In some books published between 1973 and 1994, the famous and controversial literary critic Harold Bloom formulated a theory of lite - rary creation, and, by extension, of artistic creation in general. In his opinion, literary creation is based on an either «agonistic» or «imitative» struggle with earlier, existing, influential texts, designated by him by an ancient and illustrious word: the Canon. In this essay I extend this concept to the creation of knowledge. It also appears to be based on the «agonistic» or «imitative» struggle with influential textual authorities and scientific texts have their own Canon as well, marked in some case by fluidity, in others by a long-term continuity. In the field of medieval divination, some techniques appear to have a very strong Canon, as astronomy/astrology, others seem to have a week Canon or not to have a Canon at all, at least at some points in their history, as chiromancy. Sources for the definition of the Canon may be book inventories; citations of authoritative books; quotations of books in individual works, and finally single sentences employed as mottos, emblems, authoritative/supportive or to-be-confutated quotations.
Dialogue among Books in Medieval and Early Modern Divination and Magic
RAPISARDA, Stefano;
2014-01-01
Abstract
In some books published between 1973 and 1994, the famous and controversial literary critic Harold Bloom formulated a theory of lite - rary creation, and, by extension, of artistic creation in general. In his opinion, literary creation is based on an either «agonistic» or «imitative» struggle with earlier, existing, influential texts, designated by him by an ancient and illustrious word: the Canon. In this essay I extend this concept to the creation of knowledge. It also appears to be based on the «agonistic» or «imitative» struggle with influential textual authorities and scientific texts have their own Canon as well, marked in some case by fluidity, in others by a long-term continuity. In the field of medieval divination, some techniques appear to have a very strong Canon, as astronomy/astrology, others seem to have a week Canon or not to have a Canon at all, at least at some points in their history, as chiromancy. Sources for the definition of the Canon may be book inventories; citations of authoritative books; quotations of books in individual works, and finally single sentences employed as mottos, emblems, authoritative/supportive or to-be-confutated quotations.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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