Invective (from
Middle English ''invectif'', or
Old French and
Late Latin ''invectus'') is abusive, reproachful, or venomous language used to express blame or censure; or, a form of rude expression or discourse intended to offend or hurt;
vituperation, or deeply seated ill will, vitriol. The Latin adjective ''invectivus'' means 'scolding.'
The genre of invective
The "genre of invective" or "''vituperatio''" in Latin is a classical literary form used in
Greek and
Roman polemical verse as well as in prose. Its primary context is as
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
.
The genre of ''vituperatio'' belongs to the ''genus demonstrativum'', which is composed of the elements of the praise and the blame.
During the
Roman Republic, personal invectives and character assassination were widely used as part of both forensic speeches and orations.
Cicero made frequent use of the invective form against political foes such as
Clodius,
Catilina (in the Catalinarian speeches) or
Mark Antony (Philippics). Common charges included avarice, cupidity, cowardice, effeminacy, drunkenness, poor writing and speaking skills, luxury, disapproved sexual habits and tyrannical behaviour.
Between 44 BC and 30 BC, invective became a tool of the propaganda war between
Octavian and Mark Antony.
Among other slanders, Mark Antony was accused of having married the foreign queen
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...
, of being her submissive subject and of having lost his Roman identity. Further, it was stated that Cleopatra was planning to invade Italy. This propaganda before the
Battle of Actium in 31 BC allowed Octavian to present his campaign as a legitimate military campaign to defend the Roman Republic.
The preferred literary term for the later invective of the
Renaissance is
libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
.
See also
*
Libel (poetry)
References
External links
invectivity.com- Link to the German
Collaborative Research Centre 1285 of the
Technical University of Dresden with the topic "Invectivity - Constellations and Dynamics of Disparagement", which investigates phenomena of degradation and abuse - including literary genres such as invectives - in an interdisciplinary manner.
Rhetoric
Semantics
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