A Letter like a Monkey and a Satyr: Epistolary Etiquette in the Letters of John Apokaukos
Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology at the Russian Academy of Sciences
Financing: Russian Science Foundation project No. 23-18-00251 (at the Federal Research Sociological Center, Russian Academy of Sciences), https://rscf.ru/project/23-18-00251/.
For citation: Chernoglazov, Dmitrii A. A Letter like a Monkey and a Satyr: Epistolary Etiquette in the Letters of John Apokaukos // Graphosphaera. 2023. Vol. 3. № 2. P. 194–217. URL: http://writing.igh.ru/index.php?id=2023-3-2-194-217
DOI: 10.32608/2782-5272-2023-3-2-194-217
Abstract: John Apokaukos (c. 1155–1233) was an outstanding church and political figure, humanist and writer. The large collection of Apokaukos’ letters is an invaluable historical source and literary monument. In this paper, the letters of John Apokaukos are considered in the context of the letter genre and its canons: it is explored how John handles the traditional motifs of Byzantine epistolary etiquette. The messages written in three common situations are analyzed. These situations are receiving a letter, sending gifts and receiving gifts. Apokaukos’ closeness to the epistolary tradition of the 11th–12th centuries is revealed, parallels are pointed out with the letters of Michael Psellos, Theophylaktos of Ohrid, Michael Choniates and others. It is demonstrated that Apokaukos uses a wide range of etiquette motifs, but many of his letters are original: sometimes he interprets traditional motifs in a new way and revives obsolete clichés, and sometimes completely deviates from the established rules. Traditional formulae become a reason for a literary game and friendly humor: Apokaukos often resorts to irony and grotesque, associated with the use of quotations from ancient literature and the Bible in a humble context of everyday life.
Key words: Byzantine letter-writing, epistolary etiquette, John Apokaukos, Michael Choniates, irony, grotesque, quotations
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