Ambiguity
Ambiguity is an integral part of sign systems of all kinds and refers to a communicative utterance bearing more than one meaning. The conceptual range of ambiguity is extremely wide and includes not only a narrow, exclusive understanding (aut–aut) but also the extended conceptual usage of multiple inclusive meanings (vel–vel). Common to both dimensions is that ambiguity proper is always based on a countable set of interpretations, which allows it to be taxonomically distinguished from numerous related phenomena such as ambivalence, vagueness, or polyphony (Bauer et al. 2010, Vöhler 2021).
In the analysis of texts, a further distinction can be made (both from the perspectives of text production and reception) between a strategic and non-strategic use of ambiguity (Winkler 2015). The non-strategic perspective asks about the various mechanisms of linguistic (or communicative) ambiguity on the level of the language system and how they are avoided by authors, readers, or manuscript editors. Even more interesting for the narratological research of the working group, however, is the strategic use of ambiguity, which deals with ambiguous structures and their rhetorical and aesthetic effects in ancient (narrative) texts.
Among the numerous fields of literary communication in which ambiguity plays a role is the phenomenon of multiple addressing. Frequently, texts address not only the persons or groups of persons explicitly mentioned in the dedication – e.g. (Cornelius) Nepos in Catullus's Carmen 1 – but also a broad reading public beyond that (cf. ... plus uno maneat perenne saeclo!, v. 10; cf. McCarthy 2019). At times, several persons and groups of persons are explicitly addressed right away, e.g., at the beginning of Cicero's dialogue De finibus, in which not only Brutus but also future (critical) readers of his philosophical dialogue are addressed (aliquos futuros suspicor).
With Robert Kirstein, Simon Grund and Elisabeth Schedel, three members of the research group are part of the DFG Research Training Group 1808: Ambiguity - Production and Reception.
Bibliography (selected)
On Ambiguity:
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Bauer, Matthias/Knape, Joachim/Koch, Peter/Winkler, Susanne (2010), Dimensionen der Ambiguität, in: Wolfgang Klein/Susanne Winkler (eds.), Zeitschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Linguistik 158, Stuttgart, Weimar: Metzler, 7–75.
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Berndt, Frauke/Kammer, Stephan (2009), Amphibolie - Ambiguität - Ambivalenz: Die Struktur antagonistisch-gleichzeitiger Zweiwertigkeit, in: Frauke Berndt/Stephan Kammer (eds.), Amphibolie - Ambiguität - Ambivalenz, Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann, 7–30.
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Winkler, Susanne (2015), Exploring Ambiguity and the Ambiguity Model from a Transdisciplinary Perspective, in: Susanne Winkler (ed.), Ambiguity. Language and Communication, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 1–25.
On Ambiguity in Ancient Texts:
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Fontaine, Michael/McNamara, Charles/Short, William Michael (eds.) (2018), Quasi labor intus. Ambiguity in Latin Literature. Papers in honor of Reginald Thomas Foster. Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.
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Kirstein, Robert (2021), Half Heroes? Ambiguity in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in: Martin Vöhler/Therese Fuhrer/Stavros Frangoulidis (eds.), Strategies of Ambiguity in Ancient Literature, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 157–173.
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Kirstein, Robert (2019), Machtverhältnisse und Wortspiele. Yōko Tawada und Plinius der Jüngere, in: Winter-Froemel, Esme (ed.), Sprach-Spiel-Kunst. Ein Dialog zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 247-262.
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McCarthy, Kathleen (2019), I, the Poet. First-Person Form in Horace, Catullus, and Propertius, Ithaca, London: Cornell University Press.
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Schedel, Elisabeth (2022), Ambiguities of War: A Narratological Commentary on Silius Italicus’ Battle of Ticinus (Sil. 4.1-479), (= Brill's Narratological Commentaries on Ancient Texts 1), Leiden, Boston: Brill. (forthcoming)
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Vöhler, Martin (2021), Modern and Ancient Concepts of Ambiguity, in: Martin Vöhler/Therese Fuhrer/Stavros Frangoulidis (Hrsg.): Strategies of Ambiguity in Ancient Literature, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 3–10.
In Preparation:
- Grund, Simon/Kirstein, Robert, Wagner, Julian (eds.) (i.V.), Ambiguity & Narratolgy. Interdisciplinary and Diachronic Perspectives. In preparation for Narratologia. Contributions to Narrative Theory, Berlin: de Gruyter.