International conference, November 11–12, 2024
Center for Early Medieval Studies, Masaryk Univers... more International conference, November 11–12, 2024 Center for Early Medieval Studies, Masaryk University, Brno
Cultures-Certain aesthetic phenomena of late antique (third to seventh centuries) seem to run par... more Cultures-Certain aesthetic phenomena of late antique (third to seventh centuries) seem to run parallel in literary, visual, and material cultures, attesting to an apparently coherent cultural transformation triggered off by the penetration of Christianity, especially in the Latin West. This study focuses on various manifestations of "cumulative aesthetics" that seem particularly characteristic of the period, such as cultural spoliation, fragmentation patterns, and the poetics of detail. Additional consideration is given to the changing role of audiences and the general movement toward "open artifacts", as conceived by Umberto Eco. Accepting these practices as significant semantic strategies common in multiple media to reappropriate the past, the "radical" transformation of late antique society emerges as possible only through the continuity of and contiguity with classical heritage. The latter had first to be dismantled into parts before being reassembled into a new, coherent whole within the newly established prism of Christianity. This "unity in diversity" motif seems to be a dominant communication strategy in late antique visual and literary discourse, both encouraging and authorizing aesthetic experiments with the cultural heritage of the past and consistent with official imperial court propaganda.
The article deals with the work of Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius, a relatively unknown late anci... more The article deals with the work of Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius, a relatively unknown late ancient author of figured poetry. His poems are first introduced in the context of the development of the genre of visual poetry from its beginnings up to the present day. The significance of Optatianus’ figured poems is then commented on in terms of their content and especially with regard to their formal conception. Last but not least, Optatianus’ view of language as a system is discussed in relation to structuralist linguistics and semiotics.
The genre of visual poetry with its typical literary-graphic nature has an ageold, widespread and... more The genre of visual poetry with its typical literary-graphic nature has an ageold, widespread and strikingly colourful tradition including both European and Asian productions of sundry make-ups. The origins of the ‘effective symbiosis’ of two otherwise distinct arts can be traced back to ancient Greece of the sixth and fifth century BC. The lyric poems composed in that period were to be sung to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument. Apart from music with poetry, the ancient Greeks were also most probably the first to explore the possible ways of ‘integrating’ poetry with visual arts. The earliest explicit reference to the relation between these two art forms was made by Simonides of Keos, a Greek lyric poet of the sixth century BC, who claimed that poetry is a speaking picture and painting a silent poetry.1 The aural-pictorial amalgam exhibiting “an aesthetic correlation between the textual and the graphic levels” whose interaction is based on mimetic symbolism is then what Ern...
The aim of the paper is to produce a close textual analysis of the short Virgilian cento Narcissu... more The aim of the paper is to produce a close textual analysis of the short Virgilian cento Narcissus (AL 9 R), which has so far attracted only little attention of classical scholarship. An examination of the poem’s compositional structure, its imagery and register, and, last but not least, of its significant allusions to both Virgil and other Latin treatments of the Narcissus myth is provided. Further, the cento’s underlying metatextual significance, as well as the possibilities of its interpretation in terms of the Lacanian concept of the “mirror stage” and Derridean deconstruction, is discussed.
This paper deals with the 24-line mythological epyllion Progne et Philomela (Anth. Lat. 13 R), an... more This paper deals with the 24-line mythological epyllion Progne et Philomela (Anth. Lat. 13 R), an anonymous Virgilian cento of presumed North African origin, which is usually dated to the fourth or fifth century and is marked by considerable obscurity. The aim is to shed some light on the most intriguing parts of this elliptical retelling of the given myth, in particular the puzzling network of family relationships and the extended talking-blood metaphor. Offering a new perspective on the text, the author claims that its general ambiguity is, to some extent, a purposefully adopted authorial strategy rather than a by-product of the cento technique. For this reason, it is proposed that the poem might have been written as a sort of mythological riddle to be solved by its readers.
On selecting a constituent part of MU the "Overview of publishing activities" page will... more On selecting a constituent part of MU the "Overview of publishing activities" page will be displayed with information relevant to the selected constituent part. The "Overview of publishing activities" page is not available for non-activated items. ... Centones: Recycled Art or the ...
The focus of the paper is on Virgilian centos, specifically on those that can be classified as my... more The focus of the paper is on Virgilian centos, specifically on those that can be classified as mythological epyllia. These unique patchwork poems composed entirely of quotations from Virgil's works represent a major, homogenous, part of the extant ancient cento production, both in generic and thematic terms, and can therefore be studied as a specific chapter in the reception history of Virgil. First, an analysis of the intertextual structure of the centos is provided, and the characteristic types and functions of the employed quotational allusions are determined. Further, the underlying principles of mythology are shown to play an essential role in terms of the intertextual conception of the centos. Finally, it is proposed that the poems under discussion are to be identified as instances of pastiche and viewed as openly imitative addenda Vergiliana.
An Age of Fragmentation. Evidence from Late Antique Literary, Visual, and Material Cultures-Certa... more An Age of Fragmentation. Evidence from Late Antique Literary, Visual, and Material Cultures-Certain aesthetic phenomena of late antique (third to seventh centuries) seem to run parallel in literary, visual, and material cultures, attesting to an apparently coherent cultural transformation triggered off by the penetration of Christianity, especially in the Latin West. This study focuses on various manifestations of "cumulative aesthetics" that seem particularly characteristic of the period, such as cultural spoliation, fragmentation patterns, and the poetics of detail. Additional consideration is given to the changing role of audiences and the general movement toward "open artifacts", as conceived by Umberto Eco. Accepting these practices as significant semantic strategies common in multiple media to reappropriate the past, the "radical" transformation of late antique society emerges as possible only through the continuity of and contiguity with classical heritage. The latter had first to be dismantled into parts before being reassembled into a new, coherent whole within the newly established prism of Christianity. This "unity in diversity" motif seems to be a dominant communication strategy in late antique visual and literary discourse, both encouraging and authorizing aesthetic experiments with the cultural heritage of the past and consistent with official imperial court propaganda.
This paper deals with the 24-line mythological epyllion Progne et Philomela (Anth. Lat. 13 R), an... more This paper deals with the 24-line mythological epyllion Progne et Philomela (Anth. Lat. 13 R), an anonymous Virgilian cento of presumed North African origin, which is usually dated to the fourth or fifth century and is marked by considerable obscurity. The aim is to shed some light on the most intriguing parts of this elliptical retelling of the given myth, in particular the puzzling network of family relationships and the extended talking-blood metaphor. Offering a new perspective on the text, the author claims that its general ambiguity is, to some extent, a purposefully adopted authorial strategy rather than a by-product of the cento technique. For this reason, it is proposed that the poem might have been written as a sort of mythological riddle to be solved by its readers.
Mezinarodni workshop "Roma aeterna MMXVIII: Ovidiův druhý život v kultuře středni Evropy&quo... more Mezinarodni workshop "Roma aeterna MMXVIII: Ovidiův druhý život v kultuře středni Evropy" pořadal Ustav řeckých a latinských studii Filozoficke fakulty Karlovy univerzity a Filosofický ustav Akademie věd Ceske republiky, ve spolupraci s Centrem jazykoveho vzdělavani Masarykovy univerzity. Toto dvoudenni kolokvium, konane u přiležitosti dvoutisiciho výroci Ovidiova umrti v exilu, bylo věnovano recepci jeho dila v různých oblastech středoevropske kultury, zejm. v literatuře a výtvarnem uměni. Na foru zaznělo dvanact přispěvků od badatelů z Ceske republiky, Slovenska, Maďarska, Polska a Italie.
International conference, November 11–12, 2024
Center for Early Medieval Studies, Masaryk Univers... more International conference, November 11–12, 2024 Center for Early Medieval Studies, Masaryk University, Brno
Cultures-Certain aesthetic phenomena of late antique (third to seventh centuries) seem to run par... more Cultures-Certain aesthetic phenomena of late antique (third to seventh centuries) seem to run parallel in literary, visual, and material cultures, attesting to an apparently coherent cultural transformation triggered off by the penetration of Christianity, especially in the Latin West. This study focuses on various manifestations of "cumulative aesthetics" that seem particularly characteristic of the period, such as cultural spoliation, fragmentation patterns, and the poetics of detail. Additional consideration is given to the changing role of audiences and the general movement toward "open artifacts", as conceived by Umberto Eco. Accepting these practices as significant semantic strategies common in multiple media to reappropriate the past, the "radical" transformation of late antique society emerges as possible only through the continuity of and contiguity with classical heritage. The latter had first to be dismantled into parts before being reassembled into a new, coherent whole within the newly established prism of Christianity. This "unity in diversity" motif seems to be a dominant communication strategy in late antique visual and literary discourse, both encouraging and authorizing aesthetic experiments with the cultural heritage of the past and consistent with official imperial court propaganda.
The article deals with the work of Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius, a relatively unknown late anci... more The article deals with the work of Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius, a relatively unknown late ancient author of figured poetry. His poems are first introduced in the context of the development of the genre of visual poetry from its beginnings up to the present day. The significance of Optatianus’ figured poems is then commented on in terms of their content and especially with regard to their formal conception. Last but not least, Optatianus’ view of language as a system is discussed in relation to structuralist linguistics and semiotics.
The genre of visual poetry with its typical literary-graphic nature has an ageold, widespread and... more The genre of visual poetry with its typical literary-graphic nature has an ageold, widespread and strikingly colourful tradition including both European and Asian productions of sundry make-ups. The origins of the ‘effective symbiosis’ of two otherwise distinct arts can be traced back to ancient Greece of the sixth and fifth century BC. The lyric poems composed in that period were to be sung to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument. Apart from music with poetry, the ancient Greeks were also most probably the first to explore the possible ways of ‘integrating’ poetry with visual arts. The earliest explicit reference to the relation between these two art forms was made by Simonides of Keos, a Greek lyric poet of the sixth century BC, who claimed that poetry is a speaking picture and painting a silent poetry.1 The aural-pictorial amalgam exhibiting “an aesthetic correlation between the textual and the graphic levels” whose interaction is based on mimetic symbolism is then what Ern...
The aim of the paper is to produce a close textual analysis of the short Virgilian cento Narcissu... more The aim of the paper is to produce a close textual analysis of the short Virgilian cento Narcissus (AL 9 R), which has so far attracted only little attention of classical scholarship. An examination of the poem’s compositional structure, its imagery and register, and, last but not least, of its significant allusions to both Virgil and other Latin treatments of the Narcissus myth is provided. Further, the cento’s underlying metatextual significance, as well as the possibilities of its interpretation in terms of the Lacanian concept of the “mirror stage” and Derridean deconstruction, is discussed.
This paper deals with the 24-line mythological epyllion Progne et Philomela (Anth. Lat. 13 R), an... more This paper deals with the 24-line mythological epyllion Progne et Philomela (Anth. Lat. 13 R), an anonymous Virgilian cento of presumed North African origin, which is usually dated to the fourth or fifth century and is marked by considerable obscurity. The aim is to shed some light on the most intriguing parts of this elliptical retelling of the given myth, in particular the puzzling network of family relationships and the extended talking-blood metaphor. Offering a new perspective on the text, the author claims that its general ambiguity is, to some extent, a purposefully adopted authorial strategy rather than a by-product of the cento technique. For this reason, it is proposed that the poem might have been written as a sort of mythological riddle to be solved by its readers.
On selecting a constituent part of MU the "Overview of publishing activities" page will... more On selecting a constituent part of MU the "Overview of publishing activities" page will be displayed with information relevant to the selected constituent part. The "Overview of publishing activities" page is not available for non-activated items. ... Centones: Recycled Art or the ...
The focus of the paper is on Virgilian centos, specifically on those that can be classified as my... more The focus of the paper is on Virgilian centos, specifically on those that can be classified as mythological epyllia. These unique patchwork poems composed entirely of quotations from Virgil's works represent a major, homogenous, part of the extant ancient cento production, both in generic and thematic terms, and can therefore be studied as a specific chapter in the reception history of Virgil. First, an analysis of the intertextual structure of the centos is provided, and the characteristic types and functions of the employed quotational allusions are determined. Further, the underlying principles of mythology are shown to play an essential role in terms of the intertextual conception of the centos. Finally, it is proposed that the poems under discussion are to be identified as instances of pastiche and viewed as openly imitative addenda Vergiliana.
An Age of Fragmentation. Evidence from Late Antique Literary, Visual, and Material Cultures-Certa... more An Age of Fragmentation. Evidence from Late Antique Literary, Visual, and Material Cultures-Certain aesthetic phenomena of late antique (third to seventh centuries) seem to run parallel in literary, visual, and material cultures, attesting to an apparently coherent cultural transformation triggered off by the penetration of Christianity, especially in the Latin West. This study focuses on various manifestations of "cumulative aesthetics" that seem particularly characteristic of the period, such as cultural spoliation, fragmentation patterns, and the poetics of detail. Additional consideration is given to the changing role of audiences and the general movement toward "open artifacts", as conceived by Umberto Eco. Accepting these practices as significant semantic strategies common in multiple media to reappropriate the past, the "radical" transformation of late antique society emerges as possible only through the continuity of and contiguity with classical heritage. The latter had first to be dismantled into parts before being reassembled into a new, coherent whole within the newly established prism of Christianity. This "unity in diversity" motif seems to be a dominant communication strategy in late antique visual and literary discourse, both encouraging and authorizing aesthetic experiments with the cultural heritage of the past and consistent with official imperial court propaganda.
This paper deals with the 24-line mythological epyllion Progne et Philomela (Anth. Lat. 13 R), an... more This paper deals with the 24-line mythological epyllion Progne et Philomela (Anth. Lat. 13 R), an anonymous Virgilian cento of presumed North African origin, which is usually dated to the fourth or fifth century and is marked by considerable obscurity. The aim is to shed some light on the most intriguing parts of this elliptical retelling of the given myth, in particular the puzzling network of family relationships and the extended talking-blood metaphor. Offering a new perspective on the text, the author claims that its general ambiguity is, to some extent, a purposefully adopted authorial strategy rather than a by-product of the cento technique. For this reason, it is proposed that the poem might have been written as a sort of mythological riddle to be solved by its readers.
Mezinarodni workshop "Roma aeterna MMXVIII: Ovidiův druhý život v kultuře středni Evropy&quo... more Mezinarodni workshop "Roma aeterna MMXVIII: Ovidiův druhý život v kultuře středni Evropy" pořadal Ustav řeckých a latinských studii Filozoficke fakulty Karlovy univerzity a Filosofický ustav Akademie věd Ceske republiky, ve spolupraci s Centrem jazykoveho vzdělavani Masarykovy univerzity. Toto dvoudenni kolokvium, konane u přiležitosti dvoutisiciho výroci Ovidiova umrti v exilu, bylo věnovano recepci jeho dila v různých oblastech středoevropske kultury, zejm. v literatuře a výtvarnem uměni. Na foru zaznělo dvanact přispěvků od badatelů z Ceske republiky, Slovenska, Maďarska, Polska a Italie.
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Papers by marie okacova
Center for Early Medieval Studies, Masaryk University, Brno
Organizers: Alberto Virdis, Marie Okáčová
Center for Early Medieval Studies, Masaryk University, Brno
Organizers: Alberto Virdis, Marie Okáčová