Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas
Im Auftrag des Instituts für Ost- und Südosteuropastudien Regensburg
herausgegeben von Martin Schulze Wessel und Dietmar Neutatz
Ausgabe: 60 (2012) H. 3, S. 460-461
Verfasst von: Irina Paert
Vygoreckij Činovnik. V dvuch tomach [Vygoreckij Činovnik. In zwei Bänden].
Tom 1: Faksimil’noe vosproizvedenie rukopisnogo sbornika iz Drevlechranilišča Puškinskogo Doma, kollekcija I. N. Zavoloko, No. 3 [Band 1: Faksimile-Reproduktion der Sammelhandschrift aus der Sammlung alter Handschriften des Puschkin-Hauses. Kollektion I. N. Zavoloko, Nr. 3]. Izdanie podgotovil G. V. Markelov. S.-Peterburg: Bulanin, 2008. 508 S. ISBN: 978-5-86007-583-2.
Tom 2: Teksty i issledovanie [Band 2: Texte und Untersuchungen]. S.-Peterburg: Bulanin, 2008. 556 S. ISBN: 975-5-86007-585-6.
The hefty double-volume publication (amounting to 1064 pages) is an important landmark for the studies in Old Russian culture and the history of Old Belief. Volume One is a facsimile publication of the eighteenth-century collection of documents from the archive of the Old Believer (Pomorian) community in Vyg and Leksa (Archangel’sk region). Volume Two contains a translation of these documents into contemporary Russian and a commentary presented by the editor of the volume, G. V. Markelov, a researcher at Pushkinskii Dom (The Institute of Russian Literature, St. Petersburg). The story of the original manuscript is fascinating. It was presented to Pushkinskii Dom in the 1970s by N. N. Zavoloko, an Old Believer collector and former prisoner of the Gulag from Latvia. Alongside with an autographic copy of the Life of the Archpriest Avvakum, written by himself (also donated by Zavoloko), the “Vygoretskii Chinovnik” which contains autographs of the founders of the Vyg-Leksa community, undoubtedly, represents a treasure of the Pushkinskii Dom library. The facsimile edition will be appreciated by palaeographers, philologists and scholars of the history of literature because it provides a decent-quality copy of the eighteenth-century manuscript written in skoropis’ and poluustav allowing to trace editing of the original texts by the authors. The transcription of the original texts is thoroughly annotated, pointing to all corrections within the text and other inconsistencies. The commentaries to the texts, accompanied by cross-references, contain rich historical, biographical, geographical and religious details. The documents present the life of the Pomorian community as guided by strict rules based on the communal Rule of Basil the Great. Because the priestless Old Believers consider that marriage as a sacrament was no longer possible in the world tainted by the Antichrist, married couples had to be separated and to join male and female communities respectively. The documents provide a picture of the way in which monastic life was organised: The rules meticulously regulated the distribution and consumption of food, communication between the male and female members of the community, behaviour during prayer and work. During confession, for example, it was required to keep the doors of the chapel open so that the sacrament had witnesses. The community in Leksa which was separated in 1706 was guided by the men’s community in Vyg. The Vyg leaders appointed the mother-superior, treasurer, cook, baker, the supervisor of church services, readers and teachers (no. 14, 109‒113, vol. 2). Since many of the inhabitants of Vyg-Leksa communities came from large peasant families, the kinship ties presented an unexpected problem for the leaders of the community. There were special rules regulating contacts between members of nuclear and extended families who lived nearby (excluding wives and husbands) (no. 24, 148‒151, vol. 2). The documents provide evidence to higher levels of literacy among Old Believers, compared to the average Russian peasant, especially women. The female scribes copied the Old Believer texts for wider circulation: While their work was highly esteemed in the Old Believer world, they had to be supervised so that they did not write anything critical to their relatives (p. 213, vol. 2). The female readers were admonished to read “clearly and without mistakes” (p. 486, vol. 2). The continuous repetition of the rules (especially concerning the separation of sexes, food consumption, clothes and communication with the outside world) suggest that in practice these rules were frequently breached. The appendices to vol. 2 contain several texts (in Russian transcription) that were not part of the original manuscript, but provide an additional facet to the practices of the Pomorian community, for example various documents regulating behaviour of the members of the community who were away for making business. A valuable addition to the volume is the last chapter explaining the roles and practices of different officers in the Vyg-Leksa community. The edition of “Vygoretskii Chinovnik” is an impressive undertaking which is researched and presented in the best tradition of the “Otdel Drevnerusskoi Literatury” of Pushkinskii Dom. It will, undoubtedly, be a valuable addition to any serious academic library that specialises in Old-Slavonic literature. The user of the book is, however, required to have some knowledge of Old Believer history.
Zitierweise: Irina Paert über: Vygoreckij Činovnik. V dvuch tomach [Vygoreckij Činovnik. In zwei Bänden]. Tom 1: Faksimil’noe vosproizvedenie rukopisnogo sbornika iz Drevlechranilišča Puškinskogo Doma, kollekcija I. N. Zavoloko, No. 3 [Band 1: Faksimile-Reproduktion der Sammelhandschrift aus der Sammlung alter Handschriften des Puschkin-Hauses. Kollektion I. N. Zavoloko, Nr. 3]. Izdanie podgotovil G. V. Markelov. S.-Peterburg: Bulanin, 2008. 508 S. ISBN: 978-5-86007-583-2. Tom 2: Teksty i issledovanie [Band 2: Texte und Untersuchungen]. S.-Peterburg: Bulanin, 2008. 556 S. ISBN: 975-5-86007-585-6., http://www.dokumente.ios-regensburg.de/JGO/Rez/Paert_Vygoreckij_Cinovnik.html (Datum des Seitenbesuchs)
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