medieval worlds • no. 15 special issue • 2022
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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medieval worlds • no. 15 special issue • 2022 ISSN 2412-3196 Online Edition ISBN 978-3-7001-9277-0 Online Edition 2022 222 Seiten, Indexed by: ERIH-PLUS, Crossref, DOAJ, EZB
Reinier Langelaar,
Giorgia Vocino,
Veronika Wieser
S. 23 - 35 doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no15si_2022s23 Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no15si_2022s23
Abstract: For biographical collections to form a coherent whole, literary choices had to be made and writing strategies applied to the individual segments (lives) of what was conceived as an overarching narrative or a textual ensemble. In this chapter we analyse the genres, models and traditions upon which authors, compilers and editors relied to assert the authority of the text and create a product meeting the expectations, tastes and textual practices of the community within which and for whom the biographical collection was written. We furthermore explore authoriality to establish the ways in which an author’s opinions, social entanglement and participation in scholarly networks contributed to shaping not only the content but also the style of his or her work. The comparative analysis of the written texts studied in this volume shows that authors also made consistent use of strategies of persuasion. These constituted powerful tools to build and convey a sense of trustworthiness encompassing both texts and authors: modesty (topos humilitatis) and self-confidence were, for example, put on show to strengthen the authority of a text, while prophecy provided a means to boost the legitimacy of the institution, the dynasty or the community celebrated by the biographical collection. Tropes and rhetorical devices can be identified in texts written in distant cultural regions – from Carolingian Brittany to the 14th-century Tibetan Plateau – as they allowed authors and compilers to showcase their learning and make sure to arouse and keep their audience’s attention. Focusing on writing strategies thus, surprisingly, reveals an unexpected degree of literary proximity between texts composed across Medieval Eurasia. Keywords: genres; literary traditions; authoriality; style; strategies of persuasion; tropes Published Online: 2022/06/08 09:56:51 Object Identifier: 0xc1aa5572 0x003d7899 Rights:https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
medieval worlds provides a forum for comparative, interdisciplinary and transcultural studies of the Middle Ages. Its aim is to overcome disciplinary boundaries, regional limits and national research traditions in Medieval Studies, to open up new spaces for discussion, and to help developing global perspectives. We focus on the period from c. 400 to 1500 CE but do not stick to rigid periodization.
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |