The theory of the sublime from Longinus to Kant

330 Pages·2015·3.032 MB·English

by  Boileau-Despréaux, Nicolas;Burke, Edmund;Dennis, John;Doran, Robert;Huet, Pierre Daniel;Kant, Immanuel;Longinus;is Pseudo Longinus Longinus;Vico, Giambattista;Vico, Giovanni Battista

THE THEORY OF THE SUBLIME FROM LONGINUS
TO KANT
Inthisbook,RobertDoranoffersthefirstin-depthtreatmentofthe
majortheoriesofthesublime,fromtheancientGreektreatiseOnthe
Sublime(attributedto“Longinus”),anditsreceptioninearlymodern
literary theory, to the philosophical accounts of Burke and Kant.
Doran explains how and why the sublime became a key concept of
modernthoughtandshowshowthevarioustheoriesofsublimityare
unitedbyacommonstructure–theparadoxicalexperienceofbeing
at once overwhelmed and exalted – and a common concern: the
preservationofa notionoftranscendence inthe faceof thesecular-
ization of modern culture. Combining intellectual history with lit-
erary theory and philosophical analysis, his book provides a new,
searching, and multilayered account of a concept that continues to
stimulate thought about our responses to art, nature, and human
events.
robert doran is Associate Professor of Frenchand Comparative
Literature at the University of Rochester. He is the author of The
EthicsofTheory:Philosophy,History,Literature(forthcoming)andthe
editorofthreebooks:PhilosophyofHistoryAfterHaydenWhite(2013);
Hayden White’s The Fiction ofNarrative (2010);and René Girard’s
MimesisandTheory(2008).

THE THEORY OF THE SUBLIME
FROM LONGINUS TO KANT
ROBERT DORAN
UniversityofRochester
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Doran,Robert,1968–
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pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-10153-1
1. Sublime,The. I. Title.
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For my father:
1918–2010
Francis Yates Doran ( )

Contents
Acknowledgments pagex
Keytoabbreviationsandtranslations xii
Introduction 1
part i: longinus’s theory of sublimity 25
1 DefiningtheLonginiansublime 27
1.1 Insearchof“Longinus” 29
1.2 Longinusandancientrhetoric:sublimity(hypsos),discourse(logos),
andthequestionofstyle 32
1.3 Theexperienceofsublimity(hypsos):ecstasy(ekstasis),astonishment
(ekplêxis),wonder(thaumasion),andthemoment(kairos) 40
1.4 Creatingthesublime:genius(nature)versusart(technê) 48
1.5 Trueandfalsesublimity 53
2 Longinus’sfivesourcesofsublimity 58
2.1 Thefirstsourceofsublimity:grandeurofconception(noêsis) 59
2.2 Thesecondsourceofsublimity:vehement/inspiredemotion(pathos) 72
2.3 Thetechnicalsourcesofsublimity 78
3 Longinusonsublimityinnatureandculture 82
3.1 Thegrandeurofnature 83
3.2 Sublimityandculturaldecline 88
part ii: sublimity and modernity 95
4 Boileau:thebirthofaconcept 97
4.1 BoileauandLonginus 98
4.2 Boileauandneoclassicalpoetics:lesublime,lemerveilleux,andthe
jenesaisquoi 102
4.3 Sublimityandthehonnêtehomme 108
4.4 Sublimitybeyondrhetoric:lesublimeversuslestylesublime 110
vii
viii contents
4.5 Thequarreloffiatlux:BoileaucontraHuet 115
4.6 Boileauandtheheroicideal:Corneille’sQu’ilmourût 120
5 Dennis:terrorandreligion 124
5.1 “Delightfulhorror” 125
5.2 RecastingtheLonginiansublime:“ReligiousIdeas”and“Enthusiastik
Passion” 127
5.3 Terrorandtheimagination 133
5.4 SublimeanthropogenesisinDennisandVico 136
6 Burke:sublimeindividualism 141
6.1 Thequestionof“aesthetics”andthelegacyofLonginus 142
6.2 Burke’sempiricism:pleasure,pain,anddelight 146
6.3 Burke’saestheticanthropologyofthesublime:sympathy,mimesis,
andambition 153
6.4 Burke’ssociopoliticsofsublimity:thebourgeoishero 160
6.5 Terror,power,andreligion 164
part iii: the sublimity of the mind: kant 171
7 TheKantiansublimein1764:ObservationsontheFeelingofthe
BeautifulandtheSublime 173
7.1 TheoriginsoftheObservations 174
7.2 Kant’sObservationsandBurke’sEnquiry 178
7.3 Sublimity,morality,andliteraryrepresentation 182
8 ThesublimeinKant’sCritiqueofPracticalReason 185
8.1 TheroleofthesublimeinthesecondCritique 186
8.2 Respectandthemorallaw:thestructuralanalogybetweensublimity
andmorality 189
8.3 Sublimemoralityormoralsublimity? 195
9 ThesublimeinKant’sCritiqueofthePowerofJudgment 202
9.1 Reflectivejudgmentandthepurposivenessofnature 203
9.2 Thesublimeversusthebeautiful:form(Form),feeling(Gefühl),
andpurposiveness(Zweckmäßigkeit) 209
10 Judgingnatureasamagnitude:theMathematicallySublime 221
10.1 Theabsolutelyandthesimplygreat 222
10.2 Theappearanceofinfinity 227
10.3 Presentingthemaximum 230
10.4 Themonstrousandthecolossal 237
11 Judgingnatureasapower:theDynamicallySublime 240
11.1 MachtversusKraft:towardanaestheticsofresistance 241