The Conceptualization of the Paganism in Missionary Hagiography the the Latin West and in Rus (up to the 14th century)
The paper is devoted to typological comparison of the conceptualization of
paganism in the medieval Latin missionary hagiography and the Old Rus Life
of St Stephen of Perm (d. 1396) by Epiphanius the Wise. The image of the
heathen Perm (Komi) drawn by Epiphanius is compared with the Latin tradition
of describing pagan peoples. Although Epiphanius was not familiar with the
Latin missionary hagiography, his perception of the pagans is close in many
respects to the traditions of that genre, where the narrative strategies were
completely defined by the topoi of the description of the alien cultures of idolworshippers.
At the same time, the comparison of the Life of St Stephen of Perm
with Latin missionary lives shows their significant differences. Epiphanius’s Life
is unique owing to presenting an impressive figure of Pam, a local pagan who
acts as an antagonist of St Stephen. Pam is a rightful character of the narrative,
who expresses a variety of emotions and ideas. Such an impressive portrait of
a representative of an alien culture is Epiphanius’s innovation, which is unique
for all the medieval European missionary hagiography. The Life of St Stephen
of Perm, this ‘last apostle of medieval Europe’, can be regarded, in its way, as
a highest point of the genre.
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