Language and Character in Euripides' Electra

by Evert van Emde Boas

Overview

This study of Euripides' Electra approaches the text through the lens of modern linguistics, marrying it with traditional literary criticism in order to provide new and informative means of analysing and interpreting what is considered to be one of the playwright's most controversial works. It is the first systematic attempt to apply a variety of modern linguistic theories, including conversation analysis, pragmatics, sociolinguistics (on gender and politeness), paroemiology, and discourse studies, to a single Greek tragedy. The volume focuses specifically on issues of characterization, demonstrating how Euripides shaped his figures through their use of language, while also using the same methodology to tackle some of the play's major textual issues. An introductory chapter treats each of the linguistic approaches used throughout the book, and discusses some of the general issues surrounding the play's interpretation. This is followed by chapters on the figures of the Peasant, Electra herself, and Orestes, in each case showing how their characterization is determined by their speaking style and their 'linguistic behaviour'. Three further chapters focus on textual criticism in stichomythia, on the messenger speech, and on the agon. By using modern linguistic methodologies to argue for a balanced interpretation of the Electra's main characters, the volume both challenges dominant scholarly opinion and enhances the literary interpretation of this well-studied play. Taking full account of recent and older work in both linguistics and classics, it will be of use to readers and researchers in both fields, and includes translations of all Greek cited and a glossary of linguistic terminology to make the text accessible to both.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192512215
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	01/26/2017
Series:	Oxford Classical Monographs
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	834 KB

About the Author

Evert van Emde Boas is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Calleva Research Centre at Magdalen College, Oxford, where his work forms part of an interdisciplinary investigation of the psychology of theatre audiences. He received his BA and MA degrees from the University of Amsterdam and completed both an MSt and a DPhil at the University of Oxford, before going on to hold various teaching and research positions at the University of Amsterdam, VU University Amsterdam, the University of Groningen, and Leiden University. His research focuses primarily on the application of modern linguistic and cognitive approaches to ancient Greek literature.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
List of Figures
A Note on Citation, Abbreviations, and Cross-referencing
0. Introduction: Modern Linguistics and Euripides' Electra
1. Aims, approaches, outline
1.1. Reading, linguistically
1.2. Outline of the book
2. Linguistic approaches
2.1. Introduction: Bauformen and text types
2.2. Conversation Analysis
2.3. Pragmatics
2.3.1 Speech acts
2.3.2 (Neo-)Gricean theories of meaning
2.4. Sociolinguistics
2.4.1 Gender
2.4.2 Politeness and power
2.5. Gnomic utterances in context: some aspects of modern paremiology
2.6. Narrative and argumentative texts: discourse cohesion
3. Textual criticism
4. A view of the play
4.1. Characters and characterization
4.1.1 Conceptualization; characterization through style
4.1.2 Electra and Orestes
4.2. Themes and motifs
4.3. Tradition (and the recognition scene)
4.4. The roads not taken . . .
I. Rustic Language: The Peasant
1. Introduction
2. A peasant's tale (1 53)
3. Husband and wife (54 81, 341 63, 404 31)
3.1. A marriage under face-threat
3.2. Getting water (54 81)
3.3. Welcoming guests (341 63)
3.4. Preparing food (404 31)
4. Further stylistic points; conclusion
II. Constancy Amid Change: The Linguistic Characterization of Electra
1. Introduction
2. Resistance through lament: the early scenes (54 81, 112 214)
2.1. Electra as mourner
2.2. Electra as wife
2.3. Electra as Argive 'maiden'
2.4. The characterization of Electra
2.4.1 Patterns of miscommunication
2.4.2 Electra's character: the debate
3. Electra and her unexpected guest (215 338)
3.1. The stichomythia (215 89)
3.2. The 'message' (300 38)
4. Recognition and planning (487 698)
5. Electra, Aegisthus, and Clytemnestra
5.1. A play of halves?
5.2. The 'kakology' (907 56)
5.2.1 Electra's 'undramatic' generalizations
5.2.2 Analysis of the speech
5.3. 'Into the boudoir': Electra and Clytemnestra (998 1146)
5.3.1 Opening exchanges (998 1010)
5.3.2 Clytemnestra's speech (1011 50)
5.3.3 Parrhesia (1055 9)
5.3.4 Electra's speech (1060 99)
5.3.5 Mother and daughter (1102 46)
6. Exodos
6.1. The kommos (1177 1232)
6.2. The deus ex machina (1233 1358)
III. Orestes' Linguistic (Dis)guises
1. Introduction
2. Orestes incognito
2.1. Initial observations
2.2. The general reflections
2.2.1 'A man in exile is powerless' (236)
2.2.2 Pity and intelligence (290 6)
2.2.3 Evaluating character (367 400)
2.3. The second disguise (774 858)
3. Conclusion
IV. Redrawing the Lines: Pragmatics and Gender in Textual Criticism
1. Introduction
1.1. Vexed passages
1.2. L and P
2. Divided (?) we pray (671 84)
3. The hesitation scene (959 87)
3.1. On giving orders and having fashion sense (959 66)
3.2. Diverging minds (967 87)
4. Conclusion
V. A Tense Affair: The Messenger Speech
1. Introduction
2. Not 'what?' but 'how?'
3. Analysis of the narrative
3.1. Setting the scene (774 8)
3.2. 'A deliciously protracted game of cat and mouse' (779 97)
3.3. A moment for prayer (798 810)
3.4. The sacrifice of Aegisthus (810 43)
3.5. Aftermath and resolution (844 55, 855 7, 857 8)
3.6. Evaluation
4. Conclusion
VI. The Language of Rhetoric: The Agon Revisited
1. Introduction
2. Exordium
2.1. Clytemnestra
2.2. Electra
3. Narratio
3.1. Clytemnestra
3.2. Electra
4. Argumentatio
4.1. Generalizations
4.2. Clytemnestra's hypotheticals
4.3. Rhetoric and characterization
5. Peroratio
5.1. Clytemnestra
5.2. Electra
6. Peroratio (II)
VII. Conclusion: Approaching Tragic Language
Endmatter
Glossary of Linguistic Terms
Bibliography
Indexes

Editorial Reviews

"The book as a whole is well organized and meticulously detailed, and presents a fresh approach to this play" — Kathryn Mattison, Department of Classics, McMaster University, Mouseion: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada

"I found van Emde Boas's analyses convincing and illuminating. His book combines an excellent contribution to the interpretation of this play with a methodological demonstration that ought to prove influential." — Malcolm Heath, Greece and Rome

"Evert van Emde Boas has produced a masterful book. His successful application of a linguistic approach should open the gateway to much valuable appreciation of the tragedies in the future. We should be most grateful to him." —James Morwood, Classics for All

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