Transformative change in western thought : a history of metamorphosis from Homer to Hollywood / edited by Ingo Gildenhard and Andrew Zissos.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gildenhard, Ingo, 1970-

Zissos, Andrew.

Taylor & Francis eBooks.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Metamorphosis in literature--Congresses.

Metamorphosis in literature.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 522 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

London : LEGENDA/Modern Humanities Research Association and Maney Pub., 2013.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

This ground-breaking volume maps the shifting place and function of transformative change in the Western imaginary from antiquity to the present day. Shape-shifting, species crossing, transubstantiation, metamorphic magic, and mutation recur and echo throughout ancient and modern writing and thinking, and have continued in science fiction as tales of a newly empowered humanity manipulating the building blocks of life. The idea of metamorphosis lies in uneasy coexistence with orderly world-views, and it is often cast out, or attributed to delusional, mad, or demonic impulses. Shape-shifting is considered ungodly by Augustine. Alchemy is censured as unscientific by Enlightenment thinkers. 'Promethean' experiments in creating new life are condemned as unnatural by modern critics. Yet the very possibility of radical transformation continues to inspire hope as much as fear. A provocative, theorizing, trans-cultural history, this book ranges across classics, art history, literature, philosophy, theology and film studies. A general introduction and three historical surveys are combined with twelve case studies to show the malleable presence of metamorphosis throughout Western cultural history, from Homer and Ovid to Shakespeare, Proust and H. P. Lovecraft, and through figures such as Proteus, the Golden Ass, Kafka's insect and The Fly. Ingo Gildenhard is a Lecturer in Classics at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of King's College. Andrew Zissos is a Professor of Classics at the University of California, Irvine. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Antiquity and Archetypes

Introduction to Part I / Ingo Gildenhard Gildenhard, Ingo, Andrew Zissos Zissos, Andrew 36

1 The Transformations of Ovid's Medea (Metamorphoses VII. I-424) / Ingo Gildenhard Gildenhard, Ingo, Andrew Zissos Zissos, Andrew 88

2 Lynx-stone and Coral: 'Liquid Rocks' between Natural History and Myths of Transformation / Sonia Macrì Macrì, Sonia 131

3 Proteus and Protean Epic: From Homer to Nonnos / Manuel Baumbach Baumbach, Manuel 153

4 Arboreal Myths: Dryadic Transformations, Children's Literature, and Fantastic Trees / Zoe Jaques Jaques, Zoe 163

Part II Christianity and Classicizing

Introduction to Part II / Ingo Gildenhard Gildenhard, Ingo, Andrew Zissos Zissos, Andrew 184

5 Of Donkeys and D(a)emons: Metamorphosis and the Literary Imagination from Apuleius to Augustine / Robert H. F. Carver Carver, Robert H. F. 222

6 Adonis as Citrus Tree: Humanist Transformations of an Ancient Myth / Carlo Caruso Caruso, Carlo 252

7 Defacing God's Work: Metamorphosis and the 'Mimicall Asse' in the Age of Shakespeare / Robert H. F. Carver Carver, Robert H. F. 273

8 Phantastica Mutatio: Johann Weyer's Critique of the Imagination as a Principle of Natural Metamorphosis / Guido Giglioni Giglioni, Guido 307

Part III Science: From the 'Post-Metamorphic' to the Posthuman

Introduction to Part III / Ingo Gildenhard Gildenhard, Ingo, Andrew Zissos Zissos, Andrew 332

9 'Our Mind Is the Ancient Proteus': Proust, the Poets, and the Sea / Francesca Spiegel Spiegel, Francesca 388

10 'Horror in a Covered Platter': H. P. Lovecraft and the Transformation of Petronius / Luke Pitcher Pitcher, Luke 415

11 Transforming the Experience of War in the Fiction of Marcel Aymé, René Barjavel and Michel Tournier / Christopher Lloyd Lloyd, Christopher 426

12 The Parabola Paradox: Transformation and Science Fiction / Sarah Annes Brown Brown, Sarah Annes 440.

Notes:

Papers from a workshop entitled 'Myths of Transformation' held in 2008.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. London Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781315084640

1315084643

Publisher Number:

99987126462

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.