Identification and Distance in Lucian’s Dialogues of the Courtesans : Subjects and Their Absences

Book chapter


La Valle Norman, Dawn. (2024). Identification and Distance in Lucian’s Dialogues of the Courtesans : Subjects and Their Absences. In In Goldhill, Simon (Ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Lucian pp. 297-317 Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009170406.014
AuthorsLa Valle Norman, Dawn
EditorsGoldhill, Simon
Abstract

This chapter explores the interplay between identification and distance that Lucian sets up for his readers in relationship to the speaking characters in the Dialogues of the Courtesans. While readers are, at times, invited to identify with the plights of these ‘others’ as partners in restrictive power structures, at other times, the otherness of the courtesans is emphasised through female verbal markers, female-specific cults, and women-only sexuality. Again and again, the subjectivity of the courtesan is offered to the reader, only to be withdrawn from their grasp. And, in fact, in its current form, the collection begins with a soldier and ends with a virgin – the courtesan managing to slip away. Lucian’s play with the courtesan’s subjectivity leaves his readers full of suspicions about intentional misdirection, both by the characters within the stories and by the author Lucian himself.

KeywordsDialogues of the Courtesans; prostitution; subjectivity; lesbian; matronymics
Page range297-317
Year2024
Book titleThe Cambridge Companion to Lucian
PublisherCambridge University Press
Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
ISBN9781009170406
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009170406.014
Web address (URL)https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-lucian/identification-and-distance-in-lucians-dialogues-of-the-courtesans-subjects-and-their-absences/A08A31A928EA660F079FBB5913566C26
FunderAustralian Research Council (ARC)
Open accessPublished as green open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
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All rights reserved
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Open
Publisher's version
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Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online07 Nov 2024
Publication process dates
AcceptedNov 2024
Deposited20 Dec 2024
ARC Funded ResearchThis output has been funded, wholly or partially, under the Australian Research Council Act 2001
Grant IDDE220100854
Additional information

© Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024.

This research was supported by the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Early Career Research Award, “The Female Voice in Ancient Philosophical Dialogues (DE220100854).

This Author's version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution or re-use. © Dawn LaValle Norman

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