Poetic Autonomy in Ancient Rome

In this book Luke Roman offers a major new approach to the study of ancient Roman poetry. A key term in the modern interpretation of art and literature, 'aesthetic autonomy' refers to the idea that the work of art belongs to a realm of its own, separate from ordinary activities and detached from quotidian interests. While scholars have often insisted that aesthetic autonomy is an exclusively modern concept and cannot be applied to other historical periods, the book argues that poets in ancient Rome employed a 'rhetoric of autonomy' to define their position within Roman society and establish the distinctive value of their work. This study of the Roman rhetoric of poetic autonomy includes an examination of poetic self-representation in first-person genres from the late republic to the early empire.

Product details

• Authors: Luke Roman, Luke (Associate Professor Roman, Roman Luke
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 16.01.2014
• EAN: 9780199675630
• ISBN: 978-0-19-967563-0
• No. of pages: 400
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; European History, HISTORY / Ancient / Rome, Latin, HISTORY / Europe / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry, LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient & Classical, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Ancient Rome, Literary studies: poetry & poets, Ancient History, Classical history / classical civilisation, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, Literary studies: poetry and poets, BCE to c 500 CE, BCE period – Protohistory