Випуск 11 (Спеціальний випуск)

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Browsing Випуск 11 (Спеціальний випуск) by Subject "cultural appropriation"

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    MS 45 of Vita Constantini-Cyrilli: Politically Correct Textual Intervention
    (2025) Daiber, Thomas
    Saint Constantine-Cyril died in 869; shortly afterwards, and certainly before 882, the Life of Constantine-Cyril was written in Greek by an anonymous author. The original Greek text of the Life (Vita Constantini-Cyrilli, hereafter VC) appears to be lost, and we possess only a translation into Old Bulgarian that is Old Church Slavonic (hereafter OCS), which very probably originated also in the 9th century. The original Greek text of VC had been translated into OCS by means of a highly literal translation technique, and the resulting Grecisms in the OCS version made the text virtually incomprehensible to the Slavic copyists, who produced a wealth of variant readings in the OCS text. The situation is further complicated because the earliest preserved copy of VC is known only from a manuscript dated 1469, and consequently, any discussion of its content demands detailed philological analysis. In this article, we keep the philological commentary to the minimum and concentrate on a single manuscript, distinguished by its content – VC (manuscript no.45 = MS 45). The special variant readings in MS 45 are unique in the history of the textual transmission of VC and consist of substantial additions and reformulations of entire sentences. The variants did not originate from attempts to resolve linguistic difficulties in the text, as can be observed in other copies of VC, but rather the variant readings of MS 45 appear to constitute a deliberate redactional reframing of the text. The interventions in MS 45 focus exclusively on Constantine-Cyril’s Moravian mission, his invention of Slavic letters, and his role as apostle to the Slavs. The additions of MS 45 emphasize his theological and political competence and the cultural importance of his work for all Slavic countries. Ultimately, the variant readings of MS 45 connect the events of the 9th century anachronistically with features of the Muscovite culture of the 16th–17th centuries. The study polemically asks if the textual interventions in MS 45 can be viewed in the light of translation theory after its "ideological turn", which acknowledges politically motivated changes in texts.