 judge 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. Manuscript nature of existence.

Another feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of existence. Even the appearance printing press in Rus' little changed the situation until the middle of the XVIII century. The existence of literary monuments in manuscripts led to a special reverence for 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 writings that have come down to us are the result of the work of many, many people: the author, editor, copyist, and the work itself could continue for several centuries. Therefore, in scientific terminology, there are such concepts as "manuscript" (handwritten text) and "list" (rewritten work). The manuscript may contain lists different compositions and can be written both by the author himself and by scribes. Another fundamental concept in textual criticism is the term "edition", i.e. purposeful processing of the monument, caused by socio-political events, changes in the function of the text, or differences in the language of the author and editor.

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

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

Old Russian scribes did not at all seek to reveal their involvement in literary writing. Very many monuments remained anonymous, the authorship of others was established by researchers on indirect grounds. 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 epistles is inimitable, impudently mixing eloquence and rude abuse, learned examples and the style of a simple conversation.

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

The anonymity of literary monuments is also due to the fact that the Old Russian “writer” deliberately did not 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.

A well-known literary critic, researcher of ancient Russian literature, academician D.S. Likhachev proposed a special term for designating the canon in the monuments of medieval Russian literature - “literary etiquette”.

Literary etiquette is composed of:

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

From ideas about how it should have behaved actor according to their position;

From the ideas of what words the writer had to describe what is happening.

Before us is the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior and verbal etiquette. The hero is supposed to behave in 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 the "poetics of the genre". It was this category that began to dictate the ways of creating a new text. But in ancient Russian literature, the genre did not play such an important role.

A sufficient number of studies have been devoted to the genre originality of Old Russian literature, but there is still no clear 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 has hundreds of works, the first of them were written in the XI century. Life, which came to Rus' from Byzantium along with the adoption of Christianity, became the main genre of ancient Russian literature, the literary form in which the spiritual ideals of Ancient Rus' were clothed.

compositional and verbal form lives were polished for centuries. High theme - story about a life that embodies the ideal service to the world and God - determines the image of the author and the style of narration. The author of the life narrates with excitement, he does not hide his admiration for the holy ascetic, admiration for his righteous life. The emotionality of the author, his excitement paint the whole story 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) had to follow a number of rules and canons. The composition of the correct life should be three-part: an introduction, a story about the life and deeds of a saint from birth to death, praise. In the introduction, the author apologizes to the readers for their inability to write, for the rudeness of the narration, etc. The life itself followed the introduction. It cannot be called a "biography" of a saint in full sense this word. The author of the life selects from his life only those facts that do not contradict the ideals of holiness. The story about the life of a saint is freed from everything everyday, concrete, random. In a life compiled according to all the rules, there are few dates, exact geographical names, names of historical persons. The action of life takes place, as it were, outside historical time and concrete space, it unfolds against the backdrop of eternity. Abstraction is one of the features of hagiographic style.

At the conclusion of the life there should be praise to the saint. This is one of the most important parts of life, which required a lot of literary art, good knowledge 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: instructive and solemn.

Solemn eloquence required depth of conception and great literary skill. The orator needed the ability to effectively build a speech in order to capture the listener, set it up in a high way, corresponding to the topic, shake him with pathos. There was special term to denote a solemn speech - "word". (There was no terminological unity in ancient Russian literature. A military story could also be called a "Word".) Speeches were not only delivered, but written and distributed in numerous copies.

Solemn eloquence did not pursue narrowly practical goals, it required the formulation of problems of a wide social, philosophical and theological scope. The main reasons for the creation of "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 oldest monument of solemn eloquence is Metropolitan Hilarion's Sermon on Law and Grace, written between 1037 and 1050.

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

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

Theodosius of Pechersk, founder of the Kiev Caves 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, make three bows to the earth, observe deanery and order when singing prayers and psalms, and bow to each other when meeting. In his teachings, Theodosius of Pechorsky demands a complete renunciation of the world, abstinence, constant prayer and vigil. The abbot severely denounces idleness, money-grubbing, intemperance in food.

3. 3. Chronicle.

Chronicles were called weather records (according to "years" - according to "years"). The annual entry began with the words: "In the summer." After that, there was a story about events and incidents that, from the point of view of the chronicler, were worthy of the attention of 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. The story of history in those days was customary to begin with ancient times and only then move on to the events of recent years. The chronicler had first of all to 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 one that he considered necessary to include in his own work. When the materials relating to the past were collected, the chronicler proceeded to present the incidents of his time. This great job became a chronicle. After some time, this code was continued by other chroniclers.

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

Nikon's work formed the basis of another chronicle, which was compiled in the same monastery two decades later. IN scientific literature he received code name"Initial Code". Its unnamed compiler supplemented Nikon's collection not only with news of recent years, but also with chronicle information from other Russian cities.

"The Tale of Bygone Years"

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

It was compiled in Kyiv in the 10s. 12th c. According to some historians, its likely compiler was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nestor, also known for his other writings. When creating The Tale of Bygone Years, its compiler drew on numerous materials with which he supplemented the Initial Code. Among these materials were 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 only to tell about the past of Rus', but also to determine the place of the Eastern Slavs among European and Asian peoples.

The chronicler tells in detail about the resettlement Slavic peoples in antiquity, about the settlement by the Eastern Slavs of territories that would later become part of the Old Russian state, about the customs and customs of different tribes. The "Tale of Bygone Years" emphasizes not only the antiquities 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 about the first Russian Christians, about the baptism of Rus', about the spread of a new faith, the construction of churches, the emergence of monasticism, the success of Christian enlightenment occupies a central place in the Tale.

A 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 bright publicist. Many chroniclers of subsequent centuries turned to the experience of the creator of the "Tale", sought to imitate him and almost always placed the text of the monument at the beginning of each new chronicle collection.

1. Ancient literature is filled with deep patriotic content, heroic pathos of service to the Russian land, state, and homeland.
2. The main theme of ancient Russian literature is world history and the meaning of human life.
3. Ancient literature glorifies the moral beauty of the Russian man, who is capable of sacrificing the most precious thing for the sake of the common good - life. It expresses a deep belief in strength, the ultimate triumph of good, and the ability of man to elevate his spirit and conquer evil.
4. A characteristic feature of ancient Russian literature is historicism. The heroes are mostly historical figures. The literature strictly follows the fact.
5. feature artistic creativity ancient Russian writer is the so-called "literary etiquette". This is a special literary and aesthetic regulation, the desire to subordinate the very image of the world to certain principles and rules, to establish once and for all what should be depicted and how.
6. Old Russian literature appears with the emergence of the state, writing, and is based on Christian book culture and developed forms of oral poetic creativity. At this time, literature and folklore were closely connected. Literature has often taken stories artistic images, figurative means of folk art.
7. The originality of ancient Russian literature in the image of the hero depends on the style and genre of the work. In relation to styles and genres, it is reproduced in monuments ancient literature hero, ideals are formed and created.
8. In ancient Russian literature, a system of genres was defined, within which the development of original Russian literature began. The main thing in their definition was the "use" of the genre, the "practical purpose" for which this or that work was intended.
9. The traditions of ancient Russian literature are found in the work of Russian writers of the 18th-20th centuries.

CONTROL QUESTIONS AND TASKS

1. As academician D.S. Likhachev ancient Russian literature? Why does he call it “one grandiose whole, one colossal work”?
2. To what does Likhachev compare ancient literature, and why?
3. What are the main virtues of ancient literature?
4. Why would the artistic discoveries of the literature of subsequent centuries be impossible without the works of ancient literature? (Think about what qualities of ancient literature were assimilated by Russian literature of modern times. Give examples from the works of Russian classics known to you.)
5. What did Russian poets and prose writers appreciate and what did they perceive from ancient literature? What did A.S. write about her? Pushkin, N.V. Gogol, A.I. Herzen, L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, D.N. Mom-Siberian?
6. What does ancient literature say about the benefits of books? Give examples of "praise to books" known in ancient Russian literature.
7. Why were there high ideas about the power of the word in ancient literature? What were they connected with, what did they rely on?
8. What is said about the word in the Gospel?
9. What do writers compare books to and why? Why are books rivers, sources of wisdom, and what do the words mean: “If you diligently seek wisdom in books, you will find great benefit for your soul”?
10. Name the monuments of ancient Russian literature known to you and the names of their scribes.
11. Tell us about the way of writing and the nature of ancient manuscripts.
12. name historical background the emergence of ancient Russian literature and its specific features in contrast to the literature of modern times.
13. What is the role of folklore in the formation of ancient literature?
14. Using vocabulary and reference material, briefly retell the history of the study of ancient monuments, write down the names of scientists involved in their study, and the stages of study.
15. What is the image of the world and man in the view of Russian scribes?
16. Tell us about the image of a person in ancient Russian literature.
17. Name the topics of ancient literature, using vocabulary and reference material, describe its genres.
18. List the main stages in the development of ancient literature.

Read also the articles in the national identity ancient literature, its origin and development.

In this article we will consider 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. So, one of the first original (that is, not translated, but written by a Russian author) works was Metropolitan Hilarion's Sermon on Law and Grace. 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 not created for entertainment, but for teaching. Considering the features of ancient Russian literature, it should be noted its instructiveness. She teaches to love God and her Russian land; she creates images of ideal people: saints, princes, faithful wives.

We 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 from time to time. This gave the book a special value, gave rise to a respectful attitude towards it. In addition, for the Old Russian reader, all books originated from the main one - Holy Scripture.

Since the literature of Ancient Rus' was basically religious, the book was seen as a storehouse of wisdom, a textbook of a righteous life. Old Russian literature is not fiction in the modern sense of the word. She in every possible way avoids fiction and strictly follows the facts. The author does not show his individuality, hiding behind the narrative form. He does not strive for originality, for the Old 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 general plan, in compliance with the "rules". When The Tale of Bygone Years tells us about the death of Oleg from his horse, this beautiful poetic legend sounds like historical document, the author really believes that everything was so.

The hero of ancient Russian literature does not possess neither personality nor character in our current view. The fate 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 win only when a person lives according to the 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 were not able to do this. In the same way, icon painters created planar, and not volumetric images not because they could not write “better”, but because others stood before them artistic tasks: the face of Christ cannot be similar to the usual human face. An 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 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 being grounded: it 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: neither a manifestation of feelings, nor an 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 assume 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 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, it is spiritual beauty, beauty Christian soul. In Russian medieval literature, in contrast to Western European literature of the same era, the knightly ideal of beauty is much less represented - the beauty of weapons, armor, victorious battle. The Russian knight (prince) wages war for the sake of peace, and not for the sake of glory. War for the sake of glory, profit is condemned, and this is clearly seen in the Tale of Igor's Campaign. The world is valued as an unconditional good. The ancient Russian ideal of beauty presupposes a wide expanse, an immense, “decorated” land, and temples decorate it, 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-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 but penetrate into 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 boundary between the book and the spoken word. Folk ideas about beauty and goodness also generally coincided with Christian ones, Christianity penetrated into folklore almost without hindrance. Therefore, the heroic epic (epics), which began to take shape back in the pagan era, presents its heroes both as patriotic warriors and as defenders of the 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 the narrow church framework and became a truly spiritual literature that created a whole system of genres. Thus, the "Sermon on Law and Grace" refers to the genre of a solemn sermon delivered in the church, but Hilarion not only proves the Grace of Christianity, but also glorifies the Russian land, combining religious pathos with patriotic.

Genre of life

The most important for ancient Russian literature was the genre of life, the biography of the 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 perfect person for the benefit 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 milk of malice! Do not cut the vine, which is not fully grown, but bears fruit!" Abandoned by his retinue, Boris in his tent “weeps with a contrite 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 were martyred for their faith.

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

In the traditions of life in the XVI century was created " 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 “Great Menaion” 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 did not turn out a life, but an entertaining story built on fairy tale motifs, glorifying the love and loyalty of the heroes, and not just their Christian exploits.

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

Genre of teaching

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

Before us appears the ideal 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 considered as a work for the salvation of the soul. This is the work of mercy and kindness, and military work, and mental. diligence - main virtue in the life of Monomakh. He made eighty-three large campaigns, signed twenty peace treaties, studied five languages, did what his servants and vigilantes did.

Annals

A significant, if not the largest, part of Old Russian literature is the works historical genres included in the annals. The first Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years"created in early XII century. Its significance is extremely great: it was proof of Rus''s right to state independence and independence. But if recent events chroniclers could record "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. Such are the legends about the death of Oleg, about Olga's revenge on the Drevlyans, about Belgorod kissel etc.

Already in The Tale of Bygone Years, two key features Old Russian literature: patriotism and connection with folklore. Literary-Christian and folklore-linguistic traditions are closely intertwined in the Tale of Igor's Campaign.

Elements of fiction and satire

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

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