Russian literature

Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union. With the break up of the USSR different countries and cultures may lay claim to various ex-Soviet writers who wrote in Russian on the basis of birth or of ethnic or cultural associations.

Early history

Old Russian literature consists of several sparse masterpieces written in the Old Russian language (not to be confused with the contemporaneous Church Slavonic). Anonymous works of this nature include The Tale of Igor's Campaign (????? ? ????? ???????, Slovo o Polku Igoreve) and the Praying of Daniel the Immured (??????? ??????? ?????????, or Moleniye Daniila Zatochnika). The so-called ????? ?????? (zhitiya svyatikh, lives of the saints) formed a popular genre of the Old Russian literature. The Life of Alexander Nevsky (????? ?????????? ????????, or Zhitiye Aleksandra Nevskogo) offers a well-known example. Other Russian literary monuments include Zadonschina, Physiologist, Synopsis and A Journey Beyond the Three Seas. Bylinas -- oral folk epics -- fused Christian and pagan traditions. Medieval Russian literature had an overwhelmingly religious character and used an adapted form of the Church Slavonic language with many South Slavic elements. The first work in colloquial Russian, the autobiography of archpriest Avvakum, emerged only in the mid-17th century.

Related Topics:
Old Russian language - Church Slavonic - The Tale of Igor's Campaign - Praying of Daniel the Immured - Lives of the saints - Genre - Life of Alexander Nevsky - Zadonschina - Physiologist - Synopsis - A Journey Beyond the Three Seas - Bylinas - Russian - Avvakum - 17th century

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