this issue
previous article in this issuenext article in this issue

Document Details :

Title: Where to Draw the Line?
Subtitle: Longinus, Goulu, and Balzac's Lettres
Author(s): GILBY, Emma
Journal: Lias
Volume: 43    Issue: 2   Date: 2016   
Pages: 225-240
DOI: 10.2143/LIAS.43.2.3197377

Abstract :
This article looks at the place of Longinus in Jean Goulu’s Lettres de Phyllarque à Ariste (1627-1628), written in response to the publication of Guez de Balzac’s collected letters. The article argues that the place of Longinus in these debates needs to be reconsidered, and that Goulu’s use of epideictic or demonstrative rhetoric is much more interesting than has previously been recognised. It pays close attention to Goulu’s translations of sections of On the Sublime, considering the ways in which Goulu’s praise of Longinus connects with his dispraise of Balzac. Goulu tries (problematically) to use Longinus to show that Balzac exceeds the bounds of vivid, plausible and persuasive discourse.

Download article