Introduction

Ancient Russia, in the traditional sense of the word, embracing the country and its history from the 10th to the 17th centuries, had a great culture. This culture, the direct predecessor of the new Russian culture of the 18th-20th centuries, nevertheless had some of its own, characteristic only for it, phenomena.

Ancient Russia is glorified all over the world for its painting and architecture. But it is remarkable not only for these "dumb" arts, which allowed some Western scholars to call the culture of Ancient Rus the culture of great silence. Recently, the discovery of ancient Russian music has begun to occur anew, and more slowly - much more difficult to understand art - the art of speech, literature.

That is why Hilarion's The Word about Law and Grace, The Word about Igor's Campaign, The Walking Beyond the Three Seas by Afanasy Nikitin, The Works of Ivan the Terrible, The Life of Archpriest Avvakum and many others have now been translated into many foreign languages.

Getting acquainted with the literary monuments of Ancient Russia, a modern person will easily notice their differences from the works of literature of the new time: this is the absence of detailed characters of the characters, this is the parsimony of details in describing the appearance of the heroes, their surroundings, the landscape, this is the psychological lack of motivation of actions, and the “facelessness” of remarks that can be conveyed to any hero of the work, since they do not reflect the individuality of the speaker, this is also the “insincerity” of monologues with an abundance of traditional “commonplaces” - abstract reasoning on theological or moral topics, with exorbitant pathos or expression ...

All these features would be easiest to explain by the discipleship nature of ancient Russian literature, to see in them only the result of the fact that medieval writers have not yet mastered the "mechanism" of plot construction, which in general terms is now known to every writer and every reader.

All this is true only to some extent. Literature is constantly evolving. The arsenal of artistic techniques is expanding and enriched. Every writer in his work relies on the experience and achievements of his predecessors.

The emergence of Russian literature

Old Russian scribes faced a very difficult task: it was necessary as soon as possible to provide the churches and monasteries created in Russia with the necessary books for divine services, it was necessary to familiarize newly converted Christians with Christian dogma, with the foundations of Christian morality, with Christian historiography in the broadest sense of the word: and with the history of the Universe, peoples and states, and with the history of the Church, and, finally, with the history of the life of Christian ascetics.

As a result, the ancient Russian scribes, already during the first two centuries of the existence of their written language, got acquainted with all the main genres and main monuments of Byzantine literature.

It was necessary to talk about how - from the Christian point of view - the world is arranged, to explain the meaning of the purposefully and wisely "arranged by God" nature. In a word, it was necessary to immediately create literature dedicated to the most complex worldview issues. The books brought from Bulgaria could not meet all these versatile needs of the young Christian state, and, therefore, it was necessary to translate, rewrite, and multiply the works of Christian literature. All the energy, all the forces, all the time of the Old Russian scribes at first were absorbed in the fulfillment of these primary tasks.

The writing process was long, the writing material (parchment) was expensive, and this not only made each book tome laborious, but also gave it a special aura of value and significance. Literature was perceived as something very important, serious, designed to serve the highest spiritual needs.

Writing was necessary in all spheres of state and public life, in inter-princes' and international relations, in legal practice. The emergence of writing stimulated the activity of translators and scribes, and most importantly - 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 oldest Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years", immediately after the message about the adoption of Christianity, it is said that the Kiev prince Vladimir, "having sent, began to take children to deliberate children [of noble people], and began to give a book learning."

In an article of 1037, describing the activities of Vladimir's son, Prince Yaroslav, the chronicler noted that he was “diligent about books, and honoring them [reading them], often at night and in the day. And the scribe collected many and was laid down from the Greeks into the Slovenian letter [translating from the Greek language]. And there are many books written off, and people who learn to faithfulness enjoy the teachings of the divine. " Further, the chronicler gives a kind of praise for the books: “It’s great to be crawling from the teaching of the book: with books we seem to teach and teach us the ways of repentance [books teach and teach us to repentance], we gain wisdom and refrain from the words of books. These are the rivers that solder the universe, these are the sources of wisdom; books have more inexhaustible depth. " With these words of the chronicler, the first article from one of the oldest Old Russian collections - "Izbornik 1076", echoes; it argues that, just as a ship cannot be built without nails, so you cannot become a righteous person without reading books, advice is given to read slowly and thoughtfully: not to try to quickly finish reading to the end of the chapter, but to reflect on what you have read, to reread one and the same chapter until you comprehend its meaning.

Getting acquainted with the ancient Russian manuscripts of the XI-XIV 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 have not abstract declarations about the benefits of enlightenment; in the X and the first half of the XI century. In Russia a huge amount of work was done: a huge literature was copied from the Bulgarian originals or translated from Greek.

Old Russian literature can be regarded as literature of one theme and one plot. This plot is world history, and this topic is the meaning of human life.

Not that all the works were devoted to world history (although there are a lot of these works): that's not the point! Each work, to some extent, finds its geographical place and its chronological milestone in the history of the world. All works can be put in one row one after another in the order of the events taking place: we always know to what historical time they are attributed by the authors.

Literature tells, or at least seeks to tell, not about invented, but about the real. Therefore, the real - world history, real geographic space - connects all individual works.

Indeed, fiction in Old Russian works is masked by truth. Open fiction is not allowed. All works are devoted to events that were, took place or, although they did not exist, are seriously considered to have happened. Old Russian literature up to the 17th century. does not know or almost does not know conventional characters. The names of the characters are historical: Boris and Gleb, Feodosia Pechersky, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Sergiy Radonezhsky, Stefan Permsky ... At the same time, ancient Russian literature tells mainly about those persons who played a significant role in historical events: be it Alexander the Great or Abraham Smolensky.

One of the most popular books of Ancient Rus is "The Six Days" by John Exarch of Bulgaria. This book tells about the world, arranging its story in the order of the biblical legend about the creation of the world in six days. On the first day, light was created, on the second - the visible sky and waters, on the third - the sea, rivers, springs and seeds, on the fourth - the sun, moon and stars, on the fifth - fish, reptiles and birds, on the sixth - animals and man ... Each of the days described is a hymn to creation, the world, its beauty and wisdom, the coherence and diversity of the elements of the whole.

Just as we talk about the epic in folk art, we can also talk about the epic of ancient Russian literature. An epic is not a simple sum of epics and historical songs. Epic narratives are interconnected. They paint us a whole epic era in the life of the Russian people. The era is fantastic, but at the same time it is historical. This era is the time of the reign of Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko. The action of many plots is transferred here, which, obviously, existed before, and in some cases arose later. Another epic time is the time of Novgorod's independence. Historical songs paint us, if not a single era, then, in any case, a single course of events: the 16th and 17th centuries. par excellence.

Ancient Russian literature is also a cycle. A cycle that is many times superior to folklore. This is an epic that tells the history of the universe and the history of Russia.

None of the works of Ancient Rus - translated or original - stands in isolation. All of them complement each other in the picture of the world they create. Each story is a complete whole, and at the same time it is connected with others. This is only one of the chapters in the history of the world. Even such works as the translated novel "Stefanite and Ichnilat" (the Old Russian version of the plot of "Kalila and Dimna") or written on the basis of oral stories of anecdotal nature "The Tale of Dracula" are included in collections and are not found in separate lists. In separate manuscripts, they begin to appear only in the late tradition in the 17th and 18th centuries.

There is a kind of continuous cyclization. Even the notes of the Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin about his "Voyage across the Three Seas" were included in the chronicle. These notes become a historical essay - a story about the events of a trip to India. Such a fate is not uncommon for the literary works of Ancient Rus: over time, many of the stories begin to be perceived as historical, as documents or narratives about Russian history: be it the sermon of the abbot of the Vydubets monastery Moses, delivered by him about the construction of the monastery wall, or the life of a saint.

The works were built according to the "enfilade principle". Over the centuries, the life was supplemented by services to the saint, a description of his posthumous miracles. It could grow with additional stories about the saint. Several lives of the same saint could be combined into a new single work. The chronicle could be supplemented with new information. The end of the chronicle was, as it were, postponed all the time, continuing with additional entries about new events (the chronicle grew along with history). Separate annual articles of the chronicle could be supplemented with new information from other chronicles; they could include new works. This was also how chronographs and historical sermons were supplemented. Collections of words and teachings grew. That is why there are so many huge works in ancient Russian literature that combine separate narratives into a common "epic" about the world and its history.

Conclusion:

The circumstances of the origin of Old Russian literature, its place and functions in the life of society determined the system of its original genres, that is, those genres within which the development of the original Russian literature began.

At first, according to the expressive definition of DS Likhachev, it was literature “of one theme and one plot. This plot is world history, and this topic is the meaning of human life. " And indeed, all genres of Old Russian literature were devoted to this topic and this subject, especially if we talk about the literature of the early Middle Ages.

Literature arose in Russia 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 emergence of writing created a field of activity for translators and scribes, and most importantly - the 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 nigas, as already mentioned, was special. In the article of 988 of the oldest Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years" immediately after the announcement of the adoption of Christianity, it is said that the Kiev prince Vladimir, "sent, began to take children from the deliberate children [of noble people], and began to give a book learning". In an article of 1037, describing the activities of Vladimir's son, Prince Yaroslav, the chronicler noted that he was "diligent in the books, and honoring them [reading them], often in the night and in the day. And the scribe has a lot of people and prefers from the Greeks to the Slovenian letter [ translating from Greek.] And there are many books written off, and people who learn to faithfulness enjoy the teachings of the divine. " Further, the chronicler praises the books: "It is great to be crawling from the teaching of the book: with books we seem to teach and teach us the ways of repentance [books instruct and teach us to repentance], we gain wisdom and refrain from the words of the books. the essence of the origin [sources] of wisdom; books bo have an inexhaustible depth ", and the first article from one of the oldest ancient Russian collections -" Izbornik 1076 "argues that, just as a ship cannot be built without nails, so you cannot become a righteous person, without reading books, advice is given to read slowly and thoughtfully: do not try to quickly finish reading to the end of the chapter, but reflect on 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. An enormous amount of work was done in Russia: a huge number of books were copied from the Bulgarian originals or translated from Greek, and already during the first two centuries of the existence of writing, ancient Russian scribes got 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 an intermediary literature: books already translated into Old Bulgarian were then translated into Old Russian: books of the Holy Scriptures, liturgical books, works of church writers, historical works (chronicles), natural science ("Physiologist", "Six Days"), as well as - albeit in a smaller volume - monuments of historical narration, for example, the novel about Alexander the Great and the story of 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: translated literature was an organic part of national literatures at an early stage of their development.

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

The fact that Ancient Russia began to read someone else's primary than to create its own does not mean that Russian culture is secondary: we are talking only about one area of \u200b\u200bartistic creation 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 unwritten, folklore.

Teacher notes

Date of inspection ____________________ Evaluation _______________ Signature _____________

Topic no. 12 Literature of Ancient Russia

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………… 2

The emergence of Russian literature ............................................... ................................ 3

Literature genres of Ancient Russia ………………………………………………… .... 7

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………… ..11

List of used literature ………………………………………… ......... 12

Topic no. 13 Religious worldview. Materialism

Worldview …………………………………………………………………………… .14

Religious worldview ……………………………………………………………… .... 15

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………… ..17

Materialism

The concept of materialism …………………………………………………………………… ... 17

The history of materialism ……………………………………………………………………… ... 18

Modern theories ………………………………………………………………… .......... 23

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………… ..24

List of used literature ............................................... ............................... 24

Internet resources ………………………………………………………………………… ..25

Test ………………………………………………………………………………………… ..26

Theme № 12 Literature of Ancient Russia

Introduction

The centuries-old literature of Ancient Rus has its own classics, there are works that we can rightfully call classical, which perfectly represent the literature of Ancient Rus and are known throughout the world. Every educated Russian person should know them.
Ancient Russia, in the traditional sense of the word, embracing the country and its history from the 10th to the 17th centuries, had a great culture. This culture, the direct predecessor of the new Russian culture of the 18th-20th centuries, nevertheless had some of its own, characteristic only for it, phenomena.
Ancient Russia is glorified all over the world for its painting and architecture. But it is remarkable not only for these "dumb" arts, which allowed some Western scholars to call the culture of Ancient Rus the culture of great silence. Recently, the discovery of ancient Russian music has begun to occur anew, and more slowly - much more difficult to understand art - the art of speech, literature.
That is why Hilarion's The Word about Law and Grace, The Word about Igor's Campaign, The Walking Beyond the Three Seas by Afanasy Nikitin, The Writings of Ivan the Terrible, The Life of Archpriest Avvakum and many others have now been translated into many foreign languages.
Getting acquainted with the literary monuments of Ancient Russia, a modern person will easily notice their differences from the works of literature of the new time: this is the absence of detailed characters of the characters, this is the parsimony of details in describing the appearance of the heroes, their surroundings, the landscape, this is the psychological lack of motivation of actions, and the “facelessness” of remarks that can be conveyed to any hero of the work, since they do not reflect the individuality of the speaker, this is also the “insincerity” of monologues with an abundance of traditional “commonplaces” - abstract reasoning on theological or moral topics, with exorbitant pathos or expression ...
All these features would be easiest to explain by the discipleship nature of ancient Russian literature, to see in them only the result of the fact that medieval writers have not yet mastered the "mechanism" of plot construction, which in general terms is now known to every writer and every reader.
All this is true only to some extent. Literature is constantly evolving. The arsenal of artistic techniques is expanding and enriched. Every writer in his work relies on the experience and achievements of his predecessors.

The emergence of Russian literature.

Literature arose in Russia simultaneously with the adoption of Christianity. But the intensity of its development indisputably testifies to the fact that both the Christianization of the country and the emergence of writing were determined primarily by state needs. Having adopted Christianity, Ancient Rus simultaneously received both writing and literature.
The Old Russian scribes faced a very difficult task: it was necessary as soon as possible to provide the churches and monasteries created in Russia with the necessary books for divine services, it was necessary to acquaint newly converted Christians with Christian dogma, with the foundations of Christian morality, with Christian historiography in the broadest sense of the word: and with the history of the Universe, peoples and states, and with the history of the Church, and, finally, with the history of the life of Christian ascetics.
As a result, the ancient Russian scribes, already during the first two centuries of the existence of their written language, got acquainted with all the main genres and main monuments of Byzantine literature.
It was necessary to talk about how - from the Christian point of view - the world is arranged, to explain the meaning of the purposefully and wisely "arranged by God" nature. In a word, it was necessary to immediately create a literature dedicated to the most complex worldview issues. The books brought from Bulgaria could not meet all these versatile needs of the young Christian state, and, therefore, it was necessary to translate, rewrite, and multiply the works of Christian literature. All the energy, all the forces, all the time of the Old Russian scribes at first were absorbed in the fulfillment of these primary tasks.
The writing process was long, the writing material (parchment) was expensive, and this not only made each book tome laborious, but also gave it a special aura of value and significance. Literature was perceived as something very important, serious, designed to serve the highest spiritual needs.
Writing was necessary in all spheres of state and public life, in inter-princes' and international relations, in legal practice. The emergence of writing stimulated the activity of translators and scribes, and most importantly - 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 oldest Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years" immediately after the message about the adoption of Christianity, it is said that the Kiev prince Vladimir, "having sent, began to take children to deliberate children [of noble people], and began to give a book learning".
In an article of 1037, describing the activities of Vladimir's son, Prince Yaroslav, the chronicler noted that he was “diligent about books, and honoring them [reading them], often at night and in the day. And the scribe collected many and was laid down from the Greeks into the Slovenian letter [translating from the Greek language]. And there are many books written off, and people who learn to faithfulness enjoy the teachings of the divine. " Further, the chronicler gives a kind of praise for the books: “It is great to be crawling from the teaching of the book: with books we seem to teach and teach us the ways of repentance [books teach and teach us to repentance], we gain wisdom and refrain from the words of books. These are the rivers that solder the universe, these are the sources of wisdom; books have more inexhaustible depth ”. With these words of the chronicler, the first article from one of the oldest Old Russian collections - "Izbornik 1076", echoes; it asserts that, just as a ship cannot be built without nails, so you cannot become a righteous person without reading books, advice is given to read slowly and thoughtfully: not to try to quickly finish reading to the end of the chapter, but to reflect on what you have read, to reread one and the same chapter until you comprehend its meaning.
Getting acquainted with the ancient Russian manuscripts of the XI-XIV 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 have not abstract declarations about the benefits of enlightenment; in the X and the first half of the XI century. In Russia a huge amount of work was done: a huge literature was copied from the Bulgarian originals or translated from Greek.
Old Russian literature can be regarded as literature of one theme and one plot. This plot is world history, and this topic is the meaning of human life.
Not that all the works were devoted to world history (although there are a lot of these works): that's not the point! Each work to some extent finds its geographical place and its chronological milestone in the history of the world. All works can be put in one row one after another in the order of the events taking place: we always know to what historical time they are attributed by the authors.
Literature tells, or at least seeks to tell not about invented, but about the real. Therefore, the real - world history, real geographic space - connects all individual works.
In fact, fiction in ancient Russian works is masked by truth. Open fiction is not allowed. All works are devoted to events that were, happened or, although they did not exist, but are seriously considered to have happened. Old Russian literature up to the 17th century does not know or almost does not know conventional characters. The names of the characters are historical: Boris and Gleb, Feodosia Pechersky, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Sergiy Radonezhsky, Stefan Permsky ... At the same time, ancient Russian literature tells mainly about those persons who played a significant role in historical events: be it Alexander the Great or Abraham Smolensky.
One of the most popular books of Ancient Rus is "The Six Days" by John Exarch of Bulgaria. This book tells about the world, arranging its story in the order of the biblical legend about the creation of the world in six days. On the first day, light was created, on the second - the visible sky and waters, on the third - the sea, rivers, springs and seeds, on the fourth - the sun, moon and stars, on the fifth - fish, reptiles and birds, on the sixth - animals and man ... Each of the described days is a hymn to creation, the world, its beauty and wisdom, the coherence and diversity of the elements of the whole.
Just as we talk about the epic in folk art, we can also talk about the epic of ancient Russian literature. An epic is not a simple sum of epics and historical songs. Epic narratives are interconnected. They paint us a whole epic era in the life of the Russian people. The era is fantastic, but at the same time it is historical. This era is the time of the reign of Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko. The action of many plots is transferred here, which, obviously, existed before, and in some cases arose later. Another epic time is the time of Novgorod's independence. Historical songs paint us, if not a single era, then, in any case, a single course of events: the 16th and 17th centuries. par excellence.
Ancient Russian literature is also a cycle. A cycle that is many times superior to folklore. This is an epic that tells the history of the universe and the history of Russia.
None of the works of Ancient Russia - translated or original - stands in isolation. All of them complement each other in the picture of the world they create. Each story is a complete whole, and at the same time it is connected with others. This is only one of the chapters in the history of the world. Even such works as the translated novel "Stefanite and Ichnilat" (the Old Russian version of the plot "Kalila and Dimna") or written on the basis of oral stories of anecdotal nature "The Tale of Dracula" are included in collections and are not found in separate lists. In separate manuscripts, they begin to appear only in the late tradition in the 17th and 18th centuries.
There is a kind of continuous cyclization. Even the notes of the Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin about his "Voyage across the Three Seas" were included in the chronicle. These notes become a historical essay - a story about the events of a trip to India. Such a fate is not uncommon for the literary works of Ancient Rus: over time, many of the stories begin to be perceived as historical, as documents or narratives about Russian history: be it the sermon of the abbot of the Vydubets monastery Moses, delivered by him about the construction of the monastery wall, or the life of a saint.
The works were built according to the "enfilade principle". Over the centuries, the life was supplemented by services to the saint, a description of his posthumous miracles. It could grow with additional stories about the saint. Several lives of the same saint could be combined into a new single work. The chronicle could be supplemented with new information. The end of the chronicle was, as it were, postponed all the time, continuing with additional entries about new events (the chronicle grew along with history). Separate annual articles of the chronicle could be supplemented with new information from other chronicles; they could include new works. In this way, chronographs and historical sermons were also supplemented. Collections of words and teachings grew. That is why there are so many huge works in ancient Russian literature that combine separate narratives into a common "epic" about the world and its history.
The circumstances of the origin of Old Russian literature, its place and functions in the life of society determined the system of its original genres, that is, those genres within which the development of the original Russian literature began.
At first, according to the expressive definition of DS Likhachev, it was literature “of one theme and one plot. This plot is world history, and this topic is the meaning of human life. " And indeed, all genres of Old Russian literature were devoted to this topic and this subject, especially if we talk about the literature of the early Middle Ages.

2. Genres of literature of Ancient Russia.

In order to understand the peculiarity and originality of the original Russian literature, to appreciate the courage with which Russian scribes created works that "stand outside genre systems", such as "The Lay of Igor's Campaign", "Instructions" by Vladimir Monomakh, "Prayer" by Daniel Zatochnik and the like , for all this it is necessary to get acquainted with at least some samples of certain genres of translated literature.
Chronicle.

Interest in the past of the Universe, the history of other countries, in the fate of the great people of antiquity was satisfied with the translations of Byzantine chronicles. These chronicles began narrating events from the creation of the world, retelling the biblical story, citing individual episodes from the history of the countries of the East, telling about the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and then about the history of the countries of the Middle East. Bringing the story down to the last decades before the beginning of our era, the chroniclers went back and recounted 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 the Byzantine chronicles, the most famous in Russia in the XI century. received translations of the Chronicle of George Amartol and the Chronicle of John Malala. The first of them, together with a continuation made on Byzantine soil, brought the story to the middle of the 10th 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 typical for biblical books (where long lists of genealogies follow), and for medieval chronicles, and for the historical epic.
"Alexandria".

The novel about Alexander the Great, the so-called "Alexandria", enjoyed immense popularity in Ancient Russia. This was not a historically accurate description of the life and deeds of the famous military leader, but a typical Hellenistic adventure novel.
In "Alexandria" we meet and thrilling (and also pseudo-historical) collisions. "Alexandria" is an indispensable part of all ancient Russian chronographs; From editorial office to editorial office, the adventure and fantastic theme is becoming increasingly stronger in it, which once again indicates an interest in the plot-entertaining, and not the historical, side of this work.
"Life of Eustathius Placis".

In the ancient Russian literature, imbued with the spirit of historicism, addressing 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. Oddly enough at first glance, but to a certain extent the needs for such subjects were filled with such authoritative genres closely related to religious issues as the lives of the saints, patericons or apocrypha.
Researchers have long noticed that the lengthy lives of Byzantine saints in some cases were very reminiscent of an antique 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 motives of the novel of adventures in a strange way coexisted in some Lives with the idea of \u200b\u200bglorifying an ascetic or martyr for the Christian faith. A typical example of such a life is the Life of Eustathius Plakis, translated back in Kievan Rus.
Apocrypha.

Apocrypha - legends about biblical characters that were not included in the 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 humanity, descriptions of heaven and hell or unknown lands "at the edge of the world."
Most of the apocrypha are entertaining story stories that amazed the readers' imagination either with everyday details about the life of Christ, the apostles, prophets, or miracles and fantastic visions, unknown to them. The church tried to fight against apocryphal literature. Compiled special lists of prohibited books - indexes. However, in judgments about which works are unconditionally "renounced books", that is, unacceptable for reading by faithful Christians, and which are only apocryphal (literally apocryphal - secret, secret, that is, designed for a reader experienced in theological questions), the medieval censors do not there was unity.
The indices varied in composition; in collections, sometimes very authoritative, we find alongside canonical biblical books and lives also apocryphal texts. Sometimes, however, even here they were overtaken by the hand of devotees of piety: in some collections the sheets with the text of the apocrypha were torn out or their text was crossed out. Nevertheless, there were a lot of apocryphal works, and they continued to be rewritten throughout the centuries-old history of ancient Russian literature.
Patristics.

A large place in the Old Russian translated writing was occupied by patristics, that is, the works of those Roman and Byzantine theologians of the 3rd-7th centuries who enjoyed special authority in the Christian world and were revered as "church fathers": John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory Nazianzin, 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 exposed, and various worldview questions were raised. At the same time, works of both teaching and solemn eloquence had considerable aesthetic value.
The authors of the solemn words intended to be pronounced in the church during the divine service, perfectly knew how to create an atmosphere of festive ecstasy or reverence, which was supposed to cover the believers when remembering the glorified event of church history, perfectly mastered the art of rhetoric, which Byzantine writers inherited from antiquity: not incidentally, many of the Byzantine theologians learned from pagan rhetoricians.
In Russia, John Chrysostom (d. 407) was especially famous; from words that belonged to him or were attributed to him, whole collections were compiled, bearing the names "Zlatoust" or "Zlatostruy".
The language of liturgical books is especially colorful and rich in paths. Here are some examples. In the service menaea (collection of services in honor of the saints, arranged according to the days when they are venerated) of the 11th century we read: "The vines of thought have appeared ripe in the grapes, thrown into the winepress of torment, thou hast consumed the wine of tenderness for us." A literal translation of this phrase will destroy the artistic image, therefore, we will only explain the essence of the metaphor.
The saint is compared with a ripe bunch of grapevine, but it is emphasized that this is not a real, but a spiritual ("mental") vine; the tortured saint is likened to grapes, which are crushed in a "winepress" (pit, vat) in order to "exude" juice for making wine; the saint's torments "exude" the "wine of affection" - a feeling of reverence and compassion for him.
A few more metaphorical images from the same service menaus of the 11th century: “From the depths of malice, the last climb of the heights of virtue, like an eagle, flying high, gloriously in the east, praise Matthew!”; "Strained the prayer bows and arrows and the serpent lutago, the crawling serpent, thou art killed, blessed, having delivered the holy flock from that harm"; "Thou passed through the towering sea, delightful of polytheism, gloriously passed by the storm of divine rule, a quiet haven for all who were trapped." “Prayer bows and arrows,” “the storm of polytheism,” which heaves waves on the “lovely [insidious, deceptive] sea” of vain life, are all metaphors intended for a reader with a developed sense of the word and sophisticated imaginative thinking, 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 perceived by them and implemented in their work.
Speaking about the system of genres of Old Russian literature, it is necessary to note one more important circumstance: this literature for a long time, up to the 17th century, did not allow literary fiction. Old Russian authors wrote and read only about what was in reality: about the history of the world, countries, peoples, about the military leaders and kings of antiquity, about the holy ascetics. Even passing on frank miracles, they believed that it could be, that there were fantastic creatures inhabiting unknown lands, through which Alexander the Great passed with his troops, that in the darkness of caves and cells demons appeared to the holy hermits, then tempting them in the form of harlots , then frightening in the guise of animals and monsters.
Telling about historical events, ancient Russian authors could communicate different, sometimes mutually exclusive versions: some say so, the chronicler or chronicler will say, and others - differently. But in their eyes this was just the ignorance of informants, so to speak, a delusion from ignorance, but the idea that this or that version could be simply invented, composed, and even more so composed for purely literary purposes - such a thought for writers of the older time, apparently, seemed implausible. This non-recognition of literary fiction also, in turn, determined the system of genres, the range of subjects and topics to which a work of literature could be devoted. The fictional hero will come to Russian literature relatively late - not earlier than the 15th century, although even at that time he will still be disguised as a hero of a distant country or a long time ago.
Outright fiction was allowed only in one genre - the genre of the apologue, or parable. It was a miniature story, each of whose characters and the entire plot existed only in order to visually illustrate any idea. It was an allegory story, and that was its meaning.
In ancient Russian literature, which did not know fiction, historical in large or small, the world itself appeared as something eternal, universal, where both the events and actions of people are determined by the very system of the universe, where the forces of good and evil are always fighting, the world whose history is well known ( after all, for each event mentioned in the chronicle, the exact date was indicated - the time elapsed from the "creation of the world"!) and even the future is predetermined: prophecies about the end of the world, the "second coming" of Christ and the Last Judgment awaiting all people on earth were widespread.
This general ideological attitude could not but affect the desire to subordinate the very image of the world to certain principles and rules, once and for all determine what and how should be depicted.
Old Russian literature, like other Christian medieval literatures, is subject to a special literary and aesthetic regulation - the so-called literary etiquette.

Conclusion

So, the main range of works of monuments of ancient Russian literature are religious edifying works, the lives of saints, liturgical hymns. Old Russian literature originated in the 11th century. One of its first monuments - "The Word of Law and Grace" by Metropolitan Hilarion of Kiev - was created in the 30-40s. XI century. The 17th century is the last century of Old Russian literature. During its course, the traditional Old Russian literary canons are gradually destroyed, new genres are born, new ideas about man and the world.
Literature refers to the works of ancient Russian scribes, and the texts of the authors of the 18th century, and the works of Russian classics of the last century, and the works of modern writers. Of course, there are obvious differences between the literature of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. But all Russian literature of the last three centuries does not at all resemble the monuments of ancient Russian verbal art. However, it is in comparison with them that she reveals much in common.
The cultural horizon of the world is constantly expanding. Now, in the 20th century, we understand and appreciate in the past not only classical antiquity. The Western European Middle Ages have firmly entered the cultural baggage of mankind, back in the 19th century. seeming barbaric, "Gothic" (the original meaning of this word is precisely "barbarian"), Byzantine music and icon painting, African sculpture, Hellenistic novel, Fayum portrait, Persian miniature, Inca art and much, much more. Humanity is freed from "Eurocentrism" and egocentric focus on the present.
Deep penetration into the cultures of the past and the cultures of other nations brings times and countries closer together. The unity of the world is becoming more and more tangible. The distance between cultures is shrinking, and there is less and less room for national hostility and stupid chauvinism. This is the greatest merit of the humanities and the arts themselves - a merit that will only be fully realized in the future.
One of the most urgent tasks is to introduce into the circle of reading and understanding of the modern reader the monuments of art of the word of Ancient Rus. The art of the word is in organic connection with the visual arts, with architecture, with music, and there can be no true understanding of one without understanding all other areas of the artistic creation of Ancient Rus.
Fine art and literature, humanistic culture and material culture, broad international ties and a pronounced national identity are closely intertwined in the great and peculiar culture of Ancient Rus.

List of used literature

1. Adrianova-Peretz VP Man in the teaching literature of Ancient Rus. - TODRL. L., 1972, vol. XXVII.

2. Kazan history: Literary monuments of Ancient Rus. Mid-16th century. - M., 1985.

3. Kozhinov V.V. History of Russia and the Russian word. - M .: Algorithm, 1999.

5. Likhachev VD, Likhachev DS Artistic heritage of Ancient Russia and modernity. - L., 1971.

6. Likhachev DS Great heritage // Likhachev DS Selected works in three volumes. Volume 2. - L .: Art. lit., 1987.

7. Likhachev DS Poetics of Old Russian Literature. 2nd ed. - L., 1971.

8. Likhachev DS Development of Russian literature X-XVII centuries. Eras and styles. - L., 1973.

9. Likhachev DS Textology. Based on the material of Russian literature of the X-XVII centuries. - M.-L., 1962; Textology. Brief sketch. M.-L., 1964.

10. Likhachev DS At the prehistoric realism of Russian literature. - L .: Questions of literature, 1957, No. 1.

11. Lyubimov L. The Art of Ancient Rus. - M .: 1996.

12. Materials from the site http://www.helpeducation.ru

13. The Tale of Bygone Years // Literature Monuments of Ancient Russia. The beginning of Russian literature. X - early XII century - M., 1978.

14. Polyakov LV Book centers of Ancient Russia. - L., 1991.

15. Rybakov B.A. Ancient Russia, Legends. Epics. Chronicle. - M., 1963

16. Tvorogov OV Literature of Ancient Russia: A guide for teachers. - M .: Education, 1981 .-- 128 p.

17. Likhachev DS Great heritage // Likhachev DS Selected works in three volumes. Volume 2. - L .: Art. lit., 1987.

18. Polyakov LV Book centers of Ancient Russia. - L., 1991.

19. The Tale of Bygone Years // Literature Monuments of Ancient Russia. The beginning of Russian literature. X - early XII century - M., 1978.

20. Likhachev D.S. Textology. Based on the material of Russian literature of the X-XVII centuries. - M.-L., 1962; Textology. Brief sketch. M.-L., 1964.

21. Likhachev DS Great heritage // Likhachev DS Selected works in three volumes. Volume 2. - L .: Art. lit., 1987.

22. Likhachev V. D., Likhachev D. S. Artistic heritage of Ancient Russia and modernity. - L., 1971.

23. Kozhinov V.V. History of Russia and the Russian word. - M .: Algorithm, 1999.

24. Adrianova-Peretz V. P. Man in the teaching literature of Ancient Russia. - TODRL. L., 1972, vol. XXVII.

26. Likhachev DS Poetics of Old Russian Literature. 2nd ed. - L., 1971.

Topic no. 13 Religious worldview. Materialism

Worldview

We already live in the 21st century and see how the dynamics of social life has increased, surprising us with global changes in all structures of politics, culture, and economy. People have lost faith in a better life: the elimination of poverty, hunger, crime. Every year, crime is increasing, there are more and more beggars. The goal is to turn our Earth into a common human home, where everyone will be given a worthy place, has passed into unreality, into the category of utopias and fantasies. Uncertainty has put a person before a choice, forcing him to look around and think about what is happening in the world with people. In this situation, the problems of the worldview are revealed.
At any stage, a person (society) has a very definite worldview, i.e. a system of knowledge, ideas on the world and a person's place in it, on a person's attitude to the surrounding reality and to himself. In addition, the worldview includes the basic life positions of people, their beliefs ideals. Worldview should be understood not to mean all human knowledge about the world, but only fundamental knowledge - extremely general.

How does the world work?

What is the place of man in the world?

What is Consciousness?

What is Truth?

What is philosophy?

What is human happiness?

These are worldview questions and main problems.

A worldview is a part of a person's consciousness, an idea of \u200b\u200bthe world and a person's place in it. World outlook is a more or less integral system of assessments and views of people on: the world around; purpose and meaning of life; means of achieving life goals; the essence of human relations.

There are three forms of Worldview:

1. World perception: - emotional and psychological side, at the level of moods, feelings.

2. World perception: - the formation of cognitive images of the world using visual representations.

3. World outlook: - the cognitive and intellectual side of the world outlook, it happens: everyday life and theoretical.

There are three historical types of worldview - mythological, religious, ordinary, philosophical, but we will talk about this in more detail in the next chapter.

Religious worldview

Religion is a form of worldview based on belief in the existence of supernatural forces. This is a specific form of reflection of reality and to this day it remains a significant organized and organizing force in the world.

The religious worldview is represented by the forms of three world religions:

1. Buddhism - 6-5 centuries. BC. First appeared in Ancient India, the founder is Buddha. In the center is the doctrine of noble truths (Nirvana). In Buddhism, there is no soul, there is no God as a creator and supreme being, there is no spirit and history;

2. Christianity - 1st century AD, first appeared in Palestine, a common sign of faith in Jesus Christ as God-man, the savior of the world. The main source of doctrine is the Bible (Holy Scripture). Three branches of Christianity: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism;

3. Islam - 7th century AD, formed in Arabia, the founder is Muhammad, the main principles of Islam are set forth in the Koran. The main dogma: worship of the one god Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. The main branches of Islam are Sunnism, Shinnism.

Religion performs important historical functions: it forms the consciousness of the unity of the human race, develops universal human norms; acts as a bearer of cultural values, ordering and preserving morals, traditions and customs. Religious ideas are contained not only in philosophy, but also in poetry, painting, architectural art, politics, everyday consciousness.

Worldview constructions, being included in the cult system, acquire the character of a doctrine. And this gives the worldview a special spiritual and practical character. Worldview constructions become the basis of formal regulation and regulation, ordering and preservation of morals, customs, traditions. With the help of rituals, religion cultivates human feelings of love, kindness, tolerance, compassion, mercy, duty, justice, etc., giving them special value, linking their presence with the sacred, supernatural.

Mythological consciousness historically precedes religious consciousness. The religious worldview is more logical than the mythological one. The consistency of religious consciousness presupposes its logical orderliness, and continuity with the mythological consciousness is ensured through the use of the image as the main lexical unit. The religious worldview "works" on two levels: on the theoretical and ideological (in the form of theology, philosophy, ethics, social doctrine of the church), i.e. at the level of world outlook, and socio-psychological, i.e. level of attitude. At both levels, religiosity is characterized by belief in the supernatural - belief in miracles. A miracle is against the law. The law is called immutability in changes, the indispensable homogeneity of the action of all homogeneous things. A miracle contradicts the very essence of the law: Christ walked on water, like on land, and this miracle is. Mythological ideas have no idea of \u200b\u200ba miracle: for them the most unnatural is natural. The religious worldview already distinguishes between natural and unnatural, it already has limitations. The religious picture of the world is much more contrasting than the mythological one, richer in colors.
It is much more critical than mythological, and less arrogant. However, the religious worldview explains everything incomprehensible, contradicting reason, revealed by the world outlook, by a universal force capable of disrupting the natural course of things and harmonizing any chaos.
Belief in this external superpower is the basis of religiosity. Religious philosophy, thus, just like theology, proceeds from the thesis about the presence in the world of some ideal superpower capable of arbitrarily manipulating both nature and the fate of people. At the same time, both religious philosophy and theology substantiate and prove by theoretical means both the need for Faith and the presence of an ideal superpower - God.
Religious worldview and religious philosophy are a kind of idealism, i.e. such a direction in the development of social consciousness, in which the initial substance, i.e. the foundation of the world is the Spirit, the idea. Varieties of idealism are subjectivism, mysticism, etc. The opposite of a religious worldview is an atheistic worldview.

In our time, religion plays an important role, religious educational institutions have begun to open more, in the pedagogical university and school practice, the direction of culturological representation of religions within the framework of the civilizational approach is actively developing, at the same time, atheistic educational stereotypes persist and religious-sectarian apologetics is encountered under the slogan of absolute equality of all religions. The Church and the State are currently on an equal footing, there is no enmity between them, they are loyal to each other, compromise. Religion gives meaning and knowledge, and hence stability to human existence, helps him to overcome everyday difficulties.

The most important features of religion are sacrifice, faith in heaven, cult in God.

The German theologian G. Küng believes that religion has future, because: 1) the modern world with its immediacy is not in proper order, it arouses longing for the Other; 2) the difficulties of life raise ethical questions that develop into religious ones; 3) religion means the development of relations to the absolute meaning of being, and this applies to every person.

Conclusion

A worldview is not only a content, but also a way of realizing reality, as well as the principles of life that determine the nature of activity. The nature of ideas about the world contributes to the setting of certain goals, from the generalization of which a general life plan is formed, ideals are formed that give the worldview an effective force. The content of consciousness turns into a worldview when it acquires the character of convictions, a person's full and unshakable confidence in the correctness of his ideas. The worldview changes synchronously with the surrounding world, but the basic principles remain unchanged.

Materialism

Materialism concept

Materialism (lat. materialis - material) - a philosophical worldview, according to which matter, as an objective reality, is ontologically the primary principle (cause, condition, restriction) in the sphere of being, and the ideal (concepts, will, consciousness, etc.) is secondary (result, effect ). Materialism asserts the existence of the only "absolute" substance of being - matter; all entities are formed by matter, and ideal phenomena (including consciousness) are the processes of interaction of material entities. The laws of the material world apply to the whole world, including society and humans.

The term "materialism" was introduced by Gottfried Leibniz: he used the word "materialists" to describe his ideological opponents

History of materialism

Similar information.

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 themselves, but also historical works (chronicles and chronicles), descriptions of travels (they were called walks), teachings, lives (stories about the life of people ranked by the church among the host of saints), messages, compositions of the oratorical genre, some texts of a business nature. All of these monuments contain elements of artistic creativity, an emotional reflection of modern life.

The overwhelming majority of Old Russian literary works have not preserved 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 is handwritten: the works were distributed through the correspondence of texts. In the course of the handwritten existence of works for centuries, the texts were not only copied, but often reworked due to changes in literary tastes, socio-political situation, in connection with personal preferences and literary abilities of scribes. This explains the existence of different editions and versions of the same monument in handwritten lists. Comparative textual analysis (see Textology) of editions and variants enables researchers to reconstruct the literary history of a work and decide which text is closest to the original, author's, how it changed over time. Only in the rarest cases do we have the author's lists of monuments, and very often in later lists we come to us with texts closer to the author's than in the earlier lists. Therefore, the study of Old Russian literature is based on an exhaustive study of all lists of the studied work. Collections of Old Russian manuscripts are available in large libraries of different cities, in archives and museums. Many works have survived in a large number of copies, many in a very limited one. There are works represented by a single list: "The Teaching" by Vladimir Monomakh, "The Tale of the Woe-Evil Part", etc., in the only list, "The Tale of Igor's Regiment" 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 the 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, dignified, 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 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 Russia as a state religion, official and historical-narrative texts in Church Slavonic were to appear. Ancient Russia, through Bulgaria, from where these texts mainly came, immediately joined the highly developed Byzantine literature and the literature of the South Slavs. The interests of the developing Kiev feudal state demanded the creation of their own, original works and new genres. Literature was called upon to foster a sense of patriotism, to affirm the historical and political unity of the Old Russian people and the unity of the clan of Old Russian princes, to expose the princely strife.

Tasks and themes of literature XI - early XIII century. (questions of Russian history in its connection with world history, the history of the emergence of Russia, the struggle against external enemies - the Pechenegs and Polovtsians, the struggle of princes for the Kiev throne) determined the general nature of the style of this time, which Academician D.S.Likhachev called the style of monumental historicism. The emergence of Russian annals is associated with the beginning of Russian literature. As part of the later Russian chronicles, the "Tale of Bygone Years" has reached 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 a story about world history, and records by year about events in Russia, and legendary legends, and narratives about princely strife, and laudatory characteristics of individual princes, and philippics condemning them, and copies of documentary materials, lie even earlier annals that have not come down to us. The study of the lists of ancient Russian texts makes it possible to restore the unpreserved names of the literary history of ancient Russian works. XI century. the first Russian lives are also dated (of princes Boris and Gleb, abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery of Theodosius). These Lives are distinguished by their literary perfection, attention to the pressing problems of our time, the vitality of many episodes. Maturity of political thought, patriotism, publicism, high literary skill are also characteristic of the monuments of oratorical eloquence "The Word of Law and Grace" by Hilarion (1st half of the 11th century), the words and teachings of Kirill Turovsky (1130-1182). Concerns about the fate of the country, deep humanity is imbued with the "Instruction" of the great Kiev prince Vladimir Monomakh (1053-1125).

In the 80s. XII century. An unknown author creates the most brilliant work of Old Russian literature - "The Lay of Igor's Campaign." The specific theme to which the Lay is dedicated is the unsuccessful campaign in 1185 in the Polovtsian steppe of the Novgorod-Seversk 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 the present, and the true hero of his work is not Igor, not the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, to whom a lot of attention is paid in the Lay, but the Russian people, the Russian land. The Lay is associated with many features of the literary traditions of its time, but, as a work of genius, it differs in a number of features inherent only in it: the originality of the processing of etiquette techniques, the richness of the language, the sophistication 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, XIII century - end of XV century) is national-patriotic. The monumental-historical style acquires an expressive connotation: the works created at this time bear a tragic imprint, are distinguished by their lyrical elation. The idea of \u200b\u200ba strong princely power is acquiring great importance in literature. Both in the annals and in individual stories ("The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu"), written by eyewitnesses and dating back to oral legends, the horrors of the enemy invasion and the boundless heroic struggle of the people against the enslavers are told. The image of an ideal prince - a warrior and statesman, defender of the Russian land - was most vividly 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 might of the Russian princes appears in the "Lay of the death of the Russian land" - in an excerpt from an incomplete work devoted to the tragic events of the Horde yoke (1st half of the 13th century).

Literature of the XIV century. - 50s. XV century reflects the events and ideology of the time of the unification of the principalities of north-eastern Russia around Moscow, the formation of the Russian people and the gradual formation of the Russian centralized state. During this period, an interest in the psychology of an individual person, in his spiritual world (although still within the limits of religious consciousness) begins to appear in ancient Russian literature, which leads to the growth of the subjective principle. An expressive-emotional style emerges, characterized by verbal sophistication, ornamental prose (the so-called "weaving of words"). All of this reflects the desire to portray human feelings. In the 2nd half of the 15th - early 16th century. novels appear, the plot of which goes back to oral stories of a novelistic nature ("The Tale of Peter, Tsarevich of the Horde", "The Tale of Dracula," "The Tale of the merchant Basarga and his son Borzosmysl"). The number of translated literary monuments 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. the ancient Russian writer and publicist Ermolai-Erasmus creates "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia" - one of the most remarkable works of literature of Ancient Russia. The story is written in the traditions of an expressive and emotional style, it is built on the legendary legend of how a peasant girl, thanks to her mind, became a princess. The author made extensive use of fairy-tale techniques, at the same time, social motives are sharply expressed in the story. "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia" is in many ways 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 and bright individuality.

In the XVI century. the official character of literature is strengthened, its distinctive feature is pomp and solemnity. Works of a general nature are becoming widespread, the purpose of which is to regulate spiritual, political, legal and everyday life. The Great Menaion Chetya is being created - a 12-volume collection of texts intended for everyday reading for every month. At the same time, "Domostroy" was written, which outlines the rules of human behavior in the family, detailed tips for housekeeping, the rules of relationships between people. In literary works, the individual style of the author is more noticeable, which is especially clearly reflected in the letters of Ivan the Terrible. Fiction is increasingly penetrating into historical narratives, giving the narration more plot-like amusement. This is inherent in Andrei Kurbsky's "The Story of the Grand Duke of Moscow" and is reflected in the "Kazan Story" - an extensive plot-historical narration about the history of the Kazan kingdom and the struggle for Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.

In the XVII century. begins the process of transforming medieval literature into the literature of modern times. 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 the individual in it, which leads to the liberation of literature from church influence. Writers of the Time of Troubles (Avraamy Palitsyn, I.M. Katyrev-Rostovsky, Ivan Timofeev, etc.) try to explain the acts of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, False Dmitry, Vasily Shuisky not only by the manifestation of divine will, but also by the dependence of these acts on the person himself, his personal characteristics. In the literature, there is an idea of \u200b\u200bthe formation, change and development of human character under the influence of external circumstances. A wider circle of people begins 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 the state and church orders are ridiculed: judicial proceedings ("The Tale of the Shemyakin Court"), the church service ("The service of the tavern"), the sacred scripture ("The Tale of the Peasant's Son"), clerical practice ("The Tale about Ruff Ershovich "," Kalyazinskaya petition "). The nature of the lives is also changing, which increasingly become real life stories. The most remarkable work of this genre in the 17th 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 author's harsh and courageous life, but also for its vivid and passionate depiction of the social and ideological struggle of its time, deep psychologism, preaching pathos, combined with confessionality full of revelation. And all this is written in a lively, juicy language, now in a high bookish language, now in a bright colloquial everyday life.

The convergence of literature with everyday life, the appearance in the narrative of a love intrigue, psychological motivations for the behavior of the hero are inherent in a number of stories of the 17th century. ("The Tale of the Woe-Evil Part", "The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn", "The Tale of Frol Skobeev", etc.). There are translated collections of novelistic character, with short edifying, but at the same time anecdotally entertaining stories, translated knightly novels ("The Tale of Bove the Prince", "The Tale of Eruslan Lazarevich", etc.). The latter, on Russian soil, acquired the character of original, "their" monuments and eventually entered popular popular literature. In the XVII century. poetry is developing (Simeon Polotsky, Sylvester Medvedev, Karion Istomin and others). In the XVII century. ended the history of the great Old Russian literature as a phenomenon that was characterized by uniform principles, which, however, underwent certain changes. Old Russian literature with all its development prepared the Russian literature of the new time.

Literature is one of the main forms of art is the art of words. The term "literature" also denotes any works of human thought, enshrined in the written word and possessing social significance; distinguish literature technical, scientific, journalistic, reference, epistolary, etc. However, in the usual and more strict sense, literature refers to works of literary writing.

Literature term

The term "literature" (or, as they used to say, "fine writing") emerged relatively recently and began to be widely used only in the 18th century (replacing the terms "poetry", "poetic art", which now denote poetic works).

It was brought to life by typography, which, appearing in the middle of the 15th century, relatively quickly made the "literary" (ie intended for reading) form of being the art of the word the main and dominant; earlier, the art of the word existed primarily for hearing, for public performance and was understood as the skillful implementation of a “poetic” action by means of a special “poetic language” (Aristotle's Poetics, ancient and medieval aesthetic treatises of the West and East).

Literature (the art of words) arises on the basis of oral folk literature in ancient times - during the formation of the state, which necessarily gives rise to a developed form of writing. However, literature did not initially stand out from writing in the broad sense of the word. In the most ancient monuments (the Bible, "Mahabharata" or "The Tale of Bygone Years"), elements of verbal art exist in inseparable unity with elements of mythology, religion, rudiments of natural and historical sciences, various kinds of information, moral and practical instructions.

The syncretic nature of early literary monuments (see) does not deprive them of their aesthetic value, tk. the religious and mythological form of consciousness reflected in them was in its structure close to the artistic one. The literary heritage of the most ancient civilizations - Egypt, China, Judea, India, Greece, Rome, etc. - forms a kind of foundation of world literature.

Literary history

Although the history of literature has several millennia, it in the proper sense - as a written form of the art of the word - is formed and realizes itself with the birth of a "civil", bourgeois society. The verbal and artistic creations of the past times also acquire a specifically literary existence in this era, experiencing a significant transformation in a new - not oral, but reader's perception. At the same time, the destruction of the normative "poetic language" takes place - literature absorbs all the elements of the speech of the whole people, its verbal "material" becomes universal.

Gradually, in aesthetics (in the 19th century, starting with Hegel), the purely meaningful, spiritual originality of literature comes to the fore, and it is recognized primarily in a number of other (scientific, philosophical, journalistic) types of writing, and not other types of art. By the middle of the 20th century, however, a synthetic understanding of literature as one of the forms of artistic development of the world, as a creative activity that belongs to art, but at the same time is a kind of artistic creation that occupies a special place in the system of arts, is being established; this distinctive position of literature is recorded in the common formula "literature and art".

Unlike other types of art (painting, sculpture, music, dance), which have a directly object-sensible form, created from any material object (paint, stone) or from action (body movement, sound of a string), literature creates its form from words, from language, which, having a material embodiment (in sounds and indirectly in letters), is really comprehended not in sensory perception, but in intellectual understanding.

Literature form

Thus, the form of literature includes the subject-sensory side - certain complexes of sounds, the rhythm of verse and prose (and these moments are also perceived when reading "to oneself"); but this directly sensible side of the literary form acquires real significance only in its interaction with the strictly intellectual, spiritual layers of artistic speech.

Even the most elementary form components (epithet or metaphor, narration or dialogue) are acquired only in the process of understanding (and not direct perception). Spirituality, permeating literature through and through, allows it to unfold its universal, in comparison with other types of art, possibilities.

The subject of art is the human world, the diverse human attitude to reality, reality from the point of view of a person. However, it is precisely in the art of words (and this is its specific sphere, in which theater and cinema adjoin literature) that a person as a bearer of spirituality becomes a direct object of reproduction and comprehension, the main point of application of artistic forces. The qualitative originality of the subject of literature was noticed by Aristotle, who believed that the plots of poetic works are associated with the thoughts, characters and actions of people.

But only in the 19th century, i.e. in the predominantly "literary" era of artistic development, this specificity of the subject was fully realized. “The object corresponding to poetry is the infinite realm of the spirit. For the word, this most malleable material, directly belonging to the spirit and most capable of expressing its interests and motives in their inner vitality, - the word should be used primarily for such an expression to which it is most suitable, just as in other arts this happens with stone, paint , sound.

From this side, the main task of poetry will be to promote awareness of the forces of spiritual life and, in general, everything that rages in human passions and feelings or calmly passes before the contemplative gaze - the all-encompassing kingdom of human actions, deeds, destinies, ideas, all vanity of this world and the entire divine world order ”(Hegel G. Aesthetics).

Every work of art is an act of spiritual and emotional communication between people and at the same time a new object, a new phenomenon created by man and containing some kind of artistic discovery. These functions - communication, creation and knowledge - are equally inherent in all forms of artistic activity, but different types of art are characterized by the predominance of one or another function. Due to the fact that the word, language is the reality of thought, in the formation of verbal art, in the advancement of literature to a special, and in the 19-20 centuries even to a central place among the ancient arts, the main historical trend in the development of artistic activity - the transition from sensual -practical creation to the creation of meaning.

Place of literature

The flourishing of literature is in a certain connection with the rise of the cognitive and critical spirit, characteristic of the modern era. Literature stands, as it were, on the verge of art and mental and spiritual activity; that is why certain phenomena of literature can be directly compared with philosophy, history, psychology. It is often called "artistic research" or "human studies" (M. Gorky) for the problematic, analytical, pathos of man's self-knowledge to the innermost depths of his soul. In literature, more than in plastic arts and music, the artistically recreated world appears as a meaningful world and raised to a high level of generalization. Therefore, it is the most ideological of all arts.

Literary, images

Literary, whose images are not directly perceptible, but arise in the human imagination, is inferior to other arts in terms of the power of feelings, impact, but wins from the point of view of an all-encompassing penetration into the “essence of things”. At the same time, the writer, strictly speaking, does not talk or reflect on life, as, for example, a memoirist and a philosopher do; he creates, creates the artistic world in the same way as a representative of any art. The process of creating a literary work, its architectonics and individual phrases is associated with almost physical stress and in this sense is related to the activities of artists working with the stubborn matter of stone, sound, and the human body (in dance, pantomime).

This bodily-emotional tension does not disappear in the finished work: it is transmitted to the reader. Literature appeals to the maximum extent to the work of the aesthetic imagination, to the effort of the reader's co-creation, for the artistic being represented by the literary work can be manifested only if the reader, starting from the sequence of verbal-figurative statements, begins to restore, re-create this being (see .). Leo Tolstoy wrote in his diary that when perceiving true art, “the illusion that I do not perceive, but create” arises (“On Literature”). These words emphasize the most important aspect of the creative function of literature: the education of the artist in the reader himself.

The verbal form of literature is not speech in the proper sense: a writer, creating a work, does not “speak” (or “write”), but “enacts” speech, just as an actor on stage does not act in the literal sense of the word, but enacts an action. Fictional speech creates a sequence of verbal images of "gestures"; she herself becomes action, "being." Thus, the chased verse of The Bronze Horseman seems to erect the inimitable Pushkin Petersburg, and the tense, panting syllable and rhythm of Dostoevsky's narration make the spiritual throwing of his heroes as if tangible. As a result, literary works put the reader face to face with artistic reality, which can not only be comprehended, but. and experience, "live" in it.

Body of literary workscreated in a specific language or within specific state boundaries, is this or that national literature; the commonality of the creation time and the resulting artistic properties allows us to speak about the literature of a given era; taken together, in their increasing mutual influence, national literatures form the world, or world literature. Fiction of any era has a huge variety.

First of all, literature is divided into two main types (forms) - poetry and prose, as well as three kinds - epic, lyric and drama. Despite the fact that the boundaries between genera cannot be drawn with absolute precision and there are many transitional forms, the main features of each genus are well defined. At the same time, in the works of various kinds there is a community and unity. In any work of literature, images of people appear - characters (or heroes) in certain circumstances, although in the lyrics these categories, like a number of others, have a fundamental originality.

A specific set of characters and circumstances appearing in a work is called a theme, and the semantic result of a work, which arises from the juxtaposition and interaction of images, is an artistic idea. Unlike a logical idea, an artistic idea is not formulated by the author's statement, but is depicted, imprinted on all the details of the artistic whole. When analyzing an artistic idea, two sides are often singled out: an understanding of the reflected life and an assessment of it. The evaluative (value) aspect, or "ideological and emotional orientation", is called a trend.

Literary work

A literary work is a complex interweaving of specific "figurative" statements - the smallest and simplest verbal images. Each of them puts before the reader's imagination a separate action, movement, which together represent the life process in its origin, development and resolution. The dynamic nature of verbal art, in contrast to the static nature of fine art, was first illuminated by G.E. Lessing (Laocoon, or On the Limits of Painting and Poetry, 1766).

Individual elementary actions and movements that make up the work have a different character: these are external, objective movements of people and things, and internal, mental movements, and "speech movements" - the replicas of the heroes and the author. The chain of these interconnected movements is the plot of the work. Perceiving the plot as he reads, the reader gradually comprehends the content - action, conflict, plot and motivation, theme and idea. The plot itself is a content-formal category, or (as they sometimes say) the "internal form" of the work. "Inner form" refers to a composition.

The form of a work in the proper sense is artistic speech, a sequence of phraseswhich the reader perceives (reads or hears) directly and directly. This does not mean at all that artistic speech is a purely formal phenomenon; it is entirely meaningful, since it is in it that the plot and thus the entire content of the work (characters, circumstances, conflict, theme, idea) are objectified.

Considering the structure of a work, its various "layers" and elements, it is necessary to realize that these elements can be distinguished only by abstraction: in reality, each work is an indivisible living whole. An analysis of a work based on a system of abstractions, separately examining various aspects and details, should ultimately lead to the knowledge of this integrity, its single content-formal nature (see).

Depending on the originality of the content and form, the work is attributed to one or another genre (for example, epic genres: epic, story, novel, story, short story, essay, fable, etc.). In each era, various genre forms develop, although the most appropriate to the general character of the given time come to the fore.

Finally, various creative methods and styles are distinguished in the literature. A certain method and style are characteristic of the literature of an entire era or trend; on the other hand, every great artist creates his own individual method and style within the framework of a creative direction close to him.

Literature is studied by various branches of literary criticism. The current literary process is the main subject of literary criticism.

The word literature comes from Latin litteratura - written and from littera, which means - letter.