MODL 5304

Philology – and interesting study, to say the least. It seems that philologists (according to Conway’s comments) are forever an archaic scholar that is in search of one and true thing – authentic texts. In Mann’s The origins of humanism philology is an important and necessary evil in the creation, manifestation, and ‘historization” of autentic texts originating from ancient times. In p. 9, we see that Petrarch spent some time in Avignon in the 1330s questing to restore and “re-piece” Livy’s History of Rome. Upon receicpt of an incomplete version of the text, Petrarch spent the next few years piecing together partial texts, other writings, and variations of the manuscripts. Petrarch was able to re-create the manuscript.

WOW….I see a correlation between our first week’s readings of The Historical Texas as Literary Artifact by Hayden White and Origins!

Actually, I see a correlation amongst our class conversation on the search of a a “true history” in place of a subjective account of a “true history”. It seems that as we as a people search for the true accounts of what actually happened in history, and surrounding historical texts, that we are, in essence, our own Petrarch in the world.

Petrarch was in search of the TRUEST account of an ancient text by using, measuring, and evaluating every account of the text. He spent years and numerous sources to come up with the final “truest” account of what he believed to be the actual text.

But…my question is: “How can it be the truest account of the text?” Isn’t there some liberty taken when re-writing the text? Isn’t there some discrepancy in any translation done? Liberties are taken all the time by historians. For example: We discussed the Bible in class last week. Is there really a TRUE account of what happend? Or, did people take the freedom to re-create this document to fit their needs in their own historical timeframe for their own purposes in life?

What if…..philologists take that same liberty? Whew….maybe there is no such thing as a true, authentic text….unless you have the most ORIGNIAL copy. Even then, unless you witness the actual writing (or historical event surrounding a writing) who can be sure that this orginality is set in stone?

Fortunatly for Petrarch, he was so “zealous” and “enthusiastic” in his quest for classical literautre, that his philological advances set him apart from the phonies in my opinion. Just the same with historians….some may take history as an objective telling of the past. However, in reality, it takes multiple accounts of historical past to get a true feel for its authenticity.

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After leaving class this past Monday, I realized it had been over six years since I had taken any type of Literature course. For some reason, I tended to take all linguistic, culture, or education based courses in my undergraduate work at UT, and avoided any Literature course like it was the plague. However, as I sat in Dr. Conway’s course this past Monday, I realized what an injustice I had done myself, and my Spanish education. I remember perusing through the Course Catalog at UT seeing courses like 345L – Modern Literature of Mexico or 362L – Spanish Literuature 1555-1779…….and thinking to myself…”There’s NO WAY I am going to take those courses…..” I was still in the intermediate stages of speaking, reading, writing, and listening the Spanish language, soI felt as if taking such a “complex” literature course was not be advantageous to my learning path.  I did have to take a “Don Quijote” class for a requirement, and I do remember taking “Romantic Spanish Readings” (and hate to admit that I only took it because I had a crush on the professor).

I hope to take this course and nurture it. I do not want to do an injustice to myself any longer. As this class embarks, I would appreciate any advice, help, and general guidance through the readings.  I am looking forward to the next class, and the opportunity to bounce off ideas, thoughts, and new findings with my colleagues.

Please find another post in reflection to the readings later this week!

 PS. I hope everyone is okay with the fact that I am a VERY vocal person, will probably offer alot in class discussions, and hope no one wants to throw paper at me for putting in more than  my 2 cents worth!

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This is my first blog to EVER be on. I created this blog for Dr. Conway’s MODL 5304 classs, a course on Current Thoughts in European Literature, and very interesting course for my MA in Modern Languages/Spanish at UTA. I hope you all enjoy!

 I am 26 years old and live in a very small community called near Ennis, Texas. I used to teach high school Spanish, but now am a translator/engineer for a world-wide construction company. We build hospitals, schools, office buildings, highways, oil rigs, and much more. This is my second semester in Graduate school at UTA. I received a BA in Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin and have lived and traveled all over Texas and the US.  I even spent two semesters abroad: Cuernavaca, Mexico and Granada, Espana.  I am looking forward to this class, learning from it, and having the opportunity to meet new people, and see old friends! Hasta lunes!!!!!!

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