Modern literary theory and ancient texts : an introduction / Thomas A. Schmitz.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-232) and index.

Cover -- TOC36;Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Acknowledgments for the English Translation -- Introduction -- What Is44; and To What End Do We Study44; Literary Theory63; -- Literary Theory and Classics -- Objections Raised against Literary Theory -- How to Use This Book -- Introductions to LiteraryTheory -- CH36;1 Russian Formalism -- The Question of Literariness -- Roman Jakobson8217;s Model of Linguistic Communication -- Poetic Language as Defamiliarization -- Further Reading -- CH36;2 Structuralism -- The Founder of Structuralism58; Ferdinand de Saussure -- Saussure8217;s Definition of the Linguistic Sign -- The Meaning of Differences -- Structuralism and Subject -- Structural Anthropology -- Is Structuralist Interpretation Possible63; -- Structuralist Definitions of Literary Genres -- Further Reading -- CH36;3 Narratology -- Vladimir Propp8217;s Analysis of the Folk Tale -- Greimas8217;s Actantial Theory of Narrative -- Roland Barthes and the Study of Narrative Texts -- Structuralist Plot45;Analysis58; Gerard Genette -- Irene de Jong8217;s Narratological Analysis of the Homeric Epics -- Further Reading -- CH36;4 Mikhail Bakhtin -- Bakhtin8217;s Life and the Problem of His Writings -- Dialogism and the Novel -- The Carnivalization of Literature -- Menippean Satire and Ancient Carnivalesque Literature -- Further Reading -- CH36;5 Intertextuality -- Leading the Way58; Julia Kristeva -- Further Developments of Intertextuality -- Gerard Genette8217;s Model of Hypertextuality -- Intertextuality in Virgil -- Further Reading -- CH36;6 Reader45;Response Criticism -- Empirical Reception Studies -- Aesthetics of Reception -- American Reader45;Response Criticism -- Wheeler8217;s Analysis of Ovid8217;s Metamorphoses -- Further Reading -- CH36;7 Orality 8211; Literacy -- Oral Cultures58;The Theses of Goody and Watt -- What Does 8220;Orality 8221;Mean63; -- Oral Poetry -- The Homeric Epics as a Test Case -- Further Reading -- CH36;8 Deconstruction -- The Foundations58; Derrida8217;s Criticism of Logocentrism -- Deconstruction in America -- Objections to Deconstruction -- The Role of the Author -- Stanley Fish8217;s Model of 8220;Interpretive Communities8221; -- The Responsibility of the Interpreter -- Deconstruction8217;s Merits and Demerits -- Deconstruction in Antiquity63; Socrates und Protagoras -- Further Reading -- CH36;9 Michel Foucault and Discourse Analysis -- The Power of Discourse -- Objections to Foucault8217;s Analysis of Discourse -- Foucault and Antiquity -- The Debate about Foucault8217;s Interpretation of Ancient Sexuality -- Further Reading -- CH36;10 New Historicism -- New Historicism and Deconstruction -- New Historicism and Michel Foucault -- Objections to New Historicism -- New Historicism and Antiquity -- Further Reading -- CH36;11 Feminist Approaches47;Gender Studies -- The Feminist Movement and Definitions of 8220;Woman8221; -- Feminism in Literary Criticism -- French Feminism -- Pragmatic Feminism in Literary Criticism -- From Images of Women to Gender Studies -- Queer Theory -- Gender Studies and Attic Drama -- Further Reading -- CH36;12 Psychoanalytic Approaches -- Interpreting Dreams44; Interpreting Literature -- T$130.

How do classical literary texts convey meaning; who interprets that meaning; and how does it relate to things historical, social, political, or personal? This book provides students and scholars of classical literature with a practical guide to modern literary theory and criticism. Using a clear and concise approach, it navigates readers through various theoretical approaches, including Russian Formalism, structuralism, deconstruction, gender studies, and New Historicism. The text offers a cohesive and structured account of the developments of theory during the twentieth century. Designed specifically for readers engaged with the classics, the volume applies theoretical approaches to examples from ancient literature. Suitable for advanced students, the book's extensive bibliographies and index also make it a useful resource for scholars in the field.

Print version record.