{"product_id":"feeling-history-francesca-dalessandro-behr-9780814257180","title":"Feeling History: Lucan, Stoicism, and the Poetics of Passion","description":"\u003ci\u003eFeeling\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eHistory\u003c\/i\u003e is a study of apostrophe (i.e., the rhetorical device in which the narrator talks directly to his characters) in Lucan's \u003ci\u003eBellum Civile\u003c\/i\u003e. Through the narrator's direct addresses, irony, and grotesque imagery, Lucan appears not as a nihilist, but as a character deeply concerned about ethics. The purpose of this book is to demonstrate how Lucan's style represents a criticism of the Roman approach to history, epic, ethics, and aesthetics. The book's chief interest lies in the ethical and moral stance that the poet-narrator takes toward his characters and his audience. To this end, Francesca D'Alessandro Behr studies the ways in which the narrator communicates ethical and moral judgments. Lucan's retelling of this central historical epic triggers in the mind of the reader questions about the validity of the Roman imperial project as a whole.\u003cbr\u003e An analysis of selected apostrophes from the \u003ci\u003eBellum Civile\u003c\/i\u003e allows us to confront issues that are behind Lucan's disquieting imagery: how can we square the poet's Stoic perspectives with his poetically conveyed emotional urgency? Lucan's approach seems inspired by Aristotle, especially his \u003ci\u003ePoetics, \u003c\/i\u003e as much as by Stoic philosophy. In Lucan's aesthetic project, participation and alienation work as phases through which the narrator leads the reader to a desired understanding of his work of art. At the same time, the reader is confronted with the ends and limits of the aesthetic enterprise in general. \u003cbr\u003e Lucan's long-acknowledged political engagement must therefore be connected to his philosophical and aesthetic stance. In the same way that Lucan is unable to break free from the Virgilian model, neither can he develop a defense of morality outside of the Stoic mold. His philosophy is not a crystal ball to read the future or a numbing drug imposing acceptance. The philosophical vision that Lucan finds intellectually and aesthetically compelling does not insulate his characters (and readers) from suffering, nor does it excuse them from wrongdoing. Rather, it obligates them to confront the responsibilities and limits of acting morally in a chaotic world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Francesca D'Alessandro Behr\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0814257186\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780814257180\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ohio State University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/29\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 274\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.89lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.62d","brand":"Francesca D'Alessandro Behr","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48435703021823,"sku":"9780814257180","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_56538f4c-860f-4301-a92f-7c40b59d8f84.jpg?v=1777152137","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/feeling-history-francesca-dalessandro-behr-9780814257180","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}