Ex Ante Allusions

We tend to think of allusions as indirect references to objects that already exist. Here I argue against this post facto orthodoxy and for the view that certain cases of allusion count as ex ante allusions (i.e. allusions before the fact). I argue that the standard view conflates the epistemic...

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Main Author: Jason Holt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nederlands Genootschap voor Esthetica (Dutch Association of Aesthetics) 2015-07-01
Series:Aesthetic Investigations
Subjects:
Online Access:https://aestheticinvestigations.eu/article/view/12002
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author Jason Holt
author_facet Jason Holt
author_sort Jason Holt
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description We tend to think of allusions as indirect references to objects that already exist. Here I argue against this post facto orthodoxy and for the view that certain cases of allusion count as ex ante allusions (i.e. allusions before the fact). I argue that the standard view conflates the epistemic dependence of allusion (knowledge of the object of allusion) with an existential dependence (the object must already exist). As an adequate account of allusion should explain both the apparent paradoxical character and the possibility of ex ante allusions, I propose that literary allusions should be understood in terms of what might be called reference from rather than reference to.
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spelling doaj.art-aa8f8f7d1f7548d986e15d2915f7fbf32024-04-19T08:53:19ZengNederlands Genootschap voor Esthetica (Dutch Association of Aesthetics)Aesthetic Investigations2352-27042015-07-011110.58519/aesthinv.v1i1.1200211995Ex Ante AllusionsJason Holt0Acadia University We tend to think of allusions as indirect references to objects that already exist. Here I argue against this post facto orthodoxy and for the view that certain cases of allusion count as ex ante allusions (i.e. allusions before the fact). I argue that the standard view conflates the epistemic dependence of allusion (knowledge of the object of allusion) with an existential dependence (the object must already exist). As an adequate account of allusion should explain both the apparent paradoxical character and the possibility of ex ante allusions, I propose that literary allusions should be understood in terms of what might be called reference from rather than reference to. https://aestheticinvestigations.eu/article/view/12002interpretationliteraturereferenceex anteallusion
spellingShingle Jason Holt
Ex Ante Allusions
Aesthetic Investigations
interpretation
literature
reference
ex ante
allusion
title Ex Ante Allusions
title_full Ex Ante Allusions
title_fullStr Ex Ante Allusions
title_full_unstemmed Ex Ante Allusions
title_short Ex Ante Allusions
title_sort ex ante allusions
topic interpretation
literature
reference
ex ante
allusion
url https://aestheticinvestigations.eu/article/view/12002
work_keys_str_mv AT jasonholt exanteallusions