Homer and the poetics of gesture

Title
  1. Homer and the poetics of gesture / Alex C. Purves.
Published by
  1. Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2019.
  2. ©2019
Author
  1. Purves, Alex C., 1972-

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Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.

FormatTextAccessUse in libraryCall numberJFE 19-5625Item locationSchwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
  1. xiii, 214 pages; 25 cm.
Summary
  1. Homer and the Poetics of Gesture is the first book of its kind to consider the epic formula in terms that are gestural as well as verbal. Drawing on studies from multiple disciplines, including movement theory, dance studies, phenomenology, and early film, it suggests new approaches for interpreting the relationship between repetition and embodiment in Homer. Through a series of dynamic close readings, Purves argues that the deep-seated habits and gestures of epic bodies are instrumental to our understanding of the Iliad and Odyssey, especially insofar as they attune us to the kinetic structures and sensibilities that shape the meaning of the poems. Each of the chapters isolates a scene in which a specific action, posture, or gesture (falling, running, leaping, standing, and reaching) emerges from the background of its other iterations in order to make larger claims about its poetic significance within the epics as a whole. Beginning from the premise that gestures are shared between characters and often identically repeated within the poems' formulaic system, the book reconsiders long-standing arguments about Homeric agency and character by focusing on those moments when a gesture diverges from its expected course, redirecting the plot or drawing the poem in new and surprising directions. Homer and the Poetics of Gesture not only affords new insights into the nature of epic repetition and poetic originality but also reveals unnoticed connections between Homeric structure and technique and the embodied habits and movements of the characters within the poems. -- !c From publisher's description.
Series statement
  1. Oxford studies in late antiquity
Uniform title
  1. Oxford studies in late antiquity.
Subject
  1. Homer
  2. Gesture in literature
  3. Homer > Criticism and interpretation
  4. Criticism, interpretation, etc
Genre/Form
  1. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Contents
  1. Falling -- Running -- Leaping -- Standing -- Reaching.
Call number
  1. JFE 19-5625
Bibliography (note)
  1. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Author
  1. Purves, Alex C., 1972- author.
Title
  1. Homer and the poetics of gesture / Alex C. Purves.
Publisher
  1. Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2019.
Copyright date
  1. ©2019
Type of content
  1. text
Type of medium
  1. unmediated
Type of carrier
  1. volume
Series
  1. Oxford studies in late antiquity
  2. Oxford studies in late antiquity.
Bibliography
  1. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Other form:
  1. Online version: Purves, Alex C., 1972- Homer and the poetics of gesture. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2019 9780190915483 (DLC) 2018029132
LCCN
  1. 2018027945
Other standard identifier
  1. 40028846898
ISBN
  1. 9780190857929 hardcover alkaline paper
  2. 0190857927 hardcover alkaline paper
  3. 9780190915469 (updf)
  4. 9780190915476 (epub)
Research call number
  1. JFE 19-5625
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