A brief report

[montagnarde1793]

Sorry for the semi-absence. I've been a bit on the busy side. Still, I'm back at school now and have not forgotten my obligations. :D Which is to say, article-translating is still on, though it will probably take longer than it would have over the summer.

And I am still working on your (now unfortunately rather late) birthday fic, . I'm just trying to work out the political context - you and I will both be happier with it if it has some political context - which means at this point that I'm trying to work in a short discussion of the federalist revolts, since they are referenced in That Song. I'm thinking the time-frame should be sometime in August-September 1793. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Among the other things I did not forget are Saint-Just's 242nd birthday on the 25th and David's 261st on the 30th. Let it be recorded that I wish both of their memories as well as ever.

So. Classes. I'm taking Roman History, History of Ancient India, Latin 201: The Aeneid, and French Lit from the Middle Ages to the Revolution (or more precisely from la Chanson de Roland to le Mariage de Figaro, which means we don't really make it to the Revolution).

Having been to one of each (they're all on the same days), here are my notes:

I'm really not sure what to make of my Roman History prof. This was her first day teaching here and she seemed like she was on the verge of tears several times during the lecture. Which I can relate to. What I can't relate to is what seems to be her strange affinity for dictators. She spent the introductory lecture fawning over Octavianus (I refuse to call him Augustus), which, while far from laudable, is also far from uncommon among classicists of a certain stripe. It was when she started speaking of Mussolini in rather similar terms that I began to get freaked out. I really hope I'm imagining things, or this could turn out to be an, er, interesting semester.

On the other hand, I have no complaints about the Indian History prof. The class was highly recommended to me and it seems not without reason. The prof's first lecture was informative and interesting and he let us know from the first things like where the emphasis of the course is going to be (he's more a historian of culture/religion/philosophy than economics). And once I've taken this course, my non-Western history requirement will be out of the way.

My Latin class is definitely going to be my hardest this year. I know already I'm going to have problems with the meter... And well, let's just leave it at that for now. No complaints about this professor either. So far, anyway.

The French lit class was and will likely continue to be pretty basic. But I promised the professor I would take it and I haven't read all the books on the syllabus, so I might as well. One potentially good point: When the prof asked us what periods/historical figures/currents/etc. we liked most in the period 800-1800, another girl said the Revolution. I must try to find out her perspective... Oddly, the class was all girls. Which is especially bizarre when you consider our gender ratio is supposed to be perfectly even. Oh well. Another unfortunate point is that several people expressed fondness for the monarchy. What is that?

Anyway, off to eat tarts with the rest of the Maison francophone. I'm sure Maxime would approve.

Comments

[sibylla-oo.livejournal.com]

Oh my, a Mussolini admirer :-O I can understand people can admire Octavianus, after all he was not so awful for the standards of his era, especially taking to consideration those who followed him. But IL DUCE, that clown? A university teacher admiring Mussolini? What's going on? Is it something in the food, are these the effects of the genetically manipulated vegetables, is humankind degenerating that fast? :-O
This "literature is for girls" is quite worrying. Here it is a bit different, the writers have great prestige, so the boys still feel they should know about literature and write it, too ;-) That said, it has negative side-effects, too, as the writers feel free to give their opinions on any topic they know nothing about. They think their opinion is interesting just because they can use the language well. You know, the form beats the contents.

[trf-chan.livejournal.com]

O_O!! Good luck with your Roman History professor. I hope she's not really all that crazy.

Another unfortunate point is that several people expressed fondness for the monarchy. What is that?

Because when they project themselves back in time, they naturally assume that they would be part of that oh-so-stylish, opulent nobility. Never mind that only about, what, 1% belonged to that category, so the likelihood is much greater that they would have been among the vulgar, nasty commoners. We're raised on those sugar-coated fairytales that tell us how wonderful and magical a monarchy is, and a startling percentage of people...never seem to move to a more sophisticated understanding, do they? -_-

In my French textbook, we follow the blogs of several characters in francophone countries. One of these characters uses a fleur-de-lys icon. Every time it comes up, I draw a big, fat X over it, like the mature person I am.