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(Provided by Roberta Berardi, Nicoletta Bruno, Martina Filosa, Luisa Fizzarotti)

We are delighted to share the Call for Papers for Prolepsis’ 3rd international Postgraduate Conference
“Optanda erat oblivio”: Selection and Loss in Ancient and Medieval Literature
University of Bari, 20th-21st December 2018

Confirmed keynote speaker: Tiziano DORANDI (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Paris)

Prolepsis Association is delighted to announce its third international postgraduate conference whose theme will be the mechanisms of selection and loss in ancient and Medieval literary and historical texts. “Optanda erat oblivio” Seneca writes in benef. 5. 25. 2, referring to Tiberius’ wish for forgetfulness. We would like to use this quotation as a starting point for a discussion on the vast number of issues related to memory and oblivion in ancient and Medieval texts. This year the conference will be particularly keen on - but not limited to - the following topics:

  • Palimpsests.
  • Virtual palimpsests (intertextuality, texts survived in translations, paraphrases and quotations).
  • Material losses in the manuscript tradition.
  • Selection criteria.
  • Places of loss and finding.
  • Damnatio memoriae.
  • Fragmentary literature.
  • Lost known texts.
  • Book circulation (destiny of books).
  • Found unknown texts.
  • Found known texts.
  • Texts survived through pseudo-epigraphy.
  • Ancient witnesses of selection and loss.

The participation in the conference as speaker is open to postgraduate students and early career researchers. To participate is necessary to send an e-mail to prolepsis.associazione@gmail.com by the 25th of June 2018.
The e-mail must contain the following pdf attachments:

1. An anonymous abstract of approximately 300 words (excluding references) and in English. You should specify if the abstract is for an oral presentation or a poster.
2. A short academic biography with name and affiliation.

Proposals will be evaluated through double-blind peer review by scholars in the Humanities. The proposal evaluation will be carried out based on the following criteria: consistency, clarity, originality, methods.

All abstracts, including those in proposed panels, will be reviewed accepted on their own merits. Please note that this review is anonymous. Your anonymous abstract is the sole basis for judging your proposed paper for acceptance.

Papers should be 20 minutes in length plus 10 minutes for discussion. The languages admitted for the presentation are English, Italian and French. Selected papers will be considered for publication. Italian and French speakers will be required to provide an English handout, power point, and possibly a translation/translated summary of their paper.

Proposals for coordinated panels (three papers reaching 90 min. in total, discussion included) and posters are most welcome. Posters should be written in Italian, English or French.

Expenses for travel and accommodation will not be covered. For any enquiries write to prolepsis.associazione@gmail.com, we would be glad to help you find solutions.

The organising committee:

Roberta Berardi (Oxford University)
Nicoletta Bruno (Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften – München)
Martina Filosa (Universität zu Köln)
Luisa Fizzarotti (Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna)

PDF version of the CfP (both in English and in Italian) can be downloaded here: wordpress.com/post/prolepsisblog.wordpress.com/78

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(Photo: "Handwritten" by A. Birkan, licensed under CC BY 2.0)