Johanna Eleonora Petersens Gespräche des Hertzens mit GOTT (1689) zwischen Gebet, Selbstgespräch und Dialog

Abstract

Abstract J. E. Petersen’s Gespräche des Hertzens mit GOTT (Conversations of the Heart with GOD) is a soliloquy in the form of prayer that stages dialogue. Its complexity can be illustrated by two communication complexes. A first communication complex comprises the triadic dialogue between the Ego and an inner corresponding You – immanent in a single individual –, mediated by God. It can offer a moment of contemplation to the readers. In a scheme based on the religious history of Pietism the Ego in the confession of the Bible word turns equally to its inner You and to God. Mediated by the Holy Spirit, a personal experience of the scriptural word is evoked, leading to self-conviction. During this praxis pietatis, the reader takes over the position of the praying person – that is the Ego and the You. Petersen’s ‘Heart-Conversations’ are paradigmatic for a connection of literary studies and religious studies: on the one hand, for a communication scheme-based justification of the dialogical in the soliloquy and, on the other hand, as a communication complex of the staged, performative dialogue in pietistic written prayer.