23. Literature of Kyivan Rus’

The development of original literature in Kyivan Rus' was based on both a rich folk oral tradition and a dissemination of translated religious texts. The oldest and most noted Kyivan didactic work is ‘A Sermon on Law and Grace' (1050) by Metropolitan Ilarion, the first native metropolitan of Kyiv. Modeled on translated hagiographies, lives of Saint Anthony of the Caves, Saint Volodymyr the Great, Saint Princess Olha, and others were written and collected in the Kyivan Cave Patericon, the most remarkable collection of lives in the Kyivan period. Also noteworthy are the early chronicles, which are unique for their wealth of information and their blending of fact and fiction, written sources and eyewitness accounts. Quite prevalent were apocryphal writings as well as translated tales. Also popular was the first travelogue' by Hegumen Danylo. The most unusual and outstanding monument of old Ukrainian literature, however, is the secular epic poem Slovo o polku Ihorevi (The Tale of Ihor's Campaign, ca 1187).

24. Slovo o polku Ihorevi (The Tale of Ihor’s Compaign)

Slovo o polku Ihorevi An epic poem of the late 12th century written by an anonymous author. The original was discovered in 1795 and was published in Saint Petersburg in 1800 with the assistance The original manuscript and many printed copies perished in the Moscow fire of 1812.

A wide range of scholars, particularly Mykhailo Maksymovych, demonstrated connections between the Slovo and Ukrainian folk poetry. .

Historical basis and content. The subject of the poem is the unsuccessful campaign mounted in the spring of 1185 by Ihor Sviatoslavych, prince of Novhorod-Siverskyi, against the Cumans. Its central theme is the fate of the territories of Kyivan Rus’. In addressing that theme the author condemns the various princes for their feuding and their selfishness at the expense of the general good.

The poem was written in an epic lyrical style. The historical subject matter is interspersed with dreams, laments, nature's reaction to the hero's fate, monologues of princes, and other motifs and devices.

The poem begins with an invocation of Boian, who sang the praises of princes of the 11th century. The author of the Slovo promises to emulate Boian's style and to join the glories of the past with those of the present. After a description of preparations for the campaign, of the three-day battle, and of Ihor Sviatoslavych's defeat the author proceeds to analyze the reasons for the decline of the Rus’ land. After a description of Ihor's escape from captivity the work concludes with praise of the ‘ancient princes’ Ihor and Vsevolod Sviatoslavych and of the ‘younger ones,’ represented by Volodymyr Ihorovych.

Language and poetics. The language of the work is the contemporary Rus’ literary language, similar to that of the chronicles, but with a marked increase in the incidence of the vernacular

The vocabulary is relatively limited; it consists of slightly more than 900 words, combining literary elements of the Church Slavonic with contemporary Rus’ terms and archaisms preserved in various old dialects. There are also some influences from other languages.