Reception Research Seminar MT 2025: Conceptual Metaphors in Reception Studies

Tuesdays from 14 October, 2:00pm to Tuesday 2 December, 3:30pm
Lecture Theatre, Ioannou Centre, Oxford
metaphor

This seminar series, convened by Leo Kershaw and Pantelis Michelakis, aims to reflect on the role of conceptual metaphors in the critical discourses of reception studies. Which metaphors do we prioritise and why? How do they shape critical judgement? What affordances do they have, what functions do they perform, and what purposes do they serve? What concerns about the Greco-Roman classics do they foreground? How do they relate to one another, and what do they show about the links and commitments of reception studies? What semantic struggles can be gleaned through their history, etymology, and changing uses? What are their limitations, and what is their unfulfilled potential? 

All seminars will take place in the Ioannou Centre Lecture Theatre on Tuesdays, 2pm to 3.30pm.

  • Week 1 (14 October):
  • Introduction – Pantelis Michelakis & Leo Kershaw
  • Amplification – Emily Pillinger (KCL) & Miranda Stanyon (Melbourne) [online]
  • Echoes/resonance – Jo Paul (Open University)
     
  • Week 2 (21 October)
  • Presence – Duncan Kennedy (Bristol)
  • Typology – Duncan Kennedy (Bristol)
  • Time – Duncan Kennedy (Bristol)
     
  • Week 3 (28 October):
  • The turn - Marcus Bell (UCL)
  • Rerouting – Haritini Tsikoura (Paris 8)
  • Mutual reception – Hannah Silverblank (independent scholar) [online]
     
  • Week 4 (4 November):
  • Filiation – Emma Greensmith (Oxford)
  • Cannibalism – Rosa Andújar (KCL)
  • Webbing – Giovanna Di Martino (Oxford) and Carla Suthren (Oxford)
     
  • Week 5 (11 November):
  • Mushroom – Mathura Umachandran (Exeter) [online]
  • Trees – Chella Ward (Open University)
  • Legacy/inheritance – Tim Rood (Oxford)
     
  • Week 6 (18 November):
  • Capital (cultural) – Neville Morley (Exeter)
  • Appropriation – Neville Morley (Exeter)
  • Debt/borrowing - Neville Morley (Exeter) 
     
  • Week 7 (25 November):
  • Shards – Cécile Dudouyt (Paris 13)
  • Collage – Claire Barnes (Oxford)
  • Contagion – Nicolette D'Angelo (UCLA) [online]
     
  • Week 8 (2 December):
  • Liquidity – Francesca Beretta (Oxford)
  • Intoxication – Samuel Agbamu (Reading)
  • Haunting – Tori Lee (Davidson) [online]