Papers by Johannes Siapkas
Beerden, K. and T. Epping (eds.) Classical Controversies. Reception of Graeco-Roman Antiquity in the Twenty-First Century. Leiden: Sidestone Press., 2022
Sparta and the Battle of Thermopylae 480 BCE have been a reoccurring theme in Swedish and Finno-S... more Sparta and the Battle of Thermopylae 480 BCE have been a reoccurring theme in Swedish and Finno-Swedish literature from the 1930s onwards. Many have been fascinated by the collectivism and militarism of classical Sparta. The reception is often articulating notions such as defending western civilisation and freedom. In this paper we will focus on a tenet articulated in the works of Emil Zilliacus, Hjalmar Gullberg and Willy Kyrklund, which addresses the common analogy between Spartan defence against the Persian invasion, and Finland’s defence against the Soviet Union, involving collaboration with the Germans. In addition, we will also elaborate a poster advertising ‘This is Sparta!’ by a political party in the Swedish elections in September 2018.
This contribution addresses negotiations of Spartan themes in Swedish contexts. Sparta is used to articulate both affirmative and critical sentiments revolving around notions of vulnerability, masculinity and the nation. Moreover, it relates Swedish Spartan receptions to international examples such the appropriations of Thermopylae by European authoritarian regimes in the 1930s and 1940s, and recently by far-right ideologies. Against the historical background discussed above, we argue that the poster was a calculated appropriation which signalled a xenophobic agenda.
The Swedish examples suggest that appropriations of the classical legacy are shaped more by other receptions in similar contexts than by the original historical setting. That is, in order to shed light on the Swedish adoptions of Thermopylae it is more relevant to situate them in relation to other contemporary evocations of Thermopylae than to classical antiquity.
Ekström, A. and H. Östh Gustafsson, eds. The Humanities and the Modern Politics of Knowledge: The Impact and Organization of the Humanities in Sweden, 1850–2020. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press., 2022
This chapter elaborates the contested position of Classical studies in twentieth-century Sweden t... more This chapter elaborates the contested position of Classical studies in twentieth-century Sweden through two case studies. The first case study is the classicism of Erik Hedén, a leading social democrat. In order to reconcile classicism with his political ideology, Hedén distinguished between classicism and the conservative connotations of classicism. Classicism is often associated with conservative sentiments. In postwar Sweden, this was coupled with a wider resentment against the humanities. The renaming of several academic disciplines in Sweden around 1970 was an attempt to come to terms with this setting. I suggest, in the second case study, that the change of the official Swedish name for the academic discipline Classical archaeology and ancient history aimed to reconcile classicism.
Journal of Archaeology and Ancient History, 2018
JAAH 2 ABSTRACT Johannes Siapkas 2018. Negotiated Positivism: The disregarded epistemology of Arn... more JAAH 2 ABSTRACT Johannes Siapkas 2018. Negotiated Positivism: The disregarded epistemology of Arne Furumark.
This paper examines the permeation of scientific racism in classical archaeology during the 1920s... more This paper examines the permeation of scientific racism in classical archaeology during the 1920s and 1930s. In particular, it investigates the anthropological studies of graves from the Swedish excavations at Asine and the British excavations at Mycenae and the appropriation of these results in classical archaeology. Terms like archaeological culture, people, race, in general and in precise forms, were used metonymi-cally to signify clear-cut bounded entities with diachronically immutable characteristic traits. I argue that there were epistemological similarities between scientific racism and culture-historical archaeology since both are founded on essentialism. This article has further epistemological implications since it illustrates that foundational analytical practices, like categorizations and constructions of archaeological cultures, have conceptual affinities with discourses that many of us today find troubling. This can serve to foster critical reflection and to illustrate that histories of archaeology can contribute to the advancement of the epistemology of archaeology.
‘Appropriations of Antiquity – A Diachronic Comparison of Museums and Scholarship’, I P. Aronsson & A. Nyblom (ed.), Comparing: National Museums, Territories, Nation-Building and Change. NaMu IV, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden 18–20 February 2008 (Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings, 30) Linköping University Electronic Press, 2008, 205-223 … , Nation-Building and Change. NaMu IV, …, Jan 1, 2008
Klassisk filologi i Sverige. Reflexioner, riktningar, översättningar, öden, (Eds, Cullhed, E. & Lindberg, B.) KVHAA, Stockholm, 51-63.
A Companion to Ethnicity in the Ancient Mediterranean, 66-81.
LABRYS: Studies presented to Pontus Hellström, 2014, 301-314
Lars Karlsson, Susanne Carlsson and Jesper Blid Kullberg (eds.), . Studies presented to Pontus He... more Lars Karlsson, Susanne Carlsson and Jesper Blid Kullberg (eds.), . Studies presented to Pontus Hellström. Boreas. Uppsala Studies in Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Civilizations 35, Uppsala 2014. 533 pp., with 231 ills., ISBN 978-91-554-8831-4
Institutionens historier: En vänbok till Gullög Nordquist, 2013, 141-150
Lychnos: Årsbok för idé- och lärdomshistoria, 2012, 183-203
Lychnos: Årsbok för idé- och lärdomshistoria, 2012, 89-91
G(l)ömda historier – klassiska normer och antik kritik, 2011, 9-46, Jan 1, 2011
G(l)ömda historier – klassiska normer och antik kritik, 2011, 159-179, Jan 1, 2011
… : Nantion Museums, Territories, Nation-Building and …, Jan 1, 2008
su.se. ...
‘Ancient Sculptures and National Museums: Universal and Local claims of Antiquity’, i P. Aronsson & M. Hillström (eds.), NaMu, Making National Museums Program, Setting the Frames, 26-28 February, Norrköping, Sweden (Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings, 22), Linköping University Electronic Press 2007, 153-163
… Program, Setting the Frames, 26-28 …, Jan 1, 2007
... Authors: Johannes Siapkas and Lena Sjögren. Title: Ancient Sculptures and National Museums :U... more ... Authors: Johannes Siapkas and Lena Sjögren. Title: Ancient Sculptures and National Museums :Universal and Local Claims of Antiquity. ... Ancient Sculptures and National Museums : Universal and Local Claims of Antiquity. http://www.ep.liu.se/ecp/022/014/ (). ...
Hephaistos: Kritische Zeitschrift zu Theorie und …, Jan 1, 2005
uu.se. Publications. ...
Current Swedish Archaeology, Jan 1, 2001
uu.se. Publications. ...
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Papers by Johannes Siapkas
This contribution addresses negotiations of Spartan themes in Swedish contexts. Sparta is used to articulate both affirmative and critical sentiments revolving around notions of vulnerability, masculinity and the nation. Moreover, it relates Swedish Spartan receptions to international examples such the appropriations of Thermopylae by European authoritarian regimes in the 1930s and 1940s, and recently by far-right ideologies. Against the historical background discussed above, we argue that the poster was a calculated appropriation which signalled a xenophobic agenda.
The Swedish examples suggest that appropriations of the classical legacy are shaped more by other receptions in similar contexts than by the original historical setting. That is, in order to shed light on the Swedish adoptions of Thermopylae it is more relevant to situate them in relation to other contemporary evocations of Thermopylae than to classical antiquity.
This contribution addresses negotiations of Spartan themes in Swedish contexts. Sparta is used to articulate both affirmative and critical sentiments revolving around notions of vulnerability, masculinity and the nation. Moreover, it relates Swedish Spartan receptions to international examples such the appropriations of Thermopylae by European authoritarian regimes in the 1930s and 1940s, and recently by far-right ideologies. Against the historical background discussed above, we argue that the poster was a calculated appropriation which signalled a xenophobic agenda.
The Swedish examples suggest that appropriations of the classical legacy are shaped more by other receptions in similar contexts than by the original historical setting. That is, in order to shed light on the Swedish adoptions of Thermopylae it is more relevant to situate them in relation to other contemporary evocations of Thermopylae than to classical antiquity.
I Från Homeros till Rom granskar Johannes Siapkas specifika forskningsfält, exempelvis de struktur-, biografi- eller händelseorienterade. Han konstaterar att traditionell antikhistoria oavsett fält är präglad av ensidiga diskussioner av källkritik och stannar av i en förlamande objektivitet. Genom att peka på konkreta exempel i forskningens uttryck visar Siapkas på disciplinens tillkortakommanden och poängterar att densamma trots allt baseras på teoretiska fundament. Siapkas menar därför att den gängse typen av teorilös forskning formas av sin egen situering och därmed lider av avsnävad kontext. Med sin bok vill författaren problematisera och väcka diskussion kring de
begränsningar som frånvaron av teoretisk navigering
medför.
Från Homeros till Rom utgör den första delen av volym 3 i Johannes Siapkas omfattande bokserie om antikvetenskapens teorier.
I det förebildliga forskningsfältet intresserar man sig särskilt för offentliga, främst religiösa, byggnader och fyndkategorier som blivit estetiska förebilder. Författarens resonemang djuplodar därför också i konstvetenskaplig teoribildning och forskning om antik konst som vaser och skulpturer.
Den traditionella antikvetenskapen kännetecknas av en kunskapssyn som premierar empiriska observationer, ofta på bekostnad av teoretisk reflektion. I skenet av detta diskuterar Siapkas relationen mellan antikvetenskapen och politiska ideologier. Antikvetenskapen associeras ofta med konservativa värderingar men även andra ideologier har påverkat den. Liberala och socialistiska idéer, och även inslag av fascistiska och nazistiska föreställningar har tidvis påverkat inriktningen. Här blir det tydligt att även förment ”teorilös” forskning faktiskt också påverkas av politiska strömningar – något som har hög aktualitet i ett Europa med allt starkare nationalistiska rörelser.
I seriens första volym, Från Laokoon till Troja, introducerar antikvetaren Johannes Siapkas en analytisk modell för antikvetenskapen, och betonar den teoretiska pluralismen. Vidare analyserar han disciplinens utveckling från medeltiden till början av 1900-talet. Författaren visar hur förmoderna teorier och metoder fortfarande används inom antikvetenskapen. I ett avslutande kapitel belyses den svenska forskningens framväxt.
I denna studie betonas antikvetenskapens samspel med andra akademiska discipliner, idéströmningar och politiska ideologier. Genom att lyfta fram debatter om antikvetenskapens innehåll visar Siapkas att ämnet är ett resultat av ständiga omförhandlingar och motsättningar.
In this paper we will focus on the darker side of Athenian democracy and its idealisations. We will explore the gradual racialization of Athenian democratic citizenship as a conscious mechanism of exclusion, and compare it to recent bills of such political parties as Sverigedemokraterna and the Swiss People’s Party. We will also elaborate on the identification of Pericles as ”the great leader”, and the notion that this is one of the major benefits of classical democracy. This discourse is cultivated by the Greek neo-nazi organization Chrisi Avgi (Golden Dawn), but it was also used widely, both by ancient historians and in political ideologies, during the first half of the 20th century.
These dystopic appropriations of classical democracy do not only illustrate that democracies contain excluding mechanisms but also that the very notion of democracy is hijacked to whitewash antidemocratic ideologies.