Perspektieftotems : ses personae van Catullus

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A persona is a definable literary technique that all authors necessarily use. This thesis tries to show how Catullus, with the use of six personae (amator acceptus, amator reiectus, hospes urbanus, poeta doctus, fabulator en sacerdos), persuades the reader of the emotional 'authenticity and the accessibility of his poems. This is done firstly by investigating the literary process of which a persona forms part. By comparing this process with the three phases of a conversation (thought, expression and utterance), it is possible to see how a persona can be 'discovered. The thought represents the historical author and his literary context. The expression represents the literary persona itself. The utterance represents the unemotional, 'unloaded elements of the text manifested as the collective function of characters, speakers and narrators. By identifying this process in Catullus' poetry, the relevant personae are illuminated.Catullus, as a Latin poet who was familiar with 'Roman performance poetry and the ancient theatre mask, also understood this complex process. This thesis argues that Catullus used the persona – like a theatre mask – as a so-called 'totem of perspective. The careful use of persuasive techniques that provide the momentum, are analysed in some of his poems, keeping the function of this 'totem of perspective in mind. The result is that the poet succeeds in creating sophisticated, diverse and accessible personae, which readers through the ages readily accept as 'authentic.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University