ΚΕΕΛΓ, Διαδικτυακή διάλεξη Μιχάλη Κονάρη με θέμα «Representations of ancient Greek and Chinese attitudes to nature from Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) to Lin Yutang (1895–1976). Assumptions and controversies in the history of scholarship», 30.01.2025, 16.00-18.00
Το Κέντρον Ερεύνης της Ελληνικής και Λατινικής Γραμματείας της Ακαδημίας Αθηνών σας προσκαλεί στην διαδικτυακή διάλεξη του Μιχάλη Κονάρη (ΚΕΕΛΓ) με τίτλο «Representations of ancient Greek and Chinese attitudes to nature from Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) to Lin Yutang (1895–1976). Assumptions and controversies in the history of scholarship» που θα πραγματοποιηθεί την Πέμπτη 30 Ιανουαρίου στις 16.00.
ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ
In my talk I will examine the juxtaposition of the ancient Greek and Chinese ‘feeling of nature’ in the work of scholars such as Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), Victore de Laprade (1813–1883), Laurence Binyon (1869–1943) and Lin Yutang (1895–1976) with particular attention to how it became implicated in attempts to validate or criticize contemporary Western and Eastern attitudes towards nature. On the one hand, I will look at the tendency, informed by 19th century Eurocentrism and Orientalism, to trace the origins of the Western domination of nature to the depictions of nature in Greek poetry and to deny to Chinese depictions of nature any value other than being aesthetically pleasing; on the other hand, I will look at a reaction by both Western and Chinese scholars who countered that the Chinese ideal of harmony with nature could serve as a salutary corrective to the Western notion of dominating nature that allegedly derived from ancient Greece. In addition to discussing how the ideological agendas of these earlier scholars affected their treatment of Greek and Chinese views of nature, I will point to aspects in their argumentation that would be worth revisiting.
Ηλ. Διεύθυνση επικοινωνίας για τον σύνδεσμο ΖΟΟΜ: mkonaris@academyofathens.gr