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Editorial

Robert Graves and the Uses of History - Rome 2002

Patrick Villa

Language

The working language of the conference will be English, although some papers may be given in Italian or other European languages. In this case a summary or translation of the paper in English should be made available to the organisers before the conference.

For more information about the conference, please write to the conference organiser:

50 Ham Green,

Pill, Bristol

BS20 OHB

UK

2002 International Robert Graves Conference announcement

and

CALL FOR PAPERS

Robert Graves and the Uses of History

Venue: The British School at Rome, Italy

Dates: 9-13 July, 2002

The fifth International Robert Graves Conference, organized by the Robert Graves Society and the St John's College, Oxford Robert Graves Trust, will be held at the British School at Rome, 9-13 July 2002.

The aim of this inter-disciplinary conference will be to examine the various and complex ways in which Robert Graves made use of historical elements in his work, including:

the creative reconstruction of history in Robert Graves' fiction; historical themes and the theme of history in the poems;

Graves' efforts to uncover the historical foundations of the Greek myths and of the New Testament; his account of his own history and of World War I events in his celebrated autobiography, Goodbye To All That.

These and related issues will be discussed both by Robert Graves scholars and by historians, archaeologists, classicists and other specialists in the different fields from which Graves's work draws.

Keynote speakers will be announced in due course. The conference programme will include tours of Rome for all participants and an optional full programme for accompanying persons.

Participants

The conference is open to all, and will be of interest to academics, teachers and research students from a wide range of disciplines, and to others concerned with the life and writings of Robert Graves or the place of his historical works.

The programme organizers aim to make the conference an inclusive family affair with sightseeing tours and culinary festivals as a complement to the academic schedule.

Call for Papers

The programme organizers are seeking proposals for papers on the use of history as canvas and as idea in the works of Robert Graves, his contemporaries, and other modern writers. Graves may be known to the largest of his audiences as a historical novelist, and in particular the author of I, Claudius and Claudius the God, but his poetry, mythography and memoirs also demonstrate the artistic transformation and literary uses of history in these genres.

Some possible themes and topics for the conference will include:

The historical novel and the literary imagination:

Robert Graves' historical fiction, including the Claudius books and other novels set in the classical world;

Graves' fictional biographies, such as Wife to Mr. Milton and the Sergeant Lamb novels;

Is Robert Graves the most accurate - or the most inaccurate - of historical novelists? A survey of the genre;

Is Graves' analeptic method accessible to other novelists?

The form of the memoir and the uses of fact:

Graves' most famous memoir, Goodbye To All That;

Graves' edited memoirs, such as Old Soldiers Never Die;

Is the Modern (or post-Modern) memoir more or less fact-based than the memoirs of the 1930s?

Truth and the uses of history:

Robert Graves and - (vs.) - classical scholarship; Graves' vision of the ancient world and modern scholarship;

Graves' vision of Rome vs. the view of the modern archaeologist/scholar.

Poetry and the Uses of History:

The functions of history in the poetry of Robert Graves and his contemporaries;

The consistency of Graves' history (and mythology) as used in different genres;

Sources of the history - biblical, classical, other - used in Graves' poetry and that of his contemporaries.

Biblical History and Its Reinterpretation:

The Old and New Testaments in modern literature;

Graves' treatment of the Bible;

Graves' The Hebrew Myths and Jewish history;

Jewish history/Christian history/classical history - and mythology - in Graves' work;

Is there a post-Modern view of history and mythology emerging from literature?

To propose a session, please send a 250 word abstract, by 1 March, 2002, to:

Dr Ian Firla

Robert Graves Trust

St John's College

Oxford

OXI 3JP

UK

E-mail: graves@xserver.sjc.ox.ac.uk

or:

Dr John Woodrow Presley

Provost, Vice-President for Academic Affairs

SUNY Oswego

Oswego, NY 13126 USA

E-mail: presley@oswego.edu

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