Niestylizacyjne naśladownictwo w literaturze staroruskiej

Abstract

The phenomenon of stylization appears only after the individual style of the writer has been elaborated. In Russian literature first stylizations appear as late as the beginnning of the XIXth century. Imitations of the non-stylistic type were - however - much earlier than stylizations themselves, and they constitute the characteristic feature of "the Old Russian literature. An Old Russian imitator transferred to his works words, phrases and images of the original, fol1owing its plot and idea to a certain degree, but not being able to render in a creative and independent way the style of the original. Old Russian imitator was notable to achieve the uniformity of style, mixing various styles in his work, often repreating words, phrases and irnages which he liked best, but not always adapting them in a proper way to the new content. Imitation of that kind is always worse than the original and can easily be described as simple imitation. We can easily ascertain the imitation without even having the original. At the turn of the XIVth and VXth century many imitations of that non-stylistic type appeared in Russian literamre. This fact can be explained as resulting from a revival of Russian culture after the victory over the Tartars at Kulikowe Pole marked in literatur#, painting, architecture and social thought which started to turn to the times of national independence as to Russia's "ancient period". A certain type of cult for the national independence developed in Russia, similar to the cult forr the antic times in the West. Imitations of the literary works of the Xlth-XIRh centuries are especially numerous in the literary output of the XIVth and XVth centuries, concerning the victory at Kulikowe Pole. These Old Russian literary pieces imitate The Tale of the Devastation of Riaza' by Batu-chan, The Life of Duke A lexander Nevsky, The Praise of the Riaza' Dukes and others. The report of the battle at Kulikowe Pole, so-called Zadonszczina, is a typically non-stylistic imitation of these times. Zadońszczina imitates The Word of the lgor's Expedition. The poetics of this rpoem is the poetics of the non-stylistic imitation. Zado' szczina is devoid of stylistic uniformity; stylistic sirnilarities with The Word are limited to fragments borrowed frorn this poem, Repeating phrases from The Word, which could be liked by the readers, it seidom adapts them to the content of a new poem, etc. The Word of the lgor's Expedition in comparison with Zadońszczina is devoid of any traces of imitation, non-stylistic or stylistic. The author analyses in detail the poetics of non-stylistic imitation of Zadońszczina, comparing it with the literary phenomena at the tum of the XIVth and XVth centuries.