Theolinguistics

У овом раду полазим од две методолошке претпоставке: 1) Култура се може очитати из језика; 2) Култура је целина, те се може објективно испитати само огледањем с другом целином. Полазећи од лексике, примењујем широку филолошку методологију да бих упоредио православну и модерну језичку слику света, предвиђајући да ће се православна догма показати релевантним и ревелаторним поредбеним еквивалентом савременог дискурса. Нагласак стављам на учење о апокалипси и на појам прелести. Утврђујем да је тај негативни појам у више језика претрпео нормализацију кроз губљење наслеђених речи осуде (прелест) те њихову дискредитацију (лаж), семантичку рестрикцију (превара) и неутрализацију (мнење); кроз афирмативно превредновање (машта) и еуфемистичко преименовање (пи-ар); најзад противосуду (теорија завере) која инкорпорира критичке неологизме (дезинформација). Појам истовремено бележи ширење које обухвата савремене праксе манипулације и кључне речи цивилизације (информисање, ИТ, јавно мнење). Прелест је тиме увећана а њена критика онемогућена променом лексичке и семантичке структуре. Ова промена демонстрира на који начин језик обликује и изражава постистински поглед на свет. Очигледна, битна и епохална, она представља знак времена, који по православној догми јесте апокалиптичан.

In this paper, I proceed from two methodological assumptions: 1) Culture can be read from language; 2) Culture is a whole, and it can be objectively examined only in comparison with another whole. Starting from the lexicon, I apply a broad philological methodology to compare the Orthodox and the modern linguistic picture of the world, predicting that Orthodox dogma will prove to be a relevant and revelatory comparative equivalent of contemporary discourse. The emphasis is on the teaching of the apocalypse and the notion of deception. I find that in several languages this negative notion has undergone normalization through: the disappearance of the inherited words of condemnation (srp. prelest), their disrepute (lie), semantic restriction (fraud) and neutralization (seduction); affirmative revaluation (dream) and euphemistic renaming (PR); finally counter-condemnation (conspiracy theory), which incorporates critical neologisms (disinformation). At the same time, the notion is experiencing an extension which includes modern practices of manipulation and key words of civilization (information, IT, public opinion). The deception is thus increased and its critique prevented by the change of lexical and semantic structure. This change demonstrates how language shapes and expresses a post-truth world view. Obvious, essential and epochal, the change represents a sign of the times, one which according to Orthodox dogma is apocalyptic.

Charles Schulz was of Lutheran origin and stated that in his strips he drew for two types of editors: the secular and the ecclesiastical. He points out that he worked for secular editors through newspaper associations and therefore, he, naturally, had to take care how he expressed things. The fact is that Schulz also worked for a Roman Catholic publication, the Timeless Topix. He affi rmed that various people who were in religious work had written thanking him for his way of preaching through comic strips. A good part of Schulz’s life was dedicated to the Peanuts comic strip. He had the work of encouraging people in churches facing certain diffi culties, but the secular aspect of Peanuts, mainly of Charlie Brown, brought contributions with respect to the religious aspects of the people when the strip came to be widely propagated between 1958 and 1971. The infl uence was such that the Presbyterian reverend Robert L. Short published The Gospel According to Peanuts (1962) and The Parables of Peanuts (1968). Peanuts, for Schultz, was a “confession of faith”. This text aims to show that, despite its finality being secular daily life, Schultz lets emerge, in the persons of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, words of empowerment and encouragement, and this passes through the borders of secularity and of religiosity. This article aims to show, through a theolinguistic anlaysis, how Peanuts conserved secular and religious aspects in its language

The article analyzes the genres of theological discourse. Theological research paper is considered as a special genre that communicates Christian ideas within the Protestant dogmatics. The data show that a theological research paper consists of three parts: introduction, main body and conclusions. The Creating of a Research Space model by J. Swales has been used for the analysis of a theological research paper introduction. The theological research paper addresses important issues in the religious and spiritual direction. Results show that Protestant theological discourse appears to be of a communicative character as far as it communicates Christian-based intentions, strategies and tactics of religious verbal and non-verbal language structures.

Interpreting sacred notions of the Hebrew Bible in a non-literal or figurative sense was part of the hermeneutical manoeuvres of Early Christian writers. They proceeded by deliteralization and metaphorization. These are meta-linguistic speech acts by which a word appearing in a given religious or doctrinal corpus and which usually is understood in its literal sense receives a non-literal meaning. Paul's notion of the " circumcision of the heart " which is intimately linked to that of the " inner Jew " (Romans 2: 28-29) was an attempt to internalise Jewish law-abidingness whilst abolishing its initial dignity. What exactly happens on a cognitive linguistic level in such instances? Drawing upon Fauconnier and Turner's Cognitive Integration Model the author develops a two-phase model at work behind Paul's metaphorizations. First the initial values (Jewishness and ritual circumcision) are projected onto a newly created target, namely inwardness. In a second move (retro-projection) the original value is abolished. This process can be termed a value-shift, in contradistinction to similar and precedential instances (cf. Deuteronomy, Jeremiah and Philo of Alexandria) which should be seen as value-extensions, the source value being preserved and merely extended to other realms of action. Corollaries of value-shift and value-extension are duty-shift and duty-extension, since values also imply duties. From a socio-religious perspective metaphorization goes along with a widening of the religious community. In the last resort, however, it reveals itself to be a moment in the genesis of new philosophical concepts, such as inwardness as the locus of redemption.

The present article deals with the analysis of common and distinctive features of religious and theological discourse. It is an attempt to characterize the nature of theological discourse by identifying the specificity of theology as a sphere of communication. The grounding is provided for the necessity to consider the theological discourse in the framework of the religious discourse.

The article deals with the genre fundamentals of Christian religious discourse. Religious texts have been selected and analyzed. An attempt has been made to create the classification of biblical, church, religious-theoretical and religious-popular genres of Christian discourse. The results show that the genre paradigm of Christian religious discourse is an extremely colourful linguistic palette. Religious genres are a special means of the Divine knowledge of the Creator, of His essence, of the content of His Word, commandments and will.
Keywords: Bible, Christianity, church, religious text, genre variation.

Who is He, to Whom we address words God, Theos, Deus, etc.? How far goes possibility for adaptation of religious and philosophical language from other (non-Western) cultures? Do people, by using certain words and terms, denote being of God, or are they just conventional names? Those questions were raised quite early in theological debates in early stages of Christianity, and answers were given by such prominent Church Fathers as Gregory of Nyssa and Basil the Great. The problem resurfaced millennium later, when Western missionaries encountered nations and people whose religious and philosophical concepts were far different from their own. Should they accommodate local terms to fit the Christian concept of God, or should they introduce Western terminology? This translational and linguistic problem leads to the question: are there universal concepts which (despite of cultural affiliation, based on the common human experience) could communicate the Christian idea of God? Findings of Wierzbicka, and her own claim is: yes – there are semantic primes, through which we can translate our ideas (with minor imperfections). But this last question goes beyond the reach of mere secular linguistics, and enters the domain of theology. For it is theological claim that in our human nature we are capable of addressing Triune God.

Hitherto, the language of the Methodist revival has received only moderate, and mainly descriptive, attention. This studymoves beyond description and approaches the phenomenon from a «discourse» angle. A corpus-based investigation of theworkings of Methodism in its many different discourse aspects highlights how and why Methodism in its early Wesleyanstage was remarkably efficient in providing a multi-modal message which answered the needs and aspirations of theunderprivileged. A critical assessment shows that there is little reason to indict the Wesleyans with any manipulative intent.Wesley’s discourse did, however, contain some elements which were misunderstood and misapplied when later Methodismlost its Wesleyan touch; but the Methodist revival as a whole cannot be indicted with deliberate manipulation of the working classes.

The article provides an overview of Piotr Bogalecki’s book The fortuitous faults of theolinguism. Polish poetry after 1968 from a postsecular perspective. In the first part of the text, the choice of research material and methodology is discussed, as well as the author’s claim that there is a particular convergence between literature and post-secular thought. This second theme is expanded upon to include a review of similar beliefs found in both classics works on postsecular thought and in recent books inspired by Polish researchers. The second part of the article discusses the interpretations of poetry (Wirpsza, Karpowicz, Miłobędzka, Barańczak, Różewicz, Zadura, Tkaczyszyn-Dycki, Bargielska, Mueller) contained in the book to show how the researcher uses categories derived from postsecular philosophy in his analysis of specific texts, which threads he explores, and how he indicates the distinctiveness of his thoughts in comparison to previous critical diagnoses. The third part summarizes the specificity of Bogalecki’s research and compositional strategy, and includes reflections on the appropriateness and consequences of the use of the term “theolinguism” in relation to poets who represent a variety of different poetics.

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Dziedzictwem kultury niematerialnej Tatarów Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego są XVI-wieczne manuskrypty o tematyce religijnej. Ich badaniem zajmuje się nowa subdyscyplina filologiczna zwana kitabistyką. Łączy ona slawistykę z orientalistyką. Celem artykułu jest wprowadzenie czytelnika w badania kitabistyczne. Jego autorka stara się odpowiedzieć na pytania: czym jest kitabistyka? kiedy powstała? jaki jest jej zakres? oraz wskazać główne kierunki badań i ich realizację przez naukowców z różnych ośrodków akademickich.

Development Trends of Kitabistics – Abstract

The heritage of the non-material culture of the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania comprises sixteenth-century manuscripts concerning religious topics. These manuscripts are the subject of research of a new philological subdiscipline known as kitabistics that combines Slavic Studies with Oriental Studies. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the reader to kitabistics. The author of the paper attempts to answer the following questions: What is kitabistics? When did it originate? What is the scope of this research discipline? and to indicate the main trends in research and their realisation by scholars from various academic centres.