The semiotics of Caesar Augustus / Elina Pyy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pyy, Elina, author.

Series:

Bloomsbury advances in semiotics.

Bloomsbury advances in semiotics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D--In literature.

Augustus.

Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D--In motion pictures.

Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D--On television.

Civilization, Modern--Roman influences.

Civilization, Modern.

Literature, Modern--20th century--History and criticism.

Literature, Modern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (209 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018.

Summary:

"Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, better known as Augustus, was the first Roman emperor and is one of the most iconic figures in world history. Two thousand years after his death, Augustus remains a strong presence in modern culture. The Semiotics of Caesar Augustus examines the meanings and significances of Augustus in Western literary and popular culture, from the 1960s until the turn of the millennium. Drawing on the theoretical background of semiotics and classical reception studies, Elina Pyy investigates the representation of Augustus in the postmodern novels of Kurt Vonnegut and Christoph Ransmayr, as well as in the genre of historical fiction, and in screen representations from both sides of the Atlantic. Scrutinizing what Caesar Augustus stood for in the postmodern world, and the main factors that influenced (and still influence) the modern reader's interpretation of him, this book is grounded on the premise that the past, being a system of signs based on our culturally shared understanding of them, is continuously created and reconstructed by the modern audience. Arguing that the 'many faces of the emperor' can be considered to be reactions to contemporary cultural, socio-political or emotional needs, The Semiotics of Caesar Augustus shows how his character was recurrently utilized to explain and understand the ways in which the discourses of power, liberty, oppression and humanity operated in the postmodern world."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Introduction

Man of many faces: appropriations of Augustus through the ages

Pater patriae, pax americana: Augustus' empire in God bless you, Mr Rosewater

Augustus the tyrant: ancient history, modern anxieties

Augustus in historical fiction

Augustus on screen

Conclusion: What's in a name? Semiotics of "Caesar Augustus".

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9781474277242

1474277241

9781474277259

147427725X

9781474277235

1474277233

OCLC:

1015309828