Latin Language And Latin Culture

A examination of stereotypical ideas about Latin and their effect on how Latin literature is read.

As straightforward and easy to follow as a Roman road, this is the most accessible guide to both the language and the literature of one of the greatest empires the world has known. Starting from basics, it covers all the essential grammar and vocabulary you need to decipher Latin for yourself, before going on to bring Rome's greatest writers back to life through superb audio recordings, available online. Suitable for complete beginners and improvers alike and makes an ideal companion to the best-selling Collins Latin Dictionary & Grammar. As well as a comprehensive introduction to Latin grammar and usage, it offers an insight into the works of key poets and thinkers. Accompanying recordings of every extract are available online, so you can hear how the texts should sound and can perhaps try reading them aloud yourself. There is ample background information on Roman life and culture along with plenty of exercise material to test your progress as you go. You will also learn about words derived from Latin and the commonest Latin phrases still in use in English today. All this means that you'll be well-versed in one of the greatest linguistic influences on modern English.

A lively exploration of the joys of a not-so-dead language From the acclaimed novelist and Oxford professor Nicola Gardini, a personal and passionate look at the Latin language: its history, its authors, its essential role in education, and its enduring impact on modern life—whether we call it “dead” or not. What use is Latin? It’s a question we’re often asked by those who see the language of Cicero as no more than a cumbersome heap of ruins, something to remove from the curriculum. In this sustained meditation, Gardini gives us his sincere and brilliant reply: Latin is, quite simply, the means of expression that made us—and continues to make us—who we are. In Latin, the rigorous and inventive thinker Lucretius examined the nature of our world; the poet Propertius told of love and emotion in a dizzying variety of registers; Caesar affirmed man’s capacity to shape reality through reason; Virgil composed the Aeneid, without which we’d see all of Western history in a different light. In Long Live Latin, Gardini shares his deep love for the language—enriched by his tireless intellectual curiosity—and warmly encourages us to engage with a civilization that has never ceased to exist, because it’s here with us now, whether we know it or not. Thanks to his careful guidance, even without a single lick of Latin grammar readers can discover how this language is still capable of restoring our sense of identity, with a power that only useless things can miraculously express.

Contemporary Latin American Cultural Studies is a collection of new essays by recognised experts from around the world on various aspects of the new discipline of Latin American cultural studies. Essays are grouped in five distinct but interconnected sections focusing respectively on: (I) the theory of Latin American cultural studies; (II) the icons of culture; (III) culture as a commodity; (IV) culture as a site of resistance; and (V) everyday cultural practices. The essays range across a wide gamut of theories about Latin American culture; some, for example, analyse the role that ideas about the nation - and national icons  have played in the formation of a sense of identity in Latin America, while others focus on the resonance underlying cultural practices as diverse as football in Argentina, TV in Uruguay, cinema in Brazil, and the 'bolero' and soaps of modern-day Mexico. Contemporary Latin American Cultural Studies has an introduction setting the ideas explored in each section in their proper context. The essays are written in jargon-free English (all Spanish terms have been translated into English), and are supplemented by a concluding section with suggestions for further reading.

Whether to enlarge your general education, improve your English, or just because you are curious about the society that has had such a lasting influence on our history, our language, our thoughts, and our culture, you should and can learn Latin. Tamara Trykar-Lu's charming and delightful introduction to Latin, From Puella to Plautus, Volume II, is designed for intermediate to advanced Latin study, at the high school or college level, either with the aid of a teacher and classroom or simply for personal enjoyment and enrichment. In this volume, the reader is introduced more broadly to the subjunctive mood, as well as a broad range of applications of the ablative, accusative, genitive, and dative cases. A wide variety of reading material is presented, including excerpts from the Carmina Burana, the writings of Catullus, the poetry of Ovid, the life of Saint George as told in de Voragine's Golden Legend, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius from the account of Pliny the Elder, and Seneca's story of the murder of Cicero. There follows an extensive summary of the grammar and syntax encountered in both volumes. Last, as a capstone, the reader can enjoy reading and understanding Plautus's comedy Aulularia in the original Latin. Each chapter ends with a brief outline of some aspect of Roman culture, such as housing, fauna and flora, games, crafts, water supply, and cooking - with recipes. And last but not least there are informative tidbits, drawings, cartoons, jokes, riddles, crossword puzzles, and, of course, pictures distributed throughout the book. For while foreign-language study should be logical, coherent, and rigorous, it need not be heavy-handed or pedantic, and certainly not dull. Ideal for use in courses or for brushing up your language skills, From Puella to Plautus, Volume II is a lively and engaging book about the Latin language and life in the Roman Empire.

"... A collection of approximately sixty papers presented at the Third International Conference on Medieval Latin Studies .... The collection embraces a wide range of fields related to Medieval Latin, including poetry, hymnology, music, theology and philosophy, historiography, and inscriptions, in addition to Latin linguistics and metrics"--from p. [4] of cover.

In Latin America, where even today writing has remained a restricted form of expression, the task of generating consent and imposing the emergent nation-state as the exclusive form of the political, was largely conferred to the image. Furthermore, at the moment of its historical demise, the new, 'postmodern' forms of sovereignty appear to rely even more heavily on visual discourses of power. However, a critique of the iconography of the modern state-form has been missing. This volume is the first concerted attempt by cultural, historical and visual scholars to address the political dimension of visual culture in Latin America, in a comparative perspective spanning various regions and historical stages. The case studies are divided into four sections, analysing the formation of a public sphere, the visual politics of avant-garde art, the impact of mass society on political iconography, and the consolidation and crisis of territory as a key icon of the state. Jens Andermann is a Lecturer in Latin American Studies at Birkbeck College, London, and co-editor of the Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies. Among his publications are Mapas de poder: una arqueología literaria del espacio argentino (Rosario, 2000) and articles for major journals in Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the US. William Rowe is Anniversary Professor of Poetics at Birkbeck College, London. His book Memory and Modernity: Popular Culture in Latin America (London, 1991) has been translated into several languages. His most recent works, apart from translations of a wide range of Latin American poetry, are Poets of Contemporary Latin America: History and the Inner Life (Oxford, 2000) and Ensayos vallejianos (Berkeley and Lima, 2006).

“A delightful mix of grammar and growth, words and wonder.” – The Washington Post An entertaining exploration of the richness and relevance of the Latin language and literature, and an inspiring account of finding renewed purpose through learning something new and challenging After thirty-five years as a book editor in New York City, Ann Patty stopped working and moved to the country. Bored, aimless, and lost in the woods, she hoped to challenge her restless, word-loving brain by beginning a serious study of Latin at local colleges. As she begins to make sense of Latin grammar and syntax, her studies open unexpected windows into her own life. The louche poetry of Catullus calls up her early days in 1970s New York, Lucretius elucidates her intractable drivenness and her attraction to Buddhism, while Ovid’s verse conjures a delightful dimension to the flora and fauna that surround her. Women in Roman history, and an ancient tomb inscription give her new understanding and empathy for her tragic, long deceased mother. Finally, Virgil reconciles her to her new life—no longer an urban exile, but a rustic scholar, writer and teacher. Along the way, she meets an impassioned cast of characters: professors, students and classicists outside of academia who keep Latin very much alive. Written with humor, heart, and an infectious enthusiasm for words, Patty’s book is an object lesson in how learning and literature can transform the past and lead to an unexpected future.