Original scientific paper
The conversation of soul and thought – between contrast, "sermonicity" and meditation
Marija-Ana Dürrigl
orcid.org/0000-0002-7715-1953
; Staroslavenski institut, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
The conversation between the personified Soul and Thought (DM) is a Croatian Glagolitic work of prose preserved in two versions from the 15th and 18th centuries. A direct Latin or Italian matrix has not been identified. The audience and author or scribe did not pay much attention to the theological-philosophical nuances in the layers of the soul or the inner constitution of humans. The primary goal was to create an impressive composition which will induce meditation of one’s own life, therefore the recipients can also be identified as actantial subjects. Contrasts as a genre can be positioned between reflexive and narrative prose, and between prose and drama. In the Middle Ages the gap between narrative and dramatic kinds or genres was not as clear as it is in the modern literature. The ethical quality of DM is clearly expressed through instruction and emotion; the author paid less attention to achieving delectare. Some intertextual signals are not an unequivocal proof of performance, but a clear indication of the performability of DM in the sense of a moderate prelection. The characters do not converse only between themselves, they also address the recipients – the audience. The dialogue is reflective, and the conversation between Soul and Thought connects drama, »sermonicity« and meditation.
Keywords
contrasts; sermon; ethics; meditative tradition; mixing of genres; Croatian Glagolitic religious prose
Hrčak ID:
77232
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2011.
Visits: 2.637 *