Metaretorica dell’encomio e dell’epistola in Girolamo

Although not all the texts belonging to Jerome’s epistolary corpus can be properly defined as letters, in most of them we are met with epistolary metarhetoric: that is, calculated reflection on – and claim to – ‘epistolarity’, in order to create what we might call ‘epistolary illusion’. Two categories of elements pertaining to epistolary metarhetoric are taken into consideration: firstly, topoi (e.g., brevitas and letter as a sermo absentium), secondly hints at the construction of ‘epistolary collections’ and cross-references between letters. One of the main functions of such elements is focused on briefly: the – either actual or pretended – ‘epistolarity’ of such texts in fact serves Jerome’s purpose of constructing his self-portrait as a champion of ascetics and as an authoritative biblical scholar.