The Paradox of Literary Emotion
An Ancient Greek Perspective and Some Modern Implications
Palavras-chave:
Emotional paradox, universality of literature, focalization, historical narrative, journalism versus literary narrativeResumo
Fifth-century BCE Greek writers (e.g., Isocrates, Pseudo-Andocides) complain that the Athenians might have been more deeply moved by tragedies than by horrific contemporary events. My essay suggests that literary narratives could indeed produce this effect on us through several features. (1) The feeling of personal safety, threatened sometimes by our showing compassion to others (e.g. Euripides’ plays, Thucydides; modern refugee debates) remains intact when we engage in fiction. (2) The proximity to literary characters becomes enhanced by literary narratives (pro ommaton, focalization), in contrast to impersonal journalistic reports. (3) The universality ascribed to a literary piece (Aristotle’s Poetics) could contribute to our emotional immersion into the world of fiction to the detriment of the surrounding reality. While each section starts from ancient Greek authors, the essay will underline some similarities between the classical and the modern ways of engaging with literary narratives.
Downloads
Referências
BOAL, A. Theatre of the Oppressed. New English translation Emily Fryer. Padstow: TJ International, 2000.
BRITO, H. In Praise of Aristotle’s Poetics. In: HAGBERG, G. L. (Ed.). Fictional Characters: The Research for Ethical Content in Literature, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2016. p. 305-324.
BUTLER, J. Frames of War. When is Life Grievable? London: Verso Books, 2009.
CAIRNS, D. Look Both Ways: Studying Emotions in Ancient Greek. Critical Quarterly 50, p. 43-62.
CAIRNS, D. and NELIS, D. Introduction. In: CAIRNS, D. and NELIS, D. (Ed.) Emotions in the Classical World. Stuttgart: Franz Verlag. 2017. p. 7-30.
CHANIOTIS, A. Introduction. In: CHANIOTIS, A. (Ed.). Unveiling Emotions: Sources and Methods for the Study of Emotions in the Greek World. Stuttgart: Franz Verlag. 2012. p. 11-36.
DILLARD, A. For the Time Being. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999.
EDWARDS, M. The Greek Orators IV. Andocides. Edited and Translated. Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1995.
FABRE-SERIS, J. and KEITH, A. Women and War in Antiquity. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015.
FULKERSON, L. Emotional Appeals in the Mytilenian Debate, Iowa, Syllecta Classica, v. 19, p. 115-154, 2008.
GENETTE, G. Narrative Discourse Revisited. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. (First published Nouveau discours du récit, Paris, 1983), 1988.
JOHNSON, J. F. and CLAPP, D. C. Athenian Tragedy: An Education in Pity. In: STERNBERG, R. (Ed.). Pity and Power in Ancient Athens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2005. p. 123-164.
KONSTAN, D. Pity Transformed. London: Duckworth. 2001.
KONSTAN, D. The Emotions of the Ancient Greeks: Studies in Aristotle and Classical Literature. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2006.
KONSTAN, D. Affect and Emotion in Greek Literature. In Oxford Handbooks Online. October 2015. http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935390-e-41.
KRZNARIC, R. Empathy. Why It Matters, and How to Get It. New York: Perigee. 2015.
LATEINER, D. The Pitiers and the Pitied in Herodotus and Thucydides. In: STERNBERG, R. (Ed.). Pity and Power in Ancient Athens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2005. p. 67-97.
LATTIMORE, R. The Trojan Women. Chicago: Chicago University Press. 1958.
LUSCHNIG, C. Medea in Corinth; Political Aspects of Euripides’ Medea, Digressus, v. 1, p. 8-28, 2001.
MUNTEANU, D. L. Qualis tandem misericordia in rebus fictis? Aesthetic and Ordinary Emotions, Helios, v. 36.2, p. 117-147, 2009.
MUNTEANU, D. L. Tragic Pathos. Pity and Fear in Greek Philosophy and Tragedy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
NÜNLIST, R. The Ancient Critic at Work: Terms and Concepts of Literary Criticism in Greek Scholia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
PRICE, J. Thucydides and the Internal War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
PRINZ, J. Against Empathy, The Southern Journal of Philosophy, v. 49, p. 214-233, 2011.
RABINOWITZ, N. Anxiety Veiled: Euripides and the Traffic of Women. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993.
REYNOLDS, D. Mightier than the Sword: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Battle for America. New York: Norton, 2012.
SAPOLSKY, R. Behave. The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. New York: Penguin Press, 2017.
SLOVIC, S. and SLOVIC, P. Numbers and Nerves: Toward and Affective Apprehension of Environmental Risk. Whole Terrain, v. 13, p. 14-18, 2004.
SLOVIC,P.“Psychic Numbing and Genocide,” http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2007/11/slovic.aspx, 2007.
TZANETOU, A. City of Suppliants. Tragedy and the Athenian Empire. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012.
USHER, S. Isocrates Panegyricus and To Nicocles. Warminster: Aris and Phillips, 1990.
WOHL, V. Love among the Ruins. The Erotics of Democracy in Classical Athens. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
Downloads
Publicado
Como Citar
Edição
Seção
Licença
Copyright (c) 2018 Dana LaCourse Munteanu
Este trabalho está licenciado sob uma licença Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
