„…még az együgyű és paraszt emberek is”

Alkalmazkodás a közönséghez a kegyességi irodalomban

Absztrakt

In early modern devotional literature, audience accommodation fundamentally shapes textual composition: the content, structure, and style of discourse are determined by the presumed level of education and understanding of the audience. Such accommodation is realized through the rhetorical resources of inventio, dispositio, and elocutio. The examination of how these intentions are realized in the completed texts is a question of literary history, whereas the assessment of their explicit formulation belongs to the history of literary criticism. Across the various genres of devotional literature (sermons, prayers, meditations, catechisms, confessions of faith, and polemical writings), and often also in secular works, the intended audiences are explicitly identified. This study presents examples from dedications and prefaces dating from the period 1580–1630 in order to show how authors identified their intended audiences, ranging from “simple peasant folk” through “wise and learned men of the Church” to “all Christians.”