"Embodied Invective" and Identity Construction in Ancient Literature
Will be published approx. on 19. November 2026
Book
Hardback
978-90-04-76649-5 (ISBN)
Description
This volume establishes "embodied invective" as a significant new analytical category for understanding Greco-Roman culture. Moving beyond simple insults, the contributors show how ancient writers strategically weaponised the corporeal self-physical traits, habits, and gestures-to undermine the social and moral standing of their targets.
Covering material from early iambic poetry to Late Antique epistles, the collection examines how the body functioned as a rhetorical battleground where gender norms, ethnic identities, and social hierarchies were contested. By decoding these "deep structures" of abuse, the volume provides a systematic framework for viewing the human body as a primary site of ancient cultural negotiation and identity performance.
Covering material from early iambic poetry to Late Antique epistles, the collection examines how the body functioned as a rhetorical battleground where gender norms, ethnic identities, and social hierarchies were contested. By decoding these "deep structures" of abuse, the volume provides a systematic framework for viewing the human body as a primary site of ancient cultural negotiation and identity performance.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
ISBN-13
978-90-04-76649-5 (9789004766495)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Dennis Pausch, Ph.D. (2003), is Professor of Latin at Marburg and full member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz. He works on biography and historiography and was part of the research collaboration Invectivity. Constellations and Dynamics of disparagement at Dresden University.
Andreas Serafim, Ph.D. (2013), is Director of the Centre for Hellenic Culture in Cyprus. A prolific scholar of classical rhetoric and culture, he has published five monographs and fifteen edited volumes. His research covers nonverbal behaviour, performance, and persuasion, with a particular focus on the intersections of gender, invective, and social identity. His most recent monograph is Body Behaviour and Identity Construction (Routledge, 2025).
Rafal Toczko (Ph.D 2010) is a university professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus University (UMK) in Torun. His research focuses on ancient rhetoric, early Christian polemics, saint Augustine's works, hagiography and invective. He has led the project "The History and Rhetoric of Invective in Ancient Greek, Roman and Early Christian Polemics" funded by NCN, co-created two databases: www.scrinium.umk.pl and ancient-invective.umk.pl
Andreas Serafim, Ph.D. (2013), is Director of the Centre for Hellenic Culture in Cyprus. A prolific scholar of classical rhetoric and culture, he has published five monographs and fifteen edited volumes. His research covers nonverbal behaviour, performance, and persuasion, with a particular focus on the intersections of gender, invective, and social identity. His most recent monograph is Body Behaviour and Identity Construction (Routledge, 2025).
Rafal Toczko (Ph.D 2010) is a university professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus University (UMK) in Torun. His research focuses on ancient rhetoric, early Christian polemics, saint Augustine's works, hagiography and invective. He has led the project "The History and Rhetoric of Invective in Ancient Greek, Roman and Early Christian Polemics" funded by NCN, co-created two databases: www.scrinium.umk.pl and ancient-invective.umk.pl