Breaking Down Giovanni Delogu Ibba's Index Libri Vitae
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From Iberian Innovation to Sardinian Appropriation: Breaking down Giovanni Delogu Ibba’s Index libri vitae Kathleen Crawford Boyle A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Romance Languages (Romance Philology). Chapel Hill 2013 Approved by: Edward D. Montgomery Dino S. Cervigni Frank A. Domínguez Ennio I. Rao Monica P. Rector © 2013 Kathleen Crawford Boyle ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT KATHLEEN CRAWFORD BOYLE: From Iberian Innovation to Sardinian Appropriation: Breaking down Giovanni Delogu Ibba’s Index Libri Vitae (Under the direction of Edward D. Montgomery) To reach the rich core of the culture of Sardinia, one must sift through the layers of sediment left by the people that have lived their history on Sardinia's soil.The early chapters of the dissertation provide important cultural and historical background information for my analysis. But even in the light of the innumerable outside influences on Sardinia over the years, it would be incorrect to view the island’s culture as a chameleon that simply takes on any and all aspects of the currently dominating tribe of people because this assumes that the civilization of the island is completely devoid of its own long standing and very unique traditions. My dissertation examines one of the primary theatrical genres of Sardinia, the sacre rappresentazioni, and traces the origins of this genre through two different religious-based literary traditions of the island, the letteratura agiografica and the gosos , religious poetic compositions, performed through song and written in praise of the Lord, the Virgin Mary or the saints. One of the primary focuses of this study is to examine what influence the roughly 400-year Spanish presence had on these religious works in Sardinia. I explore the ways in which Iberian culture at times blended into the already established traditions of the island, and at other times imposed itself on these traditions, by introducing something entirely new. iii As the primary text for my study, I have Giovanni Delogu Ibba and his 18 th century work Index libri vitae , as it provides a very characteristic presentation of Sardinia at the time in which he was writing. Delogu Ibba’s ILV (1736) is divided by the author into seven books, written in three different languages (Latin, Castilian and Logudorese) and contains multiple genres including hagiographic material in its simplest forms, elaborate gosos likely performed on feast days or during processions, and a well-developed passion play focusing on the isclavamentu . Through an analysis of Delogu Ibba’s work it is possible to see how these genres, not always of Sardinian origin, are adapted by the author for his own didactic purposes and also indicative of 18 th -century Sardinia in which he was writing. iv DEDICATION To my parents and Michele who always help me keep things in perspective and to Boppa to whom I can finally respond “Yes, Boppa, I finished the book report.” D.D.M.D. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my director Dr. Ed Montgomery for the wonderful semesters spent in his courses and for directing this project. Every student at UNC should be so lucky as to take any of your Philology courses and hear “Why don’t you take a few lines?” Special thanks to my committee members: Dr. Dino Cervigni, Dr. Frank Domínguez, Dr. Ennio Rao and Dr. Monica Rector for their comments, suggestions and patience. I would especially like to thank Dr. Rao for his help in finalizing this project and for his encouraging words. A special appreciation goes to the Sardinian Digital Library and the Starbucks drive- thru whose resources were invaluable during the researching and writing of this dissertation. And most of all, I thank my family and friends who have put up with me and my book report for this long. Your words of encouragement and support meant the world to me. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................1 An Introduction to Giovanni Delogu Ibba and the Index libri vitae ......................................................................................6 II HISTORY AND HAGIOGRAPHY IN SARDINIA A Brief Introduction to Early Sardinian History .......................................33 The Arrival of Christianity in Sardinia .....................................................38 The Importance of the Martyrs and the Saints to the Island’s Concept of Christianity ...............................................................52 An Overview of Hagiography ...................................................................57 III THE EVOLUTION OF HAGIOGRAPHY IN SARDINIA Antonio Cano: Sa vitta et sa morte et passione de Sanctu Gavinu Prothu et Januariu .......................................................................71 Antioco Del Arca: El saco imaginado ......................................................83 IV GOSOS AND POPULAR RELIGION IN SARDEGNA ............................103 The Essential Elements of Drama ...........................................................116 The Goigs and Gozos of Juan Francisco Carmona .................................123 Part VI of the Index libri vitae: Sos Gosos of Giovanni Delogu Ibba .............................................................................126 V INDEX LIBRI VITAE .................................................................................135 BOOK VII: Tragedia in su Isclavamentu ...............................................143 vii VI CONCLUSION .............................................................................................169 WORKS CONSULTED .................................................................................................172 viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A 2007 installment of Bachisio Bandinu’s radio program, “Il filo d’orbace, le maschere e i volti dei sardi,” dedicated to “La lingua nella liturgia,” began by asking a seemingly simple question, “La liturgia: si può celebrare una santa messa in sardo? Non si può celebrare in sardo?” 1 Invited to discuss this question with the host were two Sardinian scholars, Raimondo Turtas, 2 Jesuit priest and Professor Emeritus of the Università degli Studi di Sassari (1980 – 2003), where he taught the history of the Church in Sardinia, and Fr. Paolo Monni, known on the island not only for being a man of the Church but also for his translations of important literary and religious texts into Sardinian. 3 Bandinu chose to raise this question because of the conclusions of the Concilio Plenario Sardo II , which spanned a 1 Bachisio Bandinu is an anthropologist, a writer and a journalist who has dedicated his career to examining questions related to Sardinian identity. This radio program was broadcast on April 5, 2007 on Radio RAI Sardegna. The recording that I used was found on the website Sardegna Digital Library , an indispensible website that calls itself “La memoria digitale della Sardegna” because of its collection of videos, audio files, database of images and an entire library of texts. “La lingua nella liturgia.” Narr. Bachisio Bandinu. I fili d’orbace, le maschere e i volti dei sardi. Dir. Stefania Martis. Radio RAI Sardegna. 5 April 2007. Radio. < http://www.sardegnadigitallibrary.it/index.php?xsl=626&s=17&v=9&c=4462&id=86242> 2 Raimondo Turtas is the author of over a hundred publications related to the history of the Sardinian Church, from the origins to modern day. His work often relates to historical events and problems that the Church faced throughout history as a result of these historical changes. His most well-known publication is Storia della chiesa in Sardegna dalle origini al Duemila , a nearly 1000-page volume detailing the Church’s history. 3 Fr. Paolo Monni is most recognized for his translation of Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia into the Logudorese dialect of Sardinian that was published in 2000 by Della Torre. His later and most recent translation work focused on the translation of important liturgical texts into Sardinian. At the time of his death in 2009, he was working on a translation of the Roman Missal into Sardinian. “La scomparsa di padre Paolo Monni.” La Nuova Sardegna . 30 Dec. 2009, pg. 4 section: Nuoro. Web. 1 Apr. 2013. < http://ricerca.gelocal.it/lanuovasardegna/archivio/lanuovasardegna/2009/12/30/SN3PO_SN304.html> thirteen-year period (1987-2000). 4 The CPS II examined topics such as the need for greater collaboration between the dioceses of the island as well as the need to institute a new type of evangelization that fit the realities of the twenty-first century, all the while keeping in mind “il valore della ‘sardità’, la coscienza di appartenere a un popolo con una propria specificità storica e culturale.” 5 This allusion to a “specificità storica e culturale” makes perfect sense for Sardinians, whose history has seen a number of invited and uninvited foreign rulers, each one leaving a mark on the culture and oftentimes the language, and questions the role that its language should play in the religious and political spheres. However, Bandinu was reacting to the fact that the Church, and more specifically, the CPSII, dedicated no more than half of a page in their final report, the atti of the Council, to the place of the Sardinian language in the liturgy.6 In article 100 of the report, the Sardinian bishops describe the languages of the island as “un singolare strumento comunicativo