References to Greco-Roman antiquity in Europe between the two World Wars were abundant: first the 'Classical' served the idea of 'a return to order' considered by some as necessary after the heresies of the pre-War avant-garde; it then went on to be manipulated by both Fascist and Nazi ideologies. This conference explores how, by reinventing antiquity through working with ruins both politically and poetically, artistic processes as well as works of theatre and cinema record the historical and artistic consequences of this trauma in Europe. While this research is initially rooted in classical reception and theatre and cinema studies, the conference intends to enter into dialogue with other fields including archaeology, aesthetics, political sciences, anthropology, and media theory. The aim is to study these processes from 1945 to the present where these traces continue to be detectable in the works of artists in Europe.
For the first date of this conference, there will be three panels: History and Myth, Setting and Landscape, and War and Violence.
A second date to this conference is planned to take place in Paris on 22 November 2021.
