Il genere del cosiddetto “poema sacro” fu uno dei più frequentati nella letteratura italiana tra il XVI e il XVIII secolo, ma le opere afferenti a questa categoria letteraria sono state a lungo ignorate dai critici. La mia ricerca si propone di studiare una sezione limitata di tale enorme produzione, ossia le opere in volgare pubblicate nel Ducato di Milano, coprendo un arco temporale che va dal 1566 al 1706. Sulla base di una rigorosa analisi dei componimenti, spesso poco studiati o del tutto sconosciuti, questo lavoro intende delineare le peculiari declinazioni dell'epica sacra nella realtà milanese, fortemente influenzata dall'indirizzo culturale proposto da Carlo e Federico Borromeo. Gli autori dei poemi considerati sono Sisto Poncello, Giovanni Maria Paroli, Cesare Della Porta, Ettore Colombo, Annibale Guasco, Giacomo Turamini, Antonio da Brugnato, Bernardino Baldi, Antonio Biaguazzone, Giulio Fe', Lelio Guidiccioni, Ambrogio Ferro, Francesco Antonio Tomasi, Francesco Pallavicini, Stefano Rossi, Giacinto Faggi, Giuseppe De Maltraversi, Pietro Paolo Giletti, Alessandro Ghirardelli, Basilio Bertucci. / The so-called “sacred poem” was one of the most successful genres of the Italian literature between the 16th and the 18th century, but the works belonging to this category have usually been ignored by critics. My research aims at studying a limited part of this enormous literary production, considering the vernacular poems published in the Duchy of Milan between 1566 and 1706. On the basis of a meticulous analysis of the texts, often scarcely studied or completely unknown, I intend to determine the features of the sacred epic in the Milanese environment, which was strongly influenced by the cultural policy promoted by Carlo and Federico Borromeo. The authors of the poems are Sisto Poncello, Giovanni Maria Paroli, Cesare Della Porta, Ettore Colombo, Annibale Guasco, Giacomo Turamini, Antonio da Brugnato, Bernardino Baldi, Antonio Biaguazzone, Giulio Fe', Lelio Guidiccioni, Ambrogio Ferro, Francesco Antonio Tomasi, Francesco Pallavicini, Stefano Rossi, Giacinto Faggi, Giuseppe De Maltraversi, Pietro Paolo Giletti, Alessandro Ghirardelli, Basilio Bertucci.

In this study I identify and argue for hybridity as a common feature in four postcolonial texts, namely Femi Abodunrin’s It Would Take Time, Edward Kamau Brathwaite’s Masks, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Matigari and Mvona’s An Arrow from Maraka. The study advances that when two or more cultures encounter one another hybridity affects the new emergent culture socially, linguistically, historically and politically. Employing Homi Bhabha’s interrelated terms, notably ambivalence, mimicry, liminality, the third space, in-between space and interstitial space —all of which gesture towards the concept of hybridity, the study explains the emergence of corresponding and equally complex identities in the postcolonial world. With a specific reference to Africa, the study establishes that postcolonial discourse is not as transparent because hybridity does not necessarily mean coming up with completely new aspects of Africa but it implies coming up with mixed cultures since different histories and cultures affect each other in order to come up with a new brand. As such the study concludes that hybridity is opposed to cultural purity and the assumed status quo. In this dissertation I therefore argue for hybridity as a solution to identity crisis because the new personality displays different traces which, in the words of Homi Bhabha, are called “transcultural identities” and such a plurality of identities leads to the production of hybrid personalities and cultures. Such transcultural forms within the contact zone, which Bhabha calls the “in-between space,” carry the burden and meaning of the new cultures that emerge in the postcolonial condition. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates the references to swords in key scenes in the Aeneid – particularly the scenes of Dido’s and Turnus’ death – in order to add new perspectives on these scenes and on the way in which they impact on the presentation of Aeneas’ Roman mission in the epic. In Chapter Two I attempt to provide an outline of the mission of Aeneas. I also investigate the manner in which Dido and Turnus may be considered to be opponents of Aeneas’ mission. In Chapter Three I investigate references to swords in select scenes in book four of the Aeneid. I highlight an ambiguity in the interpretation of the sword that Dido uses to commit suicide and I also provide a description of the sword as a weapon and its place in the epic. In Chapter Four I provide an analysis of the references to swords in Dido’s and Turnus’ death scenes alongside a number of other important scenes involving mention of swords. I preface my analyses of the references to swords that play a role in interpreting Dido and Turnus’ deaths with an outline of the reasons for the deaths of each of these figures. The additional references to swords that I use in this chapter are the references to the sword in the scene of Deiphobus’ death in book six and to the sword and Priam’s act of arming himself on the night on which Troy is destroyed. At the end of Chapter Four I look at parallels between Dido and Turnus and their relationship to the mission of Aeneas. At the end of this thesis I am able to conclude that an investigation and analysis of the references to swords in select scenes in the Aeneid adds to existing scholarship in Dido’s and Turnus’ death in the following way: a more detailed investigation of the role of swords in the interpretation of Dido’s death from an erotic perspective strengthens the existing notion in scholarship that Dido is an obstacle to the mission of Aeneas. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die verwysings na swaarde in kerntonele in die Aeneïs – hoofsaaklik die sterftonele van Dido en Turnus – met die oog daarop om addisionele perspektiewe te verskaf op hierdie tonele en die impak wat hulle het op die voorstelling van Aeneas se Romeinse missie in die epos. In hoofstuk twee poog ek om ’n oorsig te bied van Aeneas se Romeinse missie. Ek stel ook ondersoek in na die mate waartoe Dido en Turnus as teenstanders van Aeneas se Romeinse missie beskou kan word. In Hoofstuk Drie ondersoek ek die verwysings na swaarde in spesifieke tonele van boek vier van die Aeneïs. Ek verwys na ’n dubbelsinnigheid in die interpretasie van die swaard wat Dido gebruik om selfmoord te pleeg en verskaf ook ’n beskrywing van die swaard as ’n wapen en die gebruik daarvan in die epos. In Hoofstuk Vier verskaf ek ‘n ontleding van die verwysings na swaarde in Dido en Turnus se sterftonele saam met ’n aantal ander belangrike tonele met verwysings na swaarde. Ek lei my ontleding van die beskrywings van die swaarde wat ’n rol speel in die interpretasie van Dido en Turnus se sterftes in met ’n uiteensetting van die redes vir die dood van elk van hierdie figure. Die addisionele verwysings na swaarde wat ek in hierdie hoofstuk ontleed, is die verwysing na die swaard in die toneel van Deiphobus se dood in boek ses en die verwysing na die swaard in die toneel waar Priamus sy wapenrusting aantrek op Troje se laaste aand. Aan die einde van Hoofstuk Vier ondersoek ek die parallele tussen Dido en Turnus en hulle verhouding tot Aeneas se Romeinse missie. Hierdie tesis ondersoek die verwysings na swaarde in kerntonele in die Aeneïs – hoofsaaklik die sterftonele van Dido en Turnus – met die oog daarop om addisionele perspektiewe te verskaf op hierdie tonele en die impak wat hulle het op die voorstelling van Aeneas se Romeinse missie in die epos. In hoofstuk twee poog ek om ’n oorsig te bied van Aeneas se Romeinse missie. Ek stel ook ondersoek in na die mate waartoe Dido en Turnus as teenstanders van Aeneas se Romeinse missie beskou kan word. In Hoofstuk Drie ondersoek ek die verwysings na swaarde in spesifieke tonele van boek vier van die Aeneïs. Ek verwys na ’n dubbelsinnigheid in die interpretasie van die swaard wat Dido gebruik om selfmoord te pleeg en verskaf ook ’n beskrywing van die swaard as ’n wapen en die gebruik daarvan in die epos. In Hoofstuk Vier verskaf ek ‘n ontleding van die verwysings na swaarde in Dido en Turnus se sterftonele saam met ’n aantal ander belangrike tonele met verwysings na swaarde. Ek lei my ontleding van die beskrywings van die swaarde wat ’n rol speel in die interpretasie van Dido en Turnus se sterftes in met ’n uiteensetting van die redes vir die dood van elk van hierdie figure. Die addisionele verwysings na swaarde wat ek in hierdie hoofstuk ontleed, is die verwysing na die swaard in die toneel van Deiphobus se dood in boek ses en die verwysing na die swaard in die toneel waar Priamus sy wapenrusting aantrek op Troje se laaste aand. Aan die einde van Hoofstuk Vier ondersoek ek die parallele tussen Dido en Turnus en hulle verhouding tot Aeneas se Romeinse missie.

This report examines Porphyry’s De antro nympharum and its eclectic mixture of philosophy, allegory, and mysticism in the form of a Homeric commentary. The paper situates Porphyry’s commentary in the broader tradition of Homeric interpretation with special attention to Stoic exegesis and Platonic views on poetry and myth. It also contextualizes Porphyry’s philosophy in terms of the mystery cults, particularly Mithraism, that had grown very popular by Porphyry’s time. The paper argues that Porphyry devised a practice of reading intended to promote a level of philosophical contemplation beyond the level of rational discourse, in keeping with the Neoplatonic philosophy of his teacher, Plotinus, and that this practice is especially evident in the De antro nympharum. / text

Este ensaio estuda a invenção retórico-poética do poema épico Vila Rica, lido como uma composição que emula o costume da escrita das epopéias gregas, latinas e modernas, especialmente a Farsália de Lucano e a Henriade de Voltaire, atualizando, pelo intermédio do pensamento das preceptivas de Francisco José Freire, filtradas pela postura crítica de Voltaire, que deprecia a importância de muitas regras convenientes ao decoro do gênero épico. A epopéia de Cláudio Manuel da Costa é entendida como um exercício prático de poesia, orientado para o ensinamento da instrução moral e para a admiração do deleite poético, retratadas na atitude ideal do chefe militar português de uma encenação da história da pacificação das terras mineiras, produzindo uma gênese mítica heróica para a pátria mineira, buscando a perpetuação da memória na posteridade, seguindo o exemplo da poesia épica retratada no mundo hispano-colonial, no chamado Siglo de oro, que encena a descoberta e a pacificação das colônias pelos europeus, aplicando um estilo sublime na reinvenção de uma ação entendida como heróica. Ao realizar este movimento, permanecendo inédito por muito tempo, e pouco divulgado por séculos, o poema Vila Rica agrega uma fortuna crítica que se divide entre a apologia e o vitupério do texto, que representa o topos do utópico, na medida em que a paisagem retratada difere evidentemente daquela encontrada na Arcádia e nas margens do rio Mondego, mais adequadas à figuração do exemplar locus amoenus, da poesia idílica de Teócrito. Ao mesmo tempo, realiza a mitificação da história pela superposição de diversos fatos históricos, apresentados no Fundamento Histórico, encenados como tópicos da morte e do amor, orientando e evidenciando o caráter de valorização da glória dos feitos dos representados do reino português num herói portador da perfecta eloquentia, contra um suposto domínio da lei natural pelos nativos do Estado do Brasil, reinventando a história na agregação de uma glória poética a ser reconhecida ou inventada numa sociedade hierárquica que encena a si mesma num teatro de imagens e discursos. Exclui-se a subjetividade de um sujeito em conflito consigo próprio pela melancolia da paisagem rochosa, buscando-se a glória, além da tradição, demonstrando a honra da moral católica da sociedade colonial luso-brasileira no empenho da elucidação da história. / This essay studies the rhetorical-poetical invention of the epic poem Vila Rica, read as a composition that emulates the written custom of the greek, latim and modern epics, especially the Pharsalia of Lucan and the Henriade of Voltaire, bringing up to date, by the intermediacy of the thought of Francisco José Freire\'s precepts, filtered by the critical position of Voltaire, that depreciates the importance of many convenient rules to the decorum on the epic genus. The epic of Cláudio Manuel da Costa is understood as a practical exercise of poetry, guided by the teaching of a moral instruction and in favor of the admiration of a poetical delight, portrayed in the ideal attitude of the Portuguese military head as a representation of the mining lands pacification\'s history, producing a mythical heroic source for the mining country, searching the upholding of the memory in the posterity, following the example of the epic poetry portrayed in the Hispanic-colonial world, in the so called Siglo de oro, that represents the discovery and the pacification of colonies by Europeans, applying a sublime style in the re-invention of an action understood as heroic. When carrying through this movement, remaining unknown for a long time, and little divulged for centuries, the poem Vila Rica supports a critical history that is divided between praise and vituperation of the text, which represents the topos of utopian, taking into account that the portrayed landscape differs evidently from that one joined in the Arcadia and in the edges of the Mondego river, adjusted to the picture of the pattern locus amoenus, of the idyllic poetry of Theocritus. At the same time, it carries through turning the History into a myth, by the overlapping of various historical events, presented in the Fundamento Histórico, figured as topics of the death and of love, guiding and evidencing the estimation\'s character on the glory of the Portuguese kingdom\'s representatives\' actions in a hero carrying a perfecta eloquentia, against a belief in the natural law\'s domain on the State of Brazil\'s natives, re-inventing History in the aggregation of a recognized poetical glory, or to be invented in a hierarchic society that stages itself in a theater of images and speeches. It is abstained the subjectivity of a being in conflict with himself caused by the melancholy of the rocky landscape, searching the glory, further than tradition, demonstrating the moralistic catholic\'s honor in the Portuguese-Brazilian colonial\'s society, persistencing in the explanation of History.

Este ensaio estuda a invenção retórico-poética do poema épico Vila Rica, lido como uma composição que emula o costume da escrita das epopéias gregas, latinas e modernas, especialmente a Farsália de Lucano e a Henriade de Voltaire, atualizando, pelo intermédio do pensamento das preceptivas de Francisco José Freire, filtradas pela postura crítica de Voltaire, que deprecia a importância de muitas regras convenientes ao decoro do gênero épico. A epopéia de Cláudio Manuel da Costa é entendida como um exercício prático de poesia, orientado para o ensinamento da instrução moral e para a admiração do deleite poético, retratadas na atitude ideal do chefe militar português de uma encenação da história da pacificação das terras mineiras, produzindo uma gênese mítica heróica para a pátria mineira, buscando a perpetuação da memória na posteridade, seguindo o exemplo da poesia épica retratada no mundo hispano-colonial, no chamado Siglo de oro, que encena a descoberta e a pacificação das colônias pelos europeus, aplicando um estilo sublime na reinvenção de uma ação entendida como heróica. Ao realizar este movimento, permanecendo inédito por muito tempo, e pouco divulgado por séculos, o poema Vila Rica agrega uma fortuna crítica que se divide entre a apologia e o vitupério do texto, que representa o topos do utópico, na medida em que a paisagem retratada difere evidentemente daquela encontrada na Arcádia e nas margens do rio Mondego, mais adequadas à figuração do exemplar locus amoenus, da poesia idílica de Teócrito. Ao mesmo tempo, realiza a mitificação da história pela superposição de diversos fatos históricos, apresentados no Fundamento Histórico, encenados como tópicos da morte e do amor, orientando e evidenciando o caráter de valorização da glória dos feitos dos representados do reino português num herói portador da perfecta eloquentia, contra um suposto domínio da lei natural pelos nativos do Estado do Brasil, reinventando a história na agregação de uma glória poética a ser reconhecida ou inventada numa sociedade hierárquica que encena a si mesma num teatro de imagens e discursos. Exclui-se a subjetividade de um sujeito em conflito consigo próprio pela melancolia da paisagem rochosa, buscando-se a glória, além da tradição, demonstrando a honra da moral católica da sociedade colonial luso-brasileira no empenho da elucidação da história. / This essay studies the rhetorical-poetical invention of the epic poem Vila Rica, read as a composition that emulates the written custom of the greek, latim and modern epics, especially the Pharsalia of Lucan and the Henriade of Voltaire, bringing up to date, by the intermediacy of the thought of Francisco José Freire\'s precepts, filtered by the critical position of Voltaire, that depreciates the importance of many convenient rules to the decorum on the epic genus. The epic of Cláudio Manuel da Costa is understood as a practical exercise of poetry, guided by the teaching of a moral instruction and in favor of the admiration of a poetical delight, portrayed in the ideal attitude of the Portuguese military head as a representation of the mining lands pacification\'s history, producing a mythical heroic source for the mining country, searching the upholding of the memory in the posterity, following the example of the epic poetry portrayed in the Hispanic-colonial world, in the so called Siglo de oro, that represents the discovery and the pacification of colonies by Europeans, applying a sublime style in the re-invention of an action understood as heroic. When carrying through this movement, remaining unknown for a long time, and little divulged for centuries, the poem Vila Rica supports a critical history that is divided between praise and vituperation of the text, which represents the topos of utopian, taking into account that the portrayed landscape differs evidently from that one joined in the Arcadia and in the edges of the Mondego river, adjusted to the picture of the pattern locus amoenus, of the idyllic poetry of Theocritus. At the same time, it carries through turning the History into a myth, by the overlapping of various historical events, presented in the Fundamento Histórico, figured as topics of the death and of love, guiding and evidencing the estimation\'s character on the glory of the Portuguese kingdom\'s representatives\' actions in a hero carrying a perfecta eloquentia, against a belief in the natural law\'s domain on the State of Brazil\'s natives, re-inventing History in the aggregation of a recognized poetical glory, or to be invented in a hierarchic society that stages itself in a theater of images and speeches. It is abstained the subjectivity of a being in conflict with himself caused by the melancholy of the rocky landscape, searching the glory, further than tradition, demonstrating the moralistic catholic\'s honor in the Portuguese-Brazilian colonial\'s society, persistencing in the explanation of History.

Este trabalho irá propor novas possibilidades de leitura para o poema épico Vila Rica, do poeta mineiro Cláudio Manoel da Costa (1729-1789). Escrito em 1773, não chegou a vir à público durante a vida do autor que, desiludido com a pouca repercussão de suas obras na metrópole portuguesa, não o teria considerado digno de publicação, o que viria a ocorrer somente postumamente em 1839. Ocorre, porém, que Vila Rica é um documento de grande importância para a história do país, visto que faz a representação muito atenta da fundação da capital das Minas, cidade que aí significa a própria pátria. Seu poema épico é, antes de tudo, um dos poucos textos escritos em tempos coloniais que evidenciam perspectivas de análise da formação social, política e econômica da capitania de Minas. Ademais, as edições do Vila Rica são relativamente raras e pouco ensejaram leituras de caráter historiográfico que visassem compreender a obra como documento histórico. Faz-se imprescindível, portanto, à historiografia dos textos coloniais, definir novas possibilidades de leitura deste texto épico, contribuindo para enriquecer a historiografia colonial. Para isso devemos percorrer em análise as partes essenciais que compõem o Vila Rica, desde a Carta Dedicatória e o poema propriamente dito, passando pelo estudo histórico que o fundamenta, bastante revelador das qualidades literárias de Cláudio como historiador, o Fundamento Histórico. Resultado do empenho do poeta em vasculhar documentos e colher relatos sobre Minas, o Fundamento Histórico demonstra a nítida preocupação de fornecer autoridade à história que narra por meio da análise crítica e da escolha criteriosa das fontes. Sendo assim, a escrita da história contida no Fundamento e a utilizada no poema possuem características distintas, que respondem a pretensões específicas, que deveremos analisar. Pensar a maneira como se utiliza a História nestes dois níveis discursivos é tarefa imprescindível para iniciar qualquer consideração acerca do valor historiográfico do poema. E será este o motivo condutor do trabalho. Mostraremos enfim os critérios utilizados pela crítica já feita sobre o poeta e sua obra, que sempre tendeu à sua desvalorização do poema, para mostrar em seguida uma nova possibilidade de análise, comprometida em esboçar o valor historiográfico do poema a partir de sua própria constituição como discurso de gênero histórico. Assim percorreremos duas vias de análise. Em primeiro lugar procuraremos entender o poema como produto de sua época, definindo seus principais níveis de existência, desde a criação, passando pela circulação e leitura do mesmo. Desta análise passaremos a outra, comprometida com o entendimento dos pressupostos aplicados ao épico que o puderam definir como escrito de gênero histórico, reavaliando assim a obra. Discutiremos também a consciência, sempre presente na obra de Cláudio Manuel da Costa, de pertencer a uma nova terra, o que levou à afirmação do seu sentimento nacionalista e da motivação para a Inconfidência feita pelos críticos românticos. Veremos enfim as bases que conduzem este suposto patriotismo, a partir de uma análise dos preceitos poéticos utilizados pelo autor, tendo assim por tarefa perceber até que ponto este patriotismo deve ser entendido como expressão psicológica e individual de uma paixão pela pátria ou como mera aplicação de uma tópica de composição. / This work offers a new approach to the epic poem Vila Rica, by Minas Geraisborn poet Cláudio Manoel da Costa (1729-1789). Written in 1773, it was not published during the life of the author who, disenchanted with the poor repercussion of his works in the Portuguese metropolis, did not consider it worth of publication, which would only occur posthumously in 1839. Nevertheless, Vila Rica is a very important document for the history of the country, since it offers a rather accurate representation of the foundation of the Minas capital, a city that in this context means the country itself. His epic poem is, above all, one of the few documents written in colonial times that focus on the analysis of the social, political and economical formation of the captaincy of Minas. Furthermore, the editions of Vila Rica are relatively rare and little instigate historiographic studies that aim at perceiving the work as a historical document. It is imperative then, to the historiography of the colonial texts, to define new reading approaches to this epic text, contributing to enrich the colonial historiography. For that we must analyze the essential parts that make up Vila Rica, from Carta Dedicatória (Dedicatory Letter) and the poem itself, through the historic study that substantiates it, very revealing of Cláudio\'s literary talent as a historian, Fundamento Histórico (Historic Foundation). A result from the poet\'s application to search through documents and gather accounts on Minas, Fundamento Histórico clearly evinces the concern to provide authority to the story it narrates through critical analysis and a discerning choice of sources. That way, the history account in Fundamento and the one utilized in the poem have distinct characteristics, which aim at specific objectives, which we will analyze. To study the way he utilizes History in these two discursive levels is an indispensable task to approach any consideration as to the poem\'s historiographical value. And this will be the main motive of the work. We will show the criteria used by the critics on the poet and his work, which always tended to the depreciation of the poem, to later demonstrate a new possible analysis, one committed to sketch the poem\'s historiographic value from its own constitution as a historical discourse. We will therefore cover two lines of analysis. First we will try to understand the poem as a product of its own time, defining its main levels of existence, from its creation through its circulation and reading. From that we will proceed to the next one, committed to understanding the plans applied to the epic that could define it as a historical text, thus revaluating the work. We will also discuss the conscience, always present in Cláudio Manuel da Costa\'s work, that he belonged to a new land, which led to the affirmation of his nationalist feelings and the motivation for the Inconfidência (Disloyalty) made by the romantic critics. Finally, we will see the bases that direct this presumed patriotism, from an analysis of the poetic principles utilized by the author, aiming at perceiving how much this patriotism should be understood as a psychological and individual expression of a passion for his country or as a mere application of an argument for composition.

Thesis (M.A.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2008. / Directed by Amy Vines; submitted to the Dept. of English. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 28, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-85).

Texte remanié de : Ph. D. / Revision of author's thesis (Ph. D.).

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [264]-274) and index.