CHRONICLE STORY OF PRINCE OLEG’S DEATH IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PROBLEM OF “DEVIANT” TEXTS

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Category: Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature: Issue 24
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The article was completed with the support of the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 24-28-00091, https://rscf.ru/en/ project/24-28-00091/) at IWL RAS.
Abstract:

The article focuses on the mini-dialogues as one of the most important artistic method of early “deviant” texts, based on an internal conflict of perception of the situation. Based on the analysis of the story of Oleg’s death from a horse in the Tale of Bygone Years, it is concluded that speeches are not always accompanied by an adequate reaction, sometimes they determine further conflict interaction, destructive assessments, actions and statements of the hero. Of particular interest are “speeches ‘into nowhere’,” contributing to the creation of hermeneutic “zones of silence.” A comparison of the plot from the Tale of Bygone Years with its versions in other chronicle collections showed that the reduction of plot gaps occurs either by introducing details that change the perception of what is heard or explaining the strange behavior of the hero (Russian Chronograph of 1512, Mazurin Chronicle, Vologda-Perm Chronicle), or by reducing the text to the level of a weather record, in which unquestionable information remains  (Rogozhsky  Chronicle,  Yermolinsky  Chronicle,  Novgorod I Chronicle of Jun. Edition), or by developing a motif implied in the early text (Ustyug Chronicle according to the Matsievich list, Arkhangelsk Chronicle). Depending on the preferences of the scribe, this motif either completely destroys the signs of deviance in the text and removes the aura of destructiveness from the hero’s behavior, or, on the contrary, strengthens them, which leads to a simplification and flattening of the original hermeneutic multi-layeredness of the text (“Synopsis” from the collection of V.M. Undolsky, f. 310, no. 1110).
Keywords: chronicle, story about Oleg’s death from a horse, “deviant” text, conflict of perception, destructive behavior, mini-dialogue, speech.
Author: Olga A. Tufanova
Information about the author:

Olga A. Tufanova, DSc in Philology, Leading Research Fellow, А.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25А, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2254-7969

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For citation:

Tufanova, O.A. “Chronicle Story of Prince Oleg’s Death in the Context of the Problem of ‘Deviant’ Texts.” Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 24. Ed.-in-chief O.A. Tufanova, sci. ed. M.V. Kaplun. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2025, pp. 199–217. https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2025-24-189-217 (In Russian)
EDN:

hhttps://elibrary.ru/KYZBBT
UDC: 821.161.1.0
Publication Type: Research Article and Publication of Archival Documents
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2025-24-189-217
Received: 03.11.2024
Approved after reviewing: 16.01.2025
Date of publication: 13.07.2025

 

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