Literary notes about discourse (AI summary)
In literature, the word “discourse” covers a wide spectrum—from casual exchanges and narrative commentary to formal, structured expositions of thought. It can denote an intimate conversation or a character’s detailed verbal reflection, as seen when it serves as the subject of social interaction ([1],[2],[3]). At the same time, “discourse” is often used to label a methodical presentation of ideas or a philosophical treatise, highlighting intellectual exploration and aesthetic formulation ([4],[5],[6],[7]). This dual function—oscillating between everyday dialogue and sophisticated analysis—demonstrates its versatility in shaping both the form and the content of literary works.
- But she eagerly asked what we had been talking about, as she had heard only so far as to make out that she was the subject of our discourse.
— from Laura Middleton; Her Brother and her Lover by Anonymous - We love one another’s discourse so that we cannot part when we do meet.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys - Home and to my office, and there very late with Sir W. Warren upon very serious discourse, telling him how matters passed to-day, and in the close he
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys - Why should not discourse, then, have nothing but truth in its import and nothing but beauty in its form?
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - Further Hegelian discourse may be found in Dr. J. Hutchison Sterling's Lectures on the Philosophy of Law.
— from The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes - The first Discourse is important not for any positive doctrine it contains, but as a key to the development of Rousseau's mind.
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - This opening discourse is a parable in which Zarathustra discloses the mental development of all creators of new values.
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
