| 19098 |
abstract |
This accessible introduction to the work of one of the world's greatest comic writers
tackles key questions posed by Aristophanes plays, such as staging, humour, songs,
obscene language, politics and the modern translation and performance of Aristophanic
comedy. The book opens up exciting and contentious areas of Aristophanic scholarship
in a way that is engaging and readily comprehensible to a non-specialist audience,
never losing sight of the fact that Aristophanes plays are vibrant literary texts,
designed primarily to appeal to a classical Athenian audience as pieces of living
drama. Key to the book's appeal is that James Robson conceives of the plays as dynamic
texts, containing a treasure trove of information not only about how they might have
been performed and received in classical Athens, but also how they might be read and
understood today. Most importantly, readers are given the tools and information to
make their own minds up about the debates that still rage about Aristophanic comedy
in the modern world. |