CALL FOR PAPERS: “The Line and the Circle: Comparative Perspectives in Ancient Poetic Traditions”

Abstract: 600-word abstract, in both Word and PDF, non-anonymous

Deadline: July 15, 2025

Contact: laura.massetti@unior.it

Topics and Aim

The aim of the conference is to bring together scholars who have an interest in ancient languages and cultures (both Indo-European and non-Indo-European) in order to generate an interdisciplinary dialogue on different aspects of poetics and performance. Scholars at any stage of their career are invited to submit a 600-word non-anonymous abstract in Word and PDF dealing with:

• Stylistics and metapoetic metaphors;

• Stylistics and/or comparative stylistics: description and comparison of structures of poems, cognitive approaches to stylistics, ancient music and stylistics;

• The relationship between ‘literary’ genres and the structures of poems;

• Uses of iconicity;

• Aspects of intervisuality between poetics and performance;

• The interplay between the phraseology, lexicon (including etymology) and structures of poems;

• Correlations between material culture and poetic structures, e.g. figurative art and structures of ancient poems.

Abstracts proposing interdisciplinary perspectives besides those mentioned are welcomed.

A period of twenty-five minutes will be allotted for each accepted paper, followed by a five-minute discussion period.

Keynote Speakers

The conference will feature the following keynote speakers:

1. Nicla De Zorzi (University of Vienna)

2. Stephanie Jamison (University of California Los Angeles)

3. Velizar Sadovski (Austrian Academy of Sciences)

Abstracts

Abstracts should be no longer than 600 words and non-anonymous—this word-count does not include title, name, surname, affiliation and bibliography. Abstracts must be submitted in both Word and PDF. They should indicate the precise topic to be dealt with, the author’s contribution to the topic and the author’s specific conclusions. They must be received by July 15, 2025. They should be sent via e-mail as attached PDF and WORD files to Laura Massetti (laura.massetti@unior.it). Abstracts will be reviewed by the organizer and 2 external experts and selected for presentation.

Notification

Successful candidates will be notified of the outcome ca. 15 days after the deadline. They will be invited to submit a reviewed version of their abstracts by September 30, 2025. The reviewed version of the abstracts will then be published online and in the abstract booklet. The languages of the conference are English and Italian. A peer-reviewed publication is envisaged for selected papers.

The conference is organized in the framework of the LORACOLA, PI: Laura Massetti, programme NEXT Generation EU, funds PNRR M4C2 (MSCA_0000083-project LORACOLA), CUP C61B22002760001.