Le visage épistolaire de Paul. En quête des visages dans la lettre aux Romains

Abstract

The letter was the way for Paul to maintain contact with the first Judeo-Christian communities, or sometimes to create one, as with the community of Rome. Numerous studies have clearly shown how the Pauline missives equate to a face-to-face presence. This article aims to push further the idea of the letter-presence by posing the hypothesis that it is also a face, a figure of the apostle, which is drawn through the reading of each letter. Paul manages to impose a presence which supports his message and his experience. In this sense, we will propose the concept of epistolary face, and we will show through Romans how this face emerges, and especially what it conveys to complete the message transmitted.