[SydPhil] Reminder: UOW Agora Speaker Series – Dr. Julian Lamb – Thursday 30 May, 3.30pm, Building 20-4

[Elena Walsh]

Reminder:

~

Dear all,

The next Agora Seminar Series talk at the University of Wollongong will be
given by Dr. Julian Lamb, in Building 20-4, May 30 at 3.30pm. This is an
in-person event and no registration is necessary. All welcome!

Abstract:

*The Dotive: Infelicity in Antony and Cleopatra*
In I.1 of Antony and Cleopatra, a messenger from Rome threatens to take
Antony from Egypt. Antony reassures Cleopatra of his intentions to remain
by saying the following: “Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch / Of
the ranged empire fall. Here is my space” (I.1, 35-6). Antony’s words
appear conscious that they are not merely describing something, but doing
something: ordering the melting of Rome into the Tiber. Such an order seems
extravagant, if not absurd. Even if Antony had the authority to order such
a thing, we might well wonder how it could ever be carried out. Of course,
Antony’s utterance is self-consciously hyperbolic, ironic, and can hardly
be taken seriously. Given this, however, the following question arises: why
does Antony express his sincere commitment to Cleopatra with an utterance
which is itself insincere? I want to address this question – and its
implications for the remainder of the play – through J.L. Austin’s account
of performative language. Doing so will require close consideration of a
curious form of performative utterance which I have called the dotive.
Bio:
Julian Lamb received his PhD from Cambridge University. He has published a
monograph on early modern pedagogy, and his articles on Shakespeare, early
modern linguistics, and English Renaissance poetry have appeared in
journals such as English Literary Renaissance and Shakespeare Quarterly.


Warm regards,

School of Liberal Arts


--

*Dr. Elena Walsh*

Lecturer

School of Liberal Arts

Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities | 94.19

University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia

*T *+61 2 4220 5692

*W *elenawalsh.squarespace.com
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