Recently, more and more Orthodox or “near-Orthodox” fiction has appeared. Is there any? It would be more accurate to say that works of art written by Orthodox authors have become noticeable on the book market. The quality of these books is very different, many of them do not stand up to criticism, but there are also talentedly written stories and novels. This is the case when it comes to literature for adults. When it comes to books for children, the situation is much worse.
Children's literature is generally the weak link of the modern Russian book market. When you go to a bookstore to buy something for your child, at first you are confused by the abundance of colorful covers, but after looking through these brightly designed books, you realize that there is nothing to please your baby. The lion's share of new children's books are endless reprints of classics such as Andersen, Pushkin, Charles Perrault, Marshak, Chukovsky, Astrid Lindgren. Modern authors most often churn out completely low-quality books with primitive text, dubious jokes and a weak plot. If the author nevertheless managed to write something satisfactory from an artistic point of view, then it is not a fact that his book will be useful for children: the ideological crisis that is acutely felt in today's society is especially noticeable in children's literature, since the efforts of authors in recent years to avoid any hint of “moral teaching” and “didactics” reduced everything to endless postmodern distortion and irony. Children, as we know from the basic course of developmental psychology, very late begin to understand the meaning and value of ironic discourse, and instead of ideals that they would like to achieve, examples from which to learn, heroes with whom they would like to empathize, they receive a meaningless surrogate .
It would seem that this is where the area of responsibility of Orthodox authors begins, who clearly know where to draw the line between good and evil, what ideological basis should be formed in a child. However, there is even less good modern Orthodox literature for children than acceptable secular literature. One of the main problems is genre monotony. The fairy tale genre is suspicious to our authors because it contains “evil spirits.” The genre of short stories from children's lives is questionable due to "crude materialism." Even the monk Lazarus, the author of the wonderful adventures of the “Orthodox hedgehog,” was attacked by zealous critics for the fact that his “animals pray to God.” Modern teenagers love the fantasy genre. But it is believed that Orthodox fantasy cannot be written, because there are elves, gnomes and other “undead”, and children at this time read JK Rowling or Philip Pullman, whose books are openly anti-Christian. Meanwhile, an example of “Christian fantasy” can be called Clive Lewis with his “Chronicles of Narnia”, and an example of modern “Orthodox fantasy” is Yulia Voznesenskaya and her “Cassandra or the Journey with Pasta”. Unfortunately, there is only one example.
Another problem of Orthodox children's literature is sweetness and “pious falsehood,” which can turn a child not only from a specific book, but also from reading any Christian literature. Writers generally consider children to be the most difficult audience precisely because children instantly reject insincere intonation. It is even more difficult to be convincing when you are trying to talk to a child about faith. Many Orthodox writers see their readers as some kind of “ideal child” instead of writing for real boys and girls who need good books that can lead them to God or at least make them think about good and evil.
And finally, the most difficult task facing Orthodox children's authors is the search for images. To translate the Orthodox system of images into the language of a modern child, to find those images that would evoke a lively and sincere response from children and become important to them, despite the avalanche of visual information that surrounds them from all sides - this seems almost impossible, but otherwise everything efforts to create new children's literature will be futile. Modern civilization is filled with images, bright and attractive, and without the ability to work with image systems it is difficult to achieve the attention of a generation that perceives the world through images, not words.
The prospects for the development of children's literature were discussed at the seminar “Education with books: modern problems of spiritual and educational literature in Orthodoxy,” which took place on November 24 at the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Sokolniki. Writers, child psychologists, philologists, and editors took part in the seminar.
The editor-in-chief of the Lepta-Press publishing house, Olga Golosova, named another important problem of Orthodox children's literature - the lack of popular science books, simply put, children's encyclopedias: “Orthodox books for children do not talk about the material world - cups, spoons, money, cloning. Meanwhile, it is popular science literature that forms a child’s picture of the world.” In addition, Golosova believes that “by creating pseudo-pious books that teach children to hate the world and run away from it, we are raising sectarians.” In her opinion, first of all, the writers themselves must learn to see the beauty of the world created by God, and then they will be able to reveal this beauty to children and teach them to love the Creator - but this will not happen until writers stop endlessly talking about dangers and temptations .
As an example of a successful book for teenagers, Golosova cited Tamara Kryukova’s novel “Kostya + Nika” - “an example of a description of relations between the sexes, when not only is there no hint of sex, but even the word love is not mentioned, although it is obvious to any reader that there is love between the characters There is". Tamara Kryukova herself, the author of many children's books - from rhymes for preschoolers to fantasy novels for teenagers, complained that "good writers do not go into children's literature because it is considered to have little prestige." Touching on the topic of fantasy and fairy tales, Tamara Kryukova noted: “Kids need a fairy tale, they don’t need to be afraid of witches and sorcerers, because this is a visualization of evil. A child cannot imagine abstract evil. Another thing is important here: how good is presented and how it fights evil, isn’t it with fists?”
Writer Dmitry Volodikhin believes that a Christian writer can write fiction if two conditions are met: “if you don’t get involved in the gospel story and don’t break the commandments.” In addition, he noted that modern Orthodox literature is sorely lacking in the biographical genre, and encouraged his colleagues to write novels based on the lives of saints for children and teenagers. This topic was supported by Elena Trostnikova, editor of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, and psychologist Andrei Rogozyansky, but both confirmed that hagiographic works for children are a very difficult genre. One of the main problems is that when trying to convey in words the feeling of holiness emanating from a righteous person, the individuality of the saint eludes.
It was decided to make the seminar regular, and to transfer the topics of the next meetings to a more practical plane.
The rector of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Sokolniki, Hegumen Ioann (Ermakov), called on writers to be aware of their responsibility: “Education with a book means education with words. And deep responsibility lies with every person associated with the printed word. It is said: “By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned” ().
Will any of the participants in the seminar in the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist become a writer who has left a bright mark on the history of Russian literature, and whether at least one of the books written by these authors will become an event in public life, and not just a subject of discussion in the Orthodox community - this is the question remains open. As well as the question of whether Christian children's literature will be able to become a trend in modern culture and force a wide range of readers to reconsider their worldview.
Believes: The year of literature should not last 365 days, but all the time. And the taste for reading needs to be cultivated from childhood.
Maria Andreevna, children and literature: isn’t it outdated? Especially for parents. Isn't it easier to turn on a cartoon than read a book? There are so many things you can do! Well, or try. What is the general benefit of reading?
You need to start with books. And when the child loves them, then turn on the cartoons
Children and literature - this cannot become obsolete. This is one of the “turtles” on which education is based. Well, of course, now some parents do not read to their children, but these are rather negative exceptions. Mostly they read. Another thing is what they read. A book is food for the mind. And the child has an insatiable hunger for information. So it’s difficult to do without a book. Of course, this hunger can be satisfied with cartoons, but the qualitative difference is obvious. Although there are a lot of good cartoons. But I am sure that you need to start with books. And when the child loves them, then turn on the cartoons. It's easier to include a cartoon. Especially if something needs to be done urgently, but your child pesters you and won’t let you. There is a great temptation to do this. But is it worth it? Even according to all medical standards, children under five years old are supposed to watch cartoons no more than 30 minutes a day, in my opinion.
We can talk about the benefits of reading for a very long time and tediously. I'll try to put it more simply. If you want your child to speak correct Russian, and not quote clumsy translations from American cartoons, while replacing Russian speech with “as if” and “type”; if you want him to develop fantasy and imagination, so that he has his own opinion and can argue for it, so that he plays on his own, alone and does not suffer from boredom, so that he knows more about the world - read books to him. Only good.
- In your opinion, what does “good books” mean?
Nowadays there are so many children's books that you can simply drown in them. You can never read them all. How to be? My opinion, of course, is subjective, but I firmly stand on it: buy children only those books that I have read myself and am convinced of their quality. It's better to read reviews too. And the second criterion is the child himself. Of course, he may also like nonsense, it’s up to us, parents, to filter, but the fact that he doesn’t like it is indicative. And there is a third one too. The Nikitin bards’ children’s song sings well about him:
To-to-to again
Good defeated evil
To good, to evil
Convinced to become good!
We are talking here about the struggle between good and evil. It is good with evil, and not good with the best - this is what some Soviet cartoons were guilty of, not one of the outstanding ones, of course. Unfortunately, modern Orthodox children's literature also suffers from this. As an example, I’ll name a “talk of the town”: a book about a certain Orthodox hedgehog who went on a pilgrimage and prayed for an end to the drought. Such sugary literature, devoid of imagery and intrigue, with such super-positive heroes that it makes teeth dent, in my opinion, is, first of all, useless. Secondly, it has no artistic merit and does not develop a sense of beauty. And somehow you don’t believe in such pious hedgehogs and humble ladybugs, or in such children. And the children don’t believe in them.
After reading this, excuse me, literature, I want to turn to old friends. They, however, are not from the official Orthodox camp: Pippi Longstocking, Mio, Paganel, Tom Sawyer, Chuk and Huck, Vitya Maleev, Alisa Selezneva, etc. But, you see, they don’t pray on street corners for a long time. This is bad?
There is such a Swedish writer and artist - Sven Nordqvist. He has published a series of books about the kitten Findus and his owner, old man Petson. They don’t pray, they don’t even do any particularly demonstrative good deeds. But their relationship emanates such peace and love, and they are so truthful, and Findus is so similar to a curious and mischievous child, but at the same time reaching out to a loving adult, that you believe them unconditionally. And the child believes, and my inquisitive two-year-old drags me to read these books every evening. Of course, there is “The Story of an Unknown Hero” by Marshak, and “The Wonderful Doctor” by Kuprin, and the absolutely magical Shmelev with his “The Summer of the Lord,” and “Timur and His Team,” no matter how strange it all together may look. Yes, yes, Soviet literature gave our children a lot, and morally it is at a very, very high level.
Pioneer boys could teach Orthodox youth a lot - honesty, courage, and mutual assistance
I was somehow struck by a book I saw in an Orthodox shop. It was called “The Boy Without a Sword” and told the story of the passion-bearer Tsarevich Alexei. And maybe this book was not bad, but the title offended me. Because there is such a writer Vladislav Krapivin. And in the 1970s he wrote the book “The Boy with the Sword.” And the author of the book about the holy crown prince, in my opinion, arrogantly contrasts him with Krapivin’s heroes. Meanwhile, the Krapivinsky pioneer boys could teach Orthodox youth a lot - honesty, courage, mutual assistance, and reflection on their own souls, despite the pioneer tie around their necks.
Now it’s hard for me to remember the Orthodox talented children’s books. Well, perhaps I’ll name Yulia Voznesenskaya, especially highlighting her novels “Cassandra’s Path, or Adventures with Pasta” and “Lancelot’s Pilgrimage,” but this is already teenage literature.
- In your opinion, is multi-disputed fantasy useful for children?
Are Baba Yaga, the Serpent Gorynych, the Nightingale the Robber, the heroes, Marya Morevna and others useful for children? The only question is quality: I am convinced that good fantasy is very useful. But good fantasy today, in my opinion, comes from three authors: Tolkien, Lewis and Rowling. The main feature of the books of the listed authors is that their heroes step over themselves in order to do good for others, sacrificing their interests, money, reputation, health, life. They fulfill Christ's covenants without being nominally Christians. They teach by example rather than give instructions. They are truthful. But Orthodox hedgehogs are an artificial product, just like the humble girls in headscarves and altar boys composed by Orthodox authors.
- But are there any good Orthodox books?
Certainly. The other day we recalled an episode from “Unholy Saints”: a meeting between a stern but fair traffic cop and a priest carelessly driving a car. Do you remember how their conversation convinced Bishop Mark of the seriousness of spiritual changes in the Fatherland? “Once he was driving with a priest in a car in the Moscow region. Vladyka Mark is German, and it was unusual for him that even though there were signs on the highway limiting the speed to ninety kilometers per hour, the car was rushing at a speed of one hundred and forty. The Bishop suffered for a long time and finally delicately pointed out this discrepancy to the driver-priest. But he only grinned at the naive simplicity of the foreigner and assured him that everything was in perfect order.
What if the police stop you? - the bishop was perplexed.
The police are fine too! - the priest confidently answered the amazed guest.
Indeed, after some time they were stopped by a traffic police officer. Having lowered the window, the priest good-naturedly addressed the young policeman:
Good afternoon, boss! Sorry, we're in a hurry.
But the policeman did not react to his greeting.
Your documents! - he demanded.
Come on, come on, boss! - the father became worried. - Don’t you see?.. Well, in general, we’re in a hurry!
Your documents! - the policeman repeated.
Okay, take it! Your business is to punish, ours is to have mercy!
To which the policeman, looking at him with a cold gaze, said:
Well, firstly, it is not we who punish, but the law. And it is not you who have mercy, but the Lord God.
And then, as Bishop Mark said, he realized that even if the policemen on Russian roads now think in similar categories, then in this incomprehensible country everything has changed again.”
Relevant, honestly. And then there’s the famous, downright evangelical, case of senior sergeant Daniil Maksudov, who gave away mittens and a peacoat to the victims of a terrible snowstorm in the Orenburg region! By the way, I’m not sure that the sergeant read anything about “hedgehogs”...
With joy and a kind smile I am re-reading “It’s No Thing” by Olesya Nikolaeva. No, there are many good books. But it seems to me that it is still easier for adults in this sense than for children. I really hope that we will be able to give them good literature, and not “on occasion,” not during the Year of Literature, but constantly.
We all know that choosing a book should be thoughtful. Many remember the instruction of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov that before starting to read, one must understand “prudently and carefully who the writer is and what he writes” so as not to “blot out the tablets of the soul with various concepts and impressions.” That’s probably why we go to what we consider to be “trusted” places and easily take any publication we like. We try to buy “Orthodox literature” for the child, which certainly will not teach him bad things, but is it all that simple? Are all books classified as “Orthodox literature” equally useful? And what should a parent know when standing near a shelf of children's books in an Orthodox store? Let's try to figure it out, and for help we will turn to the employees of church shops and Orthodox libraries, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Department of Russian Literature and Journalism of the 20th-21st centuries at Moscow State Pedagogical University Irina Georgievna Mineralova and the cleric of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Life-Giving Spring in Tsaritsyn Priest Mikhail Potokin.
External
“If a child chooses for himself,” says Ksenia, a bookstore seller at one of the large Moscow churches, “then he rushes to beautiful illustrated books, and he absolutely doesn’t care who wrote it, Charles Perrault or the monk Lazarus.” Not only children, but also adults first of all pay attention to the appearance of the book. If the book is bright and pleasant to hold in your hands, then the choice will be in its favor, sellers note. How the book looks is an important factor. A small child, for example, is tired of a large volume of text, and without illustrations it is generally difficult for him to imagine what is being said. “If they ask me,” continues Ksenia, “I recommend books with large print and beautiful pictures. So that the child remembers from pictures. After all, often he himself does not yet know how to read, and perceives it visually. Even the Gospels for children are different - here we have one designed in an icon-painting style, it is convenient and beautiful, the child gets used to it. And there are even various Orthodox publications, but the pictures are kind of terrible, looking at them is melancholy and sadness.” Another external sign that sellers are advised to pay attention to is a note that the book was published with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch or the ruling bishop. Although this does not always give a 100% guarantee that the book is suitable for your child. Firstly, each reader has his own writer, and secondly, even through many levels of “censorship” not the best literary works slip through.
"Censorship"
The word “censorship” in this case, of course, does not mean a strict check of every word. The blessing of the Patriarch, and sometimes even just permission for publication from the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, only means that this book does not contain godless ideas and thoughts that contradict Christian morality. Then the decision on the publication of a particular book is made by editors and directors of publishing houses. Already published books, before ending up on store shelves, fall into the hands of employees responsible for purchasing, who, with an experienced eye, assess how useful this or that book will be and is needed by the buyer. And even in the church shop itself, the book may be subject to another assessment - from the seller. “I have to be responsible for the goods I sell,” explains Ksenia, “so in the morning, when there are not many people, I look at where I have what books, new arrivals, read or leaf through unfamiliar ones. Sometimes we even have to go to the priest to clarify if there are any doubts, and sometimes we remove some books.” Often retellings or adaptations of Biblical history, or some moralizing texts are prepared by worldly people and sometimes, out of ignorance, they make annoying mistakes. True, in children's literature, sellers note, this is rare. There are other misunderstandings in this area. A senior librarian at one of the Moscow Orthodox libraries, Irina Vladimirovna Sergeeva, recalls how one of the publishing houses offered V.I. Dahl’s Explanatory Dictionary: “We have Dahl’s dictionary, the one that has always been there, but here they brought some very modern edition: look, what a beautiful thing, in one volume. And Dahl actually has four of them. I started leafing through, and half of the articles were missing, and the rest had all been cut down. Apparently, it is considered that much is outdated and not relevant. But this is necessary for children! These are the roots of our culture.”
Time tested
“Let’s not reinvent the wheel,” suggests Priest Mikhail Potokin, cleric of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Life-Giving Spring in Tsaritsyn, father of three children. – Many generations of Christians were raised before us. Let’s go back at least to the 19th century and see what children were taught then.” Today, many books from the late 19th – first half of the 20th centuries have begun to be republished. “The Law of God” by Archpriest Seraphim Slobodsky and “The ABC”, which he created together with his wife Elena Alekseevna Slobodskaya, have been republished. “The book includes the Law of God for children,” says Irina Vladimirovna Sergeeva, “and an ABC book. A primer like the one I used to study many years ago. For some reason, such books warm the soul - incomparable to many that are being invented now.” As for the children's Bible, according to many experts, the best is the revision of Archpriest Alexander Sokolov. “Either a reprint edition of the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, or published in a new spelling with illustrations by Doré,” recommends Doctor of Philology Irina Georgievna Mineralova. – This is the kind of book that a child who has just learned to read will read again and again, because it is built in the form of a conversation with the child. A wonderful book, and in the everyday and pedagogical sense too.” A treasure trove of worldly wisdom - the lives of saints. But not everything in them will be clear to the child. “For example, the life of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker can be studied from early childhood,” explains Father Mikhail, “because it is all fabulous. But as for the lives of the martyrs, it is difficult to understand them. Here are Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sofia - it is very difficult for a little man for whom his parents make up his whole life, they are both protection and the main support. We must approach this issue very selectively. Maybe it’s better to take facts from the lives of saints related to historical events - Prince Vladimir, Constantine the Great, Alexander Nevsky.” Historical literature for teenagers is very popular among young readers, says senior librarian Irina Vladimirovna and shows the book of the almost forgotten author of the beginning of the last century, Pavel Amplievich Rossiev, “Saint Alexy. Historical story." “There is a tradition in Russian children’s literature, there are brilliant authors,” reminds philologist Irina Georgievna Mineralova, “For example, Ishimova or Charskaya.” Today, these authors, thrown out of the pedagogical environment of the post-revolutionary era, are returning to the reader again. So, since the beginning of the 90s, 54 volumes of the complete collected works of Lydia Alekseevna Charskaya have been published.
Things that can't be simplified
For more than 15 years in a row, the Children's Bible, published by the Russian Bible Society, has been very popular. It is brightly designed, and the texts in it are simple and clear. “The children really like it,” the library notes. However, even its creators claim that it is full of shortcomings: “many wise teachings and amazing events are omitted,” noted in the preface to the publication of the early 90s. – And much of what is included in the “Children's Bible” in the form of a retelling could be presented much more clearly. The Bible is the Word of God, and all attempts to retell it, even by the best interpreters and masters of the word, give only a pale reflection of this Book of books.” Father Mikhail Potokin also agrees with the opinion of the publishers: “How can you adapt, for example, music or painting to a certain age? And if the Old Testament can still be given to children in a retelling, then the New Testament is difficult to present in an abbreviation.” Spiritual reading is serious work, and it is not always worth replacing it with something simplified, the priest believes. “Until a certain point in a person’s life, it is difficult to understand the Gospel,” explains Father Mikhail. – The concept of sacrifice and love comes with experience. But a child can read the Gospel, it seems to me, not in a retelling, but as it is. Relying, perhaps, on memory more than on reason. Something will remain in the memory, in the subconscious - and it’s worth reading, rather counting on this. There are things that cannot be simplified.” There is no need to be afraid of difficulties and therefore try to slip the child already chewed information, the priest advises: “After all, children once learned to read from the Psalter. But now not every adult can cope.”
Where did “Orthodox literature” come from?
Reading something that has remained unchanged and relevant for centuries is, of course, good. But every time raises more and more new questions, and a child is sometimes unable to look for answers to them in the previous experience of humanity. The young reader wants to read not only about the past, but also about the present, not only about predecessors, but also about contemporaries. And again, when looking for something modern for a child, we hope for the label “Orthodox.” If earlier there was just literature, and there was spiritual reading, today we can observe a new phenomenon in the cultural life of the country - “Orthodox literature”. On the one hand, it is clear that in pre-revolutionary Russia writers did not call themselves such, but they were raised and tried to live as Christians. “Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Chekhov - are they Orthodox writers? – asks Father Mikhail. – There is no such thing as writing only about Orthodoxy. An Orthodox writer can talk about anything, just as an Orthodox artist does not necessarily have to only draw churches. There is simply a certain worldview that is associated with our personal path of piety, our choice, the philosophy of our life.” Professor Irina Georgievna Mineralova tries to explain the emergence of a new direction: “It is simply impossible to imagine that so much attention would have been paid to something like this 50-30 years ago. However, this does not mean that that era was “bad”, that they did not care about the morality of the younger generation. They cared a lot! And in today’s life, two extremes converge: the directives of the past, insisting that the task is to educate a harmoniously developed personality, and the statements of current officials that it is necessary to educate a literate consumer. Who should I call for help? As in ancient times, so today, they expect “God to help.” But, unfortunately, sometimes the old Russian proverb is forgotten: trust in God, but do not make a mistake yourself, and church rhetoric, which, of course, is not at all a guarantee of high artistry, remains just beautiful words. “In advertising the external components of faith, I see a desire not to BE, but to SEEM, a kind of hypocrisy that is dangerous for a churchgoer,” continues Irina Georgievna. – Faith is a deeply personal matter, there is mystery and sacraments in it, therefore, when they talk about it in vain and sometimes even in high notes, it personally offends me. In the writer’s self-declaration as “Orthodox” there is both immodesty and, to put it mildly, arrogance and expectation of praise.” Is this what a child needs from a book and its author? No, it's unlikely. Irina Georgievna reminds us of many, many writers of the Soviet era who “worked to ensure that citizens grew up loving their Motherland, respected their elders and the memory of those who passed on to another world, treasured the legacy left and bequeathed to us by our grandfathers and parents... In these lessons, although not named,” she continues, “there was, I will say, using Solovyov’s terminology, “reverence for the highest,” “compassion for equals,” and “pity for the inferior.” In this sense, called atheistic, the era preserved and preserved many church rarities and values.” Father Mikhail Potokin also offers books by Soviet writers for children's reading: “At least you can read about Dunno many times at a certain age. And by the way, I know one wonderful priest who freely quotes this book and gives everyday examples from it.”
Literature of churching
It is not surprising that often authors who position themselves as “Orthodox” go to extremes, often coloring their works, heroes and events with only two colors - black and white, bad and good, trying to write “as correctly”, trying to arrange clear and precise boundaries, where it is “Orthodox” and where it is not. “Churching is always accompanied by polemical pathos in relation to what is not a church,” explains Irina Georgievna Mineralova. There are many examples of such behavior among readers. Paradoxical examples. When, buying a book of Pushkin’s fairy tales as a gift for her nephew, a loving aunt carefully cuts out the fairy tale “About the Priest and His Worker Balda” from the new edition, which still smells of printing ink. “No, well, you can’t cut it out! – without hiding his surprise, Father Mikhail tries to explain. – This is truly an Orthodox fairy tale. Because even in the Gospel, Christ is betrayed by the Pharisees and high priests. On the contrary, a person who reads this fairy tale, when, God forbid, of course, he encounters indifference and love of money in church, will not be put off by it. He will know that this happens, that this is a mistake, a sin, human weakness, but not church order. The child must be given not only good and attractive examples, but also told about the existence of evil, otherwise he will not be ready for it.” Will a child be ready for real life by reading obsessively educational texts? Will stories without a plot, but “about Orthodoxy”, help him? The seller of the church shop, Roman, perplexedly leafs through one of the books for sale: “Sometimes you take it to read, but the stories are kind of meaningless, stupid. The plot is weak, why, why, what conclusion to draw? But there is an Orthodox component, they say, the heroes of this story live an Orthodox life - they pray from morning to night, joyful and contented, they go to services together.” “People who have just joined the church often get down to business,” explains Irina Georgievna Mineralova, “but have no idea about writing, are not well-read, and are pedagogically naive.” And they write with the best intentions, and their intentions are good, but...
Fashion
But is it only the writer’s fault that “Orthodox literature” cannot go beyond moralizing fiction that is not always of good quality? Readers also have a hand in this, creating a fashion for the works of certain authors, of a certain orientation. The reader gets what he wants - simple, almost colloquial language and the rules of Christian morality explained in simple terms. Librarian Irina Vladimirovna shows Archpriest Alexander Torik’s story “Dimon”: “It wasn’t always pleasant for me to read,” she says. “But this is the modern language, this is the time, but what is written in the book is understandable to a teenager.” Young people, according to many parents, after reading the book themselves ask for confession. In general, the goal has been achieved. And here it is worth remembering that good literature does not at all set itself the goal of taking the reader by the hand and leading somewhere or hammering some truth into his head. Good literature invites reflection, teaches the difference between truth and fake, but at the same time leaves a person complete freedom of choice. Books should not lead to churching; to become churched, one must go to churches and Sunday schools. When asked how to choose the right Orthodox reading for a child, librarian Irina Vladimirovna answers: “You need to go to Sunday school, learn something yourself, and then it will be easy to choose a book for your child.”
∗∗∗
After the long-awaited collapse of Soviet ideology, which was imposed everywhere, including
children's literature with Gaidar's ubiquitous Timur - a kind of spiritual
emptiness - the absence of normal children's literature, including Orthodox literature. This literature
it was necessary to create by rethinking the past.
Thank God, I had the wisdom not to denigrate everything in the past; much was overestimated and taken into account.
further path. As always, the eternal Russian and world classics saved me. But today, when
our church bookstores have enough Orthodox children's literature, I wanted
I would like to take a closer look and analyze its quality. The need for this today
is ripe. It seems to me that there is a need to hold a seminar at the Patriarchate on
artistic “quality” of children’s literature, organization of literary courses. Maybe,
It is worth gathering modern children's Orthodox writers at the Patriarchate and discussing these
Problems. I would like to raise the question of creating within the Church not only spiritual censorship, but also
artistic, since today a large number of religious and artistic works are published
literature for both children and adults. One can only welcome the appeal of critics to
this literature, since without healthy criticism there can be no full-fledged literature.
I regard my further considerations as a modest attempt to outline the problem, to pose
questions.
Children's Orthodox books we are with
My wife often buys them, plus, as usually happens, friends give them as gifts. And for today
day a small children's library was formed in our house. Before reading to a child, I
I read the book myself, and this is what I got out of it.
I divided all the books we have into three groups.
The first group has a “plus” sign, that is, I gave them the highest rating.
The second group is good books, but they require editorial work.
And finally, books with a minus sign...
The conversation is only about fiction, even if this literature is
religious themes.
Here is an approximate list of books from our children's library
F. M. Dostoevsky “The Boy at Christ’s Christmas Tree.”
V. Afanasyev “The Cat of Elder Nektarios.”
L. Nechaev “Bottom ice.”
A book without an author - “Your Guardian Angel”.
S.O. Nikulin “Good Father of Sarov”.
E. Bogusheva “It’s my name day.”
Collective collection of stories “Sunday Miracle”.
Collective collection of stories “Towards children’s hearts” -
author-compiler Ganago B. A..
“The ABC of a Young Christian” by Valentin Smirnov.
So, in the first pile I selected works that I would like to read to my child, i.e.
Use for shared family reading.
Alas, among the books listed, in my subjective opinion, there were only two of them. Book
one St. Petersburg writer, very modestly designed, with very little, according to today's standards,
at times the circulation (unfortunately, for some books it is not indicated, but for most the circulation
starts from 10, 15 thousand!). This work, published in an edition of 2000 copies,
published in Nizhny Novgorod, belongs to the pen of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky -
“The boy at Christ’s Christmas tree”...
No annoying didactics, moralizing... Honestly and frankly. With children's eyes and tongue
child - “be like children.” And, most importantly, this book does not leave a person indifferent, but
This means that it educates the child’s soul and makes it Christianly responsive. After reading
It’s hard to hold back tears from this book, my soul is crying. And these tears are tears of compassion. And on
How else can a child’s soul be formed if not through compassion for one’s neighbor.
The second book is “The Cat of Elder Nektariy” by Viktor Afanasyev. Entertaining, professional,
written specifically for children. It seems to be about the adventure of a cat, but it’s about the life of a great
old man Kindly moralizing, with biblical stories in which they took part
animals...
In the second group I included books that are clearly useful, but are not examples of high
artistry. Fortunately, some of them do not pretend to be so, they are written without any frills,
but fascinating, simple and accessible: a good book by L. Nechaev “Bottom Ice” - true stories about
the harsh military fate of the author’s relatives and friends. A fascinating and useful read. But
a sensitive literary editor is needed. An example is the story “Surrounded,” the first in the book. Reading
author's text: “... Fear. The soldier's leg was torn off by a shrapnel; he sits under a pine tree and asks everyone:
“Finish it, brother!”...
The child will not understand whether his legs were torn off by a “leg fragment” or a bomb fragment?
The emphasis is difficult to place on first reading. And if his legs were torn off, then imagine that he
sits calmly under a pine tree and peacefully “asks everyone: “Finish it, brother!”... It’s hard to believe.
At the same time, the author himself says - “Fear”... Where is the fear? Everything is too calm and quiet.
A good book, unfortunately, without an author - “Your Guardian Angel” about the girl Lisa. IN
The Resurrection Cathedral of Romanov-Borisoglebsk is indicated as the author. Professionally,
captivatingly written.
In the third group I included books that, before sending them to print, I had to
the editor should work carefully.
E. Bogusheva “It’s my birthday. - The book is intended for young children and their
parents."
Let's start with the name. No matter how you try to justify with poetic sophistication a line put in
name, a child won’t talk like that anyway! Not in Russian! This is what it sounds like - “Name Day”
I have"!
Who is “Umenya”? In Russian - my name day...
Open the first page and read:
“Very dear to my heart,
So snow-white
For my christening
Made from satin.”
The noun “satina” appeared only for the rhyme “christening - satina” (and the rhyme
bad!). And for a “younger” child it doesn’t matter whether it’s made of satin or cotton.
christening shirt. Therefore, the child cannot focus on this. Besides,
The literary hero of this book is a boy, and a boy, as a rule, is not interested in the type of fabric.
This could rather be attributed to the girl’s tongue, and then with some stretch.
Read on:
“This is our temple. And in this temple
On a quiet afternoon in a hot summer
Mom and dad got married
They say they were worried:
The responsible step is family.
Time passed, I was born.”
Where is the childish language of the 4-6 year old boy on whose behalf the story is being told? “In a quiet
midday on a hot summer... They say they were worried: The important step is family...” - even if
tell the child all this to the child later, he is unlikely to remember that the afternoon was quiet and hot….
It was important for dad - then the groom, but not for the child... Do our 4-6 year old children say things like that?
in official language - “The responsible step is family...”? Thank God, children have their own language - children's,
where there is still no place for speech cliches!
After reading this book, the main character seemed to me like a kind of Gaidar Timur,
only small and not with a red tie, but with a cross on his neck.
“I forgot empty things.
I'm in a hurry for the start of the service,
I don't want to stay:
And you need to listen to the clock,
and have time to light the candle.”
Can you imagine a child (don’t forget how old he is) who has “forgotten things”
empty...", are you ready to stand for the entire service, 2-3 hours? In early childhood, the child does not have
empty affairs, any business is important, since the child is still learning about the world. This will happen later in adults
“empty” and “necessary” things... It’s not a child here, but some younger old man, sort of
good boy! How can one not recall the literary characters of Gaidar and Mayakovsky!
Moreover, the hero of E. Bogusheva not only retells “What is good...” in a new way, but also
uses the poetic language of V.V. Mayakovsky:
"Boy
went joyful
and the little one decided:
" WILL
TO DO WELL
AND I WILL NOT -
BADLY".
From E. Bogusheva:
“I did not hide my sins
And I confess, brothers,
I shouldn't have been a coward. God has forgiven.
You can take communion!”
For clarity, you can break up this text with a ladder, like V.V. Mayakovsky!
"I am my sins
didn't hide it
And I confess
Brothers,
I shouldn't have been a coward.
God has forgiven.
You can take communion!”
Of course, this can be called plagiarism, but poetic theft is still theft! Moreover
Is this Orthodoxy here? The book's circulation is 10,000.
Next, consider the book by S. O. Nikulina “Good Father of Sarov.” Let's start reading:
“There are many wonders in the world,
And in Rus' there are enough of them,
But we’ll tell you about it, children,
How wonderful God is in His saints.”
“Enough of them” - obviously, in the sense of “many”? Or did the author omit the numeral for the sake of size?
But where does this tongue-tiedness come from?
There is complete debauchery with rhymes: herbs are gifts, there was - never, stones are the Gospel, behind your back - which one,
beatings - hands, then - Sama, the general - he wanted, the head - Sarovsky. To this we need to add
a lot of stylistic errors:
“Here is the miraculous icon
They carry it to the Moshnins’ house,
And mother asks with a bow
Prayers to the Most Pure One and the Saints.”
You need to write it correctly - The icon is carried near the house, along the house, in front of the house... But how to understand
“Prayers of the Most Pure One and the Saints.”? Is “saints” an adjective or a noun?
In colloquial speech it is usually an adjective, but this is a literary language that requires
accuracy of expression.
I just want to ask the author a question - why did all this rhyme? Wouldn't it be easier without sophistication?
tell the children about the good father...
The next book was published in a circulation of 33 thousand copies. Author-compiler Ganago B.A.
“Towards children's hearts. First conversations for babies.” First conversation. We read:
“The best one in the world,
Who, like a spring ray, is bright,
Who will help, will give a hand,
And swim with new fins,
Skis never worn
Take at least half a bite of the candy
This is the beauty -
There is kindness in my friend......
Who has it in abundance,
With that, making friends is easy and smooth.
I'll buy it for my soul
I have God...... kindness”...
“Who, how...”, “...will give a hand, And swim with new fins.” “Being friends with someone is easy and smooth”, “Who
will help, give a hand..."... Help with what? Will he give his hand to whom and why? I just want to ask: who is drowning?
who to save?.. In what language is it written - “And swim with new fins”? What does it mean to be friends
smooth"? Lots of questions with no answers! Although the book as a whole is not bad at all,
there are wonderful stories... And next to it is such poetic bad taste...
You can’t teach a child faith with such “artistry”, but it will spoil the taste... The child easily feels
lie, is it worth using the following to start talking to a child about faith?
questionable literary texts?
Separately, I would like to talk about the book of the poet Valentin Smirnov “The ABC of a Young Christian”,
12th edition (!), circulation 5000, with several dozen drawn icons. Apparently the author publishes
books at your own expense or at the expense of sponsors. There is no church blessing in the book! The author himself
preaches his ideas, separately from the Church. From the annotation we learn that “The purpose of the book is to help
to awaken in children an interest in Christianity...” That is, this book is intended for children,
since young Christians can also be people of mature age, for example, just now
those who were baptized. Let us emphasize that this book is for children. Remember at what age our
Are modern children starting to learn the alphabet? Usually from three to five years old. Therefore, in the alphabet letters
They are somehow played out so that small children can remember them more easily in the game. ABC of Vladimir
Smirnova is written differently, it is not for children who cannot read, and learning the alphabet from it
pointless. Since only the first verse in V. Smirnov’s alphabet is in the initial quatrain
begins with the stated letter, but is not played out in any way, this letter is not used in
poetic speech. And the content causes bewilderment even in an adult! For example
Let's start with the letter “A”:
“Angel of Light - Celestial -
From sadness and adversity
To the Kingdom of God, Guardian,
Leads through baptism."
In the third verse (line), the noun “Keeper” appeared only for rhyme and in no way
justified by the thought of the quatrain. You can easily replace it with “Savior” and nothing will change!
And the poem ends with a question to the young Christian:
“What will you take with you to eternity,
Having accomplished the deed on earth?”
The child is just getting ready to live, he hasn’t managed to accomplish anything yet! Thank God he hasn't yet
is about to end his life's journey! What age is this question aimed at?
Let's turn the page: turn to the letter “B” - read the last quatrain:
"Honor, Praise and Worship
Only to You, my Sweetest.
Become, Israel, my salvation
And the capital of the earth."
Why should Israel become the capital of the earth? And Israel is a poetic metaphor here, a synonym
God?
What follows is even trickier. Let's open it at random - the letter “F”:
"Fragrant incense
Jesus to my soul.
Son of David - Welcome Guest
In the palace and hut.
Lived in harmony with nature,
He dried the tears of sinners.
Brotherhood, equality, freedom,
He bequeathed peace to the peoples.
Wisdom is an exact science.
Jesus is an example to the world.
We bear each other's burdens.
The pectoral cross is a wise man.
Daily for communication
Give God time.
Fleeting moments
Give it into the hands of the Lord."
Lots of questions! “Brotherhood, equality, freedom, Peace bequeathed to the peoples” - in what place
Holy Scripture slogan of the Great French Revolution? “We bear each other’s burdens”? Whose are we?
We bear burdens - Christ, comrade?..
And the most incomprehensible thing for me is what is a “wise man”? If there is a “wise man”, then there must be
“duromer”? He put on a cross - a wise man on his neck, and became wise... Then how to measure the level of stupidity?
“Dedicate time every day to communicate with God.” Obviously, “to communicate with God”? And it turns out
that you make time for God, and not He for you. I can’t resist - I’ll give you one last example:
letter "E". Third quatrain, first and second verse:
“Jesus Christ is the mediator
Between God and people.”
Any child will ask “Is Jesus God, or a mediator?”... According to this alphabet - “mediator”!
On the cover of this book is a portrait of Patriarch Alexy... This is even more puzzling!
Is it worth using the portrait of the Patriarch so freely without permission?
I just want to tell the authors - before taking your manuscript to the priest for a blessing,
it is necessary to work with literary editors! And after that you can get a blessing
for publication.