This chapter investigates the linguistic conceptualization of the sense of Taste in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. To do so, I conducted a corpus analysis in a digital version of the text, by means of key word concordances of the Basic Taste Terms in English, their morphological derivates, and other relevant terms in the semantic domain of Taste (Bitter, Bland, Disgust, Distaste, Salty, Savour, Sharp, Sour, Spicy, Sweet, Tart, Taste, Unsavoury, Yucky, Yummy). Results are consistent in suggesting a high usage of Taste terms in Burton's work, with Sweet being the most used. Their figurative (mainly metaphorical) meaning is motivated by embodied responses, and it is used to conceptualize the value of Melancholy: Sour, but also Sweet. While the Sourness of Melancholy had already been described by Galen, Burton adds a personal Taste to this state: sweetness, to conceptualize the pleasure of the modern intellectual in being Sad and Pensive.
"Naught so sweet as melancholy": A Gustatory Anatomy of Melancholy
BAGLI, MARCO
2017-01-01
Abstract
This chapter investigates the linguistic conceptualization of the sense of Taste in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. To do so, I conducted a corpus analysis in a digital version of the text, by means of key word concordances of the Basic Taste Terms in English, their morphological derivates, and other relevant terms in the semantic domain of Taste (Bitter, Bland, Disgust, Distaste, Salty, Savour, Sharp, Sour, Spicy, Sweet, Tart, Taste, Unsavoury, Yucky, Yummy). Results are consistent in suggesting a high usage of Taste terms in Burton's work, with Sweet being the most used. Their figurative (mainly metaphorical) meaning is motivated by embodied responses, and it is used to conceptualize the value of Melancholy: Sour, but also Sweet. While the Sourness of Melancholy had already been described by Galen, Burton adds a personal Taste to this state: sweetness, to conceptualize the pleasure of the modern intellectual in being Sad and Pensive.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
Bagli_Naught so Sweet as Melancholy.pdf
accesso chiuso
Tipologia:
Documento in versione editoriale
Dimensione
1.33 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
1.33 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri Richiedi una copia |
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.