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Dancing around the well : the circulation of commonplaces in Renaissance humanism / Eric M. MacPhail.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- MacPhail, Eric, author.
- Series:
- Brill's studies in intellectual history ; Volume 232.
- Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 0920-8607 ; Volume 232
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- European literature--Renaissance, 1450-1600--Classical influences.
- European literature.
- Proverbs--History and criticism.
- Proverbs.
- Maxims--History and criticism.
- Maxims.
- Metaphor.
- Clichés.
- Humanism in literature.
- Commonplace books--History.
- Commonplace books.
- Erasmus, Desiderius, -1536. Adagia.
- Erasmus, Desiderius.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (177 p.)
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- Leiden, Netherlands : Brill, 2014.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- This study examines the transmission and transformation of commonplace wisdom in Renaissance humanism by tracing a series of filiations between classical sayings, anecdotes, and exampes and Renaissance poems, essays, and fictions. The circulation of commonplaces can be understood either as a process of reanimation and revitalization, where frozen sayings thaw out and come to life, or conversely as a process of immobilization and incrustation that petrifies tradition. The paradigmatic figure for this process is the proverbial dance around the well, which expresses both the danger and the compulsion of borrowed speech.
- Contents:
- Preliminary Material
- Introduction: Dancing Around the Well
- 1 In the Beginning there was Chaos
- 2 A Gem in its Setting
- 3 Words Frozen and Thawed
- 4 Rhapsody in Prose
- 5 The Mosaic of Speech
- 6 The Universal Library
- 7 In a Roman Mirror
- Conclusion: Emptying the Well
- Bibliography
- Index locorum communium
- Index rerum perutilium
- Index nominum illustrium
- Index Erasmianus.
- Notes:
- Description based upon print version of record.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Description based on print version record.
- ISBN:
- 90-04-27715-3
- OCLC:
- 894539636
- Publisher Number:
- 10.1163/9789004277151 DOI
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