[vigchr supp 071] annemare kotze augustines confessions communicative purpose and audience, 2004.pdf

8/10/2019 [VigChr Supp 071] Annemare Kotze Augustines Confessions Communicative Purpose and Audience, 2004.pdf

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AugustinesConfessions:Communicative Purpose and Audience


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Supplements

to

Vigiliae Christianae

Formerly Philosophia Patrum

Texts and Studies of EarlyChristian Life and Language

Editors

. . .. .. . ...

VOLUME LXXI


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AugustinesConfessions:

Communicative Purposeand Audience

by

Annemar Kotz

BRILLLEIDEN BOSTON

2004


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This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kotz, Annemar.Augustines Confessions: Communicative Purpose and Audience / by Annemar

Kotz.p. cm. (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, ISSN 0920-623X; v. 71)

Originally presented as the authors thesis (doctoral).Includes bibliographical refences (p. ).ISBN 90-04-13926-5 (alk. paper)

1. Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. Confessiones. 2. Didactic literature,LatinHistory and criticism. 3. ManichaeismControversial literatureHistory andcriticism. 4. ApologeticsHistoryEarly church, ca. 30600. I. Title. II. Series.

BR65.A62K68 2004270.2092dc22

2004040889

ISSN 0920-623XISBN 90 04 13926 5

Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior writtenpermission from the publisher.

Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personaluse is granted by Brill provided that

the appropriate fees are paid directly to The CopyrightClearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910

Danvers, MA 01923, USA.Fees are subject to change.


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CONTENTS

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

.

Chapter . TheConfessionsand its Academic Readers: A Survey

of Secondary Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

.. Theological and Historical Perspectives .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

.. Literary Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

... The Issue of the Unity of theConfessions. . .. . . . . . . . . 13... A Selective Overview of Literary Approaches to

theConfessions . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

... Perspectives on Genre and Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter . TheConfessionsand its First Readers: Genre and

Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

.. The Genre of theConfessions. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 45... Genre and Communicative Purpose .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

a. Problems and Solutions .. .. . . .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . . 45

b. A Definition of Genre .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

c. The Fluid Nature of Genre . . .. .. . .. .. . . .. .. . .. .. 51

... The Protreptic Genre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

a. Problems and Solutions .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . . 52

b. Definitions: Protrepsis and Paraenesis . . . . . . . . . . . 56c. Characteristic Features of the Protreptic

Genre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

... Literary Antecedents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

... Perspectives on Genre and the Unity of the

Confessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 84

.. The Audience of theConfessions. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

... Intended Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85... Augustines Manichaean Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88


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.

Chapter. Communicative Purpose and Audience in the

Meditation on Psalm(In medias res). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97.. A Meditation Directed at a Manichaean Reader . . . . . . . . . . . 99

.. Identification with a Manichaean Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

.. The Use of Manichaean Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Chapter. Protreptic Purpose (Sic invenietur) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

.. Indications of Protreptic Purpose in the Opening

Paragraph of theConfessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 9.. Persona and Protreptic Purpose . .. .. . .. . . .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. . 122

.. Allusion to Matthew:and the Expression of

Protreptic Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

.. How Pervasive are the Indications of

Protreptic-Paraenetic Intent? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

... In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 8

... In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 1... In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 3

... In Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 5

... In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 6

... In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 7

... In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 9

... In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 1

... In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 1... In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 7

... In Books to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 9

.. The Protreptic Power of Reading and Listening in the

Confessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7 1

... The Hortensius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

... The Conversion Stories in Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7 3

.. The Protreptic-Paraenetic Purpose of the Allegory inBook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 181

... Section (i): Hope in Spite of Present Imperfect

Conditions (paragraphsto ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

... Section (ii): The Value and Authority of

Scripture (paragraphs to) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

... Section (iii): Exhortation to Bear Fruit

(paragraphs to) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191


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... Section (iv): The Value of the Preaching and the

Example of the Ministers (paragraphs to) . . . . 193

Chapter. Audience (Cui narro haec) . . .. . .. . .. . .. .. . . .. .. . .. .. .. .. . 197.. Manichaeans, Deception, Friendship, and a History of

Failed Communication.. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

.. The Role of curiositas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

.. How Pervasive is the Expression of Concerns with a

Manichaean Audience? .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

... Books to: A General Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

a. In Booksand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209b. In Books to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 3

c. In Booksand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 6

... Manichaean Echoes in the Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

... Augustines Analysis of the Creation Story and

Continued Preoccupation with a Manichaean

Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

a. In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 2b. In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 6

c. In Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 3

.. The Manichaean Audience of the Allegory in Book . . . . 234

... Section (v): Man in the Image of God

(paragraphs to) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

... Section (vi): A Verse Offensive to the

Manichaeans (paragraphsto ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238... Section (vii): Manichaean Eating Rituals

(paragraphs to) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

... Section (viii): Manichaean Views of Creation

(paragraphs to) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Translations and Texts of Primary Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Reference List of Secondary Sources .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Index of Modern Authors .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Index of Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Index Locorum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279


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PREFACE

The research for this book, which is the publication of my recently

completed doctoral dissertation, started about six years ago. But this

starting point was in fact a return to a first love that had originated dur-

ing the s when I read the Confessions with Professor Frans Smuts,the then retired head of the Department of Latin at the University

of Stellenbosch. Prof. Smuts enthusiasm and Augustines lyrical Latin

proved an irresistible combination. What I found especially fascinating

was the controversy surrounding the unity of the Confessionsbecause of

the network of secondary issues involved, issues like trends in research

(positivism making way for post-modernism), the limitations of modern

readers reading ancient texts, and even religious tolerance and inter-cultural communication. Thus, when I eventually decided to spend a

considerable portion of my time on the writing of a doctoral disserta-

tion I knew that this would be the text and the issues that could prove

absorbing enough to justify the effort.

The project received its initial impetus from the enthusiasm with

which Sjarlene and Johan Thom, my colleagues and mentors in the

Department of Ancient Studies at the University of Stellenbosch, greet-ed my embryonic ideas. In her capacity as my supervisor for my Mas-

ters thesis, Sjarlene had taught me to write, by patiently dissecting my

impossible sentences and paring away the many superfluous words.

Johans academic acumen, for which I have the greatest admiration and

respect, provided an invaluable safety net all through the stormy pro-

cess of planning, structuring and formulating my findings. Every stu-

dent who shared his or her ideas on the Confessionswith me contributedto my insight into the work. Also the practical assistance and advice,

the encouragement and moral support of every member of the staffof

the Department of Ancient Studies at some stage played a valuable role

in enabling me to complete this daunting task.

The first stages of the research were much simplified through the fact

that I was able to work in the library of the Augustinian monastery in

Heverlee and in the libraries of the Catholic University of Louvain. Itwas especially through the initiative of my husband, Robert, and the


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goodwill of his colleagues (especially An Huts) and of Professor Vic

Goedseels of the Catholic University of Louvain that this study visit

could become a reality. I also wish to thank Pater Van Houtem at the

Augustinian monastery for his efforts to support my research in theirlibrary and the facilities put at my disposal. I also wish to thank the

National Research Foundation and the Harry Crossley Foundation for

the financial assistance without which I could not have completed the

project.

Another very important impetus that changed the course of my

research was my contact with Professor Hans van Oort, when he

was a visiting Professor at the Theological Seminary in Stellenboschin and subsequent years. He convinced me that the Confessions

could not be read without knowledge of Augustines relationship with

Manichaeism and thus initiated a line of inquiry that became one of the

main tenets of my thesis on this work. Without my conversations with

Professor van Oort, the publications he put at my disposal, his constant

encouragement and especially the meticulous care with which he read

and corrected the manuscript the publication of this book would nothave been possible.

Lastly, the years of reading and rereading and puzzling over the Con-

fessions, of writing and rewriting and polishing the text presented here

would have been empty years without my friends and family around

me. The freedom to work in Louvain was created through Annettes

sacrifice of taking responsibility for two difficult children during our

stay in Belgium, Robert endured six years of one-track mindedness,Fransina kept together a household that often threatened to fall apart,

Adle spent two whole week-ends editing the final document and my

mother was the therapist who helped me deal with the effects the pro-

cess had on the totality of my life. My daughters Clara and Hanna, in

spite of their often expressed misgivings at having to play a secondary

role to the birth of this baby, nevertheless always supported me in prin-

ciple and provided a much needed counterbalance without which thewhole project would simply not have been worthwhile.


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INTRODUCTION

It is a measure of the inadequacy of the under-standing of the modern period that Augus-tines great work should have become the

autobiography of a sinful, guilt-ridden soul(Crosson,).

Crossons closing statement in his convincing article, Structure and

Meaning in St. AugustinesConfessions, points to exactly what this study

is about: to show how calling the Confessionsan autobiography clouds

our understanding of this multi-dimensional literary work and how

many of the problems surrounding the meaning of this text are theresult of the inadequacy of modern approaches rather than of Augus-

tines bad compositional techniques, as some have believed. The Confes-

sions is one of those ancient works around which an impossible dichot-

omy exists. It is, according to many, one of the great works of West-

ern literature and probably, through all the ages, Augustines most read

work. Yet, it is arguably one of the least understood pieces of ancient

literature. The very existence of the issues concerning the historicityof the Confessions and the unity of the Confessions is symptomatic of

the perplexity many scholars still experience with the literary strate-

gies employed by Augustine in this work. The elusiveness of the prob-

lem is demonstrated by the rare circumstance that, while scholars do

agree, today, that there are ample indications of a well-construed unity,

they are unable to agree on exactly what constitutes this unity, as

Holzhausen (,) points out.The primary focus of the present study is on the Confessions as a

literary object and thus ultimately on structure, cohesion, and unity.

But I am convinced that one research project cannot constitute the

breadth and depth of study necessary to finally solve the riddle of

the literary unity of this work that is often described as an awkward

combination of autobiography and exegesis. It can at best hope to make

a significant contribution towards eventually arriving at an improvedunderstanding. Thus, the emphasis is not on structure and unity in the


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first place, but on two aspects that we have to understand before we

can comprehend the whole, namely the genre and the target audience

of the work. Even here I narrow the scope of my research down to

two distinct but interrelated areas:) to what extent does theConfessionsconform to the standards of a specific genre, popular in the time of

Augustine, the genre of the protreptic? and ) to what extent is this

protreptic aimed at a specific segment of the intended audience of the

work, the Manichaeans?

The procedures and terminology employed here do not require

the elaborate exposition of a methodological framework. Thus, I have

refrained (with the exception of the clarifying remarks on genre inchapter) from first erecting a methodological framework (OConnell

, xv) based on, for example, the tenets of semiotics or reader

reception theory mainly because of a personal conviction that theo-

ries like these with all their terminological particularities have the effect

of estranging the reader, rather than the opposite. Of course, eclectic

use is made of some categories and terms from these theoretical frame-

works that have become part of mainstream terminology or are selfevident enough to render long theoretical explanations superfluous.

But, to evaluate the Confessions as a literary product of its time I

venture into the issue of how the principles of genre in general and

the literary practices of Late Antiquity in particular can and should

influence a present day reading of the Confessions (chapter ). This is

supplemented by a short section highlighting the salient facts about

Manichaeism that need to be understood in order to follow the argu-ments about the works Manichaean audience (also in chapter ). In

chapters to I analyse selected passages from the text of the Con-

fessions in order to pinpoint what chapter identifies as the primary

indicator of genre, the communicative purpose of the work, as well as

to ascertain what we learn about the reader Augustine may have had in

mind. I come to the conclusion that an important aspect of this com-

municative purpose is to convert the reader to the true ChristianityAugustine claims to have found. I also argue that Augustine consciously

imitates literary models that are in many respects similar to the Confes-

sions, that bear the characteristics of the protreptic genre, but that are

very dissimilar to (modern) autobiography. This makes it imperative to

believe that he is consciously using some of the devices of the protreptic

genre as part of the communication strategy of his Confessions.

Through these and other procedures, I hope to open up new per-spectives on the Confessions by not focussing, like the vast majority of


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studies of the past century, on the Augustine behind the text, or the

thought systems that make up the background to his writing, but on

the reader in front of the text. If the text makes use of some of the

devices of the protreptic genre as I postulate, what interests me is howthis text aims to influence its readers to make a life-changing choice

and be converted. If the text, like all texts, implies its ideal reader by

the very devices it employs, my question is who this ideal reader is,

or narrowed down as it is here, to what degree this ideal reader is

a Manichaean reader. I contend that Augustines aim in writing the

Confessionswas neither to analyse and understand himself nor to cre-

ate for posterity a portrait of himself or even of his conversion. If weapproach the text with the assumption that Augustines aim was that

of a traditional protreptic, namely to change the course of the life of

its reader, the questions we ask change completely. We might ask, not

why does Augustine break offhis autobiographical section shortly after

the account of his conversion, but why does Augustine make use of a

more extended autobiographical section than expected; and not why

does Augustine add three books of exegesis to his autobiography, buthow does the theoretical section of this protreptic compare to that in

other protreptic texts.

All this said, I want to emphasize that my aim is not to prove that

the Confessionsis a protreptic and not an autobiography and to present

this as a solution to the problems scholars still experience with this text.

But it should be clear that providing a counterbalance to the presup-

position of many scholars that the text consists of a less than successfulcombination of autobiography and exegesis by examiningin a more

extensive and methodical manner than those who have suggested this

possibility before nowthe degree to which the Confessionscan be read

as a protreptic text may enhance our understanding of it.

In conclusion: I thoroughly agree with ODonnells criticism of the

positivistic approach to the Confessionsone often encounters: One pre-

vailing weakness of many of these efforts has been the assumptionthat there lies somewhere unnoticed about the Confessions a neglected

key to unlock all mysteries. But for a text as multi-layered and sub-

tle as the Confessions, any attempt to find a single key is pointless. The

more I read the Confessions as well as the thoughts of so many out-

standing scholars over so many years on this work, the more I become

aware of just how multi-layered and multi-dimensional it is, indeed, in

ODonnells words (, :li), a work that draws its rare power fromcomplexity, subtlety, and nuance. Thus, this examination of the pro-


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treptic characteristics ofConfessions and the degree to which its ideal

reader is a Manichaean reader can be no more than the unravelling of

one strand of meaning while we remember that what is not said here is

so much more than what is said.1

1 All references to the text of the Confessionsare to ODonnells text () and thetranslations given are those by Chadwick () except where indicated otherwise.


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PROLEGOMENA


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THECONFESSIONSAND ITS ACADEMIC READERS: A

SURVEY OF SECONDARY LITERATURE

Even though the Confessions is usually referred to as one of the great

works of Western literature, mainstream research on this work is not

concerned with the Confessionsas a literary object. This does not makethe writing of a literary survey to preface a work on the literary char-

acteristics of the Confessions an easy task, however. First, mainstream

research has been so influential in forming ideas, also of literary schol-

ars, about Augustines masterpiece that no scholar can claim to be com-

pletely independent of these readings and they cannot be passed over in

complete silence.1 Secondly, though the field of literary analysis of the

Confessionsstill shows many lacunae, the amount of research that formsthe basis from which to go forward, remains intimidating.2

I start this survey with a look at important theological and historical

perspectives, as well as at the issue of the historicity of the Confessions

(.), i.e. at mainstream but not primarily literary research. The focus

is mainly, but not solely, on recent studies of the Confessions (research

from roughly the past two decades). The second section of the chapter

(.), on the problems surrounding the literary qualities of the work,consists of an introductory discussion of the long debated question of

1 Marrous Saint Augustin et la fin de la culture antique () illustrates the influence ofstudies that are not primarily literary on literary studies. I am convinced that a workas influential as his, and perhaps especially his (in)famous dictum, Augustin composemal (, et passim) must have had a profound effect on scholarship for a longtime. This is the kind of formulation by an eminent scholar that is easily perpetuated in

research for decadesin spite of the authors heart-felt retraction on this point (,)before it is questioned seriously.

2 For a concise but authoritative overview of the whole field of research on theConfessions in the past century, see the section, A century of scholarship (, xxxxxii), in ODonnells introduction to his Augustine: Confessions. Because the primaryfocus of this dissertation is on literary studies, many well-known and major books onthe Confessions will not be considered or only referred to in passing. Conversely, otherstudies that are not so well-known or influential will be discussed, albeit cursorily, eitherbecause they are recent publications and a discussion of them offers an opportunity for

an overview of recent trends in research on the Confessions, or because they contributeto the specific reading of the work offered here.


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the unity of the Confessions (..) and a selective survey of only theworks I find most helpful towards understanding those aspects of the

Confessionsunder scrutiny here (..). Lastly, I focus on that segment ofresearch that constitutes the direct predecessors of the present study inthe sense that it refers explicitly or implicitly to the genre and/ or the

audience of the Confessions (Perspectives on genre and audience, ..).It should be understood that throughout, the selection of works to be

discussed is governed by the specific goals of this study and that what is

presented does not purport to be exhaustive in any sense of the word. 3

..Theological and Historical Perspectives4

In this section I discuss (because of the constraints of time and space)

mainly works from the eighties onwards but with the main emphasis

on those trends that have existed throughout the previous century. The

greatest impetus for studying theConfessionshas always come from the

disciplines of theology and ancient history (with philosophy and psy-chology in ancillary positions). Augustines thought on various issues of

universal importance has drawn scholars to theConfessions for centuriesand, as the survey below shows, continues to do so.

Prominent in theological studies during the last two decades has

been Augustines thought on a variety of theological issues like grace,

morality, (original) sin, the nature of man or the soul, and his under-

standing of God and evil, expounded in the first six books and culmi-nating in book ;5 his description of (mystical) attempts to ascend to

3 The researcher today has the freedom of selective treatment because of theavailability of the easily accessible Bulletin Augustinien, published annually inRevuedes tudes Augustiniennes, as well as the exhaustive list of works and the authoritativediscussion of the Augustinian bibliography on the Confessions provided in Feldmannslong and concisely written essay, the mature fruit of many years of study on this work,

in theAugustinus Lexikon (, ). Another very complete bibliography on theConfessionscan be found in StocksAugustine the Reader ().

4 In the following discussions I categorize studies as having a theological, philosoph-ical, psychological or historical focus on the one hand and a literary focus on the other.This is merely an ordering principle and a very arbitrary procedure. Often a theo-logical perspective is combined with a philosophical or historical concern, and, moreimportantly, a reading with a theological or historical aim often makes use of soundliterary strategies to interpret the text.

5 See for example: Mann, The theft of the Pears (); Mayers interest () in

Augustines Gnadenlehre; Derycke, Le vol des poires, parabole du pch original(). Quinns Anti-Manichaean and Other Moral Precisions in Conf ...


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God in books and ;6 and the conversion story in book.7 Augustines

conception of the nature and function of memory in bookhas been

the focus of studies from various disciplines,8 while the digression on

the nature of time in book has drawn much philosophical interest,9

() investigates Augustines thoughts on morality expressed in book . FeldmannsEt inde rediens fecerat sibi deum (Conf. ,) () aims at clarifying Augustinesthinking about God (the article has, as the title indicates, a strong focus on theological

matters and on the seventh book of the Confessionsbut also contains references to theprotreptic overall purpose of the work). OConnell () aims to locate the heart ofAugustines thinking on the nature of the (fallen) soul. Cambronne () analyses thepear-theft in Bookand his Unde malum? Augustin et les questions sur le Mal ()analyses especially book of the Confessions in combination with the De civitate dei inorder to explicate Augustines ideas on the difficult philosophical question concerningthe nature of evil. See also ODonnells Augustines Idea of God ().

6 From a large number of works on the topic I name only a few: Courcelles work inhis Recherches sur les Confessions de saint Augustin (, ); Mandouze,Saint Augustin:

Laventure de la raison et de la grce (, ); and Van Fleterens work on thistopic over many years, e.g. his Authority and Reason, Faith and Understanding inthe Thought of Augustine (); Augustines Ascent of the Soul in Book VII of theConfessions: A Reconsideration () and, more recently, his Mysticism in the Confes-sionesA Controversy Revisited (). See also Quinn, Mysticism in theConfessiones:Four Passages Reconsidered (); indeed the whole volume ofCollectanea Augus-tiniana, which is dedicated to the topic Augustine: Mystic and Mystagogue.

7 See for example OBriens The Liturgical Form of Augustines Conversion Narra-tive and its Theological Significance (); Ferraris Paul at the Conversion of Augus-tine () and Beyond Augustines Conversion Scene (); Bonners AugustinesConversion: Historical Fact or Literary Device (); Babcocks Augustine and theSpirituality of Desire (); Bochets Le livre VIII des Confessions: Rcit de conver-sion et rflexion thologique (); McGowans Ecstasy and Charity: Augustine withNathanael under the Fig Tree ().

8 See for example Klose Quaerere deum: Suche nach Gott und Verstndnis Gottesin den Bekentnisse Augustins (); Miyatani () discusses the role of memory notonly in book but in the whole of theConfessions.

9 ODonnell (, : ) discusses the most important studies of the issue in theprevious century. Interesting among relatively recent works are: ODaly, Augustine

on the Measurement of Time: Some Comparisons with Aristotelian and Stoic Texts(); Flood, The Narrative Structure of Augustines Confessions: Times Quest forEternity () that sees the unity of the Confessions (albeit in passing, ) in thepreoccupation with the themes of temporality and eternity throughout; Ross, Time,The Heaven of Heavens, and Memory in Augustines Confessions () that containsa good overview of approaches to the problems of book (); Flasch, Was istZeit (); Thompson The Theological Dimension of Time in ConfessionesXI ();Seversons Time, Death, and Eternity: Reflecting on Augustines Confessions in Light of Heideggers

Being and Time() that discusses Bookof theConfessionsas a point of departure for

a thoroughly philosophical treatment of the nature of time; and Wetzels Time afterAugustine ().


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and Augustines views on creation and on exegesis in books to

once again mostly theologians.10

Another prominent group of studies are those that have the autobio-

graphical contents of theConfessionsas their main concern. With Augus-tines life story as point of departure, they treat general philosoph-

ical or theological issues,11 make psychological and psycho-analytical

analyses of the character embodied in this story (this has remained

highly popular during the last two decades),12 or focus on the process

of self-discovery embodied in the narrative.13 But most prominent in

10 Vanniers work on the triad creatio, conversio, formatio affords important insights notonly into Augustines ideas about creation in books to of the Confessions, but alsointo his thought in general as well as the framework of thought underpinning theprogression in the Confessions: Saint Augustin et la cration (); Aspects de lidede cration chez S. Augustin (a);Creatio, conversio, formatio chez saint Augustin, (b);Saint Augustin et Eckhart: Sur le problme de la cration ().

11 See for example in the category of philosophically oriented studies, KlieversConfessions of Unbelief: In Quest of the Vital Lie (); or Bernasconis At war

with oneself: Augustines phenomenology of the will in the Confessions (). Bessnerspublished lectures, Augustins Bekentnisse als Erneuerung des Philosophierens (), offer inlectures to a discussion of the Confessionsbut attention to the work itself is stronglysubordinate to the philosophical focus on the reactions of a man in changing times, asthe subtitle, Vorlesungen zur Geschichte der Philosophie von Augustinus bis Boethius, implies.

12 Psychological readings of the Confessions became increasingly popular during theprevious century. These readings often constitute sensitive analyses of continuous sec-tions of the work, and can of course also provide insight into its techniques and devices,especially of autobiographical writing. However, these studies are often less concernedwith the work as a literary artefact than with modern categories of psycho-analysis.What they do illustratepartly unintentionallyis one of the main reasons for thepopularity of the Confessions: people remain interested in other people because theyremain interested in themselves. The titles of some of the more recent articles providean interesting kaleidoscopic vision of the interests covered in this field: AugustinesCon-

fessions: A Study of Spiritual Maladjustment (Dodds ); Psychological Exam-ination: Augustine (Pruyser ); Augustine and his Analysts: The Possibility of aPsychohistory (Fredriksen ); Paul Ricoeur, Freudianism, and Augustines Confes-sions (Rigby ); Augustine as Narcissist: Comments on Paul Rigbys Paul Ricoeur,Freudianism and AugustinesConfessions (Capps); Augustine: The Reader as Self-

object (Gay); Embracing Augustine: Reach, Restraint, and Romantic Resolutionin the Confessions (Elledge ); Augustine: Death Anxiety and the Power and Lim-its of Language (Fenn ); A Psychoanalytic Study of the Confessions of St. Augus-tine (Kligerman ); Donald Capps The Scourge of Shame and the Silencing ofAdeodatus (); Paul Rigbys Augustines Confessions: The Recognition of Father-hood (); Augustine on the Couch: Psychohistorical (Mis)readings of theConfessions(Jonte-Pace ).

13 See for example Schmidt-Denglers Die aula memoriae in den Konfessionen desheiligen Augustin (); Suchockis The Symbolic Structure of AugustinesConfessions

(); Starness The Unity of the Confessions (); Weintraubs St. AugustinesConfessions: The Search for a Christian Self ().


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this category is of course the work of ancient historians who aim at per-

fecting their picture of the historical Augustine,14 an autobiographical

quest that is narrowly linked to the problem of the historicity of the

work.15

A few words on the issue of the historicity of theConfessionsare neces-

sary here, especially in the light of the fact that a scholar like Feldmann

is of the opinion (, ) that scientific study of the Confessionshad

its origin in the argument about the historicity of the work initiated by

Boissier and Harnack in. The question of the historicity hinges on

the differences scholars perceive between the Augustine delineated by

his earliest works after the conversion (the philosophical dialogues writ-ten at Cassiciacum) and the picture to be gleaned from the story of the

conversion presented in the Confessions.16 Especially the details narrated

in book come under scrutiny. The two extremes of this debate are

constituted by those defending the literal truth of everything narrated

in the Confessionson the one hand, and those believing that the literary

devices employed in the structuring of the events make it obvious that

14 The biographical quest starts with early works like Alfarics Lvolution intellectuellede saint Augustin (); NrregaardsAugustins Bekehrung (); Gibb and Montgomeryslong introduction (, ixlxx); Gilsons Introduction l tude de saint Augustin (firstpublished ); and reaches its zenith with Courcelles magisterial Recherches sur lesConfessions de Saint Augustin (first published in ). But the quest continues in workslike OMearas The Young Augustine () and Browns Augustine of Hippo. A Biography().

15 The big names in the debate on the historicity of the Confessions are those ofBoissier () and Harnack (), who opened the debate. Then follow Alfaric (),Boyer (, first published ), Le Blond (), Boyer (), which includes dis-cussions of early works on the question of the historicity and Courcelle (, firstpublished ) who brought a decisive change in views on the issue. Later surveysof research on the issue is provided by Ferraris Saint Augustines Conversion Scene:The End of a Modern Debate? (); Madecs Le noplatonisme dans la conversiondAugustin (); and OMearas AugustinesConfessions: Elements of Fiction ().Bonners Augustines Conversion: Historical Fact or Literary Device () points

out that some elements in the description of the conversion must remain controversialas factual material, but the general narrative is convincing (, ); Bochet ()explains that Augustines narrative of his conversion in Book of the Confessions doesnot have perfect historical representation as its aim but is subordinate to the overarch-ing aim of the work as a whole.

16 This brings the additional complication that the Cassiciacum dialogues cannotbe treated as historical documents. To assure responsible readings also their genericpeculiarities have to be taken into account. Kevane () analyses the philosophicaldialogues in order to circumscribe Augustines philosophy as it was emerging at this

stage of his development. He also evaluates the controversy on Augustines conversionin this light.


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this version is not true, on the other. Feldmann () provides a concise

discussion of the issue ().17

Lastly in this section I want to mention the range of very valu-

able studies that bring the perspective of the broader cultural-religiousand philosophical milieu within which the Confessions functioned into

their readings of the text.18 The most important influences, apart from

17 On the issue of the historicity of theConfessions, see also for example, Eder, Eige-nart und Glaubwrdigkeit der Confessionesdes heiligen Augustinus (); Dnt, Auf-bau und Glaubwrdigkeit der Konfessionen und die Cassiciacumgesprche des Augusti-

nus (); Marrou, La Querelle autour du Tolle, lege (a); Bonner, AugustinesConversion: Historical Fact or Literary Device? (); Bochet, Le livre VIII desConfessions: rcit de conversion et rflexion thologique, (). Ferraris large num-ber of articles on individual aspects of the Confessionspublished in almost all the leadingAugustinian Journals over many years constitutes a careful reading of the text andhas enhanced our understanding of the work significantly over the years. Especiallyhis comparative analyses showing how the conversion scene in theConfessions functionson an inter-textual level (, and ) and his arguments for seeing this as awell structured literary construct rather than an accurate historical account implicitly

add an important perspective on the compositional strategies of the whole. OConnellsarticle, The Visage of Philosophy at Cassiciacum (,), together with the lastchapter of his Images of Conversion in St. Augustines Confessions (, ), discussedbelow, fulfils the double function of providing a very good concise summary of thedebate (he also touches on the works of the biggest role players in this debate). At thesame time it illustrates how the discrepancies perceived between the conversion por-trayed in theConfessionsand that depicted in the philosophical dialogues of Cassiciacumare probably a result of modern readers inability to decode the messages in theseDialogues.

18 There are a number of recent publications that offer valuable assistance to thereader who wants to read Augustines work as a product of its time. I include in thiscategory some of the recent monographs (often introductions) that are published asparts of series, like Von CampenhausensAurelius Augustinus (). ClarksAugustine, theConfessions () belongs in the category of broad introductions to the Confessions, butreflects some sound literary judgement. She observes, for example, that while the textin the first sections of the Confessions is undeniably autobiographical, what Augustineactually spends time on are the beliefs he held about God, the reasons why he heldthem, and the questions they raise (Clark , ). Where I disagree with Clark,is of course her (as far as I am concerned) too easily reached conclusion that the

philosophical-treatise-style (that she correctly ascribes to the autobiographical partof the Confessions) as well as the combination of autobiographical and other materialis explained away by calling the work spiritual autobiography (, ). Burns articleon Augustines use of the Psalms in theConfessions () focuses, contrary to what itstitle implies, on the role of Psalm singing in daily religious activities Augustine wouldhave taken part in; John M. Rists,Augustine: Ancient Thought Baptized() examines thedevelopment of Augustines thought under the influence of the various philosophicaland theological thought systems of his time; Johann Kreuzers Augustinus () alsofocuses on Augustines thought; T. Kermit Scott insists that his Augustine: His Thought in

Context () is not for specialists but he provides the reader with illuminating insightson especially the religious environment within which Augustine worked and lived.


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Catholic Christianity, probably came from Augustines classical educa-

tion,19 Manichaeism (see discussion in chapter and passim), and neo-

Platonism.20

..Literary Perspectives

The complex and multifaceted nature of the Confessions often forces

those who publish on it to carefully limit their analyses to a single well-

defined aspect or to a short section of the work. Still, no analysis of

literary devices in a given work can be completely divorced from someview on what the nature and purpose of the work as a whole constitute.

This means that the present study, although it narrows its scope down

to the protreptic features and the intended audience of the Confessions,

is ultimately occupied with the meaning and purpose of the work as a

whole and that in the following survey of work done on literary aspects

of theConfessions, the issue of the unity looms large.

...The Issue of the Unity of theConfessions

What does the problem of the unity of the Confessionsentail? In short,

it comes down to the fact that at some stage in the reception of the

work it came to be viewed as an autobiography with an exegetical sec-

tion loosely appended at the end, as consisting of two disjunctive parts

19 See for example Harald Hagendahls Augustine and the Latin Classics (); Hb-ners Die praetoria memoriae im zehnten Buch der Confessiones: Vergilisches bei Au-gustin (); Bennets excellent article, The Conversion of Vergil: The Aeneid inAugustines Confessions (); Churchills Inopem me copia fecit: Signs of Narcissus inAugustines Confessions (); Shanzers Latent Narrative Patterns, AllegoricalChoices, and Literary Unity in Augustines Confessions () that attempts to discoverthe unity of the Confessionsat the hand of the classical topoi used; and Colots Une

approche desConfessionsdAugustin travers ltude dotiumetquies ().20 Highlighting the neo-Platonic influences in the work are, for example, OMearas

Augustine and Neo-Platonism (); OConnells articles Ennead VI, and in theWorks of Saint Augustine (a); The Plotinian Fall of the Soul in St. Augustine(b); The Riddle of Augustines Confessions: A Plotinian Key, with the ambitiousaim to solve once and for all the nettling question of the unity of the work (,);and his Faith, Reason, and Ascent to Vision in St. Augustine (); Van FleterensAugustines Ascent of the Soul in Book VII of theConfessions: A Reconsideration ();A Comment on Some Questions Relating to Confessiones VII: A Reply to OConnell

(); Madecs Augustin et le neoplatonisme (); and Pierre Fontans Une exgseno-Platonicienne? (Le Livre XII des Confessions) ().


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forming a badly constructed whole.21 Tracing the origin and develop-

ment of this problem exceeds the limits of a study with its main focus

elsewhere as does a detailed discussion of all the propositions concern-

ing the unity of the work that have been offered in over a century ofscholarship. On the one hand, the problem merits a treatment bigger

than an introductory literary survey can afford and, on the other, good

reasons would have to be present for repeating what has been done,

ably and exhaustively, by Grotz and Feldmann.22 Grotzs Warum bringt

Augustin in den letzten Bchern seiner Confessiones eine Auslegung der Genesis?

() surveys attempts to explain the unity of the Confessions while

Feldmanns Confessiones in the Augustinus Lexikon () entails, apartfrom the section about research on the problem of the unity, an author-

itative survey of the whole field of research on theConfessions.

But, let us take a quick look at the problem of the unity. What is

the status quo in scholarship on the literary qualities and the unity of

theConfessionsat the beginning of the st century? A comparison of the

remarks by Grotz (, ) and those by Jens Holzhausen (, ),

thirty years later, shows that, in spite of repeated efforts to discoverthe key to how autobiography and exegesis can constitute a satisfying

unity, in spite of a galloping bibliography during the fifties and sixties,

and in spite of many sound analyses of the text (especially during the

last few decades) the research community does not seem convinced that

anyone has really sufficiently explained the unity of the Confessions. In

Grotz comes to the following conclusion:

Es gibt zwar sehr viele Gelehrte, die der Meinung sind, da den Confes-siones von Anfang an eine einheitliche Konzeption zugrunde liege, nuraber, worin diese zu sehen ist, d.h., was das einigende Band zwischenLebensgeschichte und Genesisexegese bildet, in dieser Frage ist man sichkeineswegs einig (,).

21 As Crosson (, ) puts it: Indeed although thematic and psychological ac-

counts of the unity of theConfessionsabound, the virtually unanimous critical judgmentis that it is hastily put together, moves by fits and starts, dallies here and hurries there.This view of the text is illustrated by the phenomenon of text editions or translationsthat leave out the last three books of the work without much more than a quick remarkdescribing these books as a less interesting addendum. See for example Blaiklockas well as discussions of this issue and references to shortened editions and translationsfor example in Willigers Der Aufbau der Konfessionen Augustins (, ) or SteursDe eenheid van Sint AugustinusConfessiones (,).

22 I do think that a probing and creative study that draws together the strands that

have been unravelled in the various approaches to understanding the Confessionscouldprove a very worthwhile independent project.


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Holzhausens remark in his Augustin als Biograph und Exeget ()

makes clear that thirty years along the line not much has changed as

far as consensus on the literary unity of the Confessionsis concerned:

In den letzten Jahren scheint die Forschung bei der Behandlung derFrage nach Einheit und Aufbau der Confessiones zu stagnieren, wennnicht gar zu resignieren. Ein Konsens ist zwar darin erreicht, da die Bcher des Werkes eine Einheit darstellen, aber nicht, worin diesebesteht.

I think one of the causes for this situation is simply the fact thatas

I have shownfocus on the Confessions as a literary work per se has

never been part of the main stream of publications on it. Scholarshiphas consistently, even in the era of the galloping bibliography, been

characterized by a dearth of wide-ranging and in-depth analyses of the

literary qualities of the work. Holzhausens observation (quoted above)

is a clear indication that ODonnells criticism (, : xxii) of about

ten years ago is still valid today:

The sum total of all that has been accomplished in the last forty years

weighs up to less than half what Courcelle accomplished in his one book.New lines of inquiry and new questions have not been risked. The issueshave remained those that Courcelle defined, and the techniques remainhis; infertility is the obvious fate of such debates.

Thus, contrary to what the amount of titles in any bibliography of

Augustine or of the Confessionsmay lead us to expect, research on the

literary aspects and the unity of the work progresses at a relatively slow

pace.The process of gaining an oversight of the large number of studies

that attempt to describe the unity of the Confessions is, as I have indi-

cated, greatly facilitated by the studies of Grotz () and Feldmann

(). Grotzs review of attempts to explain the unity of theConfessions

up to the time of his own publication in (framed by two introduc-

tory and two concluding chapters where he presents his own theory on

the unity of the work) makes it clear that the majority of scholars up tothat stage had taken the route of looking at the work itself and describ-

ing its contents in a way that hopes to make perceivable some kind

of unity. Grotz (, ) identifies categories of ways in which

researchers have described the contents of the Confessions. Also the stud-

ies that try to see the unity of the Confessions in the different aspects

of confession, (confessio fidei and confessio laudis, ) look for a unify-

ing element in the work in a way that is not really different from theprevious category.


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Grotzs own proposal on the unity (, ) is to see books

to as a reflection of das erlsende Handeln Gottes, book as das

heiligende Handeln Gottes and books to as das schpferische

Handeln Gottes. This constitutes yet another attempt to look at thecontents of the Confessionsand find a unifying element, using a method

and basic perspective that does not differ substantially from those of

his predecessors. Further, Grotz tests all attempts to explain the unity

of the Confessions by one criterion: to make a valid suggestion about

the unity of the work, research must explain why exactly the creation

story from Genesis is the section from scripture explicated in Conf

. But he advances no argument as to why this must be the ulti-mate question to be answered above any other.23 The fact remains,

however, that the whole of the research community has since per-

sisted in Grotzs lack of enthusiasm for the different suggestions as to

how the unity of the Confessionscan be explained. The one thing that

does emerge clearly from the studies represented in Grotzs survey is

that there exists a large number of themes or lines that can be fol-

lowed through the Confessionsand that could provide a sense of unityto the reader, hence the consensus that the work does constitute a

unity remarked on by both Grotz () and Holzhausen (), quoted

above.

As far as the issue of the unity is concerned, Feldmanns section of

his essay on the ConfessionsinAugustinus Lexikon () provides a concise

and helpful discussion. He categorizes attempts to describe the unity of

the work under six headings (note that in effect categories , , , and all contain works that concentrate on the contents of the Confessions

as the main indicator of where the unity resides):24 ) those that see the

unity provided by the notion of confession throughout ();25 )

studies that use information from Augustines historical situation at the

time of writing theConfessionsto provide a clue to its composition (

23 One of the less successful aspects of Grotzs study is the fact that, although hissecond chapter (,) is dedicated to a warning against the widespread tendencyto think of the Confessions as an autobiography, he seems in his subsequent procedureunable to heed his own warning and to move past an effort to seek (like the secondarystudies he discusses) ways to explain the attachment of an exegetical section to anautobiography.

24 For each of these categories in the subsequent discussion I provide only the namesof works that I found especially enlightening, with no attempt at being exhaustive.

25 See for example Stiglmayr (); Verheijen (); Ratzinger (); Courcelle(); or Pfligersdorffer (b).


28/295

);26 ) those that seek to find the unity in the exposition of specific

theological problems that we know Augustine was concerned with at

the time of writing ();27 ) those that go out from the presupposition

that booksto are the actual goal of the Confessionsand/or explainthe rest of the work in the light of the Genesis exegesis ();28

) those that show how the use of certain motifs contribute to the

compositional unity ();29 and ) those few studies that have tried

to examine the generic characteristics of the work ().30

The remainder of Feldmanns essay entails an illuminating discus-

sion of all the relevant aspects of research on the Confessions. In his

elucidation of different focus areas under the headings Perspektivender Forschungsgeschichte (), as well as Textgeschichte und

Titel (), Thematische Gliederung derconf (), For-

schungsproblem: die Einheit der conf (), and the concluding

sections, Zur knstlerischen Form derconf () and Datierung

26

See Wundt () who sees the Confessionsas an answer to Donatist accusations;Gibb and Montgomery (); Perler (); and Adam (), who attempts to find thekey to the work within the field of Manichaean dogma and practice.

27 Steur () sees in the Confessions an attempt to prove that God exists; Cayr() argues that the work is an illustration of Gods presence in man; Wundt ()and Holte () argue that the composition of the Confessions is governed by anillustration of the ascent to God, while OConnell () sees the fall and the returnof the soul fulfilling this function; Boehmer (), Zepf (), and Williger () seein theConfessionsthe explication of Augustines dogma of grace.

28 For arguments along these lines see for example Gibb and Montgomery ();Duchrow (); Herzog (); and McMahon ().

29 Works that belong to this category form the majority of works discussed byGrotz (already mentioned above) and include the various proposals for the structuralcoherence of the work. See for example the following: Suchockis The SymbolicStructure of Augustines Confessions () proposes an unusual structure based on theimage of the two trees in the Confessions: the books with tree images, book and book, are both followed by books that constitute a unity. Waltraud Deschs AugustinsConfessiones () is an effort to establish the links between the biographical and thetheoretical sections of the work and includes some interesting structural analyses. She

discovers the same kind of chiastic structure in the first nine books as argued for byStephany (). Kienzlers Der Aufbau der Confessiones im Spiegel der Bibelzitate() focuses on formal features of structure as constituted by citations from scripturebut works against the background of thematic analysis. See also Steidles AugustinsConfessionesals Buch. Gesamtkonzeption und Aufbau ().

30 Feldmann discusses only Misch (first published ) and Zepf () in thissection. Of course, one of the reasons for a scarcity of studies examining the genreof the Confessions is the commonly held belief in scholarship, even after Courcellesconvincing arguments () to the contrary, that the work is sui generis, coupled with

the assumption that it did not belong to any known genre. See my arguments againstthis possibility in chapter.


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() Feldmann presents a comprehensive overview of research

on the Confessions, backed by an equally comprehensive bibliography

().

It is especially in sections to , under the headings Biographisch-intellektuelle Situation A.s zur Zeit der Abfassung der conf (

), Theologische Struktur und Originalitt der conf (),

and Theologisch-protreptische Gestaltung der conf und die Adres-

saten () that he argues for his own suggestion, that theConfes-

sionsbelongs to the genre of protreptic texts. This proposal, supported

mainly by an analysis of contents and by implication of communicative

purpose (see discussion in chapter ) has, as far as I can ascertain, beentaken up by only one Augustinian scholar since, namely Mayer (),

discussed below.

Feldmanns thorough overview as a whole reflects a theological rath-

er than a literary perspective but it is nearly exhaustive and his eval-

uations (both implicit and explicit) are sound.31 His contribution must

be regarded as an invaluable tool for researchers struggling to see the

wood for the trees in the bewildering amount of studies on the Confes-sions.

The illuminating and easily accessible surveys by Grotz and Feld-

mann affords me the freedom of now offering only a very selective dis-

cussion of studies that occupy themselves with literary aspects of the

Confessions. In the following section I focus only on publications that

contribute directly to the present study, whether they represent treat-

ments of the unity or of isolated literary aspects of the work.

...A Selective Overview of Literary Approaches to theConfessions

This section concentrates on that segment of research that represents to

my mind the most promising approaches to understanding the literary

devices and the unity of the Confessions. Here I have to start with the

one work without which an endeavour like the present one would beinfinitely more difficult to undertake, namely ODonnells commentary,

Augustine: Confessions, published in . The text edition, together with

31 However, Feldmann uses the same test as Grotz (see discussion above) and, likehim, provides no grounds for making this the ultimate criterion. See also Feldmannsearlier work on the unity of the Confessions: Noch einmal: dieConfessionesdes Augustinus

und ihre Einheit. Reflexionen zu ihrer Komposition () and Literarische undtheologische Probleme derConfessiones ().


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the two volumes of commentary embody a user friendly and highly

authoritative tool, the value of which it is easy to underestimate when

the work becomes a daily companion to the reading of the Confessions.

The availability of the on-line version of this commentary also tremen-dously facilitates the process of looking up specific references. Espe-

cially helpful are the general introduction, the introductory sections and

structural expositions on each book, as well as the complete versions

of many of the texts that inform Augustines writing (like that of Ps

and Gen ::), and the identification and full quotation of the Bible

texts Augustine alludes to throughout, but particularly in the densely

constructed allegorical reading presented in book. Also the authori-tative discussions of and references to the most important research on

all the major issues concerning theConfessionsmakes an almost impossi-

ble task less impossible. The amount of learning embodied in this one

work cannot but have a profound and salutary effect on all subsequent

research on this work.

Let us look at studies that do not treat the issue of the unity as

such but that contribute to our understanding of the literariness of theConfessions in general. In this category belong the studies of a purely

grammatical, syntactical or stylistic nature,32 or that concentrate on the

(literary) problematic of autobiographical writing per se.33 The works

considered in the latter category occupy themselves more with the fab-

ric of autobiographical prose or the manner of narration than with the

generic characteristics of the Confessionsas autobiography. In the more

32 Arts The Syntax of the Confessions of Saint Augustine (); CarrolsThe Clausulae inthe Confessions of St Augustine (). Mohrmanns work on the style of the Confessionsconstitutes some authoritative readings: see for example Observations sur lesConfessionsde S. Augustin () or Saint Augustin crivain (). Poques Linvocation de Dieudans les Confessions () is nothing more than a documentation of the instances andvarious forms of invocation in the Confessions. Testards philological approach ()provides useful information on the use ofsuperbiaand its derivatives in the whole of theConfessions; Colot () examines the meanings of the terms otiumandquiesthroughout

the Confessionsbut focuses more on the terms than on the progression in the work thatcould be deduced from their use.

33 Important works in this category are OlneysMetaphors of Self: The Meaning of Auto-biography (); Vances Augustines Confessions and the Grammar of Selfhood ();SpengemannsThe Forms of Autobiography: Episodes in the History of a Literary Genre ();Rothfields Autobiography and Perspective in the Confessions of St. Augustine ();HawkinsArchetypes of Conversion. The Autobiographies of Augustine, Bunyan, and Merton();Frecceros Autobiography and Narrative () that argues for Augustines creation ofthe genre of autobiography; Byrnes Writing Gods Story: Self and Narrative Struc-

ture in AugustinesConfessions (); Susan Mennels Augustines I: The KnowingSubject and the Self (); UccianisSaint Augustin ou le livre du moi().


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recent past, a variety of analyses that make use of the theoretical frame-

works of literary theory have seen the light.34 Belonging to roughly the

same category are also those studies that describe the nature of the dis-

course in the Confessions.35 Herzogs excellent analysis in his NON INSUA VOCE: Augustins Gesprch mit Gott in den Confessiones () is

one of the few studies where, in the course of Herzogs very percep-

tive readings, using a particular hermeneutical model, the hermeneu-

tical model is measured by its ability to describe the techniques used

in the Confessionsand found lacking. Other important contributions in

this category are works that study the imagery in the Confessions,36 or

that emphasize the centrality of language and reading as themes in

34 In this category belong works like Ralph Flores chapter on the Confessions in hisRhetoric of Doubtful Authority: Deconstructive Readings of Self-Questioning Narratives, St. Augustineto Faulkner, (); Margaret Fergusons Saint Augustines Region of Unlikeness: TheCrossing of Exile and Language (); and Fendts Confessions Bliss: Post-modern

Criticism as a Palimpsest of Augustines Confessions (). To my mind these kinds ofreadings often serve more to illustrate the theory than to really advance our knowledgeof theConfessions.

35 Flores The Rhetoric of Doubtful Authority: Deconstructive Readings of Self-QuestioningNarratives, St. Augustine to Faulkner () and Lamarres LesConfessionsdivises. Discoursdu Matre et discours de lHystrique dans les Confessions de Saint Augustine ()also use contemporary analytical models and terminology to analyse the nature ofthe discourse in the Confessions. See also Douglass Voice Re-cast: Augustines Use ofConversation inDe ordineand theConfessions ().

36 See for example Fontaines Sens et Valeur des images dans les Confessions(); Cambronnes analysis of the imagery of temporality in the Confessions in hisImaginaire et thologie dans les Confessions de Saint Augustincontains a short section (,) where he argues that his findings in this regard provide yet another proof thatthe work is a unity: the consistency of the imagery as well as the logical sequence ofbookstobased on the chronological logic expressed in the imagery of temporality.Georges Tavards Les jardins de saint Augustine. Lecture des Confessions () presents areading of the Confessions directed along the lines of the image of the garden and thesymbolism attached to this image. He sees theConfessions as fundamentally occupiedwith the problem of time and space, specifically the position of God, whom Augustine

defines as outside of time and space, relative to man and the whole of creation that areper definition limited by time and space. One of the most piercing studies is CrossonsStructure and Meaning in AugustinesConfessions (). What makes his findings freshis the fact that he is not fettered by the expectations that a modern reader has ofan autobiography. The structural symmetry Crosson suggests differs considerably fromprevious proposals: the first section of the Confessionsconsists of books to and thesecond of booksto (,). The two parts are defined respectively by their focuson the dual philosophical problem of, first, how God is to be understood as everywhereand yet as not in the world, and second, how such a transcendent God who cannot

appear in the world can act within the world, can speak audibly to us, can call us toHimself (,).


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the work.37 Then there are the various structural analyses that are not

focussed on the whole of the Confessionsbut on smaller sections or single

books.38

I now proceed to studies of literary aspects of the Confessions thathave a more direct bearing (explicitly or implicitly) on the unity of

the work or on the issues treated in this study, namely the purpose

and audience of the Confessions. First, one of the factors that have

lead scholars to doubt that the Confessions constitutes a literary unity

is the discrepancy between Augustines expressed intention to cover the

whole of scripture in the exegetical section and what he actually does.

McMahons Augustines Prayerful Ascent: An Essay on the Literary Form of theConfessions() proposes an interesting interpretation to make sense of

this.39 He postulates that the narrating Augustine, that is, the character

37 Flores () calls reading in the Confessions a unifying activity and sees in thework a preoccupation with language, or more specifically, with reading in the fullestsense, as including the complementary activities of writing, speaking and exegesis (,

). Robert Jacques () points out the role of reading (and hearing) in book of theConfessions. Smolaks article, Sic itaque audiar: Zum Phnomen Sprache in AugustinsConfessiones () emphasizes the centrality of language (spoken, written and read)in the Confessions. Joseph Lienhards Reading the Bible and Learning to Read: TheInfluence of Education on St. Augustines Exegesis () examines the reading cultureAugustine worked in. Another work that is not dedicated toConfessionsper se but offersa continuous and perceptive reading of the text of books to is Brian StocksAugustinethe Reader (). Stocks analyses serve to underscore the sophistication and intricacyof Augustines writing. He follows one of the lines of the contrapuntal composition ina way that illustrates that we have here a masterly creative agent at work and thatwe should remain humble and cautious in our judgement of an ancient rhetoricianscompositional abilities. Although this is not Stocks aim, his analysis of Augustinessustained emphasis on the importance of reading in the Confessions, and on the factthat Augustines conversion is presented as the climax of his reading experience inConfessions (Stock,) constitutes another argument in favour of my argumentthat Augustine intended the Confessions itself as conversional reading, as a protreptictext.

38 Levenson () proposes a perfect symmetry in books but ignores the restof the Confessions. Starnes () presents a convincing argument for what is to my

mind only one of the grids holding together the structure of the Confessions, namelyits interlacing of Trinitarian patterns: he sees books as centred around the firstperson of the Trinity (God the Father and Creator), bookaround the second person(Christ the Mediator), and books to around the third person (the Holy Spirit).These bigger sections are each in turn built up of three smaller sections devoted tothe different persons of the Trinity. He sees the three main sections as three separateconfessions constituting one autobiographical whole.

39 McMahons thesis has in general not been well received by the research commu-nity, mainly on the grounds that the parallels he endeavours to establish between the

first and second sections of theConfessionsplaces an exegetical burden on the text whichit cannot really bear.


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Augustine, has to be distinguished from the author, the creative power,

Augustine. This narrating Augustine does propose to write an exegesis

of the whole of scripture, but is unexpectedly shown by God that the

whole message of scripture is allegorically represented by the creationstory in Gen, where the seventh day of rest represents the eternal rest

of the apocalypse.40

An approach to understanding the unity of theConfessionsand its lit-

erary devices that I find especially illuminating is the one that throws

light on rhetorical practice in Augustines day. Boyles The prudential

Augustine: The Virtuous Structure and Sense of his Confessions ()

starts with an interpretation of Augustines remarks on the Confessionsin his Retractationes. She proceeds to unfold aspects of rhetorical prac-

tice that must have governed Augustines way of thinking and that is

usually not taken into account either when the Retractationespassage is

interpreted or when Augustines compositional techniques in the Confes-

sionsare evaluated. She spells out what I have always believed, namely

that when modern readers describe the Confessionsas a work compris-

ing two distinct genres (autobiography and exegesis) they in fact accuseAugustine, the master of rhetoric, of violation of the prime canon

of compositionunity a rhetorical fault for which as a schoolboy

Augustine would have been flogged (). She then presents a very

convincing argument, based on what can be known about the influence

of Ciceros rhetoric and his philosophy on Augustines thought, to prove

the opposite.

First, the difficulty caused by the reference in the Retractationes tothe two sections of the Confessionsas a section de me and a section de

scripturis sanctis (which has contributed to modern readers view of the

work as consisting of two disjunctive sections) ceases to exist if the de

is interpreted as a technical term, denoting the person or place from

which a thing is taken, that is, its origin (). Boyles interpretation of

the passage from the Retractationesbased on this information provides a

completely different perspective on how the unity of the work can beseen:

Augustine is not discoursing about himself and about scripture, about hisevils and about his goods, but from these topics about the good and justGod. It is God who is thematic of the discourse, the object of its praise.

40 But see my arguments in chapter that Augustines meditation does indeed, in animportant sense, represent a reading of the whole of scripture.


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Self and scripture, which he parallels with evil and good, are merely thetopics from which he invents the encomium (,).41

Further, Boyle () points out that CicerosDe Legibusprovides a prece-dent for Augustines dual invention from persons and documents (de

me; de scripturis sanctis). Also our perspective on the creation narrative in

the last section of the Confessions takes on a whole different aspect in

the light of Ciceros advice in the De Legibus.. (adduced by Boyle

,) that the way to know oneself, is through contemplation of the

nature of the universe:42

quom caelum, terras, maria rerumque omnium naturam perspexerit, eaque unde gen-erata quo recursura, quando, quo modo obitura, quid in iis mortale et caducum, quiddivinum aeternumque sit viderit, ipsumque ea moderantem et regentem deum paeneprenderit, seseque non humanis circumdatum moenibus popularem alicuius definiti loci,sed civem totius mundi quasi unius urbis agnoverit, in hac ille magnificentia rerum,atque in hoc conspectu et cognitione naturae, dii inmortales, quam se ipse noscet, quodApollo praecepit Pythius, quam contemnet, quam despiciet, quam pro nihilo putabit eaquae volgo dicuntur amplissima!

[And further, when it has examined the heavens, the earth, the seas,the nature of the universe, and understands whence all these things cameand whither they must return, when and how they are destined to perish,what part of them is mortal and transient and what is divine and eternal;and when it almost lays hold of the ruler and governor of the universe,and when it realizes that it is not shut in by (narrow) walls as a residentof some fixed spot, but is a citizen of the whole universe, as it were of asingle citythen in the midst of this universal grandeur, and with such

a view and comprehension of nature, ye immortal gods, how well it willknow itself, according to the precept of the Pythian Apollo!].

Thus, it is clear that to an audience that may have been familiar with

this association between the individual and the universe the subject

matter of the two sections of the Confessions may have been far less

surprising or puzzling than to a modern reader. Unfortunately, in my

41 The last section of the quotation above brings me to what I find problematicin Boyle (, ), namely that she seems to see all types of epideictic rhetoric asbelonging to the same genre, and thus to conflate different genres of the epideictic type.As chapter shows, I follow Berger () in calling types like panegyric, hymn andalso protreptic, specific genres that fall for example under the overarching category ofepideictic or symboleutic rhetoric. Though Berger categorizes protreptic as symboleuticrhetoric he concedes that there are also grounds for categorizing it as epideicticand most of Boyles observations about epideictic rhetoric remain applicable to theprotreptic genre as I see it.

42 Boyle quotes Keyes translation (), which I quote from her. The text is that ofRudd and Wiedemann ().


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opinion, when Boyle () interprets the phrase from the Retractationes

spelling out the purpose of the Confessions (confessionum mearum libri tre-

decim et de malis et de bonis meis deum laudant iustum et bonum atque in eum

excitant humanum intellectum et affectum) she interprets this purpose, like themajority of scholars, to be to praise God and does not pay any atten-

tion to the last part of the sentence, namely that the purpose of praising

God in turn has the purpose to arouse the reader to convert to Him.

Next, let us look at another study that examines the implications of

ancient rhetorical practice for an understanding of the Confessions. If

DiLorenzos arguments () about the meaning of the term confessio

for Augustine are valid, this provides very strong support indeed forthe suggestion that the Confessions is to be read as a protreptic text.

DiLorenzo contends that Augustines notion of confessio derives not

only from Biblical psalmody (confessio laudis and confessio peccati) ()

but also from the theory of epideictic rhetoric, which is the theory of

verbal praise (laudatio) and blame (vituperatio) ().43 What others have

described as an alternation between the narrative and the reflexive level

in the Confessions, he describes as the typical procedure of rhetoricianswho constantly move between hypotheses (specific examples) and the-

ses (general statements). DiLorenzo does not use the term protreptic

but repeatedly points to the aim of Augustines epideictic rhetoric as to

raise the understanding and affections (of Augustine and his readers) to

God and to Augustines confessio as a verbal response to or, perhaps, a

verbal respeaking of Gods persuasive speech to the soul (). He says

in the closing paragraph: In the final analysis, Augustines Libri confes-sionumare a respeaking of Gods Word, persuasively converting the soul

from the false love of creatures to the love of the creatorthe creator

who creates by speaking! ().

Another common approach that scholars have used in their endeav-

ours to explain the unity of the Confessions is to look at the meaning of

the title,Confessiones, and its derivatives, and at how the work embodies

the idea of confession. Here I want to refer only to two recent sug-gestions about the meaning of the title (DiLorenzos arguments [],

that also concern the title of the work, I have already discussed above).

Scotts perceptive discussion (, ) of the philosophical, foren-

43 In Augustines Confessions, the psalmic modes of confession and rhetorical epi-deixis or demonstration merge together in the praise of God and the vituperation of sin

and manifest to men the spiritual psychotherapy of Gods mercy (misericordia) and thebeneficent designs of his providence ().


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sic and religious connotations of the word confiteri and its derivatives

supports a convincing argument on how the structure of testimony

illuminates the communicative purpose of the Confessions. This is a pur-

pose transcending a narcissistic act of self-orientation through writing() and aiming at the edification of its readers: Augustine offers

a written self to his fellow-Christians as exhortation, and a statement

of Christian fellowship, and of course, as a sacrifice to the Christian

God himself (). Siebach (), in the opening section of his arti-

cle on the rhetorical strategies in Book of the Confessions, argues that

the word confessio can also mean proof and that St. Augustine uses

a proof for Gods existence as the structuring principle of his histori-cal/autobiographical narrative (, ).44 More interesting from my

point of view, as will become clear in chapter, is the linking ofconfessio

as proof and medicinal metaphors (Siebach , ) whereconfessio is

interpreted as the action through which the sinner petitions the Christus

Medicusto heal his sickness. Siebach argues that this suggests an associ-

ation relevant to the history of confession as a philosophical and moral

practice () and that the influence of Platos Gorgiasmay be discern-able in the Confessions (). This constitutes a strong argument support-

ive of my thesis that the milieu that informs the choice of genre for the

Confessionsis that of philosophical and moral practice (see chapter).

Let us look at another approach to the question of the unity of

the Confessions that in my opinion is proposed by a number of good

exponents, namely the one that emphasizes the parallels between the

story of the individuals conversion in books to and the focus inthe narrative of books to on creations turn towards God.45 One

of the most important gains of this approach is the significant move

away from viewing the Confessions as a somewhat lopsided autobiog-

raphy. Tavards Les jardins de saint Augustine () emphasizes through-

out the strong influence of Manichaean dogma on the problematic

Augustine treats. The latter portrays himself as thinking his way from a

44 Although scholarship agrees that for Augustine and his contemporaries the exis-tence of a god, or the gods and many divine figures was taken for granted and notsomething that needed to be proven, one need not, for this reason, discard all ofSiebachs argument. The rhetorical strategy in the opening books of the Confessionsmaywell be to illustrate, as he puts it, an explicit search for the signs of Gods existence inAugustines life-experience (,).

45 Knauers article Peregrinatio animae (), although its main focus is elsewhere,

refers to theconversioof thecreatura intellectualis, described in bookof the Confessions, aconversiothat is parallel to that of man ().


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Manichaean God spread out in space and not separate from the tem-

poral, through a (strongly neo-Platonic) God who is outside of time and

space, towards the Creator God and his relation with man mediated

by a (thoroughly Christian) Mediator. Although Tavard does not treatthe problem of the unity as such, his reading implicitly conveys his per-

ception of the Confessionsas a satisfactory and organic whole where the

basic problem of what God is (with its spatial and temporal ramifica-

tions) uttered at the beginning of the work leads with inexorable logic

through the story of Augustines life, his examination of memory, his

musings about time, to his expositions of the Trinitarian creator God at

the end of the work.Reminiscent in many ways of Tavards approach is OConnells Im-

ages of Conversion in St. Augustines Confessions (). His main focus is on

the conversion experiences (or different stages of an ongoing conver-

sion process) described by Augustine: the account of his reading of the

Hortensiusand how it affected him in Book; the narration of the dif-

ficult thought processes which eventually enabled him to conceive of

God as a spiritual being in book; and the famous description of hisfinal conversion in book . OConnells very readable style and clear

presentation of arguments make this

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