A Theory of the Aphorism

From Confucius to Twitter

Andrew Hui (Associate Professor of Humanities (Literature))

$34.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Princeton University Press
15 February 2021

Dialect, slang & jargon; Semantics; Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Literature: history & criticism; Popular culture; History of ideas

An engaging look at the aphorism, the shortest literary form, across time, languages, and cultures

Aphorisms — or short philosophical sayings — appear everywhere, from Confucius to Twitter, the Buddha to the Bible, Heraclitus to Nietzsche. Yet despite this ubiquity, the aphorism is the least studied literary form. What are its origins? How did it develop? Were the enigmatic sayings of charismatic sages the original 'social media'? And why do some of our most celebrated modern philosophers use aphoristic fragments to convey their deepest ideas? In A Theory of the Aphorism, Andrew Hui crisscrosses histories and cultures to answer these questions and more.

Encompassing literature, philology, and philosophy, A Theory of the Aphorism invites us to reflect anew on the meaning of this pithiest of literary forms.

'The history [Hui] has written is devoted to something more like what we usually call 'sayings'...

Buy the premise and you'll enjoy the bit, as David Letterman, an aphorist of sorts himself, used to say.' — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker

'This book is groundbreaking.' — Nigel Warburton, Five Books

'Deeply informative and extremely lucid...

Its ideal reader might have been Walter Benjamin.' — Lachlan Mackinnon, Times Literary Supplement

'Fans of dense brevity will appreciate that A Theory of the Aphorism is packed tight as a walnut...

It is replete with small things.' — Willis Goth Regier, World Literature Today

'Irresistible...

Lovers of aphorisms will derive huge pleasure from this elegant and informative book.' — Paradigm Explorer

By: Andrew Hui (Associate Professor of Humanities (Literature))
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm,
ISBN: 9780691210759
ISBN 10: 0691210756
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 15 February 2021
Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , ELT Advanced , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Andrew Hui is associate professor of humanities at Yale-NUS College, Singapore. He is the author of The Poetics of Ruins in Renaissance Literature.