RATIONES RERUM 25: Articolo Charles Guérin

Descrizione

Rationes Rerum 25

CHARLES GUÉRIN
Taedium levare. Noia e attenzione del pubblico nella retorica latina classica

Audience boredom (taedium) is a fundamental pitfall for orators. Latin rhetoric developed various strategies to counter it, considering boredom to be primarily the result of a lack of attention. The article examines how the rhetorical approach to boredom evolved from the Rhetorica ad Herennium to the Institutio oratoria. It demonstrates how the understanding of audience attention gradually became more complex, evolving from an approach based on the will to listen to one based on the capacity to understand. Thus, Quintilian built upon Cicero’s ideas and presented a thorough analysis by using for the first time the notion of intentio. Intentio, or the ability to con- centrate, diminishes over time and must be sustained primarily through the speech’s perfect clarity. Based on this insight, Quintilian offered a solution to boredom involving a balanced combination of stimulation through surprise and aesthetic pleasure, as well as intelligibility through structure.