Admission requirements
This course is open to Master and Research Master students in Classics and Ancient Civilisations (track Classics or other tracks – but a fluent command of Latin is a prerequisite to follow the course), as well as Research Master and PhD students associated with OIKOS.
Description
‘This is an exciting time for the study of neo-Latin literature’. With this statement Victoria Moul opened her introduction to the recently published A Guide to Neo-Latin literature (Cambridge, 2017). The main reason for this excitement is that in the last five years no less than three reference works for the study of Neo-Latin have been published, the other two being Brill’s Encyclopaedia of the Neo-Latin World (Leiden/Boston, 2014) and the Oxford Handbook to Neo-Latin (Oxford, 2015). The almost simultaneous publication of these works signals, in the words of Craig Kallendorf, ‘a new maturity for Neo-Latin studies’, meaning that they have become more and more aligned with adjacent disciplines, and are more and more concerned with methodological issues.
This seminar will take this ‘new maturity for Neo-Latin studies’ as point of departure and aims at understanding the role of neo-Latin texts in their wider literary and historical context. In so doing it will specifically focus on three characteristic features that are notorious for Neo-Latin research: canonization (of ancient authors, genres etc.), the relationship of Neo-Latin texts to social and political occasions, and the complex interconnections with both classical and contemporary literature. At the beginning of the class, necessary research tools nd handbooks will be presented for those participants who have no experience with Neo-Latin literature yet.
Thematically, the seminar will concentrate on the figure of the princeps Augustus and Augustan discourse/literature and its role for readers and writers in early modern Europe (with a focus on the situation in Italy in the Renaissance). After some weks in which we will reads specimens of literature from the Augustan time (Augustus’ Res gestae; selections from Horaces 4th book of Odes, Ovid’s Fasti, Livy’s Ab urbe condita etc.), the major part of the class will be dedicated to reading a selection of Neo-Latin texts about Augustus, Augustan literature and culture, and the transformation of the Roman Republic into an Empire. The text will be both in prose and poetry. We will analyze the way in which they depict Augustus/Augustan discourse; how they make use of intertextuality with Augustan (and other Roman) literature and see how they are connected to events or debates in their own time.
The lecturer hopes that students are willing to suggest texts and themes for some of the (later) classes of the course. Who wants to make suggestions, is invited to contact the teacher already before the start of the course (but it will also be possible to come up with topics during the first half of the course).
Potentially, the lecturer will organize a (brief) excursion to Rome for the participants in June (on their own expense and on a voluntary basis); this excursion is meant to be organised in cooperation with classical archaeologist prof. Natascha Sojc (Univ. Augsburg) and her MA students. Whether this little trip can indeed take place will be communicated at the beginning of the teaching session; in case that it is possible, students will have to enroll within the first two weeks of classes.
Course objectives
Knowledge & Insight:
Broadening the knowledge of Neo-Latin literature;
Broadening the knowledge of research tools for Neo-Latin literature;
Deepening insight in modern interdisciplinary approaches;
Critical awareness of the importance of the heritage of the Roman world in (early) modern Europe, and of its appropriation in different political and cultural contexts;
Reflecting on discussions of government and rulership led via exemplary figures.
Skills:
Enlarging reading and analytic/interpretative competence of Neo-Latin texts;
Developping research skills in a relatively unfamiliar field (research) and enhancing mindset for academic research;
Enhancing presentation skills;
Enhancing writing skills.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Assessment method
Written examination with closed questions (eg multiple choice)
Essay, paper
Oral examination
Assessment
Written exam (mostly translation)
Oral presentation, with full handout
Paper (max. 4500 words)
The requirements for MA and ResMA students are differentiated: ResMA students are expected to come up with their own original research topic, choose a Neo-Latin text, find literature etc.; MA students may expect more help in choosing their texts and finding literature, and their papers may lean more heavily on existing scholarship on the given text.
Note that for this course presence and active participation are a requirement. This means that students are required to attend the classes, to be fully prepared and to join the discussions; students who are absent from more than two session without valid reason will be excluded from the examination.
Weighing
Written exam: 30 %
Oral presentation: 30 %
Paper: 40 %
The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average of all assessment components, with the additional requirement that all parts must be sufficient.
Resit
There is the possibility for a resit of all parts (in case of a resit of the oral presentation, the exact form has to be agreed upon with the lecturer – it might be a presentation without fellow students, with only the lecturer being present).
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will be organized.
Reading list
Relevant literature for the sessions will be made available via Brightspace.
The following titles might be useful for a first orientation in the field of Neo-Latin (no need to buy them):
Bloemendal, Jan, Philip Ford and Charles Fantazzi (eds.). Brill’s Companion to the Neo-Latin world. 2 vols. (Leiden/Boston, 2014)
Kallendorf, Craig. “Recent Trends in Neo-Latin Studies. A Review Essay.” Renaissance Quarterly 69 (2016): 617–29.
Knight, Sarah, and Stefan Tilg (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Neo-Latin (Oxford, 2015)
Moul, Victoria (ed.). A Guide to Neo-Latin Literature (Cambridge, 2017)
IJsewijn, Jozef and Dirk Sacré. Companion to Neo-Latin Studies. 2 vols. (Leuven, 1990-98)
The research literature on the reception of Augustus is huge. Who wants to look into it before the start of the classes will find good recent essays for first orientation here:
Goodman, Penelope (ed.). Afterlives of Augustus, AD 14-2014 (Cambridge, 2018)
Cavalieri, Marco et al. (eds.). Augustus through the Ages: Receptions, Readings and Appropriations of the Historical Figure of the First Roman Emperor (Brussels, 2022)
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Registration À la carte education, Contract teaching and Exchange
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal.
Remarks
For this course, presence and active participation are mandatory (see above).
Students who want to suggest texts or themes to be included in the course are invited to contact the teacher before the start of the course.
Potentially, the lecturer will organize a (brief) excursion to Rome for the participants in June (see above). In case it can take place, students will have to enroll within the first two weeks of classes.