The establishment of Neo-Latin Studies as an independent field of research is commonly dated to the late 1950s and early 1970s, as the work of G. Billanovich and J. IJsewijn along with their colleagues and students in Milan and Leuven began to bear fruit. Formally, and for our understanding of the structure of the disciplines in humanities research today, this date is both useful and makes eminent sense. It is nonetheless clear to all working in our discipline that scholars have been reading, responding to and, indeed, studying Neo-Latin texts since well before the mid-twentieth century. In a field where primary research on texts and their authors has taken priority as Neo-Latinists strive to draw back the attention of scholars to a literature long- (and wrongly) forgotten, early scholarship on Neo-Latin writing is frequently side-lined as a secondary phenomenon.

This one-day conference now takes scholarly and erudite responses to, and study of Neo-Latin literature in all its forms between 1600 and 1950 as its central subject of enquiry. In doing so, it aims to draw attention to a series of themes and questions as yet understudied: Is there, for example, a difference between a seventeenth-century scholar/poet’s responses to early humanist literature and those of a mid-twentieth century scholar? If so, can these differences be reduced to the formal characteristics of the two scholar’s written output? Or are there a series of differences in the theoretical framework of our two scholars’ approaches, which may reveal important information about the ‘pre-history’ of Neo-Latin Studies as we know it today? Envisioned results of the conference’s proposed inquiry include: attempts at a historical account of the varied development of the discipline in different national contexts; reflection on the interdisciplinary context of Neo-Latin Studies today (encompassing, for example, the very irregular levels of interaction with Mediaeval Studies, Classical Philology, the study of vernacular languages, Palaeography, Renaissance Studies, and the field of History); consideration of the often-sharp lines drawn between literary responses to a text and academic study in the field as a whole.

Proposals are now invited for up to eight papers dealing with this theme in the period 1600–1950. Abstracts of between 250–300 words for papers in English or Italian of 30 minutes can be sent to the conference organisers (listed below) by 15^th January 2023. The conference will be hosted at the Institut d’Estudis Catalans in Barcelona (Carrer del Carme, 47) on 20^th October 2023. The organisers are pleased to be able to offer support for speakers’ travel and accommodation in Barcelona for the event.

Organising Committee

• Alejandro Coroleu (ICREA-UAB), nyrwnaqeb.pbebyrh@vpern.png
• William Barton (LBI), jvyyvnz.onegba@arbyngva.yot.np.ng
• Florian Schaffenrath (LBI), sybevna.fpunssraengu@arbyngva.yot.np.ng
• Valerio Sanzotta (LBI), inyrevb.fnambggn@arbyngva.yot.np.ng