| Secret of the Muses Retold: Classical Influences on Italian Authors of the Twentieth Century Contributor(s): Kirby, John T. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0226437477 ISBN-13: 9780226437477 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $98.01 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: February 2001 Annotation: Precious repositories of ancient wisdom? Musty relics of outmoded culture? Timeless paragons of artistic achievement? Hegemonic tools of intellectual repression? Just what are the classics, anyway, and why do or should we still pay so much attention to them? What is the literary canon? What is myth, and how do we use it? These are just some of the questions addressed in John Kirby's "Secret of the Muses Retold". This study of works by five twentieth-century Italian writers investigates the abiding influence of the Greek and Roman classics, and their rich legacy in our own day. The result is not only a splendid introduction to contemporary Italian literature, but also a stimulating meditation on the insights that writers such as Umberto Eco, Roberto Calasso, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italo Calvino, and Joseph Tusiani have tapped from the wellspring of ancient tradition. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | European - Italian |
| Dewey: 850.900 |
| LCCN: 00030254 |
| Physical Information: 0.68" H x 6.27" W x 9.35" (0.97 lbs) 168 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Italy - Ethnic Orientation - Italian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Precious repositories of ancient wisdom? Musty relics of outmoded culture? Timeless paragons of artistic achievement? Hegemonic tools of intellectual repression? Just what are the classics, anyway, and why do (or should) we still pay so much attention to them? What is the literary canon? What is myth, and how do we use it? These are some of the questions that gave rise to John Kirby's Secret of the Muses Retold. This new study of works by five twentieth-century Italian writers investigates the abiding influence of the Greek and Roman classics, and their rich legacy in our own day. The result is not only a splendid introduction to contemporary Italian literature, but also a lucid and stimulating meditation on the insights that writers such as Umberto Eco and Italo Calvino have tapped from the wellspring of ancient tradition. Kirby's book offers an impassioned plea for the recuperation of the humanities in general, and of classical studies in particular. No expertise in Greek, Latin, Italian, or literary theory is presumed, and both traditional and postmodern perspectives are accommodated. |