Etymological Thinking in the 19th and 20th Centuries
The Italian Department of the University of Oxford is pleased to announce a two day interdisciplinary conference on Etymological Thinking in the 19th and 20th Centuries which will take place at the Taylor Institution the 6th and 7th November.
Etymology becomes a distinctive feature of intellectual and literary culture in the 19th century, remaining one throughout the 20th century. Interest in etymology characterizes the development of linguistics, philology, and literature. Its powerful but also problematic status prompts writers and intellectuals of different backgrounds to explore etymology in relation to such essential notions as temporality, history, and memory, as well as to recast questions of kinship and diversity between languages. At the same time, this new “etymological thinking” has played a significant role in shaping collective identities, ideologies, and psychologies.
The conference will involve literary scholars, experts on cultural studies, philologists, classicists, linguists and experts in translation. Papers will investigate topics such as etymology as a literary device in different genres, the relevance of etymologies to the...