| Abstrakt: |
Bernard’s Apology (dated around 1125) was criticised not only for its satirical and ironic tone, but mainly because of the concerns that it might provoke laughter and states of unbridled excitement among the monastic readership. The censors asked about the reasons that might have driven the revered author to write such a derisive text, when laughter was strictly forbidden in monastic communities and the monks were instructed to avoid it at all times. Still, there was a certain ambivalence in the perception of laughter. The present contribution explores the beginnings of the monastic communities in Western Europe and maps the development of opinions on the acceptability of comicality and laughter, as well as sadness and weeping, in monasteries, focusing especially on normative texts. It also analyses other Bernard’s texts and polemic treatises of his opponents, to provide a base for assessing the texts and classifying the Apology itself. The analyses show that at least parts of the text could have been understood as passages provoking laughter, which was used as an efficient tool for parody and caricature of the opponent. The Apology seems to have deliberately employed rhetorical strategies typically associated with polemic texts. Bernard’s range of arguments includes caustic ironical structures which deliver a satirical message. |
