Xorox Univarsity Microfilms 300 North Zmbroml Ann a Lter, Michigan 46100 NEFF, Roger Harvey, 1935- Rhetorical Theory — — - — -And Practic in SELECTED WORKS of FENELON
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Xorox Univarsity Microfilms 300 North ZMbRoMl Ann A lter, Michigan 46100 NEFF, Roger Harvey, 1935- rhetorical theory — — - — -and practic IN SELECTED WORKS OF FENELON. CPortions i f text in French]. The Ohio State University, PhD., 1973 Language and L iterature, modern University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan \ THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED, RHETORICAL THEORY AND PRACTICE IN SELECTED WORKS OP FENELON DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Roger Harvey Neff, B.A,, M.A. The Ohio State University 1973 Reading Committee* Approved by Dr. Hugo Bekker Dr. Charles Carlut Dr. Robert C ottrell ^ A d v iser Department of Romance Languages ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS « To Professor H. M, Davidson, who first introduced me to the field of rhetoric, I wish to extend my deepest appreciation for his inspiration and constant encourage m ent. i i VITA January 20, 1935 .............. Born - Bucyrus, Ohio 1956 ................ ........................ B.S., the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1956-1957 ............................... Fulbright Scholar, University de Lyon, France 1957-1961 ............................... Teaching Assistant, Department of Romance Languages, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1960 ............................ M.A., the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1961 - ..................................... Assistant Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Otterbein College, W esterville, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Fieldt French Literature Minor Fieldi Old Spanish Language and Literature i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................... i i VITA ......................................................................................................... i l l INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 C h a p te r I . RHETORIC... ................... 12 D e f in itio n M ethod M odels B ranches I I . RHETORICAL APPEALS ( I ) .................................................. 58 E th ic a l L o g ic a l I I I , RHETORICAL APPEALS ( I I ) ........................ ; ................... 101 P a in tin g Movement IV . ORDER ........................................................................................ lkl V. STYLE AND FIGURES .............................................................. 188 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 252 APPENDIX ................................................................................................ 262 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................... 267 INTRODUCTION Many of FSnelon's views on rhetoric and literature are already familiar to students of French classical literature. They are to be found primarily in his Dia logues sur l 1Eloquence and Lettre JI l*Acad£mie. the former being one of his earliest pieces of writing, com posed probably around 16?9 * t the latter among his last, written in 171^. Both works reveal a great fam iliarity with the writings on rhetoric left by the ancients, part icularly by Plato, Cicero, Q uintilian, Longinus and Saint Augustine. The opinions expressed by FSnelon in the two works, although varying in degree of development and emphasis from one work to the other, remain essential ly the same, indicating that throughout his major writ ing career FSnelon was guided by the same set of aesthet ic ideals—sim plicity, naturalness, order and harmony— and the same set of principles concerning the aims of rhetoric and the means used by the orator or poet in achieving them, The aim of this study is to draw from his theoretical works those basic rhetorical principles and then to examine in what way and to what extent Flne- lon was guided by them in his various writings repre sentative of the approximately thirty-five year period 2 separating the two works. Although Flnelon does not formulate a comprehen sive or systematic theory of rhetoric as do Cicero in his De Partitlone Oratoria. Quintilian in his Insti- tutio Pretoria, or his contemporaries such as Rene Bary or Bernard Lamy, his informal dialogues do treat the major aspects of rhetoric discussed by the ancients and found in the traditional manuals of rhetoric, such asi the nature of rhetorici the character, training and duties of the oratorj the orator's functions of instructing, pleasing and moving the listener» the divi sions of speech into invention, disposition, elocution and delivery, Flnelon adds to his discussion of these traditional topics some observations on Christian rhet oric in particular. Although he touches on all of these aspects of rhetoric, this study concentrates only on those to which he gives the greatest attention! the nature of rhetoric, the orator, the function of nreuves. peinture and mouvement. and style and figures. These topics constitute the basis of the various chapters of my studyi each is dealt with from the point of view of theory and application. The order in which they are treated conforms largely to the order in which they ap pear in the Dialogues sur l 'gloquence. In the first chapter on the nature of rhetoric we shall determine how Fenelon defined rhetoric, what he considered the aims of rhetoric to be, his own practice of the various branches of oratory and his use of topics for developing different types of speeches, and finally, his models of eloquence. The second chapter deals with two kinds of appeals, the ethical and the logical, to which the speaker or writer has recourse in his attempts to persuade his audience* In discussing the ethical appeal we have attempted to set forth FSneIon's concept of the ideal orator and then to determine how FSnelon saw himself in his role as preacher. Chapter three dis cusses Flnelon*s theory and practice of the use of neintures and -mouvements as additional appeals in the per suasive process. Fenelon*s interest in the visual arts and in music and rhythm w ill enter into our discussion here. An examination of his views on the other arts and their relationship to oral and written expression is of particular interest in view of the growing interest among his contemporaries in re-establishing the close p association of poetry, painting and music. A brief look at FSnelon's own poetic activity is included in this c h a p te r . Order, for FSnelon, was "ce qu'il y a de plus rare dans les operations de 1* e s p ritIn chapter four we shall examine FSnelon's statements on order and see what organizational principles he observes both in structuring his larger works and in arranging the parts of individual discourses or narrative passages. Finally, we shall see what FSnelon says concerning style and figures, and try to identify those figures which are most closely assoc iated with FSnelon's use of rhetoric&l appeals. We hope to demonstrate that for FSnelon figures were not to be • used for their own sake, but for their psychological ef fect. Rather than compiling an exhaustive catalogue of all schemes and tropes appearing in lenelon's writings, we shall concentrate primarily on his use of one major figure, simile, to see how he adapts its use to specific occasions and audiences. The principal works which we shall examine for the application of these rhetorical principles, in addition to the two theoretical works, arei the TraitS de 1Edu cation des filles (168*0, the Dialogues des morts (1689- 99)» TglSmaaue (169*1-96), the