Slavic writing and culture. Day of Slavic Writing

Days of Slavic Writing and Culture State and public organizations, together with the Russian Orthodox Church, began to hold Days of Slavic Writing and Culture since 1991 in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR Days of Slavic Writing

The celebration does not have any once and for all approved scenario. Typical events of the Days in Russia were scientific symposiums or conferences devoted to the problems of culture, civilization, the Slavic world, as well as concerts, meetings with writers and poets in parks, gardens, libraries, houses of culture and thematic screenings of feature films, and exhibitions, competitions and festivals. The celebration does not have any once and for all approved scenario. Typical events of the Days in Russia were scientific symposiums or conferences devoted to the problems of culture, civilization, the Slavic world, as well as concerts, meetings with writers and poets in parks, gardens, libraries, houses of culture and thematic screenings of feature films, and exhibitions, competitions and festivals.

History νρχ ν Λόγος, κα Λόγος ν πρς τν Θεόν, κα Θε ς ν Λόγος. In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... The tombs, mummies and bones are silent, - Life is given only to the word: From the ancient darkness, on the world graveyard Only Letters sound. And we have no other property! Know how to take care of it Even to the best of your ability, in the days of malice and suffering, Our immortal gift is speech. I.A. Bunin)

At first glance, it may seem that the history of the development of writing among the Slavs has a very distant connection with the history of the Slavs. In fact, this is not so. On the contrary, it is possible to correctly approach the understanding of the history of the Slavs only by finding out the main stages of their writing. Indeed: to write a real history, it is necessary to use not only historical chronicles, letters, various documents, but also separate, even fragmentary records on stones, metal objects, clay vessels, etc. Even one find of an object with a Slavic inscription often proves that that Slavs lived in the place of its discovery, or, at the very least, that the inhabitants of this area were in contact with the Slavs.

The origin of Slavic writing When we try to imagine the beginning of Russian literature, our thought necessarily turns to the history of writing. The importance of writing in the history of the development of civilization is difficult to overestimate. The possibilities of writing are not limited by time or distance. But people have not always mastered the art of writing. This art has been developing for a long time, over many millennia.

Types of writing At first, picture writing (pictography) appeared: some event was depicted in the form of a drawing, then they began to depict not an event, but individual objects, and then in the form of conventional signs (ideography, hieroglyphs), and, finally, they learned to depict not objects , and convey their names with signs (sound writing). The Greeks created their alphabet on the basis of the Phoenician script, but significantly improved it by introducing special signs for vowel sounds. The Greek alphabet formed the basis of the Latin alphabet, and in the 9th century the Slavonic alphabet was created by using the letters of the Greek alphabet.

In the history of the development of Slavic writing, we can distinguish three stages and three different groups. These three groups are as follows: 1) runes, or "runitsa", 2) "Glagolitic" and 3) "Cyrillic" and "Latin", based on the Greek or Latin script. letters! This name was given already in the 20th century, by the name of the god Veles. It was this ancient Russian alphabet that was used to write the famous Book of Veles. The Book of Veles is a unique monument of ancient Slavic writing of the 9th century. n. e. It was carved on wooden planks by Slavic sorcerers. It covers the two-thousand-year history of the migrations of the Slavic-Aryans from Semirechie to the Dnieper (XI century BC - IX century AD), reflects their religious and philosophical worldview, as well as their relationship with many other peoples of Europe and Asia. The Veles book was first translated into Russian in rhythmic prose - line by line with an ancient text, which is accompanied by the necessary explanations and comments

BIRCH-BIRCH LETTERS - letters and documents of the XI-XV centuries. on birch bark, discovered by excavations of ancient Russian cities. The first birch bark letters were found in Novgorod in 1951 by an archaeological expedition led by A. V. Artsikhovsky. The letters were scratched with a sharp bone or metal stick (also found during excavations) on a specially prepared birch bark. The Novgorod name for birch bark is birch bark. Most of the birch bark letters are private letters, which touch upon domestic and economic issues, contain instructions, describe conflicts, and some letters are humorous.

ABC The brothers Konstantin (who took the name Cyril at baptism) and Methodius did a great job of creating the Slavic alphabet. The main merit in this matter belongs to Cyril. Methodius was his faithful assistant. Compiling the Slavic alphabet, Cyril was able to catch the main sounds of this language in the sound of the Slavic language familiar to him from childhood and find letter designations for each of them. When reading in Old Slavonic, we pronounce the words the way they are written. The Slavic bookish language (Old Church Slavonic) became widespread as a common language for many Slavic peoples. It was used by the southern Slavs (Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats), Western Slavs (Czechs, Slovaks), Eastern Slavs (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians).

Cyril and Methodius Slavic enlighteners, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity, the first translators of liturgical books from Greek into Slavonic. Cyril (about) and his older brother Methodius (about) were born in Thessaloniki in the family of a military leader. Cyril was educated at the court of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III in Constantinople. Kirill knew Slavonic, Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Arabic well. Rejecting the admiral career offered to him by the emperor, Cyril became the patriarchal librarian, then taught philosophy.

Methodius entered the military early. For 10 years he was the ruler of one of the regions inhabited by Slavs. Then he retired to a monastery. In the 60s, renouncing the rank of archbishop, he became abbot of the Polychron monastery on the Asian coast of the Sea of Marmara. Before leaving for Moravia, Cyril created the Slavic alphabet and, with the help of Methodius, translated several liturgical books from Greek into Slavonic (selected readings from the Gospel, apostolic messages, psalter, etc.) In 866 (or 867), Cyril and Methodius, on the call of Pope Nicholas I, went to Rome. Pope Adrian II, in a special message, allowed them to distribute Slavic books and Slavic worship. After arriving in Rome, Cyril fell seriously ill and died. Methodius was consecrated Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia.

Through their activities, Cyril and Methodius laid the foundation for Slavic writing and literature. This activity was continued in the South Slavic countries by the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, who were expelled from Moravia in 866. Since 1991, May 24 has been officially celebrated in our country as the Day of Slavonic Literature and Culture as the day of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Methodius and Cyril (Konstantin). The creators of the Slavic alphabet were canonized by the Orthodox Church and revered in Rus' as great civil men, depicted in monuments and historical memorials. Revival of the holiday of Slavic writing and culture

World traditions of the holiday In accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR of January 30, 1991 on the annual holding of the Days of Slavic Literature and Culture, since 1991 state and public organizations, together with the Russian Orthodox Church, began to hold the Days of Slavic Literature and Culture. During the celebration in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, in all churches of Russia, divine liturgy, religious processions are performed, in Moscow at the monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius - a prayer service, children's pilgrimage missions to the monasteries of Russia, scientific and practical conferences, exhibitions of icons, graphics.

Glory to you, brothers, Slavic enlighteners, Holy Fathers of the Slavic Church, Glory to you, teachers of the truth of Christ, Glory to you, our creators of letters! Be a link of unity to the Slavs, Brothers Saints Methodius, Cyril, May the spirit of reconciliation overshadow him with your prayer before the Lord of forces! Glory to you, brothers, Slavic enlighteners, Holy Fathers of the Slavic Church, Glory to you, teachers of the truth of Christ, Glory to you, our creators of letters!

Glagolitic The Glagolitic existed at least 200 years before Cyril. One thing is certain: the Glagolitic alphabet is centuries older than the Cyrillic alphabet. That is why on ancient parchments (palimpsests) the Cyrillic alphabet always overlaps the Glagolitic alphabet. One thing is certain: the Glagolitic alphabet is centuries older than the Cyrillic alphabet. That is why on ancient parchments (palimpsests) the Cyrillic alphabet always overlaps the Glagolitic alphabet. According to the overwhelming majority of researchers, the Glagolitic alphabet is older than the Cyrillic alphabet. The Glagolitic alphabet was born, apparently, on the Adriatic coast of the Balkan Peninsula, where it still exists in a dying form.

The characters of the Greek statutory alphabet served as a model for writing Cyrillic letters. The first books in Cyrillic were also written in the charter. Ustav is such a letter, when the letters are written directly at the same distance from each other, without inclination - they are, as it were, "lined". The letters are strictly geometric, vertical lines are usually thicker than horizontal ones, there is no gap between words. Old Russian manuscripts of the 9th - 14th centuries were written in the charter. From the middle of the 14th century, the semi-charter became widespread, which was less beautiful than the charter, but allowed you to write faster. There was a slope in the letters, their geometry is not so noticeable; the ratio of thick and thin lines is no longer maintained; The text has already been divided into words.

Az beeches vede. The verb is good. Live green, earth, and, like some people, think of our peace. Rtsy word firmly - uk faret kher. Tsy, worm, shta ra yus yati! The combination of the above phrases makes up the alphabetic Message: I know the letters: A letter is a treasure. Work hard, earthlings, as befits reasonable people - comprehend the universe! Carry the word with conviction - Knowledge is a gift from God! Dare, delve into, so that the Light of Existence can be comprehended!

Books of Ancient Rus' Books of Ancient Rus' Skillfully ancestors of the book decorated with Stones, gilding and enamel. And like precious crowns, the ancient Gospels shone. In the cloisters, the novices-scribes Diligently with a skillful hand Line after line were diligently. Letters of Slavic patterned ligature Intertwined with a floral ornament. And the silhouettes of forest animals and birds Curled like flowers, herbs and stems.

The Tale of Bygone Years Chronicles are historical works in which events are presented according to the weather principle, i.e. about events that occurred within one year and begin with the words “In the summer such and such ...” (“summer” in Old Russian means “year”). Old Russian chronicle, created in the 1110s. The earliest extant copy of the Tale of Bygone Years dates back to the 14th century. It was called the Laurentian Chronicle after the name of the scribe, the monk Lawrence, and was compiled into the Tale of Bygone Years - the first chronicle, the text of which has come down to us almost in its original form. The title The Tale of Bygone Years is translated as The Tale of Bygone Years. The main events are wars, the founding of churches and monasteries, the death of princes and metropolitans - the heads of the Russian Church. The chronicler does not interpret events, does not look for their causes, but simply describes them.

Ostromir Gospel The Ostromir Gospel is the oldest ancient Russian manuscript book. It was rewritten by order of the eminent Novgorod posadnik Ostromir and decorated with a binding-salary with precious stones. Work on the manuscript began on October 21, 1056 and was completed on May 12, 1057. FROM THE FIRST ISSUE OF SVYATOSLAV 1073 FROM THE FIRST ISSUE OF SVYATOSLAV 1073 Manuscript

Of great interest is the "Apostle", published in Lvov in 1574 by the printing house of Ivan Fedorov, whose name is associated with printing in Ukraine. Among the scientific publications of the 16th century, the Lexicon of Slovene Russian and Interpretation of Names, created by the famous student, poet, engraver, and typographer Pamva Bernida, was of great importance. A significant event in cultural life was the release of the "Synopsis" by Inokenty Gizel (1674), a collection of stories of national history from ancient times to the 70s of the 17th century. This book has been reprinted more than 30 times and has been a teaching aid for more than 100 years.

In Russia, a complete list of handwritten (in Slavonic) Bibles was collected for the first time in 1499 by Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod, but almost no one knew about it. Prior to this, that is, from the 10th c. until the 15th century, only separate books of the Old Slavic Bible, translated from Latin in 884, were in use. THE BIBLE or THE HOLY BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT

Language and writing are perhaps the most important cultural-forming factors. If the people are deprived of the right or opportunity to speak their native language, then this will be the most severe blow to their native culture. If a person is deprived of books in his native language, then he will lose the most important treasures of his culture. Language and writing are perhaps the most important cultural-forming factors. If the people are deprived of the right or opportunity to speak their native language, then this will be the most severe blow to their native culture. If a person is deprived of books in his native language, then he will lose the most important treasures of his culture. Language, our magnificent language, Is it a river, steppe expanse in it, In it are the screams of an eagle and the eternal roar, The melody, and the ringing, and the pilgrim's incense. In it is the cooing of a dove in spring, The rise of a lark to the sun - higher, higher, Birch grove. Light through, heavenly rain, spilled Konstantin Balmont (1925) Konstantin Balmont (1925)

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In history, there are several varieties of writing among the Slavs. Slavic writing was used to conclude contracts, transfer notes, and for other purposes. For example, you can find information about this from Archimandrite Leonid Kavelin in his Collection: “On the homeland and origin of the Glagolitic alphabet and its relationship to the Cyrillic alphabet” (1891). There is a special day dedicated to Slavic writing. Today it is celebrated by Russians as the day of veneration of Cyril and Methodius, although it is known that neither Cyril nor Methodius invented the Russian alphabet. They just transformed it - shortened it and adapted it in order to make it easier to translate Christian manuscripts from the Greek language. For example, the historian Dobner (Czech Republic) can find a whole study on the topic: “Is the so-called now Cyrillic alphabet really an invention of the Slavic Ap. Cyril? (1786 edition).

Writing, as a derivative of the famous Christian saints Cyril and Methodius, appeared in Rus' in the period from 900 to the early 1000s. Until that time, the Slavs used a different script. We meet the data of the chroniclers about the conclusion of treaties of the book. Igor and Prince. Oleg with the Byzantine kingdom (907-911) even before the arrival of the Cyrillic alphabet in Rus'.

Some historians called it "Khazar writing" (Persian, Fakhr ad-Din, 700), speaking of the southwestern Slavs of a particular historical period. Others called it “an independent Russian letter”, referring to the “Thessalonica legend”, in which there is a mention of Jerome (lived until 420) and his connection with Slavic letters. Some scholars consider Cyril and Jerome from this legend to be the same person, but the dates of the activities of these characters do not match.

Two directions are now divided in which Slavic writing developed:

Pictorial views. Creating a three-dimensional image and perception.
Descriptive views. Creating planar perception by inscriptions on the plane.

Previously, our ancestors, when talking about objectivity and functions, called their writing:

word;
by letter;
a book;
diploma.

Types of writing throughout the history of the Slavs, arranged in chronological order of their time of appearance and use:

Glagolitic- middle of the tenth century;
initial letter(Old Slovenian) - presumably the end of the 10th century;
ABC- a variant of pre-revolutionary tsarist Russia;
Alphabet- 1918 (Lunacharsky's reform).

Some scholars present the Glagolitic as one of the ways to pronounce and write the capital letter. But this issue is still being investigated. Here is what the Russian philologist Sreznevsky I.I. tells us. (1848):

Turning to the Glagol alphabet, we note first of all how it is similar and how it differs from the Cyrillic alphabet. Most of its letters in their form differ not only from Cyrillic, but also from other well-known ones. Similar to Kirillov's d, x, m, p, f, w ... The choice of letters is the same. The order of the letters is also the same ... The peculiarity of many Glagolitic letters has long led to the conclusion that the Glagolitic alphabet is the ancient alphabet of the pagan Slavs and, therefore, is older than the Cyrillic alphabet; this was believed by Count Grubishich, Dr. Anton; This is also believed by the well-known German philologist J. Grimm. It is hardly possible to refute this, assuming that the ancient simple features were replaced by curly and complex ones in the now known Glagolitic alphabet later, due to special, unknown reasons; however, it is also difficult to refute the fact that the letters of the Glagolitic alphabet of unknown origin were never simpler, but were invented by an idle literate person as they are, without any deviation from the ancient Slavic scripts. It is true that the features of the Glagolitic alphabet are generally rude and some are open to the left side, as if they were used for writing from the right hand to the left, but the roughness of the drawing of the letters is not a sign of antiquity, and the opening of some to the left side could also be an accidental expression of the inventor's taste ...

The Slavic letter was used in 4 variations: 2 main and 2 auxiliary. Separately, one should dwell on such varieties of writing that historians of modern science still cannot ignore. These are the following types of writing among the Slavs of different nationalities:

Features and Reza. By their names, one can judge their origin - they drew letters and cut them. This is a type of lettering.

Da'Aryan Trags - were used to convey the multidimensionality and imagery of runes.

Kh'Aryan Karuna (runic, runic, runic) - used by priests, consisted of 256 runes, which formed the basis of the Devanagari, Sanskrit languages.

Rasenskie Molvitsy - a letter from the Etruscans.

Now there is enough evidence that the Slavic tribes and peoples settled on the Earth long before Christianity. Therefore, anthropologists often find blue-eyed Hindus in India, Kalash in Pakistan, or mummies of European appearance among archaeological sites in China. Therefore, Aryan writing can also be remotely called Slavic, or Slavic-Aryan, as it is more convenient for anyone to understand. The Slavs of modern Russia and the countries adjacent to it with ethnic identity are most close to the Glagolitic and Initial letters, as well as Runes, Traits and Reza.

What is special about Slavic writing and culture

The Glagolitic was most often used to seal business relationships in trade matters. She executed contracts, other papers, which are confirmation of the concluded transaction. In support of this, a fairly large number of ancient treaties have remained today, written down precisely in the Slavic Glagolitic alphabet. The following words are associated with this name:

to speak - to speak;
verbasha - speaking, pronouncing;
verb - we speak;
verb is action.

The initial letter as the capital part of the words had different styles of writing. The following several options for the artistic image of ancient letters can be cited as an example:

Ostromir initial letters - taken from the Ostromir Gospel (1056-1057)

teratological (or animal) style - features of animals and birds were included in the image of the letter

initials - colored letters, where, in addition to fantastic animals, human characters were also depicted (about 800)

Ottonian style of the Western Slavs - large letters, with gilding and patterned weaves

illustrated initial letter - each capital letter was illustrated with different fairy tale characters and themes

filigree beeches (from the old name - "beeches", and not "letters" from the All-Light Diploma of Shubin-Abramov Anania Fedorovich) - the letters were decorated with the finest pattern

Guslitsky style - comes from the Old Believer settlement Guslitsy

Vetka style in Belarus

There are many variants of the image of Slavic letters. Our ancestors the Slavs were famous masters of arts and arts. Therefore, letters could be depicted by scribes with a creative approach. The main feature of the initial letter is that it formed the basis of such languages \u200b\u200bknown to us as Latin (Latin) and English.

The worldview of the Slavs was changed even by modifying the written language. If earlier letters and words were perceived volumetrically with a semantic and figurative-symbolic load, now they are perceived on a plane, faceless, carrying only sounds that add up to words.

Researchers of Slavic mythology believe that such a transfer of perception from volumetric "holographic" to flat writing began approximately from the time of the Germanization of Rus'. Apparently, the influence of the West has always been fatal for the Russians and Slavs in general, which is why the leading Russian minds of the times of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy mentioned it so often.

When is the day of Slavic writing celebrated?

Slavic culture in historical data has undergone various changes. This suggests that scientists have not yet stopped their research - new artifacts found are being studied. The date when the writing of the Slavs and their culture was honored also changed. The very same Slavic mythology and history does not confirm the fact that the ancient Slavs celebrated some special day dedicated to their writing. Nevertheless, it is worth considering the appearance of such events at a later time, approximately when Christianity came to Rus'.

Most often, this date was associated with Cyril and Methodius. It was at that time that they began to allocate a certain day on which they remembered the merits of these two reverend fathers. Only the date has changed:

May 11 - Christian enlighteners were remembered by the "Thessalonica brothers";
May 24 - Bulgarians today, along with these two saints, also remember their culture;
July 5 - in the Czech Republic;
January 30 - the inhabitants of Russia recalled Slavic writing and culture at the suggestion of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR (1991).

May 24- a generally accepted holiday in Slavic culture and writing. It was declared the "Day of Slavic Culture and Literature" in 1985, when the 1100th anniversary of the death of Methodius was celebrated in the USSR. Therefore, today this holiday is entirely served from the point of view of the Orthodox Church. However, those who remember and honor the heritage of the more ancient ancestors of the Slavs, and now honor the ancient Slovenian Letter. On this day, ancient letters are painted on asphalt, in underground passages, in squares, everywhere in the cities of the country.

In scientific circles, some believe that the Slavs once had one language, but there were many ways to display it on any medium. Writing could be written on metal (coins, jewelry), birch bark, leather, stone. The peculiarity of Slavic writing lies in the fact that, first of all, it carried Svetorussky (in some reading - "Holy Russian") images. Simply put, we understand that it was a figurative letter, and not flat, carrying a deeper meaning than just sound.

The Day of Slavic Literature and Culture is a kind of recognition by the Soviet authorities of the merits of two outstanding Orthodox saints: Cyril and Methodius. Cyril and Methodius were born in the 9th century in the city of Thessalonica, and by origin were Slavs from a noble family. Both became Orthodox monks (Cyril and Methodius are their names after being tonsured). In 857, the Byzantine emperor sent brothers to the Khazar Khaganate to preach the Orthodox faith there. As the story goes, they successfully convinced the Khazar prince and his entourage to accept Christianity, and even took 200 Greek captives from there. In 862, preachers came to Moravia (at the request of the Moravian prince) - here they created the Slavonic alphabet, translated the Gospel, the Psalter and other liturgical books into Slavonic. Cyril and Methodius were recognized by the church as saints back in the 9th century, but in Russia the memory of the brothers-enlighteners began to be celebrated in 1863 - this was the decision of the Russian Holy Synod, which set the date for this on May 11 according to the old style (May 24 according to the new one). In 1985, in the USSR, May 24 was declared a "holiday of Slavic culture and writing." On January 30, 1991, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted a resolution to annually celebrate the days of Russian culture and writing. Every year, a different city became the capital of this holiday.

About Cyril and Methodius
It is known for certain that the authors of the Russian alphabet and writing come from the Greek city of Thessalonica. Saints Cyril and Methodius worked on the Slavic writing, being within the walls of one of the Greek monasteries, since by status they were monks and preached Orthodoxy. According to scientists, they invented Slavic writing in the 9th century and called it Cyrillic, in honor of the name of one of the monks. It is interesting that Cyril is not the real name of the author of writing, at birth he was named Constantine, but having gone to the monks, he changed his name to Cyril. Thus, it can be judged that it was Cyril who made the greatest contribution to the creation of writing, and his older brother Methodius helped him in everything.

Greek trace
When celebrating the days of Slavic culture and writing, it is worth remembering that the Cyrillic alphabet originated from the Greek alphabet. When creating it, Cyril relied on his native alphabet, in addition, he was fluent in some other languages, which allowed him to perceive our speech by ear and translate it into writing. In order to more accurately show Russian, Slavic speech in writing, I had to work hard and largely change the usual Greek alphabet.

Az, beeches, lead ...
The day of Slavic writing and culture cannot be imagined without two different alphabets - Glagolitic and Cyrillic. Thanks to his titanic work, he managed to translate into writing such Orthodox works as the Gospel and the Psalter.

Bulgaria - Russia
This is not the first time that the holiday is the day of Slavic writing and culture. Interestingly, the tradition of honoring the saints who gave the Slavic peoples writing came from Bulgaria, where this day was celebrated back in the 19th century. Later, the tradition spread further to the east, reaching Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and other countries.

Good day! The Day of Slavic Literature and Culture is a kind of recognition by the Soviet authorities of the merits of two outstanding Orthodox saints: Cyril and Methodius. Cyril and Methodius were born in the 9th century in the city of Thessalonica, and by origin were Slavs from a noble family. Both became Orthodox monks (Cyril and Methodius are their names after being tonsured). In 857, the Byzantine emperor sent brothers to the Khazar Khaganate to preach the Orthodox faith there. As the story goes, they successfully convinced the Khazar prince and his entourage to accept Christianity, and even took 200 Greek captives from there. In 862, preachers came to Moravia (at the request of the Moravian prince) - here they created the Slavonic alphabet, translated the Gospel, the Psalter and other liturgical books into Slavonic.

Cyril and Methodius were recognized by the church as saints back in the 9th century, but in Russia the memory of the brothers-enlighteners began to be celebrated in 1863 - this was the decision of the Russian Holy Synod, which set the date for this on May 11 according to the old style (May 24 according to the new one).

On January 30, 1991, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted a resolution to annually celebrate the days of Russian culture and writing. Every year, a different city became the capital of this holiday. Look also at the selection with choose to your taste in verse or prose.