LIVES AND LETTERS: EPISTOLARITY AND (AUTO-)BIOGRAPHY
Keynote by Professor Mary Beard
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Panel 1.30-4.30pm: Mansfield Cooper 4.05
Keynote Lecture 5-6.30pm: John Casken Lecture Theatre, Martin Harris
Wine Reception 6.30pm: Martin Harris Foyer
Letters and letter collections have stayed constantly in circulation throughout the ancient, medieval and modern eras, and both popular and critical interest in them remains strong. This CIDRA special event is dedicated to the intersections between letters and (auto-)biography and history (and narrative more generally) across periods and cultures. Mary Beard (Professor of Ancient History, Cambridge) is a well-known cultural commentator, the Classics editor of the TLS, and the author of the “Don’s Life” blog for The Times. Her work is notable for its interdisciplinary outlook.
Panel discussions:
1.30-1.40 p.m. Introduction (Roy Gibson and Andrew Morrison)
1.40-2.10 p.m. Dr. Andrew Morrison (SAHC: Classics & Ancient History): “Pamela and Plato: Ancient and Modern Epistolary Narratives”
2.10-2.40 p.m. Prof. Barry Cooper (SAHC: Music): “Beethoven’s Letters and his Appeal-Court Memorandum: Questions of Terminology”
2.40-3.10 p.m. Prof. Steve Parker (LLC: German): “Brecht's Trophy Letters from Women 1916-18: A Discovery for a New Biography”
3.10-3.30 p.m. Tea/coffee
3.30-4.00 p.m. Dr. Natalie Zacek (SAHC: English and American Studies): “The Planter's Portrait: The Letter-Books of Samuel Martin and the Shaping of the English West Indies”
4.00-4.30 p.m. Prof. Penny Summerfield (SAHC: History): “Historians and the Letter: Reconstructing Lives, Deconstructing Texts”