63 Colloquial and Li.. - Ganino.com

316 kathleen m. coleman
a particular poem is only significant if it can be demonstrated that no other
colloquial features are present either. At the other end of the spectrum,
however, the tendency of parentheses to cluster in particular sections, or in
speeches delivered by particular spokespersons, suggests a cumulative effect;
the Appendix shows where these clusters occur. A comprehensive treatment
of colloquial features in the Silvae would demonstrate the relationship
between the occurrences of parenthesis and of other colloquialisms; a few
instances have been noted above.
The effect of the parentheses in the Silvae ranges from mimicry of colloquial
speech, as in the examples from the poem to Plotius Grypus with
which I started, to the characterisation of the spokespersons to whom
Statius gives the microphone, and the subjective involvement of Statius
himself and the display of his learning. Parallels for many of these effects
come from the Augustan poets, especially Ovid. Statius, and his spokespersons,
speak like people in poetry, which indeed is what they are; ‘[l]iterary
texts are...artistic representations of conversational modes’ (Chahoud,
this volume p. 58). But, in Statius, as in his Ovidian model, the purpose of
parenthesis seems to be above all to reinforce the sense of communication
with an interlocutor, which is one of the identifying features of colloquial
language in Hofmann’s classic study (Chahoud, this volume p. 49), so that,
even if the exact phrasing of the parentheses reflects that of people in poetry
rather than people on the street (we cannot know how common it was to
hear someone exclaim nefas! in real life), the occurrence of the parentheses
adds a sense of liveliness and immediacy that contributes to the unique
texture of the Silvae.
appendix
Note: Although the tituli to the poems are probably late additions, I include
them below to indicate the theme of each poem. An asterisk denotes an
occurrence inside a speech by a spokesperson. Instances of parenthetic heu
on its own are omitted here, as being so common as to skew the impression
of the frequency of parenthesis overall; they are listed in n. 12 above.
1 praef.: 22–3
1.1 Ecus maximus Domitiani imp.: 86–7
1.2 Epithalamion in Stellam et Violentillam: 17, 37, 64, ∗ 74, ∗ 79, ∗ 101,
∗ 128, ∗ 174–5, ∗ 180
1.3 Villa Tiburtina Manili Vopisci: 20
1.4 Soteria Rutili Gallici: 5, 34–5, 53, ∗ 62, ∗ 77