[Usyd_Classics_Events] CAH Research Seminar, S2, 2023, #5 Joshua McDermott

[Ben Brown]

Dear Friends of Classics and Ancient History,

We are happy to invite you to our next Classics and Ancient History/CCANESA research seminar for Semester 2, 2023:

Thursday, September 14th at 4pm (AEST/UTC+10)

Joshua McDermott (University of Sydney).

“Bending Space: Propaganda and parrhēsia in Hellenistic court geography.”

Abstract:
Geographies published in Hellenistic courts have increasingly been understood as expressions of powerful propaganda, exaggerating imperial reach and control for their royal patrons. Yet not all court geographers seem to have stayed on message. Far from acting as ciphers for imperial propaganda, some court geographies appear to disrupt, rather than reinforce, imperial claims. Spatialising gestures frustrate the imperial gaze and impede a sense of reach, while descriptive digressions divert us from any sense of universal empire. Such works do not perform effectively as propaganda. However, understanding Hellenistic geography in sympotic terms, as gifts of Philoi (‘friends’) of the king, may provide a clearer sense of their role in court discourse. Using critical and counter-cartographic tools from the modern discipline, I argue that court geography could function as propagandistic epainos (‘praise’), but also as parrhēsia (‘frank speech’), placing sobering limits on claims to universal kingship. This new approach may allow for a more nuanced way to interpret Hellenistic geography on its own terms, as a product of sympotic court culture.

Presenter biography
Joshua is in the final year of his PhD at the University of Sydney under Professor Julia Kindt and Professor Rick Benitez. He has ten years’ experience teaching History as a secondary school teacher, has assessed postgraduate essays for Macquarie University, and is the author of several chapters of HTAV’s Ancient Greece.
Please register for this free online presentation (if you have not already registered for the series):
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/IReFCVARKgC2Zl683iGYSEB?domain=signup.e2ma.net

The Zoom meeting details for this seminar are:
Meeting URL:   https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/88036971562
Meeting ID:  88036971562

Please note, our seminars begin promptly at 4 pm. To further with facilitating the online space, please ensure that your Zoom username matches the name on your registration (where possible). Papers this semester will be presented on campus live streamed via Zoom (unless otherwise indicated). The on-campus location is the CCANESA Boardroom, Level 4, Madsen Building.

Please note further that by participating in this seminar, you agree to abide by the University of Sydney’s ICT policy. You can view the policy here: https://www.sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2011/140&RendNum=0
An extra note on recording of seminars
As part of a School initiative to preserve our online content for potential future use, we intend to record our seminars. If you would not like to be inadvertently recorded, please turn off your video and microphone after joining the meeting.
We look forward to seeing you as we bring our research community together once again!
For any further information or questions, please contact the Classics & Ancient History Seminar Coordinator, Dr. Ben Brown at benjamin.brown at sydney.edu.au<mailto:benjamin.brown at sydney.edu.au> or CCANESA at ccanesa.general at sydney.edu.au<mailto:ccanesa.general at sydney.edu.au>.

All best, Ben

DR BEN BROWN
Classics and Ancient History
School of Humanities (SoH)
Co-director Critical Antiquities Network<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/lDzICWLVXkU64jK8OsxSpaA?domain=criticalantiquities.org>
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY NSW 2006
Ph.: 9351 8983; Office: Main Quad J6.07
E benjamin.brown at sydney.edu.au<mailto:benjamin.brown at sydney.edu.au> | W http://sydney.edu.au/arts/classics_ancient_history/staff/profiles/benjamin.brown.php

Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral
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