On Feb 22, 2007, at 2:04 PM, James C. Nohrnberg wrote:
> Thinking about this a minute more, I'd like to say that I think the
> tag in question need not be entirely or always boilerplate, or not
> merely that, but rather a topos: a topos is standardized, but it
> is also something upon which variations are worked. My examples --
> including the climatic epistolary one from Richardson's Clarissa,
> "I can no more" -- were meant to show that the boilerplate might
> well turn into something more artful or self-aware or complex.
> Prospero says of Caliban, "This thing of darkness I acknowledge
> mine," and many scholarly books contain the boilerplate in which
> the author thanks others for their help and corrections, but takes
> responsibility himself or herself for errors and mistakes: in
> Prospero's vein, but turning into boilerplate. But what Prospero
> himself says can be understood as more of an example of a topos
> transforming itself into art, and not mere boilerplate at all:
> "more artful" because attached to the argument or a presentation
> for purposes not merely of back-up and redundancy (but rather to
> force a kind of recognition upon us, or make a stronger claim upon
> us).
To call a formulaic Latin expression of courtesy a topos seems to me
a distinction without meaning. We are not dealing with something
that is "artful or self-aware or complex," we are dealing with a
simple phrase that could be used in closing salutations or in the
body of a letter as a polite gesture of mutual respect. If you read
enough letters of the period you will quickly find that it's just an
empty flourish, part of the well-educated Latinist's toolkit,
analogous to " I remain, sir, your very humble and obedient servant."
Here in Japan we have an analogous expression. If we wish to thank
someone for a simple service, we can say "arigatoo." To make it a
bit more courteous, we can add the honorific "gozaimasu": "arigatoo
gozaimasu." To increase our humility, we can add "doumo": "doumo
arigatoo gozaimasu." If we really want to show our appreciation in
keigo, we fall back on "yoroshiku onegai itashimasu." There are
many, many other similar expressions we use everyday in conjunction
with these. They and their permutations--like the Latin--are not
topoi, just boilerplate. The sentence on Prospero is well and fine,
but has nothing to do with the Latin phrase.
----------------------------------------------------------
Steven J. Willett
Shizuoka University of Art and Culture
Department of International Culture Studies
1794-1 Noguchi-cho, Shizuoka Pref.
Hamamatsu City, Japan 430-8533
Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: 53-457-6142
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