Aesthetics and Language

Code:

CL004

Acronym:

ELING

Instance: 2014/2015 - 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	31	CL - Study Plan	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.

Learning outcomes and competences

 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.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Not applicable.

Program

I. Propaedeutical references about language, since the very first beginnings of Linguistic Studies, in several fields: Philosophy, Rhetoric, Aesthetics, Philology and Linguistic Science 1. Baumgartem and the Physiology of Taste. 2. Aesthetics and its redefinition: the Fine Arts' Theory. II. Language and Sensibility: some persistent questions. 1. Conventionality, Motivation and Efficiency: from “Cratyle” and “Gorgias” (Plato) to “Poetic” and Rhetoric” (Aristotle). 2. Aristotle ant the Phythagoric Table. Founding Myths and aesthetic language. The perfect language: several perspectives. 3. Things and Words, Facts and Opinions, Words and Signs. Signs and Symbols. 4. The dream of neutrality: denotative and connotative meaning. 5. Periodology of styles and Typology of styles III. Speech and Figures of Speech. 1. From signifier to signified. Some figures in context. 2. From signified to signifier. Some figures in context. 3. From “Storytelling” ao “Verbicyde”. “How to do things with words” (Austin). The importance of silence and non-verbal languages in Aesthetics and Rhetoric.

Mandatory literature

ARISTÓTELES ; Poética, ed. Eudoro de Sousa, Lisboa, IN-CM, 1989
ARISTÓTELES, HORÁCIO, LONGINO ; A Poética Clássica, São Paulo, Cultrix, 1985
AUSTIN, John L. ; How to do Things with Words, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1965
BARILLI, Renato; Curso de Estética, trad. Isabel T. Santos, Lisboa, Estampa, , 1992
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]
BENJAMIN, Walter ; A obra de Arte na era da sua reprodutibilidade, “Sobre Arte, Técnica, Linguagem e Política”, Lisboa, Relógio d’Água, 1992
BURKE, Edmond ; A Philosophical Enquiry, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1990
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
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
HUIZINGA, Johan ; Homo Ludens. Essai sur la fonction sociale du jeu, Paris, Gallimard, 1988
JAKOBSON, Roman; Seis Lições sobre o Som e o Sentido, Lisboa, Moraes Ed., 1977
KANT, I.; Crítica da Faculdade do Juízo, Lisboa, IN-CM, 1998
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
NIETZSCHE, F. ; Da Retórica, Lisboa, Vega, 1995
PESSOA, Fernando ; A Língua Portuguesa, ed. L. Medeiros, Lx, Assírio e Alvim, 1997
PLATÃO ; Crátilo, trad. M. José Figueiredo, Lisboa, Instituto Piaget, 2001
SCHILLER, F. ; Sobre a Educação Estética do Ser Humano numa Série de Cartas e Outros Textos, Lisboa, IN-CM, 1994
TARDE, Gabriel de – ; As leis da imitação, trad. Carlos Maia, Porto, Rés, s.d.
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
YAGUELLO, Marina; Les fous du langage, Paris, Seuil, 1984

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. Presentation of a report.

Software

Humanities

keywords

Humanities
Humanities > Literature
Humanities > Philosophy
Humanities > language sciences

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	50,00
Trabalho escrito	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	70,00
Frequência das aulas	56,00
Trabalho de investigação	36,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

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

Calculation formula of final grade

Report: 50%. Final exam: 50%.

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.