Scholars working on various languages come together to examine how languages considered ‘ancient’ and ‘historical’ can attain significance within the ideologies and practices of contemporary political movements.
Building on the previous workshop on the political uses of historical languages held in January in Copenhagen, participants will discuss expanded versions of their papers and explore common themes and concerns that emerge across the different case studies.
The goal of the workshop is to work towards the publication of the findings from the Language Myths project. Please note that this is a closed event.
Program
Thursday 26 June 2025
- 10:00 Welcome/introduction
- 10:15 Presentation of Sven Osterkamp’s paper ‘(Neo-)Classical Poetry During the Time of the Japanese Empire (1868–1947)’
- Respondent: Irene Zwiep
- Plenary discussion
- 11:00 Presentation of Felix Siegmund’s paper ‘The (On-going) Construction of a Korean Classical Language’
- Respondent: Eva Miller
- Plenary discussion
- 11:45 Break
- 12:00 Presentation of Johanna Laakso’s paper ‘The Hungarian Language and its Imagined Antiquity’
- Respondent: Marie-Laurence Haack
- Plenary discussion
- 12:45 Lunch
- 14:00 Presentation of Eva Miller’s paper ‘Universal Speech: Anthropology and the Search for the Origins of Language’
- Respondent: Johanna Laakso
- Plenary discussion
- 14:45 Presentation of Irene Zwiep’s paper ‘Was Hebrew Ever an Ancient Language?’
- Respondent: Bettina Reitz-Joosse/Han Lamers
- Plenary discussion
- 15:30 Break
- 16:00 Presentation of Magnus Pharao Hansen’s paper ‘Classical Nahuatl, Aztec Supremacy, and the Far Right’
- Respondent: Felix Siegmund
- Plenary discussion
- 16:45 Wrapping up (ca. 15 min.)
Friday 27 June 2025
- 10:00 Presentation of Marie Laurence Haack’s paper ‘Language and Lineage of the Etruscans in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany’
- Respondent: Magnus Pharao Hansen
- Plenary discussion
- 10:45 Presentation of Han Lamers and Bettina Reitz-Joosse’s paper ‘Latin in Far-Right Political Communication’
- Respondent: Sven Osterkamp
- Plenary discussion
- 11:30 Break
- 11:45 General discussion and conclusion
Conveners
Han Lamers, Bettina Reitz-Joosse, Magnus Pharao Hansen, and Marie-Laurence Haack.
Organizers
Han Lamers and Language Myths.
This workshop is organized by the research initiative Language Myths: Towards a Global Approach to the Politicization of Ancient Languages (University of Oslo, University of Copenhagen, and University of Picardy Jules Verne), financed by the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme and the Centre Universitaire de Norvège à Paris, in collaboration with the research projects New Signs of Antiquity (University of Oslo), funded by the Research Council of Norway, and Anchoring the Fascist Revolution (University of Groningen), supported by OIKOS, the National Research School in Classical Studies in the Netherlands (Gravitation Grant research agenda Anchoring Innovation).
Related events
Dangerous Documents: Approaches to Making Fascist Materials Available. University of Oslo. June 21, 2024.
Language Myths: A workshop on the political uses of historical languages. University of Copenhagen. January 16, 2025.