The Aphorism and Other Short Forms [Paperback]

The aphorism captures a huge amount of truth, meaning or wit in a very short statement. It has been used and studied from classical times to contemporary theory and takes on a new relevance when we look at todays communication media such as text messages and twitter. This concise guide offers an overview of:

• The history of the aphorism to the present day
• Its relation to other short forms, including the fragment, the proverb, the maxim, the haiku, the epigram and the quotation
• The use of the aphorism by authors such as Heraclitus, Bacon, La Rochefoucauld, Chuang Tzu, Blake, Schlegel, Emerson, Nietzsche, Wilde, Woolf and Barthes
• The interdisciplinary nature of the aphorism, bringing together science, philosophy, literature and religion

Exploring all the key aspects of the form, Ben Grant guides readers through this large and lively area in a wide-ranging and critically informed study of the aphorism.

Introduction Chapter 1: An Historical Overview  Chapter 2: Brevity  Chapter 3: Wisdom  Chapter 4: Authority  Chapter 5: Thoughts and Impressions  Chapter 6: Enigma and Paradox  Chapter 7: Singularity and Multiplicity  Chapter 8: The Aphorism Today  Glossary

This book has no shortage of spark. Grant combines his (exceptionally good) historical overview with cross-cultural comparisons. -- Noreen Masud, The Cambridge Quartley

Deft, short, sharp, concise, often witty, crammed with scholarship, and instict with wisdom, The Aphorism and Other Short Formscertainly shares many of the qualities of the object(s) of its attention. -- Clare Connors, Oxford Literary Review

It is worth emphasizing the high quality and wide range of this research: Chapter 7, for example, offerslM