Jugglers, magicians and orators: the role of emotions in the art of improvisation

Abstract

Jugglers, magicians and orators: the role of emotions in the art of improvisation One of the aspects that the art of rhetoric and acting share is the acquisition of a technique based on identification. In rhetoric manuals, whenever the modes in which the speaker can start using the technique need to be addressed and clarified, examples of actors deeply moved and shaken by their own roles are pointed out: it is a recurring topos, which highlights the reciprocity between the two artes. Through mental projections of narrated events, also known as visiones, the speaker filters the events through the eye of imagination and emotionally identifies with them: thanks to the intentional control of emotions, the speaker appears to be truly involved in the matter and gains credibility. However, the planning of emotions concerns not only the performance itself but also the inventio, the initial conception of a speech. From the analysis of the sources it is evident that improvisation and the instrumental use of the various adfectus result from a long learning process too and that in oratory nothing is left to extemporaneity. While performing, the speaker unconsciously implements a whole series of techniques that have been previously assimilated through memorization and exercise and that concern both the contents and the ways to successfully communicate them.