Early Modern Rhetoric

[Phedre]

Hi all,

So although I started out studying dramatic literature (in the English and French early modern period) i've become increasingly enthralled with rhetoric and I'm trying to beef up my knowledge in this area, especially early modern rhetoric. Reading about catachresis, apostrophe, metaphor, etc makes me infinitely happy and I think I really want to make this a major component of my research.

So, I was just wondering if anyone had any books to suggest as a background for this period? I'm mostly interested in theoretical applications of these tropes/rhetorical devices (like De Man) as well as any info on the cultural history of rhetoric in the early modern period.

Thank you in advance!

PS I don't have any latin or greek but I read English/French/Italian in that order, so if you know of the best translations of the ancients that would be wonderful too.

[alexlayne]

As far as English early Modern rhetoric goes, I think your best bet would be to start with Logic and Rhetoric in England, 1500-1700 by Wilbur Samuel Howell. Though, I think most of what you'll find in this period isn't rhetoric about creating terms and tropes, but about broader ideas about how discourse governed thought and how thought governed discourse.

Ramus is a good person to look, as far as the French humanists go, plus some consider him the beginning of the modern period in rhetoric-- also Decartes represents a shift in how people interpreted reality (Cartesian dualism), and he is really all about the mind/body split. As you will find out as you dig, the modern period was obsessed with how they ought to verbalize reality. The Ciceronian canon still reigned through most of the Modern period (invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery). Also you will probably find quite a bit on the relationships between logic, rhetoric, and the poetic (aka belles lettres). Francis Bacon was a big contributor to rhetoric, as he really popularized the notion of induction. Bacon is perhaps the most scientific of the modernist, and he believes in discovery--which is akin to the notion of invention for other rhetoricians. Here's some more names if you're interested (and, no, they aren't all Lost characters): John Locke, David Hume, Adam Smith, Joseph Campbell, Hugh Blair (really important if looking at early composition textbooks), and Thomas Whately.

If you're interested in looking at what the women of the time are saying, I'd look to the Society of Friends (Quakers) or to discussions of education. Cristine de Pisan, Kempe, Askew, Jane Grey, Cavensish, Leade, Fell, Behn, Wollestonecraft, Edgeworth, and Fuller are all fantastic choices. Take a look at Reclaiming Rhetorica: Women in the Rhetorical Tradition edited by Andrea Lunsford. It's absolutely phenomenal.

Anyway, I'm sure I missed several, but that should give you a start. Happy reading. Feel free to email me if you have any more questions.