Libmonster ID: U.S.-1637
Author(s) of the publication: L. A. OLSHEVSKAYA

The Kiev-Pechersk Paterik is a literary monument of a rare fate: the formation and editing of a collection of works about the history of the monastery and its ascetics pass through the entire time space of ancient Russian literature. The prehistory of Patericon is connected with the beginning of the Christianization of Russia and the emergence of monasticism. It is reflected in the chronicle Word about the first chernoriztsy of the Caves, the lives of the founders of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, Anthony and Theodosius (XI-early XX century). As a collection containing the works of Bishop Simon of Vladimir-Suzdal and the Kiev-Pechersk monk Polycarp, the Patericon was formed by the end of the 30s of the XIII century, on the eve of the fall of Kiev under the blows of the Mongol-Tatar hordes. The further history of the monument, which survived during the Golden Horde yoke, knew two periods of intensive work on its text - the XV and XVII centuries, when about ten editions were created, while the XVI century accounted for most of the lists of works identified in the archives. Researchers of Patericon (historians, literary critics, linguists) agree that the collection, "polished by time, like a stone by water", is a certain standard that allows us to judge the general level of development of the artistic culture of Ancient Russia.

The system of names as an essential attribute of text organization in a work of the ensemble type, such as the Kiev-Pechersk Paterik, has developed over a number of centuries. Unlike the literature of modern times, the volume and nature of titles depended not so much on the author's will as on the perception of the monument text by scribes and editors. Observations on a particular fact of the history of the work (the formation of the system of names) will help scientists to trace how the structure of the Patericon was improved, to develop and justify the general scheme of relations between the lists and editions of the monument.

For a long time, probably until the middle of the 15th century, the Kiev-Pechersk Paterik had neither a permanent name, nor a table of contents, nor a clear system of division into "Words" with stable names. Reconstructed by A. A. Shakhmatov and D. I. Abramovich, the oldest or Main edition of the monument (Old Russian Pateriki, Moscow, 1999) allowed for some arbitrariness in the division.-

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For example, in the content and structure of the titles of individual works. For example, the title of Simon's "Words" about Onesiphorus and his unworthy disciple varied from extremely concise ("About the false mnis") to the lengthy, revealing through the subordinate determinative "plot code" of the work ("About the false mnis, who fasted naritsashesya liar and was forgiven by the prayers of the saints").

The invariability of titles and the "fluidity" of their text is a sign of the antiquity of the Paterican editorial board. An analysis of the names of Paterican "Words"in the lists of the Main Editorial Board (using the example of Simon's story about Aref) shows that at first the functions of the title were performed by the connective type construction highlighted in cinnabar ("I se videh"). Then, having determined itself, the title began to acquaint the reader with the main plot and thematic line of the story ("The word about Polochanin mnis, who was cursorily overshadowed by the devil"). Later, titles appeared that included an indication of the name of the Pechersk ascetic, which corresponded to the principle of" pogeroy " division of the material in the collection, and were ideologically sustained. They focused the reader's attention not on the monk's fall from grace, but on how he joined the host of the righteous ("The word about Aref chernoriztsy, who was imputed to him for alms stolen by Tatami, and for this reason was saved").

One of the most important elements of the semantic and aesthetic organization of the text, titles in Paterics act at the level of macro-and microstructure, and the latter is characterized by greater mobility and variability. There are titles that introduce the "Word" into the narrative sequence, which reflects the primary division of the text into components: "And lo and behold, I will say wonderfully that the hedgehog himself was created in that holy manastyr" (The Word about Titus and Evagrius). Less common are the names of the transitional type that contain a narrative connection - "I se ti sayu" and the anthroponym - "o Erasmachernorizzi", but they reflect the desire of the ancient scribe for laconism in determining the main features of the genre: the epic nature of the work and its belonging to hagiography. The main body is formed by character titles, which indicate the name and type of ascetic activity of the hero, as well as the author's attitude towards him: "The Word about the Blessed Eustratia Postnitsa", "The Word about the Holy hermit Athonasia". Sometimes the titles include plot elements: the title "Words" about Prokhor intrigues the reader with the unusual nickname of the hero-Lebedchik, promising to reveal the secret of his origin.

In some lists of the Main edition of the Patericon, the names of " Words "that have not had time to solidify and turn into a language cliche are striking with their internal dynamism and rhythmicity of constructions:"The word about Spiridon, who was born in Prosphyra Pechash, and about Blessed Alimpei, who was born in Pisash." In titles of this type, the moral assessment is represented by-

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mogo is given not only through definitions, but also predicates, because the Patericon, as a "folk book" of the Middle Ages, introduced the high truths of Christianity through entertaining, action-packed stories about the lives of saints. The verb forms in the title emphasized the spiritual kinship of the characters, who at first glance were so different: the illiterate Spyridon, who came to the monastery from the village, blackened by the smoke of the stove, and the monk-"intellectual", the artist Alimpi, who was helped to paint icons by the " bright boy "(angel) - both perform the feat of labor, seeing in him a pledge of moral perfection and unity with the people.

In the early revisions of Patericon (Arseniev and Feodosiev editions, created at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries), the titles of Patericon "Words" do not represent a fixed structure, but differ in brevity and mobility of the text. However, unlike the Main Edition, they are, with rare exceptions, anthroponymic. If there is no proper name in the name of the Paterican "Word", then it is replaced by an indication of the type of ascetic activity of the hero: "The word about Nikitiya the recluse", "The word about another recluse" - Laurentia. Titles can include definitions of genre order - "The word about Theodore Cherntsy and Vassily, the story of Divna"; genealogical calculations - "The word about Nikola Svyatoshi, son of David, grandson of Svyatoslav" and notes of a liturgical nature - "The word about Martsa Pechernitsa and Theophilus Chernets, read on different weeks". They can reveal the plot basis of the work - "The Word about Pimin, whose angels took the tonsure in Cherntsy"; set up the reader for a certain type of perception of the text - " The thing was created terrible in the Pechersk Monastery "("The Word about Titus and Evagria"), emphasizing the didactic orientation of paterican stories - " The Word about Onsiphor and about his insight, yes, and we, sinners, will repent" and introducing them into the traditional medieval historical and literary context - "The Word about Moses Ugrin, the new Joseph".
The most perfect in ideological and artistic terms is considered to be the revision of the Patericon, made in 1462 by the charterer of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Kassian (Library of Literature of Ancient Russia. SPb., 1997. Vol. 4). Thanks to him, the Pechersk Patericon Code acquired a strict "word-by-word" structure, fixed in the table of contents compiled or rewritten by a certain " imaginary John". It regulated the content and form of the names of the texts that make up the collection, without allowing any fundamental discrepancies in them. The" framing " of the Patericon (table of contents) and its individual parts (names of "Words") reinforced the dialogical nature of the text, as it was intended to establish contact between the reader and the book. The development of the framework structure of the text has weakened the moment of its depersonalization that occurs during correspondence. Names assigned to the pro-

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the names of their creators - Nestor, Simon and Polycarp-did not allow the complete alienation of the creation from its creator, which medieval art sought to do, cultivating the principle of anonymity of the text. The cyclization of works by attribution was emphasized by the graphic highlighting in the text of the author's "digressions" - the addresses of Simon and Polycarp to the addressees of their messages, for example: "To Polykarp. I'll leave you a lot of hedgehogs to talk about the saints. But if thou dost not believe, then whosoever is raised from the dead hath no faith, even the Scripture itself will lead thee to believe."

Genre determinant in the title of the collection - "Paterik of the Caves, who is about the coming of the church, so that all may understand, for the Lord God himself by providence and will and his most Pure Mother by prayer and desire has come and gone God-like and heavenly-like great church of the Mother of God of the Caves, Archimandrite of all Russia the earth, which is the lavra of our holy and great father Theodosius" - included the book in a certain literary series.

Paterik (or in Greek - "otechnik") is a common name for collections of stories about saints of a certain area. The Sinaitic and Egyptian, Jerusalem and Roman patericons, translated into Slavonic already in the X-XI centuries, early entered the circle of reading of the Old Russian person, influencing the formation of domestic paterican vaults, among which the Kiev-Pechersk patericon was the first in terms of time of creation, ideological and artistic merits and popularity. The declarative designation of the genre in the name of the monument included it in the mainstream of a certain tradition, which was important in the art of the Middle Ages, where the aesthetics of similarity prevailed. The lengthy title of the Kiev-Pechersk Paterik in Kassianov's edition, formed as a result of contamination of the actual title of the collection and the title of the first "Word" about the construction of the Assumption Cathedral, set the reader in the right mood, informed him about what and in what "artistic way" the story would be conducted.

In Kassianov's edition of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, the typology of the names of the hagiographic works of Simon and Polycarp is finally formed. The titles of "Words" about the saints of the Caves were usually built according to character or plot principles. The first, in addition to the obligatory indication of the hero's name, is " About the Holy Venerable Fathers Theodore and Basil. Slovo 33" (Italics in the citations of our-L. O.), may cite his nickname in the monastic environment - " O Venerable Moisei Ugrina. Word 30", include information about the hero's special gift, basic virtue,or type of asceticism. Religious and moral assessment of what is depicted, as a rule, is given through a system of stable definitions: "About humility and many things.

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gotrpelivem Nikon-chernorizzi. Word 17"; " Word 27. And about the holy and blessed Agapit, the free doctor."

The second, no less common, type of titles introduced the reader to the plot. The title of the plot type represented the entire plot of the work: "About Saint Athonasius the recluse, who died and died on another day, revived and stayed for 12 years. Word 19". The title of the climactic type highlighted the most important moment in the development of the action, making it easier for the reader to perceive the text and laying the foundations for its correct interpretation: "About Erasmus chernorizzi, who built his estate to the holy icons and those for the sake of salvation obret. Word 21". Such " signals "in the titles were especially important for Paterican stories, whose characters -" small "saints, unlike" great " ones-were more often subjected to worldly temptations on the way to spiritual perfection.

The semantics and structure of the titles of individual" Words "were made dependent by the editor of the Patericon on their genre affiliation: for the names of the epistolary part, it was mandatory to indicate the author and addressee of the epistles, their position in the system of the church hierarchy, and their connection with the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery:" The Message of the humble Bishop Simon of Vladimir and Suzdal to Polycarp, Chernorizts of Pechersk. Word 14"; for works of the legendary-historical cycle - the presence of temporary and toponymic elements in the titles. The unity of toponymic landmarks in the text-Russkaya Zemlya, Kiev, Pechersk Monastery-was used by the editor as a kind of link that unites the works into an ensemble. The time coordinate system in the names of paterican "Words" could be set by including dates in the title. In a number of lists of the Kassianov edition, the years of the foundation of the monastery, the consecration of the Assumption Church, and the transfer of the relics of Theodosius are highlighted in the text in cinnabar, included in the titles, or located next to them in the side margins of the manuscript. But more often the dates were indicated indirectly-through the mention of specific historical events, the form of toponyms, the names of Kievan princes and Pechersk abbots: "About the coming of church scribes to Abbot Nikon from Tsargrad. Word 4".

Thus, in comparison with earlier revisions of the monument, the Kiev - Pechersk Paterik of Kassianov's edition of 1462 acquires a developed framework structure of the text: the table of contents annotating the contents of the collection begins to perform the function of a" prologue", the principle of dividing the text into "Words" is ordered and a system of their names is formed, there is a tendency to isolate author's cycles and "digressions", there is an epilogue section with a chronicle of the editorial board - all this gives the Patericon a complete look, emphasizes the internal semantic and compositional unity of the works included in it.


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L. A. OLSHEVSKAYA, The history of titles in the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon // New-York: Libmonster (LIBMONSTER.COM). Updated: 03.08.2024. URL: https://libmonster.com/m/articles/view/The-history-of-titles-in-the-Kiev-Pechersk-Patericon (date of access: 13.09.2024).

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