(Sacralisation of Names in East European Theological Traditions of the Second Half of the 17th Century and the Early 18th Century)

Abstract: The paper studies the place and role of proper names in the theological written homiletic traditions (Orthodox and Roman Catholic) of Eastern Europe of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Special attention is paid to symbolism and to the connotative, denotative and qualitative usage of anthroponymic names. Literary analysis of the homilies and sermons of St Dimitry Rostovsky, Stefan Jaworski, Tomasz Młodzianowski and Ioanniky Golyatovsky, written in Ukrainian, Russian, Polish and Church Slavonic demonstrates that the proper names in their works represent a special supra-phenomenal semantic space. The name cannot be profaned, desecrated or formed artificially. In their tradition, the name describes the referent that is defined in a supernatural, sacral and metaphysical way. It is found out that spiritual literature of Eastern Europe in the second half of the 17th and early 18th centuries is characterised by the highly mystical understanding of a person’s name, which often transformed into a mythological understanding.

Authors: Sharov, Konstantin

DOI: 10.17846/CL.2019.12.1.129-140

Publication order reference: Sharov Konstantin Sergeevich, PhD.; Department of Philosophy, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lomonosovsky ave, 27 bld 4, Moscow 119991, GSP-1, Russian Federation; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source: Konštatínove listy, 2019, vol.: 12, issue: 1, pages: 129-140 (PDF file)

Keywords: HOMILY, SERMON, SPIRITUAL LITERATURE OF 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES, SYMBOLISM, METAPHYSICS AND THEOLOGY OF NAME, ANTHROPONYM, EASTERN EUROPE

Language: RUSSIAN