https://flic.kr/p/nWavHu Doctor of Philosophy Elizabeth Mattingly Conner Mapping a Late Antique Republic of Letters (Advisor: Dr. Kenneth Holum) Writing an artful form of Classical Greek, a group of sophists -- teachers and practitioners of rhetoric -- constructed social networks in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. through the medium of letters. Drawing on social networking theory, Dr. Conner has explored how letter-writers benefited themselves and their clients in practical ways: promoting their careers in the imperial service, defending them in cases of law, and securing access of their children to the very best teachers in order to secure public success. Conners sophists hailed from Egypt and Palestine in Late Antiquity, when victorious Christianity confronted pagan Hellenic culture, yet they deployed a battery of highly traditional devices to amass social capital, including subtle humor, descriptions of gadgets such as mechanical clocks, hints of Platonic eroticism, and above all constant cribbing of texts of ancient classics. This highly original and beautifully-written dissertation will no doubt appear soon as an influential book.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 17:06:06 +0000
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