Petronius and the Anatomy of Fiction [Hardcover]

This book explores corporeality as a metaphor and its implications for the unity of the text.Metaphors of the body form an important feature of Petronius' Satyricon. This book argues that, on the level of imagery, the text can be read as a unified whole rather than as an episodic jumble, despite its fragmentation. The work is presented as disturbing as well as comic, intricately structured as well as chaotic, and it is argued that its imagery constantly mirrors these apparent paradoxes. For the first time corporeality is explored as a metaphor rather than just as an index of the 'low' genre of the novel.Metaphors of the body form an important feature of Petronius' Satyricon. This book argues that, on the level of imagery, the text can be read as a unified whole rather than as an episodic jumble, despite its fragmentation. The work is presented as disturbing as well as comic, intricately structured as well as chaotic, and it is argued that its imagery constantly mirrors these apparent paradoxes. For the first time corporeality is explored as a metaphor rather than just as an index of the 'low' genre of the novel.Metaphors of the body form an important feature of Petronius' Satyricon. This book claims that the text can be read as a unified whole rather than as episodic jumble, despite its fragmentation. Presented as disturbing as well as comic, intricately structured as well as chaotic, the study asserts that the Satyricon's imagery constantly mirrors apparent paradoxes. Thus corporeality is explored as a metaphor rather than just as an index of the low genre of the novel.Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction: corporealities; 1. Rhetorical red herrings; 2. Behind the scenes; 3. The beast within; 4. From the horse's mouth; 5. Bella intestina; 6. Regurgitating Polyphemus; 7. Scars of knowledge; 8. How to eat Virgil; 9. Ghost stories; 10. Decomposing rhythms; 11. Conclusion: licence and labyrinths; Appendices; Bibliography; Index of passages discussed; l³=