Scott McGill
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195175646
- eISBN:
- 9780199789337
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175646.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The Virgilian centos, in which authors reconnect discrete lines taken from Virgil's Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid to create new poems, are some of the most striking texts to survive from antiquity. ...
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The Virgilian centos, in which authors reconnect discrete lines taken from Virgil's Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid to create new poems, are some of the most striking texts to survive from antiquity. This book examines the twelve mythological and secular examples, which probably date from c.200-c.530. While verbal games, the centos deserve to be taken seriously for what they disclose about Virgil's reception, late-antique literary culture, and other important historical and theoretical topics in literary criticism. As radically intertextual works, the centos are particularly valuable sites for investigating topics in allusion studies: when can and should audiences read texts allusively? What is the role of the author and the reader in creating allusions? How does one determine the functions of allusions? This book explores these and other questions, and in the process comes into dialogue with major critical issues.Less
The Virgilian centos, in which authors reconnect discrete lines taken from Virgil's Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid to create new poems, are some of the most striking texts to survive from antiquity. This book examines the twelve mythological and secular examples, which probably date from c.200-c.530. While verbal games, the centos deserve to be taken seriously for what they disclose about Virgil's reception, late-antique literary culture, and other important historical and theoretical topics in literary criticism. As radically intertextual works, the centos are particularly valuable sites for investigating topics in allusion studies: when can and should audiences read texts allusively? What is the role of the author and the reader in creating allusions? How does one determine the functions of allusions? This book explores these and other questions, and in the process comes into dialogue with major critical issues.
Scott McGill
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195175646
- eISBN:
- 9780199789337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175646.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book has sought to cast light upon the ancient Virgilian centos, texts that have met with limited critical attention, particularly in the Anglophone world. While always remaining cognizant of ...
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This book has sought to cast light upon the ancient Virgilian centos, texts that have met with limited critical attention, particularly in the Anglophone world. While always remaining cognizant of the centos' strangeness, which indeed is a sine qua non of interpreting them, the study has taken them seriously as legitimate objects of critical inquiry. Primary among the historical and literary topics examined in the book is allusion. The aim has been to explore how one can read the allusiveness of the individual centos, and in the process to investigate broader issues in the field of allusion studies.Less
This book has sought to cast light upon the ancient Virgilian centos, texts that have met with limited critical attention, particularly in the Anglophone world. While always remaining cognizant of the centos' strangeness, which indeed is a sine qua non of interpreting them, the study has taken them seriously as legitimate objects of critical inquiry. Primary among the historical and literary topics examined in the book is allusion. The aim has been to explore how one can read the allusiveness of the individual centos, and in the process to investigate broader issues in the field of allusion studies.
Grant Hardy
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199731701
- eISBN:
- 9780199777167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199731701.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature, World Religions
Of the three major narrators, Moroni is the most likely to use phrases previously employed by other Book of Mormon writers. Actually, as he brings the book to an end, Moroni provides three separate ...
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Of the three major narrators, Moroni is the most likely to use phrases previously employed by other Book of Mormon writers. Actually, as he brings the book to an end, Moroni provides three separate conclusions. In the first he alludes to the words of Joseph of Egypt (as reported in the Nephite record), and then to Nephi's paraphrase of Joseph's words, and then to the writings of his father Mormon. The second conclusion, at Ether 12, offers a Nephite adaptation of Hebrews 11, somewhat anachronistically. And Moroni's final conclusion, the last chapter of the Book of Mormon, is a virtual curtain call which alludes to the farewell addresses of several of the earlier record keepers.Less
Of the three major narrators, Moroni is the most likely to use phrases previously employed by other Book of Mormon writers. Actually, as he brings the book to an end, Moroni provides three separate conclusions. In the first he alludes to the words of Joseph of Egypt (as reported in the Nephite record), and then to Nephi's paraphrase of Joseph's words, and then to the writings of his father Mormon. The second conclusion, at Ether 12, offers a Nephite adaptation of Hebrews 11, somewhat anachronistically. And Moroni's final conclusion, the last chapter of the Book of Mormon, is a virtual curtain call which alludes to the farewell addresses of several of the earlier record keepers.
L. A. Swift
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199577842
- eISBN:
- 9780191722622
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199577842.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The Conclusion aims to summarize what has emerged from the close reading of particular genres and plays in the earlier chapters, and to examine several broader issues which arise from the ...
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The Conclusion aims to summarize what has emerged from the close reading of particular genres and plays in the earlier chapters, and to examine several broader issues which arise from the relationship between tragedy and lyric. It begins by summarizing the techniques which tragic poets used to evoke lyric genre, and argues that the tragedians aimed to keep these allusions accessible to as large a section of the audience as possible. It goes on to discuss the functions that generic interaction can perform: in particular, the creation of a sense of mismatch between the values implicit in the genre and what the audience sees in the play. Finally it explores what the phenomenon of generic interaction can tell us about tragedy as a poetic genre and its role in Athenian musical culture.Less
The Conclusion aims to summarize what has emerged from the close reading of particular genres and plays in the earlier chapters, and to examine several broader issues which arise from the relationship between tragedy and lyric. It begins by summarizing the techniques which tragic poets used to evoke lyric genre, and argues that the tragedians aimed to keep these allusions accessible to as large a section of the audience as possible. It goes on to discuss the functions that generic interaction can perform: in particular, the creation of a sense of mismatch between the values implicit in the genre and what the audience sees in the play. Finally it explores what the phenomenon of generic interaction can tell us about tragedy as a poetic genre and its role in Athenian musical culture.
Elizabeth A. Meyer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199558681
- eISBN:
- 9780191720888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558681.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
Similarities and verbal allusions that link the letters of Nicias in Thucydides (7.11-15) and Pompey in Sallust (Hist. 2.98M) prompt a comparison of the two men and their situations; but the ...
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Similarities and verbal allusions that link the letters of Nicias in Thucydides (7.11-15) and Pompey in Sallust (Hist. 2.98M) prompt a comparison of the two men and their situations; but the contrasts that emerge from this comparison also invite the reader to observe how different the men were, and then to read through these differences to note the similarities between Pompey and Nicias's rival Alcibiades, who turned against his own city. The subsequent comparison of the recipients of the letters and their responses — Athenian democrats and Roman senators — shows a contrast even more extreme, for the former were united, strong, and public-spirited; the latter fracturing, weak, and self-centred. The contrasts that finally emerge from both comparisons suggest a fundamental parallel intended by both authors: the impending death of language, descent into ferocious action, and doom of civil war for both polities.Less
Similarities and verbal allusions that link the letters of Nicias in Thucydides (7.11-15) and Pompey in Sallust (Hist. 2.98M) prompt a comparison of the two men and their situations; but the contrasts that emerge from this comparison also invite the reader to observe how different the men were, and then to read through these differences to note the similarities between Pompey and Nicias's rival Alcibiades, who turned against his own city. The subsequent comparison of the recipients of the letters and their responses — Athenian democrats and Roman senators — shows a contrast even more extreme, for the former were united, strong, and public-spirited; the latter fracturing, weak, and self-centred. The contrasts that finally emerge from both comparisons suggest a fundamental parallel intended by both authors: the impending death of language, descent into ferocious action, and doom of civil war for both polities.
Christopher Tuckett
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199212132
- eISBN:
- 9780191705922
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212132.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Several places in the text of the Gospel of Mary have parallels to traditions and/or sayings which appear in texts which (later) formed part of the ‘New Testament’. Some of these parallels are at the ...
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Several places in the text of the Gospel of Mary have parallels to traditions and/or sayings which appear in texts which (later) formed part of the ‘New Testament’. Some of these parallels are at the level of significant words or phrases, while others are at the level of broader thematic parallels (or in some cases almost ‘anti-parallels’, i.e., showing significant differences from, as well as similarities to, the New Testament). This chapter addresses the question of whether the similarities and parallels in wording indicate any kind of dependence of the Gospel of Mary on New Testament texts, and, so, whether we can be any more precise about the source(s) of the language used in the Gospel of Mary. The parallels between the Gospel of Mary and New Testament texts may be divided into three groups: (1) parallels that appear to be clear ‘echoes’ or ‘allusions’ to New Testament passages; (2) parallels that are less close, and are not so clearly ‘echoes’ of New Testament passages; (3) more general thematic parallels. The nature of the parallels that seem to exist, and the fact that some of the parallels involve at times redactional elements on the side of the (later to become) canonical texts suggests that the Gospel of Mary is primarily a witness to the later, developing tradition generated by these texts, and does not provide independent witness to early Jesus tradition itself.Less
Several places in the text of the Gospel of Mary have parallels to traditions and/or sayings which appear in texts which (later) formed part of the ‘New Testament’. Some of these parallels are at the level of significant words or phrases, while others are at the level of broader thematic parallels (or in some cases almost ‘anti-parallels’, i.e., showing significant differences from, as well as similarities to, the New Testament). This chapter addresses the question of whether the similarities and parallels in wording indicate any kind of dependence of the Gospel of Mary on New Testament texts, and, so, whether we can be any more precise about the source(s) of the language used in the Gospel of Mary. The parallels between the Gospel of Mary and New Testament texts may be divided into three groups: (1) parallels that appear to be clear ‘echoes’ or ‘allusions’ to New Testament passages; (2) parallels that are less close, and are not so clearly ‘echoes’ of New Testament passages; (3) more general thematic parallels. The nature of the parallels that seem to exist, and the fact that some of the parallels involve at times redactional elements on the side of the (later to become) canonical texts suggests that the Gospel of Mary is primarily a witness to the later, developing tradition generated by these texts, and does not provide independent witness to early Jesus tradition itself.
David Levene
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199558681
- eISBN:
- 9780191720888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558681.003.0018
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
There is a long-standing controversy over how far Tacitus's Annals drew on the work of the Augustan historian Pompeius Trogus. Various parallels in language have been observed, but this may be the ...
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There is a long-standing controversy over how far Tacitus's Annals drew on the work of the Augustan historian Pompeius Trogus. Various parallels in language have been observed, but this may be the result of Trogus's epitomator Justin imitating Tacitus rather than of Tacitus imitating Trogus. This chapter argues that where there is a congruence of theme, especially when allied to linguistic parallels, there are strong reasons for seeing allusions to Trogus by Tacitus. It argues further that Tacitus, while drawing on Trogus, also reworks his ideas in an ironic and critical way, seeing (for example) Augustus as a perverted recreation of Trogus' idealized primitive monarchs, or Tiberius as the embodiment of Trogus' suggestion that the true threat to the Roman empire is from within itself.Less
There is a long-standing controversy over how far Tacitus's Annals drew on the work of the Augustan historian Pompeius Trogus. Various parallels in language have been observed, but this may be the result of Trogus's epitomator Justin imitating Tacitus rather than of Tacitus imitating Trogus. This chapter argues that where there is a congruence of theme, especially when allied to linguistic parallels, there are strong reasons for seeing allusions to Trogus by Tacitus. It argues further that Tacitus, while drawing on Trogus, also reworks his ideas in an ironic and critical way, seeing (for example) Augustus as a perverted recreation of Trogus' idealized primitive monarchs, or Tiberius as the embodiment of Trogus' suggestion that the true threat to the Roman empire is from within itself.
Katharine Hodgson
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262894
- eISBN:
- 9780191734977
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262894.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter explores the web of intra-textual allusion that connects the most diverse of Berggol′ts's works. The intensely self-referential nature of her writing, particularly after the Second World ...
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This chapter explores the web of intra-textual allusion that connects the most diverse of Berggol′ts's works. The intensely self-referential nature of her writing, particularly after the Second World War, suggests that the poet's creative response to contradictions she could not resolve was to embark on a continuing and open-ended process of self-refashioning, striving towards but never achieving wholeness. Berggol′ts's writing on the Leningrad siege is situated within the context of her work as a whole, rather than being analysed in isolation. This close study of the work of a single author will, it is hoped, provoke readers whose interests include Russian poetry, the literary history of the Soviet period, other ‘official’ writers in the Stalin era, and women's writing into reassessing the cultural heritage of an era that can seem remote and impenetrable.Less
This chapter explores the web of intra-textual allusion that connects the most diverse of Berggol′ts's works. The intensely self-referential nature of her writing, particularly after the Second World War, suggests that the poet's creative response to contradictions she could not resolve was to embark on a continuing and open-ended process of self-refashioning, striving towards but never achieving wholeness. Berggol′ts's writing on the Leningrad siege is situated within the context of her work as a whole, rather than being analysed in isolation. This close study of the work of a single author will, it is hoped, provoke readers whose interests include Russian poetry, the literary history of the Soviet period, other ‘official’ writers in the Stalin era, and women's writing into reassessing the cultural heritage of an era that can seem remote and impenetrable.
Anthony R. Birley
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199252374
- eISBN:
- 9780191719103
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199252374.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, British and Irish History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter assembles evidence for the ‘British empire’ created by the usurpation of Carausius, which lasted from AD 286 to 293; his overthrow by his lieutenant Allectus; and the latter’s rule from ...
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This chapter assembles evidence for the ‘British empire’ created by the usurpation of Carausius, which lasted from AD 286 to 293; his overthrow by his lieutenant Allectus; and the latter’s rule from 293 to 296. For both men, the questions of their origin and previous career are analysed. In the case of Allectus, it is argued that he was not rationalis summae rei (finance minister) of Carausius, but probably prefect of the guard. This is followed by an account of the recovery of Britain by the Caesar Constantius I. The literary sources and the single inscription of Carausius are cited in full, with translations and particular attention paid to the coinage of the two usurpers. On Carausius’ coins, several references to Virgil can now be identified.Less
This chapter assembles evidence for the ‘British empire’ created by the usurpation of Carausius, which lasted from AD 286 to 293; his overthrow by his lieutenant Allectus; and the latter’s rule from 293 to 296. For both men, the questions of their origin and previous career are analysed. In the case of Allectus, it is argued that he was not rationalis summae rei (finance minister) of Carausius, but probably prefect of the guard. This is followed by an account of the recovery of Britain by the Caesar Constantius I. The literary sources and the single inscription of Carausius are cited in full, with translations and particular attention paid to the coinage of the two usurpers. On Carausius’ coins, several references to Virgil can now be identified.
Tom Lockwood
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199280780
- eISBN:
- 9780191712890
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199280780.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
This chapter establishes the concerns explored in the second part of this book. Again, as in Chapter 1, taking as its focus Francis Godolphin Waldron's 1783 edition and continuation of The Sad ...
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This chapter establishes the concerns explored in the second part of this book. Again, as in Chapter 1, taking as its focus Francis Godolphin Waldron's 1783 edition and continuation of The Sad Shepherd, the chapter situates the allusive texture of Waldron's literary continuation to Jonson's pastoral within a context of other Romantic allusions to the unfinished play (by Keats and Hunt), and uses it as an example with which to explore the book's theoretical engagement with Christopher Rick's model of ‘the poet as heir’. Waldron's choice of epigraph figures him as a belated ‘son of Ben’, and so, after thinking through existing models of Romantic and Jonsonian allusion, the chapter then offers a statement — born out in the following two chapters — of the ways in which Romantic allusion might also need to be understood within history as well as within ideas of the family.Less
This chapter establishes the concerns explored in the second part of this book. Again, as in Chapter 1, taking as its focus Francis Godolphin Waldron's 1783 edition and continuation of The Sad Shepherd, the chapter situates the allusive texture of Waldron's literary continuation to Jonson's pastoral within a context of other Romantic allusions to the unfinished play (by Keats and Hunt), and uses it as an example with which to explore the book's theoretical engagement with Christopher Rick's model of ‘the poet as heir’. Waldron's choice of epigraph figures him as a belated ‘son of Ben’, and so, after thinking through existing models of Romantic and Jonsonian allusion, the chapter then offers a statement — born out in the following two chapters — of the ways in which Romantic allusion might also need to be understood within history as well as within ideas of the family.
D. S. Levene
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198152958
- eISBN:
- 9780191594168
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198152958.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book studies Livy's Third Decade (Books 217–30), our fullest source for one of the most crucial wars of all time, the Second Punic War (also known as the Hannibalic War) between Carthage and ...
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This book studies Livy's Third Decade (Books 217–30), our fullest source for one of the most crucial wars of all time, the Second Punic War (also known as the Hannibalic War) between Carthage and Rome in 219–202 bc. The book is in five chapters. Chapter One examines Livy's construction of his narrative, looking at the division into ten books, his handling of chronology, and the connections he draws between the different parts of his story. Chapter Two looks at his use of literary allusion and his handling of his source-material, especially in his relationship to the earlier Greek historian Polybius. Chapter Three deals with his characterization of individuals and his sophisticated but ambivalent attitudes towards non-Romans. Chapter Four deals with battle scenes, with particular reference to how victory or defeat is determined. Chapter Five brings material from the other chapters together to give a broad account of Livy's concept of historical causation. The book argues that Livy portrays a world in which military calculation and human reason constantly fail — a world in which events occur beyond normal human comprehension, but where everything is governed by a hidden moral structure.Less
This book studies Livy's Third Decade (Books 217–30), our fullest source for one of the most crucial wars of all time, the Second Punic War (also known as the Hannibalic War) between Carthage and Rome in 219–202 bc. The book is in five chapters. Chapter One examines Livy's construction of his narrative, looking at the division into ten books, his handling of chronology, and the connections he draws between the different parts of his story. Chapter Two looks at his use of literary allusion and his handling of his source-material, especially in his relationship to the earlier Greek historian Polybius. Chapter Three deals with his characterization of individuals and his sophisticated but ambivalent attitudes towards non-Romans. Chapter Four deals with battle scenes, with particular reference to how victory or defeat is determined. Chapter Five brings material from the other chapters together to give a broad account of Livy's concept of historical causation. The book argues that Livy portrays a world in which military calculation and human reason constantly fail — a world in which events occur beyond normal human comprehension, but where everything is governed by a hidden moral structure.
Susana Onega
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719068386
- eISBN:
- 9781781701126
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719068386.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This is a full-length study of Jeanette Winterson's work as a whole, containing in-depth analyses of her eight novels and cross-references to her minor fictional and non-fictional works. It ...
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This is a full-length study of Jeanette Winterson's work as a whole, containing in-depth analyses of her eight novels and cross-references to her minor fictional and non-fictional works. It establishes the formal, thematic and ideological characteristics of the novels, and situates the writer within the general panorama of contemporary British fiction. Earlier critics usually approached Winterson exclusively either as a key lesbian novelist, or as a heavily experimental and ‘arty’ writer, whose works are unnecessarily difficult and meaningless. By contrast, this book provides a comprehensive, ‘vertical’ analysis of the novels. It combines the study of formal issues – such as narrative structure, point of view, perspective and the handling of narrative and story time – with the thematic analysis of character types, recurrent topoi, intertextual and generic allusions, etc., focused from various analytical perspectives: narratology, lesbian and feminist theory (especially Cixous and Kristeva), Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, Jungian archetypal criticism, Tarot, Hermetic and Kabalistic symbolism, myth criticism, Newtonian and Post-Newtonian Physics, etc. Novels that read superficially, or appear simple and realistic, are revealed as complex linguistic artifacts with a convoluted structure and clogged with intertextual echoes of earlier writers and works. The conclusions show the inseparability of form and meaning (for example, the fact that all the novels have a spiralling structure reflects the depiction of self as fluid and of the world as a multiverse) and place Winterson within the trend of postmodernist British writers with a visionary outlook on art, such as Maureen Duffy, Marina Warner or Peter Ackroyd.Less
This is a full-length study of Jeanette Winterson's work as a whole, containing in-depth analyses of her eight novels and cross-references to her minor fictional and non-fictional works. It establishes the formal, thematic and ideological characteristics of the novels, and situates the writer within the general panorama of contemporary British fiction. Earlier critics usually approached Winterson exclusively either as a key lesbian novelist, or as a heavily experimental and ‘arty’ writer, whose works are unnecessarily difficult and meaningless. By contrast, this book provides a comprehensive, ‘vertical’ analysis of the novels. It combines the study of formal issues – such as narrative structure, point of view, perspective and the handling of narrative and story time – with the thematic analysis of character types, recurrent topoi, intertextual and generic allusions, etc., focused from various analytical perspectives: narratology, lesbian and feminist theory (especially Cixous and Kristeva), Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, Jungian archetypal criticism, Tarot, Hermetic and Kabalistic symbolism, myth criticism, Newtonian and Post-Newtonian Physics, etc. Novels that read superficially, or appear simple and realistic, are revealed as complex linguistic artifacts with a convoluted structure and clogged with intertextual echoes of earlier writers and works. The conclusions show the inseparability of form and meaning (for example, the fact that all the novels have a spiralling structure reflects the depiction of self as fluid and of the world as a multiverse) and place Winterson within the trend of postmodernist British writers with a visionary outlook on art, such as Maureen Duffy, Marina Warner or Peter Ackroyd.
A. W. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198117599
- eISBN:
- 9780191671005
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117599.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter examines the structural patterns in Jonson's early masques and the way in which scenography, music, and even choreography are related to his ‘Fables’ through a common symbolism of ...
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This chapter examines the structural patterns in Jonson's early masques and the way in which scenography, music, and even choreography are related to his ‘Fables’ through a common symbolism of number. From the outset it is clear that the verbal surfaces of the masques are packed with numerical and geometrical allusions, and that the fascination with the metalanguage of mathematics and the science of harmonics observed in Jonson's early encomiastic poetry extends into the realm of his Court productions.Less
This chapter examines the structural patterns in Jonson's early masques and the way in which scenography, music, and even choreography are related to his ‘Fables’ through a common symbolism of number. From the outset it is clear that the verbal surfaces of the masques are packed with numerical and geometrical allusions, and that the fascination with the metalanguage of mathematics and the science of harmonics observed in Jonson's early encomiastic poetry extends into the realm of his Court productions.
Scott McGill
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195175646
- eISBN:
- 9780199789337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175646.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter provides an overview of how authors created the Virgilian centos and explores topics in the texts' reception, with an emphasis on the issues they raise related to allusion. The ...
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This chapter provides an overview of how authors created the Virgilian centos and explores topics in the texts' reception, with an emphasis on the issues they raise related to allusion. The examination for the most part uses the 4th-century CE Ausonius' poetics of the cento as its basis. Subjects include how the poems serve as language games; the role of mnemotechnics in their composition; and the different ways audience members can read the works allusively, i.e., against their Virgilian subtexts.Less
This chapter provides an overview of how authors created the Virgilian centos and explores topics in the texts' reception, with an emphasis on the issues they raise related to allusion. The examination for the most part uses the 4th-century CE Ausonius' poetics of the cento as its basis. Subjects include how the poems serve as language games; the role of mnemotechnics in their composition; and the different ways audience members can read the works allusively, i.e., against their Virgilian subtexts.
Scott McGill
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195175646
- eISBN:
- 9780199789337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175646.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines the (probably) earliest extant full-length Virgilian cento, Hosidius Geta's Medea, which takes the form of a tragedy. The aim is to explore how Geta accomplishes the feat of ...
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This chapter examines the (probably) earliest extant full-length Virgilian cento, Hosidius Geta's Medea, which takes the form of a tragedy. The aim is to explore how Geta accomplishes the feat of turning Virgil's verses into a tragic poem, and to approach that subject through the lens of genre, as well as of allusion. Focus lies upon interpreting the formal and thematic adaptation of Virgil to a drama on Medea, the use of Virgilian lines to allude to Ovidian and Senecan tragedy, and the intertextual relationship between the cento and Virgil's Aeneid 4, the story of Dido.Less
This chapter examines the (probably) earliest extant full-length Virgilian cento, Hosidius Geta's Medea, which takes the form of a tragedy. The aim is to explore how Geta accomplishes the feat of turning Virgil's verses into a tragic poem, and to approach that subject through the lens of genre, as well as of allusion. Focus lies upon interpreting the formal and thematic adaptation of Virgil to a drama on Medea, the use of Virgilian lines to allude to Ovidian and Senecan tragedy, and the intertextual relationship between the cento and Virgil's Aeneid 4, the story of Dido.
Gordon Campbell, Thomas N. Corns, John K. Hale, and Fiona J. Tweedie
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199296491
- eISBN:
- 9780191711923
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296491.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Milton Studies
The chapter begins with a consideration of the principal registers found within the manuscript. It reflects on Milton's use of quoted material and on his spelling of Hebrew names, and analyses ...
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The chapter begins with a consideration of the principal registers found within the manuscript. It reflects on Milton's use of quoted material and on his spelling of Hebrew names, and analyses aspects of his lexis and syntax. It examines imagery, allusions, and the tone of the manuscript.Less
The chapter begins with a consideration of the principal registers found within the manuscript. It reflects on Milton's use of quoted material and on his spelling of Hebrew names, and analyses aspects of his lexis and syntax. It examines imagery, allusions, and the tone of the manuscript.
D. S. Levene
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198152958
- eISBN:
- 9780191594168
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198152958.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines Livy's uses of earlier literary texts. It demonstrates that Livy alludes to a wide range of literary material. It discusses the difficult issues that arise when an historian ...
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This chapter examines Livy's uses of earlier literary texts. It demonstrates that Livy alludes to a wide range of literary material. It discusses the difficult issues that arise when an historian engages in such allusions, since the events being described may in real life have been modelled on earlier events. The chapter also includes traditional source-analysis, in particular proving that Polybius was a primary source in these books. It argues that a rigorous division between these two types of analysis cannot be sustained. Whenever Livy uses Polybius as a source, he is also alluding to him, writing in awareness that at least some of his readership will recognise the fact; and one can see him repeatedly playing with the readers' knowledge of the Polybian background.Less
This chapter examines Livy's uses of earlier literary texts. It demonstrates that Livy alludes to a wide range of literary material. It discusses the difficult issues that arise when an historian engages in such allusions, since the events being described may in real life have been modelled on earlier events. The chapter also includes traditional source-analysis, in particular proving that Polybius was a primary source in these books. It argues that a rigorous division between these two types of analysis cannot be sustained. Whenever Livy uses Polybius as a source, he is also alluding to him, writing in awareness that at least some of his readership will recognise the fact; and one can see him repeatedly playing with the readers' knowledge of the Polybian background.
Andrew Fear
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203956
- eISBN:
- 9780191708244
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203956.003.0015
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter discusses how St Patrick used a letter, known as the Epistola, to campaign for the excommunication of Coroticus' men until they take penance and free their captives, although the letter ...
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This chapter discusses how St Patrick used a letter, known as the Epistola, to campaign for the excommunication of Coroticus' men until they take penance and free their captives, although the letter makes it clear that Patrick holds out little hope that such repentance will be forthcoming. Coroticus is a warlord in Britain who, some time in the first 3rd of the 5th century AD, launched a slave raid on the coast of Ireland, at a time when St Patrick was holding a mass baptism of catechumens. The attack produced a bumper crop of captives for the raiders. A request was made by St Patrick to the attacker to agree terms for ransoming those abducted, but Coroticus refused. This provoked the saint to write Epistola, which falls into a distinct sub-genre of epistolary writing, the Open Letter, where it is made explicit that the intended audience is larger than simply the ostensible addressee in order that the addressee's sins, or more rarely praises, are broadcast as widely as possible.Less
This chapter discusses how St Patrick used a letter, known as the Epistola, to campaign for the excommunication of Coroticus' men until they take penance and free their captives, although the letter makes it clear that Patrick holds out little hope that such repentance will be forthcoming. Coroticus is a warlord in Britain who, some time in the first 3rd of the 5th century AD, launched a slave raid on the coast of Ireland, at a time when St Patrick was holding a mass baptism of catechumens. The attack produced a bumper crop of captives for the raiders. A request was made by St Patrick to the attacker to agree terms for ransoming those abducted, but Coroticus refused. This provoked the saint to write Epistola, which falls into a distinct sub-genre of epistolary writing, the Open Letter, where it is made explicit that the intended audience is larger than simply the ostensible addressee in order that the addressee's sins, or more rarely praises, are broadcast as widely as possible.
Sophie Ratcliffe
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199239870
- eISBN:
- 9780191716799
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239870.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter introduces the idea of how we might sympathise with figures in fictional and artistic representations. It questions why writers and artists return to The Tempest to consider such ...
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This chapter introduces the idea of how we might sympathise with figures in fictional and artistic representations. It questions why writers and artists return to The Tempest to consider such problems. The chapter concludes by discussing the difficulties of reading dramatic monologues.Less
This chapter introduces the idea of how we might sympathise with figures in fictional and artistic representations. It questions why writers and artists return to The Tempest to consider such problems. The chapter concludes by discussing the difficulties of reading dramatic monologues.
Sophie Ratcliffe
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199239870
- eISBN:
- 9780191716799
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239870.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter presents an overview of ideas of sympathy and empathy, and their relations with theology, from the late 19th century to the present day. Using The Tempest as a central example, it ...
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This chapter presents an overview of ideas of sympathy and empathy, and their relations with theology, from the late 19th century to the present day. Using The Tempest as a central example, it considers the limits of the cognitive-evaluative object-based view of sympathy that is common in liberal humanist readings of texts, particularly those by Martha Nussbaum. Drawing on the ideas of Stanley Cavell and Noël Carroll, the chapter puts forward alternative models for reading, setting the idea of fictional ‘character’ against that of a fictional ‘creature’.Less
This chapter presents an overview of ideas of sympathy and empathy, and their relations with theology, from the late 19th century to the present day. Using The Tempest as a central example, it considers the limits of the cognitive-evaluative object-based view of sympathy that is common in liberal humanist readings of texts, particularly those by Martha Nussbaum. Drawing on the ideas of Stanley Cavell and Noël Carroll, the chapter puts forward alternative models for reading, setting the idea of fictional ‘character’ against that of a fictional ‘creature’.
