Wordplay in Mirour de l'Omme.
- Author/Editor
- Itô, Masayoshi.
- Title
- Wordplay in Mirour de l'Omme.
- Published
- Itô, Masayoshi. "Wordplay in Mirour de l'Omme." In Itô's "John Gower, The Medieval Poet" (Tokyo: Shinozaki Shorin, 1976), pp. 250-271.
- Review
- Itô claims to have located 2,356 examples of wordplay in MO (combining "adnominatio," "traductio," and "significatio"), discussing a large number of "interesting examples" here as "the visible peak of an iceberg" (252). He clarifies his categories and, by means of extensive examples, shows how in Gower "often uses wordplay to sharpen the semantic or conceptual contrast, aiming at logical clarity and satirical poignancy" (268-69). At times, Itô tells us, Gower repeats "the same word or cognate forms," evidently "pleasing and persuasive" to his audience, while at others, he uses wordplay to heighten "lyrical or emotive scenes." Wordplay in MO is often concentrated in rhyme position and, in some instances, capitalizes "contracted on forms peculiar to French (e.g., 'dire-d'Ire')" (269). [MA]
- Date
- 1976
- Gower Subjects
- Mirour de l'Omme (Speculum Meditantis)
Style, Rhetoric, and Versification