Posebnost Legende o Ivanu Zlatoustom u kontekstu hrvatskoglagoljske pripovjedne proze
The Singularity of The Legend of John Chrysostom in the Context of Croatian Glagolitic Narrative Prose

Summary/Abstract: Ctenie svetogo Ivana Zlatoustogo from the early 16th century is a religious narrative whose structure makes it different from other Croatian Glagolitic texts. It is a dramatic and striking narrative about the hermit Ivan who writes a prayer to the Mother of God with his saliva, which miraculously turns into gold, but then is tricked by the devil to commit a serious crime which he repents for years, living the life of strict penance. The story thus exemplifies the notions of sin (and its gradation) as well as of grace and forgiveness. The singularity of the text is the repetition of the narrative, firstly by the omniscient third person narrator and then again in the first person. This repetition may be seen as the result of compilatory copying from different sources. However, it can also be intentional. Namely, repeating the story impresses the subject matter in the mind of the audience, and telling it in the first person as a testimony of the hero increases its emotional impact. Ivan’s monologue, when read aloud, becomes a performance. The lack of attribution of Croatian Glagolitic manuscripts and individual texts presents a problem in trying to reconstruct the context of their reception. However, Ctenie svetogo Ivana Zlatoustogo invites further investigation in the interrelationship between the narrative and performative aspects of medieval texts which we today tend to view as narrative prose.

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