Despite the long history of Menippean satire, from antiquity through the early modern era in Europe and up to the present, the genre often has resisted precise definition and has evoked critical controversy. In this magisterial work, Howard D. Weinbrot offers a new and lucid account of this complex literary category. He argues that in the wake of twentieth-century critics, notably Frye and Bakhtin, Menippean satire has been too broadly associated with "philosophic ideas" expressed in dialogic voices or languages. He proposes instead a set of more rigorous but still fluid criteria incorporating several key elements: the use of varied historical periods, voices, languages, or genres that challenge a threatening orthodoxy; an outcome either of failure and the satirist's renewed anger or of resistance without counter-orthodoxy; and the use of one or more of several identified rhetorical devices. He then explores in detail how these elements of Menippean satire combine and operate in the literatures of classical Rome and early modern France and England, considering major texts by Varro, Petronius, Lucian, Swift, Boileau, Pope, and Richardson.

A tour-de-force piece of research and criticism that will retain its importance for many years to come. Weinbrot is at the height of his powers and I know of no other scholar who could have mastered this material the way he has. This book displays exceptional historical and critical originality. -- Robert D. Hume, Pennsylvania State University

About the Author
Howard D. Weinbrot is the Ricardo Quintana Professor of English and William Freeman Vilas Research Professor in the College of Letters and Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Reviews
An impressive book. -- Joel Relihan New England Classical Journal 2006 Weinbrot's prose is clear and sharp and witty. -- Cynthia Wall Studies in English Literature 2006 Weinbrot's impressive dissection of the Menippean branch will likely be viewed as a tour-de-force... among studies of satire. -- Kirk Combe 1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics and Inquiries 2007 This admirable study makes for the thoughtful taming of an otherwise intractable form, both in the weight that it brings to bear upon its separate arguments and in the care that it applies to their articulation. -- Timothy Erwin Modern Philology 2009 This book... offers a strong model for determining the canon and demands that future discussions proceed with care. -- Christopher Fanning Scriblerian 2008 Weinbrot... is a proven scholar [and] a genial and generous student of literature, well aware of the intellectual perils involved in working his way through such an argument. He is also breathtakingly learned. -- John J. Burke, Jr. Eighteenth-Century Life 2007



Book Information
ISBN 9780801882104
Author Howard D. Weinbrot
Format Hardback
Page Count 400
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 658g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 27mm