Michael Psellos : rhetoric and authorship in Byzantium / Stratis Papaioannou.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Papaioannou, Stratis, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Psellus, Michael--Criticism and interpretation.

Psellus, Michael.

Greek literature--History and criticism.

Greek literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 347 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book explores Michael Psellos' place in the history of Greek rhetoric and self-representation and his impact on the development of Byzantine literature. Avoiding the modern dilemma that vacillates between Psellos the pompous rhetorician and Psellos the ingenious thinker, Professor Papaioannou unravels the often misunderstood Byzantine rhetoric, its rich discursive tradition and the social fabric of elite Constantinopolitan culture which rhetoric addressed. The book offers close readings of Psellos' personal letters, speeches, lectures and historiographical narratives, and analysis of other early Byzantine and classical models of authorship in Byzantine book culture, such as Gregory of Nazianzos, Synesios of Cyrene, Hermogenes and Plato. It also details Psellos' innovative attention to authorial creativity, performative mimesis and the aesthetics of the self. Simultaneously, it traces within Byzantium complex expressions of emotion and gender, notions of authorship and subjectivity, and theories of fictionality and literature, challenging the common fallacy that these are modern inventions.

Contents:

The philosopher's rhetoric

The rhetor as creator: Psellos on Gregory of Nazianzos

The return of the poet: mimesis and the aesthetics of variation

Aesthetic charm and urbane ethos

The statue's smile: discourses of Hellenism

Female voice: gender and emotion

Conclusion: from rhetoric to literature

Appendix: books and readers in the reception of Psellos.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-139-88931-1

1-107-06528-3

1-107-05685-3

1-107-05469-9

1-107-05795-7

1-107-05924-0

1-139-20697-4

1-107-05572-5

OCLC:

842929846