Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.31724/rihjj.52.1.14
Gazing at Marulić’s Susanna from Croatian Glagolitic Missals
Igor Medić
orcid.org/0000-0002-2867-8767
; Staroslavenski jezik
Sažetak
This article analyses the motif of the gaze in the biblical story of the chaste Susanna, who resists extortion by two lecherous elders, is falsely accused of adultery, and condemned to death due to their false testimony, only to be saved by divine intervention through the young Daniel. In interpreting the story, the motifs of the gaze, limited perspective, and observation are linked to the central theme of distinguishing truth from lies, as well as to the literary techniques that articulate this theme in various ways, withparticular attention to narrative perspective. The selected complex of motifs is analysed in the Old Testament text, in the Renaissance epic Istoria della casta Susanna (The Tale of Virtuous Susanna) by Lucrezia Tornabuoni (as interpreted by Francesca Maria Gabrielli), in the Croatian Glagolitic version in the Hrvojev misal (Hrvoje’s Missal) and in Marulić’s epyllion Suzana. The interpretation of Marulić’s work is based on the above-mentioned texts, especially on the analysis of the Croatian Church Slavonic translation of the biblical story in the Glagolitic missal. The use of the gaze motif, the approach to the topic of the distinction between truth and falsehood, and the effect of false testimony as a speech act are interpreted in terms of their role in conveying the dominant religious and moral message. The analysis is intended to show that the most diverse motifs and intertextual signals — regardless of their origin or literary model — are consistently subordinated to an extra-literary, religious, and didactic function. The article thus supports the argument that Marulić’s Croatian works belong poetically to the Middle Ages rather than the Renaissance, a thesis that has recently been systematically argued by Tomislav Bogdan.
Ključne riječi
Susanna; Marko Marulić; Hrvoje’s Missal; medieval literature
Hrčak ID:
343903
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.4.2026.
Posjeta: 470 *