The Impact of the Lyrical Fourth Dimension in Ambrose Bierce’s Satirical Poetry: An Analysis of the Phonological Expressive Device in Two of his Poems
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17230/co-herencia.21.41.08Keywords:
Ambrose Bierce, lyrics, poetic multidimensionality, phonological dimension, satiric poetry, Shapes of Clay, speechAbstract
The purpose of this paper is to show that the phonological component in Ambrose Bierce’s poetry provides an expressive device through which the satirist more effectively conveys the social criticism underlying his compositions. The use of this component, along with a satirical and ironic tone, combine in the poetic object to signal more clearly to the reader Bierce’s denunciation of various members of fin de siècle American society. More specifically, this analysis focuses on “Arma Virumque” and “King of Bores”, poems from his collection Shapes of Clay, in which the poet lampoons the American military institution and the figure of the “bore”, respectively. This study follows the ideas of Abrams (2012) on the “fourth dimension” of the poem, or in other words, the meanings that the phonological features of a lyrical composition suggest from its recitation. The results of this study suggest that this device allows readers to experience in their own bodies, through the vocal tract, the harsh social critique that Bierce presents in his poems.
References
Abrams, M. H. (2012). The Fourth Dimension of a Poem. En M. H. Abrams (Ed.), The Fourth Dimension of a Poem and Other Essays (pp. 1-29). Norton.
Adrjan, P., & Muñoz-Basols, J. (2003). The Sound of Humor: Linguistic and Semantic Constraints in the Translation of Phonological Jokes. SKY Journal of Linguistics, 16, 239-246. https://n9.cl/jxaff.
Aryani, A., Kraxenberger, M., Ullrich, S., Jacobs, A. M., & Conrad, M. (2016). Measuring the basic affective tone of poems via phonological saliency and iconicity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 10(2), 191-204. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000033.
Berkove, L. (2002). A Prescription for Adversity. The Moral Art of Ambrose Bierce. Ohio State University Press.
Bierce, A. (1903). Shapes of Clay. W. E. Wood Publisher.
Bierce, A. (1911). To Train a Writer. En A. Bierce (Ed.), The Collected Works: The Opinionator (pp. 75-79). Neale Publishing.
Bierce, A. (1922). The Letters. En B. Clark (Ed.), The Letters of Ambrose Bierce (pp. 33-245). The California Book Club.
Bierce, A. (1980). The Seamy Side of It. En L. Berkove (Ed.), Skepticism and Dissent. Selected Journalism from 1898-1901 (pp. 7-11). Delmas.
Bierce, A. (2011). Cuentos negros (A. Ibarrola, Trad.). Alianza.
Bierce, A. (2016). Cuentos inquietantes (A. Ibarrola, Trad.). Alianza.
Bierce, A. (2019). El diccionario del diablo (V. Campos, Trad.). Sexto Piso.
Bierce, A. (2021). Poemas de barro (A. García, Trad.). Verbum.
Clark, B. (1922). Introduction. En B. Clark (Ed.), The Letters of Ambrose Bierce (pp. 6-23). The California Book Club.
Fatout, P. (1951). Ambrose Bierce. The Devil’s Lexicographer. University of Oklahoma Press.
Ferlinghetti, L., & N. Peters. (1980). Literary San Francisco. A Pictorial History from its Beginnings to the Present Day. City Lights Books.
Grattan, C. H. (1929). Bitter Bierce: A Mystery of American Letters. Doubleday, Doran & Company.
Grenander, M. (1996). Introduction. En M. Grenander (Ed.), Poems of Ambrose Bierce (pp. 13-43). University of Nebraska Press.
Hart, J. (1931). In Our Second Century from an Editor’s Note-Book. The Pioneer Press.
Ibarrola, A. (2011). Unas palabras acerca de los Cuentos negros de Ambrose Bierce. En A. Ibarrola (Ed.), Cuentos negros (pp. 131-143). Alianza.
Joshi, S. T. (2013). A Triumvirate of Fantastic Poets: Ambrose Bierce, George Sterling, and Clark Ashton Smith. Extrapolation, 54(2), 147-161. https://doi.org/10.3828/extr.2013.9.
Klarer, M. (2004). An Introduction to Literary Studies (2.a ed.). Routledge.
Kristeva, J. (1974). Phonetics, Phonology and Impulsional Bases. Diacritics, 4(3), 33-37. https://doi.org/10.2307/465110.
Lehan, R. (2005). Realism and Naturalism. The Novel in an Age of Transition. University of Wisconsin Press.
Linneman, W. R. (1962). Satires of American Realism, 1880-1900. American Literature, 34(1), 80-93. https://doi.org/10.2307/2922247.
Lord, J. B. (1975). Syntax and Phonology in Poetic Style. Style, 9(1), 1-31. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45108346.
McWilliams, C. (1929). Ambrose Bierce. A Biography. Albert & Charles Boni.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2024). Fiddlefaddle. https://n9.cl/3ztp5.
Minnick, L. C. (2004). Dialect and Dichotomy. Literary Representations of African American Speech. University of Alabama Press.
Morris, R. (1998). Ambrose Bierce. Alone in Bad Company. Oxford University Press.
Newcomb, J. T. (2004). Would Poetry Disappear? American Verse and the Crisis of Modernity. Ohio State University Press.
Osterbrock, C. (2021). Augusto/Hopkins. Translation and the Fourth Dimension of a Poem. Santa Barbara Portuguese Studies, 8, 121-135. https://n9.cl/iufk3z.
Parrish, A. (2017). Poetic Sound Similarity Vectors Using Phonetic Features. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment, 13(2), 99-106. https://doi.org/10.1609/aiide.v13i2.12971.
Sidney-Fryer, D. (1980). Introduction. En D. Sidney-Fryer (Ed.), A Vision of Doom. Poems by Ambrose Bierce (pp. 9-29). M. Grant Publisher.
Sidney-Fryer, D. (2011). The Golden State Phantasticks. The California Romantics and Related Subjects. Hippocampus Press.
Sterling, G. (1922). A Memoir of Ambrose Bierce. En B. Clark (Ed.), The Letters of Ambrose Bierce (pp. 23-32). The California Book Club.
Sterling, G. (1925, septiembre). The Shadow Maker. American Mercury, (6), 10-19.
Ufot, B.G. (2013). Phonology and Stylistics: A Phonaesthetic Study of Gray’s ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’. English Linguistics Research, 2(2), 110-125. https://doi.org/10.5430/elr.v2n2p110.
Zink, S. (1945). The Poetic Organism. The Journal of Philosophy, 42(16), 421-433. https://doi.org/10.2307/2019658.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Avisos:
- No tiene que cumplir con la licencia para elementos del material de dominio público o cuando su uso esté permitido por una excepción o limitación aplicable .
- No se dan garantías. Es posible que la licencia no le otorgue todos los permisos necesarios para el uso previsto. Por ejemplo, otros derechos como la publicidad, la privacidad o los derechos morales pueden limitar la forma en que utiliza el material.
Revista de la Escuela de Artes y Humanidades, Universidad EAFIT.
