The Beginnings of Slavic Literacy and Cultural Awareness as Revealed on Manuscripts and Printed Materials in 16th c

Abstract

The Beginnings of Slavic Literacy and Cultural Awareness as Revealed on Manuscripts and Printed Materials in the Period from 9th to the First Half of 16th CenturyExtended abstractOn the basis of manuscripts and printed sources the paper deals with the period between 9th and 16th century which could be determined as a period of an intensive formation and development of Slavic literacy. The theoretical framework gives a brief presentation of the activity of the saints Constantine and Methodius, who systematically introduced a new liturgical language in Pannonia and Great Moravia in 9th century thus establishing a new Christian language as the fourth of the world's languages. The paper highlights the liturgical conception of Cyrillo-Methodian activity which was not very different from the long-established practice in the Byzantine Church, with special emphasis on the liturgical conception of the first holy texts translated into the Slavic liturgical language. Furthermore, the paper gives a brief overview of the Slavic and Byzantine manuscript writing. As the geographical-historical territory dealt with includes the territory of the present Slovenia, some attention is given to the question of the existence of the Old Church Slavic language even before the Cyrillo-Methodian mission, too. Parallels between Brižinski spomeniki and the beginnings of the Old Church Slavic literacy are presented with connection to the Jernej Kopitar’s research and contribution to the development of scientific Slavic studies in the first half of 19th century. A typological overview of some Old Church Slavic documents (Glagolitic and Cyrillic) is given not focusing only on linguistic characteristics but trying to present the artistic design and other special features related to the historico-political circumstances of an individual codex. In addition, the theoretical background is underlined by the results of researching Slavic manuscripts in situ. Studying some manuscripts held in European institutions (libraries, archives and museums in Athens, Venice, Florence, Ljubljana, Moscow, Palermo, Paris, Rome, Sankt Petersburg and Siena) the possibility of different approach to the evaluation of Old Church Slavic monuments arises, suggesting the potential influence of the western world (in the early period) and their historico-cultural role. The above mentioned facts are demonstrated on Slavic manuscripts in the Kopitar's collection held by the National and University Library in Ljubljana. The content of liturgical manuscripts, together with theological problems was directly transformed into printed documents in the Renaissance period. That is why in the final part of the paper, the attention is paid to individual Cyrillic prints from the first half of the 16th century. They are a part of the Manuscript, rare and old prints collection held by the National and University Library as a part of Kopitar's legacy whose linguistic studies underlined the above mentioned nucleus of the beginning of Slavic literacy characterized by the above mentioned features. Kopitar's collection of Slavic manuscripts and prints serves as a ground to research the beginnings and development of Slavic literacy between 9th and 16th century.