Adam Naruszewiczs Oda do sprawiedliwości im Kontext des politischen Denkens und der Gelegenheitsdichtung der Aufklärung

Summary The article discusses Adam Naruszewicz‘s famous Ode to Justice (1773) and the engagement of occasional poetry in contemporary discussions about the handling of justice in political trials. Looking at the trial of 1773 the Ode addresses the question of finding a just sentence for the abortive attempt two years earlier to abduct king Stanisław August. The article presents the pertinent aspects for such an analysis in three parts: 1) an introduction to the conceptualization of royal justice in European thought of the Enlightenment, 2) the known facts about the abduction and its historical contexts, 3) an overview of the occasional poetry written by Naruszewicz about the incident from 1771 to 1773 leading to an analysis of the Ode to Justice in regard to the political reasoning of its author.

Reliģiskie tēli 17. gadsimta latīņu kāzu dzejā Rīgā

The humanists of Riga began to compose various Latin poetry texts due to the currents of European humanism, which came to Livonia soon after the Protestant Reformation took place in Livonia in the first half of the 16th century. As a result of this historical and religious impact, the level of education increased, enabling an environment for the development of the literature. The aim of the article „Religious characters in the 17th-Century Nuptial Poetry in Riga” is to bring to light the content of nuptial (epithalamium, ὑμέναιος/hymenaeus, carmen nuptialis etc.) poetry written in Riga in the 17th century, providing insight into the most frequently mentioned characters and their meaning, as well as by exploring the specific features of occasional poetry to capture reader’s and researcher’s interest in the previously undiscovered cultural heritage. The subject of the study is more than 380 Latin nuptial poems, which are stored in the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books of the Academic Library of the University of Latvia. The poems are printed at the beginning of the 17th century by the second typographer of Riga city Gerhard Schröder (?–1657). The article includes data from a classification table (created by the author) in which the main characteristic of each poem is highlighted, including the mentions of all (more than 280) characters from ancient Greek and Roman mythology, as well as biblical and historical characters. Fragments of Latin nuptial poetry written in Riga are included to portray the content of poetry more clearly. All translations of poetry in the article are done by the author.

Constitution and Preservation: Experiences of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

By refering to the examples of different cultural traditions, Arūnas Sverdiolas in his study Constitution and Preservation described the mechanisms that are involved in the creation of culture – constitution and preservation. The goal of this article is to show how these mechanisms operated in the reality of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The article analyzes the roles that the Lithuanian political society gave to legislation, upbringing, historical narratives, heroic and occasional poetry while constituting and preserving itself.

„Schwankend zwischen zwei Kulturen“. Einige Bemerkungen zur deutschlandbezogenen Gelegenheitsdichtung Ion Barbus

The Romanian poet and internationally acclaimed mathematician Ion Barbu (i.e. Dan Barbilian), 1895-1961, practiced in his occasional poetry related to his experience as a doctoral student and later as a visiting professor in interbellic Germany a poetic discourse of immediate, sometimes diary-like reflection. The vitality of his occasional poetry mainly addressed to his close friends and seldom intended for publication is fed by the permanent contrast between the German and the Romanian culture and civilization. The paper analyzes the intercultural dialogue which constitutes the background of Ion Barbu’s Germany-related occasional poetry with special emphasis on his poems written in German.

Rīgā 17. gadsimtā sacerētās latīņu kāzu dzejas komponentes

Soon after the Protestant Reformation took place in Livonia in the 16th century, the currents of European humanism came to Livonia. As a result of the historical and religious impact, the level of education increased, enabling an environment for the development of the literature. Soon various Latin poetry texts int. al. 17th-century occasional poetry written by the humanists of Riga started to appear. The aim of the article is to bring to light the components of nuptial (epithalamium, ὑμέναιος/hymenaeus, carmen nuptialis, etc.) poetry written in Riga in the 17th century, as well as by exploring the specific features of occasional poetry to capture readers’ and researchers’ interest in the previously undiscovered cultural heritage. At the beginning of the article, the tradition of nuptial poetry is explained. Then, by examining the basic principles one must take into account in composing occasional poetry based on works of the ancient rhetors – Menander (Μένανδρος Ῥήτωρ, c. 3rd century), pseudo-Dionysius (pseudo-Dionysius/Διονύσιος), Himerius (Ἱμέριος, c. 315–c. 386) and the book “Seven Books on Poetry” (Poetices libri septem, 1561) written by Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger (1484–1558) – a table of the most used topics in nuptial poetry is formed. Afterwards, the poetry written in Riga and its most typical components (didactics, laudation, inducement, foresight, wishes/congratulations and prayers) is compared to the topics offered by previously mentioned theoreticians. Fragments of Latin nuptial poetry written in Riga are included to portray the components of poetry more clearly. All translations of poetry included in the article are made by the author of the article.

Andro Paoli, a representative of eighteenth-century Dubrovnik poetry

Based on the results of the latest research, the article attempts to establish a more comprehensive image of Andro Gianpiero Paoli, an eighteenth-century poet from Dubrovnik (1697-1783). Using archival news sources, the author analyses the environment in which Paoli developed as a poet: it is explained that two of his brothers were writers, which is important for the understanding of his work too. It is emphasised that Paoli was praised for his satirical poetry, while being criticised for his crudeness, acrimony and intemperance. The author points out the fact that Paoli was a typical representative of occasional poetry at the time when Du?brovnik literature was fading. Another fact, previously unnoticed, is highlighted: namely, Paoli is recognised as the possible author of an anonymous poetic translation of the most significant work of Christian Renaissance on the birth of Jesus Christ, the famous epic De partu virginis by Jacopo Sannazaro. The title of Paoli?s translation is O Porodjenju Djevicanskomu.

Johannes Valentini Lucubrata opuscula poeticohistorica in unum collecta [Az éjjeli mécs világánál alkotott költői-történeti művecskéim egybegyűjtése] (1808) című kötetének őstörténeti vonatkozásai

As a poet, the parish priest Johannes Valentini (Turčiansky Michal, 1756 – Kláštor pod Znievom, 1812) is very much tied to the other Neo-Latin priest-poets living in Hungary and the other countries of the Habsburg Empire by the tradition of laudation in occasional poetry, which flourished from the antiquity until the end of the 19th century and was a tool to praise or mourn religious superiors or secular patronising potentates. Valentini, however, is different from the other poets in his very extensive interest in prehistory. When he poeticises the history of the provostry of Thurocz, he engages in lengthy explanations which are far bigger in size than the poem itself, and are also supplemented with footnotes.From a viewpoint of history of science this approach is probably connected mostly to the research initiated by the Jesuit historian Georgius Papánek, but Valentini’s work – similarly to authors of all other nationalities of that time in the Kingdom of Hungary – of course contains mythical and legendary elements, to which he naturally utilizes the reports of antique Greek and Roman writers about Eastern-origin exotic peoples. The Nagykároly (Carei, Szatmár county)-based Ferdinandus Thomas, for example, derives the origin of Hungarians from Ethiops! But we can name examples from either Romanian or South Slav literatures.Valentini is of high significance, because in many ways he – with his poet colleagues, writing in Slovak or other language – clears the way for Orientalism, an important trend of European Romanticism.