Metaphor and rhetorical theory in Francisco Leitão Ferreira's Nova Arte de Conceitos (New Art of Concepts)

Abstract

Rhetorical pedagogy played a fundamental role in the early Jesuit colleges. Cyprian Soarez' De arte rhetorica (Coimbra, 1562) excludes modern authors in the pursuit of a desired aesthetic orthodoxy equivalent to doctrinal orthodoxy. This conditioned the production of modern rhetoric in Latin and even more so in the vernacular. Nova Arte de Conceitos (1718-21) was the first overtly theoretical work in Portuguese to have an impact on rhetorical and poetical production. In this treatise, drawing from the classical canon, Francisco Leitão Ferreira (1667-1735) makes good use of sixteenth century poets and European Baroque authors, while demonstrating a solid humanistic background and a deep knowledge of the literary doctrines of the seventeenth century. He turns to the Cannocchiale Aristotelico (Torino, 1670) by Emanuele Tesauro, S.J. (1592-1675) and to Agudeza y arte de ingenio (Lisbon, 1659) by Baltasar Gracián, S.J. (1601-58), as well as to recent texts relevant to the evolution towards Neoclassical aesthetics. In order to "reduce to art the free processes of reasoning," Leitão Ferreira submits the ingenious concepts to iudicium, for their common root is undoubtedly the metaphor. This paper will try to assess the extent to which the Nova Arte de Conceitos operates that "tropological reduction."