Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie occidentale
Journal issue | 55 | 2021
Research Article | Nomi, parole e stili in Proust
Nomi, parole e stili in Proust
Abstract
This article is a reworking of the first chapter of a longer work yet to be published. It aims at retrieving an idea, which Proust formulated in 1913 and subsequently discarded, that is, the splitting of his oeuvre into “The Age of Names”, “The Age of Words”, and “The Age of Things”. Following this tripartite division, and reading it both diachronically and synchronically, I suggest that the language of the Recherche (and of art in general) should be understood as a conflictual interweaving of styles. A theory of styles does not only state the multiplicity of expressions, but attempts to identify different types of linguistic articulation, from which differing language-thought regimes are born. Alongside the re-evaluation of the importance of Names, this study suggests a reading of the aesthetic apprenticeship of the Recherche as the conquest of a style which, apart from being original (as it is bound to be), enhances the linguistic potential more directly through flexibility and metamorphosis. To be adequately understood, this perspective requires the contribution of the theory of literature and of philosophy.
Submitted: March 29, 2021 | Accepted: May 23, 2021 | Published Sept. 27, 2021 | Language: it
Keywords Styles • Ways of thinking • Metamorphosis • Metaphor • Divided language
Copyright © 2021 Giovanni Bottiroli. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOc/2499-1562/2021/09/001
