A rhyme to rule them all

Sound repetition and other text-structuring devices in early Chinese technical manuscripts

Sound devices, such as alliteration, consonance, and end rhymes, are typically associated with the realm of poetic composition. Their purposes are manifold: to create a specific rhythm or tone, to draw attention to specific top-ics, to establish connections among key words, to craft emphatic and memora-ble texts. While these literary devices are indeed most often found in poetry, texts categorised as “technical” can also feature such literary elements. In this talk, I will present case studies from a diverse corpus of technical texts dating to the late fourth-second century BCE, showing how sound is skilfully em-ployed in combination with other text-structuring devices to obtain a wide range of (literary) effects.

Date: 21 January 2025

Time: 18:00

Further information.

Organiser:
Wiener Sprachgesellschaft
Location:
Hörsaal 1, Sensengasse 3a, 1. OG

Cluster of Excellence "EurAsian Transformations" postdoctoral researcher Flaminia Pischedda