Abstract:
The article examines the peculiarities of P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky’s perception of the Volga Old Believers’ book tradition. In particular, it establishes the sources of the formation of the writer’s ideas about the role of bookishness in the daily life of “dissenters.” The author of “In the Woods” acquired a deep acquaintance with church literature during the performance of his official duties and numerous business trips. The article clarifies curious details of Melnikov’s description of the reading culture of the Old Believers, as well as the main ways of spreading bookishness among the “zealots of ancient piety.” The writer demonstrated his own view on factors that determined the popularity of a particular work among “dissenters.” The article examines Melnikov-Pechersky’s perception of the significance of the monasteries in the preservation of the Old Russian Cyrillic heritage, as well as the role of the scribes in the organization of the religious and everyday life of the Old Believers communities. The author analyzes the influence of the spread of the civil press and secular education on the processes of gradual secularization of the Old Believers community. Summing up the results, it can be concluded that Melnikov had very ambiguous attitude to the book traditions of the “old time lovers.” Thus, the author points to the extreme fanaticism of some polemical Old Believers’ writings, which destructively affect the consciousness of their readers, calling for moving away from progress and hating everything around them.
References
Alekseeva, L. V. “Patriarkhal’nyi mir russkogo staroobriadchestva v izobrazhenii P. I. Mel’nikova-Pecherskogo (na materiale romana ‘V lesakh)” [“The Patriarchal World of the Russian Old Believers in the Representation of P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky (Based on the Novel ‘In the Woods’)”]. Uchenye zapiski Petrozavodskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, no. 1, 2014, pp. 74–77. (In Russ.)
Alekseeva, L. V. Russkoe staroobriadchestvo v izobrazhenii P. I. Mel’nikova-Pecherskogo (istoriko-kul’turnyi i khudozhestvennyi aspekty) [Russian Old Believers in the Representation of P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky (Historical, Cultural and Artistic Aspects): PhD Thesis, Summary]. Vologda, 2015. 24 p. (In Russ.)
Andreev, A. A. “Pechatnye izdaniia Sluzhebnika i Trebnika v Moskve v pervoi polovine XVII v.: voprosy sostava” [“Printed Editions of the Liturgion and Euchologion in Moscow in the First Half of the 17th Century: Composition Issues”]. Vestnik Ekaterinburgskoi dukhovnoi seminarii, no. 35, 2021, pp. 66–115. (In Russ.)
Andreeva, V. G. O natsional’nom svoeobrazii russkogo romana vtoroi poloviny XIX veka [On the National Identity of the Russian Novel of the Second Half of the 19th Century]. Kostroma, Kostroma State University Publ., 2016. 492 p. (In Russ.)
Anninskii, A. A. Tri eretika [Three Heretics]. Moscow, Kniga Publ., 1988. 352 p. (In Russ.)
Bochenkov, V. V. P. I. Mel’nikov (Andrei Pecherskii): Mirovozzrenie, tvorchestvo, staroobriadchestvo [Melnikov (Andrey Pechersky): Worldview, Creativity, Old Believers]. Rzhev, Margarit Publ., 2008. 348 p. (In Russ.)
Bochenkov, V. V. Tvorchestvo P. I. Mel’nikova-Pecherskogo i izobrazhenie staroobriadchestva v russkoi literature XIX v. [The Creativity of P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky and the Representation of the Old Believers in Russian Literature of the 19th Century: PhD Thesis, Summary]. Moscow, 2005. 16 p. (In Russ.)
Bytko, S. S. “Polemicheskaia kul’tura staroverov i struktura rukopisnogo sbornika kontsa XIX v.: osobennosti vzaimodeistviia” [“Polemical Culture of the Old Believers and the Structure of the Manuscript Collection of the late 19th Century: Features of Interaction”]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, no. 428, 2018, pp. 72–77. https://doi.org/10.17223/15617793/428/9 (In Russ.)
Emel’ianova, E. A. Staroobriadcheskie izdaniia kirillovskogo shrifta kontsa XVIII – nachala XIX veka: katalog [Old Believer Cyrillic Editions of the Late 18th – Early 19th Century: Catalogue]. Moscow, Pashkov dom Publ., 2010. 640 p. (In Russ.)
Lotman, L. M. “Mel’nikov-Pecherskii” [“Melnikov-Pechersky”]. Istoriia russkoi literatury: v 10 t. [History of Russian Literature: in 10 vols.], vol. 9, part 2. Moscow, Leningrad, Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union Publ., 1956, pp. 198–227. (In Russ.)
Mitrofanov, D. E. “Tema staroobriadchestva v dilogii P. I. Mel’nikova-Pecherskogo ‘V lesakh,’ ‘Na gorakh’.” [“The Theme of Old Believers in the P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky Dilogy ‘In the Woods,’ ‘On the Mountains’.”]. Izvestiia Samarskogo nauchnogo tsentra Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Sotsial’nye, gumanitarnye, mediko-biologicheskie nauki, vol. 18, no. 2 (2), 2016, pp. 191–194. (In Russ.)
Seleznev, F. A. “Mel’nikov i staroobriadtsy” [“P. I. Melnikov and the Old Believers”]. Nizhegorodskii kraeved [Nizhny Novgorod Local Historian], issue 4. Nizhny Novgorod, Center for Local History Studies of the Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod Publ., 2018, pp. 19–41. (In Russ.)
Tolstova, G. A. “O slovare staroobriadcheskoi iazykovoi lichnosti Agaf ’i Karpovny Lykovoi” [“About the Dictionary of the Old Believer Linguistic Personality Agafya Karpovna Lykova”]. Voprosy leksikografii, no. 1 (9), 2016, pp. 64–81. https://doi.org/10.17223/22274200/9/5 (In Russ.)
Tsaregorodtseva, S. S. “Staroobriadchestvo v romanakh P. I. Mel’nikova-Pecherskogo i G. D. Grebenshchikova” [“Old Believers in the Novels of P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky and G. D. Grebenshchikov”]. Altaiskii tekst v russkoi kul’ture [Altaic Text in Russian Culture], issue 2. Barnaul, Altai University Publ., 2004, pp. 34–41. (In Russ.)
Shaldenkova, M. V. “Issledovanie tserkovnogo raskola v rabotakh P. I. Mel’nikova” [“The Study of the Church Schism in the Works of P. I. Melnikov”]. Izvestiia Sankt- Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo ekonomicheskogo universiteta, no. 3 (87), 2014, pp. 123–125. (In Russ.)
