Distinctive features of ancient Russian literature. The main features of ancient Russian literature and its artistic method. The work of I.P. Eremina "On the artistic specifics of Old Russian literature"

Any national literature has its own distinctive (specific) features.

Old Russian literature (DRL) is doubly specific, since in addition to national traits carries the features of the Middle Ages (XI-XVII centuries), which had a decisive influence on the outlook and psychology of man Ancient Rus.

Two blocks of specific features can be distinguished.

The first block can be called general cultural, the second is closely related to inner peace personality of the person of the Russian Middle Ages.

Let's talk about the first block very briefly. First, Old Russian literature was handwritten. In the first centuries of Russian literary process the writing material was parchment (or parchment). It was produced from the skin of calves or lambs, and therefore it was called "veal" in Russia. Parchment was an expensive material, it was used with great care and the most important things were written on it. Later, instead of parchment, paper appeared, which partly contributed, in the words of D. Likhachev, "the breakthrough of literature to mass character."

In Russia, three main types of writing successively replaced each other. The first (XI - XIV centuries) was called the charter, the second (XV - XVI centuries) - semi-ustav, the third (XVII century) - cursive writing.

Since the writing material was expensive, the book's customers (large monasteries, princes, boyars) wanted the most interesting works to be collected under one cover. various topics and the time of their creation.

Artworks Old Russian literature it is customary to call monuments.

Monuments in Ancient Rus functioned in the form of collections.

Special attention should be paid to the second block of specific features of DRL.

1. The functioning of the monuments in the form of collections is explained not only by the high price of the book. Old Russian man in his desire to acquire knowledge about the world around him, he strove for a kind of encyclopedic character. Therefore, in ancient Russian collections, there are often monuments of various topics and problems.

2. In the first centuries of the development of DRL, fiction has not yet emerged as an independent area of ​​creativity and public conscience... Therefore, one and the same monument was at the same time a monument of literature, and a monument of historical thought, and a monument of philosophy, which in Ancient Russia existed in the form of theology. It is interesting to know that, for example, the Russian chronicles up to the beginning of the XX century were considered exclusively as historical literature... It was only thanks to the efforts of Academician V. Adrianova-Peretz that the chronicles became the object of literary criticism.

At the same time, the special philosophical richness of Old Russian literature in subsequent centuries of Russian literary development will not only survive, but will actively develop and become one of the defining national features of Russian literature as such. This will allow Academician A. Losev to state with all certainty: “ Fiction is a storehouse of original Russian philosophy. In the prose works of Zhukovsky and Gogol, in the works of Tyutchev, Fet, Leo Tolstoy, Dostoevsky<...>often major philosophical problems, of course, in their specifically Russian, extremely practical, life-oriented form. And these problems are resolved here in such a way that an open-minded and knowledgeable judge will call these decisions not just "literary" or "artistic", but philosophical and brilliant. "

3. Old Russian literature had an anonymous (impersonal) character, which is inextricably linked with another characteristic feature - the collectivity of creativity. The authors of Ancient Russia (they are often called scribes) did not seek to leave their name for centuries, firstly, due to Christian tradition(scribes-monks often call themselves "unreasonable", "sinful" monks who dared to become creators artistic word); secondly, because of the understanding of their work as part of an all-Russian, collective cause.

At first glance, this trait seems to indicate a poorly developed personal principle in the ancient Russian author in comparison with the Western European masters of the artistic word. Even the name of the author of the brilliant "Lay of Igor's Campaign" is still unknown, while Western European medieval literature boasts hundreds of great names. However, there can be no question of the "backwardness" of Old Russian literature or its "impersonality". We can talk about her special national quality. Once D. Likhachev very accurately compared Western European literature with a group of soloists, and Old Russian literature with a choir. Really choral singing less beautiful than the performances of individual soloists? Is there really no manifestation in him human personality?

4. The main hero of Old Russian literature is the Russian land. We agree with D. Likhachev, who emphasized that the literature of the pre-Mongol period is the literature of one theme - the theme of the Russian land. This does not mean at all that the ancient Russian authors “refuse” to depict the experiences of a separate human personality, “fixate” on the Russian land, depriving themselves of their individuality and sharply limiting the “universal” significance of the DRL.

Firstly, ancient Russian authors always, even in the most tragic moments national history e.g. in the first decades Tatar-Mongol yoke, strove through the richest Byzantine literature to join highest achievements cultures of other peoples and civilizations. So, in the XIII century, the medieval encyclopedias "Melissa" ("Bee") and "Physiologist" were translated into the Old Russian language.

Secondly, and this is the most important thing, it should be borne in mind that the personality of the Russian person and the personality of the West European is formed on different ideological foundations: the West European personality is individualistic, it is affirmed due to its special significance and exclusivity. This is due to the special course of Western European history, with the development of the Western Christian Church (Catholicism). A Russian person, by virtue of his orthodoxy (belonging to Eastern Christianity- Orthodoxy) denies the individualistic (egoistic) principle as destructive both for the personality itself and for its environment. Russian classic literature- from the nameless scribes of Ancient Russia to Pushkin and Gogol, A. Ostrovsky and Dostoevsky, V. Rasputin and V. Belov - depicts the tragedy of an individualistic personality and asserts his heroes on the path of overcoming the evil of individualism.

5. Old Russian literature knew no fiction. This refers to a conscious attitude towards fiction. The author and the reader absolutely believe in the truth of the artistic word, even if it is a question of fiction from the point of view of a secular person.

A conscious attitude towards fiction will appear later. This will happen at the end of the 15th century, during a period of exacerbation of the political struggle for leadership in the process of unification of the primordially Russian lands. Rulers will also appeal to unconditional authority book word... This is how the genre of political legend will emerge. In Moscow there will appear: the eschatological theory "Moscow - the Third Rome", which naturally took on a topical political coloring, as well as "The Legend of the Vladimir Princes". In Veliky Novgorod - "The Legend of the Novgorod White Klobuk".

6. In the first centuries, DRL tried not to portray life for the following reasons. The first (religious): everyday life is sinful, its image prevents the earthly person from directing his aspirations to the salvation of the soul. Second (psychological): everyday life seemed unchanged. Both grandfather, father, and son wore the same clothes, weapons did not change, etc.

With the passage of time, under the influence of the process of secularization, everyday life more and more penetrates the pages of Russian books. This will lead to the emergence in the 16th century of the genre of the everyday story ("The Tale of Ulyaniya Osorgina"), and in the 17th century the genre of the everyday story will become the most popular.

7. DRL is characterized by a special attitude to history. The past is not only not separated from the present, but is actively present in it, and also determines the fate of the future. An example of this is The Tale of Bygone Years, The Story of the Crime of the Ryazan Princes, The Lay of Igor's Host, etc.

8. Old Russian literature wore teachable character. This means that the ancient Russian scribes sought, first of all, to enlighten the souls of readers with the light of Christianity. In DRL, unlike Western medieval literature, there was never a desire to lure the reader with a wonderful fiction, to take away from life's difficulties. Adventurous translated novels will gradually penetrate into Russia from early XVII century when Western European influence on Russian life will become apparent.

So, we see that individual specific features DRL will gradually be lost over time. However, those characteristics of the Russian national literature, which determine the core of its ideological orientation, will remain unchanged up to the present time.

The problem of authorship of monuments of literature of Ancient Russia is directly related to national specifics the first centuries of the development of the Russian literary process. “The author's beginning,” noted DS Likhachev, “was muted in ancient literature.<…>The absence of great names in ancient Russian literature seems to be a sentence.<…>We are biased based on our ideas about the development of literature - ideas brought up<…>centuries, when blooming individual, personal art- the art of individual geniuses.<…>the literature of Ancient Russia was not the literature of individual writers: it, like folk art, was a supraindividual art. It was an art created by the accumulation of collective experience and making a huge impression with the wisdom of tradition and the unity of all - mostly unnamed- writing.<…>Old Russian writers are not architects of detached buildings. These are city planners.<…>Any literature creates its own world, embodying the world of ideas of contemporary society ”. Consequently, anonymous (impersonal) nature of creativity ancient Russian authors is a manifestation of the national identity of Russian literature and in this regard namelessness"Words about Igor's regiment" is not a problem.

Representatives of the skeptical literary school (first half of the 19th century) proceeded from the fact that the "backward" Ancient Russia could not "give birth" to a monument of such a level of artistic perfection as "The Lay of Igor's Campaign."

Philologist-orientalist O.I. Senkovsky, for example, was sure that the creator of the Lay was imitating the samples of Polish poetry of the 16th-17th centuries, that the work itself could not be older than the times of Peter I, that the author of the Lay was a Galician who moved to Russia or was educated in Kiev. A.I. Musin-Pushkin (owner of the collection with the text "Lay"), and Ioliy Bykovsky (the one from whom the collection was purchased), and N.M. Karamzin as the most gifted Russian writer late XVIII century.

Thus, The Lay was presented as a literary hoax in the spirit of J. MacPherson, who allegedly discovered in the middle of the 18th century the works of the legendary Celtic warrior and singer Ossian, who, according to legend, lived in the 3rd century AD. in Ireland.

The traditions of the skeptical school in the 20th century were continued by the French Slavist A. Mazon, who initially believed that the Word was created presumably by A.I. Musin-Pushkin to justify the aggressive policy of Catherine II on the Black Sea: "We have here a case when history and literature at the right time provide their evidence." In many ways, the Soviet historian A. Zimin was in solidarity with A. Mazon, who called the creator of the "Lay" Ioliy Bykovsky.

The arguments of the supporters of the authenticity of the Lay were very convincing. A.S. Pushkin: the authenticity of the monument is proved by “the spirit of antiquity, which cannot be imitated. Which of our writers in the 18th century could have had enough talent for that? " V.K. Küchelbecker: "in talent, this deceiver would have surpassed almost all the Russian poets of that time, taken together."

“" Slamming attacks of skepticism ", - rightly emphasized V.A. Chivilikhin, - were to some extent even useful - they revived scientific and public interest in the "Lay", encouraged scientists to look deeply into the depths of time, gave rise to research done with scientific diligence, academic objectivity and thoroughness. "

After disputes related to the time of the creation of the "Lay" and "Zadonshchina", the overwhelming majority of researchers, even, ultimately, A. Mazon, came to the conviction that the "Lay" is a monument of the XII century. Now the search for the author of the Lay was concentrated on the circle of contemporaries of the tragic campaign of Prince Igor Svyatoslavich, which took place in the spring of 1185.

V.A. Chivilikhin in his novel-essay "Memory" gives the most full list the alleged authors of "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" and indicates the names of the researchers who put forward these assumptions: "they called a certain" grechin "(N. Aksakov), Galician" wise scribe "Timofey (N. Golovin)," folk singer"(D. Likhachev), Timofey Raguylovich (writer I. Novikov)," Word singer Mitusu "(writer A. Yugov)," thousand Raguil Dobrynich "(V. Fedorov), some unknown court singer, close grand duchess Kiev Maria Vasilkovna (A. Soloviev), "the singer Igor" (A. Petrushevich), the "charity" of the Grand Duke Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich chronicle Kochkar (American researcher S. Tarasov), the unknown "wandering book singer" (I. Malyshevsky), Belovolod Prosovich (anonymous Munich translator of the Lay), the Chernigov voivode Olstin Aleksich (M. Sokol), the Kiev boyar Pyotr Borislavich (B. Rybakov), the probable heir to the ancestral singer Boyan (A. Robinson), the nameless grandson of Boyan (M. Shchepkin), in relation to to a significant part of the text - Boyan himself (A. Nikitin), mentor, adviser Igor (P. Okhrimenko), an obscure Polovtsian storyteller (O. Suleimenov)<…>».

V.A. Chivilikhin is sure that the creator of the word was Prince Igor. At the same time, the researcher refers to the long-standing and, in his opinion, undeservedly forgotten report of the well-known zoologist and at the same time specialist in the "Word" N.V. Charlemagne (1952). One of the main arguments of V. Chivilikhin is the following: “it was not a singer or a vigilante to judge contemporary princes, to indicate what they should do; this is the prerogative of a person who is on the same social rung as those to whom he has addressed "

1. Ancient literature is filled with deep patriotic content, heroic pathos of serving the Russian land, state and homeland.
2. The main theme of Old Russian literature is world history and the meaning of human life.
3. Ancient literature glorifies the moral beauty of the Russian person, who is capable of sacrificing the most precious thing - life for the common good. She expresses a deep faith in strength, the ultimate triumph of good and the ability of a person to raise his spirit and overcome evil.
4. Historicism is a characteristic feature of Old Russian literature. The heroes are mainly historical figures... Literature strictly follows fact.
5. Feature artistic creation the so-called "literary etiquette" is also an ancient Russian writer. This is a special literary and aesthetic regulation, the desire to subordinate the very image of the world to certain principles and rules, to establish once and for all what and how should be portrayed.
6. Old Russian literature appears with the emergence of the state, writing and is based on the book Christian culture and developed forms of oral poetry. During this time, literature and folklore were closely related. Literature often perceived plots, artistic images, pictorial means folk art.
7. The originality of Old Russian literature in the portrayal of the hero depends on the style and genre of the work. In relation to styles and genres, the hero is reproduced in the monuments of ancient literature, ideals are formed and created.
8. In Old Russian literature, a system of genres was defined, within which the development of original Russian literature began. The main thing in their definition was the "use" of the genre, the "practical purpose" for which this or that work was intended.
9. The traditions of Old Russian literature are found in the works of Russian writers of the 18th-20th centuries.

CONTROL QUESTIONS AND TASKS

1. As Academician D.S. Likhachev Old Russian literature? Why does he call it "one grand whole, one colossal work"?
2. With what does Likhachev compare ancient literature and why?
3. What are the main advantages of ancient literature?
4. Why would it be impossible without works of ancient literature? artistic discoveries literature of subsequent centuries? (Think about what qualities of ancient literature were assimilated by the Russian literature of modern times. Give examples from the works of Russian classics known to you.)
5. What did Russian poets and prose writers appreciate and what did they perceive from ancient literature? What did A.S. wrote about her Pushkin, N.V. Gogol, A.I. Herzen, L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak?
6. What does ancient literature write about the benefits of books? Give examples of "praise for books" known in ancient Russian literature.
7. Why were the concepts of the power of the word high in ancient literature? What were they connected with, what did they rely on?
8. What does the gospel say about the word?
9. What do writers compare books to and why; why books are rivers, sources of wisdom, and what do the words mean: "if you diligently search in books for wisdom, you will find great benefit for your soul"?
10. Name the monuments of ancient Russian literature known to you and the names of their authors-scribes.
11. Tell us about the way of writing and the nature of the ancient manuscripts.
12. Name historical background the emergence of ancient Russian literature and its specific features in contrast to the literature of the new era.
13. What is the role of folklore in the formation of ancient literature?
14. Using vocabulary and reference material, briefly retell the history of the study of ancient monuments, write down the names of scientists who study them, and the stages of study.
15. What is the image of the world and man in the minds of Russian scribes?
16. Tell us about the image of a person in ancient Russian literature.
17. Name the themes of ancient literature, using vocabulary and reference material, characterize its genres.
18. List the main stages in the development of ancient literature.

Read also the articles of the section “ National identity ancient literature, its origin and development ”.

Old Russian(or Russian medieval, or ancient East Slavic) literature refers to the totality written works, written on the territory of Kiev, and then Moscow Russia in the period from 11 to 17 centuries... Old Russian literature is general ancient literature Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples.

Ancient Rus Map
The largest researchers of ancient Russian literature are academicians Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev, Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov, Alexey Alexandrovich Shakhmatov.

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

Genres Old Russian literature differed from modern ones.

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, a world whose history is well known ( after all, for each event mentioned in the chronicle, it was indicated exact date- 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 waiting for all the people of the earth.

Obviously, this could not but affect literature: the desire to subjugate the very image of the world, to determine the canons by which one or another event should be described, led to the very schematic nature of Old Russian literature, which we spoke about in the introduction. This schematic is called submission to the so-called literary etiquette - D.S. Likhachev discusses its structure in the literature of Ancient Rus:

1) how this or that course of events should have taken place;

2) how should have behaved actor according to their position;

3) how the writer should describe what is happening.

"Before us, therefore, the etiquette of the world order, etiquette of conduct and verbal etiquette," he says.

To clarify these principles, consider the following example: in the life of the saint, according to the etiquette of behavior, it was supposed to tell about the childhood of the future saint, about his pious parents, about how he was drawn to church from infancy, avoided playing with peers, and so on: in any life, this plot component is not only certainly present, but is also expressed in each life in the same words, that is, verbal etiquette is observed. For example, here are the opening phrases of several Lives belonging to different authors and written in different time: Feodosia Pechersky "with a soul drawn to the love of God, and you go all day to the Church of God, listening to the divine books with all your attention, and you don't even approach the children who play, as the custom is dull, n (o) and abhor their games .. To this, and give to the teaching of divine books ... And soon all the grammatics were lost "; Niphont of Novgorod "vdan is his parents to learn divine books. And soon I will not get used to book teaching, and I am not in the least going out with my peers for children's games, but more close to the church of God and will read the divine scriptures"; Varlaam Khutynsky "for the time being, teach the divine books, even so soon the divine scriptures will not be obliquely [quickly] accustomed to ... not shying away from some kind of games or shame [spectacle], but even more about reading divine scriptures."

The same situation is observed in the annals: descriptions of battles, posthumous characteristics of kyazes or church hierarchs are written using practically the same limited vocabulary.

The attitude to the problem of authorship among the scribes of Ancient Russia was also somewhat different from the modern one: for the most part, the author's name was indicated only for verification of events, in order to certify the reader of the authenticity of what was described, and the authorship itself had no value in modern concept... Based on this, the situation is as follows: on the one hand, most of ancient Russian works anonymously: we do not know the name of the author of "The Lay of Igor's Campaign", and many other works, such as "The Legend of the Mamayev Massacre", "The Word of the Death of the Russian Land" or "Kazan History". On the other hand, we meet with an abundance of so-called false-inscribed monuments - its authorship is attributed to some famous person to make it more meaningful. In addition, the insertion into their works of not only individual phrases, but also entire fragments was not read by plagiarism, but testified to being well-read, high book culture and the literary training of the scribe.

So, acquaintance with the historical conditions and some principles of the work of the authors of the XI-XVII centuries. gives us the opportunity to evaluate special style and ways of presenting ancient Russian scribes who built their narrative according to accepted and justified canons: he introduced a fragment from exemplary works into the narration, demonstrating his erudition and describing events according to a certain stencil, following literary etiquette.

Poverty in details, everyday details, stereotyped characteristics, "insincerity" of the characters' speeches - all these are not literary shortcomings at all, but the peculiarities of the style, which implied that literature was meant to tell only about the eternal, without going into everyday trifles and worldly details.

On the other hand, the modern reader especially appreciates the deviations from the canon, which were periodically allowed by the authors: it was these deviations that made the story alive and interesting. These deviations at one time gave a terminological definition - "realistic elements". Of course, this in no way correlates with the term "realism" - there are still seven centuries before it, and these are anomalies, violations of the basic laws and tendencies of medieval literature under the influence of a living observation of reality and a natural desire to reflect it.

Of course, despite the presence of a strict framework of etiquette, which largely limits the freedom of creativity, Old Russian literature did not stand still: it developed, changed styles, etiquette itself, its principles and means of its implementation changed. DS Likhachev in his book "Man in the Literature of Ancient Rus" (Moscow, 1970) showed that each era had its own dominant style - it was the style of monumental historicism of the 11th-13th centuries, then the expressive-emotional style of the 14th XV centuries, then there was a return to the previous style of monumental historicism, but on a new basis - and the so-called "style of the second monumentalism", characteristic of the 16th century, arose.

Also D.S.Likhachev considers several main directions leading to the development of Old Russian literature in the literature of modern times: the growth of the personal principle in literature and the individualization of style, the expansion of the social circle of persons who can become heroes of works. The role of etiquette is gradually decreasing, and instead of schematic images of conventional standards of a prince or a saint, attempts appear to describe a complex individual character, its inconsistency and variability.

Here it is necessary to make one reservation: V.P. Adrianova-Peretz showed that an understanding of the complexity of the human character, the subtlest psychological nuances was inherent in medieval literature already at the earliest stages of its development, but the image of etiquette, conditional characters depending on the social status their owners.

The choice of plots or plot situations became wider, fiction appeared in literature; genres that are not essential are gradually entering literature. Works of folk satire begin to be recorded, are translated chivalric romances; moralizing, but essentially entertaining novellas - facets; in the 17th century. syllabic poetry and drama appear. In a word, by the 17th century. in literature, more and more features of the literature of the new era are revealed.

Old Russian literature has a number of features due to the originality of the worldview of medieval people and the nature of the creation of written texts:

1) The religious-Christian views of the world inherent in medieval people determined the special character of the depiction of events and people.

Characteristic feature Old Russian literature is historicism: the heroes of the works are famous historical figures, writers strive not to allow "self-thinking" (fiction), strictly follow the facts.

Historicism of Old Russian literature is distinguished by a specific medieval character, is inextricably linked with providentialism... From the point of view of an ancient Russian writer, any events occurring in people's lives were perceived as a manifestation of action higher powers... The source of good is God, the devil, who hates the human race, pushes people to sinful deeds. God not only has mercy on people, but also punishes: "for sins," he sends diseases, alien conquerors, etc. to people. In some cases, God sends people in advance the signs of his anger - signs that should enlighten his unreasonable "slaves", warn them about the need for repentance.

2) Old Russian literature was closely related to political life Rus. This circumstance determines the interest of writers in certain topics and the nature of writing works. The theme of the Motherland is becoming one of the central themes. Writers glorify its power and strength, actively oppose feudal strife that weaken the state, glorify princes who serve the interests of the whole people.

Old Russian writers are not inclined to impartial presentation of facts. Sincerely convinced that they know what the life of Russia should be like, they strive to convey their beliefs to those to whom they turn in their works. Therefore, all works of Old Russian literature (spiritual and secular), as a rule, are of a journalistic nature.

3) One more characteristic feature Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of its existence and distribution.

Even if the work was simply rewritten, it rarely became exact copy original. Many texts were copied repeatedly, and each of the scribes could act as a kind of co-author. As a result, new lists of works(this term refers to handwritten copies) and edition(varieties of texts in which certain, often quite significant, changes have been made).

4) The works created in Ancient Russia are mostly anonymous. This is a consequence of the religious-Christian attitude towards people characteristic of the Middle Ages. Man perceived himself as a "servant of God", a dependent, completely dependent on higher powers, personality. The creation and rewriting of the work was seen as something happening at the behest of the above. In this case, to sign your name under the work meant to show pride, that is, to commit a sin. Therefore, in most cases, the authors of the works preferred to remain unknown.

5) As noted earlier, Old Russian literature was inextricably linked with folklore, from which the writers drew themes, images and pictorial means.

Thus, Old Russian literature has a number of features that distinguish it from the literature of modern times. Old Russian texts are the product of a certain time, characterized by a rather peculiar worldview of people, and therefore should be considered as unique monuments of a certain era.

Genre system Old Russian literature

Modern literature has a certain genre-generic system. There are three types of literature: epic, lyric, drama. Within each of them there are certain genres(novel, tragedy, elegy, story, comedy, etc.). Genres(from French genre - genus, species) are the names of the historically formed types of literary works.

In ancient Russian literature, there were no genres in the modern sense of the word. The term "genre" in relation to works created in the XI– XVII centuries, is used conventionally.

The genres of Old Russian literature are subdivided into spiritual(church) and mundane(secular).

Together with Christianity, Russia adopted the system spiritual (church) genres adopted in Byzantium. Spiritual genres include a number of works (books Holy Scripture(Bible), hymns and "words" related to the interpretation of scripture, the lives of the saints, etc.)

Dominant position among genres of secular literature took the story. This word denoted narrative works of various nature (stories were called legends, and lives, and even the annals ("The Tale of Bygone Years")). Along with this, a prominent place among the secular genres was occupied by "words" ("The Lay of Igor's Campaign", "The Lay of the Death of the Russian Land", etc.). They differed from church "words" in their content, in that they were devoted not to the interpretation of Holy Scripture, but to the topical contemporary issues... Obviously, calling their works "words", their authors wanted to emphasize that the texts are intended to be pronounced in front of the audience.

The genre-clan system of Old Russian literature has not remained unchanged for centuries. Particularly significant changes in it were noted in the 17th century, when the foundations of such previously unknown types of literature in Russia as lyric poetry and drama were laid.