Poetic Autonomy in Ancient Rome
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:30th Jan '14
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In Poetic Autonomy in Ancient Rome, Luke Roman offers a major new approach to the study of ancient Roman poetry. A key term in the modern interpretation of art and literature, 'aesthetic autonomy' refers to the idea that the work of art belongs to a realm of its own, separate from ordinary activities and detached from quotidian interests. While scholars have often insisted that aesthetic autonomy is an exclusively modern concept and cannot be applied to other historical periods, the book argues that poets in ancient Rome employed a 'rhetoric of autonomy' to define their position within Roman society and establish the distinctive value of their work. This study of the Roman rhetoric of poetic autonomy includes an examination of poetic self-representation in first-person genres from the late republic to the early empire. Looking closely at the works of Lucilius, Catullus, Propertius, Horace, Virgil, Tibullus, Ovid, Statius, Martial, and Juvenal, Poetic Autonomy in Ancient Rome affords fresh insight into ancient literary texts and reinvigorates the dialogue between ancient and modern aesthetics.
[Roman's] is a stimulating book whose close readings furnish readers of Latin poetry with a fresh perspective on an enduring problem in interpreting its forms and functions. It should attract a wide and appreciative audience and remain a permanent contribution to debates about how and why these poets wrote as they wrote. * W. R. Johnson, Classical Philology *
Roman's approach to this vast, complex, and challenging poetic corpus is very appealing. It effectively guides the reader through well-known texts and much debated issues, offering a different perspective. It is grounded on an extensive and solid acquaintance with the texts discussed and results from mature and extended reflection on the concept at stake, which is neither easy to grasp nor simple to expose. This book, a major enterprise, is surely a most solid contribution to the study of first-person Roman poetry. * Ana Lóio, Evphrosyne: Revista de Filologia Clássica *
[A] remarkably stimulating reassessment of poetic self-presentation in Rome. * J. Mira Seo, Classical World *
a major achievement, which no student or scholar of Latin literature of virtually any period can afford to ignore. * Francesca Martelli, Journal of Roman Studies *
ISBN: 9780199675630
Dimensions: 240mm x 162mm x 32mm
Weight: 750g
400 pages