While it is common for us to understand rhythm as a resolutely temporal phenomenon, this has not always been the case. In early Greek thought, as well as in the Old Testament and Xünzian Chinese philosophy, rhythm instead signified form. The purpose of this talk is to unpack the idea of rhythm as form, discuss its implications for our understanding of sound and aesthetics, and show its continued (latent) influence in modern poetry.
Vincent Barletta is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Iberian and Latin American Cultures. He is a Research Associate at Stanford's Europe Center and associated faculty in the Center for African Studies, the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, the Mediterranean Studies Forum and the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies. He is also Co-Faculty Chair (with Marília Librandi-Rocha) of the Sense & Sound Research Project; and Co-Executive Editor (also with Marília Librandi-Rocha) of ellipsis, the Journal of the American Portuguese Studies Association. His research and teaching focus on medieval and early modern Iberian literatures; Portuguese literature, empire and humanism; Islam and Aljamiado literature; comparative literature; literature and linguistic anthropology; literature and philosophy.