Juvenal and The Satiric Emotions C

Keane carefully leads us through five books of Juvenal‘s Satires, giving consideration both to how these Satires are all connected and to the different ways in which each Satire performs emotion. She deftly pulls together passions, satiric behavior, the speaking I, Quellen, bodies, and emotional evolution throughout the 15 1/2 Satires to give us a fully fleshed-out and sometimes funny picture of Juvenal with the occasional nod to the ways in which contemporary issues and approaches have affected our understanding of Juvenal.[iii] She does not allow us to come away with a homogenized picture of Juvenal, but rather opens up the seams of his Satires, using emotions as a tool. ... Keane has answered her own question here: perhaps in just the way she has allowed us to engage with him. She is to be congratulated for giving us a new look at this much worked-over poet. --Barbara K. Gold, CJ-Online One view of Juvenal‘s poetic career posits a vigorous, angry, youthful satirist whose power declines as he ages; another view sees a poet who shifts from the persona of an angry man to that of a tranquil man. Keane challenges both views with a nuanced reading of all 16 poems, showing a poet consistently engaged in exploring the relationships (ironic, nuanced, complex) between emotions and satiric judgments. ... In sum, this book significantly advances the study of Juvenal.... Highly recommended. --CHOICE How do we respond to the angry satirist? Keane is aware that the answer is far from obvious, and her book is a rich exploration of the story of anger as it unfolds over Juvenal‘s fifteen Satires, mutating into irony and cynicism in the later poems. -- The Times Literary Supplement