Aesthetics and Language

Code:

CL004

Acronym:

ELING

Instance: 2010/2011 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Portuguese and Romance Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Language Sciences

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
CL	35	Study Plan-Lang.Sciences:Linguistics	1	-	6	4
EPL	4	Study Plan	3	-	6	4

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Aims: This course aims, first of all, to provide students a series of pedagogical references on language and its antiquity as a scientific object, in particular in the epistemological fields of Philosophy, Rhetoric, Philology and Aesthetics. Secondly, and following the first introduction, students will reflect on the various functions of language and on the complex registers of Logos/ Reason, Ethos/ Custom and of Pathos/ Emotion, in both the institution of the so-called “common” language and “literary” language.

Skills: Throughout the semester, students will: a) reflect on the concepts of “tongue” and “language” as scientific objects; b) know and/or recognise some canonical texts on the use of language as “art”, aesthetic support or rhetoric instrument; c) distinguish, as far as possible and taking into account its overlapping, the arguments of Logos/ Reason, Ethos/ Custom and of Pathos/ Emotion; d) reflect on the different weight of these arguments in the various types/modes/genres of discourse; e) understand the role of various types of non-verbal language in the verbalisation of the so-called literary, para-literary and non-.literary discourses.

Program

I. The myth as an explanation of the origin of language. The idea of “perfect language”. The vitality of myths in the creation of the “transparent language” and ”dense language”. Language functions and dominant function.
a) Cratylus: from the conventionality of “meaning” to the materiality of “meaning”;
b) Herder: from the theological explanation to the biological explanation; the Pasilogia of Vismes;
c) Umberto Eco: from the boundaries of interpretation to the “reconsideration of Babel”; the “hypertext” in John Wilkins.
II. Fact and the interpretation of fact
a) “Current significance” and “virtual significance”;
b) Denotation and connotation;
c) Recitative rhythm and lyrical rhythm;
d) The laws of mathematical relationships;
e) Narrative mode and drama mode;
f) The notion of zero degree: ambiguities and aesthetic-rhetoric potential.
III. Rhetoric figuration and linguistic categories: sound, form, meaning and order
a) Some typologies
b) and its ambiguities.
IV. “How to do things with words” (Austin): aesthetic-rhetoric implications

Mandatory literature

ARISTÓTELES ; Poética, ed. Eudoro de Sousa, Lisboa, IN-CM, 1989
AUSTIN, John L. ; How to do Things with Words, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1965
BARTHES, Roland, ; A Aventura Semiológica, Lisboa, Edições 70, 1987
BARTHES, Roland; Elementos de Semiologia, Lisboa, Ed.70, 1997
BARTHES, Roland; O Grau Zero da Escrita, Lisboa, Edições 70, 1973
BARTHES, Roland ; S/Z, Paris, Seuil, [1970]
BESSELAAR, José Van Den ; A Conjectura na Filologia: Usos e Abusos, Paris, F.C.G., 1989
BENJAMIN, Walter ; A obra de Arte na era da sua reprodutibilidade, “Sobre Arte, Técnica, Linguagem e Política”, Lisboa, Relógio d’Água, 1992
CARVALHO, Amorim de ; Teoria Geral da Versificação, 2 vols., Lx, Império, 1987
CARVALHO, José G. Herculano de ; Teoria da Linguagem. Natureza do Fenómeno linguístico e a análise das línguas, 2 vols., Coimbra, Atlântida, 1979
ECO, Umberto ; A Procura da Língua perfeita, trad. M. Serras Pereira, Lisboa, Presença, 1996
ECO, Umberto ; Os Limites da Interpretação, trad. J. Colaço Barreiros, Lx, Difel, 1992
FONSECA, Fernanda Irene ; Quand Dire c’est Feindre, Sep. Revista da Faculdade de Letras. Línguas e Literaturas, II Série, Vol. X, 1993, pp. 55-62
FÓNAGY, Ivan ; Essais de Psycho-Phonétique, Paris, Payot, 1993
GENETTE, Gérard; Mimologiques: Voyages en Cratylie, Paris, Seuil, 1976
GROUPE m; Rhétorique Génerale, Paris, Seuil, 1982
HJELMSLEV, Louis; Prolégomènes à une Théorie du Langage: La Structure Fondamentale du Langage, Paris, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1966
JAKOBSON, Roman; Seis Lições sobre o Som e o Sentido, Lisboa, Moraes Ed., 1977
HALL, Edward ; Le Langage Silencieux, trad. J. Mesrie, B. Niceall, Paris, Seuil, 1984
HERDER ; Ensaio sobre a Origem da Linguagem, trad. J. Justo, Lx, Antígona, 1987
LAPA, M. Rodrigues; Estlística da Língua Portuguesa, Coimbra, Coimbra Editora, 1979
LAUSBERG, Heinrich; Elementos de Retórica Literária, Lisboa, F. C. Gulbenkian, 1972
MALATO, M. Luísa / CUNHA, Paulo Ferreira da ; Manual de Retórica&Direito , Lisboa, Quid Juris, 2007
MARTIN, John ; The Intercultural Performance Handbook, London, Routledge, 2004
MELO, Gladstone Chaves de ; Ensaio de Estilística da Língua Portuguesa, Albufeira, Poseidon, 1979
PESSOA, Fernando ; A Língua Portuguesa, ed. L. Medeiros, Lx, Assírio e Alvim, 1997
PLATÃO ; Crátilo, trad. M. José Figueiredo, Lisboa, Instituto Piaget, 2001
RIFATERRE, Michel ; Essais de Stylistique Structurale , Paris, Flammarion, 1971
TOWNSEND, Dabney ; Introdução à Estética. História. Correntes. Teorias, trad. Paula Mourão, Lisboa, Edições 70, 2002
VILELA, Mário ; Metáforas do Nosso Tempo, Coimbra, Almedina, 2002
WATZLAWICK, Paul ; La Réalité de la Réalité. Confusion, Désinformation, Communication, trad. E. Roskis, Paris, Seuil, 1978

Teaching methods and learning activities

Expository theoretical classes and comments on the main reading list.
Practical classes: analysis and use of theoretical concepts in language situations.
Oral and/or written presentation of a research assignment.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Attendance (estimated)	Participação presencial	56,00
	Exame	2,00
Texts Analysis and Presentation	Trabalho escrito	34,00		2011-05-31
	Total:	-	0,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Description	Type	Time (hours)	End date
	Estudo autónomo	70
	Total:	70,00

Eligibility for exams

In accordance with regulations in force. Mandatory attendance of at least 75% of classes

Calculation formula of final grade

Research assignment: 30%.
Final exam: 70%.

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Not applicable

Classification improvement

In accordance with the Assessment Regulations in force.

Observations

Extra-class appointments will be scheduled with students.