The ideology of classicism : language, history, and identity in Dionysius of Halicarnassus / by Nicolas Wiater.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Wiater, Nicolas.

Series:

Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte ; Bd. 105.

Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, 1862-1112 ; Bd. 105

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Classicism--Greece--History.

Classicism.

Dionysius, of Halicarnassus--Criticism and interpretation.

Dionysius.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (408 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : De Gruyter, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

So far, the critical writings of Dionysius of Halicarnassus have mainly attracted interest from historians of ancient linguistics. The Ideology of Classicism proposes a novel approach to Dionysius' œuvre as a whole by providing the first systematic study of Greek classicism from the perspective of cultural identity. Drawing on cultural anthropology and Social Identity Theory, Wiater explores the world-view bound up with classicist criticism. Only from within this ideological framework can we understand why Greek and Roman intellectuals in Augustan Rome strove to speak and write like Demosthenes, Lysias, and Isocrates. Topics addressed by this study include Dionysius' view of the classical past; mimesis and the aesthetics of reading; language and identity; Dionysius' view of the Romans, their power and the role of Greek culture within it; Greek classicism and the contemporary controversy about Roman identity among Roman intellectuals; the self-image as Greek intellectuals in the Roman empire of Dionysius and his addressees; the dialogic design of Dionysius' essays and how it implements a sense of elitism and distinction; Dionysius' attitudes towards communities competing with him for leadership in rhetorical education and criticism, such as the Peripatetics and Stoics.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Preface

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: The Aims and Methods of This Study

2. Reviving the Past: Language and Identity in Dionysius' Classicism

3. History and Criticism: The Construction of a Classicist Past

4. Knowledge and Elitism: Being a Classicist Critic

5. Enacting Distinction: The Interactive Structure of Dionysius' Writings

6. Conclusions

References

Indices

Notes:

Dissertation Univ. Bonn 2008.

"Ph.D. dissertation, Bonn University, 2008."

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9786613430366

9781283430364

1283430363

9783110259117

3110259117

OCLC:

754713581