The art of Pliny's letters : a poetics of allusion in the private correspondence
Ilaria Marchesi (Creator)
This text treats Pliny's private epistles neither as a mere source of historical and social information, nor as a portrait of the artist, but as a work of literature. It studies poetic allusion in epistolary prose, thereby illuminating the cultural debates about poetry, oratory and historiography in Pliny's day.
278 p.
9780521882279, 9780521296977, 0521882273, 0521296978
1089428839
Introduction; 1. The semiotics of structure; 2. Sed quid ego tam gloriose? Pliny's choice of poetics; 3. The importance of being Secundus: Tacitus' voice in Pliny's letters; 4. Storming historiography: Pliny's voice in Tacitus' texts; 5. Overcoming Ciceronian anxiety: Pliny's niche/nike in literary history; From dawn till dusk: four notes in lieu of a conclusion; Appendix to Chapter 5.