Roman declamation: Between creativity and constraints /
Saved in:
Author / Creator: | Brightbill, Jeremy David, author. |
---|---|
Imprint: | 2015. Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2015 |
Description: | 1 electronic resource (253 pages) |
Language: | English |
Format: | E-Resource Dissertations |
Local Note: | School code: 0330 |
URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/10773377 |
Other authors / contributors: | University of Chicago. degree granting institution. |
---|---|
ISBN: | 9781339320748 |
Notes: | Advisors: Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer Committee members: Michele Lowrie; Peter White. Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 77-05(E), Section: A. English |
Summary: | Declamation in ancient Rome was a rhetorical exercise through which young men gained facility at public speaking. It was a fundamentally creative activity, but at the same time subject to constraints that channeled this creativity in particular directions. This dissertation focuses on a type of declamation known as the controversia, in which the student was presented with a fictional legal controversy and had to make a court speech on behalf of either the prosecution or the defense. It studies how the themata ("themes," or fictional scenarios) of these exercises invited different types of responses---argumentative, narrative, emotional, character-driven, utilitarian, and so forth---from the speaker. The combination of creativity and constraints provided training in moral reasoning and social valuation in addition to practical skills for courtroom advocacy. Many puzzling features of the genre make sense when compared with other Roman discursive practices, such as the use of historical exempla ("examples") in ethical decision making, the assertion of control in literary translations of Greek texts, and the use of legal fictions in jurisprudence. |
Similar Items
-
Roman declamation /
Published: (1980) -
Reading Roman declamation : the declamations ascribed to Quintilian /
Published: (2016) -
Reading Roman declamation : the declamations ascribed to Quintilian /
Published: (2016) -
Reading Roman declamation : Calpurnius Flaccus /
Published: (2017) -
Reading Roman declamation : Calpurnius Flaccus /
Published: (2017)