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A Genettean Reading of Petronius' Satyrica

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A Genettean Reading of Petronius' Satyrica NIHIL SINE RATIONE FACIO: A GENETTEAN READING OF PETRONIUS’ SATYRICA BY OLIVER SCHWAZER Thesis submitted to University College London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy DEPARTMENT OF GREEK AND LATIN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 1 DECLARATION I, Oliver Schwazer, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Signed: _________________________________ 2 ABSTRACT My thesis is a narratological analysis of Petronius’ Satyrica, particularly of the first section taking place in South Italy (Petron. 1–99), based on the methodology and terminology of Gérard Genette. There are two main objectives for the present study, which are closely connected to each other. One the one hand, I wish to identify and analyse the narrative characteristics of the Satyrica, including a selection of its literary models and the ways in which they are imitated or transformed and embedded in a new narrative schema, as well as the impact, which those texts that are connected to it have on our interpretation of the work. My narratological investigation of transtextuality in the case of Petronius includes: the assessment of matters of onymity and pseudonymity, rhematic and thematic titles, and the real and implied author in the sections on para-, inter- and metatexts; features belonging to the categories of narrative voice, mood, and time in the section on the narration (‘narrating’) and the récit (‘narrative’); the hypertextual relationships between the Satyrica and a selection of its potential models or sources in the section on the histoire (‘story’); and the architext or genre of the Satyrica. The aim of helping us understand better and appreciate the learnedness of the author Petronius and the complex piece of literary work that he has created is closely connected to our historical assessment of the date of composition of the Satyrica. It has implications that immediately concern our interpretation of the work and beyond. Moving the date of composition of the Satyrica to the second century affects our perception of the Neronian age and our understanding of the development of Imperial Latin literature, more generally. 3 FOR LITTLE IDA 4 CONTENTS DECLARATION ............................................................................................................. 2 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ 8 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 10 1.1 PETRONIUS ARBITER AND GÉRARD GENETTE .......................................................... 10 1.2 AIMS ............................................................................................................................. 12 1.3 (NARRATOLOGICAL) RESEARCH ................................................................................ 14 1.4 STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................. 20 1.5 CATEGORICAL PERIODISATION ................................................................................. 30 2 PARATEXTS ............................................................................................................. 32 2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 32 2.2 PERITEXTS ................................................................................................................... 33 2.2.1 TITLE ...................................................................................................................... 33 2.2.1.1 IN THE MANUSCRIPT TRADITION ................................................................................. 33 2.2.1.2 AUTHORIAL TITLE ....................................................................................................... 36 2.2.1.3 IN SCHOLARSHIP .......................................................................................................... 38 2.2.2 NAME OF THE AUTHOR .......................................................................................... 39 2.2.2.1 IN THE MANUSCRIPT TRADITION ................................................................................. 39 2.2.2.2 ONYMITY VERSUS PSEUDONYMITY ............................................................................. 40 2.3 EPITEXTS ...................................................................................................................... 43 2.3.1 PLINY THE ELDER AND PLUTARCH ........................................................................ 44 2.3.2 TACITUS ................................................................................................................. 47 2.4 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 55 3 INTER- AND METATEXTS ........................................................................................ 57 3.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 57 3.2 INCONSISTENT USE OF THE AUTHOR’S NAME .......................................................... 58 3.2.1 TERENTIANUS MAURUS ......................................................................................... 58 3.2.2 MARIUS MERCATOR .............................................................................................. 60 3.2.3 FULGENTIUS .......................................................................................................... 61 3.3 ARBITER ....................................................................................................................... 65 3.3.1 MARIUS VICTORINUS ............................................................................................. 65 3.3.2 JEROME .................................................................................................................. 66 3.3.3 MACROBIUS ........................................................................................................... 67 3.3.4 SIDONIUS APOLLINARIS ......................................................................................... 68 3.4 PETRONIUS ................................................................................................................... 70 3.4.1 SERVIUS ................................................................................................................. 70 3.4.2 IOANNES LYDUS .................................................................................................... 70 3.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 73 4 NARRATIVE AND NARRATING ................................................................................. 74 4.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 74 4.2 VOICE ........................................................................................................................... 75 4.2.1 TIME OF NARRATING AND NARRATIVE LEVELS ................................................... 75 4.2.2 NARRATING INSTANCE OR NARRATOR ................................................................. 76 5 4.3 MOOD ........................................................................................................................... 78 4.3.1 FOCALISATION ....................................................................................................... 78 4.3.2 NARRATIVE OF EVENTS VERSUS NARRATIVE OF WORDS ..................................... 82 4.3.3 TEMPORAL DISTANCE ........................................................................................... 85 4.3.4 NARRATIVE DISTANCE .......................................................................................... 87 4.4 TIME ............................................................................................................................. 90 4.4.1 ORDER ................................................................................................................... 90 4.4.2 DURATION ............................................................................................................. 93 4.4.3 FREQUENCY ........................................................................................................... 98 4.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 99 5 STORY .................................................................................................................... 100 5.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 100 5.1.1 FACT AND FICTION .............................................................................................. 100 5.1.2 APPROACH AND AIMS .......................................................................................... 103 5.1.3 STRUCTURE AND CONTENT ................................................................................. 104 5.1.4 TYPES OF HYPERTEXTUAL RELATIONSHIPS ........................................................ 105 5.1.5 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS FOR POTENTIALLY HYPERTEXTUAL
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