On EloquenceYale University Press, 2008 M10 1 - 208 pages On Eloquence questions the common assumption that eloquence is merely a subset of rhetoric, a means toward a rhetorical end. Denis Donoghue, an eminent and prolific critic of the English language, holds that this assumption is erroneous. While rhetoric is the use of language to persuade people to do one thing rather than another, Donoghue maintains that eloquence is gratuitous, ideally autonomous, in speech and writing an upsurge of creative vitality for its own sake. He offers many instances of eloquence in words, and suggests the forms our appreciation of them should take. Donoghue argues persuasively that eloquence matters, that we should indeed care about it. Because we should care about any instances of freedom, independence, creative force, sprezzatura, he says, especially when we liveperhaps this is increasingly the casein a culture of the same, featuring official attitudes, stereotypes of the officially enforced values, sedated language, a politics of pacification. A noteworthy addition to Donoghues long-term project to reclaim a disinterested appreciation of literature as literature, this volume is a wise and pleasurable meditation on eloquence, its unique ability to move or give pleasure, and its intrinsic value. |
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Page 2
... stories, and the stories are related, how- ever deviantly, to the world or worlds we hold in common. But we take pleasure in eloquence that is not merely or completely referential. In “The Convalescent,” a chapter of the third book of ...
... stories, and the stories are related, how- ever deviantly, to the world or worlds we hold in common. But we take pleasure in eloquence that is not merely or completely referential. In “The Convalescent,” a chapter of the third book of ...
Page 12
... stories in verse . 15 “ The rapid communication of intelligence ” : meaning news- papers , as today it would mean television and the Internet . “ A craving for extraordinary incident ” would correspond to our “ reality ” television ...
... stories in verse . 15 “ The rapid communication of intelligence ” : meaning news- papers , as today it would mean television and the Internet . “ A craving for extraordinary incident ” would correspond to our “ reality ” television ...
Page 13
... story is that a king should not abdicate― divest himself of his holdings — unless he has to , and if he abdicates without need he should not fool himself into thinking that he can retain as a “ reservation ” “ the name , and all th ...
... story is that a king should not abdicate― divest himself of his holdings — unless he has to , and if he abdicates without need he should not fool himself into thinking that he can retain as a “ reservation ” “ the name , and all th ...
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Page 62
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