Author: BERMAN, D.W.,
Title: Myth, Literature, and the Creation of the Topography of Thebes.
Description: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2018. 1st paperback ed. X,190p. Paperback. Nice copy. Like new. 'The author's program of 'exploring representations of a topography that lies at this juncture of the real and imagined city' (p. 2), fits into established traditions in both philological quiry, as well as those concerned with mapping socially inflected geographical space, the so-called spatial turn. The theories of Henri Lefebvre, Edward Soja, and Yi Fu Tuan that Berman presents in the introduction are, of course, only a few of the many that could be deployed here. From a European point of view, the debates about 'Erinnerungskulturen', i.e. the discussions on the formation of memory attached to specific monuments and places, also contribute to our understanding of how social self-consciousness may be formed in given societies. Nevertheless, Berman should not be criticised for not having written a historical study of these ideas, for he is not a historian but a philologist, presenting the sources he considers to be state-of-the-art according to his own formation as a scholar. Having worked on related subjects for years, he really knows the material he is writing about. (...) This straightforwardly source-based, sometimes repetitive, but admirably detailed philological study provides a trustworthy, useful tool for scholars working on Boeotian Thebes with a view to topographical aspects as represented in ancient texts.' (ANGELA GANTER in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2015.10.32).

Keywords: 9781107434363