Literary and linguistic theories in eighteenth-century France
Subtitle: from nuances to impertinence
By: Edward Nye.
Series: Oxford modern languages and literature monographs
Publisher: Clarendon
Published: 2000
Place of publication: Oxford
Language: eng
Number of pages: 250
Subjects: Criticism -- France -- History -- 18th century; Linguistics -- France -- History -- 18th century
Description: "'Linguistic' theories in the eighteenth-century are also theories of literature and art, and it is probably better, therefore, to think of them as 'aesthetic' theories. As such, they are answers to the age-old question 'what is beauty?; but formulated, also, to respond to contemporary concerns. Edward Nye considers a wide range of authors from these two perspectives and draws the following conclusions; etymology is a theory of poetry, dictionaries of synonymy, prosody and metaphor are theories of preciosity, and Sensualism is a theory of artistic representation."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [233]-247) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: THE HISTORY OF 'NUANCES':; title: IMITATION IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY; title: 1.1 The 'querelle du coloris'; title: 1.2 Le Blon's invention of colour engraving; title: 1.3 Castel's colour harpsichord and colour; title: weaving; title: 1.4 Girard and synonymy; title: .5 Condillac's Art d'ecrire; title: 1.6 Bievre's 'calembours'; title: 1.7 Diderot's article 'Beau'; title: 1.8 D'Alembert, Court de Gebelin, and; title: encyclopaedias; title: 1.9 The theory of genres; title: Conclusion; title: 2. PRECIOSITYAND ITS DISCONTENTS; title: 2.1 Marivaux and two kinds of 'clarte'; title: 2.2 Houdar de La Motte's idea of poetry and; title: prose; title: 2.3 Criticism of preciosity; title: 2.4 Fenelon's compromise; title: 2.5 Girard's compromise: Synonymes francois; title: 2.6 Dumarsais's compromise: Traite des tropes; title: 2.7 Olivet's compromise: Prosodie; title: Conclusion; title: 3. CONDILLAC'S IDEA OF 'NATURE'; title: 3.1 Semiosis; title: 3.2 Empathy in the origin of language; title: 3.3 From 'nature' to 'second nature' in language; title: 3.4 Diderot and composition in painting; title: 3.5 Empathy and gesture in the 'drame; title: bourgeois'; title: 3.6 Rousseau and the figurative origins of; title: language; title: 3.7 Buffon's universal style; title: Conclusion; title: 4. LINGUISTIC AND POETIC SOUND SYMBOLISM; title: 4.1 De Brosses's theory of phonomimetism; title: 4.2 Court de Gebelin's theory of phonomimetism; title: 4.3 Sound symbolism in poetry; title: 4.4 Diderot's hieroglyph; title: 4.5 The perfect language; title: 4.6 De Piis and sound symbolismin poetry; title: 4.7 'Etymologie' as a theory of poetry; title: Conclusion; title: 5. THE DISSOLUTION OF LANGUAGE; title: 5.1 The linguistic philosophy of 'idologie'; title: 5.2 Universal language schemes: Locke, Delormel; title: and Maimieux; title: 5.3 L'Epee's sign language -; title: 5.4 Sicard's sign language; title: 5.5 Condillac's algebraic language; title: 5.6 The literary aesthetics of 'impertinence'; title: 5.7 Mercier's literary aesthetics; title: 5.8 M ieier and necrophilia; title: 5.9 Mercier's Tableau de Paris; title: Conclusion; title: CONCLUSION; title: Appendix; title: La Motte, (Edipe, tragedie, Act III, scene vi, extract; title: La Motte, (Edipe, tragedie en prose, Act III, scene v,; title: extract; title: Bibliography; title: Index.