Lucian and the Atticists: Linguistic Satire in the Second Sophistic

(Hardback)

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This book focuses on Lucian of Samosata, a Syrian writer of the Greek language in the second century CE, and his engagement with contemporary debates regarding the form and register of language best suited to Greek literature in the Roman Empire. Many authors of the period advocated or practiced writing in a revived version of Attic Greek, the dialect used in classical Athenian rhetoric, philosophy and drama of the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. However, this book argues that Lucian distinguishes himself from other writers, including those who also comment extensively on the linguistic dimensions of classical reception, through a self-aware, humorous approach to sociolinguistics. As Stifler demonstrates, the focal point of much of Lucians satire is at the intersection of, on the one hand, vocabulary, syntax and usage, and on the other hand, cultural, racial and political identity a space in which other authors also operate but seldom acknowledge. In his view, a crucial component of Lucians satire is in fact sociolinguistic and constitutes a complex but ultimately coherent ideology of Atticism, expressed through multiple perspectives or personae comprising a sophisticated commentary on the sociolinguistic imaginaries of Lucian's period. The result is an approach of integrating and negotiating Lucians authorial persona, as a non-Greek practicing Greek sophism, by decoupling linguistic expertise from ethnic identity.

Reviews

Lucian and the Atticists offers a fresh and comprehensive view of the importance of language to understanding Lucians unique satirical approach. This is a nuanced discussion, based on thought-provoking close readings of a variety of Lucianic texts, lexicographers and other writers of this period. -- Anna Peterson, Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Pennsylvania State University, USA

Author Bio

David W.F. Stifler is an independent scholar based in the USA.