“Poucheniie Ditiam” by Volodymyr Monomakh as a Manifesto of the High Middle Ages Literature of Kyivan Rus’ Cover Image

„Повчання” Володимира Мономаха як маніфест літератури Високого києворуського Середньовіччя
“Poucheniie Ditiam” by Volodymyr Monomakh as a Manifesto of the High Middle Ages Literature of Kyivan Rus’

Author(s): Oksana Slipushko
Subject(s): Russian Literature, Ukrainian Literature, 6th to 12th Centuries, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydział Lingwistyki Stosowanej Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Volodymyr Monomakh; High Middle Ages; “Poucheniie ditiam”; Kyivan Rus’ literature; memoir prose; personality; ruler’s image; humanism;

Summary/Abstract: The article’s author examines the peculiarities of “Poucheniie ditiam” [Instruction for [My] Children] by Grand Prince Volodymyr Monomakh written in the early twelfth century as the work that ushers in the era of High Middle literature of Kyivan Rus’. She emphasises “his very own picture” presented by Monomakh as the image of an ideal ruler, which was significantly different from the type of European monarch of that time. Monomakh depicted the idea of the authentic leader who met the challenges and demands of the Kyivan Rus’ state and the period of the High Middle Ages. The article’s author indicates the autobiographical protagonist of the work, constructed by Monomakh on the basis of his personal experience and life facts. Attention is paid to the text as the first example of memoir prose. Next, the author describes Monomakh’s interpretation of such categories as law, power, faith, and religion; then, she determines the Grand Prince’s understanding of Christian moral and ethical values.

  • Issue Year: 2023
  • Issue No: 10
  • Page Range: 27-43
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: Ukrainian