Author Description
Homeric Voices is a study, from a compositional point of view, of the substantial speeches and exchanges of speech that Homer depicts in his songs. Drawing on research in sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and cognitive psychology, Elizabeth Minchin considers the words that Homer attributes to his characters from two perspectives, as cognitive and as social phenomena. She asks how the poet worked with memory to generate the speech forms that he represents; and how Homeric speech constructs and reveals the social hierarchies that are bound up with age, status, and gender - with particular interest in gender - in the world of the poems.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This study investigates how Homeric speech acts function as both cognitive and social phenomena within the oral tradition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Elizabeth Minchin, a scholar of classics and cognitive approaches to literature, utilizes a multidisciplinary framework to analyze the composition of speeches. By integrating sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and cognitive psychology, she examines how the poet leveraged memory to construct dialogue and how these verbal exchanges reinforce social hierarchies regarding age, status, and gender.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of substantial speeches and conversational exchanges in Homeric epic.
- Application of cognitive psychology models to oral composition and memory.
- Sociolinguistic examination of power dynamics and social status in the Homeric world.
- Focused inquiry into the representation of gender through dialogue.
Scope Limits
- The analysis is restricted to the Homeric corpus and does not extend to later Greek tragedy or prose.
- The study prioritizes compositional and cognitive mechanics over purely aesthetic or historical-biographical interpretations.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars in the field of classical studies recognize this work as a significant contribution to the cognitive turn in Homeric scholarship. Experts frequently note the technical density of the prose, which effectively bridges the gap between traditional philology and modern cognitive science.
Page Count:
336
Publication Date:
2007-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
0191535613
ISBN-13:
9780191535611
English
English & College Success
Homeric Studies
Cognitive Psychology
Gender Studies
Literary Criticism
Homer
Sociolinguistics
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