Manipulation of discourse in antiquity
Stellenbosch Winelands Classics
This is an open invitation to scholars of antiquity to submit proposals for papers on the topic as set out below.
The conference aims to explore the phenomenon of discourse manipulation for the purpose of establishing and/or maintaining hegemony over views generally held by the public on a particular issue or event. The aim is to focus on calculated control over public opinion in the political, religious, social, or similar spheres. This would include narratives that invent, reshape or guard over a particular point of view or version and purposeful selective memory on the one hand, and narratives that contest, marginalize and suppress alternative views by ignoring, labelling and smearing opposing voices on the other. The conference organizers will consider papers in the fields of ancient history, literature and material culture concerned with any form of public discourse management and ‘limiting the spectrum of acceptable opinion’ (Chomsky). read more