Obscure loqui. Zagadki i ich definicje w łacińskich traktatach i podręcznikach poetyki XVI–XVIII wieku wobec tradycji antycznej

Abstract

Julian Krzyżanowski’s statement that a riddle is a literary genre standing on the border between literature and language is the best inspiration for the philologist to undertake research on this issue. The article contains considerations on definitions and theory of this popular genre in old literature. It has been mentioned that the most complete theoretical and literary reflection on riddles in the early modern era was conducted by the Italian humanist Lilio Giraldi in his Latin work Libellus, in quo aenigmata pleraque antiquorum explicantur, first published in 1539 in Basel and then again in 1551. Giraldi directed his thoughts first to the Latin definition of the riddle noted by Aulus Gellius. The author of the article points out that scholars do not report the ambiguity of the riddle genre in their research, and in particular they ignore the fact that Gellius caused trouble to humanists when he used the word “scirpus”in his definition. Although in ancient times theoretical reflection on the riddle was not too abundant, the author’s attempt to go through ancient sources in Greek (Aristotle, Plutarch, Athenaeus) allows us to penetrate deeper into the definitions, terminology and semantics of the riddle genre and to consider its function in modern literary theory and practice terms derived from the Greek language, such as: aenigma, griphus, logogriphus. The author of this article emphasises that in contrast to the theoretical ancient reflection, in the treatises on poetics and rhetoric created in the Renaissance, and above all in the Baroque, including the works of the Jesuits, one can find numerous extensive remarks about riddles which were eagerly practised at that time. An example of the vivid interest in this subject matter is the Latin manuscript discussed briefly in the article. The text was written in the first half of the 18th century and contains, inter alia, notes on the theory of poetry. Among the issues enclosed in this manuscript textbook, much space is devoted to riddles. Despite the terminological ambiguity of the riddle genre and the equivocality of definitions, which were carefully noted by the authors of the theoretical treatises, in the conclusion of this article the author emphasises the extraordinary popularity that various forms of riddles enjoyed in literary practice in the 16th–18th centuries.