BBL3103Week6

BBL 3103LITERARY THEORY FROM PLATO TO T. S. ELIOT
DR. IDA BAIZURA BAHAR
01Longinus
i. AboutLonginusis the conventional name of the author of the treatise On the Sublime, a work which focuses on the effect of good writing.Exactidentity of ‘Longinus’ and dateOn the Sublimewritten unknownAddressed to a friend of Longinus,TerentianusA listing of vices that constitute the ‘false sublime’ and characteristics of ‘true sublime’
02Onthe Sublime
i. The SublimeThesublime: loftiness of content and excellence of language> resulting in ‘transport,’ where the reader is carried away or moved by the poem> better a work be majestic and flawed, than immaculately crafted and mediocreTruesublime: uplifts the soul; perpetual beauty; not diminished by contextFalsesublime: banality dressed in bombastic language
02On the Sublime
ii. Sources of thesublime1.Grandeur of conceptionThe poet must be free from base and ignoble thoughtsGreat ideas spring from great soulsThese great ideas must then be organised to form an organic whole2.Intensity of emotionAll art must arise from the passionsEmotions amplified: complexity and immensity associated with a subjectSublimitycan be reached by amplification, but amplification alone is notsublimity
02On the Sublime
3.Appropriate use of figuresFigures of thought, figures of speechThese figures convey emotionVivid figures (images): poetical images to shock and awe, rhetorical images to clarifyAppropriate use of figures of speech: right place, right time> arbitrary, unnatural use of these figures causes bathosHyperbaton: inversionAnaphora: repetitionAsyndeton: conjunctions left outApostrophe: addressing inanimate objectPeriphrasis: paraphrasing
02On the Sublime
4.Nobility of dictionChoice of wordsIncludes metaphor, simile and hyperboleNo set rules, but must arise out of passion5.Dignified compositionArrangement of phrases (to produce rhythm)
03Legacy
In many ways, the first aesthetic criticUnlike his predecessors, Longinus speaks of art as arising from imagination and passion; it is not something that can be mechanically craftedAvoids speaking of the practical use of art, besides pure aesthetic pleasure