POETIC SYNTAX IN THE OLD ENGLISH METERS OF BOETHIUS : A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VERSE AND PROSE.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

YOSHINO, YOSHIHIRO.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania.

Subjects (All):

Literature, Medieval.

0297.

Local Subjects:

0297.

Physical Description:

179 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 45-05A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

The purpose of this study is, through the comparative study of the OE Meters of Boethius (MBo) and its prose counterpart (PBo), to identify formal differences between verse and prose in OE with particular reference to variation and larger rhetorical patterns, such as Parallel, Envelope Patterns, etc., establish what kinds of operations are involved in bringing them about, for what purposes they are brought about, and what kinds of principles govern them, and finally see how the conclusions thus reached will affect the results of previous studies on OE poetic style, interpretation, punctuation and textual criticism.

In Chapter I are presented arguments for the relevancy and adequacy of the selection of the topic, the method and the corpus, particularly of the adoption of such a comparative study, and of the introduction of the new notions, "local" and "global," together with the history of previous related scholarship.

In Chapter II, with major problems concerning variation fully evident, and a revised definition of variation given, comparative studies of MBo and PBo are made with respect to local rhetorical techniques with particular reference to variation.

In Chapter III, with major problems concerning larger rhetorical patterns discussed, comparative studies of MBo and PBo are made with respect to global rhetorical techniques with particular reference to larger rhetorical patterns. A new type of Repetition, Uniting Repetition, is proposed.

In Chapter IV the conclusions reached are presented: As far as the present corpus is concerned, the local rhetorical structures such as variations and the global ones such as larger rhetorical patterns are respectively brought about by the local and global application of the same principal foregrounding operation, the restatement of the same idea or concept in different words, and the rich formal variety of the rhetorical structures are attributed to its different applicational conditions. A few implications of the conclusions are also discussed.

Notes:

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-05, Section: A, page: 1393.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1984.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.