The present book focuses on the least investigated preachers who lived in Kyivan Rus' during the period of the eleventh to the thirteenth century, as well as on their extant homiletic works: Luka Židjata and his Poučenie k bratii; metropolitan Nikifor I and his Poučenie v nedelju syropustnuju; hegumen Moisej and his Poučenie o bezvremennom p’janstve and Slovo o rotach i o kljatvach; Serapion Vladimirskij and his Slovo prepodobnago otca našego Serapiona, Poučenie prepodobnogo Serapiona and Slovo svjatago prepodobnago Serapiona. This choice has been guided by both methodological and practical considerations. I wish to focus on authors and works of the Kyiv and Novgorod areas as representatives of different regional traditions. My aim in doing so is to see if a literary genre like homiletics is subject to different regional developments relating to degrees of both reception and creative elaboration of patristic models. Such an approach may lead to reliable results only if the texts examined are similar typologically. I therefore selected common didactic sermons written for feast-days, not “celebrative” sermons. The texts were then organized by region; metropolitan Nikifor's Poučenie v nedelju syropustnuju and Serapion Vladimirskij's sermons represent that of Kyiv, whereas Luka Židjata's Poučenie k bratii and hegumen Moisej's sermons represent the region of Novgorod. With this division in mind, I have organized the book in four chapters, each devoted to a single preacher. I give his biography, supported by the historical evidence, and consider which of the works attributed to him may be considered authentic and which ones must be rejected as spurious. The textual tradition of each of the author’s sermons is then set out, and each sermon is analyzed to establish its message, performative function, and the circumstances, including the liturgical occasion, surrounding its oral delivery. In my analysis I have tried to adapt to Eastern Slavic preaching some of the techniques and methodologies that over the past decades have been used in the study of the Western Medieval and Byzantine traditions. I have also taken into account recent studies concerning rhetorical models of classical origin and the extent to which they may be relevant in investigating sermons. In addition, I have concentrated attention on how biblical quotations are used in the Eastern Slavic tradition, on their function as what are called “thematic clues”, taking them from a rhetorical perspective, as well as from the standpoint of pragmatic linguistics; moreover, I am concerned with the biblical quotations that correspond to passages from Scripture used in the liturgy, some exclusive to certain days. My contribution in this regard builds on the ideas R. Picchio developed in his work on the function of “biblical thematic clues” in the literary system of Slavia Orthodoxa. In particular, I have found G. Brogi Bercoff and M. Garzaniti’s elaboration of Picchio's seminal works to be especially useful. I also draw on Ch. Hannick's essays on Byzantine rhetoric and its function in the Slavic Orthodox tradition and the essays of A. Naumow (recently translated and printed in Italy). The first chapter of the book is devoted to metropolitan Nikifor's Poučenie v nedelju syropustnuju. Several important facts emerge from the textual analysis. First, it is evident that the concepts presented in the sermon (i.e., to the audience) are organized around one biblical quotation following the principle of hierarchical structuring and concentric distribution; this gives the audience the biblical thematic clue. The quotation (Ps 95 [94]:1-2, 6-7) occurs in the initial part of the text (in the expositio) to provide the key for understanding the preached message. Second, I discovered the formal connection between the sermon and the occasion on which it was delivered; the liturgical indication presented in the title (v nedelju syropustnuju) is confirmed by a set of quotations pertaining to that very liturgy (Mt 6:14-15, Ps 76 [75]:2, Rm 13:11-14). Using this case as a model, it becomes possible to go through other sermons, examining the biblical quotations, and identify the liturgical occasions on which they were delivered, even when there is no indication in the titles. Third, I focused on the presence, within Nikifor's Poučenie, of the Preacher’s finely structured rhetorical system, which allows him to renew and actualize the metamorphic power of God's Word to persuade the audience to moral correction. Investigation disclosed the sermon's rhetorical nature at several levels. On the structural, there is coincidence with the model of Christian sermons and epideictic orations (expected, given Nikifor's Greek origin and Byzantine education); the text is composed of an exordium, subdivided into a salutatio populis and an introductio thematis (for praeparare), the body of the sermon, subdivided into an expositio, a tractatio thematis and an admonitio (for docere), and the conclusio (for commovere). On the semantic level, Nikifor actualizes his main catechetical-liturgical theme using a set of performative strategies (i.e., figures of thought, figures of words, etc.). The second chapter focuses on Serapion Vladimirskij's Slovo prepodobnago otca našego Serapiona, Poučenie prepodobnogo Serapiona and Slovo svjatago prepodobnago Serapiona. Analysis of the text confirms my previous hypothesis: these sermons are structured according to principles identical to those governing Nikifor's Poučenie. Thus, in the Slovo prepodobnago otca našego Serapiona the message develops on the basis of a set of biblical quotations; among them, Lk 21:25 and Mt 24:7 occur in the exordium and function as the biblical thematic clue. These same quotations also have a liturgical meaning, unveiling the sermon's belonging in the nedelja mjasopustnaja. The metamorphic power of God's Word is actualized by means of rhetoric: the text shows a complete structure and various sequences of figures through which the preacher tries to move the audience to moral correction. In the Poučenie prepodobnogo Serapiona the biblical thematic clue occurs in the expositio and consists of the quotation of Ps 39 (38):7; two additional biblical quotations (Ps 25 [24]:18 and Ps 85 [84]:5-6) suggest that the text was to be declaimed in the fifth week of the second liturgical cycle (from Pentecost to Lent). The sermon's rhetorical structure is complete, and the strategies actualizing the biblical message are various. In the Slovo svjatago prepodobnago Serapiona the biblical thematic clue is placed in the expositio and consists in the quotation of Ps 2:12. The speaker’s use of liturgically meaningful quotations (Lk 6:36, Mt 5:43, Mt 22:39, 6:12, and 7:2) proves that the sermon could be delivered on different feast-days over the second liturgical cycle. The text, lacking in the conclusio, shows a quite regular structure with various performative strategies for biblical actualization. The third chapter concerns Luka Židjata's Poučenie k bratii. The sermon, belonging to the Novogorod region and representing one of the first examples of Eastern Slavic homiletics, differs from Nikifor's and Serapion's sermons in several respects. On the one hand, the text lacks the biblical thematic clue, and, as a consequence, it is semantically structured in a one-dimensional, “paratactic” way. Even so it offers some liturgically meaningful quotations (Mt 7:1, Mt 19:18-19, Lk 13:14) suggesting different liturgical adaptations, although the reference to the daily cycle of offices (and a few other features) indicate a close connection with the monastic tradition. On the other hand, the sermon's formal structure is heavily reduced – the text actually consists of an exordium and a (bipartite) admonitio – and the performative strategies the Preacher employs are to a great extent simplified. The forth chapter contains the analysis of hegumen Moisej's Poučenie o bezvremennom p’janstve and Slovo o rotach i o kljatvach. These sermons differ from Nikifor's and Serapion's as well. The Poučenie o bezvremennom p’janstve finds its biblical thematic clue in the quotation of Eccles 3:1-3 in the exordium, but it does not present a well-defined liturgical theme. On the formal level, the text is incomplete, since the exordium is lacking in the salutatio populi, and the central part in the expositio; whereas on the semantic and performative levels it is quite regular. The Slovo o rotach i o kljatvach has its biblical thematic clue in the quotations of 1 Kg 8:31, 35-36 and Deut 11:17 in the exordium, but, like Moisej's Poučenie, it does not offer a distinctive liturgical theme. With regard to the semantic and performative aspects, the sermon is rather regular, even though the salutatio populi, the expositio and the admonitio are absent from its structure. Text analysis has thus yielded several concrete results: first, it shows that a sermon consists in a finely structured rhetorical system, and through it the preacher actualizes a particular catechetical-liturgical theme, aiming at correcting the audience's behaviour. The structural conformity of these sermons to the model of Christian homiletics (and that of classical epideictic oratory, though within the limits of a cultural paradigm where the classical tradition and the theory of rhetoric were in fact absent) suggests that Eastern Slavic preachers acquired their rhetorical skills by imitating patristic models. In this respect, of course, the case of Nikifor represents an exception, because of his Byzantine education. The second result of my research is the demonstration that a sermon is commonly organized around one biblical quotation – the biblical thematic clue. The quotation generally occurs in the initial part of a text, where it leads the audience to grasp the conceptual development of the sermon by introducing the most relevant themes (and the audience, at least in part, is presumably familiar with this device, reacting almost instinctively, doing its part in creating meaning). The quotations the preacher offers connect with one another by means of logic contiguity, thematic proximity or liturgical adjacency, forming a unitary but complex scriptural plot that represents the semantic and liturgical superstructure within which the preacher frames and performs his discourse. Third, it is now demonstrated that the presence of one or more liturgically meaningful quotations is possible within the links of the biblical-chain supporting and informing the homiletic discourse. In a scrupulous reading, the broad themes may allow us to return a sermon to the liturgical setting in which it belongs. Unlike the biblical thematic clue, the liturgical theme is variously represented. The lack of uniformity may be attributed to the role of the sermon's quaestio in sounding the theme of a particular liturgy. Thus, a sermon’s liturgical theme can be a quotation (occurring in any part of the text) of one or more passages drawn from the same liturgical reading or from different readings. Moreover, the quoted readings can belong to one single or to various liturgies, depending on whether the preacher chose to deliver a sermon only once or to adapt it to different occasions. It now becomes possible to use comparative typology to distinguish between those sermons created for a unique liturgical occasion and ones that might meet the demands of various liturgical settings. To the first group belong the Poučenie v nedelju syropustnuju, the Slovo prepodobnago otca našego Serapiona, the Poučenie prepodobnogo Serapiona and, probably, also the Poučenie o bezvremennom p’janstve and the Slovo o rotach i o kljatvach; while to the second belong the Slovo svjatago prepodobnago Serapiona and the Poučenie k bratii. It is also possible, using this typology, to make regional distinctions in the developmental history of Eastern Slavic homiletics. Although the sermons written in the Novgorod area do not share common liturgical features, the texts compiled in the Kyiv area all belong to the second liturgical cycle (from Pentecost to Lent). Thus, the deep thematic and formal homogeneity of the Kyivan texts may also be a response to the liturgical occasions for which they were created. Fourth, it is evident that the performative nature of the homiletic discourse (i.e. the conscious performative intention directing the preacher) shapes a sermon's rhetorical character on several levels. Every part of a sermon--every clause, every period, including the smallest metrical and syntactical units, the morphological and phonetic units--is substantially rhetorical because it is intended to affect the audience's moral character by means of the actualization of God's Word. On the structural level, the sermons show a tripartite rhetorical structure, which, as I have already noted, follows the model of Christian sermons. On the semantic level, I have noticed a variety of performative strategies. Although these strategies were standardized through imitation of earlier models and through liturgical praxis, they could vary according to individual style and the circumstances under which the sermon was delivered. On the basis of its conformity to the structural model of Christian homiletics, a further distinction in Eastern Slavic preaching may be identified. Nikifor's and Serapion's sermons are, in fact, structurally complete or “regular” (except for Serapion's third sermon, lacking in the conclusio), while Židjata's and Moisej's sermons are incomplete or “irregular”. The division by region remains the same: Kyivan sermons all pertain to the second liturgical cycle and show a complete structure, while Novgorodian sermons are liturgically heterogeneous and structurally incomplete. As I have noted, Eastern Slavic homiletics arose from the creative (stylistic and functional) imitation of patristic models. Taking into account how this earlier literature offered a body of common models which later authors used, it seems possible to state that the genre of Eastern Slavic homiletics developed regionally because of reception in varying degrees and creative elaboration of the ecclesiastical, pastoral and monastic traditions of Byzantine writing. Sermons of the Kyiv region (that offers a large number of them) show a marked uniformity in their thematic organization and formal structure; the reason may possibly be greater exposure and fidelity to the Greek rhetorical tradition as transmitted by the Byzantines. Sermons composed in the Novgorod region (minor in number) show much less homogeneity, a fact that may indicate the strength and prestige of the monastic tradition, founded on the “memory of the word” passed down through the oral tradition of the Fathers' logoi. From the point of view of the actual, “real,” setting of the homiletic event (i.e., the time, place and social environment of its composition and delivery), the geographical distinction was probably sharpened by the different social compositions of the Kyivan and Novgorodian liturgical assemblies. In this respect the division bears evidence of the different pastoral priorities that preachers living in these areas must have had, and, on the whole, of a partial or at least selective reception of the preached message.
Predicatori nelle terre slavo-orientali (XI-XIII sec.). Retorica e strategie comunicative
ROMOLI, FRANCESCA
2009-01-01
Abstract
The present book focuses on the least investigated preachers who lived in Kyivan Rus' during the period of the eleventh to the thirteenth century, as well as on their extant homiletic works: Luka Židjata and his Poučenie k bratii; metropolitan Nikifor I and his Poučenie v nedelju syropustnuju; hegumen Moisej and his Poučenie o bezvremennom p’janstve and Slovo o rotach i o kljatvach; Serapion Vladimirskij and his Slovo prepodobnago otca našego Serapiona, Poučenie prepodobnogo Serapiona and Slovo svjatago prepodobnago Serapiona. This choice has been guided by both methodological and practical considerations. I wish to focus on authors and works of the Kyiv and Novgorod areas as representatives of different regional traditions. My aim in doing so is to see if a literary genre like homiletics is subject to different regional developments relating to degrees of both reception and creative elaboration of patristic models. Such an approach may lead to reliable results only if the texts examined are similar typologically. I therefore selected common didactic sermons written for feast-days, not “celebrative” sermons. The texts were then organized by region; metropolitan Nikifor's Poučenie v nedelju syropustnuju and Serapion Vladimirskij's sermons represent that of Kyiv, whereas Luka Židjata's Poučenie k bratii and hegumen Moisej's sermons represent the region of Novgorod. With this division in mind, I have organized the book in four chapters, each devoted to a single preacher. I give his biography, supported by the historical evidence, and consider which of the works attributed to him may be considered authentic and which ones must be rejected as spurious. The textual tradition of each of the author’s sermons is then set out, and each sermon is analyzed to establish its message, performative function, and the circumstances, including the liturgical occasion, surrounding its oral delivery. In my analysis I have tried to adapt to Eastern Slavic preaching some of the techniques and methodologies that over the past decades have been used in the study of the Western Medieval and Byzantine traditions. I have also taken into account recent studies concerning rhetorical models of classical origin and the extent to which they may be relevant in investigating sermons. In addition, I have concentrated attention on how biblical quotations are used in the Eastern Slavic tradition, on their function as what are called “thematic clues”, taking them from a rhetorical perspective, as well as from the standpoint of pragmatic linguistics; moreover, I am concerned with the biblical quotations that correspond to passages from Scripture used in the liturgy, some exclusive to certain days. My contribution in this regard builds on the ideas R. Picchio developed in his work on the function of “biblical thematic clues” in the literary system of Slavia Orthodoxa. In particular, I have found G. Brogi Bercoff and M. Garzaniti’s elaboration of Picchio's seminal works to be especially useful. I also draw on Ch. Hannick's essays on Byzantine rhetoric and its function in the Slavic Orthodox tradition and the essays of A. Naumow (recently translated and printed in Italy). The first chapter of the book is devoted to metropolitan Nikifor's Poučenie v nedelju syropustnuju. Several important facts emerge from the textual analysis. First, it is evident that the concepts presented in the sermon (i.e., to the audience) are organized around one biblical quotation following the principle of hierarchical structuring and concentric distribution; this gives the audience the biblical thematic clue. The quotation (Ps 95 [94]:1-2, 6-7) occurs in the initial part of the text (in the expositio) to provide the key for understanding the preached message. Second, I discovered the formal connection between the sermon and the occasion on which it was delivered; the liturgical indication presented in the title (v nedelju syropustnuju) is confirmed by a set of quotations pertaining to that very liturgy (Mt 6:14-15, Ps 76 [75]:2, Rm 13:11-14). Using this case as a model, it becomes possible to go through other sermons, examining the biblical quotations, and identify the liturgical occasions on which they were delivered, even when there is no indication in the titles. Third, I focused on the presence, within Nikifor's Poučenie, of the Preacher’s finely structured rhetorical system, which allows him to renew and actualize the metamorphic power of God's Word to persuade the audience to moral correction. Investigation disclosed the sermon's rhetorical nature at several levels. On the structural, there is coincidence with the model of Christian sermons and epideictic orations (expected, given Nikifor's Greek origin and Byzantine education); the text is composed of an exordium, subdivided into a salutatio populis and an introductio thematis (for praeparare), the body of the sermon, subdivided into an expositio, a tractatio thematis and an admonitio (for docere), and the conclusio (for commovere). On the semantic level, Nikifor actualizes his main catechetical-liturgical theme using a set of performative strategies (i.e., figures of thought, figures of words, etc.). The second chapter focuses on Serapion Vladimirskij's Slovo prepodobnago otca našego Serapiona, Poučenie prepodobnogo Serapiona and Slovo svjatago prepodobnago Serapiona. Analysis of the text confirms my previous hypothesis: these sermons are structured according to principles identical to those governing Nikifor's Poučenie. Thus, in the Slovo prepodobnago otca našego Serapiona the message develops on the basis of a set of biblical quotations; among them, Lk 21:25 and Mt 24:7 occur in the exordium and function as the biblical thematic clue. These same quotations also have a liturgical meaning, unveiling the sermon's belonging in the nedelja mjasopustnaja. The metamorphic power of God's Word is actualized by means of rhetoric: the text shows a complete structure and various sequences of figures through which the preacher tries to move the audience to moral correction. In the Poučenie prepodobnogo Serapiona the biblical thematic clue occurs in the expositio and consists of the quotation of Ps 39 (38):7; two additional biblical quotations (Ps 25 [24]:18 and Ps 85 [84]:5-6) suggest that the text was to be declaimed in the fifth week of the second liturgical cycle (from Pentecost to Lent). The sermon's rhetorical structure is complete, and the strategies actualizing the biblical message are various. In the Slovo svjatago prepodobnago Serapiona the biblical thematic clue is placed in the expositio and consists in the quotation of Ps 2:12. The speaker’s use of liturgically meaningful quotations (Lk 6:36, Mt 5:43, Mt 22:39, 6:12, and 7:2) proves that the sermon could be delivered on different feast-days over the second liturgical cycle. The text, lacking in the conclusio, shows a quite regular structure with various performative strategies for biblical actualization. The third chapter concerns Luka Židjata's Poučenie k bratii. The sermon, belonging to the Novogorod region and representing one of the first examples of Eastern Slavic homiletics, differs from Nikifor's and Serapion's sermons in several respects. On the one hand, the text lacks the biblical thematic clue, and, as a consequence, it is semantically structured in a one-dimensional, “paratactic” way. Even so it offers some liturgically meaningful quotations (Mt 7:1, Mt 19:18-19, Lk 13:14) suggesting different liturgical adaptations, although the reference to the daily cycle of offices (and a few other features) indicate a close connection with the monastic tradition. On the other hand, the sermon's formal structure is heavily reduced – the text actually consists of an exordium and a (bipartite) admonitio – and the performative strategies the Preacher employs are to a great extent simplified. The forth chapter contains the analysis of hegumen Moisej's Poučenie o bezvremennom p’janstve and Slovo o rotach i o kljatvach. These sermons differ from Nikifor's and Serapion's as well. The Poučenie o bezvremennom p’janstve finds its biblical thematic clue in the quotation of Eccles 3:1-3 in the exordium, but it does not present a well-defined liturgical theme. On the formal level, the text is incomplete, since the exordium is lacking in the salutatio populi, and the central part in the expositio; whereas on the semantic and performative levels it is quite regular. The Slovo o rotach i o kljatvach has its biblical thematic clue in the quotations of 1 Kg 8:31, 35-36 and Deut 11:17 in the exordium, but, like Moisej's Poučenie, it does not offer a distinctive liturgical theme. With regard to the semantic and performative aspects, the sermon is rather regular, even though the salutatio populi, the expositio and the admonitio are absent from its structure. Text analysis has thus yielded several concrete results: first, it shows that a sermon consists in a finely structured rhetorical system, and through it the preacher actualizes a particular catechetical-liturgical theme, aiming at correcting the audience's behaviour. The structural conformity of these sermons to the model of Christian homiletics (and that of classical epideictic oratory, though within the limits of a cultural paradigm where the classical tradition and the theory of rhetoric were in fact absent) suggests that Eastern Slavic preachers acquired their rhetorical skills by imitating patristic models. In this respect, of course, the case of Nikifor represents an exception, because of his Byzantine education. The second result of my research is the demonstration that a sermon is commonly organized around one biblical quotation – the biblical thematic clue. The quotation generally occurs in the initial part of a text, where it leads the audience to grasp the conceptual development of the sermon by introducing the most relevant themes (and the audience, at least in part, is presumably familiar with this device, reacting almost instinctively, doing its part in creating meaning). The quotations the preacher offers connect with one another by means of logic contiguity, thematic proximity or liturgical adjacency, forming a unitary but complex scriptural plot that represents the semantic and liturgical superstructure within which the preacher frames and performs his discourse. Third, it is now demonstrated that the presence of one or more liturgically meaningful quotations is possible within the links of the biblical-chain supporting and informing the homiletic discourse. In a scrupulous reading, the broad themes may allow us to return a sermon to the liturgical setting in which it belongs. Unlike the biblical thematic clue, the liturgical theme is variously represented. The lack of uniformity may be attributed to the role of the sermon's quaestio in sounding the theme of a particular liturgy. Thus, a sermon’s liturgical theme can be a quotation (occurring in any part of the text) of one or more passages drawn from the same liturgical reading or from different readings. Moreover, the quoted readings can belong to one single or to various liturgies, depending on whether the preacher chose to deliver a sermon only once or to adapt it to different occasions. It now becomes possible to use comparative typology to distinguish between those sermons created for a unique liturgical occasion and ones that might meet the demands of various liturgical settings. To the first group belong the Poučenie v nedelju syropustnuju, the Slovo prepodobnago otca našego Serapiona, the Poučenie prepodobnogo Serapiona and, probably, also the Poučenie o bezvremennom p’janstve and the Slovo o rotach i o kljatvach; while to the second belong the Slovo svjatago prepodobnago Serapiona and the Poučenie k bratii. It is also possible, using this typology, to make regional distinctions in the developmental history of Eastern Slavic homiletics. Although the sermons written in the Novgorod area do not share common liturgical features, the texts compiled in the Kyiv area all belong to the second liturgical cycle (from Pentecost to Lent). Thus, the deep thematic and formal homogeneity of the Kyivan texts may also be a response to the liturgical occasions for which they were created. Fourth, it is evident that the performative nature of the homiletic discourse (i.e. the conscious performative intention directing the preacher) shapes a sermon's rhetorical character on several levels. Every part of a sermon--every clause, every period, including the smallest metrical and syntactical units, the morphological and phonetic units--is substantially rhetorical because it is intended to affect the audience's moral character by means of the actualization of God's Word. On the structural level, the sermons show a tripartite rhetorical structure, which, as I have already noted, follows the model of Christian sermons. On the semantic level, I have noticed a variety of performative strategies. Although these strategies were standardized through imitation of earlier models and through liturgical praxis, they could vary according to individual style and the circumstances under which the sermon was delivered. On the basis of its conformity to the structural model of Christian homiletics, a further distinction in Eastern Slavic preaching may be identified. Nikifor's and Serapion's sermons are, in fact, structurally complete or “regular” (except for Serapion's third sermon, lacking in the conclusio), while Židjata's and Moisej's sermons are incomplete or “irregular”. The division by region remains the same: Kyivan sermons all pertain to the second liturgical cycle and show a complete structure, while Novgorodian sermons are liturgically heterogeneous and structurally incomplete. As I have noted, Eastern Slavic homiletics arose from the creative (stylistic and functional) imitation of patristic models. Taking into account how this earlier literature offered a body of common models which later authors used, it seems possible to state that the genre of Eastern Slavic homiletics developed regionally because of reception in varying degrees and creative elaboration of the ecclesiastical, pastoral and monastic traditions of Byzantine writing. Sermons of the Kyiv region (that offers a large number of them) show a marked uniformity in their thematic organization and formal structure; the reason may possibly be greater exposure and fidelity to the Greek rhetorical tradition as transmitted by the Byzantines. Sermons composed in the Novgorod region (minor in number) show much less homogeneity, a fact that may indicate the strength and prestige of the monastic tradition, founded on the “memory of the word” passed down through the oral tradition of the Fathers' logoi. From the point of view of the actual, “real,” setting of the homiletic event (i.e., the time, place and social environment of its composition and delivery), the geographical distinction was probably sharpened by the different social compositions of the Kyivan and Novgorodian liturgical assemblies. In this respect the division bears evidence of the different pastoral priorities that preachers living in these areas must have had, and, on the whole, of a partial or at least selective reception of the preached message.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
