Verse form - A pilot study in the epidemiology of representations

Journal/Book: Hum Nature Int Biosoc Perspec. 1997; 8: 200 Saw Mill River, Hawthorne, NY 10532. Aldine de Gruyter Division Walter de Gruyter Inc. 171-203.

Abstract: This paper presents a pilot study in the ''epidemiological'' program for cultural research put forward by Dan Sperber. Theory is offered to argue that verse form is so disabling that its worldwide distribution must be explained by functions other than the broad-communicative, or ideological, power traditionally attributed to it. The theoretical case is confirmed by numerical data showing that in matched texts of English prose and verse the latter contain words of a lower mean length (measured in syllables). Candidate hypotheses for the epidemiology of verse are offered, including design for mnemonic properties, the registration of differences in verbal intelligence, the presentation of gestures of commitment, and the introduction of levels of quasi-randomness that lead to an impression of semantic richness and the illusion of profound and powerful communication.

Note: Article Constable J, Kyoto Univ, Fac Integrated Human Studies, Dept Int Culture, Sakyo Ku, Kyoto 60601, JAPAN

Keyword(s): epidemiology of representations; metrical analysis; poetry; Sperber, Dan; verse form

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