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Document Details : Title: Jr. Saint Ephrem the Syrian Subtitle: Armenian Dispute Hymns between Virginity and Chastity Author(s): MATHEWS, E.G. Journal: Revue des Études Arméniennes Volume: 28 Date: 2001-2002 Pages: 143-169 DOI: 10.2143/REA.28.0.505078 Abstract : Competition, contention, and debate have been part of human culture almost since its very beginning. J. Huizinga, now already a half century ago, demonstrated how contest or competition, friendly and otherwise, is at the root of civilization — the very warp and woof, as it were, of human interrelationship. This integral element of human nature has naturally left its clear and predominate mark on human culture, but finds its most intellectual manifestation in the realm of literature, already in the oldest surviving remnants. This competition, or contention, is an element found in various genres and literatures, and the development of these various genres are almost certainly connected, though these connections have yet to be traced out. But one type in particular is devoted almost specifically to this theme: the dispute poem, also known as the precedent poem, which is closely related to the debate poem, or the dialogue poem, which is somewhat less contentious. |
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