SELF-CITATION IN HORACE BY BERNICE CORNELIA BRUNS VOLD A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 1924 SELF-CITATION IN HORACE. Introduction. Among the principles of the Theory of Imitation as set forth by the ancients was that of self-citation, an imitation by an author, of himself, as it were. Just as a poet repeated and varied the works of the great masters whom he studied and imitated, so he repeated and varied his own works. Down through the ages, ancient, mediaeval, and modern, this practice has continued in the fields of poetry, drama, music, oratory, and even history. I shall quote from Dr. Edward Stemplinger a few examples as illustrations. 1 Composers of great music quote themselves. Richard Wagner lets the "Liebe smotiv" from "Tristan and Isolde" ring out in the "Meistersingern"; Mozart repeats strains of the Figaro in several of his operas; Siegfried Wagner, a son of the great Wagner and also a composer of operas, repeats himself. In the goat dance of the devil before the church door in his opera "Banadietrich", he takes over a whole theme of the "Teufelmusik" from another of his works, the "Bärenhäuter". Very common is the repetition, with variations, of a theme within a musical composition. Most well-known and most frequently mentioned perhaps, are the repetitions in the epic poetry of Homer, 1. Dr. Edward Stemplinger: Das Plagiat in der Griechischen |