Hypotyposis

The article deals with the correspondence of arts in the poems by Wacław Oszajca. The reading of two texts: the two from the painting by Delacroix and La Cene — Salvador Dali allows determining how the poet utilizes the painting material, and discussing the role of these references. The poet does not focus his attention merely on the pictorial creations of the masters — the paintings allow him to reveal a different dimension of human existence, i.e. a religious experience.
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Artykuł dotyczy korespondencji sztuk w wierszach Wacława Oszajcy. Lektura dwóch tekstów: dwóch z obrazu Delacroix i La Cene - Salvadora Dali pozwala określić, w jaki sposób poeta wykorzystuje materiał malarski, i omówić rolę tych odniesień. Poeta nie skupia się jedynie na malarskiej twórczości mistrzów - obrazy pozwalają mu odsłonić inny wymiar ludzkiej egzystencji, czyli przeżycie religijne.

En este artículo analizamos el concepto de “pintura verbal” en clave retórica y poética. Desde la definición de enárgeia pergeñada por Aristóteles, como la portentosa cualidad reconocible en aquellas representaciones vívidas que intentan poner el objeto ante los ojos del oyente/lector, la noción ha sido objeto de una profunda evolución, la cual entraña un considerable elenco de dificultades que determinan su ontología. Como consecuencia de la tensión que presentan las diferentes formalizaciones verbales de la imagen literaria, abordaremos el análisis teórico de las tres variantes descriptivas a la luz de la Poética y la Retórica: la descripción en un sentido general, entendida como aquella representación literaria de un referente, tanto espacial como visualmente; la hipotiposis o aquella descripción pictorialista de escenas y lugares que implica la concepción del objeto como una obra de arte plástico; y la écfrasis, definida por Heffernan como la representación verbal de una representación plástica. No obstante, ante la imposibilidad de limitar nuestra perspectiva a los criterios clásicos de la retórica por el avance conceptual que han experimentado las variantes descriptivas en el contexto de la Teoría literaria del siglo XX, defenderemos en este artículo la consideración de determinados aspectos que pueden ayudarnos a establecer una clara distinción entre descripción, hipotiposis y écfrasis como figuras discursivas.

This paper analyses the concept of “Word-Painting” in rhetorical and poetical terms. Since Aristotle defined the enárgeia as the powerful quality of those vivid representations which attempt to place the object before the hearer’s/reader’s eyes, the concept itself has been involved in a deep evolution which has entailed several problems concerning its ontology. As a result of the tension between the different verbal formalizations of literary images, we will discuss the three kinds of descriptive species in the light of Poetics and Rhetoric: the description in a general sense, conceived as a literary representation of a referent, both spatially and visually; the hypotyposis or that pictorial description of scenes or places which implies the conception of the object as a visual work; and the ekphrasis, defined by Heffernan as verbal representation of visual representation. However, it is impossible to limit our perspective to the classical criteria from Rhetoric due to the conceptual advances that have experienced the descriptive variants in the context of 20th century Literary theory. Consequently, this article argues the regard of certain aspects which could help us establish a clear distinction between description, hypotyposis and ekphrasis as figures of speech.

Poe's short story "The Black Cat" (1843) begins with the narrator stressing his verve and lucidity in relation to "the most wild, yet most homely narrative" that follows. The paradox, however, is that while the he claims to be in command of his faculties, the strange events to be described present a case where, the narrator says, "my very senses reject their own evidence", making the truthfulness of his experience suspect. In consequence, he proceeds to "place before the world, plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events" for the reader to judge and make sense of – in other words, for the reader to experience for herself the awesome events, share their descriptive power, and satisfy the narrator's plea in doing so.

In my article, the key idea is that of failing description: as Poe's narrator feels that the reliability of his own reporting skills may have been compromised, he cannot be sure that his descriptions will be in accord with reality. He can only promise to tell the story "plainly, succinctly, and without comment", that is, to try to fail as little as possible in describing what happened. This is unsettling for him, and the readers share the effect, a fusion one can study through the concept of experience. I will do this, inspired by the current theoretical interest on emotion and affect. Methods include the rhetorical devices of ekphrasis (verbal representation of a visual representation) and hypotyposis (vivid description of a visual image), and Wayne C. Booth's notion of the unreliable narrator.

Author(s): Toikkanen, Jarkko Title: Failing description in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" Main work: Kokemuksen tutkimus IV : Annan kokemukselle mahdollisuuden Editor(s): Koivisto, Kaisa; Kukkola, Jani; Latomaa, Timo; Sandelin, Pirkko Year: 2014 Pages: 270-281 ISBN: 978-952-310-996-4 Publisher: Kokemuksen tutkimus IV : Annan kokemukselle mahdollisuuden Discipline: Literature studies School /Other Unit: School of Language, Translation and Literary Studies Item Type: Article in Compiled Work Language: en URN: URN:NBN:fi:uta-201508142222 Abstract: Poe's short story "The Black Cat" (1843) begins with the narrator stressing his verve and lucidity in relation to "the most wild, yet most homely narrative" that follows. The paradox, however, is that while the he claims to be in command of his faculties, the strange events to be described present a case where, the narrator says, "my very senses reject their own evidence", making the truthful...

Resumen: La literatura de viajes se caracteriza por el uso de recursos retóricos des-criptivos, en específico, la hipotiposis. Esta estrategia predomina en "In the Cave of the Children's Ghosts", de Lafcadio Hearn, un relato sobre una visita a las cuevas de Kukedo. El objetivo de este artículo es comparar segmentos del texto con dos traduc-ciones al español realizadas por José Manuel de Prada Samper y Esteve Serra para determinar el tipo de estrategias predominantes en el manejo de este recurso retórico. Según el marco descriptivo de Andrew Chesterman, las estrategias de traducción se clasifican en sintácticas, semánticas o pragmáticas, y su detección en un texto meta puede dar indicios de los objetivos de los traductores. En el caso que nos ocupa, la traducción literal predomina, pero también se acude a estrategias semánticas y prag-máticas para producir equivalentes de los recursos retóricos del texto fuente o para explicitar sus contenidos.
Palabras clave: estrategias de traducción; hipotiposis; Lafcadio Hearn; literatura de viajes

Abstract: Travel literature is characterized by the use of descriptive rhetorical resources, specifically, hypotyposis. This strategy prevails in "In the Cave of the Children's Ghosts" by Lafcadio Hearn; a story on a visit to Kukedo Caves. The aim of this article is to compare segments of the text with two Spanish-language translations by José Manuel de Prada Samper and Esteve Serra, respectively, in order to find out the sort of strategies prevailing in the treatment of this rhetoric device. According to Andrew Chesterman's descriptive framework, the translation strategies are classified as syntactic, semantic or pragmatic, and their detection in the final text may hint on the translators' goals. In the case at hand, literal translation prevails, but also semantic and pragmatic strategies are resorted to in order to reproduce equivalents for the rhetoric devices of the original text or o make its context explicit.

La censura de la «pintura verbal» elaborada por Cide Hamete Benengeli de la casa de don Diego de Miranda (II, Cap. XVIII) introduce una problemática en torno a la descripción que en este artículo será objeto de análisis. La consideración de las descripciones amplificadas como «frías digresiones» y su consecuente censura por parte del «traductor» se ve refutada posteriormente con el esbozo de un bodegón literario con motivo del banquete de las bodas de Camacho (II, Cap. XX). Así pues, en estas páginas ponderaremos si la tensión observada entre la censura y licencia con respecto al quehacer descriptivo de Cide Hamete Benengeli responde a una sátira cervantina, cuyo objeto son las descripciones amplificadas del canon retórico aurisecular; o bien al contrario, encierra un sentido en virtud del cual nos es factible interpretar la descripción como un recurso al servicio no tanto de la preceptiva retórica cuanto de la expresión realista de la ficción novelesca. Finalmente, discutiremos si el enfrentamiento entre el silencio impuesto por el «traductor» y la voluntad expresiva del «autor arábigo» bien puede ser reflejo de uno de los grandes temas de Don Quijote: la dialéctica entre licencia y censura de la libertad creativa en la España postridentina.

The censorship of word-painting of Don Diego de Miranda’s house (II, Ch. XVIII) drawn up by Cide Hamete introduces an issue about the literary description which will be analyzed in this paper. Cervantine conception of the amplified descriptions as «frías digresiones” and its subsequent censorship by the «traductor» is opposed to the painting of Camacho’s wedding reception (II, Chap. XX) in terms of a literary still life. Considering this contradiction, we will weigh whether the tension observed on the censorship and license of Cide Hamete’s word-painting responds to a cervantine satirical aim, whose object is the amplified descriptions according to the Renaissance rhetorical canon; or on the contrary, if it encloses an original regard on the description as a poetical device to sound out the realistic aesthetics within the cervantine fiction. Finally, we will discuss whether the opposition between the silence imposed by the “traductor” and the literary will of the “autor arábigo” could reflect one of the main Don Quixote’s themes: the dialectic between license and censorship of the creative freedom in post-Tridentine Spain.