DRAMATISM AND DRAMATIZATION – A PERSUASIVE STRATEGY IN NICOLAE STEINHARDT'S SERMONS
DRAMATISM AND DRAMATIZATION – A PERSUASIVE STRATEGY IN NICOLAE STEINHARDT'S SERMONS

Summary/Abstract: N. Steinhardt proves in his homiletic discourse a real predisposition for dramatization. The Christian "tragedy" is staged and, at the same time, commented by an exceptional playwright and director. Argumentative discourse is a “mise en scene” and thus adheres to a determined social theatricality (of roles and actors). We identify the predilection for theatricality in the impeccable rhetoric, in the syntax of the sentence - the mixture of concise, elliptical sentences with astonishingly long utterances that presuppose a certain rhythm of utterance, the preference for interjection and exclamation, for the free indirect style. All this reveals a permanent concern of N. Steinhardt for the effect. Concentrated and unitary, Steinhardt's essay relies, sometimes, on the "shock" of the listener, on an aesthetic of the paradox and, apparently, of the sensational. Finally, we are witnessing, together with Steinhardt, a dramatic change in the homily paradigm. Sermons such as the ”Living Water”, the ”Hananian Woman”, the ”Tragedy of Judas”, the ”Holy Prophet Elijah”, ”Reflections on Death”, the ”Lord came to save and scandalize us”, the ”Holy Wrath” amply proves the directorial pleasure of the learned monk.

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