Rhetoric and homiletics: concepts of preacher’s personality

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LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Dvasininko asmenybės supratimas; Kūno kalba; Neverbalinė komunikacija; Pamokslininko asmenybė; Reikalavimai oratoriui; Tradicinė ir naujoji retorika; Vertybinė orientacija; Body language; Concepts of preacher's personality; Requirements to the orator; Traditional and New Rhetoric; Value orientation; Values orientation.

ENThe theme of this article is the concept of the preacher in the process of modern communication. The requirements for orators, which were set up in Antiquity, constantly changed depending on the period, style of the epoch, social environment, the perception of rhetoric, its purpose, etc. In the middle of the 20th century the New Rhetoric was formed, which acquired the pragmatic features and became closely related to practical communication, paid great attention to the body language of the orator often neglecting the value orientation of the orator as the basis of the persuasion. New challenges to rhetorical communication are also presented by the media, with their visual accents diminishing the need to use a variety of rhetorical stylistic devices to enhance persuasive force. One of the most complex and mysterious types of rhetoric is religious rhetoric, whose characteristics depend on the specificity of confession, the level of philosophy and theology of particular epoch, interpretations, the liturgy of Mass, as well as on the sender of the main message − the personality of the preacher, orientation of his values, temperament, characteristics of the non-verbal language. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the concepts of the oratorpreacher personality (S. Freud, C.G. Jung, E. Berne), and also to look at the features of the body language. The classical and contemporary conceptions of the orator, the general requirements to his mastery, the concepts of the preacher’s personality and some specificity of the body language in preaching will be discussed to achieve this goal.In Lithuania, the concept of spiritual personality was discussed by P.K. Jaunius, non-verbal body language was analyzed by V.S. Vaičiūnas, the traditional concept of the orator was discussed by R. Koženiauskienė, etc. Lithuanian scholarly works mostly deal with the specificity of homilies created prior to the 20th century (E. Ulčinaitė, J. Pajėdienė, K. Mačiulytė, P. Subačius). The research will be based on the works by W. Engemann, R. Koženiauskienė, V.S. Vaičiūnas, E. Pečiulis, D. Zarefsky, and others. The comparative methodology will be used. [From the publication]