Overview

History is never static. The interpretation of past events is fluid, informed by particular intellectual, political and cultural contexts. This is as true of the ancient world as of any historical period. Classical material has been appropriated for many different ends; and as Phiroze Vasunia shows, in this major new work, classics needs to grapple with its controversial past. He discusses the various ways in which antiquity has provided ideological support to European imperialism and to the affirmation of a Western elite, cast as the rightful heirs to a 'civilizing' classical legacy: whether the British and Spanish, who portrayed themselves as new Roman conquerors in India and the Americas; or Napoleon's self-fashioning as a second Alexander in Egypt. At the same time the author demonstrates how the antique past has provided fertile ground for those seeking to challenge or subvert colonial rule. Exploring seminal writers like Frantz Fanon, Edward Said and Gayatri Spivak, he advances a new kind of classics in a postcolonial world, showing how deeper dialogue between classical and postcolonial studies can enrich both disciplines.

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9781848850378

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