Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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Catullus’s poetry is known for its freshness, for its potent mixture of sensuality, crude language and erudition, for its fast-and-loose playing with rules and norms both sexual and poetic. But how...Show moreCatullus’s poetry is known for its freshness, for its potent mixture of sensuality, crude language and erudition, for its fast-and-loose playing with rules and norms both sexual and poetic. But how ‘antinormative’ is Catullus really? How much of his play with ancient norms can a modern reader understand? And can modern creative translation serve as an analytical tool to interpret Catullus’s poetry? With Wiegman and Wilson’s (2015) approach to antinormativity in the field of queer studies as guide, this thesis looks at the norm as not just a static limit, but rather as a dynamic average that generates potential for change. Thus, the first chapter examines the presence of (anti)normativity, that is a dynamic movement between acceptance and rejection of the poetic and sexual norms of his time, in five of Catullus’s poems through close reading. The second chapter examines the question of creative translation, in the form of Isobel Williams’s oft-praised translation, which according to reviewer Ed Bedford (2021) manages to grasp Catullus’s meaning more astutely than almost any other translation. Williams’s chosen context for her translations, that of shibari, or Japanese rope bondage, provides a unique perspective on Catullus that forces her to make changes that both emphasize and hide nuances in the Latin. A close reading of Williams’s versions of the same five Catullan poems proves that her creative translation does indeed provide opportunities as an analytical tool, in opening our minds to interpretations of Catullus’s poetry we would not have thought of otherwise. So this thesis shows that both Catullus’s writing and Isobel Williams’s mode of translation can be called (anti)normative. Both authors engage in a dynamic movement of both acceptance and rejection, and it is precisely this movement that gives them strength.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Griekse en Latijnse taal en cultuur (BA)
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In boek 4 van Vergilius' Aeneis wordt Aeneas door Mercurius 'uxorius' genoemd, de slaaf van zijn echtgenote (Dido). In moderne termen zou dit gender inversie genoemd worden, het toedichten van...Show moreIn boek 4 van Vergilius' Aeneis wordt Aeneas door Mercurius 'uxorius' genoemd, de slaaf van zijn echtgenote (Dido). In moderne termen zou dit gender inversie genoemd worden, het toedichten van traditioneel met vrouwen geassocieerde kenmerken, zoals gedrag en karaktereigenschappen, aan mannen en vice versa. Gender inversie staat centraal in niet-epische genres, en komt met name terug in het werk van Catullus en in de Romeinse liefdeselegie. Waarom wordt Aeneas, de voorvader van de Romeinen, door wie Augustus’ goddelijke afkomst wordt verankerd, onderdanig en feminien weergegeven? Aan de hand van exemplarische gedichten van Catullus en Propertius wordt onderzocht hoe gender inversie binnen een heldenverhaal past. Tevens wordt het vraagstuk behandeld in hoeverre Vergilius andere genres, zoals lyriek en elegie, heeft willen adresseren in zijn epos: in hoeverre is gender inversie gebonden aan een bepaald genre, en duidt de uitwisseling van genderrollen in Vergilius’ Aeneis op genre-onderhandeling?Show less
