ANTHROPOLOGY OF OLD RUSSIAN LAZINESS AND IDLENESS

Abstract

The article examines Old Russian texts through the prism of socio-anthropological theory. The author focuses on the texts in which the researcher can hear the “voice of Old Russian laziness”. The article provides an overview of fragments of ancient Russian texts in which the thoughts and emotions of an idle, lazy person are expressed. In addition, the article focuses on the cultural forms of idle, recreational behavior. The author shows that the ancient Russian society condemned some forms of idleness, and encouraged some forms of idleness. In the article, the author substantiates the thesis that many forms of leisure activities (for example, playing chess), which are considered respected forms of leisure in modern society, were strictly condemned by the church in ancient times and were officially prohibited. At the same time, some forms of idleness, condemned by the official, "high" culture, continued, nevertheless, to exist among the majority of the population. The author comes to the conclusion about the typological similarity of the ancient Russian culture of idleness with its contemporary medieval European.