Medieval Self-Commentaries between East and West

This workshop aims to explore the medieval tradition of self-commentaries from a comparative perspective. Self-commentaries are exegetical works penned by medieval authors to accompany their own texts. Dante Alighier's Vita Nova stands out as the most representative instance of the genre. Late Medieval self-commentaries are regarded as tightly linked to the emergence of a new, quintessentially Western construction of the Self, a sort of anticipation of early modern subjectivity. This workshop challenges such a dominant narrative. It gathers scholars from different fields to discuss earlier and less considered medieval traditions of self-commentaries. We will consider Sanskrit, Arabic and Byzantine literature in order to establish a dialogue with the later western European tradition. 

Programme

Thursday, June 9

19.00.  Welcome party, Allégade 22E

Friday June 10

SDU, room U31

9.30-10.00. Aglae Pizzone: Introductory remarks
10.00-11.00. Tommaso Raiola (Università di Napoli l'Orientale), ἐπὶ πλέον ἐν ἑτέροις ἀποδέδεικται: self-commentary and self-quotation in Galen
11.00-11.15. Coffee Break
11.15-12.15. Aglae Pizzone (University of Southern Denmark), I and Him: shifting subjects in Tzetzes' Historiai
12.15-13.30. Lunch break
13.30-14.30. Kevin Blankship (University of Chicago), Literary Self-Defense: The Zajr al-nabih of al-Ma`arri
14.30-15.30. Whitney Cox (University of Chicago), A fragmented history of the Sanskrit autocommentary

Saturday June 10

9.00-10.00. Asad Ahmed (University of California Berkeley), Misreading Avicenna:  Authorship, Commentary, and the Logic of Errors
10.00-11.00. György Geréby (Central European University), How to improve a logic textbook? John Buridan justifying his own additions to Peter of Spain
11.00-11.15. Coffee Break
11.15-12.15. Ian Johnson (University of St. Andrews), Repertoire of Middle English Self-commentary?
12.15-13.30. Lunch break
13.30-15.30. Round table discussion
Free afternoon
Dinner