Discursive emblem as a theoretical problem in baroque literature (A. d’Aubign'e's “Avantures du baron de Faeneste”)

The article suggests using the “discursive emblem” term, understood as a specially organised way of presenting literary commonplaces, doctrinal or philosophical principles, which is also capable of structuring texts of various genres. Article presents an overview of scientific approaches to postulating and solving the problem of emblem, presented in a literary text. Based on that, we introduce a discursive notion of emblems, allowing us to usefully fit it not as a inscription / image / subcription “triad”, but as a non-visualised symbolic construct. Article then analyses premises for diffusion of emblematics in literature and there are presented some theoretical notes and remarks on conceptist nature of emblematics and on dominant role of metaphor in baroque poetics and aesthetics, all of which leads the author to conclude that emblematics took part in forming a unique poetic style. Agrippa d’Aubigné’s “Avantures du Baron de Faeneste” are taken as a specimen of a baroque work of emblematic nature and the two main protagonists - Enay and Faeneste - are shown to have served as prototypes of two key emblematic aspects: verbal and visual. It is argued that their charactonyms, their speeches and what happens to them demonstrates dialogics of Word and Image not only in an emblematic, but also in religious aspects of the 17th century: more specifically, in contrasting a catholic view of visuality against a protestant’s one. In conclusion three key components of the text are singled out: a visual (Faeneste), verbal (Enay) and the total process of emblematic reading, showing characters’ genuine relationships with the world around them.