Revisioning Stylistic Analysis and Renaissance Elocutio

This article offers a model for stylistic analysis that follows from Erasmus's rhetorical instruction in the early Renaissance that scholars have not yet satisfactorily understood. Despite contrary beliefs, Erasmus's approach contrasts with Aristotle's by successfully interweaving both dualisms and monisms into a union that permits expressive variability while retaining essential referentiality to character. Because Erasmus represents the beliefs of most Renaissance rhetoricians, evidence from his works, along with an application of his principles to exegesis, serves well to demonstrate how stylistic analysis was conducted by the best of Renaissance practitioners.