'Poeetsche fabrijcken' en andere allegorieën, eind 16de-begin 17de eeuw

Abstract

AbstractThe French poets of the 15th and 16th centuries (the 'rhétoriqueurs') attached importance to 'poetrie' in the sense of fiction- primarily mythological fiction. This view was adopted by rhetoricians in the South Netherlands (De Castelein), where early Renaissance poets subsequently invested mythological 'poetrie' with a neo-platonic theory of inspiration (De Heere). There was however some resistance to this kind of 'poetic' rendering in the North Netherlands, as well as to the allegorical interpretation directly linked with it (Coornhert). There was a twofold reason for this: the Reformatory rejection of allegorical bible interpretation, and the general humanist respect for the literal meaning of texts. Consequently, a different kind of poetry emerged which was more rhetorically argumentative than artistically fictional. Only later Van Mander was to introduce firmly the neo-platonic interpretation of myths, about which he entered into discussion with H. L. Spiegel, a friend of Coornhert's and a leading light in De Eglentier, the Amsterdam chamber of rhetoric.