Venom in verse : Aristophanes in modern Greece / Gonda A.H. Van Steen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Van Steen, Gonda Aline Hector, 1964-

Series:

Princeton modern Greek studies.

Princeton modern Greek studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Greek drama (Comedy)--Appreciation--Greece.

Greek drama (Comedy).

Greek drama (Comedy)--Presentation, Modern.

Theater--Greece--History.

Theater.

Aristophanes--Appreciation--Greece.

Aristophanes.

Aristophanes--Stage history--Greece.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (305 p.)

Edition:

Core Textbook

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Aristophanes has enjoyed a conspicuous revival in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Greece. Here, Gonda Van Steen provides the first critical analysis of the role of the classical Athenian playwright in modern Greek culture, explaining how the sociopolitical "venom" of Aristophanes' verses remains relevant and appealing to modern Greek audiences. Deriding or challenging well-known figures and conservative values, Aristophanes' comedies transgress authority and continue to speak to many social groups in Greece who have found in him a witty, pointed, and accessible champion from their "native" tradition. The book addresses the broader issues reflected in the poet's revival: political and linguistic nationalism, literary and cultural authenticity versus creativity, censorship, and social strife. Van Steen's discussion ranges from attitudes toward Aristophanes before and during Greece's War of Independence in the 1820's to those during the Cold War, from feminist debates to the significance of the popular music integrated into comic revival productions, from the havoc transvestite adaptations wreaked on gender roles to the political protest symbolized by Karolos Koun's directorial choices. Crossing boundaries of classical philology, critical theory, and performance studies, the book encourages us to reassess Aristophanes' comedies as both play-acts and modern methods of communication. Van Steen uses material never before accessible in English as she proves that Aristophanes remains Greece's immortal comic genius and political voice.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgments

Prologue

CHAPTER 1. Poisoned Gift from Antiquity: Aristophanes as Paravase of Koraes' Nationalist Ideology

CHAPTER 2. Aristophanes in Modern Greek: A Demotic, Satirical, and Theatrical Paravase

CHAPTER 3. The Lysistrata Euphoria of 1900 to 1940: Sexual and Antifeminist Paravase

CHAPTER 4. Koun's Birds of 1959: Paravase of Right-Wing Politics

CHAPTER 5. Framing, Clowning, and Cloning Aristophanes

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [259]-273) and index.

ISBN:

9786612767135

9781400808205

1400808200

9781282767133

1282767135

9781400823758

1400823757

9781400813711

1400813719

OCLC:

700688378