Presentation of the Hand in the Portrait of reverend John Damasceńki

Olga Anchimiuk

Olga Anchimiuk - Uniwersytet w Białymstoku

Владимир Заика

Владимир Заика - Uniwersytet w Białymstoku

Abstract

Analysis of descriptions of the Saints and characteristics of their appearance includes a number of problem areas: a linguistic portrait, linguistic and nonlinguistic ways of describing the Saint and a problem of the body in culture. The paper concentrates on the means of describing the hand – a part of the body of Saint John of Damascus, which was a source of suffering and divine healing. A linguistic comparison of Saint John of Damascus’ history in Четьи Минеи св. Димитрия Ростовского (1689–1705) and Lives of the Saints of Old and New Order by priest P. Skarga shows that short description as the main feature of religious literature, explicit and implicit mentioning about the hand, both direct and descriptive one, take on significant meaning. A detailed analysis of the words used in both texts shows an important extension of the semantic field, relevant for the expression of religious meanings.

Keywords:

literature, portrait, description, shawl, turban