期刊名称：Rhetorical Review : The Electronic Review of Books on the History of rhetoric
印刷版ISSN：1901-2640
出版年度：2004
卷号：2
期号：01
页码：4-9
出版社：Pernille Harsting
摘要：de figura is a collection of fourteen scholarly essays focusing on the topicality and dimensions
of the concept of figure in rhetoric, philosophy, literature, and theater. The essays are based on
selected papers presented at the 1999 Theorie der Figur conference in Hamburg. The
conference was part of a larger project on theatricality, and this original context of the
contributions at least partly explains their emphasis on the performative potential in the figure
and figurative modes of representation. Each of the articles – either explicitly or implicitly –
takes its cue from Erich Auerbach’s seminal study, “Figura”,1 and explores the theoretical
potential of figure, figuration, or figurality. Verging on conceptual Platonism, the editors
underline, on the basis of etymology, the corporality and plasticity (“Plastizit鋞”, p. 8) – and
hence the theatricality – of the figure. Figura is indeed related to the corporeal and shaping
meanings of such Latin words as fingere, figulus, fictor, and effigies, but does this justify or
explain the semantic content or use of the concept in other contexts? On the other hand, in the
context of the present volume, the heuristic link between figure, body, performative Gestalt, and
drama functions well and results in interesting readings of a variety of subjects ranging from
philosophical and literary texts to cartography, performance, and music.
