Practising Classical Reception Studies ‘in the Round’: Mass Media Engagements with Antiquity and the 'Democratic Turn' towards the Audience

Wrigley, Amanda (2013). Practising Classical Reception Studies ‘in the Round’: Mass Media Engagements with Antiquity and the 'Democratic Turn' towards the Audience. In: Hardwick, Lorna and Harrison, Stephen eds. Classics in the Modern World: A Democratic Turn. Oxford University Press, pp. 350–364.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199673926.003.0024

Abstract

This chapter argues for a refinement of current methodological practice within classical reception studies founded on the existence in the archives of a substantial amount of evidence for historical audience opinions on BBC Radio and BBC Television engagements with ancient Greek and Roman culture. Specifically, the simplistic Jaussian equation of ‘production’ and ‘reception’ must be re-thought; an alternative model founded on the idea of ‘engagement’ is promoted. The existence of a rich mine of evidence for audience engagement for mass media opens up new possibilities for classical reception studies practice even in those few areas where genuinely no similar evidence exists. Furthermore, an ‘in the round’ study of engagements with antiquity is advocated—that is, from as many different perspectives and in as many contexts as the available evidence allows, rather than along the customary one- or two-track approach along well-trodden literary, aesthetic or political paths.

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