Therese Fuhrer – författare

The term ‘cityscaping’ is here introduced to characterise the creative process through which the image of the city is created and represented in various media – text, film and artefacts. It thus turns attention away from built urban spaces and onto mental images of cities. One focus is on the question of which literary, visual and acoustic means prompt their recipients’ spatial imagination; another is to inquire into the semantics and functions that are ascribed to the image of a city as constructed in various media. The examples of ancient texts and works of art, and modern literature and films, are used to elucidate the artistic potential of images of the city and the techniques by which they are semanticised. With its interdisciplinary approach, the volume for the first time makes clear how strongly mental images of urban space, both ancient and modern, have been shaped by the techniques of their representation in media.

The three earliest writings of Augustine of Hippo address questions about the Stoic and Skeptical theory of perception, ethics, pagan and Christian theology, and the ancient education program. For the first time, this edition offers a text edited according to stringent scientific criteria that take into account the entire manuscript legacy. It is thus an important working tool for classical philologists, philosophers, and theologians.

Ambiguity in the sense of two or more possible meanings is considered to be a distinctive feature of modern art and literature. It characterizes the "open artwork" (Eco) and is generated by "disruptive tactics" (Wellershoff) and strategies to engender uncertainty. While ambiguity is seen as a "paradigm of modernity" (Bode), there is skepticism regarding its use in the pre-modern era. Older studies were dominated by the conviction that there was a lack of ambiguity in pre-modernity because, according to the rules of the "old rhetoric", ambiguity was seen as an avoidable error (vitium) and a violation of the dictate of clarity (perspicuitas). The aim of the volume is to re-examine the putative "absence of ambiguity" in the pre-modern era. Is it not possible to find clear examples of deliberately employed (intended) ambiguity in antiquity? Are the oracles and riddles, the Palinode of Stesichoros and Socrates (Phaedrus), the dissoi logoi of rhetoric, the ambiguities of the tragedies all exceptions or do they not indicate a distinct interest in the artistic use of ambiguity? The presentations of the conference, which will include scholars from various philologies, will combine a recourse to theoretical concepts of intended ambiguity with exemplary analyses from the field of pre-modern art and literature.

Considering the ubiquity of rhetorical training in antiquity, the volume starts from the premise that every first-person statement in ancient literature is in some way rhetorically modelled and aesthetically shaped. Focusing on different types of Greek and Latin literature, poetry and prose, from the Archaic Age to Late Antiquity, the contributions analyse the use and modelling of gender-specific elements in different types of first-person speech, be it that the speaker is (represented as) the author of a work, be it that they feature as characters in the work, narrating their own story or that of others. In doing so, they do not only offer new insights into the rhetorical strategies and literary techniques used to construct a gendered ‘I’ in ancient literature. They also address the form and function of first-person discourse in classical literature in general, touching on fields of research that have increasingly come into focus in recent years, such as authorship studies, studies concerning the ancient notion(s) of the literary persona, as well as a historical narratology that discusses concepts such as the narrator or the literary character in ancient literary theory and practice.

Considering the ubiquity of rhetorical training in antiquity, the volume starts from the premise that every first-person statement in ancient literature is in some way rhetorically modelled and aesthetically shaped. Focusing on different types of Greek and Latin literature, poetry and prose, from the Archaic Age to Late Antiquity, the contributions analyse the use and modelling of gender-specific elements in different types of first-person speech, be it that the speaker is (represented as) the author of a work, be it that they feature as characters in the work, narrating their own story or that of others. In doing so, they do not only offer new insights into the rhetorical strategies and literary techniques used to construct a gendered ‘I’ in ancient literature. They also address the form and function of first-person discourse in classical literature in general, touching on fields of research that have increasingly come into focus in recent years, such as authorship studies, studies concerning the ancient notion(s) of the literary persona, as well as a historical narratology that discusses concepts such as the narrator or the literary character in ancient literary theory and practice.

In der zweiten Hälfte des 4. Jahrhunderts erfand ein unbekannter Autor einen Briefwechsel zwischen Seneca und Paulus. Die vierzehn kurzen Briefe, acht vom Philosophen, sechs vom Apostel, sind in sehr schlechtem spätantikem Latein geschrieben und weitgehend inhaltslos. Ihr Ziel ist es, mittels eines Austauschs von freundschaftlichen Billetts, wie er unter den Intellektuellen der Spätantike üblich war, Seneca zum Freund des Paulus zu machen und so das hohe Ansehen Senecas in der spätantiken lateinischen Theologie apostolisch zu sanktionieren. Diese Fiktion war sehr erfolgreich und regte im Laufe der Geschichte immer wieder zu Spekulationen über das Verhältnis zwischen Stoa und Christentum an. Dieser Band bietet eine neue Übersetzung des Briefwechsels auf der Basis der neuesten kritischen Edition, versehen mit einer Einleitung, Erläuterungen und Testimonien. Ferner werden zwei wenig bekannte Texte aus dem Umfeld des Briefwechsels abgedruckt, erstmals übersetzt und erläutert: ein angeblicher Brief des Mordechai an Alexander den Großen aus einer Fassung des Alexanderromans und ein Brief Senecas über Hochmut und Götterbilder, eine christliche Apologie aus dem 5. Jahrhundert. Die Essays behandeln zentrale Probleme des Verhältnisses zwischen Stoa und Christentum (Gottesbild und Ethik) sowie die Seneca-Rezeption vom Mittelalter bis in die frühe Neuzeit.