Rhetorical dissimulatio artis in the New Testament?

新约中的修辞掩饰技巧？

• 批准号: 437410330
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Thomas Schmeller
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lehrstuhl für Exegese und Theologie des Neuen Testaments
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2019-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/437410330?language=en
• 关键词: Rhetorical; dissimulatio; artis; New; Testament

Before Augustine rehabilitated pagan rhetoric in his work De doctrina Christiana, making rhetoric productive for the Christian proclamation, this rhetoric was a problem for the church fathers: It formed an essential part of the pagan tradition of education; as such, it was attractive and detestable at the same time. In New Testament texts we find one of those aspects only: a very negative attitude. Especially Paul’s letters are relevant here. Paul does neither seem to know anything about rhetoric nor to appreciate it. On the one hand he calls himself an “amateur in speech” (2Cor 11:6). On the other hand he judges all of rhetoric negatively, because in his eyes it is part of the wisdom of the world, while he himself has decided for the wisdom of God (1Cor 1-4).Although Paul emphatically rejected rhetoric, many interpreters today are convinced that he made use of it. A great number of publications analyzes rhetorical means in his letters. Similarly, statements of the church fathers dealing with Pauline rhetoric already betray a conspicuous ambivalence.There are conflicting reactions to Paul’s self-assessment in 2Cor 11:6 (“amateur in speech”) then and now. Does Paul spread the gospel successfully, although he is not able to speak well, or is his proclamation successfull, because he can speak well despite all of his self-criticism?These observations draw attention to a possible interpretation which has not always been taken seriously enough by modern scholarship: Statements like 2Cor 11:6 could be topoi of modesty and could as such be part of a more comprehensive rhetorical strategy, the so-called dissimulatio artis (litterally: “concealment of art”). This is a phenomenon which in ancient culture is to be found not in rhetoric only, but in many areas: A work of art should conceal the skill applied to it as far as possible. If read in this context, Paul’s words by which he seems to dissociate himself from rhetoric would in reality be a declaration of trust in rhetoric.To answer the question whether we really find dissimulatio artis here, it is first necessary to do more research into this rhetorical phenomenon. There has not been much attention to it in classical philology; in exegetical publications it is being mentioned in passing at best. The study proposed here is meant to clarify its realization and its functions in pagan literature of antiquity. Mainly, however, this study aims to answer the question whether Paul and other New Testament writers use rhetorical means which resemble dissimulatio artis and whether this has to do with the early Christian ambivalence toward rhetoric indicated above: Is it possible that not only Augustine, but already the New Testament provided a rhetoric adapted to Christianity and integrated into Christian self-understanding?

在奥古斯丁在他的著作《基督教义》中恢复异教修辞之前，使修辞对基督教宣言产生了影响，这种修辞对教会的父亲来说是一个问题：它形成了异教教育传统的重要组成部分;因此，它同时是有吸引力和可憎的。在新约经文中，我们只发现其中一个方面：一种非常消极的态度。保罗的书信在这里特别重要。保罗似乎既不懂修辞，也不欣赏修辞，一方面他称自己是“外行”（林后11：6）。另一方面，他对修辞学的评价是否定的，因为在他看来，修辞学是世界智慧的一部分，而他自己却决定了上帝的智慧（哥林多前书1-4）。虽然保罗极力反对修辞学，但今天许多解释者相信他利用了修辞学。同样地，教父们在谈论保罗的言辞时，已经流露出明显的矛盾心理。对于保罗在哥林多后书11：6中的自我评价（“外行的言语”），当时和现在都有相互矛盾的反应。保罗是成功地传播了福音，尽管他不能讲得很好，还是他的宣讲成功了，因为他能讲得很好，尽管他做了所有的自我批评？这些观察引起了人们对一种可能的解释的注意，这种解释并不总是被现代学术界足够认真地对待：像哥林多后书11：6这样的陈述可能是谦虚的主题，因此可能是一种更全面的修辞策略的一部分，即所谓的dissimulatio artis（字面意思是“隐藏艺术”）。这是一种在古代文化中不仅在修辞中而且在许多领域都能找到的现象：一件艺术作品应该尽可能地隐藏应用于它的技巧。如果在这种语境下阅读，保罗的话，他似乎游离自己从修辞实际上是一个宣言的信任修辞。要回答这个问题，我们是否真的发现dissimulatio artis在这里，首先有必要做更多的研究，对这种修辞现象。在古典语言学中，没有太多人注意到它;在训诂学出版物中，它充其量只是被顺便提及。本文的研究目的在于阐明它在古代异教文学中的实现及其功能。然而，这项研究的主要目的是回答这个问题，是否保罗和其他新约作者使用修辞手段，类似dissimulatio artis，这是否与早期基督教对修辞的矛盾心理上面指出：有没有可能，不仅奥古斯丁，但已经新约圣经提供了一个修辞适应基督教和基督教的自我理解整合？