Faking the Ancient Mediterranean in 1940s Hollywood: Günther Anders and the Corpses of History

Description

Fakes get a lot of attention. Whether as copies of texts or objects made for different reasons, or as forgeries intended to deceive, the question of what is really real has been a constant feature of conversations about the history of reception of the ancient Mediterranean world. Debates about the faking of this world and its past through different formats have centred around authenticity of form vs the authenticity of experience, educational value, documentation value, reach and reproducibility, and cultural imperialism. Often, the answer to the question is much more complicated than a yes or no. This discussion explores this ambiguity through a case study set in the 1940s in Hollywood.

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This 60 minute roundtable will be a transdisciplinary discussion between two of the creators of this audio project Dr Christopher Müller and Dr Benjamin Nickl and a Classicist Dr Alina Kozlovski whose research explores the copying and curation of the ancient Mediterranean in different forms. It will introduce the audience to Anders’ work and the Real is Not Real Enough project with portions of the radio play. This will be followed by a discussion of the reception of the ancient Mediterranean in the work and how versions of what we mean when we say the ‘real’ ancient past are constructed through different media. With the project being at the intersection of Classics, media and pop culture studies, the speakers will also discuss how types of cultural transmission work to mediate Mediterranean antiquity throughout time. It will end with time for questions from the audience.

Period	3 Dec 2022
Event title	The Kaleidoscope of Antiquity: Shifting Perspectives on the Ancient Mediterranean World and Its Modern Receptions
Event type	Conference
Conference number	3
Degree of Recognition	International