Situating Josephus’ Life within Ancient Autobiography

Genre in Context

Davina Grojnowski (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

240 Seiten

2025
Bloomsbury Academic (Verlag)
9781350320192 (ISBN)

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Davina Grojnowski examines Life, the autobiographical text written by ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, from a literary studies perspective and in relation to genre theory. In order to generate a framework of literary practices, Josephus’ Life and other texts within Josephus’ literary spheres—all associated with autobiography—are the focus of a detailed literary analysis which compares the texts in terms of established features, such as structure, topoi and subject. This methodological examination enables a better understanding of the literary boundaries of autobiography in antiquity and illustrates Josephus’ thought-process during the composition of Life.

Grojnowski also offers a comparative study of autobiographical practices in Greek and Roman literature, demonstrating the value of passive education supplementing what had been taught actively and its impact on authors and audiences. As a result, she provides insight into the development of literary practices in reaction to various forms of education and subsequently reflects on the religious (self-) views of authors and audiences. Simultaneously, Grojnowski reacts to current discourses on ancient literary genres and demonstrates that ancient autobiography existed as a teachable literary genre in classical literature.

Davina Grojnowski is an independent scholar based in Germany.

Acknowledgements
1. State of the Question
2. Genre Theory
3. Josephus’ Literary Milieu
4. Opening Features and Subject
5. External Features
6. Internal Features
7. Conclusions of the analysis
8. A New Reading
Bibliography
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	04.02.2025
Reihe/Serie	Education, Literary Culture, and Religious Practice in the Ancient World
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	154 x 234 mm
Gewicht	340 g
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Vor- und Frühgeschichte
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Altertum / Antike
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Judentum
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Weitere Religionen
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
ISBN-13	9781350320192 / 9781350320192
Zustand	Neuware