Longinus The sublime

Literary Theory and Criticism
By Belachew Weldegebriel
Jimma University
College of Social Sciences and Humanities
Department of English Language and Literature

1. The Sublime When our intellects , our emotions , and our wills harmoniously respond to a given work of art, we know we have been touched by the sublime

2. Longinus Its author is unknown, but is conventionally referred to as Longinus or Pseudo-Longinus . It is regarded as a classic work on aesthetics and the effects of good writing. The treatise highlights examples of good and bad writing from the previous millennium, focusing particularly on what may lead to the sublime .

3. Before Longinus, the critics believed that the function of poetry was to instruct or to delight or both and if it is prose, its function was to persuade also. But Longinus was not satisfied with this formula. The aim of a great work of art to transport the reader out of himself. It is has a capacity to move the reader to divine joy. This is the quality of sublime.

4. So a great work of art does not only please or instruct , but it also moves, transports, elevates. It pleases all and it pleases all the time. He believed “ Nothing is poetry unless it transports .” According to him the work of art become excellent, only when it has power to sublimate, By sublimity Longinus means ‘ elevation ’ or ‘ loftiness or ‘a certain distinction and excellence in composition .

5. On the Sublime is both a treatise on aesthetics and a work of literary criticism. It is written in an epistolary form and the final part, possibly dealing with public speaking, has been lost On the Sublime is a compendium of literary exemplars, with about 50 authors spanning 1,000 years mentioned or quoted. [5] Along with the expected examples from Homer and other figures of Greek culture, Longinus refers to a passage from Genesis , which is quite unusual for the 1st century:

6. The sublime Longinus critically applauds and condemns certain literary works as examples of good or bad styles of writing. [5] Longinus ultimately promotes an "elevation of style" [5] and an essence of "simplicity". [8] To quote this famous author, "the first and most important source of sublimity [is] the power of forming great conceptions." [8] The concept of the sublime is generally accepted to refer to a style of writing that elevates itself "above the ordinary". Finally, Longinus sets out five sources of sublimity: "great thoughts, strong emotions, certain figures of thought and speech, noble diction, and dignified word arrangement". [6]

7. The effects of the Sublime are: loss of rationality, an alienation leading to identification with the creative process of the artist and a deep emotion mixed in pleasure and exaltation. An example of sublime (which the author quotes in the work) is a poem by Sappho, the so-called Ode to Jealousy , defined as a "Sublime ode". A writer's goal is not so much to express empty feelings, but to arouse emotion in his audience.

8. he thought that literature could model a soul, and that a soul could pour itself out into a work of art. The sources of the Sublime are of two kinds: inborn sources ("aspiration to vigorous concepts" and "strong and enthusiastic passion") and acquirable sources (rhetorical devices, choice of the right lexicon, and "dignified and high composition"). [8]

9. Then, the Sublime is a mechanism of recognition (arising from the impact of the work of art) of the greatness of a spirit, of the depth of an idea, of the power of speech.

10. Thus Longinus is the golden balance between Plato and Aristotle, Homer and Shelley, classicism and Romanticism down to Eliot’s modernism. As a critic he displays a rare breath and universality of outlook. Moreover, his mind is free from any prejudice . His judgments are essentially apt . They have been supported by posterity. Atkins says, “ There are in short, many respect in which Longinus stands high as a judicial critic .”

11. His mind is free from prejudice. A great deal of his work is original and illuminating and is of permanent or universal significance. He attaches importance to emotion, imagination and beauty of words. He thus becomes a pioneer in the field of aesthetic appreciation. He finds the permanent and universal qualities in the works of Homer. According to him, the function of literature is not didactic, but aesthetic. That is why Scott-James calls him the first romantic critic, but Atkins calls him an exponent/ exemplery if real classic spirit.

12. According to Longinus, the purpose of the greatest writers has been to introduce, to delight and to persuade. But their greatness lies in sublimity . Sublimity is the echo of a great soul, of a lofty mind; it is not merely an excellence in language . It is the note that rings from a great mind. It lies in intensity—"on a certain distinction and consummation of excellence in expression." A work of genius must aim at ecstasy. In other w ords, it is the combination of ( the true, the good and the beautiful) that makes a work sublime.

13. Questions Longinus identified five main sources of the sublime . What are they? Can you describe Longinus in few terms? What is the function of literature according to Horace? What makes Longinus a classicist as well as a romantic ?

14. Q with A Longinus identified five main sources of the sublime. What are they? grandeur of thought, capacity for strong emotion, appropriate use of figures of speech, nobility of diction and dignified and elaborated composition . Can you describe Longinus in few terms? Longinus is a classical critic with romantic sentiment; a pioneer in literary appreciation; the first critic to emphasize the importance of style so elaborately What is the function of literature according to Horace? the function of literature is not moral but aesthetic.

15. Q with A What makes Longinus a classicist as well as a romantic? A romantic because of his aestheticism, emphasis on strong emotion, subjectivity, beauty; a classicist because of his emphasis on grandeur .