From rhetoric to aesthetics: wit and esprit in the English and French theoretical writings of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries

Title: From rhetoric to aesthetics: wit and esprit in the English and French theoretical writings of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries
Edition
Vyd. 1.
Place of publication
Brno
Publisher
Masarykova univerzita
Year of publication
2013
Extent
152 s.
Series
  • Spisy Masarykovy univerzity v Brně, Filozofická fakulta = Opera Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Facultas philosophica, ISSN 1211-3034; 421
ISBN
978-80-210-6662-5
Language
English
Link to MU library catalogue: 990426
Description
  • This study is concerned with the term wit and its use in contemporary and early modern literary and aesthetic theories. More specifically, it deals with the literary and aesthetic implications of wit and its French equivalent esprit as they were theorized in critical writings of several authors of the early modern England and France – Dominique Bouhours, Chevalier de Méré, Nicolas Boileau-Déspreaux, John Dryden, Alexander Pope and Joseph Addison. The objective of the study is to re-assess the English concept of wit, nowadays regarded as an out-dated device of past poetic systems, and to present it as vital and useful part of the contemporary discourse. The second goal is to provide comparative reading of early modern English and French theoretical texts dealing with wit and esprit, respectively. Presenting ideas on wit as employed in the theoretical writings in the light of its French equivalent, the study aims to demonstrate a gradual development of the terms from rhetoric to aesthetic.
  • Práce se zabývá především anglickým termínem wit v jeho moderním i historickém kontextu. Dále se zabývá literárními a estetickými důsledky pojmů wit a esprit a jejich použitím v teoretických spisech několika kritiků v období raně moderní Anglie a Francie. Práce má dva hlavní cíle. Prvním cílem je přehodnocení anglického pojmu wit, který je dnes považován za poněkud zastaralý výrazový prostředek historických poetických systémů a prezentovat jej jako životaschopnou a užitečnou součást současného uměleckého diskurzu. Druhým cílem této práce je poskytnout srovnávací výklad raně moderních anglických a francouzských teoretických textů zabývající se termíny wit a esprit.
License: Not specified license
Rights holder
Klára Bicanová
Masarykova univerzita. Filozofická fakulta
Rights access
open access
 

Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.

hidden-section [Dedication]
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[Dedication] | [7]
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hidden-section Introduction
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Introduction | 9–18
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1 The theoretical and historical prolegomena
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1.1 | Wit theorized: summary of twentieth-century approaches | 19–31
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1.2 | Wit as aesthetic concept | 31–44
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1.3 | The culture of the late seventeenth century: political, philosophical and literary-historical setting | 44–54
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2 Official and alternative classical aesthetics
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2 | Official and alternative classical aesthetics: Bouhours, Méré, and Boileau : [introduction] | 55–56
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2.1 | Dominique Bouhours and poetic ideologies of the bel esprit | 56–68
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2.2 | Chevalier de Méré: esprit as light of nature | 69–75
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2.3 | Nicolas Boileau-Déspreaux and the ideal of neoclassical esprit | 75–85
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3 True and false wit: Dryden, Pope, and Addison
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3 | True and false wit: Dryden, Pope, and Addison : [introduction] | 87–88
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3.1 | John Dryden and vagaries of restoration wit | 88–97
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3.2 | Alexander Pope and wit as meta-criticism | 98–109
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3.3 | Joseph Addison and the aesthetics of neoclassical wit | 109–118
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3.4 | Wit and esprit: points of accord and dissonance | 118–127
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hidden-section Conclusion
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Conclusion | 129–132
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hidden-section Bibliography
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Bibliography | 133–141
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hidden-section Endnotes
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Endnotes | 143–150
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hidden-section Index
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Index | 151–152
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