Vera u Boga, moral i šiba - jezičko izražavanje kazni i prekršaja u Ustrojeniju garnizone vojske iz 1839. godine

Abstract

The subject of this paper are the transgressions, sins and punishments within administrative documents, specifically in the Army Garrison Law (in Serbian, Устројенију гарнизоне војске) from the 19th century. We approach this subject matter from an ideological, religious and theoretically poetic aspect with the aim to present and highlight the types of transgressions, the culprits and the severity of the crime. Any divergence from the established canons and any violation of order and hierarchy had a punishment as a consequence. The punishments are categorized in accordance with the type of punishment, the culprit and the degree of severity. One can note that the capital punishment is the most prevalent one, followed by the physical punishment to a lesser degree, while material and psychological punishments are administered only sporadically. A special segment of the paper is devoted to the linguistic analysis, more precisely to underscoring the functional characteristics of this legal document. By using the descriptive method, we came to the conclusion that the most common type of sentence is the sentence containing an unrestricted relative clause introduced by the word koji. The interpretations of the process of legislation and of the purpose of the categories of criminal sanctions are all-encompassing and analytical in their nature, making their content and general meaning comprehensible. The critical tone, present within the majority of the observed verdicts and their argumentations, requires further studying not only on the theoretical level, but also within the process of legislation in order to make the language more exact and to modify the vagueness of the legal register. Keywords: transgression, punishment, law, Army Garrison Law, 19th century, army, legal and administrative register Jelena M. Pavlović Jovanović Nataša A. Spasić