The Construction of Comparisons in a Contemporary Translation of Saint Francis of Salezy’s Filotea

Abstract

The paper focuses on the structure of comparisons contained in the Polish text of the Filotea, a French religious tract written in the beginning of the seventeenth century. The research material was elicited from the most recent translation of the work into Polish (edited by M.B. Bzowska VSM, 2000). In the work edited in a religious style, comparisons play a double function: they serve didactic purposes (pictures, explication of truths), and aesthetic. Another question is also the fact that Francis of Salezy not only uses comparisons, but he writes about their application: the Filotea therefore contains some elements of metalinguistic reflection.

The paper seeks to present various forms of comparison. They are analysed with a view to such criteria as:
the kind and place of conjunctor,
the shape of the comparative element (comparatum),
a possibility to juxtapose figures in a larger sets (series, multiple comparison, szkatulkowe comparison, and parallel comparison).