Guest post from Ben Earley, PhD student at Bristol.
One of the perennial problems facing classicists and ancient historians at the moment is the communication of the ‘relevance’ of their subject to other disciplines. It is no longer enough to simply claim that the civilisations of Greco–Roman antiquity form the foundation of Western Civilisation and are therefore worthy of study in themselves. The rise of China has bought into sharp focus the relative instability (and perhaps insignificance?) of western culture, whilst current government funding priorities on the natural, physical, and social sciences suggests that the humanities in general and the study of ancient texts in particular is far from integral to the current university project. Pondering this question, I have begun to wonder whether the study of the reception of the classics might offer a convenient way for us to argue for the intellectual value of our subject. I have recently returned from an excellent conference in Nijmegen on Framing Classical Reception Studies. The governing mantra of the conference was that ‘reception studies provide an excellent way for classicists to make themselves more visible, not only to other disciplines within the humanities, but also to a larger audience.’ Classical reception through its focus on the way ancient texts were read and interpreted, demonstrated (it was argued) the continuing relevance of the Classics in both traditional academic subjects such as History or English Literature and to the general public.
All this leads to the inevitable conclusion that classical reception studies provide a promising route for researchers looking for ‘impact factor,’ a nebulous concept that aims to measure the usefulness or presence of research in academia and beyond. Impact is now demanded by UK funding bodies who want to see more bang for the tax payers buck but it has been a particularly difficult concept for classical researchers to encapsulate. Leaving aside the issue of how Classics might be felt in the lives of the general public (there are already projects promoting the study of Latin, frequent BBC Four documentaries, and excellent exhibitions at the British Museum) it has been difficult for classicists to argue for the continuing relevance of their particular methodological traditions.
The conference ended on a deservedly optimistic note. There is no doubt that classical reception has transformed the discipline in a positive way. The traditions of reading, studying, and interpreting classical texts have become a legitimate topic of study, not least amongst the funding bodies. However, I left with a worry in the back of my mind. It was not at all clear to me why anyone in other disciplines (let alone amongst the general public) should care about how Hobbes read Thucydides over, say, a history of the influence of Thucydides’ thought in the early modern England? This distinction is a crucial one. Classical reception after all is a methodology that aims to study how classical texts were read by later thinkers. It remains to be seen how this study of reading the classics might be useful to other disciplines. The study of the ‘influence’ of classical texts is a different matter. For the last fifty years scholars from across the humanities have been interested in the influence of the classics on later thought, for example in R. R. Bolgar edited volumes on the influence of classical texts in western thought. The question I am left pondering is do we, as classicists and ancient historians, need a reception methodology in order to point out the interest and relevance of our work or might such a methodology simply become a distraction?
Sphinx 
This is an interesting and potentially fruitful line of thought. However, while it might work for Thucydides, could one really deploy the same approach as a validation for the study of (e.g.) Sophocles? While I find reception studies both fascinating and important, can we not, even now, justify the value of key ancient texts primarily on the basis of how they speak to us directly, and of their transformative impact on us as individuals?
Dear John,
In Charles Martindale’s seminal work on reception studies, he defined the methodology as ‘all meaning is articulated at the point of reception.’ That assertion it seems to me supports your case for reading Sophocles for the important reason that he is a great writer who still speaks to us today.
However, with my researcher’s ‘hat’ on I disagree with Martindale. I believe that meaning is filtered through generations of successive readings. This is often an unconscious process. But on a fundamental level these previous readings decide what we read (through canon formation), how we read it (through translation and textual emendation), as well as forming our view of the original ancient context in which the text was produced. We may not be away that previous readings of Sophocles are influencing our own but it is no less real for that.
That said, I completely agree with you that classical texts are worth reading on a personal level because they are great works of literature and history. I would be lying if I said it was reception studies that drew me into classics, it was the fascination of reading Tacitus and Thucydides at school.
Regards,
Ben
Dear Ben:
Many thanks for your very helpful reply.
I am sure you are right about the way in which previous readings inevitably colour our own personal ‘receptions’. This, it seems to me, is particularly true with a very difficult and demanding author such as Thucydides, since anyone battling with his text will of necessity be drawing on many generations of previous commentary and interpretation. Study of the frequently polarised standpoints held by others over the years on issues such as Thucydides’ status as a scientist or an artist, or as an advocate of oligarchy or democracy, can also be extremely helpful in forming one’s own views. However, I think that, through the sheer power of his work, Thucydides can still speak to us directly – in much the same way as the genius of (say) Titian can still shine through centuries of overpainting and repair.
Best wishes,
John
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