Gavril Stefanovic Venclovic’s pioneer work on transferring Christian tradition to vernacular language

Abstract

Gavril Stefanovic Venclovic, hieromonk, hard-working scribe and inspired orator from thefirst half of the XVIII century, marked one of the key periods in the history of Serbianculture. He left some 20000 hand-written pages behind, out of which some 9000 written invernacular language. His transcripts were primarily made for church service needs, yet,trying to reach his flock, Venclovic was translating and adapting them to vernacularlanguage. In his effort to make them understandable and available to “illiterate peasant”, notonly that he translated the sermons, but also tried to explain segments that were abstract or ofmore complex terminology by inserting examples from everyday life. Trying to be as closestto his audience, Venclovic used expressions and terms they were familiar with, thus hissermons were entered by numerous details from folk language, customs and everyday life.Key words: Venclovic, tradition transfer, orations, vernacular language.