Croatology, Vol. 1 No. 1, 2010.
Original scientific paper
Paradise Bird Motif in the Auditive Perception of Eden in Croatian Glagolitic Exempla
Antonija Zaradija Kiš
; Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
A particular place in the diverse body of Croatian Glagolitic literature is
occupied by the exempla – small literary forms that occupied a key position in mediaeval sermons with their message and visualisation of abstractness. The research has been based on the Glagolitic animalistic exempla, that is, those in which an animal plays a crucial role in transmitting the sermon’s lesson. Attention is directed to the complexity of the exemplum of the Bird-of-Paradise: its name and appearance play a significant role in the vision of Paradise, while its
imaginary song contributes to auditive perception of Paradise, which is where the specific nature of this allegory lies. The anthropological and zoological dimension of the exemplum was to show its culturological weight and breadth that would be manifested through the ancient Eastern source of the legend, followed by the Western European Mediaeval composition of the exemplum whose popularity was transferred into the European literary context, whence it moved on to be reflected in a specific manner in Croatian literature and linguistics.
Keywords
Paradise; bird; Bird-of-Paradise; exemplum; the Glagolists; literature; linguistics
Hrčak ID:
60220
URI
Publication date:
27.10.2010.
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