When did Old Russian literature arise and why?

The question of when the ancient Russian literature arose concerns all those who are interested in the history and culture of our country. We will try to give an exhaustive answer to it.

What is old Russian literature?

Old Russian literature is used to call the book literary monuments of Kievan Rus, which appeared at the stage of creation of the state of the Eastern Slavs, called Kievan Rus. The ancient Russian period in the history of Russian literature, according to some literary scholars, ends in 1237 (during the devastating Tatar invasion), according to other literary critics, it lasts about 400 years and gradually ends in the era of the revival of the Moscow state after the Time of Troubles.

However, the first version is more preferable, which partly explains to us when and why Old Russian literature arose.

In any case, this fact suggests that our ancestors approached such a stage of social development when folklore works ceased to satisfy them and new genres were required - everyday literature, teachings, textbooks and “words”.

When did Old Russian literature arise: history and main factors of occurrence

There is no exact date for writing the first ancient Russian work in history, however, the beginning of book writing in Russia is traditionally associated with two events. The first is the appearance in our country of Orthodox monks Methodius and Cyril, who created the alphabet of the Glagolitic alphabet, and later made their efforts to create the Cyrillic alphabet. This made it possible to translate liturgical and Christian texts of the Byzantine Empire into the Old Slavonic language.

The second key event was the actual Christianization of Russia, which allowed our state to closely communicate with the Greeks - carriers of the then wisdom and knowledge.

It should be noted that the question of the year in which Old Russian literature arose cannot be answered also because a huge number of Old Russian book monuments were lost due to the devastating Horde yoke, most of them were burned in numerous fires that brought bloodthirsty nomads to our country .

The most famous book monuments of Ancient Russia

When answering the question of when the Old Russian literature arose, we must not forget that the works of this period represent a fairly high level of literary skill. One famous “Word” about Prince Igor’s campaign against the Polovtsy is worth anything.

Despite the ruinous historical circumstances, the following monuments have survived to our days.

Briefly list the key ones:

1. Laurentian Chronicle.
2. Ostromir Gospel.
3. Numerous educational collections.
4. Collections of lives (for example, collections of the lives of the first Russian saints from the Kiev Pechersk Lavra).
5. The Word of the Law and Grace by Hilarion.
6. Life of Boris and Gleb.
7. Reading about the princes Boris and Gleb.
8. "The Tale of Bygone Years."
9. "The teachings of Prince Vladimir, nicknamed Monomakh."
10. "A word about Igor's regiment."
11. "The legend of the death of the Russian land."

Chronology of Old Russian Books

Academician D.S., expert on Old Russian written tradition Likhachev and his colleagues suggested that the answer to the question of when the Old Russian literature arose should be sought in the first monuments of Russian book writing.

According to these annalistic sources, in our country in the 10th century, translated works from the Greek language first appeared. At the same time, folklore texts of legends about the exploits of Svyatoslav Igorevich, as well as epics about Prince Vladimir, were created.

In the 11th century, thanks to the activities of Metropolitan Hilarion, literary works were written. For example, this is the already mentioned “Word of the Law and Grace”, a description of the adoption of Christianity by the Russian people, and others. In the same century, the texts of the first Izborniks were created, as well as the first texts of the lives of the princes Boris and Gleb, who died as a result of the princely strife and later saints.

In the 12th century, original works of authorship were written that told about the life of Theodosius, hegumen of the Caves, the lives of other saints of the Russian land. Then the text of the so-called Galician Gospel was created, the talented Russian speaker Cyril Turovsky wrote parables and “words”. The creation of the text “Words about Igor’s Regiment” dates back to the same century. Then a large number of translated works came from Byzantium and bearing the foundations of both Christian and Hellenic wisdom.

Consequently, it is possible with all objectivity to answer the question of in which century Russian literature arose in this way: this happened in the 10th century along with the emergence of Slavic writing and the creation of Kievan Rus as a single state.