"Zadonshchina": year of creation. Monument of ancient Russian literature of the late XIV - early XV centuries

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The purpose of this article is to provide information about such a great monument of ancient Russian literature as "Zadonshchina". Year of creation, author, compositional and artistic features - we will discuss all these issues with you.

Historical conditions

In 1380, an event took place that played a big role in the life of not only Russia, but the whole world. This refers to the Battle of Kulikovo, in which the Tatars were defeated. This event once and for all dispelled the rumors about the invincibility of the enemy, and Russia was hopeful of getting rid of the long-term yoke. It also served as a prerequisite for the unification of the principalities around the center, Moscow, which marked the beginnings of the future state. So one should not be surprised why the great victory was so often covered in the literary monuments of the ancient Russian era. Researchers talk about the Kulikovo cycle, which includes the work we are interested in.

"Zadonshchina": year of creation, general information

A glorious monument of literature, a highly artistic creation… Indisputable proof of the authenticity of the “Word…” – all these characteristics apply tomilitary story called "Zadonshchina". Who wrote it is a moot point and hardly solvable. There are suggestions that the author was Sofony Ryazantsev. This name is indicated by the text of "Zadonshchina" and another work - "Tales of the Battle of Mamaev." Literary critics do not have other information about Ryazantsev. But the reference to his name suggests that Zephanius created some kind of literary monument that has not come down to us. The unknown author was guided by him, from whose pen “Zadonshchina” came out. The year of creation of this military story is not exactly known (which is not surprising for ancient Russian literature). It is assumed that the work was a direct response to events, which means that the time of the creation of the "Zadonshchina" falls at the turn of the 80-90s of the XIV century.

The story is represented by six lists. The earliest that has come down to us, scientists date back to the 1470s. Its other name is the list of Euphrosynus. The variant is an abbreviation of some original lengthy text and therefore is distinguished by a large number of errors, distortions, and omissions. By the way, only in the list of Euphrosynus is the name "Zadonshchina" used. The year of creation of the latest version of the story has also not been established (approximately the 17th century), and there the work is designated as “The Tale of … Prince Dmitry Ivanovich”. The same applies to all other variants of a literary monument. They are also defective, but allow literary scholars to reconstruct the original text.

Composition and plot

Glorifying the victory of Russian troops over the enemy -“Zadonshchina” has such a plot outline. At the same time, the author deliberately draws a parallel with the "Word …", however, the appeal to the great monument is by no means explained by blind imitation, but by a deliberate comparison of the present and the past (and not in favor of the latter). The mention of the "Words …" makes it clear that only the disagreement of the princes led to troubles in the Russian land. But this is in the past, now the victory over the conquerors was won. The echoes with "The Word …" are found both at the level of individual devices (transferring the narrator from one geographical point to another in one moment), and plot components. For example, the sun shines on Dmitry Donskoy on the way before the start of the battle - this is how Zadonshchina tells. The author of The Lay… (also unnamed, by the way) mentions the eclipse as a bad omen.

The story consists of two parts. They are preceded by an introduction, with the help of which the author sets the reader in a special, solemn mood, and also informs him of the true goals pursued by the creation of "Zadonshchina". The introduction also emphasizes the optimistic mood of the story, indicating that Moscow - as the current center of statehood - is a continuation of Kyiv, etc. The first part of the work is "pity". The narrator depicts the defeat of the Russian troops, the mourning of the dead by the princesses and boyars. However, nature suggests: soon the "nasty" will be defeated. And so it happened in the “praise”, when the enemies took to their heels, and the Russians got rich booty.

ArtisticFeatures

The poetics of "Zadonshchina" is largely determined by its similarity with the "Word…". The reader is faced with the same anthropomorphic images, epithets that are clearly of folklore origin. At the same time, there are more images that have religious significance, and there are no references to paganism at all. This story differs significantly from the pretext. The work "Zadonshchina" is very heterogeneous in style. So, along with poetic texts, there are fragments that are very reminiscent of business prose. Her traces also appear in chronological detail, close attention to the titles of princes.

"Zadonshchina" and "Word…"

As already mentioned, "Zadonshchina" is also valuable because it is proof of the authenticity of the "Word". The latter is called into question not only because, before the sudden discovery of the monument by Musin-Pushkin in 1795, no one had ever seen “The Word …”, but also because of the extraordinary artistic value of the poem. This suggested a fake (and there were precedents). Her mention in the "Zadonshchina" should have put an end to the dispute, but … There were suggestions that this "Word …" was created following the example of the supposedly subsequent monument. Well, the question of the origin of both works of Old Russian writing has remained unresolved.