The narrative structure of the “Kazan Chronicle”

The article analyses the narrative structure of the first part of the “Kazan Chronicle” (chapters 1–57), an eminent monument of the Old Russian literature of the middle of the 16th century. The unique principle of the narration in the text of the writing is brought to light, i.e. the dependence of three story lines — “war”, “peace”, the “Divine Providence” — on three main ideas presented in the “Kazan Chronicle”: the idea of the historical reasonableness of the incorporation of the Tsardom of Kazan into Russia, of the justification of Ivan the Terrible of the massacre between the Russians and the Kazanians during the siege of Kazan, and of the Russian Prince’s exploit supported by the God’s will, of the conquest of Kazan in 1552. Based on the example of the number of chapters of the first part of the “Kazan Chronicle”, it is shown how the narrative principle chosen by the author — the story about the betrayal by the Kazanians, the vengeance for the insult caused to the Russain governers — manifests itself in the precise artistic material and how it transforms in the second part of the “Kazan Chronicle” telling about the siege and conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible in 1552.