I am happy with how my appetizer presentation went. I was really nervous about it beforehand but I really appreciated people’s insightful comments and to hear people talking in their small groups. I’m glad that I got to bring Apuleius into the class, because I feel like there are a lot of similarities between The Golden Ass and Satyrica, so much so that Fellini took some scenes from Apuleius when creating his film Satyricon and setting the tone in that piece. I thought it was cool to see how Bakhtin’s ideas could be applied to other pieces of Roman literature.
I thought the discussion was really interesting, focusing on the role that animals (and specifically donkeys) play in the grotesque. We’ve talked about how animalistic attributes play a part in parody, and how animal products go into the abundance and overconsumption that characterizes the grotesque. I thought it was interesting how across cultures and time periods, people have found donkeys funny, like the Renaissance example of the “asinine masses,” Lucius as a donkey in The Golden Ass, and I guess a modern example would be Donkey in Shrek.
One thing I wish I had done was provide more context on who Apuleius was and when he was writing. I still, however, thought it went pretty well and I appreciated people’s contributions to the discussion and thoughtful answers to my questions.
