Entre la tierra y el cieloproyecciones temáticas de la guerra en textos apocalípticos siríacos del siglo VII d. C

Abstract

This work presents a comparative analysis of a selection of literary motifs related to the phenomenon of war contained in works of apocalyptic typology composed and/or (re)written in Syriac in the region of northern Mesopotamia before, during and after the first Arab conquests and invasions. These texts form the first attempt within Christian literary creation which, in reaction to the recent 'war' experiences of the century, and reflecting on the confrontation with the new political and religious hegemony of the Muslims, was forced to rethink, rework and rewrite the concept of history inherited from the earlier Christian tradition and its theological schema. In this study we explore the linguistic and thematic background that at the time of the (re-)appearance and writing of these works may have been the basis for the creation and transmission of concepts related to the phenomenon of war, not only theological, but above all, social or political. The main objective of this thesis is to know and understand the basic outlines of the apocalyptic dialogue and eschatological thought of the Syriac-Christian authors of the 7th century A.D. based on the analysis of the literary motifs related to war, as well as to establish a network of linguistic and thematic relationships between the different works treated. Partial objectives have been the identification of the literary motifs related to war; its formal, structural analysis of thematic and linguistic content; the description of the biblical background in order to recognize possible works of biblical exegesis and to be able to differentiate the "prophetic" content that did not happen from the "historical" content presented as vaticinium ex evento, and in this way compare it with "historical" social events or phenomena that allow us to review the contextualization and dating of the texts, without losing sight of their intentionality. In this research work we have put into practice in an integrative way the presuppositions of the historical-critical method and textual hermeneutics (theological and biblical), in order to understand the intentio operis from the perspective of its time of composition. Starting from the assumption that each thematic unit is a discourse or "floating narrative" through which the author or writer constructs, communicates and keeps alive his vision of reality and the identity of his group or community, the central procedure has been the analysis of literary motifs, together with the formal analysis of the text, which has enclosed its semantic, syntactic and pragmatic analysis. Finally, the contextual analysis of each passage within the complete work has taken place with the aim of identifying possible interpolations, additions or omissions and their intentionality. In this paper we have dealt with the "eschatological dialogue", i.e. the "existential" questions implicit in these works of apocalyptic typology in the Syriac language, related to the phenomenon of war. A first result of this research has been the identification, translation, analysis (formal, terminological, contextual and editorial) and classification according to general themes of more than 300 passages. As a result, we have succeeded in creating a catalogue of literary motifs, which we have divided into four major groups or thematic areas. Firstly, we have summarized all the motifs that fulfil the function of forming the necessary narrative framework in the text in order to project the content of the narrative into the future and to give it an interpretative-theological meaning already in this projection. Consequently, we have arranged those motifs that include war in the conception of history as a means of transfer of power. We then analyzed the theological vision that the authors have described in relation to the concepts of sin, responsibility and guilt, which are fundamental, both in shaping the identity of the people called to supremacy and in condemning those who, according to the divine plan, are called to be eliminated. Finally, we have grouped together all the thematic projections that evoke the idea of liberation, reconquest, invincibility or domination. The memory of the Persian kings and the Huns served as a prototype to characterize oppressive, albeit temporary, Arab sovereignty as a punishment and a test. The memory of the cross-bearing emperor Heraclius becomes the prototype of the "last" Roman emperor, the political ideal of an eschatological projection.