What are you currently reading?

[Florestan]

In Spanish and Portuguese, the bassoon is called fagot and fagote, respectively.

Fagot in Romanian as well.

[Cato]

An educated Roman sure (and those letters were written by educated people for educated people), but what about a Roman illiterate peasant or carpenter? Are we sure that they would have instantly understood it at first hearing? After all, the Romance vernaculars were born precisely from the alteration/simplification of Latin by the mass of common speakers, right?

Btw, are you aware of any Romance language other than Romanian which has preserved the vocative case? AFAIK, there isn't any.

1. No, we cannot be sure, but there is evidence from graffiti that Vergil was at times quoted by common people (given the locations) - ! - along with other writers, and that sometimes witticisms occurred by changing famous lines.

On the other hand, tombstone inscriptions, as well as graffiti, and other things do give evidence for the transformation of Latin into our modern Romance languages.

e.g.  Words like "Consul" and "Censor" have been found on monuments and tombstones with missing "N's" and a vowel change i.e. "Cosol" and "Cesor."  This shows that even at the time of Augustus or before, certain areas were "nasalizing" the "N" into oblivion.

2. No, as far as I know, only Romanian has preserved the Vocative.

Lithuanian, however, has preserved a "case system," 7 of them, with a Vocative Case and a Locative Case, the latter almost extinct in Latin in ancient times.

[Ganondorf]

Fagot in Romanian as well.

"fagotti" in Finnish.

[Philo]

So, I am an academic, and I began reading this for both methodological and methodical purposes, but it is also a pleasure read as it is outside my discipline, and while incisive is written with pleasure in mind.

In sum, it is an immigrant's tale with dense theory interleaved throughout. They call what they are doing a faggotology - think hagiography, but it feels much more akin to something in-between autobiography, autoethnography, and autobiomythgraphy.

I picked it up primarily as my positionality and theirs is near overlapping, and since I see myself so infrequently in the academy, I was immediately hooked and gravitated toward it.

It is a very frank book.

I've finished this book - my "fun" reads take me a bit of time to get through because one of the primary tasks of my job is keeping up with my own discipline, and even my discipline, Technical Communication, which is quite small, has at least four journals and two presses dedicated to it, lol.

In my opinion, the book fully collapses in the fifth chapter because this is when the author tries to do what they have been saying, and the gap between a person's competence and their performance is usually a chasm. This forum is a great example of high competence (knowledge of music) but low performance (ability to compose music) - the same thing happens here.

The fifth chapter it also becomes clear that this was likely the author trying to adapt their dissertation for a disciplined audience, and I just don't find their endeavor convincing. I do understand why they used the term faggotology, as it is what drew me to the book, and I suspect it is what drew others to the work, but the method isn't methodical, and it already exists in the literature - for example, this could be classed as an autoethnography, and I don't think anyone would object.

Also, swishology I think is far more fitting, given that their rhetoric is energetic and kinesthetic.

It also isn't as daring as I thought it might be, especially if you have read some of the "original" gay/queer theorists like Bersani or Edelman.

But, I got what I needed from it, so the trip was overall a valuable experience, and the writing is quite beautiful and poetic, so to read it is a pleasurable experience on its own. :-)

Next up, for fun, is Bradley's Anteaesthetics

[Florestan]

In my opinion, the book fully collapses in the fifth chapter because this is when the author tries to do what they have been saying, and the gap between a person's competence and their performance is usually a chasm. This forum is a great example of high competence (knowledge of music) but low performance (ability to compose music) - the same thing happens here

Save two or three people who are composers, nobody here ever claimed to possess that ability. The analogy is flawed. You might as well say that someone who knows their Dickens inside out performs low because they can't write novels, even if that's something they never claimed to be able to do, let alone tried to do.

[Mandryka]

That was always a big question: does Aeneas have free will, or is he a puppet of the gods/Fate?


 

Ah yes, he says he was compelled by the gods to Dido when their paths cross in Hades -- I'm now half way through Bk 6.

I'm thinking of buying this, so please let me know if you've seen it or know of a better commentary for someone who's reading it in English translation.

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/A-Companion-to-the-Aeneid-in-Translation-Volume-2-Books-1-6-by-Christopher-Tanfield/9781350157118?srsltid=AfmBOoodnbMiY2geYDApw5IodWw2nvODFeDSWisqFdfAWxH2MfYlS8a3

[Cato]

Ah yes, he says he was compelled by the gods to Dido when their paths cross in Hades -- I'm now half way through Bk 6.

I'm thinking of buying this, so please let me know if you've seen it or know of a better commentary for someone who's reading it in English translation.

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/A-Companion-to-the-Aeneid-in-Translation-Volume-2-Books-1-6-by-Christopher-Tanfield/9781350157118?srsltid=AfmBOoodnbMiY2geYDApw5IodWw2nvODFeDSWisqFdfAWxH2MfYlS8a3

Sorry, the commentaries which I have all deal with the original Latin text, and would have fewer items about Mythology or History and much more about the poetic devices, meter, deliberate archaisms, etc.

I am not acquainted with Professor Tanfield's efforts, but he seems to have an excellent reputation.

An Amazon reviewer from the U.S. gave it 5-stars and recommended all three volumes.

I would perhaps try the first volume and if it interests and helps you, then you can decide about the other two volumes. 

Not a cheap decision, however!   

[Philo]

Bradley's Anteaesthetics

This one was much easier reading, even though the book is denser, but if you are well-read on the topic, here black radical thought, then much of what this work is putting forth will feel like old hat, especially if you are intimate with the afropessimistic/black nihilistic trend stemming from the work of Wilderson and Warren.

It reads like another book that was originally a dissertation, and therefore is a book that becomes quite loose after the introduction, which is sizeable, but they cite and quote far too many people, and thus bit off far more than they could chew. This should have been monograph-sized (100 or so pages) - Sanchez's The Function of Theory in Composition I feel is the perfect model for dissertation transformation (how many cites, how many quotes, and so forth).

The book is also tiring as it is part of the continental move within black radical thought - returning to Hegel and Heidegger, neither of which I would recommend, especially as a black.

In short, read the intro if you want a decent, contemporary primer on black radical thought, but you don't need to read beyond that.

Next up, Salvato's Obstruction

[Mandryka]

Sorry, the commentaries which I have all deal with the original Latin text, and would have fewer items about Mythology or History and much more about the poetic devices, meter, deliberate archaisms, etc.

I am not acquainted with Professor Tanfield's efforts, but he seems to have an excellent reputation.

An Amazon reviewer from the U.S. gave it 5-stars and recommended all three volumes.

I would perhaps try the first volume and if it interests and helps you, then you can decide about the other two volumes. 

Not a cheap decision, however!   

The Tanfield books look the business, I've been enjoying reading about the Roman concept of Pietas

[Cato]

The Tanfield books look the business, I've been enjoying reading about the Roman concept of Pietas

Oh yes, entire Ph.D. theses have been written about Pius Aeneas and what that meant to the Roman mind! 

[Mandryka]

Oh yes, entire Ph.D. theses have been written about Pius Aeneas and what that meant to the Roman mind! 

Having just started Bk 7 I have resolved never to serve any guests here with flatbreads.

[Philo]

Next up, Salvato's Obstruction

Overall, this one was a bit of a miss, and a disappointment given its early promise. At its heart, it wanted to transform obstructions into sites of productivity through reframing, but - and I find this with the Duke University Press, in general - it was too much being and not enough doing. I feel that the people who submit to that press, and thereby the editors who are selecting the works, view the press as more philosophical than academic, and thus many of the works will appear interesting on the surface, but then leave you wanting when you are looking to put pen to paper.

Theory, at least from an academic perspective, is just too easy to write, and is extraordinarily difficult to assail - thus supplying the weak writer with an almost ready-made defense, especially in a publish or perish marketplace.

I did get something out of it, but that is also in my training - I always get something.

Next up, Paul's The myths that made America:

[maticevska]

In January this year I finished the following:

Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright
Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith
Herscht 07769 by László Krasznahorkai
This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Arab Australian Other edited by Randa Abdel-Fattah and Sara Saleh 

[Mandryka]

Has anyone read this? I've managed to get through the first chapter but I can't say I'm so impressed, mainly because of the style, which seems a bit stiff, turgid. But maybe someone whose French is more native than mine will feel it differently.

[Florestan]

Has anyone read this? I've managed to get through the first chapter but I can't say I'm so impressed, mainly because of the style, which seems a bit stiff, turgid. But maybe someone who's French is more native than mine will feel it differently.

I've read it long time ago in Romanian translation.



I remember nothing about it. 

[Bachthoven]

[Florestan]

Shifting between these two:



For the Postman, hat tip to @Cato

[Cato]

Shifting between these two:



For the Postman, hat tip to @Cato

Jacques Barzun is an all-around favorite!  Is it possible the Berlioz book is an excerpt from his book From Dawn to Decadence ?

Although the book is 40 years old, Postman's observations are still relevant.

If anything, the ridiculous nature of e.g. American television news, which he describes from the standpoint of 1980, has become even more ridiculous!

"Infotainment," like "Edutainment," gives you the illusion that you have been informed about important things, in the same way that "edutainment" provides the illusion that children are being educated!

Twenty years ago, I was hired by a supposedly top school in Atlanta, Georgia, which claimed it wanted the best curriculum taught by the best teachers during my interview, but in fact was a day-care center for rich kids.

In October, the president of the school informed me and another Latin teacher (also hired under false pretenses) that he wanted "no rigor" in any of our classes, i.e. no homework, no hard tests or examinations, etc.

So, my colleague in exasperation said: "So what are we supposed to do?  Talk about the beauty of Latin all the time?"

Sneering, the corrupt president replied: "That is exactly what you should be doing!"   

I ended up resigning in February.  The place was all about edutainment: fun and games every day, "no rigor" allowed!

[Florestan]

Twenty years ago, I was hired by a supposedly top school in Atlanta, Georgia, which claimed it wanted the best curriculum taught by the best teachers during my interview, but in fact was a day-care center for rich kids.

In October, the president of the school informed me and another Latin teacher (also hired under false pretenses) that he wanted "no rigor" in any of our classes, i.e. no homework, no hard tests or examinations, etc.

So, my colleague in exasperation said: "So what are we supposed to do?  Talk about the beauty of Latin all the time?"

Sneering, the corrupt president replied: "That is exactly what you should be doing!" 

Talk in English about the beauty of Latin --- but don't ever think about actually teaching Latin!     

[JBS]

Jacques Barzun is an all-around favorite!  Is it possible the Berlioz book is an excerpt from his book From Dawn to Decadence ?

Per Wikipedia it's a one volume abridgement, published in 1982, of a two volume work, Berlioz and the Romantic Century, that was first published in 1950 and with at least two other editions by 1970.

FDTD was published in 2000. It's entirely possible he used some of the Berlioz book when writing it.

Going through the list of his books, I think I've never read any of them. Which is wierd, given how many of them cover topics that interest me.