Pointing at the Past: From Formula to Performance in Homeric Poetics. (Hellenic Studies, Band 12).

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - leicht berieben, ansonsten tadelloser Zustand / slightly rubbed otherwise perfect condition - Homeric epic is concerned with the past. Its heroes are larger than life and accomplish their exploits in a bygone age outside the reach of ordinary mortals. Yet epic is not only a nostalgic memory of a remote past, but also, as performance, a deliberate act in the present. In fact, as this book argues, memory is itself a deliberate act when it is turned into epic language. With numerous fresh linguistic observations the author shows that the epic narrator makes the epic past come to the present: epic is not only a verbal artifact that points to the past; it also is a performer�s act of pointing at a past that has become present in and through language. Building on his earlier work, Bakker demonstrates the power of discourse analysis, in this case a detailed analysis of the language of �deixis� as an essential tool for elucidating the poetics of the Homeric tradition. The book deals with such varied topics as epic formulas, grammatical tense, and the celebrated �vividness� of the Homeric poems. ISBN 9780674019553