"Bendita és tu entre as mulheres de Rus": o discurso hagiográfico sobre (Santa) Olga de Kiev (Rus - Séculos XI a XIII)

Abstract

In this dissertation, we aim to analyze the later image of Princess Olga († 969), who acted as regent of Kiev after the death of her husband, Igor, while he collected tribute and their son Sviatosláv, the natural successor, was still a minor. During her lifetime, Olga was responsible for a series of acts and measures that differentiated her from other rulers, with the most important decision being her conversion to Orthodox Christianity around the 950s. Many of these facts that are known about the princess are omitted, modified, or exaggerated in texts from the later centuries, indicating a manipulation of memory regarding Olga in order to transform her into a saint. Using the considerations on the "concept" of hagiographic discourse from authors like Anneke Mulder-Bakker, Guy Philippart, Marc van Uytfanghe, among others; and the methodology of the isotopic reading from Algirdas Greimas and Joseph Courtés, we argue that Olga's image has undergone transformations based on the authors' and the public's needs in two Rusian sources dealing with her, the Tale of Bygone Years (XIth-XIIth century) and the Encomium to Princess Olga (XIIIth century), wishing to create an "ideal Olga" that should be remembered and worshiped for the selected categories