On chronological borders of concept “the Old Russian literature” in conditions of modern higher education

The article is devoted to using of the term “the old Russian literature” in the higher school educational space. Many educational editions traditionally extrapolated (this concept) on all texts of domestic literature of XI-XVII centuries, that methodically maybe is conveniently, taking into account allocation of courses of studies of the Russian literature XVIII, XIX, XX centuries, but methodologicalally is vulnerable. It turns out that such historical phenomena as Ancient Russia, old Russians (“drevnije rusichi”), old Russian language (“drevnerusskij jazyk”), that was spoken and written (sometimes with the involvement of Church Slavonic elements) by East Slavic tribes, i.e. future Russians (“velikorossy”), Ukrainians (“malorossy”) and Belarusians, artificially trans-ferred to another “chronotope”, namely in the period of the unification of North-Eastern principalities around Moscow, the formation of a new state (“Moscovija”, Russia, Russian Empire) and the actual Russian people (“narodnost”), which in the XVII century was consolidated in the nation with supra-ethnic basis. This, however, contradicts the current scientific views on the historical realities, because by the end of XIV century the Ancient Rus’ as a single state Union disintegrated.On the basis of a complex approach (historical, ethnographic, linguistic, literary) it is judged about expedi-ence of use of this concept mainly to the period of the common history of Eastern Slavic literatures (XI-XIV centuries). It is especially topical fore the modern political conditions when in the post-soviet space were formed the new independent states (Russian Federation, Ukraine and Republic of Byelorussia), having though uniform cultural, language, literary roots in the period of old russian unity, but since XV century ethnically developing originally enough