Re: Odp: Praeneste fibula

----- Original Message -----

From: Sergejus Tarasovas

To: cybalist@egroups.com

Sent: Monday, March 20, 2000 8:48 AM

Subject: [cybalist] Re: Odp: Praeneste fibula

Sergei wrote (referring to "Slovo o polku Igoreve"): As for artistic merits, we just have nothing to compare it to: all the other survived literature of the region is either church (most) or of utilitary use (like chronicles and economic notes). We could compare if we had found other work of the same genre.

 

... which is precisely why some people thought it was an 18th century hoax. They just couldn't believe that anything like "Slovo" could exist without a rich literary tradition in the background. One can compare it to other epic literature from different cultural contexts, and it compares favourably. I can say that, as I know "Slovo" first-hand and I enjoyed reading it in the original. Regrettably, it's not on the school reading list in Poland, but there is an excellent translation by Julian Tuwim; it has also been translated into English by Vladimir Nabokov (as "The Song of Igor's Campaign: An Epic of the Twelfth Century").

 

Piotr