--- vincenzo crupi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: ---------------------------------
Larry Swain scripsit: AMen. One of the reasons I use Tolkien in a course that deals in European epic literature is because he drew so much from Vergil and Homer. If I recall correctly, Classical Language and Literature was his first "major" before! he switched to philology under Sisam. Et, mehercules, categoriae historiae aliquantum hic strident: horresco referens monstrum istud quod “European epic literature” appellas! Europaeae litterae nec revera sunt nec, si vestro iudicio sint, tamen eundem vultum exhibent et temporibus et locis. Tolkien animum applicat philologiae impulsore Sisam ! Sed id quod tu philologiam vocas rectius philologia Anglorum ad Medium Aevum pertinens appell! I'll only make a few brief comments to this diatribe. First, I used philology in the sense that it was used in British universities before World War I. "Philology" at that period was used to describe the nascent field undertaken in English departments by and large of Indo-European linguistics. This of course has changed drastically over the century, but in 1912, that's the way it was. I also didn't say "impulsore Sisam", I said under Sisam. Kenneth Sisam was Tolkien's tutor in 1912 and it was during this time that he migrated from the Classical faculty to the English faculty. Most of the rest of the message is beside the point. Tolkien et al came from a period in which all of European literature was seen as a continuum, two of the great works that this generation produced was Auerbach's Mimesis covering material from the ancient to the modern world, and Curtius' magnum opus, European Literature in the Latin Middle Ages which assumed a continuity between the Classical past and Medieval literature. That Tolkien also participated in this view is apparent to anyone who has read any of his scholarly pieces. That his fiction is influenced by his scholarly life is also quite well known. That he was embued with the Latin and Greek classics is plain as day. That the classics, as well as other sources, influenced his work is easily demonstrated. Si ergo tam multiplex implicatumque est quod Vergilius Graecis debet, ut qui duas tantum litteras (latinas et Graecas) docent persaepe Vergilium ab Homero disiunctum teneant, quo se res habet cum ad Tolkenium fuga temporum locorumque ducit? So the epic hero died with Vergil eh? And epic themes were never dealt with in any subsequent literature? And our great epics didn't influence later writers to mimetic works and scenes? Please, spare us. An impassioned plea to not do comparative literature or to engage in studies that cross our dearly held boundaries. I'm afraid I'm not going to try and defend interdisciplinary studies, or interperiod studies and comparative literature against the fear that by doing so we have somehow devalued the context of Vergil or of the study of that context. The best I can do at the moment is to invite you to come and sit in on my class, perhaps you'll learn something. ljs __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
