Rhetoric of Writing and Reading in the Preface to Pliny’S Naturalis Historia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20060011 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patrick Sinclair (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2003 |
| Pages | 277-299 |
| Publication date | 2003-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Flavian Rome (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/9789004217157_011 |
| OpenAlex | W761667970 |
| ISBN | 9789004217157 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
This chapter focuses on the rhetoric of tropes governing the preface. Pliny uses the rhetorical conventions of epistolarity to frame how the Naturalis Historia is read to benefit oneself as a public servant and citizen. Pliny's preface, as it enacts a specific manner of interpreting his Naturalis Historia , shows how interpretation itself can be politically interested, how claims for a reading are always direct attempts to affect power relations through coercion or persuasion. Pliny's preface is thoroughly political in that the politics of nation, class, family and gender are simply assumed, rhetorically, for both the author and his readership. For Pliny the preface involves his membership in the equestrian order and his service under Titus, his brother Domitian and his father Vespasian. According to Pliny's rhetoric, literary productivity and interpretation take place within a political scheme that calls for self-discipline and self-denial in the service of gender, class and nation. Keywords: Naturalis Historia ; persuasion; Pliny's preface; readership; rhetorical conventions
Art · Linguistics · Literature · Rhetoric · Classical Antiquity Studies · History · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.23 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2013 - 2022 (10) |
| Highly cited | No |