UWP Lecturers At UCLA "Writing Down the Myths, " a CMRS Ahmanson Conference, April 16-18

[John Ganim]

>Announcing a CMRS Ahmanson Conference
>
>“Writing Down the Myths: The Construction of 
>Mythology in Classical & Medieval Traditions”
>
>April 16 – April 18, 2009, at UCLA
>
>Contemporary scholarly definitions of and 
>approaches to myth, though influenced by the 
>fieldwork and findings of anthropologists and 
>folklorists working with living oral traditions 
>over the last hundred years, are still grounded 
>in venerable literary classics that purport to 
>sum up ancient traditional stories about gods 
>and goddesses, heroes and heroines, primal 
>events, and the beginnings of the world. Such 
>texts, which assemble related narratives into 
>“mythologies,” become canonical formulations 
>that can function as sources, templates, and 
>inspirations for other literary and scholarly 
>works, both within their own literary-historical 
>contexts and beyond them. There are cases, 
>however, where these codified mythologies serve 
>as epitaphs, seemingly marking the end of 
>particular (oral) traditions instead of their (literary) revival.
>
>This conference will examine the various factors 
>(literary, cultural, political) that led to the 
>production of mythological compendia in the 
>Classical and Late- Antique world, and the 
>extent to which the agenda that produced 
>parallel works in certain medieval cultures of 
>northwest Europe (Ireland, Wales, Iceland) 
>operated along similar or even historically 
>related lines. Presentations and discussions 
>will focus on the cultural and literary contexts 
>behind the “mythographic urge” in Classical 
>Greek and Latin literature, as well as in 
>Western European traditions of the Middle Ages 
>(particularly Celtic and Norse), and on the 
>possible historical links and typological 
>parallels among works such as Apollodorus’s 
>Library, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Snorri 
>Sturluson’s Edda, the Irish Battle of Mag 
>Tuired, and the Welsh Four Branches of the 
>Mabinogi. Some of the questions to be considered 
>are: What was the transmission history of 
>pre-medieval mythographic works in the Middle 
>Ages, and to what extent and to whom were they 
>available as models to the post-Classical world? 
>How “authentic” are ancient and medieval 
>mythographies, and how do we determine that 
>authenticity? To what uses were they put? Are 
>they attempts to negotiate received or 
>developing concepts of history, or are they 
>formulations of an anti-historical poetic? And 
>what are the differences in function, approach, 
>and subtext between these pre-modern “write-ups” 
>of myth and modern learned and popular handbooks 
>of mythology? Mythographic issues in other cultures will also be considered
>
>Organized by UCLA Professors Joseph F. Nagy 
>(English) and Kendra Willson (Scandinavian), and 
>UCLA graduate students Malcolm Harris (English), 
>Eric Kristensson (Scandinavian), Katherine 
>McLoone (Comparative Literature), and Anna Pagé (Indo-European Studies).
>
>Thursday, April 16, 2009, Royce Hall 314
>
>5:00 Opening Reception on the Royce 306 loggia
>
>6:00 Welcoming Remarks,
>Brian P. Copenhaver (UCLA), Director, Center for 
>Medieval & Renaissance Studies
>Joseph F. Nagy (UCLA) and Kendra Willson (UCLA), Conference Organizers
>
>6:15 UCLA Sounds Presents “Lamento d’Arianna “ (Rinuccini/Monteverdi)
>
>6:45 William Hansen (Indiana University), “Packaging Greek Mythology”
>
>8:00 “Mythic Film” Presentation
>
>
>Friday, April 17, 2009, Royce Hall 314
>
>8:30 Coffee, pastries
>
>9:00 Richard Martin (Stanford University), 
>“There was a Myth before the Myth Began”
>
>10:00 Break
>
>10:15 Rahim Shayegan (UCLA), “The Evil Brothers 
>in Iranian History and Epic Tradition”
>
>10:45 Darcy Krasne (University of California, 
>Berkeley), “Starving the Slender Muse: The Curse of Pedantry in Ovid’s ‘Ibis’”
>
>11:15 Craig Melchert (UCLA), “Motivations for Hittite Mythological Texts”
>
>12:00 Lunch break
>
>1:30 Jan Ziolkowski (Harvard University) “Latin 
>Mythology as Death and Resurrection of Myth”
>
>2:30 Break
>
>2:45 William Bodiford (UCLA), “Myths and Counter Myths in Early Modern Japan”
>
>3:15 Stephanie Jamison (UCLA) “India and the Graphy o’ Myth”
>
>3:45 Kathryn Morgan (UCLA) “Saving the Myth: 
>Atlantis and the Philosophies of Preservation”
>
>4:15 Break
>
>4:30 Discussion, featuring speakers, with 
>conference organizers Malcolm Harris (UCLA) and Elizabeth Thornton (UCLA)
>
>
>Saturday, April 18, 2009, Royce Hall 314
>
>8:30 Coffee, pastries
>
>9:00 Sioned Davies (Cardiff University), 
>“‘Venerable relics’? Revisiting the Mabinogi”
>
>10:00 Break
>
>10:15 Kimberly Ball (University of California, 
>Irvine), “The Metamyth of Supernatural Vessels”
>
>10:45 Katherine McLoone (UCLA), “Myth and Geoffrey of Monmouth”
>
>11:15 Break
>
>11:30 Bernhard Maier (University of Tübingen), 
>“Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid: Celtic Myth and 
>Christian Creed in Mediaeval Irish Concepts of the Afterlife”
>
>12:30 Lunch break
>
>1:30 Margaret Clunies Ross (Sydney University), 
>“Snorri Sturluson and Norse Mythology”
>
>2:30 Break
>
>2:45 Gísli Sigurðsson (University of Iceland), 
>“Thor and Midgard Serpent. Whom Should We Read: Snorri or Finnur?”
>
>3:30 John Lindow (University of California, 
>Berkeley), “Some Thoughts on the Mythography of Saxo Grammaticus”
>
>4:15 Break
>
>4:30 Discussion, featuring speakers, with 
>conference organizers Eric Kristensson (UCLA) and Anna Pagé (UCLA)
>
>This conference was made possible by the generous support of
>The Ahmanson Foundation
>The UCLA Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies
>The UCLA Vice Chancellor for Research
>The Humanities Division of the UCLA College of Letters & Science
>
>Registration Advance registration is not 
>required. No admission fee. Seating is limited 
>and available on a first-come, first-served 
>basis.  Parking Campus parking permits may be 
>purchased for $9 each day from any UCLA Parking 
>Services kiosk. For more information, contact 
><mailto:cmrs at humnet.ucla.edu>cmrs at humnet.ucla.edu or call 310-825-1880
>
>* * * * * * * * * * * *
>
>Note: You have received this announcement 
>because you are affiliated with the UCLA Center 
>for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (faculty 
>member, associate/affiliate, staff, or council), 
>or because you requested to be on our email 
>announcement list.  If you wish to be removed 
>from the list, please contact us at 
><mailto:cmrs at humnet.ucla.edu>cmrs at humnet.ucla.edu.
>
>
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