Forgetting and Power in Greek and Latin literature

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Verena Schulz
• Subject Area: Greek and Latin Philology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 443976128

The aim of this workshop is to study how Greek and Latin literature depicts the relationship of ,power' and ,forgetting', by conducting representative case studies. Several texts of different genres illuminate how power forms the memories of texts and of readers not only by remembering but also by making them forget certain things, people, and events. Texts can both depict such processes and apply powerful strategies of forgetting themselves. ,Power' can be studied in many different forms, e.g. as political, religious, rhetorical, erotic or emotional power.The workshop brings together interpretations of text passages that depict how different kinds of power form the memory of a group or an individual person by techniques of forgetting, and analyses about textual strategies that shape memories. Possible topics also include periods of time which are characterized by specific processes of forgetting (e.g. classicism) as well as processes of canonization.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants