I've been reading a book called "Rhetoric of the Unreal" by
Christine-Brooke-Rose, which is about literary criticism of genres
called "fantastial".

In it she says, of the Canadian critic Northrop Frye:

"He presents five modes, one after the other, selecting categories for
each, discursively and of course very persuasively."

For me the "of course" strikes a jarring note.

If something is discursive (rambling, wandering around in an
unsystematic manner and never getting to the point) it is hard to see
it as being persuasive at all, never mind "of course".

Does "discursively" have a special meaning in litcrit speak tha is
other than the norrmal everyday meaning of the word, and if so, what
is it? Can anyone explain?

A DuckDuckGo search doesn't help.

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On 2021-08-19, Steve Hayes wrote:

> I've been reading a book called "Rhetoric of the Unreal" by
> Christine-Brooke-Rose, which is about literary criticism of genres
> called "fantastial".

Is that a typo for "fantastical"?

>
> In it she says, of the Canadian critic Northrop Frye:
>
> "He presents five modes, one after the other, selecting categories for
> each, discursively and of course very persuasively."
>
> For me the "of course" strikes a jarring note.
>
> If something is discursive (rambling, wandering around in an
> unsystematic manner and never getting to the point) it is hard to see
> it as being persuasive at all, never mind "of course".
>
> Does "discursively" have a special meaning in litcrit speak tha is
> other than the norrmal everyday meaning of the word, and if so, what
> is it? Can anyone explain?
>
> A DuckDuckGo search doesn't help.
>
>

--
Unit tests are like the boy who cried wolf.

On 8/19/21 8:58 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:
> I've been reading a book called "Rhetoric of the Unreal" by
> Christine-Brooke-Rose,

[a.e.u. and a.u.e. only. Followups to a.u.e.]

Extra hyphen in the author's name?

> which is about literary criticism of genres
> called "fantastial".
>
> In it she says, of the Canadian critic Northrop Frye:
>
> "He presents five modes, one after the other, selecting categories for
> each, discursively and of course very persuasively."
>
> For me the "of course" strikes a jarring note.
>
> If something is discursive (rambling, wandering around in an
> unsystematic manner and never getting to the point) it is hard to see
> it as being persuasive at all, never mind "of course".
>
> Does "discursively" have a special meaning in litcrit speak tha is
> other than the norrmal everyday meaning of the word, and if so, what
> is it? Can anyone explain?
....

It's not an everyday word around here, and in fact I've usually sort of
skipped over it. The meanings in the OED are

1. Of or characterized by reasoned argument or thought; logical,
ratiocinative. Often opposed to /intuitive./ (1595)

2. a. That passes from one subject to another, esp. in a rapid or
irregular manner; extending over or dealing with a wide range of
subjects; expansive; digressive. (1598)

b. With reference to physical action or disposition: of the nature of or
characterized by movement to and fro, or from place to place. Now
/rare./ (1626)

3. Relating to discourse or modes of discourse. Cf. discourse n. 7. (1961)

Sense 3 may be a special litcrit meaning, but I suspect your author was
using it in sense 1.

If you don't have access to the OED, free on-line dictionaries are
probably a better bet than search engines.

--
Jerry Friedman