THE CICERONIAN RHETORICAL TRADITION AND MEDIEVAL LITERARY THEORY (original) (raw)
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Functions of Style in St. Augustine's Christian Rhetoric
The spread of Christianity determined major cultural changes all over Europe as well as in the entire world. Without further dwelling on the relationships between the new religion and the classical culture, we will show that, in the art of eloquence, the perspective of the fathers of the Christian Church favoured, on the one hand, the survival of some of the Ancient rhetorical works and led to the introduction of a religious rhetoric that gradually departed from the influence of the old models, on the other. This paper aims at synthetically and systematically describing St. Augustine's view on the importance and functions of elocution, in order to reveal the innovations brought by this scholar to the classical rhetorical canon. * Email address: ioanister@gmail.com. 1 A new rhetorical canon with three genres takes shape during the Middle Ages : the art of preaching (ars praedicandi), the rhetoric of poetry (ars poetriae) and the art of letter-writing (ars dictaminis).
PICKLES & SPICES: AUGUSTINE’S ETHIC OF RHETORIC IN TEACHING CHRISTIANITY
Augustine of Hippo expressed strong ambivalence toward the rhetorical arts. Yet he was known for his own superior oratorical skills and prolific literary productions (which were to be read aloud). Thus, this paper asks what ethic may be derived from Augustine’s teaching to equip the Christian preacher in employing an essentially secular art form in a fundamentally sacred task. Beginning with the Greco-Roman context in which rhetoric was developed and refined, the technical canons of classical rhetoric, and how Augustine adapted that structure for his audience, the paper highlights Augustine’s pastoral concerns in the use of “eloquence” in communicating divine truth. His primary concerns were rhetoric's superficial content, manipulative means, and ambitious ends. We conclude with a synthesis of an Augustinian ethic of rhetoric for the Christian preacher.
Mouseion: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada, 2017
This article examines the intertextual relationship between Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana IV and Cicero’s Orator. We use quantitative methods to compare Augustine’s level of engagement with Orator against his engagement with other handbooks of classical Latin rhetoric. Our results inform a close reading of the text as body metaphor in DDC 4.13. Augustine incorporates Ciceronian colometry into his presentation of the epistles to demonstrate Paul’s eloquence. We argue that Augustine’s comparatively heavy use of Cicero is an attempt to justify the use of rhetoric in Christian teaching while adapting that rhetoric to Christian purposes. Cet article examine la relation intertextuelle entre le quatrième livre du De doctrina christiana d’Augustin et l’Orator de Cicéron. À l’aide de méthodes quantitatives, nous évaluons le degré d’engagement d’Augustin envers l’Orator en comparaison d’autres manuels de rhétorique latine classique. Les résultats nous invitent à une lecture attentive de la métaphore du texte comme un corps en DDC IV, 13. Augustin introduit la colométrie cicéronienne dans sa présentation des épîtres pour démontrer l’éloquence de Paul. Nous suggérons que l’usage important qu’Augustin fait de Cicéron est une tentative de justifier le recours à la rhétorique dans l’enseignement chrétien et d’adapter cette rhétorique aux besoins des chrétiens.
Language and Scripture as Structuring Principles of Augustine's Sermons 186 and 187
Augustiniana, 2013
Abstract: The dispositio or arrangement which Augustine himself uses as a frame of reference in De doctrina christiana is not always immediately obvious in his sermons. Several authors of older publications have detected little or no structure in the sermons. More recent publications show that others suspect that there is some kind of structure. Nonetheless uncertainty about the organisation of the sermons is still widespread. This article presents an examination of the structure of sermons 186 and 187. It argues that the internal division of these sermons can be determined on the basis of linguistic signals. Moreover, the use of scriptural quotations or references also points to the existence of separate sections. The results of this study show that Augustine also implemented the division into four parts which he presented in De doctrina christiana in his sermons.
Augustinian Studies, 2016
In the past two decades scholars such as Robert Dodaro, Kathy Eden, and Michael Cameron have called attention to the influence that Augustine's rhetorical education had on his scriptural hermeneutic. Recently, M. Cameron (2010) has argued that Augustine began to incorporate the rhetorical concept of oeconomia into his scriptural hermeneutic during his time in Milan. This article expands on Cameron's work by establishing that Augustine had in fact incorporated rhetorical oeconomia into his scriptural hermeneutic by 387/8 C.E. through a focused reading of two texts from De moribus ecclesiae (mor.). This reading demonstrates that the terminology and logic that Augustine employs to argue for the unity of the Christian scriptures in mor. 1.17.30 and 1.28.56 mirror the terminology and logic of the Latin rhetorical tradition, revealing that Augustine uses the phrases mirifica dispositio (1.17.30) and admirabilis ordo (1.28.56) to represent the same concept that Quintilian had referred to with the phrase oeconomica dispositio (Institutio Oratoria 7.10.11).
The Rhetoric(s) of St. Augustine\u27s Confessions
2008
In this essay, I offer a sympathetic reading of the rhetoric(s) of Augustine’s Confessions. First, as a historian of rhetoric I am interested in what Augustine’s narrative can tell us about the theory and practice of rhetoric in the late classical period and the early Christian era. From this perspective, I am interested in exploring what Augustine discloses about the rhetoric he learned in the provincial Roman schools, and taught at Carthage, Rome, and Milan. Second, I am interested in Augustine’s own work on rhetoric, especially his De Doctrina Christiana, most of which he composed during the period right before he began the Confessions. In particular, I am interested in how the rhetorical ethics that emerges from Augustine’s formal treatment of Biblical exegesis and preaching, and which distinguishes Augustine’s rhetoric from that of his classical predecessors, can illuminate our interpretation of the Confessions. Finally, I am interested in exploring how the Confessions itself w...