Rhetorical art in Ordinato, De Consecratione and Administratione of Suger de Saint-Denis

Author(s)

Selene Candian dos Santos

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2014-09-23

Examining board members

Ana Paula Tavares Magalhães Tacconi; Maria Cristina Correia Leandro Pereira; Angelita Marques Visalli

• Advisor: Ana Paula Tavares Magalhães Tacconi

Abstract

In the second quarter of the twelfth century, Suger of Saint-Denis, a Cluniac monk, wrote three texts in which he mentioned and described the renovation he carried out in the abbey church of Saint-Denis in his prelacy. That renovation was later identified by History of Art as the origin of Gothic architecture. Such texts, known as Ordinatio, De Consecratione, and De Administratione, published and translated in several editions, have thus been analyzed by some art historians, namely Erwin Panofsky, Peter Kidson, Jean-Claude Bonne, and Conrad Rudolph, based on theoretical frameworks related to the arts, architecture, aesthetics, and psychology. Nevertheless, although many scholars, such as Rita Copeland and Suzanne Reynolds, have been asserting the importance of rhetoric in the twelfth century, the rhetorical character of these texts has not yet been thoroughly examined by scholars. Investigation into the genres in which the texts were written, into the parts of discourse, and into the rhetorical techniques applied to the texts may reveal that some passages that have traditionally been taken at face value or as Suger\'s empirical experience and opinion may be thought of as non-literal-minded and discursive stances. Therefore, the purpose of this research project is to contribute to the scholarship on Suger\'s writings by recognizing and scrutinizing their rhetorical features (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/19260-0 - Rhetorical art in Suger of Saint-Denis' 'Ordinatio', De Consecratione', and 'De Administratione'
• Grantee: Selene Candian dos Santos
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master