Tag: Mary Beard

Reminiscing on self

Publisher: McNally Editions (March 12, 2024)

In an LRB piece (Vol. 46 No. 17 · 12 September 2024) coming out of the publication earlier this year of a new edition of the classicist Jane Ellen Harrison’s Reminiscences of a Student’s Life: A Memoir (first published in 1925 towards the end of her life), Mary Beard ponders the Harrison life stories as told by her, to be retold by others until the varied accounts thereof fused to be the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Or perhaps not. And if not, who cares, for Harrison’s life was remarkable in every way irrespective of questionable veracity, mischievous embellishment or the self-interested spin. Harrison knew that a woman of her time had to control their own narrative or no one else would – or worse, could easily find itself appropriated by a … bloke!

This is not the first time Mary Beard has considered Jane Harrison. She too is of course a fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge, where Harrison studied, was rejected by, and returned to – to become the archetype for generations of women academics. And, Professor Beard in fact hunted through archival material for her own book, The Invention of Jane Harrison (Harvard University Press) in 2000. (A review from the time at The Guardian can be read here.)

If written words are not enough, the LRB also included a conversation with Mary Beard about her article in their podcast (available on their website or embedded below from Spotify) where Harrison is stylized as ‘the cleverest woman in England’ (of that time).

I too have mentioned Jane Harrison before – here and again here, for instance, in respect to her being one of a particular group of intellectual women who happened to live for a time on Mecklenburgh Square in London, and as written about by Francesca Wade in her book Square Haunting (2020). Another of those was of course Virginia Woolf, and the Woolfs attendance at Harrison’s funeral (on 19th April 1928) is recorded in a 21st April 1928 diary entry that I make note of here. This, an event that does not appear to have moved VW terribly much but, just as she has afforded others who touched upon her world, her memorializing of Harrison is other – for her, a guest appearance in A Room of One’s Own. And what a memorial that is; one that assures a recognition beyond her time into the present.

What to read this autumn: 2023’s biggest new books | Books | The Guardian

Sara Pascoe’s new novel, rare Terry Pratchett, memoirs from Barbra Streisand and Britney Spears, plus the essential reading on today’s hot button topics – all the releases to look out for
— Read on www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/26/what-to-read-this-autumn-2023s-biggest-new-books

Autumn is it absolutely not in the south of Germany! The warmest of sunshine, leaves barely tinged and little change in sight. But nevertheless it is a good time to start planning for days indoor. For this “The Guardian” has some good suggestions. Not necessarily those mentioned above in their pulled quote, though by Streisand I could be tempted. Of the others, some expected and therefore of no surprise: Zadie Smith, Mary Beard, Emily Wilson. And one who I will be particularly thrilled to read again after all her travails in the last few years: Jesmyn Ward – for this I have been waiting.

Niche is nice, but …

…unfortunately, not only niche, but abbreviated. I thought I would be granted one admittance to the TLS this month – but no such luck! But, as far as I could read, the gist is; when Professor Beard was at school, girls were taught Ancient Greek without accents – pondering the rationale (!) behind that is really interesting indeed! Mind you, it didn’t do Mary’s brilliant career much harm; or maybe it did force the direction – after all, her specialisation did become that of the Romans and Latin does not have (at least not in written text) those pesky diacritical marks of Greek. And she does say, that to this very day, she feels somehow deprived, and is adamant it is a technique that must be learnt from the git go.

Where I am concerned, the truth of course is – with or without (accents) – it remains all Greek to me!

Not wasted though was this return visit to Twitter, for I picked up mention of a very new site, called Antigone, dedicated to making Classics accessible to a greater audience. A quick browse through suggests lots of good reading, and they are even able to offer help for those (like Mary!) struggling with accents.

Mary Beard on empires, emperors & when the old is new again

I’m surprised that it wasn’t until very recently, and in respect to her pending retirement, that I first mentioned Mary Beard here; for she really does rank up there amongst my most favorite people. In my Twitter life – now forsaken – I followed her avidly (and even went into bat for her when necessary!).

For those unacquainted, this annotated “talk” piece in The New York Times Magazine (subscription) is as good an introduction as any to the person and particularly to the very special art of delving into the ancient world and learning the lessons it can teach, even be they about how not to be. Also, I take this opportunity to make mention of her new book, entitled Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern, due out later this year.

[…]In this book—against a background of today’s “sculpture wars”—Mary Beard tells the story of how for more than two millennia portraits of the rich, powerful, and famous in the western world have been shaped by the image of Roman emperors, especially the “Twelve Caesars,” from the ruthless Julius Caesar to the fly-torturing Domitian. Twelve Caesars asks why these murderous autocrats have loomed so large in art from antiquity and the Renaissance to today, when hapless leaders are still caricatured as Neros fiddling while Rome burns. […]

Princeton University Press (2021)

Published in the UK on September 28th, 2021, and in the US on October 12th.

Videos of The Sixtieth A. W. Mellon Lectures in Fine Arts at the National Gallery of Fine Arts, Washington D.C. held in 2011, and on which Mary’s book is based may be found here (scroll down to the 60th lecture series). A decade old, but resonating in a new light considering the ongoing – and global – controversies surrounding statues and memorials of historical figures with – mildly put – tainted images. And, not to mention, a growing gallery of populist autocratic figures running amok from one end of the world to the next – until recently even in the US capital. To think, as Mary speaks, a much finer figure of a man was in power, and one could almost believe the promises of an ever-evolving democracy. These videos, a great find on my behalf, I must say! And just a taster before the (belated) publication in extended book form.

The way to go!

An opportunity to write a few words on the magnificent Mary Beard will I not turn down!

As a field of study, “Classics” was an elite pursuit even before elite was a dirty word, and certainly doesn’t have it easy in the highly competitive environment of a contemporary higher education system that focuses more on career paths and professional development than on the humanistic (and less obvious) attributes and skill-sets attached to the study of ancient “systems” and “dead” languages. How I bemoan that I had not in my youth the imagination to contemplate such a dead end journey! Alas!

In this respect, as reported in The Guardian, Mary Beard’s (upcoming) retirement gift to Cambridge University, is a thoughtful and timely contribution. Acknowledging herself its relative modesty, Professor Beard does still hope that her gesture will, beyond the specific scholarships that will be offered, encourage broader interest and ethnic and socioeconomic diversity in the subject.

The way to go, Mare! – I do say. To wit, I dare say I hear the reply: Hold your horses, my dear – I’m old not dead, and ain’t goin’ nowhere! Or however that may be said in aforesaid language long said to be dead.