CFP - Celtic Classics Conference Panel: Sovereign of the Sea: The Staying Power of Thetis in the Greco-Roman World and Beyond (CCC 2019) - Coimbra (Portugal)
DEADLINE 28/02/2019
CONGRESS DATE 26-27-28-29/06/2019
LOCATION Faculdade de Letras - Universidade de Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal)
ORGANIZERS David J. Wright (Fordham University; Maciej Paprocki (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich); Gary Vos (University of Edinburgh); Astrid Khoo (King's College London)
INFO: web - [email protected]
CALL:
And there came the daughter of Nereus, silver-footed Thetis,
The fair-tressed sepia, dread goddess with mortal voice,
Who alone, being a fish, knows both white and black.
(Matron, Attikon Deipnon = Ath. 1.135, tr. E. Aston 2009)
Despite languishing in relative obscurity, the Nereid Thetis is one of the most intriguing and ambiguous female figures of Greek myth. In her seminal work (The Power of Thetis - 1991), Laura Slatkin demonstrates that the Iliad presents Thetis as a formerly powerful, yet ultimately marginalised deity. The mistress of cords and binding, Thetis both averts and brings on destruction (Slatkin 1991: 65-67). In this capacity, she plays an active role in divine affairs: in one instance, she rescues Hephaestus and Dionysus, and in another she frees Zeus from the bonds clapped upon him by the rebellious Olympians (Slatkin 1991: 56-61). Furthermore, Zeus and Poseidon both “court” Thetis until they learn that she is destined to bear a son more powerful than his father. To avert this threat to his kingship, Zeus decides to marry her off against her will to his mortal grandson, Peleus (Pi. l.8.26-45). Thetis metamorphoses into many forms to evade Peleus but eventually yields to his violent advances; their struggle is frequently portrayed in Greek pottery.
The post-Iliadic receptions of Thetis likewise characterise her in terms of both awe and ambiguity. The Greeks deemed her both lovely and terrifying: the Thetis of Thessalian folklore commands the barren depths of the sea and wards off plagues (Aston 2009), while the lost poem Aegimius has her throw her children into a cauldron of boiling water to ascertain whether they are mortal, an ordeal which only Achilles survives. Roman writers brought new meanings to the name of Thetis, who merits the title of shapeshifter from her diverse appearances in the Latin literary tradition. Catullus describes her marriage to Peleus as voluntary and employs it to frame the epyllion of Poem 64; she resurfaces in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and features so prominently in Book 1 of Statius’ Achilleid that it is sometimes termed the ‘Theteid’ (Koster 1979: 199). Thetis has even captured the modern imagination: she appears in the cult classic Clash of the Titans (1981), in quasi-mortal form in Troy (2004), and as a prominent (albeit one-note) antagonist in Miller’s Song of Achilles (2012).
Throughout history, myths on Thetis have constantly been refashioned by creative retellings into nebulous networks of ideologically biased narratives. Even though each version differs from its counterparts, they hold one element in common: the Nereid remains a “figure of cosmic capacity” (Slatkin 1991: 12), holding sway over hearts and minds. Our desire to focus on her at the 2019 Celtic Conference in Classics, almost thirty years after the publication of The Power of Thetis, further attests to her enduring appeal. We invite proposals for papers which comprehensively reexamine the complex figure of Thetis and her depictions in different media (text, pottery, painting, song, opera, film, theatre, etc.) both in Graeco-Roman antiquity and beyond.
Papers might address, but are not limited to, the following questions:
• The nature and extent of Thetis’ power and weakness - different conceptualizations of Thetis’ position in the divine hierarchy - Thetis and the prophecy of Zeus’ downfall - Thetis’ voice and agency
• Visions of Thetis in post-Classical works: facets of Thetis’ mythos (e.g. structures of cosmic power; divine relations; maternity and mortality) reverberating in traditions, contexts, and media beyond the Greco-Roman world
• The myth of Thetis employed as political and/or social commentary - how do literary works in the Greco-Roman world take up (or activate) and reshape the paradigm of Thetis?
• The roles of gender, sexuality, and sexual violence in the mythos of Thetis - transgression and conformity - ancient and post-ancient interpretations of Thetis’ “courtship” with Zeus and Poseidon (how do we interpret Thetis’ ‘almost γάμος’ in this context?) and her relationship with Peleus - double standards concerning sexual violence, whether committed by divine characters against mortals or vice versa
• Thetis’ relationships with other deities - her sympathies and dislikes - interactions with Olympian deities (e.g. Zeus, Hera, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Apollo, etc.) and her immediate family (Nereids, Nereus)
• Thetis in relation to non-Olympian goddesses (e.g. Eos, Medea, Circe, Tethys, Metis, Amphitrite, Eurynome, Nemesis, Aphrodite) or as an exceptional character who evades obvious parallels
------------
In order to encourage discussion of work-in-progress, we have designed our panel schedule to accommodate two different paper lengths: 20 minutes and 40 minutes. Please submit a proposal of 350 words if you would like to present a shorter paper and 500 words for the longer option, and indicate which length you prefer. The submission deadline for abstracts is 28th February 2019.
Submissions are to be sent to the following address: [email protected]
Please include a short biography and specify your affiliation in the body of your email: attach the abstract as a separate file (preferably WORD/PDF) with no personal identification.
Notification of acceptance will be given by 31st March 2019.
PANEL CONVENERS:
David J. Wright (Fordham University) Maciej Paprocki (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) Gary Vos (University of Edinburgh) Astrid Khoo (King's College London)
INVITED SPEAKERS:
Laura Slatkin (NYU Gallatin)
Seemee Ali (Carthage College)
Diana Burton (Victoria University of Wellington)
Peter J. Heslin (Durham University)
As the organization is unable to provide financial support, participants will need to pay for their travel and accommodation expenses as well as registration fees. A subscription fee of ca. 100€ is to be expected with some optional plans for a half day excursion and a final dinner.
CONGRESS DATE 26-27-28-29/06/2019
LOCATION Faculdade de Letras - Universidade de Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal)
ORGANIZERS David J. Wright (Fordham University; Maciej Paprocki (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich); Gary Vos (University of Edinburgh); Astrid Khoo (King's College London)
INFO: web - [email protected]
CALL:
And there came the daughter of Nereus, silver-footed Thetis,
The fair-tressed sepia, dread goddess with mortal voice,
Who alone, being a fish, knows both white and black.
(Matron, Attikon Deipnon = Ath. 1.135, tr. E. Aston 2009)
Despite languishing in relative obscurity, the Nereid Thetis is one of the most intriguing and ambiguous female figures of Greek myth. In her seminal work (The Power of Thetis - 1991), Laura Slatkin demonstrates that the Iliad presents Thetis as a formerly powerful, yet ultimately marginalised deity. The mistress of cords and binding, Thetis both averts and brings on destruction (Slatkin 1991: 65-67). In this capacity, she plays an active role in divine affairs: in one instance, she rescues Hephaestus and Dionysus, and in another she frees Zeus from the bonds clapped upon him by the rebellious Olympians (Slatkin 1991: 56-61). Furthermore, Zeus and Poseidon both “court” Thetis until they learn that she is destined to bear a son more powerful than his father. To avert this threat to his kingship, Zeus decides to marry her off against her will to his mortal grandson, Peleus (Pi. l.8.26-45). Thetis metamorphoses into many forms to evade Peleus but eventually yields to his violent advances; their struggle is frequently portrayed in Greek pottery.
The post-Iliadic receptions of Thetis likewise characterise her in terms of both awe and ambiguity. The Greeks deemed her both lovely and terrifying: the Thetis of Thessalian folklore commands the barren depths of the sea and wards off plagues (Aston 2009), while the lost poem Aegimius has her throw her children into a cauldron of boiling water to ascertain whether they are mortal, an ordeal which only Achilles survives. Roman writers brought new meanings to the name of Thetis, who merits the title of shapeshifter from her diverse appearances in the Latin literary tradition. Catullus describes her marriage to Peleus as voluntary and employs it to frame the epyllion of Poem 64; she resurfaces in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and features so prominently in Book 1 of Statius’ Achilleid that it is sometimes termed the ‘Theteid’ (Koster 1979: 199). Thetis has even captured the modern imagination: she appears in the cult classic Clash of the Titans (1981), in quasi-mortal form in Troy (2004), and as a prominent (albeit one-note) antagonist in Miller’s Song of Achilles (2012).
Throughout history, myths on Thetis have constantly been refashioned by creative retellings into nebulous networks of ideologically biased narratives. Even though each version differs from its counterparts, they hold one element in common: the Nereid remains a “figure of cosmic capacity” (Slatkin 1991: 12), holding sway over hearts and minds. Our desire to focus on her at the 2019 Celtic Conference in Classics, almost thirty years after the publication of The Power of Thetis, further attests to her enduring appeal. We invite proposals for papers which comprehensively reexamine the complex figure of Thetis and her depictions in different media (text, pottery, painting, song, opera, film, theatre, etc.) both in Graeco-Roman antiquity and beyond.
Papers might address, but are not limited to, the following questions:
• The nature and extent of Thetis’ power and weakness - different conceptualizations of Thetis’ position in the divine hierarchy - Thetis and the prophecy of Zeus’ downfall - Thetis’ voice and agency
• Visions of Thetis in post-Classical works: facets of Thetis’ mythos (e.g. structures of cosmic power; divine relations; maternity and mortality) reverberating in traditions, contexts, and media beyond the Greco-Roman world
• The myth of Thetis employed as political and/or social commentary - how do literary works in the Greco-Roman world take up (or activate) and reshape the paradigm of Thetis?
• The roles of gender, sexuality, and sexual violence in the mythos of Thetis - transgression and conformity - ancient and post-ancient interpretations of Thetis’ “courtship” with Zeus and Poseidon (how do we interpret Thetis’ ‘almost γάμος’ in this context?) and her relationship with Peleus - double standards concerning sexual violence, whether committed by divine characters against mortals or vice versa
• Thetis’ relationships with other deities - her sympathies and dislikes - interactions with Olympian deities (e.g. Zeus, Hera, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Apollo, etc.) and her immediate family (Nereids, Nereus)
• Thetis in relation to non-Olympian goddesses (e.g. Eos, Medea, Circe, Tethys, Metis, Amphitrite, Eurynome, Nemesis, Aphrodite) or as an exceptional character who evades obvious parallels
------------
In order to encourage discussion of work-in-progress, we have designed our panel schedule to accommodate two different paper lengths: 20 minutes and 40 minutes. Please submit a proposal of 350 words if you would like to present a shorter paper and 500 words for the longer option, and indicate which length you prefer. The submission deadline for abstracts is 28th February 2019.
Submissions are to be sent to the following address: [email protected]
Please include a short biography and specify your affiliation in the body of your email: attach the abstract as a separate file (preferably WORD/PDF) with no personal identification.
Notification of acceptance will be given by 31st March 2019.
PANEL CONVENERS:
David J. Wright (Fordham University) Maciej Paprocki (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) Gary Vos (University of Edinburgh) Astrid Khoo (King's College London)
INVITED SPEAKERS:
Laura Slatkin (NYU Gallatin)
Seemee Ali (Carthage College)
Diana Burton (Victoria University of Wellington)
Peter J. Heslin (Durham University)
As the organization is unable to provide financial support, participants will need to pay for their travel and accommodation expenses as well as registration fees. A subscription fee of ca. 100€ is to be expected with some optional plans for a half day excursion and a final dinner.
Investigating the Translation Process in Humanistic Latin Translations of Greek Texts
**Call for Papers:
Department of Greek Philology, Democritus University of Thrace (Greece)
Friday 28th – Saturday 29th April 2017
The Department of Greek Philology at Democritus University of Thrace is pleased to announce its International Conference “Investigating the Translation Process in Humanistic Latin Translations of Greek Texts”.
Possible topics for discussion include:
- Acquisition of translation competence (methods and practices, education and training, grammars and dictionaries, etc.)
- Translation challenges and solutions (difficulties in the translation process as can be traced in manuscripts, dedicatory epistles, other paratexts, etc., and ways of dealing with them)
- Translation practices and strategies
- Cases of retranslation – relations with earlier translations (reasons for retranslation, cases of plagiarism, etc.)
- Witnessing translators at work (paraphrases or simplifications of hard or complicated parts of the original, interlinear or marginal translation notes/glosses, rough translations, translation attempts, corrections, erasures, omissions, substitutions, insertions, etc.)
- Translation and ideology (deliberate alterations of the original in the translation for moral, religious, ideological, political and/or other purposes)
- Theories on translation (humanistic treatises on translating and translation practices, etc.)
- Creating a translation canon (what texts are translated, classification, genres, etc.)
- Social position and function of the translator (prestige, status, position within the “republic of letters”, etc.)
- Gender issues (women as translators, women authors translated, etc.)
- The translator as “cultural mediator”
- Other topics (translators and translations, readership, preferences for particular translators and/or Greek texts and authors, manuscripts and incunabula, bilingual editions, relations with book production, spatiotemporal circulation of the Latin translations, identification of Greek manuscripts used by translators, etc.)
Confirmed keynote speakers:
• Prof. Christopher Celenza, Johns Hopkins University, USA
• Prof. Silvia Fiaschi, Università degli Studi di Macerata, Italy
• Prof. Martine Furno, IRHIM, Ens-Lyon, & Université Grenoble Alpes, France
• Prof. Fabio Stok, Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Italy
• Prof. Giancarlo Abbamonte, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy
• Dr. Paola Tomè, University of Oxford, UK
Papers: The language of the conference is English. The allotted time for papers is 20 minutes + 10 minutes of question/discussion-time.
Abstract Submission: The Conference Organizing Committee invites abstracts (of up to 300 words) from academics at any stage of their career and encourages the participation of early career researchers (PhD candidates, recent PhD graduates, Post-docs). Abstracts should be sent by e-mail as a PDF attachment to [email protected] by no later than 31 October 2016. The document should also contain paper title and author information including name, full affiliation and contact e-mail address. Abstracts will be double-blind peer reviewed, and notifications will be communicated by no later than 31 December 2016.
Participation: The participation fee for the conference is €60, which will include conference pack, refreshments/tea/coffee at all breaks, and dinners on the two days. Payment should be made in person at the conference. Please note that the participation fee does not include travel and accommodation expenses. The registration for the conference will start in January 2017. All practical information (provisional conference programme, travel and accommodation details, registration procedure, etc.) will be communicated in due course.
Publication: All submitted papers will be subjected to double-blind peer review. The accepted papers will be published as a proceedings volume or as a special issue of a journal derived from the conference.
We look forward to your participation in this conference.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee
Ioannis Deligiannis
Department of Greek Philology, Democritus University of Thrace (Greece)
Friday 28th – Saturday 29th April 2017
The Department of Greek Philology at Democritus University of Thrace is pleased to announce its International Conference “Investigating the Translation Process in Humanistic Latin Translations of Greek Texts”.
Possible topics for discussion include:
- Acquisition of translation competence (methods and practices, education and training, grammars and dictionaries, etc.)
- Translation challenges and solutions (difficulties in the translation process as can be traced in manuscripts, dedicatory epistles, other paratexts, etc., and ways of dealing with them)
- Translation practices and strategies
- Cases of retranslation – relations with earlier translations (reasons for retranslation, cases of plagiarism, etc.)
- Witnessing translators at work (paraphrases or simplifications of hard or complicated parts of the original, interlinear or marginal translation notes/glosses, rough translations, translation attempts, corrections, erasures, omissions, substitutions, insertions, etc.)
- Translation and ideology (deliberate alterations of the original in the translation for moral, religious, ideological, political and/or other purposes)
- Theories on translation (humanistic treatises on translating and translation practices, etc.)
- Creating a translation canon (what texts are translated, classification, genres, etc.)
- Social position and function of the translator (prestige, status, position within the “republic of letters”, etc.)
- Gender issues (women as translators, women authors translated, etc.)
- The translator as “cultural mediator”
- Other topics (translators and translations, readership, preferences for particular translators and/or Greek texts and authors, manuscripts and incunabula, bilingual editions, relations with book production, spatiotemporal circulation of the Latin translations, identification of Greek manuscripts used by translators, etc.)
Confirmed keynote speakers:
• Prof. Christopher Celenza, Johns Hopkins University, USA
• Prof. Silvia Fiaschi, Università degli Studi di Macerata, Italy
• Prof. Martine Furno, IRHIM, Ens-Lyon, & Université Grenoble Alpes, France
• Prof. Fabio Stok, Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Italy
• Prof. Giancarlo Abbamonte, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy
• Dr. Paola Tomè, University of Oxford, UK
Papers: The language of the conference is English. The allotted time for papers is 20 minutes + 10 minutes of question/discussion-time.
Abstract Submission: The Conference Organizing Committee invites abstracts (of up to 300 words) from academics at any stage of their career and encourages the participation of early career researchers (PhD candidates, recent PhD graduates, Post-docs). Abstracts should be sent by e-mail as a PDF attachment to [email protected] by no later than 31 October 2016. The document should also contain paper title and author information including name, full affiliation and contact e-mail address. Abstracts will be double-blind peer reviewed, and notifications will be communicated by no later than 31 December 2016.
Participation: The participation fee for the conference is €60, which will include conference pack, refreshments/tea/coffee at all breaks, and dinners on the two days. Payment should be made in person at the conference. Please note that the participation fee does not include travel and accommodation expenses. The registration for the conference will start in January 2017. All practical information (provisional conference programme, travel and accommodation details, registration procedure, etc.) will be communicated in due course.
Publication: All submitted papers will be subjected to double-blind peer review. The accepted papers will be published as a proceedings volume or as a special issue of a journal derived from the conference.
We look forward to your participation in this conference.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee
Ioannis Deligiannis
Neo-Latin Literary Perspectives on Britain and Ireland, 1520-1670
CALL FOR PAPERS
Conference: Neo-Latin Literary Perspectives on Britain and Ireland, 1520–1670
The Society for Neo-Latin Studies invites submissions for papers for a conference on 15–16 September 2017, at Churchill College, Cambridge, on Neo-Latin Literary Perspectives on Britain and Ireland, 1520–1670. In this period, Latin was the international language of European literature and a host of material dealing with British and Irish political and cultural identity survives both by authors working within Britain and Ireland and by those outside. Proposed papers dealing with the perception and depiction of Britain and Ireland from elsewhere in Europe are therefore encouraged as well as those on works written by authors resident in Britain or Ireland. Papers may discuss works in poetry or prose, and international scholars are very much encouraged to submit abstracts for consideration.
Examples of topics and authors relevant to the call include (but are by no means limited to): the idea of ‘Britain’ and ‘Ireland’ in Latin literature (including historiography); Latin verse responses, both in England and on the continent, to major events, such as the death of Philip Sidney, the defeat of the Armada, the Gunpowder Plot, the Thirty Years War, and the events of the Civil War, Protectorate and Restoration; the work of British and Irish Catholic authors resident abroad (often in France and Italy); the role of national identity in major Neo-Latin authors of the period such as Leland, Polydore Vergil, Camden, Stanihurst, Buchanan, Harvey, O’Meara, Owen, Campion, Barclay, Milton, Hobbes; the role of Latin literature in shaping distinct identities and communities of readership, for instance among Irish and Scottish authors, as well as among Catholic writers. Contributors may also want to consider the role of translation into and out of Latin in the formation of British and Irish identity in the period.
SNLS takes particular responsibility for encouraging graduate students and early-career scholars in the field. There will be a special early-career panel of slightly shorter (20 minute) papers only for those currently working towards a PhD or who are within two years of submission.
All other abstracts should be for 30-minute papers.
For all proposed papers, a title and abstract of up to 200 words (along with the name of the presenter, their affiliation and, for students, their year of study) should be submitted to [email protected] by 15 September 2016.
In addition, junior scholars, at MA or PhD level, who would like to present their work in a briefer form are encouraged to submit proposals (title and two-sentence summary) for a poster session (by the same deadline).
SNLS is in the process of applying for funding, but at this stage it cannot be guaranteed that all expenses of presenters will be covered.
Conference: Neo-Latin Literary Perspectives on Britain and Ireland, 1520–1670
The Society for Neo-Latin Studies invites submissions for papers for a conference on 15–16 September 2017, at Churchill College, Cambridge, on Neo-Latin Literary Perspectives on Britain and Ireland, 1520–1670. In this period, Latin was the international language of European literature and a host of material dealing with British and Irish political and cultural identity survives both by authors working within Britain and Ireland and by those outside. Proposed papers dealing with the perception and depiction of Britain and Ireland from elsewhere in Europe are therefore encouraged as well as those on works written by authors resident in Britain or Ireland. Papers may discuss works in poetry or prose, and international scholars are very much encouraged to submit abstracts for consideration.
Examples of topics and authors relevant to the call include (but are by no means limited to): the idea of ‘Britain’ and ‘Ireland’ in Latin literature (including historiography); Latin verse responses, both in England and on the continent, to major events, such as the death of Philip Sidney, the defeat of the Armada, the Gunpowder Plot, the Thirty Years War, and the events of the Civil War, Protectorate and Restoration; the work of British and Irish Catholic authors resident abroad (often in France and Italy); the role of national identity in major Neo-Latin authors of the period such as Leland, Polydore Vergil, Camden, Stanihurst, Buchanan, Harvey, O’Meara, Owen, Campion, Barclay, Milton, Hobbes; the role of Latin literature in shaping distinct identities and communities of readership, for instance among Irish and Scottish authors, as well as among Catholic writers. Contributors may also want to consider the role of translation into and out of Latin in the formation of British and Irish identity in the period.
SNLS takes particular responsibility for encouraging graduate students and early-career scholars in the field. There will be a special early-career panel of slightly shorter (20 minute) papers only for those currently working towards a PhD or who are within two years of submission.
All other abstracts should be for 30-minute papers.
For all proposed papers, a title and abstract of up to 200 words (along with the name of the presenter, their affiliation and, for students, their year of study) should be submitted to [email protected] by 15 September 2016.
In addition, junior scholars, at MA or PhD level, who would like to present their work in a briefer form are encouraged to submit proposals (title and two-sentence summary) for a poster session (by the same deadline).
SNLS is in the process of applying for funding, but at this stage it cannot be guaranteed that all expenses of presenters will be covered.
Revolutions and Classics
‘Revolutions and Classics’, a one-day workshop at University College London
Researchers in classical reception are increasingly intrigued by the political significances of antiquity for subsequent cultures and societies. The field has been energised by the recent publication of Classics and Communism (2013) and Greek and Roman Classics in the British Struggle for Social Reform (2015).
’Revolutions and Classics’ examines the manner in which classical texts and artefacts have been deployed in societies undergoing rapid and radical social change. This one-day workshop aims to foster interdisciplinary discussion of intersections between classics and revolutions; substantial time will also be given to discussion of teaching across classical reception, classics, and politics.
The workshop is hosted by The Classical Reception Studies Network and the Legacy of Greek Political Thought Network, with the support of the Department of Greek and Latin at UCL, and the Department of Classics at the University of Reading. In line with the aims of the Classical Receptions Studies Network, the day is designed to be especially useful for doctoral researchers and early career academics.
Confirmed speakers include Rosa Andújar (UCL), Carol Atack (Warwick), Emma Cole (Bristol), Nicholas Cole (Oxford), Susan Deacy (Roehampton), Benjamin Gray (Edinburgh), Adam Lecznar (Bristol), Jo Paul (Open University), Sanja Petrovic and Rosa Mucignat (Kings College London), and Luke Richardson (University College London). For a full programme please visit: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/classics/events/revolutionsandclassics
Should you have any questions, please contact the organisers: Barbara Goff, University of Reading ([email protected]) and Rosa Andújar, UCL ([email protected])
The organisers are very grateful for the generous support of the A. G. Leventis Fund at UCL, the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, the Classical Association, the UCL Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Council of University Classics Departments (CUCD).
Researchers in classical reception are increasingly intrigued by the political significances of antiquity for subsequent cultures and societies. The field has been energised by the recent publication of Classics and Communism (2013) and Greek and Roman Classics in the British Struggle for Social Reform (2015).
’Revolutions and Classics’ examines the manner in which classical texts and artefacts have been deployed in societies undergoing rapid and radical social change. This one-day workshop aims to foster interdisciplinary discussion of intersections between classics and revolutions; substantial time will also be given to discussion of teaching across classical reception, classics, and politics.
The workshop is hosted by The Classical Reception Studies Network and the Legacy of Greek Political Thought Network, with the support of the Department of Greek and Latin at UCL, and the Department of Classics at the University of Reading. In line with the aims of the Classical Receptions Studies Network, the day is designed to be especially useful for doctoral researchers and early career academics.
Confirmed speakers include Rosa Andújar (UCL), Carol Atack (Warwick), Emma Cole (Bristol), Nicholas Cole (Oxford), Susan Deacy (Roehampton), Benjamin Gray (Edinburgh), Adam Lecznar (Bristol), Jo Paul (Open University), Sanja Petrovic and Rosa Mucignat (Kings College London), and Luke Richardson (University College London). For a full programme please visit: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/classics/events/revolutionsandclassics
Should you have any questions, please contact the organisers: Barbara Goff, University of Reading ([email protected]) and Rosa Andújar, UCL ([email protected])
The organisers are very grateful for the generous support of the A. G. Leventis Fund at UCL, the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, the Classical Association, the UCL Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Council of University Classics Departments (CUCD).
- WHEN
- Friday, 22 July 2016 from 10:00 to 18:00 (BST) - Add to Calendar
- WHERE
- UCL Institute of Advanced Studies Common Ground - South Wing, Ground Flooor Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom - View Map
The Materiality of Texts between Lebenswelt and Lesewelt
The Materiality of Texts between Lebenswelt and Lesewelt
June 9-11, 2016
University of Zurich
Organisation: Ulrich Eigler, together with Brigitte Marti, Cornelia Ritter-Schmalz, Raphael Schwitter and Dominique Stehli
Confirmed Speakers: Ulrich Eigler (University of Zurich), William Fitzgerald (King’s College London), Helmut Krasser (University of Giessen), Wolfgang Raible (University of Freiburg i. Br.), Hartmut Wulfram (University of Vienna)
Ancient texts exist in many different material states, for example as private copies, school texts, illuminated manuscripts, or modern scientific editions. All these states contribute to the ways the texts have been conceived throughout the centuries. The specific materiality of a monumental inscription, a book roll, a codex, or a printed book is closely connected with its distinctive paratextual additions, which in turn may trigger and shape the reader’s interest in the main text, as can be seen in book epigrams, prefaces or tables of content. Serving as carriers of the written word, as a real part of the Lebenswelt, the different media and medial constellations enable texts to be physically read and literally grasped. Even to the bare materiality of books, texts, scriptures on parchment, papyrus or stone, a specific narrativity is inherent, a sort of paratextual dynamics which appeals to the reading public. At the same time, self-reflexive references on the materiality of texts form part of action and plot in the Lesewelt and create effects of poetology, distance and irony.
Looking at material states explicitly and implicitly allows different readings of texts, and thus creates new meanings and ambiguities. This conference is dedicated to these features of ancient and medieval writing culture.
You are very welcome to send us the topic of your paper together with a short abstract (200-300 words) by September 13, 2015 by email to [email protected].
We particularly like to encourage also younger researchers from the fields of classics and medieval studies to hand in their paper. Conference languages are German, French, Italian and English.
The papers to be presented at the conference should be handed in two weeks before the conference in order to be distributed to all participants.
June 9-11, 2016
University of Zurich
Organisation: Ulrich Eigler, together with Brigitte Marti, Cornelia Ritter-Schmalz, Raphael Schwitter and Dominique Stehli
Confirmed Speakers: Ulrich Eigler (University of Zurich), William Fitzgerald (King’s College London), Helmut Krasser (University of Giessen), Wolfgang Raible (University of Freiburg i. Br.), Hartmut Wulfram (University of Vienna)
Ancient texts exist in many different material states, for example as private copies, school texts, illuminated manuscripts, or modern scientific editions. All these states contribute to the ways the texts have been conceived throughout the centuries. The specific materiality of a monumental inscription, a book roll, a codex, or a printed book is closely connected with its distinctive paratextual additions, which in turn may trigger and shape the reader’s interest in the main text, as can be seen in book epigrams, prefaces or tables of content. Serving as carriers of the written word, as a real part of the Lebenswelt, the different media and medial constellations enable texts to be physically read and literally grasped. Even to the bare materiality of books, texts, scriptures on parchment, papyrus or stone, a specific narrativity is inherent, a sort of paratextual dynamics which appeals to the reading public. At the same time, self-reflexive references on the materiality of texts form part of action and plot in the Lesewelt and create effects of poetology, distance and irony.
Looking at material states explicitly and implicitly allows different readings of texts, and thus creates new meanings and ambiguities. This conference is dedicated to these features of ancient and medieval writing culture.
You are very welcome to send us the topic of your paper together with a short abstract (200-300 words) by September 13, 2015 by email to [email protected].
We particularly like to encourage also younger researchers from the fields of classics and medieval studies to hand in their paper. Conference languages are German, French, Italian and English.
The papers to be presented at the conference should be handed in two weeks before the conference in order to be distributed to all participants.
Self-Commentary in the Renaissance
Durham University, February 26-27, 2016.
Abstract deadline October 15, 2015.
Some bursaries available.
Writers the world over have often accompanied their texts with a variety of annotations, marginal glosses, rubrications, and explicatory or narrative prose in an effort to direct and control the reception of their own works. Such self-exegetical devices do not merely serve as an external apparatus but effectively interact with the primary text by introducing a distinctive meta-literary dimension which, in turn, reveals complex dynamics affecting the very notions of authorship and readership. In the Renaissance, self-commentaries enjoyed unprecedented diffusion and found expression in a multiplicity of forms, which appear to be closely linked to momentous processes such as the legitimation of vernacular languages across Europe, the construction of a literary canon, the making of the modern author as we know it, and the self-representation of modern individual identities.
Contact [email protected] for more information about this event.
https://www.dur.ac.uk/imems/events/conferences/?eventno=25738
Studies in Early Modern Iberoamerican Epic, II
Heroes of Epic Proportions: Examining the Figure of the Explorer–Discoverer in Early Modern Iberian Epic Poetry: The Second of a Two-Part Session Sponsored by the Society for Renaissance and Baroque Hispanic Poetry.
It can be argued that the two best-known examples of early modern Iberian epic—Alonso de Ercilla’s La Araucana and Luis de Camões’ Os Lusíadas—center around particular heroes whose trajectories the epics are dedicated to exploring, and who have, in turn, been the subject of extensive exploration in the literature on these poems. But what about all the other heroes—and all the other epics? Many are the Iberian and Iberoamerican epic poems that take the figure of the explorer–discoverer–seafarer and place him at the heart of the work, giving rise to poems dedicated to such figures as Columbus, Cortés and Magellan, to name only the most obvious. Allied to this is an intense preoccupation with issues and themes of discovery, navigation and exploration and with how the heroes respond to classical, medieval and contemporary idea(l)s of heroism, nautical prowess and expeditionary success. These heroes all vie with their literary forebears—and with each other. This session examines such heroic figures in their spaces and places, which raises inevitable, important questions about colonialism, centers and peripheries. How do the heroes situate themselves in—or in relation to—the landscapes they traverse? How should the hero behave when he is ‘abroad’? What happens when the critic de-centers—or re-centers—a hero? How does the epic ‘anti-hero’—the pirates, marauders and other countercultural figures—fit within this framework? How are their activities to be construed? Do they destabilize or reinforce, those of the principal epic heroes? From an examination of these and other questions, we hope to develop a better understanding of the role of the hero at the heart of the early modern Iberoamerican epics of exploration and discovery.
Papers will be read in English or Spanish. Please send an abstract of 250 words and a brief, standard format CV to Elizabeth B. Davis ([email protected]) and Maya Feile Tomes ([email protected]). Graduate students submitting an abstract should indicate the title of their dissertation, if available. Proposals must be received by May 25, 2015.
Location: Boston, RSA Annual Meeting
Dates: March 2016
It can be argued that the two best-known examples of early modern Iberian epic—Alonso de Ercilla’s La Araucana and Luis de Camões’ Os Lusíadas—center around particular heroes whose trajectories the epics are dedicated to exploring, and who have, in turn, been the subject of extensive exploration in the literature on these poems. But what about all the other heroes—and all the other epics? Many are the Iberian and Iberoamerican epic poems that take the figure of the explorer–discoverer–seafarer and place him at the heart of the work, giving rise to poems dedicated to such figures as Columbus, Cortés and Magellan, to name only the most obvious. Allied to this is an intense preoccupation with issues and themes of discovery, navigation and exploration and with how the heroes respond to classical, medieval and contemporary idea(l)s of heroism, nautical prowess and expeditionary success. These heroes all vie with their literary forebears—and with each other. This session examines such heroic figures in their spaces and places, which raises inevitable, important questions about colonialism, centers and peripheries. How do the heroes situate themselves in—or in relation to—the landscapes they traverse? How should the hero behave when he is ‘abroad’? What happens when the critic de-centers—or re-centers—a hero? How does the epic ‘anti-hero’—the pirates, marauders and other countercultural figures—fit within this framework? How are their activities to be construed? Do they destabilize or reinforce, those of the principal epic heroes? From an examination of these and other questions, we hope to develop a better understanding of the role of the hero at the heart of the early modern Iberoamerican epics of exploration and discovery.
Papers will be read in English or Spanish. Please send an abstract of 250 words and a brief, standard format CV to Elizabeth B. Davis ([email protected]) and Maya Feile Tomes ([email protected]). Graduate students submitting an abstract should indicate the title of their dissertation, if available. Proposals must be received by May 25, 2015.
Location: Boston, RSA Annual Meeting
Dates: March 2016
Studies in Early Modern Iberoamerican Epic, I
Trilingualizing Iberian Epic: Intersections and Interactions between Latin and the Vernacular in Early Modern Iberian Epic Poetry: The First of a Two-Part Session Sponsored by the Society for Renaissance and Baroque Hispanic Poetry
The epic of early modern Iberia and Iberoamerica has enjoyed a welcome rehabilitation over the past two decades, with increasingly enthusiastic uptake in recent years. The linguistic profile of this tradition, as it has been presented so far, is essentially always bilingual: Spanish and Portuguese. Now that Iberian epic studies have gained a secure foothold and established themselves as a vital new area of study, however, the time is ripe to add a third element to the picture: Latin. By this we do not, on this occasion, mean the Latin of the Greco-Roman epic tradition—a tradition which is of course central to the study of early modern Iberian epic in its own right—but rather the Latin-language (‘Neo-Latin’) epic production of the early modern period itself. The linguistic and literary landscape then was different from our own, and countless early modern epicists writing in, or about, the Iberian world chose to do so in Latin instead of (or as well as) the vernacular. To speak of early modern Iberian epic without ever mentioning the word “Latin” is thus to tell only part of the story. This is particularly so as the Latin-language material is just as committed to exploring the contemporary Iberian world, American questions, Atlantic concerns—precisely the same themes, in other words, as we identify in all the vernacular material. Submissions are sought from those working at the intersection—however defined—between Latin and the vernacular in early modern Iberian (or Iberian-themed) epic. How does adding Latin to the picture complement—and complicate—our existing view of the early modern Iberian epic scene? What new topoi and traditions can be seen to crystallize if we consider the material cross-linguistically in this way? And what does this signal to us about possible new directions for the study of early modern Iberian epic in the future?
Papers will be read in English or Spanish. Please send abstract of 250 words and a brief, standard format CV to Maya Feile Tomes ([email protected]) and Elizabeth B. Davis ([email protected]). Graduate students submitting an abstract should indicate the title of their dissertation, if available. Proposals must be received by May 25, 2015.
Location: Boston, RSA Annual Meeting
Dates: March 2016
The epic of early modern Iberia and Iberoamerica has enjoyed a welcome rehabilitation over the past two decades, with increasingly enthusiastic uptake in recent years. The linguistic profile of this tradition, as it has been presented so far, is essentially always bilingual: Spanish and Portuguese. Now that Iberian epic studies have gained a secure foothold and established themselves as a vital new area of study, however, the time is ripe to add a third element to the picture: Latin. By this we do not, on this occasion, mean the Latin of the Greco-Roman epic tradition—a tradition which is of course central to the study of early modern Iberian epic in its own right—but rather the Latin-language (‘Neo-Latin’) epic production of the early modern period itself. The linguistic and literary landscape then was different from our own, and countless early modern epicists writing in, or about, the Iberian world chose to do so in Latin instead of (or as well as) the vernacular. To speak of early modern Iberian epic without ever mentioning the word “Latin” is thus to tell only part of the story. This is particularly so as the Latin-language material is just as committed to exploring the contemporary Iberian world, American questions, Atlantic concerns—precisely the same themes, in other words, as we identify in all the vernacular material. Submissions are sought from those working at the intersection—however defined—between Latin and the vernacular in early modern Iberian (or Iberian-themed) epic. How does adding Latin to the picture complement—and complicate—our existing view of the early modern Iberian epic scene? What new topoi and traditions can be seen to crystallize if we consider the material cross-linguistically in this way? And what does this signal to us about possible new directions for the study of early modern Iberian epic in the future?
Papers will be read in English or Spanish. Please send abstract of 250 words and a brief, standard format CV to Maya Feile Tomes ([email protected]) and Elizabeth B. Davis ([email protected]). Graduate students submitting an abstract should indicate the title of their dissertation, if available. Proposals must be received by May 25, 2015.
Location: Boston, RSA Annual Meeting
Dates: March 2016
Building the Canon: Italian Renaissance and the Creation of a Literary Tradition
Harvard University, December 5, 2015
At a time when such concepts as ‘Great Books’, ‘Core Curriculum’, and ‘Western Canon’ are at the center of the academic debate in the US and beyond, this conference aims at re-evaluating one of the main literary-historical processes that led to the formation of Liberal Arts education as we know it today. In fact, considering the thriving growth of scholarly work in the fields of Classical Tradition and Neo-Latin Studies, we think that the time is ripe for a comprehensive reappraisal of the construction of a Classical canon of literature during the age of Humanism and Renaissance in Italy and elsewhere.
When, how, why, in what forms and in which contexts does the idea of a ‘canon’ emerge? What criteria lead to the inclusion of certain works and authors into the canon, and to the exclusion of others? How, and to what extent, do different Renaissance humanists perceive the construction of a literary canon in different ways? Which intellectuals appear to be more concerned with it? Which ones seem to resist it? How does the emergence of an ancient canon interact with the urge for bestowing a similar ‘authority’ on some later and contemporaneous authors? Which Renaissance models of ‘canon’ are still influencing our idea of education in the Humanities?
The purpose of our conference is to display the latest historical and philological research on the topic and to discuss further directions for study. Topics may include, but are by no means limited to:
- the creation of a Classical canon as an instrument of self-definition in the humanists' hands
- the emergence of a ‘modern’ canon (e.g. Italy's ‘Three Crowns’) along with the Classical one
- different canons of ancient literature across different genres
- the development of Neo-Latin literature in the Renaissance, and the Western re-discovery of ancient Greek
- the role of education in the formation of a new image of the Classical tradition
- the relationship between the construction of a literary canon in the Renaissance and comparable operations in antiquity (e.g. Quintilian's literary history)
- the role of the idea of ‘canon’ in extra-literary domains (e.g. geography, natural science, etc.)
The conference will be held at Harvard on December 5, 2015. The keynote address will be delivered by Prof. Christopher Celenza (JHU). The language of the conference is English. Every paper should last no longer than 20 minutes, with a further 10 minutes discussion. Anonymous abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted to [email protected] before September 15, 2015. A selection will be made by the end of September 2015, and communicated to abstract authors shortly thereafter. The conference is generously supported by the Lauro De Bosis Fund and Villa I Tatti.
Organizing committee:
Eloisa Morra, PhD Candidate in Italian Literature, Harvard University
Marco Romani Mistretta, PhD Candidate in Classical Philology, Harvard University
The Senses and Visual Culture
Where does the recent sensory turn in the Arts and Humanities leave the study of visual culture? Can the viewer/object model incorporate the full sensorium without imposing ocularcentrism? How has vision’s relation to the other senses been expressed and explored through the visual arts from Antiquity to the Early Modern Period? How have the senses and sensory experience been represented in art before the modern era?
This conference will explore the complex relationship between the visual and the sensory in contemporary theory and ancient practice. It will investigate the ways that art, from icons to illuminated manuscripts, music to architecture, and poetry to theatre, acted as a space for thinking about sensory experience, and for representing sensory ideas and theories. It will bring together scholars from a range of fields, including Classics and Ancient History, Medieval and Byzantine Studies, Musicology, Museum Studies and the History of Art, to explore these questions in the context of different historical periods and cultures, and in terms of politics, religion, philosophy, and society in the pre-modern era.
We invite abstracts of 300 words for papers including but not limited to the following themes:
The conference will be held June 8-9, 2015 at the University of Bristol, UK.
Please send abstracts and CVs to the organizers, Erica O’Brien and Heather Hunter-Crawley at [email protected], by April 10, 2015.
For further information and updates, please see the conference website: sensesandvisualculture.wordpress.com
This conference will explore the complex relationship between the visual and the sensory in contemporary theory and ancient practice. It will investigate the ways that art, from icons to illuminated manuscripts, music to architecture, and poetry to theatre, acted as a space for thinking about sensory experience, and for representing sensory ideas and theories. It will bring together scholars from a range of fields, including Classics and Ancient History, Medieval and Byzantine Studies, Musicology, Museum Studies and the History of Art, to explore these questions in the context of different historical periods and cultures, and in terms of politics, religion, philosophy, and society in the pre-modern era.
We invite abstracts of 300 words for papers including but not limited to the following themes:
- The role of the visual;
- The non-visual senses and the reception of visual culture;
- Embodied interaction with apparently visual art;
- The use of ancient sensory theory in later practice;
- Representations of sensory experience;
- The difference between Eastern and Western European traditions in terms of ideas about the senses and how they are represented;
- Displaying historical sensory experiences in museum settings;
- The future of visual culture studies of pre-modern Europe.
The conference will be held June 8-9, 2015 at the University of Bristol, UK.
Please send abstracts and CVs to the organizers, Erica O’Brien and Heather Hunter-Crawley at [email protected], by April 10, 2015.
For further information and updates, please see the conference website: sensesandvisualculture.wordpress.com
Afterlife of Cicero
The conference will explore the impact of Cicero’s writings and personality on intellectual and cultural history, on the visual arts, philosophy, politics, rhetoric and literature. Since so much of Cicero’s writings is extant, they cover a wide variety of genres and topics, and we are also able to get a glimpse of his personality from his letters, Cicero has had an enormous influence on western culture. By examining a diverse series of significant case studies, the conference aims to make a contribution to assessing Cicero’s impact more fully. The proceedings will be jointly published by the two Institutes as Supplements to the Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies.
Location: The Warburg Institute
Dates: May 7 - 8, 2015
Location: The Warburg Institute
Dates: May 7 - 8, 2015
Afterlife of Greek Tragedy
The conference will explore the impact of Greek Tragedy on intellectual and cultural history, on the visual arts, philosophy, politics, rhetoric and literature, including the development and character of European and other theatrical traditions. The proceedings will be jointly published by the two Institutes as Supplements to the Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies.
Location: The Warburg Institute
Dates: March 5 - 6, 2015
Location: The Warburg Institute
Dates: March 5 - 6, 2015
2015 SCS At-Large Panel: What can Early Modernity do for Classics?
Ariane Schwartz, University of California, Los Angeles and Pramit Chaudhuri, Dartmouth College, Organizers
This panel, co-sponsored by the Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum project, aims to present to a wide audience of classicists a sample of the arguments and opportunities for working in early modern reception studies, and the potential mutual benefits arising from closer engagement with the field. The five panelists explore different forms of contact between antiquity and the early modern world from philology to translation, and from archival research to the mapping of intellectual networks. The panel opens a conversation to be continued from 2016 onwards under the auspices of the new Society for Early Modern Classical Reception (SEMCR).
- See more at: http://apaclassics.org/annual-meeting/146/descriptions-of-paper-sessions
Location: Society for Classical Studies in New Orleans
Date: January 9, 2015, 8-10:30am
This panel, co-sponsored by the Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum project, aims to present to a wide audience of classicists a sample of the arguments and opportunities for working in early modern reception studies, and the potential mutual benefits arising from closer engagement with the field. The five panelists explore different forms of contact between antiquity and the early modern world from philology to translation, and from archival research to the mapping of intellectual networks. The panel opens a conversation to be continued from 2016 onwards under the auspices of the new Society for Early Modern Classical Reception (SEMCR).
- See more at: http://apaclassics.org/annual-meeting/146/descriptions-of-paper-sessions
Location: Society for Classical Studies in New Orleans
Date: January 9, 2015, 8-10:30am
Bodies of Ideas: Science and Classical Reception
This one day workshop explores the implications of the materiality of the classical tradition for the history of science and medicine. Our central question is: do scientific theories – insofar as they are theories of embodiment, transmission or transformation – reflect or determine different forms of classical reception within science and medicine? In particular, does the profusion of materialistic models associated with the development of science reflect or determine an equally profuse expansion of the ways in which ancient science is experienced and re-embodied? Does the classical tradition look or feel different if its material components are conceived of as vital spirits as opposed to substantial forms? What about effluvia, vacuums, humours, seminal reasons, pneuma, monads, ferments, influxus? Would Homer read differently if your brain were made of superstrings?
Location: The Warburg Institute
Dates: December 11, 2014
Location: The Warburg Institute
Dates: December 11, 2014
The Invention of Rome: Biondo's Roma triumphant and its worlds
This conference aims to set Biondo's RT in its historical and intellectual contexts, and explore its content and reception.
Dates: November 26 - 28, 2014
Location: British School at Rome
Dates: November 26 - 28, 2014
Location: British School at Rome
Art, Literature and Antiquarianism in Europe between the 14th and 17th Centuries
This interdisciplinary conference, organized by Kathleen Christian (The Open University) and Bianca de Divitiis (ERC HistAntArtSI project/University of Naples) considers local concepts of antiquity across Europe in the Early Modern era.
Dates: November 13 - 14, 2014
Location: The Warburg Institute, London
Dates: November 13 - 14, 2014
Location: The Warburg Institute, London