Old East Slavic literature

Old East Slavic literature,^[1] also known as Old Russian literature,^[2]^[3] is a collection of literary works of Rus' authors, which includes all the works of ancient Rus' theologians, historians, philosophers, translators, etc., and written in Old East Slavic. It is a general term that unites the common literary heritage of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine of the ancient period. In terms of genre construction, it has a number of differences from medieval European literature. The greatest influence on the literature of ancient Rus' was exerted by old Polish and old Serbian literature.

Most of the monuments of Old East Slavic literature have been preserved in the form of manuscripts. The most common type of manuscript was literary collections. Notebooks written by a single scribe could then be bound by the scribe or binder himself. Such collections can be of a certain ("Zlatostruy", "Izmaragd", "Solemn", etc.) or indefinite content, reflecting the individual tastes and interests of one or another scribe who selected materials for himself or for his customer.

Unlike other traditionalist literatures, the Old East Slavic literature is characterized by syncretism, lack of clearly expressed poetological reflection, conscious rejection of rationalism and specification of theoretical knowledge. It differs from Byzantine literature by its emphasized irregularity, the blurring of genres and boundaries between the prosaic and the poetic, and the lack of a clear conceptual apparatus.^[4]

Voluminous works could be copied and intertwined into separate books: some letopises, works on world history, paterics, works of a liturgical nature, prologues, etc. Small compositions, for example, "Praying of Daniel the Immured" or the Tale of the Destruction of the Rus' Land did not make up separate books, but were distributed in collections.^[5]

^ "Vol. 28, No. 1/4, 2006 of Harvard Ukrainian Studies". Harvard Ukrainian Studies.
^ Wachtel, Andrew (2009). Russian literature. Cambridge [England]: Polity. ISBN 9780745654577.
^ The Cambridge History of Russian Literature (Rev. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1992. ISBN 9780521425674.
^ Andrey Karavashkin. Literary custom of Ancient Russia (XI-XVI centuries). Moscow, ROSSPEN, 2011. 544 p.
^ Dmitry Likhachev. Introduction // History of Russian Literature X—XVII centuries. : Proc. allowance for students ped. in-t on spec. No. 2101 “Rus. lang. or T." / L. A. Dmitriev, D. S. Likhachev, Ya. S. Lurie and others; Ed. D. S. Likhachev. M. : Education, 1979. 462 p., illustrated edition.

[1] "Vol. 28, No. 1/4, 2006 of Harvard Ukrainian Studies". Harvard Ukrainian Studies.

[2] Wachtel, Andrew (2009). Russian literature. Cambridge [England]: Polity. ISBN 9780745654577.

[3] The Cambridge History of Russian Literature (Rev. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1992. ISBN 9780521425674.

[4] Andrey Karavashkin. Literary custom of Ancient Russia (XI-XVI centuries). Moscow, ROSSPEN, 2011. 544 p.

[Likhachev_79-5] Dmitry Likhachev. Introduction // History of Russian Literature X—XVII centuries. : Proc. allowance for students ped. in-t on spec. No. 2101 “Rus. lang. or T." / L. A. Dmitriev, D. S. Likhachev, Ya. S. Lurie and others; Ed. D. S. Likhachev. M. : Education, 1979. 462 p., illustrated edition.

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