Genres as Species and Spaces: Literary and Rhetorical Genre in The Anatomy of Melancholy

Thu, 08/28/2014 - 15:05 -- dsynk
TitleGenres as Species and Spaces: Literary and Rhetorical Genre in The Anatomy of Melancholy
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2014
AuthorsWells, Susan
JournalPhilosophy & Rhetoric
Volume47
Issue2
Pagination23
Keywordsepideictic, evolution, genre, literary genre, rhetorical genre, Satire, treatise
Abstract

Contemporary genre theory is dominated by metaphors of evolution and speciation; this article proposes alternate metaphors of spatiality and exchange. A spatial understanding of genre permits more productive interactions between literary and rhetorical genre theory. A reading of Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy as a multigenred text suggests some of the potentials of this approach.

DOI10.1353/par.2014.0010