East Slavic Visual Writing: The Inception of Tradition

Abstract

The synthesis of verbal and message can be observed in many early literary works from various cultures. The earliest literary sources, with unconventional textual configuration, known as technopeignia,1 were created in Hellenistic period (between 325 B.C.E. and C.E. 200) by individuals such as Simmias of Rhodos and Theocritus. These were followed by a few Byzantine pattern poems, tabuloe iliacce by Rome-based Greek poet Theodoros (between 50 B.C.E. and C.E. 50), anonymous Greek and Latin samples from early Christian period, some shaped texts by two Latin poets Lavius (Ist century C.E.) and Optatian (fl. C.E. 325),2 and versus intexti invented by latter.3 The listing of Eastern Slavic texts traditionally begins with Baroque period. Ivan Velychkovskyi (seventeenth century) and Mytrofan Dovhalevskyi (eighteenth century) are usually referred to as poets who made most valuable contribution to development of Ukrainian poetry; while Russian court poet of Belarusian descent, educated in Ukraine, Samuil Petrovskii-Sitnianovich, known by his monastic name Simeon Polotskii (1629-1680), credited as author of Russian carmina figurata. Even though Ukrainian poetry was fully established within framework of Baroque period, and in Russia this poetic form originated in Baroque era, Eastern Slavic writing has a longer tradition than commonly believed. It difficult to establish exactly when Eastern Slavic writing originated. However, its introduction was unquestionably connected with conversion of Kievan Rus' to Christianity. Christianity, which came from Greek Byzantium,4 bringing with verbal culture of Constantinople.5 The Greek Orthodox Church introduced Byzantine education, literature and art to its newly converted neighbour, thus setting grounds for a new literary activity in Kievan Rus'. The works, which reached Eastern Slavs were exclusively religious texts, oriented towards establishing proper monastic habits than toward serious systematic theology or philosophical inquiry.6 They met Christian demands in Kievan land, and therefore served their purpose. No doubt, they were not finest part of Byzantium literary tradition. However, question of existence of Byzantine poetry (or literature in general) as a popular, or at least developed literary genre remains open. Visual poetry expert, Dick Higgins, who documented several Byzantine pieces of pattern poetry,7 doubts potential of Byzantine culture, which influenced Kievan literature, to develop poetry as a specific poetic form. In his opinion, formally conservative Byzantine literature is not notably visual and thus it not sort of milieu where one might expect to find much pattern poetry, although some pieces do exist.8 Nonetheless, Higgins suggests that pillage of Byzantine libraries in 1204 during Fourth Crusade, as well as collapse of Constantinople in 1453, might quite possibly have resulted in destruction of many manuscripts.9 The question of possible import of this intellectual product from Byzantium to Kievan Rus' more complex. Western and Eastern European scholars both share opinion that Byzantine literature was represented in diversity of genres and forms of both religious and secular writing. There little plausibility, however, that Byzantium could direct secular literature to newly converted lands. The literary works which continued the antique practice in most refined traditions of formalism and scholastic casuistry and which were created for Byzantine nobility had never been exported to Kievan Rus' which was perceived as a Byzantine cultural colony.10 The works, which were sent to Kievan Rus', either met most imperative needs of Christian religious leaders or else they could promote by their specific features and content Byzantine cultural hegemony over barbarians who had to be civilized. …