Jean Baudrillard: The Rhetoric of Symbolic Exchange by Brian Gogan
Abstract
Reviews 323 demonstrating that Nonnus was thoroughly at home in the topoi that belong to TrocpocxXrpixoi Zoyoi. The case studies that follow, however, home in on exceptional instances, such as that of Typhon addressing his own limbs as if they were soldiers (Dionysiaca 2.258-355). This way of proceeding leaves unclear whether Nonnus's handling of topoi can really be characterized in terms of him "inverting and parodying these traditional elements" (p. 296); for the most part, he seems quite conventional here. The structure of Chapter 5 means that the discussion of the speech by an Achaean sailor look ing at Europa (Dionysiaca 1.93-124; discussed on pp. 236-42) is widely sepa rated from Hera's speech about the same event (Dionysiaca 1.326-43; discussed on pp. 262—1), so that bringing out the purposeful connections between the two involves a good deal of repetition. In general, Verhelst occa sionally has a tendency to paraphrase and summarize in cases where more analysis is required—but some of this is perhaps inevitable when dealing with the Dionysiaca, which is not a book that is very familiar even to scholars specializing in late antiquity. And Verhelst is to be applauded for her efforts to make her book appeal to a wider community of classicists; she certainly succeeds in making Nonnus sound more interesting than the picture of him in the standard handbooks would suggest. The book is on the whole free from blemishes, give or take a few typos (e.g., for "248" in the title on p. 306, read "48.248"), unidiomatic expressions (e.g. the Dutchism "hunting for effect" on p. X) and minor mistakes (e.g. on p. 103, where the exhortative topoi concerning to oouyepox and to ¿x3r(o6u£vov are strangely equated with the consequences of "victory" and "defeat," respectively). Unfortunately (and due to no mis take of the author), the book is set in accordance with the bizarre editorial decision taken some time ago by Brill (also in evidence in other recent publications) to print all single-letter and unpunctuated abbreviations in small caps, so that one finds side by side references to, say, Nonnus's Par. and d. (instead of D.), Euripides's Bacch. and ia (instead of IA) or, in bibliographical references, "Ann Arbor (Mich.)" and "Cambridge (uk)." It is to be hoped that Brill will soon abandon this silly convention. Luuk EIuitink Leiden University Brian Gogan, jean Baudrillard: The Rhetoric of Symbolic Exchange. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2017. 234 pp. ISBN: 9780809336258 Baudrillard has always been difficult to categorize. He began life as a German studies scholar and translator, taught sociology as well as philos ophy, and later in life became a general commentator on culture, politics, and society. He was a photographer, a theory pop star, an aphorist and 324 RHETORICA a provocateur. Brian Gogan argues that he is best understood as a rhetori cal theorist. He offers a serviceable compact overview of Baudrillard's vast oeuvre in this book. He writes clearly and signposts his argument abun dantly. He often relies more on citation of secondary sources than a close reading of Baudrillard's texts. Baudrillard's most famous concept is the "simulacrum.'' While diffi cult, the simulacrum is perhaps best understood as a likeness without a referent. In the era of "fake news" and "alternative facts," this idea is per haps easier to accept than it was when introduced in the seventies and eighties. While the proliferation of simulacra has been accelerated by social media and our ability to simulate and disseminate anything imagin able, simulacra, like the poor, have always been with us. Gogan asks us to understand the concept of the simulacrum in terms of three central motifs that make up Baudrillard's rhetorical theory: the art of appearance, the art of disappearance, and symbolic exchange. The art of appearance is the production of a simulacrum that need not be tied to any pre-existing object. Nonetheless, the simulacrum rhetorically functions in the world as if it were a representation, and it can be reproduced endlessly creating its own functional economy. We might think of certain forms of advertising or even internet myths...
- Journal
- Rhetorica
- Published
- 2019-06-01
- DOI
- 10.1353/rht.2019.0014
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