SERMON AS GENRE IN THE SERVICE OF ENLIGHTENMENT IDEALS: THE TOWN AS “HEAVENLY JERUSALEM” OR “SINFUL BABEL” IN SERMONS OF SLOVAK ENLIGHTENMENT SCHOLARS

The study is based on the analysis of sermons and journalistic articles of Slovak Enlightenment protestant scholars. It pays attention to creation and development of two diverse, contrast and conflict “images of the town“ and urban culture, two stable styles of semantisation, which together with biblical metaphors created the position of the town as a phenomenon. Contrast “images of the town“ (nowadays commonly simplified as “liberal“ and “conservative“) in Slovak culture represent pieces of art, formed for a long time and still alive, with deep roots referring also to the sermon as the genre. Their later actualisations still refer to either metaphoric idea of a town as “Heavenly Jerusalem“ or to a town as “sinful Babel“. These two contradictory styles of semantisation in Slovak culture correspond to either “urban“ idea of paradise – town, or “agrarian“ idea of paradise – rural garden.