The relationship between sound and content in Latin poetry
Date
2004
Authors
Williams, Matthew Llewellyn
Editors
Advisors
Clarke, Jacqueline
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Thesis
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Abstract
This dissertation examines the relationship between phonetic sound and content in Latin
poetry, with a focus on Books 1-3 of Horace's Odes. The central argument is that a
relationship exists between sound and content in poetry, that this can be analysed and
described more thoroughly and systematically than is usually the case, and that the
appreciation of poetry can be enhanced by doing so.
Part 1 presents a scheme for describing the sound-content relationship, and argues that this
accurately reflects the perceptions of poetic audiences and is psychologically valid. The
scheme begins with the concept of the 'sonance', defined as any set of sounds that renders
a passage sonically noteworthy. Sonances that relate to content are classified either as
'harmonic sonances', which relate to content due to the properties of the relevant sounds,
or 'repetitive sonances', which relate to content purely due to the repetition (including
patterning or contrasting) of sounds, regardless of their properties. Harmonic sonances, it
is argued, may relate to content through four 'harmonies', depending on whether acoustic
or articulatory properties are involved and whether the relationship is one of similarity
between property and content or a more distant 'metaphor'. Repetitive sonances may
relate to content by several different means, or 'modes of repetition'.
Part 2 presents a simple method of numerical analysis which may be applied to the text by
computer to extract passages that are relatively likely to contain a sonance, and briefly
discusses the process of assessing these results, identifying further sonances by more
natural means, and relating each sonance to the relevant content. As an essential
preliminary to such matters, Latin phonetics and phonology are also discussed in detail.
Parts 3 and 4 present the results of applying these resources of assessment and description
to the text, to demonstrate the type of poetic appreciation which may thus be gained.
Part 3 consists of two catalogues of harmonic and repetitive sonances taken from the whole
of Odes 1-3. Part 4 is a specific examination of two entire odes in much greater detail.
School/Discipline
Humanities
Dissertation Note
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Humanities, 2004.