Giordano Bruno's Mnemonic System: Analysing the Principles, Purpose, and Practical Use of the Lists in "De umbris idearum"

The subject of the research is 10 mnemonic lists presented in the "Art of Memory" section of Bruno's treatise "De umbris idearum" (1582). The author examines each of the 10 lists in detail. The article begins with general information about Bruno's work, a review of literature, and the state of research on the problem. Special attention is paid to identifying the goals and practical tasks of creating the lists and the principles of their formation. The author demonstrates how to use the lists for "memoria verborum". It is explained which techniques Bruno proposed for encoding words that include closed syllables or consonant clusters. The article is accompanied by a translation of the lists from Latin into Russian. Methods: The main research methods are the author's translation of Bruno's lists, the method of historical-philosophical reconstruction, and the hermeneutic method. Results: The original structure of the lists was reconstructed, and the goals of their creation were identified. The main principles of their construction are shown: 1) The 150-line lists are arranged according to a "group of five" scheme and marked with two-letter elements. Each of the 30 "groups of five" has 23 Latin letters, four Greek letters, and three Hebrew letters as the first element. The second element uses a repeating pattern of 5 Latin vowels. 2) The list of characters and the list of actions are divided into "groups of five” indicated by the aforementioned vowels, according to their occupations, from the simplest (agriculture) to science and philosophy. Each " group of five " is led by a "standard-bearer" who is responsible for one of each of the 30 letters of the three-language alphabet. 3) All lists are constructed according to 5 sets of mnemonic elements: 1. characters (agentes), 2. actions (actiones), 3. characteristics (insignia), 4. objects (circumstantia), and 5. additional objects (adstantia). Novelty: In addition to the historical-philosophical reconstruction of the lists, the novelty of the research also includes the first translation of these lists from Latin into Russian, performed based on critical editions of the text, and the provision of clear examples of list usage accessible to the modern reader. The results of the work can be used for further research into the mnemonic component in the works of Giordano Bruno.

art of memory, mnemotechnics, mnemonics, list, memory, memoria verborum, memoria rerum, syllables, images, astral magic