Russian literature of the 14th-15th centuries

While in Italy culture flourished andliterature of the High Renaissance, and in the north of Europe, in Germany and Holland came to the apex of the Northern Renaissance, in Russia the level of development of art and literature was very low.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Russian principalities only beganshake off from their shoulders the decay of the long and painful Tatar-Mongol yoke. Not surprisingly, the literature of this time is little different from the chronicles of the Dark Ages.

Early Russian Literature

Medieval literature of Russian principalities inmainly consists of chronicles, a significant part of which are anonymous, and biographies of saints. Oral folk literature of medieval Russia consisted of epics and songs. Literature of the 14-15 centuries, respectively, consists of oral creativity, chronicles and lifestyles. In the second half of the 15th century there was an interest in foreign legends and worldly creativity.

Oral creativity (or folklore) isthe collective folk art, passed from mouth to mouth. Folklore conveys the traditions and worldview of the people, creating unique images and speech. Among the main genres of Russian folk art, a special influence on the further development of literature was rendered by epics, fairy tales and historical songs.

Genres of oral folk art

Unlike the written literature, which wasmonotonous and almost completely secularized, oral literature of 14-15 centuries in Russia was full of variety of forms and genres. Till our days have reached the works belonging to ritual chants, epic epic, fairy tales, and of course, widely known proverbs, sayings, amusing and lullabies.

Byliny - original genre of Russian oralfolk art, an original version of the heroic epic, in which real historical accomplishments and people are reflected. Bylins are often supplemented with elements of fiction and hyperbolize the power of heroes.

Fairy tales are fictional stories or epics recounted in simple language and focusing on one action or deed, saturated with mythical characters and magic.

Historical songs - the genre of oral folk art, which took shape in the 14th century and represents a rethought epic. Important historical events and personalities associated with them are sung.

Written literature

The literature of the 14th-15th centuries had a unique form- all the works, including massive chronicles, were copied by the monks by hand. There were few books, and they were practically not distributed outside the church.

In addition to the complexity of copying works, literature14-15 centuries in Russia almost did not face the notion of copyright - any monk, rewriting work, could add or remove the part that at that time considered necessary. Thus, there is not a single work written before the middle of the 16th century, which would be the same in two copies.

Many linguists and literary critics suspect,that some chronicles are a product of collective creativity. The basis for this is the language and stylistic inconsistency within the same work. This applies not only to the annals, but also to the biographies of the saints.

Genre persistence and emotional saturation

Literature of Russia of the 14th-15th centuries, and even up to17-18 centuries, developed very conservatively. Literary traditions and conventions required writing works in a certain genre. Therefore, the stylistic and genre characteristics of the works did not change dramatically, but smoothly, as if emerging from one another. This is how dry and strict ecclesiastical literature became emotional and close to the people.

The pernicious influence of the Tatar-Mongol yoke up todepths of the soul shocked as a simple peasant or artisan, as well as a scholar, a devout monk. In a single lamentation, general sorrow and eternal disobedience, a new Russian literature of the 14th and 15th centuries was born, combining the dry manner of the chronicles, the rich language of the lives, as well as the images and the nationality of oral creativity.

Legacy of early literature

Like Christianity, writing and literaturecame to Russian principalities from outside, probably, therefore, the first chronicles and lives are so similar to Byzantine and so strikingly different from oral folk art. While the language of the chronicles is dry and complex, folk songs, fairy tales and bylinas, despite their vernacular, are full of vivid images and are easily remembered.

Many academicians and critics, especially the Slavophilsand adherents of their ideas, believe that Russian literature of modern times, including its golden age, owes its originality not so much to the uniqueness of the Russian soul as to the strange, unexpected combination of dry exposition of facts, deep piety and the rich imagery of ancient literature. What in the 11th century was incongruous, like heaven and earth, began to be intermixed in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Early literature is the source of the very sameRussian spirit. National ideas, nationality and original morality, all that distinguishes Russian literature today, came from the earliest centuries of its existence. Literature of the 14-15th centuries paved the way for Pushkin's magnificent tales, Gogol's incredible tales and Lermontov's poems, which, in turn, had a shaping influence on the future of Russian culture.