Category talk:Epigrammatists

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Why is this an exclusively Greek category? Modern authors in various cultures have also written epigrams, and, to my knowledge, nothing in the name itself limits the category to Greek poets. In fact, I came across this because I'm writing an article about a 19th century Romanian author of epigrams, and the categorizing here tries to make me believe that he didn't exist... Dahn (talk) 08:09, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

The category is not exclusively Greek, but it is, at present, composed almost exclusively of ancient Greek poets. No doubt many modern authors have written in the epigrammatic idiom. If and when they actually start getting added to the category, we'll probably have to have a talk about making a subcat, something like Category:Ancient Greek epigrammatists, or somesuch. It's also worth pointing out that even though there are poets in recent centuries who have written epigrams, it is comparatively rare to see a modern poet specializing in epigrams, or one who is generally termed an "epigrammatist" the way the ancients would call a class of poets who wrote almost solely in epigram. Ford MF (talk) 03:23, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Actually, the category already comprises Ashleigh Brilliant (incidentally, I don't know who the man is or if he should be included in the category at all - but he is not an Ancient Greek). I do agree that epigrams aren't the phenomenon they were back in the Antiquity, but even so, aren't you forgetting the Romans?

I can't say I follow you on the "comparatively rare... generally termed" argument, if it means to say that an epigrammatist is solely one who wrote "almost exclusively" in this genre. It reminds me of "how many stones does it take to make a pile?". If sources say they wrote an epigram, they're epigrammatists - just like writing a sonnet makes one a sonneteer.

And finally: in my culture, epigram-writing is exclusively a modern-day phenomenon (even if it has most likely slowed down recently). Not only have some otherwise well-known Romanian poets published epigrams which are rather famous in the context, but Romania has some noted professional epigrammatists, some of whom at least we don't have articles on (though we should). Furthermore, during the communist period, epigrams were published as a separate column in almost every almanac or monthly review. I can't tell you why that is, but it probably has to with maintaining the impression that criticism and humor were encouraged, and this was already a traditional form for expressing them (though the targets of such "criticism" were usually waiters who took too long to get your order, employees who got drunk during work hours, lazy plumbers and, at most, the lowest-ranking state officials). It is probable that the situation has parallels in other parts of the Eastern Bloc - at least, I remember Soviet epigrammatists being mentioned by Ilf and Petrov.

I for one have no objection to an "Ancient Greek epigrammatists" subcat, especially since it would serve to highlight the who's who. But note that most articles in this category are already part of "Ancient Greek poets" - one would want to make sure that duplication is avoided in those cases where it's merely duplication. Dahn (talk) 09:46, 26 October 2008 (UTC)