Ethical Adjacency in Piers Plowman

2020 ◽  
pp. 75-113
Author(s):  
Nicolette Zeeman
Keyword(s):  
Middle English ◽  
Literary History ◽  
Piers Plowman ◽  
Intellectual Work ◽  
Intellectual Tradition ◽  
Nature And Grace ◽  
History Of ◽  
Body And Soul ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Special Relevance

The chapter argues that the intellectual tradition that underlies medieval personification debate is Aristotelian and medieval logical teaching on ‘opposites’, the relationship by which opposed terms illuminate each other—available in Aristotle’s elementary logical works. This teaching has a special relevance to personification debate, where the heuristic drive is dramatized in speakers that represent opposed positions and phenomena, each of which is explored in the process of debate itself. This suggests why personification debate provides for over a thousand years one of the main tools with which allegory unpacks its structuring terms and reflects on its conflictual work. Aristotle’s teaching on opposites also enables us to query some aspects of the literary history of medieval debate literature; it suggests that a critical concern about resolution in debate, or its lack, fails to see where the real intellectual work of debate occurs. It also suggests that the critical distinction between supposedly open ‘horizontal’ debates and closed ‘vertical’ debates may be misguided. In fact, Aristotle’s subcategory of the ‘relative’ opposition (master and slave, artisan and tool) often involves a hierarchy. The chapter uses these materials to argue that personification debate can be formally unresolved and ‘vertical’, and yet also challenging and seriously investigative. This is illustrated with analyses of some debates, several hierarchical: ‘four daughters of God’, body and soul, Nature and Grace (Deguileville) and the Middle English Pearl.

Dante's New Life of the Book

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Eisner
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Poetic Form ◽  
Archival Research ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

This study uses the material transmission history of Dante’s innovative first book, the Vita nuova (New Life), to intervene in recent debates about literary history, reconceiving the relationship between the work and its reception, and investigating how different material manifestations and transformations in manuscripts, printed books, translations, and adaptations participate in the work. Just as Dante frames his collection of thirty-one poems surrounded by prose narrative and commentary as an attempt to understand his own experiences through the experimental form of the book, so later scribes, editors, and translators use different material forms to embody their own interpretations of it. Traveling from Boccaccio’s Florence to contemporary Hollywood with stops in Emerson’s Cambridge, Rossetti’s London, Nerval’s Paris, Mandelstam’s Russia, De Campos’s Brazil, and Pamuk’s Istanbul, this study builds on extensive archival research to show how Dante’s strange poetic forms continue to challenge readers. In contrast to a conventional reception history’s chronological march, each chapter analyzes how one of these distinctive features has been treated over time, offering new perspectives on topics such as Dante’s love of Beatrice, his relationship with Guido Cavalcanti, and his attraction to another woman, while highlighting Dante’s concern with the future, as he experiments with new ways to keep Beatrice alive for later readers. Deploying numerous illustrations to show the entanglement of the work’s poetic form and its material survival, Dante’s New Life of the Book offers a fresh reading of Dante’s innovations, demonstrating the value of this philological analysis of the work’s survival in the world.

Lipsius and the Art of Letter-Writing

1956 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 145-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Catherine Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Literary History ◽  
Ben Jonson ◽  
Letter Writing ◽  
Prose Style ◽  
History Of ◽  
Prose Rhythm ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Precise Role

“The whole history of the ‘epistle,’ as a literary genre, is full of interest and invites investigation.” — W. Rhys Roberts.One of Professor Morris Croll's earliest essays on prose style was an article on Justus Lipsius, the sixteenth-century Belgian scholar and rhetorician whose name has become identified with the “anti-Ciceronian” school of prose. Croll later studied him as the leader of a triumvirate (Lipsius, Montaigne, and Bacon), and thus clarified somewhat the relationship of English prose style to continental experiments. The indebtedness of certain English writers, like John Hoskyns and Ben Jonson, to the epistolary theory of Lipsius is now well known, but the precise role played by his Epistolica institutio in literary history has never been clearly presented. Because Professor Croll's interests were centered in prose rhythm, he analyzed the Institutio only for the light it shed upon the development of “Attic” prose structure in the Renaissance.

The Body of Western Embodiment

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Greek Philosophy ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Interior Space ◽  
Ancient Greek Philosophy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Body And Soul ◽  
The Relationship

Much of western philosophy, especially ancient Greek philosophy, addresses the problems posed by embodiment. This chapter argues that to grasp the early history of embodiment is to see the category of the body itself as historically emergent. Bruno Snell argued that Homer lacked a concept of the body (sōma), but it is the emergence of body in the fifth century BCE rather than the appearance of mind or soul that is most consequential for the shape of ancient dualisms. The body takes shape in Hippocratic medical writing as largely hidden and unconscious interior space governed by impersonal forces. But Plato’s corpus demonstrates that while Plato’s reputation as a somatophobe is well grounded and may arise in part from the way the body takes shape in medical and other physiological writing, the Dialogues represent a more complex position on the relationship between body and soul than Plato’s reputation suggests.

The Jurisprudence of Humanism

Traditio ◽  
1961 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 493-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myron P. Gilmore
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Literary History ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Western Tradition ◽  
Major Work ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Legal Concepts ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

During the last decade the works of Professor Guido Kisch have made an outstanding contribution to our knowledge of the legal thought of the sixteenth century, particularly to the school represented by the University of Basel. His articles and monographs have dealt with the biographical and literary history of significant scholars as well as with the rival schools of interpretation represented by ‘mos italicus' and ‘mos gallicus.' Building on these earlier studies, Professor Kisch has now produced a major work of more comprehensive scope, which goes beyond biographical and methodological questions to the analysis of significant change in substantive legal doctrines. Convinced that the age of humanism and the reception of Roman law saw the formation of some of the most important modern legal concepts, he centers his research on the evolution of the theory of equity with due attention, on the one hand, to the relationship between sixteenth-century innovation and the historic western tradition and, on the other, to the interaction between the academic profession and the practicing lawyers.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. xxii-7
Author(s):  
Suzanne Conklin Akbari
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Middle English ◽  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Literary History ◽  
Vernacular Literature ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
History Of ◽  
Science And Theology ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
The Canterbury Tales

This Handbook produces a stereoscopic view of Chaucer’s works. Juxtaposing chapters by Middle English scholars with chapters by specialists in other fields – Latin and vernacular literature, philosophy, theology, and history of science – it offers a new perspective that uses the works of Chaucer to look out upon the wider world. Clusters of essays that place Chaucer’s works in “the Mediterranean Frame” and “the European Frame” are bracketed by groupings on “Biography and Circumstances of Daily Life” and “The Chaucerian Afterlife,” while a cluster on “Christian Doctrine and Religious Heterodoxy” foregrounds the role of confessional identities in the emergence of Middle English literary authority. The Handbook’s scope addresses the claim of universality that is often implicit in the study of Chaucer’s works. Chapters on anti-Judaism in the Canterbury Tales and on Hebrew literature reveal what has been suppressed or elided in the construction of English literary history, while studying the Arabic sources and analogues of the frame tale tradition reveals the patterns of circulation that lie behind the early modern emergence of national literatures. Chapters on French, Italian, and Latin literature address the linguistic context of late fourteenth-century Europe, while chapters on philosophy, history of science, and theology spur on new areas of development within Chaucer studies. Pushing at the disciplinary boundaries of Chaucer Studies, this Handbook maps out how we might develop our field with greater awareness of the interconnected world of the fourteenth century, and the increasingly interconnected – and divided – world we inhabit today.

The Theological Transformations of Zephaniah’s Proclamation of Doom

2014 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tchavdar S. Hadjiev
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
History Of The Book ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rhetorical Function ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Historical Origins

The rhetorical function and historical origins of the message of judgment in the book of Zephaniah have been interpreted very differently by scholars. The literary history of the book partly explains this diversity. Zephaniah began its written existence as a call to repentance in pre-exilic Judah (1,2–2,3), then served as an explanation for the disaster of 587 BC (1,2–3,8) and, in its final form, as a promise of redemption to the post-exilic community. The meaning of the proclamation of doom was radically transformed by the various historical and canonical contexts in which the book was read. Attention to this process helps to clarify, on one hand, the relationship between the book and the figure of the historical prophet and, on another, provides a basis for modern theological appropriations of its message.La fonction rhétorique et les racines historiques du message de jugement du livre de Sophonie ont été interprétées de manières divergentes par les exégètes, ce que l’histoire littéraire du livre explique en partie. Sophonie débuta son expérience d’écrivain par un appel à la repentance en Juda pré-exilique (1,2–2,3), puis produisit une explication pour la catastrophe de 587 av. J.-C. (1,2–3,8), pour aboutir à une promesse de salut pour la communauté post-exilique. La portée des oracles de jugement s’est cependant radicalement transformée du fait des contextes historiques et littéraires divers dans lesquels le livre a été lu. La prise en compte de ce processus permet d’une part d’expliciter les rapports entre le livre et la figure historique du prophète, et offre d’autre part une base d’interprétation théologique actuelle de son message.Die rhetorische Funktion und die historischen Wurzeln der Gerichtsbotschaft des Buches Zefanja sind in der Wissenschaft sehr unterschiedlich interpretiert worden. Die Literargeschichte des Buches erklärt diese Vielfalt teilweise. Die Zefanjaschrift war zunächst ein Ruf zur Umkehr im vorexilischen Juda (1,2–2,3), sie diente dann als Erklärung für die Katastrophe von 587 v. Chr. (1,2–3,8) und in ihrer Endgestalt als Verheißung der Erlösung für die nachexilische Gemeinde. Die Bedeutung der Unheilsverkündigung hat sich durch die verschiedenen historischen und literarischen Kontexte, in denen das Buch gelesen wurde, radikal gewandelt. Die Beachtung dieses Vorgangs hilft einerseits die Beziehung zwischen dem Buch und der Gestalt des historischen Propheten zu klären und bietet andererseits eine Grundlage für heutige theologische Anwendungen seiner Botschaft.

scholarly journals Gratia praesupponit naturam

Diacovensia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 81.-93.
Author(s):  
Boris Vulić
Keyword(s):  
The Third ◽  
Nature And Grace ◽  
History Of ◽  
Entire History ◽  
History Of Theology ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

In the article, the contemporary lack of representation of the axiom “grace presumes nature” is recognized as a providential opportunity for its renewal in theology and spirituality. After indicating some of the causes for neglecting this scholastic axiom, the second chapter interprets its theological interiority through an attempt to answer the inexhaustible question of the relationship of grace and nature. The third chapter brings further clarification through the axioms “grace does not destroy nature” and “grace perfects nature”. In analogy with Christ’s incarnation, it becomes apparent that nature, or creation, should always be understood in the perspective of grace, which is the first fact of the history of salvation. The restoration and deepening of these axioms contributes to linking the entire history of salvation, but also the history of theology and spirituality, and to a deeper understanding of what is truly natural and what is divine, graceful, and what as a gift and opportunity defines a man to the very foundation of his created nature.

scholarly journals Community Policy of Philopons in Alexandria in the Second Half of 5th – the First Half of 6th Century BC

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3 (27)) ◽  
pp. 7-12
Author(s):  
Irina V. Zaytseva
Keyword(s):  
Late Antique ◽  
Intellectual Tradition ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Intellectual Elite ◽  
Intellectual Heritage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Community Policy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Early Byzantine

The article continues the author's series of works devoted to the study of one of the most difficult issues in the history of the intellectual tradition of late-Antique - early-Byzantine Alexandria - the evolution of confrontational process between representatives of the Christian and pagan intellectual elite in the city. The aim of the article is the analysis of the Christian community policy of philopons and its role in a confrontational process of Alexandria in the second half of 5th - the first half of 6th century BC. The result of this study was the author's conclusion that the philopons contributed to the process of confrontation in Alexandria during the period under review, changing the course of the relationship between Christians and pagans. At the same time, the philopons, understanding the complexity of the urban situation, sought to maintain a balance between the pagan’s intellectual heritage and Christian traditions.

Multiethnicity and Multilingualism in the Minor Literature of Manchukuo

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-362
Author(s):  
Yue Chen
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
Chinese Literature ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Minor Literature ◽  
Literary Identity ◽  
Local Complexity ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Minor ◽  
The Relationship

Although claimed as a nation-state, with a government, a territory, and citizenry, Manchukuo (1932–1945) is a colony of the Empire of Japan, appropriated from Northeast China. As such, Manchukuo’s literary identity complicates the relationship between nationalism and literature, inviting us to rethink the history of Chinese literature in specific and East Asian literary history in general. This article tackles the thorny problem of Manchukuo literary formation by going through Shuimei Shih’s concept of sinophone and Chen Pingyuan’s notion of the multiethnic, only to conclude via a reading of Deleuze and Guattari’s elaboration of Kafka that Manchukuo’s corpus is best approached as a minor literature of its own. The very colonial and local complexity of Manchukuo’s minor literature lies in its multiethnicity and multilingualism. A close reading of Mei’niang, Yokoda Fumiko, and Arsenii Nesmelov, through their deterritorialized Chinese, Japanese, and Russian stories, demonstrates the range of indigenous and exiled writers in their diverse imagination of Manchukuo’s ambiguous sovereignty.

Genre Practice in Literary Historiography: A Romanian Case

Transilvania ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 45-51
Author(s):  
Ana Țăranu
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Literary History ◽  
Genre Theory ◽  
Literary Genres ◽  
Literary Historiography ◽  
Genre Criticism ◽  
History Of ◽  
Romanian Literature ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Relationship

Premised on the pervasiveness of generic categories within literary historiography, the present analysis attempts to delineate the generic idioms present within three histories of Romanian literature (authored by G. Călinescu, Nicolae Manolescu and Mihai Iovănel, respectively). Engaging a descriptively historical, rather than theoretical, approach to genre and its metadiscourses, the paper begins with an abridged version of the cardinal disputes of genre criticism. Subsequently, it comparatively addresses the presence of genre within the three volumes, aiming to locate them within recognizable frameworks of genericity and to establish the overlapping territories of their generic landscapes. Thus, it distinguishes G. Călinescu as a practitioner of post-Romantic genre theory, further showcasing how some of his central aestheticist positions survive in Nicolae Manolescu’s moderately formalist account of the issue. Against the backdrop of their more conservative, teleological historiographical projects, Mihai Iovănel’s 2021 Istoria Literaturii Române Contemporane 1990-2020 [The History of Contemporary Romanian Literature 1990-2020] displays a distinct methodological apparatus, predicated on the author’s rejection of the paradigmatic autonomy of the aesthetic. His employment of materialist theories of art is corelative to a conception of genre as a contingent, empirically determined instrument of analysis, which, far from being a rhetorically stable, abstract category, actively mediates the relationship between social and aesthetic history. This shift engenders substantial amendments to the physiognomy of literary history as genre, enabling it to encompass extra-literary (and noncanonical) phenomena. Keywords: literary genres, literary history, Romanian literature, Mihai Iovănel.

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