Lucian’s Queer Book User in the Adversus Indoctum

Abstract: Lucian’s Adversus Indoctum has long held the interest of book historians, but one curious feature of the text—a feature that seemingly has little to do with books—remains undertheorized. Two thirds of the way through the satire, the speaker outs the so-called “ignorant book collector” as a kinaidos . Jointly engaging book history and queer studies, this article argues that treating the kinaidos as a core feature of the satire unlocks a new perspective onto the book collector. Rather than being hapless and vain, the kinaidic book collector embodies a queer relation to books as objects that undercuts the authority of his attacker. This “bibliographically queer” mode of reading illuminates how Lucian challenges and playfully subverts the dominant perspectives of his time.