Paroemiac Expressions: A Touch of Color in the Ambassadors’ Diplomatic Correspondence in the Fifteenth Century
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Chiara Melchionno
Abstract
Is it possible - and, if so, how - to explain the presence of paremiac expressions - (proverbs, ways of sayings, proverbial phrases, and quotes) - in the correspondence of pre-modern Italian ambassadors? A distinction recently introduced in the discourse on proverbs defines a paremia as a sequence of syntagms constituting a single verbal act; a short, conventional, polysemic, and exhaustive expression, based on a logical-rhythmical, and binary opposition, which is typical of the oral tradition and is aimed at explicating a piece of advice. Pertaining to the oral dimension, it would seem almost paradoxical that these expressions can be found in such formal texts as the ambassadors’ letters. Actually, paremiac expressions mirror the communicative praxis of the Middle Ages, when orality and writing went hand in hand: the former was the predominant method of communication, but they both derived from the same rhetorical models, being therefore complementary and not opposites. This paper intends to investigate the presence of paremias within a number of diplomatic letters exchanged between the State of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples in the fifteenth century in order to understand what was their linguistic and communicative function and how greatly they influenced (and changed) the nature of Italian diplomatic letters itself. A series of case studies, deriving from the letters kept in the State Archive of Milan and exchanged between Galeazzo Maria Sforza (lord of Milan) and Francesco Maletta (his ambassador to the court of Alfonso of Aragon in Naples) will be presented in order to highlight better the uniqueness of this correspondence, which lies in its composite linguistic features (a mix of Latin and Italian vernacular) and in the political and historical relevance of its content.
Abstract
Is it possible - and, if so, how - to explain the presence of paremiac expressions - (proverbs, ways of sayings, proverbial phrases, and quotes) - in the correspondence of pre-modern Italian ambassadors? A distinction recently introduced in the discourse on proverbs defines a paremia as a sequence of syntagms constituting a single verbal act; a short, conventional, polysemic, and exhaustive expression, based on a logical-rhythmical, and binary opposition, which is typical of the oral tradition and is aimed at explicating a piece of advice. Pertaining to the oral dimension, it would seem almost paradoxical that these expressions can be found in such formal texts as the ambassadors’ letters. Actually, paremiac expressions mirror the communicative praxis of the Middle Ages, when orality and writing went hand in hand: the former was the predominant method of communication, but they both derived from the same rhetorical models, being therefore complementary and not opposites. This paper intends to investigate the presence of paremias within a number of diplomatic letters exchanged between the State of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples in the fifteenth century in order to understand what was their linguistic and communicative function and how greatly they influenced (and changed) the nature of Italian diplomatic letters itself. A series of case studies, deriving from the letters kept in the State Archive of Milan and exchanged between Galeazzo Maria Sforza (lord of Milan) and Francesco Maletta (his ambassador to the court of Alfonso of Aragon in Naples) will be presented in order to highlight better the uniqueness of this correspondence, which lies in its composite linguistic features (a mix of Latin and Italian vernacular) and in the political and historical relevance of its content.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- List of Illustrations IX
- Introduction: An Essay on Language, Culture, and Identity: Medieval and Early Modern Perspectives on and Approaches to Communication, Translation, and Community 1
- Ways of Communication and Mis/communication in Abū Tammām’s “Ode on the Conquest of Amorium” (838 C.E.) 95
- Proscribed Communication: The Obscene Language of the Troubadour William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and VII Count of Poitiers 109
- (Non)-Imaginary Ideal Communities in the Pre-Modern World: A Reading in the Utopian Works of al-Fārābi’, Ibn Khaldūn, Christine de Pizan, and Thomas More 159
- A Jewish Moneylender, Miscommunication, and a Lie: Gonzalo de Berceo’s Milagro no. 23 191
- Words, Signs, Meanings: William Langland’s Piers Plowman as a Window on Linguistic Chaos 209
- The Chaucerian Translator 233
- Entertainment, Laughter, and Reflections as a Training Ground for Communication in Public and Private: The Case of Heinrich Kaufringer, ca. 1400 255
- …written in my own Jewish hand 291
- Demonic Operators: Forbidden Relations in Medieval Communication 327
- Paroemiac Expressions: A Touch of Color in the Ambassadors’ Diplomatic Correspondence in the Fifteenth Century 351
- Communication and Translation in Early Modern Basque Society. The Role Played by the Public Notaries 379
- Preventing Miscommunication: Early Modern German Surgeons as Specialized Translators 393
- Reputation and Authority in the Physicians’ Communication with Patients as Reflected in the Czech-Language Sources of the Early Modern Period 415
- The Physicians’ Community in Pre-Thirty Years’ War Bohemia 439
- A Bond of True Love: Performing Courtship and Betrothal in Gower’s Cinkante balades and Spenser’s Amoretti, in Light of Christine de Pizan’s Cent balades 461
- Noble Friendship in Relation to the Community: Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice 491
- Deconstructing the (Mis)Interpretation of Paratextual Elements in Ross’s English Translation of the Qur’ān, The Alcoran of Mahomet (1649) 519
- Community and the Others: Unveiling Boundaries in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice 551
- Biographies of the Contributors 617
- Index 627
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- List of Illustrations IX
- Introduction: An Essay on Language, Culture, and Identity: Medieval and Early Modern Perspectives on and Approaches to Communication, Translation, and Community 1
- Ways of Communication and Mis/communication in Abū Tammām’s “Ode on the Conquest of Amorium” (838 C.E.) 95
- Proscribed Communication: The Obscene Language of the Troubadour William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and VII Count of Poitiers 109
- (Non)-Imaginary Ideal Communities in the Pre-Modern World: A Reading in the Utopian Works of al-Fārābi’, Ibn Khaldūn, Christine de Pizan, and Thomas More 159
- A Jewish Moneylender, Miscommunication, and a Lie: Gonzalo de Berceo’s Milagro no. 23 191
- Words, Signs, Meanings: William Langland’s Piers Plowman as a Window on Linguistic Chaos 209
- The Chaucerian Translator 233
- Entertainment, Laughter, and Reflections as a Training Ground for Communication in Public and Private: The Case of Heinrich Kaufringer, ca. 1400 255
- …written in my own Jewish hand 291
- Demonic Operators: Forbidden Relations in Medieval Communication 327
- Paroemiac Expressions: A Touch of Color in the Ambassadors’ Diplomatic Correspondence in the Fifteenth Century 351
- Communication and Translation in Early Modern Basque Society. The Role Played by the Public Notaries 379
- Preventing Miscommunication: Early Modern German Surgeons as Specialized Translators 393
- Reputation and Authority in the Physicians’ Communication with Patients as Reflected in the Czech-Language Sources of the Early Modern Period 415
- The Physicians’ Community in Pre-Thirty Years’ War Bohemia 439
- A Bond of True Love: Performing Courtship and Betrothal in Gower’s Cinkante balades and Spenser’s Amoretti, in Light of Christine de Pizan’s Cent balades 461
- Noble Friendship in Relation to the Community: Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice 491
- Deconstructing the (Mis)Interpretation of Paratextual Elements in Ross’s English Translation of the Qur’ān, The Alcoran of Mahomet (1649) 519
- Community and the Others: Unveiling Boundaries in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice 551
- Biographies of the Contributors 617
- Index 627
