Drugi vid prosvetiteljstva Jovana Rajića - klasicistički i pijetistički koncept nastave retorike u Pokrovo-bogorodičnoj školi

Abstract

Ispitivanje dokumenata vezanih za rad Jovana Rajića na polju retorike u Pokrovo-Bogorodičnoj školi, na prvom mestu još neproučenog rukopisa udžbenika koji je napisao za ovaj predmet, pokazuje da je on napustio priručnike iz retorike barokne, jezuitske i kijevske tradicije, i oslonio se na postbarokna retorička dela nemačkih protestantskih autora s početka XVIII stoleća. To su pre svega ona J. G. Hajnekea i H. Frajera, predstavnika racionalizma u retoričkoj teoriji, u prvom slučaju klasicističke, u drugom pijetističke provenijencije. Time je Rajić nastavu retorike reformisao u duhu ranoprosvetiteljskih intelektualnih i literarnih strujanja. Pored izbegavanja tipičnih baroknih retoričkih fenomena, to je konkretno učinio tako što je u svoj udžbenik, pisan na latinskom, uneo slovensku retoričku terminologiju i primere iz moderne književnosti i usmene tradicije služeći se ćirilicom koja je vrlo bliska građanskoj, pa i za navode iz crkvenih tekstova. Predavanja iz crkvene retorike nemačkog prosvetiteljskog propovednika J. L. fon Mozhajma koja je predvideo za ovaj segment nastave, deo su iste Rajićeve koncepcije. Budući da je prosvetiteljstvo u delima Rajićeve zrelosti bilo zapravo hrišćanski klasični humanizam, za to vreme konzervativno, ova njegova delatnost pokazuje da je u on u svom ranom, civilnom periodu bio blizak i mnogo avangardnijim prosvetiteljskim konceptima. Ona takođe svedoči da on nije bio bezuslovno rusofilski kulturno orijentisan.

This paper is based on analysis of previously non-researched documents of work of great Serbian theologian, historian and poet Jovan Rajić (1726-1801) in the field of rhetoric from the time when he was professor and director of Serbian-Latin high school in Karlovci called Pokrovo-Bogorodična. These documents are in the first place his rhetoric textbook Brevis et succinna manudictio in universam oratoriam, written in 1761-2., as well as his reports of lectures and of exams. Rajić's frequent messages of importance of education in the works of his maturity were in fact expression of his Christian classical humanism, not of contemporary secular enlightenment, ideas of which he, as a cleric, could not accept, but in this rhetorical activity, in his early, civil period, he showed openness to more avantgarde enlightenment concepts. Writing his rhetorical textbook Rajić didn't take the road of Kievian rhetorical textbooks, as it would be expected with regard to confessional factor. He inclines to classicistic avoiding of baroque rhetorical ideas and phenomena (as emphasizing the role of tropes and figures, particularly of metaphor, as well as of poetic principle of acumen) and also of typical expressions of baroque culture (symbols, emblems, hieroglyphs etc.). Post-baroque character of Rajić's rhetoric textbook comes from his main models and those are Prussian and Protestant, as well as recent and untypical. In the circumstances when Habsburg government tried to impose to the Serbs Roman Catholic educational system and to ruin their educational links with Russia, it is quite clear the choice of these models as by the author himself, who was Russophile critically oriented toward Roman Catholicism, as by archbishop-metropolitan Pavle Nenadović, great supporter of improving Serbian education, who ordered this work. Before he started to write his rhetoric manual, when he had already taken on the teaching of rhetoric, Rajić put out of using the widely spread textbook of Jesuit Cipriano Suárez (Soarius) and also Kievian textbooks, primarily leant on it. As it shows Rajić's teaching report, instead of those, he introduced the textbook which would be for him one of main models for writing his own. It is Fundamenta stili cultioris of Johann Gottlieb Heineke (alias Heineccius). Beside this work Rajić used also two another - Oratoria in tabulas compendiarias redacta of Hieronymus Freyer and Elementa oratoria of Johann Friedrich Burg. By taking Heineke as model Rajić gave classicistic character to his rhetoric textbook because this very famous rhetorician in XVIII century first of all insists on linguistic and stylistic ideals of purity, especially in respect of using tropes and figures. Burg is much dependant on Freyer, but he is more conservative because his textbook conforms to some baroque rhetorical customs (great space for tropes and figures) and has ecclesiastical orientation (examples from Bible alike those from classical and modern profane literature). Rajić follows Burg in these specific elements, but on the other side he leans Freyer who is the most modern of his models and exerted the most characteristic influence on him. As one of representatives of educational reforms in Prussia Freyer promoted using the maternal (German) language in teaching rhetoric instead of Latin by translating rhetorical terms and giving examples also from domestic literature. Rajić translated in Serbian literary language of that time, Russian-Church-Slavonic, some of basic rhetorical terms and in the same language gave majority of examples from Bible and some from other sources. Moreover, he put in his manual some examples in the vernacular Serbian language from oral tradition. In regard to this Rajić's rhetorical work belongs to the early enlightenment rhetoric textbooks. Besides, the leaning on these recent Prussian models made Rajić's rhetorical manual advance guard of educational reforms in Habsburg Empire which would start in next decade under the influence of Prussian recipes. As former Russian student Rajić certainly had to know such important rhetorical work as Ritorika of Mikhail V. Lomonosov, but in translating rhetorical terms he was independent, although in some details it is possible to see Rajić's closeness with Lomonosov, particularly in using civil Cyrillic letters, even in the Biblical quotations. In regard to this Rajić went on furthest in enlightenment orientation of his rhetoric textbook because of Serbian reserve concerning reform of Cyrillic letters in that time and also because the next Serbian rhetoric textbook, written by Avram Mrazović in Russian-Church-Slavonic six decades later, was printed in old, ecclesiastical Cyrillic letters. Rajić's reform of teaching of rhetoric in Pokrovo-Bogorodična school in the direction of early enlightenment rhetorical theory also covered the field of Church rhetoric. Instead of writing about this topic in his textbook, or in another separated textbook, he planned to use the lectures of Church rhetoric that he had noted during his high-school days and so he made the new, clean copy of them in the same manuscript with his rhetoric textbook. These lectures were based on the rhetorical theory of the first great German enlightenment Church preacher J. L. von Mosheim.