Discursive scheme of the life of a saint in 15th-17th centuries

About the author:

Ekaterina V. Averyanova,

Abstract:

The paper considers the canonical discourse scheme of the Russian life of a saint from the point of view of semiotics. The transcendent contract and the anti-contract are the main stages of the scheme. The main element of the competence of the Subject in the hagiography is the modality of knowledge, which allows to correctly interpret the manipulation of anti-Sender and the Sender. The modality “to be able” is necessary, but it is derived from knowledge. Thus, the basis of the competence of the saint is a communicative competence, which is formed in the polemical confrontation with the anti-Sender. In contrast with the tales in the lives of saints we observe a more complex relationship of actants and actors: in the fairy tale one actor always stands in the same role. In the lives of saints the same actor can play different roles, even opposite. If in the tale the hero is always immaculate and static, then in the lives of saints the evolution of the hero is possible, the hero can make mistakes. The miracle is a necessary component of the lives of saints as an element of glorifying test. If the qualification or the decisive test can be implicit in the life, the grorifying test is always present in the story, for the hortatory purposse, since it is presupposed by the genre.

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