The line of reason: Hugh Blair, spatiality and the progressive structure of language

2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Eddy
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Graphic Representation ◽  
Victorian Era ◽  
Hugh Blair ◽  
Early Humans ◽  
Power Of Language ◽  
The Relationship

At the dawn of the nineteenth century, words were seen as artefacts that afforded insights into the mental capacities of the early humans. In this article I address the late Enlightenment foundations of this model by focusing on Professor Hugh Blair, a leading voice on the relationship between language, progressivism and culture. Whereas the writings of grammarians and educators such as Blair have received little attention in histories of nascent palaeoarchaeology and palaeoanthropology, I show that he addressed a number of conceptual themes that were of central relevance to the ‘primitive’, ‘ancient’ and ‘modern’ typology that guided the construction of ‘prehistoric minds’ during the early decades of the Victorian era. Although I address the referential power of language to a certain extent, my main point is that the rectilinear spatiality afforded by Western forms of graphic representation created an implicitly progressivist framework of disordered, ordered and reordered minds.

scholarly journals Embracing Hugh Blair. Rhetoric, Faith and Citizenship in 19th Century Mexico

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 319-343
Author(s):  
Brian Connaughton
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Atlantic History ◽  
Common People ◽  
Hugh Blair ◽  
Public Audience ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Opening And Closing ◽  
The 19Th Century

This is a study of the key role of Hugh Blair, a Scottish Enlightened scholar and minister, in the understanding and teaching of rhetoric in a quarrelsome 19th-Century Mexico. His role as a master of multiple rhetorical forms, including legal prose, literary production and the sermon, emphasized effective communication to a broadening public audience in an age of expanding citizenship. First his Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, and then several selections of his sermons, were introduced in Spanish to the Mexican public. Somewhat surprisingly, his works were highly celebrated and widely recommended, by persons on the whole political spectrum, with virtually no discussion of Blair’s political concerns or religious faith. His approach was useful, it was made clear, in a more fluid society aimed at modernization, but simultaneously contained a top-down view of life in society which seriously restricted sensitivity to the voice of common people. This article discusses his general acclaim and those limitations within the context of local and Atlantic history, taking into account the critical views of some of the numerous authors who have studied Blair’s work and his enormous influence during the 19th century. In the perspectives offered, his impact can be judged more critically in terms of an undoubtedly changing Mexican political culture, but one simultaneously opening and closing admission to effective citizenship.

Smollett and his Detractor, Hugh Blair: With an Unpublished Smollett Letter

1948 ◽  
Vol 193 (14) ◽  
pp. 295-296
Author(s):  
Francesco Cordasco
Keyword(s):  
Hugh Blair

scholarly journals A figura de Voltaire – Hugh Blair e a arte de escrever história

DoisPontos ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luís F. S. Nascimento
Keyword(s):  
Hugh Blair ◽  
Present Text

O presente texto procura entender as razões que levaram o filósofo e crítico escocês Hugh Blair a tomar Voltaire como um modelo para o historiador moderno. Inicia-se o estudo com uma breve exposição de alguns elementos da concepção de história no pensamento voltairiano e então se passa à consideração que o autor britânico faz deles.The present text aims to understand the reasons that took the Scottish philosopher and critic Hugh Blair to take Voltaire as a model to the modern historian. This study begins with a brief description of some elements of history conception according to  Voltaire´s thinking and then the consideration that the British author makes of it.

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