Prayers in the Vita of Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver

Category: Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature: Issue 21
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Author: Ekaterina A. Andreeva
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Ekaterina A. Andreeva, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya 25 a, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8829-3084

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https://elibrary.ru/QRQKEJ
For citation:

Andreeva, E.A. “Prayers in the ‘Vita of Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver’.” Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 21. Ed.-in-chief O.A. Tufanova. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2022, pp. 225–238. (In Russian) https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2022-21-225-238
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2022-21-225-238
UDC: 821.161.1.0
Keywords: genre, hagiography, life (vita), Mikhail of Tver, prayer, the Psalter, holy.
Date of publication: 16.12.2022

Abstract:

The article examines the functioning of a small genre — genre of prayer in the Vita of Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver. The importance of prayers is determined, first of all, by the object of image and situation in which the main character is shown. Most of the prayers, which are supplicating in function, containing an individual appeal to God, are concentrated in the scene of Mikhail of Tver’s languor in prison on the eve of execution. They are based on the Psalter text, to which a hero constantly refers. The skillful and masterful selection of Holy Scriptures texts indicates that hagiographer is a well-educated and knowledgeable person connected with the church surroundings. Prayers play an important role in revealing an image of the main character: thanks to them, the psychological portrait of the Russian prince-martyr is recreated.

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