Augustine's Confessions : communicative purpose and audience /

: This book is about the communicative purpose and the audience of the Confessions . It illuminates the degree to which the communicative purpose of the work is to convert its readers, id est a protreptic purpose, and the degree to which the target audience may be identified as Augustine's potential Manichaean readers. A brief survey of possible literary antecedents points to the existence of other works that consist of the same combination of an autobiographical section (a conversion story) with a polemical and exegetical section (an argument that aims to convince the reader of the merits of a specific point of view) that characterizes the Confessions . The book provides a new perspective on the meaning and structure of Augustine's often misunderstood masterpiece.
: Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral). : 1 online resource (x, 278 pages) : Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-270) and indexes. : 9789047405696 : 0920-623X ; : Available to subscribing member institutions only.