Using, Misusing and Abusing Latin in the Early Modern Period
25 April 2014, University of Warwick
Keynote: Dr Andrew Taylor, Churchill College, University of Cambridge.
The organisers invite proposals for 20 minute papers on using, misusing and abusing Latin and the classical tradition in the early modern period and early modern studies. The event will be hosted by the Queen Mary University, London – University of Warwick IAS Classical Reception Network and the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance.
Latin is the necessary working language for many early modern scholars. However, the very fact that (and the ways in which) Latin is used in the early modern period often has its own significance. With this conference, our aim is to reflect on a variety of aspects of the usage of Latin. It will address both the technical and the theoretical issues of translating, appropriating, adapting, and rewriting Latin texts and the Classics in general in Early Modernity and in present day Early Modern studies.
- Why and how do early moderns use Latin and the classics?
- In what ways does using Latin and the classics relate to questions of authority (then and now)?
- How do we as scholars deal with completely or partially Latin texts: do we translate them? do we indicate differences between classical, medieval and renaissance Latin?
- Can early modern latinitas be understood in terms of the emerging idea of World Literatures, or vice versa?
- Can translation from the vernacular into Latin and from Latin to the vernacular in early modernity be seen as a parallel to translation to/from peripheral languages to/from English today?
- Can the issue of the circulation of literature in early modernity inform our understanding of issues of unity, diversity, and circulation of World Literatures today?
The conference will consist of a key note lecture, a combination of short papers and a roundtable discussion. The organisers are inviting 250-word proposals for 20 minute papers in the above mentioned or related topics. Please submit your abstracts by filling in the form and uploading it by Friday, 10th January 2014. There will be a small registration fee, but we hope to be able to help student applicants with a small number of bursaries.
For more information, please see the conference website.