O JEDNEJ MOWIE, WIELU JĘZYKACH I POSZUKIWANIU TOŻSAMOŚCI W TRADYCJI BIBLIJNEJ I WE WSPÓŁCZESNEJ NARRATOLOGII
OF ONE SPEECH, MANY TONGUES AND THE QUEST FOR IDENTITY IN BIBLICAL TRADITION AND CONTEMPORARY NARRATOLOGY

Summary/Abstract: The essay analyses selected passages from The Old and New Testament, ranging from the mythological account of the Deluge and the story of Babel, through the chronicles of Israel, down to the New Testament and the narrative about the miraculous “gift of tongues”. In the quoted examples language serves as an important feature of tribal or national identity, a means of communication and persuasion. It also serves as a powerful weapon in propaganda wars. Furthermore, the biblical narratives prove that the process of recognising and/or establishing one’s selfhood through language needs to be construed in the double sense of Latin words ipse: something that is variable, but always distinct from others, and idem: always the same, “identical with itself”. Neither can individual consciousness be divorced from group identity (frequently connected with identification based on the principle of mother tongue). This conundrum may be solved through a reference to modern narratology which proposes the concept of “narrative identity” comprising the dialectical notions of “sameness” and “diversity”. On these terms, “the gift of tongues” cannot be interpreted as a new paradigm for the idyllic pre-Babel uniformity of some lingua franca for all people, but rather serves as a reminder that true identity can be found only when differences are respected and diversity is preserved.

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