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    Modes of Self-Writing From Antiquity To

    Uploaded by

    Tomaš Potočnik
    fdddff

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF MEDIEVAL LATIN LITERATURE Edited by RALPH J. HEXTER AND DAVID TOWNSEND OXFORD MEDIEVAL LATIN AND THE FASHIONING OF 1 New York Fordham University res 1 H. 1979. Passion Iconography in Northern European Art ofthe Late Mi ‘and Barly Renaissance: A Study ofthe Transformation of Sacred Metaphor ; CHAPTER 25 Descriptive Narrative. Ars Neelandica Kortrijk: Van Ghemmert Publishing MODES OF SELF-WRITING re eee FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE University of Pennsylvania Press. tion (Ve-kle te Ps Abel ea 1 LATER MIDDLE AGES ‘Woman to WomanChrist: Studies in Medieval Wi 3d and the Goddeses: Vision Petry, and Belief nthe Middle Ages. Say'T Saw’? The Clash Between Theory and Pa : eculum 80:83. Palazzo ric. 2010. "Visions and Liturgical Experience” In Looking Beyond: Visions, roams, and Insights in Medieval Art & History, edited by Colum Hourihane, CT: Yale University Press. Schneiders, Sandra M. 2005. "Approaches to the Study of Chistian Spi ISTORIANs of autobiography have generally skipped through the Middle Ages, oF A Conner eranitet asl ots feats yrod oso Icing o st cl og nie prune eon ee A Fe aa sep Door ya caer gy: Cdr 980) The Ea te ees i ln ee Se saya cannot tee ied vor he trio ees pera een aurea more or les freely and then t0 ° ‘process. From this perspective, the medieval period (deed offers us a mere handful of works that point to the later development of gutobiography, yet even these fail to live up to the ideal, being either too heavily sed upon prior models, or else failing to provide a complete narrative account of authors life. ‘This chapter examines the history of medieval Latin practices of self-writing lfferent perspective, exploring them on their own terms. The choice of the “self-writing” rather than “autobiography” here underscores the fact that le wrote—and indeed still write—about themselves in various ways and for 1 18te FASHIONING OF THE SELF: MODES OF SELF-WRITING FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 489 decreed in error (I 81-90), and blames his banishment on comitumque nefas (frien wickedness, I 101) and farmulosque nocentes (injuring slaves |. 101) Through such d lamations, Ovid clearly appeals to the mercy of his Roman readers. 4 Near the end of the poem, Ovid reveals another possible motivation for its \writing—therapy. His a comfort and solace he receives from: ing, we should note, is very different means to allay his grief, not (Ovid thanks his Muse, as wel immortal name. This conclusion takes us back to the opening address to po aims above all to secure the literary afterlife ofits to guarantee the survival of the self as text. enjoyment of beauty and music. Here, he focuses on his fornications against God, times in which he is to attached to earthly objects. He confesses the sin of pride, his {insurmountable attachment to praise and ultimately to sel love. He declares that although wri If does not aid in his understanding of the source of his attach- ment to praise, it does lead him to the cure:“Egenus et pauper ego sum, et melior in geculto gemitu displicens mihi et quaerens misericordiam tuam, donec reficiatur “defectus meus” [Lam poor and needy (Ps108:22), butam better if, secretly groaning, am vexed with myself and seek your mercy, until my defect is repaired] (Conf 0.38.63). Although retaining the Senecan emphasis on the ethical value of self-writing, ‘Augustine's self-examination departs from that of Seneca in crucial ways: whereas feneca concentrates on alist of daly actions, Augustine reflects on his entite life, arching for evil deeds and intentions. Furthermore, whereas the aim of Seneca’s examination is the perfection of the self the attainment of inner virtue and self-control, Augustine's self-cultvation is paradoxically based on the progressive denial of his attachment to his earthy sl. of self-cultivation, Augustine's portrayal of his life-story Augustine and the Birth of the Confessional Narrative rn between 397 and about 400, the work recounts the story of Augustine’ life up to his conversion in Milan in 386 and the en death of his mother. Augustine's groundbreaking practice of self-writing combi thical, epistemological, and rhetorical goals, many of these shared with the’ previously discussed modes. 4 Like Seneca, Augustine stresses the value of writing, and particulatly of write self-examination, for the ethical formation of the self. In the opening of Book: the Confessiones, Augustine states: 0 the understanding of a person’ the consideration of the whole sequence of Recordari volo transactas foedi nequissimas in amatitudine recogitat leedo non fallax, duleedo fel qua frustatim dscissus sum, {Tintend to remind myself of my past foulness and carnal corruptions, not Deca them but so that I may love you, my God, Its from love of your fn.28.38). 's events is thus the means love that I make the act of recollection. The recalling of my wicked ways is bitter tock 1996, 21-12% {in my memory, but Id it so that you may be sweet to me, a sweetness touched by no decepti ess serene and content. You gathered me together from the tegration in which I had been fruitesly divide.) (Augustine 1991, | Olney 1998, 1-83). This attainment of self-knowledge through self-narration also has considerable therapeutic value. As Augustine declares, the constant change that characterizes human existence in time is a source of an ongoing experience of fragmentation: | "Sed quoniam melior est misericordia tua super vitas, ecce distentio est vita ‘mea...pater meus aeternus es. At ego in tempora dissilui quorum ordinem nescio” [Because your mercy is more than lives (Ps 62:4), see how my life is a distension in several directions..You are my ete am scattered in times whose ‘order Ido not understand] (Conf. 1.29.39). The ability to structure the narrative of his life thus has a healing value for Augustine, providing him with a sense of unity The act of writing his past sins, this passage suggests, is for Augustine a reminder of his guilt and former falsehoods and of the benevolence God has shown him. Th recollection, in turn, secures his resolution to abandon his past falsehoods, “pu aside the old person,” and place his trust solely in God. In Book 10, Augustine moves from his past sins to his present ones, inspects his susceptibility to sins related to the senses, such as excess in food and drink and awe. [MUDLEVAL LATIN AND THE FASHIONING OF THE SB [MODES OF SELP-WRITING FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 491 and order. Nonetheless, the question that hovers over the Confessiones ish as Augustine himself was captivated by the Ciceronian eloquence of the it Manichees, his readers may be captivated by his style rather than imitate his saintly behavior. In Book s, Augustine appears to address such concerns when he claims that writing style does not determine the truthfulness of the content: “Rursus nec ideo verum, quia impolite enuntiatur, nec ideo falsum, quia splen- didus sermo est” [A statement is not true becaust “shed idiom, nor false because the words are splendi is assurance, as Book 10 reveals, the tension between the ethi of writing is not completely resolved in the work. As we shall legacies of Augustine to future prodigal son on the way back home. ‘To these ethical and epistemological motivations for Augustine’ we should add a third one—the rhetorical. In narrating his life story, At aims to cure not only his own self, but also that of his reader. As a pr at the depiction of his person: affect his readers more directly than would an elaborate philosophi sd at length in Book 8, when he shows how hearing a se es finally facilitated his own, Although Augustine asserts the ethical, epistemological, and rhetorical value recounting the narrative of tensions relating in particular to the public and aesthetic aspects of writing. In Book 10, as we have seen, Augustine focuses “ongoing attachment to praise. The danger of pursuing praise, he states is esp acute when one makes his actions publicly known: “Sermo autem ore pro facta quae innotescunt hominibus habent temptationem periculosissims amore laudis” (But the word proceeding out of the mouth and the actions become known to people contain a most hazardous temptation in the love ofp (Conf. 10.38.63). The confession of his sins in thus contains for Augustine insurmountable earthly and sinful element. Writing, the cure applied to the mala ‘emerges in itself as part of the problem. 4 Angutine concen wh ls proud atachvet raises closely related tot Tue TWELFTH CENTURY AND THE REVIVAL OF SELF-WRITING ‘The centuries following Augustine's Confessiones have left relatively few examples of self-writing, Such practices begin anew in the eleventh century, alongside eral contemporary transformation of European society (Duby 1988, Goff 1988, 56-205), from which time onwards we witness a steady growth in prac~ tices of self-writing; the twelfth century presents us with a revival ofthe three cen- tral ancient modes previously discussed. The rise of the monastic reform movements is particularly relevant to this renaissance of self-writing. Critical of the lax morals and the growing riches of Benedictine monasteries of the time, reform groups like the Cistercians and the Carthusians called for anew, stricter monastic spirituality (Lawrence 1989, 149-205) ). What characterizes these fallen texts desires and leads August how the story of Dido in th self writing in particular, received a central role (Lawrence 198 | 52-70: van "T Spijker 2004). William of St. Thierry, in his Epistola ad fratres de ‘Monte-Dei, for example, emphasized the value of writing asa spiritual exercise: “Sic i necessaria sint,non tamen in hoc semper aeque rporaliaexercitia, sed quae cum spiritualibus propi-

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