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Making Mockery explores the dynamics of comic mockery and satire in
Greek and Roman poetry, and argues that poets working with such
material composed in accordance with shared generic principles and
literary protocols. It encourages a synoptic, synchronic view of
such poetry, from archaic iambus through Roman satire, and argues
that if we can appreciate the abstract poetics of mockery that
governs individual poets in such genres, we can we better
understand how such poetry functioned in its own historical moment.
Rosen examines in particular the various strategies deployed by
ancient satirical poets to enlist the sympathies of a putative
audience, convince them of the justice of their indignation and the
legitimacy of their personal attacks. The mocking satirist at the
height of his power remains elusive and paradoxical--a figure of
self-constructed abjection, yet arrogant and sarcastic at the same
time; a figure whose speech can be self-righteous one moment, but
scandalous the next; who will insist on the "reality" of his
poetry, but make it clear that this reality is always mediated by
an inescapable movement towards fictionality. While scholars have
often, in principle, acknowledged the force of irony,
persona-construction and other such devices by which satirists
destabilize their claims, very often in practice--especially when
considering individual satirists in isolation from others--they too
succumb to the satirist's invitation to take what he says at face
value. Despite the sophisticated critical tools they may bring to
bear on satirical texts, therefore, classicists still tend to treat
such poets ultimately as monochromatically indignant, vindictive
individuals on a genuine self-righteous mission. This study,
however, argues that that a far subtler analysis of the aggressive,
poeticized subject in Classical antiquity--its target, and its
audience--is called for.
Making Mockery explores the dynamics of comic mockery and satire in
Greek and Roman poetry, and argues that poets working with such
material composed in accordance with shared generic principles and
literary protocols. It encourages a synoptic, synchronic view of
such poetry, from archaic iambus through Roman satire, and argues
that if we can appreciate the abstract poetics of mockery that
governs individual poets in such genres, we can we better
understand how such poetry functioned in its own historical
moment.
Rosen examines in particular the various strategies deployed by
ancient satirical poets to enlist the sympathies of a putative
audience, convince them of the justice of their indignation and the
legitimacy of their personal attacks. The mocking satirist at the
height of his power remains elusive and paradoxical--a figure of
self-constructed abjection, yet arrogant and sarcastic at the same
time; a figure whose speech can be self-righteous one moment, but
scandalous the next; who will insist on the "reality" of his
poetry, but make it clear that this reality is always mediated by
an inescapable movement towards fictionality. While scholars have
often, in principle, acknowledged the force of irony,
persona-construction and other such devices by which satirists
destabilize their claims, very often in practice--especially when
considering individual satirists in isolation from others--they too
succumb to the satirist's invitation to take what he says at face
value. Despite the sophisticated critical tools they may bring to
bear on satirical texts, therefore, classicists still tend to treat
such poets ultimately as monochromatically indignant, vindictive
individuals on a genuineself-righteous mission. This study,
however, argues that that a far subtler analysis of the aggressive,
poeticized subject in Classical antiquity--its target, and its
audience--is called for.
Aside from the well-known plays of Aristophanes, many of the
comedies of ancient Greece are known only through fragments and
references written in Greek. Now a group of distinguished scholars
brings these nearly lost works to modern readers with lively
English translations of the surviving texts. The Birth of Comedy
brings together a wealth of information on the first three
generations of Western comedy. The translations, presented in
chronological order, are based on the universally praised scholarly
edition in Greek, Poetae Comici Graeci, by R. Kassel and C. A.
Austin. Additional chapters contain translations of texts relating
to comedy at dramatic festivals, staging, audience, and ancient
writers on comedy. The main text is supplemented by an introduction
assessing the fragments' contributions to the political, social,
and theatrical history of classical Athens and more than forty
illustrations of comic scenes, costumes, and masks. A glossary of
komoidoumenoi-the ancient word for "people mentioned in
comedies"-provides background information on the most notorious
comic victims. A full index includes not only authors, play titles,
and persons mentioned, but themes from the whole Greek comic sphere
(including politics, literature and philosophy, celebrities and
social scandals, cookery and wine, sex, and wealth).
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