Secret of the Muses Retold: Classical Influences on Italian Authors of the Twentieth Century - Brossura

Kirby, John T.

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0226437485 ISBN 13: 9780226437484

Casa editrice: Univ of Chicago Pr, 2001

Riassunto

Precious repositories of ancient wisdom? Musty relics of outmoded culture? Timeless paragons of artistic achievement? Hegemonic tools of intellectual repression? Just what are the classics, anyway, and why do (or should) we still pay so much attention to them? What is the literary canon? What is myth, and how do we use it?

These are some of the questions that gave rise to John Kirby's Secret of the Muses Retold. This new study of works by five twentieth-century Italian writers investigates the abiding influence of the Greek and Roman classics, and their rich legacy in our own day. The result is not only a splendid introduction to contemporary Italian literature, but also a lucid and stimulating meditation on the insights that writers such as Umberto Eco and Italo Calvino have tapped from the wellspring of ancient tradition.

Kirby's book offers an impassioned plea for the recuperation of the humanities in general, and of classical studies in particular. No expertise in Greek, Latin, Italian, or literary theory is presumed, and both traditional and postmodern perspectives are accommodated.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull'autore

John T. Kirby is a professor of classics and comparative literature at Purdue University. His other books includeThe Rhetoric of Cicero's Pro Cluentio, The Comparative Reader: A Handlist of Basic Reading in Comparative Literature, andWorld Eras: Classical Greek Civilization, 800-323 B.C.E.

Dal risvolto di copertina interno

Precious repositories of ancient wisdom? Musty relics of outmoded culture? Timeless paragons of artistic achievement? Hegemonic tools of intellectual repression? Just what are the classics, anyway, and why do or should we still pay so much attention to them? What is the literary canon? What is myth, and how do we use it?

These are just some of the questions addressed in John Kirby's Secret of the Muses Retold. This study of works by five twentieth-century Italian writers investigates the abiding influence of the Greek and Roman classics, and their rich legacy in our own day. The result is not only a splendid introduction to contemporary Italian literature, but also a stimulating meditation on the insights that writers such as Umberto Eco, Roberto Calasso, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italo Calvino, and Joseph Tusiani have tapped from the wellspring of ancient tradition.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Univ of Chicago Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2001
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0226437485
• ISBN 13: 9780226437484
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 168
• Contatto del produttore: The University of Chicago Press; https://press.uchicago.edu/index.html; ; 5801 S. Ellis Avenue; Chicago; IL; 60637; U.S.A.
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile