Mystical and poetical dimensions of discourse
Michael Wimmer
The need for growth and change is an anthropological constant. The word enounced in interpersonal relations plays a central role in this process, due to an unconscious dynamism which makes us try to appropriate the things we hear: we thus imitate unconsciously what we are told. The same mimetic force, however, is to be attributed to the spoken word: not only does it reflect our own desire of expression or influence, but it also forms our own identity. We thus arrive at the conclusion that the spoken word forms us just as much as the received one. Based on a psychological-existential exam, we first find that interpersonal discourse is directed at the interiority in order to form that latter in a certain manner. Considering this, we presume that the spoken word as part of a relation does not primarily aim at transmitting abstract concepts: its primordial aim is to realise itself in the recipient and, ipso facto, in the speaker. The anthropological consequences of this will be briefly discussed.
On this basis, we turn our attention towards liturgical expression: since the word seeks to incarnate itself by forming man in its own way, we must consider the context it is enounced in. Liturgy is meant to be a communication between God and man, borne by love. If we use speech within this relationship with God, the word becomes a bearer of a supernatural, or mystical, force of change, directed at man with the intention of changing him – and not in order to convey a rational content. This idea is shown to be biblically founded by the means of scriptural exegesis. Thus, we conceive liturgical discourse as properly poetical: on the one hand, in the sense of poiésis, we find the forming force of the liturgical word which seeks to bring about a new man. And on the other hand, we recognise the emergence of a profound beauty which stems from liturgical prayer, and which is the specificity of sacred art. The implications of this liturgical discourse aesthetics will be briefly discussed.
The paper concludes by reflecting on the attitude of man facing this poetic force of the spoken word; furthermore, some aspects of intelligible and unintelligible discourse are indicated.
