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Language and Human Action

Conceptions of Language in the "Essais</I> of Montaigne

by Richard A. Watson (Author)
©1996 Others X, 98 Pages
Series: Studies in the Humanities, Volume 12

Summary

Certainly the most elaborate single extant monument of Renaissance French prose literature, Michel de Montaigne's Essais presents a subject matter that often discusses and analyzes concepts of language in general as well as language as a vehicle of its own expression. This study addresses the author's exploration of the dedalus of language as he ambles and rambles its roads, streets, and alleys; draws the portrait of his philosophy of language or philology; and concludes his affirmative and positivistic attitude toward language and its literary application or the art and artistry of literature.
The great Renaissance humanist's depiction of language in the Essais is analyzed in this book on the basis of its division among intellectual, moral, and aesthetic aspects. This threefold reduction, finding its derivation in the critical work of Aristotle, Auerbach, and Bowen, is also related to the few particular and the important general critical studies of Montaigne and his vision and use, creation and re-creation of language.

Details

Pages
X, 98
Publication Year
1996
ISBN (Hardcover)
9780820419879
Language
English
Keywords
philosophy Renaissance expression philology
Published
New York, Bern, Berlin, Frankfurt/M., Paris, Wien, 1996. X, 98 pp.

Biographical notes

Richard A. Watson (Author)

The Author: R. A. Watson is Library Technical Specialist at Illinois State Library in Springfield. A native of Illinois, he was granted his B.A. cum laude by the University of Notre Dame and his A.M., M.S., and Ph.D. by the University of Illinois. A member of the American Association of Teachers of French, the American Association of Teachers of German, the American Library Association, and the Modern Language Association of America, he has taught at the University of Illinois and Southwest Missouri State University.

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Title: Language and Human Action