Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. When applied to ecological questions, didacticism in art, design, architecture and landscape attempts to persuade the viewer of environmental priorities; thus, constituting an entirely new form of explanatory discourse that presents, what can be called "eco-lessons". This concept can be defined as "ecological didacticism".

Overview

The term has its origin in the Ancient Greek word διδακτικός (''didaktikos''), "pertaining to instruction", and signified learning in a fascinating and intriguing manner. Didactic art was meant both to entertain and to instruct. Didactic plays, for instance, were intended to convey a moral theme or other rich truth to the audience. During the Middle Age, the Roman Catholic chants like the ''

Veni Creator Spiritus "Veni Creator Spiritus" (Come, Creator Spirit) is a traditional Christian hymn believed to have been written by Rabanus Maurus, a ninth-century German monk, teacher, and archbishop. When the original Latin text is used, it is normally sung in Greg ...

'', as well as the Eucharistic hymns like the ''

Adoro te devote "Adoro te devote" is a Eucharistic hymn written by Thomas Aquinas. It is one of the five Eucharistic hymns which were composed and set to music for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, instituted in 1264 by Pope Urban IV as a Solemnity for the Latin ...

'' and '' Pange lingua'' are used for fixing within prayers the truths of the Roman Catholic faith to preserve them and pass down from a generation to another. In the Renaissance, the church began a

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in t ...

between pagan and the Christian didactic art, a syncretism that reflected its dominating temporal power and recalled the controversy among the pagan and Christian aristocracy in the fourth century. An example of didactic writing is Alexander Pope's '' An Essay on Criticism'' (1711), which offers a range of advice about critics and criticism. An example of didactism in music is the chant '' Ut queant laxis'', which was used by

Guido of Arezzo Guido of Arezzo ( it, Guido d'Arezzo; – after 1033) was an Italian music theorist and pedagogue of High medieval music. A Benedictine monk, he is regarded as the inventor—or by some, developer—of the modern staff notation that had a ma ...

to teach solfege syllables. Around the 19th century the term ''didactic'' came to also be used as a criticism for work that appears to be overburdened with instructive, factual, or otherwise educational information, to the detriment of the enjoyment of the reader (a meaning that was quite foreign to Greek thought). Edgar Allan Poe called didacticism the worst of "heresies" in his essay '' The Poetic Principle''.

Examples

Some instances of didactic literature include: * '' Instructions of Kagemni'', by

Kagemni I Kagemni I was an ancient Egyptian who lived from the end of the 3rd Dynasty to the beginning of the 4th Dynasty. He was a vizier to both Pharaoh Huni and Pharaoh Sneferu. History Kagemni may have written a set of instructions, known as the ''In ...

(?) (2613–2589 BC?) * '' Instruction of Hardjedef'', by Hardjedef (between 25th century BC and 24th century BC) * '' The Maxims of Ptahhotep'', by

Ptahhotep Ptahhotep ( egy, ptḥ ḥtp "Peace of Ptah"), sometimes known as Ptahhotep I or Ptahhotpe, was an ancient Egyptian vizier during the late 25th century BC and early 24th century BC Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Life Ptahhotep was the city administ ...

(around 2375-2350 BC) * '' Works and Days'', by

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

(c. 700 BC) * ''

On Horsemanship ''On Horsemanship'' is the English title usually given to ', ''peri hippikēs'', one of the two treatises on horsemanship by the Athenian historian and soldier Xenophon (c. 430–354 BC). Other common titles for this work are ''De equis alendis' ...

'', by Xenophon (c. 350 BC) * '' The Panchatantra'', by Vishnu Sarma (c. 300 BC) * ''

De rerum natura ''De rerum natura'' (; ''On the Nature of Things'') is a first-century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius ( – c. 55 BC) with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7 ...

'', by Lucretius (c. 50 BC) * '' Georgics'', by Virgil (c. 30 BC) * '' Ars Poetica'' by

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

(c. 18 BC) * ''

Ars Amatoria The ''Ars amatoria'' ( en, The Art of Love) is an instructional elegy series in three books by the ancient Roman poet Ovid. It was written in 2 AD. Background Book one of ''Ars amatoria'' was written to show a man how to find a woman. In book two ...

'', by Ovid (1 BC) * '' Thirukkural'', by Thiruvalluvar (between 2nd century BC and 5th century AD) * '' Remedia Amoris'', by Ovid (AD 1) * '' Medicamina Faciei Femineae'', by Ovid (between 1 BC and AD 8) * '' Astronomica'' by

Marcus Manilius Marcus Manilius (fl. 1st century AD) was a Roman poet, astrologer, and author of a poem in five books called '' Astronomica''. The ''Astronomica'' The author of ''Astronomica'' is neither quoted nor mentioned by any ancient writer. Even his n ...

(c. AD 14) * '' Epistulae morales ad Lucilium'', by Seneca the Younger, (c. 65 AD) * Cynegetica, by

Nemesianus Marcus Aurelius Olympius Nemesianus was a Roman poet thought to have been a native of Carthage and flourished about AD 283. He was a popular poet at the court of the Roman emperor Carus (Historia Augusta, ''Carus'', 11). Works The works belo ...

(3rd century AD) * The '' Jataka Tales'' ( Buddhist literature, 5th century AD) * ''

Philosophus Autodidactus ''Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān'' () is an Arabic philosophical novel and an allegorical tale written by Ibn Tufail (c. 1105 – 1185) in the early 12th century in Al-Andalus. Names by which the book is also known include the ('The Self-Taught Philosop ...

'' by Ibn Tufail (12th century) * ''

Theologus Autodidactus ''Theologus Autodidactus'' ("The Self-taught Theologian"), originally titled ''The Treatise of Kāmil on the Prophet's Biography'' ( ar, الرسالة الكاملية في السيرة النبوية), also known as ''Risālat Fādil ibn Nātiq'' ...

'' by Ibn al-Nafis (1270s) * '' The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian'' (1480s) * The ''Puruṣaparīkṣā'' by

Vidyapati Vidyapati ( – 1460), also known by the sobriquet ''Maithil Kavi Kokil'' (the poet cuckoo of Maithili), was a Maithili and Sanskrit polymath-poet-saint, playwright, composer, biographer, philosopher, law-theorist, writer, courtier and ...

* '' The Pilgrim's Progress'', by John Bunyan (1678) * '' Rasselas'', by

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

(1759) * '' The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes'' (anonymous, 1765) * '' The Adventures of Nicholas Experience'', by Ignacy Krasicki (1776) * ''

The Water-Babies ''The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby'' is a children's novel by Charles Kingsley. Written in 1862–63 as a serial for ''Macmillan's Magazine'', it was first published in its entirety in 1863. It was written as part satire in ...

'', by

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

(1863) * '' If-'', by Rudyard Kipling (1910) * '' Siddhartha'', by Hermann Hesse (1952) * ''Sophie's World, by

Jostein Gaarder Jostein Gaarder (; born 8 August 1952) is a Norwegian intellectual and author of several novels, short stories, and children's books. Gaarder often writes from the perspective of children, exploring their sense of wonder about the world. He often ...

(1991) * The ''Wizard of Gramarye'' series by

Christopher Stasheff Christopher Stasheff (15 January 1944 – 10 June 2018) was an American science-fiction and fantasy author whose novels include ''The Warlock in Spite of Himself'' (1969) and ''Her Majesty's Wizard'' (1986). He received a bachelor's degree and a ...

(1968-2004) * ''Children's Books in England: Five Centuries of Social Life.'' by

F. J. Harvey Darton Frederick Joseph Harvey Darton (22 September 1878 – 26 July 1936) was an author, publisher, and historian of children's literature. He was best known for his pioneering works in ''The Story of English Children's Books in England: Five Centuries ...

Didacticism
, Boston College Libraries, Retrieved 30 Oct 2013 Some examples of research that investigates didacticism in art, design, architecture and landscape: * "Du Didactisme en Architecture / On Didacticism in Architecture". (2019). In C. Cucuzzella, C. I. Hammond, S. Goubran, & C. Lalonde (Eds.), Cahiers de Recherche du LEAP (Vol. 3). Potential Architecture Books. * Cucuzzella, C., Chupin, J.-P., & Hammond, C. (2020). "Eco-didacticism in art and architecture: Design as means for raising awareness". Cities, 102, 102728. Some examples of art, design, architecture and landscape projects that present eco-lessons.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Literary concepts Didactics Theories of aesthetics

Overview

Examples

See also

References

Further reading

External links