Research Seminar
03 November 2022, 17.00, at the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome and on ZOOM
Agnes Vendel
Pointed words – shared worlds? Hyperbaton and common frames of reference in Cicero’s orations.
How can language be used to impose a common frame of references between a speaker and their audience? In this presentation, I discuss this topic in relation to hyperbaton, or the separation of a noun and its attribute. This linguistic and stylistic device is known to create an effect of delay and expectation. The effect, I will argue, is particularly evident when a demonstrative is separated from its noun, and the audience may find itself guessing at what word may suitably fill the slot created. My data is based on a corpus of Cicero’s orations, and I explore how he might have used this linguistic feature in order to get the audience of his side of the narrative and see things from his perspective.
Agnes Vendel is currently studying for a PhD in Classics at the University of Cambridge, UK. Her research treats the use of hyperbaton in Cicero’s orations and is an attempt to map its employment and possible interpretations. Previously educated at the Universities of Stockholm, Lyon and Venice, Agnes held a position as research assistant within the Ars edendi programme at Stockholm University in 2014–2015. She has taught Latin, Ancient Greek and linguistics for Classicists at the Universities of Cambridge and Stockholm. In 2019, Agnes organised, together with Johanna Koivunen, Scandinavia’s first student conference for Classicists.