Papers by Maxine Lewis
Classicum, 2022
This piece would not be without Dr Christina Robertson, my friend and co-facilitator of Latin clu... more This piece would not be without Dr Christina Robertson, my friend and co-facilitator of Latin club, Florence Rogers, who served as my RA for Latin pedagogy, and Tāniora Maxwell, who as an RA provided invaluable insight on Māori pedagogy and experiences within education. 2 On lack of ethnic diversity in Classics in other Western educational contexts, see e.g. Bracey (2017), Chae (2018) and Pandey (2018). More broadly, on unacknowledged whiteness in much of New Zealand education, see Milne (2013) and Pihama (2019), 13. 3 We conceptually group Māori and Pacific students because at the University of Auckland measures relating to these cohorts generally occur together. For example, the mentoring program, Tuākana, is run by and serves both Māori and Pacific students, while Ako Arts has been staffed by Māori and Pacific peoples, for Māori and Pacific students. Moreover, many individual students identify with both Māori heritage and an ethnicity from the Pacific more broadly. Mayeda et al. (2014), 166-70 discuss historical, geographical, and political links between Māori and Pacific cultures and peoples. 4 We follow the New Zealand convention of printing te reo Māori terms in Roman print, not italics. Unless otherwise stated, translations of te reo Māori terms in this article derive from Te Aka Māori Dictionary https://maoridictionary.co.nz/ 5 Pihama et al. (2004) explain how ako connects with many other concepts in te ao Māori, the Māori world. 6 Kennedy (2013), 1-3 shows that in multiple countries, engagement with indigenous cultural and educational practices can lead to success for indigenous learners. This has implications for teachers of Latin in Australia.
Antichthon, 2021
The history of Catullus' reception has been one of exclusion as much as inclusion. Since the seve... more The history of Catullus' reception has been one of exclusion as much as inclusion. Since the seventeenth century, many Anglophone writers have used Catullus as inspiration for their translations, poetic adaptations, and novels. A great deal of these works occluded the role that male homoeroticism played in the Latin poems, especially by omitting Catullus' male love object, Juventius. Writers have employed various techniques to deal with Catullus' 'problematic' pagan mores: choosing to ignore the suite of poems associated with homoeroticism (for example, Wilder 1948); bowdlerising homoerotic language (such as Nott 1795, Cranstoun 1867, and Macnaghten 1899); and performing 'gender swaps' to portray male-male relationships as male-female (a technique employed to memorable effect by de La Chapelle in 1680, and later by Lamb in 1821). Excision of whole poems or bowdlerisation of obscene terms was also often used to deal with Catullus' depictions of male-on-male sexual violence, a topic regularly entwined with the gentler homoerotic content. This article surveys, analyses, and explains this aspect of Catullus' reception in English from 1659-1915.
Paideia Rivista, 2019
I examine how Catullus engaged with space, time, and space-time in poem 68 (both part A and B). I... more I examine how Catullus engaged with space, time, and space-time in poem 68 (both part A and B). I contextualise Catullus’ spatio-temporal poetics against both Roman ideas of space and time, and modern spatial theories. In particular, I compare Catullus’ vision of time and the production to space to Henri Lefebvre’s.
Keywords: Catullus; spatial turn; poem 68; geography; domus; polyrhythmia.
Paideia Rivista, 2019
This article examines Catullus' Callimacheanism in the context of both poets' spatial poetics. I ... more This article examines Catullus' Callimacheanism in the context of both poets' spatial poetics. I survey Callimachus' representation and construction of geography, focusing on the Hymns to identify Callimachus' particular approach to place. I examine Catullus' poems 65 and 67 to demonstrate that Catullus' use of Callimachus' spatial poetics varied considerably between poems, and at times showed considerable originality.
Athens to Aotearoa, edited by Diana Burton, Simon Perris, and W. J. Tatum. Victoria University Press, Wellington, 2017
This book chapter explores whether authorial intention provides a valid model for investigating i... more This book chapter explores whether authorial intention provides a valid model for investigating intertextuality, both in contemporary and ancient literature. The paper studies C. K. Stead's ongoing use of Catullus through his poetic career, which he has discussed in numerous interviews over the decades. I undertook one such interview, in which I found that Stead's views of his own intention had changed somewhat over the years. In the chapter I analyse a series of Stead's poems in terms of Catullus' corpus, and also explain how engaging with contemporary poets, including through the interview process, changed my perceptions of ancient poetic composition.
Classical Receptions Journal, 2018
Anna Jackson’s I, Clodia substantially develops Catullus’s literary reception. The collection com... more Anna Jackson’s I, Clodia substantially develops Catullus’s literary reception. The collection complicates understandings of both Catullus’s poetic paramour Lesbia and the historical Roman woman Clodia Metelli. Jackson makes Clodia a poet; she thus becomes not just a receiver of the classical tradition but a participant in it. Clodia responds to Catullus’s poems with her own commentary on poetry, her own set of poetic devices, and a complex inter- and intratextuality. Moreover, Jackson makes Clodia a sensitive and literate reader of Catullus. While her Clodia takes a biographical approach to his poems, reading them as responses to their romance, she is also as attuned to his inter- and intratextual poetics as any modern Latin scholar. The poetic sequence has socio-cultural as well as aesthetic significance; by reimagining the much-maligned historical woman Clodia as an intelligent reader and a talented poet, I, Clodia serves as a feminist text. I, Clodia can be seen as part of the recent tradition of women writers reclaiming and rewriting women from the ancient world, complicating the notion that women writers now operate in a ‘post-feminist’ landscape.
This article examines an under-appreciated nexus of inter- and intratextual resonance between The... more This article examines an under-appreciated nexus of inter- and intratextual resonance between Theocritus Idyll 15, and Catullus poems 36 and 64. I explore the nexus from multiple angles. In section 1, I argue that the intertext between 64.96 and Idyll 15.100 enriches readings of poem 64, adding depth to its treatment of amor while highlighting important structural elements of the poem. In section 2, I analyse the relationship between poems 36 and 64, arguing that the window allusion to Idyll 15 effectively reinforces poem 36’s agenda. In section 3, I argue that hearing poem 36 in poem 64 causes interpretative difficulties; Catullan intertextuality is not always successful.
"Queering Catullus in the Classroom: The Ethics of Teaching Poem 63" In From Abortion to Pederasty: Addressing Difficult Topics in the Classics Classroom, Edited by Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz and Fiona McHardy, 2014
In this paper I survey a selection of Catullus’ poetry to explore whether it betrays anxiety abou... more In this paper I survey a selection of Catullus’ poetry to explore whether it betrays anxiety about Rome’s colonisation of Transpadane Gaul. I examine multiple places where Catullus expresses ambivalence about Transpadane Gaul, but also instance of possible colonial pride. Ultimately I explore the possible usefulness of “anxiety” as a tool to think with.
Book Reviews by Maxine Lewis
Classicum, Volume 45 n.2, 2019
Here is my glowing review of Anthony Gibbins' Latin lego novel "Legonium Season One: a Latin stor... more Here is my glowing review of Anthony Gibbins' Latin lego novel "Legonium Season One: a Latin story, told entirely in bricks". In the review I explain why it's a great resource for teachers and Latin readers alike. I highly recommend this book and all the resources Mr. Gibbins produces over at http://www.legonium.com/.
Journal of Roman Studies, 2017
D. DUNN , THE POEMS OF CATULLUS: A NEW TRANSLATION. London: William Collins, 2016.
D. DUNN , CAT... more D. DUNN , THE POEMS OF CATULLUS: A NEW TRANSLATION. London: William Collins, 2016.
D. DUNN , CATULLUS’ BEDSPREAD: THE LIFE OF ROME'S MOST EROTIC POET. London: William Collins, 2016.
G. NUZZO (ED.), GAIO VALERIO CATULLO: LIRICHE ED EPIGRAMMI. Palermo: Palumbo, 2015.
E. M. YOUNG , TRANSLATION AS MUSE: POETIC TRANSLATION IN CATULLUS'S ROME. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015.
Classical Review, Jul 20, 2016
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2012
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2009
Conference Presentations by Maxine Lewis
This article appears online in Cloelia, the publication of the Women's Classical Caucus. It's an ... more This article appears online in Cloelia, the publication of the Women's Classical Caucus. It's an expanded write-up of my contribution to a 2016 conference panel about an urgent and difficult subject: gendered violence in tertiary education institutions (e.g. sexual harassment, overt and covert sexism, sexual assault). The panel was 'Revealing Gendered Violence in the Academy', held at Feminism and Classics 7 (University of Washington). It was convened by Alison Surtees. You can find write-ups of the other presentations and another relevant talk on the Cloelia website: https://medium.com/cloelia-wcc/gendered-violence-in-classics-where-are-we-now-and-what-can-we-do-%C2%B9-1c1bc6f47101
Talks by Maxine Lewis
TELOD, 2021
https://telod.auckland.ac.nz/project/inclusive-teaching-using-ako-principles/
A series of podcast... more https://telod.auckland.ac.nz/project/inclusive-teaching-using-ako-principles/
A series of podcasts recorded with Ashwini Datt at the University of Auckland, about inclusive teaching and the challenges posed by 2020 and the new educational environment. We discuss my teaching, especially engagement with Māori pedagogy and principles (as a pakeha, non-Māori, teacher). The podcasts are hosted by TELOD, the Technologies for Equitable Learning Opportunities and Design.
Uploads
Papers by Maxine Lewis
Keywords: Catullus; spatial turn; poem 68; geography; domus; polyrhythmia.
Book Reviews by Maxine Lewis
D. DUNN , CATULLUS’ BEDSPREAD: THE LIFE OF ROME'S MOST EROTIC POET. London: William Collins, 2016.
G. NUZZO (ED.), GAIO VALERIO CATULLO: LIRICHE ED EPIGRAMMI. Palermo: Palumbo, 2015.
E. M. YOUNG , TRANSLATION AS MUSE: POETIC TRANSLATION IN CATULLUS'S ROME. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015.
Conference Presentations by Maxine Lewis
Talks by Maxine Lewis
A series of podcasts recorded with Ashwini Datt at the University of Auckland, about inclusive teaching and the challenges posed by 2020 and the new educational environment. We discuss my teaching, especially engagement with Māori pedagogy and principles (as a pakeha, non-Māori, teacher). The podcasts are hosted by TELOD, the Technologies for Equitable Learning Opportunities and Design.
Keywords: Catullus; spatial turn; poem 68; geography; domus; polyrhythmia.
D. DUNN , CATULLUS’ BEDSPREAD: THE LIFE OF ROME'S MOST EROTIC POET. London: William Collins, 2016.
G. NUZZO (ED.), GAIO VALERIO CATULLO: LIRICHE ED EPIGRAMMI. Palermo: Palumbo, 2015.
E. M. YOUNG , TRANSLATION AS MUSE: POETIC TRANSLATION IN CATULLUS'S ROME. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015.
A series of podcasts recorded with Ashwini Datt at the University of Auckland, about inclusive teaching and the challenges posed by 2020 and the new educational environment. We discuss my teaching, especially engagement with Māori pedagogy and principles (as a pakeha, non-Māori, teacher). The podcasts are hosted by TELOD, the Technologies for Equitable Learning Opportunities and Design.