Etruscan Literacy in its Social Context
Institute of Classical Studies, University of London
22-23 September 2010
The social impact of literacy in early societies is a topic which has been
the subject of much recent research. In the study of ancient Italy,
specifically, new discoveries and new analyses of Etruscan inscriptions have
flourished in recent years. However, many of these studies have focused
primarily on epigraphic and linguistic aspects. Although this conference
(which forms part of an AHRC research project on Etruscan Literacy in its
Social Context, based at UCL and conducted by Kathryn Lomas, Ruth Whitehouse
and John Wilkins) aims to contribute to these studies, its aim is to move
away from issues of linguistic and morphological analysis and concentrate
instead specifically on the social context of writing in the Etruscan world.
We will examine the social and cultural impact of the adoption of writing,
and will address themes such as how we can define literacy and assess how
widespread it was; what groups adopted literacy, and what the social
purposes of reading and writing were. The conference will examine these
issues from a range of perspectives, and in the context not only of Etruria
itself, but of the Etruscan world as a whole. It will cover the issues of
which social groups could read and write in Etruria; the relationship
between commissioners of texts and the scribes and artisans who wrote them;
and the means by which writing was taught and transmitted. It will also
examine the practical and symbolic significance of inscriptions, the
significance of choice of location, artefact or material for inscriptions,
and the use of writing to create and reinforce social and personal
identities.
Participants include: Elizabeth Langridge-Noti, Larissa Bonfante, Massiliano
di Fazio, Daniele Maras, Maurizio Harari, Alison Weir, Jean Gran-Aymerich,
Nancy De Grummond, Marjatta Nielsen, Hilary Becker, Giovanna Bagnasco
Gianni, Marie-Laurence Haack, Rex Wallace, Anthony Tuck, Demitris
Paleothodoros, Maria Cristina Biella, Valentina Belfiore, Lucia Medori, John
Wilkins and Ruth Whitehouse.
Full details of the conference and a provisional programme can be found on
the website of the Accordia Research Institute
(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/accordia).
Those wishing to attend the conference should complete the attached
Registration Form and return it, with appropriate payment, to: Prof. Ruth
Whitehouse, Institute of Archaeology, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY,
UK.
Dr Kathryn Lomas, FSA
Honorary Senior Research Associate
Institute of Archaeology
UCL
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