Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-250) and indexes.
Contents:
Introduction -- 1. The experience of the sublime -- 2. Presentation, the sublime and the Bellum Civile -- 3. The Caesarian sublime -- 4. The Pompeian sublime -- Epilogue.
Summary:
"This is the first systematic study of the sublime in Lucan. Drawing upon renewed critical interest in the tradition of philosophical aesthetics, Henry Day argues that the category of the sublime offers a means of moving beyond readings of Lucan's epic poem Bellum Civile in terms of political commitment or nihilism. Demonstrating in dialogue with theorists from Burke and Kant to Freud, Lyotard and Ankersmit the continuing vitality of Longinus' foundational treatise On the Sublime, Day charts Lucan's complex and instructive exploration of the relationship between sublimity and ethical discourses of freedom and oppression. Through its representation of the apocalypse of civil war and metapoetic accounts of its own genesis, through its heated linguistic texture and proclaimed effects upon future readers, and, most powerfully of all, through its representation of its twin protagonists Caesar and Pompey, the Bellum Civile emerges as a central text in the history of the sublime"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.