Rhetoric, Dialectic and Literature in the work of Francisco Sánchez, El Brocense

Abstract

Francisco Sánchez wrote two rhetorical treatises to facilitate the interpretation of the work of poets and orators: 'De arte dicendi' (1556) and 'Organum dialecticum et rhetoricum' (1579). In 1556 El Brocense adheres to the classical categories of rhetoric, but in 1579 he adopts the division proposed by Petrus Ramus, and he assigns inventio and dispositio to dialectic and elocutio and pronuntiatio to rhetoric. In 'De arte dicendi' as well as in 'Organum dialecticum et rhetoricum', El Brocense demonstrates the validity of the rules of inventio and dispositio in the composition and interpretation of literary works. His treatises evidence the influence of rhetoric and dialectic in classical literature.