Power of discourse and discourse of power in the early Middle Ages. Italy and Spain

Abstract

The article examines the evolution of Western patristics from Augustine to Gregory the Great and Isidore of Seville in a dual aspect: the power of discourse and the discourse of power. The former draws on truth, the “place” of which, according to Aristotle, is in judgment, while the latter represents the policy of truth, pursued by the government. The power of discourse in this case is implemented as the spread of Christian education. The discourse of power is realized in the form of decisions and legislative acts of the authorities, guided by the Roman tradition and adopted in the dominating atmosphere of transition from раx deorum to pax dei. The power of Christian discourse specifically manifests itself in relation to Jews and Judaism. The church, meanwhile, is increasingly playing the role of a stable and omnipresent institution of education and transfer of agonistic rhetoric. The clergy are becoming new “rhetors” (Paula Fredriksen), whose activities bring about a new product of their rhetoric, namely, “rhetorical” Jews. However, the discourse of power in the late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages determined the legal status of quite real “historical” Jews. The focal point of the article is the ongoing debate on the Christian literature “adversus Iudaeos” of the first millennium and the “topoi” thereof: the anti-Judaism of its authors takes on a special character depending on whether it is dictated by the power of discourse (the Christian Word) or actually is the discourse of power. When acting as preachers and mentors in Christian faith, Augustine, Gregory the Great and Isidore of Seville would theologize, extensively resorting to anti-Judaism rhetoric (anti-Judaism without Jews), whereas in their administrative practices they have to deal with real-life Jews, which compels them to conform their wording with the concrete situation and the priorities of the Church policy.