Boethius as "Last of the Romans, First of the Scholastics" (submit proposal here)
Boethius’s position as a transitional figure, situated on the boundary between Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, is the focus of this session, which invites papers that address his liminal historical position. Possible topics include his contributions to the liberal arts curriculum; his role in theological and political controversies; his biography and its dissemination; his tomb and local cult in Pavia; the textual transmission of his works; his translation projects from Greek into Latin; and the vernacular translation tradition of his final work De consolatione philosophiae.
Literary Reception of Boethius's De Consolatione Philosophiae (submit proposal here)
This session addresses the multi-faceted influence of the Consolatio on medieval Latin and vernacular writers such as Dante, Alain de Lille, Guillaume de Machaut, Gower, and Chaucer. Papers are welcome on such topics as their use of prosimetric form; deployment of the trope of Fortune and her wheel; engagement with the work’s philosophical argumentation; and use of allegory. This robust reception history continues in the works of modern-day writers influenced by medievalism, and papers are equally welcome on the Boethian resonances of works such as C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce and John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces.
