The Ossetian enlightenment starts with Ossetia joining the Russian state in the XIX century. The enlightenment completed the spiritual work of forming a new philosophical perception of the world. The first Ossetian enlighteners studied in Russian schools and, consequently they knew the Russian language, Russian culture and literature and were greatly influenced by the advanced Russian public, political and philosophical and aesthetic ideas. General principles of the ideology of Ossetian enlighteners were: the principle of labor, the principle of conscience, the principle of self-improvement, the principle of good, the principle of freedom, etc. And since the first Ossetian enlighteners became first writers, these principles were laid as a solid foundation for emerging Ossetian literature, which they perceived as the most important public platform. Philosophical and socio-political views of the Ossetian enlighteners were enclosed in their artistic creativity, journalism, actively manifested in their real-life positions, activities, actions and behavior. They did not engage in theoretical arguments concerning questions about the nature of existence, the structure of the universe and about the nature of human cognition. However, the essence of human existence in the real specifics of its spatial-temporal reality (“here and now”) of the enlightenment, of course, was the goal of their philosophical quest, a cornerstone of their ethical views and their ethical teachings as a whole. This article discusses, how in the emerging Ossetian literature, particularly the works of such enlightenment writers as I. Kanukov, S. Gadiyev and K. Khetagurov, the important principles of work, freedom of conscience, which determined the humanistic orientation of the Ossetian literature at the most difficult stage of its development, were implemented.

Keywords: enlightenment, Ossetian literature, characters, genre, personality, artistic thinking, artistic consciousness.

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