Publicism as an Old Russian Literature Category

Aim. Firstly, to expand the scientific usage field of the category of publicism; secondly, to show vividly expressed publicism of old Russian texts of different genre; thirdly, to demonstrate that the historical basis for Russian publicistics was the old Russian literature. Methodology. Old Russian book texts of different genre and temporality affiliation are being considered from the point of key characteristics of publicistic style. Methods of stylistic analysis and historical-linguistic interpretation were used. Results. It had been revealed that the features of the publicistic style are evident in old Russian texts in their genre and thematic diversity – agiographies, dwellings, chronicles (letopises), messages, decrees, letters, business documents. Such publicism of the old Russian literature laid the foundation for infinite creative possibilities and diversity for manifestations of Russian publicism. Research implications . The results clarify current scientific views on the establishment and development of the Russian publicism tradition, on the development of publicistic style in the Russian literary language; they can be used in didactic-methodological and actual teaching practice.