Description
Book SynopsisThe Language of Objects sheds new light on the sub-genre of Greek descriptive epigram, focusing on deictic reference as a springboard to understand three different approaches to the materiality of texts: imagination-oriented deixis, pointing to referents conjured in the reader’s mind; ocular deixis, addressing perceivable referents; displaced deixis, underscoring the subjective response of readers/viewers. Uniquely combining overlooked verse-inscriptions and well-known literary and inscribed texts, which are freshly re-examined through a cognitive lens, this volume explores the evolution of deixis in descriptive epigrams dating from the pre-Hellenistic period to Late Antiquity. With its original analysis, the book pushes forward the study of Greek epigram and current understanding of deixis in ancient poetry.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Preface List of Abbreviations List of Figures Glossary 1 Deixis in Epigram: An Introduction 1.1 Aims and Scope 1.2 History of the Epigrammatic Genre 1.3 Mapping a Tradition: Descriptive Language in Greek Literature 1.4 Literary Review 1.5 A Modern Conceptualisation of Deixis 2 Deixis am Phantasma in Epigrammatic Contexts: Strategies for Interacting with Fictive Frames of Reference 2.1 Literary Epigrams on Famous Works of Art 2.2 Playing with Imagination: Epigrams on Mirror Imaging and Non-existent Objects Conclusions 3 Ocular Deixis: Strategies for Interacting with Real-Life Material Contexts 3.1 Ocular Deixis in Hellenistic Epigrams 3.2 Ocular Deixis in the Epigrams from the House of the Epigrams and the ‘House of Propertius’ 3.3 Ocular Deixis in Greek Epigrams from the Imperial Period Conclusions 4 Deictic Displacement in Descriptive Epigrams from Late Antiquity 4.1 Displacement and Visuality in Late Antiquity 4.2 Talk of θαῦμα in Descriptive Displaced Epigrams 4.3 Talk of κλέος in Funerary Contexts 4.4 Talk of Materials in Displaced Epigrams Conclusions 5 Conclusion: Is Deixis Just an Analytical Tool? 5.1 A Holistic Approach 5.2 A Model for Future Research Bibliography Index Locorum General Index
