Modern Times in Classical Guise. A Study of the reception of Modernity in the Neo-Latin Poetry of the Long Nineteenth Century (ca. 1821-1921)

The dominant view of neo-Latin poetry as Renaissance or early modern poetry has so far prevented a thorough examination of the production of Latin verse during the late modern period, from the nineteenth century onwards. In fact, it was precisely during these times of rapid change that the writing of Latin verse went through its very last revival, predominantly within the context of international poetry competitions. By focussing on how the classically educated turned to this "dead" language as a literary means of self-expression between the 1840s and 1920s, this project reveals the deep fascination which neo-Latin poets shared for the modern world in all its aspects - ranging from Darwinism, women's emancipation, and technological innovation to socialism, abolitionism, and the rise of the modern nation-state - as well as their tendency to map these reactions to modern change onto classical templates. Thus, starting from a corpus of Latin poetry submitted to the most prominent competition of the era - the Certamen Hoeufftianum - the research project elucidates the various ways in which poets from all over Europe reactivated antiquity in order to engage in a host of modern debates. While bridging the gap between neo-Latin and classical reception studies, the study of this key literary phenomenon also paves the way for a better understanding of the final phase of Latin literature in general.