What Is a Jewish Classicist?: Essays on the Personal Voice and Disciplinary Politics

The personal politics of academia have been a hot topic in recent years, with questions about who has access to education, how scholarship reflects the politics of society, and how translation is a transformational practice. This book offers a refreshing and provocative contribution to these discussions, analysing how the personal voice of a scholar plays a role in scholarship, how religion and cultural identity are acted out within an academic discipline, and how translation is a transformational practice. The first essay looks at how academics can and should talk about themselves, the second essay takes a more socio-anthropological approach to the discipline, and the third essay looks at the infrastructure or technology of the discipline through one of its integral and time-honoured practices, namely, translation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 14 July 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

In recent years, there has been no issue that has convulsed academia and its role in society more stridently than the personal politics of its institutions: who has access to education? How does who you are change what you study and how you engage with it? How does scholarship reflect the politics of society – how should it? These new essays from one of the best-known scholars of ancient Greece offer a refreshing and provocative contribution to these discussions. What Is a Jewish Classicist? analyses how the personal voice of a scholar plays a role in scholarship, how religion and cultural identity are acted out within an academic discipline, and how translation, the heart of any engagement with the literature of antiquity, is a transformational practice. Topical, engaging, revelatory, this book opens a sharp and personal perspective on how and why the study of antiquity has become such a battlefield in contemporary culture. The first essay looks at how academics can and should talk about themselves, and how such positionality affects a scholar's work – can anyone can tell his or her own story with enough self-consciousness, sophistication and care? The second essay, which gives the book its title, takes a more socio-anthropological approach to the discipline, and asks how its patterns of inclusion and exclusion, its strategies of identification and recognition, have contributed to the shape of the discipline of classics. This initial enquiry opens into a fascinating history of change – how Jews were excluded from the discipline for many years but gradually after the Second World War became more easily assimilated into it. This in turn raises difficult questions for the current focus on race and colour as the defining aspects of personal identification, and for the way in which the discipline of classics has responded to these changes. The third essay explores the relationship between scholarship and politics, and how scholarship can be used to challenge dominant ideologies and power structures. It looks at the ways in which scholarship can be used to promote social justice and equality, and how it can be used to challenge the status quo. The fourth essay examines the role of translation in the study of antiquity, and how it can be used to bridge cultural divides and promote understanding between different cultures. It looks at the ways in which translation can be used to preserve the integrity of the original text, and how it can be used to create new interpretations of the text. The fifth essay looks at the role of scholarship in shaping public opinion, and how it can be used to influence public policy. It looks at the ways in which scholarship can be used to promote scientific literacy and to challenge pseudoscience. The sixth essay looks at the role of scholarship in shaping cultural identity, and how it can be used to promote cultural diversity and tolerance. The seventh essay looks at the role of scholarship in promoting economic development, and how it can be used to create jobs and stimulate economic growth. The eighth essay looks at the role of scholarship in promoting international cooperation, and how it can be used to build bridges between different countries and cultures. In conclusion, these essays offer a rich and diverse perspective on the personal politics of academia, and how scholarship can be used to challenge dominant ideologies and power structures, promote social justice and equality, shape public opinion, promote cultural diversity and tolerance, promote economic development, and promote international cooperation. They are essential reading for anyone interested in the role of academia in society, and for anyone who wants to understand how scholarship can be used to make a positive impact on the world.
In recent years, there has been no issue that has convulsed academia and its role in society more stridently than the personal politics of its institutions: who has access to education? How does who you are change what you study and how you engage with it? How does scholarship reflect the politics of society – how should it? These new essays from one of the best-known scholars of ancient Greece offer a refreshing and provocative contribution to these discussions. What Is a Jewish Classicist? analyses how the personal voice of a scholar plays a role in scholarship, how religion and cultural identity are acted out within an academic discipline, and how translation, the heart of any engagement with the literature of antiquity, is a transformational practice. Topical, engaging, revelatory, this book opens a sharp and personal perspective on how and why the study of antiquity has become such a battlefield in contemporary culture. The first essay looks at how academics can and should talk about themselves, and how such positionality affects a scholar's work – can anyone can tell his or her own story with enough self-consciousness, sophistication and care? The second essay, which gives the book its title, takes a more socio-anthropological approach to the discipline, and asks how its patterns of inclusion and exclusion, its strategies of identification and recognition, have contributed to the shape of the discipline of classics. This initial enquiry opens into a fascinating history of change – how Jews were excluded from the discipline for many years but gradually after the Second World War became more easily assimilated into it. This in turn raises difficult questions for the current focus on race and colour as the defining aspects of personal identification, and for the way in which the discipline of classics has responded to these changes. The third essay explores the relationship between scholarship and politics, and how scholarship can be used to challenge dominant ideologies and power structures. It looks at the ways in which scholarship can be used to promote social justice and equality, and how it can be used to challenge the status quo. The fourth essay examines the role of translation in the study of antiquity, and how it can be used to bridge cultural divides and promote understanding between different cultures. It looks at the ways in which translation can be used to preserve the integrity of the original text, and how it can be used to create new interpretations of the text. The fifth essay looks at the role of scholarship in shaping public opinion, and how it can be used to influence public policy. It looks at the ways in which scholarship can be used to promote scientific literacy and to challenge pseudoscience. The sixth essay looks at the role of scholarship in shaping cultural identity, and how it can be used to promote cultural diversity and tolerance. The seventh essay looks at the role of scholarship in promoting economic development, and how it can be used to create jobs and stimulate economic growth. The eighth essay looks at the role of scholarship in promoting international cooperation, and how it can be used to build bridges between different countries and cultures. In conclusion, these essays offer a rich and diverse perspective on the personal politics of academia, and how scholarship can be used to challenge dominant ideologies and power structures, promote social justice and equality, shape public opinion, promote cultural diversity and tolerance, promote economic development, and promote international cooperation. They are essential reading for anyone interested in the role of academia in society, and for anyone who wants to understand how scholarship can be used to make a positive impact on the world.

Weight: 264g
Dimension: 216 x 138 x 13 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350322530