What is the Essence of the Differences Between Old and Modern Russian Literature?

Abstract

I should like to share with the reader certain reflections of mine on the differences, similarities, and connections between Old and Modern Russian literature. The immediate occasion for these thoughts was provided by the first chapter of B. Bursov's book, The Distinctive National Character of Russian Literature [Natsional'noe svoeobrazie russkoi literatury], Sovetskii pisatel' Press, Moscow and Leningrad, 1964, which cites numerous statements on this subject by the most important writers and critics of the 19th century. This seemed unnecessary to me. One can think about the material Russian literature itself presents to us without having recourse to the authority of statements by writers and critics. As late as the mid-19th century, information on Old Russian literature was very incomplete. Many of the best works of Old Russian literature were still unknown in the middle of the 19th century. The Trans-Doniad [Zadonshchina] was not discovered until 1852, and the remarkable Story of Woe-Misfortune [Povest'...