Home > Music, Performing Arts > Vol 11 2024 Abstract 1
The Culture of Semiotics: Opera as a Synchronous Practice
Edna Holywell

Abstract
In this article I assess recent literature on topoi in musicological studies outlining questions (particularly the problematic synonymous use of topos and trope) redefining what the topos denotes, expanding on current understandings of topoi and contributing to the recent topic studies debate in musicology. What I call topoi here are chiefly abstract nouns such as fate, destiny, love, death, grief, piety and others which dominate libretto texts first set down by the writer and then represented musically. I broadly define these topoi as affecting and expressive thematic signifiers. Furthermore, I argue that topoi in opera enable the identification of themes or motific triggers which do not directly evoke any of the five senses. In other words, topoi (to my mind) are overarching conceptual provocations that might directly engage an audience‘s emotional and/or intellectual faculties rather than appealing to the sensory experiences: sight; sound; smell; taste or touch. Operatic topoi therefore operate on a non-figurative level by shaping the narrative, its representation and interpretation by means of ideas, patterns and conceptual elements which might resonate with an audience‘s imagination, thoughts and impressions rather than through direct sensory stimulation. However, in modern literary criticism the term topos has come to be used to identify a conventional or recurring theme or expression, often in a pejorative sense as connoting a =cliché.‘ By resorting to familiar and overused expressions, critics lose the opportunity to explore what is unique and innovative about each individual staging. Rather than offering a new or insightful account, writers frequently rely on a bank of clichéd interpretations of topoi, repeating an oft-used formula that has been used numerous times to describe the narrative and characters. For my purposes, topoi are conventional (albeit sometimes stereotypical) theatrical, literary or musico-rhetorical devices representing standardised ideas or concepts. My use of the term =topos‘ ultimately derives from the persuasive aspect of classical rhetoric (see below) but has been adapted for my purpose, which is essentially to deconstruct how cultural practices, texts and ideologies enable readers/audiences to make =meaning,‘ incorporating the imperative literary-thematic aspect explicated above. Many critical theorists today follow Aristotle (384 – 322 BCE) in conceptualising/defining topoi as particular stereotypical arguments that an audience could comprehend without difficulty. Aristotle first recorded the notion of the topos in Topica (350 BCE). He convincingly used topoi to locate the invention of an argument‘s proposition in ??d??a/endoxa (opinions held by a consensus of people) deriving from d??a/doxa (individual opinions). It is also my contention (following Aristotle) that the affective connotation of a topos (or an =argument‘) is located in a shared premise which is why abstract noun or affective topoi might be considered to be prototypical or archetypal. In this article, I thus maintain that a topos (which is fundamentally a thematic context) might be collectively understood as a commonplace or common sense but could also perceived as formulaic or prosaic. In the twentieth century the =topos‘ label became widely associated with literary studies following German philologist ER Curtius‘ European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages (1948). Curtius linked rhetorical forms to modern literary constructions in an attempt to bring back or re-invent the European Latin heritage. Curtius‘ innovation produced common modes of expression which both represented and had an impact or =troped‘ on literary and for my purposes musico-rhetorical =clichés.‘ Topoi in critical theory have a number of methodological applications here. As I argued above, I employ the term to refer to the thematic and/or conceptual rhetorical constructions by means of which I critique text, music, culture, discourse and society.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/ijmpa.v11a1