142158 VO Sanskrit poetics and rhetoric: the elements of metaphor (2020S)

Most linguistic expressions involve unspoken elements which are neither directly expressed nor understood. Indirect language is an essential feature of poetic and religious literature, and is a vital aspect in plain language as well.

Despite the unquestioned importance for figurative language as a means of communication, historically a general theory of rhetoric has proven to be a challenging task.

In South Asia, the kashmirian Mukula (ninth century CE) offered an influential proposal of a general theory in his “Fundamentals of Signification” (Abhidhāvṛttamātṛkā). In the conclusion of his treatise he summarizes his findings in the sphere of semantics and pragmatics as follows:
“The process of signification has thus been explained through its ten varieties, four types of direct signification and six of indirect signification. By properly applying to literature the ten-fold process of signification, which is corroborated by the well-known three arts of words, sentences, and episteme, one’s voice will shine forth. The “art of words” is grammar, through which one learns the derivation of words. The “art of sentences” is hermeneutics, which allows us to ascertain how texts and sentences are construed. The “art of episteme” is logic, which provides expertise in epistemic sources. By applying this ten-fold signification to literature, which is known as the reflection of every worldly transaction, one’s expressions becomes clearer and clearer, and eventually becomes a master of speech. This ten-fold signification pervades every speech act, and thus serves all the four disciplines of grammar, hermeneutics, logic and rhetorics (i.e., poetics); through these four disciplines it spreads to every field of knowledge. In sum, this ten-fold signification assists every human transaction.”

Mukula was clearly motivated not only by theoretical purposes, but also by educational ones. Theoretically, he tried to circumscribe through examples and definitions all the possible figurative usages found in Sanskrit literature, eventually circumscribing six general types of implicatures. Educationally, he was living at a time when the syllabus of a scholar was founded on the trivium of grammar, hermenutics, and logic. With his work he was justifiably advocating for the recognition of rhetorics (i.e., poetics) as the fourth formative discipline.

In his own original way, Mukula also examined the stock example found in many Sanskrit treatises, the plain proposition “the village is on the Ganges.” This sentence becomes semantically sound only if re-encoded as “the village is on the bank of the Ganges,” since it is literally impossible for a village to be in the stream of a river.

Starting from this example and from Mukula’s theoretical and educational manifesto, during the course we will study the linguistic, philosophical and historical implications of his work. The Saussurian model of structuralist linguistics and the General Rhetoric of the “Group μ” will serve as comparative bases for an analysis of key terms and concepts.

We will scrutinize poetical, religious, and descriptive examples of indirect and figurative language, as well as the explanation of such examples from the variegated viewpoints of grammarians, exegetes, logicians, and rhetoricians.

Aims
• Interpreting religious, poetical and philosophical Sanskrit passages.
• Sketching the history of key ideas related to figurative language.
• Studying the mutual influences among the traditions and authors in the development of their own respective theories.
• Comparing ancient and modern theories of language.
• Reflecting on the disciplinary fields of semantics and pragmatics.
• Investigating the speaker’s and hearer’s roles in the processes of implicatures.