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[This page is mostly just notes so far.]
"There can be no doubt that these topoi used by persons with a trained memory must be mnemonic loci, and it is indeed probable that the very word 'topics' as used in dialectics arose through the places of mnemonics. Topics are the 'things' or subject matter of dialectic which came to be known as topoi through the places in which they were stored." --Frances Yates, The Art of Memory [cite]
topos (Greek) = locus (Latin) = place
topoi = loci = places
loci communes (Latin) = common places (popularised by the Lutherans after 1521)
some interpretations:
"A traditional theme or motif; a literary convention." [Am Heritage]
"common-place or element" [Perseus]
"the chief themes or topics of a methodology or system" [Theol]
"the common topics of discussion" [Cath]
"formulaic modes of expression derivative from oral practices perpetuating oral psychological structures" [Ong]
"a binary relation" [Dyck]
"Topoi are usually constellations of motifs, themes, images, or arguments that are common within the texts of a a specific age and place (say, enlightenment, post-war Germany) or a specific discourse (say, anti-feminism, neo-conservatism). They can but don't have to be cliches." [smw]
"The problem of eliminating time from anthropological discourse may be compounded by the prevalence of spatial root-metaphors of knowledge in Western science which, as Frances Yates argues in The Art of Memory, derives from an earlier art of rhetoric, chronologically (i.e., with regard to the sequence of developments in our tradition), as well as systematically (regarding the nature of scientific activity). The art of rhetoric is closely tied to the art of memory which was thought to reside in certain "places" of memory, such as the rooms or parts of a building, hence the Greek term "topoi"." [cite]
"Topos: from a Greek word meaning 'place', a 'topos' in poetry is a 'commonplace', a standard way of describing a particular subject. Describing a person's physical features from head to toe (or somewhere in between) is, for example, a standard topos of medieval and Renaissance poetry." [GeoCities]
"Within rhetorical invention, the topics or topoi are basic categories of relationships among ideas, each of which can serve as a template or heuristic for discovering things to say about a subject. 'Topics of invention' literally means 'places to find things.'" [Silva]
"The word topos is used in rhetoric to denote a commonplace-the proper subject of dialectical and rhetorical syllogisms-which may deal with such questions as justice or politics and may be of various, identifiable types. In relation to paraenesis, it denotes a particular topic of moral concern."`` JIH McDonald [cite]
"David G. Bradley defines topoi as brief and pithy admonitions on a variety of subjects. They are self-contained units of teaching with only a loose, if any, connection with the immediate context. He goes on to say, "The distinctive characteristic is that it [a topos] is composed of more than one sentence dealing with the same subject. Unity is found in the common subject matter. This unity is often strengthened by the use of a recurring word which binds the other elements together."(24) Or as William Doty states, "The topoi are miniature essays of stereotyped good advice."Terrence Mullins expands Bradley's thesis by identifying a recognizable form. The topos form contains the following elements: (1) an injunction urging that a certain course of behavior be followed or avoided, (2) a reason for the injunction, and (3) a discussion of the logical or practical consequences of the behavior. He then adds two optional elements: (4) An analogous situation to the one dealt with in the topos, and (5) a refutation of a contrary way of thinking or acting." [cite]
"Around 516 BC Simonides invented the "art of memory". He equated the methods of classical poetry and painting and taught that these forms, acted upon by memory, were intense visualization. In order to demonstrate this, spaces were designed with visual details that would elicit lines of poetry to the initiated. Carefully placed windows and small openings would direct light onto these details." [cite]
"Aristotle suggests that sophists made systematic use of loci communes" [Hunter]
literary: 6 classical
classical: outline, detailed, Aristotle's 28, Aristotle's Topics, Rhetoric [ditto], Aristotle
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