6533b838fe1ef96bd12a5388

RESEARCH PRODUCT

"Na podobieństwo zwierciadła". O sposobie perswazji w parenezie Fabiana Birkowskiego

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This article is part of the research on the Old Polish sermons, in particular on the role the Dominican Friars played as heralds of God’s word. The analysis concerns selected texts by Fabian Birkowski, who was the leading preacher – just after Piotr Skarga – in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The key to defining the method of persuasion used by Birkowski is the principle of similarity, as this Dominican orator employed the emblematic figure of speech in the form of mirror, making use of it especially in order to create mirror metaphors. The main goal which Birkowski aimed at in performing his pastoral duties was to teach “how to see and not to forget”. Therefore, the mirror was supposed to be the hermeneutical key introducing the addressee (the listener or the reader) into the space of relations with the speaker conveying the message: the God and his messenger – the preacher. The article presents the evidence of how the word speculum was used in the Old Polish literature, also by other authors.