Death of a Genre? : The Aesopic Fable and the Emergence of Modernity
Zillén, Erik LU
(2021)
In Reinardus. Yearbook of the International Reynard Society
33(1).
p.151-167
- Abstract
- Taking as its starting point the scholarly discussion about the possible death of the Aesopic fable towards the end of the eighteenth century, this article proposes a broadening of perspective, arguing for a thorough examination of the impact of modernity on some of the basic contexts and conditions of the genre. Four contextual factors are, subsequently, placed under scrutiny: the ethics of virtue, the rhetorical category of exemplum, the anthropomorphization of animals, and the poetological principle of prodesse et delectare. All of these factors may be considered as vigorous and interrelated components of premodern culture, and all four of them, moreover, constituted fundamental prerequisites for the conceptualization and functioning of... (More)
- Taking as its starting point the scholarly discussion about the possible death of the Aesopic fable towards the end of the eighteenth century, this article proposes a broadening of perspective, arguing for a thorough examination of the impact of modernity on some of the basic contexts and conditions of the genre. Four contextual factors are, subsequently, placed under scrutiny: the ethics of virtue, the rhetorical category of exemplum, the anthropomorphization of animals, and the poetological principle of prodesse et delectare. All of these factors may be considered as vigorous and interrelated components of premodern culture, and all four of them, moreover, constituted fundamental prerequisites for the conceptualization and functioning of the Aesopic genre. By analysing how the emerging paradigm of modernity diminished the position and importance of these contextual factors, the article seeks to demonstrate the existence of an undeniable dividing line in European fable history somewhere around 1800. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Taking as its starting point the scholarly discussion about the possible death of the Aesopic fable towards the end of the eighteenth century, this article proposes a broadening of perspective, arguing for a thorough examination of the impact of modernity on some of the basic contexts and conditions of the genre. Four contextual factors are, subsequently, placed under scrutiny: the ethics of virtue, the rhetorical category of exemplum, the anthropomorphization of animals, and the poetological principle of prodesse et delectare. All of these factors may be considered as vigorous and interrelated components of premodern culture, and all four of them, moreover, constituted fundamental prerequisites for the conceptualization and functioning of... (More)
- Taking as its starting point the scholarly discussion about the possible death of the Aesopic fable towards the end of the eighteenth century, this article proposes a broadening of perspective, arguing for a thorough examination of the impact of modernity on some of the basic contexts and conditions of the genre. Four contextual factors are, subsequently, placed under scrutiny: the ethics of virtue, the rhetorical category of exemplum, the anthropomorphization of animals, and the poetological principle of prodesse et delectare. All of these factors may be considered as vigorous and interrelated components of premodern culture, and all four of them, moreover, constituted fundamental prerequisites for the conceptualization and functioning of the Aesopic genre. By analysing how the emerging paradigm of modernity diminished the position and importance of these contextual factors, the article seeks to demonstrate the existence of an undeniable dividing line in European fable history somewhere around 1800. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/f1e01f5a-5d77-4a4b-994c-a347d76558fb
- author
- Zillén, Erik
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Aesopic fable, genre history, premodern culture, modernity, Aesopic fable, anthropomorphization, genre history, modernity, principle of prodesse & delectare, rhetorical exemplum, virtue ethics
- in
- Reinardus. Yearbook of the International Reynard Society
- volume
- 33
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 17 pages
- publisher
- John Benjamins Publishing Company
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85128058344
- ISSN
- 0925-4757
- DOI
- 10.1075/rein.00055.zil
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f1e01f5a-5d77-4a4b-994c-a347d76558fb
- date added to LUP
- 2021-12-27 18:53:24
- date last changed
- 2023-10-23 08:03:44
@article{f1e01f5a-5d77-4a4b-994c-a347d76558fb,
abstract = {{Taking as its starting point the scholarly discussion about the possible death of the Aesopic fable towards the end of the eighteenth century, this article proposes a broadening of perspective, arguing for a thorough examination of the impact of modernity on some of the basic contexts and conditions of the genre. Four contextual factors are, subsequently, placed under scrutiny: the ethics of virtue, the rhetorical category of exemplum, the anthropomorphization of animals, and the poetological principle of prodesse et delectare. All of these factors may be considered as vigorous and interrelated components of premodern culture, and all four of them, moreover, constituted fundamental prerequisites for the conceptualization and functioning of the Aesopic genre. By analysing how the emerging paradigm of modernity diminished the position and importance of these contextual factors, the article seeks to demonstrate the existence of an undeniable dividing line in European fable history somewhere around 1800.}},
author = {{Zillén, Erik}},
issn = {{0925-4757}},
keywords = {{Aesopic fable, genre history, premodern culture, modernity; Aesopic fable; anthropomorphization; genre history; modernity; principle of prodesse & delectare; rhetorical exemplum; virtue ethics}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{151--167}},
publisher = {{John Benjamins Publishing Company}},
series = {{Reinardus. Yearbook of the International Reynard Society}},
title = {{Death of a Genre? : The Aesopic Fable and the Emergence of Modernity}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/rein.00055.zil}},
doi = {{10.1075/rein.00055.zil}},
volume = {{33}},
year = {{2021}},
}