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Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > Classical, early & medieval
These essays, by experts in the field from five countries, examine Plutarch's interpretative and artistic reshaping of his historical sources in representative lives. Diverse essays treat literary elements such as the parallelism which renders a pair of lives a unit or the themes which unify the lives. Others consider the selecting, combining, simplifying, and enlarging employed in composition. The construction of a Plutarchian life, the essays demonstrate, required careful selection and creative reworking of the historical material available. eBook available with sample pages: 020307663X
Cicero has played a pivotal role in shaping Western culture. His
public persona, his self-portrait as model of Roman prose,
philosopher, and statesman, has exerted a durable and profound
impact on the educational system and the formation of the ruling
class over the centuries. Joining up with recent studies on the
reception of Cicero, this volume approaches the figure of Cicero
from a 'biographical', more than 'philological', perspective and
considers the multiple ways by which different ages reacted to
Cicero and created their 'Ciceros'. From Cicero's lifetime to our
times, it focuses on how the image of Cicero was revisited and
reworked by intellectuals and men of culture, who eulogized his
outstanding oratorical and political virtues but, not rarely,
questioned the role he had in Roman politics and society. An
international group of scholars elaborates on the figure of Cicero,
shedding fresh light on his reception in late antiquity, Humanism
and Renaissance, Enlightenment and modern centuries. Historians,
literary scholars and philosophers, as well as graduate students,
will certainly profit from this volume, which contributes
enormously to our understanding of the influence of Cicero on
Western culture over the times.
This timely book traces ideas of pacifism through English
literature, particularly poetry. Four wide-ranging chapters,
drawing on both religious and secular texts, provide intellectual
and historical contexts. There follows a chronological analysis of
poetry which rejects war and celebrates peace, from the middle ages
to the present day. The book provides inspiration for all readers
who seriously believe that conflict and war do not solve problems,
and for students it provides a new kind of thematic history of
literature.
Responding to the reassertion of orality in the twentieth century
in the form of electronic media such as the telegraph, film, video,
computers, and television, this unique volume traces the roots of
classical rhetoric in the modern world. Welch begins by changing
the current view of classical rhetoric by reinterpreting the
existing texts into fluid language contexts -- a change that
requires relinquishing the formulaic tradition, acquiring an
awareness of translation issues, and constructing a classical
rhetoric beginning with the Fifth Century B.C. She continues with a
discussion of the adaptability of this material to new language
situations, including political, cultural, and linguistic change,
providing it with much of its power as well as its longevity. The
book concludes that classical rhetoric can readily address any
situation since it focuses not only on critical stances toward
discourse that already exists, but also presents elaborate theories
for the production of new discourse.
The series publishes important new editions of and commentaries on
texts from Greco-Roman antiquity, especially annotated editions of
texts surviving only in fragments. Due to its programmatically wide
range the series provides an essential basis for the study of
ancient literature.
Langland's Early Modern Identities uses the methodologies of
cultural studies and the history of the book to show how editors
and readers of the sixteenth through the early nineteenth century
successively remade Piers Plowman and its author according to their
own ideologies of the Middle Ages. Early modern responses to Piers
Plowman demonstrate the ideologies by which the canon of English
literature came into being. As a case study in the uses to which
the early modern period put its narratives of the medieval past,
this book should be of interest to both medievalists and early
modernists, particularly those interested in the history of
reading, publishing history, and the development of the literary
canon.
Damascius was head of the Neoplatonist academy in Athens when the
Emperor Justinian shut its doors forever in 529. His work, Problems
and Solutions Concerning First Principles, is the last surviving
independent philosophical treatise from the Late Academy. Its
survey of Neoplatonist metaphysics, discussion of transcendence,
and compendium of late antique theologies, make it unique among all
extant works of late antique philosophy. It has never before been
translated into English.
The Problems and Solutions exhibits a thorough?going critique of
Proclean metaphysics, starting with the principle that all that
exists proceeds from a single cause, proceeding to critique the
Proclean triadic view of procession and reversion, and severely
undermining the status of intellectual reversion in establishing
being as the intelligible object. Damascius investigates the
internal contradictions lurking within the theory of descent as a
whole, showing that similarity of cause and effect is vitiated in
the case of processions where one order (e.g. intellect) gives rise
to an entirely different order (e.g. soul).
Neoplatonism as a speculative metaphysics posits the One as the
exotic or extopic explanans for plurality, conceived as immediate,
present to hand, and therefore requiring explanation. Damascius
shifts the perspective of his metaphysics: he struggles to create a
metaphysical discourse that accommodates, insofar as language is
sufficient, the ultimate principle of reality. After all, how
coherent is a metaphysical system that bases itself on the
Ineffable as a first principle? Instead of creating an objective
ontology, Damascius writes ever mindful of the limitations of
dialectic, and of the pitfalls and snares inherent in the very
structure of metaphysical discourse.
E.D. Francis held that the ancient world was a unity in which
concerns of the day were reflected in literary works and the
language of pictorial and sculptural representations. His theories,
which challenge contemporary views of Attic civilization and its
artistic and literary productions, were presented as the
prestigious Waynflete lectures at Oxford in 1983 and are published
here for the first time. IMAGE AND IDEA IN FIFTH CENTURY GREECE
constitutes the first book-length application of the controversial
dating of fifth century Greek art pioneered by Francis and Michael
Vickers. If Francis' arguments are correct, the pan-Hellenic
construction of temples, erection of dedicatory statues, and the
general joie de vivre to be found in the artifacts of the late
archaic period can be seen as physical manifestations of Greek
victory over the Persians in 480 and 479. Embodying some of the
principal arguments for the importance of Persian influence on
Greek art and civilization, IMAGE AND IDEA has important
implications for our understanding of Attic culture.
Within the great diversity of their world, the assertion of origin was essential to the ancient Greeks in defining their sense of who they were and how they distinguished themselves from neighbours and strangers. Each person's name might carry both identity and origin - 'I am' . . . inseparable from 'I come from' . . . Names have surfaced in many guises and locations - on coins and artefacts, embedded within inscriptions and manuscripts - carrying with them evidence even from prehistoric and preliterate times. The Lexicon of Greek Personal Names has already identified more than 200,000 individuals. The contributors to this volume draw on this resource to demonstrate the breadth of scholarly uses to which name evidence can be put.
This book addresses the topics of literacy and textuality in order
to develop a new line of interpretation for a landmark of Middle
High German literature. Albrecht's Jungerer Titurel is an
intellectually ambitious narrative written ca. 1270 as a prequel
and sequel to the more famous Arthurian texts by Wolfram von
Eschenbach. Part One of the monograph considers the protagonists'
obsessive engagement with the written word in all its
manifestations. Part Two focuses complex construction of two
competing narrative personae and on the author's aesthetic and
moral justification of his literary undertaking.
Responding to the reassertion of orality in the twentieth century
in the form of electronic media such as the telegraph, film, video,
computers, and television, this unique volume traces the roots of
classical rhetoric in the modern world. Welch begins by changing
the current view of classical rhetoric by reinterpreting the
existing texts into fluid language contexts -- a change that
requires relinquishing the formulaic tradition, acquiring an
awareness of translation issues, and constructing a classical
rhetoric beginning with the Fifth Century B.C. She continues with a
discussion of the adaptability of this material to new language
situations, including political, cultural, and linguistic change,
providing it with much of its power as well as its longevity. The
book concludes that classical rhetoric can readily address any
situation since it focuses not only on critical stances toward
discourse that already exists, but also presents elaborate theories
for the production of new discourse.
Since antiquity, Book 8 of Thucydides' History has been considered
an unpolished draft which lacks revision. Even those who admit that
the book has some elements of internal coherence believe that
Thucydides, if death had not prevented him, would have improved
many chapters or even the whole structure of the book.
Consequently, while the first seven books of the History have been
well examined through the last two centuries, the narrative plan of
Book 8 remains an obscure subject, as we do not possess an
extensive and detailed presentation of its whole narrative design.
Vasileios Liotsakis tries to satisfy this central desideratum of
the Thucydidean scholarship by offering a thorough description of
the compositional plan, which, in his opinion, Thucydides put into
effect in the last 109 chapters of his work. His study elaborates
on the structural parts of the book, their details, and the various
techniques through which Thucydides composed his narration in order
to reach the internal cohesion of these chapters as well as their
close connection to the rest of the History. Liotsakis offers us an
original approach not only of Book 8 but also of the whole work,
since his observations reshape our overall view of the History.
A close examination of the prayers in Chaucer's poetry sheds
significant new light on his poetic practice. In a culture as
steeped in communal, scripted acts of prayer as Chaucer's England,
a written prayer asks not only to be read, but to be inhabited: its
"I" marks a space that readers are invited to occupy. This book
examines the implications of accepting that invitation when reading
Chaucer's poetry. Both in his often-overlooked pious writings and
in his ambitious, innovative pagan narratives, the "I" of prayer
provides readers with a subject-position thatcan be at once
devotional and literary - a stance before a deity and a stance in
relation to a poem. Chaucer uses this uniquely open, participatory
"I" to implicate readers in his poetry and to guide their work of
reading. In examining Christian and pagan prayers alongside each
other, Chaucer's Prayers cuts across an assumed division between
the "religious" and "secular" writings within Chaucer's corpus.
Rather, it emphasizes continuities andapproaches prayer as part of
Chaucer's broader experimentation with literary voice. It also
places Chaucer in his devotional context and foregrounds how pious
practices intersect with and shape his poetic practices. These
insightschallenge a received view of Chaucer as an essentially
secular poet and shed new light on his poetry's relationship to
religion.
Eusebius' magisterial Praeparatio Evangelica (written sometime
between AD 313 and 324) offers an apologetic defence of
Christianity in the face of Greek accusations of irrationality and
impiety. Though brimming with the quotations of other (often lost)
Greek authors, the work is dominated by a clear and sustained
argument. Against the tendency to see the Praeparatio as merely an
anthology of other sources or a defence of monotheistic religion
against paganism, Aaron P. Johnson seeks to appreciate Eusebius'
contribution to the discourses of Christian identity by
investigating the constructions of ethnic identity (especially
Greek) at the heart of his work. Analysis of his ethnic
argumentation' exhibits a method of defending Christianity by
construing its opponents as historically rooted nations, whose
place in the narrative of world history serves to undermine the
legitimacy of their claims to ancient wisdom and piety.
This is the first comprehensive study of the revival and appropriation of the Roman triumph from the 1580s to the 1650s. English versions of the triumph included ceremonial reenactments, poetic or pictorial representations, and stage performances. As well as many non-canonical writers, Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Marvell, and Milton all produced versions. The book includes an original survey of ancient literary models and the work of humanist antiquarians, and shows how all its texts are implicated in contemporary political conflicts and discourses.
The essays in this volume challenge current 'givens' in medieval
and early modern research around periodization and editorial
practice. They showcase cutting-edge research practices and
approaches in textual editing, and in manuscript and performance
studies to produce new ways of reading and working for students and
scholars.
An exploration across thirteen essays by critics, translators and
creative writers on the modern-day afterlives of Old English,
delving into how it has been transplanted and recreated in the
twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Old English language and
literary style have long been a source of artistic inspiration and
fascination, providing modern writers and scholars with the
opportunity not only to explore the past but, in doing so, to find
new perspectives on the present. This volume brings together
thirteen essays on the modern-day afterlives of Old English,
exploring how it has been transplanted and recreated in the
twentieth and twenty-first centuries by translators, novelists,
poets and teachers. These afterlives include the composition of
neo-Old English, the evocation in a modern literary context of
elements of early medieval English language and style, the
fictional depiction of Old English-speaking worlds and world views,
and the adaptation and recontextualisation of works of early
medieval English literature. The sources covered include W. H.
Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Seamus Heaney, alongside more recent
writers such as Christopher Patton, Hamish Clayton and Paul
Kingsnorth, as well as other media, from museum displays to
television. The volume also features the first-hand perspectives of
those who are authors and translators themselves in the field of
Old English medievalism.
This book systematically discusses the link between bilingual
language production and its manifestation in historical documents,
drawing together two branches of linguistics which have much in
common but are traditionally dealt with separately. By combining
the study of historical mixed texts with the principles of modern
code-switching and bilingualism research, the author argues that
the cognitive processes underpinning the human capacity to produce
mixed utterances have remained unchanged throughout history, even
as the languages themselves are constantly changing. This book will
be of interest to scholars of historical linguistics, syntactic
theory (particularly generative grammar), language variation and
change.
Studies in the Age of Chaucer is the annual yearbook of the New
Chaucer Society, publishing articles on the writing of Chaucer and
his contemporaries, their antecedents and successors, and their
intellectual and social contexts. More generally, articles explore
the culture and writing of later medieval Britain (1200-1500). Each
SAC volume also includes an annotated bibliography and reviews of
Chaucer-related publications.
Essays on the complexity of multilingualism in medieval England.
Professor Jocelyn Wogan-Browne's scholarship on the French of
England - a term she indeed coined for the mix of linguistic,
cultural, and political elements unique to the pluri-lingual
situation of medieval England - is of immenseimportance to the
field. The essays in this volume extend, honour and complement her
path-breaking work. They consider exchanges between England and
other parts of Britain, analysing how communication was effected
where languagesdiffered, and probe cross-Channel relations from a
new perspective. They also examine the play of features within
single manuscripts, and with manuscripts in conversation with each
other. And they discuss the continuing reach ofthe French of
England beyond the Middle Ages: in particular, how it became newly
relevant to discussions of language and nationalism in later
centuries. Whether looking at primary sources such as letters and
official documents, orat creative literature, both religious and
secular, the contributions here offer fruitful and exciting
approaches to understanding what the French of England can tell us
about medieval Britain and the European world beyond. Thelma
Fenster is Professor Emerita of French and Medieval Studies,
Fordham University; Carolyn Collette is Professor of English
Language and Literature at Mount Holyoke College. Contributors:
Christopher Baswell,Emma Campbell, Paul Cohen, Carolyn Collette,
Thelma Fenster, Robert Hanning, Richard Ingham, Maryanne Kowaleski,
Serge Lusignan, Thomas O'Donnell, W. Mark Ormrod, Monika Otter,
Felicity Riddy, Delbert Russell, Fiona Somerset, +Robert M. Stein,
Andrew Taylor, Nicholas Watson, R.F. Yeager
There are no clear demarcation lines between magic, astrology,
necromancy, medicine, and even sciences in the pre-modern world.
Under the umbrella term 'magic,' the contributors to this volume
examine a wide range of texts, both literary and religious, both
medical and philosophical, in which the topic is discussed from
many different perspectives. The fundamental concerns address issue
such as how people perceived magic, whether they accepted it and
utilized it for their own purposes, and what impact magic might
have had on the mental structures of that time. While some papers
examine the specific appearance of magicians in literary texts,
others analyze the practical application of magic in medical
contexts. In addition, this volume includes studies that deal with
the rise of the witch craze in the late fifteenth century and then
also investigate whether the Weberian notion of disenchantment
pertaining to the modern world can be maintained. Magic is, oddly
but significantly, still around us and exerts its influence.
Focusing on magic in the medieval world thus helps us to shed light
on human culture at large.
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