The Door Ajar

False Closure in Greek and Roman Literature and Art

edited by Farouk F. Grewing, Benjamin Acosta-Hughes and Alexander Kirichenko

Book cover: The Door Ajar

Extent: 385 pages

Publisher: Universitätsverlag Winter

Subjects: Classical Studies, Literary Studies

Series: Bibliothek der klassischen Altertumswissenschaften, 2. Reihe

Series volume number: 132

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(October 2013)

ISBN: 9783825356972

6.06 x 9.21 inches

Price: $85.00

On back order

When is “closure” in fact “false closure”, the deceptive opposite of apparent conclusion or perfection? 2009 marked the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Don Fowler’s seminal essay “First Thoughts on Closure: Problems and Prospects” (MD 22: 75-122), a work that contributed greatly to bringing about a broad reconsideration in Ancient literary studies of the concept of closure whether understood as an ontological feature, an aesthetic concept, an appreciative inclination on the part of a work’s audience, or a psychological desire of the individual to control the “text” at hand. The present volume, ‘The Door Ajar: False Closure in Greek and Roman Literature and Art’, seeks to mark both a debt to the ongoing influence of Fowler’s work, and to frame a future discourse on false closure in particular as an artistic phenomenon.


When is “closure” in fact “false closure”, the deceptive opposite of apparent conclusion or perfection? 2009 marked the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Don Fowler’s seminal essay “First Thoughts on Closure: Problems and Prospects” (MD 22: 75-122), a work that contributed greatly to bringing about a broad reconsideration in Ancient literary studies of the concept of closure whether understood as an ontological feature, an aesthetic concept, an appreciative inclination on the part of a work’s audience or a psychological desire of the individual to control the “text” at hand. The present volume, ‘The Door Ajar: False Closure in Greek and Roman Literature and Art’, seeks to mark both a debt to the ongoing influence of Fowler’s work, and to frame a future discourse on false closure in particular as an artistic phenomenon.

  • Edited by Benjamin Acosta-Hughes
  • Edited by Farouk F Grewing
  • Edited by Alexander Kirichenko