{"product_id":"9780814211915","title":"Literature and Identity in The Golden Ass of Apuleius","description":"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLiterature and Identity in \u003c\/i\u003eTheGolden Ass \u003ci\u003eof Apuleius\u003c\/i\u003e is the first English translation of a work published in 2007 as \u003ci\u003eLe Metamorfosi di Apuleio: Letteratura e identità,\u003c\/i\u003e by Luca Graverini. The second-century CE novel \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Ass, \u003c\/i\u003eor \u003ci\u003eMetamorphoses, \u003c\/i\u003ehas proven to be both captivating and highly entertaining to the modern reader, but the text also presents the critic with a vast array of interpretive possibilities. In fact, there is little consensus among scholars on the fundamental significance of Apuleius’ novel: is it simply a form of narrative entertainment\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003eor does it represent some sort of religious or philosophical propaganda? Can it be interpreted as a satire of fatuous belief in otherworldly powers, or is it an utterly aporetic text?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eGraverini begins by setting \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eGolden Ass \u003c\/i\u003ein its ancient literary context. Apuleius’ playful defiance of generic conventions represents a substantial literary innovation, but he is also taking part in a tradition of narrative and satirical literature that typically featured experimentation with genre.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe interplay of generic elements found in \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Ass \u003c\/i\u003ereflects the complexity of the author’s cultural identity: Apuleius was a Roman North African who had traveled widely throughout the Mediterranean and enjoyed an extensive education in both Greek and Latin. Graverini concludes with a study of the complex interaction of these three dimensions of Apuleius’ identity (African, Roman, and Greek), and investigates what the narrative can tell us about the culture of its readership. These cultural interactions affirm that \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Ass \u003c\/i\u003eaims to delight its readers as well as to exhort them to religion and philosophy. Ben Lee’s superb new translation will make Graverini's groundbreaking study available to a much wider scholarly readership.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Ohio State University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47016674558192,"sku":"9780814211915","price":54.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780814211915_p0.jpg?v=1763750773","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780814211915","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}