The Loaded Table: Representations of Food in Roman Literature

ISBN-13: 9780198150824 / Angielski / Miękka / 1997 / 352 str.

Emily Gowers

Opis

This book offers a novel approach to Roman culture, looking at food as it is represented in literature. Although not generally thought of as the noblest of literary subjects, this view is a legacy from the Romans, so it is curious that Roman writers chose so persistently to depict their society at the dinner table. Why this was so, and what effect the inclusion of food had on the status of the literary texts that contained it, are among the questions discussed here. The book also addresses many of the problems that arise when a material subject is translated into words, and contains fresh interpretations of Latin texts that have been unjustly undervalued--comedy, satire, epigrams, letters, and iambics. While often regarded as something trivial, food was in fact one of the most suggestive images for Roman civilization.

Recenzje

This is a witty and engaging book, written with a certain vigor of conviction and purpose...The best thing about the book is G.'s fine literary sensitivity, spirited writing, humour, and openness to conflicting approaches to literature: she looks at old things in new ways...even at those times when I cannot agree with her, she forces me to think and to reason why I cannot. This is a rich book without being fat.