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Author Pyy, Elina, author

Title The semiotics of Caesar Augustus / Elina Pyy
Published London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018
©2018

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Description 1 online resource
Series Bloomsbury advances in semiotics
Bloomsbury advances in semiotics.
Contents Introduction -- Man of many faces: appropriations of Augustus through the ages -- Pater patriae, pax americana: Augustus' empire in God bless you, Mr Rosewater -- Augustus the tyrant: ancient history, modern anxieties -- Augustus in historical fiction -- Augustus on screen -- Conclusion: What's in a name? Semiotics of "Caesar Augustus"
Summary "Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, better known as Augustus, was the first Roman emperor and is one of the most iconic figures in world history. Two thousand years after his death, Augustus remains a strong presence in modern culture. The Semiotics of Caesar Augustus examines the meanings and significances of Augustus in Western literary and popular culture, from the 1960s until the turn of the millennium. Drawing on the theoretical background of semiotics and classical reception studies, Elina Pyy investigates the representation of Augustus in the postmodern novels of Kurt Vonnegut and Christoph Ransmayr, as well as in the genre of historical fiction, and in screen representations from both sides of the Atlantic. Scrutinizing what Caesar Augustus stood for in the postmodern world, and the main factors that influenced (and still influence) the modern reader's interpretation of him, this book is grounded on the premise that the past, being a system of signs based on our culturally shared understanding of them, is continuously created and reconstructed by the modern audience. Arguing that the 'many faces of the emperor' can be considered to be reactions to contemporary cultural, socio-political or emotional needs, The Semiotics of Caesar Augustus shows how his character was recurrently utilized to explain and understand the ways in which the discourses of power, liberty, oppression and humanity operated in the postmodern world."--Bloomsbury Publishing
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher
Subject Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D. -- In literature
Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D. -- In motion pictures
Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D. -- On television
SUBJECT Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D. fast (OCoLC)fst00032969
Subject Literature, Modern -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
Civilization, Modern -- Roman influences.
Civilization, Modern -- Roman influences
Literature
Literature, Modern
Motion pictures
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2018001474
ISBN 9781474277235
1474277233
9781474277259
147427725X
9781474277242
1474277241
1474277225
9781474277228