Patricio: A Construcao Da Imagem De Un Santo / How the Historical Patrick Was Transformed Into the St. Patrick of Religious Faith

Several books dedicated to the life and career of Saint Patrick seem not to take narrative problems into consideration or at least not to focus on them. The main subject in this particular field is the real or historical Patrick, in contrast to the fictional. The authors of these works try to overcome the gap between referent and representation, transcending then in order to find a hidden meaning in the past. Part of the so-called Patrician problem is related to this need of being forced to choose between real and representation. Patrick’s history is analyzed differently in this research; we are more interested in understanding the representations than to transcend them.