BLACK-LETTER PROLOGUE OF THE 17TH CENTURY IN N. S. LESKOV'S CREATIVE WORK: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF A LITERARY MISHAP
The article deals with N. S. Leskov's perception of the 17th century Prologue. From 1870 to 1890s the writer gave conflicting characteristics of the functional purpose of the Prologue, the history of its existence and publications in Russia, from the book, appointed by the church for godly...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Russian |
| Published: |
Petrozavodsk State University
2014-11-01
|
| Series: | Проблемы исторической поэтики |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://poetica.pro/files/redaktor_pdf/1429696490.pdf |
| Summary: | The article deals with N. S. Leskov's perception of the 17th
century Prologue. From 1870 to 1890s the writer gave conflicting
characteristics of the functional purpose of the Prologue, the history of its
existence and publications in Russia, from the book, appointed by the church
for godly edifying reading and helping to “comprehend the Word of God”, to
the deprivation of its ecclesiastical authority at all. Since 1886s, Leskov
defi ned the Prologue as a “renounced”, “non-canonical” book. The analysis of
archival materials has confirmed a supposition previously expressed in
science that the writer called the fully printed version of Prolog, published in
Synod printing in 1642-1643s, as “renunciation”. This edition was the one
that was not subjected to book correcting (“knizhnaya sprava”) during
Nikon's reforms. Antiquity and preservation of monuments always were
determinative criteria for the writer. Such characteristics are not lacking in
tangible ground and are based on the scientifi cally proven observations of the
19th century. It was found that the monograph of Kiev Theological Academy
Professor N. I. Petrov, “On the origin and composition of the Slavic-Russian
printed Prologue (The foreign sources)” (Kiev, 1875), had a signifi cant impact
on the development of Leskov's own position. Leskov made a simple creative
move. He transferred the scientifi c fact, the “non-canonicity” of “pre-Peter”
Prologue, in the literary fact. Not only the heuristic search of Leskov in the
history of its publications lies within the strategy to provide the Prologue of
1642-1643s edition by the status of “renounced”, but also the creative quest.
Given the “accountability” of his works written on the subjects of the Prologue,
on the part of the censorship, the writer had to fi nd an access to the new
language of “cryptography”. An appeal to the “non-canonical” Prologue as a
literary source turned out for him as the freedom of creative expression. The
second “non-canonical” plan hardly fi ts into the scope of the 19th century
censorship; author's refl ections on the issues of faith, sainthood, fall of man,
active love hides in the Prologue situations and images. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1026-9479 1026-9479 |