This volume collects papers on pragmatic perspectives on ancient theatre. Scholars working on literature, linguistics, theatre will find interesting insights on verbal and non-verbal uses of language in ancient Greek and Roman Drama. Comedies and tragedies spanning from the 5th century B.C.E. to the 1st century C.E. are investigated in terms of im/politeness, theory of mind, interpersonal pragmatics, body language, to name some of the approaches which afford new interpretations of difficult textual passages or shed new light into nuances of characterisation, or possibilities of performance. Words, silence, gestures, do things, all the more so in dramatic dialogues on stage.
Gunther Martin, DPhil (2005), University of Oxford, is a lecturer and researcher at the Universities of Zurich and Bern. He has, among other things, published books on historiography, oratory, and a commentary on Euripides'
Ion.
Federica Iurescia, Ph.D. (2017), Universities of Siena and Pisa, worked as SNSF scientific collaborator at the University of Zurich. Her research interests focus on pragmatics in Latin, chiefly im/politeness and dialogues. Her main publication is
Credo iam ut solet iurgabit. Pragmatica della lite a Roma (Göttingen, 2019).
Severin Hof, MA (2016), University of Zurich, has written his PhD thesis on multiperspectivity in Sophocles at that university. His research interests include Greek drama, Medieval Latin, and papyrology.
Giada Sorrentino, Ph.D. (2013), Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i. Br., has completed her post-doc research project at that university. She is author of various articles on Middle and New Comedy and of
Comunicazione e relazioni interpersonali nelle commedie di Menandro (Göttingen 2020).
Contributors are: Rutger J. Allan, Peter Barrios-Lech, Luigi Battezzato, Łukasz Berger, Anna Bonifazi, Evita Calabrese, Matteo Capponi, Evert van Emde Boas, Severin Hof, Federica Iurescia, Michael Lloyd, Gunther Martin, Sandra Rodríguez-Piedrabuena, Renata Raccanelli, Licinia Ricottilli, Carlo Scardino, Lavinia Scolari, Camille Semenzato, Giada Sorrentino, Luis Unceta Gómez, Vanessa Zetzmann.
Notes on Contributors
Introduction Gunther Martin, Federica Iurescia, Severin Hof and Giada Sorrentino
Part 1 Verbal Communication I: Doing Things with Words
How To Do Things with (ἐ)κεῖνος and αὐτός in Tragedy: Initial Suggestions Anna Bonifazi
Pointing to Common Ground in Dramatic Dialogue: The Case of δή and τοι Rutger J. Allan
Terms of Address on Right Periphery in Greek Tragedy Sandra Rodríguez Piedrabuena
The Linguistic Characterisation of Oedipus in OT: A Pragmatics-Based Approach to ‘Mind Style’ Evert van Emde Boas
Resonance in the Prologue of Sophocles’ Ajax Severin Hof
Pentheus und Dionysos in den Bakchen: Die Grenzen des klaren Dialogs Camille Semenzato
Iphigenie und ihre Mutter: Pragmatische Bemerkungen zur Iphigenie in Aulis Giada Sorrentino
Part 2 Verbal Communication II: Being More or Less Kind with Words
Oedipus and Tiresias: Im/politeness Theory and the Interpretation of Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus Luigi Battezzato
Politeness and Impoliteness in Aristophanes Michael Lloyd
Developments in Politeness from Aristophanes to Menander and Beyond Peter Barrios-Lech
Advice-Giving in Roman Comedy: Speech-Act Formulation and Im/politeness Łukasz Berger
The Politics of Manipulation: Politeness and Insincerity in the Language of Parasites and Courtesans in Plautus’ Comedies Luis Unceta Gómez
Part 3 Verbal and Non-verbal Communication: Doing Things Not Just with Words
Silence and the Failure of Persuasion in Tragic Discourse Vanessa Zetzmann
Doing Things with Words … and Gestures on Stage Matteo Capponi
Reflections on Gestures and Words in Terence’s Comedies Licinia Ricottilli
The Kiss in Plautus’ Stichus: Notes on Gestures and Words in View of a Pragmatics of Comic Communication Renata Raccanelli
Lacrimae and uultus: Pragmatic Considerations on Gestures in Seneca’s Tragedies Evita Calabrese
Pragmatics of fraus: Encoding and Decoding of Deceit in Seneca’s Troades and Thyestes Lavinia Scolari
Epilogue
Euripides: Von der Rhetorik zur Pragmatik Carlo Scardino
Index Locorum Index Rerum
Academics and advanced students interested in ancient Greek and Roman drama, historical pragmatics, drama and performance, linguistics, narratology, literary interpretation of dramatic genres.