Call for Papers for a Panel Sponsored by the
American Society of Greek and Roman Epigraphy (ASGLE)
“Epigraphy and Gender in the Graeco-Roman World”
Organized by Jonathan Edmondson (York University)
The aim of this panel is to explore the multiple ways in which inscribed texts of all types contributed towards constructions of gender in ancient Greece and Rome. From honorific statue-bases set up in the public spaces of ancient cities to the tens of thousands of epitaphs displayed in burial grounds to inscribed votive offerings set up in public sanctuaries or in private cult spaces, inscriptions played a key role in defining gender norms in public and in private life. Less formal types of writing such as graffiti in various media or curse-tablets may have served to contest or reinforce these societal norms. This panel seeks to explore gender relations across as full a range of social levels as possible: from the elite to the “middling sort” to slaves and manumitted slaves. It has often been argued that it is difficult to uncover authentic female voices within epigraphic repertoires, since the production of inscriptions was significantly controlled by men. Is it possible by using new interpretive techniques to read epigraphic texts against the grain and thereby uncover previously ignored aspects of gender relations? The panel ideally will present a variety of methodological approaches that range from close readings of individual texts to broader analyses of texts in bulk drawn either from single locations or from wider geographical contexts, where appropriate, involving comparative discussion.
Abstracts should be a maximum of 500 words (bibliography excluded), suitable for a 20-minute presentation. Please follow the SCS “Guidelines for Authors of Abstracts” (https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/guidelines-authors-abstracts) and ensure that no reference is made to the author’s identity. Please send your anonymous abstract, as a Word or PDF e-mail attachment, to Jonathan Edmondson at jedmond@yorku.ca by March 15, 2021. Abstracts will be evaluated anonymously by two reviewers. (Please note that authors submitting abstracts must be SCS members in good standing and will need to register for the 2022 meeting.)