Literary analysis of Augustines sermones on the psalms

St Augustine`s sermons on the psalms (Enarrationes in psalmos) are currently being edited for the Vienna Corpus Scriptorurn Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (CSEL). This critical edition will be accompanied by a book that deals with the intention, production, and structure of the sermons. The analysis of the texts focuses on literary interpretation; theological issues will only be treated marginally. The Enarrationes in psalmos belong to different genera: freely improvised sermons, dictated commentaries of different length and form, sermons dictated for other preachers to deliver. Above all, the "real" sermons, which were delivered by Augustine himself and taken down by stenographers, will be analyzed, as they not only outnumber the texts of other genera, but are precious examples of ancient rhetorical improvisation. Being both oratorical speeches and exegetical commentaries, they belong to a literary genus of their own that has hitherto never been closely studied in spite of its enormous importance for the ecclesiastical tradition and for Augustine himself, who used it in three major exegetical works, scrutinized it theoretically and transformed it in his practical use. The main points of interest are (1) Augustine`s technique of disposition, which in the Enarrationes in psalmos has reached new heights. According to the form of the running commentary it is based upon, exegesis develops step by step, frequently following a chronological line (of church history) or a single individual`s conversion to God. This "linear" rhetoric aims at making the listeners realize and experience their earthly peregrinatio and journey to God as members of the Church, and thus identify with the Psalmist`s words. (2) literary techniques that make it possible for Augustine to transform the genus of commentary: e. g., amplification of the commentary, by functional digressions; changes of the normal order of the running commentary, unifying and structuring use of chains and/or groups of biblical quotations. (3) the theoretical and historical background: Augustine`s view of his own role as a preacher, the relation between his actual preaching and his theoretical treatise De doctrina christiana, pagan and Christian models (especially Ambrose of Milan), the liturgical situation. (4) special cases and related genera: pairs, triads and chains of sermons; sermons extemporized without any preparation, relation to dictated commentaries. (5) the relevance of literary interpretation for the text edition, esp. for interpunction, paragraph breaks, precise establishment of the "oral" elements in language, style and structure of the sermons. The working title of the book is "VIA ADFECTUUM. Zur Poetik der exegetischen Rede Augustins (Poetics of Augustine`s exegetical rhetoric)". It shall be submitted for the certificate of habilitation in Classical Philology (Latin) together with the critical edition of En. ps. 51 -73.