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Historians often refer to past events which took place prior to
their narrative's proper past - that is, they refer to a 'plupast'.
This past embedded in the past can be evoked by characters as well
as by the historian in his own voice. It can bring into play other
texts, but can also draw on lieux de memoire or on material
objects. The articles assembled in this volume explore the manifold
forms of the plupast in Greek and Roman historians from Herodotus
to Appian. The authors demonstrate that the plupast is a powerful
tool for the creation of historical meaning. Moreover, the acts of
memory embedded in the historical narrative parallel to some degree
the historian's activity of recording the past. The plupast thereby
allows Greek and Roman historians to reflect on how (not) to write
history and gains metahistorical significance. In shedding new
light on the temporal complexity and the subtle forms of
self-conscious reflection in the works of ancient historians, Time
and Narrative in Ancient Historiography significantly enhances our
understanding of their narrative art.
The concept of mimesis has dominated reflection on the nature and
role, in Greek literature, of representation. Jonas Grethlein, in
his ambitious new book, takes this reflection a step further. He
argues that, beyond mimesis, there was an important but
unacknowledged strand of reflection focused instead on the nuanced
idea of apate (often translated into English as 'deceit'),
oscillating between notions of 'deception' and 'aesthetic
illusion'. Many authors from Gorgias and Plato to Philo, Plutarch
and Clement of Alexandria used this key concept to entwine
aesthetics with ethics. In creatively exploring the various
reconfigurations of apate, and placing these in their
socio-historical contexts, the book offers a bold new history of
ancient aesthetics. It also explores the present significance of
the aesthetics of deception, unlocking the potential of ancient
reflection for current debates on the ethical dimension of
representation. It will appeal to scholars in classics and literary
theory alike.
The past is narrated in retrospect. Historians can either
capitalize on the benefit of hindsight and give their narratives a
strongly teleological design or they may try to render the past as
it was experienced by historical agents and contemporaries. This
book explores the fundamental tension between experience and
teleology in major works of Greek and Roman historiography,
biography and autobiography. The combination of theoretical
reflections with close readings yields a new, often surprising
assessment of the history of ancient historiography as well as a
deeper understanding of such authors as Thucydides, Tacitus and
Augustine. While much recent work has focused on how ancient
historians use emplotment to generate historical meaning,
Experience and Teleology in Ancient Historiography offers a new
approach to narrative form as a mode of coming to grips with time.
In this bold book, Jonas Grethlein proposes a new dialogue between
the fields of Classics and aesthetics. Ancient material, he argues,
has the capacity to challenge and re-orientate current debates.
Comparisons with modern art and literature help to balance the
historicism of classical scholarship with transcultural theoretical
critique. Grethlein discusses ancient narratives and pictures in
order to explore the nature of aesthetic experience. While our
responses to both narratives and pictures are vicarious, the
'as-if' on which they are premised is specifically shaped by the
form of the representation. Form emerges as a key to how narratives
and pictures constitute an important means of engaging with
experience. Combining theoretical reflections with close readings,
this book will appeal to art historians as well as to textual
scholars.
In this bold book, Jonas Grethlein proposes a new dialogue between
the fields of Classics and aesthetics. Ancient material, he argues,
has the capacity to challenge and re-orientate current debates.
Comparisons with modern art and literature help to balance the
historicism of classical scholarship with transcultural theoretical
critique. Grethlein discusses ancient narratives and pictures in
order to explore the nature of aesthetic experience. While our
responses to both narratives and pictures are vicarious, the
'as-if' on which they are premised is specifically shaped by the
form of the representation. Form emerges as a key to how narratives
and pictures constitute an important means of engaging with
experience. Combining theoretical reflections with close readings,
this book will appeal to art historians as well as to textual
scholars.
Ancient Greeks remembered their past before the rise of
historiography and after it poetry and oratory continued to serve
commemorative functions. This book explores the field of literary
memory in the fifth century BCE, juxtaposing the works of Herodotus
and Thucydides with samples from epinician poetry, elegy, tragedy
and oratory. Various socio-political contexts and narrative forms
lent themselves to the expression of diverse attitudes towards the
past. At the same time, a common gravitational centre can be
observed which is distinct from modern ideas of history. As well as
presenting a broad overview on memory in various genres, Professor
Grethlein sheds new light on the rise of Greek historiography. He
views Herodotus and Thucydides against the background of memory in
poetry and oratory and thereby elucidates the tension between
tradition and continuity in which the shaping of historiography as
a genre took place.
The past is narrated in retrospect. Historians can either
capitalize on the benefit of hindsight and give their narratives a
strongly teleological design or they may try to render the past as
it was experienced by historical agents and contemporaries. This
book explores the fundamental tension between experience and
teleology in major works of Greek and Roman historiography,
biography and autobiography. The combination of theoretical
reflections with close readings yields a new, often surprising
assessment of the history of ancient historiography as well as a
deeper understanding of such authors as Thucydides, Tacitus and
Augustine. While much recent work has focused on how ancient
historians use emplotment to generate historical meaning,
Experience and Teleology in Ancient Historiography offers a new
approach to narrative form as a mode of coming to grips with time.
Ancient Greeks remembered their past before the rise of
historiography and after it poetry and oratory continued to serve
commemorative functions. This book explores the field of literary
memory in the fifth century BCE, juxtaposing the works of Herodotus
and Thucydides with samples from epinician poetry, elegy, tragedy
and oratory. Various socio-political contexts and narrative forms
lent themselves to the expression of diverse attitudes towards the
past. At the same time, a common gravitational centre can be
observed which is distinct from modern ideas of history. As well as
presenting a broad overview on memory in various genres, Professor
Grethlein sheds new light on the rise of Greek historiography. He
views Herodotus and Thucydides against the background of memory in
poetry and oratory and thereby elucidates the tension between
tradition and continuity in which the shaping of historiography as
a genre took place.
The categories of classical narratology have been successfully
applied to ancient texts in the last two decades, but in the
meantime narratological theory has moved on. In accordance with
these developments, Narratology and Interpretation draws out the
subtler possibilities of narratological analysis for the
interpretation of ancient texts. The contributions explore the
heuristic fruitfulness of various narratological categories and
show that, in combination with other approaches such as studies in
deixis, performance studies and reader-response theory, narratology
can help to elucidate the content of narrative form. Besides
exploring new theoretical avenues and offering exemplary readings
of ancient epic, lyric, tragedy and historiography, the volume also
investigates ancient predecessors of narratology.
The categories of classical narratology have been successfully
applied to ancient texts in the last two decades, but in the
meantime narratological theory has moved on. In accordance with
these developments, Narratology and Interpretation draws out the
subtler possibilities of narratological analysis for the
interpretation of ancient texts. The contributions explore the
heuristic fruitfulness of various narratological categories and
show that, in combination with other approaches such as studies in
deixis, performance studies and reader-response theory, narratology
can help to elucidate the content of narrative form. Besides
exploring new theoretical avenues and offering exemplary readings
of ancient epic, lyric, tragedy and historiography, the volume also
investigates ancient predecessors of narratology.
Forderungen nach Dekolonialisierung haben in den
Altertumswissenschaften zuletzt eine heftige Debatte über den
Platz der griechisch-römischen Antike in der Geschichte und
Gegenwart ausgelöst. Jonas Grethlein zeichnet hier diese Debatte
nach und entwickelt eine eigene Position. Den Advokaten der
Identitätspolitik, die eine kritische Revision der Geschichte der
Altertumswissenschaften und des Kanons fordern, stehen konservative
Fachvertreter gegenüber, die im griechisch-römischen Altertum die
Wurzeln unserer kulturellen Identität sehen. In beiden Fällen
erweist sich die Kategorie der Identität als problematisch - sie
verkürzt entweder den Zugriff auf die Antike narzisstisch oder
überstrapaziert sie normativ. Auch Uvo Hölschers Formel des
'nächsten Fremden' kann in einer globalisierten Welt die
Beschäftigung mit der Antike nicht mehr rechtfertigen - es gibt
viele andere vergangene und gegenwärtige Kulturen, die uns neue
Perspektiven auf die Gegenwart eröffnen können. Es ist eine
zentrale Herausforderung für die Altertumswissenschaften, die
Hinterlassenschaft der Antike für die Gegenwart fruchtbar zu
machen. Auch wenn griechische und lateinische Texte keinen
besonderen Status mehr beanspruchen können, bietet ihre
Reflexivität vielfältige Ansatzpunkte für die
Auseinandersetzung.
In this concise but stimulating book on history and Greek culture,
Hans-Joachim Gehrke continues to refine his work on 'intentional
history', which he defines as a history in the self-understanding
of social groups and communities - connected to a corresponding
understanding of the other - which is important, even essential,
for the collective identity, social cohesion, political behaviour
and the cultural orientation of such units. In a series of four
chapters Gehrke illustrates how Greeks' histories were consciously
employed to help shape political and social realities. In
particular, he argues that poets were initially the masters of the
past and that this dominance of the aesthetic in the view of the
past led to an indissoluble amalgamation of myth and history and
lasting tension between poetry and truth in the genre of
historiography. The book reveals a more sophisticated picture of
Greek historiography, its intellectual foundations, and its wider
social-political contexts.
Historians often refer to past events which took place prior to
their narrative's proper past - that is, they refer to a 'plupast'.
This past embedded in the past can be evoked by characters as well
as by the historian in his own voice. It can bring into play other
texts, but can also draw on lieux de memoire or on material
objects. The articles assembled in this volume explore the manifold
forms of the plupast in Greek and Roman historians from Herodotus
to Appian. The authors demonstrate that the plupast is a powerful
tool for the creation of historical meaning. Moreover, the acts of
memory embedded in the historical narrative parallel to some degree
the historian's activity of recording the past. The plupast thereby
allows Greek and Roman historians to reflect on how (not) to write
history and gains metahistorical significance. In shedding new
light on the temporal complexity and the subtle forms of
self-conscious reflection in the works of ancient historians, Time
and Narrative in Ancient Historiography significantly enhances our
understanding of their narrative art.
The taxonomies of narratology have proven valuable tools for the
analysis of ancient literature, but, since they were mostly forged
in the analysis of modern novels, they have also occluded the
distinct quality of ancient narrative and its understanding in
antiquity. Ancient Greek Texts and Modern Narrative Theory paves
the way for a new approach to ancient narrative that investigates
its specific logic. Jonas Grethlein's sophisticated discussion of a
wide range of literary texts in conjunction with works of criticism
sheds new light on such central issues as fictionality, voice,
Theory of Mind and narrative motivation. The book provides
classicists with an introduction to ancient views of narrative but
is also a major contribution to a historically sensitive theory of
narrative.
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