JOVAN VLADIMIR AS THE RULER, KNIGHT, AND SAINT. A STRATEGY OF CREATING CHARACTERS IN THE SOURCE OF THE ORTHODOX PRIEST DUKLANIN
Abstract
The article serves as a reminder of Jovan Vladimir, of which life has been described
in a one of the chapters (XXXVI) of the oldest Southern Slavonic work of historiography,
known under the title Kingdom of Slavs or A Chronicle of the Orthodox Priest Duklanin. The
presented considerations concern a development of the moralistic pattern, strategy of creating
characters, presence of a series of two cultural traditions, the Western and Eastern Christian
ones, which determine the hagiographic narratives. In the context of creation regarding the
personal pattern, there is also mentioned a question of the influence of the Western European
knightly tradition including elements and motifs typical for knightly poems, that is in other
words, stories of deeds: chansone de geste, which are presented in the commented work as well
as in the other chronicles of that time. For that reason, the narrative devoted to Jovan Vladimir
might be regarded as the first Southern Slavonic representative of the gesta literature. In the
article, a problem of domination of the hagiographic strategy is elaborated along with a process
of creation of the character, and a direction of transmission concerning the imperious and
knightly tradition, and the idea of sanctity. Comprised in the manuscript composition, the
narrative on Jovan Vladimir is perceived as a primary work through lack of the supposed
earlier source, and because of the character’s creation itself namely, the strategy of its
presentation, which, in almost literal sense, has been used by the authors of the later
hagiographic and hymnic texts regarding Vladimir. It is necessary to stress that the article is of
a sketchy character, and serves as an indication of the certain problem fields. Due to this, the
article cannot be considered as an overall picture of the theme, since it is limited by the
expected length of the academic text, and by the impressive number of already published
monographs focused on the very same topic. The proposed reflection, therefore, should be
treated as a sort of outline concentrated on the presentation of the construction essential for the
character’s image, and as a kind of occasional reminder of the famous knight (on account of a
round anniversary of his death, i.e. his birth for heaven: 1016-2016), who was the Warrior of
Christ, the first ruler-martyr, and the first Slavonic saint – the “head-carrying.”
References
Богдановић, Д. (1991): Историја српске књижевности, I: Стара српска
књижевност, Београд.
Живковић, Т. (1997): „О првим поглављима Летописа Попа Дукљанина“. у:
Историјски часопис, књ. XLIV, 11–34.
Leśny, J. (1988): Historia Królestwa Słowian, czyli Latopis popa Duklanina,
Warszawa.
Manciger, S., Stefanić, VJ. (1950) (ur.): Ljetopis popa Dukljanina. Tekstovi, hrv.
prijev. lat. red., Zagreb.
Mošin, V. (1950): Ljetopis popa Dukljanina: Latinski tekst sa hrvatskim prijevodom i
Hrvatska kronika, Zagreb.
Миjушковић, С. (1967): Љетопис попа Дукљанина, Титоград.
Миjушковић, С. (1988): Љетопис попа Дукљанина, Стара српска књижевност у
24 књиге, Београд.
Милеуснић, С. (2000): Свети Срби, Нови Сад.
Новаковић, Ст. (1893): „Први основи словенске књижевности међу Балканским
Словенима. Легенда о Владимиру и Косари“. у: Глас Црногораца, XXII, Београд, бр. 42,
3–4, 182–284.
Павловић, Л. (1965): Култови лица код Срба и Македонаца (Историјско-
етнографска расправа), Смедерево.
Плюханова, М. (1995): Сюжеты и символы Московского Царства, Санкт-
Петербург.
Поповић, Ј. (1974) (ур.): „Житије и страдање светог мученика Јована
Владимира“. у: Житија светитеља за месец мај, Београд.
Поповић, Ј. (1974) (ур.): „Похвала светом Јовану Владимиру“. у: Житија
светитеља за месец мај, Београд.
Радојичић, Ђ. Сп. (1948): „Доба постанка и развој старих српских родослова“.
Историјски Гласник 2, Београд, 21–36.
Руварац, Д. (1892): О св. Јовану Владимиру, Земун.
Руварац, Д. (1892): „Св. Јован Владимир, како је дошао у Србљак“. у: Ново
Време, Земун, 13–20.
Шишић, Ф. (1928): Љетопис попа Дукљанина, Српска Краљевска Академија,
Посебна издања LXVII, Београд–Загреб.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
b) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
c) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).