Blog Posts

To Wander Among Ruins

How do we perceive the ruins of antiquity in our current age - and how has this perception evolved throughout time? Whether it is through the eyes of the medieval peasant, reveries of the Grand Tour period, or Instagram, perception of the ancient world has always been framed by the culture of the beholder. This post considers how processes of canonization have constructed the gaze we cast upon archaeological remains.

What Do You Do, Tonton?: Explaining Classical Reception to a Four-and-a-Half-Year Old

Summarising months of research into a two-minute pitch is a real balancing act. Yet when my four-year-old nephew asked what my job was, I decided to take the (Cretan) bull by the horns.

Supplementing the Canon

Reflecting on our time at Brepols Publishers leads to pondering about databases and digitization and what they mean for the canon.

Among the Paper Slips: Semantic Journeys and Canon at the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae

Imagine your every day office is an archive containing 10 million paper slips. This was my experience during my internship at the Thesaurus linguae Latinae.

Commentary, Canon, and Code: An Intern’s View on Ancient Philosophy

As summer came to an end, so did the first of the MECANO network’s so-called ‘non-academic’ secondments. For three months we (PhD candidates, Timo Zarakovitis and Kendall Bitner) left our usual posts at KU Leuven and Radboud University and took up shop at the Corpus Christianorum Bibliotheek & Kenniscentrum of Brepols Publishers, situated in the historic beguinage in Turnhout, Belgium.

The Art of Dealing with the Canon: From Greek Poetry to <em>All I Want for Christmas is You</em>

The Art of Dealing with the Canon: From Greek Poetry to All I Want for Christmas is You

Because of its enduring success, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You can be considered part of the canon of Christmas songs. But have you ever wondered how it deals with that tradition to claim its place within it? The answer may lie in a rhetorical strategy that is 2500 years old.

Canonisation as Parody: Reflections on Umberto Eco's <em>Misreadings</em>

Canonisation as Parody: Reflections on Umberto Eco's Misreadings

When conducting research, we sometimes tend to be too serious. However, intellectual parody and informed wit are possible, as Umberto Eco demonstrates in Misreadings.

How I Met MECANO: From Lexicon to Canon

Growing up in an Arabic-speaking environment, I discovered that the language of medicine carries centuries of translation, transformation, and dialogue—leading me unexpectedly to MECANO.