Old Russian literature

Follow-up

Respect in advance. Concept ancient Russian literature In strict terminological terms, it means the literature of similar words from the 11th – 13th centuries. to this further division into Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. From the XIV century. The specific book traditions that led to the establishment of Russian (Great Russian) literature are clearly revealed, and from the 15th century. – Ukrainian and Belarusian. Philology understands ancient Russian literature The history of Russian literature spans all periods of the 11th – 17th centuries.

Try to find out the traces of similar Slavic literature before the Christianization of Russia 988 r. ended in failure. The evidence provided is either rough details (the pagan chronicle “Book of Vles”, which covers the great era from the 9th century BC to the 9th century BC inclusive), or inconceivable hypotheses (so-called “Chronicle of Askold” in N Ikonovsky built XVI century middle of articles 867-89 pp.). This means that pre-Christian Russia generally had a written language. Treaties between Kievan Rus and Byzantium 911, 944 and 971. at the warehouse “Tale of Time Years” (to accept the evidence of S. P. Obnorsky) and archaeological finds (an inscription from the Nizdovsky korchaz in the first ten decades or not later than the middle of the 10th century, Novgorod inscription on a wooden note ku-cylinders, for steaming St L Yanina, 970-80) show that in the 10th century, even before the Christianization of Russia, the Cyrillic sheet could be used in official documents, the state apparatus was constantly preparing soil for expanding writing after the adoption of Christianity at 988 rub.

§ 1. Vinication of ancient Russian literature

§ 1.1 .Folklore and literature. The predecessor of ancient Russian literature was folklore, which expanded among the middle nobility in all faiths of marriage: from the villagers to the princely-boyar aristocracy. Long before Christianity there was already litteratura sine litteris, literature without letters. In the written era, folklore and literature with their own genre systems developed in parallel, mutually complementing one another, sometimes entering into a close relationship. Folklore accompanied ancient Russian literature through all of history: from the chronicles of the 11th century to the beginning of the 12th century. (div. § 2.3) to the “Tale of Woe and Misfortune” of the transitional era (div. § 7.2), although in general it showed little sign of writing. Arts and literature have influenced folklore. The most beautiful example of this is spiritual verses, folk songs of religious place. They noticed a strong influx of church canonical literature (biblical and liturgical books, lives of saints, etc.) and apocrypha. Spiritual leaders preserve the brightest flavors of duplicity and the constant insanity of Christian and pagan manifestations.

§ 1.2 .The Creation of Russia and the beginning of the “book honor”. Acceptance of Christianity 988 rub. for the Grand Duke of Kiev Volodymyr Svyatoslavich, Rus' was brought into the orbit of the Byzantine world. After the baptism, a wealth of Old Slavonic literature, created by the Solun brothers Kostyantin the Philosopher, Methodius and their teachings from the other half, was transferred to the land from the modern and to a lesser extent from the recent words of the і IX–X centuries. A majestic corpus of translated (mostly in Greek) and original monuments, including biblical and liturgical books, patristics and church-primary literature, dogmatic-polemical and legal works, etc. This book fund is a treasure for everything Byzantine-Slovenian Orthodox world, ensuring the center of the new knowledge of religious, cultural and social unity for a century. Since Byzantium, the Slovaks have mastered the important church-monastic book culture. The rich secular literature of Byzantium, which continued the traditions of antiquity, was demanded by the Slavs for many reasons. Povdennoslovyansky influx from the Xth – XIth centuries. gave birth to ancient Russian literature and book language.

Old Rus', from the Slovenian lands, adopted Christianity and became familiar with the Cyrillic-Methodian book-fall. However, in a very short term, she turned it into her national banner. Comparable with other Orthodox Slovenian lands Ancient Rus' created a significantly unconventional and genre-diverse national literature and preserved the Slavic book collection richly.

§ 1.3 .Luminous principles and artistic method of ancient Russian literature. For all its originality, ancient Russian literature lacks these very basic signs and developed according to the same secret laws as other middle European literatures. This is an artistic method of reflecting on the peculiarities of the Middle Ages. He was challenged by theocentrism - belief in God as the ultimate cause of all goodness, wisdom and beauty; providentialism, according to which the course of world history and the behavior of every person is determined by God and the future of the intended plan; reasonable people as created in the image and likeness of God, endowed with reason and free will in the choice of good and evil. In the average world, the light splits into a heavenly, great, eternal, inaccessible to the soul, which reveals itself to be a spiritual blessing (“that one should not look upon one’s eyes, but listen with one’s spirit and mind”), and an earthly, lower one. , time-hour. This is a faint glimpse of the spiritual, ideal world of vengeance, images and similarities of divine ideas with which people recognized the Creator. The middle-century light-baking industry resembled the mature artistic method of ancient Russian literature, religious and symbolic at its core.

Old Russian literature has been adopted by a Christian moralistic and didactic spirit. Inheritance and becoming like God were understood as the treasures of human life, and service to God was seen as the basis of morality. The literature of Ancient Russia was small in terms of expressions of a historical (and indeed factual) nature and at the time of need did not allow artistic expression. It was the power of etiquette, tradition and retrospectiveness, if the action was assessed beyond the passing of the sacred history of the Old and New Testaments.

§ 1.4 .Genre system of ancient Russian literature. In the ancient Russian era, small literary expressions were of great importance. This is how we were respected before the translation of Church Slavonic biblical and liturgical books. His works replaced the rhetorical and structural models of various types of texts, identified the writing tradition, or, otherwise, seemingly, codified the literary norm. They replaced grammars, rhetorics and other theoretical textbooks from the mystique of the word, which were widespread in the middle Western Europe, and for a long time there was daily life in Russia . Reading Church Slavonic phrases, rich generations of ancient Russian scribes explored the secrets of literary technology. The middle-class author gradually developed into clear texts, studying their vocabulary and grammar, presentation of symbols and images, figures of speech and stitches. Sanctified by ancient history and the authority of holiness, the stench seemed indestructible and served as a measure of literary mastery. This rule became the alpha and omega of ancient Russian creativity.

The Belarusian educator and humanist Francis Skorina brought to the forefront of the Bible (Prague, 1519) that the books of the Old and New Testaments are analogues of the “seven great mysteries”, which formed the basis of the middle Western Europe Illuminate it. Grammar, read the Psalter, logic, or dialectics, - the Book of Job and the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, rhetoric - the works of Solomon, music - biblical songs, arithmetic - the Book of Numbers, geometries - the Book of Joshua, astronomy - Bise's book.

Biblical books have been accepted as ideal genre symbols. Izbornik has 1073 rubles. - an old Russian manuscript, which corresponds to a translation from the Greek collection of the Bulgarian king Simeon (893-927), the status of “under the apostolic charter” is confirmed, since the standard of historical works is the Scriptures, written in the form of “ create cunning and creativity (like the writings of the wise and poetic) – the beginning of the Book of Job and the Proverbs of Solomon. Almost a hundred years later, around 1453 rubles, the Tver monk Thomas called the “Words of Praise about Grand Duke Boris Oleksandrovich” a look at the historical works of the Book of Kings, the epistolary genre – apostolic epistles, and “soulful books”.

Such phenomena, which came to Rus' from Byzantium, spread throughout central Europe. At the forefront of the Bible, Francis Skaryna brought up many “information about the military” and “about the rich people” before the Books of Sudd, noting that they are more truthful than the original ones, lower than “Alexandria” and “T.” Roya" – middle-century novels with good-looking stories about Oleksandr The Macedonian and Trojan Wars in Russia (div. § 5.3 and § 6.3). Among others, those of M. Cervantes, who are like canons, are converting Don Quixote, stop devouring God and take up the mind: “If you are drawn to books about exploits and about personal affairs, then open the Scripture and read Book of Suddives: here you will find great and useful actions and actions that are as true as they are important” (Part 1, 1605).

The hierarchy of church books, as understood in Ancient Russia, was laid out at the forefront of Metropolitan Macarius before the Great Menaea by the Cheti (completed around 1554). The monuments that formed the core of traditional book literature were moved from one species to the next place at hierarchical gatherings. The top sections are occupied by the most shady biblical books with theological discussions. At the top of the book hierarchy are the Gospels, followed by the Apostle and the Psalter (which in Ancient Russia was considered the initial book - people began to read it). Further go the works of the Church Fathers: collections of the works of John Chrysostom “Zlatostom”, “Margarit”, “Chrysostom”, the works of Basil the Great, the words of Gregory the Theologian with the tribulations of Metropolitan Mikiti of Irakle, “Pandekti” and “Taktikon” Nikon Chorny. oratorical prose with its own genre subsystem: 1) words of the prophet; 2) apostolic; 3) patristic; 4) Christmastide; 5) laudable. Currently there is hagiographic literature with a special genre hierarchy: 1) lives of the martyr, 2) saints, 3) patericons of Abetkovy, Jerusalem, Egypt, Sinai, Skitsky, Kiev-Pechersk, 4) lives of Russian saints, 15 saints, 5 holy canonization councils .

The old Russian genre system, having formed under the influx of the Byzantine one, was revived and developed over the course of seven centuries of its existence. The protea was saved from its main rice right up to the New Hour.

§ 1.5 .Literary language of Ancient Russia. Together with Old Slavonic books on Rus', for example, the X–XI centuries. the Old Slavic language was transferred - the first Zagal-Slavic literary language, supranational and international, created on the Bulgarian-Macedonian dialectical basis in the process of translations of church books (head rank, Greek) by Kostyantin the Philosopher, Method We also study in the other half of the 9th century. at the entrance to the pivdennoslovyanskih lands. From the earliest days of its founding in Russia, Old Church Slavonic language began to merge with the living language of similar words. Under this influx, some specific vocabulary words became accepted by Russianisms from book norms, while others became acceptable options within the boundaries. As a result of the adaptation of the Old Slavic language to the peculiarities of the Old Russian language, the local (Old Russian) branch of the Church Slavonic language was formed. Its formation was close to completion in the other half of the 11th century, as shown by the found similar Slavonic monuments of writing: Ostromir Gospel (1056-57), Arkhangelsk Gospel (1092), Novgorod services Mena (1095-96, 109 manuscripts.

The current situation of Kievan Rus is assessed differently among the followers. Some of them recognize the fundamental duality, in which the religious language was the ancient Russian, and the literary one was the Church Slavonic (after the similarities of the Old Church Slavonic), which was not gradually Russified (A. A. Shakhmatov). Opponents of this hypothesis argue about the originality of the literary language of Kievan Rus, the structure and depth of the folk similar Slavic language basis and, apparently, the weakness and superficiality of the Old Slavonic infusion (S. P. Obnorsky). The main compromise concept is the two types of a single ancient Russian literary language: book-Slavic and folk-literary, which widely and variedly interacted with each other in the process of historical development (V. V. Vinogradov). Based on the theory of literary duality, Ancient Russia had two book movements: the Church Slavonic and the Old Russian (the point of view was close to F. I. Buslaev, and then they were developed by L. P. Ya Cuban and D. S. Likhachov).

The remaining decades of the 20th century. The theory of diglossia gained great popularity (G. Hütl-Folter, A. V. Isachenko, B. A. Uspensky). On the basis of duality with digloss of the functional spheres of bookish (Church Slavonic) and non-bookish (old-Russian) our divisions are sharp, they may not change and convey their assessment to the bookish x idioms on the scale “high - low”, “urban - extreme”. . Church Slavonic, for example, being a literary and liturgical language, could not serve as a means of distributive spilkuvaniya, while the old Russian one had one of the main functions. Under diglosia, Church Slavonic and Old Russian were accepted in Ancient Russia as two functional varieties of the same language. There are different views on the development of the Russian literary movement, against the stink of debate. Obviously, the ancient Russian literary language was formed from the very beginning as a folding language (B. A. Larin, V. V. Vinogradov) and organically included Church Slavonic and ancient Russian elements.

Already in the 11th century. Various written traditions are emerging and a business language appears, a long-standing Russian tradition. Tsebula is especially written, but not literary, not vlasne knizhkova language. On this basis, official documents (letters, petitions, etc.), legal codes (for example, “Ruska Pravda”, div. § 2.8), and legal affairs were conducted in the 16th - 17th centuries. Davnyorusskaya also wrote texts of everyday life: birch bark letters (div. § 2.8), graphite writings, christenings with a guest object on the plaster of ancient buildings, the head rank of the church, etc. At first, business language had little interaction with literary language. However, over the years, the clear cordons between them began to crumble. The closeness of literature and business writing took place mutually and was clearly revealed in a number of works of the 15th – 17th centuries: “Domostriv”, the messages of Ivan the Terrible, the work of Grigory Kotoshikhin “About Russia during the reign of Oleksiy Mi Khailovich", "Tales about Yershu Ershovich", "Cholobite" » ta in.

Archaeological excavations show that writing among the ancient Slavs dates back to the pre-Christian period. Most of the preserved monuments of the Don's writing came after the Mongol period.

Just wait, so that in the numerous fires and heaps, after which no stone is left unturned, it is important to preserve it. With the appearance of the abetka in the 9th century, created by the Chinese Cyril and Methodius, the first books began to be written. There was a big stink on the church theme.

Divine services became national languages, therefore writing also developed in the languages ​​native to people. The population of different faiths was literate in Russia . Birch bark letters have been found about this. They were registered as civil and legal certificates, and as civil documents.

What is ancient Russian literature?

Manuscripts and handwritten works dating back to the 11th-17th centuries can be traced back to ancient Russian literature. At this time, all historical and business chronicles, mandrivniks described their benefits, and special respect was given to Christian beliefs.

The lives of people, protected by the church to the saints, were read in school books and read by simple literate people. All creativity was inspired by the characteristic way of living at that time. Anonymity of writers is characteristic of ancient Russian literature.

How did literature develop in Ancient Russia?

From the beginning, handwritten texts were rewritten as if they were copies of the original. Over the years, the gospel has gradually begun to evolve through changes in literary conventions and shifts in translation. By varying the number of text options, it is still possible to identify the text that is closest to the text.

You can read original books that have come from the depths of history only in great libraries. . For example, “Povchannya” by Volodymyr Monomakh, written in the 12th century by the Grand Duke of Kiev. This story is respected by the first secular revelations.

Characteristic features of ancient Russian literature

The creative period of this period is characterized by the repetition of certain situations and identical characteristics in different works. The characters are always introduced to each other until the moment is right. Thus, the battles were portrayed as a local battle, grandly, in keeping with tradition.

Over the course of seven hundred years of development, ancient Russian literature has created a great breakthrough. Over time, new genres appeared, and writers increasingly introduced literary canons and revealed writing individuality. Still, the texts show patriotism and unity for the Russian people.

At the beginning of the 13th century, Russia was threatened by the external enemies of the Pechenigs and Polovtsians, and there was an internecine struggle between the principalities. The literature of that period called for stopping civil strife and fighting real enemies. The study of these fates has great historical value.

From the monuments of writing one can learn about the ideas that were learned in our Fatherland, which will be the moral values ​​of the whole people. Russian authors have always been affected by the share of the Russian downfall, and this is clearly visible from their extensive creations.

The concept of “old Russian literature” includes literary works of the 11th-17th centuries. Before the literary monuments of this period lie not only in the control of literary creation, but also in the creation of history (chronicles and chronicles), descriptions of roads (they were called walkers), revolutions, lives (revelation of the lives of people protected by the church to the host of saints), sent , create an oratorical genre, and create texts of a business nature. These monuments have elements of artistic creativity and emotional reflection of everyday life.

What is important is that the majority of ancient Russian literary works did not preserve the names of the creators. Old Russian literature is, as a rule, anonymous, and in this regard it is similar to folk creativity. The literature of Ancient Russia is handwritten: works were expanded through the process of leafing through texts. In the course of the handwritten production of works over the centuries, the texts have not only been copied, but often reworked in connection with changes in literary similarities, the socio-political situation, in connection with particular predilections and literary peculiarities rewrites This explains the contents in the handwritten lists of various editions and variants of the same memo. Regular textual analysis of the edition and variants allows researchers to update the literary history of the work and determine which text is closest to the original, author’s, as a result of change Vavsya at o'clock. Only in rare cases do we receive the author's lists of memorabilia, and even often in later lists we receive texts that are close to the author's, less so in earlier lists. Therefore, the research of ancient Russian literature is based on the exhaustive research of all lists of the researched work. Collections of ancient Russian manuscripts are available in great libraries of various places, archives, and museums. A great number of works have been preserved in a great number of lists, and many have been preserved in a very limited number. And the works presented in a single list: “The Rebirth” of Volodymyr Monomakh, “The Tale of Woe-Misfortune”, etc., in a single list came to us “The Tale of the March of Igor”, but also died at the hour of Napoleon’s attack on Moscow in 1 812 m.

A characteristic feature of ancient Russian literature is the repetition in different works of different situations, displays, poems, epithet, metaphors. The literature of Ancient Russia is characterized by “etiquette”: the hero behaves and behaves in these circumstances according to the understanding of that time; specific events (for example, a battle) are depicted from the composition of stationary images and forms, all with a distinct ceremonial quality. Old Russian literature is local, grand, and traditional. Over the course of seven hundred years of its existence, it has undergone a complex development, and within the framework of its unity we are aware of the diversity of themes and forms, the change of old and the creation of new genres, the close connection between the development of literature and historical shares of the region. All hour long there was a constant struggle between live action, the creative individuality of the authors and the benefits of the literary canon.

The decline of Russian literature dates back to the end of the 10th century, when the services and historical texts of the Church Slavonic language began to appear in Russia as the sovereign religion. Long ago, Rus' through the mediation of Bulgaria, the scholars came to the texts, and immediately came to the highly developed Byzantine literature and the literature of modern words. The interests of the Kiev feudal state, which was developing, centered on the creation of powerful, original works and new genres. Literature was called upon to instill a sense of patriotism, to affirm the historical and political unity of the ancient Russian people and the unity of the family of the ancient Russian princes, to distort the princely wars.

History and literature of the XI - beginning of the XIII century. (The nutrition of Russian history has a connection with world history, the history of the invasion of Russia, the fight against foreign enemies - the Pechenegs and Polovtsians, the struggle of princes for the Kiev throne) signified the zagalny character of the style of this hour, called by academician D.S. Likhachov the style of monumental historicism. The origin of Russian literature is connected with the guilt of Russian chronicle writing. From the warehouse of older Russian chronicles, the “Tale of Bygone Years” has come down to us - a chronicle compiled by the ancient Russian historian and publicist monk Nestor around 1113 rubles. At the heart of the “Tale of Bygone Years,” which includes stories about world history, records of fates about the revolutions in Russia, legendary tales, stories about princely treasures, and laudatory characteristics of local princes ів, і philippics, who will condemn them, і Copies of documentary materials, even earlier chronicle crypts, have not reached us. The study of lists of ancient Russian texts makes it possible to renew the names of the literary history of ancient Russian works that have not been preserved. XI Art. The earliest Russian lives are also dated (princes Boris and Glib, hegumen of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Feodosiya). Their lives are illustrated by literary thoroughness, respect for the most pressing problems of everyday life, and the vitality of rich episodes. The maturity of political thought, patriotism, journalism, high literary mastery are also characterized by the monuments of oratorical redness “The Sermon on Law and Grace” by Hilarion (1st half of the 11th century), and the words and commemoration of Cyril of Turov (1130 -1182). Turbots about the shares of the region, deep humanity, are taken over by the “Povchannya” of the Grand Duke of Kiev Volodymyr Monomakh (1053-1125).

The 80s rock. XII Art. An author unknown to us creates the most ingenious work of ancient Russian literature - “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” The specific theme to which the “Word” is dedicated is the recent campaign of 1185 rubles. near the Polovtsian steppe of Novgorod-Siversk Prince Igor Svyatoslavich. If the author of the claim for the shares of the entire Russian land, he recalls the times of the distant past and present day, and the true hero of his work is not Igor, not the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, to whom the “Word” ascribes There was respect, and the Russian people, the Russian land. The “Word” is richly connected with the literary traditions of its time, and, as a genius, it is seen as a whole low figure, powerful only in the world: the originality of the processing of etiquette techniques, the richness of the language, Viton honoring the rhythmic inspiration of the text, the nationality of its very essence and creative re-interpretations techniques of folk creativity, special lyricism, high enormous pathos

The main theme of literature during the period of the Ordina yoke (1243 r. XIII century - end of the XV century) is national-patriotic. The monumental-historical style acquires an expressive touch: the creations of this hour carry a tragic background and are inspired by a lyrical presentation. The idea of ​​strong princely rule gains great importance in literature. And in chronicles, and in other stories (“The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batiy”), written by eyewitnesses and recounts dating back to the present day, it is revealed about the thirst of the warlord and about the endlessly heroic struggle of the people from now on voluvacs. The image of the ideal prince - a warrior and a sovereign leader, the defender of the Russian land - most clearly appeared in the “Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky” (70th pp. XIII century). A poetic picture of the greatness of the Russian land, Russian nature, the great power of the Russian princes emerges in the “Word about the death of the Russian land” - a lesson from the work that is not yet done, dedicated to the tragedy the beginning of the Ordina yoke (1st half of the 13th century).

Literature XIV century. - 50's rub. XV century reflects the principles and ideology of the unification of the princedoms of ancient Russia near Moscow, the establishment of the Russian people and the gradual formation of the Russian centralized state. During this period, ancient Russian literature begins to show an interest in the psychology of actual people, in the spiritual world (though still within the boundaries of religious knowledge), leading to the growth of the subjective side. It comes down to an expressive-emotional style, which is characterized by verbal sophistication and ornamental prose (the so-called “weaving of words”). All this makes it difficult to portray human feelings. The other half of the XV - the beginning of the XVI century. There are stories whose plots are in harmony with the usual stories of a novelistic nature (“The Tale of Peter, Tsarevich of Orda”, “The Tale of Dracula”, “The Tale of the Merchant Basarga and his son Borzosmisla”). The number of portable monuments of a fictional character is significantly increasing, and the genre of political legendary works is expanding (“Tales about the Princes of Volodymyr”).

In the 16th century The ancient Russian writer and publicist Ermolai-Erasmus creates “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia” - one of the most miraculous works of literature of Ancient Russia. The story was written in the tradition of an expressive-emotional style, inspired by the legendary story about how a village girl became a princess in her own mind. The author widely uses Kazakh methods, but at the same time the story has strong social motives. “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia” is richly connected with the literary traditions of its time and the previous period, but at the same time it is ahead of modern literature, it is exhilarating with artistic thoroughness, with a clear individuality Istyu.

In the XVI century The official character of the literature becomes stronger, and its characteristic rice is its richness and purity. Creations of an unusual nature are springing up in a wide range of ways, such as regulating spiritual, political, legal and everyday life. The “Great Mines of the Four” are being created - a 12-volume compilation of texts suitable for everyday reading every month. At this hour, “Housebud” is written, which lays out the rules of behavior for people in the family, reports for the sake of the government, and rules for mutual relations between people. In literary works, the individual style of the author is more clearly manifested, which was especially clearly evident in the messages of Ivan the Terrible. In the historical evidence, the clue penetrates more strongly, which gives evidence of great plot significance. This same “Stories about the Grand Duke of Moscow” by Andriy Kurbsky was reinterpreted in “Kazan History” - a great plot-historical story about the history of the Kazan kingdom and the struggle for Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.

In the 17th century The process of transforming middle-century literature into the literature of the new hour begins. New literary genres are emerging, the process of democratization of literature is beginning, and its topics are significantly expanding. During the troubled hour of the peasant war from the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th century. change the view of history and the role of its particularity, leading to the emergence of literature from the church influx. Writers of the era of Troubles (Abraham Palitsin, I.M. Katiryov-Rostovsky, Ivan Timofeev, etc.) try to explain the actions of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, False Dmitry, Vasily Shuisky as a manifestation of the divine will, and These are the actions of the people themselves, their special ones particularities. Literature contains statements about the formation, change and development of human character under the influence of modern conditions. He begins to engage in literary work on a wider scale. This is the name of the literature of the Posad, as it is created in a democratic environment. The genre of democratic satire is to blame, in which the state and church orders are mocked: judicial practices are parodied (“The Tale of the Shemyak Court”), church services (“Service to the Tavern”), sacred writings (“The Tale of the Village Son”), and clerical practice (“The Tale of "about Yershu Yershovich", "Kalyazinska cholobitna"). The nature of lives is also changing, and they are increasingly becoming real life stories. The most miraculous work of this genre is from the 17th century. є autobiographical “Life” of Archpriest Avakum (1620-1682), written by him in 1672-1673. Miraculously, it would not be deprived of its lively and sparkling message about the author’s savage and husband’s life path, but also the most vivid and passionate images of the social and ideological struggle of their time, deep psychologism, preaching pathos , which comes with full frankness. And everything is written in living, juiced writing, sometimes in tall book writing, sometimes in brightly colored paper.

The closeness of literature with everyday life, the emergence of love intrigue, psychological motivations for the behavior of the hero in the traditional lower stories of the 17th century. (“The Tale of Woe and Misfortune”, “The Tale of Sava Grudtsin”, “The Tale of Frol Skobeev”, etc.). There are translations of a collection of a novelistic character, with short, casual, and sometimes anecdotal evidence, translations of personal novels (“The Tale of Bove the Prince”, “The Tale of Yeruslan Lazarevich”, etc.). Those that remained on the Russian soil acquired the character of original, “their” monuments and later became popular popular literature. In the 17th century the top is developing (Simeon Polotsky, Sylvester Medvedev, Karion Istomin and others). In the 17th century The history of the great ancient Russian literature has ended, as a phenomenon to which the tamed unified principles, which, however, have seen great changes. Old Russian literature with all its development prepared Russian literature for the new hour.

Old Russian literature – what is it? The works of the 11th-17th centuries include not only literary works, but also historical texts (chronicles and chronicles), descriptions of roads (which were called walks), lives (revelation about the lives of saints), commemorations, messages, messages key to the oratorical genre, as well as texts business place. With those ancient Russian literature, as you learn, you are very rich. All creations have elements of emotional, illuminated life, mystical creativity.

Authorship

At school, students learn that this is ancient Russian literature and outline the basic concepts. You know, most of the works that were created during this period did not retain their author's names. The literature of Old Russia is mostly anonymous and is therefore similar to folk creativity. The texts were handwritten and expanded through leafing and copying, as a result of which they were often reworked to reflect new literary references, the political situation, and also in connection with literary developments. the peculiarities and special preferences of the rewrites. Therefore, the works came to us in different editions and variants. A regular analysis of them helps researchers to reconcile the history of this or that monument and to draw conclusions about which option is closest to the original text, the author’s text, and also to read the history Change it.

Sometimes, in very rare cases, we have the author’s version, and most often in later lists you can find monuments of ancient Russian literature that are closest to the original. Therefore, their traces should be included in the display of all other creative options. There is a stink in the great Moscow libraries, museums, and archives. A lot of texts have been preserved in a large number of lists, and deeds have been preserved in a limited number. One option is, for example, “The Tale of Woe and Misfortune”, “The Tale of the Igor’s Campaign”.

"Etiquette" and repetition

It is necessary to take into account such a feature of ancient Russian literature as repetition in different texts, which dates back to different eras, song characteristics, situations, epithet, metaphors, centuries. The creators are accustomed to this so-called etiquette: the hero knows how to do things this way or otherwise, based on his understanding of how things work in different settings. And events (for example, battles) are described from the constant forms and images.

Literature of the 10th century

We continue to talk about those who also take notes on the main provisions for fear of forgetting. grand, natural, traditional. This guilt dates back to the 10th century, or more precisely until the end, when after the adoption of Christianity as the sovereign religion in Russia, historical and service texts began to appear, written in Church Slavonic. Through the mediation of Bulgaria (which was the source of these works), ancient Rus' reached the developed literature of Byzantium and ancient words. In order to realize their interests, the feudal powers, apart from Kiev, had to create their own old texts and introduce new genres. With the help of literature, it was planned to encourage patriotism, affirm the political and historical unity of the people and ancient Russian princes, and conquer their wars.

Literature 11 – beginning 13th century.

Themes of the literature of this period (the fight against the Polovtsians and the Pechenigs - the external enemies, the connection between Russian history and the world, the struggle for the Kiev throne of princes, the history of the ancient state ) determined the character of the style of this time, which D. S. Likhachov called monumental historicism . The historical chronicle of our country is connected with a sprout of ancient literature.

11th century

The first lives date back to these centuries: Theodosius of Pechersk, Boris and Glib. The smells are divided into problems of reality, literary thoroughness, and vitality.

Patriotism, maturity of a zealous political thought, journalism and high mastery of the monuments of oratorical mysticism “A Sermon on Law and Grace”, written by Hilarion in the first half of the 11th century, “With fishing and povchannya" (1130-1182 rubles). The “revolution” of the Grand Duke of Kiev Volodymyr Monomakh, who was alive from the period from 1053 to 1125, was adopted by deep people and turbot about the share of the state.

"The Lay of Igor's Campaign"

Without the mystery of whose work it is impossible to understand, if the topic of the article is ancient Russian literature. What is "The Word about Igor's Campaign?" This is the greatest work of Ancient Russia, created by an unknown author around the 12th century. The text of the dedication to a specific topic - the recent campaign to the Polovtsian steppe in 1185 by the birth of Prince Igor Svyatoslavovich. The author is not less than a share of the Russian land, he also remembers the reality of the distant past, and the main heroes of “The Lay” are neither Igor nor Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, who also owes a great deal of respect to creation, and to the dew. This land, the people - those on whom it is based ancient Russian literature. “The Word” is rich in rice connected with the ancient traditions of its time. Ale, like any ingenious creation, in the new present originality, which are revealed in the rhythmic subtlety, material wealth, unique techniques, characteristic of traditional folk creativity, and their re-interpreted, enormous pathos and lyricism.

National-patriotic theme

This is raised during the period of the Ordina yoke (from 1243 to the end of the 15th century) by ancient Russian literature. What time is it at the works? Let's try the signals on the power supply. The style of monumental historicism takes on a certain expressive tone: the texts become lyrical and convey tragic pathos. The idea of ​​a strong centralized princely rule is gaining great significance at this time. In several stories and chronicles (for example, in “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batiy”), the thirst for the invasion of the enemy and the important struggle against the rebels of the Russian people are reported. Who shows patriotism. The image of the protector of the earth, the ideal prince, came out most clearly in the “Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky” written in the 70s of the 13th century.

Before reading “Words of the Death of the Russian Land,” a picture of the greatness of nature and the power of princes emerges. This story is nothing more than a lesson from the text that came before us. Dedicated to the beginning of the first half of the 13th century - the difficult hour of the Ordian yoke.

New style: expressive-emotional

In the period 14-50's. The ancient Russian literature has been changing for 15 centuries. What is this expressive-emotional style, what is the wine of this hour? It reflects the ideology of the same period of unification of ancient Russia near Moscow and the formation of a centralized Russian state. Then, in literature, interest began to appear in the particularity, psychology of people, and the inner spiritual light (although even more so within the framework of religious knowledge). This caused the creation of the subjective to grow on the cob.

Thus, a new style has emerged - expressive-emotional, in which the verbal sophistication and “braiding of words” (ornamental prose) is emphasized. These new methods were used to portray the ugly image of a seemingly human being.

The other half has 15 - 16 tbsp on the cob. There are stories that follow their plot to the novelistic character of old stories ("The Tale of the Merchant Basargu", "The Tale of Dracula" and others). There is a noticeable increase in the number of literary works of a fictional nature, and the genre of legends has greatly expanded at that time (for example, “The Tale of the Princes of Volodymyrsky”).

"The Tale of Peter and Fevronia"

As it was foretold, the works of ancient Russian literature will be recognized and the works of legends. In the mid-16th century, Ermolai-Erasmus, a long-time Russian publicist and writer, created the famous “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia,” which is one of the most significant texts of ancient literature. There will be a legend about how, in his own mind, a village girl became a princess. There is a wide range of Kazkov’s creativity, and there are also social motives.

Characteristics of literature of the 16th century

In the 16th century, the official character of the texts increased, and the importance of literature became more refined and richer. Such creations are expanding, and these are the regulation of political, spiritual, everyday and legal life. Bright Butt - “A great collection of texts, which consists of 12 volumes, which were intended for home reading every month. At the same time, “Housebud” is created, declaring the rules of behavior in the family, given for the sake of the government, as well as drive exchange between people In the historical works of that period, the clue is increasingly penetrating through the development of plot significance.

17th century

The works of ancient Russian literature of the 17th century are undergoing significant transformation. The mystique of the so-called new hour begins to take shape. During the process of democratization, the subject matter of creativity expands. The role of the peculiarities of history is changing due to the period of the rural war (late 16th century - beginning of the 17th century), as well as the Time of Troubles. The actions of Boris Godunov, Ivan the Terrible, Vasily Shuisky and other historical characters are now explained as divine will, and by the peculiarities of their skin. There is a special genre - democratic satire, where church and state orders are mocked, judicial rule (for example, "The Tale of Shemyak's Court"), clerical practice ("Kalyazin's petition").

"Life" of Avakum, daily stories

In the 17th century, autobiographical stories are written about people who lived from 1620 to 1682. Archpriest Avakum - "Life". This is posted by the teacher “Old Russian Literature” (9th grade). The peculiarity of the text is Sokovita, Zhiva Mova, Rozmovno-Pobutova, or High Book.

During this period, everyday stories were created about Frol Skobiev, Sava Grudtsin and others that reflect the original character of ancient Russian literature. The collection of short stories is being translated and the story is developing (authors: Sylvester Medvedev, Simeon Polotskits, Karion Istomin).

In 17 centuries, the history of ancient Russian literature comes to an end, and the next stage begins - the literature of a new hour.

The history of ancient Russian literature of the 11th-13th centuries is often viewed as the first chapter in the history of modern Russian literature. I referred, the image of the Abo -Obo -Obo -Obo -Obo -Ogorivs AMO MITSHOUSTOSH NOT ABOUT OPERY PUSHKKINSKO OPERO OPERO OPERO OPERO OPERO OPERA Borodina Borodin. However, it is important to understand that the images are similar to the world, so that they really differ from ours in their valuable attitudes. Awareness of this difference is the first step to understanding all the works of the culture of Ancient Russia.

The main importance of ancient Russian literature in contemporary artistic literature lies in recognition. The goal of artistic literature is to raise the reader above the ordinary world. In “intellectual” and “foldable” books, there is a need for a different form and richness of plan; in those “simpler” ones, we are greeted with a clever plot twist with an unobvious resolution, and some masters get to enjoy the same. The assertions of the critics of the 19th century, any kind of mysticism invariably may be “brown”, today they seem deeply outdated. And the story about Obovyazkov’s “party spirit” was recently allowed to be forgotten in literature.

Everything on the right is the book culture of the Russian Middle Ages. Books and written writing appeared in Russia after the Epiphany, so their storage and place were assigned to us ahead of the needs of the Church. And in the eyes of the Church, mysticism for the sake of mysticism was rightly not safe, and even such a mysticism was designed to turn away respect - and therefore to help the devil, who is bound to quickly turn people away from prayer and in some cunning way to screw up people’s souls in spokus. To prevent this from happening, popular forms of folk antics - for example, public comedies - were directly protected by church canons (whereby the Maidan comedy itself is one of these forms of mysticism, such as some contemporary theater). Of course, it was not easy to implement such measures: “trumpets, buffoons, harps and mermaids” continued to blow, as old Russian preachers knew, to lure the people to God. At the same time, the riddles of the buffoons in the dzherelas of the pre-Mongol period are alone, and the applications of their creativity, emerging until such early hours, are completely unknown to us. That literature of Ancient Russia, with which the current reader is on the right, is literature that is purely religious, and its main purpose is to bring spiritual joy. Taking up the pen is less of a sensation, as long as the result of your creativity is acceptable to the soul.

Such a goal did not at all include the subtlety of the language. However, the divine truths are so complex and brilliant that it is impossible to put them in a “simple” way, and to put a master writer in a dark place. The author of “The Tale of [the Holy Princes] Boris and Glib,” devoting himself to the heroes of his work, confesses:

“I don’t know how to praise you, and I can’t think of anything to say. I would call you angels, as you often come to the sorrowful, but you lived in the flesh on earth among people. I would call you people, if you change the minds of people with your miracles and helping the weak. I would vote you kings or princes, if only you showed more humility, less simple and humble of people, and for this reason you were admitted to heaven and into the lives of paradise...” Here and there are quotes from the translation by Dmitry Dobrovolsky.

Otherwise, seemingly, every day it is not possible to convey the greatness of the sacrifice that the martyred princes made, and therefore, the need to find out more of such significance is a rapt, as they will begin to speak more richly later, how much will turn into bitterness and on the edge and the impersonality of the semantic fields is all does it appear that it is very similar to the description of the object?

Thoughts were expressed with the help of folding, richly planed surfaces. To the butt, brutalizing his prince, the author of the turn of the 12th-13th centuries, Danilo Zatochnik, consistently presents himself with “the pale grass that grew between the walls”, the lamb, the uncaught and the “birds of heaven” - the most dormitory here are those that all lie in Burn for mercy , which is what Danilo himself is asking for from his addressee. Humanity could be likened to the temple of the wisdom of God, which is divided into seven pillars, one for each of the seven Ecumenical Councils. The books themselves were figuratively called rivers, as they remind the Universe. The most important wisdom of the ancient Russian scribe would be to select synonyms - more often, more beautifully. For example, speaking about the Christianization of Russia, one could say that Russian people “came closer to God”, “threw out the devil”, “condemned the service of Satan”, “spitted on the devil”, “knew the true God”, etc. d. And it’s especially good that all known phrases can be combined in one sentence. It is clear that the proposition from which to grow and to read will become incomprehensible. All the items you are talking about don’t have to be accessible. “Important and passing books” is the axis of Christian literature in one of the most recent Russian manuscripts, the “Izbornik” of Prince Svyatoslav in 1073.

It is natural to ask: how does one speak in a complex way about complex matter in connection with one of the key postulates of the Christian faith - with the reconciliation of the weaknesses and sinfulness of people? How can a weak and sinful person write about divine truths? Obviously, the contradiction was due to the fact that the complex turns and richly planned images of ancient Russian bookishness were rarely the original output of local authors.

At the time of the Baptism, the knowledge of foreign languages, especially Greek, was rare. As a result, ancient Russian literature could at least be drawn from the achievements of Byzantine literature, and that, in its turn, encouraged ancient rhetoric with the rich imagery of the Holy Letter. So that behind the great march to the services of the Kiev, Novgorod or, say, Rostov scribe, there is a thousand-year-old evidence of Judeo-Christian civilization - it is necessary to select images in order to get to the godi. If there was a need for information about the noble prince-warrior (for example, about Alexander Nevsky), then they tried the methods that had been tried before in the description of the great warriors of old - Gideon or Alexander the Great. As soon as the language began to talk about the evildoer, then the previous literature provided a representative set of passages, from Cain to tyrant emperors. With this, many authors of “serious” works walked around the Church like saints, which gave an additional guarantee of correctness and accuracy of recording - and at the same time saved those who were coveted by the discoveries of predecessors, from the experience of the power drive sinfulness. It is clear that such a creative method combines the freedom of literary experimentation and diverges from the way writing is done at once. But for a religious culture, permeated with the idea of ​​human sinfulness, the very adherence to the symbols sanctified by tradition appeared to be most suitable. Since you are so smart as to be devilish, then you can’t go anywhere better than anything else.

Such were, as always, the “theoretical foundations” of ancient Russian literature. Let us return to the most important works created in Russia in the 11th-13th centuries.

The first in this series, undoubtedly, should be called “The Word about Law and Grace,” which comes from the pen of Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev in 1051-1055. Perhaps, “The Lay” was written even before Hilarion’s appointment to the department: the author names among the living squad of Prince Yaroslav the Wise Irina-Ingigerda, who died in 1050. On the other hand, Hilarion remembers about the Kiev Church of the Annunciation on the Golden Gate, founded around 1037, and then the “Word” was written after 1037. Nothing more precise can be said about the furnishings of this monument. Hilarion's biography is also very bad. In this case, the place of the “Word” is red-hot by itself.

Solids are made up of three parts. Initially, Hilarion reads about how people learned about the ways of life and the troubles of eternal life: initially through the Old Testament, which Hilarion calls “Law,” and then through the New Testament, “Grace.” In this case, the author attaches special respect to the dual divine-human nature of Christ, explaining this complex dogma with the help of a long (maybe two dozen elements!) series of guys:

“...as the people [Christ] fasted for 40 days and slept, as God overcame the sick, as the people came to have fun in Cania of Galilee, as God turned the water into wine, as the people slept in the chapel, and as God calmed the wind and the smelled the stench yogo)..."

Then it turns out that Rus', although it was the land of pagans, has now reached the grace of Christianity. This allows us to enter a new row:

“Being barbarians, we were called people of God, and being enemies, we were called sons, and we no longer judge in a real way, but in a Christian way we bless, and we don’t think how to rosipate [Christ], or to rosipyatom We worship..."

Let us decide, Hilarion, to praise the great Khagan of our land, Volodymyr, for the Creation of Russia. The rest of the people strongly believe that Rus' is an independent and powerful power, as “seen and felt to all the ends of the earth,” and also that Volodymyr came before Christ himself, without having felt the apostolic preaching And without seeing the miracles performed by preachers. Byzantium (priests, church masters, and books arrived in Rus') will be remembered more than once. Such a unique pa-trio-tism becomes especially noticeable when we consider that at the very hour of the composition of the “Word” - the 1040th century - the final military conflict between Russia and Byzantium had arrived. That same Hilarion himself installed the metropolitan council of bishops, without the blessing of the Patriarch of Constantinople, to whom the Russian Church submitted. The result often speaks of the anti-Byzantine directness of the “Word about Law and Grace.” Moreover, the author’s even more noteworthy historical outlook: from the moment of the Creation of Russia to the folding of the “Word”, more than sixty years passed, and local scribes could, as we most likely, develop large-scale schemes of world history, What are the hours from Abraham to Yaroslav the Wise inclusive? Otherwise, although Ilarion emphasizes the independence of ancient Russian culture, the very text of the “Word” he wrote clearly indicates the extent to which Kievan Rus was included in the secular cultural context.

Another famous scribe of the 11th century was Nestor. Call Nestor to be known as a “chronicler” - for the epitome with which he has been bestowed upon him by all the sellers over the centuries. Although there are a number of contradictions between the existing chronicles and the works signed in the name of Nestor, it is natural to talk about Nestor’s part in the chronicle with caution. However, Nestor’s dubious contributions to ancient Russian hagiography and the writing of the lives of saints are not taken into account.

The first atrocity of Nestor at the stage of hagiography was the writing of “Reading about the life and destruction of the blessed passion-bearers Boris and Glib.” The history of the princes Boris and Glib follows the fate of 1015, when the blue gods of Russia's patron, Volodymyr Svyatoslavich, having finally realized the death of their father, led the crooked struggle for power. As this inter-fight developed itself, the food became more complex. However, a statement was formed early on about those that two of the decline victims - Boris Rostovsky and Glib Muromsky - did not take part in the situation and did not begin to build an operation to send the murderers before them, rather than “raise a hand on brother." And in 1072, the succession of the two princes was further reinforced by the miraculous acquisition of their reserve relics. Judging from this, at approximately the same hour, the latest version of the report about the death of Boris and Glib appeared, notable for the intricate and picturesque scene of the killing of Prince Boris: the roars of the murder of the killer go straight to Boris, otherwise there is no way Ivano fades away, and the prince’s sayings last for a long time that pathetic prayer. Obviously, in reality everything was not like that, except for Boris’s pre-mortem remorse about death as a way to cope with the reader’s unforgettable hostility. Nestor, having avoided certain plot problems, summed up the history of the death of the princes with a revelation about the miracles of their remains, and in addition, provided a confirmation of the historical advance that began with him, and not a little , after the fall of Adam. The result of such processing is less impressive than the cob, the action is no longer so dynamic, and the images are dry. At the same time, under the pen of Nestor, the death of Boris and Glib from a private episode of secular politics was transformed into the cause of the world's ruler, and the Russian saints - into the heavenly patrons of all Christians.

“Having been honored” to testify about the lives and deaths of the martyred princes, Nestor, with his words, “dared himself to be outraged before another identification” and “attempted to write” about Saint Theodosius of Pechersk. Feodosia came from his possible homeland and became a descendant of the great motherland, and from his childhood he became dissatisfied with religion and headed to Kiev to enter the monastery. The 11th century had little wealth for monasteries in Russia; the one where Theodosius was taken, being a simple cave, dug into the steep birch of the Dnieper. However, within a few decades, this modest monastery turned into the center of black life in Russia, and Theodosius (at that time already hegumen) became a famous leader of the ascetic movement. The biography of Theodosius and the history of the formation of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery are filled with dramatic episodes: the Chens repeatedly entered into close conflict with the powerful. However, Nestor managed to reconcile the traditional form of life with reliability and psychological accuracy in the presentation of conflict situations.

A similar combination of ancient literary traditions with masterful descriptions of real life conflicts is represented by the ancient Russian chronicle. The chronicle is a simple “monument of literature.” She had a special task - to know the place of Russia in the divine plan of Providence for the history of mankind. Therefore, the chronicle begins with the revelations about the people who perished on earth and the words began to be written, but it cannot end with the conclusions: the end of the chronicle may become the end of history. And so, or, in other words, the Last Judgment. It is clear that it is beyond the power of one person to write such a work. If the next scribe can edit what he got from his predecessors, and if the accumulated material is finished, he can update the chronicle text with a description of these events, an eyewitness of some of them himself. When one chronicler came out on top, another took over the baton, and so on, generation after generation, the chronicles grew from an equally small variety of stories about the “ear of the Russian land” in the variety of historical canvases, that they sank before the World Flood to the nina of the ruling prince.

The first of these so-called chronicle crypts was created in Kiev no later than the 30s of the 11th century, and at the beginning of the 12th century the expansion and revision of the same text, based on its text, led to the incredible creation that is seen today under the title The Tale of Past Years. If this name itself was written - at the beginning of the 12th century or earlier - it is important to say. But in essence, it clearly indicates the religious place of the chronicle practice: “hours” and “flights”, or “time-hour flights” in the Slavic translation of the book of the Acts of the Apostles is called the establishment of the term of the Last Judgment by God. And since a “story” is already being written about the last days of the world’s life, it means that others will come to eat from day to day and our responsibilities will be ready until the next day.

The specific tradition of ancient history early led chroniclers to a highly “anti-artistic” method of organizing material: rare issues were recorded in a strictly chronological order, behind other “chapters” dedicated to the topics same fate and the standard headline “It’s like this in the summer” (U nautsi It is customary to call these “heads” river articles). It’s difficult to read such a text: the headings of the articles intersperse the evidence at the right place, and the underlying cause and effect can be distributed among different articles and divided into reports about completely different topics. and process. It is also important to note that it is possible to develop the plot and reveal the characteristics of the active characters without the help of one fate. However, the logic of the divine plan still cannot be accessible to the average person, so for the average information, the grid of dates was deprived of perhaps a single reference point for the current element.

Some chronicles are extremely laconic (“Transferring the saints to the Church of the Holy Mother of God” or “Prince Yaroslav Pishov’s war on Lithuania”). Others (for example, the story about the kidnapping and capture of Prince Vasilko Rostislavich in 1097) are heated stories with colorful characters and new dramatic scenes. And it is not always the case that authors are loyal to the point of orderly power: in the chronicles one can remember the misdeeds of princes, the evil of boyars, and the “stabbings” of churches. At the beginning of the 12th century, the critical tone of the chroniclers weakened even further, and their universal view of the lands was replaced by the praise of the ruling princes. However, in Russia there were a number of chronicle traditions: the Crimea of ​​Kiev (where chronicle writing originated), their chroniclers lived in Novgorod, the Volodymyr-Suzdal principality, as well as in Volina and in the Galician land . As a result, a comprehensive and comprehensive picture of the political life of the Russian lands emerges before today’s investigators.

The political evil of Russia, which was marked by the 11th century, soon gave way to the era of fragmentation. However, from the perspective of literature, the new historical period is no less important than the previous one. In the other half of the 12th century, the work of the famous author of church hymns and hymns, Kiril Turovsky, took place. This “Tale of the Blind and the Kulgavy” is an elaborate parable about the nature of sin. And at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, the land of Volodymyr appeared in no less subtle praise of the power of the Grand Duke's power - “The Word” (in another version - “Prayer”) by Danil Zatochnik, about which it was already possible to say more. At the same time, the most familiar and most in demand from the current reader is another familiar monument of this time - “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.”

“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” is already complete. This plot of inspiration is not about the fasting of some saint and not about the appearance of a miracle, and not about a heroically won battle, but about the recent campaign of the prince of Novgorod-Siversk Igor Svyatoslavich against the steppe nomads - in 1185. The text reveals a story about the advance of the Russian armies in the steppes and the fact that the beginning of the expedition was accompanied by an ominous sign - dreamy blackouts. Then follows a description of two battles: one breaks out successfully for the Russian armies, and the other ends in defeat, after which the prince-leader is completely destroyed. Then the action is transferred to Rus', and the reader appears first in Kiev, for the sake of the Kiev prince Svyatoslav with the boyars, and then in Putivla, where on the Moscow wall weeping about the fallen Igor of his squad Yaroslav. The “Word” ends with information about Igor’s departure from the Polovtsian army: to the joy of Russia and all other lands, the prince triumphantly returns to Kiev.

Describing all these ideas, the author of “The Lay” actively uses even complex metaphors (“Here the crooked wine was not drained, here the good Russians finished the banquet: they gave the in-laws a drink, and they themselves died for the land of Rus”); non-Christian gods and mythological facts can be guessed: Divas, winds - Stribozhi onuks, “great Horse”, etc. The author’s assessment and, moreover, Christian morality are practically always following this chimerical verbal image. .

One might think that this is a Western epic, similar, say, to the old French “Song of Roland.” But the most important sign of the epic is that it has a perfect form with a clear size, and it does not appear in the “Tales about the Campaign of the Igors.” In addition, the order of the “pagan” or “folk”, in the image of the “Word” is represented by the Christian, bookstore. So, in order to show the devastation of the Russian land due to the princely infighting, the author describes the games of birds that eat corpses:

“Today on the Russian land one rarely heard the cry of an orach, then often crows croaked, carved up corpses, and jackdaws muttered their moya, gathering for prey.”

Biblical prophecies also contain a riddle about the corpses that will become like birds if God turns against Israel for its sins. It is also noteworthy that the martyrdom of Prince Svyatoslav before the boyars (called the “golden word” by the author himself) is dedicated not so much to the need to fight the enemies of Russia, but to the pride of those who do not need to give up:

“Oh, my nephews, Igor and Vsevolod! Early on you began to slash the Polovtsian land with swords and gain glory for yourself. You dishonestly overcame, dishonestly shed the blood of the filthy. Your good hearts are forged from thick damask steel and sealed with praise. What have you saved for my sliver!”

Otherwise, it seems, the theme of the “Word” is not only military valor, but the boastfulness of princely ambassadors. And what is even more important is the bookish, Christian motive for its essence.

The uniqueness of the composition and imagery played with “A Word about the March of Igor” an evil heat. This marvelous novel did not gain popularity among readers and rewrites. Only one manuscript reached the New Hour, discovered by lovers of antiquities from the late 18th century and published in 1800. And when this manuscript perished in the wake of the Moscow fire of 1812, the skeptical descendants refused the opportunity to confirm that the “Word” is a piece of shit, as unscrupulous representatives of these How many other sponkuns were seen for the monument of the 12th century? Today is science: the language “Words” is very close to the language of reference monuments of the 12th century; The falsifier of Catherine II's books would not have been able to so well create the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Russian language - especially those rices that have become more intelligent these days. At the same time, the very reason for the dispute about the approach of the “Word” is to clearly testify to the insignificance of this memo for the old Russian book of pre-Mongol treasures.

Not all the works of ancient Russian literature of the 11th-13th centuries have reached us. Books were folded, copied, read and stored in front of us in places, and the places were made of wood, often burned, and in the middle of them the libraries perished. In addition, great places and rich monasteries were an attractive place for slaughterhouses - and the Ordina invasion of the mid-13th century was a strong blow to literature. However, a lot has been saved, and due to the diligence of the coming generations, it will not continue. According to the scribes of the 14th-17th centuries, the literature of the pre-Mongolian heritage, which was direct to Byzantine images, itself turned into a consecrated butt for inheritance, and the writings of the great predecessors were saved and expanded. And although the originals of most of the works of the 11th-13th centuries have not reached us, although the copies made from them in the early centuries, modern researchers can obtain more detailed information about how ancient Russian literature began.