Slovo a Smysl (Dec 2023)

Nezůstat vně zpěvu. O dvou způsobech čtení básní a jejich místě v didaktice poezie

  • Eliška D. Härtelová

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14712/23366680.2023.2.3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. XX, no. 43
pp. 67 – 78

Abstract

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This article focuses on two ways of reading poetry, the first of which may be described as a contentbased model, the second as a song-based model of reception. It shows that the content-based model leads to a sense of incomprehension vis-à-vis the poetic text. The first part of the study concentrates on the construction of this image of ‘incomprehensible’ poetry and the implications this has for teaching. Taking a new perspective, the paper discusses the tendency to promote a single correct interpretation of a poem, and the phenomenon of purely formal, mechanical analyses. Attention is paid to teachers who often fail to offer a different model of reading, and who themselves start from the idea of incomprehensibility. The second part of the article proposes incorporating into the classroom a way of reading poems inspired by the way we perceive songs. This is based on the proximity of poetry and songs, which have common roots. What this highlights about poetry is its continuity with the oral tradition and performance. The article also defines the relationship of songbased model to interpretation and to approaches emphasizing methods of creative reception. In its conclusion, the study addresses the question of the relationship between entertainment or amusement and edification (docere et delectare), which are not seen as opposites in the song-based model of reception but as working in tandem.

Keywords