Ancient World Seminar: Katharina Schön (University of Groningen) 'Voces tacitae clamare videntur - Latin as a Literary Refuge in the 20th Century'

Abstract

This talk will focus on competing political discourses surrounding the
Latin language in Fascist Italy, Francoist Spain, and National Socialist
Germany. Before, during and after the Second World War, a number of
Latin texts were produced in support of Mussolini, Franco and Hitler.
Several classicist authors intentionally used ‘a recourse to the old’ to
legitimise their imperialist, militarist and antisemitic agendas.
Simultaneously, albeit on a much smaller scale, Latin was deemed
suitable to express ‘politically deviant’ views, be it a stance of inner
emigration or a profound scepticism towards totalitarianism. How could
these diametrically opposed functionalisations of Latin coexist in the
20th century? What were the biographical and ideological motivations of
regime-critical authors to resort to this ancient language? And to what
extend did the classical tradition succeed in becoming a literary
refuge? My talk will address these questions and explore potential
responses.

About the Speaker

​Dr. Katharina Schön is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Arts, affiliated with the Research Centre for Historical Studies (CHS). She previously served as a Universitätsassistentin at the University of Vienna and has experience teaching at BG|BRG Purkersdorf. Her academic journey reflects a strong commitment to historical studies and education.​