Alexander Nikolayevich UZHANKOV graduated in 1980 from the Russian Department of the Faculty of Philology of Lvov state university them. I. Franko. He worked as a correspondent for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, as an editor in the Oktyabr magazine, as a senior editor in the publishing house “ Soviet writer”SP USSR. Member of the Union of Journalists of the USSR. He took part in the creation and was the first General Director of the specialized publishing and trading enterprise "Heritage", created by order of the USSR Council of Ministers at the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1990, he moved to work as a senior researcher at the Department of Old Russian Literature at the Institute of World Literature named after V.I. M. Gorky Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He was the initiator of the creation and the first executive director of the Society of Explorers Ancient Russia” at IMLI RAS. Since 1992, she has been teaching (MGLU, GASK, SDS, etc.). Specialist in the field of literature, history and philosophy of Ancient Russia.

He owns research on the new dating of “Words about Law and Grace”, “The Life of Theodosius of the Caves”, “Readings about Boris and Gleb”, “Tales of Boris and Gleb”, “Words about Igor's Campaign”, “Words about the destruction of the Russian land” , “The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky”, “The Chronicler Daniel of Galicia”, etc.

He proposed a new concept of understanding the ancient Russian chronicle, linking it with the eschatological ideas of Russian medieval scribes; discovered traces of the influence of the biblical "Book of the Prophet Jeremiah" on "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"; reinterpreted “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom”; studied the evolution of the image of nature in ancient Russian literature; the history of the genre of the old Russian story, etc. Developed the theory of the stage development of Russian literature of the 11th - the first third of the 18th century and the theory of literary formations of Ancient Russia. The author of more than a hundred works on the theory and history of ancient Russian literature.

Alexander Nikolaevich UZHANKOV: interview

Alexander Nikolaevich UZHANKOV (b. 1955)- Doctor of Philology, Candidate of Cultural Studies. Theorist and historian of Russian literature and culture. Professor of the Moscow State Linguistic University (MSLU), Literary Institute them. A.M. Gorky, Sretensky Theological Seminary. Vice-rector for scientific work of the Literary Institute. A.M. Gorky. Member of the Writers' Union of Russia: .

- Alexander Nikolayevich, you have been teaching at the Sretensky Theological Seminary since its very foundation. Please tell us about the first years of the seminary.
- There are no accidents in a person's life. A small life episode after a while is comprehended as a prediction of the future. One day, long before the opening of the seminary, I went to pick up my nephew at the school, which is located next to the Sretensky monastery. Since the lessons were not over yet, I walked around the territory of the monastery. The time was atheistic, the ancient temple of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was closed, but I knew that it contained an amazing wooden carved cross - the highest monument of wooden art. It only remained to regret that such a masterpiece is hidden from people, and the temple is not available for prayer. At that time, of course, I could not have imagined that 20 years later, my teaching career at the Sretensky Seminary would begin from my service in this very church.

I was invited to give lectures on Russian literature at the seminary by my colleague Professor A.M. Kamchatnov. In the summer of 1999, under the leadership of the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Tikhon, the curriculum of the then Sretensky Higher Orthodox School was created. It was also necessary to develop a program on the history of Russian literature of the 11th-20th centuries.

With interest, I took up the preparation of a curriculum for a literature course for an Orthodox university. After all, if we look at Russian literature only from secular positions - as works of art, then we will not see a lot. First of all, we will not see the spiritual meaning of ancient Russian literature. And he was once decisive. And, of course, in such educational institutions as the Moscow Theological Seminary, the Moscow Theological Academy or the Sretensky Higher Orthodox School, it was possible and necessary to talk about the true essence of ancient Russian literature, and indeed of all Russian literature in general, about its spiritual component, about those ideas that are embedded in verbal works. By that time, I had already accumulated some teaching experience: I taught several original courses at the Moscow State Linguistic University (MGLU, the former Institute foreign languages them. M. Torez) and at the State Academy of Slavic Culture (GASK).

- Do you remember your first lecture at the Sretensky Seminary? What were your impressions?
- Of course. On the first day of the first academic year, in the morning, before the start of classes, we gathered in the monastery church. There was a liturgy, then Father Tikhon blessed the entire teaching staff and seminarians, wishing them success in their new work. He asked who would give the first lecture. It turned out that the educational process at the SDS began with a lecture on ancient Russian literature.
The strongest impression in all the years of my teaching was a meeting with students who were unusual for me: after all, I, a secular person, came to the monastery to lecture to the monks. When I entered the seminar room for the first time, I saw a special audience. Some were even older than me, most with life and spiritual experience. Many already had higher education, there were even candidates of sciences! And I had a natural question: what can they be taught?

Education is the restoration of the image of God. Of course, ancient Russian creations especially contribute to this. However, it was necessary to teach this subject in such a way that together, together, we could find something that would benefit us all. The main message was that we were trained to learn. We have been working. They were workers of the word, more precisely, co-workers. I taught the living Russian word and studied on my own, and this was important for me, because I, too, could borrow something from my monk students. Moreover, teaching in the seminary in itself, the monastic environment itself imposes many obligations. I have always liked that in theological schools every lecture begins with a prayer. Old Russian creations were written by monks by grace, therefore, reading them and comprehending their spiritual meaning can also only be done by grace. When a lesson begins with prayerful standing, it is completely different and takes place than in any secular university. That fertile ground arises on which the words of spiritual writers fall.

Alexander Nikolaevich, at one time you held the post of the first vice-rector of the seminary, responsible for the scientific activities of the seminary and the educational process. Tell us about this period of your activity.
- The offer to become the vice-rector of the school was then unexpected for me, because at that time I was the dean of the philological faculty and vice-rector for science of the State Architectural and Construction Committee and did not leave these positions. Why did Father Tikhon make this proposal? Probably because it was necessary to build the educational process and structure the seminary. It was necessary to create departments according to disciplines, organize the work of the departments themselves, create an educational unit that oversees the educational process. I took up this organizational work. Father Ambrose (Ermakov) helped me a lot then, for which I am sincerely grateful to him. Father Ambrose was the vice-rector of the SDS, then he was ordained a bishop. And now the seminary functions according to the model laid down then.

At the time when I was here as vice-rector, the task was not so much to attract competent teachers: philosophers, historians, theologians, linguists, etc., but to organize and direct their work. The backbone of teachers was attracted from the Moscow State Academy of Arts, Moscow State University, and other leading Moscow universities. The level of teaching was set quite high: through the efforts of Father Tikhon, the best professorial forces of Moscow gathered at the Sretensky Higher Orthodox School: Professors A.A. Volkov, G.G. Mayorov, A.M. Kamchatnov, A.I. Sidorov, A.F. Smirnov and others. Academician I.R. Shafarevich, professor N.A. Narochnitskaya, N.S. Leonov, A.I. Osipov.

How would you rate the level of theses defended in the seminary, the degree of their seriousness and the complexity of the defense?
- The level of theses of the first issue was quite high. These were deep, one might say, thorough scientific and theological writings. As experience shows, the result of a student's final work depends not only on the quality of teaching and scientific guidance, but also on the students themselves, on their approach to the graduation essay. And in the future, the level of those works that I had to review, as a whole, turned out to be quite high.

Alexander Nikolayevich, you teach at several secular universities, teaching the same course as in the seminary. Do you place any separate accents when presenting material for a secular audience and an audience of the theological school?
- Of course, although the courses are similar. I now continue to teach both at MSLU and at the Literary Institute. A.M. Gorky, and at the Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Ultimately, the direction of the lectures depends on the listeners to whom they are read. If in secular universities the emphasis is on the scientific aspect of the presentation of material, on the study of form and genre, on the poetics of works and, above all, the artistic side of compositions is considered, then in the seminary more attention can be paid to the spiritual component. To study exactly what the work was written for.

Higher education programs set by standards public education, and teachers should not go beyond these standards. In the seminary, however, there is an opportunity to read an author's course, of course, with reference to the generally accepted program, but at the same time to focus on a more scrupulous consideration of issues of interest to seminarians. Most of them will leave here as clergymen, and they will be approached with questions about certain works of fiction. And I have to arm them with the method of text analysis, having considered the maximum possible number of works in the educational process.

Is it possible to compare your course taught in the seminary with hagiography as a discipline that studies the lives of saints, theological and church-historical aspects of holiness?
- It is possible, and at the same time it is necessary to proceed from the Orthodox understanding of ancient Russian literature. In secular universities, this course is usually called the history of ancient Russian literature, thereby, as it were, emphasizing its secularism; emphasis is placed on the term literature, on fiction, on the subjective vision of the author. In creation, the word in Ancient Russia meant co-creation with God. The vast majority of ancient Russian authors were monks, many of them later canonized as saints, beginning with St. Hilarion of Kyiv, the author of the Sermon on Law and Grace. And the Monk Nestor - the first hagiographer who wrote the lives of the holy princes Boris and Gleb and the Monk Theodosius of the Caves, one of the founders of chronicle writing - the compiler of the famous "Tale of Bygone Years", and the Monk Theodosius himself - the author of words and teachings, and even Prince Vladimir Monomakh - the author " Instructions for Children”, and many others are included in the Synod of Orthodox Saints.

Old Russian literature should be studied as our patristic literature, just as we study the works of the Holy Fathers of the Church. Here one cannot limit oneself only to those methods that are used in the study of secular fiction. Spiritual creations were written out of obedience, but the desire to create something useful for the soul of the reader was also present. That is why, in my opinion, hagiography and ancient Russian literature should be regarded as divinely inspired books. That is, all the genres inherent in ancient Russian literature: lives, teachings, solemn eloquence, words for the consecration of the church, and so on - contain spiritual instructions, since the main theme of all ancient Russian creations is the salvation of the soul. And in them, as in the lives of the saints, there are instructions and examples for imitation that an Orthodox person should follow.

Do you give special preference to the theological side of the work, or, as a philologist, do you try to cover the whole process, together with historical, socio-cultural points of view?
- The lives of the saints should be considered, first of all, taking into account their main purpose: they tell about the spiritual feat of the saint, which can become a model for the reader. There is a general theme in life. The saint imitates Christ, follows the "royal way", that is, the way of the Savior. When the Lord came into the world, He said that He did not come to break the Ten Commandments, but to fulfill them. He accepts baptism, although, as a God-man, he did not need it. He gave the world nine more beatitudes and Himself is the first to fulfill all 19 commandments, indicating this general path to salvation. This is the path of the Russian saints, beginning with the martyrs Boris and Gleb. They fulfilled all 19 commandments and accepted martyrdom, that is, they likened their spiritual feat to Christ. And it is no coincidence that Boris and Gleb are the first Russian saints, for the Church is built on martyrdom.

In each life, the theme of the salvation of the soul and individual spiritual achievement is maximally revealed by the hagiographer. In Russian Orthodox Church many saints, and many lives have been created - models for imitation. And although each righteous man had his own spiritual feat, they had in common the desire to fulfill all the commandments.

For a deeper understanding of the spiritual meaning, it is important to find parallels between the Holy Scriptures and hagiography, to study the retrospective analogy of the actions of the righteous and saints, and to determine their theological meaning. For example, the hagiographer compares the noble prince Alexander Nevsky with Joseph the Beautiful: the second most important prince in Russia after Batu and the second most important dignitary in Egypt after the tsar. By wisdom - with Solomon, by courage - with Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian, who became the Roman emperor after the suppression of the uprising in Judea, so Alexander Yaroslavich took power after the suppression of the uprising in Novgorod.
Parallels with biblical characters are important in order to better understand the military and spiritual exploits of the saint, to substantiate his actions. In the case of Alexander Nevsky, this is a matter of protecting the Fatherland and the Orthodox faith. It prevents the spread of Catholicism and the advancement of the order of the crusaders to Russia. His other feat is humility in the name of saving a large number of Russian people, whom he managed to “pray” from joint military campaigns with the Tatar-Mongols. He himself went to the horde to intercede for them and laid down "his belly for his friends" - at the cost of his own life, saving the life of his subjects. So these parallels between the life of Alexander Yaroslavich and the Bible are due to the typology of the saint's behavior.

As a philologist, I am not obliged to consider them, I can only point to sources, to possible allusions. But, teaching at SDS, I pay attention to the spiritual meaning of this or that creation, to the theological aspect of all literature. This is what distinguishes teaching at the SDS from teaching at a secular university.

- What do you see as the main task of your subject and yours personally?
- Russian literature has always been engaged in the education of a highly moral personality. The best Russian writers have never been just novelists, that is, writers entertaining stories for the amusement of the public or for the sake of a fee. Russian literature XIX centuries - this is the deepest philosophical heritage. We can talk about the religious quest of Gogol, the philosophy of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky. Already Russian religious philosophy of the late 19th - early 20th century could not do without a deep philosophical understanding of Dostoevsky's "Legend of the Grand Inquisitor". There is no such Russian religious thinker who has not written at least a few lines about her.

It should be noted that in the 19th century there were no “pure philosophers” in Russia, but there were writers and thinkers, and they made readers think deeply about the purpose of life and the meaning of human existence. Together with their heroes, they tried to find a "justification" for life. Not always, however, they succeeded. But at least they pointed to the path of moral self-improvement. If we take the work of Dostoevsky, his novels from "Crime and Punishment" to "The Brothers Karamazov", we will see the possible ways of the moral rebirth of man. In fact, these are novels about the spiritual transformation of a person. Therefore, in lectures, it is much more important for me to talk about the content of a work than about its external form. A lot has already been written and said about her without me.

Unfortunately, I myself was taught differently. More attention was paid to composition, plot, artistic images, but not to the meaning that writers put into their works. And if we talk about the tasks that face us, teachers, then we must teach students to work with texts on their own, to comprehend them. deep meaning. If they master this technique - and in seminars we try to master it - then it will be interesting for them to read the classics themselves and recognize its spiritual meaning behind the plot outline of the novel. It became noticeable that from course to course the guys are growing not only their enthusiasm for classical literature, but also the level of its comprehension, and this cannot but rejoice.

In addition to monuments of ancient Russian literature, what works attract your attention? What do you recommend seminarians read from Russian literature?
- Speaking of training course, then in each era it is possible to single out iconic works. For example, for the poetry of the 18th century, these are, of course, two “Reflections on the Greatness of God ...” by M.V. Lomonosov, ode "God" by G.R. Derzhavin, which can be called the pinnacle of spiritual poetry of the 18th century. The ode "God" reflects the entire Bible and the Orthodox creed, and not to know this work Orthodox person should be ashamed! Such creations can be commented on, analyzed for a very long time, because the more significant the work, the more different meanings are revealed in it. Importance has an acquaintance with "Poor Liza" N.M. Karamzin, in which one can see the first implementation in Russian literature of the "theory of adjunction". The transition from spirituality to sincerity is observed in I.F. Bogdanovich.

As for the 19th century - the "golden age" of Russian literature, then in the work of each writer one can single out a pinnacle work. If we talk about Pushkin's prose, then this is undoubtedly The Captain's Daughter, which is not accidentally called his spiritual testament. This is a story about love and mercy. It expresses the meaning of serving God through serving the Fatherland, serving one's neighbor through mercy based on love. This is an amazing piece of work.

In Dostoevsky, I would especially single out the novel Crime and Punishment, in which there are three levels of understanding: worldly, spiritual and moral, and biblical. And each of them has its own meaning. At the spiritual and moral level, the development of sin in Raskolnikov is traced from the birth of a thought to its incarnation (the same “prilogue theory”). The biblical level is a comparison of Cain and Raskolnikov, who bears the Cain stamp of a murderer already in modern times. Without understanding the different spiritual levels, we will not be able to fully comprehend the meaning of this work. The novel "The Idiot" with its deepest thought about the salvation of man is also important. Jesus Christ came into the world to save all mankind by self-sacrifice based on love. The novel also shows that one, almost ideal person, is not able to save another, since this feat cannot be accomplished without love in the heart and faith in God. Compassion alone is not enough. Without love there is no salvation.

It is possible to consider the work of writers in the dynamics of development. Let's say early work Pushkin and later, after his conscious acceptance of Orthodoxy. Dostoevsky has a path from social revolutionary ideas to Christian humility. It is interesting to trace the spiritual evolution of Gogol. Gogol has very strong stories about the unspiritual " little man"- "The Overcoat" and "Portrait", in which he explores the problem of the likeness of man to God in the ability to create and build his spiritual life. If Akaky Akakievich turned into a person who collects earthly riches instead of heavenly ones, then he is described as a dumb creature, not even able to express his thoughts, because there is no spiritual development in him. In the "Portrait" the characters are shown not only in the process of the fall, that is, the temptation of the material, but also at the moment of understanding their own sin and repentance. There is no person without sin. However, the power of repentance is great. As a result, the author of the portrait of the usurer will write the Nativity of Christ in such a way that the splendor of the depicted will amaze the abbot of the monastery with the brethren. In the opinion of the abbot, the artist could not have reproduced the image of God with his human nature alone. This unknown angelic force led him with a brush. In the new creation of the artist - the power of a transformed person. In the spiritual rebirth of the individual lies the meaning of human existence.

In fact, every writer can find a work in which a spiritual and moral theme would be considered. Take Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. In it we will also see the development of Anna's fall in accordance with the "theory of adjunction". But the central place in the novel is nevertheless occupied by the story of two families: when one family (Karenina) is destroyed by passion, the other (Levina) is created by love. The family is a small Church, the ark of salvation in worldly life.
That is, writers not only gave readers the opportunity to look at themselves through the prism of a work of art and draw a parallel between their life and life literary heroes, but also to draw appropriate conclusions that protect against unseemly acts.

In the educational process of the theological school, the educational moment is the most important. How do you implement it in your lectures?
- The current students are, in fact, teenagers. Their characters are still being formed, and by nature they are, as a rule, maximalists. You just need to be honest with them. If you say one thing and do another, then they, having noticed the falsity, will no longer believe you. You can only tell them what you yourself are deeply convinced of and what you yourself adhere to. Accordingly, when recommending something to students, you can be guided only by what you yourself are doing. If you talk about your life experience, it is better to talk about your mistakes so that they do not repeat them.

I strongly encourage children to keep a diary. Almost all writers kept diaries to one degree or another. Why is it necessary? The diary is important for monitoring yourself and for assessing your development. And write everything in it honestly, as Tolstoy did. If a person really wants to develop morally and spiritually, then he should keep a diary not only describing the day he lived and the dialogues that took place, but also give a critical analysis of what he lived, his actions and thoughts. There must be hard work on yourself, and the diary contributes to this. The diary also brings up industriousness in a person, because daily diary keeping, if it becomes a habit, teaches regular work, promotes observation, development of a syllable, and the ability to write. Why couldn't Akaky Akakievich remake just one paper? Yes, because he did not know how to work with the word, manage it. “Changing the title title and changing in some places the verbs from the first person to the third” turned out to be overwhelming work for him.

Working on style is an important aspect of journaling. With the current simplification of vocabulary, the emergence of youth slang, which we observe on forums on the Internet, in electronic correspondence, sms messages, there is a significant impoverishment of the vocabulary of modern young people. But keeping a diary contributes to the expansion of vocabulary. Recall that Pushkin, a lyceum student, did not know Russian well, but he was fluent in French. carried away literary work, he comprehends the Russian language. Few people know that his works contain the largest stock of Russian words: several times more than those of Dostoevsky or Tolstoy! And his example should be science for us. In everyday life, we use five to seven thousand words - this is the vocabulary of an average educated person. Pushkin has more than 20 thousand different words in his works.

- Alexander Nikolaevich, please tell us about yourself, about your life path, your student years.
- Life experience is axiological in nature and consists in the comprehension of value orientations and spiritual reasoning about them. In your life, you need to find some key points necessary to understand why life has settled this way and not differently, and what, if necessary, to correct.

At the age of 7, I became seriously ill, just in the summer, before the 1st grade. The illness proceeded hard, for almost two months the temperature was under 40. Of course, the school was out of the question. And I really wanted to! After all, all my friends were already in school. My parents were very worried, the doctors did not know what to do with me. Then my grandmother is a prayer book and says to my mother: “Take him to St. Theodosius of Chernigov”1. The relics of St. Theodosius rested in the female Holy Trinity Chernigov Monastery, where her nun was cousin. We went to her.

In Chernihiv, the first thing I did was put me in a children's clinic - under the supervision of doctors. To take me out of there for just one night, my mother had to write a receipt. The doctors let us go with undisguised fear, because my temperature did not decrease. Since I could not sleep because of the high temperature, I remembered everything very well.

On Saturday evening we arrived at the monastery, so that the next morning, before the Sunday service, we would venerate the holy relics that were in the altar of the temple. My grandmother, having given me her bed, prayed all night, and my mother was near. And early in the morning my grandmother took me to the temple. I approached - not without fear - the relics of the saint and venerated his open hands. Immediately I felt the warmth emanating from them. When I told the adults about this, they reacted with distrust to my words: what else is warm? We returned to the hospital, where I slept for a day. When I woke up, they measured my temperature, and it turned out to be normal!

Later I learned that St. Theodosius of Chernigov is the patron saint of teachers and students, and, it should be noted, I then had a great desire to go to school, but the doctors would not let me.
Apparently, the children's prayer was so strong that I received the intercession and help of St. Theodosius in healing. Seeing the change in my health, the head physician asked my mother: “Have you been to St. Theodosius?” She confessed. “Well, then it’s clear, this is not the first time,” he said.

For a long time I was going to go to Chernihiv, but somehow it did not work out. And now, 40 years later, in August, my friends called me, saying that they were going by car to Chernihiv, and offered to go with them. I took with me the icon of St. Theodosius, which was given to me by a parishioner of our church after my story about the healing, and we set off.
At my request, at the Trinity Cathedral, at the relics of St. Theodosius of Chernigov, a thanksgiving service was served with an akathist to the saint. The priest opened the shrine and gave me the opportunity to venerate the relics again. With boldness and spiritual awe, I approached the saint's reliquary, and everything came to mind: how once I approached these holy relics for the first time. It felt like I met again with a dear and close person to me after 40 years, even, I suspect, to the day. And I again felt his love and mercy for me. Finally, I asked the priest to attach to the relics an icon of the saint, brought from Moscow.

In a state of joy and spiritual uplift, I headed out of the monastery to the car that was waiting for me. On the way home at some point, we felt a special aroma in the car. I immediately realized what was the matter, and, having taken out the icon, I discovered that it was she who was fragrant. All were imbued with a miracle that happened before our eyes.

In this story, another circumstance is striking: literally the day after my adolescent healing, the convent was closed by decree of N.S. Khrushchev (this was 1962 - the time of the persecution of the Church), and the nuns were evicted. Undoubtedly, in the fact that the Lord revealed through His saint Theodosius of Chernigov the miracle of healing the lad on the last day of the monastery’s existence, and in the fact that, by the grace of God, I turned out to be this lad, one sees a special Divine Providence.

Then I had a school and Lviv University. I was lucky to get a good secular education thanks to different people. It is known that the Lord does His will through people, which is why many things in our life are, as it were, “determined” by people: they can suggest what to do next in life.

Very important for me was the meeting back in school time with Pavel Pavlovich Okhrimenko, a specialist in ancient Russian literature. It was then that I decided for myself that I would deal with ancient Russian literature.

Another person who defined mine life path, was Alexander Serafimovich Yenko. I spoke to him "accidentally" in the Moscow metro, and a few days later we "accidentally" found ourselves next to each other on a plane flying from Leningrad to Moscow. Then we met, surprised by this “accident”. We were friends with him for more than 30 years - until his death. And when I did not enter Moscow State University, he suggested that I enter the Faculty of Philology of Lviv University, and thanks to him, I ended up there. The university had an excellent teaching staff. Great importance for the formation of a specialist has his environment. All the teachers knew that from the 1st year I had been studying ancient Russian literature, and in the dean's office I was given a fantastic opportunity - to travel to universities and listen to lectures on ancient Russian literature! I still remember with gratitude the dean Professor I.I. Doroshenko. So I attended lectures at the Leningrad and Minsk universities. But I didn't have a supervisor.

Then, being a 3rd year student, I wrote a letter to Professor of Moscow State University V.V. Kuskov, author of a textbook on ancient Russian literature. I said that I was especially interested in the apocrypha, ancient Russian literature, but I did not have a mentor in this matter. And Vladimir Vladimirovich answered me - an unfamiliar student: "Come to Moscow for the winter holidays with your achievements." This is how I got to know him and consider him my teacher. Under his guidance, I wrote not only a term paper, but also a thesis. I also managed to listen to his lectures at Moscow State University.

In Leningrad, I met N.N. Rozov - Head of the Department of Manuscripts of the Public Library. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. He drew my attention to Gogol's spiritual prose and pointed to his Meditations on the Divine Liturgy. Thanks to Nikolai Nikolayevich, I discovered the religious writer Gogol in the atheistic era. At Leningrad University I had conversations with N.S. Demkova and M.V. Christmas. In Minsk - with L.L. Short.

The richness of my secular education is in the responsiveness of those people who shared their knowledge with me. All those whom I named were specialists in ancient Russian literature. But I always felt support from my other teachers. Seeing my enthusiasm, they helped me in every possible way.

Teachers were not only in the past, they are in the present.

For me, an example of service to God and the cause is Archpriest Pavel Fazan, rector of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Shchors, near Chernigov. It is already striking that in their big family four brothers and even two sons-in-law - priests!

Once upon a time in my native city of Shchors there was a magnificent church, but the Germans, retreating in 1943, blew it up. Father Pavel undertook the construction of a new church of St. Nicholas, having in the treasury only 43 hryvnias (about 200 rubles) and an unwavering faith in God's help. In four years, a handsome two-level stone temple has been erected, services are already underway in the lower church, and finishing work is underway in the upper one. And the Sretensky Monastery, with the blessing of the abbot, Archimandrite Tikhon, shared books from the library with him, and the vice-rector of the seminary, Father John, donated new editions. It is impossible not to help such an ascetic.

What struck me the most was Father Pavel's daily schedule. At 5-6 o'clock in the morning he already communes the weak and sick, at 8 - service, at 11-12 - trebes. At 16 - an akathist, then - an evening service. Moreover, you need to go to Chernigov for the night - to stand up for the Catherine's Church, which the schismatics are trying to take away. Then - on arrivals. He is the Dean of the Shchorska District. To Schema-nun Ekaterina to call in with. Loknistoye for spiritual conversation, visit the Domnitsky Monastery with the miraculous Icon of the Theotokos, and on the way back to the holy spring. I watched Father Pavel after two busy days and a sleepless night. It was he who drove me everywhere, and the Lord gave him strength. I saw it at the source.

Alexander Nikolayevich, tell me, did you develop the teaching methodology yourself, or did you adopt someone else's experience?
- I was very lucky, because my wonderful mentors were people born at the beginning of the 20th century and brought up on pre-revolutionary traditions. They passed on to us what they learned from their teachers. The teacher, first of all, is realized in his students. It is very important how students perceive the knowledge given to them by the teacher, whether they continue his work. This is how scientific schools are created.

With words of gratitude, I can recall Professor A.V. Chicherin, who made friends with Sergei Tolstoy, Yesenin, Blok, Bely ... He also met with Gorky, Mayakovsky, Bulgakov.

Alexey Vladimirovich instilled in us the skills of literary work, he said that in the classical gymnasium he was taught to use the "method of close reading." When you read quickly, only following the plot, you don’t notice much. When you read slowly and thoughtfully, paying attention to the smallest details and details, then you begin to understand that the idea of ​​the work is revealed through the details. Without noticing essential details, you can misinterpret a work of art.

This also applies to the methodology that we are currently using; in fact, it is a well-forgotten old. First of all, students themselves should try to understand the meaning of the work by reading it. Not just to run with your eyes and connect letters into words, but to read - to see the meaning laid down by the author, focusing not on the plot outline, but on the idea. It is necessary in each case to find the answer to the question why the writer wrote this work and why it turned out that way. Is it the will of the author or his inability to write differently? It happens that the ideological concept and its actual implementation can be completely different.

By the way, this technique was described back in the 11th century, in the teaching of a certain monk "On reading books." He wrote that reading should benefit the soul, that one should not turn the page without taking everything into one's heart. Since each book is written by the grace of God, the reader should be imbued with the spiritual word and not rush to interrupt the conversation with God. This is the method of slow and intent reading. After all, we do not want to interrupt a pleasant conversation with a friend, and here we should not interrupt a conversation with God. And then God-inspired words fall into the heart and strengthen the person.

“There is every gift from above,” that is, from God, including writing talent. If the writer understood that his talent was a gift from God, then he devoted his whole life to serving God through literature, just like the old Russian scribe. In fact, true writing is a synergistic connection between the writer and the Creator, but this happens when the writer is not autocratic. When he tries to create of his own free will, then his personal art is read: initially he wanted to write one thing, but it turned out completely different. And the answer is the writer himself: how will his word resonate in the souls of readers?!

Recent studies of Gogol's work testify to this. He conceived his writing work as spiritual. Not so long ago, notebooks with Gogol's extracts from the holy fathers were opened and published. And we can see how spiritually great was the work of the writer on himself. Then much in his work begins to be seen differently. Accordingly, in order to comprehend the meaning of his work, one would have to be a bit of a theologian.

The seminary is a closed type educational institution in which the day is built according to a certain schedule. A large amount of time is given, in addition to studying, to the performance of various obediences. What can you say about the workload that the seminarians bear, and how was it during the years of your studies?
- I can say, based on my personal experience: the more I am loaded, the more I can do. In my time, students were loaded as much as possible, there was practically no free time left. And in our student years we learned to use time rationally. We read a lot, much more than they read now - perhaps the fault is the Internet, where you can easily get the information you need.

We had items that took up a lot of precious time. Suffice it to recall the history of the CPSU, scientific communism and atheism. Every day for two or three hours it was necessary to take notes on the classics of Marxism-Leninism. Now, thank God, this is not the case, and much can be done during this time. From morning until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon we disappeared at lectures, and after them we went to the library to read until late in the evening. Today's students are not used to working in libraries. Nowadays reading rooms were filled with young people, but now they are half empty, and this fact is depressing. Too much workload is good for me. Now, for example, being vice-rector of the Literary Institute and executive editor of the Bulletin of the Literary Institute, I teach at four universities. I also have two doctoral students, five graduate students and at least five graduate students annually. I'm not talking about term papers. Everyone needs to take the time to read student papers several times, and at the same time they need to carry out their own scientific research. Therefore, the excuse that there is not enough time is from the evil one; There is always time if you want.

- You often publish in various magazines, including the Pravoslavie.ru website, which, by the way, you supervised at one time. Tell us what your works have been released lately and what you are working on now.
- A very important monograph “The Staged Development of Russian Literature in the 11th - the First Third of the 18th Century” was published a year ago. The theory of literary formations” (M., 2008) is the result of many years of reflection. It put forward a new theory of the development of Russian literature. It is complemented by the recently published monograph “On the specifics of the development of Russian literature in the 11th - the first third of the 18th century. Stages and formations” (M., 2009), in which theoretical questions find practical implementation. Both books are sold in the Sretenye shop at the Sretensky Monastery. Recently published in my translation and with my afterword "The Tale of the Life of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" (Moscow, 2009). Finally, he fulfilled his long-standing promise - he wrote an article about M. Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" for the Pravoslavie.ru website. A number of articles have been published in magazines. He took part in scientific conferences, Christmas readings. Now, with God's help, I am finishing work on a book on the Word of Law and Grace.

- Alexander Nikolayevich, your lectures are especially popular with seminary students. The church audience is closer in spirit to the subject you teach. To what extent is the secular audience interested in Old Russian literature, and what attracts them most about it?
- I have a happy opportunity to start working with students both in the seminary and in secular universities from the 1st year. This is very important for their spiritual upbringing. Young people have just come from school, with an unformed worldview, full of interest in life, in search of their place in society. It is possible not only to observe the evolution of a given person for several years, how he develops and what he comes to, but also to help him in his formation. The role of the mentor here is great and responsible.

In the 1st year, the student is looking for himself and the opportunity to test and show his strength. Most often focuses on favorite subjects or teachers, although addictions can change with age. One cannot but rejoice that interest in ancient Russian literature is constantly high. For example, at the State Academy of Slavic Culture, five or six diplomas were written a year, which means that students began to study Old Russian literature from the 1st year, plus they wrote term papers in the 2nd-4th years. Here it was important not only their study of ancient Russian literature, but also their own spiritual growth: one cannot be separated from the other.

For me, the greatest happiness was when one graduate on the defense of her thesis admitted that she was baptized two weeks ago. Her work on her diploma led to such a decision. If she had not been engaged in ancient Russian literature, then perhaps she would not have taken such an important step in her life or would have taken it much later, but then her life would have turned out differently. It is important that it was her conscious choice. I repeatedly observe that it is not parents, but, on the contrary, children who bring their parents to the Church. This, by the way, refers to the question of spiritual and moral education and the role of literature in it. If such cases are at least sometimes present in our practice, then our teaching work becomes meaningful.

It is clear that the seminary is a little different. But I also have theology students from the Moscow State Linguistic University (MGLU). Last year, there were also five of my graduate students among them, and all of them defended with excellent marks. For me it was no less joy than for them. First, it was the first release. Secondly, the topics of diplomas were difficult, but they coped with the task and revealed them. Two last year's graduates became my university colleagues and are now working on their Ph.D. dissertations.

Considering the lives of the saints in secular universities, you probably drew the attention of the audience to their theological meaning. Is it perceived by the secular audience as a whole?
- Audiences are different. It is gratifying to note that now there are more and more Orthodox church-going people in secular audiences. But it is one thing to call oneself Orthodox, another thing to be churched is to live according to church laws. Then the perception of the spiritual meaning of literary works takes place on a completely different level.

There were many Orthodox students at the Academy of Slavic Culture, which I have already mentioned, and it was easier to talk about the spiritual there, since they were brought up in the traditions of Russian Orthodox culture. They perceived everything differently than those who were brought up on "Western European values." In the 1990s, it was difficult to teach at MSLU, because the students were mostly Russian children who had lived abroad for the last ten years. Life outside one's native culture, when personality is being formed, does not pass without a trace. Children, although they were considered Russians by nationality, were already Europeans by their way of thinking. And it was difficult for them to perceive much from their culture. In Europe and America, they were taught the priority of material values ​​over spiritual ones. Arriving in Russia, they became related to that part of society that is drawn to "common European values", but parted ways with another, no less significant part, striving to revive the original Russian traditions based on Orthodoxy.

When you begin to disassemble with "Russian foreigners", say, the image of Eugene Onegin, then he is easily perceived by them, since he is understandable for his hedonistic aspirations and desires. If we talk about the Orthodox environment, then the image of Peter Grinev, capable of self-sacrifice, is closer to her from “ captain's daughter"- the complete opposite of Onegin. But if earlier "foreigners" did not think about why Pushkin argues with himself in his later works, now, living in Russia, they are gradually imbued with traditional Russian culture and perceive these literary images. And, most importantly, give them the right assessment.
In the 1990s, it was difficult to teach due to the fact that there was a multidirectional audience. When I asked young people which of them wanted to leave Russia, only two or three people did not raise their hands. Now the situation is reversed. This means that the outlook of young people, their value orientation has changed, and now I dare to hope that Russia has a future.

Alexander Nikolayevich, it is known that within the walls of the seminary you conducted a seminar on the film directed by Pavel Lungin "The Island" for seminarians and students of the journalism department of MSLU. Tell us more about this meeting. What was her purpose?
- There is only one goal - so that students themselves, reflecting and reasoning with my little help, discover the spiritual meaning of this film.

The film is, first of all, a spectacular, that is, figurative, side. But this film is deeply symbolic, therefore - ambiguous. Here it is important both to see the symbols and to interpret them, which means to penetrate into the spiritual meaning of the work. It so happened that we touched on this topic at lectures both at the seminary and at the Linguistic University. And we came to a collective decision to get together and discuss this film together. It seemed interesting to compare both the secular view of these things and the spiritual vision of the issue by children of the same age.

In fact, it turned out that like-minded people gathered who largely complemented each other with their subtle observations and helped to penetrate into the spiritual content of the film together. Parallels were drawn both with classical literature and with the spiritual development of the individual. In hagiographic literature, this motif of salvation is often present. The film shows the power of repentance and humility of a person, which lead him to spiritual perfection. In fact, we see an example of the transformation of personality already at the present stage.

Alexander Nikolaevich, you started teaching at the seminary from the very first enrollment, a decade has passed since then. What is the difference between a current student and a previous one? Do you see any dynamics? And what, in your opinion, distinguishes a seminarian from a secular student, what makes him stand out?
- Virtually nothing, students are the same everywhere: hard workers, lazy, and cunning. Only the sets of students of different years differ. For example, in the seminary, the first set consisted of monks and people of mature age who had a higher education, not only in the humanities, but also in technology. These adults made a conscious choice: they came from secular life to a monastery, and this choice inspires respect in me personally. In addition, we had a slight age difference, and this removed age barriers.

We often had long conversations after the lectures. These were rather frank conversations, many of them revealed the reasons for their departure to the monastery. We talked about various topics, talked about politics, science and everything in general. These students knew what they wanted and were eager to get as much knowledge as possible. I liked their efficiency, purposefulness. They did not need to be urged on, it was enough to advise them to read something, and they read. And then they discussed it together. They wanted to learn and they learned. Their growth was noticeable, many of them took the priesthood, now they themselves have spiritual children (I myself send my acquaintances and students to them), deliver wonderful sermons, receive confessions. They are already doing spiritual work in the monastery. When I meet them, I sincerely rejoice for them. Until now, we have friendly relations with Father Adrian, Father Ambrose, Father Arseniy, Father Luke, Father Cleopa, Father John, the current Vice-Rector of the Seminary, and many others. I am glad that they have found their place in life and feel their need, their demand among the laity and students. And I see with what respect the parishioners treat them.

- And in conclusion, what does teaching at SDS mean to you?
- The most important thing is my spiritual education. The most tangible is the fraternal monastic prayer for teachers and personally for me, a sinner. I began to feel this prayer from the very first days of my stay in the seminary. She keeps alive. The most useful are spiritual conversations. The most joyful thing is to see the success of the students. The most important thing is work for the glory of God, for the benefit of people and for the salvation of the soul.

Uzhankov Alexander Nikolaevich, was born in 1955 in Shchors, Chernihiv region, Ukraine. Professor, Doctor of Philology, Candidate of Cultural Studies. Graduated from the Russian Department of the Faculty of Philology of the Lviv State University. I. Franko (1980).

In his last year, he began to publish in Komsomolskaya Pravda, where, after graduating from university, he was invited as a correspondent to the Press Bureau, then moved to the Department of Literature and Art (1981-82). After "Komsomolskaya Pravda" he worked as an editor of the criticism department of the magazine "October", senior editor of the publishing house "Soviet Writer" of the Writers' Union of the USSR, General Director of the specialized publishing and trading enterprise "Heritage", created by order of the USSR Council of Ministers at the USSR Academy of Sciences (1988-89).

Since 1989, at the scientific work at the Institute of World Literature. A.M. Gorky of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, since 1992 - in teaching. He was the dean of the Faculty of Philology and vice-rector for scientific work of the State Academy of Slavic Culture. The initiator of the creation and the first executive director of the "Society of Researchers of Ancient Russia" at the IMLI of the USSR Academy of Sciences (later RAS).

From 2006 to the present - vice-rector for scientific work of the Literary Institute. A.M. Gorky. Professor of the Moscow State University named after M. Lomonosov (Moscow State University), Russian Academy painting, sculpture and architecture by Ilya Glazunov, the Institute of Cultural History (UNIK), the Sretensky Theological Seminary (SDS), the Higher Theological Courses at the Moscow Theological Academy.

He lectured at Charles University (Czech Republic, Prague), University of Palermo (Italy), Lviv National University (Ukraine), Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad), Kemerovo State University, etc.

Member of the Union of Journalists of the USSR (1985) and the Union of Writers of Russia (2000). Managing editor (2006), then Chairman of the editorial board of the Bulletin of the Literary Institute. A.M. Gorky” (2012), member of the editorial board of the series “The Religious and Philosophical Heritage of Ancient Russia” (IP RAS), member of the editorial board of the literary and journalistic almanac “Ruslo” (St. Petersburg). Author and host of the Time Factor program on Russian literature on the Enlightenment TV channel (since 2011), author of lectures on the Kultura TV in the Academy program (since 2011).

Honorary Worker of the Higher vocational education Russian Federation. Full member (academician) of the Academy of Russian Literature.

Member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

Theorist and historian of Russian literature and culture of Ancient Russia.

He owns research on the new dating of "Words about Law and Grace", "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves", "Readings about Boris and Gleb", "Tales of Boris and Gleb", "Words about Igor's Campaign", "Words about the destruction of the Russian land" , "The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky", "The Chronicler Daniel of Galicia", etc.

He proposed a new concept of understanding the ancient Russian chronicle, linking it with the eschatological ideas of Russian medieval scribes; discovered traces of the influence of the biblical "Book of the Prophet Jeremiah" on "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"; re-interpreted "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom"; studied the evolution of the image of nature in ancient Russian literature; history of the genre of the Old Russian story, developed a new method for dating Old Russian works, created a new "Historical Poetics of Old Russian Literature", etc.

He developed the theory of the stage development of Russian literature of the 11th - the first third of the 18th century and the theory of literary formations of Ancient Russia.

The results of his research were included in university and school textbooks.

A.N.Uzhankov's works have been translated into Ukrainian, Italian and English.

Uzhankov Alexander Nikolaevich - professor, doctor of philological sciences, candidate of cultural studies. Theorist and historian of Russian literature and culture of Ancient Russia.

Vice-Rector for Scientific Activities of the Moscow State Institute of Culture (since 2017) and Head of the Literature Department of the Moscow State Institute of Cinematography (since 2018). Head of the Center for Fundamental Research of Russian medieval culture Russian Research Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage named after D.S. Likhachev (since 12016).

Full member (academician) of the Academy of Russian Literature. Member of the Bureau of the Scientific Council for the Study and Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Member of the Society of Explorers of Ancient Russia. Member of the Council for Science under the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Co-Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Russian Professorial Assembly in Cultural Studies.

Member of the Union of Journalists of the USSR and the Union of Writers of Russia.

Honorary Worker of Higher Professional Education of the Russian Federation.

Born in 1955 in the city of Shchors, Chernihiv region, Ukraine.

Graduated in 1980 from the Russian Department of the Faculty of Philology of the Lviv State University. I. Franko. He went from a correspondent for the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" to the General Director of the specialized publishing and trading enterprise "Heritage", created by order of the USSR Council of Ministers at the USSR Academy of Sciences.

The initiator of the creation and the first executive director of the "Society of Researchers of Ancient Russia" at the IMLI of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Since 1989, at the scientific work at the Institute of World Literature. M. Gorky of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, since 1992 - in teaching. Professor of the Moscow State Linguistic University (1992-2012). Dean of the Faculty of Philology and Vice-Rector for Research of the State Academy of Slavic Culture (1996-2006). Vice-rector for scientific work of the Literary Institute. A.M. Gorky (2006-2016). Professor of NRNU MEPhI (since 2014), Sretenskaya Theological Seminary (since 1999).

Editor-in-Chief of the MGUKI Bulletin, Editor-in-Chief of the Culture and Education magazine, included in the list of the Higher Attestation Commission, member of the editorial board of the Kemerovo State University of Culture and Arts Bulletin and the New Philological Bulletin, member of the editorial board of the Religious and Philosophical Heritage of the Ancient Russia" (IPh RAS), etc.

He lectured at the Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, Literary Institute. A.M. Gorky, Moscow Physics and Technology University (MIPT), Ilya Glazunov Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Baltic Federal University. I. Kant (Kaliningrad), Kemerovo State University, Tomsk Pedagogical State University, Yaroslavl State University. P.G. Demidov, University of Tokyo (Japan), Kyoto University (Japan), Charles University (Czech Republic, Prague), University of Palermo (Italy), Lviv National University. I. Franko (Ukraine) and others.

Laureate of the All-Russian Orthodox literary prize the name of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky; All-Russian Historical and Literary Prize "Alexander Nevsky", Literary Prize. A.S. Griboyedov; literary prize. A.P. Chekhov, Union of Writers of Eurasia "Literary Olympus".

Awarded with orders and medals of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Specialist in the field of literature, history and culture of Ancient Russia. He owns research on the new dating of "Words about Law and Grace", "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves", "Readings about Boris and Gleb", "Tales of Boris and Gleb", "Words about Igor's Campaign", "Words about the destruction of the Russian land" , "The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky", "The Chronicler Daniel of Galicia", etc.

A.N. Uzhankov proposed a new concept of understanding the ancient Russian chronicle, linking it with the eschatological ideas of Russian medieval scribes; discovered traces of the influence of the biblical "Book of the Prophet Jeremiah" on "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"; re-interpreted "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom"; studied the evolution of the image of nature in ancient Russian literature and iconography; the history of the genre of the old Russian story, etc.

He developed the theory of the stage development of Russian literature of the 11th - the first third of the 18th century and the theory of literary formations of Ancient Russia.

Author of more than 200 studies on the theory and history of ancient Russian literature, worldview and culture of Ancient Russia, including individual publications: On the principles of constructing the history of Russian literature in the 11th - the first third of the 18th centuries. M., 1996; From lectures on the history of Russian literature of the 11th - the first third of the 18th century: "The Word about Law and Grace". M., 1999; On the problems of periodization and the specifics of the development of Russian literature in the 11th - the first third of the 18th centuries. Kaliningrad, Russian State University I. Kant, 2007; Stage development of Russian literature in the 11th - first third of the 18th centuries. Theory of literary formations. M., 2008; On the specifics of the development of Russian literature in the 11th - the first third of the 18th century. stages and formations. M., 2009; Problems of historiography and textology of ancient Russian monuments of the XI-XIII centuries. M., 2009; Historical poetics ancient Russian literature. Genesis of literary formations. M., 2011; "Word about the Law and Grace" and other works of Metropolitan Hilarion of Kyiv. M., 2014; "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and its era. M., 2015.

Author of sections in collective monographs: Old Russian literature: Image of nature and man. Monographic research M.: IMLI RAN, Heritage, 1995; Literature of Ancient Russia. Collective monograph. M., 2004; History of the cultures of the Slavic peoples. In 3 volumes. T.1. M., 2003; History of the cultures of the Slavic peoples. In 3 volumes. T.2. M., 2005; Boris and Gleb. Life, deeds, miracles of the first Russian saints. Dnepropetrovsk: ART-Press, 2005; Literature of Ancient Russia. Collective monograph. M., 2012; Old Russian literacy: textual criticism and poetics. Eagle: OGU, 2013; Russian classic literature in the world cultural and historical context: Monograph. M.: Indrik, 2017.

Compiler, author of the preface and comments: Russian everyday story XV - XVII century. M.: Soviet Russia, 1991; Reader on ancient Russian literature of the 11th - 17th centuries. M.: Russian language, 1991; A.M. Remizov. Works. In 2 volumes. Moscow: Terra, 1993; The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom. Translation by A.N. Uzhankov. M.: Scholiya, 2009.

Theorist and historian of literature and culture of Ancient Russia, teacher at the Sretensky Theological Seminary, vice-rector of the Literary Institute. Maxim Gorky.

- Alexander Nikolaevich, modern man, who lives in constant time pressure, certainly knows that it is necessary to read - in order to understand the world around him, to understand himself. But he also has many other desires that push reading into the background. So which books should fill this "background"? What should you read by all means?

- It's a question of priorities. And reading reading is different. For example, newspapers, periodicals can be read in the subway. Detectives to kill time (this is a terrific expression: “kill time”) can also be read in the subway. But Dostoevsky!.. I don't understand when people read Dostoevsky in the subway.

Tribute to today electronic books. I have several, but I hardly ever use them. I love holding a printed book in my hands. She has a certain font, there are margins without which I cannot read. I always read with a pencil, and I always make some marks in the margins. And what an interesting read! It is interesting to see which places are marked, to see your thoughts, which I wrote down in the margins, next to me.

I was struck by Gorky in his time: he always read very quickly - and always with a pencil in his hands. All the books of his library - it has been preserved, is located in the Gorky Museum, it is about 10,000 books - and so, all the books of his library are marked! He read very carefully. But he also answered young authors. But practically all literary critics and all writers read with a pencil. This is, so to speak, an axiom.

So what should you read first? I will say this: less is better. After all, even in Russian literature there are a lot of names. The course, which, for example, I teach at the Sretensky Seminary lasts almost four years, and at the same time I am not talking about many writers whose work I would really like to dwell on, and these are not even writers of the second plan, but of the first. Because it is better to take a deeper look at the works of Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, to consider them more scrupulously. I give the most important thing - the method of reading texts. And then let the guys go by themselves, they have learned to read correctly.

In principle, the teacher's task number 1 is to teach to read. It would seem that at school we learn to read, and we can read, but ... we can only swallow letters, words, sentences, comprehend the plot and then retell it - and in this, by the way, all sorts of encyclopedias have become especially adept. Indeed, why read four volumes of "War and Peace" if you can run through 8 or 16 pages of some incomprehensible text- and you will already have an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe novel and even be known as an educated person because you basically know what War and Peace is about. But the question is: why did Tolstoy need five years of hard labor? He is a sybarite, he loves balls, roulette, cards, and he refuses all this in order to write a novel - and not for the sake of a fee, I emphasize, and not even for the sake of fame, although he was a vain person. But he wanted to convey something to us! But we don’t need it, 8 pages are enough for us ...

The main thing is our attitude to what we read. In fact piece of art is the spiritual mirror we look into, and it shows what we see. If we see only one detective, then this is our content. If we see the theological meaning, it means that we have already advanced a little spiritually, it means that we already see what the other does not notice. Perhaps even the author himself did not assume that he had this meaning, but we saw it. What does this indicate? We can see that our spiritual vision has already been perfected.

- An extremely important question for reading comprehension: what are the rules, following which a person will find the joy of reading? After all, we know that a person begins to appreciate spiritual life when he feels the first victories over himself.

– It’s the same in reading: when the first discoveries come, when a person suddenly finds something unexpected in a text that seems to have been known for a long time.

We practice the following with former students of some universities where I once taught. Periodically - say, once a month - we meet somewhere. And we agree in advance which work everyone is reading. This is the main condition: that everyone read it. At these meetings we discuss it. And there are discoveries! Firstly, when they read, they already, it turns out, made a lot of discoveries, and now that we have gathered together and start a discussion, everyone shares these discoveries. Do you understand how interesting? It's much more interesting than reading detective stories, much more interesting. And you can't even imagine how happy they are with these discoveries! Why? Because these are small victories over oneself, over the routine, so to speak. All of them "sit" on the Internet, most of them are journalists, and professional journalists, so they read a lot, and, nevertheless, it is an outlet for them - to read small work, and then discuss it together, analyze it, look at it, discover the meanings. And this is also a great joy. And the further they grow up, the more they discover - this is the same spiritual growth, only thanks to literature.

– You never read your lectures “from a piece of paper”, and even more so - never from a printed text. And if you turn to some auxiliary materials, then these are always your freehand sketches made on small pieces of paper, which, one might say, are unique. And in this regard, your manner of presenting information is unique. What can this way of working with text give me, as a reader, when I write out something for myself by hand, take notes, and not just read the already mentioned e-books, tablets, as is customary for many today?

The manuscript is yours. Even when you write a book, if you write by hand, it's yours. Dostoevsky once said that one must by all means dip a pen into an inkwell: because while you are carrying the pen to it, and then to a sheet of paper, you are pondering a thought. You have to think all the time. When you scribble, thinking seems to disappear; when the process of writing is slow, there is an opportunity to think. Of course, he spoke with some irony, but the meaning is deep.

When you write with your own hand, this text is really yours and no one else's - and it is written in your handwriting, and as if your energy is preserved in it.

When the text is typed on the computer, I still edit by hand - I make a printout and make changes to it. You can, of course, edit on a computer, but it’s better like this: you can better see where to change which word, where to make stylistic corrections.

And when a book comes out, you look at it as a completely alien creature. Nothing connects her with you - printed letters, paper, some kind of binding ... well, maybe, except perhaps your last name. And it is still unknown whether you wrote a book or some ideas came from above. Therefore, you also look at the last name with some apprehension: it stands there, but is it your book? can you tell that this is my book?

And these are my pieces of paper - I know every letter in them. And if you need to replace something, I replace it, I write another one ... They accumulate, then these notes will be used somehow: in an article, in a new lecture, in a report ... All of them are first collected in envelopes, then envelopes - in folders, then everything is put into a big folder. And everything is systematized. But the most important thing is that I also tell students about this when they write term papers or theses: the first thoughts that appear when reading the text, be sure to fix them - they are the most interesting. Then you will return to them. Not fixed - that's it, you will forget them. It's like a dream: when you dream, you remember and are present in the dream, as soon as you wake up - maybe you still remember at first, but in the evening you don't. It's exactly the same with this idea. But it is extremely precious. After all, this is the same contact, especially if you read spiritual literature, a contact sent from above. And so that it does not interrupt - write it down, fix it somewhere. Then you will definitely come back to it. I even have a special notebook - not a diary, no, but for some passing thoughts, as they say. And when you re-read it after some time, you are amazed: these are not your thoughts, I could not think so! But these thoughts will decorate any article, any report, any lecture. Therefore, I always say to the guys: “You need to read with a pencil and these passing thoughts must be recorded.”

– Alexander Nikolayevich, we have to admit that the modern school often discourages students from reading Russian classics. What advice would you give to a person who wants to rediscover this amazingly rich spiritual world of Russian literature?

One piece of advice is to read. Read as much as possible! I'll start with the most elementary. When I talk to students, especially at the first lecture, I ask them "tricky questions": "Tell me, have you read these works?" - "Read." “And what is their main idea?” They begin to remember, try to answer something. I say: "Are you sure?" And when we start to dig a little deeper, it turns out that, indeed, the study of literary works at school is very, very superficial. Maybe for a school, especially for the middle classes, this is permissible, because there you need to take into account the age of the child, and his capabilities - both mental and psychological: how much he can perceive certain works. In high school, there should be a more serious approach. During this period, the formation of a worldview takes place, there the approach to studying works will be much more difficult.

I always tell my students that any work of Russian literature should be read at least twice. The first time is familiarity with the plot. The second time is getting to know the details.

More formalists, first the Germans in late XIX century, then the Russian formalists of the early 20th century, revealed that in world literature there are only 36 plots - however, some counted 38. But it does not matter: 36 or 38 plots. And everything else is their variations. So, the plot is not so important for revealing the meaning. Details are important. Detail is the queen of meaning. That is, if we notice the details, then we can understand the meaning.

In order to understand what idea a 19th-century writer carries or introduces into his work, you need to pay attention just to the details. Once I had a wonderful teacher - Professor Alexei Vladimirovich Chicherin, who graduated from the gymnasium before the revolution. And he said, "We were taught slow reading - or close reading." That is, the students were not in a hurry to read, they were not taught speed reading. Why? Because if you read quickly, you don’t notice the details, you don’t comprehend the meaning.

And he also taught us slow reading. Therefore, I also teach my students to read closely. I tell them, “I am the bridge between the 21st and 19th centuries. Why? Because my teachers were born in the 19th century, they taught me, now I teach you, already in the 21st century.”

111.)
Born in 1955 in the city of Shchors, Chernihiv region, Ukraine. Doctor of Philology, Candidate of Cultural Studies. Theorist and historian of Russian literature and culture.
Professor of the Moscow State Linguistic University (MSLU), Literary Institute named after. A.M. Gorky, Sretensky Theological Seminary (SDS). Vice-rector for scientific work of the Literary Institute. A.M. Gorky.
Graduated in 1980 from the Russian Department of the Faculty of Philology of the Lviv State University. I. Franko.
He was invited as a correspondent to the staff of the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" (1980), worked as an editor of the criticism department of the magazine "October" (1983), senior editor of the publishing house "Soviet Writer" (1983), General Director of the specialized publishing and trading enterprise "Heritage" (1988) .
In 1989, he moved to research work as a senior researcher at the Department of Old Russian Literature at the Institute of World Literature named after V.I. M. Gorky Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He initiated the creation and was the first executive director of the "Society of Researchers of Ancient Russia" at IMLI RAS (1990). Since 1992, he has been teaching at MSLU, was the dean of the Faculty of Philology (2000) and vice-rector for scientific work (2002) of the State Academy Slavic cultures(GASK), Professor of the Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (since 2007), Professor and Vice-Rector for Research at the Literary Institute named after. A.M. Gorky (since 2006).
Member of the Union of Journalists of the USSR and the Union of Writers of Russia. Managing editor of the Bulletin of the Literary Institute. A.M. Gorky”, a member of the editorial board of the series “The Religious and Philosophical Heritage of Ancient Russia” (IPh RAS).
Specialist in the field of literature, history and philosophy of Ancient Russia. He owns research on the new dating of "Words about Law and Grace", "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves", "Readings about Boris and Gleb", "Tales of Boris and Gleb", "Words about Igor's Campaign", "Words about the destruction of the Russian land" , "The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky", "The Chronicler Daniel of Galicia", etc.
He proposed a new concept of understanding the ancient Russian chronicle, linking it with the eschatological ideas of Russian medieval scribes; discovered traces of the influence of the biblical "Book of the Prophet Jeremiah" on "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"; re-interpreted "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom"; studied the evolution of the image of nature in ancient Russian literature; the history of the genre of the old Russian story, etc.
He developed the theory of the stage development of Russian literature of the 11th - the first third of the 18th century and the theory of literary formations of Ancient Russia.
Author of studies on the theory and history of ancient Russian literature, including individual publications: On the principles of constructing the history of Russian literature in the 11th - first third of the 18th centuries. - M., 1996; From lectures on the history of Russian literature of the 11th - the first third of the 18th century: "The Word about Law and Grace". - M., 1999; On the problems of periodization and the specifics of the development of Russian literature in the 11th - the first third of the 18th centuries. - Kaliningrad, Russian State University. I. Kant, 2007; Stage development of Russian literature in the 11th - first third of the 18th centuries. Theory of literary formations. - M., 2008; On the specifics of the development of Russian literature in the 11th - the first third of the 18th century. stages and formations. - M., 2009; The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom. M., 2009.
Author of sections in collective monographs: Old Russian literature: Image of nature and man. Monographic research - M.: IMLI RAN, Heritage, 1995; Literature of Ancient Russia. Collective monograph. - M.: Prometheus, 2004; History of the cultures of the Slavic peoples. In 3 volumes. M.: GASK, 2003-2008 and others.
Compiler, author of the preface and comments: Russian everyday story of the 15th - 17th centuries. - M.: Soviet Russia, 1991; Reader on ancient Russian literature of the 11th - 17th centuries. - M.: Russian language, 1991; A.M. Remizov. Works. In 2 volumes. - M.: Terra, 1993 and others.