Browsing by Author "Ohvo, Noora"

I claim that Hannibal Barca has become a mythical figure whose reputation can be used for various purposes. One's ability to identify oneself with Hannibal is a key factor in this respect, as I attempt to prove in my thesis. The historical roots of Hannibal's reputation exist in several written layers and the topoi from ancient times have even found their way into some of the writings of modern researchers. I present some of the difficulties involved in how old literary material  and Hannibal's reputation  have spread. First of all history is written by the victors, and secondly, the ways in which information could travel were limited in different eras. For the analysis of how some of the numerous images of Hannibal were created I examine a collection of texts from 1818 to the twenty-first century. The main focus of my analysis is on texts written in English. As in Media and Communication Studies, I, too, see literature as a form of mass communication. When analyzing the roots of Hannibal's reputation, I adapt the theory on imagology (imagologia) Erkki Karvonen has developed. I am particularly interested in the role of the media in making images. Karvonen's theory comes in handy when I demonstrate why Hannibal himself has not affected how his image has changed. Others have influenced that image (or those images). The thoughts of Edward Said guide my writing as I review how Hannibal, as an Orientalized subject, has been transformed into a mythical collection of texts that can be interpreted in mixed and contradicting ways. In my analysis I also take into consideration some valuable notions on interpretation and myths by Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, Stuart Hall and Kristin J. Anderson. I investigate the tendency for Orientalized writing found from both Europe and the United States. I've summarized this tendency in the title of my thesis: 'Maine, myytti ja lainattu kunnia' (Reputation, Myth and Borrowed Glory). Hannibal's reputation can be both positive and negative but it is always a mythical one. By borrowed glory I refer to the admiration expressed for Hannibal. In reality the praise can be seen as a way in which specific values are offered to the reader. I find a lot in common with the way in which Hannibal has been described and the way in which advertisements work, as analyzed by Janne Seppänen and Esa Väliverronen. Seppänen and Väliverronen manage to prove how a particular advertisement for a watch is actually selling masculinity and elitist fellowship. I claim that many texts written about Hannibal sell exactly the same things to the reader. As an Orientalized subject Hannibal is not on an equal level with western generals, although one might think otherwise. Sometimes even the most blatant admiration hides beneath the surface an arrogance and a feeling of relief because the Second Punic War was won by the Romans. I attempt to demonstrate how the modern ways of writing about Hannibal become a part of the myth and how they, too, create a new kind of an image of Hannibal as each era rewrites history regardless of the fact that the evidence is neither altogether different nor new.