Value dominants of the hagiography tradition in the works of Denis I. Fonvizin

The purpose of the study is to identify new forms of embodiment of value orientations in the genre of biography by the famous writer of the Enlightenment era, Denis I. Fonvizin, who provided his own version of choosing a narrative hero and the style of the text. In Fonvizin’s work, the hero is a secular person, not a holy ascetic: Count Nikita I. Panin. The article provides a detailed overview of various perspectives on the genre specificity and ideological focus of the work. The writer created a portrait of an ideal statesman who could serve as an example for all his fellow citizens. Fonvizin made the genre of biography instructive, similar to hagiographies, but also topical and accusatory in the context of the political situation in late 18th-century Russia. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that, for the first time, a purposeful analysis of the value transformation and desacralization of the genre of biography in the works of Denis I. Fonvizin has revealed his value priorities. As a result of the study, it was found that the hagiographic genre acquired the features of topical journalism and served as an expression of the author’s attitude towards traditional and new values in the light of the educational ideals of the era, which were opposed to the customs of the court aristocracy.