Church influence and early literature

Church influence and early literature
For centuries church literature remained the major spiritual and moral pabulum for the Russian people. In that way it was influencing the formation of the national character. Later the Russian scribes provided a theoretical foundation for the idea of the unity of the Russian land and the national and religious originality of the Russian realm. So, the Russian literature once and for all marked its connection with the development of the nation and the state. Even so, it was never limited by the national frames, due to plentiful translations.
The most important scriptures of the Kievan period are the teachings by metropolitan Ilarion (11th century), Povest Vremennykh Let (11th-early 12th century, the oldest chronicle), teaching by Prince Vladimir Monomakh (11th - early 12th century), Lay of Igor's Warfare (12th century), Wanderings of Daniel (12th century). All these texts are examples of vivid poetic creation. This was the epoch of extensive literary activities, which gave rise to patterns of literary forms and genres for the following centuries. Russian literature of the late Middle ages is remarkable for its feeling of Russia being the chosen one (the theory of Moscow as the third Rome). Inner upheavals of the 16th - 17th centuries imparted to literature certain features of religious and political publicism. In some cases these works arise to a high artistic level. Such are the Messages of Ivan the Terrible and The Life of Avvakum Petrovich, originally blending the church and bookish language with lively folk speech. At the same time, folk-lore poetry attained real power, beauty and expressiveness; however, scribes of the Old Rus hardly ever resorted to this plentiful source. The late 16th century saw rapid development of the secular story of manners, which often interpreted the 'wandering' plots of the western and oriental literatures.