Personal and Private Religious Experience in the Biblical Psalms

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Personal and Private Religious Experience in the Biblical Psalms University of Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Danijel Berković PERSONAL AND PRIVATE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN THE BIBLICAL PSALMS DOCTORAL THESIS Supervisor: Dean Slavić, PhD Zagreb, 2019 i Personal and private religious experience in the Biblical Psalms Danijel Berkovic Sveučilište u Zagrebu Filozofski fakultet Danijel Berković OSOBNO I PRIVATNO RELIGIJSKO ISKUSTVO U BIBLIJSKIM PSALMIMA DOKTORSKI RAD Mentor: Prof. dr. sc. Dean Slavić Zagreb, 2019. ii i Personal and private religious experience in the Biblical Psalms Danijel Berkovic Životopis mentora Dean Slavić rođen je 4. ožujka 1961. u Rijeci. Osnovnu školu završio je u Matuljima, a srednju školu u Rijeci. Diplomirao je hrvatski jezik i književnost 1986. na ondašnjem Pedagoškom fakultetu u Rijeci. Poslijediplomski studij završio je na Filozofskom fakultetu u Zagrebu, obranivši magistarski rad 1997. i doktorsku disertaciju 2000. Predavao je hrvatski jezik tijekom godine 1987. u Srednjoj školi u Opatiji, a nakon toga od 1987. do 1996. predaje hrvatski jezik i povijest u sadašnjim Osnovnim školama Andrije Mohorovičića u Matuljima i Drage Gervaisa u mjestu Brešca. Godine 1996. imenovan je savjetnikom odnosno nadzornikom za nastavu hrvatskoga jezika u ondašnjem Ministarstvu prosvjete i športa. Godine 2007. izabran je za docenta na zagrebačkoj kroatistici, pri Katedri za metodiku nastave hrvatskoga jezika i književnosti. Godine 2013. izabran je u zvanje višega znanstvenoga suradnika i izvanrednoga profesora. Godine 2017. postao je znanstveni savjetnik. Recenzirao je sedamnaest znanstvenih članaka, četiri književno-znanstvene monografije i četiri čitanke za osnovnu školu. Uredio je tri zbornika sa znanstvenih skupova koje je i organizirao (o Dubravku Horvatiću te dva o odnosima Biblije i književnosti). Bio je mentorom pri pisanju tridesetak diplomskih radova te jedne disertacije. U ovom je času mentor pri izradi triju disertacija. Sudjelovao je na 22 znanstvena skupa u Hrvatskoj, Sloveniji i Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu. Tijekom prvih demokratskih izbora 1990. bio je izabran u gradsko vijeće bivše Općine Opatija na listi Hrvatske kršćanske demokratske stranke. Nakon nekoliko godina prestao se baviti politikom i sada nije član nijedne stranke. Hrvatski je branitelj iz Domovinskoga rata, nositelj Spomenice i značke Oluja. Godine 1989. objavio je u vlastitoj nakladi zbirku pjesama Osojnica (dostupno u Nacionalnoj i sveučilišnoj knjižnici pod natuknicom „stihovi“). Godine 2003. objavio je u nakladi Fokus komunikacije zbirku povezanih pripovijetki Ars moriendi. Govori i piše engleski, čita njemački i talijanski. Proučava gramatike hebrejskoga i grčkoga jezika. Dobio je godišnju nagradu Filozofskoga fakulteta u Zagrebu za godinu 2011. jer je izdao tri recenzirane monografije: Simboli i proroci (biblijski intertekst u književnosti); Sveta knjiga i dva pjesnika (komparacija biblizama u poeziji T.S. Eliota i Nikole Šopa), Peljar za tumače (književnost u nastavi). Godine 2016. izdao je sveučilišni udžbenik Biblija kao književnost (književnoteoretsko čitanje Biblije). ii Personal and private religious experience in the Biblical Psalms Danijel Berkovic Curriculum vitae Dean Slavic was born 4 Mar 1961 in the city of Rijeka, citizen of Croatia, by nationality Croatian. He attended primary school in Matulji, and the high school in Rijeka. His undergraduate degree in Croatian language and literature, (1986) Slavic completed in Rijeka at the Pedagogy Faculty of the University of Rijeka. His postgraduate studies were accomplished in Zagreb at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (University of Zagreb) - with the Master Thesis in 1997 and the doctoral thesis in 2000. From 1987 to 1996 he taught Croatian language and Croatian literature in primary schools at Matulji and Bresca. In 1996 Slavic was appointed to the position of adviser to the Croatian Ministry of Education and Sports. Following this (2007) he was nominated to be an assistant professor at the department of the Croatian studies at the Faculty of the Humanities and Social Studies (University of Zagreb). In 2013 Slavic was appointed Senior Research Associate. In his academic work Slavic reviewed a number of academic articles, four literary monographs, edited several schools' handbooks, led three conference proceedings, and supervised 30 undergraduate works, as well as one postgraduate study. He participated at 22 professional academic national and international gatherings (Croatia, Slovenia and United Kingdom). Currently, Slavic is mentoring three postgradute dissertations. At the beginnings of the political democratic processes in Croatia (1990), Slavic was politically active within the Croatian Democratic Party (HKDS) and chosen to be one of the representatives of the town council of the city of Opatija. He was also actively involved in the Homeland defense war in Croatia and was rewarded with Spomenica of the Oluja military defense action. In 1989 his collection of poems (Osojnica) was published, in 2003 he published a collection of stories entitled Ars Moriendi. In 2011 by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (Univeristy of Zagreb) Slavic was rewarded with the annual reward for the reviewing of the following works: 'Simboli i proroci' (Symbols and the Prophets), a biblical intertextual aspects in literature; 'Sveta knjiga i dva pjesnika' (The Holy Book and the Two Poets), a comparative study of of the poetry of T:S.Eliot; 'Peljar za tumače' (Ship's Pilot for the Interpreters). In 2016 he also published a major university students' handbook entitled: 'Bible as Literature'. iii Personal and private religious experience in the Biblical Psalms Danijel Berkovic Summary The intention of this work is to demonstrate and present the biblical psalmist as a subject in his individuality, and particularly in his religious experiences which are also manifest in his privacy. Though the author of this dissertation recognizes the importance of the collective experiences of the Israelites in their public religious manifestations (temple liturgies, sacrificial practices) we are also conscious that the psalmist is an individual, and not merely a puzzle piece in the puzzle of the collective. All through the biblical texts it is evident that Judaism is not an elitist, clergy-centred religion, with the cult and liturgy, which solely shapes its religiosity. There are clear indications throughout the Old Testament that Israelite religion is ‘religion of the heart’, which also highlights an individual in his individuality. This we present in this work with the analysis and aspects of individual anthropology. The psalmist as a pious individual exercises his piety not only in the public religious events, but even more profoundly as an individual in his/her privacy. Key words: psalmist, religious experience, individual, privacy, religious typology, anthropology, solitude, parrhesia, piety iv Personal and private religious experience in the Biblical Psalms Danijel Berkovic Sažetak UVODNE NAPOMENE Ovim se radom biblijskog psalmistu prikazuje kao pojedinca, odnosno kao subjekt i individuu, u svoj osobnosti i privatnosti, pri čemu se ukazuje na distinkciju između pojmova osobno i privatno koji se pak, ali neispravno, ponekad poimlju kao sinonimi. Psalmista, kako ga percipiramo temeljem Psaltirskog teksta, nije tek bezimeni dijelić u slagalici kolektiva. Psalmista bjelodano iskazuje svoje religijsko i vjersko iskustvo, svoja emotivna stanja i emocionalne reakcije kao pojedinac. Bilo kao osobno angažirani pojedinac u životu zajednice i kolektiva (osobno) ili kao pojedinac koji svoja vjerska ili emotivna iskustva ne iskazuje na javnom mjesto već in privato (privatno). U psalmodisjkim studijima kroz dulje vrijeme postoji tendencija da se psalmistu ne doživljava kao pojedinca, u njegovoj osobnosti kao subjekta ili privatnosti, nego tek kao sinegdohu, gdje bi ono ‘Ja’ prvog lica jednine, psalmista zapravo bio samo dio kolektivne slagalice i bio zamjena za veću cjelinu. Suprot kolektivnom ‘ja’, imamo rojalističko ‘franz-jozefinsko’ ‘Mi,car...’, što je pluralis majestatis (ili pluralis amplitudinis) kao množina dostojanstva i veličanstva, iako se referira na (cara) kao subjekt pojedinac. Takva se množina veličanstva na više mjesta javlja u starozavjetnom tekstu u odnosu na Boga i Njegovo veličanstvo (usp. Post 1:26; Iz 6:8).1 Nasuprot ovome, mnogi istraživači biblijske psalmodije zaključiti će upravo suprotno od već spomenute množine veličanstva. Oni zaključuju da je ‘Ja’ prvog lica jednine u Psaltiru (npr. ‘Gospod je pastir moj’, Ps 23:1) zapravo reprezentativno za kolektiv i zapravo predstavlja cijelu zajednicu. U tom bi slučaju psalmista imao biti apstraktan, a ne konkretan čovjek. Veoma mnogo psalmodijskih tekstova ne potkrepljuju takvo poimanje i generalizaciju. Stoga, autor ovoga rada usmjerava svoje analize na psalmistu kao konkretnoga čovjeka. Iako niti smijemo, niti možemo zanemariti činjenicu da neki psalmodijski tekstovi jesu pisani u prvom licu, a zapravo su reprezentativni za cjelokupnu zajednicu, ne možemo generalizacijom ‘izgubiti’ psalmistu kao pojedinca u osvojoj osobnosti i privatnosti. Štoviše, o tome da bi psalmista imao biti konkretan čovjek svjedoče mnogi psalmodijski tekstovi, iz raznih rakursa promatranja (antropologijskih, temporalnih, lokacijskih). Ipak, pri identifikaciji psalmiste kao individue, postoje i neki potencijalni prijepori i upitnici. Naime, je li moguće da je ‘psalmista’ iz Psaltira ili biblijske psalmodije izvan Psaltira, bio takav poetski virtuoz koji nam podastiru vrhunske poetske uratke? I jesu li
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