Roland Enmarch
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264331
- eISBN:
- 9780191734106
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264331.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This book presents a commentary on and an analysis of P. Leiden I 344 recto, which contains the poem variously called The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All or The Admonitions (Mahnworte), from ...
More
This book presents a commentary on and an analysis of P. Leiden I 344 recto, which contains the poem variously called The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All or The Admonitions (Mahnworte), from the Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt. The first part of the book comprises an analysis of several literary aspects of the poem, including its unity, compositional date, reception, possible setting, genre, literary style and meaning. It also offers a literary reading of the poem within the context of the cultural and intellectual milieu that produced it. The second part of the book provides a detailed translation, commentary to, and literary reading of, the poem, subdivided into sections that largely follow the divisions within the manuscript. A metrical transliteration is given, broadly following the prosodic principles of Gerhard Fecht, which provide a pragmatic formal mode of analysis. The degree to which these are relevant to the compositional structure of the poem is discussed.Less
This book presents a commentary on and an analysis of P. Leiden I 344 recto, which contains the poem variously called The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All or The Admonitions (Mahnworte), from the Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt. The first part of the book comprises an analysis of several literary aspects of the poem, including its unity, compositional date, reception, possible setting, genre, literary style and meaning. It also offers a literary reading of the poem within the context of the cultural and intellectual milieu that produced it. The second part of the book provides a detailed translation, commentary to, and literary reading of, the poem, subdivided into sections that largely follow the divisions within the manuscript. A metrical transliteration is given, broadly following the prosodic principles of Gerhard Fecht, which provide a pragmatic formal mode of analysis. The degree to which these are relevant to the compositional structure of the poem is discussed.
E. W. Heaton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263623
- eISBN:
- 9780191601156
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263627.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The books of the Old Testament are often thought of as being remote and ‘primitive’. In fact, they were written by thoroughly learned men, educated in the traditional schools of ancient Israel. This ...
More
The books of the Old Testament are often thought of as being remote and ‘primitive’. In fact, they were written by thoroughly learned men, educated in the traditional schools of ancient Israel. This book presents a fresh and enlivening case for the strong influence that this schooling must have had on the writers of the stories, poetry and proverbs of the Bible. The eight Bampton Lectures that form the first eight chapters of this book were delivered in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford, UK. The topics covered are: the evidence for schools in ancient Israel; comparisons between Egyptian and Israeli school-books and literature; ‘wisdom’ and school traditions in the Old Testament books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes; the school tradition in the literary style of the teachings of the prophets and teachers; the narrative skills of the Jerusalem school tradition in the stories of the Old Testament; doubt and pessimism as expressed in Job and Ecclesiastes; and various aspects of belief and behaviour in the Old Testament, as reflected in the school tradition. The last chapter is a summing-up. The book is of interest to students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) or religious studies, both in Judaism and Christianity.Less
The books of the Old Testament are often thought of as being remote and ‘primitive’. In fact, they were written by thoroughly learned men, educated in the traditional schools of ancient Israel. This book presents a fresh and enlivening case for the strong influence that this schooling must have had on the writers of the stories, poetry and proverbs of the Bible. The eight Bampton Lectures that form the first eight chapters of this book were delivered in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford, UK. The topics covered are: the evidence for schools in ancient Israel; comparisons between Egyptian and Israeli school-books and literature; ‘wisdom’ and school traditions in the Old Testament books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes; the school tradition in the literary style of the teachings of the prophets and teachers; the narrative skills of the Jerusalem school tradition in the stories of the Old Testament; doubt and pessimism as expressed in Job and Ecclesiastes; and various aspects of belief and behaviour in the Old Testament, as reflected in the school tradition. The last chapter is a summing-up. The book is of interest to students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) or religious studies, both in Judaism and Christianity.
Penelope Hone
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474416368
- eISBN:
- 9781474434591
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474416368.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This chapter tracks the emergence of a distinctive critical discourse in the 1890s intent on distinguishing the acoustic particularities of the literary voice. Taking the uneven oeuvre of George ...
More
This chapter tracks the emergence of a distinctive critical discourse in the 1890s intent on distinguishing the acoustic particularities of the literary voice. Taking the uneven oeuvre of George Gissing as its focus, this chapter positions his work as exemplary of this preoccupation with the problems of hearing the ‘right’ critical voices above the noise of non-literary discourse. It has long been acknowledged that Gissing’s antagonistic relationship to his subject––the English lower middle classes––renders reading his writing an unpleasant, discomforting task: as Virginia Woolf was to observe in 1912, Gissing’s hatred for the poor is ‘the reason why his voice is so harsh, so penetrating, so little grateful to the ears.’ The harsh penetration of Gissing’s literary style is largely understood as a reflection of his politics (Jameson) and, in turn, of his commitment to a ‘vitriolic’ and ‘aggressive’ realism (Matz). Complicating such critical approaches, this chapter thinks through how this literary dissonance might be understood as a reflection of the tensions between Gissing’s political impulse to show, and his aesthetic investment in a more (technically) restrained literary voice.Less
This chapter tracks the emergence of a distinctive critical discourse in the 1890s intent on distinguishing the acoustic particularities of the literary voice. Taking the uneven oeuvre of George Gissing as its focus, this chapter positions his work as exemplary of this preoccupation with the problems of hearing the ‘right’ critical voices above the noise of non-literary discourse. It has long been acknowledged that Gissing’s antagonistic relationship to his subject––the English lower middle classes––renders reading his writing an unpleasant, discomforting task: as Virginia Woolf was to observe in 1912, Gissing’s hatred for the poor is ‘the reason why his voice is so harsh, so penetrating, so little grateful to the ears.’ The harsh penetration of Gissing’s literary style is largely understood as a reflection of his politics (Jameson) and, in turn, of his commitment to a ‘vitriolic’ and ‘aggressive’ realism (Matz). Complicating such critical approaches, this chapter thinks through how this literary dissonance might be understood as a reflection of the tensions between Gissing’s political impulse to show, and his aesthetic investment in a more (technically) restrained literary voice.
E. W. Heaton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263623
- eISBN:
- 9780191601156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263627.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
It has not been a part of this study to argue the case for the existence of schools in Ancient Israel. From the outset, their work has been taken for granted and the aim has been to demonstrate how ...
More
It has not been a part of this study to argue the case for the existence of schools in Ancient Israel. From the outset, their work has been taken for granted and the aim has been to demonstrate how this would throw new light on much of the literature of the Old Testament, and provide an explanation for its growth and transmission. The exploration of Israel’s school tradition started out with tentative criteria, adopting the method of reviewing a fairly wide range of Old Testament literature in the hope of finding a distinctive literary stance and style. The selection of the literature to be reviewed has not been entirely arbitrary: it began with those works long recognized as being in some degree ‘intellectual’ and conventionally ascribed to a hypothetical ‘wisdom tradition’; the selection was then extended to include writings which, though not explicitly ‘intellectual’, exhibit features reflecting an educated literary background: the texts that have come to be represented as the product of an imagined ‘Wisdom Movement’; two other groups of texts were then added on the grounds of their general similarity. From this approach a school tradition has emerged that stands apart from a number of the writings of the post-exilic period (such as the books of Chronicles, Leviticus and Numbers), and is fundamentally different from the instruction of the seminary in being moral and intellectual, rather than professionally religious and institutional.Less
It has not been a part of this study to argue the case for the existence of schools in Ancient Israel. From the outset, their work has been taken for granted and the aim has been to demonstrate how this would throw new light on much of the literature of the Old Testament, and provide an explanation for its growth and transmission. The exploration of Israel’s school tradition started out with tentative criteria, adopting the method of reviewing a fairly wide range of Old Testament literature in the hope of finding a distinctive literary stance and style. The selection of the literature to be reviewed has not been entirely arbitrary: it began with those works long recognized as being in some degree ‘intellectual’ and conventionally ascribed to a hypothetical ‘wisdom tradition’; the selection was then extended to include writings which, though not explicitly ‘intellectual’, exhibit features reflecting an educated literary background: the texts that have come to be represented as the product of an imagined ‘Wisdom Movement’; two other groups of texts were then added on the grounds of their general similarity. From this approach a school tradition has emerged that stands apart from a number of the writings of the post-exilic period (such as the books of Chronicles, Leviticus and Numbers), and is fundamentally different from the instruction of the seminary in being moral and intellectual, rather than professionally religious and institutional.
David Manning
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195182392
- eISBN:
- 9780199851485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182392.003.0013
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
Here indeed was the quintessence of Donald Tovey: unfailing memory, encyclopadic knowledge, and unerring artistic insight. Add to this a delightful literary style and a rare sense of humor, and one ...
More
Here indeed was the quintessence of Donald Tovey: unfailing memory, encyclopadic knowledge, and unerring artistic insight. Add to this a delightful literary style and a rare sense of humor, and one can understand why the Reid professor has put the town of Edinburgh on the musical map. The programmes of the Reid concerts alone are enough to prove this. Therefore people all rush out to buy, beg, borrow, or steal each of his volumes of essays as fast as they come out; that on the ninth symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven reaches the summit of artistic analysis. Tovey's playing is said sometimes to be “unpianistic.” When he plays, the music seems almost to take visual shape. As a composer, his love and knowledge of the classics has led him along the great lines of musical thought by the narrow way right up the hill, and not along the way of destruction, to stumble, fall, and rise no more.Less
Here indeed was the quintessence of Donald Tovey: unfailing memory, encyclopadic knowledge, and unerring artistic insight. Add to this a delightful literary style and a rare sense of humor, and one can understand why the Reid professor has put the town of Edinburgh on the musical map. The programmes of the Reid concerts alone are enough to prove this. Therefore people all rush out to buy, beg, borrow, or steal each of his volumes of essays as fast as they come out; that on the ninth symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven reaches the summit of artistic analysis. Tovey's playing is said sometimes to be “unpianistic.” When he plays, the music seems almost to take visual shape. As a composer, his love and knowledge of the classics has led him along the great lines of musical thought by the narrow way right up the hill, and not along the way of destruction, to stumble, fall, and rise no more.
Cathy Shrank
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199268887
- eISBN:
- 9780191708473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268887.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter examines the influence of previous Tudor writers on the early writings of Edmund Spenser and Philip Sidney. Rooted in contemporary affairs at a time when Englishness was becoming ...
More
This chapter examines the influence of previous Tudor writers on the early writings of Edmund Spenser and Philip Sidney. Rooted in contemporary affairs at a time when Englishness was becoming increasingly equated with Protestantism, the Old Arcadia and Shepheardes Calender are characteristic of Tudor writing in their topicality, their investment in the English language, and their cultivation of a national literary style fusing vernacular, continental, and classical traditions. They also share with earlier English humanist works both a belief in the power of words and a scepticism about words' ability to move, persuade, or even survive. The chapter explores how Sidney and Spenser (like their earlier Tudor forebears) fashioned themselves as authors, and their attention to and exploitation of the physical form in which works circulated, be it manuscript or print.Less
This chapter examines the influence of previous Tudor writers on the early writings of Edmund Spenser and Philip Sidney. Rooted in contemporary affairs at a time when Englishness was becoming increasingly equated with Protestantism, the Old Arcadia and Shepheardes Calender are characteristic of Tudor writing in their topicality, their investment in the English language, and their cultivation of a national literary style fusing vernacular, continental, and classical traditions. They also share with earlier English humanist works both a belief in the power of words and a scepticism about words' ability to move, persuade, or even survive. The chapter explores how Sidney and Spenser (like their earlier Tudor forebears) fashioned themselves as authors, and their attention to and exploitation of the physical form in which works circulated, be it manuscript or print.
Morwenna Ludlow
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198813194
- eISBN:
- 9780191851216
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198813194.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
How was Christian identity related to literary style? Ancient authors wanting to establish their discourse as morally serious would lay claim to plain (or sublime) speech, whilst depicting their ...
More
How was Christian identity related to literary style? Ancient authors wanting to establish their discourse as morally serious would lay claim to plain (or sublime) speech, whilst depicting their rivals’ words as over-elaborate. Questions of style thus became associated with moral qualities, especially in philosophers’ ‘rhetoric about rhetoric’. Then Christians laid claim to the plainest of all styles: that (supposedly) of the gospel. This chapter argues that all such claims about style are rhetorical, because they are based on the slippery notion of the ‘appropriate’ and are not absolute but comparative. In fact, Christians used all three stylistic modes (‘plain’/‘slender’, ‘pleasant’, and ‘majestic’/‘sublime’) and identified them in the Bible. Their claims about their own and their opponents’ styles thus need to be read with an awareness of how they are being used rhetorically in attempts to establish claims about true Christian discourse and morally superior speakers.Less
How was Christian identity related to literary style? Ancient authors wanting to establish their discourse as morally serious would lay claim to plain (or sublime) speech, whilst depicting their rivals’ words as over-elaborate. Questions of style thus became associated with moral qualities, especially in philosophers’ ‘rhetoric about rhetoric’. Then Christians laid claim to the plainest of all styles: that (supposedly) of the gospel. This chapter argues that all such claims about style are rhetorical, because they are based on the slippery notion of the ‘appropriate’ and are not absolute but comparative. In fact, Christians used all three stylistic modes (‘plain’/‘slender’, ‘pleasant’, and ‘majestic’/‘sublime’) and identified them in the Bible. Their claims about their own and their opponents’ styles thus need to be read with an awareness of how they are being used rhetorically in attempts to establish claims about true Christian discourse and morally superior speakers.
Jay David Atlas
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195133004
- eISBN:
- 9780199850181
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195133004.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
Dogma refers to the notion of how language is divided into two categories: one that is figurative or literary and that is widely used metaphorically, and the other concerns standard or ordinary ...
More
Dogma refers to the notion of how language is divided into two categories: one that is figurative or literary and that is widely used metaphorically, and the other concerns standard or ordinary language which is taken to refer to things literally. Dogma plays no small part in the study of literary style in the twentieth century and in studies of the philosophy of language. The fact that this notion is believed to have not been established with a reliable basis entails two effects — a revision of Fregean semantics that veers away from the idea that meaning determines reference and that literal meaning is definite, and the dissolution of the distinction between the linguistic life and linguistic art. This chapter focuses on the distinctions between the different functions of language and how these were systematically imposed during the period between the 1920s and the 1930s.Less
Dogma refers to the notion of how language is divided into two categories: one that is figurative or literary and that is widely used metaphorically, and the other concerns standard or ordinary language which is taken to refer to things literally. Dogma plays no small part in the study of literary style in the twentieth century and in studies of the philosophy of language. The fact that this notion is believed to have not been established with a reliable basis entails two effects — a revision of Fregean semantics that veers away from the idea that meaning determines reference and that literal meaning is definite, and the dissolution of the distinction between the linguistic life and linguistic art. This chapter focuses on the distinctions between the different functions of language and how these were systematically imposed during the period between the 1920s and the 1930s.
Christopher Tolley
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206514
- eISBN:
- 9780191677182
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206514.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
This chapter discusses evangelicalism and biography. It stresses that for the evangelicals, as for the Puritans, Christian biography is required reading. It notes that it is an essential source (like ...
More
This chapter discusses evangelicalism and biography. It stresses that for the evangelicals, as for the Puritans, Christian biography is required reading. It notes that it is an essential source (like their own private memoirs) of practical lessons about religion, and a fund of encouragement and inspiration. It quotes James Stephen's observation, ‘As the history of Nations is the best study for a Statesman, so for the prudential conduct of private life would be the history of individuals, if written with equal intelligence and fidelity.’ It also discusses the literary style of private writing typical of the nineteenth-century English approach to most literary forms. It notes that one of the chief working assumptions of nineteenth-century biography, including the domestic kind, is its belief in the value of full documentation.Less
This chapter discusses evangelicalism and biography. It stresses that for the evangelicals, as for the Puritans, Christian biography is required reading. It notes that it is an essential source (like their own private memoirs) of practical lessons about religion, and a fund of encouragement and inspiration. It quotes James Stephen's observation, ‘As the history of Nations is the best study for a Statesman, so for the prudential conduct of private life would be the history of individuals, if written with equal intelligence and fidelity.’ It also discusses the literary style of private writing typical of the nineteenth-century English approach to most literary forms. It notes that one of the chief working assumptions of nineteenth-century biography, including the domestic kind, is its belief in the value of full documentation.
E. W. Heaton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263623
- eISBN:
- 9780191601156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263627.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter investigates further a topic introduced in the last: the school-books of Egypt. It identifies many connections and much common ground between the school literature of Egypt and Israel, ...
More
This chapter investigates further a topic introduced in the last: the school-books of Egypt. It identifies many connections and much common ground between the school literature of Egypt and Israel, despite the scanty amount of the former (because they were written on papyri). Specific examples of this are given from various conventional Egyptian instruction manuals, and from other assorted works, which appear to have been favourites in Egyptian schools. The various characteristics shown by miscellaneous other Egyptian works – a story, political propaganda, a satirical letter, love poems and lyrics – are also detailed, and comparisons made with the style of various Old Testament extracts.Less
This chapter investigates further a topic introduced in the last: the school-books of Egypt. It identifies many connections and much common ground between the school literature of Egypt and Israel, despite the scanty amount of the former (because they were written on papyri). Specific examples of this are given from various conventional Egyptian instruction manuals, and from other assorted works, which appear to have been favourites in Egyptian schools. The various characteristics shown by miscellaneous other Egyptian works – a story, political propaganda, a satirical letter, love poems and lyrics – are also detailed, and comparisons made with the style of various Old Testament extracts.
E. W. Heaton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263623
- eISBN:
- 9780191601156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263627.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The first part of this chapter examines the school tradition in the literary style of the teachings of the prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve (the minor prophets) – which ...
More
The first part of this chapter examines the school tradition in the literary style of the teachings of the prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve (the minor prophets) – which were compiled by editors in Jerusalem at various stages during the centuries following return from the Babylonian exile. Examples are also given from other Old Testament books (Judith, Proverbs, Samuel, Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes) where the same subject matter is being covered. The second part of the chapter examines books of the teachers, the schoolmen who rallied to the cause of Jeremiah, and are called here the Deuteronomists; their works include Deuteronomy itself, the prose narratives in Jeremiah, and the historical books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. The school setting of these teachers is clearly reflected in their style. Once again examples are given from other Old Testament books (Isaiah, Proverbs, Psalms, Ezra, Exodus, Samuel, Kings, Micah) where the same subject matter is being covered.Less
The first part of this chapter examines the school tradition in the literary style of the teachings of the prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve (the minor prophets) – which were compiled by editors in Jerusalem at various stages during the centuries following return from the Babylonian exile. Examples are also given from other Old Testament books (Judith, Proverbs, Samuel, Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes) where the same subject matter is being covered. The second part of the chapter examines books of the teachers, the schoolmen who rallied to the cause of Jeremiah, and are called here the Deuteronomists; their works include Deuteronomy itself, the prose narratives in Jeremiah, and the historical books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. The school setting of these teachers is clearly reflected in their style. Once again examples are given from other Old Testament books (Isaiah, Proverbs, Psalms, Ezra, Exodus, Samuel, Kings, Micah) where the same subject matter is being covered.
E. W. Heaton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263623
- eISBN:
- 9780191601156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263627.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
An examination is made of the narrative skills of the Jerusalem school tradition in the stories of the Old Testament. The illustrations include the stories of Joseph, Daniel, Ruth, Rebecca, Adam and ...
More
An examination is made of the narrative skills of the Jerusalem school tradition in the stories of the Old Testament. The illustrations include the stories of Joseph, Daniel, Ruth, Rebecca, Adam and Eve, David, and numerous other examples are also given. Comparisons are drawn with various earlier stories from Egyptian school-books. The last part of the chapter looks at the style of Solomon’s Song of Songs, which uses the literary genre to which the Arabic term wasf (meaning extravagant metaphorical language) has been ascribed.Less
An examination is made of the narrative skills of the Jerusalem school tradition in the stories of the Old Testament. The illustrations include the stories of Joseph, Daniel, Ruth, Rebecca, Adam and Eve, David, and numerous other examples are also given. Comparisons are drawn with various earlier stories from Egyptian school-books. The last part of the chapter looks at the style of Solomon’s Song of Songs, which uses the literary genre to which the Arabic term wasf (meaning extravagant metaphorical language) has been ascribed.
E. W. Heaton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263623
- eISBN:
- 9780191601156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263627.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The presuppositions of the comfortable outlook – ‘God’s in his heaven: All’s right with the world’ – had been questioned from time to time over the centuries, but Job and Ecclesiastes are the only ...
More
The presuppositions of the comfortable outlook – ‘God’s in his heaven: All’s right with the world’ – had been questioned from time to time over the centuries, but Job and Ecclesiastes are the only major works in the Old Testament deliberately undertaken to articulate the doubt and debate then current in the Israeli schools. They are generally thought to come from the fifth or fourth and third centuries BC respectively, but there is no evidence to support the speculation that it was at this period that the age-old conflict between the theories of the theologians and the facts of life became more than usually acute. The two parts of the chapter look first at doubt, disaster, despair and pessimism in Job and then at the same attitudes in Ecclesiastes, and in doing so make comparisons between the two books. The Egyptian and Babylonian precedents to passages in Job suggest that its author is writing within a convention well established in the circles of schoolmen of the Ancient Near East, rather than presenting actual experiences, and the sustained protest of Job’s speeches challenges the two principal (and contradictory) dogmas that had become fossilized in the Israeli school tradition: ‘God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform’, and ‘God’s way in the world is not in the least mysterious and may be traced in the prosperity of the righteous and the suffering of the wicked’. Any interpretation of Ecclesiastes, who like Job was a literary stylist, must give due weight to the fact that he was a teacher, but the application of doleful description in the body of the work is discriminating, and probably represents his thought.Less
The presuppositions of the comfortable outlook – ‘God’s in his heaven: All’s right with the world’ – had been questioned from time to time over the centuries, but Job and Ecclesiastes are the only major works in the Old Testament deliberately undertaken to articulate the doubt and debate then current in the Israeli schools. They are generally thought to come from the fifth or fourth and third centuries BC respectively, but there is no evidence to support the speculation that it was at this period that the age-old conflict between the theories of the theologians and the facts of life became more than usually acute. The two parts of the chapter look first at doubt, disaster, despair and pessimism in Job and then at the same attitudes in Ecclesiastes, and in doing so make comparisons between the two books. The Egyptian and Babylonian precedents to passages in Job suggest that its author is writing within a convention well established in the circles of schoolmen of the Ancient Near East, rather than presenting actual experiences, and the sustained protest of Job’s speeches challenges the two principal (and contradictory) dogmas that had become fossilized in the Israeli school tradition: ‘God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform’, and ‘God’s way in the world is not in the least mysterious and may be traced in the prosperity of the righteous and the suffering of the wicked’. Any interpretation of Ecclesiastes, who like Job was a literary stylist, must give due weight to the fact that he was a teacher, but the application of doleful description in the body of the work is discriminating, and probably represents his thought.
E. W. Heaton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263623
- eISBN:
- 9780191601156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263627.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter analyses the ‘wisdom’ and school traditions in the Old Testament books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, as shown by the instructions that they both give on various matters. Although the two ...
More
This chapter analyses the ‘wisdom’ and school traditions in the Old Testament books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, as shown by the instructions that they both give on various matters. Although the two books differ radically in various respects, a comparison between them shows that they give a range of common advice, and also exhibit a similarity in their use of literary genres. Comparisons are also drawn between Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and various much earlier Egyptian school instruction manuals. Many quotations are included to illustrate the points being made.Less
This chapter analyses the ‘wisdom’ and school traditions in the Old Testament books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, as shown by the instructions that they both give on various matters. Although the two books differ radically in various respects, a comparison between them shows that they give a range of common advice, and also exhibit a similarity in their use of literary genres. Comparisons are also drawn between Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and various much earlier Egyptian school instruction manuals. Many quotations are included to illustrate the points being made.
David Manning
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195182392
- eISBN:
- 9780199851485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182392.003.0014
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
When Fox Strangways first entered into the world of musical journalism he was like the child in “The Emperor's New Clothes.” He had knowledge, insight and a well-stored mind, but he was ...
More
When Fox Strangways first entered into the world of musical journalism he was like the child in “The Emperor's New Clothes.” He had knowledge, insight and a well-stored mind, but he was disconcertingly without prejudice and was blissfully unaware of the conventions that ruled in the world of music. Daily musical journalism must be an unsatisfactory business, that unconsciously prompted the inception of a magazine devoted to music in which the literary style should be leisured and well considered, which was not tied to any publishing house and whose opinions were not fettered by the tyranny of the advertisement page. In Music & Letters, the contributor is free to express any opinion he chooses, provided he has knowledge, vision, and an educated pen. Fox Strangway's writings are like following the flight of the kingfisher, often darting out into the sunlight, and then as suddenly disappearing into the shadow so that one cannot track his course.Less
When Fox Strangways first entered into the world of musical journalism he was like the child in “The Emperor's New Clothes.” He had knowledge, insight and a well-stored mind, but he was disconcertingly without prejudice and was blissfully unaware of the conventions that ruled in the world of music. Daily musical journalism must be an unsatisfactory business, that unconsciously prompted the inception of a magazine devoted to music in which the literary style should be leisured and well considered, which was not tied to any publishing house and whose opinions were not fettered by the tyranny of the advertisement page. In Music & Letters, the contributor is free to express any opinion he chooses, provided he has knowledge, vision, and an educated pen. Fox Strangway's writings are like following the flight of the kingfisher, often darting out into the sunlight, and then as suddenly disappearing into the shadow so that one cannot track his course.
Timothy Bellamah, O.P.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199753604
- eISBN:
- 9780199918812
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199753604.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Chapter 2 is concerned with the necessary procedures for determining which of twenty-one works of questionable attribution are authentically William’s. After taking stock of external evidence, the ...
More
Chapter 2 is concerned with the necessary procedures for determining which of twenty-one works of questionable attribution are authentically William’s. After taking stock of external evidence, the study examines their methodology, exegetical concerns, and style. Four other commentaries of known authenticity constitute a basis for identifying the distinctive features of William’s work. These features constitute a list of criteria of authenticity for evaluating the questionable works. Context for measuring the distinctiveness of these traits is provided by the examination of a substantial number of commentaries by several of William’s near contemporaries, namely, Simon of Hinton, William of Middleton, Bonaventure, Albert the Great, Peter of Tarantaise, Thomas Aquinas, William of Luxi, Nicolas of Gorran, and John of Varzy. The study discards all but three questionable commentaries from William’s bibliography, leaving a total of seven authenticated ones, on Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and John.Less
Chapter 2 is concerned with the necessary procedures for determining which of twenty-one works of questionable attribution are authentically William’s. After taking stock of external evidence, the study examines their methodology, exegetical concerns, and style. Four other commentaries of known authenticity constitute a basis for identifying the distinctive features of William’s work. These features constitute a list of criteria of authenticity for evaluating the questionable works. Context for measuring the distinctiveness of these traits is provided by the examination of a substantial number of commentaries by several of William’s near contemporaries, namely, Simon of Hinton, William of Middleton, Bonaventure, Albert the Great, Peter of Tarantaise, Thomas Aquinas, William of Luxi, Nicolas of Gorran, and John of Varzy. The study discards all but three questionable commentaries from William’s bibliography, leaving a total of seven authenticated ones, on Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and John.
W. J. Mander
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199559299
- eISBN:
- 9780191725531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199559299.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
That Idealism offered a comprehensive worldview, a universal scheme capable of application to any sphere upon which the human mind might latch, is a point which may be illustrated by considering its ...
More
That Idealism offered a comprehensive worldview, a universal scheme capable of application to any sphere upon which the human mind might latch, is a point which may be illustrated by considering its implications for the domain of aesthetics. The chapter examines Edward Caird's analysis of Kant's aesthetics, as well as Bosanquet's account of the evolution of aesthetic consciousness and his theory of aesthetic appreciation and production. The main discussion of the chapter looks at the importance of poetry to the Idealists, concentrating on its simultaneously supportive and opposing relations with philosophy. The occasion provides an opportunity to discuss the distinctive literary style of the Idealists and to defend it from the objections of those twentieth-century philosophers who disparaged it.Less
That Idealism offered a comprehensive worldview, a universal scheme capable of application to any sphere upon which the human mind might latch, is a point which may be illustrated by considering its implications for the domain of aesthetics. The chapter examines Edward Caird's analysis of Kant's aesthetics, as well as Bosanquet's account of the evolution of aesthetic consciousness and his theory of aesthetic appreciation and production. The main discussion of the chapter looks at the importance of poetry to the Idealists, concentrating on its simultaneously supportive and opposing relations with philosophy. The occasion provides an opportunity to discuss the distinctive literary style of the Idealists and to defend it from the objections of those twentieth-century philosophers who disparaged it.
Paul Giles
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748640492
- eISBN:
- 9780748652129
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640492.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter describes the literary style of Theodore Dreiser, focusing on his novel Carrie. Despite much criticism on the writing style of Dreiser, this novel was praised for its unsparing realism ...
More
This chapter describes the literary style of Theodore Dreiser, focusing on his novel Carrie. Despite much criticism on the writing style of Dreiser, this novel was praised for its unsparing realism and its minute detail. Accordingly, Dreiser was admired more as a chronicler of everyday life than as a philosophical sage. The chapter suggests that one of the major strengths of his work is its capacity to bring into view the new scenes and situations of urban life, which had been overlooked or occluded in the more rural fictions of late-nineteenth-century writers.Less
This chapter describes the literary style of Theodore Dreiser, focusing on his novel Carrie. Despite much criticism on the writing style of Dreiser, this novel was praised for its unsparing realism and its minute detail. Accordingly, Dreiser was admired more as a chronicler of everyday life than as a philosophical sage. The chapter suggests that one of the major strengths of his work is its capacity to bring into view the new scenes and situations of urban life, which had been overlooked or occluded in the more rural fictions of late-nineteenth-century writers.
Leo Bersani
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199931514
- eISBN:
- 9780199345755
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199931514.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter examines Marcel's views about art and artists, and the importance he gives to involuntary memories. It considers Proust's notions on literary style, in particular those of Balzac and ...
More
This chapter examines Marcel's views about art and artists, and the importance he gives to involuntary memories. It considers Proust's notions on literary style, in particular those of Balzac and Flaubert. It discusses how the discovery of metaphor confirms Marcel's sense of his literary vocation in A la Recherche du temps perdu.Less
This chapter examines Marcel's views about art and artists, and the importance he gives to involuntary memories. It considers Proust's notions on literary style, in particular those of Balzac and Flaubert. It discusses how the discovery of metaphor confirms Marcel's sense of his literary vocation in A la Recherche du temps perdu.
Matthew L. Jockers
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037528
- eISBN:
- 9780252094767
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037528.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter presents a first example of how the macroanalytic approach brings new knowledge to our understanding of literary history. It also begins the larger discussion of influence that forms a ...
More
This chapter presents a first example of how the macroanalytic approach brings new knowledge to our understanding of literary history. It also begins the larger discussion of influence that forms a unifying thread in this book. The evidence presented here is primarily quantitative; it was gathered from a large literary bibliography using ad hoc computational tools. The chapter first takes a look at searchable bibliographies containing a wealth of information in the form of metadata and how, in the absence of full text, this bibliographical metadata can reveal useful information about literary trends. It then describes the author's project involving a bibliographic database of Irish American literature spanning 250 years. It also explains the results of the metadata analysis conducted by the author in relation to Charles Fanning's arguments and especially with respect to trends in literary productivity. The chapter concludes by highlighting the potential for analysis of impact of geography on literary style.Less
This chapter presents a first example of how the macroanalytic approach brings new knowledge to our understanding of literary history. It also begins the larger discussion of influence that forms a unifying thread in this book. The evidence presented here is primarily quantitative; it was gathered from a large literary bibliography using ad hoc computational tools. The chapter first takes a look at searchable bibliographies containing a wealth of information in the form of metadata and how, in the absence of full text, this bibliographical metadata can reveal useful information about literary trends. It then describes the author's project involving a bibliographic database of Irish American literature spanning 250 years. It also explains the results of the metadata analysis conducted by the author in relation to Charles Fanning's arguments and especially with respect to trends in literary productivity. The chapter concludes by highlighting the potential for analysis of impact of geography on literary style.
