European Litanic Verse: A Different Space-Time (Literary and Cultural Theory)

This fifth volume in the Litanic Verse series is centered upon the poetics of European litanic verse (genre structure, rhythm, rhetorical figures), as well as its philosophy and cosmology, with a particular focus on the space-time matrix within which the litanic world is depicted. The content of the book moves beyond an analysis of enumerations and parallelisms as it provides an insight into relevant cultural processes, including the history of religion and literary conventions from Antiquity to Early Modernity. This allows seemingly distant topics, such as comparative versification and European identity, to be related. Theoretical considerations are accompanied by examples mostly taken from Latin, English, French, German, Iberian, Italian, Scandinavian and Slavic poetry. The book presents the poetics of European litanic verse (genre structure, versification, rhetorical figures), with a particular focus on the space-time matrix within which the litanic world is depicted. Examples are mostly taken from Latin, English, French, German, Iberian, Italian, Scandinavian and Slavic poetry from Antiquity to Early Modernity A comparative history of litanic verse in various European regions. The essays on the origin of the Litany are followed by a consideration of litanic verse in Latin poetry and in the Iberian (Castilian, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese), Slavic and Central European literatures (Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Serbian, Russian). The poetics of European litanic verse (genre structure, versification, rhetorical figures) - The philosophy of European litanic verse - Space-time matrix within which the litanic world is depicted - Latin, English, French, German, Iberian, Italian, Scandinavian and Slavic poetry from Antiquity to Early Modernity