Song Just Beyond the Nation, or Debussy via Verlaine

2021 ◽  
pp. 192-208
Author(s):  
Helen Abbott
Keyword(s):  
Close Reading ◽  
Poetic Language ◽  
Musical Style ◽  
Text Setting ◽  
Poetic Texts

Hailed as the epitome of French musical style, Debussy also excelled at ‘creat[ing] works based on vernacular idioms from other cultures’ (Brown 2012: 6). Debussy’s mélodies may be the hallmark of ‘Frenchness’, but they also mediate other cultures through the choice of poetic texts, including subtle interweaving of cultures close to home. This chapter offers a close reading of Debussy’s Trois mélodies (composed 1891, published 1901), settings of three Verlaine poem’s from the Sagesse collection of 1881 which depict Belgian and English landscapes and seascapes. Debussy’s text-setting techniques (prosody and repetition) temper the apparent ‘Frenchness’ of the poetic language, by revealing that inhabiting just one national idiom is fundamentally at odds with the creative act of song-making.

The Mind in Motion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elleke Boehmer
Keyword(s):  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Poetic Language ◽  
Dynamic Tension ◽  
The Mind

Drawing on insights from relevance theory, the chapter explores how W.B. Yeats’s late poem ‘Long-legged Fly’ creates an exemplary occasion for reflecting first on cognition and then on the ways in which cognition might be made manifest in poetic language; in particular, here, in a dominant simile that repeats as a refrain through the poem. Processing the three stanzas’ different inferential, sensorimotor, and intertextual effects, we as readers at one and the same time contemplate in each case a body in thought, and we contemplate ourselves thinking. The poem in this sense repeatedly performs how a history-changing reflective moment holds a range of creative energies in dynamic tension. Relevance theory’s ‘loose’ sifting of literal and other meanings, in Deirdre Wilson’s words, allows us to become aware of these two processes unfolding at the same time, and in relation to each other, as is demonstrated in this close reading.

Studien zu Hölderlin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner Hamacher
Keyword(s):  
German Language ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Poetic Texts ◽  
First Time ◽  
Bear Witness

Following up on his magisterial Berlin master´s thesis on Hölderlin´s poetry of 1971, Werner Hamachers continuing attempts at close-reading Hölderlin represent perhaps the first deconstructions of important poetic texts in the German language. The essays presented here for the first time, in which the late literary theorist also deals with Heidegger's interpretation of Hölderlin, are proof of his extraordinary ability to stage the most rigorous philology in an elegant and witty manner. Anyone who immerses himself in them will always be amazed at how unique Hölderlin's poetry was and still is. At the same time, they bear witness to the exceptional subtlety, precision, and originality for which Werner Hamacher's own work is known.

Hymns

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Cheung Salisbury
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Latin Poetry ◽  
Text Setting ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Peter Abelard ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Liturgical Practice ◽  
Poetic Texts

Although its functional origin as a liturgical practice may be linked to the psalms, readings, and prayers of Jewish synagogue worship around the time of Christ, the history of medieval hymnody is, in the main, the history of Christian Latin poetry. Influenced first by early hymn-writers’ education in classical grammar and rhetoric, the hymn quickly assumed the role assigned it by Augustine: “the praise of God, when sung,” framed broadly at first, and then acquiring typical habits of meter and rhyme and a specific liturgical function. Poetic texts penned by early Christian authors attained fame and were assumed into collective liturgical practice. They were joined by newly-written medieval hymns, constructed with the liturgical context in mind and often written for a particular occasion (i.e., the liturgical observance of a saint’s day). Some later medieval Latin poetry served more overtly devotional purposes. The earliest extant Latin hymns were written by Ambrose of Milan in the 4th century. These, together with others, were incorporated into the structures of liturgy set out by the architects of monastic life, including Saint Benedict. Other “hymns” were drawn from sacred Latin poetry in longer form and from across the Christian West, and many more were written through the Carolingian Renaissance. Even more hymns were written for specific occasions in the liturgical calendar up to the end of the Middle Ages, many anonymous but some written by literary luminaries such as Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas. These proper hymns replaced those of the day or of the relevant portion of the Common of Saints. By Augustine’s definition, hymns are sung praises, but relatively little work has been done on the music to which the much more extensively studied texts are sung. This may be a consequence of two factors. First, the melodies were broadly interchangeable, since the texts had been written in a limited number of meters. Second, they tended to vary quite considerably. Hiley’s Western Plainchant: A handbook (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993) suggests that thirty or fewer hymns were sung to the same melodies across the whole of Europe. They do not always correspond to the conventions of other liturgical melodies in terms of structure, cadence, or text-setting, making them difficult to compare with the chants for other genres.

scholarly journals Annotations and the Ancient Greek Hero: Past, Present, and Future

Comunicar ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (44) ◽  
pp. 45-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Muellner
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Video Annotation ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Medieval Manuscripts ◽  
Professional Singers ◽  
History Of ◽  
Complete Set ◽  
Poetic Texts

Evidence for annotating Homeric poetry in Ancient Greece is as old as the 5th Century BCE, when the «Iliad» and «Odyssey» were performed by professional singers/composers who also performed annotations to the poetry in answer to questions from their audiences. As the long transition from a song culture into a literate society took place in Ancient Greece from the 8th to the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, annotations were gradually incorporated into written poetic texts. By the 10th Century CE, the quantity of written annotations in the margins of medieval manuscripts has become huge. For the first two versions of «The Ancient Hero», a HarvardX MOOC, it was not possible to implement the set of annotation tools that we requested as a vehicle for close reading and assessment. Using a partial system, we were able to create a semblance of annotations in close reading self-assessment exercises. For the anticipated third version, we expect to have a complete set of textual and video annotation tools developed for HarvardX, including semantic tagging and full sharing of annotations. Such a system, which promises to make the educational experience more effective, will also inaugurate a digital phase in the long history of Homeric annotation.Las evidencias de anotaciones en la poesía homérica de la Antigua Grecia se remontan al siglo V (a.C.), cuando ya la «Ilíada» y la «Odisea» eran representadas por cantantes profesionales/compositores, que hacían anotaciones en la poesía para responder a los interrogantes de su público. A medida que la transición, desde una cultura de la canción a una sociedad alfabetizada, aconteció en este período de la Antigua Grecia, entre el siglo VIII al I y II (a.C.), las anotaciones se incorporaron poco a poco en los escritos poéticos. La cantidad de anotaciones escritas en los márgenes de los manuscritos medievales se volvió enorme hacia el siglo X. En las dos primeras versiones de «The Ancient Hero» en el MOOC de HarvardX no fue posible utilizar el conjunto de herramientas de anotación solicitadas como medio para una atenta evaluación de las lecturas. Utilizando un sistema parcial, hemos sido capaces de crear aparentes anotaciones en los primeros ejercicios de autoevaluación de lectura. En la tercera versión, disponemos ya de un conjunto completo de herramientas de anotaciones de texto y de vídeo, desarrollados para HarvardX, incluyendo etiquetado semántico y anotaciones compartidas. Dicho sistema nos permitirá una experiencia educativa más eficaz, inaugurando también una fase digital en la larga historia de la anotación homérica.

scholarly journals Konceptualizacja wrażeń słuchowych w języku polskim

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 111-133
Author(s):  
Przemysław Staniewski
Keyword(s):  
Organic Component ◽  
Poetic Language ◽  
Informative Signal ◽  
Detailed Review ◽  
Poetic Texts ◽  
Philosophical Origin ◽  
Poetic Work

Precedent phenomena in the poetic language world byYuri Andrukhovych: functional and typological peculiaritiesThe article deals with a detailed review and analysis of the peculiarities of precedent phenomena in the poetic work of Yuri Andrukhovych.The author concludes that in his poetry Yuri Andrukhovych has actively used precedent phe­nomena with different typological characteristics: on the precedentity level there are represented socio-precedent units, nationally precedent and universally precedent ones; on the verbalization form there are shown names anthroponyms, goronyms, oikonyms, urbanonyms, hydronyms, oro­nyms, theonyms, geortonyms, ekklesionyms, cosmonyms, statements, a text, and a situation; units of literary, biblical, mythological, folklore, historical and philosophical origin; on the basis of trans­formality there are found some examples which have not been modified while introduced into the poetry text, as well as those that function as modified variants obtained by structural and semantic truncation, addition, structural and graphic, and actually semantic modification; on the basis of attribution / non-tribution there are found units with attribution and without it, which constitute the majority of the analyzed examples. The mentioned precedent phenomena in the poetic texts by Yuri Andrukhovych perform the following functions: informative-signal, nominative, organizational and compositional, ludic, forecasting, characterizing and metaphoricizing ones. The foregoing gives grounds to assert that the analyzed precedent phenomena presented in the poetic works are their organic component, and represented as an active text-forming and stylistic unit.

scholarly journals Text and Subtext: On the Example of Two Poems by Boris Pasternak

Semiotika ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 60-72
Author(s):  
Tomas Venclova
Keyword(s):  
Close Reading ◽  
Boris Pasternak ◽  
Mikhail Lermontov ◽  
Poetic Texts

A close reading of two poems by Boris Pasternak (“A Storm in July” and “To the Memory of Demon”). Both poems are considered to be inverted variants (or “antitexts”) of Russian classical poems by Fiodor Tiutchev and Mikhail Lermontov (Tiutchev‘s “Spring Storm” and Lermontov‘s “Demon,” respectively). According to the author, this technique may be typical for many other poetic texts written by Pasternak.

scholarly journals ARTISTIC EXPRESSION OF PHILOLOGICAL THINKING IN POETIC TEXTS

2021 ◽  
pp. 62-69
Author(s):  
Елена Юрьевна Муратова
Keyword(s):  
Artistic Expression ◽  
Modern Poetry ◽  
Poetic Language ◽  
Linguistic Terms ◽  
Parts Of Speech ◽  
Notable Feature ◽  
The World ◽  
Human Emotions ◽  
Poetic Texts

В статье анализируются стихи в модусе связи лингвистики и поэзии. Современную поэзию отличают не только новые темы и видение мира, но и во многом иной поэтический язык. Анализируются разные взгляды ученых на поэтический язык. Заметной особенностью современных поэтических текстов является употребление лингвистических терминов, названий частей речи, синтаксических конструкций и под. в качестве полноправных художественных элементов стихотворения. На материале стихов М. Цветаевой, А. Вознесенского, Б. Ахмадулиной, Д. Бураго и др. доказывается, что лингвистические термины могут выражать филологическое мышление поэта, становясь живой частью его стихотворений, и способны специфически отражать картину мира, мировоззрение и человеческие эмоции. Приводится подробный филологический анализ стихотворения А. Вознесенского «Плач по двум нерожденным поэмам». The article analyzes poems in the mode of communication between linguistics and poetry. Modern poetry is distinguished not only by new themes and visions of the world, but also by a largely different poetic language. The paper also analyzes different views of scientists on the poetic language. A notable feature of modern poetic texts is the use of linguistic terms, names of parts of speech, syntactic constructions as full artistic elements of the poem. Basing on the material of poems by M. Tsvetaeva, A. Voznesensky, B. Akhmadulina, D. Burago, etc. it is proved that linguistic terms can express the poet’s philological thinking, becoming a living part of his poems, and are able to specifically reflect the picture of the world, worldview and human emotions. Moreover, the article provides a detailed philological analysis of A. Voznesensky’s poem “Lament for Two Unborn Poems”.

It’s got some meaning but I am not sure…

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 474-495
Author(s):  
Sarali Gintsburg
Keyword(s):  
Oral Poetry ◽  
Poetic Language ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Cognitive Poetics ◽  
Poetic Tradition ◽  
Living Tradition ◽  
Poetic Text ◽  
Literacy Level ◽  
Poetic Texts ◽  
First Time

Abstract In this research I aim to contribute to a better understanding of transitionality in poetic language by applying for the first time the hypotheses recently developed by pioneers in the emerging field of cognitive poetics to a living tradition. The benefits of working with a living tradition are tremendous: it is easy to establish the literacy level of the authors and the mode of recording of poetic text is also easy to elicit or, when necessary, to control. I chose a living poetic tradition originating from the Jbala (Morocco). Although it is not epic and local poets create only relatively short poetic texts, memorisation is also used; it has been demonstrated that oral improvisation and the use of memory are not mutually exclusive. This suggests that research on the living Jebli tradition holds promise for our understanding of oral poetry, and for revisiting the intriguing question of formulaic language.

La compositione lacrimosa: Musical Style and Text Selection in North-Italian Lamentations Settings in the Second Half of the Sixteenth Century

1993 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-202
Author(s):  
John Bettley
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
Musical Style ◽  
Text Setting ◽  
Comprehensive Collection ◽  
Text Selection

In the autumn of 1564, the abbot of the Benedictine monastery of S. Giorgio Maggiore in Venice recounted his experience on a recent journey from Rome to Venice of hearing the Lamentations sung during Holy Week in Perugia and Arezzo. It was a source of considerable annoyance to the abbot that, instead of the anticipated refined, devout and pious rendition appropriate to the liturgical occasion, the performance had been a confused uproar owing to the large number of participating singers and the extensive use of ornamentation, with the result that the mournful character of the Lamentations text had not been comprehensible. The direct consequence of the abbot's criticisms was the published compilation, by the anonymous monk to whom the observations had been made, of a comprehensive collection of polyphonic settings by the Benedictine monk Paolo Ferrarese of the constituents of the Holy Week liturgy. The editor stresses that the settings demonstrate the required qualities of piety, devotion, gentleness and smoothness, as well as clarity of text setting in which each verbal emphasis and nuance is realized.

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