Overview

Antonio Gramsci and the Ancient World explores the relationship between the work of the Italian Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci and the study of classical antiquity. The collection of essays engages with Greek and Roman history, literature, society, and culture, offering a range of perspectives and approaches building on Gramsci’s theoretical insights, especially from his Prison Notebooks. The volume investigates both Gramsci’s understanding and reception of the ancient world, including his use of ancient sources and modern historiography, and the viability of applying some of his key theoretical insights to the study of Greek and Roman history and literature. The chapters deal with the ideas of hegemony, passive revolution, Caesarism, and the role of intellectuals in society, offering a complex and diverse exploration of this intersection. With its fascinating mixture of topics, this volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of classics, ancient history, classical reception studies, Marxism and history, and those studying Antonio Gramsci’s works in particular.

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9781032021317

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Reviews

"""The authors and editors of this volume persuasively contend that this alertness to the challenges of conjunctural moments in world history that was a characteristic of the great Italian Marxist is equally insightful when applied to the ancient world. Connected to this innovative perspective is an equally enlightening examination of how Gramsci’s thoughts throughout his political career were affected by his own knowledge and understanding of the ancient world."" -Sean Ledwith, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books ""Capita più raramente, insomma, di vedere una grande casa editrice pubblicare un’opera sul mondo greco o romano in cui sia dichiarata, e coerentemente sviluppata, la “epistemologia” cui l’autore si ispira, ovverosia i fondamenti teorici in base ai quali vengono ripresi in esame determinati aspetti della cultura antica. Eppure è soltanto così, sulla base di robusti modelli di pensiero, che la ricerca e la comprensione del passato può non solo progredire, ma rendersi nuova e interessante. Colpisce dunque vedere una casa editrice importante, come Routledge, che pubblica un volume in cui le categorie (gramsciane) che animano le singole ricerche sono dichiarate e sviluppate."" - Maurizio Bettini, La Repubblica [It is much rarer to see a large publisher releasing a work about the Greek and Roman world whose authors’ ""epistemology"" (i.e. the theoretical foundation through which certain aspects of ancient culture are observed) is declared and consistently developed. Yet it is only in this way, based on robust thought patterns, that research and understanding of the past can not only progress, but become new and interesting. It is therefore striking seeing an important publisher, such as Routledge, releasing a volume in which the (Gramscian) categories animating the specific pieces of research are declared and developed.] ""[This book] gathers a miscellany of fourteen essays by scholars who share an interest in exploring possible links between the Italian thinker’s works and Classical Studies[...]presenting a variety of approaches that can be easily summarised as two main paths of analysis, which we may identify respectively as a historio-graphical and an applicational approach. Although they all start from the same methodological outlook, each essay con>centrates on a different aspect of the ancient world addressed by Gramscian works, either directly or indirectly. "" -Eugenia Vitello, thersites ""All in all, this volume provides an extensive introduction to Gramsci’s thought and its uses in contemporary historical research. However, I think the main strength of this volume is that it does not take Gramsci’s ideas as a static canon, but something that should be used and transformed in order to better describe society and its power structures. It invites reader to improve and engage, which is a wonderful and ambitious suggestion from any volume."" - Bryn Mawr Classical Review"

Author Information

Emilio Zucchetti is Germanicus Scholar of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (London, UK) and Teaching Assistant at Newcastle University, UK. Anna Maria Cimino is a PhD student in Classics at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy.

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