Varieties and genres of ancient Russian literature. Genres of literature of ancient Russia

In this article, we will look at the features ancient Russian literature. The literature of ancient Russia was primarily church. After all, book culture in Russia 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 Russia 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 modern meaning this 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 the lives are similar to one another, all the biographies of princes or military stories are compiled according to a general plan, in compliance with the "rules". When The Tale of Bygone Years tells us about the death of Oleg from his horse, this beautiful poetic legend sounds like a historical document, the author really believes that everything was so.

The hero of 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 Old Russian writers weren't able to do that. In the same way, icon painters created planar, rather than three-dimensional images, not because they could not write “better”, but because they faced other 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 Russia adheres to the same aesthetic principles: it creates faces, not faces, gives the reader pattern of correct behavior rather than portraying the character of a person. 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, the beauty of the Christian soul. In Russian medieval literature, in contrast to Western European literature of the same era, the knightly ideal of beauty 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 Russia 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 Christian faith surrounded by "filthy" pagans. Just as easily, sometimes almost unconsciously, ancient Russian writers use folklore images and plots.

The religious literature of Russia quickly outgrew the narrow church framework and became a truly spiritual literature that created a whole system of genres. Thus, the "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.

AT " 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.

AT " 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.

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

Genre of teaching

Since religious literature was called upon to educate a true Christian, teaching became one of the genres. 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.

We have an 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 is the 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 ancient Russian literature is the works of historical genres that were included in the annals. The first Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years"was created at the beginning of the 12th century. Its significance is extremely great: it was proof of Russia's right to state independence, independence. But if the recent events could be recorded by the chroniclers "according to the epics of this time", reliably, then the events of pre-Christian history had to be restored from 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 jelly, 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 Russia 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.

Old Russian(or Russian medieval, or ancient East Slavic) Literature is a collection of written works, written on the territory of Kievan, and then Muscovite Russia in the period from the 11th to the 17th centuries. Old Russian literature is common ancient literature of the Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples.

Map of Ancient Russia
the largest researchers of ancient Russian literature are academicians Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev, Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov, Alexei Alexandrovich Shakhmatov.

Academician D.S. Likhachev
Old Russian literature was not the result of fiction and had a number of features .
1. Fiction in ancient Russian literature was not allowed, since fiction is a lie, and a lie is sinful. That's why all works were religious or historical in nature. The right to fiction was comprehended only in the 17th century.
2. Due to the lack of fiction in ancient Russian literature there was no concept of authorship, since the works either reflected real historical events or were an exposition of Christian books. Therefore, the works of ancient Russian literature have a compiler, a copyist, but not an author.
3. Works of ancient Russian literature were created in accordance with etiquette, that is, by certain rules. Etiquette consisted of ideas about how the course of events should unfold, how the hero should behave, how the compiler of the work is obliged to describe what is happening.
4. Old Russian literature developed very slowly: for seven centuries, only a few dozen works were created. This was explained, firstly, by the fact that the works were copied by hand, and the books were not replicated, since there was no printing in Russia until 1564; secondly, the number of literate (reading) people was very small.

Genres Old Russian literature differed from modern ones.

The genres of ancient Russian literature were basically borrowed from the Byzantine tradition, but underwent some changes in the "national" character.

They show the influence of oral folk art. At the same time, this influence is not particularly strong, since ancient Russian literature is characterized by stereotypes, and Byzantine works served as a model in this sense.

The stereotype manifested itself both in the structure of the Old Russian work, and in expressive means- the same epithets were repeated from one text to another, comparisons, descriptions of cities or historical figures were similar to each other and almost did not contain specific details.

Primary and unifying genres

The primary genres of ancient Russian literature were included in the "secondary" - unifying genres. Here is a list of primary ones:

1. Life;
2. teaching;
3. Word;
4. Tale;
5. Church legend;
6. Chronicle story, chronicle legend;
7. Walking is a description of traveling to "holy places".

Combining genres:

1. chronicle (in general, the central genre of ancient Russian literature),
2. chronograph,
3. patericon,
4. cheti-minai.

"The Tale of Igor's Campaign"

The Tale of Igor's Campaign is one of the most unique ancient Russian works. Already the genre of "Words" is knocked out of the usual system: it is a completely artistic epic poem, containing both a heroic plot, and lyrical digressions, and inserted episodes; there is also a place for philosophical and political reasoning.

The narrator tells about the past, at times returning to the present - this technique was generally not welcomed by Russian scribes. "The Word", apparently, was purposefully written for artistic and journalistic purposes, the historicity of the plot was not particularly important for the author.

These features and inconsistencies with traditions led to the fact that the authenticity of this literary monument was repeatedly disputed.

Modifications of Old Russian genres in the late era

Over time, the "range" and the internal content of the genres have changed. Tales and legends already in the 15th century turn into fiction, often written for entertainment. “Journey Beyond Three Seas” by Athanasius Nikitin is a completely secular work, written for educational and even to some extent entertaining purposes, it contains descriptions of the peoples of distant countries, their customs, traditions and way of life.

A big commotion in the church environment was caused by what he himself wrote. It was created in the 17th century. Recall that Avvakum is the initiator of the church schism, a supporter of the "old rite" ( sign of the cross two fingers) and an ardent critic of the patriarch-reformer Nikon. Outrage was caused by the fact that the author made himself the hero of the "life" by committing an unforgivable sin - that is, he declared himself a saint.

Meanwhile, Avvakum's "Life" is an excellently written autobiography, in which the author did not seek to appropriate the status of a saint, but only showed what disasters a simple person goes through and how he carries his cross in spite of ill-wishers. "Life" is completely devoid of church genre canons, written in simple "folk" language, contains a lot of everyday and portrait descriptions, pictures of nature.

The Tale, finally becoming a secular genre, entered popular literature and folklore. These are The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn, and especially the Tale of Ersh Ershovich, in which anthropomorphic animals are involved; This is a caustic satire on the then judicial realities. "The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn" originally contained all the elements inherent in the church genre: teaching, the theme of the salvation of the soul, a description of miracles. But in subsequent editions, these elements were already omitted, which is why the work eventually turned into a fairy tale.

By the 18th century, the genres of ancient Russian literature had already completely outlived themselves, and a period of completely different literature began.

Genres of Old Russian literature literary works. The system of genres in the literature of Ancient Russia was significantly different from the modern one. Old Russian literature developed largely under the influence of Byzantine literature and borrowed from it a system of genres, reworking them on a national basis: the specificity of the genres of Old Russian literature lies in their connection with traditional Russian folk art. Genres of Old Russian literature are usually divided into primary and unifying. Primary genres These genres are called primary because they served building material for unifying genres. Primary genres: Life Word Instruction Tale Primary genres also include weather record, chronicle story, chronicle legend and church legend. Life The genre of life was borrowed from Byzantium. This is the most widespread and favorite genre of Old Russian literature. Life was an indispensable attribute when a person was canonized, i.e. were considered saints. Life was created by people who directly communicated with a person or could reliably testify to his life. Life was always created after the death of a person. It performed a huge educational function, because the life of the saint was perceived as an example of a righteous life, which must be imitated. In addition, life deprived a person of the fear of death, preaching the idea of ​​the immortality of the human soul. Life was built according to certain canons, from which they did not depart until the 15th-16th centuries. Canons of life The pious origin of the hero of life, whose parents must have been righteous. The saint's parents often begged God. A saint was born a saint, not made one. The saint was distinguished by an ascetic way of life, spent time in solitude and prayer. A mandatory attribute of life was a description of the miracles that occurred during the life of the saint and after his death. The saint was not afraid of death. The life ended with the glorification of the saint. One of the first works of the hagiographical genre in ancient Russian literature was the life of the holy princes Boris and Gleb. Old Russian eloquence This genre was borrowed by Old Russian literature from Byzantium, where eloquence was a form oratory. In ancient Russian literature, eloquence appeared in three varieties: Didactic (instructive) Political Solemn Instruction Instruction is a variety of the genre of ancient Russian eloquence. Teaching is a genre in which ancient Russian chroniclers tried to present a model of behavior for any ancient Russian person: both for a prince and for a commoner. The most striking example of this genre is the Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh included in The Tale of Bygone Years. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the Teaching of Vladimir Monomakh dates back to 1096. At this time, the strife between the princes in the battle for the throne reached its climax. In his teaching, Vladimir Monomakh gives advice on how to organize your life. He says that there is no need to seek the salvation of the soul in seclusion. It is necessary to serve God by helping those in need. Going to war, you should pray - God will definitely help. Monomakh confirms these words with an example from his life: he took part in many battles - and God kept him. Monomakh says that one should look at how the natural world works and try to arrange social relations along the lines of a harmonious world order. The teaching of Vladimir Monomakh is addressed to posterity. Word Word - is a kind of genre of ancient Russian eloquence. An example of the political variety of ancient Russian eloquence is the "Tale of Igor's Campaign". This work causes a lot of controversy about its authenticity. This is because the original text of The Tale of Igor's Campaign has not been preserved. It was destroyed by fire in 1812. Only copies have survived. Since that time, it has become fashionable to refute its authenticity. The word tells about the military campaign of Prince Igor against the Polovtsy, which took place in history in 1185. Researchers suggest that the author of the Tale of Igor's Campaign was one of the participants in the described campaign. Disputes about the authenticity of this work were conducted in particular because it is knocked out of the system of genres of ancient Russian literature by the unusual nature of the works used in it. artistic means and tricks. Here the traditional chronological principle of narration is violated: the author is transferred to the past, then returns to the present (this was not typical for ancient Russian literature), the author makes lyrical digressions, insert episodes appear (Svyatoslav's dream, Yaroslavna's lament). There are a lot of elements of traditional oral folk art, symbols in the word. There is a clear influence of a fairy tale, an epic. The political background of the work is obvious: in the fight against a common enemy, the Russian princes must be united, disunity leads to death and defeat. Another example of political eloquence is the "Word about the destruction of the Russian land", which was created immediately after the Mongol-Tatars came to Russia. The author glorifies the bright past and mourns the present. An example of a solemn variety of ancient Russian eloquence is Metropolitan Hilarion's "Sermon on Law and Grace", which was created in the first third of the 11th century. The word was written by Metropolitan Hilarion on the occasion of the completion of the construction of military fortifications in Kyiv. The word carries the idea of ​​the political and military independence of Russia from Byzantium. By "Law" Illarion means Old Testament, which is given to the Jews, but it does not suit the Russian and other peoples. So God gave New Testament which is called "Grace". In Byzantium, Emperor Constantine is revered, who contributed to the spread and establishment of Christianity there. Illarion says that Prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko, who baptized Russia, is no worse than the Byzantine emperor and should also be revered by the Russian people. The case of Prince Vladimir is continued by Yaroslav the Wise. The main idea of ​​the "Word about Law and Grace" is that Russia is as good as Byzantium. The Tale The Tale is a text of an epic nature, telling about princes, about military exploits, about princely crimes. Examples of military stories are "The Tale of the Battle on the Kalka River", "The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu Khan", "The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky". Unifying genres The primary genres were part of the unifying genres, such as the chronicle, the chronograph, the cheti-menei, and the patericon. A chronicle is a narrative of historical events. This is the most ancient genre ancient Russian literature. In Ancient Russia, the chronicle played a very important role, because. not only reported on the historical events of the past, but was also a political and legal document, indicating how to act in certain situations. The oldest chronicle is The Tale of Bygone Years, which has come down to us in the lists of the Laurentian Chronicle of the 14th century and the Ipatiev Chronicle of the 15th century. Chronicle tells about the origin of Russians, about genealogy Kyiv princes and about the emergence of the ancient Russian state. Chronograph - these are texts containing a description of the time of the 15th-16th centuries. Cheti-Minei (literally “reading by months”) is a collection of works about holy people. Patericon - a description of the life of the holy fathers. Separately, it should be said about the genre of apocrypha. Apocrypha - literally translated from ancient Greek as "hidden, secret." These are works of a religious-legendary nature. Apocrypha became especially widespread in the 13th-14th centuries, but the church did not recognize this genre and does not recognize it to this day. (Source - http://lerotto.com.ua/modules.php?name=Pages&pa=showpage&pid=151) *** Literature of ancient Russia General characteristics of the period Old Russian literature went through a long period of development, which is 7 centuries: from the 9th to the 15th centuries. Scientists associate the formation of ancient Russian literature with the adoption of Christianity in Russia in 988. This year is the starting point for the periodization of literature. It is authentically known that writing in Russia existed even before the adoption of Christianity. But very few monuments of pre-Christian writing have been found. According to the available monuments, it cannot be said that before the adoption of Christianity in Russia there was literature and books. The spread of the Christian religion in Russia involved the study of Holy Scripture and Christian rituals. In order to preach the Christian canons, it was necessary to translate religious books from ancient Greek and Latin into a language that the Slavs understood. This language became the Old Church Slavonic language. Scientists talk about the special status of the Old Church Slavonic language. Old Church Slavonic is the literary language of all Slavs. It was not spoken, but only written and read books. The Old Church Slavonic language was created by Christian preachers Cyril and Methodius on the basis of the Thessalonica dialect of the Old Bulgarian language specifically in order to make the canons of the Christian religion understandable to the Slavs and to preach these canons in the language of the Slavs. Books in the Old Slavonic language were copied in different territories inhabited by Slavs, where they spoke differently: in different dialects. Gradually, the features of the speech of the Slavs began to be reflected in the letter. So on the basis of the Old Slavonic language arose Church Slavonic, reflecting the features of speech Eastern Slavs, and then the ancient Russian man. Christian preachers arrived in Russia, who created schools. Schools taught reading, writing and canons Orthodox Christianity. Over time, a layer of people appeared in Russia who could read and write. They rewrote the holy scripture, translated it into the Old Slavonic language. Over time, these people began to write down the historical events that took place in Russia, make generalizations, use images of oral folk art, evaluate the events and facts described. This is how the original ancient Russian literature gradually took shape. Old Russian literature was fundamentally different from what we are accustomed to understand as literature at the present time. Literature in ancient Russia was closely connected with the spread of the Christian religion and served as an instrument for preaching and strengthening Christianity in Russia. This determined a special attitude to the book as a sacred subject, and to reading as a sacred process of communion with God's Word. How were ancient Russian books written? Old Russian books were huge folios, the pages of which were made of cowhide. Books were bound into boards, which were covered with leather and decorated. Dressed cowhide was an expensive material that had to be saved. That is why ancient Russian books wrote in a special way: There were no spaces between words in the books. Naturally, reading such books was very difficult. In addition, many frequently used words were not written in full. For example, BG - God, BGTS - Mother of God, NB - sky. Above such words they put the sign "titla" - an abbreviation. Because of the high cost of the material, the books cost entire villages. Only wealthy princes could afford to have books. The book is a source of divine grace One of the differences between ancient Russian literature and modern literature is that ancient Russian books do not and could not have an author. In Ancient Russia, the concept of authorship did not exist at all, it appeared much later. It was believed that God leads the hand of the scribe. Man is only an intermediary through which God conveys His Word to people. Putting your name in a book was considered a great sin. Faith in it was strong, so for a long time no one dared to put his name in the books. But some could not resist and put an inconspicuous, but so important for them inscription like "Az the multi-criminal (name) put his hand to it." Strong was the belief that the book had a miraculous effect on a person, giving him divine grace. Communicating with the book, the ancient Russian man believed that he was communicating with God. That is why it was customary to fast and pray for at least a week before reading books. Historicism of Old Russian Literature Old Russian authors were aware of their special historical mission - the mission of witnesses of the time. They believed that they were obliged to record all the events that took place on their land in order to convey history to posterity through a book. In addition, the texts included many traditions, legends that had oral existence. So in ancient Russian texts, along with Christian saints, pagan deities are mentioned. This meant that Christianity existed in Russia with the original religion of the Slavs, which is usually called paganism, although the pagans themselves did not call themselves that. Folklore greatly enriched ancient Russian literature. There was no lyricism in ancient Russian literature. Ancient Russian literature, bearing an exclusively religious character, placed the preaching of the laws of Christian morality at the forefront. That is why it did not pay any attention privacy person. Maximum objectivity is one of the main canons of ancient Russian literature. Among the genres in ancient Russian literature, the lives of the saints, chronicles, chronographs, chapels, patericons, and apocrypha predominated. Old Russian literature was distinguished by religiosity and historicism. Many Old Russian books have not reached us: they were destroyed by fires, some were taken to Poland and Lithuania, and some were destroyed by the scribes themselves - the old inscriptions were washed away, and new ones were written on top. This was done in order to save expensive material from which the books were made.

In ancient Russia big role the church played in the literary process. Along with secular literature, ecclesiastical literature was also widely developed. Medieval literature in Russia existed only within the framework of the manuscript tradition. Even the advent of the printing press did little to change the situation until the middle of the 18th century. The material for writing was parchment, calfskin of special manufacture. Paper finally replaces parchment only in the 15th-16th centuries. They wrote in ink and cinnabar and until the 19th century. used goose feathers. The high cost of the material is due to the economy of writing: the text was submitted in one line without a syllable section, words that were often encountered were abbreviated under the so-called titles. Handwriting XI-XIII Art. in science it is called the charter because of its clear, solemn nature. A type of ancient Russian book is a voluminous manuscript, composed of notebooks sewn in wooden weaving, covered with embossed leather. Already in the XI century. Luxurious books with cinnabar letters and artistic miniatures appear in Russia. Their weaving was bound with gold or silver, decorated with pearls, precious stones (Ostromir Gospel (XI century) and Mstislav Gospel (XII century) 1 .

The basis literary language the living spoken language of Ancient Russia lay down, more precisely, its regional dialects, southern and northern (Dnieper and Novgorod the Great). At the same time, in the process of its formation, an important role was played by the language close to him, Old Church Slavonic, Church Slavonic. It was on it that the Moravian brothers Cyril and Methodius were translated in the second half of the 9th century. books of Holy Scripture. On its basis, church writing developed in Russia, worship was conducted. Being one of the dialects of the Old Bulgarian language, Church Slavonic had a large set of abstract concepts that settled in the Old Russian language so firmly that they became its inalienable property: space, eternity, mind, truth.

All ancient Russian literature is divided into two parts: translated and original. Translation was considered as part of their own national literature. The ecclesiastical nature of ancient Russian literature is due to the choice of translated works that existed in the manuscript tradition and the approach of the authors, which can be traced even in the description of history, in everyday stories and in other seemingly secular subjects. The initial stage of the translated Old Slavic writing was determined, along with the Holy Scriptures, by the achievements of the early Christian parents of the church of the IV-VI centuries: John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nisky, Cyril of Jerusalem.

Achievements of popular literature were also translated - the Chronicle of John Malali, "Christian topography" by Kosmi Indikoplova, apocrypha, patericons. The Psalter was the most popular.

The first original works written by East Slavic authors date back to the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th centuries. Among them are such outstanding monuments as "The Tale of Bygone Years", "The Tale of Boris and Gleb", "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves", "The Word of Law and Grace".

Genre diversity of ancient Russian literature XI-XII centuries. small: chronicle, life and word.

In literary criticism, a genre is usually called a type of achievement that develops gradually and develops over time. Due to the fact that medieval achievements, as a rule, pursued utilitarian wholes, functional features are always added to the formal-substantial features, which becomes the main one for them. The distribution of the achievements of ancient Russian literature into genres is rather conditional. This is because the East Slavic scribes themselves did not have a common understanding of genre categories. Thus, the writers used the most general term "word" for both the solemn language of Metropolitan Hilarion and the military tale.

Among the genres of ancient Russian literature, the central place is occupied by chronicle, which developed over eight centuries (XI-XVIII centuries). Not a single European tradition had such a number of annals as the Old Russian one. Mostly, though not always, chronicle writing in Russia was done by monks who had undergone special training. Compiled chronicles on behalf of the prince, hegumen or bishop, sometimes on personal initiative. If the chronicle was carried out on a direct order, it was more or less officious in nature, reflecting the political position, likes and dislikes of the customer. But one should not exaggerate the semi-official nature of ancient Russian chronicle writing, as historical science sometimes does. In reality, the chroniclers showed independence of thought, repelling the point of view of the broad masses on this or that event, often criticized the actions of the princes, reflecting "everything good and bad" and "not decorating the writer."

The oldest chronicle is called "The Tale of Bygone Years" (1068). In the original, it has a longer title: "This is the story of a temporary year, where did the Russian land come from, who first began to reign in Kyiv, and from where did the Russian land permanently exist." This chronicle came to us in handwritten copies no older than the 14th century. Of these, two are the most remarkable: collections of 1377, conditionally called the Lavrentian Chronicle by the name of the scribe-monk Lawrence, who copied it for the Suzdal Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich, and the collection of the beginning of the 15th century, which was called the Ipatiev Chronicle after the place of preservation - the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma.

The main difference between the two lists of the Tale is in its ending. The Laurentian Chronicle ends with a story cut short in mid-sentence about the miraculous phenomenon on February 11, 1110 of a pillar of fire over the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery. In the Ipatiev list, this story is finished and several more legends about 1111, 1112 and 1113 follow. The authorship of the "Tale" is attributed to the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Nestor, who created it around 1113.

The main idea of ​​the achievement is deeply patriotic - the unity of the Russian land. Princely civil strife and bloody strife, which began then in the Old Russian land, are condemned by the chronicler. Thus, Kyiv became the place of origin of the first all-Russian chronicle, which tells about the history of the Russian land as a whole.

Another common genre of ancient Russian literature is " life" - literally corresponds to the Greek "life". He presents the biographies of famous bishops, patriarchs, monks - the founders of monasteries, less often biographies of secular persons, but only those who were considered saints by the church. Hence, life in science is often also called the term "hagiography" (writing about saints). Compilation of lives required compliance with the rules and style of presentation. These included a leisurely story in the third person, the compositional observance of three parts: introduction, actual life and conclusions. The main protagonist was portrayed as undeniably holy, and the negative hero was introduced for contrast and acted in the background. According to the retelling, Nestor the chronicler is the author of all the first three lives that have come down to us - the two lives of the first Christian martyrs, the princes-brothers Boris and Gleb, and the life of Abbot Theodosius, the founder of the Kyiv Lavra.

Languages ​​that were called teachings and words in the past belong to the genre eloquence, the "golden century" of development of which in Russia falls on the XII century, but already in the XIII century. it falls into decline and completely disappears from literary life in the XIV century.

A vivid example of this genre is the Teaching of Vladimir Monomakh, which came to us in the Lavrenteev copy of The Tale of Bygone Years in 1096. for them quotations from the Holy Scriptures. However, very soon this theme, which moralizes, given by church tradition, develops into a political testament, into a lesson for sons how to reign, to lead the state. There is an autobiography of the prince at the end of the Teaching.

Solemn eloquence is an area of ​​creativity that required not only the depth of the ideological concept, but also great literary skill. ancient monument of this genre, which has come down to us - "The Word of Law and Grace", the authorship of which is attributed to the first Metropolitan of Kyiv Hilarion and dated between 1037 and 1050.