Publisher's Synopsis
Gustave Flaubert's novel Salammbo was published in 1862. The place and the plot are set in the distant past. Carthage is a blind spot on the map of historical lore. This is precisely why Flaubert chooses this city. North African landscapes, cityscapes of the maritime republic of Carthage, pompous wealth and cultural artificiality in food, customs and dress, monumental battles, gruesome images of war and debauched violence against humans and animals form the scenes of the new novel. "People of bad taste", according to Flaubert, are those who "embellish, purify and illude themselves, who change, scratch and take away" and yet think they are classics. For Flaubert, breaking up the normative view of antiquity means breaking down cliches and worn-out phrases as well as inventing new forms of language. He thus opens up a view of an archaic antiquity and of the phenomenon of violence in the modern age.
