{"title":"How Changed? Milton, Vida, Vergil, and a Network of Allusion","authors":"David Currell","doi":"10.3366/tal.2021.0478","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Satan's first words in Paradise Lost (‘how changed | From him’) famously allude to Book 2 of the Æneid. Interpretations of Satan's character and of the relationship between Milton's epic and its precursor have been enriched through recognition of this arresting intertextual moment. Recent theoretical and methodological innovations can help to reveal yet more about these intertextual dynamics. Milton alludes in a way that takes account of prior links in an allusive chain, responding not only to the Æneid but also to mediating texts, including Vida's Christiad, whose wresting of the Vergilian phrase to fresh use Milton repeats with crucial changes. Milton's allusion should also be situated within an even broader and more generically variegated network of print diffusion. Vergil's phrase became a commonplace, but still ran within semantic circuits relevant to the allusive chain linking post-Vergilian epics. Milton's ‘how changed’ in turn established itself as a poetic formula.","PeriodicalId":42399,"journal":{"name":"Translation and Literature","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Translation and Literature","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3366/tal.2021.0478","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERATURE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Satan's first words in Paradise Lost (‘how changed | From him’) famously allude to Book 2 of the Æneid. Interpretations of Satan's character and of the relationship between Milton's epic and its precursor have been enriched through recognition of this arresting intertextual moment. Recent theoretical and methodological innovations can help to reveal yet more about these intertextual dynamics. Milton alludes in a way that takes account of prior links in an allusive chain, responding not only to the Æneid but also to mediating texts, including Vida's Christiad, whose wresting of the Vergilian phrase to fresh use Milton repeats with crucial changes. Milton's allusion should also be situated within an even broader and more generically variegated network of print diffusion. Vergil's phrase became a commonplace, but still ran within semantic circuits relevant to the allusive chain linking post-Vergilian epics. Milton's ‘how changed’ in turn established itself as a poetic formula.
期刊介绍:
Translation and Literature is an interdisciplinary scholarly journal focusing on English Literature in its foreign relations. Subjects of recent articles have included English translations of Martial, Spenser''s use of Ovid, Eighteenth-Century Satire and Roman dialogue, Basil Bunting''s translations, Finnigans Wake in Italian, and the translation of haiku. Contributors come from many disciplines: * English Literature * Modern Languages * Literary Theory * Classical Studies * Translation Studies Translation and Literature is indexed in the Arts and Humanities bibliographies and bibliographical databases including the Modern Language Association of America International Bibliography.