How did this literature come about? The emergence of Russian literature

Literature arose in Rus' simultaneously with the adoption of Christianity, but both the Christianization of the country and the appearance of writing were determined primarily by state needs: writing was necessary in all spheres of state and public life, in legal practice. The appearance of writing created a field of activity for translators and scribes, and most importantly, an opportunity for the emergence of their own original literature, both for the church (teachings, solemn words, lives), and purely secular (chronicles).

But the attitude towards nigs, as already mentioned, has developed a special one. In the article of 988 of the most ancient Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years", immediately after the message about the adoption of Christianity, it is said that the Kievan prince Vladimir, "sending, began to take children from deliberate children [from noble people], and gave them to start learning from books." In an article of 1037, characterizing the activities of Vladimir’s son, Prince Yaroslav, the chronicler noted that he was “developing books, and reading them [reading them], often at night and in the day. translating from the Greek]. Further, the chronicler cites praise for the books: “Great is the crawl from the teachings of the book: with books we show and teach us the way to repentance [books instruct and teach us repentance], we gain wisdom and restraint from the words of the book. the essence of the origin [sources] of wisdom; for books there is an unsearchable depth", and the first article from one of the oldest ancient Russian collections - "Izbornik 1076" states that, just as a ship cannot be built without nails, so one cannot become a righteous man, not reading books, advice is given to read slowly and thoughtfully: do not try to quickly read to the end of the chapter, but think about what you have read, re-read the same chapter three times until you comprehend its meaning.

In the X and the first half of the XI century. in Rus', a huge amount of work was done: a huge number of books were copied from Bulgarian originals or translated from Greek, and already during the first two centuries of the existence of writing, ancient Russian scribes became acquainted with all the main genres and main monuments of Byzantine literature.

In the process of introducing Russia to world literature, two characteristic features are distinguished: firstly, most literary works reached Russian scribes through intermediary literature: books already translated into Old Bulgarian were then translated into Old Russian: books of scripture, liturgical books, works of church writers, historical works (chronicles), natural sciences ("Physiologist", "Shestodnev"), as well as - albeit to a lesser extent - monuments of historical narrative, for example, the novel about Alexander the Great and the story about the conquest of Jerusalem by the Roman emperor Titus - that is, mainly translations from the Greek language, works of early Christian literature by authors of the III-VII centuries. It should be noted that any ancient Slavic literature cannot be clearly divided into original and translated literature: translated literature was an organic part of national literatures at an early stage of their development.

The second feature of the development of literature X-XII centuries. - the influence of ancient Bulgarian literature on Russian and Serbian.

The fact that Ancient Rus' began to read someone else's primary rather than create its own does not mean that Russian culture is secondary: we are talking about only one area of ​​​​artistic creativity and one area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe art of the word, namely the creation of written texts: among them at the initial stages were practically only highly specialized texts - works on theology, ethics, history, and works of literary art remained unrecorded, folklore.

Science is developing at a rapid pace, but many questions still do not have a sensible answer, like thousands of years ago. Where did life on earth come from? Where did Man come from, in our time, many are trying to challenge the theory with the origin of the monkey. Although Darwin did not say that man evolved from apes. He argued that we have a common ape-like ancestor. How did a person learn to speak? There are some theories here too. Some are more or less reasonable, others are not, like the Japhetic theory of Nicholas Marr, who claimed that all words came from four roots - "sal", "ber", "yon" and "rosh". Marr forced his students to look for these roots in all words. As a result, the words red, Etruscan, red. Linguists did not like this theory, but Soviet officials liked it very much, since Marr argued that language has a "class nature" and it is possible to distinguish stages in the development of language by analogy with the stages of development of society, as Marx saw it. His theory was perfectly suited to the ideology of "class struggle".

This theory was untenable, because in May-June 1950 it was crushed, and the former Marrists began to write open letters of "repentance" for their mistakes to the newspapers.

It was in the last century, but things in this sense are "and now there", and we now know no more about the appearance of the language than Marr.

Scientists also tried to study the history of literature. When did she appear? And why? And there is something to think about. As in the question of Art in general.

What had to happen for a primitive man, who almost yesterday got down from a tree, resting after a hunt in a cave, suddenly took something - a stone or something else - went up to the wall and began not just to draw scribbles, but to DRAW? Depict an animal seen on a hunt, and everything experienced? After all, this was a step more important than the invention of the stone ax - the ax has practical significance. But it is from this moment that one can count the beginning of Man in principle. An emotion that yearns for expression in creativity, in creation.

It was from this primitive man, who first tried to depict something on the wall of the cave, and the creatures painted by him, that Art began in principle. And not only picturesque - it can also be called a kind of literature! He was telling a story - the story of a hunt.

But when did verbal literature begin?

James Fraser (1854 - 1941) - British scholar, religious scholar, argued that the source of everything is ritual. The ritual, according to Fraser, is in some way an imitation of the desired result - for example, wishing the enemy to die, they mutilate his image, "kill" the animal depicted on the wall before hunting. From ritual, according to Fraser, myth arises (and not vice versa). Myth is the verbal fixation of a ritual. And then the myth becomes the "building material" of a work of art. He sees the concept of the origin of literature as follows: Ritual - Myth - Work of art. Gilbert Merey, who saw the elements of ritual in a number of plots, agrees with this. So he deduces the kidnapping of Elena from the ritual of kidnapping the bride. Jessie Weston continued this theory, explaining the ritual basis and the medieval legend of the Holy Grail. The researcher derives it not from the Christian legend of the sacred cup, but from the ancient rite of initiation. American scientists have developed this theory by linking certain seasonal rituals to certain genres. The American Northrop Fry tried to define the role of mythology as a source of archetypes. According to Fry, literary works are created from the same archetypal models.

The obvious vulnerability of this theory is visible. Where did rituals come from then? After all, not everyone, one way or another, copy the desired result. In addition, such an approach completely excludes both the individual author's understanding of reality, and reality itself, which could also become a source of mythology? Stories about exploits in the hunt or in the war. For example, ancient Greek stories about heroes. Why couldn't the achievements of certain warriors become a source of myth and exist already exaggerated in the popular consciousness? From there, by the way, and statements about the "divine" origin of the hero or heroine. It was difficult for people to imagine that a warrior with incredible physical strength was the same as them. Or an attempt by an ancient person to answer the question why does thunder rumble, why does it rain and why does the sun rise and then set?

The only kind of literature that can be classified as myth, apart from dramaturgy, is folklore. Folk tales really came out of myth. Here is Koschey the Immortal - the image of death, and Perun, who defeats him, and Baba Yaga, whom many researchers consider to be a kind of guardian of the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead. And the children she is trying to "bake" in the oven - a display of initiation, which was supposed to symbolize the "death" of a person as a child and his new "birth" in the form of an adult.

This topic is extremely interesting. But one thing is clear - art from the very beginning was individual. Even when it was folklore. It expressed the emotions of an individual, in which everyone else recognized their own. No matter what they said in Soviet times. And what is a collective, if not a multitude of individuals?

When did ancient Russian literature appear? What prerequisites were necessary for this? Let's try to find out the features of the historical period of that time that influenced literature.

Early feudal period

Discussing when and why ancient Russian literature arose, let us dwell on its close connection with the formation of the state. The Old Russian state appeared during a long historical process of separation of the communal tribal system of the East Slavic tribal peoples.

Prerequisites for the emergence

Let us find out in connection with what the ancient Russian literature arose. The East Slavic tribes switched to the feudal system, bypassing the slave-owning formation. In such a system of social relations, the minority dominated the majority. To search for an ideological explanation for this fact, it was not enough to have a pagan tribal religion, oral folk art used during the tribal system.

The development of political, trade, economic ties needed a new written language, which was to become a prerequisite for the emergence of literature.

When did ancient Russian literature appear? The age of computer technology, which is called our time, is characterized by a lack of interest in reading fiction. Few people know that in Rus' writing arose even before the official adoption of Christianity.

The "Pannonian Life of Cyril" is evidence that some forms of writing existed in the second half of the ninth century.

Cyril and Methodius

So in what century did ancient Russian literature originate? Scientists have not found an exact answer to this question, but they are convinced that the greatest historical and cultural event for the Slavs was the discovery of the alphabet by Methodius and Cyril (863). At the end of the ninth century, there was a period of flowering of culture in ancient Bulgaria. At this time, wonderful writers appeared: Clement, John the Exarch of Bulgaria, Constantine. Those works that were created by them were of particular importance for the formation of ancient Russian culture.

Adoption of Christianity

Arguing over when ancient Russian literature arose, let us turn to the year 988. It is this date that is considered the time of the official adoption of Christianity in Rus'. For the formation of the ancient Russian original culture, it was important that Rus' recognized Byzantium, which at that time was a representative of a high culture.

The Byzantine Orthodox Church had already separated from the Roman Catholic faith. If the Catholics put forward Latin as the basis of the literary language, then the Orthodox Greeks welcomed the development of national literary styles.

In ancient Rus', the church literary language was considered Old Slavonic, which was close in grammatical basis to the Old Russian language. The original literature that appeared in that historical period became the impetus for its development. The enrichment of the Russian language took place with the help of oral folk speech.

Reflecting on when ancient Russian literature arose, historians and writers agree that a certain system of “book teaching” appeared in Rus' at the end of the tenth century.

It was Christianity that played an important role in shaping the culture of Ancient Rus'. By the middle of the 11th century, skilled translators appeared who were engaged in “transferring” Greek books into the “Slovenian” language.

At the time when ancient Russian literature arose, monasteries played a special role. For example, a true center of Christian culture was formed in the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery.

Sources

Active participation in the development of literature:

• folk poetic oral creativity;
• Christian literature.

When studying folklore, it was possible to establish that the ancient Slavs, who lived in the 10th century, owned developed forms of folk oral art.

The researchers are convinced that it was during this period of time that the transition to historical plots from mythological legends took place. Tradition, legend, toponymic legend, songs about military battles became the leading ones in the oral poetry of that era.

Researchers believe that it was during this period that the folk epic was formed, which played a role in the original Old Russian literature. The princely squads, which made military campaigns, always had singers who glorified the valor of the prince and his soldiers during feasts and rest. This peculiar oral chronicle was partially written down, which became the main source for literary plots.

It was through folklore that elements of folk ideology, artistic poetic images got into literature.

In the process of assimilation of Christian ideology, the Russian people adapted to their pagan ideas and concepts.

Conclusion

Throughout the entire period of the formation of ancient Russian literature, it was folk poetry that was the main source contributing to its enrichment. We also note the importance of business writing and oral speech in the formation of literature.

For example, before a battle, military leaders always addressed their soldiers with a speech, setting them up and inspiring them for military exploits. Oral speech was systematically used during diplomatic negotiations. Ambassadors sent to another country memorized the phrases voiced by the ruler.

Such speeches implied certain phrases, were expressive and concise. Thanks to the accuracy and conciseness of the expressions of oral speech, business writing, an aphoristic, concise style of presentation appeared in ancient Russian books.

The process of formation and development of ancient Russian literature was influenced by many facts. First of all, it is important to note the peculiarities of the social system of that time, the desire of people to get an explanation for the changes that they observed in their lives.

As the philosophical foundations of ancient Russian literature, historians consider the canonical Christian books of the New Testament, the Gospel. In religious books, the torments of earthly life, the miracles of resurrection, ascension to heaven were set forth and explained in detail.

The concept of "Old Russian literature" includes literary works of the XI-XVII centuries. The literary monuments of this period include not only literary works proper, but also historical works (chronicles and chronicle stories), descriptions of travels (they were called walks), teachings, lives (stories about the life of people ranked by the church as a host of saints), messages, essays of the oratorical genre, some texts of a business nature. In all these monuments there are elements of artistic creativity, an emotional reflection of modern life.

The vast majority of ancient Russian literary works did not retain the names of their creators. Old Russian literature, as a rule, is anonymous, and in this respect it is similar to oral folk art. The literature of Ancient Rus' was handwritten: the works were distributed by copying texts. In the course of the manuscript existence of works for centuries, texts were not only copied, but often reworked due to changes in literary tastes, the socio-political situation, in connection with the personal preferences and literary abilities of the scribes. This explains the existence of various editions and variants of the same monument in the manuscript lists. Comparative textual analysis (see Textology) of editions and variants enables researchers to restore the literary history of a work and decide which text is closest to the original author's text, and how it has changed over time. Only in the rarest cases do we have the author's lists of monuments, and very often in later lists texts reach us that are closer to the author's than in the lists of earlier ones. Therefore, the study of ancient Russian literature is based on an exhaustive study of all lists of the studied work. Collections of ancient Russian manuscripts are available in large libraries in different cities, in archives and museums. Many works have been preserved in a large number of lists, many in a very limited number. There are works represented by a single list: "Instruction" by Vladimir Monomakh, "The Tale of Woe-Misfortune", etc., in a single list, the "Tale of Igor's Campaign" has come down to us, but he also died during Napoleon's invasion of Moscow in 1812 G.

A characteristic feature of Old Russian literature is the repetition in different works of different times of certain situations, characteristics, comparisons, epithets, metaphors. The literature of Ancient Rus' is characterized by "etiquette": the hero acts and behaves as he should, according to the concepts of that time, act, behave in given circumstances; specific events (for example, a battle) are depicted using constant images and forms, everything has a certain ceremoniality. Old Russian literature is solemn, majestic, traditional. But over the seven hundred years of its existence, it has gone through a difficult path of development, and within the framework of its unity, we observe a variety of themes and forms, a change in old and the creation of new genres, a close connection between the development of literature and the historical destinies of the country. All the time there was a kind of struggle between living reality, the creative individuality of the authors and the requirements of the literary canon.

The emergence of Russian literature dates back to the end of the 10th century, when, with the adoption of Christianity in Rus' as the state religion, service and historical-narrative texts in Church Slavonic were to appear. Ancient Rus', through Bulgaria, from which these texts mainly came, immediately joined the highly developed Byzantine literature and the literature of the southern Slavs. The interests of the developing Kievan feudal state demanded the creation of their own, 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 ancient Russian princes, and to expose princely feuds.

Tasks and themes of literature in the 11th - early 13th centuries. (questions of Russian history in its connection with world history, the history of the emergence of Rus', the struggle against external enemies - the Pechenegs and Polovtsy, the struggle of princes for the throne of Kiev) determined the general character of the style of this time, called by academician D.S. Likhachev the style of monumental historicism. The emergence of Russian chronicle writing is connected with the beginning of Russian literature. As part of the later 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. At the heart of the Tale of Bygone Years, which includes both a story about world history and records by year about events in Russia, and legendary legends, and narrations about princely strife, and laudatory characteristics of individual princes, and philippics condemning them, and copies of documentary materials, lie even earlier chronicles that have not come down to us. The study of lists of Old Russian texts makes it possible to restore the lost names of the literary history of Old Russian works. 11th century The first Russian lives (princes Boris and Gleb, hegumen of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Theodosius) are also dated. These lives are distinguished by literary perfection, attention to the pressing problems of our time, and the vitality of many episodes. The maturity of political thought, patriotism, publicism, and high literary skill are also characteristic of the monuments of oratorical eloquence Hilarion’s “Sermon on Law and Grace” (1st half of the 11th century), the words and teachings of Cyril of Turov (1130-1182). The Teachings of the great Kyiv prince Vladimir Monomakh (1053-1125) are imbued with concern for the fate of the country, with deep humanity.

In the 80s. 12th century the author unknown to us creates the most brilliant work of ancient Russian literature - "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". The specific topic to which the "Word" is devoted is the unsuccessful campaign in 1185 to the Polovtsian steppe of the Novgorod-Seversky prince Igor Svyatoslavich. But the author is concerned about the fate of the entire Russian land, he recalls the events of the distant past and present, and the true hero of his work is not Igor, not the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, who is given a lot of attention in the Lay, but the Russian people, the Russian land. In many ways, the “Word” is associated with the literary traditions of its time, but, as a work of genius, it is distinguished by a number of features that are unique to it: the originality of the processing of etiquette techniques, the richness of the language, the refinement of the rhythmic construction of the text, the nationality of its very essence and the creative rethinking of oral techniques. folk art, special lyricism, high civic pathos.

The main theme of the literature of the period of the Horde yoke (1243 of the 13th century - the end of the 15th century) is national-patriotic. The monumental-historical style takes on an expressive tone: the works created at that time bear a tragic imprint and are distinguished by lyrical elation. The idea of ​​strong princely power acquires great significance in literature. Both in the annals and in separate stories (“The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu”), written by eyewitnesses and going back to oral tradition, it tells about the horrors of the enemy invasion and the infinitely heroic struggle of the people against the enslavers. The image of an ideal prince - a warrior and a statesman, a defender of the Russian land - was most clearly reflected in the Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky (70s of the XIII century). A poetic picture of the greatness of the Russian land, Russian nature, the former power of the Russian princes appears in the "Word of the Destruction of the Russian Land" - in an excerpt from a work that has not completely reached, dedicated to the tragic events of the Horde yoke (1st half of the 13th century).

Literature of the 14th century - 50s 15th century reflects the events and ideology of the time of the unification of the principalities of northeastern Rus' around Moscow, the formation of the Russian people and the gradual formation of the Russian centralized state. During this period, ancient Russian literature began to show interest in the psychology of an individual, in his spiritual world (though still within the bounds of religious consciousness), which led to the growth of the subjective principle. An expressive-emotional style arises, characterized by verbal sophistication, ornamental prose (the so-called "weaving of words"). All this reflects the desire to depict human feelings. In the 2nd half of the 15th - early 16th century. stories appear, the plot of which goes back to oral stories of a novelistic nature (“The Tale of Peter, the Prince of the Horde”, “The Tale of Dracula”, “The Tale of the Merchant Basarga and his son Borzosmysl”). The number of translated monuments of a fictional nature is significantly increasing, and the genre of political legendary works (“The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir”) is becoming widespread.

In the middle of the XVI century. Old Russian writer and publicist Yermolai-Erasmus creates "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia" - one of the most remarkable works of literature of Ancient Rus'. The story is written in the tradition of an expressive-emotional style, it is built on the legendary legend of how a peasant girl, thanks to her mind, became a princess. The author widely used fairy-tale techniques, at the same time, social motives sound sharply in the story. "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia" is largely 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 distinguished by artistic perfection, bright individuality.

In the XVI century. the official character of literature is enhanced, its distinctive feature is pomp and solemnity. Works of a generalizing nature, the purpose of which is to regulate the spiritual, political, legal and everyday life, are widely disseminated. The "Great Menaions of the Chetya" are being created - a 12-volume set of texts intended for everyday reading for each month. At the same time, Domostroy was written, which sets out the rules of human behavior in the family, detailed tips for housekeeping, and rules for relationships between people. In literary works, the individual style of the author is more noticeable, which is especially clearly reflected in the messages of Ivan the Terrible. Fiction is increasingly penetrating into historical narratives, giving the narrative greater plot entertainment. This is inherent in the "History of the Grand Duke of Moscow" by Andrei Kurbsky, and is reflected in the "Kazan History" - an extensive plot-historical narrative about the history of the Kazan kingdom and the struggle for Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.

In the 17th century the process of transforming medieval literature into modern literature begins. New purely literary genres are emerging, the process of democratization of literature is underway, and its subject matter is expanding significantly. Events of the Time of Troubles and the Peasant War of the late 16th - early 17th centuries. change the view of history and the role of an individual in it, which leads to the liberation of literature from church influence. The writers of the Time of Troubles (Avraamiy Palitsyn, I.M. Katyrev-Rostovsky, Ivan Timofeev, etc.) try to explain the deeds of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, False Dmitry, Vasily Shuisky not only as a manifestation of divine will, but also as the dependence of these deeds on the person himself, his personal features. In literature, there is an idea of ​​the formation, change and development of a human character under the influence of external circumstances. A wider circle of people began to engage in literary work. The so-called posad literature is born, which is created and exists in a democratic environment. A genre of democratic satire arises, in which state and church orders are ridiculed: legal proceedings are parodied (“The Tale of the Shemyakin Court”), church service (“Service to the Tavern”), sacred scripture (“The Tale of a Peasant's Son”), clerical practice (“The Tale of about Ersh Ershovich", "Kalyazinskaya petition"). The nature of the lives is also changing, which are increasingly becoming real biographies. The most remarkable work of this genre in the XVII century. is the autobiographical "Life" of Archpriest Avvakum (1620-1682), written by him in 1672-1673. It is remarkable not only for its lively and vivid story about the harsh and courageous life path of the author, but also for its equally vivid and passionate depiction of the social and ideological struggle of his time, deep psychologism, preaching pathos, combined with a full confession of revelation. And all this is written in a lively, juicy language, sometimes high bookish, sometimes bright colloquial and everyday.

The rapprochement of literature with everyday life, the appearance of a love affair in the narrative, psychological motivations for the hero's behavior are inherent in a number of stories of the 17th century. (“The Tale of Grief-Misfortune”, “The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn”, “The Tale of Frol Skobeev”, etc.). Translated collections of a short story character appear, with short edifying, but at the same time anecdotally entertaining stories, translated chivalric novels (“The Tale of Bova the King”, “The Tale of Yeruslan Lazarevich”, etc.). The latter, on Russian soil, acquired the character of original, “their own” monuments and eventually entered popular popular literature. In the 17th century poetry develops (Simeon Polotsky, Sylvester Medvedev, Karion Istomin and others). In the 17th century the history of great ancient Russian literature ended as a phenomenon that was characterized by common principles, which, however, underwent certain changes. Old Russian literature, with its entire development, prepared the Russian literature of modern times.

THE RISE OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE

Literature arose in Rus' simultaneously with the adoption of Christianity. But the intensity of its development indisputably indicates that both the Christianization of the country and the appearance of writing were determined primarily by state needs. Writing was necessary in all spheres of state and public life, in inter-princely and international relations, in legal practice. The appearance of writing stimulated the activities of translators and scribes, and most importantly, it created opportunities for the emergence of original literature, both serving the needs and requirements of the church (teachings, solemn words, lives), and purely secular (chronicles). However, it is quite natural that in the minds of the ancient Russian people of that time, Christianization and the emergence of writing (literature) were considered as a single process. In the article of 988 of the most ancient Russian chronicle - “The Tale of Bygone Years”, immediately after the message about the adoption of Christianity, it is said that the Kiev prince Vladimir, “sent, began to take deliberate children (from noble people) children, and gave them to start learning book”. In an article of 1037, characterizing the activities of Vladimir’s son, Prince Yaroslav, the chronicler noted that he was “developing with books, and reading them (reading them), often in the night and in the day. And I collected a lot of scribes and translators from Greek into Slovenian writing (translating from Greek). And many books have been written off, and by learning to be faithful, people enjoy the teachings of the divine. Further, the chronicler cites a kind of praise for the books: “Great is the crawl from the teaching of the book: with books, we show and teach us the way of repentance (books instruct and teach us repentance), we gain wisdom and restraint from the words of the book. Behold the essence of the river, soldering the universe, behold the essence of the origin (sources) of wisdom; For books there is an inexcusable depth. These words of the chronicler echo the first article from one of the oldest ancient Russian collections - "Izbornik 1076"; it states that, just as a ship cannot be built without nails, so one cannot become a righteous man without reading books, advice is given to read slowly and thoughtfully: do not try to quickly read to the end of the chapter, but reflect on what has been read, re-read one word three times and the same chapter, until you comprehend its meaning.

"Izbornik" of 1076 is one of the oldest Russian handwritten books.

Getting acquainted with ancient Russian manuscripts of the 11th-14th centuries, establishing the sources used by Russian writers - chroniclers, hagiographers (authors of lives), authors of solemn words or teachings, we are convinced that in the annals we do not have abstract declarations about the benefits of enlightenment; in the 10th and first half of the 11th century. in Rus', a huge amount of work was done: huge literature was copied from Bulgarian originals or translated from Greek. As a result, during the first two centuries of the existence of their written language, ancient Russian scribes became acquainted with all the main genres and main monuments of Byzantine literature.

Investigating the history of the introduction of Rus' to the bookishness of Byzantium and Bulgaria, D.S. Likhachev points out two characteristic features of this process. First, he notes the existence of a special intermediary literature, that is, a circle of literary monuments common to the national literatures of Byzantium, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Rus'. The basis of this intermediary literature was ancient Bulgarian literature. Subsequently, it began to replenish with translations or original monuments created by the Western Slavs, in Rus', in Serbia. This intermediary literature included books of scripture, liturgical books, works of church writers, historical works (chronicles), natural sciences (“Physiologist”, “Shestodnev”), and also - albeit to a lesser extent than the genres listed above - monuments of historical narratives, such as the novel about Alexander the Great and the story of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Roman emperor Titus. From this list, it can be seen that most of the repertoire of both the most ancient Bulgarian literature and, accordingly, the all-Slavic intermediary literature were translations from the Greek language, works of early Christian literature by authors of the 3rd-7th centuries. It should be noted that any ancient Slavic literature cannot be mechanically divided into original and translated literature: translated literature was an organic part of national literatures at an early stage of their development.

Moreover - and this is the second feature of the development of literature of the X-XII centuries. - we should not talk about the influence of Byzantine literature on ancient Bulgarian, but this latter on Russian or Serbian. We can talk about a kind of transplantation process, when literature, as it were, is completely transferred to a new soil, but here, as D.S. Likhachev emphasizes, its monuments “continue an independent life in new conditions and sometimes in new forms, just like a transplanted plant start living and growing in a new environment.

The fact that Ancient Rus' began to read someone else's a little earlier than to write its own, in no way indicates the secondary nature of Russian national culture: we are talking about only one area of ​​​​artistic creativity and only one area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe art of the word, namely literature, that is, about the creation written texts. Moreover, we note that at first among the written monuments there were a lot of non-literary texts from the modern point of view - it was at best special literature: works on theology, ethics, history, etc. If we talk about verbal art, then the bulk of his monuments were at that time, of course, unrecordable folklore works. This relationship between literature and folklore in the spiritual life of the society of that time must not be forgotten.

In order to understand the peculiarity and originality of original Russian literature, to appreciate the courage with which Russian scribes created works that “stand outside genre systems”, such as The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, Vladimir Monomakh’s Instruction, Daniil Zatochnik’s Prayer and the like , for all this it is necessary to get acquainted with at least some examples of individual genres of translated literature.

Chronicles. Interest in the past of the Universe, the history of other countries, the fate of the great people of antiquity was satisfied by translations of Byzantine chronicles. These chronicles began a presentation of events from the creation of the world, retold the biblical story, cited individual episodes from the history of the countries of the East, told about the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and then about the history of the countries of the Middle East. Having brought the story to the last decades before the beginning of our era, the chroniclers went back and set out the ancient history of Rome, starting from the legendary times of the founding of the city. The rest and, as a rule, most of the chronicles were occupied by the story of the Roman and Byzantine emperors. The chronicles ended with a description of events contemporary to their compilation.

Thus, the chroniclers created the impression of the continuity of the historical process, of a kind of “change of kingdoms”. Of the translations of Byzantine chronicles, the most famous in Rus' in the 11th century. received translations of the "Chronicles of George Amartol" and "Chronicles of John Malala". The first of them, together with a continuation made on Byzantine soil, brought the narrative to the middle of the tenth century, the second - to the time of Emperor Justinian (527-565).

Perhaps one of the defining features of the composition of the chronicles was their desire for an exhaustive completeness of the dynastic series. This feature is also characteristic of biblical books (where long lists of genealogies follow), and of medieval chronicles, and of the historical epic. In the chronicles we are considering are listed All Roman emperors and All Byzantine emperors, although information about some of them was limited only to indicating the duration of their reign or reporting on the circumstances of their accession, overthrow or death.

These dynastic lists are interrupted from time to time by plot episodes. This is information of a historical and church nature, entertaining stories about the fate of historical figures, about miraculous natural phenomena - signs. Only in the presentation of the history of Byzantium appears a relatively detailed description of the political life of the country.

The combination of dynastic lists and plot stories was also preserved by Russian scribes, who created their own short chronographic code on the basis of lengthy Greek chronicles, supposedly called the “Chronograph according to the great exposition”.

« Alexandria". The novel about Alexander the Great, the so-called "Alexandria", was very popular in Ancient Rus'. This was not a historically accurate description of the life and deeds of the famous commander, but a typical Hellenistic adventure novel. So, Alexander, contrary to reality, is declared the son of the former Egyptian king and sorcerer Nektonav, and not the son of the Macedonian king Philip; the birth of a hero is accompanied by heavenly signs. Alexander is credited with campaigns, conquests and travels that we do not know about from historical sources - all of them are generated by purely literary fiction. It is noteworthy that a significant place in the novel is given to the description of outlandish lands that Alexander allegedly visited during his campaigns to the East. He meets in these lands giants 24 cubits high (about 12 meters), giants, fat and shaggy, like lions, six-legged animals, fleas the size of a toad, sees disappearing and re-emerging trees, stones, touching which a person turned black, visits the land where eternal night reigns, etc.

In "Alexandria" we also encounter action-packed (and also pseudo-historical) collisions. So, for example, it is told how Alexander, under the guise of his own ambassador, appeared to the Persian king Darius, with whom he fought at that time. No one recognizes the imaginary ambassador, and Darius puts him with him at the feast. One of the nobles of the Persian king, who visited the Macedonians as part of an embassy from Darius, recognizes Alexander. However, taking advantage of the fact that Darius and the rest of the feasters were very drunk, Alexander slips out of the palace, but on the way he hardly escapes from the chase: he barely manages to cross the Gagina (Stranga) river, which has frozen overnight: the ice has already begun to melt and collapse, the horse Alexandra falls through and dies, but the hero himself still manages to jump ashore. Persian pursuers are left with nothing on the opposite bank of the river.

"Alexandria" is an indispensable part of all ancient Russian chronographs; from edition to edition, the adventure and fantastic theme intensifies in it, which once again indicates an interest in the plot-entertaining, and not the actual historical side of this work.

"The Life of Eustathius Plakida". In ancient Russian literature, imbued with the spirit of historicism, turned to worldview problems, there was no place for open literary fiction (readers apparently trusted the miracles of "Alexandria" - after all, all this happened a long time ago and somewhere in unknown lands, at the end of the world!), Everyday story or a novel about the private life of a private person. Strange as it may seem at first glance, but to a certain extent the need for such plots was filled by such authoritative and closely related genres as the lives of saints, patericons or apocrypha.

Researchers have long noticed that the lengthy lives of Byzantine saints in some cases were very reminiscent of an ancient novel: sudden changes in the fate of heroes, imaginary death, recognition and meeting after many years of separation, attacks by pirates or predatory animals - all these traditional plot motifs of an adventure novel strangely coexisted in some lives with the idea of ​​glorifying the ascetic or martyr for the Christian faith. A typical example of such a life is "The Life of Eustathius Plakida", translated back in Kievan Rus.

At the beginning and at the end of the monument there are traditional hagiographic collisions: the strategist (commander) Plakida decides to be baptized after seeing a miraculous sign. The life ends with a story about how Plakida (who received the name Eustathius at baptism) was executed by order of a pagan emperor, for he refused to renounce the Christian faith.

But the main part of the life is the story of the amazing fate of Placis. As soon as Evstafiy was baptized, terrible misfortunes fell upon him: all his slaves perish from the pestilence, and the eminent strategist, having become completely poor, is forced to leave his native places. His wife is taken away by a shipbuilder - Evstafiy has nothing to pay for the fare. Before his eyes, wild animals drag away their young sons. Fifteen years after that, Evstafiy lived in a distant village, where he was hired to guard the “zhit”.

But now it's time for random happy meetings - this is also a traditional plot device of an adventure novel. Eustathius is found by his former comrades-in-arms, he is returned to Rome and again appointed as a strategos. The army led by Eustathius goes on a campaign and stops in the very village where Eustathius' wife lives. Two young warriors spent the night in her house. These are the sons of Placis; it turns out that the peasants took them from the animals and raised them. After talking, the warriors guess that they are siblings, and the woman in whose house they are staying guesses that she is their mother. Then the woman finds out that the strategist is her husband Eustace. The family is happily reunited.

It can be assumed that the ancient Russian reader followed the misadventures of Placis with no less excitement than the instructive story of his death.

Apocrypha. Apocrypha - legends about biblical characters that were not included in canonical (recognized by the church) biblical books, discussions on topics that worried medieval readers: about the struggle in the world of good and evil, about the ultimate fate of mankind, descriptions of heaven and hell or unknown lands "at the end of the world."

Most of the apocrypha are entertaining plot stories that struck the imagination of readers either with everyday details about the life of Christ, the apostles, prophets unknown to them, or with miracles and fantastic visions. The church tried to fight apocryphal literature. Special lists of banned books were compiled - indexes. However, in judgments about which works are unconditionally “renounced books”, that is, unacceptable for reading by orthodox Christians, and which are only apocryphal (literally apocryphal- secret, intimate, that is, designed for a reader experienced in theological matters), the medieval censors did not have unity. The indices varied in composition; in collections, sometimes very authoritative, we also find apocryphal texts next to canonical biblical books and lives. Sometimes, however, even here they were overtaken by the hand of zealots of piety: in some collections, the pages with the text of the Apocrypha are torn out or their text is crossed out. Nevertheless, there were a lot of apocryphal works, and they continued to be copied throughout the centuries-old history of ancient Russian literature.

Patristics. Patristics, that is, the writings of those Roman and Byzantine theologians of the 3rd-7th centuries who enjoyed special authority in the Christian world and were revered as "fathers of the church": John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Athanasius of Alexandria and others.

In their works, the dogmas of the Christian religion were explained, the Holy Scriptures were interpreted, Christian virtues were affirmed and vices were denounced, various worldview questions were raised. At the same time, works of both instructive and solemn eloquence had considerable aesthetic value. The authors of the solemn words intended to be pronounced in the church during the divine service were perfectly able to create an atmosphere of festive ecstasy or reverence, which was supposed to embrace the faithful when remembering the glorified event of church history, they perfectly mastered the art of rhetoric, which Byzantine writers inherited from antiquity: not by chance, many of the Byzantine theologians studied with pagan rhetors.

In Rus', John Chrysostom (d. 407) was especially famous; from the words belonging to him or attributed to him, entire collections were compiled, bearing the names "Chrysostom" or "Chrystostruy".

The language of liturgical books is especially colorful and rich in paths. Let's give some examples. In service menaias (a collection of services in honor of the saints, arranged according to the days when they are venerated) of the 11th century. we read: “A bunch of thought vines has ripened, but it has been cast into the winepress of torment, you have poured out tenderness for us wine.” A literal translation of this phrase will destroy the artistic image, so we will only explain the essence of the metaphor. The saint is compared to a mature bunch of vines, but it is emphasized that this is not a real, but a spiritual (“mental”) vine; the tormented saint is likened to grapes that are crushed in a “winepress” (pit, vat) in order to “exude” the juice for making wine, the torment of the saint “exudes” the “wine of tenderness” - a feeling of reverence and compassion for him.

A few more metaphorical images from the same service menaias of the 11th century: “From the depths of malice, the last tip of the height of virtue, like an eagle, flying high, gloriously ascended, praised Matthew!”; “Strained prayer bows and arrows and a fierce snake, a creeping snake, you killed thou, blessed, from that harm the holy herd was delivered”;

“The towering sea, charming polytheism, gloriously passed through the storm of divine rule, a quiet haven for all being drowned.” “Prayer bows and arrows”, “a storm of polytheism”, which raises waves on the “charming (treacherous, deceitful) sea” of vain life - all these are metaphors designed for a reader who has a developed sense of the word and sophisticated figurative thinking, who is excellently versed in traditional Christian symbolism. And as can be judged from the original works of Russian authors - chroniclers, hagiographers, creators of teachings and solemn words, this high art was fully accepted by them and implemented in their work.