Introduction

Abstract

Since Aristotle’s time there have been books on the language of literature, and so one might wonder why another was needed now. To put this question into perspective one needs to consider it historically. In classical times the language of literature is encompassed in the concept of rhetoric. Originating in Greece as the art of composing a discourse for the law courts, it gradually came to embrace all linguistic expression, including literature. When applied to literature, rhetoric was based around the notion of genre, such as drama, history and lyric. Although rhetoric involved all aspects of composition, such as the choice of subject matter and its organisation, it came increasingly to be associated with various figures of speech which were used to embellish the subject matter of a given genre in an appropriate way. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance various handbooks on the art of composition for differing purposes were produced, and these usually contained long lists of figures and how they were best deployed. The idea of rhetoric is intimately related to the concept of the poet as a ‘maker’, as someone who can learn his or her art through study and application in much the same way as one could learn to become a doctor.