Previous research
Laughter and humour in Latin literature, esp. the Roman novel (Petronius) and Roman verse satire (Horace, Persius, Juvenal). In my dissertation and a later monograph I undertook close readings close readings of the Latin texts as well as discussions of ancient and modern humour theories. Works: Laughter and Derision in Petronius’ Satyrica, 2000 (diss.), The Function of Humour in Roman Verse Satire: Laughing and Lying, 2006. I have also edited an anthology of research on Roman satire, Oxford Readings in Persius and Juvenal, 2009.
Current research
My current project is entitled “Good and Evil. Literary images of morality in Caesar and Sallust. The aim of this study is to analyse how, from a literary point of view, morals are made in the historical writings of two Roman 1stC BC authors (Caesar’s Commentarii and Sallust’s Catiline and Iugurtha). Starting from a close reading of the Latin texts, but also considering their historical and literary contexts, I hope to find answers to questions about these authors’ moral ideals, their narrators, and the ethical implications of their fictional universes.
Categories
World literature, older literature