A pragmática da imitatio e da aemulatio em De copia verborum, de Erasmo de Roterdã

Abstract

This dissertation aims to present a pragmatic analysis of De utraque verborum ac rerum copia (De copia), first published in 1512, by Erasmus of Rotterdam. The analysis adopts a pragmatic approach to discourse (Austin, 1990; Maingueneau, 2006; Rajagopalan, 2010) and an interdisciplinary perspective, investigating how the work functions not only as a technical manual of stylistic variation but also as a pedagogical manual that reworks the classical legacy amid the cultural, religious, and educational transformations of the sixteenth century, grounded in practices of imitatio and aemulatio. Starting from the assumption that language does not merely describe the world but actively transforms it, this study seeks to present the Erasmian treatise as a performative didactic practice, in which rhetorical precepts are articulated with strategies that engage the co-enunciator through the very exercise of language. In this way, De copia is understood as an instrument of ethical action, discernment, and moral responsibility, using language to guide the subject and to enable critical intervention in the world. The interdisciplinary approach brings together applied linguistics, Latin studies, Renaissance studies, rhetorical studies, education, and historiography, highlighting the relevance of contemporary approaches for the interpretation of humanist texts.