About Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature

Published since 1989.

Founder and Publisher: А.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Adress: Povarskaya 25 а, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

ISSN 1607-6192 (Print)

ISSN 2713-2226 (Online)

Author of the project idea ― Anatoly S. Demin, DSc in Philology, Professor, Chief Researcher, IWL RAS (until February 01, 2017 ― Head of the Department of Old Slavic Literatures, IWL RAS).

Aims and Scope

The Serial Scientific Edition Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature (HORL) is a collection of monographs and articles devoted to the Russian literature of the 11th – 17th centuries. The Serial Scientific Edition is based on the research of representatives of the Moscow school of hermeneutics, which is actively developing in science today, which sets itself the task of interpreting and comprehending Old Russian and Old Slavonic texts, developing a methodology of scientific evidence, a syncretic study of the history of literary and artistic works of small and large medieval literary forms. The research methodology, presented in the Serial Scientific Edition Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature, is based primarily on the explanation of phenomena, their connection with social thought, the psychology of literary creativity, history, and in this sense, the Serial Scientific Edition continues the scientific traditions of studying Old Russian literature laid by N.K. Gudziy, V.D. Kuzmina. At the same time, unlike the above-mentioned school, textology is the starting point of hermeneutical research in the field of medieval Russian literature. A large corpus of works in Serial Scientific Edition is devoted to the problems of poetics, style, aesthetics of Old Russian literature. Continuing and developing the scientific directions of studying old Russian texts of the 11th – 17th centuries, the sources of which are the works of  F.I. Buslaev, A.S. Orlov, D.S. Likhachev, the Moscow school of hermeneutics nevertheless represents an original direction in the study of medieval texts, since the triad is based on the research presented in the Serial Scientific Edition: textology – poetics – hermeneutics (i.e. interpretation and explanation based on a multitude of facts). Such an integrated approach, supported by a comparative analysis involving the comparison of old Russian texts with medieval Slavic and Western European texts, allows hermeneutics to detect such phenomena that are not revealed with other research methods. Due to this scientific approach to the study of the medieval texts and monographs, the articles presented in Serial Scientific Edition Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature open up new dimensions in understanding of old Russian texts of the 11th – 17th centuries, both well-known and newly introduced into scientific circulation.

The publication is addressed primarily to prepared readers ― medieval scholars, university teachers, graduate students and philology students, historians, art historians.

Executive editors of the Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature in different years:

  • Anatoly S. Demin, DSc in Philology (HORL, issue 1, 1989; HORL, issue 2, 1989; HORL, issue 4, 1994)
  • Vladimir M. Kirillin, DSc in Philology (HORL, issue 6, part 1, 1993; HORL, issue 6, part 2, 1994)
  • Mikhail Yu. Ljustrov, DSc in Philology (HORL, issue 10, 2000; HORL, issue 11, 2004)
  • Fedor S. Kapitsa, PhD in Philology (HORL, issue 14, 2010)
  • Daria S. Mendeleeva, PhD in Philology (HORL, issue 12, 2005; HORL, issue 13, 2008)
  • Mikhail V. Pervushin, PhD in Philology (HORL, issue 16–17, 2014)
  • Olga A. Tufanova, PhD in Philology (HORL, issue 15, 2010; HORL, collection 18, 2019)
  • Alexander N. Uzhankov, DSc in Philology (HORL, issue 3, 1992)
  • Ekaterina B. Rogachevskaya, DSc in Philology (HORL, issue 8, 1995 / co-editor O.V. Gladkova; HORL, issue 9, 1998)
  • Olesya V. Gladkova, DSc in Philology (HORL, issue 7, part 1, 1994; HORL, issue 7, part 2, 1994; HORL, issue 8, 1995 / co-editor E.B. Rogachevskaya)
  • Alexander A. Kosorukov, PhD in Philology (HORL, issue 5, 1992)

Types of publications

Fundamental research (scientific articles, monographs, dissertations) on history, source study, textology, poetics, style, aesthetics of Old Russian literature are accepted for publication; history of old Russian art; syncretic studies of social thought, the psychology of Old Slavic literary work; publications of old Slavic texts, bibliographic reviews, etc.