A Heretical Defence of the Unity of Form and Content
A Heretical Defence of the Unity of Form and Content

Summary/Abstract: The received view in the debate on the form–content unity of poetry is that the possibility of paraphrase does not sit well with the unity conception. I will suggest a shift from paraphrase to translation, since the latter is substantially closer to the heart of the matter. I will heretically divert from the ‘commonplace’ view, which claims that poetry cannot be translated. However, I will argue that the possibility of translation in this sense can be reconciled, appearances notwithstanding, with the unity of form and content. A further surprising conclusion will be that, while this possibility prima facie appears to be the best argument against the unity, the contrary is the case.

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