Naslov
The Literary Purpose of Poetic Borrowings in Aristaenetus' Erotic Letters

Autori
Hajdarević ; Sabira

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, neobjavljeni rad, znanstveni

Skup
Greek and Latin carmina minora in Context

Mjesto i datum
Online ; Nikozija, Cipar, 17.03.2023. - 19.03.2023

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Aristenet ; grčka poezija ; intertekstualnost
(Aristaenetus ; Greek poetry ; intertextuality)

Sažetak
The epistolary collection entitled Erotic Letters is usually ascribed to Aristaenetus (probably 6th ct. AD). It consists of 50 erotic letters and it belongs to a subgenre referred to as Greek fictional epistolography. Intertextuality was an important characteristic of the entire subgenre, and that is especially true of Aristanetus’ collection. It is a curious “intertextual patchwork” of passages taken from previous Greek (and in some rare cases even Latin) literary masterpieces. Besides borrowings from prose genres (historiography, philosophy, ancient novels) one recognizes familiar motifs, protagonists’ names and general atmosphere of various Greek verse genres: comedy, tragedy, epic poetry, lyric poetry, epigrams and elegies. In accordance with the theme of the Conference, I intend to scrutinize passages containing intertextual borrowings from Alcaeus, Anacreon, Archilochus, Meleager, Musaeus, Pindar, Sappho, Theocritus, Tyrtaeus etc. Some borrowings from these authors have been previously recognized by scholars dealing with Aristaenetus’ intertextuality, e.g. Mazal (1971), Arnott (1973 and 1982) or Drago (2007). However, their list of sources should be accompanied by meticulous analyses: a) of Aristaenetus’ intertextual methods employed, b) of the purpose of his intertextual borrowings and c) of their overall impact on the appeal of the Collection as a whole and on the letters in which they are implemented. Since Aristaenetus wrote his Letters in prose, incorporating verses or their segments into his text represented a challenge far more complex than placing prose passages, which are often quoted verbatim, even when of considerable length. So, the first stage of my research is to explore “the technical aspect” of the usage of carmina minora within the letters. I intend to explore the intertextual methods used (allusion, paraphrases, even short verbatim quotations?) in order to point to the most common one(s). Furthermore, if we assume that the author’s choice to exploit a certain poem is not a random one, we must define the narrative purpose of that choice. In other words, we must ask ourselves: what did the author achieve by choosing that particular poem for that particular letter and what was his motivation for that? Was the poem chosen because of its fitting motif, general atmosphere, gender construction, the level of erotica displayed or its ending familiar to the readers, creating the anticipation of a happy ending or the opposite? Does Aristaenetus tend to fulfil his readers’ expectations or does he, on the contrary, create literary estrangement, changing the context and offering the opposite or ironic outcome / atmosphere / gender constructing in comparison with the source text itself? The proposed research should point to Aristaenetus’ typical intertextual methods and his preference for any of the authors/subgenres of Greek carmina minora. Also, the wider context of the parallels will be scrutinized, both in the letters and in the source texts. The overall purpose of the borrowings will be suggested (e.g. creating anticipation or estrangement or something else) and the literary advantages of their implementation within the respective letters will be emphasized.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija, Književnost

POVEZANOST RADA