Liberal interpretation of the meanings of the Russian epos in Russian epic studies, pedagogy, art

The article reveals the liberal interpretation of the Russian epos in Russian epic studies, pedagogy and art. It is noted that widely opposed in the 1860s and up to the October 1917 coup, the modern interpretation of the Russian epos by Westerners as the embodiment of social protest, the Novgorod liberty and the ancient Kiev “country council” by the Westerners represents the mentality and character of the simple Russian people as organically inclined to freedom, democracy. Liberal reception presents new values for the Russian epic: popular democracy; free enterprise, political struggle, including the struggle of estate, trade and other parties; the dignity of a person demanding respect for his rights; natural inclination of man to freedom, the struggle for their rights. This value was used to confirm the thesis about the initial predisposition of the Russian and Slavic national character in general to a democratic form of government. It was accepted to think that the natural freedom-loving of the Russians was suppressed, it was dormant, and the image of Ilya Muromets sleeping on the stove was associated with the "Moscow” and imperial period of history. At the same time, the original meanings and values of the Russian epos were ignored or distorted by interpreters.