Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature 1607-6192 2713-2226 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2026-25-699-718 Research Article Articles Old Russian Cultural Mark and a Missionary Topic in Grigory Novitsky Book A Brief Description of the Ostyak People (1715) Trofimov Artem E. old-rus@imli.ru 2026 25 699 718 Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The work of Grigory Ilyich Novitsky A Brief Description of the Ostyak People of 1715 is known as the first ethnographic work in Russia. It describes the history, mythology and life of the Finno-Ugric peoples of Western Siberia. Despite the purely scientific status of the book, as it has been considered so far, A Brief Description of the Ostyak People contains many structural and figurative elements of a literary text: poetic inclusions, expressive style, an outstanding figure of the narrator, etc. These features allow us to study Novitsky’s book not only as a historical source, as has been customary in science until now, but also as a literary work. In the article, some elements of the apostolic-missionary theme reflected in A Brief Description of the Ostyak People are described, which allows us to identify the connection of the book with the Old Russian literary tradition. First of all, it is a frequent reference to the plots of the Life of Stephen of Perm, which means that the author strives to show his own status continuity in relation to the Zyryan apostle as the baptizer of the Finno-Ugric pagans. 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