Lucia – För Syrakusa i tiden : En narratologisk undersökning av lucianarrativet i Jacobus de Voragines Legenda Aurea

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this essay is to closer study the narrative of Saint Lucy in Jacobus de Voragine’s work Legenda Aurea to be able to contribute to the present lack of research regarding Lucy of Syracuse. The essay uses the theories of cultural memory and the theoretical narratological framework of Mikhail Bakhtin to answer the question on how Lucy is portrayed in the Legenda Aurea. Furthermore, the essay answers the question on how the narrative constructs meaning to Jacobus ́ contemporary audience. I will be asking the narrative questions based on a close reading of the narrative of Saint Lucy. Does the narrative convey a bigger picture? What role does time and place play in the understanding of the narrative? Are there other narratives in the Legenda Aurea that shapes the understanding of the Lucy narrative? Does the Lucy narrative allude to biblical models and narratives? My first conclusion is that Lucy is portrayed as a tool for God ́s will to sacralize both time in general and the place of Syracuse in particular. Lucy is portrayed as God ́s protagonist in the fight against the roman heathen rulers and becomes victorious through her martyrdom. My second conclusion is that Lucy is portrayed as an alter Maria, a saint shaped by a mariological understanding, whose purpose is to mediate between the inhabitants of Syracuse and God. My third conclusion is that the narrative of Saint Lucy speaks to Jacobus de Voragine ́s contemporary audience about the ideal life according to the idea of evangelical perfection. This idea claims that the life is best lived in humility, chastity, and self-imposed poverty. The point for Jacobus ́ contemporary reader or listener is to imitate and incorporate these ideas into his or her own life.