Subtexts are all around us. In conversation, business transactions, politics, literature, philosophy, and even love, the art of expressing more than what is explicitly said allows us to live and move in the world. But rarely do we reflect on this subterranean dimension of communication. In this book, renowned classicist and scholar of rhetoric Laurent Pernot explores the fascinating world of subtext. Of the two meanings present in any instance of double meaning, Pernot focuses on the meaning that is unstated-the meaning that counts. He analyzes subtext in all its multifarious forms, including allusion, allegory, insinuation, figured speech, irony, innuendo, esoteric teaching, reading between the lines, ambiguity, and beyond. Drawing on examples from figures as varied as Homer, Shakespeare, Moliere, Proust, Foucault, and others, as well as from popular culture, Pernot shows how subtext can be identified and deciphered as well as how prevalent and essential it is in human life. With erudition and wit, Pernot explains and clarifies a device of language that we use and understand every day without even realizing it. The Subtle Subtext is a book for anyone who is interested in language, literature, hidden meanings, and the finer points of social relations.

Originally published as La Rhitorique dans l'Antiquiti (2000), this new English edition provides students with a valuable introduction to understanding the classical art of rhetoric and its place in ancient society and politics. Rhetoric formed an essential part of teaching and general culture. Today it gives indispensable keys to addressing current problems in literary theory, philosophy and aesthetics, communication, and political or legal debate. It bears a body of knowledge about reasoning and language, a vocabulary still in use, and transcends traditional barriers between disciplines and periods.
Written by a leading scholar of classical rhetoric, Laurent Pernot, the book offers a full description of ancient rhetoric in the Greco-Roman period, from Homer and classical Athens, through the Hellenistic World, Roman Republic, and Roman Empire, up to the advent of Christianity, explaining the evolutions, illuminating the main themes, and stressing the key moments and figures. The book contains a thesaurus giving a list and explanation of all the technical terms, many of which are still in use in contemporary language.
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