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1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2008

Tim Whitmarsh
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
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Summary

Denounced through the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century for its triviality, smuttiness, and pastiche (to say nothing of intimations of 'oriental' influence), the Greco-Roman novel began to find in the late years of the last century a much more enthusiastic audience. Perhaps better than any other ancient form, the novel embodies the spirit of (post-)modernity; of a prosaic world, politically and ethically complex beyond compare yet questing after simple truths, pluralist yet hierarchical, riven by global homogenisation. Art, literature, music, dance and film have all drawn inspiration from these texts. The worlds of scholarship and teaching have been similarly energised: across the world university programmes, conferences, organisations, websites and publications testify to the vitality of novel studies. The Cambridge Companion to the Greek and Roman Novel offers eighteen new essays by internationally distinguished experts in the field of Greek and Roman narrative fiction. It seeks to provide students, scholars and the interested public with a sophisticated yet accessible point of entry into these beguiling texts. It is not designed as a general survey: although it is aimed at readers new to the novels as well as those with more familiarity, the Companion has no text-by-text discussions, and indeed no single agenda. Rather it consists of a series of state-of-the art provocations, interlocking in overall design but written from a range of intellectual positions. Taken together, these essays represent both the culmination of the latest thinking on the novel and a stimulus to future exploration.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Tim Whitmarsh, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to the Greek and Roman Novel
  • Online publication: 28 June 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521865906.001
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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Tim Whitmarsh, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to the Greek and Roman Novel
  • Online publication: 28 June 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521865906.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Tim Whitmarsh, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to the Greek and Roman Novel
  • Online publication: 28 June 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521865906.001
Available formats
×