Narrating Desire

Eros, Sex, and Gender in the Ancient Novel

Marília P. Futre Pinheiro, Marilyn B. Skinner, Froma I. Zeitlin, Marília P. Futre Pinheiro, Marilyn B. Skinner, Froma I. Zeitlin

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9783110281828
• eBook ISBN:
  9783110282047
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Ancient & Classical Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Representation of desiring subjects in the novel is one of the most illuminating issues in the area of ancient gender and sexuality, for such narratives subject societal norms to acute critique. This volume brings together fourteen essays originally given as oral presentations at the Fourth International Conference on the Ancient Novel (ICAN IV), held in Lisbon in July 2008. Employing feminist and psychoanalytic approaches, each offers a provocative investigation of sexual subjectivity as presented in the text or texts under discussion. The collection as a whole demonstrates the gradual convergence of formerly distinct norms of gendered behavior under pressure of emerging social realities.The editors of this volume are all well-known scholars in the fields of ancient narrative and/or ancient sexuality. Contributors include leading experts in these fields and emerging scholars whose research suggests directions for future exploration.

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Theorizing Love and Desire in the Ancient Novel
• Gender and Ways of Organizing Space
• Male Identity and Gendered Ambiguities in the Greek Novel
• Female Sexuality and Eroticism in the Greek Novel
• Sexual Identity and Gender Transformations in Petronius and Apuleius
• Composite Bibliography
• Notes on Contributors
• Index Locorum
• Subject Index