Parody, Politics and the Populace in Greek Old Comedy
Author(s): Donald Sells
This book argues that Old Comedy's parodic and non-parodic engagement with tragedy, satyr play, and contemporary lyric is geared to enhancing its own status as the preeminent discourse on Athenian art, politics and society. Donald Sells locates the enduring significance of parody in the specific cultural, social and political subtexts that often frame Old Comedy's bold experiments with other genres and drive its rapid evolution in the late fifth century. Close analysis of verbal, visual and narrative strategies reveals the importance of parody and literary appropriation to the particular cultural and political agendas of specific plays.
This study's broader, more flexible definition of parody as a visual – not just verbal – and multi-coded performance represents an important new step in understanding a phenomenon whose richness and diversity exceeds the primarily textual and literary terms by which it is traditionally understood.
Review(s):
“The book truly merits a close consideration. It makes some steps … towards what will hopefully become the norm in the study of Greek comedy: considering the performative and visual aspect as a sine qua non.” —Bryn Mawr Classical Review
ISBN: 9781350166288