Receptions of Greek and Roman Antiquity in East Asia is an interdisciplinary, collaborative, and global effort to examine the receptions of the Western Classical tradition in a cross-cultural context. The inclusion of modern East Asia in Classical reception studies not only allows scholars in the field to expand the scope of their scholarly inquiries but will also become a vital step toward transcending the meaning of Greco-Roman tradition into a common legacy for all of human society.
"Do the ancient Greek classics of politics and philosophy arouse interest among the Chinese? The answer, according to Shadi Bartsch, is a resounding yes. Works by Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, and to a lesser extent Cicero and Vergil, generally unknown to China during the millennia-long dynastic system, have shown themselves "good to think with" in contemporary China, both at moments of crisis and revolution, and at moments of increasing confidence and nationalism. Even as classical studies wane in Europe and America, the Chinese believe they are indispensable to an understanding of Western culture. First treated as relevant to China's problems of modernization, now more likely to be invoked in discussions of what the Chinese feel is the loss of a moral compass of contemporary Europe and the United States, the Western classics are treated as more relevant than the west has ever treated the Confucian tradition. In this book, based on her 2018 Martin Lectures given annually at Oberlin college, Shadi Bartsch aims to tell the long history of reception of classics in China. It follows an arc in time from the mid-16th century, when the Jesuits first brought classical texts to China, to the events of the tumultuous 20th century-a time of reform, revolution, and repression-and the present day. Although the book is rooted in this history, its major concern is the contemporary situation in China. Bartsch reflects on Chinese intellectual responses to a number of different "classical" topics: Athenian democracy, Plato's "noble lie," the western emphasis on Socratic rationality, the use of Leo Strauss's non-democratic interpretation of these texts, and the struggle to reappropriate the heritage of the West in favor of China's current form of government. These studies help us to see ourselves as "other," reflected in the eyes of a different culture that believes in the value of all the ancients, European and Chinese, but that is decidedly more skeptical toward the modern west"--
This collection of essays, unquestionably a first of its kind, examines the challenges of translating Ovid into Chinese and the emerging role Ovid’s poetry has played in Chinese culture, including material culture and comparative studies in a wide international context.
This book brings to English readers, in its entirety for the first time, a translation of José Watanabe’s Antígona, accompanied by the original Spanish text and critical essays. The lack of availability in English has resulted in the absence of Antígona from important Anglophone studies devoted specifically to the reception of ancient Greek tragedy in the Americas. Pérez Díaz's translation fills this gap. The introduction provides the performative, political, and historical contexts in which the text was written in collaboration with the actress Teresa Ralli, from the Peruvian theater group Yuyachkani, who also originally performed it. Following the bilingual text, a critical essay provides an analysis of textual aspects of Antígona that have been disregarded, situating it in relation to Sophocles' Antigone and in conversation with relevant moments of the vast traditions of reception of the Greek tragedy. An appendix briefly surveys some notable productions of the play throughout Latin America. This comprehensive volume provides an invaluable resource for readers interested in José Watanabe's work, students and scholars working on classical reception and Latin American literature and theatre, as well as theatre practitioners.
The Cambridge Critical Guide to Latin Literature offers a critical overview of work on Latin literature. Where are we? How did we get here? Where to next? Fifteen commissioned chapters, along with an extensive introduction and Mary Beard's postscript, approach these questions from a range of angles. They aim not to codify the field, but to give snapshots of the discipline from different perspectives, and to offer provocations for future development. The Critical Guide aims to stimulate reflection on how we engage with Latin literature. Texts, tools and territories are the three areas of focus. The Guide situates the study of classical Latin literature within its global context from late antiquity to Neo-Latin, moving away from an exclusive focus on the pre-200 CE corpus. It recalibrates links with adjoining disciplines (history, philosophy, material culture, linguistics, political thought, Greek), and takes a fresh look at key tools (editing, reception, intertextuality, theory).
Theme park studies is a growing field in social and cultural studies. Nonetheless, until now little attention has been dedicated to the choice of the themes represented in the parks and the strategies of their representation. This is particularly interesting when the theme is a historical one, for example ancient Greece. Which elements of classical Greece find their way into a theme park and how are they chosen and represented? What is the “entertainment” element in ancient Greek history, culture and myth, which allows its presence in commercial structures aiming to people's fun? How does the representation of Greece change against different cultural backgrounds, e.g. in different European countries, in the USA, in China? This book frames a discussion of these representations within the current debates about immersive spaces, uses of history and postmodern aesthetics, and analyses how ancient Greece has been represented and made “enjoyable” in seven different theme parks across the world, providing an original and ground-breaking contribution to theme park studies and classical reception.
An enjoyable, accessible exploration of the legacy of ancient Greece today, across our daily lives and all forms of popular culture Our contemporary world is inescapably Greek. Whether in a word like "pandemic," a Freudian state of mind like the "Oedipus complex," or a replica of the Parthenon in a Chinese theme park, ancient Greek culture shapes the contours of our lives. Ever since the first Roman imitators, we have been continually falling under the Greeks' spell. But how did ancient Greece spread its influence so far and wide? And how has this influence changed us? Tony Spawforth explores our classical heritage, wherever it's to be found. He reveals its legacy in everything from religion to popular culture, and unearths the darker side of Greek influence--from the Nazis' obsession with Spartan "racial purity" to the elitism of classical education. Paying attention to the huge breadth and variety of Hellenic influence, this book paints an essential portrait of the ancient world's living legacy--considering to whom it matters, and why.
In this innovative book, Mark Giancaspro examines the origins, functions, principles and legacies of the common law doctrine of consideration that regulates contractual exchange. Through a systematic analysis, he explores deep-rooted rules and current controversies in legal jurisdictions across the world.
Japan on the Jesuit Stage offers a comprehensive overview of the representations of Japan in early modern European Neo-Latin school theater. The chapters in the volume catalog and analyze representative plays which were produced in the hundreds all over Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to present-day Croatia and Poland. Taking full account of existing scholarship, but also introducing a large amount of previously unknown primary material, the contributions by European and Japanese researchers significantly expand the horizon of investigation on early modern European theatrical reception of East Asian elements and will be of particular interest to students of global history, Neo-Latin, and theater studies.
