Neoclassical Thinkers

Question 1

What issue does Poetics address about “literariness”?

Answer 1

Poetics raises the issue of “literariness”, the
nature of poetic discourse that sets it apart
from other discourses.

Question 2

What Poetics explores?

Answer 2

Poetics explores both
1) the theoretical premises of poetics as a
metadiscursive activity and
2) the art of poetry as a set of conventions.

Question 3

What is the origin of Neoclassicism?

Answer 3

Neoclassicism derives from a deliberate, selfconscious desire and attempt to imitate the
Classical world.

Question 4

What is imitation?

Answer 4

Imitation is a way of transforming the “original”
into a recognisable set of conventions.

Question 5

Neoclassical framework and imitation

Answer 5

The neoclassical framework posits imitation as the
origin of tradition.

Question 6

Horace is/wrote

Answer 6

Horace was one of the great poets of Rome’s
Augustan age., wrote Ars Poetica

Question 7

To whom is Ars Poetica addressed, and what literary form does it take?

Answer 7

Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry) is a verse epistle
addressed to the sons of Horace’s patron family.

Question 8

three conceptual parts of Ars Poetica

Answer 8

1) general poetic principles;
2) rules for drama;
3) the poet’s moral code.

Question 9

How is literary imitation viewed in terms of cultural stability and aligning the Roman world with the Greek past?

Answer 9

Literary imitation is conceived as a mechanism
for cultural stability and a means of synching
the Roman world with the Greek past.

Question 10

What role does the Underworld play as a scene of imitatio, and how does it relate to the hero’s interaction with his predecessors in epic poetry?

Answer 10

The Underworld is a scene of imitatio, where the
hero speaks with his forerunners, where the epic
poets join their work to a tradition (cf. Dante,
Milton).

Question 11

How does neoclassical imitatio relate to the modern concept of intertextuality?

Answer 11

The neoclassical imitatio anticipates the
modern concept of intertextuality

Question 12

Intertextuality

Answer 12

Intertextuality suggests that all cultural
products participate in and derive from a
shared cultural memory articulated through
narratives.

Question 13

What is Horace’s perspective on imitation in relation to creative transformation?

Answer 13

Horace argues that imitation without creative
transformation is fatal.

Question 14

Role of the Critic - Horace

Answer 14

For Horace, the critic is a whetstone against
which poets can sharpen their work.
The purpose of the whetstone is not to write great
poetry, but to teach the proper duty and office
of the poet.

Question 15

Decorum

Answer 15

a standard of appropriateness by
which certain styles, characters, forms, and
actions in literary works are deemed suitable to
one another within a hierarchical model of
culture bound by class distinction. / 1. propriety, esp in behaviour or conduct
2. a requirement of correct behaviour in polite society

Question 16

Neoclassical art ranks literary genres in

Answer 16

“high”,
“middle” and “low” stations.

Question 17

Tragedy and epic are…

Answer 17

“high” genres (grand style,
high ranking characters performing great deeds).

Question 18

Comedy is a

Answer 18

“low” genre (humble characters and
events presented in a colloquial style).

Question 19

what is indecorous

Answer 19

Mixture of styles (mixing tragedy and comedy for example) is indecorous.

Question 20

Rules of decorum

Answer 20

A work of art is cohesive, where
each part works in relation to one
another and the whole of the play. Decorum stipulates not to mix
unlike things.

Question 21

What elements are demanded by the distinction of genres, according to Horace?

Answer 21

Distinction of genres demands a specific style that is
natural to each genre and an unbroken, clearly
defined unity of action, character, and mood.

Question 22

What requirement does Horace propose for each genre in terms of its meter?

Answer 22

Each genre should have its own specific metre, a
metre with rhythmic sounds that closely mimic
(“fit”) the sense of the poem.

Question 23

What are the two key aspects of tragic heroes that Horace reiterates from Aristotle’s rule, and how does he incorporate this rule within an established tradition, akin to neoclassicism?

Answer 23

Horace 1) reiterates Aristotle’s rule that tragic
heroes must be both appropriate and consistent;
and 2) inscribes this rule within an accepted
authority or tradition, a common trait of
neoclassicists. (cf. T. S. Eliot’s “Tradition and
Individual Talent”: all writers measure
themselves against tradition, which is
language)

Question 24

Dulce et utile

Answer 24

to please and teach

Question 25

Neoclassical goals of poetry

Answer 25

The neoclassical goals of poetry are to please and
teach, in Latin, dulce et utile

Question 26

Longinus

Answer 26

wrote On the Sublime

Question 27

On the Sublime

Answer 27

e is
a treatise on aesthetics,
written in 1AD
by an anonymous author
we traditionally call
Longinus or
Pseudo-Longinus.

Question 28

What is the primary focus of “On the Sublime,” and what does it provide guidance on?

Answer 28

On the Sublime defines the nature of the sublime
and lays down the methods for achieving
sublimity in writing.

Question 29

Sublimity

Answer 29

a certain type of elevated language that
induces a feeling of grandeur

Question 30

Sublimity is not

Answer 30

1) bathos or bombast: i.e., all that overwrought,
pseudo-tragic clap-trap associated today with
melodrama (e.g. soap operas);
2) inflated, hyperbolic language that is used,
inappropriately, to heighten subjects that do not
merit such treatment;
3) merely the use of fashionable expressions or
fanciful images.

Question 31

Longinus points out five sources of the sublime:

Answer 31

1.The ability to form grand conceptions;
2.The stimulus of powerful and inspired emotion;
3.The ability to form figures of thought and
speech;
4.The creation of noble diction;
5.The creation of total effect of dignity and
elevation

Question 32

According to Longinus, what are the two sources from which the sublime originates, and what does it encompass as a result?

Answer 32

For Longinus, the sublime derives from both
genius and craft and, therefore, includes a
component of skill

Question 33

Techne (Greek)

Answer 33

craft

Question 34

Who does Longinus suggest is the ideal audience for experiencing the sublime, and with whom does he draw a comparison?

Answer 34

The best audience for the sublime is a refined,
cultivated one (cf. Horace). A refined audience consists of sensitive souls that are
uplifted by sublimity.

Question 35

Longinus’s view of Plato

Answer 35

Plato was a master of the sublime. But Longinus observes that Plato often gets caught
up in a swell of sublime passion. Plato’s philosophic points are driven by the poetic
power of Plato’s imagery.

Question 36

What concepts does Renaissance poetics elaborate on?

Answer 36

Renaissance poetics elaborates the notions of
decorum, sublime, and dulce et utile.

Question 37

Philip Sidney

Answer 37

wrote “An Apology for Poetry”

Question 38

An Apology for Poetry,
(1581)

Answer 38

attempts to revive
the glories of ancient
literature, following Horace.

Question 39

An Apology for Poetry (Sidney) entails:

Answer 39

1) Poetry is the great light-giver, the cradle of
civilization.The first law-givers, philosophers, and historians
were all poets
2) Plato himself was the greatest of poets; his
fanciful dialogues and beautiful allegories are the
“skin” of his philosophy.
3) Poetry prepares the mind to receive learning.
4) Men who attack poetry are like sons who rise up
against their fathers.
5) Power and craft of poetry are of the same
essence as the divine.
6) The poet (like God) is a maker; whereas all other
arts (from geometry to music to science) take
their cues and their foundations from nature, the
poet alone transcends and even improves upon
the natural world.
7) Poetry aims to teach and delight, thus it is useful
to society (it does not merely copy virtues and
vices as they are, but as they should be).

Question 40

The purpose of poetry

Answer 40

is “by knowledge to lift up
the mind from the dungeon of the body to the
enjoying his own divine essence.”

Question 41

The notion of imitation (representation)

Answer 41

1. The notion of imitation (representation) is key
   to our critical thinking about art, artists, and
   audiences

Answer 42

Neoclassical art is not a pale copy of the
Ancients, but a traditional approach that
requires laws and models but is not enslaved by
them.

Question 43

How should decorum be perceived in relation to aesthetic appreciation?

Answer 43

Decorum should not be seen as a
straightjacket, but as a guide and touchstone to
keep us on track in our aesthetic appreciation.

Question 44

What is the primary focus of the rules of decorum?

Answer 44

Rules of decorum are less concerned with
audience response than with what a poem
should be

Question 45

What aspects does Longinian sublimity primarily focus on in relation to a great poem?

Answer 45

Longinian sublimity is concerned with the
actual formal, metaphorical, and linguistic
qualities of a great poem.

Question 46

What philosophical framework does Neoclassical theory operate within?

Answer 46

Neoclassical theory works within
a philosophical framework that is essentially
ontological.