Lecture
Philology has existed for more than two and a half thousand years.
At the center of its interests, not by chance, has always stood the w o r d. «With the word I can do anything!» asserted the Russian writer M. Prishvin. This interest in the word is partly reflected in the very term philology:
Ancient Greek φιλολογία, Latin philologia, English philology, German Philologie,
Italian filologìa, French philology, Polish filologja, Czech filologie, Russian filologiya...
It is believed that the Ancient Greek word φιλολογία originally had a twofold meaning. This fact is explained by the breadth
of meanings of the second part of the word — «logos»1
. As a word of everyday
language, the Ancient Greek «philologia» meant love of the word.
It is interesting to note G.O. Vinokur's remark that in Plato's «Laws» the Athenian calls himself «philologos» — fond of talking,
loquacious, as opposed to the Spartan, whom he calls
«brachylogos» — sparing of speech, speaking briefly2
.
As a term of specialized language, the Ancient Greek «logos», according to
the observation of S.I. Radtsig, could express all the concepts that
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are conveyed by human speech, and had the meanings of story,
oratorical speech, thought expressed in words, and the higher
mind or reason; hence the Ancient Greek «philologia» may be interpreted as love of learned conversation, of scholarly pursuits. The Russian philologist K. Zelenetsky notes three meanings of the word «logos»:
«mind, the products of the mind, i.e. sciences and knowledge, and word
or speech»3
.
The other part of the compound word under discussion — «philia» —
meant love. It is interesting that the Greeks distinguished several
kinds of love, to which corresponded several names: agape —
sacrificial, condescending love, storge — attachment, eros —
spontaneous, elemental passion independent of the will. Against this
background, the word philia under discussion here means love-affection, love-sympathy, love-friendship, love that is based on a free individual choice by a person.
The term «philology» began to take shape in the late third — early first century BCE with the meaning of an all-encompassing science. «Philologist»
was the self-designation of the Greek Eratosthenes (late third — early second century BCE) —
poet, grammarian, mathematician, geographer, historian. In Ancient Rome
one of the first to call himself a «philologist» was Ateius (III—II centuries BCE),
who taught rhetoric and studied philological and
historical antiquities. According to the observations of Yu.S. Stepanov, «philologist» (stressed on the second syllable) acquires the meaning of one diligent in words, one who studies words, in the III—V centuries CE. Such are the beginnings
of the terminologization of the word «philology».
Philology as a practical activity and as practically oriented knowledge arises in the West and in the East
historically simultaneously: in the era of late antiquity, i.e. in
the Hellenistic era in the West and the era of the Han empire in the East, in China. «The Alexandrian scholars collected the literary
works of the classical period of their own antiquity — the era of the city-states, while the Chinese collected those of the classical period of their own antiquity — the era
of the various schools. They not only collected them, but also worked on establishing their
texts; and work on the text entailed work on the work itself.
Thus was formed what has become the classical essence of
philological work: the gathering of the written monuments of the past, the establishing of their text, and their interpretation» (N.I. Konrad)4
.
This branch of practical activity is connected with work
on written texts, with the creation of libraries; the largest
library is traditionally said to be the library at Alexandria (Egypt; III—II centuries BCE).
Another branch is teaching. In the fifth century BCE it consisted in
the reading and analysis of poetic texts, which by that time
were regarded as first-rate («classical») and required
translation, commentary, and interpretation. This gave impetus to the emergence of poetics (Ancient Greek poietike techne — the creative art).
Poetics arises in the fifth — fourth centuries BCE in the writings of the sophists,
Plato, and Aristotle, who were the first to distinguish and describe
types of literary works, or genres of literature: epic,
lyric, drama, and laid the foundations of the doctrine of genres.
The philologists of Ancient India and Ancient China in the fifth — fourth centuries BCE
gave the world grammatical and stylistic teachings, the science of writing, and methods of text interpretation. Of a person engaged in practical philology, what was required above all was knowledge
of the language / languages, analytical skills in working with a written text, broad culture, i.e., as Dionysius Thrax
(c. 170—90 BCE) wrote, «familiarity with most of what
is spoken of by poets and prose writers».
Philological activity in Ancient Greece bore
the name of the grammatical art; people engaged in it
were called grammarians. Let us note that the term «grammar» in this case means something other than in modern linguistics. Dionysius Thrax, for example, distinguished six parts of grammar: reading, the explanation of tropes,
the intelligible rendering of difficult words and stories, the finding
of etymology, the selection of analogies (establishing the place of the work under study
in the tradition), and the evaluation of works5
.
Thus arise the first philological professions — that of the interpreter of texts, the translator, the teacher of letters, the librarian. In fact, among the first philological professions
is also included the profession of teacher of rhetoric (Ancient Greek rhētorikē). Rhetoric is a product of the democratic order of Athenian society (fifth century BCE). This order required
of the citizen the ability to command the word — in the popular assembly,
6 7
are conveyed by human speech, and had the meanings of story,
oratorical speech, thought expressed in words, and the higher
mind or reason; hence the Ancient Greek «philologia» may be interpreted as love of learned conversation, of scholarly pursuits. The Russian philologist K. Zelenetsky notes three meanings of the word «logos»:
«mind, the products of the mind, i.e. sciences and knowledge, and word
or speech»3
.
The other part of the compound word under discussion — «philia» —
meant love. It is interesting that the Greeks distinguished several
kinds of love, to which corresponded several names: agape —
sacrificial, condescending love, storge — attachment, eros —
spontaneous, elemental passion independent of the will. Against this
background, the word philia under discussion here means love-affection, love-sympathy, love-friendship, love that is based on a free individual choice by a person.
The term «philology» began to take shape in the late third — early first century BCE with the meaning of an all-encompassing science. «Philologist»
was the self-designation of the Greek Eratosthenes (late third — early second century BCE) —
poet, grammarian, mathematician, geographer, historian. In Ancient Rome
one of the first to call himself a «philologist» was Ateius (III—II centuries BCE),
who taught rhetoric and studied philological and
historical antiquities. According to the observations of Yu.S. Stepanov, «philologist» (stressed on the second syllable) acquires the meaning of one diligent in words, one who studies words, in the III—V centuries CE. Such are the beginnings
of the terminologization of the word «philology».
Philology as a practical activity and as practically oriented knowledge arises in the West and in the East
historically simultaneously: in the era of late antiquity, i.e. in
the Hellenistic era in the West and the era of the Han empire in the East, in China. «The Alexandrian scholars collected the literary
works of the classical period of their own antiquity — the era of the city-states, while the Chinese collected those of the classical period of their own antiquity — the era
of the various schools. They not only collected them, but also worked on establishing their
texts; and work on the text entailed work on the work itself.
Thus was formed what has become the classical essence of
philological work: the gathering of the written monuments of the past, the establishing of their text, and their interpretation» (N.I. Konrad)4
.
This branch of practical activity is connected with work
on written texts, with the creation of libraries; the largest
library is traditionally said to be the library at Alexandria (Egypt; III—II centuries BCE).
Another branch is teaching. In the fifth century BCE it consisted in
the reading and analysis of poetic texts, which by that time
were regarded as first-rate («classical») and required
translation, commentary, and interpretation. This gave impetus to the emergence of poetics (Ancient Greek poietike techne — the creative art).
Poetics arises in the fifth — fourth centuries BCE in the writings of the sophists,
Plato, and Aristotle, who were the first to distinguish and describe
types of literary works, or genres of literature: epic,
lyric, drama, and laid the foundations of the doctrine of genres.
The philologists of Ancient India and Ancient China in the fifth — fourth centuries BCE
gave the world grammatical and stylistic teachings, the science of writing, and methods of text interpretation. Of a person engaged in practical philology, what was required above all was knowledge
of the language / languages, analytical skills in working with a written text, broad culture, i.e., as Dionysius Thrax
(c. 170—90 BCE) wrote, «familiarity with most of what
is spoken of by poets and prose writers».
Philological activity in Ancient Greece bore
the name of the grammatical art; people engaged in it
were called grammarians. Let us note that the term «grammar» in this case means something other than in modern linguistics. Dionysius Thrax, for example, distinguished six parts of grammar: reading, the explanation of tropes,
the intelligible rendering of difficult words and stories, the finding
of etymology, the selection of analogies (establishing the place of the work under study
in the tradition), and the evaluation of works5
.
Thus arise the first philological professions — that of the interpreter of texts, the translator, the teacher of letters, the librarian. In fact, among the first philological professions
is also included the profession of teacher of rhetoric (Ancient Greek rhētorikē). Rhetoric is a product of the democratic order of Athenian society (fifth century BCE). This order required
of the citizen the ability to command the word — in the popular assembly,
8 9
in the courtroom, «on occasion» (in situations of celebration, praise, and the like). The task of teaching citizens the art of eloquence
was undertaken by teachers of rhetoric, who also became the authors of treatises and textbooks on rhetoric. Among the first surviving
rhetorical works, let us mention Plato's dialogues (427—347 BCE)
«Gorgias» and «Phaedrus» and Aristotle's treatise (384—322 BCE)
«Rhetoric». Thus the ancient orator, too, worked
with the word (only the spoken word!), and needed encyclopedic
learning and knowledge of man in order to find arguments for
persuasion.
But in the ancient world philology («the grammatical art») and rhetoric («the art of persuasion») existed separately, as two distinct sciences of the word. One of them, philology, is the science of «the word as such» (Yu.S. Stepanov), while the other,
rhetoric, is the science of the persuasive word.
In Ancient Rome, a distinction is drawn between philology and
grammar; rhetoric still exists separately from
philology. In the first half of the nineteenth century philology takes shape
as a science. In the middle of the twentieth century rhetoric is revived and takes its place in the system of philological disciplines.
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