Voz e gesto na actio retórica

Abstract

When emerged the figure of the actor in the Greek theater, and the actio/pronuntiatio (delivery) was separated from the theatrical composition, the rhetoricians found that its rule would bring great value to the representation of the discourse. Thus was born the idea of theorizing about the actio and learn voice modulation and adequacy of gestures with actors. Isocrates, Aristoteles, the anonymous author of Rhetorica Ad Herennium, Cicero and Quintilian discussed it in their treaties. Medieval authors proceed with great freedom about the delivery: some overlook the importance of representation in their small books; others are based on the Ad Herennium (the most influential treatise in the Middle Ages) and the teaching of the Fathers, as Augustine, Jerome and Gregory; others, however, discuss the theory of voice, gestures and face with great innovation, which completes and gives fullness to the ancient rhetorical theory. In our study, we have privileged these authors.