Literary Rhetoric

Heinrich F. Plett was Professor of English at the University of Essen (1972-2004) where he founded the Center for Rhetoric and Renaissance Studies. He co-founded the International Society for the History of Rhetoric in 1977. He has organized many conference on rhetoric, poetics, and Renaissance literature and has published extensively on the same topics.

Table of Contents

Part I Rhetoric and Literature

I From the Decline of Rhetoric to its Revival

II Rhetorical Literature

III Literary Rhetoric

IV Rhetoric and Literary Criticism


Part II The Realm of Rhetoric

1 Approaches to Rhetoric
2 Domains of Rhetoric
3 The Rhetoric of Figures
4 The System of Figures
4.1 Proposal for a New Model of Figures
4.2 Model Comparison as Model Critique
4.2.1 Historical Models of Figures
4.2.2 Modern Models of Figures
4.2.3 Critical Synopsis
4.3 Pragmatic and Semantic Figures
5 Competence and Performance
6 The Aesthetics of Figures


Part III ― The System of Figures

1 Phonological Figures
1.1 Phonaesthetic Basic Structure: The Phonological Figures
1.1.1 Figures of Phonological Deviation (Metaphonemes)
1.1.1.1 Addition
1.1.1.2 Subtraction
1.1.1.3 Permutation
1.1.1.4 Substitution
1.1.1.5 Text Analysis: Ernst Jandl, etüde in f, v. 1-3
1.1.2 Figures of Phonological Equivalence (Isophonemes)
1.1.2.1 Position
1.1.2.2 Extent
1.1.2.3 Similarity
1.1.2.4 Frequency
1.1.2.5 Distribution
1.1.2.6 Text Analysis: Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Windhover
1.1.2.7 Digression: Semantic Aspects of Phonaesthetics
1.2 Phonaesthetic Superstructure: The Prosodic Figures
1.2.1 Phonaesthetic Competence: The Metre
1.2.1.1 Figures of Accent
1.2.1.1.1 Position
1.2.1.1.2 Extent
1.2.1.1.3 Similarity
1.2.1.1.4 Frequency
1.2.1.1.5 Distribution
1.2.1.2 Figures of Pause and Pitch
1.2.2 Phonesthetic Performance: Rhythm
1.2.2.1 Deviating Stresses
1.2.2.2 Deviating Pauses
1.2.3 Text Analysis: William Shakespeare, A Midsummernight's Dream V.i. 108-117.
1.3 The Interrelationship of Phonemes and Prosodic Figures
2 Morphological Figures
2.1 Figures of Morphological Deviation (Metamorphemes)
2.1.1 Intra-word Deviation
2.1.1.1 Addition
2.1.1.2 Subtraction
2.1.1.3 Permutatution
2.1.1.4 Substitution
2.1.1.5 Text analysis: Lewis Carroll: Jabberwocky
2.1.2 Contextual Deviation
2.1.2.1 Diastratic Deviations
2.1.2.2 Diatopic Deviations
2.1.2.3 Bilingual or Multilingual Deviations
2.1.2.4 Diachronic Deviations
2.1.2.5 Digression: Deviation of the Word Class (Conversion)
2.1.2.6 Text Analysis: E.E. Cummings, anyone lived in a pretty how town
2.2 Figures of Morphological Equivalence (Isomorphemes)
2.2.1 Position
2.2.2 Extent
2.2.3 Frequency
2.2.4 Distribution
2.2.5 Similarity
2.2.5.1 Polyptoton
2.2.5.2 Paronymy
2.2.5.3 The Ambiguity of Word Play
2.2.5.3.1 Homophonous Word Play
2.2.5.3.2 Polysemic and Homonymic Word Play
2.2.5.3.3 Homeophonic Word Play (Paronomasia)
2.2.5.3.4 Homeographic Word Play (Eye Rhyme)
2.2.6 Text Analysis: George Herbert, A Wreath
3 Syntactic Figures
3.1 Figures of Syntactic Deviation (Metataxemes)
3.1.1 Addition
3.1.2 Subtraction
3.1.2.1 Ellipsis
3.1.2.2 Zeugma
3.1.3 Permutation
3.1.4 Substitution
3.1.5 Text Analysis: Carl Sternheim, Das Fossil I.iv (excerpt)
3.2 Figures of Syntactic Equivalence (Isotaxemes)
3.2.1 Similarity
3.2.2 Frequency
3.2.3 Extent and Position
3.2.4 Distribution
3.2.5 Phonological, Morphological and Semantic Aspects
3.2.6 Text Analyses
3.2.6.1 Bertolt Brecht, Lob der Partei
3.2.6.2 William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar III.ii.13-47 (Brutus' speech)
4 Semantic Figures
4.1 Figures of Semantic Deviation (Metasememes)
4.1.1 Addition
4.1.2 Subtraction
4.1.3 Permutation
4.1.4 Substitution
4.1.4.1 Similarity Tropes (Metaphers)
4.1.4.2 Contiguity Tropes (Metonymies)
4.1.5 Text Analyses
4.1.5.1 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Kennst du das Land ...?
4.1.5.2 Emily Dickinson, I like to see it lap the Miles
4.2 Figures of Semantic Equivalence (Isosememes)
4.2.1 Text Analyses
4.2.1.1 Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene III.i.46
4.2.1.2 Andreas Gryphius, Die Hölle
5 Graphemic Figures
5.1 Figures of Graphemic Deviation (Metagraphemes)
5.1.1 Addition
5.1.2 Subraction
5.1.3 Permutation
5.1.4 Substitution
5.1.4.1 Substitution within the same Graphemic System
5.1.4.2 Substitution outside the same Graphemic System
5.1.5 Text Analyses
5.1.5.1 Ernst Jandl, onkel toms hütte
5.1.5.2 Gerhard Rühm, schweigen
5.2 Figures of Graphemic Equivalence (Isographemes)
5.2.1 Text Analyses
5.2.1.1 Gerhard Rühm, die ersten menschen sind auf dem mond
5.2.1.2 A Poem by E.E. Cummings
5.2.1.3 Václav Havel, antreten
6 Textological Figures (Text Figures)
6.1 Figures of Textological Deviation (Metatextemes)
6.1.1 Addition
6.1.2 Subtraction
6.1.3 Substitution
6.1.4 Permutation
6.2 Figures of Textological Equivalence (Isotextemes)
7 Intertextual Figures
7.1 Figures of Intertextual Deviation (Meta-Intertextemes)
7.1.1 Substitution (Citation/Quotation)
7.1.2 Permutation (Cento)
7.2 Figures of Intertextual Equivalence (Iso-Intertextemes)


Bibliography

Indices

1 Index of Names

2 Index of Subjects