Karen Bennett and Dean W. Zimmerman (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199603039
- eISBN:
- 9780191725418
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199603039.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, General
Oxford Studies in Metaphysics is dedicated to the timely publication of new work in metaphysics, broadly construed. These volumes provide a forum for the best new work in this ...
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Oxford Studies in Metaphysics is dedicated to the timely publication of new work in metaphysics, broadly construed. These volumes provide a forum for the best new work in this flourishing field. They offer a broad view of the subject, featuring not only the traditionally central topics such as existence, identity, modality, time, and causation, but also the rich clusters of metaphysical questions in neighbouring fields, such as philosophy of mind and philosophy of science. This book is the sixth volume in the series. It contains essays by Jason Turner, Ross P. Cameron, Gabriel Uzquiano, Raul Saucedo, Elizabeth Barnes and J. Robert G. Williams, Matti Eklund, Richard Woodward, and Rory Madden.Less
Oxford Studies in Metaphysics is dedicated to the timely publication of new work in metaphysics, broadly construed. These volumes provide a forum for the best new work in this flourishing field. They offer a broad view of the subject, featuring not only the traditionally central topics such as existence, identity, modality, time, and causation, but also the rich clusters of metaphysical questions in neighbouring fields, such as philosophy of mind and philosophy of science. This book is the sixth volume in the series. It contains essays by Jason Turner, Ross P. Cameron, Gabriel Uzquiano, Raul Saucedo, Elizabeth Barnes and J. Robert G. Williams, Matti Eklund, Richard Woodward, and Rory Madden.
Eric T. Olson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195176421
- eISBN:
- 9780199872008
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195176421.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This chapter examines the view that we do not exist because there are no human thinkers: nihilism. Nihilism is defended against the charge that it is an absurd denial of the obvious, or that it is ...
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This chapter examines the view that we do not exist because there are no human thinkers: nihilism. Nihilism is defended against the charge that it is an absurd denial of the obvious, or that it is self‐refuting. Attempts by Kant and others, such as Russell, Unger, and Wittgenstein, to defeat nihilism by showing that thought requires a thinker are examined and found wanting. Attention then turns to attempts to paraphrase statements apparently about people into terms compatible with nihilism. Although this is difficult because nihilists will want to deny the existence of any composite objects, no conclusive objections to the project are found. It is then argued that nihilism, like solipsism, is depressing, and that someone who accepted it consistently would appear to deprive herself of any reasons for action.Less
This chapter examines the view that we do not exist because there are no human thinkers: nihilism. Nihilism is defended against the charge that it is an absurd denial of the obvious, or that it is self‐refuting. Attempts by Kant and others, such as Russell, Unger, and Wittgenstein, to defeat nihilism by showing that thought requires a thinker are examined and found wanting. Attention then turns to attempts to paraphrase statements apparently about people into terms compatible with nihilism. Although this is difficult because nihilists will want to deny the existence of any composite objects, no conclusive objections to the project are found. It is then argued that nihilism, like solipsism, is depressing, and that someone who accepted it consistently would appear to deprive herself of any reasons for action.
Amie L. Thomasson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195319910
- eISBN:
- 9780199869602
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195319910.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
If we don't need ordinary objects in our causal explanations, it is often held, Occam's razor enjoins us to eliminate them. This chapter examines these arguments from parsimony, suggesting first that ...
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If we don't need ordinary objects in our causal explanations, it is often held, Occam's razor enjoins us to eliminate them. This chapter examines these arguments from parsimony, suggesting first that Occam's razor does not generalize to cases in which there are analytic entailments between existence claims. Moreover, it is argued that eliminativists, such as van Inwagen and Merricks who seek to paraphrase claims, for example, about baseballs in terms of claims about atoms arranged baseballwise, don't really offer a more parsimonious theory, since their paraphrased claims may be pleonastically transformed into claims that are explicitly committed to ordinary objects. This provides the basis for an argument for the existence of ordinary objects, and against Quine's criterion of ontological commitment. In closing, this chapter considers whether this also entails commitment to extraordinary objects, and whether more severe forms of eliminativism can do better.Less
If we don't need ordinary objects in our causal explanations, it is often held, Occam's razor enjoins us to eliminate them. This chapter examines these arguments from parsimony, suggesting first that Occam's razor does not generalize to cases in which there are analytic entailments between existence claims. Moreover, it is argued that eliminativists, such as van Inwagen and Merricks who seek to paraphrase claims, for example, about baseballs in terms of claims about atoms arranged baseballwise, don't really offer a more parsimonious theory, since their paraphrased claims may be pleonastically transformed into claims that are explicitly committed to ordinary objects. This provides the basis for an argument for the existence of ordinary objects, and against Quine's criterion of ontological commitment. In closing, this chapter considers whether this also entails commitment to extraordinary objects, and whether more severe forms of eliminativism can do better.
Adele Goldberg
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199268511
- eISBN:
- 9780191708428
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268511.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
Since the earliest days of generative grammar, there has existed a strong tendency to consider one construction in relation to a particular rough paraphrase. Initially, this was a result of the ...
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Since the earliest days of generative grammar, there has existed a strong tendency to consider one construction in relation to a particular rough paraphrase. Initially, this was a result of the emphasis on transformations that derived one pattern from another. While today there exist many non-derivational theories for which this motivation no longer exists, the traditional outlook has not completely lost its grip, as can be seen from continuing focus on partial or incomplete generalizations such as the ‘dative’ construction or the ‘locative’ alternation. This chapter argues that it is profitable to look beyond alternations: to consider each surface pattern on its own terms. It is observed that when considering instances of the same surface pattern involving different words, similarities should be attributed to the surface pattern and differences to the different verbs and arguments involved. A derivational proposal is critiqued in order to demonstrate that what appear to be arguments in favour of derivations are often in fact arguments in favour of attention to surface structure instead.Less
Since the earliest days of generative grammar, there has existed a strong tendency to consider one construction in relation to a particular rough paraphrase. Initially, this was a result of the emphasis on transformations that derived one pattern from another. While today there exist many non-derivational theories for which this motivation no longer exists, the traditional outlook has not completely lost its grip, as can be seen from continuing focus on partial or incomplete generalizations such as the ‘dative’ construction or the ‘locative’ alternation. This chapter argues that it is profitable to look beyond alternations: to consider each surface pattern on its own terms. It is observed that when considering instances of the same surface pattern involving different words, similarities should be attributed to the surface pattern and differences to the different verbs and arguments involved. A derivational proposal is critiqued in order to demonstrate that what appear to be arguments in favour of derivations are often in fact arguments in favour of attention to surface structure instead.
J. R. Watson (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198269731
- eISBN:
- 9780191600791
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198269730.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
Contains 15 hymns from the period of the Evangelical Revival, featuring writers such as Toplady, Newton, Cowper, and Smart. It also features two great Welsh hymns from the period, and three ...
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Contains 15 hymns from the period of the Evangelical Revival, featuring writers such as Toplady, Newton, Cowper, and Smart. It also features two great Welsh hymns from the period, and three paraphrases from the Scottish metrical psalm and paraphrase book of 1781.Less
Contains 15 hymns from the period of the Evangelical Revival, featuring writers such as Toplady, Newton, Cowper, and Smart. It also features two great Welsh hymns from the period, and three paraphrases from the Scottish metrical psalm and paraphrase book of 1781.
Stephen Andrew Cooper
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780198270270
- eISBN:
- 9780191603396
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198270275.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter discusses Victorinus’ commentary on Galatians in terms of its exegetical techniques and genre. These aspect of his work on Galatians are compared with both Christian and non-Christian ...
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This chapter discusses Victorinus’ commentary on Galatians in terms of its exegetical techniques and genre. These aspect of his work on Galatians are compared with both Christian and non-Christian commentaries of the third and fourth centuries. His use of prefaces and exegetical techniques, such as paraphrase (including his appropriation of the apostle Paul’s first-person) are examined. Victorinus’ hermeneutical vocabulary provides a key for understanding what he intends by the manner of commentary he denominated commentatio simplex, which is can only somewhat misleadingly be called ‘literal’. Victorinus’ commentaries on Paul with their philosophical excurses have affinities with non-Christian philosophical eisagogic commentaries in their attempt to establish a basic platform as prerequisite for deeper philosophical or theological understanding.Less
This chapter discusses Victorinus’ commentary on Galatians in terms of its exegetical techniques and genre. These aspect of his work on Galatians are compared with both Christian and non-Christian commentaries of the third and fourth centuries. His use of prefaces and exegetical techniques, such as paraphrase (including his appropriation of the apostle Paul’s first-person) are examined. Victorinus’ hermeneutical vocabulary provides a key for understanding what he intends by the manner of commentary he denominated commentatio simplex, which is can only somewhat misleadingly be called ‘literal’. Victorinus’ commentaries on Paul with their philosophical excurses have affinities with non-Christian philosophical eisagogic commentaries in their attempt to establish a basic platform as prerequisite for deeper philosophical or theological understanding.
Chris Stamatakis
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199644407
- eISBN:
- 9780191738821
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199644407.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature, Poetry
This chapter discusses the practice of rewriting found in Wyatt’s paraphrases of the seven penitential psalms. Wyatt’s paraphrases frustrate correspondences between poet and speaker, and show a ...
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This chapter discusses the practice of rewriting found in Wyatt’s paraphrases of the seven penitential psalms. Wyatt’s paraphrases frustrate correspondences between poet and speaker, and show a concern—in both theme and material condition—with verbal redemption. Within the sequence, phonocentric pleas for forgiveness are answered by chirographic acts of correction. Redemption of the penitent sinner is inseparable from redemption of a fallen lexis: words and speakers pursue an elusive, grammatological state of grace. Wyatt’s Davidic speaker, wrestling like Luther with the keywords ‘justice’ and ‘mercy’, is engaged in a process of approximating his words to the Word (Logos). This chapter appraises Wyatt’s departures from his sources (principally Aretino’s rendition of the psalms with accompanying prologues), and examines the bibliographic devices by which verbal redemption can be traced in Wyatt’s handling. Particular consideration is paid to Wyatt’s rescriptive interlineations in his holograph copy of the text in the Egerton Manuscript.Less
This chapter discusses the practice of rewriting found in Wyatt’s paraphrases of the seven penitential psalms. Wyatt’s paraphrases frustrate correspondences between poet and speaker, and show a concern—in both theme and material condition—with verbal redemption. Within the sequence, phonocentric pleas for forgiveness are answered by chirographic acts of correction. Redemption of the penitent sinner is inseparable from redemption of a fallen lexis: words and speakers pursue an elusive, grammatological state of grace. Wyatt’s Davidic speaker, wrestling like Luther with the keywords ‘justice’ and ‘mercy’, is engaged in a process of approximating his words to the Word (Logos). This chapter appraises Wyatt’s departures from his sources (principally Aretino’s rendition of the psalms with accompanying prologues), and examines the bibliographic devices by which verbal redemption can be traced in Wyatt’s handling. Particular consideration is paid to Wyatt’s rescriptive interlineations in his holograph copy of the text in the Egerton Manuscript.
Paisley Livingston
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199570171
- eISBN:
- 9780191721540
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570171.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, General
This chapter criticizes what the chapter calls the ‘bold thesis’, which is the conjunction of the idea that films can make an original contribution to philosophy, and the idea that this contribution ...
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This chapter criticizes what the chapter calls the ‘bold thesis’, which is the conjunction of the idea that films can make an original contribution to philosophy, and the idea that this contribution can be achieved primarily or even entirely through means exclusive to the cinematic medium. A dilemma argument against this thesis is set forth: either support for the bold thesis depends on a claim about a cinematic contribution that cannot be paraphrased and so can be reasonably doubted, or it rests on a contribution that can be paraphrased, in which case the clause about medium specificity is betrayed. As an alternative to the bold thesis, the chapter advocates a moderate thesis whereby a film-related contribution to philosophy can be of value even when the philosophical content is neither original nor conveyed primarily by means exclusive to the cinematic medium. This chapter discusses Aaron Smuts' proposed solution to the problem of paraphrase, which makes reference to an argument advanced by Sergei Eisenstein in the ‘For God and Country’ sequence of October.Less
This chapter criticizes what the chapter calls the ‘bold thesis’, which is the conjunction of the idea that films can make an original contribution to philosophy, and the idea that this contribution can be achieved primarily or even entirely through means exclusive to the cinematic medium. A dilemma argument against this thesis is set forth: either support for the bold thesis depends on a claim about a cinematic contribution that cannot be paraphrased and so can be reasonably doubted, or it rests on a contribution that can be paraphrased, in which case the clause about medium specificity is betrayed. As an alternative to the bold thesis, the chapter advocates a moderate thesis whereby a film-related contribution to philosophy can be of value even when the philosophical content is neither original nor conveyed primarily by means exclusive to the cinematic medium. This chapter discusses Aaron Smuts' proposed solution to the problem of paraphrase, which makes reference to an argument advanced by Sergei Eisenstein in the ‘For God and Country’ sequence of October.
J. A. Burrow
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112938
- eISBN:
- 9780191670879
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112938.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter discusses the concept of ‘fictions of history’, which is shown in the last part of Piers Plowman. The action shown loosely follows the order of history, i.e. the history of salvation. ...
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This chapter discusses the concept of ‘fictions of history’, which is shown in the last part of Piers Plowman. The action shown loosely follows the order of history, i.e. the history of salvation. Although it may appear that Langland is abandoning fiction for history, it is shown that the rendering of biblical and postbiblical scenes here never approach the plain literal manner of such biblical-paraphrase poems.Less
This chapter discusses the concept of ‘fictions of history’, which is shown in the last part of Piers Plowman. The action shown loosely follows the order of history, i.e. the history of salvation. Although it may appear that Langland is abandoning fiction for history, it is shown that the rendering of biblical and postbiblical scenes here never approach the plain literal manner of such biblical-paraphrase poems.
Helen Kraus
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199600786
- eISBN:
- 9780191731563
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199600786.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Church History
Chapter Extract: Early Modern Europe saw a rapidly increasing interest in and an unprecedented pursuit of the sensus literalis of the Hebrew Bible. His exile in Europe, due to his ...
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Chapter Extract: Early Modern Europe saw a rapidly increasing interest in and an unprecedented pursuit of the sensus literalis of the Hebrew Bible. His exile in Europe, due to his translation of the New Testament that so angered Thomas More, exposed Tyndale to this revival of interest. His importance to this study is the extent to which his English translation found its way into the Authorized Version, bequeathing us a truly idiomatic vernacular Bible. The Authorized Version itself, by contrast, owes everything to the Hebrew text. Careful comparison with Tyndale' translation reveals a return from occasional paraphrase to a rendering that is as literal as can be. In Genesis 3:16, for example, we see a return to the Hebrew allusion to the woman' desire for her husband. Where Tyndale gives us an English Bible, the Authorised Version translators' offering is a Hebrew Bible — in English.Less
Chapter Extract: Early Modern Europe saw a rapidly increasing interest in and an unprecedented pursuit of the sensus literalis of the Hebrew Bible. His exile in Europe, due to his translation of the New Testament that so angered Thomas More, exposed Tyndale to this revival of interest. His importance to this study is the extent to which his English translation found its way into the Authorized Version, bequeathing us a truly idiomatic vernacular Bible. The Authorized Version itself, by contrast, owes everything to the Hebrew text. Careful comparison with Tyndale' translation reveals a return from occasional paraphrase to a rendering that is as literal as can be. In Genesis 3:16, for example, we see a return to the Hebrew allusion to the woman' desire for her husband. Where Tyndale gives us an English Bible, the Authorised Version translators' offering is a Hebrew Bible — in English.
Samuel Guttenplan
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199280896
- eISBN:
- 9780191602627
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199280894.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
This chapter has three aims: (i) to offer a comprehensive and transparent tripartite classification of philosophical accounts of metaphor; (ii) to consider three truths about metaphor which cannot be ...
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This chapter has three aims: (i) to offer a comprehensive and transparent tripartite classification of philosophical accounts of metaphor; (ii) to consider three truths about metaphor which cannot be jointly accommodated by familiar accounts in this classification, for example, those of Black, Searle and Davidson; (iii) to carve out a space for a further account which fits the classificatory scheme but which does accommodate these features of metaphor. The truths concern: the aptness of metaphor for assertion and truth, the inappropriateness of paraphrase of metaphor, and what is called the transparency of the understanding of metaphor. There is a brief description of the view offered in subsequent chapters, suggesting that it fills a void left by other accounts.Less
This chapter has three aims: (i) to offer a comprehensive and transparent tripartite classification of philosophical accounts of metaphor; (ii) to consider three truths about metaphor which cannot be jointly accommodated by familiar accounts in this classification, for example, those of Black, Searle and Davidson; (iii) to carve out a space for a further account which fits the classificatory scheme but which does accommodate these features of metaphor. The truths concern: the aptness of metaphor for assertion and truth, the inappropriateness of paraphrase of metaphor, and what is called the transparency of the understanding of metaphor. There is a brief description of the view offered in subsequent chapters, suggesting that it fills a void left by other accounts.
Jody Azzouni
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195159882
- eISBN:
- 9780199834990
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195159888.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
This chapter refutes the two possible arguments for Quine’s criterion for what a discourse is committed to: (1) the triviality thesis, that “there is” as used in ordinary language indicates ...
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This chapter refutes the two possible arguments for Quine’s criterion for what a discourse is committed to: (1) the triviality thesis, that “there is” as used in ordinary language indicates ontological commitment, and this idiom is straightforwardly regimented by the objectual existential quantifier, (2) that the semantics of objectual quantification presupposes ontological commitment. Seven strategies for supporting the triviality thesis are reviewed, including paraphrase in ordinary language and the pretense program.Less
This chapter refutes the two possible arguments for Quine’s criterion for what a discourse is committed to: (1) the triviality thesis, that “there is” as used in ordinary language indicates ontological commitment, and this idiom is straightforwardly regimented by the objectual existential quantifier, (2) that the semantics of objectual quantification presupposes ontological commitment. Seven strategies for supporting the triviality thesis are reviewed, including paraphrase in ordinary language and the pretense program.
Matthew Reynolds
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199605712
- eISBN:
- 9780191731617
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199605712.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
In the sixteenth century, the word ‘paraphrase’ came into English to describe texts that ‘expounded’ their sources and were therefore not really translations. But the distinction collapsed as ...
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In the sixteenth century, the word ‘paraphrase’ came into English to describe texts that ‘expounded’ their sources and were therefore not really translations. But the distinction collapsed as ‘paraphrase’ was at once adopted to describe translations too: ‘paraphrase’ meant both ‘translation’ and ‘not‐translation’. I trace this ambivalence from the mid‐sixteenth century up to Dryden, discussing Erasmus's paraphrases together with poem‐translations by Abraham Fraunce, Thomas Middleton, George Sandys, Obadiah Walker, Richard Baker, Matthew Stevenson and others.Less
In the sixteenth century, the word ‘paraphrase’ came into English to describe texts that ‘expounded’ their sources and were therefore not really translations. But the distinction collapsed as ‘paraphrase’ was at once adopted to describe translations too: ‘paraphrase’ meant both ‘translation’ and ‘not‐translation’. I trace this ambivalence from the mid‐sixteenth century up to Dryden, discussing Erasmus's paraphrases together with poem‐translations by Abraham Fraunce, Thomas Middleton, George Sandys, Obadiah Walker, Richard Baker, Matthew Stevenson and others.
Matthew Reynolds
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199605712
- eISBN:
- 9780191731617
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199605712.003.0011
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
In his Preface to Ovid's Epistles, Dryden advocates translation‐as‐paraphrase, in which the ‘sense’ is allowed to ‘amplified’ but not ‘altered’—though he admits that, in the translations themselves, ...
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In his Preface to Ovid's Epistles, Dryden advocates translation‐as‐paraphrase, in which the ‘sense’ is allowed to ‘amplified’ but not ‘altered’—though he admits that, in the translations themselves, he has ‘transgressed’ these ‘rules.’ I show that, in his version of Ovid's ‘Canace to Macareus’, Dryden's transgressions as a translator echo Canace's sexual transgression with her brother even while apparently holding it up for disapproval: this creates an intensely conflicted poetry of translation. Other contributors to the same volume adopt related practices of ‘opening’, due in part to the cultural circumstances in which they were working. I discuss in particular Aphra Behn's polemical expansions of ‘Oenone to Paris’.Less
In his Preface to Ovid's Epistles, Dryden advocates translation‐as‐paraphrase, in which the ‘sense’ is allowed to ‘amplified’ but not ‘altered’—though he admits that, in the translations themselves, he has ‘transgressed’ these ‘rules.’ I show that, in his version of Ovid's ‘Canace to Macareus’, Dryden's transgressions as a translator echo Canace's sexual transgression with her brother even while apparently holding it up for disapproval: this creates an intensely conflicted poetry of translation. Other contributors to the same volume adopt related practices of ‘opening’, due in part to the cultural circumstances in which they were working. I discuss in particular Aphra Behn's polemical expansions of ‘Oenone to Paris’.
Matthew Reynolds
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199605712
- eISBN:
- 9780191731617
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199605712.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
Translation theorists typically emphasize the differences between translations and their sources. Yet they cannot help letting the idea that there is something identical between the two creep back ...
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Translation theorists typically emphasize the differences between translations and their sources. Yet they cannot help letting the idea that there is something identical between the two creep back into their discussions. This happens especially in discussions of poetry, where notions of functional equivalence cannot govern the definition of translation (I discuss the work of J. C. Catford and the ‘Skopos’ school of translation theory as I make this argument). The same pattern recurs in everyday usage: we all know that a translation of Proust is not really Proust; we all slip into saying ‘oh yes I have read Proust’ when all we have really read is a translation. This paradox, I suggest, is what defines translation: a translation is a text that is taken to be different from another and also taken to be the same. A scene from Brian Friel's Translations illustrates the claim.Less
Translation theorists typically emphasize the differences between translations and their sources. Yet they cannot help letting the idea that there is something identical between the two creep back into their discussions. This happens especially in discussions of poetry, where notions of functional equivalence cannot govern the definition of translation (I discuss the work of J. C. Catford and the ‘Skopos’ school of translation theory as I make this argument). The same pattern recurs in everyday usage: we all know that a translation of Proust is not really Proust; we all slip into saying ‘oh yes I have read Proust’ when all we have really read is a translation. This paradox, I suggest, is what defines translation: a translation is a text that is taken to be different from another and also taken to be the same. A scene from Brian Friel's Translations illustrates the claim.
Gerjan van Schaaik
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198851509
- eISBN:
- 9780191886102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198851509.003.0016
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Syntax and Morphology
The smallest unit of a verb is its stem and it is this stem that is most frequently used as the imperative. There are other means as well, all based on a stem plus a suffix: a polite request is ...
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The smallest unit of a verb is its stem and it is this stem that is most frequently used as the imperative. There are other means as well, all based on a stem plus a suffix: a polite request is issued in two ways, depending on whether one or more persons are being addressed. A third form is the compelling request, being applied as encouragement or to convey a certain degree of impatience. A paraphrased request is formed by using, for instance, an affirmative of negated present-tense form or by a verb form expressing possibility. Instructions can also be given in a declarative form expressing present or future. A certain ‘imperative’ effect can of course also be achieved by using modal forms corresponding to ‘can’ and ‘may’.Less
The smallest unit of a verb is its stem and it is this stem that is most frequently used as the imperative. There are other means as well, all based on a stem plus a suffix: a polite request is issued in two ways, depending on whether one or more persons are being addressed. A third form is the compelling request, being applied as encouragement or to convey a certain degree of impatience. A paraphrased request is formed by using, for instance, an affirmative of negated present-tense form or by a verb form expressing possibility. Instructions can also be given in a declarative form expressing present or future. A certain ‘imperative’ effect can of course also be achieved by using modal forms corresponding to ‘can’ and ‘may’.
ROGER P. H. GREEN
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199284573
- eISBN:
- 9780191713804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284573.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This concluding chapter revisits and reassesses issues raised by the best of modern criticism, as mapped out in the short introduction to this book. It also discusses such questions as the aptness of ...
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This concluding chapter revisits and reassesses issues raised by the best of modern criticism, as mapped out in the short introduction to this book. It also discusses such questions as the aptness of the term ‘paraphrase’, and its implications for the understanding of these ambitious poems; the relative importance in these poets of narrative and speeches; the presentation of Christ, whether as God, hero, or teacher; and the nature of their relation to Vergil's Aeneid and epic in general.Less
This concluding chapter revisits and reassesses issues raised by the best of modern criticism, as mapped out in the short introduction to this book. It also discusses such questions as the aptness of the term ‘paraphrase’, and its implications for the understanding of these ambitious poems; the relative importance in these poets of narrative and speeches; the presentation of Christ, whether as God, hero, or teacher; and the nature of their relation to Vergil's Aeneid and epic in general.
Jeanne Fahnestock
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199764129
- eISBN:
- 9780199918928
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199764129.003.0015
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Applied Linguistics and Pedagogy
Set in larger, persisting communicative situations, rhetorical discourse often features language attributed to other speakers and texts. Speaking for others was especially important in ancient ...
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Set in larger, persisting communicative situations, rhetorical discourse often features language attributed to other speakers and texts. Speaking for others was especially important in ancient forensic settings where witness testimony was reported secondhand. The methods described in this chapter for incorporating language from other sources follow those in Leech and Short's Style in Fiction. Other voices can be quoted directly, though always with selection and often with stylization, or they can be quoted indirectly. Indirect quotation invites paraphrase that can wander tendentiously from the original wording, and, as it appears in written texts, indirect quotations often include zones of ambiguous attribution. The words or near-words of others can also be abandoned in favor of reporting the speech act achieved by their words. Written texts may be represented using the same options of direct or indirect quotation, or the reporting of speech acts, each of these options increasing the interpretive control of another text. Speakers, of course, without the benefit of quotation marks, have to rely more on vocal dynamics to mark off another's words. The rhetorical manuals favored the dramatic mimicking of other voices (prosopopoeia), going so far as to recommend that the absent, the dead, and even inanimate entities be given a voice in a speech. Bakhtin noted the extremes of language mixtures as the heteroglossia that can result from the often unattributed incorporation of others’ language, even to the point of the double voicing of a single word. In a new media age of IM and blogs, such multivoicing has in fact become routine.Less
Set in larger, persisting communicative situations, rhetorical discourse often features language attributed to other speakers and texts. Speaking for others was especially important in ancient forensic settings where witness testimony was reported secondhand. The methods described in this chapter for incorporating language from other sources follow those in Leech and Short's Style in Fiction. Other voices can be quoted directly, though always with selection and often with stylization, or they can be quoted indirectly. Indirect quotation invites paraphrase that can wander tendentiously from the original wording, and, as it appears in written texts, indirect quotations often include zones of ambiguous attribution. The words or near-words of others can also be abandoned in favor of reporting the speech act achieved by their words. Written texts may be represented using the same options of direct or indirect quotation, or the reporting of speech acts, each of these options increasing the interpretive control of another text. Speakers, of course, without the benefit of quotation marks, have to rely more on vocal dynamics to mark off another's words. The rhetorical manuals favored the dramatic mimicking of other voices (prosopopoeia), going so far as to recommend that the absent, the dead, and even inanimate entities be given a voice in a speech. Bakhtin noted the extremes of language mixtures as the heteroglossia that can result from the often unattributed incorporation of others’ language, even to the point of the double voicing of a single word. In a new media age of IM and blogs, such multivoicing has in fact become routine.
Harry Berger Jr.
Ward Risvold and J. Benjamin Fuqua (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780823294237
- eISBN:
- 9780823297412
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823294237.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Having established the poem in the readers’ minds in the previous chapter, Simonides, Part 2, introduces a seven-part structure that the rest of the reading will follow, addressing each of the ...
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Having established the poem in the readers’ minds in the previous chapter, Simonides, Part 2, introduces a seven-part structure that the rest of the reading will follow, addressing each of the arguments included in the poem, as well as how Socrates and Protagoras use the poem in their argumentation. This chapter treats the first two of the seven divisions, focusing on the “opening debate” that introduces the poem into the dialog.Less
Having established the poem in the readers’ minds in the previous chapter, Simonides, Part 2, introduces a seven-part structure that the rest of the reading will follow, addressing each of the arguments included in the poem, as well as how Socrates and Protagoras use the poem in their argumentation. This chapter treats the first two of the seven divisions, focusing on the “opening debate” that introduces the poem into the dialog.
Jason Turner
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199603039
- eISBN:
- 9780191725418
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199603039.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, General
Ontological nihilism is the radical-sounding thesis that there is nothing at all. This chapter first discusses how the most plausible forms of this thesis aim to be slightly less radical than they ...
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Ontological nihilism is the radical-sounding thesis that there is nothing at all. This chapter first discusses how the most plausible forms of this thesis aim to be slightly less radical than they sound and what they will have to do in order to succeed in their less radical ambitions. In particular, they will have to paraphrase sentences of best science into ontologically innocent counterparts. The chapter then points out the defects in two less plausible strategies, before going on to argue that strategies that look more promising, including one based on Quine's predicate-functor language, face the same defects.Less
Ontological nihilism is the radical-sounding thesis that there is nothing at all. This chapter first discusses how the most plausible forms of this thesis aim to be slightly less radical than they sound and what they will have to do in order to succeed in their less radical ambitions. In particular, they will have to paraphrase sentences of best science into ontologically innocent counterparts. The chapter then points out the defects in two less plausible strategies, before going on to argue that strategies that look more promising, including one based on Quine's predicate-functor language, face the same defects.
